More from Trump’s first 100 days: all the news affecting the tech industry
In February, the Trump administration started turning Associated Press reporters away from media events at the White House after the outlet refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Now, District Judge Trevor McFadden has ordered the White House to end the practice, spotted Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
[bsky.app]
Palace intrigue is back, baby! The feud started Saturday morning, when Elon Musk blasted trade advisor Peter Navarro on X (now deleted), saying “he ain’t built shit.” Navarro responded on Fox News that Musk “doesn’t understand” trade deficits, and dismissed him as a “car assembler.” That lead to Musk’s most recent retort, calling Navarro “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Musk also defended Tesla as “the most American-made cars,” but has also acknowledged that the company is still exposed to tariffs through some of its imports.
There was always going to be tension between the Musk-led tech oligarchs and MAGA faithful in the Trump White House. And the tariffs are really doing a fantastic job exposing those rifts.
After the markets reacted positively to a false report about a potential 90-day pause on tariffs, Donald Trump has decided to push the other way. After China responded to his new tariff plan with retaliatory tariffs of its own and apparently ended negotiations on a solution for TikTok (welcome to the trade war), he posted a new message on Truth Social Monday morning:
...if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!
An estimated 100,000 protesters rallied for everything from the federal workforce, to immigrant and trans rights.
In a last-minute reprieve, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that they were able to save their contract with Amazon Web Services, keeping their websites alive on AWS’s cloud servers. The contract had been caught in widespread federal IT budget cuts, and had it not been for massive public outcry, NOAA’s research and online datasets – used for critical services like weather forecasting and storm tracking – would have become inaccessible to the public.
The NWS didn’t confirm whether that had anything to do with mass layoffs under DOGE’s cost-cutting crusade. It was also understaffed because of spring break, NWS told investigative reporter Travis Breese.
But federal workers have said there could be “devastating” losses because of cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration (NOAA) that houses NWS. In February, weather balloon launches needed to collect data for forecasts were suspended in western Alaska after layoffs.
Reports of Elon Musk’s impending departure from the White House could not have been better timed for Tesla’s stock prices, which had started plummeting after its dismal Q1 report was released this morning. Within hours of the news breaking, the price not only recovered but surged an extra 5 percent. (As always when it comes to Musk’s relationship with the Trump administration, let’s see how long that surge lasts.)
[politico.com]
CBS News put together charts that track the price of commonly imported goods, like avocados, lumber, and cars. Economists warn that Trump’s taxes on imports will drive up costs for consumers.
Some tariff-related increases may not be felt for a while. You can keep tabs on pricing changes yourself using the regularly-updated tracker below.