Stock markets plummeting as tariffs loom - amid alarm after Trump indicates he is seeking third term | US latest

A deal that would see TikTok sold by its Chinese parent company will be struck before Saturday, Donald Trump has said. 

The president had set a 5 April deadline in January for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a U.S. ban on national security grounds due to have taken effect that month under a 2024 law.

"We have a lot of potential buyers," Trump told reporters on Air Force One late last night. 

"There's tremendous interest in TikTok," adding, "I'd like to see TikTok remain alive."

Donald Trump has said he has no plans to fire anyone following news that national security adviser Michael Waltz added a journalist to a Signal app group chat with senior members of the administration who were discussing plans to strike Houthi militants in Yemen earlier this month.

"I don't fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts," Trump said over the weekend, calling the story "fake news" throughout the interview with our partner network NBC. 

"I do," the president said when asked whether he still has confidence in Waltz and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also in the Signal chat and sent a detailed timeline of the planned strikes before they happened.

"I think it's just a witch hunt and the fake news, like you, talk about it all the time, but it's just a witch hunt, and it shouldn't be talked [about]," Trump added. 

"We had a tremendously successful strike. We struck very hard and very lethal. And nobody wants to talk about that. All they want to talk about is nonsense. It's fake news."

It's unclear what he was calling fake - as the journalist involved has posted screenshots from the chat that indisputably prove he was added. 

It's also clear that Hegseth shared sensitive details regarding the war plans on the unsecure app. 

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Donald Trump's approach to the presidency will be aware of the frequently blurred lines between his status as the so-called leader of the free world (a descriptor that has increasingly been questioned over recent months) and his seemingly continuing role as a reality TV personality.

This incongruity was in evidence once again overnight, as the president paused his consideration of issues such as the war in Ukraine and the profound impact of his tariffs to hold forth on the contents of a telephone conversation with Kid Rock.

Trump said in an online post that he had received a call from the rap rock star - "a very good guy, and friend of mine" - asking whether he would be willing to meet comedian and TV host Bill Maher at the White House.

Describing Maher as "a man who has been unjustifiably critical of anything, or anyone, TRUMP", the president said: "I really didn't like the idea much, and don't like it much now, but thought it would be interesting.

"The problem is, no matter how much he likes your Favorite President, ME, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am...

"Who knows, though, maybe I'll be proven wrong?"

He added that he believed UFC boss Dana White may also be present at the meeting, without explaining why.

Maher, a frequent critic of Trump, previously said he did not believe any such meeting would lead to him "healing America".

"If they expect me to be leaving in a MAGA hat, they're gonna be very disappointed," Maher said.

"But I know they don't. It probably will accomplish very little, but you gotta try, man, you gotta try."

Elon Musk has handed out million-dollar cheques to two voters in Wisconsin.

Wearing a yellow foam cheese hat, synonymous with the state and the Green Bay Packers American football team, Musk made the donations (worth £772,000 each) ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

At a rally on Sunday, the tech billionaire framed the election as critical to President Donald Trump's agenda and "the future of civilisation".

It is not the first time Musk has given away money to voters, he offered a similar giveaway in battleground states ahead of November's US presidential elections.

A judge ruled at the time that the giveaways could continue, despite legal efforts to stop them.

For context: Musk has led funding and job-cutting measures at the newly created Department of Government Effeciency (DOGE), claiming he is seeking to stop government waste, fraud, and abuse.

The richest person in the world, he helped bankroll Donald Trump's election campaign and has reportedly signalled to the president's advisers that he wants to put $100m into groups controlled by the Trump political operation.

He has been accused of illegally bribing voters - a claim he has denied - after giving $1m to people in Wisconsin and various battleground states before the 2024 election.

Critics say his aim is to destroy government departments and ultimately to consolidate his wealth and power.

By Adam Boulton, political commentator

Donald Trump wants to redraw the political map of the world. His vision seems to be that smaller countries - such as perhaps Greenland, Ukraine and Taiwan - should fall under the sway of their local big power as the US, Russia and China expand their regional zones of influence.

This is a grim prospect for a middle-sized post-imperial power like the United Kingdom.

This explains the astonishing reports that the King might invite the US to become an "associate member" of the Commonwealth when Mr Trump visits him in Scotland later this year to plan his second state visit to this country.

Trump has already welcomed the news about joining up with the Commonwealth. "I love King Charles. Sounds good to me!" he posted on his Truth Social platform.

But could it really happen? Find out here.

Donald Trump has said he was "very angry" and "pissed off" after Vladimir Putin criticised the credibility of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone call with Sky News' US partner network, NBC News.

Trump said the Russian president's recent comments, calling for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine in a move that could effectively push out Mr Zelenskyy, were "not going in the right direction".

He told NBC's Kirsten Welker: "If I feel we're in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that - you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy's credibility, because that's not going in the right direction."

You can follow all the latest developments on Trump's quest to end the war in Ukraine in our dedicated live page. 

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Stock markets have plummeted as the 2 April implementation day of US tariffs ticks closer.

Benchmark stocks in Asia were rattled at the lack of progress in halting US President Donald Trump's taxes which are due to come into force on US imports from Wednesday.

After delays, 25% tariffs are to be levied on all cars entering the US on what Mr Trump has called "liberation day".

Trade barriers are also expected to be announced on countries deemed to be giving the US a bad deal on trade.

In Japan, the Nikkei stock index lost nearly 4% at points before closing 3.86% down, while Korea's Kospi index dropped 2.83%.

European markets followed suit with the UK's FTSE 100 list of most valuable London Stock Exchange companies down 0.8%, falling to a more than two-week low.

The larger FTSE 250, which contains more companies based in the UK, lost a large 1.3%, dipping to a near year long low.

Germany's Dax, France's CAC 40 and the European-wide Stoxx all opened lower.

Gold has reached another record high price as investors put money into investments perceived as safer than some stock investments.

There's been little change in the pound as it has remained around the $1.29 mark, seen over the last 10 days.

As we reported in our 8.47 post, Donald Trump has said he is "not joking" about seeking an unconstitutional third term as president. 

In this post, we'll share the full transcript from his call with NBC's Kristen Welker...

Welker: I know you're joking about this, but I've been talking to a lot of your allies. They say they're very serious. You know, I talked to Steve Bannon on the record, quite frankly. So, I can just tell you. I mean, he says he's, you know, really seriously looking at potential plans that would allow you to serve a third term. 

Trump: Well, let me put it this way. You have to start by saying I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years. 

We're in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls, and you see that. We're very popular. And you know, a lot of people would like me to do that. 

But, I mean, I basically tell them, we have a long way to go, you know, it's very early in the administration. 

Welker: So, but I don't hear you ruling - like, in a very serious way, do you rule that out? Are you like, 'I can't serve a third term, it's unconstitutional'? What's your thinking around it? 

Trump: A lot of people want me to do it. But we have - my thinking is, we have a long way to go. I’m focused on the current [term]. 

Welker: Have you been presented with any potential plans that would allow you to serve a third term? 

Trump: Well, there are plans. There are - not plans. There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know. 

Welker: Well, let me throw out one where [vice] president Vance would run for office and then would, basically, if he won at the top of the ticket, would then pass the baton to you. 

Trump: Well, that's one. But there are others too. There are others.

Welker: There are others? Can you tell me another? 

Trump: No. 

Welker: Okay. So, but, but, sir, I'm hearing - you don't sound like you're joking. I've heard you joke about this a number of times.

Trump: No, no I'm not joking. I'm not joking. But, I'm not - it is far too early to think about it. 

Okay. Okay. It's too early to think about it, but you're not...

If people would like, and I hope you're going to mention, I have the highest ratings of any Republican in 100 years.

Nobody's had ratings like this. 

Welker: Do you - would you want to serve a third term, sir? That's - it's a lot of work - president is the toughest job there is. It's the toughest job in the country. You think you have...

Trump: Well, I like working. I like working, so, you know. Unlike sleepy Joe, unlike sleepy Joe. 

Welker: Would you, would you – you wouldn't want to pass the baton to vice president Vance? 

Trump: Oh I may - it's too early to even think about it.

On Day 71 of Donald Trump's presidency, US correspondent James Matthews is joined by Ronna McDaniel, former chair of the Republican National Committee, only the second woman to occupy that position, and for seven years.

She is also the niece of former senator and one-time Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

James and Ronna discuss Trump's moulding of the Republican party, if Elon Musk has too much power, and whether JD Vance could make a future US president.

If you've got a question you'd like James, Martha, and Mark to answer, you can email it to [email protected].

On the banks of the Ohio River in a rural corner of one of America's poorest states sit two factories, one next to the other. 

One is open. The other is shuttered. Both cut to the heart of what Donald Trump hopes he can do to transform America's industrial base.

Ravenswood, West Virginia, is a town built on aluminium. Since the 1950s, the wonder-metal has kept this place on the map.

Kaiser Aluminium closed its smelters in 2009. The plant now sits idle. Fencing surrounds it; grass partially obscures the entrance, where hundreds of workers would once have passed.

Two hundred metres down the road, there is a different story.

Read Mark's full report here.