We’re closing this blog now – thanks for reading. For more on Zohran Mamdani, read David Smith’s analysis here:
Andrew Cuomo has said he will closely evaluate voting data from New York’s mayoral primary election before deciding whether to run as an independent in the November election.
The former New York governor told a CBS affiliate on Wednesday that he would be looking “at the numbers that come in from the primary”, the landscape of the general election as well as any involvement Donald Trump might have in the election. The president has described Zohran Mamdani as a “communist lunatic”.
Cuomo said the field of candidates was not “enticing” and that he did not believe the city’s mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, could win.
“His relationship with Trump and what he did with Donald Trump … and the general condition of the city,” he said. “I don’t know that he is a possible alternative electorally.”
The first meeting of a critical federal vaccine panel was a high-profile display of how the US health secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr has injected chaos into vaccine policy infrastructure.
Wednesday’s meeting was held amid controversy, not only regarding the new members unilaterally appointed by Kennedy, but also the questions they would consider, their conflicts of interest, views on vaccines and the scheduled speakers.
The new chair of the committee, former Harvard University professor of medicine Dr Martin Kulldorff, who was fired for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, began the meeting by criticizing both his former employer and the media.
“Some media outlets have been very harsh on the new members of this committee,” said Kulldorff, who he said were put into: “either a pro- or anti-vaccine box”.
“Such labels undermine critical scientific inquiry and it further feeds the flames of vaccines hesitancy. As secretary Kennedy has eloquently stated, opposing mercury in fish doesn’t make you anti-fish, and opposing mercury in vaccines doesn’t make you anti-vaccines,” Kulldorff continued, referring to one of the issues the panel would consider.
Read more here:
The Harvard University researcher and Russia-born scientist who spent months in Ice custody after being accused of smuggling frog embryos into the US now faces additional criminal charges.
A federal grand jury indicted Kseniia Petrova, a cancer researcher for Harvard Medical School, on Wednesday on one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of false statement and one count of smuggling goods into the United States, the Associated Press reports.
She was returning from a vacation earlier this year in France, where she had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos to obtain a package of samples for research. She was questioned about the samples while passing through a US Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan international airport, and told after an interrogation that her visa was being canceled.
Federal officials accused her of lying about “carrying substances” into the country and alleged that she planned to smuggle the embryos through customs without declaring them. Petrova has said she didn’t realize the items needed to be declared.
Petrova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of smuggling and a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charges of concealment of material fact and false statements.
Today so far
Let’s round up what’s been happening since this morning:
Trump weighed in on Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York, saying Mamdani was a “100% Communist Lunatic” and saying he and other progressive politicians were signs that “our Country is really SCREWED”.
Trump has lit into journalists who are reporting on the doubts in the intelligence community that the US bombs actually decimated the Iranian nuclear sites. He has called for a CNN journalist to be fired over her reporting. CNN defended its journalist, Natasha Bertrand, and its stories on the matter.
Emil Bove, a judicial nominee and justice department official, was grilled by a Senate committee and denied allegations in a whistleblower report about ignoring judicial orders and said claims of a quid pro quo for New York City mayor Eric Adams were false.
Speaking of Eric Adams, he is expected to formally announce his mayoral run tomorrow. He is running as an independent. And he went on Fox and called Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, a “snake oil salesman”.
Mamdani, meanwhile, gathered congratulations (sometimes muted) from prominent Democrats after his upset win in the mayoral primary. On the right, Stephen Miller has cast Mamdani’s win as a symptom of “unchecked migration”.
The Working Families Party called Mamdani’s win a “seismic shift” and shows that “voters are thoroughly fed up with the status quo”.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s new vaccine advisory panel is meeting today for the first time.
A Senate subcommittee held a hearing this afternoon called “Enter the Dragon - China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance,” attempting to tie lawsuits from local governments against big oil over climate issues to China.
Maryland man Kilmar Ábrego García, who was deported to El Salvador by mistake and then returned to the US, will be released from a Tennessee jail today, then taken into immigration custody.
US congresswoman LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty to federal charges of assaulting, resisting and impeding immigration officers in New Jersey while on a congressional oversight visit to a detention facility.
Dozens of cities and states have in recent years sued big oil over its climate-warming pollution and history of allegedly spreading climate disinformation. Those lawsuits are advancing the agenda of the Chinese communist party, Republicans argued in a hearing on Wednesday.
Titled “Enter the Dragon - China and the Left’s Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance”, the hearing in the Senate judiciary oversight subcommittee aimed to show that climate advocates want to weaken the US energy sector, giving China the upper hand.
It came as Washington DC temperatures neared 100 degrees, and as Republicans are working to gut clean energy credits in reconciliation bill negotiations.
“The agenda of the Chinese Communist Party and the agenda of Senate Democrats are identical: Both China and the Democrats want to bankrupt the American energy industry,” said committee chair Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas. He went on to claim that “left wing groups funded by Communist China”.
Among the expert witnesses invited by Republicans was Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach, chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association, which has been backed by oil and gas interests. In his testimony, he called on Congress to amend the Clean Air Act to block states from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
This month, Kobach was among 16 Republican attorneys general who signed a letter to the Justice Department calling on the Trump administration to quash climate lawsuits and provide fossil fuel companies with immunity from current and future litigation.
David Arkush, a director at climate and consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen, who was invited to testify by Democratic senators, pushed back on the premise of the hearing.
“Right now, there’s a brutal heatwave afflicting half the United States, energy costs and insurance premiums are skyrocketing, and we’re sitting here in the US Senate talking about Chinese communist conspiracy theories,” he said. “I don’t think this is the right priority.”
CNN has responded to Trump’s outburst about its reporter, Natasha Bertrand, defending her journalism. The media company noted that Bertrand and other journalists who reported on the intelligence assessment specifically noted that this was an initial finding, and the network has also covered Trump’s skepticism of the intelligence report.
“However, we do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest,” CNN said in a statement.
Trump goes after Zohran Mamdani
Donald Trump has weighed in on Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York, saying: “the Democrats have crossed the line”. He called Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic”.
“He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”
In a second post, he said, presumably in jest, that Democrats should nominate “Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President” to get back in play, and put “AOC+3” - his term for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive Squad members – in Cabinet positions.
Added together with our future Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and our Country is really SCREWED!”
Updated
Donald Trump wants CNN to fire its journalist who has been reporting on the intelligence that casts doubt on whether the US bombs sent to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites actually obliterated them, as Trump has claimed.
Natasha Bertrand has reported in the last few days about intelligence assessments that show the “bunker buster” bombs may not have destroyed key parts of Iran’s nuclear program and could have only set the country back months in creating nuclear weapons.
During Trump’s press conference at the Nato summit, he and defense secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at reporters who questioned whether the US had destroyed the sites and claimed they weren’t respecting the military members who conducted the strikes. In a post on Truth Social earlier today, he railed against CNN and the New York Times for reporting on the intelligence concerns, saying they “tried to demean” the pilots.
Now, he’s making the criticism more pointed, singling out Bertrand in a post this afternoon:
Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out “like a dog.” She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit “pay dirt” — TOTAL OBLITERATION! She should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN. It’s people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network. Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn’t have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!
Senator Murphy: Mamdani offers 'important lessons' for Democrats
Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut who has emerged as a leading voice on the left, congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his win, saying it offered “important lessons” for Democrats.
“Focus on shifting economic power. Relentlessly. Have big ideas on how to do it,” Murphy wrote on X. “Be joyful and authentic. Even if your ideas aren’t considered ‘mainstream’ by elites. The elites have little idea what’s actually mainstream.”
His comments are an echo of what he told the Guardian two weeks ago for where the Democratic party should move after the harsh 2024 loss. He told David Smith that the party claims to be the party of poor people, but poor people don’t vote for Democrats any more.
There’s a lot of conservative poor people out there who think that our party is way too judgmental. We’ve got to become a bigger tent party when it comes to a lot of social and cultural and hot button issues and then we’ve got to become an aggressively populist party.
Updated
A mediator between Donald Trump and Paramount, which owns CBS News, has suggested the media company settle a lawsuit from the president for $20m, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
Trump’s lawsuit came after a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, which Trump alleged was election interference because of how the interview was edited. CBS has defended its work, saying it edited a response to make it more succinct, a common practice for journalists.
The suit is one of several Trump has filed against media companies, a way to intimidate the press and draw their resources into settlements or lengthy court battles. Paramount is also in the middle of a merger, which plays into its willingness to get on the Trump administration’s good side. The lawsuit has roiled CBS, with high-profile departures from its news operations who see a settlement as damaging to journalism.
Trump wanted $20bn in damages; Paramount had previously offered $15m to settle, but Trump wanted upward of $25m, according to the Journal. The mediator’s $20m proposal would include $17m for Trump’s foundation or museum, plus money for legal fees and public-service announcements against antisemitism, the Journal says. But, it notes, “Settlement talks are still fluid and an agreement may not be reached.”
Updated
A few updates on some immigration issues we’ve been covering:
Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador by mistake and then returned to the US, is expected to be released from a Tennessee jail today. He will then be taken into immigration custody, the Associated Press reports. He was charged by the US with two counts of human smuggling.
Separately, the US representative who was charged after a congressional visit to an immigration detention center pleaded not guilty today, according to the AP. US congresswoman LaMonica McIver faces federal charges of assaulting, resisting and impeding immigration officers in New Jersey. Outside the courthouse, she said: “They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job.”
And in Maryland, the Trump administration has taken the unusual step of filing a lawsuit against federal judges over an order they made that blocks removals for detained immigrants who request a court hearing.
Updated
Eric Adams, the New York City mayor, is expected to make a “major announcement” and “formally announce” presumably a run to keep his office midday tomorrow.
Adams’s campaign said in a press release today that Adams “will make a major announcement about the future of his re-election campaign” on the steps of New York city hall at noon Thursday.
“With the Democratic primary now behind him, this pivotal moment will set the stage for the next phase of the 2025 mayoral race,” the release says.
Adams ran for mayor as a Democrat but has said he would run as an independent in the general election.
Democratic senators have repeatedly pressed Emil Bove about his involvement in the decision to drop corruption charges filed under Joe Biden’s administration against Eric Adams, alleging the decision was a quid pro quo to win the New York mayor’s cooperation on immigration enforcement.
“In order to get Mayor Adams to cooperate with President Trump’s immigration policy, you were prepared to drop the charges against him?” asked Dick Durbin, the Senate judiciary committee’s top Democrat.
“That’s completely false,” Bove replied.
Durbin went on to allege that a federal judge “foiled your plans” by dismissing the charges with prejudice – meaning they could not be refiled, and Adams would have no incentive to cooperate. “You could no longer have the mayor on a leash making sure that he follows the president’s immigration policies,” the senator said.
“There’s objective evidence in the record in that case that completely refutes the claim you just made,” Bove replied. Durbin went on to ask whether the justice department attorneys who signed the brief dropping the charges were either threatened or rewarded, which Bove said did not happen.
Republican senators have thus far signaled no opposition to confirming Bove to a seat on the third circuit court of appeals, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the US Virgin Islands. In their questioning, they gave Bove the opportunity to strenuously deny Democrats’ allegations.
“I want you to look me in the eye and swear to your higher being when you answer this question, did you make a deal, a political deal, to dismiss the charges against Mayor Adams?” asked senator John Kennedy.
“Absolutely not,” Bove replied.
Updated
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s new vaccine advisory panel is meeting today for the first time. The group, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is discussing Covid-19 shots, though no vote on recommendations is planned.
Kennedy has said those shots will no longer be recommended for healthy children or pregnant women, creating uncertainty about access to that vaccine. The panel has been drastically reshaped by Kennedy: he fired all 17 previous members and his replacements include anti-vaccine voices. In a House hearing yesterday, Kennedy defended his purge, saying the old panel had been “a template for medical malpractice”.
The new vaccine advisory panel opened as the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that it will continue publishing its own vaccine schedule for children but now will do so independently of the ACIP, calling it “no longer a credible process”.
Updated
Trump is once again attacking the media, accusing the news outlets of “cheating”, while reiterating his claims of “total obliteration” of the nuclear sites in Iran targeted by the US.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“We just caught the Failing New York Times, working with Fake News CNN, cheating again! They tried to demean the great work our B-2 pilots did, and they were wrong in doing so. These reporters are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE. You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad. TOTAL OBLITERATION!”
State department braces for layoffs - report
The state department is bracing for widespread layoffs as soon as Friday, reports Semafor.
Multiple sources said they expected a reduction in force notices this week that reach up to thousands, in line with the proposal secretary of state Marco Rubio had submitted to Congress. One source said that the department would wait for a supreme court ruling on its reorganization plan.
Rubio proposed a sweeping reorganization of the US state department as part of what he called an effort to reform it amid criticism from the Trump White House over the execution of US diplomacy.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the state department’s plans to shrink its workforce were temporarily on hold following a California federal judge’s ruling that blocked the agency-wide reorganization plans.
Updated
Trump is once again repeating claims that the three sites bombed by the US in Iran were “obliterated”, despite some intelligence reports casting doubt on this.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“We’ve collected additional intelligence, and we’ve also spoken to people who have seen the site—and the site is obliterated!”
He reiterated the claims in another post:
“Last weekend, the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, and it was very, very successful—It was called OBLITERATION. This incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace, with a historic ceasefire agreement”
Updated
Eric Adams calls Mamdani a 'snake oil salesman' on Fox News
Appearing on Fox & Friends today, New York City mayor Eric Adams referred to Zohran Mamdani as a “snake oil salesman” and said that he would “say or do anything to get elected”.
“He [Mamdani] doesn’t understand the power of government or how to make sure that you’re improving your economy, raise the standard of living.” Adams then credited himself for accomplishing these feats, saying “this is what we’ve been doing in the city.”
The NYC mayor had previously been at the center of a corruption case brought against him by the Department of Justice. The charges were later dropped under the instruction of the Trump administration, a move that caused widespread controversy.
Updated
Emil Bove denies whistleblower allegations that he willfully ignored court orders blocking deportations
Emil Bove, a top justice department official who Donald Trump has nominated to serve as a federal appeals court judge, denied to senators a whistleblower’s allegation that he suggested prosecutors ignore court orders blocking the deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Bove is having his confirmation hearing right now before the Senate judiciary committee, where the whistleblower complaint from former justice department attorney Erez Reuveni has come up repeatedly. Reuveni alleges that Bove, a former defense attorney for Trump who now serves as the principal associate deputy attorney general, said the justice department “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’” when they rule against the president’s immigration policies.
“I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,” Bove said in questioning from the committee’s Republican chair, Chuck Grassley. “Even if that account is taken at face value, the whistleblower acknowledges that he left the meeting on March 14 of this year with the understanding that, of course, the department would advise clients to abide by court orders.”
The Democrats’ 2024 vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz hasn’t announced yet if he’ll run for a third term as governor in Minnesota, but a new poll shows he could face some trouble.
The Minnesota poll from the Star Tribune/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication shows Walz’s approval rating has dipped below 50%, only the second time his approval rating has done so in the poll, the Star Tribune reports.
It’s sitting at 49%, a drop from 53% last September. Among independents, a majority disapprove of how he’s doing as governor, and about half say he shouldn’t seek the state’s top position again.
His run for vice-president and positioning as a top Democratic voice nationally has rubbed some the wrong way as well. One Republican voter, age 82, said:
He makes a fool of himself trying to get on the national scene like he’s a big shot.
Top Democrats cautiously congratulate Mamdani on victory
Top Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries – who are both also New York politicians – have cautiously congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his victory, stopping short of endorsing the progressive and mostly complimenting how he ran his campaign.
Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said in a post on X:
I have known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity.
I spoke with @ZohranKMamdani this morning and am looking forward to getting together soon.
And Jeffries, the House minority leader, wrote on X:
Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory. Assemblyman Mamdani ran a strong campaign that relentlessly focused on the economy and bringing down the high cost of living in New York City. We spoke this morning and plan to meet in Central Brooklyn shortly.
Last night New York governor Kathy Hochul sounded similarly lukewarm, posting on X:
Today, voters made their voices heard, demanding a more affordable, more livable New York City. I hear them loud and clear. @ZohranKMamdani built a formidable grassroots coalition, and I look forward to speaking with him in the days ahead about his ideas on how to ensure a safe, affordable, and livable New York City.
Updated
Mamdani's victory marks a 'seismic shift' with voters who are 'fed up with the status quo', says WFP
The Working Families party, which ranked Zohran Mamdani as its top pick for NYC mayor last month, said his victory marks a “seismic shift” and shows that “voters are thoroughly fed up with the status quo”.
In a statement, the progressive organization encouraged the Democratic party to “take note” and “usher in a new era of leadership”.
We showed New York and the entire country that voters are thoroughly fed up with the status quo. To the Democratic Party establishment and the pundits who just want to keep playing the same game — take note. This is a seismic shift. People are ready to turn the page and usher in a new era of leadership.
Updated
Stephen Miller blames Mamdani's victory in NYC mayoral primary on 'unchecked migration'
As Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral primary last night continues to send the Maga world into meltdown, Stephen Miller has blamed the result on none other than (checks notes) immigration.
In the early hours of this morning, the White House deputy chief of staff and architect of Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, posted on X:
The commentary about NYC Democrats nominating an anarchist-socialist for Mayor omits one point: how unchecked migration fundamentally remade the NYC electorate. Democrats change politics by changing voters. That’s how you turn a city that defined US dominance into what it is now.
In another post, Miller added:
NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration.
An hour later, he went on:
To understand the pace and scope of migration to America in past years, one-third of NYC is foreign-born and almost two-thirds of NYC children live in a foreign-born household.
He is of course alluding to what’s known as the “great replacement theory”, the racist premise that white Americans and Europeans are being actively “replaced” by non-white immigrants, and are losing power and influence as a result (for example, through electoral gains, as Miller claims above). Miller has a long history of touting these far-right views.
Among the many things wrong with Miller is saying is the fact that Mamdani’s victory was based on a much broader coalition than he suggests. The progressive was strong among young voters, including Gen Z and millennials, and won in some mixed Black-Hispanic areas, but per The Hill: “Mamdani was also seen to be stronger with white voters and those with college degrees, the latter of whom increasingly are part of the Democratic base and are regular voters … He also won in some wealthy older white areas.” No word on what Miller thinks of that part, though.
Updated
Today so far
It’s been a busy morning, with Trump concluding a meeting with other Nato leaders and reactions to the Zohran Mamdani win in New York City. It’s going to be busy on Capitol Hill today as well, as we’re monitoring a few noteworthy meetings.
Here’s what’s happened so far:
At the Nato summit, Trump continued claims that the three sites bombed by the US in Iran were obliterated, though intelligence reports have cast doubt on this. He also said he believes the war between Iran and Israel is over, and he plans to meet with Iranian leaders next week.
He intends to put more tariffs on Spain after the country wouldn’t commit to increasing spending for Nato, like other countries did today.
Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in an upset. In a speech to supporters, Mamdani said: “We made history,” adding: “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, will seek a third term to run the state.
And here’s what we’re following now:
Kari Lake is speaking to a House committee this morning about Voice of America.
Emil Bove, a nominee for a judicial appointment, will be questioned by a Senate committee today.
A vaccine advisory committee that was recently fully replaced by some vaccine skeptics will meet for the first time today.
Updated
Kari Lake says Voice of America broadcasted Trump's message to Iran during strikes
Trump adviser Kari Lake told lawmakers that Voice of America was broadcasting the president’s personal message to Iran in Farsi during weekend military strikes.
“I’m very proud to say that when President Trump, when the bombings happened over the weekend, on Saturday, when President Trump started to speak, we had a crew in on Saturday delivering President Trump’s message to the people of Iran in Farsi,” Lake testified to the House Foreign Affairs committee.
The comment suggests VOA – traditionally meant to provide objective news from the American perspective – was being used as a direct conduit for Trump’s political messaging during active military operations.
The testimony comes as the White House authorized the mass termination of 639 employees at VOA on Friday.
Updated
Trump plans to hit Spain with increased tariffs, he said at the Nato summit, because the country has not committed to meet the new 5% target commitment that other countries agreed to at the summit.
He said it was “terrible” what Spain had done and that “we’ll make it up” with trade deals.
“We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much. And I’m actually serious about that … so they want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade, because I’m not going to let that happen. It’s unfair.”
Updated
Speaking after the Nato summit, Trump has weighed in on the wars in Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran and defended US bombing of three nuclear sites, claiming the sites are obliterated despite intelligence reports that have cast doubt on these claims.
Here’s a sampling of Trump’s comments:
On Israel-Iran, he said he believes the war is over: “I dealt with both, they’re both tired, exhausted. They fought very, very hard and very viciously, very violently, and they were both satisfied to go home and get out. And can it start again? I guess someday, it can. It could maybe start soon.”
On Iran’s nuclear potential: “I don’t see them being back involved in the nuclear business anymore.”
Trump said the US would meet with Iranian officials next week to discuss what happens next, but he didn’t say there needed to be an agreement signed with the country. “The only thing we would be asking for is what we were asking for before, we want no nuclear.”
Trump met with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy while at the summit and said it was a good, friendly meeting. They didn’t discuss a ceasefire, but Trump said it’s clear they want the war to end.
Of the meeting with Zelenskyy, he said: “I think he’d like to see an end to this. I do I think what I took from the meeting couldn’t have been nicer, actually, but I took from the meeting that he’d like to see it end. I think it’s a great time to end it. I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin see if we can get it ended.”
Updated
Trump is now speaking at the Nato summit, detailing his thoughts on the agreement for countries to contribute more to the alliance.
You can watch him live here, or follow the remarks step by step on the Nato liveblog.
He is also talking about the US intervention into the Israel-Iran conflict.
JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, will run for a third term as governor, according to the Associated Press, which cites “two people familiar with his plans”.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has worked for years to build national recognition and is often part of a short list of Democrats who could run for president in 2028. Kamala Harris considered him as a running mate in 2024.
Since Trump’s re-election, Pritzker has often spoken out against the administration. It’s not clear if another run for the governorship will take him out of the running for a 2028 presidential race.
Pritzker is expected to announce his run for a third term on Thursday.
Updated
US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr told a global vaccine alliance that the US wouldn’t be sending money to help fund its efforts to vaccinate children around the world, according to Politico.
A video speech from Kennedy to the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance pledging summit took the organization to task for its views on vaccines, claiming the organization didn’t listen to science if it wasn’t aligned with its beliefs. The group, a public-private partnership, says it “helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases”.
“I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8bn that America has provided in funding since 2001,” he said, according to Politico. “And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.”
The video comes after Kennedy faced a grilling Tuesday in the House health subcommittee, including over his firing of the entire vaccine advisory committee. That committee is set to meet today for the first time since Kennedy fired and then replaced it with members who are skeptical of vaccines.
Updated
Trump confirms US commitment to Nato at annual summit
At the Nato summit today, Donald Trump confirmed the US is committed to Nato, despite his frequent criticisms of other countries and how much they pay for defense.
As he made his way to the summit, he wouldn’t say whether he supported Article 5, the cornerstone of the Nato alliance that calls for mutual defense of members.
But, according to Reuters, he said at the summit: “I stand with Article 5.”
Trump is expected to speak in a press conference from the summit soon. To follow the play-by-play of the Nato summit, check out our liveblog from the event.
Updated
David Hogg, the recently-ousted young vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, whose vow to unseat “asleep at the wheel” old school Democrats roiled his party, has celebrated Andrew Cuomo’s besting by Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary last night.
“Cuomo. Is. Cooked,” he posted on X.
Then followed up with: “And so is the establishment that brought us here. It’s gonna be a fun next couple years.”
Hogg rose to prominence as a gun-control activist after surviving the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and was elected in February as one of five officials – and the first gen-Z member – to serve as vice-chair of the DNC.
As part of his drive to reform the party, Hogg announced plans to spend millions of dollars to unseat what he regarded as played-out establishment Democrats in safely blue districts through Leaders We Deserve, a separate political organization that he founded and leads. Few Democrats disagree with the need for change but leadership balked at Hogg’s rebellious tactics. He’s now clearly feeling vindicated.
And here’s our colleague Lauren Gambino’s interview with Hogg last month.
Updated
Trump praises Nato states as summit prepares to lift defence spending target
Donald Trump praised Nato countries for being willing to lift defence spending to 5% in his first public remarks at the military alliance’s annual summit, and said that he expected the US to be fully in support.
The president was speaking at a preliminary press conference in The Hague that was dominated by his rejection of overnight reports that Iran’s nuclear sites were not destroyed in US bombing, and where he was also praised by the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, for being the “daddy”.
Asked about Nato before a morning plenary session of the leaders of all 32 Nato countries, where they will sign off on the spending increase, Trump said: “We’re with them all the way. They have very big things to announce today.
“I’ve been asking to go up to 5% for a number of years and they’re going up to 5%, from 2%, and a lot of people didn’t even pay the 2%. I think that’s going to be very big news. Nato’s going to become very strong with us.”
Under the new plan, Nato members will commit to lifting defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, of which 3.5% is core military spending and the rest is infrastructure, intelligence, cybersecurity and other spending allies can already match.
Read the full report here:
Union leaders’ exit from DNC exposes ‘mind-boggling’ tensions inside Democratic party
As the Democratic party fights to rebuild from a devastating election defeat, the abrupt exit of the presidents of two of the nation’s largest labor unions from its top leadership board has exposed simmering tensions over the party’s direction.
Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders quit the Democratic National Committee, saying it isn’t doing enough to “open the gates” and win back the support of working-class voters. Ken Martin, the new DNC chair, and his allies told the Guardian that the party was focused on doing exactly that.
Weingarten, president of the 1.8-million-member American Federation of Teachers, resigned after Martin did not renominate her to serve on the DNC’s important rules committee. In her resignation letter, Weingarten wrote that education, healthcare and public service workers were in “an existential battle” due to Donald Trump’s attacks and that she did not “want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent”.
Saunders, the long-time president of the 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also issued a critical statement. “These are new times. They deserve new strategies,” he said. “We must evolve to meet the urgency of the moment. This is not a time to close ranks or turn inward … It is our responsibility to open the gates [and] welcome others.”
You can read the full report here:
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Iran's nuclear installations 'badly damaged' by US strikes - Iran foreign ministry
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson says its nuclear installations were “badly damaged” by US military strikes, the Associated Press reports.
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US asked France to speak to Iran before Israel truce - AFP
France conveyed to Iran the terms of a US-proposed ceasefire with Israel at the request of Washington in the hours leading up to the truce, a French diplomatic source said on Wednesday, AFP reports.
On Monday night, US secretary of state Marco Rubio called his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to “inform him of the US wish for a ceasefire provided there was no Iranian retaliation,” the source said.
“Rubio asked Jean-Noel Barrot to transmit this information to Abbas Araghchi,” their Iranian counterpart, it said.
“After the call, the (French) minister spoke to his Iranian counterpart to... transmit the terms and details of the discussions (between) Americans and Israelis,” the source added.
Araghchi then indicated his “availability to continue negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme” including with France, Britain and Germany, and “after these discussions, the ceasefire was able to go into force”, it said.
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Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believed that “great progress” is being made on Gaza, Reuters reports.
“I think great progress is being made on Gaza, I think because of this attack that we made,” said Trump, suggesting the US strikes on Iran could have a positive impact on the Middle East.
Pakistan and the US have resolved to conclude trade talks next week, the South Asian nation’s finance ministry said on Wednesday, after a meeting between its finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Reuters reports.
The negotiations, focused on reciprocal tariffs, are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Pakistan’s efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports.
“Both sides showed satisfaction on the ongoing negotiations and resolved to conclude the trade negotiations next week,” Pakistan’s finance ministry said in a statement, adding that a longer-term strategic and investment partnership is also under discussion.
Pakistan faces a 29% tariff on exports to the US under Donald Trump’s measures to target countries with large trade surpluses with the US.
Pakistan’s surplus was around $3bn in 2024.
To offset the imbalance and ease tariff pressures, Islamabad has offered to import more US goods, including crude oil, and to open up investment opportunities through concessions for US firms in Pakistan’s mining sector.
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Trump's state visit to the UK set for September
Donald Trump is to make a full state visit to the UK this year after the King and the US president’s busy diaries mean they are unable to meet informally first over the summer, PA Media reports.
The Times reported that UK prime minister Keir Starmer has gone against the wishes of the King by bringing Mr Trump’s “bells and whistles” state visit forward to September.
Charles, who is King of Canada, suggested in a letter personally delivered to Mr Trump by Starmer in the Oval Office in February that they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House Scotland first before the much grander state visit.
But it is understood that there were logistical challenges surrounding an informal visit.
Formal planning for the official state visit has now begun.
It will mark an unprecedented second state visit by a US president – his last state visit was in 2019.
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Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone towards Nato allies on Wednesday, framing an expected deal on increased defence spending as a “great victory for everyone” at their summit, AFP reports.
“It’s a great victory for everybody, I think, and we will be equalised very shortly, and that’s the way it has to be,” said Trump, as European allies seek to catch up with US spending on defence.
“I’ve been asking them to go up to five percent for a number of years, and they’re going up to five percent... I think that’s going to be very big news,” he said.
Hosting the meeting, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte told reporters that Trump was in an “excellent mood” at the dinner hosted on Tuesday by King Willem-Alexander in his royal palace, and that the US leader appeared inspired by his hosts.
“The day begins in the beautiful Netherlands. The King and Queen are beautiful and spectacular people. Our breakfast meeting was great!” he posted on the Truth Social network.
Entering the meeting, leaders lined up to declare the summit’s planned spending hike as “historic”.
Nato allies say the increase is needed to counter a growing threat from Russia but also to keep Trump engaged, with the US leader long complaining that Europe spends too little on its own defence.
You can follow all the developments in The Hague over at the Guardian’s Europe Live with Jakub Krupa here
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Here is a video of Donald Trump comparing the US strikes on Iran to Hiroshima.
We have more from The Hague.
Reuters is reporting that when asked if the United States would strike again if Iran rebuilt its nuclear enrichment programme, Donald Trump said: “Sure.”
‘We made history’: Mamdani celebrates after shocking Cuomo in New York City mayoral primary
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
We start with Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral primary.
In a major upset, Andrew Cuomo who had been a recent favourite – conceded after it was clear the 33-year-old Democrat had built a substantial lead over the more experienced but scandal-scarred former governor.
Mamdani appeared to have cleared the first hurdle on the road to become New York’s first Muslim mayor.
In a speech to supporters, Mamdani said: “We made history,” adding: “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
If his win is confirmed, Mamdani will be seen as the frontrunner for the 4 November mayoral election in New York, a city where Democrats normally dominate.
After 93% of votes were counted in the primary’s first round, Mamdani, a state representative, had 43.5% of the vote. Cuomo was on 36.4%.
Cuomo, who was attempting a political comeback after he resigned from office in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, said he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
“He put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Cuomo said. “I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
However, Cuomo told the New York Times he may still run in the November mayoral election as an independent. “I want to analyse and talk to some colleagues,” he said.
In other developments:
Donald Trump hit back at a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment which cast doubt on the success of US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Trump said Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back “decades” by the strikes despite the reports suggesting they had only set it back by months. Ahead of meeting with other world leaders at a Nato Summit in the Hague, he said he believed “total obliteration” was achieved. “This was a devastating attack,” Trump told reporters. Asked about the intelligence reports, Trump said “they really don’t know.” He added: “The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, called the leak “treasonous” and called for the individual responsible to be investigated
Meanwhile Nato secretary general Mark Rutte was full of praise for the US strikes, saying they “took out the nuclear capability of Iran”, he added that it been carried out in an “impressive way”.
As mentioned, Trump is at The Hague where leaders of the Western defensive alliance have gathered. They are set to commit to a new defence spending target of 5% of GDP and demonstrate that European allies are stepping up. This is Trump’s first Nato summit since 2019.
At The Hague, Trump confirmed commitment to Nato’s Article 5 which states that an attack on one member is seen as attack on all members. When asked about Article 5 he said: “We are with them all the way.” It was in contrast to earlier comments he made en route to The Hague. “There’s numerous definitions of Article Five, you know that right?” he had said.
Speaking at The Hague, Trump likened the US strikes on Iran to his country’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the second world war. “That hit ended the war,” he said. “That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war. This ended that, this ended that war. If we didn’t take that out, they would have been they’d be fighting right now.”
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