Today’s notice: Who needs a Bloomberg Terminal when there’s Truth Social? The Freedom Caucus strikes again. And Dems running against Schumer is the new Dems running against Pelosi.
About That ‘Be Cool’ Post…
Wednesday morning, three minutes after the NYSE opened for trading amid fears of a recession triggered by Donald Trump’s massive global tariff program, the president took to Truth Social to urge investors to “BE COOL.” A few minutes after that, he posted, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” Shares of his media company, which trades under the symbol DJT, rose a lot, but the rest of the market kinda puttered along.
It turns out that it was in fact a really great time to buy. At 1:18 p.m., Trump posted that the tariff program above the new 10% baseline was on pause for 90 days (except for China). The Dow shot up like a rocket, though it still closed around 6% lower than it was on Inauguration Day.
There is market intelligence, and then there is the man with the power to set tariffs at will, directly telling you to buy stocks and then effectively making stocks go up.
Trump was “just issuing confidence into the market,” with the Great Time to Buy advice, a White House official told NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright, who got the backstory on a wild day.
Trump “began privately talking about” a pause in his tariff plan Tuesday night, an official told her. The “final decision” came on Wednesday. Scott Bessent was supportive and advocated for the pause. But Jasmine reports that Howard Lutnick was “ecstatic” about Trump’s move. Lutnick had been raked over the commentariat coals after his media tour trying to sell the tariffs.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read the story.
Life Imitates ‘The Art’
Republicans, some of whom had been openly skeptical of Trump’s tariffs plan, said the multiple surprises that came Wednesday had long been foretold.
- “It kind of proves that Trump’s a good dealmaker. In fact, I’d like to hire him to buy some farmland for me in Iowa,” Sen. Chuck Grassley told NOTUS.
- “Trust the plan. This is The Art of the Deal,” Sen. Roger Marshall wrote on X.
- “See? Trust the President,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw posted.
- “President Trump brought 75 countries to the negotiating table. Let’s make some deals” Rep. Rudy Yakym posted.
- “This was brilliantly executed by @realDonaldTrump. Textbook, Art of the Deal,” read an X post from the investor Bill Ackman. (Who wrote a super long anti-tariff screed earlier in the morning that concluded with, “May cooler heads prevail.”)
Read more on the Republican response to the pause. | Read about Democrats, who were decidedly less impressed.
Dealing With It on C-SPAN
Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, was hours into a House hearing defending the president’s tariffs plan when that plan was effectively upended.
“WTF. Who’s in charge?” Rep. Steven Horsford asked Greer after the pause was announced.
Asked if he knew the pause was coming when he sat down at the witness table, Greer gave a non-answer: “Typically, what I don’t do is divulge the contents of my discussions” with the president.
Front Page
- A Conservative Law Firm Is Suing Trump Over Tariffs as Most Republicans Hold Their Fire: The law firm that got Chevron deference overturned last summer is leading the first case against Donald Trump’s tariffs.
- Trump’s Order Bolstering Coal Looks a Lot Like a Kentucky Law: Energy analysts found the order, which invoked little-used emergency powers, alarming.
- Josh Hawley Says Congress Might Refer Mark Zuckerberg to the Justice Department Over Possible Lies: Senators from both parties ripped Meta and its CEO for the company’s alleged dealings with the Chinese government.
- China Hawks Worry Trump’s Tariffs Are Distracting From the TikTok Threat: Lawmakers want to see TikTok sold — and soon.
Let Congress Be Congress
House drama is so back. Did it ever leave? Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to punt a planned vote on the Senate-passed budget framework after Freedom Caucus members refused to go along with it, despite days of direct pressure from both leadership and Trump.
Johnson said he’s going to take another crack at passing something today, but he’s up against the clock. The House goes on recess for two weeks starting tonight.
After the SCOTUS ‘Alien Enemies’ Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled the government can ship migrants to El Salvador, but that those migrants must be given the chance to challenge their deportations first. NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports on “the next phase of the brewing fight between human rights groups and a presidential administration bent on ramping up deportations.”
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are trying to help Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a man erroneously sent to El Salvador who is still there, NOTUS’ Casey Murray reports. The party has plans to “fight back” in Congress and in communities, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said, “but right now, of course, this is in the courts.”
Read Jose’s story. | Read Casey’s story.
Future Trouble for Schumer?
There are early signs that hesitation about Sen. Chuck Schumer’s leadership role could become an issue in the 2026 Senate race landscape, NOTUS’ Calen Razor reports. Mallory McMorrow, a Michigan state senator who’s vying for a Senate seat, said she won’t vote for Schumer as leader if she’s elected. And Iowa state representative J.D. Scholten wants to become Iowa’s next senator, but says he may not run if there’s a chance Schumer remains as leader.
Will Schumer actually be ousted? Some are skeptical. A North Carolina strategist told Calen that the leadership battle feels like “a flashpoint issue that flies and gets hot and then people move on.”
Dems Recess Week Targets
Some House Republicans headed home this week can expect to find Democrats organizing in their districts. NOTUS’ Calen Razor scoops that Dems have planned various events targeting Reps. Juan Ciscomani, Rob Bresnahan, Gabe Evans and Ann Wagner. Also on the list: Rep. Richard Hudson, the NRCC chair who urged Republicans not to hold in-person town halls earlier this year. Dems on the circuit this recess include Reps. Greg Stanton, Greg Casar and Maxwell Frost, along with Sens. Chris Murphy and Cory Booker.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Charted: What does the U.S. export to China by April Rubin for Axios
- Trump administration threatens to end consultancy contracts after ‘insulting’ proposals by Joe Miller and Stephen Foley for the Financial Times
- RFK Jr. says he’s “not familiar” with all health program cuts in exclusive interview by Kelsie Hoffman, Sara Kuzmarov and Michael Sugerman for CBS News
Be Social: Front Row to History
Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency. The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction. pic.twitter.com/wNvg8NBnSR
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) April 9, 2025
Rarely is “watching someone post something to social media” cast as enviable. But, as the man says, you really had to be there.
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