Trump speaks with Putin about ending war in Ukraine; John Roberts denounces Trump's call to impeach judge

Musk, whose role as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency has sparked bipartisan criticism, said he is “just implementing the will of the people.”

“I’ve never done anything awful. I’ve only done productive things,” Musk said in an interview tonight with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Musk argued that he and his DOGE team are sparking backlash because of their success “in getting rid of corruption and waste.”

“We’ve got this narrow window of opportunity with the House, Senate and a popular vote, and really, we’re just implementing the will of the people,” he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political operation is making calls urging state lobbyists not to support Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., whose 2026 bid for governor has already socked away more than $3 million — much of which has come from Trump’s donors. 

The calls, according to seven people familiar with the effort who requested anonymity to speak freely, are attempts to curb any potential contributions from mostly Tallahassee-based lobbyists to Donalds’ campaign.

Donalds, who represents a southwest Florida district, announced his Trump-backed bid for governor last month, but there remains the prospect that DeSantis’ wife, Casey, also jumps in the race, which would set up a heavyweight GOP primary and continue the long-running political proxy war between Trump and DeSantis.

“They are becoming a lot more aggressive as this thing progresses,” a veteran Republican lobbyist who received one of the calls said. “There are no threats or anything direct like that, but come on. When you get a call from the governor, or anyone around them, in this sort of context, it’s a message-sender.”

Read the full story here.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sidestepped a question today about whether he still has confidence in Schumer after last week's vote on the Republican funding bill.

“I’m not going to opine on the internal caucus politics as a freshman; I’m going to leave that to more experienced people,” said Schiff, who's in his first year as a senator.

Still, Schiff said, Democratic leadership in both chambers of Congress has to be unified.

“We’re going to have to figure out a way where leadership in the House and leadership in the Senate is on the same page and we’re clearly communicating a unified message about the harms this administration is doing,” he said.

A federal judge tonight temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating up to $20 billion in grants for climate initiatives in a case brought by the environmental group Climate United Fund.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., ruled that the administration for now cannot enforce a grant termination letter signed by acting Deputy EPA Administrator W.C. McIntosh that ordered the stoppage of all program expenditures.

“When the court asked EPA to proffer evidence justifying its decision given the terms of the agreement, its only response was to refer to the termination letter, which gave no legal justification for the termination,” Chutkan wrote in her memorandum opinion.

A federal judge today temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from enlisting or serving in the military.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of Washington, D.C., ruled that the ban violates the equal protection clause because it discriminates based on transgender status and sex.

Reyes said the ban “is soaked in animus.”

“Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” she wrote.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, said today that she still has confidence in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after his vote last week on the Republican funding bill while saying she wouldn't have done the same thing.

Referring to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Pelosi said at a news conference the same day Jeffries voiced support for Schumer: "Hakeem said that he had confidence in Chuck Schumer, so we're to the next stage on this now."

“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing. I think that’s what happened the other day,” she added. “We could have, in my view, perhaps, gotten them to agree to a third way, which was a bipartisan [continuing resolution] for four weeks in which we could have had bipartisan legislation go forward."

More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, the federal government began releasing what could be the final trove of documents delving into the assassination that shocked the nation and spawned countless conspiracy theories.

The Justice Department’s National Security Division today started unveiling the long-awaited files a day after Trump announced that 80,000 pages related to the fatal Nov. 22, 1963, shooting were about to be released.

“You got a lot of reading,” Trump said as he visited the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything.”

Trump was cagey about what would be in the files. Historians contend that around 4,700 documents haven’t yet been released.

Read the full story here.

House leaders have yet to appoint board members to an independent office designed to investigate ethics complaints against lawmakers and their staff members, leaving the entity powerless for the time being and sparking concerns among outside watchdogs.

The House rules package for the new Congress, which was approved in January along party lines, re-authorized the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics and gave it a new name: the Office of Congressional Conduct.

But more than two months later, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who have the authority to fill the board seats, have yet to do so.

Without a board in place, professional staff members are not authorized to launch investigations. If the seats remain unfilled by Saturday, it will mark the longest the office has had a vacant board since it was formed in 2008.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb, is facing a confrontational crowd tonight at a town hall in his district.

“I believe that town halls are an important part of the process,” Flood said as he opened up the event in Columbus. “It’s democracy. It’s how we communicate with each other.”

The event quickly turned more intense once the floor was opened up for questions. Flood, who is vice chair of the centrist-leaning Main Street Caucus, was met with loud boos when he said he supported spending cuts.

“For the first time in decades, we have a president that is cutting spending and he is looking to find efficiencies,” Flood said. “And I support that effort.”

Employees of the U.S. African Development Foundation began receiving notifications today that they had been placed on administrative leave, according to a copy of a notification obtained by NBC News.

The letter from Pete Marocco, a top State Department official, referred to him as the acting chief executive officer and president of USADF. It informs recipients that they have been placed “on excused absence (also known as administrative leave) with pay, effective immediately,” and that they are prohibited “from entering ADF premises, accessing ADF systems, or attempting to use your position or authority with ADF in any way without my prior permission or the prior permission of a supervisor in your chain of command.”

The notifications come less than two weeks after members of DOGE accessed the USADF offices and as DOGE gained access this week to the U.S. Institute of Peace. Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled today in a separate case involving DOGE and Marocco that the dismantling of USAID “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”

Last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied a request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Marocco, DOGE and others from removing Ward Brehm as president of USADF. Leon wrote that he would “closely scrutinize” whether DOGE employees took steps to maintain USADF to “the minimal presence and function required by law.” Leon’s motion for a preliminary injunction is due Friday, and a hearing is set for April 16.

The two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission said they were illegally fired by Trump today in another major test of the independence of regulatory agencies.

A White House official confirmed the firing but did not have further comment.

“This is corruption plain and simple,” former Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said of his firing in a statement on X.

His former colleague Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said in a statement: “The President illegally fired me from my position as a Federal Trade Commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent.”

Read the full story here.

Two investigators in the IRS' criminal division, including the agent who opened a criminal probe into Hunter Biden’s taxes, have been promoted and hold new positions at the Treasury Department, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The two men —Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler — are now senior advisers to Bessent. They will later transfer back to the IRS in leadership roles.

Ziegler, who was the originating case agent investigating Biden’s taxes, testified at a hearing in July 2023 that there had been “gross mismanagement” involving the probe. He has suggested federal prosecutors turned a blind eye to some of the allegations against the president’s son.

Shapley, testifying at the same hearing, said the Justice Department had given Biden preferential treatment.

For nearly 75 years, it has been a distinctly American responsibility to have a four-star U.S. general oversee all NATO military operations in Europe — a command that began with then-World War II hero and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

But the Trump administration, according to two defense officials familiar with the planning and a Pentagon briefing reviewed by NBC News, is considering changing that.

Read the full story here.

Trump signed a memo this afternoon that directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to remove language about “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” from materials promoting foreign service.

The memo says the federal government won't use characteristics like race, religion, sex or national origin as part of recruitment or hiring or efforts to retain foreign service employees.

The memo directs agencies to "identify and take appropriate action regarding any Foreign Service Officer who knowingly and willfully engaged in illegal discrimination."

Trump signed an executive order on preparedness that aims to “empower” state and local communities when it comes to incidents like cyberattacks and weather events.

The order would create a national register to identify, describe and measure risks to guide spending and planning.

The White House said it would enable "state and local governments to better understand, plan for, and address the needs of their citizens.”

Trump and his allies have been calling for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he blocked the deportation of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. The push to get rid of Boasberg became more serious today when Trump himself weighed in and agreed.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement afterward, rebuking Trump and his allies for going after judges who rule against the administration.

Indeed, Congress impeaches not to retaliate against judges who have issued rulings they disagree with but instead to remove judges who have committed crimes or been alleged to have taken part in bribery or other behaviors that would preclude them from doing their duties on the bench.

Here's a look at the history and process of impeaching judges.

Read the full story here.

A federal judge ordered the government to reinstate U.S. Agency for International Development systems today, ruling that the accelerated shutdown of the agency led by Elon Musk “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang ordered Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to reinstate access to email, payment, security notification and all other electronic systems for all current USAID employees and contractors. He also ordered it to provide written confirmation of compliance to the court within seven days.

“The court will require Defendants, within 14 days, to secure and submit a written agreement among all necessary parties that ensures that USAID will be able to reoccupy USAID headquarters at its original location, in the event of a final ruling in favor of Plaintiffs,” the order said.

He also ordered DOGE and Musk not to take any action regarding USAID without the express authorization of a USAID official with legal authority to do so.

Read the full story here.

After days of clashes within the party over last week’s government shutdown fight, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N.Y., are trying to get back on the same page.

During separate public appearances today, the two congressional Democratic leaders sought to return their focus to battling Trump and his agenda, particularly the potential Medicaid cuts his Republican allies in Congress are looking at in their party-line bill for taxes, immigration and other policy priorities.

Read the full story here.

The White House said today that Trump and Putin have agreed that the process to reach a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would begin with an energy infrastructure ceasefire.

“This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts,” the White House said in a readout of the call between the two leaders.

Read the full story here.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt today confirmed reporting that Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink is providing Wi-Fi around the White House campus, saying it was done to improve internet connectivity.

"Just like the Biden Administration did on numerous occasions, the White House is working to improve WiFi connectivity on the complex," Leavitt said in a statement this afternoon.

The Starlink service at the White House is the latest expansion in the federal government's reliance on the SpaceX-operated internet service provider. Musk, an unpaid Trump adviser who is overseeing the administration's efforts to sharply downsize the federal government, owns and operates the company.

Musk has been criticized for continuing to oversee his portfolio of private companies — many of which, including Starlink, have federal government contracts — while working in the federal government himself.

Vance will be the next Republican National Committee finance chair, the first time a sitting vice president has concurrently served in the role, the RNC announced today.

Vance said in a statement that to "fully enact the MAGA mandate" and Trump's vision, "we must keep and grow our Republican majorities in 2026."

Trump said in a statement that Vance would "do a fantastic job," adding that "he knows how to fight and win tough races."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., voiced his support this morning for his Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as he faces mounting backlash within his party over his handling of the government funding fight last week.

Schumer led a group of Democratic senators to vote in favor of a Republican-backed government funding bill Friday to avert a federal government shutdown. Schumer argued that advancing the bill, which opens the door for sweeping cuts to Medicaid and other entitlement programs, was less dangerous than allowing the government to shut down as the Trump administration aims to dismantle its workforce.

Jeffries, despite having publicly urged Schumer and Senate Democrats to block the GOP funding bill, told NBC News today that "I do" support Schumer's Senate leadership. The pair “had a good conversation” Sunday “about the path forward, particularly as it relates to making sure we all speak with one voice in the effort to stop these Medicaid cuts from ever being enacted into law," he said.

The Trump administration says it is moving to reinstate more than 24,000 probationary workers it fired as part of its efforts to slash the federal workforce, court documents filed yesterday show.

Officials at 18 departments and agencies submitted signed declarations detailing their teams’ efforts to rehire the fired workers to comply with court orders. Last week two federal judges ordered the administration to temporarily reinstate thousands of probationary workers who were fired.

But many of the employees being reinstated won’t be getting right back to work; instead, they’ll be placed on administrative leave.

Read the full story here.

The Treasury Department announced today that two IRS employees who investigated Hunter Biden for tax evasion will become senior advisers at the department.

“I am pleased to welcome Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler to the Treasury Department, where they will help us drive much-needed cultural reform within the IRS,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Bessent said Shapley and Ziegler will help to "further the agency’s focus on collections, modernization, and customer service, so we can deliver a more effective and efficient IRS experience for hardworking American taxpayers."

A Canadian actress says she experienced “inhumane” treatment after being detained by U.S. immigration officials while trying to cross the border from Mexico.

Jasmine Mooney, whose credits include “American Pie Presents: The Book of Love,” said she was trying to renew her work visa when she approached the U.S. border near San Diego on March 3, but was denied entry and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days,” Mooney, who is also the co-founder of a health drink brand, told local San Diego news outlet KGTV. 

Her story echoes those of German nationals and others who have found themselves unexpectedly detained as the Trump administration ramps up border enforcement and tightens immigration policies.

The Justice Department on Tuesday refused to answer a number of questions from a federal judge who had demanded more information on deportations that were carried out under a rarely used wartime act.

“The Government maintains that there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate,” the Justice Department said in a court filing responding to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s ruling that it provide him with more information.

The filing, however, did include a declaration from an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement answering some of the questions the judge had posed at a hearing Monday, at which he expressed frustration that the government had appeared to snub his order halting the deportations and its refusal to answer questions about its actions.

Read the full story.

A White House official told NBC News the call between Trump and Putin is over. The call lasted over an hour and a half.

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement rebuking Trump and his allies for calling to impeach judges who have ruled against the administration.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,” Roberts said in a statement.

Trump allies have called for various judges to be impeached for blocking administration policies in the first months of his second term.

Read the full story here.

According to White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, Trump's call with Putin is still ongoing as of 11:32 a.m. — meaning it has been going on for over an hour and a half so far.

Trump lashed out this morning at a federal judge who has ordered the administration to pause deportations under the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg questioned a government lawyer over the administration's response to a weekend court order where he demanded that planes carrying deportees under the Alien Enemies Act be turned around. Deportees ultimately arrived in El Salvador, raising questions about the timing of the flights.

"This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" Trump said in a Truth Social post. "WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY."

It is unclear how the administration determined that the people deported are members of a Venezuelan gang. It is also unclear whether the deportees had any court hearings ahead of being deported.

Lawyers in the Justice Department’s national security division worked all night to review hundreds of pages of classified documents set for release today related to the JFK assassination, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

This was first reported by ABC News.

Trump said yesterday that the files would be released today.

Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, outlined his vision for the agency in a lengthy memo to staff today, detailing exploratory efforts to implement artificial intelligence and boost anti-fraud efforts as Trump and his right-hand adviser Elon Musk have zeroed in on claims of widespread improper payments at the bureau.

In the memo, which was shared with NBC News by a person who obtained it, Dudek apologized for having made mistakes, said he will continue to make more and pledged to learn from them.

Read the full story here.

Trump is still speaking to Putin, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino said on X.

"Happening Now—President Trump is currently in the Oval Office speaking with President Vladimir Putin of Russia since 10:00amEDT. The call is going well, and still in progress," Scavino wrote at 10:54 a.m.

The Trump administration is facing a growing legal battle as a federal judge is now questioning whether his order halting the deportation of undocumented migrants was ignored. The Justice Department is expected to answer key questions about the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador without due process. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for "TODAY."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has joined Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, making him among the only world leaders to do so.

It comes as India is also among the few countries to offer pre-emptive trade concessions to the U.S., hoping to avoid tariffs. Modi and Trump have a personal relationship that goes back years, and are seen as having similar worldviews, especially as the U.S. looks to India as a counter to China.

In his first post on Truth Social, the Indian leader posted a picture of himself with Trump during the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston during his 2019 visit to the U.S., saying he was “delighted” to join the platform.

Modi has been making an effort to appeal to Trump supporters lately, including by appearing on Lex Fridman’s podcast, the link to which was shared by Trump yesterday. 

Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, a probationary employee with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who was fired Feb. 14 as part of the cuts pushed by the Department of Government Efficiency, was reinstated today, according to an email shared exclusively with NBC News. 

Spitzer-Stadtlander was one of several employees who was working on a warning radar system for Hawaii to detect incoming missiles, through a program that was in part funded by the Defense Department. The program was part of the FAA’s National Airspace System Defense Program and involves radars providing longer-range detection around the nation’s borders.

The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to reverse his decision to block the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants.

The move, which came in an overnight filing, is the latest development in the legal battle over whether the administration can deport alleged gang members using the authority of a rarely invoked act.

The administration argued in the filings that the "court lacks jurisdiction" over the claims of the Venezuelan plaintiffs, and that those suing the administration "have not shown the requisite irreparable harm."

More than half of Americans want the U.S. to help Ukraine regain territory it has lost since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, even if that means prolonging the conflict, new research shows.

An opinion poll from Gallup released this morning found 53% of respondents support the U.S. aiding Ukraine’s defense efforts, compared to 45% who want a quick end to the conflict even if that means conceding land to Russia.

Trump has sharply turned U.S. away from former President Joe Biden’s policy of pledging huge financial and military aid to Ukraine, claiming that he actively supports neither side and is working toward a peace deal. A national NBC News poll found yesterday that a majority of Americans, 61%, support Ukraine over Russia and that most believe Trump favors Russia.

“Looking ahead, this increase in public preference for stronger U.S. involvement may pressure the Trump administration to recalibrate its Ukraine policy, especially if Russia violates potential ceasefire agreements,” Gallup said in its analysis of the figures.

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Kyiv’s NATO aspirations and land will likely be on the table this morning when Trump tries to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

The two leaders are set to speak on a phone call scheduled for between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET that will go on for “as long as they deem necessary,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today.

Read the full story.

The State Department has reauthorized scholarship funding for Afghan women studying in Oman who said they faced persecution by the Taliban if their program was canceled and they were deported to Afghanistan.

Last Wednesday, the U.S. government authorized the continuation of funding to the American University of Afghanistan and Texas A&M University until June 30, a State Department spokesperson said. It is unclear whether funding would then be further extended for the program, which is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The women had appealed for urgent help to allow them to continue their studies abroad, saying that their return to Afghanistan, where the Taliban has severely curtailed women's rights, "would mean the permanent loss of our education and exposure to severe risks, including oppression, insecurity, and a future without opportunities."

Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, has retweeted a post by a far-right commentator who praised the dismantling of Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded news outlets.

Ian Miles Cheong, a contributor to the Russian state media outlet RT, claimed that Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and other outlets run by the U.S. Agency for Global Media "produced and disseminated far-left propaganda, including media hostile to conservatives in Central European countries such as Poland, Slovakia and Hungary" and perpetuated "pro-war narratives against Russia."

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent U.S. government agency, was one of seven entities Trump designated for elimination in an executive order last Friday, in a move critics said was a win for authoritarian regimes such as China, where state media cheered the decision to shut the outlets known for their reporting on issues such as human rights and religious freedom.

Speaking earlier today, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on Chinese state media reports or U.S. domestic policy, but said "it is not a secret that those U.S. media outlets make biased reporting on China."

The issue of diversity, equity and inclusion programs is among the most tightly divided and polarizing questions in the United States, with wide gaps emerging along partisan and racial lines, according to the latest national NBC News poll.

Trump has made dismantling DEI programs an early focus of his administration, and voters are split over the future of DEI programs in the workplace, with deep differences depending on their political party.

Half of registered voters (49%) in the NBC News poll say DEI programs should be eliminated “because they create divisions and inefficiencies in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on race and other social factors over merit, skills and experience.”

And 48% say DEI programs in the workplace should continue “because diverse perspectives reflect our country, create innovative ideas and solutions, encourage unity and make our workplaces fair and inclusive.”

Read the full story here.

Trump is expected to speak today with Putin as the United States tries to mediate a diplomatic solution to end Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

"We have tremendous things to report tomorrow, speaking with President Putin of Russia to save some soldiers who are in deep trouble. They’re captured," Trump told reporters yesterday afternoon.

Trump said that "it's a bad situation" in both Ukraine and Russia.

"What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace, and I think we’ll be able to do it. I’m speaking to President Putin tomorrow morning," he said.

The Democratic National Committee has launched a six-figure investment in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in support of liberal candidate Susan Crawford.

The investment comes exactly two weeks ahead of the technically nonpartisan April 1 election that will determine the state Supreme Court’s ideological balance for the second time in two years and coincides with today's kickoff of early voting.

The DNC describes the move as the party’s earliest-ever electoral investment after a November election.