Highlights from April 23, 2025
- President Donald Trump said this morning that his administration is "actively" engaging with China on a potential deal to lower tariffs. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Beijing is open to talks but that the United States "should stop threatening and blackmailing China."
- Vice President JD Vance said the United States could walk away from Russia-Ukraine peace talks if neither country agrees to a deal. Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the talks' stalling.
- Trump signed several executive orders today focused on education. One order looks to use the accreditation process for universities, law schools and other graduate programs as another avenue for the administration to combat what it calls "woke" policies.
- Dick Durbin, of Illinois, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said he will not seek re-election in 2026, ending a decadeslong career in Congress.
Judge agrees to pause discovery in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case
The federal judge overseeing litigation over the forced removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia paused discovery in the case until April 30 after attorneys for Abrego Garcia and the Trump administration agreed to the new deadline.
Discovery is the formal process of exchanging information between parties about witnesses and evidence that will be presented at trial.
Judge Paula Xinis chided the administration yesterday for not adequately responding to requests from Abrego Garcia's attorneys for more information, slamming the government for a “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations."
She ordered the administration to provide specific, legal and factual answers to the questions Abrego Garcia's attorney posed.
This morning, a day after that order, the Trump administration filed a motion to pause the ruling concerning the discovery process for seven days.
The filing was sealed — meaning it's unclear why the administration made the request. A filing by Abrego Garcia's attorneys this morning initially opposing the motion was also sealed.
His lawyers said in a statement that they remain focused on bringing Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native and former Maryland resident, back to the United States.
"The court has entered a sealing order, and so therefore we are not at liberty to speak about the current status of the case at this time. We will let you know as soon as there are any publicly available updates," the attorneys said.
House speaker says he 'would not expect' increased tax rate for millioniares in GOP bill
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in an interview with Fox News that aired today that he "would not expect" a Republican bill to hike the tax rate on millionaires.
Johnson was asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering a potential increase in the tax rate for people making over a million dollars in the interview.
"I would not expect that. We have been working against that idea," he said. "I don’t think we’re raising taxes on anybody. What we’re trying to do is prevent the largest tax increase in U.S. history."
Johnson did not elaborate on a proposed plan but said there are "more details coming, and I think you’re going to be very pleased by what you see."
NBC News has reported that Republican lawmakers were debating whether to permit higher tax rates for those in higher income brackets when parts of Trump's 2017 tax law expire to pay for his agenda and limit the nation's debt.
Tulsi Gabbard says she referred two 'leak' cases to the Justice Department
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said that she referred two cases of alleged leaks to the Justice Department today for investigation and that a third criminal referral will soon follow.
The cases include a recent “illegal leak” to The Washington Post, Gabbard said on X, without specifying an article.
“Politicization of our intelligence and leaking classified information puts our nation’s security at risk and must end. Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," she wrote.
“These deep-state criminals leaked classified information for partisan political purposes to undermine POTUS’ agenda. I look forward to working with @TheJusticeDept and @FBI to investigate, terminate and prosecute these criminals.”
Trump holding rally in Michigan to mark first 100 days in office
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed this evening that Trump will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to commemorate his first 100 days in office. The trip will be his first visit to the battleground state since he narrowly defeated Kamala Harris to win Michigan in November.
"President Trump is excited to return to the great state of Michigan next Tuesday, where he will rally in Macomb County to celebrate the FIRST 100 DAYS!" Leavitt said on X.
Trump visited Michigan more than 20 times during the 2024 campaign and held at least three events in Macomb County specifically.
He handily won the Republican-leaning county, defeating Harris by double digits.
Ahead of his visit to Macomb, Trump will travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
Trump upends DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sparking ‘bloodbath’ in senior ranks
The Trump administration has quietly transformed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, forcing out a majority of career managers and implementing new priorities that current and former officials say abandon a decadeslong mission of enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination in hiring, housing and voting rights.
More than a dozen senior lawyers — many with decades of experience working under presidents of both parties — have been reassigned, the current and former officials say. Some have resigned in frustration after they were moved to less desirable roles unrelated to their expertise, according to the sources.
“It’s been a complete bloodbath,” said a senior Justice Department lawyer in the division who is not authorized to speak publicly.
Trump says a millionaire tax would 'be very disruptive'
Trump said a millionaire tax would "be very disruptive" and cause millionaires to leave the United States as Republicans consider heightening taxes for the wealthy to pay for a party-line package.
"I think it would be very disruptive, because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office today. "You know, the old days, they left states. They go from one state to the other. Now, with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries. You’ll lose a lot of money if you do that."
Trump had been asked whether he would support a tax for millionaires.
NBC News reported last week that Republicans have privately discussed increasing taxes on the rich as they examine how to limit debt and boost funding for immigration enforcement and the military.
A dozen states sue to stop Trump’s tariffs
Reporting from Washington
Twelve states filed a lawsuit today challenging the legality of Trump’s broad tariff agenda, arguing it unlawfully undermines Congress’ constitutional authority to regulate foreign commerce.
The legal challenge, led by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, seeks to halt enforcement of the global tariffs Trump levied that invoked a wartime law granting presidents the power to oversee trade if the United States is in a state of emergency.
“By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy,” said the complaint Democratic attorneys general filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Judge rips Mike Lindell lawyers for using AI in court filing
A federal judge in Colorado said today she wants attorneys for MyPillow founder Mike Lindell to explain why she shouldn't sanction them after they admitted using artificial intelligence for a court filing in one of the defamation cases against him.
The motion by Lindell's attorneys had "nearly thirty defective citations," U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang said in a ruling.
"These defects include but are not limited to misquotes of cited cases; misrepresentations of principles of law associated with cited cases, including discussions of legal principles that simply do not appear within such decisions" and "most egregiously, citation of cases that do not exist," Wang wrote.
She said that she asked Lindell's lead attorney, Christopher Kachouroff, about the errors at a hearing Monday and that he initially "declined to explain" how the filing "became replete with such fundamental errors."
"Not until this Court asked Mr. Kachouroff directly whether the Opposition was the product of generative artificial intelligence did Mr. Kachouroff admit that he did, in fact, use generative artificial intelligence," Wang wrote. He also acknowledged he'd failed to check the citations.
She gave him until May 5 to make his case for why he, his clients and fellow attorneys in the case shouldn't be sanctioned. She also directed him to explain "under the oath subject to the penalty of perjury, the circumstances surrounding the preparation" of the filing, "including but not limited to whether Defendants were advised and approved of their counsel’s use of generative artificial intelligence."
Kachouroff told NBC News, "This is a case where the wrong document was filed."
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen got into legal hot water over a similar issue in 2023, but Reuters reported the judge in that case eventually decided not to sanction him after having found the bogus citations weren't made in bad faith.
Elon Musk and Scott Bessent got into a shouting match last week
Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a shouting match last week, two White House officials confirmed to NBC News.
Axios first reported the heated exchange over leadership at the IRS.
“It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process. And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”
NBC News had reported on the disagreement between Bessent and Musk over the pick to lead the IRS.
Trump aims to boost AI training for students, change accreditation rules with new executive orders
Trump signed several executive orders in the Oval Office today focused on education, some continuing the administration's efforts to root diversity equity and inclusion from schools and others aiming to increase apprenticeships and artificial intelligence training opportunities for students.
One order looks to use the accreditation process for universities, law schools and other graduate programs as another avenue for the administration to combat "woke" policies. It accuses third-party accreditors of relying on "woke ideology" to determine accreditation rather than merit and performance.
"We’re charging the Department of Education to really look holistically at this accreditation mess and hopefully make it much better," White House aide Will Scharf told Trump.
A different order looks to prevent federal agencies from using "disparate impact theory" to determine policy, with Scharf saying the theory underlies"modern DEI and CRT-driven diversity culture."
According to Justice Department guidance, disparate impact regulations are used to "ensure programs accepting federal money are not administered in a way that perpetuates the repercussions of past discrimination."
Trump also signed an order aimed at ensuring Historically Black Colleges and Universities "are able to do their job as effectively and efficiently as possible."
The order will establish the White House Initiative on HBCUs, in which federal agencies, private sector employees, educational associations and philanthropic organizations will work together to "increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education to an increasing number of students."
Two of the executive orders are focused on training and workforce development: one directs the Education Department to ensure that young Americans "are adequately trained in AI tools so that they can be competitive," and another charges federal agencies with creating "up to a million" new apprenticeship programs focused in "critical job areas" facing shortages of workers.
Trump said at the signing that Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who was at the event, personally backed an order focused on toughening school discipline policies, citing past guidance that "made it almost impossible for schools to enforce adequate discipline."
In a statement, McMahon accused the Biden-Harris administration of "encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion."
"Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline," McMahon said. "Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.”
Trump also signed an order that directs federal agencies to enforce rules relating to foreign gift disclosure policies for American universities. Scharf accused Harvard specifically of "routinely" violating the law as it relates to the disclosures.
Search warrants in Hunter Biden case unsealed
A federal judge in Delaware last night unsealed search warrants filed by the IRS Criminal Division and the FBI for the contents of emails, iCloud accounts and laptops belonging to Hunter Biden.
The search warrants and application to do not provide any significant new details about the scope of the tax investigation into Biden, an investigation that ultimately led to a guilty plea by the former president’s son and a controversial pardon from his father.
However, two of the warrants do involve the laptop he left behind at a Delaware repair shop that became a focal point for allegations of illegal conduct in the leadup to the 2020 election and well beyond that.
The FBI said it got a tip provided to law enforcement and interviewed the owner of the Mac Store, who gave them an account of when the laptop was brought to his store, what he did with it, as well as his multiple attempts to contact Hunter Biden to retrieve it, according to the search warrant affidavit.
The FBI said that the laptop was registered to Hunter Biden’s iCloud account in October 2018 and that it used his email address and was registered to an address in Wilmington, Delaware, associated with him.
The IRS affidavit goes into further detail, saying the Wilmington address belonged to “SUBJECT’s father,” meaning the Joe Biden.
The FBI said the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware issued a grand jury subpoena for the laptop on Dec. 9, 2019, and took the physical laptop and an external hard drive, which contained a copy of the laptop, into its possession. Separately, the IRS Criminal Division asked to review the laptop for what it believed it contained in connection with its tax case on Dec. 13, 2019.
Several right-wing commenters over the years had suggested that the IRS or the FBI did not search the laptop for a year or longer after having received it.
Sen. Ron Johnson wants to hold a hearing on ‘what actually happened on 9/11’
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said this week that he wants to hold congressional hearings on a debunked conspiracy theory about the Sept. 11 attacks, saying there are “an awful lot of questions” about the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history.
“There’s an awful lot of questions,” Johnson, the chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said in an interview on conservative activist Benny Johnson’s podcast Monday.
“What actually happened on 9/11? What do we know? What is being covered up?” Johnson said of the 2001 attacks. “My guess is there’s an awful lot being covered up in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11.”
Asked whether he planned to hold hearings, Johnson said, “I think so.”
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill to create a version of DOGE for Texas
Texas has become the latest state to launch its own version of DOGE, the advisory commission led by tech billionaire Elon Musk charged with finding ways to cut federal spending.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill today that creates a permanent state agency — called the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office — dedicated to streamlining government and spending.
At a news conference where he signed the bill, Abbott said the federal DOGE had created a solid framework for what the Texas agency would do — though he said the Texas version would focus mostly on slashing state government regulations.
“We actually began working on solutions for this before the name ‘DOGE’ arose. What DOGE did, however, was to crystallize exactly what we were seeking to achieve,” Abbott said. He added that the state agency “will put a check on the growth of the administrative state in Texas” and that “altogether, what this law is going to do is to make government more efficient and less costly.”
The new Texas law will create an advisory panel of business owners, state government workers and others that would work with the governor’s office on determining how to streamline government regulations.
With the bill signed, Texas becomes the latest state where lawmakers have created or have tried to create their own versions of DOGE.
At least 20 other states in recent months have moved forward with efforts to create agencies, committees, task forces and other mechanisms to streamline government regulations or spending, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Republican senator says Hegseth may 'need some help around him'
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he remains confident that Hegseth will be a “great” defense secretary but that he will “need some help around him.”
“I’m confident that Pete Hegseth can still be — and will be — a great secretary of defense,” Cramer told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview this afternoon. “He’s going to need some help around him. I think one of the things he has lacked in the early days is some real expertise, institutional expertise, in the building.”
"The monster that is the Pentagon was a bigger monster perhaps than he even thought," he added.
White House press secretary says Trump isn't softening on China
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this afternoon that the Trump administration will not unilaterally reduce tariffs imposed on China.
"Let me be clear, there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China," she said in an interview on Fox News. "The president has made it clear China needs to make a deal with the United States of America, and we are optimistic that will happen."
She rejected the idea that Trump's position on tariffs on China has been softening.
"He is not going to give up on ensuring that there are fair trade practices around the world," she said. "He is not giving up on the fact that China has been ripping off the United States of America for far too long."
Judge blasts Justice Department for 'temper tantrum ... worthy of a 3-year-old'
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell spent two hours today grilling Justice Department lawyer Richard Lawson about one of the executive orders Trump has issued targeting law firms, criticizing Lawson’s lack of “pretty basic” information.
Howell had issued a temporary restraining order last month preventing the government from implementing an executive order targeting Perkins Coie, ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to send a memo informing agencies of the temporary restraining order.
Bondi and Vought did so, though they added commentary undermining the memo that Howell took issue with today. She wrote that they believed her order was “erroneous” and that the "government reserves the right to take all necessary and legal actions in response to the ‘dishonest and dangerous’ conduct of Perkins Coie LLP, as set forth in Executive Order 14230.”
“It didn’t strike me as necessary,” Howell said. “It struck me as a temper tantrum of the Justice Department and OMB. It’s worthy of a 3-year-old, not the DOJ.”
Fitting a pattern for Justice Department attorneys in the past few months, Lawson was short on details throughout the hearing, repeatedly apologizing to Howell for his lack of knowledge about basic inquiries from the court, including whether the firms that had reached deals with the White House to stave off their own executive orders had actual written agreements.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker explores divesting from El Salvador in the wake of deportations
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced today that he'll direct several state agencies to review their ties to El Salvador in the wake of what his office called "aiding the Trump administration’s unlawful and unconstitutional actions."
“The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power. The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power stop the Trump administration from ripping apart our most basic rights," Pritzker, a Democrat, said in a statement.
In a release, Pritzker's office said that it had directed various Illinois pension funds to review whether they are invested in any companies that are based in El Salvador and that it had ordered the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to evaluate whether any state procurement contracts have been granted to companies based in or controlled by El Salvador.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has sided with Trump in recent weeks in the high-profile deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration admits that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador but maintains that he was a member of the violent MS-13 gang, despite his wife's and his attorney's statements to the contrary.
Members of the Trump administration have also said that because Abrego Garcia is in the custody of El Salvador, they cannot bring him back to the United States. Bukele has declined to free Abrego Garcia.
On Sunday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador last week, said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that disinvesting from the country could be one method of putting pressure on Bukele to release Abrego Garcia.
"There are also pressures we can put on the government of El Salvador, including through, you know, you know, people deciding not to invest in El Salvador, Americans not traveling to El Salvador. So I think there are other pressure points," Van Hollen said.
Product shortages seem to be making an impact on White House thinking about tariffs
The warning from companies this week about product shortages and empty shelves has appeared to have broken through with the White House more than the months of warnings about higher prices, according to a person familiar with business lobbying efforts around tariffs.
With the tariffs so high, they are effectively an embargo, because it is so prohibitively high to bring products into the country that companies just aren’t bringing in goods, the person said.
The White House is particularly concerned about shortages of products around the holidays, the person said. The Christmas ordering cycle is starting, and in the July Fourth holiday coming up, retailers might not have summer products, such as beach chairs, umbrellas, grills, fireworks or light-up trinkets.
Bessent: Tariffs need to de-escalate before U.S.-China trade talks can begin
During a roundtable with reporters at the Institute of International Finance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States and China are not engaged in trade talks because the tariffs both countries have imposed on each other have "to be de-escalated before trade talks."
Earlier in the discussion, Bessent told reporters, "I don’t think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way."
He added that he does not have a timeline for talks to begin.Trump told reporters at the White House that the United States is "actively" talking with China.
China warns U.S. to stop threatening and blackmailing it
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun warned the U.S. today against continuing its current approach in trying to find a solution to the trade war.
"Our doors are open, if the U.S. wants to talk. If a negotiated solution is truly what the U.S. wants, it should stop threatening and blackmailing China and seek dialogue based on equality, respect and mutual benefit," Guo said, according to a video released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on X.
"To keep asking for a deal while exerting extreme pressure is not the right way to deal with China and simply will not work," he added.
Top House Armed Services Democrat says Hegseth 'not up to the task of managing the Pentagon'
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said the Trump administration’s public support of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid the developing Signal group chat controversy comes at “great risk” to the country’s national security.
“It’s becoming clear that Secretary Hegseth simply doesn’t have the management experience to run this department,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera in an interview this morning. “He is not up to the task of managing the Pentagon.”
Smith, who led a resolution last month that sought to obtain all communications from Hegseth related to the military plans that were shared in an unsecured Signal app group chat for review, accused Trump of putting Hegseth’s loyalty to him above his realistic ability to lead America’s largest government agency.
“Nobody could defend what Pete Hegseth has done. I mean, a Signal chat including a reporter, leaking war plans?,” Smith said. “You cannot defend in any rational world what Pete Hegseth has done for the last two months, and yet that’s exactly what Trump and Vance are doing, and they’re keeping him in place at great risk.”
Asked about Republican Rep. Don Bacon publicly questioning Hegseth’s ability to lead the Defense Department, Smith said he admired Bacon’s admission of concern, adding that “a lot of Republicans are simply hiding.”
Hegseth aides who were fired and accused of leaking are exonerated in internal investigation
Two of the senior aides to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who were marched out of the Pentagon at his direction last week have been quickly and completely exonerated after being accused of leaking classified information to the media, NBC News has learned.
Hegseth, under scrutiny for sharing classified information on a Signal chat group that included his wife and brother, has repeatedly blamed what he calls a smear campaign against him on “leakers,” even though two of the men he appears to be referring to were quickly cleared of leaking any information at all.
Senior aides Darin Selnick and Dan Caldwell were escorted from the Pentagon last week and placed on administrative leave in connection with what a Pentagon official at the time said were “unauthorized disclosures” of classified information. They were formally fired days later. But within days, government officials had exonerated both men completely, according to four individuals, including three government officials familiar with the matter.
The men were not contacted by the Office of Special Investigations, a Pentagon office, because the initial investigation, by another government agency, Washington Headquarters Services, looked into the matter and ended the investigative process there, a person familiar with the matter said.
Hegseth himself said this week that he believed some of the men he sacked would be exonerated.
“So once a leaker, always a leaker,” he said. “We looked for leakers because we take it very seriously and we will do the investigation, and if those people are exonerated, fantastic,” Hegseth said on Fox News yesterday, just three days after the two men were formally fired.
Trump slams Zelenskyy for 'inflammatory' statement on Crimea
Trump lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this afternoon for making an "inflammatory" statement that he said is making it hard to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Zelenskyy said that Ukraine won't recognize the occupation of Crimea by Russia, which took control of the peninsula in 2014.
"It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country," Trump wrote.
Trump said he has "nothing to do with Russia" and said that Zelenskyy's remarks will "do nothing but prolong the 'killing field,' and nobody wants that!"
"We are very close to a Deal, but the man with 'no cards to play' should now, finally, GET IT DONE," he said.
Trump says he's 'actively' talking with China about the tariffs situation
Trump said this morning that he's "actively" talking with China about the tariffs situation.
“We’re going to have a fair deal with China. It’s going to be fair,” Trump told reporters when asked if he's considering lowering tariffs on China, which are currently set at 145%.
"Everything’s active," he continued, "Everybody wants to be a part of what we’re doing. They know that they can’t get away with it any longer, but they’re still going to do fine, and we’re going to have a country that you can be proud of, not a laughing stock all over the world for many years."
Trump dodged a question yesterday about whether he has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but said that the final percentage for the tariff placed on China won't be "anywhere near" the current number in the end.
Longtime Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin will not seek re-election in 2026
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced today that he will not seek re-election in 2026 after serving for almost three decades in the Senate.
He holds the position of Senate minority whip, the No. 2 position in the Democratic caucus, as well as ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.
“The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch,” he said in a statement and video posted to social media. “So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.”
Treasury Secretary Bessent: 'America first does not mean America alone'
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted this morning that the Trump administration's mantra of "America first" does not mean that it wants to be isolationist. He argued that it means the opposite.
“America first does not mean America alone. To the contrary, it is a call for deeper collaboration and mutual respect among trade partners," Bessent said in remarks at the Institute of International Finance’s Global Outlook Forum in Washington.
"Far from stepping back, America first seeks to expand U.S. leadership and international institutions like the IMF and the World Bank by embracing a stronger leadership role," he said.
Bessent touted Trump's sweeping tariffs and said that more than 100 countries have approached the U.S. in its effort at rebalancing global trade. He said China, meanwhile, needs to move its economy away from "export over capacity and towards supporting its own consumers and domestic demand."
Bessent slammed the IMF and the World Bank, saying they both are "falling short" in their missions.
"The Bretton Woods institutions must step back from their sprawling and unfocused agendas, which have stifled their ability to deliver on their core mandates," he said. "Going forward, the Trump administration will leverage U.S. leadership and influence at these institutions. and push them to accomplish their very important mandates.”
Bessent also said he wanted to send a strong message about procurement policies when it comes to Ukraine. He said that anyone "who has financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be eligible for funds earmarked for Ukraine's reconstruction."
China unmoved by Trump comments on potential tariff reduction
Reporting from Hong Kong
China responded to Trump’s perceived softening remarks on tariffs by repeating its calls for the U.S. to negotiate based on equality and mutual respect, rather than threats.
“China’s stance has always been clear: We do not want a fight, but we are not afraid of one,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said today at a regular briefing in Beijing. “If there is a fight, we will see it through. If there are talks, our door is always open.”
Trump said yesterday that the U.S. was “going to be very nice” in talks with China and that final tariffs on Chinese goods would “not be anywhere near” the existing 145%, but that “ultimately, they have to make a deal.” His remarks came the same day his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the two countries’ mutual embargoes were unsustainable and predicted a near-term de-escalation in the U.S.-China tariff dispute.
Trump’s comments were widely discussed on Chinese social media, where one of the trending hashtags today was #TrumpWimpsOut. “He’s extremely unreliable,” read one popular comment on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. “His attitude changes more quickly than the weather in June.”
Michelle Obama shares how therapy is helping her process eight years as first lady
Michelle Obama said in a new podcast episode today that therapy is helping her "work out" the eight years that she was in the White House as first lady.
Speaking on the podcast she co-hosts with her brother, "IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson," the former first lady said she's "at this stage in life where I have to define my life on my terms for the first time. So what are those terms? And going to therapy, just to work all that out."
"Like, what happened that eight years that we were in the White House? What did that do to me internally, my soul. We made it through, we got out alive. I hope we made the country proud. My girls, thank God, are whole. But what happened to me?" she said. "And going through therapy is getting me to look at the fact that maybe, maybe finally I’m good enough."
The remarks came during an interview with actor Taraji P. Henson that touched on the expectations placed on women and the challenges faced by Black women.
During the podcast, Obama also talked about her decision not to attend Trump's inauguration in January.
"It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me — that was a hard thing for me to do. I had to basically trick myself out of it. And it started with not having anything to wear," Obama said.
"I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing I got to tell my team I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it’s so easy to just say let me do the right thing," she said.
Obama previously addressed divorce rumors amid her decision not to attend Trump's inauguration. Speaking during a podcast with Sophia Bush released this month, Obama said people promoting those claims "couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reflects on arson attack, calls for unity in New York Times op-ed
In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called on leaders to act with "moral clarity" in the wake of an arson attack on his executive mansion, where he lives with his wife and children.
In the piece, the Democratic governor described the night of the attack, when he and his wife were forced to wake up, get their children out of bed and evacuate the mansion.
"The devastation was shocking," Shapiro wrote about the damage in the residence, later comparing the act to the attempted assassination of Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.
"This type of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it," Shapiro wrote. "It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from one side or the other, directed at one party or another or one person or another. This level of violence has to stop. It is our shared responsibility to do better."
Shapiro didn't mention other elected leaders by name, but wrote, "I believe our political divide can be repaired. But our leaders must act with moral clarity and take their cues from the good people of this nation, who in times of tragedy always seem to find our better angels."
Democratic lawmakers demand answers about DOJ's attempt to block a former pardon attorney from testifying
Three congressional Democrats are demanding answers from the Justice Department over its reported attempt to block a former pardon attorney from participating in an oversight hearing earlier this month.
The letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche from Sens. Adam Schiff, of California, and Cory Booker, of New Jersey, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, said they are alarmed over his decision to send armed deputy U.S. Marshals to the home of Elizabeth Oyer on April 4. They allegedly warned her against testifying at a hearing April 7.
"This thuggish act is an escalation of this Administration’s attacks on career officials across the Department of Justice, as well as a blatant attempt to engage in intimidation tactics to silence former employees," they wrote. "Sending armed officers to Ms. Oyer’s residence is a clear abuse of the Department of Justice’s authority and resources, which exist to serve and protect the public, not intimidate congressional witnesses."
The hearing, which was not an official one as it was only run by Democrats who don't control either chamber, focused on Trump's attacks on the rule of law and weaponization of the Justice Department.
The three Democrats asked Blanche in their letter to answer questions by April 28 surrounding the decision to send the Marshals to Oyer's home.
The DOJ didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vance says U.S. will walk away from peace talks if Ukraine and Russia don't approve of explicit proposal
Vice President JD Vance doubled down today on the Trump administration's threat that the U.S. would walk away from the peace negotiations over the Ukraine-Russia war if both sides don't cooperate.
"We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process," Vance told reporters in Agra, India, during his overseas trip.
The vice president said that the U.S. has engaged in "an extraordinary amount of diplomacy" and has tried to understand Ukraine's and Russia's perspectives in terms of what each side cares about the most.
"I think that we put together a very fair proposal. We're going to see if the Europeans, the Russians and the Ukrainians are ultimately able to get this thing over the finish line," he said. "Again, I feel pretty optimistic about it."
He said it's now time, however, for the parties to take the final step by saying, "We're going to stop the killing, we're going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today, and we're going to actually put in place the kind of long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace."
In his first 100 days, Trump still leans on an old foe: Joe Biden
Reporting from Washington
America may be well on its way to forgetting Joe Biden; its president isn’t.
Trump spoke Biden’s name more than a dozen times Jan. 20, day one of his second presidency, and from that point forward he has basically never stopped.
As he nears the 100th day of his new term, Trump has invoked his predecessor with a persistence that suggests the two are in the final throes of a bitter campaign. They aren’t and won’t ever be again: Biden pulled his name off the 2024 ballot and left elective office for good. But for Trump, there is a certain political upside in making Biden a perpetual bogeyman.
