The federal government says it’s freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has suggested he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.
Here's the latest:
White House removes aging Kennedy magnolia tree from the Rose Garden due to safety concerns
The National Park Service, in a statement released by the White House, said the more than 60-year-old saucer magnolia was removed from the southwest corner of the garden last Saturday because its condition had steadily declined due to underlying soil issues and root disease.
Certified arborists had confirmed the tree had “entered a state of irreversible decline and needed to be removed for safety.”
The Kennedy magnolia was one of four planted in the corners of the Rose Garden during John F. Kennedy’s administration in March and April of 1962.
A new tree has taken its place.
Last week, a nearly 200-year-old magnolia tree at the south entrance to the White House that dated to Andrew Jackson’s presidency was removed for similar reasons.
NAACP sues Trump administration over efforts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion at schools
The lawsuit challenges actions by the Department of Education threatening federal funding for schools that don’t end DEI programs, saying the department is prohibiting legal efforts to give equal opportunity to Black students.
“In direct conflict with its mission, the Office for Civil Rights has baselessly characterized vital efforts to advance racial equality to themselves be racially discriminatory, thus weaponizing the anti-discrimination laws against the very communities they are meant to protect,” said Michaele N. Turnage Young, senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of NAACP.
Visa revocations for international students pile up, with hundreds of students fearing deportation
At least 600 students at more than 90 colleges and universities around the U.S. have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press tally.
Advocacy groups collecting reports from colleges say hundreds more students could be caught up in the crackdown.
The speed and scope of the visa and status terminations have alarmed students, schools and immigration lawyers, who say they’ve been flooded with calls from panicked students. Some students have begun to challenge the terminations in court, with one student in New Hampshire granted a temporary restraining order.
▶ Read more about the student visa revocations
White House says ‘the ball is in China’s court’ on resolving tariffs and trade issues
President Trump imposed new tariffs of as much as 145% on Chinese goods on the premise that the taxes will generate new revenues, help reduce the federal budget deficit and force China to make concessions in talks. So far, the Chinese government has shown no willingness to back down by placing 125% tariffs on U.S. goods.
“The ball is in China’s court,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Tuesday’s news briefing. “China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them. There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger. And China wants what we have, what every country wants ... the American consumer. Or to put it another way, they need our money.”
Trump thanks Omani leader for hosting first round of US and Iran talks
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump and the sultan of Oman spoke earlier Tuesday.
Trump thanked him for hosting last Saturday’s talks and stressed the need for Iran to end its nuclear program through negotiations.
Leavitt said the leaders also discussed U.S. military operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen and emphasized they’ll “pay a severe price” until attacks against ship traffic in the Red Sea are halted.
As Trump considers auto tariffs pause, parts exemptions could be key for US industry
President Trump hinted he might temporarily relieve the auto industry from “permanent” tariffs he previously imposed on the business. The president didn’t specify how long the potential pause would be or what it would entail, but the auto sector is awaiting how rules might change on 25% tariffs based on U.S. parts, if duties remain on assembled vehicles.
Experts have said short pauses aren’t likely to give carmakers enough of an opportunity to adjust their vast global supply chains, though parts exemptions would certainly bolster the industry amid Trump’s trade war whiplash.
Trump told reporters Monday that automakers “need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that,” referring to relocating production from Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. The news drove global auto stocks up Tuesday.
▶ Read more about tariffs on the auto industry
Harvard’s challenge to Trump administration could test limits of government power
On one side is Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, with a brand so powerful that its name is synonymous with prestige. On the other side is the Trump administration, determined to go farther than any other White House to reshape American higher education.
Both sides are digging in for a clash that could test the limits of the government’s power and the independence that’s made U.S. universities a destination for scholars around the world.
On Monday, Harvard become the first university to openly defy the Trump administration as it demands sweeping changes to limit activism on campus. The university frames the government’s demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the university’s lawyers wrote Monday to the government. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
▶ Read more about the dispute between Trump and Harvard
‘This is an all hands on deck moment,’ Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries says
His comments came ahead of former President Joe Biden’s planned speech Tuesday in Chicago about protecting Social Security.
On a call with reporters to preview the Social Security Day of Action, Jeffries accused Republicans of engaging in “cult-like behavior” as many support the Trump administration’s plans for the Social Security Administration, which include massive cuts to the agency’s workforce and in-person services.
Jeffries said the administration is “trying to jam down the throats of American people” a plan for Social Security that many Americans disagree with. “Congress has a responsibility to work for the American people.”
“Its my hope that we sound the alarm, and over the days and weeks to come, that a handful of House Republicans will break from the most extreme elements of their party, to both protect and strengthen Social Security.”
Federal judge puts temporary hold on removals sought by Trump under 18th century wartime law
The law is known as the Alien Enemies Act.
District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issued the emergency order Monday night after the American Civil Liberties Union requested it on behalf of two Venezuelan men being held in Denver who feared they would be falsely accused of belonging to the gang Tren de Aragua.
Trump has contended the gang is invading the United States, but his critics have said he’s using the gang as the pretext for an overhyped anti-migrant narrative.
Sweeney’s order temporarily bars removal of all noncitizens who are currently in custody in the District of Colorado and who may be subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act, which Trump invoked last month. The act has been used only three other times in American history, most recently to intern Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that anyone being deported under the declaration deserved a hearing in federal court first.
▶ Read more about the deportation cases in Colorado
Democratic groups like ActBlue and Indivisible prepare to be targeted by Trump
As Trump pushes the historical boundaries of executive power, some of the Democratic Party’s core political institutions are preparing for the possibility the federal government may soon launch criminal investigations against them.
The Democrats’ dominant national fundraising platform, ActBlue, and the party’s largest protest group, Indivisible, are working with their attorneys for just such a scenario, according to officials within both organizations. Trump’s top political allies have suggested both groups should face prosecution.
Other Democratic allies are planning for Trump-backed legal crackdowns as well. Wary of antagonizing the Republican president, most prefer to stay anonymous for now.
“Every one of our clients is concerned about being arbitrarily targeted by the Trump administration. We are going to great lengths to help clients prepare for or defend themselves,” said Ezra Reese, political law chair at Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates and is chaired by Marc Elias, the lawyer who has himself been a Trump target.
▶ Read more about Democrats and legal threats
Afghan children will die because of US funding cuts, aid official says
The warning Tuesday follows the cancellation of foreign aid contracts by President Trump’s administration, including to Afghanistan where more than half of the population needs humanitarian assistance to survive.
Action Against Hunger initially stopped all U.S.-funded activities in March after the money dried up suddenly. But it kept the most critical services going in northeastern Badakhshan province and the capital Kabul through its own budget, a measure that stopped this month.
Its therapeutic feeding unit in Kabul is empty and closing this week. There are no patients, and staff contracts are ending because of the U.S. funding cuts.
“If we don’t treat children with acute malnutrition there is a very high risk of (them) dying,” Action Against Hunger’s country director, Cobi Rietveld, told The Associated Press. “No child should die because of malnutrition. If we don’t fight hunger, people will die of hunger. If they don’t get medical care, there is a high risk of dying. They don’t get medical care, they die.”
▶ Read more about funding for aid in Afghanistan
Another US aircraft carrier in Mideast waters ahead of second round of Iran-US nuclear talks
That’s shown in satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The operation of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group in the Arabian Sea comes as suspected U.S. airstrikes pounded parts of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overnight into Tuesday. American officials repeatedly have linked the monthlong U.S. campaign against the Houthis under President Trump as a means to pressure Iran in the negotiations.
Questions remain over where the weekend talks between the countries will be held after officials initially identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman. American officials so far haven’t said where the talks will be held, though Trump did call Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on Tuesday while the ruler was on a trip to the Netherlands.
▶ Read more about nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran
Judge grants Justice Department request to drop case against alleged East Coast MS-13 leader
The late March arrest of Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos in the suburbs outside Washington was celebrated by the Trump administration. But prosecutors moved to dismiss the gun case against him two weeks later, saying they planned to deport him instead.
Villatoro Santos’ lawyer, in an usual request, had urged the judge not to immediately dismiss the case, saying he feared his client would be deported to an El Salvador prison without a chance to challenge his removal.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said during a court hearing Tuesday that he would grant the government’s request to dismiss the case. But the ruling won’t go into effect until Friday to give the defense a chance to explore other avenues before he’s handed over to immigration authorities.
Johnson & Johnson expects $400 million in tariff-related costs, mostly related to China
The costs will be felt primarily within the company’s medical technology unit, which makes a range of medical devices and surgical products. The most substantial impact comes from tariffs against China and retaliatory tariffs from China, said Joseph Wolk, Johnson & Johnson’s chief financial officer, in a conference call with analysts following the company’s latest earnings results.
The company’s estimate also includes the impact from tariffs on aluminum and steel, along with tariffs against key U.S. trading partners Canada and Mexico. Johnson & Johnson said contractual agreements already in place limit its leverage on price increases that could potentially soften the impact.
The cost estimate doesn’t include possible tariffs on imports of pharmaceuticals. The Trump administration has launched an investigation into imports of pharmaceuticals, which is a step towards imposing tariffs.
▶ Read more about Johnson & Johnson’s response to tariffs
Mexico officials seek to negotiate with Trump administration over taxes on tomatoes
Mexican officials said Tuesday they’re convinced they can negotiate with the Trump administration over a 21% duty on Mexican tomato exports the U.S. says it will impose in 90 days.
And they warned they could respond with taxes on chicken and pork imports.
“Mexico always has the possibility of applying sanctions in the case of the chicken or pork meat,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.
The Trump administration has justified the tax with dumping allegations, claiming it was backing out of a 2019 agreement in order to protect domestic tomato growers from “unfair pricing.”
Mexico, a leading tomato producer, exports billions of dollars a year in tomatoes to the U.S. and the tax could deal a blow to Mexican agricultural producers.
The number of people entering the country illegally remained low for a second month
The numbers from March show only a slight decrease from February, according to federal data.
About 264 daily apprehensions were the average recorded along the southern border in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Border agents stopped 7,181 people attempting to cross illegally into the country last month compared to about 8,346 in February.
“U.S. Border Patrol’s apprehensions along the southwest border for the entire month of March 2025 were lower than the first two days of March 2024,” Pete Flores, Acting Commissioner of CBP, said in a statement shared Monday.
Compared to March of 2024, border apprehensions for that month were 95% higher, with 137,473 arrests.
Wall Street ticks higher in a rare quiet day following weeks of tariff turmoil
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% in Tuesday morning trading, though it’s been prone to huge swings not just day to day but also hour to hour. The day before, it went from a gain of 1.8% to a slight loss back to a gain as it struggled to keep up with shifts in Trump’s trade war, which economists warn could cause a global recession unless it’s scaled back.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 149 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.
Perhaps more importantly, the U.S. bond market was also showing more signs of calm after its sudden and sharp moves last week raised worries that investors worldwide may no longer see U.S. government bonds as a no-brainer go-to when times are scary.
▶ Read more about the financial markets
Trump’s Tuesday schedule
This afternoon, at 12:30 p.m., Trump and Vance will have lunch together at the White House. Later, at 2:30 p.m., Trump will sign executive orders. At 3:30 p.m., he’ll participate in a Commander-in-Chief Trophy Presentation to the Navy Midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will also be holding a press briefing at the White House at 1 p.m.
Ranchers hope Trump’s tariffs boost demand for cattle but some fear market uncertainty
Rancher Brett Kenzy hopes President Trump’s tariffs will make imported beef expensive enough that Americans will turn to cattle raised at home for all their hamburgers and steaks.
That might raise prices enough to give Kenzy and others the incentive they need to expand their herds for the first time in decades. But doing that would take at least two years, and it’s not clear if Trump’s tariffs on most of the world besides China are high enough to make that worth the investment.
“If we can just fix a few key things, I think that we can reinvigorate rural America,” said the South Dakota rancher. “Just get these imports under control, get them to a level that we can understand and plan on, and then let us fill the void. And I think that the American rancher can do that.”
Trump has enjoyed overwhelming support in rural parts of the country in his three campaigns for president. Still, the uncertainty created by the trade war he instigated has given some ranchers pause as they’ve watched cattle prices drop after the tariffs were announced.
▶ Read more about the tariffs’ effects on the beef industry
DOGE associate is made acting head of foreign assistance at State Department, US official says
The move by the Trump administration expands the power of adviser Elon Musk’s government-cutting team over the State Department.
A senior U.S. official confirmed the new job for Jeremy Lewin, an associate of the Department of Government Efficiency earlier appointed to help finish dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on a personnel matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Lewin’s appointment gives Musk’s team, which has worked with the Republican administration to make deep cuts to government programs and services, one of its highest formal roles in the federal government.
▶ Read more about foreign aid in the Trump administration
— Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee
South Africa’s new US envoy called Trump racist, homophobic and narcissistic in a 2020 speech
Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy finance minister, was appointed Monday by President Cyril Ramaphosa as his representative to Washington, tasked with rebuilding South Africa’s deteriorating relationship with the U.S. under Trump.
The Trump administration expelled the South African ambassador last month.
Trump has singled out South Africa, issuing an executive order in February suspending all U.S. funding to the country over what he claimed are its anti-white and anti-American policies.
The new South African envoy’s speech criticizing Trump and his first term was delivered Nov. 8, 2020, five days after the election where Joe Biden defeated Trump. His comments have been circulated in the media.
“Right now, the U.S. is undergoing a watershed moment, with Biden the certain winner in the presidential race against the racist, homophobic Donald Trump,” Jonas said. “How we got to a situation where a narcissistic right-winger took charge of the world’s greatest economic and military powerhouse is something that we need to ponder over. It is something that all democracies need to ponder over.”
▶ Read more about South Africa’s new US envoy
Joe Biden to speak about Social Security on return to the national political spotlight
The 82-year-old Democrat has been following the playbook for former presidents by laying low and ceding the political spotlight to his successor.
But Biden is set to reenter the fray this evening with a speech in Chicago to the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled. He’s expected to elevate liberal concerns that Trump’s agenda is a threat to the health of the Social Security program that millions of retirees depend on.
After taking office in January, Trump almost immediately began slashing the government workforce, including thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration.
A Trump adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, who’s overseeing the government downsizing, has also called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.”
Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard over campus activism
The federal government says it’s freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus.
The hold on Harvard’s funding marks the seventh time Trump’s administration has taken the step at one of the nation’s most elite colleges, in an attempt to force compliance with Trump’s political agenda. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League.
In a letter to Harvard Friday, Trump’s administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university, as well as changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus, and stop recognizing some student clubs.
The federal government said almost $9 billion in grants and contracts in total were at risk if Harvard did not comply.
On Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber said the university would not bend to the government’s demands.
▶ Read more about the withholding of federal funds to Harvard
US Army to control land on Mexico border as part of base, migrants could be detained, officials say
A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.
The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil.
But if the troops are providing security for land that is part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts.
The officials said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon.
▶ Read more about the US Army’s control at the southern border
Trump says he wants to imprison US citizens in El Salvador. That’s likely illegal
Trump on Monday reiterated that he’d like to send U.S. citizens who commit violent crimes to prison in El Salvador, telling that country’s president, Nayib Bukele, that he’d “have to build five more places” to hold the potential new arrivals.
Trump’s administration has already deported immigrants to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison CECOT, known for its harsh conditions. The president has also said his administration is trying to find “legal” ways to ship U.S. citizens there, too.
Trump insisted these would just be “violent people,” implying they would be those already convicted of crimes in the United States, though he’s also floated it as a punishment for those who attack Tesla dealerships to protest his administration and its patron, billionaire Elon Musk. But it would likely be a violation of the U.S. Constitution for his administration to send any native-born citizen forcibly into an overseas prison. Indeed, it would likely even violate a provision of a law Trump himself signed during his first term.
▶ Read more about why this is likely not legal and some possible legal loopholes
Trump considers pausing his auto tariffs as the world economy endures whiplash
Trump on Monday suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.
“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. The Republican president said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places, “And they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that.”
Trump’s statement hinted at yet another round of reversals on tariffs as Trump’s onslaught of import taxes has panicked financial markets and raised deep concerns from Wall Street economists about a possible recession.
When Trump announced the 25% auto tariffs on March 27, he described them as “permanent.” His hard lines on trade have become increasingly blurred as he has sought to limit the possible economic and political blowback from his policies.
▶Read more about Trump’s auto tariffs
The Associated Press
