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Republican leaders raced Wednesday to pass a budget that will tee up Donald Trump’s sweeping proposed tax cuts, as a rank-and-file rebellion over spending threatened one of the US president’s signature policies.Both chambers of Congress are Republican-led but right-wing fiscal hawks in the House of Representatives are angry over what they see as insufficient cuts in the blueprint passed Saturday by the Senate.The two sides need to adopt identical versions of the budget before they can move on Trump’s domestic agenda, led by an extension of his expiring 2017 tax cuts.”Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” Trump posted on social media, with House leadership eyeing an evening vote on the resolution’s final passage. “The USA will Soar like never before!!!”House Speaker Mike Johnson has pledged to get the budget framework to Trump’s desk before Congress breaks for two weeks on Thursday, putting Republicans on the clock. But several of his members have said they will reject the resolution, with many more undecided, a headache for Johnson as he bids to muscle it through his fractious, thin 220-213 majority.”Republicans have a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver relief to hard working families and set our country back on the path of prosperity,” he told reporters in an appeal for party unity.”The American people desperately need us to take this action, and we will.”- ‘Unserious and disappointing’ -The House produced its own budget plan in February, featuring $1.5 trillion in cuts and raising the national borrowing limit by $4 trillion to cover the cost of renewing Trump’s tax cuts through 2034. Senators made changes when they passed their version, requiring their committees to find as little as $4 billion in reductions and envisioning a $5 trillion hike in the debt ceiling. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington — one of a number of senior Republicans who have raised eyebrows by breaking with the leadership — called the Senate resolution “unserious and disappointing.” Trump intervened personally on Tuesday, summoning around two dozen holdouts to the White House to bring them into line.US media, citing sources in the room, reported that the president committed to spending cuts that would go far beyond the Senate plans — whatever ends up on the statute books.Johnson said the talks were making “great progress” and added that a lot of skeptical lawmakers had seen their concerns answered.To tee up chamber-wide votes on legislation, lawmakers must first pass what is known as “a rule” — a text governing how the action will play out on the House floor.Johnson scored a qualified victory when the budget passed this key test in the afternoon, although it crossed the line by the narrowest of margins — 216 votes to 215 — with three Republicans voting no.Support for the “rule” does not always translate into votes for final passage and at least two other Republicans have indicated they would toe the line on the preliminary vote but vote no when it counts.

Latin American leaders on Wednesday urged a united front to tackle US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught and the economic uncertainty it has brought.The calls for unity of purpose were made in Honduras at a meeting of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), also attended by China — seeking to replace the United States as the main political and economic influence in the region.Eleven CELAC heads of state attended the deliberations, including leftist leaders Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico — Latin America’s biggest economies — as well as Colombia’s Gustavo Petro and host Xiomara Castro. “We cannot continue walking separately when the world is reorganizing,” Castro said as the talks got underway in the capital Tegucigalpa.”The United States is redrawing its economic map without asking which peoples are left behind,” she said.Sheinbaum, for her part, said economies in the region must diversify their markets and focus more on “integration and helping each other.”Trump’s tariffs on imports of non-US products, some of them suspended and altered numerous times, threaten economic disruption for CELAC economies.Mexico is the United States’ biggest trading partner while Brazil is its second-biggest provider of steel.And while Washington is increasingly seen as a volatile associate, China has been making inroads in the region.Two-thirds of Latin American countries have joined President Xi Jinping’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure program, and China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru and Chile, among others.In Honduras, a Chinese delegation led by Qu Yuhui, Beijing’s number two for Latin American Affairs, has been holding bilateral meetings with CELAC delegates since Monday — including envoys from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba.Beijing also plans to host a China-CELAC ministerial conference on May 13, to be attended by Xi.”China is set to increase its influence in Latin America; it is a gift from the United States,” Peruvian international relations analyst Francisco Belaunde told AFP. “China wants to appear now as a reliable partner that is in favor of free trade, it wants to take advantage of the mess generated by Trump and the annoyance of all countries over these tariffs,” he added.

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it is appealing a court ruling ordering the White House to restore the Associated Press’s access to official presidential events.The US Attorney’s Office said it was filing the appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on behalf of the three senior White House officials named in the AP complaint.AP journalists and photographers have been barred from the Oval Office and from traveling on Air Force One since mid-February because of the news agency’s decision to continue referring to the “Gulf of Mexico” — and not the “Gulf of America” as decreed by President Donald Trump.On Tuesday, District Judge Trevor McFadden said the “viewpoint-based denial of the AP’s access” was a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press.”If the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” McFadden said.McFadden ordered the White House to “immediately rescind the denial of the AP’s access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other limited spaces… when such spaces are made open to other members of the White House press pool.”The judge put off implementation of his order for five days to give the White House time to reply or to file an appeal.AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton welcomed the court order on Tuesday restoring access.”Today’s ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation,” Easton said in a statement. “This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the US Constitution.”In its style guide, the AP notes that the Gulf of Mexico has “carried that name for more than 400 years” and the agency “will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.””As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” the AP said.The 180-year-old organization has long been a pillar of US journalism and provides news to print, TV and radio outlets across the United States and around the world.

US President Donald Trump abruptly backed down Wednesday in his global trade war with a 90 day tariff pause for most countries — but slapped even more levies against China in what has become a brutal duel between the world’s two largest economies.Following days of global market turmoil, Wall Street stocks surged in reaction to Trump’s sudden announcement on his Truth Social network.”I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE” on higher tariffs that took effect on Wednesday, Trump said, adding that he took the decision after more than 75 countries had reached out to negotiate and did not retaliate against the United States.Only a flat rate of 10 percent tariffs on all countries that took effect on Saturday will remain in place. This marked a stunning reverse from often punishing levies that hit even many of the closest US allies.But Trump accused China of still “ripping off” his country.”Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125 percent, effective immediately,” Trump said.Trump had only hours earlier ramped up the duties on Chinese goods to a giant 104 percent. China then retaliated by rising tariffs on US imports to 84 percent.”At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump said.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that Trump had not backtracked, saying: “This was his strategy all along, and you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position.”- ‘BE COOL!’ -The European Union had earlier launched its own counterattack, announcing measures targeting some US products from Tuesday in retaliation for American duties on global steel and aluminum exports.The 27-nation bloc, which Trump has accused of being created to “screw” the United States, will hit more than 20 billion euros’ worth of US products, including soybeans, motorcycles and beauty products.But the EU notably did not retaliate against the separate 20 percent US tariffs on all goods that came into effect a minute after midnight on Wednesday.Trump announced a week ago on what he called “Liberation Day” that he would impose a 10 percent baseline tariff on all countries, taking effect Saturday.Additional rates kicked in, starting Wednesday, for many individual economies including China and the EU, but also remote islands that barely trade with the United States — and in one case an uninhabited territory near Antarctica.Amid stock market panic, Trump earlier Wednesday urged Americans to “BE COOL!” and said that “Everything is going to work out well”Wall Street stocks rocketed on Trump’s pause announcement.Minutes later, the S&P 500 surged 6.0 percent to 5,281.44, snapping a brutal run of losses over the past week.European and Asian stock markets had earlier tumbled along with oil and the dollar as the confrontation escalated.US bond yields had also risen amid a sharp sell-off  — a major economic red light as sovereign government debt is normally seen as a safe haven for investors in troubled times.- ‘Kissing my ass’ -Before his pivot, Trump said world leaders were rushing to negotiate “tailored” deals with the United States, with Japan and South Korea among those sending delegations to Washington.”I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass,” Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night.But China doubled down. “The tariff escalation against China by the United States simply piles mistakes on top of mistakes,” the Chinese finance ministry said.Bessent earlier warned countries at a banking summit Wednesday that aligning with Beijing “would be cutting your own throat.”Trump believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.The billionaire former property tycoon has particularly raged against China, accusing it of excess production and “dumping” inexpensive goods on other economies.China warned tourists on Wednesday to “fully assess the risks” before travelling to the United States.And US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then warned against Chinese “threats” as he visited Panama, whose canal is at the center of a row between Beijing and Washington.burs-dk

The US retail giant Amazon is preparing to launch Wednesday its first full batch of Project Kuiper satellites, marking a crucial milestone in the battle with Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide high-speed internet.The 27 satellites will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) aboard an Atlas V rocket operated by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.Like Starlink, the service is designed to provide internet access to even the most remote and underserved areas around the world, including war zones or disaster-struck areas.The satellites will be positioned hundreds of miles above the Earth, where they will form the foundations of Project Kuiper — a constellation that Amazon says will include more than 3,200 satellites.Amazon, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has said the internet service will go live this year.The project’s pricing has not yet been revealed, but Amazon has promised it will be in line with its existing reputation as a low-cost retailer.With this launch, Amazon is going into direct competition with SpaceX’s Starlink and other satellite internet providers.The Musk-owned SpaceX launched the first batch of its more than 6,750 operational Starlink satellites in 2019 and is by far the sector’s biggest player, boasting over five million customers worldwide.Starlink has provided internet access to several disaster and war zones, including Morocco after a devastating 2023 earthquake there, as well as on the frontlines in Ukraine in its war with Russia.- High competition -Unlike traditional internet services that rely on fewer satellites that are situated more than 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) from Earth, those offered by Musk and soon Bezos use a low Earth orbit of between 550 and 1,300 kilometers (350-810 miles).This allows them to relay data more rapidly to Earth, enabling internet access in areas without landline connections by copper or fiber optic cable.”Cost, complexity, and geography can make it difficult to install traditional, ground-based fiber and wireless connectivity solutions in these areas,” Amazon says.A lower orbit, however, means so-called LEO satellites are only reachable from a smaller area, meaning more are needed for full global coverage and launches are more regular.Still, it provides a large potential market for Amazon — one in which it is hoping to become a key player by catching up with its main competitor.Amazon is planning to boost satellite launches in the coming months and years, with more than 80 flights ordered by firms including ULA, Bezos’s space company Blue Origin and even Musk’s SpaceX. These satellites will be gradually dispatched to the low Earth orbit, which is increasingly populated by Starlink as well as other emerging actors including Europe’s OneWeb and China’s Guowang.Some have voiced fears the growing number of satellites could lead to congestion and possible collisions, as well as disturbances for astronomical observations.The role of private hands in space has also raised political questions, particularly given the role of Musk as a key advisor to US President Donald Trump.Musk has cast doubt on the future of Starlink in Ukraine, where it is essential for military operations in Kyiv’s war with Russia that Trump wants to see ended.He said in March, however, that “no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.”

Delta Air Lines withdrew its full-year profit forecast Wednesday and shelved some planned capacity hikes, pointing to a weakening demand outlook amid recession worries and whipsawing trade wars.The company is among the first to report its quarterly results since President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of major tariffs on US trading partners that has roiled global markets.The big US carrier’s first-quarter profits edged above those in the year-ago period, but executives said they were adjusting strategy to fly fewer planes due to a more meager consumer environment in light of shifting tariff dynamics.”With broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stalled,” said Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian. “In this slower-growth environment, we are protecting margins and cash flow by focusing on what we can control.”Bastian expressed confidence in Delta’s ability to navigate a downturn during a conference call with analysts.The call also touched on travel trends with neighbors Mexico and China, and the impact of tariffs on its dealings with plane maker Airbus.Delta will shelve plans to increase travel capacity in the second half of 2025, which is now projected as flat compared with last year, Bastian said.Profits for the first quarter were $240 million, 18 percent above the year-ago level on a two percent rise in revenues to $14 billion.On Wednesday, the company projected second-quarter revenues of between negative two percent and positive two percent, while profits of between $1.70 and $2.30 per share. Delta isn’t confirming 2025 projections due to the current uncertainty, saying it “will provide an update later in the year as visibility improves.”Company officials said there has been “significant” deterioration in bookings from Canada to the United States while the performance from Mexico has been “mixed.” There has not yet been a big pullback in travel to the United States from Europe or other international markets. But Delta garners only about 20 percent of its international travel revenues from outside the United States, limiting the impact of a pullback, company officials said. Delta executives said they were hopeful a trade agreement between the United States and Europe could remove the threat of tariffs on Airbus planes ordered by the airline.Airbus has “been a great partner,” Bastian said. “But the one thing that you need to know we’re very clear on is that we will not be paying tariffs on any aircraft deliveries we take,” he said.”If you start to put a 20 percent incremental cost on top of an aircraft, it gets very difficult to make the math work,” he said.While the United States has an overall trade deficit with Europe, Europe is by far a net importer in the aircraft and assorted goods category, Delta officials said.Shares of Delta jumped 18.6 percent, with markets rallying aggressively after Trump announced he would suspend new tariffs on countries besides China.

Federal judges in New York and Texas temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Wednesday from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members without a court hearing.The US Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court order barring the deportation of undocumented Venezuelan migrants using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), but said they must first be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal.The New York and Texas cases were the first to appear before the federal courts since the ruling by the Supreme Court on the use of the AEA to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.President Donald Trump invoked the AEA, which has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, to round up alleged Tren de Aragua members and summarily expel them last month to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.The White House alleges that Tren de Aragua is closely linked to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and is “perpetrating an invasion” of the United States.Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said their clients were not members of Tren de Aragua, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.In New York, District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, an appointee of president Bill Clinton, issued a temporary restraining order barring the deportation of two Venezuelan men, identified only by their initials, until they receive a court hearing.In Texas, District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, issued a similar temporary restraining order in a case brought by three Venezuelans also identified only by their initials.- ‘Irreparable injury’ -In his order, Rodriguez noted that the Supreme Court had ruled that anyone subject to removal under the AEA must first receive notice and an opportunity to appear in court.The immediate removal of the three individuals would cause them “irreparable injury,” the judge said, and if they were “erroneously removed” it was unlikely they could be returned to the United States.The US Supreme Court is currently considering the case of a Salvadoran man who was wrongfully deported last month on the same day as the alleged Tren de Aragua members.A district court has ordered that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, be returned to the United States and an appeals court has upheld the decision.The Trump administration, in asking the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s order, called it a “demand that the United States let a member of a foreign terrorist organization into America.”The White House insists that Abrego Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, is a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 but has not produced any credible evidence in court.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in El Salvador.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries Wednesday against closer alignment with China on trade, as he defended President Donald Trump’s move to remake the world’s biggest economy through market-shaking tariffs.Bessent told a summit of bankers in Washington that economies potentially eyeing closer ties with Beijing over the US shift may want to think twice, saying “that would be cutting your own throat.””They just keep producing and producing, dumping and dumping, and it’s going somewhere,” he added.Bessent’s remarks came hours after Trump’s fresh tariffs on dozens of countries — including many US allies — kicked in, and shortly after Beijing unveiled equally steep counter tariffs.Trump’s latest action took new US tariffs on Chinese products this year to a staggering 104 percent, piling atop earlier duties.Shortly after the levies took effect, US government bonds saw a sharp sell-off, despite usually being seen as a safe financial asset in uncertain times, as investors priced in a likely US recession and sought to cover losses on equity markets.For now, Bessent said he is gearing up for talks with around 70 partners, adding that Trump could probably reach tariff deals with US allies.”And then we can approach China as a group,” he added.The Treasury chief stressed that Trump’s country-specific tariff levels are “a ceiling” if governments did not retaliate, suggesting Trump would hold off from further hikes if he did not face pushback.Bessent said China chose to escalate the situation.Despite financial market upheaval, he added that the US economy remained “very solid” and in “pretty good shape.”- ‘Main Street’s turn’ -Bessent also said the Treasury Department would work on reforms involving bank regulation.”Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before, and it can continue to grow and do well,” he told the American Bankers Association’s Washington Summit.”But for the next four years, the Trump agenda is focused on Main Street. It’s Main Street’s turn,” Bessent added, referring to smaller businesses, investors and institutions.”For too long, financial policy has served large financial institutions, at the expense of smaller ones. No more,” the former hedge fund manager added.The Trump administration has been pursuing an economic policy, including tariffs, with a stated aim of transforming the US economy by boosting domestic industrial sectors and pushing for deregulation.Bessent flagged the need as well to ensure that Trump’s tax cuts from his first presidency did not expire, saying this would help support the economy.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday during a visit to Panama that the United States does not seek war with China, but will counter what he called the threats it poses in the Americas.Hegseth made the remarks in a speech to a regional security conference a day after visiting the US-built Panama Canal, which President Donald Trump has threatened to seize because of what he calls China’s excessive influence over the waterway.The United States says it is a threat to its national security and the region as a whole for a Hong Kong company to operate ports at either end of the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific, and through which five percent of all global shipping passes.”We do not seek war with China. And war with China is certainly not inevitable. We do not seek it in any form,” the secretary said.”But together, we must prevent war by robustly and vigorously deterring China’s threats in this hemisphere,” the former Fox News anchor said in his speech.Hegseth asserted that China-based companies are capturing land and infrastructure in strategic sectors like energy and telecommunications, and that China has too large a military presence in the hemisphere. “Make no mistake, Beijing is investing and operating in this region for military advantage and unfair economic gain,” Hegseth said.Panama, under pressure from the Trump administration to reduce alleged Chinese influence in the waterway, has accused the Hong Kong firm that runs the ports at either end of the canal of failing to meet its contractual obligations and pushed for it to pull out of the country.On Wednesday that firm, Panama Ports Company, rejected an audit that said it had failed to pay $1.2 billion due under its concession.A Panamanian audit released this week said it found “many breaches” of the concession awarded to Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison.PPC denied the finding, saying any suggestion it “has failed to pay approximately $1,200 million balboas ($1.2 billion) to the Panamanian State is absolutely contrary to reality.”- ‘Significant investments’ -Panama has denied US assertions that China exercises undue control over the waterway, but faced with Trump’s repeated threats to seize the canal, launched the audit in January.The United States built the more than century old canal and handed it over to Panama in 1999.PPC won the concession to operate one port on the Pacific side and another on the Atlantic side in 1997, and then renewed for another 25 years in 2021.Panama state comptroller Anel Flores concluded that Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed under the contract, adding that PPC benefited from many tax exemptions and had irregularities in a previous audit.But the company said on Wednesday that it has more than met its contractual obligations, having made “significant investments that exceed $1,695 million balboas” — which it said was confirmed by authorities in a 2020 audit.CK Hutchison last month announced a deal to offload 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the Panama Canal — to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal.

NASA will prioritize sending astronauts to Mars, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US space agency said Wednesday, shifting focus beyond a long-planned return to the Moon — but insisting both were achievable.Though NASA’s “Artemis” Moon mission was announced in Trump’s first term, he has since openly mused about heading straight to Mars, prompting concerns that China or others could fill the gap on the lunar surface.The notion has gained traction as Elon Musk — the world’s richest person and SpaceX chief who has long eyed a human mission to Mars — became a key Trump ally and advisor.”We will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars,” businessman Jared Isaacman told the Senate committee overseeing his appointment.”And along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon and determine the scientific, economic and national security benefits for maintaining a presence on the lunar surface,” he said.Musk founded his successful space company with the idea of making humanity a multiplanetary species.Isaacman, an e-payments billionaire, is a close Musk ally who has flown to space twice with SpaceX as a private astronaut.He did not appear to view a bid for Mars as incompatible with the Artemis mission, telling senators he did not see any “tough trades here.””I absolutely want to see us return to the Moon,” he said, adding that he did not think NASA would have to make “a binary decision of Moon versus Mars, or Moon has to come first versus Mars.””I think we could be paralleling these efforts and doing the near impossible, which is exactly why the American taxpayers funded NASA in the first place,” he said.A “first step” would be a return to the Moon, he said, adding: “we should be doing both.”Texas Senator Ted Cruz underscored the strategic value of the Moon when it came to US national security back on Earth.”We must stay the course — an extreme shift in priorities at this stage would almost certainly mean a red moon, ceding ground to China for generations to come,” the Republican, whose state hosts NASA’s massive Johnson Space Center, told the hearing.”I am hard pressed to think of a more catastrophic mistake we could make in space than saying to Communist China, ‘the Moon is yours,'” Cruz continued.But Isaacman insisted both a moonshot and a Mars-shot were possible.”We can chart a course for Mars in line with the president’s vision to return to the Moon before the Chinese can get there,” he said.Isaacman has also reportedly intervened at the last moment to prevent NASA from suffering the deep cuts made at other agencies by Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.