May 4, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that some trade deals “could very well be” announced this week but insisted his administration holds full power over the negotiations.

“This is not like a big deal that’s gonna be signed — in some cases we’ll sign them, but we don’t have to sign them. I’ll be setting the deal, I’ll be setting the tariff,” he added.

The president continued to argue that he thinks “every country, almost without fail, friend and foe,” has been “ripping off” the US for years.

Trump said his administration is meeting with “almost” every country, including China, before saying, “We’re not dealing with China at all because the tariff is so high that they basically can’t deal, and because of that we’re saving billions of dollars.”

Trump told reporters that, depending on the status of negotiations, “at a certain point I’ll be just setting a certain tariff number.”

Some context: CNN has reported that the Trump administration has yet to have any significant talks with Beijing regarding a deal to end the escalating trade war between the two countries. China said Friday it is “currently assessing” proposals by the United States to begin trade talks.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he flies back to Washington, DC, from Florida aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

President Donald Trump said Sunday he’s aiming to assign a permanent national security adviser within six months following Mike Waltz’s departure from the role, and suggested his powerful senior adviser Stephen Miller could be a contender.

“He’s a very valued person in the administration, Stephen,” Trump said of his deputy chief of staff.

Miller has a hand in virtually all of Trump’s domestic policy, particularly on immigration, and an assignment as national security adviser would expand his power to foreign policy as well.

Still, Trump said there were others who wanted the job, which is responsible for coordinating among agencies to execute the president’s foreign directives.

“I have a lot of people that want the job,” Trump said.

Waltz’s departure: Trump announced last week that Waltz would be departing the national security adviser role, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking on the job on an interim basis.

In last week’s announcement, Trump said he was nominating Waltz to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations. The move was regarded as a downgrade after sources said Waltz lost Trump’s confidence, given the president’s general lack of interest in the UN and the job’s location outside of Washington.

Trump suggested Sunday the opposite was true and denied he lost confidence in Waltz.

“I actually think it’s a higher position, if you want to know the truth,” he said, dismissing the suggestion that his appointment of Waltz had been a mistake.

“I didn’t lose confidence in him. Why did I lose confidence?” Trump said. “He’s going to the United Nations. To me, personally, if I had a choice for myself, I’d rather have that job than the other.”

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he flies back to Washington, DC, from Florida aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that in a recent phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, he pushed to send US troops to Mexico to help fight the country’s drug cartels.

“So Mexico is saying that I offered to send US troops into Mexico to take care of the cartels? She wants to know is that true? Do you think I’m going to answer that question?” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One, before responding, “I will answer it. It’s true.”

The president’s comments come after The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that, during a 45-minute telephone conversation with Sheinbaum on April 16, Trump urged her to allow US armed forces to take a leading role in battling Mexican drug cartels that produce and smuggle fentanyl to the US.

Sheinbaum said Sunday that she declined the offer, saying she told him, “‘No, President Trump. The territory is inviolable. Sovereignty is inviolable. Sovereignty cannot be sold. Sovereignty is cherished and defended.’”

Asked about Sheinbaum denying the offer, Trump told reporters that Mexico’s president “is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the carets that she can’t even think straight.”

Some context: Trump has previously said publicly that the US would take action if its southern neighbor did not stop Mexican drug gangs. “Mexico is very, very afraid of the cartels,” Trump said during an April interview with Fox News’ Spanish-language program. “We want to help her. We want to help Mexico, because you can’t run a country like that.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has instructed the Commerce Department and US Trade Representative to place a 100% tariff on films that are produced outside the United States and imported into America.

It’s not at all clear how such a tariff would be imposed. Films are intellectual property, not goods, so they represent a kind of service that is not subject to tariffs. However, the US Trade Representative notes that some services can be subject to certain non-tariff trade barriers, such as regulations and tax incentives. Those could disadvantage American filmmaking.

On Hollywood: Many foreign cities have offered large tax breaks to film and televisions studios to shoot outside of Hollywood, leading to a large number of productions to shift operations to places like Toronto and Dublin. In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a massive tax credit to bring back production to Hollywood.

“Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated,” Trump wrote Sunday. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

But placing tariffs or other trade barriers on foreign-made products may not make business any easier for Hollywood studios. Many American movies and shows are shot on location outside the United States. In addition to tax breaks, many foreign staff demand cheaper pay, making some movies more economically viable to produce.

This aerial view shows the former prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco on February 21, 2024.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post Sunday that he is directing the Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz as a place to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

Alcatraz, located on an island off the San Francisco coast, operated as a federal penitentiary for nearly 30 years before closing in 1963 “because the institution was too expensive to continue operating,” according to the Bureau of Prisons’ website.

“An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs - Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” the website says.

It is now operated by the National Park Service as a tourist destination, welcoming approximately 1.2 million visitors a year.

Alcatraz was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. However, such a designation “can be considered for withdrawal either at the request of the owner or on the initiative of the Secretary of the Interior,” according to the National Park Service.

But there are certain criteria that make a landmark eligible for losing the designation, such as ceasing “to meet criteria for designation; the qualities for which it was originally designated have been lost or destroyed.”

CNN has reached out to the Department of Interior and the National Park Service for comment.

The idea seems to have already been floated by the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. days after his father was inaugurated for a second term and signed an executive order to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“Now this is a great idea. Maybe we should also reopen Alcatraz?!?!” Trump Jr. wrote on X.

President Donald Trump says he will extend the June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok, the short video app used by 170 million Americans, if no deal had been reached by then.

”I would … I’d like to see it done,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview that was taped Friday and aired nationwide today.

Trump said he had a “sweet spot” for the app after it helped him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential election, adding, “TikTok is — it’s very interesting, but it will be protected.”

Trump has already twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok that was initially due to take effect in January.

A deal had been in the works that would spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new firm based in the United States and majority-owned and operated by US investors. It was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it, following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Democratic senators argue Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline, and have suggested the deal that was originally under consideration does not meet legal requirements.

This still from video shows President Donald Trump during an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a Sunday show exclusive interview on Meet the Press on May 4. The interview took place on Friday, May 2.

In a wide-ranging interview that aired today on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” President Donald Trump floated potential successors, discussed taking Greenland by military force, said he doesn’t know if he’s beholden to the US Constitution, and doled out blame and credit for the state of the US economy.

Here are some of the key moments from the interview:

• Deportations and the Constitution: Trump said he doesn’t know if he has to uphold constitutional rights to due process as he carries out his sweeping immigration crackdown, though he said he’ll abide by Supreme Court rulings.

Asked directly if it’s his duty as president to uphold the Constitution, Trump said, “I don’t know.”

• Annexing Greenland: Trump would not rule out using military force to take Greenland, insisting again that the resource-rich island is needed for national security purposes.

• Potential successors: The president said he is “not looking at” running for a constitutionally prohibited third term, despite his own recent statements and his organization’s sale of “Trump 2028” hats. Asked about a possible successor, Trump praised Vice President JD Vance and his secretary of state and now-interim national security adviser, Marco Rubio.

• Projecting confidence on the economy: Trump blamed his predecessor for the flagging US economy while touting his own efforts, saying “good parts are the ‘Trump economy’ and the bad parts are the ‘Biden economy.’”

Asked if he’s worried about the volatile stock market and possibility of a recession, Trump pointed to recent market gains and said “anything can happen,” but even a short-term economic downturn would be followed by long-term success. That optimism is not shared by most Americans, a new CNN poll finds.

• Fed chief’s future: While Trump has repeatedly attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates quickly enough, the president indicated he will not fire Powell and is content to wait for his term to end in 2026.

• Military parade: Trump said there will be a “big, beautiful” military parade in Washington, DC, on June 14 — the Army’s 250th birthday celebration and the president’s 79th. He would not provide a cost for the event.

Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith told CNN he was “aghast” when President Donald Trump voiced his unexpected support of his possible run for the presidency.

Trump praised Smith as a “good” and “smart guy” at a NewsNation town hall last week. “You know a lot of these Democrats I watch, I say they have no chance. I’ve been pretty good at people and picking candidates, but I will tell you, I’d love to see him run,” he said.

Smith added that he’s “not falling for it,” though, because it likely means Trump believes he would be easily beaten.

Smith rose to national fame as a star of ESPN’s debate and talk show programming, and in recent years he’s broadened his commentary on social issues and politics, emerging as an outspoken critic of the Democratic Party, though he backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

Smith said he takes issue with the “haphazard” Trump administration, namely with the president’s tariff policy, but that he agrees with what Trump is doing at the border. Smith called himself a “centrist and a moderate at heart.”

President Donald Trump took credit and doled out blame for different aspects of the US economy in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired today.

Trump recently completed his first 100 days in office, with 66% of Americans saying they are either pessimistic or afraid about the economy, according to a CNN poll released Monday.

The president has provided little reassurance about the short- and long-term effects of his trade policies, including his feud with China, multiple rounds of tariffs on auto imports and his whiplash rollout and then pause of so-called reciprocal tariffs.

In the NBC interview, Trump took credit for bringing costs down for Americans. “I was able to get down the costs. But even that, it takes a while to get them down. But we got them down good,” he said.

Average grocery prices were about 2.41% higher in March 2025 than they were in March 2024, Consumer Price Index data shows. This was the highest year-over-year grocery inflation rate since August 2023.

Welker asked Trump if he would “take responsibility” for the volatile stock market, which steeply declined after he announced sweeping tariffs. The president pointed to recent gains in the market since that decline, and said, “I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months.”

Read more of Trump’s comments on the economy here.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the chamber’s Intelligence Committee, voiced concern over Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s growing responsibilities today.

Rubio was named interim national security adviser following Mike Waltz’s removal last week.

Warner said that, while he worked well with Rubio when the two served together on the Senate committee, he has been very “disappointed” with his acquiescence to Trump since joining the administration.

The Virginia lawmaker also cited concerns about potential cuts to intelligence agencies, saying they will undermine the next generation of the intelligence community and “we’re going to be paying” for it for years.

Another top Democrat weighs in: Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, expressed similar concerns about Rubio’s roles.

Video Ad Feedback

Warner on Rubio: 'I don't know how anybody could do these two big jobs'

08:01 • Source: CNN

CNN’s Riane Lumer contributed to this report.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

President Donald Trump says he is considering going back to the Supreme Court for clarification on its ruling that the administration must “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison due to what Trump officials called an administrative error.

“I was asking about that. We may do that,” Trump said of bringing questions back to the high court, when asked in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired today.

Trump said he believes the fate of Abrego Garcia rests with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

“Well, I have the power to ask for him to come back, if I’m instructed by the attorney general that it’s legal to do so, but the decision as to whether or not he should come back will be the head of El Salvador’s — he is a very capable man,” Trump told NBC host Kristen Welker.

More on the case: Last month, the Supreme Court ordered the government to take steps to “facilitate (Abrego Garcia’s) release from custody” but sent his case back down to a lower court for clarification on what that should look like.

Abrego Garcia had been living in the US illegally. A judge found years ago that he was eligible to be deported to anywhere but his home country of El Salvador, because his life would be at risk there. The Trump administration acknowledged its mistake in court but has since argued it was actually legal to send Abrego Garcia to El Salvador because he is allegedly a member of the gang MS-13, though it has produced little evidence to back up that claim.

Ice covers the water in the harbor on March 8 in Ilulissat, Greenland.

President Donald Trump says he may consider using military force to take Greenland, insisting the resource-rich island is needed for national security purposes.

“We need Greenland very badly,” he continued. “Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”

Remember: Trump’s desire to annex Greenland has raised questions about the semiautonomous Danish territory’s future security as the US, Russia and China vie for influence in the Arctic. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in the US taking the island by force or economic coercion, even as Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea.

On Canada: Meanwhile, Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he’d use military force in an attempt to annex Canada, which he has repeatedly talked about making the 51st US state.

“I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was elected in part due to a wave of anti-Trump sentiment in the country, is set to visit the US president in Washington on Tuesday.

This still from video shows President Donald Trump during an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a Sunday show exclusive interview on Meet the Press on May 4. The interview took place on Friday, May 2.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC that he is “not looking at” running again for a constitutionally prohibited third term as president in 2028, even as his organization sells “Trump 2028” hats.

“I’m not looking at that,” the president said, when pressed on whether he has been presented with any legal theories about amending the Constitution to allow another run.

The 22nd Amendment, which was ratified in 1951, states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Late last month, the Trump Organization began selling “Trump 2028” hats, and the president has frequently teased that he would seek a third term, saying just a few weeks ago that he’s “not joking” about the prospect.

Floating potential successors: The president was also asked in the “Meet the Press” interview about who he views as his possible successor.

He said Vice President JD Vance is doing a “fantastic job,” and that his secretary of state and now-interim national security adviser, Marco Rubio, is also “great.”

This still from video shows President Donald Trump during an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a Sunday show exclusive interview on Meet the Press on May 4. The interview took place on Friday, May 2.

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired today on NBC that he doesn’t know if he has to uphold the US Constitution as president, but said his administration will “obviously follow” what the Supreme Court decides.

The answer came during an exchange on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” when host Kristen Welker asked the president if citizens and noncitizens deserve due process in legal proceedings. The president initially responded, “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”

Pressed further by Welker, who cited the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, the president said he was elected to deal with immigration and the “courts are holding me from doing it.”

“I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation,” the president said.

Trump has expressed extreme frustration during the first few months of his second term as federal courts — including the nation’s highest court — have slowed his rapid deportation push amid legal challenges over whether migrants are being afforded due process.

US Sen. Jon Ossoff speaks during a rally on March 22 in Atlanta.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only Democrat running to defend a Senate seat in Georgia — a state Donald Trump won last year — is doubling down on his recent comments that the president has committed impeachable offenses.

CNN reported in April that the value of Trump’s meme coin soared after a website promoting it announced that some holders of the coin would receive an invitation to a private dinner with the president.

Asked if he thinks Democrats should seriously pursue impeachment if they take back control of Congress the midterms, Ossoff reiterated that he thinks Trump’s conduct “exceeds virtually any prior standard for that kind of inquiry in the House,” though, he said, “I can’t predict what a future House will do.”

Pressed on if he thinks Republicans seizing on his impeachment comments will be an issue for his campaign, Ossoff said he stands behind his words “100%,” and thinks “the GOP should be concerned that the incumbent president appears to be selling access.”

Impeachment a double-edged sword: GOP leaders gearing up for next year’s midterm elections believe the prospect of impeachment could help animate their base, and Trump is eager to avoid another all-consuming showdown with a potential Democratic majority.

Democratic leaders appear wary of a third impeachment vote, but Ossoff and other prominent voices in the party, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive firebrand, have expressed openness to the fight if Democrats take the House.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin deflected today when asked on Fox News whether impeachment talk was “inappropriate,” saying the majority of the party’s members remain focused on standing up to the Trump administration.

CNN’s Sam Ferris and Christian Sierra contributed to this report, which has been updated to reflect the DNC chair’s comments.

Welcome to our live coverage of President Donald Trump’s administration.

We’ve gathered some of our latest reporting to get you up to speed for the week ahead.

Click on the links below to read more:

• Impeachment talk: Trump and GOP leaders are plotting a push to hang on to congressional majorities in the midterm elections, leaning hard on an issue that could animate the MAGA faithful: impeachment. Top Democrats appear wary of a third Trump impeachment effort, but some in the party are signaling openness to the fight.

• Trump’s AI pope controversy: Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope as the mourning of Pope Francis continues, leaving many Catholics offended and unamused in the days before conclave.

• Trade war uncertainty: Corporate America is wading through uncertain waters, stuck in an uncomfortable wait-and-see mode until it becomes clear whether Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, which he suspended for 90 days beginning April, will actually happen.

• Confirmation fights: The Internal Revenue Service has churned through acting leaders as Trump’s pick to lead the embattled agency awaits tough questioning in Senate confirmation hearings this month. The president’s former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, may also face resistance as Trump’s new UN ambassador nominee.

• Student loan anxiety: The Education Department says it will restart collecting federal student loans in default on May 5, ending a pandemic-era pause and leaving more than 5 million Americans scrambling to find a solution. It comes as the overall economy shows signs of sputtering due to Trump’s trade war.

• Trump takes on Harvard: The judge tasked with weighing in on Harvard University’s recent lawsuit against the Trump administration is an experienced prosecutor and jurist with a history of taking on tough cases — including those involving both the Ivy League and the president.

A worker uses a forklift to move steel and aluminum materials at an auto parts manufacturer in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in February.

A new round of auto tariffs went into effect this weekend. Now, most foreign auto parts will come with a 25% import tax — and the added cost could average about $4,000 per vehicle, according to estimates derived from a CNN analysis of government trade data.

The previous auto tariffs left US-made cars untouched. Not anymore.

None of the 10 million cars turned out by US plants last year were built without at least some imported parts.

For car buyers, it might take a while to see price hikes. But everyday Americans will still see higher prices elsewhere, like the repair shop.

Here’s the status of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on different countries and industries:

Traffic near the US Capitol on Thursday.

House Republicans will get back to work this week on their sweeping tax and spending cuts package, otherwise known as President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The package aims to extend the GOP’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as fulfill several of Trump’s campaign promises, such as ending taxes on tips. To help offset these tax reductions, which would total trillions of dollars over a decade, the House is looking for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.

House committees started marking up their portions last week, though the most controversial pieces — notably steep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, as well as the tax cut measures — still need to be tackled in the days ahead.

Here’s what we know so far about early drafts of the proposed legislative package:

• Federal student loans: The House plan could dramatically restructure the way students can borrow from the federal government for college, as well as make big changes to the popular Pell grant program.

• Defense spending: The House Armed Services Committee is proposing to add roughly $150 billion to strengthen the nation’s defense programs, including for Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative, the feasibility and strategic value of which has been sharply called into question by experts.

• Immigration fees and ICE funds: Immigrants applying for asylum and work authorization, as well as those applying for humanitarian parole and temporary protected status, could have to pay new or higher fees.

• Border security: The House Homeland Security Committee is proposing tens of billions of dollars to bolster border security, including $46.5 billion to expand and modernize the border barrier system.

• Judges’ power to rein in Trump: The plan could defund the enforcement of contempt orders against the Trump administration in certain cases, as the president wages a multi-front campaign to attack the legal institutions serving as a check on his aggressive use of executive power.

Read more about the bill here, including how it could impact federal employee benefits, electric vehicles, air traffic control and other key issues.