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Trump tariffs drop, Ukraine arms stop and Pope Francis setback

 
Today's GLOBAL TRADE story

Trump's Mexico and Canada tariffs begin, roiling markets

What happened
President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico went into effect early this morning, as did an additional 10% tax on goods imported from China, sparking a likely trade war with America's top three trading partners. Stocks plunged after Trump affirmed yesterday that the tariffs would take effect today. China and Canada quickly announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports.

Who said what
Trump initially said the import taxes were designed to force Canada and Mexico to crack down on cross-border immigration and fentanyl smuggling, but yesterday he "appeared to change his terms," The New York Times said. "What they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs," Trump told reporters.

"Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, and they violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement Trump negotiated and signed in his first term. Trudeau said Canada would immediately slap 25% tariffs on $21 billion worth of targeted U.S. goods, rising to $107 billion in 21 days if Trump's tariffs are still in effect. China said it would add 10% or 15% taxes on several agricultural products, including beef, soybeans and chicken.

The tariffs are an "extraordinary political gamble by a president who was returned to power by voters angered over years of high inflation," The Washington Post said. Prices are likely to go up on everything from Chinese-made smartphones and gaming consoles to "Mexican tequila, beer and avocados" and "Canadian crude oil and lumber, testing consumer patience with Trump's approach." Trump has "shown a willingness to buck the warnings of mainstream economists and put his approval on the line" to enact tariffs he has long believed "can fix what ails the country," The Associated Press said.

What next?
Mexico is expected to outline its retaliatory measures today. Trump's "blistering pace of tariff actions" was likely to continue, Reuters said, with more planned this month and next. The tariffs could be "short-lived if the U.S. economy suffers," the AP said, but a feature of the "disorienting volatility" Trump has "injected" into global markets is that nobody knows "what he'll do next."

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine after public spat

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday at least temporarily suspended the delivery of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, a White House official told news organizations. Trump "has been clear that he is focused on peace," and he is "pausing and reviewing" the aid to ensure that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is "committed to that goal as well," the official said.

Who said what
Trump "has long been skeptical of aid to Ukraine," The Washington Post said, but this decision stemmed from Friday's "rancorous Oval Office shouting match" where Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berated Zelenskyy for what they saw as insufficient gratitude for the $67 billion in military aid the Biden administration gave Ukraine to fight off its Russian invaders.

The freeze "dramatically escalates the breach" between Trump and Zelenskyy "at a critical moment in the conflict," and the "most immediate beneficiary" is Russian President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times said. Trump's aid cutoff was "essentially an ultimatum," forcing Zelenskyy to "agree to a ceasefire on terms" Trump dictates, while Putin "can use the time to press for further territorial gains" or "hold back from any negotiations at all."

What next?
The freeze will continue until Trump is convinced Zelenskyy is making good-faith efforts to participate in peace talks with Russia, a White House official said. Thanks to a final "surge of new weapons approved by the Biden administration," Ukraine "likely has enough weapons to keep fighting Russia at its current pace until the middle of this year," The Wall Street Journal said. Then it would "lose its supply of some sophisticated weapons."

 
 
Today's RELIGION Story

Pope suffers setback with respiratory episodes

What happened
Pope Francis was back on "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" after two episodes of acute respiratory failure yesterday, the Vatican said. It was the latest setback in the pope's 18-day battle against double pneumonia at a Roman hospital. Francis, 88, remained "alert, oriented and cooperative" as "copious" amounts of mucus were extracted from his lungs during two bronchoscopies, where a camera-equipped suction tube was sent down into his airways, the Vatican said.

Who said what
This was the pope's "third serious downturn" since he was admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital with a complex respiratory infection on Feb. 14, the BBC said. The Vatican said laboratory tests suggested the mucus was a response to Francis' original pneumonia, not a new infection.

Yesterday's episodes were more worrisome than Friday's complication involving vomit the pope inhaled during a coughing fit, Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Chicago's Northwestern Medicine, told The Associated Press. The need to manually extract mucus "means that he is not clearing the secretions on his own," he said. "He's taking little steps forward and then steps back."

What next?
The pontiff's return to a mask forcing air into his lungs shows he "is still in danger," a Vatican official told The Washington Post. It's good news that the infection doesn't appear to be growing, but it's "premature" to discuss when the pope might be discharged. Catholics are holding nightly vigils in St. Peter's Square as the Holy See prepares for Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent without Pope Francis there to lead the liturgical rituals.

 
 

It's not all bad

Thirty-five years after going to prom with Shawn Moyer, Elena Hershey gave him one of her kidneys. Hershey and Moyer fell out of touch after high school, and last year, Hershey learned that Moyer, a doctor in Pennsylvania, needed a kidney. She had always been open to donating an organ and was thrilled to help an old friend. "It's just a remarkable thing for somebody to do," Moyer said to WHTM.

 
 
Under the radar

North Korea appears to have orchestrated the world's biggest robbery, according to the FBI. The heist highlighted the increasing threat of Pyongyang's growing prowess in cybercrime.

On Feb. 21, a "notorious group of hackers" achieved what could be their "magnum opus," said The Independent. In just minutes, the state-backed hackers stole $1.5 billion from one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Bybit. That is more than the largest known bank theft of all time, when Saddam Hussein stole $1 billion from Iraq's central bank on the eve of the 2003 war. 

Investigators have pointed the finger at the Lazarus Group, one of the world's "most sophisticated hacking operations," The Telegraph said. Allegedly "backed by North Korea since its inception in 2009," the hackers caused "worldwide chaos" in 2017 with the global WannaCry ransomware attack, but this would be the "largest strike to date," equivalent to North Korea's annual defense budget. 

In the past, Pyongyang "relied on its elite hacking cadres to conduct espionage or steal trade secrets," said The Telegraph. But increasingly, leader Kim Jong Un is using these hackers as a "weapon of economic warfare" to "bolster the coffers" of a regime battered by sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic. And the "virtually unregulated" cryptocurrency industry is a "haven" for these criminal enterprises. 

Last year, hackers linked to North Korea stole more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency — a "dramatic jump" from the $660 million stolen in 2023 and about 61% of the $2.2 billion stolen globally, said The Guardian. The proceeds of these "audacious thefts" are believed to have funded the regime's nuclear weapon and missile programs.

 
 
On this day

March 4, 1801

Thomas Jefferson became the first U.S. president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Since then, all inaugurations but four have taken place in the nation's capital. Starting in 1981, the majority have been held on the west front of the U.S. Capitol building, though Donald Trump's recent inauguration took place indoors due to weather.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. "urges measles vaccine for kids" in "wake of Texas outbreak," The Boston Globe says on Tuesday's front page. But with "no explicit directive to be vaccinated," there's "alarm that Kennedy's stance on measles sounds too feeble," The New York Times says. Kennedy, a noted vaccine skeptic, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott "have discussed outbreak but say vaccine should be parents' choice," the Houston Chronicle says. As President Donald Trump prepares to address Congress tonight, he's "standing in front of a changed landscape," USA Today says, and "the drama in the House chamber will underscore how history seems to be running on fast-forward."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Flight fright

An Iberia jetliner pilot was bitten during takeoff by a rogue tarantula, believed to have snuck on board the plane during a stop in Casablanca, Morocco. The pilot took an anti-inflammatory pill from the first aid kit, and the plane was fumigated on arrival at Madrid's Barajas airport. Still, some passengers on board its next flight to the Galician city of Vigo were "constantly checking their seats, aisle and belongings" for eight-legged stowaways, said La Voz de Galicia.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harriet Marsden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images; Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images; Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images