5 Big News Stories Overnight - Wednesday, April 1, 2026

U.S.: Trump's Poll Numbers Crater

A new national University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll finds President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 33%, the lowest rating of his second term in office. 

The poll of 1,000 respondents, conducted March 20-25, finds  Trump’s approval down five points from July 2025 and 11 points lower than last April.
 

“In the midst of skyrocketing prices, significant declines in the stock market, an unpopular war in the Middle East, a government shutdown that has led to lines at airports and nationwide protests against his presidency, it is no shock that President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have taken a hit in our latest polling,” Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll, says. “What is surprising, and of likely grave concern to the White House, are the dips in support from the very groups that helped Trump take back the presidency in 2024. 

Among men, working-class Americans and African Americans, Trump’s approval ratings have 
dropped by close to 20 points since April 2025. 

Similar drops in support are also seen  among moderates (down 18 points) and independents (down 13 points), key constituencies in Trump’s victory and in the upcoming midterm election.”

Middle East: Four Israeli Soldiers Killed

Times of Israel reports:

Four Israeli soldiers were killed, and three others were wounded in a clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday, as the military continued to battle the Iran-backed terror group. Separately, a civilian was wounded by a rocket attack in the border community of Avivim.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF would remain in control of large swaths of southern Lebanon until the threat of Hezbollah is removed, and that “all homes in Lebanese villages near the border will be destroyed.”

The slain soldiers were named as Cpt. Noam Madmoni, 22, from Sderot; Staff Sgt. Ben Cohen, 21, from Lehavim; Staff Sgt. Maxsim Entis, 21, from Bat Yam; and Staff Sgt. Gilad Harel, 21, from Modiin.

Washington, D.C.: Judge Block's Trump's White House Addition

The Wall Street Journal reports:

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday blocked construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom.

Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s request to temporarily stop work during its legal fight over the 90,000-square-foot project.

Leon said the preservation group is likely to succeed in arguing Trump lacks the legal authority to build the ballroom without Congressional approval. “No statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,” he wrote. 

Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered construction stopped unless and until Congress blesses the estimated $400 million project, which is being funded with private donations funneled through the National Park Service.

Iraq: U.S. Journalist Kidnapped

France 24 reports:

An American journalist was kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the United States said, as regional security deteriorates following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The State Department said it had warned the journalist of security risks and was working to ensure the American's release "as soon as possible".

"An individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezballah believed to be involved in the kidnapping has been taken into custody by Iraqi authorities," Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X.

United Kingdom: "Revealed: Prince Harry’s flirty messages and ‘movie snuggles’ with reporter"

The Telegraph reports:

The Duke of Sussex sent a stream of personal Facebook messages to a journalist, joking about drinking her under the table and “movie snuggles”.

In conversations between December 2011 and January 2012, Prince Harry referred to Charlotte Griffiths, a Mail on Sunday reporter, as “sugar” and signed off with the word “mwah” and strings of kisses.

The messages were disclosed to the High Court as part of the Duke’s privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. They suggested the pair were on closer terms than the Duke had indicated.