While Kraft, a Democrat, has repeatedly said he’s never supported Trump, Wu has cornered the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft to take stronger action to defend himself.
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US, Chinese officials to meet in London next week for new round of trade talks
By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, President Donald Trump said Friday.
The meeting comes after a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the U.S. president described as a “very positive” conversation as the two countries attempt to break an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in the trade talks.
“The meeting should go very well,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Friday afternoon.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Friday, Trump said Xi had agreed to restart exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S. which China had slowed, threatening a range of U.S. manufacturers that relied on the critical materials. The was no immediate confirmation from China.
The Thursday conversation between Trump and Xi, who lead the world’s two biggest economies, lasted about an hour and a half, according to the U.S. president. The Chinese foreign ministry has said Trump initiated the call.
The ministry said Xi asked Trump to “remove the negative measures” that the U.S. has taken against China. It also said that Trump said “the U.S. loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America,” although his administration has vowed to revoke some of their visas.
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Migrants and ICE officers contend with heat, smog and illness after detoured South Sudan flight
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Migrants placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the men and their guards are contending with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the looming threat of rocket attacks, the Trump administration said.
Officials outlined grim conditions in court documents filed Thursday before a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to swiftly remove migrants to countries they didn’t come from.
Authorities landed the flight at the base in Djibouti, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from South Sudan, more than two weeks ago after U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found the Trump administration had violated his order by swiftly sending eight migrants from countries including Cuba and Vietnam to the east African nation.
The judge said that men from other countries must have a real chance to raise fears about dangers they could face in South Sudan.
The men’s lawyers, though, have still not been able to talk to them, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, whose stated mission is to ensure the United States is a global leader on human rights. Barnard spoke Friday at a hearing of Democratic members of Congress and said some family members of the men had been able to talk to them Thursday.
The migrants have been previously convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., and President Donald Trump’s administration has said that it was unable to return them quickly to their home countries. The Justice Department has also appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and allow swift deportations to third countries to resume.
The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight became another flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president’s policies.
The Trump administration said the converted conference room in the shipping container is the only viable place to house the men on the base in Djibouti, where outdoor daily temperatures rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), according to the declaration from an ICE official.
Nearby burn pits are used to dispose of trash and human waste, and the smog cloud makes it hard to breathe, sickening both ICE officers guarding the men and the detainees, the documents state. They don’t have access to all the medication they need to protect against infection, and the ICE officers were unable to complete anti-malarial treatment before landing, an ICE official said.
“It is unknown how long the medical supply will last,” Mellissa B. Harper, acting executive deputy associate director of enforcement and removal operations, said in the declaration.
The group also lacks protective gear in case of a rocket attack from terrorist groups in Yemen, a risk outlined by the Department of Defense, the documents state.
Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this story.
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Trump says he’s ‘disappointed’ with Musk after former backer turned on the Republican tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s “disappointed” with Elon Musk after his former backer and advisor lambasted the president’s signature bill.
Trump suggested the world’s richest man misses being in the White House and has “Trump derangement syndrome.”
The Republican president reflected on his breakup with Musk in front of reporters in the Oval Office as Musk continued a storm of social media posts attacking Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and warning it will increase the federal deficit.
“I’m very disappointed in Elon,” Trump said. “I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Musk has called Trump’s big tax break bill a “disgusting abomination.”
This is a developing story, check back for more details.
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Federal officers in tactical gear went into a Latino community in Minneapolis. A protest followed
By STEVE KARNOWSKI and MARK VANCLEAVE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dozens of protesters converged in the heart of the Latino community in Minneapolis on Tuesday after a large force of federal and local authorities wearing tactical gear conducted what they called a law enforcement action.
The protesters flocked to the area near a Mexican restaurant and other Latino-owned businesses after seeing livestreams that claimed an immigration raid was underway, reflecting opposition to such raids in a city that has declared itself a sanctuary for migrants. However, statements from local authorities said it was not an immigration enforcement matter, but a criminal case.
“While we are still gathering details, this incident was related to a criminal search warrant for drugs and money laundering and was not related to immigration enforcement,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a Facebook post soon after the police action. “No arrests were made.”
But several dozen protesters remained at the intersection occupied by federal agents hours earlier, using cars to block traffic. A few held signs saying “abolish ICE” and “stop the deportations.”
A driver went through the crowd. At least one person appeared to have been knocked to the ground but got up and said they were OK. Protesters deflated the car’s tires; police moved in to take the driver away, and a scuffle ensued. At least one man was taken into custody.
Bystander video showed officers wearing logos from local agencies but also federal ones, including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. An armored vehicle at the scene bore the initials of Homeland Security Investigations. Minneapolis’ police chief also was present.
Michelle Gross, president of the local Communities United Against Police Brutality group, said the show of force appeared designed to “terrorize people into submission.”
“This is jackbooted thuggery, and we aren’t having it in our city,” she said.
Onlooker Jennifer Davila, who works in the community, said it already had been on edge because of raids. It’s tight-knit, and “if something happens, we know about it,” she said.
“They had a white van, a black van and a tank. For a raid, that’s pretty excessive,” Davila said. “And then coming into a brown community and doing this, because we have all kinds of immigrants, not just Latinos.”
While the mayor said there were no arrests, a few protesters were at least temporarily detained as tensions grew between the crowd and the law enforcement officers. A Minnesota Public Radio photographer was pepper-sprayed and had his camera broken.
A Facebook post from the sheriff’s office said it “partnered with federal agencies on a criminal investigation and part of that investigation included the execution of multiple search warrants at multiple locations in the metro area.”
Frey said the police department’s only role was helping with crowd control, and that the department was not involved in “anything related to immigration enforcement.” Both the police department and sheriff’s offices have policies against cooperating with immigration enforcement actions.
The sheriff’s office said that in conducting criminal investigations, “We work with federal partners regularly.” A local FBI spokesperson, Diana Freedman, declined in a text message to provide details about the operation.
Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed reporting.
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Judge grants preliminary injunction to protect collective bargaining agreement for TSA workers
By MARTHA BELLISLE
SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to stop Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from killing a collective bargaining agreement for Transportation Safety Administration workers.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of Seattle said in her order that an injunction is needed to preserve the rights and benefits that TSA workers have enjoyed for years while being represented by the American Federation of Government Employees.
In their lawsuit, Pechman said, the union has shown that Noem’s directive to end the agreement “constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers.” It also likely violated due process and AFGE is likely to succeed in showing that Noem’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” she added.
“Today’s court decision is a crucial victory for federal workers and the rule of law,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a release. “The preliminary injunction underscores the unconstitutional nature of DHS’s attack on TSA officers’ First Amendment rights. We remain committed to ensuring our members’ rights and dignity are protected, and we will not back down from defending our members’ rights against unlawful union busting.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kipnis declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, according to Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
AFGE had entered into a new, seven-year collective bargaining agreement with agency last May, but Noem issued a memo Feb. 27 rescinding that agreement. One week later, TSA informed the union about Noem’s directive, saying the contract was terminated and all pending grievances would be deleted.
AFGE filed a lawsuit against Noem, claiming the move was retaliation against the union for pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers. AFGE had filed a separate lawsuit Feb. 19 against the Office of Personnel Management to stop the firing of probationary workers. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 27 stopping the firings — the same day Noem issued her memo.
Abigail Carter, representing AFGE during oral arguments before Pechman on May 27, said Noem’s move was retaliation and a violation of the union’s First Amendment right to protected speech and its Fifth Amendment right to due process.
“The administration has made it clear that if you don’t disagree with it politically, you and your members can keep your rights, but if you do disagree, you lose them,” Carter said. She also argued that the collective bargaining agreement was necessary because TSA workers are not covered under the federal labor-management code. The agreement protects them from dangerous working conditions and unreasonable hours.
Kipnis denied the retaliation claim and said it was simply a difference in management styles.
Pechman questioned that contention. Not all unions are banned by the administration, Pechman said, only the ones oppose the administration.
“Isn’t this a pattern that you see?” Pechman asked Kipnis. “Attorneys who take opposition stances get banned. Those who don’t, don’t have those restrictions. Isn’t this the pattern that the White House has set up?”
Kipnis said tension between unions and management are common and this conflict doesn’t signal a violation of the workers’ First Amendment rights, but instead reflects a confrontational relationship.
But Pechman wasn’t convinced.
Previous TSA managers have found unions to be beneficial and renewed their contracts for years, she said. They found they made a happier workforce, and “they wanted their employees to feel that they were well-treated,” she said. What has changed is this administration’s attitude, she said.
To that, Kipnis replied: “Or you could characterize it as a different management style. The former administration apparently saw that as a better way to do business. … But this administration sees a different way of doing business. And the same statute affords them the same amount of discretion.”
Pechman said she understood that the administration has the right to exercise that discretion, “but to abruptly cancel doesn’t seem well reasoned, so I’m having trouble with that.” She also noted, “But why the United States gets to back out of contracts that it’s made is harder to accept.”
In Monday’s order, Pechman said TSA workers would suffer “irreparable harm” without the injunction, noting that if they lose their collective bargaining agreement, they will lose the benefits it provides.
“While the loss of money alone does not show irreparable harm, the total harms here are more than monetary,” Pechman said. “They include the loss of substantive employment protections, avenues of grievance and arbitration, and the right to have a workforce that can unite to demand benefits that might not be obtainable through individual negotiation.”
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ICE reorganizes as Trump seeks 3,000 migrant arrests per day
The agency tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign is undergoing a major staff reorganization.
In a news release Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced leadership changes at the department tasked with finding, arresting and removing immigrants who no longer have the right to be in the country as well as at the agency’s investigative division.
Kenneth Genalo, who had been the acting director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, is retiring and will serve as a special government employee with ICE. Robert Hammer, who has been the acting head of Homeland Security Investigations, will transition to another leadership role at headquarters.
The agency said Marcos Charles will become the new acting head of ERO while Derek Gordon will be the acting head at HSI. ICE also announced a host of other staff changes at various departments within the agency.
ICE said the changes would “help ICE achieve President Trump and the American people’s mandate of arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens and making American communities safe.”
The news comes after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said on Fox News earlier this week that the administration was setting a goal of 3,000 arrests by ICE each day and that the number could go higher.
“President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day,” said Miller.
Three thousand arrests per day would mark a huge increase in daily arrests from current figures. Between Jan. 20 and May 19 the agency arrested 78,155 people, which translates to an average of 656 arrests per day.
This is the latest staff shakeup at an agency that is central to Trump’s vision of removing everyone in the country illegally. In February, the acting director of ICE was reassigned as well as two other top ICE officials.
Carrying out deportations, especially in high numbers, poses logistical challenges.
There are a limited number of enforcement and removal officers — those tasked with tracking down, arresting and removing people in the country illegally — and the number of officers has remained stagnant for years. ICE also has a limited number of detention beds to hold people once arrested and a limited number of planes to remove them from the country.
But the administration is pushing for a major funding boost as part of a package in Congress that could supercharge immigration enforcement. The plan would aim to fund the removal of 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers. The plan also calls for 10,000 more ICE officers and investigators.
Trump meets with the Federal Reserve chairman he has repeatedly scorned
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday and the two discussed the economy but not Powell’s outlook for interest rates, the Fed said.
Powell told Trump that the central bank would make decisions about the short-term interest rate it controls “based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.” The Fed’s rate typically influences borrowing costs across the economy, including for mortgages, car loans, and business borrowing.
The meeting comes as Trump has assailed Powell for not reducing the Fed’s key interest rate, calling him “Too Late Powell.” The president initiated the meeting, the Fed said.
Trump argues that there is “no inflation” and so Powell should cut rates, though such a move might not necessarily reduce the borrowing costs consumers face. Inflation is down substantially from a year ago, yet it remains above the Fed’s 2% target.
The meeting is the first during Trump’s second term, though the two met and had lunch together in his first term. Fed chairs regularly meet with Treasury secretaries but less often with presidents, given that the Fed’s interest rate decisions are intended to be separate from political concerns.
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US is leaving open the possibility of a troop drawdown in South Korea
By TARA COPP, Associated Press
SINGAPORE (AP) — The United States is not ruling out a reduction in forces deployed to South Korea as the Trump administration determines what presence it needs in the region to best counter China, two senior American defense officials told reporters traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Singapore.
There are 28,500 U.S. troops deployed to South Korea as part of the U.S. long-term commitment to help defend Seoul from any attack from North Korea.
But the U.S. is also trying to array its forces and ships optimally across the Indo-Pacific as a credible deterrent against China for any potential attack on Taiwan and other acts of aggression against allies in the region.
No decision has been made on the number of troops deployed to South Korea, but any future footprint would be optimized not only to defend against Pyongyang but also to deter China, one of the officials said. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss deliberations that have not been made public.
Hegseth is in Singapore to attend his first Shangri-La dialogue as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary. His South Korean counterpart is not expected to attend due to elections in Seoul.
A possible reduction in forces was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
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Elon Musk criticizes Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill,’ a fracture in a key relationship
By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk is criticizing the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, a significant fracture in a partnership that was forged during last year’s campaign and was poised to reshape American politics and the federal government.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who supported Trump’s candidacy with at least $250 million and has worked for his administration as a senior adviser, said he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.”
The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. While speaking to CBS, Musk described it as a “massive spending bill” that increases the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
His CBS interview came out Tuesday night. White House officials did not immediately respond to questions. Republicans recently pushed the legislation through the House and are debating it in the Senate.
Musk’s comments come as he steps back from his government work, rededicating himself to companies like the electric automaker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. He’s also said he’ll reduce his political spending, because “I think I’ve done enough.”
At times, he’s seemed chastened by his experience working in government. Although he hoped that DOGE would generate $1 trillion in spending cuts, he’s fallen far short of that target.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he told The Washington Post. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”
Musk had previously been effusive about the opportunity to reshape Washington. He wore campaign hats in the White House, held his own campaign rallies and talked about excessive spending as an existential crisis.
He was also effusive in his praise of Trump.
“The more I’ve gotten to know President Trump, the more I like the guy,” Musk said at one point. “Frankly, I love him.”
Trump repaid the favor, describing Musk as “a truly great American.” When Tesla faced declining sales, he turned the White House driveway into a makeshift showroom to illustrate his support.
It’s unclear what, if any, impact that Musk’s comments about the bill would have on the legislative debate. During the transition period, he helped whip up opposition to a spending measure as the country stood on the brink of a federal government shutdown.
But Trump remains the dominant figure within the Republican Party, and many lawmakers have been unwilling to cross the president when he applies pressure for his agenda.
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