China’s Commerce Ministry said it “resolutely opposes” U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of escalating tariffs, and vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.

The comments came after Trump said he would impose an additional 50% duty on U.S. imports from China Wednesday, if Beijing does not withdraw the 34% tariff it imposed on American products last week.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake,” the statement said, according to a CNBC translation. “China will never accept it. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”

Last Friday, China’s Finance Ministry announced 34% in additional tariffs on all goods imported from the U.S., starting April 10, in retaliation to Trump imposing new levies of 34% on China. The across-the-board tariffs followed two previous rounds of 10%-15% tariffs, targeting mostly agricultural and energy products imported from the U.S.

Trump’s 34% tariffs on China were on top of the 20% duties rolled out since February, bringing the total new tariffs this year on China to 54%.

Good Morning—

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you hand the keys to a country over to a conspiracy theorist with a tariff addiction and a flair for military parades, today’s headlines might offer some answers.

Trump wants 50% more tariffs on China, says there’s definitely no recession coming (trust Peter Navarro!), and is now planning a military parade for his 79th birthday. Because nothing says “stable economy” like inflation, global chaos, and tanks in DC.

Billionaires are jumping ship, fake social posts can now tank the market, and even Republicans are thinking maybe Congress should take the tariff wheel back. Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s anti-vax base is turning on him, Kristi Noem’s offering DHS buyouts, and Trump is confused why his Cabinet keeps having feelings.

Also, he thinks the U.S. "owning" Gaza is still a good idea.

It’s all as predictable as it is dangerous. Stay sharp out there.

Stay informed, stay engaged. 💪

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This Day in History:

In 1820, the iconic Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the Greek island of Milos, later becoming a celebrated masterpiece in the Louvre. In 1864, the U.S. Senate passed the 13th Amendment, moving the United States closer to the abolition of slavery. In 1904, Longacre Square in New York City was officially renamed Times Square, following the relocation of The New York Times headquarters, reshaping the identity of a global landmark. In 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth and making history as baseball’s new home run king. And in 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing, ending years of investigation and bringing justice for one of the most shocking acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. sports history.

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• China Says It Will ‘Fight to the End’ After Trump Threatens 50% Additional Tariffs

• ‘I Guarantee No Recession’: Peter Navarro Tries to Reassure Fox News Viewers Amid Tariff Turmoil

• Tariffs Are Freezing the U.S. Economy

• Amid Economic Chaos, Some Republicans Want Control of Tariffs Back in Congress

• ‘How Ugly Is This Going to Be?’

• Billionaires Are Turning on Trump

• Fake Social Media Posts Can Tank The Stock Market Now

• Losing Confidence in the Con Man

• Why We’ll Have a Recession

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Getting to Work This Recess

Once they’ve finished with the blank check for Trump and Musk, Congress is heading out of Washington for a recess.

We’ll be waiting, and they owe us some answers. They may try to hide from us, but we’re not going anywhere.

Steps we can take

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Aiming for Change: Democrats' 2026 Strategy to Reclaim the House

🌊 Democrats are rallying for a massive comeback in the 2026 midterms, aiming to flip 35 GOP seats. Could new economic dynamics and voter trends shift the tide? #2026Midterms #BlueWave

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• One Day That Shook the World

• Trump Planning Military Parade Through DC for 79th Birthday

• Top US Admiral at NATO Removed Amid Trump’s Growing Military Firings

• Trump Announces Direct Iran Nuclear Talks During Meeting With Netanyahu

• SGA Candidates Weather ‘Dark Cloud’ of Campus Free Speech in Diverging Campaign Promises

• Cambridge City Council to Vote on Whether to Ask Harvard Corporation to Resist Trump

• Silence Is Endorsement

• RFK’s Anti-Vax Flock Turns on Him

• Meet Usha Vance: MAGA’s Enigmatic Second Lady

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💬 Should members of Congress be banned from trading individual stocks while in office?

🔹 Yes — it's a clear conflict of interest ✅
🔹 No — they should have the same rights as everyone else ❌
🔹 Depends — only if they sit on relevant committees 🤷‍♀️

Vote & Discuss

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• Turkey and Israel Are Becoming Deadly Rivals in Syria

• Rep. John James Launches Campaign for Michigan Governor

• Democrat Gabe Vasquez Keeps It Low Key in a Pivotal Swing Seat

• DC, Get Ready for Randy Fine: ‘Hardest Right Hook in the Business’

• US ‘Controlling and Owning’ Gaza Would Be Good, Trump Says Again

• Supreme Court Clears Way for Venezuelan Deportations to Resume, for Now

• Noem Offers Buyouts to DHS Workers

• ‘Frustrated’ Trump Confused Why ‘Emotional’ Cabinet Member Always in White House: Report

• Social Security Website Keeps Crashing, as DOGE Demands Cuts to IT Staff

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Current Crisis Overview

• Federal Funds Withheld: Multiple agencies have refused to release congressionally approved funds, despite clear judicial rulings requiring them to do so. This has prompted a series of escalating legal battles and widespread concerns among constitutional scholars.

• Legal Experts Sound the Alarm: Analysts from institutions like ProPublica, The New York Times, and The Washington Post warn that these actions undermine the separation of powers and set a dangerous precedent.

• White House Position: President Trump and his allies argue that the judiciary is overstepping its bounds, framing the dispute as a battle over executive authority.

• Political Responses: While conservative figures such as JD Vance and Elon Musk have signaled concerns, there is no concrete indication yet of a unified government strategy to outright ignore the courts. However, rapid developments suggest this could change quickly.

Track the Crisis

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Retirees and disabled people are facing chronic website outages and other access problems as they attempt to log in to their online Social Security accounts, even as they are being directed to do more of their business with the agency online.

The website has crashed repeatedly in recent weeks, with outages lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to almost a day, according to six current and former officials with knowledge of the issues. Even when the site is back online, many customers have not been able to sign in to their accounts — or have logged in only to find information missing. For others, access to the system has been slow, requiring repeated tries to get in.

The problems come as the Trump administration’s cost-cutting team, led by Elon Musk, has imposed a downsizing that’s led to 7,000 job cuts and is preparing to push out thousands more employees at an agency that serves 73 million Americans. The new demands from Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service include a 50 percent cut to the technology division responsible for the website and other electronic access.

Many of the network outages appear to be caused by an expanded fraud check system imposed by the DOGE team, current and former officials said. The technology staff did not test the new software against a high volume of users to see if the servers could handle the rush, these officials said.

The technology issues have been particularly alarming for some of the most vulnerable Social Security customers. For almost two days last week, for example, many of the 7.4 million adults and children receiving monthly benefits under the anti-poverty program known as Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, confronted a jarring message that claimed they were “currently not receiving payments,” agency officials acknowledged in an internal email to staff.

A key Cabinet member for President Donald Trump has confused the business community and even gotten under the MAGA leader's own skin, according to a report.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has played a key role in shaping Trump's economic policy — including helping craft the president's market-plunging tariff policy. But Lutnick is "frustrating" executives and senior White House officials, who have come away from encounters with Lutnick "exasperated," the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday, citing roughly a dozen people.

Lutnick has "browbeaten" executives as he's pushed tariffs, taken often "contradictory" stances — including whether some imports ought to be exempted from tariffs — and now "frustration with him is "spilling into public view" as financial markets nosedive, according to the report.

And Trump himself may be showing signs of wearing thin.

"Trump has asked why Lutnick is at the White House so often, and he has grown frustrated with his commerce secretary at times, advisers said, particularly when Lutnick grows emotional in White House meetings. White House officials said he is at the White House more than any other cabinet secretary," the Journal wrote.

White House officials, meanwhile, complained he has a penchant for floating unvetted ideas to Trump, such as eliminating income tax for people making under $150,000 a year.