Latest Trump Layoffs Target Thousands of Federal Workers
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I'm just playing. Get the Angel Reef Special at McDonald's now. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. And participating restaurants for a limited time. Here is your morning brief for Friday, February 14th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. Federal workers who have been on the job for less than a year are being targeted in a new round of layoffs in Washington.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, more than 200,000 employees, nearly 10 percent of the civilian federal workforce, fit that definition. It isn't immediately clear how many of them have been fired, though so-called probationary workers at the U.S. Forest Service, the Energy Department, and OPM were pushed out yesterday, according to federal worker union staff and people familiar with the matter.

Apple and Google have added TikTok back to their mobile app stores in the U.S. weeks after removing it to comply with the U.S. ban that President Trump has temporarily halted. The tech companies had kept TikTok off of their app stores until now, with analysts saying they could still face some legal risks despite assurances from the Trump administration. According to a person familiar with the matter, Apple decided to restore the app after a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

And Shein and Taimou are looking for workarounds to keep selling to the U.S. before they potentially lose a duty-free provision. Shein has been offering incentives to suppliers to encourage them to set up production in Vietnam, while Taimou has raised prices on its website and increased pressure on suppliers to store inventory in the U.S., its biggest market.

Sheehan denied it was trying to get suppliers to produce in Vietnam. Taimou didn't respond to requests for comment. Asian stocks have end-of-the-day mixed, European stocks are looking for direction in midday trading, and U.S. stock futures are little changed ahead of January retail sales and industrial production data due out this morning.

And we've got a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.