APPLENEWS - STORY ADD
Trump admin live updates: Trump says Hamas will release hostage Edan Alexander
Trump did not provide any timing on when Alexander is expected to be released.
The White House said on Sunday that it reached a trade deal with China as the two countries negotiated for a second day in Switzerland. China has yet to comment on Sunday's talks.
"We’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters in Geneva. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "substantial progress" had been made but stopped short of touting a full deal.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom -- the first in what the White House said it hopes will be a flurry of agreements while the reciprocal tariff pause is in effect. With UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on speaker phone in the Oval Office, the leaders conceded that they are still working out the details of the agreement.
Latest headlines:
UK was not hit with reciprocal tariffs
As Trump is slated to announce his trade deal with the U.K., the British economy found itself in a different situation over the tariffs than other nations.
Dozens of nations face potential so-called "reciprocal tariffs," but the U.K. is not among them, since the U.K buys more than it sells to the U.S.
The White House paused the reciprocal tariffs until July, as it seeks to strike trade agreements with dozens of countries.
The country, however, was still hit with Trump's baseline 10% tariff issued for almost all foreign nations.
-ABC News' Max Zahn
Trump admin poised to release audio from Biden's interview with special counsel
The Trump administration is considering releasing the audiotape of former President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur, sources familiar with the matter confirm to ABC News.
Trump's White House lawyers were provided the audiotape by the Department of Justice weeks ago, the sources said.
The release would come as the administration is simultaneously fighting to keep former special counsel Jack Smith's report on President Trump's handling of classified documents under wraps.
Hur's yearlong probe into Biden's handling of classified documents ended with no criminal charges being recommended because the evidence wasn't sufficient to support a conviction. However, the 388-page report Hur released created a political firestorm as the special counsel described Biden as someone who could appear to a jury as an "elderly man with a poor memory." Hur repeatedly pointed to moments from his interview where he said Biden appeared to have trouble remembering the years that he served as vice president and when his son Beau Biden died.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Rachel Scott
Trump criticizes Powell over rate decision
President Donald Trump criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, calling him a "FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue," for yesterday's decision not to lower rates.
Trump argued that it was the right time to lower interest rates.
"Oil and Energy way down, almost all costs (groceries and “eggs”) down, virtually NO INFLATION, Tariff Money Pouring Into the U.S. — THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF “TOO LATE!” Trump added in the post on his Truth Social media platform.
The post comes as Trump has waged a pressure campaign on the Fed chair to lower rates. The Fed on Wednesday attributed its decision to leave rates unchanged in part to “uncertainty” about the economic outlook.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Donald Trump says 'full and comprehensive' trade deal with UK will 'cement relationship'
Donald Trump posted about a trade deal with the United Kingdom on Truth Social Thursday morning, saying "the agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come."
"Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement," Trump said. "Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!"
No details were given on the trade deal, which is expected to be announced in a news conference at 10 a.m. in the Oval Office.