Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, is meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, a week after winning the job with a promise to confront the increased aggression shown by Trump.
As the two countries struggle to resolve Trump’s trade war, the U.S. displayed his unique mix of graciousness and discourtesy. Shortly before Carney’s arrival, Trump said on social media that the United States didn’t need “ANYTHING” from its northern neighbor — a theme he revisited in the Oval Office alongside efforts to show warmth.
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Supreme Court allows Trump ban on transgender members of the military to take effect, for now
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed.
The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.
The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.
Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the Republican president’s actions was an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” and is harmful to military readiness.
Critic of drug industry and COVID-19 measures to lead FDA vaccine program
Dr. Vinay Prasad, a prominent critic of the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration, has been named to oversee the health agency’s program for vaccines and biotech drugs.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced the appointment Tuesday in a message to agency staff, praising Prasad’s “long and distinguished history in medicine.”
Prasad is the latest in a series of medical contrarians and critics of COVID-19 measures to join the federal government under President Trump.
Unlike political roles such as FDA commissioner, the job Prasad is stepping into has traditionally been held by an FDA career scientist. His appointment raises new questions about whether vaccines and other new therapies will face additional scrutiny from regulators.
Prasad replaces Dr. Peter Marks, FDA’s longtime vaccine chief who resigned in March after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over concerns about the safety of vaccinations.
Rwanda says it’s talking with the US about taking in third-country deportees. Here’s why
Rwanda drew international attention, and some outrage, by agreeing to take in Britain’s rejected asylum-seekers in a plan that collapsed last year. Now Rwanda says it is talking with the Trump administration about a similar idea — and it might find more success.
The negotiations mark an expansion in U.S. efforts to deport people to countries other than their own. It has sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama but has yet to announce any major deals with governments in Africa, Asia or Europe.
Rwanda has argued that despite being one of Africa’s most densely populated countries, it has space to help alleviate what many countries in Europe — and the United States — consider to be a growing problem with unwanted migrants.
▶ Read more about Rwanda and third-country deportees
US trade deficit hits record high as businesses, consumers try to get ahead of Trump tariffs
The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of the president’s latest and most sweeping tariffs, with federal data showing an enormous stockpiling of pharmaceutical products.
The deficit — which measures the gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. sells abroad against what it buys — has roughly doubled over the last year. In March 2024, Commerce Department records show, that gap was just under $68.6 billion.
According to federal data released Tuesday, exports for goods and services totaled about $278.5 billion in March, while imports climbed to nearly $419 billion. That’s up $0.5 billion and $17.8 billion, respectively, from February trade.
Consumer goods led the imports surge — increasing by $22.5 billion in March. And pharma products in particular climbed $20.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis noted, signaling fears about future levies.
Key Republican says he won’t back Trump’s pick for top DC prosecutor because of Jan. 6 ties
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis says he has told the White House he will not support Ed Martin, Trump's pickfor top federal prosecutor in Washington, stalling the nomination in the Senate weeks before the temporary appointment expires.
The North Carolina Republican told reporters Tuesday that he met with Martin and opposes the nomination because of his defense of rioters who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin, a leading figure in Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 election, spoke at a rally on the eve of the violent riot and represented defendants who were prosecuted for the attack.
“We have to be very, very clear that what happened on Jan. 6th was wrong,” Tillis said. “It was not prompted. It was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision, and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol.”
Disabled workers have faced prejudice. Now they face DOGE firings
For decades the federal government has positioned itself as committed to inclusive hiring and long-term retention across agencies. But as mass layoffs ripple through the federal workforce under President Trump’s administration, disabled employees are among those being let go.
Amid the firings, rollbacks of accommodation guidance for businesses and skepticism of disability inclusion practices, advocates and experts wonder if the government’s status as a “model employer” will hold true.
Trump has said he ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs because people should be hired based on work quality and merit alone.
However, under Schedule A, candidates already have to be qualified for the position with or without an accommodation. They don’t get a job solely because they have a disability.
Disability advocates point to a slew of statements from Trump administration officials that indicate they view disabled workers as a liability.
▶ Read more about disabled workers in government
Second judge rules that Trump’s use of 18th century wartime act was improper
Trump used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for only the fourth time in history, declaring that a Venezuelan gang had invaded the United States and its alleged members could be deported without regular legal process.
A Trump-appointed judge in Texas last week ruled the act can’t be used against a gang. On Tuesday, District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York came to the same conclusion.
The gang, Hellerstein wrote, “may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion.”
The media is dismissed as Carney’s White House visit continues
The appearance with Carney grew increasingly uncomfortable as it continued, with Trump repeatedly asserting that the United States has been “subsidizing Canada.”
But the meeting never devolved like an earlier encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We had another little blow up with someone else,” Trump said. This is a very friendly conversation.”
Trump digs at Democrats during his meeting with Carney
Trump, a former real estate developer, offered during the meeting with Carney to help former President Barack Obama build his presidential library.
Obama left office in 2009. His library is under construction in Chicago. Trump said it’s taking too long and that, in and of itself, is “bad for the presidency.”
“If he wanted help, I’d give him help,” Trump said of Obama. “I’m a really good builder.”
Trump also criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom over a project to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco by rail, calling it “the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen.”
Carney finally gets a word in
As Trump went on a long aside about former President Barack Obama’s presidential library and California water issues before veering back to trade, Carney kept trying to get a word in, raising his hand about half a dozen times to try to interject.
Trump kept talking as reporters fired questions, holding forth with extended answers.
When the Canadian leader finally got to speak, he addressed Trump’s repeated needling about making Canada a 51st U.S. state and said, “Respectfully, Canadians’ view on this is not going to change.”
Trump talks more on tariffs
Trump continued his tough talk on tariffs, saying other countries need to deal with the United States.
“They want a piece of our market,” he said. “We don’t care about their market.”
He also said that other nations “think of us as a super luxury store, a store that has the goods.”
Trump also said that China wants to meet for trade talks. He didn’t offer details but asserted that the Chinese are not doing business and that ships full of goods from China are turning around the Pacific Ocean.
Friendly vibe shrouds Trump’s meeting with Canada’s new leader
Trump had a lot of praise for Carney, despite the president’s desire to make Canada the 51st state in the U.S.
He complimented Carney on winning election and said Carney had helped himself with the debate.
“I think Canada chose a very talented person, a very good person,” Trump said.
At another point, when asked concessions he wants from Canada, Trump replied, “friendship.”
And at still another point in the Oval Office meeting, Trump said: “I love Canada.”
Carney rebuffs Trump’s Oval Office push for 51st state, says Canada ‘won’t be for sale, ever’
Trump said he was still interested in making Canada the 51st state, although he admitted “it takes two to tango.”
“It would really be a wonderful marriage,” the president said.
Carney responded by telling Trump that “as you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.”
The White House and Buckingham Palace aren’t, he said, and Canada is “not for sale, it won’t be for sale, ever.”
“Never say never,” Trump said. Carney smiled and mouthed “never, never, never.”
Trump teases a ‘very, very big announcement’
The president told reporters that he will make his mystery announcement Thursday or Friday before his trip to the Middle East next week, though it wasn’t clear if the announcement was related to the trip.
Trump wouldn’t say what the announcement was about but said it will be “one of the most important announcements” that have been made in many years “about a certain subject.”
Trump says US is halting airstrikes on Houthis rebels in Yemen
Trump says he’s calling off any more air strikes against Yemen’s Houthis, saying the rebel faction has ‘capitulated’ and doesn’t want to fight anymore.
In March, Trump’s administration launched strikes against Houthis rebels. But he told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, “We will stop the bombings. They have capitulated but more importantly, we will take their word.”
The president added, “I think that’s very positive. They were knocking out a lot of ships.”
Meeting between Trump and Carney begins
Trump graciously welcomed Carney to the Oval Office, praising him as “a very talented person, a very good person.”
The U.S. leader said Carney’s comeback victory in Canada’s recent election was “maybe even greater than mine.”
Trump also gestured to the upgrades that he’s made to the Oval Office, saying it was renovated with “great love and 24 karat gold — that always helps too.”
Carney opened by saying, “Mr. President, I’m on the edge of my seat.”
Canada’s new prime minister arrives at the White House for Trump meeting
Carney received a handshake and a couple of shoulder pats from the U.S. president.
Trump then turned toward the news media and did a fist pump, which Carney then emulated with a fist pump of his own.
The two leaders then entered the White House without exchanging any words for the gathered reporters.
Before Carney’s arrival, Trump expressed doubts on social media about the benefits of an economic relationship with Canada.
It’s a position that defies the underlying economic data as the United States depends on oil produced in Canada, in addition to an array of other goods that cross border trade makes more affordable in ways that benefit growth.
Just before Canadian PM arrives at White House, Trump says US doesn’t need Canada
Just before meeting Carney, Trump posted on social media that the U.S. doesn’t need autos, energy, lumber or “ANYTHING” from the United States’ northern neighbor.
“I very much want to work with him, but cannot understand one simple TRUTH — Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?” Trump posted on Truth Social.
While Trump said he still welcomes Canada’s friendship and hopes to maintain it, he’s indicating despite economic data to the contrary that the United States would be fine without Canada.
“The Prime Minister will be arriving shortly and that will be, most likely, my only question of consequence,” Trump posted.
Homeland Security secretary says ‘people will be allowed to fly’ even without REAL ID
Kristi Noem told a Congressional panel Tuesday that travelers who miss Wednesday’s deadline to get the more secure ID cards should be prepared for extra scrutiny, but “we will make sure it’s as seamless as possible.”
Noem said 81% of travelers already have IDs that comply, and passports and tribal identification will be accepted at checkpoints.
Travelers who aren’t REAL ID compliant “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step,” she said.
Implementation of the REAL ID, a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card, has been repeatedly delayed since it was recommended by the 9/11 Commission and signed into law in 2005.
Treasury secretary says the United States ‘will not default’
Scott Bessent is testifying on the Hill this morning for the first time since his confirmation in January.
On the table for questions are tariffs, taxes, layoffs at the IRS, Department of Government Efficiency access to IRS data, national finances and more.
Bessent said the U.S. and China “have not engaged in negotiations” but “as early as this week” the U.S. will be announcing trade deals with some of the U.S.′ largest trading partners.
Bessent also spoke about America’s upcoming default date — what officials are calling the “X-date.”
“Just as an outfielder running for a fly ball, we are on the warning track. When you’re on the warning track, it means the wall is not that far away,” he said. He added, however, that the U.S. “will not default.”
Republican member of Congress praises program cut by Trump administration
A Republican member of Congress says there’s “strong bipartisan support” for a program designed to help communities protect against natural disasters and climate change.
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program was eliminated by the Trump administration in April.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma told Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a hearing Tuesday that the BRIC program has been “extraordinarily helpful.” He said he wants to know more about the department’s plans to “reform those grants.”
US stocks sink again as more companies detail damage from Trump’s trade war
Artificial intelligence mania is losing more steam and more companies are scrubbing forecasts amid Trump’s tariffs uncertainty.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite were down more than 1% in morning trading. Palantir Technologies, which offers an AI platform for customers, was falling 13.5%, and Nvidia was down 2.4%.
1. CEO Linda Rendle said Clorox, down 5.3%, is seeing shoppers change behavior and expects slowdowns to continue
2. DoorDashfell 8.5% after reporting weaker-than-expected revenue
3. Toymaker Mattel was swinging between losses and gains after “pausing” financial forecasts, saying the “evolving U.S. tariff landscape” makes it too hard to predict this year’s gift-buying
4. Ford Motor is expecting to take a $1.5 billion hit and joined a lengthening list of companies cancelling forecasts
House speaker responds to Trump’s ‘fewer dolls’ statement
Reporters caught up with Mike Johnson in a Capitol hallway on Monday, and one asked about Trump saying that some kids may have fewer dolls or pencils and stroller prices may go up as a result of his tariffs policy.
“Is that the message that you want to send to the American public?” the Republican leader was asked.
“We had to disrupt the system and we’re gonna have the desired results,” Johnson responded. “So whatever short term of disruption there is or or discomfort, I think what he’s trying to say there, I think, is that it will well pay off in the long run and I think that will happen sooner than many people anticipate.”
Trump isn’t backing down against media coverage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia deportation
Despicable. Unpatriotic. All wrong. No credibility. Sensationalistic. Disgusting.
All labels that Trump or his loyalists have used to describe media coverage of his administration’s deportation of the asylum-seeker in Maryland to a Salvadoran prison.
With media covering Abrego Garcia’s removal as a test case about the absence of due process, the White House has attacked the man’s character and said he shouldn’t be allowed to stay, said Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of Hofstra University’s communication school.
“The song is the same,” said former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno, “but the volume is a lot louder.
▶ Read more about media coverage of the White House
One of Trump’s golf courses in Scotland to host a European tour event
Trump International Golf Links Scotland will stage the Scottish Championship from Aug. 7-10 after being added to the 2025 schedule by the tour on Tuesday. The course also will return as a seniors tour host.
Trump Organization vice president Eric Trump called these back-to-back events a “significant milestone.” The course has a panoramic view of offshore wind turbines that Trump has criticized as “unsightly” view-spoilers for his luxury guests.
The other course, Trump Turnberry, hasn’t staged a British Open since 2009, despite Trump’s lobbying.
Carney said he’ll fight for Canada ahead of Trump meeting. Some said he should have stayed home
These Oval Office meetings have been challenging for world leaders. The United Kingdom’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, engaged in a charm offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was met by Trump with anger.
“We’ve seen what he does. We saw what he did with Zelenskyy,” said Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto. “He would sure as hell try to do the same with Carney. It’s not in Carney’s interest. It’s not in Canada’s interest.”
Carney said ahead of Tuesday’s Oval Office encounter that he was elected specifically to “stand up” to the U.S. president, and that he expected they’ll have “difficult” but “constructive” conversations at their White House lunch.
A bipartisan group of Trump critics launches the ‘Cost Coalition’
According to preliminary plans shared with The Associated Press, the coalition’s messaging will include paid advertising, social media, press interviews and on-the-ground events with small business leaders, veterans and the faith community ahead of key elections.
Republican Terry Holt and Democrat Andrew Bates, both former presidential spokespersons, will lead communications. The nonprofit with a hybrid political action committee won’t have to publicly disclose all its funding sources.
“In 100 days, Donald Trump put the best-performing economy in the world on a crash course toward recession. Trump’s tariffs — the biggest middle class tax hike in modern history — are making everyday prices skyrocket and wreaking havoc for businesses large and small,” Holt and Bates said in a joint statement. “Next up are grossly inflationary tax cuts for the wealthy that will only saddle future generations with staggering debt.”
▶ Read more about the Cost Coalition
White House won’t say who paid $1.5 million a plate for Trump dinner
Trump hosted a closed-door “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” fundraiser sponsored by his MAGA Inc. super PAC at his golf club outside Washington Monday night.
An invitation to the event that circulated online instructed invitees to pay $1.5 million per person to attend. The White House did not provide a list of attendees.
The super PAC eventually will be required to list donors in its regular public disclosures, but whether the public will ever know who bought their way into the meme coin dinner with the president is unclear. Unlike political donations that must be publicly reported, there’s no disclosure requirement for meme coin buyers.
Wall Street falls for a second day ahead of Federal Reserve meeting
Wall Street is pointing toward losses Tuesday as the Federal Reserve navigates the opposing challenges of potential inflation and a softening employment landscape. Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all retreated in early trading.
The Fed is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady as Trump’s tariffs raise concerns that inflation could surge again. The U.S. economy shrank 0.3% in the first quarter, the first drop in three years.
After enormous sell-offs with the market roiling from back-and-forth tariff announcements from the White House, Wall Street had been on a nine-day winning streak, but that momentum lost steam Monday as more U.S. corporations said there’s too much uncertainty to predict future revenues.
▶ Read more about today’s financial market developments
What’s in Trump’s big bill? Money for migrant clampdown but tax breaks and program cuts hit ‘bumps’
Congress is deep into drafting Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but it’s “bumpy,” one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day.
In fact, the tax cuts portion is still a work in progress. As are the reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other mainstay government programs. Mostly, the Republicans, who have the majority in Congress, have made progress on parts that would increase spending, adding some $350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security, including money for the U.S-Mexico border wall.
All told, some 11 committees in the House are compiling their bills, and about half have finished up.
Once all the committees are done, the different pieces of legislation will be rolled together at the Budget Committee into what Trump calls “one big, beautiful bill.”
▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s spending bill
Trump administration says Harvard will receive no new grants until it meets White House demands
Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from Trump’s administration, the Education Department announced Monday.
The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard’s president and amounts to a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy League school. The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.
Harvard has pushed back on the administration’s demands, setting up a closely watched clash in Trump’s attempt to force change at universities that he says have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.
In a press call, an Education Department official said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it “demonstrates responsible management of the university” and satisfies federal demands on a range of subjects. The ban applies to federal research grants and not to federal financial aid that helps students cover college tuition and fees.
▶ Read more about the clash between Harvard and Trump
Judge orders Trump administration to admit roughly 12,000 refugees
A judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to admit some 12,000 refugees into the United States under a court order partially blocking the president’s efforts to suspend the nation’s refugee admissions program.
The order from U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead followed arguments from the Justice Department and refugee resettlement agencies over how to interpret a federal appeals court ruling that significantly narrowed an earlier decision from Whitehead.
The refugee program, created by Congress in 1980, is a form of legal migration to the U.S. for people displaced by war, natural disaster or persecution — a process that often takes years and involves significant vetting. It is different from asylum, by which people newly arrived in the U.S. can seek permission to remain because they fear persecution in their home country.
Upon beginning his second term on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the program.
▶ Read more about the judge’s order
The federal Bureau of Prisons has lots of problems. Reopening Alcatraz is now one of them
Even as the Bureau of Prisons struggles with short staffing, chronic violence and crumbling infrastructure at its current facilities, Trump is counting on the agency to fulfill his vision of rebooting the infamously inescapable prison known in movies and pop culture as “The Rock.”
People tour the main cell house on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, March 15, 2021, as the historic island prison was reopened to visitors after being closed since Dec. 2020, because of the coronavirus threat. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
Trump declared in a social media post Sunday that a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” Alcatraz will house the nation’s “most ruthless and violent Offenders.” It will “serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Newly appointed Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III said Monday that the agency “will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda” and that he has ordered “an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps.”
“USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice,” Marshall said in a statement, echoing Trump’s post. “We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s vow to reopen Alcatraz
The Associated Press
