Trump pulls security clearances for Biden family, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, among others: Live updates
As backlash over billionaire Elon Musk’s role in administration grows, president says he was at Pentagon on DOGE cost-cutting business, not to see secret plans for combat with China as reports said
Donald Trump rescinded the security clearances of several of his political enemies — including everyone in Joe Biden’s family, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — via a memo he sent out on Friday night.
Earlier in the day, he announced that he had awarded the sixth-generation F-47 fighter jet program contract to Boeing, a much-needed win for the troubled aviation giant.
In an Oval Office announcement alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the president also again denied claims in a report that Elon Musk was to receive a briefing about the U.S. military’s top-secret plans for combating aggression from China, saying he was at the Pentagon on Friday morning for DOGE.
Earlier on Truth Social, he raged: “The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China,’” he said, adding: “How ridiculous?”
On Thursday, the president signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “begin eliminating” the Department of Education in favor of leaving decision-making up to individual states.
Trump said on Friday that special needs and nutrition programs will now come under the health department and student loans will become the remit of the Small Business Administration.
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Musk offers money to people who sign MAGA petition
An Elon Musk-backed group is offering voters in Wisconsin $100 to sign a petition opposing “activist judges” just two weeks ahead of a state Supreme Court election.
Musk’s Super PAC made a similar offer to swing state voters during last year’s election campaign. The political action committee, America PAC, revealed the petition in a Thursday night post on X. It says that each voter in the state who signs the petition will receive $100 in addition to another $100 for every signer they refer.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Musk reprises election tactic of donating money to get people to sign MAGA petition
Dropkick Murphys singer breaks silence after confronting Trump fan in a MAGA hat at concert
Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey has broken his silence after branding a Donald Trump supporter in the audience a “cult” member for waving around a MAGA hat.
The lead singer of the punk band, known for their 2005 signature hit I’m Shipping Up to Boston, confronted a fan during one of three performances at the MGM Music Hall beside Boston’s Fenway Park over St Patrick’s Day weekend.
James Liddell reports on what he said.
Dropkick Murphys break silence after confronting Trump fan at concert
Marjorie Taylor Greene accuses Jasmine Crockett of Tesla 'terrorism'
MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett of orchestrating “political violence and terrorism” and has made her concerns known to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
“A Member of Congress is organizing political violence and terrorism,” the controversial Georgia congresswoman wrote on X Thursday in response to a live stream titled TeslaTakedown.
The stream included several speakers on Wednesday, including Crockett, who discussed plans for non-violent political protests against Elon Musk’s billion-dollar Tesla enterprise.
Madeline Sherratt reports.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene accuses Rep. Jasmine Crockett of ‘terrorism’
Boeing will build ‘F-47’ fighter for Air Force
President Donald Trump on Friday said the Pentagon was awarding a contract to Boeing to build and support a sixth-generation fighter jet that will be known as the F-47, calling the new manned warplane “something the likes of which nobody has seen before.”
Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and top Air Force leaders, Trump said the planned fighter had “been in the works for a long period of time” and would be built by Boeing after “a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America's top aerospace companies” for a program that the Defense Department has been calling the “Next Generation Air Dominance” platform.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.
Trump says Boeing will build ‘F-47’ fighter for Air Force
Thousands of white South Africans express interest in asylum in U.S.
Nearly 70,000 people have expressed interest in relocating to the U.S. as refugees under President Donald Trump's controversial plan to offer refuge to a white South African minority group.
The U.S. Embassy in South Africa confirmed receiving the list of names from the South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S., which acted as a point of contact for inquiries about the program.
The chamber clarified that the list does not represent formal applications.
Read more...
Almost 70,000 white South Africans interested in Trump’s US asylum plan
Elon Musk responds to reports that he will be briefed on potential war with China
Elon Musk issued a stark warning to Pentagon officials following reports that he was scheduled to receive a briefing Friday about the U.S. military’s top-secret war plans for China.
Hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Musk’s visit on Thursday, The New York Times reported that military officials would show the tech billionaire a slideshow of how the U.S. would engage in a conflict with China.
Musk claimed that the information was “false” and derided the newspaper for allegedly disseminating “propaganda” before issuing a thinly veiled threat to Pentagon officials.
James Liddell has the story.
Elon Musk responds to reports that he will be briefed on potential war with China
Trump White House could let federal agents search homes without warrants under Alien Enemies Act
Lawyers for Donald Trump’s administration are considering whether his invocation of an 18th century wartime law allows federal law enforcement officers to enter homes without a warrant.
The president has deployed the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport, without due process, alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, designated a foreign terrorist organization. Officials, however, have admitted that many of the immigrants flown to a prison in El Salvador last weekend don’t have criminal records.
Trump is relying on the law for only the fourth time in U.S. history. It was most recently used to detain Japanese Americans, including U.S. citizens, during the Second World War.
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Trump White House could let feds enter homes without warrants under Alien Enemies Act
Trump yanks security clearances from Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, others
Donald Trump rescinded the security clearances of numerous former Democratic officials — and some still active law enforcement officials — in a Friday night memo he sent to the heads of federal departments and agencies.
The memo in full:
I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information: Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s family. Therefore, I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information. I also direct all executive department and agency heads to revoke unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities from these individuals.
This action includes, but is not limited to, receipt of classified briefings, such as the President's Daily Brief, and access to classified information held by any member of the Intelligence Community by virtue of the named individuals' previous tenure in the Congress.
In the event that any of the named individuals received a security clearance by virtue of their employment with a private entity, the United States Government entity that granted the security clearance should inform the private entity that these individuals' ability to access classified information has been revoked.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Revoking the security clearances of his political enemies not only locks them out of serving in many capacities within the US government, but also locks them out of lucrative private sector jobs they may have otherwise been qualified to hold.
The start of Trump's dismantling of Department of Education took place in a mock classroom
Richard Hall writes:
Donald Trump gathered school children in a mock classroom scene at the White House on Thursday afternoon to witness the signing of an executive order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.
As the children watched from their small desks, each with their own replica executive orders to sign along with Trump, the president began his remarks with an update on the horrors of Ukraine’s war.
“Hopefully we can save thousands of people a week from dying. That's what it's all about. They're dying… so unnecessarily,” he said grimly, forgetting his young audience.
It’s not uncommon for teachers to veer off-topic in the later days of the week, but the president was quick to return to the matter at hand.
Read on...
Trump created a mock classroom in the White House to dismantle the Dept of Education
Judge refuses to pause ruling forcing Trump admin to reinstate purged federal workers
A U.S. appeals court has refused to pause a judge's ruling requiring President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate 25,000 workers across 18 federal agencies who lost their jobs as part of Trump's purge of the federal workforce.
A panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, stated there was no reason to delay the decision, as the judge in Baltimore, Maryland, is expected to decide next week whether to extend it further in a lawsuit filed by 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C.
On March 17, the Trump administration indicated in court filings that the agencies were working to reinstate the terminated employees while temporarily placing them on paid leave. Friday's decision will remain in effect pending the outcome of the administration's appeal.
The 18 agencies involved in the case include the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Department.
Typically, probationary employees have less than one or two years of service in their current roles, though some are long-time federal employees.
Most agencies have reported that they fired several hundred probationary workers, while others terminated significantly more. The Treasury Department dismissed about 7,600 individuals, the Department of Agriculture approximately 5,700, and the Department of Health and Human Services more than 3,200, according to court filings.
On March 13, U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore, Maryland, stated that the agencies should have followed procedures for conducting mass layoffs and ordered the reinstatement of the workers pending further litigation.
On the same day, a judge in San Francisco separately ordered that probationary workers at six agencies be reinstated, but based on different legal grounds. This case involves five of the agencies subject to Bredar's ruling and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Trump administration has appealed that decision and requested a San Francisco-based appeals court to pause it pending the outcome of the case.
The judges' rulings did not prohibit agencies from terminating probationary workers entirely but raised concerns about the way the layoffs were conducted.
With reporting from Reuters
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