FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank cut interest rates Thursday for the seventh time to counter worries about economic growth fueled by President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.
The bank’s move should support economic activity in the 20 countries that use the euro currency by making credit more affordable for consumers and businesses.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a post-decision news conference that “the major escalation in global trade tensions and the associated uncertainty will likely lower euro area growth by dampening exports."
"And it may drag down investment and consumption," she said.
The bank’s rate-setting council decided at a meeting in Frankfurt to lower its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25%. The bank has been steadily cutting rates after raising them sharply to combat an outbreak of inflation from 2022 to 2023.
Now that inflation has fallen, growth worries have taken center stage. The economy in the 20 countries that use the euro grew a modest 0.2% in the last three months of 2024. Inflation was 2.2% in March, close to the bank’s target of 2%.
The cut was widely expected by analysts given the sudden shadow cast over the eurozone’s growth outlook by Trump’s April 2 announcement of unexpectedly high tariffs, or import tax, on goods from other countries starting at 10% and ranging as high as 49%. The European Union faces a 20% tariff.
At the bank’s last meeting on March 6, Lagarde had raised the possibility of an upcoming “pause” in the bank’s series of rate cuts. But that option was practically eliminated by Trump’s announcement.
The bank’s benchmark steers rates throughout the economy. Lower interest rates make it less expensive to borrow money and buy goods ranging from homes to new factory equipment. That supports spending, business investment and hiring.
Trump has suspended the tariffs for 90 days, but the possibility of the 20% tariff rate he has proposed for Europe left economists and policymakers concerned that the higher costs will weigh on business activity — and lead to slower growth or even a recession if he carries through. The U.S. is Europe’s largest trade partner with some 4.4 billion euros ($5 billion) in goods and services crossing the Atlantic every day in both directions.
Uncertainty is another factor that could slow the economy since Trump’s pause for negotiations leaves it unclear where the tariff rate will actually settle. Businesses may hold off on making decisions if they don’t know what their costs will be.
European Union officials have offered Trump a “zero for zero” option that would see both sides dropping tariffs on industrial goods including cars. But Trump has said that won't be enough, and raised the possibility of Europe importing large additional quantities of US liquefied natural gas.
Economists at Berenberg bank think that by midyear some of the tariffs will be negotiated away, ending at around 12%. However that is still around 10 percentage points higher than average tariffs before Trump. in addition to that comes a separate 25% tariff on autos, aluminum and steel from all countries. The auto tariff will hit Europe’s prominent auto industry hard - and Trump has indicated it is is not up for negotiation.
Lagarde said the “cloud of uncertainty” over tariffs meant that rate decisions going forward would have to be taken on a meeting by meeting basis depending on what happens during the 90-day tariff truce.
“There is a negotiation which is ongoing, players around the tables have stated their position, proposals have been made, at least on one side, but all of that could change," she said.
"There’s a degree of unpredictability which adds to the uncertainty.”
President of European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, arrives for a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
FILE - The European Central Bank rises silhouetted against the blue sky, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP, File)
One of the teenagers who killed three people at a San Diego mosque this week had been flagged to law enforcement last year for exhibiting alarming behavior and idolizing Nazis, prompting police to confiscate his father's guns, according to court records.
The officers who conducted a welfare check at the home of Caleb Vazquez wrote that he was “involved in suspicious behavior idolizing nazis and mass shooters,” and obtained a court order on Jan. 29, 2025, to remove 26 guns under a 2014 California law allowing the confiscation of firearms from people considered dangerous.
Vazquez’s parents had voluntarily surrendered the guns days earlier, according to an affidavit signed by Marco Vazquez, the father.
Authorities have said Vazquez, 18, met Cain Clark, 17, online, where they both were radicalized. Police haven't shared more details about how they knew each other, or specified whose weapons were used in the shooting.
Cain Clark’s mother told law enforcement that weapons were missing from her home on Monday, kicking off an hourslong search for the teens before they committed the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego and then killed themselves, police said.
Court filings show Vazquez decided to “secure all sharp knives in the home” and surrender the firearms that they had kept in a secure gun safe when they became aware of unspecified serious allegations against their son. He was also previously committed to an involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. The court filings, first reported by The New York Times, didn't say what he was admitted for.
The Vazquez family said in a statement released Thursday that Caleb Vazquez was on the autism spectrum and had grown to resent parts of his identity — but didn’t specify what aspects were challenging to him.
“Coming from a diverse family that not only includes immigrants but Muslims as well, we always taught the importance of acceptance, compassion, and love for one another. We are proud of the different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and religions within our family and community,” their statement said.
“We believe this, combined with exposure to hateful rhetoric, extremist content, and propaganda spread across parts of the internet, social media, and other online platforms, contributed to his descent into radicalized ideologies and violent beliefs,” said their statement, released through their attorney Colin Rudolph.
They encouraged him to seek help and he spent time in rehabilitation centers, the statement said. Vazquez's parents did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment from The Associated Press. An attorney who represented Vazquez's parents when their guns were confiscated also didn't immediately respond to calls.
In writings by Vazquez and Clark that expressed white supremacist views, Vazquez wrote of having “some mental health issues” and being rejected by women. They suggest both teenagers idolized previous shooters who have died while carrying out mass shootings. The writings expressed hatred toward Jewish people, Muslims, Black people and a range of other groups.
Vazquez left the San Diego Unified School District in June 2018 after attending Washington Elementary up until the 5th grade, district spokesperson James Canning told The Associated Press. It’s unclear where he went to school after that.
Clark was enrolled in a virtual high school in the district, Canning said.
Police began searching for the teens on Monday after Clark's mother called to say her son was suicidal and ran away. She told them he was dressed in camouflage, had taken multiple weapons from the home, and was with an acquaintance, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said earlier this week.
Officers were still interviewing the mother about places the teens might be when the shooting began at the county's largest mosque.
Vazquez's father said in a 2025 court statement that his family made a concerted effort to steer Caleb Vazquez back onto the right track. He said when they surrendered their weapons, they were in communication with his school, were monitoring his social media presence closely and he was in therapy twice a week.
“We observe all of his online activities, who he talks to, what he talks about, and who he is friends with,” Marco Vazquez wrote, emphasizing that he didn't support his son's ideology.
Some experts say it's increasingly difficult to help people drawn to the kind of radicalism Vazquez and Clark expressed.
Samira Benz works for the Violence Prevention Network, which conducts interventions when people are radicalized into believing in violent extremism. Benz said the work has become increasingly complicated as the internet blurs ideologies and creates niche, meme-based languages that can be fleeting and hard to decipher.
“Even if a parent is looking at the phone of their child, they don’t necessarily see something bad is going on,” Benz said.
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Associated Press writers Julie Watson and Javier Arciga in San Diego contributed.
People embrace outside the security office of the Islamic Center of San Diego, a day after a shooting, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Two people pray during a vigil, the day after a shooting, outside of the Islamic Center of San Diego, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Candles with victims names are placed outside the Islamic Center of San Diego in the aftermath of a shooting on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ty Oneil)
