Closing summary
This brings our latest edition of US politics live to an end, but we will return on Tuesday to continue to chronicle the second Trump administration. Here are some of the day’s developments:
Mass protests have been called for 14 June, when Donald Trump plans to throw himself a military parade birthday party
US intelligence officials concluded last month that the government of Venezuela is “probably not directing” the activities of Tren de Aragua gang members inside the United States. That undermines Trump’s claim that the Alien Enemies Act empowers him to deport suspected gang members.
The US Department of Education informed Harvard University on Monday that it was ending billions of dollars in research grants and other aid unless the school concedes to a list of demands from the Trump administration that would effectively cede control of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest to the government.
On Thursday at the White House, Melania Trump will host the unveiling of a US Postal Service stamp honoring the former first lady Barbara Bush, who made no secret of her passionate hatred of Donald Trump.
Trump signed an executive order ending all federal funding for what the White House calls “dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran”.
One day before the newly elected Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, visits the White House to meet Trump, Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, accused Canada of being a “socialist regime” that has been “feeding off of America” for decades.
This year’s Pulitzer prize for illustrated reporting and commentary was awarded to editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes, who quit the Washington Post in January to protest the newspaper’s refusal to publish her satirical cartoon depicting the outlet’s owner, Jeff Bezos – and a group of other media and technology barons – kneeling before Donald Trump and offering him bags of cash.
The White House said in a clarifying statement that “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made” after Trump abruptly announced on his Truth Social platform last night a 100% tariff on all movies “produced in Foreign Lands”, sparking widespread concern across the film industry. He apparently got the idea from a conversation with Jon Voight at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.
TeleMessage, the communications app used by Mike Waltz, Trump’s former national security adviser of Signalgate fame (as snapped during last week’s cabinet meeting the day before he was fired), said it was temporarily suspending services following a reported hack that exposed some of its messages.
Updated
Mass protests called for 14 June, when Trump plans to throw himself a military parade birthday party
Indivisible and a coalition of pro-democracy partner organizations just announced a NO KINGS Nationwide Day of Defiance for 14 June, which is both Donald Trump’s birthday and the day of a planned military parade in Washington.
The organizers write:
On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.
