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If you’re in need of some good and satisfying news, Chipotle has got you covered. The beloved burrito brand is bringing back its free burrito promotion for April 3rd’s National Burrito Day. According to the chain’s March 31 announcement, Chipotle Rewards members will once again be able to play the popular Burrito Vault game at UnlockBurritoDay.com. The game, which involves customers trying to guess exact burrito order combinations, is easy to play but comes with delicious prizes. Players will get four attempts to win BOGO (buy-one-get-one) codes. Each hour, the first 2,500 members to choose burrito orders with the correct ingredients will win free food. “Last year, our Burrito Vault drove unprecedented fan engagement that resulted in our highest digital transaction day of all time,” Chris Brandt, chief brand officer, said in the announcement. Now, we are giving them another chance to crack the code and score more free burritos.” In addition to the BOGO deals, Chipotle is also giving Rewards Members $0 delivery fee offer for orders placed on National Burrito Day. Customers just have to use the code DELIVER on Chipotle’s app or website. The reprised promotion comes shortly after rumors about Chipotle restaurants being shuttered have swirled online. Chipotle dispelled bankruptcy rumors in a statement to Good Morning America. The claim that Chipotle is closing restaurants is false, a spokesperson for Chipotle told the outlet. The false information stemmed from an inaccurate online article confusing Chipotle with a venture it tested in 2023. The story has since been corrected. Despite rumors about the brand’s demise, it seems the reverse is actually true. In February, Fast Company reported that Chipotle was breaking records in terms of its growth. In 2024, the brand opened 304 new restaurantsthe most in a single year for the chain.
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E-Commerce
As the deadline to strike a deal over TikTok approaches this week, President Donald Trump has signaled that he is confident his administration can broker an agreement with ByteDance, the social media app’s China-based parent company. Speaking with reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said that theres tremendous interest in TikTok.” He added that he would like to see TikTok remain alive. The president’s comments came less than one week before an April deadline requiring ByteDance to divest or face a ban in the United States. We have a lot of potential buyers, Trump said. Trump also said that the administration is dealing with China who also want it because they may have something to do with it. Last week, Trump said he would consider a reduction in tariffs on China if that countrys government approves a sale of TikToks operations in the U.S. Questions about the fate of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law requiring ByteDances divestment took effect on January 19. After taking office, Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5. During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok on national security grounds, which was halted by the courts before his administration negotiated a sale of the platform that eventually failed to materialize. He changed his position on the popular app during last years presidential election and has credited the platform with helping him win more young voters. I won the young vote by 36 points. Republicans generally don’t do very well with the young vote, he said Sunday. I think a lot of it could have been TikTok. Trump has said that the deadline on a TikTok deal could be extended further if needed. He previously proposed terms in which the U.S. would have a 50% stake in a joint venture. The administration hasnt provided details on what that type of deal would entail. TikTok and ByteDance have not publicly commented on the talks. Its also unclear if ByteDance has changed its position on selling TikTok, which it said early last year it does not plan to do. What will happen on April 5? If TikTok is not sold to an approved buyer by April 5, the original law that bans it nationwide would once again go into effect. However, the deadline for the executive order doesnt appear to be set in stone and the president has reiterated it could be extended further if needed. Trumps order came a few days after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal law that required ByteDance to divest or be banned in January. The day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users and came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban. The decision to keep TikTok alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court. Who wants to buy TikTok? Although its unclear if ByteDance plans to sell TikTok, several potential bidders have come forward in the past few months. Aides for Vice President JD Vance, who was tapped to oversee a potential deal, have reached out to some parties, such as the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, to get additional details about their bids, according to a person familiar with the matter. In January, Perplexity AI presented ByteDance with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexitys business with TikToks U.S. operation. Other potential bidders include a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium say theyve offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikToks U.S. platform. And if successful, they plan to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they say will provide users with more control over their online data. Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, says he too has organized a consortium, which includes the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and is offering ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok. Trump said in January that Microsoft was also eyeing the popular app. Other interested parties include Trumps former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Rumble, the video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups. In a post on X last March, Rumble said it was ready to join a consortium of parties interested in purchasing TikTok and serving as a tech partner for the company. Sarah Parvini, AP technology writer
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E-Commerce
Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by tariffsyes, back then, too!and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors’ longstanding political and economic alliances.“The unity of the three nations” was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. “A powerful message,” he called it.Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and President Donald Trump back in officeinciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying tariffs that come, then go, then return, with more promised, including what the Republican calls “reciprocal tariffs” starting Wednesday.It’s hard to know how, exactly, the current geopolitical fissures, made all the more stark every time Trump or those in his administration talk provocatively about making Canada the 51st state, might affect the World Cup, its organization and coordination, fans’ travel plans, and more.“Oh, I think it’s going to make it more exciting,” was Trump’s take during an Oval Office appearance with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last month. “Tension’s a good thing.” Will the world come to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics? Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFA’s Club World Cup in June, golf’s Ryder Cup in September, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: Will the world want to come?And, taking Trump’s border and visa policies into account, will the world be able to?Alan Rothenberg, who ran the 1994 World Cup and successfully oversaw the bid to host the 1999 Women’s World Cup as then-president of U.S. Soccer, thinks the answers to those questions are “Yes.” Pointing to concerns about the last two World Cups, in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, he noted those still attracted attendance totals above three million apiece.“People love the United States around the worldfrankly, we wouldn’t have the immigration issue that we’re dealing with if that weren’t the caseso a lot of this is government-to-government,” Rothenberg said. “A passionate soccer fan is not going to be held up by that.”He doesn’t think one of the host nations would drop out of the World Cup, say, or that other countries might boycott, as happened at the 1976, 1980, and 1984 Summer Olympics.“More than anything, they’ll see it as an opportunity for, perhaps, rapprochement, rather than escalating the tensions,” Rothenberg said.“Besides, from an organizing standpoint, if either Canada or Mexico withdrew” from the World Cup, he said, “the U.S. would pick up the games in a heartbeat.” Spectators booing the U.S. national anthem Still, as the White House stance on tariffs and Russia’s war in Ukraine have put Europe on edge, and relations with other countries have become fraught, it might not be a surprise if soccer stadiums for the U.S. games at the World Cup offer the same sort of anti-American sentiment heard when spectators in Canada booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off in February.FIFA, soccer’s governing body, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment, but Infantino has never hidden his admiration for Trump, which he often demonstrates via social media. They have met at least five times since the U.S. election in November.Last week, when Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committeebecoming the first woman in that positionshe was asked how she would work with Trump and what she would tell athletes about traveling to the U.S. for the next Games.“I have been dealing with, let’s say, difficult men, in high positions since I was 20 years old,” Coventry said with a chuckle, “and first and foremost, what I have learned is that communication will be key. That is something that will happen early on. And my firm belief is that President Trump is a huge lover of sports. He will want these Games to be significant. He will want them to be a success.”Referring to concerns about whether the administration might deny some athletes visas, she added: “We will not waver from our values . . . of solidarity in ensuring that every athlete that qualifies for the Olympic Games has the possibility to attend the Olympic Games and be safe during the Olympic Games.”The overriding assumption among those involved in the Olympics is that Trump will assure the 2028 Games are a success.As U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chairman Gene Sykes put it: “I can’t speak for him, but I think he’s the kind of person who probably believes that having these go very, very well is a reflection of his leadership.” Will Trump’s tariffs and other policies affect soccer’s World Cup? “The most likely outcome is that Trump’s nonsense won’t have an impact,” said Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist, an expert on the economics of sports.“My guess is that if relations between Canada and the U.S. deteriorate to the point that there are travel restrictions and spending restrictions,” Zimbalist said, “Trump wouldjust like he’s making exceptions all the time on his tariffs policiesmake an exception for a month or six weeks.”The U.S. and Canadian soccer federations declined AP requests for comment on how White House policies might affect the 2026 World Cup.Gabriela Cuevas, who represents Mexico’s government in meetings with FIFA, said she considers the tariffs and the soccer event “separate issues,” adding that she believes “the World Cup could be a route to engage in a conversation.”Observers tend to agree, saying logistics such as security cooperation or team transportation from city to cityor country to countryshould not be hampered when it comes to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.The borders might become an issue, though.“The main thing FIFA needs to move for this event is not car parts, and it’s not wheat, and it’s not electricity. It’s people. That’s your real concern,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.“What were previously pretty reasonable border crossings could become much more challenging, simply because both sides amp up their level of inspections and the United States, in particular, cuts down government services that allow people to move effectively between countries.”As for the fans, 29-year-old Mexican businessman German Camacho Pacheco said “soccer is religion” in is country, so when it comes to the World Cup, “I don’t think they care about tariffs.”Camacho, wearing the Monterrey club jersey of defender Sergio Ramos while on the way to watch a game at a sports bar in Mexico City, said he doesn’t expect there to be any effect at all on the World Cup “unless this goes from a trade war to an actual war.” AP writers Greg Beacham in Inglewood, California; Nancy Benac in Washington; Ronald Blum in New York; Graham Dunbar in Costa Navarino, Greece; Eddie Pells in Denver; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon, and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed. Howard Fendrich is an AP national writer. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports Howard Fendrich, AP National Writer
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E-Commerce
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