Protest is just a part of life in the DC area. Demonstrations block streets, protesters hold up banners in front of Congress, people engage in long-term protest installations outside the White House - even President Donald Trump is getting in on the action, though in a unique way. Mr Trump unveiled new tariffs yesterday, with a baseline levy of 10 per cent on all countries, in protest against what he has called years of the US being taken advantage of by trading partners. China and Vietnam were the targets of some of the harshest tariffs, at 34 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively. India will be hit with a 26 per cent tariff, while the EU will receive a 20 per cent levy. "This is one of the most ambitious economic realignments the American people have ever seen," Mr Trump said, vowing to "make America wealthy again". Meanwhile, Senator Cory Booker is taking a well-deserved rest after breaking the speech record on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The Democratic politician spoke for a whopping 25 hours and four minutes, warning Congress of a "grave and urgent" moment in American history. He blasted Mr Trump's push - headed by his billionaire adviser Elon Musk - to slash large sections of the federal government. "Our institutions are being recklessly and unconstitutionally attacked and even shattered,” said Mr Booker. The question over who is allowed to protest and over what continues to be fought in court. A judge ruled that the trial of US resident Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained and threatened with deportation over his participation in pro-Palestine university campus protests, will take place in New Jersey after the government attempted to move the case to Louisiana. Mr Khalil's legal team has said they had only limited contact with him when he was in immigration detention in the southern state. Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher on a student visa who has been accused of having links to Hamas, is attempting to achieve something similar. He is currently being held in a facility in Texas but wants the case moved back to Virginia, where he was residing. His legal team told our correspondent Cody Combs that "conditions are rough" where he is now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the US has revoked at least 300 visas as it cracks down on people who participated in protests against the Gaza war. And prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, who allegedly gunned down healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. Some have described it as the ultimate act of protest against the broken American healthcare system but US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Tuesday that the killing “was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America”. While many were certainly shocked, Mr Mangione has received support online, with some seeing him as a vigilante hero. So yes, protest and its knock-on effects of snarled traffic and overcrowded public transport is part and parcel of our nation's capital. Sometimes the massive delays in getting where you need to go have a more pleasant cause, however: Washington's famed cherry blossoms reached peak bloom this week, drawing thousands of visitors downtown - including me. While the unseasonal heat and gaggles of slow-walking tourists had me on a low boil most of the day, seeing the pink and white petals drifting gently on the wind was a nice respite from the general sense of unease about the country's future. <b>EYE ON THE WHITE HOUSE</b> President Donald Trump on Sunday said Iran would be bombed and face additional tariffs unless it agrees to a nuclear deal with the US. "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing. And it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” Mr Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News.<i> </i>He added that no deal would also result in secondary tariffs "like I did four years ago". Mr Trump's rhetoric intensified his comment from a few days earlier in which he said that if Tehran refused to negotiate a new nuclear agreement, "bad, bad things are going to happen". The specifics of whether Mr Trump was implying a unilateral US air strike or a joint operation with Israel remained unclear. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/03/30/there-will-be-bombing-trump-tells-iran-if-it-fails-to-reach-nuclear-deal/" target="_blank">Read more</a> <b>Musk meddling</b> Susan Crawford preserved liberals’ narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court this week by defeating conservative Brad Schimel - but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk, who, along with affiliated groups, sunk 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. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/04/01/us-national-security-adviser-mike-waltz-used-gmail-for-work-report-says/" target="_blank">Another Waltz whoops?</a> <i>The Washington Post </i>reported this week that US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and a staff member used Gmail for official communications, with the staff member employing it to discuss sensitive information. The report comes a week after Mr Waltz and other members of Mr Trump's Cabinet were found to have inadvertently added a journalist to a group chat on Signal, where they discussed plans to carry out strikes on Yemen's Houthis. As Ramadan came to a close, Laila El Haddad, a Palestinian American from Gaza, was racing against time to prepare dishes native to her homeland. El Haddad, who now lives in Maryland with her husband and four children, was planning to deliver Ka’ak El Eid, a cookie popular during festive occasions, and meals to friends, family and neighbours. The author and activist, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and spent summers in Gaza, said that as they prepared to observe the holiday, they were also preparing for what might come: "We're preparing ourselves for ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids. We're preparing ourselves for the possibility of being questioned by the FBI. We're preparing ourselves constantly for, you know, deportation,” she said. “We're preparing ourselves for the continuation of genocide, and how and what else we can possibly do to stop that and help our families. Everyone is terrified.” <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/03/29/gaza-activist-and-author-observes-sombre-eid-in-us-amid-detentions-of-pro-palestine-protesters/" target="_blank">Read more from Nilanjana Gupta</a><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/03/14/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-protests-free-speech/" target="_blank"> </a> <b>ONLY IN AMERICA</b> Pro-Israel organisations have thrown their support behind US President Donald Trump's vow to deport students who protested against the war on Gaza and demanded that universities divest from companies linked to Israel. Canary Mission and Betar US, two of the most prominent groups, are working closely with the Trump administration by identifying and reporting student protesters. Among the names being shared with the government are those of naturalised US citizens. “We provided hundreds of names to the Trump administration of visa holders and naturalised Middle Easterners and foreigners who have no free speech in their countries, then come to the West to rage against America and support US-designated terrorist organisations,” Betar spokesman Daniel Levy told <i>The National</i>. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/03/21/what-is-the-f-47-trumps-new-6th-generation-fighter-plane/" target="_blank">R</a><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/03/31/betar-palestinian-students-visas-israel/" target="_blank">ead more from Adla Massoud</a>
