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NEW YORK (AP) — And now, Take Two: The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner has been rescheduled — with President Donald Trump apparently in attendance.

The dinner, cut short in April by a gunman who prosecutors say was trying to assassinate Trump, will now take place on July 24. It will be a more intimate gathering with “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Jiang did not say where the dinner would be held. But Trump, on his Truth Social platform, revealed it would be at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue — former site of the Trump International Hotel.

The president said he’d been invited to return and speak, and had accepted the invitation. He called the rescheduling “a sign of Strength and Fortitude.”

“This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling,” Trump wrote.

He added he hadn’t decided on whether to give his originally intended speech, in which he was widely expected to attack the press. “I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out,” he wrote. “In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!”

Jiang, in her announcement, noted that “rescheduling was not automatic,” and had involved much consideration and input from board members.

She emphasized the dinner’s stated purpose: “a celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century.”

“We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for,” Jiang said.

It was not clear how large the rescheduled dinner would be, or whether it would be a full-scale dinner at all. Jiang made reference to a “more intimate gathering” than the original event, attended by close to 3,000 people at the Washington Hilton, but did not give details, saying they’d be shared directly with attendees.

Her remarks were in line with recent speculation that a rescheduled event would have to be pared down, a nod to financial as well as security concerns.

Jiang also made note of the Secret Service officer who was shot in April and has been recovering. “Our thoughts remain with the officer who was injured and with everyone who experienced that evening,” she said. “We are indebted to the US Secret Service, law enforcement and the hotel staff whose swift response protected our guests and our staff.”

Though Jiang always insisted the dinner should be rescheduled, not everyone felt the same way.

Some critics said they felt it would be a good idea to scuttle the whole event permanently — not only for security reasons, but for what they saw as an unseemly enterprise of journalists hobnobbing in formal wear with the subjects of their reporting.

“It undermines the public faith in how the press does its work, and it makes it look like we are pals with the people we cover,” Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said in May.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, charging that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable’’ and that “burden or restrict U.S. commerce.’’

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he received the decision “with indignation.” He also blamed the decision by the U.S. administration on his rival in October’s elections, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who visited Washington last week. The senator is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, once nicknamed “the Trump of the Tropics” by his allies.

The announcement late Monday came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, charging Brazil with lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.

The U.S. has had a goods trade surplus with Brazil for years.

U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that he and President Donald Trump had “constructive’’ meetings with Lula and other Brazilian officials. But he said that “we continue to have substantial differences in resolving the issues identified in this investigation.’’

Lula on Tuesday cited other reasons for the punishing tariff proposal. For the first time he named an American official as a hurdle to his relations with Trump and once again he threatened to retaliate.

“I spoke to President Trump for three hours, and that Marco Rubio guy, the head of the State Department, he is anti-Latin American,” Lula said. “He is a deadly enemy of Cuba, a deadly enemy of many Latin American countries. I already told Trump that he does not like Brazil.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond a request for comment from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Brazil’s government said in a statement that its dialogue with American counterparts, which includes “personal involvement of Presidents Lula and Trump,” is being ”sabotaged by merely electoral and family matters” of the Bolsonaros.

It added that it hopes “the recommendations do not become effective tariffs.”

“But we stress we will adopt every measure that is capable of reducing the damage that might be caused to the national economy, to the jobs and the income of Brazilians,” the country’s government said.

Last year, Trump had slapped Brazil with a 50% tariff, mainly to protest its prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro for trying to overturn his electoral defeat in 2022. Trump’s relationship with Lula seemed to have improved early May, when the Brazilian visited the White House.

But last week, the Trump administration designated two Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations, after Sen. Bolsonaro’s visit. Lula opposes the designation, which analysts say could bolster his political rival.

Sen. Bolsonaro published in his social media channels a statement he said he sent to Rubio, in which he criticizes the potential new tariff hike for it would cause “serious damages to the Brazilian people — precisely the citizens that see the United States as a partner and a friend.”

“I am writing to formally repeat the request I did to you in person, that the U.S. do not impose tariffs on Brazil,” Sen. Bolsonaro said.

Greer’s office has scheduled a public hearing July 6 on the proposed tariffs.

Trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding, noted said that the administration’s plan excludes more than half of U.S. imports from Brazil, including aircraft and key minerals.

The Trump administration invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to launch the investigation into Brazil’s trade practices.

Sen. Bolsonaro travelled to meet officials in Washington last week in the wake of a scandal at home in which he admitted receiving funds from a disgraced banker. Another son, former lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, was also present.

On Tuesday, Trump posted a photo of the Bolsonaros in the Oval office on his social media site.

“These sons of Bolsonaro can be worse than him. They are actually sellouts of our country, they went there to ask a foreign nation to meddle in Brazilian affairs,” Lula said in a speech to residents of the city of Catalao, south of capital Brasilia. “They are traitors.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump overstepped his authority by using a different law – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 – to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners, including Brazil.

However, Section 301 tariffs have survived legal challenges, and the administration is likely to use that authority to impose other tariffs and to recoup some of the tax revenue lost when the Supreme Court rejected the IEEPA tariffs.

Brazil’s president said that during his visit to Washington early May, he handed Trump documents showing that the U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil.

Documents published by the U.S. Trade Representative show that last year, U.S. exports to Brazil rose nearly 11% to $54.4 billion. Brazilian exports to the U.S. fell 5.7% to $39.9 billion, meaning the U.S. had a trade surplus of more than $14 billion.

The trade imbalance for services is more lopsided in favor of the U.S., with services exports in 2024 reaching $29.6 billion, quadruple the Brazilian services exports to the U.S.

“I am not going to cry about it,” Lula said. “If they (the U.S.) don’t want to buy from us, we will sell to someone else.”

China has been Brazil’s biggest trading partner for about a decade.

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Mauricio Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

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By Saeed Azhar and Manya Saini

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon expects consumer behavior to change in the second half of 2026 if inflation picks up, fueled by higher oil prices.

“You’re going to see more shifts in consumer behavior,” Solomon said at an Economic Club of New York event.

U.S. inflation increased at its fastest pace in three years in April, driven by higher energy prices stemming from the Iran war that has cemented economists’ views that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates unchanged well into next year.

“You can see some economic data in the next six months that shifts the sentiment,” he said. “But for the moment, that’s not coming through.”

Solomon also said he has enormous confidence in the Federal Reserve, its governors and the new chair Kevin Warsh.

When asked about the potential impact of the mega IPOs expected to hit the stock market, he said “there’s enough capital for what we’re talking about at this flow at this point.”

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company, plans to target a valuation of $1.75 trillion in its blockbuster initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The listing is expected to kick off a wave of mega IPOs, with SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic together poised to add almost $4 trillion in market capitalization to public markets and intensify competition for investor dollars.

Solomon said history shows that market exuberance could continue for long periods. “We are definitely in a moment where there’s more greed than there is fear,” he said, noting that the current environment presents big opportunities to invest in new technologies.

Solomon said his recent meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was productive. “I’m hopeful, as the mayor goes from campaigning to governing, that he’ll talk about and communicate around and support the business community broadly.”

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday adjusted tariffs on some steel, aluminum and copper imports, lowering some tariffs on farming equipment and extending the lower rate to other equipment.

In an executive order, Trump lowered tariffs on agricultural equipment, including combines and harvesters, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, to 15% from 25%.

He expanded the existing category of industrial equipment that is subject to a 15% tariff to include mobile industrial equipment like bulldozers and forklifts — when they’re imported from countries that have a trade deal with the U.S.

The order says countries that use at least 85% melted and poured or smelted and cast steel or aluminum by weight could qualify for a lower 10% duty rate, in an effort to encourage companies in other countries to use U.S. metals.

The changes go into effect Monday. They are temporary and set to expire at the end of 2027.

“In my judgment, this temporary modification appropriately accounts for these products’ roles in productive economic activity in the United States,” Trump said in his order.

Tariffs on copper, steel and aluminum were imposed during Trump’s first term in 2018 under Section 232 of Trade Expansion Act of 1962 — which allows tariffs on imports that are deemed a threat to national security. He renewed those tariffs in April 2025.

Since then, Trump has been adjusting tariffs on metals and metal products. In June 2025, he hiked nearly all of his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a punishing 50% from 25%.

In April 2026, he set a flat 50% rate for goods made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper — such as steel coils or aluminum sheet — while implementing a 25% tariff rate for derivative products made “substantially” of steel, aluminum or copper.

Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director New York Law School’s Center for International Law, said the adjustments appear to be more about the midterm elections than true relief for farmers.

“Farm bankruptcies are soaring, farm sentiment is declining, and Republican senators are openly warning their party is heading toward midterm losses in key agricultural states,” he said. “This proclamation is the White House’s response: throw the farm belt a bone before voters go to the polls.”

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A federal grand jury in California has convicted short seller Andrew Left of securities fraud.

Left, who was a securities analyst, trader, and guest commentator on television channels including CNBC and Fox Business, was charged in July 2024 with one count of engaging in a securities fraud scheme, 17 counts of securities fraud, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators. As a short seller, Left would make money betting that stocks would fall.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that Left was convicted of one count of participating in a securities fraud scheme and 12 counts of securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 31. He faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

“Andrew Left used his expertise to profit at the expense of retail investors, ordinary people who owned the stocks he targeted. He callously boasted that it was like ‘taking candy from a baby,’” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement. “Egregious schemes like this strike at the heart of free, fair and open markets, and warrant prosecution when they involve criminal manipulation. Investors should have confidence that U.S. markets are safe and free from the type of deliberate manipulation that Left engaged in to enrich himself at the expense of American investors.”

The Justice Department previously said that Left conducted business under the name Citron Research, which had a website that published investment recommendations. He published research on companies ranging from Tesla and GameStop to Grand Canyon Education and Peloton.

According to the indictment, Left would comment on publicly traded companies and make recommendations on the shares. The commentary often included sensationalized headlines (“Investors Peddling Themselves into Frenzy”) and exaggerated language to maximize the reaction it would get from the stock market. As alleged, Left knowingly exploited his ability to move stock prices by targeting stocks popular with retail investors and posting recommendations on social media to manipulate the market and make fast, easy money.

The indictment further alleged that before Citron would publish its commentary, Left would create long or short positions in a public company on which he was commenting in his trading accounts and prepared to quickly close those positions after Citron’s publication and take profits on the short-term price movement caused by his commentary.

In a post on social media platform X under the Citron Research handle, Left expressed his opposition to the conviction.

“We disagree with the jury and this does not stop here,” the post said. “We will keep fighting for free, honest speech and opportunity, the backbone of this country. This is not over.”

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By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Reuters) – Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a new quantum computing chip that it redesigned with the help of AI, saying it now believes it will have commercially useful quantum machines by 2029.

The new target date puts Microsoft on track to have quantum computers the same year as rival IBM, which last month said it plans to spend $10 billion on quantum machines. It also spun out a company to make quantum chips for others, with backing from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Microsoft had not previously given a target year for the new chip, saying only that it would be a matter of years, not decades. 

Microsoft and IBM are racing against Alphabet’s  Google, Amazon and several Chinese efforts to develop quantum systems that could crack problems in medicine, chemistry and cybersecurity that would take conventional computers thousands of years. On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a new chip called Majorana 2, a follow-on from its first Majorana chip last year.

AI TOOLS DRIVE MATERIALS BREAKTHROUGH

The biggest change to Microsoft’s internally made chip versus its predecessor is that it uses an entirely new set of materials. While Google, IBM and many others make quantum chips with superconducting wires made out of aluminum, Microsoft’s will be made out of lead, a larger atom.

Microsoft made the switch with the help of AI tools that it developed for use in materials science, and the result was a 1,000-fold improvement in some aspects of Majorana 2’s performance, said Jason Zander, an executive vice president at Microsoft who oversees the firm’s quantum efforts. The breakthrough, Zander said, was figuring out how to use lead, which is water soluble, on a chip without the lead washing away during the manufacturing process.

“The reason why people don’t use it to build chips is it requires an incredibly specialized process to be able to go figure that out. And we figured it out,” Zander said.

Microsoft’s approach to quantum computing relies on quasiparticles known as Majoranas, which had not been proven to exist until Microsoft claimed to have observed them.

SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM OVER CLAIMS

Its claims have kicked off a flurry of criticism among physicists who say Microsoft has not publicly released enough data to verify its claims. The publication Science last year alerted readers that it was investigating the data used in an earlier Microsoft study from 2020, and some critics of Microsoft’s earlier papers say that the problems with its data and protocols still exist in the research released on Tuesday.

“Microsoft can use as much lead as they like – it is not going to shield them from the basic scientific principle that your results need to be reproducible,” said Henry Legg, a lecturer in quantum physics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. 

Microsoft executives said that trade secrets prevent the company from releasing all of its data but that it has been shared extensively in confidential discussions with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is evaluating the feasibility of several different types of quantum systems.

“We’ve done enough of the physics to really have great data,” Zander said of the criticisms of Microsoft’s approach. “Believe me, I would not spend the money on the engineering if I felt like we were still off on the physics.” 

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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By Stella Qiu

SYDNEY, June 2 (Reuters) – Australia’s net trade proved to be a major drag on the economy in the first quarter as imports of data centre equipment boomed and the value of fuel shipments surged due to the Iran war, while government spending added nothing to economic growth.

Inventories were expected to add 0.2 percentage points to growth, offsetting some of the drag from trade. Still, the overall soft partial data raised the risk of a sharp slowdown in the economy, with the closely watched quarterly gross domestic product report due on Wednesday.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia downgraded its GDP forecast to be flat in the first quarter, from a 0.2% expansion before, tipping the annual rate would slow sharply from 2.6% to 2.1%.

“This would indicate that growth in the Australian economy has returned to around its speed limit,” said Belinda Allen, head of Australian economics at the CBA. “From here we are expecting the Australian economy to slow.”

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Tuesday showed the current account deficit widened to A$27.1 billion ($19.41 billion) in the March quarter, from a revised A$23.0 billion the previous quarter. That compared with forecasts for a A$23.2 billion shortfall.

The ABS said net exports would subtract 0.8 percentage points from gross domestic product in the first quarter, compared with analyst forecasts of a drag of 0.5 percentage points.

“Trade in goods and services fell into a deficit for the first time since December quarter 2017, with exports of mining commodities falling and imports of data centre equipment and fuels rising,” said Jonathon Khoo, ABS head of international statistics.

“ADP equipment imports reached historic highs, led by bulk imports of AI server racks amid continued data centre infrastructure investment in New South Wales and Victoria,” he said.

Government spending was flat in the quarter, with the bureau estimating it made no contribution to growth after a run of strong outcomes.

That left a lot riding on business investment and household consumption. Forecasts are centred on a 0.5% quarterly rise in GDP on Wednesday, slowing from the 0.8% gain the previous quarter. On an annual basis, GDP likely expanded 2.6%.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised interest rates three times this year – in February, March and May – to 4.35%, fully reversing the amount of policy easing made last year, to head off a war-driven global energy shock.

There are signs the rapid-fire rate hikes are working to cool demand, with household consumption falling in April, national home prices flatlining and the unemployment rate starting to drift higher.

The RBA expects economic growth to slow to 1.9% by the second quarter and to 1.3% by the end of the year as policy tightening and the Iran war impact filter through to the real economy.

($1 = 1.4094 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Wayne Cole; Editing by Sonali Paul, Sam Holmes and Jamie Freed)

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June 2 (Reuters) – Alternative asset manager Blackstone said on Tuesday it has raised $13.1 billion for its Asia private equity fund, exceeding its initial target and marking its largest such fundraise in the region.

The fundraising reflects strong investor interest in Asia despite global volatility fuelled by the Iran crisis, and comes a month after Sweden-based EQT AB raised $15.6 billion to create the region’s largest private equity fund.

Blackstone, which was targeting $10 billion for the fund named Blackstone Capital Partners Asia III, said it has raised more than double the amount of its previous vehicle.

Global institutional and high-net-worth investors have looked to diversify from the U.S. due to high valuations, inflation risks and overall geopolitical uncertainty.

Asian markets such as Japan and India, which offer a steady pipeline of buyout and growth opportunities, have been a major focus for global asset managers.

“Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region in the world, presenting compelling opportunities to invest at scale behind our high-conviction themes and deliver for our investors,” said Joe Baratta, global head of Blackstone Private Equity Strategies.

Bain Capital has raised about $10.5 billion in its sixth pan-Asia buyout fund while KKR & Co, which held the previous record in a $15 billion pan-Asia fund raised in 2021, is in market to raise $15 billion for its next such vehicle, Reuters has reported.

Over the last two years, Blackstone has invested more than $7 billion in 12 deals in India and Japan, including companies such as Indian AI cloud platform Neysa and Japan’s engineering services provider TechnoPro.

The asset manager firm also exited 15 companies during the period, including through listings of International Gemological Institute and Aadhar Housing Finance.

(Reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo in Mexico City; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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By Makiko Yamazaki and Miho Uranaka

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan should lay out a clear path for policy normalisation after a widely expected rate hike this month to stabilise the bond market, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s global markets chief, Arihiro Nagata, told Reuters.

The call for clearer guidance from Japan’s second-largest banking group comes as the 10-year government bond yield has hit 30-year highs, while the yen has weakened back toward the psychologically important 160-per-dollar level despite massive intervention.

“The BOJ should raise interest rates in June, and I expect it will – surely this time,” Nagata said in an interview, adding that the key point of the BOJ’s June 15-16 meeting is how clearly it signals its policy path toward normalisation.

“The more clearly it lays out that path, the more the room for further increases in long-term interest rates will likely diminish,” he said.

Nagata added that it would be sufficient for the BOJ to simply signal that it sees little discrepancy with market expectations, which already price in nearly two rate hikes this year and, to some extent, further tightening beyond.

The BOJ kept interest rates steady in April, but strongly signalled the chance of a near-term hike due to mounting inflationary pressures.

The Middle East conflict has complicated the BOJ’s decision on the timing and pace of rate hikes, as higher energy costs both lift inflation and weigh on Japan’s import-dependent economy.

At its June meeting, the BOJ will review its bond taper plan running through March next year and lay out a new plan for fiscal 2027.

With no change expected to the existing taper plan, markets are focusing on whether the BOJ would keep reducing its monthly bond purchases in fiscal 2027 or maintain the current pace.

Nagata said his bank has proposed that the BOJ halt further tapering and keep monthly purchases at around 2.1 trillion yen ($13.15 billion) from April next year.

Reducing purchases to that level “would be manageable without causing stress in the market, while allowing market functioning to recover,” he said.

Regarding its own portfolio management, he said the firm would be willing to buy long-term bonds if yields reach around 3%, but investment decisions will be made carefully by assessing overall market supply-demand conditions.

($1 = 159.6400 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Miho Uranaka; Additional reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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By Raechel Thankam Job and Ankita Bora

June 2 (Reuters) – British budget airline easyJet has caught the eye of U.S. investment firm Castlelake for a possible takeover.

While easyJet has called the timing “highly opportunistic”, analysts say its low valuation, slots at key airports and stable fleet make it a prime takeover target as it has struggled to boost its market capitalisation since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Few people can resist a bargain,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at trading platform IG.

SHARES UNDERPERFORM RIVALS

The British carrier’s shares have underperformed peers like Ryanair, making it attractive to potential suitors.

“EasyJet has ‘looked cheap’ for some time,” Deutsche Bank analyst Jaime Rowbotham wrote in a note, adding that possible attractions could be its airline fleet, room to boost margins and efficiency, and the airport slots it commands.

“This latest bid speculation will likely see a boost again to the easyJet share price.”

HOLIDAY BUSINESS BOOMS

A successful holiday business and an efficient Airbus fleet have bolstered results, despite the airline’s struggle to grow passenger numbers from its position between low-cost and traditional rivals like British Airways operator AIG.

EasyJet also has no direct exposure to the Middle East, where flights have been disrupted by the three-month-old Iran war.

Bank of America analysts said Castlelake’s strategic plan was unclear, but the airline’s fleet could be of interest. They estimated a takeover at a price of £6.50 per easyJet share.

Monday’s high of £4.50 per share valued easyJet at about £3.4 billion. The stock is still down about 15% for the year.

EasyJet has drawn deal speculation for years with slots at airport hubs in London, Paris and Geneva making it an interesting takeover target for larger players looking to expand their footprint, despite competition challenges to any deal.

‘FEW PEOPLE CAN RESIST A BARGAIN’

Jet fuel costs have spiked since the start of the Iran war in late February, hitting the wider sector. However, longer-term easyJet had been reining in fuel costs since a pandemic-driven spike, while revenue per available seat km has risen.

Barclays analyst Andrew Lobbenberg cautioned that demand in the short-haul leisure market in Europe has been significantly affected by the conflict, and said easyJet’s fairly low margins mean tough external factors hit profits quite hard.

Lobbenberg added that while easyJet is Europe’s worst-performing airline stock this year, its assets including its fleet, slots and holiday business, were undervalued. He estimated them to be worth over £11 per share.

($1 = 0.7445 pounds)

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job, Ankita Bora and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Writing by Pushkala Aripaka; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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