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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump openly challenged U.S. allies on Wednesday by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% as he vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, drawing quick retaliation from Europe and Canada.

The Republican president’s use of tariffs to extract concessions from other nations points toward a possibly destructive trade war and a stark change in America’s approach to global leadership. It also has destabilized the stock market and stoked anxiety about an economic downturn.

“The United States of America is going to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries and, frankly, by incompetent U.S. leadership,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re going to take back our wealth, and we’re going to take back a lot of the companies that left.”

Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce.

He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.

The EU announced its own countermeasures on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion. Those measures, which cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods, are due to take effect on April 1.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer responded by saying that the EU was punishing America instead of fixing what he viewed as excess capacity in steel and aluminum production.

“The EU’s punitive action completely disregards the national security imperatives of the United States – and indeed international security – and is yet another indicator that the EU’s trade and economic policies are out of step with reality,” he said in a statement.

Meeting on Wednesday with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said “of course” he wants to respond to EU’s retaliations and “of course” Ireland is taking advantage of the United States.

“The EU was set up in order to take advantage of the United States,” Trump said.

Last year, the United States ran a $87 billion trade imbalance with Ireland. That’s partially because of the tax structure created by Trump’s 2017 overhaul, which incentivized U.S. pharmaceutical companies to record their sales abroad, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, said on X.

Canada sees itself as locked in a trade war because of White House claims about fentanyl smuggling and that its natural resources and factories subtract from the U.S. economy instead of supporting it.

“This is going to be a day to day fight. This is now the second round of unjustified tariffs leveled against Canada,” said Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister. “The latest excuse is national security despite the fact that Canada’s steel and aluminum adds to America’s security. All the while there is a threat of further and broader tariffs on April 2 still looming. The excuse for those tariffs shifts every day.”

Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States and plans to impose retaliatory tariffs of Canadian $29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) starting Thursday in response to the U.S. taxes on the metals.

Canada’s new tariffs would be on steel and aluminum products, as well as U.S. goods including computers, sports equipment and water heaters worth $14.2 billion Canadian ($9.9 billion). That’s in addition to the 25% counter tariffs on $30 billion Canadian (US$20.8 billion) of imports from the U.S. that were put in place on March 4 in response to other Trump import taxes that he’s partially delayed by a month.

Trump told CEOs in the Business Roundtable a day earlier that the tariffs were causing companies to invest in U.S. factories. The 7.5% drop in the S&P 500 stock index over the past month on fears of deteriorating growth appears unlikely to dissuade him, as Trump argued that higher tariff rates would be more effective at bringing back factories.

“The higher it goes, the more likely it is they’re going to build,” Trump told the group. “The biggest win is if they move into our country and produce jobs. That’s a bigger win than the tariffs themselves, but the tariffs are going to be throwing off a lot of money to this country.”

Trump on Tuesday had threatened to put tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum from Canada, but he chose to stay with the 25% rate after the province of Ontario suspended plans to put a surcharge on electricity sold to Michigan, Minnesota and New York.

Democratic lawmakers dismissed Trump’s claims that his tariffs are about national security and drug smuggling, saying they’re actually about generating revenues to help cover the cost of his planned income tax cuts for the wealthy.

“Donald Trump knows his policies could wreck the economy, but he’s doing it anyway,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “Why are they doing all these crazy things that Americans don’t like? One reason, and one reason alone: tax breaks for billionaires, the north star of the Republican party’s goals.

In many ways, the president is addressing what he perceives as unfinished business from his first term. Trump meaningfully increased tariffs, but the revenues collected by the federal government were too small to significantly increase overall inflationary pressures.

Outside forecasts by the Budget Lab at Yale University, Tax Policy Center and others suggest that U.S. families would have the costs of the taxes passed onto them in the form of higher prices.

With Wednesday’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, Trump is seeking to remedy his original 2018 import taxes that were eroded by exemptions.

After Canada and Mexico agreed to his demand for a revamped North American trade deal in 2020, they avoided the import taxes on the metals. Other U.S. trading partners had import quotas supplant the tariffs. And the first Trump administration also allowed U.S. companies to request exemptions from the tariffs if, for instance, they couldn’t find the steel they needed from domestic producers.

While Trump’s tariffs could help steel and aluminum plants in the United States, they could raise prices for the manufacturers that use the metals as raw materials.

Moreover, economists have found, the gains to the steel and aluminum industries were more than offset by the cost they imposed on “downstream’’ manufacturers that use their products.

At these downstream companies, production fell by nearly $3.5 billion because of the tariffs in 2021, a loss that exceeded the $2.3 billion uptick in production that year by aluminum producers and steelmakers, the U.S. International Trade Commission found in 2023.

Trump sees the tariffs as leading to more domestic factories, and the White House has noted that Volvo, Volkswagen and Honda are all exploring an increase to their U.S. footprint. But the prospect of higher prices, fewer sales and lower profits might cause some companies to refrain from investing in new facilities.

“If you’re an executive in the boardroom, are you really going to tell your board it’s the time to expand that assembly line?” said John Murphy, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The top steel exporters to the U.S. are Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea and Japan, with exports from Taiwan and Vietnam growing at a fast pace, according to the International Trade Administration. Imports from China, the world’s largest steel producer, account for only a small fraction of what the U.S. buys.

ODESSA — Abandoned oil wells have become an expensive and growing environmental threat in Texas, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to remediate. Leaders of the oil and gas industry, state regulators and lawmakers, and policy experts agree there is a problem.

But they don’t agree on the specifics of how to solve it.

And an early attempt by a Republican lawmaker hit a major roadblock Wednesday when a Texas Senate panel told him to rethink his approach to solving the problem.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston introduced a bill that sets deadlines to plug the more than 150,000 inactive wells in Texas during the next 15 years. It also gives regulators more authority over oil and gas companies to enforce plugging requirements and directs them to submit annual reports.

During the hearing, industry leaders said they could comply with Middleton’s proposal — at great costs — but suggested additional flexibility. Meanwhile, environmental policy experts and activists said the proposed timeline to plug wells was too lenient.

Members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources were skeptical of both sides of the debate. And they repeatedly questioned whether new deadlines to plug wells would hurt smaller oil and gas operators. Middelton defended his bill.

He told the committee his proposal considered the financial strains it could put on smaller operators.

“But at the end of the day, we’ve got way too many inactive wells. What are we going to do about that?” he said.

The committee was not convinced by Middleton’s assurances.

“There are certainly concerns you heard from (the oil and gas) industry and members of the committee,” said state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, who chairs the committee. “So I would entertain that you…continue to develop the situation, see what you might put in front of us in the coming weeks that is something we can move forward with.”

Inactive wells do not produce oil or natural gas. They are considered “orphaned” when they have no clear owner or if the company in charge of them is bankrupt. In an annual report detailing its oil field cleanup efforts, the Texas Railroad Commission estimated roughly 8,300, or 5% of all inactive wells, are orphaned. In 2024, the Railroad Commission plugged a little more than a thousand of them, costing taxpayers $34 million.

The commission is the state agency tasked with regulating the oil and gas industry and has been charged with overseeing the blowouts.

Orphaned wells have become a conduit for water previously used for fracking, typically stored in deep underground rock formations, to burst onto the surface. Left ignored, these wells threaten groundwater resources and public health. The brine that leaks or shoots uncontrolled flows of water upward contains a colorless, odorless, incredibly toxic gas known as Hydrogen Sulfide or H2S. Water has blown through at least eight wells since October 2024, according to ranchers in the West Texas region.

Last fall, the commission, in a letter, said it could no longer keep up with the growing cost of plugging them. It asked lawmakers for an additional $100 million just to keep up — about 44% of its entire two-year budget.

Under existing law, oil and gas companies can request what the commission calls an extension to lengthen a well’s inactive status indefinitely, which means they won’t have to plug it. Operators can obtain extensions for individual wells or a blanket renewal for every inactive well in their portfolio.

Middleton’s bill would change that. Oil and gas companies would be required to plug wells that have been inactive for at least 15 years.

The legislation also allows the commission to grant exceptions so long as the operators that request one submit a plan to plug the well. The commission can evaluate different factors, including the number of the operator’s inactive wells, how long they’ve been inactive, and a plan to plug them before deciding. Called compliance plans, operators have until 2040 to fulfill it. The commission can also consider risks to public safety and the environment when evaluating wells that just turned 15. This is not the case under the law now.

Industry leaders representing operators statewide mostly assured lawmakers their members could comply. But it would hurt their bottom line.

Karr Ingham, an economist and president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, said any bill setting limits would lead to damaging expenses. He said 20-25% of an operator’s inventory can consist of inactive wells.

“We want to make sure that this bill is as workable…for our folks as it could be,” he said.

Michael Lozano, who leads government affairs and communications for the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, said lawmakers should consider giving operators more time to prepare. Finding companies to plug the wells, he said, could be a challenge for them.

Environmental policy experts and landowners said the legislature should give operators shorter time frames to plug inactive and dried-up wells before they become problematic.

Virginia Palacios, executive director of Commission Shift Action, a nonprofit group that lobbies at the Capitol for stronger oil and gas industry policies, told The Texas Tribune she was excited a bill had been proposed, adding it needed stronger language. An ideal deadline would give operators 10 years to plug their inactive wells.

“It’s sort of like a soft touch on an industry that has been running a Wild West strategy on inactive walls for a long time,” she said.

Schuyler Wight, a West Texas rancher whose land is dotted with wells, some of which are leaking, did not support the bill. It is common in West Texas for oil and gas producers to operate on privately owned ranches. Wight said the Railroad Commission should make plans to plug wells public and alert the landowner when an operator conducts testing and if they are following through with plugging.

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, an industry trade group, applauded the bill, saying the group supports it. In an emailed statement, he said $55 million in fees paid by operators are given annually to state-managed plugging programs.

He said he does not support shorter time frames to plug the wells because operators need a “phase-in” period to comply with the law.

At the hearing on Wednesday, he appeared confident that operators could bear the brunt of any costs imposed by Middleton’s bill.

“It’s a duty to landowners, it’s a duty to the legislature, and it’s a duty to the industry,” Staples said. “Once these wells have reached beyond that point, they are plugged,” Staples said.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

DALLAS (AP) — A former pastor of a Texas megachurch who resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, that state’s attorney general’s office said Wednesday.

Robert Preston Morris, 63, has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the attorney general’s office. The abuse allegedly continued for four years.

Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, said in a statement that she is very grateful to the authorities who have worked to make the indictment possible and is hopeful “justice will ultimately prevail.”

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” said Clemishire, now 55. “Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable.”

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Clemishire said she would like her name included.

Phone numbers associated with Morris were either disconnected or messages were not immediately returned Wednesday. It was unclear whether he has an attorney.

“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”

The Gateway Church, based in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, was founded by Morris in 2000. It said in a statement Wednesday that its members are praying for Clemishire and “all of those impacted by this terrible situation.”

“We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions,” the statement said.

Morris resigned last year from the church after allegations came to light on the religious watchdog blog The Wartburg Watch.

Clemishire told The Dallas Morning News last year that she met Morris in 1981, when he was a traveling preacher and began preaching at her family’s church in Oklahoma. She said Morris and his wife and young son became close to her family. She said he was staying at her house in 1982 when the abuse began.

The church has multiple locations in the area. It is among the largest in the United States, according to the attorney general’s office.

Morris was known to be politically active. The church hosted President Donald Trump on its Dallas campus in 2020 for a discussion on race relations and the economy.

Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five charges, according to the attorney general’s office. He was not in custody as of Wednesday.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers.

The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

His letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press, asks recipients of grants from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to provide names and contact information for migrants served and “a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided” within 30 days. The letter says funding will be withheld during the review.

While it doesn’t explicitly threaten criminal prosecution, it raises concerns that recipients may have violated U.S. Criminal Code Section 1324, a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States. It also says executive officers must sign sworn statements that they have no knowledge or suspicions of anyone in their organizations violating the smuggling law.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

The demand appears to be a new salvo against organizations that provide food, housing and travel aid to people who cross the border. Migrants often arrive exhausted, low on money and unsure how to navigate on their own through bus stations and airports.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who was at odds with the Biden administration over immigration and is closely aligned with the Trump White House, took a similar tack against migrant aid groups but was blocked in court.

FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program awarded $641 million to dozens of state and local governments and organizations across the country in the 2024 fiscal year to help them deal with large numbers of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico. They include the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver, as well as the United Way of Miami, the San Antonio Food Bank and several branches of Catholic Charities.

It was unclear if any any governments received the letters, but the Trump administration has fiercely criticized states, counties and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Last month, it sued Chicago over laws that it said thwarted federal law enforcement.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — An explosion on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock set off fires and power outages Wednesday, leading school officials to issue evacuation orders for several buildings and cancel classes for the rest of the week.

An alert sent to the campus community around 8:45 p.m. described the explosion as occurring at a substation but a later update said it was at a manhole. No injuries were reported, Lubbock Fire Rescue Capt. Jon Tunnell said.

Videos circulating on social media and local TV stations showed a heavy presence of firefighters on campus and fire and smoke coming out of at least one manhole cover.

It wasn’t clear what might have caused the explosion.

Power will be shut down to the entire campus in Lubbock, Texas, while repairs are underway, said Caitlynn Jeffries, a spokesperson for the university’s police department.

“You can go ahead and go home for Spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days,” Jeffries said.

The school also instructed faculty and staff to work remotely if possible until further notice.

Lubbock Fire Rescue responded to a possible gas leak around 7 p.m. local time and found “multiple manhole covers with smoke and fire issuing from them,” Tunnell said.

“This remains a very active scene as crews continue to assist Texas Tech University in mitigating this emergency,” he said.

There are more than 40,000 students at Texas Tech and the school sits on 1,800 acres in West Texas.