A hot seat for Musk, the trade war and third-term talk: Takeaways from the week

A GOP electoral warning points to Elon Musk in the hot seat, and President Trump employs a third-term distraction. Also, the trade war rages, and there were mass firings at key scientific agencies.

It was another week of big headlines as President Trump, in his seventh week of his second term, continued to overhaul policy, both foreign and domestic.

Here are four takeaways from the week in our continued look at President Trump's first 100 days in office:

1. Musk in the spotlight after Democrats win in Wisconsin.

Musk became the central figure in a judicial race in Wisconsin. He spent $20 million there and made an appearance in the state just ahead of the election, where he raised the stakes. But in a state that Trump won by a point in 2024, the Republican-endorsed judicial candidate lost on Tuesday by 10 points.

That's a pretty big loss for the party, but especially for Musk. He put a lot on the line there, and given how controversial his team's federal cuts have been, that was a big risk. Now, Democrats feel emboldened to run against Musk and make him the face of Trump's agenda. Republicans, meanwhile, are questioning the world's richest man's political value.

"I'm honestly shocked," Pam Van Handel, chair of the Republican Party of Outagamie County in Wisconsin, told Politico. "I thought we had it in the bag. I thought [Musk] was going to be an asset for this race. People love Trump, but maybe they don't love everybody he supports. Maybe I have blinders on."

Republicans on Capitol Hill, though, don't want to show any break with Trump, and they'd still love Musk's money, but they might not like what a wild card he can be. DOGE, his informal Department of Government Efficiency, has caused them headaches at town halls, and his comments about potentially cutting entitlements is like political kryptonite.

He's more unpopular than Trump, and this loss in Wisconsin means the heat shield he may have been for Trump to be able to absorb negativity about federal government restructuring is melting. It appears political gravity is setting in for Musk, and don't be surprised if he's out after his 130-day special government employee status expires at the end of next month.

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Then Republicans will be hoping he stays quiet and just writes the checks.

2. Trump's real goals in floating a third term: Distract from bad news and try not to be a lame duck.  

In politics, to stay relevant, you never want to completely wave people off from the notion that you're at least thinking about running for president. But what do you do when you're president and facing a constitutional amendment that bars you from running again?

Cryptically say you're looking at ways to do it, and float at least one far-flung theory that's remotely possible. That's what Trump did this week when he told NBC's Kristen Welker that his team is looking at it and that he's "not joking." He was more cagey the next day when NPR's Tamara Keith pressed him on Air Force One about the comments. Trump repeatedly said he didn't want to talk about it, that's it's far off and didn't commit to leaving the White House on Jan. 20, 2029 when the next president should be sworn in.

Trump's provocative comments serve a few of other political purposes: (1) set the stage to run for an unconstitutional third term by normalizing the idea of something abnormal that chips away at democratic norms; (2) help avoid being a lame duck — if people think it's possible he runs again, then his agenda matters more in his last two years than a traditionally term-limited president would be; and (3) distract from bad news — like the Signal chat group controversy that was still getting attention when he made the comments and his trade war that is ringing market alarm bells around the world all while continuing to make drastic cuts at key federal agencies.

3. Trump tries to build the wall — of tariffs. Get ready for higher prices.

"A lot of people are tired of watching the other countries ripping off the United States," Trump said, adding, "They laugh at us. Behind our backs, they laugh at us because of our own stupidity."

Trump on Wednesday announcing his broad, sweeping tariffs on the U.S.'s top trading partners all over the world? No. It was him in 1987 talking about tariffs on Larry King Live. Trump has long loved the idea of tariffs — first on Japan, then when its economy went into recession, he shifted his gaze to China.

But it's never great policy to be ideologically rigid and not adjust with the times. Trump's trade war is now roiling markets, and experts are warning of higher prices and slower growth, as well as potential recessions in other countries.

What's more, these tariffs are coming after an election when prices were the top concern for voters — and Trump made a pretty big promise.

"When I win, I will immediately bring prices down," Trump said in August of last year.

Well, not immediately, clearly. After he was elected, he said bringing prices down would be "hard." After being sworn in, he said, actually, he never thought inflation was really the top issue in the campaign, anyway — that it was immigration.

"[Y]ou can only talk about it so long," Trump told House Republicans a week after he was inaugurated. "The price of apples doubled; the price of bacon has quadrupled; everything is a disaster. And you say it — and then what do you do?"

This lack of a focus on bringing down prices in the short term — and actively likely making them higher — is a serious political gamble Trump is taking for his party. He believes he can convince people to give him the space to set the country on a track to bring back more manufacturing by building a wall of tariffs.

But so far, they aren't. In fact, his economic approval ratings have been trending downward and below his overall rating. Two polls this week, AP/NORC and Reuters/Ipsos, show Trump's overall approval at his lowest point since being sworn in for his second term — 42% and 43%, respectively.

His economic approval in AP's poll is 40%, while in Reuters' it's 37%, including just 30% for his efforts to lower the cost of living.

4. The federal cuts hit health agencies.

Speaking of other substantive things Trump may be trying to distract from, his administration began firing some 10,000 staffers at the Department of Health and Human Services this week.

The cuts included leaders and some of the country's leading scientists and researchers, as well as the forcing out of the Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks.

Despite that, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed in an interview last week on NewsNation, "We're not cutting scientists. We're not cutting frontline workers."

He talked of trying to make the "sprawling" agencies, as he called them, more efficient when it comes to things like human resources and communications. It's possible that there were mistakes made in who received reduction-in-force notices, as there have been with some of the other cuts made.

But many see dangers to the country in what's already been done.

"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies," Marks wrote in his letter of resignation.

Dr. Ashish Jha, who was President Biden's COVID-19 response coordinator and is currently dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told NPR: "I'm worried that what we're going to see is more people getting sick, more disease outbreaks and infrastructure that is going to be less and less capable of responding to those threats."

Wendy Armstrong, director of infectious diseases at the University of Colorado and vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, was even more blunt in an interview with The Bulwark: "It's astounding. It will affect patients with all kinds of different kinds of infections, and Americans will suffer, and people will die, and that's a horrible thing to see coming."

Over several decades, the United States has become a leader in science research, relied upon not just domestically but internationally. That's because agencies under HHS like the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration study and help fund and develop breakthroughs in everything from autism and cancer to neurological disease.

They're gatekeepers for the medicines Americans take, and they're on the front lines of helping to stop the spread of infectious diseases and help develop vaccines that help prevent the spread of pandemics.

These agencies had long had bipartisan support and were among the most trusted in the federal government. But COVID changed all that. Largely because of widespread online misinformation given credence by political leaders on the right, these agencies became lightning rods and officials were vilified by MAGA.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and chairman of the Senate Health committee, is calling on Kennedy to testify to explain the cuts.

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"The news coverage on the HHS reorg is being set by anonymous sources and opponents are setting the perceptions," Cassidy said in a statement. "In the confirmation process, RFK committed to coming before the committee on a quarterly basis. This will be a good opportunity for him to set the record straight and speak to the goals, structure and benefits of the proposed reorganization."

Here's a day-by-day look at what happened in the past week:

Friday, March 28:

• In Greenland, Vice President Vance says the U.S. can't ignore the encroachment of Russia and China there. On the Signal controversy, he says that it is in the U.S. interest to preserve navigation, but that it has to be done "right." He adds that he "always supported" Trump striking the Houthis. "Our message to Denmark is very simple," Vance says, "you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change, and because it hasn't changed, this is why President Trump's policy in Greenland is what it is." He also says that using military force to obtain the island is not what the administration wants. Trump previously said that was not off the table.
• Trump says on social media that he is nominating Sara Carter director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Carter, a Fox News contributor, has focused on stories involving drug trafficking, immigration and national security. The position requires Senate confirmation.
• In a 2-1 ruling, an appeals court clears the way for Trump to fire officials in quasi-independent government agencies. 
• Texas health officials have confirmed 400 reported measles cases since the outbreak began there in January. That's a jump of 77 new cases since Tuesday. This year, the U.S. has reported more than 480 measles cases in 20 states. That's more cases than in all of 2024.
• The top vaccine official at the FDA is forced out, and he didn't mince words in his resignation letter.
• Trump commutes the sentence of Carlos Watson, Ozy co-founder, who was convicted in a financial conspiracy case. He was set to report just hours later for a 10-year prison sentence. (Watson served as a corporate director of NPR, but stepped down from his company in 2021 amid allegations of wrongdoing at his company.)
• The FCC is investigating Disney and ABC over diversity policies. 

Saturday:

• Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., has a contentious town hall. She says the Signal chat was "actually very bad." 
• The White House Correspondents Association cancels the comedian it had booked for its annual dinner later this month. The organization's president said in a statement that "[at] this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division, but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists."

Sunday:

• Trump tells NBC that he's "not joking" that he's thinking about running again and his team has looked into ways of doing it. 
• He also tells NBC News he's "angry" — even "pissed off" —  with Russian President Vladimir Putin over comments that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader. Trump threatens Russia with more sanctions on Russian oil if a peace deal isn't struck. 
• Of tariffs potentially raising car prices, Trump says: "I couldn't care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars. … I couldn't care less. I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. … [I]f the prices on foreign cars go up, they're going to buy American cars."
• Iran rejects direct talks with the U.S. Iranian President Pezeshkian says: "We don't avoid talks; it's the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far. They must prove that they can build trust."
• France balks at a letter sent from the State Department to French companies saying a presidential executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion also applies to French companies who do business in the U.S.
• Greenland's prime minister pushes back on Trump assertions that the U.S. will take the island: "President Trump says that the United States 'will get Greenland.' Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future."
• A University of Minnesota graduate student is detained by ICE. 
• Wisconsin's attorney general asks a judge to stop Elon Musk's $1 million payments to voters. 
• The administration plans overseas firings of U.S. Institute of Peace employees. 
• Musk holds a town hall in Wisconsin, where he wears a cheese hat and notes that depopulation is the greatest problem facing humanity.
• The White House intends to take over the seating of correspondents in the briefing room.
• The Wall Street Journal reports that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has hosted other Signal chat rooms with sensitive material, including about Ukraine.
• AP/NORC poll finds Trump's approval rating dropping to 42% overall and 40% on the economy. He does best on immigration at 49%.

Monday:

• Goldman Sachs raises the odds of a recession to 35%.
• Trump commutes sentence of Jason Galanis, a former Hunter Biden associate who cooperated with the GOP House investigation.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appoints his brother to the position of Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser. The AP notes: "Based on Phil Hegseth's publicly available resume, his past experience includes founding his own podcast production company, Embassy and Third, and working on social media and podcasts at The Hudson Institute."
• The White House says it has closed its investigation of the Signal chat group breach.
• Trump says he hasn't looked into running for a third term in his interview with Fox and hints that DOGE may come to an end at the 130-day mark. 
• Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., begins a talk-a-thon in the Senate in protest of the Trump administration's policies. 
• Trump administration gets another loss in federal court. This time on temporary protected status for Venezuelans. 
• Elon Musk visits the CIA to discuss DOGE efforts. 
• Trump signs executive order to end collective bargaining at agencies that deal at all with national security. 
• Judge rules that Alabama cannot prosecute groups that help women get abortions in other states.
• Trump signs an executive order seeking to crack down on ticket scalping — with Kid Rock by his side in the Oval Office.
• The administration deports 17 more people to El Salvador despite a court order blocking the flights. The administration is using a different justification calling them counterterrorism efforts. 

Tuesday:

• Wisconsin judicial election takes place. Musk factored heavily into the race, but the Democratic-backed candidate wins by 10 points.
• Republicans win two special elections in Florida by double digits, though the margins were half of what Republicans won them by in November.
• Senate Armed Services Committee hearing for Trump's nominee for chairman of the joint chiefs, Dan Caine. He denies he'd worn a MAGA hat and that he'd said he'd kill for Trump. "I've never worn any political merchandise or said anything to that effect," he said.
• The administration acknowledges a Maryland man was deported in error, which The Atlantic first reported.  
• Senate Democrats to try and force a vote on Trump's Canadian tariffs.
• It's been the worst quarter for the stock market since 2022. 
• The administration is targeting federal funds to Harvard, totaling $9 billion.  
• Widespread firings begin at HHS, as the Trump administration looks to cut 10,000 workers there. A breakthrough Parkinson's researcher was one of the purged. 
• Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner during Trump's first term from May 2017 through April 2019, wrote on X Tuesday that he fears the United States will no longer be the first to get access to new drugs and treatments as a result of the FDA staff cuts.
• Democratic attorneys general sue Trump for trying to claw back $11 billion in health funding to states. 
• Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. puts a hold on several Veterans Affairs nominees because of the administration's planned cuts to the agency.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi announces she's seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangioni, who was convicted of murdering a healthcare company CEO.
• The Washington Post reports that Waltz and his staff have also used Gmail for government communication.
• Booker breaks the late Strom Thurmond's record for longest continuous speech on the Senate floor — more than 24 hours. 
• House Speaker Mike Johnson fails to block remote voting push. 
• Senate confirms Matt Whitaker as Trump's ambassador to NATO. 
• Another targeted law firm reaches a deal with Trump White House, Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher.
• The Naval Academy removes 400 books from its library for "DEI" purposes after being told to do so by Defense Secretary Hegseth's office. 
• Federal judge blocks firing of intelligence agency employees who worked on DEI programs.   
• Dozens of grants to Princeton are suspended. 
• New York Mayor Eric Adams' case is dismissed. 
• The head of the Wilson Center resigns after DOGE employees began attempting to dismantle it. 

Wednesday:

• Trump imposes broad tariffs against trading partners. He's calling it "Liberation Day."  Here's a tariff timeline. 
• Politico reports that Waltz set up at least 20 Signal groups to discuss various international issues. 
• Senate Republicans unveil their budget. They are looking at trying to get around the Senate parliamentarian, so Trump's tax cuts appear to have no cost to the federal budget and to have more latitude on what can be included in a reconciliation bill, a procedural maneuver that would bypass a potential filibuster and only need 51 votes for passage. 
• Another U.S. law firm strikes a deal with Trump: Milbank.
• New York Mayor Adams — newly out from under federal corruption charges — says he won't run in a Democratic primary for another term, but is planning to run instead as an independent.
• Musk's favorability rating in Wisconsin is recorded at 38% in a poll from Marquette Law School
• The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta's Mark Zuckerberg is lobbying President Trump to try and come up with a settlement to avoid an upcoming antitrust trial brought by the Federal Trade Commission that would force it to unwind WhatsApp and Instagram.
• The New York Times reports that Amazon put in a last-minute bid to try and buy TikTok.
• Trump is listed at No. 700 on the world's list of billionaires. Musk is listed as No. 1.
• Reuters reports that a former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner had his visa revoked because of comments critical of Trump.
• Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff has placed a permanent hold on Ed Martin's nomination to be U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.
• Trump's social media company files paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would pave the path for Trump's trust to sell $2 billion worth of shares.

Thursday:

• Global markets are down because of tariffs. There are questions about how they were calculated. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says of the tariffs: "It's now clear that the Trump administration computed reciprocal tariffs without using tariff data. This is to economics what creationism is to biology, astrology is to astronomy, or RFK thought is to vaccine science."
• Political leaders around the world are upset with the tariffs. French President Macron has asked European Union businesses to hold off on U.S. investments for now.
• Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says Trump "is not going to back off" these tariffs and that the U.S. is the economic "sumo wrestler" of the world.
• Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer points out that Russia was conspicuously left off Trump's tariff list.
• Former Vice President Mike Pence calls the tariffs the "largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history." The Tax Foundation estimates that average families will see an increase in cost of $2,100 over the year.
• Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduce legislation to limit the president's tariff power.
• American carmaker Stellantis announces it is laying off 900 autoworkers after Trump's tariffs were announced. It has also paused production at plants in Mexico and Canada.
• Trump is expected to make an appearance at the Saudi-backed LIV golf's first domestic event in Florida.
• Trump's executive orders are making it difficult for Justice Department lawyers to defend them all in court. 
• Secretary of State Rubio is in Europe visiting NATO. 
• For the first time in many years, a senior Russian official is in Washington to meet with U.S. administration officials. 
• Federal Judge James Boasberg, says there's a "fair likelihood" the administration violated his order to turn flights around of deported Venezuelans and acted in "bad faith." 
• Trump approval drops to 43% in Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 37% approve of his handling of the economy and 30% approve of his efforts to lower the cost of living. Majorities also think tariffs will do more harm than good and will hurt someone close to them.
• Multiple news outlets report that Trump fired multiple National Security Council staffers after meeting with far-right conspiracy theorist and activist Laura Loomer, who questioned their loyalty. 
• Senators voted, in a nonbinding resolution, to overturn Trump's 25% tariffs on Canada. Four Republicans voted with Democrats — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. McConnell and Paul are concerned about the effect on exports of Kentucky bourbon. Collins cited her concerns over tourism, farming and lobster processing.
• Defense Department acting inspector general launches investigation into Defense Secretary Hegseth's use of the Signal app. (NPR CEO Katherine Maher is chair of the board of the foundation that oversees the Signal app.)
• The Trump administration is warning states to end what it sees as DEI policies or not receive federal funding for schools. Title I funding is used to help low-income schools. A letter state that includes "the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion ('DEI') programs to advantage one's race over another -- is impermissible."
• U.S. government bans U.S. employees in China from engaging in romantic relationships with Chinese citizens, the AP reports, noting that these kinds of "non-fraternization" policies have not been in place officially since the Cold War.

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