What to know today
- President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Rome to attend tomorrow's funeral for Pope Francis.
- Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was sentenced to 87 months this morning on felony fraud charges. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August and was expelled from the House in December 2023.
- A Wisconsin judge was arrested by the FBI on charges she helped an undocumented immigrant avoid detention on an administrative immigration warrant.
- Protesters are holding rallies in some Republican House members' districts today as lawmakers prepare to press forward with the GOP's budget resolution when they return to Washington.
Terminated USAID staff will be able to keep their government-issued devices
All U.S. Agency for International Development staff and contractors will be allowed to keep their government-issued electronic devices, which will be “remotely wiped and marked as disposed from USAID IT asset inventories," in the coming months according to an email from the agency obtained by NBC News.
The plan for the government-issued devices was first reported by The New York Times.
The government devices to be marked as disposed include iPhones, iPads and laptops, the email said, and the devices will wiped closer to the timing of employees' reduction in force dates, which in many cases are set for July or August.
Prior to Trump entering office for his second term, USAID had roughly 10,000 employees — it was not immediately clear how many devices and which kind of devices had been issued.
Trump and first lady arrive in Rome
Trump and first lady Melania Trump have arrived in Rome ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral tomorrow.
They were greeted by several dignitaries, including the Chief of the Diplomatic Protocol of the Italian Republic Ambassador Bruno Pasquino, and chargés d’affaires for the U.S. embassies to Vatican City and Italy.
The president and first lady held hands as they walked to their vehicle.
Wisconsin governor criticizes Trump over efforts to 'undermine our judiciary at every level'
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, criticized the Trump administration's arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan who is accused of interfering with an effort to detain an undocumented immigrant.
“In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers—this is the fundamental demand of justice in America,” Evers said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor," he added.
Trump last month had suggested that a federal judge who blocked the deportation of Venezuelan migrants should be impeached. His administration has also been accused of inaction following a Supreme Court decision directing the government to “facilitate” Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. after he was sent to an El Salvador prison.
In today's statement, Evers said that he will “continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law.”
Trump’s memecoin dinner contest earns insiders $900,000 in two days
Trump and his allies have raked in nearly $900,000 in trading fees over the past two days from the president’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency token, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain data company.
The surge came after a Wednesday announcement in which the top 220 holders of the token were promised dinner with the president.
“Have Dinner in Washington, D.C. With President Trump,” reads a message on the front page of the Trump coin’s website. The event, which is black tie optional and hosted at the president’s private club in the Washington area, is scheduled for May 22, with a reception for the top 25 holders. A “VIP White House Tour” will take place the following day, the site says. The website also hosts an active leaderboard displaying the usernames of top buyers.
The $TRUMP memecoin jumped more than 50% on the dinner news, boosting its total market value to $2.7 billion. It was met with fierce criticism from some of Trump’s political opponents who said the move was further evidence that the president was using crypto to enrich himself. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a prominent Trump critic, wrote on X that the sale was “the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”
Newly elected Florida Senate Minority Leader says caucus is ‘more determined than ever’ after predecessor’s departure
Florida state Sen. Lori Berman, who Democrats in the state Senate elected as their new leader yesterday, said in a statement through her aide today that her caucus is "more unified and more determined than ever."
"I am honored and humbled to have the support of my colleagues to serve as the next Leader of the Florida Senate Democratic Caucus,” Berman said. “At a time when Floridians are demanding results, clarity, and courage, our caucus is more unified and more determined than ever."
The statement follows Berman's election as state Senate minority leader after state. Sen Jason Pizzo said on the senate floor yesterday that the Florida Democratic Party is "dead," and that he was changing his voter registration to "no party affiliation" and stepping down as Democratic leader.
Berman represents part of Palm Beach County, and was first elected to the state Senate in 2018 after serving in the state House.
Judge says the government is 'playing games' in international students' legal status cases
After the Trump administration agreed — for the time being — to reinstate the records of international students who have had their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records terminated, a new student visa hearing held just hours later reveals how unresponsiveness by ICE and a cumbersome process of restoring the documents might lead judges to still move full speed ahead with preventative actions in the dozens of cases that currently hang in the balance.
In this afternoon’s status conference on the case of Hamidreza Khademi, a 34-year-old master's student at Iowa State University, government counsel Joseph Carilli laid out the change of plans — but told an exasperated Judge Sparkle Sooknanan that he was unable to get any additional answers out of ICE in the last two weeks on whether Khademi’s specific records had been restored or when they could expect that to happen. All he knows is that there is a manual process for each record that ICE must change back, meaning it could take quite some time.
Carilli also said that, even though the records will be reinstated as the cases are decided, they could be terminated again if an individual commits an offense that warrants it. For Khademi and others who say their records were terminated unjustly in the first place, the question remains whether they might see a repeat in their future.
If ICE can't provide notice on which individuals have or have not had their SEVIS records restored, judges like Sooknanan with rapidly progressing cases could be forced to face the question of whether to trust the government at face value and risk imminent harm for the international students. While the government maintains termination of SEVIS records doesn’t equate to revoking a student’s F-1 visa, plaintiffs counsel in these cases has argued that, since the termination of SEVIS data results in schools halting their students from attending work or class — acts that are a requirement for a student to maintain their visa — it’s a direct pipeline. Sooknanan asked Carilli whether Khademi was technically still in lawful status in ICE’s view or could be subject to deportation, and Carilli wasn’t able to answer.
Sooknanan called it “surprising” and “incredibly unsatisfying” that Carilli wasn’t able to gather answers from ICE in the past few weeks. For someone like Khademi — who can’t work, along with having a pregnant wife two months from giving birth — she wasn’t willing to take the gamble that his records would be restored on their own and he wouldn’t be subject to deportation in the meantime — granting a TRO requiring the reinstatement and tersely asking Carilli specifically to let her know when that happens.
“I think the government has been and is playing games,” Sooknanan said.
Pam Bondi revokes Biden-era media protections in leak probes, but leaves some procedures in place
Reporting from Washington
Attorney General Pam Bondi has revoked protections issued by former Attorney General Merrick Garland that offered procedural protections for members of the media from having their records seized or being forced to testify in the course of leak investigations, according to the memo seen by NBC News.
Bondi’s memo still states that there will be procedures in place before members of the media are compelled to testify or their records are seized, with Bondi writing that “investigative techniques relating to newsgathering are an extraordinary measure to be deployed as a last resort when essential to a successful investigation or prosecution."
Bondi writes that the federal employees "intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe," and says the conduct "is illegal and wrong and it must stop."
“Therefore, I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland’s policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks," she wrote.
Bondi wrote that the Justice Department “will not tolerate unauthorized disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies, victimize government agencies, and cause harm to the American people.”
The memo states that:
Members of the news media are presumptively entitled to advance notice of such investigative activities, subpoenas are to be narrowly drawn, and warrants must include protocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities. When considering whether to approve the use of such techniques, the Attorney General will consider, among other things:
• Whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has occurred and the information sought is essential to a successful prosecution;
• Whether prosecutors have made all reasonable attempts to obtain the information from alternative sources; and
• Whether, absent a threat to national security, the integrity of the investigation, or bodily harm, the government has pursued negotiations with the affected member of the news media.”
Under the new policy, Bondi wrote, the attorney general “must also approve efforts to question or arrest members of the news media.”
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from ending employee labor unions at over a dozen federal depts. and agencies
A federal judge in Washington has blocked the Trump administration from ending employee labor unions at more than a dozen federal departments and agencies, with U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman calling the executive order laying out the plan to do so “unlawful.”
A full opinion with more details on his thinking will be issued within the next few days, Friedman said.
Trump says additional pause on tariffs is 'probably unlikely'
Trump told reporters today that an additional pause on the tariffs he placed on dozens of countries across the globe is "probably unlikely."
“We’ll have deals made, but we’ll also make deals,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “In other words, we just set the tariff, and we’ll be reasonable, very reasonable, and that’ll be the end — that’s the deal."
Trump earlier this month implemented a 90-day pause on the targeted tariffs, framing the decision as a goodwill gesture to U.S. trading partners who chose not to place reciprocal tariffs on the United States. Countries that did retaliate, like China, were excluded from the pause.
The decision contributed to a larger market recovery, after major stock indexes previously lost trillions of dollars in value after the sweeping tariffs were first announced.
Trump told reporters he believes markets are now adjusting to his tariff policy.
"I said there’d be a transition. People haven’t understood it. Now they’re starting to understand," Trump said.
Hegseth trying to show Trump he’s a fighter amid chaos in Pentagon
Pete Hegseth wants Trump to see him as a fighter amid the negative stories swirling around the defense secretary, two U.S. officials told NBC News, and has been focusing more on public and television appearances — including on his old network, Fox News — in which he can speak directly to the president.
Trump had told Hegseth during a recent phone call that he did not approve of his texting information about airstrikes in Yemen to a Signal group that included Hegseth’s wife, his brother and his personal attorney, describing what the defense secretary had done as childish, one U.S. official and another person familiar with the conversation said. The call ended with Trump telling Hegseth to keep fighting, however.
As he battles to keep his job amid a flood of reports about his behavior and infighting in his Pentagon, Hegseth’s behavior has become “erratic,” and he seems increasingly “insecure” about his job and standing in the administration, leading him to frequently reinforce to staff that he can’t allow himself to be fired, according to two officials familiar with the situation.
Milwaukee judge retains former U.S. attorney to represent her
The criminal defense firm Mastantuono Coffee & Thomas SC issued a statement on behalf of Milwaukee Judge Hannah C. Dugan, who was arrested on allegations that she interfered with an effort to detain an undocumented immigrant. The firm said that she had retained former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic to represent her and that she "will defend herself vigorously, and looks forward to being exonerated."
Dugan has "committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge," the statement said.
Biskupic was appointed a U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Wisconsin by then-President George W. Bush in 2002, and served through 2009.
Poll: A sizable chunk of Americans think neither party ‘fights for people like you’
Both political parties have significant work to do to convince Americans that they are fighting for them, according to the new NBC News Stay Tuned Poll powered by SurveyMonkey, with Democrats struggling to rally their own base of supporters.
The poll finds a plurality of adults (38%) say neither political party fights for people like them, while 24% say the Republican Party fights for them, 23% say the same of the Democratic Party, and 15% say both parties. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
The pessimism about the major parties comes after a 2024 election that saw a third-party hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hit double-digits in some national polling before fading and eventually endorsing Donald Trump. And some big upcoming elections are set to have notable independent contenders, including the governor’s race in Michigan, where Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent.
Attorney General Pam Bondi addresses arrest of Milwaukee judge
Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan today of protecting a criminal, an undocumented immigrant who appeared before her in court April 18 in a domestic violence case.
In an interview on Fox News this afternoon, Bondi addressed Dugan's arrest after she allegedly obstructed the effort to detain the immigrant.
“We are going to prosecute you, and we are prosecuting you. I found out about this the day it happened. We could not believe, actually, that a judge really did that," Bondi said.
"We looked into the facts in great depth," she said. "You cannot obstruct a criminal case and really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases, and she’s protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.”
Bondi also spoke derisively about judges in general, saying that they're "deranged" and think they are "above the law."
"They are not," she said. "And we’re sending a very strong message today — if you are harboring a fugitive, we don’t care who you are. If you are helping hide one ... anyone who is illegally in this country, we will come after you, and we will prosecute you. We’ll find you.”
Trump administration reverses terminations of student visa registrations of foreign students
At a hearing in the Northern District of California, an attorney for the Justice Department confirmed that the Trump administration reversed the terminations of student visa registrations of foreign students in the U.S.
“ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for status record termination. Until such policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiffs in the Northern District of California cases and all other similarly situated plaintiffs will remain active or shall be reactivated,” said Elizabeth D. Kurlan, an attorney for the Justice Department.
Kurlan said ICE will not modify records solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record terminations. She said that ICE still has the authority to terminate SEVIS records for other reasons, including if a student fails to maintain their nonimmigrant status after it is reactivated, or engages in unlawful activity that would render them removable from the U.S. under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan released on bond
Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan has been released on bond after a magistrate judge advised her of her rights, charges, penalties and fines this morning, according to the court docket.
The federal government is not seeking her detention. A preliminary hearing and her arraignment is set for May 15.
Dugan, a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, was arrested by the FBI, accusing her of obstructing the detention of an undocumented immigrant who was wanted by federal authorities.
Former Rep. George Santos sentenced to more than 7 years in prison
A federal judge in New York sentenced former Rep. George Santos to more than seven years in prison today.
Prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert to throw the book at Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman, to “reflect the seriousness of Santos’s unparalleled crimes.”
“From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum, in which they asked Seybert to sentence him to 87 months in prison.
That’s the sentence the judge handed down.
Prosecutors said that despite his pleading guilty to a pair of felony fraud charges in August — and a teary expression of remorse to news cameras after the proceeding — Santos is “a pathological liar” who isn’t actually remorseful about his actions.
Donations via ActBlue spiked amid news of Trump's action against the platform
In the wake of reports yesterday that Trump was planning to sign an executive action directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform, donations on the platform spiked.
Trump signed a presidential memorandum accusing ActBlue of the "unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make 'straw' or 'dummy' contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees" yesterday evening, but donations started shooting up well before that, as Politico reported yesterday morning that Trump's action against the platform was forthcoming.
The Democratic National Committee, former Vice President Kamala Harris and numerous other Democrats sent fundraising emails about the situation throughout the day.
The beginning of the fundraising jump began in the late morning yesterday and peaked during the 7 p.m. hour, with almost $500,000 donated on the platform that hour, according to an NBC News analysis.
The previous peak for the week was Tuesday at 3 p.m., with more than $330,000 donated in that hour.
FBI arrests Milwaukee judge, alleging she interfered in immigration operation
The FBI arrested a county judge in Milwaukee today, alleging that she obstructed the detention of an undocumented immigrant who was wanted by federal authorities, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
The arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, in line with its rhetoric about going after local and state authorities on immigration-related matters.
Dugan was arrested by the FBI and is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, the senior law enforcement official said. The official told NBC News that Dugan was arrested at about 8:30 a.m. local time in the parking lot of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, before she entered the building. She was then transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals.
China trolls Trump over tariffs as both sides seek ways to limit their impact
HONG KONG — Trump has a new nickname in China: “The Lord of Eternal Tariffs.”
Jokes and memes about the tariffs Trump has imposed on Beijing and other U.S. trading partners have been proliferating online in China, embraced by state media seeking to rally the public, as well as ordinary internet users bemused by Trump’s policy decisions.
Trump says Russia-Ukraine peace deal is 'pretty close'
Trump, while departing the White House on his way to Rome for Pope Francis' funeral, told reporters, "I think we're pretty close" to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
The president said that U.S. representatives, including Steve Witkoff, were "meeting with Putin right now as we speak and we have a lot of things going on, and I think in the end, we're going to end up with a lot of good deals, including tariff deals and trade deals."
Asked whether he has a deadline in mind to reach a deal, the president said, "No deadline, I just want to do it as fast as possible."
The president also answered questions about whether he's spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"I've spoken to him numerous times," Trump said, but declined to comment on whether he's spoken to Xi since the tariff war began.
The Bidens will attend Pope Francis' funeral
Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden will attend Pope Francis’ funeral this weekend.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump are among the heads of state also attending the funeral.
Iran shows readiness for nuclear deal in return for all sanctions being lifted
The United States and Iran are preparing for a new round of high-stakes nuclear talks, with Iran showing more flexibility and openness about a deal than it has in years. “If Americans are concerned about us having nuclear weapons, we are ready to accept reasonable verification in return for lifting all sanctions,” a member of Iran’s national security committee said. NBC’s Richard Engel reports for "TODAY."
U.S. may cut tariffs to prompt China talks, former envoy says
Reporting from Hong Kong
The U.S. may move to reduce tariffs on China to stimulate talks, according to the U.S. envoy to China during Trump's first administration, Terry Branstad.
"There’ll be some movement that’ll reduce the burden and an indication that we want to deal," Branstad said during a forum hosted by the New York-based asset management firm KraneShares on Wednesday.
But Beijing will need to reciprocate in a way "that shows that they have an interest in it," he added. Branstad pointed to "tremendous resurgence in comeback" of the markets, which had tanked following Trump's announcement.
"That’s because of the signal that Trump has made that these initial tariffs on China are not the end of the day, and they’re to get their attention and eventually to try to get a better deal,” he added. "I don’t know that there will be a deal, but I know that Trump like to see one at the end of the day."
Trump envoy meets with Putin in Moscow
Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, a day after Trump told Putin ina Truth Social post to "STOP" launchingstrikes on Ukraine.
Witkoff is a key player in the negotiations among Ukraine and Western allies to end the war.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said yesterday that Witkoff is set to participate in the next round of talks in Oman tomorrow.
Trump and the first lady to travel to Rome to attend the pope's funeral
Trump and first lady Melania Trump will take off for Rome this morning and will attend Pope Francis' funeral tomorrow. The body of the pope is lying in state for a third and final day today.
Product shortages and empty store shelves loom with falling shipments from China
Retailers are warning that U.S. consumers could once again be faced with empty store shelves and the kind of supply chain snarls that marked the Covid era if President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China remain at their current levels.
Companies have been canceling their shipments of goods from China and halting new orders after Trump put a 145% tariff on nearly all Chinese imports this month. As a result, the number of freight vessels scheduled to arrive at the Port of Los Angeles is on track to be down 33% year-over-year for the week ending May 10, according to ship tracking data from Port Optimizer.
Typically, U.S. retailers would be ramping up their orders for two critical periods later this year: the fall back-to-school shopping season and the winter holidays. And the pullback is creating uncertainty about whether U.S. shoppers will have the selection of goods they’ve grown accustomed to in the coming months.
Gov. JB Pritzker to endorse for Senate, lending his political muscle – and likely some resources
Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to endorse his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, for U.S. Senate, just two days after longtime Sen. Dick Durbin said he would not seek a sixth term in office.
Pritzker plans to make the announcement — news of which was shared in advance with NBC News — at an event in the city’s Southside neighborhood of Bronzeville where Stratton grew up.
The backing — which is sure to include financial resources from the billionaire politician — instantly lifts Stratton’s profile in a race that’s expected to draw a crowded field given that Durbin has held the seat for nearly 30 years. That group could potentially include at least two Democratic members of Congress in the state.
