The Latest: US and UK expected to announce a trade deal
By The Associated Press
The United States and Britain are expected to announce a trade deal Thursday that will lower the burden of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and deliver a political victory for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
It’s the first bilateral trade deal announced since Trump began slapping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
Here’s the latest:
First lady Melania Trump will host event commemorating Barbara Bush at the White House
She’ll unveil a U.S postage stamp Thursday afternoon featuring Bush, who was married to former President George H. W. Bush, and is the mother of former President George W. Bush.
Barbara Bush died in 2018.
Members of the Bush family are expected to be in attendance.
Melania Trump’s spokesperson says the first lady and her staff and looking forward to paying tribute to the legacy of Barbara Bush.
Trump gets his first trade deal
When the president retreated from his tariff plans in April, he announced that he would seek individual deals with various countries over the next few months.
The process has been shrouded in mystery since then, and administration officials have said they’re hard at work behind the scenes.
Now Trump gets to announce the first of what he says will be may trade deals. The agreement with the U.K. will likely be limited in scope to specific sectors, such as car manufacturing.
However, the president says it’s a sign of things to come. He wrote on Truth Social that there are “many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”
President Trump renews attack on Fed chair, calling him a ‘FOOL’
Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell early Thursday, a day after Powell said the Fed would keep its key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting.
Yet Trump did not suggest he would seek to remove Powell as chair. On Sunday, he said he would let Powell serve out his term, which lasts until next May.
Powell said Wednesday that Trump’s tariffs, if they remained in place at their current level, could weaken the economy, raise inflation and increase unemployment. Powell emphasized that the Fed is still in “wait-and-see” mode as it evaluates the tariffs’ effect on the economy.
Trump said “almost all costs” are down, including groceries and eggs, and added that there’s “virtually NO INFLATION.”
Consumer prices did fall in March, on a monthly basis, for the first time in nearly five years. Yet grocery costs jumped 0.5% just from February to March. The Fed considers inflation in check when it falls to 2%. It was 2.4% in March.
The US-UK trade deal was sought for years
When then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was campaigning for Brexit, he told voters that leaving the European Union would allow Britain to negotiate its own trade agreement with the United States. But although talks began at the end of Trump’s first term, they never came to fruition.
Negotiations languished under President Joe Biden, a Democrat and a critic of Brexit.
Now with Trump back in office, the U.S. and the U.K. are poised to announce a trade deal. Although it’s unlikely to be as “full and comprehensive” as the Republican president has claimed, it’s expected to ease the burden of his tariffs.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that it will “cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come.”
▶ Read more about the trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K.
Ukraine’s parliament ratifies a minerals deal with the US
Ukraine’s Parliament unanimously voted in favor of ratifying of a landmark minerals deal with the U.S. on Thursday afternoon, a lawmaker said.
The ratification is a key step in setting the deal in motion. It calls for the creation of a joint investment fund with the U.S.
Parliament approved the agreement with 338 members voting in favor out of the required 226 votes, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram account. No lawmaker voted against it or abstained.
Trump’s Thursday schedule, according to the White House
10 a.m.: Trump will deliver his anticipated trade announcement, likely announcing the deal between the U.S. and the United Kingdom
12 p.m.: Trump and the first lady will participate in a celebration of military mothers at the White House
Trump campaign architects are now training their sights on Albania’s upcoming election
Some of the architects of Trump’s presidential campaigns have reunited in Albania as they try to help a Trumpian candidate prevail in this weekend’s elections.
They include Chris LaCivita, who served as co-campaign manager of Trump’s successful 2024 effort, Trump’s longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio, and Paul Manafort, who served as chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign before he was convicted in 2018 of crimes that included secretly lobbying for Ukraine’s former pro-Russian president.
The trio is working for former prime minister and president Sali Berisha, the head of Albania’s opposition Democratic Party, who is challenging Prime Minister Edi Rama to return the Democrats to power, even as he awaits trial on corruption charges.
▶ Read more about the upcoming Albanian election
Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon general
Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post.
Trump said in a social media post Wednesday that Means has “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials” – referring to the “ Make America Healthy Again ” slogan – and that she will work to eradicate chronic disease and improve the health and well-being of Americans.
In doing so, Trump withdrew former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat from consideration for the job, marking at least the second health-related pick from Trump to be pulled from Senate consideration. Nesheiwat had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Thursday for her confirmation hearing.
Means and her brother, former lobbyist Calley Means, served as key advisers to Kennedy’s longshot 2024 presidential bid and helped broker his endorsement of Trump last summer.
▶ Read more about Trump’s new pick for surgeon general
States sue the Trump administration for blocking funds for electric vehicle charging
Seventeen states are suing the Trump administration for withholding billions of dollars for building more electric vehicle chargers, according to a federal lawsuit announced Wednesday.
The Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that was allocated under President Joe Biden — part of a broader push by the Republican president to roll back environmental policies advanced by his Democratic predecessor. The EV charger program was set to allocate $5 billion over five years to various states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available.
The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from California, Colorado and Washington, and challenges the Federal Highway Administration’s authority to halt the funding. They argue Congress, which approved the money in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, holds that authority.
▶ Read more about the lawsuit
US and UK expected to announce a trade deal that Trump says will cement their relationship
The United States and Britain are expected to announce a trade deal on Thursday that will lower the burden of Trump’s sweeping tariffs and deliver a political victory for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that a deal due to be announced at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) will be a “full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come.”
It’s the first bilateral trade deal announced since Trump began slapping tariffs on U.S. trading partners. He said: “Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”
Starmer’s office said the prime minister would give an “update” about U.S. trade talks later Thursday.
▶ Read more about the expected announcement
