What we're covering
• DOJ investigation: The Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, sources tell CNN. It centers on possible obstruction of federal law enforcement. Both men, who have criticized the immigration crackdown, blasted the DOJ’s reported action.
• Curbs on ICE: As protests continue in the Twin Cities, a judge ruled that federal agents are not allowed to arrest peaceful protesters or stop people in their cars without cause.
• Tensions over Greenland: Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he is considering applying new tariffs on countries that oppose his ambition of annexing Greenland. Trump’s push to control Greenland has prompted outrage among European nations, who fear the move could rupture longstanding transatlantic ties.
Judge issues order preventing some actions by federal agents in Minnesota operation
Federal agents working in Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota are not allowed to arrest peaceful protesters or stop people in their cars without cause, among other items, a US district judge ruled in a preliminary injunction today.
The order will be in effect until the operation ends or when “conditions change such that it is no longer necessary.”
The order only applies in Minnesota and only to agents involved in the current operation, and does not apply to other federal officers handling routine duties elsewhere, the order specified.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
Walz and Frey respond to report of Justice Department investigation
As we have been reporting, the Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over possible obstruction of federal law enforcement, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The Justice Department declined to comment, but we’ve heard from the people allegedly targeted.
Gov. Tim Walz did not confirm the investigation to CNN but accused the federal government of “weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents,” which he called a “dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”
Mayor Jacob Frey did not confirm an investigation either, but issued a statement:
2 children, including infant, hospitalized after federal agents deployed tear gas in Minneapolis
Two children, including an infant, were sent to the hospital Wednesday night in Minneapolis after federal agents deployed tear gas, the City of Minneapolis said in a statement.
A family was driving their children home from an athletic event when federal agents shot tear gas during a protest, which got too close to a car and led to the family getting “caught in the middle of” the situation, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The tear gas caused “a 6-month-old infant inside the vehicle to experience breathing difficulties,” according to initial reports, the statement said. When police and the fire department were able to reach the family, “the infant was breathing and stable, but (in) serious condition,” according to the statement.
The infant and a juvenile of an unknown age were transported to the hospital for further evaluation, the statement said.
In a statement to CNN, McLaughlin also said “DHS law enforcement NEVER targeted this family or their innocent children,” adding that agents were responding to protests and “followed their training and reasonably deployed crowd control measures.”
Ellison also reacted to the deleted tweet, saying it was “reckless behavior.”
“The thing that bothers me is that they shot first and ask questions later. They shot out their tweet,” he said.
A new poll on Trump, fresh attention on Greenland and an investigation in Minnesota. Catch up on today's news
A CNN poll released today found that public opinion on nearly every aspect of President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House is negative, with a majority of Americans saying he is focused on the wrong priorities and doing too little to address cost of living.
The president himself spoke this morning at the White House, where he said he was considering applying new tariffs on countries that oppose his ambition of annexing Greenland. He’s now in Florida, where he unveiled the new name for the oft-traversed route from Palm Beach International Airport to his Mar-a-Lago club: President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
Here’s more of today’s headlines:
Minneapolis:
- The Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over possible obstruction of federal law enforcement, a source told CNN.
- Protesters continued to gather outside a federal building in the Twin Cities.
- Trump raised the prospect of invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow the deployment of troops to Minnesota. But “I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it,” he said.
- FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche visited Minneapolis today, according to a post on Patel’s X account.
- The Minneapolis Fire Department released an incident report on the deadly shooting of Renee Good last week by an ICE agent.
Greenland:
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers are in Copenhagen “to highlight more than 200 years of friendship” between the US and Denmark.
- The head of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Commaand told CNN that “nothing has changed” with Denmark’s relationship to the US military.
Other noteworthy stories:
- Trump praised Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado while explaining more of his reasoning for not backing her to lead Venezuela.
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe met yesterday with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas.
- Trump granted clemency to a woman who was convicted for a second time after he commuted her sentence in his first term.
- The president has appointed loyalists to an arts commission that will review White House ballroom plans.
- The White House named members of the “Board of Peace” overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza.
- National Guard troops will stay in Washington, DC, through the end of 2026.
- Trump and some Northeastern governors are pushing for a massive electricity auction to make tech giants defray costs.
- The Supreme Court agreed to decide if police can seek sweeping cellphone location data during investigations.
- The court will also decide whether tens of thousands of people claiming the pesticide Roundup caused their cancer will have a day in court.
- The Department of Education announced it is temporarily delaying its plans to garnish wages of defaulted student loan borrowers.
DOJ investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
The Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
The investigation centers on possible obstruction of federal law enforcement.
President Donald Trump and his administration have been critical of state and local officials’ response to unrest in Minnesota over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, with the president suggesting he might invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to the city to quell any violence.
Frey’s fierce criticism of the federal government crackdown has placed the mayor in a national spotlight.
The Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over possible obstruction of federal law enforcement, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Walz did not confirm the investigation to CNN but accused the federal government of “weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents.” CNN has reached out to Frey’s office for comment.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Department of Education delays plans to garnish wages of defaulted student loan borrowers
The Department of Education announced today it is temporarily delaying its plans to garnish wages of defaulted student loan borrowers, as involuntary collections were set to begin this month.
The department will also temporarily delay implementation of the Treasury Offset Program, which collects defaulted debts by garnishing federal and state payments to borrowers, such as tax returns or Social Security benefits.
The department did not specify how long the involuntary collections would be delayed, but explained this will allow it to institute broad reforms to the student loan system.
A new income-driven repayment plan, which will become available to borrowers this July, waives unpaid interest for borrowers with on-time payments whose deposits do not fully cover accrued interest.
Remember: The Education Department restarted collections of federal student loans in default last year, and millions of borrowers could be affected by wage garnishment efforts, CNN previously reported.
The department said last April that more than 5 million borrowers were in default, which happens after 270 days without payment, and nearly 4 million were delinquent, meaning they hadn’t made a payment in more than 90 days.
White House names members of Trump's "Board of Peace" for Gaza
The White House has named members of the “Board of Peace” overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza, which President Donald Trump will chair.
The “founding Executive Board” of the peace panel will include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister.
Technocratic committee: The peace agreement Trump helped broker last year also includes the formation of a committee of Palestinian technocrats to handle daily governance in Gaza.
The White House announced today that Dr. Ali Sha’ath, a Palestinian from Gaza who previously held a number of positions in the Palestinian Authority, would lead the committee. That panel will focus on restoring core public services and institutions to help stabilize life in Gaza, according to the White House.
Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and diplomat who previously served as the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, will serve as high representative for Gaza, the White House said.
Under the US-brokered agreement, the committee is supposed to run Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority can take over, which could then lead to what the plan calls a “credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
Denmark’s military drills in Greenland are focused on Russia, Arctic commander says
Amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats to annex Greenland, Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command has invited the US to take part in military exercises on the island, Major General Soren Andersen told CNN on Friday.
The mission of the Arctic Endurance exercises is to keep Russia away and protect NATO’s northern flank, Andersen said.
Andersen noted that he has not seen any Chinese or Russian military ships around Greenland since becoming commander and that, in his view, “there’s no immediate threat to Greenland.”
Despite Trump’s comments, Andersen said that “nothing has changed” with Denmark’s relationship to the US military.
“I work perfectly together with the US military. We have done that for decades in Bosnia, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. And we do it also today,” he said.
But Andersen admitted that it’s “frankly” disappointing to be in this situation with the US after 52 Danish soldiers were killed in combat fighting alongside US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Trump delights as Palm Beach renames four-mile stretch "President Donald J. Trump Boulevard"
President Donald Trump’s oft-traversed route from Palm Beach International Airport to his Mar-a-Lago club has a new name: President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
A visibly delighted Trump formally unveiled the eponymous signage before a friendly audience Friday at his private club, calling it a “serious sign.”
Trump called the four-mile thoroughfare formerly known as Southern Boulevard a “very important stretch.”
The president said he was “tremendously honored” by the renaming, which passed via resolution by the town of Palm Beach council in September and by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in July.
“When people see that the beautiful sign is all lit up nice at night and it says, ‘Donald J. Trump Boulevard,’ they’ll be filled with pride, just pride, not in me, pride in our country, pride in this state,” he said.
Trump isn’t the first sitting president to get a South Florida road named in his honor; President Barack Obama Highway in Riviera Beach, unveiled in 2015, is less than 10 miles away.
Vance will headline March for Life event next week in DC
Vice President JD Vance is headlining the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion rally, next Friday in Washington, DC, according to a spokesperson for the vice president.
Vance also spoke at the march in 2025, shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
In recent days, the Trump administration has faced questions about its restoration of Planned Parenthood funding, as Politico reported. Both Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied knowing anything about the issue when asked on Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is also slated to speak at the anti-abortion march, according to the organization’s website.
The Daily Wire was first to report Vance’s attendance.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke for a second time yesterday after the US decided not to attack Iran, source says
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call Thursday evening, according to an Israeli source, after the US president decided not to carry out an attack on Iran.
It was the leaders’ second call on Iran in two days.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Netanyahu also spoke yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had offered to continue “mediation efforts” to deescalate the situation, according to a readout from the Kremlin.
Trump praises Machado while explaining why he didn't back her to succeed Maduro
President Donald Trump on Friday praised Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado while explaining more of his reasoning for not backing her to lead Venezuela after the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
“Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House for Florida. “So, I remember that.”
Trump previously said that Machado lacked the respect of her people to lead the country.
Trump spoke positively about his meeting with Machado on Thursday, where she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. “But I’ll tell you, I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously, for me and our country, and she gave me her Nobel prize,” Trump said.
Asked why he would want someone else’s prize, Trump said, “Well, she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice. She said, you know, ‘You’ve ended eight wars, and nobody deserves this prize more than, in history, than you do.’ And I thought it was a very nice gesture and, by the way, I think she’s a very fine woman, and we’ll be talking again,” he said.
Tensions escalate at protest outside Minneapolis-area federal building
Tensions between law enforcement and protesters in the Minneapolis area are escalating again today during anti-ICE demonstrations outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building.
Apparently spurred by one protester who was dancing in the street just outside the building, federal officers in tactical gear forcefully moved the crowd away from the street back to the sidewalk. At least five agents were on top of the protester who seemed to have triggered the heavy response, and that person was detained.
Some context: The Whipple building, close in proximity to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, has been used as a staging facility by ICE agents, as well as Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection personnel.
The area around the facility has become a focal point for protesters to gather, fueled by outrage over federal agents’ tactics in confronting Minnesotans — including US citizens.
The region has become a flashpoint for broader protests against President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Trump says no reason to use Insurrection Act "right now"
President Donald Trump said there’s no reason to use the Insurrection Act “right now,” but that he’d invoke the law if he felt it were necessary.
“It’s been used a lot. And if I needed it, I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful,” the president told reporters while leaving the White House for Florida on Friday.
The president has threatened multiple times to use the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy US troops to Minnesota, where anti-ICE protests have grown increasingly heated.
The act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush, when he got a request from then-California Gov. Pete Wilson for help addressing riots in Los Angeles.
Trump says he "convinced himself" to hold off on military action against Iran
President Donald Trump said Friday he “convinced himself” to hold off on military action against Iran, in part because Tehran said it was calling off planned executions of detained protesters.
“Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he was departing for Florida.
He was asked whether US allies in the Middle East had helped deter him from ordering strikes.
CNN reported on Thursday that an intensive lobbying campaign from Saudi Arabia and Qatar — along with a phone call to Trump from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — preceded his decision to pump the brakes on taking action.
Trump was also focused on the planned executions, and he said the decision to halt them impacted his thinking.
“They were going to hang over 800 people yesterday, and I greatly respect the fact that they canceled that,” he told CNN’s Alayna Treene.
Trump to pardon ex-Puerto Rico governor who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violation
President Donald Trump intends to pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez, who pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation last summer, according to a White House official.
Vázquez was facing time behind bars after the Justice Department brought bribery charges connected to the financing of her 2020 campaign.
From December 2019 through June 2020, the former governor allegedly conspired in a scheme to finance her gubernatorial campaign, according to the DOJ.
A former FBI agent and the owner of the international bank that operated in San Juan also participated in the alleged scheme, federal officials said.
The indictment alleged the owner of the international bank and his consultant – the former FBI agent – agreed to provide funding for Vázquez’s campaign in exchange for her replacing the island’s top bank regulator with one of their choosing. At the time, the bank was the “subject of an examination” by the regulatory agency, federal prosecutors say.
The White House claimed the charges were brought due to political motivations. The White House official cited the timing of the investigation into Vázquez — which they said began 10 days after she endorsed Trump in 2020 — as proof. Trump was still president at that time, although Vázquez was not arrested until 2022, during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The official said in her materials advocating for a pardon, Vázquez claims there was no quid pro quo or bribery at play in her dealings with the banker.
DHS spokesperson says ICE is "working" on equipping its officers with body cameras
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said today that the agency is “working” to equip immigration officers with body-worn cameras.
Her comments on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown” came in response to a video showing a federal officer asking a US citizen for her ID. McLaughlin accused the media of showing short snippets of video devoid of any context.
Throughout President Donald Trump’s monthslong surge of federal immigration officers, cell phone videos captured by civilians have shown officers using aggressive tactics to arrest immigrants and crack down on protesters. DHS has said these videos — including the ones showing an ICE officer fatally shooting Renee Good in Minneapolis — do not capture the moments leading up to what is recorded.
The officer who shot Good used his cellphone to record their interaction. CNN previously reported that some, but not all, ICE field offices are given body-worn cameras. Jonathan Ross, the officer who shot Good, testified during a separate case in December that immigration agents in the Minneapolis area “cannot wear them.”
When asked by CNN’s Pamela Brown about ICE officers using cameras, McLaughlin said they are “of course” allowed to wear them.
Asked whether all ICE officers will have body cameras, McLaughlin responded: “We are working on that with the One Big Beautiful Bill, actually.” The law signed by Trump last July gave DHS an unprecedented surge in funding to hire and equip more immigration officers.
Trump says he may be "forced to act" in Minnesota if protests continue
President Donald Trump forewarned leaders in Minnesota that he may intervene if protests continue amid immigration enforcement activities.
“In Minnesota, the Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
“The Governor and Mayor don’t know what to do, they have totally lost control, and our currently being rendered, USELESS!” he went on. “If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!”
Trump stopped short of saying he would use the Insurrection Act to send the military into Minnesota. A day earlier, he said he would use the law if needed to “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”
Trump suggests Kevin Hassett may not be Fed chair after all
President Donald Trump suggested he wants to keep National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett in his current role rather than nominating him to become Federal Reserve chair.
Hassett, a conservative economist who has advised Republicans throughout his career, has long been seen as the front-runner in Trump’s deliberations for Fed chair, praised for his ability to articulate the president’s sweeping policies.
More context: In an interview with Fox Business earlier today, Hassett weighed in on the Justice Department’s investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell over testimony he gave last year on the central bank’s $2.5 billion renovation to its Washington, DC, headquarters — the same interview Trump said he watched.
“We at the White House, we respect the independence of the Fed. … (US Attorney) Jeanine Pirro said that she was asking questions all the way back a few months ago, and so they felt the necessity of doing it this way. I find that regrettable,” Hassett said.
“Jay’s a good man, I expect that there’s nothing to see here — that the cost overruns are related to things like asbestos, as he says — but I sure wish they had been more transparent,” he added.
It’s unclear whether Hassett was referring to the federal probe itself as “regrettable,” or how the Fed handled the Justice Department’s questions about the renovation.
Last month, Trump hinted he may nominate Hassett to be Fed chair.
Trump considering new tariffs on countries that oppose his annexation plans for Greenland
President Donald Trump said Friday he is considering applying new tariffs on countries that opposite his ambition of annexing Greenland.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” Trump said during an event focused on health care at the White House.
The president made the remark as he recounted using tariffs to force other nations to cooperate on a plan to lower drug prices in the United States.
Trump’s push to control Greenland has prompted outrage among European nations, who fear the move could rupture longstanding transatlantic ties. Some have begun sending troops to the semiautonomous Arctic island that’s currently a territory of Denmark.
Representatives from Greenland and Denmark visited the White House this week for inconclusive meetings about Trump’s plans.
