Signal chat fallout, tariff tension — and 3 more takeaways from Trump's week

We'll be recapping what you need to know every Friday morning for the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Get more updates and analysis in the NPR Politics newsletter.

The week has been dominated by the Signal group chat among high-ranking Trump administration officials that a reporter was apparently inadvertently added to. There's been plenty of other headlines. More tariffs went into effect that could raise the price of cars. There was more controversy surrounding Trump's deportation efforts. And there are questions about the administration's approach to the war in Ukraine.

Here are five takeaways from the week, followed by a day-by-day look at everything that happened this week on this 67th day of the second Trump presidency:

1. The group chat response draws on a Trump political playbook, but there are serious questions about security and professionalism.

The administration's spin cycle went into overdrive, opening up the Trumpian playbook by denying, downplaying and attacking the messenger. But no matter how much they try to argue over technical assertions of what's classified or not, it doesn't change the reality that senior administration officials discussed highly sensitive information with specific details and times about an imminent military operation not in a secure environment like the White House Situation Room or sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) but on a nongovernmental messaging platform. (NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher is chair of the Signal Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Signal messaging app.)

That goes against protocol, and the Defense Department has warned for years against not using the platform for any non-public information and issued a Pentagon-wide advisory earlier this month that the app has been a target of Russian hackers. The Trump team has minimized what happened, tried to discredit the reporter and claim that this was an "appropriate channel" to have the conversation, as CIA Director John Ratcliffe did in a congressional hearing this week.

2. Trump officials and their congressional supporters have tried to deflect and make this simply about how a reporter was added to the chat, but lawmakers want more answers.

Republicans have called it a "mistake," but the "it" appears to be adding a reporter to the channel, not that the conversation took place on Signal at all. Trump himself doesn't appear to think this is a very big deal, either. That was made clear by his wondering aloud on Wednesday why anyone was mentioning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was the one giving specific times about when bombings would take place — and how — hours before they were dropped.

"Hegseth? How do you bring Hegseth into it?" Trump said, responding to a reporter's question. "He had nothing to do with it. Look, look — it's all a witch hunt."

Not only has the Pentagon said the app, while convenient, warned of using it for nonpublic official information. Conversations like these are supposed to be preserved, archived – and likely classified, but the released texts from The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg show they were set to disappear on the app by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.

This isn't the end of the story, because a bipartisan group of lawmakers wants an investigation. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the conversation "appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified."

He called for an expedited inspector general's report, though that may prove difficult. Just days after Trump was sworn in, he fired more than a dozen IGs across multiple agencies, including the Defense Department.

3. Tariffs on cars likely mean higher prices on yet another key item — and a potential political problem on the horizon for Republicans.

It's no secret that a big reason Trump was elected was to bring prices down. But his actions in his first months as president are likely to lead to higher prices. Tariffs on Canada and Mexico could also increase food prices, because the U.S. imports a lot of agriculture from Mexico, in particular. Tariffs on China are likely to lead to higher prices on cheap goods Americans buy.

And this week, it's 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars and car parts that are likely to lead to higher auto prices. Trump has acknowledged that his tariffs may make things more expensive.

"We may have some, short-term, a little bit of pain," Trump said last month, "and people understand that."

That's his gamble — that in the long run, these tariffs will even out trade imbalances and increase U.S. manufacturing. It's something the auto worker union is glad to see, applauding Trump for ending what it sees as the "free-trade disaster." But will people accept higher prices on groceries and cars when they're already high?

"Now voters are saying, 'OK, you've been elected; we know you're going to be disruptive; we know you're going to be that wrecking ball,'" said Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster, "'but where's the reduced cost of living I was looking for?'"

Soltis Anderson said while Trump's overall approval ratings are higher than where he was in his first term, his economic approval has slipped. This week, the Consumer Confidence Index dropped to a 12-year low. That is quite the risky position for a president, especially one who promised to bring prices down on Day 1. Given that Trump is barred from running again and if prices do go up, it could be something felt by the GOP in next year's midterm elections.

4. Trump continues to push the limits with deportations — and it's getting closer to the Supreme Court weighing in.

One of the areas where Americans give Trump his highest marks is on immigration. But his administration is continuing to battle the courts and push the limits with its arguments. This week, the administration refused to give a judge more details on its timeline on deportation flights of Venezuelans the administration says are members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

The administration cited the "state secrets privilege," but Judge James Boasberg wasn't buying it, calling its response "woefully insufficient."

An appeals panel, 2-1, sided with Boasberg and denied the administration's push to restart deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, noting that the administration hasn't given those targeted the chance to prove they're not part of the gang before sending them to a country they're not even from where they're imprisoned for an indefinite period of time. The Trump administration said it will be appealing to the Supreme Court.

Boasberg was also assigned to a lawsuit over the Signal chat group. It alleges use of the platform in this way violates federal recordkeeping laws.

5. More pro-Palestinian students were rounded up. Trump's betting he wins the debate on executive power vs. freedom of speech. 

A doctoral student at Tufts University was taken into custody off the street by plain-clothesed officers with face coverings and whisked away to a detention facility in Louisiana. The student, a Turkish national, was in the U.S. on a valid student visa. But that visa has since been revoked.

The student had co-authored an opinion piece criticizing university leadership for its position on the war in Gaza.

"This is not about free speech," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month when asked about the detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil. "This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with. … No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card."

But the students all have one thing in common — they spoke out against Israel's approach to the war in Gaza.

More Americans' sympathies lie with Israelis than Palestinians, but it's at the lowest level in at least a quarter century since Gallup data is available on the question and, for the first time, below 50%. More Republicans have sympathy for Israelis, more Democrats for Palestinians. Democrats' support has spiked as the war has carried on. Independents narrowly side with Israelis.

So Trump may feel he has public opinion on his side to continue with these kinds of expulsions and may try to make the debate about: 1. this not being about the war in Gaza at all, but 2. about ending anti-semitism on campuses. The question is: Is there room in the United States for a debate about what defines antisemitism and whether anyone has the right to criticize the government of Israel's conduct of the war? The administration is bluntly making the point that certainly not if you're a foreign student.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

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AFP via Getty Images

Here's a day-by-day look at what happened this past week (since we last posted our roundup):

Friday, March 21:

• President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth reveal Boeing won a $20 billion contract to build the new F-47 fighter jet.  
• Elon Musk went to the Pentagon. Hegseth says it was to discuss Defense cuts. 
• Trump says of his dismantling of the Department of Education that administration of student loans will be done by the Small Business Administration and money for special needs will go to Health and Human Services.
• Trump does away with security clearances for several people with ties to former President Biden, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and current Rep. Alexander Vindman.
• The Department of Homeland Security says it is taking away legal protections for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. holds rallies where he is drawing big crowds.

Saturday:

• Israel says it intercepted rockets from Lebanon and fires on Hezbollah. It comes after Israel broke a ceasefire in Gaza.
• The Washington Post reports that the IRS will possibly share taxpayer information of immigrants in the U.S. without permanent legal status with ICE to track them down. NPR has not independently confirmed the reporting.

Sunday:

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rejects calls to step aside on NBC's Meet the Press. 
• Thousands of postal workers across the country protest DOGE cuts and Trump considering putting the Postal Service under the Commerce Department 

Monday:

• Israel is considering a ground invasion of Gaza and instituting military rule.
• Trump announces $21 billion Hyundai investment. 
• Federal Judge Boasberg maintains his block on Venezuelan flight deportations. He said in the ruling, "It follows that summary deportation following close on the heels of the government's informing an alien that he is subject to the proclamation — without giving him the opportunity to consider whether to voluntarily self-deport or challenge the basis for the order — is unlawful."
• A D.C. Circuit judge says that Nazis were treated better than Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act. "Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than what has happened here," Judge Patricia Millett said. "And they had hearing boards before they were removed."
• Trump petitions Supreme Court to block federal rulings mandating the rehiring of some federal workers.
• Trump names Alina Habba interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey. She was a legal spokeswoman for Trump during the multiple criminal cases against him after his first term. "There is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in Cory Booker's backyard and right under Gov. Murphy and that will stop," she said.
• Trump holds a Cabinet meeting. Elon Musk is in attendance.

• The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic says he was texted Trump administration war plans against the Houthis in Yemen in a group text accidentally. Among others on the chat were Vice President JD Vance, national security adviser Michael Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Trump adviser Stephen Miller. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Armed Services Committee said: "If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen. Military operations need to be handled with utmost discretion, using approved, secure lines of communication, because American lives are on the line. The carelessness shown by President Trump's cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately."
• Hegseth contended, "Nobody was texting war plans" and criticized the journalist. The National Security Council has confirmed the authenticity of the chain. 
• Trump's response: "I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic. It's going out of business. It's not much of a magazine." 
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: "President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz."
• The Supreme Court hears arguments about Louisiana redistricting.
• Acting CDC director Susan Monarez tapped as new nominee for agency. 
• President Trump says on social media that the United States would put a 25% tariff on trade with countries that buy Venezuelan oil, starting on April 2.
• Trump issues memo targeting law firms. 
• Postmaster General Louis DeJoy steps down. 
• The Department of Justice refuses to give judge information on deportation flights, citing state secrets. 

Tuesday:

• Trump's nominee to run the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisagnano, faces his confirmation hearing. He said during the hearing that he wants to implement AI to try and cut down on the SSA's 1% payment error rate. In February, he described himself on CNBC as "fundamentally a DOGE person" and that the "objective isn't to touch benefits. The objective is there is going to be fraud, waste and abuse in there."
• Leavitt says of the Signal group chat, "No 'war plans' were discussed" and attacks the journalist as "sensationalist."
• In response to Hegseth's claim that no war plans were shared, Atlantic editor Goldberg says on MSNBC's Morning Joe that there's more than one text with operational information. "I saw Hegseth's response, it was just unserious," he says. He adds that Hegseth was telling the group which weapons packages were being deployed and at which times. 
• In a phone interview with NBC, Trump says, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man. It was one of Michael's people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there. Trump described the situation as "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one."
• Trump later says, "No classified information shared." National Security Adviser Waltz says about Goldberg that they are "looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room."
• Senate intelligence hearing takes place. There were no apologies from Gabbard or Ratcliffe. Gabbard initially wouldn't even acknowledge that she was the "TG" in the group. Ratcliffe did and says it was a "mistake," as the White House did. Both Gabbard and Ratcliffe deferred to Hegseth on issues of classification. 
• NPR reports the Pentagon sent out guidance days after the call about the vulnerability of Signal as a platform, because it is a target of Russian hackers. In 2023, a Pentagon memo also warned against the platform's use for any non-public official information. 
• The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration plans to suspend family planning grants. 
• The Consumer Confidence Index drops to a 12-year low. 
• Russia and Ukraine agree to stop fighting in the Black Sea. But questions remain about what Russia will get out of it. Russia wants markets opened back up, as their exports have been hurt by international sanctions. 

• The Washington Post reports Trump is putting a vaccine skeptic in charge of study on autism and vaccines. 
• The Kennedy Center dissolves its Social Impact Division.
• Trump administration targets another Columbia University student who engaged in pro-Palestinian protests. The student was arrested during a demonstration at Barnard. She has been in the U.S. since she was 7. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says Columbia is under investigation for "harboring and concealing illegal aliens on campus."
• Waltz says on Fox News that he takes "full responsibility" for Goldberg being in the group. "A staffer wasn't responsible. I take full responsibility. I built the group. My job is to make sure everything is coordinated." But he also said: "Have you ever had somebody's contact that shows their name and then you have somebody else's number there? … Of course I didn't see this loser in the group. It looked like someone else. Whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical means is something we're trying to figure out." 
• Trump signs executive order aiming to require proof of citizenship when someone registers to vote. 
• Five senior Center for Disease Control and Prevention officials are fired. The agency is bracing for deeper cuts.
• The former head of communications for the CDC publishes an op-ed in the Washington Post that skewers Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership of the agency.
• Jay Bhattacharya, Trump's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, is confirmed. The Stanford University health researcher was a prominent critic of U.S. public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images

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Getty Images

Wednesday:

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits El Salvador prison, where deported Venezuelans are being held. "If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face," Noem said in a video she posted on X. "This facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people."
• A day after multiple administration officials contended there was no classified material talked about in the Signal chat group, The Atlantic publishes the full texts. The White House responds saying The Atlantic is conceding these weren't "war plans," because the magazine now calls them "attack plans" and that the story is a "hoax." The story, with screenshots, notes specific times hours before bombs dropped. One text from Hegseth says, for example, "THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP."
• Trump Middle East and Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff was in the Signal chat group. He was also in Moscow that day, but Witkoff maintains he did not have his personal phone with him while in Russia. Leavitt says Witkoff was given access to a "classified protected server by the United States government, and he was very careful about his communications when he was in Russia." 
• Witkoff said on X in response to a Wall Street Journal editorial: "I am incredulous that a good newspaper like the @WSJ would not check with me as to whether I had any personal devices with me on either of my trips to Moscow," he wrote. "If they had, they would have known the truth. Which is, I only had with me a secure phone provided by the government for special circumstances when you travel to regions where you do not want your devices compromised. … I had no access to my personal devices until I returned from my trip. That is the responsible way for me to make these trips and that is how I always conduct myself."

• DNI Gabbard says during a House intelligence committee hearing, "The conversation was candid and sensitive," but no classified information was shared, she maintained, adding, "There were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared." Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, responds: "I've seen things much less sensitive be presented to us with high classification, and to say that it isn't is a lie to the country." Gabbard also says Signal comes pre-installed on government phones. Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez asks if Hegseth still has a drinking problem. CIA Director Ratcliffe says he was not and calls that line of questioning inappropriate. 
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers, Sens. Wicker, R-Miss., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, respectively, call for an expedited inspector general report. Wicker says discussion of this kind is best done in a classified setting. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., does not call for the same.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the debt ceiling will have to be raised some time between May and September, earlier than the June estimate 
• Judge James Boasberg is assigned a lawsuit about the Signal chat group potentially violating recordkeeping laws.
• The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is ending financial support for a group that purchases vaccines to administer to children in developing countries.
• A Turkish graduate student on student visa at Tufts University was taken into custody by ICE. She had authored an op-ed criticizing university leadership's stance on Gaza. That adds to the list of pro-Palestinian students detained – Columbia, Cornell and now Tufts.

• Reuters reports that a 19-year-old member of DOGE, with a colorful nickname, "provided support to a cybercrime gang that bragged about trafficking in stolen data and cyberstalking an FBI agent."
• Trump announces 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars and car parts. Trump dubs April 2 when reciprocal tariffs will go into effect "Liberation Day." It's a moniker he also used to describe his inauguration.
• The Social Security Administration partially walks back identity requirements. People on disability or Medicare don't have to show up in person now.
• Appeals court sides with judge in deportation case, 2-1. The Trump administration says it will appeal to the Supreme Court. 
• The State Department gave tens of thousands of dollars to Greenland for this dog sled race despite cutting 80% of foreign aid grants. 
• Trump calls the news around the Signal chat group a "witch hunt," said Hegseth is "doing a great job" and "he had nothing to do with this." "How do you bring Hegseth into it?" he said. "He had nothing to do — look, look, it's all a witch hunt."
• Gaza saw a second day of Palestinian protests against Hamas. "Hamas are terrorists," they chanted, in a video posted online by activists in Gaza. "Out, out, out, Hamas, get out!"  

Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images

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The Washington Post via Getty Images

Thursday:

• Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance visit Greenland with their son. It was originally supposed to be Usha Vance and her son. She was supposed to attend a dog sled race and wave the start flag. But after objections from Greenland and Danish officials, their attendance at the dog sled race was canceled, the vice president was added to the trip and they were to visit just the U.S. Space Force base in northern Greenland and not take in other sites.
• The Trump administration announced a major restructuring of the Health and Human Services department, including 20,000 job cuts. 
• Trump pulls Rep. Elise Stefanik's appointment as ambassador to the United Nations. In a social media post, Trump cited the need to "maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress" as a reason. Republicans have only a slim majority in the House. "With a very tight Majority," Trump writes, "I don't want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise's seat. The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day. There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations." He adds that she will have a spot in House leadership. House Speaker Johnson said he would invite Stefanik back to the leadership table in the House.
• The administration canceled a roughly $11.4 billion in COVID-era funding for grants linked to addiction, mental health and other programs. It was slated to run through September 2025. The administration said in a statement: "The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago."

• Some see a double standard in how those at the top of the Trump administration are communicating about sensitive information and what's expected of others in the intelligence community and the military.
• A federal judge, accused of bias by the Trump administration, fired back after the Justice Department asked that she remove herself from a case in which she blocked a Trump executive order targeting a prominent law firm. "When the U.S. Department of Justice engages in this rhetorical strategy of ad hominem attack, the stakes become much larger than only the reputation of the targeted federal judge," Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, writes in her order. "This strategy is designed to impugn the integrity of the federal judicial system and blame any loss on the decision-maker rather than fallacies in the substantive legal arguments presented."
• NPR reports on a memo from the new head of a Department of Labor watchdog group that notes her plans to downsize the agency and investigate whether the work it has been engaged in for years is constitutional. Previous to being in government, she was a lawyer, who represented Elon Musk's SpaceX.
• Trump's 25% tariff announcement on foreign-made cars and car parts is roiling the stock market. GM stocks dropped roughly 7%, for example.
• Trump issued an executive order suspending clearances for those at another prominent law firm, Wilmer Hale. 
• Judge Boasberg orders that the contents of the Signal chat must be preserved. 

• Attorney General Pam Bondi indicates there will be no investigation of the Signal chat group contents. "It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released," Bondi said during a news conference in Virginia. "What we should be talking about is it was a very successful mission." She then lashed out at Democrats' past handling of classified information. She did not mention President Trump's handling of classified information or the indictment against him that was eventually dropped when he became president.
• Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, vowed "retaliatory trade actions" and that the U.S. "is no longer a reliable partner." He also said Trump's actions will eventually hurt American consumers and, "Nothing is off the table as we defend our workers and our country."
• The New York Times reports that another high-profile law firm, Skadden Arps, has been in talks with Trump advisers in an effort to avoid the kinds of executive orders Trump has leveled at other firms.
• The University of Michigan is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion program, the school announced. University leadership said in a statement: "These decisions have not been made lightly. We recognize the changes are significant and will be challenging for many of us, especially those whose lives and careers have been enriched by and dedicated to programs that are now pivoting."

NPR disclosure: Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation.

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