US updates: Wall Street slides after Trump tariff threats

Several staff members of the White House National Security Council (NSC) have been dismissed as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the body.

The move follows the recent ouster of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who has been replaced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Sources told news agencies that additional dismissals are expected, with many career officials being reassigned to their original agencies. The once-powerful NSC, which previously played a key role in shaping US foreign and security policy, will be significantly downsized.

According to Reuters, the council’s staff will be reduced to around 50 members—down from over 300 under former President Joe Biden. The restructured NSC will focus primarily on implementing the president’s directives, rather than formulating policy.

The changes are expected to shift greater authority to the State Department, the Pentagon, and other agencies involved in national security and diplomacy. Sources described scenes of confusion and emotion at the White House on Friday, with some departing staff reportedly moved to tears.

The US lifted economic sanctions on Syria on Friday.

The move marks a dramatic policy shift in the wake of the fall of Bashar Assad's regime, opening the door for new investment in the country.

Syria must "continue to work towards becoming a stable country that is at peace, and today's actions will hopefully put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous and stable future," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Early on Saturday morning, Syria's Foreign Ministry responded to the move from Washington, saying it is a "positive step in the right direction to alleviate the country's humanitarian and economic suffering."

The US Treasury Department has issued a general license that enables transactions involving the interim Syrian government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, as well as the war-torn country's central bank and state-owned enterprises.

US President Donald Trump has appeared to endorse Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion (€12.3 billion) bid to acquire US Steel, calling it a "planned partnership" that would boost the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs.

"This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the US Economy," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He said most of the investment would happen within the next 14 months.

Shares of US Steel jumped 21% as investors interpreted Trump’s comments as a green light for the deal, signaling it may have cleared its final political hurdle.

In a statement, Nippon Steel said it "applauds" the bold action taken by Trump, adding it shared the administration's "commitment to protecting American workers, the American steel industry, and America's national security."

Harvard University has hit back at the US government's decision to bar it from enrolling foreign students. The University has successfully filed a lawsuit to — at least temporarily — block the revocation. The Trump government's move, however, has had a chilling effect on campus.

The US Justice Department has reached a deal in principle with aircraft maker Boeing to avoid prosecuting the company for fraud linked to two fatal 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people — an outcome sharply criticized by victims' families.

The agreement allows Boeing to avoid a felony conviction, despite years of pressure from families and lawmakers to take the case to trial.

A lawyer for the victims, Paul Cassell, called the deal "unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history" and said families would urge the court to reject it.

Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, have spent years pushing for a public trial.

Under the agreement in principle — still pending finalization — Boeing will pay and invest over $1.1 billion, including $445 million for victims' families. The crash victims’ fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim on top of an additional $243.6 million fine.

A felony conviction could jeopardize Boeing's ability to secure contracts with the US government, including defense deals — devastating for a major defense contractor. It would also severely tarnish the brand's image.r.

Boeing was accused of withholding critical safety information and misleading the FAA about the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight control system implicated in two deadly crashes. 

US President Donald Trump has threatened iPhone maker Apple and other smartphone manufacturers with a 25% tariff unless their devices are built in the United States.

Trump initially singled out Apple in his warning — an unusual move in trade policy — but later expanded the threat.

"It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn't be fair," he told reporters in Washington. Trump said the tariffs would take effect by the "end of June."

Apple designs its products in the US, but most iPhone assembly is in China, which is locked in a trade dispute with Washington. The company has announced plans to shift some production to countries like India, but Trump said that would not meet his expectations.

Donald Trump's latest tariff threats appear to come out of nowhere and might end up amounting to nothing, according to economist and author Agathe Demarais, a Senior Policy Fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

"Tariff rates are so stratospheric that they do not mean much anymore. One could wonder why Trump is going for a 50% tariff rate against the EU instead of 25% or 100%," said Demarais.

"Perhaps he'll escalate his tariff threats to 100% in a few hours or back down by the end of the day. No one knows, probably not even himself. American firms and consumers will bear the brunt of US tariffs. Such measures are a tax on imports and US firms typically pass on higher costs to consumers, fuelling inflation and weighing on US growth prospects."

Demarais said Trump might have to row back from his threat if, like last time, the financial markets react too strongly to the prospect of a spiralling trade war.

"The EU does not do trade deals in a few hours: this is simply not the way the bloc works. This means that if financial markets react strongly to Trump's announcements, then he may have to blink first as he realizes that a 50% tariff on the EU would be highly damaging for the US economy. Trump's announcement is coming out of the blue, suggesting it hadn't been priced in by financial markets."

US President Donald Trump has said he is recommending a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, citing a breakdown in trade negotiations.

"Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He accused the EU of being "formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE," and said the bloc has been "very difficult to deal with."

Trump also criticized what he described as the EU's "powerful trade barriers," listing sales taxes, corporate liabilities, non-tariff barriers, fiscal "manipulations," and unfair and unjustified lawsuits against US firms.

US President Donald Trump has threatened tech giant Apple with a 25% tariff if it does not move iPhone production to the United States, sending the company's share price plummeting.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had "long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else."

"If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple to the US," he added.

Apple, which designs its products in the US, currently assembles most iPhones in China. While the company has shifted some production to countries like India, Trump said that would not resolve the issue.

Apple has become a central target of Trump's push to bring manufacturing back to the US, and his direct threat of tariffs against a specific company is highly unusual. The comments followed similar remarks he made last week during a trip to Qatar.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.

The ruling came hours after Harvard filed a lawsuit in Boston, calling the move a "blatant violation" of the US Constitution and federal law. The university said the administration’s announcement would have an "immediate and devastating effect" on its operations and more than 7,000 visa holders.

The temporary restraining order bars the government from removing Harvard's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows the university to admit foreign students on visas.

Read the full story on the dispute between the Trump administration and Harvard University here.

Wall Street stocks have been tumbling after US President Donald Trump threatened major new tariffs on the European Union and Apple, sparking renewed trade fears.

Trump said in a social media post that he is recommending "a straight 50% Tariff" on the EU, citing a lack of progress in trade negotiations.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.0% at 41,482.27. The S&P 500 dropped 1.1% to 5,779.68, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.4% to 18,668.83.

The threat shifted market attention back to Trump's aggressive trade policy after the focus earlier this week had been on congressional debate over his tax bill.

Stock index futures turned sharply negative following the post. Meanwhile, the VIX volatility index, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," was up 18.5% at around 9:30 a.m. local time in New York (1330 GMT).

"This is not exactly the trade anyone was hoping for going into the extended Memorial Day weekend," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 index fell 2.3% in afternoon deals while Germany's DAX retreated by 1.8 percent as shares in luxury and car companies took a hit.

Trump also warned that Apple could face tariffs of "at least" 25% if it does not move iPhone production to the US. Apple shares fell 2.4%.

Wall Street has been tumbling after Trump reignited trade tensions, threatening a 50% tariff on the EU and at least 25% on Apple if it doesn't shift iPhone production to the US.

Apple shares have dropped 2.4%, while the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq have all fallen by more than 1%, with market volatility spiking.

The move has shifted market focus back to Trump's aggressive trade stance after the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed his sweeping tax and spending bill by only a narrow margin on Thursday.

This blog will keep you updated with those stories plus other news from the United States.