Support independent journalism
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
First Thing: Trump warns ‘nothing will stop me’ at rally to mark 100th day
|
|
Aide alludes at Michigan rally to president running again in 2028 . Plus, Trump’s border pick accused of ‘cover-up’ over death of man detained trying to enter US
|
|
 |
 Donald Trump said ‘nothing will stop me’ at a rally held to celebrate his presidency reaching 100 days. Photograph: Rena LavertyUPI/REX/Shutterstock
|
|
Clea Skopeliti
|
|
Good morning.
President Donald Trump has warned that “nothing will stop” him, speaking at a rally in Michigan to celebrate his 100th day in office where an aide alluded to him running again in 2028 – even though US presidents are constitutionally barred from serving a third term.
In a meandering speech at the campaign-style rally, Trump attacked “communist radical left judges” who had tried to thwart his plans, criticized former the president Joe Biden, and boasted of ending diversity, equity and inclusion “bullshit”.
The event – at a half-full sports and expo center in Warren, near Detroit – also showed the crowd a video of Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Trump also defended his heavy tariffs against car manufacturers – despite the White House announcing just hours before that it was weakening them.
-
What was said about a third term? Margo Martin, a White House aide, joined Trump on stage and asked: “Trump 2028, anybody?” to roars from the crowd.
US and UK launch joint strikes on Houthis in Yemen
|
|
|
 |
 RAF Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets took part in the strikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
|
|
|
US and UK forces carried out a joint military operation in Yemen on Tuesday, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, which said the attack was against a Houthi military target that manufactured drones used to attack shipping.
The British defence secretary, John Healey, said the operation was launched in response to “a persistent threat from the Houthis to freedom of navigation”.
It is the first time the UK has participated in the intense American campaign against the Iran-backed group, which has targeted merchant shipping and western warships, triggering a severe decline in trade flows in the region.
Trump border pick accused of ‘cover-up’ over death of man beaten by US agents
|
|
|
 |
 Trump with Rodney Scott at the US-Mexico border in Arizona in 2020. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
|
|
|
Donald Trump’s pick to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Rodney Scott, has been accused by a former top official of organizing a “cover-up” over the death of a man detained while trying to enter the US from Mexico, according to a letter seen by the Guardian.
The Senate finance committee will consider Scott’s nomination on Wednesday. But ahead of the hearing, James Wong, a former deputy assistant commissioner of CBP’s office of internal affairs, wrote to the committee raising “concern” about how the former US border patrol chief dealt with the investigation into the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas in San Diego.
Hernández-Rojas died after he was beaten and stunned by CBP agents who were preparing to deport him.
In other news …
|
|
|
 |
 The Taganrog prison has become notorious for its use as a torture center for Ukrainian prisoners. Composite: Alex Mellon for the Guardian : AFP/Getty Images/Yandex Maps/Slidstvo.Info
|
|
|
-
Russia holds an estimated 16,000 civilians in arbitrary detention at 180 separate facilities. A Guardian investigation shows that beatings, electrocution and starvation took place in one notorious prison.
-
Swedish police have apprehended a suspect after three people were killed in a shooting in Uppsala on Tuesday.
-
The British car manufacturer Aston Martin is limiting exports to the US over Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the president hit all car imports with a 25% levy on 3 April.
Stat of the day: One-fifth of US states have active measles outbreaks
|
|
|
 |
 A measles testing sign in Texas. Photograph: Sebastian Rocandio/Reuters
|
|
|
One in five US states have active measles outbreaks, defined by having three or more cases of the previously eradicated disease. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s confirmed the measles cases count is 884 – triple the amount seen in all of 2024. Texas is the center of the outbreak, with 663 cases at latest count.
Don’t miss this: The white Afrikaners lining up to accept Trump’s offer of asylum
|
|
|
 |
 Demonstrators rally in support of Donald Trump outside the US embassy in Pretoria in February after he accused South Africa of persecuting Afrikaners. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
|
|
|
Kyle, a divorced father of three, attributes his survival of a violent farm robbery in South Africa to divine intervention. He is one of thousands of white South Africans hoping to take up Donald Trump’s offer of refugee status, to escape crime and what they claim is anti-white discrimination. Southern Africa correspondent Rachel Savage speaks to some of these people about why they want to leave – and experts who explain the context.
Climate check: ‘New normal’ of heatwaves has India and Pakistan already sweltering
|
|
|
 |
 A volunteer sprays water on a passerby’s face to cool him off on an unusually hot April day in Karachi, Pakistan. Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images
|
|
|
It’s only April but dreaded boiling temperatures have already arrived in much of India and Pakistan. Scientists warn that sweltering heatwaves so early in the year are becoming the “new normal”, with South Asia particularly vulnerable to global heating. In Pakistan, the city of Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh province hit 122F (50C) in April.
Last Thing: Kangaroo shuts down Alabama interstate
|
|
|
 |
 Kangaroo on Alabama interstate. Composite: Austin Price | Facebook
|
|
|
An escaped kangaroo shut down a stretch of interstate in Alabama on Tuesday before state troopers and its owners managed to tranquilize and capture the animal, named Sheila, and return her to her owner. Macon county’s sheriff said: “We see a little bit of everything here.”
Sign up
|
|
|
|
|
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
|
|
|
Betsy Reed
|
Editor, Guardian US
|
|
|
|
|
I hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we face the unprecedented challenges of covering the second Trump administration.
As Trump himself observed: “The first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.”
He’s not entirely wrong. All around us, media organizations have begun to capitulate. First, two news outlets pulled election endorsements at the behest of their billionaire owners. Next, prominent reporters bent the knee at Mar-a-Lago. And then a major network – ABC News – rolled over in response to Trump’s legal challenges and agreed to a $16m million settlement in his favor.
The Guardian is clear: we have no interest in being Donald Trump’s – or any politician’s – friend. Our allegiance as independent journalists is not to those in power but to the public.
How are we able to stand firm in the face of intimidation and threats? As journalists say: follow the money. The Guardian has neither a self-interested billionaire owner nor profit-seeking corporate henchmen pressuring us to appease the rich and powerful. We are funded by our readers and owned by the Scott Trust – whose only financial obligation is to preserve our journalistic mission in perpetuity.
With the new administration boasting about its desire to punish journalists, and Trump and his allies already pursuing lawsuits against newspapers whose stories they don’t like, it has never been more urgent, or more perilous, to pursue fair, accurate reporting. Can you support the Guardian today?
We value whatever you can spare, but a recurring contribution makes the most impact, enabling greater investment in our most crucial, fearless journalism. As our thanks to you, we can offer you some great benefits. We’ve made it very quick to set up, so we hope you’ll consider it.
|
However you choose to support us: thank you for helping protect the free press. Whatever happens in the coming months and years, you can rely on the Guardian never to bow down to power, nor back down from truth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Manage your emails | Unsubscribe | Trouble viewing?
|
You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to First Thing: the US morning briefing. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396 |
|
|
|
|
|