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US Monthly Headline News March 2025 - Page 4
Story by Erkki Forster

Stephen Miller threw a veritable hissy fit on Fox News Monday after a host questioned whether Donald Trump’s invocation of wartime authority to deport migrants would hold up legally.

During an interview with The Story host Martha MacCallum on Monday, Miller was asked about MSNBC pundit Andrew Weissmann’s argument that the president should not be allowed to invoke an 18th-century law to deport migrants because it was intended for wartime use. Instead of addressing the point, Miller launched into a tirade.

“First of all, Andrew Weissmann is an absolute moron,” Miller fumed. “He is a moron, and he is a fool, and he’s a degenerate. Andrew Weissmann has devoted his career to putting innocent Americans in jail, taking away their civil liberties.”

Forgetting the original question, Miller fixated on Weissmann’s record as a former prosecutor who worked on Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Story by Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday revoked secret service protection for former president Joe Biden's children Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden.

"Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Story by VANESSA GERA

Ivan Hansen, a retired Danish police officer, loaded up his basket at the supermarket, carefully checking each product to avoid buying anything made in the United States. No more Coca-Cola, no more California Zinfandel wine or almonds.

The 67-year-old said it's the only way he knows to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's policies. He's furious about Trump's threat to seize the Danish territory of Greenland, but it's not just that. There are also the threats to take control of the Panama Canal and Gaza. And Trump's relationship with Elon Musk, who has far-right ties and made what many interpreted as a straight-armed Nazi salute.

On his recent shopping trip, Hansen returned home with dates from Iran. It shocked him to realize that he now perceives the United States as a greater threat than Iran.

“Trump really looks like a bully who tries in every way to intimidate, threaten others to get his way," he told The Associated Press. “I will fight against that kind of thing.”

A growing boycott movement across Europe
Hansen is just one supporter of a growing movement across Europe and Canada to boycott U.S. products. People are joining Facebook groups where they exchange ideas about how to avoid U.S. products and find alternatives. Feelings are especially strong across the Nordic region — and very possibly strongest in Denmark given Trump's threats to seize Greenland.
Story by Carl Gibson

One top official in the Social Security Administration (SSA) just acknowledged in a memo that President Donald Trump's plans for one of its offices could make it harder for some people to receive their benefits.

According to Judd Legum's Popular information newsletter, the memo by acting SSA deputy commissioner Doris Diaz details how additional efforts to curb fraudulent payments could impact elderly people who are lacking in digital literacy. Diaz explained that the agency's new "internet identity proofing" for claims made "over the phone" are likely to create significant roadblocks for beneficiaries.

Under the new internet identity proofing process, beneficiaries making claims over the phone (which Popular Information estimates make up 40% of all Social security claims) would be asked to verify their identity online. But because many beneficiaries are elderly and don't have internet access, this would require beneficiaries to visit a Social Security office in-person in order to verify their identity.

In one section of the memo, Diaz predicted this influx of in-person visits would cause "service disruption," "operational strain" and "budget shortfalls." She estimated that the number of in-person visitors to Social Security offices would number between 75,000 to 80,000 per week. This is on top of the administration already slashing jobs at the agency, making it more difficult for the employees who are left to process claims in a timely manner.
Story by Lauren Aratani

More pages honoring diversity in US military history have been removed from defense department websites as the Pentagon undergoes what appears to be a purge of content that it considered to be related to diversity, equity and inclusion – or DEI.

Among those pages was one celebrating Ira Hayes, one of the Marines famously pictured raising the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, according to The Washington Post. Hayes, a Native American, was praised in the page as an example of the “contributions and sacrifices Native Americans have made to the United States, not just in the military, but in all walks of life”.

Likewise, articles about the Native American code talkers in the second world war appear to have been removed from military websites, with an error page being shown in place of the pages. Internet archive websites show some of the pages were still up in early March before being taken down. The removal of the pages was first reported by Axios.

Native Americans helped the US send messages in the first and second world wars in secret using their tribal language. The use of the Choctaw language in the first world war was so successful that Germany and Japan sent students to the US after the war to study Native American languages.

In the second world war, the military enlisted Navajo to communicate messages in their language, which is known to be one of the hardest languages to learn. To further encrypt messages, the Native American code talkers encoded the language with word substitutions. More than 400 Navajo were part of the code talkers program during the war.
How much tax payer money has Musk used to build his empire?

Story by Alena Botros

Elon Musk runs a number of multibillion-dollar companies that have made him the world’s richest man. Part of that comes from his skill in collecting money from the government, according to Jeb Barnes, a professor of political science for the University of Southern California.

“He’s done it with all of his businesses,” Barnes told Fortune.

Musk has reportedly collected at least $38 billion in funding through government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits that go as far back as 20 years, according to a recent Washington Post analysis. His electric-car maker Tesla has collected $11.4 billion in regulatory credits, per the Washington Post, but most of the funds (via government contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense) are to his rocket maker, SpaceX. A separate ABC News analysis found SpaceX and Tesla were granted at least $18 billion in federal contracts in the past decade.

Some of that government money came at crucial times for his companies. In one instance, it was a $465 million loan from the Energy Department to Tesla that Musk was reportedly personally involved in securing. He held daily meetings with Tesla executives and spent hours with the loan officer. But when the loan went through, Tesla was missing a certification it needed to qualify—so Musk reportedly went directly to the administrator around Christmas time to get it done. “Tesla would not have survived without the loan,” a former Tesla employee told the Washington Post. “It was a critical loan at a critical time.” (Tesla benefited from a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for those who buy its electric cars, too—and if it’s killed, it could hurt Tesla, but it would devastate almost every other EV maker). The outlet also reported that government contracts helped build SpaceX’s infrastructure so that it could actually build and launch rockets.

The papers related, sometimes very tangentially, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy were made public by President Trump, but it’s unclear how many are new. Though scholars don’t expect major revelations, they are still eager to look.
New York Times

The promise of a “final” release of all government secrets relating to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy has whetted the appetite of many Americans, including the current occupant of the Oval Office. But many historians are taking a measured, wait-and-see approach to the latest documents, which the National Archives released on Tuesday.

“I doubt that these releases are going to overturn our understanding of what happened on that terrible day in Dallas,” Fredrik Logevall, a historian at Harvard who is working on a multivolume biography of President Kennedy, said before the release.
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

CNN — Billionaire Elon Musk appears to have overstepped his executive branch authority with his Department of Government Efficiency, a federal judge said Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked the dismantling of USAID.

“The court finds that Defendants’ unilateral actions to shut down USAID likely violated the United States Constitution,” said Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the US District Court in Maryland.

Chuang said that DOGE cannot terminate any more contracts or grants of USAID, nor can it fire or put on leave any more employees. He also cut off DOGE staffers from sharing sensitive personal data kept by the agency, in a major win for groups broadly challenging Musk’s role in the federal government.

The ruling, placing a preliminary injunction on DOGE, is one of the first major rulings to limit Musk’s work in the federal government because of the US Constitution.

And it may chart the way other courts will look at Musk, as his efforts and the Trump administration are challenged for attempting to dismantle other government agencies and abruptly cut back federal spending.
Bart Jansen USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department failed Wednesday to provide information a federal judge requested about deportation flights of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act, instead filing a request for a postponement to wait for appeals courts to block what it called a potentially “catastrophic” disclosure.

The filing escalated a legal clash over the deportations that has already led President Donald Trump to call for Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's impeachment and a rebuke of Trump by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Boasberg demanded information by noon Tuesday about the number of deportation flights on Saturday, the number of passengers and the foreign destinations. He asked for the information as he weighs whether the government defied his oral and written orders to halt the flights and potentially turn around flights in the air.
Fired members of Federal Trade Commission confirmed to be Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter
Marina Dunbar

Donald Trump has fired the two Democratic commissioners on the US Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, further blurring the lines of bipartisanship at regulatory agencies.

The fired commissioners are confirmed to be Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Bedoya confirmed his firing in a post on social media.

“I’m a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The President just illegally fired me,” he wrote.

“The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists, our staff is unafraid of the Martin Shkrelis and Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and they win.

“Now, the President wants the FTC to be a lap dog for his golfing buddies,” he continued.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/breaking-karoline-leavitt-humiliated-when-reporter-corrects-her-embarrassing-blunder/ar-AA1BfJKN?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=e4959c5dce8e478caf68b6694074995a&ei=11
Story by Yelena Mandenberg

President Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, looked sour after a reporter corrected her claims that the judge who blocked the Alien Enemies Act was a "democratic activist."

The reporter stopped her for a second after her comments, telling her, "He [the judge] was originally appointed by George W. Bush and elevated by Obama. Feel I should clear that up."

Leavitt immediately went on the defense and tried to shoot back, as she's no stranger to being called out at her pulpit for misinformation, but the damage was done as reporters sitting in the press room quietly smiled at the reporter's comment.
The alarming news comes as part of a memo from the General Services Administration, which explains a number of changes prompted by Trump's executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion
By Alana LoftusBoston reporter

After a recent change made by the Trump administration, the federal government no longer prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms, and drinking fountains.

The segregation clause was among several mentioned in a public memo detailing President Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Trump rescinded an order issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 regarding federal contractors and nondiscrimination. Johnson enacted the order shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which marked a pivotal moment in US history.
Story by Charles Switzer

DOGE's Latest Controversy: Starlink Installed on White House Grounds
©ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is once again making headlines after a staffer triggered an alarm while attempting to install Elon Musk's Starlink system on the roof of a federal building near the White House. The New York Times reported that the incident resulted in a Secret Service response, though DOGE officials later claimed they did not consider the incident to be a security breach. Despite the chaotic nature of the installation, Starlink terminals are now operational at both the White House and the General Services Administration.
Here's what happened...

Musk's Expanding Government Influence
©ChrisStanely/LinkedIn
One of the key concerns surrounding this installation is Elon Musk's deep financial and personal ties to DOGE. Chris Stanley, the DOGE official overseeing the project, is also a security engineer at both X and SpaceX, raising potential ethical and legal questions. This development adds to the growing list of concerns about Musk's involvement in the Donald Trump administration, particularly given accusations that the Commerce Department has altered federal broadband grant rules to benefit Musk's company.

Security Risks: A New Cyber Vulnerability?
©ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
While the White House already has secure fiber-optic internet, the addition of Starlink raises cybersecurity concerns. Experts have warned that satellite internet systems could introduce new vulnerabilities, especially given Elon Musk's unpredictable business decisions and recent cybersecurity issues at X. Despite assurances from the administration, critics question whether this move was more about bolstering Musk's influence than enhancing national security.
That is some BS. No matter what Trump and other racist believe being Black or a woman does not mean they were a DEI hire. Black people and women have to work three to four times as hard as white people for less pay and less credit for their work.

At least one website about Robinson, who trained as an officer and was assigned to a tank regiment during World War II, was reinstated Wednesday afternoon.
By Curtis Bunn

The military story of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball after serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army, no longer exists on the Defense Department’s website as part of the Trump administration’s wiping out of diversity, equity and inclusion within the federal government.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to scan federal websites for articles, social media posts, photos, news articles and videos to remove any web pages that “promote diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Several websites under Pentagon jurisdiction have removed thousands of pages documenting the history of people of color, LGBTQ people, women and others from marginalized backgrounds and their contributions to the American military. Multiple pages about Robinson were taken down, including a page about Negro League players talking about serving in the military. But as of Wednesday afternoon, at least one page about Robinson, in a series about athletes who served in the military, had been reinstated.
Closing the department requires an act of Congress, but Trump could make it nearly impossible for remaining employees to carry out their work, much like at USAID.
By Garrett Haake, Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Tyler Kingkade

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Education Department, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle the federal agency, the White House confirmed.

Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

USA Today first reported that Trump will sign the order Thursday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the story Thursday morning in a post to X, writing in all-capital letters that the signing was "happening today at 4pm ET."

Formally closing the department requires an act of Congress. But even without formally shutting it down, the Trump administration could effectively make it nearly impossible for employees to carry out their work, as it has done with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

President Jimmy Carter established the department in 1979 after Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act in bipartisan votes.

McMahon recently moved to drastically reduce the size of the Education Department by cutting its workforce in half. She called the job terminations the first step toward shutting down the department.
Bloc aims to build up military-industrial complex to deter Russia and brace for the U.S. shift away from Europe.
By Gregorio Sorgi, Jacopo Barigazzi and Giovanna Faggionato

BRUSSELS — United States arms-makers are being frozen out of the European Union’s massive new defense spending plan, which aims to splash the cash for EU and allied countries, according to defense spending plans released Wednesday.

Also left out — for now — is the United Kingdom.

“We must buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense technological and industrial base,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in announcing the Readiness 2030 program.

In a bid to strengthen ties with allies, Brussels involved countries like South Korea and Japan and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in its program that could see as much as €800 billion spent on defense.

“We need to see not only Russia as a threat, but also ... more global geopolitical developments and where Americans will put their strategic attention,” European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters.

In recent years, about two-thirds of EU procurement orders have gone to U.S. defense companies.

The Commission presented its long-term defense policy proposal, known as a white paper, as well as a raft of legislative proposals aimed at making it easier for countries to boost military spending and to create a more integrated defense market in the bloc.

“We’re not doing this to go to war, but to prepare for the worst and defend peace in Europe,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat.
Story by Victor Tangermann

Tesla is in deep trouble. The embattled EV maker has seen sales plummet worldwide in large part due to its CEO Elon Musk's highly polarizing behavior.

Tesla's share value has also dropped precipitously, down over 37 percent year to date, wiping out all gains made since Musk's key ally Donald Trump was elected last year.

Even the company's financials are now sprouting some glaring questions. As the Financial Times reports, a whopping $1.4 billion appears to have vanished in thin air. The enormous hole arises when examining the carmaker's capital expenditures and how those compare to the reported rise of the value of its assets.

According to Tesla's cashflow statements, the firm spent $6.3 billion on "purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales" in the second half of 2024. However, its balance sheet claims the gross value of property, plant, and equipment rose by only $4.9 billion — leaving an eyebrow-raising $1.4 billion discrepancy.

The news couldn't have come at a worse time, with furious investors accusing Musk of abandoning Tesla by spending most of his time rampaging through the government with the help of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Story by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

Ahead of U.S. Supreme Court arguments next week, a watchdog group asserted Wednesday that right-wing Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas must recuse themselves from a case "whose outcome could have sweeping consequences," citing "significant conflicts of interest" due to their relationships with "conservative kingpin Leonard Leo."

In Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research, a right-wing group is challenging the constitutionality of the FCC's Universal Service Fund program.

Vox's Ian Millhiser reported Wednesday that "if the Supreme Court accepts an argument raised by a federal appeals court, which struck down the federal program, it would bring about one of the biggest judicial power grabs in American history, and hobble the government's ability to do, well, pretty much anything."

In the new report about Alito and Thomas, the watchdog Accountable.US issued a similar warning about the case's potential impacts: "Effectively defunct for almost a century, the nondelegation doctrine prohibits Congress from passing off its legislative power to federal agencies... Reviving the doctrine would cripple agencies' ability to govern consumer safeguards, social security, Medicare, and more during a time when the Trump administration has begun to slash federal agencies."
Travis Gettysand | Raw Story

Conservative activist Leonard Leo is pledging a major financial investment to "crush liberal dominance" he perceivers in corporate America and the media.

The former executive vice president of the Federalist Society and architect of the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court assembled by Donald Trump told the Financial Times in a rare interview that his nonprofit Marble Freedom Trust intended to turn its attention – and considerable war chest – to the private sector.

“We need to crush liberal dominance where it’s most insidious, so we’ll direct resources to build talent and capital formation pipelines in the areas of news and entertainment, where leftwing extremism is most evident,” Leo told the publication.

The video player is currently playing an ad.

“Expect us to increase support for organizations that call out companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus spread by regulators and NGOs, so that they have to pay a price for putting extreme leftwing ideology ahead of consumers."
Barrington Salmon, Florida Phoenix`

The misshapen world that Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Leonard Leo, and other MAGA extremists are attempting to cement into every aspect of American life is deeply rooted in racism, sexism, and ethnonationalism.

As governor, DeSantis has arrogantly manipulated the instruments of political and legislative power not just to deride and disparage African Americans, but also to disassemble Florida’s relationship with the Black population while propagating lies about white European victimhood.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) notes that “throughout his tenure, this governor has used the power of his office to subjugate and control the lives of Black people in Florida. The administration of Gov. DeSantis has demonstrated a disdain for Black people and their lives in Florida. His actions as governor demonstrate that under his governance, the lives of Black people are expendable.”

DeSantis sows distrust of Black people in ways not seen so blatantly since the Jim Crow era. As the ACLU’s Joey Francilus explains: “Black people in Florida are endangered by the whims of this same governor who, using the levers of his power, greatly diminished the last citizen-led Amendment 4 campaign to expand voting rights to nearly a million formerly incarcerated Floridians. This is the same governor who chilled Black protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.”

Francilus adds that DeSantis is “the same governor who used his power to eliminate a Black-access congressional district in North Florida. This is the same governor who removed the only Black woman state prosecutor from office, replacing her with an acolyte. This is the same governor who sought to censor Black history in classrooms and called slavery ‘beneficial’ for Black people.”
Story by Cara Lynn Shultz

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently shared that he thinks birds with the avian flu should be isolated, not culled, and then left to breed — amid reports that staffers have not been hired for the existing federal office for pandemic preparedness.

The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) had a staff of approximately 20 people and was established by Congress in 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic.

As archives from President Joe Biden’s White House explain, the office “coordinates actions related to preparedness for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats and pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to significant public health-related disruptions in the United States.”

However, according to a report by CNN, only one staffer remains in the office, and its website has been taken down from the Internet. The OPPR, the outlet quotes a source as saying, “has fallen into the abyss.”
Story by Michael Sainato

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices.

Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service.

“This is the people’s postal service, emphasis on ‘service’,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, in a statement on Thursday’s demonstrations. “If this administration succeeds in taking over the USPS, it will lead to higher prices and reduced service, especially in rural areas.”

Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said: “The American people depend on the United States Postal Service, and it’s unacceptable for political interference to disrupt its operations. President Trump supports the hard work of these individuals and is solely working to make the entire federal government more efficient and uproot waste, fraud and abuse.”

Boycotts over President Trump’s trade war have caused drops in border traffic linked to tourism as Canadian travelers shift their vacation plans to Mexico and elsewhere amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S.
Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury

A Franklin County jury has awarded $750,000 in damages to two families who were evicted from a Smith Mountain Lake campground after the owner learned one of the family members was Black. The verdict marks the largest fair housing jury award ever secured by the Virginia attorney general’s office, according to a news release by Attorney General Jason Miyares.

The case centered on Regina Turner, owner of Lazy Cove Campground, who had rented lakeside lots to families for decades. But in June 2020, she abruptly sought to evict two families after discovering that one of the husbands, Damien Smith, was Black.

According to a complaint filed with the Virginia Fair Housing Board, which was first reported by The Washington Post, Turner told a tenant, “You didn’t tell me that your friend’s husband is Black… Had I known, I wouldn’t have rented the lot to them. I saw the son, but I figured everyone makes a mistake.”

Miyares hailed the jury’s decision as a critical victory against racial discrimination in fair housing.

A Department of Defense webpage describing baseball and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson’s military service was restored Wednesday after it was missing earlier in the day. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
Story by MATT OTT

U.S. safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recall, which covers more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

The stainless steel strip, called a cant rail assembly, between the windshield and the roof on both sides, is bound to the truck’s assembly with a structural adhesive, the NHTSA report said. The remedy uses an adhesive that’s not been found to be vulnerable to “environmental embrittlement,” the NHTSA said, and includes additional reinforcements.
Story by Lorie Konish

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team from getting access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.

A federal judge Thursday issued a temporary restraining order barring Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency team from getting access to personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration.

Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in a scathing ruling accused DOGE of launching a "fishing expedition" at the Social Security agency and failing to provide any reason why it needed to access vast swaths of Americans' personal and private data.
Story by Giulia Carbonaro

A Florida bill aiming to help property owners to get rid of squatters is one step closer to becoming law after the state Senate approved it on Wednesday, together with a series of other top-priority proposals.

The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 322, would allow Floridians to get the local sheriff's office involved in the removal of unauthorized people occupying a commercial property, such as an apartment complex or office building, instead of recurring to judicial means.

Why It Matters
Squatters are people living in a property that they have no legal right to occupy.

Last year, a series of high-profile incidents around the country involving homeowners struggling to take back control of their properties occupied by squatters brought many lawmakers to action to address the relatively rare issue.

In Florida, the legislature passed a law last year allowing homeowners to ask the local sheriff's office for help in the removal of a squatter when they were found to have entered the property unlawfully and refused to leave after being asked to by the owner.
Story by Raúl Izquierdo

Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency has created not just a political storm, but also an economic one. His recent trade policies, including tariffs on countries like Canada, China, and the European Union, have caused widespread reactions.

For the EU, these tariffs stand at 25%, leading European authorities to retaliate with tariffs on American products like Levi’s jeans. However, some are taking individual action. In France, nearly 70% of citizens are willing to boycott U.S. products, according to a recent Ipsos survey.

One French businessman leading the charge is Romain Roy, CEO of Groupe Roy, a company specializing in solar energy solutions. He has decided to cut ties with Tesla, after years of collaboration with Elon Musk, who serves as a senior advisor to Trump.

“For four years, we almost had a contract with Tesla, as they offered the best value for money. That’s over now. I don’t want a single euro from my company to enrich that man,” Roy declared. He has since canceled his order of 15 Tesla vehicles that was placed months ago.
Story by Chris Wade | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) — A New Hampshire judge is refusing to dismiss a criminal case against state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, who is accused of pressuring former Gov. Chris Sununu to drop a criminal case against her husband.

In an order issued Wednesday, state Superior Court Judge Martin P. Honigberg rejected arguments by Hantz Marconi's lawyers that the court dismiss all indictments against her because she has judicial immunity and her conduct is otherwise protected by her right to free speech and to petition her government. In the 17-page ruling, Honigberg wrote that criminal conduct "has rarely been protected by judicial immunity."

"At this juncture, the Court is not persuaded that such acts are entitled to judicial immunity," he wrote. "While the Defendant argues that she was acting, at least in part, in her official capacity as a judge to discuss the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s docket with then-Governor Sununu, there are no facts within the indictments for the Court to conclude she was acting squarely within her judicial role."

The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees issued a joint statement Wednesday criticizing the idea of the U.S. drastically changing its military combatant command structure, saying they “will not accept” those changes without coordination with Congress and other agencies. The statement marks one of the first major instances of Republican lawmakers pushing back on President Trump in his second term.
Story by Carl Gibson

One steel manufacturer in the Midwest has announced it will be laying off hundreds of workers as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Thursday that 630 steelworkers in Minnesota are about to lose their jobs. Steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs, which is based in Ohio, announced that the layoffs will be at the company's operations in the Minnesota towns of Hibbing and Virginia. Those facilities specialize in steel pellets used in auto manufacturing, and Cleveland-Cliffs said they will be subjected to "temporary idles" in order to "rebalance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024."

Earlier this month, Trump announced he would be imposing new 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The Star-Tribune reported that while steelmakers like Cleveland-Cliffs expect a boost to their business as a result of the higher prices on their foreign competitors, the auto industry is still largely unprepared to shift production to the United States with new tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico fast approaching in April.
Carl Gibson

One of President Donald Trump's core economic policies is attracting significant opposition from within his own party — including a longtime U.S. senator from one of the reddest states in the country.

On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) penned an op-ed for the Louisville Courier-Journal (his hometown newspaper) making the case against Trump's new tariffs on imported goods. Earlier this week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum, which comes just after a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. His previously announced 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods has been put on hold for now, after negotiations with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"[N]o matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy," McConnell wrote. He quoted Kentucky's junior U.S. senator, Rand Paul, who has previously said that "tariffs are simply taxes."
David Badash

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is “basically admitting” the White House “lied” about the mass firings of tens of thousands of federal government employees, a legal expert is alleging, based on her remarks on Friday. Many of not most of the terminated government workers were ordered to be reinstated by two separate federal courts on Thursday. Judges ruled the terminations were likely unlawful.

According to The New York Times, one judge “said in his lengthy ruling that the government’s contention that the firings of the probationary employees had been for cause, and not a mass layoff, ‘borders on the frivolous.'” Another judge “concluded much the same and made it clear that he thought the manner in which the Trump administration had fired the probationary workers was a ‘sham.'”
Is this the whitewashing of black people from American history?

Story by BIN

The Trump administration has reportedly banned nearly 200 words, including "Black," "racial justice," and "anti-racism," amid its war on woke and attacks against DEI.

According to the New York Times, 199 words and phrases have been prohibited from use in the Trump administration as the president works to reverse efforts made by Former President Joe Biden.

The censured words include “Black,” “anti-racism,” “discrimination,” “racial justice,” “diversity,” “trauma,” “at-risk,” “minorities,” “underprivileged,” “biased,” “climate science,” “women,” “female,” “socioeconomic,” “climate change,” “cultural heritage," and more.
Story by Keith Raffel

A man with a long track record of corruption took office as president in January. In his second term, he's surrounding himself with like-minded cabinet secretaries and agency heads.

It's a fact that Donald J. Trump is a felon, convicted by a unanimous state jury of 34 counts of corruptly falsifying business records. Days before taking office in 2017, he paid $25 million to settle a suit for cheating students who'd enrolled in Trump University. His Trump Foundation was shut down for misusing charitable funds for political gain.

Now back in office, Trump continues to exude the odor of corruption more strongly than ever. Here's one example: his launch of a cryptocurrency product in January. Two days before his inauguration, Trump promoted a meme coin on the social media platform X with a post urging investors to "GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW." Purchase of the coin provides a straightforward way to funnel money to Trump. Last month, the SEC paused its investigation into a businessman after he bought $75 million worth of the coin.

Corruption and conflicts of interest have gone viral in the second Trump administration.

Take Elon Musk, who contributed $288 million to the 2024 Trump presidential campaign and who, according to The New York Times, has signaled his intent to contribute another $100 million to the Trump political operation. Musk's net worth of over $300 billion can be traced primarily to his holdings in Tesla, the electrical vehicle company; SpaceX, the rocket company; xAI, an artificial intelligence company; and Neuralink, a company designing brain implants. He is the CEO of the first three and owner of the fourth. The Washington Post estimates that Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits from the federal government extending back over 20 years.
Story by Griffin Eckstein

Amid plunging share prices due to poorer-than-expected earnings and the unpopular political activities of CEO Elon Musk, Tesla’s slapdash methods once again caught up with the automaker.

Hours after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick used an interview slot with Fox News’s Jesse Watters to urge Americans to buy stock in Tesla, the company was forced to issue a recall on every single Cybertruck it has sold to date.

More than 46,000 Cybertrucks produced between Nov. 13, 2023, and Feb. 27, 2025, were recalled this week due to a large steel exterior panel’s tendency to detach from the car. A report shared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the automaker became aware of the problem in January and has no knowledge of any accidents related to the defect.

According to auto industry news site Jalopnik, it’s the eighth recall since release day for the Cybertruck, a car that’s reportedly numerous times more deadly than the infamously explosive Ford Pinto.

The issue stems from an unconventional bit of penny-pinching from the world's richest man. Per Gizmodo, the panels on the vehicle are merely glued together. The NHTSA recall notice confirms the panel is joined to the car with “structural adhesive” and could fall off on the road. Videos obtained by other automotive outlets have shown the piece in question falling off of the vehicle while it was being driven.
Story by Jasmine Venet

A veteran FBI agent who blew the whistle on what he saw as political meddling in the bureau’s work was arrested this week by federal authorities while attempting to board an international flight at New York City’s JFK Airport.

Jonathan Buma, who had worked for the bureau for 15 years, stands accused of illegally disclosing classified records in his upcoming tell-all book about his career.

He drew scrutiny during Trump’s first term for reportedly saying during a presentation that he believed Rudy Giuliani may have been compromised by a Russian counter-influence operation—concerns that were immediately shut down by his superiors.

On Monday, the longtime counterintelligence officer was about to board an outbound international flight when he was taken into custody. Buma was released on $10,000 bail on Tuesday during a Brooklyn federal court hearing, and his case will be handled in a California federal court.
Money Watch
By Megan Cerullo
Edited By Alain Sherter

President Trump's executive order on Thursday starting the process of dismantling the Department of Education could throw federal student loan programs into disarray and lead to frustration for millions of borrowers, according to experts.

The Education Department's remit is broad. The agency manages student loans for more than 40 million Americans; oversees $18 billion in Title I funding for elementary and secondary education in low-income areas; issues Pell Grants to help low- and middle-income students pay for college; and administers the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which lets students apply for loans, grants and other college aid.

"It takes resources to manage that asset, including trained staff to make sure borrowers have good information and colleges can administer loan programs properly," said Peter Granville, a higher education finance expert and fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. "It takes technical expertise that only Education Department officials have."

Ahead of the Thursday signing ceremony for Mr. Trump's order, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the Education Department "will be much smaller than it is today." For now, the agency will retain oversight of student loans and Pell grants, she added.
Story by M.B. Mack

Elon Musk issued a stark warning to Pentagon employees after a report leaked details of a planned military briefing, vowing that those responsible "will be found" and prosecuted.

On Thursday, the New York Times published a report stating that Musk was scheduled to receive a Pentagon briefing on potential U.S. war plans against China.

The report, citing anonymous officials, raised concerns about Musk's growing influence over U.S. defense policy, given his business ties to both the U.S. government and China, Politico reported.

Following the leak, both the Pentagon and President Donald Trump denied that the meeting involved China at all, with Trump calling the report "completely untrue."

After the article was published, Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to denounce the New York Times, calling the publication's report "pure propaganda" and warning that those responsible for the leak "will be found."
President says his billionaire adviser visited the Department of Defense in his capacity with DOGE, and not for China
Alexander Ward, Nancy A. Youssef, Annie Linskey

WASHINGTON—President Trump said Elon Musk wouldn’t receive a sensitive briefing at the Pentagon on a plan for potential war with China because of his financial ties to Beijing.

“Certainly you wouldn’t show that to a businessman,” Trump told reporters Friday. “Elon has businesses in China,” he continued, adding that showing him the war plans would be improper.
Cory Turner

President Donald Trump continued the unwinding of the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, announcing that the management of the entire federal student loan portfolio and of the department's "special needs" programs would be moved to other federal agencies effective immediately.

Appearing in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said, "I've decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, a terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large," Trump said.

The federal student loan portfolio – which manages about $1.6 trillion in loans for roughly 43 million borrowers – is currently overseen by the Education Department's office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). That office has been gutted by the recent raft of buyouts, early retirements and last week's broad reduction-in-force.

It was not clear, based on Trump's announcement, how or if the remaining employees and expertise at FSA would be transferred to the Small Business Administration. Trump said he would move student loans "out of the Department of Education immediately" and that Loeffler and her staff are "all set for it. They're waiting for it. It'll be serviced much better than it has in the past. It's been a mess."
Opinion by Bobby Kogan

Republicans have a trifecta, which means they’re trying to pass more expensive tax cuts that will disproportionately go to the rich.

How expensive? They’ll cost $4 trillion over the next decade and would increase upward pressure on the debt ratio by 50 percent. How disproportionate? America’s top 0.1% would get a tax cut of $278,000 while 28 million households in the bottom 80 percent would have no change in their tax bill and 14 million in the bottom 80 percent would actually have their taxes go up.

What’s different is that, this time around, much of what they’re trying to do is currently in effect but set to expire — and Republicans are not pretending the tax cuts will pay for themselves (because they don’t). Instead — and I am not making this up — they’ve just decided to say the costs don’t count. They’re free.

How did we get here? Back in 2017, Trump and congressional Republicans enacted the Trump tax cuts. Because they used a process known as budget reconciliation — the same process they’re using now — most of those cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025.

In looking for ways to extend those cuts, Republicans face two problems.

First, the tax cuts cost $4 trillion over the 10-year budget window, and Republicans can’t even get close to finding a way to pay for them, but some of them don’t feel comfortable with adding that much to the deficit. The House GOP’s proposal attempts to offset some of the extension by kicking millions of people off Medicaid and cutting food benefits down to just $1.67 per person per meal on average. Yet deficits would still increase by around $3 trillion over the decade.
Story by SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group funded by billionaire Elon Musk is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition in opposition to “activist judges,” a move that comes two weeks before the state’s Supreme Court election and after the political action committee made a similar proposal last year in battleground states.

Musk’s political action committee America PAC announced the petition in a post on X on Thursday night. It promises $100 for each Wisconsin voter who signs the petition and another $100 for each signer they refer.

The campaign for Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, said Musk was trying to buy votes ahead of the April 1 election. The offer was made two days after early voting started in the hotly contested race between Crawford and Brad Schimel, the preferred candidate of Musk and Republicans.

The winner of the election will determine whether the court remains under liberal control or flips to a conservative majority.

Musk’s PAC used a nearly identical tactic ahead of the November presidential election, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.
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