By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and SIMINA MISTREANU

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Republican and Democratic lawmakers made their first trip to Taiwan under the new Trump administration a bipartisan one, aiming to show both Taiwan and China that U.S. support for Taiwan’s defense remains broad, despite the harsh words and heightened tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed for the Taiwanese.

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Taiwan’s leaders, in turn, have assured the Republican U.S. administration that they have taken in Trump’s complaints and are acting on them.

Many Asia-Pacific nations are eschewing the retaliatory criticism and tariffs of some of the U.S.’s European allies after Trump earlier this month slapped broad tariffs on many countries around the world, including a 32% one for Taiwan.

Despite that hit, conversations in Taiwan this week were “optimistic and forward-looking,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who was visiting Taipei alongside two Republican senators. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to see a strong next chapter in U.S.-Taiwan relations,” he said.

The Taiwanese have said they are working fast to strike new trade and investment deals that suit the Trump administration, on top of the advanced-semiconductor giant’s $100 billion investment this year alone in chip production in the U.S..

The U.S. lawmakers also said that Taiwan was taking lessons from Ukraine in its defense against Russia and criticism from Trump, and is investing fast to make their military stronger, nimbler and less dependent on the U.S. as the island’s strongest deterrent against China. That includes seeking investment with Americans on drone warfare.

Sens. Pete Ricketts and Coons, the ranking Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s East Asia subcommittee, spoke ahead of scheduled talks Friday with President Lai Ching-te, Defense Minister Wellington Koo and national security adviser Joseph Wu. Republican Sen. Ted Budd also is on the trip.

In remarks carried by the official Central News Agency, Lai called for a “secure and sustainable economic and trade partnership” between the two sides. That would involve building “non-red supply chains,” for manufacturing that exclude Chinese involvement in order to “meet geopolitical and climate change challenges,” the agency quoted Lai as saying at the Presidential Office Building.

Such an approach would involve considerable challenges since producers of Taiwanese items sold in the U.S. such as phones and electronics are mainly assembled in China.

The mission comes at a time when an economy-shaking trade war between the U.S. and China has some warning that China could strike out at Taiwan, a self-governed island with a vibrant democracy and the world’s top production of the most advanced semiconductors. China claims Taiwan as its territory, to be retaken by force if necessary.

Trump has repeatedly accused Taiwan of “stealing” the United States’ computer chip industry. His criticism of Taiwan, and his insistence last year that “Taiwan should pay us” for its defense, have heightened concern that the U.S., Taiwan’s strongest military partner, might decide not to get too involved if China were ever to attack Taiwan.

The 32% tariffs on Taiwan included in Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on trade partners this month surprised many Taiwanese, who thought that their government had shown itself a true ally to Washington.

“Look past the rhetoric and look at the action,” Ricketts said, repeating a watchword of the Republicans on Trump’s statements.

After saying he was in no rush to finish trade deals, the president said he thought he could wrap up talks “over the next three or four weeks.”

Another key Asian U.S. partner, Japan, held its first round of tariff talks between top negotiators in Washington Friday, where both sides agreed to try to reach an agreement as quickly as possible and hold a second round of meetings later this month. However, experts say reaching a full range of agreements with the dozens of nations now waiting on the Trump administration could take months or longer.

Ricketts cited the priority that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has placed on helping the Asia-Pacific secure itself against China. That included making the region one of the first he visited in office, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said Taiwan’s leaders already had reached out to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for negotiations, moving quickly in the 90-day pause that Trump announced before the United States starts enforcing the new tariffs on most countries.

Lai, Taiwan’s president, has pledged to increase Taiwan’s military spending to 3% of its gross domestic product, up from about 2.5%, bringing it up to nearly a fifth of its overall budget.

Taiwan’s own defense industry is also producing advanced weapons from submarines to small arms and anti-air missiles.

“Of course, there is the possibility that Xi Jinping would decide that this is the right time for the Chinese Communist Party to take aggressive action,” Coons said of the Chinese president.

“I think it’s exactly the wrong thing for them to do,” Coons said. “I think they would find a forceful and united response.”

Knickmeyer reported from Washington.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge who blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruled Friday that the bureau can’t go forward immediately with plans to mass fire hundreds of employees.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she is “deeply concerned” that Trump administration officials aren’t complying with her earlier order that maintains the bureau’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve it.

During a hearing, Jackson said she will bar officials from carrying out any mass firings or cutting off employees’ access to bureau computer systems on Friday.

Jackson scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials who were working on the reduction in force, or RIF, procedures.

“I’m willing to resolve it quickly, but I’m not going to let this RIF go forward until I have,” she said.

Roughly 1,500 employees are slated to be cut, leaving around 200 people.

Trump, a Republican, has sought to reshape the federal government, saying it’s rife with fraud, waste and abuse. Conservatives and businesses have often chafed at the bureau’s oversight and investigations, and Trump adviser Elon Musk made it a top target of his Department of Government Efficiency.

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By GENE JOHNSON

Police in Idaho released body-worn and security camera recordings Thursday showing officers fatally shooting a knife-wielding, intellectually disabled teenage boy from the other side of a chain link fence, confirming that they made no effort to de-escalate the situation before opening fire.

Victor Perez was autistic and nonverbal and had cerebral palsy, though there is no indication the responding officers were aware of that. The 17-year old was removed from life support and died in a hospital a week after the shooting, and a law firm said Wednesday it intends to file a federal wrongful death suit against the city of Pocatello on behalf of his family.

This photo provided by Ana L Vazquez, shows Victor Perez in a hospital bed in Pocatello, Idaho. (Ana L Vazquez via AP)

Perez was in a confrontation in his fenced yard with family members who tried to get the blade away from him on April 5 when a neighbor called 911, reporting that an apparently intoxicated man armed with a knife — Perez, who walked with a staggered gait due to his disabilities — was chasing people in the yard.

Perez had fallen over and was on the ground when officers arrived. Guns drawn, they repeatedly yelled, “Drop the knife!” but he instead stood up and began to step toward them. Three officers opened fire with their handguns, while a fourth fired a bean-bag shotgun, officials said Thursday.

The shots came just seconds after the officers got out of their vehicles.

The city’s release of the videos included text slides that stressed that Perez was approaching the officers, who were on the other side of a chain link fence from him, while holding the knife, and that he was close to two family members who were behind him.

“Whether or not Perez had a medical condition or was experiencing a mental health crisis was not provided to dispatch or known to officers,” one slide read.

The shooting has outraged community members who questioned why the officers fired without trying to learn more about the situation, use de-escalation techniques or use less-lethal force. About 200 people attended a vigil Saturday morning outside the Pocatello hospital where Perez died, and another crowd of protesters gathered that afternoon outside Pocatello City Hall, which also houses the police department.

Police Chief Roger Schei and Mayor Brian Blad have declined to answer questions about the shooting, citing an investigation being conducted by the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The officers’ names have not been released.

Law enforcement officials say it is not always appropriate for police to use de-escalation techniques, especially when there is danger to the officers or the public or if a subject is not complying with orders.

But policing experts who have reviewed cellphone video of Perez’s shooting note that there was a fence between the officers and the teen, that they used lethal force instead of Tasers and that they failed to use the basic tactic of backing up to create space between them and Perez.

Brad Andres, who recorded video of the shooting on his phone after his son called 911, said the police “appeared to be like a death squad or a firing squad.”

“They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can we help?’” he said. “They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally disabled person to react and when he reacted … they shot him.”

By STEPHEN GROVES and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Democrats, the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case is about fundamental American ideals — due process, following court orders, preventing government overreach. For the Trump administration and Republicans, it’s about foreigners and gang threats and danger in American towns and cities.

And that argument is precisely the one that Donald Trump wants to have.

This dichotomy is playing out as Democrats double down on their defense of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and imprisoned without communication. They’re framing his case as a threat to individual rights to challenge President Trump’s immigration policies.

The effort comes as the Trump administration pushes back harder, turning this deportation into a test case for his crusade against illegal immigration despite a Supreme Court order saying Abrego Garcia must be returned to the United States.

In trying to shape public discourse against Democrats, White House officials are accusing them of defending a foreigner who they’ve claimed is a gang member based on testimony of an informant — and whose wife admitted she once filed a protective order against him despite now advocating for his return.

“Due process and separation of powers are matters of principle,” Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Thursday. “Without due process for all, we are all in danger.”

Democrats began the year without unity on immigration

The opposition started the year splintered on its immigration strategy, especially after an election season where Trump led Republicans to victories by harping on illegal border crossings and vowing to conduct mass deportations.

But now many Democrats are latching onto the Abrego Garcia case, with a senator trekking down to El Salvador and a number of House representatives working to organize official visits to the Salvadoran prison. On Thursday evening, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen posted photos of himself meeting in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia. The lawmaker did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.

Trump responded Friday with a social media post saying Van Hollen “looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention.”

Still, other high-profile Democrats such as Hillary Clinton, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are making a public appeal by painting the case as an example of government overreach.

But even Newsom, who has presidential aspirations, recognized Trump’s ability to curry favor with the public.

“These are not normal times, so we have to call it out with clarity and conviction,” Newsom said in an interview with YouTube commentator Brian Tyler Cohen. “But we’ve got to stay focused on it so the American people can stay focused on it. Because his success is his ability to win every damn news cycle and get us distracted and moving in 25 different directions.”

Immigration was a relative strength for Trump in a March AP-NORC poll, which found that about half of U.S. adults approved of his approach to immigration. And he came into office with strong support for one component of his immigration agenda — deporting people with certain kinds of criminal histories. The vast majority of U.S. adults favored deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes, according to a January AP-NORC poll.

There was far less consensus about how to handle deportations more broadly, though.

The January poll found that removing immigrants who are in the country illegally and have not committed a violent crime was divisive, with only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults in support and slightly more than 4 in 10 opposed. Along those lines, a Pew Research Center poll from late February found that while about half of Americans said at least “some” immigrants living in the country illegally should be deported, very few people in that group supported deporting immigrants who have a job or are married to a U.S. citizen.

Trump staunchly defends his administration’s position

The Trump administration has acknowledged Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a result of “an administrative error,” saying immigration officials were aware of his protection from deportation. But Trump officials have described Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, as a “terrorist” and claimed he is a member of the MS-13 gang, even though he was never criminally charged in the U.S. with gang involvement. “He is not coming back to our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi has said.

In defending his administration’s position, Trump says he is doing what he was elected to do and justifying the need to deport millions, saying a “big percentage” of migrants who arrived during the Biden administration are criminals — an assertion for which there is no evidence. Studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

And while it is not clear when Abrego Garcia arrived in the U.S., he began fighting against deportation proceedings in 2019 — before Democratic President Joe Biden took office.

“I was elected to get rid of those criminals — get them out of our country or to put them away, but to get them out of our country. And I don’t see how judges can take that authority away from the president,” Trump, a Republican, said Thursday.

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A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Trump’s government is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

While immigration is a relative strength, defiance of court rulings could put his administration in a trickier situation. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted in February found that about 8 in 10 Americans think the Trump administration should follow a federal court’s ruling if it determines that the administration has done something illegal.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat who represents the Maryland district where Abrego Garcia lived, told The Associated Press that no allegations brought up by Trump officials would change how he approaches the case. Ivey, who is more aligned with the party’s moderates, described the issue as about more than just immigration.

“On the one hand, it’s an immigration issue. On the other hand, it’s also a constitutional issue,” he said. “Yes, there’s an immigration component, but it’s rapidly growing into a separation of powers conflict that could actually end up taking on historic proportions.”

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.