Attorney General Pam Bondi warned Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) to “tread very carefully” following the lawmaker’s recent remarks voicing support for Elon Musk to be “taken down,” Politico reports.
Said Bondi: “She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country.”
“The White House is narrowing its approach to tariffs set to take effect on April 2, likely omitting a set of industry-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on a targeted set of nations that account for the bulk of foreign trade with the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Trump has declared his April 2 deadline to be ‘Liberation Day’ for the U.S., when he will put in place so-called reciprocal tariffs that seek to equalize U.S. tariffs with the duties charged by trading partners, as well as tariffs on sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors he repeatedly said would be enacted on that day.”
“Those sector-specific tariffs, however, are now not likely to be announced on April 2, said an administration official, who said the White House is still planning to unveil the reciprocal tariff action on that day, though planning remains fluid.”
“President Donald Trump has ramped up his fight with the judiciary as he racks up losses in court over his administration’s efforts to reshape the US government and its approach on everything from immigration to federal spending,” Bloomberg reports.
“Two months into his term, Trump is already fighting more than 150 lawsuits challenging his executive actions, based on a Bloomberg News review of filings in federal courts. Judges across the US are frequently ruling against the administration and in some cases signaling the president may have exceeded his power to act without the approval of Congress.”
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“Usha Vance, the second lady, is scheduled to join the White House national security adviser, the energy secretary and other U.S. officials to visit Greenland this week, amid President Trump’s continued push to take over the island,” the New York Times reports.
“Other senior administration officials may also visit.”
“Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election on Sunday, saying he needs a mandate from Canadians to take on U.S. President Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
“The federal campaign kicks off days ahead of a new slate of Trump tariffs, and at a time when Canadians are increasingly worried the president will make good on his threats of economic and cultural takeover.”
Playbook: “The Trump administration’s efforts to chill opposition among the elite legal class are working. Even before the Paul, Weiss deal, lawyers at major law firms in New York and Washington were struggling to find ways to collectively push back against the Trump administration’s efforts to punish disfavored law firms, which began with Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie.”
“Trump’s deal with the firm spurred phone calls and text messages across the elite legal class — many expressing shock and concern, and a relative few taking modest pleasure in the public blowback (which could prove to be a business opportunity for competitors looking to poach clients). Democratic legal strategist David Axelrod also posited that the deal could have more direct political effects on the Democratic Party by deterring lawyers at large firms from campaign fundraising.”
Also important: “Virtually no one with any long-term standing in the private legal community is willing to speak publicly about it, partly out of fear that they or their firms could wind up in Trump’s crosshairs.”
“The White House, through an outside event production company called Harbinger, is soliciting corporate sponsors for this year’s Easter Egg Roll, which is prompting major concerns from ethics experts and shock from former White House officials from both parties,” CNN reports.
“The sponsorship offers range from $75,000 to $200,000, with the promise of logo and branding opportunities.”
“Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, vowed Sunday that the Trump administration would not defy court orders stemming from legal challenges over its invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act to help deport undocumented immigrants from the United States,” ABC News reports.
CNN: “After a week back home where Democrats took an earful from their voters demanding they hold a tougher line with President Donald Trump, Jeffries is facing new pressure to forgo his cautious demeanor and lead the charge against the White House – and take the reins of his party’s strategy from Schumer.”
Said one senior House Democrat: “He’s gonna have to lead, or Chuck leads. This is his moment, so step up. He’s always bowed to Schumer, and I think that’s gonna end.”
“The number of Tesla owners trading in their cars surged to a record high in March, compounding the troubles of an automaker that has been embroiled in controversy since CEO Elon Musk became a central figure of President Donald Trump’s administration,” the Washington Post reports.
“Of all vehicles traded in at dealerships for new or used cars through March 16, 1.4 percent were Tesla cars from model year 2017 or newer — the highest share on record.”
“A Turkish court on Sunday jailed the mayor of Istanbul pending his trial on corruption charges, hobbling a potential contender in Turkey’s next presidential election and the top rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” the New York Times reports.
“The mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, was arrested at his home on Wednesday, four days before he was set to be named the presidential candidate of Turkey’s political opposition. He has denied the accusations against him, which Mr. Erdogan’s opponents have called a ploy to hinder a popular politician’s presidential bid.”
“The court ordered that Mr. Imamoglu be jailed on accusations of corruption pending a trial, the state-run news media said. State prosecutors have accused him of leading a criminal organization and overseeing bribery, bid rigging and other financial misdeeds at City Hall.”
New York Times: “The boost in federal spending for SpaceX will come in part as a result of actions by President Trump and Mr. Musk’s allies and employees who now hold government positions. The company will also benefit from policies under the current Trump administration that prioritize hiring commercial space vendors for everything from communications systems to satellite fabrication, areas in which SpaceX now dominates.”
“Already, some SpaceX employees, temporarily working at the F.A.A., were given official permission to take actions that might steer new work to Mr. Musk’s company.”
“The new contracts across government will come in addition to the billions of dollars in new business that SpaceX could rake in by securing permission from the Trump administration to expand its use of federally owned property.”
Washington Post: “As Trump upends democratic norms at home, his statements, policies and actions are providing cover for a fresh chill on freedom of expression, democracy, the rule of law and LGBTQ+ rights for autocrats around the world — some of whom are giving him credit.”
“Democratic backsliding in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey long predates Trump; the president has been said to have derived some of his messaging from Orban. But in several nations, including Hungary and Serbia, authorities say openly that Trump’s return has helped them serve up what critics say are fresh violations of basic rights.”
“Many professors saw it as surrender, a reward to the Trump administration’s heavy hand. Conservative critics of academia celebrated it as an overdue, righteous reset by an Ivy League university,” the New York Times reports.
“Columbia University’s concession on Friday to a roster of government demands as it sought to restore about $400 million in federal funding is being widely viewed as a watershed in Washington’s relationships with the nation’s colleges.”
“By design, the consequences will be felt immediately on Columbia’s campus, where, for example, some security personnel will soon have arrest powers and an academic department that had drawn conservative scrutiny is expected to face stringent oversight. But they also stand to shape colleges far from Manhattan.”
New York Times: “As the Department of Government Efficiency roars through agencies across government, its targets have included some of the organizations that Beijing worried about most, or actively sought to subvert.”
“And, as with much that Elon Musk’s DOGE has dismembered, there has been no published study of the costs and benefits of losing those capabilities — and no discussion of how the roles, arguably as important as a manned fighter, might be replaced.”
“The Internal Revenue Service is nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, culminating weeks of negotiations over using the tax system to support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
“Normally, personal tax information — even an individual’s name and address — is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS.”
“President Trump broadened his campaign of retaliation against lawyers he dislikes with a new memorandum that threatens to use government power to punish any law firms that, in his view, unfairly challenge his administration,” the New York Times reports.
“The memorandum directs the heads of the Justice and Homeland Security Departments to ‘seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States’ or in matters that come before federal agencies.”
Politico: Trump hangs sword of Damocles over the American legal system.
Wall Street Journal: “As Democrats tussle with each other on Capitol Hill and struggle to find a strategy to combat Trump’s fast-moving agenda, Sanders is stepping into the void and pitching his prescription for how they can start winning again.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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