Axios

President Trump tonight says he's directed the U.S. Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on China, and that the administration may take other actions to "protect our farmers and agricultural interests." The White House says it's announcing these new measures "in light of China's unfair retaliation" to an earlier $50 billion in proposed tariffs.

Why it matters via Jonathan Swan: This is exactly what the free traders who formerly worked in the White House feared, Trump in a macho pissing match against Chinese President Xi. Trump has a blunt understanding of leverage and believes the worst thing he can show is weakness. He also believes, as he tweeted, that the U.S. already is so far down on the scorecard with China that he’s got nothing to lose.

President Trump reportedly decided yesterday to keep U.S. troops on the ground in Syria a while longer, walking back his declaration on Tuesday that it's time to bring those troops home because "we've had a tremendous military success against ISIS."

Why it matters: Ending the U.S. presence in Syria is a bad idea. American troops have provided valuable support and intelligence to local Kurdish forces fighting ISIS and have at times engaged in direct combat. A U.S. withdrawal would constitute a strategic victory for Bashar al-Assad’s abhorrent regime, for its patrons Iran and Russia and for ISIS itself, allowing the group a chance to recoup.

The White House said this week that the U.S. military mission in Syria is coming to a “rapid end," and President Trump has expressed his desire for a speedy withdrawal as soon as ISIS is defeated. But David Miliband, the former U.K. foreign minister, tells Axios "it’s much more likely that you’re going to have ISIS x.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, than you’re going to see the ‘end’ of it.”

The bottom line: Miliband, who now heads the International Rescue Committee, says “the whole theory of ‘slice off the head and it’ll be fine’ doesn’t really work,” because ISIS is "a movement, not an organization." He says without establishing a political framework in Syria, "Development policy, humanitarian policy, frankly security and military policy will not work."

President Trump said on Thursday, when talking about immigration at a West Virginia event, that women are being "raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before." Trump was in West Virginia for a tax reform discussion.

Take note: Trump's comment about "this journey coming up" appears to reference the caravan of people seeking asylum in the U.S. coming through South America, which he has commented on before. Per BuzzFeed's Adolfo Flores, who is traveling with the group, there have been no rapes reported "in or around the caravan."

A record-breaking number of women — 309 to be precise — have filed to run for a House seat, according to data analyzed by the Associated Press.

The big picture: Per the AP, many of these women are running for seats "that have never had a female representative." Axios reported similar findings in December; 369 women, most of whom are Democrats, were running or planning to run for House seats citing a major factor that has pushed women to get involved was the sexual harassment awakening which shook the country last fall.

The number of apprehensions during attempts to cross the United States-Mexico border spiked last month, following record low numbers during President Trump's first year in office, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The big picture: Trump has recently stepped up his calls for increased border security — including days of fiery tweets — and called for sending the National Guard to the border until a wall is built. And just this morning, he claimed via tweet: “Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!”

As ethics controversies continue to swirl around EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, many observers in Washington are wondering how long he might be able to hang onto his job.

The view from the West Wing: Axios' Jonathan Swan spoke with sources close to President Trump and this basic picture emerged: If nothing else bad comes out against Pruitt, they’ll probably ride through the storm with him. But should more damaging stories surface — especially ones that demonstrate poor ethical judgement — Pruitt could be abandoned in a flash. Trump is uneasy about the situation, and has his finger in the wind.

These are the states where taxpayers will see the biggest benefits from the new tax code, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center. High-income households do best, particularly those in the 95th to 99th income percentile, and the average tax cut across all states will be 1.8% of after-tax income.

Why this matters: Tax cuts, and how they impact voters' personal finances, are Republicans' biggest argument as to why voters should keep them in office. While most people are receiving a cut in 2018, the degree varies.

President Trump has signed a proclamation to send the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House said. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen had announced the expected move earlier Wednesday.

Gritty details: The order does not disclose details such as cost or number of troops to be deployed. But it said that the defense and homeland security secretaries are required to submit a report within 30 days on "an action plan," including recommendations for potential executive authorities on border security.

President Trump surprised allies, adversaries, and even some advisers last Thursday when he said the U.S. would be pulling out of Syria “very soon.” The clearest indications of what happens next came in statements today from Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

The bottom line: Sanders confirmed that the Trump administration is taking the idea of pulling out of Syria seriously — but said the anti-ISIS fight isn't finished yet, and there are no immediate plans to withdraw. That shows "the president’s top military advisers ... have succeeded — at least for now — in persuading an impatient commander in chief not to order a quick withdrawal," per the NY Times.

Seoul-born Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, a professor at Brown University known for her work on fake news, is moving to Canada. So is Alan Aspuru-Guzik, a Harvard chemistry professor working on quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

What's going on: They are among 24 top academic minds around the world wooed to Canada by an aggressive recruitment effort offering ultra-attractive sinecures, seven-year funding arrangements — and, Chun and Aspuru-Guzik said in separate interviews with Axios, a different political environment from the U.S.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday the "military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed." An announcement on America's future military involvement in Syria will be made “relatively soon,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said, per the AP.

The big picture: If the U.S. pulls out, it would likely be a gift to Iran, Syria, and Russia, which have been backing Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. It would also raise security concerns for Israel, which has called for stronger action to counter Iran’s presence and influence in Syria.

H-1B high skilled visas — the most popular U.S. temporary work visa — are often associated with high level jobs in Silicon Valley tech companies. But College Station, Texas has the highest number of H-1B visa approvals per 100 workers over the past few years, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center of data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Between the lines: Companies located on the East Coast of the U.S. and in Texas actually use the H-1B visas far more than Silicon Valley companies. The large IT company Cognizant is located in College Station, and it files the ninth largest number of Labor Condition Applications (LCA), which are required when hiring workers on an H-1B visa.

Why it matters: Trump announced yesterday in a joint press conference that he'd be using the U.S. military to defend the border.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a conservative super PAC linked to House Speaker Paul Ryan, announced Wednesday that they raised $15 million in the the first quarter of 2018 — a record for the PAC and up from the $1.3 million raised in Q1 of 2016, the previous election year.

State of play: Courtney Alexander, communications director of CLF and American Action Network, another conservative group tied to Ryan, told Axios that the group plans to place a high priority on raising money early on rather than waiting to raise and spend toward the end of the cycle. The aggressive approach so early on in the election cycle shows how competitive conservative groups expect the midterm elections to be and offers an inside look at how they plan to defend the Republican majority.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller said he's preparing a report regarding the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, the Washington Post reports, citing two people with knowledge of the conversations.

That’s not all: The Post reports that the Special Counsel told Donald Trump’s attorneys in March the president is not a criminal target in his investigstion, but that the ongoing probe in to Russian interference in the 2016 election will continue.