# Tariffs and a possible recession: updates from week 7 of Trump administration

Other major updates from second Trump administration’s first 100 days include cuts to intelligence sharing and reports of infighting between Musk and Rubio.

Last week,  shook global markets with his back and forth on , declined to rule out the possibility of a US recession because of his policies, and gave the longest-ever presidential address to Congress.

The  also cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine,  in funds to Columbia University, and two key figures –  and  – denied internal fighting after media reports on an angry exchange during the cabinet meeting.

## 9 March 2025
### Day 48
Trump declined to the rule out the possibility that the  could fall into a recession and that inflation could rise as uncertainty continued over his tariffs policy. “. There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big,” he told Fox News.

[](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/07/trump-administration-cancels-columbia-university-funding)

**Also on Sunday:** On Ukraine, the president told reporters on board Air Force One that the US had “just about ended” its suspension of intelligence with the country and said he expected good results ahead of forthcoming talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

## 8 March 2025
### Day 47
Donald Trump insisted Musk and Rubio, the US secretary of state, had a “great relationship” after the New York Times reported details of the pair facing off in an angry exchange during the cabinet meeting called to clear the air over “department of government efficiency”  cuts.

“There is no clash,” Trump wrote in a social media post, despite Musk having reportedly  and dismissing him as being “good on TV”, while the secretary of state hit back by voicing his resentment over Doge’s gutting of , the foreign assistance agency over which he is nominally in charge.

[](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/07/trump-says-it-is-easier-to-deal-with-russia-and-putin-wants-to-end-the-war)

**Also on Saturday:** Trump also warned Republicans against shutting down the government as a 14 March deadline loomed that would spell that very outcome in the absence of the adoption of a new spending bill. Instead, the president urged  members of Congress to maintain unity and vote for a  stitched together by Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

## 7 March 2025
### Day 46
In more troubling remarks on Ukraine, Trump said he found it easier to deal with Russia and appeared to sympathise with  after massive Russian air strikes that followed the decision to stop US intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Putin was , Trump said – despite have issued, hours earlier, a vague threat to impose sanctions and tariffs on Moscow over the strike.

**Also on Friday:** The administration announced the cancellation of  in New York over the institution’s supposed failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment. The university’s New York campus – in common with others throughout the US – has been the site of prolonged protests against Israel’s military bombardment of Gaza.

In another move, Trump said he would sign an  barring student loan forgiveness to public servants engaged in “improper activities”.

## 6 March 2025
### Day 46
Trump performed yet another backflip on tariffs,  until April. The move followed nervousness on the stock market, with the  falling by 1.8% in a single day. The president, however, claimed his volte face had “nothing to do” with market developments.

**Also on Thursday:** As controversy raged over the cuts to government agencies imposed by Doge, Musk told congressional Republicans that  that had provoked widespread outrage. At a cabinet meeting in the White House apparently called to addressing simmering cabinet discontent, Trump said department heads and not Musk – who was present – had the power to hire and fire federal workers and said they should do so wielding a “scalpel” to preserve the best people. The comment was widely seen as signalling the reining of Musk, who had been widely seen as running amok across government.

## 5 March 2025
### Day 45
Having already cut off the flow of arms, the  hit Ukraine with a fresh blow by  with its supposed ally. The move in effect left the Ukrainians blind to Russian strategic bombers and ballistic missile launches.

[](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/05/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico)

A day after ushering in in 25% tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico – the US’s two closest trading partners – the president performed a partial U-turn by . The move followed a call with the heads of the country’s three biggest car manufacturers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Meanwhile, leading US retailers warned that prices were “highly likely” to start rising as a result of the tariffs, a consequence at odds with Trump’s election campaign promise to “make America affordable again”.

## 4 March 2025
### Day 44
In an extraordinarily rambunctious, one hour, 40 minute , Trump declared that his presidency was “just getting started” after his whirlwind return to the White House that has seen a flurry of executive orders and the federal bureaucracy upended in a drastic cost-cutting measures spearheaded by Doge. Democrats  by holding of placards as Trump spoke, while some left the chamber early. and one,  after shouting that Trump had “no mandate”.

[](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/04/donald-trump-congress-address-speech)

**Also on Tuesday:** Zelenskyy, meanwhile, issued a statement aimed at placating Trump, who had proclaimed him unready to make peace with Russia. Faced with a loss of US support, the Ukrainian president said he was ready to .
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