What to know today
- President Donald Trump signed several executive orders this afternoon aimed at easing regulations to promote the development of the U.S. nuclear energy industry.
- A federal judge blocked Trump from barring international student enrollments at Harvard amid a standoff between his administration and the Ivy League school over the president's agenda on antisemitism and diversity-related issues on campus.
- Trump posted on social media this morning that he would seek a 50% tariff on the European Union starting in June. He also expanded his tariff threat to Apple, telling reporters that any company that manufactures smartphones outside the U.S. would face a tariff.
- Vice President JD Vance highlighted a "generational shift" in U.S. foreign policy in a commencement address to Naval Academy graduates this morning.
National Security Council dismisses some staffers, sources believe "at least" half of workers affected
Three sources familiar with changes at the National Security Council told NBC News they believe “at least” half of NSC has been fired or sent away — including detailees returning to their home agency and direct hires being placed on administrative leave.
One of the sources said that by Tuesday, plans to drastically reorganize the NSC will fully be in motion. Another source said the NSC will be a narrower, more consolidated directorate structure with each director dealing with a broader scope of policy.
Acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio is driving much of the streamlining at the organization, one administration official said. NBC News previously reported that Rubio, in his new add-on role of national security adviser, was expected to significantly scale down the size of the National Security Council and make a drastic change to how it works.
Earlier this month, nearly all National Security Council staff were interviewed about their jobs by Trump’s personnel office as staff cuts loomed, two administration officials said. The interviews included questions such as 'what is your favorite thing about national security" and "what is your favorite thing about President Trump’s national security policy?'
The changes come as staffers at the organization were already being cut out of important decisions, one official said, including not being involved in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent Oval Office meeting about Golden Dome options. Staffers were also excluded from initial plans for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House on Wednesday.
U.S. provides immediate sanction relief to Syria following Trump directive
The Treasury Department announced today it has moved to immediately halt sanctions on Syria following Trump's call for the cessation of all sanctions on the war-torn nation during his trip to the Middle East last week.
According to a release from the department, both the State and Treasury departments have launched an effort to "remove the full architecture" of sanctions imposed on Syria during the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The sanctions relief, the release said, will be dependent on Syria remaining "stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors." Syria shares a border with Israel.
"U.S. sanctions relief has been extended to the new Syrian government with the understanding that the country will not offer a safe haven for terrorist organizations and will ensure the security of its religious and ethnic minorities," the announcement read.
"President Trump is providing the Syrian government with the chance to promote peace and stability, both within Syria and in Syria’s relations with its neighbors. The President has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Trump announced during a visit to the Middle East last week his intention to pause the sanctions against the country as he seeks to strengthen his relationships in the region and boost investment from the oil-rich nations into the United States.
During the trip, he met with Syria's new president Ahmed Al-Sharaa while in Saudi Arabia.
Former top copyright official Shira Perlmutter sues Trump administration over removal from post
Shira Perlmutter sued the Trump administration for removing her from a role leading the U.S. Copyright Office this month.
In a complaint filed in federal court in D.C. yesterday, Perlmutter asked the court to bar the Trump administration from removing her from her role as register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office.
“The Administration’s attempts to remove Ms. Perlmutter as the Register of Copyrights are blatantly unlawful,” attorneys for Perlmutter wrote. “Congress vested the Librarian of Congress—not the President—with the power to appoint, and therefore to remove, the Register of Copyrights.”
Days before firing the top copyright official, the Trump administration had terminated Carla Hayden from her role as the librarian of Congress — a position that manages the U.S. Copyright Office. Trump named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian in her place.
Perlmutter’s attorneys argued in their lawsuit that Trump “has no authority” to name a temporary replacement to lead the Library of Congress.
"In short, the President’s attempt to name Mr. Blanche as acting Librarian of Congress was unlawful and ineffective, and therefore Mr. Blanche cannot remove or replace Ms. Perlmutter," Perlmutter's attorneys wrote.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment this evening.
Then-President Barack Obama appointed Hayden as librarian of Congress in February 2016. The Senate confirmed her for the post in a 74-18 bipartisan vote.
Perlmutter was named chief of the Copyright Office in October 2020, according to Thursday's complaint.
Trump shows approval for Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel
Trump appeared to give his approval to Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, saying the “planned partnership” between the two would create jobs and help the American economy.
Shares of U.S. Steel soared 21% as investors interpreted the post on Truth Social to mean Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel was nearing completion, having cleared the last major hurdle with Trump’s apparent approval.
“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump added that the bulk of that investment would occur in the next 14 months and said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh next Friday.
The two companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately reply to questions about the announcement.
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump administration to shield DOGE documents
The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to shield Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from freedom of information requests seeking thousands of pages of material.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay that puts lower court decisions on hold while the Supreme Court considers what next steps to take.
For now, it means the government will not have to respond to requests for documents and allow for the deposition of the DOGE administrator, Amy Gleason, as a lower court had ruled.
At issue in the ongoing litigation is whether DOGE, which has played a key role in firing government workers and cutting federal grants and spending, is technically a government agency and therefore subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which allows members of the public to seek internal documents.
The Trump administration says that, despite its name, DOGE is merely a presidential advisory body that is not subject to public records requests under FOIA.
Trump says that any company, not just Apple, that makes phones outside the U.S. will face tariffs
On the heels of his threat to impose 25% tariffs on Apple if it won't manufacture iPhones in the U.S., Trump said that they would apply to any company that manufactures smartphones outside the country, not only Apple.
“It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair," he told reporters. "Anybody that makes that product, and that’ll start on, I guess, the end of June, it’ll come out. I think we'll have that appropriately done by the end of June.”
Trump takes dig at Biden again over the autopen
During an Oval Office ceremony to sign a series of executive orders, Trump mocked Biden's use of an autopen when he was president.
"I'm just thinking ... what about autopens? Could I use an autopen? What did Biden do, did he have an autopen at the desk?" Trump said.
The president has repeatedly alleged that Biden's use of an autopen was illegal despite it being used in the White House to generate signatures for decades. House Republicans are planning to investigate Biden's use of it.
Trump signs executive orders aimed at boosting U.S. nuclear energy industry
Trump signed several executive orders this afternoon aimed at easing regulations to promote the development of nuclear energy.
Four of the executive orders focus on nuclear energy. They seek to overhaul research and development at the Department of Energy and the approval process at the the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, clear the regulatory path for building nuclear reactors on federal land, and reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base.
A fifth executive order is focused on establishing scientific standards at federal research agencies that are "reproducible, transparent and falsifiable," a senior White House official said.
The director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, Michael Kratsios, told reporters that the orders “will ensure continued American strength and global leadership in science and technology.”
Trump has signed more than 150 executive orders since taking office in January.
Jewish Museum killings show how hard it is to stop radicalized lone wolf attacks
On a darkened sidewalk outside the Capital Jewish Museum, he walked past the young couple, then shot them both point-blank in the back. When the woman tried to crawl away, an FBI affidavit says, he reloaded his weapon and fired at her again and again.
“Free Palestine,” the man shouted after walking into the building and waiting to be arrested by police.
The brutal killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers in downtown Washington on Wednesday night raises the kind of question that haunts law enforcement officials and experts.
Of all the people seething with anger on the far left and the far right over hot-button political and social issues, who among them will move from anger to violence?
N.C. governor says FEMA has denied request for help with hurricane debris removal
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said that FEMA had denied his state's request to help with debris removal in the wake of the devastating hurricanes that hit the region last fall.
The senior official performing the duties of FEMA administrator, David Richardson, said in a letter to Stein yesterday that his request for an extension of the 100% federal cost share for debris removal is "not warranted."
In a statement today, Stein said that the state has so far removed more than 12 million cubic yards of debris from roads and waterways, but "given the immense scale of the wreckage, we have only scratched the surface."
"FEMA’s denial of our appeal will cost North Carolina taxpayers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up out west," he said. "The money we have to pay toward debris removal will mean less money towards supporting our small businesses, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, repairing our water and sewer systems, and other critical needs."
Trump visited North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and just days after being sworn in for his second term, and proposed overhauling or eliminating FEMA.
During the presidential campaign, Trump spread false claims about federal emergency disaster money being diverted to people who were in the U.S. illegally.
Federal judge blocks the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll or keep its international students.
U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs granted the temporary restraining order after the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday terminated the university’s international student certification. The move barred the school from not only admitting international students, but also ordering current foreign-born students to transfer or lose their legal status.
University in Hong Kong offers enrollment to Harvard students
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology today announced an open invitation to international undergraduate and postgraduate students currently enrolled at Harvard University to continue their education at its university.
In a press release, the university said it will provide “unconditional offers, streamlined admission procedures, and academic support to facilitate a seamless transition for interested students.”
The news comes after Harvard University sued the Trump administration today after the federal government said yesterday that it would block the nation’s oldest university’s ability to enroll foreign students.
Vance highlights ‘generational shift’ in U.S. foreign policy in Naval Academy address
Vice President JD Vance touted the change in the U.S. approach to foreign policy in remarks to Naval Academy graduates this morning, arguing the Trump administration has moved away from never-ending wars and over-involvement in other countries' affairs.
“We had a long experiment in our foreign policy that traded national defense and the maintenance of our alliances for nation-building and meddling in foreign countries’ affairs, even when those foreign countries had very little to do with core American interests," Vance said in a commencement address in Annapolis, Maryland.
"What we’re seeing from President Trump is a generational shift in policy, with profound implications for the job that each and every one of you will be asked to do," he said.
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, criticized previous U.S. leadership for devoting energy to trying to "build a few democracies in the Middle East" instead of responding to the rise of competitors like China.
“Our government took its eye off the ball of great power competition and preparing to take on a peer adversary, and instead, we devoted ourselves to sprawling amorphous tasks like searching for new terrorists to take out while building up far-away regimes," he said. "Now I want to be clear, the Trump administration has reversed course — no more undefined missions, no more open-ended conflicts. We’re returning to a strategy grounded in realism and protecting our core national interests.”
Japanese leader discusses tariffs and more in call with Trump
Reporting from Tokyo
The prime minister of Japan said he had spoken by phone with Trump, and that the two leaders expressed hope for “productive” talks on the tariffs Trump has imposed on the key U.S. ally.
The 45-minute call, which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said was requested by Trump, came ahead of a third round of tariff negotiations between Washington and Tokyo that could take place as soon as today.
There has been “no change” in Tokyo’s stance urging the U.S. to remove a new 10% baseline tariff and 24% extra levies on Japanese goods, Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo.
Ishiba said he and Trump exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East, but that he didn’t ask Trump why he initiated the call. The two leaders also said they were “looking forward” to a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of next month’s summit in Canada of the Group of 7 nations, Ishiba said.
China vows to defend its students overseas after Harvard ban
Reporting from Hong Kong
China pledged to “firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests” of Chinese students overseas after Trump effectively barred Harvard from enrolling international students.
“What the U.S. seeks to do will undoubtedly hurt its own image and reputation in the world,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing in Beijing.
U.S.-China educational cooperation is “mutually beneficial,” Mao said, and China has “consistently opposed the politicization of educational exchanges.”
Almost 7,000 of Harvard’s roughly 25,000 students are from outside the United States, and of those about 1,200 are from China. In announcing the ban on international students, the Department of Homeland Security said it was holding Harvard accountable for “coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party,” among other reasons.
Prisoner swap begins between Russia and Ukraine but peace talks remain deadlocked
Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner swap today that was agreed at their first direct talks in more than three years, a Ukrainian military source said.
Trump said the prisoner exchange had already been completed but Kyiv and Moscow did not confirm this and the military source said the swap was still underway.
Russia and Ukraine each agreed at two hours of talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners, but failed to agree to a ceasefire proposed by Trump. Previous prisoner swaps have been mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
DNC sets vote to weigh a new election for Vice Chairs David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta
The Democratic National Committee took the next step toward deciding whether to call a new election for two of its vice chair positions, slots currently held by activist David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, amid a complaint their election wasn't conducted properly.
The 400-plus member DNC will vote electronically June 9 to June 11 on whether to accept a recommendation from its Credentials Committee, which requested a new election for the two positions because it found the vote unfairly disadvantaged female candidates.
If the full committee decides to accept the recommendation (plus another measure laying out the schedule for a new vote), it will hold an electronic vote June 12 to June 14 for one vice chair position that must be held by a male. Then it will hold another vote for the last vice chair slot, which could be won by a candidate of any gender, from June 15 to June 17.
Hogg has publicly clashed with party leaders for months over his decision to back primary challenges to Democratic incumbents. While the procedural complaint over the committee election was filed well before tensions between Hogg and the party bubbled over, Hogg has claimed the push for a new election is related to that intraparty disagreement
Kenyatta, whose seat is also in jeopardy depending on what the DNC decides, has criticized Hogg's portrayal of that vote even as he said he disagreed with the recommendation to call for a new election. And DNC Chairman Ken Martin has also framed the vote as exclusively about a "procedural error" that occurred during the February vote, before Martin formally took over party operations.
Harvard sues the Trump administration over move to block foreign student enrollment
Harvard University sued the Trump administration today after the federal government said it would block the nation’s oldest university’s ability to enroll foreign students.
“We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,” the university said in a statement. “It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from revoking international students’ legal status
A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal statuses of international students at universities across the U.S.
In the injunction yesterday, District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland also prohibited the administration from arresting or detaining any foreign-born students on the basis of their immigration status while a case challenging previous terminations moves through the courts.
Trump’s image of dead ‘white farmers’ came from Reuters footage in Congo, not South Africa
JOHANNESBURG — Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans.
“These are all white farmers that are being buried,” said Trump, holding up a printout of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In fact, the video, published by Reuters on Feb. 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency’s fact-check team, showed humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Congolese city of Goma. The image was pulled from Reuters footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
Trump says talks with E.U. are 'going nowhere,' will implement 50% tariff in June
Trump today threatened the European Union with a sweeping 50% tariff, posting that trade talks with the region are “going nowhere.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that he was “recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”
Trump’s post immediately sent European stock markets lower with stock indexes in Germany and France sharply dropping 2%. Shares in the United Kingdom dropped more than 1%. Dow futures slid more than 500 points and S&P futures dropped 1%.
Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple if it does not start making iPhones in America
Trump has threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if it does not start producing iPhones in the U.S., his latest salvo directly targeting a U.S. company over how it conducts its business.
In a post on his Truth Social platform this morning, Trump wrote he had “long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else.”
“If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.” Trump said.
Supreme Court grants Trump request to fire independent agency members but says Federal Reserve is different
The Supreme Court yesterday granted a Trump administration request that allows the president to fire members of independent federal agencies while suggesting that its legal reasoning would not apply to the Federal Reserve.
The move to pause a lower court ruling formalizes a temporary decision along similar lines April 9 that allowed Trump to fire Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board.
RFK Jr. talks children’s health in new ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to NBC News’ Tom Llamas about the new Health and Human Services report saying, “our kids are the sickest kids in the world.”
Trump administration blocks Harvard’s ability to enroll international students
The Trump administration has halted Harvard’s ability to enroll international students amid an ongoing standoff between the government and the Ivy League school.
Harvard has refused to adhere to a set of demands issued by the Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism that included sweeping reforms to whom the university can hire and admit, and subjecting the ideology of faculty members to an audit approved by the government.
At Trump’s crypto dinner: Tuxedos, luxury cars and a former NBA star
Trump held a private event last night for 220 crypto investors who had bought into his meme coin, defying bipartisan concerns from lawmakers that he was selling access to accumulate personal wealth.
Crypto enthusiasts, including former NBA star Lamar Odom, attended the dinner at Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia, just outside Washington. About 100 demonstrators lined the road to the entrance, trying to shame attendees with chants and signs such as “Trump is a traitor,” “Crypto corruption” and “America is not for sale.”