2020 Day 1181: Trump interrupted the daily coronavirus task force briefing to play a heavily-edited, campaign-style highlight reel of video clips and soundbites praising himself and the steps his administration has taken to combat the virus over the last four months; Trump falsely claimed “I have the ultimate authority" over states to reopen the country once the coronavirus pandemic shows signs of receding; Dr. Anthony Fauci said "We’re not there yet" with testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation’s economy; more than 80% of the benefits of a tax change in the coronavirus relief package Congress passed last month will go to those who earn more than $1 million annually; and 57% of Americans think Trump waited too long to act in response to the coronavirus. Apr 14, 2020
2021 Day 85: The U.S. Capitol Police inspector general found that the agency’s leaders failed to adequately prepare for the Jan. 6 attack despite being warned that “Congress itself is the target”; hundreds of U.S. corporations and executives signed on to a statement opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that would make it harder for people to vote; the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter; and Matt Gaetz's associate has been cooperating with the Justice Department since last year. Apr 14, 2021
2022 Day 450: Russia threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea region if Finland and Sweden join NATO; the Republican-led Kentucky legislature override the governor’s veto to enact strict abortion restrictions that will force the state’s two clinics to stop providing abortions immediately; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into law; DeSantis proposed a new congressional map that would create four more Republican-leaning districts by breaking up a largely Black district; the RNC unanimously voted to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates; Chuck Schumer suggested that Biden "seems more open" to canceling student debt "than ever before"; and Biden's job approval among Generation Z and millennials is down roughly 20 points since 2021. Apr 14, 2022
2025 Day 1546: Trump suggested that he’ll deport violent U.S. citizens to El Salvador, a move legal experts called “pretty obviously illegal” and unconstitutional; Trump ordered the Army to take control of a federal border strip, allowing troops to detain migrants on land now treated as a military base; the Trump administration said it will not return the Maryland resident it deported illegally to El Salvador, arguing the courts have no power to direct U.S. foreign policy; a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Mahmoud Khalil – a legal permanent resident and former Columbia student protest leader – can be deported after the Trump administration labeled him a foreign policy threat; the State Department found no evidence linking a Tufts Ph.D. student to terrorism or antisemitism before ICE agents detained her; Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one day after a Russian missile strike killed at least 35 civilians; Trump temporarily exempted smartphones, computers, and other electronics from his new 125% tariff on Chinese imports, but said that those products will soon face separate, sector-specific tariffs; consumer sentiment fell to 50.8 in April – the second-lowest reading since the University of Michigan began tracking it in 1952; 44% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the economy and 40% approved of his handling of inflation – both down 4 points since late March; and Trump claimed he “got every answer right” on a cognitive test during his annual physical exam but couldn’t recall the test’s name. Apr 14, 2025
2026 Day 1911: Trump said new U.S.-Iran talks could resume in Pakistan “over the next two days”; a woman publicly accused Eric Swalwell of raping her in a West Hollywood hotel room in 2018, saying she was “already incapacitated” when she arrived and that, as “he was choking me,” she “lost consciousness” and “thought I died”; a divided federal appeals court shut down U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt investigation into whether the Trump administration defied his order to stop deportation flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador; Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve disclosed financial holdings worth well over $100 million; House Republicans accused the main Democratic fundraising platform of misleading Congress and withholding subpoenaed records tied to an investigation into possible foreign donations; the Justice Department released its first “weaponization” report, accusing the Biden administration of selectively enforcing the FACE Act against anti-abortion activists; and the Justice Department asked to vacate the Jan. 6 convictions of 12 former Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members, including several convicted of seditious conspiracy. Apr 14, 2026