President Donald Trump said he pushed his so-called “Liberation Day” from yesterday to today to avoid April Fool’s Day—“because then nobody would believe what I said.” Now, instead of falling on a date devoted to pranks, Trump’s announcement about a new wave of reciprocal tariffs comes at a moment when his White House is facing a sobering reality.

Trump has repeatedly called April 2 "Liberation Day." He is expected to enact reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners, especially those that contribute the most to the $1.2 trillion U.S. trade deficit.

A key Senate Democrat projected confidence Wednesday that the chamber will rebuke President Donald Trump’s tariff policy with support from some Republicans in an expected evening vote.

The new tariffs, coming on what Trump has called “Liberation Day,” is a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists’ assessments, the risky move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and mangle decades-old alliances.

President Donald Trump proclaimed "Liberation Day" in the United States on Wednesday as he prepared to impose sweeping new tariffs that would escalate a trade war with global partners, increase prices and upend a decades-old trade order.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump aides were studying a more targeted option, while Fox News said Tuesday that Trump was also still considering a flat 20 per cent global tariff.

President Donald Trump has been saying nearly the same thing about tariffs since the 1980s. Now, he wants to use tariffs to reshape the U.S. economy.

President Donald Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day” — when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs he promises will free the United States from foreign goods. The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy.