Middle East latest: Israel kills a journalist in a media tent outside a Gaza hospital

Israel struck tents outside two major hospitals in the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people, including a local reporter, and wounding nine, including six journalists, Palestinian medics said. It was one of a string of Israeli attacks in Gaza that killed more than 30 people, mostly women and children, hospital officials said.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime — while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.

Israel's war in Gaza, now in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

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That works out to nearly one in every five Palestinians in Gaza being newly displaced since Israel resumed the war less than three weeks ago, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.

“No arrangements to secure their safety and survival have been made — a responsibility that falls on Israel as the occupying power,” he said.

Israel says it orders Palestinian civilians to evacuate combat zones in order to protect them.

Israel has dramatically expanded its footprint in the Gaza Strip since relaunching its war against Hamas on March 18. It now controls more than 50% of the territory and is squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land.

An Israeli evacuation order issued Sunday covers more than 3 square kilometers (1 square mile) — the size of New York’s Central Park – in the Deir al-Balah area, Dujarric said.

The protests in Tel Aviv come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has recently moved to oust top security and legal officials, and has resumed the war in Gaza.

“We’re here today to send a very clear message,” said one protester Menashe Yehezkel-Baum, “Stop destroying our very basic and essential institute like the Supreme Court, the army, the security services, the police.”

Monday's demonstrations coincided with Netanyahu's visit to Washington. Some of the hostages recently freed by Hamas militants in Gaza, as well as their families and supporters, have urged U.S. President Donald Trump to help end the war.

“We are on the verge from turning from democracy to dictatorship, and I’m here to defend the democracy,” said another protester Nitzan Shekel.

Video footage showed people carrying the body of a little girl, her face covered with blood, from the blast that witnesses said hit a tent next to the charity kitchen outside the southern city of Khan Younis. Six other people were killed, including two women, and at least 10 people were wounded, hospital officials said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.

Samah Abu Jamie said her nephew was among those killed and her young daughter was wounded as they waited with their pots to collect meals for their families.

“They were going to get food. I told her, ‘Daughter, don’t go’,” she said. “These were children, and they had nothing with them but a pot. Is a pot a weapon?”

The strike hit around noon as the kitchen was distributing meals to displaced people living in tent camps. Charity kitchens have been drawing bigger crowds in Gaza because other sources of food are running out.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit President Donald Trump since he unleashed tariffs on countries around the world.

Whether Netanyahu’s visit Monday succeeds in bringing down or eliminating Israel’s tariffs remains to be seen. But how the meeting plays out could set the stage for how other world leaders try to address the new tariffs.

Netanyahu’s office has put the focus of his hastily organized Washington visit on the tariffs, while stressing that the two leaders will discuss major geopolitical issues including the war in Gaza, tensions with Iran, Israel-Turkey ties and the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader last year.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations and a professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said he expected Trump to use the tariffs as leverage to force concessions from Netanyahu.

In Israel’s case, those concessions might not be economic. Trump may pressure Netanyahu to move toward ending the war in Gaza — at the very least through some interim truce with Hamas that would pause the fighting and free more hostages.

Gilboa said Trump is hoping to return from his first overseas trip — expected next month to Saudi Arabia — with some movement on a deal to normalize relations with Israel, which would likely require significant Israeli concessions on Gaza.

The French and Mideast leaders spoke to Trump on Monday about ways to urgently secure a ceasefire in Gaza, stressing the need to resume access for aid supplies, according to the French president’s office.

The three leaders — France’s Emmanuel Macron, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and King Abdullah II of Jordan — decided to keep in close contact with Trump, Macron’s office said.

The phone call took place ahead of Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. Egypt and Jordan are both key U.S. allies and Cairo has been a mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

Macron is on a visit to Egypt and will visit security forces and aid workers Tuesday in the Egyptian port of El Arish. Earlier Monday he urged a lifting of Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon says the balance of force in the country has now “significantly changed” which may finally enable slow progress toward a more permanent ceasefire, “but this may still take a long time.”

Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz told the U.N. Security Council Monday that an internal political process could be required to deal with key issues including dealing with Hezbollah fighters and other armed groups.

Sáenz said other issues that need to be tackled are military capabilities “and a political track between Lebanon and Israel to deal with questions of sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as border demarcation.”

He said Lebanon’s consent to the deployment of the 10,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which faces increasing threats from disinformation and misinformation, is also key.

To counter disinformation and misinformation, Sáenz said UNIFIL must establish “a strong fact-based narrative” to avoid misperceptions, for example, that U.N. peacekeepers work at the behest of Israel, have a hidden agenda, and are an occupation force.

The leaders of the United Nations’ humanitarian agencies issued a dire joint warning about Gaza on Monday, calling for world leaders “to ensure the basic principles of international humanitarian law are upheld.”

The plea from humanitarian chiefs come as Israel has blocked the entrance of commercial and humanitarian supplies to Gaza for more than a month while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee once again.

“More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck,” directors and leaders of WHO, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP and OCHA said in a statement. “Over 1,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured in just the first week after the breakdown of the ceasefire, the highest one-week death toll among children in Gaza in the past year.”

They added that “we are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that show an utter disregard for human life.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said over the last 24 hours local hospitals have received the bodies of 57 people killed by Israeli strikes. Another 137 people have been wounded, it said.

Monday’s update brings the total Palestinian death toll from the 18-month Israel-Hamas war to 50,752, with more 115,475 wounded.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records, but says more than half the dead are women and children.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, shops were closed on Monday and there were few cars on the streets of Ramallah where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. The Palestinian Authority administers population centers with limited autonomy.

French President Emmanuel Macron has also urged the lifting of Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid.

Macron was in Cairo on Monday to meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and later with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, close Western allies, who are also calling for a ceasefire.

Israel ended its truce with Hamas last month and cut off all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to the territory’s 2 million Palestinians to try and pressure Hamas to accept new terms in their ceasefire agreement.

Egypt and the Gulf nation of Qatar have served as key mediators with Hamas.

The military said Monday that soldiers killed the teen who endangered motorists on a road in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Sunday that a Palestinian-American teen was killed in the incident and two others were injured, one in critical condition.

The violence occurred near Turmus Aya, a town with a sizable population of Palestinian-Americans.

The strike hit a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, setting it ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today news website and another man. Six other reporters were wounded in that strike.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant, without providing further information.

Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

Nasser Hospital also said it received 13 bodies, including six women and four children, from separate strikes overnight. Al-Aqsa Hospital said two people were killed and three wounded in a strike on a home in Deir al-Balah.

This story has been corrected to show that Palestine Today is a news website, not a TV station.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinian women walk past closed shops during a general strike to protest the war in Gaza, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Palestinians mourn their relatives who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, at the hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians retrieve a body from the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians search for survivors amid the debris of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians search for survivors amid the debris of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A Palestinian girl struggles as she and others try to get donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians wait to get donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A woman looks at the destroyed house of journalist Islam Meqdad, where she was killed along with her son and five other family members in an Israeli army strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework on Thursday, a political turnaround after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy GOP holdouts who had refused to advance trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper spending cuts.

U.S. stocks are giving back some of their historic gains from the day before as Wall Street weighs a global trade war that has cooled in temperature but is still threatening the economy.

The S&P 500 was down 2.3% early Thursday, a day after surging 9.5% following President Donald Trump ’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 685 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.9%.

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The departure of Bridget Brinks after nearly three years in Kyiv comes at a time of uncertainty over the Trump administration’s attempts to broker a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The State Department said on Thursday that Brink will be leaving her post, although it was not immediately clear exactly when she would depart.

Brink assumed the post under former President Joe Biden’s administration and has been a staunch advocate for U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.

Her resignation had been expected for some time, especially considering the Trump administration’s premium on rapprochement with Russia and ending the war.

Seated around a large oval table, Trump had each department head give brief reports on what they are doing.

Several Cabinet secretaries used the opportunity to slip in praise for Trump’s style of leadership.

Elon Musk also attended and spoke about the work he’s doing cutting the government and the savings he expects to achieve.

The top U.S. commander in the Pacific is warning senators that the military support China and North Korea are providing to Russia in its war on Ukraine risks security in his region as Moscow provides critical military assistance to both in return.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that China has provided 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the legacy chips to Russia to help Moscow “rebuild its war machine.”

And in exchange, China is potentially getting help in technologies to make its submarines move more quietly, along with other assistance.

Paparo said North Korea is sending “thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of artillery shells” and thousands of short-range missiles to Russia. The expectation, he said, is that Pyongyang will get air defense and surface-to-air missile support.

Ksenia Karelina, a ballerina, was released on Thursday as part of a prisoner swap and is on her way back to the U.S.

On the other end of the exchange was a Russian German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S.

Trump said at a Cabinet meeting that he appreciated the release by Russia and that it followed conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump credited the involvement of UFC CEO Dana White, a friend of his, for bringing attention to the case.

Karelina’s fiance, Chris Van Heerden, is a professional boxer.

The U.S. House on Thursday approved legislation requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for anyone registering to vote, something voting rights groups have warned could disenfranchise millions of Americans.

The bill, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain because Republicans don’t have a large enough majority to avoid a filibuster.

If it eventually becomes the law, the SAVE Act would take effect immediately and apply to all voter registration applications.

“This has no impact on individuals that are currently registered to vote,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican who has been advocating for the bill.

Voting rights groups say there is more to the story.

The law would affect voters who already are registered if they move, change their name or otherwise need to update their registration. That was acknowledged to some extent by the bill’s author, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, during a recent hearing on the legislation.

▶ Read more about how the bill could affect voting in the U.S.

Like usual, Elon Musk participated in Trump’s Cabinet meeting to promote his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.

In a message to Americans, he said, “We’re going to be spending their tax dollars in a way that is fair and sensible and good.”

But there was something different about his remarks this time.

Musk said he expected to achieve $150 billion in savings during the next fiscal year by reducing waste and fraud, which he described as “very common.”

That’s much lower than his previous target of cutting $1 trillion — a number he used last month in a Fox News interview.

Musk and Trump have said the billionaire entrepreneur will likely end his job with the administration in the near future.

Trump said at his Cabinet meeting that he’s going to allow farmers to recommend migrant workers who can remain in the country for a while and eventually be admitted to the country with legal status.

Trump offered few details about the new proposal, which seems to be a softening of his pledge for a large-scale deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

“So the farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people saying ‘They’re great. They’re working hard.’ We’re going to slow it down a little bit for them,” Trump said.

Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN International on Thursday that Trump’s recent sweeping tariffs are “the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.”

Yellen, a former Federal Reserve Chair, said the U.S. “had a very well-functioning economy and President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it.”

Yellen served as Fed chair under both Trump and former President Barack Obama.

Trump has opened a meeting with his Cabinet by defending his moves on tariffs.

“We’re very happy with the way the country’s running. We’re trying to get the world to treat us fairly,” Trump said.

He said of yesterday’s retreat from many of his steep tariffs and the market’s wild swings, “We had a big day yesterday.”

In a post on his social media site, Trump said the bill’s passage “sets the stage for one of the Greatest and Most Important Signings in the History of our Country.”

The measure next goes to the White House for the Republican president’s signature.

House Republicans voted narrowly on Thursday to approve the bill after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy party holdouts who had refused to vote for trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper cuts to federal spending.

Officials from the United States and Russia met on Thursday in Istanbul to discuss repairing long-strained diplomatic relations even while a ceasefire agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war remains elusive.

The State Department said the talks resulted in the exchange of notes “to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions” in the two countries.

Both countries had imposed financial sanctions on each other’s embassies and consulates in recent years after the onset of Russia-Ukraine hostilities and had also ordered dramatic drawdowns in their respective diplomatic presences. A finalized agreement on banking could be a first step toward restoring staffing to those missions.

However, staffing levels are still a concern, according to the State Department.

Other issues remain unresolved, including the status of closed Russian consulates and other facilities in the United States and U.S. consulates in Russia.

The two sides agreed to hold follow-up meetings at dates and venues to be determined, the State Department said in a statement.

The move announced Thursday at the start of a Senate confirmation hearing for Kathleen Sgamma follows revelations that she criticized Trump in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

David Bernhardt, interior secretary during Trump’s first term, said Sgamma’s withdrawal as nominee to head the Bureau of Land Management was “self-inflicted.”

He included a link to a website that posted her 2021 comments. Bernhardt suggested that people whose views don’t align with Trump’s should not seek political appointments.

“I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it,” Sgamma said in the comments earlier reported by Documented, which describes itself as a watchdog journalism project.

Sgamma did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

The longtime oil and gas industry representative had appeared well-poised to carry out Trump’s plans to roll back restrictions on energy development, including in Western states where the land bureau has vast holdings.

The agency also oversees mining, grazing and recreation.

U.S. stocks are giving back much of their historic gains from the day before as Wall Street weighs a trade war that has cooled in temperature but is still threatening the economy.

The S&P 500 fell 5% on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,746 points, and the Nasdaq composite sank 5.8%.

Even a better-than-expected report on inflation wasn’t enough to get U.S. stocks to climb further. Losses for stocks accelerated after the White House clarified that Chinese imports will be tariffed at 145%, not the 125% rate that Trump had earlier written about.

U.S. egg prices increased in March to reach a record high of $6.23 per dozen, even with a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday suggested the rise in egg prices will be temporary, however. She pointed to the Consumer Price Index more broadly showing a slight dip for goods and services cost across the U.S. economy in March.

“We’re also moving into the Super Bowl of eggs, which is Easter,” Rollins said. “So from the beginning, I’ve said this is sort of the high price for retail for eggs, but we feel very confident that will continue to come back down.”

An email was sent by human resources this week, stating: “Masks should not be worn in public spaces in the Kennedy Center. This is especially important for our public-facing staff and front of house employees.”

A staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, confirmed the change in policy. The staffer at the Washington-based performing arts center said they were concerned for people who might need masks for health reasons.

On Thursday, a page on health and safety on the center’s website was no longer available. The page used to state: “Masks are optional in all Kennedy Center spaces for visitors and staff. If you prefer to wear a mask, you are welcome to do so.”

— Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report from Washington.

When Trump said Wednesday that Chinese imports would be tariffed at 125%, that wasn’t completely accurate.

His post on Truth Social had excluded the 20% tariffs that the U.S. president put on China for its role in the production of fentanyl. The White House said Thursday once that figure is added in that the new tariffs total 145%.

Previous statements by administration officials had emphasized the 125% rate.

House Republicans passed one of their signature issues for the year on Thursday, approving legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections, one of President Donald Trump’s top election-related priorities.

Democrats lined up against the bill and warned that it risks disenfranchising millions of Americans who do not have ready access to the proper documents.

Trump has long signaled a desire to change how elections are run in the U.S. and last month issued a sweeping executive order that included a citizenship requirement, among other election-related changes.

Top Republicans have argued the legislation, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, is necessary to ensure only citizens vote in U.S. elections and “cements into law” Trump’s order.

This marks Republicans’ second attempt at passing the SAVE Act. It passed the House last year but failed in the Senate amid Democratic opposition.

A Trump administration official said Trump will sign a bill into law today that overturns the Biden Administration’s “Broker Rule,” which requires digital asset brokers to report certain decentralized financial — or DeFi — transactions to the IRS.

The move rolls back the regulation that was set to take effect on the cryptocurrency industry in 2027. It is Trump’s first crypto regulation signing since taking office in January.

Republicans have railed against the rule, arguing that it is unworkable since DeFi platforms operate on blockchains without human intervention and the rule stifles innovation in the crypto space, threatening to push digital asset innovation overseas.

House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework on Thursday, a political turnaround after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy GOP holdouts who had refused to advance trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper spending cuts.

Johnson stood with Senate Majority Leader John Thune early in the morning at the Capitol and said Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which seeks as much as $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal programs and services, was on track. The speaker had abruptly halted voting Wednesday night.

“I believe we have the votes,” said Johnson, R-La. “We’ll take the next big step.”

Thune, R-S.D., also tried to assure House conservatives that many GOP senators are aligned with their pursuit of spending reductions.

“We certainly are going to do everything we can,” Thune said.

The 216-214 vote pushed the budget plan forward, one more milestone for Johnson, who could only lose a few detractors from his slim Republican majority.

The second highest-ranking official at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been pushed out by the Trump administration, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Marvin Richardson, who has served since 2019 as deputy director of the agency responsible for enforcing U.S. gun laws, has decided to retire after being told Wednesday evening to either leave or be fired, the person said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.

Richardson didn’t immediately respond to an email on Thursday. A Justice Department official declined to comment.

It comes amid intense upheaval at the agency that’s long been a target of conservatives.

On Wednesday, ATF senior leaders were informed that Kash Patel, the FBI director who also had been serving as acting ATF chief, had been replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.

— Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report from Washington.

Speaker Mike Johnson is meeting with holdouts before a key vote that’s necessary for Republicans to extend tax cuts and boost border security spending later this year without any help from Democrats.

The holdouts are seeking greater assurances that Republicans will deliver significant spending cuts to go along with extending the individual and estate tax cuts that expire at the end of this year.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said the only commitments so far are verbal. “I’d like to see something in writing,” Burchett said.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said he’s still uncommitted going into the meeting, and was looking for “a little bit more solid assurance” on spending cuts.

Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, struck an optimistic tone going into the meeting. “I think there is progress being made,” Harris said.

Ryan Routh will be charged with attempted first-degree murder and terrorism, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on Thursday.

Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course last September. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at a Secret Service agent, who opened fire and prompted him to drop his weapon and flee without firing.

The Secret Service had spotted Routh before Trump came into view at the golf course.

This entry has been updated to reflect that Routh will be charged with attempted first-degree murder, not first-degree murder.

Senate Democrats are asking for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into whether anyone benefited financially from advanced knowledge of Trump’s decision to back down on tariffs to most countries on Wednesday.

The Republican president said on social media on Wednesday morning that it was a “great time to buy,” then announced less than four hours later that nearly all tariffs would be paused for 90 days. It caused the stock market to soar.

Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona released a letter this morning to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Jamieson Greer, the acting director of the ethics office, asking for “an urgent inquiry into whether President Trump, his family, or other members of the administration engaged in insider trading or other illegal financial transactions.”

While Democrats don’t have power to force the investigation, they are hoping the demands direct scrutiny at the issue.

China on Thursday said it will “appropriately reduce the number of imported U.S. films,” as the tariff war has escalated between the world’s two largest economies.

A spokesperson for the China Film Administration said it is “inevitable” that Chinese audiences would find American films less palatable given the “wrong move by the U.S. to wantonly implement tariffs on China.”

The spokesperson said China would follow market rules and respect the preferences of China’s moviegoers to reduce the import of American films. Chinese authorities have long controlled the distribution of foreign films, limiting them to a set quota each year.

China and the U.S. are the world’s two largest film markets by box office revenue.

Unveiled Thursday by the White House Historical Association, the ornament features the red china plate of former President Ronald Reagan’s administration on one side and the gold-rimmed china plate of former President Bill Clinton’s on the other.

First issued in 1981, the ornament usually honors presidents in their order of service; last year’s was a tribute to former President Jimmy Carter.

But Stewart McLaurin, the association’s president, says it sometimes is used to highlight important White House anniversaries or occasions.

President Ulysses Grant held the first state dinner in December 1874 for King David Kalakaua, one of the last monarchs of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Bessent will travel to Buenos Aires on Monday to meet with President Javier Milei and Minister of Economy Luis Caputo to show support for Argentina’s “bold economic reforms,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

Trump’s recent sweeping tariff package included 10% on Argentina, though on Wednesday he announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs for most countries except China — whose tariffs he raised to 125%.

A Treasury news release states that during his meetings in Argentina, Bessent will “reiterate the United States’ firm backing for the continued implementation of President Milei’s robust economic agenda and encourage the international community to fully support President Milei’s economic reform efforts.”

“I look forward to our positive discussions about Argentina’s economy, and to exploring the ways our nations can further deepen our vital economic relationship,” Bessent said.

U.S. stocks are giving back some of their historic gains from the day before as Wall Street weighs a global trade war that has cooled in temperature but is still threatening the economy.

The S&P 500 was down 2.3% early Thursday, a day after surging 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 685 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.9%.

Even a better-than-expected report on inflation wasn’t enough to get stocks to add to their gains from the day before, including the S&P 500’s third-best since 1940.

David Bisbee, the interim head of the U.S. mission to the World Trade Organization, insisted the United States was “taking action it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests” — a move he said was allowed under the trade body’s rules.

Bisbee on Thursday told a WTO gathering that Trump had taken steps to address an “emergency” caused by persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits, which the envoy said topped $1 trillion each of the past two years.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva provided The Associated Press with a copy of Bisbee’s comments during a closed-door WTO session.

On Wednesday — before Trump announced a suspension of nearly all of the tariffs against trading partners, except for China — a Chinese government representative accused the United States of setting the global trading system “ablaze” with the tariffs.

“This will give us the opportunity to negotiate the reduction of tariffs so that the playing field is leveled,” said Lesotho Minister of Trade and Industry Mokhethi Shelile.

Lesotho, which relies on making and exporting clothes to the U.S. for brands like Levi’s, had feared almost half its clothing sector could be put out of business.

In Madagascar, which provides 80% of the world’s vanilla, exporters said there was now more time for government and industry officials to meet and plot a way forward.

And South Africa Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau said on Radio 702 that while his country received confirmation that proposed export tariffs by the U.S. were paused, the 10% baseline tariff meant “it is not completely off.”

South Africa is one of more than 30 countries eligible for tariff-free access to the American market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act agreement that has been in place for 25 years. Many of them fear that Trump’s tariff tactics will mean the agreement will not be renewed.

Trump’s top economic advisers will gather a day after the president announced he was suspending for 90 days import taxes on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China to discuss the president’s options moving forward.

“The chief of staff’s office has called all the principals who have, you know, skin in the game and discuss their views about how this should go,” Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on Thursday.

Hassett added that 15 countries have already presented offers to the administration aimed at getting Trump to drop his reciprocal tariffs. He did not detail which countries have presented offers.

This morning, at 10 a.m. ET, Trump will receive his intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.

At 11 a.m., he will participate in a cabinet meeting.

At 12:30 p.m., he will attend the swearing-in ceremony for the solicitor general.

Later, at 4 p.m., he will participate in a bill signing in the Oval Office, according to the White House.

World markets soared on Thursday, with Japan’s benchmark jumping more than 9% as investors welcomed Trump’s decision to put his latest tariff hikes on hold for 90 days.

In early trading, Germany’s DAX initially gained more than 8%. By midmorning, they were up 5.3% at 20,720.86, while France’s CAC 40 in Paris gained 5% to 7,204.23. Britain’s FTSE 100 surged 4.0% to 7,983.37.

Chinese shares saw more moderate gains, given yet another jump in the tariffs each side is imposing on each other’s exports.

The future for the S&P 500 was down 2.1%, while the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6%.

Analysts had expected the global comeback, given that U.S. stocks had one of their best days in history on Wednesday as investors registered their relief over Trump’s decision.

▶ Read more about the global markets

China is reaching out to other nations as the U.S. layers on more tariffs in what appears to be an attempt to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat. Days into the effort, it’s meeting only partial success with many countries unwilling to ally with the main target of Trump’s trade war.

China has thus far focused on Europe, with a phone call between Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “sending a positive message to the outside world.”

That was followed by a video conference between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Šefčović on Tuesday to discuss the U.S. “reciprocal tariffs.”

Wang has also spoken with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while Li, the premier, has met with business leaders. China has “already made a full evaluation and is prepared to deal with all kinds of uncertainties, and will introduce incremental policies according to the needs of the situation,” Xinhua News Agency quoted Li as saying.

▶ Read more about China’s response to Trump’s tariffs

Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president’s impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.

▶ Read more about Trump’s reversal on most tariffs

The European Union’s executive commission said Thursday it will put its retaliatory measures against new U.S. tariffs on hold for 90 days to match President Donald Trump’s pause on his sweeping new tariffs and leave room for a negotiated solution.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the commission, which handles trade for the 27 member countries, “took note of the announcement by President Trump.”

New tariffs on 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion) of US goods will be put on hold for 90 days because “we want to give negotiations a chance,” she said in a statement.

But she warned: “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”

Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs against global trading partners but has said he will pause them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade concerns.

An electronic screen displays financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People walk by the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday morning, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

People walk in Leadenhall Market at lunch time, in the financial district, known as The City in London, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick leaves after doing a television interview outside the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order during an event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)