By the Associated Press
Gina McCarthy, a former White House climate adviser and EPA administrator, is taking aim at President Trump for signing an executive order banning paper straws.
McCarthy, who served in two Democratic administrations, wrote in a sarcastic essay in McSweeney’s that only a man of Trump’s “stature, extraordinary power, intellect, sensitivity and unwavering focus on the needs of the American people” would find time to address the “insidious” issue of the “continued forced sucking of paper straws.”
Trump’s order will allow Americans to “fully embrace our patriotic duty to Make America Suck Again by ensuring that only plastic straws remain accessible in our towns, cities, states, businesses — and most importantly our schools,” she wrote.
By The New York Times
Marco Rubio was incensed. Here he was in the Cabinet Room of the White House, the secretary of state, seated beside the president and listening to a litany of attacks from the richest man in the world.
Seated diagonally opposite, across the elliptical mahogany table, Elon Musk was letting Rubio have it, accusing him of failing to slash his staff.
You have fired “nobody,” Musk told Rubio, then scornfully added that perhaps the only person he had fired was a staff member from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Rubio had been privately furious with Musk for weeks, ever since his team effectively shuttered an entire agency that was supposedly under Rubio’s control: the US Agency for International Development. But, in the extraordinary Cabinet meeting in front of Trump and around 20 others — details of which have not been reported before — Rubio got his grievances off his chest.
By Anjali Huynh, Globe Staff
As Trump and Elon Musk seek to slash the federal workforce nationwide, Governor Maura Healey’s administration is issuing a message to those being removed: Come to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts launched a website promoting employment and job training resources for federal workers. Its creation comes as the Trump administration has laid off tens of thousands of people, seeking to significantly cut federal personnel and funding using the new Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.
“Fed up? Make a difference with Team Massachusetts,” the website advertises.
Trump and Musk “have been recklessly firing essential public servants who care for our veterans, support our fishing industry, protect consumers, maintain our parks and more,” Healey said in a statement announcing the website’s creation.
By the Associated Press
Trump said he plans to impose what he’s calling “reciprocal” tariffs on lumber and dairy imports from Canada as soon as later in the day or early next week.
Trump said the tax on these products would match Canada’s tariff rates in a possible escalation of a trade war that Trump started by imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Canada. .
“They’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that’s what reciprocal means,” Trump said. “And we may do it as early as today, or we’ll wait till Monday or Tuesday, but that’s what we’re going to do.”
By Mike Damiano, Globe Staff
The Trump administration announced that it will cancel about $400 million of grants and contracts to Columbia University over allegations that the school has not done enough to combat campus antisemitism.
By the Associated Press
The guidance, issued this week, escalates the role that Elon Musk’s efficiency group, known as DOGE, will play at the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Any assistance agreement, contract or interagency agreement transaction (valued at) $50,000 or greater must receive approval from an EPA DOGE team member,″ the EPA guidance says, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
To facilitate the DOGE team review, EPA staff members have been directed to submit a daily one-page explanation of each funding action between 3 and 6 p.m. Eastern time. Other relevant forms also must be completed.
By the Associated Press
The president said Russia is “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield. Ukraine endured another overnight round of missile and drone attacks on its energy facilities.
But when asked about the pause in U.S. intelligence sharing with Kyiv that Trump ordered earlier this week, and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking advantage of the shift, Trump demured.
Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished.
“I think he’s doing what anybody else would,” Trump said of Putin.
Trump said he ordered the pause on U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv to get Ukraine to negotiate an agreement with Russia to end the war.
By the Associated Press
Trump spoke to reporters after sending a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking a new deal to restrain Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
“Hopefully we can have a peace deal,” said Trump, who previously suggested the other option might involve the US getting involved militarily in Iran.
“I’m not speaking out of strength or weakness. I’m just saying I’d rather see a peace deal than the other. But the other will solve the problem,” Trump said.
By the Associated Press
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading a coalition of attorneys general in a federal lawsuit filed late Thursday. They want the firings to stop and the workers to get their jobs back.
It says the mass firings of probationary employees is illegal, and will cause irreparable burdens and expenses on the states, which will lose tax revenue even as they support the workers’ rights to unemployment assistance.
Thousands of federal employees have been fired in Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government. The lawsuit says the administration’s blanket claims of unsatisfactory performance are false, and that laws and regulations governing large-scale reductions in force must be followed.
By the Associated Press
Trump says he wasn’t aware that some of his allies are pushing him to pardon Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd and sparking unrest nationwide in 2020.
Asked whether he’s considering a pardon, Trump responded: “No, I haven’t even heard about it.”
By the Associated Press
Trump is planning to sign an executive order taking aim at a program that forgives student loans for people in public service careers.
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the order aims to ensure people working for nonprofit organizations engaged in “improper activities,” such as illegal immigration, can’t have their loans forgiven.
It appears to be an attempt to target organizations working on causes Trump opposes.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program allows people working for government or nonprofits to apply for the remainder of their loan to be wiped out after making 10 years of payments. It was created by Congress, so it’s unclear whether the Trump administration has authority to modify it.
By the Associated Press
Trump says a bipartisan law meant to stimulate microchip production in the US is a “tremendous waste of money.”
The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a centerpiece of Biden administration policy that cleared Congress with support from Republicans, was meant to make US manufacturing more competitive with China and overseas producers.
Trump has since hailed foreign investment in US chip production that began under Biden. But he insisted the legislation itself should be repealed “because it’s hundreds of billions of dollars and it’s just a waste of money.”
By the Associated Press
Trump is talking up Friday’s jobs report that showed employers created 151,000 jobs last month and downplaying the possibility that tariffs or mass layoffs of federal workers would harm the economy.
“We’re here for just a little over four weeks and these are fantastic numbers,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump said his policies will create “a little bit of a disturbance” but will ultimately be beneficial.
“I think the labor market’s going to be fantastic but it’s going to have high paying manufacturing jobs,” Trump said.
By Globe Staff
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
The Trump administration rescinded an order requiring Maine parents of newborns to visit a government office in person to obtain social security numbers for their infants, rather than signing up for them at the hospital as they’ve done for decades.
Lee Dudek, the acting Social Security Administration commissioner, said in a statement that the agency was “correcting” a decision to change the policy.
Dudek said he had “recently” directed SSA employees to “end two contracts which affected the good people of the state of Maine,” and that he now realizes the move was ill-advised.
By the Associated Press
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright held a pep rally for expansion plans at a massive liquefied natural gas facility in Louisiana.
Venture Global estimated that its $18 billion LNG expansion would enable exports of up to 20 million tons a year to Asia and Europe and generate 8.5 million tons of planet-warming emissions.
There’s strong local opposition. Watchdogs say Venture Global violated its permits thousands of times by flaring gas and releasing chemicals. Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned that “unfettered exports” could drive up gas prices for US consumers.
But Burgum told reporters: “We can absolutely do both — we can sell energy to our friends and allies, we can lower the cost at home.”
By the Associated Press
As their party struggles to navigate the early days of Donald Trump’s second presidency, some Democrats are convinced their road to recovery lies in egg prices.
Democratic officials shared new internal data showing voters are most worried about inflation and the cost of living. Democracy itself, by contrast, ranked No. 12. The party establishment’s focus on blaming Trump for inflation is a break with activists trying to mobilize against what they see as an existential threat — that Trump is a budding dictator has no regard for the Constitution.
Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin, who helped coordinate nationwide protests that put House Republicans on defense, said “bored, tired talking points” won’t stop authoritarianism: “It’s 2025 — this isn’t how politics works anymore.”
By the Associated Press
The Department of Homeland Security says it’s ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration who are responsible for keeping weapons and explosives off airplanes and protecting air travel.
The department’s announcement Friday says poor performers were being allowed to stay on the job, and that the contract was hindering the ability of the organization “to safeguard our transportation systems and keep Americans safe.”
By the Associated Press
The director of the White House National Economic Council is cheering Friday’s report: US employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month.
Kevin Hassett said that’s “really, really impressive” while noting that the mass federal firings Trump has championed likely won’t be reflected in jobs figures until next month or later.
Hassett acknowledged that the Biden administration had “some strong jobs numbers” too, but asserted that they were based on government employment, while Trump has promoted manufacturing and the private sector.
The report came in below the 160,000 jobs economists had expected for last month. Unemployment also rose slightly, to 4.1%.
By the Associated Press
Iranian state media immediately picked up on Trump saying he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking a new deal with Tehran to restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Trump’s comments were given in portions of a Fox Business News interview aired on Friday, though there was no confirmation from Khamenei’s office that any letter had been received. The interview is expected to air in full on Sunday.
It also remains unclear just how the 85-year-old supreme leader would react, given that former President Barack Obama had kept his letters to Khamenei secret ahead of the start of negotiations for Tehran’s 2015 deal with world powers.
Trump’s acknowledgment comes as both Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels — a purity only sought by atomic-armed nations.
“I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing,’” Trump said. He later added that he had sent the letter “yesterday” in the interview, which was filmed on Thursday.
By the Associated Press
A separate court order out of New York still puts limits on what Elon Musk‘s team can do inside the Treasury Department’s systems, however.
In Washington, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly previously restricted DOGE to two employees with read-only access. She declined Friday to grant a longer-term block, however. Her decision comes in a lawsuit filed by retirees and unions who fear DOGE’s activities could expose sensitive information.
Kollar-Kotelly found that concerns about DOGE are “understandable and no doubt widely shared,” but she hasn’t yet seen evidence of serious legal harm that would justify barring the team. She invited plaintiffs to return if more immediate risks emerge.
By the Associated Press
A labor union says 85 immigration courts employees have accepted Trump’s financial incentives to resign.
They include 18 judges, one assistant chief immigration judge and 66 support staff in a court system that typically takes years to decide each asylum claim.
Shortly after Trump took office in January, the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review fired 20 judges without explanation, according to the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers.
“This makes no sense,” said Matt Biggs, the union president. “Immigration judges are hard to replace given their specialized knowledge and legal experience. It takes at least a year to recruit, hire, train and conduct a background check on a new judge.”
By the Associated Press
Trump said he is “strongly considering” sanctions and tariffs on Russia in hopes of forcing a settlement to the war in Ukraine.
He said in a post on Truth Social that they could remain in place “until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.”
The post came as Trump faces criticism for increasing pressure on Ukraine to reach a deal while downplaying or even denying Russia’s responsibility for starting the war with its invasion three years ago.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump added.
By the Associated Press
It’s just a partial payment, but US District Judge Amir Ali described it as a “concrete” first step he wants to see as the administration fights multiple lawsuits over the administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development and other State Department programs.
Ali’s line of questioning in a four-hour hearing Thursday suggested skepticism of the Trump administration’s argument that presidents have wide authority to override congressional decisions on spending when it comes to foreign policy.
It would be an “earth-shaking, country-shaking proposition to say that appropriations are optional,” Ali said.
By the Associated Press
Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste.
“I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the US Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest.
By the Associated Press
Trump’s comments about the letter to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were not immediately confirmed by the supreme leader.
Trump made the comments in an interview aired Friday by Fox Business News.
The White House confirmed Trump’s comments, saying he sent a letter to Iran’s leaders seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal. Trump made the comments in an interview that will air fully Sunday.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Trump’s comments, citing the broadcast. However, there was no immediate word from the office of the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has final say over all matters of state.
By the Associated Press
After European leaders committed Thursday to freeing up hundreds of billions of euros for security, Trump said he was “not so sure” that the military alliance would come to the United States’ defense if the country were attacked.
Here’s a look at how some EU leaders responded:
- “We are loyal and faithful allies,” French President Emmanuel Macron said late Thursday, expressing “respect and friendship” toward US leaders and adding that France was “entitled to expect the same.”
- Māris Riekstins, Latvia’s ambassador to NATO, stressed the military alliance remained the most important platform for addressing transatlantic security issues. He emphasized the commitment from his country — which shares a nearly 300-kilometer (186-mile) border with Russia — to defense spending.
- In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his country would raise defense spending to reach NATO’s target faster than previously committed. But he did not specify when the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy — and NATO laggard — would hit the 2% of GDP military spending target.
By the Associated Press
WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said it’s important for US trade partners not to panic and engage in tit-for-tat measures but to embrace dialogue in reaction to Trump’s threats in recent days to impose tariffs.
Okonjo-Iweala preferred to describe the threats and reversals as “disruptions.”
“I think we need to listen to the United States and listen to what their concerns are, and say, ‘how can we also help them deal with their concerns,’” she said, speaking during a discussion alongside former German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the WTO headquarters in Geneva.
By the Associated Press
Wall Street is poised to open with gains Friday after another US pivot on tariffs kicked off the third market sell-off in four days.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%.
However, the high growth, tech heavy Nasdaq tumbled 4% into correction territory this week. The S&P shed. 3.6% over the last four days and closed at its lowest point since early November on Thursday. The Dow has slid about 2.9% since Monday.
The US on Friday releases February employment numbers, which will show how many workers US employers hired. Economists believe hiring accelerated last month.
By the Associated Press
Canada’s initial retaliatory tariffs against the US will remain in place despite Trump postponing 25% tariffs on many imports from Canada for a month, two senior Canadian government officials said.
Two senior Canadian governments official told the Associated Press that Canada’s first wave of response tariffs will remain. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Canada’s initial $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) worth of retaliatory tariffs have been applied on items like American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products.
By the Associated Press
Billionaire Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he is not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers, including veterans, as pushes to downsize the government. Instead, he said in private talks this week that those decisions are left to the various federal agencies.
The message from one of Trump’s most influential advisers came as Republicans publicly support Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency digging up waste, fraud and abuse, but are privately raising questions as personnel cuts ripple through communities across the nation.
It’s a remarkable shift of emphasis away from the chainsaw-wielding tech entrepreneur whose vast power has made him an admired, revered and deeply feared figure in the second Trump administration.
By the Associated Press
European Union leaders on Thursday committed to bolstering the continent’s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security after Trump’s repeated warnings that he would cut them adrift to face the threat of Russia alone.
With the growing conviction that they will now have to fend for themselves, countries that have faltered on defense spending for decades held emergency talks in Brussels to explore new ways to beef up their security and ensure future protection for Ukraine.
The resulting pledge underscored a sea change in geopolitics spurred on by Trump, who has undermined 80 years of cooperation based on the understanding that the US would help protect European nations following World War II.
By the Associated Press
The order, issued Thursday, impacts nearly $2 billion in debts to partners of the US Agency for International Development and the State Department, giving the Trump administration a Monday deadline to repay the nonprofit groups and businesses in a lawsuit over the administration’s abrupt shutdown of foreign assistance funding.
US District Judge Amir Ali described the partial payment as a “concrete” first step he wanted to see from the administration, which is fighting multiple lawsuits seeking to roll back the administration’s dismantling of USAID and a six-week freeze on USAID funding.
The ruling came a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to freeze funding that flowed through USAID. The high court instructed Ali to clarify what the government must do to comply with his earlier order requiring the quick release of funds for work that had already been done.
Ali’s line of questioning in a four-hour hearing Thursday suggested skepticism of the Trump administration’s argument that presidents have wide authority to override congressional decisions on spending when it comes to foreign policy.
By the Associated Press
President Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.
The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed US consumers.
In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit. He emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.
“Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “Right now, we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.”
By the Associated Press
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press.
The database, which was confirmed by US officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public, said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, when considering social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for DEI content. The official said it’s not clear if the database has been finalized.
By the Associated Press
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate for the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs” and accused Washington of “meeting good with evil” in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session.
Wang said China’s efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining their ties.
“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
By the Associated Press
As their party struggles to navigate the early days of Donald Trump’s second presidency, some Democrats are convinced that their road to recovery lies in the price of eggs.
Instead of leaning into Trump’s teardown of the federal government or his alliance with billionaire lieutenant Elon Musk, they’re steering to what they perceive as the everyday concerns of Americans — none more important than grocery prices and eggs in particular.
U.S. egg prices hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen in January, surpassing a previous record set in January 2023, according to federal data. In some parts of the country, they’re much higher. A Safeway supermarket in San Francisco was selling a dozen eggs for $10.99 this week.
By the Associated Press
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday over whether he should block immigration agents from conducting arrests at schools under a Trump administration policy that has yet to be acted upon.
Denver Public Schools is asking U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico to block immigration enforcement in schools across the country while its lawsuit challenging the new policy plays out in court.
The suit says the possibility of routine immigration arrests in its schools has led to a drop in attendance. It also says the district has had to divert resources to respond to fear among students and families over the lifting of longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools, churches and other sensitive locations.
