Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 54 | Blog#42
Do. Not. Blink. No news weekends off for the weary...
News worth repeating
Trump’s next agency cuts include US-backed global media, library and museum grants
On the list is the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The order also names the Minority Business Development Agency and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, both of which promote economic development for minority businesses and low income communities, respectively. Trump has crusaded against departments and agencies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and signed an executive order upon entering office to eliminate DEI from the government.
The rest of the agencies include the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services funds grants to libraries and museums across the country. The group EveryLibrary — a nonprofit that has advocated for public library funding and fought against book bans — decried the looming cuts to the agency, arguing that the IMLS is statutorily required to send federal funds to state libraries, based on an act passed by Congress.
“This core work cannot be disrupted by DOGE,” they wrote in a statement.
Continue reading at Politico
Canada to review the purchase of US-made F-35 fighter jets in light of Trump’s trade war
TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked Defense Minister Bill Blair to review the purchase of America’s F-35 fighter jet to see if there are other options “given the changing environment,” a spokesman for Blair said Saturday.
Defense ministry press secretary Laurent de Casanove said the contract to purchase U.S. military contractor Lockheed Martin’s F-35 currently remains in place and Canada has made a legal commitment of funds for the first 16 aircraft. Canada agreed to buy 88 F-35’s two years ago.
Carney, who was sworn in on Friday, has asked Blair to work with the military “to determine if the F-35 contract, as it stands, is the best investment for Canada, and if there are other options that could better meet Canada’s needs,” de Casanove said.
“To be clear, the F-35 contract has not been canceled, but we need to do our homework given the changing environment, and make sure that the contract in its current form is in the best interests of Canadians and the Canadian Armed Forces,” de Casanove said.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
America’s automakers aren’t rushing to move production to US factories to avoid tariffs
New York (CNN) — President Donald Trump has said that automakers can avoid his tariffs by simply moving production to American plants. But it’s not that easy. Not by a long shot.
A wide variety of tariffs have either already hit, or are about to hit, the auto industry, potentially adding thousands of dollars to the cost to build and buy a new car. Duties of 25% on steel and aluminum imports went into effect this week, and levies on cars from Asia and Europe are set to go into effect next month. Perhaps most damaging to automakers, import taxes on all goods, including cars and parts imported from Canada and Mexico, have been announced – and put on hold – twice since Trump took office, and are set to be put in place once again in April.
The Trump administration has listened to pleas from automakers to spare them from tariffs, and said there’s an easy answer – just build cars in the United States.
“He told them they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America, where they will pay no tariff,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this month, after Trump delayed tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican goods from taking effect for a month. “That’s the ultimate goal.”
Continue reading at CNN.com
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Yesterday’s post
Today’s news
Why some Democrats are warm to Trump's tariffs
President Trump's tariffs are rattling the economy and drawing attacks from Democrats. But some key party members are largely backing his approach — arguing that Democrats need their own pro-tariff agenda to win back working-class voters.
Instead of warning about tariffs hiking prices, they say, Democrats should be talking about how they'd use tariffs more effectively — even if that means using them against allies, including Canada and Mexico.
Why it matters: It's the latest example of Democrats' soul-searching and agenda-tweaking after Trump made inroads among blue-collar workers with promises to use tariffs to boost American manufacturing.
Driving the news: Democrats across the Rust Belt and in several congressional swing districts, along with leaders of historically Democratic unions, have voiced support for many of Trump's tariffs — even if they believe he's haphazardly implementing them.
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine introduced legislation to put a 10% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. He told Axios: "The world is changing, and some Democrats haven't quite caught up to that fact."
Continue reading at Axios
Hundreds protest Tesla showrooms over Musk’s DOGE work
Hundreds of protestors gathered outside of Tesla showrooms on Saturday to showcase their disdain for CEO Elon Musk and his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in an effort to slash federal spending.
The “Tesla Takedown” movement has launched a series of demonstrations that have taken place in Washington, D.C., Boston and other locations aiming to encourage investors to divest in Tesla stock and charging electric vehicle owners to ditch the brand. Approximately 80 protests took place on Saturday alone, according to CNN.
“Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines. Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk,” a statement on their website reads.
“Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy. The stakes couldn’t be higher. No one is coming to save us—not politicians, not the media.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: This is from Friday’s Politico Nightly newsletter but still good to know.
MAGA’s new pet European project
MAGA HOTSPOT — MAGA has zeroed in on another European fellow traveler, one more character to knit into its global, far-right populist alliance: Romanian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu.
The 62-year-old Georgescu has campaigned for president on a message of making Romania great again, insisting that under his leadership the country will not be treated as second-class in the European Union and NATO. He’s styled himself as the Romanian Trump, while also expressing admiration for Russian culture and declaring Russian President Vladimir Putin a patriot. He’s the rare candidate who can boast support from both the Trump administration and Putin.
But there’s one big problem: Romanian authorities just barred Georgescu from running for president. The country’s electoral bureau rejected his candidacy Sunday, pointing to Georgescu’s undeclared campaign financing and fraudulent use of digital technologies during last year’s campaign. Georgescu appealed, but the Constitutional Court upheld the electoral authority’s decision.
The backstory is complicated and understanding it requires some familiarity with Romania’s recent past — and its interaction with the rest of Europe.
Continue reading at Politico Nightly newsletter
Protests around the nation
Note from Rima: This is only a sampling of nationwide demonstrations.
Tornadoes, wildfires and blinding dust sweep across U.S. as massive storm leaves at least 32 dead
PIEDMONT, Mo. (AP) — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.S.
Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing trapped neighbors found five bodies scattered in the debris Friday night outside what remained of his aunt’s house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri. Scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people in the state, authorities said.
“It was a very rough deal last night,” Henderson said Saturday not far from the splintered home from which he said they rescued his aunt through a window of the only room left standing. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.”
Coroner Jim Akers of nearby Butler County described the “unrecognizable home” where one man was killed as “just a debris field.”
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Opinion | Trump and Rubio Used an Obscure Law to Attempt to Deport a Columbia Protester. In the Past, the Same Law Excluded Jews.
All Americans should be shocked. American Jews should be deeply alarmed.
Last Saturday, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mahmoud Khalil — a lawful permanent resident with a green card whose wife, a U.S. citizen, is eight months pregnant — over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year. He is currently being held in Louisiana. The Trump administration moved to deport Khalil, but a New York federal judge ruled that he cannot be expelled from the country while his case proceeds.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio portrayed the arrest as a defense of Jewish people, condemning the antisemitism of the Columbia protests. “The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists,” Rubio posted on X. The official White House account was more blunt: “SHALOM, MAHMOUD,” it posted.
But Rubio’s legal pretense for holding Khalil relies on a provision from an obscure law written by an antisemite that targeted Jewish immigrants — including Holocaust survivors.
The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, known formally as the Immigration Nationality Act of 1952, empowers the secretary of state to expel foreign nationals who pose a threat to the United States. While the government has not yet explained to a judge precisely why Khalil meets that qualification, the president’s spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said that Khalil had “organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers with the logo of Hamas.” Leavitt claimed to be in possession of such fliers but said she “didn’t think it was worth the dignity” of sharing them with reporters and has not provided further evidence.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
All Americans should be concerned about that. But American Jews should be deeply alarmed.
Continue reading at Politico
California governor raises questions with ‘This is Gavin Newsom’ podcast
The first few episodes of “This is Gavin Newsom” have found the governor seeking common ground with conservative figures like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon. The show has also seen Newsom break with Democrats on the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports, calling it “deeply unfair.”
It all looks like a pivot toward the center by someone anticipating a White House race.
“I think he’s playing the long game here. He realizes that he’s got a lot of runway between now and the 2028 election,” said California Republican strategist Matt Klink.
Newsom is “positioning himself more as a moderate Democrat who is at least willing to listen to the thought leaders that are shaping the Republican narrative,” Klink said. That approach isn’t guaranteed to spell success with voters, but “it’s a start” at tacking toward the center.
Newsom has pitched his podcast as a way to “change the conversation” that will include “talking directly with people I disagree with, people I look up to, and you — the listeners.”
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP lawmakers tackle challenge of turning Trump actions into laws
Republicans lawmakers who are jubilant about President Trump’s flurry of executive orders and actions reshaping the government are staring down a challenge: making those changes last by turning them into law.
For now, the GOP majorities in Congress are largely happy to cede power to the executive branch as Trump tests the limits of his executive authority.
But as court challenges and future elections threaten to undo those actions, these lawmakers are strategizing about how to cement them into legislation and then law.
House Republicans in the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of conservatives, launched a “Set in Stone” initiative to start to identify Trump policies to write into law and pass them through Congress.
That’s not an easy task. With few exceptions, lasting policy changes would need to clear a 60-vote threshold to advance in the Senate, necessitating support from at least seven Democrats who have no incentive to help Trump secure legislative wins.
But Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee, says this is just the start of working with congressional leadership to identify opportunities.
Continue reading at The Hill
European nations debate a return to conscription amid Trump turnaround on Russia
Spurred by the war in Ukraine and the prospect of US disengagement, European countries are debating a return to compulsory military service to counter Russian expansionism. Lithuania, Sweden and Latvia reintroduced conscription after Russia's seizure of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine – and some say the rest of Europe should follow suit.
The US president's shift toward a more conciliatory approach to the Kremlin has also set off alarm bells, with the United States twice siding with Russia last month in votes on Ukraine at the UN.
Both military analysts and European governments acknowledge that the threat of Russian aggression is real, today even more so than three years ago.
"The Russian military today is larger and better than on February 24, 2022. The Russians have hostile intent against the Baltic states and the EU's eastern flank," said Alexandr Burilkov, a researcher at the Institute of Political Science (IPW) at Heidelberg University.
According to a study Burilkov co-authored for think tank Bruegel and the Kiel Institute, Europe could need 300,000 more troops to deter Russian aggression in addition to the 1.47 million active-duty military personnel.
"Conscription would have to play a role in any such large numbers of new troops," he said.
Continue reading at France 24 in English
Iran denies aiding Yemen’s Houthi rebels after US strikes and threat from Trump
Iran on Sunday once again denied aiding Yemen’s Houthi rebels after the United States launched a wave of airstrikes against them and President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would be held “fully accountable” for their actions.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least 31 people, including women and children, and wounded over 100. The rebels said one strike hit two homes in northern Saada province, killing four children and a woman. The rebel-run Al-Masirah TV showed images of what it said were the bodies.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted international shipping in the Red Sea and launched missiles and drones at Israel in what the rebels said were acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war with Hamas, another Iranian ally.
The attacks stopped when a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire took hold in Gaza in January, but the Houthis had threatened to renew them after Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza this month.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Rubio, Lavrov discuss ‘next steps’ on Ukraine ceasefire deal
The two also agreed “to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia,” Washington says.
Last week, Ukraine and the U.S. agreed on a proposal for an immediate ceasefire in the war, which Russian President Vladimir Putin launched three years with his full-scale invasion of the country. The U.S.-Ukraine agreement came during a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after the Trump administration also had held talks with Russian authorities in Jeddah in February.
Rubio and Lavrov in Saturday's call "also discussed specific aspects of implementing the mutual understanding reached at the meeting of senior Russian and U.S. officials in Riyadh on February 18," according to the Russian readout of their conversation.
Late last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow.
During Saturday's call, Rubio also informed Lavrov of the U.S. strikes against multiple targets in Yemen controlled by Houthi extremists. In response, the Russian minister called for "political dialogue so as to find a solution that would prevent further bloodshed," according to the Russian readout.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
This Russian Tech Bro Helped Steal $93 Million and Landed in US Prison. Then Putin Called
In the epic US-Russian prisoner swap last summer, Vladimir Putin brought home an assassin, spies, and another prized ally: the man behind one of the biggest insider trading cases of all time.
Vladislav Klyushin was having, by any measure, an awful day. The judge in his case had brushed aside his lawyers’ arguments and his friends’ appeals for leniency. She handed down a tough sentence: nine more years in US federal prison, on top of an order to forfeit a fortune, $34 million.
But if Klyushin was upset about the ruling, he didn’t show it. The then 42-year-old tech executive from Moscow seemed upbeat—quick with a smile on his pinchable cheeks and unerringly polite, just as he had been during his arrest near a Swiss ski resort in March 2021, his months of detention in Switzerland, his extradition to the United States that December, his indictment and trial on hacking and wire fraud charges, and his swift conviction. Klyushin “had a confidence all along that eventually the Russians would get him back,” one of his defense attorneys told me. He seemed certain that his protectors in the Kremlin would spare him from serving out his full sentence.
There were times when that certainty seemed cocksure. America’s federal prison system held 35 Russian nationals. Surely not all of them were getting traded back. His family and friends were distraught. Within less than a year, though, Klyushin was proven right. On August 1, 2024, he was unshackled and put on a plane back to Moscow—one of the 24 people involved in the largest, most complex US-Russian prisoner exchange ever.
Continue reading at Wired
Meta Tries to Bury a Tell-All Book
Mark Zuckerberg might be in his post-fact-checking-era. But that hasn’t stopped Meta from going after the author of Careless People.
It was Meta itself that first told me about the new book attacking Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and the allegedly bankrupt morals of their company. On March 7, a Meta PR person contacted me to ask if I’d heard about Careless People, a presumed takedown of the company that was due for release in a few days. I hadn’t. No one at Meta had read the book yet, but the comms department was already proactively debunking it, issuing a statement that the author was a former employee who had been “terminated” in 2017.
My first thought was Wow, I’ve got to read this book! And in fact I did, devouring it in a night as soon as it was published. With the benefit of attention from Meta’s complaints, I suspect Careless People might become a must-read. Meta—the company that promotes itself as an avatar of free speech—has successfully convinced an arbitrator to silence author Sarah Wynn-Williams, who was a director in charge of connecting Meta’s executives with global leaders. The ruling, relying on an NDA signed after Wynn-Williams was fired, demands she stop promoting the book, do everything in her power to stop its publication, and retract all comments “disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental” about Meta. That’s pretty much the whole book. Wynn-Williams, who has registered as a whistleblower with the SEC, did not attend the hearing and doesn’t seem inclined to respect it. As I write this, Careless People is now the third-best-selling book on Amazon.
The arbitrator’s Meta-friendly “emergency” ruling was the climax of an intense campaign against the book that erupted once the company got a look at it. Even as I turned the pages of Careless People, my inbox was fattening with dispatches from Meta. “Her book is a mix of old claims and false accusations about our executives,” a company spokesperson says. They characterize her firing as the result of “poor performance and toxic behavior.” They call her “a disgruntled activist trying to sell books.” Meanwhile on social media, current and former employees posted comments defending the maligned executives.
Continue reading at Wired
‘Beyond My Wildest Dreams’: The Architect of Project 2025 Is Ready for His Victory Lap
Paul Dans, the ousted director of Project 2025, says he’s delighted that Trump is implementing his agenda after all.
Michael Hirsh is the former foreign editor and chief diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek, and the former national editor for POLITICO Magazine.
A year ago, Paul Dans was chief architect of what was shaping up to be the blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term. Eight months ago, he was sent into MAGA exile.
Dans was the director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation when, midway through the 2024 presidential campaign, he and his program started to become a huge political liability for Trump. Democrats warned of Project 2025’s “radical” agenda, saying it would mean a ban on abortion, elimination of LGBTQ+ rights, and complete presidential power over federal agencies along with the elimination of some of them, including the Department of Education. At the Democratic National Convention, Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson held up a giant-size replica of the 900-page Project 2025 book and quipped, “You ever see a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is.”
Conservatives began blaming Heritage and Project 2025 for hurting Trump’s election chances. Trump himself repeatedly contended he hadn’t even read Project 2025, claiming on Truth Social that he had “no idea who is behind it.” In an interview with the POLITICO Deep Dive podcast published Saturday, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita complained that “there was some stuff in there that we were like, ‘Where the hell did that come from?’”
Dans became a sacrificial lamb. Pressured to resign from Heritage, Dans left in a fit of pique at the end of July, and he later criticized LaCivita and campaign co-head Susie Wiles for campaign “malpractice.”
Now Dans, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and works as a lawyer and government relations consultant, is letting bygones be bygones and says he’s delighted with the extent to which Project 2025 has, in fact, become the Trump administration’s playbook.
Continue reading at Politico Magazine
A majority-Black town starts armed protection group after neo-Nazi rally
“I feel like it’s more secure now,” one woman said. “I know my son can walk home and be OK.”
LINCOLN HEIGHTS, Ohio — Nearly every morning for the last month, Jay has been waking up before sunrise to drive around the streets of Lincoln Heights, patrolling neighborhood bus stops to make sure children are getting to school safely.
“We have a very tight community, so all of our kids, they know us,” he said.
But for anyone outside the community, Jay’s presence might be a mystery. He wears a face covering along with tactical vests, and Jay is not his real name, which he asked not to use to prevent harassment from hate groups.
He’s a member of the Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch program, an initiative that started shortly after Feb. 7, when a neo-Nazi group waving swastika flags and shouting racial slurs demonstrated on a highway overpass just on the edge of this majority-Black community about 30 minutes north of Cincinnati.
Officers from Evendale, which borders Lincoln Heights, and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office both responded that day. No arrests were made, and Evendale police officers did not take down any names or identifying information from members of the neo-Nazi group, according to the mayor’s office.
Continue reading/watching at NBC News
Immigration checkpoints are a way of life in areas within 100 miles from U.S. borders
Undocumented families living between the border and checkpoints are "like in a cage," said a South Texas social worker.
Well before President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown further opened the door for agents and officers to question people about their citizenship and legal status, the Border Patrol had been doing exactly that at checkpoints flanking roadways within the United States.
It was at such an inland checkpoint that on Feb. 4 Border Patrol apprehended the parents of five children, four of them U.S. citizens.
They were en route from Rio Grande City, Texas, to Houston for emergency medical care for their 10-year-old daughter who has brain cancer, NBC News reported, when they arrived at the Falfurrias checkpoint. Rio Grande City is about 360 miles southwest of Houston, and about an 85-mile to 104-mile drive from the checkpoint, depending on the route taken.
The parents, who did not have documentation showing they were citizens or had legal status, were deported. Seeing no other options, they took their five children with them to Mexico, uncertain how they’d get their daughter the care she needs.
Continue reading/watching at NBC News
A river ‘died’ overnight in Zambia after an acidic waste spill at a Chinese-owned mine
The spill could potentially affect millions of people.
KITWE, Zambia — Authorities and environmentalists in Zambia fear the long-term impact of an acid spill at a Chinese-owned mine that contaminated a major river and could potentially affect millions of people after signs of pollution were detected at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream.
The spill happened on Feb. 18 when a tailings dam that holds acidic waste from a copper mine in the north of the country collapsed, according to investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia.
The collapse allowed some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream that links to the Kafue River, Zambia’s most important waterway, the engineering institution said.
“It is an environmental disaster really of catastrophic consequences,” said Chilekwa Mumba, an environmental activist who works in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province.
China is the dominant player in copper mining in Zambia, a southern African nation which is among the world’s top 10 producers of copper, a key component in smartphones and other technology.
Continue reading at Politico
What Authoritarianism Means
Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, they overestimated democratic resilience. What is America now, and what comes next?
It has been almost two months since Donald Trump’s inauguration. It feels much longer. The speed and the scope of the assault on the constitutional order, on the foundations of democratic self-government have been unprecedented. In mere weeks, the Trumpists have managed to turn America from a democratic system – albeit one with significant flaws – into one that no longer deserves to be counted among the world’s democracies. America is something else now.
Thomas Zimmer is a historian at Georgetown University.
Trump and Putin to speak this week on ceasefire proposal, envoy says
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely speak this week as part of Trump's push to reach a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday.
Why it matters: Witkoff met the Russian president for several hours on Thursday. While Ukraine agreed to Trump's ceasefire proposal, Putin refused to accept it unconditionally.
Driving the news: In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Witkoff described his four-hour meeting with Putin as "positive" and added the discussion was "solutions-based".
He claimed Putin accepts "Trump's philosophy" of ending the war with Ukraine.
"The two sides are a lot closer today than they were a few weeks ago. We narrowed the differences," Witkoff said.
Behind the scenes: Witkoff said Trump is personally involved in the diplomatic efforts with Russia and Ukraine.
He said he briefed Trump from the U.S. embassy in Moscow right after the meeting with Putin.
Continue reading at Axios
‘All options are on the table’ when it comes to Iran, Mike Waltz says
The national security adviser was responding to the American strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, on Sunday did not rule out the use of force against Iran, either in relation to its support for Yemen’s Houthis or its potential development of a nuclear weapon.
Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Waltz told host Martha Raddatz: “All actions are always on the table with the president. But Iran needs to hear him loud and clear.”
Waltz’s remarks about Yemen followed Saturday’s U.S. strikes against the Houthi rebels, who have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea and attempted attacks against Israel.
On Sunday, according to ABC News, Iranian Gen. Hossein Salami denied the Houthis are backed by Iran while also saying his country would offer a “decisive and devastating response to any threat” against it.
Waltz characterized the strikes on Saturday as “an overwhelming response,” as opposed to the “feckless” ones launched by the Biden administration.
Continue reading at Politico
Macron to EU colleagues: Stop buying American, buy European
“Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35, should be offered the Rafale,” French president says.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron wants to lead a charm offensive to convince EU countries to stop buying U.S. defense equipment and buy French and European instead.
Macron, who has been calling for years to direct defense spending toward EU products, said he wants to convince other European countries that are currently "buying American" to shift to local options.
"My intention is to go and convince European states that have become accustomed to buying American," he said on Saturday in an interview with several French media including Nice-Matin and Le Parisien.
"Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35, should be offered the Rafale. That's the way to increase the rate of production," he said.
Macron's comments come as European NATO members have become even more dependent on U.S. weapons than ever before.
This month, the Netherlands and Belgium confirmed they would still buy American-made F-35 fighter jets, while Portugal is wobbling about replacing its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets with more modern F-35s because of "the recent position of the United States, in the context of NATO."
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Treasury Secretary says he’s ‘not worried about the markets’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he is “not worried about the markets” after a rough week for the stock market.
“I can tell you that corrections are healthy, they’re normal,” Bessent told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “What’s not healthy is straight-up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis.”
“It would’ve been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in ‘06, ‘07, we wouldn’t have had the problems in ‘08,” he added. “So, I’m not worried about the markets.”
Bessent’s comments came after a rough week for the stock market. On Monday, the stock market began the week with intense losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 890 points that day, dipping 2.1 percent.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump unplugged: What he says behind closed doors
In public, President Trump is blunt, salty, mean, flattering and gossipy. In private, he's the same man — with an extra dash of profanity and edge.
Why it matters: Axios White House reporter Alex Isenstadt captures the two Trumps in a series of never-before-reported moments in his new book, "Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power," out Tuesday.
Here's a sneak peek:
1. "I'm going to squash this guy like a bug."
—Trump in January 2023 to then-Sen. JD Vance of Ohio about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was gearing up to run against Trump in the GOP presidential primary.
2. "If you need a bed to lay down in, there's one here on the plane. If you feel sick and you need to lay there, you can lay on it. Just don't tell Melania. She doesn't like other women on my bed."
—A joking Trump to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) while aboard his personal jet in the summer of 2023. Luna was pregnant and not feeling well.
3. "Honey, I need to fix this."
—Trump to then-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, backstage at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in October 2023. Trump didn't think McDaniel's hair was ready for prime time. So he grabbed some hairspray and sprayed it on her.
4. "He's f--king fired. Get him fired now. Have someone walk him off the property."
—Trump to his aides in early 2024, after a mechanic accidentally deployed the emergency slides on his jet when it was parked, requiring it to be sent for repairs.
Continue reading at Axios
Tuberville says Trump’s tariffs ‘only shot’ at ‘getting our country back’
Tuberville joined John Catsimatidis for his radio show “Cats Roundtable,” where he weighed in on the administration’s international efforts.
“I know people are complaining about these tariffs right now, but ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you something, this is the only shot we got to get our country back,” he said.
Trump’s tariff plan went into effect earlier this month.
He introduced a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on China. The decision was met with uncertainty and concern as Americans feared prices of everyday goods would spike.
Continue reading at The Hill
REAL ID: What is it, and why do you need one in May?
It’s starting to warm up, which means the spring break and summer vacation travel seasons are nearly upon us. Without the necessary ID, however, you may find yourself grounded at the airport.
Come early May, you will need a REAL ID-compliant ID (which you may already have) to board a domestic flight. (It will also be necessary if you are visiting certain federal facilities or entering a nuclear power plant, but we’ll focus on the air travel part for now.)
Once the REAL ID requirement kicks in, federal agencies like TSA will be prohibited from accepting state-issued IDs that do not meet the necessary standards.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP senator weighs in on Trump’s 1798 immigration law, judge’s attempt to block it
Rounds joined “State of the Union” just hours after Trump’s action. A federal judge attempted to block the move, but the Trump administration deported people anyway.
“I can tell you that clearly these individuals never have been in the United States to begin with. And the question is, which laws are we using to get them back out, and whether or not the courts agree, that part will be determined by the courts,” Rounds said. “But in the meantime, I’m happy to see the president is following up with his promises that he is going to keep Americans safe.”
Host Jake Tapper pressed the senator on the legality of the move, since the judge ordered the administration to turn deportation flights around and bring people back to the U.S. while it plays out in the courts. The administration did not adhere to the judge’s order and the migrants were deported.
“We’ll find out whether or not that actually occurred or not,” Rounds said, later adding, “I don’t know about the timing on it. I do know that we will follow the law.”
Rounds, in support of Trump, said he believed Trump was invoking the immigration law to protect Americans from the “violent gang” commonly called TDA.
Continue reading at The Hill
Murphy says Americans want Democrats to ‘take risks right now’ to ‘save our democracy’
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on Sunday that Americans want Democrats to “take risks right now” to “save our democracy” after internal party divisions over a funding bill.
“While I totally understand my colleagues who didn’t want to catapult us into a shutdown, I actually think that the American people would’ve understood that Republicans have an obligation to negotiate with Democrats,” Murphy told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“This is the first full-year spending bill since I’ve been in Congress that was written only by the Republican Party. So, yes, it would’ve been a risk. I understand the decision that many of my Democratic colleagues made, but I think the American people want us to take risks right now in order to save our democracy,” the Connecticut Democrat added.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘There are no guarantees’: Scott Bessent won’t rule out a recession
He also said he isn’t worried about stock market turbulence, following the worst week in the market in two years.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent conceded the possibility of a recession and downplayed stock market turmoil Sunday, amid growing market uncertainty following the implementation of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners.
“There are no guarantees,” Bessent said about the chance of a recession during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker, echoing Trump’s refusal to rule one out last week. “I can predict that we are putting in robust policies that will be durable.”
The Trump administration’s ongoing announcements and adjustments to tariffs on crucial American trading partners sent the stock market into a frenzy last month. But stocks plummeted even further this past week after Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico, though he quickly issued reprieves for certain goods.
Bessent’s remarks align with the Trump administration’s unbending stance of repeatedly dismissing the market upheaval and arguing that a short period of disruption is necessary to put the U.S. economy on a more stable path. Bessent brushed off the market volatility toward the end of last week as well, saying the administration is focused on the “long-term” economic gains that he said tariffs will spur.
“I’m not worried about the markets,” Bessent said. “Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.”
Continue reading at Politico
White House seriously considering deal from Oracle to run TikTok
Any deal could face security concerns from China hawks in Congress.
Vice President JD Vance and national security adviser Mike Waltz, the two officials President Donald Trump has tasked with shepherding a deal to bring TikTok under U.S. ownership, are taking the lead in negotiations, while senators have voiced a desire to be read in on any talks, two of the people said. A third person described the White House discussions as in advanced stages.
The people who were granted anonymity were not authorized to discuss sensitive details of ongoing negotiations publicly.
It comes amid ongoing warnings from congressional Republicans and other China hawks that any new ownership deal — if it keeps TikTok’s underlying technology in Chinese hands — could be only a surface-level fix to the security concerns that led to last year’s sweeping bipartisan ban of the app. Key lawmakers, including concerned Republicans, are bringing in Oracle this week to discuss the possible deal and rising national security concerns, according to four people familiar with the meetings.
One of the three people familiar with the discussions with Oracle said the deal would essentially require the U.S. government to depend on Oracle to oversee the data of American users and ensure the Chinese government doesn’t have a backdoor to it — a promise the person warned would be impossible to keep.
“If the Oracle deal moves forward, you still have this [algorithm] controlled by the Chinese. That means all you are doing is saying ‘trust Oracle’ to disseminate the data and guarantee there is no ‘back door’ to the data,” the person told POLITICO.
Continue reading at Politico
What other countries are taking away from Trump’s battle with Canada
As world leaders weigh how to respond to the president’s tariffs, Canada and Mexico offer cautionary tales.
Two of the first targets of Trump’s trade ire, Mexico and Canada, have been going back and forth with the White House for over a month now to try and fend off steep new tariffs. But they’ve pursued very different strategies: Ottawa has taken a more confrontational approach, including immediate trade retaliation, drawing swift White House retribution; Mexico City has tried to lay low and buy time, but doesn’t have much more to show for it.
With a new round of tariffs on steel and aluminum that went into effect this week and worldwide “reciprocal” tariffs on the horizon next month, other countries have been taking notes. The lessons they draw will help determine just how much the global economy cracks up as Trump’s trade war deepens.
“There’s the ongoing debate that’s been consistent: Is it better to grovel and kiss the ring or is it better to stand up to the bully?” said William Reinsch, a former Commerce undersecretary now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Both have worked on occasion and both have not worked on occasion. So it’s hard to know in any given circumstance which one is the better tactic.”
A senior European Union official, granted anonymity per the ground rules of the briefing, told reporters on Wednesday that the bloc was “constantly speaking” with other world leaders about the U.S. tariffs and “comparing notes.” But, the official added, the EU is not yet coordinating its reaction with other countries.
The same day, the 27-country bloc announced a two-stage trade retaliation plan in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, covering roughly $28 billion in U.S. imports to Europe, which will begin to kick in on April 1.
Continue reading at Politico
Dems sour on Schumer but divided over his fate as leader
Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) stopped short Sunday of calling for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to be replaced — but she said it's time for Senate Democrats to decide if he's the man for the moment.
Why it matters: Schumer's decision to help Republicans pass a GOP-led funding bill to keep the government's lights on despite intense pressure to block the legislation highlighted growing fractures within his party that may put his job in jeopardy.
When asked by reporters Friday if it was time for new leadership, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) provided no defense for his Senate counterpart, simply saying, "Next question."
The rage brewing within Jeffries' caucus erupted Thursday after Schumer said he'd back the stopgap measure, prompting discussion of primary challenges and Senate floor protests, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.
Driving the news: Crockett said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that Schumer was "absolutely wrong" in his contention that a shutdown would have created a "far worse consequence."
Continue reading at Axios
CNN Poll: Democratic Party’s favorability drops to a record low
The Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Americans stands at a record low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, fueled in part by dimming views from its own frustrated supporters.
With many in the party saying publicly that their leaders should do more to stand up to President Donald Trump, Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57% to 42%, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda, rather than working with the GOP majority to get some Democratic ideas into legislation.
The survey was taken March 6-9, days before 10 Democratic senators — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — voted with Republicans in the chamber to advance a GOP-authored spending bill to avert a government shutdown, much to the chagrin of many other Democratic lawmakers and progressive critics.
The majority’s desire to fight the GOP marks a significant change in the party’s posture from the start of Trump’s first term. A September 2017 poll found a broad 74% majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying their party should work with Republicans in an attempt to advance their own priorities, and just 23% advocating for a more combative approach.
[…]
Democrats, who overwhelmingly consider Trump too extreme, have yet to consolidate around any one-party leader to serve as a counterpoint. Asked in an open-ended question to name the Democratic leader they feel “best reflects the core values” of the party, 10% of Democratic-aligned adults name New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 9% former vice president Kamala Harris, 8% Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and 6% House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Another 4% each name former president Barack Obama and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with Schumer joining a handful of others at 2%.
More than 30% didn’t offer a name in response. “No one,” one respondent answered. “That’s the problem.”
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who delivered the party’s response to Trump’s presidential address this month, remains largely unknown. A separate question finds that nearly three-quarters of Americans have never heard of her or have no opinion of her, with the remainder roughly split in their opinions. Slotkin is scarcely better known within her own party, although Democratic-aligned adults who do express a view of her are largely positive, 24% favorable to 6% unfavorable.
Ocasio Cortez’s stock in the party is especially high among those who describe themselves as liberal and those younger than 45, with roughly 1 in 6 within each of those groups calling her emblematic of the party’s values. No Democratic leader polled in the double digits among older adults or moderates on this metric.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Note from Rima: There is a lot more data and analysis in this article
VA secretary says he will ‘make decisions best for’ employees, veterans when asked about DOGE
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins on Sunday said he will “make decisions best for” employees of his department and veterans when asked about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“When you hear recommendations from DOGE, how do you receive them?” NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt asked Collins on “The Hill Sunday.”
“I receive it as, ‘I’m the secretary of VA,’” Collins responded. “And at the end of the day, I’m gonna make decisions best for my employees and best for the veterans, and they’re giving us some good advice, looking with fresh eyes.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk and DOGE have been taking intense aim at the federal government, offering buyouts to and laying off workers en masse.
Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed in a recent Cabinet meeting, with Musk going after Rubio for not firing a large portion of the workforce at the State Department.
Continue reading at The Hill
Top broadband official exits Commerce Department with sharp Musk warning
“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Evan Feinman warned.
A top Commerce Department official sent a blistering email to his former colleagues on his way out the door Sunday warning that the Trump administration is poised to unduly enrich Elon Musk’s satellite internet company with money for rural broadband.
The technology offered by Starlink, Musk’s company, is inferior, wrote Evan Feinman, who had directed the $42.5 billion broadband program for the past three years
“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Feinman said.
Key context: Feinman’s lengthy email, totaling more than 1,100 words and shared with POLITICO, is a sign of deep discomfort about the changes underway that will likely transform the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently pledged a vigorous review of BEAD, with an aim to rip out what he sees as extraneous requirements and remove any preference for particular broadband technologies like fiber.
Musk, who runs the Starlink satellite broadband service, stands to reap a greater share of these subsidies under the revised rules.
Musk and Starlink did not respond to requests for comment.
Continue reading at Politico
Barbara Lee confronts a cautionary tale in Oakland mayoral bid
The similarities between Lee and the late Mayor Ron Dellums, her longtime mentor, are plentiful. But the comparison carries baggage.
OAKLAND, California — Former Rep. Barbara Lee returned from Washington and quickly became the frontrunner for mayor of her chaos-wracked hometown. But the popular progressive still can’t shake a comparison to a mentor who struggled to lead the city through the Great Recession.
Like Lee, former Rep. Ron Dellums served nearly three decades in Congress, where his stance on an international human rights issue — in his case, opposition to apartheid in South Africa — came to define his Washington career. And like Lee, who famously voted against the war in Afghanistan, the fellow Democrat returned to Oakland and was urged by liberal activists to run for mayor as the city was in turmoil.
The similarities are so striking that Lee and her allies can’t help but acknowledge the cautionary tale: that a creature of Washington, while popular in the district, isn’t necessarily equipped to run a major city.
“People are going to ask that question, and I hope they define Barbara Lee as Barbara Lee,” Lee said of the comparison. “Everyone knows me, I’m hands on in anything I do.”
Continue reading at Politico
Chris Murphy says he still supports Schumer as leader but not Dems’ current tactics
“If we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone,” the Connecticut Democrat said.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he still supports Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after Schumer and other Senate Democrats voted to avert a government shutdown but said that Democrats must change their tactics.
“What’s important is that we meet this moment,” Murphy said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to host Kristen Welker. “And what I’m telling you is that if we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone. I don’t think we have a year to save American democracy.”
Schumer’s decision to support the Republican-backed continuing resolution prompted a strong critical response from some of his fellow Democrats, with some calling for new leadership within the Democratic caucus. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sidestepped a question about whether there should be new Democratic leadership in the Senate over the weekend.
But Murphy, who voted against the measure, defended Schumer.
“Leader Schumer has a very difficult job. I don’t envy the job that he has,” Murphy said, adding: “I still support Senator Schumer as leader.”
However, Murphy added that the survival of the Democratic caucus is dependent on its willingness to challenge the Trump administration.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump up, Dems down in new polls
More registered voters say the U.S. is heading in the right direction (44%) than at any point since early 2004, though a majority (54%) still say the country is on the wrong track, according to an NBC News poll out this morning.
Why it matters: President Trump has enjoyed some of his highest approval ratings in the early days of his second term — though the specifics of his aggressive policies have begun to irk Americans in recent polling.
But as the president rolls out a cascade of controversial actions, Democrats are the ones hitting new polling lows — underscoring frustration within the party that lawmakers are being flattened by a GOP steamroller.
Driving the news: Trump's job approval rating in the new poll (47%) matches his all-time highs in NBC News polling throughout his political career (37% "strongly approve," 10% "somewhat approve").
Continue reading at Axios
Also see this related article: Focus group: Trump swing voters in Michigan have buyers' remorse
Deluzio says Dems fighting against Trump ‘not just good politics’ but ‘good policy’
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) on Sunday called Democrats fighting against President Trump “not just good politics” but also “good policy.”
“I think wanting to see Democrats stand their ground when this administration’s doing dangerous things is common sense, and it’s not just good politics, it’s good policy for this country,” Deluzio told NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday.”
“And again, I’m a guy who believes we’ll find common ground when we can, but you got to stand your ground when it’s time to fight for your people,” he added.
Deluzio’s comments follow an internal divide among Democrats over a funding bill that 10 party members in the Senate voted to advance Friday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was one of the members who voted to advance the bill, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his fellow New York Democrat, criticizing him Thursday after saying he would do so.
“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board — the entire party.”
Deluzio also on Sunday called the funding bill “bad” and said it “hurt a lot of my community.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Sheldon Whitehouse understands why some of his fellow Dems voted to avert shutdown
It’s not “an ordinary world” right now, the Rhode Island senator said.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse did not support the continuing resolution that kept the government open, but he understands why enough of his fellow Senate Democrats did to allow it to pass.
Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” the Rhode Island Democrat said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and some other Democrats allowed the legislation to go through on Friday because they feared the damage President Donald Trump and his allies could do if the government shut down.
“The key to the shutdown here is that in an ordinary world, the executive branch wants to get out of the shutdown, wants to go back into normal operations,” he said. “With these MAGA extremists in charge, they don’t necessarily want to come out of shutdown.”
Whitehouse told host Martha Raddatz that the OMB would have gotten extra power to restructure the government if there were a shutdown: “There’s a guy over at the Office of Management and Budget named Russell Vought. He’s got a little sidekick over there named Mark Paoletta.”
Continue reading at Politico
Nita Lowey, former NY member of Congress, dies at 87
The New York Democrat was the first woman to chair the Appropriations Committee.
Continue reading at Politico
White House touts deportation of alleged gang members that court ordered returned to US
They continued on to El Salvador.
President Donald Trump’s White House is celebrating his use of a rarely invoked wartime authority to carry out the mass deportation of hundreds of alleged gang members to El Salvador in an episode that fueled doubts about the ability of the U.S. court system to constrain the Trump administration’s actions.
After a federal judge issued an unusual order Saturday evening that required all planes carrying those covered by Trump’s Alien Enemies Act declaration to return to the U.S, at least one planeload of Venezuelan deportees continued on to San Salvador and discharged its passengers to a waiting brigade of Salvadoran soldiers, police and videographers.
A grim video posted on X by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, contained movie-like scenes set over a music soundtrack and depicted soldiers leading tattooed men off an airplane, forcing them to bend toward the ground as they were frog-marched to waiting buses and had their heads shaved by hooded prison guards.
Statements from Bukele and from Trump allies mocking the court order issued by the chief U.S. District Judge in Washington, James Boasberg, contributed to an air of fecklessness around the U.S. legal system in Trump’s second term.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump administration deports hundreds of immigrants even as a judge orders their removals be stopped
The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday blocking the deportations but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order.
“Oopsie…Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country’s prisons, wrote on the social media site X above an article about Boasberg’s ruling. That post was recirculated by White House communications director Steven Cheung.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Wall Street hoped Scott Bessent would keep Trump in check. He had other ideas.
The Treasury secretary’s muted reassurances to financial markets shows there may be no one in the administration willing to stand in the way of Trump’s agenda.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a successful hedge fund manager straight out of central casting, has quickly become one of the administration’s strongest advocates for policies that are upending global trade and roiling financial markets.
The deliberate, wonkish Wall Street veteran who once called for the gradual implementation of new trade barriers has transformed into a bullhorn for President Donald Trump’s MAGA 2.0 agenda, making it clear that short-term market reactions are secondary to administration priorities such as sweeping tariffs.
As financial markets suffered the most precipitous drop in years this week, Bessent went on television earlier this month and argued that the U.S. needs to “detox” itself off government spending. And he raised eyebrows in a recent speech by declaring that “access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream.” He also said he was “less concerned” about the short-term economic impact of tariffs.
When pressed on a recent market sell-off that pushed down the S&P 500 by more than 10 percent from its recent peak, he said that “corrections are healthy.”
“What’s not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis,” he said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I’m not worried about the markets. Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.”
This wasn’t what many on Wall Street expected.
Continue reading at Politico
Bessent says correction "healthy" for markets that had been "euphoric"
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the correction in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq was "healthy," and suggested that prior strong performance in stocks had been signs of a "euphoric" market.
Why it matters: Treasury secretaries don't typically welcome major stock indices falling 10% in less than a month.
But Bessent again said the economy needed to go through a "transition" as deficits come down and government spending declines.
What they're saying: "I've been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They're normal. What's not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That's how you get a financial crisis," Bessent told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
"It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in '06, '07. We wouldn't have had the problems in '08," Bessent said, referring to the global financial crisis.
By the numbers: After hitting highs on Feb. 19, the S&P 500 fell 10% through March 13, while the Nasdaq fell more than 11%.
Both are among the world's worst-performing major indices this year.
The intrigue: U.S. stocks rallied on President Trump's election, before starting to fall once he began implementing his tariff policies.
Continue reading at Axios
California Republicans revel in their spoiler role
The GOP has been getting under Democrats’ skin in Sacramento and beyond.
SACRAMENTO, California — Republicans in deep blue California find themselves in unfamiliar territory — a place of political influence.
Republicans have managed to play the spoiler in the blue state’s politics, forcing the majority party to moderate on everything from transgender rights to criminal justice policy, by leaning on their federal allies and exploiting missteps by their counterparts on the left, who are still reeling from a bruising election cycle.
The newfound swagger was literally on display in Sacramento this weekend, where party faithful were sporting sequined jackets and dancing to “YMCA” in the streets outside the state GOP convention as they rode high off President Donald Trump’s return to power.
“We’ve seen a rightward shift even in deep blue LA,” said Roxanne Hoge, Los Angeles County GOP chair, noting local voters elected a moderate district attorney and approved a ballot measure hiking penalties for some lower-level crimes. “It turns out people really don’t like being mugged.”
Continue reading at Politico
French PM says EU hitting wrong targets with retaliation tariffs on US
“Kentucky bourbon has been included as if it were a trade threat,” François Bayrou said in an interview with France Inter.
PARIS — French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Sunday questioned the European Commission's decision to hit American bourbon and other products with tariffs as part of an escalating tit-for-tat trade war between Washington and Brussels.
"Have some missteps been made? Yes, probably, because Kentucky bourbon has been included as if it were a trade threat," Bayrou said in an interview with France Inter on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new trade war by imposing 25 percent global steel and aluminum tariffs last week.
In response, the European Commission on Wednesday said it would reimpose tariffs on iconic American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, jeans and bourbon. Trump's response arrived quickly as, the following day, he threatened to slap a 200 percent tariff on all “wines, champagne and alcoholic products” from France and other EU countries.
Bayrou suggested that the Commission was wrong in choosing the products on its retaliation list. The European Commission "reused a very old list without re-reading it, as it should have done," Bayrou said.
His comments seem to imply that Trump threatened to hit the EU's alcohol sector because Brussels decided to specifically hit bourbon, among other products.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Angst pervades a pair of Republican town halls — one in Trump country, the other in a swing state
EVANSTON, Wyo. (AP) — In two congressional districts and vastly different political environments, two Republicans in the U.S. House were met with far different reactions at public meetings they held late last week.
Against the suggestion of their leader, House Speaker Mike Johnson, to refrain from holding public meetings with constituents, second-term Reps. Chuck Edwards and Harriet Hageman went ahead with their evening sessions.
In Asheville, North Carolina, chants of opposition greeted Edwards on Thursday as opponents hooted at almost every answer he gave and chanted outside. In Evanston, Wyoming, at the southwestern corner of a sparsely populated and heavily Republican state, it was mostly Republicans who asked probing questions of Hageman in a quieter setting.
In both cases, voters were curious about the scope and pace of action in Washington since President Donald Trump took office, if less boisterously in Wyoming than the event 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the southeast.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Young scientists see career pathways vanish as schools adapt to federal funding cuts
As an infant, Connor Phillips was born three months premature with cerebral palsy. The science that saved his life was the inspiration that led to his role studying brain processes as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health.
He had hopes of continuing his work at NIH through a partnership with Brown University, where he was invited to interview for a program that would lead to a doctorate in neuroscience. But training programs at the NIH have been suspended, a casualty of funding cuts by the Trump administration.
He is applying to other programs — and hoping policies putting strains on science might be reversed.
“You don’t take these jobs that pay worse and have insane hours and are really stressful unless you care about helping others and taking our love for science and translating that into something that can improve people’s lives,” Phillips said.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Exclusive: How the White House defied a judge's order to turn back deportation flights
The Trump administration says it ignored a Saturday court order to turn around two planeloads of alleged Venezuelan gang members because the flights were over international waters and therefore the ruling didn't apply, two senior officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The administration's decision to defy a federal judge's order is exceedingly rare and highly controversial.
"Court order defied. First of many as I've been warning and start of true constitutional crisis," national security attorney Mark S. Zaid, a Trump critic, wrote on X, adding that Trump could ultimately get impeached.
The White House welcomes that fight. "This is headed to the Supreme Court. And we're going to win," a senior White House official told Axios.
State of play: Trump's advisers contend U.S. District Judge James Boasberg overstepped his authority by issuing an order that blocked the president from deporting about 250 alleged Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1789.
The war-time law gives the executive extreme immense power to deport noncitizens without a judicial hearing. But it has been little-used, particularly in peacetime.
Continue reading at Axios
Give back the Statue of Liberty, French MEP tells US
French Socialist MEP says Washington’s embrace of dictators negates the values that led France to bestow the iconic statue some 140 years ago.
She’s been covered by a glacier, smashed up by various giant monsters, and left to decay on a planet overrun by super-intelligent apes. But even in a Hollywood scriptwriter’s worst nightmare, Lady Liberty surely couldn’t be sent back to France. Could she?
French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, of the Socialists and Democrats group, has set tongues wagging by suggesting that the Statue of Liberty — unveiled in New York in 1886 as a gift from the French people — should be sent back because the United States has chosen to side with tyrants.
With his own tongue in cheek, a grinning Glucksmann told a party convention: “We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty.’”
“We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,” Glucksmann added, according to local media.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Canadian ambassador to US on Trump’s 51st state remarks: ‘We take seriously our sovereignty’
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Fox News anchor Jacqui Heinrich asked whether Canada’s new prime minister, former central banker Mark Carney, hasn’t connected yet with Trump because of the U.S. president’s remarks about making Canada the 51st state.
“I think we take seriously our sovereignty. We take seriously the will of Canadians, and over 91 percent of Canadians are, you know, not interested in a discussion around joining the U.S.,” Hillman said. “So I think he takes that seriously.
“And that’s not a slight to the president, and that’s not a slight to the American people,” she continued. “It’s an expression of our own patriotism and our own sense of who we are as a country.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Schumer on voting for funding bill: Trump, Musk ‘damage’ could be ‘much worse’ under shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a Sunday podcast episode that “damage” from President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk could be “much worse” under a government shutdown.
“Their goal of shutting down, of decimating, the whole federal government, of cutting agency after agency after agency, would occur under a shutdown,” Schumer told The New York Times’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro on “The Interview” podcast. “It would be devastating.”
“Two days from now in a shutdown, they could say, ‘Well, SNAP, food stamps for kids, is not essential. It’s gone. All veterans’ offices in rural areas are gone. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, they’re not essential. We’re cutting them back,” he added. “So, it’d be horrible. The damage they can do under a shutdown is much worse than any other damage that they could do.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge demands Trump admin. explain why doctor was deported despite order
A federal judge on Sunday ordered the Trump administration to respond to allegations that U.S. immigration enforcement "willfully disobeyed" an order halting the deportation of a Rhode Island doctor.
The big picture: Dr. Rasha Alawieh, who according to court documents is a citizen of Lebanon who holds an H-1B visa, was detained last week upon her arrival at a Boston airport.
How it happened: In an order on Friday evening in response to a petition from Alawieh's cousin, federal Judge Leo T. Sorokin mandated 48 hours' notice before Alawieh could be deported.
But Alawieh was nonetheless placed on a flight to Paris, where she was detained as of Saturday.
It's unclear how much time elapsed between the order coming down and that flight departing, but attorneys representing Alawieh's cousin, Yara Chehab, alleged in a court filing that the government had received "actual notice" and "willfully disobeyed" the court's order. Alawieh was expected to fly to Lebanon on Sunday, per the filing.
Continue reading at Axios
At least 36 killed as tornadoes, severe weather threaten multiple states
At least 36 people are dead after tornadoes, high winds and wildfires hit more than a half-dozen states since Thursday.
Threat level: Although the outlook is less dire, more severe thunderstorms with potential tornadoes were expected Sunday from Pennsylvania to Florida.
Fatalities occurred in Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama from tornadoes that raced at highway speeds on Friday through Saturday night and into early Sunday morning.
States of emergency are in effect in Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama due to the storms.
The storms had prompted the National Weather Service to issue a rare "high risk" threat designation for Mississippi and Alabama on Saturday, as multiple rounds of intense thunderstorms swept across these states.
Hard-hit communities include Taylorsville, Miss., and Calera, Ala., among many others, after tornadoes struck at night.
The storms even targeted at least one NWS office, with forecasters at NWS Birmingham forced to take shelter as a tornado passed close to their building Saturday evening.
Continue reading at Axios
Democratic Party’s favorability hits record low
The Democratic Party’s favorability rating has hit a record low, according to a CNN survey released Sunday.
The survey, conducted March 6-9, shows 54 percent of surveyed U.S. adults say they have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party, while 29 percent say they have a favorable opinion and 16 percent say they have no opinion.
That represents a shift from early January, before President Trump was sworn into office for the second time, when 48 percent of survey respondents said they had an unfavorable opinion of the Democrats, 33 percent said they had a favorable opinion, and 17 percent said they had no opinion.
In late October, ahead of the 2024 election, a survey of registered voters included 51 percent of respondents with an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party, 39 percent with a favorable opinion, and 10 percent with no opinion. The year before, in October 2023, a survey showed 50 percent of U.S. adults had an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party, while 37 percent had a favorable opinion, and 11 percent had no opinion.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party’s favorability rating remains unchanged from January, at 36 percent, while the unfavorability rating has ticked up from 44 percent in January to 48 percent in the March survey.
Continue reading at The Hill
Bessent says correction "healthy" for markets that had been "euphoric"
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the correction in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq was "healthy," and suggested that prior strong performance in stocks had been signs of a "euphoric" market.
Why it matters: Treasury secretaries don't typically welcome major stock indices falling 10% in less than a month.
But Bessent again said the economy needed to go through a "transition" as deficits come down and government spending declines.
What they're saying: "I've been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They're normal. What's not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That's how you get a financial crisis," Bessent told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
"It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in '06, '07. We wouldn't have had the problems in '08," Bessent said, referring to the global financial crisis.
By the numbers: After hitting highs on Feb. 19, the S&P 500 fell 10% through March 13, while the Nasdaq fell more than 11%.
Both are among the world's worst-performing major indices this year.
Continue reading at Axios
What to know about El Salvador’s mega-prison after Trump sent hundreds of immigrants there
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The crown jewel of El Salvador’s aggressive anti-crime strategy — a mega-prison where visitation, recreation and education are not allowed — became the latest tool in U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration on Sunday, when hundreds of immigrants facing deportation were transferred there.
The arrival of the immigrants, alleged by the U.S. to be members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, took place under an agreement for which the Trump administration will pay the government of President Nayib Bukele $6 million for one year of services.
Bukele has made the Central American country’s stark, harsh prisons a trademark of his fight against crime. In 2023, he opened the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where the immigrants were sent over the weekend even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring their deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Radio and TV Marti loses funding after latest Trump administration cuts
Oklahomans survey devastation caused by wildfires
Nearly 300 homes and structures were damaged or destroyed as more than 130 wildfires were reported across the state Friday.
DALLAS — As Oklahomans assessed the devastation from wildfires that whipped across the state, damaging or destroying hundreds of homes, officials in both Oklahoma and Texas warned Sunday of an increased risk of fire danger in the coming week.
“We’re going to be back into a critical area,” Oklahoma Forestry Services spokesperson Keith Merckx said Sunday.
Nearly 300 homes and structures were damaged or destroyed as more than 130 wildfires were reported across the state on Friday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference. Officials said Sunday that at least two people had died because of the severe weather in Oklahoma.
Jeremy Cook was among the residents in Stillwater, a city of about 50,000 located about 65 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, who returned home Saturday morning to find that his house was gone. Cook told The Oklahoman that when his family fled Friday, they loaded up three cars with photographs, pets, books and paintings.
After returning to find his home burned to the foundation, he said he was going back and forth “between laughing and crying.”
Continue reading at Politico
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