Politics and views in the United States.

The Pentagon begins removing transgender troops as legal battles continue. Congress works to fix a SNAP job-training penalty. Advocates raise concerns over immigrant data searches, and U.S. officials report progress in trade talks with China.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

The United States has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit.

So the president declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs.

And we're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work towards resolving that national emergency.

Trade Representative Jameson Greer says he's confident negotiations between the U.S. and China, now started in Switzerland, can reduce the massive tariffs both have imposed.

A new survey from Small Business for America's Future shows more than two-thirds of small business owners are worried about the impact the import taxes will have on the economy.

Gladys Harrison, the owner of Omaha-based Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering, says her suppliers may have to raise prices beyond what she or her customers can afford.

They're telling me that they could see a 25 to 145 percent increase with these tariffs in what they're going to charge me for my seasonings.

The Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments on President Donald Trump's executive order blocking some birthright citizenship.

Most legal scholars, including many conservatives, say the 14th Amendment grants automatic citizenship to almost all children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents.

Trump's order is facing 10 lawsuits.

The Supreme Court has ruled the administration's ban on transgender people serving openly in the military can, for the moment, go ahead.

Navy veteran Lindsey Church is the executive director of Minority Veterans of America.

People are worried about what comes next, where they're going to live, what their health care situation is going to be, how they're going to be employed, how quickly they're going to be purged from the military.

Digital privacy advocates are warning immigrants about data searches at U.S. borders.

Lam Thuy Bo, investigative reporter with Documented New York, repeats the advice lawyers are giving migrants.

Ask yourself what might happen if data that you have on your devices or that you have on your social media might be leaked to a border patrol agent.

Bo says there is also a clear pattern of the administration seeking personal data on immigrants from federal benefit programs, including Social Security and SNAP, even on people who don't qualify.

A frayed ceasefire between India and Pakistan may be holding for the moment following U.S. mediation.

Both countries are claiming victory in the four-day conflict over Kashmir, but have agreed to stand down as talks continue.

Congress is trying to fix a flaw in food assistance policy.

A change in a past farm bill meant that paid job training counted against SNAP eligibility.

Leah Bacon at the Center for Employment Opportunity says they support a bipartisan bill to help people avoid that bind.

For far too long, people have really had to make an impossible decision to either put food on the table for themselves and their families or invest in their future through workforce developments.

That really can't be the status quo.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.