April 18, 2026

01b People Advance

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President Donald Trump received mixed reviews from the public regarding his handling of economic matters, according to a new poll.

A CBS survey polled voters last week after Trump imposed sweeping global tariffs and then negotiated “fairer” trade deals with foreign countries to carry out his “America First” agenda. As a result, the stock market had a volatile week, losing $6 trillion at one point. It has since recuperated partially, though market anxieties remain.

The survey highlighted conflicting feedback from the public. When asked about the impact of Trump’s tariffs, some voters said they raised prices in the short term but could pay off with a healthier economy in the future. However, 65% of voters said they would make the economy worse in the short term. That number fell to 42% when voters were asked about the long-term implications of the tariffs. Only 8% said the tariffs would make the economy better in the short term, compared to 34% who believe Trump’s trade policies would help the economy in the long term.

Hegseth Secures ‘First and Free’ Passage for U.S. Ships in Panama Canal– www.breitbart.com
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PANAMA CITY, Panama — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had one mission on his trip to Panama — to secure a deal to get “first and free” passage for U.S. ships in the Panama Canal, a critical waterway for the United States’ economy and military that was at risk of falling under China’s control.

As the secretary and his team flew the down from Washington on Monday evening to meet with Panama’s leaders, such a deal with Panama was far from certain.

While the U.S. had built the canal in the early 1900s and maintained it for decades before handing it over to Panama, China had in recent years poured money into projects and infrastructure attached to it. As a passageway between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that handles more than 40 percent of U.S. maritime trade, if China were able to close the canal, it would be a catastrophe for the U.S.

President Donald Trump, early on in his administration, made retaking the canal from Chinese influence a top priority. In December, even before he took office for the second time, he posted about it on Truth Social:


 

Trump Weighs Plan To Shutter Controversial Law Enforcement Agency– trendingpoliticsnews.com
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The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly weighing a proposal that would merge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

According to a report from Reuters, the department outlined the plan in a March 25 memo. In addition to a potential merger, the administration is also reportedly considering the closure of several field offices that handle antitrust, environmental and civil cases.

The administration believes that a merger of the ATF and the DEA would “achieve efficiencies in resources, case deconfliction and regulatory efforts,” the memo outlines. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche instructed department heads and relevant officials mentioned in the memo to provide feedback about the proposed restricting by April 2.

Blanche added that proposed cuts and mergers were previously submitted to the Office of Personnel Management and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

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Sunday night marked another explosive chapter in President Trump’s ongoing battle with the dishonest corporate media, as he fired off a pair of Truth Social posts eviscerating the long-disgraced CBS program “60 Minutes” for airing not one—but two—blatantly false hit pieces against him.

This is not the first time “60 Minutes” was accused of running deliberately false reports in order to take down President Trump.

It can be recalled that ’60 Minutes’ cut Kamala’s nonsensical answer to a question and replaced it with a completely separate sentence she said earlier in the interview. This was fraud and election interference.

ELECTION INTERFERENCE! Fake News ’60 Minutes’ Caught Editing Kamala’s Nonsensical Answer with Previous Soundbite to Make Her Sound Coherent and Normal – VIDEO RELEASED

In recent news, CBS is now considering settling a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Trump over its deceptively edited ’60 Minutes’ interview with Kamala Harris prior to the 2024 election.

Sources inside CBS, as reported by CNN, revealed that discussions of a potential settlement have “sparked outrage” in the newsroom.

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The Trump DOJ opposed requests in alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s motion for additional relief.

On Friday, US District Judge of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, Paula Xinis set a new hearing in the case of alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the Supreme Court ruled the US must facilitate his return from El Salvador.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, photo via Murray Osorio PLLC immigration law firm.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the US to facilitate the return of alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The ruling was unanimous. There was no dissent.

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The State Department will cooperate with a government-wide task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration.”

The Trump administration has directed State Department employees to report incidents of alleged “anti-Christian bias” among their colleagues, as part of a broader initiative to support Christian employees across the federal government.

According to an internal cable obtained by Politico, the State Department will cooperate with a government-wide task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration” and will document examples of anti-Christian bias via anonymous employee reports.

The cable was sent to embassies worldwide under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s name. A department-wide notice was also sent out detailing the instructions.

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… Right now, the deportation of Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien with reported MS-13 ties who was deported to El Salvador is the latest duel between Trump and the lefty legal community. They want Trump to return this man. The liberal media reported that the Supreme Court ordered Trump to do so, but that’s not what the ruling said. It was nuanced, with key passages dedicated to how district courts overreached in this matter:

The intended scope of the term “effectuate” in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.

So, on that matter, Trump’s team took a blowtorch to this case. The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland broke down the new filings, responding to a motion for additional relief from Garcia’s wife [emphasis mine]:

Trump Administration begins noting that Court invited the Motion Garcia filed for “additional relief,” and that the relief sought seeks to micromanage diplomatic relations…It does.

Trump Administration argues the relief would violate SCOTUS directive to respect Article II authority.

Trump Administration then walks Judge through what SCOTUS actually ordered which was NOT an affirmance as she and Garcia continue to inaccurately claim. Here, Trump Administration stressed points I made earlier concerning what SCOTUS said

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President Donald Trump will mark Holy Week with a series of events aimed at honoring Easter “with the observance it deserves,” a move the White House is framing as a contrast to the Biden administration’s controversial decision to proclaim Easter Sunday 2024 as Transgender Day of Visibility.

The White House Faith Office, newly established under Trump’s administration, has organized what it calls an “extraordinary” weeklong celebration leading up to Easter Sunday.

“The newly created White House Faith Office is grateful to share that President Trump will honor and celebrate Holy Week and Easter with the observance it deserves,” Jennifer Korn, faith director of the White House Faith Office, told Fox News Digital.

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Another win for election integrity is unfolding in Arizona, where state officials are partnering with DHS to verify voter rolls. Make no mistake about it —this is exactly the kind of action we need to protect our elections from fraud and abuse.

As many as 50,000 non-citizens are expected to be removed from Arizona’s voter rolls following a successful lawsuit by America First Legal (AFL) against all 15 Arizona counties.

“This settlement is a great result for all Arizonans,” (AFL) senior counsel James Rogers told Fox News Digital.

As a result of the lawsuit, the 15 counties have now begun working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify the citizenship status of all registered voters in the state who failed to provide proof of citizenship.

While a 2013 Supreme Court ruling prohibits states from imposing voter registration requirements beyond the federal requirement that registrants must check a box affirming their U.S. citizenship, Arizona residents are still required to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections.

The Arizona law also requires that county recorders perform a monthly list maintenance to confirm the U.S. citizenship of so-called “federal-only voters,” a list of nearly 50,000 individuals who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship and were not allowed to vote in state or local elections.

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President Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown on foreign students in the United States is expected to have a chilling effect on enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities this fall, according to higher education analysts.

School experts worry foreign enrollment at U.S. schools could take a nose dive as the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement initiative that has targeted students who support the terrorist organization, Hamas, and federal immigration officers raid dorm rooms in search of student visa recipients who refuse to leave despite their status being revoked.

Dr. William Brustein, special assistant to the president for global affairs and a distinguished history professor at West Virginia University, said arrests and visa revocations in recent weeks will hurt America’s ability to attract international students to institutions.

“I am fairly confident that the Trump’s administration’s crackdown on student visa recipients who it alleges engaged in pro-Hamas protests in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre of Israelis will indeed have a chilling effect on foreign student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities this fall,” Brustein wrote in an email.

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As the state of Maine continues to defy federal civil rights law and allow men to compete in women’s sports, an initial investigation by the Education Department has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for “further enforcement action.”

The Justice Department taking over the investigation is an escalation in the fight between the federal government, which is trying to force Maine to comply with Title IX civil rights law to protect women and girls in sports, and Democrat Gov. Janet Mills, who wants to continue the practice.

“The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state’s leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students’ safety, privacy, and dignity,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a press release. “The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department. Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom — be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.”

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Legal Insurrection readers may remember my recent post on Neela Rajendra.

Rajendra once held the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer role at NASA’s famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is steeped in the DEI movement, having co-founded the Science of Diversity & Inclusion Initiative (SODI) and advised various organizations on DEI strategies.

The organization retained Rajendra after rebranding her position in an apparent effort to evade President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding the ending of DEI. She managed to cling to her job, even after 900 others at JPL were terminated.

Less than a week after this evasion came to light courtesy of the Washington Free Beacon, NASA jettisoned Rajendra.

NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory has parted ways with its top diversity officer, Neela Rajendra, after the Washington Free Beacon reported that the lab had changed her title in an effort to keep her.

“Neela Rajendra is no longer working at [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory],” lab director Laurie Leshin said in an all-staff email on Thursday. “We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organization. We wish her the very best.”

Leshin added that the newly formed Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success—intended to replace the DEI team Rajendra had led—would be moved to the Office of Human Resources.

Border Encounters of Unaccompanied Children Fall to Record Low– www.dailysignal.com
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The number of migrant children arriving alone at the southern border reached an all-time low in March.

Border Patrol encountered 631 unaccompanied alien children at the southwest border last month, down 97% from the record high of 18,716 under the administration of then-President Joe Biden in March 2021, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.

“March was the lowest number of unaccompanied children arriving at our southern border in recorded history,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “are stopping the exploitation and trafficking of children,” McLaughlin said. “Thanks to strong leadership, we now have the most secure border in American history.”

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A new city is being designed called Praxis that aims to be the world’s first AI-run “self-governing city,” with no need for a government. Big Sail might be coming back to shipping thanks to a new  cargo ship design called Windcoop that uses massive sails.

Scientists from the Eindhoven University of Technology have developed a new material call chiral that emits circularly polarizing light “efficiently,” which could revolutionize optical technologies.  A team at Rutgers have created two “impossible materials” that “provides a new way to design entirely new artificial two dimensional quantum technologies…” said a researcher on the project.

Futuristic stateless land with latest AI technology planned in £393m Praxis project – The Mirror
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An international team led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers has merged two lab-synthesized materials into a synthetic quantum structure once thought impossible to exist and produced an exotic structure expected to provide insights that could lead to new materials at the core of quantum computing.

The work, described in a cover story in the journal Nano Letters, explains how four years of continuous experimentation led to a novel method to design and build a unique, tiny sandwich composed of distinct atomic layers. One slice of the microscopic structure is made of dysprosium titanate, an inorganic compound used in nuclear reactors to trap radioactive materials and contain elusive magnetic monopole particles, while the other is composed of pyrochlore iridate, a new magnetic semimetal mainly used in today’s experimental research due to its distinctive electronic, topological and magnetic properties.

Individually, both materials are often considered “impossible” materials due to their unique properties that challenge conventional understanding of quantum physics.

The construction of the exotic sandwich structure sets the stage for scientific explorations in what is referred to as the interface, the area where the materials meet, in the atomic scale.

“This work provides a new way to design entirely new artificial two-dimensional quantum materials, with the potential to push quantum technologies and provide deeper insight into their fundamental properties in ways that were previously impossible,” said Jak Chakhalian, the Claud Lovelace Endowed Professor of Experimental Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and a principal investigator the study.

New material emitting spinning light could revolutionize optics and computing – Advanced Science News
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“Sailing into a New Era”: this colossal 300-feet-long wind-powered containership finalized, marking an unprecedented leap in shipping technology – Sustainability Times
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The U.S. government has banned American government officials in China from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens.

The new policy was implemented by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January.

The policy is the first “non-fraternization” policy issued by a U.S. agency since the Cold War.

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A female fencer is being penalized by USA Fencing for refusing to compete against a biological male opponent, saying that her stand will “at least for a moment, destroy my life” but needed to be taken.

Fox News reports that 31-year-old Stephanie Turner, who previously made a point of trying to evade tournaments in which she would have to face “transgender” fencers, found herself up against gender-confused male Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland. She learned about the matchup the night before and made her decision how to handle it then.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeing a stunning spike in new agent applications under its new director, Kash Patel — signaling that confidence in federal law enforcement may be on the mend.

According to internal data reviewed by Fox News Digital, the FBI received 5,577 new agent applications in March, the first full month with Patel at the helm. That figure nearly doubles the monthly average since 2016 and marks the highest number of submissions in nearly a decade.

The last comparable surge came in April 2016, when the bureau logged 5,283 applications. By contrast, the average in 2023 was 2,797 per month. Even in early 2024, before Patel took office, the average monthly tally sat at just 3,383.

“Director Patel and Deputy Director (Dan) Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.”

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Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations arrested a U.S. citizen after he allegedly posted detailed death threats online against ICE agents and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Threats against ICE and other federal agents from radical leftists have risen in recent months as the Trump administration does everything in its power to carry out mass deportations now that the border crisis is over.

In its announcement, the HSI Dallas field office said Robert King’s “terroristic threats” against ICE agents and Noem were “alarming” because they included intentions to “open fire” if he saw agents in his neighborhood.

‘We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree — not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.’

In response to another online video where the TikTok user appeared to make a self-defense case for shooting ICE agents, Noem vowed that clear and direct threats against law enforcement will not be tolerated.

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Two of the world’s largest automakers announced on Thursday that they are offering America First deals on new vehicles for customers or making production changes while seeking to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on foreign-assembled vehicles.

For the next several months, Ford will be touting a “From America, For America” deal, which will offer new customers the chance to purchase vehicles at employee pricing, potentially knocking thousands of dollars off the going rate.

Steve Croley, the company’s chief policy officer, told “Fox & Friends” that Americans deserve a break for going out of their way to buy American-made cars.

“We’re going to offer customers the same deal that our employees get. That’s worth thousands of dollars,” he told host Brian Kilmeade.

“We’ve heard some uncertainty from our customers and we want them to be assured that Ford, the most American auto company, is going to do right by them, as are our dealers. We make the most cars here, we employ the most, we export the most, and so we here at Ford, we’re in a good position to address customers’ concern and give them a really great deal on a great vehicle,” he added.

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Ford Motor said on Thursday that it was lowering prices on most of its vehicles to the same levels it charges employees in a bid to boost sales as President Trump’s tariffs on imported cars took effect.

The tariffs began on Thursday on vehicles imported from Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and other countries. The duties — 25 percent of the value of the vehicle in most cases — are expected to increase prices of new cars and trucks and dampen demand.

About half the vehicles sold in the United States each year are produced in other countries. Mexico is the top source of those cars and Canada is among the largest. For three decades, the United States, Canada and Mexico have had a free-trade zone, and automakers have moved parts and vehicles freely among the three countries.

Ford’s new program, which the company is calling “From America, for America,” could help reduce a large inventory of unsold cars. In February, Ford had more cars in inventory as measured by how many days it would take to sell them all than all but three other brands — Jaguar, Mini and Dodge — according to Cox Automotive, a research firm.

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General Motors is the latest automobile company to respond to President Donald Trump’s newly implemented auto tariffs, announcing it will be ramping up production in Indiana.

The shake-up for GM, known for brands such as Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC, will bring about an uptick in production at its plant near Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is known for producing Chevrolet’s Silverado 1500 and GMC’s Sierra 1500. The increase in productivity will also extend to hiring hundreds of temporary employees.

“General Motors will be making operational adjustments at Fort Wayne Assembly, including hiring temporary employees, to support current manufacturing and business needs,” a spokesperson for the automaker said in a statement. “We continuously update and revise production schedules as part of our standard process of evaluating and aligning to manage vehicle inventory.”

DOGE Moves to Gut CDC Work on Gun Injuries, Sexual Assault, Opioid Overdose Data, and More – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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On Tuesday, thousands of staffers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta received early morning emails asking them to resign. The centers affected included those working on reproductive health, chronic disease, occupational safety, birth defects, smoking, tuberculosis, asthma and air quality, accidental and intentional injury, and prevention of violence and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

“It’s a blood bath this morning,” one CDC employee messaged me. Several others told me that their entire departments had received the letters. It wasn’t immediately clear whether everyone who had received the notices would ultimately be laid off.

“I regret to inform you that you are being affected by a reduction in force (RIF) action,” the letters stated. “After you receive this notice, you will be placed on administrative leave and will no longer have building access beginning Tuesday, April 1, unless directed otherwise by your leadership.” This action follows the announcement last week, by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to cut 10,000 employees from the agency. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves,” Kennedy said in a statement. “That’s the entire American public because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”

Yet the staffers I talked to weren’t convinced that the cuts would improve public health or efficiency—on the contrary, they said they worried that government efforts to improve the lives of Americans would be undermined.

Trump’s Approval Rating Holds Steady After Democrats’ ‘Signal-Gate’ Campaign– slaynews.com
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Despite the best efforts of the Democrats and their corporate media allies to land a glove on President Donald Trump, their “Signal-gate” campaign has failed to put a dent in his popularity.

A new poll from CBS News found Trump’s approval rating holding strong at 50%.

The poll was taken after the anti-Trump “news” outlet The Atlantic published its story about the administration’s leaked Signal chats.

Notably, most Americans told CBS that they do believe the Signal breach is “serious.”

However, it hasn’t impacted Trump’s popularity.

His overall job rating is split down the middle at 50-50.

Trump Admin Defunds 16 Planned Parenthood Abortion Centers in 9 States– www.lifenews.com
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The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood facilities, according to an exclusive breaking news article published by POLITICO on the evening of Monday, March 31.

According to POLITICO, nine Planned Parenthood state affiliates that receive federal money from the 55-year-old Title X family planning program received a letter on Monday announcing that their funding is being “temporarily withheld” for “possible violations” of federal civil rights law and President Donald Trump’s executive orders — including prohibitions on the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Funding is also being withheld, according to the article, because the organization “overtly encourages illegal aliens to receive care.”