On today's podcast:

1) President Trump rolls out plans for reciprocal tariffs on a host of trading partners President Trump has ordered his administration to consider imposing reciprocal tariffs on numerous trading partners to rebalance trade relations. The tariffs would be customized for each country, aiming to offset not just their own levies on US goods but also non-tariff barriers, and could take weeks or months to complete. The move is seen as a potential opening bid for negotiation, and Trump hopes to have a discussion with other nations about how existing policies have created an imbalanced trade environment.

2) The White House intensifies efforts to shrink the federal workforce The Trump administration is advising federal agencies to lay off thousands of probationary employees, with some exceptions, as part of its effort to rapidly downsize the federal government. Agencies such as the General Services Administration and the Department of Energy are making cuts, with the latter planning to dismiss 90% of its probationary employees for poor performance.

3) TikTok is back on the Apple and Google app stores Apple and Alphabet’s Google are restoring ByteDance TikTok to their app stores following assurances in a letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that a ban wouldn’t immediately be enforced. The two companies had removed TikTok in the US last month to comply with a law passed in 2024. By Thursday evening, the software had returned to the Apple App Store and Google Play store.

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