Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the first European leader to have a face-to-face with President Donald Trump since he announced, and then suspended, 20% tariffs on European exports.
While she meets with Trump in her capacity as Italy’s premier, she has also, in a sense, been “knighted” to represent the European Union at a critical juncture in the trade war.
The official invitation came at the start of their White House meeting.
Vice President JD Vance is already scheduled to head to Rome later this week and will meet with Meloni while he’s there.
Trump visited Italy during his first term when he attended the 2017 Group of Seven summit in Taormina.
The president played down the likelihood of reaching any trade agreements as a result of his tariffs.
Trump told reporters while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that “at a certain point” deals would come together.
“We’re in no rush,” said Trump, saying he liked the revenues he expected the tariffs to generate for the U.S. government.
That’s according to a Treasury spokesperson who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the agency’s thinking on the topic.
Direct File is an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, developed during the Biden administration. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the Trump administration plans to eliminate the program according to two people familiar with the decision.
The Treasury official, in an emailed statement, said the department viewed Direct File as a “very disappointing” program that costs tens of millions of dollars a year and was used by about 200,000 people out of 300 million, or less than 0.1% of taxpayers.
However, the program wasn’t available in all 50 states. It was launched as a pilot in 2024 in 12 states, then made permanent and expanded to 25 states for the 2025 filing season and was still growing. The agency accepted 140,803 submitted returns in 2024.
The two leaders posed for photos together before heading inside.
John Ullyot was one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s initial communications office hires and oversaw some of its most visible but controversial moves, including a broad edict to the military services to strip away online images that were considered a promotion of diversity, equity or inclusion.
That directive led to public outcry when images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson and others were removed.
Ullyot told Politico on Wednesday he decided to resign.
A senior defense official told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hegseth’s office asked Ullyot to resign. The official familiar with the decision spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that haven’t been made public.
The departure isn’t tied to an investigation into unauthorized disclosures of information, which so far has led three other senior Pentagon aides to be put on leave.
The European Central Bank rises silhouetted against the blue sky, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP, File)
The rate cuts Thursday are to counter worries about economic growth fueled by President Trump’s tariff onslaught.
The bank’s move should support economic activity in the 20 countries that use the euro currency by making credit more affordable for consumers and businesses.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a post-decision news conference that “the major escalation in global trade tensions and the associated uncertainty will likely lower euro area growth by dampening exports.”
“And it may drag down investment and consumption,” she said.
▶ Read more about the European Central Bank’s interest rate cuts
The comments Thursday come from the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.
Speaking in Tehran, Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency also acknowledged his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the U.S. will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend’s first meeting in Oman.
The stakes of the negotiations and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldn’t be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. President Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
▶ Read more about nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran
Spring buds appear on a tree near Eliot House, rear, at Harvard University, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
That’s if the university doesn’t agree to turn over “detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities” by April 30.
More than 27% of Harvard’s student body comes from another country.
The department also said it was cancelling two grants totaling $2.7 million to the university.
The moves are an escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on Harvard, which so far has defied the administration’s demands in a battle over federal funding, diversity policies and campus activism.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence qualifies as a federal hate crime.
The suspect, Cody Balmer, has “admitted to harboring hatred” toward Shapiro, who’s Jewish, according to a police affidavit. Police obtained warrants to search Balmer’s writings or notes for any references to “the name of Josh Shapiro (or a) reference to Palestine, Gaza, Israel or the current conflict in Gaza.”
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, Schumer said the incident “warrants immediate and serious federal scrutiny.”
“I appreciate your strong condemnation of the attack and urge you to ensure that the federal government does everything in its power to pursue justice and uphold the fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety,” wrote Schumer, who’s the highest-ranked Jewish official in the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at Le Bourget in Paris Thursday morning for talks with European allies on U.S. efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Paris is hosting the series of talks Thursday about Ukraine and its security, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, French President Emmanuel Macron and top Ukrainian and European officials.
Rubio and Witkoff were having lunch discussions with Macron and “talks with European counterparts to advance President Trump’s goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war and stop the bloodshed,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
The meetings come as concerns grow about Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russia, and after weeks of U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. There’s also frustration over the Trump administration’s other moves, from tariffs on some of its closest partners to rhetoric about NATO and Greenland.
▶ Read more about the talks on Ukraine
At 12 p.m. ET, the president will greet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the White House schedule for Thursday. The pair are scheduled to participate in a bilateral lunch followed by a meeting in the Oval Office, where they may speak to the White House Press Pool.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni holds a year-end press conference in Rome, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Meloni is the first European leader to have a face-to-face with Trump since he announced, and then suspended, 20% tariffs on European exports. Meloni secured the meeting at a critical juncture in the trade war as Italy’s leader, but she also has, in a sense, been “knighted” to represent the European Union. She’s been in close contact with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the trip, and “the outreach is … closely coordinated,” a commission spokesperson said this week.
At 4:00 p.m. ET, Trump is scheduled to sign executive orders.
Supervisor of the Checklist for the State of New Hampshire Leslie Dombroski, left, registers Elise Collins, 18, to vote in Derry, N.H., Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)
The judge will hear arguments Thursday in three cases from national Democrats and voting rights groups that are challenging President Trump’s recent executive order on elections, which, among other changes, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
The Democratic National Committee, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters Education Fund and others are seeking to block Trump’s sweeping overhaul of federal election processes, alleging the changes he wants are unconstitutional.
The Republican president’s executive order says the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections” and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.
▶ Read more about Trump’s executive order on elections
Trump hinted at moving to fire Powell, whose term doesn’t expire until next year, as he reiterated his frustration that the Fed hasn’t aggressively cut interest rates.
The president’s broadside comes a day after Powell said in a speech that Trump’s broad-based tariffs have left the Federal Reserve seeking “greater clarity” on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation, and tariffs before making potential cuts.
“Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS,” Trump said in a social media post. He added that Powell “should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Powell was initially nominated by Trump in 2017, and appointed to another four-year term by President Joe Biden in 2022. At a November new conference, Powell indicated he would not step down if Trump asked him to resign. He has also said the removal or demotion of top Fed officials was “not permitted under the law.”
FILE – The turbines of America’s first offshore wind farm are seen from a tour boat off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 17, 2022. The Biden administration approved a new offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He said it needs further review because it appears the Biden administration rushed the approval.
Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. His first day in office, Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects. Last month, the administration revoked the Clean Air Permit for an offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey, Atlantic Shores. Construction on that wind farm had not yet begun.
▶ Read more about Trump’s pause on the project
Trump on Wednesday inserted himself directly into trade talks with Japanese officials, a sign of the high stakes for the United States after its tariffs rattled the economy and caused the administration to assure the public that it would quickly reach deals.
The Republican president attended the meeting alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, top economic advisers with a central role in his trade and tariff policies.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters Thursday in Tokyo that his chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, told him from Washington that the talks were “very candid and constructive.”
Japan’s top trade negotiator on Thursday urged the U.S. to reconsider all tariffs on Japan after President Donald Trump joined in directly in the first round of bilateral trade talks between the two nations.
Ishiba said he will closely watch how ministerial talks go and plans to visit Washington to meet with Trump at an appropriate time.
Trump’s choice to get directly involved in negotiations points to his desire to quickly finalize a slew of trade deals as China is pursuing its own set of agreements.
▶ Read more about trade talks with Japan
A federal judge says he won’t dismiss a lawsuit from labor unions seeking to block Elon Musk’s team from accessing systems at the Labor Department.
Elon Musk flashes his T-shirt that reads “DOGE” to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The labor unions say that allowing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access the systems violates the federal Privacy Act because they contain medical and financial records of millions of Americans. They also contend DOGE doesn’t have the legal authority to direct the actions of congressionally created agencies like the Department of Labor.
In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Bates said those claims could move forward in court. But some other, more specific arguments made by the unions — including that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department violated health care privacy laws by allowing DOGE access — were dismissed by the judge.
The federal Privacy Act generally prohibits an agency from disclosing records about a person to another agency, unless the person has first given written permission.
▶ Read more about the ruling
Hundreds of new volunteers are sworn in for duty at an AmeriCorps ceremony, Friday, Sept. 12, 2014, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)
A 30-year-old community service program that sends young adults to work on projects across the U.S. was the latest target of the Trump administration ‘s campaign to slash government spending.
AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.
The unsigned memo to corps members said NCCC’s “ability to sustain program operations” was impacted by the Trump administration’s priorities and Trump’s executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency. Members would be officially dismissed April 30.
More than 2,000 people ages 18 to 26 serve for nearly a year, according to the program’s website, and get assigned to projects with nonprofits and community organizations or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It celebrated its 30th year last year.
The organization said on social media last month that teams have served 8 million service hours on nearly 3,400 disaster projects since 1999.
▶ Read more about DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps
