President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday aimed at boosting coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that has been in decline for decades.
Trump used his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars.
The Republican president has long promised to boost what he calls “beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses.
Also Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore AP’s full access to cover presidential events, ruling that it cannot punish the news organization for its speech. The Senate confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon. And U.S. stocks dropped again as uncertainty reigned about Trump’s tariffs.
Here's the latest:
Trump grants 2-year exemptions to EPA rules for coal-fired power plants
Trump signed a proclamation granting coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
The order is among several he signed at the White House to boost the struggling coal industry, which provides fuel for electric plants that supply about 16% of U.S. electricity.
HIs administration had offered power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from rules imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin, the EPA set up an electronic mailbox for regulated companies to request an exemption under the Clean Air Act.
Chemical and petrochemical industry groups said the Biden-era rule on mercury and other air pollution from stationary sources was costly and unworkable.
Environmental groups denounced the exemptions offer, calling the new email address a “polluters’ portal” to let companies evade laws meant to protect the environment and public health.
Official says Pentagon has no authority for drone strikes against drug cartels in Mexico
A top Pentagon official said special operations forces do not have the authority to launch drone attacks at drug cartels in Mexico.
Colby Jenkins, who is currently assistant defense secretary for special operations, told a Senate committee that President Donald Trump’s move to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations does not automatically convey authority for direct action against them.
Under questioning from Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Jenkins said Trump’s designation “helps us unlock the doors” for a broader approach to drug cartels.
Slotkin noted that billionaire government adviser Elon Musk has said the foreign terrorist designation means the U.S. can conduct drone strikes against the cartels. Musk posted that Feb. 19 on the social platform X.
Jenkins said it does not, but now the military can provide options and be ready if Trump needs more done to protect the border.
There are manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Mexico’s airspace.
Canada retaliates with 25% auto tariffs in response to Trump’s import taxes
In response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Canada says it’s implementing retaliatory tariffs of its own just after midnight on Wednesday.
Canada will put a 25% tariff on auto imports from the United States that do not comply with the USMCA, the 2019 North American trade pact put into place during Trump’s first term.
The Canadian government is also putting in a framework to bolster auto production and domestic investment as well as providing a special exception on tariff countermeasures for residents of Campobello Island, New Brunswick.
Senate confirms Trump’s nominee for top Pentagon policy job
The Senate confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, overcoming concerns that he has downplayed threats from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.
The vote was 54-45, with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the only Republican voting against Colby and three Democrats voting in favor.
McConnell said Colby’s public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America and the critical value of our allies. Vice President JD Vance criticized McConnell ’s vote as petty.
Vance spoke at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing early last month to urge Colby’s confirmation, saying the nominee has said things in the past that alienated Republicans and Democrats and also said things that both sides would agree on.
AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its journalists
A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press’ full access to cover presidential events, ruling on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirming that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.
U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, ruled that the government can’t retaliate against the AP’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time when the White House has been challenging the press on several levels.
“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” McFadden wrote. “The Constitution requires no less.”
▶ Read more about the latest development in the AP's lawsuit
Trump signs orders promoting coal industry
Trump signed four executive orders promoting the struggling coal industry Tuesday afternoon, flanked by coal miners wearing helmets and administration officials.
The president’s orders allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to continue producing electricity to meet U.S. energy demands, put a moratorium on coal policies issued by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and direct the executive branch to ensure its positions are not discriminatory against coal.
Trump also signed an order directing the Justice Department to investigate policies about coal issued by Democratic-controlled states to determine if they are illegal.
▶ Read more about the coal-related orders
Army to begin limited use of horse-drawn caissons for Arlington National Cemetery funerals
The Army will soon begin limited use of horse-drawn caissons for funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, phasing in the long-held tradition after nearly two years of work to improve the care of the horses.
Starting June 2 the caissons will be used for two funerals per day, up to 10 per week, the Army said. The decision comes as the Army struggles to improve training, get better equipment and facilities and rebuild the stable of horses after two died in 2022 due to poor feed and living conditions.
The return of the caissons has been delayed several times. The Army suspended the use of the gray and black horses for the caissons in May 2023 to develop a program to improve the health and conditions of the herd.
▶ Read more about the horse-drawn caissons
State Department rolls back funding cuts to UN emergency food projects in poor countries
The State Department said it rolled back an undisclosed number of sweeping funding cuts to U.N. World Food Program emergency projects in 14 impoverished countries, saying it had terminated some of the contracts for life-saving aid by mistake.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters she had no immediate information on which countries had funding for food aid restored after a dayslong cutoff. She gave no explanation for how some contracts came to be canceled in error.
The World Food Program did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the Trump administration cut funding to WFP emergency programs helping keep millions alive in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and 11 other countries, many of them struggling with conflict, according to the agency and officials who spoke to the AP.
House Republicans end standoff on proxy voting for new parents
Republicans voted to resurrect an arcane congressional procedure, ending a standoff between Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Speaker Mike Johnson on whether the House should permit proxy voting for new parents.
The compromise formalizes “vote pairing,” which allows a member on the House floor to cancel out the vote of a member who is absent. The member who is absent “pairs” with a member who plans to vote the opposite direction and is willing to vote “present” instead.
Previously Luna had supported legislation to allow new parents to vote by proxy, a measure that Johnson vehemently opposed.
Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx called the solution a “tried and true” method. But Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who worked with Luna on legislation promoting proxy voting, said it “is not a workable solution.”
US stocks drop again as uncertainty reigns about Trump’s tariffs
U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%. Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war. The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.
FBI tells some senior officials at field offices to retire or accept new positions
The directive applies to about five special agents in charge at some of the FBI’s 55 field offices around the country. It was described to The Associated Press by multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk about private personnel discussions.
The exact reason for the move wasn’t immediately clear, nor was it clear how the individual agents were chosen. But it’s all part of a broader workforce realignment that involves the planned relocation of some 1,500 employees from Washington to the FBI’s campus in Huntsville, Alabama. That plan was disclosed by FBI Director Kash Patel on his first day on the job.
An FBI spokesperson had no immediate comment Tuesday.
— Eric Tucker
New offers for buyouts and early retirement offered to Homeland Security staff
That’s according to an email obtained by The Associated Press and it comes as the Trump administration pushes forward with efforts to reduce and reshape the federal workforce.
In the email, titled “Reshaping of the DHS Workforce,” Secretary Kristi Noem says the department would give staffers who want to leave three options: deferred resignation, early retirement and a voluntary separation payment. The email, which was sent Monday night, said the last option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases.
Staff have until April 14 to decide on whether to apply for the offer.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about how many people are expected to take the offer or whether staff cuts would eventually follow.
▶ Read more about the DHS buyout and early retirement offers
Democratic state lawmakers in Arizona walked out of a speech by Trump’s border chief
As Tom Homan began speaking to the Legislature, the lawmakers held signs with the names of people they say were unjustly detained by immigration authorities and silently walked out the back of the state House chamber.
Homan is touting the Trump administration’s immigration policies in a speech to the state House and Senate in Arizona, a border state where Republican lawmakers are eager to cooperate with Trump’s push to crack down in illegal border crossings and deport people living in the country illegally.
Trump helps plant replacement for historic White House tree that was removed over safety concerns
“We have a beautiful tree now at the White House,” Trump said.
The White House did not allow news media coverage of the tree planting, but afterward shared a brief video clip on social media. Dale Haney, the longtime grounds superintendent, also participated.
“Dale’s been here 53 years. He’s fantastic,” Trump said.
The Republican president had announced March 30 on his social media platform that the nearly 200-year-old tree, known as the Jackson Magnolia, was in “terrible condition, a very dangerous safety hazard, at the White House Entrance, no less, and must now be removed.”
The southern magnolia had stood for decades near the west side of the South Portico of the White House. It’s where presidents and prime ministers often are welcomed on their visits, as well as where the president himself exits to board the Marine One helicopter or returns after a trip.
▶ Read more about the White House tree
Homeland Security waiver allows feds to bypass environmental rules to build border wall
The waiver issued Tuesday allows the federal government to bypass environmental regulations and begin construction immediately on stretches of the border wall in Southern California.
Homeland Security said in a statement that the waiver signed by Secretary Kristi Noem will “cut through bureaucratic delays” and forego dozens of laws including the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to evaluate the effects of their actions on the environment.
Officials said the decision will fast-track U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s construction of about 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) of the wall south of San Diego and further east near Jacumba Hot Springs, California.
“This waiver clears the path for the rapid deployment of physical barriers where they are needed most, reinforcing our commitment to national security and the rule of law,” the statement said.
The advocacy group Earthjustice derided the decision to sidestep environmental laws.
▶ Read more about the border wall
White House and Iran at odds on whether upcoming talks will be ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’
Iranian officials have confirmed they’ll engage with Trump’s team in Oman on Saturday as the U.S. administration presses Tehran to abandon it’s nuclear weapons ambitions. But they’re describing the talks differently than Trump.
“Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”
But Trump in announcing the talks Monday described the upcoming engagement as “direct talks.”
Asked to clarify the difference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stuck with Trump’s description.
“They will be direct talks on Saturday, and I won’t get ahead of the president on any further details,” she said.
The U.S. and Iran have engaged in indirect talks in recent years, with Oman playing the role of intermediary. If direct talks happen, they would be the first publicly-known direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran since Trump scrapped Obama administration’s negotiated nuclear deal in 2018.
‘Boys will be boys,’ White House says about feuding between advisers Musk and Navarro
Leavitt said “we will let their public sparring continue.”
Elon Musk earlier on X called trade adviser Peter Navarro “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Navarro has been speaking publicly about worldwide tariffs Trump announced last week.
Navarro previously had said Musk, a billionaire who’s leading Trump’s government downsizing initiative, was “protecting his own interests” by opposing tariffs.
The Tesla electric car company is among several businesses Musk owns.
White House now says Trump tariffs are bargaining chips to get better trade deals
“Bring us your best offers and he will listen,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of other countries potentially negotiating tariff rates with Trump.
She said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Washington to talk trade “should serve as a model.”
Leavitt said China was “making a mistake” by responding with its own steep tariffs.
She insisted that negotiating, rather than steadfastly sticking to high tariffs, wasn’t an evolution amid stock market turmoil.
‘Tailor-made’ trade deals, not ‘off-the-rack’ deals
Leavitt says Trump has directed his team to work with countries that have reached out to strike deals in the wake of the president’s tariff hikes and trade war and to create “tailor-made” trade deals for each country.
“They are not going to be off-the-rack deals,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt said the Trump administration is willing to speak to any country that comes to the negotiating table.
Trump will host the leaders of El Salvador and Italy at the White House next week
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump will host El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, for a working visit April. 14.
Trump has been deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, which has agreed to house them in an infamous prison.
Late Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to pause a midnight deadline for the administration to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
Later that week, on April 17, Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will visit with Trump.
IRS agrees to share tax data with ICE for identifying and deporting people in US illegally
That’s according to a document signed Monday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The new memorandum of understanding will allow ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants in the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.
Treasury says the agreement will help carry out Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations, workplace raids, and the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants.
However, advocates say the IRS-DHS information sharing agreement violates longstanding privacy laws and diminishes all Americans’ privacy.
Hegseth: Panama Canal faces threats from China, but US and Panama will keep it secure
“The United States of America will not allow Communist China, or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation or integrity,” Hegseth said, speaking at ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock at the Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base.
To that end, Hegesth said, the U.S. and Panama have worked in recent weeks to strengthen their defense and security cooperation.
“Our relationship is growing in part to meet Communist China’s rising challenge,” Hegseth said. “China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area. That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable.”
Joe Rogan and Dave Portnoy are among the Trump backers now questioning his tariff policies
As Trump’s tariffs roil global markets, some of the thought leaders and influential podcasters who backed the Republican’s campaign are voicing doubts.
Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and even Elon Musk are adding their voices to a number of congressional Republicans who’ve weighed in against the tariffs set to take effect Wednesday.
Portnoy has said he might have lost up to $20 million since the tariffs were unveiled, although he thinks Trump is “smart.”
In March, influential podcaster Joe Rogan said Trump’s feud with Canada was “stupid” and bemoaned the fact that Canadians “booed us over tariffs.”
Ackman has characterized the tariffs as “a major policy error.” After Peter Navarro said Musk “doesn’t understand” the situation over tariffs, the Tesla chief and Trump ally called the White House trade adviser “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
▶ Read more about tariff criticism from Trump backers
In Montana, Blackfeet members say tariffs on Canada violate treaty rights
A Democratic state lawmaker and a rancher who are members of the Native American tribe in northwestern Montana have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to block Trump’s tariffs.
Short of a complete block, they want tariffs halted at three Montana border crossings or for tribal members.
Indigenous people of Montana have treaty rights that allow them to travel and conduct commerce freely across the border. Those date to 1794, long before the present U.S.-Canada boundary line was established, the lawsuit says.
Plaintiff Jonathan St. Goddard, who ranches on the Blackfeet reservation that’s along the Canada border, last month broke a tractor wheel and couldn’t get one locally, so he traveled to Alberta to buy a replacement. He paid $308 coming back across the U.S. border to cover a 25% tariff, he said in a declaration filed with the lawsuit.
“If tariffs continue, the costs from the tariffs will cause irreparable harm to our family’s ranch and agricultural business,” St. Goddard said.
The other plaintiff is state Sen. Susan Webber.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a trade war ‘everybody tends to lose’
He told reporters Tuesday that he’s particularly worried about the effect of U.S. tariffs and the trade war it’s unleashing on “the most vulnerable developing countries in which the impact will be more devastating.”
Is the United Nations secretary-general worried a trade war will lead to a global recession?
“I sincerely hope that we will have no recession because a recession will have dramatic consequences, especially for the poorest people in the world,” Guterres said.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Panama President José Raúl Mulino
The Tuesday meeting came before Hegseth headed to a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock on a former U.S. base.
Hegseth did not make any comments as he left the meeting, but posted a photo of the two men laughing on X.
Hegseth wrote that it was an honor speaking with Mulino. “You and your country’s hard work is making a difference. Increased security cooperation will make both our nations safer, stronger and more prosperous.”
The meeting comes amid tensions over Trump’s repeated assertions that the United States is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations. Panama has denied those allegations.
Minnesota’s education chief pushes back on Trump threat to cut school funding over DEI
In a letter to the U.S. Education Department, Minnesota’s education chief says the Trump administration has overstepped its authority with its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The White House last week directed states to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government calls “illegal DEI practices.” It said schools that don’t comply would run the risk of losing funding.
Minnesota’s education chief Willie Jett said in the letter that there’s nothing illegal about DEI.
“Threats to this funding without backing in law or established requirements put key programs at risk that students and schools depend on every day,” Jett wrote.
State leaders in New York said last week they wouldn’t comply with an Education Department order.
US trade rep says Trump tariffs are getting results, but things may be ‘challenging’ for awhile
The nation’s top trade representative said Tuesday that Trump’s sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the president’s aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation.
Greer testified that “about 50″ countries have sought talks to escape Trump’s import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries. The import taxes are designed to reduce America’s massive trade deficits, but Greer conceded the adjustment might ”be challenging at times.″
Congress is getting jittery about Trump’s trade wars, especially since stocks collapsed after he announced broad tariffs last Wednesday.
▶ Read more about Greer’s comments on tariffs
Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers
The employees were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.
The justices acted in the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didn’t follow federal law.
The effect of the high court’s order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now.
A second lawsuit, filed in Maryland, also resulted in an order blocking the firings at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. But that order only applies in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration.
The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.
▶ Read more about the mass firings by the Trump administration
National Park Service restores the original Harriet Tubman and Underground Railroad webpage
It comes in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.
“Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership,” NPS spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said late Monday in an email. “The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.”
She did not say who ordered the changes or for what reason. The changes — first reported by The Washington Post — included removing Tubman’s picture from the top of the page and making multiple edits to the text. A side-by-side analysis of the pages, using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, revealed changes that removed references to slavery and changed descriptions about the issue and its brutal realities.
The issue comes amid sweeping government changes to comply with President Trump’s campaign against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government.
▶ Read more about the changes to the webpage on Harriet Tubman