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▪ Trump tests tariffs abroad, election sway at home  

▪ New mom in Congress bucks GOP colleagues

▪ How U.S. trade partners prepare for more tariffs

▪ Gazans face crisis without food aid

©️ The Associated Press | Jose Luis Magana

It’s a big week by Washington’s yardstick.

Will President Trump’s new tariffs, scheduled to take effect Wednesday, weaken U.S. growth? Will Wisconsin and Florida election results today reveal voters’ current outlook? And can Republicans in Congress demonstrate a united budget strategy within days?

TARIFFS: Amid spring blossoms in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, Trump is expected to announce with some fanfare a reciprocal tariff plan featuring "country-based" tariffs. But even Republicans in Congress said they have no idea what the president will unveil.

Senate Democrats, led by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, today plan to force a vote on a resolution that would nullify the emergency declaration that underpins tariffs on Canada. The effort, which would not clear the House, may nevertheless attract Senate Republican support. 

The president defended his approach to tariffs on Monday, reminding trading partners that if they manufacture their products in the U.S., "There are no tariffs.”

Surveys, including a poll from The Associated Press released on Monday, suggest that Trump is underwater with Americans on his tariffs and economic actions, even as his immigration enforcement decisions garner majority support.

Elon Musk’s choice to manufacture his own company’s products in the U.S. is expected to pay off for the billionaire under Trump’s tariffs regime. 

The president on Monday said Musk will eventually return to his companies. “I'll keep him as long as I can keep him,” he told reporters. "There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work, and do it, as we say, with a scalpel." 

The Wall Street Journal: Trump wants to use tariffs to raise revenue and also keep his policy in flux for negotiation purposes. Will he announce a universal tariff of up to 20 percent on all imports applied to virtually all U.S. trade partners? Or does he want to levy individual tariff rates for all countries that could be subject to negotiation, otherwise known as a reciprocal tariff approach? It’s unclear as of this morning.

ELECTION DAY: A Wisconsin state Supreme Court contest and two Florida special elections to fill vacant House seats today are eyed by both parties as political barometers in races where Trump is not on the ballot. The Hill’s Caroline Vakil and Julia Manchester report what to watch as returns come in.

Trump faces an early political test in the Sunshine State. He and his party are concerned that the seat in the 6th Congressional District formerly held by White House national security adviser Mike Waltz could be a squeaker for GOP nominee Randy Fine, who has been dramatically outspent by Democratic candidate Josh Weil in a district the GOP captured by 33 points in November. 

BUDGET CRUNCH TIME: House and Senate Republicans are trying this week to demonstrate fast-moving unity around a budget strategy to anchor Trump’s ambitious agenda for permanent tax cuts, spending changes, deficit reduction and renewed U.S. borrowing authority, all in one complex package.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had hoped to get a compromise budget resolution to the floor this week, but that timeline hinges on an arcane but required decision from the Senate parliamentarian about whether the math being used passes muster under scoring rules, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. 

The New York Times: Senate Democrats object to a budgeting trick Republicans want to use with a permanent extension of 2017’s GOP tax cuts. They’ve made their case to the parliamentarian, the rules enforcer.   

FIRST IN THE HILL: Former President Biden’s frailties, which his team tried to conceal, hampered former Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, according to details in “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Campaign for the White House,” by The Hill’s senior political correspondent Amie Parnes and NBC News’s senior national political reporter Jonathan Allen. They uncovered more 2024 intrigue, disclosed in an excerpt HERE. Parnes will join NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

©️ The Associated Press | Alex Brandon

PROXY VOTING: House GOP leadership is expected to use an aggressive legislative tactic to try to kill Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's (R-Fla.) push to force a vote on proxy voting for new parents. The measure will likely be attached to a procedural rule teeing up consideration of unrelated bills that are priorities for the GOP, including limiting the power of district judges to issue nationwide injunctions like those that have blocked Trump’s actions. The question for Luna will be whether she can round up enough support to defeat the measure — and escalate her advocacy to a full-on legislative war against GOP leaders. 

Luna on Monday announced that she is leaving the House Freedom Caucus amid her battle with GOP leadership and hard-line Republicans over her push to allow proxy voting for new parents. In a letter to Freedom Caucus members, Luna said the “respect” among lawmakers in the group had been “shattered last week” as some conservatives tried to thwart her effort to hold a vote on parental proxy voting.

“I cannot remain part of a caucus where a select few operate outside its guidelines, misuse its name, broker backroom deals that undermine its core values and where the lines of compromise and transaction are blurred, disparage me to the press, and encourage misrepresentation of me to the American people,” Luna wrote in the letter.

▪ Politico: “Never been done”: Why Republicans might approve a budget whose numbers don’t match up.

▪ The Hill: American filmmaker Oliver Stone — whose political thriller, “JFK,” made waves more than 30 years ago — will testify today before a House committee on the release of new documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

▪ The Hill: Democrat Adelita Grijalva, a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors in Arizona and the daughter of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), announced Monday she is a candidate for her father’s House seat in a special election this fall. The lawmaker died in March at age 77.

VACCINES: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. won't acknowledge the scientific consensus that childhood vaccines do not cause autism. Even when presented with the data during his confirmation hearing, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports Kennedy refused to accept it and said he wants to see more. Other top health officials have similarly refused to acknowledge that the science is "settled" on vaccines and autism, leaving open the idea that a government-funded study could prove a link. As Trump's final health Cabinet members start their jobs, experts are raising the alarm about the pattern of refusals.

That skepticism over seemingly settled science appeared to come to a head over the weekend when the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official was forced out and issued a fiery public letter blasting Kennedy. 

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” wrote Peter Marks in his resignation letter. “Efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning. Undermining confidence in well-established vaccines … is irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.” 

▪ The Guardian: The biotech industry’s main lobby group issued a rare warning following Marks’s forced and abrupt resignation, saying the loss of his experienced leadership would “erode scientific standards” and affect the development of transformative therapies to fight disease.

▪ Politico: Internal fallout at HHS has delayed 10,000 firings.

TRUMP 3.0? Trump can’t stop talking about the prospect of a third term. The president over the weekend spoke at length in an interview with NBC News about the idea of pursuing a constitutionally prohibited third bid for the Oval Office, saying “there are methods which you could do it.” While the idea was broached in an interview, it is at least the fifth time Trump has publicly spoken about the possibility of serving a third term since he took office for his second. 

Congressional Republicans are brushing off Trump’s comments, downplaying them as a joke designed to needle the media even as the president insists he is serious.

In The Memo, The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes that Trump's comments have roiled the political world nonetheless, with supporters and detractors alike wondering if he is serious and, if so, what he will do about it.

HIGHER ED: Universities could soon face two tough options: bow to the Trump administration or fight back. The federal government has yet to restore $400 million to Columbia University, even after the school agreed to change its disciplinary policies and put some departments under academic receivership. The concessions are only a “first step,” according to the Trump administration, to restore federal funding but the administration has not publicly said what else Columbia has to do. 

The Hill’s Lexi Lonas Cochran reports the outcome of the Columbia saga will likely be a roadmap for other universities that will show what the Trump administration is expecting of the institutions.  

▪ The Washington Post: The Trump administration will scrutinize billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard University. An antisemitism task force will review $8.7 billion in multiyear grants and $255 million in contracts to the university and its affiliates.

▪ The Hill: Trump is growing more aggressive in his posture toward Washington, D.C, threatening to exert more control over the local affairs of the nation’s capital.

▪ The Hill: The Supreme Court appeared swayed by arguments over whether lower courts erred by ruling the Catholic Charities Bureau does not qualify for Wisconsin's religious exemption from employment taxes, teeing up a potential shift in which groups receive religious tax exemptions.

▪ The New York Times: Nearly every arm of the Democratic Party on Monday sued Trump, arguing his recent election order requiring documentary proof of citizenship and other voting reforms is unconstitutional.

©️ The Associated Press | Gene J. Puskar 

TARIFF FALLOUT: With Trump’s promised “Liberation Day” tariffs slated to take effect tomorrow, countries around the world are preparing for the economic and political consequences. All signs point to Trump’s "reciprocal tariffs," meant to penalize other nations seen as dealing unfairly, being stacked on top of other tariffs targeting countries including Mexico, Canada and China.

▪ CNBC: Some countries, including the ‘Dirty 15’ percent, could be hit harder by Trump’s tariffs.

▪ The New York Times analysis: How Trump supercharged distrust, pushing allies away.

In Canada, the tariffs coincide with federal elections, slated for the end of the month. Boosted by a sense of solidarity and patriotism in the face of tariff threats from its closest ally and neighbor, Canadians are banding together to shop Canadian. The country’s Liberal Party, flagging in the polls earlier this year, is now leading, helmed by new Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney, who has made Canada’s independence and his willingness to stand up to the U.S. clear.

“This is a direct attack,” Carney told reporters at a campaign stop after Trump’s auto tariff announcement, adding that because of the tariffs, ties between Canada and the U.S. “are in the process of being broken.”

Carney on Friday told Trump that his country will retaliate with tariffs of its own if Trump presses forward with his promised levies. Trump responded that he’s open to deals — but potentially after his tariffs go into effect.

▪ The Globe and Mail: U.S. senators push back against the “fake emergency” Trump relied on to justify Canadian tariffs.

▪ Wired: Canada’s top tech talent has long moved to the U.S. for better opportunities, but Trump’s tariffs and threats are raising questions about how to build a stronger ecosystem at home.

▪ Politico: Trump forces Canada to rethink trade and energy flows.

Trump’s imposition of tariffs on the European Union should signal the start of a “march to independence” for the continent, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Monday. She acknowledged that Trump’s trade war is likely to hurt the continent’s economy in the immediate future. The European Commission said it will prepare a response to the measures within two weeks.

“I think that, to put ourselves in a good negotiating position, we must show that we’re not ready to lie down,” she added.

▪ The New York Times: Trump threatened that he would come after the European Union and Canada if they banded together to “do economic harm” to America, opening a new front in the unfolding trade war.

▪ The Washington Post: Trump’s threat of towering tariffs on European booze is sobering.

▪ Axios: Why Trump is taking aim at Europe's sales tax.

In Asia, China, Japan and South Korea announced Monday that they will jointly respond to U.S. tariffs. The three countries over the weekend held their first economic dialogue in five years as they seek to facilitate regional trade while bracing for the impact of Trump’s levies.

Meanwhile, Trump has suggested he could reduce tariffs on Chinese imports as part of a bigger bargain that includes the sale of the Chinese social media platform TikTok. A ban is set to take effect in the U.S. this week.

The Associated Press: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended her first visit to Latin America in Mexico to discuss crime and migration.

©️ The Associated Press | Jehad Alshrafi

GAZA: Israel has proposed an extended truce in Gaza in exchange for the return of about half the remaining hostages. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders and said “intense operations” were planned in the south of the enclave. The military will seek to occupy 25 percent of the enclave over the next two to three weeks.

Amid a blockade of aid to the enclave, Gaza’s bakeries will run out of flour for bread within a week, according to the United Nations, and medical supplies are at a critical low. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has expressed outrage that Israeli forces in southern Gaza killed eight Palestinian medics along with six Civil Defense first responders and a U.N. staff member.

The Washington Post: Top aides of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were arrested as investigation into payments from Qatar escalates.

YEMEN: Houthi rebels said U.S. airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital overnight and into early Monday morning, killing at least three people. A renewed U.S. aerial assault on the group this month was at the center of the “Houthi PC Small Group” Signal group chat scandal that involved Vice President Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a dozen other top White House officials.

MYANMAR: Survivors were pulled out of rubble in Myanmar, and signs of life were detected in the ruins of a skyscraper in Thailand on Monday as efforts intensified to find survivors three days after a massive earthquake. The Friday 7.7-magnitude earthquake has killed 2,000 people in Myanmar alone. Casualties are expected to rise as search and rescue efforts are underway in collapsed buildings in Myanmar and Thailand, officials said. In Bangkok, at least 13 people were killed in a building collapse.

▪ ABC News: International teams, including from China and Russia, have already been on the ground in Myanmar, filling the void in the U.S.’s absence.

▪ The Guardian: Aftermath of the Myanmar earthquake — a visual guide.

FRANCE: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after she was found guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The ruling has shattered her hopes of winning the presidency in 2027. Le Pen has branded the case a “witchhunt,” mirroring language used by Trump.

▪ Politico: Le Pen’s dilemma: seek revenge or help her party.

UKRAINE: Trump is showing increased frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who appears to be stalling and complicating efforts to agree to a limited ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump has focused on the speed of getting to a deal as one of the most important signals of success, and Putin’s shifting goal posts are blowing back on the president’s credibility of pushing both sides to an agreement. 

“If I think they're tapping us along, I will not be happy about it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, referring to Putin. But it's unclear who holds greater leverage at the moment. Trump has shown an ability to flip-flop on sanctions threats when the other side appears to deliver on his demands, or if the consequences for the U.S. are too big.

The New York Times news analysis: Putin keeps pushing, with Trump and on the battlefield. His drones are deluging Ukrainian cities, while his negotiating tactics test the patience of the friendliest White House he has faced in decades.

©️ The Associated Press | Bob Daugherty

And finally … 🤡 Few politicians these days are humorous enough to risk April Fools’ Day pranks in today’s anxious environment. 

But companies with consumer-facing brand identities have been known to create first-of-April spoofs to get attention (Burger King, for example). Former presidential candidates in election years sought to be pranksters (Hillary Clinton, in a somewhat strained spoof, challenged then-Sen. Barack Obama to a bowling night). Former GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney told voters he was the butt of his staff’s April Fools’ prank, which turned out to be a bit prophetic. Even news organizations of old attempted some head-turners.

It’s hard to imagine, considering the partisan minefield facing National Public Radio these days, that in 1992, NPR reportedly told listeners on April Fools’ Day that former President Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 rather than be impeached amid the Watergate scandal, planned to enter that year’s presidential contest. NPR said Nixon’s slogan was, “I never did anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.”

Morning Report is not passing cultural judgment, but it’s a bit of a reminder that 2025 could sorely use some humor that neither scorches nor burns. 

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on X: (@asimendinger & @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!

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