The short history of Trump’s tariff chaos — and more that happened this week : NPR

We’ll be recapping what you need to know every Friday morning for the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Get more updates and analysis in the NPR Politics newsletter.

After drops in the stock market, outcry from the Big Three automakers in the U.S. and a conversation with Mexico’s president, President Trump again reversed himself and is delaying tariffs against Mexico and Canada.

It was just the latest chapter in a chaotic rollout of one of Trump’s favorite economic tools, one that economists broadly say will lead to higher prices. Many tariffs on lots of goods are still in place, and the delay on the rest only extends until April 2, leaving companies and consumers unsure of what to expect, sometimes hour to hour.

“It may be a little bit of an adjustment period,” Trump said in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, acknowledging economic repercussions that could result from tariffs, and he asked Americans, farmers in particular, to “bear with me.”

Here’s a look at just some of Trump’s back-and-forth on tariffs since taking office, leading up to this week:

Jan. 20: On the day of Trump’s inauguration, he promises tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China will be implemented Feb. 1.

Feb. 1: Trump signs executive order to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, set to start on Feb. 4. Canada announces retaliatory 25% tariffs.

Feb. 3: Trump delays tariffs on Canada and Mexico by a month. He says Mexico will send 10,000 troops to the U.S. border in order to curb migration, and he was trying to work out an economic structure with Canada.

Feb. 4: 10% tariffs are, in fact, put in place against China with China issuing retaliatory tariffs. The Postal Service puts a ban on packages from Hong Kong and China.

Feb. 5: The Postal Service reverses course and lifts the ban it put in place on Chinese packages because of the potential to create massive disruptions for online retailers and U.S. shoppers.

Feb. 10: Trump says he will impose 25% tariffs on steel imports from all countries, and he raises aluminum tariffs from 10% to 25%.

Feb. 13: Trump signs a memorandum that sets the stage for “reciprocal tariffs” to go into effect across the board on April 2.

Feb. 26: Trump says at Cabinet meeting he might give Canada and Mexico a one-month reprieve on tariffs until April 2.

Feb. 27: Trump reverses course and says they will go into effect March 4.

A line of trucks traveling into Canada are pictured at the Pacific Highway U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Blaine, Wash., on March 5.

Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

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Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

March 1: Trump signs executive order to increase U.S. lumber production and orders probe into potential lumber import tariffs. The U.S. imports billions of dollars in lumber products from Canada.

March 2: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says tariffs on Canada and Mexico remain a “fluid situation” and that they could be less than 25%.

March 3: Lutnick again says it’s possible the tariffs don’t go into effect, but Trump later confirms they will.

March 4: Trump levies 25% tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China. China hits the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs, including on some agricultural imports, including chicken, pork, soy and beef. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau blasts Trump for cozying up to Russian President Putin and imposing tariffs against allies. He threatens to hit the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs; Mocking Trudeau as “governor,” Trump says he will hit back if that happens. The stock market tumbles in response. Lutnick says some of the tariffs could be rolled back as soon as the next day.

March 5: Trump delays tariffs related to autos until April 2.

March 6: Trump delays tariffs on Mexican goods. Later, he does the same for Canadian goods. The reprieve expires April 2.

Lots more happened this week — from Trump’s address to Congress, the suspension of aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, more firings at agencies, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talking up vitamins instead of vaccines to combat measles, and more.

The pace has been frenetic these first six weeks, but Trump made clear on Tuesday that it’s just the beginning.

“We are just getting started,” Trump said during his joint address, in which he focused heavily on the culture war issues that have made him popular with his MAGA base.

Here’s a day-by-day look at what happened since last Friday in a continuing effort to chronicle the major events and actions during the first 100 days the Trump administration:

Friday, Feb. 28:

• Vice President JD Vance speaks before National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. Vance chided bishops over immigration earlier in February.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moves to curtail the public comment process on health regulations.
• FBI Director Kash Patel wants to form a training partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC’s CEO Dana White is a supporter of Trump’s.
• Another email is sent to federal workers asking what they did at work last week.
• White House Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy descends into a shouting match. Trump says that Zelenskyy can come back to the White House “when he’s ready for peace.” 
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Zelenskyy should apologize.
• RFK Jr. plans for shake up in vaccine planning, Forbes reports.
• Justice Department demotes prosecutors who oversaw Jan. 6 cases.
• About 3,000 more troops to be sent to the U.S. southern border.
• Politico reports that the Department of Education is offering a $25,000 for employees to resign by Monday.

The U.S. Department of Education headquarters is seen on March 6, in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Saturday:

Sunday:

• Defense Department stops offensive cyber operations against Russia, NBC News reports.
• National Security Adviser Mike Waltz says on CNN that it is “going to take concessions on territory” from Ukraine for there to be a peace deal. He also says Russia will have to concede “security guarantees.” He says those would be “European-led.”
• Lutnick suggests tariffs against Canada and Mexico could be less than 25%, calling it a “fluid situation.”
• A Kremlin spokesman says Trump’s foreign policy “largely coincides with our vision.”

Monday: 

• Study finds that car prices could spike by thousands if tariffs against Canada and Mexico go into effect. 
• In an op-ed for Fox News, RFK Jr. touts the benefits of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, but also says, “The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” and he contends, “Good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses.”
• Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth releases a video urging civilian employees at the department to respond to the email asking what they did the week before. The deadline to respond is Monday. 
• Deadline for Education Department employees to accept the $25,000 buyout.
• Trump goes after Zelenskyy on his social media platform for saying that the end to the war with Russia is far off. Trump said he’s not going to “put up with it for much longer!”
• NSA Waltz says on Fox News that Zelensky needs to express regrets for the Friday meeting in the Oval Office and say that he wants peace in order to sign the mineral deal with the United States.
• Trump announces that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will spend $100 billion on creating chips in the U.S.
• Commerce Secretary Lutnick again opens the possibility that the tariffs won’t go into effect Tuesday. “Let’s see how the president weighs that today,” he said on CNN. 
• Trump, though, later says tariffs will, in fact, go into effect. 
• Linda McMahon is confirmed as education secretary.
• Trump pauses aid to Ukraine. 
• DOGE deletes even more errors. 
• Senate blocks ban on transgender athletes’ participation in school sports. 
• The Justice Department says it’s reviewing the case of a former Colorado clerk who was found guilty on state charges of tampering with voting machines. She was sentenced to nine years in prison. 
• James Dennehy, head of the New York FBI field office, resigns under pressure. He had sent an email last month telling agents to “dig in.”

Tuesday:

• Tariffs to go into effect, markets plunge, prices expected to rise. China hits the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hits back at Trump. Trump again calls Trudeau “governor” on his social media platform and says that any tariffs imposed by Canada on the U.S. will see an equal increase from the U.S.  
• Trump delivers an address to a joint session of Congress. He defends his actions and policies so far and says there’s more to come. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, is escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms for disrupting. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., gives the Democratic response, saying that making change is understandable but not “reckless” change. She invokes late-Republican President Ronald Reagan, saying she’s glad he was in charge during the Cold War and that Trump would have lost it. 
• Russia hits Ukraine with hundreds of drone strikes.
• Vice President Vance heads to Capitol Hill, says Trump wants Ukraine to come to the negotiating table. He says the administration is trying to “send a very explicit message” by cutting off aid. He falsely contends, as Trump has, that Europeans have been given a better deal. 
• Zelenskyy sends a more conciliatory message to Trump, saying the White House meeting was “regrettable.” He touts Trump’s “strong leadership,” and says, “It is time to make things right” and that he is seeking “a peace that lasts.”
• Reuters reported that Trump wanted to to sign the minerals deal with Ukraine before his address to Congress but that didn’t materialize.
• Musk indicates he might be supportive of a pardon for Derek Chauvin, the police officer found guilty of killing George Floyd. Chauvin is serving multiple decades in prison on state charges.
• Lutnick tells Fox News that Trump might pull back tariffs Wednesday. The stock market plummeted with the news of the tariffs being put in place. The Dow dropped 670 points. 
• The Justice Department argues that pardons for those convicted for their actions on Jan. 6 cover other, unrelated crimes.
• In a Fox News interview, RFK Jr. touts vitamins and cod liver oil as a way to treat or prevent measles. “The best thing Americans can do is keep themselves healthy. It’s very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person.” He said HHS is shipping doses of Vitamin A to Gaines County, Texas, where the measles outbreak is centered.
• The Trump administration has plans to cut up to half of IRS workers, the New York Times, CNN and others report.
• Trump threatens to cut off potentially $50 million in funding to Columbia University for not doing enough to combat anti-semitism.
• The General Services Administration posts a list of 440 properties up for lease from the federal government, but hours later, the list was revised with 120 of those listings taken off.
• Musk meets with Republicans on Capitol Hill to discuss turning DOGE cuts into law.

Wednesday:

• U.S. suspends intelligence sharing with Ukraine. “We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” Waltz says. He adds that he had a good conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart on where the next round of negotiations would take place and what they’d include. “I think we are going to see movement in short order” and Ukraine will “come to the table.”
• The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to not pay USAID contractors; many in MAGA movement online go after Justice Amy Coney Barrett for siding with Chief Justice John Roberts and liberals, derisively referring to her as a “DEI” justice.
• Trump and Trudeau speak. Lutnick again says some tariffs could be rolled back with a one-month exemption related to autos. Reciprocal tariffs would take place April 2. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the heads of Stellantis, Ford and GM called the president to discuss. Trump said in his address to Congress: “Spoke to the majors today, all three, the top people, and they’re so excited.” 
• Musk’s “Starlink” stands to benefit from the Commerce Department’s overhaul of “Internet for all.” 
• Reuters reports that the Trump administration plans to fire 80,000 workers at Veterans Affairs.
• A federal judge temporarily blocks certain NIH funding cuts.
• USDA freeze on funding for already awarded grants for things like solar panels to make greenhouses work year round is affecting farmers.
• Nearly 6,000 fired USDA workers are ordered back to work.
• Washington, D.C.’s mayor decides to paint over Black Lives Matter plaza after talks with the White House.
• Trump warns Hamas on social media to release remaining hostages “or it is OVER for you.” Hamas responds, saying that Israel is backing out of the original ceasefire deal and not engaging in negotiation for the next round of hostages to be released. The U.S. is in direct communication with Hamas.
• Big-city mayors push back on GOP immigration policy at congressional hearing. 
• Hamilton cancels at Kennedy Center, citing the partisan policies that led to a Trump takeover of the center. 
• Trump nominee to be NIH director faces scrutiny during Senate hearing. He says he’s open to research about vaccines and autism —- for which there is no link and he said he does not believe there is one, but he didn’t want to offend some who think otherwise. That outraged Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican and a doctor, who told him sometimes people need to hear the truth. “Some people think Elvis is alive,” Cassidy said. 
• Trump is prepping executive action to shut down the Department of Education. 
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia removed Hampton Dellinger as Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel — an agency which works to protect the rights of federal workers — as the legal challenge to his firing continues.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif. breaks with other Democrats on trans athletes in girls’ school sports on podcast with Charlie Kirk. He said it’s an issue of “fairness,” and he criticized 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ response to an anti-transgender ad that many believe hurt her campaign.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reverses about 180 firings, asking them to come back to work.
• A Musk-backed group is running deceptive ads in a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race that are made to look like they’re coming from or boosting the Democrat in the race. Democrats have tried to make the race something of a referendum on Musk.
• Trump personal lawyer Todd Blanche confirmed, 52-46, as deputy attorney general.
• The State Department will stop sharing air-quality data from its embassies and consulates around the world that other countries and scientists used.
• New Zealand’s top diplomat in the U.K. was removed from his post after critical comments of Trump and comparisons to appeasement before World War II when some advocated for Hitler taking parts of the then-Czechoslovakia. 
• The Wyoming legislature overrides the Republican governor’s veto of a law requiring an ultrasound for women planning to have an abortion by pill.

Thursday: 

• White House Press Secretary Leavitt says reports of Trump preparing to sign an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education is “fake news.” 
• The House votes to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, over his protest in the House chamber during Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
• Hampton Dellinger, who has challenged the Trump administration’s decision to fire him as head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which protects whistleblowers and those fired without cause, says that his legal battle is “now over.” He said: “I think the circuit judges erred badly because their willingness to sign off on my ouster — even if presented as possibly temporary – immediately erases the independence Congress provided for my position, a vital protection that has been accepted as lawful for nearly fifty years. Until now. And given the circuit court’s adverse ruling, I think my odds of ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court are long.”
• Ipsos finds economic confidence has dropped 14 points since November. 
• Trump announces on social media that he will exempt more imported goods from Mexico from his 25% tariffs on Mexican goods. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum.” 

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on March 6.

Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

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Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

• Trump says he’s deciding on whether to revoke temporary legal status for Ukrainian refugees. There are about 240,000 Ukrainians in the U.S., who fled after Russia’s invasion.
• Trump is moving to make big changes at Voice of America, led by Kari Lake, an ex-local-TV-anchor-turned-Trump-ally, who lost bids for both governor and U.S. Senate.
• A Columbia University student received notice from the university that she was being investigated for antisemitic harassment. She wrote an op-ed in the school newspaper, calling Israel’s actions in killing tens of thousands of Gazans after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre a “genocide.”
• The Trump Justice Department drops an Idaho case about the right to an emergency abortion. The Biden Justice Department had argued the emergency rooms were required to perform the procedures if the life of the mother or serious health consequences were at stake.
• The Army says 1,140 more troops are set to be sent to the southern border.
• Trump appears to rein in DOGE, saying now that his Cabinet is in place, he wants to see more coordination with agency heads and a “scalpel” rather than “hatchet” approach. When asked about DOGE in the Oval Office by reporters, he says he wants “good people” to be kept and underperforming ones to be fired, like those who don’t show up to work. But he also backed Musk’s efforts so far. “I think they’ve done an amazing job,” he says and then repeats false claims that many dead people are getting checks, and he speculates that there were “probably kickbacks” federal workers were taking from the billions DOGE is claiming to have saved.