Kamala Harris has slammed Donald Trump for „the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history“ after the US economy shrank. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has lifted the lid on his „intense“ time at the White House as he prepares to exit. Follow a White House press briefing below.
Thursday 1 May 2025 13:41, UK
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… we’ll have to wait a little longer as we’ve just heard the briefing will now be starting at 2pm UK time.
We’ll be hearing from Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt in the next few moments.
She is hosting a press briefing at the White House with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on „restoring common sense“, the day after it was announced the US economy shrank 0.3% from January to March.
You can watch live in the stream at the top of this page, and we’ll be providing text updates too.
The US economy has shrunk for the first time in three years but Donald Trump is blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the country’s poor economic performance at the start of the year.
US correspondents Martha Kelner and Mark Stone discuss the impact a struggling economy could have on Trump’s popularity.
Plus, as Trump holds another fawning meeting of his Cabinet, are comparisons to a king at court becoming more accurate?
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Elon Musk has told reporters that he’s in the process of stepping back from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on his businesses.
He is of course the chief executive of Tesla, and the company’s stock has plunged since Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The US president told Musk during yesterday’s cabinet meeting that he was welcome to stay in government „for as long as he wants“.
Musk said after an „intense“ three months – when he occasionally slept at the White House at Trump’s invitation – he now expects to work on DOGE projects only one or two days a week.
But he also lifted the lid on his role going forward, saying he intends to keep the „comically tiny office“ he was assigned on the top floor of the West Wing.
He told reporters that’s where he played video games on a large monitor he had hooked up to his computer.
Trump would call late an night and say „make sure you get some ice cream from the kitchen“, Musk said, adding „don’t tell RFK“.
Kamala Harris took aim at Donald Trump’s „wholesale abandonment“ of US ideals during her biggest speech since her election defeat.
The former vice president accused Trump of „the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history“.
Those comments came on the day it was revealed that the US economy shrank 0.3% from January to March, its worst performance for three years.
Trump spent much of yesterday deflecting the blame onto Joe Biden, repeatedly saying it’s „Biden’s economy, not Trump’s“.
During her 15-minute speech last night, Harris warned „things are probably going to get worse before they get better“.
„They are counting on the notion that if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others,“ she said.
„But what they have overlooked is that fear is not the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious.“
We’re once again expecting to see Donald Trump out and about today – more details on that in a moment.
In the meantime, we’ll hear from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in the next hour.
She’s due to hold a press briefing at 1.30pm UK time, which we’ll be updating you on.
At 4pm UK time, we expect to see Trump at an event marking the national day of prayer at the White House.
He’ll also be delivering a commencement speech at the University of Alabama later today, where he will be speaking at spring graduations.
Welcome back to our live US coverage.
We’ll resume our updates shortly – but first, here’s a rundown of the key updates from the past day:
We’ll be back tomorrow with more updates. Until then, here’s a rundown of what’s happened in the last 24 hours…
US and Ukraine sign natural resources deal
In the last few moments we had confirmation from the US Treasury that a minerals deal has been signed with Ukraine.
Specific details still remain unclear, but the Treasury said the agreement establishes a US-Ukraine reconstruction investment fund.
It also added that the agreement signals to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine.
US economy shrinks – as Trump blames Biden
After soaking up the party atmosphere at last night’s Michigan rally marking his first 100 days back in the White House, Donald Trump was brought back down to earth abruptly on day 101.
That was thanks to the release of the first US economic growth figures covering Trump 2.0. It showed the world’s largest economy contracted during the first three months of the year.
Economists had largely expected growth of 0.3%, but instead the economy shrank at an annualised rate of 0.3% between January and March, its worst performance for three years.
Trump was quick to blame predecessor Joe Biden, claiming he „inherited a mess“ and that his administration has brought in investment worth $8trn.
In response, former Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said Trump was handed „the best-performing economy in the world“ by Biden, but now the US is“plummeting toward a Trumpcession“.
Trump claimed the economic dip had „nothing to do with“ his tariff policies, urging patience for what he said would be a „boom“ that was „like no other“.
But many economists say that his massive import taxes – and the erratic way he has rolled them out – have hurt growth and will do again in the second half of the year, and that recession risks are rising.
In other news:
Watch: Trump claims China ‚is doing very poorly‘
An update to bring you now on the resources deal between the US and Ukraine which we told you was expected to be signed today.
We’ve just heard from the US Treasury, which has confirmed than an agreement has been signed with Ukraine.
While specific details still remain unclear, it said the agreement establishes a US-Ukraine reconstruction investment fund.
The Treasury said the agreement signals to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine.
It’s a long-awaited agreement and it had been expected Volodymyr Zelenskyy would sign it when he visited the White House in February.
But that meeting ended in the now infamous Oval Office row involving the Ukrainian president, Trump and JD Vance, with Zelenskyy leaving without signing the agreement.
As Donald Trump wraps up his speech, the US president was once again hailing his first 100 days back in office – but the polls tell a different story.
Pollster John Zogby explained to our chief presenter Mark Austin that most polls have Trump down anywhere from a low approval rating of 37% to a high of 47%.
He described the US president’s polling as being „upside down“, saying his disapproval ratings are over 50% in every poll.
„The only thing he’s not down on is immigration,“ Zogby added.
„But his numbers of approval on immigration are actually lower than they were, but he gets the highest marks for handling immigration.“
Watch the full interview below.
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Trump latest: Harris slams Trump for 'greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history' – Sky News
