Trump news live: Tariff threat for Canada, Mexico and China sends shockwaves through markets

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The global markets had a resounding negative reaction to Donald Trump announcing his plans to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.

The president-elect wrote two posts on his social media platform on Monday claiming he intends to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on products from China and 25 percent on those entering from Mexico and Canada.

Trump says the intention is to punish the countries for not acting to quell the border crisis and says they will remain 'until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!'

In response to the news, the Mexican peso weakened further on Tuesday and the Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level since 2020.

Markets in Japan and China closed at a lower level and the United Kingdom’s markets also opened down.

A board in Tokyo shows Japan's Nikkei index dropping this week after Trump's tariff announcement

A 33-year-old aide with the nickname 'human printer' has 'unnerved' staff of President-elect Donald Trump for her excessively fawning letters and undying loyalty to their boss.

Natalie Harp penned the devotional missives Trump last year that showed an almost Christ-like devotion to the 78-year-old incoming commander-in-chief.

The New York Times reported Monday that sources were left uncomfortable about the obsequious messages.

'You are all that matters to me,' the former right wing host wrote in one of the letters.

'I don't ever want to let you down,' she said, calling Trump her 'Guardian and Protector in this life.'

In another letter she told Trump that she wanted to get back to 'that synergy' she used to have with him, where 'we'd talk about everything and nothing.'

'I want to bring you joy,' she wrote, 'to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk "work."'

Democratic National Committee workers are asking for charitable donations after making significant layoffs in a dramatic downsizing after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election.

The pleas for donations sparked outrage on social media, as memories of the massive $1 billion Kamala Harris campaign spending spree were still fresh, including millions of dollars spent to host celebrity filled town halls for the vice president.

Two-thirds of DNC staffers were laid off as part of the downsizing on Wednesday, with only one day's notice and no severance, according to the union.

'These cuts go far beyond typical campaign turnover and impact employees who were previously told their positions would be retained after the election,' the statement from the union protesting the layoffs read.

The DNC union fund portrayed laid off workers as victims of the party, urging individuals to send donations to soften the blow.

'We are heartbroken to see our colleagues—who dedicated countless hours to electing Democrats up and down the ballot—depart under these circumstances, and we are furious with DNC leadership for failing to provide severance to those affected,' the union fundraiser read.

For Donald Trump it was par for the course, but for a young fan with a fashionable hairdo this was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

Driving around his Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach this week, Trump stopped to say hello to fellow golfers - and made an out-of-this-world offer to one young admirer.

Wearing his trademark red MAGA cap and a matching red quarter-zip jacket withwhat appears to be the seal of the president of the United States emblazoned on the front, Trump is seen in the social media post driving around some golfers taking practice swings.

Then he notices a cute young girl in a sky-blue polo shirt and blue jeans - taken aback by her head of thick, dark-brown curls pulled back from her face by a band or tie.

Gavin Newsom is plotting to defy Donald Trump while stiffing key MAGA ally Elon Musk, as California plans an electric vehicle rebate program that intentionally leaves out Tesla.

The California governor is planning to introduce a state tax rebate on purchasing electric cars if the Trump administration eliminates the federal tax cut.

Newsom even bragged that his policies have made Tesla and Musk 'so damn successful.'

The new rebates could exclude Tesla and other automakers with a large market share in an effort to promote more competition, the governor's office said. But that is subject to negotiation with the state Legislature.

Tesla holds 55% of California's EV market share, down from 64% a year ago. Hyundai and BMW are the next two biggest EV sellers in the state, at just 6.4% and 5.5%, respectively.

Musk, whose company is the only one that actually manufactures EVs in the Golden State, clearly felt singled out and slammed Newsom's proposal.

'Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,' he wrote on X.

A top NATO chief has urged business leaders to begin preparing for a 'wartime scenario' following rising tensions across the world.

The warning comes as Germany announced it was drawing up a list of bunkers and other underground facilities that could provide shelter for civilians in the event of an attack.

Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer warned that NATO members needed to adjust their production and distribution lines in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.

he chair of NATO's military committee said: 'If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence.'

Speaking at an event of the European Policy Centre think tank, he described deterrence as going far beyond military capability alone, since all available instruments could and would be used in war.

'We're seeing that with the growing number of sabotage acts, and Europe has seen that with energy supply,' Bauer said.

Meanwhile, Germany is exploring methods of keeping their civilian population safe in the event of a conflict.

This would involve reopening Germany's 579 World War Two and Cold War bunkers and repurposing underground car parks and metro stations as shelters.