Donald Trump

Several hundred people in Tuscaloosa joined in over a thousand anti-Donald Trump and Elon Musk protests held nationally over the weekend. Marchers in front of the Richard Shelby Federal Courthouse carried signs with slogans calling hands off social security, freedom of the press, freedom of speech and so on.

Alabama exports to China could become more expensive by Thursday. The communist nation says it will impose a thirty four percent tax on all U.S. imports this week. That could hit Alabama hard. The U.S. China Business Council says the state sent over four billion dollars worth of exports to China in 2024. A billion of that was in the form of automobiles and car parts.

Wall Street is having another tough day amid anxiety over President Donald Trump's often-changing tariff proposals. Trump delayed most tariffs on Mexican goods after talking with their president. But Canada's prime minister said retaliatory Canadian tariffs will remain as long as Trump leaves any U.S. tariffs in place. Alabama may get a momentary reprieve based on the “fine print” in Trump’s latest action on tariffs.

Don’t get out your checkbook to buy a landmark associated with Alabama’s Freedom Riders. The Trump White House identified the Montgomery bus station that now serves as a museum to that time in the state’s civil rights history for sale. That is until the administration deleted the list.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the American people and leadership and voiced hope for "strong relations," a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with U.S. President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood. APR contacted a fellow journalist in Ukraine for her perspective.

President Trump has been busy since taking office. The new commander in chief has signed executive orders on declaring a national emergency along the Mexico border and pardons for the people accused in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. It’s what he hasn’t done yet that have some people worried. One goal in the conservative blueprint called Project 2025 calls for ending the U.S. Department of Education. Could this mean for small states like Alabama.

Published reports indicate there may have been a reprieve at NASA. Probationary workers, including those at Alabama’s Marshall Space Center, were bracing for job cuts. The websites ARS Technica and NASA watch say mass firings have not yet occurred and there’s no clear reason for the delay.

The Port of Mobile is bracing for Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada and Mexico which could resume as soon as March. Automakers told CBS News that new car prices could jump by six thousand dollars each if the trade war starts up again. That could hit the Port of Mobile which handles automobile shipments with Mexico.

The White House crackdown on grant money from the National Institutes of Health has universities concerned, reportedly including UAB. Donald Trump’s move against diversity programs could change how research schools spend federal dollars. The current policy allows half of NIH grants to be used for staff or other costs. The White House wants that trimmed to fifteen percent. UAB received three quarters of a billion from NIH in 2022.

The latest twist in the ongoing concern over reported White House plans to end the U.S. Department of Education came this week. The Associated Press says members of the so- called Department of Government Efficiency were seen on Monday at the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish. Observers are already speculating on what impact could come if this particular agency goes away. One belief is that small, and often conservative states like Alabama might feel the brunt of such a move.