Protesters assembled Thursday evening outside President Trump’s Virginia golf course before a private dinner he planned with several hundred buyers of his cryptocurrency tokens.
The event took place at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, where as many as 220 top holders of his family’s crypto had purchased access to the president.
Earlier, Trump joined a “Make America Healthy Again” event at the White House after the government released a report that calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule, a review of the pesticides sprayed on American crops, and a description of the nation’s children as overmedicated and undernourished.
Here’s how the day unfolded.
Democrats denounce Trump’s meme coin dinner — 9:11 p.m.
By the New York Times
The protests outside Trump’s private club followed a smaller gathering at the Capitol, where half a dozen Democrats from the House and Senate denounced the dinner.
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“It is a Mount Everest of corruption,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. He then read excerpts from the Constitution and cited examples in early American history of presidential corruption schemes. “We have to put an end to this,” he said.
Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., called the dinner an offense to the principles of honest government in the United States.
“No politician could have designed a scheme better suited to facilitate corruption from foreign individuals than the issuance of a digital asset that largely conceals the identity of its buyer,” said Liccardo, a member of the House Financial Services Committee who generally is supportive of the crypto industry.
Protesters gather outside Trump’s cryptocurrency dinner — 8:37 p.m.
By the New York Times
Protesters gathered outside of President Trump’s Virginia golf course, where he is participating in a private dinner with more than 200 buyers of his cryptocurrency tokens — the $TRUMP meme coin.
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The event has raised significant ethical questions, and allegations that Trump is seeking to profit off the presidency by selling access to the powerful office to the highest bidder.
There were about 100 protesters lining the streets outside the club’s entrance yelling “shame, shame, shame,” according to reporters traveling with the president. Several people waved signs, some of which read, “Stop Crypto Corruption,” “America is not for sale,” and “Save the America that made you rich.”
US judge grills government lawyer on DEI in suit against massive health cuts — 8:10 p.m.
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff
US District Judge William G. Young on Thursday pointedly questioned a government lawyer in Boston on how the Trump administration defines DEI — the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion — as a rationale to slash more than $1 billion in medical research grants.
“When you say to me, DEI, as though that’s bad, I don’t understand what that means,” Young told Anuj Khetarpal, a federal attorney who had asked the judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to halt funding cuts by the National Institutes of Health.
“Someone’s got to help me on that,” Young added. “I’m not making policy statements. I’m asking for a definition of a policy that squares with what I had always understood were the defining elements of the American experience.”
The lawsuit, filed in April by a group led by the American Public Health Association, argues that the NIH violated federal law by acting arbitrarily, failing to provide scientific reasoning, and flouting congressional mandates to fund research into health disparities.
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The suit’s plaintiffs, represented in part by the ACLU of Massachusetts, also allege that the NIH’s use of “vague and undefined criteria” to decide on the cuts violated the Fifth Amendment’s due-process protections.
Trump’s Harvard visa threat could wipe out several of the school’s sports teams — 7:55 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision announced on Thursday that would make the Ivy League school with the nation’s largest athletic program ineligible for international student visas.
Harvard’s 42 varsity sports teams are the most in the nation, and Sportico reported last month that 21% of the players on the school’s rosters for the 2024-25 seasons — or 196 out of 919 athletes — had international hometowns.
The site noted that some could be U.S. citizens or green card holders who wouldn’t need one of the international visas at issue in an escalating fight premised by the administration’s assertions that the school failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.
Q&A: How can the federal government control a private university’s enrollment? — 7:53 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Q: Can the federal government really make decisions regarding private colleges? Even without federal funding, aren’t these schools independent?
A: The U.S. government has authority over who comes into the country. The Department of Homeland Security oversees which colleges are part of the Student Exchange and Visitor Program, and on Thursday said it would remove Harvard. The program gives colleges the ability to issue documentation to foreign students admitted to the schools. Then, the students apply to obtain visas to study in the United States.
Georgetown scholar recalls terror and ‘mockery of due process’ in immigration jail — 7:22 p.m.
By the Associated Press
One of the lowest moments of Badar Khan Suri’s two months in federal custody was being crammed onto an airplane with hundreds of other shackled prisoners.
The Trump administration was trying to deport the Georgetown University scholar over statements he made against Israel’s war effort in Gaza. The guards wouldn’t say where they were headed, but the Indian national was convinced it was out of the United States.
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Then Khan Suri had to use the plane’s bathroom. He said the guards refused to unshackle his wrists.
“They said, ‘No, you have to use it like this or do it in your trousers,’” Khan Suri recalled of the trip, taking him to a Louisiana detention center. “They were behaving as if we were animals.”
Khan Suri, 41,was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the U.S.’s deportation case continues. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke Thursday of a cramped cell, crowded with other detainees, where he waited anxiously, fearful about what would happen next.
A look at the deportees on plane that headed for South Sudan from US — 6:39 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The foreign men convicted of crimes who were placed on a deportation flight headed for the chaotic nation of South Sudan were originally from countries as far away as Mexico and Vietnam. They lived in various places from California to Iowa, Nebraska to Florida, with one serving a sentence of nearly 30 years.
They were accused and convicted of crimes including murder, rape, robbery and assault.
Despite their criminal records, a federal judge says the White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries, adding that the eight men were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could endanger them.
Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston ordered a new set of interviews with them, either back in the U.S. or abroad. Administration officials accused “activist judges” of advocating for the release of dangerous criminals.
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Here’s what to know about the men onboard the flight to South Sudan.
Mahmoud Khalil permitted to hold newborn son for the first time despite government objections — 6:16 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was allowed to hold his 1-month-old son for the first time after a judge blocked the administration’s efforts to keep them separated by a plexiglass barrier.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March, was the first person arrested under the president’s promised crackdown on pro-Palestinian protester. He is one of the few still in custody as his case winds its way through immigration and federal court.
Federal authorities have not accused him of a crime but have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in the protests may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests.
The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn sparked days of legal fighting. His attorneys argued that he is being subjected to political retaliation.
On Wednesday night a judge allowed the meeting to go forward the next morning, Khalil’s attorneys said.
FDA panel is split on updates to COVID shots as questions loom for fall vaccinations — 5:35 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Government advisers were split Thursday on whether drugmakers need to update their COVID-19 vaccines for next season, a decision overshadowed by confusion over a new Trump administration policy that may limit who can get the shots.
The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts have met annually since the launch of the first COVID-19 vaccines to discuss tweaking their recipes to stay ahead of the virus. The challenge is trying to gauge how the virus might evolve before fall vaccinations begin.
“We all want to make the perfect choice, and that’s probably not possible,” FDA’s Jerry Weir told the panel of outside experts.
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Some of the panelists voiced support for a switch to a newer coronavirus subtype named LP.8.1. It’s currently the dominant version and part of the same family that circulated last year — known as the JN.1 branch of the virus family tree.
Awkward ending to Trump’s health event — 5:29 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The president wrapped up by speaking at length about his effort to lower prescription drug prices — an odd choice, given that many of the people in the room oppose pharmaceutical drugs and what they see as their excessive prescription.
The East Room crowd, which earlier had applauded repeatedly as Trump and members of his administration congratulated themselves on health policy, offered only tepid responses — and soon stopped clapping entirely — as Trump continued to talk about drug prices.
Toward the back, where many attendees were families with young children, some parents even began talking among themselves while he was still speaking.
Everyone did, however, rise to give the president a standing ovation when the event finally wrapped up.
The Trump administration said Harvard can no longer enroll international students. Here’s what to know. — 5:16 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Nick Stoico, and Dana Gerber, Globe Staff
The Trump administration told Harvard University in a letter Thursday that it was revoking the Ivy League school’s ability to enroll international students, citing what the Homeland Security secretary called “an unsafe campus environment” that is hostile to Jewish students, supports Hamas, and promotes “racist” DEI initiatives.
Harvard has denied fostering such an environment and recently issued reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia that included recommendations such as expanding academic offerings on antisemitism and Jewish history; providing legal support to students facing harassment for being pro-Palestinian; and defining and denouncing bias against Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians.
On Thursday, the university denounced the Trump administration’s announcement, saying “this retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country.”
US to impose sanctions on Sudan for chemical weapons use — 5:04 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The Trump administration says it will impose the sanctions after determining that Sudan has used chemical weapons in violation of international treaties during its civil war in 2024.
The State Department said that the sanctions would take effect next month and include restrictions on US exports to Sudan and on access to US government lines of credit.
“The United States calls on the government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations under the” Chemical Weapons Convention, the department said in a statement. “The United States remains fully committed to hold to account those responsible for contributing to chemical weapons proliferation.”
The State Department informed Congress of the determination, and lawmakers will have 15 days to consider it. Barring objections, the department said, the sanctions will take effect on or around June 6.
Supreme Court declines to reinstate independent agency board members fired by Trump — 5:03 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The high court declined to reinstate independent agency board members fired by the president.
The court’s action essentially extended an order Chief Justice John Roberts issued in April that had the effect of removing two board members whom Trump fired from agencies that deal with labor issues, including one with a key role for federal workers as the president aims to drastically downsize the workforce.
Neither agency has enough appointed members to take final actions on issues before them, as Trump has not sought to appoint replacements.
The decision Thursday keeps on hold an appellate ruling that had temporarily reinstated Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Harvard’s student population gripped with uncertainty as Trump revokes international student enrollment — 4:51 p.m.
By Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio and Hilary Burns, Globe Staff
The international student community at Harvard University is reeling after the Trump administration revoked the school’s ability to enroll foreign students on campus. Questions spread quickly across group chats, through frenzied phone conversations.
Will seniors be able to graduate next week? What will happen to the dreams of thousand of international students, hinging on a Harvard diploma? Will any of them be able to lawfully stay in the US?
“Everything that I’ve worked so hard for, is it just going to fall apart, or what is it going to become?” asked Karl Molden, a sophomore from Austria. “Everything is so uncertain.”
Trump touts efforts to cut prescription drug costs despite report’s concerns — 4:50 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Speaking to a room of Kennedy’s MAHA followers — a coalition that generally opposes Americans’ prescription drug use — the president boasted about his plan to lower drug prices.
While the MAHA report raised concerns about prescription drugs and described the nation’s children as overmedicated, Trump spent more than 10 minutes in his remarks on a tangent about his recent executive order to try to cut the price of prescription drugs, which would seem to make it easier for people to get them.
Trump praises MAHA report — 4:28 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Trump, at an event at the White House with Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, applauded the findings of the MAHA report Thursday.
“They really are alarming,” Trump said.
The much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule, a review of the pesticides sprayed on American crops and a description of the nation’s children as overmedicated and undernourished.
While it does not have the force of a law or official policy, the 69-page report will be used over the next 100 days for the MAHA commission to fashion a plan that can be implemented during the remainder of Trump’s term, Kennedy said in a call with reporters. He refused to provide details about who authored the report.
Work requirements could transform Medicaid and food aid under US budget bill — 3:32 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The US social safety net would be jolted if the budget bill backed by Trump and passed by the House of Representatives becomes law.
It would require many low-income adults to work to receive Medicaid health insurance coverage and more to work to get food assistance, require hospitals to verify the citizenship status of patients, and cut funding for services like birth control to the nation’s biggest abortion provider.
Supporters of the bill say the moves will save money, root out waste and encourage personal responsibility.
Federal judge blocks immigration authorities from revoking international students’ legal status — 2:53 p.m.
By the Associated Press
A judge in California blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending.
The order by US District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland bars the government from arresting or incarcerating the plaintiffs and similarly situated students; from transferring any of them outside the jurisdiction of their residence; from imposing any adverse legal effect on students and from reversing the reinstatement of the legal status until the case is resolved. Students can still be arrested for violent crimes.
White House says judge’s ruling could jeopardize US relations overseas — 2:49 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The White House says a federal judge who rebuked the Trump administration over a series of deportations is menacing US relationships overseas.
Press secretary Leavitt rejected the comments of federal Judge Brian Murphy, who said Wednesday that the Trump administration violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to South Sudan.
Murphy said eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object to their deportation.
Leavitt said that “Judge Murphy is forcing federal officials to remain in Djibouti for over two weeks as a result.”
She said the judge’s comments were also “threatening our US diplomatic relationships with countries around the world” though she refused to discuss what other third countries might have agreed to accept US deportation flights.
Trump administration revokes Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students — 2:24 p.m.
By Mike Damiano, Globe Staff
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a significant escalation in its campaign to reshape the university to align with President Trump’s worldview and agenda.
In a letter to Harvard, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that the school’s certification under the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program is revoked “effective immediately.”
“This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” according to a Department of Homeland Security press release.
Republican tax bill guts clean energy tax credits that Democrats approved three years ago in climate law — 2:07 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The big tax breaks package passed by House Republicans early Thursday would gut clean energy tax credits that Democrats approved three years ago while supporting increased mining, drilling and other traditional energy production.
The bill, which now heads to the Senate, repeals or phases out more quickly clean energy tax credits passed in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act during former President Joe Biden’s term. Biden’s climate law has been considered monumental for the clean energy transition, but the House bill effectively renders moot much of the law’s incentives for renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
Clean energy advocates said the bill walks back the largest government investment in clean energy in history.
Leavitt says Trump signs every legal document — 1:53 p.m.
By the Associated Press
In response to questions about former president Joe Biden’s use of the autopen to sign some documents, Leavitt said that Trump signs “any document that has legal implications.”
“He signs pretty much every document that is needed for the president’s signature, with the exception of maybe some letters to children,” she said.
But one of Trump’s most controversial acts, invoking the 18th-centruy wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants, was something that Trump later claimed he didn’t sign.
“I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,” Trump told reporters in March.
Trump and Netanyahu discuss Israel embassy staffer shooting and Iran — 1:52 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The two leaders spoke by phone following Wednesday evening’s shooting that killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Washington reception.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the two leaders also discussed “a potential deal” with Iran to stem its rapidly advancing nuclear program. Trump is expected to dispatch special envoy Steve Witkoff to Italy for talks later this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi.
Leavitt said Trump believes the talks “moving along in the right direction.”
Trump administration files motion to end protections for immigrant children in federal custody — 1:48 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The Trump administration filed a motion to end a policy cornerstone that since the 1990s has offered protections to child migrants in federal custody, in a move that likely will be challenged by advocates.
The protections in place, known as the Flores Settlement, largely limit to 72 hours the amount of time that child migrants traveling alone or with family and detained by the US Border Patrol can be kept in US Customs and Border Protection custody. They also ensure the children are kept in safe and sanitary conditions.
The Flores settlement is named for a Salvadoran girl, Jenny Flores, whose lawsuit alleging widespread mistreatment of children in custody in the 1980s prompted special oversight.
This is the second time the federal government under Trump has attempted to end the policy. In August 2019, the first Trump administration asked a judge to dissolve the agreement. Its motion eventually was struck down in December 2020 by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
White House condemns judge who said US violated court order — 1:44 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Leavitt used her press briefing to attack by name the federal judge who ruled that the White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries, calling Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston a “liberal activist” and accusing the jurist of threatening US diplomatic relationships.
“Judge Brian Murphy is not the secretary of State. He is not the secretary of defense or the commander in chief. He is a district court judge in Massachusetts. He cannot control the foreign policy or the national security of the United States of America, and to suggest otherwise is being completely absurd,” Leavitt said.
Here’s what to know about the judge blocking Trump’s executive order.
Trump is ‘saddened and outraged’ by the shooting deaths of two Israeli embassy staffers — 1:43 p.m.
By the Associated Press
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had spoken to Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice will prosecute the alleged gunman to the “fullest extent” of the law.
Leavitt said “hatred has no place in the United States of America” under Trump.
She said the entire White House staff was “praying for the victims’ friends and families at this unimaginable time.”
Trump to attend Group of 7 Summit next month — 1:41 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The president will take part in a gathering in Calgary, Canada, from June 15 to June 17 with leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Organizations sue Justice Department to reverse hundreds of grant cancellations — 1:19 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Five organizations that had grants terminated by the Justice Department in April are suing the department and Attorney General Pam Bondi calling the cancellations unconstitutional and asking that the money be reinstated.
The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday by the Vera Institute of Justice, the Center for Children & Youth Justice, Chinese for Affirmative Action, FORCE Detroit and Health Resources in Action, asks a federal judge in Washington District Court to “declare unlawful, vacate and set aside” the cancellations that were sent to more than 360 awardees ending grants worth nearly $820 million midstream.
The lawsuit filed by the Democracy Forward Foundation and the Perry Law firm asks for class action status and also names the Office of Justice Programs and Maureen Henneberg, the acting head of that office, as defendants.
RFK Jr.’s MAHA report raises concerns about vaccines, American foods and prescription drugs — 12:46 p.m.
By the Associated Press
A government report released covering wide swaths of American health and wellness reflects some of the most contentious views on vaccines, the nation’s food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs held by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report, led by Kennedy and other top Trump administration officials, calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule, a review of the pesticides sprayed on American crops and a description of the nation’s children as overmedicated and undernourished.
While it does not have the force of a law or official policy, the report will be used over the next 100 days for the MAHA commission to fashion a plan that can be implemented during the remainder of Trump’s term, Kennedy said in a call with reporters. He refused to provide details about who authored the report.
“We will save lives by addressing this chronic disease epidemic head on, we’re going to save a lot more money in the long run — and even in the short run,” Kennedy said.
Hundreds of state lawmakers urge Congressional leaders to keep hands off Planned Parenthood funding — 12:04 p.m.
By the Associated Press
As House Republicans passed their multitrillion-dollar budget bill overnight, 562 state lawmakers signed a letter to Congressional leadership urging them not to prohibit Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood and calling the organization “an integral and irreplaceable part of the health care system.”
“‘Defunding’ Planned Parenthood blocks patients from getting the care they need and increases health care costs for everyone,” the letter said.
Anti-abortion groups have long taken aim at Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding through a mounting initiative called Defund Planned Parenthood.
The federal Hyde Amendment already restricts government funding for most abortions, and less than 5% of the services Planned Parenthood provides are abortions, according to the organization’s 2023 annual report. Contraceptive services and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections make up the vast majority of its medical care. It also performs more cancer screening and prevention procedures than abortions, according to the report.
The US government will no longer make cents — 11:37 a.m.
By the Associated Press
The US Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop making the coin when those run out, a Treasury official confirmed Thursday.
The move is expected to produce an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news.
In February, President Trump announced he ordered his administration to cease production of the 1-cent coin.
Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost — currently almost 4 cents per penny, according to the U.S. Mint — and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel, which costs almost 14 cents to mint.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
Judge blocks Trump’s executive order to shut down the Education Department — 11:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to shut down the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs.
Why Kamala Harris could run for California governor and bypass another White House bid — 10:41 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Many of Kamala Harris’ supporters and detractors alike think she’d have better odds running for California governor rather than president a third time.
There are several reasons for Harris to make a bid to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom. She would immediately become the early front-runner instead of entering a presidential primary with a dozen or more serious contenders. No other candidate in California could match her résumé of having served as San Francisco district attorney, state attorney general, US senator and vice president.
Democrats decry Trump’s crypto dinner as selling access to the White House — 10:37 a.m.
By the Associated Press
The dinner Trump is hosting at his suburban Washington golf club is for top investors in a meme coin controlled by his family.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, says the dinner means “in effect putting a for sale sign on the White House.”
“It’s auctioning off access,” Blumenthal said on a press call.
The senator said those attending Thursday night’s dinner don’t have to file any federal paperwork — despite enriching the Trump Organization — because crypto currency isn’t regulated like traditional campaign donations.
Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said during a contentious House hearing earlier this month, “Never in American history has a sitting president so blatantly violated the ethics laws.”
Supreme Court tie vote dooms taxpayer funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma — 10:29 a.m.
By the Associated Press
The Supreme Court effectively ended a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma, dividing 4-4.
The outcome keeps in place an Oklahoma court decision that invalidated a vote by a state charter school board to approve the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the nation’s first religious charter school. But it leaves the issue unresolved nationally.
The one-sentence notice from the court provides an unsatisfying end to one of the term’s most closely watched cases.
United Arab Emirates condemns fatal shooting of Israeli Embassy staffers — 10:11 a.m.
By the Associated Press
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condolences and solidarity with the families of the victims and with the Israeli people over the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with parents of slain embassy staffers — 10:00 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Netanyahu “told the families that he shares in their deep sorrow, together with the entire Jewish People,” his office said in a statement.
The prime minister also spoke with US Attorney General Pam Bondi, his office said.
Here’s what we know about the DC shooting where 2 staff members of the Israeli Embassy were killed — 9:21 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington — a young couple on the verge of becoming engaged — were fatally shot Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said.
The attack was seen by officials in Israel and the US as the latest in a growing wave of antisemitism as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and as food security experts have warned that Gaza risks falling into famine unless Israel’s blockade ends.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said the man had purchased a ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.
US envoy to Israel calls Israel embassy staffer killings an ‘act of terror’ — 9:15 a.m.
By the Associated Press
“It is just a horrific tragedy, an act of terror, and another way in which we have to recognize Jewish people all over the world are being singled out for these kind of horrible attacks,” US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said in an interview on Fox & Friends.
Huckabee went on to push back against critics of Israel’s execution of the war in Gaza, blaming Hamas for the war dragging on.
“We’ve got a lot of ignorant, idiotic people who don’t seem to understand the difference between right and wrong,” Huckabee said. “It shouldn’t be that complicated.”
The crypto industry saw Trump as a champion. Some now fear he’s putting personal profits first. — 9:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
It seems like a triumph for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought mainstream acceptance: Top investors in one of President Trump’s crypto projects invited to dine with him at his luxury golf club in Northern Virginia on the heels of the Senate advancing key pro-crypto legislation and while bitcoin prices soar.
But Thursday night’s dinner for the 220 biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin has raised uncomfortable questions about potentially shadowy buyers using the anonymity of the internet to buy access to the president.
While Democrats charge that Trump is using the power of the presidency to boost profits for his family business, even some pro-Trump crypto enthusiasts worry that the president’s push into meme coins isn’t helping their efforts to establish the credibility, stability and legitimacy they had thought his administration would bring to their businesses.
Trump celebrates passage of his ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ — 9:00 a.m.
By the Associated Press
The president in his morning social media posting praised House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership for getting his major tax bill through the lower chamber.
Now, he’s pushing Senate Republicans to get moving and notch a political win on Democrats.
“it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” Trump said. “There is no time to waste. The Democrats have lost control of themselves, and are aimlessly wandering around, showing no confidence, grit, or determination.”
House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session — 7:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump’s priority bill to approval Thursday.
With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their opposition to salvage the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that’s central to the GOP agenda. The House launched debate before midnight and by sunrise the vote was called, 215-214, with Democrats staunchly opposed. It next goes to the Senate.
Trump once swore revenge on the Pritzker family. Decades later, Penny Pritzker is helping lead Harvard’s resistance against him. — 5:34 a.m.
By Mark Arsenault, Aidan Ryan, and Shirley Leung, Globe Staff
It was three-plus decades ago, after their partnership in a hotel at New York’s Grand Central Station went bad, that developer Donald J. Trump swore revenge on the Pritzker family.
“They attacked me when I was down,” Trump said in 1993 about the Pritzkers, the wealthy Chicago family behind the Hyatt hotel brand. “I always said, the first time I got back on my feet, the Pritzkers would be the first people I’d go after.”
Go after them Trump did, in a $500 million lawsuit accusing his partners in the New York Grand Hyatt hotel of fraud and extortion. The Pritzkers sued back, claiming that Trump failed to pay his share for renovations to the property, and ultimately bought Trump out of the hotel in 1996.
Now the two families are at odds again, but this time the stakes are far higher and could reshape the future of Harvard and higher education.
Hydro-Quebec shut off the spigots for New England power in March and hasn’t turned them back on. Why? — 5:05 a.m.
By Jon Chesto, Globe Staff
Hydro-Quebec’s main transmission line into New England is considered the region’s largest potential source of electricity, now that the Mystic power plant has gone dark for good.
What a great opportunity for the Canadian utility, right?
Not exactly. After reliably selling electricity into the New England market for years, Hydro-Quebec shut off the spigots in early March, reducing the flow to a trickle.
The lack of Canadian hydropower isn’t a reliability issue for us — not yet, anyway. But the surprisingly long dry spell out of Hydro-Quebec should serve as a warning to New England policy makers that the days of cheap, plentiful, low-carbon power from the north hitting the spot market are no longer guaranteed. A big power line under construction for Massachusetts, dubbed New England Clean Energy Connect, was supposed to complement these existing imports, not supplant them. And scratch any thought of starting another one to Quebec anytime soon.
‘Who’s going to milk the cows?’: Vt. farmers, migrant workers fear Trump crackdown could cripple dairy farms — 4:41 a.m.
By Paul Heintz, Globe correspondent
Dustin Machia was excited to vote for Donald Trump for president last year, in part because he pledged to crack down on illegal immigration.
“We had a border problem,” Machia said. “We don’t want bad people in here. We don’t need the drugs and the gangbangers.”
But following high-profile deportations of migrant farmworkers in northern Vermont, Machia, a fifth-generation dairy farmer, said he feels misled.
“All the dairy farmers who voted for Trump were under the impression they weren’t going to come on farms and take our guys,” said Machia, 37. “It’s happening more than we’d like. It’s scaring the farming community and we’re like, ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’”
Farm owners and workers alike in this agricultural region near the Canadian border have been on edge in the month since US Border Patrol officers detained eight Mexican men on Vermont’s largest dairy operation, Pleasant Valley Farms, about 20 miles east of Machia’s barns. Two weeks before that, another Mexican national, Arbey Lopez-Lopez, was detained while bringing groceries to workers at Pleasant Valley, according to his attorney.
A Vermont family came to the US legally from Nicaragua. Now, they’ve chosen to self-deport amid Trump’s immigration policies. — 4:16 a.m.
By Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Globe Staff
he high school auditorium was unusually empty for a graduation: just two students in bright red caps and gowns, sitting side by side at the front. The small crowd that had gathered sat scattered across the room. It was mid-April, early for a high school graduation in Northwestern Vermont.
The two seniors, sisters Andrea and Nahomy Chavarría, would not be here for the school‘s official commencement in June. They were immigrants from Nicaragua, and given the political tenor under President Trump and what could be the imminent loss of their legal status, their family had elected to self-deport.
What to know about the tensions between Iran and the US before their fifth round of nuclear talks — 3:59 a.m.
By the Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Rome, their fifth round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
The talks follow previously negotiations in both Rome and in Muscat, Oman.
President Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting the country. He has repeatedly suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to jump start these talks.
ICE agents wait in hallways of immigration court as Trump seeks to deliver on mass arrest pledge — 2:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Juan Serrano, a 28-year-old Colombian migrant with no criminal record, attended a hearing in immigration court in Miami on Wednesday for what he thought would be a quick check-in.
The musty, glass-paneled courthouse sees hundreds of such hearings every day. Most last less than five minutes and end with a judge ordering those who appear to return in two years’ time to plead their case against deportation.
So it came as a surprise when, rather than set a future court date, government attorneys asked to drop the case. “You’re free to go,” Judge Monica Neumann told Serrano.
Except he really wasn’t.
Waiting for him as he exited the small courtroom were five federal agents who cuffed him against the wall, escorted him to the garage and whisked him away in a van along with a dozen other migrants detained the same day.
The crypto industry saw Trump as a champion. Some now fear he’s putting personal profits first. — 1:26 a.m.
By the Associated Press
It seems like a triumph for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought mainstream acceptance: Top investors in one of President Trump ‘s crypto projects invited to dine with him at his luxury golf club in Northern Virginia on the heels of the Senate advancing key pro-crypto legislation and while bitcoin prices soar.
But Thursday night’s dinner for the 220 biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin has raised uncomfortable questions about potentially shadowy buyers using the anonymity of the internet to buy access to the president.
House Republicans launch an all-nighter to try to pass Trump’s big bill — 12:32 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Moving into an all-night session early Thursday, House Republicans reconvened to push ahead on their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics within his ranks and working to muscle President Trump’s priority bill to passage.
Johnson and his GOP leadership team appeared confident after a lengthy White House meeting with GOP holdouts to salvage the “big, beautiful bill,” even as more Republicans announced their opposition late Wednesday.
“You never know till the final vote tally, but I’m convinced we’re going to pass this bill tonight,” said Johnson, as the chamber action resumed shortly before midnight.