US President Donald Trump announced that a 25% customs tariff will be applied to cars imported into the US.

Effective from April 2, the taxes also include car parts not produced in the US.

The President stated that the tariffs will be “permanent,” adding that there is nothing that would necessitate the removal of the import taxes.

Trump told reporters, “We will apply a 25% customs duty, but if you produce your car in the US, there is no customs duty. This means that many foreign car companies will be in a very good position because they have already established their facilities in the US.”

In a fact sheet released after Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office, the White House stated that car parts compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement would remain exempt from customs duties “until Customs and Border Protection establishes a process to apply customs duties to their content outside the US.”

The US International Trade Commission examined in early 2024 the potential consequences if the government implemented comprehensive automotive tariffs. According to the report, a 25% customs duty applied to all US car imports would reduce imports by approximately 74% and increase average car prices by 5%.

Although President Trump’s increase in customs duties on imported vehicles will primarily affect foreign automakers, domestic automakers General Motors and Ford will also face a significant impact.

According to research by Wards Automotive and Barclays, Volvo (13%), Mazda (19%), and Volkswagen (21%) produce the lowest share of their vehicles sold in the US within the country.

Hyundai-Kia (33%), Mercedes (43%), BMW (48%), and Toyota (48%) also produce less than half of the vehicles they sell in the US domestically.

According to the Department of Transportation, examples of significant 2025 models imported into the US include the Ford Maverick pickup, Chevrolet Blazer crossover, Hyundai Venue crossover, Nissan Sentra compact car, Porsche 911 sports car, and Toyota Prius hybrid.

Approximately 45% of vehicles sold in the US are imported, with the largest share originating from Mexico and Canada.

According to data from the American Automobile Labeling Act, every 2025 model year vehicle sources at least 20% of its content from countries outside the US and Canada.

The location of a chest believed to contain the Ten Commandments has long been a mystery, but CIA documents claim the Ark of the Covenant has been found.

According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built by the Israelites shortly after their escape from Egypt in the 13th century BC. Moses later placed the Ten Commandments inside it.

In the 1980s, the CIA conducted experiments with individuals claiming they could perceive information about distant objects, events, or other people.

This CIA document, a remnant of the mysterious Project Sun Streak, suggests the US government has known the Ark’s location for years. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other intelligence agencies, including the CIA, reportedly used individuals “claimed to have paranormal abilities” to gather intelligence on “remote events.”

Project Sun Streak used psychics known as “remote viewers” to gather intelligence about targets using only coordinates. The premise was that remote viewers could project their consciousness beyond their bodies to observe a distant location.

The report details one of these tests where “Remote Viewer number 032” was given coordinates to locate a target, and these coordinates described the Ark of the Covenant hidden in the Middle East.

The psychic described buildings resembling nearby mosque domes and people “dressed almost entirely in white,” with “black hair and dark eyes.”

The psychic said, “The target is protected by entities and can currently only be opened by those authorized to do so; this container will not/cannot be opened until the time is deemed right.”

The psychic continued, saying that when that time comes, “the mechanics of the locking system will be seen to be quite simple” and anyone trying to open the container out of curiosity or by force “will be destroyed by the container’s guardians using a power unknown to us.”

Some historians believe the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the “Holy of Holies,” the innermost chamber of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem, before disappearing during the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

There is also a legend that the artifact was taken to Ethiopia and is now housed in a local church there.

Proof of the Ark’s existence has not yet been found, but the CIA document, declassified in 2000, claims it was discovered in 1988.

The document states, “The target is a container. Inside this container is another container. The target is made of wood… gold and silver… and decorated with a six-winged angel.”

The “remote viewer” continued, saying the coffin-shaped object was “located somewhere in the Middle East” and that they saw Arabic-speaking people in the area, although the remote viewer was not told they were searching for the lost ark before the experiment began.

According to Biblical history, this sacred, gold-covered wooden chest was made around 1445 BC.

The CIA reportedly utilized these psychics for a wide range of operations, from “locating hostages kidnapped by Islamist terrorist groups to tracking fugitive criminals within the US.”

The project known as Sun Streak gained public attention after being featured in a recent episode of the Ninjas are Butterflies podcast. Podcast host Josh Hooper mentioned he initially dismissed Project Sun Streak as “fake” until discovering the document on the CIA.gov website.

Hooper asked, “I thought… ‘What am I looking at?'”

The document also describes a training exercise conducted on December 5, 1988. The psychic projected their consciousness beyond their body to search for the sacred artifact, writing down observations as they progressed.

The controversy continues over messages revealed after senior US officials “accidentally” added The Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg to their group chat on the Signal messaging app.

The group, which discussed the attack on the Yemeni resistance and the Houthis, included high-level figures such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief Goldberg published a second story following the initial report, releasing messages he had previously withheld. The new messages detail the timing of military strikes in Yemen from the Trump administration’s Signal group chat.

The magazine stated it initially decided to withhold specific information about weapons and attack timings found in some texts, saying it generally does not publish information about military operations that “could endanger the lives of US personnel.”

However, arguing that White House officials’ claims led them to believe people needed to see the texts to draw their own conclusions, the magazine wrote, “There is a clear public interest in revealing the kind of information Trump advisors included in insecure communication channels, especially since senior administration figures tried to downplay the significance of the shared messages.”

In his new article in The Atlantic, Goldberg wrote that he received information about the attacks on the Houthis two hours before the positions began to be bombed.

A message from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday, March 15, stated, “Just confirmed with CENTCOM [US Central Command] that we are mission ready. 1215et [19:15 TRT]: F-18s LAUNCHED (1st strike package).”

The Hegseth messages published by The Atlantic appear to detail the exact times aircraft would launch from US aircraft carriers and fire their missiles – information generally considered classified. However, the texts do not specify the actual targets of the attacks, only using terms like Houthi “Target Terrorist.”

Responding to The Atlantic‘s new article, Waltz claimed in a statement on the social media platform X, “No location. No source and method. NO WAR PLAN,” and said foreign partners had already been informed that the attacks were imminent.

Waltz added, “BOTTOM LINE: President Trump protects America and our interests.”

The White House also downplayed the latest revelations, insisting the administration had been “completely transparent” about them.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday, “This administration works hard every day on behalf of the American people, but the mainstream media continues to focus on a sensational story from the failing Atlantic Magazine that is falling apart by the hour. We have said from the beginning that no classified material was sent in this message thread, no locations, sources, or methods were revealed, and absolutely no war plans were discussed. The real story here is the overwhelming success of President Trump’s decisive military action against Houthi terrorists.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a slightly different explanation for the scandal than the White House, acknowledging it was clear “someone made a big mistake by adding a journalist to the chat” and said, “I’m not against journalists, but you shouldn’t have been in that thing.”

Critics say it is “almost unprecedented” for senior officials to discuss such sensitive information touching on vital US national security interests on an informal, commercially available messaging platform.

Democrats raise Hegseth’s “drinking problem”

Senior Democratic members of Congress used the incident to criticize what they see as “incompetence” at the highest levels of the Trump administration.

For example, Democratic Representative Jimmy Gomez raised questions about Hegseth’s “drinking habits” during a House committee hearing on Wednesday.

During the House Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing, Gomez asked, “Many questions were raised about his drinking habits during the confirmation hearing. To your knowledge, do you know if Pete Hegseth was drinking before leaking classified information?” This prompted responses from CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

When asked about Hegseth’s drinking habits, Gabbard replied, “I have no knowledge of Secretary Hegseth’s personal habits.”

When the same question was posed to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, he responded, “No, you know, no. I’m not going to answer that. I think that’s an offensive question.”

Gomez argued the question was “memorable” for the public.

The Atlantic also decided to publish the full text after senior Trump administration officials, including Ratcliffe and Gabbard, testified in the Senate on Tuesday that “no classified material was shared” in the Signal chat.

Trump first defended Waltz, then criticized him

President Donald Trump had initially defended his national security advisor Waltz after the scandal broke.

During remarks while signing a presidential order on Wednesday evening, Trump blamed Mike Waltz for the Signalgate scandal.

Trump stated, “Mike Waltz, I think he said he took responsibility. I guess it had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess, I don’t know. I always thought it was Mike.”

On the other hand, Trump questioned why Hegseth was being implicated, despite the Secretary of Defense sharing sensitive operational details, including missile launch times.

The President said, “How do you get Hegseth involved in this? He has nothing to do with it; look, this is all a witch hunt.”

On Tuesday, Trump had said he did not plan to fire Waltz, defending him in a television interview by saying the national security advisor had “learned his lesson and is a good guy.”

However, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to POLITICO, Trump was both angered and suspicious that Waltz had The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s number saved on his phone.

Another source said the President was particularly disturbed by the “embarrassing nature” of the incident. This person stated, “The President was very angry that Waltz could be so stupid.”