Things Musk (and Trump) Did... 04-24-25 | Blog#42
A softening for some is others' chickening...
Yesterday's post
Yesterday’s News Worth Repeating
Dick Durbin is retiring from the Senate
The No. 2 Democratic leader won’t seek a sixth term representing Illinois.
CHICAGO — Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and his party’s top leader on the Judiciary Committee, announced Wednesday that he won’t seek a sixth term in 2026.
“I know in my heart it’s time to pass the torch,” the veteran senator said in a social media post Wednesday.
Durbin, who is 80, confirmed what many Democrats have expected for months — that the veteran senator would step aside after three decades in office.
His departure comes at a perilous moment for the judicial system as the Trump administration repeatedly tests the limits of executive power and challenges the authority of the courts.
Illinois Democrats have already been lining up in anticipation of his announcement, hoping for a chance at the Senate seat. Reps. Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Lauren Underwood, as well as Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and state Sen. Robert Peters, have all signaled an interest in the seat.
Durbin’s exit also opens up a top slot in the Senate Democratic leadership for the first time in a decade. Many in the party have eyed Durbin’s retirement as a prime opportunity to elevate a younger voice into the senior ranks.
Continue reading at Politico
Jan Schakowsky planning May 5 retirement announcement
The veteran House Democrat is facing a longshot primary challenge.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky is planning to announce next month she won’t seek reelection after 14 terms in the House and has started informing allies of her retirement decision, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the private conversations.
The veteran Illinois Democrat, 80, confirmed in a statement that an announcement is forthcoming, though she did not say what it would entail: “I’m going to announce my plans on May 5th. Stay tuned,” she said. Schakowsky’s annual Ultimate Women’s Power Lunch is set for that date in Chicago.
A longtime leader of the progressive bloc in Congress, Schakowsky has been on retirement watch for months. She is already facing a longshot primary challenge from influencer Kat Abughazaleh.
But the competition the deep-blue seat that includes part of Chicago and some northern suburbs is likely to be among more established Illinois Democrats. State Sen. Laura Fine and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss are widely expected to enter the race after Schakowsky makes her plans public.
Schakowsky’s decision to retire comes as Democrats face an internal reckoning over age and seniority as seasoned lawmakers face primary challengers who are arguing for generational change. On Wednesday, longtime Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, also 80, announced his own retirement. And David Hogg recently sparked a firestorm in the party by saying he’d put millions towards primary challenges to Democrats in safe seats, though he said he wouldn’t back challenges to Schakowsky or former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Continue reading at Politico
U.S. trade is already falling amid dire warnings
Merchandise trade between China and the U.S. is likely to collapse if the current tariffs on both sides remain in place.
How much of that collapse has already started, however, is unclear.
The big picture: While some transpacific container-shipping routes have been canceled or changed to avoid U.S. ports, many ships are still headed for Long Beach, Oakland, and other U.S. destinations.
They can still decide not to dock in the U.S. if the tariffs remain in place.
Driving the news: The U.S. and China have effectively put trade embargoes on each other, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said on Tuesday, echoing a forecast from the World Trade Organization that merchandise trade between the two countries "could decrease by as much as 80%."
President Trump said late Tuesday he won't play hardball with China and a deal will be made, but when and with what impact remains to be seen.
Where it stands: While activity at U.S. ports is declining, it's still broadly within a normal range.
There are 22 vessels scheduled to enter the Port of Los Angeles this week, with 18 set to enter next week and just 12 the week after, according to the port's Signal database.
In terms of the number of containers, the forecast for the week of May 4 comes to 62,568, down from an unusually high level of 120,608 this week.
Continue reading at Axios
China stresses ‘equality, respect’ amid Trump optimism on trade deal
China stressed on Wednesday that “equality, respect” are paramount in discussions with the United States amid President Trump’s stated optimism on reaching a new trade deal between the world’s two largest economies.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the escalating trade war between Beijing and Washington will lead to “no winners” and reiterated the East Asian country will not bend the knee to Trump.
“This tariff war is launched by the U.S. We have made it very clear that China does not look for a war, but neither are we afraid of it. We will fight, if fight we must. Our doors are open, if the U.S. wants to talk,” Guo said during a Wednesday press conference.
“If a negotiated solution is truly what the U.S. wants, it should stop threatening and blackmailing China and seek dialogue based on equality, respect and mutual benefit,” he added. “To keep asking for a deal while exerting extreme pressure is not the right way to deal with China and simply will not work.”
Continue reading at The Hill
What to know about RFK Jr.'s autism registry plan
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a disease registry to track Americans with autism.
Why it matters: Advocacy groups and experts have called Kennedy's characterization of autism as a "preventable disease" unfounded and stigmatizing.
Kennedy earlier backed a frequently debunked myth that vaccines caused an increase in autism diagnoses, and he more recently sought a link to environmental toxins.
The other side: "A lot of autistic people find that the idea of a cure, of making them not autistic anymore, is the same thing as proposing to make them a different person," Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at ASAN, told Axios' April Rubin this month.
The big picture: The National Institutes of Health is collecting private medical records from both federal and commercial databases for the purpose of studying autism NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said on Monday.
"The idea of the platform is that the existing data resources are often fragmented and difficult to obtain," Bhattacharya said in a presentation to the agency's advisers, CBS News reported.
"The NIH itself will often pay multiple times for the same data resource. Even data resources that are within the federal government are difficult to obtain."
Continue reading at Axios
Tornado victims blocked from federal recovery aid after Trump denied request
(CNN) — Disaster survivors in Arkansas left homeless by recent tornadoes have been blocked from receiving federal recovery aid after President Donald Trump rejected the state’s request to declare a major disaster in March.
The Trump administration denied Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ request for individual and public assistance following an outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes that also affected neighboring Mississippi and Missouri and left more than 40 people dead.
The denial follows executive orders signed by Trump seeking to shift the burden of disaster response and recovery from the federal government onto states, as extreme weather becomes increasingly destructive and costly in a warming world. It is unclear how states will fill the financial void, which for decades has been viewed as a federal responsibility given the wide-reaching, multi-state nature of disasters.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Today's news
Democratic News Corner
‘The Democratic Party in Florida is dead’: Top Florida Senate Dem leaves party
Pizzo’s announcement is just the latest blow for Florida’s beleaguered Democratic Party.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo said Thursday he is leaving the Democratic Party and that Senate Democrats will be asked to elect a new leader, yet another low moment for Florida’s downtrodden minority party.
Pizzo, considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026, said unaffiliated voters helped elect him to office. He added that the state party needed new leadership, but Democratic leaders didn’t want him to be it. The party that his late father volunteered for in the 1960s, he said, “is not the party today.”
“Here’s the issue: The Democratic Party in Florida is dead. But there are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don’t want it to be me,” he said.
Pizzo’s announcement of a switch to no party affiliation is just the latest blow for Florida’s beleaguered Democratic Party. The state currently has 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and no Democrat holds statewide elected office — a far cry from Florida’s former status as the ultimate swing state.
Two former state House representatives, Hillary Cassel and Susan Valdés, switched their party registration from Democrat to Republican in January.
Continue reading at Politico
DNC unveils new 50-state strategy: "Organize everywhere"
The Democratic National Committee on Thursday rolled out a plan to significantly ramp up its financial contributions to state parties — especially in Republican-controlled states.
Why it matters: It's a redux of the 50-state strategy that many Democrats credit with their decisive victories in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Former DNC chair Howard Dean, the architect of the original 50-state strategy, said on a DNC press call: "We have not been anything but a Washington, D.C.-centric party since 2008."
Driving the news: DNC chair Ken Martin, the former chair of Minnesota's Democratic party, told reporters the national party will donate a baseline of $17,500 to each state and territorial party.
Continue reading at Axios
Schatz, Klobuchar, Murray in competition to succeed Durbin
Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are viewed by Senate insiders as the three lawmakers competing to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) as Senate Democratic whip, the No. 2-ranking member the Senate Democratic leadership.
Schatz, the chief deputy whip, appears to be a strong frontrunner for the job as he’s already performing some of the whip’s duties in helping to manage the floor, according to Democratic sources.
But the 52-year-old Schatz could face stiff composition from Klobuchar, 64, if she decides to aim to become the next Senate Democratic leader instead of running again for president in 2028.
He could face another formidable opponent in Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), 74, who previously held the No. 3-ranking job in the Senate Democratic caucus.
Continue reading at The Hill
State Democrats roll out endorsements in Virginia
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) rolled out a slate of new target districts in Virginia ahead of November’s House of Delegates elections.
The committee is targeting the 82nd, 22nd, 71st and 41st state House districts. Democratic candidate Jessica Anderson is seeking to unseat Anne Ferrell Tata (R) in the 82nd district, while Democrat Elizabeth Guzman is running against state Rep. Ian Lovejoy (R) in the 22nd state House district. In the 71st state House district, Democrat Jessica Anderson is seeking to unseat state Rep. Amanda Batten (R) in the 71st district, while Democrat Lily Franklin is running against incumbent Chris Obenshain (R).
The Hill was the first outlet to report on the new slate of target districts.
Continue reading at The Hill
David Jolly registers as a Democrat, making moves toward Florida governor bid
Jolly is launching a state political committee called Florida 2026, which he said will be geared at registering voters and tackling key affordability problems.
Democrats may get a second shot at running a party convert for Florida governor in their ongoing effort to claw back the state’s battleground status.
Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who has made a national name for himself as a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump, took a step Thursday toward a possible run for governor of Florida in 2026 by launching a state political committee.
Jolly, 52, also switched his no-party affiliation voter registration to Democrat on Wednesday afternoon, which would make him eligible to run statewide under the party’s ticket by next year’s qualification period in June.
The ex-Republican first told POLITICO he was weighing the decision to run to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis in an interview last month, drawing comparisons to former Rep. Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat who lost the gubernatorial race to DeSantis by 19 points in 2022.
Jolly talked about the new committee in a video he’ll be posting to social media, provided first to POLITICO, saying its goal was to “engage Florida’s voters, promote voter registration” and talk about issues like affordability, property insurance costs, “reinvesting in public education” and “fixing our broken voucher system.”
Continue reading at Politico
DNC gives David Hogg an ultimatum
DNC Chair Ken Martin is expected to announce a proposal to require DNC officers to stay neutral in all Democratic primaries.
The Democratic National Committee is going to force David Hogg to decide: Get out of the primary game or lose his DNC post.
During a member call on Thursday, DNC Chair Ken Martin is expected to announce a proposal to change the party’s rules to mandate all DNC officers stay neutral in all Democratic primaries, according to a person directly familiar with the plan and granted anonymity to describe private discussions. The move comes after Hogg pledged last week to spend millions of dollars funding challenges to “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats in primaries, igniting a firestorm inside the DNC.
The proposal, if passed at the DNC’s August meeting, would effectively force Hogg to decide whether to step away from his DNC vice chair position or wall himself off from the group he co-founded, Leaders We Deserve, which has pledged to spend $20 million on challenging Democratic incumbents in safe blue seats.
It’s an escalation in the fight between Hogg and other DNC leaders and House Democrats, many of whom were enraged by Hogg’s announcement. Hogg, who rose to national prominence as a gun safety activist after he survived a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., said last week that he planned to back candidates who would challenge “ineffective” safe-seat Democrats. But House members and Democratic leaders vented that he was touching off a “circular firing squad” inside the party.
Hogg said in an interview last week that he would “fight to remain in this position,” though he told at least two Democrats that he’s willing to lose his vice chair position through this process.
Continue reading at Politico
Dem group plans $12 million investment in rural areas, with an eye toward 2028
The investment comes as Democrats for years have struggled in rural swaths of the country.
A Democratic candidate recruitment group is pledging to pour $12 million into rural organizing in an effort to make inroads in red America and to lay groundwork for 2028, the organization shared first with Morning Score.
The investment by Contest Every Race in rural areas marks an expansion of the group’s grants program, which gave $1.2 million to local parties in 2024 but has seen a surge in donor interest in the second Trump administration. The group’s grant program, which has given to local parties in 29 states since 2021, is now expanding nationwide in what it casts as the “largest long-term, volunteer-powered organizing initiative aligned with the Democratic Party.”
The investment comes as Democrats for years have struggled in rural swaths of the country, a problem compounded by Donald Trump’s appeal to working class voters and Democratic messaging some in the party have argued is out of touch. The program — in which local parties typically receive at least $600 a quarter from Contest Every Race — involves tiny sums of money. But it also provides monthly trainings and free texting services, which can go a long way for small, mostly-volunteer parties in rural areas.
The group has applications for money from 1,200 local parties across all 50 states — nearly three times the number of local parties the group worked with in the run up to 2024. It said it will work in as many as possible, though battleground states will be prioritized.
“Democrats’ recent wins in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin didn’t happen by accident — they’re the result of relentless, year-round local organizing in places national Democrats too often ignore,” said Zoe Stein, Executive Director of Contest Every Race, in a statement.
Continue reading at Politico
House Democrat criticizes party’s focus on Abrego Garcia: ‘I don’t know if that’s the right issue’
In an interview Wednesday on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert,” Cuellar acknowledged the “due process questions” in Abrego Garcia’s case but said there were more pressing issues that constituents want Democrats to focus on.
Cuellar also recognized that some Democrats have been talking more about border security, but he suggested it struck him as inconsistent for Democrats to be then pushing for Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
“We’ve been talking about strong border security for so many years, and now, you know, there are Democrats who are talking about the border,” Cuellar said.
“But, with all due respect,” he continued, “when you’re talking about bringing somebody — and I know there were due process questions — that was in Maryland, and now El Salvador. I don’t know if that’s the right issue that Democrats should be focusing on right now.”
Continue reading at The Hill
DNC chair to David Hogg: No meddling in primaries as a party official
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said Thursday he has instructed David Hogg that he can't serve as a DNC vice chair while also attempting to oust Democratic lawmakers.
Why it matters: It's the strongest statement yet by the top Democratic Party official about an anti-incumbency effort that has infuriated congressional Democrats.
"Let me be unequivocal, no DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election," Martin said in a press call Thursday.
Martin said he has "great respect" for Hogg, but "as I've said to him: If you want to challenge incumbents, you're more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC."
State of play: Martin's comments came amid reports he plans to propose expanding the DNC's neutrality policy during a DNC member call later on Thursday.
The policy currently restricts DNC officials from getting involved in presidential primaries, but Martin wants to apply it to all primary elections.
"We discussed the importance of officer neutrality last month at our officer retreat, and ... I asked all of our officers to sign and abide by a neutrality pledge, which almost every officer did," Martin said.
The other side: Hogg told Semafor that he will not give up either his DNC role or the leadership of his PAC, Leaders We Deserve.
Continue reading at Axios
DNC chair swipes at David Hogg: ‘You have to make a decision.’
Ken Martin is doubling down on a proposal to require DNC officers to stay neutral in all Democratic primaries.
In a swipe at David Hogg, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Thursday that party officers “can’t be both the referee and also the player at the same time.”
“You have to make a decision,” he told reporters.
Martin’s remarks came as he held fast to a stronger neutrality pledge for party officers, a proposal he’s expected to call for during a DNC member call Thursday afternoon. Hogg ignited a firestorm in the party when he pledged last week to spend millions of dollars funding challenges to “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats in primaries.
The neutrality pledge, if passed by DNC members at their August meeting, would effectively force Hogg to choose between remaining a party vice chair or stepping back from the group he co-founded, Leaders We Deserve, which announced last week that it would spend $20 million on backing primary challengers to “ineffective” safe-seat Democratic members.
“As I’ve said to [Hogg], if you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters,” Martin said on a media call. “This is not about shielding incumbents or boosting challengers. It’s about voters’ trust in the party.”
Continue reading at Politico
Schumer lends Jeffries a hand in bid to oust N.Y. GOPers
Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is battering and bashing New York Republicans in their own backyards to help Hakeem Jeffries become speaker.
Why it matters: Schumer is making peace with his House Democratic counterpart by waging a shared war against Republicans.
Schumer's two-week New York offensive is another sign the two Democratic leaders are working to patch up a relationship that publicly frayed this year.
In numerous Republican-held swing districts, Schumer zeroed in on the GOP's budget reconciliation plans, focusing most intensely on proposed cuts to Medicaid.
Driving the news: Schumer visited a hospital in a district represented by Rep. Mike Lawler, a nursing home in Rep. Nick Langworthy's district and a Veterans Affairs field office in a county represented by Rep. Claudia Tenney.
The tour is part of Democrats' strategy to bring the fight directly to Republicans' doorsteps ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Continue reading at Axios
National Security
Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told The Associated Press.
The existence of the unsecured internet connection is the latest revelation about Hegseth’s use of the unclassified app and raises the possibility that sensitive defense information could have been put at risk of potential hacking or surveillance.
Known as a “dirty” internet line by the IT industry, it connects directly to the public internet where the user’s information and the websites accessed do not have the same security filters or protocols that the Pentagon’s secured connections maintain.
Other Pentagon offices have used them, particularly if there’s a need to monitor information or websites that would otherwise be blocked.
But the biggest advantage of using such a line is that the user would not show up as one of the many IP addresses assigned to the Defense Department — essentially the user is masked, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with military network security.
Continue reading at the AP
Economics
Will Trump’s trade war usher in the end of dollar dominance?
A flight from U.S. financial assets prompted by President Trump’s trade war is subsiding as the White House appears increasingly keen to strike a new trade deal with top U.S. trading partner China.
But the damage to the U.S. dollar in its capacity as the world’s major reserve currency may already be done, which could end up boosting the administration’s plan to boost domestic manufacturing production, bolster U.S. industry, and alter global trade flows.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent affirmed Wednesday the “strong dollar policy” that puts the U.S. currency at the center of global finance and has been a pillar of U.S. economic policy planning since the 1970s.
But he also said that it was “natural” for the use of the dollar in that capacity to come down over time.
Continue reading at The Hill
Hassett on Trump tariffs: ‘Very optimistic about China’ and ‘especially optimistic’ about ‘everybody else’
National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett said on Wednesday that he was “very optimistic” about the potential for a trade deal with China, echoing President Trump’s tone shift in recent days.
In an interview on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Brian Kilmeade asked how close the U.S. is “to even starting to talk to China again,” remarking on the more positive tone from the president in the last two days.
“The president will announce when talks happen — if they happen,” Hassett responded, noting that whatever happens with China, “the president will decide, and he’ll announce it to the world first.”
But the White House is optimistic, Hassett said.
“It’s clear that the president and our team are open to talks. The Chinese have signaled that they’re open to talks,” Hassett said. “In addition, the president has mentioned that American government officials and Chinese government officials are talking every day about many things, and often current events come up.”
“But we’re very optimistic about China, and especially optimistic about just about everybody else,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Hassett on whether Trump is worried about empty shelves: ‘Absolutely not’
National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett dismissed the notion that President Trump is worried about empty shelves in supermarkets and households due to the ongoing tariff war and claimed the U.S. is actively engaged in trade negotiations with scores of countries around the world.
“No, absolutely not,” Hassett said Wednesday night in an interview on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle,” when asked if the president has concerns over empty shelves in homes as a result of his tariff agenda.
“We have got virtually every country on earth negotiating with us right now,” Hassett told guest host Brian Kilmeade. “We have got the Chinese open to talks already. The president has moved the world in a way that is unprecedented and it’s in the direction of the American worker.”
Hassett added that he is “very optimistic” about a potential trade agreement with China — one of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners — claiming that officials on both ends have been in active talks on a variety of topics.
Continue reading at The Hill
China says no tariff negotiations underway, contradicting Trump
China claimed that it is not actively engaged in the negotiating process over tariffs with the U.S., contradicting President Trump, who expressed confidence that he can strike a new trade deal with Beijing.
Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said Thursday that any “claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis.”
“China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” He told reporters during a press briefing.
Trump acknowledged that the additional 125 percent tariff he slapped on China earlier this month — paired with the existing 20 percent — was “very high” while signaling that he could forge a fresh trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We’re dealing with a lot of countries right now and could be with China, but maybe we’ll make a special — you know, a deal — and we will see what it will be. Right now, it’s at 145 percent, that’s very high,” he said Wednesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘Fighting crime blindfolded’: Europe is coming after encryption
Police have long wanted to read encrypted messages. They now have the backing of the EU’s top brass.
Youth gangs have wreaked havoc in Sweden and Denmark for months, with violence ranging from murders to explosions.
For Peter Hummelgaard, Denmark’s justice minister, it's not just guns and bombs that are causing mayhem. It's also the criminals' smartphones.
“We've seen a new trend of crime-as-a-service, where organized criminals use digital platforms to hire children and young people from Sweden to commit serious crimes in Denmark — murders, attempted murders, explosions,” Hummelgaard told POLITICO in an interview last month.
Technology has made it “far easier for criminals to reach a larger audience and also coordinate actions in real time,” the justice minister said, singling out crimes like spreading child pornography, money laundering, illicit drug smuggling — "or, as we've seen examples in Denmark and Sweden, recruitment of minors into a life of crime."
The smartphones and applications used by criminals to recruit, organize and carry out crime sprees are increasingly the target of European law enforcement and politicians alike. So-called end-to-end encrypted technology — a pillar of privacy-friendly and cybersecure digital communication — is seen as a foe by police and investigative authorities.
The technology is now coming under heavy fire across Europe.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Hounded by Wall Street, Trump tempers his populist rhetoric
The president has heard from all corners and appears to be listening. At least a little.
Donald Trump has described his trade war as a bold effort to prioritize Main Street concerns, the fulfilment of a promise to an American working class hurt by decades of globalization.
But Wall Street has his ear.
The president softened his hostile rhetoric toward China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week following Monday’s market sell-off and pressure from some of the nation’s most important business interests.
The Chamber of Commerce has been warning the White House that the new trade levies will hammer small businesses that are less capable of reorienting their supply chains or front-loading their inventories, the Chamber’s executive vice president Neil Bradley said.
The CEOs of some of the nation’s largest retailers — Walmart, Target and Home Depot — also met with Trump at the White House this week, a White House official confirmed. Their concerns about supply chains echoed private pleas from some wealthy donors who have reached out to senior aides and, in some cases, to Trump directly, according to three people clo se to the administration.
Trump’s latest comments indicate that some of these arguments have been heard. And they’re another indication that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Cabinet member with the most credibility on Wall Street, has solidified his central role after helping persuade Trump to dial back his broader tariff regime two weeks ago.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump-honored economist says tariffs causing scariest period in his lifetime
Art Laffer, a conservative economist once praised by President Trump as brilliant and bold, blamed White House trade policy for the "most scary, in-flux" economic moment of his life.
Why it matters: Laffer, widely regarded as the father of supply-side economics, warned that tariffs and trade barriers could wreak havoc on America's economy.
What they're saying: "I don't know how anyone looking at the facts could argue that protectionism doesn't create downturns," Laffer told Axios in an interview on Wednesday, a few blocks from the White House.
"The more protectionism there is, the greater the downturn. Reducing tariffs and protectionism causes a boom in the economy," he added.
Between the lines: Laffer is optimistic that Trump — who he called "a great negotiator" and the "single best president of his lifetime" — will notch trade deals and reduce tariffs.
But the former Reagan-era economist is worried about the economic damage in the interim.
"You will find out with whether I'm right to be scared or right to be hopeful probably in 90 days — there's not a lot of time," Laffer said, referring to the freeze on reciprocal tariffs until early July.
"Once you screw around with supply chains, production facilities, all of that, it's very hard to reverse that," he said. "What you got here is something that is very time sensitive."
State of play: The White House in recent days has softened its tone on trade as financial markets stumbled — notably with China, which faces a tariff of 145% on U.S.-bound goods, the steepest rate of any trading partner.
But Trump hinted on Wednesday that the U.S. might bring that rate down, even if China keeps its retaliatory rate on U.S. goods in place.
Continue reading at Axios
The world reckons with a risky dollar
The dollar smile — the longstanding dynamic where the dollar would rally in good times and bad — has been turned upside down.
Why it matters: The U.S. is no longer a safe haven. In fact, it's the country from which risk capital is now fleeing in times of turmoil.
The big picture: Ever since the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, market strategists have tended to look at various different assets through an "RO/RO" lens.
Times of bullish greed are viewed as "risk on," which means buying equities and credit. Times of bearish fear are seen as "risk off," which means buying Treasuries and the dollar (which, in practice, generally means buying very short-term Treasury bills).
This time around, however, "risk off" days have seen sharp declines in Treasuries and the dollar, with those assets rising only on days when the stock market goes up. In other words, the dollar is now acting as a risk asset, rather than playing its normal role of safe haven.
Between the lines: "Abrupt and unilateral policy changes have shaken global confidence in American economic and security leadership, and US assets are paying the price," former U.S. Mint director Philip Diehl tells Axios, adding that fearful investors want to "sell the USA."
Diehl, who is now president of the U.S. Money Reserve, a precious metals company, sees a "rush to gold for protection."
That seems to be borne out in the price action for gold, which touched an all-time high just over $3,500 on Monday, up more than 25% this year.
Continue reading at Axios
Democrats call on Social Security Administration to keep field offices open
A large group of Democrats on Wednesday called on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to keep field offices open.
“We write with concern in response to public reporting indicating you plan to close many field offices this year amidst the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s attack on the Social Security Administration (SSA),” the group said in its letter addressed to acting SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek.
“Field offices provide vital services to Social Security recipients, and beneficiaries need the opportunity to seek assistance from SSA in person. Each day, approximately 170,000 people visit an SSA field office for assistance. Closing any of these field offices will make it harder for individuals to access their benefits,” the group added.
The dozens of Democrats who signed the letter included Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Peter Welch (Vt.) and Reps. Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Jennifer McClellan (Va.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.)
The Associated Press previously reported that, according to data from the General Services Administration, there were 47 SSA offices marked for closure, with 26 marked for expected closure later in 2025.
Continue reading at The Hill
Home sales fall to lowest level since the financial crisis
The slump is especially noteworthy because sales typically pick up in March as the spring buying season gets underway.
The housing market had its worst March since the global financial crisis, weighed down by high borrowing costs and falling consumer confidence in the economy.
Home sales fell to their lowest annual level for March since 2009, dashing hopes for a rebound this year. Sales of previously owned homes plunged 5.9 percent from February to an annualized rate of 4 million units, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
The slump is especially noteworthy because sales typically pick up in March as the spring buying season gets underway. It comes amid dizzying financial market volatility and falling consumer confidence sparked by concerns about the broader economy as President Donald Trump pursues an aggressive tariff agenda against all U.S. trading partners.
“I had anticipated that with more inventory we’d see more transactions, but the data make it clear that mortgage rates and affordability challenges are holding back buyers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Home sales have been sluggish in recent years thanks to a combination of high prices — home values soared over the course of the pandemic — and elevated mortgage rates.
Continue reading at Politico
Major CA Burger Chain Plans Closure Of Up To 200 Locations
Facing financial pressure, California-based Jack in the Box is planning major changes to how it does business.
CALIFORNIA — Jack in the Box plans to close as many as 200 of its locations as part of a plan to approve the company's financial outlook, executives announced this week.
As part of the plan, the company expects to close between 80 and 120 locations by the end of the year. It will then close additional restaurants starting next year, shuttering a total of 150 to 200 locations the company described as "underperforming."
The San Diego-based Jack in the Box has some 2,200 restaurants in 22 states, including 942 locations in California — the most of any state.
The company hasn't yet revealed which locations are set to close as part of the plan.
Jack in the Box also owns Del Taco. As part of the company's overall financial plan, executives said they're "exploring strategic alternatives" for Del Taco, which could involve selling the brand.
In the most recent quarter, same-store sales at Jack in the Box were down 4.4% and down 3.6% at Del Taco, according to the company, which posted an adjusted second-quarter earnings of between $66 and $68 million.
Continue reading at Patch.com
China seeks to leave Trump twisting in the wind
China has left President Trump twisting in the wind on tariffs, declaring it is not engaged in any negotiation with the U.S. as the tariffs take a political and economic toll on Washington.
Trump and the White House insist the U.S. and China are making progress toward a deal, but they’ve provided no concrete proof. Chinese officials have shot down those claims and chastised the Trump administration’s approach.
While markets were up on Thursday, the trade war has done economic damage to the U.S. and political damage to Trump.
The S&P is down 10 percent from when Trump was inaugurated, while fears of a U.S. recession have grown. Fears about the power of the dollar have also been on the rise.
Trump’s approval ratings have fallen since the trade war began.
Continue reading at The Hill
Health and Science News
Key FDA drug data goes missing amid DOGE cuts
Food and Drug Administration databases that physicians and public health experts rely on for key drug safety and manufacturing information have been neglected due to DOGE-directed layoffs, leaving health professionals flying blind on basic questions about certain drugs they're prescribing, current and former FDA officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Information gaps that have become a hallmark of the workforce reductions and the sweeping reorganization of federal health agencies under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are putting patient safety at risk, according to agency employees.
"It's really a nightmare," said a current FDA official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. "Things that used to function are no longer functioning."
The big picture: The FDA not only reviews drugs for safety and efficacy but acts as a nerve center churning out information in real time when there are adverse events, quality problems or drug shortages.
But in several recent instances, current and former officials said, databases didn't get updated promptly or were missing key information because there were no employees to maintain them.
Such omissions have been unprecedented in recent times and create clear safety and quality issues, experts say.
The FDA has previously referred all questions to Health and Human Services, which didn't response to requests for comment.
Zoom in: The FDA's drug database, which is updated when new drugs are approved, get labeling changes or are pulled from the market, has a growing amount of missing information, an FDA official who was laid off told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Driving with COVID linked to higher crash risk
Driving with a case of COVID raised the odds of having a car crash about as much as being at the legal threshold of DUI or running a red light, according to an analysis of pandemic-era public health and transportation records from seven states.
Why it matters: Even mild COVID infections can cause "brain fog" and other impairment, affecting a person's ability to concentrate, reason and solve problems.
That's cause for warning people with COVID-19 that they should minimize driving, and even having states screen for long COVID at the time of license renewal, author Baran Erdik, a physician and professor at American Vision University, wrote in PLOS Global Public Health.
What they found: Driving while infected with COVID, as measured by a PCR lab test, brought a 25% increase in crash risk.
That is comparable to the rates associated with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% — or the legal threshold for driving under the influence in many states.
It's also consistent with odds linked to habitual speeding or running red lights.
Being vaccinated didn't appear to deliver added protection against crashes. Some earlier studies that have linked vaccine hesitancy with a higher risk of accidents.
Between the lines: The increase in crash risk was driven by recent infections and not connected to long COVID rates.
Continue reading at Axios
Pope Francis, the isolated climate moralist
In the weeks before his death, Francis repeated a decade-old plea for a break from both Trumpian greed and the left’s economic rationalism.
Nearly 10 years ago, Pope Francis released a brutal diagnosis of climate change: It was a profound failure of human morality.
Read today, in the week of his death, the pamphlet feels both more distant and more urgent than ever. Its message of unity and healing with nature is worlds away from today’s discourse of clashing greed, national competition and climate-trashing populism in places like the U.S. and his homeland of Argentina.
Francis’ intent was revolutionary. “There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself,” he wrote in Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You).
But such a clear moral position is rarely heard today from climate leaders and champions — many of whom praised Francis this week as a patron saint of their cause.
The pope’s words arrived at a high point for climate morality. The Paris Agreement, which came six months after the encyclical, emerged from countries partially setting aside national interests in deference to a common good. Several years later, Greta Thunberg’s outrage that future generations would pay for the costs of fossil fuels cut through — for a while.
Now, Donald Trump’s administration is waging an all-out assault on climate work and a more Hobbesian, everyone-for-themselves mentality is taking hold worldwide. Those still waving the climate flag have largely restricted themselves to a rational, self-interested argument: Fighting climate change means economic growth.
Francis, who took his pope name from the nature-loving Saint Francis of Assisi, could barely contain his scorn for what he saw as the smallness of this approach.
He said that a narrow cult of technocracy and progress had come to dominate the landscape of human thought. The negative side effects — including the breakdown of the natural systems that sustain human society — were ignored because people had become blind to their links to the planet and its other lifeforms.
Continue reading at Politico
Polling- Surveys
AAPI communities brace for increased hostility, economic challenges under Trump: Survey
A majority of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults believe racial and economic challenges for their communities will increase under the second Trump Administration, according to a survey released Thursday.
Stop AAPI Hate’s latest report, Dissent and Dread: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Respond to Trump 2.0, found that 62 percent of AAPI adults believe hostility toward immigrants will increase under President Trump, while 53 percent believe anti-AAPI hate crimes will increase.
The concerns follow a rise in anti-AAPI hate online, which surged following Trump’s election in November. Several respondents reported being told they should be deported and to get out of the country, with several referencing the new administration.
In one scenario, a Chinese woman born in America and living in Washington said someone called her a “Chinese peasant,” echoing the words of Vice President Vance.
“She said I shouldn’t be in this country and need to go back to my country. I told her that I was born here and I’m not a peasant and she needs to be more respectful. She kept yelling at me about how I need to be a peasant in my own country,” the woman said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trouble signs emerge for Trump in DDHQ/The Hill polling average
President Trump has seen his favorability ratings start to take a hit in the first three months of his presidency amid growing criticism of his handling of the economy and various controversies, according to the initial polling averages from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.
The averages show that Trump is currently underwater after starting his term in January with a net positive approval rating. DDHQ/The Hill’s average had his approval rating above 50 percent for the first days of his presidency. By late April, his average approval rating had fallen under 45 percent.
The averages suggest Trump could fall deeper underwater as he reaches the 100-day mark next week.
“The Democrats should be cautiously optimistic,” said Scott Tranter, the director of data science for DDHQ. “They’re having a very good batting practice, but we haven’t reached the first inning of the game yet.
“The Republicans, they’re not having the greatest start,” he added. “It’s not as bad as the first quarter was, in terms of this favorability, approval rating from the first term. So he’s doing better than the first term. And there’s quite a bit to play out in over the next 18 months.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Voters warn Trump: MAGA, but not like this
In less than 100 days, President Trump has squandered his polling strength on the two issues most fundamental to his re-election: the economy and immigration.
Why it matters: Trump's approval rating is cratering not because voters reject his goals — but because they're increasingly alarmed by his methods. That disconnect threatens to collapse the two most durable pillars of his political brand.
1. On the economy, the single most decisive issue of the 2024 election, Trump's polling has never been worse.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll out Wednesday found 37% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the economy — his lowest rating ever, going back to the start of his first presidency.
A Pew Research Center survey found Trump's overall approval rating has fallen to 40%, while confidence in his economic leadership has dropped to 45% — the lowest since tracking began in 2019.
New Gallup polling out this week showed that a majority of Americans, for the first time since at least 2001, believe their economic situation is worsening.
2. On immigration, Trump is in a relatively stronger position — but cracks are starting to emerge.
Despite a sealed-off border and a wave of high-profile deportations, Trump is now barely above water on his best issue, according to an average of polls by data journalist G. Elliott Morris.
Continue reading at Axios
Gen Z increasingly listens to peers over doctors for health advice
Share who say they have disregarded a provider's medical advice in favor of other sources
Young adults around the world are increasingly taking health decisions into their own hands, according to new global survey results from communications firm Edelman.
Why it matters: Adults under age 35, many who've come of age since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, still rely on their individual providers to help with medical choices. But they're also seeking information on their own more than ever.
"Younger adults have truly created their own health ecosystem with how they're looking for information, who they trust, what they're doing with health information," said Courtney Gray Haupt, global chief operating officer and U.S. health sector chair at Edelman.
What they found: In all age groups, but especially among adults younger than age 35, peer-driven health care decisions surged between 2024 and 2025.
45% of adults age 18 to 34 said they've disregarded their health provider's guidance in favor of information from a friend or family member in the past year — a 13-point increase from the previous year.
38% of young adults said they've ignored their provider in favor of advice from social media, a 12-point increase from the year before.
Edelman surveyed more than 16,000 people across 16 countries in March.
Zoom in: Credentials and institutional credence are becoming less important to health care consumers — especially younger ones.
Continue reading at Axios
Most expect higher prices from Trump tariffs: Survey
Most Americans expect higher prices due to President Trump’s tariff policies, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Research Center.
In the survey, 76 percent of respondents said Trump’s tariff policies are going to raise the price of consumer goods in the U.S. either “a lot” or “somewhat.” Meanwhile, 12 percent said they believe the tariff policies are not going to change the price of consumer goods, while 11 percent said they are going to drop prices “somewhat” or “a lot.”
On Wednesday, Trump looked to cool a trade war with China, calling the tariff rate he put on the country “very high” and suggesting it would be lowered as part of a deal with Beijing.
“We’re dealing with a lot of countries right now and could be with China, but maybe we’ll make a special — you know, a deal — and we will see what it will be. Right now, it’s at 145 percent, that’s very high,” Trump said Wednesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
Corporate leaders don't want to hire or invest
Actual business activity — sales, employment, and so on — is holding up just fine for now. But a profound worry about the future has settled in among America's corporate leaders, making them reluctant to invest or hire.
The big picture: That picture of corporate paralysis comes through in the latest Beige Book, in which Fed officials try to discern what's happening beneath the surface of the U.S. economy by calling up businesspeople and asking them.
It points to a risk that, even if March and April data suggest economic stability — and it has so far — corporate behavior is shifting in ways creating high odds of a downturn later in the year.
At turning points in the economy, anecdotal compilations like the Fed's eight-times-a-year Beige Book can be good guides to how things are changing in ways that haven't yet shown up in the data.
State of play: The report's top-line summaries of current conditions sound perfectly fine. "Economic activity was little changed since the previous report," it says. "Employment was little changed to up slightly" in most of the country.
Continue reading at Axios
The Courts / Legal
Judge orders Trump administration to facilitate return of second deported man
A federal judge in Maryland ordered the return of a second man deported by the Trump administration to a Salvadoran prison, saying his removal violated a court settlement she approved in 2019.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, an appointee of President Trump, ordered the return of a Venezuelan man referred to in court documents only as Cristian, while blocking the administration from removing anyone else protected by the settlement.
Gallagher said that 20-year-old Cristian was among those who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, protected from removal while they were permitted to seek asylum.
“Defendants are hereby ORDERED to facilitate Class Member Cristian’s return to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits,” she wrote in the Wednesday order.
The decision comes after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man and Salvadoran national who had also been protected from deportation to El Salvador.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge blocks portions of Trump executive order that seeks to overhaul U.S. elections
Washington — A federal judge on Thursday agreed to block portions of President Trump's executive order that seeks to overhaul U.S. elections, including a provision that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed to partially grant a preliminary injunction sought by three different groups of plaintiffs, including voting rights groups and the Democratic Party, finding that they are likely to prevail in their challenge.
The judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing two provisions of the executive order signed by the president last month: the first orders the Election Assistance Commission, a federal independent regulatory commission, to add a "documentary proof of U.S. citizenship" requirement to the standardized national voter registration form; and the second ordered federal voter registration agencies to "assess" citizenship before providing a federal voter registration form to people who receive public assistance.
Continue reading at CBS News
Judge finds Trump’s ‘sanctuary city’ order likely unconstitutional
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that President Trump’s executive order that seeks to crack down on “sanctuary cities” is likely unconstitutional, blocking the administration from enforcing it against 16 cities and counties that sued.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick said Trump’s order mirrors one he issued during his first term, which Orrick at the time had similarly invalidated.
“Here we are again,” wrote Orrick, an appointee of former President Obama who serves in San Francisco.
The judge’s order blocks the administration from enforcing Trump’s order against various jurisdictions in California that are suing: Monterey County and the cities of Emeryville, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz.
It also extends to King County, Wash.; Minneapolis, Minn.; New Haven, Conn.; Portland, Ore.; St. Paul, Minn.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Seattle.
Signed on his first day in office as part of a broader executive order, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to ensure that “sanctuary” jurisdictions “do not receive access to federal funds.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Department of Education policy targeting DEI and other race-related school programs is likely unconstitutional, judge rules
(CNN) — A federal judge significantly curtailed the Trump administration from implementing a policy that threatens to withhold federal funding from schools for engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion – or DEI – programs or if they incorporate race in certain ways in many other aspects of student life.
US District Judge Landya McCafferty said in a scathing opinion that the administration’s policy, laid out by the Department of Education in a letter to educators earlier this year, was “textbook viewpoint discrimination,” likely violating the First Amendment’s Free Speech protections.
She also concluded that the National Education Association, the administration’s opponent in the case, was likely to succeed in its arguments that the policy was unconstitutionally vague and that the agency ran afoul of procedural steps required by law in how it implemented the policy.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Military deportations not covered by order halting DHS removals, admin claims
The Trump administration argued Wednesday that it did not violate a federal judge's restraining order detailing required due process for certain deportations to third-party countries because of a technicality.
Why it matters: Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it had complied with Judge Brian E. Murphy's order because the Department of Defense (DOD), rather than DHS, carried out the deportations in question.
Catch up quick: Plaintiffs in the case had challenged the Trump admin's practice of deporting people to a country other than their own without giving them notice or a chance to contest their removal.
Murphy had previously told the Trump admin that people with final removal orders must have an opportunity to argue that deportation to a country other than their own could jeopardize their safety.
The Trump administration went ahead with several such deportations anyway.
Driving the news: An attorney representing DHS argued in a Wednesday court filing that because the DOD is not a defendant in the case, the deportations it had carried out did not constitute a violation of Murphy's order.
Continue reading at Axios
GOP Rep. Lucas exploring legislation to safeguard Fed’s independence
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said he’s exploring legislation that would ensure the Federal Reserve remains independent of political influence amid the Trump administration’s threat to fire Chair Jerome Powell.
“An independent Fed is a very important institution and that debate I personally believe was settled in 1913,” Lucas said in talks with Semafor during the World Economy Summit.
Lucas, who chairs the House Financial Services Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience and Economic Prosperity, said he hopes to win bipartisan support for the task force’s legislative proposals.
“It’s not a government-owned bank. It’s owned by the banks. And, yes, the president nominates with Senate confirmation the governor and the board of directors. But they are independent,” the lawmaker said in an interview with Reuters.
Continue reading at The Hill
The Untold Story of How Ed Martin Ghostwrote Online Attacks Against a Judge — and Still Became a Top Trump Prosecutor
Reporting Highlights
Emails Revealed: Court records show emails between Ed Martin and an ally urging online criticism of a judge handling a case he was involved in, which experts say is an ethical violation.
Legal Payouts: Martin’s actions have led to more than $600,000 in legal settlements or judgments against Martin or his employers, much of that not previously reported.
Politicized Prosecutions: Martin has reshaped the office to reflect Trump’s priorities, firing or demoting prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and targeting Trump’s critics with legal threats.
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
The attacks on Judge John Barberis in the fall of 2016 appeared on his personal Facebook page. They impugned his ethics, criticized a recent ruling and branded him as a “politician” with the “LOWEST rating for a judge in Illinois.”
Barberis, a state court judge in an Illinois county across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, was presiding over a nasty legal battle for control over the Eagle Forum, the vaunted grassroots group founded by Phyllis Schlafly, matriarch of the anti-feminist movement. The case pitted Schlafly’s youngest daughter against three of her sons, almost like a Midwest version of the HBO program “Succession” (without the obscenities).
At the heart of the dispute — and the lead defendant in the case — was Ed Martin, a lawyer by training and a political operative by trade. In Missouri, where he was based, Martin was widely known as an irrepressible gadfly who trafficked in incendiary claims and trailed controversy wherever he went. Today, he’s the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and one of the most prominent members of the Trump Justice Department.
In early 2015, Schlafly had selected Martin to succeed her as head of the Eagle Forum, a crowning moment in Martin’s career. Yet after just a year in charge, the group’s board fired Martin. Schlafly’s youngest daughter, Anne Schlafly Cori, and a majority of the Eagle Forum board filed a lawsuit to bar Martin from any association with the organization.
After Barberis dealt Martin a major setback in the case in October 2016, the attacks began. The Facebook user who posted them, Priscilla Gray, had worked in several roles for Schlafly but was not a party to the case, and her comments read like those of an aggrieved outsider.
Almost two years later, the truth emerged as Cori’s lawyers gathered evidence for her lawsuit: Behind the posts about the judge was none other than Martin.
ProPublica obtained previously unreported documents filed in the case that show Martin had bought a laptop for Gray and that she subsequently offered to “happily write something to attack this judge.” And when she did, Martin ghostwrote more posts for her to use and coached her on how to make her comments look more “organic.”
Continue reading at ProPublica
DOJ charges alleged high-ranking Tren de Aragua gang member with terrorism charges
The DOJ said the five-count indictment was unsealed Wednesday against Jose Enrique Martinez Florez, also known as “Chuqui.” He is 24 and has been charged with conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, as well as conspiracy and distribution in Columbia with intent for the U.S.
“According to information presented to the court, Flores is a high-ranking TdA leader in Bogota, Colombia and is part of the inner circle of senior TdA leadership,” the DOJ said in its release. “Flores also allegedly caused the delivery of approximately five kilograms or more of cocaine for international distribution, proceeds that were used to further TdA’s criminal goals.”
The charges stem from a larger push from the Trump administration to crack down on the Venezuelan gang, commonly called TdA.
“TdA is not a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s charges represent an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump admin must seek return of another man who was improperly deported to El Salvador, judge rules
A Trump-appointed judge ruled that the administration deported a 20-year-old Venezuelan man last month in violation of a legally binding, court-approved settlement agreement.
The Trump administration must seek to return a second man who was improperly deported from the U.S. to El Salvador in violation of a previous court order, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Maryland-based Trump appointee, ruled that the administration deported a 20-year-old Venezuelan man last month in violation of a legally binding, court-approved settlement agreement reached in a lawsuit last year. Under that settlement, the U.S. agreed not to deport migrants who arrived as unaccompanied minors until their asylum claims are fully adjudicated.
The man, identified in court papers only as “Cristian,” arrived in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor and sought asylum in December 2022. That claim was still pending when he was deported last month.
The newly revealed improper deportation, which was first reported by ABC News, resembles the high-profile case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man who was living in Maryland before being deported to El Salvador despite a 2019 immigration court order that barred the U.S. government from sending him there.
Continue reading at Politico
Anti-DEI-Whitewashing
Trump admin ‘cautiously encouraged’ by Yale actions on combating antisemitism
The Trump administration said it is “cautiously encouraged” by Yale University’s actions to combat antisemitism on campus amid the administration’s crackdown on Ivy League universities.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, the administration has noticed the university has taken actions against a new “antisemitic encampment” on campus and “outrageous examples of harassment and bigotry” in the city.
“With respect to on-campus events, Yale University appears to have enforced its time, place, and manner policies, cleared the area, de-registered a student organization involved in the incident, and started an investigation into individual discipline for students who crossed the line from speech into unlawful conduct,” the task force said in a statement.
“We are cautiously encouraged by Yale’s actions and will be keeping an eye on the situation and aftermath.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump moves to repeal disparate impact liability, a key civil rights tenet
President Trump has taken steps to nullify a key component to the Civil Rights Act as he works to remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies from the federal government.
One of the executive orders issued Wednesday, dubbed Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy, would dismantle disparate impact liability — a legal theory codified in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that holds agencies accountable for practices that have an outsized discriminatory effect on protected groups, even when there is no intent to discriminate.
The theory allows a plaintiff to sue without fulfilling the burden of demonstrating intentional bias by pointing to practices that disproportionately affect protected groups. Some of these practices include educational requirements, criminal history policies and even physical fitness.
But conservatives have long argued the disparate impact clause punishes employers, an argument Trump’s latest action echoes.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump: Harvard a ‘threat to democracy’
“Harvard is an Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart,” the president posted.
“The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific! Now, since our filings began, they act like they are all ‘American Apple Pie,’” he added.
The post alludes to the Ivy League school’s ongoing legal battle against the administration. Trump said the school has hired an attorney who also works for the Trump Organization.
Continue reading at The Hill
Pastor calls for ‘full Target boycott’ over DEI rollback
A Georgia pastor is calling for a “full Target boycott” over the company’s decision to end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
The Rev. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Ga., said his goal is to convince the corporation to reinstate policies geared toward advancing racial equity, including supporting career development for Black employees and bolstering the use of Black-owned brands and businesses.
Target was one of the first companies to expand DEI initiatives in 2020 after George Floyd’s murder by police in Minneapolis, where the business is headquartered. The company set an objective to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025, which it fell short of achieving.
“They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant said during a town hall in the church’s sanctuary, according to The Washington Informer.
“Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.”
Continue reading at The Hill
NAACP chief disinvited from Texas event over Trump administration lawsuit
The State Bar of Texas has rescinded an invitation to NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson in light of a lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by the civil rights organization.
Johnson was set to speak at the bar’s annual meeting in San Antonio on Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last of the enslaved learned they were free.
The bar rescinded Johnson’s invitation after it learned about the NAACP’s challenge to an executive order the president issued that month that seeks to dismantle the Department of Education, according to a statement from the group.
Trey Apffel, the state bar’s executive director, said in a statement to The Hill that the lawsuit violates regulations under the judicial branch of state government that limit political speech.
“The State Bar is under the oversight of the Supreme Court of Texas, which has directed that the State Bar must avoid even the appearance of politics in everything it does,” he said, in response to a request for comment.
Continue reading at The Hill
General News
Musk does damage control after Tesla earnings plunge
Elon Musk is in damage control mode at Tesla as the company’s disappointing earnings force the tech billionaire to reevaluate his focus between his businesses and role in the Trump administration.
Faced with a 71-percent plunge in first-quarter earnings, the Tesla CEO tried to assure investors Tuesday he will soon spend less time working on President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts and focus more on his company.
“Starting probably in [the] next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said at the start of Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday.
Musk’s special government status is set to end May 30, though there have been open questions about how long his White House presence would last. The billionaire made clear Tuesday he is at a crossroads amid ongoing backlash over DOGE.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump crashes the home stretch of Canada’s election
With just days to go, “51st state” talk ensures the president is front and center of the campaign.
Days before Canada votes in a national election, President Donald Trump is talking again about its status as a 51st state — an Oval Office aside almost certain to boost the three-term Liberals in their quest for a fourth mandate.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that Canada would “cease to exist” without the U.S. He also suggested he could further raise the 25 percent tariffs he’s imposed on Canadian autos.
“They took a large percentage of the car making, and I want to bring it back to this country. I really don’t want cars from Canada, so when I put tariffs on Canada — they’re paying 25 percent — but that could go up in terms of cars,” the president told reporters. “I’d rather see them made in Michigan and made in South Carolina and made in other states, Tennessee.”
Trump has been front and center in Canada’s 37-day campaign that overlaps with the opening days of a trade war that could decimate the Canadian economy.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that if he wins on Monday, he’ll have the president on the horn in a hurry.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, the current prime minister, has warned repeatedly that Trump is out to change the world economy. “What he’s trying to do to Canada — he’s trying to break us, so the U.S. can own us,” he’s said repeatedly on the campaign trail.
For most Canadians, the ballot box question is which leader is better to take on Trump.
Continue reading at Politico
Italy harbors doubts about hitting 2 percent NATO target
Rome outwardly says it can easily reach politically unpopular defense spending targets without cutting vital services.
ROME — Italy’s government is privately unsure that its plan to reach NATO’s defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP will pass muster, despite public assurances to the contrary.
The government has said it will be able to reclassify existing civil expenditures to reach that target — but two Italian officials familiar with the budget discussion believe this may not convince the European Commission or NATO.
The uncertainty comes amid ongoing pressure from Washington that NATO members fork over as much as 5 percent of their annual gross domestic product for defense.
Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said earlier this week that Italy would be able to raise its defense expenditure to 2 percent of GDP by the end of 2025 by including the costs of existing defense-adjacent infrastructure, such as the financial police and the coast guard.
That would allow Italy to avoid increasing its defense expenditures in absolute terms, which would risk diverting resources from other politically sensitive services such as the country’s flailing healthcare system.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Britain’s Tories brace for another electoral disaster
Local elections pose a steep test for the Conservative leadership of Kemi Badenoch, despite wide disapproval of the Labour government.
LONDON — The Western world’s most successful political party is steeling itself for a second electoral wipeout in 10 months.
Pollsters are widely predicting Britain’s Conservative Party will lose hundreds of councillors in next week’s local elections as millions of Brits go to the polls.
This would mean that, despite an unpopular Labour government polling at historically low numbers, the Tories are likely to become the biggest loser on May 1 thanks to Britain’s local council electoral cycle.
It comes after the Tories crashed to their worst general election performance in modern history in July as the party, under Rishi Sunak’s stewardship, was booted out of power by Keir Starmer’s Labour after 14 years.
But while the party’s MPs and apparatchiks were in despair in the lead-up to last year’s general election, there appears to be a sense of begrudging acceptance this time around.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has been spending the past week heavily managing expectations, telling the BBC this week that the elections will be “very difficult for the Conservatives.”
Despite this, MPs from all wings of the party say there is no appetite to cause problems for Badenoch or to seriously question her position.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Iran’s exiled ‘crown prince’ calls for mass labor strikes to topple regime
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah, tells POLITICO the West must create a “strike fund” to support civil resistance and paralyze the government.
LONDON — Western governments should create a “strike fund” to support a wave of industrial action across Iran that will paralyze the state and hasten the end of the regime, according to the son of the country’s former leader.
Reza Pahlavi, whose father was the last shah of Iran and was ousted in the 1979 revolution, believes Donald Trump’s nuclear talks with Tehran will fail to deliver peace in the region. But he sees a chance for America and Europe to help the country’s grassroots opposition to overthrow its clerical rulers from within.
In recent years, anger at the regime’s repression and economic mismanagement have boiled over in unusually large public protests. Tehran’s standing across the Middle East has also been heavily dented by the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and by Israel’s devastating strikes against Hamas and Hezbollah.
With Iran on the back foot, Pahlavi saw an opportunity for Western powers to intensify support for the regime’s opponents and potential defectors. In an interview with POLITICO, he called for cash to be released to help people engage in peaceful civil resistance, with a series of “organized labor strikes that could paralyze the system and force it to collapse.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Jeff Bezos Didn’t Change. DC Did.
Not long ago, Washington dreamed that Jeff Bezos would become the king of the Beltway. Then the rules changed.
Michael Schaffer is a senior editor and columnist at POLITICO Magazine. He has covered national and local politics for over 20 years and spent seven years as editor-in-chief of the Washingtonian. His Capital City column chronicles the inside conversations and big trends shaping Washington politics.
It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when people in Washington were positively giddy about Jeff Bezos’ new mansion on S Street.
In 2016, not long after acquiring The Washington Post, the Amazon founder set his eyes on a 17,000-foot former museum designed by the architect of the Jefferson Memorial. Soon after buying it for $23 million in cash, he set about renovating it to host parties, following in the footsteps of an iconic Post predecessor.
“What he’s going to do is revive the legacy of Kay Graham and her great socializing — bringing smart, interesting people together in a social context,” Jean Case, who with her husband Steve was an old friend of Bezos and his then wife, said at the time.
It was a prediction that a certain stratum of D.C. very much wanted to believe. The idea of a world-transforming industrialist running the political city’s salon flattered establishment Washington’s perennial hunger for social validation: See, we’re not just a bunch of ill-dressed policy wonks!
The validation never arrived. While Bezos entertained a couple of times early on, the place is usually so lifeless that one Kalorama neighbor told me she still remembers the day there were three cars in the driveway. “Almost all the time it’s dark,” said Marie Drissel, another neighbor. “My guess is he’s there four or five nights a year.” She’s only laid eyes on her famous neighbor once in nine years.
You get the same feeling across the Potomac in Arlington, Va. That’s where Amazon, which Bezos still chairs, was supposed to bring up to 50,000 jobs at a new headquarters that boosters said would herald an epic transformation of the entire region. Virginia’s victory in the high-profile competition for a new headquarters thrilled locals, in large part because it assuaged another perennial Washington insecurity: A bona fide capitalist headquarters would undercut the fear that this is nothing but a government town.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump to Putin: "Vladimir, STOP!"
President Trump issued rare criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia unleashed a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight just hours after Trump had claimed Putin was ready to make peace.
Why it matters: Trump had been focusing his criticism exclusively on the Ukrainians in recent days as he pushed a "final offer" for peace. Trump insists a deal is close, but neither party to the conflict seems to agree.
Driving the news: Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight killing at least eight people and wounding more than 70.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to return to Kyiv.
What he's saying: "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!", Trump wrote.
Trump had fumed at Zelensky a day earlier for rejecting his peace plan, which involves the U.S. recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine
"Russia is ready to get a deal. We have to get a deal with Zelensky. I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky — it is harder," Trump said yesterday evening in the Oval Office.
Trump also said he expected to meet Putin shortly after his trip to Saudi Arabia, planned for mid-May.
Continue reading at Axios
China stands firm in trade war: There are no talks, U.S. should move first
The Chinese government made clear Thursday that no talks are happening with the U.S. about de-escalating the trade war, and called on the Trump administration to make the first move.
Why it matters: Someone has to blink.
Driving the news: There are "absolutely no negotiations" happening between the two sides on trade, CNBC quoted a spokesperson for the Chinese Commerce Ministry as saying.
That same spokesperson reportedly called on the U.S. to cancel all "unilateral" measures.
The comments follow a flurry of news from the U.S. side Wednesday, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledging the trade war was "unsustainable," and President Trump signaling the U.S. might eventually move on tariff rates even without Chinese participation.
The big picture: Commerce is plunging between the world's two largest economies.
Big retailers warned Trump this week that empty shelves are just a couple of weeks away, while key port operators say inbound shipments are dwindling rapidly.
Meanwhile, voters have soured on Trump's economic performance, after nearly a decade of consistently giving him the benefit of the doubt.
The intrigue: There are signs of small pockets of daylight.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump ‘not happy’ with Putin for attack on Kyiv amid tense ceasefire negotiations
The president’s criticism is a shift from his usual blaming of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the ongoing conflict.
President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as his administration presses forward with its campaign to persuade Russia and Ukraine to accept a U.S. ceasefire proposal.
Trump condemned Putin for launching an attack on Kyiv early Thursday, which killed at least eight people, urging the foreign leader to agree to a peace deal to end the three-year conflict in Ukraine that his country started. The Trump administration recently put forward a ceasefire plan that would involve a “freeze” of most territorial lines, Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday, and reports of ceding to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Ukrainian officials have previously dismissed calls to compromise on territorial integrity.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social on Thursday. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Continue reading at Politico
Echoing Big Tech, Newsom warns privacy watchdog on AI
The governor urged regulators to protect California’s “enduring dominance in technological innovation.”
SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom has waded into a bitter fight at California’s privacy agency over proposed automation rules that could have nationwide impacts on everything from hiring to health care.
Newsom, in a rare letter to the California Privacy Protection Agency’s five-member board on Wednesday, obtained by POLITICO, urged regulators not to crush the state’s flourishing artificial intelligence sector under onerous regulations — echoing complaints from tech and business groups.
“As my office has relayed to Agency staff over the last year, enacting these regulations could create significant unintended consequences and impose substantial costs that threaten California’s enduring dominance in technological innovation,” Newsom wrote.
CPPA Executive Director Tom Kemp in a statement to POLITICO on Wednesday said the agency “appreciate[s] Governor Newsom’s letter and his engagement on this important issue.”
Big picture: California is home to many of the world’s largest AI companies, which help fuel the state’s budget through tax revenue, but also some of the nation’s most robust privacy and tech regulations, often putting the industry at odds with state policymakers. The CPPA, created in 2020, is also the only dedicated privacy agency in the country.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum
The action is expected to come Thursday.
In a shot at ActBlue, the left’s major online donation platform, President Donald Trump plans to sign a presidential memorandum on Thursday cracking down on foreign contributions in American elections, according to a person familiar with the policy and granted anonymity to discuss not-yet-public details.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is expected to be involved in the crackdown, the person said, though further details about the mechanism she will use were not immediately available. The order is expected to specifically target ActBlue, which Republicans have long claimed could be exploited by foreign actors.
Democrats had been bracing in recent days for potential action from the White House against the platform, casting it as an unwarranted attack on their fundraising efforts. In an email to Democrats on Wednesday referring to a potential coming action from the White House targeting the platform, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones wrote, “Nothing will deter or interrupt ActBlue’s mission and work to enable millions of Americans to participate in our democracy. There is an ongoing and persistent effort to weaken the confidence of the American people in what’s possible. This is the next version of ‘the big lie.’”
On Thursday, ActBlue told POLITICO, “ActBlue plays a vital role in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy and the organization strictly abides by all federal and state laws governing its activities. We will always stand steadfast in defending the rights of all Americans to participate in our democracy and ActBlue will continue its mission undeterred and uninterrupted, providing a safe, secure fundraising platform for the millions of grassroots donors who rely on us.”
Continue reading at Politico
US names Michael Anton to lead technical talks with Iran
The Trump administration is staffing up its team as the president signals his strong desire for a deal.
Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, is leading a team of about a dozen, largely career officials from across the government to hash out the details of an agreement that would place significant constraints on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
He is set to lead the first round of expert talks with Iranian officials over the weekend before special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meet again in Rome next week. Anton accompanied Witkoff to the last round of talks in Rome.
“He is the perfect man for the job given his experience and intellect. Most importantly, he will ensure that President Trump’s agenda on this file is followed through,” an administration official said.
Continue reading at Politico
Bolton dismisses Trump claim of ‘no favorites’ in Russia-Ukraine war
“Well, of course he’s got favorites and his favorite is not Russia, his favorite is [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, whom he thinks is his friend,” Bolton said late Wednesday during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.”
Bolton, a frequent Trump critic, argued that the commander-in-chief has made “major” concessions to Russia, pointing to the president’s previous comments that Ukraine is “unlikely” to get all of their land back and that it is not practical for the Eastern European country to join the NATO military alliance.
Trump, however, did not say whether he wants Ukraine to recognize Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
“Look, I just want to see the war end. I don’t care,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump approval rating underwater in Fox News survey
President Trump’s approval rating is 11 points underwater in the most recent Fox News survey on his administration, the latest sign of his support starting to drop ahead of his second term hitting the 100-day mark next week.
The poll showed Trump with an approval rating of 44 percent, down 5 points from the 49 percent he had in March. Fox noted the latest number is lower than where all of his most recent predecessors were at this point in their presidencies.
Former President George W. Bush had the highest rating among 21st-century presidents with 63 percent approval, followed by former President Obama with 62 percent and former President Biden with 54 percent. Trump also had a rating 1 point higher at this point in his first term than his current one.
Continue reading at The Hill
Rubio denies report lifting sanctions on Russia under consideration
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday denied that the U.S. is considering lifting sanctions on Russian energy assets as part of a deal with Ukraine, rejecting a report published by Politico.
In a statement posted on the social media site X, Rubio said that neither he nor Steve Witkoff, Trump’s point person for talks with Russia, had any conversations about lifting sanctions against Russia.
“This is unequivocally false,” Rubio wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Pentagon to resume medical care for transgender troops
The move is another setback for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has made culture war issues a major part of his role.
The Pentagon will resume gender-affirming care for transgender service members, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO, an embarrassing setback to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to restrict their participation.
The memo says the Defense Department is returning to the Biden-era medical policy for transgender service members due to a court order that struck down Hegseth’s restrictions as unconstitutional. The administration is appealing the move, but a federal appeals court in California denied the department’s effort to halt the policy while its challenge is pending.
As a result, the administration is barred from removing transgender service members or restricting their medical care, a priority of President Donald Trump and Hegseth. The administration insisted its restrictions were geared toward people experiencing medical challenges related to “gender dysphoria,” but two federal judges said in March that the policy was a thinly veiled ban on transgender people that violated the Constitution.
The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow the Pentagon to ban transgender servicemembers while legal battles continue to play out.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump to meet with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg
President Trump says he plans to meet with Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was mistakenly added to a group chat with several top intelligence and defense officials in his administration where plans for an attack on terrorists in Yemen were discussed.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social site he would meet with Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, who the president said was “responsible for many fictional stories about me, including the made-up HOAX on ‘Suckers and Losers’ and, SignalGate, something he was somewhat more ‘successful’ with.”
Trump said Goldberg plans to bring two top reporters at The Atlantic with him, Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker, whom the president called “not exactly pro-Trump writers, either, to put it mildly!”
Goldberg’s team told White House officials the story they are writing will be titled “The Most Consequential President of this Century,” Trump said.
“I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful,'” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump-nominated DC prosecutor apologizes for praising Nazi sympathizer
Ed Martin, tapped to lead the U.S. Attorney’s office for D.C., said in an exclusive interview with the Jewish magazine Forward published Thursday that he is “sorry” about past flattery for Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a convicted and now-pardoned Jan. 6 rioter whom the Justice Department described as an “avowed white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer.”
At an event last year at Trump’s Bedminster, N.J., golf club, Martin described him as an “extraordinary man” and an “extraordinary leader.”
“I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked and all, as I’ve now seen it,” Martin told Forward. “At the time, I didn’t know it.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says he’s got his “own deadline” for Ukraine talks
The president, meeting with Norwegian leaders, is pressuring Kyiv and Moscow to make peace, but not equally.
Nearing the 100-day mark of his administration, President Donald Trump is pushing Ukraine hard to accept the terms of a peace deal with Russia to end the three-year war by giving major concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Expressing confidence that “we’re going to get it done,” Trump also stressed on Thursday that he has his “own deadline” for reaching a deal, though he did not specify it. “We want it to be fast,” he continued. “We have a deadline. After that, we will have a very much different attitude.”
If anyone can sway Trump on Ukraine’s behalf, it might be former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg — who accompanied Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to the White House on Thursday.
Stoltenberg, who was Norway’s prime minister before he led the NATO alliance for a decade in Brussels, attended Trump’s inauguration in January and is thought to be among Europe’s most effective interlocutors with this administration.
“The president really likes and trusts him,” said one White House official, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the relationship.
Continue reading at Politico
Hegseth set up Signal on Pentagon office computer: Report
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly directed a desktop computer in his Pentagon office be installed with the messaging app Signal, adding another layer to the controversy around his use of the encrypted messaging app, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
Hegseth earlier this year effectively “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cellphone to his computer as a way to get around blocks on the messaging app in classified areas, and to message people outside the Pentagon, The Washington Post first reported. Personal cell phones and electronics are not allowed in classified areas of the Pentagon.
Three people familiar with the matter told the outlet Hegseth and his aides discussed how they could bypass the lack of cellphone service in the Pentagon and more quickly connect with the White House and other top Trump officials using Signal.
Hegseth has two computers in his office, one for personal use and another that is government-issued, one of the people familiar with the matter told The Post.
Continue reading at The Hill
Controversial Hegseth chief of staff to leave Pentagon
Joe Kasper will continue to support and advise the Pentagon, he said, but as a special government employee.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial chief of staff, who played a central role in a power struggle that gripped the Pentagon, will exit the agency today.
Joe Kasper was originally expected to transition to another role within the Defense Department, but is now planning to go back to government relations and consulting, he said in an interview.
He will continue to support and advise the Pentagon, he said, but as a special government employee. This will limit him to performing temporary jobs for just 130 days a year.
A former longtime chief of staff to indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter, Kasper was a leading figure in the firings of senior adviser Dan Caldwell, Hegseth deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg. The trio were ousted last week in a leak investigation.
Some officials saw the wave of firings as a bid by Kasper to consolidate power.
Continue reading at Politico
Oversight Democrat questions how CDC can provide public records without staffers
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is demanding to know how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests when the relevant staff have been put on administrative leave.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off or eliminated HHS staffers in charge of handling FOIA requests at the CDC, Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, according to reporting earlier this month.
The move raised alarm among lawmakers and health care stakeholders as Kennedy had vowed to usher in an era of “radical transparency” at federal health agencies.
“The elimination of staff responsible for facilitating FOIA strongly implies an effort by the Administration to prevent the public from obtaining information about their government that they are entitled to request. I urge you to provide detailed information responsive to the requests included in this letter to bring transparency to the FOIA operations within the CDC,” Connolly wrote in a letter to acting CDC Director Susan Monarez.
Continue reading at The Hill
Arkansas appeals Trump administration denial of federal aid for tornado recovery
Arkansas is appealing the Trump administration’s denial of federal aid for the state’s recovery efforts after a string of deadly and destructive tornado storms.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.) requested help for people who were impacted by the mid-March tornadoes, some of the state’s worst since 1997.
The Trump administration denied Sanders’s request for funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She wrote again to Trump to appeal the denial.
In a letter, signed by both Arkansas senators and its four representatives, the lawmakers asked Trump to reconsider.
“As Governor Sanders noted in her request, these storms caused catastrophic damage across the state, resulting in disastrous amounts of debris, widespread destruction to homes and businesses, the deaths of three Arkansans, and injuries to many more,” the lawmakers wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump store is selling ‘Trump 2028’ hats
The Trump Organization rolled out “Trump 2028” hats on its website in support of President Trump’s suggestion that he could seek a third term in office.
Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, was spotted wearing the new piece of merchandise being sold for $50 online.
The president and members of his team have repeatedly signaled he is considering a third White House bid — which critics have argued violates the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. Though many Republicans have brushed off the sentiment as a joke.
The amendment reads, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
Despite the clause, Trump has repeatedly told NBC News and other outlets that he was “not joking” about his push for another stint in office. Democrats have also signaled they believe the president will likely try to carve out a way to be reelected.
Continue reading at The Hill
Buttigieg says ‘white kid only’ adoption list highlights US racism
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently opened up about the adoption process he and his husband went through on their journey to adopt their two children, explaining he was shocked to learn of the racial disparities in the process.
“By the way, anybody who says race is not a thing in this country should experience an adoption process where there are literally different lists,” Buttigieg said during an appearance on the “Flagrant” podcast released Wednesday. “If you say that you want a white kid only versus if you say that doesn’t matter. Like, literally a different list.”
“The list for white kids is longer,” he continued. “Not only that, there was actually a discount, or you didn’t have to pay a deposit on the fetus. This is like, how it works. I couldn’t believe it.”
Though the number of Black children in foster care is at its lowest point in two decades, Black children remain overrepresented in the foster care system.
In 2021, Black children represented 14 percent of the nation’s total child population but accounted for 22 percent of all kids in foster care.
Continue reading at The Hill
States could lose infrastructure funding over immigration, DEI: Transportation secretary
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned states Thursday that they will lose federal funding for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects if they continue to foster diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; impede President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts; or defy other directives from the administration.
“Federal grants come with a clear obligation to adhere to federal laws,” Duffy said in a statement released alongside a letter that he sent to all recipients of Department of Transportation (DOT) funding. “It shouldn’t be controversial — enforce our immigration rules, end anti-American DEI policies and protect free speech.”
“These values reflect the priorities of the American people, and I will take action to ensure compliance,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments
China canceled 12,000 metric tons of United States pork shipments amid a high-stakes trade standoff between the superpowers, according to data released Thursday.
China, one of the biggest U.S. trading partners, axed 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork orders, the data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows.
The move represents the biggest cancellation of pork orders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains and stalled economies around the world, Bloomberg News reported.
China, behind Mexico and Japan, was the U.S.’s third-biggest market for pork in 2024, importing some 475,000 metric tons valued at more than $1.1 billion.
Continue reading at The Hill
Raffensperger asks Trump administration to halt deportation of Afghan Christians
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is asking the Trump administration to halt the deportations of Afghan Christian refugees in the United States.
In a letter addressed to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, Raffensperger said he has “deep concern” after the department revoked protections from deportation for Afghans, along with Cameroonians.
“I respectfully urge DHS and the Administration to pause this decision for at least 90 days and to consider granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or similar legal relief to these individuals,” Raffensperger said.
“These refugees, many of whom have already applied for asylum and possess documentation of lawful parole, face a credible threat of imprisonment, torture, or death if returned to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Demonstrators stage ‘die-in’ at HHS to protest cuts to HIV programs
Demonstrators gathered Thursday on the steps of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a “die-in” over proposed funding cuts at the agency that could devastate programs addressing LGBTQ health disparities.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sought to radically reshape HHS and its approach to health care, including through funding cuts to programs geared toward treating and preventing HIV, a virus that in the U.S. disproportionately affects gay and bisexual men. Kennedy previously questioned evidence linking HIV to AIDS, a discovery that won a Nobel Prize in 2008.
On Thursday, more than 100 participants sank slowly to the ground while Matthew Rose, senior public policy advocate for the Human Rights Campaign, which organized the demonstration, read aloud from a list of possible outcomes that funding cuts at HHS would have on the LGBTQ community.
Continue reading at The Hill
Rubio eliminates office that oversees climate talks
The Office of Global Change was notified Thursday that it would be shuttered.
The State Department is eliminating the Office of Global Change, which oversees international climate change negotiations for the United States.
Staff were told about the move verbally Thursday afternoon, according to three people who were granted anonymity to speak about the decision to avoid reprisal. The news thrust the office into chaos and raised questions among staff about when the office would be permanently shuttered.
“This will hamstring international climate cooperation at the worst possible time,” said one official, referring to the upcoming global climate talks called COP30.
It’s “just strategically fucking dumb when it comes to China,” that person added, saying the move would leave a leadership vacuum that China could fill.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that the office is being eliminated to comply with President Donald Trump’s directives to cease participation in international agreements.
“Consequently, this office — which supported the efforts of previous Administrations to hobble the United States through participation in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and other agreements purporting to limit [or] prevent climate change, is unnecessary,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump-appointed National Science Foundation leader resigns
Sethuraman Panchanathan has left the scientific research funding agency amid widespread layoffs and canceled grants.
National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan abruptly resigned Thursday afternoon, more than a year before the end of his term.
“I believe that I have done all I can to advance the mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership,” Panchanathan said in an all-staff memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
Brian Stone, the director’s chief of staff, will lead the agency on an interim basis.
Panchanathan didn’t fully explain the reason for his exit. But his departure comes amid a governmentwide downsizing effort that has seen the scientific research funding agency lay off staff, cancel grants and sharply restrict travel.
“This is a pivotal moment for our nation in terms of global competitiveness,” he wrote in the staff memo. “A thoughtful approach to efficiencies and investments is incredibly important.”
Continue reading at Politico
The president’s latest pardon: ‘Lady Trump’
Michele Fiore was convicted in October of using $70K she solicited to build a memorial for two fallen police officers on personal expenses.
President Donald Trump has pardoned a former Las Vegas City Council member and one-time Nevada gubernatorial candidate who was found guilty of fraud last year, the latest example of the president using his pardon power to reward allies.
Michele Fiore — who has occasionally been dubbed “Lady Trump” — was convicted in October of using $70,000 she solicited to build a memorial for two fallen police officers on personal expenses, including political fundraising bills and rent payments. Last week, a judge dismissed her request for a new trial and scheduled her sentencing for May 14.
Trump pardoned Fiore Wednesday, according to court documents filed Thursday by Fiore’s attorneys.
Trump has extensively wielded his pardon power in his second term, using it to spare political allies and those he feels were dealt with unfairly by federal law enforcement.
Continue reading at Politico
Dems brace for Trump’s assault on ActBlue: ‘We’re not going to allow it.’
The president plans to direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the major online donation platform.
Democrats on Thursday were bracing for a sustained attack on their fundraising operation by Republicans, as President Donald Trump targets ActBlue.
Trump plans to direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the major online donation platform for what the administration cast as “unlawful ‘straw donor’ and foreign contributions to American elections” in a presidential memorandum on Thursday.
“President Trump is taking action to address malign actors and foreign nationals who seek to illegally influence American elections, undermining the integrity of our electoral process,” a fact sheet detailing the memo obtained by POLITICO states. “ActBlue has become notorious for its lax standards that enable unverified and fraudulent donations.”
Continue reading at Politico
Moody’s downgrades DC credit rating
Moody’s Ratings announced this week that it was downgrading Washington, D.C.’s credit rating amid a wave of mass federal workforce cuts and hits to the local economy.
Moody’s said in a new report that it was downgrading the District’s issuer rating from Aaa to Aa1, a blow to the city that will likely make it more expensive for the local government to borrow money and cost taxpayers more.
The downgrade comes from the “mounting negative pressure that cuts to federal spending, workforce and real estate are having on the District’s economy and finances.”
The analysis noted that under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slashes to the federal workforce, D.C. is expected to lose 40,000 workers over the next four years. Moody’s said that workforce loss will “erode the stability” that the federal government historically held in the city and over its economy.
D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee said in a statement that the rating change is not a result of the degradation of Washington’s governance.
Continue reading at The Hill
Medicaid quagmire awaits House Republicans
As lawmakers return from a two-week recess, those plans will have to come together quickly.
House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders are eyeing a May 7 markup for their portion of the bill, which calls for $880 billion in cuts to offset the cost of other priorities — cuts many moderates worry could threaten Medicaid coverage their constituents rely on.
Analysts say that number is impossible to meet without making changes to Medicaid.
Twelve House Republicans in competitive districts — more than enough in the House GOP’s razor-thin majority to keep the bill from passing — sent a letter to GOP leaders last week saying they will not support the legislation if it includes cuts to Medicaid benefits.
Republican leaders say they only want to root out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, and to implement work requirements for nondisabled adults.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump Organization fires lawyer over Harvard ties
The Trump Organization fired a legal adviser Thursday because he also represents Harvard University, an adversary of the Trump administration in its ongoing crackdown on elite schools.
The move comes after President Trump railed against Harvard in a social media post Thursday and commented on the connection between Harvard and the attorney, William Burck.
The president urged his sons, who now run the Trump Organization, to fire the attorney immediately.
“Harvard is a threat to Democracy, with a lawyer, who represents me, who should therefore be forced to resign, immediately, or be fired. He’s not that good, anyway, and I hope that my very big and beautiful company, now run by my sons, gets rid of him ASAP!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Shortly after the post, the Trump Organization fired Burck.
Continue reading at The Hill
Europe, US ‘agree’ on Russia threat, NATO chief says
Speaking to reporters after talks with President Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte said the United States and its European allies “all agree in NATO that Russia is the long-term threat to NATO territory — to the whole of the Euro-Atlantic territory.”
He also said the United States remained committed to NATO, despite focusing on conflicts in the Middle East and adversaries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The comments come as Trump officials have suggested Ukraine should expect to cede some land to Russia in exchange for peace, as well as agreeing not to join NATO. Critics of the president’s approach say he’s making concessions even before peace talks begin — and making few demands on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Trump said Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine, as the U.S. president has struggled to negotiate even a limited ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Norway’s prime minister, Trump was asked what concessions Russia has “offered up thus far to get to the point where you’re closer to peace.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge blocks Trump order to require proof of citizenship for voting
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The big picture: President Trump signed an executive order last month to make sweeping changes to federal elections, including a proof of citizenship requirement, triggering alarm bells among voting and civil rights organizations.
The order included federal funding cuts for states that did not comply.
Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a 120-page opinion that adding a proof of citizenship requirement "is contrary to the manifest will of Congress."
When enacting the National Voter Registration Act, Congress considered and rejected such a proposal, concluding that it was not necessary or consistent with the purpose of the law, the judge wrote.
"The President has no constitutional power over election regulation that would support this unilateral exercise of authority," the judge said. "The Constitution vests that power in the States and Congress alone."
Kollar-Kotelly also prohibited the Election Assistance Commission from withholding federal funds from states that did not comply with Trump's order.
Zoom out: The House this month passed a bill requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
Continue reading at Axios
How the U.S. government spends money
The discussion around how the U.S. government spends money is clouded by the jargon of budget nerds, like "discretionary" versus "mandatory" spending. But what would it look like if you converted spending data into plain language?
The big picture: That's what centrist think tank Third Way has done, taking the thousands of lines of federal spending data and categorizing them using plain language.
It shows that most of what the government spends money on boils down to payments directly to Americans (Social Security, most prominently), directly paying medical bills or helping people buy health insurance.
By the numbers: In Third Way's analysis, 31 cents of each dollar the government spends consists of checks to Americans.
Some 14 cents went to help people buy health insurance or manage their benefits and 12 cents toward medical bill payments.
Continue reading at Axios
Independent journalists prioritize community building for growth
Influential journalists who have positioned themselves as subject matter experts and amassed large followings are ditching traditional outlets to venture out on their own.
Why it matters: These independent journalists are grappling with the same challenges that many communication and brand teams face. That is, how do they differentiate themselves in the market and establish a strong reputation with the audiences that matter most?
State of play: As trust in media declines, independent journalists are pivoting away from writing for passive readerships and toward building a hyper-engaged community — and it's proving to be quite lucrative.
The Free Press, founded by former New York Times writer Bari Weiss, boasts more than 155,000 paid subscribers and is estimated to generate at least $10 million annually from subscription revenue, per Axios' Sara Fischer.
Former Bloomberg reporter Eric Newcomer announced that his independent media entity, Newcomer, brought in $2 million in revenue in 2024 and he has recently made his first round of hires.
Former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy's Status newsletter has accumulated more than 70,000 total subscribers since its launch and is estimated to generate $1 million in annual recurring revenue.
Continue reading at Axios
Businesses yank forecasts as tariff uncertainties cloud the future
The unpredictability of the international trade landscape is paralyzing corporate America, leading companies to suspend their outlooks or express deep uncertainty about where their businesses are headed.
Why it matters: President Trump has launched a global trade war fueled by a massive increase in tariffs — particularly on China — but has since sent a slew of mixed messages about the state of affairs.
State of play: The President's "reliably unreliable" tariff policy, as one analyst put it, is making a mockery of corporate America's attempts to guide future revenue and earnings expectations.
American Airlines Thursday yanked its full-year forecast, citing what executives called significant uncertainty over bookings beyond the summer. Key competitors Delta and Southwest recently did the same.
PepsiCo Thursday reduced its full-year outlook amid what CFO James Caulfield called "heightened macro and consumer uncertainty." The company's international supply chain is exposed to tariffs in a variety of ways, including raw materials, packaging and finished goods.
Walmart earlier this month said it was expanding the "range of outcomes" for its quarterly income-growth forecast, saying it wanted to maintain strategic flexibility as tariffs are implemented.
Between the lines: The on-again-off-again nature of Trump's tariffs — and the corresponding effect on costs and consumer spending — is the primary issue.
Continue reading at Axios
House Democrats' headaches are about to get much worse
Progressive groups, emboldened by the Democratic grassroots' extreme dissatisfaction at their party's older establishment, are preparing to go big in their efforts to unseat Democratic lawmakers.
Why it matters: Three months into the new Congress, more than half a dozen House Democrats already are facing primary challengers. That number is about to skyrocket.
DNC vice chair David Hogg, whose group Leaders We Deserve is spending $20 million to primary incumbents to the chagrin of many House Democrats, told Axios: "Some truly generational leaders will be announcing their campaigns very soon."
Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, told Axios the number of House Democrats who ultimately draw serious challengers "could be dozens — it could be a large portion of the caucus."
"I have talked to folks who have been thinking about jumping into these primary races who haven't come out yet," said Amanda Litman, founder of Run For Something. "There are more coming."
By the numbers: At least seven House Democrats — nearly all north of 70 years old — are staring down primary challenges from younger insurgents.
Continue reading at Axios
How Europe is quietly stealing America’s scientists
BRAIN DRAIN — As the Trump administration slashes billions in funding for research, conducts mass firings of federal employees, and cracks down on institutions of higher education, American pain is turning into European gain.
Across the EU, an effort is underway to capitalize on the U.S. brain drain, hoping to tap into the exodus of intellectual talent from universities and the federal government. European universities are courting top American scientists and researchers en masse with offers of “academic asylum.” The European Research Council has doubled the funding it offers researchers to move to the continent to €2 million ($2.3 million). A bloc of 12 EU nations are working together to fast-track visas, Horizon Europe grants, and relocation stipends in an effort to poach U.S. brainpower in accordance with their own strategic priorities.
In a letter addressed to the EU Commissioner for research and innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, officials from those nations urged coordinated action to attract scholars and researchers “who might suffer from research interference and ill-motivated and brutal funding cuts” and called for integrating the U.S.-trained researchers into Europe’s innovation ecosystem. It’s part of a broader, ongoing strategy designed to boost EU competitiveness with the U.S. and China over the long term and position Europe as a leading center of research and innovation in the 21st century.
Dr. Danielle Beckman, a Brazilian-born neurovirologist currently at UC Davis, is one of the many scientists affected by recent federal funding cuts. She came to the U.S. in 2017 with a dream of developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease using primates. She trained for eight years under one of the country’s top neuroscientists and had planned to stay in the U.S and open her own lab, she told POLITICO Nightly. But those plans unraveled after her five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant fell into “suspended review.” Initially, the grant was set to be reviewed in March, then pushed to April, and now has no date at all.
Continue reading at Politico Playbook newsletter
HHS Cuts Funding for NIH's Largest and Longest Study of Women's Health
— Since the early 1990s, this research has been critical for understanding women's health and aging
With the stroke of a pen, the NIH's largest and longest study of women's health lost its federal funding in another brutal cut by HHS -- and experts are worried about what losing this vital ongoing study will mean for the field of women's health research.
Women's Health Initiative (WHI) investigators were alertedopens in a new tab or window on April 21 that HHS would terminate the contracts for WHI Regional Centers in September 2025; the WHI Clinical Coordinating Center will continue operations through January 2026, but funding after then is not secured.
WHI wrote that its "investigators, collaborators, and participants remain committed to protecting the integrity of this research, ensuring continued progress in understanding the health and aging of postmenopausal women."
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and one of the long-time WHI principal investigators, said that research from WHI has influenced clinical practice in countless ways over the past 3 decades.
"The research has included more than 5,000 investigators around the country and has helped to train the next generation of researchers in women's health and healthy aging," Manson said.
"So it's it's really heartbreaking to hear that the funding is going to be slashed, and it's a devastating loss to women's health and really the health of all older adults in the population, because many of these findings apply even more widely to prevention of chronic disease and promoting healthy aging in the overall population."
Manson noted that many of the health outcomes analyzed by WHI have been understudied "not only in women, but also in the general population of older adults," so losing additional scientific discovery on these fronts will impact all people as they age.
"There will be a major, major impact on clinical medicine and public health," Manson warned.
Continue reading at MedPageToday
Reproductive health group, ACLU sue Trump administration over Title X funding
One of the country’s largest reproductive health advocacy groups is suing the Trump administration for withholding millions of dollars in federal family planning grants earlier this year.
The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, claiming the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “unlawfully withheld” $65.8 million in Title X funds to 16 family planning groups.
Title X is the nation’s only federally funded family planning program providing birth control and reproductive health care to low-income Americans.
More than a dozen family planning organizations, including nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, received letters in late March stating the Trump administration planned to “temporarily withhold” their allotted Title X grant funding.
Continue reading at The Hill
Russian foreign minister says his country is ‘ready to reach a deal’ on Ukraine
A Russian attack on Kyiv early Thursday killed at least 12 people and injured over 70.
Russia says it’s still open to an agreement to end its war in Ukraine after launching a deadly bombardment of Kyiv that earned rare criticism from President Donald Trump.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a TV interview that he agreed with Trump’s recent assertion that a deal can be reached if the parties of the conflict are willing.
“The president of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction,” Lavrov said in a portion of an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” released Thursday. “The statement by the president mentions a deal and we are ready to reach a deal.”
Lavrov said in the interview, which is scheduled to be shown in full on Sunday, that there are still issues that must be resolved, though he gave no details. “There are still some specific points, elements of this which need to be fine-tuned,” he said
Continue reading at Politico
Russia: Some elements of peace deal with Ukraine need fine-tuning
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in a new interview that the United States proposal for a peace deal with Ukraine is “moving in the right direction,” but there are still details that “need to be fine-tuned.”
In a Thursday preview of an interview set to air on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, moderator Margaret Brennan asked the Russian diplomat about President Trump’s suggestion this week that they are “very close to a deal” and that they “should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”
“Well, the President of the United States believes — and I think rightly so — that we are moving in the right direction,” Lavrov told Brennan, when asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees with Trump’s comments.
“The statement by the president mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points — elements — of this deal which need to be fine-tuned,” he continued. “And we are busy with this exact process.”
Lavrov said Trump “did not spell out the elements of the deal, so it is not appropriate for me to do this.”
Continue reading at The Hill
I don’t normally share opinion pieces. This one, though, is quite the piece… Worth reading.
MAGA vs. Pope Francis
The venomous reactions to the pope’s passing are no surprise, but it’s ironic that MAGA is marching in lockstep with the Vatican’s cloistered and rigidly doctrinaire insiders.
During U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s brief meeting with the mortally ailing Pope Francis last week, he said he’d been praying for the pontiff’s recovery. But that wasn’t the case for U.S. lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene and other MAGA luminaries, who had no compunction celebrating the news of the pope’s passing.
“Evil is being defeated by the hand of God,” Greene wrote on X on Easter Monday (of all days). “Good work, JD,” trolled conservative commentator Ann Coulter, mockingly implying that Vance, who was the last foreign leader to see the pope alive, had somehow helped usher Francis out of this world.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Pentagon leadership vacuum overwhelms Hegseth’s office: ‘It’s a free-for-all’
The departure of the Defense secretary’s top advisers has left the first-time government official without senior staff who understand Washington.
The circle of top advisers in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s orbit has shrunk in recent days to little more than his wife, lawyer, and two lower-level officials — leaving the Pentagon’s lead office without longtime expertise or clear direction.
Hegseth’s decision to fire three senior aides last week and reassign his chief of staff has blown a hole in his leadership team, severing essential lines of communication across the department and leading to fears about dangerous slip-ups such as weapons program delays.
The wholesale turnover just 100 days into Hegseth’s tenure has been remarkable for its speed. And it has left the first-time government official without trusted staff who understand Washington — just as he faces fallout from a series of scandals that have led to rampant speculation inside the building about how long he’ll keep his job.
“It’s a free-for-all,” said one person familiar with the office dynamics, who was granted anonymity to talk candidly about the situation.
Memos and actions that would have been routine in the past are getting delayed, the person said. Hegseth’s office is “up to its eyes” in what it can handle, with a parade of people flowing through the Pentagon chief’s third floor suite and no control over who is coming and going.
Hegseth’s closest advisers — beyond his wife Jennifer, a former Fox New producer, and his personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who he has commissioned as a Navy commander — are his old platoon sergeant from an Iraq deployment, Eric Geressy, and his former junior military adviser, Col. Ricky Buria. Hegseth’s brother Phil, a Department of Homeland Security liaison to the Defense Department, sits in an office nearby.
“Everyone has been jockeying for position,” said a second person familiar with the office dynamics, who was granted anonymity like others to discuss a sensitive issue.
Continue reading at Politico
CA's Economy Is Now Larger Than All But These 3 Countries
New data shows the Golden State's nominal GDP reached $4.1 trillion, surpassing Japan's $4.02 trillion.
CALIFORNIA — California now has the fourth largest economy in the world.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced Thursday that the Golden State has overtaken Japan to become the fourth-largest economy, according to newly released data from the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The data shows California's nominal GDP reached $4.1 trillion, surpassing Japan's $4.02 trillion. That places the state behind only the U.S. at $29.18 trillion, China at $18.74 trillion, and Germany at $4.65 trillion in global economic rankings.
"California isn't just keeping pace with the world — we're setting the pace," Newsom said in a statement. "Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation."
California's economy is growing at a faster rate than the world's top three economies, according to data. The state's GDP grew at a rate of 6% in 2024, outpacing the country's 5.3% rate, China's 2.6% rate and Germany's 2.9% rate.
Continue reading at Patch.com
Economic Analysis
Economist Jared Bernstein
Economist Dean Baker
Economist Mike Konczal
When Reality Isn't Bad Enough: Trump’s Fake ‘Private-Sector Recession’ of 2024
In which we dive into the labor market of 2024 and the question of whether an increase in health care jobs is evidence of or justification for a recession.
“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.”
The Federal Reserve vs. the Tariff Shock: What If It Isn’t Transitory?
As global supply chains fray and the economy veers towards recession, the Federal Reserve faces a different spin on a recent problem — one it can’t fully fix.
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My Opinion Pieces:
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.