Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, March 21, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening both nationally and around the world.
President Donald Trump makes a dramatic change to the way millions of American children receive their education; the chairman of the Federal Reserve weighs in regarding the impact of the president’s tariffs on our nation’s inflation rate; and a leading tech company announces plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on manufacturing here in the United States.
Also, the war in the Middle East heats up as a pair of terrorist groups launch missiles at Israel, and in the United States, federal agents arrest another foreign national studying at an American university as they ramp up efforts to find and deport terrorist sympathizers.
Trump Signs Order to Dismantle Department of Education
At yesterday’s White House event attended by a number of Republican governors and state education officials, Trump signed an executive order to all but eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.The White House says that the order also aims to ensure that throughout the process, there is no disruption in the delivery of services, programs, and benefits that Americans rely on.
They went on to say that moving forward, the department will be much smaller than it is right now, and that it will still be responsible for managing both the student loan and Pell Grant programs.
Additionally, the order also says that any additional programs or activities that receive the remaining Department of Education funds will not be permitted to promote either DEI or gender ideology policies.
The White House says that the president is making the move because the federal government’s role in education has failed students, parents, and teachers. However, teachers are vowing to sue over the move, and despite the order, Trump still needs congressional approval to dismantle the department; such a move requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate.
Fed Chair Says Tariffs May Delay Inflation Progress
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says that it’s too soon to fully gauge the inflationary impact of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariff expansions, but that they could very well stall progress on lowering inflation this year.He also says that tariff-related price increases will be transitory as they work their way through the economy, and that it would be difficult to determine how much those tariffs might influence the price of any one particular item.
Powell made his remarks following the Fed’s recent decision to leave interest rates at their current levels. He went on to point out that while longer-term inflation expectations are “mostly well-anchored,” a number of business and household surveys show increasing concerns about rising prices.
The Fed chair says that even though inflation could be due to a number of factors, the arrival of higher prices due to the tariffs could result in a delay of any additional progress to slow the problem. Meanwhile, the Fed’s quarterly summary of economic projections does not show any further downward progress on inflation this year.
Additionally, Powell says that recent strong inflation readings were unexpected, and that they could be the result of Americans buying products before the expected tariffs take hold.
The Trump administration says the widespread tariffs are an economic strategy that will create long-term benefits to the nation by reducing trade deficits with other countries and bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
Nvidia Chief Says Company Plans to Spend Hundreds of Billions on Manufacturing in US
The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, says that his company plans to spend half a trillion dollars on electronics manufacturing over the next four years, and that most of it will likely be spent here in the United States.Huang says the decision is motivated by Nvidia’s ability to manufacture computer chips in the United States through a number of suppliers, including another company that’s already investing over $100 billion of its own to build advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Arizona.
Additionally, the CEO went on to point out the certainty of being able to manufacture items in the United States, along with what he calls a “diversified supply chain,” as further justification for his decision.
Huang also says that Nvidia is sensing a growing competitive threat from the Chinese company Huawei, which he calls “the single most formidable technology company in China.” He went on to say that U.S. efforts to limit Huawei’s growth have “done poorly.”
Meanwhile, the White House says that Huang’s comments are just another of the “endless” business wins that are “part of the manufacturing renaissance under President Donald J. Trump as he solidifies the U.S. as the global leader in artificial intelligence.”
To back it up, they’re pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars in recent commitments by a number of other tech and telecommunications leaders, including Oracle, SoftBank, OpenAI, and Apple.
Hamas, Houthis Renew Missile Attacks on Israel
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Israel after the Yemen-based Houthis fired what they’re calling a “hypersonic ballistic missile” at Ben Gurion International Airport. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), that missile was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, but not before the attack disrupted air traffic, briefly delaying several flights.The Houthi assault was their second since the United States began a series of strikes against the terrorist group earlier this week in an effort to protect both commercial and naval ships. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they’re “already paying the price,” but following this latest incident, they will pay even more.
Meanwhile, the Hamas terror group fired several rockets into the Jewish state from the nearby Gaza Strip. The IDF says that the Israeli Air Force intercepted one of those missiles, and that two others landed in open areas of the country. Israeli media is reporting that 13 people were injured in the attacks, while millions of people headed to the protection of bomb shelters.
The Hamas attacks came in response to renewed Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, along with a ground offensive, following the breakdown of a two-month-long cease-fire and hostage-release process.
The IDF says that its latest actions are targeting top officials of both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and that several of those officials have already been eliminated.
Additionally, Israel says it’s taking decisive action because it had knowledge that Hamas was planning further terrorist attacks against the nation. It also says its goal is to free any remaining hostages held by Hamas and to dismantle the terror group once and for all. According to reports, Hamas is still holding an estimated 24 living hostages, along with the bodies of 35 more.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 500 Palestinians have already been killed in the latest round of fighting, including a number of women and children.
DHS Arrests, Seeks to Deport Pro-Palestinian Georgetown University Student
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it has just arrested an Indian national studying at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Washington because he has been “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.”The move is the latest in a series of arrests following through on President Donald Trump’s promise to find and deport “terrorist sympathizers,” and DHS says it’s looking to ship this student out of our country as well.
According to one newspaper in India, the student’s father-in-law is a former Hamas deputy foreign minister.
Meanwhile, his wife, who’s an American citizen, told the newspaper that “Hamas is a political party fighting for the cause of Palestine, not a terrorist organization.” Additionally, a profile of her on the Georgetown University website says she has worked with the foreign ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
The DHS says that the student’s close connections to a senior adviser of Hamas have prompted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to deem him deportable under the law.
The student was recently detained by DHS agents outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, and his arrest is already being challenged in federal court.
The student’s lawyer says that if “an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar.”
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
Finally, as we do each day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Edgar Allan Poe, who said: “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
Poe was an American writer, editor, poet, and literary critic.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
