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Trump goes all in with bet that the heavy price of tariffs will pay off for Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Not even 24 hours after his party lost a key Wisconsin race and underperformed in Florida, President Donald Trump followed the playbook that has defined his political career: He doubled down.
Trump’s move on Wednesday to place stiff new tariffs on imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners marks an all-in bet by the Republican that his once-fringe economic vision will pay off for Americans. It was the realization of his four decades of advocacy for a protectionist foreign policy and the belief that free trade was forcing the United States into decline as its economy shifted from manufacturing to services.
The tariff announcement was the latest and perhaps boldest manifestation of Trump’s second-term freedom to lead with his instincts after feeling his first turn in the Oval Office was restrained by aides who did not share his worldview. How it shakes out will be a defining judgment on his presidency.
The early reviews have been worrisome.
Financial markets had their worst week since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign trade partners retaliated and economists warned that the import taxes may boost inflation and potentially send the U.S. into a recession. It’s now Republican lawmakers who are fretting about their party’s future while Democrats feel newly buoyant over what they see as Trump’s overreach.
Democratic activists planned to participate in rallies across the country Saturday in what was shaping up as the largest demonstrations since Trump returned to office in January. “The winds are changing,” said Rahna Epting, who leads MoveOn, one of many organizing groups.
Trump is unbowed.
He has promised that the taxes on imports will bring about a domestic manufacturing renaissance and help fund an extension of his 2017 tax cuts. He insisted on Thursday as the Dow Jones fell by 1,600 points that things were “going very well” and the economy would “boom,” then spent Friday at the golf course as the index plunged 2,200 more points.
In his first term, Trump’s tariff threats brought world leaders to his door to cut deals. This time, his actions so far have led to steep retaliation from China and promises from European allies to push back.
Even some Trump supporters are having their doubts.
Frank Amoroso, a 78-year-old resident of Dewitt, Michigan, said he is concerned about short-term rising interest rates and inflation, although he believes the tariffs will be good for the country in the long run.
Amoroso, a retired automotive engineer who voted for Trump, said he would give the president’s second-term performance a C-plus or B-minus. “I think he’s doing things too fast,” he said. “But hopefully things will get done in a prudent way, and the economy will survive a little downfall.”
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., in a telephone town hall with constituents on Thursday night, expressed reservations about the broad nature of the tariffs.
Hill, who represents a district that includes Little Rock, said he does not back tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He said the administration should instead focus on renegotiating a U.S. trade agreement with its two neighbors.
“I don’t support across-the-board tariffs as a general matter, and so I don’t support those, and I will be urging changes there because I don’t think they will end up raising a bunch of revenue that’s been asserted,” Hill said. “I wish I thought they did, but personally I don’t think they will. But I do support trade diplomacy.”
Still, much of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” coalition remains publicly supportive.
Doug Deason, a prominent Texas-based Republican donor, said he loves the president’s tariff plan, even if it causes some economic disruption.
“He told us during the election there would be pain for every American to get this ship turned around,” Deason said. “It is hard to watch our portfolios deteriorate so much, but we get it. We hope he holds course.”
As Trump struggles with the economy, Democrats are beginning to emerge from the cloud of doom that has consumed their party ever since their election drubbing in November.
They scored a decisive victory in Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court election on Tuesday, even after Elon Musk and his affiliated groups poured more than $20 million into the contest. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker then breathed new life into the Democratic resistance by delivering a record 25-hour-long speech on the Senate floor that centered on a call for his party to find its resolve.
Booker told The Associated Press afterward that a significant political shift has begun even as his party tries to learn from its mistakes in the 2024 presidential election.
“I think you’re seeing a lot more energy, a lot more determination, a lot more feeling like we’ve got to fight,” Booker said. “You can’t sit back any more. You can’t sit on the sidelines. There’s a larger, growing movement.”
Booker, a 2020 presidential candidate, acknowledged he is not ruling out a 2028 run, although he said he is focused on his 2026 Senate reelection for now.
There is broad agreement among Democrats — and even some Republicans, privately at least — that what Trump has unleashed on the global economy could help accelerate the Democratic comeback.
Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive resistance group known as Indivisible, has been critical of Democratic officials’ response in recent weeks to Trump’s leadership. But on Friday, he was somewhat giddy about the political consequences for Trump’s GOP after the tariffs announcement.
“Raising prices across the board for your constituents is not popular,” Levin said. “It’s the kind of thing that can lead to a 1932-style total generational wipe out of a party.”
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Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Isabella Volmert in Dewitt, Michigan, contributed to this report.
In large cities and small towns across the country, millions took to the streets today in protest against the policies of President Trump and his administration.
Organized by “No Kings,” a network of progressive groups opposed to the administration’s agenda, the protests are the third wave of demonstrations since the President took office for a second term. Last year, millions attended protests in June and again in October.
Crowds assemble at the Embarcadero in San Francisco prior to the start of the protest.
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Thousands of community members marched in the flagship “No Kings” protest in St. Paul.
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Thousands sign a banner in Hartford at the Capitol that says “We the People.”
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Protesters hold signs and chant slogans in Driggs, Idaho.
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Demonstrators gather while holding signs near a roadside in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
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Demonstrators walk across the Memorial Bridge from Arlington, Virginia into Washington, DC.
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Demonstrators march down 7th Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan.
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![HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, MARCH 28, 2026: Ken MacDonald tears up as he listens to a speech about the plight of his fellow veterans. “[Trump]’s playing with the lives of military people,” he said. Thousands rally at the “No Kings” protest at the capitol in Hartford on March 28, 2026. (Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6981x4654+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Feb%2F8b%2Fba7a9cb744baa343c85d45caf5ed%2F260328-nokingshartford-trb4371.jpg)
Ken MacDonald tears up in Hartford as he listens to a speech about the plight of his fellow veterans.
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A large crowd marches across the South First bridge toward a gathering at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas.
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Lindsay Holliday waves an American flag in Rosa Parks Square in Macon, Georgia.
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Demonstrators in downtown St. Louis walk by large banners decrying the U.S. conflict in Iran and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Kat Carves works on a ice sculpture that says ‘End Ice’ ahead of the rally on the Boston Common in Boston.
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Protestors march across an overpass near the Georgia state Capitol building in Atlanta.
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Protesters hold a banner reading “End the wars, stop ICE, general strike” at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco.
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Maria Perry, left, and John Stock, right, joined protesters gathering in Mill Creek Park in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Duane Inge, a 63-year-old demonstrator, protests in front of Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis.
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A protestor wears a “Let’s be brave” pin at a rally in Richmond, Virginia.
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Demonstrators in costumes stand along the National Mall in Washington, DC.
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Protestors listens as speakers address the crowd gathered in Richmond, Virginia.
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Protesters descend on Times Square in New York City.
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Demonstrators begin to march from the Western Sculpture Garden at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
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Thousands march towards the Steel Bridge from the waterfront in Portland, Oregon.
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Two students were killed and at least seven other people were injured after a school bus crash in Tennessee on Friday, officials said.
The school bus was carrying 25 students and five adults from Kenwood Middle School in Clarksville for a field trip in Jackson, Tennessee, the school district said in a statement.
The crash, which remains under investigation, involved a Tennessee Department of Transportation dump truck, a Chevrolet Trailblazer and the school bus. It happened around noon on Highway 70 in Carroll County, said Maj. Travis Plotzer, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Plotzer said there were two adults in the TDOT vehicle and one person in the Chevrolet Trailblazer. He said the crash is “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
At least seven people who were injured were taken by air ambulance to hospitals across Tennessee, including Memphis and Nashville, CBS affiliate WREG reported. The extent of their injuries was not immediately disclosed.
The school’s principal, Karen Miller, said counselors will be available starting Monday. In a written message to families shared on Facebook, she called the crash an unimaginable tragedy and encouraged parents to be attentive to their child’s emotional needs as they process the deaths of their classmates.
“Please continue to pray with us for our students, families, faculty, and staff,” Miller wrote. “I am grateful for the strength of our Kenwood community, and I trust we will all support each other during this difficult time.”
Four people were taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville and were in stable condition Friday, according to a Vanderbilt Health spokesperson.
Another 19 people were taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Carroll County, said Kim Alexander, a spokesperson for Baptist Memorial Health Care. All were evaluated and released, though it was unclear how many actually were injured, she said.
CBS affiliate WTVF reported the school bus was on the way to participate in the Toyota Hub City Grand Prix Greenpower USA race in Jackson. The Jackson-Madison County superintendent said in a statement that they were “completely devastated” by the crash and called the loss “immeasurable,” WTVF reported.
The school district was hosting the event.
Police detain Nerdeen Kiswani, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstration group “Within Our Lifetime” during a protest on Friday, April 12, 2024, in New York.
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NEW YORK — A man accused of planning to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist has been arrested following a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, officials said Friday.
The target of the plot was Nerdeen Kiswani, who frequently leads protests in New York against Israel and the war in Gaza through the organization Within Our Lifetime.
Kiswani, 31, said law enforcement officials informed her late Thursday that they had disrupted “a threat on my life that was about to take place.”
Federal authorities said they arrested Alexander Heifler on Thursday at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey, as he was assembling Molotov cocktails that he planned to throw at Kiswani’s home. For weeks, he had discussed the plot with an undercover NYPD detective who had infiltrated a group chat used by Heifler, according to a police department spokesperson.
An official who was briefed on the investigation said Heifler, 26, identified as a member of the JDL 613 Brotherhood, a New Jersey-based group founded in 2024 that describes its membership as “Jewish warriors” fighting back against rising antisemitism.
A website for the group says they are inspired by the original Jewish Defense League, a group linked to numerous bombings and attempted assassinations of Arab American political activists in the 1970s and 1980s.
Heifler planned to flee to Israel following the attack, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of an ongoing investigation.
An email inquiry sent to the JDL 613 was not returned.
Kiswani, who lives in Brooklyn with her infant son and husband, said the plot would not deter her continued activism.
“I feel very blessed that they were able to thwart this, but it’s something that is a constant possibility for people who speak up on behalf of Palestine,” she said.
Heifler was charged in a criminal complaint with separate counts of making and possessing destructive devices, which each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A message left with his attorney was not returned. He made an initial appearance in New Jersey federal court on Friday afternoon.
“Let me be clear: We will not tolerate violent extremism in our city,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “No one should face violence for their political beliefs or their advocacy. I am relieved that Nerdeen is safe.”
According to a court filing written by an FBI agent, Heifler spoke on a video call in February with a group that included an undercover detective about his interest in training for “self-defense” and wanting space where he could throw Molotov cocktails.
The next day, he met with the undercover detective in person and discussed his plan to use them against Kiswani and flee the country, according to the complaint. “We have (Kiswani’s) address,” Heifler allegedly told the undercover. “So it’s like that, that would be easier if you’d be more comfortable with that.”
Heifler and the undercover detective drove to Kiswani’s residence on March 4 to “conduct surveillance” and discussed making a dozen Molotov cocktails to throw at her home and two cars parked outside, complaint said.
On Thursday, the undercover detective and Heifler met at Heifler’s Hoboken residence, where he had assembled components to make the Molotov cocktails, including a large bottle of Everclear, a highly flammable alcohol, the complaint said. Law enforcement officers then executed a search warrant at the residence and recovered the eight Molotov cocktails, the complaint said.
Kiswani co-founded the group Within Our Lifetime, which frequently organizes protests against Israel that draw hundreds of participants and often end in arrests. The group’s calls to “abolish Zionism” and support for “all forms of struggle,” including violence, has drawn fierce criticism. Kiswani denies that her criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.
Kiswani has been a frequent target of online vitriol. Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, sparked backlash after writing in a social media post that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” The post was a response to a message Kiswani shared about dog owners, which she said was a light joke.
“That hate against Palestinians has been bolstered by public officials, by Zionist organizations, who are never held accountable,” she said. “This is the inevitable result of that.”
The operation was carried out by the Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism unit within the NYPD’s counterterrorism bureau, a police spokesperson said.
“This is exactly how our intelligence and counterterrorism operation is designed to work — a sophisticated apparatus built to detect danger early and prevent violence before it reaches our streets,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
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