The Latest: Trump withdraws Elise Stefanik’s UN ambassador nomination over tight GOP House margin

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Trump thanks Muslim supporters at White House iftar dinner

Trump is thanking his supporters in the Muslim community as he hosts a gathering at the White House to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Trump said Thursday night that his administration is “keeping our promises to the Muslim community” and is “engaged in relentless diplomacy to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East.”

At the iftar dinner, meant to mark breaking the daily fast, he gave a special shout-out to two Michigan mayors for their support during the 2024 campaign — “a tremendous endorsement, right at the right time,” he said of one.

Trump says the Muslim community was there for him in November, so he’ll be there for them while president.

Rights groups ask Election Assistance Commission not to implement Trump elections order

The League of Women Voters, NAACP, Brennan Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Defense Fund called the directives in the order “unlawful” and requested the commission “take no action.”

The executive order signed Tuesday calls for broad election changes, such as proof of citizenship for voter registration and an Election Day return deadline for mailed ballots. The order also called for previous certifications of state systems to be rescinded.

The letter says the president lacks authority to impose several elements of the order and to withhold money from states that don’t adhere to the order’s directives.

The EAC is an independent commission created to help improve how elections are conducted and assist voters to participate in elections.

Judge blocks part of Trump order aimed at curbing DEI efforts

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing a key part of Trump’s executive order aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts among federal contractors and grant recipients.

Judge Matthew Kennelly issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Labor Department from requiring federal contractors or grant recipients from certifying that they don’t operate any DEI programs that violate the country’s anti-discrimination laws.

Kennelly’s declined to extend the temporary restraining order to other federal agencies.

The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades, a non-profit with several contracts with the Department of Labor.

Trump joins phone rally to support another Republican candidate in Florida special election

In a telephone rally to support state Rep. Randy Fine for his congressional special election race, Trump credited Fine as being one of 14 Florida legislators who endorsed Trump early on in his recent presidential run.

“That’s why Randy will always have a very open door to the Oval Office,” Trump said. “He will be there whenever I need him, and he wants to be there whenever we need him. He wants to be there for you.”

Fina faces Democrat Josh Weil, a public school teacher who has outspent and outraised by nearly 10 times the amount reported by Fine.

Trump didn’t note in his remarks any concerns for the race, but he called this an “all-important special election.”

Fine said Trump has a “razor-thin majority in the House” and encouraged voters to turn out so he could carry out Trump’s agenda in Congress.

Trump executive order targets law firm that employs former Mueller aide

The executive order targets another law firm whose lawyers have provided legal work that Trump disagrees with.

The order against WilmerHale threatens to suspend active security clearances of attorneys and terminate any federal contracts the firm has. It singled out WilmerHale lawyers Aaron Zebley and James Quarles, who worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation looking into the 2016 Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia. Mueller himself has also worked at the firm.

Earlier this month, Trump rescinded an executive order targeting the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Garrison & Wharton after it pledged to review its hiring practices and to provide tens of millions of dollars in free legal services to support certain White House initiatives.

Trump stresses stakes of Wisconsin court battle

Trump implored his supporters in Wisconsin to vote for conservative state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel in next week's election.

The president cast the race as a high-stakes battle in an electoral battleground state that will have an “outsized impact on the future of the country.”

“It’s a very important race,” Trump said in brief remarks by phone, in a call organized by Schimel’s campaign. “I know you feel it’s local, but it’s not. It’s really much more than local. The whole country is watching.”

Trump praised Schimel, a former judge and district attorney, as a tough prosecutor who will work toward the president’s goals, including cracking down on illegal immigration and rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And he warned that a victory by Schimel’s rival, Judge Susan Crawford, would empower “liberal activists” to enact a “radical left agenda.”

Tuesday's election to replace an outgoing liberal justice could tilt the ideological balance of Wisconsin's powerful high court is expected to rule in coming years on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules.

Trump aims to reshape Smithsonian museums and zoo by targeting funding for programs with ‘improper ideology’

Trump says there’s been a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

He has signed an executive order putting Vice President Vance in charge of an effort to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.

The order specifically names the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Trump creates task force to help make the District of Columbia ‘safe and beautiful’

Trump created the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” by executive order. It will be chaired by his homeland security adviser.

According to the order, the task force will coordinate with local officials on such things as enforcing federal immigration law, including deporting people living illegally in the city, boost the law enforcement presence, and increase the speed and lower the cost of processing applications to carry concealed weapons.

The order also calls for removing graffiti and taking other steps to beautify the city.

Trump has talked often about his desire to make the city safer and prettier.

Musk defends post on Sen. Mark Kelly

Bret Baier asked Musk about one of his most controversial recent social media posts, where he described Sen. Mark Kelly as a “traitor” for his recent trip to Ukraine to show support for the country.

Musk didn’t back down from his attack on the Arizona Democrat.

“Somebody should care about the interests of the United States above the interests of another country,” Musk said. “And if they don’t, they’re a traitor.”

Baier pointed out that Kelly is a veteran, former astronaut and current senator.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s OK for him to put the interests of another country before America,” Musk said.

Trumps gets involved with get-out-the-vote efforts in Florida special congressional elections

The two elections are taking place in conservative congressional districts in Florida, where Democrats have nonetheless far outraised and outspent the Trump-backed Republican candidates.

Democrats from across the country have poured millions of dollars into the districts in the hopes of carving into the GOP’s narrow majority in the U.S. House, while Republicans are working to head off the better-than-expected showing by Democrats. Trump won both districts by 30 points or more in November.

On Thursday night, Trump joined a telephone rally with supporters of Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who’s running in the state’s 1st Congressional District.

“The whole country’s actually watching this one,” Trump said, urging voters in northwest Florida to not sit out this “all-important special election.”

Musk downplays impact on federal workers

Ever since starting the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has talked boldly about the deep cuts that he’s planning. But he took an opposite approach when talking about federal workers on Thursday night.

“Basically no one has gotten fired,” he said.

At least 24,000 probationary employees have lost their jobs already, according to court filings during lawsuits over the layoffs. Tens of thousands more are expected to be cut across the federal government.

Musk sets ambitious goal for DOGE

The billionaire entrepreneur has often talked about his work in existential terms, describing the country as careening toward bankruptcy unless he reduces spending.

During the Fox News interview, he made another sweeping claim about the impact of his efforts.

“This is a revolution. It might be the biggest revolution in government since the original revolution.”

Musk claims Social Security beneficiaries will collect more benefits, not less, after DOGE work

Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier asked Musk how he can reassure people that the cost-cutting he’s doing won’t affect the amount of their Social Security benefits.

Without going into specifics, Musk said people “will receive more money, not less money. Let the record show that I said this.”

He added, “check back on this in the future.”

Musk says he wants ‘to measure twice, if not thrice’ before cuts are made

Elon Musk says that he and the Department of Government Efficiency team have made mistakes along the way and want to proceed carefully in their cost-cutting efforts.

“I do agree that we actually want to be careful in the cuts, that we want to measure twice, if not thrice, and cut once,” he said. “Which is not to say that we don’t make mistakes.”

Musk said it would be like achieving a perfect 1.000 batting average in baseball.

“When we do make mistakes, we correct them quickly and we move on,” Musk said.

DOGE promises improvements

The Fox News interview was a first public glimpse of members of Musk’s team, including Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb.

He said government systems are antiquated, particularly the retirement process, which relies on an old filing system located in a Pennsylvania mine.

“We really believe the government can have an Apple store-like experience,” Gebbia said.

Musk sets timeline in Fox News interview

Elon Musk and members of his Department of Government Efficiency team sat down with Bret Baier of Fox News. Baier asked him about his status as a special government employee, which includes a time limit of 130 days.

Musk said he believes he will have “accomplished most of the work required” to cut the federal deficit by $1 trillion in that timeframe.

Federal judge thanks eight former inspectors general for filing lawsuit over their firing

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she genuinely doesn’t know how she’ll rule on their request for reinstatement. Regardless, she said the mass firing with little explanation was no way to treat government officials who had done their jobs well and made sacrifices to serve the public.

“Thank you for standing up and saying this is not acceptable,” the judge said.

The eight were among more than a dozen inspectors general who were dismissed in a Friday-night sweep on the fourth full day of Trump’s second term.

An attorney for the eight, former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, said their firings were unlawful because the Trump administration did not give Congress the legally required 30-day notice, nor did it provide “substantive, case-specific rationale” for terminating them.

Government attorney Jeremy Newman said the firings were still lawful because the president’s authority to remove them isn’t contingent on giving Congress notice.

Federal judge says he will order preservation of Signal texts

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said during a hearing Thursday that he’ll issue a temporary restraining order barring Trump administration officials from destroying messages sent over the encrypted messaging app Signal.

A nonprofit watchdog, American Oversight, made the request to preserve the texts in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis.

The Atlantic published the entire Signal chat on Wednesday. Its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to the discussion that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials.

The AP’s court hearing has ended

There was no immediate decision in the news agency’s federal lawsuit against the Trump administration.

▶ Read more about AP's lawsuit

Radio Free Asia files lawsuit seeking to have its federal funds restored

The news media outlet lost the funding earlier this month after Trump issued an executive order to gut the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which funded RFA.

The news media outlet argued in the lawsuit that it is unlawful to deny it the congressionally appropriated money. It also said the withholding of the funds jeopardizes the safety of its journalists and undermines its congressionally-mandated mission.

Soon after the auto import tariffs announcement, Canadian prime minister says he and Trump will talk

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Trump reached out Wednesday night to schedule a call. He said they would speak in “the next day or two.”

Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on March 14. But he hasn’t spoken with Trump since taking office. It’s unusual for a U.S. president and Canadian prime minister to go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.

Maine school officials say they won’t ban trans athletes from girls’ sports

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department said earlier this month that the Maine Department of Education, Maine Principals' Association and a high school are each in violation of Title IX because of the participation of transgender athletes. The federal investigation came after a public spat between Trump and Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills about the subject.

The department gave the institutions 10 days to comply with a voluntary agreement to settle the issue by banning the athletes. The principals’ association, which oversees high school sports in the state, and the district where the high school in question is located both said they will not comply with the agreement.

▶ Read more on the disagreement

Leaders of key Senate panel issue bipartisan rebuke of effort to cut emergency spending

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee are criticizing the Trump administration’s efforts to cut $3 billion in emergency spending from recent legislation funding the federal government.

Congress approved about $12.4 billion in emergency funding as part of the bill. Trump said he did not concur with Congress that some of that was “truly for emergency needs.”

Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican committee chair, and Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat, said the president must accept all or none of Congress’ emergency designations.

“Just as the President does not have a line-item veto, he does not have the ability to pick and choose which emergency spending to designate,” the two senators wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

GOP worries about tight House margin extend to Florida

Republicans’ concerns about new vulnerabilities extend to Florida, where Democrats have posted a huge fundraising advantage in two special elections set for Tuesday to fill congressional seats vacated by former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz.

Both were named by Trump to fill jobs in his administration, though Gaetz later withdrew from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general.

Those districts have long been Republican strongholds, and a win by either Democratic candidate would be a major surprise.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders are looking to at least narrow the margin from November, when Trump carried both districts in the presidential election by more than 30 points.

Anticipating confirmation, Stefanik had launched a farewell tour of her district

The withdrawal of Stefanik’s nomination came after she had launched a recent farewell tour of her district, meeting with backers and thanking them for their support.

On her Instagram page, Stefanik had also been conducting what appeared to be a retrospective of her time in Congress, with one post containing images from 2016 that showed her on a cable news show and posing with supporters atop a caption that began with “Congressional throwback continued.”

Stefanik was the only member of Trump’s cabinet who had not yet confirmed when he withdrew her nomination.

EPA offers power plants and other industrial sites a way to avoid clean-air rules

As part of a push to undo dozens of environmental regulations, the Trump administration set up an electronic mailbox and asked coal-fired power plants and other industrial polluters to send an email by Monday, seeking a presidential exemption to bypass Biden-era rules requiring them to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

The Clean Air Act enables the president to temporarily exempt industrial sites in the interest of national security or if necessary technology isn’t widely available. Environmentalists denounced the email address as a “polluters’ portal” that could allow hundreds of companies to evade laws meant to protect the environment and public health.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s offer was first reported by The New York Times.

Debt and declining birthrate will slow US economic growth, CBO says

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that weak population gains and increased government spending will result in weaker overall economic growth over the next 30 years.

The CBO’s latest long-term budget and economic outlook report projects publicly held debt to reach 156% of gross domestic product in 2055. That’s down from last year’s outlook, which said publicly held debt would be equal to a record 166% of American economic activity by 2054.

However, that’s not necessarily a positive. The mix of slower population growth and unfettered spending will also result in weaker economic growth as the nation becomes more dependent on working immigrants.

“Without immigration, the U.S. population would begin to shrink in 2033,” the CBO report states.

▶ Read more on the CBO's long-term outlook

Trump withdraws Rep. Stefanik’s UN Ambassador nomination to maintain tight House majority

The White House has withdrawn Rep. Elise Stefanik's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a stunning turnaround for Trump's Cabinet pick after her confirmation had been stalled over concerns about Republicans' tight margins in the House.

Trump confirmed the decision in a Truth Social post on Thursday, saying that it was “essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress.”

“We must be unified to accomplish our Mission, and Elise Stefanik has been a vital part of our efforts from the very beginning. I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest Allies, to remain in Congress,” he said.

Trump had tapped Stefanik, a New York Republican, to represent the U.S. at the international body shortly after winning reelection in November. She was seen as among the least controversial Cabinet picks, and her nomination advanced out of committee in late January.

It had seemed as if Stefanik’s nomination would advance to the Senate floor in recent weeks, given two U.S. House special elections in Florida in districts that Trump easily won in 2024.

Filling those vacant GOP seats would have allowed Stefanik to finally resign from the House and given Republicans, who currently hold 218 seats, a little more breathing room on passing legislation in a growingly divided Congress. Democrats hold 213 seats.

▶ Read more about Rep. Elise Stefanik's nomination

Trump to join Florida special elections’ telephone town halls

Two GOP congressional candidates running in Florida’s special elections say that Trump will be joining telephone town halls later Thursday to help their campaigns as Democrats have outraised them by millions in these heavily Republican districts.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who's running in the 1st District, and state Sen. Randy Fine, in the 6th District, both posted on X announcing their telephone town halls with Trump. They are looking to replace Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz, both tapped for roles in the Trump administration. Waltz is the national security adviser and Gaetz withdrew from consideration to be attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Trump endorsed both Patronis and Fine.

They are heavily favored against Democrats Gay Valimont in the 1st District and Josh Weil in the 6th District. Some national Republicans have expressed concern about Fine’s fundraising and overall campaign.

A lawsuit brought by former FTC commissioners has broad implications

Two members of the Federal Trade Commission fired by Trump have sued the administration, arguing that their removal was illegal. The case has implications for other independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve.

Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Democratic members of the five-person FTC, said their March 18 firing would mean that officials at many other independent agencies could also be removed. Their lawsuit says that the firing violates a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision that found the president couldn’t fire members of independent agencies, such as the FTC, without cause.

“We make rules that require tech companies to protect children’s privacy online. We promote competition in the pharmaceutical industry to drive prices down,” Slaughter said in a news release. “And we can do all of this because the FTC can’t be bought with campaign contributions or bullied by politicians.”

Should the firing of the two FTC commissioners be upheld by the courts, it could pave the way for Trump or future presidents to fire members of the Fed’s governing board, analysts say, threatening its highly prized independence.

Trump's economic officials, however, have said the White House has no intention to fire the chair, Jerome Powell. Last week, Trump criticized the Fed for not cutting its key interest rate.

‘My jaw drops at this news’: Experts say HHS overhaul undermines overdose progress

Under the plan announced Thursday by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would be absorbed into a new Administration for a Healthy America.

Experts told The Associated Press that eliminating SAMHSA could stall progress on overdose deaths. The agency funds distribution of naloxone, oversees methadone clinics and supports prevention efforts in all 50 states.

“There’s a reason why we have reduced overdose in this country: It’s because SAMHSA has been doing its job so well,” said Dr. Ruth Potee, who oversees seven methadone clinics in Massachusetts. “My jaw drops at this news.”

Brendan Saloner, an addiction researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said millions of Americans use services supported by SAMHSA, “even if they have never heard the name of the agency.”

Tufts University doctoral student is latest Palestinian supporter swept up in US crackdown

Government lawyers said in a court document Thursday that Rumeysa Ozturk of Turkey was moved to a Louisiana detention center before a judge ordered her kept in Massachusetts.

A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said her visa is revoked because she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”

Hundreds of supporters protested her detention Wednesday night. They say her only known activism was co-authoring an op-ed in the student newspaper calling on Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.

Ozturk’s lawyer said no charges have been filed against her. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani told the government to explain by Friday why she’s detained.

▶ Read more about the Tufts University student's detention

Anti-abortion groups urge Congress to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in budget bill

Over 150 anti-abortion groups signed onto a letter calling for Planned Parenthood and other centers that provide abortions as well as other health care to be the next target of “cost saving measures by Elon Musk.”

“In an era of reexamining federal funding, Congress should start by cutting funding for Big Abortion in the upcoming reconciliation bill,” the letter said.

“Today is a historic moment where the pro-life movement stands united behind one message: Defund Planned Parenthood,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, as they rallied on Capitol Hill. “Our tax money has continued to pour into the abortion giant.”

Students from across the country held up a larger sign with the words “DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD” behind the speakers.

The group’s executive vice president, Tina Whittington, told The Associated Press that Planned Parenthood is a perfect target for the Department of Government Efficiency’s work targeting waste, fraud and abuse.

Trump has said abortion is an issue for the states to decide.

▶ Read more on the Capitol Hill anti-abortion demonstration

Justice Department eyes combining the DEA and ATF

Justice Department leaders are proposing eliminating some offices and dramatically restructuring the department, including combining the two agencies responsible for enforcing drug and gun laws, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.

The memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche seeks feedback on a reorganization plan that proposes combining the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into a “single component agency to achieve efficiencies in resources, case deconfliction, and regulatory efforts.”

The plan also calls for combining policy offices and eliminating Main Justice field offices around the country, such as Environment and Natural Resources Division offices in Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and Sacramento.

House Democrats demand answers over Musk’s gutting of financial protection bureau

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is demanding information from the Trump administration about DOGE’s dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which safeguards Americans from unfair actions by banks and other entities.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California and other committee Democrats are using a unique legislative tool — the resolution of inquiry — to force the House to conduct oversight on Musk, whom she called "an unelected billionaire who clearly does not have the interest of our nation's consumers in mind."

Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees are making similar moves. If House Republicans who control the panels fail to take up the requests, Democrats can launch a process forcing a vote by the full House.

Nonprofits sue federal govt over axing of legal help for migrant children traveling alone

The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Immigrant Defenders Law Center and Justice Action Center say 26,000 children could lose their lawyers and tens of thousands of others will not get legal help if the Trump administration succeeds in ending its contract that supports a national network of providers.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in California seeks to immediately restore access to the programs. Otherwise, it says children who crossed the border without a parent or guardian will be forced to navigate the complex legal system alone, denying them due process and leading to systemic chaos and delays.

The contract with the Acacia Center for Justice supports legal representation to unaccompanied migrant children under 18 and conducts legal orientations — often referred to as "know your rights" clinics — to children in federal shelters.

AP renews request for reinstatement to White House press pool

A lawyer for The Associated Press is asking a federal judge to reinstate the agency’s access to the White House press pool and some other events for its reporters and photographers. Charles Tobin says that “AP has now spent 44 days in the penalty box.”

The news agency and the Trump administration are in court in a disagreement over the White House’s removal of AP reporters and photographers from the small group of journalists in the pool who follow the president.

A lawyer for the government, Brian Hudak, said AP hadn’t shown irreparable harm. “There is no showing of exclusion,” he said, adding that AP can still access events in the East Room and people leaving and coming outside the White House.

In actuality, AP has been able to access East Room events only occasionally, at the discretion of the White House.

AP photographer Evan Vucci testified that the agency was “basically dead in the water on major news stories.”

Vucci took a famous and widely distributed photo of Trump immediately after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last summer. Tobin held up a book published by Trump with the same photo on its cover.

Elon Musk awards $1 million to a voter in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. Opposition calls it ‘corrupt’

The billionaire announced the award ahead of Tuesday's conclusion of a fiercely contested state Supreme Court election that has broken spending records and become a referendum on Musk and the first months of President Donald Trump's administration.

The payment to a Green Bay man is similar to a lottery Musk’s political action committee ran last year in presidential battleground states.

The election to fill the seat of a retiring justice has become a proxy battle over the nation's politics. The result could keep Wisconsin's highest court under 4-3 liberal control or flip it to a conservative majority.

The Democratic-supported candidate's campaign blasted Musk's payment as an illegal attempt to buy influence on a court that could end up deciding a pending Tesla lawsuit.

AP and Trump administration back in court over access dispute

The Associated Press and the Trump administration are in court for arguments over the White House’s banning of the news agency from its press pool earlier this year. The AP sued three administration officials including the president’s press secretary after its reporters were barred.

The administration says it’s because AP is ignoring an executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The AP has said it’s sticking with Gulf of Mexico while also acknowledging Trump’s name change in its news stories, because it has a global audience and the body of water is not solely under the purview of the United States.

The AP’s stylebook is influential and is followed by many news organizations and others.

The court proceeding started at 9:40 a.m. No communications devices are allowed into federal court.

▶ Read more about the AP and the Trump administration in court

French president pledges retaliation if tariffs are imposed

Speaking after a summit about Ukraine in Paris, Emmanuel Macron said that while Trump is asking Europeans to make greater military efforts to ensure their own security, “this is not the time to be imposing tariffs on us.”

“It’s not coherent,” Macron said. “Imposing tariffs means breaking value chains, creating inflation in the short term and destroying jobs. It’s not good for the American economy, nor for the European, Canadian or Mexican economies.”

Macron insisted he would find it quite paradoxical if the U.S. imposes more taxes on their main allies. Europeans would retaliate to protect themselves, with the goal of trying “to dismantle all these tariffs.”

Former top intelligence and military officials assess risks from Signal chat exposure

The National Security Leaders for America says the full transcript of Signal chat conversations Trump officials had shows how dangerous it was for them to use the communications app to discuss an upcoming military operation.

“It is even more evident that this remarkable disregard for operational security presented significant risks to the mission and the lives of the men and women serving in the region,” the group’s statement says.

The group released an assessment of how the mission could have been compromised, including allowing an enemy to target the USS Harry S. Truman during the aircraft launch as well as allowing air defenses to prepare for the incoming flights.

California faces federal investigation over LGBTQ+ student privacy law

The Trump administration says it believes California schools are violating federal student privacy laws by following a new state law that forbids districts from requiring staff to notify parents about changes to their child's gender identity.

The U.S. Education Department on Thursday said it’s opening an investigation into California’s state education office for alleged violations of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. It said FERPA supersedes state law and gives parents the right to access their children’s education information. Violating FERPA can lead to a termination of federal money, the department warned

“Teachers and school counselors should not be in the business of advising minors entrusted to their care on consequential decisions about their sexual identity and mental health,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

Senate Armed Services leaders request Defense inspector general to investigate Signal leak

The top Republican and Democrat, in a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, are sending a letter to the inspector general at the Department of Defense to formally request an investigation into how top Trump national security officials used Signal to discuss military strikes.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the committee, along with Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat, signed the letter that asks for an inquiry into the potential “use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”

Senators Wicker and Reed want Steven Stebbins, the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense, to:

— account for what was communicated and any actions to follow up on the communication

— assess the Pentagon’s policies for sharing sensitive and classified information, as well as its policies for classification and declassification

— identify any discrepancies in the classification policies between the White House, Pentagon, intelligence community and other agencies

— evaluate whether anyone transferred classified information on Signal

— make recommendations to address any problems identified.

Mexico seeks preferential treatment for autos to protect jobs

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico does not want to be drawn into taking positions with each new U.S. tariff. She cited Trump’s taxes on aluminum and steel as well as his new ones on imported automobiles and auto parts.

“There shouldn’t be any tariffs, that is the essence of the commercial treaty” the first Trump administration signed with Mexico and Canada, she said.

Updating the Mexican people on his team’s efforts in Washington, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said they had more than half a dozen meetings with top Trump officials, but once Trump was moving ahead, they shifted gears to seek preferential treatment.

Now he said both sides are discussing how that could work: The basic idea is that automobiles exported from Mexico would not face the full 25% tariff, but rather would be taxed based on where their components came from.

White House spotlights UAW cheering Trump’s auto tariffs

The Trump administration is eagerly noting that United Auto Workers union president Shawn Fain, who endorsed the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, is welcoming Trump’s 25% auto tariff.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Fain “wasn’t the greatest fan” of Trump, but still has “applauded the president for this move.”

Fain on Wednesday said of Trump’s tariffs announcement, “Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today’s actions.”

Attorney General seems disinclined to investigate top Trump administration officials over Signal chat exposure

When asked at an unrelated news conference what the Justice Department plans to do about top national security officials using a messaging app to discuss details of a planned military attack, Pam Bondi declined to comment and deflected.

She also insisted that none of the information shared on Signal was classified, even though officials have provided no evidence that that’s the case.

Espionage Act statutes require the safe handling of closely held national defense information even if it’s not marked classified.

Bondi, who has pledged not to play politics with the department, quickly pivoted to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Joe Biden, who were investigated for allegations that they mishandled classified information but were not charged. Both Democrats were subject to extensive criminal investigations and the FBI and Justice Department have long track records of such inquiries.

The US Health and Human Services agency says it will eliminate 10,000 jobs

Thursday’s announcement by the agency responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country says its workforce will shrink from 82,000 to 62,000 positions.

The cuts also include 10,000 early retirements and voluntary separations, encouraged through buyout offers:

Vaccines group Gavi says US has not confirmed it will end funding

The global vaccines group that helps immunize more than half the world's children against infectious diseases could lose more than $1 billion in pledged U.S. funding, according to a USAID spreadsheet that leaked this week.

But the Gavi alliance 's chief executive said Thursday that the U.S government hasn't confirmed the proposed cuts.

Dr. Sania Nishtar said Gavi is “engaging with the White House and Congress,” to secure the funding.

The 281-page spreadsheet detailing plans to terminate 5,341 awards to dozens of groups was first reported on by The New York Times.

Gavi says it has averted nearly 19 million deaths by helping to vaccinate more than 1 billion children in 78 poorer countries against diseases including measles, Ebola and malaria.

Europe lashes out over Trump auto tariffs and the economic threat to both continents

European automakers, already struggling with tepid economic growth at home and rising competition from China, on Thursday decried the U.S. import tax on cars as a heavy burden that will punish consumers and companies alike on both sides of the Atlantic.

The new 25% import tax announced by Trump “will hurt global automakers and US manufacturing at the same time,” the European Automobile Manufacturers’ association said in a statement.

The head of Germany’s auto industry association, VDA, said the tariffs would weigh on car makers and every company in the deeply interwoven global supply chain “with negative consequences above all for consumers, including in North America.”

“The consequences will cost growth and prosperity on all sides,” Hildegard Müller said in a statement.

The stakes are enormous for BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Stellantis and their vast network of suppliers, as well as the entire European economy.

▶ Read more about the impacts of tariffs on Europe

Defense secretary minimizes Signal chat exposure

There are no signs that the Signal chat controversy will fade soon for Trump, who has said he stands by his national security team and has assailed the credibility of the reporter who broke the story.

Pete Hegseth told reporters in Hawaii he had not texted “war plans” or “attack plans” in the Signal group, pointing out he had called his post a “team update.”

“My job, as it said atop of that (post), everybody’s seen it now - ‘TEAM UPDATE’ - is to provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep people informed,” he said before boarding a plane for Guam without taking follow-up questions. “That’s what I did. That’s my job.”

Trump furious that judge whose impeachment he’s called for assigned Signal lawsuit

The president showed his fury on social media early Thursday, declaring it "disgraceful" that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has been assigned another hot button case involving the Trump administration.

Cases are randomly assigned to the 20 judges in the Washington court.

Boasberg was assigned on Wednesday to preside over a lawsuit filed by the group American Oversight against several Trump administration officials and the National Archives and Records Administration. It alleges they violated federal recordkeeping laws when they used a Signal chat group to discuss military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.

Boasberg’s assignment to the Signal lawsuit came just two days after the Trump administration, in the Venezuela deportation case, invoked the “state secrets” privilege to refuse to share details with the judge about the timing of deportation flights to El Salvador.

“There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him,” Trump said. He added that Boasberg is “Highly Conflicted.” Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg.

US cities located in states won by Trump would be most hurt by Canadian tariffs, an analysis finds

The U.S. cities most vulnerable to a trade war with Canada turn out to largely be in the states that helped return Donald Trump to the White House — a sign of the possible political risk he's taking with his tariff plans.

A new analysis released Thursday by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce detailed the areas most dependent on exports to Canada, with San Antonio and Detroit topping the list of 41 U.S. metro areas. The findings show that the United States' 25% tariffs on Canada and Canada's retaliations could inflict meaningful damage in key states for U.S. politics.

The analysis was conducted before Trump announced Wednesday that he was placing additional 25% tariffs on imported autos and parts starting on April 3.

▶ Read more about how tariffs will impact cities in the U.S.

Trump has begun another trade war. Here’s a timeline of how we got here

Long-threatened tariffs from Trump have plunged the country into a global trade war — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.

Trump is no stranger to tariffs. He launched a trade war during his first term, taking particular aim at China by putting taxes on most of its goods. Beijing responded with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products ranging from fruit to automotive imports. Trump also used the threat of more tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate a North American trade pact, called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in 2020.

Fast-forward to today and economists stress there could be greater consequences on businesses and economies worldwide under Trump's more sweeping tariffs this time around — and that higher prices will likely leave consumers footing the bill. There's also been a sense of whiplash from Trump's back-and-forth tariff threats and responding retaliation, including some recently-postponed taxes on goods from America's largest trading partners.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

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Credit: AP

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Credit: AP