US stocks are leaping amid a worldwide rally after President Donald Trump said he would not attempt to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a “de-escalation” in what he called an unsustainable tariffs showdown against China.

U.S. stocks made big gains amid clear signs of relief Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he would not attempt to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a “de-escalation” in what he called an unsustainable tariffs showdown against China.

“There is an opportunity for a big deal here,” Bessent said in a Wednesday morning speech.

China, meanwhile, said the Trump administration should stop trying to bully and blackmail its trading partner, and some on Wall Street expressed skepticism that Trump is done testing the limits of bellicose rhetoric on trade.

Two major law firms will be in court asking judges on Wednesday to permanently block Trump’s executive orders that are designed to punish them and hurt their business operations.

And U.S. partners are taking stock of Secretary of State Marco Rubio 's plans for a massive overhaul of the State Department including closing or consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide.

In the lawsuit brought in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the dozen U.S. states say the Trump administration’s tariff policy is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy.

The lawsuit says the policy put in place by Trump has left the national trade policy subject to the president’s whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority. It also challenges Trump’s claim that he could arbitrarily impose tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The lawsuit maintains that only Congress has the power to impose tariffs and that the president can only invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act when an emergency presents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from abroad.

The states listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have joined members of the Senate and House in demanding the Trump administration reverse its termination of a grants administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The letter, signed by more than two dozen senators and 108 House members and sent to the president and NEH acting Chair Michael McDonalds, criticizes what they called an “overnight” attack on the General Operating Support grants distributed to state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

“This funding provides the majority of operating support for state humanities council partners of NEH,” the letter said. It added that “such reckless actions will have a devastating impact on museums, historic sites, universities, educators, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, and local humanities programming throughout our nation.”

The humanities cuts come as the administration has targeted cultural establishments from the Smithsonian Institution to the Institute of Museum and Library Services in executive orders. They also jeopardize the celebrations that communities are beginning to plan for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

U.S. stocks rose as a worldwide rally came back around to Wall Street. The S&P 500 climbed 1.7% Wednesday after Trump appeared to back off his criticism of the Federal Reserve and his tough talk in his trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2.5%. Treasury yields also eased in the U.S. bond market after Trump said he has no intention to fire the Fed’s chair and that his tariffs could come down on imports from China.

Stocks also rallied across much of Europe and Asia.

The $TRUMP meme coin website said the top 220 holders of the digital asset will be invited to a private dinner with the president at the Trump National Golf Club near Washington. The top 25 meme coin holders will be invited to a reception before the dinner and a White House tour.

The May 22 dinner is the latest norm-defying move by Trump mixing politics with personal wealth creation. Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, Trump has heavily courted the industry while his family has moved aggressively to build a crypto business empire.

The president and first lady Melania Trump launched meme coins — a sort of digital collectible with no real value — just before taking office earlier this year. The move was panned by critics as an unseemly cash grab that undermines an effort to legitimize digital assets.

The president’s official meme coin saw a price surge Wednesday but is still down more than 80% from its all-time high.

Trump is signing an executive order creating a White House initiative to empower historically Black colleges and universities within the Executive Office of the President.