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Donald Trump hit the golf course ahead of a candlelight dinner Friday despite global turmoil over his tariff plans — underscoring his desire to do things his way in an increasingly hardline second term.As he spent a long weekend at his Florida getaway, the 78-year-old US president was increasingly defiant even as markets plunged, insisting it was a “great time to get rich.”And as he punishes America’s trade rivals, Trump is also hitting out at perceived political opponents at home, purging his national security team at the apparent urging of a far-right conspiracy theorist.”He’s at the peak of just not giving a f— anymore,” The Washington Post quoted a White House official as saying.Trump relished being the boss in his first term as president too, but since his return to the White House he has appeared more unbowed than ever in the face of criticism.Less than 24 hours after his world-shaking tariff announcement, and as markets were still plunging into the red, Trump headed to Florida for dinner on Thursday at Trump National Doral golf club.The club is hosting an event this weekend by the Saudi-owned LIV Golf tour, for which Trump is trying to broker a merger with the PGA tour.Television footage showed Trump, wearing a read “Make America Great Again” hat, being driven in a golf cart after arriving on his Marine One helicopter.”What a disgrace,” said the Republicans Against Trump group in a post on X sharing the footage, noting that it came as  “the market is crashing, a recession is looming, and the country is more isolated than ever.”On Friday morning Trump then headed to another of his golf courses near his grand Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, just as US markets were opening for a second day’s bloodbath.”This is a great time to get rich,” he declared in a social media post shortly before heading to the course, adding that “my policies will never change.”- ‘Fired’ -Democrats criticized Trump for missing the return ceremony on Friday for four US troops killed during an exercise in Lithuania.As battered US markets close, Trump will be attending a “MAGA Inc Candelight Dinner” on Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, according to the White House.Trump is due to speak at the dinner and tickets cost $1 million each, CBS News reported, with the funds going towards MAGA Inc, a pro-Trump so-called “Super PAC” — an entity used for political funding.The gilded trappings of Trump’s weekend come amid growing fears that the tariffs may spark a recession and tank his promises to foster a new “Golden Age” for the US economy.”The irony is that while everyone but the super-rich will feel pain, his base of blue collar, middle-income whites will feel the most pain,” Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, told AFP.Trump made the final decision on his strategy at the last minute after a “ping pong match” between officials trying to meld apparently contradictory goals, The Wall Street Journal reported.The first rumblings of Republican dissent have already started.Senator Ted Cruz — who fought a bitter battle with Trump for the 2016 Republican nomination — said on his podcast that if there is a recession, next year’s US midterm elections “in all likelihood politically, would be a bloodbath.”But Trump’s allies say that he should be left to be in charge.”Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary and major cheerleader for the president, said on Thursday.Trump’s tariffs gamble is also in tune with a growing sense that he wants to be the sole captain of a ship where everyone is loyal.Trump on Thursday fired National Security Agency chief Timothy Haugh, his deputy and other senior national security officials following an intervention by right-wing conspiracist Laura Loomer.Both NSA officials were appointed by Trump’s predecessor as president, Joe Biden.Loomer, who is known for claiming that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, said on X that Haugh and Noble “have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”

US President Donald Trump on Friday extended the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the United States, allowing 75 more days to find a solution.”My Administration has been working very hard on a deal to save TikTok, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump said on Truth Social, just hours before the deadline was to expire.”A transaction requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”The hugely popular video-sharing app, which has more than 170 million American users, is under threat from a US law passed last year that orders TikTok to split from its Chinese owner ByteDance or get shut down in the United States.Trump has insisted his administration is near a deal to find a buyer for TikTok and keep it from shutting down that would involve multiple investors, but has given few details.ByteDance, while confirming that it was in talks with the US government towards finding a solution, warned that there remained “key matters” to solve.”An agreement has not been executed” and whatever was decided would be “subject to approval under Chinese law,” the company added.Motivated by national security fears and belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, the ban took effect on January 19, one day before Trump’s inauguration, with ByteDance having made no attempt to find a suitor.TikTok temporarily shut down in the United States and disappeared from app stores, to the dismay of millions of users.But the Republican president quickly announced an initial 75-day delay and TikTok was restored to users, returning to the Apple and Google app stores in February.The new 75-day delay pushes the deadline to June 19.Trump has repeatedly downplayed risks that TikTok is in danger, saying he remains confident of finding a buyer for the app’s US business.The president added on Friday that he would “continue working in good faith with China,” whose government will need to sign off on the transaction.The president suggested TikTok could even be part of a broader deal with China to ease the stinging tariffs he imposed on Beijing as part of a worldwide blitz of levies.”We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal,” he added.According to reports, the solution in the works would see existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.Additional US investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, the private equity firm, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance’s share in the new TikTok.Much of TikTok’s US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.ABC News reported on Friday that Walmart was also in the mix, spurred on by a late expression of interest by retail archrival Amazon to buy the app.Walmart and Oracle were previously rumored to be buying TikTok in the US when Trump tried to wrest the company from its Chinese owners during his first administration.Trump long supported a ban or divestment, but has lately defended TikTok, seeing it as a reason more young voters supported him in November’s election.- What about the algorithm? -Uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok’s valuable algorithm.”TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand — it’s simply not as powerful,” said Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering.Various media reports suggest the new company could license the algorithm from ByteDance, which would remain invested in TikTok.But such an arrangement would go against the spirit of the law, which is in part based on the premise that TikTok’s algorithm can be weaponized by the Chinese against US interests.

In unleashing global tariffs, President Donald Trump has vowed to remake the world to benefit US workers. One beneficiary could be the country he sees as the primary adversary — China.Asia’s largest economy promptly slapped identical tariffs on the United States and said it would impose export controls on rare earth elements vital in consumer and medical technology.But unlike during his first term, this time Trump is targeting not just China but the entire world — including American allies that had increasingly joined Washington’s firm line on Beijing.Just days before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement, China moved to revive stalled free-trade talks with Japan and South Korea, both treaty-bound US allies with deep-rooted skepticism about Beijing.”If Trump’s unilateralism continues, I expect Beijing to court these capitals more aggressively, positioning itself as the steadier economic anchor in the region,” said Lizzi Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.”And let’s not forget the optics. China is very much framing Trump’s tariffs as proof of US decline — resorting to protectionism, bullying allies and retreating from global norms,” she said.Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, said she had expected China to be “a little more chill” in response to Trump’s tariffs but said Beijing did not appear as worried as during his first term.”I think the Chinese see this more as opportunity and believe the US is actively undermining itself,” she said.”There are a number of aggrieved parties that had been solid and loyal allies of the US,” she added. “Now their confidence in the approach that the US is taking around the world is — I wouldn’t say shattered — but at least in doubt.”- Burying US opening to China -To be sure, China will likely feel real pain from the US tariffs. It shipped more than $500 billion in goods to the United States last year, with the trade balance far in China’s favor.Critics of China hailed what they saw as a death knell for a former near-consensus in Washington on the value of integrating the Asian power into the global economy.”The idea that Communist China could be a responsible member of an international trade regime — the World Trade Organization — which should be premised on equal and fair trade, is a joke,” said Representative Chris Smith, a Republican who for decades has railed against Bill Clinton’s 1994 delinking of China’s trading privileges from human rights.”Unlike previous presidents, President Trump fully understands the nature and scope of the problem — and the existential threat posed by China — and what needs to be done,” Smith said.Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, noted that China still has a slew of issues with other countries, from territorial disputes with Japan, India and Southeast Asia to concerns in Europe over China’s embrace of Russia in the Ukraine war.”China has been adept at undermining its own positions, especially with its neighbors, through assertiveness and even aggression,” Stokes said.- Attention shifts from China -But Stokes said that former president Joe Biden had been effective in forming coalitions with other countries to put pressure on China, on issues from access to fifth-generation internet networks to security.”To the extent that Beijing was feeling a little bit isolated at the end of the Biden administration, I think that a lot of that pressure has come off as the locus of disruption is now clearly Washington,” Stokes said.While both Trump and Biden policymakers have identified China as the top US rival, Lee, of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Trump fundamentally saw President Xi Jinping “not as a villain, but as a peer — another strongman.””For Trump, economic war isn’t about economics or even the stock markets — it’s about the optics of domination and strength,” Lee said.”And that leaves just enough room for a pivot — if Xi offers the kind of win Trump can brand.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit Panama next week, the Pentagon said Friday, after President Donald Trump exerted significant pressure on the country to curb ties with Chinese interests.Hegseth will participate in the Central American Security Conference and will “meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.The talks will “drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere,” he said.Tensions between the United States and Panama spiraled this year over Trump’s repeated threats to “take back” the Panama Canal, including by force if necessary.Panama has made several concessions to Trump, including putting pressure on a Hong Kong company that operated ports on the Panama Canal to pull out.The last US soldier left Panama on December 31, 1999 — the day the United States, which built the Panama Canal, relinquished control of the crucial shipping route.

US prosecutors have added two charges to the criminal racketeering and sex trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Friday.The superseding indictment includes an additional charge of sex trafficking and an additional charge of transportation to engage in prostitution, relating to a woman identified by prosecutors only as “Victim-2.” The fresh charges could spell more prison time upon conviction.Government attorneys requested that Combs be arraigned on the new charges on April 25, which is due to be the final pre-trial conference prior to the blockbuster trial set to begin in May.The hip hop magnate, 55, is accused of sexually abusing people and coercing them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence, with prosecutors also alleging he forced employees to work long hours while demanding their silence.He has denied all charges thus far, insisting that any sex acts were consensual.The highly anticipated trial is set to begin with jury selection on May 5, with opening statements expected to start May 12.Public allegations have been building against the Grammy winner since late 2023, when singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.Along with the federal criminal case, Combs faces a mountain of civil suits, complaints that allege harrowing abuse by the artist with assistance from a loyal network of employees and associates.The one-time rap superstar has been incarcerated since September, during which time he’s started to look noticeably aged, with a crop of salt-and-pepper hair.

US tariffs will likely cause inflation to rise and growth to slow, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday, also warning of an “elevated” risk of higher unemployment.President Donald Trump’s dramatic trade measures announced earlier this week have tightened scrutiny of Powell and how the Fed will react to free-falling financial markets and concerns that a prolonged trade war would ramp up consumer prices and joblessness rates.”It is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected,” Powell told an event in Virginia.”The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said, adding that it was “too soon” to consider changes to US monetary policy.Powell spoke just minutes after Trump posted on social media, urging him to cut interest rates immediately and accusing him of playing politics in his role running the independent US central bank.The larger-than-expected tariffs unveiled on Wednesday stack on top of earlier country-specific levies, meaning that China, for example, will now face a new levy totaling 54 percent.Other top trading partners will also see higher rates, with the European Union now facing a 20 percent tariff from April 9, and India looking at a 26 percent levy.The Trump administration has also targeted specific sectors of the economy, recently slapping a 25 percent tariff on automobiles not made in the United States. Powell said Friday that he expected the current uncertainty to decline in the coming months.”Fast-forward a year from now, the uncertainty should be much lower,” he noted. “The actual effects of the policies should then be pretty manifest and clear.”Wall Street financial markets extended their earlier declines on Powell’s remarks. At around 1:00 pm local time (1700 GMT), the broad-based S&P 500 index was down around 4.6 percent. – No rush to cut – Powell’s comments suggest the Fed is in no rush to cut its benchmark lending rate from its current elevated level of between 4.25 and 4.50 percent as it continues its struggle to bring inflation down to its long-term two percent target.In recent months, the Fed’s progress in bringing inflation down to target has stalled, while growth has remained solid and the unemployment rate has hugged close to historic lows. Trump’s return to office has complicated the Fed’s path to two percent, with tariffs likely to hit both sides of the bank’s dual mandate, forcing them to choose between tackling inflation and keeping unemployment in check. Last month, the Fed voted to extend its pause in rate cuts, and signaled it wanted to see how the new administration’s policies would feed through to the economy before taking any action. Financial markets see a roughly two-thirds chance that policymakers will vote to keep rates unchanged again at the next Fed interest rate meeting in May, according to data from CME Group.- ‘STOP PLAYING POLITICS’ -Ahead of Powell’s speech on Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to insist that his tariff policy would not change despite the market reaction, and then called on Powell to act.”This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates,” he wrote. “He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly.””CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!” added Trump, who first nominated Powell to run the Fed, before turning against him during his first term.Speaking Friday, Powell insisted he had no plans to step down as Fed chair before his term ends next year. “I fully intend to serve all of my term,” he said during the Virginia event. 

President Donald Trump goaded China on Friday after the US’s chief economic rival retaliated against his tariffs, and he dismissed falling stock markets over the growing global trade war, touting it as a chance to “get rich.””China played it wrong, they panicked — the one thing they cannot afford to do!” Trump posted on Truth Social, writing the message in his trademark all-caps.For a second day, markets plunged, wiping vast sums off investment and retirement portfolios alike. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned the tariffs were likely to spur “higher inflation and lower growth.”Wall Street saw prolonged selloffs, both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 losing close to four percent. Frankfurt and London sank more than four percent, while Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 2.8 percent down.Trump, who unveiled his barrage of import duties against dozens of countries Wednesday, was unrepentant, posting that “my policies will never change.””This is a great time to get rich,” he wrote.The 78-year-old Republican, who was spending a long weekend golfing at his course in Palm Beach, Florida, is banking on the theory that the might of the world’s biggest economy will force foreign companies to manufacture on US soil, rather than continue to import goods.However, China responded by announcing its own new 34 percent tariffs on US imports starting April 10.Beijing said it would sue the United States at the World Trade Organization and also restrict export of rare earth elements used in high-end medical and electronics technology.Other big US trading partners have held back as they digest the unfolding international standoff and fears of recession.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the EU, which Trump hit with a 20 percent tariff, will act in “a calm, carefully phased, unified way” and allow time for talks.However, he also warned the bloc “won’t stand idly by, should we be unable to reach a fair deal.”- EU examines options -France and Germany have said the 27-nation EU could respond by imposing a tax on US tech companies.Economy Minister Eric Lombard urged French companies to show “patriotism” after President Emmanuel Macron argued it would send the wrong message if they pressed ahead with investments in the United States.Lombard said the EU’s retaliation would not necessarily involve tit-for-tat tariffs and could use other tools, pointing to data exchange and taxes instead.In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called for a “calm-headed” approach after Trump slapped 24 percent tariffs on Japanese-made goods.Trump said he’d had a “very productive” call with Vietnam’s top leader after the southeast Asian manufacturing hub was hit with extraordinary 46 percent US duties.- Cars clash -Separate US tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made cars went into effect this week, and Canada swiftly responded with a similar levy on US imports.Stellantis — the owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat — paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.Japanese carmaker Nissan said on Friday it would revise plans to reduce production in the United States.The company also said it would stop selling two vehicle models on the US market that are made in Mexico.Sweden’s Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely, said it would increase its production of vehicles in the United States and probably produce an additional model there.- Economy fears -Powell’s comments Friday reflected growing concern that the trade war shockwaves will extend deep into the US economy.”It is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected,” Powell said in a speech. “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects.”Minutes before Powell suggested the Fed will continue to hold off from cutting its benchmark lending rate, Trump pressured him to do so.”CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!” he posted — once again defying the longstanding custom in which the White House respects the central bank’s independence.In a more concrete sign of how tariffs are impacting trade, Nintendo announced it was delaying preorders of its hotly anticipated Switch 2 gaming console while it assesses “evolving” conditions.burs-sms/bgs

TikTok on Friday was hours from a deadline to find a non-Chinese owner or face a ban in the United States.The hugely popular video-sharing app, which has more than 170 million American users, is under threat from a US law that passed overwhelmingly last year and orders TikTok to split from its Chinese owner ByteDance or get shut down in the United States.US President Donald Trump on Thursday said his administration was “very close” to a deal to find a buyer for TikTok, adding that it involved “multiple” investors but giving no further details.Motivated by national security fears and widespread belief in Washington that TikTok is ultimately controlled by the Chinese government, the law took effect on January 19, one day before Trump’s inauguration.In the hours before that deadline, TikTok temporarily shut down in the United States and disappeared from app stores, to the dismay of millions of users.But the Republican president quickly announced a 75-day delay and TikTok subsequently restored service to existing users, returning to the Apple and Google app stores in February.That delay is set to expire at midnight (0400 GMT) on April 5, but Trump has repeatedly downplayed risks that TikTok is in danger, saying he remains confident of finding a buyer for the app’s US business.The president also suggested TikTok could even be part of a broader deal with China to ease the stinging tariffs he imposed on Beijing as part of a worldwide blitz of levies.Asked Thursday if he was willing to make deals with countries on tariffs, he said: “As long as they are giving us something that is good. For instance with TikTok.””We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say we’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he added.According to reports, the most likely solution would see existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.Additional US investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, the private equity firm, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance’s share.Much of TikTok’s US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.- What about the algorithm? -But uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok’s valuable algorithm. “TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand — it’s simply not as powerful,” said Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering.”If the TikTok experience degrades, users, creators, and advertisers will spend more time and money on other media channels,” she added.The New York Times suggested the new company could license it from ByteDance.Such an arrangement would go against the spirit of the law, which is in part based on the premise that TikTok’s algorithm can be weaponized by the Chinese against US interests.Amazon has also reportedly made a last-minute bid to buy TikTok.Other proposals include an initiative called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” launched by real estate and sports tycoon Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative.Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity recently expressed interest in buying TikTok, as did a joint venture involving YouTube mega-celebrity MrBeast and another bid from adult content platform OnlyFans.Trump, though he supported a ban in his first term, has lately become a TikTok defender, seeing it as a reason more young voters supported him in November’s election.One of his major political donors, billionaire Jeff Yass, is a major stakeholder in parent company ByteDance.

Equities and oil prices extended a global rout for markets Friday after China hit back over President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz with its own mammoth levy on US goods, inflaming global trade war fears.The Chinese government said it would impose additional 34 percent tariffs on all imports of US goods, making it the first major nation to unveil retaliatory measures.Despite the market turmoil, Trump insisted that “my policies will never change” and urged the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.Wall Street stocks dropped sharply in morning trading, with the blue-chip Dow falling below 39,000 points briefly for the first time since August.The S&P 500 also briefly exceeded its Thursday loss — its largest drop since the Covid pandemic in 2020.”Sentiment is so fragile right now,” Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, told AFP.”Investors are firmly in the ‘get me to cash now’ phase, on fears that other nations will follow China’s lead, and of course that the US president will respond to China’s tariffs with even more charges,” he said.”This trade war is like nothing we’ve seen for years, perhaps decades.” European markets ended the day sharply lower, with Frankfurt and London sinking nearly five percent.With Powell set to speak publicly, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that “This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates.”XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said that with Trump doubling down on his tariffs despite feeling the heat from the market selloff “leaves the Fed to do the heavy lifting and try to calm financial markets”.But Powell said he expected the current economic uncertainty would decline, setting Wall Street stocks down further.The falls came despite data showing the US economy added 228,000 jobs last month, much higher than analysts expected.”There’s no question that the trade war is fuelling the current selloff, but the big question is if and when it will start to impact the economy in a meaningful way,” said eToro US investment analyst Bret Kenwell.The jobs report “again showed that we have yet to see a significant spike in jobless claims, and if the most recent payrolls report avoids a large revision lower like we saw for February, it bodes well for the US economy,” he added. The dollar rebounded against the euro and pound, having fallen sharply Thursday on fears of a recession in the United States.But oil futures plummeted around seven percent, having already plunged some six to seven percent Thursday on the prospect of weaker demand.News that OPEC+ had unexpectedly hiked crude supply more than planned added to the heavy selling.The price of copper — a vital component for energy storage, electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines — tumbled more than five percent.Beijing on Friday also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, its commerce ministry said, including gadolinium — commonly used in MRIs — and yttrium, utilised in consumer electronics.”Another jolt of fear has shot through markets as China’s threat of retaliation has materialised,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. “The big concern is that this is a sign of a sharp escalation of the tariff war which will have major implications for the global economy,” she said.- Key figures around 1530 GMT -West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 7.0 percent at $62.27 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 5.6 percent at $66.23 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 3.3 percent at 39,194.40 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 3.9 percent at 5,188.63 New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 3.8 percent at 15,915.69Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 5.0 percent at 20,641.72 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 4.3 percent at 7,274.95 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 5.0 percent at 8,054.98 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.8 percent at 33,780.58 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayShanghai – Composite: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0986 from $1.1052 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2953 from $1.2968Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.82 yen from 145.99 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.99 pence from 84.34 penceburs-rl/js

US hiring soared past expectations in March, government data showed Friday, but analysts warn this is “old news” as the full effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and federal cuts have yet to ripple through the country.The world’s biggest economy added 228,000 jobs last month, much more than the 130,000 economists anticipated and significantly above February’s revised 117,000 figure, said the Department of Labor.The jobless rate meanwhile edged up to 4.2 percent, from 4.1 percent in February.Trump called these “great job numbers” in a social media post, suggesting his policies were “already working.””The President’s push to onshore jobs here in the United States is working,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a separate statement, pointing to job growth in areas like transportation.Since January, the Trump administration has embarked on wide-ranging job cuts to the federal government, while the president also unleashed steep tariffs targeting allies and adversaries alike.Economists expect it will take time for their full effects to materialize, warning of higher consumer prices and lower growth.- ‘Old news’ -“The labor market was in good shape as of last month, but it’s old news considering the Trump Administration’s tariff announcement and ensuing global market rout,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic in a note.Trump’s announcement this week of a 10 percent baseline tariff hitting US trading partners except Canada and Mexico from Saturday — and higher rates to come on most economies — was “larger and more complex” than expected, she said.Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, warned: “In light of the tariff announcements this week and the sharp drop in stock markets around the world in response, these data are likely not capturing the moment with respect to the actual strength of the economy.”Sectors that saw job gains included health care and social assistance, alongside retail trade — “partially reflecting the return of workers from a strike,” the Labor Department said.But federal government employment declined by 4,000 in March, following the loss of 11,000 jobs in February.Average hourly earnings grew 0.3 percent in March to $36.00, picking up slightly from February’s pace.- Rate cut caution -“There is still substantial uncertainty of what the eventual import tariff rates will be and how long they will remain in place,” said Bostjancic.She added that “this is a very fluid situation with actions and counter actions” between Washington and trading partners.China announced Friday steep counter tariffs on its US imports, triggering a further warning from Trump that Beijing “cannot afford” to take such action.Trump could take further tit-for-tat measures. White House officials warned Wednesday that “if other countries retaliate,” that undermines the effectiveness of Trump’s order invoking emergency economic powers to impose the upcoming tariffs.”Of course, the President is going to respond to make sure that the order is not undermined,” the official told reporters.Fratantoni expects the US central bank to stay in “data-dependent mode” and “remain cautious with respect to any rate cuts so long as inflation is above target, and the job market data continues to come in strong.”Economists are monitoring the effects of sweeping tariffs Trump imposed on major US trading partners in March, alongside the even broader action taking effect in April.”Most economists would say this is a huge disruption,” said Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade North America.Uncertainty itself “is now a driving force economically,” he told AFP.Apart from adding to consumer costs in the near-term, North expects tariffs could also “put a damper on job growth.”