Constitutional rights at stake in Abrego Garcia case, Maryland senator says

The president heralds tariffs as a way of bringing in revenue, striking back at countries he sees as taking advantage of the U.S. in trade and as a cudgel to push countries to do what he wants.

On April 2 he announced far-reaching new tariffs on nearly all trading partners, only to roll most of them back April 9 after the stock market tanked.

Still, he claims that tariffs, taxes on imported goods, are bringing in billions of dollars a day.

Here’s a look at the facts.

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CLAIM: The U.S. is earning $2 billion per day from tariffs.

THE FACTS: That’s false. Trump began raising tariffs in February. That month, about $7.247 billion in customs duties were collected, or $258.82 million per day. In March, the most recent monthly figure available, a total of about $8.168 billion in customs duties was collected, or approximately $263.48 million per day. A customs duty is a type of tariff.

▶ Read more about the facts on tariffs

Centers that closed this week in Washington state due to a lag in federal funding will reopen preschools serving low-income children Monday.

An unexplained delay in funding forced Head Start classrooms serving more than 400 children at Inspire Development Centers in Sunnyside to close Wednesday through Friday, Inspire CEO Jorge Castillo said. More than 70 workers were laid off because the centers could not make payroll.

Castillo said there was no explanation for the disruption, something that had never happened during 42 years of operation. An email arrived Friday from the Department of Health and Human Services saying that funding through the fiscal year ending in November was restored.

Planning for the future remains uncertain, according to Castillo.

The Trump administration has proposed eliminating Head Start, a federally funded early-education program serving more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children. Head Start centers nationwide have received nearly $1 billion less in federal money compared with this time last year.

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of “X” marker used by many nonbinary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers.

In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives’ views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which stays the action while the lawsuit plays out.

“The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,” Kobick wrote. “That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”

▶ Read more about the judge’s ruling

A federal judge on Friday ordered that a Turkish Tufts University student detained by immigration authorities in Louisiana be brought to Vermont by May 1 for a hearing over what her lawyers say was apparent retaliation for an op-ed piece she co-wrote in the student newspaper.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions said he would hear Rumeysa Ozturk’s request to be released from detention. Her lawyers had requested that she be released immediately, or at least brought back to Vermont.

The 30-year-old doctoral student was taken by immigration officials as she walked along a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville on March 25. After being taken to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana. An immigration judge denied her request for bond Wednesday.

▶ Read more about the judge’s order

A class action lawsuit filed Friday asks a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students who have been stripped of their visas in a Trump administration crackdown that has left more than a thousand fearful of deportation.

The suit was filed in New Hampshire by several American Civil Liberties Union affiliates.

At schools around the country, students have seen their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, typically with little notice.

At least 1,075 students at 170 colleges, universities and university systems have been affected since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records.

▶ Read more about the lawsuit

Kids and families will be able to sign a mini Declaration of Independence, dress up as a founding father and enjoy other activities, first lady Melania Trump announced Monday.

Tickets were distributed through a lottery system and thousands are expected to participate.

The daylong event features live performances and reading nooks. The first lady, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Keith Kellogg, the president’s special envoy for Ukraine, are among those scheduled to read to children.

The nation celebrates its 250th anniversary next year.

“The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to free and open trade and the importance of protecting the national interest,” according to a Downing Street statement following the leaders’ Friday call. “The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine, Iran and recent action taken against the Houthis in Yemen.”

Trump, according to the White House, told Starmer that he’s looking forward to his state visit to the United Kingdom later this year.

Starmer delivered the invitation from King Charles III during his White House visit in February.

Van Hollen said officials relented to letting him meet with Abrego Garcia because “they were feeling the pressure” following his high-profile visit and news conference in the country.

The senator said that he met with Abrego Garcia for about half an hour.

Despite what he described as contrived circumstances at the hands of the Bukele government in setting the stage for his meeting with Abrego Garcia, Van Hollen noted that El Salvadoran soldiers acted “professionally in their encounter with me. They had their orders.”

“They want to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar,” Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen says El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele is aiming to “deceive” people about what happened during his meeting with Abrego Garcia by posting a photo with drinks appearing to be alcohol.

When he and Abrego Garcia first sat down, Van Hollen says they had water and maybe coffee.

Van Hollen says that “one of the government people” present during their meeting deposited other beverages on the table, “with salt or sugar around the top, but they look like margaritas.”

Van Hollen said neither he nor Abrego Garcia drank from the glasses, which in the photo Bukele posted were garnished with maraschino cherries.

Van Hollen read from the court ruling ordering the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., then paraphrasing the argument: “In other words, put up in court, or shut up.”

Van Hollen also called the El Salvadoran government “complicit” in keeping Abrego Garcia from returning to his family.

Van Hollen has recounted the chronology of Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador, saying he told him he was initially taken to Baltimore, then Texas, then put on a plane with “no idea where he was going.”

Upon arriving, Abrego Garcia said he was “traumatized” by being at the CECOT prison but said that “nine days ago” he was moved to a different facility.”

Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer wiped away tears as Van Hollen spoke of the man’s comments about wanting to speak with his wife.

Van Hollen said that he was initially turned away from the high-security prison where Abrego Garcia had been held, but that he “got word” that he would be allowed to meet with him.

He said Abrego Garcia was brought to the hotel where he had been staying to meet with him.

“He said that thinking of you, members of his family, was what gave him the strength to persevere,” the senator said.

The news conference is taking place at Dulles International Airport, where standard announcements related to travel and security can be heard in the background of his remarks.

A news conference following Van Hollen’s return from El Salvador is underway at Dulles Airport.

Emotion filled Van Hollen’s voice as he began by saying “it’s good to be home,” noting that Abrego Garcia’s wife, brother and mother were all standing with him.

“Now we need to end the illegal abduction of Abrego Garcia and bring him home, too,” he said.

Van Hollen then gave remarks he said he had written on the plane ride home. Reading from a U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued this week, Van Hollen argued that the Trump administration “wants to flat out lie about what this case is about.”

“This case is not just about one man,” he said. “It’s about protecting the constitutional rights of everyone who resides in the United States.”

Van Hollen said that all Americans “must be prepared to take risks because of the current risk to the constitution itself.”

Trump is preparing to advance another part of the conservative Project 2025 blueprint: to reclassify 50,000 federal employees so they’ll have less civil service protection.

The proposal under what’s known as Schedule F follows an executive order signed at the beginning of his term. It’s expected Friday afternoon, though Trump announced the move before the rule was made official.

“If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be ‘run like a business.’”

▶ Read more on the changes to the federal workforce

“I’m almost at a loss for words for how outrageous it is,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said of Van Hollen flying to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported there by the Trump administration.

Miller argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys deny that he is a gang member.

“That is who the Democrat Party is going to provide aid, solace and comfort to?” Miller asked. “I’m beyond appalled.”

More than five dozen judges handling lawsuits against the Trump administration are receiving “enhanced online security screening” that typically includes scrubbing their personal information from the internet, two federal judges appointed by Republican presidents wrote on behalf of the judiciary in a letter to congressional appropriators.

Trump, senior aide Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk have railed at judges who’ve blocked parts of Trump’s agenda, threatening impeachment and launching personal attacks. Trump’s call to impeach the judge who temporarily halted deportations using an 18th century wartime law prompted a rare quick response from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

▶ Read more about security for judges

The federal appeals court in San Francisco on Friday left in place a lower court’s order blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Department of Homeland Security’s request for an emergency stay as they appeal the order.

The court wrote that the government has “not demonstrated that they will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay.”

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in March found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had unlawfully reversed protections granted by the Biden administration that allow an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans to live and work in the U.S. Their temporary protections were set to expire earlier this month.

DOJ attorneys for the government contend that Congress gave the secretary clear and broad authority over the TPS program and that the decisions aren’t subject to judicial review.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio relayed to NATO the Trump administration’s warning about walking away from peace efforts in Russia’s war on Ukraine if there’s not a deal soon.

The State Department says Rubio spoke to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in a phone call Friday. The State Department quoted Rubio as saying “if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will step back from efforts to broker peace.”

The covid.gov website shows a photo of President Trump walking between the words “lab” and “leak” under a White House heading. It mentions that Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first began spreading, is home to a research lab with a history of conducting virus research with “inadequate biosafety levels.”

The web page also accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of pushing a “preferred narrative” that COVID-19 originated in nature.

The origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there’s insufficient evidence to prove either theory.

The emergency request for a stay, filed by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign late Thursday, says U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg’s order finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt pits two government branches against each other and “escalates the constitutional stakes” by infringing on executive branch powers.

Boasberg issued the contempt finding Thursday, accusing administration officials of rushing deportees out of the country under the Alien Enemies Act last month before they could challenge their removal in court, and then willfully disregarding his order that planes already in the air should and traveling to El Salvador return to the United States.

The judge said he could potentially refer the matter for prosecution if the administration doesnt’ remedy the violation. If Justice Department leadership won’t prosecute the matter, Boasberg said, he’ll appoint another attorney to do so.

The federal judge has denied a request by The Associated Press that he take further steps to enforce his order last week that the White House stop blocking AP’s access to cover events because the outlet won’t rename the Gulf of Mexico in its reports.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, who handed the AP a victory last week in its efforts to end the ban, said it’s too soon to say the Trump administration is violating his order — as the AP suggests.

“We are not at the point where we can make much of a determination one way or another,” said McFadden, ruling from the bench.

For two months, the White House has essentially banned AP reporters and photographers from their traditional spot covering events in smaller spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One. The AP says it’s a violation of its free-speech rights to punish a news outlet for an editorial decision — an argument McFadden has endorsed.

After days of denying that he knew much about Abrego Garcia, Trump on Friday said he knew Abrego Garcia’s record was “unbelievably bad” and called him an “illegal alien” and “foreign terrorist.”

Trump, while speaking to reporters, had an aide fetch a piece of paper he said had information about Abrego Garcia. He said it came from the State Department and “very legitimate sources.”

“I’m just giving you what they handed to me but this is supposed to be certified stuff,” he said.

He said Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, though Abrego Garcia has never been criminally charged in the U.S. with gang involvement. He also highlighted how the man’s wife admitted she once filed a protective order against him despite now advocating for his return.

“This is the man that the Democrats are wanting us to fly back from El Salvador to be a happily ensconced member of the USA family,” Trump said.

Hey Dylan. Thanks for your question. The CFPB, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was formed in 2010, two years after the financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Congress established it to monitor credit card companies, mortgage providers, debt collectors and other segments of the consumer finance industry, and to create rules and take enforcement actions to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.

AP reporter Cora Lewis did an explainer on the CFPB and its impact on consumers earlier this year. Here’s some of her reporting:

During the Biden administration, the CFPB passed rules capping bank overdraft fees and removing medical debt from credit reports. The bureau sued financial services companies for misleading consumers and employers for misleading workers. It also focused on curbing junk fees and predatory lending practices.

Congress established the agency as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The legislation was intended to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The CFPB says it has obtained nearly $20 billion for consumers since then in the form of monetary compensation, canceled debts, reduced loans and other financial relief.

President Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding war.

The comments from Trump came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned earlier Friday that the U.S. may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there’s no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.

“If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re going to say you’re fools, you’re foolish, and we’re just going to take a pass,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

▶ Read more about the Russia-Ukraine war

Trump was answering questions about Iran’s nuclear program when reporters were suddenly told it was time to leave.

A young girl and member of Oz’s family had collapsed and appeared to faint in the Oval Office. Oz rushed over. The girl was able to stand but appeared unsteady as she was helped out of the office.

A ceremony had been held in the Oval Office to swear in Oz as head of the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, and Trump was answering reporters’ questions on various subjects when the girl fainted.

The White House did not identify her but later said she was doing OK.

“I have no specific number of days but quickly. We want to get it done,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.

He called the war a “vicious battle” but said he thinks he has a “good chance of solving the problem.”

“If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people and we’re going to just take a pass,’” he said. “But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”

He did not offer specifics about what progress he would need to see to keep from dropping the effort to broker a peace deal.

The president was asked if he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling and said, “I hope not.”

As head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the 64-year-old former heart surgeon and TV talk-show host will manage health insurance programs for roughly half the country, with oversight of Medicare, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage.

Dr. Mehmet Oz steps into the role as Congress debates cuts to Medicaid, which aids millions of poor and disabled people.

Trump looked on as Oz was sworn in Friday by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a ceremony in the Oval Office.

The president repeated his promise of “no cuts” to Medicare and Medicaid and thanked Oz for the “big commitment” he’s making.

The first lady lauded her team’s “tireless effort” in preparing for Monday’s event, which is attended by thousands of people.

The tradition dates to 1878 and “brings joy, storytelling, and laughter to America’s children,” she wrote in a Good Friday social media post.

“I look forward to watching all of the smiles light up this memorable day, on Monday. May this Good Friday inspire hope and faith for all Americans and our friends around the world,” the first lady said.

Their death sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden.

The group filed the lawsuit earlier this week. They say President Trump was angry about Biden’s commutation, and in retaliation issued an executive order directing the U.S. Attorney General to punish them by housing them “in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes.”

The plaintiffs say they were reassigned from housing in high-security prisons or federal medical centers to the Administrative Maximum prison in Florence, Colorado, which is generally reserved for the nation’s most violent offenders. They say prison is the most restrictive in the country and that the transfer plans violate their due process rights and pose mental and physical health risks.

But Christopher Edelman, the attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, says the men’s housing assignments haven’t yet been finalized. A preliminary injunction hearing is expected in May.

A federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ruled the agency can’t go forward immediately with plans to fire hundreds of employees.

During a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson expressed concern that administration officials aren’t complying with her earlier order that maintains the agency’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve the bureau.

Jackson said she’ll bar officials from carrying out any mass firings or cutting off employees’ access to agency computer systems Friday. She scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials.

▶ Read more about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The pair of Republican Congress members were in the Syrian capital Friday on an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit, the first by U.S. legislators since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.

Also Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in his first visit since Assad’s fall and the beginning of the Syrian uprising-turned-civil-war in 2011.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida visited the Damascus suburb of Jobar, the site of a historic synagogue that was heavily damaged and looted in the civil war, and the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma, where they met with Christian religious leader. They also were set to meet al-Sharaa and other government officials.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government, led by al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent who led a lightning offensive that toppled Assad. Washington hasn’t yet lifted harsh sanctions that were imposed during Assad’s rule.

▶ Read more about the U.S. relationship with Syria

In Vatican City, Vance, a Catholic convert, attended Good Friday services with his wife and three children in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday afternoon and was scheduled to meet over the weekend with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

No meeting with Pope Francis was announced and the pontiff wasn’t on hand at the start of the solemn Good Friday service, which was presided over by a Vatican cardinal. The 88-year-old pope has sharply cut back his work schedule as he recovers from a near-fatal case of double pneumonia, and his participation in the weekend’s Easter services is uncertain.

Francis and Vance have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the administration’s deportation plans, warning they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.

The Associated Press and the Trump administration returned to a courtroom Thursday — and will be in another on Friday — as part of the high-stakes battle over who can control which journalists are able to question the president.

Lawyers argued before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals about putting in place a lower court order last week that the administration stop excluding the AP from covering events in places like the Oval Office and Air Force One. It’s not clear when those judges will make their determination.

The two sides are going before the author of last week’s decision, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden. The AP has asked him to enforce his ruling.

AP reporters and photographers have been blocked since President Trump objected to the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico. McFadden said last week the AP shouldn’t be excluded just because Trump disagrees with them. Since then, AP says the White House is ignoring the order and continuing to keep its journalists out; Trump’s team says it has put a new rotation system in place for these events, and it hasn’t been AP’s turn yet.

▶ Read more about the hearing

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell declined Thursday to issue an temporary restraining order in a case about the takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonprofit think tank established by Congress.

In this case, USIP employees, a donor and grantees or contractors asked the court to prevent the firing of most employees, the cancellation of grants and contracts and the return of USIP’s building to the nonprofit’s possession. The newly installed USIP president, a DOGE staffer, transferred ownership of the building to the General Services Administration.

In her ruling, Howell said the fundamental nature of USIP, whether it’s an executive agency or an independent nonprofit, is still unclear. She also said there was a mismatch between the harm alleged by the employees and the relief they were requesting from the court.

In creating USIP, Congress mandated that it carry out certain functions but Howell said it wasn’t yet clear that USIP could not carry out its mission, even in its much reduced state.

The gray cat was wearing a collar and a name tag that said “Sophie.”

After the cat meandered through the North Lawn on Friday morning, news reporters scooped it up and brought it into the press area for safekeeping while the feline’s owner was called to come pick it up.

Vance met with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday and the White House suggested a broader U.S.-Europe summit was under consideration when Trump visits.

“I’ve been missing you,” Meloni jokingly told Vance as he entered the courtyard of Chigi Palace, the premier’s office.

They had seen each other just the previous day in the Oval Office, where Trump lavished praise on the Italian leader for her crackdown on migration but didn’t yield on tariff plans that have increased tensions with the European Union and stoked fears of recession.

The White House and Meloni’s office on Friday issued a joint statement that said Trump would visit Italy “in the very near future.”

“There is also consideration to hold, on such occasion, a meeting between U.S. and Europe,” the statement said.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s relationship with Europe

The Friday release continues the disclosure of national secrets ordered by President Trump. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says in a statement the RFK files’ release will “shine a long-overdue light on the truth.”

Gabbard says, “Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of President Trump.”

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration posted roughly 229 files containing the pages on its website.

▶ Read more about the RFK assassination files

The new intelligence assessment found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, contradicting statements Trump administration officials have made to justify their invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and deporting Venezuelan migrants, according to U.S. officials.

The classified assessment from the National Intelligence Council, released this month, is more comprehensive and authoritative than an earlier intelligence product released Feb. 26 and reported last month by The New York Times, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the assessment. They weren’t authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The new assessment draws input from the 18 agencies that comprise the intelligence community. It repeatedly stated that Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in a prison in Venezuela, is not coordinated with or supported by the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, or senior officials in the Venezuelan government. While the assessment found minimal contact between some members of the gang and low-level members of the Venezuelan government, there was a consensus that there was no coordination or directive role between gang and government.

▶ Read more about the U.S. intelligence assessment on Tren de Aragua

It’s the latest attempt to ramp up pressure on the university. The department sent a records request to Harvard on Friday asking for, among other things, a list of all foreign gifts, grants, and contracts from or with foreign sources.

The records request followed a review that Education Secretary Linda McMahon said showed Harvard has “not been fully transparent or complete in its disclosures, which is both unacceptable and unlawful.”

The move comes after the Trump administration threatened to block the university from enrolling international students and the president called for withdrawing Harvard’s tax-exempt status. The Trump administration has also frozen nearly $2 billion in grants and loans after Harvard rejected the administration’s demands related to activism on campus, antisemitism and diversity.