The Daily Herold: April 30, 2025 – Tariff Battles, Media Traps, and the War on Leaks

In this pre-recorded edition of The Daily Herold, Jon Herold checks in from Plymouth ahead of GART to break down a fast-moving news cycle packed with economic shakeups, narrative control tactics, and the GOP’s ongoing civil war. Jon unpacks Trump’s escalating trade war, including the backlash from Amazon’s decision to publicly display tariff costs on product listings, a move Trump’s team slammed as politically motivated. He highlights the administration’s strategic use of tariffs to drive tax relief and domestic investment, with Scott Bessent outlining plans to fund tax breaks for working Americans using revenue from foreign imports.

Jon also digs into Trump's tough stance on leaks, detailing new polygraph testing across national security agencies and the Justice Department’s expanded authority to subpoena journalists. He shares mixed thoughts on the ethics and effectiveness of polygraphs and anonymous sourcing, but applauds the administration’s aggressive push to root out deep state sabotage.

Additional stories include the economic narrative war over Q1 GDP data, the launch of a federal election integrity task force in New Jersey, Congress’s failure to act meaningfully while handing out gold medals, and the growing threat of GOP obstruction to Trump’s tariff agenda. With sharp takes on the MS-13 narrative trap, Trump’s foreign investment deals, and Greg Abbott’s speech policing, this episode delivers a wide-angle lens on the first 100 days of disruption.