Earlier on Air Force One, he accused Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum of being too fearful of drug cartels after she rejected his proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico. And in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, Trump said he doesn't know whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike deserve constitutionally guaranteed due process rights.
The Latest:
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 news 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 movie-making
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 re-election, "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 President Trump is set to make the announcement on 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