The Latest: Both the US and El Salvador refuse to return wrongly deported man to the US

President Donald Trump ’s top advisers and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said Monday that they had no basis for the small Central American nation to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there last month.

Trump administration officials emphasized Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and the U.S. has no say in his future. And Bukele, who has been a vital partner for the Trump administration in its deportation efforts, said he does not “have the power to return him to the United States.”

The Supreme Court has called for the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return.

Here's the latest:

Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard

The federal government says it is freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and contracts to Harvard University.

The institution said Monday it won’t comply with a list of demands from the Trump administration to limit activism on campus.

The list includes government and leadership reforms, as well as a requirement to institute what it calls a “merit-based” admissions and hiring policy. It also includes an audit of the study body and faculty on their views about diversity, as well as a ban on face masks which appeared to target pro-Palestinian protesters.

▶ Read more about the Harvard grants freeze

ACLU asks federal judge to prevent Venezuelans from being removed from Colorado

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a federal judge in Colorado to prevent immigration authorities from removing Venezuelans under an 18th century law invoked by Trump last month.

District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney ordered the government not to remove two Venezuelan men on whose behalf the ACLU filed the lawsuit. The men were concerned they’d be falsely accused of belonging to the gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump said was invading the United States, and fast-tracked for deportation without adequate time to contest their removal.

The ACLU asked Sweeney on Monday to expand her order to protect all Venezuelans in the state who may be subject to the act. Its filing contended that Venezuelan men accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua were being prepared for a flight out of the state.

Higher education groups file lawsuit over cuts to Department of Energy research grants

Several higher education organizations have filed a lawsuit over proposed cuts to research grants from the Department of Energy.

The department provides over $2.5 billion annually for research at more than 300 universities.

Grants come with a certain amount of money for overhead costs. The Trump administration announced Friday it would cap those payments at no more than 15% of the grant money, saying the cuts would reduce costs and improve inefficiency.

The Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities filed the lawsuit along with several universities. The plaintiffs said the cuts would set back scientific research and innovation that has boosted American manufacturing and competitiveness.

The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Judge lifts a temporary hold on the Trump administration’s cuts to Fair Housing Act enforcement funding

A federal judge has allowed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue, for now, its termination of millions of dollars in grants for enforcement of the federal anti-discrimination law.

The funding is for nonprofits that field the majority of fair housing complaints, most of which concern discrimination based on a disability, and help investigate and litigate cases for Americans.

The Associated Press reported the grant terminations to over 60 nonprofits in February, before the nonprofits sued the department and won the temporary restraining order in March that the judge lifted Monday.

Judge Richard G. Stearns wrote that the court may not have jurisdiction over the case, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision siding with the Trump administration’s plea to cut hundreds of millions in educational grants.

Court filing from US officials says they don’t have authority to bring back Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it cannot bring back Abrego Garcia from El Salvador after the nation’s president called the idea of sending him back “preposterous.”

A Monday evening court filing from Joseph Mazzara, the acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said the Department of Homeland Security “does not have authority to forcibly extract” Abrego Garcia because he is “in the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.”

Mazarra also said Abergo Garcia is “no longer eligible for withholding of removal” because the U.S. designated MS-13, the violent gang that two immigration court judges said Abrego Gargia was a member of, as a foreign terror organization. The man’s attorneys say the government has provided no evidence that he was affiliated with MS-13 or any other gang.

El Salvador’s president said “of course” he would not release Abrego Garcia back to U.S. soil.

Justice Department Civil Rights Division lawyers get ‘deferred resignation’ offers

Lawyers in the division that enforces civil rights laws are being given an opportunity to voluntarily resign as part of the administration’s effort to downsize the federal workforce, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The White House had previously offered all federal workers a deferred resignation program allowing them to quit and be paid until Sept. 30.

In a memo sent Monday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said eligible Civil Rights Division employees can now apply for a second round of the deferred resignation program.

Employees have through April 28 to apply. Those who aren’t eligible for the resignation offer include attorneys in the criminal section and political appointees, according to the memo.

Schumer condemns Trump administration’s handling of Abrego Garcia

“The Trump administration must facilitate and effectuate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He should be returned to the U.S. immediately,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “Due process and the rule of law are cornerstones of American society for citizens and noncitizens alike, and not to follow that is dangerous and outrageous. A threat to one is a threat to all.”

Leader of immigration advocacy group calls Trump and Bukele’s remarks on Abrego Garcia ‘painful’

“The U.S. government should not be in the business of disappearing people or using the Alien Enemies Act — regardless of immigration status,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us.

He said Congress must “be loud and unequivocal” in standing with the court and “in demanding that U.S. taxpayer dollars are no longer used to enforce prohibited deportations or to obstruct efforts to bring people like Mr. Garcia home.”

White House proposes cutting State Department budget by almost 50%

The Office of Management and Budget also has suggested closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and for NATO headquarters, officials said.

The proposal was presented to the State Department last week and is still in a highly preliminary phase. It isn’t expected to pass muster with either the department’s leadership or Congress.

Officials familiar with the proposal say it must still go through several rounds of review before it even gets to lawmakers, who in the past have amended and even rejected White House budget requests.

▶ Read more about the potential cuts

International students file legal challenges over widespread US visa revocations

Several international students who have had their visas revoked in recent weeks have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the U.S.

The actions by the federal government to terminate students’ legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation.

In lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, students have argued the government lacked justification to cancel their visa or terminate their legal status.

Homeland Security officials did not respond to a message seeking comment.

▶ Read more about canceled visas for international students

Confusion over Trump’s tariffs remains

On Friday, the Trump administration paused its new taxes on electronics imported into the U.S. — signaling some relief from trade wars that have particularly escalated with China, a major exporter of technology from smartphones to laptops. But these goods remain subject to other levies.

Officials have also indicated that additional, sector-specific tariffs targeting electronics are on the way — all of which economists warn will raise costs and lead to higher prices for consumers.

▶ Read about what we know about Trump’s new tariffs regime

Vance fumbles Ohio State’s trophy

Vice President JD Vance ended the Ohio State football team’s visit to the White House by fumbling the trophy the players had won as college football’s national champion.

After a formal ceremony, Vance tried to lift the gold NAA championship trophy up along with its black base.

As he lifted them off the table, the base fell away and Vance dropped both.

The falling trophy was grabbed by OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson while Vance bent over to pick up the base.

The Marine Corps Band continued to play “We Are the Champions” despite an audible gasp from the crowd.

Trump cheers on Buckeyes at White House celebration

Trump welcomed members of the Ohio State University football team, which won the national championship this year.

“This team showed the world that the road to greatness is paved by hard work, sweat and often a great deal of adversity,” Trump said.

Flanked by dozens of beefy players, the president quipped that he would invite them into the Oval Office but said, “I don’t know if the floor can withstand it.”

US Treasury secretary commends Argentina during meeting

In Buenos Aires on Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “commended Argentina for moving quickly to negotiate with the United States on a package of reciprocal trade measures,” according to a Treasury readout of the meeting between Bessent and Argentine finance minister Luis Caputo.

Trump’s recent sweeping tariff package included 10% on Argentina, though on Wednesday he announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs for most countries except China. Bessent also met with Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday.

Milei announced Friday that he would lift most of the country’s strict capital and currency controls this week, a high-stakes gamble made possible by a new loan from the International Monetary Fund.

US Army to control land on Mexico border as part of base, migrants could be detained, officials say

A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil.

But if the troops are providing security for land that’s part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public, said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon, but even as any legal review goes on, the administration’s intent is to have troops detain migrants at the border.

▶ Read more about the military at the U.S.-Mexico border

— Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor

Trump reiterates desire to expand deportation plans to include US citizens

The president has said openly that he’d also favor El Salvador taking custody of American citizens who’ve committed violent crimes, a view he repeated Monday.

“We have bad ones too, and I’m all for it because we can do things with the president for less money and have great security,” Trump said during the meeting with Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. “And we have a huge prison population.” It is unclear how lawful U.S. citizens could be deported elsewhere in the world.

Before the press entered the Oval Office, Trump said in a video posted on social media by Bukele that he wanted to send “homegrowns” to be incarcerated in El Salvador, and added that “you’ve got to build five more places,” suggesting Bukele doesn’t have enough prison capacity for all the U.S. citizens Trump would like to send there.

▶ Read more about Trump’s plans to expand deportation

Justice Department charges man with arson at New Mexico Tesla dealership and GOP headquarters

That’s according to court records unsealed Monday.

A criminal complaint charges Jamison R. Wagner, 40, with federal arson charges in connection with the vandalism in February at a Tesla showroom in Bernalillo, New Mexico, where authorities found two Tesla Model Y vehicles ablaze as well as spray-painted graffiti messages including “Die Elon” and “Die Tesla Nazi.”

Elon Musk is the billionaire CEO of Tesla and close ally of Trump. He's helped engineer a massive downsizing of the federal government and purge of employees.

The arrest is part of a federal crackdown on what Attorney General Pam Bondi has described as a wave of domestic terrorism against property carrying the logo of Musk’s electric-car company.

▶ Read more about vandalism against Tesla

DC mayor says budgets cuts would be needed without action by Congress

The mayor of the nation’s capital says the city is raising its stalled budget as much as possible under authority granted by federal law, but it would still need to cut more than $410 million this fiscal year without action from Congress.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that she’d sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to notify them.

The move comes days after the House adjourned for a two-week recess without acting on a $1.1 billion hole in the city’s budget, despite directives from Trump to address the issue.

“We believed that the fix would happen, and we wouldn’t be running around planning for cuts,” Bowser said Monday at a news conference.

She said the city is raising the budget 6%, as much as possible under federal statute, but the situation remains frustrating, with no options “off the table.”

Senior officials with Bowser’s office said the law changing the budget requires council approval, but not congressional. They added that the remaining cuts would likely affect all city services, including public safety.

Meta faces historic antitrust trial that could force it to break off Instagram and WhatsApp

A historic antitrust trial is underway Monday for Meta Platforms Inc. in a case that could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups it bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.

In opening statements, Federal Trade Commission attorney Daniel Matheson said Meta has used a monopoly to generate enormous profits as consumer satisfaction has dropped. He said Meta was “erecting a moat” to protect its interests by buying the two startups because the company feared they were a threat to Meta’s dominance. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta witnesses will testify during the trial.

The trial will be the first big test of Trump’s Federal Trade Commission’s ability to challenge Big Tech. The lawsuit was filed against Meta — then called Facebook — in 2020, during Trump’s first term. It claims the company bought Instagram and WhatsApp to squash competition and establish an illegal monopoly in the social media market.

▶ Read more about Meta’s antitrust trial

Despite a court order, the White House bars the AP from Oval Office event

Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference Monday with Trump and his counterpart from El Salvador.

Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit set a Thursday hearing on Trump’s request that any changes be delayed while case is reviewed. The AP is fighting for more access as soon as possible.

▶ Read more about the dispute between the Trump administration and the AP

Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he’ll travel to El Salvador if Abrego Garcia isn’t released by midweek

The Democratic senator from Maryland wrote to El Salvadoran diplomats to “urgently request” meeting with the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, to discuss the potential return of a former Maryland resident, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to the Central American nation by the Trump administration.

A federal judge ruled Garcia should be returned to the U.S., a decision that was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court last week.

“If Kilmar is not home by midweek — I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release,” Van Hollen wrote in a letter address to El Salvador’s ambassador to Washington.

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said during a Monday Oval Office meeting that he did not intend to return Kilmar to the U.S.

Emboldened anti-abortion faction wants women who have abortions to face criminal charges

Advocates involved in the abortion debate are warning about the widening influence of a movement that seeks to outlaw all abortions and enforce the ban with criminal prosecution of any women who have abortions.

Mainstream anti-abortion groups have largely shied away from legislation that would punish women for having abortions, but abortion abolitionists believe abortion should be considered homicide and punished with the full force of the law.

So far this year, bills introduced in at least 12 states — Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas — would allow prosecutors to charge those who have abortions with homicide. In some of those states, women could be subject to the death penalty if the bills were to become law.

“With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, now states can pass the most severe abortion bans, which has galvanized the anti-abortion movement as a whole, including this part of it,” said Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. “Certainly the fall of Roe has brought abortion abolitionists one step closer to what they want — banning abortion nationwide.”

▶ Read more about the movement to charge women who have abortions

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine has been sworn in as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

That’s nearly two months after Trump fired his predecessor.

A formal White House ceremony is expected this week.

Caine, a decorated F-16 fighter pilot and well-respected officer, took over the role Saturday and was at the Pentagon over the weekend after Trump signed the necessary documents to allow him to fill the job.

He’ll serve the remainder of the four-year term of Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., who was fired by Trump as part of a broader purge of military officers believed to endorse diversity and equity programs.

El Salvador’s leader shares an inside look at meeting with Trump

Before the press entered the Oval Office, Trump and Bukele chatted in a video posted on social media by the leader of El Salvador.

The U.S. president said he wanted to send “homegrowns” to be incarcerated in El Salvador, and he suggested “you’ve got to build five more places,” suggesting Bukele doesn’t have enough prison capacity for all of the U.S. citizens Trump would like to send there.

Trump also praised Bukele for his team’s slickly produced video of migrants arriving in El Salvador after being deported by the U.S.

“That’s what people want to see. Respect. They want to see respect,” Trump said.

He added, “you’ve got a good team. Can I use them?”

Bukele said “it’s like a movie, but it’s real.”

Biden to make first public speech since leaving White House on Tuesday in Chicago

Former President Joe Biden will address the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled.

The former president has kept a very low profile since leaving office Jan. 20 — despite Trump scoffing repeatedly at his predecessor’s mental competency.

Organizers of the conference say participants are “committed to safeguarding and strengthening Social Security for the generations to come.”

Trump has pledged to shield Social Security from possible cuts, even as Democrats say it, and other federal entitlements like Medicare, could face funding trims to help offset tax reductions the administration supports.

Trump says he plans to provide temporary exemptions to automakers on his tariffs

And the president said he’s talked with Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose company could be hurt if the China tariffs become permanent.

“They need a little bit of time,” Trump said of the automakers that would have to upend their supply chains to reduce their exposure to Trump’s import taxes.

Trump also said he had talked to Cook and “helped” him by exempting electronics from some of his China tariffs.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody but the end result is we’re going to get to the position of greatness for our country,” said Trump.

The U.S. president also theorized that China and Vietnam were meeting “to figure out: how do we screw the United States of America?”

Seizing on the March consumer price index, Trump says he’s fixed inflation

“We already solved inflation,” Trump told reporters gathered Monday in the Oval Office.

The U.S. president was touting the 2.4% annual inflation rate seen in the monthly consumer price report released last Thursday. Many economists are hesitant to claim a single report makes up a broader trend. Many economists and consumers worry Trump’s tariffs will cause prices to go up in ways that hurt the economy.