Welcome back to TLDR's Daily Briefing for Wednesday 30th April 2025. In today's episode, we cover the new US-Ukraine minerals deal, Iran-Israel tensions, and 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. But first, we look back on Trump's first 100 days. Donald Trump has completed his first 100 days back in office and celebrated yesterday in Michigan with a campaign-style rally in which he claimed to have, in 100 days, delivered the most profound change in Washington in nearly 100 years.
So how did Trump's 100 days back in the White House stack up? Perhaps the most eye-opening measure is his record use of executive orders, which underscores his approach to governance. a focus on executive power and action rather than legislation. Trump has issued more executive orders in 100 days than any other president in the past century. Already, he's issued nearly 90% as many as his predecessor Joe Biden did across four years.
these orders have left the courts with a busy schedule. In fact, more than 200 lawsuits have been filed by various plaintiffs challenging Trump's policies so far. Trump has also notably upended the global trading system, triggering trade wars and sowing confusion among the US's trade partners. Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs on the world, which are temporarily suspended with the lower 10% blanket rate still in place,
have sent the US's effective tariff rate to a level not seen for about a century. However, this tariff policy, while much championed by Trump, has seen US consumer confidence slump, even as inflation has continued to fall for now. The S&P 500 has fallen about 8% since Trump's inauguration in January.
the worst first 100-day performance under any president since Gerald Ford. Yesterday, Trump touted his action on immigration, with encounters at the US's southern border last month plummeting to just over 7,000, compared to 140,000 a year prior. However, recent polling shows that the public increasingly disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration, trade and the economy. three crucial policy areas for Trump.
and his overall approval has fallen to the low to mid 40s which in various surveys makes him less popular at the 100 day mark than any other president since approval polling began but at his rally in michigan trump decried the approval polling as fake claiming without evidence that, in legitimate polls, I think we're in the 60s and the 70s.
In a sign of where Trump's presidential term goes from here, and the big fights that may define it, Trump upped his attacks on the judiciary, claiming that, quote, a handful of communist radical left judges are obstructing the enforcement of laws and, quote, trying to take away the power given to the president to keep our country safe. You're listening to TLDR's daily briefing. If you want more explainers on what's happening in the world, then you should check out TLDR's other channels.
Today, we released videos on France's prison crackdown, America's debt crisis, a potential UK-EU free movement deal, as well as the latest episode of our World Leader Leaderboard podcast. You can find those videos linked in the description or show notes for this episode, or by searching for TLDR on YouTube or Nebula. The US and Ukraine are expected to sign a minerals deal today, ending months of negotiations and signalling a positive turn for the rocky relationship.
It comes two months after a public spat between Trump, US Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in the White House. which led to an earlier version of the deal falling through. According to the Financial Times, the revised deal states that the two countries will seek to create the conditions necessary to, among other objectives, increased investment in mining, energy and related technology in Ukraine.
It is notably more collaborative than the previous deal, which framed US access to Ukrainian natural resources as repayment for the US's previous military aid to Ukraine, without committing to further support. The New Deal, unlike previous versions, does not require the immediate transfer of existing plants, ports or Ukraine's gas transmission system to the US. It's been described by one Ukrainian opposition MP as indeed much better than the one proposed in late March.
Ukraine's first Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Sviradenko, has flown to Washington to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, with the two expected to sign the deal today. Iran has executed a man alleged of having links to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, accusing him of engaging in acts of sabotage inside Iran. The man, an Iranian national, was executed on Wednesday morning.
It comes amid ongoing talks between Iran and the US over Iran's nuclear program. The Trump administration is attempting to impose restrictions on Iran to ensure it cannot access a nuclear weapon. In return, the US would lift sanctions on Iran. Both the US and Israel, its close ally in the Middle East, have threatened military strikes against Iran if the talks break down.
In recent years, Iran has executed several people it accuses of working on behalf of Mossad, with fears rising in Tehran that Iranian nationals with access to Iran's security, military and intelligence institutions could be helping Israel with acts of sabotage. Finally, Vietnam is today celebrating 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, with celebrations in the capital, Ho Chi Minh City, involving thousands of soldiers and a show of Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters.
According to Vietnamese state media, 118 Chinese troops were also marching with Vietnamese soldiers and policemen. reflecting warming ties between Vietnam and China. The anniversary marks the date of the first act of the country's reunification on 30 April 1975, when communist North Vietnam seized Saigon, the capital of the US-backed South.
about two years after the US's withdrawal from the country. It ended a 20-year conflict that killed around 3 million Vietnamese people, as many as 2 million of whom were civilians, and 60,000 Americans. After the war, Saigon was then renamed Ho Chi Minh City, in honour of the North's founding leader, Ho Chi Minh.
That's all for today. We'll be back with you tomorrow, so make sure you're subscribed wherever you listen. In the meantime, you can check out the latest episode of our podcast, The World Leader Leaderboard. where we discuss which heads of government are doing well and who's doing badly every week. You can find the link in the podcast description. This was a TLDR News production hosted by Georgina Finlay, written by Rory Taylor and Georgina Finlay, and produced by Scarlet Watchon.
Thanks for listening and we'll be back again tomorrow.