National Public Radio and three local stations filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Donald Trump, arguing that an executive order aimed at cutting federal funding for the organization is illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington by NPR, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc. argues that Trump’s executive order to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR violates the First Amendment.
Here's the latest:
US stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students while it expands social media vetting
The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.
A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who had previously scheduled interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document.
A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.
▶ Read more about the suspension
DC mayor unveils business-friendly budget to counter $1B shortfall created by Trump’s federal downsizing campaign
With the nation’s capital facing a pair of overlapping budget crises, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a budget proposal that bets heavily on business-friendly policies designed to boost investment and move the city away from dependence on a dwindling number of federal jobs.
In the short term, Bowser’s team has been scrambling to fill an immediate budget shortfall that was essentially created by Congress. In the longer term, her government faces an estimated $1 billion shortfall over the next three years created by Trump’s ongoing campaign to radically shrink the federal workforce.
The city’s chief financial officer has estimated that 40,000 jobs for D.C. residents will ultimately be lost.
▶ Read more about the budget proposal
Trump is set to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
The White House says Donald Trump is set to pardon reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, the couple famous for “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed their tightly knit family and extravagant lifestyle.
A jury in 2022 found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys were also found guilty of tax evasion by hiding their earnings.
In a social media post Tuesday, the White House said Trump called the Chrisley family and said “he will be granting full pardons,” adding, “Trump Knows Best!”
▶ Read more about Trump’s plan to pardon the Chrisleys
Judge blocks Trump order targeting law firm of WilmerHale
A third White House executive order targeting a major law firm has been struck down.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Tuesday in favor of the WilmerHale law firm in holding that an executive order that sought to punish its lawyers was unconstitutional.
The ruling is yet another setback to Trump’s retribution campaign against the legal profession, coming just days after a different judge blocked a separate order against another firm, Jenner & Block.
In his holding, Leon wrote that the “cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting.”
▶ Read more about the setback to Trump’s campaign against law firms
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt judge’s order on deportations to South Sudan
The emergency appeal Tuesday came after a judge found the White House violated a court order with a deportation flight to the chaotic African nation carrying people from other countries who had been convicted of crimes in the U.S.
Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found that the White House had “unquestionably” violated his earlier order that people must be given a chance to raise objections before being sent to another country that would put them in danger, even if they’ve otherwise exhausted their legal appeals.
The administration says the order has wrongly stalled its efforts to carry out deportations of migrants who can’t be returned to their home countries.
▶ Read more about the emergency appeal
State Department defends US-backed private Gaza aid initiative
The State Department is dismissing concerns about deliveries of humanitarian assistance into Gaza by a U.S.-backed private initiative that bypasses the United Nations and established aid organizations.
Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that such concerns were unfounded and that the most important priority is getting aid into Gaza, no matter who is delivering it. She also blamed Hamas for trying to stop convoys organized by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from getting to distribution centers.
“They have attempted to stop the aid movement through Gaza to these distribution centers,” she said. “They have failed, but they certainly tried. The bottom line is the real story here is that the aid is moving through, and, in that kind of environment, it’s not surprising that there might be a few issues involved.”
UN agencies, like the World Food Program and the Palestinian refugee agency, along with other nongovernmental organizations, have questioned the efficiency and intent of the foundation’s work.
Judge accuses Trump administration of manufacturing chaos in deportation case
A federal judge says he’s given the Trump administration “remarkable flexibility” in a case overseeing how the government can deport people to countries they’re not from.
But in a court order Monday, Judge Brian Murphy suggested the government was evading his decisions.
“From the course of conduct, it is hard to come to any conclusion other than that Defendants invite a lack of clarity as a means of evasion,” Murphy wrote, also noting that he hopes “reason can get the better of rhetoric.”
The Trump administration has tried to deport immigrants who cannot be sent to their home countries for various reasons to third countries.
But immigration advocates sued, saying the government wasn’t giving them the opportunity to protest hastily arranged attempts to deport them to countries such as Libya and South Sudan.
▶ Read more about the case
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to travel to Singapore for Indo-Pacific Security Conference
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will head to Singapore on Wednesday to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The annual conference brings military and government representatives from around the world, but the focus is normally on whether China’s defense delegation will attend and whether the Chinese minister will meet with his U.S. counterpart.
Last year, China’s defense minister, Dong Jun, met with then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the conference’s sidelines. Dong isn’t expected to attend this year’s event, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that hadn’t been announced publicly.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have risen over potential triple-digit tariffs the Trump administration is poised to place on Beijing.
Defense Department workers told they no longer have to submit DOGE’s ‘five things’ reports
Defense Department civilian employees were told in an email Friday that they no longer have to submit the weekly “five things” bulleted reports that were required by former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk in the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term.
In the email to the defense civilian workforce about the end of the “five bullet exercise,” Jay Hurst, who is performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, asked each employee by Wednesday to submit at least one idea to help improve the Defense Department’s efficiency or root out waste instead.
Workers had been required to submit weekly reports justifying their employment by listing five things they did during the previous week.
Other government agencies have also phased out the bullet points.
Trump threatens to hold up federal funding for California over transgender athlete in women’s sports
Trump said he’s taking the step because California, under Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, “continues to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’”
In a post on his social media site, the Republican president cited the case of California high school junior AB Hernandez, who competes in girls track and field. Hernandez won titles in the triple and long jump this month during the CIF Southern Section high school track and field postseason.
Trump said Hernandez’s participation “IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS.”
He said “large scale” federal funding to California will be held up, possibly permanently, if the state doesn’t comply with an executive order he signed in February to bar such athletes from female sports.
Trump noted Newsom’s own statement earlier this year that allowing transgender women and girls to compete in female sports is “deeply unfair.” Trump said he would speak with Newsom later Tuesday to “find out which way he wants to go.”
California law, enacted before Newsom became governor, requires schools to allow transgender athletes to play on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
UK ambassador: ‘We’ve lived in a fantasy created by the US security guarantee’
Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. says Europe must become less militarily dependent on the U.S., even as allies on both sides of the Atlantic cooperate when it comes to countering Russia and China.
“We’ve lived in a fantasy created by the U.S. security guarantee, complacent that a friendly heavyweight across the water would be always there when the going gets tough,” Ambassador Peter Mandelson said during a speech at the Atlantic Council’s Washington office. “I think President Trump is doing Europe a favor by confronting us with this reality.”
At the same time, Britain and America must remain “inseparably linked” when it comes to countering shared threats from China and Russia, he said.
Trump Media says investors will fund a company ‘bitcoin reserve’ through share purchases
President Trump’s media company said Tuesday that institutional investors will buy $2.5 billion in the company’s stock with the proceeds going to build up a bitcoin reserve.
About 50 institutional investors will put up $1.5 billion in the private placement for common shares in the company and another $1 billion for convertible senior notes, according to Trump Media and Technology Group, the operator of Truth Social and other companies.
Trump Media said it intends to use the proceeds for the creation of a “bitcoin treasury.”
Trump, who referred to cryptocurrencies in his first term as “not money,” citing volatility and a value “based on thin air,” has shifted his views on the technology.
During an event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida during his presidential campaign in May 2024, Trump received assurances that crypto industry backers would spend lavishly to get him reelected.
Last week, Trump rewarded 220 of the top investors in one of his other cryptocurrency projects — the $Trump meme coin —with a swanky dinner luxury golf club in Northern Virginia.
US consumer confidence rebounds after five straight months of declines due to tariff anxiety
Americans’ views of the economy improved in May after five straight months of declines sent consumer confidence to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020.
A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market jumped 17.4 points to 72.8, but remained below 80, which can signal a recession ahead.
The proportion of consumers surveyed saying they think a U.S. recession is coming in the next 12 months also declined from April.
▶ Read more about consumer confidence in the U.S.
Trump cites progress in trade talks with European Union
Trump says there’s progress on trade talks with the European Union as new dates are being set for meetings.
In a post on his social media site, the president credited his threat late last week of 50% import taxes on European goods starting June 1 as helping to accelerate talks, even though the EU has been offering for several weeks to remove all tariffs.
Trump said Sunday that he’ll delay implementing the 50% tariff to June 9 to allow for negotiations.
Wall Street opens higher following tariff delay on Europe
Wall Street is climbing as the roller-coaster ride created by Trump’s trade policies whips back upward, this time because of a temporary pause for tariffs on the European Union.
The S&P 500 was 1.2% higher early Tuesday, its first trading since Trump said Sunday that the United States will delay a 50% tariff on goods coming from the European Union until July 9 from June 1.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 400 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.5% higher. They’re on track to more than recover their losses from Friday, when Trump announced the tariffs.
▶ Read more about the financial markets
NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut finding to public media
National Public Radio and three local stations filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Trump, arguing that an executive order aimed at cutting federal funding for the organization is illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington by NPR, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc. argues Trump’s executive order to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR violates the First Amendment.
Trump issued the executive order earlier this month that instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. Trump issued the order after alleging there’s “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.
“The Order’s objectives could not be clearer: the Order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the President dislikes and chill the free exercise of First Amendment rights by NPR and individual public radio stations across the country,” the lawsuit alleges.
▶ Read more about NPR’s lawsuit against the Trump administration
US envoy to Ukraine says Vatican is out as site for talks on ending Russia-Ukraine war
Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, said the Russians don’t want to go to the Vatican.
“We would have liked to have it at the Vatican and we were pretty set to do something like that, but the Russians didn’t want to go there, to the Vatican, so I think Geneva may be the next stop,” Kellogg said in an interview Tuesday on Fox News Channel.
Trump had said last week after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Vatican had expressed interest in hosting the negotiations, though there was no confirmation that any talks had been scheduled.
Kellogg also said Russia has yet to deliver a memorandum that Putin said Moscow would work on with Ukraine to draft a framework for a possible future peace treaty.
Trump administration moves to cut federal contracts for Harvard
The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to cancel remaining contracts with Harvard University, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the administration’s demands for changes to several of its policies.
Cuts to contracts could take away millions more from Harvard’s budget.
A draft letter from the General Services Administration directs agencies to review contracts with the university and seek alternate vendors. The administration is planning to send a version of the letter Tuesday, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
The New York Times first reported on the letter.
— Darlene Superville
Trump’s Tuesday schedule, according to the White House
The president has no public events schedule for Tuesday, according to the White House.
Amid Trump-Harvard dispute, Hong Kong seeks to enroll international students
Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said Tuesday the city would welcome any students who’ve been discriminated against by the U.S. policy, days after the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.
Last Friday, a U.S. federal judge blocked the U.S. government from cutting off Harvard’s enrollment of foreign students, an action the Ivy League school decried as unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.
Lee said in a weekly press briefing that the government and eight of the city’s universities will do their best to assist any students who suffered from “discriminatory and unfair treatment” in finding a way to study in Hong Kong. He said if necessary, he would consider raising the enrollment quotas for nonlocal students in these universities.
Trump targeted Democrats over questionable online fundraising. His campaign has similar issues
When Trump directed his attorney general last month to investigate online fundraising, he cited concerns that foreigners and fraudsters were using elaborate “schemes“ and “dummy accounts” to funnel illegal contributions to politicians and causes.
Instead of calling for an expansive probe, however, the president identified just one potential target: ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising juggernaut, which has acknowledged receiving over 200 potentially illicit contributions last year from foreign internet addresses.
Trump’s announcement contained a glaring omission — his political committees also received scores of potentially problematic contributions.
An Associated Press review of donations to Trump over the past five years found 1,600 contributions from donors who live abroad, have close ties to foreign interests or failed to disclose basic information, often making it difficult, if not impossible, to identify them and verify the legality of their donations.
Among those was $5,000 linked to a derelict building, and $5,000 from a Chinese business owner who listed a La Quinta Inn as his address. Another sizable donation — $1 million — was made by the wife of an African oil and mining magnate.
▶ Read more about the AP’s findings
Here’s what a Texas oil executive from DOGE is doing inside the Interior Department
A Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team has been given sweeping powers to overhaul the federal department that manages vast tracts of resource-rich public lands, but he hasn’t divested his energy investments or filed an ethics commitment to break ties with companies that pose a conflict of interest, records show.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently directed Tyler Hassen, who lacks Senate confirmation and has no public administration experience, to reorganize the Interior Department, which oversees some 70,000 employees in 11 agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Before joining DOGE, Hassen spent nearly two decades as an executive at Basin Holdings, an enterprise involved in the manufacture, sale and servicing of oil rigs worldwide. A financial disclosure report obtained by the AP shows Hassen made millions annually from these companies, owned by John Fitzgibbons — an industry giant who is well-connected in Russia.
▶ Read more about Hassen
Major headlines from the weekend
Catching up on the news from the holiday weekend? Here are some of the headlines
1. Trump has targeted Democrats over questionable online fundraising. His campaign has similar issues
2. Trump says he will pardon a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted of federal bribery charges
3. Trump indicates progress with Iran and hints at an announcement on nuclear talks
4. Trump says Russian leader Vladimir Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!”and is “needlessly killing a lot of people”
5. Trump walks back on June start date for EU tariffs, says he’ll delay them until July
6. Trump’s speech to West Point graduates mixes praise, politics and grievances
The Associated Press
