May 22, 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.

Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks to reporters following the weekly Democrat Senate policy luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 6.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley said on Thursday that greater disclosure is needed about the attendees of President Donald Trump’s private dinner for his memecoin’s top holders, and he said Trump could “quite possibly” be violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause if large amounts of the memecoin were bought on behalf of foreign governments.

“If we had the list and we knew that some of those coins were bought on behalf of foreign governments, then absolutely, it’s a violation of the Emoluments Clause of our Constitution,” Merkley told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront,” referring to a clause that bans foreign payments to a sitting US president.

Merkley spoke to CNN outside the private Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, where he joined protests against the dinner. The event was billed by organizers as the “most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world.”

“Our founders were so concerned about people buying influence with the president or the members of Congress, they banned it in our Constitution. But we don’t have the list. We don’t have the details,” the Oregon Democrat continued, speaking outside the event at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. “That’s why disclosure is so important. But we’re going to keep pressing for it.”

Critics have warned that Trump’s private dinner amounts to a pay-to-play scheme for people to buy access to the president. Most holders of Trump’s meme coin appear to be based overseas, CNN previously reported.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that Harvard University “brought these consequences upon themselves” after the Trump administration revoked the school’s ability to enroll international students, and she said the administration is “absolutely” considering targeting other universities.

The Trump administration earlier Thursday terminated Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, marking a sharp escalation in the battle over the Ivy League school’s autonomy in the face of the administration’s policy demands.

Noem last month demanded the university hand over detailed records on its international students’ “illegal and violent activities” before April 30 or face the loss of the program certification.

Noem also told Fox News on Thursday that those international students blocked from attending Harvard “will have to find another university to go to,” insisting that the school has not complied with DHS requests to hand over detailed records on its international students.

“These policies have been in place for a long time, and Harvard brought these consequences upon themselves,” she said.

A group of Democratic senators slammed President Donald Trump’s plans to host a private dinner Thursday for the top investors in his cryptocurrency memecoin.

Throughout a press call Thursday, the Democratic lawmakers amplified concerns about attendees of the dinner, billed by organizers as the “most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world” and set to take place at the private Trump National Golf Club, just outside of Washington, DC.

CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.

Physical representations of the bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin surged to a record high on Thursday as investors piled into the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $111,970 Thursday morning and traded around $111,870 as of the afternoon.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value has surged almost 50% since dropping just below $75,000 in early April. This week it surpassed $110,000 for the first time ever before rising to nearly $112,000 of Thursday.

Bitcoin, which is highly volatile, has soared higher in recent days as lawmakers advanced crypto-focused legislation and Coinbase, a major crypto exchange, joined the benchmark S&P 500 index.

The sharp rally for bitcoin comes ahead of President Donald Trump’s private dinner for the top holders of his memecoin.

Critics have warned that the event amounts to a pay-to-play scheme for people to buy access to the president, as CNN’s Allison Morrow has reported. Most holders of Trump’s memecoin appear to be based overseas. Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul, posted on social media this week that he would be in attendance.

Bitcoin fans have cheered this year as the Trump administration has taken a staunch pro-crypto tone.

An exterior view of a dormitory is seen at Harvard University on April 17 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, marking a sharp escalation in the battle over the Ivy League school’s autonomy in the face of the administration’s policy demands.

“Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered her department to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, making good on a promise made last month when she demanded the university hand over detailed records on its international students’ “illegal and violent activities” before April 30 or face the loss of its certification.

A substantial portion of Harvard’s student body could be impacted. The university says it has 9,970 people in its international academic population, and data shows 6,793 international students comprise 27.2% of its enrollment in the 2024-25 academic year.

Read more here.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday in Washington.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said today that Republicans would write their own bill to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda as a wide array of senators are making a series of demands.

“We are going to write our own bill,” Thune told CNN.

Thune is facing conflicting demands from different wings of his conference — including conservatives who want much deeper spending cuts and moderates who say the House’s Medicaid cuts are far too stringent.

And some issues could also fall by the wayside — potentially the push by New York Republicans to increase the amount taxpayers can deduct on their state and local tax payments, known as SALT. That could create a problem in the House.

“Well, again, it’s not, as you know, it’s not a Senate issue,” Thune said of SALT. “And, you know, I mean, the House had to make a deal. But our members want to be heard on it, and I assume we’ll have something to say.”

President Donald Trump believes the two House Republicans who voted against his budget mega-bill should face primary challenges, the White House said today, offering a warning to GOP senators who may be considering similar action.

“I don’t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.

After intensive wrangling, Trump and Republican congressional leaders mostly suppressed rebellions that could have sunk the package. Only two Republicans joined Democrats in voting no: Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland voted “present.”

Ahead of the vote, Trump made clear he viewed support for the bill as a loyalty test, and that he would be taking names of those who opposed it.

“The president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified, and the vast majority of Republicans clearly are and are listening to the president,” Leavitt said. “They are trusting in President Trump as they should, because there’s a reason he’s sitting in this Oval Office. It’s because he’s the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party.”

President Donald Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday, the White House said, with the two leaders discussing the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington and upcoming nuclear talks with Iran in Rome.

Trump reacted to news of the shooting, taking to his Truth Social platform early Thursday to write, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

Leavitt declined to offer further details on the discussion over upcoming talks with Iran.

“And as the president told me, and he’s told all of you, this deal with Iran could end in two ways: it could end in a very positive diplomatic solution, or it could end in a very negative situation for Iran. So that’s why these talks are taking place later this week,” she said.

In a follow-up exchange, Leavitt wouldn’t say if Trump raised the flow of much-needed aid into Gaza during his call with Netanyahu.

“Not to my knowledge, but I can certainly go back and check.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes question during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 22.

The White House said “hatred has no place in the United States of America under President Donald Trump” and vowed that the man suspected of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, DC, last night would be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing to reporters today that Trump is “saddened and outraged” over the killing of the embassy workers.

“The evil of antisemitism must be eradicated from our society,” she said.

Later in the briefing, Leavitt touted actions the administration has taken against college campuses to “crack down on antisemitism.” She highlighted moves to withhold federal funding from schools that don’t comply with their policy demands and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s efforts to revoke “thousands of student visas.”

“So the president’s made it very clear that such hatred will have no place in our country,” Leavitt said.

She called the two diplomats killed, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a “beautiful young couple” and talked about their love for each other. They were expected to be engaged, officials said.

Leavitt said she talked to Attorney General Pam Bondi this morning. The Justice Department will be “prosecuting the perpetrator responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Leavitt.

The White House said Thursday that President Donald Trump is hosting a dinner tonight for top holders of his memecoin in his “personal time.”

Pressed on the guest list for the private dinner, which is being held at Trump’s golf club outside Washington, DC, press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that she will “raise the question” of releasing the list of attendees.

“The dinner tonight, the president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner. It’s not taking place here at the White House. But certainly, I can raise that question and try to get you an answer,” Leavitt said at Thursday’s press briefing.

The gala is raising questions about the blurring of ethical boundaries between the office and the president’s personal profit-seeking.

Pressed further if anyone in the White House advised the president against holding the dinner, Leavitt told reporters that it was “absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.”

“This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly. Not only has he lost wealth, but he also almost lost his life,” Leavitt added.

Asked to explain how the dinner is not enriching the president and his family, the press secretary pointed to his blind trust.

“All of the president’s assets are in a blind trust, which is managed by his children. And I would argue, one of the many reasons that the American people reelected this president back to this office is because he was a very successful businessman before giving it up to publicly serve our country,” Leavitt said.

President Donald Trump plans to attend next month’s Group of 7 summit in Canada, the White House announced Thursday, putting to rest questions about whether he would skip the yearly gathering.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump planned to attend the meeting from June 15 to 17. The conference is set to occur in Alberta.

During Trump’s first term, G7 summits were often colored by disagreements between the US president and his fellow leaders over trade and geopolitics. He questioned whether his attendance was truly necessary. As recently as earlier this month, the White House had stopped short of committing to attending June’s conference.

But this week, Trump said he believed US attendance at the summit was important — even if he maintained the grouping would be improved if Russia were allowed to rejoin (Moscow was ejected from the group after its annexation of Crimea in 2014).

“It used to be the G8, but brilliantly they threw Russia out. It would have been a lot better if Russia was in, you know?” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

The G7 is comprised of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he spoke with a “very happy” President Donald Trump after the House passed his giant domestic policy bill Thursday and said the president is “ready to go to work in the Senate.”

But Thune acknowledged a number of senators want changes to the bill and they are getting right to work to ensure the bill can pass their chamber.

The South Dakota Republican said they will have to do a “Byrd bath” to ensure the House bill conforms with the strict reconciliation rules in the Senate that will let is pass without getting the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

Key priorities, he said, include ensuring sufficient spending reforms and making all the tax code changes are made permanent, something the House did not do.

Thune said there is still a “very active discussion” on changes to Medicaid.

“We’re looking at what the House did, and we’ve had a lot of conversations with our members,” he said.

“To examine all the potential options there and see what is a workable path to get 51. We want to do things that are meaningful in terms of reforming programs and strengthening programs without affecting beneficiaries. It’s still a very active discussion,” he said.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks alongside Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary, Director of the National Institutes of Health Jayanta Bhattachary, President Donald Trump, and speechwriter and political advisor Vince Haley during an executive orders signing event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5.

Poor diet, environmental toxins, unhealthy habits and pharmaceuticals are contributing to a national rise in chronic illnesses, particularly among children, top Trump officials said in a new report that lays the groundwork for a “Make America Healthy Again” overhaul of government policy.

Leaders of the MAHA Commission, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will present their conclusions, which echo many of Kennedy’s long held priorities, to President Donald Trump at a White House event this afternoon.

The government panel is recommending that federal agencies reassess the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule, scrutinize ultraprocessed foods, and study pesticides widely used in commercial farming.

But even before its release this week, the report was raising concerns from farmers, food manufacturers, and some Republican lawmakers about its implications for the American food supply, particularly its call to reassess pesticides approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul told reporters that he will not back the GOP tax, spending cuts and immigration package unless the debt limit increase is cut from the bill.

“Borrowing this money just isn’t fiscally conservative,” said Paul. “I’ve told them I can support the package if they separate the debt ceiling off and have a separate vote on that. I want nothing to do with that, I didn’t vote for the spending, I didn’t vote for the debt, and I’m not voting to make it easier on people who want bigger government.”

The Treasury Department has said the US will hit the debt ceiling and run out of extraordinary measures by late summer, and Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Congress to address it before lawmakers leave for their August recess. If they choose not to fold it into their reconciliation package, then Republicans will need Democratic votes to avert a default, and both the president and GOP leadership would prefer to avoid a tough negotiation with the opposing party.

Pressed on whether President Donald Trump could convince him to change his mind, Paul insisted: “I’m not persuadable to go against the principles of conservative government.”

“It is astonishing to me that any fiscal conservative is going along with this. They do it for like of President Trump. I like President Trump, I’m supportive of him on many, many things. I like the tax bill, I supported the tax bill in 2017, still support it, support making the taxes permanent, support spending cuts, and would be persuaded to support even an imperfect bill,” Paul added. “But I’m not voting to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion, because that’s not fiscally responsible and that’s not conservative.”

First Lady Melania Trump announced the release of an AI-narrated version of her memoir Thursday, saying on X that it is “narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice.”

Dubbing it a “NEW ERA,” Trump added: “Let the future of publishing begin.”

Trump released her memoir in October 2024, writing ahead of its release that writing it “has been a deeply and reflective journey for me.” The AI-generated audio book is now available for purchase.

“Melania: The Audiobook is narrated using artificial intelligence audio technology,” a statementposted to the first lady’s personal website says. “The narrator is an AI-generated replica of Melania Trump’s voice, created under Mrs. Trump’s direction and supervision.”

Artificial intelligence and the use of deepfake technology has become a cornerstone of the first lady’s portfolio during President Donald Trump’s second term in office – in a Rose Garden signing ceremony for the “Take It Down” Act, which she advocated for and championed, Melania Trump acknowledged the opportunities and threats that AI technology pose.

“Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation: sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children,” she said in remarks before the signing. “But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly.”

Oren Etzioni, professor emeritus in computer science and engineering at the University of Washington and former CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, told CNN Thursday it was unlikely the AI-narrated memoir posed a risk to the first lady’s digital identity or an ethical quandary given her public profile and participation in the project.

“It’s important to distinguish between nonconsensual deepfakes and consensual ones. Of course, the First Lady has the rights to her own voice, and this AI-narrated memoir is a sign of many self-fakes to come,” he said. “All celebrities are subject to the risk of nonconsensual deepfakes, but doing this does not increase the risk of her voice being ‘hijacked.’ All that’s needed for a deepfake is a sample of her voice, and there is plenty of that available.”

The AI-narrated memoir is not the first foray into the digital space for the first lady. In 2021, Trump announced the sale of an NFT, or non-fungible token, titled “Melania’s Vision” as her first public endeavor after leaving office.

CNN has reached out to the first lady’s White House office and personal office for comment.

President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message to Republican holdouts on his tax-and-spending bill, according to two officials familiar with his comments: Vote no – or try to keep the measure from reaching the House floor this week – and prepare for primary challenges next year.

“The president made clear he wanted the bill to pass and pass now,” an administration official said, explaining the dynamic during a White House meeting on Wednesday with GOP leaders and members of the House Freedom Caucus. “There was no turning back.”

While the president didn’t issue an overt threat, the two officials said, his point was clear that he needed their full support and that he would help back their reelection efforts in the 2026 elections if they voted yes on the bill.

If they did not, the officials said, it was conveyed in no uncertain terms that MAGA followers would see their resistance as disloyalty – and that would become an issue in their midterm election campaigns and could result in primary challenges.

The House voted 215-214 early Thursday morning to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package.

Speaker Mike Johnson failed to win over three GOP votes — all he could afford to lose and still advance the legislation.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland voted present, while Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio joined all Democrats in voting against the bill. Two other Republicans did not vote.

President Donald Trump praised Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans who voted “yes” on the massive bill meant to enact the president’s key promises.

Trump called for the Senate to act quickly on their bill, which will likely involve making changes that sends it back to the House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the US Capitol on May 22 in Washington, DC.

Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a major win for President Donald Trump early on Thursday morning, uniting a deeply divided House GOP to pass a bill that many of them were still pushing fiercely to change.

Passage of the sweeping tax and spending cuts package marked a stunning victory for both Johnson and Trump after the bill appeared doomed just days earlier.

More on the bill: Trump himself played a major role in passing the bill, which contains many of his campaign trail promises, such as extending his 2017 tax breaks and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. It also devotes billions to border security, allowing for a major crackdown on immigration. In multiple sit-downs with GOP lawmakers this week, Trump made impassioned appeals to members to back his agenda.

The legislative package includes measures that would deeply cut into two of the nation’s key safety net programs – Medicaid and food stamps – while making permanent essentially all of the trillions of dollars of individual income tax breaks contained in the GOP’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

House Republicans unveiled a slate of changes to the bill on Wednesday evening in an effort to win over GOP holdouts. Those changes included speeding up work requirements for Medicaid to the end of 2026, from the start of 2029. Republicans also decided to phase out Biden-era energy tax credits sooner than planned, among other provisions.

Next steps: How much of the House’s version will survive in the Senate GOP is unclear. Republicans in that chamber have signaled they plan to make changes, but they are under intense pressure to move quickly: Trump and Johnson have told members they want to sign the bill into law by July 4.

And any changes in the Senate could upset the careful balance struck by House GOP leaders to pass the bill through its narrow majority. In the end, Johnson only failed to win over three GOP votes.