Warren Buffett Retires, Trump Tariffs Spark Debate – 5/3/2025

Warren Buffett announced his retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, with Greg Abel set to succeed him by year’s end, while condemning Trump’s tariff policies as harmful to trade. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration advances controversial deportation plans, agency downsizing, and probes into political opponents, raising legal and ethical concerns domestically and internationally.

United States

  • Jen Psaki reportedly claims she was unaware of Biden’s mental decline until his debate with Trump
  • Sen. Rand Paul vows Fauci will face accountability for his role in the pandemic and alleged COVID cover-up
  • Scott Jennings asserts Trump is firmly in control, stating, “there’s no doubt who’s running the country. It’s Donald Trump”
  • Secretary Burgum praises Trump’s reversal of Biden’s Gulf of America oil development ban, saying, “we’re back in business again as a country”
  • Christina Solometo, 44, allegedly defecated on a car in Pennsylvania, claiming, “It was a clean poop, I didn’t even have to wipe,” per TMZ
  • Nevada’s voter registration flips back to Republican majority, with GOP now leading Democrats
  • Elon Musk claims a Trump loss would have led to Democrats naturalizing “vast numbers of illegals” to create a one-party state
  • U.S. foreign visitor numbers drop 2.4% year-over-year, with China’s travel down 11%, per WaPo
  • Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons plans to intensify raids in sanctuary cities
  • Department of Government Efficiency achieves $160 billion in savings, per the official DOGE website
  • Cincinnati police charge Ryan Hinton’s father with killing a deputy by hitting him with his car, linking the incident to his son’s fatal shooting during an alleged stolen vehicle encounter, per NBC News
  • Trump’s deportation push raises concerns over child rights, with a 2-year-old held in U.S. custody after her mother’s deportation to Venezuela, per The Washington Post
  • Trump’s economic “golden age” falters as his tariff plans and overhaul spark confusion and uncertainty in the first quarter, per The Guardian
  • Ed Martin, Trump’s interim D.C. U.S. attorney, drops Jan. 6 riot cases and probes Democrats, raising concerns about DOJ politicization, per ProPublica
  • Federal officials probe two commercial flights aborting landings at Reagan National Airport after an Army helicopter entered restricted airspace, per The New York Times
  • National Endowment for the Arts cancels grants hours after Trump proposes eliminating the agency in his budget, per The New York Times
  • Judge Beryl Howell permanently blocks Trump’s executive order punishing law firms for representing clients he dislikes, per NPR
  • Trump administration reportedly plans to cut 1,200 CIA jobs and downsize NSA and other spy agencies to shrink federal workforce, per The Guardian
  • Legal challenges to Trump’s El Salvador deportations argue imprisoning deportees there violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment,” per The Atlantic
  • Michael Waltz coordinated with Israel’s Netanyahu on military options against Iran before a Trump Oval Office meeting, per The Washington Post
  • U.S. reports 12 more pediatric flu deaths, season total reaches 216, per CGTN
  • Trump proposes U.S. troops to Mexico for drug trafficking; President Sheinbaum declines

International

  • Warren Buffett announces Greg Abel will succeed him as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025
  • Warren Buffett condemns tariffs, saying, “Trade should not be a weapon,” per CNBC
  • Warren Buffett retires as Berkshire Hathaway CEO, succeeded by Greg Abel, per Bloomberg
  • The United Nations is reportedly facing a severe funding shortage and may deplete its funds soon
  • China reportedly plans to meet Trump’s fentanyl demands and exempts nearly 25% of U.S. goods from tariffs
  • Zelensky describes his recent Vatican meeting with Trump as possibly “the best we have ever had”
  • Australia’s Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, secures a second term with a decisive victory, as opposition leader Peter Dutton loses his seat amid Trump comparisons, per The Guardian
  • Germany’s foreign ministry rebuffs U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that labeling AfD as “confirmed rightwing extremist” is “tyranny in disguise,” per The Guardian
  • Oksana Shahar, a mother of an autistic son, faces £10,000 debt for breaching UK carer’s allowance by £1.92 weekly, per The Guardian
  • UK Labour plans to curb international students claiming asylum after local election losses to Reform, with reforms due in mid-May, per The Guardian
  • China and Russia complete east-route natural gas pipeline, ensuring stable energy supply, per CGTN
  • Ukraine downs second Russian fighter jet in 24 hours over Crimea
  • Ukrainian president pushes for month-long truce following U.S. proposal, per Euronews
  • Volgograd, Russia, blends 600 years of history with natural beauty along the Volga River, per CGTN
  • Australia’s general election begins with millions voting for the 48th federal parliament, per CGTN
  • Solo travel tests resilience, revealing strength and adaptability, per Euronews

Middle East

  • Israeli airstrikes kill at least 40 in Gaza, including 11 in Khan Younis with three babies, as officials report strikes on homes and a community kitchen, per The Guardian
  • 4.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Mahdasht, Iran

South Asia

  • Punjab records historic Rs. 2654 crore GST collection in April 2025, per NDTV
  • Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann says, “Our mothers and sisters have suffered the most pain from homes being destroyed by drugs,” per NDTV
  • Human fetus found hanging from electrical wires near Sahjanwa railway station, India, per NDTV
  • Couple publicly assaulted by man’s parents in Kanpur, India, incident goes viral, per NDTV
  • Stampede at Lairai Devi temple in Goa kills 6, injures over 50, per NDTV