Evening Briefing: Americas

US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz is leaving his post, a stunning fall for one of President Donald Trump’s top aides and the first casualty from an unprecedented breach of military secrecy and security by the young administration. It also marks the first high-profile departure of Trump’s second term (he cycled through four national security advisors in his first term).

Waltz, 51, first came under fire in March when he inadvertently added a prominent journalist to a Signal chat group, one set up to discuss pending US attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The chat, which also included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others, revealed details of plans for strikes by American military personnel before they had begun. The use of a commercial app to communicate military secrets was seen as potentially putting the lives of sailors and soldiers at risk, and was met with horror by national security and military experts.

Though Trump, 78, initially offered a tepid defense of Waltz for the breach in security, it’s said the president eventually soured on the former Florida congressman. Still, other Signalgate participants such as Hegseth—who was further implicated in using the app to communicate military secrets to family members and installed a direct line to his computer in the Pentagon—remain relatively unscathed. This state of affairs raises questions about the quality of military advice Trump is receiving, Bloomberg’s Editorial Board writes. —Jordan Parker Erb

What You Need to Know Today

US manufacturing activity shrank in April by the most in five months as lean order books and the repercussions from Trump’s tariffs (and retaliation from abroad) prompted the steepest output contraction since 2020. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory gauge fell 0.3 point to 48.7, data out Thursday showed. The group’s production index stumbled more than 4 points to 44. Readings below 50 indicate contraction (as did yesterday’s readings on American GDP in the first quarter). Prices paid for inputs, however, accelerated slightly. The figures illustrate an industrial sector struggling for traction amid the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s chaotic trade policy. Orders shrank for a third month and backlogs retreated at a faster pace.

A federal judge in Texas ruled that Trump improperly invoked a 227-year-old wartime law to deport what the administration has claimed are Venezuelan gang members to a brutal El Salvador prison, setting up what may become yet another high-stakes battle at the US Supreme Court. US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, ruled the president’s actions weren’t legal because the US isn’t being invaded by a foreign force or experiencing a “predatory incursion” as required by the law. His decision marks the biggest setback yet for Trump’s effort to unilaterally deport immigrants without due process.

Protestors during a demonstration against the Trump administration in Washington on Thursday. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

The US is considering easing restrictions on Nvidia sales to the United Arab Emirates. Though nothing has been officially decided, it’s said that Trump could announce the start of work on a bilateral chip deal during his upcoming trip to the Gulf. Talks about modifying AI chip curbs for the UAE in particular have been gaining steam at both the Commerce Department and the White House; a step toward an eventual accord would be a win for the Gulf state, whose artificial intelligence ambitions risk being curtailed by global chip rules unveiled during President Joe Biden’s final week in office.

Charles Schwab issued a “pre-margin-call call” last month as Trump’s trade war sent stocks sinking, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wurster said. Schwab reaches out to clients if they’re nearing a margin call—triggered when money is needed in a margin account to meet minimum capital requirements—because some clients opt to add funds rather than being automatically pulled out of a position, he said. In this case, the firm called thousands of its retail-investing customers who were close to margin calls when global equity markets were roiled by Trump’s April 2 rollout of “reciprocal” tariffs against nations all over the world.

European and Asian money managers are losing their appetite for lending to US companies as the global trade war intensifies in a potentially worrying sign for corporate America. Investors outside the US turned into net sellers of corporate debt in the first half of April after Trump announced the highest tariffs on foreign countries in more than a century. That’s according to data tracking direct flows compiled by Goldman Sachs strategists including Lotfi Karoui. The selling comes after overseas investors made record purchases of US corporate debt in 2024. Official data shows the demand slowing in February, according to Citigroup.

Ashley Buchanan Source: Business Wire

Kohl’s fired Chief Executive Officer Ashley Buchanan after the board uncovered that he directed the retailer to do millions of dollars of business with someone he had a personal relationship with on “highly unusual terms.” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Buchanan’s business dealings were with a woman he was romantically involved with named Chandra Holt, a consultant and the founder of Incredibrew, which sells coffee infused with vitamins. Kohl’s said it’s starting a search to find a permanent replacement following the departure of Buchanan, who only started in January from running retailer Michaels.