Today’s edition of quick hits.
* At the White House: “President Donald Trump announced plans to impose an across-the-board 10% tariff on all U.S. trading partners — as well as higher duties for dozens of other countries — as he pledged to embark on the biggest reorganization of global trade relations since World War II.”
* The latest from Myanmar: “Myanmar’s ruling military declared a temporary ceasefire in the country’s civil war Wednesday to facilitate relief efforts following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 3,000 people. The announcement by the military’s high command was reported late Wednesday on state television MRTV, which said the truce would run until April 22 and was aimed at showing compassion for people affected by Friday’s quake.”
* An outcome that’s tough to defend: “U.S. District Judge Dale Ho on Wednesday dismissed New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption indictment with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be revived in the future.”
* It’s difficult to be optimistic about the future of U.S. public health: “Federal drug regulators have missed the deadline for making a key decision regarding a Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax, days after the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief was pushed out. The agency was set to give full approval to Novavax’s shot, but senior leaders at the agency are now sitting on the decision and have said the Novavax application needed more data and was unlikely to be approved soon, people familiar with the matter said.”
* Difficult diplomacy: “Russia cannot accept U.S. proposals to end the war in Ukraine in their current form because they do not address problems Moscow regards as having caused the conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, suggesting U.S.-Russia talks on the subject had stalled.”
* The White House’s campaign against higher education is intensifying: “Princeton University said the Trump administration is suspending funding for research grants, making it the fourth Ivy League school to be targeted by the president. Chris Eisgruber, Princeton’s president, said in an email to students and staffers Tuesday that the New Jersey school received notices that U.S. agencies were ending ‘several dozen’ research grants.”
* On the heels of a failed charm offensive: “The White House is preparing an estimate of what it would cost the federal government to control Greenland as a territory, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, the most concrete effort yet to turn President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire the Danish island into actionable policy.” * Quite a paragraph: “Some government health employees who were laid off Tuesday were told to contact Anita Pinder with discrimination complaints. But Pinder, who was the director at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, died last year.” * Noted without comment: “Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) appeared to confuse Oliver Stone, an American filmmaker and a witness before House lawmakers on Tuesday, with political strategist Roger Stone during a hearing on the release of new documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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