• David's Bridal shifted production from China to avoid tariffs, CEO Kelly Cook told Business Insider.
• The company reduced China-based production from over 50% to about 30% in recent months.
• David's Bridal is also exploring the feasibility of producing wedding dresses in the US.

The largest bridal retailer in the US started shifting its production out of China months ago in anticipation of the Trump administration's tariffs.

David's Bridal CEO Kelly Cook told Business Insider the company was not "tariff-proof" but "tariff-resilient" going into April, when President Donald Trump's latest tariff push sent companies around the world scrambling and financial markets tanking.

Cook, who took over as CEO on April 1, said the company has 36 design and production facilities around the world, including in China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, and India. That diversified production allowed the company to proactively respond to potential tariffs.

By the time Trump announced a 145% tariff on goods from China last week, the company had already largely shifted production to its facilities elsewhere.

Cook said that over the past few months the company decreased its China-based production from over 50% of its total to about 30%, a move that was possible due to the production that was already ongoing in other countries.

"We want to do everything in our power not to pass anything on to the customer," Cook said, adding that as of last week, David's Bridal had not raised prices as a result of tariffs.

The majority of bridal gowns sold in the US are produced in China, making the industry highly susceptible to the impacts of Trump's trade war. Independent bridal shops recently told BI that about 90% of their gowns were made in China and that, in some cases, wholesale wedding dress prices were already rising as a result of tariffs.

The average wedding dress sold in the US retails for around $2,000 according to wedding planning website The Knot, so the steep tariffs on China could result in brides or bridal shops being hit with a hefty additional cost. And for couples getting married, that increase would be on top of the average cost of a wedding in the US, which The Knot puts at $33,000.

In addition to moving its own production out of China, David's Bridal is also helping some of the manufacturers it partners with move their operations out of the country and to some of its other facilities.

Cook said the company also has about 300,000 gowns already state-side in its 193 stores located throughout the US, so they wouldn't be subject to tariffs.

"We are very focused on ensuring that that level of inventory stays voluminous so we can anticipate needs like this," she said.

Cook added that with so much uncertainty around tariffs, David's Bridal is focusing on the factors it can control — "optimizing, looking at cost controls, moving production," she said. "We'll just continue to stay focused on that until the dust settles on all of the tariffs."

David's Bridal is also exploring the possibility of producing gowns in the US. Cook said the company is visiting a potential manufacturing location in June to evaluate if production could occur stateside.

The National Bridal Retailers Association, which represents about 6,000 independent bridal shops, recently told BI that the US does not currently have the infrastructure to produce the quality of dresses at scale that can be produced in China.

"There's no doubt that we can find the labor and the talent in the US to do the same thing," Cook said. "It's about timing and location and other economic factors like capital and so forth that we will evaluate."

• As a reporter who covers overtourism, I was a bit nervous to visit Venice.
• I visited in March and found going in the offseason was a great way to avoid crowds.
• Here are my best tips for visiting Venice and getting away from all the tourists.

Venice is famous for its palace-lined canals, old-school gondola rides, and iconic landmarks dating back a millennium, but it has also come to be associated with something a lot less desirable: overtourism.

As a reporter who covers overtourism — and someone who prefers to travel off the beaten path — I was well aware of the problems facing Venice when I decided to visit.

The Italian city draws an estimated 20 million visitors each year, with the vast majority sweeping in just for the day to catch a selfie with the Bridge of Sighs and then bounce. Venice has taken steps to counter the impacts of overtourism, including enacting a fee of about $5 for day trippers during the busy season and limiting cruise ship arrivals. But it's an ongoing problem for the historic city.

Although I had heard the horror stories of huge crowds making it difficult just to walk over its iconic bridges, I was determined to avoid the same fate. And while there were still plenty of tourists when I visited in late March, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was nothing like what I had feared, and I mostly managed to avoid the hordes of tourists.

Here are three things I did that made a huge difference.

Go in the offseason

You know all those shots you've seen of massive crowds near Venice's Rialto Bridge or St. Mark's Basilica? They all have something in common: they were taken during the busy season.

For Venice, that's generally considered April through October, with each month drawing well over half a million visitors in 2023, according to data from the city. July, the busiest month, and August both drew more than 600,000 visitors. November to March, in contrast, is considered the "slow" season, drawing less than 400,000 visitors a month in 2023.

Sustainable tourism experts have previously told me that a key driver of overtourism is not the total visitor numbers but that people often want to visit the exact same places at the same time.

That was evident as I traveled through Venice, experiencing a fraction of the crowd sizes that I had braced myself for.

I visited a TikTok-famous bookstore that online reviewers said they waited an hour to get into and that there was not enough crowd control. But when I got there I simply wandered in, looked at the books, noticed some tourists taking selfies, and then moved on.

I got a last-minute lunch reservation at a beloved local restaurant that some travelers online said I should book well in advance. Instead, I booked the day before and there were several time slots available. There were also last-minute timed entry slots available for main attractions like Doge's Palace and Gallerie dell'Accademia.

And we walked right into Caffe Florian, which claims to be the oldest coffeehouse in Italy that dates back to the 1700s and sits right on St. Mark's Square. Folks online said there was a long wait to sit and the coffee was overpriced — it's the kind of touristy thing I would normally avoid. But when we walked by and saw there was plenty of open seating, inside and outside, we walked right in, sat down, and enjoyed a fancy coffee in a gorgeous, old-school café without any of the crowd-induced chaos I had been warned about.

This happened time and time again in Venice.

Restaurants right along the Grand Canal in the most touristy areas seemed to always have seats available. The longest line I saw was probably for a gelato shop that's beloved on TikTok, Suso, and even that looked to be about a 10-minute wait.

The offseason months may not have the best weather, but visiting during a shoulder season month like March felt like the best of both worlds. It was warm enough but not hot, requiring only a jacket and sometimes not even needing it, and we only experienced a little bit of drizzling rain. Personally, I would take that weather any day over the sweltering heat of July.

Stay in a residential neighborhood and let yourself wander

Though Venice is made up of over a hundred islands, the main island, or historic center, is about 2 square miles, so it's not exactly big enough to totally escape the tourists, which I've personally found to be a lot easier in big, sprawling cities like Rome or Paris.

But choosing to stay out of the most touristy neighborhoods goes a long way in insulating you from the crowds. San Marco is the most popular neighborhood for tourists to stay in Venice, and it has the souvenir shops to prove it.

Instead of choosing somewhere closer to the main sites, I decided to stay in Cannaregio, one of the most residential districts of Venice's historic center, which only has about 50,000 permanent residents.

Cannaregio was a lot quieter and had a more authentic feel than the more popular areas of Venice, but it was still not too far to walk to the main sites. The district had a seemingly endless number of quiet paths and canals to explore, allowing us to take in the beauty of Venice without another soul in sight. We visited restaurants and bars that were full of locals, as well as tourists. We saw groups of local preteens sitting on the canals and small kids in soccer uniforms walking home with their parents.

I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised to see real glimpses of local life so close to the overly touristy areas.

Visit another island

We had about four days to explore Venice, a city where most people don't even spend the night, and those who do spend an average of just over two, according to city data. But staying longer encouraged us to venture even further out of the historic center.

We took a ferry — basically, Venice's equivalent of a public bus — to Murano, a small island that is famous for its glassmaking and that essentially feels like a quieter and smaller version of the main island.

Even though it was only about 10 minutes by boat from the historic center, Murano was much quieter than Venice, making it even easier to wander without having to worry about overcrowding. It felt almost like a little getaway from the hustle and bustle of the main island, and sipping Aperol on the canal was just so much chiller than a comparable experience in the historic center.

There are other more remote islands you can visit via the public water buses, like Burano, a tiny fishing village with rows of colorful homes, and Torcello, the historic island where Venice began with only a handful of residents left.

Manage your expectations

Venice surpassed my expectations and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I anticipated. If you travel to Venice expecting to find quaint images of authentic, untouched, historic Venetian and Italian life, you may be disappointed.

But you'll likely see why it draws so many people from all over the world in the first place if you can manage your expectations, take some of these tips, and keep in mind you are visiting a place for which tourism has been a significant part of its economy since the end of the 18th century.

• Harvard rejected the Trump administration's demands to change myriad policies.
• The administration responded by freezing $2.2 billion in grants to the university.
• The administration has sought to exercise greater control of affairs at several elite universities.

President Donald Trump's administration said it was freezing $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University on Monday after the school rejected a series of demands to change its policies or risk losing its federal funding.

"No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," university president Alan M. Garber wrote in a letter on Monday.

"These ends will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate," he continued. "The work of addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is ours to define and undertake as a community."

Later on Monday, the Trump administration said in a statement it was freezing $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts.

"Harvard's statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges — that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," said the joint statement, which was issued by the General Services Administration, the Department of Education, and Health and Human Services.

The Trump administration has demanded Harvard cut its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and make changes to certain programs that his administration feels have fueled "antisemitic harassment."

"Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration," lawyers for Harvard wrote in a letter to administration officials.

The Trump administration announced in March that it was reviewing approximately $9 billion in federal grants and contracts given to Harvard as part of its investigation into how institutions have tackled antisemitism.

The administration also asked Harvard to make changes to its admissions process and work with immigration officials.

The move by Harvard makes it the first university to fight back against the Trump administration over funding threats.

Harvard's decision comes after Columbia University, another Ivy League institution, recently agreed to meet a series of demands in order to obtain $400 million in restored federal grant and contract funding that the administration canceled last month.

Columbia announced that it had agreed to bring onboard nearly 40 "special officers" who would have the power to remove individuals from its campus or arrest them, if needed. It also agreed to ban face masks on campus for the intent of withholding identification, although exceptions are carved out for religious or health reasons. And it agreed to tap a new senior vice provost to oversee the university's Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies.

A week after agreeing to Trump's demands, the interim head of Columbia resigned.

• Trump's tariffs on China could mean higher prices for wedding dresses.
• Some 90% of wedding gowns are made in China.
• David's Bridal says it's working to shift production outside China to avoid the added costs.

As if planning a wedding wasn't already stressful enough, President Donald Trump's trade war could make it even pricier to say "I do."

The Trump administration has issued a combined 145% tariff on many imports from China, where the vast majority of wedding dresses are produced.

That means the average wedding dress — which retails for about $2,000, according to a survey by The Knot, a wedding planning site — could end up more than twice as expensive if retailers pass the additional costs down to the consumer.

Bridal retailers told Business Insider that the tariffs have been a huge disruption to their industry. The National Bridal Retailers Association, which represents over 6,000 independent brick-and-mortar bridal stores around the United States, said as many as 90% of bridal gowns are produced in China.

"The overriding feeling is despair," Angie Oven, a bridal shop owner and president of the NBRA, told BI after a meeting she held with 75 of the group's members. "There's a little bit of PTSD right now because a lot of us really just recovered from COVID."

Oven, who owns The Bridal Gallery in Salem, Oregon, said shops are working closely with manufacturers to find solutions. The group is also appealing to lawmakers to push for bridal gowns to be added to a tariff exemption list.

"Our No. 1 goal is to be removed from the tariff list," Sandra Gonzalez, vice president of NBRA and owner of Sparkle Bridal Couture in Sacramento, said.

Although Americans often associate China with cheap goods, bridal shop owners said the quality of dresses produced in China at scale is remarkable, from the lace to the boning to the sometimes 10,000 beads handsewn onto the gowns.

"We do not have the infrastructure to produce the quality of goods that brides are demanding of us," Gonzalez said. "To build the factories and train the people, that would take a whole generation."

Price increases and uncertainty

Alicia Adams, owner of Her's Bridal & Special Occasion in Minden, Louisiana, said the price of gowns is already going up. Some manufacturers are raising the wholesale price of gowns by as much as 30%, while others are, at least for now, trying to absorb the cost.

"Now that it's over 100%, obviously those manufacturers and designers aren't able to absorb those costs," she told BI. "They're going to have to pass it down to us, which means we would have to pass it down to our brides."

Adams said some bridal stores might try to absorb the costs, but at the current tariff rate, it likely won't be feasible. Some might instead absorb 50% and then pass the other half on to shoppers.

Complicating the situation is that many bridal gowns are made-to-order, meaning some brides have already picked out and paid for dresses now being produced abroad. When those gowns are delivered, they could be hit with a huge tariff for which the bride or the bridal shop never planned.

Vanessa Gerstner, whose wedding is this September in Italy, told BI she's waiting for a dress she ordered in November to arrive from Australia — where tariffs on imported goods are 10%.

"I'm hoping that I won't get another huge charge on top of what I've already paid, but since it is being shipped directly to me and not a bridal salon, I think, from my understanding, I would have to eat that cost," she said.

She said the additional fee "isn't terrible," especially compared to other brides who are now opting for cheaper dresses than they originally planned due to the increased tariff costs.

Bridal consultant Alina Garza, who works at One Bridal in Annapolis, Maryland, said in a video posted to TikTok last week that dress designers have already reached out to her to say they'll be raising prices by up to 20%. Two are US designers that source fabric from India and China, she later told BI by direct message.

One commenter said she was "not able to sleep over this" and planned to have items from China shipped to Mexico, where she would pick them up. Another said the factory making her dress has paused all shipments.

Shifting production out of China

Trump has said one of his motivations for the tariffs is to encourage more manufacturing in the United States. But while big bridal companies are considering shifting production out of China, they aren't necessarily looking at the United States.

Kelly Cook, CEO of David's Bridal, the largest wedding retailer in the United States, told BI that the company is not "tariff-proof" but "tariff-resilient," in part because it has 36 design and production facilities around the world, including in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Myanmar.

In anticipation of tariffs, the company has been proactively shifting its production out of China over the past few months. Cook said the company has lowered its China-based production from 50% of its total just several months ago to 30% today.

The company is also working to help its partners, who primarily manufacture dresses in China, shift production to their facilities in countries that haven't been hit quite as hard by tariffs.

As of Friday, Cook said David's Bridal had not raised prices. "We want to do everything in our power not to pass anything on to the customer," she told BI.

The smaller bridal shops said they were also working with their manufacturers to avoid passing on costs to brides, but the longer the high tariffs remain, the harder that will be. Still, they said many bridal shops now have plenty of gowns in store that brides could take home, free of tariffs.

Adams, who owns the shop in Louisiana, said it's still too soon to tell how severe the impact will be and that she didn't want to cause fear among brides. "We don't want to freak people out and then a month later everything goes back to normal," she said.

Still, Adams is also concerned that if tariffs do raise prices, it could deter brides from visiting their local brick-and-mortar bridal stores, many of which are longtime fixtures on their local main street.

"We hope people in Washington will give a little," she said. "They don't want people to not get married and not celebrate life moments."

• Zillow said it's banning listings that are initially selectively marketed to the public.
• The policy targets the selective sharing of listings before they appear on sites like Zillow.
• Now listings that are made public must be widely shared within a day in order to appear on Zillow.

Zillow announced a new policy Wednesday that it said was motivated by one principle: "A listing marketed to any buyer should be marketed to every buyer."

Under the company's new listing access standards, homes that are listed for sale but only to a limited group — or not made visible to all potential buyers via the common channels — will not be allowed to appear on Zillow.

The policy is a response to a push by some real estate brokerages to selectively share their listings, rather then make them widely visible from the jump, such as on sites like Zillow or Redfin, as Business Insider's James Rodriguez reported Wednesday.

For instance, Compass, the largest real estate brokerage in the US by sales volume, uses a marketing strategy that includes listing properties on a "Coming Soon" page before listing them more widely on sites like Zillow.

Zillow's new policy means that in order for a listing to ever appear on the site, it needs to be submitted to a local database of homes for sale called a Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, and published on sites like Zillow within a day of being initially marketed, on a brokerage's own site, on social media, or via a yard sign.

"Our standards are straightforward: If a listing is marketed directly to consumers without being listed on the MLS and made widely available where buyers search for homes, it will not be published on Zillow," the company's statement said.

Zillow also said the practice of selectively sharing listings hurts consumers and creates confusion in the marketplace.

"It's a bait-and-switch move, where agents or brokerages try to get the best of both worlds — dangling a listing to gain more business, only to turn around and market it widely later," the statement said, adding: "Consumers should not have to wonder whether the home that might be perfect for them is hidden behind a gate they didn't know existed."

• Trump's 90-day tariff pause sent stocks into a rally.
• Airlines and semiconductor companies saw some of the biggest gains.
• China was hit with even higher tariffs, and economists say uncertainty remains.

President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on sweeping tariffs was felt worldwide and in the financial markets, with some stakeholders making out better than others.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump abruptly paused the tariffs, which took effect after midnight early Wednesday morning. Before his rollback, stocks cratered for days amid the volatility brought on by the tariffs.

The reversal quickly sent stocks skyward. The S&P 500 had its biggest single-day gain since 2008 at 9%, while the Dow rose nearly 3,000 points and the Nasdaq surged 12%.

Some business leaders reacted with relief to the move, but not everyone was unscathed. China was hit with even greater tariffs, which Trump said were due to the retaliatory tariffs the country enacted on the US.

Here's who was sitting a bit prettier at market close on Wednesday and who could be worse off.

Winners

Airlines and other travel companies

Travel companies saw some of the biggest market gains on Wednesday, with United Airlines' share price surging 26% and Delta Air Lines' stock rising 23%. Cruise companies did well, too, with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings up 19% and Carnival Corp up 18%. Expedia Group was also up 18% on the day.

"It wasn't just the airlines. All travel brands really were the winners today on Wall Street," Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International, a travel tourism market research consultancy, told BI.

Eylon said two main issues travel companies faced with the tariffs were increased supplier costs on things like aircraft parts, hotel supplies, and building materials, as well as a fear that increased prices across the economy could weaken travel spending.

Semiconductor companies

Intel, Nvidia, and several other semiconductor companies were among the biggest winners regarding share price increases. Both Intel's and Nvidia's share prices rose by around 18%.

Even though semiconductors, or chips, were exempt from tariffs, BI's Emma Cosgrove reported earlier this week that other components used in products that chips are used in could've been affected.

"We're not exactly sure what to do with all this," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note last week. "Most semiconductors enter the US inside other things for which tariffs are likely to have a much bigger influence, hence secondary effects are likely to be far more material."

Tesla and Elon Musk

Tesla's stock rose by 22% on Wednesday, likely a welcome reprieve for a company that's been facing heavy backlash and a declining share price for months.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also emerged as a winner, partly due to the stock price rise. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth increased to $326 billion, up from $290 billion as of the market close a day prior, which was the lowest it had been since November.

Musk had also publicly criticized tariffs in recent days and went after Peter Navarro, the president's top trade advisor, so the pause appeared to give the billionaire what he wanted.

Losers

China

Unlike other US trade partners, China was excluded from the pause on tariffs. Also, Trump said he would raise the tariff rate on China due to the country's retaliatory tariffs. The new total tariff rate for imports from China was 125%.

As Meagan Martin-Schoenberger, a senior economist and trade expert at KPMG, and some other economists have noted, the rise in tariffs for China actually raises the effective tariff rate.

Amazon

Though Amazon's stock price rose around 12% on Wednesday, the hefty tariffs on China could spell trouble for the online retailer because many of the products it sells, directly or through third-party sellers, come from the country.

BI's Eugene Kim previously reported that Morgan Stanley estimated Amazon to be the e-commerce company it covers most exposed to Trump's tariffs, citing the products it sells that come from China.

Not many, for now

All in all, if the stock market is any indication, there weren't many losers from the pause on tariffs. Only nine companies out of the S&P 500 saw their stock value decline on Wednesday (sorry, Dollar General).

Still, time will tell what happens next, including whether the tariffs will be reinstated or if the uncertainty and whiplash of the ordeal will have lasting impacts that are not yet clear.

Neither winners nor losers

Martin-Schoenberger from KPMG said that "winners and losers" may not be the best way to view the situation.

"Even though most countries got a pause the higher rates on China, Canada, and Mexico actually sent the effective tariff rate above what it would have been with no changes," she told Business Insider in an emailed statement, adding this was likely to "accelerate usage of connector countries to avoid tariffs."

"Uncertainty is high which acts like its own tax on the economy," she said, adding that industries with complex supply chains, like cars and tech manufacturing, could be harder hit.

The European Union will pause its retaliatory tariffs on a host of US goods for 90 days, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday, less than 24 hours after Trump's pause.

EU members had only voted to support the countermeasures on Wednesday.

• Gen Z is driving the growth in camping, with many in the generation favoring glamping experiences.
• Camping spending is also rising, and Gen Z spends more daily on the pastime than other generations.
• KOA is expanding glamping options to meet the growing demand for luxury camping.

Camping — the ultimate budget travel option — is more popular than ever with Gen Z.

More campers today are younger, and although they may be looking for an affordable way to travel, they're not afraid to get spendy during their trips, according to Kampgrounds of America's 2025 Camping and Outdoor Hospitality Report, which was released Wednesday.

Toby O'Rourke, CEO and president of KOA, North America's largest network of privately-owned campgrounds, told Business Insider in an interview last month that Americans are sticking with camping, if not at pandemic-era levels, even after revenge travel had vacationers going big with international trips and cruises.

"Definitely, the growth is being driven by those younger generations," she said, adding that 61% of all new campers last year were Gen Z or millennials.

KOA found camping spending is also on the rise, reaching $61 billion in 2024. Gen Z campers spent more daily, $266, than any other generation, while baby boomers spent the least, $134. O'Rourke said that could be because younger campers are renting gear for activities or spending more on food and experiences in the local community.

Move over RVs

Between 2020 and 2023, the height of pandemic restlessness, the camping surge was so good for KOA it turned its owner, financier and investor Oscar Tang, into a billionaire.

When O'Rourke started at KOA 15 years ago, their customer base was overwhelming baby boomers — typically traveling in RVs. Today, while the retirees have stuck around, younger generations are making up a greater share and are more interested in "glamping," or more elevated camping experiences with unique accommodations.

KOA also found that 72% of campers consider it a cost-effective travel option, and O'Rourke said they continue to make it work even when facing economic uncertainty.

"They see high value in stays at campgrounds over how far their dollar goes at a resort or hotels even," she said.

"They're going to camp closer to home, or they're going to take a shorter stay versus a longer stay," she added, "or they might be canceling other types of trips and camping instead."

Travel industry experts previously told BI that while travel demand is softening in advance of a summer of economic uncertainty, many Americans will simply change their plans rather than cancel a trip altogether, instead opting for more affordable vacations like road trips or national parks.

Glamping's lower barrier to entry

Gen Z campers are also fueling the rise in glamping, which O'Rourke said is a priority for KOA, especially as luxury travel spending continues to grow.

"Almost every KOA has some form of glamping," she said.

Glamping is a broad term but generally refers to a camping experience beyond the basics, with amenities typically associated with traditional accommodations, like a hotel. Glamping can refer to a large, fancy tent with a real bed, a tiny cabin, or something unique like a treehouse or yurt.

For instance, KOA has a glamping resort in Maine — the Terramor Outdoor Resort, near Acadia National Park — with 64 canvas tents featuring electricity and wifi, a portable heater, and a noise machine.

While KOA added 15 new campgrounds last year, O'Rourke said the company is focused on upgrading existing locations with more glamping or specialty patio sites for RVs. She said she's always focused on addressing pain points or the aspects of camping that make it too difficult for someone to try for the first time or stick with.

"That's what I put a lot of my time into thinking about because otherwise if it's difficult, they're not going to do it anymore," she said. "How do we continue to modernize our parks to meet the demands and expectations of the current camper and the changing camper?"

• Elon Musk's wealth fell to $298 billion on Monday, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
• Musk's wealth drop follows Tesla's stock decline and the White House's recent tariff announcements.
• Year to date, he has lost $135 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Elon Musk's wealth dropped below $300 billion on Monday for the first time since last year, as the impacts of recent Tesla backlash and sweeping new tariffs collided.

The richest man in the world was worth $298 billion as of market close Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Since the beginning of the year, Musk's net worth has declined nearly $135 billion, or around 31%, as calculated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It's been a sharp turnaround for the billionaire, who just in December became the first person ever to be worth more than $400 billion. Prior to Monday, his net worth had not dipped below $300 billion since November. His net worth was $264 billion on Nov. 6, according to Bloomberg.

The slide in Musk's net worth has been fueled by Tesla's share price slide, with the EV maker's stock down nearly 40% this year.

Musk and Tesla have faced significant backlash as a result of the CEO's work in the White House, where he serves as a close advisor to President Donald Trump, especially in the administration's push for government efficiency via the DOGE office.

Many Tesla investors and fans have expressed concern about Musk not focusing enough on the company. Last month, when Fox Business asked how he was managing his DOGE work and leading his various companies, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said, "With great difficulty."

Despite rumors last week that Musk was planning an exit from the White House, he and the Trump administration dismissed the rumors and did not give a timeline for his eventual departure.

Tesla and Musk's wealth may also be affected by the sweeping tariffs announced by the Trump administration last week, which roiled financial markets. Musk, who has been largely loyal to Trump, has spoken out against tariffs.

On Saturday, he said he wanted "zero" tariffs and a "free trade zone" between the US and Europe, and on Monday, he shared a video of the economist Milton Friedman discussing the benefits of international trade.

Musk's wealth losses do not yet put him in jeopardy of losing the title of the world's richest person — runner-up Jeff Bezos was still trailing Musk by over $100 billion as of Monday.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would eliminate its trade deficit with the US.
• Netanyahu met with Trump after the US said it was imposing a 17% tariff on Israeli goods.
• The US-Israel trade deficit was $7.4 billion in 2024, up 8.6% from 2023.

Israel has signaled interest in eliminating its trade deficit with the US.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to meet in person with President Donald Trump since the White House announced a new round of substantial tariffs last week and sent global markets into a tailspin. Trump's plan included a baseline 10% tariff on all countries and higher tariffs on countries the White House considered "the worst offenders" in US trade relations. Israel, one of the US's major non-NATO allies, faces a 17% tariff.

"We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office following a private meeting with Trump. "We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers."

"Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same," Netanyahu said, adding, "I'm a free-trade champion, and free trade has to be fair trade."

In 2024, the US exported $14.8 billion worth of goods to Israel and imported $22.2 billion worth of goods from Israel, totaling a $7.4 billion goods trade deficit for the year, an 8.6% increase from 2023, according to US trade data.

In 2023, the three main goods that Israel exported to the US were diamonds, integrated circuits (also known as microchips), and broadcasting equipment, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

In turn, the biggest products the US exported to Israel the same year were diamonds, explosive ammunition, and packaged medicaments (essentially retail pharmaceutical products), according to data compiled by OEC.

For his part, Trump told reporters during the appearance with Netanyahu that the US will "maybe not" reduce its tariffs against Israel.

"Well, we're talking about a whole new trade — maybe not, maybe not. Now, don't forget we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year. That's a lot," Trump said, referring to the military assistance the US sends to Israel.

The US and Israel have had a free-trade agreement in place since 1985, and the US is Israel's single largest trading partner.

Last week, in what may have been an effort to avoid new tariffs from Trump, Netanyahu wrote in a post on X — just one day before Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement — that he would be eliminating all remaining tariffs on American goods.

Netanyahu said after the meeting with Trump that Israel would also work to "eliminate trade barriers" between the two countries.

• President Donald Trump has issued a wave of executive orders targeting high-profile law firms.
• Trump has restricted clearances — ultimately limiting the way they do business — for firms that have clashed with his administration.
• While some firms have agreed to Trump's demands, others have sued the administration.

As Donald Trump has taken aim at Big Law in recent weeks, some law firms have made deals with the president, while others are refusing to throw in the towel.

The president's wide-reaching orders have prompted reviews of each firm's government contracts, canceling security clearances for some employees and, in certain cases, blocking them from entering federal buildings — including courthouses.

Trump has accused the Big Law firms — including Paul Weiss, Perkins Coie, and Covington & Burling, among others — of weaponizing the judicial system. His orders have, in turn, made it harder for the firms to continue conducting business as usual. Several firms have alleged in lawsuits that the executive orders intended to chill free speech and deter clients from doing business with them. Others have agreed to work with the administration to avoid punitive executive actions against them.

The president has singled out a string of law firms that he says have wronged him in some capacity, have worked with his political opponents, or have had diversity initiatives that are counter to his anti-DEI efforts.

What's more, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify firms with "frivolous" cases against the administration so that they could be targeted for further executive action.

Whether they're on the ropes or down for the count, here are the firms Trump is taking on, how they've responded, and where the legal process stands for those who have challenged him in court.

Paul Weiss

On March 14, Trump issued an executive order directed at the prominent New York City-based law firm Paul Weiss, where he railed against the attorney Mark Pomerantz and decried what he said was "unlawful discrimination" from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the firm.

Pomerantz previously left Paul Weiss to aid the Manhattan District Attorney's office as it probed Trump's finances. When Pomerantz resigned as special district attorney in February 2022, he wrote in a departing letter that he believed Trump was "guilty of numerous felony violations."

In the order, Trump sought to revoke security clearances and bar access to government buildings for attorneys of the firm. Such a sweeping directive could also include federal courthouses, a scenario that would be detrimental to the firm's work.

However, Trump just days later rescinded the executive order and announced an agreement with Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp. Trump said the firm would provide $40 million in pro bono work for causes that the administration supports and end its DEI policies.

Karp received a heap of criticism, with many questioning why Paul Weiss didn't challenge Trump's order. In an email to the firm's attorneys, he said there was a desire from the outset to challenge the directive. In the same email, though, Karp argued that even if Paul Weiss won in court, it would become "persona non grata" with the Trump White House, which could prompt a wave of clients to switch to other firms and subsequently threaten the viability of the firm.

"It was very likely that our firm would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the administration," Karp wrote in the email.

Perkins Coie

On March 6, Trump targeted the law firm Perkins Coie, issuing an executive order to suspend the security clearances of the firm's attorneys and criticizing its diversity and inclusion policies.

In the order, Trump called out what he said was the firm's "dishonest and dangerous activity."

The president, in his order, highlighted the firm's representation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — his rival in the 2016 presidential election — during that year's tumultuous campaign.

However, Perkins Coie struck back, filing a lawsuit against the administration for actions that it said "violates core constitutional rights, including the rights to free speech and due process."

"At the heart of the order is an unlawful attack on the freedom of all Americans to select counsel of their choice without fear of retribution or punishment from the government," Perkins Coie managing director Bill Malley said in a statement in March. "We were compelled to take this action to protect our firm and our clients."

The day after Perkins Coie filed its suit, a federal judge agreed to temporarily block part of the president's executive order.

Perkins Coie, in a statement, said the ruling was "an important first step in ensuring this unconstitutional Executive Order is never enforced."

Covington & Burling LLP

Trump on February 25 signed a memorandum to evaluate federal contracts and direct the suspension of security clearances for some employees at Covington & Burling, a DC-based law firm known for its antitrust work.

The president in the memo said he was suspending the clearances of individuals who advised former special counsel Jack Smith.

Smith brought two federal cases against Trump — one for election interference in the 2020 presidential election and the other for retaining classified documents — but both were dropped after the president won reelection to a second term in November 2024.

In the memo, Trump went after individuals whom he said were "involved in the weaponization of government" and named Peter Koski, a lawyer at Covington representing Smith.

A Covington spokesperson in March said it was representing Smith in an "individual" capacity.

"We recently agreed to represent Jack Smith when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We look forward to defending Mr. Smith's interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so."

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Skadden made a deal with Trump, acting before it was singled out in any executive orders. The firm promised to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services "to causes that the President and Skadden both support," Trump announced on March 28.

Skadden also affirmed its commitment to merit-based hiring and employee retention, Trump said. The firm also agreed that it would refrain from engaging in "illegal DEI discrimination," according to a copy of the agreement that Trump shared on Truth Social.

In a statement, Jeremy London, Skadden's executive partner, said the firm "engaged proactively" with the administration to reach the agreement.

"We firmly believe that this outcome is in the best interests of our clients, our people, and our Firm," London said.

Speaking from the White House, Trump referred to the deal as "essentially a settlement."

Within the firm, some associates and employees expressed frustration about the deal, calling it the beginning of the end for Skadden.

In the weeks leading up to the agreement, Skadden associate Rachel Cohen publicly resigned and circulated an open letter among associates at top firms calling out their employers for what she has described as inaction in the face of the administration's attacks.

After the deal was announced, another employee, Brenna Frey, also resigned publicly in an announcement on LinkedIn.

Elias Law Group

The chair of Elias Law Group took a different approach after it was targeted by the administration.

Trump named the Elias Law Group in his "frivolous" lawsuits memo, formally titled "Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court."

It claimed that the law firm was "deeply involved in the creation of a false 'dossier' by a foreign national designed to provide a fraudulent basis for Federal law enforcement to investigate a Presidential candidate in order to alter the outcome of the Presidential election."

The memo went on to say that the firm "intentionally sought to conceal the role of his client — failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — in the dossier."

Marc Elias, the Democratic election lawyer who founded and chairs the group, released a statement swinging back at Trump, whose actions target "every attorney and law firm who dares to challenge his assault on the rule of law," he said.

"President Trump's goal is clear," Elias said in the statement. "He wants lawyers and law firms to capitulate and cower until there is no one left to oppose his Administration in court."

Adding that American democracy is in a state of "peril," Elias said his law firm would not cower.

"Elias Law Group will not be deterred from fighting for democracy in court," he said. "There will be no negotiation with this White House about the clients we represent or the lawsuits we bring on their behalf."

Jenner & Block

Trump signed an order naming Jenner & Block on March 25 that revoked security clearances from the firm's attorneys and ordered a review of the firm's contracts with the federal government.

Trump's order singled out Andrew Weissmann, a former Jenner attorney who Trump accused of building his career around "weaponized government and abuse of power." Weissmann was a lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller's Special Counsel's Office, which investigated Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and its ties to Russia.

Jenner issued a statement calling the order an "unconstitutional executive order that has already been declared unlawful by a federal court."

"We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients' interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies," the statement from Jenner said.

Jenner also fought back with a lawsuit. The firm is represented by Cooley LLP, a liberal-leaning firm that has hired lawyers from Democratic administrations.

On March 28, Judge John D. Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order that keeps the Trump administration from taking action against Jenner. On April 1, Bates extended this order until a final judgement has been made. Both the Justice Department and Jenner consented to the extension.

Following the ruling, Jenner said in a statement that the order holds "no legal weight."

"We will continue to do what we have always done, our job as lawyers and fearless advocates for our clients," the firm said.

WilmerHale

The Trump administration has also targeted WilmerHale, which employed Mueller and other lawyers who worked with the Justice Department to investigate ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.

On March 27, Trump signed an executive order that suspended security clearances for WilmerHale employees and limited their access to federal buildings. The order also revoked WilmerHale's government contracts for engaging in "partisan representations to achieve political ends" and "efforts to discriminate on the basis of race."

In contrast with other firms that have inked deals with the president, WilmerHale filed a lawsuit.

The firm hired Paul Clement, the conservative legal superstar of the firm Clement & Murphy, to fight back against the Trump administration.

"This lawsuit is absolutely critical to vindicating the First Amendment, our adversarial system of justice, and the rule of law," Clement told Business Insider in a statement.

On the afternoon of March 28, Judge Richard J. Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia approved a motion for a temporary restraining order to halt executive actions against WilmerHale.

"There is no doubt this retaliatory action chills speech and legal advocacy, or that it qualifies as a constitutional harm," Leon wrote.

A spokesperson for WilmerHale called the executive order unconstitutional and praised the court's "swift action."

Milbank

On April 2, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had struck a preemptive deal with Milbank without targeting the firm for executive action.

The terms of the deal, according to the president's announcement, include the firm's agreement to end any DEI-based hiring practices, and to perform at least $100 million worth of pro bono legal work to advance causes supported by the Trump administration, such as "assisting veterans" and "combatting antisemitism."

In addition, Milbank's pro bono committee will ensure the firm takes on cases representing "the full political spectrum, including Conservative ideals," and commits that it "will not deny representation to clients" based on the personal political views of individual lawyers, per Trump's announcement.

"Milbank LLP approached President Donald J. Trump and his Administration, stating their resolve to help end the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," reads a statement from the White House included in Trump's post. "The President continues to build an unrivaled network of Lawyers, who will put a stop to Partisan Lawfare in America, and restore Liberty and Justice FOR ALL."

Milbank's chairman, Scott Edelman, said in a statement posted by Trump that, after a "constructive dialogue," the firm was "pleased we were so quickly able to find common ground" with the administration.

When reached by Business Insider, a spokesperson for the firm provided a letter sent by Edelman to Milbank's staff in which he said the agreement "is very much in Milbank's interest."

"The Administration's expressed concerns about big law firms, and in some cases its entry of Executive Orders against particular firms, have created uncertainty for law firms like ours," Edelman's letter to staff reads. "With this agreement, we believe we have gone a long way to putting these issues behind us. But we have done so in a way that allows us to continue to focus on the Firm's values and missions, including with respect to pro bono and our hope to foster an inclusive, non-discriminatory community where all of our members have an equal opportunity to succeed."

Edelman added: "Having now reached an agreement with the Administration, we can continue to do what we do best — focus on providing the best possible advice, counseling and service to our clients."

Susman Godfrey

On April 9, Trump signed an executive memorandum targeting Susman Godfrey, a specialized litigation firm.

In a fact sheet, the White House accused Susman of spearheading "efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections."

Trump's order sought to immediately suspend any Susman security clearances held by the firm's employees, "pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest." The federal government said it would also terminate any contracts with the firm.

The firm's hiring practices will also be reviewed "to ensure compliance with civil rights laws against racial bias."

On April 11, Susman filed a complaint against the Trump administration, arguing that Trump's executive order was in violation of the Constitution.

"Unless the Judiciary acts with resolve—now—to repudiate this blatantly unconstitutional Executive Order and the others like it, a dangerous and perhaps irreversible precedent will be set," the complaint reads.

"If President Trump's Executive Orders are allowed to stand, future presidents will face no constraint when they seek to retaliate against a different set of perceived foes. What for two centuries has been beyond the pale will become the new normal," it adds.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which employs Doug Emhoff, husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, struck a deal with the administration, pledging at least $100 million in pro bono legal work for conservative causes, Trump said in an April 1 social media post.

"Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," the White House said, according to Trump's post on Truth Social.

The firm's ties to Trump go to the 1990s when it represented the then real estate developer in a bankruptcy case.

In 2023, Willkie brought Tim Heaphy as partner. Heaphy was the former chief investigative counsel for the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol.

The firm also represents X, Elon Musk's social media platform.

Trump said that Willkie Farr & Gallagher also committed to "Merit-Based Hiring, Promotion, and Retention," which touches on the Trump's efforts to dismantle DEI initiatives.

A representative for Willkie Farr & Gallagher did not respond to a request for comment.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

Trump said in a Truth Social post April 11 that the administration had come to an agreement with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, saying the law firm agreed to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services.

The services would go toward causes supported by Trump and the law firm, including assisting veterans and law enforcement, combatting antisemitism, and "ensuring fairness in our justice system."

The statement said the firm also agreed to "not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences" or to deny legal representation "because of the personal political views of individual lawyers."

"The substance of our agreement is consistent with the principles that have guided Cadwalader for over 230 years: We always put our client's interests first; We believe that Justice should be available to everyone; and We are committed to attracting, retaining and nurturing the very best talent from all backgrounds," Patrick Quinn, managing partner at Cadwalader, said in a statement shared by Trump.

Cadwalader did not respond to a request for comment.

Kirkland & Ellis

Trump also announced on April 11 the administration had come to an agreement with an additional four law firms, including Kirkland & Ellis. The president said in a Truth Social post the firms agreed to provide a total of $500 million in pro bono legal services to go toward the same types of causes, with each firm contributing $125 million.

The firms also agreed to engage outside counsel to oversee their hiring practices and ensure they comply with antidiscrimination laws.

Trump said as a result of the agreement, he would end an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into the law firms over their DEI practices, which was initially announced on March 17.

In a joint statement shared by Trump, the senior executives at the four law firms said: "We have resolved this matter while upholding long-held principles important to each of our Firms: Equal Employment Opportunity; providing pro bono assistance to a wide range of underserved populations, and ensuring fairness in the Justice System; and representing a broad spectrum of clients on various matters."

In a firm-wide internal memo obtained by BI, the Kirkland & Ellis executive committee said the agreement "resolves the EEOC's investigation, including its broad request for information about our people and our clients, which we no longer will be required to provide, and we will not be the target of an executive order."

"We made the decision to pursue this solution because at our very core our mission is to protect and support our people and our clients, and this agreement does both," the memo said.

A&O Shearman

A&O Shearman was among the law firms with which Trump said on April 11 that his administration had reached an agreement. The firm agreed to provide $125 million in pro bono legal services to causes supported by the administration. It also agreed to engage outside counsel to oversee its hiring practices, and the EEOC investigation into the firms has stopped.

A&O Shearman did not respond to a request for comment.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett also reached an agreement with the White House to provide $125 million in pro bono legal services to causes supported by the firm and Trump, as well as engage outside counsel to ensure its hiring practices comply with antidiscrimination laws.

As a result of the agreement, the EEOC investigation into the firm's hiring practices was stopped.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett did not respond to a request for comment.

Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins was also among the four firms that reached an agreement with Trump, according to the April 11 announcement. The firm agreed to provide $125 million in pro bono legal services as well as engage outside counsel to oversee its hiring. As a result, the Trump administration ended the EEOC investigation into the firm.

Latham & Watkins did not respond to a request for comment.

• Virgin Atlantic's new Clubhouse at Los Angeles International Airport is set to open Friday.
• Business Insider got a first look at the lounge, which has an upscale vibe and LA-specific details.
• The lounge also has a private space where travelers can work out or meditate before a flight.

Virgin Atlantic is set to open its newest Clubhouse this Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, and the luxurious vibe and unique amenities like a private workout space showed what attracts premium business travelers to the airline.

On Wednesday, Business Insider got an early look at the airport lounge, which marks the sixth Clubhouse for the British airline, with other locations in New York, Washington, DC, and the flagship at London Heathrow.

Cofounded by English business tycoon Richard Branson, Virgin is a smaller airline known in part for its Upper Class offering — essentially its version of first class. Upper Class also grants access to the Clubhouses. The LAX Clubhouse can also be used by Virgin's Flying Club Gold members and Delta One passengers flying internationally.

While some airline lounges feel almost interchangeable — you wouldn't know what airline it belonged to, let alone what city you were in, without the sign on the front — Virgin's LAX Clubhouse had the brand's signature moody, upscale vibe and plenty of LA-specific details sprinkled in.

When you walk in, you're met by a space that looks much more like a trendy LA restaurant than an airport lounge. There's a U-shaped bar centering the space, along with velvet armchairs at the dining tables and throughout the lounge areas. Lara Fleat, Virgin's design manager, said the space was designed to encourage connection between passengers and staff, like the communal high-top seating.

Glen Nielsen, Virgin's regional manager of Clubhouse experience for North America, said the LAX location was the first time the brand really leaned into capturing the essence of the location.

For Los Angeles, that means a focus on health and wellness, along with some Hollywood-style luxury. The menu at the Clubhouse, which can be ordered via table service throughout the space or on your phone, includes California-esque fare like poke and fish tacos. There's also a self-serve station with items like a Mediterranean quinoa salad or hummus and veggies.

To the right of the bar area is a lounge that almost looks like a home theater, with comfy seats facing a large screen and Bluetooth headsets available to anyone who wants to tune in to whatever is on — a big tennis tournament or a Hollywood awards show, for example.

The area is littered with subtle shoutouts to LA, from the red carpet to the riffs on iconic movie quotes etched onto side tables, like "We'll have what she's having" and "You had us at hello."

There are also private spaces adding to the upscale, exclusive feel. One semi-private lounge space is reserved for VIPs — which could mean a celebrity or one of Virgin's Top 200 flyers — and can be booked in advance. It comes with its own secret menu that includes a fancy champagne cocktail served with a bubble on top that pops and releases smoke.

Nielsen said that when designing the space they looked at what wasn't working in their existing lounges and found customers, many of whom are corporate travelers, wanted two things: more power and more business areas. In LA, there are several closed-off work pods, almost like fancy phone booths with a chair and desk, where business travelers can hop in to take meetings with some privacy. There are also outlets and wireless charging docks throughout the lounge.

But perhaps one of the more unique features of the Clubhouse was a first-come, first-serve private room called the "Zen Den." The small space is equipped with weights and a large mirror that includes a screen featuring virtual workout or meditation classes led by Forme Studio. The small space also has a full vanity, with room to change after a shower in the lounger or to wind down in privacy before a long-haul flight.

"We really thought hard about what people are doing before a ten-hour flight," Fleat said.

All in all, the interior of the Virgin Clubhouse felt like a world away from the rest of LAX.

• The Journeymen Collective runs luxury psychedelic mushroom retreats for CEOs near Vancouver.
• They say their clients often come away with less workplace anxiety or more direction in their careers.
• The company has seen a 200% increase in bookings over the past two years.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rob Grover and Gary Logan, a married couple and founders of The Journeymen Collective, which runs luxury, guided psychedelic mushroom retreats in the mountains near Vancouver, BC. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

The Journeymen Collective said their bookings have increased 200% over the past two years as psychedelic retreats have become more popular. The experiences, which can be done solo, start at $15,000 per person for a group of up to four people. They include two psilocybin trips over a four-day stay at a 7,000-square-foot estate with a saltwater pool and private chef.

While the sale and possession of psilocybin is federally illegal in Canada, legal gray areas and lack of enforcement have allowed mushroom dispensaries and other businesses to continue to operate.

Rob Grover: A guided, luxurious, psychedelic journey is for someone who is looking to know themselves more, looking to understand the world around them more, and has a deep curiosity for living the best life possible.

Our clients are ages 21 to 77 and around 60% female, 40% male. They are often entrepreneurs, CEOs and executives, founders, actors, and athletes. The common trends are people who are looking for a new way to break through old patterns.

They may be experiencing stress, anxiety, or some form of depression. They have creative blocks. They have blocks in a relationship. They feel like they're not as connected in their personal and professional relationships. A lot of people will wave their hand in front of their chest and say, "Something's missing." They are looking for their next breakthrough in life and in business.

Gary Logan: On the outside, their persona looks wonderful. They've got everything: new, fancy things, a beautiful family, and the white picket fence. But if you look internally, they feel lost. When they come to us, they're seeking a greater connection to themselves, to their employees, to the people that they love in their life. They feel like they've hit a threshold, and they just have no other means to get through it.

Rob: We tell our clients, "We are 100% confident we have no idea what you're going to encounter, but we're 100% confident that we can support you through whatever comes up." It's almost always expected to have some tears in the process. Sometimes they're joyful, sometimes they're sad.

One of our recent clients said she came to us because she had workplace anxiety. Everything she did at work pre-journey was fear-driven productivity, which created anxiety, which was going to create ill health eventually. Afterward, she said, "That anxiety is now gone. What do I do from here? Do I actually really get to just create what I want to create in business, as opposed to creating from fear? Now I'm creating from the pure joy and freedom of supporting my clients."

Gary: The most common takeaways from the journey are peace of mind, calmness, stillness. The mind chatter has lessened, or the monkey mind has been put on a shelf, and they feel more conscious of their thoughts and feelings and emotions. Their listening skills have been refined, and they're not always trying to figure out the answer before the person's even finished the question.

Rob: In a professional setting, people say they have a greater level of awareness, and as a result, they're able to ask challenging questions of their team members or of their employer or in their company, so they can empower the people that work with them or for them in a new way.

They are also more aware of their triggers, and they know how to get back to that calm state of being that was introduced to them in the actual journey. They also transition from always being in reaction to being in a more responsive way of being. They actually give themselves time to respond to something versus just reacting in an old, patterned way. It's a repatterning.

People aren't just coming for the experience of a psilocybin mushroom journey — they're coming into it with purpose.

A lot of people want to have a safe, trusting, caring, professional environment to come into, so it helps that it's a luxurious environment as well. As Gary has said, "It's not a yurt, you're not eating dirt, and you don't have to worry about a tarantula running across your face."

People think, "If I'm going to go into the uncomfortable aspects of myself, can I at least be deeply comforted in a very luxurious way."

Gary: Our clients are opening up more about their psychedelic journeys. A lot of people say they couldn't tell anybody at first, but then they go home and people say, "There's something different about you. What have you done? What has changed?" When they do share, many people say they'd been thinking about it for years too but didn't know who to talk to or didn't know anyone who actually did it.

Rob: One client came in saying, "I think I need to leave my career," but afterward he said, "I actually love my career. It was just all my childhood and teenage trauma that was in the way, and I let that go, and as a result I was more deeply engaged in my career and learned to love it even more."

It's like seeing people's lights turned back on within. They have a new spark for life and business.

Do you have a story to share about how a psychedelic retreat affected your work or life? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• President Donald Trump has been targeting Big Law, including Paul Weiss, with executive orders.
• Trump said he was rescinding the order against Paul Weiss after coming to an agreement with the firm.
• Alumni of the major law firm wrote a letter to Brad Karp, the chairman, protesting the deal with Trump.

Paul Weiss alumni wrote an open letter to the firm's chairman, Brad Karp, protesting the Big Law firm's agreement with President Donald Trump.

Trump has been targeting Big Law with executive action and a memo to the Department of Justice instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to flag Big Law firms connected to "frivolous" lawsuits brought against the administration. Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, and Covington & Burling have been singled out.

On Monday, 141 people who said they were alumni of Paul Weiss signed an open letter to Karp; 45 of them signed anonymously.

"Instead of a ringing defense of the values of democracy, we witnessed a craven surrender to, and thus complicity in, what is perhaps the gravest threat to the independence of the legal profession since at least the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy," the alumni wrote in the letter.

Paul Weiss has more than 4,100 living alumni, a group that includes former partners, counsel, associates, and visiting lawyers, according to the firm's spokesperson.

No former partners signed the letter.

Trump has issued several executive orders aimed at revoking the security clearances of employees at the targeted law firms, as well as to have their government contracts reviewed.

Last week, Trump said he was rescinding a March 14 executive order that was issued against Paul Weiss after coming to an agreement with the firm. The law firm agreed to drop DEI considerations in hiring and donate $40 million in pro bono services.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order rescinding the March 14 action. That has not ended the saga in Big Law or with Paul Weiss.

In a Sunday email to staff, Karp called Trump's initial executive order an "existential threat."

The alumni group issued their letter to Karp the following day. Read it below.

• The FBI launched a task force with the ATF to investigate threats against Tesla.
• The task force follows a series of attacks on Tesla vehicles and showrooms, as well as protests.
• FBI Director Kash Patel called attacks against the company domestic terrorism.

The FBI has launched a task force to investigate threats made against Tesla, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

"Director Patel has been unequivocally clear: The FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people. Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism — like the recent Tesla attacks — will be pursued with the full force of the law," the FBI said in a statement.

The New York Post first reported the existence of the task force. Ben Williamson, the assistant director for public affairs at the FBI, confirmed it in a post on X, saying the task force was launched with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "to coordinate investigative activity and crack down on violent Tesla attacks."

The announcement came after a series of attacks and acts of vandalism against Tesla vehicles and showrooms around the country, as well as protests against Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO and a close advisor to President Donald Trump.

On Monday, police in Austin said they found "incendiary" devices at a Tesla showroom.

"This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice," FBI Director Kash Patel said in an X post.

• Uncertainty fueled by DOGE-led cuts appears to be hitting summer travel.
• Businesses near public lands said summer bookings are down, with tourists choosing to go elsewhere.
• National parks could be less crowded this summer, but there are still a lot of unknowns.

The DOGE days of summer are on the way.

In its quest for government efficiency, the Elon Musk-linked office appears to be screwing up Americans' summer plans. Now it looks like it could be the first summer in a long time where travel hot spots won't be completely overrun with tourists — but it's not entirely clear yet what conditions those destinations will be in.

National parks are facing potential staff reductions, reduced services, and trail closures as a result of the Trump administration's spending cuts, with park workers and advocates warning they still don't know what this summer will look like. The mass uncertainty has already altered some Americans' summer plans and dug into the local economies that depend on the business summer usually brings.

Take Yosemite National Park. The local population surges every summer as more than half a million people make their way to the valley each month, but this year already looks very different.

"People have been canceling reservations they already made and the amount of reservations that should be getting in right now, that's been slowed down significantly," Shirley Horn, the board secretary and treasurer of the Highway 120 Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses along the iconic thoroughfare, told Business Insider.

Park advocates say the cuts could impact everything from visitor safety to bathroom maintenance, while business groups near the park say the uncertainty alone has taken a toll on their bookings, with tourists simply choosing to vacation elsewhere — to destinations untouched by DOGE-induced doubt and unpredictability.

Tourists are already rethinking their summer trips

"Summer bookings are way down over what we've ever seen before," said Lee Zimmerman, the co-owner of First Light Resorts, which owns or manages three resorts near Yosemite: Evergreen Lodge, Rush Creek Lodge and Spa, and Firefall Ranch.

Zimmerman told BI they are down thousands of booked rooms across the three properties, even though the main booking season for summer travel is typically January to March.

The Trump administration slashed thousands of jobs at the agencies that manage public lands, like the National Park Service and the US Forest Service. After a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate fired probationary workers, NPS told BI it would work to comply with the order while the White House appeals. The National Park Conservation Association said Thursday NPS had authorized the rehiring of the nearly 1,000 probationary employees whose jobs were terminated.

"This chaotic whiplash is no way to manage the Park Service, especially as they are welcoming millions of visitors right now," Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the park advocacy group, said in a statement.

It's unclear how that rehiring will play out or what could happen on appeal, so staffing levels at parks this summer remain uncertain.

The US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the US Forest Service, also told BI it was working on rehiring the fired probationary employees and said it intends "to maintain access to recreation opportunities to the greatest degree possible."

There's been other disruptions, too. At Yosemite, for instance, NPS last month suspended the timed-entry reservation system, which required visitors to reserve a set date and time to enter the park. Horn said not knowing whether there would be a reservation system or not has made it difficult for people to plan trips — why book a hotel room when you can't be certain you'll even be able to get into the park on the days you're there?

The park service has still not said if the reservation system will be in place this summer, but Zimmerman said at this point, if the park decided to use one, it would be a "disaster" since it could disrupt trips that have already been planned.

Meanwhile on the east coast, Paul Niedzwiecki, the CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, told BI that bookings of hotels and short-term lodging are currently down more than 5% for the peak season of July and August in Cape Cod, a scenic peninsula in Massachusetts that's home to the Cape Cod National Seashore. If lodging rentals stay down, he said, that has a compounding effect on other local businesses like restaurants and outdoor recreation shops.

Niedzwiecki also expects to see a decline in visitors from Canada, adding the chamber has already heard from a number of recurring Canadian visitors who have been "very direct" about not wanting to visit this year "because they don't feel welcome given the state of national politics."

Horn said businesses in the Highway 120 corridor near Yosemite are also seeing fewer international visitors book summer trips to the area, something that is typically done well in advance.

Now might actually be a good time to visit a typically busy destination — with some precautions

Jonathan Farrington, CEO of the Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, said they do not believe the visitor experience at Yosemite will be greatly impacted by the federal government change-ups. He noted that the park typically has nearly 800 full-time and seasonal staff in the summer and that about 35 positions have been cut, including 10 who were let go and around 25 who took the deferred resignation offer.

The most important thing, he said, will be the park filling the around 300 seasonal positions. Though the administration's hiring freeze initially applied to seasonal workers at national parks, it later reversed course and said those hirings would go forward.

Zimmerman, of the Yosemite resorts, also said that he is not concerned about the visitor experience in the park this year, and that now might actually be a good time to visit. Yosemite, like other popular national parks, has faced overcrowding concerns in recent summers.

He said the general confusion and concerns around staffing, reservations, and access to parks could be contributing to people staying away. "Uncertainty makes it difficult for visitors to discern what's really going on and to commit to taking their vacation in the park," he said.

For folks who do decide to visit public lands this year, it's still not clear what they will find. Park advocates have warned that if the staffing and funding cuts remain, summer visitors can expect a more restricted, if not more risky, experience.

"Visitor centers will close, lines will grow longer, and basic maintenance — such as cleaning restrooms and facilities — will suffer," Phil Francis, the chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks Executive Council, told BI of what could happen if parks are severely understaffed. "Millions of Americans who cherish their national parks may find them inaccessible, poorly maintained, or unsafe."

Carl Fisher, the executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, an environmental advocacy nonprofit, said visitors to places like Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park could see more trails and hiking areas being closed or having reduced hours, which could cut people's vacations short, he said. And if there are fewer workers to maintain them, the areas that do remain open may become more dangerous for visitors.

"These are natural, wild, dynamic environments, and you can mess yourself up just crawling over and around deadfall. People can get lost because, well, they won't be able to find the trail," Fisher told BI, adding that it poses a significant risk for inexperienced or first-time visitors.

Small businesses near national parks could feel the pinch too

Local businesses like gear rental outfitters and guides rely on open and accessible parks to offer their services, said Grace Templeton, who works on community engagement projects at an outdoor recreation advocacy group called Wyoming Pathways.

If trails are closed or poorly maintained, Templeton said, businesses that offer everything from mountain shuttle services to climbing guides to fishing expeditions could be upended. She's already heard from at least one business that's "very concerned" about the lifeline of its business: access to trails.

Templeton also said that without federal funds for projects like trail development, local economies that rely on tourism could take a hit. For example, she said, her organization added a trail in the Thermopolis area of Wyoming, "and now they're getting tons of mountain bike tourism," adding "it's very important for these trails, increased quality of life for residents, and drawing visitors in."

Horn, of the Chamber of Commerce near Yosemite, said the cuts and uncertainty have made it hard for local businesses that rely on seasonal workers to know how many people to hire for the summer, which could lead to them being under- or overstaffed.

Right now she said businesses near Yosemite are trying to get the message out that the national parks will be open this summer, but that the lack of information from the park service has made it unclear to many what exactly being open will look like.

"It's what I call the FUD factor," she said. "The fear, uncertainty, and doubt that happens when these kinds of external shocks go through economies and local communities."

Do you have a story to share about how federal government changes are impacting your vacation plans? Contact these reporters at [email protected] or [email protected].

• A judge blocked the White House DOGE office from accessing Social Security Administration records.
• Labor groups sued the SSA for granting DOGE access to sensitive personal information.
• The judge criticized DOGE's broad access and said it was "engaged in a fishing expedition" for fraud.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the White House DOGE office from accessing the Social Security Administration records of millions of Americans.

In a scathing ruling, US District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander sided with the national labor groups that sued the SSA over DOGE staffers' access to the records, which she said included Social Security numbers, medical records, bank account data, and more.

She granted the labor groups, which include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, their request for a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE from accessing the records.

"Ironically, the identity of these DOGE affiliates has been concealed because defendants are concerned that the disclosure of even their names would expose them to harassment and thus invade their privacy. The defense does not appear to share a privacy concern for the millions of Americans whose SSA records were made available to the DOGE affiliates, without their consent, and which contain sensitive, confidential, and personally identifiable information," Hollander wrote.

A spokesperson for the SSA told Business Insider the agency would work to comply with the judge's order.

Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, criticized the judge's decision in a statement provided to BI and said President Donald Trump would "continue to seek all legal remedies available to ensure the will of the American people goes into effect."

Hollander said in her ruling that DOGE was "engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA" and looking for fraud "based on little more than suspicion." She said the government has not explained why DOGE needed unlimited access to SSA's records or why a more measured approach would not work.

"The American public may well applaud and support the Trump Administration's mission to root out fraud, waste, and bloat from federal agencies, including SSA, to the extent it exists," Hollander wrote. "But, by what means and methods?"

• SoftBank said it's acquiring chip designer Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion in cash.
• Ampere will operate as a subsidiary, keeping its name and headquarters in Santa Clara.
• SoftBank's CEO said the deal was part of its commitment to AI innovation in the US.

SoftBank is acquiring Ampere Computing, a Silicon Valley-based chip design startup, for $6.5 billion in cash, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

SoftBank said that Ampere will operate as a subsidiary but keep its name and headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

"The future of Artificial Super Intelligence requires breakthrough computing power," Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, said in a statement. "Ampere's expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the United States."

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, the statement said.

Ampere did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, and SoftBank declined to provide additional comment.

SoftBank has been going all in on AI for several years now.

Son has a close relationship with AI chip giant Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang. Huang has said that SoftBank was once his company's biggest investor. SoftBank sold its stake in Nvidia in 2019 and Son said about his decision: "The fish that got away was big."

At a conference in November, Huang and Son announced that SoftBank would be the first customer to use Nvidia's Blackwell chips, which would be used to develop an artificial intelligence supercomputer in Japan.

SoftBank acquired European chipmaker Arm for $32 billion in 2016 and took it public in 2023. The firm is also an investor in OpenAI and put $500 million into the AI company in October.

SoftBank's most recent investments in AI include Stargate, a $500 billion joint venture with OpenAI, Oracle, and other investors. The project, announced in January, aims to invest in AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years.

Son appeared at the White House alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, and President Donald Trump when the project was announced.

Son was known for consumer-focused investments —including high-profile flops like WeWork — through his two Vision Funds. But he has since bet big on AI, seeing it as this century's transformational technology. The second Vision Fund is now backing AI startups like generative AI video editing startup OpusClip.

• According to WestJet Airlines, Canadians choose South America over the US as travel bookings dip.
• A 10% drop in Canadian visits could cost the US $2.1 billion and 14,000 jobs.
• The trade war may be just one of many factors why Canadians are staying away from US travel.

The vice chair of Canada's second-largest airline says Canadians are avoiding the US as a travel destination in favor of South American countries.

"There's clearly been a reaction," WestJet's Alex Cruz told CNBC's Squawk Box Europe co-host Karen Tso last week when asked if the Trump trade war has dented Canadians' willingness to visit the US. "What we are seeing, though, is people changing their destinations. It's no longer Phoenix or Florida. It's the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico."

"Canadians are seeking to continue to travel overall, it's just they may shift from the US," he added.

Avoidance of US goods and services above the northern border came after Trump repeatedly instated and paused a 25% tariff on Canadian products. Trump also, on many occasions, suggested that the northern neighbor become America's 51st state.

Not only are US-made goods now being boycotted in Canada and pulled off grocery store shelves, but travel by passenger cars — a common way for Canadians to reach the US — in February shed roughly half a million crossings in comparison to February 2024 and hit its lowest monthly number since April 2022, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection.

If the downward trend continues, the US tourism industry could face serious consequences. The US Travel Association told Business Insider that while they don't have a current estimate for changes in visitation from Canada if inbound visitation from the north declined by just 10%, it could mean 2 million fewer visits, $2.1 billion in lost spending, and 14,000 job losses.

"We're already seeing the first signs that Canadian sentiment toward the US is changing in a not-so-positive way," Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International, a market research consultancy specializing in the travel tourism industry, recently told BI.

"Anecdotally, we're seeing bookings from Canada to the US down," he added.

Shirley Horn, the board secretary and treasurer of the Highway 120 Chamber of Commerce near Yosemite National Park, said international visitors, including Canadians, do not seem to be choosing Yosemite this year. She said this was partly due to the uncertainty around cuts at national parks.

"Normally, the international visitors would reserve way ahead of time, and now we're seeing the impact of tariffs," she said, adding, "Canadians are making a statement."

Some Canadians also told BI that they would remain wary of going to the US, even if the trade war eventually goes away, over issues like the ICE deportation of immigrants and the threats of annexation.

"Even if the tariffs issue ends or if there's another president in four years, some Canadians are saying, 'Once bitten, twice shy,'" Pearl Whamond, a Canadian mom who used to travel to the US often, said. "There have been too many threats and too much back-and-forth. It feels like bullying, it feels threatening, and as a country, we're not appreciating it."

WestJet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• The Twitter logo sign that hung outside the company's San Francisco headquarters is up for auction.
• Bids surpassed $21,000 as of Monday night.
• The seller, RR House, estimates the sign's value at upwards of $40,000.

Twitter's blue bird logo sign — which formerly hung outside the company's headquarters in San Francisco — is up for auction for the second time.

The current seller, RR Auction, obtained the sign in Elon Musk's 2023 auction of Twitter memorabilia. Musk sold off a slew of artifacts associated with Twitter — including a coffee table and beer tap — after his takeover of the company in 2022. Some items, like a Twitter-themed statue, sold for thousands.

The bird logo, nicknamed "Larry" after Celtics player Larry Bird, was synonymous with Twitter until Musk's rebranding of the social-media platform to X in 2023.

Musk's efforts to take down Twitter's old signage in 2023 made headlines after police showed up and temporarily halted the work. The rebranding also included changes to the inside of the company headquarters, like replacing the blue birds with black walls and X-themed conference rooms. Musk has also moved X's headquarters from San Francisco to Texas.

"Although Twitter and its light blue bird have since retired, the symbol remains an icon of tech and social media history, an instantly recognizable emblem in the same league as Nike or Apple Computer," RR Auction said in the listing.

The auction house estimates the sign's value at upward of $40,000. Eleven bids had already been placed as of Monday evening, driving the current price up to $21,664.

The bird is on sale as part of a larger auction dubbed "Steve Jobs and the Apple Revolution" that opened on February 27. Potential buyers have only a couple more days to bid before its end date of March 20.

Other items up for auction include Apple checks from the 1970s that were signed by Steve Jobs — with one bidding at over $89,000 — and a functional Apple I computer bidding at more than $205,000.

Whoever wins the bird logo will be responsible for paying to ship the hulking signage — which clocks in at roughly 560 pounds — from its current home in San Francisco storage to its final destination.

Business Insider reached out to RR Auction for comment.

• Travel demand is showing signs of slowing down as Americans grapple with economic anxiety.
• High prices, economic uncertainty, and household debt are putting financial pressure on consumers.
• Travelers are seeking value, which could lead to lower prices and deals from airlines and hotels.

Just when you thought you'd be making your summer travel plans — Japan or Paris anyone? — economic anxiety appears to be rearing its ugly head.

Following years of a post-pandemic boom, travel demand is finally showing signs of slowing down. Though spending on leisure travel remains high, consumer confidence has plummeted, tariff whiplash has left prices and the stock market in limbo, and fears over a recession are mounting — and that's on top of planes crashing and spats with our allies.

Vanessa Roberts, a 35-year-old from Los Angeles, said she and her husband traveled frequently in 2024, including a trip to England and an eight-state road trip. But in 2025, they're embracing smaller trips and focusing on traveling locally or regionally instead of shelling out for pricier destinations.

"I have a long list of short trips we have planned for the year, and they're all very affordable," Roberts, who shares travel content on TikTok, told Business Insider.

Travel companies are bracing themselves for the impact. Airlines such as Delta, American, and Southwest have cut their projections for Q1. Analysts at Truist Securities said in a note Friday that bookings in the cruise industry have slowed over the past month. Some industry experts who spoke to BI said companies could be compelled to offer more deals in order to allure hesitant, budget-conscious travelers.

There is good news for the industry, though. Even if consumers are worried about paying their bills, many of them will still make travel work — though often with some sacrifices along the way.

"For American travelers, travel has shifted from a want to more of a need," Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International, a market research consultancy that specializes in the travel tourism industry, told BI.

Americans splurged post-pandemic. It could be catching up with them.

Eylon said that while travel demand is strong, it has shown recent signs of slowing. A monthly survey conducted by his firm found that 88% of American travelers planned to take a trip in the next six months, compared to 93% during the same month last year.

That softening demand can largely be chalked up to one thing: the economy. Though plane crashes — like recent incidents in Washington, DC, and Toronto — do cause concern among travelers, Eylon said it would likely take an extended pattern of safety incidents to actually deter people from flying.

Ali Furman, consumer markets industry leader at PwC, and Jonathan Kletzel, transportation and logistics leader at PwC, also told BI in an email that American consumers are cutting back on travel spending right now, citing economic uncertainty and financial pressures being felt across income levels.

Americans saved a lot in the pandemic and then spent a lot during the post-pandemic travel boom, but it could finally be catching up with them. Household debt has grown steadily, with many struggling to pay off their credit cards and car loans. Furman and Kletzel said Americans could be pulling back on spending, including travel, to avoid overextending themselves financially.

It's that combination of debt and other economic headwinds that have softened demand and left travelers looking for better deals, Eylon said, adding, "travelers are seeking value much more strongly than they were a couple years ago."

Travelers are looking for good deals, and there could be more on the horizon

Tamara Charm, a McKinsey partner who focuses on consumer insights, told BI there's still a "splurge mentality for experiences right now." Even when consumers say they'd like to cut back on traveling, that doesn't always happen.

Instead, many travelers still take trips but cut back in other ways. That could mean traveling domestically instead of internationally — staycations, or traveling locally or regionally, were popular in the wake of the Great Recession — as well as opting for budget hotels, buying fewer souvenirs, or eating fast food over fancy dinners every night on vacation, Eylon said.

Furman and Kletzel of PwC have heard from their clients that travelers are now waiting to book their trips, including flights, hotels, and rental cars, until closer to their gates of travel due to that economic uncertainty. They said travelers are being more strategic in their spending and in timing their vacations to maximize value.

"This moderation is different from the post-pandemic surge when consumers were willing to pay almost any price for a trip," they said. "Now, financial pressures are causing them to think twice before booking."

Mandy McKaskle, a luxury travel advisor at Embark Beyond, told BI she's also noticed that some of her clients who would already be planning their trips for the summer and even the holidays seem to be holding off.

These changes are mostly being seen among budget travelers, but if the stock market continues to see volatility, higher-income consumers could also cut back on discretionary spending, including travel, Furman and Kletzel said. That means demand for luxury travel could be hit too.

There may yet be a bright side for travelers in all this: Airlines and hotels experiencing a slowdown in bookings could slash prices or offer attractive deals at various price points to keep people coming, Furman and Kletzel said.

"We expect that softening in demand means potential deals on the horizon for customers looking to book travel in late summer and into the holiday season," they said.

Do you have a story to share about your travel plans this year? Contact this reporter at [email protected].