WHIPLASH: President Trump yesterday afternoon suspended new tariffs on most imports from Mexico and Canada until April 2nd, only two days after he had imposed levies of 25 percent on two of America’s closest trading partners. Trump said the tariffs were a punishment to encourage both countries to stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the US.

  Trump’s tariff’s and threats have caused economic uproar in all three countries and the US stock market has been sliding. Stocks closed down another 1.8 percent yesterday, in part because the president has caused uncertainty about what’s going to happen, and the markets hate that even more than tariffs.

  Trump claimed his decision had nothing to do with the stock market. “I’m not even looking at the market,” he said,  “because long term, the United States will be very strong with what’s happening here.” 

   With more federal staff cuts in the works, about 62,000 employees from 17 departments and agencies were fired during the month of February, according to the outplacement and employment research company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

  “When mass layoffs occur, it often leaves remaining staff feeling uneasy and uncertain,” said executive Andrew Challenger. “ The likelihood that many more workers leave voluntarily is high.” 

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: 

— A second federal judge, this one in Rhode Island, to extend the block on the Trump administration’s freeze on payments for federal grants and other congressionally approved government programs. 

  It’s a win for Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia, who sued the Trump administration. In his ruling, District Judge John McConnell Jr. said the spending freeze “fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.” 

— Trump is working on and executive order to begin the dismantling the of Education Department, long a target of conservatives. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday, “I want to bring the schools, I want to bring the schools back to the states.”

  Trump also said during an infamous campaign declaration that, “I love the uneducated.” 

  “Let the states run the schools,” Trump said yesterday, “And I’ll tell you, you’ll see something, it’s gonna blow your mind, it’ll be run so well.” 

  The Education Department does not run schools in the states. It helps failing or struggling school districts and enforces non-discrimination policies as well as collecting data about the performance of schools. 

  Eliminating the Education Department requires congressional approval and 60 votes in the Senate, which is unlikely, but that wouldn’t stop Trump from gutting and crippling it in the meantime.

— The producers of the hit musical Hamilton cancelled the show’s 2026 run at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington because of President Trump’s takeover of the venue. Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller said on Twitter/X that, “The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national center represents.”

— Canadian provinces have banned the sale of American-brewed wine and alcohol in retaliation for President Trump’s tariffs and threats to make Canada the 51^st state. Canadians are also re-considering vacation travel to the states.

THE WAR ROOM: Leaders of the European Union approved a plan to spend more than $680 billion on defense yesterday as President Trump says they have to step up for themselves.

  Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is working to restore relations with the Trump administration and talk about a peace plan. “Ukraine is ready to work 24/7 with our partners in the United States and Europe for peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. He said he plans to visit Saudi Arabia where representatives will meet “with our American partners.”

  Just hours later a Russian missile and drone strike targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. 

TRANSITIONAL ISSUE: In a rare break from fellow Democrats and “woke” culture, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential presidential candidate, said that the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports  is “deeply unfair.”

  Newsom made his remarks to right wing influencer and activist Charlie Kirk on the debut broadcast of the governor’s new podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom.”

  Newsom said he had Kirk on the podcast because people need to understand his side of the issues. When Kirk pressed Newsom about the women’s sports question, the governor said, “I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair.”

  The governor is now on the side of Donald Trump with this issue, although not to the same extreme. Trump ordered the withholding of federal money from any school or university that allows trans athletes on women’s teams.

THE SPIN RACK: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship exploded shortly after takeoff for the second time since January. The recoverable booster, as it did in January, returned for a safe landing. — Los Angeles County sued Southern California Edison charging that the power company’s equipment started the  devastating Eaton fire that burned much of Altadena and killed 17 people. — An unvaccinated man has become the second person to die in the Texas measles outbreak. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that vaccination is a personal choice and that good nutrition is “a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses.” — At least 70 people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes between the new authorities in Syria and gunmen loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.

BELOW THE FOLD: Police in Florida arrested a man they believe stole $770,000 worth of diamond earrings from a Tiffany store in Orlando then swallowing the goods before he was detained.  It shows on an x-ray. They’re waiting for the suspect to return the jewelry.

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