President Donald Trump has said that the “termination” of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell “cannot come fast enough,” one day after Powell warned that Trump’s tariffs were “highly likely” to cause inflation and may put the Fed in a “challenging situation.”
Trump has been pushing Powell to cut interest rates, something the chair has been hesitant to do. This comes as the European Central Bank cut its interest rates on Thursday, infuriating the president.
“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Meanwhile, Americans now trust Democrats with the economy over Republicans for the first time in years, amid ongoing uncertainty over Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy.
Gold prices began to slip in early trading on Thursday but remain up a significant 40 percent over 12 months, with investors continuing to flock to the safe-haven bullion.
Key Points
- Republicans less trusted on economy than Democrats for first time in years
- Trump administration says Harvard could lose right to enrol foreign students
- Why gold is seen as ‘safe haven’ investment
- Fed chair says Trump trade war risks higher inflation
- A federal judge temporarily limits DOGE’s access to Social Security systems
- Democratic senator meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Democratic senator meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
04:01 , Kelly RissmanSenator Chris Van Hollen has finally met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the mistakenly deported Salvadoran father Donald Trump’s administration is fighting to keep inside a brutal El Salvador jail.
The senator from Maryland traveled to El Salvador this week to ensure Abrego Garcia’s safety and help secure his release.
After he was initially denied a meeting or a chance to speak with the Maryland father, the senator posted a photo on social media late Thursday night that shows him sitting with Abrego Garcia at a table in what appeared to be a dining room.
Alex Woodward has the story.
Democratic senator meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Nearly $1 billion of DOGE ‘savings’ vanish overnight
04:00 , Gustaf KilanderAriana Baio writes:
The Department of Government Efficiency’s website quietly removed nearly one billion dollars in what it claims to have “saved” through canceled contracts, grants or leases this past week.
In the latest example of altering figures on the agency’s website, staffers at DOGE seemingly updated its claimed savings overnight on Tuesday, erasing approximately $962 million, according to NOTUS.
The largest of the disappeared cuts made this week, identified using the Wayback Machine, appears to be a $1.1 billion contract with the Acacia Center for Justice. The group provided legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children who enter the U.S. DOGE initially claimed the termination would save $367 million, but now the contract isn’t listed at all.
Read more:
A federal judge temporarily limits DOGE’s access to Social Security systems
04:00 , Kelly RissmanA federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing a Social Security Administration system that holds personally identifiable information.
“This Order does not preclude SSA from providing members of the DOGE Team with access to redacted or anonymized data and records of SSA,” the judge wrote in a Thursday order.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander wrote: “For some 90 years, SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records. This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation.”
The preliminary injunction came just hours before the judge’s March 20 temporary restraining order blocking access was set to expire. She heard arguments on Tuesday over whether to extend the TRO.
It also comes days after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration was “repurposing Social Security’s ‘death master file’ in an effort to pressure immigrants to ‘self deport.” More than 6,000 names of migrants whose legal statuses had been revoked had been added to the file as of last week, according to the outlet.
El Salvador's president posts photos of Kilmar Abrego Garcia during senator meeting
03:18 , Kelly RissmanNayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, posted photos of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was removed by the Trump administration to a megaprison in the country.
Abrego Garcia has “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture,’ now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” he wrote Thursday evening, alongside photos of the Salvadoran man meeting with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Earlier this week, after multiple court orders demanded Abrego Garcia’s return, Bukele said at the White House that he didn’t have the “power” to return him.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025
‘I can’t protect my unborn baby from HIV’: The stark reality of Trump’s aid cuts
03:16 , Gustaf KilanderBel Trew writes:
Leaning in pain against the wall of her one-room hut, Hadja, a mother of three, worries about who will look after her children if she dies.
The 27-year-old was unknowingly infected with HIV by her husband before falling pregnant in her village in southern Uganda. Since the US made devastating cuts to its global HIV programmes in January, slashing funding, she has struggled to access her lifesaving medication – drugs that would crucially prevent the transmission of the virus to her baby.
“When you go to the government hospital, they don’t give you the medicine. There are days we go to the hospitals and there are no doctors, days when they don’t have drugs,” she says, explaining that she earns just £1.50 a day making and selling pancakes – far too little to afford antiretroviral medication on her own.
“Our lives depend on medicine – without it, our lives are shortened. If I die, my children will suffer.”
Read more:
‘I can’t protect my unborn baby from HIV’: The stark reality of Trump’s aid cuts
Maryland senator meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia
03:03 , Kelly RissmanSenator Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was removed from Maryland to El Salvador and kept there despite court orders demanding his return.
The senator posted a photo of him talking with Abrego Garcia, one day after he was denied a meeting.
I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return. pic.twitter.com/U9y2gZpxCb
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 18, 2025
Mike Myers asks 'will there always be a Canada' in ad for Mark Carney
02:30 , Gustaf KilanderCanada is forever.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 17, 2025
pic.twitter.com/SVdOOkhOUS
Trump suggests firing of Fed chair is coming – but he doesn’t have the power to remove him
01:45 , Gustaf KilanderAriana Baio writes:
President Donald Trump lashed out at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday morning, suggesting that his “termination” is coming soon - despite having no power to enforce this.
The outburst come less than a day after Powell warned that Trump’s tariffs were “highly likely” to cause inflation and could put the Fed in a “challenging situation” where it’s trying to balance growth and manage inflation.
Powell’s speech suggested the Fed does not plan to cut rates anytime soon – something Trump has been pushing him to do.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank moved to slash its interest rates on Thursday, further angering Trump.
Read more:
Trump suggests firing of Fed chair is coming despite having no power to remove him
The climate crisis truth that Trump’s re-election helped expose
01:00 , Gustaf KilanderMike Berners-Lee comments:
After three decades of Cop climate meetings, the carbon emissions curve is still rising year-on-year. In other words, every year we are making the climate worse by a larger amount than we did the year before. The climate Cops have been perverted almost from the beginning by the cynical, well-funded, and highly effective action of vested business interests. However you look at it, action on climate change has always been pitiful compared to what the scientists have been saying is needed.
Clutching at straws, many well-intentioned wishful thinkers who say we have been making progress, point to the possibility that the steepness of the curve looks to have been declining. But that was before “drill, baby drill”.
Read more:
The climate crisis truth that Trump’s re-election helped expose
Sen. Warren weighs in on Trump's 'termination' comments
Friday 18 April 2025 00:45 , Kelly RissmanTrump can’t legally fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren told CNBC after the president said his termination “cannot come fast enough.”
Powell began his second four-year term in 2022 and cannot legally be removed until his term ends, the senator argued. She acknowledged that Trump has tested the Constitutional limits in recent weeks before launching into a hypothetical fallout that could occur if Powell was terminated.
Warren warned that if he was fired by the president, “it will crash the markets in the United States.” It’s important that the Federal Reserve makes decisions independent from politics, she said.
“We understand that if the New York Stock Exchange, if interest rates in the United States are subject to a president who just wants to wave his magic wand, this doesn’t distinguish us from any other two-bit dictatorship around the world,” she said.
Elizabeth Warren on CNBC explains why Trump illegally firing Jerome Powell would wreck the economy and take the US down a fast track toward dictatorship pic.twitter.com/7BdyCPh3WC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
Supreme Court to hear landmark case that could end birthright citizenship for kids of undocumented migrants
Friday 18 April 2025 00:35 , Gustaf KilanderAriana Baio and Mark Sherman write:
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the case regarding President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to certain immigrants
In a brief order on Thursday, the justices declined to lift a temporary pause, which three lower court judges ruled on, that prevents Trump’s executive order from taking effect nationwide.
They have scheduled arguments for May 15.
Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to parents in the country illegally. The right is enshrined in the 14th Amendment.
Read more:
Trump extends federal hiring freeze
Friday 18 April 2025 00:19 , Kelly RissmanIn an executive order signed Thursday evening, President Donald Trump extended the hiring freeze of federal employees within the executive branch.
“I hereby extend through July 15, 2025, the freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees within the executive branch, as initially directed in the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025,” the order says.
The original order was set to expire on Saturday.
Ryanair boss issues warning over Trump’s tariffs for aviation industry
Friday 18 April 2025 00:15 , Gustaf KilanderAmelia Neath writes:
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has warned the budget airline could delay deliveries of Boeing aircraft if they become more expensive amid the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“If tariffs are imposed on those aircraft, there’s every likelihood we may delay the delivery,” Mr O’Leary told the Financial Times.
Ryanair is due to receive another 25 aircraft from Boeing from August, but he said they are not needed until “kind of March, April 2026.”
“We might delay them and hope that common sense will prevail,” he added.
The US president imposed the steepest American tariffs on imports in over a century, with a baseline tariff on imports to the US of 10 per cent.
Read more:
Ryanair boss issues warning over Trump’s tariffs for aviation industry
DHS threatens to bar Harvard from enrolling international students unless it shares protest info
Thursday 17 April 2025 23:55 , Gustaf KilanderJosh Marcus writes:
The Trump administration has threatened to pull Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students unless the school shares information about these students’ disciplinary records and participation in protests.
It marks the latest escalation in the White House’s crackdown on the Ivy League university over an alleged failure to address campus antisemitism, an effort critics say is a thinly veiled attempt to exert undue influence over the prestigious university.
In a letter to the university on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Harvard of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students.
Read more:
DHS threatens to bar Harvard from enrolling international students
US-UK trade deal could impact relations with China, ex-spy chief warns
Thursday 17 April 2025 23:30 , Gustaf KilanderMathilde Grandjean has this story:
The UK “would be in trouble” if it was to agree a trade deal with the US at the expense of China, a former spy chief has claimed.
Nigel Inkster, the former deputy head of MI6, issued the warning after White House officials said they believe a trade deal with the UK could be agreed “within three weeks”, according to the Telegraph.
The UK is hoping a deal can help stave off the full brunt of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping 10% tariffs on all goods imported to the US.
But Mr Inkster said a US-UK deal could negatively impact Britain’s relationship with China, which is a “critical supplier” of pharmaceuticals in both the UK and the US.
Read more:
US-UK trade deal could impact relations with China, ex-spy chief warns
Appeals court warns of mounting ‘crisis’ over Trump’s refusal to ‘facilitate’ Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return
Thursday 17 April 2025 23:00 , Gustaf KilanderAlex Woodward writes:
Donald Trump’s attempt to “stash away” residents of the United States in a brutal prison in El Salvador “without due process” should be “shocking” to Americans’ “intuitive sense of liberty,” according to a panel of federal appeals court judges.
A three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. on Thursday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to block a court order to enforce a Supreme Court ruling for the government to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant who was living in Maryland.
A blistering order written by Ronald Reagan-appointed appellate judge J. Harvie Wilkinson said “the government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”
The government claims that “it has rid itself of custody” of Abrego Garcia and “there is nothing that can be done,” according to the order.
Read more:
Appeals court slams Trump for trying to ‘stash away residents in foreign prisons’
Trump calls Harvard a 'disgrace'
Thursday 17 April 2025 22:46 , Kelly RissmanAsked about why he has moved to change Harvard University’s tax status, Trump said in the Oval Office Thursday: “Because I think Harvard is a disgrace. They are obviously anti-semitic, and all of a sudden they are starting to behave.”
He noted that to his understanding, no final decision has been made about the Ivy League school’s status.
Earlier this week, the president suggested on Truth Social that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status if it “keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’”
Earlier on Thursday, the Trump administration threatened the university’s ability to enroll international students unless the school shares information about any of their disciplinary actions “as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests.” The school must comply by April 30.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote a letter to the university, accusing the school of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students
“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” she wrote in the letter.
Inside the brutal mega-prison where Trump administration has wrongly sent Maryland father
Thursday 17 April 2025 22:45 , Gustaf KilanderMarcos Alemn, Regina Garcia Cano, Alex Brandon write:
The Trump administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting a Maryland man with protected legal status to a notorious El Salvador prison.
However, the government is arguing against returning the man to the United States because of his alleged gang ties and the lack of power it has over decisions made by the Central American nation.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March, despite a court order preventing his removal from the US.
The Trump administration has accused Garcia of human trafficking – but has not shared any evidence to that effect.
Read more:
Inside the brutal mega-prison where US has wrongly sent Maryland father
Trump talks TikTok
Thursday 17 April 2025 22:34 , Kelly RissmanThe president expects to reach a deal with China over the social media platform in the coming weeks.
“We’ll just delay the deal until this works out one way or another,” he said. The president predicted the TikTok controversy could conclude within the next three or four weeks.
Trump said to think of America as a “big beautiful department store” that every country “wants a piece of.” China could always walk away and say “we’re not going to shop at the store of America.”
While RFK Jr. warns of an ‘autism epidemic’, his department cut research money to reduce autistic suicides
Thursday 17 April 2025 22:25 , Gustaf KilanderEric Garcia writes:
On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s new report that showed the number of children who received an autism diagnosis had increased from 1 in 36 to 1 in 31.
Kennedy said that the numbers showed that autism had become an “epidemic,” though the actual report from the CDC suggested that the increase in diagnoses came largely as a result of advances in screening.
“This epidemic denial has become a feature in the mainstream media. And it's based on an industry canard,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
But just one month before, Kennedy’s department cut a grant that would have helped reduce suicide among autistic LGBT+ people.
Read more:
RFK Jr. talks about an ‘autism epidemic.’ HHS cut money to reduce suicide in autism
Putin praises Elon Musk as visionary: ‘Such people rarely appear in the human population’
Thursday 17 April 2025 22:00 , Gustaf KilanderFelix Light writes:
Vladimir Putin has drawn a parallel between Elon Musk and a key figure in the Soviet space race, Sergei Korolev, praising the SpaceX founder as a visionary.
Speaking on Russia's space policy at a student meeting, Putin reportedly described Musk, a key adviser of President Donald Trump, as "absolutely crazy about Mars," according to state news agency TASS.
Putin reportedly invoked the legacy of Korolev, the engineer behind Yuri Gagarin's historic 1961 spaceflight, to highlight the rarity of people like Musk.
TASS quoted Putin as saying: "Such people rarely appear in the human population, charged with a certain idea.
Read more:
Putin says Elon Musk a visionary: ‘Such people rarely appear in the human population’
Trump foresees trade deal with China in 'next three or four weeks'
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:57 , Gustaf KilanderREPORTER: How much time will it take for a trade deal with China?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
TRUMP: I would think over the next three or four weeks pic.twitter.com/qvA9S3yt9i
Trump calls Harvard 'a disgrace' amid tax fight
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:49 , Gustaf KilanderReporter: If that was wrong, why are you considering changing the tax status of Harvard?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 17, 2025
Trump: Because I think Harvard is a disgrace… they are obviously anti-semitic.. Tax exempt status is a privilege pic.twitter.com/O8ksdv3yrT
Trump administration takes aim at Harvard's international students and tax-exempt status
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:45 , Gustaf KilanderAnnie Ma, Jocelyn Gecker, and Collin Binkley write:
President Donald Trump's administration has escalated its ongoing battle with Harvard, threatening to revoke the university's ability to host international students as the president called for withdrawing Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
The Department of Homeland Security ordered Harvard late Tuesday to turn over “detailed records" of its foreign student visa holders’ "illegal and violent activities” by April 30. International students make up 27% of the campus.
The department also said it was canceling two grants to the school totaling $2.7 million.
The moves deepen the crackdown on Harvard, which on Monday became the first university to openly defy the administration’s demands related to activism on campus, antisemitism and diversity. The federal government has already frozen more than $2 billion in grants and contracts to the Ivy League institution.
Read more:
Trump administration takes aim at Harvard's international students and tax-exempt status
Tears on my MyPillow: Weeping pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell tells judge he has no money to pay fines: ‘I’m in ruins’
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:30 , Gustaf KilanderRhian Lubin writes:
Donald Trump supporter and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell sobbed to a judge that he is “in ruins” and cannot pay a court-ordered $50,000 fine.
Lindell has been ordered to pay voting software company Smartmatic the hefty fine over false claims he made about the company flipping the 2020 election for Joe Biden. It is one of a number of lawsuits Lindell faces over false election claims.
Now the troubled CEO claims that he doesn’t even have 5 cents left to pay the company the $56,396 he owes.
Read more:
Weepin Mike Lindell tells judge he has no money to pay fines: ‘I’m in ruins’
Trump suggests Jimmy Carter ‘died a happy man’ knowing Biden was a worse president
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:15 , Gustaf KilanderJustin Baragona writes:
Donald Trump declared during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that President Joe Biden’s tenure in office was so terrible that Jimmy Carter “died a happy man” knowing that there was someone “worse” than him.
“And then you had like the last administration, the only thing they were good at was cheating in elections,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “That‘s about all they could do. They couldn‘t do anything. They were useless. They were incompetent.”
He added: “Worst administration in the history of our country. Worse than Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn‘t the worst. President Joe Biden was.”
Read more:
Trump suggests Jimmy Carter ‘died a happy man’ knowing Biden was a worse president
Appeals court denies Trump admin attempt to block court order
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:07 , Alex WoodwardAn Appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s attempt to block a court order to “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return.
80-year-old Reagan-appointed appeals court judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote the Fourth Circuit’s opinion, with Obama appointee Stephanie Thacker and Clinton appointee Robert Bruce King:
The relief the government is requesting is both extraordinary and premature.
While we fully respect the Executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision.
It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all.
The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.
Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.
Fundraising shows something clear: Democratic voters want fighters
Thursday 17 April 2025 21:00 , Gustaf KilanderEric Garcia writes:
Last month marked the end of the first quarter for 2025, which begins the fundraising season ahead of the 2026 midterm cycle. At this point, Democrats hope to ride on Donald Trump’s growing unpopularity to win back the Hosue of Representatives and maybe even win some Senate seats if they get lucky.
But there have been increasing questions about what the Democratic Party’s opposition will look like in the wake of its worst defeat in 20 years. Some have talked about the possibility of a Democratic Tea Party where they will be more confrontational toward Trump, or whether they should work in a more conciliatory manner
Of course, it’s hard to tell what kind of Democrats voters want since primaries will not take place until next year. If reports to the Federal Election Commission filed this week show anything, however, the verdict is clear: Democratic voters want fighters.
Read more:
Fundraising shows something clear: Democratic voters want fighters
House Homeland Security Committee won't approve Dem delegation to Salvadoran prison
Thursday 17 April 2025 20:52 , Gustaf KilanderChairman Mark Green said in a statement, “There is no excuse for Democrats to waste taxpayer dollars visiting and defending a transnational gang member and reported domestic abuser.”
“If Democrats care so much about defending this individual, they can use their own personal credit cards—not taxpayers’ money—to virtue-signal to their radical base,” he added.
Trump reveals new date to sign Ukraine minerals deal, weeks after Oval Office ambush on Zelensky derailed it
Thursday 17 April 2025 20:45 , Gustaf KilanderAndrew Feinberg has the story:
President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States and Ukraine would sign an agreement giving America access to much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth next week, more than a month after a planned White House signing ceremony with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was aborted after a disastrous meeting between him and Trump in the Oval Office.
Trump announced the revived agreement and said it would be signed a week from today as he spoke to reporters alongside Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni on Thursday.
“Well, we have a minerals deal, which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday ... and I assume they're going to live up to the deal, so we'll see,” he said.
Read more:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX frontrunner to build Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield
Thursday 17 April 2025 20:30 , Gustaf KilanderMike Stone and Marisa Taylor have the following story:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as the frontrunner to win a crucial part of Donald Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence shield, alongside two other Trump-aligned partners, several people familiar with the matter have said.
The billionaire owner of Tesla and Trump ally is partnering with software company Palantir and drone manufacturer Anduril in a bid to build key parts of Golden Dome, the six sources said. The lucrative contract has drawn significant interest from the tech sector’s growing base of defence startups.
On 27 January, Trump named a potential missile attack as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States” whilst delivering his executive order. Based on Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defence system, his proposed ‘Golden Dome’ would similarly be designed to provide the US with a robust anti-missile system.
Read more:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX frontrunner to build Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield
China dominates solar. Trump tariffs target China. For US solar industry, that means higher costs
Thursday 17 April 2025 20:00 , Gustaf KilanderAlexa St. John has the following story:
Mike Summers was eager to install solar at his home in Ohio for years, and after he finally replaced his aging roof this year, his solar contractor swung into action. His system — including 19 panels and a battery backup — went up this week, and Summers considers himself lucky.
“I'm glad to have done it when I did,” said Summers, a former mayor in his city of Lakewood just west of Cleveland. He'll get about $10,000 in tax credits on his $39,000 investment, but nearly as important is that all the equipment was readily available.
Other hopeful solar buyers may have a much harder time in the coming months. President Donald Trump's escalating trade war with China threatens to crimp a massive source of solar panels and parts, with experts saying the cost of projects will certainly rise as China retaliates.
Read more:
China dominates solar. Trump tariffs target China. For US solar industry, that means higher costs
JD Vance set for first official visit to India with wife Usha and family
Thursday 17 April 2025 19:30 , Gustaf KilanderArpan Rai writes:
US vice-president JD Vance is set to visit India on a four-day official tour, during which he will meet the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and discuss the terms of a bilateral trade deal.
Mr Modi enjoys warm relations with Mr Vance’s boss Donald Trump, but the US president has also called India the “tariff king” and a “big abuser” and targeted the country with a blanket 26 per cent levy as part of his now-paused tariff programme.
Mr Vance is set to meet the Indian leader on 21 April in Delhi, where the pair are expected to hold discussions on economic, trade and geopolitical ties.
Read more:
JD Vance set for first official visit to India with wife Usha and family
Trump says 'everybody wants to make a deal' amid trade war
Thursday 17 April 2025 19:16 , Gustaf KilanderAmid his trade war, Trump claimed “everybody was to make a deal.”
“And if they don't want to make a deal, we'll make the deal for them,” said the president. “Because that's what's going to happen. We'll just say, 'this is what it is.'"
Trump: "Everybody wants to make a deal. And if they don't want to make a deal, we'll make the deal for them. Because that's what's going to happen. We'll just say, 'this is what it is.'" pic.twitter.com/1uZxDytTTN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
Trump 'not happy' with Zelensky
Thursday 17 April 2025 19:09 , Gustaf KilanderTrump: "I don't hold Zelenskyy responsible, but I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started ... so I'm not happy with him." pic.twitter.com/pctLjlJ6L3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
Trump: 'Jimmy Carter died a happy man because he wasn't the worst the president'
Thursday 17 April 2025 19:08 , Gustaf KilanderTrump claimed Jimmy Carter “died a happy man, because he wasn’t the worst president.”
Trump said that honor is now with Joe Biden.
Trump’s FCC chair blasts MSNBC for ‘news distortion’ and refusal to call deported man a ‘violent’ MS-13 member
Thursday 17 April 2025 19:01 , Gustaf KilanderHere’s Justin Baragona:
FCC chairman Brendan Carr raged at Comcast on Wednesday evening and asserted it was guilty of “news distortion” because its cable news channel MSNBC didn’t carry a White House press briefing that featured the administration continuing to defend its decision to illegally deport a Maryland man.
Donald Trump’s hand-picked FCC commissioner’s suggestion that the NBC parent may have violated its broadcasting licenses over the way its networks covered the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia piggybacked on the White House calling CNN and MSNBC “shameful” for declining to air the presser.
This is also just the latest example of Carr and the Trump administration attacking media outlets over their editorial direction while threatening them with investigations and punishment.
Read more:
Trump’s FCC chair blasts MSNBC for ‘news distortion’ over Abrego Garcia coverage
Trump refers back to lawyers when asked about court orders
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:59 , Gustaf KilanderWhen asked about the possibility that his administration could be held in criminal contempt after ignoring a federal judge’s court orders, Trump referred back to “the lawyers.”
“Well, you're going to have to speak to the lawyers. We have great lawyers. I can tell you this, we're doing a fantastic job of getting criminals out of this country who Biden allowed into the country, hundreds of thousands of criminals, murderers, and drug dealers,” said Trump.
“One of the primary reasons I was elected is because I said, I'm going to get the criminals that he allowed to come into our country so stupidly through open borders, I'm going to get them out,” he added. “And I got a lot of votes, record-setting numbers of votes as you know.”
Read more from Alex Woodward:
Trump officials face criminal contempt after defying judge’s orders
Trump briefed on FSU shooting
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:50 , Gustaf KilanderThe president noted that he has been briefed on the shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
“I've been briefed on the Florida State University, Tallahassee, active shooting,” said Trump. “I guess it's an active shooter, fully briefed as to where we are right now. It's a shame, horrible thing, horrible that things like this take place, and we'll have more to say about it later.”
Associated Press:
A suspect has been taken into police custody and multiple victims were reported in a shooting Thursday at Florida State University, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The extent of the victims’ injuries was not immediately known and there were no additional details about the person who was in custody.
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.
At least six people have been hospitalized, including one person in critical condition, a spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said. The other patients were in serious condition, the spokesperson said.
Ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies raced toward the campus that sits just west of Florida’s state capital after the university issued an active shooter alert midday Thursday, saying police were responding near the student union.
Poll: Americans oppose deporting student visa holders for expressing pro-Palestinian opinions
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:45 , Gustaf KilanderNew poll from @TheFIREorg:
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) April 17, 2025
Americans OPPOSE deporting student visa holders for expressing pro-Palestinian views by a 2:1 margin, 52-26%.
Americans also OPPOSE deporting green card holders for pro-Palestinian views, 54-23% pic.twitter.com/nVwp1Mst41
Maryland senator stopped for second time from seeing Abrego Garcia
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:37 , Alex WoodwardMaryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has tried a second time to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia in CECOT during the senator’s trip to El Salvador.
Officials denied him a chance to meet or speak with him yesterday, and today he tried to go to the jail “just to see what his health condition is.”
He arrived there with the family’s attorney, and “soldiers were ordered” to prevent him from getting any closer than 3 km away from the prison, he said.
“They stopped us because they’re under orders not to allow us to proceed to check on the well-being of Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” he said.
We were just denied entry into CECOT — the notorious prison in El Salvador where Mr. Abrego Garcia is being illegally held.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 17, 2025
We were there for one simple reason: to check on his well-being, which his family and lawyers have not been allowed to do. We won’t stop fighting. pic.twitter.com/yG2b7N6Nvn
VOICES: Britain must not trade away its values for a deal with Trump
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:30 , Gustaf KilanderPeter Tatchell writes:
President Trump began by waging economic war on Britain with his punitive tariffs, designed to make UK exports to the US uncompetitive. He apparently couldn’t care less if this results in our companies folding and our workers losing their jobs. His grand plan seems to be to bully the UK into submission to ensure US economic domination.
Seeing the feeble response of the British government to his tariffs, Trump has, by all accounts, been emboldened to now embark on what is tantamount to ideological war against the UK’s human rights laws.
According to people close to the vice president, JD Vance, the Trump team is insisting that to secure a trade deal with the US, Britain will have to repeal its laws against hate speech that protect LGBT+ people – and presumably also ditch similar laws that protect other minorities and women.
Read more:
Britain must not trade away its values for a deal with Trump
Meloni: 'I'm sure we can make a deal'
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:28 , Gustaf KilanderAhead of lunch in the Cabinet Room, Meloni was asked if the retaliatory tariffs are still on the table if no deal is made.
“I'm sure we can make a deal, and I'm here to help on that,” she said. “I cannot lock this deal in the name of the European Union. My goal would be to invite President Trump to pay an official visit to Italy and understand if there's a possibility when it comes to organize also such a meeting with Europe.”
“For I think the best way is that we simply speak frankly about the needs that every one of us has, and finding ourselves a needle,” she added. “That's useful for all ... I'm sure that together, we are stronger. And I have to find a way. I'm here to find the best way to make us both stronger on the two shores of the Atlantic.”
George Clooney and Nate Silver reveal their picks for future of Democratic party and frontrunners for 2028
Thursday 17 April 2025 18:00 , Gustaf KilanderActor George Clooney and statistician Nate Silver have revealed who they believe will be the Democratic nominee in 2028.
Clooney said during an interview with CNN Wednesday that he backs Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who he hailed as a “proper leader” for his handling of the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse last year. Silver, meanwhile, predicts that progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the Democratic pick, citing her high polling numbers.
Silver shared his thoughts on his Silver Bulletin newsletter Wednesday alongside former FiveThirtyEight podcast host Galen Druke, who also chose the New York progressive as his top pick.
Read more:
George Clooney and Nate Silver reveal their picks for future of Democratic party
Trump 'in no rush' to end tariffs as he hold talks with Italy's Meloni
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:49 , APUS President Donald Trump has said that he is in "no rush" to reach any trade deals because of the revenues his tariffs are generating.
But he suggested while meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni that it would be easy to find an agreement with the EU.
His administration has indicated that offers are coming from other countries and it is possible to do 90 deals during the 90-day tariff pause, but the president played down the likelihood of an accelerated timeline, saying any agreements would come "at a certain point".
"We're in no rush," Mr Trump said.
Ms Meloni's meeting with Trump will test her mettle as a bridge between the EU and the US.
She is the first European leader to have face-to-face talks with him since he announced and then partially suspended 20% tariffs on European exports.
Ms Meloni secured the meeting as Italy's leader, but she also has, in a sense, been "knighted" to represent the EU at a critical juncture in the trade war.
She was in close contact with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the trip, and "the outreach is... closely coordinated," a commission spokeswoman said."
We know we are in a difficult moment," Ms Meloni said this week in Rome.
"Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent, and what I am defending."
Trump’s counterterrorism czar says Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s supporters could be charged with ‘aiding and abetting’
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:45 , Gustaf KilanderAlex Woodward and Madeline Sherratt write:
Donald Trump’s counterterrorism czar Sebastian Gorka claims Americans who don’t support the president’s anti-immigration agenda and deportations policy are “on the side of the terrorists.”
He suggested advocates for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran father living in Maryland who was mistakenly deported to a brutal prison in his home country, could be prosecuted for “aiding and abetting.”
“It’s not left and right, it’s not even Republican or Democrat. There’s one line that divides us: Do you love America, or do you hate America? It’s really quite that simple,” Gorka told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Read more:
Sebastian Gorka says Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s supporters are ‘aiding and abetting’
Maryland senator turned away at military checkpoint near infamous prison in El Salvador
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:32 , Gustaf KilanderSen. Chris Van Hollen was turned away at a military checkpoint about a mile away from CECOT, the notorious Salvadoran prison, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held after being seized by U.S. government agents and deported pic.twitter.com/qcNQaF3QOX
— Robert Jimison (@RobertJimison) April 17, 2025
Credit card late fee cap scrapped as Trump admin sides with Wall Street banks
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:30 , Gustaf KilanderMadeline Sherratt writes:
The Trump administration is scrapping a credit card payment cap as well as offloading student loan oversight in an effort to reshape America's consumer watchdog, according to a recently leaked memo.
Mark Paoletta, the chief legal officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – an organization created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis – sent the divisive email to his employees on Wednesday, laying the groundwork for a new Trump agenda, according to a copy of the note obtained and seen by Reuters.
The news followed the landmark ruling by a Texan federal judge who declared Tuesday that a government-set $8 limit on a majority of credit card late fees would no longer apply. The judge ruled that the fee limit illegally stretched the agency’s budget – a stance advocated by a group of U.S. banks, according to The New York Times.
Read more:
Credit card late fee cap scrapped as Trump admin sides with Wall Street banks
Trump claims US was losing 'fortune on trade' under Biden amid trade war
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:27 , Gustaf KilanderThe president took the opportunity to slam his predecessor just before having lunch with the Italian prime minister.
Trump doesn't understand how trade works: "With Biden we were losing a fortune on trade." pic.twitter.com/GExoHuoFom
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
Trump claims US 'was ripped off and taken advantage of by every country in the world'
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:21 , Gustaf KilanderDuring his bilateral meeting with Meloni, Trump claimed that "The United States was ripped off and taken advantage of by every country in the world practically."
Trump: "The United States was ripped off and taken advantage of by every country in the world practically." pic.twitter.com/iN7sUSWM9T
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
Meloni: 'I believe in the West'
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:14 , Gustaf KilanderIn the cabinet room, Meloni said: “I believe in the West unity, and I think simply we have to talk ... and find ourselves in the best middle way to grow together ... that's why I'm here.”
“So if I did not think you are a reliable partner, you would not be here,” she added.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at White House
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:06 , Gustaf Kilander
Schumer calls on Bondi to investigate whether Shapiro arson attack is 'federal hate crime'
Thursday 17 April 2025 17:00 , Gustaf KilanderDemocratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has asked in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that she investigate whether the arson attack against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro “constitutes a federal hate crime.”
“Given the deeply troubling allegations that the suspect targeted Governor Shapiro based in part on his religious identity, the April 13 incident warrants immediate and serious federal scrutiny,” said Schumer. “While the Shapiro family slept inside, the suspect allegedly set their home ablaze, causing extensive damage and leaving lasting anguish not only for the victims, but for Americans across the country. The suspect has since been charged with attempted homicide, terrorism, and aggravated arson.”
House Republican claims 'transformational change' will 'take some time' amid economic downturn
Thursday 17 April 2025 16:45 , Gustaf KilanderRepublican Rep. Lisa McClain appeared on CNN, where she was asked how long she would “give grace” if prices rise and groceries become more expensive.
“To make transformational change, it's going to take some time,” said McClain.
CNN: If prices rise and this really does make it harder for your constituents to buy groceries, how long of a period are you gonna give grace?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2025
REP. LISA McCLAIN: To make transformational change, it's going to take some time pic.twitter.com/wrZiqGrfnH
Ariana Baio has the following story on the cost of living:
President Donald Trump claims he’s driving down the cost of everyday goods such as groceries and gasoline with his policies but data from the consumer price index indicates only some products are getting cheaper.
The average prices of gasoline, bread and tomatoes have gone down since Trump took office in January but the cost of other goods such as eggs and beef have risen. Those numbers, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also have not reflected the impact of tariffs.
But that hasn’t stopped the president from touting confidence about consumer prices.
Read more:
Trump claims the cost of gas and groceries has gone down. Have they?
DOGE puts entire AmeriCorps leadership on leave as future of disaster volunteer group in jeopardy
Thursday 17 April 2025 16:30 , Gustaf KilanderRhian Lubin writes:
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has placed the leadership of the 30-year-old community volunteering service AmeriCorps on leave, putting the group’s future in jeopardy.
The community service program that sends young adults to work on projects across the U.S. is the latest target of the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to slash government spending.
AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.
Read more:
DOGE puts entire AmeriCorps leadership on leave as future of group in jeopardy
George Clooney says it was his ‘civic duty’ to tell Joe Biden to quit the 2024 election
Thursday 17 April 2025 16:00 , Gustaf KilanderHere’s Greg Evans:
George Clooney has told CNN that it was his “civic duty” to call on Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
In July 2024, Clooney wrote a much-discussed op-ed for The New York Times encouraging Biden to step aside so that the Democrats could appoint a new nominee. Barack Obama reportedly received an advanced version of the article following Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
During a conversation about Clooney’s Broadway adaptation of his 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck, Jake Tapper suggested that Clooney’s essay was “brave”.
The Ocean’s Eleven actor pushed back on that remark, saying: “I don’t know if it was brave. It was a civic duty .”
Clooney, who describes himself as a Kentucky Democrat, added that he “saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought that was time to”.
Read more:
George Clooney says it was his ‘civic duty’ to tell Biden to quit the 2024 election
Trump admin files motion to strike down order to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's return
Thursday 17 April 2025 15:45 , Alex WoodwardThe Trump administration has filed its emergency motion with an appeals court to strike down a judge’s order to “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
Government attorneys contort the Supreme Court’s ruling to claim that the justices unanimously agreed with the president (they did not).
They argue that Judge Paula Xinis’s ruling this week for officials to explain what, if anything, the administration is doing to get him back has “set down the same unjustifiable path, all in service of a member of a foreign terrorist organization with no valid right to be in the United States in the first place.”
“The federal courts do not have the authority to press-gang the President or his agents into taking any particular act of diplomacy,” they write. “Instead, in this context, the courts only have the authority to order the Executive to ‘facilitate’ the return of an alien removed abroad. And as that term has long been understood and applied, that means the Executive must remove any domestic barriers to the alien’s return; it does not, and constitutionally cannot, involve a directive to take any act upon a foreign nation.”
The government is also asking the appeals court to strike down a judge’s decision to allow depositions and hearings about the administration’s failure to return Abrego Garcia, which attorneys called a “fishing expedition” and “untenable.”
The government has already received discovery requests from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys for all communications about “any payments or detention arrangements” between the administration and El Salvador, attorneys said.
Rumeysa Ozturk denied bond by Louisiana judge
Thursday 17 April 2025 15:30 , Alex WoodwardAn immigration court judge in Louisiana last night denied Rumeysa Ozturk bond, keeping her in an ICE detention center while she continues to challenge her arrest and threat of deportation for writing an op-ed critical of Israel.
“Yesterday’s decision is exactly why we are fighting for the federal courts to intervene in Ms. Ozturk’s immigration case,” her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said in a statement. “Ms. Ozturk has committed no crime and DHS has provided zero evidence in their case against her.”
She is separately challenging the constitutionality of her arrest in a federal court in Vermont.
The case rests “only on the “same one-paragraph memo from the State Department to ICE that just points back to Rumeysa’s op-ed,” according to attorney Marty Rosenbluth.
Ozturk has been in ICE detention since March 25, when she was arrested by plain-clothes agents outside her apartment in Massachusetts.
Trump to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today
Thursday 17 April 2025 15:00 , Andrew FeinbergPresident Trump is scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, their first face-to-face meeting since he took office for the second time and the second since he won the 2024 presidential election.
They last met when Trump, then president-elect, travelled to France for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
A senior administration official told reporters the agenda for their bilateral talks will include "trade, all gains regarding defense, shipping, and Italy's role in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor."
"President Trump and Prime Minister Meloni will also discuss ways to increase space cooperation and promote joint opportunities to develop critical technologies like AI, telecommunications and biotechnology," the official said.
The official also added that Trump and his aides see Meloni as a "valuable interlocutor" with the European Union as the president attempts to renegotiate trade arrangements with the 27-nation bloc.
White House will roll out 30,000 eggs for Easter event - and no, it won’t raise your grocery store prices
Thursday 17 April 2025 14:45 , Gustaf KilanderHere’s Ariana Baio:
Almost 30,000 real eggs will be used at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday - despite a national shortage and high prices.
For more than 140 years, the president and first lady have hosted children and families on the lawn of the White House, playing egg-based games and taking part in hunts as a celebration of Easter. The American Egg Board has long assisted in helping the White House put on the tradition, donating tens of thousands of eggs for the past 50 years.
This year will be no different.
Read more:
Pentagon official at the center of Jackie Robinson scandal resigns
Thursday 17 April 2025 14:24 , Joe SommerladJohn Ullyot, the Pentagon’s top spokesman for the first two months of Donald Trump’s administration, has resigned his position.
Ullyot had been at the center of the scandal surrounding the removal of baseball great Jackie Robinson’s biography from the Department of Defense’s website.
Pentagon official at the center of Jackie Robinson scandal suddenly resigns
China calls informal U.N. meeting over U.S tariff 'bullying'
Thursday 17 April 2025 14:07 , Rachel ClunChina’s foreign ministry said it will convene an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council next week to discuss the potential global economic harm being caused by America’s additional tariffs.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “Recently, the U.S., disregarding the balance of interests reached through multilateral trade negotiations, has abused tariffs under the pretext of seeking reciprocity and fairness, which deals a heavy blow to the global economic order and the multilateral trading system, and seriously undermines the interests and well-being of all countries.
“Such act of unilateralism, power politics and bullying has also brought unprecedented difficulties and challenges to the United Nations and the cause of multilateralism.”
Lin said China wanted the Security Council to: “gain a deeper understanding of the harms of unilateralism and bullying acts, reaffirm the commitment to multilateralism and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and build consensus for strengthening the role of the United Nations and safeguarding the legitimate development rights and interests of all countries.”
ECB cuts interest rates over tariff tension fears
Thursday 17 April 2025 13:50 , Rachel ClunThe European Central Bank decided to cut interest rates over growing fears about a global trade war sparked by the Trump administration’s tariff policies.
“The euro area economy has been building up some resilience against global shocks, but the outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to rising trade tensions,” the ECB said in a statement.
“Increased uncertainty is likely to reduce confidence among households and firms, and the adverse and volatile market response to the trade tensions is likely to have a tightening impact on financing conditions.
“These factors may further weigh on the economic outlook for the euro area.”
The bank’s governing council decided to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25 percent, the seventh cut since the bank previously sharply raised interest rates to combat post-pandemic inflation.
Did Democratic senator who tried to help Kilmar Abrego Garcia violate the Logan Act by visiting El Salvador?
Thursday 17 April 2025 13:35 , Joe SommerladMaryland’s Chris Van Hollen infuriated Republicans with yesterday’s trip, so much so that they are now accusing him of violating a 200 year-old law aimed at preventing people from undermining the government.
Did senator who tried to help man wrongly deported to El Salvador violate Logan Act?
Trump had 'very productive' call with Mexico
Thursday 17 April 2025 13:15 , Rachel ClunDonald Trump said he had a “very productive” call with the president of Mexico on Wednesday, the day after he lifted tariffs on Mexican tomatoes.
Even before he introduced sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, the president slapped a 25 percent tariff on all goods exported to the U.S from Mexico.
He also increased tariffs on all car exports to 25, and lifted duties on aluminum and steel to the same level.
Then on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it would raise the tariff on Mexican tomatoes to 21 per cent when the existing trade agreement – signed by Trump in his first term – ends in 90 days.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday she hoped the two countries could come to an agreement.
Writing on social media, Trump said: “Had a very productive call with the President of Mexico yesterday.
“Likewise, I met with the highest level Japanese Trade Representatives. It was a very productive meeting. Every Nation, including China, wants to meet! Today, Italy!”
White House enlists grieving Maryland mother in effort to blunt criticism for defying court order on mistaken deportation
Thursday 17 April 2025 12:55 , Joe SommerladAs criticism mounts over the Trump administration’s failure to heed a court order commanding the government to “facilitate” the return of a man who was mistakenly deported and incarcerated in a Salvadoran prison, the White House attempted to change the subject on Wednesday with an emotional appearance in the James Brady press briefing room by the mother of a murder victim who recounted graphic details of her daughter’s death at the hands of a Salvadoran gang member.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was accompanied at Wednesday’s briefing by Patty Morin, a Bel Air, Maryland, woman whose daughter, Rachel Morin, was raped and murdered in August 2023 by a MS-13 member, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez.
Leavitt almost immediately began shouting at the assembled journalists about how Democrats in Congress have “refused to accept the will of the people” by pushing back on the administration’s summary arrests and deportations of Latin American men without due process, as well as their subsequent incarceration in a Salvadoran prison absent any criminal charges or convictions.
Andrew Feinberg and Alex Woodward report.
White House enlists grieving Patty Morin in hope of silencing deportation criticism
Trump celebrates American Samoa on 125th anniversary
Thursday 17 April 2025 12:51 , Joe SommerladAfter bitterly attacking Jerome Powell, here’s Trump on happier form paying tribute to American Samoa – and Tulsi Gabbard.
American Samoa: Happy Flag Day! Today marks the 125th Anniversary of American Samoa becoming a treasured part of the United States, and our Great American Flag has flown over the Islands ever since.
— Trump Posts on 𝕏 (@trump_repost) April 17, 2025
The Chiefs who first chose to raise the Stars and Stripes over Samoa gave their…
Trump surprises Japanese trade envoy by jumping in on tariff talks
Thursday 17 April 2025 12:35 , Joe SommerladThe president has said “big progress” was made on trade negotiations with Japan yesterday after he directly participated in talks with a Japanese delegation to the White House, even as both sides parted ways with little more than an agreement to meet again in place.
Japan, which was hit by a 24 percent blanket tariff along with an existing 25 percent duty on automobiles during Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, was one of the first countries to formally kick off negotiations, an early test of Washington's willingness to cede ground on the duties.
Although the blanket tariff on Japanese imports has since been paused for 90 days, a 10 percent universal rate remains in place, as does the duty for cars, a mainstay of Japan’s export-reliant economy.
Japan’s automobile sector, which comprises 20 percent of the total exports, could lose $17bn in export potential in the U.S. due duties, according to reports.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has more.
Trump claims ‘big progress’ in tariff talks with Japan after surprise appearance
Recap: Trump’s trade war will cause dilemma for the Fed, says chairman Jerome Powell
Thursday 17 April 2025 12:15 , Joe SommerladHere’s Josh Marcus with more background on the president’s attack on the Federal Reserve chairman just now.
Trump trade war means inflation and labor dilemma for the Fed, says chairman
Trump hits out at Fed chair
Thursday 17 April 2025 11:57 , Rachel ClunDonald Trump has hit out at the Federal Reserve chair, saying that his “termination cannot come fast enough”.
In a Chicago speech Jerome Powell warned the “significantly larger than expected” tariffs could drive inflation back up.
He also said the central bank would see how the economy reacts before shifting interest rates from their current 4.25-4.5 percent range.
Trump said the European Central Bank was expected to cut interest rates, with a decision due on Thursday, and said the Fed should have also lowered rates “long ago”.
“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” he said on social media.
“Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Republicans less trusted on economy than Democrats for first time in years
Thursday 17 April 2025 11:45 , Rachel ClunFor the first time in years, American trust the Democrats more on the economy than they do Republicans.
A new survey from Morning Consult shows 46 percent of Americans believe Democrats are handling the economy better, compared to 43 percent who believe Republicans are doing better.
It’s the first time since May 2021 where more people have trusted Democratic lawmakers with the economy over Republicans.
It follows a CBS News/YouGov poll which found Donald Trump’s personal economic approval rating had dropped four points from March, with 60 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of his tariffs.
On April 2, Trump announced blanket 10 per cent tariffs for most U.S. trading partners and higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens more.
Then last week, he paused the higher tariffs in response to the bond market, while ratcheting up duties on Chinese goods to 145 percent.
Analysis: How Harvard drew a line against Donald Trump
Thursday 17 April 2025 11:33 , John BowenJohn Bowen has examined the escalating conflict between the White House and Harvard University:
This week, America’s oldest educational institution defied the Trump administration.
Harvard’s president Alan Garber issued a defiant statement on Monday stating that the university wouldn’t accept a list of demands from the Trump administration he said amounted to a federal takeover of the institution.
The Trump administration had demanded the university cooperate with federal agencies engaged in prosecuting and, in the case of foreign-born students, targeting for deportation, college students who engaged in a broad range of activities in opposition to the Israeli government’s siege of Gaza. It also would have forced Harvard to end diversity-based hiring policies.
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach,” wrote Harvard’s president.
The framework of resistance is beginning to form. And one of the biggest names in Democratic politics is throwing himself behind it.
Trump administration says Harvard could lose right to enrol foreign students
Thursday 17 April 2025 11:16 , Rachel Clun, ReutersThe Department of Homeland Security has demanded details of Harvard University’s foreign students’ “illegal “activities or risk losing the ability to enrol any foreign students.
In the escalating dispute between the Trump administration and Harvard, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the department was cancelling two grants worth more than $2.7 million while accusing the institution of “bending the knee to antisemitism”.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the "illegal and violent activities" of Harvard's foreign student visa holders by April 30.
"And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," Noem said in a statement.
Earlier this week the university defied the White House, saying it would not enact a long list of demands issued by the administration, saying it would “not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights”.
Fed won't shift interest rates until it has 'clarity' on tariff impact
Thursday 17 April 2025 10:53 , Rachel ClunFederal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank wants to wait and see what effect higher tariffs have on the U.S. economy before making any changes to interest rates.
Powell said in a speech in Chicago that the effects of the Trump administration’s “substantial policy changes” in immigration, regulation, fiscal policy and trade were still evolving, “and their effects on the economy remain highly uncertain”.
“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,” he said on Wednesday evening.
“The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”
Powell said the central bank wants to see what happens before shifting interest rates from current levels.
“As that great Chicagoan Ferris Bueller once noted, "Life moves pretty fast." For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”
Why gold is seen as ‘safe haven’ investment
Thursday 17 April 2025 10:44 , Rachel ClunGold prices are down slightly at the start of trading today, but are still up 11 per cent over the month and a whopping 40 per cent over 12 months.
Those are big gains for what is seen as a ‘safe’ commodity, so why have we seen two record highs this week?
It’s exactly because of that safe status, amid the current global economic turmoil.
Investors have been grappling with worries over the escalating trade war between the United States and China, which intensified after both economies imposed tit-for-tat tariffs.
Uncertainties over higher tariffs - announced, introduced, and then quickly paused last week - have also caused market jitters.
Here are the different ways investors get into gold, and why they opt for bullion.
Trump hosting Italy’s PM for trade talks today
Thursday 17 April 2025 10:32 , Rachel ClunItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is meeting with President Donald Trump later today, joining the procession of visits to the White House from U.S. trading partners hoping for better deals on tariffs.
Meloni is hoping to convince Trump that a “zero for zero” trade deal with the EU is better than the planned 20 percent tariffs on the bloc’s exports.
"Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent, and what I am defending,” Meloni said this week in Rome.
The EU Commission has official authority over the bloc’s trade negotiations, but so far talks between the EU and the U.S. administration have seen little movement on the American side.
Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist at the European Policey Center, told AP that Meloni had “a very delicate mission” ahead of her.
“There is the whole trade agenda, and while she’s not officially negotiating, we know that Trump likes to have this kind of informal exchange, which in a sense is a negotiation. So it’s a lot on her plate."
Gold prices hit new record as uncertainties drive investment shift
Thursday 17 April 2025 10:14 , Rachel Clun, ReutersGlobal share markets fell on Wednesday amid ongoing tariff uncertainty and due to news of U.S. restrictions on chip sales.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would take a wait-and-see approach on interest rates, while warning high tariffs would likely cause “high inflation and slower growth”.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7 percent by close on Wednesday, the S&P 500 dropped 2.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.1 percent.
But the uncertainties continued to draw investors to gold, which rose to $3,320.90 an ounce at close on Wednesday, up from $3,220.50.
Australian bank ANZ on Wednesday updated its forecast for gold to hit $3,600 an ounce by December, saying safe-haven demand for the asset would accelerate.
Watch: Donald Trump hugs mother of murdered Rachel Morin
Thursday 17 April 2025 10:02 , Rachel ClunIn a special White House meeting, Donald Trump comforted Patty Morin, whose daughter was raped and murdered while out hiking. Her killer, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, a fugitive from El Salvador, was convicted of the crime.
Trump invited Mrs Morin to the White House as part of his push to defend his strict deportation policies.
President says courts ‘hate Trump’
Thursday 17 April 2025 09:46 , Rachel ClunDonald Trump has lashed out at the country’s courts saying they ‘hate’ him.
The spray comes after federal judge James Boasberg said in a ruling yesterday that the presidents administration could be held in criminal contempt for ignoring a court order to turn planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants back to the U.S.
Those alleged Venezuelan gang members were instead sent to a brutal El Salvadoran prison, under the president’s use of a wartime law.
In a ruling yesterday Boasberg said the government’s failure to return those flights demonstrates “a willful disregard” that is “sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt.”
The same day, Trump hit out at the U.S. court system on social meda.
“A Judge ruled against us on 530,000 Illegal Migrants … saying that they can’t be looked at as a group, but that each case has to be tried individually. Based on the Court System, that would take approximately 100 years,” he wrote.
“What is going on with our Courts? They are totally OUT OF CONTROL. They seem to hate “TRUMP” so much, that anything goes!”
Trump officials won’t share evidence backing up claim of ‘human trafficking’
Thursday 17 April 2025 09:30 , Rachel ClunOfficials in Donald Trump’s administration have claimed a wrongfully deported Maryland man is “involved in human trafficking”.
But government lawyers haven’t raised those claims in court, and officials have refused to share any evidence supporting the claims.
The allegations appear to have been firse introduced publicly during a White House press conference two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated the claims, labelling Abrego Garcia “a foreign terrorist” and an “MS-13 gang member” who “engaged in human trafficking.”
Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News the same day it “would be insane” to share any reports detailing intelligence linking Garcia to trafficking – an allegation his lawyers and family flatly deny.
“We’re not going to give out our national security documents every time a terrorist denies they are a terrorist,” McLaughlin said.
Watch: El Salvador's president says he won't return Maryland man to U.S.
Thursday 17 April 2025 09:14 , Rachel ClunEl Salvador President Nayib Bukele said earlier this week in a visit to the White House that he would not return wrongly-deported man Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
How was Abrego deported, and what has happened since?
Thursday 17 April 2025 08:59 , Rachel ClunKilmar Abrego Garcia should never have been deported to El Salvador.
In 2019, a judge granted a withholding order that prevents his removal from the country for humanitarian reasons.
Since his extradition to a notorious jail ini El Salvador in March, the Trump administration has repeatedly admitted he was sent there due to an “administrative error.”
The Supreme Court has since ruled that the administration must “facilitate” Garcia’s return to the U.S.
But the White House has said it cannot force El Salvador to return him, and the Trump administration has refused to ask El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele to return Garcia.
Following an Oval Office visit earlier this week, Bukele said he would not be sending Garcia back to America.
Now, Garcia’s lawyers have been allowed to depose administration officials to determine whether they complied with the high court order.
Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, told a crowd of protesters in Maryland that she “will not stop fighting” until she sees her husband alive.
Maryland senator speaks after El Salvador trip
Thursday 17 April 2025 08:44 , Rachel ClunMaryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador did not go as he had planned.
He traveled there to meet with the country’s deputy president but was later denied a meeting with wrongly-deported man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and was not allowed a phone call either. He was also not permitted to meet with Garcia’s family.
Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March despite a court order preventing his deportation. The White House has since said that the Slavadoran citizen has ties to the MS-13 gang, but his lawyers say the government has not provided evidence to prove it.
Van Hollen said it was an “unjust situation”.
"The Trump administration is lying about Abrego Garcia. The American courts have looked at the facts,” he said.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
Thursday 17 April 2025 08:30 , Rachel ClunAbrego Garcia grew up in El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. He moved with his family to Guatemala after a long campaign of extortion from local gang, Barrio 18, against himself and other members of his family.
Garcia later fled to the U.S. illegally when he was 16 to join his older brother Cesar who had also moved to escape gang threats in El Salvador.
Garcia later met Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, and after she learnt she was pregnant he moved in with her and her two children.
In 2019 he ended up being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Abrego Garcia later told an immigration judge that he would seek asylum and asked to be released. Vasquez Sura was five months into a high-risk pregnancy.
ICE argued Garcia was a certified gang member, alleging he belonged to a New York chapter of the MS-13 gang. Garcia has never lived in New York.
Garcia checked in with ICE yearly, and was issued a work permit, and had been raising three children with Vasquez Sura including their 5-year-old son.
Democrat senator labeled 'disgusting' and 'sad' for El Salvador trip
Thursday 17 April 2025 08:07 , Rachel ClunThe Trump administration has hit out at an “appalling” attempt by a Democratic senator to return Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with the country’s vice president on Wednesday and push to free Garcia. The senator was then derided by various members of the Trump administration.
"It's appalling and sad that Sen. Van Hollen and the Democrats applauding his trip to El Salvador today are incapable of having any shred of common sense or empathy for their own constituents and our citizens," White House press secretary Karoline Leavittt said on Wednesday.
White House communications director Steven Cheung called Van Hollen a “complete disgrace to his office” and said he “should be thoroughly shamed for his disgusting actions.”
“Chris and his bedwetting friends have shown more concern and sympathy for an illegal MS-13 gang member than victims of horrific migrant crimes,” he wrote.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan called the trip “disgusting” on Fox News.
Japan and U.S. make “big progress” in trade talks, Trump says
Thursday 17 April 2025 07:42 , Rachel ClunThe U.S and Japan have agreed to hold a second round of trade talks later this month after a preliminary discussion at the White House on Wednesday.
The President surprised Japan by announcing he would attend yesterday’s talks and expanded their scope to include issues such as how much Japan should pay to host U.S troops.
"A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!" Trump wrote on social media, without detailing the discussion.
Japan had sent the relatively junior cabinet minister Ryosei Akazawa for the first round of talks, as the country hopes to talk America down from introducing broad 24 percent tariffs on all its exports to the U.S.
Speaking after the talks, Akazawa said the countries had agreed to hold a second meeting later this month, and that Trump had said securing a deal with Japan was a “top priority”.
Fed chair says Trump trade war risks higher inflation
Thursday 17 April 2025 07:35 , Rachel ClunFederal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has warned that the Trump administration’s shifting tariff policies were putting the central bank in a difficult position.
Powell said the bank may find its dual mandates of maintaining high employment and price stability could end up in tension, in a speech in Chicago on Wednesday.
He warned the tariffs were "significantly larger than anticipated” and will likely cause “higher inflation and slower growth.”
The changing tariffs also give the Fed little room to move. Cutting benchmark interest rates from their current 4.25 - 4.5 percent could stimulate economic growth, but it could also drive inflation back up.
Powell said the central bank will take a wait-and-see approach before making any major changes.
“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”
