Federal judge says he will order preservation of Signal texts. Here’s how Thursday unfolded.

By the New York Times

A top Senate Republican on Thursday accused President Trump of illegally refusing to spend $2.9 billion approved by Congress, teaming with Democrats in an early salvo in the simmering struggle between Congress and the White House over which has the ultimate power over federal spending.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Appropriations Committee, initiated a letter to the White House that was signed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the panel’s senior Democrat. The letter asserted that the administration had violated the six-month spending law approved by Congress this month.

They pointed to a memo Trump had sent to Congress on Monday that declared that only a portion of the $12.4 billion designated as emergency funding in the legislation would actually be spent, “because I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.”

The appropriators vigorously contested that assertion, arguing that the law requires the administration to spend all emergency money or none of it, and does not allow the president to decide for himself what money to spend and what not to.

“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 letter said.

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By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the US 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.

By the Associated Press

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.h.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By Bloomberg

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said it looks “inevitable” that tariffs will boost inflation, at least in the near term, adding it’s likely appropriate to keep interest rates steady for longer.

While tariff-driven inflation could prove short-lived, Collins said it’s possible price pressures could prove more persistent.

“It looks inevitable that tariffs are going to increase inflation in the near term,” Collins said Thursday during a fireside conversation in Boston. “My kind of modal outlook would be that that could be short-lived with a continuation of some disinflation, but further in the future than I might have expected before.”

“But there are risks around that, and depending on how things unfold, it may be more persistent and a larger increase,” she said.

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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 US 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.”

By the New York Times

President Trump raised the possibility Wednesday that he could relax steep upcoming tariffs on China in exchange for the country’s support for a deal to sell TikTok to a new owner supported by the United States.

Acknowledging that Beijing is “going to have to play a role” in any transaction, Trump signaled to reporters at the White House that he could be open to negotiation. “Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” he said.

Under a law enacted before Trump took office, the Chinese-based parent company of TikTok must either sell the social media app’s US operations or face what essentially amounts to a domestic ban. Lawmakers adopted that policy in response to growing, bipartisan concerns that the app posed threats to US national security, which TikTok denies.

Congress originally set a January deadline for its ultimatum. But no sale occurred, prompting Trump — as one of his first executive actions — to delay enforcement of the law for 75 days in the hopes of securing a buyer.

The new deadline arrives April 5, just three days after Trump separately plans to announce what he has described as “reciprocal” tariffs, imposing new duties on foreign nations based on the trade barriers that they erect to US imports. The president has already subjected Chinese goods to a 20 percent tariff, on top of those he enacted during his first term in office.

“Every point in tariffs is worth more than TikTok,” Trump said about the prospects of a negotiation, adding: “Sounds like something I’d do.”

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.”

By the Associated Press

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.”

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

US 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.

By the Associated Press

US 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 US 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.

By the Associated Press

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

By the Associated Press

The news media outlet lost the funding earlier this month after Trump issued an executive order to gut the US 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.

By the Associated Press

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 US president and Canadian prime minister to go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.

By the Associated Press

Hakeem Jeffries said as the Trump administration takes a “chainsaw” to the federal government, voters are responding.

“Voters are angry all across the country for good reason,” the leader said at his weekly press conference.

Democrats are eyeing a pair of special elections for House seats in Florida. And Trump withdrew his nominee to the United Nations, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, avoiding a special election in that state as the House GOP protects its tight margin.

By the Associated Press

The US 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.

By the Associated Press

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.”

Senator Susan Collins, the Republican committee chair, and Senator 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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.”

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

Trump had tapped Stefanik, a New York Republican, to represent the US 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 US 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.

By the Associated Press

The White House has withdrawn Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be US 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.

By the Associated Press

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 Senator 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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.”

By the Associated Press

Under the plan announced Thursday by Health Secretary Kennedy, 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.”

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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, who 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.

By the Associated Press

“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 she kicked off the rally. “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.

By the Associated Press

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.

By Christopher Gavin, Globe Staff

Rhode Island US Senator and ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services Jack Reed and the committee’s chairman, US Senator Roger F. Wicker of Mississippi, have called on the acting inspector general to probe how allegedly classified information was discussed by top defense officials on Signal.

Reed and Wicker penned a letter, dated Wednesday, to Acting Inspector General Steven A. Stebbins, requesting he provide senators with an assessment of the facts and circumstances surrounding the group chat that also inadvertently included the editor of The Atlantic, including what information was discussed and what, if any, “remedial actions” were taken as a result.“

This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen,” the senators wrote in their letter. “If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”

The senators added the Senate Armed Services Committee would work to schedule a briefing “immediately upon completion of your review.”

See the whole letter here.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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 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.

By the Associated Press

The alleged leader of the violent MS-13 street gang on the East Coast has been arrested in Virginia, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday.

Bondi lauded the the early morning arrest of the 24-year-old man from El Salvador, who was described as one of MS-13’s top three leaders in the United States, as a major victory in the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on a gang known for brutal violence and extortion.

The Justice Department did not immediately release his name or detail the charges against him. Bondi said he was living in the US illegally in northern Virginia, outside of Washington. It was unclear whether he was facing federal criminal charges or had been taken into custody by immigration officials.

READ MORE

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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 US imposes more taxes on their main allies. Europeans would retaliate to protect themselves, with the goal of trying “to dismantle all these tariffs.”

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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 US 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.

By the Associated Press

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

By the Associated Press

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.

Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the committee, along with Senator 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.”

By the Associated Press

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico does not want to be drawn into taking positions with each new US 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 percent tariff, but rather would be taxed based on where their components came from.

By the Associated Press

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 percent 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.”

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

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 include layoffs, early retirements and voluntary separations, encouraged through buyout offers and will mostly affect the public health agencies:

• the Food and Drug Administration, responsible for setting standards for Americans’ foods and medications, will shed 3,500 workers
• the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks infectious disease outbreaks, will cut 2,400 positions.
• the National Institutes for Health, the world’s leading public health research agency, will lose 1,200 people.
• the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees health coverage for older and poor Americans, will shed 300 jobs.

By the Associated Press

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 US funding, according to a USAID spreadsheet that leaked this week.

But the Gavi alliance’s chief executive said Thursday that the US 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.

By the Associated Press

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

The new 25 percent 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.

By the Associated Press

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.”

By the Associated Press

This morning, Trump will receive an intelligence briefing in the Oval Office. Later in the day, he will sign executive orders, and this evening, he will attend the White House Iftar Dinner.

By the Associated Press

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.

By the Associated Press

The president showed his fury on social media early Thursday, declaring it “disgraceful” that US 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.

By the Associated Press

The US 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 US 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 US 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.

By the Associated Press

Long-threatened tariffs from President 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 US 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 US-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.

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By the Associated Press

President Trump said earlier Wednesday that he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports and, to underscore his intention, he stated, “This is permanent.”

“This is a very direct attack,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded. “We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country.”

Carney said he needs to see the details of Trump’s executive order before taking retaliatory measures. He called it unjustified and said he will leave the election campaign to go to Ottawa on Thursday to chair his special Cabinet committee on US relations.

Carney earlier announced a CA$2 billion ($1.4 billion) “strategic response fund” that will protect Canadian auto jobs affected by Trump’s tariffs.

By the Associated Press

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva swiped Thursday at US President Trump’s decision to raise US tariffs on a wide range of products, saying Trump should consider the potential harm to the American and global economies.

Lula made the comments while wrapping up a 4-day visit to Japan, where Trump’s decision Wednesday to order 25 percent tariffs on all car imports came as a severe blow given the country’s status as a major auto exporter and American ally. The US is the biggest destination for Japanese car exports.

“I am very concerned about the behavior of the American government,” Lula said. “I am concerned because free trade is being harmed and I am concerned because multilateralism is weakened,” Lula said through an interpreter.

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By the Associated Press

The Associated Press is returning to a federal courtroom on Thursday to ask a judge to restore its full access to presidential events, after the White House retaliated against the news outlet last month for not following President Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

In a hearing last month, US District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden refused the AP’s request for an injunction to stop the White House from barring reporters and photographers from events in the Oval Office and Air Force One. He urged the Trump administration to reconsider its ban before Thursday’s hearing. It hasn’t.

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By Alexa Gagosz, Globe Staff

The impact of federal funding cuts is already looking grim at the Southside Community Land Trust, Executive Director Margaret DeVos said.

The nonprofit has lost $600,000 due to federal funding freezes and contract cancellations. As an organization that helps feed roughly 25,000 Rhode Islanders through food pantries and community meal sites, that means empty stomachs, according to its leaders. Their programs also support nearly three dozen small, family farm businesses.

“This isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet — it’s about real people who depend on our programs every day,” DeVos said. “We’re now forced to make difficult decisions about staffing and program capacity that will directly impact the communities we serve.”

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