SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday night in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four.

Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes of this game. The second-to-last attempt during its game-ending 1-for-9 stretch was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer.

It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5. LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 26 points, made two more to push the lead to three. It was Houston’s biggest lead of the night.

“No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “If you quit, you’ve lost.”

The Cougars (35-4), who have never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jamma, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.

Florida’s 79-73 win over Auburn in the early game was a free-flowing hoopsfest. This one would’ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets.

That’s just how Houston likes it. It closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 74 seconds, and though Flagg finished with 27 points, he did it on 8-for-19 shooting and never got a good look after his 3 at the 3:02 mark put the Blue Devils (35-4) up by nine.

It looked over at that point. Houston was just getting started.

“We had a feeling that we could still win this game,” Roberts said.

A team that prides itself on getting three stops in a row — calling the third one the “kill stop” — allowed a measly three free throws down the stretch. One came when Joseph Tugler got a technical for batting the ball from a Duke player’s hand as he was trying to throw an inbounds pass.

That didn’t make it any better for Duke.

On the possession following the technical, Tugler rejected Kon Knueppel (16 points), then Emanuel Sharp (16 points) made a 3 to cut the deficit to three.

Mylik Wilson stole the next inbounds pass and missed a game-tying 3, but Tugler tipped it in to cut the deficit to one.

Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 20 seconds left to set the stage for the Roberts free throws.

Duke’s slow walk off the court came through a phalanx of Houston fans who waved goodbye to Flagg, who will likely be off to the NBA as the first pick in the draft.

Houston finished with six steals and six blocked shots, including four from Tugler, who might be the best shot blocker this program has seen since Hakeem Olajuwon, who was on hand at the Alamodome to see the program’s first trip to the final since 1984.

Big win for AI

The huge comeback also netted a $1 million win for artificial intelligence. An AI disruptor bet a professional gambler that his program could do a better March Madness bracket, and it all came down to the Duke-Houston game.

Even if the Houston loses in the final, the AI bracket will get more points in the contest and the disruptor, Alan Levy, will pocket the million.

— By EDDIE PELLS, Associated Press

TROY – The newly opened complex with turf fielding at Troy allowed the Colts and Dakota to get in a nine-inning contest Saturday afternoon that the Cougars took, 13-3.

Dakota improved to 3-0 on the early season thanks a quartet that produced quality innings and two big frames of offense.

“We had a plan going in about who we were gonna throw and play, and got it worked out where everybody a little playing time, got some swings and some pitching,” Cougars head coach Angelo Plouffe said when asked about how the plan changed when the teams opted for a longer game over the originally scheduled doubleheader due to a delay with rainfall. “We’ve got a lot of good arms and we’ve got to get them throwing, and it waws fun to watch them throw today.”

The Cougars deployed Josh Geill, Chase Thornton, Landon Leidlein and James Neucterlien, who all tossed at least two complete innings and combined for 17 strikeouts.

“I thought our pitchers competed,” Troy head coach Joe D’Orazio said. “A lot of young guys, first time throwing today for varsity experience. Some of them did compete, we’ve just got to learn that against really, really good teams, one pitch can make the difference. And I think overall, too, a lot of it was guys not being aggressive enough up there hitting-wise. I thought we didn’t swing the bat that well today at all, so that’s probably where most of the frustration comes in. Because some of these guys are getting some opportunities to kind of showcase if they want to be in that lineup in (league play), and some of them kind of didn’t swing the bat much.”

Dakota’s bats got off beginning with Andrew Borowicz’s RBI single into left with runners at the corners to open the scoring in the top of the second, and Evan Morrison drove one in as well in the third inning to make it 2-0. But the Cougars began to break it open in the fourth as Jacob Gjonaj and Borowicz walked, then Luke Kavalick was hit by a pitch before Braylon Ryan stepped up and drove a 1-0 offering over the fence in right field for a grand slam that made it 6-0.

“Honestly, I was just looking for the ball up in the zone,” Ryan said. “He was throwing a lot of off-speeds, changeups, curveballs. I got a fastball that I could drive, and that was it. It was gone. It was actually my first home run on varsity. Very exciting.”

Colts junior Jack Sobotka pulled it back to 7-2 with a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth that helped give the home side a chance, but Troy remained behind by five going into a ninth inning that Dakota’s bats made another long one. Leidlein, Dylan Beitelshees and Michael Ross all drove in runs in the final frame to help the Cougars seal the deal.

Morrison ended the day with a team-high three hits for the Cougars, who had a dozen on the afternoon.

Coleton Steward, Carlos Aguierre and Noah Ordway had the other hits for Troy, who came into the day 4-0. Their 5-4 win over Utica to open the season back on March 19 also served as the Colts’ first game in their new digs.

“We had a bond pass about two years ago, and this is all brand new and the first year on turf, so that’s kind of why we had to push back (the start) a little bit,” D’Orazio said. “This morning, we weren’t really sure how it would handle all that rain, but it’s done a pretty nice job. We’re pretty blessed to have this.”

Photos from Macomb Dakota vs. Troy in D1 baseball action

Despite some frustration with the bats Saturday, D'Orazio still welcomed the challenge that the Cougars, a regional finalist last year and a Final Four team the season before, brought. "They're a very good team, probably one of the better ones in the state, and it's what we're about here, trying to play the best competition," he said. "It's a great task for us, especially going into next week against a tough West Bloomfield team. That's why we had it on the schedule. Kids battled today, but we came up short."

A stellar staff that includes arms like Luke DeMasse and Ryan Petrovich believing that the Cougars can get back to East Lansing at spring's end. If they do, Dakota will also be tested by seeing some of the state's best. After already beating West Bloomfield, some more top arms should be on deck when the Cougars face Brother Rice and Novi in the coming days.

"You want to see the best pitchers," Plouffe said. "Last year, we lost (in regionals) to one of the better pitchers in the state, Brennan Hill from Grosse Pointe North, and he's going to Michigan for a reason. The more kids we see that are plus arms, it's going to make us better. Win, lose or draw, we see those guys, and at the end, we have to learn how to beat them when the tournament comes."

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points and Florida beat Southeastern Conference rival Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four on Saturday night, sending the Gators to the national championship game for the first time since their titles in 2006 and 2007.

The All-America guard for the Gators (35-4) had a driving layup with 2:24 left, on the possession right after Australian big man Alex Condon drew a charge against Johni Broome, the other All-America player in this national semifinal — and who was dealing with an injured right elbow.

After a record 14 SEC teams made this NCAA Tournament, seven got to the Sweet 16 before the league made up half the Elite Eight and then this Final Four filled with No. 1 seeds.

The Gators will have the chance Monday night to win the SEC’s first title since Kentucky in 2012, the only one since they won in back-to-back seasons. Florida takes an 11-game winning streak into the title championship game in the Alamodome against either Duke or Houston.

“We’re just all together, on the court and off the court,” Clayton said.

Even at the end of the first SEC matchup in a Final Four, Clayton chased a loose rebound and tipped it back inbounds to keep the clock running out on the win. When he started to walk back on the court, teammate Alijah Martin was standing watching him at the end line nodding with a smile to greet him.

The Tigers (32-6), in their second Final Four with coach Bruce Pearl, were the top overall seed and had an eight-point halftime lead.

“Auburn had us on our heels in the first half but we came out with a great start and we didn’t look back,” said 39-year-old Florida coach Todd Golden, who joined Pearl’s first staff at Auburn in 2014.

Clayton became the first player with consecutive 30-point games in the Elite Eight and semifinals since Larry Bird for Indiana State in 1979, according to ESPN Stats. Clayton got over 30 with his three-point play with 1:33 left, scoring on a layup while being fouled and adding the free throw.

Martin, who played in the Final Four with FAU two years ago, added 17 points for the Gators. Thomas Haugh had 12.

Florida opened the second half with a 13-3 run, with Clayton capping an 11-0 run with a layup after Rueben Chinyelu’s steal. That put the Gators up 51-49 with 15 1/2 minutes left.

Chad Baker-Mazara, with his left hand partially wrapped because of a thumb issue, led Auburn with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Broome finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting and had seven rebounds — he had only three points after halftime.

Even before the final buzzer sounded, Broome was hunched over and then was surrounded by cameras to capture his reaction. He eventually stood up to shake hands, then walked off the court with his eyes red from crying — pulling up his jersey to wipe his face as cameras continued to follow his exit.

Broome and Baker-Mazara both were injured in the win over Michigan State last Sunday that sent the Tigers to the Final Four. Broome’s right elbow bent awkwardly during a hard fall in the second half, and in the Final Four he wore some kind of brace on his arm covered by a sleeve.

— By STEPHEN HAWKINS, Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 38 points, Zach Edey had a career-high 21 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies held off the Detroit Pistons 109-103 on Saturday night.

Ja Morant was a late scratch for the Grizzlies, who had lost seven of nine, because of an illness. Jaren Jackson had 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Cade Cunningham, returning after missing six games with a calf strain, had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Pistons, who have lost three of four. Ausar Thompson added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Detroit trailed 91-85 when center Isaiah Stewart sat with five fouls. With Detroit’s usual starter, Jalen Duren, missing the game with an injury, the Pistons were forced to use 6-foot-6 Thompson against the 7-3 3/4 Edey.

The Pistons were as close as 93-91 with four minutes left, but struggled to stop the Grizzlies around the rim. Bane hit a 3-pointer to make it 104-98 with 56 seconds left and Memphis wrapped it up at free-throw line.

Takeaways

Grizzlies: Memphis has beaten the Pistons nine straight times. Detroit’s last win came on May 6, 2021.

Pistons: Duren missed the game with a contusion of the peroneal nerve in his right leg.

Key moment

Detroit was within two with 3:56 left, but Thompson fouled Santi Aldama on a 3-point attempt, then could only split a pair of free throws at the other end.

Key stat

Memphis struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 36.7% (18-49) and making just four of 18 3-point attempts (22.2%), but only trailed by one point at the intermission by grabbing 11 of 30 (36.7%) offensive-rebound opportunities. The Grizzlies finished the half with a 10-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Up next

Memphis is at Charlotte on Tuesday night. The Pistons host Sacramento on Monday night.

— By DAVE HOGG, Associated Press

Dakota put up a handful of runs in the fourth inning, then did so again in the ninth to help secure a 13-3 win at Troy on Saturday, April 5, 2025.

DETROIT — Justyn-Henry Malloy doesn’t seem like a prototypical leadoff hitter, at least not in any old-school sense. But he has certainly produced like one.

“I started to think about how it’s a privilege to set the tone,” Malloy said after he again helped spark the Tigers’ offense in a 7-2 romp over the White Sox on a dreary Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park. “To be able to try to set the tone. And of course, when you have Carp and Riley right behind you and you wear them out a little bit and they get a good pitch to hit and they get to eat.

“And then the rest of the lineup eats.

That’s been the formula as the Tigers have won four of five after dropping the first three to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

In Malloy’s first start at the top of the order last Monday in Seattle, after he was hastily summoned early that morning from Toledo, he ignited the offense with a leadoff double, an RBI single, two walks and scored two runs in the Tigers’ first win of the season.

He went 0 for 4 with a walk in the home opener on Friday, but saw 27 pitches, helping to drive White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon out of the game in the fourth inning.

“J-Hen hunted the first pitch in that game, so he wasn’t looking to take (pitches),” manager AJ Hinch said. “You look back at his at-bats and man, he grinded the living you-know-what out of their pitcher from the leadoff spot. He didn’t get a lot of love to show for it but those were five-, six-, seven-, eight-pitch at-bats.”

Malloy was back at the top of the order Saturday and kicked things off with a first-pitch double in a two-run first inning and a two-out walk in the second ahead of Kerry Carpenter’s third home run in two games.

“He’s super impressive,” said Carpenter, who blistered a first-pitch curveball on a line (109-mph exit velocity) inside the foul pole in right field. “I love hitting after him. I’m confident even with two outs when he gets up that I’m going to get an at-bat that inning. He’s going to work the pitcher and he never gives up an at-bat. I’ve always been super impressed with him and his growth this year has been special to watch.

“He’s a great table-setter for us.”

In four games this season, Malloy is 3 for 12 with two doubles, four runs and six walks.

“He knows the strike zone but he’s not a take artist,” Hinch said. “He’s a really good hitter. Some of that comes with aggressiveness, some of it comes with patience and some is a mixture of both. He’s putting up really good at-bats.”

Malloy’s plate discipline was lauded even before he made his debut last season but, as Hinch often points out, there’s more to his offensive profile than drawing walks.

“When a guy controls the zone the way he does, there becomes this infatuation with walks,” Hinch said. “Walks are a byproduct of exactly what he’s trying to do, which is to get a good pitch to hit and hit it. The first pitch he saw today he ambushed it for a double.

“I’m proud of him because his identity gets morphed into a couple of different hitters. But he’s dangerous.”

The Tigers were up 7-1 after three innings, producing seven hits off White Sox right-hander Davis Martin, with the middle of the order doing major damage. Carpenter had the two-run homer. Spencer Torkelson doubled and hit his second homer of the season. Riley Greene was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI.

“Can we do that all year, just sign up for a two-spot in the first couple of innings and see a couple hundred pitches,” Hinch said. “There’s confidence that grows with that and there’s an identity and belief that comes when you do it a couple of games in a row.”

The White Sox contributed to their own demise in this one, as well.

The three-run third inning was ignited by Torkelson’s homer, but Martin put more meat on the table by walking Colt Keith and hitting Andy Ibáñez.

After Jake Rogers singled to load the bases, still no outs, Trey Sweeney hit a ground ball to first baseman Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn fielded it going to his right and threw home to catcher Korey Lee.

Problem: Lee was standing a few feet in front of the plate, expecting Vaughn to throw to second base and start a potential double play. It was a gift run for the Tigers and extended the inning, allowing Malloy to cap it with a sacrifice fly.

“Any win in the big leagues is awesome,” Carpenter said. “We’ve won four out of five and have a lot of good momentum. Beating teams in our division, beating good teams and hanging with the Dodgers like we did, we feel real confident right now.”

The run-cushion was beneficial because it was day of grind and labor for Tigers starter Reese Olson.

“I think that this was the first time I’ve managed Reese when almost every inning he came in shaking his head mad about something,” Hinch said. “Reese doesn’t get mad often but he didn’t execute at his best today.”

On another cold (46 degrees at game time) and damp day at Comerica Park, Olson’s velocity and spin rates were down on all of his pitches and he struggled to keep them in the strike zone.

“Didn’t feel great mechanically today,” Olson said. “It’s something I’m not worried about. It’s something that’s frustrating to deal with during the game, but I’m happy the way I dealt with it.”

To his credit, Olson soldiered through six innings and made a quality start out of it, allowing two runs and seven hits with three walks.

“I kind of fought and grinded through the outing,” Olson said “But I know the guys (pitching coaches) will have something for me tomorrow and we’ll work on it all week and get back on track for the next start.”

He got some good help from his defense, especially Ibáñez at third base. Ibáñez got Olson out of the second inning, making a diving stop and then starting a 5-4-3 double play from his knees on a ball hit by Jacob Amaya.

It was important play ending Olson’s inning in 11 pitches after he endured a 25-pitch first inning.

“That first inning was key for us to get out of,” Hinch said. “If Reese doesn’t do his part to limit the mess, all of a sudden it’s 2-0, 3-0. We’re playing the infield in with runners at second and third with one out, that inning could’ve been so different if Reese doesn’t lock it in. That was nice to see.”

With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth, Ibáñez turned a 5-3 double play on a ground ball hit by Luis Robert, Jr., helped by a superb scoop by Torkelson at first.

The White Sox erased a scoring chance for themselves with some foggy-headed baserunning in the fourth inning. Down by six runs, they had runners on first and second with two outs.

Tigers’ catcher Rogers, on the first pitch to Lee, threw a dart to first base and picked off Brooks Baldwin.

“It’s nice to get these wins at home and stack these wins together,” Carpenter said. “We need to keep it going.”

With back-to-back series wins under their belts, the Tigers will go for the sweep Sunday with rookie Jackson Jobe getting the start.

DETROIT — Patrick Kane added to a long list of career achievements during Friday’s 5-3 victory over Carolina.

Kane’s second-period goal gave the Wings a 3-1 lead and was his 20th goal of the season. That gave Kane 17 20-goal seasons in his career, passing Westland’s Mike Modano (16 seasons) for most among U.S.-born skaters. Kane is tied with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby among current players, while both trail Alex Ovechkin, who has 20 20-goal seasons.

The all-time leader? Gordie Howe, with 22.

But catching Modano, who finished his Hall of Fame career with one season on the Wings after a legendary career in Dallas, was an honor for Kane.

“He was one of my favorite players, to be honest with you,” Kane said. “I remember him a lot, just the way he skated up and down the ice, his jersey flapping behind him. He was one of the best American players of all time, so (there’s) a lot of respect for him and what he’s done in this league.

“And obviously he broke my heart in ‘99 when they beat the (Buffalo) Sabres in the Cup finals,” said Kane, who was a youngster growing up in Buffalo. “But definitely watching him growing up and how fun he was as a player, so explosive. He scored so many highlight-reel goals.”

Kane (at 36 years and 136 days) also became the oldest Wings’ player to score 20 goals in a season, passing Pavel Datsyuk (36 years, 218 days).

As coach Todd McLellan was walking to Friday’s post-game media conference, he was informed of all of Kane’s Friday accomplishments by media relations director Todd Beam.

“The walk wasn’t long enough to get through everything, which is remarkable,” McClellan said. “It’s an honor to be around him and watch him play and perform. He’s still like a young kid.”

Friday’s victory kept the Wings near the playoff chase, with Sunday’s home game against Florida (5:30 p.m./TNT/97.1) the next crucial game on the Wings’ schedule. There are only seven games left for the Wings, who need to continue to win and home the three teams close to them (Montreal, New York Rangers, Columbus) slip.

“You look at our schedule the rest of the way, it doesn’t really get any easier,” Kane said. “We can play against these top teams in the league, we proved that (Friday).”

‘Story isn’t done yet’

McLellan asked his team after the Four-Nations Tournament break whether they were more like the team that struggled up until the Christmas break, or the one that got on track after McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde as head coach.

The Wings have shown enough consistency since McLellan came aboard to believe they are closer to the post-Christmas team. But there’s plenty to play for in these final two weeks, with an opportunity to end an eight-year playoff drought for the organization.

The Wings were in a similar position late last season and missed the playoffs on the final night of the season on a tiebreaker. Did they learn from the experience to help them this time around?

“We’re going to find out,” McLellan said. “We talked about how the story isn’t done yet. We can still write another chapter, so let’s get playing the way we can. Don’t worry about standings or scores or anything like that. Last year’s experience with this group, I’m sure it helps. It can’t hurt. The belief system should be ‘we’ve been through this before, let’s keep pushing.’

“We’ll see what happens (Sunday) after Florida.”

Talbot starting again

Goaltender Cam Talbot will get his fourth consecutive start in net Sunday. McLellan wouldn’t speculate as to how he’d plan on using Talbot, or Alex Lyon, or Petr Mrazek (recovering from injury) next week, with a game Tuesday in Montreal, and a back-to-back in Florida and Tampa (Thursday/Friday).

The Wings need to be careful in not overusing Talbot, 37, with such a compact and pressure-packed schedule in the final seven games, and two weeks.

But Talbot loves the workload.

“I’m always kind of like that, I’ll play any game they tell me to play,” Talbot said. “I just try to keep myself in as good a shape as possible and just be ready anytime I get the call. This time of year is when you want to be playing and have the team and the coaching staff to have confidence in you.

“It’s not something I take lightly, and I prepare myself accordingly.”

By Luke Ramseth, The Detroit News

Two major Stellantis parts plants in Metro Detroit are preparing for a combined 330 temporary layoffs scheduled to begin on Monday and last several weeks.

The staffing cutbacks — about 170 at the Warren Stamping plant and 160 at the Sterling Stamping plant — are tied to the automaker’s decision to idle two  assembly factories in Canada and Mexico impacted by President Donald Trump’s new 25% tariffs on imported vehicles. Stellantis said last week that it expected about 900 workers in the United States to be laid off due to the new tariffs, with additional cuts coming at transmission and parts plants in Kokomo, Ind.

Both Metro Detroit stamping facilities are especially impacted by the Windsor Assembly plant closing because both supply parts for the Chrysler minivans and Dodge Charger electric muscle cars made there, said Romaine McKinney III, president of United Auto Workers Local 869, which represents about 800 workers at the Warren Stamping plant. McKinney said the plant also is affected by the nearby Warren Truck Assembly plant, which will soon pause production for several weeks due to engine shortages.

With the additional cuts this week, McKinney said more than 260 union members at the Warren Stamping will be temporarily laid off following previous cutbacks.

“They’re terrified,” McKinney said of the members. “They’re in an uproar because they knew it was coming, they could see it coming — but it’s reality now.”

McKinney has mixed feelings about Trump’s tariffs. Right now they are fueling coming layoffs and leading to lower morale among the members. And the tariffs are set to push up prices on various goods, which also won’t be good for UAW members.

Yet he also supports the goal of bringing back manufacturing work to the U.S.— even Warren Stamping has plenty of space where it could rebuild assembly lines and add staff to increase parts output, a projects he estimates might take a year at the soonest.

“It’s just so early in the game,” McKinney said, and it’s unclear how the tariff strategy will all shake out.

Warren Stamping worker Daiquiri Harris said the automaker’s layoffs caught him off guard. He knew job cuts were possible due to tariffs but figured his plant had already seen such deep cuts recently, it wouldn’t be able to reduce its workforce much further. The 47-year-old said he wondered why General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. hadn’t yet announced similar cutbacks yet due to tariffs, and whether Stellantis may have been looking to cut back production and staff anyway.

Harris said he’s torn about the White House’s tariff strategy.

“It’s tough, man,” he said. “I know they want to bring the manufacturing back and this is how they propose to do it. But I don’t know. Maybe in the long run, this’ll work out and we’ll all look back at it and be glad it happened. But for right now, it’s not looking good.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit joined a handful of supporters in front of Stellantis’ Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson plant on Friday afternoon to discuss Trump’s tariffs and the automaker’s plans to temporarily trim jobs in response. He argued tariffs can be helpful to the United States if used judiciously and strategically — but the Republican president’s onslaught of new levies on nations, the auto industry and more was instead a “macho, bully approach to dealing with the economy.”

Thanedar acknowledged this approach might work in some instances, scaring certain countries or companies to change their practices. But he said it also appeared set to damage the interconnected auto industry, which he noted sends parts back and forth to be manufactured and assembled between countries.

The congressman also questioned whether Stellantis really needed to idle plants and cut its workforce in response to the new tariffs, a sentiment that has been echoed in recent days by UAW officials.

“These 900 jobs that they are cutting, supposedly a temporary job (cut) … is that really a result of these tariffs or is this where a company is taking advantage of the situation to trim and cut some of the workforce?” Thanedar asked. “If that’s what they are doing, Stellantis should not be doing that.”

Thanedar said he had not discussed the tariff issue with Stellantis. The automaker declined to respond to his comments. But executives have said the company needs to pause production and shipments due to the new 25% tax, and as they seek to work out new levies with the Trump administration.

UAW retiree and former engine plant worker Willie Wyatt, 85, who attended Thanedar’s gathering on Friday, said he watched many good auto jobs leave the Detroit area over the years. But he’s not convinced Trump’s tariffs will bring them back. He said he’s worried the tariffs will just raise prices and lead to more layoffs for the autoworkers that remain.

“Them companies don’t leave and say, ‘I’m gonna build a new plant tomorrow and come back here,'” Wyatt said. “Donald Trump’s term is supposed to end in three or four years from now. It takes you two to three years to build a plant.”

lramseth@detroitnews.com

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If Yaxel Lendeborg returns to college for next season, he’ll play for coach Dusty May and the Wolverines.

Lendeborg, the UAB star big man who’s regarded as the top player in the transfer portal, shared the news of his commitment on his social media accounts Saturday.

Lendeborg has declared for the NBA Draft and is expected to go through the predraft process while maintaining his college eligibility. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward is projected to be a late first-round pick by Bleacher Report (No. 26) and The Athletic (No. 28) and a second-rounder by ESPN (No. 53).

“I’m focused on the draft process and making the NBA right now,” Lendeborg told ESPN. “I want a guaranteed contract. That’s the biggest thing. Make sure I am in a good spot. I would prefer to play college basketball in Ann Arbor than be in and out of the G League on a two-way (contract). I want to find a safe spot.”

CBS Sports, On3 and 247Sports all rank Lendeborg as the top transfer in the class, while The Athletic and ESPN have him ranked second and third, respectively. Based on his numbers and production, it’s easy to see why.

Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game at UAB last season, his second year with the program. He shot 35.7% from 3-point range (25-for-70), 55.2% on 2-pointers and 75.7% at the free-throw line.

He was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team All-AAC selection each of the past two seasons. Before joining UAB, Lendeborg spent two years at Arizona Western, a junior college, and was a two-time juco All-American.

May has firsthand experience with Lendeborg and faced him twice during his final season at Florida Atlantic in 2023-24. Lendeborg had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the first meeting and a 17-point, 21-rebound outing in the second encounter.

The NCAA deadline to withdraw from the draft is 10 days after the NBA combine, which will take place May 11-18 in Chicago. That means Lendeborg will have to decide where he’ll play next season by May 28.

“Honestly, I’m stuck,” Lendeborg told The Birmingham Banner of his decision. “Obviously, I want to be in the NBA. I want to be a pro, but one more year college does sound fun. It does sound like I get to prepare myself a little bit more. … Ultimately, I can’t even say (for sure), but I would say like 80-20 NBA to college.”

Lendeborg is the third transfer to commit to Michigan, along with North Carolina point guard Elliot Cadeau and Illinois big man Morez Johnson Jr.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Lions made several signings in the first wave of NFL free agency that bode well from a culture and talent standpoint.

Cornerback DJ Reed, nose tackle Roy Lopez and linebacker Grant Stuard all fit the profile of talented players who represent the right things, Lions coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL’s annual league meetings this week.

“For what they’re asked to do, they’re all three competitive, productive players. And I think that’s just, man, it’s the way they play the game. They don’t back down from anybody,” Campbell said.

Reed was the headliner of Detroit’s free-agent class. After three seasons with the New York Jets, he signed a three-year, $48 million contract with Detroit to uphold the expectations for a man-heavy scheme with corners who get busy in the run game. Reed was a replacement for Carlton Davis III, who left for the New England Patriots on a deal that paid him slightly more (three years, $54 million).

“He’s got cover ability. He can play man-to-man. … But he’ll bite on the perimeter, right? He’ll come up. He’ll tackle. He’ll squeeze the edges. He’ll mix it up, and then he’ll challenge you at the catch point,” Campbell said. “Man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive.”

Campbell said he fell in love with Reed’s competitiveness while watching crossover tape last year. His favorite moment was actually one where Reed got beat and recovered, showing a never-say-die attitude on his way to getting back in the play.

“You get beat at corner, that’s part of this league. He gets beat, he puts his foot in the ground, and I mean, he is on an all-out — he doesn’t have time to think about recovering. He is just on beeline to try to angle this guy off,” Campbell said. “I thought that was one of the most impressive things. Man, this guy doesn’t go in the tank, he’s not worried about what it looks like. He’s just trying to compete and win. And he lines up and he’s back for more.

“That says it all. He’s got the attributes. He’s got the skill level. But man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive. He doesn’t get down, man.”

Campbell didn’t have to watch crossover tape to become familiar with Lopez. He saw Lopez’s ability firsthand when the Lions traveled to play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 last season. He was impressed with how the 6-foot-2, 318-pound former wrestler competed against second-team All-Pro center Frank Ragnow, calling Lopez a “down and dirty” player.

“He’s taking on the double-teams. He’s keeping people off the backers. He can get an edge on you,” Campbell said of Lopez, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit in March. “And he’ll just do it time in, time out, again over and over. One of the things that impressed me about him was when we played him. I mean, him going against Frank all day. We ran the heck out of the ball, but man, that guy held his own now and we’ve got a pretty damn good center. That was impressive.”

Campbell brought Stuard’s name up earlier in the session, following a question about how the Lions continue to refine their culture with free-agent additions. At the time of his signing, Stuard said the selling point for coming to Detroit was playing against the Lions last season. He remembered thinking, “Man, if there’s a whole building of people like that, I’d love to be there.”

“If you’ve got some tools and you’ve got some talent but you’ve got a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and you’re a guy who believes you can do it in this league, and it doesn’t matter if you have the big name or the flash or the most money, then you belong here because you can play,” Campbell said. “It’s one of the reasons we brought in Stuard, too. It’s a guy that flies under the radar.”

Campbell added: “Stuard can do it all, man. He’s a guy that’s been counted out, but just continues to make plays in this league. He’s a dynamic special-teams player, in my opinion, and he can play defense.”

Campbell is taking a wait-and-see approach to determining whether the Lions’ defense will be better than the one that started last season.

“We’ll find out on the grass,” he said. “I have no idea until we get on the grass. I’ll be able to tell you that (in) probably September. I don’t know, maybe late September.”

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of anticipation and speculation, President Donald Trump followed through on his reciprocal tariff threats by declaring on Wednesday a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States.

In announcing the reciprocal tariffs, Trump was fulfilling a key campaign promise by raising U.S. taxes on foreign goods to narrow the gap with the tariffs the White House says other countries unfairly impose on U.S. products.

“Reciprocal means ‘they do it to us and we do it to them,’” the president said from the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday.

Trump’s higher rates would hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy. But economists don’t share Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs since they’re a tax on importers that usually get passed on to consumers. It’s possible, however, that the reciprocal tariffs could bring other countries to the table and get them to lower their own import taxes.

The Associated Press asked for your questions about reciprocal tariffs. Here are a few of them, along with our answers:

Do U.S.-collected tariffs go into the General Revenue Fund? Can Trump withdraw money from that fund without oversight?

Tariffs are taxes on imports, collected when foreign goods cross the U.S. border by the Customs and Border Protection agency. The money — about $80 billion last year — goes to the U.S. Treasury to help pay the federal government’s expenses. Congress has authority to say how the money will be spent.

Trump — largely supported by Republican lawmakers who control the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives — wants to use increased tariff revenue to finance tax cuts that analysts say would disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Specifically, they want to extend tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term and largely set to expire at the end of 2025. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, has found that extending Trump’s tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 to 2034.

Trump wants higher tariffs to help offset the lower tax collections. Another think tank, the Tax Policy Center, has said that extending the 2017 tax cuts would deliver continued tax relief to Americans at all income levels, “but higher-income households would receive a larger benefit.’’

How soon will prices rise as a result of the tariff policy?

It depends on how businesses both in the United States and overseas respond, but consumers could see overall prices rising within a month or two of tariffs being imposed. For some products, such as produce from Mexico, prices could rise much more quickly after the tariffs take effect.

Some U.S. retailers and other importers may eat part of the cost of the tariff, and overseas exporters may reduce their prices to offset the extra duties. But for many businesses, the tariffs Trump announced Wednesday — such as 20% on imports from Europe — will be too large to swallow on their own.

Companies may also use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices. When Trump slapped duties on washing machines in 2018, studies later showed that retailers raised prices on both washers and dryers, even though there were no new duties on dryers.

A key question in the coming months is whether something similar will happen again. Economists worry that consumers, having just lived through the biggest inflationary spike in four decades, are more accustomed to rising prices than they were before the pandemic.

Yet there are also signs that Americans, put off by the rise in the cost of living, are less willing to accept price increases and will simply cut back on their purchases. That could discourage businesses from raising prices by much.

What is the limit of the executive branch’s power to implement tariffs? Does Congress not play any role?

The U.S. Constitution grants the power to set tariffs to Congress. But over the years, Congress has delegated those powers to the president through several different laws. Those laws specify the circumstances under which the White House can impose tariffs, which are typically limited to cases where imports threaten national security or are severely harming a specific industry.

In the past, presidents generally imposed tariffs only after carrying out public hearings to determine if certain imports met those criteria. Trump followed those steps when imposing tariffs in his first term.

In his second term, however, Trump has sought to use emergency powers set out in a 1977 law to impose tariffs in a more ad hoc fashion. Trump has said, for example, that fentanyl flowing in from Canada and Mexico constitute a national emergency and has used that pretext to impose 25% duties on goods from both countries.

Congress can seek to cancel an emergency that a president declares, and Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, has proposed to do just that regarding Canada. That legislation could pass the Senate but would likely die in the House. Other bills in Congress that would also limit the president’s authority to set tariffs face tough odds for passage as well.

What tariffs are other countries charging on US goods?

U.S. tariffs are generally lower than those charged by other countries. The average U.S. tariff, weighted to reflect goods that are actually traded, is just 2.2% for the United States, versus the European Union’s 2.7%, China’s 3% and India’s 12%, according to the World Trade Organization.

Other countries also tend to do more than the United States to protect their farmers with high tariffs. The U.S. trade-weighted tariff on farm goods, for example, is 4%, compared to the EU’s 8.4%, Japan’s 12.6%, China’s 13.1% and India’s 65%. (The WTO numbers don’t count Trump’s recent flurry of import taxes or tariffs between countries that have entered into their own free trade agreements, such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that allows many goods to cross North American borders duty free.)

Previous U.S. administrations agreed to the tariffs that Trump now calls unjust. They were the result of a long negotiation between 1986 to 1994 — the so-called Uruguay Round — that ended in a trade pact signed by 123 countries and has formed the basis of the global trading system for nearly four decades.

The Detroit Lions have clear expectations for defensive tackle Brodric Martin heading into the upcoming 2025 NFL season.

In 2024, injuries slowed the progress of a developmental player who was expected to build upon his rookie campaign. After suffering a knee injury in the preseason finale, Martin was sidelined until late-November.

Upon returning, Martin appeared in just two games and played only 28 defensive snaps. In his two NFL seasons, the Western Kentucky product has played in five games and totaled four tackles.

Heading into his third season, general manager Brad Holmes expects the 25-year-old to be more consistent.

“Look, he’s got to be consistent,” Holmes said. “Obviously, you guys all know I was very clear and transparent that he was more in the developmental project bucket when we took him. But, now it’s time for him not to just — because he brought flashes in the preseason. When he came from his injury, he brought flashes, but, you know, he had some low points as well.

“So, we need to see more of the consistency of the flashes, and he just needs to be a consistent player,” Holmes explained further. “And he knows that. We’ve had transparent conversations, and so he knows that he needs to be a consistent player. He’s got all the ability, he’s got all the physical tools to be a consistent player.”

Alim McNeill will not be available for Detroit to start the 2025 season, as he works his way back from a torn ACL suffered in December.

In free agency, the team added Roy Lopez and could add more defensive tackles in the NFL draft.

Derrick Harmon and Kenneth Grant have recently been mocked to the Lions in many of the latest projections.

For Martin, taking strides forward will be paramount for a defensive line in need of depth and productivity on a team playing a first-place schedule.

This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions

By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — For a day, at least, Democrats across the country have a sense that their comeback against President Donald Trump may have begun.

It wasn’t just about the election results in Wisconsin, where Democratic-backed Judge Susan Crawford won a 10-point victory against Trump and Elon Musk’s favored candidate for the state Supreme Court.

Some Democrats highlighted New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s marathon, record-setting 25-hour Senate speech as a rallying point for frustrated voters. Others pointed to congressional Democrats lining up with a handful of House Republican lawmakers to oppose a procedural rule that would have stopped a proposal for new parents in Congress to able to vote by proxy.

The series of victories gave Democratic leaders moments of relief and vindication of their strategy to focus on Trump’s alliances with Musk and other billionaires. That’s even as some party officials warned that it was far too early to draw sweeping conclusions from a series of lower-turnout off-year elections with polls still showing that the party’s brand is deeply unpopular among key groups of voters.

“Elon Musk and Donald Trump are on the ropes,” charged Ken Martin, the newly elected chair of the Democratic National Committee. “We’re just getting started.”

Wisconsin gave Democrats a much-needed win

Democrats have had little to cheer about in the five months since Trump won a decisive victory in November’s presidential election in which he peeled away a significant portion of working-class voters and people of color. And in more recent weeks, the party’s activist base has become increasingly frustrated that Democratic leaders have not done more to stop Trump’s unprecedented push to slash the federal government and the reshape the economy.

Democrats in Washington and in state capitals across the country privately conceded that a bad night, especially in Wisconsin, would have been devastating.

Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, lost to liberal-backed Crawford in a relative blowout, five months after Trump carried Wisconsin by less than 1 point.

And in Florida, Republicans won special elections in two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, but both candidates significantly underperformed Trump’s November margins.

“I went to bed last night feeling uplifted and relieved,” Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna Repass said Wednesday.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., predicted further political consequences for Republicans if they don’t resist the sweeping cuts to government services enacted by Musk and Trump.

“In swing districts, if I was a Republican, I would either decide how to stand up for your constituents or find out how to get a discount on adult depends, because one or the other is what you’re going to be needing to do,” Pocan said.

Rebecca Cooke, a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district, said the election was a clear indication that voters are upset with how Trump and Musk “are messing with their lives.” But she stopped short of projecting confidence in future elections.

“We have work to do to build long term infrastructure in this party and to really build trust back with voters that I think have felt left behind by the Democratic Party,” said Cooke, a 37-year-old waitress who is running against GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden. “I think it takes time to build trust with voters, and it can’t happen overnight, and it can’t happen in just one election.”

Expect more Democratic talking points about Musk

In this week’s successes, Democratic officials believe they have confirmed the effectiveness of their core message heading into the 2026 midterms that Trump and his billionaire allies are working for the rich at the expense of the working class.

Indeed, talking points distributed by the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday reinforced that notion while pointing to what the committee described as “an undeniable trend” after recent lower-profile Democratic victories in Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Minnesota.

“In 2025, Democrats continue to overperform in special elections as voters send a resounding message: They want Democrats to fight for them, and they want the Trump-Musk agenda out of their communities,” the talking points read.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., told the AP Wednesday that the election results showed that the public is “outraged” by chaos and dysfunction coming from the Trump administration. The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Trump and Republicans in Congress are failing to fix high prices and seeking Medicaid cuts, in addition to supporting tariffs that could worsen inflation for families.

“What we saw yesterday in Florida and Wisconsin was Republicans running scared because the American people are angry and scared about the direction the Trump-Musk agenda is taking us,” she said. “They’re seeing prices go up. They’re seeing more and more the focus is not on them, but on Trump and his wealthy donors.”

More protests are to come

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of voters are expected to attend more than 1,000 so-called “Hands Off!” related protests nationwide focused on Trump and Musk. More than 150 political groups worked together to organize what will almost certainly represent the single biggest day of protest of the second Trump administration.

The Washington event, which will feature Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., already has more than 12,000 RSVPs, according to organizers.

Meanwhile, Booker is planning to attend a series of unrelated public events, including a town hall in New Jersey this weekend.

His office reports receiving 28,000 voicemails since he finished his speech shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday. At its peak, the 25-hour address was being streamed by more than 300,000 people across Booker’s social media channels. It earned more than 350 million likes on his newly formed TikTok account.

A spokesperson said that the Democratic senator spent much of Wednesday sleeping.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Leah Askarinam in Washington and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin contributed reporting.

The founder of Auto Workers for Trump 2024 in Macomb County thanked President Trump and predicted auto plants will reopen over the next few years during a brief speech at the president’s “Liberation Day” at the White House.

Brian Pannebecker attended the event Wednesday in the Rose Garden along with many top federal officials and 20 Michigan UAW members. Pannebecker cited the group of auto workers, who responded with cheers, during his remarks after Trump invited him to the podium on stage.

“We support Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs 100%,” Pannebecker said, pointing to the group, which included Chris Vitale of St. Clair Shores. “In six months or a year, we’re going to begin seeing the benefits. I can’t wait to see what’s happening three-four years down the road.”

In asking him to come on stage, Trump said, “He’s been a fan of ours and he understands this business a lot better than the economists, a lot better than anybody.”

Pannebecker started his comments by noting he is from “north of Detroit, Macomb County, the home of the Reagan Democrats.”

“My first vote for president was for Ronald Reagan,” he said. “I thought that was going to be the best president ever in my lifetime. That was until Donald J. Trump came along.”

He described metro Detroit as a region of closed and idle auto plants.

“My entire life I have watched plant after plant after plant in Detroit and the Metro Detroit area close,” Pannebecke said. “There are now plants sitting idle, there are now plants under-utilized. Donald Trump’s policies are going to bring product back into these under-utilized plants. There’s going to be new investment, new plants built.”

After he left the stage, Trump said of Pannebecker, “He got it right from the beginning; he got it before almost anyone else, and they (referencing the auto union members in the audience) did, too.”

“You’re going to be happy very soon,” the president assured.

Pannebecker, a New Baltimore resident and Sterling Heights native, is a retired auto worker who spoke at a Trump rally last November and has organized many pro-Trump events in recent years.

Vitale is a St. Clair Shores city councilman and recently recent Stellantis employee who was one of the 20 UAW members invited to attend the ceremony

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Vitale said before the event Wednesday morning from Washington D.C.. “They were looking for some autoworkers to show support, and I was picked to be one of them.”

Vitale said he is a strong supporter of Trump’s plans to heighten tariffs and has campaigned for them in the past. Like Pannebecker, he said he believes in the long run they will benefit the United States.

“My feeling is that the rest of the world is in a panic over these because they’ve been doing them to us for the past 60 years,” he said. “I would say in a year from now a lot of them probably won’t even be in place because the idea is to get those foreign governments to take down their tariffs on American products, level the playing field, so to speak, which is something I’ve been advocating for since 2008. Not looking for special treatment, just looking for equal treatment.”

He called the part of the negative reaction to tariffs “hair lighting on fire … nothing more than drama” because most products from Canada and Mexico initially will be exempt as part of the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement. He called those reactions “scare stories.”

He said the explanation to support the tariffs is complex.

“What Trump is doing is fundamentally the right move,” he said.

Vitale paid for his trip, he said.

Vitale, who said he remains a member of the UAW, said he tested prototype drivetrains the last 10 years of his career at the Tech Center in Auburn Hills, and prior to that worked at other facilities for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Chrysler.

He was elected to City Council in November 2011 and was last re-elected in November 2023.

New Baltimore man accused of selling counterfeit air bags

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The Trump administration abruptly cut just over $3 million in healthcare funding for Oakland County Tuesday.

The money was COVID-related public health grants to Oakland County through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

County Executive Dave Coulter said five nurses were told Tuesday night not to report to work Wednesday. They had been hired last year to assist the county’s 146 long-term care facilities with coordinated outbreak response efforts. Since the program started on Sept. 25, 2024, the nurses responded to 123 COVID, 25 norovirus and 126 influenza outbreaks. This program was funded by a $2.5 million federal grant, with $2.1 million unspent.

At least $1 million from the county’s $1.24 million federally funded wastewater disease surveillance program must be returned. Wastewater was initially tested to track outbreaks of COVID-19 but expanded to include norovirus, influenza, and RSV in nursing homes and other facilities for seniors and people with disabilities. This year, county officials planned to expand testing to include mpox, polio and measles.

Coulter said the orders by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are reckless and not based in science.

“He’s not explaining why he’s picking infectious diseases and wastewater detection,” Coulter said. “Viruses don’t stop when these kinds of sweeping decisions get made.”

Statewide, the cuts amount to $379.3 million that pay for mental health and substance abuse services, infectious disease control and vaccinations for children and vulnerable adults.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 23 states and the District of Columbia Tuesday to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for the cuts, which total nearly $11 billion nationally.

Coulter said he supports the state’s lawsuit. It’s unclear what other cuts will be made because the Trump administration’s decisions have been so unpredictable, he said.

The two county programs canceled this week had been funded through Sept. 30, 2025.

“It’s beyond reckless and shortsighted move by the Trump administration that puts Oakland County residents at risk, especially our seniors,” Coulter said. “Wastewater surveillance and infection prevention efforts are not relics of the pandemic, but critical tools to continue protecting public health today and in the future.”

Oakland County Health and Human Services Director Leigh-Anne Stafford said the cuts undermine the county’s ability to prevent outbreaks, care for vulnerable people and respond to emerging health threats.

“These programs have been instrumental in preventing outbreaks and protecting our community,” she said.

The five nurses who signed contracts last year to help with outbreaks also helped investigate 382 cases of reportable infectious diseases. They made hundreds of phone calls to residents exposed to such diseases as ebola, bird flu, measles and rabies.

The first COVID-19 death in Michigan happened in Oakland County in 2020. In 2022, the state’s first mpox illness was diagnosed in Oakland County. This year, Oakland County identified the first measles case in the state in March. Michigan health officials have reported two cases of humans infected with the bird flu, but the county wasn’t identified.

Coulter said eliminating the wastewater surveillance program and the five nurses dedicated to infectious disease prevention does nothing more than increase the risk of illnesses in county residents.

Part of the reason the money was unspent, he said, is that the programs had to be put in place before people could be hired to support them. The money was initially granted as part of the COVID response but as the virus abated, Congress and the Biden administration agreed that the money could be used for other health programs.

“People can disagree about the need for these federal funds, but it’s the chaos – it’s hard to think ahead,” he said. “We don’t have a Plan B for grant-funded programs. When the money ends, the program ends. That’s our policy.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner is facing calls to resign after he issued an order — which was quickly rescinded — that would have required Maine parents to register their newborns for Social Security numbers at a federal office rather than the hospital.

Newly unearthed emails show that the March 5 decision was made as political payback to Maine’s Governor Janet Mills, who has defied the Trump administration’s push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes.

In the email addressed to the agency’s staff, acting commissioner Leland Dudek, said, “no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child.” Staff members warned that terminating the contracts would result in improper payments and the potential for identity theft.

Dudek’s order initially drew widespread condemnation from medical organizations and public officials, who described it as unnecessary and punitive. The practice of allowing parents to register a newborn for a Social Security number at a hospital or other birthing site, called the Enumeration at Birth program, has been common for decades.

Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, one of two House members from Maine, said Dudek should resign immediately. She characterized Dudek’s actions as retaliation for Mills publicly opposing President Donald Trump.

“If a federal agency can be turned into a political hit squad at the whim of an acting appointee, what checks remain on executive power? Commissioner Dudek’s vindictive actions against Maine represent a fundamental betrayal of public trust that disqualifies him from public service,” Pingree said.

Mills said Wednesday that Social Security is being subjected to “rushed and reckless cuts” and needs leadership that treats it like a public trust. She said that is especially important in Maine, which has a high number of recipients.

“Social Security is not a scheme, as some have said, it’s a covenant between our government and its people. The Social Security Administration’s leadership must act in a manner that reflects this solemn obligation,” Mills said.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Dudek on Tuesday, calling for his immediate resignation and a request that he sit for an interview with the committee.

“The American people deserve answers about your activities and communications in the time between President Trump’s February 21, 2025, public threat to Governor Mills and your February 27, 2025, order to cancel the enumeration at birth and electronic death registration contracts with the state of Maine, and about your knowledge that cancelling these contracts would lead to increased waste, fraud, and abuse,” Connolly said in his letter.

Connolly, in a letter on Tuesday, said Democrats on the House oversight committee obtained internal emails from the Social Security Administration that he says shows Dudek cancelled the contracts to retaliate politically against Maine.

A representative from the Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Dudek on a March 18th call with reporters to preview the agency’s tighter identity-proofing measures, initially said the cancellation of the Maine contract happened “because I screwed up,” adding that he believed that the contract looked strange. “I made the wrong move there. I should always ask my staff for guidance first, before I cancel something. I’m new at this job.”

He added, “Well, I was upset at the governor’s treatment, and I indicated in email as such, but the actual fact of the matter was it looked like a strange contract.”

“I’m not interested in political retaliation. I’m interested in serving the public.”

Maine has been the subject of federal investigations since Gov. Mills sparked the ire of Trump at a meeting of governors at the White House in February. During the meeting, Trump threatened to pull federal funding from Maine if the state does not comply with his executive order barring transgender athletes from sports.

Mills responded: “We’ll see you in court.”

The Trump administration then opened investigations into whether Maine violated the Title IX antidiscrimination law by allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports. The Education Department issued a final warning on Monday that the state could face Justice Department enforcement soon if it doesn’t come into compliance soon.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins also said Wednesday that the department is pausing federal funds for some Maine educational programs because of Title IX noncompliance.

Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.

By MEGAN JANETSKY, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. State Department revoked the visas of members of a Mexican band after they projected the face of a drug cartel boss onto a large screen during a performance in the western state of Jalisco over the weekend.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, said late Tuesday on X that the work and tourism visas of members of Los Alegres del Barranco were revoked.

The visa revocations follow widespread outrage in Mexico over the concert as prosecutors in two states have launched investigations into the projected images, and a larger national reckoning over how to address the rise of a popular musical genre criticized for romanticizing drug cartels.

“I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences,” Landau wrote on X. “The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.”

The controversy broke out over the weekend when the face of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera layered over flames was projected behind the band, originally hailing from Sinaloa, during the concert. Finger pointing ensued among the band, concert producers and the venue.

Oseguera is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has been connected to a ranch authorities say was used to train cartel recruits and possibly dispose of bodies in Jalisco, where searchers found human bone fragments, heaps of clothing and shoes.

The Jalisco cartel is among other criminal groups in Mexico that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.

While the image was met by applause during the concert, Jalisco prosecutors quickly announced they were summoning the band to testify in an investigation into whether they were promoting violence, a crime which could result in a penalty of up to six months in prison. The state of Michoacan also announced an investigation into the Los Alegres del Barranco for projecting the same images during a concert in the city of Uruapan.

Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus said that the state would ban musical performances that glorify violence, adding that violators would “face monetary and criminal sanctions.”

“We know that outrage is not enough,” Lemus said. “Of course it’s possible to ban (the music).”

Since, a number of the band’s future shows have been cancelled, one town’s government saying that the show “didn’t have the municipal permissions needed” to carry out the performance.

Pavel Moreno, the band’s accordion player and back-up singer, didn’t respond to questions by fans asking if his visa had been revoked, simply thanking them for support and saying that “everything is fine.”

The band was scheduled to play in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 4. While the event hasn’t been publicly cancelled, ticket sales websites read: “No tickets available for now on our site” for that date.

The dispute coincides with a larger cultural debate in Mexico as artists like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida and Natanael Cano usher in a global renaissance of Mexican regional music, by mixing classic ballads with trap music. In 2023, Peso Pluma beat Taylor Swift out as the most streamed artist on YouTube.

Many of the artists now topping the charts have come under fierce criticism because their lyrics often paint cartel leaders as Robin Hood-esque figures. Others say that the genre, known as “narco corridos”, expresses the harsh realities of many youths across Mexico.

A number of Mexican states have banned public performances of the music in recent years, the most recent being the state of Nayarit in February. Some of the bans have come as famed artists have received death threats from cartels, forcing a number of them to cancel their performances.

Others, including Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, have sought a less aggressive approach to addressing the genre. Sheinbaum, who has come out against censoring the music, has suggested instead that the Mexican government push forward initiatives that promote Mexican regional music with more socially acceptable lyrics.

The Mexican leader did harden her language on the topic following the Los Alegres del Barranco concert. In her morning news briefing this week, Sheinbaum demanded an investigation into the concert, saying: “You can’t justify violence or criminal groups.”

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States, threatening to upend much of the architecture of the global economy and trigger broader trade wars.

Trump held up a chart while speaking at the White House, showing the United States would charge a 34% tax on imports from China, a 20% tax on imports from the European Union, 25% on South Korea, 24% on Japan and 32% on Taiwan.

The president used aggressive rhetoric to describe a global trade system that the United States helped to build after World War II, saying “our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, plundered” by other nations.

Trump declared a national economic emergency to launch the tariffs, expected to produce hundreds of billions in annual revenues. He has promised that factory jobs will return back to the United States as a result of the taxes, but his policies risk a sudden economic slowdown as consumers and businesses could face sharp price hikes on autos, clothes and other goods.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” Trump said in remarks at the White House. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

Trump was fulfilling a key campaign promise as he imposed what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on trade partners, acting without Congress through the 1977 International Emergency Powers Act in an extraordinary attempt to both break and ultimately reshape America’s trading relationship with the world.

The president’s higher rates would hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy, meaning the tariffs could stay in place for some time as the administration expects other nations to lower their tariffs and other barriers to trade that it says have led to a $1.2 trillion trade imbalance last year.

The tariffs follow similar recent announcements of 25% taxes on auto imports; levies against China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded trade penalties on steel and aluminum. Trump has also imposed tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela and he plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.

None of the warning signs about a falling stock market or consumer sentiment turning morose have caused the administration to publicly second-guess its strategy, despite the risk of political backlash as voters in last year’s election said they wanted Trump to combat inflation.

Senior administration officials, who insisted on anonymity to preview the new tariffs with reporters ahead of Trump’s speech, said the taxes would raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually in revenues. They said the 10% baseline rate existed to help ensure compliance, while the higher rates were based on the trade deficits run with other nations and then halved to reach the numbers that Trump presented in the Rose Garden.

In a follow-up series of questions by The Associated Press, the White House could not say whether the tariff exemptions on imports worth $800 or less would remain in place, possibly shielding some imports from the new taxes.

Based on the possibility of broad tariffs that have been floated by some White House aides, most outside analyses by banks and think tanks see an economy tarnished by higher prices and stagnating growth.

Trump would be applying these tariffs on his own; he has ways of doing so without congressional approval. That makes it easy for Democratic lawmakers and policymakers to criticize the administration if the uncertainty expressed by businesses and declining consumer sentiment are signs of trouble to come.

Heather Boushey, a member of the Biden White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, noted that the less aggressive tariffs Trump imposed during his first term failed to stir the manufacturing renaissance he promised voters.

“We are not seeing indications of the boom that the president promised,” Boushey said. “It’s a failed strategy.”

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said the tariffs are “part of the chaos and dysfunction” being generated across the Trump administration. The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stressed that Trump should not have the sole authority to raise taxes as he intends without getting lawmakers’ approval, saying that Republicans so far have been “blindly loyal.”

“The president shouldn’t be able to do that,” DelBene said. “This is a massive tax increase on American families, and it’s without a vote in Congress … President Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would lower costs on day one. Now he says he doesn’t care if prices go up — he’s broken his promise.”

Even Republicans who trust Trump’s instincts have acknowledged that the tariffs could disrupt an economy with an otherwise healthy 4.1 % unemployment rate.

“We’ll see how it all develops,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “It may be rocky in the beginning. But I think that this will make sense for Americans and help all Americans.”

Longtime trading partners are preparing their own countermeasures. Canada has imposed some in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, put taxes on 26 billion euros’ worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including on bourbon, which prompted Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.

Many allies feel they have been reluctantly drawn into a confrontation by Trump, who routinely says America’s friends and foes have essentially ripped off the United States with a mix of tariffs and other trade barriers.

The flip side is that Americans also have the incomes to choose to buy designer gowns by French fashion houses and autos from German manufacturers, whereas World Bank data show the EU has lower incomes per capita than the U.S.

“Europe has not started this confrontation,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it.”

Italy’s premier, Giorgia Meloni, on Wednesday reiterated her call to avoid an EU-US trade war, saying it would harm both sides and would have “heavy” consequences for her country’s economy.

Because Trump had hyped his tariffs without providing specifics until Wednesday, he provided a deeper sense of uncertainty for the world, a sign that the economic slowdown could possibly extend beyond U.S. borders to other nations that would see one person to blame.

Ray Sparnaay, general manager of JE Fixture & Tool, a Canadian tool and die business that sits across the Detroit River, said the uncertainty has crushed his company’s ability to make plans.

“There’s going to be tariffs implemented. We just don’t know at this point,” he said Monday. “That’s one of the biggest problems we’ve had probably the last — well, since November — is the uncertainty. It’s basically slowed all of our quoting processes, business that we hope to secure has been stalled.”

By AMANDA SEITZ

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered no new details Wednesday about his massive restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the day after thousands of layoffs ricocheted through its agencies, hollowing out entire offices around the country in some cases.

Kennedy’s silence is prompting questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, with a bipartisan request for President Donald Trump’s health secretary to appear before a Senate committee next week to explain the cuts.

As many as 10,000 notices were sent to scientists, senior leaders, doctors, inspectors and others across the department in an effort to cut a quarter of its workforce. The agency itself has offered no specifics on which jobs have been eliminated, with the information instead coming largely from employees who have been dismissed.

“This overhaul is about realigning HHS with its core mission: to stop the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said on social media, in his only comments addressing the layoffs so far. “It’s a win-win for taxpayers, and for every American we serve.”

The move, the department has said, is expected to save $1.8 billion from the agency’s $1.7 trillion annual budget — about one-tenth of 1%.

The department has not released final numbers but last week said it planned to eliminate 3,500 jobs from the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 1,200 from the National Institutes of Health. Public health experts and top Democrats have raised alarms about how the deep cuts — about 25% of the department — will affect food and prescription drug safety, medical research and infectious disease prevention.

Still unclear is why certain jobs were eliminated and others were spared.

As the cuts were underway on Tuesday, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, sent a letter to Kennedy calling him before the Senate’s health committee. In a statement, Cassidy said Kennedy’s appearance is part of his promise to appear quarterly before the committee.

“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,” Cassidy’s statement said.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a Republican from Tennessee, said the House’s health subcommittee also has questions about job cuts.

“We’re going to find out what the layoffs were all about — 10,000 — we didn’t know it,” Harshbarger said Wednesday at a health care forum hosted by Politico. “We’re going to find out what the premise was for those layoffs.”

At the same event, special government employee Calley Means, a close adviser to Kennedy who is working at the White House, defended the cuts. He struggled, however, to offer an explanation on how the overhaul will improve Americans’ health. Some of his claims were met with shouts and hisses.

“The system is really on the wrong track,” Means said, later adding that he wants to see more research from the NIH.

Politico’s Dasha Burns pressed Means on how the NIH would conduct more research with fewer employees at the agency, which had fired more than 1,000 NIH scientists and other staff before this week’s layoffs. Trump’s Republican administration has yanked hundreds of NIH grants and delayed hundreds of millions of dollars in continuing or new research funds including for studies of cancer and to keep Alzheimer’s centers around the country running.

Means responded by asking: “Has NIH funding been slashed?”

This story has been corrected to show the savings is about one-tenth of 1%, not about 1%.

Associated Press writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed.