The Trump administration is waging war on elite universities across the country under the pretext of fighting antisemitism and DEI practices.
Harvard University, which was the latest academic institution to be targeted by the president, ignored his demands, leading the administration to freeze billions of its federal funding as the president also threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status.
Meanwhile, the administration is defying a Supreme Court order requiring it to facilitate the repatriation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to an El Salvador prison, raising the specter of a constitutional crisis.
The country is already dealing with the fallout of Trump’s trade policy as his team now prepares to hold negotiations with U.S. trading partners on tariffs.
Read the latest updates below:
‘Severely Diminished’ USAID Sends Disaster Relief Team Of Just 3 People To Myanmar
Five days after a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake flattened high-rises in Myanmar and Thailand, killing more than 2,000 people, the State Department has dispatched a disaster-response team of just three people to the country, who will distribute $2 million in relief aid.
In the past, USAID, which used to be its own agency before it was gutted, likely illegally, by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and folded into the State Department, would have immediately dispatched Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) to the country to aid in search-and-rescue efforts.
The White House attempted to mobilize a DART team after the earthquake last Friday, but couldn’t, Andrew Natsios, who served as USAID administrator in George W. Bush's administration, told the BBC.
"The problem is they fired most of the 500 people that make up the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, so obviously there are no people [from the bureau] to be on the Dart team to be sent,” Natsios said.
He added that he was shocked Trump’s administration “didn't have the foresight to say 'Okay, let's retain these people'."
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former disaster response lead at USAID, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the U.S. missed the search-and-rescue window in Myanmar entirely as a result.
"It's not a case of worst-practice, it's really a case of no-practice," he said. “It just makes the US look, frankly, kind of weak and irrelevant to most of the other countries that have shown up in force to support the people of Myanmar."
For comparison’s sake, when a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria in 2023, USAID sent 225 people and $185 million.
"The capacity of the U.S. government to provide that kind of assistance right now is severely diminished, and we haven't seen any of it so far,” Sarah Charles, assistant to the administrator of USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance under the Biden administration, told NPR.
Latest Live Updates
Thousands Take Part In Anti-Trump Protests Across U.S.
Thousands of demonstrators all across the U.S. are expected to take part in mass protests against President Donald Trump on Saturday.
The protests were organized by 50501, which stands for "50 Protests. 50 States. 1 Movement," according to their website. More than 500 events have been scheduled in all 50 states.
Video on social media shows thousands of people marching against Trump on the streets of New York City.
The organizers of the protests are also responsible for the mass demonstrations earlier this month against Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets all across the U.S.
Vatican Notes 'Exchange Of Opinions' Over Migrants, Prisoners In Meeting With JD Vance
VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with the Vatican’s No. 2 official amid tensions over the U.S. crackdown on migrants, with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting “an exchange of opinions” over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.
The Vatican issued a statement after Vance, a Catholic convert, met with the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. There was no indication he met with Pope Francis, who has been resuming some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
This Supreme Court Decision Could Make It Harder For Millions To Access Preventive Health Care
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in Kennedy v. Braidwood, the first significant challenge to the Affordable Care Act under the current Trump administration and a case that could strip away insurance coverage for preventive services like cancer screenings, HIV prevention and diabetes medication for millions of Americans.
The case has its origins in a 2020 legal challenge by Braidwood Management, Inc., a Texas-based Christian company that sued the federal government and claimed providing coverage for PrEP — an HIV preventive medication also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis — violated its rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
At the time, Dr. Steven Hotze, the sole trustee and beneficiary of the Braidwood Management company, said he was unwilling to pay for PrEP or STI screenings for his employees. “They are consequences of a patient’s choice to engage in drug use, prostitution, homosexual conduct, or sexual promiscuity – all of which are contrary to Dr. Hotze’s sincere religious beliefs,” the complaint read.
The central question before the Supreme Court now is not about religious beliefs. Instead, the justices have been asked to weigh in on whether an independent task force has the authority to recommend preventive services like PrEP be covered by health insurers under the U.S. Constitution.
Read more:
Iran Sells Russia Drones And Missiles To Kill Ukrainians And Trump Doesn’t Care
WASHINGTON — While Donald Trump brags about his “maximum pressure” campaign to impoverish Iran and force its leaders to give up its nuclear program, there remains one source of revenue that the president appears to be OK with: Iran’s sale to Russia of deadly drones, missiles and technical expertise to help slaughter Ukrainian civilians.
Iran has earned at least tens of millions of dollars, perhaps many hundreds of millions, from its agreement to supply weapons to Russia over the past two years. And while that deal drew new sanctions against both countries under former President Joe Biden, it appears to have received no pushback from Trump.
“Not sure why specifically the Trump administration is not making this an issue with Russia,” said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in its early years after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Read more:
Supreme Court Halts, For Now, New Deportations Under 18th Century Wartime Law
The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked, for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law.
In a brief order, the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union contending that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Supreme Court had said earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.
Read more:
Trump Administration Mistakenly Sent Demand Letter To Harvard: Report
One week after the Trump administration threatened to withhold billions in federal funding to Harvard University, The New York Times reported that a Trump official later told the institution that the White House's demand letter was sent by mistake, two sources told the newspaper.
The official, according to the sources, claimed that the letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism was "unauthorized." The letter was signed by three federal officials including Thomas E. Wheeler, the acting general counsel of the Department of Education.
While the contents of the letter were legitimate, it's unclear exactly how it was sent by mistake with some in the White House believing it was sent prematurely and others suggesting it was meant to be sent among task force members, the Times reported.
In the days since Harvard refused to give into the threats, the president's administration has frozen $2.2 billion in grants and has reportedly called on the Internal Revenue Service to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.
May Mailman, the White House's senior policy strategist, told the Times that it was "malpractice" by university lawyers to not get in touch with task force members and pick up discussions where they left off instead of pushing back at the demands.
The letter, among other demands, called on the university to shutter its DEI programs, dial back foreign student admissions and purge departments of staff that have been critical of Israel.
Harvard University, in a statement Friday, noted that the demand letter it received last week was signed by three federal officials, sent from the email address of a "senior federal official" and delivered last Friday as "promised."
“Recipients of such correspondence from the U.S. government — even when it contains sweeping demands that are astonishing in their overreach — do not question its authenticity or seriousness," the statement read.