Principals

1. Trump tariffs
2. Senate Republicans meet
3. Trump’s legal fights
4. Florida, Wisconsin elections
5. Dems on housing overhaul
6. WHCA vs. White House
7. Biden book revelations

PDB: Trump admin admits accidental deportation

Happy April Fools’ Day … China launches military drills around Taiwan … EU warns of ‘strong plan’ for tariff response

Trump tariffs loom

President Donald Trump is getting ready to unveil a broad swath of tariffs tomorrow, posing a major test for the markets, the US economy, and his seemingly unshakable support within the Republican Party. Trump isn’t currently considering exemptions for the country-based tariffs, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who indicated the levies would also penalize countries that enact other trade barriers. It’s still possible for Trump to change his mind, especially given sinking consumer sentiment, declining approval of his handling of the economy and trade, and stock market losses, but the betting site Polymarket puts the odds of Trump imposing large tariffs at around 70%. His administration may, however, provide some reprieve for farmers impacted by retaliatory measures. Administration officials will offer more clues about Trump’s strategy today when they issue recommendations on global tariffs and trade relations with China.

— Morgan Chalfant

Senate Republicans near budget decision

Trump may know later today whether Senate Republicans will take the next big step on enacting his tax and border agenda, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune readies possible action on a budget resolution for this week. Senate Republicans will meet this afternoon, potentially determining whether it’s go time for a budget vote that’s likely to leave a lot of the Senate’s budget-cutting decisions for later to avoid running afoul of the chamber’s arcane rules (missing a spending cut target could dismantle the entire bill’s filibuster-proof protections later in the process). “We’re going to move as quickly as we can,” Thune told reporters. He said the party will make sure they’ll have full attendance, and get clearance from the parliamentarian, in addition to ensuring all Senate Republicans are “comfortable” with the vote.

— Burgess Everett

Trump faces court battles on multiple fronts

The Trump administration is facing another week of potentially make-or-break court action — including a possible ruling on its use of the Alien Enemies Act, which it asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on last week. An update on that drama is expected today: The court told those challenging Trump’s use of the 18th-century law to respond to his emergency request by Tuesday. In the meantime, the administration is continuing deportation flights of alleged gang members using different authorities, Semafor reported. That’s not the only legal fight the president and his advisers are waging: The administration faces more than 130 lawsuits, according to The Associated Press, including over the president’s mass firing of government workers, his push to end birthright citizenship, and his effort to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan migrants in the US.

— Shelby Talcott

GOP bets on MAGA voters in Wisconsin, Florida

Republicans have nationalized today’s supreme court race in Wisconsin and special House elections in Florida, hoping to fire up GOP turnout by linking their candidates to Trump. “Don’t mess with Trump, don’t mess with DOGE, don’t mess with Elon and don’t mess with Wisconsin,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at Musk’s Sunday rally in Green Bay. Musk has put more than $20 million into the Wisconsin race, with ads that portray liberal candidate Susan Crawford as soft on crime and conservative candidate Brad Schimel as a Trump ally. Democrats homed in on Musk in TV ads and leaflets that warned “Musk knows Brad Schimel is for sale.” Trump’s support also faces a test in Florida’s special election to fill Mike Waltz’s former seat; Republican Randy Fine did little campaigning until Democrat Josh Weil, who raised $10 million, began outperforming him in early votes.

— David Weigel

Senate Democrats push back on GOP’s housing ‘turmoil’

Senate Democrats are probing Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, over “sweeping changes” at FHFA and the mortgage firms he oversees in a pair of new letters shared with Semafor. “Given that our nation is facing one of the worst housing affordability crises in history, it is essential to carefully examine any actions that could potentially increase housing costs,” Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester led seven colleagues, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in writing. Blunt Rochester and Warren also signed onto another letter, led by Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, alleging that staffing changes at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae “do not appear to be consistent with federal law.” The senators asked Pulte to appoint new board members and provide “a full explanation” of his actions — including any plans to release the firms from conservatorship.

— Eleanor Mueller

Reporters mull sit-in over seating chart shakeup

The White House Correspondents’ Association is trying to coordinate a response to the Trump administration’s changes to the seating plan in the White House press briefing room, Semafor’s Max Tani scoops. On Sunday, members of the WHCA, including its leaders and some White House bureau chiefs, met to discuss what to do. Two people told Semafor they’re considering a “sit-in”-style protest, where reporters would hang onto their old seats and refuse to leave them, though the situation is in flux. The new seating arrangement, which the White House says is “based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today,” is the administration’s latest effort to control press access to the president, and favor friendlier reporters over wire services like the AP. The goal, the WHCA said Monday, is to make it “easier to exact punishment on outlets over their coverage.”

Biden book contains uncomfortable revelations

Staffers for Joe Biden used fluorescent tape to guide him through a fundraiser at New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s house after his disastrous June 2024 debate against Trump, according to a new book out today from political reporters Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen. The book, Fight, also says that a Kamala Harris aide traveled with a spreadsheet of Republican-appointed judges (excluding those tapped by Trump) that would have credibility with Republican voters if the vice president needed to be sworn in on the road were Biden to suddenly die, according to excerpts shared with Semafor. The book is the first in a stream of Biden campaign books out this spring; it also includes newsy anecdotes about Trump, including a section on him directing aides to run one of his interview requests by his son Barron for approval.

Blindspot: Tesla and Reddit

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: An Idaho man was arrested after allegedly hitting a counterprotester at a Tesla dealership with his car.

What the Right isn’t reading: Elon Musk privately pressured Reddit CEO Steve Huffman on the aggregation site’s content moderation, according to The Verge.

Stephen Miran, Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisers, will join top global leaders at Semafor’s 2025 World Economy Summit. Taking place Apr. 23-25, 2025, in Washington, DC, this will be the first major gathering of its kind since the new US administration took office.

Bringing together leaders from both the public and private sectors — including congressional leadership, finance ministers, and central bankers — the three-day summit will explore the forces shaping the global economy and geopolitics. Across twelve sessions, it will foster transformative, news-making conversations on how the world’s decision-makers are tackling economic growth in increasingly uncertain times.

Apr. 23–25, 2025 | Washington, DC | Learn More

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Republicans are openly expressing concerns about President Trump’s plans for tariffs. “It’s a high-risk move on his part,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Monday. “I don’t know what his strategy is, but you look at what the market’s reaction is — I have a similar kind of reaction. I’m concerned.”

Playbook: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick may be on the chopping block if Trump’s tariffs plans cause major economic tremors. “I think people would take special pleasure in blaming him,” one person close to the administration said.

WaPo: Looming tariffs could hurt Republicans in Wisconsin, where the rural vote helped propel Trump to victory.

Axios: Trump’s dealmaking efforts are hitting roadblocks in “broken ceasefires, pissed-off allies and thinning patience at home and abroad.”

White House

• Attorney General Pam Bondi released a direct-to-camera video in the style of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, warning Americans: “If you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars.”
• President Trump is considering signing an order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining. — Reuters

Congress

• Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., launched a marathon anti-Trump speech last night, saying he aimed to speak for as long as possible, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Past midnight, Booker read letters from his New Jersey constituents and other Americans; a note from an elderly Parkinson’s patient who pleaded for him to “please save my Social Security” made the senator tear up. He was still going as of early this morning.
• Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., was spotted at the White House, per CNN, and has a new K Street job.
• Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is leaving the House Freedom Caucus, citing an intra-GOP dispute over her proposal to let new parents vote by proxy.

Outside the Beltway

• Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., won’t run for governor in Georgia. — AJC
• The Trump administration is reviewing nearly $9 billion in grants to Harvard as part of a probe into alleged antisemitism that already ensnared Columbia.

Polls

• Thirty-seven percent of American adults report being personally affected by extreme weather — hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and the like — an increase from two years ago, according to new Gallup polling. That’s driven in part by a surge in people living in the West who’ve dealt with extreme weather, like the fires in Los Angeles — 43% this year, compared to 30% in 2023.

Business

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has signaled that he may withhold federal semiconductor grants promised to companies in order to push them to further expand their US operations. — Bloomberg

Health

• The Trump administration is withholding millions in federal funding from nine states’ Planned Parenthood chapters, citing their mission statements and other documents that emphasize health services for Black and undocumented patients. — Politico

Courts

• The Democratic National Committee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer filed suit to stop President Trump’s attempts to impose voter ID requirements nationally, arguing Trump’s executive order is both unconstitutional and interferes with their own reelection bids.
• A federal employees union sued over Trump’s order that would end collective bargaining rights for 18 federal departments.

National Security

• The Trump administration admitted that it had mistakenly deported a Salvadoran-born man with a protected immigration status, but argued it can do nothing to retrieve him. — The Atlantic
• The bodies of three of four US soldiers who went missing in Lithuania during a training mission were recovered.

Foreign Policy

• Taiwan reacted positively to an internal Pentagon memo that stressed focus on deterring a Chinese invasion of the self-governing island. — WaPo
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, as BRICS countries brace for US tariffs.

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

And Graph Massara, copy editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Musician Kid Rock joined President Trump in the Oval Office for the signing of an executive order directing the Justice and Treasury departments and the FTC to scrutinize ticket resellers and crack down on “anti-competitive conduct.”