By Jade Walker

Ever heard of the de minimis exception? It’s about to make President Donald Trump’s trade war with China hit much closer to home. The exception is a major shipping loophole that allowed the importing of goods worth less than $800 to come into the US duty-free and often without time-consuming inspections and paperwork. However, the exception expired at one minute past midnight, which means nearly 4 million duty-free shipments a day will now be subject to a tariff. Since many of those items are sold through ultra-low-cost Chinese e-commerce sites like Shein, Temu and AliExpress, the tariff could be as high as 145%. 

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A coalition of labor groups and activists march during a May Day protest in Los Angeles. Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images

May Day demonstrations

Thousands of protesters rallied across the US on Thursday in response to the Trump administration's actions on immigration, the war in Gaza, federal workers and unions. The demonstrators, who were organized under the banner of the grassroots “50501” movement, filled the streets of major cities and small towns holding signs and calling for change. “Trump has poor and working-class people forgetting who our enemies are. Our enemies are not international students that organize on their campus. Our enemies are not undocumented workers that contribute to their communities, that pay taxes and can’t get services. Our enemies are not workers that work for corporations,” an organizer said to a large crowd gathered in New York City’s Union Square. “No — this racist, sexist, anti-worker, homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic system is our enemy.” More demonstrations are scheduled to take place on Saturday.

PBS-NPR funding

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, which provide free and universal access to educational shows, emergency alerts and a wide array of news and cultural content. Trump’s order also instructed the CPB's board to take steps to “minimize or eliminate” indirect funding to the country's two biggest public broadcasters. In addition, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ordered to investigate NPR and PBS for possible employment discrimination. Each year, the CPB disperses $535 million in taxpayer funds to public radio and TV stations, an effort that Congress has reauthorized for decades. The CPB filed a lawsuit against the administration this week after Trump fired three board members by email, arguing that under the law, he didn't have the authority to terminate them. 

Alien Enemies Act 

A federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday that President Trump had unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations. It was the first time a judge has concluded that the president exceeded his authority by relying on a law that was intended to be used during times when the US was at war. US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, who was appointed by Trump, also blocked the administration from using the law to quickly deport any alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua within his district. “The President cannot summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States, followed by the identification of the alien enemies subject to detention or removal,” Rodriguez wrote. The Trump administration is now examining whether it can label suspected cartel and gang members as “enemy combatants” in order to detain them more easily and limit their ability to challenge their imprisonment.

Mike Waltz

In the first major staff shakeup since taking office in January, President Trump announced that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz would be his nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations. The White House pulled Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination in March amid concerns about slim margins in the US House of Representatives. Waltz’s nomination comes just two months after he and other top administration officials discussed a US military attack on Houthis in Yemen during a group chat on the commercial messaging app Signal. The conversation included a journalist Waltz had inadvertently invited. Waltz will temporarily be replaced by Marco Rubio, who already has three other jobs: secretary of state, national archivist and acting administrator for the United States Agency for International Development.

Gaza

An aid ship bound for Gaza issued an SOS early this morning after it caught fire off the coast of Malta. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is campaigning to end Israel’s humanitarian aid blockade of the besieged enclave, claimed the ship was struck by a drone attack in international waters. “There is a hole in the vessel right now and the ship is sinking,” Yasemin Acar, the coalition’s press officer, told CNN. The ship was expected to stop in Malta to pick up volunteers from over 21 countries before heading to Gaza. Among the volunteers planning to join the journey were retired US Army Colonel Mary Ann Wright and climate activist Greta Thunberg.

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REAL ID deadline looms
Travelers are scrambling to obtain REAL IDs before the May 7 deadline. People who show up at an airport after that date without a REAL ID — and do not have another acceptable alternative, like a passport — can expect to face delays, additional screening and possibly refusal to travel.

Customers are cutting back
As Americans grapple with financial uncertainty, they’re not turning to McDonald’s Big Macs or fries for comfort. In fact, the fast-food giant saw same-store sales drop 3.6% in the first quarter, the worse decline since 2020 when people were told to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mummy reveals preservation secrets
A team of scientists studying a mummified body say it was embalmed in a way they’d never seen before. Through CT scanning, radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis of bone and tissue samples, they were able to determine the unique method in which the “air-dried chaplain” had been preserved.

Tennis legend ousted from US Open Pickleball match
Andre Agassi’s pro pickleball debut came to an end this week. Agassi, 55, and his 18-year-old partner Anna Leigh Waters, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, lost to Len Yang and Trang Huynh-McClain in three sets.

It’s almost time for the Tonys!
Nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards were announced yesterday and three productions earned 10 nods each: “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Death Becomes Her” and “Maybe Happy Ending.” 

Singer Jill Sobule dies at 66
Sobule’s 1995 single “I Kissed a Girl” became the first openly LGBTQ-themed song to chart on the Billboard Top 20. And her song, “Supermodel,” was prominently featured in the hit film “Clueless.”

A mural depicting Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was vandalized recently in Los Angeles. Which basketball star paid the entire expected cost of restoring the artwork?
A. LeBron James
B. Anthony Davis
C. Steph Curry
D. Luka Dončić

$900 million

That’s how much Apple CEO Tim Cook said tariffs could cost the company this quarter as he revealed that the tech giant was shifting production of iPhones sold in the US from China to India.

“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity. The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”

— Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, on comments made by President Trump and his allies about judges who rule against his actions, according to Politico.

Meet the peacemakers
Israeli activist Rami Elhanan and Palestinian activist Bassam Aramin lost their young daughters in separate incidents. Yet, they’re not enemies; instead, they’re working together for peace.

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