China’s communist regime began a secret project during President Donald Trump’s first term to weaken the United States through scaling up production of fentanyl precursors. 
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| “As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help, or at least, to do no harm.” |
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China’s communist regime began a secret project during President Donald Trump’s first term to weaken the United States through scaling up production of fentanyl precursors and shipping them to Mexico and Canada for manufacturing and distribution across the border.
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The Supreme Court allowed the U.S. military to ban troops who identify as transgender, while litigation challenging the prohibition plays out.
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President Donald Trump hosted Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, at the White House on Tuesday for high-stakes talks focused on trade and security. Here are five takeaways from the meeting.
- The REAL ID deadline is today. Here’s what you need to know.
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🎤 Interview: Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon takes us inside the Trump administration’s shake-up of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. (Watch)
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☀️ Good morning! It’s Wednesday. Thank you for reading the Morning Brief, an exclusive newsletter for Epoch Times subscribers.
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| Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor |
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The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on April 3, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) |
The Supreme Court allowed the U.S. military to ban troops who identify as transgender, while litigation challenging the prohibition plays out.
A majority of justices agreed to enter a stay of a preliminary injunction that was entered by a U.S. district judge in March against the policy, pending the disposition of an appeal. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, the court said.
President Donald Trump, in a January executive order, said that people who express a gender identity that diverges from their sex “cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and directed military officials to update rules to that effect.
In a memorandum in February, Defense Department officials said that personnel “with gender dysphoria or who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria” would be discharged from the military unless they were given an exemption. Some affected personnel sued, alleging the ban violates their constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said in the order entering the injunction that officials had presented no evidence supporting the prohibition on people who identify as transgender serving in the military.
In April, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel denied the Trump administration’s request for a stay, concluding the government had not proven it would suffer irreparable harm unless the injunction were blocked. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer then went to the Supreme Court, asking it to intervene. (More) More Politics: |
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The FBI mishandled its investigation of the 2017 shooting at a GOP practice for the Congressional Baseball Game, including not calling the incident domestic terrorism and not interviewing key figures, according to a report released by the House Intelligence Committee.
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President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington is facing steeper odds after a key Senate Republican announced he won’t support the confirmation of Ed Martin—putting the nomination in jeopardy just two weeks before a critical deadline.
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The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of former tech CEO Frank Bisignano as the head commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in a party-line vote on Tuesday.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will soon announce plans to “radically transform” America’s air traffic control, as recent safety incidents have put a spotlight on its aging technology and implications for travelers.
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The Food and Drug Administration’s new top vaccine official is a university professor who has expressed criticism of how the agency handled COVID-19 vaccines.
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A federal judge in New York has blocked the government from deporting suspected Venezuelan gang members, holding that the Trump administration improperly invoked an 18th-century law and failed to provide due process for deportees.
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A legal watchdog group founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has filed a lawsuit against Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and former District Judge Robert Conrad over their alleged refusal to honor Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
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Air traffic controllers overseeing Newark Liberty International Airport lost contact with planes for 30 seconds last week, triggering widespread flight delays and cancellations as staffing shortages and outdated technology strained systems, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“The primary communication line went down, the backup line didn’t fire, and so for 30 seconds we lost contact with air traffic, Duffy said. “Now, were planes going to crash? No. They have communication devices. ... But it’s a sign that we have a frail system in place, and it has to be fixed.”
Duffy plans to unveil a proposal Thursday seeking billions of dollars from Congress to overhaul air traffic control infrastructure and staffing.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed that controllers in Philadelphia, responsible for Newark’s airspace, temporarily lost radar contact and communications with aircraft on April 28. (More) More U.S. News |
- The Department of Justice announced the largest fentanyl bust in U.S. history.
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Columbia University will lay off nearly 180 staff members after the Trump administration revoked more than $400 million in federal research funding.
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Tyson Foods is working to eliminate the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in its food production and is expecting to complete this by the end of the month. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the company for taking swift action in response to the agency’s plan to phase out those types of dyes from the nation’s food supply.
- The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record high in March as companies accelerated their imports ahead of U.S. tariffs taking effect.
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China’s communist regime began a secret project during President Donald Trump’s first term to weaken the United States through scaling up production of fentanyl precursors and shipping them to Mexico and Canada for manufacturing and distribution across the border, according to an insider who has sources in Beijing’s top political circle. The plan, which the Chinese regime dubbed Project Zero, aims to make Americans addicted, according to Yuan Hongbing, a dissident and jurist living in exile in Australia. His sources are close to the descendants of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who choose to remain anonymous due to security concerns.
Top Chinese officials have continued to push fentanyl into the United States, Yuan told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. Fear of the plan leaking out and contradicting Beijing’s claim that it is being a responsible actor is one reason Beijing has chosen to go head to head with Washington during the current tariff war, Yuan said.
During his first term, Trump pressed CCP leader Xi Jinping to stop the flow of Chinese fentanyl precursors into the United States. However, Xi has repeatedly referred back to another part of Chinese history—the Opium Wars—and blames the West for once turning China into a semi-colonial society.
Xi has considered the rampant drug abuse in the United States as “retribution” and a clear indicator of the concept Xi envisioned—that the East is on the rise and the West is in decline, according to Yuan.
Drug overdoses, primarily driven by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, remain among the leading cause of death for American adults aged 18 to 44, killing more than 107,000 people in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A January report from Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports health care related research, found that the United States has the highest drug overdose death rate in the world. (More)
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India fired missiles into Pakistan-controlled territory, including the divided Kashmir region, in retaliation for the killing of 26 tourists in Kashmir last month.
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President Trump said U.S. forces would cease strikes targeting Yemen’s Houthis, saying the insurgent movement had finally tired of a year-and-a-half-long Red Sea stand-off.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts this week.
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A South Korean court has ruled to allow Shen Yun Performing Arts to continue a planned two-day performance in Seoul, amid disruption efforts by the Chinese Communist Party.
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Israel will implement a tariff rate as high as 146 percent on Chinese aluminum imports entering the country.
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Cameroon, a key ally of the United States as it seeks to crush several global terrorist organizations that have declared jihad against it, could soon plunge into chaos on multiple fronts, endangering American interests in Africa, according to analysts.
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📷 Photo of the Day: U.S. President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House in Washington on May 6, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) 👇 |
🎤 Interview: Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon takes us inside the Trump administration’s shake-up of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. (Watch)
✍️ Opinion: How AI Sells Conviction Without Truth by Gleb Lisikh
🎙Podcast: Melody Noel spent years writing songs in the pop industry. Today, she’s witnessing something different—Californians showing up for quiet worship nights, finding purpose in faith, and forming communities that feel more real than routine. (Listen)
🎵 Music: Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. “Pathetique” (Listen) |
Eczema is a chronic skin condition that causes dryness, inflammation, and intense itching. (The Epoch Times/Shutterstock) |
Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, is a group of inflammatory skin conditions that cause swelling, dryness, itchiness, and rashes. It commonly affects the face, elbows, knees, hands, and feet. The term “eczema” originates from the Greek word meaning “to boil” and refers to red, dry, and itchy skin. Eczema affects about 10 percent of the U.S. population. While not contagious, eczema varies from person to person and can appear on different areas of the body. Common symptoms include dry, itchy, scaly, or rough patches that can lead to intense itching and scratching, sometimes causing the skin to bleed.
It often results in inflammation or swelling, and in some cases, oozing or crusting of the affected areas. Skin discoloration is also common, varying by skin tone and appearing as pink, red, purple, brown, or gray.
Symptoms specific to atopic dermatitis—the most common form of eczema—include thickened skin with light or dark patches, a condition known as lichenification, resulting from repeated scratching or rubbing that makes the skin appear leathery. Although its exact cause is not fully understood, atopic eczema is believed to be caused by a combination of factors, including: Genetics—A family history of eczema, asthma, or allergies increases the risk. Environmental Factors—People with atopic eczema have a weakened skin barrier, making their skin prone to dryness and irritation.
Common triggers that can cause flare-ups and worsen symptoms include soaps, detergents, dust mites, pet dander, certain foods, stress, etc.
Immune System Overactivation—Atopic eczema is also linked to an overactive immune system, in which the body responds too strongly to environmental triggers, leading to inflammation and, in turn, itchy, painful skin symptoms. (More) |
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