Closing summary
This brings our coverage of the second Trump administration to a close for the day. We will return on Thursday to keep our real-time chronicle going, but in the meantime, here are a few of the day’s developments:
A federal judge blocked the government from deporting migrants to Libya, amid reports that the US military planned to fly detained immigrants there this week.
Donald Trump withdrew his nominee for surgeon general, Fox News contributor Dr Janette Nesheiwat, one day before her confirmation hearing. Later in the day, he nominated a wellness influencer close to RFK Jr to take her place.
Columbia University called in the NYPD to clear a Gaza solidarity sit-in at a campus library, resulting in about 75 arrests.
The Federal Reserve refused to lower interest rates as questions around the global economic outlook mount amid Trump’s erratic rollout of an aggressive trade strategy.
Trump said there would be more information in the next day on a potential new proposal for a hostage release deal and ceasefire in Gaza.
Stockholm’s city council rejected a “completely bizarre” demand from the US embassy in Sweden to abandon the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Voice of America, the US-funded broadcaster, will now run video provided by One America News, an openly partisan, virulently pro-Trump, far-right broadcaster.
Updated
Trump picks physician-turned-wellness influencer close to RFK Jr for surgeon general
Donald Trump said he is nominating Dr Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer who is close to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr as his new nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the job, Fox News contributor Dr Janette Nesheiwat, one day before her confirmation hearing.
Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday that Means “has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History”. Without explaining why he had withdrawn the nomination of his first pick, Trump wrote: “Secretary Kennedy looks forward to working with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in another capacity at HHS.”
Means and her brother, former lobbyist Calley Means, served as key advisers to Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign and helped broker his eventual endorsement of Trump, the Associated Press reports.
Updated
About 75 protesters were arrested on Wednesday night after Columbia University called on the New York police department to clear a a pro-Palestinian sit-in at a reading room in the school’s Butler library, the student-run Columbia Daily Spectator reports.
“At the direct request of Columbia University, the NYPD is responding to an ongoing situation on campus where individuals have occupied a library and are trespassing,” the police said in a statement earlier in the evening.
Updated
Columbia sit-in documented by students who support and oppose Gaza solidarity protests
As we’ve reported, the sit-in at Columbia University’s Butler library on Wednesday was documented on social media by Columbia journalism students and by students who support the Gaza solidarity protest movement. But Columbia students who oppose the protests were also there to document what happened.
The very first moments of the sit-in were captured on video by Shoshana Aufzien a first year student at Columbia’s Barnard College who describes herself as an “unapologetic Zionist”.
BREAKING: Protesters are occupying Butler Library @Columbia. pic.twitter.com/rn7yprxqqs
— Shoshana Aufzien🎗️ (@shoshanaaufzien) May 7, 2025
Earlier in the school year, Aufzien went undercover to shoot video of pro-Palestinian activists for the conservative Free Press that was shared on TikTok by the Israeli embassy in Washington.
The Free Press was founded by Bari Weiss, who led a pro-Israel student movement during her time as a Columbia undergraduate that accused pro-Palestinian professors of antisemitism.
Aufzien, who referred to the protesters as a “lynch mob”, also shared video of the protesters refusing to a demand from security to show their identification cards that was posted on Twitter/X by a group of Jewish and Israeli Columbia students.
Protesters attempting to stampede public safety to avoid being identified as they leave pic.twitter.com/4yiYXbvGk2
— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) May 7, 2025
Meghnad Bose, a post-graduate fellow at the Columbia Journalism Review, reported on X that security officers prevented journalists from entering the library during the sit-in, but he shared video he obtained from inside the building that gives a sense of the protest at its height.
BREAKING: Footage shared below shows pro-Palestine protesters inside Columbia University’s Butler Library. Watch closely towards the end of the video.
— Meghnad Bose (@MeghnadBose93) May 7, 2025
Note: This is separate from another clip which shows campus security physically manhandling protesters, mentioned in my previous… pic.twitter.com/ENul8V57Wa
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Columbia student protesters arrested and led away in handcuffs by police
A graduate student at Columbia Journalism School, Sharla Steinman, reports on Twitter/X that at least 50 people have been arrested for taking part in the brief occupation of Butler library on campus.
Five minutes ago, another student at the journalism school, Somaiyah Hafeez, shared video of more than a dozen protesters, handcuffed with zip ties, being led away by police officers to an NYPD bus. Most were wearing keffiyehs – the traditional black and white scarf that has long been a symbol of Palestinian identity.
More arrests at 8:14pm. One student was taken out on a stretcher earlier. pic.twitter.com/ncTxx7KUcE
— Somaiyah Hafeez (@sommulbaloch) May 8, 2025
Updated
NYPD enters Columbia university library, says student group
Video posted online by the student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest shows that officers from the New York police department have entered the Butler library reading room they occupied on Wednesday afternoon in a show of solidarity with the people of Gaza.
The video shows the students, facing officers in riot gear, locked arms and chanted: “We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains!”
We know this moment is fleeting, and that we do not have the capacity to hold it permanently at this time. But one day, this entire building and all the knowledge it holds will be liberated for good, and every book will belong to the free children of the world. pic.twitter.com/MBikqSzNUJ
— CU Apartheid Divest (CUAD) (@ColumbiaBDS) May 7, 2025
Updated
Columbia security officers block protesters from leaving library sit-in unless they show ID – report
The student-run Columbia Spectator reports that protesters who staged a pro-Palestinian “emergency rally” in a reading room in Columbia University’s Butler library have been blocked from leaving the room by campus security officers unless they show their identification.
The protesters have refused to do so, according to a statement from the Columbia office of public affairs.
About 100 protesters took over the reading room this afternoon and held up a banner reading “Strike for Gaza” images posted on social media by the activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest showed.
POV: chanting with your comrades in the liberated zone pic.twitter.com/zmpz6QaiKN
— CU Apartheid Divest (CUAD) (@ColumbiaBDS) May 7, 2025
Supporters of the protest also gathered outside the library in response to a call from those inside.
The independent reporter Samuel Braslow shared video of one supporter of the protest outside the building being evacuated after sustaining an injury as public safety officers pushed people away from the entrance.
Someone is injured as public safety officers push protesters out of the entrance. Protesters clear a path as someone carries the injured protester out. pic.twitter.com/Bp5XW4ffdr
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) May 7, 2025
Updated
Columbia University calls in New York police department to help clear Gaza solidarity sit-in
Columbia University called in the New York police department to help clear Gaza solidarity activists who occupied the campus’s main library on Wednesday.
Students who witnessed protesters being detained by campus security officers at Butler library shared video on social media of protesters being placed in handcuffs and “manhandled”. Activists accused the security officers of initiating violent scuffles, while the school blamed the protesters.
Claire Shipman, the university’s acting president, said in a statement that protesters had refused to leave the building despite being warned that a failure to comply result in disciplinary action and possibly arrest for trespassing.
“Due to the number of individuals participating in the disruption inside and outside of the building, a large group of people attempting to force their way into Butler Library creating a safety hazard, and what we believe to be the significant presence of individuals not affiliated with the University, Columbia has taken the necessary step of requesting the presence of NYPD to assist in securing the building and the safety of our community,” Shipman said in the statement. “Sadly, during the course of this disruption, two of our Columbia Public Safety Officers sustained injuries during a crowd surge when individuals attempted to force their way into the building and into Room 301. These actions are outrageous.”
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, or CUAD, the student movement that established a tent encampment on campus last year, wrote on social media: “Public safety has assaulted dozens of protestors so far and is refusing to let people in and out of the building despite an active fire alarm”.
“Spirits remain high in the liberated zone despite the imminent NYPD SRG raid,” the group reported from inside the library following televised comments from New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, that the police were on their way to the campus.
Read more from my colleague Lauren Gambino:
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Supreme court chief justice John Roberts says he won't retire: 'I'm going out feet first'
John Roberts, the chief justice of the US supreme court, has no intention of retiring, ever, he said in an interview on Wednesday in his native Buffalo, New York. “I’m going out feet first”, Roberts told his old friend, US district judge Lawrence Vilardo.
Roberts was speaking at what was billed as a “fireside chat” during a celebration of the 125th anniversary of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. The livestreamed discussion is still going on.
The chief justice also repeated his rejection of calls from supporters of Donald Trump for the removal of judges who have issued rulings against his illegal executive orders. “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision”, Roberts said.
Updated
Stockholm City Council rejects 'bizarre' demand from US embassy to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies
The US Embassy in Sweden “is demanding that its suppliers and cooperating partners stop using diversity, equity and inclusion policies, or risk an end to their relationship”, Sweden’s state broadcaster reports.
Stockholm City Council’s urban planning office received a letter from the embassy with the “completely bizarre” demand council member Jan Valeskog said. His office would not comply, Valeskog told a local radio station, since diversity, equity and inclusion are important to the city government.
Valeskog added that the embassy was free to end its relationship with his office if it likes. “If the US terminates its relationship with the city planning office, the embassy will have difficulty getting a building permit if they want to rebuild, for example. That’s their headache, not ours”, he said.
The embassy was asked for comment by Radio Sweden, but declined to do so.
Updated
Federal judge rules deportation flight to Libya would violate court order
A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled on Wednesday in favor of immigrant rights advocates who asked him to block the government from deporting migrants to Libya, amid reports that the US military planned to fly detained immigrants there this week.
District court judge Brian Murphy issued an order clarifying that a previous injunction he had issued already barred such flights. The judge wrote that he had explained on 30 April that “the Department of Homeland Security may not evade this injunction by ceding control over non-citizens or the enforcement of its immigration responsibilities to any other agency, including but not limited to the Department of Defense”.
“If there is any doubt — the Court sees none — the allegedly imminent removals, as reported by news agencies and as Plaintiffs seek to corroborate with class-member accounts and public information, would clearly violate this Court’s Order,” Murphy clarified.
In a rare show of unity, Libya’s rival governments had already responded to news reports by saying that they would refuse to accept any deportees from the United States.
When Donald Trump was asked on Wednesday if his administration was planning to send migrants to Libya, the president replied: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Homeland Security please.”
The brutal conditions in Libyan detention centers for migrants forcibly returned after trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean have been known about for years. In 2021, Amnesty International reported that it had obtained more than 50 witness accounts documenting severe beatings, sexual violence, extortion and forced labor in the centers.
Trump himself has previously made it clear that he is well aware that Libya is far from a safe place.
During his first campaign for the presidency in 2016, Trump blamed Hillary Clinton for the violence in post-revolutionary Libya.
“Libya is in ruins. Our ambassador and three other really brave Americans are dead,” then candidate Trump said in a speech in August 2016. “President Obama and Hillary Clinton should have never attempted to build a democracy in Libya” he added.
However, Trump was actually for the intervention in Libya before he was against it.
In early 2011, when he was flirting with a run for the presidency, Trump demanded immediate action to topple Col. Muammar el-Gaddafi in a statement posted on the YouTube channel he used to promote his gameshow The Apprentice.
“I can’t believe what our country is doing,” Trump said on 28 February 2011, two weeks before the Obama administration received security council authorization “to protect civilians” in Libya. “Gaddafi in Libya is killing thousands of people, nobody knows how bad it is, and we’re sitting around we have soldiers all have the Middle East, and we’re not bringing them in to stop this horrible carnage.”
“We should do, on a humanitarian basis, immediately go in to Libya, knock this guy out – very quickly, very surgically, very effectively – and save the lives. After it’s all done, we go to the protesters, who end up running the country … and then say: by the way, from all of your oil, we want reimbursement.”
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Confirmation hearing off for Trump's surgeon general pick, amid questions over Fox News doctor's resume
The Senate confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as US surgeon general, Fox News contributor Dr Janette Nesheiwat, has been cancelled amid reports that the White House is withdrawing the nomination.
Bloomberg News first reported that the White House is pulling its nomination Nesheiwat, who has come under fire for allegedly misleading statements about where she went to medical school and, from vaccine skeptics, for promoting vaccination against Covid-19.
The confirmation hearing was scheduled for Thursday, but Nesheiwat’s name has been removed from the revised witness schedule by the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions.
When Trump announced the nomination of the Fox News regular, he described Nesheiwat as a “proud graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences”. However, as CBS News reported last week, Nesheiwat “actually earned her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean (AUC) School of Medicine, located in St. Maarten” before completing her residency at the University of Arkansas.
Until the CBS report was published, Nesheiwat’s LinkedIn profile incorrectly listed an MD from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine and made no mention of AUC.
The network also reported that the doctor previously used a formulation of the Caribbean university’s name that might have misled people into thinking she had attended the American University in Washington DC.
“I completed my medical training and residency at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences near Little Rock where I served as Chief Resident”, Nesheiwat wrote on Facebook in 2018. “Initially pursuing training at the American University, I completed the majority of my studies in London, England, at St. Thomas & Guy’s Hospital.”
Nesheiwat’s nomination has been heavily criticized by Trump supporters from the far-right, including Dr Simone Gold, an emergency physician who entered the Capitol on January 6 2021, and told Trump supporters not to take “an experimental biological agent deceptively named a vaccine”. On social media, Gold complained that Nesheiwat had urged Americans to wear masks during the pandemic, said the vaccine was “safe and effective”, and praised Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg for cracking down on misinformation about the pandemic. “Is she Dr. Fauci 2.0?” Gold asked.
Trump’s confidante, the Islamophobic, 9/11 truther Laura Loomer campaigned against Nesheiwat on social media, writing on Sunday that her “promotion of DEI-focused initiatives” and “her advocacy for the China Virus ‘vaccine’” made her “unfit for the role of United States Surgeon General”.
If Nesheiwat’s nomination has been withdrawn, it will be the second time in a week Trump has lost confidence in her family. Her older sister, Julia, a homeland security adviser to Trump during his first term who also served in the Obama administration, is married to Mike Waltz, Trump’s now former national security adviser.
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FBI director Kash Patel pressed on firing agents who investigated January 6 insurrection
FBI director, Kash Patel, testified before a House appropriation subcommittee today, where he dodged questions about whether he would fire more agents who had investigated the January 6 insurrection.
“Do you anticipate firing any additional employees that may have worked in relation to the January 6 investigations?” asked congresswoman Grace Meng, the top Democrat on the panel, which held a hearing with Patel on the FBI’s budget request.
“The only way you get fired from the FBI while I’m the director is if you violate the ethical guidelines or break the law,” Patel replied.
A longtime defender of Trump and critic of the alleged “deep state” he claims worked against the president during the first term, Patel narrowly won Senate confirmation to lead the federal law enforcement agency in February. He took office weeks after the agency’s interim director disclosed that he had been directed to fire eight senior leaders, and compile a list of all agents who had worked on January 6 cases, prompting a lawsuit to stop the list’s creation and sharing.
Asked about the list in the hearing, Patel said: “That email or memo was sent out prior to my arrival at the FBI. We have not addressed that specific email since I’ve arrived because the matter’s in litigation in federal court.”
Updated
The day so far
The vice-president JD Vance struck a far more soft, conciliatory tone towards Europe at the Munich leaders meeting in DC this morning than he did in February this year – he even joked about thinking he might not be invited back after that. This time, Vance repeatedly emphasized that the US and Europe are “real friends” who are “on the same team” – and said that things had simply “got off track, and I’d encourage us all to get back on track together”. He did stress that the US wants Europe to be “self-sufficient” and to see 5% spending on defense, and he also pressed the EU to lower tariffs and regulatory barriers, and to open the door to US weapons.
Vance’s only harsh words were saved for Russia. Russia, he said, was “asking for too much” in its peace offer, and said the US is focused on a long-term ceasefire. The Trump administration wants Russia and Ukraine to move towards direct talks with each other as the next step towards peace, he said. On Iran, Vance said “so far so good” on nuclear talks, and said Iran should be allowed a “civil nuclear program” but not a “nuclear weapons program”. “So far we’re on the right pathway,” he said.
Elsewhere
In his first interview since leaving the White House in January, Joe Biden accused Trump of “modern-day appeasement” in his approach to Russia, and said it’s “foolish” to believe Vladimir Putin will stop the violence if he is handed over parts of Ukraine. He also condemned Trump’s aggressive talk toward Panama, Greenland and Canada. “What the hell’s going on here?” he asked. “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity — not about confiscation.” Story here.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold as questions around the global economic outlook mount amid Trump’s erratic rollout of an aggressive trade strategy. Policymakers at the US central bank cautioned that “the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen” as they opted to maintain the benchmark interest rate for the third time in a row. Story here.
The Trump administration is planning to deport a group of migrants to Libya, according to reports, despite the state department’s previous condemnation of the “life-threatening” prison conditions in the country.
Trump said there would be more information in the next day on a potential new proposal for a hostage release deal and ceasefire in Gaza. “A lot of talk going on about Gaza right now,” Trump told reporters at the White House today. “You’ll be knowing probably in the next 24 hours.”
The Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said he would summon the acting US ambassador to Denmark after the WSJ (paywall) reported the Trump administration ordered US intelligence agencies to step up surveillance on Greenland. “I have read the article … and it worries me greatly because we do not spy on friends,” Rasmussen told reporters. “We are going to call in the US acting ambassador for a discussion at the foreign ministry to see if we can confirm this information, which is somewhat disturbing,” Rasmussen added. Story here.
A federal appeals court granted a judge’s order to bring Turkish Tufts University student, Rümeysa Öztürk, from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated. Story here.
The upcoming face-to-face meeting in Geneva this weekend between US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and his China counterpart He Lifeng was requested by the Trump administration, Chinese officials said. Bessent had earlier suggested it was the other way around. Asked about it Trump said: “They said we initiated it? Well I think they should go back and study their files.”
A hard-right, Trump-supporting US news network that perpetuated conspiracy theories about the 2020 election will provide news coverage for Voice of America (VoA), the Trump administration said. The move that OAN, which many see as a pro-Trump propaganda outfit, will provide content for VoA, which has traditionally been a more politically neutral news source, will spur further fears about Trump’s crackdown on the press. Story here.
The US National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have partnered to research the causes of the autism spectrum disorder, creating a database of autism-diagnosed people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. “We’re using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases,” HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said in a statement. “We’re pulling back the curtain—with full transparency and accountability—to deliver the honest answers families have waited far too long to hear.”
The Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner. Story here.
And finally, a fan of renaming gulfs, Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the “Arabian Gulf” or the “Gulf of Arabia”, none other than the Associated Press reports, citing two US officials. Iranian leaders said the move was “politically motivated”.
Updated
US considering exempting baby items like car seats and strollers from Chinese tariffs
The Trump administration is considering exempting car seats, baby strollers, cribs and other essential items for transporting children from tariffs on China up to 145%, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.
Reuters reports that Bessent made the comments under questioning from Democratic representative Ayanna Pressley at a House financial services committee hearing that those exemptions were under consideration.
Pressley, of Massachusetts, noted that more than 3.5 million babies are born annually and almost all strollers are made in China. “Now that cost is going up,” she said.
In 2018, the Trump administration exempted some products produced in China from 25% tariffs including bicycle helmets and child-safety furniture such as car seats and playpens. However, car seat component parts, cribs, bassinets, diaper bags and wooden safety gates were not exempted.
Chris Peterson, the CEO of Newell Brands, the maker of Graco strollers, car seats and other children’s goods, said last week on an earnings call that approximately 97% of baby strollers and 87% of baby car seats in the US are sourced from China. The company has hiked prices of imported baby gear products by about 20% because of tariffs.
Peterson said the company has not priced in the latest 125% tariff hike and has temporarily halted shipments from China as it sells a few months of inventory.
“At some point, we will begin to run out of inventory. Retailers will begin to run out of inventory and we will turn back on reordering from China,” he said. “When that happens, because the whole industry sources from China, we would expect that we and the rest of the industry will take additional pricing to offset the tariff cost.”
Federal Reserve warns of inflation and jobs risks amid Trump’s erratic trade strategy
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold as questions around the global economic outlook mount amid Donald Trump’s erratic rollout of an aggressive trade strategy.
Policymakers at the US central bank cautioned that “the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen” as they opted to maintain the benchmark interest rate for the third time in a row.
“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further,” they said in a statement.
The US president has repeatedly demanded in recent months that the Fed cuts rates – and even raised the prospect of firing Jerome Powell, its chairperson, before walking back the comments – as Trump’s tariffs plan appeared to knock the US economy.
The Fed has been sitting on its hands for months, however, citing heightened uncertainty. It last cut rates in December, to a range of between 4.25% and 4.5%.
As Trump pushed ahead last month with sweeping tariffs on imported goods from much of the world, Powell cautioned this would probably raise prices and slow growth – despite the administration’s pledges to revitalize the US economy and reduce the cost of living for millions of Americans.
Trump was also just asked about the comments I just reported from China that the US initiated this weekend’s upcoming trade meetings in Switzerland, to which he replied:
They said we initiated it? Well I think they should go back and study their files.
Donald Trump said there would be more information in the next day on a potential new proposal for a hostage release deal and ceasefire in Gaza.
“A lot of talk going on about Gaza right now,” Trump told reporters at the White House today. “You’ll be knowing probably in the next 24 hours.”
China says US asked for trade meeting in Switzerland
The upcoming face-to-face meeting in Geneva this weekend between US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and his China counterpart He Lifeng was requested by the Trump administration, Chinese officials have said.
“The US said repeatedly it wants to negotiate with China. This meeting is requested by the US side,” said the foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, at his regular press conference on Wednesday.
China will be entering the talks “firmly” opposed to tariffs, Lin said in a post on X. “Meanwhile, China is open to dialogue, but any dialogue must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit.”
His comments contradict Bessent’s earlier claims that the high-stakes meeting was taking place in Switzerland by coincidence. “I was going to be in Switzerland to negotiate with the Swiss,” he said in an interview on Fox News. “Turns out the Chinese team is traveling through Europe, and they will be in Switzerland also. So we will meet on Saturday and Sunday.” China, meanwhile, had said He was going to be in Switzerland at the invitation of the Swiss government.
In the last few weeks China has repeatedly denied that it has proactively reached out to the Trump administration to propose trade talks. Instead, Chinese officials said the country was evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the US after senior US officials reached out “through relevant parties multiple times” hoping to start tariff negotiations.
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Embattled Voice of America to use newsfeed from hard-right network
A hard-right, Trump-supporting US news network that perpetuated conspiracy theories about the 2020 election will provide news coverage for Voice of America (VoA), the Trump administration said.
Kari Lake, a special adviser to the body that oversees the government-funded VoA, announced on X that One America News (OAN), which was sued by voting machine companies for promoting claims of election fraud, will provide “newsfeed and video service”.
“Every day I look for ways to save American taxpayers money. Bringing in OAN as a video/news source does both,” Lake said. “OAN is one of the few family-owned American media networks left in the United States. We are grateful for their generosity.”
The news that OAN, which many see as a pro-Trump propaganda outfit, will provide content for VoA, which has traditionally been a more politically neutral news source, is a move that will spur further fears about Donald Trump’s crackdown on the press.
OAN, which spread conspiracy theories about the coronavirus epidemic, almost exclusively interviews Republican politicians and rightwing voices, including this week the founder of an organization that denies the existence of the climate crisis.
A federal judge in Florida has used a routine court filing to lament the exodus of attorneys from the justice department.
US district judge Donald Middlebrooks of the middle district of Florida made the comments after four justice department attorneys all informed the court they would be withdrawing from the case because they were leaving the department. Usually, judges grant such requests without much fanfare.
But Middlebrooks took the opportunity to call out the lawyers.
“This case was expertly litigated by a team of lawyers from the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, specifically the Disability Rights Section. Now it appears that multiple members of that team are ending their tenure with the Department,” wrote Middlebrooks, who was appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton. “I will grant the Motions to Withdraw, but I do so with disappointment that capable litigators and dedicated public servants have felt moved to leave their positions with the Department of Justice.”
He went on to “commend” the lawyers for “the extraordinary efforts they took in arguing these important issues and granted their request to withdraw.
More than 250 lawyers have left or are planning to leave the civil rights division, a flood of departures that amounts to about a 70% reduction in personnel. The head of the division, a political appointee, has made it clear in new “mission statements” to each of the sections that their longstanding priorities will shift to more closely align with the president’s priorities.
Former and current employees have said that the reduction in personnel makes it virtually impossible for the division to enforce civil rights laws.
Court orders detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk returned to Vermont
A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a judge’s order to bring Turkish Tufts University student, Rümeysa Öztürk, from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated.
A judicial panel of the New York-based US second circuit court of appeals ruled in the case after lawyers representing her and the US justice department presented arguments at a hearing on Tuesday.
Öztürk has been detained in Louisiana for six weeks following an op-ed she cowrote last year that criticized the school’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza. The court ordered her to be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody in Vermont no later than 14 May.
A district court judge in Vermont had earlier ordered that the 30-year-old doctoral student be brought to the state for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Öztürk’s lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
The justice department, which appealed that ruling, said that an immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over her case.
Updated
'We do not spy on our friends': Denmark plans to call in US ambassador over 'disturbing' Greenland spying report
Robert Tait and Miranda Bryant
The Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has said he would call in the acting US ambassador to Denmark after the Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported the Trump administration ordered US intelligence agencies to step up surveillance on Greenland.
“I have read the article in the Wall Street Journal and it worries me greatly because we do not spy on friends,” Rasmussen told reporters during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw on Wednesday.
“We are going to call in the US acting ambassador for a discussion at the foreign ministry to see if we can confirm this information, which is somewhat disturbing,” Rasmussen added.
The WSJ report, published last night, said high-ranking officials working under Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, issued the instruction to agency heads in a “collection emphasis message”. Such messages customarily help to set intelligence priorities and direct resources and attention to high-interest targets.
The Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency were all included in the message. It told chiefs to study Greenland’s independence movement and attitudes to American efforts to extract resources on the island, according to the report, citing two unnamed officials familiar with the matter.
The move, which will further alarm Denmark and Europe, underlines the seriousness of Trump’s intent to increase US influence over Greenland. Just last weekend, he refused to rule out using military force to gain control of the island. Denmark, a US ally and Nato member, has repeatedly vowed that Greenland is not available for sale or annexation.
'Not a safe place to send anyone': US planning to deport migrants to Libya despite ‘hellish’ conditions – reports
Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and Edward Helmore in New York
The Trump administration is planning to deport a group of migrants to Libya, according to reports, despite the state department’s previous condemnation of the “life-threatening” prison conditions in the country. Libya’s provisional government has denied the reports.
Reuters cited three unnamed US officials as saying the deportations could happen this week. Two of the officials said the individuals, whose nationalities are not known, could fly to Libya as soon as Wednesday, but they added the plans could still change. The New York Times also cited a US official confirming the deportation plans. It was not clear what Libya would be getting in return for taking any deportees.
Human rights groups condemned the reported plans, noting the country’s poor record on human rights practices and harsh treatment of detainees. Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), wrote on X:
Migrants have long been trafficked, tortured and ransomed in Libya. The country is in a civil war. It is not a safe place to send anyone.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on the platform alongside a picture of a Libyan detention facility:
Don’t look away. This is what Libya’s migrant detention facilities look like. This is what Trump is doing.
Amnesty International called these places a ‘hellscape’ where beatings are common and sexual violence are rampant. There are reports of human trafficking and even slavery.
It comes as the Trump administration expands its aggressive efforts to negotiate the swift deportations of migrants to third-party countries which, as well as Libya, includes Angola, Benin, Eswatini, Moldova and Rwanda, as reported by CBS News and Reuters earlier this week. This is alongside its existing arrangement with El Salvador, which it has paid millions to detain hundreds of migrants in its notorious mega-prison.
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US customers could face higher energy bills amid reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to end the Energy Star program whose blue labels have certified energy efficiency on home appliances for more than 30 years, experts warn.
“If you wanted to raise families’ energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the non-profit research organization the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
The reports of Energy Star’s elimination come after Donald Trump has railed against showers and toilets that conserve water. In April, he signed an executive order to “restore shower freedom”.
The New York Times reported that staff were told: “The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, outside of what’s required by statute, is being de-prioritized and eliminated.”
President Donald Trump accused the US courts of preventing him from deporting “murders and other criminals” in a post on Truth Social.
“Our Court System is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do. Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!” the president wrote.
Recent reports have revealed the intentions of the Trump administration to deport immigrants to more countries other than the one designated as the immigrant’s country of origin, also called third-country deportations.
RFK Jr launches autism project using data from Medicare and Medicaid
The US National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have partnered to research the causes of the autism spectrum disorder, creating a database of autism-diagnosed people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, the agencies announced today.
The partnership will “focus first on enabling research around the root causes of autism spectrum disorder” in order to help NIH build a real-world data platform using claims data, electronic medical records, and wearable consumer health-monitoring devices. The agencies said the project will comply with applicable privacy laws.
“We’re using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said in a statement. “We’re pulling back the curtain—with full transparency and accountability—to deliver the honest answers families have waited far too long to hear.”
The Trump administration’s health department has already faced backlash for this project following the announcement that the NIH would be collecting the private medical records of many Americans from several different federal and commercial databases.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the upcoming meeting with Chinese officials on trade set to begin on Saturday as “negotiations.” He added that Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, will not be joining him and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the discussions in Switzerland. He also declined to say which countries are close to reaching trade agreements with the US.
When asked during today’s House Financial Services Committee hearing whether discussions with China were considered advanced, Bessent replied: “I said, on Saturday, we will begin, which I believe is the opposite of advanced.”
US and Europe 'got a little bit off track', says Vance, as he encourages 'us all to get back on track together'
After Wolfgang Ischinger thanks Vance and says he hopes he will come back to the Munich Security Conference again, the vice-president jokes:
I appreciate the invitation back. I wasn’t sure after February whether I’d get the invitation back, but it’s good to know that it’s still there.
Ischinger lightly interjects “we thought about it”, to which they both laugh.
Vance also congratulates Friedrich Merz after the conservative leader was elected German chancellor.
I know that we’ll have a conversation with him in the next couple of days.
Vance goes on to say that what he said in his February speech “applied as much to the previous American administration as much as it did to any government in Europe”.
In stark contrast to the tone of his February speech – as this whole Q&A session has been – Vance says he means “from the heart and as a friend” that “there’s a tradeoff between policing the bounds of democratic speech and debate, and losing the trust of our people”.
He says he accepts and understands that “some things are outside the realm of political debate” and every country will draw those lines slightly differently.
“We have to be careful that we don’t draw the lines in such a way that we don’t undermine democratic legitimacy,” he says.
It’s not: Europe bad, America good. It’s that I think we got a little bit off track, and I’d encourage us all to get back on track together. We’re certainly willing and able to participate in that work and I hope all of you are too.
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'We care about Europe being self-sufficient', says Vance
Trump would like to see 5% spending on defense in Nato, Vance says.
European countries have “some catching up to do” as it hasn’t kept up with that, Vance says.
We really want and we really care about Europe being self-sufficient.
He says he regrets US foreign policy in the Middle East in 2003: “I frankly wish we had listened to our European friends.”
But on the need for Europe to play a bigger role in continental defense, he says “we are fundamentally right and it’s gratifying to see so many of European friends recognise that”.
I think we’re all aligned on it. It’s just a question of getting there and getting there quickly.
The US and China have not had a conversation about a strategic deal on Taiwan, Vance says.
He says the Trump administration is working to rebalance global trade in the interest of US workers and manufacturers, and that means China would have to take steps to boost domestic demand.
He says the rebalancing would also require cutting more trade deals with “some of our friends in Europe but also with some of our more adversarial nations”, adding that the goal was to do this while maintaining “at least an open dialog with [the People’s Republic of China].”
Vance says 'so far so good' with Iran nuclear talks
Vance describes US talks with Iran as “so far so good” and says there is a deal to be made that would “reintegrate Iran into the global economy” while preventing it from getting a nuclear weapon.
Iran getting a nuclear weapon is completely off the table for the American administration – no ifs, ands or butts.
Vance says he and Trump hate nuclear proliferation, so much so that Trump would be open to sitting down with Russia and China in the coming years to discuss reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world at large, Vance says.
But there is no way you get to that conversation if you allow multiple regimes all over the world to enter the sprint for a nuclear weapon.
And we really think that if the Iran domino falls, you’re going to see nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East – that’s very bad for us and for our friends.
Vance says the US has been “very happy with the Iranian response to some of the points that we’ve made”.
So far we’re on the right pathway.
He says the US doesn’t mind Iran having civil nuclear power, but they can’t also have an enrichment program that allows it to get to a nuclear weapon.
Vance presses EU to lower tariffs and regulatory barriers, and open door to US weapons
Vance says discussions between the United States and Europe were ongoing, saying Washington was pressing the European Union to lower its tariffs and regulatory barriers to improve the trading relationship.
In the same way that American markets have been open to European goods, we’d like a lot of European markets to be open to American goods.
He says there are agricultural and value-added manufacturing components to that, as well as opportunities for “American military software and hardware”.
He welcomes moves by Europe to expand its own defenses, but says US arms manufacturers should have an opportunity to participate more fully in those efforts.
Russia 'asking for too much', says JD Vance, as he says both sides need to talk to each other directly to end war in Ukraine
Vance says the Trump administration wants Russia and Ukraine to agree on some guidelines for talking to each other directly, which he says would be necessary to end the war.
Vance says the US views the concessions that Russia had sought as too much.
Certainly the first peace offer the Russians put on the table, our reaction to it was: ‘You’re asking for too much.’
The Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions, to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much.
But he says he is not that pessimistic about the chances for ending the conflict and direct talks between Russia and Ukraine is the next step the US wants to see.
Right now we would like the Russians and Ukrainians to agree to some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another … We think that is the next big step we would like to take … We think it’s probably impossible for us to mediate this entirely without at least some direct negotiation between the two.
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'We are very much real friends': JD Vance says he believes US and Europe 'are on the same team'
In marked contrast to his remarks back in February, Vance says he believes the US and Europe “are on the same team” and it was “ridiculous” to think a wedge could be driven between them.
He says he has a tendency to think of foreign policy purely in terms of “transactional values” – in terms of “what does American get out of it?” at the expense of the moral and humanitarian side of issues.
Vance says he believes that “fundamentally we have to be – and we are - on the same civilizational team”.
He and Trump believe this means “a little bit more European burden-sharing on the defense side” and “all of us” rethinking the “security posture of the last 20 years” which is “not adequate for the next 20 years”.
I do think we’re in one of these phases where we’re going to have to rethink a lot of big questions, but I do think we should rethink those big questions together. That’s a fundamental belief of both me and the president.
He adds:
I still think that this European alliance is very important but I think that for it to be important and for us to be real friends with each other – and I think we are very much real friends – we’ve got to talk about the big questions.
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JD Vance to deliver remarks at Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington DC
The vice-president JD Vance is due on stage at the Munich Leaders Meeting on global security taking place in Washington DC shortly for a Q&A led by Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German diplomat who chairs the annual Munich Security Conference.
Vance’s appearance earlier this year at that conference was nothing short of stunning and one of the most significant moments in the second Trump administration so far. As my colleague Patrick Wintour reported at the time, European leaders were left stunned as Vance “launched a brutal ideological assault on the continent, accusing its leaders of suppressing free speech, failing to halt illegal migration and running in fear from voters’ true beliefs”.
In a hostile, chastising speech that openly questioned whether current European values warranted defence by the US, Vance painted a picture of European politics infected by media censorship, cancelled elections and political correctness. He said:
If you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people … If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor for that matter is there anything you can do for the American people.
His apparent disdain for Europe was also further revealed in leaked messages during the Signalgate scandal in which he told defense secretary Pete Hegseth: “I just hate bailing out Europe again.”
We’ll see if his tone is more amicable this morning.
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Trump plans to announce US will call Persian Gulf ‘Arabian Gulf’ or 'Gulf of Arabia', officials say
A fan of renaming gulfs, Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the “Arabian Gulf” or the “Gulf of Arabia”, none other than the Associated Press reports, citing two US officials.
The move has prompted a push back from Iranian leaders who called it “politically motivated”. On Wednesday, Iran’s current foreign minister weighed in, saying that names of Middle East waterways do “not imply ownership by any particular nation, but rather reflects a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity”. Abbas Araghchi continued on X:
Politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned.
Any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect, it will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the US and across the world.
The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century and it has become an emotive issues for Iranians, although usage of “Gulf of Arabia” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The US military for years has also unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.
Trump can change the name for official US purposes, but he can’t dictate what the rest of the world calls it, as he has found several months after he declared that the US would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.
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Trump administration to stop US research on space pollution, in boon to Elon Musk
The Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner.
The pollution appears to be accumulating in the stratosphere at alarming levels. Some fear it could destroy the ozone layer, potentially expose some people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation or help further destabilize the earth’s climate during the climate crisis.
The two research projects would’ve had the potential to eventually lead to new regulations, costs or logistical challenges for Musk’s companies and the commercial space industry, experts say.
They were part of the office of atmospheric research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which the Trump administration is now proposing to kill. The administration says it is “eliminating the federal government’s support of woke ideology”, but critics say it’s protecting a prolific donor and political ally.
“Obviously there’s political motivation, and Elon Musk’s business interests are tied up in Noaa’s work,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit, which has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails around the projects.
These are programs the government wanted to build up, that had bipartisan support, and suddenly they’re being gutted with no rhyme, reason or adequate explanation.
‘Maduro did not close our bureau – Trump did’: Voice of America journalists speak out
Carolina Valladares Pérez, a Washington-based correspondent for the government-funded international news service Voice of America, has reported from places where press freedom is severely restricted – war zones and autocratic states – in the Middle East and across Latin America. Intimidation and threats from state officials were not unusual – but she always managed to get the story out.
Now for the first time in her career, Valladares Pérez says she has been silenced – not by a faraway regime, but by the government of the United States.
“Nicolás Maduro did not close our bureau,” she said, of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader. “Donald Trump closed it. I find this astonishing.”
Valladares Pérez is one of hundreds of VOA journalists who remain shut out of their newsroom nearly two months after Trump signed a late-night executive order aimed at dismantling their parent company, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The journalists had been hopeful they might be able to return to their broadcasts this week – VOA was even included in the rotation of news outlets assigned to cover the president as part of the White House press pool – but whiplashing court orders have clouded their path forward.
“We have 3,500 affiliates around the world – these are television stations, radio stations, digital affiliates, who depend on our content,” said Patsy Widakuswara, VOA’s White House bureau chief, who is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the president’s authority to gut an agency chartered by Congress.
The void is going to be filled by our adversaries – it already is.
UK in talks with US officials over movie tariffs, says minister
Britain is in “active discussions” with US officials over the extraordinary 100% tariff on all movies produced outside the US proposed by Donald Trump, as it tries to protect one of its biggest creative industries.
“We are already in active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject. We are working hard to establish what might be proposed, if anything, and to make sure our world-beating creative industries are protected,” creative industries minister Chris Bryant told parliament.
Reuters reports that Bryant noted that Trump had not given any details about his proposal, adding that it was not clear how tariffs could be applied to the film industry, with productions often created and developed across different locations and countries.
Trump’s bombshell announcement on Sunday left British film industry leaders aghast, with the UK, a regular location for some of Hollywood’s biggest movie productions, particularly vulnerable to any attempt by the US president to prevent American studios shooting overseas. Flummoxed entertainment executives have questioned both the timing of the proposed levy and how it could be enforced.
White House officials said “no official decisions have been made” on Monday and Trump appeared to soften his tone yesterday, saying he planned to meet and discuss the plans with film industry leaders. He said: “I’m not trying to hurt the industry, I want to help the industry … So we’re going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they’re happy with it because we’re all about jobs.”
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Iran is aghast at reports from the US that Donald Trump is planning for the US to offer Saudi Arabia to change the name of the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Arabia, a move that would cause deep offence in Iran and have large diplomatic repercussions.
There has been a decades long dispute between Arab States and Iran about the appropriate terminology for the stretch of water, but historically dating back to the Greeks it has been called the Persian Gulf.
Intermediaries are trying to persuade Trump of the diplomatic folly of the move just as Iranian diplomats are trying to convince hardliners in Iran that Trump is serious about negotiating a balanced nuclear deal with Iran.
He would make the announcement as a gift to Saudi Arabia as part of his three day tour in the Gulf.
One source said “it is the height of stupidity, but we are trying to tell the Iranians that Trump will be there for four years, but the Persian Gulf will be there for thousands of years”.
The source added that Trump believes the move might be enough to persuade Arab states of the value of normalisation of relations with Israel, one of the great second term goals of Trump diplomacy.
Trump has already renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
The Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner.
The pollution appears to be accumulating in the stratosphere at alarming levels. Some fear it could destroy the ozone layer, potentially expose some people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation or help further destabilize the earth’s climate during the climate crisis.
The two research projects would have had the potential to eventually lead to new regulations, costs or logistical challenges for Musk’s companies and the commercial space industry, experts say.
They were part of the office of atmospheric research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which the Trump administration is now proposing to kill. The administration says it is “eliminating the federal government’s support of woke ideology”, but critics say it’s protecting a prolific donor and political ally.
“Obviously there’s political motivation, and Elon Musk’s business interests are tied up in Noaa’s work,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit, which has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails around the projects.
Libya’s government of national unity said on Wednesday it rejects the use of Libyan territory as a destination for deporting migrants without its knowledge or consent.
The government also stated there is no coordination with the United States regarding the reception of migrants.
The statement comes after US officials indicated that president Donald Trump’s administration may deport migrants to Libya.
President Donald Trump’s administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials said on Tuesday, as part of his immigration crackdown and despite Washington’s past condemnation of Libya’s harsh treatment of detainees.
Two of the officials said the US military could fly the migrants to the north African country as soon as Wednesday, but stressed that plans could still change.
The Pentagon referred queries to the White House. The White House, state department and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters could not determine how many migrants would be sent to Libya or the nationalities of the individuals that the administration is considering for deportation.
The Republican president, who made immigration a major issue during his election campaign, has launched aggressive enforcement action since taking office, surging troops to the southern border and pledging to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally.
As of Monday, the Trump administration has deported 152,000 people, according to DHS.
President Donald Trump plans to announce on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the US will refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, two US officials said on Tuesday.
Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf.
The US officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The White House and national security council did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although use of Gulf of Arabia and Arabian Gulf is dominant in many countries in the Middle East.
The government of Iran – formerly Persia – threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.
On Google Maps in the US, the body of water appears as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet China’s economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend for talks that could be the first step toward resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.
News of the meeting announced by Washington late Tuesday, and later confirmed by Beijing, sent US equity index futures sharply higher, while stock markets in China and Hong Kong also rose as Asian trading began on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The talks come after weeks of escalating tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies soar well beyond 100%, amounting to what Bessent on Tuesday described as the equivalent of a trade embargo.
The deadlock, alongside US president Donald Trump’s decision last month to impose sweeping duties on dozens of countries, has upended supply chains, roiled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth.
Biden warns Europe losing confidence in US under Trump will change course of modern history
Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of “modern-day appeasement” in his approach to Russia and expressed fears that Europe would “lose confidence in the certainty of America” in his first interview since leaving the White House in January.
“He [Vladimir Putin] believes it [Russia] has historical rights to Ukraine,” Biden told the BBC. Anybody who thought the Russian president would stop if Kyiv conceded territory, as recently proposed by Trump, “is just foolish”, he said.
Speaking in Delaware as the Allied nations mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, Biden said Trump’s stance was “modern-day appeasement” in reference to the attempts of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s to appease Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
He also said he feared Europe was going to lose confidence in the “certainty of America and the leadership of America” and that a breakdown of US-Europe relations under Trump “would change the modern history of the world”.
Biden said the leaders of European nations would be left “wondering, well, what do I do now? … Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?
“I fear our allies around the world are going to begin to doubt whether we’re going to stay where we’ve always been in the last 80 years,” he said.
Biden told Nick Robinson that he found the extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy “beneath America”.
He went on to condemn Trump’s calls for the US to take back the Panama canal, make Canada the 51st American state and seize Greenland.
Trump says ‘we just want to be friends’ as Canada PM torpedoes 51st state idea
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next hour or so.
Firstly, Donald Trump said he “just want[s] to be friends with Canada” after his first post-election meeting with the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney – who used the gathering to shoot down any prospect of his country becoming the 51st state.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump praised Carney – whose Liberal party won the federal election last week – for one of the “greatest political comebacks of all time”, and described the prime minister’s visit as “an honour” for the White House.
The amicable tone of Tuesday’s meeting marked a stark contrast with Trump’s hostile rhetoric over recent months, as he launched a trade war against his northern neighbour, belittled Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and made repeated threats to crush Canada’s economy with the aim of annexing it.
Carney returned the praise, telling Trump he was a “transformational president” with a strong focus on the economy. But he shot down any idea that Canada might accede to joining the US as the 51st state – a proposal again floated by Trump in the meeting.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told Trump.
“That’s true,” said Trump.
“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign … it’s not for sale,” said Carney. “Won’t be for sale, ever.”
“Never say never,” said Trump. Carney smiled and mouthed “never, never, never, never.”
For the full report on the meeting and further reaction, see here:
In other news:
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts later this week in Switzerland, in what could be the first step to negotiating an end to the trade war between the world’s two largest economies over tariffs imposed by Trump.
Bessent also contradicted a previous claim from Trump that talks with China had been going on for weeks. “We haven’t had negotiations,” Bessent told Fox. “The world has been coming to the US, and China has been the missing piece.”
Trump revealed to reporters that three more Israeli hostages have died in Gaza, meaning that just 21 of the hostages taken from Israel on 7 October 2023 remain alive. “I say 21, because, as of today, it’s 21. Three have died,” the president said.
At the White House event on the 2026 World Cup, Trump learned from a reporter that Russia is banned from taking part, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
Columbia University announced that it laid off nearly 180 researchers in response to the Trump’s administration’s decision to cancel $400m in funding over the Ivy League school’s handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.
The Trump administration may deport migrants to Libya for the first time this week, three US officials tell Reuters.
