What to know today
- President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on all automobiles imported into the United States starting next week. He also said China might get "a little reduction in tariffs" if it agrees to a TikTok deal the Trump administration brokered.
- A federal appeals court this afternoon denied the Trump administration's request to resume deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
- National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe faced a grilling from House Intelligence Committee members about a group chat among Cabinet members that revealed sensitive information about military strikes in Yemen to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who was mistakenly included in the discussion.
- The Atlantic released a transcript of the group chat about the U.S. strikes this morning. In the messages, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth specified types of U.S. military aircraft and the timing of recent airstrikes against Houthi militias in Yemen, but the texts did not include specific target information.
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Trump’s move to end an immigration program hits a powerful Republican base of voters
The Trump administration’s decision last week to revoke temporary legal status for thousands of Cuban immigrants puts Cuban American Republicans, most of whom vocally support Trump, in the difficult political position of either backing an end to a popular program in their community — or disagreeing with him.
Former President Joe Biden started the so-called humanitarian parole process for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants. It created a framework more than 500,000 people from those countries used to stay in the United States for up to two years if they had financial sponsors. Of the four migrant population groups covered, the biggest by far are Cubans.
Miami-Dade County is home to the largest populations in the country of each migrant group, including more than 1 million Cuban Americans. That group over the past few decades has amassed significant political clout within the Republican Party.
'Trump is at it again': Trade partners react to new U.S. auto tariffs
Canadian and European leaders are slamming Trump's announcement today of 25% tariffs on all automobiles made outside the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said at a news conference that the move was a "direct attack" on Canadian workers. He said he is awaiting further details to assess the full impact the tariffs will have on the Canadian economy, but he called them "entirely unjustified."
"This will hurt us, but through this period, by being together, we will emerge stronger," Carney said, adding that he is considering additional retaliatory tariffs and that a conversation with Trump would be "appropriate."
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, said the tariffs will "do nothing more than increase costs for hard-working American families."
"President Trump is at it again," Ford said on X. "His 25 per cent tariffs on cars and light trucks will do nothing more than increase costs for hard-working American families. U.S. markets are already on the decline as the president causes more chaos and uncertainty. He’s putting American jobs at risk."
Ford said he would "fully support the federal government preparing retaliatory tariffs to show that we’ll never back down."
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said the tariffs will be "bad for businesses, worse for consumers, in the US and the EU."
"The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests," she said on X.
Reuters reported that Japanese Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba questioned Trump's rationale behind the tariffs, noting in remarks to the Japanese parliament that the country makes significant investment into the U.S.
“We need to consider what’s best for Japan’s national interest. We’re putting all options on the table in considering the most effective response,” Ishiba said.
Judge issues stinging opinion denying Trump administration requests in transgender military ban case
A federal judge responded tonight to a motion by the Justice Department asking her to pause or dissolve her preliminary injunction that prevented implementation of the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people’s serving in the U.S. military.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes took particular umbrage at the administration's use of the term “gender dysphoria” to try to get around what she argued is plainly obvious: that the military is using the term to describe a mental illness, when it means transgender people.
“Defendants cannot evade discriminating against transgender people simply by labeling the policy as addressing gender dysphoria,” Reyes wrote.
“This litigation is not about a medical condition,” she added. “A medical condition has not given its country decades of military service. Or deployed into combat zones throughout the globe. Or earned countless commendations. People have. A medical condition has not fought terrorism. Or analyzed intelligence. Or commanded platoons. People have. A medical condition has not been accused of lacking warrior ethos. Or been branded dishonorable, dishonest, and undisciplined. Or been threatened with the loss of livelihood. People have. Transgender people.”
Reyes, appearing to acknowledge an appeal is forthcoming, went on to write: "Let’s recall that our service-members make the debate and appeals possible. Their sacrifices breathe life into the phrase, ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ The Court, again, thanks them. All.”
While Reyes denied the requests to pause or dissolve her previous order, she gave the administration until 7 p.m. Friday to appeal. The Justice Department swiftly did so.
For U.S. treasurer, Trump appoints Georgia state senator and 2020 election denier
Trump said this evening on Truth Social that he has picked Brandon Beach, a Republican state senator in Georgia who backed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, to be U.S. treasurer.
As treasurer, Beach will oversee the U.S. Mint, the printing of currency and Fort Knox and serve as a key link with the Federal Reserve.
Trump credited Beach, who has been in the Georgia Senate since 2013, with helping Republicans “secure a Massive and Historic Victory for our Movement in the Great State of Georgia.”
Trump defeated Harris in Georgia last year, winning 50.7% of the vote to Harris’ 48.5%, after a narrow defeat to Biden four years earlier in the battleground state.
In addition to supporting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Beach also condemned prosecutions of Trump as "politically influenced lawfare" and urged Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to dismiss the indictment of Trump and his allies in Georgia. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
‘Somebody has to go down’: Trump allies take aim at Michael Waltz
A growing number of Trump’s allies are calling on him to fire his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, to try to mitigate the political fallout from revelations that the nation’s top defense officials discussed sensitive military operations in a commercial app — and inadvertently included a journalist in their chat group.
According to screenshots published by The Atlantic, a Signal user named “Michael Waltz” initially invited Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s editor in chief, into the conversation on the app Signal. The group, according to The Atlantic, appears to have included Vance, several other members of the Cabinet involved in national security issues, Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Some of the people were identified only by their initials.
Trump and his aides insist none of the information about strikes against Yemeni Houthis — a group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization — was classified when Hegseth shared it with the group.
UAW, which endorsed Harris, praises Trump auto tariffs
The United Auto Workers praised the 25% tariff Trump announced for automobile imports today, saying in a statement that it could lead to more blue-collar jobs, spur investment in domestic manufacturing and correct trade agreements it characterized as "allowing automakers to offshore U.S. jobs and drive a race to the bottom."
“We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working class communities for decades. 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,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement also calling for stronger rights for all autoworkers.
“These tariffs are a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S,” Fain added.
The praise for Trump marks a shift in tone for a union that emerged as one of his loudest critics last year, when it ultimately decided to endorse Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
In remarks at the Democratic National Convention, Fain praised Harris as a "fighter for the working class" and called Trump a "scab," in part for his visit to a nonunion manufacturing plant in Michigan during a campaign stop.
"The UAW has been clear: we will work with any politician, regardless of party, who is willing to reverse decades of working-class people going backwards in the most profitable times in our nation’s history," Fain said in his statement today.
The union called for the Trump administration to next renegotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which it said "perpetuated NAFTA’s harmful effects by increasing the trade deficit with Mexico and allowing automakers to offshore U.S. jobs."
Trump negotiated the USMCA during his first term.
Secret Service reunites child with parents after he slips through White House fence
There was another White House security breach today, just not the kind that’s likely to spark talk of congressional inquiries.
Secret Service personnel carried a small child off the White House grounds after he slipped onto the property through security fencing.
Video captured by NBC News' Peter Alexander shows several agents carrying the child, who's seen waving, on the North Lawn of the White House, where he was quickly reunited with his parents.
"Just after 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers observed a child slip through the White House north fence," the agency said in a statement. "Officers quickly reunited the child with their parents without incident."
Trump floats tariff reduction if China agrees to TikTok deal
Trump said this evening that he might give China “a little reduction in tariffs” if its government approves a TikTok deal his administration brokered.
“China is going to have to play a role in that,” he said at a news conference at the White House, “possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that.”
Trump signed a memorandum last month calling for “fair and reciprocal” trade tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners, including longtime allies. He previously announced that April 2, when sweeping trade levies are announced, would be “Liberation Day in America.”
TikTok’s fate in the United States has been up in the air since last year, following the passage of a bipartisan law signed by President Joe Biden. The legislation forces the platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to a non-Chinese buyer or face a nationwide ban.
Trump calls questions about Signal chat group a 'witch hunt'
Taking questions in the Oval Office, Trump denounced continued coverage of the Signal chat leak as “a witch hunt” and defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump said of his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, “I guess he said he claimed responsibility.”
“I always thought it was Mike,” he said, adding that Hegseth "had nothing to do with it."
Asked whether classified information was shared in the Signal group chat, which inadvertently included a journalist, Trump responded: “That’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know. I’m not sure. You have to ask the various people involved. I really don’t know.”
He said he would ask Hegseth to review whether any of the information in the messages should have been classified.
Waltz last night said on Fox News that he takes "full responsibility" for putting together the text group, which accidentally included The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief.
GOP senator criticizes use of Signal to discuss military plans
More Republican lawmakers are weighing in on the use of a Signal chat by several top Trump administration leaders to discuss imminent military plans, with some sharpening their criticisms of the U.S. officials use of the platform.
Leaving a Senate Intelligence Committee closed-door meeting this afternoon, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told reporters that there’s “no rationale” for a detailed conversation about military strikes to have taken place on a commercial messaging app.
“I can’t see any rationale for the kind of conversation that took place over Signal, for not taking place in a more secure manner than that. I think that’s hard to explain,” he said.
Asked whether he thinks the information that was discussed was classified, Moran said: “Certainly, the topic is of a nature in which you would not want our adversaries to know. You certainly wouldn’t want the details known, and this form of communication allowed that to happen.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., dodged when he was asked how the information in the chat was not classified, telling reporters that the American people “can decide for themselves.” Rounds said that he believes mistakes were made but that he doesn’t “expect to see it happen again.”
"I think it was a real learning experience for this group of leaders," he said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., defended Hegseth and other national security officials involved in the group chat, saying there’s no issue with discussing sensitive information via Signal. But he did call it a “mistake” to include a reporter in the chat.
“I just fail to see what the big deal is here, other than that a reporter was inadvertently added,” Hawley said.
