The White House has accused Amazon of a “hostile” act over its response to Donald Trump’s tariffs, which the firm denies. On his 100th day in office, Trump’s press secretary insists Americans trust him – despite plunging polls. Listen to the 100th episode of Trump 100 as you scroll.
Tuesday 29 April 2025 16:50, UK
Donald Trump is marking his 100th day in office with a MAGA rally in Michigan, but why did he choose the Great Lakes State for his party?
Well, there is no state across the US more synonymous with Trump’s rise to political prominence over the last decade.
He shocked the world in 2016 when he won the battleground state by just over 10,000 votes, wrestling Michigan back under Republican control after 30 years of Democrat wins.
Recognising its importance to his election, Trump also held the final rally of both his 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns in Grand Rapids, the latter potentially being his final campaign rally ever.
“If we win Michigan, we win the whole thing,” he told a crowd in Traverse City last October. He was right – Trump won the state and the White House, beating Kamala Harris in Michigan by around 80,000 votes.
Now, he’s back in the state for the first time since winning the presidency and he’ll no doubt thank Michiganians for helping to put him back in the Oval Office.
The president will first visit Selfridge Air National Guard Base alongside Michigan’s Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer before he takes to the stage at Macomb Community College, in the north of Detroit.
We’re expecting Trump’s rally to get going at around 11pm UK time, and we’ll be bringing you text updates on this live page.
Mark Carney has been elected as Canada’s prime minister.
His Liberal Party won Canada’s federal election yesterday, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fuelled by Donald Trump’s annexation threats and trade war.
Here, Sky’s international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn and economics and data editor Ed Conway look at the man who says he can save Canada from Trump…
Donald Trump will sign an executive order to soften the impact of his car tariffs, the White House said.
Officials have said the moves would alleviate some duties on foreign parts in cars manufactured in the US, while importers would not have to pay double tariffs on both cars and the materials used to make them.
The administration has yet to formally announce the measures to soften the tariffs, but administration officials have confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal that companies paying car tariffs would no longer be charged other levies, such as on aluminium and steel.
Speaking on the move in the news conference earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president will sign the executive order on auto tariffs later today, and we will release it, as we always do.”
Softening the impact of auto levies is the Trump administration’s latest move to show some flexibility on tariffs which have sown turmoil in financial markets.
Trump has previously said he planned to impose tariffs of 25% on auto parts no later than 3 May.
By David Blevins, news correspondent, in Washington DC
There were more journalists than seats in the press briefing room, and more questions than answers on President Trump’s 100th day in office.
From Elon Musk in the Oval Office, with his child perched on his shoulders, to the showdown with Zelenskyy, there has been no shortage of jaw-dropping moments.
But nothing had as much global impact as the president’s “Liberation Day” – the introduction of sweeping tariffs, wiping $2.5trn off the markets.
So, it’s hardly surprising that press secretary Karoline Leavitt chose to mark this milestone with a simple message about the economy: “Trust in Trump… America’s businessman.”
She claimed they’d added 345,000 jobs, claimed they’d reduced egg prices by 50% and claimed they’d attracted $5trn in investment.
Unanswered questions
But on the question of engagement between the US and Chinese presidents to end the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, no answer.
And on the question of whether they are close to a trade agreement with the UK, the EU or any other trading bloc, no answer.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury secretary, spoke of “strategic uncertainty”, adding that certainty wasn’t good for negotiation.
But strategic uncertainty won’t reverse polls trending historically downward for a president who still has 1,360 days to go.
Amazon has rejected White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claim that it will display the added cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs next to products.
An Amazon spokesperson has told Sky News: “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products.
“Teams discuss ideas all the time. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”
In an updated statement, Amazon later added: “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”
Earlier, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent was asked a question about Amazon’s reported plans to display the added cost next to products.
Leavitt responded by saying: “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
She went on to say Amazon’s move was a “hostile and political act”.
Donald Trump has been sharing a number of posts on Truth Social to mark his 100 days in office.
Among his posts is a link to a Newsweek opinion piece written by Republican Senator from Kansas, Roger Marshall.
The US leader is later staging his largest public event since returning to the White House at Macomb Community College, in the north of Detroit.
Here is what the US leader has been sharing on his page this afternoon…
We’ve just heard Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent claim that egg prices are down 50% – but is that really the case?
The price of eggs in the US has skyrocketed this year, and even reached a record high last month.
It comes after Trump declared last month that egg prices were “down 35%”.
But the cost of eggs is still up 75% in the last 12 months compared to six other staple grocery items – chicken, orange juice, beef mince, bacon and bread – according to Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.
The average price for a dozen eggs reached $6.23 (£4.82) in March, despite a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having outbreaks of bird flu.
The country has been experiencing record-high prices since the beginning of the year, hitting $5.90 in February, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, more than double the long-term average of $2 (£1.54).
Why are egg prices so high?
One of the main reasons behind the price rise is the outbreak of avian flu, also known as bird flu, which the US has been grappling with since 2022.
This year alone, one person has died and farmers have been forced to slaughter more than 30 million egg-laying birds – partly down to a federal government policy that requires farmers to kill their entire flocks any time a bird gets sick.
More than 166 million birds have been killed since the outbreak began three years ago.
Increased demand, increased price
As the threat of bird flu rose, so did the demand for eggs, which in turn caused the prices to rise.
At the beginning of the year, eggs reached a then record $4.95 (£3.86) per dozen, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics.
In some parts of the country, prices went even higher, with Sky News’ US partner NBC reporting a peak of $8.64.
Others had to pay $10 (£7.74), while the Associated Press said in California the price per dozen topped $12 (£9.29) in some shops.
To deal with the rising costs, some restaurants, including the Denny’s and Waffle House chains, added surcharges to eggs on their menus.
The White House team are “touting their economic achievements” as we reach Donald Trump’s 100 days in office – but there are still many unanswered questions, our US correspondent David Blevins says.
During the news conference, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent claimed the Trump administration had added 345,000 jobs to the economy and said that egg prices were down by 50%.
“But I don’t think we got answers to the big questions, particularly about the global trade war that’s going on between the world’s two largest economies, the US and China,” Blevins says.
Bessent refused to say whether Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, have spoken, but as Blevins says: “The president has at least implied in recent days that he’s talking to his Chinese counterpart.”
And when it came to the timing around a trade deal for the UK or the EU, the Trump team said “certainty is not necessarily a good thing for negotiation”, Blevins says.
“They begin this day 100 with much focus on the economy but there are still many questions unanswered,” Blevins adds.
He also notes there was no mention of bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
It should be noted on eggs that Trump has consistently claimed that the cost of eggs have come down since he took office.
The country has been experiencing record-high prices since the beginning of the year, with the average price for a dozen eggs reaching $6.23 (£4.82) in March.
Last month, Trump said that egg prices were “down 35%”.
But figures earlier this month showed the cost of eggs were still up 75% in the last 12 months compared to six other staple grocery items – chicken, orange juice, beef mince, bacon and bread – according to Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent brings the press briefing to a close by talking about businesses returning to the US.
He says business leaders have “gone into a pause” and explains that Donald Trump’s administration is looking to “give them great certainty”.
“I think there’s a very good chance we’re going to get this tax bill done, and the tax bill is going to be very powerful for domestic US investment,” he says.
Bessent also urges business leaders to “bring your factory back”.
“You can fully expense the equipment and the building, we will couple that with deregulation cheap energy and regulatory certainty,” he adds.
“That will continue to make the US the greatest destination for domestic and foreign investment.”
‘Onshoring is not something you can do over 100 days’
Reacting to what we’ve just heard, our security and defence analyst Michael Clarke says “you can’t just decree that this will be the best manufacturing hub in the world if you’ve got higher labour costs”.
Clarke explains that onshoring manufacturing is “less efficient” than doing it offshore.
“You’re deliberately taking on a certain amount of inefficiency to get this benefit of the security, so it’s a balance,” he says.
“Onshoring is not something you can do over 100 days, we’ll look back on it in 10 or 15 years time and say were they successful in onshoring some critical industries in the US?
“The answer is we won’t know.”
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is asked a question about Amazon’s reported plans to display the added cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs next to products.
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt is quick to jump in and says “I’ll take this since I just got off the phone with the president”.
Leavitt slams Amazon’s move and labels it a “hostile and political act”.
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” she asks.
But Leavitt says “it’s not a surprise” after Reuters recently wrote about Amazon partnering with a “Chinese propaganda arm”.
When pushed on whether Jeff Bezos – who was at Trump’s inauguration – is still a Trump supporter, Leavitt says she will not comment on the US president’s relationships.
“But I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political action by Amazon,” she adds.
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Trump latest: White House starts tariffs fight with Amazon and brushes off poll ratings on president's 100th day – Sky News
