President Donald Trump will hold a 4 p.m. ET event tomorrow from the Rose Garden dubbed “Make America Wealthy Again,” the White House announced today.

At the event, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt teased Monday, Trump is expected to unveil his plans for reciprocal tariffs, though the details remain in flux.

Trump has marketed April 2 as “Liberation Day,” because his administration plans to level the playing field with other nations Trump feels are “ripping off” the United States with tariffs and other barriers to trade.

Various plans have been floated for how Trump will achieve that goal — but less than 24 hours ahead of his self-imposed deadline, much remains uncertain, leaving businesses and many nations on edge.

It’s still not clear exactly what President Donald Trump’s new tariffs scheduled to be announced on Wednesday from the Rose Garden will look like.

But a White House official told CNN that one option under consideration is to slap a 20% tariff on all US imports. If that happens and other nations retaliate, the US economy will likely plunge into a recession that kills millions of jobs, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.

It’s unclear if Trump will go that high or if he’ll opt for a universal tariff at all. Yet if he does, there could be massive implications for the US and world economies.

A 20% universal tariff and full retaliation from other nations on US goods would likely wipe out 5.5 million jobs, spike the unemployment rate to 7% and cause US GDP to drop by 1.7% from peak to trough, according to a Moody’s simulation.

“The whole global economy would descend into a downturn,” Zandi said.

That’s why the Moody’s economist does not expect such an extreme tariff announcement on Wednesday, which Trump has dubbed “Liberation Day.”

“The economy is already flagging. You can feel it,” Zandi said. “Trump may decide to pivot. He’s really good at that. When things look like they are going dark, he backs away.”

More on economist’s warning: Still, even less aggressive tariffs could significantly damage the US economy.

For instance, Zandi suggested a scenario where Trump opts to impose only a 15% tariff on most but not all US imports, causing other nations to retaliate by putting tariffs on just half of US exports.

“If that happens and stays in place, that is sufficient to push the economy into recession,” Zandi said, adding that such a downturn would not be as severe as the worst-case scenario.

Civil rights groups challenging President Donald Trump’s use of a wartime authority to rapidly deport alleged gang members urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block the administration from “whisking away” immigrants to a “brutal foreign prison.”

The brief, from the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward, came in response to an emergency appeal filed by Trump on Friday. The administration is asking the high court to allow Trump to continue to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the removals of alleged gang members. Trump, who initially sent two planes of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador after invoking the law, has argued courts do not have the authority to review his use of the wartime act — an argument lower courts have rejected.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals last week let stand an order from US District Judge James Boasberg that temporarily blocked Trump’s further use of the sweeping authority while the legal challenge plays out.

Noting the lack of review of their cases before deportation, the groups questioned how many of the people removed are actually members of a gang versus people who were “erroneously designated as such in large part because of their tattoos.” The Supreme Court is considering the case amid revelations the administration mistakenly deported a Maryland father to El Salvador “because of an administrative error” under another legal authority.

The attorneys warned that allowing the administration to use the act could spell trouble for any group of noncitizens the government wants to quickly remove from US soil.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel gaggled with reporters on Election Day as he seeks a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, acknowledging the crush of outside interest in the race by saying that “if you’d told me 16 months ago that this was what was going to be happening, I would not have believed it but here we are.”

Schimel predicted success for his campaign, arguing that “we’re gonna win this, and looking forward to restoring objectivity to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court like I promised.”

And asked about the flood of outside interest in the blockbuster race – which has shattered the previous national record for spending on a judicial election, with millions coming from megadonors including Elon Musk and George Soros – Schimel downplayed the frenzy of campaigning, saying that “ultimately it’s the Wisconsin voters that matter.”

A Democrat is running a much stronger race than expected in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, which President Donald Trump won by over 30 points just last November.

A defeat in this special election race to replace former congressman and current White House national security adviser Michael Waltz — while incredibly unlikely, both parties privately agree — would send nervous Republicans into full-blown panic.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe “enjoyed” his discussion with Elon Musk on Monday, where they discussed Musk’s insights on improving efficiency at “other departments and agencies” and how that could be implemented at the CIA, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, the nominee to be the next chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied on Tuesday that he had ever worn a “Make America Great Again” hat, despite comments by President Donald Trump saying otherwise.

“No, sir,” Caine responded.

“Did you wear a MAGA hat at any time?” Wicker asked.

“No, sir,” Caine responded again. Caine added that he has “never worn any political merchandise.”

Trump has previously claimed that Caine said he “loved” Trump and would “kill for you” while he was wearing a MAGA hat.

Asked about those comments from the president, Caine told Democrat Sen. Jack Reed that he “went back and listened to those tapes, and I think the president was actually talking about somebody else. And I’ve never worn any political merchandise or said anything to that effect.”

Gay Valimont, the Democratic candidate for the Florida seat formerly held by Rep. Matt Gaetz, said she has thousands of federal workers in the district she’s running for and she is concerned about cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency.

She continued, “They’re not going to be able to find a job across town. They’re going to have to pick up their family and move and take their money out of our local economy. That’s going to affect us locally, and that’s what I’m concerned about, preserving jobs for this district and making sure that we take care of our vets.”

Valimont pointed to her living in the district as something she tells Republicans as the base takes up more than half of registered voters in the district.

Valimont is challenging outgoing state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis as Republicans are hoping to defend the open seat in Florida’s 1st District.

Vice president JD Vance on Tuesday morning defended the deportation of a Maryland father whom the administration said in a court filing it had mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

In a court filing overnight, the administration conceded it has mistakenly deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, citing an “administrative error,” and argued it could not return because he’s now in Salvadoran custody. The filing stems from a lawsuit over the removal of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who in 2019 was granted protected status by an immigration judge, prohibiting the federal government from sending him to El Salvador.

Some background: Abrego Garcia crossed into the US illegally around 2011. He had a brush with law enforcement in 2019 when he was loitering outside of a Maryland Home Depot with a group of men, who were approached by local police, according to court documents. Abrego Garcia’s attorney has claimed in court documents that he’s not a member of or affiliated with MS-13.

Documents from the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review from 2019 note that Abrego Garcia had been charged with traffic offenses, but that he rebutted the allegation of affiliations with MS-13.

An immigration judge eventually granted him withholding of removal, meaning he could suffer persecution if removed from the US to El Salvador. He was still considered removable; it just couldn’t be to El Salvador.

He was arrested on March 12 after completing a shift at a construction site, documents show.

“It is telling that the entire American media is going to run a propaganda operation today making you think an innocent ‘father of 3’ was apprehended by a gulag,” Vance added.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative Monday evening released a report detailing the foreign trade barriers that American exporters face.

The report has been released annually for the past 40 years, but this year it carries extra weight right ahead of April 2, when President Donald Trump said he’ll announce a slew of new tariffs, including possible so-called reciprocal tariffs.

The 397-page report lays out numerous countries’ and trading blocs’ average tariff rates and other non-tariff barriers to trade, such as digital services taxes and value-added taxes (VATs). In determining what reciprocal tariff rate to charge countries and trading blocs, Trump said he’ll take into account those non-tariff trade barriers.

A significant amount of the report was dedicated to investigating China, Canada, the European Union, India, Mexico and Vietnam. These countries and the EU are widely seen as targets for higher tariffs. Already, Trump imposed 20% tariffs on all Chinese imports and 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada that don’t comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

However, the report added that there are “persistent barriers” faced by US businesses selling goods and services there. Notably, the report did not cite VATs as one of those barriers in the EU, despite Trump’s complaints that they stifle US exports to the EU.

The Senate on Tuesday could issue a rare bipartisan rebuke of President Donald Trump’s policy, as Democratic senators prepare to force a vote on blocking tariffs on Canadian imports.

One Republican — Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — is cosponsoring the resolution and several others have indicated that they are open to backing it, due to concerns about how tariffs will affect their constituents.

Keep in mind: While it has the potential to stand as a notable rebuke of the president’s policy, the resolution will not make any headway in the House even if adopted by the Senate.

House Republicans tucked a provision into a procedural vote on March’s government funding bill that bars the House from considering legislation related to blocking Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico or China for the rest of the year. However, it would be a notable and rare bipartisan sign of disapproval from the GOP-controlled Senate.

Trump will unveil his tariff plan on Wednesday in his first Rose Garden news conference of his second term.

As of Election Day, Wisconsin’s blockbuster Supreme Court race had smashed the previous national record for spending on a judicial election.

According to data from Brennan Center for Justice, total reported spending on the race was just north of $90 million, with the final tally projected by some campaign finance watchdogs to eclipse $100 million. That’s roughly double the previous record of $51 million, set by a another 2023 state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin.

Several prominent megadonors have helped propel the record-breaking totals, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, linked to more than $20 million through his personal contributions to the state GOP and spending by groups that he’s funded in the past.

Musk escalated his involvement in the race in its closing weeks, traveling to the state over the weekend to promote $1 million giveaways from his super PAC, reprising a controversial tactic aimed at collecting voter data and boosting turnout — and prompting a lawsuit from the state’s Democratic attorney general.

In addition, the veteran liberal financier George Soros has contributed $2 million to the race, while the billionaire Democratic governor of neighboring Illinois, JB Pritzker, contributed $1.5 million. Several other dark money groups and business PACs have also made seven-figure ad buys benefiting both sides in the officially nonpartisan contest.

The flood of outside interest has produced a crush of campaign advertising, totaling more than $75 million, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

The liberal candidate, Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, and her allies have outspent the conservative candidate, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, and his allies, on advertising by about $42 million to $34 million.

As thousands of voters in Florida’s 6th Congressional District head to the polls today, two notable names won’t be voting: the candidates running in the special election.

In an odd quirk of the hotly contested race to succeed National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, neither Republican Randy Fine nor Democrat Josh Weil live in the district they’re hoping to represent in Congress, so they can’t vote for themselves in the race.

Neither candidate is breaking any rules: The Constitution states simply that members of the US House must be “an inhabitant of the state they represent at the time of election.”

Still, in conversations with CNN on Monday, both Fine and Weil said they would move into the district if they won.

“It’s important that you live in the area you represent,” said Weil, a teacher from Orlando. He added he would likely wait to relocate until the end of the school year. Weil has two sons, ages 10 and 12.

Fine, who served in the state Senate until the end of Monday, contended he couldn’t move into the district during the race. Florida statutes dictate state lawmakers must live in the district they represent, and Fine’s state senate district in Brevard County isn’t part of Florida’s 6th Congressional District, which spans six counties and stretches from Ocala to Daytona Beach.

“When President Trump asked me to run, he knew I didn’t live in the district,” Fine said by phone, adding, “This isn’t something I was planning to do. I wouldn’t have run if he didn’t ask me to.”

The state’s other special election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District also features a candidate who won’t be getting an “I Voted” sticker. Former Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the Republican, has a home east of the district boundary in Bay County. His Democratic opponent, Gay Valimont, has sought to make an issue of Patronis’ residence.

When President Donald Trump told reporters late Monday that he’d “settled” on a plan for sweeping new tariffs to be announced midweek, some White House officials were caught by surprise.

If the president had indeed arrived at a final decision for the tariffs, it hadn’t yet been widely shared inside the building.

Indeed, one day before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, about the only thing certain is where his announcement will take place: the Rose Garden, in its 2025 debut.

Still unclear is whether Trump plans to levy individual tariff rates on all US trading partners; put tariffs on only some countries; or apply a universal tariff — perhaps as high as 20% — on all imports.

On Monday afternoon, one White House official said they didn’t believe Trump would arrive at a decision until the hours before Wednesday’s announcement, as he absorbs eleventh-hour pitches from his team.

A debate inside the West Wing over how to proceed with Trump’s tariff plan has been ongoing now for weeks, as Trump’s advisers each present plans for new duties on imported goods.

Trump’s team is comprised of hardline tariff hawks – including trade adviser Peter Navarro – and advisers viewed as less bullish on tariffs, such as chief economist Kevin Hassett or Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

All are publicly supportive of Trump’s tariff agenda, but differ in approach and scope behind the scenes.

Various sets of tariff and economic analyses were due on Trump’s desk April 1, but discussions on the tariffs have been proceeding in meetings and informal discussions with Trump well before the reports arrived.

“He has a brilliant team of trade advisers,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday, listing the treasury secretary, commerce secretary, US trade representative and various West Wing economic minds.

“All of these individuals have presented plans to the president on how to get this done, and it is the president’s decision to make, and we will not get ahead of him on the specifics of the announcement,” she said.

Some employees at US health agencies have started receiving notice that their jobs are being cut on Tuesday morning following an announcement last week that 10,000 full-time employees would be cut in addition to another 10,000 who left voluntarily.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the cuts as part of a sweeping reorganization of the department.

The email, sent by Thomas J. Nagy Jr., deputy assistant secretary for human resources at HHS, said the person would be placed on administrative leave and would no longer have access to building as of Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear how many employees had received notice Tuesday morning. CNN has reached out the HHS for comment.

It’s already Election Day (again)!

This time, though, it’s only in two states. An election in Wisconsin will determine the ideological control of the state Supreme Court, while two special elections in Florida to replace former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz.

One day after telling Wisconsinites that the “future of civilization” hinges on the outcome of their state Supreme Court race, Elon Musk held a tele-townhall on his platform, X, on Monday.

He said a loss by conservative judge Brad Schimel could result in “catastrophic” impacts on congressional maps in the state.

Musk again said he felt civilization was on the line.

Schimel did not join the call.

Some context: The race between the conservative judge and the liberal candidate Susan Crawford is by far the most expensive judicial race in history, with Musk and Musk-aligned groups alone spending over $19 million.

He’s got the world hanging on his every word — and that’s how he loves it.

President Donald Trump held court in the Oval Office on Monday evening, ratcheting up suspense over his promised tariff war “Liberation Day” on April 2 and riffing on his 19th-century worldview that threatens to rock the 21st-century economy.

It was an extraordinary spectacle — an all-powerful president, surrounded by his gaudy golden trinkets, flags and ornaments, seemingly improvising in real time about a still-mysterious plan that could deliver untold economic consequences to billions of people worldwide.

One minute, Trump was flinging threats at trading partners he accuses of ripping off America. The next, he doused his fire with promises to be “kind,” in the latest in a string of contradictory signals that have sent global markets on a wild ride.

“This is going to be an amazing — I call it a lot of different names — but it really in a sense is a rebirth of a country,” Trump declared of a policy that economists fear will hike already high-prices and could push the US toward a recession.

If the moment wasn’t surreal enough, Trump was flanked by Kid Rock, who was resplendent in a spangled Stars and Stripes-themed suit and who the president helpfully pointed out is “sometimes referred to as Bob.” The rapper was there to highlight a new executive order cracking down on scalpers who exploit fans by inflating concert ticket prices. But his host had an older obsession on his mind.

A belief in the almost mythical power of tariff warfare has been a rare constant in Trump’s business and political career since the 1980s — when the big threat he perceived to US prosperity was Japan, rather than top current rivals China and the European Union.

Now, if he chooses, he can finally implement his vision for tariff policies designed to build American manufacturing and to weaken other nations, including many that have been allies for decades but are now reconsidering the entire span of their relations with a suddenly hostile United States.

“We help everybody, and they don’t help us,” Trump complained to reporters, voicing his spartan win-or-lose philosophy that explains his entire life and that he has now made the signature attitude of the United States.

Read Collinson’s full analysis here.