The Trump administration is now targeting Stanford University and three University of California campuses with investigations into their admissions policies.
And an executive order Trump signed Thursday night puts Vance in charge of rooting out "improper ideology" at the Smithsonian Institution 's many museums, in his latest move against the pillars of America's civil society — universities, science, the media and the law — that he considers out of step with Republican sensibilities.
Here's the Latest:
Vance expected to hammer Danish leadership during visit to Greenland
The vice president is expected to make the case during his visit to Greenland on Friday that Danish leaders have “spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair, according to a senior White House official.
He’ll deliver the message during an hourslong visit as Trump continues to say he intends for the U.S. to take control of the icy, mineral-rich island where American forces already have a strategic base.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to preview the vice president’s message, added that Vance will emphasize the importance of bolstering Artic security in places like Pituffik Space Base, where American troops are based.
VP will spend entirety of visit to Greenland on US base
Vance is expected to meet with U.S. troops on Pituffik Space Base, receive a briefing and deliver a speech during a quick visit, a day after Greenlandic lawmakers agreed to form a new government together to resist Trump's efforts to annex the Arctic island.
“As the Vice President has said, previous U.S. leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland’s Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island,” said Taylor Van Kirk, the vice president’s press secretary. “The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island.”
Usha Vance had announced she would visit the island with one of her children and attend a dogsled race as well as other cultural events. Vance then announced he was tagging along with his wife and the itinerary changed.
▶ Read more on Vance's trip to Greenland
Planned Parenthood to counter anti-abortion lobbying with Washington rally
The organization's president, Alexis McGill Johnson, slammed efforts to eliminate Medicaid funding for its health care services as she announced a Wednesday rally in Washington, D.C. ahead of the Supreme Court hearing a case in April that could strip its funding in South Carolina.
“Lawmakers want to impose their beliefs on everyone else, this time by trying to dictate where patients get their health care,” she said.
Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services besides abortion, providing contraceptives, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and cancer screening and prevention procedures, especially for low-income patients.
“That care is under vehement, targeted attacks,” Johnson said.
Trump effect: Fewer Americans now see Canada as a close US ally
Americans are less likely to see Canada and the U.S. as close allies than they were two years ago, the latest indication that Trump's tariff threats and talk of taking over the neighboring ally are souring a critical economic and military relationship.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that about half of Democrats see Canada and the U.S. as close allies now, down from 7 in 10 before Trump's return. Among Republicans, this dropped from 55% to 44%.
Very few see the U.S. and Canada as outright “enemies.” Almost no Americans see either Russia or China as a close ally.
“He’s turning everybody against us,” bemoaned Lynn Huster, a Democrat in York, Pennsylvania.
Shaya Scher, a Republican in New Jersey, said “he’s just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal.”
▶ Read more about the AP-NORC poll on Trump and America's allies
US inflation remained elevated last month as consumer spending recovered
An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve remained high last month even before the impact of most tariffs has been felt.
Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices increased 2.5% in February from a year earlier, matching January's annual pace. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, higher than January's figure of 2.7%. Economists watch core prices as a better guide of where inflation is headed.
Inflation remains a top economic concern for most Americans, even as it has fallen sharply from its 2022 peak. Trump rode dissatisfaction with higher prices to the presidency and promised to quickly bring down inflation, but the yearly rate is higher now than during the Biden administration in September, when it briefly touched 2.1%.
▶ Read more on the latest U.S. inflation numbers
Panama port deal pleased Trump. Beijing, not so much
Chinese anti-monopoly authorities will review a Hong Kong-based conglomerate’s tentative deal to sell its port assets at the Panama Canal to a consortium that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc.
That’s according to a state-backed media outlet Friday in the latest sign of Beijing’s disapproval over the sale.
China’s Hong Kong affairs offices have posted scathing commentaries over the deal by CK Hutchison Holdings, which is controlled by the family of Li Ka-shing, the city’s richest man.
Several Hong Kong media outlets quoted anonymous sources Friday saying the conglomerate would not sign the definitive documentation next Wednesday, as was expected in a timeline released by Hutchison in early March. The South China Morning Post newspaper reported that it understood next Wednesday was not a real deadline.
Trump-backed Byron Donalds opening campaign to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis
The 2026 Florida governor's race is already heating up as Rep. Byron Donalds — backed by President Donald Trump — opens his campaign Friday evening with a hometown rally in Bonita Springs.
The event at the Sugarshack venue comes a month after Donalds officially announced his run to succeed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose term is expiring.
DeSantis hinted previously that his wife, Casey DeSantis, would be a worthy candidate to continue his administration's legacy. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said in January that too he was considering a run.
▶ Read more on Republicans running to succeed Gov. DeSantis in Florida
Elon Musk heads to Wisconsin
The billionaire entrepreneur is returning to the campaign trail for the first time since helping to elect Trump.
He posted on X overnight that he would be holding an event in Wisconsin on Sunday night. The battleground state is holding a pivotal Supreme Court race, which will determine whether liberals maintain their 4-3 majority.
"This is super important," Musk wrote. He also said he'll hand out two $1 million checks to voters, part of a sweepstakes he's used to generate interest.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk’s political action committee, declined to say Friday whether the two would include the $1 million Musk previously said was going to a voter in Green Bay.
▶ Read more on Musk's influence campaign in Wisconsin
Citing national security, Trump orders an end to end collective bargaining at many federal agencies
Trump is moving to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law.
The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
Police and firefighters, the order says, are an exception.
Trump said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies because of their role in safeguarding national security.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said late Thursday that it is “preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.”
▶ Read more about Trump's order on collective bargaining
Stanford, Cal and UCLA investigated race-based admissions policies
The Trump administration on Thursday opened investigations into the admissions policies at Stanford University and three campuses within the University of California system, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
The Department of Justice said it’s investigating whether the schools’ policies comply with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action in college admissions.
Stanford said it took immediate steps in 2023 to ensure its admissions process complied with the law. The school said it had not been told specifically why it was being investigated.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has attempted to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges and elsewhere.
▶ Read more about the anti-DEI investigation
Trump aims to reshape Smithsonian museums and zoo by targeting funding for ‘improper ideology’
Trump revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.
It's the Republican president’s latest salvo against cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities.
The president said there’s been a “concerted and widespread” effort to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
The order puts Vice President JD Vance in charge of an effort to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo. It specifically names the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The executive order also hints at the return of Confederate statues and monuments, many of which were taken down or replaced around the country after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is detested by Trump and other conservatives.
The order also calls for improvements to Independence Hall in Philadelphia by July 4, 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
▶ Read more about Trump's executive order on the Smithsonian
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