The Latest: Trump delays tariff implementation another month
Jul 8, 2025, 5:47 AM
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump ’s latest executive order delaying official tariff increases on dozens of countries until Aug. 1 has relieved some pressure on world markets, but he also ordered a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, citing persistent trade imbalances with the two crucial U.S. allies in Asia.
The IRS says churches can now endorse or oppose politicians, unlike other tax-exempt organizations. And Trump plans a Friday visit to Texas, where flash floods killed more than 100 people, raising questions about whether more people will suffer due to his cuts to the National Weather Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Latest:
The White House won’t say if Trump, who plans to visit flood-ravaged Texas on Friday, will be rethinking phasing out the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Asked if Trump may delay his promise to close FEMA and leave disaster response up to the states, Leavitt said, “The president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can,” and added that Texas officials are doing a “tremendous job.”
Pressed in a subsequent question about phasing out FEMA, Leavitt said she’d already answered the question — even though she hadn’t.
She also bristled at suggestions that Trump’s deep cuts to federal services may have affected the government response. She blamed Democrats, said faulting “President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie” and insisted that the National Weather Service “did its job” by spreading warnings about possible catastrophic flooding.
The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on trading partners to quickly make new deals before a Wednesday deadline, with plans for the United States to start sending letters Monday warning countries that higher tariffs could kick in Aug. 1.
That furthers the uncertainty for businesses, consumers and America’s trading partners, and questions remain about which countries will be notified, whether anything will change in the days ahead and whether President Donald Trump will once more push off imposing the rates. Trump and his top trade advisers say he could extend the time for dealmaking but they insist the administration is applying maximum pressure on other nations.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Trump would decide when it was time to give up on negotiations.
