President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president’s escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.
Meanwhile, scores of scientists at the National Institutes of Health sent their Trump-appointed leader a letter titled the Bethesda Declaration, a frontal challenge to policies they say undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources and harm people's health.
Here's the latest:
President Donald Trump was guarded on how trade talks were faring with China.
Asked if he had any updates on the negotiations his administration is conducting in London with Chinese officials, Trump told reporters: “We are doing well with China. China’s not easy.”
Trump said that he wants to “open up China” to U.S. products. China is the world’s dominant manufacturer and the Trump administration has applied 30% tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Trump administration had applied tariffs of as much as 145% on China but cut the import tax rates back for talks to occur that have shown signs of stalling over critical mineral issues for the U.S. and access to advanced technologies for China.
“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”
Trump suggests he’ll move Tesla vehicle off White House grounds and not get rid of it
Trump said he could move the red Tesla he bought to support Musk to one of any number of locations he owns.
Administration officials had said last week after the public breakup between Trump and Musk that the president was thinking of selling the car.
He’s taking questions from reporters after an economic event at the White House.
Trump also said he hasn’t “really thought” about speaking with Musk by phone.
“I imagine he wants to speak to me. If I were him, I’d want to speak to me,” Trump said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune stands with Trump’s decision to send National Guard over California’s objections
The South Dakota Republican said “the president did what the local officials” weren’t doing.
“Sometimes one has to step in and protect American citizens,” Thune said.
CBO estimates “extraordinary measures” to exhausted by end of September
In a new report issued Monday, the Congressional Budget Office says it now estimates that if the debt limit remains unchanged, the government’s ability to borrow using “extraordinary measures” would likely be exhausted between mid-August and the end of September 2025.
That date range is two weeks later than the CBO’s previous estimations released in March.
“Extraordinary measures” are special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting its statutory debt ceiling.
U.S. Treasury has already stopped paying into certain accounts, including the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, to make up for the shortfall in funds.
Once the extraordinary measures run out, the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow. President Donald Trump has continually called for abolishing the debt ceiling.
Trump talks protests at beginning of White House event
The president is holding an event to talk about investment accounts for newborn children, but he started by talking about the protests in Los Angeles.
“Thank goodness we sent out some wonderful National Guard,” he said.
Trump criticized California leaders by saying “they were afraid of doing anything.”
“We sent out the troops, and they’ve done a fantastic job.”
Trump says he’s giving a ‘special award’ to UFC champion Kayla Harrison
Trump was in the audience at UFC 316 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night when Harrison forced her opponent to quit late in the second round to win a championship in just her third UFC fight.
Trump shared 11 seconds of video on his social media site of him and Harrison meeting after the match. The championship belt was around her waist.
Some visa holders in Venezuela changed travel plans to arrive in US ahead of deadline and minimize airport issues
But others who lack visas on Monday said the new restrictions may not make much of a difference because obtaining the required permits to travel to the U.S. was already costly and time-consuming, even before Trump’s latest immigration measure.
“An uncle’s visa expired, and since there is no (U.S.) embassy in Venezuela now, he would have had to go to another country to get one,” tech worker José Luis Vegas, 24, said in the capital, Caracas. “Paying for hotels and tickets was very expensive, and appointments took up to a year … What more restrictions than that?”
Venezuela and the U.S. severed diplomatic relations in 2019, when the U.S. stopped recognizing President Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate leader of the South American country. As a result, Venezuelans applying for U.S. visas began traveling to Colombia, Brazil, Curacao and other countries for required appointments.
Trump supports slapping the cuffs on Newsom
The California governor and the White House have been feuding over how to handle protests in Los Angeles.
It started when Tom Homan, the border czar, warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement.
“No one’s above the law,” he said on Fox & Friends, although he added that “there was no discussion” about arresting Newsom.
The California governor responded in an interview with MSNBC. “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” Newsom said.
Trump grinned when asked about the exchange after landing at the White House.
“I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump said. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing. He’s done a terrible job.”
Trump targets Newsom (again)
After inspecting the site for a future flagpole, Trump spoke to reporters about the protests in California.
“I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy, but he’s grossly incompetent,” the president said, complaining about “the little railroad he’s building” that is “100 times over budget.”
It’s a reference to the much-delayed high-speed rail project, which predates Newsom’s tenure. Trump also criticized the protesters.
“The people that are causing these problems are professional agitators, they’re insurrectionists, they’re bad people. They should be in jail.”
Trump says sending National Guard to LA protests was a ‘great decision’
In a post on his social media site, Trump said the city would have been “completely obliterated” otherwise.
Protests over the president’s immigration crackdown spared much of Los Angeles from violence. Weekend clashes swept through several downtown blocks and a handful of other places.
Trump wrote that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass should thank him. He accused them of being untruthful for saying Guard troops weren’t necessary.
Trump checks out spot for new flagpole
The president isn’t just remaking the Rose Garden. He wants to install two large flag poles, one on either side of the White House. When he stepped off Marine One, he walked to a bulldozer that was positioned on the South Lawn to dig a foundation for the pole. Trump posed for a photo with workers.
Trump’s project to pave over the Rose Garden lawn has begun
The project is expected to be completed in about two months, or during the first half of August, a White House official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly about intended changes to the property.
Trump said months ago that he planned to pave over the lawn in the Rose Garden because it’s always wet and inconveniences women in high heels.
Leader Schumer statement on President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to California
“Donald Trump — in the midst of a war with Elon Musk and his ugly tax bill that would rip healthcare from 17 million people — is in desperate need of a diversion. His order to deploy the National Guard in California is unnecessary, inflammatory, and provocative. Trump should immediately revoke his command to use the National Guard, and leave the law enforcement to the governor and the mayor, who are more than capable of handling the situation. Americans do not need or deserve this unnecessary and provocative chaos.”
16 states suing Trump administration over plan to allow sale of forced-reset triggers
The lawsuit, which is also over plans to return seized devices, was announced Monday.
The states argue that returning the triggers, which make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly, would violate federal law, pose a threat to residents and law enforcement and worsen gun violence. The administration announced the deal last month.
It resolves a series of cases over the aftermarket trigger the government had previously argued qualify as machine guns under federal law, saying they’re essentially illegal machine gun conversion devices because constant finger pressure on the triggers will keep a rifle firing essentially like an automatic weapon.
Latinas for Trump founder says she’s now disappointed by recent escalation of immigrant arrests
“I have always supported Trump, @realDonaldTrump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane,” said Ileana Garcia, a Florida state senator who in 2016 founded the group Latinas for Trump and was hired to direct Latino outreach. She posted the message on X over the weekend. “I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings — in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims — all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal.”
Garcia was referring to Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Garcia also said “this is not what we voted for.”
However, Trump promised voters he would conduct the largest domestic deportation operation in American history to expel millions of immigrants in the country illegally.
Democrats are drawing closer to the crypto industry despite Trump divisions
As President Trump builds a crypto empire — including hosting a private dinner with top investors at his golf club — Democrats have united in condemning what they call blatant corruption from the White House.
But the Democratic Party’s own relationship with the emerging crypto industry is far less cut and dried.
Work in the Republican-led Senate to legitimize cryptocurrency by adding guardrails has drawn backing from some Democrats, underscoring growing support for the industry in the party. But divisions have opened over the bill, with many demanding it prevent the Republican president and his family from directly profiting from cryptocurrency.
“I’m all on board with the idea of regulating crypto,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “But at this moment, when cryptocurrency is being so clearly used by Donald Trump to facilitate his corruption, I don’t think you can close your eyes to that when you’re legislating.”
▶ Read more about Democrats and cryptocurrency
Rare earth minerals expected to be the major issue in China-US trade talks
A senior White House official says he expects a “short meeting with a big, strong handshake” on the export of rare earth minerals from China.
Appearing on CNBC this morning, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said it was a “very significant, sticking point” because China, which controls the processing of critical minerals, has been “slow rolling” in sending the materials to U.S. over licensing requirements.
“It could potentially disrupt production for, you know, some U.S. companies that rely on those things,” Hassett said. High-level U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting today in London for their latest round of trade talks.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom to sue Trump over National Guard deployment
Newsom, a Democrat, told MSNBC he plans to file suit Monday against the Trump administration to roll back the Guard deployment, which he called “an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.”
Trump has cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal troops when there is ”a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
But Newsom said he believed the president was required to coordinate with the state’s governor before ordering such a deployment.
“We’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow,” Newsom said Sunday night.
▶ Follow live updates on the immigration protests
Preparations underway for military parade
Security precautions are already being put in place ahead of this Saturday’s military parade. Workers were assembling black metal barriers near the White House on Monday morning.
More information on preparations will be announced in the afternoon during a briefing with local and federal officials.
Trump expected to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
The American and Israeli leaders plan to speak Monday morning, according to a White House official. The official requested anonymity before a public announcement.
Trump has been pushing for a nuclear agreement with Iran, while Netanyahu is wary of the diplomatic effort.
— Seung Min Kim
ABC News suspends correspondent for calling Trump administration official a ‘world class hater’
ABC News has suspended correspondent Terry Moran for calling Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a “world class hater” in a since-deleted social media post.
Moran’s post was swiftly condemned by administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance. ABC News, in a statement, said it “stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.”
The network said Moran was suspended pending further evaluation.
Moran, in his post on X at 12:06 a.m. on Sunday, said President Trump was a hater, too. But he wrote that for Trump, his hatred is a means to an end, “and that end is his own glorification.” For Miller, “his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”
Trump’s Monday schedule, according to the White House
This morning, Trump is traveling back to the White House from Camp David. Later today, at 2 p.m., he’ll participate in an “Invest America Roundtable” event at the White House.
Trump was awake past midnight raging against the protests in LA and calling for a crackdown
“Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!” he wrote on Truth Social at 12:16 a.m. ET.
Trump has already deployed 300 members of the National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The military said 500 Marines were on standby.
“ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS, NOW!” Trump wrote at 12:19 a.m.
Trump cited Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell’s recent comments to defend his response to the protests.
“Don’t let these thugs get away with this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump wrote at 12:14 a.m.
“This thing has gotten out of control,” McDonell said Sunday.
“We have great cops in Southern California here that work together all the time,” he said. But he added that “looking at the violence tonight, I think we gotta make a reassessment.”
US and China are holding trade talks in London after Trump’s phone call with Xi
High-level delegations from the U.S. and China are meeting in London on Monday to try and shore up a fragile truce in a trade dispute that’s roiled the global economy.
A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng was due to hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a U.K. government building.
The talks, which are expected to last at least a day, follow negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war.
The two countries announced May 12 they had agreed to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession.
▶ Read more about trade talks between the U.S. and China
In the ‘Bethesda Declaration,’ NIH scientists step forward en masse to denounce their agency’s direction
Scores of National Institutes of Health scientists have gone public to assail deep program cuts and upheaval at their agency under the Trump administration.
On Monday, more than 90 current employees sent their leader a letter entitled the Bethesda Declaration. It’s a frontal challenge to policies it says “undermine the NIH mission, waste our public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”
By signing their names, the NIH employees gave up the veil of anonymity common in Washington — and put their jobs at risk. Their declaration was endorsed anonymously by 250 other NIH researchers and staff. Altogether, employees from all 27 NIH institutes and centers registered their dismay with the agency’s direction.
▶ Read more about dissent at the National Institutes of Health
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump said.
The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments
Mike Johnson downplays Musk’s influence and says Republicans will pass Trump’s tax and budget bill
Johnson took clear sides Sunday in Trump’s breakup with mega-billionaire Elon Musk, saying Musk’s criticism of the GOP’s massive tax and budget policy bill will not derail the measure, and he downplayed Musk’s influence over the GOP-controlled Congress.
“I didn’t go out to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest man in the world,” Johnson said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Johnson said he has exchanged text messages with Musk since he came out against the GOP bill.
Musk called it an “abomination” that would add to U.S. debts and threaten economic stability. He urged voters to flood Capitol Hill with calls to vote against the measure, which is pending in the Senate after clearing the House. His criticism sparked an angry social media back-and-forth with Trump, who told reporters over the weekend that he has no desire to repair his relationship with Musk.
The speaker was dismissive of Musk’s threats to finance opponents — even Democrats — of Republican members who back Trump’s bill.
▶ Read more about Johnson’s comments
Trump’s new travel ban takes effect as tensions escalate over immigration enforcement
Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president’s escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.
The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don’t hold a valid visa.
The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday. Travelers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect.
▶ Read more about the travel ban
The Associated Press
