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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China today increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, responding to President Trump’s earlier decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%. European stock markets were trading down this morning in response to the new tariffs. In his first public comments on the escalating trade war, President Xi Jinping said Beijing is “not afraid” of “any unjust suppression.” Nectar Gan reports for CNN; Anna Cooban reports for CNN; Reuters reports.
Trump yesterday threatened to impose additional tariffs and other sanctions on Mexico over a long-running dispute about provision of water under a 1944 treaty on the utilization of the Rio Grande, Colorado, and Tijuana rivers. Chris Cameron and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega report for the New York Times.
Chinese officials indirectly acknowledged Beijing was behind a series of cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure in a secret December meeting, sources say. The officials linked the intrusions into computer networks at U.S. ports, water utilities, airports, and other targets to Washington’s policy of support for Taiwan, the sources added. Dustin Volz reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, according to a source. Separately, the U.S. and Russian delegations both described yesterday’s round of talks on normalising the work of their diplomatic missions as “constructive.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Jonathan Spicer reports for Reuters.
Iran wants to explore concluding an interim nuclear agreement during tomorrow’s negotiations with the United States, sources say. Iran’s “red lines” in the talks include “threatening language” and “excessive demands” on the nuclear program and Iranian defense industry, Tehran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported yesterday. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Alireza Hajihosseini and Nadeen Ebrahim report for CNN.
The EU will delay the adoption of retaliatory tariffs against the United States for 90 days to “give negotiations a chance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday. Andrew Jeong, Katrina Northrop, Michael E. Miller, and Leo Sands report for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration is divided on how to respond to recent battlefield gains by an Islamist insurgency in Somalia, with some State Department officials proposing shuttering the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu and withdrawing most U.S. personnel as a security precaution while National Security Council officials prefer to double down on U.S. operations in the war-torn country, sources say. Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
At least five children and three adults with cholera died in South Sudan after walking for hours trying to reach the nearest remaining health facility in the wake of aid cuts by the Trump administration, the Save the Children charity reported this week. Eve Sampson reports for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink, is leaving her post, the State Department announced yesterday. It was not immediately clear whether Brink resigned voluntarily or was asked to step down, or what the date of her departure would be. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.
Ukraine has told the United States that curbs on the size of its armed forces or its military’s readiness would be a “red line” in negotiations to end the war with Russia, a senior Ukrainian official said. Putin has previously said he wants the size of Ukraine’s army to be limited. Anastasiia Malenko reports for Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday accused Russia of “systematically recruiting” soldiers from China to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Beijing has previously said it is investigating the reports of the Chinese troops fighting in the war while asserting its neutrality. Isabel Coles reports for the Wall Street Journal.
SYRIA
Turkey and Israel have started talks to defuse growing tensions over influence in Syria, with the governments of both countries confirming that a meeting between military and security officials took place on Wednesday in Azerbaijan. Carlotta Gall reports for the New York Times.
Syrian Kurds are set to demand a federal system in post-Assad Syria that would give them regional autonomy and security forces, a senior Kurdish official said. The decentralised vision is opposed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Orhan Qereman reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel will include the city of Rafah in its “security zones” in Gaza, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said. According to the U.N., two-thirds of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under evacuation orders since the start of Israel’s renewed offensive. David Gritten reports for BBC News.
“We are getting closer” to a deal to free the remaining hostages and re-establish the ceasefire, Trump said during a Cabinet meeting yesterday. Israeli officials say that the likelihood of reaching a deal in the next two weeks has increased significantly, but significant gaps remain. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The Israeli military has fired Air Force reservists who called for the return of hostages even if the move would require an immediate ceasefire, according to a statement from the IDF. In a letter published yesterday, hundreds of Air Force reservists and retirees argued the IDF is fighting a war that “mainly serves political and personal interests and not security interests.” Eugenia Yosef and Jeremy Diamond report for CNN; Dov Lieber reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Israeli government’s increased involvement in the hostage release and ceasefire talks has caused a “significant difference in momentum” from when Israel’s negotiating team was led by intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Ronen Bar, according to sources involved in the talks. Alex Marquardt and Jeremy Diamond report for CNN.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate early today voted 60-25 to confirm retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, filling the vacancy created by Trump’s firing of Gen. Charles Brown. Andrew deGrandpre and Kelsey Ables report for the Washington Post.
The House yesterday passed legislation that would require people to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. Michael Gold reports for the New York Times.
The Justice Department will review its case against Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant convicted of lying about the Biden family’s ties to Ukraine, DOJ prosecutors said in a court filing yesterday. Hannah Rabinowitz reports for CNN.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce yesterday dropped its probe for information from Northwestern University over its law school’s representation of pro-Palestinian protestors, a lawyer representing the committee has said. Karen Sloan reports for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates of violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in its Darfur region during a hearing at the International Court of Justice yesterday. The UAE described Sudan’s accusations as “baseless and politically driven.” Niamh Kennedy, Nadeen Ebrahim, Zeena Saifi, and Avery Schmitz report for CNN.
Taiwanese prosecutors today for the first time charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging undersea cables, after a series of sea cable malfunctions alarmed the island’s officials. Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard report for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The U.S. military yesterday announced it had removed Col. Susannah Meyers as the commander of the U.S. Space Force Pituffik base in Greenland, adding it would not tolerate any actions that “undermine the chain of command or subvert” Trump’s agenda. According to a Military.com article linked in the Pentagon statement, Meyers sent an email to the base staff distancing herself from Vice President JD Vance’s remarks following his visit. Qasim Nauman reports for the New York Times; Thomas Novelly reports.
The Trump administration this week told Marvin Richardson, the second-ranking official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to retire or be fired, multiple sources say. According to sources, Richardson had been serving as the agency’s de facto head and ran its day-to-day operations. Perry Stein reports for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration has tightly restricted the number of people who have access to the President’s daily intelligence brief, sources say. Katie Bo Lillis, Kylie Atwood, and Zachary Cohen report for CNN.
The Social Security Administration this week entered the names and Social Security numbers of more than 6,000 immigrants into a database used to track deaths, according to sources and records reviewed by the Washington Post. The move effectively cancels the group’s Social Security numbers, erasing their ability to use financial services like bank accounts and credit cards, receive benefits, or work legally in the United States. Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac, and Tara Siegel Bernard report for the New York Times; Lisa Rein, Hannah Natanson, and Maria Sacchetti report.
Trump on Wednesday instructed federal agencies and their assigned DOGE teams to repeal regulations inconsistent with his priorities without providing advance notice or opportunity for the public to comment on the repeals. The memo cites the 2024 Supreme Court Loper Bright ruling, which critics say does not give Trump the power to repeal regulations retroactively. Hassan Ali Kanu reports for POLITICO.
The Homeland Security Department has recently enlisted the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to conduct welfare checks on children and young people who came to the United States without their parents, Trump administration officials confirmed. Marianne LeVine, Maria Sacchetti, Jeremy Roebuck, Carol D. Leonnig, and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post.
Trump is planning to announce new deals requiring several of the nation’s top law firms to offer legal support for some of his favored causes, sources say. Although it is not clear what firms have entered the agreements, according to sources Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett all had discussions with Trump aides in recent days. Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman, and Michael S. Schmidt report for the New York Times.
The Education Department’s Office of Inspector General plans to conduct a series of reviews into the agency’s recent mass layoffs, according to a letter seen by NBC News. Elizabeth Chuck reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man “erroneously” deported to a notorious El Salvador prison last month, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, ruling that a lower court’s order “properly requires” the government to ensure the man’s case is handled “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday said she will temporarily block the Trump administration from ordering hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status to leave the United States while the case proceeds. Their residence permits were to be canceled on April 24. Michael Casey reports for AP News.
The Trump administration can move forward with its plan to require undocumented immigrants to provide their fingerprints to the federal government or face a fine or imprisonment, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Sareen Habeshian reports for Axios.
Attorneys General from 16 states and the District of Columbia yesterday filed a challenge to the Trump administration’s halt of pandemic relief aid for schools, arguing the move violates federal law by reversing a prior decision to allow states to access the money through March 2026. Carolyn Thompson reports for AP News.
The Trump administration is seeking to deport a Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil over his actions’ impact on the “significant foreign policy objective” of combating anti-Semitism, according to a memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The memo states that Khalil’s activities were “otherwise lawful” and does not allege criminal conduct. Jake Offenhartz reports for AP News.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
