President Trump’s move to impose harsh tariffs on nearly all goods imported into the United States triggered massive stock market crashes across the globe – an intentionally manufactured economic crisis that he openly bragged about before doing a sudden about-face days later.
The tariffs imposed on countries April 2 under what Trump called “Liberation Day” resulted in the largest decline in the global stock market since the 2020 crash, which was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and triggered concerns about a global trade war and recession.
Trump’s executive order imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, with limited exceptions, and levied tariffs ranging from 11% to 50% in imports from 57 specific nations and entities.
After days of volatility in U.S. stock markets, Trump suddenly reversed course on April 9 and announced a 90-day suspension of the higher tariffs on every country except China, which has responded to Trump’s tariffs by raising its own tariffs on U.S. imports.
Trump first said he was increasing the tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%, but the White House later clarified that the actual figure is 145%. In response, China raised its own tariffs – first from 84% to 125%, and then to 145% to match the U.S.
Hours before announcing a pause on the higher tariffs, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “This is a great time to buy!” The comment spurred accusations of insider trading and attempts to manipulate the market.
It was just the latest example of the chaos being sewn by this administration, which continued to move forward with plans to gut federal agencies and bust our unions.
Here’s a quick recap of Trump’s attacks in his 12th week in office and how these actions hurt federal workers and the American people they serve:
April 10: Employees at the National Endowment for the Humanities begin receiving reduction-in-force notices as part of President Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to gut the federal workforce. Local 3403 says up to 75% of the staff could be cut, saying it’s “disgusted by this Administration’s callous disregard for the meaningful contributions NEH staff make to our nation’s culture.”
April 10: Weeks after ordering all of its employees to report to physical offices full-time, the Food and Drug Administration reverses course amid concerns that layoffs and resignations could affect basic operations like approving new medicines. Review staff and supervisors will be allowed to resume telework at least two days a week, according to a notice sent to some employees.
April 9: Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency abruptly drops plans to require all Social Security Administration beneficiaries to file claims online or in person rather than over the phone. The proposal to end most phone services this month triggered a crush of panicked beneficiaries overwhelming SSA field offices and phone lines and crashing the agency’s website.
April 9: House Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled a scheduled vote on the budget blueprint approved by the Republican-led Senate after more than a dozen House Republicans refused to support it, arguing that the spending cuts outlined in the resolution don’t go far enough. The next morning, Johnson muscled through a revised budget plan on a vote of 216-214 that calls for finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings, far above the minimum $4 billion in cuts in the Senate-approved resolution.
April 9: President Trump abruptly removes FBI Director Kash Patel from his dual role as acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and replaces him with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. According to media reports, Patel was largely absent from the ATF since being tapped for the role in late February.
April 9: One of two Democratic appointees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who were fired by President Trump days after taking office sues the administration for wrongful termination. Jocelyn Samuels was originally nominated by President Trump in 2020 and then renominated by President Biden for a term set to last through 2026. The firings have left the commission with just two members – one short of the quorum required for the EEOC to fully function.
April 9: Arizona Republican Kari Lake, who ran back-to-back unsuccessful races to become Arizona’s governor and U.S. senator in 2022 and 2024, respectfully, is detailed to the State Department as the Trump administration proceeds with plans to shut down Voice of America and its parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media. AFGE was among multiple plaintiffs to sue the administration in March over its plans to shutter the agency.
April 8: The U.S. Supreme Court grants the government’s request for a stay of the preliminary injunction against the Office of Personnel Management blocking the firings of thousands of federal workers. AFGE and the coalition of other plaintiffs in the case vowed to keep fighting.
April 7: The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had temporarily stopped the Trump administration from deporting more than 100 Venezuelan migrants that it claims are members of a violent street gang. The court did not rule on the constitutionality of using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to send the migrants to a prison in El Salvador, instead issuing a narrow procedural ruling that migrants’ lawyers had filed their lawsuit in the wrong court.
April 7: The Trump administration fires Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a top Navy admiral assigned to NATO headquarters in Brussels. It’s at least the ninth firing of a senior U.S. military officer – including four women – since Trump returned to office.
April 4: The State Department fires three employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development who had just arrived in Myanmar days earlier to assist in relief efforts following a massive earthquake that killed more than 3,300 people.
April 4: As part of the Trump administration’s effort to drastically downsize the federal workforce, the IRS announces plans to cut as many as 20,000 employees – 25% of the workforce.
April 4: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says Trump’s tariffs will likely lead to higher inflation and slower growth for the U.S. economy.
April 3: President Trump orders the firing of Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, as well as the firing of multiple National Security Council officials on the urging of far-right wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.
April 3: After slashing 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces that some programs and jobs will be reinstated because “they should not have been cut.”
April 3: The Trump administration threatens to withhold federal funding from public schools unless state education officials verify that they have eliminated all programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
In a major victory for AFGE and allies, a district court judge May 9 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking President Trump’s unconstitutional reorganization of the federal government.
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House Republicans are pursuing at least $50 billion in cuts to Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) benefits to help pay for a $4.5 trillion package of tax cuts that would primarily benefit the rich and large corporations, a priority for President Trump.
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Week 16 saw Trump laying off thousands of workers at Interior and Labor and planning to let go 80,000 VA employees taking care of veterans.
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