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.

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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.

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says executive orders targeting law firms are being issued in the name of national security, with the White House asserting that the firms don’t deserve access to sensitive U.S. government information.

But the firms fear the orders are being written so broadly as to potentially weaken national security by calling into question the status of security clearances of lawyers who, in addition to their legal practice, serve as military reservists and require their clearances to report to duty.

It’s an example of the sweeping and sometimes unintended consequences of White House efforts to reshape civil society, with those affected in some instances not necessarily being the ones who were top of mind when the Trump administration announced the actions in the first place. Military veterans, for instance, have not been spared from Trump’s ongoing slashing of the federal government.

Trump’s law firm executive orders have generally targeted firms that have associations with prosecutors who previously investigated him or employ, or have employed, attorneys he perceives as political adversaries. The orders have consistently imposed the same consequences, including threatening the suspension of all active security clearances held by employees at the singled-out firms.

Security clearances are issued for government workers and contractors who require access to classified national security information as part of their job. The executive branch and its agencies have wide discretion over who does and who does not obtain a clearance.

It’s unclear how many lawyers at the four firms still subject to executive orders — several others have averted them through settlements with the White House — hold security clearances either through their jobs or other work, or whether the Trump administration would move forward with plans to revoke the clearances of military reservists.

A White House spokesman, asked for comment, pointed to the provision of the order that says the clearances are to be suspended “pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.” The response seemed to suggest that clearances of reservists could potentially be spared.

In the meantime, though, the issue was raised during a court hearing Friday in which a lawyer representing WilmerHale, one of the targeted firms, noted that the firm has within its ranks military reservists who have security clearances. Another firm that’s been subject to an executive order, Perkins Coie, also has said that it employs military reservists.

“I don’t think for a minute the government lawyer is going to come up here and tell you that they actually intended to suspend the reservists’ security clearances,” Paul Clement, a prominent Washington appellate lawyer who is representing WilmerHale, told the judge. “But they’re painting with such a broad brush with this thing, they aren’t distinguishing sheep from goats at all.”

He said Friday that “two of those lawyers have to report for their reserve duty next week. Now, I can’t tell you for sure that they’re going to show up and they’re not going to be able to do their job because their security clearance has been suspended.”

Several firms, including WilmerHale and Perkins Coie, have succeeded in winning court orders temporarily blocking enforcement of certain sections of the executive orders. The security clearance provisions, though, have remained in effect, a reflection of a president’s expansive powers when ordering the suspension or revocation of clearances.

Dan Meyer, a lawyer who specializes in security clearances at the Tully Rinckey law firm — which is not among those targeted in the executive orders — said he assumed the number of attorneys at major law firms is small and that it was possible military reservists might be able to keep their clearances, but it could conceivably require a lengthy adjudication.

“It may be that word will go quietly from the White House, ‘Don’t screw with any of these reservists at these law firms,’” Meyer said.

But, he added, “If the cat wants to claw the mouse, there’s an opportunity to do it.”

By David WelchBloomberg

Brittany Humphries and her husband Jon Bassford are what sales people at car dealerships might call motivated buyers. The couple, who live in suburban Maryland outside Washington, DC, moved swiftly to lock in purchases this year to avoid the risk of paying thousands of dollars more once Trump administration policies on electric vehicles and tariffs fully kick in.

The couple’s story presages a buying boom as people rush to get ahead of the 25% tariff hike on imported vehicles that President Donald Trump announced on March 26, which is set to go into effect on April 3.

By the end of February, Humphries, 38, had traded in her 2022 Hyundai Kona crossover for a new $44,000 Acura Integra compact and her 42-year-old husband swapped his Acura MDX SUV for a lease on a $72,000 all-electric ZDX SUV.

Those transactions helped power strong first-quarter new car sales ahead of White House moves to disrupt the auto industry’s status quo.

“We just don’t want to be part of Trump’s game,” Humphries said.

The promised tariffs could jack up sticker prices once current inventories are depleted.

The first indication of a wider upswell in demand will come Tuesday, when major automakers such as General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. release new car sales data for the latest quarter. Tesla Inc. is expected to detail its global delivery numbers for the period on April 2.

Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Friday that Americans shouldn’t rush out to buy cars ahead of the tariffs. But that doesn’t appear to be deterring motivated buyers.

“Savvy consumers are likely attempting to get ahead of future uncertainty surrounding auto pricing levels by taking advantage of March deals,” Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement. “Downside risks to the auto demand and production environment abound as consumers face potential higher auto prices as a result of expected tariffs.”

Import models – including those shipped from Canada and Mexico – make up about half of overall US sales. And many vehicles made in the US use a lot of imported parts. But it’s unclear exactly how much of a levy will be charged on specific vehicles and also how much of that extra cost – which is estimated to be as much as $12,000 for some models – will be born by consumers. The burden from previous tariff hikes and Covid-era supply chain disruptions was spread out among automakers, parts suppliers and car buyers over a period of years.

Cars already are more expensive than just a few years ago, giving pause even to some affluent buyers. Average new vehicle transaction prices hit $47,373 in February, according to car-shopping website Edmunds. Fear that prices can only go up with Trump’s latest tariffs is driving more people to move up their timeline for buying a new car, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at market research firm AutoForecast Solutions.

“The idea that cars might be more expensive in April has been all over the news,” he said.

A similar trend boosted car sales in the final quarter of 2024 as buyers rushed to sign paperwork for electric vehicles eligible for tax credits Trump has started to curb. That helped automakers end 2024 on a bullish note, with sales up 2.2% to 15.9 million vehicles for the year, marking the highest level since 2019, according to Wards Intelligence.

Edmunds projects first quarter sales will continue that upward trend, rising 1% to 3.8 million vehicles – the strongest start to the year since 2021. That number likely reflects some sales pulled forward by trade policy concerns, but also reflects healthy overall demand and supply in the market, according to Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds. Price hikes and inventory disruptions tied to trade policy may start to weigh on auto sales beginning in April, she said.

“If you’re looking to buy a car in the next, I’d say, month, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a car as soon as possible,” Caldwell said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

Most major automakers sell vehicles sourced from multiple countries, with some brands more dependent on foreign-made models than others. Many of the cheapest vehicles are imported, something that could soon put many cars out of reach for entry-level buyers.

Faith Johnson, a 30-year-old dental assistant living in metro Detroit, has been looking to buy a new car because her current vehicle, a used Ford Explorer, is having engine trouble even after $5,000 in repairs. She’s been saving for a down payment on a new car since November, and has about $2,000 in cash saved up so far.

“Things are just super expensive,” said Johnson. “Now you have to come up with even more money because of the tariffs? That is insane.”

Researcher Cox Automotive projects sales growth to continue into the first three months of 2025, with a seasonally-adjusted annualized sales rate of 15.8 million vehicles. Prior to Trump’s tariff announcement, Cox expected 16.3 million vehicles would be sold for the full year. But that may drop once tariffs are imposed.

“It will be a squandered opportunity as we were poised for continuing growth” this year, Jonathan Smoke, Cox Automotive chief economist, said in a March 26 webcast. “Our quarterly survey of dealer sentiment showed positive momentum at the end of 2024.”

By Dr. Trisha Pasricha
Special to The Washington Post

Q: I feel so rushed during my doctor’s appointments. There’s hardly any time for my doctor to get to know me or to address what concerns me the most. What can I do with these hurried 15-minute visits?

A: Many patients lament how hurried their doctors’ appointments feel. Believe me, I get it. Because as a doctor, I hate it, too.

In many cases, 15 minutes isn’t enough time for physicians to get all the information they need. Many doctors end up running abysmally late trying to ensure the 20 or so patients squished into their daily schedules feel heard and get the time they deserve.

Patients are suffering and frustrated with these crammed appointments, which also are a major driver of physician burnout.

So as a patient, what can you do? If you’ve only got 15 minutes with your doctor, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the brief visit.

Weave in a quick fun fact about yourself

I know this may sound odd when we’re talking about a lack of time. Consider the psychology of the physician here for a moment: Imagine you’re seeing your 11th patient of the day. It’s flu season, and everyone’s masked and hard to recognize. Tales of diabetes and high blood pressure are starting to blur together. You haven’t eaten anything since that stale granola bar during your morning commute.

And then … a revelation: A patient tells you out of the blue that they used to fly airplanes for the army. Or that their teenage granddaughter is teaching them how to ski for the first time. Or that they took up yarn-crafting during the pandemic and just finished a magnificent, crocheted penguin.

We’re all human. Sometimes, your physician is transformed against their will into a robot. Years ago, we all went into medicine because we wanted to make our patients’ lives better TOP-L-HealthBeat-Hack0126 not fill out paperwork for insurance companies and write lengthy notes that meet billing requirements. These glimpses of the wonderful, unique person you are will remind your doctor that they are treating a person, and not a disease.

Decades of research in the biopsychosocial model of medicine have taught us that patient and physician outcomes are better when we integrate the patient’s story into our care. It takes an extra 15-30 seconds, but I go out of my way to ask new patients to tell me a fun fact about themselves that I make note of with their permission. In doing so, not only do I remember their medical histories better, but we both find it almost invariably brings a tiny, coveted spark of joy.

Lead with your most pressing concern

I like to open my visits by asking patients to tell me one thing they absolutely want to make sure is addressed today. Then I dive into other items on our agenda, such as following up on prescriptions or health screening tests.

It’s a classic scenario, and one I’ve experienced time and time again: me reaching for the doorknob at the end of the allotted visit, only to hear that you were saving your most concerning question for last.

Never save the most important thing for last — even if it’s embarrassing or it scares you. By raising your most pressing question first, your doctor will focus more time on what is truly worrying you.

Bring written notes to common questions

For new symptoms, your physician will probably ask a set of predictable questions:

• When did the issue start? It’s fine to just have a ballpark — but there’s big difference between a few weeks and a few years ago.

• What interventions or medications have you already tried? Know the medication names and doses — bring in your bag of pill bottles if it’ll help.

• Has anyone in the family experienced something like this? Call your family members ahead of time and ask about their medical history — it can dramatically change what a doctor decides to do next.

Rehearsing your “story” and gathering these details can help ensure our limited time is spent on diving into specifics, a physical exam and counseling — rather than searching for medication names on your smartphone.

Give A.I. a chance

When was the last time you met a doctor who spent the entire visit looking at you? How many seconds passed before they broke eye contact and began typing frenetically on their computers?

A.I. is starting to be used in many clinics to listen in on the conversation between patient and physician, and automatically create a note in your chart so that your doctor focuses directly on you, rather than the computer screen. You may not have much control over whether your doctor’s clinic offers it (within the next year or two, you can bet it’ll become more and more mainstream), but if it’s on the table, don’t be scared or ask to opt out.

Paradoxically, I think this kind of A.I. may be a step in the right direction to restore some humanity back to the doctor-patient relationship. Remember: A.I. in health care is heavily regulated. These technologies are HIPAA-compliant and are transcribing — not recording — the conversation.

Embrace medical trainees in your visit

If you get your care at a major academic center, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll encounter a trainee — medical students, residents or fellows. This may mean you’ll have to repeat your story multiple times. Once each member of the team has seen you, they’ll gather with the attending physician to come up with a plan.

I realize repeating your story can feel tiresome. But consider these two things: First, studies have shown that doctors are most empathetic when they’re fresh out of medical school. So they may well be the most devoted and sensitive member of your team. Second, when a trainee is involved in your care, you as a patient can actually get a longer appointment time. This means you have a chance to discuss details and worries in a way that may otherwise have felt too rushed with just the attending physician.

You want someone to listen to your whole story. So take advantage of the fact that trainees are dedicated to hearing you and reporting back the best assessment of your case. In my experience, they often become your biggest advocate.

Today is Tuesday, April 1, the 91st day of 2025. There are 274 days left in the year. This is April Fool’s Day.

Today in history:

On April 1, 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II. (U.S. forces succeeded in capturing the Japanese island on June 22 after a battle in which more than 240,000 died, including as many as 150,000 Okinawan civilians.)

Also on this date:

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler would serve just nine months of the sentence, during which time he completed the first volume of “Mein Kampf.”)

In 1946, a magnitude 8.6 earthquake centered near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands triggered a tsunami that pounded the Hawaiian Islands with waves up to 55 feet (17 meters) tall, killing 159.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television beginning in January 1971.

In 1976, Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

In 1984, singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father after Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents at their home.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2003, American troops raided a hospital in Nasiriyah (nah-sih-REE’-uh), Iraq, and rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed on March 23.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Ali MacGraw is 86.
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is 75.
• Actor Annette O’Toole is 73.
• Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld is 72.
• Singer Susan Boyle is 64.
• Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Stevens is 61.
• Rapper-actor Method Man is 54.
• Political commentator Rachel Maddow is 52.
• Actor David Oyelowo is 49.
• Comedian-actor Taran Killam is 43.
• Actor Asa Butterfield is 28.

SEATTLE (AP) — Riley Greene homered and Javier Báez hit a two-run double in Detroit’s six-run first inning, helping the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 9-6 on Monday night for their first victory of the season.

Báez, Dillon Dingler and Trey Sweeney each had three of Detroit’s 18 hits. Kerry Carpenter had two hits and two RBIs.

The Tigers were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in their season-opening series.

Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley homered for Seattle. Julio Rodríguez had two hits and scored two runs.

Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (0-1) recorded just two outs before he was pulled.

Carpenter singled in Justin-Henry Malloy, and Greene hit a solo drive for his first homer of the season. Dingler and Sweeney each hit an RBI single before Baez chased Hancock with his first double of the year.

Tigers rookie Jackson Jobe permitted three runs and three hits in four innings in his first career start. He struck out three and walked four.

Tyler Holton (1-0) got the win, and Brant Hurter pitched three innings for the save.

Key moment

Baez’s first-inning double broke the game wide open. Hancock was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but Baez’s hit went off the wall in left.

Key stat

Eight players had at least one hit for Detroit.

Up next

Tigers right-hander Casey Mize will start Tuesday against Seattle ace Logan Gilbert (0-0, 1.29 ERA).

— By SHANE LANTZ, Associated Press

While one of the two Waterford schools will go back into the Oakland Activities Association wearing the boys basketball crown of their former conference, the other is still searching for its way.

At least the latter, Waterford Kettering, has picked the man the Captains hope can steer the ship out of the storm, announcing on Monday the hiring of former college and NBA player and coach Rex Walters as their new head coach.

In a social media post entitled ‘We Got Our Guy,’ the Captains listed off the resume of the 55-year-old Walters, and it is extensive:

– Played at Northwestern and Kansas.

– Drafted with the 16th pick in the first round of the 1993 NBA Draft (held at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and headlined by local star Chris Webber).

– Played professionally for 10 seasons, with NBA stops with the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.

– Assistant coaching stops at Valparaiso and Florida Atlantic, before acting as the head coach of FAU and San Francisco, where he earned WCC coach of the year honors in 2014.

– Head coach of the Pistons G-League team in Grand Rapids, the Drive, a season on the Pistons bench as an assistant, single seasons at Nevada and Wake Forest, a season with the New Orleans Pelicans and two with the Hornets.

“Big Thank You to AD Shane Hynes, Principal Ben Harwood, Waterford AD Allison Sartorius and the Search Committee for the opportunity to work with the Young Men at Waterford Kettering,” Walters posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Excited to get to work and get back on the Basketball Court!”

He’ll have to continue the rebuilding job that longtime Oakland County coach Steve Emert began over the last three seasons.

While cross town rival Waterford Mott has had a share of the last four Lakes Valley Conference titles, the Captains have been on the opposite end of the standings each of those seasons. The last time they were relatively level was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, when they finished tied with each other for sixth place (both 3-5).

From that 7-10 season, though, the Captains went 2-19 in the single season (2021-22) under Stefon Wilson, then went 10-59 overall in Emert’s three seasons (3-45 in LVC play).

“Congratulations Coach Walters. You will enjoy working with the student/athletes and the parents in the Kettering community,” Emert replied to a a Facebook post of this story.

There will at least be a modicum of familiarity with the OAA for Walters, who got a look at the league when his younger son, Gunner, played for Rochester Adams before graduating in 2022.

By AMANDA SEITZ and MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — As they readied to leave work Monday, some workers at the Food and Drug Administration were told to pack their laptops and prepare for the possibility that they wouldn’t be back, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

Nervous employees — roughly 82,000 across the nation’s public health agencies — waited to see whether pink slips would arrive in their inboxes. The mass dismissals have been expected since Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week a massive reorganization that will result in 20,000 fewer jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. About 10,000 will be eliminated through layoffs.

The email sent to some at the FDA said staffers should check their email for a possible notice that their jobs would be eliminated, which would also halt their access to government buildings. An FDA employee shared the email with AP on condition of anonymity, because they weren’t authorized to disclose internal agency matters.

Kennedy has criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” and said the department’s $1.7 trillion yearly budget “has failed to improve the health of Americans.” He plans to streamline operations and fold entire agencies — such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — into a new Administration for a Healthy America.

On Friday, dozens of federal health employees working to stop infectious diseases from spreading were put on leave.

Several current and former federal officials told The AP that the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy was hollowed out that night. Some employees posted on LinkedIn about the office emptying. And an HIV and public health expert who works directly with the office was emailed a notice saying that all staff had been asked to leave. The expert spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity over fears of losing future work on the issue.

Several of the office’s advisory committees — including the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and others that advise on HIV/AIDs response — have had their meetings canceled.

“It puts a number of important efforts to improve the health of Americans at risk,” said Dr. Robert H. Hopkins Jr., the former chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, an advisory committee of the office.

An HHS official said the office is not being closed but that the department is seeking to consolidate the work and reduce redundancies.

Also, as of Monday, a website for the Office of Minority Health was disabled, with an error message saying the page “does not exist.”

Beyond layoffs at federal health agencies, cuts have begun at state and local health departments as a result of an HHS move last week to pull back more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related funds.

Local and state health officials are still assessing the impact, but some health departments have already identified hundreds of jobs that stand to be eliminated because of lost funding, “some of them overnight, some of them are already gone,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson in Seattle contributed reporting.

By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday paused plans by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, a week before they were scheduled to expire.

The order by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco is a relief for 350,000 Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was scheduled to expire April 7. The lawsuit was filed by lawyers for the National TPS Alliance and TPS holders across the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also announced the end of TPS for an estimated 250,000 additional Venezuelans in September.

Chen said in his ruling that the action by Noem “threatens to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.”

He said the government had failed to identify any “real countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries” and said plaintiffs will likely succeed in showing that Noem’s actions “are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.”

Chen, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said his order applies nationally.

He gave the government one week to file notice of an appeal and the plaintiffs one week to file to pause for 500,000 Haitians whose TPS protections are set to expire in August. Alejandro Mayorkas, the previous secretary, had extended protections for all three cohorts into 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Congress created TPS, as the law is known, in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife, giving people authorization to live and work in the U.S. in increments of up to 18 months if the Homeland Security secretary deems conditions in their home countries are unsafe for return.

The reversals are a major about-face from immigration policies under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and come as Republican President Donald Trump and his top aides have ratcheted up attacks on judges who rule against them, with immigration being at the forefront of many disagreements.

At a hearing last Monday, lawyers for TPS holders said that Noem has no authority to cancel the protections and that her actions were motivated in part by racism. They asked the judge to pause Noem’s orders, citing the irreparable harm to TPS holders struggling with fear of deportation and potential separation from family members.

Government lawyers for Noem said that Congress gave the secretary clear and broad authority to make determinations related to the TPS program and that the decisions were not subject to judicial review. Plaintiffs have no right to thwart the secretary’s orders from being carried out, they said.

But Chen found the government’s arguments unpersuasive and found that numerous derogatory and false comments by Noem — and by Trump — against Venezuelans as criminals show that racial animus was a motivator in ending protections.

“Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,” he wrote.

Biden sharply expanded use of TPS and other temporary forms of protection in a strategy to create and expand legal pathways to live in the United States while suspending asylum for those who enter illegally.

Trump has questioned the the impartiality of a federal judge who blocked his plans to deport Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, levelling his criticism only hours before his administration asked an appeals court to lift the judge’s order.

The administration has also said it was revoking temporary protections for more than 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who have come to the U.S. since October 2022 through another legal avenue called humanitarian parole, which Biden used more than any other president. Their two-year work permits will expire April 24.

By WILL WEISSERT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock into the Oval Office on Monday and signed an executive order that he says will help curb ticket scalping and bring “commonsense” changes to the way live events are priced.

“Anyone who’s bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it’s a conundrum,” said Kid Rock, who wore a red bedazzled suit featuring an American flag motif and a straw fedora.

Designed to stop “price-gouging by middlemen,” the order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that scalpers offering tickets at higher prices than their face value comply with all Internal Revenue Service rules.

It also orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure “price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market,” which the Trump administration argues can restore sensibility and order to the ticket market.

Trump said he knows Kid Rock, a longtime supporter whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, as simply “Bob.”

“He’s been a good friend for a long time,” Trump said.

The president said rising fees for concerts and other events have “gotten worse and worse with time.” Kid Rock agreed.

“You can buy a ticket for $100. By the time you check out, it’s $170. You don’t know what you’ve been charged for,” Kid Rock said. “But, more importantly, the bots, you know, they come in, they get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they’re relisted immediately for sometimes 400-500% markup.”

The order mostly directs federal agencies to enforce existing laws. Still, it marks a rare instance of policy crossover with the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, which used the FTC to target “ junk fees,” or levies tacked on at the end of the purchase process that can mask the full price of things like concert tickets, hotel rooms and utility bills.

Under Biden, the Justice Department also sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, last year. It accused them of running an illegal monopoly over live events and asked a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans.

Those companies have a history of clashing with major artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. whose summer 2022 stadium tour was plagued by difficulty getting tickets.

Country music star Zach Bryan even released a 2022 album titled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.” A representative for Bryan said he had “nothing to add” when asked to comment on Monday’s executive orer.

The Biden administration used such initiatives as a way to protect consumers from rising prices that were already inflated. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned on combating high ticket prices, calling them “very unfortunate.”

Kid Rock, known for hits like “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba,” called Trump’s order a ”great first step” and said he’d eventually like to see a cap on resale prices on tickets — while quickly adding, “I’m a capitalist.” He also said he’d spoken to Ticketmaster, which he described as “on board” with the change.

The White House says America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs, “But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,” according to a fact sheet it released Monday.

Trump’s order further directs federal officials and the FTC to deliver a report in six months “summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers in this industry.”

“Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,” the White House face sheet said.

It also noted that higher prices don’t mean additional profits for artists but instead go “solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.”

Kid Rock agreed that such markups don’t benefit artists like himself, then chuckled while offering, “I’ll be the first one to say, and I know the president doesn’t like when I say this, but, I’m a little overpaid right now.”

“It’s kind of ridiculous. I would rather be, you know, a hero to working-class people and have them be able to come attend my shows and give them a fair ticket price,” he said. “I can’t control that right now so hopefully this is a step to make that happen.”

Associated Press writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.

The Pontiac that goes below the Phoenix Center is closed. It’s a beginning step in a long-term plan that will reconfigure downtown Pontiac and reinvent the Ottawa Towers. It’s just one issue on Tuesday’s city council agenda.

Already, drivers headed west on Auburn Road and east on Orchard Lake Road are being detoured to the north- and southbound lanes of Woodward Avenue. The two roads meet under the Phoenix Center, which is about to be demolished.

The road will remain closed for an estimated 12 to 18 months, which include rebuilding the road.

Pontiac’s city council will hear a presentation on demolition and construction plans at Tuesday’s meeting. The council will also consider adding 74 parking spaces, including three accessible spaces for people with disabilities, on Judson Street.

The temporary parking spaces will be used by tenants at 51111 Woodward Ave. and their visitors. The building is used by the state and Oakland County officials plan to occupy some of the offices once the renovation is complete.

Adding parking spaces will reduce Judson Street to two lanes of traffic. The city will post a “No Through Traffic” sign for westbound drivers to prevent them from using the street as a shortcut from southbound to northbound Woodward during the next two years. During that time, the traffic light at Judson and Saginaw streets will be off and traffic will use a four-way stop.

Once demotion is done, construction will start on a parking deck. It’s part of a long-term plan to move an estimated 700 county employees to downtown Pontiac after the county purchased the former General Motors building at 31 E. Judson St. and 51111 Woodward Ave.

The overall project will cost an estimated cost of $120 to $130 million. The county has committed $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to the project; the state granted $50 million for the work.

The Phoenix Center demolition will open eventually up Saginaw Street to the downtown’s south end. The city will get a park and entertainment space as part of the deal.

Tuesday’s council meeting will also include a presentation on creating a bonding authority for the city, in part to pursue a $15 million capital improvement bond to finance part of the construction for a youth recreation center. The council will also discuss using the bonding authority for other capital projects, according to the board’s president, Mike McGuinness.

The council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, for a closed session about a real estate matter, followed by a public meeting at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall, 47450 Woodward Ave. in Pontiac. The complete agenda and packet are online at https://www.pontiac.mi.us/government/city_council/agendas___minutes.php.