Summary
Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here.
Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
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Police are investigating a deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego as a hate crime, after three people were killed and two dead suspects were identified near the scene. Democratic leaders from across the country issued statements in the wake of the shooting calling out Islamophobia and advocating for stricter gun laws.
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At a healthcare affordability event, Donald Trump announced that his website TrumpRx.gov will now include a catalog of generic drugs. Trump touted the move as “increasing the number of drugs available on TrumpRx by nearly seven times, adding over 600 affordable generics to the website”. After TrumpRx.gov launched in February, listing only 43 medications, healthcare experts pointed to other websites that better aggregated affordable drug deals.
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Trump has said he would “hold off” an attack on Iran scheduled for Tuesday at the request of Gulf leaders. In response to a reporter’s question Monday, Trump said he postponed striking Iran for two to three days at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal”.
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Trump moved to dismiss a $10bn lawsuit against the Interal Revenue Service and his administration created a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies for supposed persecution by the government. Democrats harshly criticized the settlement, saying it amounts to the creation of a “slush fund” for the president’s allies. Ninety-three congressional Democrats – including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – filed an amicus brief with the court on Monday saying that such a claim “raises the specter of corruption unparalleled in American history”. Later in the day, Trump said he “wasn’t involved in” the creation the fund and said it would be run by a committee of “very talented people”.
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An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts got its first full airing Monday in the state House. Lawmakers launched a lengthy discussion over the consequences of acceding to Trump’s calls for a US House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans.
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Trump also said he is requesting the attorney general and Justice Department investigate mail-in voting in Maryland. In a post on Truth Social, Trump alleged that Maryland had “sent out 500,000 Illegal Mail In Ballots” and blamed “the Corrupt Governor of the State, Wes Moore”, a Democrat, who “allowed this to happen in order to make sure that Democrats win”.
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Nancy Pelosi has endorsed San Francisco supervisor Connie Chan in the race to fill the seat Pelosi will vacate at the end of her term.
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The Trump administration has proposed allowing up to 17,500 white South Africans to enter the United States as refugees, beginning in the new fiscal year, CNN reports, citing an emergency determination letter sent to Congress that it obtained.
Many of the contenders in California’s gubernatorial election have issued statements in the wake of the deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque.
“California is strongest when we reject fear, division, and extremism in all its forms,” said former state attorney general Xavier Becerra.
“To our Muslim communities in San Jose and across California: you belong here, and we will protect your right to worship freely and safely,” said San Jose mayor Matt Mahan.
“All Californians, no matter what you look like or what faith you belong to, deserve to go to school, houses of worship [sic], and work without fearing for their lives,” said former California congresswoman Katie Porter. “Our next Governor must be prepared to protect our communities and fight back against such horrific acts of gun violence and Islamophobia.”
“We must all condemn hatred and violence targeting the Muslim community. There is no place for Islamophobia in our state,” said businessman Tom Steyer.
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Democratic leaders from across the country are continuing to issue statements grieving the deadly mosque shooting in San Diego.
“I am horrified by the deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, an apparent act of anti-Muslim violence,” New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a social media post. “Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country. We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division. My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community grieving this devastating attack.”
“Devastated by the horrific attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego,” Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar said in a statement on social media. “There is no place for anti-Muslim hate in America. We must confront this violence and protect the right to worship safely.”
“This tragedy at the Islamic Center of San Diego was motivated by hate—something we see far too often now. We must call out Islamophobia wherever we see it and we NEED gun violence laws, now,” said Arizona congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. “We cannot allow hate to become the norm in our communities and we cannot permit this kind of violence to keep happening.”
The Trump administration has proposed allowing up to 17,500 white South Africans to enter the United States as refugees, beginning in the new fiscal year, CNN reports, citing an emergency determination letter sent to Congress that it obtained.
The president is required to consult with Congress on a refugee admissions ceiling each year. In 2024, the United States set its refugee admissions ceiling at 125,000. After Trump returned to office, his administration slashed that number to 7,500. This year, the administration is proposing raising the level to 17,500 specifically for white South Africans – who Trump says are facing “a genocide”.
The first white South Africans granted refugee status by Trump arrived in the United States about one year ago. My colleagues Rachel Savage and David Smith reported then on the president’s decision to extend protections to them then:
On the same day the group arrived in the US, Trump’s government also ended legal protections that had temporarily protected Afghans from deportation, citing an improved security situation in the country, which is ruled by the Taliban.
One consideration for resettling Afrikaners not Afghans was that “they could be easily assimilated into our country,” Landau told reporters at the airport.
Trump suspended the US refugee settlement programme in January, leaving more than 100,000 people approved for refugee resettlement stranded. Then, in February, he signed an executive order directing officials to grant refugee status to Afrikaners, whose leaders ruled during apartheid while violently repressing the Black majority.
“It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” Trump told reporters at the White House, when asked why white South Africans were being prioritised for resettlement above victims of famine and war elsewhere on the continent, echoing a far-right conspiracy theory that has also been amplified by his South African-born billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
Oil prices and stock markets worldwide swung through a shaky Monday with uncertainty about what will happen with the Iran war.
The S+P 500 swivelled between gains and losses before finishing with a dip of 0.1% – its second loss since setting an all-time high last week – while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5% after both indexes also yo-yoed, the AP reports.
Stocks moved in the opposite direction of oil prices, with the price for a barrel of Brent crude – the international standard – going from a high of $112 overnight to below $107 in the morning before turning back higher.
After settling at $112.10 per barrel, Brent’s price then fell back below $109 after Donald Trump said late in the day that he would hold off attacking Iran on Tuesday at the request of allies in the region, keeping alive hopes of a deal that would reopen the strait of Hormuz.
A jury has ruled in favor of Sam Altman and OpenAI in a legal dispute with Elon Musk.
My colleagues Nick Robins-Early and Dara Kerr have the full story:
The federal jury in Oakland, California, found Altman, OpenAI and its president, Greg Brockman, not liable for Elon Musk’s claims that they unjustly enriched themselves and broke a founding contract made with Musk when founding the startup.
The verdict, delivered after less than two hours of deliberation, is a stark rebuke of Musk and his lawyer’s claims that Altman “stole a charity” through his leadership of OpenAI. It also provides the AI firm with a clear path ahead to pursue going public later this year at about a $1tn valuation.
The state department has announced new sanctions on Cuban government agencies and officials. The sanctions target agencies including the Interior Ministry and National Police, as well as 11 government officials, including the chief of staff of the Cuban army and the ministers of justice.
“These sanctions advance the Trump administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and to hold accountable both the regime and those who provide it material support,” secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Here’s more on the growing tension between the United States and its neighbor:
The Senate has confirmed former New Mexico congressman Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Donald Trump had selected Pearce, who has supported leasing public lands, at a moment when his administration is opening more public lands to mining, drilling and logging industries.
During his confirmation hearing, Pearce sought to assuage the concerns of Democrats and environmental groups. “The security and economic health of the country, especially the western states, rests squarely with the BLM,” he said. “We can and must balance the different uses of public land. Local economies and future generations depend on us doing our job right.”
Here’s more on Pearce, who Trump nominated to lead the Bureau of Land Management in November:
Nancy Pelosi has endorsed San Francisco supervisor Connie Chan in the race to fill the seat Pelosi will vacate at the end of her term.
“Connie understands San Francisco – our values, our diversity, our communities, and our responsibility to lead with both compassion and strength. She’s a mom who knows her power and knows her why. I am confident Connie is ready to bring clarity and purpose to the work ahead – for the children,” Pelosi said in a new video for the Chan campaign. “At a time when fundamental freedoms and democratic values are under assault, we need a leader in Congress who is prepared to fight — forcefully and effectively – for the people of San Francisco and for the future of our country.”
Here’s my colleague Lauren Gambino with more on Chan:
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Lawmakers and national organizations are beginning to share statements denouncing the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
“I’m heartbroken by the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, and my prayers are with the families of the three precious lives lost today,” said California senator Adam Schiff. “Today’s shooting is a horrific attack on Southern California’s Muslim community. Every American should be able to practice their faith without fear of violence. And we must never be silent in the face of hate.”
“California sends our deepest condolences to the families and communities impacted by today’s shooting,” California governor Gavin Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Worshippers anywhere should not have to fear for their lives. Hate has no place in California, and we will not tolerate acts of terror or intimidation against communities of faith.”
“I’m thankful for the swift and courageous actions of law enforcement and first responders who responded to the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego today. They ran toward the gunfire and toward the danger and ultimately saved lives,” said California congresswoman Sara Jacobs.
“No one should have to fear the daily gun violence that plagues our communities, and it is especially terrible to fear being targeted based on race or religion,” former congresswoman Gabby Giffords said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the Muslim community in San Diego and across the country, and to the families of the three people who should have made it home today. There is no world where armed, violent hate should be tolerated.”
“To God we belong, and to God we return,” the Council on American–Islamic Relations wrote in a social media post. “No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
“We must do everything we can to keep people safe at houses of worship and keep children safe in our schools,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a social media post. “There is no place in our country for this type of violence at mosques, synagogues, churches, or anywhere else.”
“My prayers are with the victims, their families and the Clairemont community,” House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a social media post. “We must crush Islamophobia and the hatred that is fueling it.”
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Trump said he postponed striking Iran for two to three days at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal”.
Answering a second reporter’s question about Iran at his health affordability event, the president challenged the idea that Iran would benefit from more time to negotiate a deal to its favor. “We’ve taken a country that was going to have a nuclear weapon, and we’ve virtually destroyed its military,” Trump said.
He also lamented the economic fallout of the war, but said it was worth the cost. “We don’t want to go through this. We had the greatest economy ever,” Trump said. “But this is the most important thing we can do. We can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
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Donald Trump echoed his earlier concerns about mail-in ballots, responding to a reporter’s question about his Truth Social post calling for an investigation into Maryland’s use of mail-in blalots.
“I’ve looked at Maryland for a long time, and I know Maryland pretty well, and I was told that it’s automatically a Democrat state. And I don’t believe that because I think I did really well there and I don’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve asked the, law enforcement to look at it very, very strenuously.”
Donald Trump says $1.7bn compensation fund would be administered by 'committee of very talented people'
Donald Trump said he “wasn’t involved in” the creation of a so-called anti-weaponization fund, but said it had been “well received”.
In response to a follow-up question asking how the fund would be administered and whether the president himself and his family would seek compensation through the fund, Trump said “it’ll all be dependent on a committee” of “very talented people”.
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Asked by a reporter about the shooting in San Diego, Trump said: “They’re giving a briefing and it’s a terrible situation.”
He added, “we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly.”
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Donald Trump was joined onstage during his healthcare affordability announcement by government health officials and private healthcare sector business owners.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, CMS administrator Mehmet Oz and HHS chief counselor Chris Klomp were in attendance, alongside Cost Plus Drugs founder Mark Cuban, Amazon Pharmacy vice-president Tanvi Patel and GoodRx president Aaron Crittenden.
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At his healthcare affordability event, Donald Trump announced that his website TrumpRx.gov will now include a catalog of generic drugs.
Trump touted the move as “increasing the number of drugs available on TrumpRx by nearly seven times, adding over 600 affordable generics to the website”. He called it “the hottest thing in medicine” saying the website helped the United States go “from the most expensive to the least expensive” in healthcare costs.
After TrumpRx.gov launched in February, listing only 43 medications, healthcare experts pointed to other websites that better aggregated affordable drug deals.
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Donald Trump has begun his address on healthcare affordability, calling today “a very beautiful day with a lot of positive things happening”.
According to CNN and NewsNation, which cite a White House official, Trump was briefed on the shooting in San Diego before beginning his address.
Police have “neutralized” an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego, confirmed five dead and are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
We’ll continue to update our story on the shooting as more information becomes available:
A top state department official helped secure a visa for a former Polish politician on the run from prosecution.
According to Reuters, which cites three people familiar with the matter, deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau instructed senior department staff to approve a visa for former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro.
Ziobro faces 26 charges in Poland tied to his role designing changes to the country’s judicial system, which the European Union says undermined the rule of law while the rightwing Law and Justice party was in power.
Before the US granted his visa, Ziobro had been living in Hungary, where the far-right former prime minister Viktor Orbán granted him asylum. However, in April, Orbán lost his bid for re-election, and the incoming Hungarian president had promised to extradite Ziobro to Poland.
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Donald Trump has said he would “hold off” an attack on Iran scheduled for Tuesday at the request of Gulf leaders.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said “serious negotiations” were now under way with Iran and that Gulf states believed “a deal will be made”.
“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” he claimed.
But, he added, Washington was ready for a “full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
Here’s the full post:
I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN! Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.
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Donald Trump said he is requesting the attorney general and Justice Department investigate mail-in voting in Maryland.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump alleged that Maryland had “sent out 500,000 Illegal Mail In Ballots” and blamed “the Corrupt Governor of the State, Wes Moore”, a Democrat, who “allowed this to happen in order to make sure that Democrats win”.
The president has long been critical of mail-in voting, although using the system to vote by mail himself. Here’s my colleague Sam Levine, writing in March:
Trump repeated a series of falsehoods about voting before signing the order in the Oval Office on Tuesday, claiming that cheating with mail-in voting was “legendary”. Repeated studies and investigations have shown there is no widespread voter fraud, including fraud through mail-in voting. The president himself voted by mail earlier this month.
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The motion on behalf of 93 members of the US House of Representatives in Trump v. IRS, a $10bn lawsuit pending before the US district court, was filed by Platkin LLP, a law firm founded by former New Jersey attorney general Matthew J Platkin and Democracy Defenders Fund, a non-partisan watchdog organization, in the southern district of Florida on Monday.
The filing seeks to prevent Trump’s corrupt attempt to “settle” the lawsuit in exchange for the creation of a $1.7bn slush fund.
Carl Tobias, a law professor who specializes in federal courts at the University of Richmond said his concern is that Trump’s withdrawal of the suit is an effort to remove the case from the legal system and from Judge Williams’ oversight.
“Typically, if there’s going to be some type of settlement, the court has to approve that,” said Tobias. “By dropping the suit, Trump’s lawyers could remove the case from the legal system and prevent her from ruling against them on the case’s merits.”
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Donald Trump is expected to announce an expansion to TrumpRx, his discounted-drug website, the Associated Press reports, citing the White House.
We’ll bring you more information when Trump begins his address, currently scheduled for 4:30pm ET, shortly.
Here's a recap of the day so far
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Donald Trump has moved to dismiss a $10bn lawsuit against the Interal Revenue Service and his administration has created a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies for supposed persecution by the government. In a justice department press release announcing the move, acting attorney general Todd Blanche said, completely unironically: “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”
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Democrats have harshly criticized the settlement, saying it amounts to the creation of a “slush fund” for the president’s allies. Ninety-three congressional Democrats – including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – filed an amicus brief with the court on Monday saying that such a claim “raises the specter of corruption unparalleled in American history”.
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Also this morning, Donald Trump was back to posting about Thomas Massie, the Kentucky congressmen who has long been fighting the president’s ire and has his Republican primary on Teusday. Trump wrote: “The worst Congressman in the long and storied history of the Republican Party, is Thomas Massie. He is an obstructionist and a fool.”
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Meanwhile Defense secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at a campaign rally for Ed Gallrein who is competing against Massie in Kentucky, while the Pentagon confirmed that Hegseth’s “participation has been thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers, including the Department of War Office of General Counsel.”
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An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts got its first full airing Monday in the state House. Lawmakers launched a lengthy discussion over the consequences of acceding to Trump’s calls for a US House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans. South Carolina is the latest state were redistricting is is being discussed – debates have already played out in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.
An official Republicans account posted a graph on X that shows a sharp reduction in drug overdose deaths between January 2025, when Trump came to power, and December 2025. The graph is captioned “border security saves lives,” and it thanks the president.
The photo also credits a CDC website for the data in the graph, which presents a fuller view of US overdose deaths over 11 years. The data shows that the decline in drug overdose deaths began during the Biden presidency, after first rising during Trump’s first term.
Drug overdose deaths fell more sharply, about 23.3%, during Biden’s final year in office as compared with the 13.4% decline during the first year of Trump’s second term, according to the CDC data linked in the post.
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Over 145,000 US children separated from parents since Trump’s ICE surge, study estimates
More than 145,000 US children have likely experienced a parent being detained by immigration authorities since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency, according to a new report published Monday by the Brookings Institution, a reputed US thinkthank.
The report estimates that about 146,635 children who are US citizens have had a parent detained during the mass deportation campaign the Trump administration embarked on after he retook office in early January. The study further found that of those children, more than 22,000 experienced the detention of all of their co-resident parents.
Roughly 36% were younger than six years old, underscoring a hardline immigration enforcement strategy that has drawn widespread criticism from civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups.
The report also found that the largest share of US citizen children with a detained parent are linked to Mexico, accounting for nearly 54%, while children with parents from Guatemala and Honduras together make up more than 25%.
Washington DC and Texas have had the highest share of American children with an affected parent, with more than five per 1,000 facing parental immigration detention, according to the report.
Vice-President JD Vance is in Kansas City, Missouri this afternoon, speaking at the Milbank Manufacturing Company.
“It’s great to be here in Kansas City,” Vance said. “We love our American workers.”
Vance praised some of the elected officials in attendance and thanked Missouri’s Republican leaders for redrawing the state’s congressional map.
States in the country, including Missouri, have rushed to redraw congressional maps to delete or shrink Democratic districts and decrease the power of Black votes in electing candidates.
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Senator Thom Tillis told his colleagues that he will not vote for the budget reconciliation bill if it’s considered this week, threatening the passage of the bill, Axios reported on Monday.
Tillis said he could support the bill if his concerns about its timing and any mentions of funding of Trump’s ballroom are heard.
Other Republican senators have also raised concerns about the $72bn package, especially the $1bn for the Secret Service and funding for the ballroom. Funding for the Secret Service was taken out of the bill after a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian on Saturday.
Tillis believes that being in Washington DC to vote could hamper the winning chances of the Republican senator John Cornyn in the Texas primary next week.
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Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is speaking at a campaign rally for Ed Gallrein who is competing against Thomas Massie for Kentucky’s fourth congressional district, in a primary election on Tuesday.
“There’s few folks busier than him,” said Gallrein while introducing him. “And you’re having the secretary of war, to little old Kentucky, to see you today.”
The Pentagon has been pushing back on allegations that Hegseth is using taxpayer money to make the visit and support Gallrein.
“Secretary Hegseth is attending this event in his personal capacity,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. “No taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit. His participation has been thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers, including the Department of War Office of General Counsel, and does not violate the Hatch Act or any other applicable federal statute.”
“I have to say for the lawyers that I am here in a private capacity,” said Hegseth at the start of his speech. “As a fellow citizen, a fellow American and a fellow combat veteran, I am here to support Navy Seals and Gallrein.”
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Reacting to the DoJ settlement and the creation of the so-called anti-weaponization fund, Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection, issued this statement:
This case is a clear example of why Justice Department lawyers take an oath to serve the Constitution, not the White House. This department’s leadership is intent on abusing its power to curry favor with the President and execute his retribution campaign. The ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ fits a pattern of corruption that is eroding DOJ’s integrity and Americans’ faith in the rule of law.
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'Corruption unparalleled': House Democrats slam deal as 'slush fund' that would give taxpayer dollars to Trump's allies
Democrats have harshly criticized the settlement, saying it amounts to the creation of a “slush fund” for the president’s allies. Ninety-three congressional Democrats – including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – filed an amicus brief with the court on Monday saying that such a claim “raises the specter of corruption unparalleled in American history”.
In the brief, the lawmakers accuse the justice department of having “colluded” with Donald Trump and asking the judge to dismiss the case herself, arguing that the president is effectively “self-dealing” because he has a role on both sides of the litigation.
“Never in the history of the United States has a sitting president sought a monetary settlement from the government he leads – let alone sought many billions of dollars in taxpayer funds,” their lawyers wrote.
“Should this lawsuit achieve Plaintiffs’ desired ends, it would result in the improper and unconstitutional transfer of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of the President, his family, and his allies.”
“Congress has not authorized any fund, much less one involving billions of taxpayer dollars, for these purposes,” they added.
In a press release, representative Jamie Raskin, the House judiciary committee’s ranking member, said:
No president can concoct a fake case for $10 billion in damages against the government so he can be plaintiff and defendant and then ‘settle’ his bogus case against himself as a judge.
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As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has moved to dismiss a $10bn lawsuit against the Interal Revenue Service and his administration has created a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies for supposed persecution by the government.
In a justice department press release announcing the move, acting attorney general Todd Blanche said, completely unironically:
The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again. As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.
Per my colleagues’ report, the fund will be overseen by five commissioners – four of whom would be appointed by the attorney general and removable by Trump – who would oversee the body’s work. A fifth commissioner will be appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership. The fund also has the power to issue “formal apologies” and will send a quarterly report to the US attorney general outlining who has been paid from the fund.
“Once the funds are deposited into the Designated Account, the United States has no liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds, regardless of bank failure, fraudulent transfers, or any other fraud or misuse of the funds,” according to a memo from Blanche.
There did not appear to be any restrictions on who can seek compensation from the fund. Any money left in the fund at the end of Trump’s term would be returned to the federal government.
As part of the settlement, Trump will also drop claims for monetary damages against the government for a raid on Mar-a-Lago and the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
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Also this morning, Donald Trump is back to posting about Thomas Massie, the Kentucky congressmen who has long been fighting the president’s ire.
“The worst Congressman in the long and storied history of the Republican Party, is Thomas Massie,” Trump wrote earlier. “He is an obstructionist and a fool. Vote him out of office tomorrow, Tuesday.”
Trump also posted about Massie, one of the handful of senior Republicans who has dared to defy him and has not yet been defeated in the primaries, over an eight-hour period yesterday.
Massie has voted against the Trump’s signature tax and spending cuts bill, helped to force the justice department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and insisted on congressional oversight over the military actions in Venezuela and Iran.
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Trump administration establishes $1.7bn fund to compensate prosecuted allies after dismissing IRS lawsuit
An anti-weaponization fund has been created as a result of a settlement agreement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Services, a Department of Justice statement seen by the Guardian US on Monday morning revealed.
The settlement directs the attorney general to issue an order to establish the funding within 60 days of the effective date.
The US Department of Treasury should be provided with all the necessary forms and documentations to direct the payment of $1.7bn to the anti-weaponization fund account, said the statement. Trump claims allies were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration.
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Democratic reactions to the news about Trump moving to withdraw his lawsuit against the IRS are coming in. Ron Wyden, a top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Trump deserved no credit for dropping the lawsuit, regardless of his reasons.
“Even by his standards the move he’s trying to get away with now is a stunning act of corruption,” said Wyden in a statement. “What Trump wants is a $1.7bn slush fund for right-wing political violence and subversion, and if he follows through, it will be the most brazen theft and abuse of taxpayer dollars by any president in American history.”
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Donald Trump’s approval rating sinks to lowest point of second term
Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point of his second term, amid mounting frustration over the cost of living and the US-Israel war on Iran.
As November’s US midterm elections loom, most American voters believe Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran was the wrong choice, according to polling released on Monday.
The US president’s approval rating has declined to 37%, according to the New York Times/Siena poll: the lowest level since his return to office in January 2025.
Presidential approval ratings have historically provided a strong sense of how the party of the White House incumbentis likely to fare in upcoming elections.
As the war on Iran drags on, and Trump debates his next steps, nearly two-thirds of voters said entering the conflict had been the wrong call. Fewer than one in four Americans said the war had been worth the costs.
Those economic costs have materialized across the world since the US and Israel first attacked Iran in late February. Last week, Trump said: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” when asked if the economic hardship inflicted on Americans was motivating him to seek a peace deal.
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Trump’s move to withdraw the lawsuit against the IRS came just two days ahead of a 20 May deadline in which the judge overseeing the case asked the parties for briefing on whether a legitimate controversy existed – a requirement for any lawsuit – because Trump controls the IRS.
“Upon the filing of this notice, no judicial analysis is appropriate,” Trump’s lawyers said in a brief filing on Monday requesting dismissal of the suit.
The suit sought damages after Charles Littlejohn, an IRS contractor, leaked Trump’s tax returns to ProPublica and the New York Times.
The justice department did not return a request for comment.
Trump moves to withdraw $10bn lawsuit against IRS amid fund deal
President Trump moved to dismiss his $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, the AP reported Monday.
The move to withdraw comes after reports that the Trump administration planned to create a fund to compensate its allies. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Florida.
On Saturday, Guardian US reported that Trump could agree to drop his lawsuit in exchange for the launch of a $1.7bn fund to compensate people Trump believes were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration. About 1,500 January 6 rioters would be part of the group eligible for the fund.
The treasury department’s Judgment Fund, a collection of taxpayer funds to settle court judgments, could reportedly be the vehicle for the fund.
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Trump and President Xi Jinping of China reached a consensus on multiple issues, including that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened with no country charging tolls, the denuclearization of North Korea and that the US and China should “build a constructive relationship of strategic stability,” according to a fact sheet released by the White House Sunday.
China approved the purchase of 200 US-made Boeing aircraft for its airlines, and agreed to purchase at least $17bn worth of US agricultural products per year in 2026, 2027 and 2028 – this was additional to the soybean purchase China committed to earlier, according to the White House.
China and the US will establish trade and investment councils and discuss tariff reductions on specific products, said China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday, without stating more details, according to Xinhua News, China’s official state news.
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Eyes on Kentucky as Massie and Gallrein race to the primary
It’s election day in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district tomorrow and the race for the Republican representative is between the incumbent Thomas Massie – a consistent thorn in Trump’s side – and Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein.
Massie is hosting a pulled pork and chicken dinner for his supporters at Veteran’s Memorial Park tonight to talk about what he hopes to achieve in congress, while defense secretary Pete Hegseth is expected on the ground in Kentucky at 1pm to support Gallrein. Hegseth and Gallrein will appear together at an event organized by America First Works, a conservative grassroots advocacy organization.
Representatives Lauren Boebart and Warren Davidson stood by Massie during a campaign event Sunday, as Trump continued to lambast him on Truth Social.
“Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Trump. “Must be thrown out of office, ASAP!”
The chances appear higher for Trump and Gallrein. On Saturday, Bill Cassidy, the Republican senator from Louisiana who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment over the January insurrection, was voted out of his primary election.
Taiwan would “welcome” an opportunity for its leader to speak to US president Donald Trump after he raised the possibility, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said on Monday.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he had to speak to the man “running Taiwan” – an apparent reference to president Lai Ching-te – about arms sales.
A conversation between Lai and Trump would be a major break in US diplomatic policy and risk a rupture with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory.
Trump made the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way back to Washington after a summit in Beijing where Chinese president Xi Jinping had pushed him not to support Taiwan.
“I’m going to make a determination. I’m going to see,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he would go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan.
“I have to speak to the person that right now is – you know who he is – that’s running Taiwan.”
Dozens of state anti-vaccine bills backed by Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters have failed after public health groups won over Republican state lawmakers, marking a series of defeats for the backers of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The failures show a limit to the political power of the MAHA coalition groups that had set out this year to pass laws against mandatory vaccinations in at least 10 states, hoping to capitalize on a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment and their role in helping elect president Donald Trump.
Pro-vaccine groups and medical associations including American Families for Vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics and others lobbied in statehouses against bills seeking to end policies like school vaccine mandates, according to Reuters interviews with seven organizations.
Vaccine advocates used polling data and personal appeals to convince lawmakers in Republican-controlled states such as West Virginia, Louisiana and Florida that their constituents support vaccination and that the MAHA-backed bills posed a threat to public health.
Trump may have to wait for rate cuts until the Iran war is over, he tells Fortune
President Donald Trump conceded in an interview with Fortune magazine published on Monday that he may have to wait until the war with Iran was over for more interest rate cuts.
“You can’t really look at the figures until the war is over,” he said.
Trump said Iran was “dying to sign” a ceasefire deal with the US. “But they make a deal, and then they send you a paper that has no relationship to the deal you made.” he told Fortune.
The president also said he “should have asked for more” of a stake in Intel on behalf of the US government.
The Trump administration last year took a 10% stake in Intel and announced an investment of about $10 billion in the chipmaker for building or expanding factories in the U.S.
Eight months after the deal, the government’s Intel position has grown to be worth more than $50 billion.
Redistricting debate shifts to South Carolina as Republicans seek clean sweep of House seats
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts will get its first full airing Monday in the state House.
Lawmakers will launch a lengthy – and potentially testy discussion – over whether to accede to president Donald Trump’s calls for a US House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans, AP reports.
Debates already have played out in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana as Republicans push to leverage a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts.
The ruling has opened the way for Republicans to redraw districts with large black populations that have elected Democrats. In South Carolina, that means targeting a seat long held by representative Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat among the state’s seven representatives in the House.
Clyburn has said he has no intention of retiring, even if his district gets changed. He told reporters last week in Washington that he has addresses in Columbia, Charleston and Santee, adding:
I live in three districts. I’ll decide which one to run in.
“It ain’t about Jim Clyburn’s district,” he added. “This isn’t about voting. This is about turning the clock back to Jim Crow 2.0.”
Early voting is scheduled to begin on 26 May for South Carolina’s statewide primaries on 9 June. In addition to redrawing congressional districts, legislation pending in the state House would move the House primaries to August. If it clears the House, the legislation then must go to the Senate.
In other developments:
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A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to devote taxpayer money to the contentious project.
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The Republican senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary on Saturday, as voters in Louisiana opted instead to advance two challengers to a runoff election after an extraordinary intervention by Trump to oust the incumbent.
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With two days to go before the next big test of Trump’s iron grip over his party, the president went head-to-head on Sunday with his nemesis, Thomas Massie the Kentucky congressman who is in a fight for his political life in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
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Workers renovating one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic sites in a project ordered by Trump may be risking their safety as they race to finish on time for the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations, a union monitoring the site has warned.
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The FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkelling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer.
