As President Donald Trump notches the first 100 days of his second presidency, the general assessment on Tuesday of the 78-year-old Republican’s performance for consumers, companies, the economy and workers was less than celebratory.

US consumer confidence fell to an almost five-year low in April on growing pessimism about prospects for the economy and labor market under Trump. According to Conference Board data released Tuesday, consumer expectations for the next six months plunged to the lowest level since 2011, thanks in large part to the administration’s wide-ranging trade war. The share of consumers that expected business conditions to be worse six months from now rose to the highest level since March 2009, during the Great Recession.

Corporations meanwhile are battening down the hatches in preparation for rough seas. General Motors and JetBlue this week joined a growing list of companies pulling earnings projections as they grapple with Trump’s new taxes on their imports. (Trump beat a fresh retreat on Tuesday, this time in favor of automakers.)

UPS, which also backed away from its 2025 financial guidance due to what it diplomatically called “macroeconomic uncertainty,” is planning to be less circumspect with its employees: It plans to fire 20,000 of them—or about 4% of its workforce—while shuttering dozens of facilities. It’s a move reflected more broadly in the American labor market, given that new data shows job openings fell last month to the lowest since September. 

Nevertheless, the bounce in equities continued Tuesday as investors appeared to set aside the sobering data in favor of bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts and corporate resilience. Here’s your markets wrap. —Jordan Parker Erb

See Bloomberg’s coverage of what the administration’s policies mean for you, your business and the world.

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Trump has been sued over a vast array of potentially unconstitutional and illegal orders in the past 100 days (he went after public broadcasting on Tuesday), but now the entire central pillar of his attempt to take power from Congress is being challenged as a whole. A lawsuit filed late Monday by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments is the broadest legal challenge yet of Trump’s attempt to gut the federal government, NPR reported. In it, plaintiffs allege that Trump is effectively ordering the evisceration of the federal workforce in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers.

Some of the unions and nonprofits previously sued the Trump administration for firing probationary workers en masse, though the Supreme Court blocked a judge’s order to reinstate thousands of employees as the litigation proceeds. Monday’s lawsuit goes much further, arguing that Trump’s Feb. 11 executive order empowering Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is usurping the clear mandate of lawmakers in its rush to slash workers, agencies and regulatory structures. Federal agencies are created by Congress, and only Congress can authorize the radical changes Trump is attempting, according to the lawsuit.

Harvard University released long-awaited reports on anti-Muslim bias and antisemitism, presenting a scathing critique of how its students treated each other in the aftermath of the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent destruction of much of the Gaza Strip. “I’m sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a letter accompanying the reports. Garber is releasing the studies just as the oldest and richest US university has been targeted by Trump as part of his effort to tighten government control over higher education. But while Harvard publicly stood up to Trump’s attempt to impose his will on the university by suing him, it also just made a gesture of compliance.

Harvard’s president apologized after the school released its long-awaited reports on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias. Photographer: Sophie Park/Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the European Union has some “internal matters” to sort out before the bloc can enter into trade negotiations with the US, singling out a tax on digital services levied by some countries. The US has for years objected to moves by foreign countries that multiple administrations have argued unfairly target American technology giants like Amazon and Alphabet. In particular, the former hedge fund manager singled out France and Italy, saying “other countries, Germany and Poland, don’t have that.”

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon says he believes activity in mergers and public listings will “settle down” despite uncertainty that’s led to a slowdown across investment banks. “People need to transact, need to raise capital, need liquidity for their investments. Part of this is just a reset of expectations,” Solomon said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Solomon cautioned that the current level of policy certainty was unhealthy for public and private markets, in which his company has growing stakes. He also warned that firings are likely to rise as corporate executives make expense management a key priority for the year.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith challenged Mark Carney to strike a better deal for her oil-rich province. Shortly after the Liberal prime minister’s election victory, Smith called on Carney to “reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta.” Alberta has been in conflict with Canada’s Liberal government since Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, was elected in 2015 and began rolling out environmental policies, including an emissions cap, new pipeline regulations and a ban on tankers off the northern British Columbia coast. Smith says those measures—aimed in part at global warming and the accelerating climate change caused by burning fossil fuels—encroach on the province’s jurisdiction and hamper oil and gas development.  

An oil sands mining operation and facility in Alberta. Photographer: Ed Jones/AFP

Eli Manning wants a stake in the New York Giants. The former quarterback is putting together an investment group to bid for a piece of the team and is said to have spoken with individual investors including retired NFL players. In February, the New York Giants announced the Mara and Tisch families had retained Moelis to explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake in the New York Giants. As much as 10% of the Giants is for sale, with the stake likely to be split among a number of different investors. The news comes after a similar move by the Buffalo Bills, which sold a minority stake to 10 different investors in December.

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