Category: Security

New York-based hedge fund Pretium Partners is most likely the single largest homeowner in Clark County, according to an investigation of property records.

Pretium-owned Progress Residential, a homes-for-rent management company, owns at least 3,190 homes in the county as of the end of February, according to property record data confirmed by Clark County officials.

Pretium, a hedge fund with more than $55 billion in assets under management, declined to confirm the exact number of houses it owns in Clark County, but acknowledged the county’s tally is under 4,500 homes.

The exact number is difficult to track as its common practice for real estate investors to purchase properties via limited liability companies with varying names as Clark County identified at least five with the word “Progress” in it. It’s an issue that UNLV’s Lied Center for Real Estate wants to see corrected.

The Lied Center for Real Estate estimates that as of 2023, investors owned approximately 15 percent of the county’s housing stock and close to 25 percent in the city of North Las Vegas.

Other major homeowners in Clark County include Invitation Homes, FirstKey Homes and American Homes 4 Rent, according to Clark County property records.

‘Hollowing out our communities’

U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, said institutional investment firms that own thousands of homes are destroying housing and homeownership opportunities for average citizens in his district and across the country. More than half of the homes owned by Progress are in his district, including the city of North Las Vegas.

Horsford previously introduced a Housing Oversight and Mitigation Exploitation Act in Congress which, in part, takes aim at large institutional investors like Pretium, looking first to address potential price manipulation and price gouging tactics for renters of these homes.

He said companies like Pretium are targeting starter homes and low-income communities where they can easily outbid locals and obtain vast quantities of properties, essentially commodifying the housing industry.

“These predatory practices led by these Wall Street backed hedge funds are acquiring more properties, pricing out Nevadans and their ability to own their own home and in my research we’ve found that even when people are renting out these homes, they’re gouging renters with higher prices and lowering the value for the entire neighborhood, causing instability.”

‘Working on creating more affordable housing’

In an email response to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a spokesperson for Pretium said they acknowledge the entire country is facing a housing shortage due to 15 years of underbuilding and that institutional investors have “stepped in” to provide liquidity post-recession to the homebuilder market at a time when banks are lending less. The spokesperson said Pretium believes it is “part of the solution” to the housing shortage.

“While our funds own less than 1 percent of single-family homes in Clark County, we are working on creating more affordable housing in the community — both by investing in the construction and renovation of housing stock and making quality rental homes available to working families in neighborhoods of opportunity,” read the statement.

Pretium further stated that the “firm is committed to providing well-maintained and affordable rental homes to our residents in Clark County” and that the company “continuously invests in the upkeep and improvement of our properties to ensure they meet high standards of quality and safety.”

The company’s website currently lists 180 condos and single-family residences available for rent ranging from $1,605 to $3,750 a month.

According to Zillow, the average rent in Las Vegas is $2,050.

Maurice Page, executive director of the Nevada Housing Coalition, said the continued expansion of corporate investors into the housing market is is both “unjust” and “unsustainable”.

“Nevada’s housing market is already volatile,” said Page, adding that the coalition advocates for regulations that limit how many homes corporate entities can acquire for rentals. “We want to ensure that more homes remain available for Nevada families not Wall Street investors. We also need greater oversight and transparency.”

Las Vegas home prices broke record highs to start the year as the homebuilding sector has slowed due to a number of factors, including a lack of land to develop as the federal government controls most of it in the valley and has been slow to release it. High mortgage rates have also created a “locking” phenomenon where homeowners are trapped in homes with ultra-low mortgage rates they secured during the pandemic.

Getting accurate data is ‘tricky’

Nicholas Irwin, a research director with UNLV’s Lied Center for Real Estate, said it is difficult to collect extensive data on companies buying homes in the county and thus their impact on the housing market.

“It’s tricky, (Pretium) could be the largest homeowner in the county, but the Secretary of State’s office doesn’t talk to the Clark County Assessor’s Office, so we just really don’t know,” he said.

It is common practice for real estate investors to purchase properties using different LLCs. Most of those LLCs are registered with the state’s Secretary of State’s office, but it’s still often hard to tell what investors the LLCs are linked to.

Irwin explained tracing homeownership on a large scale is something UNLV’s Lied Center for Real Estate has pointed out to the state Legislature previously.

“If we do think corporate ownership is an issue, we need to understand how many houses they own in the first place in this manner, which right now we do not know.”

Nevada’s Secretary of State did not respond to a request for comment from the Review-Journal. The Nevada Housing Division, which is a division of the Department of Business and Industry with the state government, declined to comment through a spokesperson for this article.

Page said government needs to start seriously considering this issue as a key driver of Nevada’s housing crisis as low-income residents continue to shoulder the biggest burden.

“Corporate rental companies must be held accountable through stronger public reporting requirements,” he said. “In neighborhoods where corporate rentals are concentrated, we see longtime residents priced out, shifting community dynamics and rising housing costs. This isn’t just a trend, it’s a crisis. Nevada’s housing market should serve its people first, not institutional investors looking to profit at the expense of working families.”

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© 2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump issued a bold message to Americans on Monday amid widespread fear and panic regarding the potential for an economic recession caused by the administration’s new tariffs. Trump warned Americans to be “strong, courageous, and patient” and to not be a “PANICAN” over the current state of the economy.

In a Monday morning statement on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”

Earlier on Monday, Trump called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and claimed that food prices are down, interest rates are down, and there is “NO INFLATION.” “The long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump said.

“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate,” Trump added. “They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA! Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

READ MORE: Videos: China retaliates with major tariffs after Trump unveils ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

According to The New York Post, Trump’s optimistic posts on Truth Social were unable to prevent the stock market from continuing to plummet on Monday. The outlet noted that both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 2% in the first 30 minutes of the market’s opening on Monday. The New York Post also reported that the Nasdaq had dropped by 1.65% by 10 a.m.

The Associated Press reported that a false report that the 47th president was planning to implement a 90-day pause of the administration’s tariffs circulated on Monday morning, leading to a short boost in the stock market that was quickly defused after the Trump administration confirmed that the report was not true.

The Trump administration’s Rapid Response 47 shared a video of a CNBC reporter who confirmed that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the tariff pause report as “fake news.”

General Motors Co. is increasing production of full-size pickup trucks at its assembly plant near Fort Wayne, Indiana, and hiring hundreds of temporary employees, according to a company source.

The automaker declined to specify how much production it’s adding of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, or exactly how many temporary workers it’s hiring. The company isn’t adjusting any production schedules at this time at other plants, including at Oshawa Assembly in Ontario that also builds light-duty and heavy-duty Silverados and the Silao Plant in Mexico that produces full-size trucks, according to the source, who was not permitted to speak publicly on the topic.

The announcement came Thursday, the day that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles began being collected. Trump cited national security concerns and the need for a robust supply chain in the decision, and has insisted the levies will increase U.S. manufacturing.

“General Motors will be making operational adjustments at Fort Wayne Assembly, including hiring temporary employees, to support current manufacturing and business needs,” the automaker said in a statement. “We continuously update and revise production schedules as part of our standard process of evaluating and aligning to manage vehicle inventory.”

Fort Wayne employs 4,149 workers on three shifts, according to GM’s website. The plant had been in the midst of hiring temporary workers to backfill summer vacations. This action expands that recruitment effort, according to the company source.

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© 2025 www.detroitnews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gov. Brad Little (R-Idaho) recently signed a new law to allow individuals convicted of sexually abusing children 12 years old and younger to be sentenced with the death penalty.

According to The Post Millennial, the legislation, known as “House Bill 380,” makes Idaho the first state to legalize the use of firing squads against convicted pedophiles. The outlet noted that Idaho’s law, which will take effect on July 1, establishes a new criminal charge of aggravated lewd conduct with children under the age of 12.

Last Tuesday, the governor’s office issued a press release regarding Little’s historic signing of House Bill 380 in March. The governor’s office noted that the new law will allow the death penalty to be imposed against “pedophiles charged with aggravated lewd conduct with children 12 and younger” and that the law will also strengthen “punishments for other convicted pedophiles.”

“Just like capital murder destroys lives, aggravated sexual abuse of a young child devastates victims and families for generations,” Little said. “The sexual abuse of children is sickening and evil, and perpetrators convicted of these crimes deserve the ultimate punishment.”

READ MORE: Child molesters to face death penalty under new bill in Idaho

“Idaho also just became the ONLY state to make death by firing squad the primary method of execution,” the governor added. “I commend my partners in the Legislature for strengthening Idaho’s already powerful ‘tough on crime’ reputation among the states.”

In addition to the legalization of the death penalty against child molesters, Idaho’s new law also includes a mandatory minimum prison sentence for individuals convicted of aggravated lewd conduct with minors under the age of 16 if the aggravated lewd conduct cases do not meet the state’s requirements for the death penalty sentence.

Under the new law, prosecutors will be required to prove that defendants meet three of 17 factors in aggravated lewd conduct cases prior to individuals being charged with the death penalty, according to KTVB. The factors include sexually transmitting a disease to a minor, committing three or more acts of lewd conduct with a minor, and using force in a lewd conduct case against a minor.

In a statement obtained by KTVB, State Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Idaho) explained that Idaho had “some of the most lenient statutes for child molestation and child rape in the nation” prior to House Bill 380. The Republican state representative added that House Bill 380, which was unanimously passed by the Idaho House and passed by the majority of the Idaho Senate, will create a “strong deterrent” for sex crimes against Idaho’s children and will make it clear that the state “will not tolerate these offenses.”

A Colorado city is threatening “enforcement action” against residents with more than four pets following the approval of a new ordinance limiting the number of pets residents can own.

Northglenn, which is located near Denver, Colorado, recently announced that an “important change” will “soon take effect regarding pet ownership” in the city. The city’s website notes that the City Council passed a new pet ordinance “at the request of residents” and following “extensive research and discussion.”

According to the city’s website, the new ordinance will limit the number of pets a household can have at each residence in an effort to “maintain a balanced and comfortable environment for all community members.”

The city’s website states, “The ordinance was introduced in response to concerns raised by residents regarding excessive noise and waste caused by a high number of pets in some neighborhoods.”

Under the new city ordinance, residents of Northglenn will be limited to four dogs, four cats, or a combination of “no more than four” dogs and cats per household.

READ MORE: Viral Video: Woman pleads guilty to eating a cat amid reports of migrants eating pets 

The city’s website acknowledges the “strong bonds” many of Northglenn’s residents have with their pets. As part of a “compassionate transition,” the city said that residents with more than four dogs and cats will be eligible to apply for a “previously owned pet exception.” Residents who apply for a “previously owned pet exception” prior to August 1 will be allowed to keep their current pets even if they exceed the new limit established by the ordinance.

“Our goal is to work with residents to ensure compliance through education and outreach before any enforcement action is taken,” the city states on its website. “If you don’t tell us about your extra pets by the deadline, it could result in enforcement action, including a potential court order requiring pet removal.”

“Pets bring joy and companionship to our lives, but they also come with responsibilities,” the city adds. “By establishing reasonable pet limits, we aim to ensure that everyone living in Northglenn, both pet owners and non-pet owners, can enjoy their homes and neighborhoods.”

Northglenn’s website also notes that many other cities in Colorado have previously adopted pet regulations and that Northglenn was the only city located in Adams County without a limit on the number of pets each household could have prior to the new ordinance.

A male suspect attacked four young girls with a meat cleaver in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday. The attack left all four victims with “serious slash and stab wounds.”

During a press conference following the attack, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained that police dispatchers received a call on Sunday from an 11-year-old victim who reported that “she and her siblings had been stabbed by her uncle.” After pinpointing the location of the stabbing incident, police officers responded to a residence located on 84th Street.

Tisch told reporters that the responding police officers were let into the residence by an uninjured child and “led into a small vestibule facing two more doors.”

“At that point, [the cops] heard screams coming from behind the door to their left and immediately began forcing their way into the apartment, kicking down the door,” Tisch said. “Once they entered, they encountered a man standing near the entrance holding a large meat cleaver covered in blood, and they could see blood on the floor and the walls of the home. The officers ordered the man to drop the weapon several times. He refused and advanced towards them.”

READ MORE: Video/Pics: Teen stabbed to death at high school track meet

The New York Police Department commissioner explained that two police officers fired their weapons, shooting seven total rounds and “striking the subject.” Following the confrontation with the suspect, police officials found four female victims, ages 8, 11, 13, and 16. Tisch said the four female victims “all had serious slash and stab wounds.”

“At this time, all four children, thank God, are expected to survive,” Tisch told reporters. “But this could have ended very differently. Officers and EMS arrived at the door within minutes of receiving the 911 call. Their fast, decisive action pinpointing the location and taking down the door absolutely saved the lives of these young girls.” 

According to The New York Post, police officials have identified 49-year-old Lun Chang Chen as the suspect in Sunday’s incident. The outlet noted that the suspect was transported to the hospital in critical condition following his confrontation with police officers.

The New York Post reported that the suspect is believed to have lived in the home where the stabbing attack took place; however, the suspect’s motive remains under investigation.

“They brought out a guy on a stretcher, all bloody without a shirt,” Humbert Huerta, a neighbor, told reporters. “I don’t know who it was, but they shot him twice. They took him out and put him in the ambulance.”

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT:

Pictures shared on X, formerly Twitter, show one of the victims covered in blood and law enforcement officials at the scene of Sunday’s stabbing attack.

#Brooklyn Bloodbath!

4 young girls, ages 9-11, slashed with a meat cleaver by a 49-yr-old relative.

11-yr-old sister calls 911, saving her siblings.

Attacker shot by police, in critical condition.

Motive under investigation. #Crime pic.twitter.com/OhKyJx8lTp

— Facts Prime (@factsprime35) April 7, 2025

A line of strong storms is slowly progressing through Georgia on Sunday with risk of damaging winds, flash flooding and a brief tornado threat.

Storms entered the northwest part of Georgia by midmorning and will advance throughout the region before exiting Monday afternoon. About 6,000 Georgia Power customers were without power at approximately 4:45 p.m., including about 1,500 in metro Atlanta.

The National Weather Service cited a growing concern for flooding given the slow-moving nature of the system.

“If any storms train (persist) over the same area and/or if the system as a whole stalls, flooding will most certainly be an issue,” the agency said.

A flood watch is in effect for North and central Georgia from Sunday morning until Monday evening. Rainfall is expected to be between 2 to 4 inches, with possible flash flooding in isolated areas of up to 5 inches where repeated rounds of heavy rainfall with occur.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” NWS said. “Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”

A tornado watch is in effect for Atlanta and parts of west Georgia until 7 p.m. Sunday with possible scattered wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour and isolated hail. All metro Atlanta counties are affected.

At 4:13 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Baughville in Talbot County, about 25 miles northeast of Columbus, according to NWS. A tornado warning in the area was in effect until 4:45 p.m.

“Tornadoes can develop quickly from severe thunderstorms,” NWS said. “If you spot a tornado, go at once into the basement or small central room in a sturdy structure.”

Gov. Brian Kemp said the state is coordinate closely with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and other state agencies to ensure the region is prepared for the storms.

“As we monitor this incoming storm front, I’m urging Georgians to stay tuned to trusted news sources and take proper precautions now to prepare,” he said.

All departures to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are grounded until 5 p.m., with the probability of an extension around 30% to 60%, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Departures from the airport are delayed an average of 45 minutes.

North and central Georgia are under a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe weather. The risk for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding is “slight” at a Level 2 out of 5. The risk for tornadoes is “marginal” at a Level 1 out of 5, but the NWS said it cannot rule out the possibility of brief, isolated tornadoes.

The Atlanta Braves game against the Miami Marlins, originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Truist Park, was postponed due to the inclement weather and rescheduled for 1:15 p.m. Aug. 9.

This line of storms comes just a week after Atlanta saw a heavy downpour that helped wash away record-breaking levels of pollen.

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© 2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Late in the dark hours of Friday night, a Marine Corps C-20G “gray ghost ” jet landed on the tarmac at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay.

It was returning from the Solomon Islands with a special assignment—bringing back what are believed to be the remains of Marines killed fighting on Guadalcanal more than eight decades ago.

The plane was greeted by more than 100 Marines and sailors at the base as it pulled near the air terminal. They saluted as service members wearing white gloves carried boxes of the remains, each topped with a folded American flag, from the tarmac to a van that would take them to the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The DPAA sends teams around the world to find the remains of missing serv ­ice members and bring them to Hawaii where experts at the world’s largest forensic skeleton lab work to identify them using a mixture of science and historical detective work. On the island of Guadalcanal alone, the U.S. military lists about 374 service members still unaccounted for since the end of World War II.

Marine Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith, an explosives expert, was part of the team and carried one of the boxes of remains as he exited the plane. An Okinawa-based Marine, he is trained in identifying and disposing of World War II-era U.S. and Japanese explosives—skills that proved critical in retrieving the remains he held from the former battlefield.

Even 80 years after the war ended, as many as 20 people are killed or seriously injured in the Solomon Islands per year by unexploded ordnance left behind by Japanese and Allied forces that fought each other across Pacific archipelagos.

The DPAA team was searching for Marines believed to have died during the Battle of Edson’s Ridge, where Marines repelled an attack by Imperial Japanese forces trying to retake the strategically important Henderson Airfield from the Americans. An estimated 111 Americans and as many as 800 Japanese troops are believed to have died in the fighting—sometimes also called the Battle of Bloody Ridge.

The service members who came to greet the remains Friday night stood still and silent as the boxes containing them were brought one by one to a van. The chaotic nature of historic battles and the amount of time that has passed make it hard to know for sure who the bones recovered actually belong to—or if they’re even human bones—but they are treated with reverence regardless until DPAA knows for sure.

“One thing that’s really impressive about all the Marines (is that ) all the Marines know their history, ” said John M. Figuerres, the DPAA’s acting deputy director for operations. “They are schooled in their history, they’re schooled in their battles … whether it’s Guadalcanal, whether it’s the Chosin River, whether it’s Khe Sanh in Vietnam. … So for us to tell these Marines, there are Marines potentially—we have to ID them—that are coming back from Guadalcanal, they know the struggle that their brother Marines did.”

As the ceremony concluded, Lt. Gen. James Glynn, commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, told the service members in attendance that while many regard the Marine Corps motto “Semper Fidelis ”—Latin for “always faithful ”—as a slogan, “what you demonstrate tonight is that it’s a way of life, it’s a family, that there actually, truly is faith between Marines.”

As the van drove away, Smith and Staff Sgt. Zachary Bailey, an Army medic and mountaineer, were awarded Joint Service Achievement Medals for their roles in retrieving the remains.

Smith worked with the DPAA team but is not officially assigned to the agency ; he had been brought on to help as a member of an investigative team that was on Guadalcanal searching for potential remains. The team began its mission in February.

“The scientific research experts, the anthropologists, the amount of brains and research and work that goes into really finding out where these guys are, and then going in to actually get them, it’s a lot of work, ” Smith told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“But it just tells me, and it sure made me feel great, because the country and this agency is committed to bring us home, even if it’s many, many years after, you know, we have passed away.”

Smith said that helping to retrieve the remains was an honor, noting that “investigation teams aren’t typically digging.” But when they found the site, they realized a nearby river was washing it away and potentially moving the remains. They decided to work fast, and Smith got to work identifying and clearing World War II-era munitions, identifying both American and Japanese explosives in the vicinity.

Ultimately, Smith said, “We were able to do digging and bring our guys back home.”

The DPAA has been both a mission to bring fallen American troops home and also a diplomatic mission. It was through the program’s operations that the United States reestablished relations with Vietnam, ultimately leading to normalization and paving the way for friendly relations and trade.

The agency also has worked in North Korea and China retrieving and identifying war dead. A mission in China is planned for this summer to look for the remains of World War II American service members.

As the assembled troops who came to welcome the remains to Kaneohe prepared to leave, Lt. Col. Jeremy Smith, the DPAA’s deputy director for Indo-Pacific operations and senior Marine officer at the agency, told them that “every one of you also participated in this mission because you are here tonight, on a Friday night when you could be anywhere else, telling the American people and telling the families that we will never stop searching for their missing service members.”

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© 2025 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Lawyers confirmed on Wednesday that a man accused of the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 is planning to plead guilty in court.

In a Wednesday letter sent to U.S District Judge Deborah Boardman, Nicholas Roske’s lawyers, Andrew Szekely and Ellie Marranzini, said, “We write to inform the Court that Mr. Roske wishes to plead guilty to the one-count Indictment pending against him.”

According to The Hill, by pleading guilty to the indictment against him, Roske will be forced to admit that the government could prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he flew from California to Washington Dulles International Airport and took a taxi to Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland in June of 2022. The outlet noted that after Roske arrived in Maryland, he decided not to follow through with his assassination plan.

The Hill also reported that transcripts show the suspect was in communication with both his sister and 911 prior to police officers arriving at the scene and arresting Roske outside the home of the Supreme Court justice on June 8, 2022.

READ MORE: Video: JFK assassination files released

According to The Hill, law enforcement officials recovered a pistol, ammunition, a crowbar, zip ties, and other weapons when they arrested the suspect. The outlet noted that Roske told law enforcement officials he had traveled to Kavanaugh’s home with the intent of killing him.

Court documents obtained by The Hill indicate that Roske admitted to law enforcement officials that he was suicidal and had intended to assassinate Kavanaugh to “make the world a better place.” An affidavit obtained by Fox News added that Roske was “upset about the leak of a recent p regarding the right to an abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” and believed that the Supreme Court justice would “side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.”

Fox News reported that Roske was initially scheduled to appear on trial on June 9; however, following Wednesday’s letter to Boardman, both the suspect’s lawyers and the government are pushing for a hearing on April 7 or 8 to allow Roske to enter his guilty plea.

China announced a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the United States on Friday in retaliation against the 34% tariff President Donald Trump unveiled Wednesday against China as part of “Liberation Day.”

In a Friday statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Finance, Chinese officials said, “The U.S. practice is inconsistent with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice that not only undermines the interests of the United States itself, but also endangers global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain.”

According to The Daily Wire, China announced that the 34% tariff on all goods imported from the United States will take effect on April 10.

The Chinese Ministry of Finance also called for the United States to “immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner.”

According to Fox Business, Guo Jiaku, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration’s tariffs implemented “under the pretext of reciprocity” violate the rules of the World Trade Organization and that the administration’s action “undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system.”

READ MORE: Trump unveils new tariff on countries buying Venezuelan oil

“China firmly rejects this and will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests,” the spokesperson added. “We have emphasized more than once that trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere. We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect and mutual benefit.”

Trump responded to China’s retaliatory tariffs on Friday with a warning on Truth Social. The 47th president wrote, “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”

On Wednesday, Trump announced the “Liberation Day” tariffs at an event in the Rose Garden at the White House. Trump said the day would be remembered in history as “the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.”

“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.”

Pres. Trump unveils new tariff plan at the White House. pic.twitter.com/VRDr3KFbHA

— ABC News (@ABC) April 2, 2025

In response to concerns regarding the Trump administration’s new tariffs, White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged Americans to “trust” the 47th president.

“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term,” Leavitt told CNN on Thursday. “We saw wages increase. We saw inflation come down. We had a Trump energy boom. We had the largest tax cuts in history, and that’s exactly what the president intends to do.”

President Trump is doubling down on the economic agenda from his successful first term where we saw growth, low inflation, a significant increase in real wages, and American workers put first. 

With historic tax cuts, massive deregulation, and our energy industry unleashed – we… pic.twitter.com/dr6pwuBbFh

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 3, 2025