AURN News

Today marks 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term, and the economic fallout is already unfolding. He meets with House Speaker Mike Johnson today as Congress returns, but the backdrop is alarming: new tariffs, rising prices, and markets rattled by uncertainty.

The International Monetary Fund has cut America's growth forecast. Consumer sentiment is hovering near historic lows. Despite promises to restore affordability, Trump's aggressive trade policies have wiped trillions off the stock market and triggered warnings from major CEOs, including Walmart’s Doug McMillon.

This moment is bigger than politics. It’s about whether one president’s unilateral economic overhaul could tip the U.S. — and the world — into a preventable recession.

Trump calls it economic independence. Economists call it a high-risk gamble that American families are paying for. Consumer confidence just hit its fourth-lowest level since 1952. That’s the backdrop as President Trump marks 100 days back in the White House.

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(AURN News) — President Donald Trump returned to U.S. soil this weekend after attending the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome, and spoke with reporters on the tarmac at Morristown Municipal Airport on Sunday afternoon.

Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked him for more weapons during their conversation at the Vatican. On the subject of Crimea, Trump surprisingly placed blame on former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden.

"Crimea was given away by Barack Hussein Obama and by Biden," Trump said. "That's 11 or 12 years ago. That's a long time ago. I don't know how he [Zelenskyy] could bring up Crimea, because that's been a long time. Nobody brought it up for 12 years, and now they bring it up now. So I told him, you can maybe go back to Obama. Ask them why they gave it up. They gave it up without a shot being fired, by the way."

When asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he hopes for an end to the fighting.

"Well, I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal, and we have the confines of a deal, I believe," Trump said. "And I want him to sign it and be done with it and just go back to life."

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Alexis Herman, First Black U.S. Labor Secretary and Civil Rights Pioneer, Dies at 77

According to The New York Times, Alexis Herman, the first Black U.S. secretary of labor and a key Democratic Party figure, died Friday in Washington at 77.

Raised under segregation in Alabama, Herman became a major organizer, helping President Bill Clinton win office and later serving in his cabinet. She famously helped settle the 1997 UPS strike, easing tensions between labor and the administration.

Earlier, she worked to expand opportunities for Black women and served as director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau under President Carter.

After her government service, she held leadership roles in several companies and disaster recovery efforts.

Herman, a pioneer for civil rights and workplace diversity, was celebrated for her dedication to young leaders and grassroots activism.

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In a dramatic escalation of Trump’s immigration crackdown, the FBI arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, accusing her of helping a man evade ICE agents inside the courthouse.

Court documents say Judge Dugan grew angry when agents arrived, allegedly leading the man and his lawyer out a back jury door meant only for deputies and in-custody defendants.

Dugan faces charges of obstructing justice and harboring an undocumented individual. She’s out of custody and blasting the arrest as political retaliation.

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor slammed Trump’s Justice Department for undermining the judiciary, while Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., called the arrest of a sitting judge a “gravely serious and drastic move” that “threatens to breach” the separation of powers.

The move mirrors a Trump-era case in Massachusetts—a prosecution that President Biden’s Justice Department later dropped.

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(AURN News) — The U.S. economy continues to take a beating under President Donald Trump’s second term, with consumer confidence plunging to levels not seen since the early 1980s.

The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers reported that its sentiment index slipped from 57.0 in March to 52.2 in April, marking the fourth straight month of declines. 

“Expectations have fallen a precipitous 32% since January, the steepest three-month percentage decline seen since the 1990 recession,” said Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu. 

“While this month’s deterioration was particularly strong for middle-income families, expectations worsened for vast swaths of the population across age, education, income and political affiliation. Consumers perceived risks to multiple aspects of the economy, in large part due to ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the potential for a resurgence of inflation looming ahead. Labor-market expectations remained bleak,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Americans’ expectations for year-ahead inflation jumped to 6.5% in April, up from 5.0% in March — the highest reading since 1981. The Surveys of Consumers data underscore growing uncertainty and concern among American households, much of it tied to Trump’s trade and economic policies.

The sobering figures arrive just days before the president marks his 100th day in office next week, a milestone typically used to showcase early achievements. Instead, the metrics paint a picture of eroding confidence as the administration grapples with lingering questions over tariffs, trade agreements and continued inflation.

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On April 25, 1944, one of the nation’s most vital philanthropic institutions, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), was incorporated. Founded by Frederick D. Patterson, then president of Tuskegee University, along with Mary McLeod Bethune and others, the UNCF has awarded hundreds of millions in scholarships to help Black students attend private historically Black colleges and universities.

In 1972, it adopted the iconic motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” one of the most recognized slogans in advertising. For 25 years, its fundraising was boosted by the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars, a televised telethon hosted by the late singer.

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Despite President Donald Trump’s social media spin, the polls tell a different story. His approval ratings are plummeting—not rising. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll puts his approval at just 42%, down from 47% after his return to the White House in January.

He’s also underwater on every major issue—from inflation to immigration—with just 38% approving of his handling of the economy. Pew Research shows an even lower 40% overall approval, while The Economist/YouGov clocks him at 41%. The pattern is clear.

Even his base is shrinking. Support among Republicans and GOP-leaning voters has dropped to 75%, compared to 93% support for President Biden among Democrats at the same point in his presidency four years ago.

And with 59% of Americans—including a third of Republicans—saying the U.S. is losing credibility on the world stage, it’s clear: the emperor’s polling has no clothes.

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On April 25, 1989, James Richardson was exonerated after spending 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit—the poisoning deaths of his seven children in 1967. A Florida fruit picker, Richardson was wrongfully convicted after flawed police work, suppressed evidence, and false testimony.

His neighbor, Bessie Reece, had poisoned the children’s lunch, but jurors never learned of her criminal past or her later confession. Special prosecutor Janet Reno reopened the case, uncovering the truth and leading to Richardson’s release on May 5, 1989.  

Though he received a small settlement, he was denied full compensation from the state. Reece was never indicted. James Richardson passed away in 2023, a symbol of justice delayed but not denied.

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President Donald Trump signed seven executive orders Wednesday targeting America’s education system—chief among them, a major rollback on civil rights. The most controversial move: eliminating disparate impact, a key legal tool used for decades to challenge discrimination in schools, housing, and employment.

Under disparate impact, it didn’t matter whether intent was proven—if the outcome was unequal, it still counted. But Trump says that’s government overreach.

The administration is also canceling civil rights agreements based on discipline disparities, including one in South Dakota. In the Rapid City Area School District, a federal investigation found that Native American students were approximately four times as likely to be suspended and five times as likely to be arrested compared with their white peers. The agreement, which aimed to address these disparities, was terminated by the Trump administration, citing concerns over its foundation in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles.

The move reflects the administration’s broader efforts to roll back DEI initiatives in education. Another order rolls back Biden-era guidance that protected Black and brown students from biased school discipline.

And higher education isn’t spared—accreditors who assess diversity efforts now risk losing federal recognition. Instead, schools will be judged on student outcomes, not equity.

Trump says the move is about fairness. Critics call it erasure.

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(AURN News) — As President Donald Trump gets ready to mark his first 100 days in office in his second term on April 30th, new polling data from the Pew Research Center shows a significant drop in public approval and growing resistance to his administration’s sweeping policy changes.

Trump’s approval rating now stands at 40%, according to Pew, down seven points since February. The report attributes the slide to widespread disapproval of the president’s continued use of executive actions and controversial policy moves.

“Trump’s current approval rating of 40% is on par with his rating at this point in his first term. It remains lower than other recent presidents’ approval ratings in the early months of their presidencies,” Pew said in its report released this week.

The poll also found that 59% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s tariff increases, while 55% oppose his ongoing cuts to federal departments and agencies. 

The report also highlights deep divisions over the role of the executive branch and its limits. Of those polled, 51% believe Trump is making too many policy changes through executive action, raising concerns about the balance of power in Washington.

Pew also found that 78% of Americans believe the Trump administration would need to stop an action if a federal court says it’s illegal. And 88% say the administration should have to follow a Supreme Court decision, reinforcing the public’s expectation for constitutional checks on Mr. Trump’s presidential authority.

Pew’s report also found that 78% of Republicans support Trump’s move to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government.

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