Mission Accomplished?

Today’s notice: No new announcements. Republicans’ “biggest 2026 liability” — and their biggest strength. The pharmaceutical industry is “open to ideas” on how to deal with MAHA. Plus: The only thing standing in Trump’s way.

THE LATEST

Too late? In his nearly 19-minute speech from the White House’s Cross Hall, Donald Trump made no new announcements. He repeated his two-to-three-week timeline to end the war with Iran, though he said that without a diplomatic deal, the U.S. could strike Tehran’s power plants.

“I did what no other president was willing to do. They make mistakes and I am correcting them,” Trump said.

His address comes at a precarious time: The average price of gas is more than $4 a gallon. Stock futures began selling off after his remarks. And recent polls have found Americans losing patience, if not completely souring, on the military operation. It’s something the president can see for himself.

“We could just take their oil. But, you know, I’m not sure that the people in our country have the patience to do that, which is unfortunate. You know, they want to see it end,” Trump said yesterday afternoon during an Easter lunch that was supposed to be closed to the press — though White House staff uploaded a video of his remarks to YouTube before deleting it.

Trump sidestepped the typical rollout of a war. He didn’t make grand speeches, travel the country to talk to the American people, go before Congress to request authorization or coalesce America’s allies to get buy-in. So can he change Americans’ minds now that, as he claims, the war is almost over?

“When gas prices are up this high, and people are feeling the costs everywhere, this was too late,” an official who served under Joe Biden told Jasmine. “And the reality is that the administration didn’t anticipate how much Iran’s closing the Strait [of Hormuz] would do economic damage.”

There’s one thing the president didn’t say would happen: boots on the ground. It’s what the nation has been bracing for as thousands of U.S. troops are deployed to the Middle East.

“He did not do that,” Iraq War veteran and the founder of Independent Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff, told Emily. “For veterans and military families, that’s what they were looking for the most.”

Open tabs: Artemis II astronauts bound for moon after rocketing away on NASA’s first lunar voyage in decades (AP); Trump Has Discussed Firing Pam Bondi (NYT); Eric Swalwell’s finances show cash crunch, delayed taxes, $400,000 childcare tab (Sacramento Bee); Border Patrol chief hit with prostitution allegations by agents (Washington Examiner)

From the campaign trail

“Liberation Day” was a year ago. Expect to hear a lot more about it in the coming months: The DCCC is planning to put Trump’s tariff policies at the forefront of its attacks against House Republicans.

“Their biggest 2026 liability” is how a DCCC memo, obtained by NOTUS’ Alex Roarty, describes House Republicans’ support for tariffs, which Democrats argue undercuts Republicans’ messaging on the economy.

“Remember, when these tariffs were rolled out a year ago, Republicans said tariffs were going to usher in a ‘golden age’ of America and they were going to be short term,” the DCCC’s chair, Rep. Suzan DelBene, said. “And none of that has been true.”

Is it all about the money? Democrats have scored some encouraging wins so far this year, overperforming in a number of statewide and special elections, but their lack of cash is bumming some out.

Republicans are estimated to have a lot more — to the tune of up to a half-billion dollars, one Democratic strategist told Alex and NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno. That’s thanks to Trump-backed super PACs, outside groups and the Republican National Committee.

Speaking of, the RNC alone already has $100 million more than its Democratic counterpart. Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. is sitting on more than $312 million, but its spox Alex Pfeiffer declined to share with NOTUS any specific “battle plans.”

“Trump’s money advantage is one of the biggest differences from 2018,” said Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist. “And one of the biggest things that should be keeping Democrats up at night.”

Plus, the Supreme Court is likely to help out. Republicans brought a case challenging long-standing restrictions on the amount of money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates. Operatives in both parties are bracing for that to be struck down, Alex and Taylor report.

From Pharma

“Open to ideas” is how a top Moderna executive, Wendy Sohn, responded to a question on how the vaccine industry should handle the rampant anti-vax sentiments emboldened by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

This week, the vaccine development industry made clear it is taking MAHA seriously, NOTUS’ Margaret Manto reports from the World Vaccine Congress, where industry leaders publicly deliberated how to navigate an HHS hostile to the pharmaceutical industry and vaccines.

“We need to communicate transparently what we know when the vaccine is launched,” said one pharmaceutical executive at the conference. “Sometimes we forget about that.”

THE BIG ONE

Defying precedent: First sitting president to attend Supreme Court oral arguments. An order to curb mail-in voting based on authority he may or may not have. Downplaying a federal ruling that blocked construction of his beloved White House ballroom. These are just some of the ways the president has flouted normal conventions this week to put himself in conflict with the judiciary, which, thanks to a Republican-controlled Congress, has provided the only real check on his agenda.

“I can’t get a ballroom approved. It’s pretty amazing, right? If I was a king, we’d be doing a lot more. I’m doing a lot, but I could be doing a lot more if I was a king,” Trump said yesterday during his Easter lunch.

And it hasn’t gone without notice. In the packed courtroom yesterday, all eyes were on the president. Even Justice Samuel Alito stared directly at him — sans smile — for at least 10 seconds, NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery told Jasmine, not breaking his gaze even to sit down at the bench. Trump entered the courtroom quietly and left five minutes after the opposition counsel began arguing, Jose reports.

The president’s critics say he has long flipped the proverbial bird at a legal system that stood in his way (*cough* 2016’s “Mexican” judge attack *cough*).

“The seeds of this have always been there because Trump’s about power,” his former White House lawyer, Ty Cobb, told NOTUS. “He believes, as he routinely says, that he can do anything he wants. And he sees the courts as an obstacle to that because they routinely rule against his unconstitutional activities.”

But why does the president think he can simply try to do whatever he wants and let the courts decide? A Republican strategist and close Trump ally, who rejected the premise of the question, told Jasmine that the answer lies in history.

“He could have gotten it from Abe Lincoln, because that’s what he did,” they said, referencing an instance when Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. “The real question is: What gave these federal judges the idea that they have the authority to overrule him? Because they don’t.”

NEW ON NOTUS

Making moves at DHS: Markwayne Mullin ended his predecessor’s policy of requiring the secretary’s sign-off for department spending of $100,000 or higher. Employees at the various agencies under DHS said the policy created delays for disaster aid, COVID-19 reimbursements and hazard mitigation grants, among other things.

ON NOTUS PODCAST

From your favorite podcast app: Rep. August Pfluger, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, speaks with On NOTUS host Reese Gorman about why he’s optimistic the Republican Congress, despite its incredibly small majority, can pass another budget reconciliation bill and the skepticism from his colleagues that they could get it done.

NOT US

• How the Department of Justice became a feeding ground for MAGA lobbyists, by The Economist
  
• ‘There’s a new sheriff in town’: Inside the Miami conference on Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine,’ by Max Saltman for CNN
  
• The New Era of Militia Influencers, by David Gilbert for Wired
  
• Public Anger Is Rising, by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Russell Berman for The Atlantic

A NOTUS EVENT

Join us this month to kick off our Made in America event series!

Made in America

Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 8 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET

Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration says it wants to prioritize American workers in an era when many basic goods are imported from overseas. How can the U.S. maintain a competitive edge in the world market, particularly in the agriculture sector? How do tariffs affect workers? What other policy measures are on the horizon?

Featuring Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Bill Anderson (CEO, Bayer), Dedrick Asante-Muhammad (president, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies), Arielle Elliott (CEO, NOTUS), Kip Tom (vice chair of rural policy, America First Policy Institute) and more.

RSVP here (space is limited).

Event presented by Bayer.

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