Trump live: President’s unprecedented budget proposal alarms some key Republicans
Despite steep cuts to non-defense discretionary spending, huge military parade still being planned for president’s birthday in June
The White House’s partial budget proposal calls for $163 billion in federal spending cuts next fiscal year for environmental, education, foreign aid, and healthcare programs, including many already targeted by Elon Musk’s DOGE.
The fiscal 2026 budget proposal is a wish list of President Donald Trump’s spending and political priorities and does not include spending on defense, Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. Key Senate Republicans have expressed alarm at some of the proposals.
Nevertheless, despite a stated desire for efficiency and to cut waste, the president’s 79th birthday on June 14 may be celebrated with a massive military parade in Washington, D.C., according to new planning documents seen by the Associated Press.
Trump’s birthday falls on the same date as the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and the event calls for as many as 6,600 soldiers from 11 corps and divisions, army bands, tanks, artillery, howitzers, skydivers, 50 helicopters, and more than 2,000 civilians marching from Arlington, Virginia, into the capital.
The estimated cost of a similar parade pitched by Trump in his first term was $92 million. A final decision is yet to be made.
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Plans revealed for massive military parade on Trump’s 79th birthday
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Trump will unfreeze Maine funding after trans athlete lawsuit: ‘We took him to court and we won’
Donald Trump’s administration will unfreeze federal funding for Maine’s child nutrition programs following a legal battle between the state and the president over transgender athletes.
The administration agreed that it will not interfere with the state’s access to Department of Agriculture funding, and in turn, the state will drop its lawsuit against the agency.
The settlement does not constitute an admission of guilt from either party.
In remarks on Friday, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills hailed the settlement as a “victory” for its state after a “blatantly illegal” threat to block critical funding for school food programs.
Read more from Alex Woodward here.
Maine ‘took on Trump and won’ in legal battle over trans athletes, governor says
President Trump posted AI-generated photo of himself as Pope on Truth Social
Trump posted the image around 10 p.m. ET.
Earlier in the week, a reporter asked the president if he had a preference for the next Pope and he jokingly said: “I'd like to be Pope. That would be my #1 choice,” before adding: “We have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”
That cardinal is Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, 75.
Trump’s post did not include text.
Federal judge permanently blocks Trump’s ‘unconstitutional’ executive order targeting Perkins Coie, calling it an ‘an unprecedented attack’
A federal judge on Friday blocked the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, appointed by President Barack Obama, called the administration’s actions “an unprecedented attack” on the U.S. judicial system.
Trump had suspended security clearances held by the firm’s staff, cancelled government contracts that could financially benefit them and barred firm attorneys from entering federal buildings, reportedly because they’d represented 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Howell imposed a permanent injunction, which stopped the order from going into effect.
Stephen Miller ‘top contender’ to become new National Security Adviser
Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, is a “top candidate” to become the next national security adviser, according to reports.
Miller, the architect behind some of the Trump administration’s most aggressive immigration policies, is in line to replace ousted Mike Waltz following the “embarrassing” Signalgate scandal, according to Axios.
Waltz was moved from his role as Trump’s national security adviser Thursday after the president tapped him to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Rhian Lubin reports.
Stephen Miller ‘top contender’ to become new National Security Adviser
Marjorie Taylor Greene posts rambling rant about ‘rogue judicial system’ and occupying Ukraine
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took to X on Friday afternoon to share a lengthy rant in which she lambasted the “rogue justice system” and wrote about occupying Ukraine.
Greene began by setting the stakes: “I represent the base, and when I’m frustrated and upset over the direction of things, you better be clear, the base is not happy.”
The ally of President Donald Trump appeared to criticize the commander-in-chief for “supposedly” bringing the U.S. closer to war with Iran.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Marjorie Taylor Greene posts rambling rant about occupying Ukraine
Trump tariffs: Small foreign retailers are giving up on America
Some small foreign retailers are giving up on business in America as President Donald Trump ends a loophole that previously made cheaper goods exempt from tariffs.
May 2 marks the end of the “de minimis” exemption, a longstanding rule that applied to packages entering the U.S. worth under $800. Under the exemption, retailers overseas were allowed to sell products at lower prices by shipping them straight to consumers, bypassing domestic warehouses.
Rhian Lubin explains what the impact has been.
Small foreign retailers giving up on America as Trump ends tariff loophole
Musk promises DOGE has a ‘long-term’ future as steps back from White House
Elon Musk vowed that DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts will continue - even as he prepares to step back from the disruptive government department.
In a wide-ranging interview with Jesse Watters on Fox News Thursday, the billionaire, whose time as a “special government employee” terminates at the end of May, described DOGE as a “long-term enterprise.”
Musk initially promised DOGE would shave $2 trillion from federal spending and debt, but he quickly cut that amount in half. Last month, he lowered it further to $150 billion and then upped it to $160 billion, a tiny fraction of what he first promised.
Mary Papenfuss reports.
Teenage DOGE staffer ‘Big Balls’ speaks about role in Musk’s cost-cutting agency
How ‘Little Marco’ found Trump’s favor and became the ‘Secretary of Everything’ with four jobs
Alex Woodward writes:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has come a long way from “little Marco,” the name Donald Trump gifted his then-rival for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, when Rubio labeled him a “con artist” who cheated workers after never having worked a day in his life himself.
Rubio, nearly 10 years later, has more job titles than anyone in the Trump administration.
Read on...
How ‘Little Marco’ became the ‘Secretary of Everything’
ICYMI: Jobs report defies expectations and hiring remains steady despite concerns over Trump’s tariffs
The latest jobs report has defied expectations and hiring remains steady despite concerns over President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, which have shaken financial markets and worried consumers.
Fresh data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate remains at 4.2 percent.
It is the first glimpse of how the economy has fared after Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he introduced sweeping tariffs that caused the biggest one-day stock market drop since the pandemic. His policies have shaken financial markets and frightened consumers.
Rhian Lubin and Eric Garcia report.
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