
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after announcing plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, offering a significant boost to the country’s new leadership as it attempts to shore up international support after a nearly a decade and a half-long civil war which ended with the ouster of the country’s former leader Bashar al-Assad.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/14/trump-saudi-arabia-qatar/#link-QEKLWL6WWBCJPINVB6VCM3M32I" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to</a>&nbsp;the Washington Post, a White House official confirmed the meeting was taking place in Riyadh behind closed doors.</p>



<p>The White House previously suggested the two leaders were set to have a brief meeting just to “say hello,” but the actual meeting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/14/us/trump-news-middle-east/ccd08b0e-197d-5e23-8214-459522d0f403?smid=url-share" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">lasted 33 minutes</a>, from 10:07 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. local time.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/erdogan-trump-saudi-crown-prince-syrian-leader-meet/news" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Turkish outlets</a>&nbsp;reported that Saudi Arabia&#8217;s crown prince and de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, was present at the meeting, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined via video link.</p>



<p>Erdogan’s office hailed Trump’s “historic” decision to lift the sanctions, and said it would serve as an example for other countries that still have active sanctions against Syria.</p>



<p>After the meeting, Trump addressed the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and said he “felt very strongly” about giving Syria a chance, adding that the “sanctions were really crippling.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>While addressing the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council—the regional bloc which includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman—Trump said: “We will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria, which I really think is going to be a good thing. And actually, we made a speech last night, and that was the thing that got the biggest applause from the room.”</p>



<p><em>This is a developing story.</em></p>


Donald Trump – Ahmed al-Shara meeting in Riyadh

Trump Meets Syrian President And Says He Felt ‘Strongly’ About Dropping ‘Crippling’ Sanctions


<p><strong>The lithium-manganese-rich cell, developed with LG Chem, uses far less cobalt and nickel than current lithium-ion cells. It’ll be produced in the U.S. and show up in large pickups and SUVs in 2028.</strong></p>



<p>General Motors, which sells the biggest lineup of electric vehicles in the U.S., plans to slash the cost of its rechargeable pickups and large SUVs by thousands of dollars thanks to a new type of battery that uses more of the cheap material manganese and much less of expensive metals cobalt and nickel while still offering a long driving range.</p>



<p>The lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) cathode, which has been in development by GM and battery partner LG Energy for a decade, will cut the cost of battery packs in electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer and Cadillac Escalade by more than $6,000, GM’s vice president of battery propulsion Kurt Kelty told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. It has nearly the same driving range as “high nickel” lithium-ion cells now used in most EVs while competing on price with cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells from Chinese battery makers that are heavier and offer less range, he said. The new batteries are also durable enough to be recharged frequently for at least eight years.</p>



<p>“We look at this as a game-changing battery for EV trucks, and that&#8217;s really going to set the new bar for performance in this particular segment,” said Kelty, who built up Tesla’s battery operations for over a decade and previously worked for battery maker Panasonic. “With LMR we can actually deliver over 400 miles of range while reducing our costs.”</p>



<p>The LMR packs will be made by Ultium Cells, the GM-LG Energy battery joint venture, in Michigan and Ohio, with a goal of getting most of the lithium, manganese and other raw materials from non-Chinese suppliers. GM also plans to cut battery costs by shifting to a flat “prismatic” cell instead of the traditional cylindrical form. “That alone is going to reduce the number of parts in our battery packs by over 50% and that makes a huge difference,” Kelty said.</p>



<p>GM significantly trails Tesla as the largest seller of EVs in the U.S., but that could change in the next few years as it continues to build out its lineup and finds ways to make them more affordable. It can also take advantage of its rival’s sagging sales thanks to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/03/27/things-are-bad-at-tesla-theyre-about-to-get-much-worse/">many of its core buyers being increasingly turned off by CEO Elon Musk</a>. Though Tesla currently tops U.S. electric sales–delivering 128,100 in the first quarter versus GM’s 31,887–GM estimates it now makes more battery cells than any other automaker in the U.S., including Tesla. It also supplies batteries for Honda and Acura brand EVs, in addition to a dozen Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models. (Tesla makes more battery packs overall, mainly using high nickel lithium-ion cells supplied by Panasonic.)</p>



<p>Using less cobalt and nickel, which can respectively cost more than $30,000 and $16,000 a ton, and more manganese–which is less than $1,000 a ton–could be a major boost for EV sales. That’s because reducing costs, while simultaneously improving performance is critical to getting more American drivers to shift to EVs from gasoline-powered cars and trucks, especially as the Trump Administration works to eliminate federal incentives to buy them.</p>



<p>Since he arrived at GM in 2023, Kelty has focused on helping the company build up both its battery production operations as well as finding new domestic sources of key components such as lithium, rare earth metals and other critical minerals needed for the market that China now dominates.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lithium-ion-alternatives">Lithium-ion Alternatives</h3>



<p>Over the past two decades, EV makers have dramatically improved the energy density and reduced the cost of lithium-ion batteries, but the range of those gains is becoming more incremental, said Kelty, who’s worked in the industry for more than 30 years. While GM is the first automaker to announce plans for LMR, other alternatives include lithium-sulfur cells, which Stellantis is experimenting with; sodium-ion batteries that China’s CATL and BYD are developing; solid-state cells that Toyota and Volkswagen want to commercialize; and lithium-metal batteries, a chemistry GM, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and other companies see as a longer-term low-cost, high-powered option.</p>



<p>The LMR cells are going to heavy, large EVs first as that will likely be the biggest opportunity for big cost savings, Kelty said. New electric models like the Chevrolet Equinox, Blazer and revamped Bolt hatchback, due later this year, won’t initially get the new chemistry as those models are already designed to be price-competitive with LMC packs, Kelty said. Over the next two years, before the LMR packs go into production, GM and LG Chem will continue to refine their chemistry.</p>



<p>“One reason we&#8217;re not going to market next year is because there&#8217;s a few more little tweaks we can do,” Kelty said. “We know we can get that last little bit out of it. And in 2029 and 2030 you&#8217;re going to see even further improvements.”</p>



<p>Separately, the Energy Department said on Tuesday that Ultium Cells, the GM-LG battery venture, paid off its low-interest $1.8 billion loan about seven years ahead of schedule. The loan, which closed in December 2022, was used to build battery cell factories in Ohio and Tennessee.</p>



<p>GM shares rose about 1% in Tuesday trading to $50.17. They’re down about 6% this year.</p>


Inside the Shanghai Auto Show

GM’s New Battery Will Cut The Cost Of Its Electric Trucks By Over $6,000


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The White House announced it has lowered the tariff rate charged for small and low-value packages shipped from China from 120% to 54%—which could provide some relief to e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu and AliExpress—after the two countries announced plans to cut back tariffs on each other&#8217;s goods for at least 90 days.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The U.S. and China&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/05/12/us-and-china-agree-to-roll-back-most-tariffs-for-90-days-as-negotiations-continue/">announced</a>&nbsp;Monday morning they were lowering tariffs on each other for 90 days, with the U.S. dropping its 145% tariff rate to 30% for Chinese goods, and China dropping its 125% rate to 10% for goods from the U.S.</p>



<p>The announcement did not initially mention the 120% rate applied to shipments from China valued at “less than $800,” but the White House shared an executive order late on Monday mentioning the lower 54% rate.</p>



<p>Under the original order, package from China valued at less than $800 faced a 120% levy, “or a flat $100 fee per postal item,” but while the tariff rate has been lowered, the flat fee option remains at $100.</p>



<p>The flat fee was supposed to rise to $200 on June 1, but Monday night’s order notes this hike has been paused.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>The U.S. and China have been in a trade war since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariff increases, which placed at least a 10% tariff on all countries the U.S. trades with, though many countries saw much higher tariff rates. China faced the highest rate, with Trump upping its tariff&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/10/trumps-tariffs-on-china-are-now-at-least-145-white-house-confirms-higher-than-he-previously-claimed/">rate to 145%</a>. Trump said it was at least in part because the country was not doing enough to limit the amount of fentanyl coming into the U.S., and in an effort to increase domestic manufacturing and have companies move production out of China. Last year, China was the third-largest exporter to the U.S., with $143.5 billion in Chinese exports coming to the states, but it had a $295 billion trade surplus, according to data from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top2412yr.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Census Bureau</a>. Trump’s tariffs were a key part of his presidential campaign, and he worked quickly to enact them after being inaugurated, despite warnings from economists that they would have a negative impact on the economy and raise prices for American consumers. On April 25, Shein and Temu—two major online Chinese retailers known for cheap prices that have found success among American consumers—raised prices in response to Trump’s tariffs, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.temu.com/common-policy.html?policy=temucustomernotice" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">both</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://us.shein.com/campaigns/sheincustomernotice" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">retailers</a>&nbsp;said increased their operating expenses.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>23%. That’s how much Shein’s U.S. sales dropped during the week of April 25 to May 1—after Shein implemented price increases—compared to the week before,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-07/temu-shein-see-us-sales-drop-in-week-after-tariff-price-hikes" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>&nbsp;reported. Bloomberg also reported Temu’s sales dropped 17% over the same period.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">Tangent</h2>



<p>Packages from China that were valued at less than $800—like many of the goods from Temu and Shein—were previously exempt from tariffs or customs duties through the “de minimis” loophole, which Trump eliminated, then&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/02/07/trump-reinstates-de-minimis-tariff-exemption-for-shipments-under-800-boosting-shein-and-temu/">reinstated</a>, then&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-closes-de-minimis-exemptions-to-combat-chinas-role-in-americas-synthetic-opioid-crisis/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">eliminated again</a>&nbsp;on May 2.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/05/12/us-and-china-agree-to-roll-back-most-tariffs-for-90-days-as-negotiations-continue/">US And China Agree To Roll Back Most Tariffs For 90 Days As Negotiations Continue</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/05/12/trump-offers-automakers-tariff-reprieve-latest-big-tariff-flip-flop-since-liberation-day/">Trump’s Major Tariff Flip-Flops As Administration Rolls Back China Tariffs</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


Temu Shein

U.S. Lowers Tariffs On Parcels From China—Affecting Brands Like Temu And Shein


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The U.S. and China on Monday announced they would significantly cut back tariffs placed on each other&#8217;s goods for at least 90 days as both sides plan to continue negotiations on a trade deal, triggering a major surge in U.S. stock futures and global markets.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>As per a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/05/joint-statement-on-u-s-china-economic-and-trade-meeting-in-geneva/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">joint statement</a>&nbsp;issued by both sides, the U.S. has agreed to lower President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” on China from 125% to 10%, while China has agreed to do the same.</p>



<p>A separate 20% tariff on Chinese goods that the president imposed over what he said was China’s alleged role in fanning the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. will remain in place, which means the total levy on Chinese goods will drop from 145% to 30%.</p>



<p>China also agreed to roll back some of the non-tariff measures its implemented in retaliation against U.S. tariffs—details for which are pending but could include a roll back on certain rare earth export restrictions.</p>



<p>While announcing the tariff pause in a press conference in Geneva, where the two sides were holding trade negotiations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both sides agreed that “we have a shared interest” and “neither side wanted a decoupling” of trade.</p>



<p>Bessent said the very high tariffs imposed by both sides was equivalent to a trade embargo and “neither side wants that” and rather the U.S. wants “more balanced trade.”</p>



<p>U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer noted that the rollback does not cover “any sector-specific tariffs imposed globally&#8230;So some Chinese goods would still face a higher levy.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Have Chinese Officials Said About The Tariff Pause And Talks?</h2>



<p>The Chinese commerce ministry&nbsp;<a href="http://www.news.cn/world/20250512/14b4cd0d67a7477f96b86b1ae08d4fdb/c.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">issued a statement</a>&nbsp;on the negotiations saying the high U.S. tariffs had “seriously damaged normal bilateral economic and trade exchanges and seriously undermined the international economic and trade order.” The ministry said the talks between the two sides in Geneva were “constructive” and the tariff reduction was “in line with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries” and also in the best interests of both countries. Beijing said both sides have agreed to “mutually beneficial cooperation, maintain the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations, and jointly inject more certainty and stability into the world economy.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Have Markets Reacted To The Tariff Reduction?</h2>



<p>Chinese markets and U.S. stock futures cheered the announcement with S&amp;P 500 futures rising 2.54% to 5,822 points and Dow Futures rising 1.97% to 42,136 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Futures also surged 3.31% to 20,828 points. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Hang Seng Index ended the day 3.02% up while the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.82% as both key indexes erased all their loses since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>As per the joint statement, both sides have agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.” Bessent and Greer will represent the U.S. side in these discussions, while Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the Chinese side. These future talks may be held alternately in China and the U.S. or in a third country that both sides agree upon.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Background</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/05/11/white-house-says-it-reached-a-trade-deal-with-china-though-details-remain-unknown/">Earlier on Sunday</a>, the White House issued a statement titled “U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva,” that did not offer any additional details. In the statement, Bessent was quoted as saying “we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks.” A comment by Greer was also cited in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/u-s-announces-china-trade-deal-in-geneva/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>, which said: “It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought.” U.S. and Chinese trade officials met in Geneva over the weekend for the first time since Trump announced sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on several countries including China. The 34% levy on China—on top of the previously implemented 20% fentanyl tariffs—soon escalated into a full blown trade war with both sides hitting each other with rising tit-for-tat tariffs.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/05/11/white-house-says-it-reached-a-trade-deal-with-china-though-details-remain-unknown/">White House Says It Reached A Trade Deal With China—Though Details Remain Unknown</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p></p>


Donald Trump Attends Roundtable Discussion On Threat Of China On U.S. Agriculture

US And China Agree To Roll Back Most Tariffs For 90 Days As Negotiations Continue


<p><strong>If he’d never given away a dime or sold a share of the software giant, Gates would have nearly 10 times more to give away.</strong></p>



<p>On Thursday, Bill Gates publicly reiterated that he’ll give away almost all of his remaining wealth and wind down the namesake charitable foundation he cofounded with his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, by the end of 2045<em>. </em>Fueled by Microsoft’s soaring stock price and dividends, Bill and Melinda have already poured a combined $60.2 billion into the Gates Foundation since its founding in 2000, helping cement their status as America’s second-biggest philanthropists. Even after their generosity, they’re still the 13th and 56th richest people in the world, worth an estimated $113 billion and $30.4 billion, respectively</p>



<p>But what if Bill and Melinda never discovered philanthropy–and never sold a share of Microsoft? They’d be worth $1.5 trillion combined,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;figures, and Bill would likely be the world’s first trillionaire, with a $1.2 trillion fortune, even after his 2021 divorce. That’s more than triple the net worth of Elon Musk, the richest person ever (estimated net worth: $388 billion, though he peaked at $464 billion in December). Melinda, meanwhile, would be worth an estimated $300 billion, assuming she would’ve gotten the same estimated percentage of the couple’s assets in the divorce, which would make her the third richest person in the world after Bill and Musk .</p>



<p>Just before he took Microsoft public in 1986, Bill owned 11.2 million shares of the company, representing a 49% stake worth around $200 million based on the IPO price. If he’d held onto all of that stock for the next four decades, he and Melinda would now own 3.2 billion shares combined after stock splits, giving them a 43% stake in Microsoft worth $1.4 trillion. The former couple would also have another $100 billion or so of cash from dividends after-tax, according to&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>estimates. That cash pile alone is higher than the entire net worths of all but 18 of the world’s more than 3,000 billionaires.</p>



<p>In reality, Bill did not hold onto his Microsoft holdings. Instead he sold and gave them away steadily. Today his Microsoft ownership has shrunk to an estimated 0.9% stake worth only $28 billion (or a quarter of his net worth), as he and his Cascade Investments family office have broadly diversified what remains of his still sizable portfolio after all of his charitable giving and the divorce. Among his largest known holdings: waste disposal company Republic Services, tractor giant Deere &amp; Co and Four Seasons Hotels. Melinda, meanwhile, is estimated to own 380,000 Microsoft shares worth only $170 million (or less than 1% of her net worth). Neither Bill nor Melinda have shown up in Microsoft’s SEC filings since Bill stepped down from the board in 2020 after retiring as CEO to focus on his philanthropy in 2008.</p>



<p>Of course, this alternate reality in which Bill and Melinda hoarded all their Microsoft shares would have deprived the world of a lot of good. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was renamed the Gates Foundation after Melinda resigned as co-chair in June 2024, the couple has doled out an estimated $47.7 billion to date to charitable organizations focused on health and poverty alleviation. That’s more than anyone other than Warren Buffett, who has given away an estimated $62 billion so far, mostly through the Gates Foundation; Buffett was long believed to have earmarked much of his wealth to the Gates Foundation, but&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindseychoo/2024/07/15/meet-the-most-powerful-philanthropists-in-america-warren-buffetts-kids/">wrote in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in November 2023</a>&nbsp;that a charitable trust overseen by his three children will be the sole beneficiary of his estate. Then last June, Buffett told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/warren-buffett-gives-us-a-preview-of-his-will-419ad46d" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><em>Wall Street Journa</em>l</a>&nbsp;that “The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death.”</p>



<p>Melinda has redrawn her philanthropic plans too, pouring $674 million into a new foundation called Pivotal Philanthropies in 2022. Then last June, after committing to donate $1 billion over three years to support womens’ and girls’ rights a month earlier, she announced that she would be getting another $12.5 billion for philanthropy as part of her decision to resign as co-chair of the Gates Foundation.</p>



<p>Both Bill and Melinda remain set on fulfilling the Giving Pledge, which they cofounded with Buffett in 2010, in order to encourage other wealthy individuals to give away at least half of their wealth before they die or in their will.</p>



<p>“My parents taught me what generosity looked like through how they used their time and resources,” Bill wrote in his Giving Pledge Letter. “When the time came to choose what to do with my wealth from Microsoft, I knew I had to follow their example. I decided that the vast majority of my wealth would go toward helping as many people as possible.”</p>



<p>Added Melinda in her Giving Pledge Letter: “I recognize the absurdity of so much wealth being concentrated in the hands of one person, and I believe the only responsible thing to do with a fortune this size is give it away—as thoughtfully and impactfully as possible.”</p>



<p></p>


2019 New York Times Dealbook

Bill Gates Would Be Worth A Lot More Than Elon Musk If He’d Kept His Microsoft Stock


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Robert Francis Prevost, who was selected as the Catholic Church’s first American pope Thursday and took the name Leo XIV, has a family history that some were celebrating as uniquely diverse, with one genealogist claiming he has ties to “free people of color” in New Orleans.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The maternal side of Pope Leo XIV’s family can be traced back to at least the 1840s among “free people of color” in New Orleans, according to Jari C. Honora, a genealogist with the Historic New Orleans Collection, a research center documenting the city’s history.</p>



<p>Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., who represents New Orleans, also released a statement Thursday highlighting Pope Leo XIV’s “ancestral ties to our Creole and Haitian families,” saying he was proud “As a Black man” and “a proud son of New Orleans.”</p>



<p>Pope Leo XIV’s maternal grandparents, along with his mother’s older siblings, were “identified in records as Black or mulatto,” Honora told Forbes, but the family “passed … into a white racial identity” when they relocated to Chicago, where the pope’s mother—Mildred Martinez—was born in 1912.</p>



<p>The pope’s grandparents resided in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, an historically Black neighborhood, before moving to Chicago, Honora said.</p>



<p>Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1955 to Martinez and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-obituary-for-louis-m-pr/171963827/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Louis Prevost</a>, a World War II veteran of French and Italian descent.</p>



<p>Martinez’s descent has been widely reported as Spanish, and Pope Leo XIV does not appear to have made major public statements regarding Creole heritage—the Diocese of Chiclayo, where Pope Leo XIV served as bishop between 2015 and 2023, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-do-records-show-about-pope-leo-xiv-s-family">What Do Records Show About Pope Leo Xiv’s Family?</h2>



<p>Honora said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15TEXqKECE/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Facebook post</a>&nbsp;Thursday “Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has Creole of color roots from New Orleans on his mother&#8217;s side!” He told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nola.com/news/first-american-pope-roots-new-orleans/article_3c7bfdf1-8f69-452e-af01-90aa012366df.html#tncms-source=featured-top" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The Times-Picayune</a>&nbsp;a marriage license shows Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, the pope’s grandparents, married in 1887 at Our Lady of Sacred Heart church in New Orleans. Those records show Joseph Martinez listed Haiti as his birthplace, Honora told the newspaper. He added the family was listed as living at 1933 North Prieur St. in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that was demolished during the construction of the Claiborne Avenue overpass, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-12/fate-of-a-controversial-highway-still-divides-new-orleans" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">critics say</a>&nbsp;significantly disrupted vibrant Black neighborhoods in the city.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Pope Leo XIV, 69, was born in Chicago to his mother, Mildred Martinez, a librarian, and his father, Louis Prevost, a World War II Navy veteran and school superintendent. He also has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. He studied mathematics at Villanova University and earned a graduate degree in divinity from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. Ordained in 1982, his religious career took him to Rome and Peru, where he was naturalized as a citizen in 2014 around the same time the late Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, where he became bishop. He took his position in the Vatican overseeing the appointment of new bishops in 2023, the same year he was made a cardinal. Pope Leo was elected following four ballots on the papal conclave’s second day of voting. He is viewed as more of a centrist than Francis, and has been an advocate for migrants and the poor, with possible recent social media posts suggesting he has been critical of President Trump’s actions toward migrants.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/05/08/who-is-robert-francis-prevost-what-we-know-about-pope-leo-xiv-the-first-american-pope/">Who Is Robert Francis Prevost? What We Know About Pope Leo XIV—The First American Pope.</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nola.com/news/first-american-pope-roots-new-orleans/article_3c7bfdf1-8f69-452e-af01-90aa012366df.html#tncms-source=featured-top" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Pope Leo XIV has roots in New Orleans&#8217; 7th Ward. See his family lineage and history.</a>&nbsp;(The Times-Picayune)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/05/08/tweets-apparently-showing-pope-leo-xiv-criticizing-trump-resurface-heres-what-to-know/">Tweets Apparently Showing Pope Leo XIV Criticizing Trump Resurface—Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


World Reacts To Election Of Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry Celebrated: Congressman, Genealogist Tout Possible Creole, Black Roots


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>White smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel just after 6 p.m. local time—indicating the cardinal electors have chosen a successor to Pope Francis, ending a two-day conclave more than two weeks after Francis died.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The white smoke signifies a candidate received the necessary two-thirds majority vote to be elected pope, which likely occurred on the fourth ballot, following two failed ballets Thursday morning and one failed ballot Wednesday.</p>



<p>The new pope will be revealed once he appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, which is expected to occur minutes after the white smoke appeared.</p>



<p>Bells tolled as the white smoke poured out from the Sistine Chapel, where thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/08/world/pope-conclave-news" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">chanted</a>, “Long live the pope!”</p>



<p>Cardinal&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/conclave-pope-catholic-church-updates-5-8-2025#00000196-af5d-dcf7-a7fe-bffdad4b0000" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Giovanni Battista Re</a>, dean of the College of Cardinals, who is 91 and above the age cutoff of 80 to participate in the conclave, previously told Italian news outlets he had hoped to see white smoke by Thursday evening.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-did-day-one-of-the-conclave-take-so-long">Why Did Day One Of The Conclave Take So Long?</h2>



<p>Wednesday’s vote took longer than most experts had predicted, as the first release of smoke took an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vatican-conclave-pick-new-pope-world-waits-white-smoke-2025-05-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">hour longer</a>&nbsp;than the first black smoke in 2013 during the conclave that elected Pope Francis. Mathew Schmalz, editor of the Journal of Global Catholicism and College of the Holy Cross religious studies professor, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn4we7prv4rt#player" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">BBC News</a>&nbsp;the lengthy wait for the first release of smoke may have been because of the large number of cardinals from around the world meeting one another for the first time, speculating the conclave could take one day longer than usual. Though it’s unclear why Wednesday’s vote took so long, Schmalz told the BBC he is “getting kind of nervous” about whether the conclave may have run into issues that will need to be smoothed out in the coming days. The conclave of 133 electors is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/new-pope-conclave-day-one-05-07-25" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">largest</a>&nbsp;and most&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/06/world/europe/cardinals-conclave-2025.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">globally diverse</a>&nbsp;in history, greater than the 115 electors that participated in the 2005 and 2013 conclaves, which may also cause a longer time for the vote.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-are-the-leading-contenders-to-be-elected-pope">Who Are The Leading Contenders To Be Elected Pope?</h2>



<p>There’s no clear frontrunner to win the papacy,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/next-pope-francis-candidates.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Vatican experts say</a>, though some of the cardinals considered to be prime candidates include Italy’s Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state who is considered more moderate than Francis, and the Philippines’s Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, who has drawn comparisons to Francis for his liberal-leaning stances and his championing of the poor. Parolin and Tagle are the two leading contenders on various betting sites, including&nbsp;<a href="https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-be-the-next-pope" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Polymarket</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://kalshi.com/markets/kxnextpope/next-pope" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Kalshi</a>, as bettors wage millions on the papal election. Other cardinals considered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/21/these-cardinals-are-the-top-candidates-to-succeed-pope-francis/">possible candidates</a>&nbsp;include several from Italy, Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Matteo Zuppi, as well as Congo’s Fridolin Ambongo, Hungary’s Peter Erdo, Ghana’s Peter Turkson and France’s Jean-Marc Aveline.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-the-conclave-work-and-how-long-will-it-take">How Does The Conclave Work—and How Long Will It Take?</h2>



<p>While secluded from the outside world,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/06/how-conclave-work-when-new-pope-chosen" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">cardinals</a>&nbsp;under the age of 80 will cast four votes each day until one candidate receives a two-thirds majority. The process begins Wednesday afternoon with mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, after which cardinals proceed to the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave. Should no successor be chosen on a given day, cardinals spend the night in Vatican guesthouses to resume voting the next day. Each&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/conclave-live-updates-cardinals-meet-elect-successor-pope-francis-2025-05-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">cardinal</a>&nbsp;is assigned a desk affixed with papers that say, “Eligo in summum pontificem,” or, “I choose as supreme pontiff.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-they-announce-when-a-pope-has-been-chosen">How Do They Announce When A Pope Has Been Chosen?</h2>



<p>After voting, the ballots are burned, and chemicals are added to produce either black smoke—indiciating no pope has been elected—or white smoke—meaning a pope has been chosen—from the Sistine Chapel. Vatican watchers gather to watch what color the smoke is after every vote.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-this-conclave-important">Why Is This Conclave Important?</h2>



<p>Papal experts have said the conclave could determine whether the Catholic Church continues down the path laid by Francis to become more&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-lgbtq-catholics-conclave-new-pope/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">progressive</a>, or whether a more conservative successor could be chosen and potentially roll back some of Francis’s reforms. Francis was notable, and divisive, for his stances striking a more welcoming tone toward LGBTQ Catholics and women in church leadership roles, which won some global praise but angered conservative critics. Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden said some cardinals want to elect a successor “who can follow in the footsteps of Francis. Some others said, ‘No, no. Not at all,’” the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/world/europe/pope-francis-referendum.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported, while Italian conservative Cardinal Camillo Ruini said there is a “need to return the church to Catholics.” Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, said in a homily Wednesday the new pope will face a “difficult and complex turning point in history,” stating he prayed for a pope who leads “for the good of the church and of humanity.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">Surprising Fact</h2>



<p>Some cardinals have watched the movie “Conclave,” the papal drama that won an Oscar just two months ago, while prepping for the real thing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/cardinals-watch-conclave-movie-for-real-life-guidance/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Politico reported</a>, citing a cleric involved in the conclave who said some cardinals found the film “remarkably accurate.” Viewership of “Conclave” spiked 283% within a day of Francis’s death, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/conclave-streaming-views-pope-francis-death-1236375240/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Luminate</a>.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/21/pope-francis-has-died-the-vatican-says/">Francis died</a>&nbsp;at age 88 on Easter Monday, April 21, following a bout of health issues, which led to his longest hospital stay while pope. Francis was hospitalized earlier this year for bilateral pneumonia and bronchitis, and Vatican doctors said he died of cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/21/these-cardinals-are-the-top-candidates-to-succeed-pope-francis/">These Cardinals Are The Top Candidates To Succeed Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/06/world/europe/cardinals-conclave-2025.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The Church Is More Global Than Ever. What Does That Mean for the Next Pope?</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>



<p></p>


General view of the window of the main central loggia

New Pope Selected: White Smoke Billows From Sistine Chapel


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The papal conclave begins at the Vatican Wednesday, the secretive process by which cardinals seclude themselves for what could be several days as they elect a new leader for the Catholic Church, weeks after the death of Pope Francis.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>On Wednesday afternoon, 133 cardinal electors will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel and cast their first ballots in the papal election, a process that will continue until one candidate receives a two-thirds majority of the vote.</p>



<p>It’s unclear how long the conclave will take until a new pope is elected, though most recent conclaves have lasted two or three days.</p>



<p>A large majority of the cardinals participating in the conclave were appointed by Francis, in what is set to be the most&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/06/world/europe/cardinals-conclave-2025.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">globally diverse</a>&nbsp;conclave ever, though papal experts say that does not mean Francis’s successor will be ideologically aligned with him, as some of his appointees hail from areas where the church is more conservative.</p>



<p>While participating in the conclave, cardinals will be secluded from the outside world: They were required to turn in their phones ahead of the conclave, and the Vatican has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/05/europe/vatican-deactivating-phone-signal-conclave-intl-hnk" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">disabled</a>&nbsp;phone service.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-are-the-leading-contenders-to-be-elected-pope">Who Are The Leading Contenders To Be Elected Pope?</h2>



<p>There’s no clear frontrunner to win the papacy,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/next-pope-francis-candidates.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Vatican experts say</a>, though some of the cardinals considered to be prime candidates include Italy’s Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state who is considered more moderate than Francis, and the Philippines’s Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, who has drawn comparisons to Francis for his liberal-leaning stances and his championing of the poor. Parolin and Tagle are the two leading contenders on various betting sites, including&nbsp;<a href="https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-be-the-next-pope" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Polymarket</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://kalshi.com/markets/kxnextpope/next-pope" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Kalshi</a>, as bettors wage millions on the papal election. Other cardinals considered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/21/these-cardinals-are-the-top-candidates-to-succeed-pope-francis/">possible candidates</a>&nbsp;include several from Italy, Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Matteo Zuppi, as well as Congo’s Fridolin Ambongo, Hungary’s Peter Erdo, Ghana’s Peter Turkson and France’s Jean-Marc Aveline.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-the-conclave-work-and-how-long-will-it-take">How Does The Conclave Work—and How Long Will It Take?</h2>



<p>While secluded from the outside world,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/06/how-conclave-work-when-new-pope-chosen" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">cardinals</a>&nbsp;under the age of 80 will cast four votes each day until one candidate receives a two-thirds majority. The process begins Wednesday afternoon with mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, after which cardinals proceed to the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave. Should no successor be chosen on a given day, cardinals spend the night in Vatican guesthouses to resume voting the next day. Each&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/conclave-live-updates-cardinals-meet-elect-successor-pope-francis-2025-05-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">cardinal</a>&nbsp;is assigned a desk affixed with papers that say, “Eligo in summum pontificem,” or, “I choose as supreme pontiff.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-they-announce-when-a-pope-has-been-chosen">How Do They Announce When A Pope Has Been Chosen?</h2>



<p>After voting, the ballots are burned, and chemicals are added to produce either black smoke—indiciating no pope has been elected—or white smoke—meaning a pope has been chosen—from the Sistine Chapel. Vatican watchers gather to watch what color the smoke is after every vote.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-this-conclave-important">Why Is This Conclave Important?</h2>



<p>Papal experts have said the conclave could determine whether the Catholic Church continues down the path laid by Francis to become more&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-lgbtq-catholics-conclave-new-pope/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">progressive</a>, or whether a more conservative successor could be chosen and potentially roll back some of Francis’s reforms. Francis was notable, and divisive, for his stances striking a more welcoming tone toward LGBTQ Catholics and women in church leadership roles, which won some global praise but angered conservative critics. Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden said some cardinals want to elect a successor “who can follow in the footsteps of Francis. Some others said, ‘No, no. Not at all,’” the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/world/europe/pope-francis-referendum.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported, while Italian conservative Cardinal Camillo Ruini said there is a “need to return the church to Catholics.” Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, said in a homily Wednesday the new pope will face a “difficult and complex turning point in history,” stating he prayed for a pope who leads “for the good of the church and of humanity.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">Surprising Fact</h2>



<p>Some cardinals have watched the movie “Conclave,” the papal drama that won an Oscar just two months ago, while prepping for the real thing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/cardinals-watch-conclave-movie-for-real-life-guidance/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Politico reported</a>, citing a cleric involved in the conclave who said some cardinals found the film “remarkably accurate.” Viewership of “Conclave” spiked 283% within a day of Francis’s death, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/conclave-streaming-views-pope-francis-death-1236375240/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Luminate</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/21/pope-francis-has-died-the-vatican-says/">Francis died</a>&nbsp;at age 88 on Easter Monday, April 21, following a bout of health issues, which led to his longest hospital stay while pope. Francis was hospitalized earlier this year for bilateral pneumonia and bronchitis, and Vatican doctors said he died of cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/21/these-cardinals-are-the-top-candidates-to-succeed-pope-francis/">These Cardinals Are The Top Candidates To Succeed Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/06/world/europe/cardinals-conclave-2025.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The Church Is More Global Than Ever. What Does That Mean for the Next Pope?</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>


Pope holding a Bible

Conclave Begins Today: What To Know About Secretive Election For Next Pope


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>India launched missile strikes in Pakistan early on Wednesday, two weeks after it accused Pakistan of being involved in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/30/pakistan-claims-credible-evidence-india-is-planning-military-action-soon-as-tensions-rise-between-neighbors/">terrorist attack</a>&nbsp;on the tourist town of Pahalgam that killed over two dozen people.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The Indian Ministry of Defense said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SpokespersonMoD/status/1919857186655944825" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;said the strikes targeted “nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” and added that they were “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature.”</p>



<p>India claimed no Pakistani military facilities were hit by the strike and said the military operation, which it has dubbed “Operation Sindoor,” underscores India’s “resolve to hold perpetrators accountable while avoiding unnecessary provocation.”</p>



<p>Pakistani officials&nbsp;<a href="https://mofa.gov.pk/press-releases/pakistan-strongly-condemns-indias-blatant-aggression" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">denounced</a>&nbsp;the strikes, calling them “an unprovoked and blatant act of war” that had “violated Pakistan’s sovereignty.”</p>



<p>In a Wednesday morning press conference, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gni7uALDpb0" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">claimed</a>&nbsp;the government’s intelligence assessment indicated further attacks were being planned against India and with the strikes New Delhi “exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter such more cross-border attacks.”</p>



<p>Lieutenant Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the head of the Pakistani military’s public relations arm,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dawn.com/live/pakistan-india-tensions#1909022" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told reporters</a>&nbsp;that the Indian strikes had killed 26 civilians and left 46 others injured as of Wednesday morning.</p>



<p>Sharif also restated an earlier claim by the Pakistan military that neither countries jets trespassed each other’s territories and the Indian airstrikes were conducted from their own airspace and struck multiple cities including Bahawalpur, Kotli and Muzaffarabad.</p>



<p>The Pakistan military also claimed without sharing evidence that it had shot down five Indian fighter jets—a claim Indian authorities have not commented on but Associated Press&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/live/india-pakistan-attack-pahalgam-kashmir#00000196-a939-da24-adf6-edff0dec0000" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that two planes fell onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Have World Leaders Reacted To The India Strikes?</h2>



<p>Shortly after India announced the strikes, President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919863923961962905" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told reporters</a>&nbsp;at the Oval Office that he had just been informed about it and said: “It&#8217;s a shame…I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They&#8217;ve been fighting for a long time…I hope it ends very quickly.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1919902403999965441" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that he was monitoring the situation closely and said: “I echo @POTUS&#8217;s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.” China’s foreign ministry said India’s military operation was “regrettable” and added: “We urge both sides to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation.” Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/ReuvenAzar/status/1919936131866513678" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">tweeted</a>: “Israel supports India’s right for self defense. Terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent.” A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/un-chief-raises-concern-about-indian-military-actions-pakistan-2025-05-06/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said he is very concerned</a>&nbsp;about the Indian military operation and is calling for “maximum military restraint” from both sides. He then added: “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Peg</h2>



<p>Tensions between India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed nations, have risen in recent weeks following the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/30/pakistan-claims-credible-evidence-india-is-planning-military-action-soon-as-tensions-rise-between-neighbors/">attack on Pahalgam</a>&nbsp;in April that killed 26 people, all of one of whom were Indian nationals. The attack on the city, which is located in an Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, was carried out after the neighboring countries had been exchanging gunfire along their border the week prior. India accused Pakistan of involvement in the Pahalgam attack, with Pakistan calling the allegations “baseless and concocted.” India later vowed to retaliate and Tarar said military action from India would be “responded to assuredly and decisively.” The U.S. has aligned itself with India in the growing conflict, with Trump saying India has “our full support and deepest sympathies.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Background</h2>



<p>India and Pakistan have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/world/asia/india-pakistan-kashmir-history.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">at odds for several decades</a>, with the contested border region of Kashmir becoming a flashpoint in several conflicts between the two countries. Three wars have been fought over the area, with the most recent violent outburst between India and Pakistan happening in 2019, when India launched airstrikes against Pakistan after blaming the country for a suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in Kashmir.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/30/pakistan-claims-credible-evidence-india-is-planning-military-action-soon-as-tensions-rise-between-neighbors/">Pakistan Claims ‘Credible Evidence’ India Is Planning ‘Military Action’ Soon—As Tensions Rise Between Neighbors</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/world/asia/india-pakistan-kashmir-history.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">A Timeline of Tensions Between India and Pakistan Over Kashmir</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>


India Launches Military Strikes Against Pakistan

India Launches Missile Strikes Into Pakistan—Islamabad Calls It ‘Act Of War’ (Live Updates)


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Ferrari on Tuesday said tariffs imposed by the U.S. pose a potential risk to the luxury car maker’s profitability, becoming the latest company to warn about a hit to earnings or cut financial forecasts as many cite market uncertainty aggravated by President Donald Trump’s levies.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-timeline">Timeline</h2>



<p>May 6 <strong>Ferrari </strong><a href="https://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=truehttps://www.ferrari.com/en-BY/corporate/articles/2025-ferrari-first-quarter-results?amp=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">noted</a> in its first-quarter financial report the company was subject to a “potential risk” of a 50 basis points reduction to earnings in 2025, as the luxury car maker cited the “introduction of import tariffs on [European] cars” into the U.S.</p>



<p>May 5 <strong>Mattel</strong>’s CEO Ynon Kreiz <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/mattel-earnings-q1-2025-mat-stock-2148c5a7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a> said “it’s hard to tell where things will land and how the tariff situation will evolve,” and the toy company announced it is pausing its full-year guidance until it “has sufficient visibility, given the volatile macro-economic environment and evolving U.S. tariff situation,” and may raise prices of its toys “where necessary.”</p>



<p>May 5 <strong>Ford</strong> <a href="https://s205.q4cdn.com/882619693/files/doc_financials/2025/q1/Ford-Q1-2025-Earnings-Press-Release.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> it expects tariffs to reduce its earnings before interest and taxes by about $1.5 billion in 2025, and said it is suspending its full-year guidance, citing “the potential for industrywide supply chain disruption impacting production” along with “the potential for future or increased tariffs in the U.S.,” potential retaliatory tariffs by other countries and more.</p>



<p>May 5 <strong>Cummins </strong><a href="https://investor.cummins.com/news/detail/680/cummins-reports-first-quarter-2025-results" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew</a> its forecast for 2025, as CEO Jennifer Rumsey said the truck engine maker faced “growing economic uncertainty driven by tariffs” and as customers endured an “increasingly challenging environment.”</p>



<p>May 1 <strong>Apple </strong>CEO Tim Cook <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/05/01/apple-earnings-better-iphone-sales-and-profit-than-expected-as-it-steps-through-tariff-minefields/">said</a> the company expects Trump’s tariffs will cause a $900 million hit to the company’s bottom line during its second quarter, saying it will be “very difficult” to predict beyond June “because I’m not sure what will happen with tariffs,” as Apple’s sales in China dropped below projections.</p>



<p>May 1 <strong>Amazon</strong> said in its first quarter earnings <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/05/01/amazon-tops-q1-earnings-estimates-but-stock-slides-on-soft-guidance/">report</a> Thursday that its future results are “inherently unpredictable” because of factors including “changes in global economic and geopolitical conditions” and “tariff and trade policies,” the latter of which was a not a reason included in its last quarter report.</p>



<p>May 1 <strong>General Motors</strong>, which <a href="https://investor.gm.com/static-files/78278d1e-0f28-46cd-8fe2-5438fc43d374" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earlier</a> said it would reassess its financial guidance for 2025 to include the “potential impact of tariffs,” <a href="https://investor.gm.com/static-files/644a15dc-b57c-4e91-821d-b81baa99246b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lowered</a> its forecast for earnings to between $10 billion and $12.5 billion, down from $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion, as CEO Mary Barra <a href="https://investor.gm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/q1-2025-letter-shareholders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> the company was adjusting to “the new trade policy environment.”</p>



<p>May 1 <strong>McDonald’s</strong> <a href="https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/sites/corp/nfl/pdf/Q1_25_Earnings_Release.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> a 3.6% decline in U.S. same-store sales through its first quarter in 2025, the largest decrease since an 8.7% dip in 2020, as the fast food giant said consumers were “grappling with uncertainty.”</p>



<p>April 30 <strong>Stellantis</strong> <a href="https://www.stellantis.com/content/dam/stellantis-corporate/news/press-releases/2025/april/30-04-25/en/EN-20250430-Stellantis-Q12025-Results.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suspended</a> its full-year financial guidance for the 2025 fiscal year because of “tariff-related uncertainties,” and noted the company was “highly engaged with policymakers” about tariffs and has “[taken] action to reduce impacts.”</p>



<p>April 30 <strong>Mercedes</strong> <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250429364723/en/Mercedes-Benz-Group-Delivers-Solid-Q1-Results-in-a-Dynamic-Market-Environment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pulled</a> its full-year outlook for the 2025 fiscal year because the “volatility with regard to tariff policies” had become “too high to reliably assess” the automaker’s business development for the remainder of the year, adding estimates could not be made “with the necessary level of certainty.”</p>



<p>April 29 <strong>UPS</strong> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/29/ups-to-cut-20000-jobs-in-2025-after-slashing-amazon-shipments/">pulled</a> its full-year guidance after previously forecasting revenue of $89 billion for 2025, citing the “current macro-economic uncertainty” as the shipping giant also announced it would lay off 20,000 workers by the end of the year.</p>



<p>April 29 <strong>Kraft Heinz</strong> CEO Abrams-Rivera said the company had <a href="https://ir.kraftheinzcompany.com/news/kraft-heinz-reports-first-quarter-2025-results/4e5e664b-9b79-4a92-8553-0a5ef4db87ad" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lowered</a> its full-year outlook as the “operating environment remains volatile,” and they would monitor the “potential impacts from macro-economic pressures such as tariffs and inflation.”</p>



<p>April 29<strong> JetBlue</strong> CEO Joanna Geraghty <a href="https://news.jetblue.com/latest-news/press-release-details/2025/JetBlue-Announces-First-Quarter-2025-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> the company had pulled its full-year outlook for 2025 because of “macroeconomic uncertainty,” while JetBlue president Marty St. George said the airline expected “softened demand” to continue.</p>



<p>April 29 <strong>Snap</strong> <a href="https://investor.snap.com/news/news-details/2025/Snap-Inc--Announces-First-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">declined</a> to issue guidance for its second quarter, as the company behind Snapchat said “uncertainty with respect to how macro economic conditions may evolve in the months ahead” could impact advertising demand.</p>



<p>April 29 <strong>Volvo </strong><a href="https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/348799/volvo-cars-reports-q1-2025-results-launches-sek-18-billion-cost-and-cash-action-plan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a> 2025 would be a “challenging and transition year” as a result of “macroeconomic, geopolitical and market developments,” including the effects of tariffs on profits, while pulling its guidance for the year and 2026.</p>



<p>April 24 <strong>PepsiCo</strong> <a href="https://investors.pepsico.com/docs/default-source/investors/q1-2025/q1-2025-earnings-release_qrwd2bctzikuphl4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lowered</a> its earnings forecast for 2025 as the company expects “more volatility and uncertainty,” CEO Ramon Laguarta said, as PepsiCo said it faces higher supply chain costs because of tariffs, “elevated macroeconomic volatility and a subdued consumer backdrop.”</p>



<p>April 24 <strong>Procter &amp; Gamble</strong>, the owner of Tide and Charmin, among others, <a href="https://pginvestor.com/financial-reporting/press-releases/news-details/2025/PG-Announces-Fiscal-Year-2025-Third-Quarter-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lowered</a> its sales growth projections for the year despite previously expecting growth up to 4% in 2025, while CEO Jon Moeller warned of a “challenging and volatile consumer and geopolitical environment.”</p>



<p>April 24 <strong>American Airlines</strong> CEO Robert Isom <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/04/24/negative-bias-american-airlines-pulls-2025-guidance-citing-significant-weakness-in-domestic-travel-demand/">told</a> investors the airline was “taking a very cautious, even a negative approach to growth” after pulling its full-year guidance, while CFO Devon May said economic uncertainty worsened by Trump’s tariffs brought “significant weakness in our main cabin demand.”</p>



<p>April 24 <strong>Skechers </strong><a href="https://investors.skechers.com/press-releases/detail/663/skechers-announces-first-quarter-2025-financial-results-and" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pulled</a> its full-year outlook while citing “macroeconmic uncertainty stemming from global trade policies,” as CFO John Vandemore likened the economic environment to the pandemic.</p>



<p>April 23 <strong>Thermo Fisher Scientific</strong> <a href="https://ir.thermofisher.com/investors/news-events/news/news-details/2025/Thermo-Fisher-Scientific-Reports-First-Quarter-2025-Results/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew</a> its full-year profit forecast while the medical equipment maker expects to take a $400 million hit in sales to China, as Trump’s tariffs would likely raise the cost of parts the company sources in China.</p>



<p>April 23 <strong>Chipotle</strong>, which reported same-store sales well below analyst expectations, according to FactSet, lowered its full-year same-store sales growth for the year because the company expects customers to spend less as concerns about the economy became “overwhelming,” CEO Scott Boatwright <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4777419-chipotle-mexican-grill-inc-cmg-q1-2025-earnings-call-transcript" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> investors.</p>



<p>April 23 <strong>Alaska Airlines</strong> <a href="https://news.alaskaair.com/company/alaska-air-group-reports-first-quarter-2025-results/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pulled</a> its full-year 2025 guidance because of “recent economic uncertainty and volatility.”</p>



<p>April 23 <strong>Southwest Airlines</strong>, while maintaining some of its projections for its second quarter, <a href="https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2025/04-23-2025-213818530" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew</a> guidance for 2025 in its first-quarter report while citing “macroeconomic uncertainty” that makes it “difficult to forecast given recent and short-lived booking trends.”</p>



<p>April 15 <strong>United Airlines</strong> <a href="https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125378" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">held</a> its full-year forecast, though the company also issued a second guidance featuring far lower earnings in 2025 because United believes the economy is “impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence.”</p>



<p>April 11 <strong>Logitech </strong><a href="https://ir.logitech.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/Logitech-Announces-Q4-and-Full-Fiscal-Year-2025-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew</a> its outlook for its 2026 fiscal year because of the “continuing uncertainty surrounding the tariff environment.”</p>



<p>April 9<strong> Walmart </strong><a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2025/04/09/walmart-showcases-business-strategy-focused-on-driving-growth-and-shareholder-value" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> it would pull forecasts for operating income in its upcoming first-quarter report on May 15, as the “range of outcomes” grew as Trump’s tariffs were implemented in trade.</p>



<p>April 9 <strong>Delta</strong>, after previously cutting first-quarter earnings projections by 40 to 50 cents a share, pulled its full-year guidance “given the broad macro uncertainty,” as it was “premature to project the full year,” the airline and CEO Ed Bastian <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/04/09/delta-pulls-full-year-guidance-economic-uncertainty/">said</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-trump-s-tariffs-resulted-in-layoffs">Have Trump’s Tariffs Resulted In Layoffs?</h2>



<p>Several companies have announced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/22/tariff-layoff-tracker-mack-trucks-volvo-cut-hundreds-of-jobs-as-trumps-levies-pose-market-uncertainty/">layoffs</a>&nbsp;while citing the impact of Trump’s tariffs. Mack Trucks and Volvo Group told Forbes earlier this month that a combined 800 employees were laid off at facilities on the East Coast, with both automakers citing “market uncertainty,” the likelihood of “possible regulatory changes” and the “impact of tariffs.” Stellantis and Estée Lauder also announced layoffs. Goldman Sachs wrote in a note on April 15 that about 100,000 manufacturing jobs would be created because of Trump’s tariffs, though they would also likely remove up to 500,000 jobs across all industries.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Trump levied tariffs across U.S. trade partners during his so-called “Liberation Day” earlier this month. A 90-day pause on the tariffs was announced on April 9, though a baseline 10% would remain, except for China, whose imports face 145% tariffs. The White House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/29/trump-offers-automakers-tariff-reprieve-latest-big-tariff-flip-flop-since-liberation-day/">said</a>&nbsp;Tuesday that Trump would also offer a reprieve to automakers by exempting them from paying additional tariffs, like those on steel and aluminum. Some industry leaders have said Trump’s tariffs would raise consumer prices and create market volatility, including Ford CEO Jim Farley, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2025/02/11/ford-ceo-jim-farley-tariffs-auto-industry/78414492007/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">warned</a>&nbsp;Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported cars and car parts would “blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” Vice President JD Vance&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/22/will-trump-negotiate-tariffs-jd-vance-says-president-wants-to-rebalance-global-trade-but-no-deals-reached-yet/">said</a>&nbsp;the Trump administration is trying to “rebalance global trade” as the U.S. carries out tariff negotiations. Vance suggested the U.S. “want[s] to partner with people and countries” to create “a system of global trade that is balanced, one that is open, and one that is stable and fair.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/04/22/tariff-layoff-tracker-mack-trucks-volvo-cut-hundreds-of-jobs-as-trumps-levies-pose-market-uncertainty/">Tariff Layoff Tracker: Mack Truck, Volvo Cut Hundreds Of Jobs As Trump’s Levies Pose ‘Market Uncertainty’</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/04/29/trump-offers-automakers-tariff-reprieve-latest-big-tariff-flip-flop-since-liberation-day/">Trump Offers Automakers Tariff Reprieve—Latest Big Tariff Flip-Flop Since ‘Liberation Day’</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>


Lewis Hamilton Tests For Ferrari

Ferrari Says Tariffs May Reduce Profits—Joining These Companies Warning Of Tariff Impacts


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The Met Gala, an arts fundraiser more commonly known to fans as an extravagant, star-studded night for fashion, will honor fashion pioneered by Black men throughout history Monday night, with celebrities including A$AP Rocky and Colman Domingo set to host.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The Met Gala will take place May 5 in New York as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, celebrating the opening of the museum’s spring exhibition: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”</p>



<p>The dress code for the evening is “Tailored for You,” which the Met said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/ci-2025-exhibition-gala-details" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">press release</a>&nbsp;is a “nod to the exhibition’s focus on suiting and menswear.”</p>



<p>Co-chairs for this year’s event include Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo, rapper A$AP Rocky, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and producer Pharrell Williams, alongside Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.</p>



<p>LeBron James will participate as the gala’s honorary chair this year.</p>



<p>This year’s gala is funded by a few billionaire celebrities—Tyler Perry’s Perry Foundation and George Lucas’s Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation—as well as Instagram and Africa Fashion International.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Is This Year’s Met Gala Theme?</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/ci-2025-exhibition-gala-details" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The Met</a>&nbsp;has defined this year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” as an “exploration of the concept of dandyism,” a term that originally referred to aristocratic style as far back as the 18th century, which Vogue now defines as an “exuberant attention to dress.” The showcase and this year’s gala are based on the 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” by Monica Miller, chair of the Barnard College Africana Studies department. Miller told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/superfine-tailoring-black-style-costume-institute-spring-2025-exhibition" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Vogue</a>&nbsp;this year’s exhibition will “illustrate how Black people transformed from being enslaved and stylized as luxury items, acquired like any other signifier of wealth and status, to autonomous self-fashioning individuals who are global trendsetters.” The Met’s exhibition is divided into twelve sections, each representing a characteristic defining the Black dandy style: Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, Jook, Heritage, Beauty, Cool, and Cosmopolitanism, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/ci-2025-exhibition-gala-details" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Met’s website</a>. Miller told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/apr/30/an-incredibly-political-moment-why-fashion-and-the-met-gala-are-celebrating-black-dandyism" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the Guardian</a>&nbsp;the exhibition examines the idea of “ownership,” particularly the contrast between “being owned and ‘owning it.’’ This year’s exhibition was designed by artist Torkwase Dyson, and artist Iké Udé served as a special consultant.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Who’s Attending This Year’s Met Gala?</h2>



<p>This year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/ci-2025-exhibition-gala-details" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">host committee</a>&nbsp;members are André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, Grace Wales Bonner, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Regina King, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha&#8217;Carri Richardson, Olivier Rousteing, Tyla, Usher and Kara Walker, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/ci-2025-exhibition-gala-details" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Met</a>. Zendaya, a Met Gala favorite for her extravagant looks conceived of by her stylist, Law Roach, will attend, Roach told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1415897/zendaya-will-attend-met-gala-2025-law-roach-confirms" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">E! News</a>&nbsp;earlier this month. Rihanna, another Met Gala regular, has not confirmed whether she will attend, though speculation has grown since her longtime partner, A$AP Rocky, is a co-chair. Actress Blake Lively, also known a regular attendee, has not confirmed whether she will attend amid her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/13/the-entire-justin-baldoni-vs-blake-lively-feud-explained-former-publicist-reportedly-subpoenaing-tech-companies/">legal battle</a>&nbsp;with “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni, though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/03/21/blake-lively-ryan-reynolds-skipping-met-gala/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">TMZ</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/blake-lively-ryan-reynolds-will-not-attend-2025-met-gala-exclusive-source-11701488" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">People</a>&nbsp;both cited sources claiming she and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, will skip this year’s gala. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/style/met-gala-2025-black-dandy-politics.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported various billionaires will skip this year’s event, including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk, while billionaire Michael Bloomberg will attend.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Big Number</h2>



<p>$75,000. That’s how much a single Met Gala ticket costs, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/met-gala-2025-theme-hosts-watch.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported, while tables of 10 sell for $350,000. Celebrities are typically sponsored by brands who purchase tickets for them.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Surprising Fact</h2>



<p>LeBron James, this year’s honorary co-chair, is playing in the NBA playoffs for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves lead the series 3-1, though if the Lakers keep winning, James could have a game the night before the gala, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-playoffs-schedule" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBA’s schedule</a>—and if the Lakers win, it’s unclear whether James will attend.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Can Viewers Watch The Met Gala?</h2>



<p>The Met Gala will be broadcast on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/where-to-watch-the-2025-met-gala-livestream" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Vogue’s</a>&nbsp;digital platforms and on its YouTube channel beginning May 5 at 6 p.m. EST. Singer and actress Teyana Taylor, actress La La Anthony, and comedian Ego Nwodim will host the broadcast, and social media star Emma Chamberlain will return as Vogue’s special correspondent.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Background</h2>



<p>The Met Gala has had a decades-long&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/6972918/met-gala-history/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">history</a>&nbsp;as a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute before transforming into an extravagant fashion showcase. The first gala was held in 1948 as a midnight dinner party, though it did not begin to transform until then-Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland joined as a consultant in the 1970s. Last year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/05/06/what-we-know-about-tonights-met-gala-backed-by-tiktok-with-zendaya-and-more-co-chairing-garden-of-time-themed-event/">exhibition</a>&nbsp;was titled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and the dress code for attendees was “Garden of Time.” Other recent themes include “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” in 2023 and “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” in 2022.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/superfine-suiting-portfolio-may-2025" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">“Superfine” and Dandy: Iconic Creatives Celebrate the Costume Institute’s New Exhibition</a>&nbsp;(Vogue)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/where-to-watch-the-2025-met-gala-livestream" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Where to Watch the 2025 Met Gala Livestream</a>&nbsp;(Vogue)</p>


The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” – Street Sightings

What To Know About Tonight’s Met Gala: Who’s Attending And The ‘Tailoring Black Style’ Theme Explained


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The most valuable<strong>&nbsp;</strong>pure entertainment company in the world got a little less valuable Monday, as shares of California-based streaming giant Netflix fell following President Donald Trump’s announcement he’d slap a high penalty on films produced abroad.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Netflix stock fell 4% to $1,113, tracking toward its worst daily loss since April 4.</p>



<p>The slide followed Trump’s Sunday evening&nbsp;<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114452117143235155" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">proclamation</a>&nbsp;he’d slap a 100% tariff on “any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” declaring films produced outside the U.S. are a “National Security threat.”</p>



<p>Also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/05/05/trump-says-films-shot-outside-us-will-face-100-tariff-hollywood-stocks-drop-in-premarket/">struggling</a>&nbsp;were shares of Disney (-2%), Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery (-3%), Paramount Global (-2%) and Universal Pictures parent Comcast (-1%), all outpacing the less than 1% loss for the S&amp;P 500 baseline stock index.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Big Number</h2>



<p>$20.4 billion. That’s how much market capitalization Netflix lost Monday. That’s almost exactly the same as Warner Bros. Discovery’s $20.5 billion total valuation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What We Don’t Know: How Trump’s Movie Tariffs Would Work</h2>



<p>Unlike goods on which officials collect duties when entering U.S. ports, movies are services with a more complicated tariff structure. “Is it just movies, or also streaming series? Is it visual effects, co-productions, international film financing? There’s a huge degree of uncertainty,” Henning Molfenter, the former head of the German Babelsberg Studio with producer credits on “The Pianist” and “Captain America: Civil War,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/can-trumps-movie-tariff-actually-work-1236207053/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;The Hollywood Reporter.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Background</h2>



<p>Just more than half, or 51%, of Netflix’s 2024 content spending went to content from outside of North America,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ampereanalysis.com/insight/more-than-half-of-netflixs-content-spending-now-outside-of-north-america#:~:text=More%20than%20half%20of%20Netflix's%20content%20budget%20is%20now%20allocated,directed%20towards%20internationally%2Dsourced%20content." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to market research firm Ampere Analysis. About 70% of the streamers’ paid subscriptions come from outside the U.S. and Canada. Some of Netflix’s most popular recent programs among American audiences include shows filmed outside the U.S., including the British period series “Bridgerton” and the South Korean “Squid Game.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Contra</h2>



<p>Prior to Trump’s Sunday announcement, Netflix stock was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/04/17/netflix-earnings-record-profits-and-sales-send-stock-to-nearly-1000/">hailed</a>&nbsp;by many as a relative safe haven compared to other stocks in the crosshairs of tariff choppiness. Bank of America analysts’ note following Netflix’s earnings report was titled “Predictable in an unpredictable world.” Through Friday trading, Netflix stock returned 30% in 2025, far outperforming the returns of Facebook parent Meta (2%), Amazon (-13%), Apple (-18%) and Google parent Alphabet (-13%), the other members of the “FAANG” grouping of high-growth technology stocks.</p>



<p></p>


Netflix Shares Jump On Strong Subscriber Report

Netflix Suffers $20 Billion Loss As Trump Wields 100% Movie Tariffs


<p><strong>In a world where there are 25 minutes of previews before every movie, here&#8217;s why studios pay millions to secure a spot in front of summer&#8217;s biggest blockbusters.</strong></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<p><strong><abbr>A</abbr>nyone going to see&nbsp;</strong>Marvel Studios’&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*</em>&nbsp;this weekend can expect to watch eight—perhaps even 10—movie trailers before the feature begins. Throw in an ad for popcorn and Nicole Kidman waxing poetic about the power of cinema, and the pre-show lineup can stretch to nearly a half-hour.</p>



<p>Even if that can seem like a drag to an audience, those are highly valuable minutes to both the movie studios and the theater chains. In an era when theatrical attendance continues to decline—the domestic box office grossed $8.7 billion last year, a dip of more than 3% from 2023, and ticket sales dropped 7%—trailers remain the top driver of awareness and decision-making for most moviegoers. According to National Research Group’s biannual survey, 36% of those between the ages 12-74 say they first heard about the most recent movie they saw in theaters through a trailer, more than any other source.</p>



<p>Because&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*&nbsp;</em>is the first anticipated blockbuster of the summer movie season—the 18-week period between the first of May and Labor Day that accounts for 40% of the annual box office total in the U.S. and Canada—its preview space is one of the most important marketing opportunities for the biggest releases, including Paramount’s&nbsp;<em>Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning</em>, Universal’s&nbsp;<em>Jurassic World: Rebirth</em>, and Warner Bros.’&nbsp;<em>Superman</em>.</p>



<p>With fierce competition for these theoretically finite slots, there’s another reason for the increased number of trailers—theater chains are selling preview time to the highest bidder. “The most valuable real estate this industry has is trailer play. That&#8217;s where we cross-pollinate success,” Neon CEO Tom Quinn said last month at Cinemacon in Las Vegas. “But I, as an independent, don&#8217;t always get trailer play. I have to go buy that trailer play with every other studio. And we play a big game, but it&#8217;s very expensive.”</p>



<p>The particulars of this pay-to-play system are whispered about with a level of secrecy that Ethan Hunt’s Impossible Missions Force would appreciate. Despite the symbiotic relationship between studios and theaters—or mutually assured destruction, depending on who you ask—the two sides often operate on a need-to-know, no-paper-trail basis. For fear of upsetting the delicate system, neither side is eager to speak on the record.</p>



<p>According to Hollywood lore, it was Sony executive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-may-24-fi-1822-story.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Jeff Blake who first began paying for trailer placement</a>&nbsp;in 2001. Back then, theaters averaged four previews per movie. The two slots closest to the actual feature were guaranteed to the company distributing the movie, and the others were chosen by the theater operator. That is until Blake shelled out an estimated $100,000, split among four theater chains, to ensure that a 60-second preview for the Rob Schneider comedy&nbsp;<em>The Animal</em>&nbsp;played in front of that summer’s big May release,&nbsp;<em>The Mummy Returns.</em></p>



<p>Today, Hollywood’s major studios routinely strike year-long marketing agreements with major theater chains including AMC, Regal and Cinemark to guarantee trailer play in front of the biggest releases. Those deals range from $2 million to $5 million each, proportionate to the size of the chain, and can include other in-theater marketing opportunities such as ads on concession stands or theater marquees.</p>



<p>What exactly that money buys, however, is not always clear. Most moviegoers would assume the trailer system would be similar to any other advertising expenditure, but in practice studio executives say it can often feel closer to a bribe. Studios typically select “target” preferences for which trailers to put with which movies, and exhibitors reply with a certain percentage of screenings it can offer for each title, usually between 50% and 100%.</p>



<p>The tradition of reserving the two final previews for free for the studio that produced the movie continues to hold, but the value of the other four to six slots is constantly in flux. Six-figure transactions for additional trailer play can often materialize at a moment’s notice. This dynamic marketplace is driven by a movie’s predicted popularity, the amount of money paid, and above all, the fear of competition.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<p>Further complicating the marketplace, each studio has no idea what the others are paying a particular chain, and chains don’t know what each studio is paying the competition. Beyond that, studios don’t know whether the preview screenings they receive will be in the best auditoriums or the best showtimes.</p>



<p>To help strategize, some studios have hired third-party trailer auditing companies, who send people to physically sit in theaters across the country and write down the order of all the trailers played before a given movie.</p>



<p>“It’s always been sensitive and back room,” says one distribution executive, who believes there should be more transparency but declines to be identified by name. “It’s coming from this place of we’re going to maximize our leverage against you. A lot of theatrical distribution is rooted in that tradition.”</p>



<p>Until the pandemic, Disney was known for never having to pay for trailer placement because of its dominant position in the marketplace. The mere threat of withholding a film or increasing its rental fee (the percentage split of box office gross) was enough to ensure good trailer placement from theater chains. Rival studios also relied on Disney’s new releases so they could advertise their biggest movies ahead of them.</p>



<p>However, Disney has only held the largest market share of the domestic box office once in the five years since the pandemic, and in recent years Hollywood insiders believe the company has started to participate in the pay-for-play trailer system like everyone else. (Disney declined to comment for this story.)</p>



<p>The trailer strategy gets even more complicated after that. Any preview slots not reserved by these annual guarantees are sold on a one-off basis or in mini-packages to independent distributors such as A24 and Neon, who in some cases pay up to $1 million across all the chains to secure a percentage of trailer play in front of a particular movie.</p>



<p>The irony of this high-pressure environment is that it is relatively low stakes. A presumed blockbuster like&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*</em>&nbsp;has a marketing budget of well over $100 million, and the amount of money spent on TV advertisements for one movie alone can be more than a studio might spend on trailer placement for the entire year.</p>



<p>Still, studio executives say that reaching people who have already bought movie tickets and then getting their undivided attention for a trailer can often the moment when they decide whether they want to see an upcoming movie. Meanwhile, TV commercials, digital ads and billboards serve primarily to remind viewers of a movie’s release date.</p>



<p>That’s why studios can spend as much as $200,000 to produce a two-and-a-half minute trailer—or, in the case of&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*,&nbsp;</em>even three full-length trailers across a seven-month marketing campaign.</p>



<p>This combination of the increased length of trailers and the increased inventory over the years has seemingly pushed some moviegoers to the edge of their patience. In Connecticut, a state senator introduced a bill in January that would require theaters to post the movie’s actual start time as opposed to the time when the previews begin.. And at CinemaCon, the national gathering of theater owners, there were multiple conversations around reviving the effort to cap trailers at two minutes (a&nbsp;<a href="https://theatreowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NATO-In-Theater-Marketing-Guidelines-1.7.14.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">guideline</a>&nbsp;sent out in 2014 by the National Association of Theater Owners was mostly ignored by studios).</p>



<p>“People love trailers,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at ComScore, a leading box office data provider. “But [theaters] have to walk that fine line—you don&#8217;t want to overdo it because then you burn people out before the curtains even open on the feature.&#8221;</p>



<p>For studios, a good trailer often doubles as the most impactful piece of digital marketing in a movie’s campaign, once it is posted on YouTube and other social media platforms. According to the same NRG survey, Gen-Z moviegoers said that social media and word of mouth outrank trailers in influence, but when asked what type of social media content drives their choices, trailers once again reigned supreme.</p>



<p>Daniel Loria, a senior vice president of content strategy at Los Angeles-based Boxoffice Pro, says that online trailer views are a strong indicator of box office performance. “That’s a big data point that we use here internally in our forecasting,” Loria says. “Having trailers available online is a real game changer for movie marketing.”</p>



<p>There is, however, one other marketing force that in recent years has proven even more powerful and unpredictable—online virality. When a movie catches on organically—whether it’s an army of teen “Gentleminions” in suits going to see&nbsp;<em>Minions: The Rise of Gru</em>, the&nbsp;<em>M3gan&nbsp;</em>dance trend, or the recent “chicken jockey” mania around&nbsp;<em>A Minecraft Movie</em>—it can cause a movie to vastly overperform the predicted box office results.</p>



<p>But attempts by distributors to create those viral moments have proven largely futile, so for now, the focus remains on trailers.</p>



<p>“I think what everyone in this industry has learned is that viral moments of the movies have to be organic. You can’t will a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/07/23/barbie-living-up-to-box-office-hype-with-155-million-us-opening-weekend-biggest-of-the-year/">Barbenheimer</a> into existence,” says Loria. “But in a theater, you know you&#8217;ve got their attention. And you&#8217;ve got two to three minutes to sell the movie. That is so valuable.”</p>


cinema

Inside The Secretive, Pay-For-Play World Of Movie Trailers


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Earnings for two of the U.S.’ handful of trillion-dollar companies came out Wednesday afternoon as Meta and Microsoft will update investors, kicking off a crucial week for on-edge big technology stocks as tariffs complicated investor appetite for artificial intelligence-driven growth.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Microsoft generated $70.1 billion in revenue and $3.46 EPS ($25.8 billion net income), compared to consensus forecasts calling for $68.4 billion in revenue and $3.22 earnings per share ($24.1 billion net income) for Microsoft, according to FactSet data, scoring a 13% year-over-year increase in sales and 18% jump in profit.</p>



<p>Those are the best-ever quarterly revenue and profit totals in Microsoft’s history.</p>



<p>Shares of Microsoft shot up 6% following the earnings release, trading at about $420 after hours.</p>



<p>Fellow big tech firm Meta, the parent of Facebook, also exceeded Wall Street expectations, as its $42.3 billion in revenue and $6.43 EPS smashed forecasts of $41.4 billion in revenue and $5.23 EPS.</p>



<p>Meta said it expects second-quarter revenue to come in between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion, well above consensus projections of $41.3 billion.</p>



<p>Meta stock gained about 5% to more than $570.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Microsoft is the U.S.’ second most valuable company with a $2.9 trillion market capitalization, and Meta is the sixth-largest firm with a $1.4 trillion market cap. Meta and Microsoft are two of the so-called “magnificent seven” big tech companies, joining Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia and Tesla. The septet comprises a third of the S&amp;P 500’s total market capitalization thanks to their outsized influence in the artificial intelligence bonanza. Microsoft makes its AI hay via its Azure enterprise cloud computing unit and its stake in ChatGPT parent OpenAI, while Meta just launched a competitor app to the generative AI dominator ChatGPT,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/04/29/heres-what-to-know-about-metas-standalone-ai-app-to-rival-chatgpt/">Meta AI</a>. Meta and Microsoft shares have both slumped this year amid the broader stock market pullback as investors’ risk profile weakened. Meta and Microsoft stocks declined 5% year-to-date apiece through Wednesday, excluding dividends, though that’s stronger than the 15% or more losses from Amazon, Apple and Nvidia, all of which have far heavier exposure to China than Meta and Microsoft.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">Tangent</h2>



<p>Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were among the 10 billionaires whose net worth fell the most during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, losing a combined $30 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2025/04/29/the-biggest-billionaire-winners-and-losers-of-trumps-first-100-days/">according</a>&nbsp;to Forbes’ calculations.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>Thursday will be another magnificent seven earnings doubleheader, as retail titan Amazon and iPhone maker Apple will share quarterly results.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>“This is a key few days ahead for the markets and tech world,” remarked Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. The trade war is a “key X variable for tech stocks,” noted Ives, adding<strong> </strong>this week’s reports should provide a glimpse into how demand has held up among businesses and consumers amid the economic uncertainty.</p>


Views Of London England’s Capital City

Meta And Microsoft Stocks Soar On Robust Earnings Reports


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>President Donald Trump discussed his first 100 days in office in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday that at times became tense, where he defended his handling of the economy, high tariffs on China and his administration’s immigration crackdown.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Trump had several tense exchanges with ABC News anchor Terry Moran during&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-defends-100-days-historic-presidency-exclusive-abc/story?id=121295023" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the interview</a>, where he described the network as “one of the worst.”</p>



<p>The president defended his decision to hit China with steep tariffs, but said he expected this to have no impact on U.S. consumers, as he believes China will “eat those tariffs.”</p>



<p>The president claimed China was “ripping us off like nobody has ever ripped us off,” and while he acknowledged a 145% tariff amounted to a trade embargo, he thought it was “good” and “they deserve it.”</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2211443596.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-65400" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2211443596.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2211443596-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2211443596-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong><em> Ukraine&#8217;s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (L) during Pope Francis&#8217;s funeral at St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica at the Vatican. (Photo by Office of the President of Ukraine via Getty Images)</em></strong></figcaption></figure></div>


<p>The comments on the China tariffs are a shift in tone from last week, where Trump suggested that trade negotiations with Beijing were around the corner and the 145% tariff rate would soon “come down substantially.”</p>



<p>The president also dismissed a question about voters feeling economic anxiety, saying that prices had come down under him: “Since I came in, gasoline is down, groceries are down, egg prices are down — many things are down, just about everything.”</p>



<p>Trump also suggested tourism to the U.S. was “way up,” despite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/04/29/us-travel-boycott-60-of-canadians-staying-away-because-of-trump-survey-says/">data showing</a>&nbsp;otherwise, and told Moran, “Wait till you see the numbers.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-did-trump-say-about-his-administration-s-deportation-actions">What Did Trump Say About His Administration’s Deportation Actions?</h2>



<p>Moran asked Trump about his administration’s sweeping deportation efforts and whether proper due process was being followed. The president said: “If people come into our country illegally, there&#8217;s a different standard. These are illegal. They came in illegally.” When pressed again about due process, Trump said: “Well, they get a process where we have to get &#8217;em out, yeah.” Trump said his administration has to “act fast” in removing undocumented migrants and claimed there were “21 million people” in the U.S. illegally—a number Trump has repeatedly used despite the actual&nbsp;<a href="https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/how-many-million-immigrants-america-illegal/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">estimated number</a>&nbsp;being lower. The president then asked, “Do you think we can give 21 million trials?”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-did-trump-say-about-kilmar-abrego-garcia">What Did Trump Say About Kilmar Abrego Garcia?</h2>



<p>The president was also asked about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador. Despite earlier denials by his administration, Trump acknowledged he “could” secure the deported man’s return to the U.S., but indicated he will not do so, despite a Supreme Court order instructing the government to facilitate his return. Trump said the Justice Department lawyer who said Abrego Garcia’s deportation was carried out erroneously was “not appointed by us” and “should not have said that.” Trump also claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, despite his lawyers repeatedly denying this accusation. Trump even showed Moran an image of the text “MS-13” tattooed on his hands, but when the ABC anchor pointed out the image was “photoshopped,” the president appeared agitated and told Moran: “Terry, you can’t do that. They’ve given you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you’re doing the interview.” Trump then insisted that Moran should: “go look at his hand,” and the photo claiming “He had MS-13.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-did-trump-say-about-putin-and-the-ukraine-peace-talks">What Did Trump Say About Putin And The Ukraine Peace Talks?</h2>



<p>Trump said he believes Putin wanted to annex the whole of Ukraine and: “If I didn&#8217;t win the election, he would have gotten all of Ukraine.” When asked if he thought that the Russian president may not actually want to stop the war and was simply “tapping” him along, Trump acknowledged that this was possible: “He could be tapping me along a little bit.” However, Trump said he believes Putin would “like to stop the war.” When asked if he trusted Putin, Trump shot back: “ I don’t trust you, I don’t trust – I don’t trust a lot of people.” After another testy exchange with the interviewer, Trump said, “I think that he — let&#8217;s say he respects me.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-defends-100-days-historic-presidency-exclusive-abc/story?id=121295023" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Trump discusses first 100 days of historic presidency in exclusive ABC interview</a>&nbsp;(ABC News)</p>


Forbes

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA