The official White House Twitter account posts an edited New York Times headline framing Garcia as an “MS-13” and an “illegal alien” and stating that Garcia “isn’t coming back.”
– Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. will end efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia unless progress is made within days. He stresses that the U.S. has other priorities if a deal isn’t reached soon. The post comes on the heels of news that Ukraine and the U.S. are resuming work on a minerals deal and an investment fund for Ukrainian reconstruction, with the goal of finalizing the deal by April 26.
– Trump announces the expansion of “Schedule F,” a rule that reclassifies 50,000 federal employees as political appointees, making them subject to termination based on their loyalty to the president.
– Trump imposes tariffs on Chinese ships docked at U.S. ports. The new tariffs, which will take effect in six months, will be calculated based on the net tonnage of goods transported per voyage. A second phase, over three years, will restrict foreign ships (not built in the U.S.) from carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG).
– The Justice Department directs the civil rights division to focus on Trump’s political agenda, such as tracking non-citizens on the ballot and protecting white people from discrimination.
– Trump replaces the head of the Internal Revenue Service after a dispute between Secretary Bessent and Musk, naming Michael Faulkender as acting chief.
– The Trump administration accuses Judge Boasberg of escalating tensions by threatening a criminal investigation over the failure to comply with a deportation order, and claims he is exceeding his authority by interfering in foreign policy and prosecution.
– The Trump administration says it plans to deport an 18-year-old man with a pending asylum claim to El Salvador. The decision is based on a Facebook photo of the man holding a water pistol that ICE agents mistaken for a real weapon, which linked him to Tren de Aragua.
– The U.S. National Archives releases tens of thousands of documents related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
– Trump replaces the government’s COVID website with a page that suggests a lab leak in Wuhan was the origin of COVID-19.
– The Trump administration instructs Afghans who legally entered the U.S. after the Taliban takeover in 2021 to leave the country within seven days. This includes Afghans who worked for America and Christian refugees.
– Rubio is reported to have fired Peter Marocco, the man behind the dismantling of USAID, earlier this week.
Fallout
– Lawyers say the White House tweet could be used in lawsuits as evidence that the Trump administration intended to ignore a court order to facilitate Garcia’s return.
– Trump achieves an average approval rating of 45 percent in the first quarter of his second term, according to polling agency Gallup. It is the second lowest rating for a post-war president. Only his own first term scores worse with 41 percent.
– The action group 50501 organizes a national day of action against President Trump’s policies on April 19, with more than 400 demonstrations in all 50 states and several foreign cities.
– The federal court in San Francisco upholds the decision not to end the protection of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and rejects the Trump administration’s request to temporarily suspend the decision.
– The resignation of Marocco leads to outrage within the MAGA movement. Rubio is accused of undermining the Trump agenda by not completely abolishing USAID. Other reasons for the resignation are also outlined to the media by sources. These mainly concern insufficient cooperation and not being a team player.
– Joe Kasper, Defense Secretary Hegseth’s chief of staff, is leaving, leaving Hegseth without direct top advisers. His leadership has been under fire after firings over a leak investigation and reports of a “complete meltdown” within his team.
– More than 30 immigrants who were falsely reported dead by the Social Security Administration have been re-enrolled after proving they are still alive. This follows the Department of Homeland Security’s move to falsely list 6,100 immigrants as dead in its database.
– A delay in federal payments forces Head Start facilities that serve more than 400 children to close for several days. More than 70 staff members are laid off. Funding resumes after the Department of Health and Human Services sends an email restoring payments through the end of the fiscal year.
– A federal judge blocks a Trump administration policy banning the use of the “X” marker on passports for nonbinary people and changing gender markers.
– An immigration judge issues a deportation order to a Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador on March 15 for failing to attend his court hearing, even though his deportation was the very reason he was absent.
– PEPFAR, the global program that provides HIV treatment to 20 million people and prevents HIV infection in 5 million children, said an analysis found that more than 36,000 adults and nearly 4,000 children have died since January due to the partial funding cutoff.
– Climate analysis websites at four NOAA centers in the U.S. have gone offline due to the funding cutoff, leaving 27 states without access to weather information. The affected centers serve states including Texas, Florida and Ohio.
– More than 60 judges handling cases against the Trump administration are undergoing “enhanced online security screening,” including having their personal information removed from the internet, in the wake of attacks on judges by Trump, Miller and Musk, two federal judges appointed by Republican presidents said in a letter to members of Congress.
– Senator Van Hollen reports after returning that Garcia said he was in a cell with 25 men without knowing why, without contact with the outside world, and that there were 100 prisoners in other cells. Around the time of the Supreme Court ruling, Garcia was transferred to another prison. Van Hollen also reports that he was told that America is paying 15 million to house the Venezuelans, instead of the 6 million mentioned by the Trump administration.
– An immigration judge denies bail for Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts student who was arrested by masked ICE agents outside her student apartment last month. She was arrested after writing an op-ed advocating for Palestine.
– A federal judge is blocking the CFPB’s mass layoffs after the agency fired some 1,500 employees on Thursday, possibly in violation of an earlier court order. The judge has raised concerns about the speed and extent of the layoffs and is investigating whether the government violated her order.
– The ACLU asks the Supreme Court to intervene immediately and prevent a new group of Venezuelan migrants from being deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act before their case is heard.
– The Supreme Court rules 7-2 that the government may not deport people to El Salvador for the time being. Conservative Justices Thomas and Alito vote against.
– The ACLU asks a federal court to restore the visa status of international students who have had their visas revoked without clear cause. At least 1,075 students at 170 educational institutions have had their visas revoked since late March.
– The federal appeals court in Washington, DC, temporarily blocks Judge Boasberg’s attempt to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court for ignoring an order on the deportation flights. Two Trump-appointed judges vote to delay the order, while one Obama judge opposes it.
– The New York Times reports that the Trump administration’s sweeping letter to Harvard was sent by mistake and without authorization. Despite the internal confusion, the White House stands by the letter and freezes billions in grants.
– Mediate reports that Trump posted a doctored photo on social media of Garcia’s hand with “MS-13” written across his knuckles. However, a photo of Garcia’s meeting with Van Hollen shows his fingers tattooed only with a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull — with no reference to “MS-13.”
– U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy bars the Trump administration from expediting deportations of migrants to third countries without informing them of their destination or giving them a chance to express fears of persecution or torture, upholding an earlier order temporarily blocking such deportations while the lawsuit is pending.
– Connecticut rejects Trump’s requirement that K-12 schools certify that they are complying with the removal of DEI programs. Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker says the state already complies with anti-discrimination laws and she will not sign any compliance letters.
– Faculty councils from universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance, including UCLA and Penn State, are launching a mutual defense pact to counter legal and political pressure from the Trump administration. The alliance includes 18 leading research universities.
