Reuters World News - SCOTUS on deportations, China tariffs, Trump adviser spat and Iran

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to keep deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members using a 1798 law, but with certain limits. China refuses to bow to what it called "blackmail" from the U.S. over tariffs - which have also sparked White House infighting. Plus, Trump's surprise announcement on direct nuclear talks with Iran. Find our recommended read here: Astronomers spot two white dwarfs doomed to die in a quadruple detonation Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court gives the Trump administration a temporary win in its deportation efforts. How sweeping tariffs have sparked infighting among Trump's advisors. And we unpack Trump's surprise announcement on direct nuclear talks with Iran. It's Tuesday, April 8th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara O'Poc. in Liverpool.

The U.S. Supreme Court says Donald Trump can use a 1798 wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, at least while litigation in the case continues. The court's majority did place limits on how deportations could occur, emphasizing that judicial review is required. Late last week, a Maryland judge ordered the Trump administration return, one of the hundreds who were deported on March 15th to a notorious El Salvadoran prison. Kilmar Abrago-Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquezura, was hopeful he'd be back on U.S. soil by Monday at midnight,

as the judge had ordered. And we will continue fighting for Kilmar for my husband. But as the case rocketed through the judicial system on Monday, the chances of his return again became uncertain. Our courts reporter, Mike Scarcella, has been following the case from D.C. A federal judge gave the U.S. government a deadline of Monday, 1159 p.m. to return Mr. Brago-Garcia to the United States. And the Trump administration quickly appealed to the Fourth Circuit asking the court to pause the order. On Monday, the court denied the government's request.

And so the Supreme Court at the request of the Justice Department stepped in. in and put the appeals court order on pause pending further review by the justices. So what is the Justice Department saying as to why the judge's original order couldn't be followed? So the Justice Department's main argument here is that Mr. Abrago Garcia is in the custody of El Salvador, and he's outside the reach of the U.S. courts. And essentially, the U.S. government says, we concede that he should not have been removed. but their hands are tied. And the appeals court said,

you haven't given any reason, A, why you thought you could deport him, but B, you haven't offered any evidence why you can't bring Mr. Abrago Garcia back from El Salvador. China has vowed not to bow to blackmail from the U.S. After President Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs on U.S. imports from Beijing to more than 100%. And it's not just international players who are ruffled. Tariff drama is also spilling over from inside the White House. Trump's biggest donor and advisor Elon Musk has been taking aim at Peter Navarro,

Trump's top trade advisor. In a post on acts over the weekend, Musk took a jab at Navarro, saying that holding a PhD in economics from Harvard is a bad thing, not good. Now, Navarro has said that the White House and the American people, know that Musk is motivated by self-interest and even called him a car assembler. Our White House reporter, Andrea Shalal, is sifting through what's behind all these snarky comments. I think the feud between Navarro and Musk has sort of spilled out into the open. It underscores the deep divisions that exist among key advisors to President Trump over this policy

of imposing very steep tariffs on a very large number of countries. And I think this division, this concern is grown as the market turmoil has increased day after day after day. And I think you're just sort of seeing that spill out into the open. Stock markets are rebounding after a gut-wrenching few days. Japan is leading gains in Asia after President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to, open trade talks. But questions remain over whether the bounce in markets will last. And if things

really do start sliding again on stock markets, don't expect the Fed to come to investors rescue. Our Fed reporter Howard Schneider explains. What's happening now is the world trying to reprise Donald Trump, all of these things that have to do with the functioning of the real economy are now getting reprised. But if you go into the broader market, the broader financial system, if you look for this sort of signs of stress that would get the Fed's attention, they don't look like they're really, you know, going haywire. The stock market's a different thing. They will not ride to the rescue of the stock market because here's the problem. The tariffs are going to push up inflation. They know that. They don't know how far or when. The tariffs are going to slow growth.

They don't know how fast or when. Those two things require different policy responses. So this idea that the Fed comes in when markets need them, well, they come in when they think the economy needs them or when they think broader market functioning is impaired. None of that seems to be happening now. And they don't know which way the economy is really going to pivot. So what should we be expecting a rate cut in May, June? What you should be expecting is that you won't know what's going to happen for a while. It was three cuts before all this market mayhem started. Now it's up to four. I mean, that's a move, but it's not a gigantic move. And it's not like they're expecting the Fed to take half a point out in May and half a point out in June.

You know, that's like ride to the rescue rate cutting, right? This is not ride to the rescue rate cutting that the market's pricing right now. We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started, it'll go on Saturday. President Trump making a surprise announcement in the Oval Office during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the U.S. and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear program. I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.

And I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon. Iran's foreign minister says the discussions in Oman will be indirect. Ed Blair is our Middle East editor. This is a significant step to bring the two sides together. Whether or not this lowers tension or raises the stakes is another. matter and is unclear. The fact that they are talking, of course, does mean that they are communicating. It does mean that it pushes back any action, military action. However, it doesn't necessarily preclude that from happening. The talks, in a sense, can raise the stakes. The US wants

the Iranian nuclear program dismantled, and Iran obviously wants to preserve it. Whether they can find a middle ground that brings both sides together is another matter. And whether that middle ground is enough to prevent action which Trump did not speak about in his news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has stated before

is another matter. Sources told Reuters, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield who holds a senior position in NATO has been fired as a part of what appears to be an expanding national security purge of top officials

by the Trump administration. Chatfield is one of only a handful of female Navy three-star officers. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has landed in Panama. It's his first official visit to the country as questions persist about President Trump's repeated vows to take back the Panama Canal. The cries of wolf cubs, Romulus and Remus. US biotechnology company colossal biosciences say they're dire wolves, claiming they've produced them by modifying the genes. of a modern-day grey wolf using extinct direwolf DNA found in fossils.

Some in the scientific community remain skeptical, including Corey Bradshaw, Professor of Global Ecology at Australia's Flinders University. Those slight modifications seem to have been derived from retrieved diewolf material. Does that make it a diewolf? No. Does it make a slightly modified grey wolf? Yes. And that's probably about it. And for today's recommended read, a supernova showdown in the Milky Way. Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered two hefty white dwarf stars, each about as big as planet Earth orbiting close together.

And they appeared destined to die in an extraordinarily violent quadruple detonation. There's a link to a story in today's show description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.