If Donald Trump returns to the White House, close allies want to dramatically change the government's interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.

• Why it matters: Trump's Justice Department would push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.

Targets would range from decades-old policies aimed at giving minorities economic opportunities, to more recent programs that began in response to the pandemic and the killing of George Floyd.

• The Trump campaign's Steven Cheung told Axios: "Joe Biden has continued to push unlawful civil rights abuses ... As President Trump has said, all staff, offices, and initiatives connected to Biden's un-American policy will be immediately terminated."

Longtime aides and allies preparing for a potential second Trump administration have been laying legal groundwork with a flurry of lawsuits and legal complaints — some of which have been successful.

• A central vehicle for the effort has been America First Legal, founded by former Trump aide Stephen Miller, who has called the group conservatives' "long-awaited answer to the ACLU."
• America First cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in a lawsuit against CBS for what it argued was discrimination against a white, straight man who was a writer for the show "Seal Team" in 2017.
• In February, the group filed a civil rights complaint against the NFL over its "Rooney Rule," which requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for vacant general manager, head coach and coordinator positions.
• In 2021, Miller's group successfully sued to block implementation of a $29 billion pandemic-era program for women- and minority-owned restaurants.

🔎 Zoom in: Other Trump-aligned groups are preparing for a future Trump Justice Department to implement, or challenge, policies on a broader scale.

• The Heritage Foundation's well-funded "Project 2025" envisions a second Trump administration ending what it calls "affirmative discrimination."
• Such groups have gained momentum with the Supreme Court's turn to the right — most notably its recent rejection of affirmative action in college admissions.

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Latinos are launching new businesses at staggeringly higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group, Axios' Astrid Galván writes from a new UCLA analysis.

• Why it matters: The entrepreneurial boom — which includes mom-and-pop shops — is cementing the group's status as an economic powerhouse.

The trend has been around for decades but accelerated during the pandemic, according to an analysis of census data by UCLA economics professor Robert Fairlie.

• Latinos have launched the most small businesses of any group every year since 2002.

🔬 Between the lines: "Latin American immigrants are starting businesses at more than twice the rate of the U.S. population as a whole," The Wall Street Journal notes.

🧮 By the numbers: The median growth rate for Latino businesses was 25% from 2019 to 2022, according to a new Stanford report.

• It was 9% for white non-Hispanic-owned businesses.

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A now-retired Army officer who led the Pentagon's investigation into the mysterious ailment known as Havana syndrome says he believes Russia was behind attacks on U.S. officials.

• Why it matters: Retired Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen told "60 Minutes" that top intelligence officers and diplomats who had worked against Russia were effectively "being neutralized" with traumatic brain injuries.

Zoom in: Edgreen said the bar for proof was set impossibly high because "we did not, as a country, and a government, want to face some very hard truths."

• U.S. intelligence agencies have previously said it's "very unlikely" that a foreign adversary is responsible.

Read/watch the report ... Administration responses.

Workers cut and removed a 200-ton section of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge — the first step in a monumental cleanup process.

• Dive teams were also in the water yesterday surveying the Dali and parts of the bridge that are underwater.

Between the lines: The cargo ship's 22 crew members — who are responsible for maintaining the vessel — remain on board the ship, which is tangled in up to 4,000 tons of debris.

• They have ample supplies of food and water — and a TV, magazines and books for entertainment, the N.Y. Times writes (gift link).
• The executive director of a Baltimore nonprofit said he sent the crew two Wi-Fi hotspots.

Worthy of your time: "In Key Bridge collapse, Baltimore lost a piece of its cultural identity."

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Axios in a wide-ranging interview that the administration wants to help Big Tech generate more electricity to meet massive demand for AI computing, Axios' Hans Nichols writes.

• Conversations with Microsoft, Google and Amazon need "to accelerate, because this demand for power is only going up," she said.

Why it matters: Big Tech is obsessed with finding enough power, since the data centers needed to advance AI will outstrip today's grid, The Wall Street Journal reports.

☢️ The Energy Department is exploring how tech firms might host small nuclear plants on the campuses of their massive data centers.

• Keep reading.

The company behind Hyundai, Kia and Genesis is the hottest carmaker in America, Axios' Joann Muller writes from the New York International Auto Show.

• Why it matters: Hyundai Motor Group is stoking consumer interest with fresh, sometimes risky designs, high-tech features and a reputation for reliability — at a price that typically beats the competition.

The Korean trio keeps rolling out new models at a blistering pace, dominating last week's new model introductions at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

• Hyundai is now the fourth-largest automaker in the U.S., behind GM, Toyota and Ford. The group passed Stellantis, which makes Jeeps and Ram trucks, last year.
• Globally, it's No. 3, behind Toyota and VW.

🖼️ The big picture: Hyundai Group's scrappy, risk-taking culture, especially during uncertain times, is a big reason for its success.

• There are industry whispers that Hyundai and Kia — seeking to become EV leaders — are scoping out the electric pickup market.

Keep reading ... Get Axios What's Next.

Four teams remain in men's March Madness: UConn, Alabama, Purdue and N.C. State. (Wolves are howling!)

• Top overall seed UConn — the heavy favorite, which has steamrolled every opponent so far — will play No. 4-seeded Alabama.
• No. 1-seeded Purdue will face 11th-seeded N.C. State. It'll be both team's first Final Four appearance since the early '80s.

The women's Final Four will be final after two games tonight, including a highly anticipated rematch of last year's record-breaking championship between LSU and Iowa.

• UConn and USC will play for the other remaining spot. N.C. State and South Carolina have already made it in.

👀 Fun fact: Two schools — UConn and NC State — are still standing in both brackets.

• UConn is the only program to win dual titles in the same year (2004 and 2014).

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A new wave of private clubs — largely catering to the ultra-wealthy — is popping up in Manhattan with hyperbaric oxygen chambers, $200,000 initiation fees and fickle admissions requirements, the N.Y. Times reports.

• Why it matters: The clubs offer a sense of prestige and community away from home and work.

Maxwell, a club in Tribeca, requires prospective members to pass "a vibe check," co-founder David Litwak said:

• "There's no requirement for a degree of accomplishment. We have people who own hedge funds, or people who are in the lowest rung at hedge funds."

Keep reading (NYT gift link).