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OAKLAND — A hand-crafted sign outside the downtown Social Security Administration office mimicked a street sign, depicting the intersection of “Prosecute” and “Trump.” The chants came from about 50 people surrounding it, holding furious signs aimed at President Donald Trump and Elon Musk: “Hands off! Hands off! Hands off!”

In downtown Concord, several hundred carried signs — “There are more protesters here than there are billionaires on Earth,” read one — while yelling, “Hey ho, Trump must go.” At Santana Row in San Jose, a sign taped to a cardboard figure of Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, read: “Looter in Chief.”

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Similar sights and chants have appeared across the nation in demonstrations last month and on May 1. The protests against Trump and Musk have carried one central theme: Leave the Social Security system alone.

“You know,” protester Ernest Johnson, a longtime postal worker, said as he walked in Oakland, “there are just some things you shouldn’t even have a thought to do. This is one of those things. My Social Security is my Social Security.” read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s latest and most sweeping tariffs — with federal data showing an enormous stockpiling of pharmaceutical products.

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The deficit — which measures the gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. sells abroad against what it buys — has roughly doubled over the last year. In March 2024, Commerce Department records show, that gap was just under $68.6 billion.

According to federal data released on Tuesday, U.S. exports for goods and services totaled about $278.5 billion in March, while imports climbed to nearly $419 billion. That’s up $500 million and $17.8 billion, respectively, from February trade. read more

By Tim Henderson, Stateline.org

More new apartments were built in 2024 than in any other year since 1974, but the Trump administration’s tariffs and deportations of potential construction workers, plus higher interest rates, could be a wet blanket on the boom.

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A U.S. Census Bureau survey found almost 592,000 new apartments were finished last year, the most since the 1970s, when baby boomers sparked a construction surge as they moved out of their childhood homes. There were 693,000 new apartments built in 1974, when the country had about half as many households. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

DoorDash said Tuesday that demand for deliveries remained strong in the first quarter even as more Americans feel increasingly uneasy about the U.S. economy.

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“We haven’t seen any changes in consumer behavior even if there are changes in consumer sentiment,” co-founder and CEO Tony Xu said in a call with investors. “Food really is the most resilient category.”

Total orders climbed 18% to 732 million, a quarterly record. DoorDash said demand for grocery delivery surpassed prior quarters, with more than 25% of active users ordering groceries. DoorDash said it also added U.S. restaurants to its platform and broadened its geographic reach. read more

By ALAN SUDERMAN

In the crypto world, meme coins are mostly just jokes with no intrinsic value. But the Trump family is parlaying the president’s meme coin into two valuable commodities: serious cash and access to the president.

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Since the coin was launched earlier this year, it has generated more than $320 million in fees for its creators, according to the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. And on Monday, Trump promoted a dinner he’s set to attend on May 22nd that’s open to almost anyone who buys enough of the coins. read more