1. The U.S. Army has started quietly discharging some immigrant reservists and recruits who were promised a path to citizenship in exchange for enlisting. The exact number of soldiers who have been discharged is unclear, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who have been discharged or whose status has come into question. Some have been labeled security risks and discharged because they have relatives abroad, while others have been told they are being discharged because the Department of Defense had not completed their background checks. (Associated Press)

  2. The Trump administration has created a new task force within the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency to revoke the citizenship of some naturalized immigrants and eventually deport them. The task force will identify what it calls bad naturalization cases and refer them to the Justice Department, which will carry out denaturalization proceedings against U.S. citizens. The purported targets are people who had already been rejected by the U.S., but who created a new identity to gain citizenship afterward. (WNYC / CNN)

  3. The trade war with China officially began today as the Trump administration's tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods went into effect at 12:01 a.m. The Chinese government immediately imposed its own similarly sized penalties on an unspecified cohort of American goods. The United States "has launched the biggest trade war in economic history so far," China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. (New York Times)

  4. Russia imposed its own tariffs against U.S. goods in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. Russia's Economic Development Minister said that additional tariffs ranging from 25 to 40 percent have been applied to some U.S. construction equipment, oil and gas equipment, metal processing instruments, drilling equipment, and optical fiber. (The Independent)

  5. Michael Cohen told friends that he doesn't expect Trump to offer him a presidential pardon. "I brought up the pardon, and he said, 'I don't think so. I just don't think so,'" said Cohen's friend. "He's certain in his mind that he has been dismissed." Cohen has not been charged with a crime. (CNN)

  6. Trump attacked two Democratic senators, continued his attacks on members of the press, mocked the #MeToo movement, and vouched for Putin during a rally in Montana on Thursday. "You know what? Putin's fine," Trump told the crowd, referring to his upcoming meeting with Putin. "He’s fine. We’re all fine. We’re people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared. I’ve been preparing for this stuff my whole life." (New York Times)