Trump’s tariffs inspire retaliation from Canada as president rebukes South Africa

We’ll get back to the tariff drama in a moment but let’s take a look at Donald Trump’s social media offerings first.

The US president has unexpectedly announced he will be “cutting off all future funding to South Africa” until Elon Musk’s homeland investigates what Trump describes as the mass “confiscation” of land from its citizens.

The American appeared to be referring to a bill signed into law by Cyril Ramaphosa in January that allows land seizures without compensation in certain circumstances.

Asked about the Truth Social post above by journalists at the White House yesterday, Trump said that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things”.

He continued: “So that’s under investigation right now. We’ll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing — they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”

South Africa’s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola responded on X that he hoped Trump’s advisers would use “this investigative period to deepen their understanding of South Africa’s policies as a constitutional democracy”.

“Such insights will ensure a respectful and informed approach to our democratic commitments,” he added pointedly.

The Biden administration allocated about $440m (£358m) in assistance to South Africa in 2023, according to the latest US government data.

Mexico and Canada have both announced retaliatory tariffs against the US after Donald Trump signed an order imposing sweeping levies against both nations.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced their decisions over the weekend, initiating what is likely to be an economic standoff with America and its two largest trading partners.

Earlier, Trump signed an order imposing 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico starting on Tuesday, with the exception of Canadian energy products, which will be subject to a 10 percent duty.

In response, Sheinbaum said she was instructing her Secretary of the Economy to implement a “Plan B,” which includes “tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests”.

Hours later Trudeau announced that Canada would impose 25 percent tariffs on $106.5 billion of US goods in response to Trump’s tariffs.

Here’s the latest from Mike Bedigan.

“Oh man, what a great time to be alive. You know, I’m so happy I could be a part of it,” Barnett said during an appearance on the rightwing broadcaster Newsmax. “I’ve had a lot of anger issues to work through. I mean, I’ve been through hell. But I’m telling you what, I wouldn’t give it back for anything.”

The president said on Thursday he would be meeting with some of the families of victims of the tragedy, which occurred at Ronald Reagan Airport Wednesday night. All 67 people involved in the crash are presumed dead, authorities said previously.

Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, says the administration’s new goal is to stop the fighting in 100 days.

But details on how this will be achieved remain scant. Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed this is because speaking openly about his plans would undermine his negotiating position. His detractors, however, say this is a cover for a lack of plan.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday the President planned to sign a proclamation declaring February as Black History Month, as every president has done since 1976.

Trump followed through, issuing the proclamation on Saturday, February 1.

Here’s what we know about Black History Month under Trump, and what prompted concern about its fate:

In a series of seemingly unrelated posts, West claimed that he is a billionaire, praised Trump and made an apology to Kamala Harris, following an explicit comment about the former vice president in a since-deleted tweet.

With a trio of executive orders, President Donald Trump has almost instantly thrown the world economy and his own goal of cutting inflation into turmoil.

His tariffs against Canada and Mexico in order to stop illegal immigration and the illicit fentanyl trade led to retaliatory taxes by both countries on U.S. imports. He placed an additional 10% tariff on imports from China with the stated goal of stopping the production of fentanyl.

But on a deeper level, Trump suddenly hit the U.S. economy with tax increases that, if sustained, could total more than $1 trillion in 10 years. He did so without congressional approval and by his own acknowledgement at the perilous chance of “some pain” in the form of higher inflation, job losses and worse growth.