Trump smacks China– while pausing tariffs for other countries, illegal immigrants will soon see hefty fines if they choose not to self deport, and Maine loses out on more federal funding over its transgender policies. Developing stories you need to know just in time for your drive home. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.Fast Growing Trees: Get 15% off your first purchase when using the code WIRE at checkout or by visiting https://fastgrowingtrees.com/wireNetSuite: Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for FREE at https://NetSuite.com/MORNINGWIRE
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Trump smacks China while pausing tariffs for other countries. Illegal immigrants will soon see hefty fines if they choose not to self-deport. And Maine loses out on more federal funding over its transgender policies. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, April 9th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
Chapter 2: What is President Trump's latest action on tariffs?
President Trump paused the sweeping reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries this week, saying many have reached out to make deals, though one country, he says, won't be so lucky. Daily Wire's senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest.
Chapter 3: How is the U.S. escalating tariffs against China?
While the president paused tariffs for other countries, he upped the ante on China. raising duties on goods from the country to 125%. The move comes after Beijing slapped an 84% tariff on U.S. goods in response to the president adding a 50% tariff on Chinese imports on top of several others.
Trump took to Truth Social saying he hopes China will soon realize that, quote, the days of ripping off the U.S.A.,
Chapter 4: What is the response from China and the EU to U.S. tariffs?
are over earlier today china's commerce ministry vowed to quote fight to the end while slapping export bans on several u.s companies including shield ai and sierra nevada corporation on fox news this morning treasury secretary scott besant dismissed the move from china as a quote losing proposition for beijing
They have some very smart economists, the academicians, technocrats within their bureaucracy, and they would be telling the leadership that we do not have the edge here. They are the surplus country. Their exports to the U.S. are five times our exports to China. So they can raise their tariffs, but so what?
For their part, the European Union also responded with retaliatory tariffs this morning, proving 25% duties on American goods like almonds, orange juice, and steel. EU officials say a second round of countermeasures is expected next week.
Trump's nominee for NASA administrator vowed that the US will dominate the new space race with China without needing a bigger budget. Astronaut and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman pledged simultaneous moon and Mars missions, defended NASA's financial strength, and warned that space is the ultimate high ground that America must not surrender.
Chapter 5: What are Jared Isaacman's plans for NASA's space missions?
Isaacman also promised loyalty to NASA over Elon Musk, his previous business partner. He went on to outline goals for nuclear propulsion, deep space missions, and space debris cleanup. He made the statements at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Do you believe it is possible to stand up a full mission to the moon and a full mission to the Mars simultaneously?
Senator, as I mentioned my prepared remarks, I think we can absolutely do that. We can figure out the space economy in low Earth orbit. We can run more scientific missions. This This is the agency that went from sending Alan Shepard on a suborbital mission and eight years later, we saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon.
Do I think that we can get back to the moon, chart a course for Mars and do all the other things? Absolutely, Senator.
The Trump administration is set to fine illegal aliens nearly $1,000 a day for refusing to self-deport.
Daily Wire reporter Spencer Lindquist has the story. The Trump administration will enforce a 1996 law that allows it to fine illegal aliens $998 every day that they stay in the United States past the date that they are ordered to be removed from the country.
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Chapter 6: Is it possible to conduct simultaneous moon and Mars missions?
The administration plans to enforce the law retroactively for up to five years, meaning that illegal aliens could be charged over $1 million each for remaining in the country illegally. The government could even seize and sell off the property of illegal aliens who are unable to pay the fine.
That financial penalty could be imposed on the roughly 1.4 million illegal aliens who currently have active removal orders. These fines could be levied by either Customs and Border Protection or the Department of Justice's Civil Asset Forfeiture Division.
The Associated Press will once again be allowed in the White House briefing room. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has the details.
A federal judge has ruled that the White House's ban on the AP from Oval Office events is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled yesterday that the White House violated the First Amendment by discriminating based on a viewpoint. The dispute is over the AP's refusal to use the term Gulf of America instead of the now officially defunct Gulf of Mexico.
Chapter 7: What fines will the Trump administration impose on illegal immigrants?
McFadden, who is a Trump appointee, wrote that the administration offered no other plausible explanation for how it treated the AP and that the Constitution forbids viewpoint discrimination even in a non-public forum like the Oval Office.
Maine is in the headlines again over its transgender policies. The Justice Department has pulled over $1 million in federal funding from the Department of Corrections in the Pine Tree State after its decision to hold a trans-identifying man and double murderer in a women's prison.
Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the funding cut as a path toward protecting women, citing Andrew Balser's placement in the female facility. Here's Bondi on Fox News earlier this week.
They were letting him be housed in a female prison. No longer. We will pull your funding. We will protect women in prison. We will protect women in sports. We will protect women throughout this country. No more of that.
Bolser was sentenced to 40 years for stabbing his parents to death. The DOJ's move follows a series of federal warnings to Maine on transgender policies. The Education Department has also given the state until April 11th to comply with Title IX or face further legal action.
A new poll shows that 66% of Americans oppose the use of federal money for transgender medical procedures. A new poll from Signal, commissioned by the American Principles Project, found swing voters and even 42% of Democrats disapprove of taxpayer-funded gender transitions. Voter support shifted 14 points toward Republicans when told a Democrat backed such policies.
The findings come as transgender issues dominate political debate.
There's a Texas-sized showdown shaping up in the Lone Star State. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he's running for the Senate, challenging Republican John Cornyn in 2026. Speaking on Fox News, Paxton slammed Cornyn's positions on gun control, Ukraine aid, and border security.
It's definitely time for a change in Texas. We have another great U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and it's time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas, and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he's focused on in a very significant way. And that's what I plan on doing.
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