Tangle - Trump reverses, pauses tariffs.

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on the individualized tariffs imposed on U.S. trading partners, with the exception of China. The pause came roughly 13 hours after the tariffs took effect, and the White House said tariff levels would return to 10% on all imports during the pause. Conversely, President Trump raised the tariff on Chinese imports from 104% to 125%, effective immediately, citing “the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.” Combined with the existing 20% tariff announced in February, the White House says the effective tariff rate on Chinese imports is now 145%. Additionally, increased 25% tariffs on cars, steel, and aluminum from all countries will remain in place. Ad-free podcasts are here!Many listeners have been asking for an ad-free version of this podcast that they could subscribe to — and we finally launched it. You can go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.Take the survey: What do you think of Trump’s decision to pause tariffs? Let us know!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Hunter Casperson, Kendall White, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead. Our logo was created by Magdalena Bokowa, Head of Partnerships and Socials.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. And welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place where we get views from across the political

spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of our take. I'm your host for today. Tangle managing editor Ari Weitzman filling in for Isaac Saul. Routine stuff. Isaac's just taking the train down to Washington, DC for an interview today. So I'm going to be helping out by reading down the

podcast. We have a lot to cover today. Donald Trump just announced that he's reversing the tariffs that were announced last week. Got a lot of thoughts, got a lot to get through. So let's get to it. First up, just want to give you guys a heads up that tomorrow we're going to be publishing Isaac's interview with Richard Henania, who is a controversial

conservative commentator who recently disavowed his support for Donald Trump. He's perhaps best known for being a former white supremacist whose synonymous writing for white nationalists and alt-right websites from the early 2010s was uncovered just about the time that he was becoming a conservative influential voice. In the interview, Isaac's going to talk with Richard about his evolution, whether it was genuine or opportunism, how his views have shifted over time, and how he's changed his mind about Trump.

We'll also discuss some of the criticism about our decision to interview Hanana in the first place. And remember, Friday interviews like this one are available ad free to Tangle Podcast subscribers to become a member. Go to retangle.com. All right. With that said, I'm going to pass it over to John for our quick hits and today's main topic.

Then I'll be back for Isaac's My Take. Thanks Ari and welcome everybody. take. Thanks Ari, and welcome everybody. Here are your quick hits for today. First up, the House passed the Republican budget blueprint by a vote of 216 to 214 after House Speaker Mike Johnson made assurances to GOP holdouts about finding at least $1.5 trillion in cuts in the budget. Number 2. The Consumer Price Index for March showed consumer prices increased 2.4% from the year

prior, less than economists expected and down from a 2.8% year-over-year increase in February. The month-over-month CPI fell by 0.1 percent. 3. Federal judges in New York and Texas blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan men who are at risk of deportation under President Donald Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. 4. President Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate and revoke the security clearances of former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs and former

Homeland Security official Miles Taylor. Krebs had criticized Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen, while Taylor criticized the president's conduct during his first term. And number five, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at bolstering the U.S. coal industry, including directives to federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, removing barriers to coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing efforts. So every country in the world who wants to come and negotiate, we are willing to hear you. We're going to go down to a 10% baseline tariff for them and China will be raised to

$125 due to their insistence on escalation. At the 90-day pause when there were so many tariffs, is that because of the wind blasts that we've been seeing across the financial markets? How much was, you know, what we saw in the stock markets, you know, a part of this decision? No, it's because it's going to, because of the large number of inbounds, we've had more than 75 countries contact us, and I imagine after today there will be more. So it is just a processing problem.

Each one of these solutions is going to be bespoke, it is going to take some time, and President Trump wants to be personally involved. So that's why we're getting the 90-day pause. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on the individualized tariffs imposed on U.S. trading partners, with the exception of China. The pause came roughly 13 hours after the tariffs took effect, and the White House said tariff levels would return to 10 percent on all imports during the pause. Conversely, President Trump raised the tariff on Chinese imports from 104% to 125% effective

immediately, citing the lack of respect that China has shown to the world's markets. Combined with the 20% tariff announced in February, the White House says the effective tariff rate on Chinese imports is now 145%. Additionally, increased 25% tariffs on cars, steel, and aluminum from all countries will remain in place. Based on the fact that more than 75 countries have called representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to trade, trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs, and that these countries have not,

at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90-day pause and a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff during this period of 10 percent, also effective immediately," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Prior to the announcement, the United States imposed individualized tariffs on dozens of countries, with President Trump justifying the move by declaring a national emergency due to trading practices that purportedly posed an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security

and economy of the United States. The move prompted a range of responses from foreign leaders, with some seeking negotiations and deals with the White House and others promising retaliatory measures. On Friday, China responded to the additional 34 percent levy on its goods with a matching 34 percent tariff on U.S. imports. President Trump then raised the tariff on Chinese products to 104%, after which China increased their tariffs on U.S. goods to 84%, prompting Trump to raise the rate on Chinese imports again to 125% or 145% cumulatively.

Furthermore, on Wednesday, the European Union approved a set of retaliatory duties on a broad swath of U.S. goods, though it paused these duties after Trump announced the U.S. pause. Meanwhile, Canada imposed a 25% tariff on select vehicle imports from the U.S. The White House said that the existing 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods not covered under the USMCA trade pact are unaffected by the pause, and that energy and potash imports from the two countries will also continue to be tariffed at 10%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bissette reaffirmed Trump's claim that over 75 countries had

contacted the administration in attempts to negotiate the tariffs, adding that each one of these solutions is going to be bespoke, it is going to take some time, and President Trump wants to be personally involved. That's why we're getting the 90-day pause. Immediately following President Trump's announcement of the pause, major stock indexes rallied. The one-day gain was the largest for the S&P 500 since 2008, for the Dow Jones industrial average since March 2020, and for the Nasdaq Composite since January 2001, and its second-best day ever. Today, we'll cover the latest on the tariffs and the global response with views from the left and the right, and then Isaac's take.

We'll be right back after this quick break. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Alright, first let's start with what the left is saying. The left sharply criticizes Trump's handling of the entire saga, with many noting that the rationale for the pause runs counter to his justification for the tariffs. Some say the ongoing trade war with China remains a potent threat. Others worry that Trump has done lasting damage to America's global standing. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board called the pause a respite from chaos as Trump

blinks. The president tried to claim victory amid the wreckage of his defeat, but to clear-eyed analysts, it is painfully obvious Trump is in deep over his head. He has no idea what he's doing, yet continues to whipsaw the world around like a madman while callously risking Americans' life savings and livelihoods," the board wrote. Trump did not care about the financial pain and anxiety he inflicted on small business owners, farmers, factory workers, or old-age pensioners.

It was only after billionaire tech moguls, private equity vultures, and GOP megadonors began squealing that Trump blinked. No one should be surprised by Trump's chaos, recklessness, and incompetence. He did the same nonsense during his first term, issuing illegal orders, picking needless fights, and floating in A&ID, as the board said. Experts said Trump's tariff math was wrong, made no sense, and would cause a recession. History showed tariffs worsened the Great Depression. The tariffs were estimated to cost the average American household $4,600 a year in higher

prices. They were also projected to increase inflation and spur layoffs. Trump ignored all the facts and warnings. He decided to mess around and find out, no matter the cost to everyone else. In Vox, Eric Levitz explored the questionable assumption fueling the stock market rally. Trump's 125% tariff on Chinese imports marked the culmination of a week-long, tip-for-tat volley of tariffs between Beijing and Washington. Now, with U.S. imports facing an 84% tariff in China, more or less all trade between the

world's two greatest economic powers has ceased," Levitz wrote. Nevertheless, stock markets soared following Trump's announcement, with the S&P 500 seeing its biggest rally in five years. But we aren't out of the woods yet. Trump's current plans may look moderate compared to the shocking radicalism of his initial reciprocal tariffs. But prior to Trump's inauguration, a 10% universal tariff, combined with a total decoupling

of the U.S. and Chinese economies, was widely considered the worst-case scenario. Wall Street's burgeoning optimism for the American economy therefore depends on the assumption that Trump will continue retreating from his current position. If he instead maintains his current course, the U.S. will face surging prices and a heightened risk of recession, Levitt said. Trump backing down further on tariffs is no safe bet. As he made clear in recent days, he believes that the United States should run a trade surplus in goods with every country on the planet, and that any country that runs a trade

surplus with us is ripping America off. So long as Trump maintains this belief, it is hard to see how he negotiates resolutions with America's major trade partners. In The New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman wrote about what Trump just cost America. Think of what Trump, his chief knucklehead, Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, his assistant chief knucklehead, Scott Besantick, the commerce secretary, his assistant chief knucklehead Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, and his deputy assistant chief knucklehead Peter Navarro, the top trade advisor,

have told us repeatedly for the past weeks. Trump won't back off these tariffs because, take your choice. He needs them to keep fentanyl from killing our kids. He needs them to raise revenue to pay for future tax cuts. And he needs them to pressure the world to buy more stuff from us," Friedman said. After creating havoc in the markets, standing on these steadfast principles, undoubtedly prompting many Americans to sell low out of fear, Trump reversed much of it on Wednesday. But don't think for a second that all that's been lost is money.

A whole pile of invaluable trust just went up in smoke as well. In the last few weeks, we've been told our closest friends in the world, countries that stood shoulder to shoulder with us after September 11th in Iraq and Afghanistan, that none of them were any different from China or Russia. They were all going to get tariffed under the same formula. No friends and family discount allowed, Friedman wrote. Do you think these former close US allies are ever going to trust getting into the trench with this administration again?

Alright, that is simply what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. Many on the right are glad that Trump paused the bulk of the tariffs, but worry about the lack of a clear strategy from the White House. Some argue the pause will isolate China. Others say tariffs are still justified but call for better communication from the administration. The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote, Trump blinks on tariffs again for now. President Trump says trade wars are easy to win.

Investors think otherwise, and on Wednesday, Mr. Trump decided maybe investors are right, the board said. Markets celebrated with a stock market rally in hope that perhaps Mr. Trump isn't entirely oblivious to the damage he's causing. The route in dollar assets reversed, at least somewhat, and the rise in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased. It would be hard to find better evidence that markets believe the biggest threat to the world economy is Mr. Trump's tariffs.

The pause is a partial reprieve, but hardly an end to the terror of mayhem. For one thing, the administration can't get its story straight. Mr. Trump's pause came not long after Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told bankers the economy is in pretty good shape. He dismissed the bond route as normal trading. But then why the tariff paused, the board wrote. If decoupling from China is Mr. Trump's goal, one way to mitigate the damage is by expanding trade with allies. But Mr. Trump's goal, one way to mitigate the damage is by expanding trade with allies.

But Mr. Trump's tariffs slam friend and foe alike. Mr. Trump's pause could give the administration time to negotiate trade deals with many of his targets, but he's not pausing his 10% base tariff on most countries. In red state, Bonchi said the pause puts China in the crosshairs. That news sends stocks soaring, with the three major markets all up over 5% as of this writing. While there's still a ways to go to make up the losses from this week, that's certainly a welcome start for everyone invested, including all the Americans who rely on the stock market to build their retirements, Bonchi wrote.

Where does this go from here? It seems like Treasury Secretary Scott Bissett has firmly taken control of the ship. He is now advertising that countries that do not retaliate will be rewarded as deals are struck. 90 days should offer a long enough period to get most of this done with our allies and favorite partners. What does this mean for those who wanted to use tariffs to remake the economy? I'm not sure.

There is still a lot to be decided here, but for now, a more pro-growth strategy seems to have been adopted, and that's a good thing for all Americans and Republicans politically. It also gives the United States the leverage it needs to take on China without ancillary factors getting in the way. If Trump can get deals with nations like China, Vietnam, and South Korea relatively quickly, then the CCP will be isolated in a way it hasn't been in a long time. In Blaze Media, Christopher Bedford suggested the White House's mixed messaging threatens to sabotage Trump's trade war.

Turfs aren't a one-dimensional tool. They can be used for all types of policy objectives. Is the goal to reshore American industry, lower and erase trade barriers, or simply break dependence on China? The problem for President Donald Trump's administration is that disorganized and mixed messaging with a heavy dose of wishful coping threatens to undermine the whole thing, Bedford wrote. Not all the goals are at odds, but some of them are, and expectations certainly aren't set for which goal the administration is pursuing. Lower trade barriers around the world would be all well and good for trade hawks, but not so much for those who believe the United States needs to rebuild its famed industrial

power, Bedford said. Trump's longest-held political view is that the United States is getting ripped off by the world. He's beat this drum for decades, and by all accounts, he's completely committed to changing that at long last. Vance, Lutnick, and Navarro all share Trump's view. They want a change and aren't likely to retreat from that position. But if they're intending to take the long, hard road toward reshoring, they'd best let

us know what we're in for. All right, let's head over to Ari for today's take. [♪ Music playing. [♪ Music playing. [♪ Music playing. All right, that is it for what the right and left are saying, which brings us to Isaac's My Take, which I'm going to read in first person, but this is all Isaac.

So skipping any preamble today, here are 16 thoughts on what just happened. One, Trump blinked. In the moments after Trump blinked, many of his sycophantic fans insisted that we were observing the art of the deal, that he had won, had isolated China, had brought our trading partners to the negotiating table, and that this was the plan all along. This obviously is nonsense. Trump was watching the U.S. bond market and stock market collapse simultaneously, and

the Treasury yields refused to come down, realized he was cornered, and folded his hand. Two, nevertheless, a lot of people pretended that Trump capitulating was actually him conducting his grand opening gambit to reform global trade. And then the president got in front of a microphone. And to remove any doubt about what had just happened, he said the obvious and frightening truth out loud. He decided to pause the bulk of his reciprocal tariffs because people were getting a little bit afraid.

He said he watched JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warn about the market reaction and a possible recession on TV. He said he was making tariff decisions, quote, instinctively, had to be flexible and was keeping an eye on the markets. So in case there was any doubt, that's Trump's real reasoning for the tariff reversal. Trump was not executing any grand plan. This was not the art of the deal. He saw the stock and bond markets collapsing, people around him got afraid, and he backed

down. Three, now let's back up and revisit some questions that we had from a few days ago. I wanted to understand the Trump administration's grand plan, and it turns out they did not have one. When they said they were rolling out global tariffs to negotiate new trade deals, but also said the tariffs weren't a negotiation tactic, that wasn't 4D chess. It was the lack of a plan.

When they said the plan was to end up with zero tariffs and total free trade, and also said they wanted to raise tax revenue. That wasn't 4D chess. It was a lack of a plan. When they warned about the need to be tough and take our medicine and promised that under no circumstances would they back down. And then back down. That wasn't 4D chess.

It was a lack of a plan. Four, I, again, Isaac, am a political moderate. My political ideology is drawn from a wide range of thinkers across the classical liberal, progressive, conservative, and Trumpist ideologies. I like some of what Trump does. I do not like some of what Trump does. I am not a sycophant.

I am not a hater. So I want to be clear as I can. Criticizing the absurdity of the last week is absolutely essential for anyone who values intellectual honesty. We should plainly and repeatedly call out the stupidity of the past week with great clarity. Doing this does not make you a partisan hack. It does not mean you have Trump derangement syndrome. In the insanity of this information cesspool we all live in, it has been a very embarrassing, contradictory, nonsensical, and unproductive week for the Trump administration.

We should all be able to call that out without fear of criticism or accusations of partisanship. Otherwise, this great, great big wild nation might completely and utterly lose its collective mind. I think maybe nothing was accomplished. What deal did we make? What did we win? The administration says representatives from other countries are calling to negotiate.

That's great, but to negotiate for what? Previously, the White House has said, this is not a negotiation. And now they won't say who has called to negotiate for what? Previously the White House has said this is not a negotiation and now they won't say who has called to negotiate. But also this isn't a negotiation. It's about rectifying unfair trade practices which Trump has defined as anytime we have a trade deficit. I explained why that's nonsense a couple days ago but today that just seems to be China. We'll see if this 90-day pause brings about a slew of incredible new trade deals, at which point I will publicly eat my words and concede this global

brinksmanship was all worth something. But for now, we should not be pretending a deal was made when we've seen absolutely no proof of deals that have been made. Things are still not great. The market rallied yesterday, but that did not make up the ground from the major selloff that have been made. Things are still not great. The market rallied yesterday, but that did not make up the ground from the major sell-off that preceded it. Any middle class American with a stock portfolio or 401k has probably seen something in the ballpark

of a 10% shave off their investments over the last week or two for no good reason. We also know from a rare moment of clarity from the administration provided by Scott Besson that one key objective of high tariffs was bringing down the yield on Treasury notes. Instead, yields kept climbing until Trump paused the tariffs. So they got the opposite result they had hoped for. And we still can't expect Treasury yields or the Federal Reserve's interest rate to come down. We still have massive tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, and a flat tariff for the rest of the world, which are likely to stymie growth and increase prices in the coming months. Also, these quote, reciprocal tariffs aren't gone.

They're just paused for 90 days. And Trump can undo that pause at any moment, which creates a great deal of uncertainty. Small businesses are still scrambling amid the volatility, some manufacturers have already canceled huge contracts, and who's to say whether they can trust the future and come back to the United States? 7. Are we all comfortable with one person having this kind of power? Does Congress have any interest in wresting

its constitutional power of the purse back from the executive? I'm really asking. Some random ex-account with Bloomberg in its name moved trillions of dollars of market wealth earlier this week just by posting an inaccurate tweet that Trump was going to back off the tariffs. Then when Trump actually did post the tweet

backing off the tariffs, the market absolutely exploded. How comfortable are you with any one person with an iPhone being able to impact the economy this way? 8. It seems very obvious that some people knew this announcement was coming and profited from it bigly. Market sleuths have documented absolutely massive, unusual market buys just minutes before the announcement was made. People placing risky and totally rational bets on a quick turnaround of the market that only makes sense if they knew the president

was about to make a market shifting announcement. To me, this should be front page news and launch a serious fraud investigation. Thankfully, some members of Congress agree and are calling this out. Nine, what did we learn? I'll go first. The bond market did not behave as a lot of people thought it would, which seems somewhat

alarming. It appears countries like Japan and China have a lot more influence over us and our policies and our financial viability than we are ready to admit. Also, many, many smart people will apparently defend the president no matter how silly it makes them look. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones and all other real markets we attach value to can look a lot Many smart people will apparently defend the president no matter how silly it makes them look. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones and all other real markets we attach value to can look a lot like volatile crypto stocks under the right circumstances.

Oh, also applying massive across the board reciprocal tariffs on nearly every nation on earth, while also hammering one of our largest trading partners of tariffs in excess of 100% is a very good way to immediately crash the economy. So if you ever want to do something like that, you now have a good playbook to follow. 10, politicians can be dishonest and predictable and vapid in ways that we know about,

but are still infuriating. For example, there's this freshman congressman from Pennsylvania whose race I followed because it was in my home state, competitive, and of course, very expensive. He spent his campaign demanding that members of Congress stop trading stock and hammered his opponent for not co-sponsoring a bill

to ban stock trading in Congress. It was a very convincing populist kind of shtick, but a lot of people took it seriously, including me. Now that he's in Congress. It was a very convincing populist kind of shtick, but a lot of people took it seriously, including me. Now that he's in Congress, he's not only not co-sponsoring any bills to ban stock trading, he's become one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress. This is a certain genre of politicking that is so insulting to our intelligence that it takes all my willpower to stop my blood from boiling. This is the same kind of hypocrisy that can lead a politician to shamelessly spend all

week touting the line that tariffs are good, that they will make us rich, that they will restore American manufacturing, that they'll create jobs, and then say after the president pauses tariffs that this is great, that we've reformed global trade, that we're winning. This is all part of the plan. It's that same genre of let's see how gullible all of you really are politics. And it's one of those things that causes me to just lose my cool.

11, brief interlude just to take a breath, noting that's 10 points of basically nothing but harsh criticism for the administration, all well deserved, but maybe it's getting a little repetitive and a little boring. So let me try to steel man Trump's decision making without debasing myself by detaching from reality and pretending this is all part of some kind of master plan from the start and that Trump got what he wanted. All right, here it goes.

Number 12. Putting aside for a moment the path he took to get there, Trump is now pursuing the tariff route that a lot of mainstream pro-tariff people wanted him to pursue in the first place. For instance, Orrin Cass cheered this specific outcome and crossed the board 10% tariff on all imports, some tough love to Canada and Mexico, and an all-out confrontation with China.

Cass put it like this, quote, phasing in the reciprocal tariffs strengthens them considerably, retaining the benefits of negotiating under credible threat and making the threat more sustainable and thus credible while reducing costly disruptions before firms can adapt." China is poorly positioned to weather this storm, and in the US, the biggest economic issue inflation seems to be improving. And of course, you could argue that Trump would never have gotten the world's attention

and China's unless he had taken an untraditional route to open negotiations. 13. In other words, with the more outlandish tariffs paused, or hopefully off the table, we'll now get a chance to see a more evidence-based tariff policy. Cass and others have been advocating for Congress to formalize an across-the-board 10% tariff, and Rep Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, actually proposed a bill to that effect in January. So I'm interested to see what the impact of that more purposeful strategy will be. What happens when we actually confront China? How much revenue

does a 10% across-the-board tariff actually raise, and doesn't meaningfully help with our government's budget issues? What does it do for American manufacturing and job markets? We've been completely locked into Trump's instincts and whims for the past week, help with our government's budget issues? What does it do for American manufacturing and job markets? We've been completely locked into Trump's instincts and whims for the past week, but now we can test the mainstream pro-tariff economic plan. 14. Rep. Golden isn't the only Democrat who supports broad tariffs, and it wasn't so long ago that tariffs were an almost exclusively left-wing proposal.

Michigan's Democratic governor and 2028 presidential hopeful, Gretchen Whitmer was welcomed to the White House in an oddly positive fashion yesterday, with Trump heaping praise upon her. Rather than hammer Trump publicly over the tariffs, Whitmer has emphasized their common ground and insisted there's a way to enact tariffs that is helpful for Americans. That's interesting. Trump's approval on the economy seems to be created for the first time ever outside of the pandemic, and at least a faction of the opposition party appears hesitant to break with him on the issue that is driving that unpopularity.

Politically, to me, not voicing a unified opposition to the president nearly driving the economy off the cliff seems pretty idiotic. But ideologically, it at least has some intellectual honesty. They're not pretending they hate the policies they've been supportive of simply because Trump is now backing them. 15. A remarkable story about Gary Cohn and Trump was making the rounds yesterday. Cohn is Trump's former chief economic advisor, and he wrote in his book that he used to spend a great deal of time trying to convince Trump that Americans didn't want to work in factories

anymore. And Cohn's telling. He'd regularly bring Trump economic data to make his point, explaining why an average worker would prefer to be at their desk in an air-conditioned office rather than working in front of a 2,000 degree blast furnace. But Trump was unconvinced. He seems earnestly attached to an outdated vision of the American worker, which very well might be the thing that is driving all the tumult we've experienced over the last

few weeks. 16. I'll conclude by saying what I've said from the get-go. While I've been very critical of the administration over the last week, I still don't think we can reasonably pass judgment on the efficacy of Donald Trump's tariff policy, however it ends up, for some time now. Maybe economists who tariff experts can, but I definitely do not feel equipped to. The uncomfortable truth for most journalists, pundits, and politicians is that this is a project whose long-term results in six months or six years matter a lot more

than the market's reaction over the course of six days. I'm skeptical. I think this was a ham-handed and unnecessarily chaotic rollout and I ultimately believe Trump's tariff policy is potentially economically ruinous. But it would be dishonest of me to pretend this story and its ending is already written. We'll be right back after this quick break. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff.

And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at Fizz.ca. All right. That's it for my take for today. Since it is a bit of a long one, we're going to be skipping the reader question, which means I'm sending it back over to John for the rest of the podcast. And I, or someone like me, will talk to you again soon. Hope you guys are all doing okay.

It's been a weird week, weird day. Have a good one. ["Skype News Theme"] Thanks Ari. Here's your under the radar story for today, folks. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilkin held a final hearing on a $2.8 billion settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or the NCAA, and its largest conferences, the ACC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, PAC-12, and and SEC that is poised to alter the landscape of college

athletics. The deal would distribute $2.78 billion in back pay to college athletes who competed between 2016 and 2024 but were fully or partially shut out from the NCAA's Name, Image, and Likeness rules, which began in 2021, and allow student athletes to accept payment to promote products and services. Additionally, the settlement will allow schools to pay athletes directly, establishing a pool of $20.5 million for each school in the agreement's first year. Judge Wilkin must approve the deal before it can go into effect, and she could rule

as soon as April 14. The Associated Press has an explainer on this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. Alright, next up is our numbers section. The percent change in the NASDAQ composite between market close on April 2nd, when President Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, and market open on April April 3 was minus 4.4%. The percent change in the S&P 500 between market close on April 2 and market open on April 3 was minus 3.3%.

The percent change in the Dow Jones Industrial Average between market close on April 2 and market open on April 3 was minus 2.5%. The time on Wednesday that President Donald Trump announced the 90-day pause on tariffs was 1.18 p.m. Eastern Time. The percentage change in the NASDAQ composite between 1.15 p.m. and 1.35 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday was plus 7.1 percent. The percentage change in the S&P 500 index between 1.15 p.m. and 1.35 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday was plus 6.5 percent.

And the percentage in the Dow Jones Industrial Average between 1.15 p.m. and 1.35 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday was plus 6.1 percent. And last but not least, our Have a Nice Day story. Josie Church and Ann Wallace-Hadrill have been neighbors in Oxford since the 1980s, but have been unknowingly linked by a shared birthday since 1924. The women bonded after their husbands died, staying busy with volunteering and creative activities. Since discovering their shared birthdate, the duo has celebrated the day together for years.

On April 1st of this year, they celebrated their 101st birthdays. When asked for tips on leading a long life, Church responded, just live. Good News Network has this story and there's a link in today's episode description. All right everybody, that is it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to reetangle.com where you can sign up for a newsletter membership, podcast membership, or a bundled membership that gets you a discount on both. In tomorrow's Members Exclusive Friday Edition, Isaac sits down for an interview with Richard

Henanya, the controversial conservative commentator who recently disavowed his support for Trump. In order to receive this edition and other Friday editions in full, as well as Sunday editions, bonus content, interviews, and so much more, you need to be a member. So head over to our Memberships page and sign up for one of the options. Isaac and Ari will be here for the Sunday podcast and I will return on Monday. For Isaac and the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have an absolutely fantastic weekend, y'all. Peace. Our executive editor and founder is me, Isaac Saul, and our executive producer is John Lowe.

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