Good afternoon,

Sometimes the news can feel heavy, filled with headlines about tariffs, economic uncertainty, and rising grocery bills.

While we can’t do anything about the price of groceries—at least until we can find a way to open a Trader Mo’s (it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?)—we would like to offer you some good news and save you a few dollars…

Until the end of April, we’re offering 20% off all annual Mo News Premium memberships. Just use code: GOODNEWS.

A Mo News premium membership will help you join a community of thoughtful news consumers and give you access to exclusive benefits like:

• Access to our private Instagram account, where we directly answer your questions, share more background and analysis, and give you access to what’s going behind the scenes at major news events

• Access to live workshops where we unpack the trickiest and most relevant topics in the news

• Other perks include access to weekend news coverage, our weekly news quiz, and our member-only podcast.

Your Premium membership doesn't just help you stay informed—it also supports our daily podcast, newsletter, and Instagram feed and keeps our main coverage free and accessible to everyone.

If you’ve been thinking about joining (or re-joining, renewing or upgrading)—now’s the time. Life may be getting more expensive, but staying informed shouldn’t be.

Get 20% off your annual Mo News Premium membership today!

The Compliance for Startups Bundle from Vanta

To scale your company, you need compliance. And by investing in compliance early, you protect sensitive data and simplify the process of meeting industry standards—ensuring long-term trust and security.

Vanta helps growing companies achieve compliance quickly and painlessly by automating 35+ frameworks—including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more.

Start with Vanta’s Compliance for Startups Bundle, with key resources to accelerate your journey.

• Step-by-step compliance checklists

• Case studies from fast-growing startups

• On-demand videos with industry leaders

Get it here.

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Trump Pledges “Fair Deal” With China As Admin Considers Slashing Tariffs

President Trump on Wednesday said there are active talks with China over tariffs and promised it would be a “fair deal.” A day earlier, he stated that the current 145% U.S. levies on Chinese goods “would come down” and “won’t be that high.”

Those comments, along with Trump’s softening tone on firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, helped calm investors Wednesday, with stocks rallying. On Tuesday, despite days of criticizing central bank policies, Trump said he had no intention of firing Powell — even though he has indicated in recent days that he was considering it. A meeting Trump held Monday with chief executives from three of the nation’s top retailers — Walmart, Target, and Home Depot — on the potential impact of tariffs is believed to have contributed to the shifts.

TRUMP ON CHINA
The world’s two largest economies have been in an escalating trade war, as Trump imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese goods this month. China retaliated with 125% tariffs on American products. The Trump administration is now reportedly considering cutting some tariffs on Chinese imports to between 50% and 65%.

• The U.S. may also adopt a tiered approach that would impose 35% tariffs on goods and at least 100% on items deemed critical to national security, according to White House sources that spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

  • An official told the outlet that Trump is unlikely to act unilaterally and expects reciprocal steps from China before getting to those numbers.

While no final decision has been made, several options remain under discussion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted Wednesday that the U.S. and India are “very close” to finalizing a trade agreement, as Vice President JD Vance is currently in India to help negotiate terms. Talks are also ongoing with Japan, South Korea, the European Union, Canada, and Mexico, with the White House saying more than a dozen nations have sent deal proposals.

WHAT A DEAL MIGHT MEAN
For the U.S. and China, Bessent said Wednesday that there is “an opportunity for a big deal” on trade. However, the day before, he warned that “China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations.”

• “China needs to change. The country knows it needs to change. Everyone knows it needs to change. And we want to help it change because we need rebalancing too,” Bessent said at an Institute of International Finance event in Washington.

  • What that could look like: He said that America needs to shift away from a consumption-driven economy (buying lots of goods, many of them imported) and back toward more domestic manufacturing.

• Trump continues to frame tariffs as a way for America to recoup billions of dollars, though economists warn that the costs are often passed down to consumers.

  • On Wednesday, he pointed to America’s historic reliance on tariffs before the introduction of the income tax in 1913, saying, “From about 1870 to 1913, it was all tariffs… and we had more money than anybody.” He added, “We’re going to be able to substantially lower taxes when this is finished.”

🚨 ONE THING TO UPDATE

Ukraine Get Ultimatum From Trump Admin After It Rejects U.S. Peace Deal

President Trump said Wednesday that Ukraine will lose the whole country if the nation's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, continues to reject a U.S.-backed peace plan. Zelensky has opposed part of the proposal that offers Russian control of Crimea, after Russia illegally annexed it in 2014. Zelensky also said that Russia must agree to a full ceasefire before entering peace negotiations.

• “He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”

THE PLAN
The U.S. proposal, presented last week, would reportedly allow Russia to retain about 20% of the Ukrainian territory it currently occupies, unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, block Ukraine from joining NATO, and “freeze” territorial lines in the three-year war — all things Russian President Vladimir Putin has been looking for. The Ukrainians view the proposal as highly biased towards Russia.

• The plan also offers “a robust security guarantee" involving a group of European countries and some non-European countries, but is vague in how the peacekeeping operation would function. The U.S. would not be involved in that.

  • It also mentions compensation and assistance for Ukrainian rebuilding, though the deal does not say where the funding will come from.

Meanwhile, European allies are meeting in London without U.S. officials, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff dropped out last minute. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance have warned that the U.S. would walk away from negotiations if a deal is not reached within days.

• In India on Wednesday, Vance said, “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away from this process.”

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Department of Homeland Security orders immigrants to leave, including some U.S. citizens (AP)

📌 New Jersey wildfires burn 12,000 acres in Ocean County (NEWS12)

📌 Americans disapprove of Trump’s economic strategy, two new polls suggest (AXIOS)

📌 Durbin, No. 2 Senate Democrat, won’t seek reelection after 44 years in Congress (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Istanbul residents experience a 6.2-magnitude earthquake (BBC)

📌 India closes main border with Pakistan after attack in Kashmir (REUTERS)

📌 Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas urges Hamas to lay down arms (JERUSALEM POST)

📌 Colombia president Gustavo Petro says Trump revoked his travel visa (FOX NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 More than 80% of the world’s coral reefs hit by worst ever bleaching crisis (REUTERS)

📌 Elon Musk will be spending less time at DOGE and more at Tesla (YAHOO)

📌 Nearly half of Americans are breathing unhealthy air, new report shows (CNN)

📌 NASA gets an up-close look of a peanut-shaped asteroid (USA TODAY)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 YouTube’s first ever video was posted 20 years ago today (10 NEWS)

📌 A University of Michigan football star is the next Golden Bachelor (ABC)

📌 Carly Rae Jepsen and Lena Dunham to bring a 10 Things I Hate About You musical to Broadway (PITCHFORK)

📌 Former child actress Sophie Nyweide passes away at age 24 (PEOPLE)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it from the internet… JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, and their three young kids are in India this week as the Vice President meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid ongoing U.S. trade negotiations. And Usha is getting celebrity treatment.

• Vance joking that his wife — the first Hindu and Indian-American second lady — is “a bit of a celebrity” in India, more than he is.

  • It's the Vice President's first trip to the country. Usha said the trip has been very special for him, as "he's heard many stories from my parents or from me about our heritage, about their upbringing."

  • Her parents migrated to the U.S. from India in the late 1970s, and Usha was raised in San Diego.

The video (above) includes a special message from Usha’s 96-year-old great aunt Shanthamma Chilukuri, who still lives in the family’s ancestral state of Andhra Pradesh.