China’s Commerce Ministry said it “resolutely opposes” U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of escalating tariffs, and vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.

The comments came after Trump said he would impose an additional 50% duty on U.S. imports from China Wednesday, if Beijing does not withdraw the 34% tariff it imposed on American products last week.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake,” the statement said, according to a CNBC translation. “China will never accept it. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”

Last Friday, China’s Finance Ministry announced 34% in additional tariffs on all goods imported from the U.S., starting April 10, in retaliation to Trump imposing new levies of 34% on China. The across-the-board tariffs followed two previous rounds of 10%-15% tariffs, targeting mostly agricultural and energy products imported from the U.S.

Trump’s 34% tariffs on China were on top of the 20% duties rolled out since February, bringing the total new tariffs this year on China to 54%.

Introduction and summary

The U.S. public education system was created to educate all children, yet in recent years, it has been infiltrated by privatization efforts that have stripped billions of dollars in funding from public schools, segregated students and parental networks by race and socioeconomic status, and funneled public taxpayer money to autonomous private schools without holding them to the same accountability standards as their public counterparts.1

Private school vouchers divert taxpayer funds from public schools to private institutions to cover the educational expenses of select students.2 Although the use of these vouchers originally peaked in the 1960s after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education,3 since they enabled white families to avoid school desegregation, vouchers took a new altruistic turn in the early 1990s. In Wisconsin, the first modern voucher program aimed to close the educational achievement gap between low-income students and their counterparts.4 More states followed suit, including Florida with the launch of a voucher program intended for students with disabilities in 1999.5 This focus on the use of vouchers to close the opportunity gap for low-income students and students with disabilities has since shifted. Today, billionaires are lobbying for vouchers of all kinds—including traditional vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax credit scholarships—to support their deregulation interests and further their financial gain.6 Meanwhile, the private voucher programs currently being expanded primarily benefit wealthier students, further exacerbating gaps in educational achievement and wealth.7

Whether public or private, every parent deserves to know if their child’s school is providing a quality education and fostering a safe and nurturing learning environment. Adopting a rigorous accountability framework for private and faith-based schools that are recipients of public funds will increase both the quality and transparency of private choice programs, ensuring that institutions are delivering a world-class education to all students and using taxpayer funds efficiently and effectively.

On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts put on administrative hold a judicial order demanding the U.S. seek the return of a wrongfully deported Maryland resident, as the full Supreme Court considers the question. That immigrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, is a father of a U.S. citizen and was in this country legally before he was sent to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, prison in El Salvador.

President Donald Trump originally invoked the late-18th-century Alien Enemies Act to remove hundreds of people to CECOT—a hellhole that local despot Nayib Bukele had proactively offered up weeks ago—on the suspicion that they might be part of the gang Tren de Aragua. The evidence presented for practically all known cases is almost null. Asylum-seekers, refugees, and even Abrego Garcia, who had been issued a protection known as withholding of removal specifically prohibiting his being sent to El Salvador, have been swept up in the dragnet.

At every step, the federal government’s conduct has been legally questionable. The government’s flimsy criteria for removal has reportedly come down to social media posts and tattoos. There have been sharp questions over the legality of the AEA invocation in the first place. D.C. District Judge James Boasberg has been exploring contempt against government officials after they ignored his order to turn planes of deportees around and refused to answer basic questions about their conduct. With the Supreme Court issuing an opinion overturning Boasberg’s temporary restraining order on Monday, these AEA renditions seem likely to continue. Lost in the shuffle is one more basic but key open question: Under what authority is the government having these people imprisoned at CECOT in the first place?

I don’t mean that rhetorically, in the way of how we could allow our government to do this, but literally what is the statutory basis for the U.S. to ask this foreign government to warehouse migrants for us? To date, the Trump administration has not in any public forum released the specifics of whatever contract or agreement it actually has with El Salvador; it’s reportedly for $6 million a year—which implies that this is intended as a long-haul detention—but beyond that, we don’t know much. More importantly, the administration has not pointed to anything under the law that would actually underlie this agreement.

Good Morning—

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you hand the keys to a country over to a conspiracy theorist with a tariff addiction and a flair for military parades, today’s headlines might offer some answers.

Trump wants 50% more tariffs on China, says there’s definitely no recession coming (trust Peter Navarro!), and is now planning a military parade for his 79th birthday. Because nothing says “stable economy” like inflation, global chaos, and tanks in DC.

Billionaires are jumping ship, fake social posts can now tank the market, and even Republicans are thinking maybe Congress should take the tariff wheel back. Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s anti-vax base is turning on him, Kristi Noem’s offering DHS buyouts, and Trump is confused why his Cabinet keeps having feelings.

Also, he thinks the U.S. "owning" Gaza is still a good idea.

It’s all as predictable as it is dangerous. Stay sharp out there.

Stay informed, stay engaged. 💪

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This Day in History:

In 1820, the iconic Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the Greek island of Milos, later becoming a celebrated masterpiece in the Louvre. In 1864, the U.S. Senate passed the 13th Amendment, moving the United States closer to the abolition of slavery. In 1904, Longacre Square in New York City was officially renamed Times Square, following the relocation of The New York Times headquarters, reshaping the identity of a global landmark. In 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth and making history as baseball’s new home run king. And in 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing, ending years of investigation and bringing justice for one of the most shocking acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. sports history.

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• China Says It Will ‘Fight to the End’ After Trump Threatens 50% Additional Tariffs

• ‘I Guarantee No Recession’: Peter Navarro Tries to Reassure Fox News Viewers Amid Tariff Turmoil

• Tariffs Are Freezing the U.S. Economy

• Amid Economic Chaos, Some Republicans Want Control of Tariffs Back in Congress

• ‘How Ugly Is This Going to Be?’

• Billionaires Are Turning on Trump

• Fake Social Media Posts Can Tank The Stock Market Now

• Losing Confidence in the Con Man

• Why We’ll Have a Recession

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Getting to Work This Recess

Once they’ve finished with the blank check for Trump and Musk, Congress is heading out of Washington for a recess.

We’ll be waiting, and they owe us some answers. They may try to hide from us, but we’re not going anywhere.

Steps we can take

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Aiming for Change: Democrats' 2026 Strategy to Reclaim the House

🌊 Democrats are rallying for a massive comeback in the 2026 midterms, aiming to flip 35 GOP seats. Could new economic dynamics and voter trends shift the tide? #2026Midterms #BlueWave

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• One Day That Shook the World

• Trump Planning Military Parade Through DC for 79th Birthday

• Top US Admiral at NATO Removed Amid Trump’s Growing Military Firings

• Trump Announces Direct Iran Nuclear Talks During Meeting With Netanyahu

• SGA Candidates Weather ‘Dark Cloud’ of Campus Free Speech in Diverging Campaign Promises

• Cambridge City Council to Vote on Whether to Ask Harvard Corporation to Resist Trump

• Silence Is Endorsement

• RFK’s Anti-Vax Flock Turns on Him

• Meet Usha Vance: MAGA’s Enigmatic Second Lady

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💬 Should members of Congress be banned from trading individual stocks while in office?

🔹 Yes — it's a clear conflict of interest ✅
🔹 No — they should have the same rights as everyone else ❌
🔹 Depends — only if they sit on relevant committees 🤷‍♀️

Vote & Discuss

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• Turkey and Israel Are Becoming Deadly Rivals in Syria

• Rep. John James Launches Campaign for Michigan Governor

• Democrat Gabe Vasquez Keeps It Low Key in a Pivotal Swing Seat

• DC, Get Ready for Randy Fine: ‘Hardest Right Hook in the Business’

• US ‘Controlling and Owning’ Gaza Would Be Good, Trump Says Again

• Supreme Court Clears Way for Venezuelan Deportations to Resume, for Now

• Noem Offers Buyouts to DHS Workers

• ‘Frustrated’ Trump Confused Why ‘Emotional’ Cabinet Member Always in White House: Report

• Social Security Website Keeps Crashing, as DOGE Demands Cuts to IT Staff

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Current Crisis Overview

• Federal Funds Withheld: Multiple agencies have refused to release congressionally approved funds, despite clear judicial rulings requiring them to do so. This has prompted a series of escalating legal battles and widespread concerns among constitutional scholars.

• Legal Experts Sound the Alarm: Analysts from institutions like ProPublica, The New York Times, and The Washington Post warn that these actions undermine the separation of powers and set a dangerous precedent.

• White House Position: President Trump and his allies argue that the judiciary is overstepping its bounds, framing the dispute as a battle over executive authority.

• Political Responses: While conservative figures such as JD Vance and Elon Musk have signaled concerns, there is no concrete indication yet of a unified government strategy to outright ignore the courts. However, rapid developments suggest this could change quickly.

Track the Crisis

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