WATCH: Trump Says Wave of Reciprocal Tariffs Will Go into Effect at Midnight

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WATCH: Trump Says Wave of Reciprocal Tariffs Will Go into Effect at Midnight

(Brett Rowland, The Center Square) President Donald Trump detailed sweeping new reciprocal tariffs Wednesday designed to launch a new wave of domestic manufacturing as consumers keep their eyes on prices at the gas station and grocery store.

Trump’s “Liberation Day” plans included a previously announced 25% tariff on foreign automobiles and auto parts and reciprocal tariffs on countries that put taxes on U.S. imports. Trump said the tariffs would be about half of what other countries charge the U.S.

“April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to Make America Wealthy Again,” Trump said from the Rose Garden. “For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.”

Trump said American workers have been forced to watch as other nations took jobs, factories and industries away from the U.S.

“Foreign cheaters have stolen our jobs, ransacked our factories and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream,” he said.

For China, the tariff rate will be about 34% on imports from the world’s most populous nation. For European Union countries, it will be 20%. For Japan, the duty will be 24%. Imports from India will get a 26% tariff. Cambodia will get hit with a 49% tariff.

In addition, Trump said a 10% baseline tariff would go into effect at midnight Wednesday.

Products made in America won’t face additional duties, Trump said.

The broad-based tariffs on imports could spark a worldwide trade war.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said only Congress has the power to put taxes in place. He also said free trade has made the nation rich and that tariffs would harm the U.S. economy.

“Trade is a good thing. Trade is proportional to prosperity, and so tariffs are bad economically,” he said.

Trump has said the tariffs are needed to grow U.S. manufacturing and said Canada, Mexico and China have done little to stop the flow of fentanyl coming into the U.S.

Democrats worked to thwart Trump’s tariffs, introducing a measure to stop tariffs on Canada, a longtime ally and top U.S. trading partner.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called tariffs a tax on families. Schumer said the average American family would face an additional annual cost of $5,000.

“It’s creating huge problems,” Schumer said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warned for months that tariffs could increase costs for U.S. consumers and hurt businesses. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said businesses large and small don’t want tariffs.

“What we have heard from business of all sizes, across all industries, from around the country is that these broad tariffs are a tax increase that will raise prices for American consumers and hurt the economy,” he said.

Last week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and auto parts, duties that he said would be “permanent.” The White House said it expects the auto tariffs on cars and light-duty trucks will generate up to $100 billion in federal revenue.

Trump said eventually he hopes to bring in $600 billion to $1 trillion in tariff revenue in the next year or two. Trump also said the tariffs would lead to a manufacturing boom in the U.S., with auto companies building new plants, expanding existing plants and adding jobs.

Trump predicts his protectionist trade policies will create jobs, make the nation rich and help reduce both trade deficits and the federal government’s persistent deficits.

The “Liberation Day” tariffs come after months of talk since Trump took office in January. On the campaign trail, Trump frequently called “tariff” the most beautiful word in the English language.

Dr. Fauci’s Wife Reassigned to Work on an Indian Reservation

Ken Silva
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Dr. Fauci’s Wife Reassigned to Work on an Indian Reservation

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The New York Times has reported that numerous top government health officials have been reassigned to regional offices of the Indian Health Service, which provides federal health services to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

The reassigned officials include none other than former COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci’s wife, Christine Grady.

Dr. Fauci's wife, Christine Grady. PHOTO: NIH
Dr. Fauci’s wife, Christine Grady. PHOTO: NIH

“At N.I.H., several institute directors — including Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the institute formerly led by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci — were reassigned. So were Dr. Fauci’s wife, Christine Grady, the head of the N.I.H. Office of Bioethics, and Dr. Clifford Lane, a close ally of Dr. Fauci’s who oversaw clinical research,” the Times reported.

“At the F.D.A., the top tobacco regulator, Brian King, was reassigned. At the C.D.C., several leaders, including Kayla Laserson, who ran the global health center, also were reassigned to the Indian Health Service.”

The Indian Health Services has offices in Alaska, Albuquerque, Bemidji, Billings, California, Great Plains, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Portland, and Tucson.

The Times further noted that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has lamented that the Indian Health Service has been “treated as the redheaded stepchild at H.H.S.,” and that said President Trump wants him to “rectify this sad history.”

Grady and the others who received the reassignments were reportedly given until Wednesday to decide whether to accept the offer or leave their jobs. Decisions were not announced before the publication of this article.

The reassignments are part of a massive restructuring of the HHS.

As many as 10,000 scientists, senior leaders, doctors, inspectors and others across the department have already received layoff notices as part of an HHS effort to cut a quarter of its workforce.

“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. “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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Hillary 2.0? National Security Adviser Under Fire for Gmail Use

Jose Nino
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Hillary 2.0? National Security Adviser Under Fire for Gmail Use

(José Niño, Headline USA) Republicans who hammered Hillary Clinton for her private email use during her time as Secretary of State may want to take a hard look at National Security Adviser Michael Waltz/

Members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council — let by Waltz — have reportedly used personal Gmail accounts to conduct official government business, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and interviews with three U.S. officials.

The use of Gmail, which lacks the security of encrypted platforms like Signal, marks the latest in a series of questionable data security practices by senior national security officials in the Trump administration. 

The team was already facing scrutiny following the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a Signal group chat discussing high-level military planning in Yemen.

One of Waltz’s senior aides used a personal Gmail account to engage in technically detailed discussions with other government agencies regarding sensitive military deployments and advanced weapons systems involved in an ongoing conflict. 

Email headers reviewed by The Post reportedly reveal that while the aide used Gmail, the other participants relied on official government email accounts.

Officials familiar with the matter said Waltz himself has received less sensitive—but still exploitable—information on his Gmail, including scheduling details and work-related documents. 

They noted he would at times copy and paste portions of his schedule into Signal to help arrange meetings and coordinate discussions.

In response, NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes said there is no evidence that Waltz used his personal email in the manner described. 

He added that when “legacy contacts” have sent him work-related messages, Waltz made sure to copy his official government email to comply with federal recordkeeping laws that mandate the preservation of official correspondence.

“Waltz didn’t and wouldn’t send classified information on an open account,” stated Hughes.

According to a senior administration official, Waltz has also initiated and managed additional Signal group chats with Cabinet members to discuss sensitive matters, including the situation in Somalia and Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported the existence of these groups on Sunday. Hughes noted that Signal “is approved and in some cases is added automatically to government devices.”

Hughes acknowledged that Signal is not approved for transmitting classified information and emphasized that Waltz has never used it for that purpose.

However, Waltz’s creation of a Signal group chat—where sensitive topics were discussed and which included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and a vocal critic of President Donald Trump—has sparked backlash. 

The inclusion of Goldberg in the chat frustrated several Cabinet members and angered the president, as it exposed internal communications.

Although Trump has publicly stood by Waltz, he privately met on last Wednesday with Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and other senior officials to weigh whether Waltz should remain in his role. 

The following day, Trump decided not to dismiss him, reportedly to avoid handing the “liberal media a scalp,” according to a senior administration official.

“This episode significantly weakened Waltz’s standing,” the official said, adding that during the meeting, the national security adviser was told he must show greater deference to Wiles. The New York Times was the first to report the internal meeting that took place last Wednesday.

In the Signal chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed specific details about the sequencing, timing, and weapons systems involved in the Trump administration’s planned March strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. 

Waltz also contributed to the conversation, providing a concise but highly detailed after-action account of the strikes, noting that the military had.. “positive ID” of a senior Houthi leader “walking into his girlfriend’s building.”

This detail, per intelligence sources, later confirmed the use of Israeli surveillance capabilities shared with the United States. Israeli officials were reportedly frustrated that this sensitive intelligence cooperation was publicly disclosed.

FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi have given no indication that Trump officials’ use of Signal for sensitive information will be investigated, with Bondi saying the material shared was not classified.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino

Border Crossings Reach New Low, Administration Says

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Border Crossings Reach New Low, Administration Says

(, The Center Square) Border crossings reached a new low in March, according to the Trump administration.

“Border Patrol encounters for the month of March was 7,181 total,” wrote border czar Tom Homan on X, formerly Twitter. “I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, which was 41 years ago. I cannot recall a single month since then that the numbers have been that low.”

Homan has held key positions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement under both the Obama administration and the first Trump administration.

The March 2025 total is down 94% from one year ago, according to reporting from The New York Post. Illegal border crossings reached record highs under President Joe Biden, with total nationwide migrant encounters exceeding 10.1 million by August 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Center Square previously reported that that figure did not include about 2 million “gotaways” – people who entered the U.S. illegally and evaded capture, bringing the total to over 12.5 million.

The new total for the month of March is less than figures reported for one day at times during the Biden administration. Homan compared March’s total to daily figures under the Biden administration

“[This] is a far cry from the more than 11,000 a day that we saw for a time period under Biden. The men and women of the Border Patrol have proven what they can accomplish when they are allowed to do their job and complete the mission of their agency,” Homan wrote.

Skeptics have said the administration has exaggerated its successes at the border, though there has been a sizable drop-off in border encounters and illegal immigration since January.

The trend is so pronounced that migrant facilities have started to close. Both federal and state facilities used to detain and process illegal migrants have closed in Texas, The Center Square reported.

Access Denied: Journalist Barred from Dems’ Weekly Media Availability Event

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Access Denied: Journalist Barred from Dems’ Weekly Media Availability Event

(, The Center Square) Less than a week after the Washington State Senate adopted a rule change restricting credentialed members of the media from accessing “the wings” and adjacent rooms of the Senate, unless invited by a lawmaker or staff member, journalist Jonathan Choe received his credentials. He was denied access anyway.

Choe, a journalist and senior fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth and Poverty, was denied access to Tuesday’s weekly media availability event held by legislative Democratic leaders despite his newly issued one-week pass.

The press rule change came after the Capitol Correspondents Association decided to return press credentialing authority to the Senate and House.

As reported by The Center Square, prior to that change, the CCA determined who was allowed to receive press credentials. These credentials give reporters access to areas of the Capitol Building where the general public is not allowed without the escort of a lawmaker or staff member.

Senate security initially asked Choe to wait outside the chamber while it checked whether he was allowed to go inside with his limited pass.

Aaron Wasser, Senate Democrats communications director, then emerged and told Choe that he was not allowed inside because he is not a legitimate member of the media.

The Center Square witnessed the subsequent exchange in which Choe showed Wasser his credentials, including being the Seattle bureau reporter for Newsmax and the lead investigative reporter for Frontlines Turning Point USA.

“I have my credential right here,” Choe said, showing Wasser the purple day pass he had picked up that morning.

“But not for the wings,” Wasser responded.

“But the press briefings are in the wings,” pressed Choe.

“Yeah, I know, and you can’t come in the wings,” Wasser said.

“What are you afraid of?” asked Choe.

“You’re not a real reporter,” Wasser retorted.

The exchange continued for a few more moments before Wasser walked back inside the wings, leaving Choe outside.

“We’re in a strange place, and it’s an increasingly polarized world. Our media has to have access, and we’re seeing a decrease in access,” Ellen Haitt, executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, told The Center Square in a phone interview.

Haitt said she hopes the WNPA can work with lawmakers during the interim to craft new rules that increase media access and transparency.

“It used to be the press policing themselves and judging the legitimacy of an outlet, but things are so polarized now,” she added.

Choe spoke with state Sen Keith Goehner, R-Dryden, inside the Republican wings of the Senate after being denied access on the Democratic side.

“I think we ought to have a free and open press,” Goehner said. “If you’re in the public eye and making public laws, it seems like the public should know what’s going on.”

An hour later, Choe was allowed into Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office for a press conference on budget negotiations; in that case, no one checked press credentials.

Choe further questioned Wasser about how he could gain access to the Senate Democratic wings given his weekly pass notes he can be “escorted” by a lawmaker or staff member.

Wasser said they are still “figuring it all out” given the rule change is brand new, but continued to assert that Choe is not a real reporter.

The House is expected to craft its own new rules for media access.

Director Oliver Stone Tells Congress to Open New Investigation into JFK Assassination

Headline USA Editor
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Director Oliver Stone Tells Congress to Open New Investigation into JFK Assassination

(Headline USA) Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, whose 1991 film “JFK” portrayed President John F. Kennedy’s assassination as the work of a shadowy government conspiracy, called Tuesday for a new congressional investigation of the killing during a hearing into the matter.

The hearing of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets followed last month’s release of thousands of pages of government documents related to the assassination. The task force’s Republican chair opened the proceedings by questioning the Warren Commission investigation’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in fatally shooting Kennedy as his motorcade finished a parade route in downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Stone’s “JFK” was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture, and won two. It grossed more than $200 million but was also dogged by questions about its historical accuracy. Stone told the committee that he believes decades of delays in releasing unredacted records had prevented “clarity” about who killed JFK.

Stone also said a new investigation “outside all political considerations” should begin “at the scene of the crime” and reexamine all of the evidence from the day of the assassination.

“Can we return to a world where we can trust our government to level with us, the people for which this government exists?” Stone said. “This is our democracy. This is our presidency. It belongs to us.”

The task force’s chair, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, said she thinks the federal government under previous administrations had engaged in “stonewalling.”

For Tuesday’s hearing, the task force also invited Jefferson Morley and James DiEugenio, who have written books about the assassination. Morley is editor of the JFK Facts blog and vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a repository for files related to the assassination.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press



Deranged Liberal to Plead Guilty to Assassination Attempt on Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh

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Deranged Liberal to Plead Guilty to Assassination Attempt on Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh

(Headline USA) A California man will plead guilty to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C, nearly three years ago, the defendant’s attorneys said in a court filing on Wednesday.

Nicholas John Roske, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in June 2022. Roske was armed with a gun and a knife, was carrying zip ties and was dressed in black when he arrived in the neighborhood by taxi just after 1 a.m., federal authorities said.

Roske, who was 26 when he was arrested, intends to plead guilty to attempting to murder a justice of the United States without reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, according to his lawyers. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Roske’s attorneys asked a judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, to schedule a hearing next Monday or Tuesday for him to enter a guilty plea. They say prosecutors have consented to their request.

After his arrest, Roske told a police detective that he was upset by a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court intended to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Killing one jurist could change the decisions of the nine-member court “for decades to come,” authorities said that Roske wrote, adding, “I am shooting for three.”

The leaked opinion draft led to protests, including at several of the justices’ homes.

At the time, the Biden administration refused to condemn the protests. As noted by the Daily Signal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had also said in 2020, “I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price.”

Roske’s arrest spurred the House to approve a bill expanding around-the-clock security protection to the justices’ families.

Roske also said he was upset over the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed that Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, the affidavit said.

Roske was apprehended after he called 911 and told a police dispatcher that he was near Kavanaugh’s home and wanted to take his own life. He was spotted by two U.S. marshals who were part of 24-hour security provided to the justices.

A trial for Roske has been scheduled to start on June 9.

During a hearing in October 2022, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte said there was a “very high likelihood” that he would order a mental evaluation for Roske to determine if he was fit to assist his defense, enter a possible guilty plea or stand trial.

One of Roske’s attorneys, Andrew Szekely, said during a hearing last August that the defense is not requesting a court-ordered mental evaluation of Roske.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman inherited Roske’s case after Messitte died in January following a brief illness.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Nashville Police Now Say Transgender Christian School Shooter Never Had ‘Manifesto’

Ken Silva
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Nashville Police Now Say Transgender Christian School Shooter Never Had ‘Manifesto’

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The transgender shooter behind the 2023 Nashville elementary school attack that killed six people, including three children, had been planning it for years while struggling with mental health issues, according to a police report released Wednesday.

The nearly 50-page investigative case summary by Metro Nashville Police closes the agency’s probe into the shooting at the Christian, private Covenant School in March 2023.

Contrary to widespread media reports, the investigation said that no manifesto existed.

“In this case, a manifesto didn’t exist. Hale never left behind a single document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack,” the Nashville police report states.

Instead, the shooter, Audrey Hale, left behind “a series of notebooks, art composition books, and media files created by Hale documenting her planning and preparation for the attack, the events in her life that motivated her to commit the attack, and her hopes regarding the outcome of the attack,” police determined. Hale, who once attended Covenant, was killed by police.

Hale identified as a man at the time of the attack, but the police report uses female pronouns. The report doesn’t refer to Hale as transgender.

“She began to use the name ‘Aiden Williams’ in the years prior to her death and used male pronouns on her social media and networking accounts. Nothing has been found to suggest she initiated or was undergoing a transition at the time of her death, including medical documentation,” the report states.

“During her autopsy following her death, it was determined she was biologically female.”

Hale began receiving treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on April 23, 2001, when the shooter was just six years old. She first fantasized about committing a mass shooting in November 2017, after watching documentaries about school shootings and “remembering her social struggles in middle school,” according to the Nashville police report.

By December 2018, Hale also began planning an attack at a different middle school where she had once been a student, the report says. Months later, her therapist became “concerned,” and recommended Hale take part in a psychological assessment at VUMC, according to the police report. That assessment occurred in June 2019.

“Based on records from the assessment, VUMC confirmed the mental health disorders Hale was already known to have and identified her depression and anxiety as the largest aggravating factors. They made no mention of psychosis and noted Hale denied having any plans to harm herself or others, nor the means to do so,” the Nashville police report states.

After her assessment, Hale participated in an eight-week “intensive outpatient program.”

“For a short period of time, the treatment seemed to work, as Hale’s writings tended to be more positive, and fewer mentions of depression and anxiety were present. She seemed more hopeful about life and the possibility of finding independence and success,” the police report states. “But these feelings quickly faded, as the social and personal factors that drove her depression in the first place never left. Hale quickly sunk back into deep rage and despair.”

Hale continued to fantasize about school shootings for the next several years until she carried one out the morning of March 27, 2023. Hale’s shooting spree lasted about 20 minutes before police killed her.

“Due to the audible fire alarm, the earplugs she was wearing throughout the attack, and the sound of her own gunfire, Hale never heard the police officers as they entered the lobby behind her. One officer then fired a 5.56mm caliber rifle at Hale, striking her and knocking her to the ground,” the Nashville police report states.

“As the officers approached Hale to take her into custody, they saw she still had possession of her firearms and her arms were moving. A second officer fired a 9mm caliber pistol at her. She was fatally wounded by the officers’ gunfire.”

The people killed in the shooting at Covenant were: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old; Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

The Tennessee Star still has an ongoing lawsuit to compel MNPD and the FBI to release Hale’s full writings. The Star reported Wednesday that it’s extended a settlement offer to FBI Director Kash Patel, who had called for Hale’s “manifesto” to be made public before he became director.

“FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that he would release Hale’s writings if made the agency’s director, and SNDM has extended a settlement offer that would see the lawsuit dropped in exchange for Patel dropping the agency’s opposition to their release around the time of his confirmation. The FBI has yet to respond to the offer,” the Star reported.

The evidence held by law enforcement on Hale includes more than 100 gigabytes of data, which includes over 900 pages of her writings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Democrats’ Win in Wisconsin Court Race Also Is a Big Loss for Elon Musk

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Democrats’ Win in Wisconsin Court Race Also Is a Big Loss for Elon Musk

(Headline USA) Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals’ narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk and his affiliated groups sank at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Donald Trump’s administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.

Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was “buying” the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history.

“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court,” Crawford said in her victory speech. “And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.”

Trump endorsed Schimel as the race turned into a proxy fight over national political issues. The state’s high court can rule on cases involving voting rights and redistricting in a state likely to be at the center of both next year’s midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest.

But Musk’s involvement dialed those dynamics up to 11: “A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization,” the billionaire said Tuesday in a last-ditch call to voters on his social media site X. “I think it matters for the future of the world.”

Notably, America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the non-partisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump in November.

But the end results this time were not good for Musk. Schimel performed about 4 percentage points worse than the other Republican-backed statewide candidate on Tuesday’s ballot, failing superintendent of public schools candidate Brittany Kinser, who did not have Musk’s multimillion-dollar investment.

Musk’s court race defeat wasn’t only because of crushing Democratic margins in deep blue cities such as Madison and Milwaukee. Crawford’s margins were higher in places where the Musk-backed group America PAC had been active. That included Sauk County, just north of Madison, which Crawford was carrying by 10 points after Trump won it by less than 2 points in November.

On Sunday, Musk headlined a campaign rally in Green Bay with 2,000 people. Trump won Brown County, which includes the city, by 7 percentage points last year. But on Tuesday, it went for Crawford.

Overnight, Musk posted on his X platform that “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary.” In another comment, he seemed to take solace from voters’ approval to elevate the state’s photo ID requirement from state law to constitutional amendment. The platform was rife with criticism from Trump opponents for his involvement in the race.

“Please send @elonmusk to all the close races!” Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, wrote.

“Elon Musk is not good at this,” JB Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor and a billionaire himself who donated to support Crawford, posted on X.

Some Republicans questioned Musk’s decision to go all-in on the contest, especially since political insiders of both parties expected the GOP to lose the contest.

“If the chances are it’s going to go against you, is it wise to insert yourself as a central player and do rallies in the last couple days, further signifying that point?” said GOP strategist Marc Short, referring to the town hall Musk headlined in Green Bay. Short was a top adviser to Trump’s former Vice President, Mike Pence.

Voters definitely had Musk on their minds.

“There’s an insane situation going on with the Trump administration, and it feels like Elon Musk is trying to buy votes,” said Kenneth Gifford, a 22-year-old Milwaukee college student, as he cast his ballot on Tuesday. “I want an actual, respectable democracy.”

Others may not have had their vote decided by the billionaire but were all-too aware of the money pouring into their state.

Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree who previously worked in communications and marketing, said he voted for Schimel because he wants Republicans to maintain their outsized majority in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, which will be at risk if the liberal majority on the court orders the maps redrawn. But, he added, he was disappointed the election had become a “financial race.”

“I think it’s a shame that we have to spend this much money, especially on a judicial race,” Seeger said as he voted in Eau Claire.

Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General, Josh Kaul, sued to bar Musk from making his payments to voters if they signed a petition against “activist judges.” The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to rule on the case over a technicality.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Republicans Pad U.S. House Majority w/ Two Florida Special Election Wins

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Republicans Pad U.S. House Majority w/ Two Florida Special Election Wins

(, The Center Square) Republicans padded their slim U.S. House majority Tuesday after winning two Florida special elections to replace a pair of members who resigned their seats.

In the 6th Congressional District, state Sen. Randy Fine was projected to defeat Democrat Josh Weil with about 56% of the vote with 98% of ballots counted, according to unofficial results. The race was necessitated by the resignation of former U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, a Republican who became President Donald Trump’s national security advisor.

Tuesday’s outcome was closer than Waltz’s last race, when he won by 34 points.

Florida Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis was the projected winner over Democrat Gay Valimont with 56% of the unofficial vote tally with 93% counted to replace former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

Gaetz resigned his U.S. House seat after being nominated by Trump to be the U.S. attorney general, but he later dropped out of the running because the Republican firebrand and Trump ally faced a tough confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate due to a House ethics investigation.

Trump instead nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was easily confirmed.

With the wins, the GOP will pad their U.S. still slim House majority to 220 seats to 213 for Democrats.

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