Morning Brief: China Escalates Trade War, SCOTUS Scoreboard & Trump Hosts Bukele

The United States and China continue their tariff war, the Supreme Court rules on several emergency requests, and El Salvador’s president is set to visit the White House.

It’s Monday, April 14, and this is the news you need to know to start your week. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:

Trade Negotiations Continue

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Topline:  President Donald Trump will host a number of foreign leaders for trade negotiations this week as Congress prepares to pass a crucial spending package. Meanwhile, China has cut off shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets after Trump paused most tariffs for everyone but them.

Beijing predictably responded by raising its own tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125%. The communist nation went a step further Sunday, halting the export of rare earth minerals and magnets.

For context, China produces upwards of 60% of the world’s rare earth minerals and 90% of all rare earth magnets, which are crucial for high-tech chips, semiconductors, batteries, and car manufacturing. That pause could have significant impacts on the American auto and tech industries. The White House says the fact that America is so reliant on Chinese products shows how crucial it is to increase American manufacturing and form stronger trade alliances elsewhere. 

Stateside, President Trump made big news over the weekend, announcing that electronics like smartphones and laptops will temporarily be exempt from tariffs. That’s a major relief to tech giants like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft. The White House said those exemptions would be temporary — presumably, they’re sending a message to Beijing that they better make a deal before they become permanent. 

A CBS poll this weekend showed that just 42% of Americans favor tariffs on imported goods, compared to 58% who oppose them, while Trump’s approval rating on the economy fell to 44%. Similarly, the University of Michigan’s closely watched Consumer Sentiment Index fell 11% to its lowest point since the COVID lockdowns. Americans cited the potential for rising inflation and unemployment as their biggest areas of concern.

In better news for the president, that same CBS poll found that nearly 60% of Americans believe Trump is using tariffs as a negotiating tool — so that message seems to have gotten through. Quinnipiac found that Republicans and Democrats are now tied on the question of “Which party cares more for the needs of people like you.” For decades, Democrats have had a massive, oftentimes twenty-point lead on that question. It now appears that more and more Americans view Republicans as caring about the needs of average people. That is a generational shift indicative of where Trump is taking the party economically. 

Supreme Court Scoreboard

(Al Drago/Getty Images)

Topline: The Supreme Court weighs several of Trump’s executive actions. How is his agenda faring – and what’s next on the docket? 

The Trump administration is at the center of several high-stakes battles before the Supreme Court. The rulings are testing the limits of executive power on issues ranging from deportations to federal regulations. At this point, SCOTUS has ruled on six emergency applications, and thus far, the president is faring well. 

One of the most significant rulings we’ve seen has been on the Alien Enemies Act. It’s a somewhat unique legal case where both sides—the Trump administration and the ACLU—are claiming victory. The administration argued that Venezuelan gangs like Tren de Aragua pose such a national security threat, and under the authority of that 1798 Act, they can remove alleged gang members rapidly, without hearings, because they’re not U.S. citizens. Last week, SCOTUS lifted a lower judge’s block on those deportations, but it did add some guardrails. Detainees must now receive notice and due process. 

In addition, the Supreme Court also overturned a lower court decision ordering Trump to rehire 16,000 probationary federal employees. In a 7-2 ruling, SCOTUS found the organizations suing lacked standing since individual workers weren’t part of the lawsuit.

Next week, the court will hear arguments regarding the president’s claim of immunity from prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. There are also challenges to executive orders on birthright citizenship and federal funding cuts in the pipeline. But so far, the court has been notably restrained. Many analysts are pointing out that Chief Justice Roberts is steering the court toward narrow, technical rulings to avoid blockbuster showdowns with Trump.

Bukele Visits the White House

(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Topline:  President Trump is set to welcome El Salvador’s president to the White House on Monday – after what Trump’s calling a “model” deal to deport alleged violent gang members.

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, arrived in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. The administration has worked closely with the Salvadoran leader on immigration and the detainment of suspected foreign gang members. The United States has sent about 250 illegal immigrants with suspected gang ties to a high-security prison in El Salvador. The two leaders have been on remarkably positive terms; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the relationship has “become a model for others to work with” the Trump administration.

“I think [Bukele]’s doing a fantastic job and taking care of a lot of problems that we really wouldn’t be able to take care of from a cost standpoint,” Trump told reporters over the weekend.

In addition to immigration, trade may also be on the agenda. Trump and Bukele haven’t mentioned this publicly, but El Salvador is technically under a blanket 10% tariff that Trump put into place last week. Roughly a third of El Salvador’s exports are sent to the United States, meaning the impact of the tariff on their economy could be significant.