Coast-to-coast opposition to upheaval in President Donald Trump’s second term took shape Saturday at more than 1,200 events organized by Democratic activists.
Protesters across the United States took to the streets in a series of “Hands Off” demonstrations decrying Trump’s border enforcement and deportation policies, as well as mass firings under the Department of Government Efficiency.
Organizers said Trump and his billionaire adviser at DOGE, Elon Musk, have created an unnecessary crisis in the belief that “this country belongs to them” exclusively.
“They’re taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them,” the organizers said in the statement. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.”
Meet the Press
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday dismissed concerns Americans might be having about their retirement plans in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“I think that’s a false narrative,” Bessent told moderator Kristen Welker. “Americans who want to retire right now, the Americans who put away for years in their savings accounts, I think they don’t look at the day-to-day fluctuations.”
Later in the program, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., directly criticized Bessent’s remarks, pointing to Bessent’s and President Donald Trump’s wealth.
“The treasury secretary saying that people aren’t looking at where the retirement savings are — maybe he doesn’t have to,” Schiff said. “He’s got the wealth; he doesn’t have to. Maybe the president, with his wealth, doesn’t have to. But what I’m hearing from Californians is those who have just retired, those who are on the eve of retiring, they’re terrified of this.”
Politics in brief
- In an apparent break from the White House’s stance, Elon Musk said he hopes to see a “zero tariff situation” between the United States and Europe, also calling for “more freedom of people to move between Europe and North America.”
- A Justice Department attorney who struggled in court to explain the Trump administration’s deportation of a Maryland man to El Salvador was placed on administrative leave, a department official said.
- Around a thousand protesters marched outside White House “border czar” Tom Homan’s home in a small New York village, calling for the release of three children and their mother whom immigration agents detained at a nearby dairy farm late last month.
- Representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency have arrived at the Peace Corps’ headquarters, the agency confirmed, signaling possible cuts to a volunteer mission that has long enjoyed bipartisan support.
Ovechkin surpasses ‘The Great One’
Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin broke the long-standing NHL record for goals scored, surpassing the mark the legendary Wayne Gretzky set more than 25 years ago.
Ovechkin scored the record-setter, his 895th, in the second period Sunday against the New York Islanders. The matchup was immediately paused, and a ceremony took place on the ice.
Ovechkin signed a five-year contract extension with Washington in 2021 that runs through next season. He has hinted in the past that 2025-26 could be his final year in the NHL before a possible return to Russia.
At America’s last alumina refinery, a trade war spells trade-offs
A satellite view of Atlantic Alumina.Google Maps
President Donald Trump wants to reinvigorate American industry with tariffs on metals, cars and dozens of foreign exporters. In Gramercy, Louisiana, home to the country’s last refiner of the key material for making aluminum, locals aren’t sold on joining any such revival.
Like many residents, Barbara Dumas bemoans the area’s industrial pollution and believes her community would be better off without the refinery: “It may hurt the people that’s working there, but at least people around here can live safer.”
Atlantic Alumina, also called Atalco, single-handedly supplies about 40% of the alumina used to make aluminum in the United States.
Charles Johnson, the Aluminum Association’s CEO, has welcomed the Trump administration’s call to ramp up smelting in the United States and tariffs on cheap Chinese metal imports but said the process could take a decade. He says the downstream sector needs access to foreign supplies — especially from Canada, which industry stakeholders have urged the administration to spare from tariffs.
UConn dominates South Carolina to win the NCAA women’s tournament
The Connecticut Huskies won their record 12th women’s national basketball championship Sunday, throttling the South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 in a rematch of the 2022 title game.
The Gamecocks were looking for their second straight championship and their third in four years, but they were denied by the Huskies, who dominated them offensively.
Meanwhile, the men’s tournament comes down to Houston and Florida. The Cougars advanced to the program’s third title game by charging past Duke 67-64 despite trailing by 14 points with eight minutes left, shocking the Blue Devils with a comeback.
It followed another rally in which the Gators topped Auburn. Florida trailed by eight points at halftime but won 79-73 by summoning its third comeback of the tournament behind 34 points from star guard Walter Clayton Jr.
In case you missed it
- A second child with measles in Texas has died, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
- A week of powerful storms that swept through the South and the Midwest killed at least 17 people.
- The University of Massachusetts Amherst said federal authorities have revoked five international students’ visas, along with several others in California.
- Two lawmakers from Britain’s ruling Labour Party were denied entry to Israel and deported. The Israeli immigration ministry said they were suspected of plans to “document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred.”
- Pope Francis made his first public appearance since he was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago.
- Three people in Mammoth Lakes, California, died from hantavirus, the virus that killed actor Gene Hackman’s wife in February, public health officials said.
- Andrew and Tristan Tate, who recently traveled to the United States as they faced human trafficking and sex related charges in Romania, may now be under federal criminal investigation in the United States, according to a new civil lawsuit filing.
- British singer FKA Twigs canceled an appearance at Coachella in California this week as she continues to face visa issues for her North American tour.
