The Evening: Trump’s tariff reversal

Also, the U.S. scheduled talks with Ukraine.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 6, 2025 By Matthew Cullen Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Thursday. A pause on Canada-Mexico tariffs Scheduled U.S.-Ukraine talks Plus, Bong Joon Ho's "Mickey 17" Trucks near the Mexico-U.S. border on Tuesday. Guillermo Arias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Trump delayed most new tariffs on Canada and Mexico Just two days after President Trump upended North American trade by imposing 25 percent fees on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, he announced a temporary reversal. The president signed executive orders today offering a monthlong exemption, until April 2, for all goods covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which includes most U.S. imports from those countries. About 10 percent of Mexico's exports to the U.S. fall outside the U.S.M.C.A. trade agreement, according to one economist. The president announced the decision after speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. She said Trump began their call with the intention to keep tariffs in place, but changed his mind after she showed him examples of how Mexico limited the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. It's not yet clear why he decided to pause the tariffs on Canada. Still, the president has said that he expects to impose more tariffs on Canada and Mexico next month, when he announces what he is calling "reciprocal" tariff measures. The uncertainty led to another unsteady day on Wall Street. In related news, many Canadian shops pulled U.S. alcohol from their shelves in response to the tariffs. Kenny Holston/The New York Times Fearing retribution, Trump critics have muzzled themselves There is a chill spreading over political debate in Washington and beyond. Fired federal workers ask journalists not to be quoted by name. University presidents fearing that millions in federal funding could disappear are holding their fire. Chief executives alarmed by tariffs are on mute. Even longtime Republican hawks on Capitol Hill, stunned by Trump's comments on Ukraine, have remained quiet or changed their positions. My colleague Elisabeth Bumiller explained why so many critics have gone silent. In other politics news: The State Department is planning to close a dozen consulates and fire employees overseas, in what officials said could be a blow to U.S. intelligence gathering. A federal judge extended an order that prevented Trump from freezing billions in congressionally approved funds to 22 states and D.C. The Trump administration said that Maine is violating federal law by allowing transgender athletes to play on women's teams. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California suggested that the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports was "deeply unfair," breaking with fellow Democrats. Trump is preparing to sign an order that aims to dismantle the Education Department. He likely does not have the power to do so. A number of federal agencies have reinstated fired workers. Justice Amy Coney Barrett appears to be the decisive vote on cases involving Trump. Dan Bongino, the newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I., has for years discussed his vision for "dramatic change" at the bureau. Steve Witkoff outside the Oval Office today.  Maansi Srivastava for The New York Times The U.S. scheduled talks with Ukraine Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration's special envoy to the Middle East, said today that U.S. and Ukrainian officials plan to meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss an end to the war. The talks were scheduled after Trump suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine and held an explosive meeting with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House last week. U.S. negotiators met with their Russian counterparts last month. European leaders met today in Brussels to discuss a $160 billion plan to bolster their defenses and proposals to send troops to Ukraine to support a future peace plan. In related news, France's president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was willing to discuss extending the protection afforded by his country's nuclear arsenal to its European allies. An image taken during Athena's descent to the lunar surface. NASA TV A moon lander's fate is uncertain Athena, a 15-foot-tall robotic spacecraft, tried this afternoon to land on the moon. The mission, funded by NASA but operated by a private company called Intuitive Machines, was to bring a drill and a few small rovers near the moon's south pole. The spacecraft is communicating with the ground but may have fallen over, just as one the company sent to the moon did last year, or otherwise not landed upright. For more: NASA is following Trump's lead to the moon. More top news Middle East: The first stage of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expired nearly a week ago. Here's what to know about the uncertain truce. California: Back-to-back storms could replenish the state's water reserves after a dangerously dry winter. Maryland: A judge ruled that Adnan Syed, the subject of the "Serial" podcast, will not return to prison. Britain: Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform U.K. party significantly increased its fund-raising last year, drawing money from former Conservative donors. South Korea: During a live-fire drill with the U.S. military, South Korean jets mistakenly bombed a village near North Korea, injuring 15 people. Iran: Mehdi Yarrahi, a popular Iranian musician who had been arrested after releasing a song that praised women who rejected the mandatory hijab rule, was punished by flogging. Religion: Aaron Renn has gained a following by warning that the U.S. is currently a "negative world" for Christianity. Louisiana: The police are investigating whether a fraternity hazing episode played a role in the death of a Southern University student. Sports: FIFA is considering expanding the 2030 men's World Cup to 64 teams to commemorate its centenary. Nature: Butterfly populations are falling in the U.S. Look up what's happening in your area. TIME TO UNWIND Robert Pattinson stars in "Mickey 17." Warner Bros. Pictures A dystopian romp from the director of "Parasite" The director Bong Joon Ho's new film, "Mickey 17," is a scarily familiar and enjoyably loony tunes story about class and greed. The main character, played by Robert Pattinson, is used to test viruses and other threats on an alien planet. He dies repeatedly, only for his employers to reprint a copy of him to get right back to work. The movie, in theaters starting tomorrow, teeters close to despair, but also "lifts you to the skies," our chief film critic, Manohla Dargis, writes. For more: Bong talked to our magazine about his propensity for bending genres. Alberto Miranda Do we age steadily or in bursts? For many people, aging feels as if it happens in stops and starts. Or, as one scientist put it: "You wake up in the morning and you suddenly feel old." There may be a scientific basis for this experience. By analyzing age-related markers, researchers are coming to understand that aging in adulthood is not a linear process, but perhaps one that jumps dramatically at certain points. Here's what that could mean for your health and life span. Ahmed Gaber for The New York Times Dinner table topics Hidden spaces: Take a look inside the secret apartments above Carnegie Libraries. Kiandra Browne: A Muslim athlete needed modest sportswear. Now she sells it to others. $1.5 billion stolen: Here's how the biggest crypto heist in history went down. Fashion Week: Haider Ackermann made his highly anticipated debut for Tom Ford. It served up a recipe for the return of formality. WHAT TO DO TONIGHT David Malosh for The New York Times Cook: The secret to great pancakes has been in your pantry all along. Read: Answer four questions and leave with a book that will get you to spring. Watch: A small town baseball field is the setting for the funny and elegiac film "Eephus." Listen: Our classical music critics can't stop thinking about these performances. Plan: Here's what to do on a 36-hour visit to Valencia, Spain. Consider: It's a good time to check your measles vaccination status. Hunt: Which Upper West Side apartment would you buy with a $425,000 budget? Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all of our games here. ONE LAST THING Vincent Tullo for The New York Times Ready for a few comma jokes? What do you get when hundreds of grammar aficionados gather to watch a film in New York? T-shirts with jokes about commas, discussion about the appropriate usage of "lie" and "lay," and thundering applause for the movie star's professed love of diagraming sentences. That was the scene this week at the screening of "Rebel With a Clause," a film about the cross-country journey of Ellen Jovin, who gently imparts grammar rules to strangers. Attendees were even given a quiz before the show. (Sample question: "What is the square root of the number of letters in the part of speech that 'punctiliousness' is?" The answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.) Have an error-free evening. Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Matthew Sean Kawasaki-Culligan was our photo editor today. We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com. The answer to the grammar question is 2. Writer: Matthew Cullen Editors: Carole Landry, Whet Moser, Justin Porter, Jonathan Wolfe Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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