Sword-wielding Massachusetts man arrested over threats to Trump, FBI says

2026-04-01T20:34:45.326Z / Reuters

By Nate Raymond

April 1, 2026 8:34 PM UTC Updated 47 mins ago

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Item 1 of 2 A law enforcement agent holds one of several bladed weapons seized by authorities after the arrest of Andrew Emerald in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S., April 1, 2026, on charges that he threatened U.S. President Donald Trump in Facebook posts. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts/Handout via REUTERS

[1/2]A law enforcement agent holds one of several bladed weapons seized by authorities after the arrest of Andrew Emerald in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S., April 1, 2026, on charges that he threatened U.S. President Donald Trump in Facebook posts. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

BOSTON, April 1 (Reuters) – A Massachusetts man accused of making threats on Facebook to kill U.S. President Donald ​Trump was arrested on Wednesday after a stand-off with law enforcement in which ‌the man began brandishing a sword.

Andrew Emerald, 45, was charged in an eight-count indictment, opens new tab filed in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, over a string of threatening posts he allegedly made last year, including one in ​which he vowed to travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida if the president ​was not dead by 2026.

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“Either Trump is dead and in the ground ⁠by 2026 or I am hunting him down and putting him there,” Emerald wrote in ​another social media post in May 2025, according to the indictment.

Emerald pleaded not guilty during ​an initial court appearance and was ordered held without bail pending a detention hearing on Monday. A lawyer for Emerald did not respond to a request for comment.

His Facebook posts came to the FBI’s attention as ​a result of a tip from a citizen who had warned Emerald that it was ​a crime to threaten the life of the president, according to documents prosecutors filed seeking to have ‌him ⁠detained.

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Emerald replied that he had been threatening Trump online for a decade and that, if law enforcement came after him, “I’ll kill them until they kill me,” according to an affidavit, opens new tab from an FBI agent.

When the FBI on Wednesday went to his residence in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to ​execute an arrest warrant, ​Emerald refused to come ⁠out before eventually stepping into view brandishing a long, metallic sword, the affidavit said.

The FBI agent said Emerald had previously referenced his ​sword in Facebook posts threatening Trump, including in July 2025, when he ​said he ⁠would stick it through the president’s throat.

Emerald told agents they would need to shoot him before locking his door, the FBI agent recounted.

Local police and an FBI crisis negotiation team were called ⁠in. ​He finally agreed to be arrested after a police ​officer reached him on his phone, the FBI agent’s affidavit said. Prosecutors said agents subsequently seized multiple bladed weapons following a ​search of Emerald’s home.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alistair Bell and Deepa Babington

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GOP leaders declare path to end DHS shutdown — but enormous hurdles remain

2026-04-01T20:31:46.113Z / CNN

By Sarah Ferris, Aileen Graef

Updated 2 hr ago
Updated Apr 1, 2026, 5:54 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 1, 2026, 4:31 PM ET

Cherry blossoms near the US Capitol on March 26, 2026.

Nathan Howard/Reuters

Days after a messy intra-party blowup, President Donald Trump and GOP leaders are projecting unity on a plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security amid the longest-ever partial government shutdown.

But it’s not yet clear how long it will take to restore funding since the plan is nowhere near close to landing on Trump’s desk. While the Senate plans to take its initial step as soon as Thursday morning, the House hasn’t yet said when it will make its moves — and multiple House GOP sources told CNN that is highly unlikely to happen in the next few days, with many Republicans still eager for clear assurances that the remaining immigration funding will be delivered and still wary of the precedent of letting Democrats successfully defund parts of an agency they dislike.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson issued a statement on Wednesday declaring an ambitious two-track plan to end the DHS shutdown and pursue a second Trump megabill, after the passage last summer of the president’s tax and border-focused “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

That joint statement, however, does not address a major remaining hurdle — when exactly the House will be willing to pass the Senate plan that they’ve detested from the start, putting the GOP’s fragile unity to the test. And any plan will be extraordinarily difficult for GOP leaders to pull off within Congress’s narrow margins and just months from a midterm election.

In their statement, Thune and Johnson effectively acknowledge that Congress will need to accept a partial reopening of DHS, which the Senate GOP leader had accepted last week to the disdain of his House GOP colleagues.

But it also comes with a sweetener for Johnson and House conservatives — a public promise for a second Trump megabill to secure that extra immigration funding. The statement from the Hill GOP leaders came shortly after Trump issued a similar statement demanding that bill by June 1.

Republicans will pursue what’s known as reconciliation, a highly complex maneuver that must abide by strict Senate budgetary rules, but allows them to bypass that chamber’s filibuster and pass a bill without Democratic votes.

Thune had already suggested that Senate Republicans could pursue this tricky route to secure ICE funding when he agreed to pass a partial DHS funding bill with Democratic support. House Republicans, however, quickly rejected that plan, criticizing the lack of immigration enforcement funding.

Now, House Republicans who have been long eager to use the complex procedural tool again have forced both Thune and Trump to go on the record supporting it.

Lawmakers have been under intense pressure to return from their recess and pass a bill, with TMZ publishing photographs of members leaving Washington, on vacation, at family events, back in their home states and on official congressional trips abroad. On Wednesday, the tabloid published photos of a group of members of Congress on a trip in Scotland.

A spokesperson for GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, one of the lawmakers seen in the photos, said in a statement that the congressman joined other members “on a delegation that was pre-approved by the House Ethics Committee months ago. The trip focuses on economic development, foreign partnerships, and business engagement, including meetings with members of Parliament and other international officials.” Congressional delegation trips to other countries are a common part of lawmakers’ duties in both the House and Senate.

GOP leaders in both chambers know that so-called Reconciliation 2.0 will be extremely difficult: Even if there is an effort to keep it relatively narrowly focused, members will try to load up that bill with all their election-year priorities, including policy wish-lists like voter ID that are not technically allowed in the budget-focused bill.

Republicans have also seriously talked about using the reconciliation maneuver to fund Trump’s war in Iran since Democrats have no interest in supporting it. It’s not yet clear if the Iran money — which hasn’t been formally requested yet — can pass in this measure before June 1.

In his statement, Trump said he is working with Republican congressional leaders to fund ICE and border patrol with a second reconciliation bill he has demanded be ready for his signature by the remarkably quick deadline.

Trump slammed Democrats for not funding ICE until key demands on reforms were met, and the president said he is planning to work around Democrats by using the reconciliation process to provide money for the agency.

“That’s why we are going forward to fund our incredible ICE Agents and Border Patrol through a process that doesn’t need Radical Left Democrat votes, and bypasses the Senate Filibuster (which should be repealed, IMMEDIATELY!), working in close conjunction with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune,” he said in a lengthy Truth Social post.

Trump’s directive to the party for a new GOP megabill comes after the president mostly remained on the sidelines of Congress’ deepening DHS shutdown crisis. Now, he’s hoping to put a potential end in sight for the shutdown — and trying to force the GOP to unite behind a solution after days of ugly intraparty sniping.

The president is tossing a new demand to Congress at a rough time: GOP lawmakers are deeply divided on strategy and agenda, and Johnson has only a single vote to lose in the House. They also know members will clamor to get their own priorities tacked onto the megabill. Many lawmakers in both chambers, including in leadership, believe this will be the only way to pass Trump’s demands for more Iran funding, as well — which will be another huge lift this spring.

GOP leaders are already trying to brand the bill as a “skinny” reconciliation bill to prevent their members from overloading the bill and holding up its passage. But ultraconservatives are eager to use the tool for debt reduction — and may demand that cuts be included in any package.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Manu Raju, Lauren Fox and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

李强在四川调研 要求加快能源结构调整优化

2026年4月2日 07:16 / 联合早报

中国国务院总理李强到四川调研，他要求着力推进新型电网建设，加快能源结构调整优化。

据中新社报道，李强3月30日至4月1日在四川调研。他说，要深入贯彻落实中共总书记习近平关于绿色发展和建设能源强国的重要论述，实施好能源安全新战略，坚持创新引领，发挥资源禀赋优势，持续扩大绿电供给，着力推进新型电网建设，加快能源结构调整优化，为经济社会高质量发展提供有力支撑。

李强先后来到成都市、德阳市，考察新能源开发和相关装备制造企业等。在通威全球创新研发中心，李强听取光伏技术攻关介绍，进入车间察看电池组件研制情况。他说，近年来，光伏技术的进步有效提高了太阳能利用水平。要大力支持企业探索创新，加大研发投入、努力突破关键技术瓶颈，打通各类应用场景，加快新技术规模化应用。

在雅砻江流域水电开发有限公司，李强了解水风光一体化基地开发等情况，听取四川省新型电网建设汇报。他指出，新型电网建设对于保障能源安全、促进绿色发展具有重要意义。要积极探索新架构、新技术、新服务，完善网络建设，提升系统协同和调节能力，强化多元需求保障，打造安全可靠、绿色低碳、坚强韧性、智能灵活的新型电网。四川是中国重要清洁能源基地，要推动水风光氢天然气等多能互补，在清洁能源开发利用和新型电网建设方面走在前列，积极推进新型能源体系建设，同时更好带动相关产业发展。

在国机重型装备集团股份有限公司和东方电气集团东方电机有限公司，李强了解企业最新科研成果，察看核电、水电等装备及核心零部件。他勉励企业瞄准科技前沿和市场需求，推动人工智能等先进技术与制造业深度融合，不断在清洁能源装备制造等领域取得新突破，更好服务中国新能源产业发展和能源转型。

李强来到岷江紫坪铺水利枢纽工程，察看紫坪铺水库库区，了解四川省水利建设等情况，随后考察了都江堰水利工程。李强说，治水是利在千秋的事业。要传承发展治水智慧，加快水利设施现代化，更好发挥防洪、灌溉、供水、发电、生态等综合功能，以治水兴水的新成效造福于民。在广汉市“天府粮仓”万亩小麦单产提升示范区，李强走进田间察看小麦生长、水稻育秧、无人机作业，与农技专家、种粮农户交流。

李强说，当前正值春耕春播，要紧抓农时做好农资供应、技术服务等工作，加大智慧农机等新技术新装备应用，高标准抓好田间管理。要发挥种粮大户带动作用，创新农业经营方式，落实好惠农政策，强化种粮收益保障。要在土地改良、良种培育等方面持续用力，加快农业生产数智化转型，持续提升粮食安全保障能力。

吴政隆陪同调研。

GOP leaders endorse Trump’s shutdown-proof move to end DHS funding lapse

2026-04-01 16:45 EDT / Fox News

Republican leaders are rallying around President Donald Trump’s new approach to end the 47-day DHS shutdown

By Adam Pack
Fox News

Published April 1, 2026 2:30pm EDT | Updated April 1, 2026 4:45pm EDT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6392246067112

Rep Jeff Van Drew slams Congress amid DHS shutdown

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., criticized the congressional recess amid the ongoing DHS shutdown and spoke out against Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s proposed reparations for illegal immigrants.

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Republican leaders are rallying around President Donald Trump’s new approach to end the 47-day Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse — a plan that could make the agency shutdown-proof for the rest of Trump’s term.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday that DHS will be funded along “two parallel tracks,” meaning that the president’s immigration and border security agenda will receive an influx of money through a party-line reconciliation bill. The rest of DHS is funded through the normal appropriations process.

“We operated under a belief that while our country is in the midst of an international armed conflict, Democrats might finally come to their senses and understand that defunding our homeland security agencies is beyond reckless and very dangerous,” Johnson and Thune wrote in a joint statement. “We cannot allow Democrats to any longer put the safety of the American public at risk through their open border policies, so we are taking that off the table.”

The GOP leaders added that a forthcoming budget reconciliation package will include three years of immigration enforcement and border security funding. That move could prevent Democrats from using the appropriations process as leverage over the president’s immigration agenda for the remainder of his term.

Congressional Republicans are eying their own fixes to Obamacare subsidies, but the Senate and House are diverging in their approaches. Ultimately, President Donald Trump will be the deciding factor.(Getty Images)

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES ERUPT OVER SENATE GOP, WHITE HOUSE DEAL AMID SAVE ACT FIGHT

The GOP leaders’ budget reconciliation push comes as Republican efforts to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through regular order have stalled in the Senate due to widespread opposition from Democrats.

With the Senate’s 60-vote legislative threshold in place, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., effectively has veto power over DHS appropriations if he keeps his caucus in line.

To end the stalemate, Trump asked Republicans Wednesday to draft a budget reconciliation package funding immigration enforcement and border security that could pass both chambers without any Democratic support.

“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We will not allow them to hurt the families of these Great Patriots by defunding them.”

The president added that he wants the legislation on his desk by June 1.

The budget reconciliation process would allow Republicans to steer around Democratic opposition and pass a DHS funding bill at a simple majority threshold. Republicans narrowly passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act using reconciliation in June 2025 after months of intraparty squabbling.

Though ICE and the Border Patrol received an unprecedented infusion of money through Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill, certain support staff employed by both agencies have not been paid during the seven-week shutdown.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Secret Service have seen a more significant lapse in appropriations, though Trump took executive action to provide back pay to TSA agents reporting to work during the funding lapse.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6392274000112

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASS RIVAL DHS PLAN, SETTING UP SENATE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN SET TO BECOME LONGEST IN HISTORY

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., indicated to reporters Monday that Trump would ultimately get behind the Senate’s preferred approach.

“The Democrats can’t create another shutdown like they did this time,” Hoeven said, if the DHS budget reconciliation bill were to be signed into law.

The North Dakota lawmaker also disputed that a reconciliation package would take several months to put together.

“We’ll get it done as quick as you can,” Hoeven said. “I hope it’s certainly not months.”

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Republicans are considering a budget reconciliation package making Immigration and Customs Enforcement shutdown-proof.(Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)

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A second reconciliation package could prove more difficult in an election year when lawmakers will have to identify spending cuts to pay for the border security and immigration funding. The strategy could also extend the funding lapse for ICE and the Border Patrol for several more months.

Amid both chambers’ planned two-week recesses, Trump told the New York Post on Tuesday he is considering calling Congress back to Washington to find a solution to the DHS shutdown.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that a “skinny reconciliation bill” funding the department would pass both chambers once Congress resumes session in mid-April if a deal has not been reached.

House GOP leadership has previously voiced skepticism about funding immigration enforcement through a budget reconciliation package. Some conservatives have also complained about the precedent of letting Democrats decide which agencies receive funding through the normal appropriations process.

“The problem is that what they’re doing is they’re placing the burden on the Republican Party entirely to make sure that we have border security funding and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, because they’re going to try to force it into a reconciliation bill,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday. “That’s a very difficult task. It is a high risk gamble for us to assume that we could do that.”

意大利执法部门发现一遗体　疑似失联中国留学生

2026年4月2日 07:40 / 联合早报

意大利执法部门发现一遗体 疑似失联中国留学生

意大利执法部门在北部多洛米蒂山区的富内斯山谷发现一具遗体，衣物装备与此前失联的黄姓中国留学生基本一致。图为多洛米蒂山区景色。 （档案照）

意大利执法部门在北部多洛米蒂山区的富内斯山谷发现一具遗体，衣物装备与此前失联的黄姓中国留学生基本一致。

据新华社报道，中国驻米兰总领馆星期二（3月31日）通报，意大利宪兵在雪地中发现了遗体及个人证件。

目前，意方正对遗体身份作进一步确认。

黄姓中国留学生今年1月在相关地区失联。事件发生以来，中方一直与意大利有关部门保持沟通，推动开展搜寻工作。

中国驻米兰总领馆表示，已将有关情况及时通报当事人家属。总领馆将继续关注事件进展，并为当事人家属提供必要协助。

Trump to tell wary public that Iran war goals have been accomplished in prime-time address

2026-04-01 22:29:50 UTC / Reuters

By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Gram Slattery

April 1, 2026 10:29 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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U.S. President Donald Trump attends to sign an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Trump to address nation at 9 pm (0100 GMT) to discuss Iran war, NATO
• President expected to argue major war aims achieved, White House official says
• War in Iran unpopular, White House allies want clearer messaging from administration

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will address the nation in a televised speech at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT) on Wednesday as his administration signals it is moving toward a possible exit from the month-long war with Iran.

Trump, facing a war-wary American public and sliding approval ratings, is expected to say the U.S. military has accomplished its wartime goals, according to a White House official. He will also reiterate his plan to wind down the conflict within two to three weeks, the official said.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

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Trump and his advisers have offered shifting explanations and timelines for the conflict, now in its fifth week. Should he convince voters that the war is time-limited and near its end, it may help to assuage growing concerns among Americans, most of whom oppose the conflict and many of whom are upset at rising gasoline prices due to disruptions in the global oil supply.

Trump is expected to say the U.S. has destroyed Iran’s navy and its ballistic missiles and missile production facilities, while guaranteeing that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon, the White House official said.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview earlier in the day, Trump said he would also express his disgust with NATO for what he considers the alliance’s lack of support for U.S. objectives in Iran.

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A transatlantic rift during Trump’s second term has deepened after European allies rebuffed his request to help maintain safe passage for oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He said he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the U.S. from NATO, a treaty organization ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1949.

Trump added that, while the U.S. would be out of Iran “pretty quickly,” the military could return for “spot hits” as needed.

TO ESCALATE, OR DE-ESCALATE?

Public polling shows that the war is broadly unpopular, particularly with independent voters, and Trump’s allies have called for the administration to present a clearer and more consistent rationale for the conflict to voters.

In a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted Friday through Sunday, 60% of voters said they disapproved of the war, while 35% approved. Some 66% of respondents said the U.S. should work to end its involvement in the war quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the administration.

Trump, meanwhile, has flirted with options both to escalate and de-escalate the conflict and his next moves are unclear, even to some close advisers.

Administration officials have floated a daring operation to physically seize Iran’s remaining stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, as well as ground operations to seize strategic pieces of land – including parts of Iran’s coastline and Kharg Island, through which Iran exports the vast majority of its oil.

Thousands of additional troops continue to sail toward the Gulf region, indicating the president wants to keep his military options open.

At the same time, Trump has suggested he may walk away from the conflict, even if Iran declines to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

There are indications he is keen to turn his attention elsewhere.

On Wednesday morning, Trump visited the U.S. Supreme Court to attend arguments over the legality of a policy he considers crucial to his hardline approach on immigration: a directive he signed last year that would limit birthright citizenship. It was the first time ever that a sitting president had attended oral arguments.

Back at the White House for an Easter lunch, Trump said in reference to the war against Iran that the administration was “pretty much winding that up.”

“Have to take a few more hits,” he said.

One White House official said Vice President JD Vance had communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan about the Iran conflict as recently as Tuesday, amid nascent efforts to seek a negotiated settlement. Trump has said those talks are going well, while Tehran has said there are no direct discussions going on at all.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Gram Slattery; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Edmund Klamann

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State Department overhauls Foreign Service Officer Test, introduces “America First” foreign policy lectures

April 1, 2026 / 4:43 PM EDT / CBS News

The State Department announced Wednesday that it is modifying the Foreign Service Officer Test to reflect the foreign policy goals of the Trump administration and meet “the challenges of the 21st century.”

Under the new guidance, the exam is now revised to emphasize “merit in the selection process” by eliminating questions “intended to test alignment with the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda.”

“The Trump administration is modernizing the Foreign Service to prepare America’s diplomats to advocate for our national interest on a dynamically changing world stage,” Tommy Pigott, the Department’s deputy spokesperson, said in a statement. “In this revamped program, Foreign Service Officers will be trained in crucial skills like public speaking and negotiation and engage with international relations theory on topics ranging from commercial diplomacy to grand strategy. The State Department encourages the many patriotic Americans from across the country looking to serve their country to apply to join the Foreign Service.”

The nation’s oldest cabinet agency also announced that the Qualification Evaluation Panel, which reviews and ranks candidates’ files on weeks-long reviews, is being replaced by a written examination test, arguing that “the ability to think critically and write clear prose continues to be an essential skill for Foreign Service Officers.”

The Department’s onboarding program for incoming foreign service officers, referred to as A-100, will be modified to train commissioned officers on “diplomatic history and America First foreign policy” lectures, featuring speeches and writings from early presidents George Washington, John Quincy Adams and James Monroe, selections from the Federalist Papers, and works from Cold War-era diplomat George Kennan, “Clash of Civilization” author Samuel Huntington and “America First” architect Angelo Codevilla.

“Foreign Service Officers will now receive substantive content on policy and tradecraft, which includes lectures on diplomatic history and America First foreign policy,” the Department added.

The new onboarding format will replace resilience exercises, such as a “90-minute activity that required participants to throw objects into a bucket while blindfolded.”

“A-100 will include lectures on international relations, including on economic strategy, commercial diplomacy, and grand strategy, as well as training on public speaking, negotiation, and leadership,” it explained.

The revamp follows a series of executive orders ditching DEI initiatives signed into law by President Trump since his second inauguration last year. A 2025 directive tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio with maintaining “an exceptional workforce of patriots” to effectively implement the administration’s foreign policy goals.

The Department announced last fall that it had planned to revamp the foreign service exam and phase out DEI-related questionnaires. It later removed personal narrative essay requirements and discontinued the situational judgement section.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who served as Secretary of State in the Biden administration, backed DEI programs in Washington’s diplomatic arm and appointed a chief DEI officer. “The State Department has the honor of representing the American people to the world,” Blinken said in 2021. “To do that well, we must recruit and retain a workforce that truly reflects America. Diversity and inclusion make us stronger, smarter, more creative, and more innovative.”

Trump has discussed ousting Attorney General Pam Bondi, sources say

2026-04-01T23:19:17.464Z / CNN

By Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene

41 min ago
PUBLISHED Apr 1, 2026, 7:19 PM ET

Attorney General Pam Bondi listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington.

Alex Brandon/AP

President Donald Trump has privately mused about firing his Attorney General Pam Bondi and replacing her with EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Frustrated by the backlash and anger in his base over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Trump has asked people about replacing Bondi, who faces a deposition later this month on Capitol Hill related to the congressional investigation into the late sex trafficker, the sources said. He has also fumed that she hasn’t investigated enough of his political opponents.

It’s not clear the president has made up his mind, the sources told CNN. Bondi was with Trump Wednesday, riding in his motorcade as he attended the Supreme Court arguments on birthright citizenship. Trump voiced confidence in her in a statement to CNN.

“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” the president said.

Asked for comment, the Justice Department referred to the White House statement. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump and Bondi have spoken repeatedly in the past several days, and that the discussions were “business as usual.”

The idea of replacing Bondi with Zeldin first arose in January, then subsided as Epstein coverage slipped from the news cycle, sources said. Some senior officials in the DOJ believed that the year-long headache of the Epstein files was finally behind them, a source said. But word that Trump wanted to replace Bondi with Zeldin began to circulate again in the West Wing on Monday.

Zeldin is not seen as a final choice to replace Bondi if she’s dismissed. Trump has mentioned other candidates, but Zeldin the most often, one person told CNN.

The New York Times first reported on Bondi’s potential ouster.

Bondi has several strong allies within the administration, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

But in remarks to a reporter for Vanity Fair, Wiles previously acknowledged that Bondi had “completely whiffed” in her handling of the Epstein files.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.

（USGS网页截图）

印度尼西亚特尔纳特海岸附近的北马鲁古海域（Northern Molucca Sea）发生7.8级地震，美国地质调查局（USGS）说，地震引发邻国海啸预警。

路透社引述USGS说，星期四（4月2日）的地震震源深度为10公里（6.21英里）。

据美国海啸预警系统警报，震中周围1000公里范围内，印尼、菲律宾和马来西亚沿海地区都可能出现危险的海啸。

据USGS称，震中位于印尼北马鲁古省特尔纳特市（Ternate）以西约120公里处，该市人口达20万5000。

Federal government appealing order releasing 5-year-old from immigration custody

April 1, 2026 / 6:30 PM EDT / CBS News

The federal government may try to send 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos back to detention.

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal Wednesday in federal court in Texas, challenging a January ruling that freed the 5-year-old Minnesota resident and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from an immigration detention facility. The father and son were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a crackdown in the Minneapolis area earlier this year, drawing nationwide attention.

The filing, obtained by CBS News, takes the fight to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. If the government succeeds, the two could find themselves back in detention.

“The first time they came for us it was unjust. The second time they came for us is unjust. We are not giving into their fear,” Adrian Conejo Arias told CBS News through his attorney, Danielle Molliver. He also sent a message of gratitude to people around the world who have advocated on their behalf, saying, “Thank you to all those who continue to support and love us.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who ordered the father and son released after finding their constitutional rights had been violated. Biery called their detention the product of a “perfidious lust for unbridled power” and said the case had its “genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

In addition to the release order, the government’s appeal extends to “all opinions, rulings, findings, conclusions, judgments, and orders on which the grant of the Petition is based.”

Conejo’s story — and the image of a 5-year-old standing outside his home wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spiderman backpack while surrounded by immigration agents — became a symbol of the harsh crackdown under Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.

Liam Conejo Ramosis detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after arriving home from preschool on Jan. 20 in a Minneapolis suburb. Ali Daniels / AP

CBS News documented the impact of Conejo’s detention at his elementary school in a Minneapolis suburb, where 24 families had children or parents detained at the time. Valley View Elementary Principal Jason Kuhlman told CBS News he was worried about Conejo’s health while he remained in detention in late January.

“His friends notice that he’s not here. Then when it hit the media, they start seeing his face on TV,” Kuhlman said. “It’s like, how do you explain that? When you start missing someone out of your classroom. How do you have that conversation with a 5-year-old?”

A spokesperson for the Columbia Heights School District confirmed to CBS News that the 5-year-old was back in the classroom and his family wanted to make sure he wasn’t singled out over the rest of the students as he re-adapted.

Conejo’s case drew outrage after community members alleged ICE agents had used him as “bait” to have his mother open the door of their home after agents detained his father.

Then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded to questions about the viral photo of Conejo in front of his home, saying his father “fled on foot—abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.”

The DHS statement added, “Our officers made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her she would NOT be taken … into custody. The alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”

Airport surveillance video released in late March shows images of Conejo and his father being escorted by federal agents to a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Texas after their Jan. 20 detention.

In March, an immigration judge denied the family’s asylum claim, leaving them eligible for deportation. Their attorneys are appealing that decision, but the government’s appeal to their release challenges a narrow protection provided in Biery’s order, that if they were re-detained, they must receive a bond hearing.