The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to halt a judge’s order allowing migrants to challenge their deportations to South Sudan.
The emergency appeal 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 US.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.
Here’s how the day unfolded.
/endIntro
Federal agents make arrests at Massachusetts immigration courthouses — 9:25 p.m.
By Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Globe Staff
Mauricio got a quick and frantic call from his wife on Tuesday afternoon. She was crying. Immigration agents had surrounded her in the hallway after her immigration court hearing in Boston, put her in handcuffs, and arrested her, he said.
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He left his shift at work, and rushed over to the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in downtown Boston in hopes of finding her. But as he roamed the now-empty immigration court hallway on the 3rd floor, just after 4p.m., reality started to sink in: His wife had already been whisked away, and he had no idea where she was.
“They can’t be taking people like that, like they don’t have any rights,” Mauricio said as he stood, dazed, outside of the courtroom where his wife had sat before a judge just about an hour earlier. “We’re all human, and we are trying to do things the right way. We are not hiding.”
The woman’s arrest in Boston is an example of the turmoil that played out in immigration courts across the country in the past week, as the Trump administration continues to pursue its campaign promise of mass deportations — now using a new tactic of apprehending people at immigration courthouses.
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Mass. Democrats warn of harm to hospitals, health care under Trump budget proposal — 8:23 p.m.
By Jason Laughlin, Globe Staff
The Republican budget bill that passed the House last week would cause health care chaos and a massive transfer of wealth to the rich, Massachusetts’ leading Democrats argued Tuesday as the party mobilized a nationwide bid to derail the legislation.
The budget bill, which now awaits a vote in the Senate, could cost the state $1.75 billion in federal support, deprive a quarter of a million people of health insurance, and threaten the existence of already strained hospitals and health centers in the state, according to the lawmakers.
“It really is just a blunt force axe,” said Governor Maura Healey during a news conference at a Cambridge Health Alliance community health center in Revere. “It’s going to fall here on a lot of people in Massachusetts.”
The CDC now says healthy kids don’t need COVID shots. Is that true? — 8:18 p.m.
By the New York Times
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer advise that healthy children receive routine COVID-19 shots, a significant departure from its previous approach of suggesting annual shots for everyone age 6 months and older.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the change on the social platform X on Tuesday, citing a lack of data to support vaccines for healthy children. The move echoes his long-standing skepticism about the need to vaccinate children against the virus. Kennedy, who as health secretary oversees the CDC, has repeatedly said that children are at almost no risk from COVID.
It’s true that for many children, a case of COVID will be inconsequential. They might have a runny nose, a cough or other mild symptoms, if any at all, and bounce back within a few days. But some children do become seriously ill and, in rare cases, die from their infections. And data shows that more than 1 million U.S. children have developed long COVID.
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That discrepancy is at the root of a continuing debate among medical researchers about just how much of a risk COVID poses to children, and whether they should receive annual vaccines against it.
Trump is getting his military parade in Washington. On his birthday. — 7:47 p.m.
By the New York Times
In President Donald Trump’s first term, the Pentagon opposed his desire for a military parade in Washington, wanting to keep the armed forces out of politics.
But in Trump’s second term, that guardrail has vanished. There will be a parade this year, and on the president’s 79th birthday, no less.
The current plan involves a tremendous scene in the center of Washington: 28 M1A1 Abrams tanks (at 70 tons each for the heaviest in service); 28 Stryker armored personnel carriers; more than 100 other vehicles; a World War II-era B-25 bomber; 6,700 soldiers; 50 helicopters; 34 horses; two mules; and a dog. Critics say it is another example of how Trump has politicized the military.
The Army estimates the cost at $25 million to $45 million. But it could be higher because the Army has promised to fix any city streets that the parade damages, plus the cost of cleanup and police are not yet part of the estimate.
The Army is not calling the event a birthday parade for Trump. It is the Army’s birthday parade. The Continental Army was officially formed on June 14, 1775, so June 14 will mark 250 years.
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That also happens to be Trump’s birthday.
Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records — 7:34 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The Trump administration accused North Carolina’s election board on Tuesday of violating federal law by failing to ensure voter registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers.
The Justice Department sued in federal court also asking a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers.
The department alleges that the state and the board aren’t complying with the 2003 Help America Vote Act after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that didn’t make clear an applicant must provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. If an applicant lacks neither, the state must assign the person another unique number.
A previous edition of the state board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after some voters complained. The board updated the form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers.
According to the lawsuit, the board indicated that such information would be accumulated on an ad hoc basis as voters appeared at polling places. It’s unclear exactly how many voters’ records still lack identifying numbers.
Lawyers from the department’s Civil Rights Division contend the board must act more aggressively. They want a judge to give the state 30 days to contact voters with records that don’t comply with federal law, obtain an identifying number for each and add that to the electronic list.
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The litigation follows similar efforts by the Republican Party and a state GOP candidate to address the registration records for the 2024 election.
Republican calls for Russia sanctions intensify amid escalating strikes — 6:58 p.m.
By the New York Times
A small but vocal group of Republicans in Congress is pushing to escalate pressure on Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, diverging sharply from President Trump’s conciliatory stance after months of staying mostly quiet and deferring to his hands-off approach.
The shift intensified over the weekend in the wake of Russia’s most aggressive wave of attacks since the war began. But it has been building for weeks as Senate Republicans and Democrats alike have signed on to legislation that would impose sweeping sanctions on Moscow. The bill now has 80 cosponsors, more than enough to override a veto in that chamber.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of Trump’s, is leading the bipartisan push on the Russia sanctions bill.
US stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students while it expands social media vetting — 6:32 p.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
DC mayor unveils business-friendly budget to counter $1b shortfall created by Trump’s federal downsizing campaign — 6:01 p.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
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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.
Trump is set to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley — 5:40 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The White House says 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!”
Judge blocks Trump order targeting law firm of WilmerHale — 5:28 p.m.
By the Associated Press
A third White House executive order targeting a major law firm has been struck down.
US District Judge Richard Leon ruled 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.”
Who runs ‘MAHA’? — 5:12 p.m.
By Tal Kopan, Globe Staff
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became health secretary, he didn’t just bring with him an unconventional and controversial approach to policy. He also elevated and empowered a group of like-minded deputies and advisers.
With the exception of allies in Congress, all are new to government, and many are longtime gadflies who have made careers of criticizing policy makers and the health and food industries. Some have been heavily focused on Americans’ food supply and chronic diseases, while others are more from the world of vaccine skepticism and opposition, though their views often overlap. Many forged ties with each other as critics of mainstream public health measures during the COVID pandemic.
In NPR interview, Harvard president warns that cutting off federal funding to the university ‘hurts the country’ — 4:39 p.m.
By Alyssa Vega, Globe Staff
Harvard President Alan Garber addressed the university’s clash with the Trump administration in a new NPR interview, calling the government’s recent actions toward the school “perplexing” and warning that slashing research funding “hurts the country.”
“We need to be firm in our commitments to what we stand for, and what we stand for — I believe I speak for other universities — is education, pursuit of the truth,“ Garber said in an interview with “Morning Edition” that aired Tuesday. “When we fail in that, then we can expect to be attacked.”
The interview took place before the Trump administration announced it would direct federal agencies to terminate contracts with Harvard totaling approximately $100 million as part of its continued actions against the Ivy League institution.
California changes competition rules for track and field final amid controversy over trans athlete — 4:28 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The governing board for California high school sports is changing its competition rules at this weekend’s state track and field championships to allow more girls to take part amid controversy over the participation of a trans student-athlete.
The California Interscholastic Federation said it was extending access for more cisgender athletes to participate in the championship meet this weekend. The federation announced the change after Trump posted on his social media site about the participation of a trans athlete in the competition.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt judge’s order on deportations to South Sudan — 4:26 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The emergency appeal 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 US.
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.
State Department defends US-backed private Gaza aid initiative — 3:41 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The State Department is dismissing concerns about deliveries of humanitarian assistance into Gaza by a US-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 non-governmental organizations, have questioned the efficiency and intent of the foundation’s work.
Young scientists say they may abandon research as their career options shrink amid Trump cuts — 3:23 p.m.
By Chris Serres and J. Emory Parker, Globe Staff and STAT
Becks Padrusch‘s fondest memories growing up were of trips to Boston’s Museum of Science, where the Arlington native got to touch animal organs and watch with fascination as chickens hatched in incubators. As a toddler, Padrusch, who uses they/them pronouns, insisted on bedtime stories about the solar system and how the planets formed.
By age 5, Padrusch knew they wanted to be a scientist.
So Padrusch felt overjoyed when they received an offer to work at a UMass Chan Medical School genetics laboratory, studying how organisms evolve and react to molecules. “It felt like paradise,” said Padrusch, a research associate at the Worcester lab. “I felt that same sense of wonder that I did as a child.”
Now, amid massive cuts to scientific research, Padrusch feels their dreams slipping away. On May 2, their 26th birthday, a lab supervisor gently pulled Padrusch aside and suggested they look for other jobs because of the precarious path ahead for scientific research.
Harvard has a $53 billion endowment. Will that be enough to withstand Trump’s assault? — 3:03 p.m.
By Diti Kohli Globe Staff
For a half-century, the Harvard Management Company has worked to make the wealthiest university in the world wealthier.
The people that oversee the $53 billion endowment invest in everything from stocks to real estate trusts to grow the fund steadily, in the hope of supporting Harvard in perpetuity. Each year, money drawn from the endowment funds almost 40 percent of Harvard’s operations — more than $2 billion in 2024 — even as its principal stays intact.
Time and time again, Harvard officials have said the endowment is not a “piggy bank” or “rainy day fund” to be tapped in an emergency. But as the attacks from the White House intensify, will the school pivot?
Judge accuses Trump administration of manufacturing chaos in deportation case — 1:40 p.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
Defense Department workers told they no longer have to submit DOGE’s ‘five things’ reports — 12:58 p.m.
By the Associated Press
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 Trump’s second term.
In the email to 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.
US orders halt to new student visa interviews, Politico says — 12:37 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the Trump administration weighs stricter vetting of applicants’ social-media profiles.
The directive, laid out in a cable sent to diplomats worldwide on Tuesday, marks the latest effort by the administration to restrict foreign students’ entry to American schools over claims that they might threaten US national security or promote antisemitism.
The cable says interviews that have already been scheduled can go ahead. It was reported earlier by Politico.
7 ways Republicans are split over Trump’s ‘big bill’ — 12:03 p.m.
By Washington Post
House Republicans barely passed a massive bill last week containing much of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda after months of tense negotiations between feuding factions. Now it’s the Senate’s turn.
Republicans are rushing to pass the bill — which would cut taxes and spending, raise the debt limit and increase defense and border security funding — by July 4. The true deadline might be later this summer, when the federal government expects to exhaust its borrowing capacity.
But getting the bill through the Senate won’t be easy. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) can lose no more than three Republican votes because no Democrat is expected to support it — and more than three Republicans have voiced serious concerns with the bill.
Trump threatens to hold up federal funding for California over transgender athlete in women’s sports — 11:32 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
Trump Media says investors will fund a company ‘bitcoin reserve’ through share purchases — 11:22 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Trump’s media company said 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.
UK ambassador: ‘We’ve lived in a fantasy created by the US security guarantee’ — 11:20 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Britain’s ambassador to the US says Europe must become less militarily dependent on the US, 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 US 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.
RFK Jr. says CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 shots for children and pregnant women — 11:03 a.m.
By Alyssa Vega, Globe Staff
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend routine COVID-19 vaccine shots for healthy children and pregnant women.
Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it’s common sense and it’s good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS’s promise to Make America Healthy Again. pic.twitter.com/Ytch2afCLP
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) May 27, 2025
US consumer confidence rebounds after five straight months of declines due to tariff anxiety — 10:29 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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 US recession is coming in the next 12 months also declined from April.
Trump cites progress in trade talks with European Union — 9:49 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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 — 9:48 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
NPR sues Trump over order to cut funding — 9:09 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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.
US envoy to Ukraine says Vatican is out as site for talks on ending Russia-Ukraine war — 8:40 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Keith Kellogg, the US 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 tells federal agencies: Stop doing business with Harvard — 8:37 a.m.
By Mike Damiano, Globe Staff
The Trump administration is telling federal agencies on Tuesday that they should stop doing business with Harvard.
All federal agencies should terminate any existing contracts with the university or transfer them to other vendors as soon as possible, according to a letter signed by Josh Gruenbaum, an official at the US General Services Administration, which oversees federal contracts.
Trump’s Tuesday schedule, according to the White House — 8:32 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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 — 8:23 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said Tuesday the city would welcome any students who’ve been discriminated against by the US policy, days after the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.
Last Friday, a US federal judge blocked the US 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 non-local students in these universities.
Trump targeted Democrats over questionable online fundraising. His campaign has similar issues — 8:15 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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 businessman 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.
Here’s what a Texas oil executive from DOGE is doing inside the Interior Department — 8:13 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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, US 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 AP shows Hassen made millions annually from these companies, owned by John Fitzgibbons — an industry giant who is well-connected in Russia.
Trump honors fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, while attacking Biden and judges — 8:07 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Trump paid tribute to fallen service members during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, in an address that honored the “great, great warriors” yet also briefly veered into politics as he boasted of a nation he is “fixing after a long and hard four years.”
Though the holiday is one that US presidents typically treat with pure solemnity, Trump began it with an all-caps Memorial Day social media post that attacked his predecessor and called federal judges who have blocked his deportation initiatives “monsters who want our country to go to hell.”
Yet at Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 have been laid to rest, Trump commemorated the sacrifice of US service members and singled out several Gold Star families to tell the stories of their fallen relatives.
Trump cuts to medical research spark fears of ‘massive brain drain’ of young scientists — 5:36 a.m.
By Chris Serres and J. Emory Parker, Globe Staff and STAT
Becks Padrusch‘s fondest memories growing up were of trips to Boston’s Museum of Science, where the Arlington native got to touch animal organs and watch with fascination as chickens hatched in incubators. As a toddler, Padrusch, who uses they/them pronouns, insisted on bedtime stories about the solar system and how the planets formed.
By age 5, Padrusch knew they wanted to be a scientist.
So Padrusch felt overjoyed when they received an offer to work at a UMass Chan Medical School genetics laboratory, studying how organisms evolve and react to molecules. “It felt like paradise,” said Padrusch, a research associate at the Worcester lab. “I felt that same sense of wonder that I did as a child.”
Now, amid massive cuts to scientific research, Padrusch feels their dreams slipping away. On May 2, their 26th birthday, a lab supervisor gently pulled Padrusch aside and suggested they look for other jobs because of the precarious path ahead for scientific research.
In just 100 days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has begun to reshape HHS in the image of ‘MAHA’ — 4:55 a.m.
By Sam Brodey, Globe Staff
When President Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health,” it was bound to result in scenes such as the one that unfolded at the White House on Thursday.
Flanked by Trump and top administration officials in the East Room, the secretary of Health and Human Services unveiled the first report of his “Make America Healthy Again” commission, formed by executive order to address Kennedy’s core conviction: that unhealthy foods, too much prescription medication, and over-reliance on vaccines are to blame for a chronic disease epidemic ravaging America.
“This is a milestone,” said Kennedy. “Never in American history has the federal government taken a position on public health like this.”
Who runs ‘MAHA’? Inside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s inner circle as health secretary. — 4:15 a.m.
By Tal Kopan, Globe Staff
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became health secretary, he didn’t just bring with him an unconventional and controversial approach to policy. He also elevated and empowered a group of like-minded deputies and advisers.
With the exception of allies in Congress, all are new to government, and many are longtime gadflies who have made careers of criticizing policy makers and the health and food industries. Some have been heavily focused on Americans’ food supply and chronic diseases, while others are more from the world of vaccine skepticism and opposition, though their views often overlap. Many forged ties with each other as critics of mainstream public health measures during the COVID pandemic.
At the core of the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” movement is scrutiny of ingredients in food, agricultural production, and vaccines, as well as a rejection of decades of scientific consensus, sometimes favoring fringe and debunked theories.
Trump targeted Democrats over questionable online fundraising. His campaign has similar issues. — 2:50 a.m.
By the Associated Press
When President 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 businessman 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.
Here’s what a Texas oil executive from DOGE is doing inside the Interior Department — 1:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
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, US 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 AP shows Hassen made millions annually from these companies, owned by John Fitzgibbons — an industry giant who is well-connected in Russia.
US aid kept many hungry Somali children alive. Now that money is disappearing. — 12:31 a.m.
By the Associated Press
The cries of distressed children filled the ward for the severely malnourished. Among the patients was 1-year-old Maka’il Mohamed. Doctors pressed his chest in a desperate attempt to support his breathing.
His father brought him too late to a hospital in Somalia ‘s capital, Mogadishu. The victim of complications related to malnutrition, the boy did not survive.
“Are you certain? Did he really die?” the father, Mohamed Ma’ow, asked a doctor, shocked.
The death earlier this month at Banadir Hospital captured the agony of a growing number of Somalis who are unable to feed their children — and that of health workers who are seeing hundreds of millions of dollars in US support disappear under the Trump administration.