The Daily Moth 3-26-2025
Hello, it is Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Here are today’s top stories.
———
President Trump announces 25% tariffs on imported vehicles
President Trump announced that he would impose a 25% tariff on all cars that are imported into the U.S. They will go into effect on April 2 and will also apply towards American car brands that are assembled overseas and imported here. The New York Times said the tariffs could raise prices for consumers significantly because nearly half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. are imported. The move is aimed at pushing companies to set up more factories in the U.S., which is a major goal of Trump. Others are concerned that the tariffs could disrupt the auto industry and spark more trade clashes with foreign countries that send many cars to the U.S. Elon Musk’s Tesla company will be less impacted because it makes all the cars it sells in the U.S. in California and Texas.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/26/business/trump-tariffs-auto-cars
———
Pilot and two daughters survive plane crash in Alaska
CBS News explained that a pilot and his two young daughters, ages 6 and 8, survived a plane crash on an icy lake in Alaska on Sunday. The plane was partially submerged and the three managed to get on the plane’s wing, where they held on overnight for a total of 12 hours until another plane spotted them. The Alaska Army National Guard dispatched a helicopter and saved the three, who are okay other than some minor injuries and hypothermia.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-plane-crash-pilot-2-daughters-survived-wing-12-hours-before-rescue-lake/
———
Supreme Court upholds regulations on ghost guns
AP News reported that the Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration regulation on “ghost guns,” which are firearms that people can build at home from kits. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to support requirements on serial numbers, background checks and age verification for people who buy the kits online. If a gun is involved in a crime scene, police often tracks the gun by looking at its serial number, but ghost guns used to have no serial guns. That’s why the Biden administration set the regulations, and this was challenged, but the Supreme Court said they have to remain in place.
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-ghost-guns-bf404db1d4ece56203c8748b2544dc02
———
Signal messages on Yemen attack published
“The Atlantic” published the contents of the group chat where Defense Sec. Hegseth and VP Vance were messaging other top Trump administration officials on the U.S. military strikes in Yemen and happened to add journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in the group chat.
“The Atlantic” published the messages after the Trump administration denied that the Signal messages were about war plans or classified information. The published texts allows us to see it for ourselves.
The group chat showed messages such as, “F-18 1st strike window starts,” “Terrorist is at his known location,” or “the primary target is walking into his girlfriend’s building.”
Experts said this kind of information would be highly classified during an active operation and that if enemies — like the Houthis — could see the messages, they could have moved to different locations or even worse, prepared to strike back at U.S. military personnel.
The controversy over the leaked messages is continuing to play out on Capitol Hill with calls for investigations.
In related news, there was a lawsuit filed by a government watchdog group who said the Signal chat and leak violated federal records laws. The case is assigned to federal judge James Boasberg, the same judge who blocked Trump’s plans to deport suspected gang members to El Salvador.
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/26/houthi-group-chat-texts-leaked-war-plans
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-fighting-trump-over-el-salvador-deportations-assigned-lawsuit-over-signal-chat-leak
———
Hundreds of Palestinians protest against Hamas
ABC News said hundreds of Palestinians in northern Gaza conducted a rare protest against Hamas by calling on them to give up control of Gaza to end the war and reach a ceasefire deal with Israel.
ABC said some protesters shouted, “Stop the war,” “We refuse to die,” or “We want to live, we want to live.”
AP News said some videos appeared to show Hamas members dispersing the crowd. The WSJ explained that Hamas has long quashed public displays of anger at its authority.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/gaza-protesters-hamas-out-israel-military-campaign/story
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHqrvBytSQT/
———
Rep. Crockett criticized for “Gov. Hot Wheels” remark
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is facing criticism for mocking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who uses a wheelchair, by calling him, “Gov. Hot Wheels” during a speech over the weekend.
AP News explained that Abbott was paralyzed in 1984 after a tree fell on him while he was running, which damaged his spinal cord.
Rep. Crockett defended herself by saying she was not talking about a wheelchair but about how Abbott would send migrants to other cities using planes, trains, and automobiles.
Gov. Abbott told Fox News that it’s another day and another disaster by the Democrats and it’s why Texas will remain red and why Republicans are going to continue to win elections across the country.
https://apnews.com/article/crockett-abbott-wheelchair-a38d50b41e35cc6e05f5d72ad74ff54f
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-jasmine-crockett-defends-governor-hot-wheels-comments/story
———
Trump wants voters to prove U.S. citizenship; stop mail-in ballots after Election Day
Reuters reported that President Trump signed an executive order yesterday that would require voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and attempts to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. That means if someone sent in a mail-in ballot before Election Day but if it took some time to arrive, after Election Day is over, they would be voided.
It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.
The order said to prove U.S. citizenship, voters would have to show a passport or a birth certificate. The order also directs federal agencies to share data with states to help identify and remove non-citizens from voter rolls. The order says if states refuse to follow the requirements, their federal funding would be withheld.
Reuters said Trump has long questioned the U.S. electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud, and has made claims without evidence that that many non-citizens have voted.
Reuters said the order is likely to draw legal challenges and advocates argue that millions would be disenfranchised by the order if they didn’t have passports or birth certificates.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-signs-election-order-calling-proof-us-citizenship-vote-2025-03-26/
———
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.