Judge says Trump lawyers’ failure to explain how they plan to return wrongly deported man ‘extremely troubling’ – live

The state department is ordering staff to report colleagues for instances of “anti-Christian bias” during the Biden administration, part of Donald Trump’s aggressive push to reshape government policy on religious expression in his first months back in office.

The internal cable, obtained by the Guardian, establishes a short seven-day window for employees to report perceived religious discrimination committed by state department officials, with particular emphasis on Christianity.

“The department is seeking submissions regarding any practices involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration,” the Friday cable reads, instructing staff to report to a specially created taskforce by 18 April.

The cable, first reported by Politico, points back to Trump’s February executive order aimed at ending “the anti-Christian weaponization of government,” and indicates that the department will offer preferential treatment for Christians.

One example of the “bias” the department wants reported includes “mistreatment for opposing displays of flags, banners or other paraphernalia” – a thinly veiled reference to Pride flags previously displayed at US embassies under the previous administration. The cable also specifically points to “policies related to preferred personal pronouns” as potentially discriminatory against religious employees.

Witkoff-Putin meeting ends after more than four hours, Russian media say

Talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff concluded late on Friday after more than four hours, Russian media reported.

The Kremlin posted a photo on its website of the two men shaking hands, saying the meeting had taken place. “The theme of the meeting – aspects of a Ukrainian settlement,” it said.

Interfax news agency said Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy for the Middle East and increasingly involved in Russian affairs, had left the site of the talks, the presidential library in St Petersburg. Tass news agency said Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev had returned to a hotel in the city.

We’ll bring you more details from the meeting as and when they arise.

Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday. The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs that study impacts from the climate crisis.

If the plan is approved by Congress, funding for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric research (Oar) would be eviscerated – cut from $485m to $171m – dismantling a key part of the agency’s mission, the journal Science reported. All budgets for climate, weather, and ocean laboratories would be drained, according to the document, which reportedly states, “at this funding level, OAR is eliminated as a line office”.

Noaa is facing a $1.3bn cut to overall operations and research. Integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Observations, Competitive Research, Coastal Zone Management Grants, National Coastal Resilience Fund, or the National Estuarine Research Reserve System are all on the chopping block, and the National Ocean Service would be cut in half.

Science done outside the agency would also be undermined with cuts to Noaa’s climate research grants program, which provides roughly $70m a year.

Research at Nasa, the country’s space agency is also on the chopping block. The agency is slated for a 20% overall budget loss, but deeper cuts would be directed at programs overseeing planetary science, earth science, and astrophysics research, according to Ars Technica, which first reported on Trump’s plans when agency officials were briefed last month.

Now documents have been issued to back up those plans, halving funding for science at Nasa.

Still not set in stone, these “passback” documents are a part of how the government goes about budgeting. They are issued by the White House to federal agencies before discretionary budget is released and are seen as a guidance on presidential priorities. The numbers aren’t final and could be changed, and Congress will also have to act on the plans to finalize them.

But the drastic degree of these cuts shows the administration’s position on climate and its determination to hamper US research, experts say. Craig McLean, OAR’s longtime director who retired in 2022, told Science the move would take the country back to the 1950s, “all because the Trump administration doesn’t like the answers to scientific questions”.

The governments of the United States and El Salvador have subjected more than 200 Venezuelan nationals to enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, according to Human Rights Watch.

On 15 March, the US government removed 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador, where they were immediately transferred to the country’s notorious Cecot mega-prison known for its brutal conditions.

Since then, Human Rights Watch said, the Venezuelans have been held incommunicado. US and Salvadoran authorities have not disclosed a list of the people removed, although CBS News published a leaked list of names. Relatives of people apparently transferred to El Salvador told Human Rights Watch that US authorities said that they were unable to share any information on their relatives’ whereabouts, while Salvadoran officials have been completely unresponsive.

Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said:

These enforced disappearances are a grave violation of international human rights law. The cruelty of the US and Salvadoran governments has put these people outside the protection of the law and caused immense pain to their families.

Under international law, an enforced disappearance occurs when authorities deprive a person of their liberty and then refuse to disclose that person’s fate or whereabouts.

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers on Friday asked a judge to prevent the US government from seeking the death penalty, Reuters is reporting. Mangione is accused of shooting and killing the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division, in New York last year.

Reuters reports that Mangione’s lawyers said in a filing in New York federal court that US attorney general Pam Bondi’s 1 April announcement that prosecutors would seek the death penalty was politically motivated, breached government protocols for death penalty decisions and “indelibly prejudiced” the process.

“The United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt,” his lawyers said. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

US federal judge Paula Xinis said it is “extremely troubling” that the Trump administration failed on Friday to comply with a court order to provide details on the status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom it illegally deported to El Salvador in March. Drew Ensign, an attorney with the Department of Justice, said the administration had said in court filings, that it would provide that information by the end of Tuesday, once it evaluated the supreme court ruling. While that ruling appeared at first to be a victory for Abrego Garcia and his family, it contained a line that Trump officials could ultimately use to reiterate their position that they could not be forced to bring him back from El Salvador. In their decision, the justices never defined what they meant by “facilitate and effectuate” his return, sending that question back to US district judge Xinis to flesh out. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said in a Friday court filing “the government continues to delay, obfuscate, and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk”. The Trump administration’s refusal to comply with Xinis’s directives put it on a collision course with the judge and threatens to erupt into a showdown between the executive and judicial branches.

Elsewhere:

• Donald Trump claimed his tariff policy was “doing really well”, calling it “very exciting” for the US and the rest of the world, despite ongoing market volatility that continues to rattle investors. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that more than 75 countries have now reached out to the Trump administration to discuss trade. She credited for this a need to discuss the “trade issues that have exploited America and hurt our workers”, rather than Trump’s tariff policy chaos.

• Democratic senators have called for an investigation to determine whether Donald Trump, any members of his cabinet, or other donors, insiders, and administration officials engaged in insider trading, market manipulation, or other securities laws violations. Elizabeth Warren, minority leader Chuck Schumer and colleagues sent a letter to the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking its chair to find out. The US president posted on social media that it was “a great time to buy” just hours before abruptly pausing his tariff impositions for most countries on Wednesday. The timing of his posts and subsequent huge share jumps has sparked accusations of market manipulation. The senators’ letter requests answers by 25 April.

• The White House said “there will be hell to pay” if Iran develops a nuclear weapon, while Iran said it seeks a “real and fair” agreement with Washington on its nuclear programme, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman. Leavitt said “all options are on the table” and “Iran has a choice to make” ahead of the talks on Saturday. Meanwhile there is still some confusion about whether the talks are going to be direct or indirect. Iran said again on Friday the talks would be indirect, whereas the White House doubled down that they would be direct.

• Donald Trump is optimistic about reaching a trade deal with China, Leavitt said, amid the escalating trade war between the two nations that has battered markets. Levitt told reporters: “The president has made it very clear he’s open to a deal with China. If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China.” She did not elaborate when asked to explain the reasons behind Trump’s optimism.

• Iowa’s deeply popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds said she will not seek a third term in office in 2026. Reynolds announced the surprise decision on social media, citing family reasons. Reynolds broke neutrality to endorse Ron DeSantis during the presidential race, saying she did not believe Trump could win. “I think it’s just really important that we put the right person in office,” she said at the time.

• The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to push them to “self-deport”.

• Nearly two dozen US law firms quietly scrubbed references to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from their website and revised descriptions of pro-bono work to more closely align with Donald Trump’s priorities, a Guardian review found, underscoring the Trump administration’s successful campaign of intimidation against the legal profession.

• Alina Habba, the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey said she has launched an investigation into Democratic governor Phil Murphy and state attorney general Matt Platkin over the state’s directive to local law enforcement not to cooperate with federal agent conducting immigration enforcement. Habba, appointed last month by Trump as the interim US attorney for the state, announced the investigation as “a warning for everybody” on Thursday evening.

Iran seeks a “real and fair” agreement with Washington on its nuclear programme, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman, AFP reports.

Iran and the United States are set to hold talks on Saturday aimed at reaching a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Donald Trump last month wrote to Khamenei urging negotiations, but has warned of possible military action if Iran refuses.

Khamenei adviser Ali Shamkhani posted on X:

Far from putting up a show and merely talking in front of the cameras, Tehran is seeking a real and fair agreement, important and implementable proposals are ready.

He confirmed that foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Oman “with full authority for indirect negotiations with America”, adding that if Washington showed goodwill, the path forward would be “smooth”.

Asked if Donald Trump wants the president of El Salvador to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia with him when he visits the US on Monday, Karoline Leavitt said the supreme court’s ruling “made it very clear that it’s the administrations responsibility to ‘facilitate’ the return, not to ‘effectuate’ the return”. (More on that here).

Donald Trump is optimistic about reaching a trade deal with China, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, amid the escalating trade war between the two nations that has battered markets. Levitt told reporters:

The president has made it very clear he’s open to a deal with China. If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China.

Pressed to explain the evidence behind Trump’s optimism, Leavitt moved swiftly on.

Donald Trump wants Iran to know that “all options are on the table” for preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons ahead of talks on Saturday between US and Iranian delegations, his press secretary told reporters.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s “ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon” and that Trump believes in diplomacy.

But he’s made it very clear to the Iranians and his national security team will as well, that all options are on the table, and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump’s demand, or there will be all hell to pay, and that’s how the president feels. He feels very strongly about it.

Answering an earlier question, Leavitt also doubled down on the administration’s insistence that the talks in Oman on Saturday “will be direct” (though Iran has said they won’t be).

More than 75 countries have now reached out to the Trump administration to discuss trade, Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing earlier. She credited for this a need to discuss the “trade issues that have exploited America and hurt our workers”, rather than Trump’s tariff policy chaos.

The phones have been ringing off the hook to make deals. And these countries wisely heeded President Trump’s warning not to retaliate and as a result they were rewarded with a 90-day pause and substantially lower ‘reciprocal’ tariff rates during this period so potential solutions can be achieved.

US federal judge Paula Xinis has said it is “extremely troubling” that the Trump administration failed on Friday to comply with a court order to provide details on the status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom it illegally deported to El Salvador.

Xinis demanded at a hearing that the administration identify the whereabouts of Abrego Garcia, who was sent to El Salvador on 15 March.

Xinis repeatedly pressed a government attorney for answers. She said:

I’m not sure what to take from the fact that the supreme court has spoken quite clearly and yet I can’t get an answer today about what you’ve done, if anything, in the past.

Drew Ensign, an attorney with the Department of Justice, repeated what the administration had said in court filings, that it would provide that information by the end of Tuesday, once it evaluated the supreme court ruling.

The administration said in a court filing earlier on Friday that it was “unreasonable and impracticable” to say what its next steps are before they are properly agreed upon and vetted. The filing said:

Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said in a Friday court filing “the government continues to delay, obfuscate, and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk”.

This is some useful detail from the New York Times (paywall) on the nitty gritty on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

While the supreme court’s ruling appeared at first to be a victory for Abrego Garcia and his family, it contained a line that Trump officials could ultimately use to reiterate their position that they could not be forced to bring him back from El Salvador.

In their decision, the justices never defined what they meant by “facilitate and effectuate” his return, sending that question back to US district judge Paula Xinis to flesh out.

Indeed, the justices cautioned Xinis that when she clarified the steps the White House should take, her decision needed to be made “with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs”.

In their filing on Friday, lawyers for the Justice Department said they wanted Xinis to issue her clarification before they laid out what the White House planned to do to free Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. They wrote:

It is unreasonable and impracticable for defendants to reveal potential steps before those steps are reviewed, agreed upon, and vetted. Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review.

The Trump administration has defied a federal judge’s order to provide an explanation for how it intended to bring back to the United States a Maryland man who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador last month, the New York Times (paywall) reports.

In an aggressive two-page filing, Justice Department lawyers told US district judge, Paula Xinis, that she had not given them enough time to work out what they planned to do about Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the supreme court ordered the administration on Thursday to “facilitate” his return to US soil. The department lawyers wrote:

Defendants are unable to provide the information requested by the court on the impracticable deadline set by the court hours after the Supreme Court issued its order.

In light of the insufficient amount of time afforded to review the Supreme Court order, defendants are not in a position where they ‘can’ share any information requested by the court. That is the reality.

The administration’s refusal to comply with Xinis’s directives put it on a collision course with the judge and threatens to erupt into a showdown between the executive and judicial branches.

The administration’s stance heightened the stakes of a hearing, scheduled for Friday afternoon, where Abrego Garcia’s lawyers and lawyers for the Justice Department are set to appear in front of Xinis to discuss how to proceed in the case.

Here is the background to today’s developments in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, which highlights the Trump administration’s tensions with federal courts – several have blocked Trump policies and judges have expressed frustration with administration efforts to comply with court orders.

Abrego Garcia’s family sued to challenge the legality of his deportation and on 4 April US district judge Paula Xinis ordered the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” his return. The administration challenged that order at the supreme court, which upheld Xinis’ order but said the term “effectuate” is unclear and may exceed the court’s authority.

The Justice Department in a supreme court filing on 7 April stated that while Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador through “administrative error”, his actual removal from the United States “was not error”. The error, department lawyers wrote, was in removing him specifically to El Salvador despite the deportation protection order.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is about to speak to reporters for the White House press briefing. I’ll bring you any key lines.

The Trump administration must explain to a federal court without delay what it is doing to facilitate the return of a Maryland resident it illegally deported to El Salvador, a federal judge ordered on Friday.

Reuters reports that US district judge Paula Xinis has set a hearing for 1pm ET, rejecting an administration request to give it until Tuesday afternoon to identify the location of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to El Salvador on 15 March.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who was living in Maryland and has had a work permit since 2019, was stopped and detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on 12 March and questioned about alleged gang affiliation. He was deported on 15 March on one of three high-profile deportation flights to El Salvador that also included alleged Venezuelan gang members.

On Thursday the US supreme court said the Trump administration must take steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and detail the steps it has taken and will take to return him to the United States.

The ruling also said the lower court should clarify its order “with due regard for deference” to the executive branch of government.
In response, the White House referred to an earlier Justice Department statement which said activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the president’s authority to conduct foreign policy.

Xinis asked that the Trump administration explain what has been done to return Abrego Garcia and offer a timeline for returning him to the US. She said its request to delay the hearing to review the four-page supreme court order “blinks at reality”.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said in a Friday court filing: “The government continues to delay, obfuscate, and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk.”

In a surprise announcement on Friday, Iowa’s deeply popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds has said she will not seek a third term in office in 2026.

Reynolds has held the position since 2017, when former governor Terry Branstad was appointed US ambassador to China. The state’s first female governor, she was elected to full terms in 2018 and again in 2022.

In a video post on social media, Reynolds said:

This wasn’t an easy decision, because I love this state and I love serving you. But, when my term ends, I will have had the privilege of serving as your governor for almost 10 years.

Reynolds said she is leaving office after years of her family supporting her, saying now “it’s time for me to be there for them”. Her husband, Kevin Reynolds, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023. In her condition of the state in January, she said his cancer remained in remission.

Reynolds broke neutrality to endorse Ron DeSantis during the presidential campaign, saying she did not believe Trump could win. She told NBC: ““I believe he can’t win. And I believe that Ron can.”

“As a mother and as a grandmother and as an American, I just felt like I couldn’t stand on the sidelines any longer,” she said at the time. “We have too much at stake. Our country is in a world of hurt. The world is a powder keg. And I think it’s just really important that we put the right person in office.”

While in office, Reynolds signed a bill rolling back several of Iowa’s child labor law protections, including how many hours children can work and at what type of establishments. She also signed into state law a ban on school materials about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms from kindergarten through sixth grade, and a bill prohibiting transgender females from participating in girls high school sports and women’s college athletics.

The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country, two people familiar with the situation have told the Associated Press.

The move will make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where social security numbers are required.

The Trump administration is moving the immigrants’ names and legally obtained social security numbers to a database that federal officials normally use to track the deceased, according to the two people familiar with the moves and their ramifications. They spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday night because the plans had not yet been publicly detailed.

Related: US judge allows White House to require noncitizens to register with government

The officials said stripping the immigrants of their social security numbers will cut them off from many financial services and encourage them to “self-deport” and abandon the US for their birth countries.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the 6,000-plus immigrants were chosen. But the Trump White House has targeted people in the country temporarily under Biden-era programs, including more than 900,000 immigrants who entered the US using that administration’s CBP One app.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the legal status of the immigrants who used that app. They had generally been allowed to remain in the US for two years with work authorization under presidential parole authority during the Biden era, but are now expected to self-deport.