Top Items:


What's next for Waltz and Hegseth — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, already excited for my first cup of tea with Marjorie Taylor Greene. — More importantly ... This is my first Opening Day and the forecast looks great.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, New Jersey Online, Raw Story, The Hill and Mediaite
RELATED:


‘Somebody has to go down’: Trump allies take aim at Michael Waltz — In a particularly rough week for the Trump administration, a number of the president's allies are calling for accountability after military plans were inadvertently shared with a journalist.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, 77 WABC, LewRockwell, New York Times, CBS News, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and Politico


Trump changes his tune on Signalgate: ‘I always thought it was Mike’ — Some military and government officials have expressed concern about the contents of Hegseth's messages saying he leaked sensitive attack details that were “reckless and dangerous.” — President Donald Trump tentatively …
Discussion:
Fox News, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Examiner, PoliticusUSA, ABC News, Washington Times, Axios and The Gateway Pundit


GOP lawmakers turn up the pressure on Hegseth
Discussion:
Jewish Insider and Wall Street Journal

The Five Scandals (and One Fascinating Political Insight) of Signalgate
Discussion:
Glamour, Deseret News, The Guardian, Salon, 19FortyFive, Business Insider, Wired and The Independent, more at Techmeme »

Signalgate scrambles MAGA's messaging machine
Discussion:
The Independent, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, ABC17NEWS and HuffPost

Much Ado About a Signal Chat
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, Fox News, Townhall and The National Pulse

Signalgate: A crack in the facade?
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Hill and On Democracy …

Trump Adviser Lied About Not Knowing Atlantic Editor in Group Chat
Discussion:
New York Post, RedState, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, ABC News, HuffPost, New Jersey Online, The Gateway Pundit, Daring Fireball, CBS News, Politico, The Independent, Washington Post, The Hill, Raw Story, Twitchy, Washington Times, New York Magazine, Louder With Crowder, Daily Mail, 19FortyFive, Newsmax and Deadline


Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online — Donald Trump's most important security advisers used Signal to discuss an imminent military strike. Now, reporting by DER SPIEGEL has found that the contact data of some of those officials, including mobile phone numbers …
RELATED:


Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public — A WIRED review shows national security adviser Mike Waltz, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and other top officials left sensitive information exposed via Venmo—until WIRED asked about it. — A Venmo account under the name …
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Guardian, Washingtonian, New York Times, The Independent, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars and New Republic


Trump officials downplay the Signal leak. Some military members see a double standard
Discussion:
The Guardian


RFK Jr. Plans 10,000 Job Cuts in Major Restructuring of Health Department — Changes would reshape the nation's health agencies and close regional offices — WASHINGTON—Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to significantly cut the size of the department he leads …
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Examiner, Federal News Network, Business Insider, Axios, Politico, The Guardian, STAT, Forbes and KTVZ-TV
RELATED:


HHS cuts 10,000 employees in major overhaul of health agencies — The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it is cutting 10,000 full-time employees across health agencies, the department told CNN. — This comes on top of 10,000 employees who've left voluntarily …

10,000 Federal Health Dept. Workers to Be Laid Off
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, Associated Press, Bloomberg, USA Today, Scripps News, Baltimore Sun and STAT


Trump's hopeless tariffs confusion, explained by a historian — “The president seems to believe he can impose prohibitively high tariffs *and* collect revenue, which you can't do.” — ∙ Paid … 📸 — At the White House yesterday, Donald Trump announced he's imposing a 25 percent tariff on all imported cars.
RELATED:


US cities located in states won by Trump would be most hurt by Canadian tariffs, an analysis finds

Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Quartz, The Guardian, Associated Press, al.com, Fox Business, NBC News, Mercury News, CNN, CBS News, KTVZ-TV, Carscoops, Fortune, Raw Story, The Virginian-Pilot, Portal, RTÉ, Axios, Reuters, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Washington Times, Townhall, UPI, Scripps News, NPR, NewsNation, The Verge, Washington Examiner, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, MPR News, Semafor, ABC17NEWS, The Post Millennial, The Independent, The Daily Wire and Daily Mail


Trump Is Taking the Law Into His Own Hands — The MAGA movement is attacking the American judiciary. The evidence is everywhere. — Let's begin with President Trump. On his Truth Social account, in post after post he has ranted against the judges who've ruled against his policies.
Discussion:
Althouse, Politico, The Hill and The Daily Signal
RELATED:


Trump's executive order on elections is a blatant power grab
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Monthly, CBS News, Piñon Post, Chicago Tribune, Fair Fight, New York Times, New Mexico Political Report, The Daily Caller, The Contrarian, Baltimore Sun, Israpundit, ABC News, The Federalist, Justin's Political Corner, Democracy Docket, The Independent, Al Jazeera, Townhall, IJR, Associated Press, R Street Institute and Althouse


Andrew Tate accused of violently attacking girlfriend during sex — Andrew Tate, the right-wing influencer who's accused of rape and sex trafficking in Romania, allegedly attacked one of his girlfriends while they were having sex in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TMZ.com, Lawyer Monthly, The US Sun and The Daily Caller


Airline Demand Between Canada & United States Collapses, Down 70%+ — Recently, I wrote about how we're seeing a general softening of demand for travel to the United States, for a variety of reasons. There's no denying that the most contentious situation is between Canada and the United States …
Discussion:
Flight Database & Statistics and The Guardian


Kari Lake withdraws cancellation of Radio Free Europe funding — U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake withdrew the Trump administration's cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's funding on Wednesday after a court granted the news organization a temporary restraining order.
Discussion:
NPR, Raw Story, Politico, The Kyiv Independent, New York Times and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »


Exclusive: Trump's “pro-Hamas” purge could block foreign students from colleges — The Trump administration is discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are “pro-Hamas,” senior Justice and State Department officials tell Axios.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, The Forward, Quartz, LAist, WPR, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and Breitbart


Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing her — A Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University has been detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents without explanation, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News, Zeteo, Slate, The Boston Globe, Fox News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, masslive.com, Mediaite, ABC17NEWS, Twitchy, GBH, Rolling Stone, JURIST, The Guardian, Drezner's World, Al Jazeera, WBUR, USA Today, fix your hearts or die, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Long Nineteenth Century, Boston Herald, The Handbasket, New Republic, Axios, The Independent, The Hill, New York Daily News, We're all fine here now and Salon
RELATED:


UA student reportedly detained by ICE — Senior send-off: Sarah Ashlee Barker's storied college career coming to an end — Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn ejected in 9-2 loss over Tennessee — City Council approves business alcohol license despite concerns
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, New York Post, UPI, Raw Story and al.com
RELATED:

US immigration officials detain doctoral student at University of Alabama
Discussion:
CNN, The Independent and Reuters


Transcript: Trump “Frustrated” at Text Fiasco as Hegseth Spin Implodes — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the March 27 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Discussion:
Politico


Fearing Trump cuts, California Democrat proposes creating state's own NIH — The ambitious state lawmaker argues moves by Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. show the Golden State must “step up” as a global leader. — SACRAMENTO, California — An ambitious California Democrat wants …
Discussion:
The Hill
RELATED:


The Worst Thing a MAGA Warrior Can Do — The response to Signalgate reveals a disjuncture between the seriousness with which MAGA treats foreign enemies and perceived domestic ones. — One might think the Trump administration and its supporters would be dismayed to learn …
Discussion:
New Republic and KTVZ-TV


Noem sends warning to immigrants as she tours El Salvador prison — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday visited El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where Venezuelans the Trump administration alleges are gang members were deported to from the U.S.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Times, Just Security and RedState
RELATED:


Exclusive: White House installs Trump loyalists at federal HR agency after ‘five things’ email — The White House has installed two Trump loyalists at the federal HR agency after allies of billionaire Elon Musk blindsided top Trump officials with a surprise government-wide email …


Trump's Pick For Ambassador To South Africa Actively Opposed Fight To End Apartheid — As Black activists in South Africa fought against their country's racist apartheid government decades ago, some on the American right felt they took it too far. One of those people who stepped up and spoke …
Discussion:
The Gene Pool, Mediaite, Raw Story and Washington Examiner


A University, a Rural Town and Their Fight to Survive Trump's War on Higher Education — The administration's research funding and DEI cuts present an existential threat to regional public universities like Southern Illinois University, the economic backbone of the conservative rural region it serves.
Discussion:
New Republic and HEPI


Trump's Attacks on Press Freedom Are Paving the Way for Authoritarianism — A leading global democracy research institute says democratic “backsliding” must be turned around quickly—warning that after 10 years, recovery is “close to impossible.” — In 2024, the Democrats ran on the catchphrase “We are not going back.”
Discussion:
Verfassungsblog