Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum begin; Europe retaliates: Live updates

Wednesday is a big day in court for the Trump administration on multiple fronts, Alex Woodward reports.

At 10:30 a.m., a federal judge will hold a hearing to determine whether to block the administration’s ban on trans service members across the military. Judge Ana Reyes already lambasted government lawyers and the president’s actions during a two-day hearing last month. Since then, the Pentagon and all branches have started to remove trans troops and prevent any trans recruits from enlisting.

At 11:30 a.m., attorneys for Mahmoud Khalil will appear in a Manhattan courtroom to argue to move him back to New York. Government lawyers will be presenting their first legal arguments over his detention and attempted removal from the country.

At 2 p.m., scheduled just one day after suing Trump, a law firm targeted by one of his executive orders will argue for a restraining order. Perkins Coie is one of two firms Trump is trying to punish for working with his rivals.

And at 4 p.m., Judge Tanya Chutkan will preside over a hearing involving a lawsuit from the Climate United Fund against Citibank and the EPA.

President Donald Trump will host Irish premier Micheal Martin in the White House on Wednesday, in a highly anticipated meeting which is expected to touch on Ireland’s trading relationship with America.

Mr Trump will be presented with a bowl of shamrock as the centrepiece of the Irish Government’s major overseas diplomatic push in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day on Monday, March 17.

Donald Trump’s imposition of global tariffs on steel and aluminum came shortly before the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in the U.K. parliament.

The U.K. is holding fire on retaliatory tariffs — and it took time for the topic to come up. Here’s David Maddox, political editor of The Independent, reporting from Westminster as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer took questions from MPs.

Not for the first time it is down to Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey to say what everybody else is thinking.

He is the first to properly take on the issue of tariffs — it only took 16 minutes of PMQs to do it.

But his call to stand shoulder to shoulder with Canada and others against Trump’s tariffs will be privately supported by many Labour backbenchers sitting behind Sir Keir Starmer.

There is an uncomfortable feeling that the prime minister is being too supine to Trump and not nearly robust enough in standing up to his international bullying.

Earlier, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch — the official leader of the opposition — sidestepped the issue of problems arising from President Trump’s trade policies. David Maddox reports:

The Tory leader has been doing her best to cozy up to the Trump White House and her friend, Vice President JD Vance, since the U.S. election in November.

The last thing she wants to do is upset her allies across the Atlantic so it is noticeable that she has gone on the attack over Labour’s handling of the economy in PMQs but ignored the greatest threat.

Trump’s tariffs could be a real setback for the UK even if eventually a trade deal eases the problem because Northern Ireland is still in the EU single market.

But Ms Badenoch prefers to focus on Labour’s increase in national insurance and cancellation of the winter fuel payment.

Federal filings show that the MAGA megadonor-turned-White House advisor spent more than $290 million supporting the president and his Republican allies during the 2024 election cycle. Musk gave over a quarter of a billion dollars through his super political action committee, America PAC.

The latest CNN/SSRS poll shows President Donald Trump’s number falling across a broad swathe of policy areas (with the exception of immigration).

While that’s bad news for him, there is even worse news in the poll for DOGE head Elon Musk, who it shows is 18 points underwater, with only 35 percent having a favorable opinion of him versus 53 percent unfavorable.

More than 60 percent of respondents believe Trump does not have the experience of judgment to make changes to the way government works.

CNBC’s senior economics reporter Steve Liesman eviscerates President Donald Trump over his trade war: “I’m going to say this at the risk of my job. What President Trump is doing is insane. It is absolutely insane.”

He goes on to say “that it shows there are no bounds around President Trump,” unlike in the first administration.

The latest CNN/SSRS poll shows Americans are unimpressed with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy, tariffs and many other issues, even as his hardline approach to immigration is favored.

When rating Trump’s overall performance as president 54 percent disapprove of the job he is doing, while 45 percent approve.

On tariffs, 61 percent disapprove, 39 percent approve and on the economy overall, 56 percent disapprove while 44 percent approve.

The president is also underwater on foreign affairs (58:42 percent), healthcare policy (56:43 percent), the federal budget (52:48 percent); and management of the federal government (51:48 percent).

On immigration, Trump is polling better than he ever has while in office, including his first four years in the White House, with 48 percent disapproving and 51 percent approving.

Britain’s Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray has told Times Radio that Downing Street will not race to join Europe in hitting back at the president but may ultimately be forced to do so.