The Trump administration has opened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing through an executive order issued Thursday. ⁠
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The monument, which spans nearly 500,000 square miles in the central Pacific, was originally established under President George W. Bush and expanded under President Obama. It includes coral reef ecosystems and habitats for species such as sea turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks, and manta rays.⁠
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended the move, stating, “The economic zone around Hawaii and Samoa is huge and it’s exclusively ours, so why wouldn’t we have our fishermen fish there?” ⁠
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He added, “We were stopping our own fishermen from going off the coast. It’s totally the opposite of common sense.” Only U.S.-flagged vessels and select foreign vessels with American workers will be allowed to operate within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the monument’s islands.⁠
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Roughly two dozen states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over sweeping cuts to AmeriCorps, the federal volunteer service program established in 1993. ⁠
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The suit accuses the Department of Government Efficiency of unlawfully gutting the agency and terminating hundreds of millions in congressionally approved grants. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the administration made “abrupt and drastic cuts to staff and volunteers and terminated grants.”⁠
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AmeriCorps programs support more than 200,000 members annually, many of whom receive stipends and education benefits while working in community organizations, disaster relief, and public service projects.⁠
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According to the complaint, at least 85% of staff were placed on administrative leave this month, and some 2,000 members of the National Civilian Community Corps were informed they would be dismissed early. Notices sent to grantees cited a shift in agency priorities.⁠
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The White House defended the move by citing $40 million in improper payments attributed to documentation and coding errors. “President Trump has the legal right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,” said Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly. ⁠
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. and China have reached a deal in which China will supply rare earth minerals and magnets, and the U.S. will allow Chinese students to study at American universities.⁠
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“WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.⁠
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A White House official said the U.S. tariff includes a 10% reciprocal rate, 20% tied to fentanyl trafficking, and a 25% carryover from past policies. China will apply a 10% tariff on U.S. imports. Trump added that the deal awaits final approval from him and President Xi Jinping. “FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA,” he said.⁠
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Officials said the agreement revives a stalled trade truce by lifting Chinese export limits and resuming cooperation. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described it as putting “meat on the bones” of last month’s Geneva talks.⁠
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The Trump administration has admitted 49 white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees, citing “government-sponsored racial discrimination,” according to a senior State Department official. ⁠
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Most of the group are Afrikaners from farming communities. President Donald Trump ordered their resettlement through an executive action titled “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” claiming they face violence and economic exclusion. ⁠
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The move comes amid an ongoing dispute over South Africa’s land reform efforts. In 2017, an audit found that white South Africans—who make up about 7% of the population—own roughly 75% of individually held farmland.⁠
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A 2025 law allows limited expropriation without compensation, which the Trump administration framed as targeting whites. South African officials say the policy is intended to address the legacy of apartheid, during which the Afrikaner-led government denied Black South Africans land rights, political representation, and basic freedoms under a formal system of racial segregation that lasted from 1948 to 1994.⁠
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South Africa’s government rejected Trump’s refugee designation, calling the persecution claims “completely false” and politically motivated. “There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans,” said Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola. ⁠
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Critics in the U.S., including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, questioned why this group was prioritized while refugee programs for people fleeing war and famine remain suspended. ⁠
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