Contributing Writers

President Donald Trump ramped up steep tariffs against Chinese imports to the U.S. this week while alleviating them for other countries during trade negotiations this week. He also signed a series of executive orders aimed at repealing Biden-era restrictions. The Trump administration announced Wednesday it would lower reciprocal tariffs on other countries, while also revealing that the administration would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited employees at the FDA on Friday and reportedly told them that “the Deep State is real.” The visit was his first appearance with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and was reportedly meant to welcome the new chief.

President Trump said on Friday that the first physical examination of his second term went well, and overall he feels he’s in “very good shape.”The president told reporters on board Air Force One while en route to his home in West Palm Beach Friday evening that the yearly presidential physical at Walter Reed Medical Center showed he has a “good heart, a good soul,” and “overall, I think I’m in very – I felt I was in very good shape.

A federal judge has upheld a Trump administration policy that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out enforcement operations at churches and other places of worship despite lawsuits against it from faith-based groups.U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, appointed by Trump during his first term, denied a request from more than two dozen Christian and Jewish organizations to block the policy.

A Maryland federal judge on Friday told the Trump administration to comply with a Supreme Court order “in good faith” regarding the ordered return of an alleged MS-13 gang member erroneously deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident, was deported to El Salvador last month for being an alleged MS-13 gang member. His attorneys have maintained that he does not have any ties to the violent gang. In a Friday hearing, U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is turning up the pressure on Mexico over a growing water crisis that’s threatening South Texas farmers, announcing Friday that high-level talks with Mexican officials may finally lead to a breakthrough.

After finding $382 million in fraudulent unemployment payments since 2020, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) identified California, New York and Massachusetts as the primary culprits. The three Democrat-led states accounted for $305 million in improper claim payments, DOGE said Thursday.

President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs, and possibly sanctions against Mexico, if it continues to rob South Texas farmers of Rio Grande water promised under a decades-old treaty.In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump proclaimed that Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, though Mexico was violating their obligation.”This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly,” the president wrote.

The Trump administration was handed another win on Thursday after a federal judge ruled that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation.The Associated Press reported that Judge Trevor Neil McFadden, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, sided with the administration after arguing it was enforcing an existing requirement for everyone in the country who is not a citizen of the U.S.

President Donald Trump announced a handful of nominations and appointments Thursday, including a position to combat antisemitism. Trump selected Yehuda Kaploun, a prominent Miami-based businessman and longtime confidant of the president, to serve as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism as an ambassador-at-large.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink is stepping down, the State Department confirmed Thursday, as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokesperson, said Brink would be leaving her role, though she didn’t give a specific departure date. The news comes at a critical moment for U.S. foreign policy as officials work to ease tensions and end the grinding war in Eastern Europe.

Chinese officials acknowledged behind closed doors at a December meeting that their government was responsible for a series of cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, according to a Wall Street Journal report based on information from people familiar with the matter.The news comes as the two countries continue to spar over tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and reciprocated and upped by President Xi Jinping.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should be demonized, in an apparent escalation of their feud. Walz was speaking at a town hall in Youngstown, Ohio, when he laid into Musk, whom he has sharply criticized before. He was talking about social media and the Democratic Party’s view on success when he brought up the billionaire tech mogul.

It was a split screen Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill.One eye on the markets. The other eye on the Senate testimony of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.”Do you think your remarks will alter the markets in any way?” yours truly asked Greer as he walked to the hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.”I’m just going to respond to the senators. Be candid as I can be,” replied Greer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the president’s move to implement a pause on his tariffs was the result of declines in the financial markets, which have been causing great concern for investors.The comments came after the president issued a pause Wednesday for 75 different countries, which, according to the Trump administration, have shown a willingness to negotiate trade deals in good faith with the United States.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is delaying a key vote on legislation aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda in the face of a likely rebellion on Wednesday evening.It comes as fiscal hawks in the lower chamber have raised alarms at the Senate’s version of the plan, which guarantees far fewer spending cuts than the House’s initial offering.

The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday to limit federal district judges’ ability to affect Trump administration policies on a national scale.The No Rogue Rulings Act, led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., passed the House and limits district courts’ power to issue U.S.-wide injunctions, instead forcing them to focus their scope on the parties directly affected in most cases.All but one Republican lawmaker voted for the bill, which passed 219 to 213.

New York Republicans are pushing a new law to protect animals after a beloved pet squirrel and internet star named P’Nut was taken and killed by state environmental officers late last year.The bill, called “Peanut’s Law: The Humane Animal Protection Act,” would require a 72-hour waiting period before the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) can euthanize any seized animal.

President Donald Trump touted the record-breaking fundraising numbers garnered by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) during its annual president’s dinner Tuesday evening. “You know, we’ve done very well in this room before,” Trump told attendees at the annual dinner Tuesday night. “But right now we broke every record. I just heard from Mike Johnson, he said, ‘We broke every record, sir.’ There is over $35 million.

It was supposed to be a routine Senate Agriculture Committee hearing to consider nominees for top USDA posts, but one visitor turned the event into a tail-wagging affair.​Babydog Justice, the beloved English bulldog of Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., made a surprise and highly photogenic appearance Tuesday as the committee met to review the nominations of Judge Stephen Vaden for Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Tyler Clarkson for USDA General Counsel.

The Department of Commerce on Tuesday announced its decision to cut $4 million in funding related to climate research for Princeton University.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a news release the cuts were made “after a detailed, careful, and thorough review of the Department’s financial assistance programs against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) current program objectives.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem spent Tuesday morning with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Arizona law enforcement agents going after illegal immigrant criminals in the Phoenix area.Standing with a gun in her hands, Noem said in a video posted to X that she was going out with ICE to pick up someone facing charges of human trafficking. She also said she went out earlier with agents and swept up a person wanted for murder.

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have come to an agreement to permit ICE to access taxpayer information to locate illegal immigrants subject to deportation.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced $51 million in cuts from the U.S. African Development Foundation, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars for marketing shea butter and pineapple juice, as well as mango drying facilities.DOGE made the announcement on X, highlighting several initiatives the money was put toward.

Two key bills backed by President Donald Trump are set to get a vote this week after advancing through the House Rules Committee on Monday evening.The No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA Act) by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., would limit district court judges’ ability to issue orders blocking Trump policies nationwide. The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is aimed at requiring proof of citizenship in the voting registration process.