President Donald Trump threatens additional tariffs on goods not made in the United States, and Reps. Byron Donalds and Jared Moskowitz unite to push for a change in FEMA leadership. 

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on EU and 25% penalties on Apple as his trade war intensifies

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well a 25% tariff on Apple products unless iPhones are made in America.

The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump's ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing as well as the reality that his tariffs have yet to produce the trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he has promised voters.

The Republican president said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a long-standing U.S. ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations. Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has proposed mutually cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving a baseline 10% tax on most imports.

"Our discussions with them are going nowhere!" Trump posted on Truth Social. "Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States."

That post had been preceded by a threat of import taxes against Apple for its plans to continue making its iPhone in Asia. Apple now joins Amazon, Walmart and other major U.S. companies in the White House's crosshairs as they try to respond to the uncertainty and inflationary pressures unleashed by his tariffs.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump wrote. "If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S."

In response to Trump's tariffs on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this month that most iPhones solid in the U.S. during the current fiscal quarter would come from India, with iPads and other devices being imported from Vietnam. After Trump rolled out tariffs in April, bank analysts estimated that a $1,200 iPhone would if made in America jump in price anywhere from $1,500 to $3,500.

Donalds, Moskowitz begin bipartisan push to change FEMA leadership structure

Hurricane season is about a week away, and the spotlight is on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

President Donald Trump wants to get rid of the agency, and there have been growing concerns of unpreparedness after an internal FEMA assessment acknowledged the agency is not ready to handle storms this summer.

During a House committee meeting this week, Rep. Jared Moskowitz admitted that FEMA needs reform, but said he does not believe the agency should be dismantled.

He also said that with the changes the Department of Homeland Security has made, FEMA is going to fail this summer.

“I don’t think the president is aware of the current condition of FEMA, and its potential inability to perform," he said. "We may get lucky, and hopefully we do. Hopefully, we don’t have a bad hurricane this season. Hopefully, we don’t have some unforeseen disaster, like an earthquake that hasn’t happened since the 90s. Lord knows we had a pandemic in the first term of the Trump administration. Hopefully, we don’t have anything like that, because they have decimated FEMA in ways that we won’t know until it happens.

"And I know the chairwoman represents an area that didn’t have the best experience after Helene. No question about that. There are dramatic improvements that need to be done at FEMA. But I am deeply concerned about what has happened at homeland, and I don’t think the president is aware the current condition that the secretary has put him and the men and women that work there, and the states that are going to go to FEMA and rely on them in a time of need."

There is bipartisan legislation filed by Moskowitz and Rep. Byron Donalds to elevate FEMA to an independent agency reporting directly to the president. Currently, the agency is under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.

And so as Trump pushes to eliminate FEMA, the administration is in the process of shifting more responsibility for disaster response and recovery on individual states.

This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis brushed off concerns about changes to the agency, saying Florida can handle its own emergencies.

“On the core prep response and then stabilize and get people back to normal, just know that we’ve never relied on FEMA for any of that here in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.