US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Trump said the US will "have a fair deal with China" during impromptu remarks to reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
5 takeaways from the week — from a softer approach on trade to Hegseth in hot water
2025-04-25T09:00:00Z
After much volatility because of Trump’s trade war, the stock markets responded positively to a softened tone toward both China and the Fed chair. This, plus four more takeaways from this week.
4 takeaways from the week — from a softer approach on trade to Hegseth in hot water
toggle caption Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
We’ll be recapping what you need to know every Friday morning for the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Get more updates and analysis in the NPR Politics newsletter.
After weeks of volatility because of Trump’s trade war, the stock markets this week responded positively to Trump softening his tone toward China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, has been wading in hot water; Trump looks to live up to the dealmaker reputation he has sought to project, trying for a nuclear deal with Iran, while also growing irritated with the inability to get a peace plan agreed to between Russia and Ukraine; and he continues to mix politics and money.
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Here are four takeaways from week 14 in our continued look at Trump’s first 100 days in office:
1. A softening toward China and Powell.
Trump doesn’t need to focus on public opinion because he’s constitutionally barred from running for a third term — even though several polls this week showed his approval ratings on the decline and vulnerable congressional Republicans might wish he took their findings to heart.
But one thing he has always reacted to is investors. The stock market was on track for its worst performance at the beginning of a presidency since the Great Depression. But then Trump ditched the hot rhetoric toward China and the Fed chair. He said 145% tariffs remain in place toward China but that the White House and China are in talks to find a different, reasonable number. On Monday, Trump on social media called Powell a “major loser.”
But a day later, he said he had “no intention” of firing Powell. As a result, the markets are up. But it has been a bumpy ride since the beginning of the month — and the uncertainty hasn’t been cleared up, not just for Wall Street, but small businesses and farmers, who operate on very slim margins.
2. Hegseth in hot water.
The number of stories in the past week about problems in Hegseth’s Defense Department has been extraordinary. Here’s a look at some:
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The New York Times reports on Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of the U.S. strikes on Yemen in a message group with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
A former Pentagon spokesman, John Ullyot — someone who was close with Hegseth and worked in the first Trump administration, too — writes an op-ed the same day in Politico describing “a month of total chaos” and predicts Trump will fire Hegseth.
The next day, at the White House Easter Egg Roll, Hegseth blasts the media for using “anonymous sources” from “disgruntled, former employees” in its reporting about him.
NPR and others report on Tuesday that Hegseth was cutting and pasting information from a secure channel sent by the head of U.S. Central Command, Erik Kurilla, to the Signal chat groups.
CBS News reports on Wednesday that Hegseth had a makeup studio installed at the Pentagon.
CNN reports that Jennifer Hegseth, his wife, put in papers for a security clearance despite not having a job in the Pentagon.
Few Republicans have been critical or have been willing to speak out. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she fears “retaliation.” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., did raise concerns, saying if he were president he wouldn’t “tolerate” Hegseth’s behavior. “He’s acting like he’s above the law,” he said, “and that shows an amateur person.”
But Murkowski and Bacon are unique figures. Murkowski has a famous last name in her state and has been tested before, winning a statewide write-in campaign after conservatives tried to oust her. Bacon is one of the few Republicans in a district that Democrat Kamala Harris won. There has been a decreasing number of swing districts, only a few dozen now.
So for most other Republicans, there’s no incentive for them to speak out because of the power Trump has with the base and risk of a primary challenge.
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That insulates Hegseth to an extent because often divisions within a president’s party are leading indicators for a Cabinet member’s ouster. At the end of the day, few people last in Cabinet positions for the entirety of a president’s term, but dismissing one this early would be highly unusual. Only 13 Cabinet members in history have served less than 100 days. Trump’s is coming up on Wednesday.
The White House said it is firmly behind Hegseth, contending that the “entire” Pentagon is resisting him. NPR reported that the White House is, however, looking at potential replacements if the president changes his mind — or things get even worse.
3. Trump really wants to make international deals, but so far, they’ve been elusive.
The man, who wrote The Art of the Deal and considers himself the dealmaker of all dealmakers, really wants them made to end the Russia-Ukraine war and with Iran over its nuclear program.
But it hasn’t proved to be so easy.
Trump has promised to quickly put an end to the war in Ukraine — 24 hours, in fact. But, this week, Trump lashed out at Ukraine’s president — again — saying he was harder to deal with than Russia and accused him of derailing negotiations. The U.S. wants Ukraine to officially cede Crimea and to pledge never to join NATO. Trump was critical of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on social media for continuing to bombard Ukraine, but there have been no concessions the Trump administration has publicly asked of Russia.
Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have threatened that the U.S. would walk away from the table if a deal isn’t reached.
Asked whether the U.S. would, indeed, walk away, Trump said to ask the question again in “two weeks.”
As for an Iran deal, Trump said Thursday it was “well on its way.” Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran deal struck under President Obama, which he called at the time “the worst deal ever.” But it’s not clear if that’s the case, and it’s easy to forget that Trump promised to forge one with Iran during his first term — one that looked similar to the original Obama deal.
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4. The commodification of politics.
Unlike any past president, Trump is mixing money and the White House. He sold lots of tchotchkes during the campaign, from boots to Bibles, gold sneakers, victory medallions, NFTs and more.
That’s continued into his presidency. He had billionaire CEOs on the dais at his inauguration. He raised a record amount of money for the inauguration, more than $200 million. There’s a “Trump Store” website, where people can also buy any number of Trump-branded products, from hats, including one for Trump 2028, to luggage tags to golf apparel, even candles.
This week, he held the White House Easter Egg Roll, which, for the first time, included corporate sponsors other than the American Egg Board, which has traditionally backed the event. He was also promoting his crypto meme coin with a contest for the top 220 holders of it to win a dinner with the president next month. The top 25 would get “VIP access.” His meme coin’s value jumped after the contest announcement.
It’s just the latest example of Trump doing something that is far outside the norm for president. — and raises all kinds of questions about conflicts of interest and ethics.
Here’s a day-by-day look at what happened in the past week:
Friday, April 18:
The State Department has changed what it defines as human rights. Despite decades of bipartisan agreement on American values, the State Department removed, according to NPR reporting, “longstanding critiques of abuses such as harsh prison conditions, government corruption and restrictions on participation in the political process.”
Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. could pause its Russia-Ukraine peace deal efforts. “So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks,” Rubio said after talks Thursday with European and Ukrainian officials. “If it is, we’re in. If it’s not, then we have other priorities to focus on.”
The U.S. strikes a Houthi oil port overnight, killing more than 70 people.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she fears retribution from the Trump administration for speaking out. “We are all afraid,” Murkowski said, taking a long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
Saturday:
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The White House is soliciting corporate sponsorship for the White House Easter Egg Roll for the first time.
There were more anti-Trump protests across the country.
The Washington Post reports that cuts at Health and Human Services are impacting “programs that help people compare IVF clinics, monitor safety in fertility and make sense of health data. … in a move some maternal health experts predict will have an enduring effect on women and children.”
Is the country in a constitutional crisis? NPR’s Nina Totenberg writes, “Think of the country right now as the pot on a stove. A week ago, one might have said that the flame controlling the temperature was on medium. But in the days since then, the pot has been inching closer to high, and a full-on clash between the Supreme Court and the president.”
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Sunday:
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Monday:
toggle caption Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images
Tuesday:
toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Wednesday:
Politico looks at the rivalries inside the Pentagon among those surrounding Hegseth, including a controversial departing chief of staff.
Trump tells reporters he’s putting up two American flag poles on the White House grounds that will be 100 feet high and “paid for by Trump.”
Democrats send a letter to the Social Security inspector general wanting an investigation into Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s restructuring and cuts at the agency, The Washington Post reports.
A Harvard Youth Poll finds that just 15% of 18-29-year-olds think the country is heading the right direction; just 25% say the country is better off under Trump than Biden. Trump gets a 31% approval rating. But Democrats fare even worse. More young voters now approve of the job Republicans are doing in Congress (29%) than Democrats (23%). Since 2019, the percentage approving of the job congressional Democrats are doing dropped 19 points.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says of a potential deal with Iran: “If Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one.”
The Trump administration is shutting down the women’s health initiative, a major long-term study of women’s health. It was started because much of the research that had been conducted for decades was focused on men’s health.
Trump slams Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for rejecting a U.S. peace proposal with Russia. Vice President Vance says the U.S. will walk away if it can’t get a deal soon. Trump also accuses Zelenskyy of derailing negotiations.
Trump signs executive orders on education and says too many schools are focused on “diversity” instead of “discipline.”
The U.S. is sending signals that it’s ready to negotiate with China. “China isn’t doing any business” in the U.S., Trump contends and says he didn’t bring down the 145% tariff. But he adds that there will hopefully be a deal and a fair number agreed to soon, but if there isn’t, “that’s OK.”
Treasury Secretary Bessent takes a softer tone toward China in a speech, saying the U.S. wants to help China rebalance trade rather than be reliant on exports.
Trump also softens his tone toward Fed Chair Powell. He was critical of rates being too high, but without fiery rhetoric.
CNN reports that Jennifer Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s wife, put in papers for a security clearance despite not having a job in the Pentagon.
Trump says there’s a deal with Russia but not with Ukraine. “I thought it would be easier to deal with Zelenskyy,” Trump says, “but so far, it’s been harder, but that’s OK.” He adds that because oil prices are down, Russia might want a deal.
CBS News reports that Hegseth had a makeup studio installed at the Pentagon.
Vice President Vance says that the U.S. issued a “very explicit proposal” to Ukraine and Russia, that the U.S. has been “trying to understand both sides’ perspective” and that it’s “time to say yes.” If not, the U.S. will walk away from the process, he says.
Politico reports that the White House is debating lifting sanctions on Russian energy assets and a key oil pipeline with Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff advocating for the idea and Secretary of State Marco Rubio against it. Rubio, however, says that it is “unequivocally false” and that there have been no discussions of lifting those sanctions.
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Thursday:
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NPR disclosure: Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation.
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