• Pope image: The president told reporters that he has “no idea” where the AI image of himself as the pope came from, even though it was posted on his Truth Social account. The image prompted accusations of poor taste days before the conclave to elect a new pope.
Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.
Link Copied!
Trump administration asks judge to toss suit restricting access to abortion medication
From The Associated Press
The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three GOP-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to abortion medication mifepristone.
Justice Department attorneys stayed the legal course charted by Biden administration, though they didn’t directly weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the drug that’s part of the nation’s most common method of abortion.
Rather, the government argued Monday that the states don’t have the legal right, or standing, to sue.
The lawsuit from Idaho, Kansas and Missouri argues that Food and Drug Administration should roll back access to mifepristone. They filed their complaint after the Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone last year. They want the FDA to prohibit telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone, require three in-office visits and restrict the point in a pregnancy when it can be used.
Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in Idaho. Missouri had a strict ban, but clinics recently began offering abortions again after voters approved a new constitutional amendment for reproductive rights. Abortion is generally legal up to 22 weeks in Kansas, where voters rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure in 2022, though the state does have age restrictions.
Trump told Time magazine in December he would not restrict access to abortion medication. On the campaign trail, he said abortion is an issue for the states and stressed that he appointed justices to the Supreme Court who were in the majority when striking down the national right to abortion in 2022.
Link Copied!
Arts groups across the country say their National Endowment for the Arts funding has been pulled
From CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Arts groups across the country say their federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts has been pulled, as President Donald Trump has called for the shuttering of the agency.
Dozens of groups have announced that they received notification of the termination or withdrawal of grants on Friday, the same day Trump proposed the elimination of the NEA, along with the National Endowment for Humanities and the Institute for Library and Museum Services, in his fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations to Congress.
The cuts to NEA grants come after dozens of cultural group, museums, universities and libraries were notified last month that their grants from the ILMS and the NEH had been terminated.
Miriam Goldberg Owens, president and CEO of the The People’s Music School, a group that offers free music education to students in Chicago said that she received an email that said the NEA was reallocating funding “in a new direction in furtherance of the Administration’s agenda.”
The Minnesota Latino Museum also said on social media today that it learned Friday that its NEA grant had been terminated.
Some NEA employees have also moved to exit the agency amid the turmoil.
Michael Orlove, the NEA’s director of regional, state and local partnerships, announced today that he was leaving the agency in a statement on LinkedIn writing: “The recent months have been quite tumultuous in Washington DC due to the ‘downsizing’ of the federal government.”
“After thorough consideration, I have decided to leave the agency and accept the deferred resignation program, as it offers the most practical solution for me and my family,” he wrote.
CNN has reached out to the NEA for comment.
Link Copied!
Federal judge rejects GOP effort to throw out votes in NC Supreme Court race
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen
A federal judge today rejected a Republican attempt to reverse the unofficial results of a North Carolina Supreme Court election, but his ruling may not be the last word for the country’s last unresolved race.
After two recounts showed Democratic state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs ahead by 734 votes, her Republican challenger, Judge Jefferson Griffin, challenged more than 60,000 votes on technical grounds.
The GOP-controlled state Supreme Court eventually ruled that a few thousand of those votes could be thrown out, pending the results of a cure process, but federal Judge Richard Myers, a Trump appointee, ruled that votes that were cast under the rules that existed before the election couldn’t be rejected after.
Myers ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the race’s unofficial results but delayed his ruling for seven days to give Griffin the chance to appeal.
Link Copied!
Get caught up on the policy announcements and executive orders made today by the Trump administration
From CNN’s Elise Hammond, David Goldman, Betsy Klein, Michelle Krupa, Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand, Auzinea Bacon, Sunlen Serfaty, Sarah Owermohle and Maureen Chowdhury
US President Donald Trump speaks to press as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
It has now been more than 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term and there is no indication he is slowing down on enacting his agenda.
Today, the administration announced several new initiatives on everything from the military to immigration to student loans.
The president also signed a series of executive orders banning funding for controversial infectious disease research and making it easier for pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs in the US.
Here’s the latest:
Military officer cuts: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered senior Pentagon leadership to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20% across the military, according to a memo obtained by CNN. It also directs the Pentagon to make cuts to general officers in the National Guard and general and flag officers across the military.
Self-deportation policy: The Department of Homeland Security announced it will pay undocumented migrants to leave the US, including a one-way departure ticket and an additional $1,000 if they verify they returned to their home country. Those who participate in this process “may” preserve the option for the migrant to re-enter the US legally in the future, DHS said.
Pharmaceuticals: Trump signed an executive order to streamline the permitting processes for pharmaceutical companies to build production sites in the US. It comes as he said he will announce pharmaceutical tariffs “over the next two weeks,” but did not expand on specific tariff rates that could be imposed.
Disease research: In another executive order, Trump banned all funding for controversial infectious disease research in China, Iran and other foreign countries that the government deems to have insufficient research oversight. Known as gain-of-function research, the area of study involves altering a virus’ traits in a laboratory to study its spread and mutations.
Harvard: The administration announced it was cutting off all new federal research grants to Harvard University. It is demanding political policy changes from the school. It will not impact federal Pell Grants or student loan funding at this time, a senior administration official said.
Columbia University: The administration proposed a potential consent decree for Columbia University, which would install federal oversight and give a judge responsibility for enforcement, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Leaders at the university are still deciding what to do, and the university board is undecided on whether to accept a consent decree, the WSJ reported. CNN reached out to the White House and Columbia University for comment.
Student loans: The Department of Education is threatening to withhold federal aid to colleges and universities who have high levels of students in default on their student loans. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told schools in a letter to reach out to former students. The government restarted collection on loans in default today.
This digest of news was updated with the WSJ reporting on Columbia University.
Link Copied!
CFTC asks federal appeals court to drop its case against US election betting market Kalshi
From CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
A US financial regulator moved today to drop its bid to stop a prediction market from offering political betting, asking a federal appeals court for permission to dismiss its case against Kalshi, a New York-based startup.
If the DC Circuit Court of Appeals grants the request, made by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission, prediction markets that offer so-called “events contracts” like Kalshi would continue to offer their political “contracts” on exchanges regulated by the CFTC, even though the practice is illegal in many states.
In a statement to CNN, Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour declared victory, announcing that “Kalshi’s approach has officially and definitively secured the future of prediction markets in America.”
Better Markets, a non-profit organization that advocates for financial reform, slammed the CFTC’s move, warning that leaving the district court’s decision intact sets “a terrible and enduring legal precedent.”
In response to a request for comment, the CFTC said it had requested the case’s dismissal after a vote from the commission.
Some background: Last year, Kalshi launched its first political offerings – which ranged from which party will control the House and the Senate in 2025 to who will sit in the Oval Office – after a three-judge panel for the federal appeals court found that CFTC had failed to demonstrate how it or the public “will be irreparably harmed” while the appeal plays out.
It was expected the CFTC would drop its appeal. Brian Quintenz, who was tapped by President Donald Trump in February to lead the CFTC, has served as a Kalshi board member. One of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., joined Kalshi as strategic advisor in January.
Link Copied!
Trump signs executive order to streamline US drug manufacturing ahead of possible pharmaceutical tariffs
From CNN's Auzinea Bacon
President Donald Trump signed an executive order today to streamline the permitting processes for pharmaceutical companies to build production sites in the United States.
Trump said there will be an announcement next week related to the order, which would address the costs of medicine and drugs in the US. He told reporters in the Oval Office that America is “being ripped off, as you know, very badly … compared to the rest of the world.”
According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, there are roughly 270 active drug shortages in the United States.
Trump said he will announce pharmaceutical tariffs “over the next two weeks,” but did not expand on specific tariff rates that could be imposed.
Some background: Pharmaceuticals were exempt from Trump’s across-the-board 10% tariffs on most countries, which were paused on April 9 for 90 days. The administration instead took its first steps into pharmaceutical-specific tariffs by launching an investigation on pharmaceutical imports on April 14. The investigation, as part of the Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, gives the administration 270 days to complete its probe.
See below some of the other executive actions taken by the president.
Link Copied!
Education Department threatens to withhold aid to schools with high levels of students defaulting on loans
From CNN's Sunlen Serfaty
The Department of Education is threatening to withhold federal aid to colleges and universities who have high levels of students in default on their student loans.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter today to colleges and universities that receive federal funding assistance, urging them to reach out to all former students to “remind them of their obligation to repay any federal student loan that is not in deferment or forbearance,” according to a statement from the department.
McMahon said the Education Department plans to calculate rates of non-repayment by each institution and will publish the information on the Federal Aid Data Center later this month.
Link Copied!
GOP senator says "100%" he's OK with migrants getting deported without due process
From CNN’s Alison Main and Manu Raju
Sen. Tommy Tuberville attends the House and Senate committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act on November 29, 2023.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images
GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a close ally of President Donald Trump, backed the president’s recent comments that he didn’t know if he would uphold the US Constitution as it relates to due process and immigration.
Asked in an NBC interview that aired yesterday if citizens and non-citizens deserve due process, as the Constitution prescribes, Trump said, “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” The president also said his administration will “obviously follow” what the Supreme Court decides.
Tuberville said Trump “is upholding the Constitution, but he wants it fast tracked.”
“Democrats obviously want to say, ‘we need to give everybody a court case.’ Can’t do that. We’d be doing it all the way to till the year 3000,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville said “100%” he is OK with migrants being detained and deported without a hearing: “I think you round them up and you take them home.” He also said he supports the Trump administration paying $1,000 to undocumented immigrants who leave the country voluntarily.
Link Copied!
Appeals court preserves parole for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals
From CNN’s Angélica Franganillo Díaz and Tierney Sneed
The US First Circuit Court of Appeals kept on hold the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate parole for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV), keeping in place for now protections from deportation for more than 500,000 individuals.
The decision today said the administration had not satisfied the high bar for the court to grant the emergency intervention the Department of Homeland Security was seeking.
The processing of parole requests — and related immigration benefits — for individuals admitted under the CHNV programs will proceed as it did after a district court paused the administration’s attempt to suspend the policy. The case is a challenge from immigrant advocacy groups, who argued that the abrupt policy shift unlawfully disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of parolees.
The order today from the appeals court — handed down by a panel made up of two appointees of President Joe Biden and a third judge appointed President Barack Obama — expressed skepticism that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had the power to categorically end the parole program for the migrants. The appeals court is not yet deciding that question on the merits, as it was only deciding an emergency request to pause a trial court’s ruling. But the First Circuit said the administration had not made a “strong showing” that it would succeed on its appeal, as required for such emergency interventions.
Earlier this month, US District Court Judge Indira Talwani, based in Massachusetts, ruled in favor of the challengers, restoring the parole process and related immigration benefits.
The lawsuit, filed by immigrants and their US-based sponsors, challenged the administration’s attempt to end the CHNV parole programs, arguing the maneuver violated the Immigration and Nationality Act’s requirement for case-by-case decisions and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands who had lawfully entered the US.
Link Copied!
Trump signs executive order banning "dangerous" infectious disease research overseas, citing Covid pandemic
From CNN's Sarah Owermohle
President Donald Trump signed an executive order today banning all federal funding for controversial infectious disease research in China, Iran and other foreign countries that the government deems to have insufficient research oversight.
This area of study, known as gain-of-function research, involves altering a virus’ traits in a laboratory to study its spread and mutations.
The first Trump administration lifted a moratorium on gain-of-function studies in 2017. But controversy around the practice reignited in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the National Institutes of Health canceled a federal grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a group working with researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses.
Federal agencies say there is not enough definitive evidence to conclude whether the Covid-19 pathogen leaked from a lab or spread from wildlife to humans naturally. Many scientists believe, based on analyses of the virus and early cases, that the virus occurred naturally in animals and spread to humans in an outbreak at the Wuhan market. Republican-led congressional committees have deemed the pandemic’s origins a likely lab leak and called for the administration to bar gain-of-function research again.
The White House teed up a potential ban in a website launched last month that cited a House committee report. The website reroutes from Covid.org, which used to provide information about coronavirus tests, treatments and vaccines.
The executive order would also direct the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to identify and eliminate any biological research that could pose a threat to American public health. The White House said it will also prohibit any future funding of research on viruses with pandemic potential, though it is unclear how broad that ban would be.
The Biden administration last May laid out new safeguards and restrictions for infectious disease research that were slated to go into effect this month.
Link Copied!
Jill Biden questions whether federal government under Trump will be as involved in women’s health research
From CNN’s Arlette Saenz
Jill Biden delivers remarks at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 19.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Former first lady Jill Biden questioned whether the federal government would be “as involved” in women’s health research under the Trump administration in her first public remarks since leaving the White House.
Biden, who was taking part in a conversation at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Los Angeles today, encouraged the private sector to provide more funding for women’s health research.
She later told the annual gathering of business and global leaders, “I think we’re looking to the business community … to kind of take this on, to be bold and you know have a little audacity and just come out and say, ‘Hey we got you. We got you. We’re going to solve this. We’re going to put money in this.’”
Some context: Biden’s comments come just weeks after the Trump administration reversed course on a decision that would have cut funding for the Women’s Health Initiative, a landmark study focused on preventing disease in older women.
Under the Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health has also canceled hundreds of research grants, including some related to gender disparities in health.
Link Copied!
Trump met with actor Jon Voight at Mar-a-Lago before announcing film tariff plan
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Donald Trump met over the weekend with actor Jon Voight at Mar-a-Lago to discuss plans for reviving the American film industry, according to a person familiar with the matter, before Trump announced he wants a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the US.
The president had named Voight, along with Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, as his emissaries to Hollywood, though it was never particularly clear what that designation would mean.
Voight, who has been a vocal Trump supporter, had been developing a plan along with his manager, Steven Paul for trying to revive the American filmmaking industry. The plan included ideas for tax incentives, but not specifically on new tariffs, according to the person.
House speaker defends Trump’s toy comments and tariff policies: "We had to disrupt the system"
From CNN’s Alison Main, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended Donald Trump’s tariffs as the president continues to say that American kids may have fewer toys under his trade policies, due to shortages and rising prices.
Asked by CNN about Trump reiterating his comments about toys to NBC this weekend, Johnson said he hadn’t seen the interview, but thinks the president is trying to communicate that “we had to disrupt the system, and we’re going to have the desired results,” pointing to the trade negotiations that Trump said would be coming soon.
Johnson also denied that pushing back key committee meetings amounted to a setback in the process to pass Trump’s massive agenda bill.
“I put reconciliation on the very ambitious timetable for a reason,” he said, explaining that it was “important to keep this momentum going, and that momentum is going strong right now.”
CNN reported last week that the House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will grapple with areas where there are major sticking points for Republicans, are now aiming to meet the week of May 12 instead of this week.
Johnson said the meeting House GOP leaders had with Trump at the White House last week was “truncated due to other events,” and they needed more time to work through “some additional calculations” on how to achieve Trump’s sweeping tax cut proposals.
Johnson, who has repeatedly said the House will pass the Trump agenda bill by Memorial Day, said, “if it’s not done before Memorial Day, it will be shortly thereafter, but our timetable is on pace, and we’re going to get this done ASAP.”
Link Copied!
US will "help the people of Gaza get some food" as famine looms, Trump says
From CNN's Isabelle D'Antonio
People struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
President Donald Trump said today that the US “will help the people of Gaza get some food,” as a total Israeli blockade of aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave approaches its third month.
“We’re gonna help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving, and we’re gonna help them get some food,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Some context: US and Israeli officials are discussing a mechanism to deliver aid to Gaza that bypasses Hamas, an Israeli source familiar with the matter and a State Department official previously told CNN. The official said an announcement could be made “in the coming days.”
The delivery mechanism would allow aid to reach the Palestinian population with safeguards to ensure it is not diverted by Hamas or Islamic Jihad, according to a State Department spokesperson.
For more than two months, Israel has carried out a total siege of Gaza, refusing to allow in a single truck of humanitarian aid or commercial goods. Israel says it cut off the entry of aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But some international organizations have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war — which is considered a war crime.
Cases of acute child malnutrition in Gaza are rapidly rising, one of the telltale signs of impending famine. Nearly 3,700 children were diagnosed in March, an 82% increase from February, according to the UN.
CNN’s Dana Karni, Jennifer Hansler and Oren Liebermann contributed to this post.
Link Copied!
Alcatraz is "strong" representation of "law and order," Trump says as he floats reopening prison
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Alcatraz is seen in San Francisco in February 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump said he wants to reopen Alcatraz because it “represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order.”
Trump was asked today at a White House event about the thinking behind his social media post saying he wanted to reopen the prison. He replied by touting Alcatraz’s history of housing “the most violent criminals in the world.”
Alcatraz was closed in 1963 because, according to the Bureau of Prisons, it was “too expensive to continue operating.” The site now functions as a museum.
The president made similar comments yesterday, writing on Truth Social that the prison “will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
Trump said the building now is just “sitting there, rusting and rotting” and some people in his administration will be looking into if “we can bring it back in large form.”
Link Copied!
Latest self-deportation policy will give some migrants a possible path back to US, Trump says
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration’s latest self-deportation policy will allow some migrants a potential path back to the US, but those who do not follow this process may never be able to come back.
“If they’re the kind of people that we want in our company. Industrious people that could love our country. And if they’re not, they won’t,” he added.
DHS announced the policy earlier Monday. In addition to “both financial and travel assistance to facilitate” self-deportation, which a DHS spokesperson said included a complimentary one-way departure ticket, the agency said it would also pay an additional $1,000 to people who verify they have returned to their home country.
DHS added that those who participate in this process will be deprioritized for targeting by immigration officials and that it “may” preserve the option for the migrant to re-enter the US legally in the future.
“It will give them a path … to coming back into the country,” Trump said on Monday. As for people who do not opt into this policy, the president said: “They’re going to be taken out of our country … they will never get a path to come back in. And it will be a much tougher process.”
Link Copied!
Trump says he has "no idea" where AI image of himself as pope came from and jokes "somebody did it in fun"
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
This AI-generated fake image shared by President Donald Trump to the social media platform Truth Social shows him depicted as the pope, wearing papal attire and a crucifix hanging around his neck while pointing with his index finger.
Donald Trump/Truth Social
President Donald Trump said Monday that he has “no idea” where the AI image of himself as the pope came from, even though he posted on his Truth Social account.
“Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope, and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening,” the president said in the Oval Office Monday.
“Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said: ‘Isn’t that nice?’” the president added.
Trump, who days prior joked that he would “like to be pope,” posted the digitally doctored image of himself wearing a white cassock and papal headdress, with his forefinger raised, to his Truth Social platform late Friday. It was then reshared by the White House on its official X account.
Asked why it was posted to the official White House account even though it was artificially created, the president responded: “Give me a break.”
“Somebody did it in fun,” he added.
Link Copied!
Trump says he'll meet American film leaders to discuss new tariff plan
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Donald Trump speaks speaks to the press in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday, May 5.
Alex Brandon/AP
President Donald Trump said Monday he’ll meet with representatives from the American film industry to discuss his plan to apply new tariffs on foreign-made films, in part to ensure they’re “happy” with the idea.
“Hollywood doesn’t do very much of that business. They have the nice sign and everything’s good, but they don’t do very much,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office a day after floating the new tariff plan on social media.
The White House said earlier Monday that no final decision had been made on the new duties.
Trump said his goal was to revive the filmmaking industry in California, which has seen a decline in production as shoots move overseas.
“We’re going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they’re happy with it, because we’re all about jobs,” he said.
Link Copied!
Trump announces 2027 NFL draft will be held on the National Mall in Washington, DC
From CNN's Kyle Feldscher
President Donald Trump announces from the Oval Office on Monday that Washington, DC, will host the 2027 NFL Draft.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Monday announced the NFL draft will be held in Washington, DC, in 2027, bringing the biggest event of football’s off-season to the National Mall.
The NFL draft has become a massive event in recent years as hundreds of thousands of people make the trek to host cities to watch draft picks be announced. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who was on-hand in the Oval Office for the announcement, told Trump that the league expects more than a million fans to come to the National Mall during the three days of the draft.
Trump also touted the recently announced deal to bring the Washington Commanders back into the district at the site of the old RFK Stadium in southeast Washington. He thanked Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with the administration since he reentered office in January.
Bowser said she’s delighted for the draft to come to Washington in two years and expects it to be a major event in the city.
“The NFL bringing this event to the nation’s capital will help us fill hotel rooms, restaurants. And Americans from all 50 states will come to their nation’s capital and enjoy our beautiful city and museums,” she said in remarks at the White House.
Goodell said it was a “special treat” for Trump to hold the announcement of Washington being the host city for the draft in the Oval Office.
“The draft has really become one of the great entertainment and sports events,” Goodell said.
Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris said football is a part of the fabric of Washington and presented Trump with a No. 47 Commanders jersey.
“What a great day for Washington, I mean, to host the NFL draft in 2027 on the Mall, I believe we’ll get over a million people, and it’s going to be an amazing day,” Harris said, “and it’ll showcase what Washington is all about, but it’ll also showcase what our country is all about.”
