Researchers and doctors rally for science and against Trump cuts
Follow the latest news from President Donald Trump’s administration | Mar. 7, 2025
Today’s live updates have ended. Find more coverage at APNews.com.
In light of the Trump administration’s attempts to cut funding for health, climate, science and other research government agencies, scientists and doctors, as well as their patients and supporters, gathered across the country to protest what they call a blitz on life-saving science.
Rallies were scheduled in more than 30 U.S. cities and organized mostly by graduate students and early career scientists.
Other news we’re following today:
- Trump rejects UN 2030 goals: Adopted unanimously in 2015, the United Nations’ 17 sustainability goals include ending poverty, providing clean water for all, and promoting good health and economic growth. A U.S. representative told the U.N. General Assembly the plan was “a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”
- Trump raises the possibility of pressuring Russia on Ukraine: Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday that he is “strongly considering” sanctions and tariffs on Russia in hopes of forcing a settlement to the war in Ukraine.
- Tariff fears remain despite delay: Trump postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of a broader trade war. Trump said Friday he would impose “reciprocal” tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy in the coming days.
- Judge orders speedy payments of State Department debts: The order gives the Trump administration a Monday deadline to pay nearly $2 billion in debts to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department.
Trump commutes sentence of Detroit woman convicted of conspiracy to distribute opioids
Nurse practitioner Jean Pinkard was among 19 people indicted in 2020 on charges of conspiring to distribute opioids.
Court filings state she is terminally ill with breast cancer and sought to serve her time in a federal prison in Florida, where she is receiving medical treatment. She instead was remanded to a facility in Texas and petitioned for clemency.
The commutation was granted on March 4 — the day before she was due to report to Texas — shortening her sentence to time served.
It was unclear what Pinkard’s original sentence was. The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Republican lawmakers hold telephone town halls as protesters demand more
Protesters demanding an in-person town hall from their western Michigan GOP congressman chanted loudly Friday as honking drivers signaled support.
Mere hours later, Rep. Bill Huizenga held a town hall — by phone.
Some Republicans have opted to hold telephone town halls after GOP leaders recently advised lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying the Trump administration’s slashing of the federal government.
GOP lawmakers have at times found themselves at a loss to explain the cuts that are leaving federal workers across the country suddenly out of jobs.
▶ Read more about lawmakers holding telephone town halls
WATCH: Trump insists there was ‘no clash’ between Elon Musk and Marco Rubio over DOGE cuts
President Donald Trump denied reports of a clash between Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over sweeping government cuts during a Cabinet meeting Thursday at the White House, insisting to reporters they get along “fantastically well.”
WATCH: Trump signs executive order to establish government bitcoin reserve
President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a government reserve of Bitcoin, a key marker in the cryptocurrency’s journey toward possible mainstream acceptance. Here’s what to know.
Expert tells judge to dismiss charges against NYC mayor without allowing refiling of them
A former U.S. solicitor general brought in to help a federal judge decide whether to accept a Justice Department request to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams recommended Friday that the charges be dropped but that the government not be allowed to refile them at a later date.
In a written submission, Paul Clement told Judge Dale E. Ho that there was “ample reason” to dismiss the prosecution without allowing the Justice Department to refile them after this year’s mayoral election.
Ho appointed Clement after Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove defended the Justice Department’s request at a hearing, saying the charges came too close to Adams’ reelection campaign and would distract the mayor from assisting the Trump administration’s law-and-order priorities.
▶ Read more about the recommendation to drop charges against Adams
Rubio calls French counterpart to discuss Trump’s desire for peace between Russia and Ukraine
The call on Friday came ahead of a meeting in Saudi Arabia next week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz and Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff will hold with senior Ukrainian officials.
In the call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Rubio “emphasized President Trump’s determination to achieve, through negotiations, a just and lasting peace, and stressed the United States will continue working with France towards this end.”
Trump has alarmed France and other European nations with his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Europe more broadly.
Out of the lab and into the streets, researchers and doctors rally for science against Trump cuts
Researchers, doctors, their patients and supporters ventured out of labs, hospitals and offices Friday to stand up to what they call a blitz on life-saving science by the Trump administration.
In the nation’s capital, a couple thousand gathered at the Stand Up for Science rally. Organizers said similar rallies were planned in more than 30 U.S. cities.
Politicians, scientists, musicians, doctors and their patients were expected to make the case that firings, budget and grant cuts in health, climate, science and other research government agencies in the Trump administration’s first 47 days in office are endangering not just the future but the present.
“Science is under attack in the United States,” said rally co-organizer Colette Delawalla, a doctoral student in clinical psychology. “We’re not just going to stand here and take it.”
▶ Read more about the Stand Up for Science rally
Trump hosts first White House digital assets summit
Trump discussed an executive order establishing a government reserve of bitcoin, a key marker in the cryptocurrency’s journey towards possible mainstream acceptance.
Trump likened the reserve to a “virtual Fort Knox for digital gold” that will be housed within the U.S. Treasury. He said the federal government is among the largest holders of bitcoin, with an estimated 200,000 bitcoin seized from criminal and civil proceedings.
“We want to stay at the forefront of everything,” Trump said.
WATCH: Trump touts ‘incredible’ job gains in manufacturing after first jobs report of his second term
President Donald Trump talked up Friday’s jobs report that showed employers created 151,000 jobs last month, downplaying the possibility that tariffs or mass layoffs of federal workers might harm the economy.
A South Carolina man has been detained following accusations that he threatened to kill Trump
Travis Keith Lang, of Irmo, was arrested on Thursday and arraigned on Friday before a federal judge in Columbia.
The 47-year-old pleaded not guilty. He is being detained pending a bond hearing scheduled for March 14. The Secret Service is investigating.
A short indictment was filed in federal court on Tuesday. It says Lang threatened to “take the life of, to kidnap, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.”
Lang filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president as a Republican in 2024. According to FEC filings, his only campaign donation was $6,000 he gave himself.
Trump denies Musk and Rubio clash over DOGE cuts
Trump denied reports that there was a clash between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk over sweeping government cuts during a Cabinet meeting at the White House this week.
“No clash, I was there,” Trump told reporters Friday afternoon.
Trump said immediately after the Thursday meeting that he instructed the Cabinet secretaries to work with Musk, the billionaire overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency’s widespread cuts to the government.
“Elon gets along great with Marco,” Trump said Friday. “And they’re both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash.”
Trump creates task force for next year’s World Cup
Trump announced that he’s creating a task force to prepare for the World Cup, which will be held in North America next year.
Soccer’s biggest tournament will have games spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico over the course of a month. It’s expected to draw millions of tourists to the continent from around the world.
Trump met Friday with officials from FIFA, the international soccer governing body.
“It’s a great honor for our country to have it,” Trump told reporters. He said he’d like to attend multiple games.
WATCH: Trump expects results ‘very soon’ after writing to Iran’s leader about his country’s nuclear program
Trump did not mention a letter to Iran’s leader about his country’s nuclear program directly to reporters in later the Oval Office, but made a veiled reference, saying, “We have a situation with Iran that, something’s going to happen very soon.”
Trump administration cancels $400 million in grants and contracts with Columbia University
Education Secretary Linda McMahon cites what she describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism.
“Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus,” McMahon said in a statement Friday.
Columbia set up a new disciplinary committee and ramped up its own investigations of students critical of Israel, alarming free speech advocates. But Columbia’s efforts evidently didn’t go far enough.
Columbia has become the first target in Trump’s campaign to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war. University officials vowed to work with the Trump administration to get the funding restored.
— Read more about Columbia University
In 2015, Obama committed US to UN goals for 2030. Trump just rejected them
The 17 “sustainable development goals” included ending poverty, achieving gender equality and urgently tackling climate change.
The Trump administration now says it “rejects and denounces” them. Others included providing clean water and sanitation for all people, quality education for every child and promoting good health and economic growth.
Edward Heartney, a minister-counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said these goals “advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said all 193 member states voted unanimously to deliver on the goals, and that the U.N. is holding onto it’s guiding principles “to advance a world of peace, prosperity and dignity for all.”
WATCH: Trump shrugs off impact that intel sharing pause is having on Ukraine
President Donald Trump demurs when asked if Russia President Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine that he ordered earlier this week. “I think he’s doing what anybody else would,” Trump said.
Bragg to Liberty and back again: Army post once named for a Confederate is rechristened
Fort Liberty’s short-lived existence came to an end Friday when the nation’s largest Army installation officially returned to its former name: Fort Bragg.
Christened a century ago to honor Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, the post in North Carolina was renamed in 2023 amid a drive to remove symbols of the Confederacy from public spaces.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order reinstating the Bragg name instead honors Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine.
A few hundred members of the military and civilians gathered under black and yellow tents outside base headquarters to watch the ceremony.
▶ Read more about Fort Bragg’s rededication
Cuts are coming for the Social Security Administration’s office footprint and workforce
But — at least for the moment — benefits for the nation’s more than 70 million Social Security recipients should still be on track.
On its website, DOGE lists 47 Social Security field offices set for closure across the U.S. The agency says some were unused or set to shutter before Trump took office, but Democratic are warning that constituents could suffer.
Earlier this week, a person familiar with the agency’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly said that the Social Security Administration was preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000.
Musk and Trump seem to differ a bit on the agency’s future: Musk has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” while Trump has said benefits “won’t be touched.”
▶ Read more on how recipients will be affected
Former EPA administrator: Trump order on plastic straws will ‘Make America Suck Again’
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.
TSA leader says breaking its contract with airport workers aligns with Trump vision
Acting TSA Administrator Adam Stahl said in a note to staff that Noem’s treatment of transportation security officers aligns with a vision that aims at “maximizing government productivity and efficiency and ensuring that our workforce can respond swiftly and effectively to evolving threats.”
“By removing the constraints of collective bargaining, TSOs will be able to operate with greater flexibility and responsiveness, ensuring the highest level of security and efficiency in protecting the American public,” Stahl wrote.
Breaking the contract, Stahl wrote, aims at “ensuring employee inclusivity and restoring meritocracy to the workforce.”
Stahl said the agency “will establish alternative procedures” to address employee concerns and grievances “in a fair and transparent manner.”
TSA union vows to fight ‘unprovoked attack’ by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
The American Federation of Government Employees represents roughly 47,000 transportation security officers whose collective bargaining agreement is being unilaterally revoked by the Trump administration.
These workers are responsible for making sure every day that hundreds of thousands of passengers in airports nationwide don’t carry weapons or explosives.
The union said Noem is violating their right to collective bargaining and that the Trump administration “completely fabricated” its reasons for ending their union protections.
The AFGE represents roughly 800,000 federal workers and has been pushing back on many of the administration’s cuts.
“Now our TSA officers are paying the price with this clearly retaliatory action,” the union said.
▶ Read more about Trump and the TSA
VP to host Irish delegation for pre-St. Patrick’s Day breakfast
JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance will host Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and his wife, Mary Martin, on Wednesday at the vice president’s official residence in Washington. Both leaders will deliver remarks.
The White House says the meal will celebrate the “enduring ties” between the U.S. and Ireland as well as Ireland’s “significant contributions” to the United States.
Trump planning new tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products
President Donald Trump said Friday 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.”
VMI’s first Black superintendent says his ouster is based on politics, not job performance
In his first statement since the board at the Virginia Military Institute voted against renewing his contract, retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins said the decision was “a partisan choice that abandons the values of honor, integrity, and excellence upon which VMI was built.”
“Unfortunately, the winds of resistance by the few have drowned out those who desire to bring the institute into the 21st Century,” wrote Wins, a 1985 graduate of the 189-year-old public college in the Shenandoah Valley that educated Gens. George Patton and George Marshall.
Schools and colleges across the U.S. have been rolling back diversity programs after President Trump threatened to pull federal funding.
▶ Read more about Wins’ ouster from VMI
EPA transactions over $50,000 will require DOGE approval
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.
▶ Read more about the EPA’s new DOGE guidance
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will visit the White House next week
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz announced Rutte’s visit from the Oval Office, where Trump was answering media questions on the economy, Ukraine, Iran and other topics.
Waltz didn’t give a date for the visit. Trump and Rutte spoke by phone at the end of February, agreeing to stay in close touch and to meet soon.
Trump paused US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. And shrugged off its impacts
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.
Trump says ‘something’s going to happen’ with the U.S. and Iran ‘very, very soon’
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 U.S. 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.
▶ Read more on Trump and Iran
States sue Trump administration over mass firings of probationary federal workers
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.
US government agency tells AP it halted Ukrainian access to a program that shares unclassified satellite images
Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a large-scale missile and drone bombardment during the night, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said talks with the U.S. on ending the 3-year war will take place next week.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency cited “the Administration’s directive on support to Ukraine,” without elaborating.
The satellite imagery provider Maxar Technologies confirmed the U.S. decision to “temporarily suspend” the program. The loss of access was first reported by a Ukrainian website associated with its military, Militarnyi.
Western air-defense systems are crucial for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. Ukraine has used Maxar’s images to plan attacks, see the results of their strikes and monitor the movement of Russian forces.
U.S. help is now uncertain under President Donald Trump, who held a tempestuous televised — White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
▶ Read more on Trump and the Russia-Ukraine war
Trump says he hasn’t heard about the push for him to pardon Derek Chauvin
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.”
Trump order will take aim at public service loan forgiveness
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.
Defense Department suspends credit cards for its civilian workers
A new Pentagon memo also says the cards now have a $1 limit.
Exemptions include travel “in direct support of military operations or a permanent change of station,” and the memo says senior leaders can issue additional guidance on what that covers.
The memo says any non-exempt worker now traveling must return “as soon as feasible.” Civilian employees also must cancel all future official travel reservations for anything that does not meet the exemption rules.
The credit card freeze is meant to comply with Trump’s DOGE mandate to cut costs as described in an executive order last week.
The State Department issued a broad exception to the order, and has not implemented the freeze.
Trump calls bipartisan microchip act a ‘waste of money’
Trump says a bipartisan law meant to stimulate microchip production in the U.S. 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 U.S. manufacturing more competitive with China and overseas producers.
Trump has since hailed foreign investment in U.S. 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.”
Trump says labor market will be fine despite layoffs and tariffs
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.
Senator warns of long lines and safety threats if there are fewer TSA officers
“Anyone who’s been to an airport knows that TSA officers play a critical role in keeping millions of people safe every single day,” Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said.
“They deserve the same worker rights and protections as any other federal employee. Instead, this administration is undermining their rights, which will mean fewer officers, longer airport screening lines, and a greater threat to public safety and national security.”
US says time is short for Syria to get rid of any remaining chemical weapons
The Trump administration is welcoming initial positive steps by the interim Syrian authorities and the global chemical weapons watchdog to address all remaining issues about ousted president Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons program.
U.S. deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea told the U.N. Security Council Friday that there is “a historic opportunity” to secure, declare and destroy any remaining chemical weapons under international verification.
Compliance is imperative, she said, “to ensure that any remaining elements do not end up in the wrong hands.”
Syria’s new rulers say they’re committed to destroying any remnants of Assad’s chemical weapons program, but Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani called for international help to bring justice to victims of Syrian chemical attacks.
Ranking Democrat slams DHS move to end union contract with transportation safety workers
“Attempting to negate their legally binding collective bargaining agreement now makes zero sense,” said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security committee.
“It will only reduce morale and hamper the workforce,” Thompson said. The real aim, he said, is to weaken the 50,000 Transportation Security Administration workers in preparation for the Project 2025 plan to break their union and privatize the agency.
The union said it would have a statement soon.
▶ Read more about Trump and the TSA workers
Trump’s interior and energy secretaries cheer natural gas exports
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 U.S. consumers.
But Burgum told reporters Thursday: “We can absolutely do both — we can sell energy to our friends and allies, we can lower the cost at home.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s energy policy
Why should America worry about Trump? Try the price of eggs, say some Democrats
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.”
▶ Read more about the Democratic Party’s messaging
DHS claims the TSA workers union hinders efforts to keep Americans safe
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.”
▶ Read more on developments with the TSA and its union
JUST IN: Homeland Security ends collective bargaining agreement with TSA staffers in a major attack on worker rights
White House economist praises job numbers, noting that mass firings aren’t yet counted
The director of the White House National Economic Council is cheering Friday’s report: U.S. 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%.
It’s unclear how Iran’s Supreme Leader will react to Trump’s letter
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.
▶ Read more about Trump’s outreach to Iran
Federal judge in DC won’t block DOGE from Treasury systems
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.
Immigration judges quit, straining system backlogged with 3.7 million cases
A labor union says 85 immigration court 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.”
Trump raises possibility of pressuring Russia
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.
Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
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 U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest.
▶ Read more about the DOGE cuts’ effects on families
Trump says he’s sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader over its advancing nuclear program
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.
▶ Read more about Trump and Iran
European leaders downplay skepticism from Trump about NATO solidarity
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 U.S. 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.
▶ Read more about how EU leaders discussed NATO