Trump Administration

The Daily Caller reports: The Trump administration hopes to begin taking in thousands of Afrikaner refugees from South Africa by the end of this summer, a State Department official told the Daily Caller Friday. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order promoting resettling Afrikaner refugees in the U.S. In early May, 59 Afrikaners arrived in the U.S. before …

The Hill reports: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on Sunday pushed back against the idea that a sizable package of Republican priorities that recently made it through the House is going to raise the deficit. “This bill doesn’t increase the deficit or hurt the debt,” Vought told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” responding …

CBS News reports: Transgender military service members must come forward and voluntarily leave active-duty service next week, by June 6, according to Defense Department guidance issued by Secretary Pete Hegseth. After that, the military is expected to begin involuntary separations for active-duty trans service members who remain. One of the service branches, the Army, on Wednesday issued more guidance about …

The Guardian reports: On Saturday Hegseth said China was “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”, and was rehearsing for “the real deal” of invading Taiwan. “There’s no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” the US defense secretary said. On Sunday, …

Semafor reports: The White House is pulling the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA administrator, just days before he was set to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate. An entrepreneur and commercial astronaut, Isaacman advanced through the Senate’s Commerce Committee in April. Laura Loomer suggested on Saturday Isaacman’s nomination is in danger because of the nominee’s …

Gothamist reports: In a dramatic incident captured on video, U.S. Department of Homeland Security police Wednesday handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler aides in the congressmember’s Manhattan office, which is in the same federal office building as an immigration courthouse. In the video, which was shared with Gothamist and filmed by a person who was monitoring activity in immigration court, …

The Daily Beast reports: Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard wants to turn President Donald Trump’s daily intel briefings into Fox News-type broadcasts because he “doesn’t read.” Gabbard is hoping to add animations and more dynamic multimedia elements to Trump’s President’s Daily Briefs, or PDBs, to fit his viewing habits and hold his attention. Gabbard also reportedly consulted with current …

The New York Times reports: A salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers has sickened at least 45 people across 18 states, health officials said Friday and they warned that the number of people infected was likely higher. Companies including Target have issued recalls for products with cucumbers that may be contaminated. The cases have been reported across the Midwest and East …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas’ newest city had liftoff this week. Starbase city leaders were sworn in Thursday and appointed a city manager. On Friday, they met again to approve a loan request to help fund the city until tax dollars trickle in. In an early sign that reaffirms just how entwined the South Texas city is with Elon Musk’s …

The Associated Press reports: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute more to their own defense. He said Washington will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration has dealt a sharp blow to work on H.I.V. vaccines, terminating a $258 million program whose work was instrumental to the search for a vaccine. Officials from the H.I.V. division of the National Institutes of Health delivered the news on Friday to the program’s two leaders, at Duke University and the Scripps …

From the MAGA outlet Florida’s Voice: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advocated for the U.S. to adopt fiscal policies mirroring those of Florida, contrasting the state’s approach with that of New York. “We want the U.S. to be more like Florida and less like New York,” Bessent said during an interview on Fox News with Bret Baier. Bessent highlighted the significant …

The New Republic reports: President Trump is making remigration, a racist plan popular among the European far right, a reality, according to Reuters. The State Department on Thursday announced its plans to establish an “Office of Remigration,” assuming it is approved by Congress, on July 1. The term “remigration” is a white supremacist concept pushed by Austrian neo-Nazi Martin Sellner …

TechCrunch reports: The chief executive of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) says Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency left the nonprofit’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in disarray, full of water damage, rats, and roaches, according to a new sworn statement first reported by Court Watch. The statement from the executive, George Moose, comes just a few days after a …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Trump administration on Thursday named counties and cities in more than 30 states, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, as sanctuary jurisdictions it could go after for not complying with federal immigration laws. President Trump has threatened to pull federal funding and pursue lawsuits against places that don’t change their practices. …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million. The justices lifted a lower-court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more …

Politico reports: The State Department has told U.S. consulates and embassies to immediately begin reviewing the social media accounts of Harvard’s student visa applicants for antisemitism in what it called a pilot program that could be rolled out for colleges nationwide. The cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, obtained by POLITICO, was sent late Thursday. It says consular …

The New York Times reports: In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power. Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials …

The New York Times reports: As Elon Musk became one of Donald J. Trump’s closest allies last year, leading raucous rallies and donating about $275 million to help him win the presidency, he was also using drugs far more intensely than previously known, according to people familiar with his activities. Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He …

NBC News reports: The FBI’s top two leaders said in interviews on Fox News that the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, and they promised to release a surveillance video from the federal jail in New York City where Epstein was found dead. Officials in the first Trump administration ruled that Epstein’s death in 2019 …