President Donald Trump said Friday that he continues to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace and that he is “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.” His comments, to reporters in the Oval Office, came after Russia carried out a major missile attack against Ukraine while U.S. intelligence-sharing that normally helps Ukraine repel Russian forces was paused. Trump, who threatened to impose sanctions on Russia in response to the attack, said he had sent Russia a “very strong statement — can’t do that.” But he softened his tone during his Oval Office appearance. Separately, Trump addressed a White House cryptocurrency summit, elevating an industry he promised to aid during his campaign.
Nonprofits ask court to enforce ban on IRS from sharing noncitizens’ personal infomation
Two nonprofit groups that support immigrant communities filed a lawsuit on Friday asking a judge to declare that the Internal Revenue Service is forbidden by law from disclosing the names and addresses of taxpayers without Social Security numbers to the Department of Homeland Security “or to any other federal or state agency or person for purposes of aiding in the enforcement of immigration laws.”
IRS asks employees to update their work information ahead of job cuts
Internal Revenue Service employees on Friday began receiving official notices from leadership that a “reduction in force” would soon take place as part of the Trump administration’s next phase to make deeper cuts to the federal workforce.
Trump tells crypto CEOs he’s got their back
President Donald Trump told CEOs and investors at a White House roundtable for cryptocurrency on Friday that the industry had “great support” from his administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added officials are considering rescinding or altering regulations instituted under the previous administration that he contended were harming the sector.
The National Republican Congressional Committee deleted a social media post baselessly claiming that Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-New York) was an “illegal immigrant.”
Espaillat became a citizen after his family came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic almost 60 years ago. They overstayed a tourist visa but then obtained green cards.
The NRCC’s post asserted that “Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address,” referencing Espaillat’s Spanish-language response to Trump’s address to Congress earlier this week.
The post was up for roughly 24 hours and remained online after Democrats sharply criticized the House GOP campaign arm for the escalated rhetoric.
Several Hispanic Republicans in the House were also irked by the post, with Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Florida) telling The Washington Post it is a term he would not have used, especially for a sitting member of Congress.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to create a White House task force to help prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which is set to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico. North America was awarded the right to host the tournament in 2018.
Asked by a reporter whether the latest political tensions over tariffs between his administration and the other two countries would affect the soccer tournament, Trump said, “I think it’s going to make it more exciting. Tension’s a good thing.”
EPA reverses course, reinstating dozens of environmental justice workers
Less than a month after placing the entire staff of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on administrative leave, the Environmental Protection Agency has reinstated dozens of employees in offices across the country.
Employees at regional EPA offices received an email Monday asking them to return to work, according to four employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media, and they returned to work Wednesday.
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Trump to sign order limiting Public Service Loan Forgiveness
President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order to bar some student loan borrowers from being eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The popular federal program forgives a portion of the education debt held by people who work in the government and certain nonprofit jobs for a decade. In the Oval Office on Friday, Trump claimed some of the qualifying nonprofit organizations “engage in illegal or what we would consider to be improper activities.”
CDC plans study on vaccines and autism despite research showing no link
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning a study into the potential connections between vaccines and autism, according to two people familiar with the plan, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that there is no link between the two.
Autism diagnoses are on the rise in the United States — about 1 in 36 children have received such a diagnosis, according to data the CDC collected from 11 states, compared with 1 in 150 children in 2000.
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U.S. suspends commercial satellite imagery service to Ukraine
The U.S. has temporarily suspended satellite imagery services to Ukraine, a fresh blow to Kyiv from the Trump administration, which has frozen weapons shipments and intelligence-sharing.
Maxar, a leading U.S. provider of commercial satellite imagery, said the U.S. government funds a contract that provides Ukraine access to its orbital imaging services through a program called Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery.
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After combative town halls, Johnson cautions Republicans on in-person events
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Friday that the Republican Party is encouraging members to be thoughtful about whether they conduct in-person town halls, repeating his claim that combative scenes at recent town halls hosted by GOP lawmakers around the country were the work of protesters paid by Democrats.
Trump administration pauses Biden’s new chemical disaster protections
The Environmental Protection Agency is rewriting a rule providing safeguards to prevent accidents at chemical plants, according to a motion filed Thursday in federal court, a move that would affect nearly 12,000 chemical facilities around the country.
The EPA asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to pause legal challenges to safety regulations introduced during the Biden administration while it “undertakes a new rulemaking,” without specifying how it would change them.
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Fed chair signals patience amid Trump’s tariff whiplash
Amid one of the most tumultuous weeks for trade policy and the financial markets since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said the central bank can afford to remain cautious as it weighs the new administration’s policies and their effects on the economy.
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Trump says it’s ‘easier’ to deal with Russia than Ukraine
President Donald Trump said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted peace after a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 7. (Video: The Washington Post)
President Donald Trump said Friday that he continues to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace and that he is “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”
Trump administration cancels $400 million in payments to Columbia University
The Trump administration said Friday it is cutting off $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, saying the school has failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism on campus.
The announcement came from the Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education departments, as well as the General Services Administration. It was not immediately clear which grants and contracts would be impacted.
Touting jobs report, Trump distinguishes between immigrants and ‘native-born Americans’
President Donald Trump on Friday celebrated “big gains for native-born Americans” in the latest jobs report, suggesting that the early gains were a product of U.S. businesses gearing up for his administration.
“For the first time in 15 months, the job gains for native-born Americans — for American people, people born in America — exceeded job gains for migrant and foreign-born workers,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “This is the first time this has happened in more than 15 months.”
In Europe’s north, soldiers train amid worries over Trump’s belief in NATO
ADAZI BASE, Latvia — In a forest in Latvia, just 150 miles from the Russian border, Swedish soldiers crouch among the trees, their faces smeared in green and black paint, posing as invaders against a combined force of Canadian, Spanish and Italian soldiers, among others.
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Head of Education Department agrees with Trump on its closing
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Friday she’s on the same page as President Donald Trump on his desire to close the department she now leads.
Asked in an interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” whether the United States “needs” the Education Department, McMahon directly said: “No, we don’t.”
McMahon’s comments come as Trump is set to issue an executive order directing her to begin the process of dismantling the agency with the goal to ultimately shut it down.
Army Corps knew Trump order would waste California water, memo shows
The Army Corps of Engineers colonel responsible for releasing water from two California reservoirs at President Donald Trump’s direction in January knew that it was unlikely to reach the southern part of the state as Trump had promised, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.
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Justice Amy Coney Barrett ignites anger on the right after ruling against Trump
The Supreme Court’s closely divided decision this week to reject the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid unleashed a torrent of vitriol from the president’s supporters largely aimed at a single justice — Amy Coney Barrett.
On podcasts and social media, conservative allies of President Donald Trump called the former law professor and appeals court judge “evil,” a “closet Democrat” and a “DEI hire.”
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Analysis: Summit highlights Trump alliance with cryptocurrency industry
President Donald Trump is set to host the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday.
The event will put on display just how much Trump, once a skeptic of cryptocurrency, has aligned himself with the industry since winning the November election with the support of some of its biggest players. He tapped venture capitalist David Sacks to serve as his crypto czar and more recently announced a national crypto reserve.
Trump says he sent a letter to Iranian government to negotiate nuclear deal
President Donald Trump said he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and sent a letter this week to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, indicating his desire to do so.
“I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing,’” Trump told Maria Bartiromo in an interview with Fox Business recorded Thursday and partially aired Friday.
Trump threatens ‘large scale’ sanctions on Russia after major attack on Ukraine
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President Donald Trump indicated Friday that he is considering imposing “large scale” sanctions on Russia to pressure the country into a ceasefire and peace deal with Ukraine.
Arizona Gov. Hobbs prepares for a ‘nail-biter’ reelection vote
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is gearing up for another “nail-biter” in her 2026 reelection bid, according to a memo from her campaign.
Hobbs is running for a second term after Donald Trump carried the state last year by six percentage points. Hobbs’s first election for governor, in 2022, was decided by less than one point.
Trump declines to offer businesses certainty with tariff policy
President Donald Trump defended his evolving tariff policy on Thursday and declined to offer American business leaders any indicator of when they can expect to feel certainty.
GOP voucher plan would divert billions in taxes to private schools
The school voucher movement has scored victories in conservative states in a quest to send public dollars to private schools, with tax money following the child. Now backers see their best chance yet to go national.
Congressional Republicans, backed by the White House, are pushing for a new tax credit that would direct billions of dollars a year to school voucher programs — and not just in conservative states.
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‘Stand Up for Science’ rally expected to draw thousands to D.C.
Thousands of people are set to gather Friday in Washington and at demonstrations across the country under the banner Stand Up for Science.
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Economy adds 151,000 jobs in February, a solid gain despite federal worker layoffs
The labor market picked up 151,000 jobs in February, a solid pace, despite a massive layoff among federal workers that began to show up in the data.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1 percent, extending low levels that have marked the past year. Federal government payrolls lost 10,000 jobs in February.
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DOGE wants them ‘gone’ but makes it hard for federal workers to move on
PHILADELPHIA — They wanted to move on. But like a toxic ex, the workers joked, the federal government seemed hell-bent on sabotaging a clean break.
“They want us gone,” lamented one government IT specialist who’d just been maybe-fired, “but they’re making it so hard to get away.”
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As NOAA cuts loom, scientists and industry are pushing back
The prospect of closing three federal buildings critical to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s global weather forecasts and hazard warnings has sparked concern among a growing number of scientific and business groups, who are urging the Trump administration against cuts they warn could hurt the economy and public safety.
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Since Donald Trump returned to the presidency, the Securities and Exchange Commission has paused or dismissed litigation or investigations against seven cryptocurrency companies that began under the Biden administration, according to Public Citizen. The companies include Coinbase, Kraken and Robinhood, whose CEOs will attend Friday’s White House cryptocurrency summit.
DOGE redefines ‘fraud’ to defend cutting federal employees, programs
Elon Musk and his allies in the U.S. DOGE Service have justified their efforts to dismantle federal agencies by invoking a frequent refrain: They’re merely targeting fraud, waste and abuse.
That idea has been echoed by President Donald Trump, who suggested there was significant “fraud” in the Social Security program in his address to Congress on Tuesday night, and by Republicans who are eying potential cuts to Medicaid and other federal spending.
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Senate Judiciary Democrats seek probe of D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have lodged a formal complaint against acting D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin with the office that handles attorney discipline, seeking the suspension of his law license or other penalties.
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Republicans quiet as DOGE slashes GOP-backed pro-democracy group
In 2019, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida spoke at an elegant event celebrating the work of the Ronald Reagan-founded International Republican Institute, saying he was “so proud” to support the group and hailing fellow hawks Nikki Haley and Sen. John McCain in the audience.
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Trump establishes bitcoin reserve ahead of cryptocurrency conference
David Sacks, a tech investor and President Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, announced late Thursday that Trump has signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, to be funded using bitcoin seized by the federal government in criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.
The order also establishes a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, to consist of other digital assets seized by the government.
Crypto industry to emerge from ‘exile’ at White House summit
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump will host cryptocurrency CEOs and investors at the White House on Friday, signaling a dramatic change in the fortunes of an industry with a reputation for scandals and that has been treated with suspicion by financial regulators.
The White House crypto summit follows executive actions by Trump aimed at aiding the industry, which the president and many crypto insiders claim was treated unfairly by the Biden administration.
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Judge orders USAID payments to some foreign aid groups by Monday
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must pay tens of millions of dollars in outstanding foreign aid by the end of Monday, but the fate of hundreds of millions more in spending for lifesaving food and medicine has yet to be resolved.
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DOGE staffers bring U.S. Marshals to small federal agency that denied them access
Employees of the U.S. DOGE Service, the organization overseen by Elon Musk that is tasked with slashing the size of the federal government, successfully gained access to the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) headquarters in downtown Washington on Thursday, a day after the small aid agency blocked the group from entering.
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