Today’s notice: A Ric Grenell phone call. More on Laura Loomer’s day at the White House. One Republican’s “moral obligation” to a detainee. But first: Everyone is trying to figure out what the heck is going to happen with Trump’s tariffs.
The Day Two Scramble
People are really running around trying to figure out what these tariffs all mean, including, apparently, the White House. As the markets cratered, Donald Trump, en route to Miami, said “every country is calling,” showing an openness to making deals on tariff rates. “Well, it depends,” Trump told reporters. “As long as they are giving us something that is good.”
That’s not the message the White House wanted out there. As The Washington Post first reported, internal talking points specifically said the tariffs weren’t a starting point for negotiations. Like we said, there’s been a lot of scrambling.
As Sen. Jerry Moran told reporters Thursday: “The thing you never know about the Trump administration is how long this lasts, and whether it’s a temporary thing.” (Moran, by the way, was not expecting the broad tariffs Trump rolled out yesterday.)
A germane aside: A former White House economic staffer under Joe Biden marveled that details of Trump’s tariff plans hadn’t leaked before the president’s Rose Garden remarks. Anything similar definitely would have leaked in the Biden administration, they said. Of course, Trump’s quick messaging changeup on Air Force One might be indicative of why nothing solid got out.
As for outside Washington, it will be a while before we know if business leaders are actually in as much trouble as the markets Thursday suggested. As we highlighted yesterday, we’ve been noticing some telling silence as all this unfolds. Call it the silent scramble.
Trade associations are mum, as NOTUS Taylor Giorno reported this week. That’s also the case with organized labor. The UAW’s website currently contains one press release from March 28 eviscerating the White House for limiting federal workers’ collective bargaining rights. Right next to it is one from March 26 heaping praise on Trump’s proposed tariffs on cars. There is no statement specifically addressing “Liberation Day,” and the union did not respond to an email Thursday from NOTUS. The larger AFL-CIO did put out a statement: Union president Liz Shuler said “the strategic use of tariffs can be an effective tool” before adding a big “but” attacking Trump’s policies on organizing, DOGE and more.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro
Heckuva Job, House Leaders
Trump also scrambled the increasingly bizarre standoff over parental proxy voting that’s pitting Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna against Republican Speaker Mike Johnson. “I don’t know why it’s controversial,” Trump said in his Air Force One remarks, echoing the question rattling around in the brains of many watching this clash unfold. A majority of House members have now gone on the record saying they think the rules should allow new parents to vote remotely for 12 weeks. Trump is now on record agreeing with them.
House leadership has said it’s a bad idea. Trump put them in an awkward spot by saying he’ll “let the speaker make the decision, but I like the idea.” A source familiar with the situation told NOTUS that Johnson talked to Trump on Thursday to explain his concerns regarding Luna’s proposal.
Front Page
- Republicans in Congress Can Stop Trump’s Tariffs — But They Don’t Want To: Republican senators say they’re comfortable deferring to Trump on this one.
- Boasberg Inches Closer to Finding Trump Officials in Contempt Over Venezuelan Deportation Flights: The judge pressed a DOJ lawyer on why the administration moved forward with the flights after his court ordered them halted.
- Democrats Want to Win the Internet. The Internet’s Liberal Stars Want a Seat at the Table.: At least three influencers have announced they’re running for the House.
- Meet the Controversial 23-Year-Old Pulling in Millions for Long-Shot Florida Democrats: “The old consultant cabal didn’t get a single dime,” the fundraiser told NOTUS.
- The Government Quietly Changed How It’s Enacting a Forced Labor Import Ban: Will Trump’s tariffs make Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement more difficult?
Laura, Looming
If it wasn’t already clear that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is in the hot seat, it is now after Trump fired multiple members of the National Security Council on Thursday. NOTUS’ John T. Seward and Jasmine Wright report that despite the White House’s claims that the Signal-gate drama is in the rear view, tension remains, as some are seeking to “change the trajectory of Waltz’s tenure,” according to a national security expert closely familiar with the NSC. “The knives are out,” this person said.
The situation has also given unique insight into Laura Loomer’s continued influence in far-right circles and on the president. John and Jasmine report that the firings came after Loomer brought a “stack of documents” to a recent meeting with Trump where she pressured him to fire members of the council. Trump, talking to reporters Thursday, called the far-right activist a “patriot.”
Ric Grenell on Line 1
Congressional Democrats’ letters like Rep. Jamie Raskin’s to Trump officials probing the administration about its role in Andrew and Tristan Tate’s return to the U.S. often go unanswered. But Raskin provoked the ire of Special Presidential Envoy Ric Grenell so much that Grenell personally called a House Judiciary Committee staffer and allegedly “berated” them, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman scooped. A source familiar with the conversation said Grenell bashed Raskin and dismissed the lawmaker’s letter as “fake news.” Grenell said as much to NOTUS.
‘We Put Him There’
Government lawyers previously told U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg that prisoners could challenge their deportations with a habeas corpus petition. But now that Trump officials have acknowledged that the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison last month was a mistake, they’re saying they can’t get him back. Again, in a hearing Thursday, Boasberg tore apart administration lawyers’ arguments that migrants had the ability to challenge their deportations to El Salvador.
Some Republican senators like Ted Cruz are unbothered, but others, like Thom Tillis, told NOTUS’ Casey Murray there’s a “moral obligation” to get Abrego Garcia out of the prison: “I mean, we put him there.”
The Cory Booker Workout
How many calories does talking for 25 hours burn? NOTUS’ Ursula Perano spotted Cory Booker wearing an Oura Ring while doing his historic marathon Senate speech. His office provided the data: He was stressed for 4 hours and 15 minutes, burned 3,934 calories and walked 6.9 miles, according to the ring.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Trump, Bad Bunny and Puerto Rico’s Perennially Broken Power Grid by Gloria Gonzalez at Politico Magazine
- Trump and DOGE Defund Program That Boosted American Manufacturing for Decades by Paresh Dave and Louise Matsakis at Wired
- The Austin-Area Teen Trump Disappeared to El Salvador by Michael Hall at Texas Monthly
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