More than 103,000 jobs were created in March as the unemployment rate remained stable into April. At the start of the quarter, the U.S. stock market experienced daily sell-offs and recoveries due to a burgeoning U.S.–China trade war and increased political scrutiny of American business icons Amazon and Facebook.[1][2] In May, the U.S. Labor Department reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.9% for April and an increase of 164,000 jobs. Wages grew by 2.6%. Hiring gains were broad based with jobs being added in the fields of professional and business services, health care, manufacturing, and mining.[3]
After the FBI and federal prosecutors raid the home, hotel room, and office of President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, Trump brands the raid as "an attack on our country in a true sense".[11]
Regarding firing special counsel Robert Mueller, President Trump says, "Many people have said you should fire him", and "We'll see what happens".[12]
President Trump sends a series of tweets attacking James Comey, the fired FBI director, as a liar and a "slimeball" and suggests Comey should be in jail.[23][24]
President Trump orders missile strikes against Syria in retaliation for the chemical weapons attack on April 7 and challenges Iran and Russia to decide if they will continue to support the Assad regime.[25] President Trump in his address to the nation from the White House stated "A short time ago, I ordered the U.S. Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, a combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way."
President Trump's new lawyer, Joanna Hendon, a partner at New York's Spears & Imes law firm, represents him at a hearing concerning Michael Cohen.[30]
Tuesday, April 17
President Trump meets with Japanese Prime MinisterShinzō Abe for the first of two days of meetings and events to discuss trade, security, and Trump's expected meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this spring.[31]
President Trump announces that CIA director Mike Pompeo had travelled to North Korea over the Easter Weekend and met with Kim Jong-un to discuss and plan for Trump's visit.[32]
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley responds to a claim by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow that she was confused when she announced a rollout of sanctions on Russia by commenting, "With all due respect, I don't get confused."[33]
Wednesday, April 18
President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe conduct a joint news conference after their second day of meetings.[34]
President Trump uses Twitter to attack New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman following an article she wrote about his poor treatment of Michael Cohen and that Cohen may cooperate with prosecutors as a result.[37]
Sunday, April 22
President Trump tweets a claim that North Korea has agreed to denuclearize.[38][39]
Stormy Daniels files a defamation lawsuit against Trump for his "total con job" tweet about the forensic sketch of a man who allegedly threatened her in 2011.[53]
President Trump speaks at the National Day of Prayer service in the Rose Garden.[60]
Friday, May 4
Over the preceding week, four EPA officials have resigned: Albert "Kell" Kelly, the top Superfund advisor; Pasquale Perrotta, the head of Administrator Pruitt's security detail; Associate Administrator Liz Bowman; and today John Konkus, deputy Associate Administrator for public affairs.
The Trump administration ends temporary protected status for Hondurans, leaving potentially 57,000 people vulnerable to deportation.[61]
First Lady Melania Trump announces the launch of her Be Best anti-cyber bullying initiative.[65]
Tuesday, May 8
The White House denies a New York Times report that President Trump has privately told French President Emmanuel Macron the U.S. is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.[66]
President Trump announces in a speech that the U.S. will withdraw from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions.[67]
Kelly Sadler, a White House official, mocks Senator John McCain, saying his opposition to Gina Haspel, Trump's nominee for CIA director, "doesn't matter, he's dying anyway".[71]
Saturday, May 12
Sunday, May 13
Week 70
Monday, May 14
A report shows the Trump administration is concerned about chemically polluted water supplies near military installations.[72][73]
Tuesday, May 15
The Trump administration eliminates the White House's top cyber security policy role. Rob Joyce, the coordinator, is no longer at the White House.[74]
President Trump submits a disclosure of personal finances which is required by the Office of Government Ethics. Trump acknowledges that Michael Cohen was paid between $100,000 and $250,000 in 2017.[76][77]
President Trump announces the nomination of acting VA secretary Robert Wilkie to head the agency. At the same White House event he expressed his "sadness and heartbreak" over the Santa Fe school shooting.[81][82]
Mark Inch, the director of Federal Prisons, resigns.[84]
Saturday, May 19
Sunday, May 20
Week 71
Monday, May 21
President Trump requests the Justice Department investigate whether his campaign was "infiltrated" by the FBI. The inspector general will review the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign.[85]
Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin announces the administration will not implement its planned tariffs on China.[86]
Reporters from CNN and The Associated Press are denied entry and forcibly removed from the PFAS National Leadership Summit event at the EPA where Scott Pruitt was to speak.[89]
President Trump signs the Securely Expediting Clearances Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2018.[90][91]
Wednesday, May 23
Thursday, May 24
President Trump posthumously pardons heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson.[92]
President Trump cancels the proposed June nuclear summit with North Korea via a letter to Kim Jong-un.[88]
Raj Shah announces via email that Kelly Sadler, a member of the White House communications staff, is "...no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President".[100]
Thursday, June 7
President Trump holds a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe at the White House.[101]
After President Trump leaves the 44th G7 summit early, he withdraws the United States' endorsement of a joint communique by the G7, and labels Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "Very dishonest & meek".[105]
President Trump also addresses Trudeau by saying the Trump tariffs targeting Canada "are in response to his of 270% on dairy!" In the tweet, Trump did not cite national security, the legal basis for implementing the tariff.[106]
Sunday, June 10
Trade adviser Peter Navarro says there is "a special place in hell for" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for having employed "bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door... that comes right from Air Force One."[107]
Politico reports that Trump frequently and routinely would tear up papers he received, resulting in government officials' taping them together for archiving to ensure he had not violated the Presidential Records Act.[108]
President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un sign a joint declaration titled "Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit".[110]
Wednesday, June 13
Thursday, June 14
Friday, June 15
The Department of Homeland Security states that between April 19 and May 31, 2018, there were 1,995 migrant children separated at the Mexico–United States border from 1,940 adults who are being held for criminal prosecution for an illegal border crossing.[111]
President Trump says in response to the situation: "I hate to see separation of parents and children... I hate the children being taken away." Trump then falsely blames the Democrats for the situation when it was the Trump administration's own "zero tolerance" policy announced on April 6, 2018, which is responsible for spurring the separations.[112] He also says he "certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate" immigration bill proposed by House leaders with input from moderate Republicans and the White House.[113]
The Washington Post quotes a White House official as saying that Trump's decision to enforce the current immigration law is "force people to the table" to negotiate on laws in Congress.[114] Meanwhile, Trump tweets: "Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration."[115]
^"THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION—APRIL 2018"(PDF). www.bls.gov. US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 22, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
^"Statement". US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Department of Homeland Security. April 30, 2018. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.