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Connect the World

Trump Says iPhones must be Made in the U.S. to Avoid Tariff; Ukraine, Russia Undertake Large-Scale Prisoner Swap; Harvard Sues U.S. Government Over Foreign Student Ban; Trump Threatens EU, Apple with Steep Tariffs; Trump Invites His Top Meme Coin Holders to Private Gala. Aired 9- 9:45a ET

Aired May 23, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: And then live look at the White House this morning, where the U.S. President was up early and posting

threatening 50 percent tariffs on the EU and another tariff on Apple. And as you can already see, the impact of one of the statements on European

stock markets.

As you see, European stock markets down, XETRA DAX in Germany, down 2 percent, similar picture there with the IBEX 35, so not a great looking

picture this Friday evening. It is 02:00 p.m. right here in London. I'm Isa Soares in for Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World".

Also coming up this hour, the U.S. and Iran holding nuclear talks in Rome right now, but CNN is reporting pessimism out of Tehran. We'll bring you

the very latest on that. And then Harvard responds after the Trump Administration bars the university from enrolling international students.

I'll speak to a professor and a student later in the show. You do not want to miss that. But I do want to start this hour with those markets that you

are seeing right behind me. The stock market in New York opens in less than 30 minutes, 29 minutes, to be exact, from now.

And as you can see, stock futures are down right across the board, and that is off the back of these new Trump social posts in the last hour or so. Now

the EU wasn't the only entity in the crosshairs. Apple, a U.S. company, was also on that list. And that's, you see some of the movement in those

futures.

And I want to drive straight in, into this store, and I go to breaking news focusing on these tariffs and the threats. Let's start. Melissa Bell

standing by in Paris. Clare Duffy is in New York. And Melissa, let's start first of all with a focus on Europe and what relates to Europe, because in

that Truth Social post, the president said, I'm going to read it out.

It is a bit long, so just bear with me. The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on

trade has been very difficult to deal with, he writes. Their powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, ridiculous penalties, non-monetary trade barriers,

monetary manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies, and more, have led to a trade deficit with U.S. of more than 200

million a year, a number which is totally unacceptable.

Our discussions with them are going nowhere. Therefore, I'm recommending a straight 50 percent tariff on the European Union starting on June the first

of 2025. There is no tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

So, Melissa, very much a fresh escalation in his trade route with the bloc. What happened to the 90 day, days of negotiations? What happened after that

meeting with Meloni? I thought it was all going so well.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly from the European perspective, I think that was the understanding that the talks

had reached a fairly technical level. The talks that were that followed, of course, from liberation daily. Remember, similarly, stocks had plunged when

Europe had understood what they were being threatened with.

That 90-day pause had brought some reprieve, but it had also begun these talks. In fact, today they were due to have continued talks between the top

EU trade commissioner and his American counterpart to continue these technical negotiations at this stage that had reached a fairly advanced

point looking at specific matters of where there might be room for compromise.

So, we haven't heard yet officially from the commission, but I think there'll be a great deal of surprise that this Truth Social post should

have come out. And its 50 percent and we're talking about the first of June, adding pressure, no doubt, on negotiators to make progress. But I

think will also lead to a great deal of consternation here in Europe about what these negotiations have been about at all, Isa.

SOARES: Yeah. And that is not the clarity, really, that we're seeking. And we haven't seen any reaction so far from the EU. No doubt they will comment

on this. And Clare, the president, as we mentioned right the top of the show, is also turning his wrath to an American giant Apple, of course, and

its owner, Tim Cook, a man who, by the way, was at the president's inauguration and probably donated as well.

Just talk us through how this may go down, because this is what the president has posted on Truth Social. I'm going to read that to you if I

can unlock my phone, first of all.

[09:05:00]

He wrote, I have long informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold the United States of America will be

manufactured and built in the United States, not India or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple

to the U.S.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Very proper at the end, and that is where it starts and where it begins. And just talk us through the

implications of this here, Clare.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, he says so, what he's responding to there is, in the past few months, Apple has tried to shift its production

and where it's shipping iPhones from to the United States, from China to India, to adjust to the tariffs on Chinese goods.

Now, obviously, President Trump would like Apple to be making their iPhones for the United States, in the United States, but analysts say that is just

not feasible. It could potentially take Apple five to 10 years to move iPhone manufacturing to the United States. And if it were to do that,

iPhones could cost $3,500 that's three times approximately the price that they are now.

And that would just not be feasible for consumers to then purchase those goods. We have seen Tim Cook try to sort of gain favor with Trump and other

ways. We've seen him meet with Trump a number of times since the inauguration. Apple also announced this really massive $500 million

investment in other types of U.S. facilities and production.

I think, in hopes that Trump might let go of this idea that Apple could be producing iPhones in the U.S., because it just doesn't have the, you know,

the production capacity, the facilities would need to be built, and you would also need to be training the people who would do that very

specialized work to make these devices.

And so, this could potentially cause Apple to need to pass on some of these costs to consumers. If we do see this 25 percent tariff take effect. There

were already rumors that Apple might be raising the cost of iPhones when it releases its newest slate in the fall, so we could potentially see those

prices go up even more.

SOARES: Yeah, huge concerns to say. It seems the trade war is back on. The euro, I see is dropping, reversing early against European stock markets, as

we mentioned, also down. U.S. Futures also look, if we can bring that up again, also look sharply lower, of course, when they open in less than 25

minutes, we'll keep an eye on those numbers.

I was looking at Apple stocks, future stocks also down. So not a great start to this Friday, of course, will be across it will have much more when

the market does open in less than 25 minutes. Thank you very much to you both, Clare Duffy and our Melissa Bell in Paris.

And we'll have much more, of course, on reaction from Europe. I want to stay in Europe and take you, in fact, to Rome, where Iranian media reports

that high stakes nuclear talks are now underway between the United States and Iran. It is the fifth round of such discussions, but delegations

arrived earlier.

Both sides appeared deadlock on the key issue of Tehran's uranium enrichment program. The U.S. insisting that Iran must dismantle the

program. Iranian officials says that demand would collapse negotiations. Take a listen to what Iran's Foreign Minister had to say on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: As the American officials have expressed in their interviews. They do not believe that any enrichment can

continue in Iran, and they think that we should cease all enrichment activities. If that is their goal, there will be no deal, if they want to

take away the right of the Iranian people to use nuclear energy peacefully, we will not have an agreement at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, we'll have a live report from Rome in just a moment, but first, CNN is on the ground in Tehran with insight into the regime's

position. Here's more from our Fred Pleitgen.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were two sources here in Iran who told us that right now, the Iranians are actually

not looking to make fast progress, but actually much more. We're looking to see whether or not they say the U.S. is serious about these negotiations in

the first place.

And one of the reasons for that is because they feel that there's been some mixed messaging coming from the Trump Administration, where, as you

mentioned, President Trump in the past, was saying he believed that a deal was either closer almost already reached.

But then you had his negotiator, Steve Witkoff, coming out and saying that the Iranians were not even allowed to enrich 1 percent uranium. That, of

course, set off the Iranians who say enrichment is their right.

SOARES: That's Fred Pleitgen on the streets of Tehran for you. Let's get over to where it's all happening. Our Senior International Correspondent,

Ben Wedeman is in Rome for us this hour. And Ben, talks from my understand, have been underway for just a little over an hour.

Positive sign the fact that they're still talking, but it seems Iranians went into this meeting not only with skepticism, but with some strong

objections. Just make it very clear from where they stand on this.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Iranians are quite frustrated with what they believe is mixed messages, as Fred

mentioned, from the Americans, they initially, we heard from Steve Witkoff that there was no objection to Iran's limited enrichment of uranium.

[09:10:00]

And then he changed his tune altogether after pressure, we believe, from other officials in the Trump Administration saying there should be no

enrichment whatsoever. Now under the JCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action concluded under the Obama Administration in 2015, Iran was allowed

to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent now, since Trump pulled out of that deal in 2018.

They've jumped there now enriching uranium up to 60 percent it is about 90 percent is when you get weapons grade uranium. Now, the Iranians have

invested billions of dollars in their nuclear program, which they insist is peaceful. They are signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and

they say that it is their right under that treaty to have a peaceful nuclear program.

And therefore, they're saying that, essentially, it is a red line for them, the idea that the United States should impose unilaterally this restriction

upon them, and in fact, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, before taking off for Rome for those talks, he tweeted the following,

figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket Science.

Zero nuclear weapons equal we do have a deal. Zero enrichment equals we do not have a deal. The Iranians also very unhappy, because this week, the

United States imposed a series of new sanctions on the Iranian construction sector. At this point, there are about 3600 individual U.S. sanctions on

Iran, Isa.

SOARES: And Ben, just expand on you know, what will happen, or speak to the risks of failed talks, not just for Iran, but indeed for the region,

because President Trump has said in the last few weeks or so that, you know, Iran had to move quickly, or something bad's going to happen.

Do we -- how does Iran interpret those threats? Of course, especially as we hear intelligence that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian

facilities. Or is that just a negotiating tactic, negotiating pressure on your end, do you think?

WEDEMAN: Well, certainly the Israelis have been singing this tune about attacking Iran's nuclear facilities going back many years. And it does

appear that these leaks, or the spin from Washington to journalists in Washington about the possibility, the increased possibility of Israeli

strikes on those nuclear facilities does seem to be part of a pressure campaign on the Iranians to be more flexible.

But certainly, what we're seeing is the Iranians aren't really biting at that now, keeping in mind that in mid-March, President Trump sent a letter

to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, giving him 60 days to somehow reach an agreement, or else. Now, the -- or else is a question that

everybody is asking.

Is the United States going to allow Israel, which is, could not do this, could not attack Iran without at least implicit U.S. help? It already has

provided Israel with the kind of weapons they would need, but basically, the Israelis could not attack Iran without some sort of American

assistance.

And the Iranians have made it clear, if Iran is attacked by Israel, it will hold the Americans responsible, Isa.

SOARES: And as you're talking about this, and really what we've heard in terms of negotiations and intelligence on the Israeli side, we are seeing

coming into us just now as you're speaking, Ben, that the U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, is set to meet Ron Dermer, who is a confidant of Israeli Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Rome, we understand, on the sidelines of these talks, U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. This is, according to a source familiar with the meeting. We'll see

what more comes out of that. But an interesting development, of course, from that we're hearing coming out of these talks.

Of course, Netanyahu said, have been a vocal opponent, as you've made it very clear of the nuclear deal. Thank you very much. Ben Wedeman for that

from us there in Rome, appreciate it. Now we are hearing from a source that a major prisoner of war between a war swap, I should say, between Russia

and Ukraine is underway, and that could mean freedom for 1000 POWs on each side.

It's part of a deal reached at recent talks in Istanbul, if you remember the first time Moscow and Kyiv have held direct talks at any level in three

years. But last week's face to face meetings in Turkey did not produce, of course, a ceasefire, which is what so many sides wanted.

[09:15:00]

Our Nic Robertson, he's with me now. So Nic, just talk us through, is this started already? Because there's some confusion earlier on whether it

started and will take several days. What is your understanding?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We understand that it will take several days.

SOARES: OK.

ROBERTSON: President Trump, however, took to Truth Social before, actually the news broke.

SOARES: Yeah, that's why I was confused.

ROBERTSON: And said that it was completed, and then said that it's going to happen, that it's coming, that it's underway. He congratulated both sides

and said, could this lead to something bigger or big question mark, question mark, question mark. And I think everything's in the question

marks there.

Look this undoubtedly, from what we understand at the moment, is or will be, if it happens as expected, the largest prisoner exchange between the

two sides prisoner of war exchange, and it comes out of the first time since Russia's illegal, unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 39

months ago, that the two sides have met face to face.

So that's significant, but if you break it down a bit more, look, it's the fifth prisoner exchange this year. It's the 64th over those 39 months.

SOARES: Wow.

ROBERTSON: So, this is by no means new. And many Ukrainians will see it as part of the cycle of the war. In other wars, you would see it as a

confidence building measure, but I think that's hard to take it at that face value right now.

SOARES: Yeah, and on that look a moment, no doubt, of relief for all these families, of course, on both sides. But I remember when we were talking

about these meetings in Turkey, how underwhelming it was, the fact that that's what came out of it. So how can you use that as how you think this

can be used as a springboard into further negotiations, especially as we've heard overnight, that Russia continues to attacks striking.

I think 175 drones on Ukraine and a ballistic missile. How do you make sense of these negotiations?

ROBERTSON: Well, I think we can make sense of it this way, and look at what's happened so far. President Trump heavily pressured Ukraine to accept

an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. They did that two months ago. President Trump then went on to try to convince President Putin to do the same thing,

and has utterly failed.

The most recent attempt to get Putin to follow on a unilateral three day pause in fighting around a holiday period a week and a half ago only

resulted in Putin sending a low-level delegation to Turkey for the talks. He talked about going himself. President Trump said, or if only I was

going, President Putin would be there.

It'd be different. President Zelenskyy went to Turkey in case. So, Putin continues to prevaricate. And I think that's the narrative that Ukraine and

its European allies understand, that President Trump continues to have this hope that Putin will change. Most people would say that's a vain effort,

and you only have to listen to Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, speaking today.

Again, he held out the hope of a second round of talks. He said, there will be a second round of talks. I don't know when, and I don't know where. He

ruled out the Vatican, by the way, which last weekend was the big deal.

SOARES: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: Was, you know, the Vatican might host those talks. And Lavrov said, well, that's not the right place. And then Lavrov recycled one of

Russia's talking points, which again, shows you the massive hurdles that everyone involved in this Ukraine, its allies say is a hurdle that Russia

claims that Zelenskyy doesn't have the legitimacy, political legitimacy, to sign a peace deal --

SOARES: -- rhetoric -- right?

ROBERTSON: -- election, or whatever it is, so that Lavrov is saying that again today. So that tells you this vast awning gap between the two sides.

SOARES: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: So, it's good to hope that this -- something else, but it's not realistic --

SOARES: -- no, and it's not shrinking in the slightest. Look, I'm glad you clarified the Vatican meeting, because on Friday, the Finnish Foreign

Minister on my show basically said that Russia and Ukraine could hold these talks. I think she called them technical level talks at the Vatican next

week. That clearly is not happen --

ROBERTSON: Lavrov said, no.

SOARES: Lavrov said, no. But I wonder then, where does that -- Europe, following, of course, their conversation with President Trump. Are they

going to go their own way, their latest packet of sanctions, of course? What are you hearing? You're so well connected with European officials and

diplomats. What are they telling you?

ROBERTSON: Look, I think if we want to know which way Europe is heading, look only to yesterday and Germany establishing this new it's 45 armored

battalion in Lithuania, 500 troops now. But by in two years' time, by 2027 they anticipate that as being 5000 a new battalion.

Germany has a massive new commitment to defense spending as part of NATO and as part of its own defense. And it's committing that to the countries

that feel most under threat by Russia. So, while the Europeans give space diplomatic space for Trump to try to do what he says is going to do.

In the meantime, they're taking all practical measures and means necessary to do their best assurance Ukraine.

[09:20:00]

Look Ukraine and Europe need United States military support as part of NATO, as part of the military support for Ukraine.

SOARES: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: They can't throw that away right now by annoying President Trump and getting in his way, but they can begin to take the steps that they need

to take, however painful, however slow they are, to be prepared for that moment when Trump walks away.

SOARES: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: Putin just throws it all up in the air, continues with the military advances, or whatever they are. And so, I think practical it's

allow a diplomatic space, but Europe continues to take the steps it needs to take for its own national security in the absence --

SOARES: -- of any more time I'm being told to wrap. But you know, how long then does Europe wait. I mean, if Putin continues dragging his feet,

because I imagine that some of the concerns from some European officials, I've been hearing is that this is his intention to drag his feet and to

make sure, and then President Putin, a President Trump, part of me pulls out, and Europe's left stranded. How long does Europe wait here?

ROBERTSON: As long as it can, where United States is a hugely important ally. If United States decides to weigh in and help really enforce the

existing 17 rounds of European sanctions, and heaven knows how many rounds of U.S. sanctions on Russia and enforce those on its ghost fleet that's

shipping its oil illegally around the world, that will have much more power to cripple Russia's economy over time.

So United States on board is worth waiting for. No one's going to throw that away. They're just going to wait for a time to expire, if Trump just

cannot arrive at that moment.

SOARES: Nic was great to speak to you. I could speak much longer, but I was right. I was being told to wrap. I just ignored it. Thanks very much, Nic,

appreciate it. And still to come right here on the show, new details in the horrifying shooting of those two Israeli embassy staff members at a Jewish

Museum, will have the latest on that investigation. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Harvard University is responding after -- one would be freshman, as you say, describes as a heart drop moment. The Trump Administration is

barring the university from admitting foreign students. Imagine the countless hours put in to get accepted, only to have it ripped away in the

blink of an eye, and here's how the administration is justified. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have given them multiple opportunities to share criminal activity with us backgrounds on these

students to let us conduct the oversight into this program that is our responsibility, and they have refused to do so. So today, I sent them a

letter that said they will no longer be allowed to participate in this Student Exchange Visitor Program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: We will be talking in the next hour nearly -- talking nearly 7000 students being impacted by this. I think this is something like 25 percent

or so of the students. And I'll be speaking the next hour to one of those students, as well as Harvard Professor Steven Pinker, and a wider

discussion, of course, of what this means not just for Harvard potentially for other universities, you do not want to miss that.

[09:25:00]

I want to leave that story for a moment and connect you to Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the fatal shooting

of two Israeli embassy staffers as an act of terrorism and hate crime. Brian Todd is with us now and more the details what we have emerging.

So, Brian, just bring us up to speed on where we are on the latest of an investigation, and in particular, what we know about the suspect at this

hour?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right Isa, the suspect is identified as 31- year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. He, according to the FBI, came to Washington, D.C. as part of a -- to attend some kind of a work conference.

He worked for an osteopathic information association there, according to officials.

We also are gathering more information, Isa, on the victims, and as we build that information, then the real narrative of this story comes into

greater focus. We can tell you that the victims are now identified as 26- year-old Sarah Milgrim and 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, both of them were employees of the Israeli embassy here in Washington.

According to Israeli officials, they met while working at that embassy. Lischinsky had recently bought a ring to propose to Sarah Milgrim in

Jerusalem. According to Israeli officials, they were going to go to Jerusalem just next week to have her meet his family for the first time.

So, you get a perspective on how their lives were really starting to, you know, take a turn for the better at the time of this awful and tragic

shooting. We also are getting new information on the charges that Elias Rodriguez faces. And one of them carries the possibility of the death

penalty.

The charges are these, using a firearm to commit murder. That is the one that carries the possibility of the death penalty. Other charges include

first degree murder, two counts of murdering foreign officials and one count of using a firearm during a violent crime.

We can also tell you that it's possible that hate crime charges will also be filed. Now on that one count of using a firearm to commit murder, that's

the count that carries the possibility of the death penalty. Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C., said yesterday that it is

too early to say whether the Justice Department will seek the death penalty in this case.

But legal experts have told us that the odds are that they probably will seek the death penalty in this case. Elias Rodriguez has not yet entered a

plea. He's going to remain behind bars pending future court hearings. His next court hearing is on June 18th. In addition, Isa, we've learned new

information from charging documents in court, just chilling new details of how the shooting went down on Wednesday night.

According to those court documents, he walked past the victims, he walked toward them, then walked past them, then turned and fired on them, and

after they fell, he continued firing, including firing at the female victim, Sarah Milgrim, as she was crawling, trying to crawl away, that is,

according to court documents. Again, he has not yet entered a plea in this case, Isa.

SOARES: Absolutely haunting details there from Brian Todd. Thank you, Brian, appreciate it. Well, Donald Trump's false claims of white farmers in

South Africa being victims of genocide. Remember, those are facing. They're facing more scrutiny, scrutiny after reports, says images he showed as

evidence were not from South Africa.

Reuters says pictures of dead bodies the U.S. President displayed during his Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on

Wednesday were taken from Reuters video shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- in Congo in February. That is South Africa's Foreign Minister

talked to Christiane Amanpour about the meeting and the Trump genocide claims. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD LAMOLA, SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: From our side, the end goal was that the interaction must end with the resetting of the bilateral

relations. We had to take a strategic decision whether we wanted the meeting to collapse on the basis of a non-existing issue or not.

And we wanted that this matter, as you will have heard our president that behind the closed doors, these issues will be engaged, and we are ready to

engage on them. And there was indeed context provided with regards to the song that it has got a historical context is not something that is saying

now inside any form of violence and so forth.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: -- Yeah.

LAMOLA: And as we have already said, indeed, the person on the video is not part of the government of national unity.

AMANPOUR: Yeah.

LAMOLA: And that is not government policy to kill the -- to kill the farmer. The government policy is that South Africa belongs to all who live

in it is united in our diversity, but the constitution is also very clear that there must be transformation in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: That is South African Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola there. Well, the U.S. market opening any second, in fact, on this Friday, stocks are in

the red.

[09:30:00]

Thanks, that breaking news. We brought you the top of the hour of Trump tweeting on tariffs, today. We'll bring you much more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back everyone, you are watching "Connect the World". And as you can see, U.S. stocks opening last three minutes or so, pretty much down

this Friday. Red hours right across the board, the DOW JONES down 1 percent as concerns remain over the health of the U.S. economy and its debt level

after the House passed President Trump's big beautiful bill that will raise the country's debt ceiling for $4 trillion.

But there is another thing else at play here, and that is what we've heard from President Trump in the last what hour or so, and the tariff rhetoric

we've heard from the president, what relates to the EU and in particular, what relates to Apple? But trading is expected to be muted as we head, of

course, into Memorial Day weekend.

And you can see there how it's being reflected all these uncertainties and anxieties in the markets, red hours, right across the board, within NASDAQ

faring the worst so far. It is a similar picture, unfortunately, if I bring you the European stock market sharply lower. That is, of course, because of

Donald Trump being up very early and posting on social media talking tariffs yet again.

Joining us now from the White House is CNN's Alayna Treene and a busy day Friday for you, Alayna and we are here again. Its tariff talks again,

right? Just talk us through what we've heard from the president the last hour or so.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, this is so fascinating, Isa, because the president really hasn't had tariffs on his mind over the last

couple of weeks. He's really been focused on getting that as he referred to one big beautiful bill across the finish line.

But today, it was clear that he woke up and tariffs are definitely on his mind. And we saw that in the series of posts that he made on social media.

The first one I want to talk about is the new tariffs that he says are going to be in effect starting June 1st on the European Union.

[09:35:00]

I want to read for you just a little bit of what he wrote. He said, our discussions with them, talking about the EU, are going nowhere, therefore,

I am recommending a straight 50 percent tariff on the European Union starting on June 1, 2025. To give you a little sense on this one, of

course, is that this is more than double the initial 20 percent reciprocal tariffs.

He had threatened to put on the EU back in April, which he later put press pause on as he did with every other country except for China, while, you

know, to allow for more negotiating of a potential trade deal. But what the president was making clear today on social media is that he does not

believe that negotiations with the European Union are going well.

And therefore, he is going to move up the timeline for when he wants to reimpose these tariffs, and also up the tariffs to 50 percent. Now, already

we have seen this affecting the stock market, which we're just about to open. We saw that at least in futures trading this morning in the U.S.

But of course, European markets, we saw a fell at least 2 percent by the last time I looked this morning on this news. Now all of this comes as we

know that the United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, he's expected to meet with his counterpart, his European counterpart, later

today.

We've not yet heard from the European Commission or spokesperson for the European Union on how they might respond to this. I'm sure it will come up

on that call, though, with Jamieson Greer. And also, I want to note that he didn't just post about tariffs, and relating to the EU.

He also talked about wanting to impose a 25 percent tariff on Apple and on iPhones. His major gripe with that is that he believes that Tim Cook, the

CEO of Apple, should be bringing manufacturing of iPhones to the United States, as of now, China is the main place where iPhones are manufactured,

but we've also seen Apple move some of that to India, noting in that move that the president has better favorable terms, I should say, between the

U.S. and India.

But the president had argued that he has warned Tim Cook about this for a long time. I'd like to note that Tim Cook was actually here at the White

House just a couple days ago on Tuesday, and he said that if the -- if Tim Cook does not begin moving more of the manufacturing back for U.S. iPhones,

and he will be slapping them with a 25 percent tariff.

And also, just so people can understand what that could actually mean, iPhones currently cost about $1,000 in the United States, a tariff like

this, and also trying to move manufacturing to the U.S., that could result in iPhones going up more than double in price, or triple, I should say, to

around $3,500 is what a lot of experts are warning on that.

So huge moves, all to say from the president today when it comes to trade and to tariffs, and we're already seeing the markets very wary of this and

responding in turn.

SOARES: Let's stick not with tariffs, but with the commercial aspect, or maybe enterprise, I should call it, and this meme coin dinner that took

place yesterday, Alayna, the Democrats are calling it, and I'm quoting here an orgy of corruption. How is the president justifying this?

TREENE: You know, it's, this is so fascinating, because so many people, and not just Democrats, but also many Republicans, are sounding the alarm, on

what the president is doing. Because essentially, the dinner last night that he hosted at his golf club just outside Washington, D.C., the White

House is arguing it was a private dinner.

They're trying to say there's no conflict of interest at all. But the people who went to this dinner, many of them foreign investors, some from

China, for example, many of them purchased and invested in what is known as the Trump meme coin, essentially the president's personal crypto token, in

order to get access to this dinner.

And we know this because I actually went through and looked at a lot of the people who were at that dinner and some of the things that they were

posting, and they essentially said part of the reason they were so excited about that dinner last night is because they knew that President Donald

Trump would be there.

The people who were in that room were the top 220 token holders of this crypto token that the president has. And the top 25 people who invested the

most money from that actually got even an invite into a more exclusive VIP session with the president. I have some reporting on what went on inside

those one they dined on halibut and filet mignon while the president kind of regaled them with tales of his 2024 victory.

But many of them said they had a good opportunity to interact with some of the other guests who were there, other investors. But one investor is

actually the most notable to me is, his name is Justin Sun, and he is someone who actually was the number one person to invest in the president's

crypto token.

And he essentially is a Chinese born crypto mogul who, until recently, was facing several fraud charges in the United States. These are the reasonings

for why so many people are concerned about this, or claiming that it could be a pay for access type of situation that they are trying to gain with the

president.

[09:40:00]

Again, just to be very clear, Congress and the, excuse me, the U.S. Constitution does not allow presidents to receive foreign gifts. That's

part of where a lot of the concern around this is stemming from as well, Isa.

SOARES: Yeah, huge concerns of ethical aspects of this. Alayna, thank you very much indeed. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: And the battle for the Syria, our title is coming down to the final weekend. Amanda Davies is here with me, with all the drama, Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: 37 matches each play, and Napoli and Inter Milan essentially playing at the same time going head-to-head. Napoli in

the lead for the Syria title, 90 minutes standing between. Then we've got more coming up for "World Sport" in a couple of minutes.

SOARES: Two giants of Italian football.

DAVIES: Yeah.

SOARES: Amanda, thank you very much. And you'll have that after the break to look forward to. And I'll be back at the top of the hour with much more

"Connect the World". Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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