Tuesday 03.04.25

President Donald Trump will soon head to Capitol Hill for perhaps the most consequential speech of his second term so far. He is set to deliver an address to Congress a day after he decided to halt US military aid to Ukraine, which could have dire consequences for its war against Russia. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and on With Your Day.
 

By Alexandra Banner

Containers are seen at the port in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (AFP/Getty Images)

Tariffs

China and Canada are fighting back as new US tariffs against those countries and Mexico went into effect today. President Donald Trump enacted 25% duties on Mexico and Canada, and doubled tariffs on Chinese goods to 20%. Beijing swiftly announced 15% retaliatory tariffs on some American goods, including chicken, wheat, corn and cotton. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa would immediately respond with tariffs on $30 billion of US goods. The tariffs threaten to raise the prices Americans pay for a wide array of products that are imported from the three nations, which collectively shipped $1.4 trillion worth of goods to the US last year — more than 40% of the value of US imports.

Ukraine aid

The White House announced it is pausing military aid to Ukraine following last week's heated clash between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Officials say Trump and his aides want an acknowledgment or public apology from Zelensky before moving forward with a rare earth minerals deal or any future aid. The halt in aid will remain in place until Trump determines Zelensky has made a commitment to seeking peace talks, one official said, in what is essentially an attempt to force Ukraine to the negotiating table by threatening further losses on the battlefield.

Severe weather

More than 55 million people across the central and southern US are at risk of severe weather today as a violent storm sweeps across the country. In New Orleans, officials rushed to reschedule Mardi Gras events and shorten parade routes to avoid ferocious winds, according to the Associated Press. Forecasts show the storm will intensify as it moves east in the hours ahead –– threatening the Lower Mississippi River Valley with strong tornadoes, gusty winds, large hail and heavy rainfall. On Monday, a haboob dust storm also tore through New Mexico with near-zero visibility, shutting down interstates. A haboob is essentially a wall of dust and debris that can grow up to 5,000 feet tall as it's blown forward by strong winds.

Crypto

The Trump administration is working to develop a cryptocurrency reserve, part of the president's pledge to make the US the "Crypto Capital of the World." However, some prominent tech and crypto leaders have criticized the plan to direct the government to stockpile bitcoin, ethereum and three other tokens. Analysts say it has raised obvious questions of conflict of interest, considering that the company that owns Trump's social media network recently made clear its plans to invest $250 billion in the cryptocurrency industry. Other critics have likened Trump's plan to a government bailout of crypto, an asset class that just experienced its worst trading month in two years. Bitcoin, a market bellwether, fell 18% in February — its steepest drop since June 2022.

SpaceX

SpaceX on Monday called off its eighth test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built. The company did not share what, exactly, the issues were that led engineers to wave off the launch attempt. SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted on X that there were "too many question marks about this flight," adding that it would be best to "try again in a day or two." During the last Starship test run in January, the spacecraft exploded over the Caribbean and littered populated islands with debris. Key objectives for Starship's eighth flight test, when it launches, will include attempts to reignite a Starship engine in space and deploy a batch of mock satellites.

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36

That's how many hours that construction workers in India spent trapped in a Himalayan avalanche. Some 46 workers survived by sheltering in crushed metal containers in the deep snow.

Words can't do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.

— Dolly Parton, announcing on Monday that her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 82.

(Charlie Riedel/AP)

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