Trump latest updates: Elon Musk to ‘significantly’ step back from DOGE role after Tesla profits plunge

Global share markets mostly rose on Wednesday, showing signs of relief after President Donald Trump indicated he had “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

In early trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.6 percent to 8,461.24 while Germany’s DAX jumped 2.5 percent to 21,820.14 and France’s CAC lifted 2.1 percent to 7,480.99.

Asian markets also gained, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 1.9 percent to finish at 34,868.63, Hong Kong’s Hang Send surged 2.4 percent to 222,072.62 and Australia’s S&P/ASX rose 1.3 percent to 7,920.50.

U.S. shares were also set to lift further, with Dow futures up 1.5 percent and S&P 500 futures up by 2 percent.

Trump had previously said Powell could be “terminated” soon, but on Tuesday he told reporters: “I have no intention of firing him”.

Donald Trump was pressed by reporters on Tuesday on ideas ot boost birth rates, including the $5,000 baby bonus.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Trump said when asked about the cash incentive.

In 2024, there were just under 55 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age – a slight 1 percent increase on the record low from 2023, but well below previous birth rates.

Trump last month referred to himself as the “fertilization president”, and in February he signed an executive order aimed at expanding affordable access to IVF.

China’s foreign ministry said Beijing doesn’t want a trade war but added the U.S. should stop making threats if it wants a deal.

Asked about president Donald Trump’s comments that work was progressing on a deal to lower tariffs, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun accused the U.S. of continuing to exert “extreme pressure” as it tried to negotiate a deal.

“We don’t want a trade war, but we are not afraid of it. If the US truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop threatening and blackmailing, and engage in dialogue with China based on equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit,” he said, according to Chinese state media outlet the Global Times.

Billionaire Elon Musk said that from next month, he will “significantly” reduce his time at the Department of Government Efficiency to one to two days a week.

There are a few key reasons as to why he is stepping back.

Firstly, his 130 days as a special government employee is set to expire at the end of next month. Musk said the major work in setting up the cost-cutting department was mostly done.

He has also clashed with other key advisors to Donald Trump, notably attacking trade advisor and tariff plan architect Peter Navarro.

Another important reason for his pivot away from finding public service savings is to focus on his businesses.

Tesla profits plunged in the first quarter of the year, the company reported on Tuesday, with revenue falling to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2021. Tesla stock is also down about 40 per cent so far this year.

“Starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” he said.

Donald Trump appeared to walk back his suggestion he could fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

“I have no intention of firing him,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump has previously insinuated he could fire the central bank chair, threatening last week that Powell faced “termination” soon.

The comments came after Powell said in a speech that the Federal Reserve would take a wait-and-see approach to interest rates in the face of ongoing uncertainty caused by the president’s tariffs.

Trump’s attacks on Powell were seen as a threat to the Federal Reserve’s independence and caused a financial market selloff.

The president has admitted the current 145 percent levy on goods imported from China will fall, but he warned they will not hit zero.

Donald Trump said talks between Washington and Beijing were “doing fine” because “everybody wants to have involvement” but he maintained that China will ultimately be forced to reach an agreement to get the tariffs down.

“Ultimately, they have to make a deal, because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States, and we want them involved, but they have to, and other countries have to make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal, we’ll set the deal,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’re going to be setting the deal, and it’ll be a fair deal for everybody and it’ll be — I think it’s a process that’s going to go pretty quickly.”

Asked whether he would drop the tariffs, Trump said: “It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

Elon Musk will significantly cut back his time working for the Trump administration from next month to spend more time running his companies as Tesla profits fell.

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Billionaire Tesla boss has led the controversial Department of Government Efficiency which has aggressively cut costs across the federal government.

The cuts, including to scientific research funding and government departments such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture sparked public backlash and concern from investors in Musk’s businesses.

Musk told investors on a conference call following Tesla’s results that he would likely cut back his work for Trump to one or two days a week.

“I think starting probably next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said.

“The large slog of work necessary to get the DOGE team in place and working with the government to get the financial house in order is mostly done.”

As the International Monetary Fund warned global economic growth will slow in nearly every country due to the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy, finance chiefs and trade delegates from around the world converged on Washington.

They were there on Tuesday for the IMF and World Bank’s spring meetings, but most were also there to work out a deal with the White House to ease tariffs imposed on most U.S. trading partners,

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said negotiations were happening at pace. So far 18 countries have made proposals, she said, and the administration’s negotiating team is preparing to meet with 34 countries to discuss tariffs in the upcoming week.

Donald Trump imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on nearly all trading partners earlier this month, and introduced higher tariffs on dozens more before pausing those additional duties for 90 days.

High tariffs also remain in place for all steel, aluminum and car exports to the U.S.

The outlook for the U.S. economy has significantly worsened, according to the International Monetary Fund, due to unprecedented disruption and uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The U.N.’s top financial agency slashed its growth forecast for the American economy to just 1.8 percent for the year, down from 2.7 per cent, one of the largest negative economic growth revisions from the IMF’s latest global outlook.

While the IMF does not expect a U.S. recession, it has raised the odds of one occurring this year from 25 percent to 37 percent.

“We are entering a new era,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist at the IMF, said. “This global economic system that has operated for the last eighty years is being reset.”

The International Monetary Fund has warned tariff uncertainty will slow economic growth around the world, cutting its global economic growth forecast by 0.5 percentage points for this year, downgrading growth in nearly all countries.