Top national security officials for President Donald Trumptexted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story published Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” Goldberg reported.
It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. Trump told reporters he was not aware of the apparent breach in protocol.
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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy resigns after 5 years in the position
He’s leaving as Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have floated the idea of privatizing mail service.
DeJoy said in a statement that Monday would be his last day on the job. The head of the U.S. Postal Service had said in February that he had intended to step down but hadn’t set a date. Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will take on the role until the Postal Service Board of Governors names a permanent replacement.
Earlier this month, DeJoy said he planned to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the USPS budget and he’d do that working with DOGE, according to a letter sent to members of Congress.
DeJoy’s tenure was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts.
▶ Read more about the postmaster general’s resignation
Defense secretary blames media for reports he shared military plans to an unclassified Signal chat
Speaking to reporters traveling with him as he landed in Hawaii for his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth said “nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that.”
Instead, Hegseth tried to discredit The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg — who was added to the Signal chat by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and reported on the texts — as “peddling garbage.”
The National Security Council has said the text chain in Signal “appears to be authentic.”
Hegseth is facing questions from members of Congress of both parties on the details he posted to Signal, which is a commercial app and is not classified. The National Security Council also said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chat.
House speaker pushes back against prospect of punishment for those involved in military plan leak
“I think it would be a terrible mistake for there to be adverse consequences on any of the people that were involved in that call. They were trying to do a good job, the mission was accomplished with precision. I think that’s what matters in the end,” Mike Johnson said. “They’ll fix it. They’ll fix it.”
The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat where plans for military strikes in Yemen were discussed.
Some US embassies in Europe post warnings to would-be visa seekers: Watch your step
Embassies in at least 17 countries have put up posts featuring images of administration figures, including Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warning those seeking visas that engaging in behavior the government deems harmful could get them deported.
A post put up by the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, reads: “When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. You lied to us. You’re out.”
The Trump administration has been clamping down on visa holders who have participated in protests in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip.
▶ Read more about the warning posts to visa seekers
Chair of Senate committee overseeing the military says senators will look into Signal leak
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters, “We’re very concerned about it and we’ll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis.”
Senate Democrats have been calling for an investigation into a report in The Atlantic that Trump’s top advisers texted plans for military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in the secure messaging app Signal that included the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
Some Republicans have been critical of the episode Monday, but had mostly stopped short of calling for an investigation or congressional hearings.
Wave of cancellations hits research grants focused on LGBTQ+ health
A surge of grant cancellations hit researchers focused on the health of gay, lesbian and transgender people last week, as the Trump administration continues to target what it describes as ideologically driven science.
Last week, the U.S. government terminated at least 68 grants totaling nearly $40 million when awarded to 46 institutions, according to a government website.
Most were in some way related to sexual minorities, including research focused on HIV prevention. Others centered on cancer, youth suicide and bone health.
Termination letters gave as reasons that the research was “unscientific” or did “nothing to enhance the health of many Americans.”
Hillary Clinton responds to war plans leak
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a seven-word response to news that Trump administration officials had accidentally texted a war plan to a journalist in a group chat.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, wrote on X.
The response was notable given Clinton faced scrutiny — and an FBI investigation — over her own handling of sensitive information. The FBI and Justice Department investigated her as she ran for president over whether she had illegally communicated classified information to colleagues through a private email server that she used as secretary of state in the Obama administration.
Then-FBI Director James Comey recommended against criminal charges, but the issue nonetheless dogged her throughout her campaign and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, made it a central point of attack.
Trump has ‘utmost confidence’ in national security team after leak
The endorsement conveyed by Trump’s chief spokesperson came several hours after The Atlantic published a report that Trump’s top advisers, including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, texted plans for military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief of the magazine.
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective, President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Trump in an exchange with reporters earlier on Monday said he was not aware of the report of the leak and that he was being told “about it for the first time.”
Top House Democrat says Congress should investigate war plans texts sent in group chat
Hakeem Jeffries said there should be a congressional investigation of top Trump administration officials texting war plans for military strikes in Yemen to a group chat that included a journalist.
Jeffries said it was important to understand what happened and to prevent “this type of national security breach from ever happening again.”
“This is reckless, irresponsible and dangerous,” Jeffries said.
He said Americans were promised that Trump would hire only the very best, but “this whole Trump administration is filled with lackeys and incompetent cronies.”
The National Security Council says it is looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat.
Venezuela-hired lawyers file petition in El Salvador in effort to free Venezuelans deported by US
The legal action aims to free the 238 Venezuelans deported by the United States who are being held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.
Jaime Ortega, who says he represents 30 of the imprisoned Venezuelans, said they filed the habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber. He said that by extension they requested that it be applied to all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.
The maneuver essentially compels the government to prove someone’s detention was justified.
The Salvadoran government has been silent about the status of the Venezuelan prisoners since the U.S. government sent them more than a week ago
Trump’s portrait to be taken down at Colorado Capitol after president claimed it was ‘distorted’
Colorado officials say a portrait of Trump hanging in the state’s Capitol will be taken down after Trump claimed it was “purposefully distorted.”
House Democrats said in a statement Monday that the oil painting would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the Legislature.
“If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them,” the Democrats said.
The portrait was painted during Trump’s first term and unveiled in 2019. Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 to commission it.
In a Sunday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would prefer no picture at all over that one.
Alaska House passes resolution affirming state’s relationship with Canada
The resolution, which follows Trump imposing tariffs on Canada, notes the ties the state has with the bordering nation.
Some Alaska legislators relocating to the capital city of Juneau for session annually must cross the border into Canada — and drives hundreds of miles — due to the unique geography before reentering the U.S.
The resolution states it opposes “restrictive trade measures that would harm the unique relationship between Canada and Alaska or negatively affect our integrated economies.” It also expressed concerns about possible retaliatory steps Canadian governments could take that might disrupt travel across the shared border.
A similar measure is pending in the state Senate.
Trump holds celebration marking Greek Independence Day in White House
Trump began the event by acknowledging Greek-American lawmakers and members of his administration. He signed a proclamation that celebrates Tuesday as Greek Independence Day.
“That’s a great thing we’re doing,” Trump said.
He also invited to the stage Kimberly Guilfoyle, his pick to be U.S. ambassador to Greece, saying: “She represents Greek culture very well.”
Judge hears request to pause decision hastening end of temporary deportation protections
Immigrant rights advocates asked a federal judge in San Francisco on Monday to postpone a Trump administration decision that hastens the end of temporary legal protections for 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians in the U.S.
About 350,000 Venezuelans authorized to work and live in the U.S. are set to have their Temporary Protected Status expire on April 7 under a decision by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem has also announced the end of TPS for 500,000 Haitians on Aug. 3 and another 250,000 Venezuelans on Sept. 10.
TPS, as the 1990s law is known, provides work authorization and rights to live in the United States in 18-month increments if the Homeland Security secretary deems conditions in their home countries are unsafe for return.
Lawyers for the National TPS Alliance said in court Wednesday that Noem had no authority to cancel lawful protections extended by the previous secretary. They also said Noem was motivated in part by racism.
Government attorneys for Noem said Congress gave the secretary clear authority to make determinations related to the TPS program and that it was not subject to judicial review.
Schumer calls for investigation into report of Trump officials’ war plan group chat
“This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time,” Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader, said in a floor speech Monday afternoon.
He called on Republicans, who hold majority power in the Senate, to join him in launching a congressional investigation into the security breach.
Earlier Monday, The Atlantic reported that top national security officials for Trump had texted each other war plans for military strikes in Yemen on a secure messaging app and included a journalist in the chat.
Appellate panel weighs push to lift order blocking deportation of Venezuelan migrants
A panel of appeals court judges appeared divided Monday on a Trump administration push to lift an order blocking the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law — a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.
Circuit Court Judge Patricia Millett said Nazis detained in the U.S. during World World II received better legal treatment than Venezuelan immigrants who were deported to El Salvador this month under the statute.
“We certainly dispute the Nazi analogy,” Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign responded during a hearing of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Millett is one of three appellate judges who will decide whether to lift a March 15 order temporarily prohibiting deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
A second judge appeared open to the administration’s argument that the migrants should be challenging their detention in Texas rather than the nation’s capital. The third judge on the panel didn’t ask any questions.
▶ Read more about the hearing over recent deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
Siblings of researcher believed kidnapped in Iraq call for her release
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli researcher, disappeared in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, in March 2023 while doing research for her doctorate at Princeton University.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. But Israel believes she is being held by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia that it says also has ties to the Iraqi government.
Relatives of Tsurkov, including her sister Emma and brother David, gathered with allies outside the Iraqi embassy on Monday to demand that their sister be released and brought home.
Emma Tsurkov said she hoped her small rally would not become a “routine event” and that any return visit to Washington would be a “thank you tour” for everyone who helped to bring her sister home.
She also called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate Iraq as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Trump will elevate Cen
ters for Disease Control and Prevention’s acting director to nominee
President Donald Trump will nominate Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC’s acting director, to the job, a White House official confirmed on Monday.
Trump abruptly withdrew the nomination of his first pick earlier this month.
Monarez has been serving as the CDC’s acting director since January. She came from an outside federal government agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.
The White House withdrew the nomination of David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the CDC. Weldon told the media his nomination was withdrawn because “there were not enough votes to get me confirmed.”
Weldon was closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who for years has been one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists.
Rubio heads to the Caribbean this week
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel this week to three Caribbean nations for talks on ending illegal immigration, fighting crime and restoring stability to Haiti.
The State Department says Rubio will visit Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname beginning on Wednesday, in what will be his second overseas trip to Latin America and the Caribbean since taking office.
In Kingston, Rubio plans to meet Jamaican officials along with the leaders of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti.
He will then visit Georgetown and Paramaribo for talks with Guyanese and Surinamese officials before returning home.
Top House and Senate lawmakers react to report in The Atlantic
— “If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement. He said American lives are “on the line. The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately.”
— Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement he was “horrified” by the reports. Himes said if a lower-ranking official “did what is described here, they would likely lose their clearance and be subject to criminal investigation. The American people deserve answers,” which he said he planned to get at Wednesday’s previously scheduled committee hearing.
— Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, said on social media that Pete Hegseth, “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in history, is demonstrating his incompetence by literally leaking classified war plans in the group chat.”Duckworth said, “Hegseth and Trump are making our country less safe.”
Federal judge issues temporary ban on removal of 2 transgender men from US Air Force
U.S. District Judge Christine O’Hearn after a hearing Monday says the pair have shown their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations.
The ruling follows a similar one last week that blocked enforcement of Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from the military.
O’Hearn found Master Sgt. Logan Ireland and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade are likely to prevail on equal protection grounds by showing they have been singled out due to their sex and the administration cannot justify the differential treatment.
“The loss of military service under the stigma of a policy that targets gender identity is not merely a loss of employment; it is a profound disruption of personal dignity, medical continuity, and public service,” O’Hearn, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, wrote in an order granting a 14-day restraining order.
Both men have been put on administrative leave — Ireland from a training program at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, and Bade from a deployment in Kuwait, the order said.
Trump says US officials’ Greenland visit isn’t provocation, but ‘friendliness’
During a meeting of his Cabinet on Monday, Trump repeated his assertions the U.S. could come to control Greenland, saying, “I think Greenland’s going to be something that maybe is in our future.”
He called U.S. control of the island that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark important for national security.
Trump also suggested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could be going soon to Greenland, and that people there were asking U.S. officials to go, including “some officials.”
Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about story in The Atlantic
Trump was asked about The Atlantic story by reporters as he met with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Louisiana’s Gov. Jeff Landry at the White House.
The president said he knew “nothing” about it.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic. To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. It’s not much of a magazine but I know nothing about it,” Trump said.
Trump then asked a reporter for more information about the general details of the story, and after being told the chat involved discussion of the strikes on the Houthis, he said, “Well, it couldn’t have been very effective because the attack was very effective. I can tell you that.”
Trump officials text war plans to media via Signal group chat app
Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday.
The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.
Trump hails steel investment
President Donald Trump is holding a White House event with elected leaders from Louisiana to promote a $5.8 billion steel production facility coming to the state.
Automaker Hyundai is pursuing the project.
The president says his threat of tariffs is leading companies to move production into the country.
“Cars are coming into this country at levels never seen before. Get ready,” he says.
Trump says territorial lines, nuclear plant discussed in Russia-Ukraine limited ceasefire talks
Ukrainian and Russian officials are taking part in the indirect talks in Saudi Arabia, and Trump said he believes both sides ultimately want the conflict settled.
Trump last week floated the idea of the U.S. taking control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The six-reactor plant was seized by Russia early in the war. He spotlighted the idea once again on Monday during an exchange with reporters at the White House.
“Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant — work it that way because we have the expertise” to get the plant operating, Trump said. “Something like that would be fine with me.”
Iran condemns US threats to use force and vows it will defend its sovereignty
The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in a letter to the U.N. Security Council, referred to “baseless accusations” and threats by senior U.S. administration officials and Trump against Iran while trying to justify what he said were unlawful attacks against Yemen.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani warned that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the United States will bear full responsibility.”
He said Iran will “resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests under international law against any hostile action.”
The U.S. has launched a series of airstrikes against strongholds of Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have disrupted international maritime trade by targeting ships in the Red Sea.
Iravani said in the letter that Iran “supports maritime safety and freedom of navigation,” and emphasized that the Houthis “operate independently in their decision-making and actions.”
He urged the Security Council to speak out against the U.S. “blatant provocations.”
But since the U.S. has veto power in the council, there is no chance of that happening.
Homeland Security chief to visit El Salvador prison where deported Venezuelans are being held
Officials said Monday that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s prison visit is part of a three-day trip. It starts Wednesday with the visit to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, and Noem will also meet with President Nayib Bukele, according to a Homeland Security statement.
The Venezuelans were deported this month after Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The administration says they are gang members but hasn’t identified who was deported or given evidence of gang affiliation.
Some 250 immigrants from the U.S., who the Trump administration alleges are members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, are being held.
Noem will then visit Colombia and Mexico.
Cabinet meeting wraps up
Trump and Cabinet officials spent nearly an hour talking about their accomplishments and answering questions from journalists at the White House.
Elon Musk was also there and was wearing a red MAGA-style hat that said, “Trump was right about everything” in all caps.
For the president, these have been opportunities to highlight his administration’s progress on his agenda, such as ramping up deportations and reducing the federal workforce.
They’re also a showcase for Musk’s influence. Near the end of Monday’s meeting, Trump praised the billionaire entrepreneur as “a patriot” who is selflessly serving his country.
“Elon has never asked me for a thing,” he said.
Trump presses Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates
“I’d like to see the Fed lower interest rates. That’s just my opinion,” he said during a Cabinet meeting.
Trump has routinely ignored the tradition of presidents declining to comment on decision-making by the Federal Reserve, which operates independently.
Dozens rally outside Education Department building to support dismissed workers
Cars honked as they passed and supporters stood in the rain clapping, cheering and holding signs saying, “Thank you for your service” and “Your work matters.”
Among the supporters was Josie Skinner, a lawyer who worked on programs to support homeless children and ensure equitable services for children in private schools before she was fired from the department herself. She rejected President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the dismissed employees did not work hard.
“All of them could have made a lot of money in the private sector but chose to do this work because we cared about education, we cared about serving our country,” she said.
Trump plans to finish federal workforce overhaul in a few months
Trump said at a Cabinet meeting that he expects to finish his overhaul of the federal workforce in two to three months.
His administration has been working to downsize the number of employees through financial incentives and layoffs.
“We’re getting rid of the fat,” Trump said.
The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management are in the process of reviewing agencies’ plans for large-scale reductions in force.
Schools, unions sue over Trump’s Education Department order
A federal lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts says Trump overstepped his authority in directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin closing the department. It also asks a judge to block the Trump administration’s plan to halve the agency’s workforce.
Those actions “are unlawful and harm millions of students, school districts and educators across the nation,” according to the suit. It says only Congress has the power to close the department.
The suit was filed by the American Federation of Teachers, the American Association of University Professors and the Somerville and Easthampton school districts, along with other unions.
Trump’s order said McMahon would “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law” take steps to close the department.
Trump says countries that buy Venezuelan oil will face 25% tariff
In a Truth Social post, Trump said Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the U.S. and countries purchasing oil from the South American country will be forced to pay the tariff on all their trade to the U.S. starting April 2.
Venezuela will face a “Secondary” tariff because it is the home to the gang Tren de Aragua, he said. The Trump administration is deporting immigrants that it claims are members of the gang who illegally crossed into the United States.
Trump said his social media post would serve as notification of the policy to the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.
Trump names his former defense lawyer to be interim US attorney for New Jersey
Former defense attorney and White House counselor Alina Habba is a New Jersey native who’ll succeed John Giordano as interim U.S. attorney in the state where the president has several golf clubs.
Giordano is being nominated ambassador to Namibia, the president said.
Habba has been a rising star in Trump’s orbit after representing him in various legal matters over the past few years. A partner at a small New Jersey law firm near Trump’s Bedminster golf course, Habba served as a senior adviser for his political action committee, defended him in court in several lawsuits and acted as a spokesperson last year as he volleyed between courtrooms and the campaign trail.
Judge won’t toss order blocking Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan immigrants
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued his latest ruling only hours before an appeals court is scheduled to hear the case.
Boasberg’s order says the immigrants facing deportation must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. He said there is “a strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no right to challenge.”
“The public also has a significant stake in the Government’s compliance with the law,” the judge wrote.
Boasberg didn’t immediately decide what form a challenge should take.
On Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is scheduled to hear attorneys’ arguments in the case. President Donald Trump’s administration appealed after Boasberg agreed on March 15 to temporarily bar the deportations and ordered planes to return to the U.S.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt judge’s order to rehire probationary federal workers
In an emergency appeal filed Monday, the administration argued the ruling should be put on hold because the judge didn’t have the authority to order some 16,000 probationary employees to be hired back.
The order came from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, who found the firings didn’t follow federal law and required immediate offers of reinstatement be sent.
The agencies include the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury.
Judge blocks DOGE from accessing personal data at US agencies
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction Monday morning in a case filed in a Maryland federal court last month by a coalition of labor unions.
The lawsuit, led by the American Federation of Teachers, alleges the Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it gave Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to systems with the personal information of tens of millions of Americans without their consent.
Boardman had previously issued a temporary restraining order. The preliminary injunction offers longer-term relief blocking DOGE access at the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management as the case plays out.
The judge found the Trump administration likely violated privacy laws. She said the government failed to adequately explain why DOGE needed access to “millions of records” to perform their job duties.
She said the administration can still carry out the president’s agenda without receiving unfettered access to a trove of personal data on federal employees and people with student loans and government benefits.
That includes their income and asset information, Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses and marital and citizenship status.
Trump to hold Cabinet meeting with Musk
The president is convening a meeting with top administration officials on Monday morning, according to the White House.
Elon Musk, who is leading efforts to downsize and overhaul the federal government, will be there.
The last time Musk attended such a meeting, there were reports of clashes between him and Cabinet officials, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump moved swiftly afterward to tamp down questions about disharmony within his administration.
Trump’s national security adviser, energy secretary also to visit Greenland
The White House has confirmed White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are headed to Greenland in the coming days to visit with U.S. troops at Pituffik Space Base and attend a dogsled race.
The visit comes as Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of the U.S. taking control of the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of NATO ally Denmark.
“The U.S. has a vested security interest in the Arctic region and it should not be a surprise the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Energy are visiting a U.S. Space Base to get first-hand briefings from our service members on the ground,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement. “We also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self determination and advances economic cooperation.”
Waltz and Wright will be joining second lady Usha Vance for the trip. The White House announced Vance’s travel to Greenland on Sunday.
Trump and Louisiana’s governor to celebrate new $5B steel plant, White House says
The plant is part of an overall $20 billion investment by Hyundai, the Korean automaker.
“More investments, more jobs, and more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans — all thanks to President Trump’s economic policies,” wrote White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on social media.
Trump questions impartiality of judge who blocked plans to deport Venezuelan immigrants
Just after midnight, the president posted a social media message calling for Chief Judge James Boasberg to be disbarred. Trump reposted an article about Boasberg’s attendance at a conference that purportedly featured “anti-Trump speakers.”
The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law that hadn’t been invoked since World War II. Flights already were in the air on March 15 when Boasberg agreed to temporarily bar the deportations and ordered planes to return to the U.S.
The administration appealed the order.
On Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is scheduled to hear attorneys’ arguments.
GAO to review Trump administration’s workforce reductions
The Government Accountability Office confirmed the review in a letter sent to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The Massachusetts Democrat, whose office provided the letter to The Associated Press, had requested a review of how many workers were fired, how many were rehired under judicial orders this month and how each agency’s functions were impacted by the workforce cuts.
Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has fired thousands of workers across the federal government.
Federal judges this month ordered the Trump administration to rehire probationary workers for now. The White House had defended the president’s power to hire and fire employees.
Military veterans are becoming the face of Trump’s government cuts and Democrats’ resistance
As congressional lawmakers scramble to respond to President Donald Trump’s slashing of the federal government, one group is already taking a front and center role: military veterans.
From layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Pentagon purge of archives that documented diversity in the military, veterans have been acutely affected by Trump’s actions. And with the Republican president determined to continue slashing the federal government, the burden will only grow on veterans, who make up roughly 30% of the federal workforce and often tap government benefits they earned with their military service.
“At a moment of crisis for all of our veterans, the VA’s system of health care and benefits has been disastrously and disgracefully put on the chopping block by the Trump administration,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, at a news conference last week.
▶ Read more about how veterans are responding to the government’s plans
Trump’s schedule for Monday
The president and the Governor of Louisiana are planning to deliver remarks in the Roosevelt Room this afternoon, according to the White House. Later, Trump will participate in a Greek Independence Day Celebration.
2 months into
Trump’s second administration, the news industry faces challenges from all directions
During the first Trump administration, the biggest concern for many journalists was labels. Would they, or their news outlet, be called “fake news” or an “enemy of the people” by a president and his supporters?
They now face a more assertive Trump. In two months, a blitz of action by the nation’s new administration — Trump, chapter two — has journalists on their heels.
Lawsuits. A newly aggressive Federal Communications Commission. An effort to control the press corps that covers the president, prompting legal action by The Associated Press. A gutted Voice of America. Public data stripped from websites. And attacks, amplified anew.
“It’s very clear what’s happening. The Trump administration is on a campaign to do everything it can to diminish and obstruct journalism in the United States,” said Bill Grueskin, a journalism professor at Columbia University.
“It’s really nothing like we saw in 2017,” he said. “Not that there weren’t efforts to discredit the press, and not that there weren’t things that the press did to discredit themselves.”
Security is enhanced in Greenland as US vice president’s wife plans visit to island coveted by Trump
Danish police have sent extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland as the mineral-rich island steps up security measures ahead of a planned visit this week by U.S. second lady Usha Vance, which has stirred new concerns about the Trump administration’s interest in the autonomous Danish territory.
Greenland’s prime minister lamented a “mess” caused by the visit from Vance, who reportedly will be accompanied by Trump’s national security adviser.
The visit — in which Vance plans to learn more about Greenland’s cultural heritage and see a national dogsled race — comes against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump ’s ambition for the United States to seize control of Greenland.
▶ Read more about the second lady’s trip to Greenland
If you’re just catching up on the news from the weekend, here are some of the highlights from the past few days:
Here are some of the headlines from the weekend
1. Education secretary says Columbia University’s changes put it on track to recover funding
2. America’s European allies are trying to pry their unspent money back from USAID
3. Experts say US weather forecasts will worsen as DOGE cuts mean fewer balloon launches
4. Law firm targeted by Trump could have been ‘destroyed,’ chairman says in explaining deal with Trump
Concerns about espionage rise as Trump and Musk fire thousands of federal workers
As President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they’re forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job.
For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security and intelligence experts say.
Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as well as a counterespionage challenge for the United States.
“This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organizations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees,” said Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, who now runs her own cybersecurity firm.
