Things Musk (and Trump) Did... 04-19-25 | Blog#42
A cabinet-full of boorish little tyrants
Yesterday's post
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Yesterday’s News Worth Repeating
"We need to do something": David Hogg on gun violence and future of the Democratic Party
'He hasn't won an election since I was born': Gen Z Dem fundraiser hits back at Carville
Video shows doctor with measles treating kids. RFK Jr later praised him as an ‘extraordinary’ healer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Texas doctor who has been treating children in a measles outbreak was shown on video with a measles rash on his face in a clinic a week before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met him and praised him as an “extraordinary” healer.
Dr. Ben Edwards appeared in the video posted March 31 by the anti-vaccine group Kennedy once led, Children’s Health Defense. In it, Edwards appears wearing scrubs and talking with parents and children in a makeshift clinic he set up in Seminole, Texas, ground zero of the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people and killed three, including two children.
Continue reading at the AP
White House pushes COVID lab leak theory with new website
The Trump administration recast the White House's COVID information website on Friday to declare a virus leaking from a Chinese lab as the "true origins" of the pandemic.
Why it matters: President Trump has pushed the lab leak theory since 2020 when he downplayed masking, testing and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID during his first term while his approval rating cratered.
Experts say the continued debate over whether the virus jumped from animals to humans or spread after a lab accident distracts from preventing both scenarios from occurring in the future.
Driving the news: "By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced," the White House website said. "But it hasn't."
Zoom in: The website alleges with no evidence that the Biden administration "engaged in a multi-year campaign of delay, confusion and non-responsiveness" to hide evidence.
It also said the World Health Organization's response to the pandemic was an "abject failure because it caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placed China's political interests ahead of its international duties."
The website criticizes Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for pushing a "preferred narrative."
Continue reading at Axios
Supreme Court temporarily pauses deportations under Alien Enemies Act
Washington, DC (CNN) — The Supreme Court early Saturday morning paused the deportation of immigrants potentially subject to the Alien Enemies Act, freezing action in a fast-developing case involving a group of immigrants in Texas who say the Trump administration was working to remove them.
The court’s brief order drew dissents from conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Attorneys for the Venezuelans at issue in the case filed an emergency appeal at the high court on Friday, claiming they were at immediate risk of being removed from the country and had not been provided sufficient notice to challenge their deportation.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Today's news
Democratic News Corner
Democrats want Joe Biden to stay away
Democrats trying to find their way back from their 2024 election losses are taking aim at former President Biden for reemerging on the national stage.
Biden came back into view this week to deliver his first public postpresidency speech after largely being absent from the political discussion.
But some Democrats said they’d prefer the former president take a back seat as the party puts its shoulder into its rebuilding efforts.
Even longtime Biden loyalists who support him and former first lady Jill Biden are calling the timing into question.
“I love both Bidens dearly, but staff loyalty means there is a responsibility to provide them with an honest situational awareness, especially when it comes to their public image, no matter how hurtful it is to hear,” said Michael LaRosa, who served as Jill Biden’s communications director.
“If they had advisers who had their hand on the pulse of the Democratic Party or national politics, they would have understood the intense level of anger or indifference to them that remains inside our party and isn’t going away anytime soon,” LaRosa said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Van Hollen’s big moment: Defending a constituent and defying Trump
The Maryland Democrat is in the national spotlight as he advocates for the return of his wrongfully-deported constituent.
Chris Van Hollen has spent nearly a decade as an under-the-radar lawmaker. But the Maryland Democrat, who gave up a leadership trajectory in the House to serve in the Senate, may now finally be meeting his moment.
Van Hollen has grabbed the national spotlight amid a two-day trip to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration on erroneous charges of gang membership. After being initially blocked from entering a maximum-security prison by the Salvadoran government, Van Hollen ultimately succeeded in sitting down Thursday with his constituent, who had since been transferred to another detention facility.
“If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America,” Van Hollen said Friday at a press conference at Dulles International Airport, shortly after returning from El Salvador.
He was flanked by advocates holding signs emblazoned with the words, “Thank you Senator Van Hollen.”
Continue reading at Politico
Clyburn shifts blame to media over Democrats’ slipping popularity
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Friday took a page from President Trump’s playbook, casting blame on the media for the Democratic Party‘s downward shift in approval ratings.
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi pointed out a perceived lack of messaging from Democrats as a reason for voters’ dwindling faith in the party — especially following significant losses in the 2024 election. Clyburn pushed back on the notion, instead pointing his finger at news organizations.
“I think the message coming from the Democratic Party is a good message,” the South Carolina Democrat told “The Last Word” host on Friday night. “The problem we’ve got, I’ll say, is that we have to depend upon the media to deliver it.”
He pointed to The Washington Post and criticism of owner Jeff Bezos’s relationship with Trump as an example.
“If we have The Washington Post, for instance, caving to this wannabe dictator and we’ve got other media entities that seem to rather push a narrative that will bring eyes to their newspapers or to their television sets and not really give a fair hearing or reporting to what we’re doing,” he added. “
His comments come as polling shows a downward spike in approval for the party.
Continue reading at The Hill
Bernie Sanders/AOC rallies
Montana
National Security
Three fired Pentagon officials say they’ve been ‘slandered’ by ‘baseless attacks’ from ‘unnamed’ officials
Three Pentagon officials fired on Friday after being placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation into information leaks at the Defense Department say they are “incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended.”
In a joint statement from Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, and Darin Selnick, posted on Caldwell’s X account, they claim that “unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.”
“All three of us served our country honorably in uniform – for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it,” the statement continues.
On Tuesday, the Defense Department suspended and escorted out Caldwell, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s senior adviser, and Selnick, the department’s deputy chief of staff.
Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran, was a public policy adviser at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy-focused think tank. Selnick, a retired Air Force officer, worked as a senior adviser to the Concerned Veterans for America from 2019 to 2024.
Continue reading at The Hill
Economics
Ford halts shipments of F-150s and other models to China: Report
Ford Motor has halted shipments of SUVs, pick-up trucks and sports cars to China due to retaliatory tariffs from President Trump’s trade war.
This week, the company stopped shipping F-150 Raptors, Mustang muscle cars, Michigan-built Bronco SUVs and Kentucky-made Lincoln Navigators to China, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
China’s retaliatory measures in response to U.S. import taxes have raised duties on those vehicles as high as 150 percent, WSJ said.
“We have adjusted exports from the U.S. to China in light of the current tariffs,” a Ford spokesperson confirmed in an email to NewsNation, but it did not say which models were affected.
Last year, Ford reportedly shipped about 5,500 Broncos, F-150s, Mustangs and Navigators to China. However, that’s well below the annual average of more than 20,000 vehicle exports to China over the past decade, WSJ noted.
Ford’s decision is one of the first tangible signs of a U.S. automaker adjusting its operations in the wake of Trump’s trade war — a battle that’s expected to raise costs for manufacturers and car shoppers alike.
Continue reading at The Hill
Inside Trump's tariff brain
Stop trying to predict and appraise President Trump's tariffs policies based on economic theories or market realities. Tariffs are pure psychology for the president, fused into his brain like no other topic.
Why it matters: Trump's tariff brain is unpredictable to the outside (and to market analysts) but wholly knowable to those who know how his mind works.
"There'll be trial and error. There'll be pushing the envelope. There'll be all of that Trumpian stuff," said a top adviser involved in trade discussions.
The big picture: Trump approaches tariffs, the remaking of the U.S. economy and the reshaping of global trade as a continuation of his presidential campaign.
He ignored experts and assembled a team dedicated to executing his will and shrugging off the consequences of his unpredictability. He's not changing now — rocky rollout and chaotic financial markets be damned.
"Donald Trump works at his own tempo, and he doesn't change the subject until he's sure he's clubbed people into seeing it as he does," the adviser said.
Between the lines: In Trump's first term, free traders such as then-National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn controlled Trump's impulses to impose tariffs the way he has now. Trump's current NEC chief, Kevin Hassett, is pro-tariff.
So is the rest of the economic team: Vice President Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Council of Economic Advisers chair Steven Miran, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Continue reading at Axios
The five people shaping Trump’s economic agenda
There’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has taken the lead in negotiating trade deals and is viewed by Republican lawmakers and Wall Street executives as a steady hand.
There’s Peter Navarro, the prickly senior trade adviser who shares Trump’s unwavering views on tariffs and is staunchly loyal. There’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend of Trump’s who has caused some hiccups with his media appearances.
There’s also Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative, two behind-the-scenes senior officials helping to shape, implement and message around Trump’s economic plans.
Sources close to the White House said having officials with different views is not new for the president, and that it is ultimately Trump who makes the final calls when it comes to tariffs, trade and the economy. But those top economic aides have found themselves in the spotlight as economists warn of the potential fallout of Trump’s policies.
“They have different views on how to get from A to B,” said one former Trump White House official. “Frankly, that’s what Trump wants. He wants that ‘fight in front of me, and I’ll decide who wins.’”
Here are the five senior officials behind Trump’s economic agenda.
Continue reading at The Hill
Industries hit a wall on relief from Trump’s tariffs
The administration hasn’t set up a formal process for carve-outs from tariffs, keeping businesses uncertain about whether they may be able to secure relief.
Car companies, toy manufacturers, farmers, retail groups and others who face significant cost increases from President Donald Trump’s steep new tariffs on China are all ramping up their lobbying of the administration to press for carve-outs and assistance.
But, with no formal process in place to submit their requests, and no direct line to the one decision-maker who matters, most businesses and industries are hitting a wall, so far. And those in the business world with connections to the White House figure it’s likely to stay that way until an industry can demonstrate to the president there’s a true crisis at hand.
“There’s only one person that can really authorize that exemption and that’s the president,” said one business representative with close ties to the Trump administration, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “So if you’re not a company that can whisper in the president’s ear or make the trip to Mar-a-Lago and do it persuasively, then you’re sort of frozen out of the process for now.”
After insisting for weeks that there would be no special treatment in his trade war, Trump exempted a broad chunk of electronic products from the levies. But other industries so far haven’t had similar luck.
The inconsistency on exemptions highlights the rising tension facing Trump’s trade agenda: a firm, across-the-board tariff on top trading partners risks driving up inflation and plunging the economy into a recession. But if he begins granting relief to numerous industries, it could undermine Trump’s goal of bringing back manufacturing jobs.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump and Xi are locked in a standoff over direct trade negotiations
The president’s refusal to allow informal diplomatic outreach to bridge the gap between the White House and Beijing is slowing progress toward a possible deal.
President Donald Trump says he expects a deal over skyrocketing tariffs with Beijing “over the next three or four weeks.”
But that’s looking increasingly unlikely.
He’s insisting on one-on-one talks with China’s leader, Xi Jinping — and this has stifled other diplomatic efforts to halt the worsening trade war between the two global powers.
The president won’t authorize White House delegates to engage with Chinese officials in Beijing about a detente, according to two former senior State Department officials and an industry official, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive ongoing discussions. The Senate has yet to confirm an ambassador to China; Trump has not appointed anyone else to lead talks with Beijing; and the White House isn’t reaching out to the Chinese embassy to begin discussions.
The absence of any substantial outreach has frozen meaningful communications between the two countries and threatened the likelihood of a near-term solution.
“The backchannels don’t work because President Trump doesn’t want them to,” said Ryan Hass, former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the National Security Council during the Obama administration. “Trump wants to deal directly with President Xi in the same way he has with President Putin. I don’t think he’s particularly interested in outsourcing the transmission of his views to others.”
Trump has repeatedly stated his interest in talking to or meeting with Xi to ease trade tensions. But the Chinese leader has appeared to resist those overtures. Instead, Xi focused this week on rallying Southeast Asian countries to strengthen their relationship with China in opposition to U.S. tariffs. This apparent deadlock irks the White House.
Continue reading at Politico
Companies vying for Trump’s attention are sponsoring the Easter Egg Roll
Ethics lawyers said the event raises concerns.
The White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll will have major corporations sponsoring activities this year, which ethics experts say would not have passed muster under previous administrations.
The White House on Friday announced details for the annual event, which has taken place in some form for more than 100 years. Among the companies sponsoring stations are Amazon, Meta and YouTube — all tech companies whose leaders have sought a closer relationship with President Donald Trump in his second term.
“In addition to the classic Egg Roll and Egg Hunt — both featuring real, small- and medium-sized eggs donated by American egg farmers — guests will enjoy a wide array of entertaining activities thanks to the White House Historical Association and its partnerships,” the first lady’s office said in a statement.
It comes as tech giants have looked to make inroads with the Trump administration, with industry titans attending the president’s inauguration. Trump and his administration have also sought to boost companies that publicly align with him, including when the president showcased Tesla cars — and bought one — alongside his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who also serves as CEO of the EV company.
Continue reading at Politico
Health and Science News
SCOTUS to Mull Whether Insurers Must Offer Certain Preventive Services for Free
— Public health advocates warn more illnesses and deaths could result if coverage is not upheld
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could affect what kind of preventive care is covered at no charge under Americans' health insurance plans.
The case, known as Kennedy v. Braidwoodopens in a new tab or window, involves Christian-owned businesses and six individuals in Texas who have challenged the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) requirement to cover preventive services, according to an issue briefopens in a new tab or window from KFF, a health policy research and news organization. In particular, the court is considering whether the structure of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) -- an independent entity convened by the federal government that makes recommendations for preventive services -- violates the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause.
Under the Appointments Clause, "officers of the United States" may only be appointed by the president, subject to Senate approval. The plaintiffs argue that the USPSTF is unconstitutional because its members are not presidentially appointed or Senate-confirmed. This is relevant because the ACA requires all insurers -- including private insurers and self-insured employers such as those in the lawsuit -- to cover at no charge any preventive services that are recommended by the USPSTF.
In their initial case, filed in 2022, the respondents alleged that the preventive services requirements for private health insurance are unconstitutional and also that the requirement to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment (PrEP) for HIV prevention violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They said they should not have to cover services that their employees don't need or those that the employers object to. The federal government, representing the other side, argues that the USPSTF's oversight by the HHS secretary is constitutionally appropriate because HHS may remove members at will and can determine when health insurance issuers must start providing coverage for new recommendations, according to KFF.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2024 affirmed the district court's ruling that the ACA's requirement to cover without cost-sharing services recommended by USPSTF is unconstitutional. However, they ruled that only the plaintiffs are permitted to exclude USPSTF-recommended services from their plans, KFF explained. In addition to ruling on whether the USPSTF is constitutional, the High Court also will consider the legality of the requirement for all insurers to cover preventive services recommended by the USPSTF since 2010, the year the ACA was passed.
Continue reading at MedPageToday
Polling- Surveys
Nearly 70 percent of CEOs disapprove of Trump’s tariffs: Survey
329 CEOs and business owners were surveyed
It was conducted by Chief Executive magazine
April's rating of the business market dipped compared to March
A large swath of chief executives in the U.S. shares a lack of support for President Trump’s latest tariffs and believe they will hurt their company, according to a recent survey.
The poll, conducted by Chief Executive magazine, found that 67 of those surveyed did not agree with the president’s tariff agenda and 76 percent believe the sweeping import taxes will hurt their companies
According to the outlet, the results also show the lowest confidence in the business market since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents “poor” and 10 means “excellent,” the more tan 300 participants ranked the current business climate at 4.6, down from 5.0 in March.
“Tariffs and the uncertainty of next steps that will be taken by President Trump will lead to very difficult economic times over the next year or two,” Mitchell Metal Products President and CEO Tim Zimmerman told the magazine.
Donald H. Lloyd II, president and CEO of St. Claire HealthCare, added, “This uncertainty needs to stop.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Californians back health care funds for undocumented immigrants despite budget strain, poll finds
The POLITICO-Citrin Center poll showing majority support for the program comes as it faces scrutiny from Washington and growing calls to cut back amid California’s budget shortfall.
The first-of-its-kind POLITICO-UC Berkeley Citrin Center survey shows 21 percent of voters believe California should continue to offer Medicaid to undocumented immigrants, even if it means the state is forced to make cuts elsewhere. Another 32 percent said the state should continue the program but prioritize people in the country legally if budget cuts are necessary.
Nearly a third (31 percent) said the state never should have opened up its Medicaid coverage to undocumented immigrants, especially working-age adults, while 17 percent believe the state should partially or fully reverse such coverage. The findings could offer direction for state lawmakers as they grapple with higher-than-expected costs in deciding on the next budget, said Jack Citrin, a longtime UC Berkeley political science professor.
“There’s broad support for the state’s Medicaid program for undocumented immigrants,” Citrin told POLITICO, adding, though, that there was some “nuance.”
“I think there will be resistance among the state government to cutting Medicaid, but if they have to, presumably they might start changing which undocumented get access, maybe limiting it to children and elderly people, rather than everyone, … tinkering with that.”
California has been offering Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to everyone who qualifies in the state — regardless of immigration status — since January 2024, as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pledge to bring the state closer to universal health care coverage. His predecessor, Jerry Brown, began allowing undocumented children onto Medi-Cal in 2016, and Newsom slowly expanded the age range until everyone qualified after he took office in 2019.
Continue reading at Politico
Many Americans are warming up to China as trade war brews: Pew
Americans are warming up to China as a trade war between the world’s two largest economies continues to bubble, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
Survey findings show a four percent decrease in Americans’ unfavorable opinion of China. Last year, 84 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of China compared to 77 percent of survey participants in 2025.
It marks the first drop in five years. The shift comes as the Trump administration remains at a standoff with counterparts overseas regarding reciprocal tariffs, which stand at a 145 percent rate for imports from China.
Beijing’s leaders have pushed back against the uptick in levies with a 125 percent tariff on imports from the U.S. and refusing to admit the country’s gas exports amid an objection to other products manufactured nationally.
Data from the poll shows that one in four Americans believe China benefits more than the U.S. in their trade relationship. Ten percent believe the U.S. benefits more, while 25 percent say both countries benefit equally, 2 percent say neither benefit, and 16 percent are unsure.
However, a majority of respondents, 52 percent, said they believe tariffs will be bad for the U.S.
Continue reading at The Hill
The Courts / Legal
Supreme Court halts latest wave of Alien Enemies Act deportations, for now
The Supreme Court early Saturday halted the administration’s ability to use the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport migrants to El Salvador who are being detained in portions of Texas, for now.
The emergency order temporarily blocks the deportations until the high court resolves the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) emergency appeal, which was filed hours earlier over concerns that more deportation flights were imminent.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court’s leading conservatives, dissented.
The ACLU simultaneously asked several courts to immediately intervene Friday, warning that the Venezuelan migrants could otherwise be given life sentences in a notorious Salvadoran megaprison without the opportunity for judicial review.
“The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court,” the Supreme Court’s order reads.
Continue reading at The Hill
Newsom taunts Trump’s DOJ over tariff lawsuit request
The Trump administration is trying to move the case out of California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to pounce on news that the Trump administration is trying to move California’s lawsuit over the president’s tariffs to an out-of-state court.
“You scared?” Newsom posted on social media in response to a news report about the administration’s request.
Justice Department attorneys argued in a court filing Thursday that the case should be heard in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, rather than the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where Newsom and Attorney Rob Bonta filed the suit on Wednesday. Judge Scott Corley scheduled a May 22 hearing on the request.
California this week became the first state to sue President Donald Trump over his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, claiming the president has no authority to unilaterally tax imports under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In the filing, the Trump administration contended that the lawsuit “falls squarely within the exclusive subject matter jurisdiction of the Court of International Trade” because it focuses on tariff policy, arguing that the Northern District lacks jurisdiction and should “promptly transfer” the case.
The Court of International Trade deals exclusively with trade issues and has jurisdiction throughout the country. The court “has entertained thousands of challenges to various Presidential actions imposing tariffs,” the administration argued in the filing, adding that “this complaint should be treated no differently.”
Continue reading at Politico
Supreme Court blocks Trump from conducting more deportations under Alien Enemies Act
The 1 a.m. order came after lawyers rushed to the court to stop an ‘imminent’ wave of deportations.
The Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deporting a second wave of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act after lawyers rushed to the court and alleged that the administration was about to send dozens or hundreds of detainees to El Salvador in defiance of an earlier ruling by the justices.
In a brief order released at about 1 a.m. Saturday, the court directed the administration to temporarily halt any plan to deport a group of Venezuelan nationals who have been detained in northern Texas and have been designated as “alien enemies.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Alito indicated he would issue a fuller statement later.
The high court’s order followed hours of frantic litigation involving courts in Texas, Louisiana and Washington, D.C., as lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union battled to stave off what they said appeared to be imminent deportations of Venezuelan men the administration has gathered at an immigration detention center just north of Abilene, Texas.
The men had been given terse deportation notices and were being “loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport,” the ACLU lawyers wrote in an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court Friday evening.
Continue reading at Politico
Tropical drinks by the pool? Not so fast, says senator who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
There was the pool furniture in the background. There were the tropical drinks, which looked to be margaritas garnished with cherries. And then there were the deported prisoner and the American senator, sitting and chatting.
That senator, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, accused El Salvador’s government on Friday of aiming to paint the picture of a leisurely respite for the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia by staging their meeting with drinks appearing to be alcohol, and angling to set the meeting by a hotel pool.
Van Hollen referred to the stagecraft with a term that had ricocheted around social media for much of the day: “Margaritagate.”
“Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is,” the Democratic senator said, calling the whole situation “a lesson” in “the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people about what’s going on.”
Continue reading at the AP
A US citizen was held for pickup by ICE even after proving he was born in the country
MIAMI (AP) — A U.S. citizen was arrested in Florida for allegedly being in the country illegally and held for pickup by immigration authorities even after his mother showed a judge her son’s birth certificate and the judge dismissed charges.
Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia state line by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday, said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson at the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Gomez and others in the car were arrested under a new Florida law, which is on hold, making it a crime for people who are in the country illegally to enter the state.
It is unclear if Lopez Gomez showed documents proving he is a citizen to the arresting officers. He was held at Leon County Jail and released after his case received widespread media coverage.
The charge of illegal entry into Florida was dropped Thursday after his mother showed the judge his state identification card, birth certificate and Social Security card, said Kennedy, who attended the hearing.
Continue reading at the AP
DOJ asks Supreme Court to reject ACLU request to pause deportations
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Saturday afternoon to reject an emergency request to temporarily pause the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants to El Salvador swiftly detained in portions of Texas.
In a court filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the high court to “dissolve its current administrative stay” issued early Saturday and to allow “lower courts to address the relevant legal and factual questions.”
The emergency order temporarily blocks the deportations until the high court resolves the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) emergency appeal, filed hours before the pause over concerns that more deportation flights were imminent.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court’s leading conservatives, dissented.
In Sauer’s filing, he claimed that lawyers for the migrants had “improperly skilled over the lower courts,” making their request that the Supreme Court step in “fatally premature.”
He also claimed “the government has provided advance notice” before commencing removals, giving detainees “adequate time to file” to file a petition disputing the removals. Sauer said the government had agreed not to remove detainees who had filed those claims.
Continue reading at The Hill
Anti-DEI-Whitewashing
Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects
At least $1.6 million in federal funds for projects meant to capture and digitize stories of the systemic abuse of generations of Indigenous children in boarding schools at the hands of the U.S. government have been slashed due to federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The cuts are just a fraction of the grants canceled by the National Endowment for the Humanities in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal government. But coming on the heels of a major federal boarding school investigation by the previous administration and an apology by then-President Joe Biden, they illustrate a seismic shift.
“If we’re looking to ‘Make America Great Again,’ then I think it should start with the truth about the true American history,” said Deborah Parker, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
The coalition lost more than $282,000 as a result of the cuts, halting its work to digitize more than 100,000 pages of boarding school records for its database. Parker, a citizen of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington state, said Native Americans nationwide depend on the site to find loved ones who were taken or sent to these boarding schools.
Continue reading at the AP
General News
Van Hollen takes center stage in fight with Trump over Abrego Garcia
Van Hollen embarked for the Central American nation on Wednesday after saying he would travel there if Abrego Garcia had not been returned by mid-week.
In doing so, Van Hollen traveled straight to the capital of a country whose government rebuffed his request to meet with President Nayib Bukele, and who has vowed not to release Abrego Garcia.
“This case is not just about one man, it’s about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America,” Van Hollen said at a press conference after landing at Dulles International Airport, appearing alongside members of Abrego Garcia’s family.
“That’s why I traveled to El Salvador leaving here on Wednesday, and I want to express my gratitude to members of my family and members of my staff who agree that we all must be prepared to take risks because of the current risk to our constitution itself.”
Van Hollen achieved the main objective of his trip in meeting with Abrego Garcia. The senator did so despite being told such a visit was not possible and having his car physically blocked by authorities as he attempted to visit the notorious prison his constituent was being held.
Continue reading at The Hill
Stefanik threatens to upend New York governor’s race
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is threatening to upend the New York governor’s race as she considers a challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) next year.
Stefanik has not confirmed that she’s running yet, but the possibility of her jumping in is already unsettling the GOP primary in the Empire State, where Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) had been seen as the most likely choice for the GOP nomination.
Republicans recognize the uphill battle Stefanik could have in the blue stronghold and say they’re hoping to avoid a divisive primary between Lawler and Stefanik, a top ally of President Trump, that could distract from focusing on Hochul and years of Democratic dominance of the state. Still, many in the party remain optimistic that they can pull off an upset after making inroads in 2022.
“In terms of fundraising organization and the ability to communicate a clear and concise message, there’s no Republican in New York that can do it like Elise Stefanik,” said New York Republican strategist Bill Cortese, a former adviser to Stefanik. “From her entire career, she has beat the odds and delivered, and I think that is why you saw her meteoric rise in Washington.”
Continue reading at The Hill
‘Mami, I’m Scared’: A 7-Year-Old Grapples With Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
The Trump administration’s attacks on undocumented and legal immigrants alike are spreading fear and uncertainty.
“Mami, I’m scared.”
It was my 7-year-old, leaning forward from the back seat of the car, scanning the broad sidewalk in front of his elementary school. It should have been an ordinary morning: a hint of rain, high-pitched laughter and the jerky stop and go of cars dropping kids off for another day of learning.
“What are you scared of?” I asked, twisting in the driver’s seat so I could make eye contact.
“What if I get deported?“ my American-born child asked.
I wasn’t entirely surprised by the question. Earlier in the week, after hearing how ICE arrests and deportation are impacting people where we live in the Bay Area, his 13-year-old brother asked if I was at risk of being arrested by ICE. They both know I was born in Cuba, and though neither could tell you about the Cuban Adjustment Act or any of the myriad laws that have smoothed my privileged immigration story, they’d both heard enough about the current deportations to think my American life — our American lives — could be imperiled.
I explained to them that I’m a U.S. citizen, not likely to be kicked out of the country. But President Donald Trump’s escalation from targeting deportable immigrants to immigrants with visas and green cards doesn’t exactly encourage trust.
I can’t tell my children what I no longer believe: that citizenship is an unbreakable shield. Not when the president openly acknowledges that his administration is looking for legal ways to “deport” its own citizens. Not when a 10-year-old U.S. citizen had her cancer treatment interrupted last month when her undocumented parents were ordered back to Mexico, forcing them to choose between relocating their entire family or separating from their daughter so she could continue her treatment in the U.S. Not when law enforcement officers mislead people like Federico Arellano, a U.S. citizen whose wife was in the process of legalizing her status. She was still recovering from birthing twins when she was called to the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement offices in Houston to discuss her case, only to be immediately deported to Mexico — with all four of their children, including the three who are U.S. citizens. Not when recent history tells us over and over that the state doesn’t always play by the rules, even when it admits an error, as in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego García, the Maryland man trapped in a Salvadoran mega-prison whom the Trump Administration is refusing to return, notwithstanding the Supreme Court.
Continue reading at Politico Magazine
The ‘worst thing’: Meloni interpreter apologizes after stumble at White House
Valentina Maiolini-Rothbacher said the incident during Meloni’s meeting with Trump was a “terrible setback.”
Giorgia Meloni’s interpreter has apologized for faltering during a high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump earlier this week, prompting the Italian prime minister to jump in and translate her own comments about NATO and defense spending.
Valentina Maiolini-Rothbacher, who was interrupted by Meloni when providing a translation at the White House meeting on Thursday, said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the mishap was the “worst thing that can happen to an interpreter, a terrible setback.”
Footage of the meeting shows President Trump asking Maiolini-Rothbacher for a translation of Meloni’s response to a question from an Italian journalist about his position on Ukraine and military spending. Maiolini-Rothbacher appears to struggle with the translation, pausing several times and looking through her notes, before Meloni cuts her off and speaks to Trump in English.
The interpreter said in the interview with Corriere della Sera that such a calamity has never happened to her before. “I’m sorry above all for not having been useful,” she said.
“President Meloni was right to interrupt me, it was a very important meeting and every word carried great weight,” Maiolini-Rothbacher said. “She wanted to be perfectly understood by Donald Trump.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Vatican progressives wary as Trump’s hardline Catholic deputy visits Holy See
U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Rome comes after his stance on Catholic doctrine drew a rare rebuke from Pope Francis.
On Saturday, Vance, accompanied by his wife and three children, sailed down Vatican City’s sumptuous main thoroughfare, Via della Conciliazione, to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis’s top diplomat, having met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
So far, Vance has only met with Parolin, and not Francis himself. Still, Vatican officials do not rule out an Easter visit with the pontiff, who, despite the lingering effects of a serious respiratory illness, was able to meet the United Kingdom’s King Charles III last week.
But among the pope’s allies there is wariness of Vance, a Catholic convert with a traditionalist bent who has frequently clashed with Francis’s own progressive-tinted agenda.
“The pope has no great love for neither Vance nor Trump,” said one person close to Francis. “He has positions which are against the social doctrine of the Church, for migration, and human rights, and so on.”
At the same time, two people close to the pontiff acknowledged, Francis himself does not shy away from confrontation with people who disagree with him, so is unlikely to snub Vance on those grounds. Another acknowledged that Francis does not like to show “weakness.”
Clashes between the two worldviews already played out earlier this year, after the vice president invoked the theological concept of Ordo Amoris, which relates to divine love, to justify his boss’s deportation of migrants, drawing a rare official rebuke from the Holy See.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Vatican notes ‘exchange of opinions’ over migrants, prisoners in meeting with Vance
VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with the Vatican’s No. 2 official amid tensions over the U.S. crackdown on migrants, with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting “an exchange of opinions” over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.
The Vatican issued a statement after Vance, a Catholic convert, met with the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. There was no indication he met with Pope Francis, who has been resuming some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Continue reading at the AP
U.S.-Iran nuclear talks underway in Rome as Trump backs diplomacy over strike
Rome - A second round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are underway, this time in Rome, with President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leading the delegations.
Why it matters: The talks are taking place with debate still raging within the Trump administration — and between the U.S. and Israel — over whether diplomacy or military strikes are more likely to prevent Tehran from obtaining a bomb.
For now, Trump is holding back the hawks, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and focusing on getting a deal.
"I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific. But they can't have a nuclear weapon. And if they have a nuclear weapon, you'll all be very unhappy because your life will be in great danger," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
State of play: While the first round last weekend in Oman was focused on setting the tone and format of the talks, U.S. officials say their goal for the second round is to produce a framework for how the negotiations will proceed.
Continue reading at Axios
How Trump backed away from promising to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours
During his campaign, Donald Trump said repeatedly that he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” upon taking office. He has changed his tone since becoming president again.
As various U.S. emissaries have held talks looking for an end to the war, both Trump and his top officials have become more reserved about the prospects of a peace deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday suggested the U.S. might soon back away from negotiations altogether without more progress, adding a comment that sounded like a repudiation of the president’s old comments.
“No one’s saying this can be done in 12 hours,” he told reporters.
The promises made by presidential candidates are often felled by the realities of governing. But Trump’s shift is noteworthy given his prior term as president and his long histories with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The White House on Friday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Trump’s evolving deadline comments.
Here’s a look at Trump’s evolution on the way he talks about the Russia-Ukraine war:
Continue reading at the AP
250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
LEXINGTON, Mass. (AP) — Thousands of people came to this Massachusetts town Saturday just before dawn to witness the beginnings of the American Revolution.
Amid a hail of gunfire, they watched as British soldiers confronted an overmatched group of Lexington Minute Men on Lexington Battle Green. The battle, which left eight Americans dead and 10 wounded, marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The day offers an opportunity to reflect on this seminal moment in history but also consider what this fight means today.
“It’s truly momentous,” said Richard Howell, who portrayed Lexington Minute Man Samuel Tidd in the battle.
“This is one of the most sacred pieces of ground in the country, if not the world because of what it represents,” he said. “To represent what went on that day, how a small town of Lexington was a vortex of so much ... Lexington was the first town that was able to anywhere muster men and were the first to face the onslaught of the British.”
The semiquincentennial comes as President Donald Trump, the scholarly community and others divide over whether to have a yearlong party leading up to July 4, 2026, as Trump has called for, or to balance any celebrations with questions about women, the enslaved and Indigenous people and what their stories reveal.
Continue reading at the AP
ICE Is Paying Palantir $30 Million to Build ‘ImmigrationOS’ Surveillance Platform
In a document published Thursday, ICE explained the functions that it expects Palantir to include in a prototype of a new program to give the agency “near real-time” data about people self-deporting.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is paying software company Palantir $30 million to provide the agency with “near real-time visibility” on people self-deporting from the United States, according to a contract justification published in a federal register on Thursday. The tool would also help ICE choose who to deport, giving special priority to “visa overstays,” the document shows.
Palantir has been an ICE contractor since 2011, but the document published Thursday indicates that Palantir wants to provide brand-new capabilities to ICE. The agency currently does not have any publicly known tools for tracking self-deportation in near real-time. The agency does have a tool for tracking self-reported deportations, but Thursday’s document, which was first reported by Business Insider, does not say to what degree this new tool may rely on self-reported data. ICE also has “insufficient technology” to detect people overstaying their visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security. This is particularly due to challenges in collecting "biographic and biometric" data from departing travelers, especially if they leave over land, according to Customs and Border Protection.
The agency says in the document that these new capabilities will be under a wholly new platform called the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, or ImmigrationOS. Palantir is expected to provide a prototype of ImmigrationOS by September 25, 2025, and the contract is scheduled to last at least through September 2027. ICE’s update to the contract comes as the Trump administration is demanding that thousands of immigrants “self-deport,” or leave the US voluntarily.
Continue reading at Wired
US citizen says he and his wife detained without explanation after returning from Canada
CNN —
An American citizen says he and his wife were detained for hours by US border agents when they returned to the United States after a short trip to Canada.
Bachir Atallah told CNN he and his wife, Jessica, were driving back into the US Sunday evening after visiting family in Canada for the weekend when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped them for a secondary inspection at the Highgate Springs checkpoint in Vermont.
Atallah, who is originally from Lebanon, said he was told to park his Range Rover and hand over his keys. When he asked the officer why, the officer placed his hand on his gun and told him to exit his vehicle, Atallah said. He said he was then handcuffed and led into a cell, where his belongings were confiscated. He said his wife was put into a cell across from his.
“Seeing my wife’s mascara running because she was crying, it was heartbreaking,” Atallah said. “It wasn’t humane.”
While detained, Atallah said he gave CBP agents the passcode to his phone after they asked for it. Despite his pleadings, agents never told him why he and his wife were being detained, he said. He said he was never read his rights.
“The traveler’s accusations are blatantly false and sensationalized,” CBP officials said in a statement to CNN affiliate WMUR. “CBP officers acted in accordance with established protocols. Upon arrival at the port of entry, the traveler was appropriately referred to secondary inspection – a routine, lawful process that occurs daily and can apply for any traveler.”
Continue reading at CNN.com
The 100-year-old roots of Elon’s politics
The impetus for President DONALD TRUMP’s recent fixation on annexing Canada remains something of a mystery. Unlike his interest in wresting control of Greenland from the Danes, making Canada into America’s 51st state was never discussed during the president’s first term.
But there is, in fact, historical precedent behind the idea of unifying North America as one massive nation: merging the U.S. and Canada, and extending the territory down as far south as the Panama Canal, another new focus of Trump’s. And it included — wait for it — Greenland, too.
That was the vision of a little-known political movement in the 1930s known as “The Technocrats,” who proposed a sweeping territorial and philosophical reorganization of America that was to be governed by elite experts in different policy areas rather than democratically elected politicians.
If that sounds not entirely unlike the ELON MUSK-led Department of Government Efficiency that Trump has tasked with slashing the federal bureaucracy, get this: A leader in the Technocrat movement nearly a century ago just happens to be Musk’s maternal grandfather, JOSHUA HALDEMAN.
“The parallels between now and the 1930s are increasingly uncanny,” said DAFYDD TOWNLEY, a professor of American politics and international security at the University of Portsmouth who wrote about Musk’s ties to the Technocrats movement earlier this year.
A century ago, America was also in a period of foreign policy isolationism and experiencing profound economic turbulence. But while the technocracy movement gained some traction in the U.S. and Canada during the Great Depression, it mostly remained on the political fringe.
“This was never a major political force,” Townley said in an interview. “It never had that political will or support within the establishment, or the White House for example, that potentially Musk has now.”
Haldeman, after leading the Technocracy Incorporated group in Canada from 1936 to 1941, grew disillusioned and eventually moved to South Africa, where his first grandchild, Musk, was born in 1971. Musk emigrated to Canada in 1989 before moving to the U.S. to finish college.
His involvement with Trump has led hundreds of thousands of Canadians to sign a petition urging the government to revoke his Canadian citizenship and passport.
Musk’s numerous ventures, including Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, all prioritize innovation and automation — very much aligned with the Technocrats’ vision of optimizing civilization through science and technology. And Musk has invested billions into developing rockets to “colonize Mars” as a potential solution to the limitations of life on Earth, with a goal of seeing 1 million people living there by 2050.
Musk himself has publicly acknowledged the connection at least once: In 2019, he posted to what was then Twitter, “accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy.”
“Musk certainly does believe in the idea that there is an elite order that is destined to rule the world,” Townsley said. “Trump just views the world as a businessman. He views Greenland the same way as he would view an aggressive takeover in another company that would help his supply chain.”
Trump and Musk’s belief in economic competition and free enterprise, Townley noted, are not at all in line with the Technocracy movement. And Trump’s following of his more imperialist impulses in a second term may have more to do with economics and trade than any historical antecedents or ideology.
“We’re often quick to look at Trump and say, ‘Oh, he has no strategy.’ But I do think there is an end goal for this that involves minerals,” Townsley said. “I think all of this is tied into his China policy and trying to find alternative sources so the U.S. doesn’t have to rely on China for so many of their rare earth minerals.”
But Musk’s influence can’t be dismissed.
Continue reading at Politico West Wing Playbook
Judge issues temporary restraining order against deportation of more than 100 international students whose visas were revoked
Atlanta CNN —
A judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order in the case of more than 100 international students in the United States whose visas were revoked by the federal government court documents show.
The order by US District Court Judge Victoria Calvert temporarily prevents the deportation of 133 foreign students from at least five countries who filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the revocation of visas to international students, the order, which is valid until May 2, says. Attorneys for the students asked Calvert on Thursday to temporarily block the government from changing their immigration status.
The decision also means the students’ legal status must be reinstated under Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) used by the Department of Homeland Security to maintain information mainly regarding international students and their status in the country.
The lawsuit claims the administration removed the statuses from the program, asking the court to reinstate those that have already been revoked.
Calvert, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2021, did not immediately rule on the request during the Thursday hearing in Atlanta, but indicated she planned to grant some form of temporary relief.
In the complaint, the students are not identified by name, but a “pseudonym due to fear of retaliation by Defendants.”
“We don’t know why their visas were revoked. We’re basically guessing. But we don’t know and that is a problem,” Charles Kuck, an attorney representing the students said Thursday in court.
Dustin Baxter, one of the filing attorneys, told CNN the threshold to obtain a temporary restraining order is much higher than the permanent injunction because to get an emergency order granted, they have to show the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of the case.
“The fact that we met the legal threshold for a grant of the emergency temporary restraining order bodes very well for the likely success of the permanent injunction in this case,” Baxter said in a statement reacting to the order.
Continue reading at CNN.com
International students are being told by email that their visas are revoked and that they must ‘self-deport.’ What to know
CNN —
For hundreds of thousands of people every year who dream of studying or researching in the United States, a student visa is the golden ticket.
Now, for hundreds of people already at US colleges and universities, it is turning into a one-way ticket back to their home countries as President Donald Trump’s administration continues an aggressive effort to revoke visas and push academics out of the country – whether voluntarily or in handcuffs.
Visa programs in the US are complicated, with many requirements and conditions, and the State Department says it has broad powers to terminate them.
How do student visas work?
Coming to the United States for anything but tourism usually means wading through an alphabet soup of visa types – more than two dozen for people who do not intend to become permanent residents of the US.
But only three apply to people from other countries who plan to study in the United States. An F-1 visa is used by students attending an academic institution like a high school or college. The much less common M-1 visa applies to students in a vocational program.
To accept students with those visas, an educational institution first must be certified by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit, or ICE, through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, known as SEVP.
In its disputes with Harvard University, the Trump administration has threatened to decertify the university from SEVP unless it agrees to give the Department of Homeland Security detailed disciplinary records on its international students – part of a broader White House effort to bring elite US colleges into lockstep with its political ideology. If Harvard is dropped from the program, it would not be able to accept students on an F-1 visa, with existing F-1 students traditionally allowed to seek a transfer to another US school.
Additionally, many people with educational plans come to the US on a J-1 “exchange visitor” visa. This path includes not just academic study but also a “cultural component” supervised by a US organization approved by the State Department, a list that includes thousands of educational institutions. Professors, researchers and physicians typically come to the US on a J-1 visa.
Continue reading at CNN.com
China’s military pressure near Taiwan is up 300 percent: What it means for the US
Commander says China is 'rehearsing' for attack
China has long wanted to reclaim Taiwan
Commander warns that China outproducing US in fighters
A top U.S military commander warned lawmakers over China’s significantly increased military activity near Taiwan, calling the actions a “rehearsal” for an impending invasion.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, gave testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee last week over his concerns about China’s growing operations off of Taiwan’s waters.
“In 2024, the People’s Liberation Party demonstrated growing capabilities through persistent pressure operations with military pressure against Taiwan increasing by 300 percent,” Paparo testified, adding, “China’s increasingly aggressive actions near Taiwan are not just exercises, they are rehearsals.”
Paparo said the U.S can no longer sit back amid “unprecedented aggression and military modernization” by the nation.
The Chinese military conducted large-scale drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan earlier this month that included an aircraft carrier battle group.
Continue reading at The Hill
Putin declares brief ‘Easter truce’ in war with Ukraine
CNN —
Russian President Vladimir Putin has on Saturday declared an “Easter truce” in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russian fighting will pause between 6 p.m. local time on Saturday and midnight on Monday, he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Continue reading at CNN.com
US, Iran set to enter next phase of nuclear talks for ‘fair, enduring’ deal
The U.S. and Iran are set to enter the next phase of the nuclear talks to achieve an agreement that would guarantee that the country does not have nuclear weapons or remain under the constraint of sanctions, according to Oman.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, through the mediation of Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi “have agreed to enter into the next phase of their discussions that aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy.”
“It is only in dialogue and clear communication that we will be able to achieve a mutually credible agreement and understanding for the benefit of all concerned regionally and internationally,” a spokesperson for Oman’s foreign ministry said in a Saturday statement. “It is also agreed that the next round will take place in Muscat in the next few days.”
The second round of talks between the two sides took place in Rome and started around 11:30 a.m. local time, the U.S. official told The Hill on Saturday.
Continue reading at The Hill
How Michigan could shape the midterms — and the Democratic brand
The Senate primary is becoming a closely-watched battle between progressives and moderates.
A podcaster and former Wayne County official’s entrance into the U.S. Senate race with the backing of Bernie Sanders — the progressive champion’s first candidate endorsement of the year — has all but cemented Michigan as a frontline battleground state for the midterms.
Michigan is shaping up to be the state where the left makes its big stand, offering the clearest test yet of the direction of the Democratic Party.
Before Abdul El-Sayed announced his campaign, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a liberal Democrat, splashed into the race pillorying the “same old crap out of Washington” and declaring she would not back Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Meantime, moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens is widely expected to declare her Senate candidacy as early as next week. She is contacting Democrats urging them to run to succeed her in her House seat, according to two Michigan Democrats familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to describe them.
It’s touching off a battle between progressives and moderates on everything from economic and foreign messaging to who should lead the party. And the winner of the primary in the key battleground will help shape national Democrats’ messaging in 2026 and the presidential election two years later.
Already, El-Sayed has swiped at McMorrow, saying anyone who “unilaterally oppose[s]” a leadership candidate without knowing the alternatives is “is either unnuanced or unsophisticated.”
Continue reading at Politico
Mark Carney unveils a plan to Trump-proof Canada
Liberals pledge offense with defense, a new NATO commitment and plans to bolster Canada’s North
OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney released his election platform on Saturday, touting an emphasis on new military spending and bolstering Canada against Donald Trump’s expansionist vision.
“In this crisis we have to prepare for America’s threats to our very sovereignty. They want our land, our resources, they want our water, they want our country,” Carney said Saturday morning in a suburb east of Toronto.
“President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us, and that will never happen. Canada is not America, and it never will be, but we need to do more to just recognize that. We need a plan to deal with this new reality.”
If the Liberals win a fourth mandate, Carney says his government would spend C$30.9 billion on defense over the next four years and meet Canada’s NATO defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP by 2030 — two years ahead of its current pledge.
In 2024, Canada spent 1.37 per cent of GDP on defense, well below the target.
Much of the new spending will be used to bolster Canada’s North, to deter the influence of China, which has been attempting to make inroads with Indigenous communities in the Arctic.
Continue reading at Politico
Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of POWs
Russian President Vladimir Putin also claimed he would be observing a ceasefire for Easter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons, as Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds of captured soldiers in the largest exchange since Moscow’s full-scale invasion started over three years ago.
According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives.” He wrote on X that “air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,” and “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”
Largest POW exchange so far
Continue reading at Politico
Vance engages in ‘exchange of opinions’ with Vatican over immigration
The vice president and Pope Francis have publicly disagreed over the Trump administration’s mass deportations
Vice President JD Vance met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Saturday morning, amid friction between the administration and Pope Francis over President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation policy.
Readouts from the Vatican and the vice president’s office differed starkly in their presentations of the meeting, with a statement from the Holy See referencing an “exchange of opinions” on issues relating to migrants and refugees.
Francis has sharply rebuked the Trump administration for its mass deportation policy, placing Vance, who was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2019 and is the highest-ranking Catholic in the U.S. government, in the center of a row between his church and his boss.
“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation,” the Vatican’s statement on Saturday’s meeting read, “especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.”
By contrast, the statement from the White House said Vance and Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace.”
Continue reading at Politico
MAGA base thinks Trump’s trade war will bring ‘pot of gold.’ But they’re only willing to wait for so long.
“If the economy just completely tanks, then it’s Political Science 101 that the incumbent is in trouble,” a North Carolina GOP consultant said.
Some Republicans are putting an expiration date on how long they’ll tolerate the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s trade war.
For now, they’re eager to extend the president time to reshape the U.S. economy – and they’re prepared to stomach higher costs as a consequence of steep tariffs on trading partners.
But interviews with nearly three dozen Republican leaders and operatives in seven battlegrounds — from party chairs to strategists to state lawmakers — reveal a growing acknowledgement that economic shocks could hamper the party’s prospects in the midterms. While many say they are strapping in for as long as it takes, several state party strategists and leaders predicted voters’ patience with higher prices would last no longer than into summer, while others suggested he has a runway of about a year.
“No one is surprised, as Donald Trump has talked about unfair trade practices across the world for 30 years,” said Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos, who said he has started to pay tariffs on his own food packaging business. “He talked about reciprocal tariffs literally since the day he was elected. But the hope is that the idea of enacting the tariffs will result in zero at the end, and that’s where I think most people are optimistic to hopefully get it done sooner rather than later.”
Or as Jonathan Felts, a North Carolina GOP consultant, put it, “If the economy just completely tanks, then it’s Political Science 101 that the incumbent is in trouble.”
Continue reading at Politico
After remarkable Supreme Court rebuke, Trump administration slams ‘meritless litigation’
The White House’s statement comes as the Trump administration faces a firestorm of criticism from Democrats and legal experts over due process and the rule of law.
The White House slammed the flood of lawsuits against its deportation agenda following a Supreme Court ruling that will temporarily block its efforts to deport Venezuelan nationals in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act.
The rebuke of the litigation — and the Trump administration’s claims that it is following the rule of law — comes amid an onslaught of criticism from Democrats and legal experts who have blasted President Donald Trump for igniting what they have described as a growing constitutional crisis that threatens the due process of immigrants across the country.
“We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration’s actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told POLITICO in a statement.
The statement was issued more than 12 hours after a remarkable loss for the administration in front of the nation’s highest court. In an apparent 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to pause any plans to deport a group of Venezuelan men in north Texas, following a mad dash by the ACLU to prevent what it was calling a violation of due process for immigrants receiving notice of their “imminent” removal. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas publicly dissented.
The ruling from the Supreme Court was astonishing, coming in the early morning Saturday, mere hours after a challenge was filed by attorneys representing the migrants. It came so quickly that some lower courts had not yet ruled and the government had not even submitted a response to the Supreme Court — and so fast that Alito’s statement dissenting from the decision was only noted as “to follow,” having still not yet been released as of Saturday afternoon.
Continue reading at Politico
Ron DeSantis finds a new political rival much closer to home
The tension has steadily intensified during this year’s Florida legislative session. But it may have reached a peak this past week.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ most formidable political foe these days isn’t a national Democrat such as Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom.
Instead, DeSantis has gotten into a brutal feud with the 37-year-old GOP state House Speaker, who is not only derailing the governor’s agenda in a chamber that usually has bent to his demands but has raised legal questions about a nonprofit associated with a key initiative of first lady Casey DeSantis.
Daniel Perez, an attorney from Miami who rapidly rose to power and personal success, has frustrated DeSantis so much that the governor regularly lambastes House Republicans, and by extension Perez, as a tool of the “left” who just want to undo the governor’s conservative agenda. Perez’s response? Calling the governor “emotional.” DeSantis has also railed against Perez for his friendship with John Morgan, the famed trial lawyer who was once a major Democratic donor.
DeSantis’ continued status as a national conservative star — and a potential 2028 candidate to succeed President Donald Trump — along with his heavy sway over Florida Republican politics, has now found a local hurdle in the form of Perez, himself a quickly rising GOP leader in Tallahassee.
Continue reading at Politico
Today’s 50501 Protests
What to know about the 50501 movement against Trump admin policies
Protesters participated in another grassroots, widespread action against the Trump administration on Saturday.
Why it matters: The 50501 movement takes momentum from recent protests to encourage Americans to become each other's "social support web" as the administration's policies target marginalized communities.
The 50501 movement, meaning 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement, is pushing back against what it called executive overreach from the Trump administration. Its organizing started on Reddit.
"Our movement shows the world that the American working class will not sit idly by as plutocrats rip apart their democratic institutions and civil liberties while undermining the rule of law," the movement's website said.
Continue reading at Axios
Anti-Trump protesters turn out to rallies in New York, Washington and other cities across country
Thomas Bassford said he believed Americans today are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.
NEW YORK — Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals.
The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration marking the start of the American Revolutionary War 250 years ago. In San Francisco, protesters formed a human banner reading “Impeach & Remove” on the sands of Ocean Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Thomas Bassford was among those who joined demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside of Boston. “The shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, heralded the start of the nation’s war for independence from Britain.
The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believed Americans today are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.
“This is a very perilous time in America for liberty,” Bassford said, as he attended the event with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. “I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
Elsewhere, protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community-service events, such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide protests against the Trump administration drew thousands to the streets across the country.
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“Were we in a secret labor market recession in 2024? Was the labor market experiencing a ‘private-sector recession’ as the Trump administration took over? No. But as the reality of Trump's disastrous trade war and the growing threat of an actual recession set in, we’ll hear more of this excuse from Trump officials. It’s wrong—and worse, the Trump team's current actions represent the most harmful response possible to any underlying economic slowdown.”
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Opinion: Thanks, George! Biden II would, indeed, have been a disaster... | Blog#42
Jake Tapper got himself an interview with George Clooney, the man who single handedly tanked Joe Biden’s bid for reelection last year, so late in the cycle that it is doubtful that any Democrat would have had the time to run a proper campaign. Clooney, an old hand at fundraising for Democrats, must have known it and decided to accuse Biden of what we all knew: old age, thereby forcing the party to turn against him and get him to exit left. Tapper was very delicate with Clooney, never once asking a tough question or getting Clooney to apologize to the rest of us. If anything, Tapper was the googoo-eyed fan boy interviewer.