April 13, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

President Donald Trump said that semiconductor tariffs will “take place in the very near future,” but expressed some “flexibility” regarding tariffs on products such as iPhones and tablets.

“The tariffs will be in place in the not-too-distant future,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“We want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” he said, later adding he would announce the rate “over the next week.”

He also said tariffs on pharmaceuticals would be announced “very fast.”

Asked by a reporter about tariffs on electronics, such as iPhones and tablets, Trump said:

The president’s remarks come after a tariff exemption for key electronics — such as iPhones and laptops — spurred optimism for US tech companies this weekend. Trump and top officials said earlier Sunday, however, that tech-specific tariffs are still coming and no one is “getting off the hook” in his trade war with China.

President Donald Trump congratulated golfer Rory McIlroy on his historic win at the Masters on Sunday — a victory 11 years in the making.

Trump, who golfs nearly every day when he is in Florida, said the Masters is “maybe my favorite sporting show.”

“They’re great athletes under tremendous pressure,” he added. “But unless you’re a golfer, you don’t understand that.”

The Masters: McIlroy, who started Sunday’s final round with a two-stroke lead, overcame some bumps in the road to finish at 11-under par for the tournament and cement his place among the game’s immortals.

With his victory at the Masters, the 35-year-old completed the career grand slam — winning each of golf’s four majors and becoming just the sixth player to accomplish the feat.

A display shows the rising of the Nikkei average stock price in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on Monday.

Major stock markets across the Asia Pacific region surged in early trade Monday, following the news that key electronic products would be exempt from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose over 2% at one point during early hours of trading. South Korea’s Kospi index climbed 1.3%. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained under 1%.

Hong Kong, China and Taiwan markets followed the gains.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index opened more than 2% higher. The Shanghai Composite index and blue-chip CSI 300 index, comprising 300 major stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, were up less than 1% during early hours of trading. Taiwan’s Taiex similarly rose about 1%.

The exemption — which the White House said Sunday would be temporary — includes smartphones, computer monitors, semiconductors and various electronic parts, of which Japan and South Korea are major global suppliers.

President Donald Trump said he was told Russia “made a mistake” by attacking Ukraine in a strike that killed at least 34 people in Sumy on Palm Sunday.

Asked to clarify what he meant by Russia making a “mistake,” Trump said, “They made a mistake. I believe it was — look, you’re gonna ask them.”

Punting to familiar criticisms of former President Joe Biden, Trump added: “Remember this: This is Biden’s war. I’m just trying to get it stopped so that we can save a lot of lives.”

Russian missiles hit residents gathering for Sunday church services in the northeastern city of Sumy, killing at least 34 people in the deadliest attack of the conflict this year. Two children were among the scores of people killed in the strikes, while 117 people were wounded, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

Trump also said he met Sunday with his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and conducted talks with Iranian officials in Oman.

Asked for an update on Iran, Trump said, “We’re going to be talking very shortly. … I met with a different group of people on Iran, and we’ll be making a decision on Iran very quickly.”

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.

The Trump administration insisted on Sunday that it is not required to work with officials in El Salvador to secure the return of a man mistakenly deported to the country, days after the Supreme Court endorsed a federal judge’s directive that US officials must “facilitate” bringing him back stateside.

The argument has the potential of setting up another high-profile showdown between the administration and the federal judiciary over how much power courts have in resolving disputes concerning immigration, particularly ones involving foreign governments.

The assertion, made in court papers by Justice Department lawyers, comes after US District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday ordered the administration to “take all available steps to facilitate” the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison last month.

An earlier — yet similar — order from Xinis was appealed by the government up to the Supreme Court, which ultimately backed the judge’s order Thursday. The high court, however, did not give the administration a deadline for when Abrego Garcia should be returned, saying instead that the district judge’s directive was unclear and needed clarification.

Read more here.

The New York Stock Exchange is pictured last Thursday in New York.

Stock futures rose today after a temporary reprieve from some tariffs on high-tech electronic imports, many of which come from China, by the Trump administration.

Dow futures were up 0.5%, or 212 points. The S&P 500 futures rose 0.75%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite futures gained 1.26%, as of 6:18 p.m. ET.

While the Trump administration on Friday exempted electronic imports from reciprocal tariffs, any of those goods manufactured in China — like computers, phones and semiconductors — would still be subject to the 20% tariff Trump previously imposed on Chinese goods.

The gains come after stocks have seesawed wildly in recent days, as President Donald Trump has levied massive tariffs on US trading partners, then backed off many of those import taxes. Still, confusion about how permanent some tariff moves could be has stoked uncertainty among investors and kept stocks, the dollar and even US Treasuries under pressure.

Tech giants like Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia rely on Chinese manufacturing, and the reciprocal tariffs would have made goods like iPhones and other consumer products more expensive.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier today that the exemption was “not permanent.” Other administration officials said another slate of tariffs could be imposed after an investigation into the national security effects of semiconductor imports.

President Donald Trump attempted to clarify the status of US tariffs on high-tech products from China after a weekend of confusion that added new uncertainty to his plan for global trade.

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Trump wrote on Truth Social today.

How we got here: On Friday evening, Customs and Border Protection issued a rule sparing certain high-tech items, including smartphones, laptops and hard drives, from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs. Many of those items come from China.

The exclusions prompted sighs of relief from the technology industry and led to expectations of a tech stock rally when markets opened.

But in appearances on news shows today, top Trump officials insisted the reprieve was both temporary and part of the existing plan to review the national security implications of importing semiconductors, the chips that power many consumer electronics, before applying electronic-specific tariffs.

The president wrote on Truth Social that his administration is “taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.” He reiterated that more products should be made in the US and that “we will not be held hostage by other Countries.”

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said today that there are “no exemptions” on products like semiconductors and other electronics from China, but a more detailed list of how tariffs will be applied needs to be published.

“When the tariff rate went up to the full rate of 125%, on top of the 20%, it was necessary to publish a more detailed list from Customs and Border Protection, explaining the rates and how they’re applied. There are no exemptions. Everyone pays at least the 20% and these particular components have been put through a separate process controlled by the Department of Commerce, which is the 232,” Miller said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”

President Donald Trump’s continued application of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (what used to be a rarely employed trade provision) allows a president to impose tariffs if there are potential national security threats.

Miller said that was “always the plan,” due to how essential those products are to the country’s national security.

He also weighed in on Trump’s evolving trade war with Beijing.

“There are many things that are essential to China’s security that they need from the United States, so China would be very wise to pursue the path of de-escalation,” he said.

CNN’s Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on April 3.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 10 more alleged members of international gangs arrived in El Salvador last night, where the Trump administration has been deporting people it says are criminals.

“Last night, another 10 criminals from the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Foreign Terrorist Organizations arrived in El Salvador,” Rubio wrote in a post on X today.

The top US diplomat hailed the alliance between President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who are scheduled to meet Monday at the White House, as an “example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”

Some context: The Trump administration has deported hundreds of migrants it says are gang members while refusing to reveal their identities or the evidence against them, prompting complaints and legal challenges from the migrants’ families and from critics who say the administration is trampling on civil liberties.

Two US officials told CNN last week that the administration was preparing to send more immigrants with criminal records to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison on the heels of a Supreme Court order allowing the use for now of a sweeping wartime authority for deportations.

This weekend has once again been dominated by news on President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth tariffs.

The revelation late Friday that key electronics, including smartphones and semiconductors, would be exempt from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs spurred optimism for the US tech sector.

But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added another wrinkle today by indicating the exemptions will be temporary, telling “ABC This Week” targeted new tariffs will apply to electronics in the months to come.

Administration officials have been mixed on how to describe the exemptions today, but emphasized that the administration will study the national security implications of semiconductor imports before potentially imposing electronic-specific tariffs.

Here’s what we heard from other Trump officials:

• Kevin Hassett: At least 130 countries are negotiating potential trade deals with the US following Trump’s 90-day pause on the “reciprocal” tariffs, the National Economic Council director told CNN on “State of the Union.” He said talks with Beijing, meanwhile, are in the very early stages, “if at all.”

• Peter Navarro: The White House senior trade adviser did not say whether there have been new talks in the deepening trade war with China, though he added in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there’s an open invitation and Trump has a “good relationship” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, criticism and concern: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Trump’s “red light-green light” approach to tariffs. “Nobody can figure out what the rules will be five days from now, much less five years from now,” Warren said on “State of the Union.”

The progressive lawmaker is also among the Democrats calling for a probe into whether Trump intentionally manipulated financial markets around his tariff pause. Lawmakers have not yet provided evidence to back up their suspicions.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that the tariff policy is “the worst self-inflicted wound through economic policy” since World War II.

And billionaire investor Ray Dalio told “Meet the Press” the US is “very close to a recession.” Dalio called Trump’s trade policies “very disruptive” so far, though he acknowledged it “could be part of a process.”

Sen. Cory Booker speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, DC on April 1.

Democrats ramped up their calls today for an investigation into whether President Donald Trump intentionally manipulated the market when he told Americans to invest right before announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs.

“There’s enough smoke here that should demand congressional hearings,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on whether she’s seen evidence of insider trading after she called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the issue, said “that’s what investigations are for.”

“It’s entirely appropriate to have an investigation to make sure that Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s family, Donald Trump’s inner circle, didn’t get advanced information and trade on that information,” she said, pointing to her own bill banning trade on individual stocks for members of Congress, which she said has bipartisan support.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett earlier this week pushed back against suggestions that Trump engaged in market manipulation, telling reporters at the White House Thursday, “I don’t think that he ever had any other intent other than to get people to the table with serious policies.”

That same day, Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and US Office of Government Ethics Acting Director Jamieson Greer requesting “an urgent inquiry into whether President Trump, his family, or other members of the administration” engaged in any illegal transactions “informed by advanced knowledge of non-public information regarding his changes to tariff policy.”

CECOT prison is seen in Tecoluca, El Salvador on April 4.

President Donald Trump brushed off concerns today about human rights abuses in the infamous prison where a mistakenly deported Maryland man is being held in El Salvador.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One overnight that the prison holds “some of the worst people on earth.”

Asked about his message for the Central American country’s strongman President Nayib Bukele and if he’s concerned about abuses in the prison, Trump said, “No, I think he’s doing a fantastic job.” Trump is set to meet with Bukele on Monday at the White House.

“He’s taking care of a lot of problems that we have that we really wouldn’t be able to take care of, from a cost standpoint,” Trump said of the Salvadoran leader.

Pressed again on claims of human rights abuses, he responded, “I don’t see it.”

Maryland man remains imprisoned there: Trump’s comments come as outcry grows over the continued imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador’s massive CECOT facility.

Abrego Garcia was granted protected status by an immigration judge in 2019 that prohibited the federal government from sending him to El Salvador, which his attorneys say he fled due to gang violence more than a decade ago.

The Trump administration said in a filing yesterday that Abrego Garcia is “alive and secure” at CECOT, but did not include an update on the administration’s efforts to bring the man back to the US, as it has been ordered to do by a judge.

A combine harvests corn near Allerton, Illinois in 2023.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois told “Fox News Sunday” farmers in his state will feel the effects of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs if other nations retaliate with their own levies on US exports.

“We’re the number one grower of soybeans. We sell about 60% of our soybeans to foreign buyers, but their response to those tariffs is going to hinder those sales,” Pritzker said.

The governor said targeted tariffs can be “good trade policy” but that Trump’s sweeping tariffs create “uncertainty that is causing, frankly, businesses across the board and especially farmers a lot of heartache.”

“He’s put massive tariffs across the board,” Pritzker said. “That’s going to affect not only the cost for average working families going to the grocery store, but it’s also going to affect the sales of crops that we grow in the state of Illinois and across the United States.”

Pritzker recently visited farms in his state as part of his Standing Up for Illinois Tour, a tour that focuses on the “Trump Administration’s extreme agenda” according to a news release.

Go deeper: Farmers are still struggling with the fallout from a trade war during Trump’s first term. Now they’re staring down another escalating economic feud with Beijing, which could once again turn away from the US as a key source of its agricultural imports.

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in Washington, DC on Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s approval ratings for handling the economy and inflation have dropped, according to a new poll from CBS News, as a broad majority expects at least short-term price increases and economic harm from his tariff policies.

Here are a few key takeaways:

• The economy and inflation: All told, 44% approve and 56% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, while only 40% approve and 60% disapprove on his handling of inflation. His approval numbers for both measures are down four points since late March.

• Overall approval rating: This metric now stands at 47% in the CBS poll, down from 50% in March.

• Who’s responsible? A majority, 54% see Trump’s policies as more responsible for the state of the economy than former President Joe Biden’s policies, with 21% saying Biden is more responsible and 20% that both bear equal responsibility.

• State of the economy: A little over half (53%) say the economy is currently getting worse, and most see its current state as poor (59%).

• Impact on Americans: About half of respondents, 49%, said Trump’s policies are making them financially worse off, more than double the 21% who say their finances are benefitting from his policies. The rest, 30%, say his policies are not impacting them financially.

The CBS News poll was conducted online among 2,410 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

Howard Lutnick listens as President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House on February 21, in Washington, DC.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says the tariff exemption on a wide range of electronics, including semiconductors and smartphones, will be temporary.

Tariffs targeting specific business sectors will be imposed in the next couple months on certain products key to national security, which will be “not available for negotiation,” Lutnick said today on “ABC This Week.”

“Those products are going to be part of the semiconductor sectoral tariffs, which are coming,” the commerce secretary said, referring to the electronics covered by the exemption.

Pressed why the administration made the move to exempt certain electronics from the reciprocal tariffs, Lutnick said the exemption will be temporary.

Lutnick, who earlier this week said he had not been engaging with Chinese officials directly, said he believes Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping “will work this out” and Trump will secure a good result for the US.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC on Tuesday.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren says President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy could have lasting and devastating impacts on Americans and urged her party to “tell the truth” about the economic pain inflicted by the president’s policies.

Though Warren called targeted tariffs an “important tool in the toolbox,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump’s implementation of the policies has caused too much turmoil.

“Nobody can figure out what the rules will be five days from now, much less five years from now,” Warren said.

The Massachusetts senator also characterized an exemption for electronics imported to the US as a “special deal” for Trump’s tech CEO political donors.

Insider trading probe: Warren has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Trump intentionally manipulated the market in favor of his allies when he told Americans to invest right before announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs.

Pressed on if she’s seen any evidence of insider trading, Warren said people are looking into the stock purchases at that time and “that’s what investigations are for.”

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has pushed back against suggestions that Trump engaged in market manipulation.

President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday.

President Donald Trump is “fully fit” to perform the duties of the presidency, the White House physician said in a memo released this morning following Trump’s yearly physical.

The note from Dr. Sean Barbabella, which included details of laboratory work, physical examinations and a cognitive test, concluded that Trump remains in “excellent health.”

Trump weighs 224 pounds and is 75 inches tall, the note reports. His resting heart rate is 62 beats per minute, and his blood pressure is 128/74 mmHg.

Trump scored 30 out of 30 on a Montreal Cognitive Assessment exam, the note said.

Exams of Trump’s various bodily systems came back normal, including of his eyes, head, ears, nose and throat. The physician noted scarring on Trump’s right ear derived from the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania last year.

Barbabella said a colonoscopy last summer revealed the president had diverticulitis, an inflammation caused when people develop small sacs in the walls of the colon. The sacs or pouches are called diverticuli. It’s usually symptomless, but can cause discomfort and, sometimes, bleeding.

“President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Health of State,” the memo concludes.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers work at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, Ukraine on Sunday.

The US special presidential envoy for Ukraine said Russia’s deadliest attack on the country this year highlights “why President Trump is working hard to end this war.”

Russian strikes hit the city of Sumy, in Ukraine’s northeast, today as residents observed Palm Sunday. The attacks killed at least 32 people — including two children — and injured nearly 100, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the strikes as “horrifying” in a statement that echoed Kellogg’s comments about the US efforts to resolve the war.

Some background: In recent months, the relationship between the US and Ukraine has stood on wobbly footing as President Donald Trump has tried to broker a minerals deal and ceasefire agreement in the region.

Trump temporarily withheld military aid and paused intelligence sharing after a spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February over the minerals deal. But both were reinstated shortly after Ukraine agreed in principle to a US ceasefire proposal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not accept that US-proposed ceasefire deal, however, and Trump on Friday urged Moscow to “get moving” on ending the war.

“Too many people are DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war - A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!” Trump wrote.

This post has been updated to reflect Rubio’s statement.

iPhones are displayed at an Apple Store in New York in 2024.

China says the United States’ decision to exempt smartphones and other electronic goods from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs is a “small step” in correcting a misguided policy.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce told reporters in Beijing today that the exemption represents a “small step (by) the US to correct its unilateral ‘reciprocal tariff’ erroneous practice.”

How we got here: On Wednesday, Trump announced he would pause the introduction of his reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners except China, which now has a 145% levy slapped on its goods. Beijing has retaliated by putting a 125% tariff on American imports into its market.

But the Trump administration announced late Friday that some electronic goods imported into the country will be exempt from reciprocal tariffs, including from China. That would provide a huge relief to US tech giants like Apple.

Smartphones, computer monitors and various electronic parts are among the exempted products.

If you missed news of the exemption yesterday, here’s what to know.