Donald Trump

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to detain Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old charged in the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton. DOJ detention memo

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the White House said Iran's seizure of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, including the MSC Francesca, did not breach President Trump's ceasefire.

A U.S.-brokered three-week extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah announced April 23 came under immediate strain as Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket fire flared in southern Lebanon and northern Israel on April 25-27. PBS News reported the extension, and later accounts show fighting resumed despite the pact.

Mike Pence this week in an interview on MS NOW called Donald Trump's use of Jesus imagery "offensive" and warned that tariffs are straining the economy, comments that inject fresh tension into GOP debates.

Johnson & Johnson will begin marketing four prescription drugs, including the diabetes drug metformin, on the Trump administration's TrumpRx website starting Friday, expanding low-cost options for uninsured patients. (Johnson & Johnson)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Congress this week that the White House's $1 million "Gold Card" investor visa has approved only one applicant since the program launched in December. ABC News

Crypto investor Justin Sun filed a lawsuit this week in the United States against Trump-linked World Liberty Financial, accusing the firm of freezing his cryptocurrency tokens and committing "misconduct" that harmed his holdings, MS NOW reported. MS NOW

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the container ship MSC Francesca in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, taking control of the vessel and moving it toward Bandar Abbas in a sharp maritime escalation. MSC Francesca

Former President Donald Trump told MS NOW on Thursday morning that Iran "has no idea who their leader is," saying Tehran lacks a clear leader and drawing immediate expert pushback.

Offshore wind farms are advancing off Rhode Island's coast despite President Trump's efforts this year to halt new federal offshore wind projects, developers and state officials say. Offshore wind farms are being built nearshore, and local leaders warn halting them would cost jobs and slow clean energy gains.

House Republicans split this week over the Dignity Act, an immigration bill that would shield millions from deportation, as infighting at the U.S. Capitol threatened to derail GOP unity and the bill's prospects.

The arc begins with Carter Page's contacts and past statements that drew FBI interest during the 2016-17 Trump-Russia probe. Page had written in 2013 that he saw himself as an adviser to the Kremlin, then served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. The FBI used that history and other intelligence to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to monitor him.

The Transportation Security Administration was created after the 2001 attacks to centralize airport screening and other transportation security functions. Presidents pick a TSA administrator who must be approved by the Senate.

CMS Chief Dr. Mehmet Oz has ordered states to recheck high-risk Medicaid providers for potential fraud. He put all 50 governors on notice about "billions" lost to Medicaid fraud and urged tighter reviews of providers flagged as high risk. The directive aims to recover misspent funds, shore up program integrity, and discourage bad actors from exploiting state Medicaid programs.

Democratic candidates are outpacing Republican opponents in fundraising for key midterm House and Senate races. The trend is evident in competitive districts and states where control of Congress is at stake this election cycle. Republican-aligned committees, however, still hold a large cash reserve that changes how money can be used on the ground. NPR reports that Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC holds nearly $350 million in cash. How, or whether, Trump deploys that money could shape what his last two years in office look like, analysts say.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass met this week with President Donald Trump at the White House to seek FEMA funding for wildfire recovery. It followed months of clashes between Bass and Trump over local-federal responses and funding.

Trump Media replaced Devin Nunes as CEO of Truth Social with interim chief Kevin McGurn after a steep stock plunge.

Former President Donald Trump called Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson a "low IQ person" in a recent tirade. Fox News reported the remarks, describing the exchange as a Supreme Court tirade. Trump made the comment while criticizing the court and its rulings, according to the report.

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun sued the Trump family's World Liberty Financial this month in U.S. court over frozen cryptocurrency tokens. Sun alleges the venture froze the tokens and committed fraud, seeking their return and damages in his complaint.

A conservative legal group is urging the U.S. Postal Service to enforce President Trump's mail-in ballot order. The request arrived while the order is tied up in court and before judges resolve legal challenges.

Senate Democrats are challenging the Department of Justice over delayed Freedom of Information Act records in a probe into alleged bribery involving Tom Homan. They say the Department of Justice has resisted and slowed responses to Freedom of Information Act requests tied to the Homan bribery probe. The push came recently on Capitol Hill as Democrats sought records that could show whether bribery allegations against Homan are backed by evidence. They say delays hinder oversight and public accountability, and they are demanding faster releases to assess any official misconduct.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh about undisclosed assets and ties to President Trump during his Senate Banking Committee hearing. The hearing took place Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern before the Senate Banking Committee, where Warsh is President Trump's pick to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Warsh opened by stressing monetary independence and saying inflation control would be his priority, though his prepared remarks omitted the Fed's maximum employment mandate. Powell's term ends May 15, raising urgency to resolve leadership before that date.

U.S. intelligence says Iran retains major missile and naval strength, sources tell CBS News. The assessment, reported by CBS sources, says Tehran maintains substantial ballistic missile and naval forces despite years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Officials did not release detailed numbers or classified data, and the report reflects judgments drawn from multiple intelligence streams.

Treasury Chief Bessent touted the Iran port blockade during live testimony on the Treasury budget request before a Senate committee. She appeared to defend the policy as part of the department's broader efforts to use financial and trade tools against Tehran. The hearing, streamed live by PBS, focused on funding priorities and enforcement authorities the Treasury seeks in the coming fiscal year.

A federal appeals court last week allowed President Trump's $400 million East Wing ballroom overhaul to proceed, pausing a lower-court block. The project covers about 90,000 square feet in the White House East Wing and has drawn legal and public scrutiny. Officials say the work is tied to securing and modernizing underground protective facilities beneath the site.

Former President Donald Trump urged Congress to rein in college sports during a White House event where he addressed NCAA collegiate national champions.

President Donald Trump's economic approval rating fell to 30 percent, a new AP-NORC poll found amid rising prices and Middle East tensions. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, released this week, puts Trump's economic approval at 30 percent. Reporting by PBS and the AP linked the drop to rising consumer prices as tensions and conflict involving Iran pushed up energy and food costs.

A U.S. lawyer is urging a U.S.-Iran deal to free six Americans held in Tehran's Evin Prison. The lawyer, representing one of those detained, said a negotiated exchange is practical and could be implemented quickly by both governments. He called it "the easiest problem on the table" for both sides, arguing that it should be a priority amid strained ties.

Pope Leo XIV said his "handful of tyrants" remark was not aimed at President Donald Trump. He made the clarification while flying to Angola, Reuters reported. The pope said the Africa speech was prepared two weeks earlier, before Trump's recent comments about him. He added it was not in his interest to be seen debating the U.S. president and that he would continue preaching peace. The clarification came after weeks of public sparring, including Truth Social posts from Trump calling Leo "terrible" on foreign policy. Trump also accused the pope of effectively accepting a nuclear-armed Iran and briefly posted an AI-generated image that he later deleted.

An Afghan man accused of scouting for ISIS-K in the Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul airport is now on trial in Virginia. His lawyer told jurors that a written confession was false and that the defendant was coerced during interrogations. The Abbey Gate attack in 2021 killed U.S. service members and Afghan civilians and was claimed by Islamic State Khorasan, which U.S. officials blamed for the airport assault.

State officials and judges are racing to redraw U.S. House maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The fight is concentrated in several states where lesser-known lawmakers and a few judges are steering mid-decade remaps that could shift control of House seats. Key actors include Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, Indiana Senate leader Rodric Bray, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, and Utah Judge Dianna Gibson.

Joe Rogan's text to former President Donald Trump helped prompt a White House executive order fast-tracking FDA reviews of certain psychedelics.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said U.S. tariff shifts have turned Canada's economic ties with the United States into a weakness. He made the remarks in a 10-minute national video address released Sunday from Vancouver, British Columbia. The prime minister warned that U.S. tariffs have been raised to levels "last seen during the Great Depression," and he tied that shift to job pressures on auto and steel workers. He said businesses were delaying investments because of "the pall of uncertainty," and he rejected waiting for U.S. policy to reverse with the line, "Hope isn't a plan and nostalgia is not a strategy." He outlined goals to attract new investment, double clean energy capacity, cut internal barriers to trade, boost defense spending, cut taxes and make housing more affordable.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday told a Phoenix rally he views the Iran conflict as a "little excursion" and promised cheaper gas. He used the speech to press Republicans ahead of the midterm elections and to blame rivals for high fuel prices and inflation. Supporters cheered his vow to lower pump costs while he linked energy policy to economic recovery.

President Trump's public approval has slipped, with 63 percent of Americans now saying they disapprove of his overall performance. The NBC poll, released amid rising tensions and economic strain, found that 63 percent disapprove overall. The poll was conducted as violence escalated after the U.S. seized an Iranian ship near Touska and as a ceasefire deadline approached.

National Guard troops remain deployed in Washington eight months after their mobilization with no announced end date. They were mobilized after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and have continued visible security duties around the Capitol complex and other federal sites. Leaders have not set a firm withdrawal timeline and say troop levels and mission details will be reviewed as conditions change.

The Justice Department under President Trump argued that the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional, prompting historians to sue. The claim came in filings tied to a dispute over papers removed from the former president's Florida estate, where federal agents later recovered classified material. Historians and archival groups filed suit to stop the Justice Department's theory from being accepted, saying it would let presidents treat official records as private.

President Trump has nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pick was announced in April 2026 and requires Senate confirmation. He also named Sean Slovenski as deputy director and COO, Jennifer Shuford as deputy director and chief medical officer, and Sara Brenner as senior counselor for public health. Schwartz is a retired Coast Guard rear admiral, former Coast Guard chief medical officer and a one-time deputy surgeon general with medical, public health and law degrees. Her nomination drew endorsements from public health figures including Brett Giroir, Paul Zukunft and Georges Benjamin, who described her as highly qualified and science-based.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called former President Donald Trump "feeble-minded" and "trigger-happy" while criticizing his lack of an exit plan for Iran. The comments, aimed also at Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, came during an overseas trip, Fox News reported. Walz accused Trump of being ready to use force without a clear plan to withdraw or achieve stable outcomes in the region.

House Republicans passed a 10-day extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's Section 702 after long-term renewals failed amid an intraparty revolt. Lawmakers approved the stopgap in the House late Thursday night and the Senate quickly cleared the same 10-day patch, pushing the program's expiration from April 20 to April 30. The short extension heads to President Trump after unanimous consent or voice votes averted a lapse while leaders regroup to seek a longer reauthorization.

Homeland Security Department leaders told congressional budget hearings this month that they need an expedited, three-year reconciliation funding package to cover urgent operational gaps created by the ongoing, record shutdown of DHS appropriations; the pleas came as lawmakers wrestle over a proposed roughly $75 billion fast-track DHS bill and whether offsets or cuts must accompany it. In testimony covered during the hearings, department chiefs framed the request as necessary to sustain border security, immigration enforcement and counter-trafficking operations while normal appropriations remain blocked, and they warned that continuing shortfalls are straining frontline personnel and resources.

Former President Donald Trump says Iran agreed to remove enriched uranium and stop supporting proxies in a recent social media post claiming a win. CBS News highlighted his remarks on its Facebook page, quoting Trump that Iranians "agreed to everything," including removal of enriched uranium.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts gave preliminary design approval on April 16, 2026 to President Trump's proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch. The advisory commission, whose seven members were appointed by President Trump, reviewed the proposal at its monthly meeting. The commission gave preliminary design approval for a 250-foot arch set on the grassy traffic circle of Columbia Island at the foot of Memorial Bridge in Virginia. Renderings show a neoclassical arch that echoes Paris' Arc de Triomphe but stands nearly 100 feet taller, topped with a gilded torch-bearing Lady Liberty, two bald eagles and lions and inscribed in gold.

The GOP is promoting a "no tax on tips" provision as Trump touts tax cuts during Tax Day events in Nevada and elsewhere.

The White House says U.S.-Denmark-Greenland security talks are progressing despite President Trump's push to assert control over Greenland. White House officials told reporters they were on a "good trajectory" and working toward an agreement that boosts U.S. security interests. Danish sources expressed cautious optimism, saying the talks could have been worse and that no forceful demand was made.