Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

Start your day informed with today’s must-read headlines from around Wisconsin and the world. And don’t forget to check out our Meme of the Day at the end for a little humor to go with your news!

U.S. and World Headlines

Trump Administration Invokes State Secrets Privilege In Deportation Case

The Trump administration invoked a state secrets privilege Monday and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under war authorities.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is weighing whether the government defied his order to turn around planes carrying migrants after he blocked deportations of people alleged to be gang members without due process. It's a case that has become a flashpoint in the rising tension between the administration and the federal courts.

Hyundai Unveils $21B US Expansion As Trump Tariffs Loom

South Korean carmaking giant Hyundai has unveiled $21bn (£16.3bn) of investment in the US just days before President Donald Trump is set to impose new tariffs on trading partners.

The plan includes a new $5.8bn steel plant in the southern state of Louisiana.

Hyundai also said it will expand its American vehicle production and invest billions of dollars in new technology including autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI).

"This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work," Trump said during the event at the White House on Monday.

5 Takeaways From Trump Officials War Planning Group Chat Breach

Washington was rocked Monday by a truly extraordinary story.

The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, recounted how he had — apparently inadvertently — been added to a group chat featuring some of the most senior members of the United States government.

Even more dramatically, the purpose of the chat, on the messaging app Signal, was to discuss a then-imminent U.S. attack on Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this month.

Goldberg said that, through the texts, he had known specifics about the attacks about two hours before they took place on March 15. Goldberg wrote that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sent detailed plans to everyone on the chat.

Costa Rican Officials Suspect Former Yankee's Teen Son Died Of 'Food Intoxication'

The 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner was vacationing with his family in Costa Rica when he suddenly fell ill and died in his sleep, with Costa Rican officials suspecting he died from possible "food intoxication."

Officials said in a statement to ABC News that they suspect that Miller Gardner died from possible asphyxiation from the reaction to the food.

The final autopsy report and the food Gardner may have eaten or drank that made him ill has not been released.

USC Star JuJu Watkins Suffers Season-Ending Injury In Game Against Mississippi State

University of Southern California basketball star JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending leg injury during the Trojans' NCAA Tournament victory Monday, the team announced.

“She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter,” the team announced on X, without specifying the nature of the injury.

The injury is an enormous blow to the championship hopes of USC, which won the regular-season Big Ten championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament thanks in large part to Watkins.

Wisconsin Headlines

The Year’s First Major Political Test In Wisconsin Becomes A Referendum On Elon Musk

The election to fill a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat has become a referendum not only on the new administration, but on Elon Musk, the billionaire who has become one of President Donald Trump‘s top financial backers and the architect of his efforts to slash the federal workforce.

The April 1 election is the first major test in American politics since Trump secured a second term in November. It will serve as a crucial barometer of enthusiasm in both parties heading into next year’s midterm elections and is happening in a critical battleground state that Trump won by less than a percentage point.

For Wisconsin Liberals, Upcoming Supreme Court Race Is First Test Of ‘Lessons Learned’

Angela Lang is about to send her canvassing teams door knocking. But first, a moment to outline the stakes:

“Fair maps, abortion, voting rights,” is Lang’s list. “It’s not a seat we can afford to lose because if Republicans and conservatives gain control of the court, that’s Elon Musk and that’s a through line to the Trump agenda.”

On paper, the April 1 election pits Susan Crawford against Brad Schimel for a vacancy on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court. Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, and the election will determine the court’s ideological balance. Crawford currently serves as a Dane County Circuit Court judge and is a former prosecutor and legal counsel to a past Democratic governor. Schimel is a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and was the state’s GOP attorney general from 2015 to 2019.

What To Know One Week Out From The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

More than $73 million has already been spent the race, according to a tally by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice.

That breaks the previous record, which was set in 2023 when candidates and outside groups spent more than $51 million in the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race that became a referendum on abortion rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Fond Du Lac Man Sentenced To Jail For Voting Fraud

A Fond du Lac man who voted while serving a felony probation entered a no contest plea Monday to a charge of Felony Election Fraud – Voting by a Disqualified person.

According to the Fond du Lac County District Attorney, the man, Martin C. Kehl, was actively serving a Felony OWI Probation sentence during the November 8, 2022 election, making him ineligible to vote.

According to the criminal complaint, a detective with the Fond du Lac Sheriff’s Office was notified by the WEC about the voter fraud.

Superior Has The State’s Only Private Water Utility. It’s Making It Harder To Replace Lead Pipes.

Standing by casks of beer brewed with Lake Superior water, President Joe Biden touted more than $1 billion last year to ensure clean water and replace lead pipes in Wisconsin during a stop in Superior. The crowd cheered and applauded as he said people would be able to drink water from their faucets without getting sick, highlighting the harms of lead exposure in children.

“That’s why we’re going to eliminate every single lead pipe in America,” Biden said. “I promise you that. We’ve got the money to do it.”

There’s just one problem. Superior can’t access the federal loan forgiveness that helps financially strapped communities upgrade water systems. That’s because Superior is the only community in Wisconsin with a privately owned water utility rather than a public one.