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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele won’t return a Maryland man the United States erroneously deported to a mega-prison in his Central American country, he said Monday during a visit to the Oval Office.
Sitting beside President Donald Trump, Bukele told reporters, “Of course I’m not going to do it.”
Administration officials present for the meeting defended the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador who had a protective order from a U.S. immigration court shielding him from being sent back to his country because of risks to his life.
The administration admitted in court filings that it deported Abrego Garcia, of Beltsville, Maryland, by mistake.
“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him, that’s not up to us,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning, provide a plane,” she added.
The Supreme Court issued a 9-0 decision Thursday stating the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Abrego Garcia on March 15 among roughly 260 Venezuelan men the U.S. flew on commercial jets without due process to Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT.
ICE agents apprehended Abrego Garcia near Baltimore on March 12 when he was driving his 5-year-old son home. Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, “was called and instructed to appear at their location within ten minutes to get her five-year old son, A.A.V.; otherwise, the ICE officers threatened that the child would be handed over to Child Protective Services,” according to a court filing.
Garcia has no criminal history in the U.S., El Salvador or any other country, according to the filing.
The Trump administration is paying the El Salvador government $6 million to detain the men, sparking questions over whether the payment violates U.S. human rights law.
Lawyers for many of the Venezuelan men maintain their clients weren’t gang members.
Trump triggered the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, specifically targeting Venezuelans 14 and older who the administration suspected of having ties to the gang Tren de Aragua.
Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office Monday that he wants to export “homegrown” criminals, as in U.S. citizens, to El Salvador and would be willing to assist Bukele in building more mega prisons.
“I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you’ll have to be looking at the laws on that,” said Trump.
The administration maintains that immigration courts connected Abrego Garcia in 2019 to the violent El Salvadoran gang MS-13 but makes no mention of the protective order granted to Abrego Garcia by an immigration judge that same year.
In addition to Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller defended Abrego Garcia’s deportation and the administration’s refusal to cooperate with a court order to return him to the U.S.
Miller said Friday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision squarely landed on the side of the administration.
“This was a 9-0 (decision) in our favor against the district court ruling saying that no district court has the power to compel the foreign policy function of the United States,” Miller told reporters in the Oval Office Monday.
“The ruling solely stated that if this individual, at El Salvador’s sole discretion, was sent back to our country, that we could deport him a second time. No version of this legally ends up with him ever living here because he is a citizen of El Salvador,” Miller continued.
Bukele said the idea that El Salvador would return Abrego Garcia is “preposterous.”
“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” Bukele said.
The Department of State designated MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization in February.
Rubio said he doesn’t understand “what the confusion is.”
“This individual is a citizen of El Salvador. He was illegally in the United States and was returned to his country,” Rubio said, adding that “foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the President of the United States, not by a court.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement Monday calling Bukele’s comments “pure nonsense.”
“The law is clear, due process was grossly violated, and the Supreme Court has clearly spoken that the Trump administration must facilitate and effectuate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He should be returned to the U.S. immediately.
“Due process and the rule of law are cornerstones of American society for citizens and noncitizens alike and not to follow that is dangerous and outrageous. A threat to one is a threat to all,” Schumer said.
Abrego Garcia’s case is winding through the federal courts.
The administration was ordered Friday, after a standoff in court, to provide daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s physical location and status, and what steps the administration has taken or plans to take to facilitate his return.
Abrego Garcia’s wife sued Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and immigration officials in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland last month, alleging her husband received no due process and his removal was unlawful.
District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. by April 7.
A federal appeals court unanimously upheld the lower court’s order on April 7. The Trump administration missed the deadline and immediately appealed to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket.
The high court unanimously ruled Thursday that the administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return but stopped short of requiring his return and did not give a deadline. The court also ordered Xinis to clarify language in the lower court’s ruling to test whether the court overreached into foreign affairs.
OMB Director Russ Vought testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Jan. 15, 2025. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
WASHINGTON — A nonprofit organization filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday, alleging its decision to stop posting budget documents in late March violates federal law.
Protect Democracy Project’s case is the second lawsuit challenging the Office of Management and Budget’s choice to pull down a webpage with apportionment information that detailed when and how the administration was spending money appropriated by Congress.
The case, as well as the one brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington last week, asks a federal judge to require OMB to restore the website that publicly shared the data for years.
OMB Director Russ Vought told Congress late last month that the budget office would no longer publicly post apportionment information, writing in a letter that to do so would disclose “sensitive, predecisional, and deliberative information.”
“Such disclosures have a chilling effect on the deliberations within the Executive Branch,” Vought wrote. “Indeed, these disclosure provisions have already adversely impacted the candor contained in OMB’s communications with agencies and have undermined OMB’s effectiveness in supervising agency spending.
“Moreover, apportionments may contain sensitive information, the automatic public disclosure of which may pose a danger to national security and foreign policy.”
Democrats in Congress sharply criticized the decision, with a few calling on the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, to investigate.
House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., issued a joint statement in late March urging Vought to reverse course.
“Congress enacted these requirements over a Democratic President’s objections on a bipartisan basis because our constituents, and all American taxpayers, deserve transparency and accountability for how their money is being spent,” DeLauro and Murray wrote. “Taking down this website is not just illegal it is a brazen move to hide this administration’s spending from the American people and from Congress.”
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrats on the Budget committees, urged the Government Accountability Office to look into the matter.
GAO General Counsel Edda Emmanuelli Perez did and wrote in a letter released earlier this month that OMB’s decision to withhold publicly sharing the apportionment information was “very concerning.”
“We understand that OMB took down the website taking the position that it requires the disclosure of predecisional, and deliberative information,” he wrote. “We disagree.”
Perez rejected OMB’s argument that all of the information had to be removed since “apportionments may contain sensitive information which, if disclosed publicly automatically, may pose a danger to national security and foreign policy.”
“While there may be some information that is sensitive if disclosed publicly, it is certainly not the case that all apportionment data meets that standard,” he wrote. “Where there is such sensitive data that should be protected from public disclosure, those would be the exception and should not serve to take down the entire database.”
The two lawsuits — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Office of Management and Budget and Protect Democracy Project v. U.S. Office of Management and Budget — ask federal judges to require OMB to post the information online once again.
CREW wrote in its filing that OMB posted a public version of the database in July 2022, after Congress required it to do so in a government funding bill.
The Trump administration removed that webpage on March 24, though OMB “provided no notice or explanation prior to its removal,” according to the lawsuit.
The CREW lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and assigned to Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.
Protect Democracy Project wrote in its lawsuit that the “laws requiring transparency for apportionments make it more difficult for the executive branch to impound funds unlawfully outside the view of Congress and the public.”
The Trump administration faces numerous lawsuits stemming from its efforts to block several departments and agencies from spending money appropriated by Congress, also known as impoundment.
The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 bars the executive branch from holding onto money instead of spending it as directed by Congress. But Vought has said several times he believes the law is unconstitutional.
Protect Democracy Project’s lawsuit was also filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, though it hadn’t been assigned to a judge as of Monday afternoon.
Milwaukee Health Commissioner Dr. Mike Totoraitis. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Federal layoffs have hampered the city of Milwaukee’s ability to respond to growing concerns about lead contamination in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) denied the city’s requests for assistance after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut the agency’s response team, which would have helped Milwaukee tackle lead contamination in its K-12 schools.
“This is a pretty unprecedented scenario to not have somebody to turn to at the CDC,” said Mike Totoraitis, commissioner of the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD), during a Monday press conference. Totoraitis learned of the development, which he said left him “quite shocked,” in an email as the Health Department was planning further responses to lead contamination in MPS. “To see that all of our partners at the CDC had been let go was pretty…pretty difficult,” he said.
Although a local network of partners will continue supporting MHD’s efforts, Totoraitis said that the department now has no CDC contacts to consult with on childhood lead poisoning. The commissioner called it “a pretty stark moment for us at the department to not have someone to reach out to federally.”
In February the Health Department began reaching out to the CDC as staff members realized the scale of the lead problem e in MPS buildings. Totoraitis said the department might have to assess the school district’s 68,000 students and over 100 school buildings.
The CDC initially connected the city to specialists at the National Center for Environmental Health’s childhood lead prevention program. City health officials had hoped national teams would help investigate potential lead exposure cases and help with evaluating which schools were likely to have the worst problems.
Totoraitis explained that while there are acute exposures to lead — such as ingesting paint chips — chronic exposure from dust was paint degrades over time is also a hazard.
With closer analysis, the health department would be able to learn more about how children in Milwaukee are getting exposed to lead, including whether they’re exposed at school or at home.
CDC was expected to send three to four people to Milwaukee for up to five weeks, he said, as well as provide technical assistance from individuals advising the department remotely from Atlanta.
“That’s why we engaged them right away,” said Totoraitis. He described the team as “the top experts in the field for lead exposure,” with experience dealing with lead hazards at a much wider scale than local experts in Milwaukee.
There was “no indication” that the CDC teams would be let go, said Totoraitis. “So that was pretty startling,” he added. Preparation to deploy the teams was underway when the CDC abruptly canceled “overnight” on April 1.
So far, nearly 250 MPS students have been tested for lead poisoning and several schools have been shut down as work crews undertake remediation efforts.
In early April, MPS announced that it was separating with its facilities director Sean Kane, who’d been with the district for 25 years. Officials said Kane had not allowed health department staff into Golda Meir School to do a full risk assessment and did not disclose that remediation work had been attempted after a student tested positive for lead contamination.
Childhood lead contamination has been linked to cognitive disorders including degraded impulse control, learning disabilities and violent behavior. About 85 MPS schools were built before 1970 and are therefore at high risks of lead contamination.
Totoraitis said that so far, there isn’t a timeline on when MPS schools that have been closed due to lead will reopen. Fernwood Montessori School, Starms Early Childhood Center and LaFollette School were closed, while four others that had been closed were re-opened.
Totoraitis said that remediation work is farthest along at Fernwood, which is beginning its fifth week of closure. Fernwood was “significantly worse off” than investigators anticipated and required extensive repair work, he said.
As the city works to respond to the lead issue, federal staff and the unpredictability of federal assistance will remain a challenge. Just a couple of weeks ago, the city lost $11 million in COVID-19 grants that were geared towards “recovery” rather than “response,” officials said.
“The part that’s really concerning for us is there hasn’t been any communication warning us of these changes and shifts in personnel,” said Totoraitis. “April 1 is a really stark moment for public health here across the country, and specifically here in Milwaukee, where now we don’t know who to call. We don’t know how to respond to some of the challenges that we’re dealing with right now because we don’t know if I’m reaching out to someone today, if they’re going to be there tomorrow.”
Totoraitis said the Health Department and its local partners stand ready to respond, but he questioned what could happen if the department encounters a complex challenge, such as a particularly complicated blood screening data.
“The CDC brings that expertise, that bigger picture, that we just don’t have eyes to because we’re here focused on an issue in Milwaukee,” said Totoraitis.
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Prison officers stand guard at a cell block at maximum security penitentiary CECOT on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. (Photo by Alex Peña/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department is paying El Salvador $6 million to house hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States in an immense and brutal prison there, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT.
But a U.S. law bars State’s financial support of “units of foreign security forces” — which can include military and law enforcement staff in prisons — facing credible allegations of gross human rights violations. That has led those who wrote what’s known as the Leahy Law and enforced it for years to question the legality of the $6 million payment made as President Donald Trump carries out his campaign of mass deportation.
The Trump administration on March 15 sent 261 men to CECOT, after invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to apply to Venezuelan nationals 14 and older who are suspected members of the gang Tren de Aragua.
On March 30, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said another 17 nationals from El Salvador were sent to CECOT, again alleging gang ties. On Sunday, Rubio said 10 more men were sent to the prison in El Salvador, and noted how “the alliance between” the U.S. and El Salvador “has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”
Tim Rieser, the main author of the Leahy Law while a longtime foreign policy aide to former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the $6 million payment for those migrants’ incarceration for up to a year is likely a violation of the law.
“Sending migrants who have not been charged or convicted of any crime to the maximum-security terrorism prison in El Salvador, where they have no access to lawyers or their families, where they have no rights of due process, and with no idea if they will ever be released, held in cruel and shockingly degrading conditions, would certainly appear to violate the Leahy Law,” Rieser told States Newsroom.
“I don’t think the Trump administration is upholding the Leahy Law or other laws that protect human rights,” he said.
Also deeply concerned is Charles Blaha, a former State Department official for 32 years who led the office responsible for vetting the Leahy Law worldwide, the Office of Security and Human Rights, from 2016 to 2023.
“CECOT is a facility that exposes prisoners to torture, and cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment and punishment,” Blaha said in an interview. “Under the Leahy Law, this should disqualify CECOT from receiving U.S. assistance.”
Trump has also expressed that he is open to sending U.S. citizens to CECOT.
“I love that,” he said. “I don’t know what the law says on that.”
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is scheduled to visit with Trump at the White House on Monday.
The Trump administration plans to keep using the mega-prison as deportations continue under the Alien Enemies Act, top officials such as U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have pledged. Noem visited the prison in March.
“This facility is one of the tools in our toolkits that we will use,” Noem said during her tour of CECOT.
The State Department has denied any potential violations.
“The Department is following all applicable laws related to foreign assistance, including the State Leahy Law,” a State Department spokesperson wrote in a statement to States Newsroom.
The spokesperson said the U.S. is engaged with El Salvador through foreign assistance to address unauthorized migration and human trafficking.
“As these countries continue to work with us in securing our borders and addressing illegal immigration, we will provide assistance as necessary in support of these collaborative efforts,” the spokesperson said. “Our goal is to ensure that our partners are well-equipped to handle the challenges they face, ultimately contributing to a more stable and secure region.”
The 1997 Leahy Law refers to two statutes – one applying to the State Department and one covering the Department of Defense – that prevent U.S. funds from being used for assistance to foreign security forces that have credible allegations of gross violations of human rights such as torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance or rape.
The exact agency within the State Department that is paying out the $6 million in funding to CECOT is unclear and is a source of interest among Democrats in Congress.
It is likely coming out of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight at the Washington Office of Latin America, a research and advocacy group that aims to advance human rights in North and South America.
INL, among other things, gives financial assistance to security forces and is subject to the Leahy Law, Isacson said.
The State Department did not answer detailed questions from States Newsroom as to whether the funds were coming from INL.
“And even if Leahy doesn’t apply, the State Department has a duty to make sure that we’re not turning over people, even if they’re not our citizens, to places where they’ll be mistreated or tortured,” Blaha said.
The State Department’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor oversees an office that vets recipients of proposed foreign aid for potential gross human rights violations.
Fewer than 1% of requests are blocked after going through vetting through the Leahy Law compliance database. Those units that are blocked from funding are publicly posted on a case-by-case basis.
The most recent listing of publicly rejected units is from 2022, so there is no publicly available record of CECOT or the security units in charge of El Salvador’s prisons being vetted because the prison was built in 2023. However, experts say the country’s record of prison management and publicly available details about the mega-prison mean it should be on the latest version of the list.
The State Department’s 2023 Human Rights Report on El Salvador noted there were credible reports from human rights organizations “of abuse and mistreatment of detainees by prison guards.”
Groups cited in the report interviewed people who were released from prisons in El Salvador and “reported systemic abuse in the prison system, including beatings by guards and the use of electric shocks.”
“The coalition alleged the treatment of prisoners constituted torture,” according to the report.
The State Department in its report raised concerns about abusive physical conditions in El Salvador’s prisons, such as overcrowding.
While CECOT is not mentioned in the report by name, the report noted that El Salvador’s government opened a new facility in January 2023 to hold up to 40,000 detainees, which apparently is now CECOT.
No human rights group has had access to investigate the conditions of the CECOT prison, said Juanita Goebertus Estrada, the director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.
Goebertus Estrada has studied El Salvador’s prison system since the country’s Congress allowed President Bukele to issue a state of emergency in 2022 that suspended due process. It’s led to 1.4% of the population, about 84,000 people, being incarcerated.
“We have no reason to believe that the (CECOT) conditions are not similar to those in the rest of the El Salvadorian prison system,” she said. “It’s administered by the same institution and the training of the guards is the same.”
She added that Human Rights Watch and other organizations have not documented anyone who is imprisoned at CECOT ever leaving. Additionally, attorneys and families are not allowed to visit.
“The government has explicitly said that this is a prison for the most reprehensible members of gangs, and that they’re going to rot there,” Goebertus Estrada said.
More than 300 people have died in prisons across El Salvador in the last three years, Goebertus Estrada said.
That kind of record, WOLA’s Isacson said, is something that should trigger the Leahy Law.
“The Salvadoran units in charge of the prison system… you think would come up because of extraordinarily credible allegations of about 300 people dying in the prison system in the last three years,” Isacson said.
Isacson said if the State Department’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor is not enforcing the Leahy Law, then “it would be up to members of Congress to raise this” concern and potentially pull funding for the bureau in a future appropriations bill.
The most recent warnings about violations of the Leahy Law have been tied to the start of the 2023 war in Gaza and the role of U.S. security assistance to Israel units. Thousands of Palestinians have died in the Israel-Hamas war.
“You had Israeli units, who would not have qualified, getting aid, and Democrats not really making any noise about it,” Isacson said. “The (Leahy) Law is mortally wounded.”
Democratic senators pressed DHS on April 8 to provide a copy of the contract between the U.S. and El Salvador. And House Democratic members, such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, are pushing for a congressional delegation to visit CECOT.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, visited the prison in July 2024, calling CECOT “the solution” and adding “the good ideas in El Salvador actually have legs and can go to other places and help other people be safe and secure and hopeful and prosperous.”
El Salvador’s Bukele has become a key ally in Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
One of Rubio’s first visits to Latin America as secretary of State was to El Salvador. During that February trip, Rubio and Bukele talked about the possibility of detaining immigrants removed from the U.S. in El Salvador. Bukele also offered to imprison U.S. citizens.
“And in an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country, President Bukele offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents,” according to the State Department’s readout of the trip.
Noem said during an April 9 border security conference that the Trump administration will continue to carry out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and maintain a strong partnership with El Salvador.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 7 that, for now, the Trump administration can continue use of the Alien Enemies Act, but said those subject to the proclamation must have due process, including court hearings.
The high court did not rule on the merits of using the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, when the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela. Until now, the Alien Enemies Act has only been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
The Venezuelan men who were sent to CECOT on March 15 under the wartime act, were not notified and or given due process, federal trial and appellate judges have noted. Lawyers for many of the Venezuelan men sent to El Salvador said their clients were not involved in gangs and instead either had no criminal record or were in the middle of asylum hearings before an immigration judge.
During the April 9 conference, Noem touted her meeting with Bukele and said the kind of partnership exemplified by the use of the prison would continue.
However, the Trump administration has taken the position that those at the CECOT prison are no longer in U.S. custody. In a high-profile case, the Supreme Court April 10 ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of a wrongly deported Maryland man to the prison back to the U.S., but stopped short of requiring it.
“The idea of paying someone else to be your (Guantanamo Bay), is brand new,” Isacson said, referring to the U.S. Navy base in Cuba that houses foreign nationals accused of terrorism.
Noem visited CECOT after the Trump administration invoked the wartime law to send deportation flights to El Salvador. On camera Noem pointed behind her and warned the same would happen to immigrants who “commit crimes against the American people.”
Behind her were dozens of men who were stripped from the waist up, their tattoos visible behind bars.
Blaha was highly critical of Noem’s visit, where she took videos and pictures of the incarcerated men.
“Noem’s stunt epitomizes cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment, which is why the administration loves it so much,” he said. “Sadly, the cruelty is the point with these guys.”
Jennifer Kang-Mieler, right, and PhD student Chaimae Gouya review images they’re using to train an AI model to detect an eye disorder in premature infants. (Photo by Ashley Muliawan/Stevens Institute of Technology)
With the Trump administration making sweeping cuts to staff and research grants at science-related agencies, artificial intelligence could offer a tempting way to keep labs going, but scientists say there are limits to the technology’s uses.
The Trump-appointed leaders of The National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services have moved to cut thousands of jobs and billions in federal grants that fund university research and laboratory needs in the last few months.
The federal government may be eyeing artificial intelligence to bridge a gap created by these cuts. In February, the U.S. Department of Energy’s national labs partnered with AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic for an “AI Jam Session,” a day for 1,000 scientists across various disciplines to test the companies’ AI models and share feedback. Some figures in Trump’s cabinet have suggested that artificial intelligence models may be a good substitute for human physicians.
But scientists and builders of AI say it’s not that simple.
AI is playing a major role in scientific discovery — last year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists for discoveries that used AI to predict the shape of proteins and to invent new ones.
But we aren’t looking at a future where we can substitute researchers and doctors with algorithms, said Jennifer Kang-Mieler, department chair and professor of biomedical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.
“It’s a tool they may use to enhance clinical decision-making,” she said. “But I think that clinical expertise is not going to be something that we can completely match with AI.”
Kang-Mieler and other researchers say AI has its limitations, but is playing an increasingly important role in analyzing data, speeding up lab work, assisting in diagnostics, making personalized treatment plans and in cutting some costs related to research.
Artificial intelligence technologies have been a part of some healthcare and laboratory settings, like image recognition in radiology, for at least a decade, said Bradley Bostic, chairman and CEO of healthcare software company hc1, based in Indiana. But Bostic said the industry is still early in exploring its uses.
“It feels to me similar to 1999, with the World Wide Web,” Bostic said. “We didn’t realize how early days it was. I think that’s where we are right now with AI and specifically in healthcare.”
While AI’s potential is nearly endless, AI’s best uses in scientific and healthcare settings are for tasks that are repetitive and operational, Bostic said. Ideally, AI makes processes more efficient, and frees up humans’ time to focus on more important tasks.
Stephen Wong, the John S. Dunn Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering at Houston Methodist uses machine learning, deep learning, and large language models every day in his lab, which researches cost-effective strategies for disease management.
He said he uses AI models for image analysis, medical imaging, processing massive datasets in genomics, the study of proteins, known as proteomics, and drug screening, as well as sifting through existing research and lab data. His goal is to cut down on tedious tasks, and make sense of large-scale data.
“Even tasks like locating crucial information buried in lab notebooks, scientific publications and patents become far more efficient,” he said.
Efficiency is also the goal of Kang-Mieler’s research, which was funded last fall by an NIH grant. Kang-Mieler and colleague Yu Gan are developing an AI-powered diagnostic tool for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) — an eye disorder and loss of vision — in premature infants.
There was a lack of quality images for AI models to train on, Kang-Mieler said, so they are using images of animal eyes that feature ROP, to create “synthetic” images of what the condition would look like in humans. The neural networks in the AI model will learn how to categorize those synthetic images, and eventually assist eye doctors in spotting ROP. Before AI tools, this process would have been done by the human eye, and take much longer, Kang-Mieler said.
“The way I saw it was also that if we can be really successful in developing and doing this, we can actually take this into other types of diseases, rare diseases, that are hard to diagnose,” she said.
Many scientific labs require a lot of physical tasks, like handling liquids, following steps at specific times and sometimes handling hazardous materials. With AI algorithms and hardware, much of that work can be done without humans physically present, researchers at the University of North Carolina are finding.
Ron Alterovitz, the Lawrence Grossberg Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science, has worked with Jim Cahoon, chair of the Department of Chemistry, on an approach to make lab work more autonomous. The pair have studied how an AI model could instruct an autonomous robot to execute lab processes, and then how AI models could analyze experiment results into findings. Alterovitz called it a “make and test” model.
“So once people can set it in motion, the AI comes up with a design, the robotic automation will make and test it, and the AI will analyze the results and come up with a new design,” he said. “And this whole loop can essentially run autonomously.”
The pair published their findings last fall, saying there are several levels of automation a lab could deploy, from assistive automation, where tasks like liquid handling are automated and humans do everything else, all the way up to the fully automated loop Alterovitz described.
Alterovitz sees many benefits to automated labs. Robots offer a safer method of handling hazardous materials, and allow researchers to conduct experiments 24 hours a day, instead of just when lab techs are clocked in. The robots also provide high accuracy and precision, and can replicate experiments easily, he said.
“If you ask two different people to do the same synthesis process, there’ll be subtle differences in how they do some of the details that can lead to some variance in the results sometimes,” Alterovitz said. “With robots, it’s just done the same way every time, very repeatedly.”
While there are fears that AI and automation will cut jobs in science, Alterovitz said it allows humans to do higher-level tasks. Many labs are already facing a shortage of trained technicians who do a majority of the physical tasks involved.
AI-assisted labs will likely heighten the need for other types of jobs, like data scientists, AI specialists and interdisciplinary experts who can bridge technology with real-world scientific applications, Wong said.
In order to continue innovating and learning new things, labs will still need the “chemical intuition” and problem-solving skills that trained scientists have, Alterovitz said.
Kang-Mieler says that AI’s current limitations are a factor that keeps the industry from rushing to apply the technology to everything. AI models are only as good as the data sets they’re trained on, and can contain data bias, or incomplete information that won’t paint a full picture.
And AI models can’t do an essential function of researchers, Kang-Mieler said — discover new information.
“I suppose that AI models can help formulate new hypotheses, but I don’t think that capability is the same as discovery,” Kang-Mieler said. “Current AI models are not developed to make independent discoveries or have original thoughts.”
Bostic has built other technology companies in his career, but said the stakes in scientific research and healthcare are much higher. Inaccurate data in an AI model could lead to a missed diagnosis or another huge problem for a patient. He said the best approach is what he calls “reinforcement learning through human feedback.”
“This is where you don’t have models that are just running independent of people,” Bostic said. “You have the models that are complementing the people and actually being informed by the people.”
Bostic said as the tech industry evolves, AI will play a role in shortening drug trials, providing patients more specialized care and helping research teams make due with fewer skilled workers, he said. But it’s not a fix-all, set-it-and-forget-it solution.
“I don’t see a scenario where clinical decisions are being independently made by machines and there aren’t the experts — who are trained and seeing the total picture of what’s going on with the patient — involved with those decisions anytime soon,” he said.
Richard Schaefer took part in a clinical trial of psilocybin as a treatment for addiction. (Photo courtesy of Richard Schaefer)
It was a day like any other when Richard Schaefer entered a Madison health care clinic to receive harm reduction supplies. Over 10 years, Schaefer had tried recovering from what began with dependence on a prescription for the pain killer Percocet and later spiraled into an all-consuming heroin addiction. As Schaefer waited for his supplies, he noticed an advertisement seeking volunteers for a study into whether therapy assisted by psilocybin – the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms – could unshackle people from addiction.
“I’ve tried all types of rehabs,” said Schaefer when he spoke recently with the Wisconsin Examiner. Schaefer is 42, off heroin and training to be a peer support specialist. But from rehab clinics in Oshkosh and Wauwatosa to a 30-day program in the Racine County Jail, old-school complete abstinence and medication-assisted treatment using suboxone, Schaefer had tried it all. “I don’t know if it was more of the timing of being ready to quit or just finding something that actually works for me,” he said. “Something different, an alternative route…This study really changed my life, to tell you the truth.”
Although overdose deaths are down in every state and the District of Columbia for the first time since the fentanyl crisis began, millions of people continue to struggle with opioid use disorder nationwide. With demand for treatment still high, the University of Wisconsin Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances (TCRPS) is working on finding solutions. Using psilocybin, the team at UW-Madison is developing groundbreaking new therapies tailor-made for people like Schaefer. Advertisements for the study, which focuses on opioid and methamphetamine addiction, can be found in Madison health care clinics like the one Schaefer visited and even on signs on city buses.
“We already have seen evidence that psilocybin can do some remarkable things to improve the patients’ ability to gain and process important insights about their lives and experiences,” Paul Hutson, a professor and founding director of TCRPS, told UW News in 2023. “We’re excited to see what it can do along those same lines for patients struggling with substance abuse, many of whom have overlapping mental health conditions.”
A bipartisan bill that began circulating last session in the Wisconsin Legislature aimed to make psychedelic drug treatment available to veterans suffering from PTSD. Commenting on a psilocybin study at UW-Madison that aims to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in combat veterans, UW researcher and professor Dr. Cody Wenthur told Wisconsin Examiner that conducting trials with an inclusive cross-section of subjects is important.
Although funding cuts by the Trump Administration have undermined research efforts across the country, UW’s psilocybin study is not at risk, university officials say. A university spokesperson said that the study’s funding does not come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and thus is “insulated” from cuts to NIH funding.
Research has shown that psilocybin has the potential to rewire the human brain, for people with depression. The creation of new neuro-pathways aided by psilocybin, combined with therapy, could help treat substance use disorder, which also changes the brain over time to reinforce addictive behavior.
Nationwide millions of people struggle with an opioid use disorder of some kind. Wisconsin alone annually loses thousands of lives to drug overdoses, with a large portion of those deaths linked with variants of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. By 2038, Wisconsin is expected to receive over $780 million in settlement funding from lawsuits against the companies that seeded the overdose crisis by funneling large volumes of addictive medications into communities. That funding could be used to repair the lives of people and the health of their communities.
Before he started taking Percoset, Schaefer was a college-educated operations manager at a furniture company, who’d grown up in Racine County. A husband, father and homeowner, he was climbing the ladder in his company when he was prescribed the pain killers. “Everything just kind of quickly fell apart,” said Schaefer, “within about six months to a year I lost all that.”
During those six months his use of the medication became a recreational habit, then developed into a heroin addiction. Once needles came into the picture, “then it’s just no going back,” Schaefer said. “I ended up going down the drain. I lost my marriage, I lost custody of my kids on an overdose, and then I lost my job — my career I was at for 10 years. And then I lost my house to a foreclosure.” The degradation of his life was swift. He recalled being kicked out of two sober houses. Eventually, he said, “I ended up on the streets.”
Schaefer was immediately intrigued when he saw an advertisement for the psilocybin study. He was already on a suboxone regimen in December 2023, which he said helped him get “on the other side of the wall” from his addiction. He entered the study the following month after contacting the research team. Numerous physical health assessments, phone calls, interviews and meetings followed.
Schaefer was connected with “two really great therapists,” Travis Fox, a doctor in psychology and Nikki Zellner, a licensed clinical social worker. Their compassion and patience formed the bedrock for his recovery. He had to meet them once a week for a month, in addition to meeting other requirements.
When you look at it as medicine rather than a drug, then we can have a different view on it.
– Richard Schaefer
“They really got to know me and really bring out, or work on, issues that I had suppressed in my life, going back to childhood.” Schaefer said. Fox and Zellner “helped me to learn to love myself again,” he added. It was an alternative approach to therapy that Schaefer hadn’t seen in other recovery programs. “They accepted me for who I am, and helped me to learn that it’s OK to be myself,” he said. “To find the freedom of making a choice, it wasn’t all about abstinence, which a lot of programs are.” Schaefer said that “somehow, with making it my choice, I’ve become a new person and really found a new freedom with that, and really blossomed and come a long ways.”
By April, Schaefer was ready to step into the experience of psilocybin-based therapy. Early in the morning he caught a cab to the UW nursing school. After one final physical check-up and conversation with doctors, Schaefer was led to a space which he called “the sacred room there.” In that comfortable room surrounded by artwork and with a couch and spaces for Schaefer and the therapists to sit, Schaefer took “the medicine” and his journey began.
“They didn’t tell me what to call it,” said Schaefer, speaking of the psilocybin he took. “When you look at it as medicine rather than a drug, then we can have a different view on it.”
Taking his shoes off as he entered the room, Schaefer lay back on the couch, took a tablet, donned a blindfold and waited as about 20 minutes passed.
“I remember the first session for me was kind of like a movie,” he said. “Like different scenes kept coming to me, you know? Different waves kept coming to me. And some of it was different scenes from life, some of it made sense, or some of it I’m still trying to make sense of what they were. But I realized a lot of things in that first session alone.”
“I think I was learning to find myself,” he said of the experience. A persistent sense of comfort, peace and acceptance stayed with Schaefer after that first session. His ego had been muted, “and I just had this new sense that things were OK,” he said. “I began to have a new outlook on life then.”
Sometimes participants in the psilocybin trials need a bathroom break or to pull out and communicate about what is happening. Zellner and Fox were never far away, and were open to talking to him while he was undergoing the journey. “It’s hard to put words on things while you’re having the medicine in you,” said Schaefer. “I go into it and would like to tell them all these things going on, and to be recorded, and jot down and stuff, but it’s like you can’t find the words to say it.”
“You’re kind of in another world,” he added, saying there may not actually be human language to describe some of the experience. The second dose was even more profound. The “scenes” returned with astonishing vividness. Schaefer recalled going through stages of what felt like collective “human sadness” as well as happiness and joy.
“There was like a buildup from down and dark to the absolute most bright light and loving energy that I’d ever experienced,” he said. It was in that peak moment “when I felt that I was in the presence of a higher power,” which manifested as a sort of “god” or “energy that was in front of me.” He said he felt a distinctly separate, intelligent presence throughout his sessions, “like things were being taught to me and shown to me.”
Whatever it was, the presence gave him “the most awesome comforting feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” Schaefer recalled. The feeling melted away as Schaefer descended from that blissful state.
In many ways, the hard work begins after the psychedelic experience ends. With the help of their therapists, study participants must attempt to integrate and process what they learned during the sessions. “The integration was powerful because of the therapists being there, to immediately process things coming to your mind,” said Schaefer.
After each session, Schaefer was walked back to the hospital where he was given some alone time for the night. He never interacted with any other study participants. The next morning, Schaefer met with Fox and Zellner again for a clearer, deeper dive into the prior day’s session. Another follow up came about a week later. “And again, man, that has been such a life-changing experience having a psychedelic medicine with therapists,” Schaefer said, emphasizing that without proper integration and therapy after psychedelic experiences, “you’re lost.”
Today, Schaefer is clean from heroin and opioids and living a healthier life. Undergoing the psilocybin study at UW-Madison has inspired him to pursue a career as a certified peer support specialist, for which he’s currently finishing training. He aims to become an advocate for harm reduction medications and alternative psychedelic therapies for addiction recovery.
“I would say it’s not for everybody, but for some people who’ve tried different approaches and it hasn’t worked, and they’re serious about changing their life and having an open mind, then this could really be a profound experience to help them go in a new direction,” said Schaefer.
He hopes that both treatment providers and people struggling with addiction remember that recovery takes patience, compassion, and that it doesn’t have to rely on an abstinence-only philosophy. “It might take 20 times … trying different approaches,” he said.
Yet in Wisconsin, alternative options are not widely available. States like Colorado are already working to expand psychedelic-based treatment centers, as well as to legalize and decriminalize psilocybin. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Legislature remains reluctant to explore bills to even legalize medicinal cannabis. Schaefer hopes that more people struggling with opioid addiction get the chance that he did. “I’d say it’s already changed my life in so many ways.”
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The first of BMW’s Neue Klasse EVs drops this fall, and it’s not only the exterior styling, dashboard layout and electric platform that’s new. So is the soundtrack for this new generation of electric vehicles, and BMW has given us a glimpse of what kind of noises to expect when we eventually slide behind the wheel of the 2026 iX3 and 2027 i330 sedan.
This isn’t the first time BMW has created unique soundtracks for its EVs. It famously commissioned Hans Zimmer to come up with signature sounds for the i4 and i7. But the automaker claims the new HypersonX soundscape developed by BMW’s own Sound Design Studio is even more complex and nuanced.
Related: BMW Confirms iX3 Debut In September, Will Launch Over 40 New Models By 2027
Neue Klasse cars benefit from a new audio control unit that brings a greater dynamic range, BMW claiming that although the new soundscape uses fewer notes than older systems, it delivers more color and depth to give a more natural feel.
43 Layers of Motion
HypersonX has 43 different sound signals and driving sounds for the cars’ Personal Mode and Sport Mode settings and when the driver accelerates the car shifts through three-dimensional sound layers to create a sensation of speed.
The team didn’t only spend time working out how to make the EVs feel exciting at full throttle, but also how they sound when you first open the door and any time you’re inside. BMW says it drew inspiration from art, science, light and nature, and even used sounds created using a choir made of development team members.
“The unique sound spectrum of HypersonX plays a major role in giving a Neue Klasse model its own, highly distinctive character acoustically,” says Renzo Vitale, Creative Director of Sound Design BMW Group.
“Through our focus on precision, warmth, and lightness, we can create a direct emotional connection between the driver and their vehicle.”
The first production BMW to benefit from HypersonX is the iX3 SUV, the electric brother to the recently-facelifted X3, which is scheduled to make its debut this September.
Americans bought more electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, but it’s not just enthusiasm for clean energy that’s pushing the numbers. Sales of EVs were up 11.4% year-over-year, with some of that bump likely driven by fears of disappearing federal tax credits and looming tariffs. Gas-powered cars even saw some love, as buyers rushed to lock in purchases before incentives or prices changed. Crisis buying: it’s not just for toilet paper anymore.
More: Americans Are Buying Cars Like It’s Black Friday Before Tariffs Hit
For context, the entire new vehicle market (regardless of powertrain) grew 4.3% in Q1 2024, totaling roughly 3.9 million units, according to Auto News. That puts EVs at 7.6% of the market, a noticeable increase from last year, and a sign that electric adoption, while still uneven, continues to inch forward, at least for now.
Brands: Tesla Still Leads, But It’s Not All Good News
You probably guessed it that Tesla still wears the EV crown. The company moved 128,100 vehicles in Q1, capturing a commanding 43.5% share of the EV market. That’s still dominant, but it’s down 8.6 percentage points from last year. Some of that slip can be chalked up to delays in rolling out the updated Model Y. The rest? Probably a mix of market competition and the ongoing Elon Effect, a combo of social media theatrics and questionable business decisions that make both investors and buyers twitch.
Ford continues to hold a firm grip on second place, selling 22,550 electric vehicles in Q1, an 11.5% increase over last year, giving it a 7.7% share of America’s EV market. But the real drama happened just below that. Rivian, which held the No. 3 spot last year, tumbled all the way down to ninth place after a steep 37.1% drop, totaling just 8,553 sales. Hyundai, previously in fourth, slid to No. 6 despite a modest 5.1% gain to 12,843 units. Its Kia sibling dropped from fifth to eighth, as sales fell 24.1% to 8,665.
Taking their places, Chevrolet surged into the No. 3 spot with 19,186 units sold, recording a 114.2% increase, while BMW climbed to No. 4 with 13,858 deliveries, up 26.4% from a year ago. There were other notable shifts as well: Porsche more than tripled its EV sales in Q1, thanks to the Macan Electric. On the flip side, Mercedes took the hardest hit, with sales plunging 58.3%, despite aggressive lease deals and major incentives, as many of our readers have pointed out. For all the numbers and surprises, check out the full brand breakdown below.
| Brand | Q1-25 | Q1-24 | YOY | Market Share |
| Tesla | 128,100 | 140,187 | -8.6% | 43.5% |
| Ford | 22,550 | 20,223 | 11.5% | 7.7% |
| Chevrolet | 19,186 | 8,957 | 114.2% | 6.5% |
| BMW | 13,538 | 10,712 | 26.4% | 4.6% |
| Hyundai | 12,843 | 12,218 | 5.1% | 4.4% |
| VW | 9,564 | 6,167 | 55.1% | 3.3% |
| Honda | 9,561 | – | – | 3.2% |
| Kia | 8,656 | 11,401 | -24.1% | 2.9% |
| Rivian | 8,553 | 13,588 | -37.1% | 2.9% |
| Cadillac | 7,972 | 5,800 | 37.4% | 2.7% |
| Nissan | 6,471 | 5,284 | 22.5% | 2.2% |
| Audi | 5,905 | 5,714 | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| Toyota | 5,610 | 1,897 | 195.7% | 1.9% |
| Acura | 4,813 | – | – | 1.6% |
| GMC | 4,728 | 1,668 | 183.5% | 1.6% |
| Porsche | 4,358 | 1,247 | 249.5% | 1.5% |
| Mercedes | 3,472 | 8,336 | -58.3% | 1.2% |
| Subaru | 3,131 | 1,147 | 173.0% | 1.1% |
| Volvo | 2,718 | 996 | 172.9% | 0.9% |
| Jeep | 2,595 | – | – | 0.9% |
| Dodge | 1,947 | – | – | 0.7% |
| Genesis | 1,496 | 992 | 50.8% | 0.5% |
| Lexus | 1,453 | 1,603 | -9.4% | 0.5% |
| Mini | 696 | 824 | -15.5% | 0.2% |
| Jaguar | 381 | 256 | 48.8% | 0.1% |
| Other EVs | 5,930 | 6,764 | -12.3% | 2.0% |
| Total (Estimates) | 296,227 | 265,981 | 11.40% | 100% |
Models: The Y Slips But The 3 Soars
Looking at individual models, the Tesla Model Y still tops the US EV sales chart, but its grip on the lead has loosened. It delivered 64,051 units in Q1, marking a steep 33.8% decline from last year. The delayed launch of the standard facelifted “Juniper” version didn’t help matters, as only the pricier Launch Edition was available early in the quarter. We’ll see how the new Juniper performs once the entire range goes on sale.
On the flip side, the Model 3 is having its moment. It saw a huge 70.3% increase in sales, hitting 52,520 units in Q1. For perspective, that’s nearly as many as the next three brands (Ford, Chevrolet, and BMW) sold combined, at 55,274. Tesla’s aggressive sales strategy likely played a role, with improved lease offers and zero-percent financing, though that conveniently wrapped up in April.
More: Tesla Model 3 Performance Vs. BMW 330i xDrive, Which One Deserves Your $47K?
The Ford Mustang Mach-E maintained third place among EV models with 11,607 units sold, a significant 21% increase, helped along by solid discounts and lease incentives. Rounding out the top five were the Chevy Equinox EV (10,329 units), the Honda Prologue (9,561), and the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which saw 8,611 deliveries, a 26.2% jump.
Trucks: F-150 Still Rules But Cybertruck Catching Up
As for electric trucks, the Ford F-150 Lightning remains the best-seller, even though deliveries dropped 7.2% compared to the same period in 2024. Tesla’s Cybertruck, love it or hate it (and many do), is at least moving the needle upwards, with 6,406 units sold, up 128.5% over last year’s laughably small starting numbers.
GMC doesn’t separate sales by body style, but Rivian does, and its R1T pickup moved just 1,727 units this quarter, a massive 47% drop from Q1 2023. For all the flak the Cybertruck catches online, it’s still outselling the R1T by a wide margin. No, it’s not the million-unit-a-year miracle Elon once promised, but it’s still finding more buyers than the R1T and that should be sounding alarms in Rivian’s executive suite.
| Model | Q1-25 | Q1-24 | YOY |
| Tesla Model Y | 64,051 | 96,729 | -33.8% |
| Tesla Model 3 | 52,520 | 30,842 | 70.3% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 11,607 | 9,589 | 21.0% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 10,329 | – | – |
| Honda Prologue | 9,561 | – | – |
| Hyundai Ioniq5 | 8,611 | 6,822 | 26.2% |
| VW ID.4 | 7,663 | 6,167 | 24.3% |
| Ford F-150 Lightning | 7,187 | 7,743 | -7.2% |
| BMW i4 | 7,125 | 4,537 | 57.0% |
| Tesla Cybertruck | 6,406 | 2,803 | 128.5% |
| Chevrolet Blazer | 6,187 | 600 | 931.2% |
| Toyota BZ4X | 5,610 | 1,897 | 195.7% |
| Rivian R1S | 5,357 | 8,017 | -33.2% |
| Acura ZDX | 4,813 | – | |
| Cadillac Lyriq | 4,300 | 5,800 | -25.9% |
| Nissan Ariya | 4,148 | 4,142 | 0.1% |
| Tesla Model X | 3,843 | 5,607 | -31.5% |
| Ford E-Transit | 3,756 | 2,891 | 29.9% |
| Kia EV9 | 3,756 | 4,007 | -6.3% |
| Kia EV6 | 3,738 | 4,059 | -7.9% |
| BMW iX | 3,626 | 2,945 | 23.1% |
| GMC Hummer Truck/ SUV | 3,479 | 1,668 | 108.6% |
| Porsche Macan | 3,339 | ||
| Hyundai loniq6 | 3,318 | 3,646 | -9.0% |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 3,246 | – | – |
| Subaru Solterra | 3,131 | 1,147 | 173.0% |
| Jeep Wagoneer | 2,595 | – | |
| Chevrolet Silverado | 2,383 | 1,061 | – |
| Nissan Leaf | 2,323 | 1,142 | 103.4% |
| Cadillac Escalade EV | 1,956 | – | |
| Dodge Charger EV | 1,947 | ||
| VW ID.Buzz | 1,901 | ||
| BMW i5 | 1,899 | 2,239 | -15.2% |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 1,874 | 2,678 | -30.0% |
| Rivian R1T | 1,727 | 3,261 | -47.0% |
| Cadillac Optiq | 1,716 | – | – |
| Mercedes EQB | 1,622 | 671 | 141.7% |
| Rivian EDV | 1,469 | 2,310 | -36.4% |
| Lexus RZ | 1,453 | 1,603 | -9.4% |
| Tesla Model S | 1,280 | 4,206 | -69.6% |
| GMC Sierra EV | 1,249 | – | – |
| Volvo EX30 | 1,185 | – | – |
| Kia Niro | 1,162 | 3,335 | -65.2% |
| Porsche Taycan | 1,019 | 1,247 | -18.3% |
| Volvo EX90 | 1,000 | – | – |
| Hyundai Kona | 914 | 1,750 | -47.8% |
| BMW i7 | 888 | 991 | -10.4% |
| Mercedes EQE | 742 | 5,113 | -85.5% |
| Genesis GV60 | 733 | 473 | 55.0% |
| Genesis GV70 | 712 | 415 | 71.6% |
| Mini Countryman | 693 | – | |
| Audi Q8 e-tron | 535 | 2,260 | -76.3% |
| Mercedes EQS | 509 | 2,552 | -80.1% |
| Mercedes G-Class | 509 | – | – |
| Jaguar I-Pace | 381 | 256 | 48.8% |
| Volvo C40 | 315 | 289 | 9.0% |
| Chevy Brightdrop | 274 | 256 | 7.0% |
| Audi e-tron | 250 | 776 | -67.8% |
| Volvo XC40 | 218 | 707 | -69.2% |
| Mercedes E-Sprinter | 90 | – | |
| Genesis G80 | 51 | 104 | -51.0% |
| Chevy Bolt EV/EUV | 13 | 7,040 | -99.8% |
| Mini Cooper | 3 | 824 | -99.6% |
| Other Models | 5,930 | 6,764 | -12.3% |
| Total (Estimates) | 296,227 | 265,981 | +11.4% |
Public opinion on Elon Musk isn’t exactly glowing these days, and that discontent isn’t limited to the United States. Across the Atlantic in the UK, backlash against Tesla and its high-profile CEO has been gaining steam.
Most recently, a group calling itself “Everyone Hates Elon” organized an event where a 2014 Tesla Model S was systematically destroyed in what they described as both a protest and a live art installation. The display was part of a broader campaign against Musk, which has been growing in visibility.
Read: Trump’s Commerce Secretary Said Tesla Stock Would Never Be This Cheap, The Market Called His Bluff
The black Model S was provided by an anonymous donor and placed at Hardess Studios in south London. Participants then vented their frustrations by smashing the electric sedan with sledgehammers and baseball bats. What started as a perfectly good Tesla ended up as one where every single body panel has been destroyed, and it looks like it’s been involved in a devastating crash.
The Everyone Hates Elon group appears to have gained traction through social media and has attracted attention with provocative materials, including stickers that read, “Don’t buy a Swasticar.”
Among those participating was Alice Rogers, a researcher from Illinois currently working at the University of Cambridge. She said the protest offered an outlet for frustration over what she sees happening back in the US.
“Musk is acting in ways which violate our constitution. I’m very concerned by what I’m seeing – he’s gutting agencies and cutting USAID,” she told The Guardian. Another participant, 32-year-old Giles Pearson, pinpointed Musk’s rightwing politics as the reason why he wanted to wreck the Model S.
Anti-Musk Actions Escalate in the UK
The campaign against Musk has intensified across the UK, with guerrilla-style messaging appearing in public spaces. Fake advertisements have popped up at bus stops with slogans like, “Autopilot for your car. Autocrat for your country”, “Now With White Power Steering,” and “The Fast and the Führer.”
The New York Times reports that several anti-Musk groups have popped up across Europe, many of them sharing the dual aim of damaging Tesla’s brand and sinking its stock value. Some are explicitly focused on disrupting sales and targeting the company’s public image.
“There’s never been a target exactly like this,” John Gorenfeld from the ‘Takedown Tesla’ group said. “Nobody who is that rich and powerful has behaved that outrageously. There’s something campy and ridiculous about Musk’s brand of toxicity. And it opens up a real space to ridicule.”
Car buyers looking for a break may be in for a short-lived reprieve. While vehicle prices are widely expected to rise in response to the Trump administration’s new tariff policy, March offered a rare moment of calm. Both new and used car prices dipped slightly compared to February, and on average, they were less than 1% higher than they were in March 2024.
It’s a temporary win for shoppers, but don’t expect it to last. Once dealers run through their pre-tariff inventory, the market is likely to shift.
Read: Crushing Import Tariffs Could Kill Audi’s Best-Selling Model In America
Data from Cox Automotive reveals that the average monthly transaction price for new cars in the US last month was $47,462. This is a small decline from the $47,577 of February. Curiously, the ATP discrepancy between ICE models and EVs has actually increased recently, even though EVs should, in theory, be approaching price parity.
EV Prices Push Higher
Estimates put the average ATP of a new EV in March at $59,205. This is a 7% increase year-over-year and up from $57,015 in February. This is in part due to rising Tesla prices, with its ATPs estimated at $54,582, or 3.5% higher year-over-year, and jumping 4.5% from February, too.
Average transaction prices at other brands have also jumped. For example, Land Rover ATPs hit $107,129 in March, up 8.8% from February’s figure of $98,478. They are also up 6.1% year-over-year. Lincoln and Mitsubishi ATPs also rose 4.7% and 4.3% month-over-month, hitting $68,281 and $31,692, respectively.
Not All Prices Are Rising
A few automakers actually posted lower ATPs in March. For example, they were down 5% at Cadillac in March, dropping to $74,078. They also declined 5.8% at Jaguar to $64,403, and were down 2.6% at Dodge and Infiniti, falling to $49,548 and $62,276, respectively.
Cox Automotive’s data also reveals that total market sales climbed significantly in March, even though prices and incentives largely remained steady. It estimates that 1.59 million new vehicles were sold last month in the US. If accurate, this would represent the best sales volume month in nearly four years and is a 30% increase from February.
Read: Average EV Transaction Price $6,300 Higher Than Gas Cars
The reason is simple. Many car shoppers have been rushing to buy a new vehicle before the tariffs hit and increase prices across the market.
“All signs point to higher prices this summer, as existing ‘pre-tariff’ inventory is sold down to be eventually replaced with ‘tariffed’ inventory,” Cox executive analyst Erin Keating said. “How high prices rise for consumers is still very much to be determined, as each automaker will handle the price puzzle differently. Should the White House posture hold, our team is expecting new vehicles directly impacted by the 25% tariff to see price increases in the range of 10-15%.”
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