Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 59 | Blog#42
The Boers are coming! The Boers are Coming!
Yesterday’s post
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67,000 white South Africans express interest in Trump’s plan to give them refugee status
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The United States Embassy in South Africa said Thursday it received a list of more than 67,000 people interested in refugee status in the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate members of a white minority group he claims are victims of racial discrimination by their Black-led government.
The list was given to the embassy by the South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S., which said it became a point of contact for white South Africans asking about the program announced by the Trump administration last month. The chamber said the list does not constitute official applications.
Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 7 cutting U.S. funding to South Africa and citing “government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
Trump’s executive order specifically referred to Afrikaners, a white minority group who are descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa in the 17th century. The order directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to prioritize humanitarian relief to Afrikaners who are victims of “unjust racial discrimination” and resettle them in the U.S. under the refugee program.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Democratic News Corner
Bernie Sanders LIVE from Las Vegas with AOC and Steven Horsford
Bernie Sanders: LIVE from Tempe with @AOC (LIVE at 9PM ET)
AOC, Ilhan Omar join the pile-on against Senate Democrats
Why it matters: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has become persona non-grata among House Democrats, with some even urging Ocasio-Cortez to primary him in 2028.
As some House Democrats urge her to challenge Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez said at a rally in Tempe, Arizona: "One thing I love about Arizonans is that you all have shown that if a U.S. Senator isn't fighting hard enough for you, you're not afraid to replace her with one who will."
What they're saying: "I am disgusted that several Senate Democrats gave up our first point of leverage," Omar said of the at a town hall meeting in her home state.
The Minnesota Democrat said her party "needs to be sort of come to Jesus moment," adding: "We have people who want to bring a knife to a gunfight and are not rising up to the moment."
Ocasio-Cortez, at a rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Nevada, said: "We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us."
She encouraged the crowd to "look at every level of office around and support brawlers who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans."
Yes, but: Neither went as far as to say that Schumer should step down, which at least two House Democrats have called for so far.
Continue reading at Axios
Hakeem Jeffries' DCCC scored big on February fundraising
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised more money than its House rival and both Senate arms in February, translating grassroots anger into hard dollars to spend in 2026.
Why it matters: February fundraising numbers aren't predictive of who will win elections, but they do provide an early look at who is motivating their base.
The DCCC raised $11.1 million, compared to the National Republican Campaign Committee's $9.2 million.
In the Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $7.8 million and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raked in $6.8 million, according to FEC reports filed on Thursday.
Between the lines: The NRCC closed the gap with the DCCC from January, when it raised just under $6 million and its rivals pulled in $9.2 million.
The NRCC surged past its February 2023 numbers, when it raised $6.6 million.
What they're saying: "The American people are angry and fed up with House Republicans' crusade to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in history and pledging fealty to Elon Musk's ongoing effort to dismantle Social Security and gut the VA," DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said.
"No wonder they are hiding from their constituents."
Continue reading at Axios
Democrats face frustrated voters at raucous town halls
Republicans are not the only lawmakers facing confrontational town halls over the congressional recess. Democratic lawmakers are increasingly facing the ire of the party’s liberal base over their response to the Trump administration.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) clashed with pro-Palestinian attendees at a town hall on Wednesday, leading police to shut down the forum. That followed Rep. Glenn Ivey’s (D-Md.) town hall on Tuesday, where he faced criticism for being too “calm” in the face of the Trump administration. And in California, Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros faced constituents angry about Social Security, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, potential cuts to Medicaid and fired federal workers.
“I wish you’d be angry,” one woman said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
And it’s not just House Democrats in safe districts taking heat from liberal constituents. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) responded to frustrated constituents at a town hall on Wednesday by saying that her job is to be “more than just an activist” and that “yelling” from progressives has not stopped President Trump.
Continue reading at The Hill
The Data Is Clear: Democrats Face Their Own Tea Party Revolt
Polls show the Democratic grassroots is on the verge of mutiny.
As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer knows better than anyone, the Democratic base is pissed off. And not just a little.
The intensity of the anger roiling the party is at a historic level, suggesting a breach between congressional Democrats and the party grassroots so severe that it could reshape the 2026 primary election season.
Congressional Democrats have typically enjoyed higher popularity with their voting base than their Republican counterparts. But the trauma of the 2024 presidential election defeat appears to have ruptured that relationship. A review of Quinnipiac University’s annual first-quarter congressional polling reveals that, for the first time in the poll’s history, congressional Democrats are now underwater with their own voters in approval ratings.
Just 40 percent of Democrats approve of the job performance of congressional Democrats, compared to 49 percent who disapprove. That’s a dramatic change from this time last year, when 75 percent of Democrats approved compared to just 21 percent who disapproved. The Democratic base’s disillusionment runs so deep that it’s eerily reminiscent of Republican grassroots sentiment in the period leading up to Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party.
The numbers are clear: No longer satisfied with the status quo in their party, Democrats are on the verge of a Tea Party-style, intra-party revolt.
Continue reading at Politico
Note: Lakshya Jain is a co-founder of Split Ticket, a data-driven election analysis website.
Sanders: ‘Not a whole lot of faith in either party’
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Thursday he thinks the American people do not seem to have “a whole lot of faith in either party, Democrats or Republicans.”
Sanders told Fox News in an interview that voter registration and recent polling indicating the Democratic Party’s favorability is at all-time lows mean Americans “perceive correctly that both political parties are dominated by big money interests.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Florida Democratic candidates comfortably outraise GOP opponents in special election
The two Democrats running in special elections to fill vacant House seats in Florida overwhelmingly outraised their Republican opponents despite being long shots to win early next month.
Democrats Gay Valimont, running for the special election to represent Florida’s 1st Congressional District, and Josh Weil, seeking to represent the state’s 6th Congressional District, brought in a total of more than $15 million, according to Federal Elections Commission (FEC) reports filed Thursday before a preelection deadline.
The campaigns brought in the money in the two-month period leading up to the election from Jan. 9 to March 12. Valimont raised $6.4 million, while Weil took in $8.9 million in contributions.
Continue reading at The Hill
"They hate us": Democrats confront their own Tea Party
Democratic members of Congress, back home in their districts for the last week, have been encountering a level of anger and hostility that some see as reminiscent of the 2010 Tea Party wave.
Why it matters: The dynamic could spill over into 2026 primaries, lawmakers tell Axios, with the infuriated grassroots attempting to throw out House and Senate Democrats they see as unprepared to take on Trump.
"Any Democratic incumbent who thinks they can rest on their laurels and not show their constituents that they are fighting like hell is making a mistake," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).
A senior House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer an even blunter assessment, told Axios: "The people that have been voting ... with Republicans on these messaging bills are people that could get primaried."
"These groups are paying attention to that," the lawmaker said.
State of play: Democratic town halls across the country have been erupting into fury over Senate Democrats' decision to let a Republican spending bill pass rather than use it as leverage to constrain DOGE.
Continue reading at Axios
Ocasio-Cortez rips Colorado Republican for not holding town hall
“I hear that you have a representative that has not done a town hall,” Ocasio-Cortez told a crowd at the second stop of her “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Greeley, Colo.
“You know, I will say, usually your first three months on a new job, you are on your best behavior and working your hardest,” she continued. “If this is the best that you all are getting, I think you deserve better.”
Ocasio-Cortez went on to slam Evans, along with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), for their votes last week in favor of a House GOP-drafted government funding bill.
Continue reading at The Hill
Yesterday’s news worth repeating
Mike Johnson targets Harris territory to expand his majority
Chart: Democrat-held districts the NRCC is targeting in 2026
As of March 17, 2025
House Republicans are looking well beyond the roughly dozen Trump-district Democrats as they try to grow their two-seat majority.
Why it matters: For the entire length of House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) tenure, just a handful of House Republicans have been able to hold him hostage. He wants that to finally change.
Continue reading at Axios
Scoop: Musk's PAC offers $100 to Wisconsin voters in pitch against "activist judges"
Elon Musk's political action committee is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition expressing their opposition to "activist judges," a cause that President Trump is pressing as judges block or delay several parts of his agenda.
Why it matters: The move reflects how Musk is throwing his considerable wealth behind Trump's priorities — including an upcoming election in Wisconsin for a crucial seat on the state's Supreme Court.
Zoom in: The April 1 election in Wisconsin will determine the tilt of an ideologically divided bench in a swing state where state-level decisions can carry national implications for abortion rights, legislative redistricting and election laws.
Two Musk-backed groups — America PAC and Building America's Future — have combined to spend nearly $20 million to support Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for the Wisconsin court seat.
The Democratic candidate, Susan Crawford, has drawn millions in donations from progressive donors, including George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The Wisconsin campaign is entering its final days as Trump and his allies are attacking federal judges standing in the way of his agenda. Trump has been particularly critical of a judge who is questioning the administration's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
Trump and Musk have called for the impeachment of that judge, leading to a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.
Continue reading at Axios
Today’s news
Musk looms large in this Wisconsin judicial race
Democrats are spending heavily linking conservatives to Elon Musk in Wisconsin.
In the final 10 days of the high-profile state Supreme Court campaign, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is blanketing the TV airwaves with two new ads that put Musk front-and-center. The ads, shared first with POLITICO and part of a seven-figure investment in Musk-related ads and events, link the billionaire and his Department of Government Efficiency to Brad Schmiel, the state’s former GOP attorney general who’s now running for the seat.
It’s the first big test of an emerging attack line for Democrats in a swing state, and it’s playing out in the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history, with the potential to swing the liberal-leaning court back to conservative.
“Elon Musk is out of control, and now the power-hungry billionaire is unloading millions to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” the ad’s narrator says, citing the more than $7 million that a Musk-backed super PAC has dropped on the race. “He knows corrupt politician Brad Schmiel is for sale and will abolish the checks and balances that protect us.”
Continue reading at Politico
‘People will die’: UN food aid agency warns Trump cuts will see millions starve
With an $8.1 billion shortfall and the U.S. leading other Western countries in pulling support, the World Food Programme is making drastic aid cuts and scrambling to find donors.
BRUSSELS — The world’s largest food aid organization is being financially gutted at a time when it’s needed most.
The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which helps feed more than 100 million people worldwide, is scrambling to plug a multi-billion-dollar funding gap after its historically largest donor — the United States — froze foreign aid and slashed humanitarian budgets. Other Western donor countries are not stepping in to fill the void.
The funding cuts come as global hunger levels surge, with WFP warning that acute food insecurity now affects 343 million people in 74 countries. The budget crisis is forcing WFP to make previously “unthinkable choices,” including cutting food assistance for people on the brink of starvation, according to Carl Skau, the agency’s deputy executive director.
“In the past, we had to cut food aid to people who were hungry but not yet starving. Now we’re forced to cut assistance even for those facing starvation,” Skau told POLITICO in an interview during a visit in Brussels.
“That means people will die.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Ron DeSantis’ uncertain future
LION IN WINTER — Remember Ron DeSantis? Of course you do.
It was only a little more than a year ago that Florida’s Republican governor came in second to President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses. Trump’s victory last November has triggered a tidal wave of changes in the federal government, including an emphasis on the same policies and ideas that were first championed by DeSantis when Trump was out of office.
And yet this one-time rising conservative star is now grappling with a diminished relevance in America’s political firmament. He can’t run for governor again in 2026. DeSantis has also made it clear that he had no interest in heading to the U.S. Senate like his predecessor Rick Scott. He’s facing resistance from emboldened Republicans who once bent to his will and Trump has endorsed a candidate to succeed DeSantis even though the governor’s wife Casey is seriously considering her own run.
It’s a long way from the space he occupied after his smashing 2022 reelection victory, back when he was the subject of considerable buzz among the GOP grassroots across the country.
The longtime thinking among those who know and support DeSantis is that maybe he would ride out his remaining two years in the same form and fashion that garnered him national attention — and then mount another presidential bid in 2028.
But that’s not a sure pathway forward. First there’s another young conservative — JD Vance — who is seen as the frontrunner right now on the Republican side. Maybe a top post in the Trump administration becomes available in 2026.
Continue reading at Politico Playbook nightly
France’s push for strategic autonomy crumbles under Trump’s booze tariffs
Paris goes weak at the knees as another trade rival singles out France’s famed wines and spirits.
PARIS — Strategic autonomy is all well and good. But what happens when your adversaries go after the bubbly?
French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for a stronger, more united Europe better equipped to deter Russia’s war machine and retaliate to trade threats from the United States and China is facing a major test as Beijing and Washington target France’s famous alcohol products.
China has for months been mulling duties on European brandies, including cognac, a move widely seen as retaliation for Paris’ vehement support for EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
U.S. President Donald Trump upped the ante last week by threatening 200 percent tariffs on European alcohol. Such a move would disproportionally affect winemaking countries including France, which exported €15.4 billion worth of wine and spirits last year, according to the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS), most of which went to the United States.
France is the EU’s top exporter of wine and spirits, and the sector is particular influential in French politics and society.
With one of its most valuable exports now in the White House’s crosshairs, French leaders appear to be getting cold feet on the whole unity thing. Prime Minster François Bayrou and his government are instead publicly urging Brussels to spare Kentucky bourbon from any possible European response.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
EU eyes Ukrainian storage fix to Slovakia gas spat
The proposal would allow Bratislava to rake in lost gas transit fees — but experts are doubtful it would work without subsidies.
BRUSSELS — The European Union is discussing a new plan that would harness Ukraine’s mammoth underground gas storage capacity to resolve a long-standing feud between Kyiv and Slovakia, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
The proposal, first discussed by European commissioners during a visit to Kyiv last month, aims to mollify Slovakia’s anger over lost energy revenue from the end of a gas transit deal between Ukraine and Russia in January. The agreement brought gas into the EU, with Slovakia reaping transit fees — up to €500 million annually.
Slovakia’s pro-Russian premier, Robert Fico, has pushed Ukraine to revive the deal, threatening to cut power exports to Kyiv and support for its refugees. But Kyiv has not budged.
Now, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, is mulling a plan that could help restart flows to Slovakia, according to one Commission official and one EU government official.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Elon Musk to visit the Pentagon on Friday
Elon Musk will visit the Pentagon on Friday, President Trump and senior administration members confirmed while strongly denying reports that he'll be briefed on a plan for a potential war with China.
Why it matters: Some lawmakers and ethics experts have raised conflicts of interest concerns about Musk's role as senior adviser to the president while his companies hold substantial government contracts — in particular SpaceX, which has deals with the Pentagon and NASA.
The Wall Street Journal in reporting that a China war plan "will be one of several topics" discussed during the billionaire's visit said the meeting could give Musk "as the head of Tesla, which relies on China for car production," and SpaceX "access to sensitive military secrets unavailable to business competitors."
Driving the news: The New York Times first reported Thursday that unnamed U.S. officials said Musk would be briefed on a military blueprint "for any war that might break out with China" — prompting the Pentagon's chief spokesperson Sean Parnell on X to call the report "brazenly & maliciously wrong."
Parnell called Musk, the face of DOGE-driven federal cuts that have triggered protests and seen Tesla vehicles and dealerships targeted in attacks the FBI is investigating as domestic terrorism, "a patriot" and said he's "proud to have him at the Pentagon."
Trump weighed in on Truth Social late Tuesday to call the NYT's report on war plans "Fake News" and "ridiculous," adding: "China will not even be mentioned or discussed. How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!"
Continue reading at Axios
Elon Musk threatens Pentagon leakers after NYT report on secret China war briefing
“They will be found,” warns U.S. President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser as White House lashes out at the media.
Donald Trump’s top adviser Elon Musk has openly threatened Pentagon employees who may have leaked information that the tech billionaire was due to get a briefing on a potential American war with China.
The story, published by the New York Times on Thursday evening U.S. time, said that — according to anonymous American officials — the Pentagon planned to brief Musk on Friday about the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China.
After the story went live, the planned meeting was confirmed by Pentagon officials and President Trump — but both denied that the session would discuss military plans involving China.
“China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!”
Trump’s comments were then reposted on X by Musk, who called the New York Times “pure propaganda” and issued a threat, saying he looks “forward to the prosecution of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump: Report Musk will be briefed on China war plans ‘completely untrue’
“The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” he continued. “How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!”
Trump added in a subsequent post that the Times’ “FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and ‘spill the beans.'”
“Elon is NOT BEING BRIEFED ON ANYTHING CHINA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR!!!”
Continue reading at The Hill
Seizing frozen Russian assets is ‘an act of war,’ says Belgian PM
Bart De Wever warns that handing the money to Ukraine would spook financial markets and trigger retaliation from Moscow.
BRUSSELS — Europe confiscating almost €200 billion of frozen Russian assets would be “an act of war,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told reporters late Thursday night.
Speaking after a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels, he warned that the move would carry “systemic risks to the entire financial world system” and spark retaliation from Moscow.
De Wever’s warning comes as European countries including France, the U.K. and Spain are warming to the idea of seizing Russian assets that were immobilized after President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Their idea is to use this money itself to bolster Ukraine's defense and strengthen its leverage in peace talks with Russia.
Belgium, however, has considerable skin in the game because Euroclear, the financial institution that holds the bulk of the immobilized assets in Europe, is based in Brussels.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Detentions of European tourists at US borders spark fears of traveling to America
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Lennon Tyler and her German fiancé often took road trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was only a day’s drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their long-distance relationship.
But things went terribly wrong when they drove back from Tijuana last month.
U.S. border agents handcuffed Tyler, a U.S. citizen, and chained her to a bench, while her fiancé, Lucas Sielaff, was accused of violating the rules of his 90-day U.S. tourist permit, the couple said. Authorities later handcuffed and shackled Sielaff and sent him to a crowded U.S. immigration detention center. He spent 16 days locked up before being allowed to fly home to Germany.
Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been other high-profile incidents of tourists like Sielaff being stopped at U.S. border crossings and held for weeks at U.S. immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Deportees from the US hop embassy to embassy in Panama in a desperate scramble to seek asylum
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Migrants from Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and China deported from the United States and dropped into limbo in Panama hopped door-to-door at embassies and consulates this week in a desperate attempt to seek asylum in any country that would accept them.
The focus of international humanitarian concern just weeks before, the deportees now say they’re increasingly worried that with little legal and humanitarian assistance and no clear pathway forward offered by authorities, they may be forgotten.
“After this, we don’t know what we’ll do,” said 29-year-old Hayatullah Omagh, who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban takeover.
In February, the United States deported nearly 300 people from mostly Asian nations to Panama. The Central American ally was supposed to be a stopover for migrants from countries that were more challenging for the U.S. to deport to as the Trump administration tried to accelerate deportations. Some agreed to voluntarily return to their countries from Panama, but others refused out of fear of persecution and were sent to a remote camp in the Darien jungle for weeks.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Some voters are pushing back on lawmakers’ efforts to overturn citizen ballot initiatives
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — One by one, each of the more than 50 people seated on folding chairs at a public library explained why they were there.
“I’m just really upset about our voting rights being taken away from us,” one woman said.
“I’m mad, and I want to do something with my anger that protects my rights,” the next woman exclaimed.
“I want to understand how the heck they can do this,” added another.
The citizen activists, many of them heretofore strangers, had come together two days after the Missouri House passed legislation to overturn a voter-approved ballot initiative guaranteeing paid sick leave for workers and cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage.
The people weren’t focused on how to stop the Senate from taking the same action. Rather, the group had something bigger in mind: Preventing the Legislature from ever reversing the will of the voters again.
Paid sick leave highlights a Missouri fight
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Global flights disrupted as power station fire shuts down London's Heathrow Airport
The UK's Heathrow Airport said it would be closed all of Friday after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power at Europe's busiest hub, disrupting flight schedules around the world.
Britain's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest, was shut down early Friday for 24 hours after a major fire at an electricity substation cut power to the sprawling facility west of London, officials said.
Airport authorities said they "expect significant disruption" over the coming days, with hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers affected.
"Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage," the airport operator said in a statement on its website, adding it would be closed until just before midnight Friday (2359 GMT).
Continue reading at France 24
Heathrow shutdown: What do we know so far?
Thousands of passengers will be affected after a huge fire at an electrical substation, with 1,351 flights scheduled at Heathrow on Friday.
What happened at Heathrow airport?
A fire broke out Thursday night at an electrical substation in Nestles Avenue in Hayes, which is less than 5 kilometers from Heathrow.
Around 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines were working to douse the fire at the substation, which authorities said was under control on Friday morning. The fire caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes, local businesses and Heathrow airport.
Around 150 people were evacuated from the surrounding area and a 200-meter cordon established. The fire brigade advised local residents to keep windows and doors locked to keep smoke out of their homes.
By Friday morning, power had been restored to 62,000 customers, with 4,900 currently without electricity, the National Grid said in a statement.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump tally: J&J plans $55 billion investment to expand U.S. manufacturing
Johnson & Johnson will spend $55 billion in the U.S. over the next four years on manufacturing, research and technology investments, the drug giant said Friday.
Why it matters: It's the latest in a series of pledges by big American companies, worth around $1 trillion so far, to expand U.S. manufacturing — a core goal of President Trump's trade war.
Driving the news: J&J said the $55 billion spending plan is a 25% increase in investment over the last four years.
The company breaks ground Friday on a manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina, to make cancer and other medicines.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's funding ax throws colleges into an existential crisis
The Trump administration's attacks on universities have come swiftly and forcefully: grants slashed, thousands of jobs cut and anxiety through the roof.
Why it matters: Universities produce a great deal of the scientific and technological research that drives America forward.
Professors and administrators fear that the Trump administration's blunt approach — hitting the brakes on funding to target what it sees as longstanding culture problems on campuses — will set innovation back decades.
The money quote: "The United States is home to the best collection of research universities in the world. Those universities have contributed tremendously to America's prosperity, health, and security. They are magnets for outstanding talent from throughout the country and around the world," Princeton president Christopher Eisgruber wrote in the Atlantic this week.
"The Trump administration's recent attack on Columbia University puts all of that at risk."
Driving the news: The Trump administration is pulling multiple levers to squeeze universities. Institutions across the country are watching the administration's moves closely — and wondering if they'll be the next one in the spotlight.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump's overflowing grudge list
Why it matters: From Day One, Trump has delighted in settling scores through the stroke of his pen — breathing life into his MAGA mantra: "I am your retribution."
The big picture: In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Axios identified a list of perceived adversaries who fit what Trump ominously described as "the enemies from within."
As president, he has taken steps to retaliate against virtually all of them.
White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Axios: "As President Trump has made clear, his only retribution is success — and his historic achievements and soaring approval ratings prove it."
Political opponents
The Biden administration: Trump has revoked security clearances from former President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco.
The FBI is investigating the Biden administration's handling of an EPA grant program, after a senior DOJ official resigned rather than pursue a criminal inquiry that she believed was baseless.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump travel ban may hit MLB players from Cuba, Venezuela
An expected travel ban by the Trump administration on more than three dozen countries could prevent some Major League Baseball players from Cuba and Venezuela from coming into — or leaving — the United States.
The big picture: President Trump could announce a travel ban as soon as Friday, under an executive order he issued on his first day in office.
The order set the stage for what could be an absolute ban on travel to the U.S. from Cuba and Venezuela.
Zoom in: Such a ban would mean that Cuban and Venezuelan major league and minor league baseball players with P-1 visas — non-immigrant visas for internationally recognized athletes and entertainers — could face new difficulties in the U.S., immigration lawyers say.
Continue reading at Axios
It’s not just impeachments. Republicans are eyeing other ways to rein in federal judges.
GOP leaders are seeking a release valve for the fury building over recent court rulings.
House Republicans don’t have the votes to impeach any federal judges. But a growing number of hard-liners is discussing several other legislative options as GOP leaders search for a release valve for the MAGA fury building over recent court rulings checking President Donald Trump.
Top Republicans are likely to put at least one bill, California Rep. Darrell Issa’s “No Rogue Rulings Act,” on the floor in early April, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss scheduling plans. The legislation would crack down on the ability of lower-court judges to issue far-reaching injunctions.
That is seen by Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders as a viable outlet as they sort out the way forward on the judicial impeachments that have been endorsed by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. A spokesperson for Johnson said the speaker and the Judiciary Committee are reviewing “all available options … to address this urgent matter.”
Continue reading at Politico
Internal USAID list provides snapshot of Trump cuts
Some of the cuts on the list appear to impact lifesaving services — such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria prevention, along with maternal and baby health — which would contradict a Trump administration commitment to continue such programs under the State Department’s umbrella.
Ending those programs would also hurt Americans, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement to The Hill.
“The Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to U.S. foreign assistance, including lifesaving programs, is putting Americans at risk from infectious diseases like Ebola and drug-resistant TB,” she said, referring to tuberculosis (TB).
“These cuts also hurt American farmers whose crops nourish severely malnourished people in conflict situations and diminish our global stature and ability to compete with global adversaries, like China and Russia.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump on collision course with GOP defense hawks over NATO
President Trump is on a collision course with Republican defense hawks over the question of whether the United States should continue its 75-year military leadership of NATO and at what level of commitment.
Trump has criticized European allies for years for not contributing more to the military alliance, which was set up in 1949 to contain the Soviet Union. During his first term, Trump floated the idea of the United States withdrawing from NATO.
Now the Pentagon is considering an overhaul of the U.S. military’s combatant commands, including one scenario that would have the United States give up its role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, according to NBC News, which cited defense officials familiar with the planning.
That news was met with a swift rebuke from Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who issued a statement warning that any major changes to combatant commands must be done in coordination with Congress.
“We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress,” they declared in a joint statement Wednesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
NYC mayoral candidate shares shocking voicemails after confronting Trump’s border czar
Americans' job anxiety soars to highest level in 10 years
Chart: Share of consumers who say they expect more unemployment in the next 12 months
The unemployment rate is pretty low at the moment, but under the hood Americans sure are nervous about the job market.
Why it matters: Add rising job anxiety to the growing list of soft economic indicators that may be signaling trouble ahead.
By the numbers: The share of consumers who expect unemployment to rise over the next year surged to 66% in March, the highest level in a decade, per University of Michigan data analyzed by Bank of America Institute.
Meanwhile, the ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence index fell 3.6 points in the first quarter this year. That's in line with another employee confidence measure, from Glassdoor, that Axios' Courtenay Brown reported on earlier this month.
Government workers, in the midst of unprecedented disruptions, saw their confidence index levels plunge the most, according to ZipRecruiter.
Yes, but: People's feelings about the economy aren't always lining up with their actions, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed out at a press conference earlier this week.
Continue reading at Axios
Why Trump cut the minimum wage for federal contract workers
A little-noticed Trump administration move will decrease the minimum wage for federal contractors, rolling back a boost that helped hundreds of thousands of workers.
Why it matters: Trump's promises to both help American workers and cut costs are clashing in complicated ways.
Where it stands: The Labor Department on Thursday said it would no longer enforce the $17.75 per hour minimum wage for federal contractors set in an executive order from President Biden.
The move follows an announcement by Trump last week. The president also got rid of another Biden order that set job standards for companies who use federal funding, known as the "good jobs" executive order.
"This should be bipartisan, but because it was something that we worked on, it was criticized," says Andrew Stettner, who worked on policy at the Labor Department in the Biden administration.
Zoom in: The wage move affects employees of companies that contract with the federal government, such as janitors and food service workers.
Continue reading at Axios
Judge freezes firing of intel chief who's investigating Netanyahu's aides
A Supreme Court judge on Friday issued an injunction freezing the dismissal of the Shin Bet director until a hearing can be held on the matter, hours after Israel's cabinet voted unanimously to dismiss him.
Why it matters: The vote to fire Ronen Bar, the head of Israel's most powerful security agency, was unprecedented. No government in Israel's history has ever before sought to remove someone from the position.
The Cabinet's dismissal decision dramatically escalates the domestic political and constitutional crises in Israel.
With the court's injunction, Netanyahu will face a decision on whether to abide by the ruling. Many of his critics believe he could refuse to do it.
The big picture: The Cabinet decision comes as the agency investigates two of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisers for allegedly receiving payments from Qatar during the Israel-Hamas war.
Continue reading at Axios
Note from Rima: The US and Israel have been running on parallel political tracks with the common threads of oligarchy and theocracy. In both cases, the judiciary appears to be the only guardrail
The West’s next awkward question: Should we talk to Russians?
Trump’s calls with Putin have kickstarted a new debate, on full display this week at the Raisina Dialogue in India.
NEW DELHI — “Wait, hang on.” A senior European official stopped mid-sentence as two men walked by. “They’re with the Russian delegation,” the official whispered. “Best to avoid eye contact.”
He was joking. Sort of.
Either way, his comment reflected a dilemma facing many in the halls of the major global security and economic conference in New Delhi this week, where Western officials were trying to figure out who else should be talking to the Russians and, if so, how.
Top defense officials and diplomats from around the world gather here every year at the Raisina Dialogue, one of the last remaining spots where Western officials circle the same hallways as those from rival powers like Russia and Iran. India works to maintain close ties with many powers, U.S. allies and adversaries alike, as part of its “multi-alignment diplomacy” approach to foreign affairs.
In attendance this year were U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Russian lawmakers and top officials from NATO countries such as Sweden, Norway and Hungary.
The Russian delegation at this conference has been all but radioactive to Western officials since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the new flurry of diplomacy between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin is pushing other officials in NATO countries to think through whether to start talking to Russians again after three years of war in Europe, and what sort of conditions they should put on any such talks.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: Robbie Gramer is Politico’s national security reporter
Southwest plane nearly takes off from taxiway at Florida airport
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Southwest Airlines flight almost took off from a taxiway — rather than a runway — at a central Florida airport on Thursday before an air traffic controller stopped the plane, officials said.
No injuries were reported, and passengers departing Orlando International Airport were accommodated on another aircraft heading to their destination of Albany, New York, the airline said in a statement. The aircraft was switched to help facilitate an investigation.
Southwest Flight 3278 had been cleared for takeoff and initiated a takeoff roll on a taxiway after the crew mistook the surface for the nearby runway, officials said. But air traffic controllers canceled the clearance before the plane could take off.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump suggests sending Tesla vandals to El Salvador prisons
President Trump on Friday suggested sending anti-Tesla protesters to a notorious prison in El Salvador if convicted.
Why it matters: Trump has put the full weight of the U.S. government behind defending and promoting "first buddy" Elon Musk's car company, which has seen both its sales and stock price slump.
Catch up quick: After promising to treat property crime targeting Tesla vehicles and facilities as domestic terrorism, Trump's Justice Department charged three people on Thursday with using Molotov cocktails to incinerate cars and showrooms.
Officials have alleged the incidents were tied to the #TeslaTakedown movement, which has targeted Musk's signature company amid a backlash to his role in DOGE.
Those charged face anywhere from 5 years to 20 years in prison if convicted, the DOJ said.
What they're saying: "I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla. Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning.
Between the lines: The U.S. recently struck a deal with the government of El Salvador to ship deported migrants to the country, where many are being confined in the controversial CECOT anti-terrorism prison.
Continue reading at Axios
Universities team up to get U.S. scientists into IPCC
With the extent of official U.S. participation in the next UN climate panel report in doubt, a new group has formed to recruit U.S. authors.
Why it matters: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the most authoritative scientific group studying climate change. It was set up to advise policymakers and the public on the latest climate science findings.
Its reports influence the U.N. climate talks, as well as the policies of individual governments and large corporations.
Zoom in: The new U.S. Academic Alliance for the IPCC formed soon after the U.S. decided not to send State Department representatives to an IPCC plenary meeting in China last month.
In addition, NASA blocked one of its IPCC participants from attending the meeting and eliminated funding for a technical support unit meant to help scientists working on the report.
The alliance is seeking researchers who want to participate in the IPCC's seventh assessment report to self-nominate as authors and reviewers.
Continue reading at Axios
NOAA cuts more key weather data gathering after layoffs
The National Weather Service is reducing weather balloon launches at six more locations in the U.S. and temporarily suspending them at two more places due to staffing shortages, the agency announced Thursday afternoon.
Why it matters: Weather balloons, typically launched twice per day at NWS local forecast offices, provide crucial data for weather forecasting.
The suspensions and reductions in balloon launch frequency come on the heels of other cuts made to at least three locations in the wake of NOAA layoffs and buyouts carried out beginning on Feb. 27.
Zoom in: The weather agency, which is part of the Department of Commerce, announced it is suspending weather balloon launches at Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, "due to a lack of Weather Forecast Office (WFO) staffing."
The agency is also reducing the frequency of weather balloon launches at six other locations in the West, Midwest and Plains states due to lack of staffing.
Typically, the agency launches the balloons, which are outfitted with weather instruments known as radiosondes, twice a day.
Continue reading at Axios
Saturn’s rings to ‘vanish’ this weekend: What to know
The sky has already graced us with a total lunar eclipse and a rare planetary alignment, but we’ll soon have the chance to witness another peculiar celestial event: the disappearance of Saturn’s iconic rings.
The rings, believed to be made up of rocky and icy chunks that could be as large as a house, help separate Saturn from other planets in our solar system. They’re also about to perform a vanishing trick — sort of.
Like Earth, Saturn’s axis is tilted, NASA explains. Saturn is transitioning, causing its tilt to shift. This will alter our view of the planet as Earth crosses its ring plane. This is where the disappearance comes in.
Continue reading at The Hill
Watch live: Trump, Hegseth speak at White House amid concerns over NATO moves
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will give remarks from the White House Friday morning amid questions over whether the U.S. will continue its 75-year leadership of NATO and at what level of commitment.
The potential move has drawn scrutiny from Republican defense hawks in Congress.
The White House remarks also come after Hegseth vowed to appeal a federal judge’s decision to block Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the military.
The Pentagon chief is meeting with Elon Musk on Friday morning as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pushes to cut federal funding and overhaul the federal workforce.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP rep voices concerns about US drifting toward authoritarianism
Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) told a packed Salt Lake City town hall Thursday night that she is concerned about the country careening toward authoritarianism “if we don’t get the executive branch under control.”
But she said her concerns aren’t tied to President Trump’s return to office or directed at the grievances the town hall attendees lobbed at her and Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) during their nearly hourlong event.
“When Biden was president, I had the same concern,” she said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump doubles down on Fed rate cut pressure
President Trump doubled down on pressuring the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, arguing that the costs of eggs, groceries and gas are down so the central bank can make cuts.
“Egg prices are WAY DOWN from the Biden inspired prices if just a few weeks ago. ‘Groceries’ and Gasoline are down, also. Now, if the Fed would do the right thing and lower interest rates, that would be great!!!” the president said on Truth Social late Thursday night.
The Fed announced Wednesday that it would keep rates steady at a 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range, even with some indications that the U.S. economy might be leaning toward a slowdown.
Trump also pressured the Fed in a Truth Social post Wednesday night, saying, “The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S. Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Alabama capital to mark 60th anniversary of key voting rights march
Montgomery, Alabama, the final site of a crucial march from Selma, is set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of an event that culminated in one of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s greatest speeches and helped pass the Voting Rights Act.
Why it matters: The commemoration comes amid uncertainty about the future of voting rights, as President Trump dismantles Civil Rights protections and maligns diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Driving the news: Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed tells Axios the state capital will hold a series of events to honor the 1965 civil rights moment that transformed a nation six decades ago.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump says student loans moving to SBA, ‘special needs’ to HHS
President Trump said Friday he is “immediately” moving the handling of federal student loans to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and shifting programs for students with disabilities to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as his White House seeks to wind down and eventually eliminate the Education Department.
“I’ve decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, will handle will all of the student loan portfolio,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, noting it is a “pretty complicated deal, and that’s coming out of the Department of Education immediately.”
“And also, Bobby Kennedy, with the Health and Human Services Department, will be handling special needs and all the nutrition programs and everything else,” he continued.
“I think that will work out very well. Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education,” the president added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: In the same breath… SBA’s workforce is being cut by 40%
SBA cutting 40 percent of workforce
The Small Business Administration (SBA) plans to cut more than 40 percent of its workforce amid an agency-wide restructuring, it announced Friday.
The agency will cut about 2,700 positions out of its workforce of nearly 6,500 employees, reverting to staffing levels from the first Trump administration, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said.
“The SBA was created to be a launchpad for America’s small businesses by offering access to capital, which in turn drives job creation, innovation, and a thriving Main Street,” Loeffler said in a statement.
“But in the last four years, the agency has veered off track — doubling in size and turning into a sprawling leviathan plagued by mission creep, financial mismanagement, and waste,” she continued.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump sharply denies Musk China briefing, citing business conflicts
“I don’t want to show it to anybody. You’re talking about a potential war with China,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I don’t want anybody seeing potential war with China. But I can tell you if we did, we’re very well-equipped to handle it.”
Trump also acknowledged if he were to share plans for a war with China, he would be unlikely to show it to someone with Musk’s background.
“You know, Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible perhaps to that.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Appeals court rules Trump must reinstate teacher preparation grants in eight states
A federal appeals court Friday refused the Trump administration’s request to lift a judge’s order that officials reinstate teacher preparation grants in eight Democratic-led states that sued.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put the ruling on hold after the administration warned it will allow the states to immediately draw down $65 million the government can’t recover if the legal challenge ultimately fails.
“The States convincingly explain that this is simply not the case, in part because recipients submit reimbursement requests for expenses already incurred. And, in fact, the Department has not pointed to any evidence of any attempt at any such a withdrawal by any recipient,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump compares violence against Tesla to Capitol riot: ‘You didn’t have anything like that on Jan. 6’
“I view these people as terrorists, just like others. When I looked at those showrooms burning and those cars — not one or two, like seven, eight, 10 burning, exploding all over the place. These are terrorists. You didn’t have that on Jan. 6, I can tell you,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The president also slammed Democrats for not criticizing the violence against Tesla the way they criticized Jan. 6, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to protest his 2020 election loss.
Continue reading at The Hill
California launches first-in-nation satellite tech to curb methane leaks
California air quality regulators announced the launch of a first-in-nation satellite data project Friday, with the aim of monitoring and minimizing methane emissions.
The technology involves the use of satellite-mounted methane sensors that transmit data regarding the location of methane leaks that could otherwise go undetected, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
The project, funded by a $100 million state budget investment, serves to bolster collaboration between industry and state and local leaders, in order to curb emissions and protect public health, per the agency.
In advancing this new initiative, state officials touted the effort as critical climate action amid the Trump administration’s many rollbacks in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration to import eggs from Turkey, South Korea
The Trump administration is importing millions of eggs from Turkey and South Korea, with other countries likely to be contributing in the coming weeks, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday.
“Right now, we’ve got Turkey and South Korea importing eggs. Just yesterday, I talked to a couple of other countries that will soon begin importing. We haven’t signed that deal yet, so I don’t want to say who it is,” Rollins told reporters at the White House.
“We are talking in the hundreds of millions of eggs for the short term. So not insignificant, but significant enough to help continue to bring the prices down for right now,” she continued. “And then when our chicken populations are repopulated, and we’ve got a full egg-laying industry going again, hopefully in a couple of months, we then shift back to our internal egg-layers and moving those eggs out onto the shelf.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Denmark warns transgender travelers to US
Denmark is advising its transgender and nonbinary citizens to proceed with caution when traveling to the U.S., according to a new advisory.
An update made Thursday to the Danish foreign ministry’s webpage on travel to the U.S. recommends trans people contact the U.S. embassy in Copenhagen before visiting the country, which under the new Trump administration has enacted several policies targeting transgender rights.
The advisory does not explicitly mention President Trump or his administration but comes as the State Department suspended a policy allowing trans, nonbinary and intersex Americans to update the sex designations on their passports, causing confusion and concern among travelers over whether it is safe for them to fly. The department previously allowed U.S. passport holders to self-select their sex designations, including an “unspecified” gender marker denoted by the letter X.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says ‘contract’ being drafted on ‘dividing up’ land in Ukraine war
President Trump said that “contracts” are being negotiated to divide up land as part of a final deal ending Russia’s war in Ukraine and reiterated that a ceasefire could come “pretty soon.”
“They are fighting against each other,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Friday. “I think we’re going to have ceasefire on a lot of areas and so far, that’s all held very well.”
“In getting that ceasefire, they had a lot of guns pointing at each other. You had some soldiers unfortunately surrounded by other soldiers,” the president said. “They are going to be – I believe we’re going to pretty soon have a full ceasefire and then we’re going to have a contract, and the contract’s being negotiated, the contract in terms of dividing up the lands, etc., etc. It’s being negotiated as we speak.”
Russia controls nearly 20 percent of Ukraine’s land.
Continue reading at The Hill
Rubio slams CNN report he’s ‘frustrated’ by Witkoff’s role
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday slammed a CNN report that he is “frustrated” by the role one of President Trump’s closest friends, billionaire Steve Witkoff, is playing in the administration.
“@CNN is an anti-Trump gossip tabloid that uses thinly sourced stories to generate clicks and try to make trouble. Witkoff is one of the people I work with the CLOSEST on our team. These people are pathetic,” he wrote Friday in a post on the social platform X, sharing the CNN piece.
The report said Rubio “lobbied” to serve as secretary of State after he wasn’t selected to serve as Trump’s vice president.
“What Rubio didn’t count on was that he might run the risk of being overshadowed as secretary of state by one of Trump’s closest friends, real estate developer and billionaire Steve Witkoff,” CNN reported.
Continue reading at The Hill
CBO projects deficits will sharply rise if Trump tax cuts made permanent
New projections from Congress’s official legislative scorer show deficit levels will explode if the Trump tax cuts are made permanent and not simply extended.
In response to a inquiry from Ways and Means Committee member David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found Friday that keeping the 2017 tax cuts in place and holding other budgetary policies steady would cause debt levels to reach 214 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2054.
That’s “47 percentage points higher than in the long-term baseline projections” released last March that are based on a 10-year extension of the cuts, the CBO said.
CBO’s original projection found that public debt would be 166 percent of GDP if the cuts are extended compared to the current level of 99 percent.
Continue reading at The Hill
Wall Street Journal: Trump aides proposing ‘American retreat’ in military reorganization
The Wall Street Journal is warning against major changes that reportedly could be coming to U.S. military operations as a cost-cutting measure through President Trump’s government reform efforts.
“Senior Republicans in Congress on Wednesday warned President Trump off a U.S. military reorganization abroad that sounds more like an American retreat,” the Journal wrote in a staff editorial. “The lawmakers deserve credit for emerging from their foxholes, and it’s a service to the Commander in Chief.”
The Journal pushed back on reportedly proposed “changes to the U.S. military, ostensibly to save money.”
NBC News reported this week that the Pentagon is considering a significant restructuring of the military’s combatant commands and headquarters. That could involve consolidating five of the military’s 11 combatant commands and giving up the Pentagon’s historic role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, according to NBC.
Continue reading at The Hill
DHS denies French scientist barred entry to US over anti-Trump messages
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin attempted to clarify the Trump administration’s decision to deny a French scientist entry into the U.S., saying he was in possession of concealed “confidential information” he kept on his electronic device.
McLaughlin was pushing back against claims from the French government that he was blocked because of critical messages he posted against President Trump.
“The French researcher in question was in possession of confidential information on his electronic device from Los Alamos National Laboratory — in violation of a non-disclosure agreement— something he admitted to taking without permission and attempted to conceal,” she wrote on social platform X, in response to a post from a French analyst.
“Any claim that his removal was based on political beliefs is blatantly false,” McLaughlin added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Leakers to Musk: ‘We are ... not Elon’s servants.’
Even before Musk’s comments, federal workers felt vulnerable and increasingly incensed.
Following Thursday’s New York Times report that Musk was set to receive a Pentagon briefing about a confidential contingency plan for a war with China, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on his social media platform X that leakers “will be found” and, he intimated, punished.
“I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,” Musk wrote in his post.
But Musk’s post is not having the chilling effect on leakers he’d intended, according to conversations with more than half a dozen government employees who had previously spoken to POLITICO. If anything, it might be the other way around.
“We are public servants, not Elon’s servants,” said one Food and Drug Administration employee who, like all people interviewed for this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal dynamics. “The public deserves to know how dysfunctional, destructive, and deceptive all of this has been and continues to be.”
“Leakers are patriots,” said one Agriculture Department employee. Helping the media report on problems or concerns inside agencies, the USDA employee added, is motivated by a desire for greater transparency — the same goal Musk has said undergirds his own work through DOGE.
Continue reading at Politico
How Elon Musk searches for leaks: Lawsuits, mole hunts and secret codes
His approach to stamp out leaks at his companies could inform how he’d tackle the issue in the federal government.
Elon Musk has again publicly threatened people who leaked information on his sweeping power across the Trump administration. How he’s handled leaks at his companies could be a sign of what’s next for the federal government.
“I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,” Musk wrote hours after The New York Times reported that Pentagon officials were expected to brief the top adviser to President Donald Trump on U.S.-China tensions, including potential war planning. “They will be found.” (POLITICO has reported that the Pentagon briefing will focus on the threats China poses, but won’t include any classified war plans. It was not clear if that was the initial plan.)
Musk’s statement, posted on his social media site X, echos his playbook of berating and pursuing recourse against leakers to snuff out internal sabotage at the tech billionaire’s companies, like the electric vehicle company Tesla, space exploration and defense contractor SpaceX, and X.
These moments indicate how he may move forward with leakers in the federal government.
Here’s how he’s cracked down on leaks.
Continue reading at Politico
‘Bad sign’: Purge of data experts raises alarms over economic reports
The removal of advisers supporting closely watched monthly releases may mean trouble for agencies that provide vital information on jobs and inflation.
The Trump administration has dismissed advisers to key statistical agencies behind major economic reports, sparking warnings that the cuts will jeopardize the quality of data critical to policymakers and Wall Street investors.
Economists, academics and corporate officials serving on a board of unpaid advisers to the Labor Department’s statistical bureau were told this week they were no longer needed, two of the former members told POLITICO. Similar committees that advised the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau have also been let go. And the Federal Housing Finance Authority placed workers who assisted with its widely cited home price index on administrative leave Wednesday.
The abrupt removal of experts supporting monthly reports that are closely watched by everyone from the Federal Reserve to business leaders is a sign of trouble ahead for agencies responsible for providing vital measurements of inflation, unemployment, productivity and growth, economists and former agency officials said.
“We’re already at a place where a lot of people look at the statistics coming out of the government and are very skeptical,” said Claudia Sahm, a former Fed economist who began raising red flags about cuts to statistical agencies earlier this month. “This isn’t the right time to be undermining our confidence in that data.”
Websites for both the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Technical Advisory Committee as well as its Data Users Advisory Committee have both been removed from the agency’s website. The Labor Department confirmed that the groups had been terminated in compliance with an order by Acting Labor Secretary Vince Micone, effective Feb. 20. President Donald Trump directed a reduction of the federal bureaucracy, including advisory committees, in a Feb. 19 executive order.
Continue reading at Politico
Justice Department demands judge recuse from Perkins Coie lawsuit
The new filing claims U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has repeatedly demonstrated “partiality” against and “animus” toward Trump, taking aim at both her decisions in the lawsuit and previous major cases she oversaw.
“Reasonable observers may view this Court as incapable of fairly adjudicating these claims against the Commander-In-Chief,” Deputy Associate Attorney General Richard Lawson wrote in the motion.
It marks the second time the Justice Department has called for a judge’s removal from a pending lawsuit against the administration, which comes as Trump himself steps up his chastising of judges who rule against him. Earlier this week, the administration called for the removal of the judge overseeing a high-profile deportation flight case.
Howell was randomly assigned to oversee Perkins Coie’s lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order restricting firm attorneys’ security clearances and access to federal facilities. Trump has long clashed with the firm over its work advising Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and connections to the discredited Steele dossier that contained unflattering allegations about Trump and his connections to Russia.
Continue reading at The Hill
Are drivers ditching Teslas? Edmunds data reveals findings
Whatever the reason, Tesla trade-ins have reached an all-time high, Edmunds data shows. Specifically, Edmunds observed that Tesla vehicles (model years 2017 or newer) accounted for 1.4% of trade-ins toward non-Tesla cars in March 2025 — a percentage that represents a record high for Tesla. (For comparison, that percentage one year earlier in March 2024 was 0.4%.)
Shoppers aren’t seeking out new Teslas at the same rate they used to, either, at least according to Edmunds. The company’s data shows buyer consideration for new Tesla vehicles fell to 1.8% in February 2025 (the “lowest point since October 2022”) from a high of 3.3% in November 2024.
There has been no significant drop, however, in shoppers seeking out used Teslas. Prices have yet to fall significantly for the brand’s used vehicles, but Edmunds’ analysts are expecting that to change as a result of increased trade-ins.
Continue reading at The Hill
Commerce secretary: No one but ‘fraudsters’ would complain about missed Social Security check
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised alarm over “fraudsters” receiving Social Security benefits, as Trump allies have ramped up rhetoric about potential waste in the program amid a major restructuring effort at the agency that oversees the program.
During an appearance on the “All-In” podcast that was released on Thursday, Lutnick said the government doesn’t “have to take one penny from someone who deserves Social Security, not one penny for someone who deserves Medicaid, Medicare.”
“What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years,” he claimed. “It’s ridiculous, and they have another job.”
At one point in the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour conversation, Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain.”
“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire businessman said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Judge vows to ‘get to the bottom’ of whether Trump administration violated deportation flight order
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has sparred all week with the Trump administration over whether last weekend’s deportation flights deliberately ignored his orders to turn around airborne planes. President Trump himself has repeatedly attacked the judge, going as far as calling for his impeachment.
“The government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point, but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be,” Boasberg said Friday.
The Justice Department for days has resisted Boasberg’s demands for more information about the flights, citing national security concerns and accusing him of encroaching on the executive branch’s authority.
Continue reading at The Hill
DHS gutting offices that offer civil rights and immigration liaison services
Washington —The Trump administration is implementing a reduction in force for the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, effectively gutting the department's civil rights and immigration liaison services.
DHS said the offices "often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations." The New York Times was first to report the decision.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties advises the department on civil liberties and rights matters, while investigating and addressing complaints. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman helps filers with complaints about potential violations of immigration detention standards or about DHS or contract personnel. And the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman assists both employers and individuals with issues they may be having with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Continue reading at CBS News
‘This is horrifying’: FEMA reviewing disaster aid that could help migrants
The previously undisclosed review could block assistance to millions of undocumented people and deter legal immigrants from seeking help in extreme weather.
The Trump administration is reviewing “all disaster relief programs that may indirectly or incidentally aid illegal aliens,” according to an internal memo that raises the prospect of shutting off government aid to millions of people during extreme weather events.
The two-page memo sent to senior officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its 10 regional offices on Feb. 14 also orders the agency to review nongovernmental organizations that “provide assistance” to undocumented immigrants. That could include groups like the American Red Cross that offer food, shelter and medical care to disaster survivors regardless of their immigration status.
The review, which has not been previously reported, has alarmed advocacy groups that work with the roughly 11 million undocumented migrants within the U.S. who could be barred from disaster shelters during deadly hurricanes, wildfires or floods.
“This review shall include identification of those programs and potential policy changes,” said the memo by FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton.
Potential aid restrictions could deter millions of people who are in the country legally from going to disaster shelters because they fear being targeted by immigration enforcement officers, some advocates said. Those concerns were raised as President Donald Trump attempts to deport two legal immigrants.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump wants adverse rulings overturned ASAP. Appeals courts are taking their time.
Appeals courts have largely declined Trump’s view of growing judicial emergencies requiring them to step in urgently and stop lower-court rulings Trump doesn’t like.
The Trump administration is pleading with a federal appeals court to quickly reverse a judge’s directive blocking President Donald Trump’s ability to deport Venezuelan nationals under rarely used wartime powers.
The response from the appeals court judges? Meh.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump sends second aircraft carrier to Middle East in ramp up against Houthis
The move signals the likelihood of an increased bombing campaign against the Iran-backed group.
The United States is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, a rare and provocative move as the Trump administration intensifies its bombing campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group — currently operating in the Red Sea — to extend its deployment by at least a month, according to two defense officials, who requested anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.
The USS Carl Vinson and its accompanying destroyers will join the ship as escorts in the coming weeks. The Vinson has been conducting exercises in the East China Sea with the Japanese and South Koreans.
USNI News first reported the extended deployment.
Continue reading at Politico
Columbia complies with Trump demands to regain $400 million in funding
Columbia University agreed to some of the Trump administration's demands after some $400 million in federal grants and contracts were pulled from the university over allegations of antisemitism, per a university memo shared Friday.
The big picture: The agreement comes as the Trump administration's attack on higher education has led to lost jobs and grants and instilled much anxiety.
The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading at Axios
What to know about the April 2 tariff day
Why it matters: The new tariff regime will take aim at trading partners that officials believe treat domestic exporters unfairly.
The result will be Trump's most aggressive tariff actions to date, which could hike costs for consumers, damage longstanding trade relationships and spark global trade wars.
The big picture: The end game — that is, how the U.S. might roll back these potential tariffs — is unclear, part of the trade-related uncertainty that has roiled financial markets and frozen some business activity.
Administration officials say the tariffs would help revive domestic manufacturing and fill government coffers — though it may be hard to do both, if a revival of domestic industry leads to fewer imports and, in turn, less tariff revenue.
On the other hand, officials say the April 2 tariffs could lead to negotiations that could stave off levies for some nations.
"Unless the tariff and non-tariff barriers are equalized, or the U.S. has higher tariffs, the tariffs will go into effect," an administration official told Reuters.
Continue reading at Axios
School loans, nutrition get new homes in Trump plan to end Education Department
Management of special needs and nutrition programs, as well as student loans, will move from the Department of Education to other federal agencies, President Trump said on Friday.
Why it matters: Trump is delegating the Department of Education's responsibilities the day after signing an executive order aimed at shutting it down.
The Small Business Administration will take over student loans, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special needs and nutrition programs moving forward, Trump said in the White House.
Context: Trump's Thursday executive order directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon "to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States."
The order also said she should ensure the continued delivery of crucial services and programs.
Shuttering the Department of Education, which enforces protections for students with disabilities, would require an act of Congress.
Between the lines: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who would oversee management of special needs and nutrition programs under Trump's plan, has falsely claimed childhood vaccinations are linked to autism.
Continue reading at Axios
Why European countries are revising US travel guidance
A growing number of countries are warning their citizens about potential problems they could face if they travel to the United States, as the Trump administration continues its sweeping immigration enforcement crackdown.
Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland updated their travel advisories for the U.S. in recent days.
Advisories from Germany and the U.K. warn of harsh consequences that travelers could face and come after recent reports that citizens of their countries were detained when attempting to cross the border into the U.S.
Germany’s notice stresses that visa entry isn’t guaranteed and U.S. border control has the final say, while the updated advisory to British passport-holders stresses that they “should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Rubio bars ex-Argentina president from visiting US, citing ‘significant corruption’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Argentina’s former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the country’s former minister are barred from visiting the U.S. due to their involvement in “significant corruption ” while in public office.
Rubio said on Friday that Kirchner and Argentina’s former Minister of Planning Julio Miguel De Vido “abused their positions by orchestrating and financially benefitting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government.”
“Multiple courts have convicted CFK and De Vido for corruption, undermining the Argentine people’s and investors’ confidence in Argentina’s future,” the U.S.’s top diplomat said in a statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
U.S. to revoke legal status of more than a half-million migrants, urges them to self deport
The termination of their work permits and deportation protections under an immigration authority known as parole will take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25, according to a notice posted by the federal government.
The move will affect immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under a Biden administration program, known as CHNV, that was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border by giving would-be migrants legal migration avenues.
Continue reading at CBS News
What dismantling Education Department means for student loans
Editor's note: The Small Business Administration will handle the nation's student loan portfolio, President Trump announced Friday.
President Trump signed an executive order to close down the Department of Education on Thursday — an unprecedented move that presents big questions for student loan borrowers.
Why it matters: The department plays a key role in managing some $1.5 trillion in student debt for more than 40 million borrowers, and a vast majority of its budget is allocated to the agency that oversees the federal student loan system.
Even before abolishing the department, the Trump administration blocked student loan forgiveness and repayment plans, slashed department staffing, and wiped the federal watchdog agency tasked with overseeing student loan servicing and collections.
Yes, but: A move to completely abolish the Education Department will likely face legal opposition because eliminating a federal department requires an act of Congress.
However, the administration can cut key funding in the meantime.
Continue reading at Axios
X communications leader exits after three months
X communications chief Dave Heinzinger has departed the company after three months citing personal reasons, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: X has seen a revolving door of communication leads as the company tries to attract advertisers amid brand safety concerns.
Catch up quick: Heinzinger joined X in December to help oversee the company's media strategy. His hiring came after the departure of Joe Benarroch, who led X's media and communications efforts until June.
X head of global affairs, Nick Pickles, also left the company in September.
Heinzinger has returned to his prior post at Haymaker, where he will serve as the PR firm's president.
What they're saying: "I can say that Linda is building one of the most impressive teams in the world. The influx of talent has been incredible, and the platform is stronger, more innovative and more consequential than ever," Heinzinger told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Federal judge orders ICE not to deport immigration advocate Jeanette Vizguerra
A federal judge in Colorado on Friday issued an order calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to deport prominent local immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra.
State of play: The order calls on ICE and other Trump administration officials not to deport or move Vizguerra out of Colorado until her legal detention challenge is litigated, the Denver Post reports.
Context: U.S. District Judge Nina Wang sided with Vizguerra and said the defendants, including Johnny Choate, the warden of the ICE detention center in Aurora, could not deport her.
ICE Denver field office interim director Ernesto Santacruz, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi are also named in the order.
The big picture: Vizguerra's high-profile arrest on Monday alarmed advocates and immigrants as she joined a growing list of nonviolent figures targeted by Trump's administration.
Continue reading at Axios
Tracking Trump: Education Dept. demise as key agenda items get blocked in court
Here's our recap of major developments.
On Friday, Trump said he'd move the management of special needs and nutrition programs to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Small Business Administration will take over student loans.
Zoom out: The Education Department — created by President Carter in 1979 — distributes financial aid and grants for schools across the country. The department is designed to ensure equitable access to quality education nationwide and enforces protections for students with disabilities,
Its dismantling could be more costly for Trump-voting states than blue states, Axios' April Rubin has reported.
See the chart and continue reading at Axios
SEC set to see hundreds leave through buyout, retirement offers
The departures are landing in the middle of a sweeping campaign across the Trump administration to reduce the size of the federal government.
Hundreds of SEC staffers have agreed to voluntarily leave the agency, according to three people familiar with the matter, an exodus that stands to substantially shrink the ranks of the top Wall Street regulator.
Through a mix of different programs, including the SEC’s recently offered $50,000 buyout, more than 10 percent of the agency’s roughly 5,000-person staff is expected to leave in the coming weeks and months, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the private information.
One of the people said they expect the tally will be close to if not more than 15 percent, or 750 people, as the $50,000 offer is still available to staff who voluntarily resign or retire through the end of Friday.
The departures are landing in the middle of a sweeping campaign across President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce the size of the federal government through buyout offers, layoffs or shutting down agencies entirely. Last week, federal agencies were required to submit reports laying out their downsizing plans to the White House.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump admin considers shutting down some CDC expert panels
HHS tells CDC leaders it is “recommending termination” of the discretionary advisory committees.
The Trump administration is considering killing some panels of outside experts that advise the CDC on key health threats like HIV and avian flu, according to an email seen by POLITICO.
The email, sent to CDC leaders Friday, said the Department of Health and Human Services is “recommending termination” of the panels that are not mandated by law. The email said CDC leaders would need to justify keeping the committees by 10 tonight, but a second, follow-up email said that “no response is required at this time.”
Also known as advisory committees, the panels offer the CDC guidance from outside experts on an array of subjects on which the agency makes recommendations.
“Absent an adequate response, these FACAs are scheduled to be terminated,” the first email reads, using the acronym for the committees.
It’s unclear whether the second email means HHS is no longer planning to terminate the committees right away, or whether HHS will terminate them regardless of the CDC’s response.
A spokesperson for the CDC declined to comment. An HHS spokesperson told POLITICO “HHS is complying with President [Donald] Trump’s EO on the reduction of the federal bureaucracy.”
Continue reading at Politico
Pentagon admits to mistakes in campaign against ‘DEI’ content
Articles and images about Jackie Robinson and the Navajo Code Talkers were removed from Defense Department social media and websites.
The Pentagon is conceding it made mistakes as it rushed to remove articles and images celebrating diversity from its social media and websites, a campaign that resulted in moves such as deleting tributes to Jackie Robinson and the flag-raising at Iwo Jima.
“Some content was archived that should not have been,” the Department of Defense said in a statement Friday.
The Pentagon said it would be reviewing the material that was purged as part of a campaign to remove content celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion — an effort that has sparked widespread criticism and ridicule.
As part of the effort, the department removed articles and images of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen. It also pulled pulled the historic photos of six Marines hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 because it was on a page celebrating Army Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian.
A biography of World War II veteran and civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1963 and whom President Donald Trump called a “great American hero” in 2017, was erased from the Arlington National Cemetery website.
The purge followed Trump’s executive order ending diversity programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department, which he has criticized as too “woke.”
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats open whistleblower portal aimed at DOGE
Senate Democrats are launching a new whistleblower portal for public and private workers to dish on how President Trump and DOGE are slashing the federal government.
Why it matters: Democrats hope whistleblowers will expose what they argue are the White House's illegal moves to unilaterally dismantle federal agencies and programs.
Democrats say they want to hear from workers who are witnessing how Trump and Elon Musk have withheld funding and fired federal workers without the approval of Congress.
The effort comes as Trump on Thursday signed an order aimed at shuttering the Education Department, an agency with a $268 billion budget.
The portal, which launches Friday, is spearheaded by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), whose staff on the Senate Budget Committee will conduct oversight of the new tool.
The big picture: Democrats — who hold minorities in both the House and Senate — have little recourse against Trump's efforts to downsize the federal government,
Continue reading at Axios
24 House Democrats blast SBA over plans to relocate 6 regional offices
The Democrats in the lower chamber said SBA’s Administrator Kelly Loeffler’s plan to move the field officers from six cities — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle — “is a blatant weaponization of the SBA for political gain.”
“To be clear, we firmly believe that our cities should be safe, all acts of violence should be taken seriously, and violent crimes should not be tolerated. But the targeting of these cities is clearly punitive, unjust and counterproductive,” the 24 House lawmakers said in a Friday letter to Loeffler that was shared with The Hill.
“Moreover, your decision will unduly harm millions of small businesses across the country who have been suffering through the chaotic, confusing, and unpredictable economic policies of the Trump administration,” the legislators wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
George Foreman, boxing legend and entrepreneur, dies at 76
George Foreman, the former heavyweight boxing champion turned business entrepreneur who was part of some of the sport's most memorable matches and moments, died Friday at the age of 76, his family announced.
Continue reading at CBS News
Trump floats sending Americans to foreign prisons. Civil rights groups say that would be illegal.
Trump suggested on Truth Social that people charged with attacking Tesla could serve time in “lovely” prisons in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated sending American prisoners to serve prison sentences outside the country — this time threatening the people charged with vandalizing Teslas.
Civil rights groups say the move is illegal and life-threatening.
Trump’s suggestion on Truth Social on Friday to send the Tesla attackers to El Salvador marks an escalation of his already controversial use of foreign prisons, this time potentially targeting American citizens.
If put into action, the administration is likely to face yet another legal battle as it pushes the bounds of executive power in what civil and prisoners’ rights organizations are calling a “constitutional crisis.”
“There’s no precedent to send U.S. citizens elsewhere outside the country, to serve sentences in other prisons,” Insha Rahman, the vice president of advocacy at the decades-old criminal justice reform organization Vera Institute of Justice, told POLITICO. “It is so beyond the pale of anything contemplated by the Constitution or due process or the criminal courts.”
Continue reading at Politico
Elon Musk visits Pentagon after bombshell reports on access to China war plans
Elon Musk met with the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday after President Trump and other officials denied reports that he was originally scheduled to receive a top-secret briefing for a potential war with China.
Why it matters: Some lawmakers and ethics experts have raised conflict of interest concerns about Musk's role as senior adviser to the president while his companies hold substantial government contracts — in particular SpaceX, which has deals with the Pentagon and NASA.
The billionaire CEO has been the face of DOGE-driven federal cuts that have triggered protests and seen Tesla vehicles and dealerships targeted in attacks the FBI is investigating as domestic terrorism,
Musk was seen leaving the Pentagon Friday, and multiple outlets reported he had only sat for an unclassified meeting. Trump told reporters Friday that Musk wouldn't receive China briefings and was there for his role with DOGE.
"Always a great meeting," Musk said as he left. "I've been here before, you know."
After a New York Times reporter asked Hegseth what he and Musk spoke about, the Defense Secretary responded: "Why would I tell you?"
Driving the news: The New York Times first reported Thursday that unnamed U.S. officials said Musk would be briefed on a military blueprint "for any war that might break out with China."
Continue reading at Axios
Detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil appears in immigration case
Khalil, 30, a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record, sat alone next to an empty chair through a brief court session that dealt only with scheduling. His lawyer participated via video.
Khalil swayed back and forth in his chair as he waited for the proceeding to begin in a windowless courtroom inside an isolated, low-slung Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention complex. Ringed by two rows of tall barbed-wire fences and surrounded by pine forests, the facility is near the small town of Jena, roughly 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge.
Khalil smiled at two observers as they came into the room, where just 13 people ultimately gathered, including the judge, attorneys and court staff. Two journalists and a total of four other observers attended.
By video, lawyer Marc Van Der Hout said he’d just started representing Khalil and needed more time to speak to him, get records and delve into the case. An immigration judge set a fuller hearing for April 8.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
In another tense hearing, Judge Boasberg says Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act has ‘frightening’ implications
Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, appeared incensed on Friday over how the Justice Department has handled the fast-moving case, opening the hearing by tearing into the tone the administration had taken in some of its court filings.
He told DOJ attorney Drew Ensign that the government had used “intemperate and disrespectful” language that he’s “never seen from the United States” as it pushed various legal arguments before him earlier this week, including the suggestion his orders from the bench last Saturday carried less weight than a written order that was issued shortly after those proceedings.
Much of Friday’s hearing focused on arguments from the Justice Department for why Boasberg should lift his orders that stopped, for now, President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport some migrants whom the US has accused of being affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The administration is arguing that Boasberg exceeded his authority in blocking the removals because, they say, Trump’s use of the act is an unreviewable by federal courts.
Continue reading at CNN
DoorDash will let users buy now, pay later for fast food, a possible worrying sign for the economy
New YorkCNN —
Buy Now, Pay Later services are typically used on large purchases, like furniture. But now one service is branching out into fast food.
DoorDash is partnering with Klarna, a financial company that lets customers schedule small payments over a set period of time, in a new partnership announced Thursday.
When the option launches “soon,” DoorDash users can use Klarna to pay in four, interest-free payments or defer payments and let people pick a “date that aligns with their paycheck schedules,” according to a press release.
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, which also include Affirm and Apple, have exploded over the past few years. However, many economists and consumer advocates say the widespread use of these services, plus a lack of transparency and little regulatory oversight, leaves them wondering just how much debt Americans are actually getting into.
During last year’s holiday shopping season, Adobe said that BNPL usage “hit an all-time high,” raking in more than $18 billion in online spending — growing nearly 10% compared to the same time period a year earlier. The option is particularly attractive to younger, cash-strapped consumers who are looking to make their paycheck stretch further.
To make money, the BNPL providers charge merchants between 1.5% to 7% of the transaction price, according to Kansas City Federal Reserve research. For some retailers, the costs are worth it, according to research from RBC Capital Markets, which showed online BNPL offerings boosted average ticket sales by 30% to 50% and increase the share of customers who ultimately made a purchase.
Continue reading at CNN
Trump revokes security clearances for Biden, Harris, Clinton and other enemies
Trump’s memo is his latest attempt to exact revenge on his rivals.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump wrote.
He went on to name a list of 15 opponents and Biden-era officials, including Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump for fraud, as well as former president Biden’s entire family.
It is unclear what formal security clearance was possessed by some of the figures named in the memo. Trump had already announced his intention to rescind security clearance for Biden in February, and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said on March 10 that she had revoked access for Blinken, James and others per Trump’s directive.
Barring Biden from intelligence briefings is a tit-for-tat move after Biden banned Trump from accessing classified documents in 2021, arguing he could not be trusted because of his “erratic behavior.”
Continue reading at Politico
Putin prayed for Trump after assassination attempt, top envoy says
The Russian president “was praying for his friend,” Steve Witkoff claimed.
Witkoff, who has visited Moscow twice to hash out the terms of a ceasefire with Ukraine, told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on his podcast that during his second meeting with Putin, the Russian president recounted his reaction to the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally last summer.
“When the president was shot, he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the president,” Witkoff said of Putin.
Putin “had a friendship with him and he was praying for his friend,” Witkoff explained. He added that he had relayed the sentimental story to Trump, who was “clearly touched.”
Continue reading at Politico
Comment from Rima
Trump administration sued over shuttering of VOA
The lawsuit, which was filed late Friday in the Southern District of New York, was brought by a handful of unions, RSF and six VOA reporters against U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VOA’s parent company, acting director Victor Morales and special adviser Kari Lake. VOA’s White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara is the main plaintiff in the case.
The plaintiffs said the administration’s effort to terminate the news agency violated the First Amendment rights of VOA’s employees, and they asked the court to restore USAGM-grantee news outlets and that funds for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network (MBN) should resume.
“In many parts of the world, a crucial source of objective news is gone, and only censored state-sponsored news media is left to fill the void,” the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.
Continue reading at The Hill
West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government
Trump, again, defends Musk’s morals
When the New York Times reported Thursday that ELON MUSK was set to meet today with Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH and discuss the military’s plan for a hypothetical war with China, President DONALD TRUMP went into offensive overdrive.
“Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and ‘spill the beans,’” the president said early this morning on Truth Social.
By lunchtime, Trump changed his tune. “Certainly you wouldn’t show [war plans] to a businessman … Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
But even if the Pentagon had wanted to show Musk the war plans, Trump later added, “He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t want to put himself in that position.”
Musk’s company, Tesla, has a “gigafactory” in Shanghai — its largest outside the U.S. — which was made possible by tax breaks from the Chinese government and $1.4 billion in loans from Chinese banks. Musk has long faced criticism for his at times apparently cozy relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
Today’s Oval Office display is part of a growing trend of Trump and his acolytes jumping to defend Musk’s character, painting the world’s wealthiest person — who has led the dramatic slashing of the federal government — as a model of morality.
It comes as Musk’s approval ratings are underwater — and 7 points below Trump’s, according to a recent CNN/SSRS poll — demonstrating the president’s willingness to stick his neck out for the special government employee. It’s a departure from his first term, when Trump was often quick to drop people in his orbit he viewed as dead weight.
“He’s a great patriot. He’s paying a big price for helping us cut costs and he’s doing a great job,” Trump said today of Musk, appearing to refer to Tesla’s plunging stock price and a series of attacks on the vehicles the Justice Department is investigating as acts of domestic terrorism.
Continue reading the Politico West Wing Playbook newsletter
POLITICO Nightly
How ‘owning the libs’ became White House policy
LIKE, FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE — Every White House works hard to amplify the president’s message, communicate an administration’s accomplishments and generally burnish the image of POTUS. But the Trump White House has an ambitious communications goal that reaches beyond traditional practice: Owning the libs.
Through the use of an aggressive social media strategy, the White House is both highlighting its policy accomplishments and attempting to rub the left’s face in it with a stream of content designed to delight the GOP base and provoke the opposition.
Their efforts to do so are frequently going mega-viral. A video of undocumented immigrants, handcuffed and shackled, boarding a deportation flight with a caption that read “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight,” posted from the official White House account, racked up over 100 million views on X. On March 10, the White House shared a picture of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and Palestinian rights activist, with the Hebrew greeting “SHALOM, MAHMOUD,” mocking his activism after his arrest.
Last month, the president shared an AI-generated video from his Truth Social account of the Gaza Strip transformed into a beachside resort, where Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sipped cocktails together by a pool. (The video was already circulating online before it was reposted by the president.)
The posts are gleeful, irreverent and often deeply offensive to a liberal sensibility — and they’re wildly popular among young, online conservatives who are making up an increasingly large portion of President Donald Trump’s devotees. The genre used to be confined mostly to political hobbyists unaffiliated with any campaign or government official. Now, the ecosystem of the conservative meme factory has found its way into official White House channels.
And while Trump isn’t splicing together sizzle reels himself, much of this growing energy on the right is thanks to the history of his own provocative online presence. Now, at the start of his second term, his administration is all but officially adopting the approach as the voice of the White House.
“He is fighting against staleness,” said Joshua Scacco, director of the Center for Sustainable Democracy at the University of South Florida. “He’s fighting against approaches that he himself has now normalized.”
Continue reading the Politico Nightly newsletter
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