The Latest: Trump administration offers to pay immigrants in the US illegally for 'self-deportation'

The Latest:

Trump signs executive order that aims to prevent viral leaks from future research

Trump asserted an unproven theory that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a lab leak moments before he signed the executive order. He said the order aims to stop “dangerous gain-of-function research,” defined as scientific research on an infectious agent or toxin by enhancing its ability to cause disease or making it more transmissible.

Scientists stress that “gain of function” does not always involve risky experiments; it can also cover general research.

Among other things, the order says it will end federal funding of this research by foreign entities in places such as China or other countries where there’s not adequate oversight to ensure they comply with U.S. policies and standards.

Moments before signing the order, Trump said the virus that causes COVID-19 “leaked out in my opinion,” from a lab in China, a theory the president has wholly embraced since coming back into the White House.

The origins of COVID-19 have never been proven.

White House says Harvard will receive no new grants

Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from Trump’s administration, the Education Department announced in a letter to Harvard’s president Monday.

The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.

In a press call, an Education Department official said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it “demonstrates responsible management of the university” and satisfies federal demands on a range of subjects.

▶ Read more about the escalation in Trump's battle with the Ivy League school

National Endowment for the Arts cuts off funding and pushes for staff resignations

Trump’s proposed budget calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars each year to individuals and institutions around the country.

Meanwhile, dozens of organizations have received notifications that grants have been rejected or rescinded. An NEA official reported Monday that staff members have been asked to resign or retire.

▶ Read more about Trump's targeting of NEA

Hegseth directs 20% cut to top military leadership positions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the active-duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keep pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions. Hegseth also has told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

▶ Read more about the cuts

Washington lawyer sues Trump administration over revocation of his security clearance

A prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid says in the lawsuit filed Monday that the presidential action stripping him of his clearance has hampered his legal practice and that he has multiple clients for whom he can no longer access classified information needed in order to continue representing them.

The lawsuit also calls the revocation of the clearance an act of “blatant” and “improper political retribution." Zaid is a veteran national security lawyer who has represented government officials and whistleblowers.

Among his clients was an intelligence community whistleblower who played a pivotal role in the first impeachment case against Trump.

In issuing the memorandum, the White House said it was “no longer in the national interest” for Zaid and other targeted individuals, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former President Joe Biden and members of his family, to have clearances.

States sue T

rump administration over its attempt to stop wind energy development

Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., are challenging an executive order Trump signed his first day in office blocking the development of wind energy. It paused approvals, permits and loans for all onshore and offshore wind energy projects.

They say Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process and that he’s jeopardizing development of a critical power source.

Monday’s lawsuit asks a federal judge to stop federal agencies from implementing Trump’s order.

The White House says Democratic attorneys general are trying to stop the president’s popular energy agenda instead of working with him to restore America’s energy dominance.

▶ Read more about the states' lawsuit

Trump hosts crypto and AI fundraising dinner at his golf club outside Washington

Trump is hosting a “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” fundraiser sponsored by his Maga, Inc. super PAC at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, outside Washington.

The event Monday evening will feature special guests, including David Sacks, the Trump administration’s crypto czar. An invitation circulated online instructs those invited to pay $1.5-million per person to attend.

This event is separate from a dinner Trump is set to host at the same golf club on May 22. Attendees to one will be hundreds of the top owners of Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP, a cryptocurrency he created just before his inauguration, and honor.

Trump not sure why Canadian leader is meeting with him on Tuesday

President Donald Trump expressed a bit of bafflement about Tuesday’s visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The new Canadian leader ran successfully in his country’s recent elections on the platform of standing up to Trump, who has said he wants to make Canada the 51st state and charged tariffs that put the two countries into a punishing trade war.

“I’m not sure what he wants to see me about,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “But I guess he wants to make a deal.”

Trump suggests that migrants who ‘self-deport’ could eventually have a ‘path to coming back into the country’

The president is talking up his administration pledging to pay $1,000 to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and opt to return to their home country voluntarily.

“We’re gonna pay each one a certain amount of money and we’re gonna give them a beautiful flight back to where they came from,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

He said immigrants who “self-deport” and leave the U.S. might have a chance to return legally eventually “if they’re good people” and “love our country.”

“And if they aren’t, they won’t,” Trump said.

The president added that U.S. officials working with those self-deporting will “give them a path to coming back into the country,” but insisted that immigrants deported involuntarily would have no such future path.

Trump says he wants Alcatraz prison reopened because it’s a powerful symbol of law and order

“It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order,” Trump said Monday when a reporter asked him to explain how he decided to call for the reopening of the notorious prison off the coast of San Francisco.

Trump announced on social media on Sunday night that he was directing the government to reopen and expand Alcatraz to house the most ruthless and violent offenders.

Trump denies involvement in Pope-AI image

The president said he wasn’t involved with an artificial intelligence-created image of himself as the pope, which was posted on his own social media account that he oversees.

When a reporter noted to him on Monday that some Catholics were offended by the image, Trump interjected: “Oh, they can’t take a joke,” going on to criticize the “fake news media.”

“I had nothing to do with it,” he added. “That’s not me that did it.”

Trump insisted that he first saw the image - which was shared posted Friday night on his Truth Social account and later promoted by the White House on its official X account - on Sunday evening.

Still, he said that first lady Melania Trump “thought it was cute.”

Trump says he’ll meet with movie industry execs over tariff proposal

Trump didn’t say when such a meeting would be scheduled.

So far, the industry has issued no comment on his proposal for 100% tariffs on films made outside the United States.

Trump said Monday that the U.S.-based film industry has been “decimated” by other countries, and “also by incompetence,” and that, through tariffs, “we’ll get it back.”

He said he wants to meet with the industry because “I want to make sure they’re happy” with the proposal.

President of largest federal workers’ union says downsizing will be devastating

The president of the nation’s largest union for federal workers said Monday the organization’s ongoing staff downsizing will devastate the services it provides members and threatens the group’s very survival.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March removed over 200,000 of its dues-paying members, or about two-thirds of the total. Trump’s order stripped union rights from employees in several executive branch agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Saying it had lost over half its dues revenue, AFGE’s National Executive Council last month approved a plan to slash its staffing levels from 355 to 151.

“It’s going to be devastating,” Kelley told reporters on a Zoom conference celebrating Public Service Recognition Week. “I don’t know if we’ll overcome it, to be honest with you, because members have joined this union because they expect us to provide a certain amount of services.”

DC mayor appears with Trump for NFL deal

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was in the Oval Office on Monday for Trump's announcement that the 2027 NFL draft would take place in her city.

"We believe in investing in sports because they have helped us transform neighborhoods," Bowser said, saying the event would increase tourism.It was a rare moment of harmony between Bowser and Trump, who have frequently feuded over the years. Most recently, Trump said the federal government "should take over Washington, D.C." because it's unsafe.

Some Democratic politicians have looked for ways to work with the Republican president despite fiercely criticizing him during his first term. Bowser notably directed the removal of the words "Black Lives Matter" on a street outside the White House.

President Donald Trump announced Washington will host the NFL draft in 2027 on the National Mall

Trump unveiled the plan in the Oval Office, flanked by Commissioner Roger Goodell, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

“I don’t think there’s ever been anything like that,” Trump said. “It’s going to be beautiful.”

It is the latest off-field victory for the Commanders, a week since they reached an agreement with the D.C. government to build a new home on the old RFK Stadium site, pending council approval. Trump also endorsed that plan in his remarks.

No final decisions made on Trump’s foreign film tariffs, White House says

A White House spokesperson said the administration is exploring all options.

“Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.

Trump announced said Sunday he has authorized the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative's office to slap a 100% tariff "on any and all Movies" coming into the U.S. that are produced overseas.

Trump’s border czar suggests Alcatraz could ease migrant detention crunch

Border Czar Tom Homan says of Trump's idea to reopen Alcatraz, "We need detention beds."

“I think it’s certainly an option, especially for the significant public safety threats and national security threats,” Homan told reporters outside the White House. “It should be on the table.”

The administration has called for more space to hold detained migrants.

Homan also said “there’s talks underway with countries” in addition to El Salvador that could take migrants deported from the U.S. But he refused to say how many other nations might be interested.

Asked about the Trump administration saying it'll give migrants $1,000 plus travel assistance to self-deport and return their home countries, Homan said, "I think we'll have some movement" and that migrants were "starting to get the message" that self-deportation can be a good option.

Warren Buffett says spending cuts are a must because US fiscal deficit is ‘not sustainable’

“It’s a job I don’t want but it’s a job that should be done and Congress does not seem to be doing it,” the influential investor said, drawing sustained applause from an arena full of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday.

Buffett stopped short of praising Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts across the federal government. Since Trump took office, Musk has mercilessly slashed the federal workforce and cut spending across the board.

But Buffett said at his annual meeting that cuts need to be made because “bureaucracy is something that is amazingly prevalent and contagious even in our capitalist system.”

He also said it’s important make sure the United States never experiences runaway inflation.

Trump describes his phone call with the Turkish president

Trump’s post on his Truth Social media network on Monday says he and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the wars in Ukraine and Gaza during their call.

The Turkish leader invited him to travel to Turkey and will come to Washington to visit the White House, Trump added.

Trump said he and Erdogan have an “excellent” relationship and that he looks forward to working with him to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary says Ukraine minerals deal adds US leverage against Russia

Scott Bessent said the recently signed U.S.-Ukraine agreement is a “tacit security guarantee because of the economic partnership.”

It was Trump’s idea “and he believed it would do several things,” Bessent said at a Milken Institute event on Monday. “It would create more leverage for him with the Russian leadership” and the deal would show “no a daylight between the U.S. and Ukrainian people.”

“What it is not is one of these rapacious Chinese deals — they put in assets and we put in capital.” He said. “It’s equity, not debt.”

Trump personally promotes gala dinner with 100s of top $TRUMP memecoin investors

The president used his social media site to champion the cryptocurrency he created just before his inauguration and promote the May 22 dinner at Trump National golf club.

Trump has denied he's profiting from the presidency, even as he continues to promote business ventures including cryptocurrency transactions that deliver millions of dollars in fees to his family.

A set of ethics standards released by the Trump Organization before Inauguration Day stated that the president wouldn’t directly manage his real estate and branding empire while his family promote business ventures, even with foreign governments.

“I’m not profiting from anything. All I’m doing is, I started this long before the election. I want crypto,” Trump with NBC taped last week.

Democratic senators press Trump to protect endangered species

They say a proposed rule to eliminate habitat protections would be "an end run around the Endangered Species Act."

Senators Adam Schiff, Sheldon Whitehouse and Cory Booker’s letter Monday to the Interior and Commerce departments asks whether industry helped draft the rule and how the administration plans to protect species if it takes effect.

At issue is the Act's long-standing definition of "harm," which includes altering or destroying places where species live — the No. 1 cause of extinction. The Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries services proposed a rule change, saying habitat modification isn't intentionally targeting a species so shouldn't be considered harm.

“It is widely understood that a species cannot live without a safe place to call home,” the letter reads.

▶ Read more on how Trump is being pressured to protect endangered species

Trump administration offers travel money and a $1,000 stipend for ‘self-deportation’

The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release Monday that the financial travel assistance and stipends would go to people who use an app called CBP Home to tell the U.S. government that they plan to return home. These people will then be "deprioritized" for detention and removal as immigration enforcement accelerates Trump's mass deportation agenda.

“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest. DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App,” Secretary Kristi Noem said.

▶ Read more on the Homeland Security announcement

Mexico’s president doesn’t want dialogue with Trump to play out in press

Sheinbaum said Monday that she doesn’t want her communication with Trump to become an exchange of media statements.

She was asked about Trump’s comment that she’s too afraid of cartels to accept his offer to send U.S. troops to Mexico.

“I told him ‘no, President Trump, not that,’” Sheinbaum said. “We can collaborate in many things within the framework of our sovereignty and territoriality that corresponds to us.”

Sheinbaum has been widely credited with maintaining a civil and productive relationship with Trump that has enabled Mexico to avoid the worst of the tariffs he’s applied to many trade partners.

Trump accuses other nations of stealing US moviemaking

Trump has had more to say about his social media threat to impose a 100% tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” He told reporters that if producers aren’t “willing to make a movie inside the United States we should have a tariff on movies that come in.”

Films both large and small commonly include production in U.S. as well as other countries. The upcoming "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning," was shot around the world. U.S.-produced movies overwhelmingly dominate the domestic market. Motion Picture Association data show they also produced $22.6 billion in exports and a $15.3 billion trade surplus in 2023.

▶ Read more about Trump's treat to tariff foreign-made movies

Trump to meet with Ksenia Karelina, who was released in a prisoner swap

Trump plans a White House meeting on Monday with a Russian-American woman who was freed in a prisoner swap last month, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Ksenia Karelina, a former ballet dancer, was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason. She was accused of donating about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine.

She was released in exchange for a Russian-German man who’d been jailed in the U.S. on smuggling charges.

— Michelle Price

‘Choose Europe for Science’ drive welcomes researchers as Trump freezes funding

The European Union hopes to attract scientists and researchers unmoored by the Trump administration's freezing of government funding that it says involved diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“A few years ago, no one would have imagined that one of the biggest democracies in the world would cancel research programs under the pretext that the word diversity was in this program,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. “But here we are.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a “super grant” program will “make Europe a magnet for researchers,” and that the EU will “enshrine freedom of scientific research into law.”

“Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party,” she said. “We believe that diversity is an asset of humanity and the lifeblood of science. It is one of the most valuable global assets and it must be protected.”

▶ Read more on the European Union campaign for science

Oil prices tumble on OPEC+ decision to open spigots ahead of Trump visit

Oil prices fell to a four-year low and U.S. benchmark crude fell as much as 4% overnight before recovering somewhat early Monday.

The OPEC+ group of eight oil producing nations said it will raise output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1. It cited strong fundamentals. Analysts suspect a desire to curry favor with Trump before his visit to the Middle East this month.

Prices have already fallen nearly 20% in the past three months as traders gauge the global economic impact of Trump’s trade policies. Lowering gas prices has been a key presidential talking point.

“Washington wants cheap energy, and Gulf producers still lean on U.S. security guarantees; the White House bears down, they listen,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said. “In that sense the U.S. president has become an unofficial swing vote inside OPEC+.”

▶ Read more on today's financial market movements

Trump’s trade demands go beyond tariffs to target perceived unfair practices

The Trump administration says the goal of his sweeping tariffs is simple: Force other countries to drop barriers to U.S. goods. But Trump’s definition of trade barriers includes a slew of issues well beyond tariffs. They include:

He's given countries three months to propose concessions before tariffs of 10% to more than 50% take effect. Tariffs on China are already in effect. On many issues it will be difficult, or in some cases impossible, for many countries do this.

▶ Read more about what Trump says he wants from trade negotiations

Former Vice President Pence defends Constitution as he's awarded for his Profile in Courage

It’s what “binds us all together,” Pence said as he was honored by the JFK Library Foundation.

The award recognizes Pence's refusal to go along with Trump's efforts false claims that election fraud cost him reelection , "putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021," the foundation said.

“Whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations. ... It’s what makes us one people,” Pence said Sunday night.

Caroline Kennedy said what Pence did shows Americans they can’t take democracy for granted.

“His act of courage saved our government and warned us about what could happen and is happening right now,” she said.

The White House announced these events on the president's Monday schedule:

1. 9:20 p.m.: Trump is due to head back to the White House

Trump will announce NFL draft site in White House announcement, AP source says

The 2027 NFL draft is heading to the nation's capital, a person familiar with the details told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Trump is set to make the announcement Monday at the White House. The NFL declined to comment.

Washington hosting the draft two years from now is the latest off-field victory for the Commanders, a week since they reached an agreement with the D.C. government to build a stadium on the old RFK site. That is still pending council approval.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP