Trump announces 25% tariff on cars, trucks from EU
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on April 24, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will increase tariffs on European Union cars and trucks to 25% next week, claiming in a social media post that the EU is “not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal.”
“Based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States. The Tariff will be increased to 25%,” Trump wrote in a post to his social media platform.
While the president did not specify what tariff authority he was invoking, it appears that the administration will use Section 232, which authorizes him to “adjust the imports” of goods that the secretary of commerce finds to have been imported in a manner that threatens U.S. national security.
Trump, departing the White House Friday afternoon, reiterated that the tariff was coming because “as usual, they were not adhering to the agreement that we have.”
ABC News has reached out to the White House for additional comment on tariff authority.
Trump, in his social media post, touted American automobile production capabilities, claiming that U.S. manufacturing plants “will be opening soon” and that “over 100 Billion dollars” is being invested, though he did not say where the alleged money was coming from.
“It is fully understood and agreed that, if they produce Cars and Trucks in U.S.A. Plants, there will be NO TARIFF. Many Automobile and Truck Plants are currently under construction, with over 100 Billion Dollars being invested, A RECORD in the History of Car and Truck Manufacturing,” Trump added in his post.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHNGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to sign an order to pay “all” employees at the Department of Homeland Security amid the record-long agency shutdown.
“Help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” Trump wrote in a post to his social media platform.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, participates in the group’s press conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
(UVALDE, Texas) — Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales is denying allegations he engaged in an extramarital affair with a congressional aide who died by suicide last fall — calling on the Uvalde police department to release its report on her death despite objections from her family.
Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, died on Sept. 14 after she doused herself with an accelerant and set herself ablaze at her home on Geraldine Avenue in Uvalde, Texas, Bexar County officials determined.
Santos-Aviles served as regional district director for Gonzales, who lost an endorsement this week from the San Antonio Express-News following its reporting of an alleged affair between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles.
The Express-News reported that it obtained texts between a former Gonzales staffer and Santos-Aviles, in which Santos-Aviles claimed she engaged in an affair with Gonzales.
Gonzales has repeatedly denied the affair with Santos-Aviles.
In a statement to ABC News, the Gonzales campaign did not comment on the reported text messages, and blamed his rival in the GOP primary, Brandon Herrera, for planting allegations in the press.
“Ms. Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place,” Gonzales told ABC News in a statement. “Her efforts led to improvements in school safety, healthcare, and rural water like never before. It’s shameful that Brandon Herrera is using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points, conveniently pushing this out the very day early voting started. I am not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.”
Gonzales faces a primary fight with Herrera, a conservative influencer who he defeated by less than 400 votes in 2024. Herrera called on Gonzales to resign from office via a post on X on Wednesday.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office ruled that 9-1-1 calls, video, and police reports must remained sealed, though Gonzales is now calling on the Uvalde Police Department to release its report.
On Thursday, Gonzales posted on X suggesting an attorney representing the Santos-Aviles family was seeking an out-of-court financial settlement, which Gonzales described as “blackmail.”
“I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED. Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death. The public should IMMEDIATELY have full access to the Uvalde Police report. I will keep fighting for #TX23,” Gonzales said in the post.
Santos-Aviles’ widower, Adrian Aviles, denied Gonzales’ charge of blackmail while expressing his intent to block details of the incident from becoming unsealed.
“We have never blackmailed anyone,” Adrian Aviles wrote in a statement on X. “What we’ve seen instead is a consistent pattern of evasion, refusal to take accountability, and outright lies to protect your image. You’re a classic case of a two-faced politician who says whatever is convenient to save face. We chose to hold back the full police report and body cam footage for one reason only it shows my wife suffering severe burns in horrific detail. I will not allow that graphic material to become accessible to our 8 year old son in the future when he is old enough to search for or come across it.”
The post continued: “Nothing in that police report protects you, that decision is about protecting our child’s well-being, not concealing anything improper. Your actions have been disgraceful, and you continue to mislead your constituents with falsehoods. You may avoid responsibility here on earth, but one day you will answer to a higher authority. Today, though, you still answer to the people you represent–people who deserve the truth, not more deception.”
Reached by ABC News, attorney Robert Barrera, who represents Adrian Aviles, said he is in possession of “substantial evidence” from Santos-Aviles’ phone “supporting the affair.”
Barrera added that Gonzales refused any out of court settlement and is now “attempting in an act of desperation to become a victim of his own conduct when it has now come to light that he has committed adultery with a staffer.”
Barrera declined to release the full letter sent to Gonzales’ lawyers.
Gonzales, 44, is married to his wife Angel and the couple have six children together.
At the time of the incident, the three-term lawmaker provided a statement to San Antonio ABC station KSAT reacting to “the recent news” of Santos-Aviles’ death:
“We are all heart-stricken by the recent news. Regina devoted her profession toward making a difference in her community. She will always be remembered for her passion towards Uvalde and helping the community become a better place,” Gonzales stated.
Gonzales has already won President Donald Trump’s endorsement for reelection, as well as several law enforcement groups from Texas.
: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Almost a third of the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus — 19 of its 62 members — are at risk of losing their seats through the 2028 election cycle as Republicans in southern states where they control the legislature move swiftly to redraw congressional maps less than two weeks after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The mid-decade redistricting push is a continuation of an effort that began in 2025 and that President Donald Trump has encouraged in hopes of increasing the likelihood that the GOP will retain control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections.
Republicans have argued that they are redrawing congressional maps to comply with the Supreme Court and that the districts that could be changed may still elect Black representatives to Congress.
A spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus told ABC News that the group is coordinating with groups such as Elias Law Group and the Legal Defense Fund to challenge the GOP’s redistricting efforts.
The Supreme Court on Monday evening opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black congressional districts before this year’s midterm elections, potentially handing Republicans an additional House seat in the fight for control of the closely divided chamber.
Following Republicans’ redistricting efforts in the South in states like Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed a strong response, listing specific states without sharing specific actions.
“Over the next year or so, what you’re going to see in state after state are Democrats making clear that we are not going to unilaterally disarm,” Jeffries said.
“And as a result of that, in places like New York, New Jersey, Oregon, as well as Washington, in Colorado and, of course, in Illinois and Maryland, we’re going to take the steps necessary to ensure that in advance of the 2028 election, we have a decisive and overwhelming response.”
Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures, whose seat is now in jeopardy as a result of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, said in a statement to ABC News that the decision “sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and 60s in terms of Black political representation in the state.”
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri, whose seat was one of the first targeted by redistricting, said that the ongoing redistricting efforts are “trying to send us back to Reconstruction.”
Cleaver told ABC News that he is supportive of Jeffries’ stance of “maximum warfare” against GOP-led redistricting efforts, but he worries that “if we fight fire with fire, nothing would be left in the station but ash.”
Cleaver has held his seat for more than two decades and is running for reelection, but now says he has “no idea” what district he’s running in and that Democrats may need to redistrict in states like Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Colorado to fight back.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is also at risk of losing his seat if redistricting succeeds in South Carolina, took aim at a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that he said had enabled this sort of targeting of Black legislators, as well as actions by Trump that he said threaten American democracy.
“You know, this is whether or not you’re going to have a democracy. And that’s not a one-party thing, that’s not a one-person thing; that is, this country has come to grips with the fact that we are on the verge of a kleptocracy,” Clyburn said.
While CBC members have continued to push for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Cleaver said that in the current Congress, the legislation “could not get a hearing in the United States of America right now.”
Last Thursday, Tennessee became the first state after the Supreme Court’s Louisiana ruling to officially redraw and pass a new map at the urging of the president, who called the state’s governor about the topic just one day after the ruling. And in one week, a new congressional map was created, presented and passed. The new map will give Republicans a chance to flip the state’s lone current Democratic-held, majority-Black district, which is primarily made up of Memphis.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday evening that opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black districts before this year’s midterms, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has set new special primary elections for the affected districts in the state: the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th.
Louisiana and South Carolina are also working through their own redistricting process in hopes of delivering more House seats to the GOP ahead of November’s elections. In South Carolina, Republicans on Friday formally unveiled a new proposed congressional map that would redraw the district held by Clyburn.
But as Republicans look to add House seats, Black representation in Congress is at risk of dropping substantially over the next couple of years.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement to ABC News, “We are witnessing a return to Jim Crow. And anybody who is alarmed by these developments — as everybody should be — better be making a plan to vote in November to put an end to this madness while we still can.”
“This Supreme Court did not dismiss the case, so the litigation will certainly continue. My hope is that this is a temporary setback and that three-Republican appointed judges will again find what they found the first time: that the State of Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters in drawing its congressional district lines,” Figures added.
ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim and Jeff Ballou contributed to this report
