China bans Hollywood movies as Europe caves to Trump on tariffs: Live updates

China said on Thursday it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for President Donald Trump's escalation of U.S. tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

After three decades during which China annually imported 10 Hollywood movies, its National Film Administration said Trump's increase of tariffs on Chinese imports would further sour domestic demand for U.S. cinema in China after years of decline.

The NFA said on its website:

We will follow market rules, respect the audience's choices, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported," the NFA said on its website.

Chris Fenton, author of 'Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business,' said the move was a 'super high-profile way to make a statement of retaliation with almost zero downside for China.'

Hollywood films account for only 5 percent of the overall box office receipts in China's market. And worse for Hollywood, China taxes that small amount 50 percent before any revenues go back to the USA,' Fenton told Reuters.

Hollywood studios receive only 25 percent of China's box office whereas other markets give studios double that, he said.

President Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management withdrew just minutes before her scheduled Senate hearing was set to begin Thursday.

Kathleen Sgamma was set to appear before the Senate’s Natural Resources Committee at 10am Thursday.

Sgamma, who heads the Western Energy Alliance trade group, unloaded on Trump a day after January 6 in a letter to the group that was unearthed by the group Documented.

‘The events yesterday at the Capitol were so shocking that our policy engagement with and PAC support for the Trump Administration compels me to speak up,” she wrote. “I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it.”

The letter was titled ‘Hope for a Resurgence of Sanity.’ She also wrote that she was ‘disheartened he besmirched’ his well-intentioned people at the agencies. The group posted the letter early April 8th.

BLM oversees millions of acres of federal land that can be leased for extraction of oil and natural gas resources.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

The White House clarified Thursday that U.S. tariffs on China are now at 145 percent, not the 125 percent that President Trump announced Wednesday.

Trump in a stunning turnaround on Wednesday hiked U.S. tariffs to the 125% number, in response to China slapping an 84 percent tariff on U.S. imports.

It came even as Trump backed down on his ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on more than 60 countries, who he credited with seeking to negotiate with the U.S. Trump ordered a 90-day pause to allow for talks.

Economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Thursday that 15 countries have now provided proposals to the U.S. to negotiate a lowering of the individual nation tariffs.

The reason for the higher number on China is the existing 20 percent tariff Trump ordered while blaming the country for a national emergency related to fentanyl.

The White House released the text of orders Thursday that credited countries for the ‘significant step’ toward ‘remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements. The language also modified a postal shipping increases on goods from China.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is facing the wrath of her Democratic colleagues for her seemingly friendly appearance alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

During a press availability at the White House , Trump on camera praised Whitmer: 'She's really done an excellent job, a very good person.'

The Michigan Governor was meeting with Trump regarding issues in her home state.

But her presence and the president's glowing assessment led to members of her own party questioning her ability to help lead the party into the 2028 election cycle.

'Gretchen Whitmer really woke up this morning and said 'how can I blow up my 2028 prospects as quickly as possible' and damn she executed perfectly!' one user wrote on X.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

The House voted for a measure advancing President Donald Trump's MAGA agenda, including tax cuts, after fierce Republican infighting.

Voting 216 - 214 the House forwarded a framework to begin the work on the president's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.'

The bill advances the president's many policy objectives like addressing the border, renewing his 2017 tax cuts, slashing tax on tips and more.

But that plan hit a major hang-up this week after dueling Republican factions on Capitol Hill refused to agree on how much spending cuts to include in the effort.

The Senate's budget blueprint enflamed outrage from conservatives in the House because it only calls for $4 billion in spending cuts while the GOP malcontents, and many in the party, advocated for $1.5 trillion in cuts.

This year’s official White House Christmas ornament pays tribute to 150 years of State Dinners.

It features two highly recognizable plates from the White House State china collection: the red china plate of Ronald Reagan's administration on one side and the gold-rimmed china plate of Bill Clinton's on the other.

Unveiled on Thursday by the White House Historical Association, it retails for $24.95.

The proceeds go to the WHHA, a non-profit dedicated to preservation of the White House.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

President Trump is set to sign a bill that would roll back a Biden Administration regulation that established income reporting requirements for crypto currencies.

Trump has described himself as the ‘crypto president,’ and even put out his own meme coin days before taking office.

The bill Trump is signing later today is H.J.Res 25, an administration official told DailyMail.com. It overturns what is known as the IRS Broker Rule, also called the Digital Assets Sale and Exchange Rule.’

It cleared Congress under the Congressional Review Act, which allows for the rollback of regulations by simple majority within certain time limits.

The final Treasury rule, put out December 27 days before Biden left office, required digital asset wallet providers and software developers to produce 1099 forms that would be submitted to the IRS. The rollback was backed by multiple cryptocurrency groups.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning that he is working on paperwork to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities and states.

'No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims.'

'They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World. Working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!'

Trump has vowed to crack down on the sanctuaries, which purposefully do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, on the campaign trail.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

As House and Senate Republicans have tussled over the level of spending cuts to include in a bill to advance Trump's agenda the president is urging the deal is almost done.

'Great News! 'The Big, Beautiful Bill' is coming along really well,' the president said in an early morning Truth Social post.

'Republicans are working together nicely. Biggest Tax Cuts in USA History!!! Getting close,' he said.

Speaker Mike Johnson has been trying to get some GOP malcontents on board with the major measure. Though some planned to vote no, Trump contacted many lawmakers by phone to convince them to forward his agenda.

The vote on a framework to advance the major package, which will include tax cuts, will occur later this morning.

After days of a tanking stock market, criticism from prominent bankers, and warnings of a recession, President Donald Trump sat down with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the Oval Office on Wednesday morning to plot a way out.

The result: a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs.

Trump's decision on the pause – characterized by many as an about-face – came as such as shock many in the White House didn't know about it.

The press staff, the officials authorized to speak for the president, learned about it when a dozen reporters ran into to ask about the president's Truth Social post, wanting to clarify some of the details.

Confusion was visible on their faces.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he is charing Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assination of President Donald Trump.

It comes after the 58-year-old was already handed federal charges related to the incident in September at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course.

Routh allegedly attempted to take out Trump after just two months prior the 2024 candidate was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The European Union announced Thursday they would pause their retaliatory tariffs on the United States after President Donald Trump suspended some of his highest tariffs for 90 days.

'We want to give negotiations a chance... if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

She said that the EU would continue to negotiate with President Trump, and indicated her support for a zero tariff agreement between both the EU and the United States.

'Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers. That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States,' she said.