| Welcome back to On The Money, where we're keeping the staff of the Capital Gazette and their loved ones in our thoughts tonight. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis. THE BIG DEAL: Economic growth in the first quarter was slower than initially reported, well below the Trump administration's expectations. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2 percent in the January to March quarter, down from the previous estimate of 2.2 percent, the Commerce Department reported in its third and final estimate on Thursday. Growth was much slower than the 2.9 percent pace in the final three months of last year. President Trump has been riding high on solid jobs numbers, arguing that his economic strategy of lower taxes and fewer regulations is driving better results. But there is growing anxiety that Trump's tit-for-tat tariffs with key allies and China could risk any gains from the new tax law implemented earlier this year. The Hill's Vicki Needham has more here. LEADING THE DAY Trump fires up feud Harley-Davidson: Trump on Thursday warned Harley-Davidson not to "get cute" with the U.S., ramping up his spat with the motorcycle manufacturer over its plans to move some of its production overseas. The remarks came during a speech Trump gave at the groundbreaking of a new Wisconsin factory for Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn. Trump, who traveled to the state to tout the Foxconn project and his administration's economic successes, pleaded with Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson to keep its production sites in the U.S. "We want to tell, by the way, Harley-Davidson, please build those beautiful motorcycles in the USA, please, OK? Don't get cute with us. Don't get cute," Trump said. "They don't realize the taxes are coming way down. Spent a lot of time with them," Trump continued. "Build them in the USA. Your customers won't be happy if you don't." The Hill's Brett Samuels has more from the rally here. Trump nominee vows to restore 'trust' in IRS: President Trump's nominee to lead the IRS pledged in his confirmation hearing on Thursday to restore "trust" in the agency. "If I am privileged to serve as commissioner, my overriding goal will be to strengthen and rebuild the trust between the IRS, the American people and their representatives in Congress," IRS Commissioner nominee Chuck Rettig told the Senate Finance Committee. "That trust is critical to all that the IRS does, particularly as it works with the Department of Treasury to implement once-in-a-generation tax-reform legislation enacted by Congress last year."
Senators from both parties pressed Rettig to keep the agency free from political interference, and he in turn vowed to run the IRS in an "impartial and unbiased manner." "I would hope that the members of this committee and the American taxpayers see me as staunchly independent," he told the lawmakers. The Hill's Naomi Jagoda takes us to the hearing. Kentucky bourbon targeted in trade war: Retaliatory trade actions against the U.S. in response to President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs are poised to inflict significant economic damage on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state of Kentucky and its bourbon industry. Last week, the European Union imposed a 25 percent duty on all U.S. whiskey products, part of $3.8 billion in tariffs on American goods. That came after Mexico slapped on a similar tariff for American whiskey exports, which amounted to $13.4 million last year. And starting July 1, Canada will impose a 10 percent tariff on all U.S. whiskey products, valued at $48.7 million in 2017. But despite pressure at home to fight back against the tariffs targeting an industry synonymous with Kentucky, McConnell has not spoken out forcefully against the administration's trade strategy, beyond saying in a speech in Louisville earlier this month that Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs "will not be good for the economy." The Hill's Vicki Needham and I tell you about the mounting pressure on McConnell to take a harder line. MARKET CHECK: CNBC: "Equities rebounded from earlier losses Thursday afternoon as both bank and technology stocks led the three major indexes higher. "The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 98.46 points to finish at 24,216.05 after briefly falling 100 points earlier in the session, with Boeing as the best-performing stock in the index. The S&P 500 closed 0.62 percent higher at 2,716.31 as financials, technology and telecoms outperformed. The Nasdaq composite finished up 0.79 percent at 7,503.68 as Amazon rose 2.4 percent after buying an online pharmacy" GOOD TO KNOW - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday charged a former Equifax manager with insider trading, alleging that he profited from bets based on nonpublic information about the company's 2017 data breach.
- The Federal Reserve on Thursday gave clean bills of health to most of the largest American banks, freeing them to pay big dividends and repurchase their own shares, but it forced two Wall Street giants, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to freeze such payouts at last year's levels, according to the New York Times.
- Acting CFPB chief Mick Mulvaney cut in half a fine that his Obama-era predecessor sought against a payday lender and dropped some of the agency's earlier claims in the case, according to Reuters.
- Three Democratic lawmakers asked the SEC to investigate whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated federal insider trading laws.
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin won a battle inside the Trump administration over trade policy this week after a series of setbacks as he tries to ease economic tensions with China, according to Bloomberg.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee wrapped up its markups of all twelve 2019 spending bills Thursday, advancing the goal of a return to "regular order" in a budgetary process that has been widely derided for decades as dysfunctional.
ODDS AND ENDS - The Trump-backed Foxconn deal will cost Wisconsin taxpayers $370,000 per each job it creates.
- At least $16.1 million has been spent by Republican groups, the Trump campaign and government agencies at Trump Organization-branded properties since he started his 2016 presidential campaign, a new ProPublica analysis reveals.
- Special counsel Robert Mueller's office is investigating how several billionaires tied to Russia were given access to President Trump's exclusive, invitation-only inauguration parties, ABC News reported Thursday.
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