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In as we speak’s challenge:
- Amid feud, do Republicans heed Trump or Musk?
- Tariffs bear down on commerce
- Trump: Ukraine, Russia “youngsters on a playground”
- Paxton eats into Cornyn’s reelection hopes
A fiery public breakup Thursday between President Trump and Elon Musk stirred loads of conjecture and drama. However after final 12 months’s unlikely pairing of a unusual billionaire and politically expert presidential challenger, the query stays, what’s totally different after their mano-a-mano spat?
Trump’s defensive response prompt he desires to protect the GOP’s “huge, stunning” funds invoice from Musk’s accusations that it’s an “abomination.” Some Senate Republicans agree the Home-passed model of the megabill dangers defeat as a result of fiscal hawks balk at including to the nation’s practically $37 trillion debt.
“I don’t thoughts Elon turning towards me,” the president wrote on Reality Social, “however he ought to have carried out so months in the past. This is among the Best Payments ever introduced to Congress. … If this Invoice doesn’t cross, there can be a 68 [percent] Tax Enhance, and issues far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m simply right here to FIX IT. This places our Nation on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
By Thursday night, the White Home and Trump have been making an attempt to tamp down the rift and transfer on. The president is anticipated to talk by cellphone with Musk as we speak. Trump told Politico throughout a short Thursday cellphone name wherein he was requested about Musk, “Oh it’s okay,” including, “It’s going very nicely. By no means carried out higher.”
The Trump-Musk skirmish left their respective allies asking if the world’s richest man, who spent a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} to assist Trump get elected final 12 months, would put money into political revenge aimed on the president and Republicans forward of the 2026 elections. The billionaire promised $100 million to teams managed by the Trump political operation however has not adopted via.
“With out me, Trump would have misplaced the election…,” Musk lamented on the social platform X, which he owns. “Such ingratitude.”
The president informed reporters within the Oval Workplace that he was “very upset in Elon” earlier than suggesting on social media that profitable federal contracts with Musk’s firms could be “terminated” to save lots of taxpayers billions of {dollars}.
The Hill: Tesla inventory plummeted 14 p.c Thursday on buyers’ wager that the disagreement between Trump and Musk may show injurious to Tesla. The electrical automotive firm misplaced $150 billion in worth.
Musk acquired behind a publish on X calling for Trump’s impeachment, prompt killing the “huge, stunning” invoice, warned that Trump’s tariff coverage “will cause a recession within the second half of this 12 months,” and asserted without evidence that Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted intercourse offender, have been linked.
The Hill: 5 takeaways from the explosive Trump and Musk divorce.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrambled Thursday to prevent Musk from scuttling the Trump tax cuts and spending agenda, which Johnson squeezed via the Home by a single vote final month. It stays unclear whether or not Musk’s assaults can be efficient amongst Republican lawmakers; the GOP base stays enthused about administration insurance policies, in response to latest polls.
The Hill: Home Republicans broadly dismissed Musk’s marketing campaign towards pending laws.
The Speaker desires the Home to undertake a separate measure that may codify spending and funds cuts promoted by the Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity. Johnson spoke with Musk by cellphone in regards to the Home-passed funds bundle on Monday and informed reporters he thought the dialog had been constructive and fruitful. A day later, in response to Johnson, Musk “did a 180” and publicly opposed the measure, which the Speaker stated, “surprised me, frankly.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a former chair of the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee, on Thursday lauded Musk as a patriot.
“I’m appreciative that he cares,” he stated, referring to the continuing debate about projected deficits and debt.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
By now you’ve seen the statements, posts and social media response of the Trump-Musk feud. I needed to make use of this area as we speak to share what two Republicans informed me because the drama unfolded.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) stated what began this, at the least publicly, the One Massive Stunning Invoice Act, can not fail.
“We’re a lot nearer than persons are giving us credit score for,” he stated. “Once more, to have 90 p.c of the work carried out is unimaginable. No one goes to get every part they need.”
Within the different chamber, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) told me, “I’d say the invoice is huge. It’s not fairly stunning but.”
He expects what he views as constructive adjustments to happen within the Senate.
Republicans should not going to have the ability to duck the “huge, stunning brawl,” as Ogles described it to me. Nonetheless, they know that what they may ultimately be judged on isn’t how the Trump-Musk feud ends, however on how this laws ends.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Optimistic development: Employees who’ve 401(okay) retirement accounts saved a file excessive common 14.3 p.c of earnings within the first three months of this 12 months, according to a Fidelity Investments analysis. In 2025, about 70 p.c of the private-sector workforce has entry to 401(okay) choices.
▪ The Treasury Division on Thursday stated Beijing isn’t clear about its forex alternate fee insurance policies however declined to label China a currency manipulator.
▪ A federal choose in Massachusetts on Thursday suspended the latest attempt by the Trump administration to maintain worldwide college students out of Harvard.
LEADING THE DAY
© Related Press | Ng Han Guan
TARIFFS: Trump spoke with Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Thursday amid ongoing tensions and stalled negotiations between the 2 international locations over tariffs.
“I simply concluded an excellent cellphone name with President Xi, of China, discussing among the intricacies of our not too long ago made, and agreed to, Commerce Deal. The decision lasted roughly one and a half hours, and resulted in a really constructive conclusion for each Nations,” Trump stated on Reality Social.
He added that U.S. and Chinese language officers will meet “shortly” and that Xi invited him and first woman Melania Trump to go to China, whereas he invited Xi to the U.S. The U.S. is in a fragile truce with its high buying and selling accomplice after officers hashed out an settlement with China final month to decrease the tariff fee on imports from 145 p.c to 30 p.c. Beijing additionally lowered its fee on U.S. items from 125 p.c to 10 p.c.
In the meantime, the U.S. commerce deficit narrowed by a record amount in April forward of the implementation of Trump’s tariffs, in response to a Thursday launch from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Financial Evaluation. The commerce deficit — a measure of U.S. items imports — fell to $61.6 billion in April, a 55.5 p.c drop from March.
Individuals bought fewer foreign pharmaceuticals, cellphones and automobiles, and so they lower purchases of equipment and different provides.
ProPublica: Inside the substitute intelligence prompts DOGE used to “munch” contracts associated to veterans’ well being.
SUPREME COURT: The Supreme Court docket on Thursday unanimously threw out Mexico’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit towards the American gun business that sought to usher in main adjustments to firearm gross sales by holding companies liable for cartel violence.
Justice Elena Kagan, writing for almost all, stated the lawsuit is barred by the Safety of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a 2005 federal legislation that has supplied firearms producers broad authorized immunity and are available beneath criticism from gun management advocates.
The court docket additionally unanimously revived a straight girl’s “reverse discrimination” case towards her former employer Thursday, lowering the legal hurdle for white and straight workers to deliver such lawsuits.
▪ The Hill: A federal choose ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to revive AmeriCorps-funded packages in Washington, D.C., and 24 Democratic-led states as their lawsuit proceeds over latest cuts.
▪ The New York Times: The Supreme Court docket unanimously dominated on Thursday {that a} Catholic charity in Wisconsin was entitled to a tax exemption that had been denied by a state court docket on the bottom that its actions weren’t primarily non secular.
RECONCILIATION: Issues are multiplying for Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) and different Senate negotiators of their bid to cross laws to enact the megabill with Trump’s tax and home coverage agenda by July 4.
Some Republican senators are barraging management with considerations about spending cuts for Medicaid and the Supplemental Vitamin Help Program, whereas funds hawks are demanding extra deficit discount and railing towards a Home compromise to carry the cap on state and native tax deductions.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton breaks down the problems threatening to derail the invoice.
▪ The New York Times: The invoice raises the utmost baby tax credit score to $2,500. However a few third of youngsters wouldn’t obtain the complete credit score as a result of their dad and mom have low wages or lack jobs.
▪ The Hill: With hurricane season formally underway, fear is mounting round whether or not Trump’s cuts to the federal authorities have endangered its catastrophe response.
WHERE AND WHEN
- The Home will convene at 9 a.m.
- The Senate will meet on Monday at 3 p.m.
- The president will signal government orders at 1:30 p.m. Trump will take part at 2 p.m. in a swearing-in ceremony for Navy Secretary John Phelan within the Oval Workplace. Trump will depart the White Home at 3 p.m. for his residence in Bedminster, N.J., arriving after 6 p.m.
- The Labor Division at 8:30 a.m. will launch its jobs report for Could, a carefully watched indicator of financial efficiency.
ZOOM IN
© The Hill | Greg Nash and J. Scott Applewhite, The Related Press
TEXAS SHOWDOWN: Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) reelection marketing campaign is dealing with severe warning indicators as new polling reveals the state’s Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton widening his lead within the Lone Star State’s Republican Senate main. A ballot performed by GOP pollster Robert Blizzard on behalf of the Instructional Freedom Institute confirmed Cornyn trailing Paxton by 22 factors among the many state’s Republican main voters. The identical ballot reveals Paxton main amongst key demographics inside the state’s GOP main voters together with seniors and voters who recognized as “MAGA.”
Whereas Cornyn’s marketing campaign has dismissed the findings as “foolish season” for polling, they’re the prize in a string of polls exhibiting the longtime incumbent trailing his main challenger. Texas Republicans say it’s one other signal that Cornyn must ramp up his assaults and spending forward of February’s main.
“I believe these numbers as we speak are going to drive Cornyn to go up on air and take a bit out of Ken Paxton fairly rattling quickly,” one Republican strategist told The Hill’s Julia Manchester. “The query is, can he?”
▪ NBC News: New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial main is subsequent week – a take a look at for the get together and its future. Six Democratic candidates for governor embody totally different paths for the get together after Trump made features final 12 months.
▪ The Hill: Democrats are livid with former White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s determination to publicly go away the get together and announce she’s a political impartial whereas selling her e book.
OVERSIGHT: The race to turn into the highest Democrat on the Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee is getting crowded. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) threw her hat into the ring this week to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died final month of esophageal most cancers, making her the fourth member of the committee — and the second member of the Congressional Black Caucus — to vie for the seat.
Not solely is the checklist unusually lengthy for such races, but it surely options two veteran septuagenarians and two congressional newcomers who’re generations youthful — setting the stage for one more tense debate over the seniority system Democrats have favored for many years however has come beneath rising scrutiny in an period when the get together’s reputation is nicely underwater.
ELSEWHERE
© Related Press | Evan Vucci
“CHILDREN FIGHTING”: Trump on Thursday compared Russia and Ukraine to 2 combating youngsters who wanted to work out their variations earlier than anybody may intervene. Trump stated he informed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the two countries have been like “two younger youngsters combating like loopy in a park.”
“Typically you see two younger youngsters combating like loopy,” Trump stated on Thursday in an Oval Workplace information convention. “They hate one another, and so they’re combating in a park, and also you try to pull them aside. They don’t wish to be pulled. Typically you’re higher off letting them struggle for some time after which pulling them aside.”
Trump’s feedback got here throughout German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s White Home go to. Merz, who turned Germany’s chancellor in Could, hoped to steer Trump to play a extra energetic position in defending Ukraine and forcing Russia to finish its invasion of its smaller neighbor. However Trump essentially threw up his hands, saying that there was nothing the U.S. may do proper now to deliver the struggle, sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion, to an finish.
▪ CNN: Russia launched waves of drones and ballistic missiles at a number of targets throughout a broad swath of Ukraine early Friday.
▪ Axios: Trump thought Ukraine’s shock drone assault over the weekend was “robust” and “badass” however is anxious it’s going to make his ceasefire mission even more durable.
IRAN: Tehran is escalating its struggle with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, accusing its inspectors of slander and presenting sloppy proof, Bloomberg News reports. In the meantime, Trump accused Iran of “slow walking their decision” in nuclear negotiations hours after Iranian Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei criticized the U.S. proposal for a deal.
▪ BBC: Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying it was focusing on Hezbollah’s drone manufacturing.
▪ The Times of Israel: Israel has been arming a prison gang in Gaza as a part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas within the enclave.
OPINION
■ Musk vs. Trump: Who’s afraid of making havoc? by David von Drehle, columnist, The Washington Post.
■ After years of struggle, Syria glances westward — towards Trump, by Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), opinion contributors, The Hill.
THE CLOSER
© Related Press | Mark Thiessen
And at last … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! As we puzzled over the Pentagon’s proposal to vary the names of some Navy ships, we found savvy readers accustomed to a little bit of trivia about White Home renaming insurance policies.
🧩 Right here’s who went 4/4: Stan Wasser, Lynn Gardner, Jess A. Elger, Invoice Kuckuck, Sari Wisch, Tom Chabot, Sol Brotman, Peter Spofera, Harry Strulovici, Keven Murphy, Michael McGinnis, Jonathan Simon, Rick Schmidtke, Bob Hickerson, Kenny Kraft, Pam Manges, Richard O. Fanning, Neil Bergsman, Laura Rettaliata, Joseph Foster, Linda L. Area, Mark R. Williamson, Jenessa Wagner, Mark Roeddiger, Brian Hogan, Jim Dykstra, Andre Larroque, Alan Johnson, Chuck Schoenenberger, Don Swanson, Jose Ramos, Luke Charpentier, Frank Hatfield, Richard E. Baznik, Dom Sacco, Carol Katz, Karen Mitchoff, James Morris, Rob Crozier, Steve James, Mitchell Rambin, John Gannon, Jack Turner, Arturo Jessel, Carmine Petracca, Savannah Petracca and Terry Pflaumer.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a Navy ship to be renamed, and the Pentagon is “contemplating renaming a number of naval ships named after civil rights leaders and outstanding American voices.” From our quiz menu of ship names on the Pentagon’s chopping block, the reply we regarded for was “all the above.”
Trump made waves on the outset of his second time period when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Trump desires North America’s tallest peak to revert to considered one of its prior names, Mount McKinley, which honored former President William McKinley.
Trump proposed — after which the White Home stated the suggestion was deserted — renaming Veterans Day, noticed on Nov. 11, as Victory Day for World Conflict I.
Keep Engaged
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