Court loses come fast and furious in lawsuits over Trump’s policies. Here’s how it unfolded. - The Boston Globe (2025)

By Hilary Burns and Mike Damiano, Globe Staff

Jewish students at Harvard find themselves at thecenter of a storm.

For a year and a half,influential alumni,national politicians, the international media, and now thepresident of the United Stateshave been pointing to Jewish students as the primary victims of what they see as the rot at the core of American universities.

In their telling, leftist ideology, and its antipathy to Israel, have created a breeding ground for rampant antisemitism that has forced many Jewish students to live in fear.

But many Jewish students at Harvard, including those concerned about antisemitism on elite campuses, say this political narrative distorts their experiences.

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By Mike Damiano and Hilary Burns, Globe Staff

In an interview with the Globe, Harvard president Alan Garber cast doubt on the motives behind the White House’s campaign against his university, which is being carried out with the stated intent of combating antisemitism.

”Attacking our research enterprise in the name of attacking antisemitism really gives rise to skepticism about what the goal is here,” he said.

“If you just look at the actions [the Trump administration] has taken against Harvard, or has threatened to take, it involves things like asking us to change who we hire and who we recruit as students to the university, and it includes the potential to actually monitor what we teach,” Garber said in his office Wednesdayin Massachusetts Hall, a 300-year-old red-brick building in Harvard Yard.

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By the Associated Press

The Trump administration was handed a rapid-fire series of court losses Wednesday night and Thursday in lawsuits filed over its policies on immigration, elections and its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools.

But the legal disputes playing out across the country are far from over, and administration attorneys pushed back, asking the federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn some of the decisions.

More than 170 lawsuits have been filed over President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

Here’s what to know about the legal challenges.

By the Associated Press

A woman from Guatemala says she and her two U.S.-born children were held for nearly a week by customs agents in Detroit after a phone app’s directions to a Costco led them to an international bridge to Canada.

She now faces removal proceedings in June in immigration court, according to Ruby Robinson, senior managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. Robinson said the woman has been in the U.S. about six years but does not have legal status. Her daughters are 5 and 1 years old, and their father also lives in Detroit.

Robinson, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and the ACLU of Michigan called Thursday for more accountability and transparency by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on detentions along the northern border.

“Our neighbors and families should not be disappearing because they made a wrong turn,” Tlaib said.

The Michigan Democrat said she was told March 21 by CBP that about 213 people had been detained at the same location since January, with more than 90% mistakenly driving onto the bridge’s toll plaza. Tlaib also said she was told 12 families had been detained in the same building where Robinson’s client was held.

CBP said agents encountered just over 200 undocumented people from Jan. 20 to March 21 at crossings in Detroit. About half were detained and turned over to ICE after secondary processing was complete, according to a CBP spokesman.

By the Associated Press

New documents in a New Jersey court show that the government defended its warrantless arrest of Mahmoud Khalil by saying agents feared he would flee because he said he would leave the scene.

Khalil, a Columbia University student activist,has been in a detention centerin Jena, Louisiana, for six weeks.

A lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security wrote that agents conducting surveillance of Khalil on March 8 were notified that he could be removed from the country because his presence or activities would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

A Homeland Security Investigations agent approached and identified himself, according to the court filing.

After Khalil’s wife went to retrieve documents showing he had lawful residence status, the agent asked him to cooperate while they tried to verify his identity, but he “stated that he would not cooperate and that he was going to leave the scene,” the lawyer wrote.

At that point the Homeland Security supervisory agent “believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary,” he said.

The ACLU contested that account, saying the claim that Khalil was about to flee is false and belied by video taken by his wife, along with previous accounts.

By the Associated Press

The president has ordered the Justice Department to investigate the Democratic Party’s top fundraising platform.

In an executive order signed Thursday, he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Republicans’ allegations that the platform allows illegal campaign donations.

A report this month from three GOP-controlled congressional committees alleged that ActBlue potentially allows fraudulent donations.

Democrats,who have been preparing to be targeted,quickly condemned the executive order.

By the Washington Post

The Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it plans to phase out petroleum-based food dyes from the nation’s food supply. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has called the dyes “poison” and long blamed artificial additives for chronic disease and illness in the United States.

Companies add dyes to food, such as candy, cereals, drinks and snacks, for brighter, attractive colors. The dyes are either natural, such as red beet juice, or synthetic.

“The ingredients used in America’s food supply have been rigorously studied following an objective science and risk-based evaluation process and have been demonstrated to be safe,” Melissa Hockstad, the chief executive of Consumer Brands Association, a food industry trade group, said in a statement.

But consumer advocacy groups said there is sufficient evidence that the dyes may cause some harm to some children. They argue that artificial dyes are not worth the potential risk given their lack of nutritional value.

Here’s what the science says.

US is cosponsoring meeting on UN peacekeeping, which drew Trump criticism and proposed funding cuts — 7:13 p.m.

By the Associated Press

German Deputy Defense Minister Nils Hilmer said during a news conference that approximately 1,000 people are expected at the May 13-14 meeting in Berlin to discuss the future of U.N. peacekeeping and make pledges to its 11 far-flung missions.

Many delegations will be led by defense ministers or foreign ministers, and the United States will attend the conference, he said, but Washington has not yet decided at what level.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the U.S. has been “a very important supporter of peacekeeping operation throughout the years, and we look forward to continuing cooperation with the United States.”

As the world’s largest economy, the United States pays 27% of the U.N. peacekeeping budget and currently owes close to $1.2 billion, according to a U.N. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

By the Associated Press

A U.S. government technical team will head to Oman for a third round of U.S. talks with Iran on its nuclear program, the State Department said Thursday.

The department initially said Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also going but later clarified that was not yet confirmed.

Iran has said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and a technical team of its own will attend.

The Trump administration is pushing Tehran to scale back its nuclear program to ensure it can never make the jump to building nuclear bombs. It has warned of a risk of war with the U.S. or Israel if Iran refuses.

Iran says its program is for civilian uses only.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. team will be led by the department’s director of policy planning, Michael Anton, a former speechwriter, author, instructor and private-equity executive.

Critics have questioned whether the administration has given nuclear experts a big enough role in the negotiations.

By the Associated Press

Democrats Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday questioning whether the administration is “abandoning the measures necessary to meet its obligations to reducing civilian harm” in its military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Specifically they cited reports that U.S. strikes at the Ras Isa fuel terminal last week potentially killed more than 70 civilians.

“Military leaders agree that ingraining civilian harm mitigation practices within U.S operations leads to better outcomes and that civilian casualties actually undermine the mission that the military has been sent in to do,” their letter said.

In a new, expanded campaign against the Houthis that began last month, Trump promised to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the militants cease attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The U.S. has done more than 750 strikes since then.

By the Associated Press

Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven U.S. Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than $200 million, in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against theIran-backed militants.

According to defense officials, three drones were shot down in the past week, suggesting the militants’ targeting of the unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen has improved. The drones were doing attack runs or conducting surveillance, and they crashed both into the water and onto land, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The drones cost about $30 million each and generally fly at altitudes of more than 40,000 feet (12,100 meters).

The U.S. hasincreased its attacks on the Houthis,launching daily strikes since March 15, when PresidentDonald Trumpordered a new, expanded campaign.

By the Associated Press

The pardon is for Republican former Las Vegas city councilwoman and state lawmakerMichele Fiore,who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges that she used money meant for a statue honoring a slain police officerfor personal costs, including plastic surgery.

Fiore, who also ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for state treasurer, wasfound guiltyin October of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was out of custody ahead of her sentencing, which had been scheduled for next month.

In a lengthy statement Thursday on Facebook, theloyal Trump supporterexpressed gratitude to the president while also accusing the U.S. government and “select media outlets” of a broad, decade-long conspiracy to “target and dismantle” her life.

The pardon, issued Wednesday, comes less than a week after Fiore lost a bid for a new trial. She had been facing the possibility of decades in prison.

By the Associated Press

Three advocacy groups are suing theDepartment of Homeland SecurityandSecretary Kristi Noem.

The groups want torestore staff jobs at three gutted officesthat oversee civil rights protections across the sprawling department.

Department officials said Thursday that they are “committed to civil rights protections” but called the three offices a roadblock.

Democrats have suggested that the cuts were about removing transparency at the department, which is key to the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

The groups suing said that because Congress set up the offices, only it can shutter them.

By the Associated Press

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accidentally filed an internal memo arguing that the government should change tactics if it wants to block thenascent programof tolls for driving in the most congested part of the borough.

The memo, intended for a U.S. Department of Transportation attorney, was inadvertently filed Wednesday night in New York’s lawsuit over the administration’s efforts to shut down the fee.

The blunder came days after the administration gave New York athird ultimatumto stop collecting the $9 tolls, which started in January.

In the memo, three assistant U.S. attorneys from the Southern District of New York wrote that there is “considerable litigation risk” in defending Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision to pull federal approval and that doing so would likely result in a legal loss.

The department might have better odds, they wrote, if it tries a different bureaucratic mechanism that would argue that the toll no longer aligns with the government’s agenda.

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By the Associated Press

The order seeks to expand — and potentially make more stringent — the time periods that federal workers must clear before career protections kick in.

Probationary periods typically last one to two years, though they can go longer for some federal workers.

Rather than simply passing the probationary period after it ends, the order mandates that 60 days prior to coming off probation, employees must meet with officials to discuss their job performance and conduct.

“Instead of these employees becoming tenured civil servants by default,” a White House fact sheet on the order reads, agencies must “affirmatively certify” that finalizing their appointment “advances the public interest.”

The rules would apply to many new employees, as well as those changing positions in the same agency.

Trump administration has moved to fire thousands of probationary federal workers, touching off an ongoing legal battle.

By the Associated Press

Barnard College faculty members are expressing anger and anxiety over a survey they received from the Trump administration this week asking if they are Jewish, among other personal questions.

Barnard officials belatedly informed staff that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had ordered the college to turn over their contact information so that employees could voluntarily participate in a probe of possible discrimination. The survey was sent on government letterhead by text to their personal cellphones, as first reported by The Intercept.

“That the government is putting together lists of Jews, ostensibly as part of a campaign to fight antisemitism, is really chilling,” professor Nara Milanich said. “As a historian, I have to say it feels a little uncomfortable.”

Neither the EEOC nor Barnard College responded to emails seeking comment.

By the Associated Press

The order signed aims to stimulate deep-sea mining, with the White House wanting to develop domestic capabilities for exploration, collection and processing of critical minerals.

It expects to be able to eventually explore more than 1 billion metric tons of available deep-sea nodules. Those are rock formations that contain critical minerals like cobalt, manganese and cooper, which the US could eventually mine and export.

The order directs federal authorities to “expedite” deep-sea mining permits and produce a report on opportunities along the US Outer Continental Shelf.

Trump’s action follows a Canadian company recently seeking permission from the US government to start deep-sea mining in international waters, despite a UN agency saying such efforts could violate international law.

By the Associated Press

Sethuraman Panchanathan, who had led the NSF since 2020, is departing after the agency made the cuts to funding for hundreds of university research projects.

Panchanathan initially defended the NSF’s priorities but said in a statement that he had “done all I can to advance the critical mission of the agency.”

NSF grants are a key source of funding for science research at US universities. On Friday the agency abruptly canceled funding for hundreds of grants to comply with Trump’s directives to end support of research on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the study of misinformation.

More than 380 grant projects have been cut so far, including work to combat internet censorship in China and Iran and a project consulting with Indigenous communities to understand environmental changes in Alaska’s Arctic region.

“NSF is an extremely important investment to make US scientific dominance a reality,” Panchanathan said in his statement. “We must not lose our competitive edge.”

By the Associated Press

An association that represents clinics across the country sued Thursday over the Trump Administration’s decision last month to withhold some family planning grants.

The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association contends in a federal court filing in Washington that it was illegal to withhold funding for care including birth control, cancer screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

The group says funds were cut off with virtually no notice to about one-fourth of the providers who receive Title X funding, including all of them in California, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Montana and Utah.

By the Associated Press

The Agriculture Department says it is withdrawing a plan to limit salmonella bacteria in poultry products. The move halts a Biden Administration effort designed to prevent food poisoning.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that it withdrew the proposal after getting more than 7,000 public comments. The agency will evaluate whether salmonella regulations should be changed.

The move drew praise from the poultry industry and criticism from food safety advocates. Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections each year, mostly from food.

By the Associated Press

A key group of state and local election officials questioned the leaders of a federal agency at the center of the executive order seeking major changes to US elections, raising concerns about the consequences for voters and the people in charge of voting.

The annual meeting of the Standards Board of the US Election Commission was an opportunity for elections officials to ask the four EAC commissioners about Trump’s executive order.

Trump’s March 25 order directed the commission — an independent federal agency — to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement and revise guidelines for voting systems among other actions.

Whether the president can order an independent agency to act and whether it has the authority to do what he wants will likely be settled in court.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking the proof-of-citizenship requirement pending legal challenges.

By the Associated Press

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and a technical team will head there for a third round of US talks with Iran on its nuclear program, a State Department spokesperson says.

Iran has said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and a technical team of its own will attend Saturday’s talks.

The Trump administration is pushing Tehran to scale back its nuclear program to ensure it can never make the jump to building nuclear bombs. It has warned of a risk of war with the US or Israel if Iran refuses.

Iran says its program is for civilian uses only.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the US team will be led by the department’s director of policy planning, Michael Anton, a former speechwriter, author, instructor and private-equity executive.

By the Associated Press

US stocks rallied further as better-than-expected profits for U.S. companies piled up, though CEOs say they’re unsure whether it will last because of uncertainty created by Trump’s trade war.

The S&P 500 jumped 2 percent for its third straight day of big gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.7 percent.

ServiceNow surged after the AI platform company delivered a stronger profit for the start of 2025 than expected.

Southwest Airlines likewise reported stronger-than-expected results, but it joined a lengthening list of companies that have pulled financial forecasts because of uncertainty around tariffs.

By the Associated Press

Analysts are focusing on the geopolitical implications of Trump’s post and the notion he’s talking tough to Putin rather than being overly deferential. But there other dynamics:

• Using the first name: National leaders are typically called Mr. President or Madam Prime Minister, even by their equals. What would Putin think?
• Using social media lingo: Diplomacy’s language is quite mannered and workshopped. Trump’s brand and appeal is to break out of such conventions.
• Going really, really public: Social media is often Trump’s opening move, amplifying his opinions, getting banned and reinstated. He persists.

Odds are, not too many people have told Putin to “STOP!” in such a casual way. But many have used other channels to shout this for years since Putin sent Russian troops into Ukraine. Will this time be different?

By the Associated Press

The National Endowment for the Humanities announced Thursday that, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, it is committing $30 million this year to “enable the creation of statues in marble, granite, bronze, copper, or brass depicting historical figures tied to the accomplishments of the United States.”

Trump issued an executive order at the end of his first term calling for a “new monument to our country’s greatness.” He cited hundreds of Americans he considered worthy, from Benjamin Franklin and James Madison to Kobe Bryant and Shirley Temple.

Back in office, he has targeted the NEH, the Kennedy Center and other organizations for vast cuts and restructuring, accusing them of advancing a “woke” and anti-patriotic agenda. At the same time the NEH is offering money for the garden of heroes, it has cut off millions of dollars in grants.

The garden is scheduled to open in July 2026, timed to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

By Sean Cotter, Globe Staff

Federal immigration officials must transport Rümeysa Öztürk back to Vermont, a federal judge ruled after the government continued to fight to keep the Tufts PhD candidate in Louisiana as she faces deportation proceedings.

“Any unnecessary delay of Ms. Öztürk’s transfer to this district would likely disrupt or delay the court’s proceedings, potentially prolonging the very detention that is at the heart of this case,” Judge William Sessions wrote, refusing to stay his previous order to have Öztürk returned while the government appeals. He ruled that she must be transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Vermont by May 1.

Öztürk’s fight against deportation will continue there, and the judge wrote that he intends to resolve the case “expeditiously.”

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By the Associated Press

The State Department is failing its legal requirement to investigate reports of civilian deaths from US weapons sold abroad, with no such probes completed for years, the General Accounting Office said.

As of January, the department failed to complete any of the 617 reports it had taken in from US government sources since 2023 of civilian deaths in Gaza caused by US arms sold to Israel, the congressional investigative agency said.

The watchdog report recommended that State add staff and other resources to track civilian harm and broaden its oversight to include deaths reported by non-US-government sources, including the United Nations.

The State Department in its response to GAO said it would act on staffing but called the other recommendation impractical.

By the Associated Press

The US Constitution says Trump can only be elected to two terms as president. That’s not stopping his family from promoting a third campaign.

Eric Trump shared a photo on Instagram of himself wearing a red “Trump 2028″ hat, now sold by the Trump Store.

Trump, who would turn 82 in 2028, has said he is considering how to breach the constitutional prohibition. He had previously made jokes about it before telling NBC news he’s serious and that “there are methods which you could do it.”

The 22nd Amendment was adopted after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times. He died at 63, before the 100th day of his fourth term, on April 12, 1945.

By the Associated Press

Trump has threatened to reimpose his steep ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on nearly all U.S. partners in a manner of months if they don’t negotiate separate deals with his administration. At some point, he said, his administration will “just set prices” for each partner that doesn’t come to the table.

“I can’t think of one country that doesn’t want to negotiate a deal, and they either negotiate a deal or we set a deal that we think is fair,” Trump said. But he said one-on-one talks will end at some point because only a “very small group” understands the issues.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said bilateral talks with South Korea may be “moving faster than we thought” after meetings, with an agreement possible as soon as next week.

By the Associated Press

Switzerland’s foreign minister in China says the sweeping Trump tariffs are like an earthquake that has hit “all the other countries on the planet” and thrust them into “a sort of coalition” to reach a deal with the United States.

Ignazio Cassis spoke to reporters in Beijing after meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

“We have to convince the United States to come back to a multilateral discussion — which for now is not a given,” the Swiss diplomat said.

Trump has imposed 31 percent tariffs on Swiss goods — far higher than the 20 percent faced by its European Union neighbors — but Switzerland is among the many places now subject to a 90-day pause.

By the Associated Press

Walz’s first major address to a statewide audience since he was Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate last year is getting attention.

Republican House floor leader Harry Niska called the Wednesday night speech an “angry rant about Donald Trump.”

But Walz urged state lawmakers to prove there’s a better way to govern.

“This current administration in Washington, they’re not forever,” Walz said. “These small, petty men will disappear into the dustbin of history. And when they do, there will be an opportunity and an obligation to actually rebuild government so that it works for working people.”

By the Associated Press

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from immediately enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form.

President Donald Trump had called for that and other sweeping changes to U.S. elections in an executive order signed in March, arguing the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections” that exist in other countries.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sided with voting rights groups and Democrats to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the citizenship requirement from moving forward while the lawsuit plays out.

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By the Associated Press

The order on Tuesday from Denver-based federal Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney also requires the administration to inform all people they seek to deport under the Alien Enemies Act that they have 21 days to appeal. It’s one of a series of orders halting deportations under the provision, only invoked three times in US history, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that the people targeted can appeal.

The Trump administration’s filing at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals argues that Sweeney lacks jurisdiction and that it’s legally sound to invoke the statute against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

By the Associated Press

The president offered a more optimistic tone about prospects for an agreement than he did in social meeting postings earlier Thursday, when he leveled rare criticism against Russian President Vladimir Putin, or on Wednesday, when he sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who pushed back against a U.S. proposal that included Kyiv ceding the territory Russia has seized.

“There’s a lot of very bad blood, a lot of distrust, but … I hope we’re going to get there for the sake of a lot of young people that are dying,” the president said at the start of a lunch with visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

“I have my own deadline, and we want it to be fast,” Trump added.

By the Associated Press

Solar is the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the United States, even though green energy proponents have argued that slow and inefficient permitting significantly hinders the transition to clean sources of power.

Trump’s Interior Department says its alternative process will shorten environmental impact statement approvals from about two years to about 28 days. The new procedures apply to to energy sources including oil, natural gas, petroleum, uranium, coal, biofuels and critical minerals, and to geothermal and hydropower. But not solar or wind.

The Sierra Club said this basically turns public input into lip service.

By the Associated Press

The president said talks about cooling the trade war he escalated continue, despite Beijing’s denials.

“They had a meeting this morning,” Trump said, then added: “It doesn’t matter who they is.”

Trump is seeking to climb down from his 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods amid growing business and consumer concerns that the import taxes will drive up inflation and potentially send the economy into a recession.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday that, “For all I know, China and the US are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal.”

By the Associated Press

Trump says he’ll do a sit-down interview with The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, and two other writers at the magazine.

Goldberg is the journalist who reported in 2020 that Trump had privately referred to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France as “losers” and “suckers,” a story that still angers Trump.

In a social media post Thursday, the president called Goldberg “the person responsible for many fictional stories about me” but said his reporting about being inadvertently added to the Signal chat on pending airstrikes on Yemen was “somewhat more ‘successful.’”

Trump said he’s doing the interview “out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful.’”

By Steven Porter, Globe Staff

A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday blocking the Trump administration from following through on threats to defund schools that defy its directives on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In an 82-page order, Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty said the administration’s anti-DEI interpretation of federal law, as expressed in a letter the US Department of Education distributed in February, fails to give teachers clarity about what exactly the government requires of them.

McCafferty’s ruling bars the administration from proceeding with its plans for a so-called “End DEI Portal” and a certification requirement that was sent earlier this month to local school leaders.

The government is expected to pursue an appeal.

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By the Associated Press

A federal judge in California on Thursday barred the Trump administration from denying or conditioning the use of federal funds to “sanctuary” jurisdictions.

US Judge William Orrick said a preliminary injunction was appropriate because the executive orders were unconstitutional just as they were in 2017 when President Donald Trump announced a similar order. Orrick issued the injunction sought by San Francisco and more than a dozen other municipalities that sued over a pair of executive orders the Republican president issued targeting local municipalities that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts.

Orrick, based in San Francisco, wrote that defendants are restrained and enjoined “from directly or indirectly taking any action to withhold, freeze, or condition federal funds” and the administration must provide written notice of his order to all federal departments and agencies by Monday.

By the Associated Press

The Trump Organization says it’s “moving in a different direction” with regard to its hand-picked outside ethics adviser following strong criticism from President Trump about the prominent lawyer who was selected for the role months ago.

Trump on Thursday lambasted William Burck, who is one of the lawyers representing Harvard University in a high-stakes court fight with the Trump administration. Burck was also named in January to serve as an outside ethics adviser for the Trump Organization to vet deals that could pose conflicts with public policy.

Trump in a Truth Social post said Burck “should therefore be forced to resign, immediately, or be fired.” He called on his sons, who now run the company, to part ways with Burck, though he didn’t mention the attorney by name. Soon after, Eric Trump said in a statement provided to The Associated Press that: “I view it as (a) conflict and I will be moving in a different direction.”

By the Associated Press

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed.

The high court filing follows a brief order from a federal appeals court that kept in place a court order blocking the policy nationwide.

Trump signed an executive order a week into his term that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.

But in March, US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, ruled for several long-serving transgender military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory.

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By the Associated Press

State and local election officials from across the country are meeting Thursday to consider President Trump’s executive order that seeks major changes to how elections are run, the first time those in charge of the nation’s voting will formally gather to weigh in on its implications.

The US Election Assistance Commission’s Standards Board, which is holding a public hearing in North Carolina, is a bipartisan advisory group of election officials from every state that meets annually.

The commission, an independent federal agency, is at the center of Trump’s executive order. The March 25 order directs the commission to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement, revise guidelines for voting systems and withhold federal money from any state that continues to accept ballots after Election Day.

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By the Associated Press

While serving beer on the air base, Vance was using a special kegerator which was constructed by Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Davis.

After Vance had poured drafts from the kegerator — typically a small refrigerator modified to dispense beer from kegs — Davis asked the vice president to autograph it.

“To Anthony, this is great! A work of genius!! JD Vance,” he wrote while signing the contraption.

He used Davis’ kegerator to serve Benediktiner Hell lager beer.

Davis fundraised for and built the kegerator for an event for the 86th Maintenance Group at the base where Vance was on a refueling stop, Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Davis added that Vance said, “This thing is awesome” when Davis asked him to sign it.

By the Associated Press

Vice President JD Vance and is family are returning to Washington form a trip to Italy and India and stopped at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

“I have no idea what the hell day it is, what time it is,” Vance joked.

Service members around him were drinking beer and eating hot dogs, and Vance held up a classic German painted stein with a metal lid.

He joked that he should chug a beer but added, “That would go viral, and not in a good way, my friends.”

Instead, Vance took a regular sip before handing out cups of beer he served from a keg.

By the Associated Press

Trump is lambasting a lawyer who represents Harvard University in its dispute with the White House and who also was tapped by the president’s company to serve as an outside ethics adviser.

Trump did not name the attorney he was referring to in his Truth Social post Thursday but it was clear from the context that he was talking about William Burck.

In his post, he wrote that he hopes the Trump Organization, which is now run by his sons, “gets rid of him ASAP.”

Burck is one of the lawyers who sued the Trump administration this week on behalf of Harvard to halt a federal freeze of more than $2.2 billion. He’s well known inside the Trump orbit, having represented multiple Trump allies during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

By the Associated Press

Ramaphosa said he’d spoken to Trump and the two leaders had also agreed to discuss the peace process in Ukraine and the end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths. We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding U.S.-South Africa relations,‘’ Ramaphosa said in a post on social media platform X.

“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” he added.

Ramaphosa did not indicate when the meeting with Trump was likely to take place.

Relations between South Africa and the US have deteriorated since Trump took office earlier this year.

By the Associated Press

China on Thursday denied President Trump’s assertion that the two sides were involved in active negotiations over tariffs, saying any suggestion of progress in this matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.”

China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday that the final tariff rate on China’s exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“China’s position is consistent and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” said Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong. “Any claims about the progress of China-US trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis.”

Trump had told reporters earlier in the week that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, although his Treasury Secretary had said there were no formal negotiations.

By the Associated Press

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived Thursday morning for a day of meetings as the White House has signaled it’s lost patience with peace talks between Ukraine and Russia and is prepared to step away from the table.

At the Pentagon, Rutte met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, and he’s scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz later in the day.

Rutte’s meetings at the Pentagon come at a time that Hegseth’s use of the Signal app to discuss military operations remains under scrutiny. Hegseth did not answer a shouted question as to whether he was still using the Signal app in his daily duties.

By the Associated Press

The head of the International Monetary Fund urged countries to move “swiftly’’ to resolve trade disputes that threaten global economic growth.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the unpredictability arising from Trump’s aggressive campaign of taxes on foreign imports is causing companies to delay investments and consumers to hold off on spending.

“Uncertainty is bad for business,‘’ she told reporters Thursday in a briefing during the spring meetings of the IMF and its sister agency, the World Bank.

Georgieva’s comments came two days after the IMF downgraded the outlook for world economic growth this year.

By the Associated Press

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying,” Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Russia struck Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones. At least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July. The strikes took place just as peace efforts are coming to a head.

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By the Associated Press

On Trump’s public schedule today, he will greet and then have lunch with the Prime Minister of Norway, who’s visiting Washington, at noon. They will then have a meeting in the Oval Office at 1 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., he will sign more executive orders.

Later this evening, at 6:30 p.m., Trump will travel to his golf club in Washington, D.C., where he will attend a MAGA Inc. dinner.

By the Associated Press

State and local election officials from across the country are meeting Thursday to consider Trump’s executive order that seeks major changes to how elections are run, the first time those in charge of the nation’s voting will formally gather to weigh in on its implications.

The US Election Assistance Commission’s Standards Board, which is holding a public hearing in North Carolina, is a bipartisan advisory group of election officials from every state that meets annually.

The commission, an independent federal agency, is at the center of Trump’s executive order. The March 25 order directs the commission to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement, revise guidelines for voting systems and withhold federal money from any state that continues to accept ballots after Election Day.

By the Associated Press

President Trump is putting his “touches” on the White House with new flagpoles, new artwork, an overhaul of the Oval Office decor and possibly covering up the lawn in the Rose Garden.

Trump, a former real estate developer and hotelier, said Wednesday that he’s adding two “beautiful” flagpoles to the grounds to fly the American flag in about a week.

He recently hung new artworks featuring himself, including a rendering of him with his fist raised after last year’s attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. He has redecorated the Oval Office by adding portraits of all of his predecessors and a wall-mounted copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump has also talked about paving over the lawn in the Kennedy-era Rose Garden.

He even remarked on the grass on Wednesday, telling reporters he recalled a recent event where “the grass was very wet and it was very hard for people to stand on the grass. They got their shoes all ruined.”

By the Associated Press

Trump will mark his first 100 days in office next week with a rally in Michigan, his first since returning to the White House earlier this year.

Trump will visit Macomb County on Tuesday, the White House press secretary said. The region just north of Detroit is known as an automotive hub.

“President Trump is excited to return to the great state of Michigan next Tuesday, where he will rally in Macomb County to celebrate the FIRST 100 DAYS!” Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday on social media.

The rally will take place one day before Trump’s 100th day in office — a traditional early milestone in which a president’s progress is measured against campaign promises. Michigan was one of the key battleground states Trump flipped last year from Democrats on his path back to the White House.

Trump has not traveled much since taking office, outside of personal weekend trips. His only other official trip in his second term was during the first week, when he visited disaster zones in North Carolina and California and held an event in Las Vegas to promote his plan to eliminate taxes on tips.

By the Associated Press

Trump has ordered sharper scrutiny of America’s colleges and the accreditors that oversee them, part of his escalating campaign to end what he calls “wokeness” and diversity efforts in education.

In a series of executive actions signed Wednesday, Trump targeted universities that he views as liberal adversaries to his political agenda. One order called for harder enforcement of a federal law requiring colleges to disclose their financial ties with foreign sources, while another called for a shakeup of the accrediting bodies that decide whether colleges can accept federal financial aid awarded to students.

Trump also ordered the Education Department to root out efforts to ensure equity in discipline in the nation’s K-12 schools. Previous guidance from Democratic administrations directed schools not to disproportionately punish underrepresented minorities such as Black and Native American students. The administration says equity efforts amount to racial discrimination.

By the Associated Press

Americans’ trust in Trump to bolster the US economy appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing that many people fear the country is being steered into a recession and that the president’s broad and haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices to rise.

Roughly half of US adults say that Trump’s trade policies will increase prices “a lot” and another 3 in 10 think prices could go up “somewhat,” according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the possibility of the US economy going into a recession in the next few months.

While skepticism about tariffs is increasing modestly, that doesn’t mean the public is automatically rejecting Trump or his approach to trade. However, the wariness could cause problems for a president who promised voters he could quickly fix inflation.

By the Associated Press

China on Thursday denied US President Trump’s assertion that the two sides were involved in active negotiations over tariffs, saying that any suggestion of progress in this matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.”

China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday that the final tariff rate on China’s exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145 percent.

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By Diti Kohli, Globe Staff

Harvard Medical School is known for its breakthroughs in combating diabetes and smallpox, 11 Nobel Prizes, and a competitive academic program that accepts only 3 percent of applicants.

Now its finances are in a precarious place as it prepares for impending layoffs, sweeping cuts, and calls for a “long-term, sustainable” shift in the way it operates, according to school officials at a faculty town hall last week.

The moves signal radical change at the country’s premier medical school amid the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Harvard and other universities. Long pummeled by financial losses, Harvard Medical School finds itself particularly vulnerable to this month’s freeze of $2.2 billion in federal funds, which includes some grants from the National Institutes of Health. The school operated in the red for 12 of the last 17 years and on average spends $11 million more a year than it earns, according to annual dean’s reports since 2008.

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By Omar Mohammed, Globe Staff

Michael Lupis is worried about the cost of living.

Food is more expensive. And at his home in Burrillville, he is shutting lights off constantly to try to save on his electric bill. This winter, he was mindful about the temperature in the house because of the high cost of heating. He and his wife search for sales when buying groceries, clothes and gas for their cars, something he said they never used to worry about before.

His anxiety over how much things cost has coincided with a job search that is taking longer than he expected. Lupis, who is based in Rhode Island and has managed operations of buildings and offices, has been unemployed since the end of November. He said job postings he comes across either pay too little or demand too high qualifications.

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By The Washington Post

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the installation of Signal, a commercially available messaging app, on a desktop computer in his Pentagon office, said three people familiar with the matter, illustrating the extent to which he has integrated use of the unclassified communications platform at the center of his political troubles with the highly secure systems the US government relies on to safeguard military plans and other sensitive information.

In doing so, Hegseth effectively “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cellphone, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an issue that has hounded the Trump administration for weeks. The move followed a discussion among Hegseth and his aides about how they could circumvent the lack of cellphone service in much of the Pentagon and more quickly coordinate with the White House and other top Trump officials using the encrypted app, they added.

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By Bloomberg

President Trump plans to mark the 100-day milestone of his second term in the carmaking hub of Macomb County, Michigan, a bastion of blue-collar workers who he says he’s protecting with sweeping tariff policies that have upended markets.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted the upcoming trip on X, saying: “President Trump is excited to return to the great state of Michigan next Tuesday, where he will rally in Macomb County to celebrate the FIRST 100 DAYS!”