WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump kicked off his administration’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary Wednesday night with a rally speech nearly mirroring his days on the 2024 presidential campaign trail to a crowd of loyal supporters waving American flag placards. 

The president delivered remarks for roughly 25 minutes on the National Mall against the backdrop of the Washington Monument and exalted the Founding Fathers and valuable contributions to the world by American inventors. 

But Trump also spent significant time on his familiar refrains, declaring “America is back,” and that he rescued it from “total disaster,” he said, by closing the “most wide open, insecure” border along the U.S. southwest, “sending education back to the states where it belongs,” issuing an executive order requiring only two genders on federal documents, signing a bill that made tips non-taxable income for four years, among other policies.

“We’re not a joke anymore, we’re the most powerful country in the world,” Trump said. “But just like those patriots of 1776, over the past 17 months, we have taken power back from the far-off political class. They’re trying to gain it back, but it’s not going to happen.”

Trump also praised what he described as a military boom. The event featured music by the U.S. Marine Corps Band and five separate military flyovers of fighter jets and a B-2 stealth bomber.

Military recruitment, he said, is “setting records,” well above the numbers under former President Joe Biden.

“Then the thing happened on Nov. 5, it’s called a great election victory, and from that moment on, now you can’t even get into the military, we have waiting lists to get into the military,” he said.

Trump also credited the war he launched in Iran for bringing peace to the Middle East “for the first time in 3,000 years,” and said the administration’s peace negotiations sent the stock market “skyrocketing upward.” 

The S&P 500 has actually dropped slightly since close on June 18, the day before the administration announced a peace deal with Iran.

“How good is our military? How good? In one week, Iran was essentially finished in one hour, Venezuela was finished, and I guess we have other things in store, but we don’t want to get carried away,” he said.

Washington revamp

He also touted his efforts to beautify Washington, D.C., highlighting projects including the restored Christopher Columbus statue outside Union Station, his planned ballroom that will replace the White House’s East Wing and the renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 

After the pool was drained to paint the basin “American flag blue,” it has faced consistent problems with algae blooms and peeling paint, which Trump has said is the fault of vandals.

Trump concluded his remarks by invoking imagery of early American settlers and revolutionary heroes. He described the American spirit as taking up the call to freedom, exploring the “most dangerous frontiers,” and fighting and winning the “most vicious battles.” 

Now, Trump said, America is expanding that “glory of American freedom into a horizon that’s never been seen before.” 

“We’ve never reached so high as we’re reaching right now,” he said. “This is our heritage, this is our history, and this is the destiny of America to be the greatest, most incredible country ever to grace the earth.”

After Trump finished his speech, the band played the Village People’s YMCA, a staple at his rallies and events, and he danced off the stage. 

Supporters arrive early

Attendees — wearing plenty of splashy outfits and historical costumes among a sea of red, white and blue and MAGA red — began to trickle through U.S. Secret Service security hours before Trump was set to give remarks initially scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern.

Excited guests shaded themselves from the sun with American flag placards until the U.S. Marine Corps band began to play a patriotic melody. Chairs in the front row at the stage’s edge were reserved for “Front Row Joes,” a nickname Trump gave to regulars at his 2024 presidential campaign rallies. 

The grounds weren’t quite ready for primetime. Construction continued on the National Mall where Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair was scheduled to begin Thursday. 

And food vendors hurried to hang menu signs as guests looked to see if food was ready for sale. Among the menu items were a $23 turkey leg, pretzel bites and plenty of Phorm, the energy drink owned by Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and close ally of Trump.

Bill Anderson, 64, of Plankinton, South Dakota, said he traveled to “just to take it in.”

“I don’t know what Trump’s speech is going to be, but it’s always going to be uplifting, and maybe tell us some things (that) are going to happen in the future,” Anderson said, adding the semiquincentennial makes him feel hopeful for what’s ahead in the United States, which he predicted will be a stronger focus on Christianity.

Anderson attended the Christian heritage “Rededicate 250” event on the National Mall in May, which featured appearances by several Cabinet members and Republican lawmakers, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

‘Beautiful turning point’

Patti Gordon, 71, of Atlanta, wore matching red, white and blue sequined jackets with her friend from Texas. Each featured an eagle and stars and stripes on the back with the message, “America 250th Anniversary.”

Gordon, a vice chair of the Fulton County, Georgia, Republican Party, sat in the third row and said the semiquincentennial is a “beautiful turning point for this country.” 

“I’m really hoping people become a little bit more patriotic and realize this country is worth saving,” she said. “I think a lot of people are trying to destroy this country and erase our history and say that we have a horrible history. We do not. We know we are the most generous country in the world, and we have helped people to freedom.”

Fulton County is a focus of Trump’s unfounded claims that he won the 2020 presidential election. In January, the Trump administration deployed federal agents to the county to seize ballots from the 2020 election.

Laura Strohmeyer, 37, a new resident of Washington, said she came out to the kickoff to see a B-2 stealth bomber fly by. 

“I think it’s pretty awesome,” the former Virginia resident said of the kickoff. “I think it’s cool to celebrate our country, our history — something to be very proud of.” 

Strohmeyer added that she hoped celebrating the country’s 250th would bring people together, rather than further separate them. 

Honest Abe

Many attendees came in customized outfits featuring sequins, American flag print or political slogans. 

One, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, called himself Honest Abe and said his real first name was Alex, but declined to provide States Newsroom his last name. He is a frequent presence at Trump’s rallies, and said he has twice been recognized by the president for his historical garb. The back of his jacket featured an image of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk with the words “Martyr for Truth and Freedom.”

As people milled about the kickoff celebration, many stopped to take their picture with the Lincoln impersonator who wore a “special guest” credential issued by Freedom 250. He gave several interviews. 

“We’ll be happy to see him again, and to celebrate America 250 years, to be here with the patriots,” he said of Trump. 

The impersonator said that, after George Washington and, of course, Lincoln, Trump ranks as the third-best president “in the Holy Story of America.” 

Summer of celebration

Freedom 250, the Trump administration’s iteration of semiquincentennial celebrations, will stretch through the summer, with the Great American State Fair on the National Mall until July 10 followed by a high school athletic competition and an INDYCAR race around the National Mall in August.

The White House worked with the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship to promote a series of primetime mixed martial arts fights on Flag Day, and Trump’s 80th birthday, as a kickoff to the semiquincentennial.

The administration’s Freedom 250 events are not part of the America250 commission created by Congress a decade ago that is hosting events and initiatives around the country on Independence Day and throughout 2026.

WASHINGTON — The Republican-led U.S. Senate served up a rare public check on President Donald Trump’s agenda Tuesday when it voted to approve a House-passed War Powers Resolution to end hostilities in Iran.

Senate approval marked the first time both chambers have agreed in a rebuke of Trump over his war in Iran.

The concurrent resolution, which passed 50-48, does not require the president’s signature and its enforceability has been a perennial topic of debate. 

The Senate’s approval occurred against the backdrop of the administration’s peace deal negotiations with Iran, which have been criticized from both sides of the aisle.

Four Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the measure: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Rand Paul of Kentucky; Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, who recently lost his primary race after Trump endorsed an opponent; and Susan Collins, who’s fighting a tough reelection campaign in Maine. 

Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no. Paul and Fetterman have broken ranks with their parties on several previous Iran War Powers Resolution votes.

Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was recently hospitalized, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania did not vote. McCormick was with Trump on a trip to Pennsylvania.

Debate over impact

Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, argue that War Powers Resolutions are not constitutional. 

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1983 ruled against the validity of congressional measures that do not require a president’s signature.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Congress “stood up to Donald Trump and voted to end his costly, unnecessary, and devastating war with Iran.”

“Let me be clear: for the first time, this resolution has passed both chambers of Congress and does not require the President’s signature. The message from the only branch of government with the power to declare war is unmistakable: the Trump administration must withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran. The pressure on Republicans mounts,” Schumer said in a statement following the vote.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who sponsored the original resolution that passed the House on June 3, said the measure is binding and the president “must cease all hostilities against Iran.”

“Regardless of what President Trump says, this measure is binding under the War Powers Resolution, and I will explore all legal avenues to ensure the Executive complies with the will of Congress. Congress never authorized this failed war, and the president certainly has no authority to continue it indefinitely without our consent as the Constitution demands,” Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.

The White House declined to comment on the vote.

Negotiations continue

Administration officials, who maintain hostilities ended in early April, are on a 60-day clock to hammer out a final agreement with Iran. 

As part of a temporary memorandum of understanding in effect during talks, the administration lifted its naval blockade of Iranian ports and economic sanctions on Iranian oil, allowing the Islamic Republic to now sell on the global market. 

The interim deal also charges Iran with demining the Strait of Hormuz and allowing tankers and cargo ships to travel unimpeded while Iran and Oman create a scheme for passage through the narrow shipping route where one-fifth of the world’s petroleum traveled prior to the war.

Trump issued social media threats to Iran over the weekend as Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority continued to impose certain requirements for ships to pass.

Thirteen American service members died in the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, and over 400 have been injured, according to the Pentagon. Thousands of civilians across Iran and the Gulf region were killed during the fighting.

Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said at a late morning press conference in Washington, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to hammer out a nuclear deal.

The agreement is “a win-win situation” for the U.S., Vance said.

“If they change their behavior, big things are going to happen for Iran and for the world,” Vance said. “If they don’t, no skin off our backs” because Iran’s nuclear program and military are “still destroyed.”

The agreement immediately stops hostilities that began Feb. 28. The war claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members, thousands of civilians in Iran, Lebanon and across the Gulf region, and disrupted the global economy. 

Vance said the “Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this process,” highlighting that the agreement binds Israel to ceasing its bombing campaign in Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Without specifying a date, Vance said he expects to brief Congress but is “quite confident” the administration does not need congressional approval on terms of the deal that will lift sanctions on Iran, despite the claims of some U.S. senators.

‘Just signed it’

Vance was slated to finalize the 14-point memorandum of understanding in Switzerland Friday, but President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced early Thursday morning that he had signed the deal while attending a state dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles after the G7 summit among the world’s wealthiest nations concluded.

“Just signed it,” Trump told journalists after hugging and saying goodbye to France’s president and first lady Brigitte Macron just after 1 a.m. local time, according to the traveling press.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted images on social media early Thursday of the signed agreement in English and Farsi. 

“This text is the reflection of the voice of a nation that did not trade its dignity and independence for any threat or pressure. What was recorded today was the result of national resilience, political rationality, and responsible diplomacy,” he wrote, according to a translation on X.

Trump posted a series of messages about the signed memorandum on his own social media site, Truth Social, Thursday morning, including a link to a news article about Pope Leo commending the deal. The Trump administration engaged in a public war of words with Leo in April.

“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! President DJT” the president posted online early Thursday.

Hours later, in all caps, he wrote: “OIL IS FLOWING, IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON (THE WORLD WILL BE SAFE!), THE STOCK MARKETS ARE ROARING, JOBS ARE AT RECORDS, AND PRICES ARE DROPPING (AFFORDABILITY!). OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG, SAFE, AND RESPECTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE. ‘YOU’RE WELCOME!’ President DJT”

‘Foreign policy blunder’

Several, including some from the president’s own party, have been critical of the agreement.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who recently lost his primary after Trump endorsed an opponent, said in a statement on social media the deal “is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

“Reagan is rolling over in his grave. Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.

“Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped.”

Sen. John Kennedy, also a Louisiana Republican, said on the Senate floor Thursday morning “We ought to give peace a chance. It’s only 60 days and we’re going to just have to trust the president on this one.”

Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday read to reporters a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran to stop the ongoing war and allow for further negotiations, but did not release the exact text.

The 60-day MOU outlines the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief and reconstruction funds for Iran, and the promise of negotiations on Iran ending its nuclear program. Senior administration officials say economic and sanctions relief will only occur if Iran is on “good behavior.”

“If we think that they’re just dragging us along and kind of bull- – – -ting us, then we’ll be very quick to pull the plug on it and go back to tightening the screws on them very, very aggressively,” a senior administration official who did not want to be identified said on a Wednesday afternoon call with reporters.

President Donald Trump told reporters in France he “might” stay in Europe for the ceremonial signing of the memo, but doubted it.

“This is a memorandum of understanding. It’s very important, but it might not be the kind of a document that I should be signing,” Trump told reporters at his final press conference of the G7 summit, a meeting of the world’s wealthiest capitalist economies.

Earlier Wednesday he told reporters at the G7, “If I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head.”

Trump announced Monday he had reached a ceasefire agreement with Iranian officials to temporarily end the war, which has lasted longer than 100 days, but the administration had not released any part of the agreement until Wednesday. Members of the U.S. Senate complained they had not seen the details and some said they wanted to vote on a final agreement.

Iran’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed in a social media post Monday that a deal had been reached.

Iranians requested the United States not release the text until language was finalized, according to a second senior administration official who added “it was obviously unfortunate we weren’t able to put it out right away.” 

“We were trying to accommodate their domestic messaging and their domestic politics. We’re trying to build trust with them, and that’s what they asked us to do, so we agreed to do it.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on social media June 12 against speculation on the deal which “has never been closer” and said details would be shared with the public “in due course.”

Nuclear weapons

The 14-paragraph “Islamabad memorandum of understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” which the second senior administration official read on the call, declares an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

The White House declined to provide a written copy of the MOU to reporters.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not agreed publicly to withdraw forces from Lebanon, which emerged as a second front of the war that the U.S. launched in tandem with Israel in February.

The U.S. and Iran have 60 days, “extendable with consent” to reach a final deal.

According to the agreement, Iran “reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.”

The document charges the U.S. and Iran to agree on how to deal with Iran’s buried stockpile of enriched uranium, with the minimum arrangement being the “down blending” of the material on site under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.  

“The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal,” according to the MOU.

In 2018, Trump pulled the U.S. out of a previous nuclear agreement brokered by former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Obama appeared skeptical Saturday of Trump’s nuclear negotiations with Iran.

“It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place and had worked for, for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it,” he told ABC News’ Robin Roberts.

Reopening Strait of Hormuz

The agreement also commits the U.S. to “immediately” begin the removal of its naval blockade on Iranian ports, with a full and final stoppage to occur within 30 days.

The U.S. will also have to remove military forces from the vicinity of Iran, meaning the American forces “will return our force posture in the region to that which existed before the conflict started,” according to the administration official.

Roughly 40,000 troops were in the region prior to the war. That number increased to approximately 50,000 after Feb. 28.

For its part, Iran must “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa,” according to the agreement. 

However, the MOU continues: “The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start in considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days.”

From there, Iranian officials agreed to negotiate a plan with the sultan of Oman and Persian Gulf states on “future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The war’s de facto closing of the strait has rocked economies across the globe, as 20% of the world’s petroleum exports passed uninterrupted through the narrow waterway prior to the conflict. Oil prices reached $120 per barrel during the height of the conflict but have fallen to roughly $79 this week.

Article 38 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea declares passage through straits a right that should not be impeded, though neither the U.S. nor Iran are party to the international agreement.

$300B in reconstruction funds

In perhaps one of the most “controversial” parts of the MOU, according to the senior official, Iran could see up to $300 billion in reconstruction funds.

The White House official was quick to downplay the prospect of Iran reaping billions of U.S. dollars.

“Note that it doesn’t require us to do anything to, one, to ever pay a cent of money to the Iranians, (and) to ever contribute money to this reconstruction fund,” the official said.

“What it says is that if we get to a final deal, and if the Iranians behave, we will permit the sanctions relief that would allow, for example, the Emiratis to build a power plant in Iran. That’s all it says. If they do what they have to do, we will permit the investment and the reconstruction of their country,” the official said.

Additionally, upon the signing of the MOU, the U.S. Department of Treasury will immediately issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products, as well as associated activities, including bank transactions and insurance, according to the document.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday Sunday cageside at a multimillion-dollar bloody mixed martial arts event staged on the White House South Lawn, punctuated by fighter jet flyovers, a live military band and fireworks to mark the country’s 250th anniversary.  

It also included the airing of a conspiracy theory about a former first lady, Michelle Obama, during post-fight comments by one of the contestants.

The spectacle promoted by the Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, billed as Freedom 250, was exclusively shown on the paid subscription platform Paramount+. The Trump-organized event was not affiliated with the national nonpartisan organization America 250, a commission created by Congress.

Aside from a blood sport taking place in the backyard of the White House, the night served as a first for several other extraordinary sights. That included live pre-fight sports commentary from inside the White House, and fighters warming up in offices-turned-lockerrooms at the neighboring Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

VIPs, including members of Congress and tech giants, sat under the lights in the temporary arena able to hold up to 4,300 guests. Tens of thousands of UFC fans crowded the Ellipse, where the fights were displayed on two mammoth screens.

The event reportedly cost $60 million, according to a government court filing. VIP sponsorship packages, including a chance to sit cage-side under “the claw” cost up to the widely reported price tag of $1.5 million.

Between praise for the American military and Jesus Christ, fighters delivered insulting and expletive-laden comments from inside “the Octagon.” Two American fighters, Bo Nikal and Josh Hokit, thanked Trump for having “the balls” to host the event at the White House. 

Hokit, a former NFL player, during his live post-fight comments to massively popular podcast host Joe Rogan, insulted Brazilian fighter Alex Pereira’s mother and then repeated a right-wing conspiracy theory claiming former first lady Michelle Obama is “a man.”

Josh Hokit gifts @POTUS his chain pic.twitter.com/506ZwmKavg

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) June 15, 2026

Rogan did not challenge the comment. Shortly after his remark, Hokit placed his victory chain around Trump’s neck and the two shook hands. The moment was captured and posted on social media by White House special assistant Margo Martin.

The official UFC YouTube clip of the California heavyweight’s speech does not include his unfounded insult of Obama.

Bright lights and flyovers

Spotlights from the UFC’s 92-foot steel canopy that dwarfed the White House and towered over “the Octagon” cage could be seen in the night sky from neighborhoods around Washington, D.C., and several residents took to social media to complain that a B-1 bomber flyover at 11:30 p.m. Eastern woke them. Fireworks exploded until nearly 1:30 a.m.

Drinks in hand, U.S. service members in short-sleeve dress uniforms celebrated from the seats — several sailors even taking part in the “YMCA” dance during the Marine Corps band’s live cover of the Village People’s 1978 hit, a staple at Trump’s events. 

Trump and UFC CEO Dana White entered the arena just before 8:30 p.m. Shortly after, a dozen fighter jets, in a joint “Super Delta” formation performed by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels, flew overhead during the national anthem, performed by country music star Zac Brown.

Trump sat just below the fighting cage between first lady Melania Trump and White, an ally who has delivered primetime addresses in support of Trump at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Republican National Conventions.

Trump was surrounded by family, including his son, Barron, who sat behind him and shook hands with several guests who approached the president, according to pooled dispatches from the White House press corps.

Several winning fighters jumped over the cage rail to shake the president’s hand following the individual matches.

Eight US fighters

Of the seven-fight card’s 14 competitors, eight were American. The violent bouts were accompanied by cheers of “USA!” and various taunts, including shouts that Canada should be “the 51st state” as American bantamweight fighter Sean O’Malley defeated Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi. Trump applauded O’Malley and shook his hand following the individual fight.

The main event featured a title match between lightweights American Justin Gaethje and Spanish-Georgian Ilia Topuria. Officials named Gaethje the winner just after 1 a.m., as the badly battered Topuria, with a bloodied face, was declared incapable of continuing, according to pool reports.

Fighters were paid a $250,000 performance bonus sponsored by World Liberty Financial, a crypto currency venture owned by the Trump family, according to broadcast announcers.

Cameras delivering the exclusive Paramount stream showed notable lawmakers and tech moguls in the crowd, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., former wrestler and college wrestling coach Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The press corps reported Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was also nearby.

Trump, Zuckerberg and White spoke for several minutes during a break in the fights just before 10 p.m., according to pool reports.

Other notable guests included Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, one of the event’s two primary sponsors, and Polish President Karol Nawrocki.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney and his attorney general nominee, shook hands as he moved through the crowd, according to press pool reports. Several other presidential Cabinet members were present, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Thursday signed a “sports diplomacy” agreement with UFC.

Also in attendance was Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, whose reportedly $111 billion corporate takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, was cleared by the Justice Department Friday, a key last step for the merger. 

Paramount+ has a $7.7 billion multi-year content deal to exclusively carry UFC events.

The event, which was to start at 8 p.m., was delayed for roughly an hour because of the threat of thunderstorms. The fights wrapped up just after 1 a.m.

Weekend festivities included a UFC press conference Friday night in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and a two-day fan festival on the Ellipse that featured motorcycle stunts from the Nitro Circus and a concert from the Georgia-based Zac Brown Band.

The UFC controlled media credentialing for the event on the White House grounds.

‘No Kings’ protest

The event faced sharp criticism but remained unscathed by an eleventh-hour lawsuit challenging the legality of UFC’s use of the White House lawn.

Performers and celebrities staged a counter-concert organized by the Committee for the First Amendment, an activist coalition of artists spearheaded by Jane Fonda. 

The No Kings protest organization promoted a livestream from The Town Hall in New York City, and encouraged people to organize remote watch parties for the “Rise Up, Sing Out” concert featuring Patti Smith, Bette Midler and Rufus Wainwright, among others.

C-SPAN also streamed the nearly two-and-a-half hour concert, though some performances were muted because of licensing restrictions.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction Friday halting the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for one week, giving the government time to sign a “clear, unambiguous” agreement that the fund is dead.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said from the bench the agreement must be signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The balance of harms tips in the favor of the plaintiff,” said Brinkema, a Clinton administration appointee.

Brinkema had already temporarily blocked the fund on May 29 on an emergency basis.  

The prospect that the fund would pay Trump’s supporters, including those who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, sparked multiple lawsuits, including the filing in Virginia. 

Challengers included a former Department of Justice Jan. 6 prosecutor who was fired last year and a protester at an immigration raid last year who was charged with a felony, and has since been acquitted by a jury. The plaintiffs are represented by the legal advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Common Cause. 

The Department of Justice announced the creation of the fund, in the amount of $1.776 billion, on May 18 in exchange for President Donald Trump voluntarily dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leak of his tax returns nearly seven years ago.

Issue not moot, judge says

During a hearing that lasted less than an hour, Brinkema swiftly called Andrew Block, senior counsel to the U.S. associate attorney general, to speak first.

“You’re a brave man, Mr. Block. You’re all by yourself. Frankly, you’re in the hot seat,” Brinkema said, noting that Block was the only representative for the government in the courtroom.

Brinkema kicked off questioning by asking Block if he’d had a chance to find an answer to why Blanche has not formally rescinded the “anti-weaponization” fund in writing. 

The question had been posed to Block by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia less than 48 hours ago during a hearing for a separate lawsuit against the fund. Block, who also appeared alone before Leon, told the judge he did not know the reason Blanche had not issued a written order.

“Do you have an answer to that question now?” Brinkema asked.

“Your honor, I don’t. I don’t have the ability to speak to the AG,” he responded.

As he did in federal court June 10, Block argued that Blanche testified publicly before Congress that the administration was not moving forward with the fund, and that Blanche had signed legal briefs on the matter.

Acknowledging those arguments, Leon denied an emergency request to block the fund, saying the case appeared “moot.”

Brinkema, however, said she does not agree with Leon’s assessment. 

Doubting whether any of Blanche’s verbal or written statements to stop the fund had been made under penalty of perjury, Brinkema said, “that means the issue, in my view, is not moot.”

Brinkema also cited Trump’s public comments praising the fund, even after Blanche’s declaration it would not move forward.

“When the president of the United States says he’s going to be disappointed if something doesn’t happen, that’s a pretty good indication that it (could) happen,” Brinkema said.

“There are a lot of people out there who think this fund is up and running,” she added.

Block responded: “People may think a lot of things.” He said “what I can tell you” is that no commissioners have been appointed to the fund to establish a claim system.

No lawful business restrained

Block, as he did before Judge Leon, dismissed the plaintiffs’ allegations as “what-ifs,” based on a “loose factual record that is premature.”

Referring to the departments of Justice and Treasury, Brinkema asked, “What injury do they face if the court issues a preliminary injunction at this point?”

Block argued any temporary order to block the fund would mean the government was being “restrained” in conducting business.

“You think this is lawful business? This is a serious issue,” Brinkema said, adding the “only reason this fund exists” is because it’s a settlement in the president’s IRS case, which is “under severe scrutiny.”

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, in the Southern District of Florida, has asked for the government’s response by day’s end to a May 27 request from 35 former federal judges to reopen the case. The judges allege the government deceived the court by not sharing all details of the settlement.

Blanche on Capitol Hill

The Department of Justice declined to comment Friday.

The department maintains the fund does not exist, based on Blanche’s June 2 statements before a House Appropriations subcommittee that the department was “not moving forward with the fund, period.”

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, wrote in a statement the “ruling is a significant victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and people in America.” 

“The court recognized the serious legal concerns raised by the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to create a secretive, taxpayer-funded compensation program,” she continued. “Despite the administration’s shifting explanations about the future of the slush fund, the court’s order ensures that taxpayer dollars cannot be distributed through this unlawful scheme while the courts fully consider the serious constitutional issues at stake.”

WASHINGTON — Advertisements for Polymarket and Bud Light lined an eight-sided cage on the White House grounds Thursday ahead of a series of mixed martial arts fights scheduled for Sunday, President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, and billed as a celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

The Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship company, whose chief executive is an ally of the president’s, will stage the seven-fight card that has drawn curiosity, outrage, a legal challenge and lots of money.

The organization, led by Dana White, who delivered primetime speeches for Trump at the last three Republican National Conventions, is expecting over 65,000 fans at the two-day festival on the Ellipse beginning Saturday. 

The event reportedly cost $60 million, according to a government court filing. VIP sponsorship packages, including a chance to sit cage-side under “the claw” on the lawn of what’s often referred to as “The People’s House,” could cost up to the widely reported price tag of $1.5 million. 

Corporate organizers were laying finishing touches this week on a 92-foot red, white and blue structure that towers over the White House and reaches a radius around the fighting “octagon” — still under protective covering — to fit roughly 4,300 exclusive seats.

Space for tens of thousands more spectators who can watch the fights on large screens is designated on the Ellipse, which will be open only to ticketholders and UFC-approved media. Up to 120,000 fans who scored free tickets in a lottery are expected, according to the administration. Additionally, the administration has invited 1,000 members of the armed services.

The event, which is billing itself as “UFC Freedom 250,” is not affiliated with the national nonpartisan organization America 250, a commission created by Congress to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial.

A June 10 promotional UFC article described the event as a “celebration of how far mixed martial arts has come and how deeply the UFC has embedded itself into mainstream sports and culture.” 

The main card will feature lightweight title champion Ilia Topuria up against interim champion Justin Gaethje and a heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.

The advertising blitz on grounds owned by the federal government has inspired accusations of corruption. Brendan Ballou, founder of the Public Integrity Project, which is suing to stop the event, said the main purpose is “to enrich the President and his friends.” 

Corporate tie-ins

The event has provided corporate advertising opportunities, including for companies with close ties to Trump, and “came together by special invite from the President of the United States,” according to UFC’s press materials. 

Dodge and Crypto.com are primary sponsors. Dodge is heavily promoting its line of Ram trucks at the event and Crypto.com will offer a $1 million in Cronos, the company’s digital currency, bonus pool to the evening’s top fighters. 

The fight will stream on Paramount Plus, the platform owned by Paramount Skydance, the mega-media company whose high-profile 2025 merger the Trump administration approved. UFC recently reached a $7.7 billion deal with the streamer giving it exclusive streaming rights for seven years.

The White House collaborated with sports apparel company Fanatics to create an exclusive “USA 250” patch and logo that will be featured on fighters’ uniforms and on merchandise for sale, according to the UFC.

 

An Ultimate Fighting Championship cage, or “octagon,” on the White House South Lawn on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Video by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) 

The “Octagon girls,” scantily clad young women who are fight mainstays and promoted by the company, “will wear a variety of custom outfits that will align with the overall theme of UFC FREEDOM 250 and further celebrate America’s history,” according to press materials.

Trump has made no secret of his support for the MMA fight promotion company owned by his friend. He began promising a UFC fight on the White House lawn while on the campaign trail in 2024. 

The president purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 of stock in TKO Group Holdings, UFC’s parent company, in March, according to public reporting and court filings.

In April, as Vice President JD Vance was in Pakistan wrapping up failed peace negotiations to end the U.S.-Iran war, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared together at a UFC cage match in Miami. 

A press conference is scheduled for the event Friday at the Lincoln Memorial and the Georgia-based Zac Brown Band is set to perform Saturday night, according to a court filing from the government. 

Block attempt

Critics have panned the event as a “corrupt scheme,” and some are hoping for a last-minute court order to stop the event altogether.

The nationwide anti-Trump organization No Kings has partnered with the Committee for the First Amendment to host and livestream a concert from New York City that will feature Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright and Bette Midler. 

The groups are encouraging people to organize watch parties for the concert, which will occur at the same time as the “UFC cage fight spectacle,” No Kings organizers said in a statement.

The Public Integrity Project, an anti-corruption advocacy organization, is backing two Virginians who say the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior are illegally lending out the public land for a massive event without permission from Congress and necessary environmental reviews.

“If this fight is allowed to proceed, it will be only the beginning, and our national monuments will become little more than branding opportunities for the rich and well-connected. We plan to stop that,” Ballou said in a statement June 6 upon filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The plaintiffs, a Vietnam War veteran and a civic activist, requested an emergency order from the court to halt the fight while the case plays out.

Legal decision coming 

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, issued an order Thursday stating he would not schedule an emergency hearing but rather decide based on written briefs.

In its response, the Trump administration dismissed the lawsuit as meritless, and noted that it did not name UFC as a defendant. Department of Justice lawyers wrote the plaintiffs are “two individuals: one who plans to walk past the event (intentionally ‘coming to the nuisance’) and another who might happen to drive past it.”

“Two Plaintiffs with idiosyncratic preferences cannot use equity to upend an event of this cost and magnitude at the last minute and spoil the evenings of tens of thousands of other Americans who wish to celebrate their pride in their country in a manner that Plaintiffs disdain,” the DOJ argued.

“No one is holding Plaintiffs in a jiu jitsu lock, forcing them to watch UFC Freedom 250 against their will,” the brief continued. “The public interest does not favor allowing them to exercise a heckler’s veto, particularly at this late date.”

The White House, which has referred all questions about the event to the UFC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mehta’s decision to not hold a hearing.

The UFC did not respond to questions, including a request for comment on the pending lawsuit, the cost of the event and sponsorship packages, how many tickets have been sold and if the organization has a weather contingency plan for possible storms. 

WASHINGTON — A federal judge denied a temporary restraining order Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, saying the issue is moot after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration is “not moving forward” with the controversial plan.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said during an afternoon hearing he’s “not persuaded that such a live controversy exists.” Leon said he was relying on Blanche’s public statements and DOJ’s court filings as proof the fund is dead.

The legal advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, brought the lawsuit just days after Blanche issued the May 18 order to establish the fund, in the amount of $1.776 billion, for “victims of lawfare.”

Nikhel Sus, senior counsel for CREW, argued Blanche’s June 2 statements to the House Appropriations Committee are “not a legally valid rescission” until the DOJ puts in writing the fund is canceled.

“Even (Blanche’s) testimony was equivocal. … He refused to memorialize that rescission,” Sus said, adding it was “highly unusual.”

“This whole case is highly unusual, to say the least,” Leon responded.

Sus also argued Trump’s comments to reporters a day later praising the fund “directly contradicted” Blanche’s statement to Congress.

“I love it,” Trump said of the fund in his first public remarks after Blanche’s Capitol Hill testimony. “I think it’s so important.”

“These words carry immense significance,” Sus said Wednesday, noting the president oversees the DOJ and is plaintiff in the lawsuit against the IRS that resulted in the settlement fund.

Leon pressed back, saying that Trump’s comments do not mean the fund is going forward.

“He might be doing what he’s doing for political benefit to himself,” Leon said.

Termination in writing?

Andrew Block, senior counsel to the U.S. associate attorney general, criticized CREW for arguing that Blanche was “outright lying to Congress.”

“Why doesn’t he rescind the May 18 order?” Leon asked.

“I don’t know the reason for that,” Block responded.

Block panned CREW’s case as “simply not ripe for judicial review,” and dismissed the group’s argument that the fund evades transparency laws and is not structured to reveal information on awards or claimants.

“No money has been transferred and certainly no money has been sent out to claimants,” Block said.

Again, Leon asked: “So why not rescind it?”

“Your honor, I don’t know. All I know is what the acting attorney general said,” Block replied.

“Our briefs are our assurances in writing,” he added.

Upon his bench order denying CREW’s motion to immediately block the fund, Leon said he would soon issue his ruling on the group’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would block the fund during further litigation.

Leon warned Block that the DOJ should be forthcoming as the case proceeds. 

“Don’t play possum with the court,” he said.

The DOJ did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

CREW President Donald K. Sherman said in a statement following Leon’s decision that “the court clearly committed to hold the DOJ and its attorneys to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s promise that the fund is not moving forward.” 

“This is an important step. Although the court did not grant another temporary restraining order today, it made clear that if the government goes back on its commitment to shut down the fund that the court will hold it accountable,” Sherman said.

Fund jammed congressional work

The case before Leon is not the only legal challenge to the fund. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia temporarily blocked the fund until Friday when the government and plaintiffs will appear in court. A former DOJ Jan. 6 prosecutor who was fired last year is among the plaintiffs.

The fund sparked multiple lawsuits and intense protest from Democrats and two police officers who deployed to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The former officers, U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Washington Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, also sued. 

The prospect that the fund could pay Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted police roiled Republicans as well. The GOP-led $70 billion immigration enforcement package was stalled in the Senate for over a week until Blanche’s testimony that the administration was “not moving forward” broke the logjam.

Ultimately, Senate Republicans did not adopt any restrictions to limit or ban the fund structure.

Trump’s announcement last week that Blanche, who was his personal attorney in 2023 and 2024, was his pick for attorney general has further fueled intense scrutiny from Democrats. Trump formally nominated Blanche, of Florida, Monday.

During a virtual press conference Wednesday opposing the nomination, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said “Blanche’s dirty fingerprints (are) all over the cop beaters slush fund, which may actually have been intended as a payroll account for Trump’s November election interference for his thugs to go hit the polling places.”

He added the fund “landed with a huge thud among Republicans, and so he’s going to carry that stone as he tries to move through confirmation.”

The fund was part of a deal for Trump to voluntarily drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leak of his tax returns nearly seven years ago. As part of the settlement, Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization will be immune from tax audits and other criminal prosecution going forward.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was mum about the IRS immunity deal when pressed by bipartisan members of the Senate Finance Committee on June 3.

A federal judge in the Southern District of Florida reopened the case after 35 former federal judges intervened, arguing the Trump administration deceived the court by not sharing all details of the settlement. The judge will hear arguments Friday.

WASHINGTON — As various officials and groups aim to use the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, with the help of a famed sitcom actor, turned the spotlight Tuesday to a central tenet of U.S. democracy: religious freedom. 

Actor Rainn Wilson, widely known for playing Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office,” joined a press conference that U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., hosted along with religious leaders to advocate for the American tradition of religious freedom.

Reading from the Declaration of Independence, Wilson, an outspoken member of the  Baha’i faith that originated in 19th-century Persia, now Iran, said the nation’s 250th anniversary “is an opportunity to ask profound questions.”

“How can we give fresh expression to the ideals in the declaration?” he asked. “How can we leave behind tendencies that divide us and replace them with a widening circle of concern? We need to be able to speak and think in terms of spiritual and moral dimensions of individual and collective life.

“We need to do that in ways that are meaningful across different perspectives, both religious and secular,” he continued. 

Wilson’s appearance marked the public release of the Baha’i faith’s five-part letter “A Common Endeavor,” which argues for the realization of “ideals, like freedom, equality, and justice” as many Americans have become “exhausted and disillusioned by polarization.”

The press conference was attended by members of several denominations, and is among numerous independent events ahead of the 250th anniversary of the United States. 

‘A universal human right’

Boyle cited Baha’i writings that “beautifully” emphasize unity.

“My own Catholic faith teaches a similar truth. Pope Francis reminded us that we are called to come together as brothers and sisters, quote, ‘as children from the same earth,’” Boyle said.

“My hope is that for America’s 250th anniversary, this will be more of a focus on what our next 250 years look like, rather than just a wonderful commemoration of the past quarter of a millennium.”

Bilirakis, an Orthodox Christian who co-chairs the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, said, “Religious freedom is not simply an American value, it is a universal human right, and I truly believe that.”

“Whether we are speaking out on behalf of the persecuted Christians, Muslims, Jews, Baha’is, Hindus, Buddhists, Uyghurs, or members of other faith communities, our message must remain clear,” he said. “Every person is endowed with inherent dignity and deserves the freedom to live according to their conscience.”

Bilirakis is an original cosponsor of a House resolution condemning the Iran government’s persecution of Baha’is. The resolution was introduced in December 2025, just months before the U.S. escalated war in Iran.

Pentagon list

The event on Capitol Hill, though unrelated, happened just one day after the Pentagon modified its list of recognized religions following criticism from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.

Utah’s two Republican Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis directly appealed to the administration to change the Department of Defense list, which did not categorize the Latter-day Saints as Christian.

On Friday, the Pentagon revised its list of recognized religions for service members to 31, down from roughly 200.

The Pentagon’s shortened list includes the Baha’i faith.

WASHINGTON — U.S. forces launched renewed strikes on Iran late Tuesday, in response to the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter a day earlier, according to U.S. Central Command. 

President Donald Trump ordered the operation, which began at 5 p.m. Eastern and was “a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” a social media account for U.S. Central Command posted Tuesday evening.

Trump said earlier Tuesday the United States would retaliate after Iran shot down the helicopter late Monday over the Strait of Hormuz, and that the two American pilots aboard were unharmed.

Trump announced the cause of the helicopter’s downing in a Truth Social post just before 1 p.m. Eastern. As of early Tuesday morning, the incident had still been under investigation, according to U.S. Central Command.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the president wrote.

Despite recent exchanges of fire, the administration maintains the war, named by the Pentagon as Operation Epic Fury, is over and that an April 7 ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran remains in place. 

On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News, Trump said, before abruptly walking out of the interview a short time later, “I call it a military exercise because people would rather have it called that. It’s not a big war for us.” 

The two military pilots were rescued at 7:33 p.m. Eastern time after the AH-64 Apache went down off the coast of Oman while the military was patrolling regional waters, according to U.S. Central Command.

“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

“Rescue efforts were led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from U.S. Air Force and Navy units including U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” according to the command’s statement posted on social media just after 6 a.m. Eastern.

The U.S. continues to block traffic to and from Iranian ports, and as recently as Monday fired on an empty oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman the military said was breaking the blockade just southeast of the Strait of Hormuz.

According to U.S. Central Command, American forces have disabled seven non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13.

Iran has all but choked off international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supply traveled before the war.

War status

Thirteen U.S. service members have died in the conflict, which began on Feb. 28. 

The Pentagon’s tally for service members injured stands at 411 as of Tuesday. Despite the administration’s stance that the war is over, the Defense Casualty Analysis System lists one U.S. sailor as “wounded in action” in June as part of Operation Epic Fury.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified last week before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs that the U.S. war in Iran was “over.”

In response to a question from Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., about who won the war, Rubio answered, “Epic Fury is over, which is what you would consider the war.”

The U.S. launched the conflict in conjunction with Israel, and the Israeli government’s continued bombardment of southern Lebanon has stymied further peace talks — though Trump has repeatedly claimed Iran wants to make a deal.

Iran and Israel exchanged rocket fire Sunday into Monday for the first time since April.

Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in mid-April, Israel’s bombing campaign has continued in southern Lebanon, as Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters refuse to recognize the agreement.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon changed course Monday after its removal of dozens of religious denominations from a list of recognized faiths drew intense criticism over the weekend from Utah Republicans incensed by the failure to classify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian denomination.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a member of the church widely known as the Mormon church, said the policy for military chaplains announced Friday was “offensive” and demanded the Pentagon reverse course, which the department did Monday afternoon.

“It’s also just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations,” Lee, a Utah Republican, said in a video statement posted to social media Sunday night.

“So I’m respectfully imploring the people at the Pentagon to reconsider this, not just reconsider but undo it,” Lee continued. “Secretary Hegseth: Tear down that wall. This is not cool.”

Hours later, Lee wrote on social media that he personally spoke to President Donald Trump on the phone about the “Pentagon’s ‘Christian list’” and told people to “stay tuned.”

“I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading,” Lee wrote. “We’re most fortunate that President Trump (1) loves Latter-day Saints, and (2) is our commander in chief.” 

A spokesperson with Lee’s office told States Newsroom Monday the senator received assurances from the administration that the issue will be resolved.

Just after noon Eastern time Monday, the Pentagon pointed States Newsroom to a social media post showing an updated list without the word “Christian” before any of the denominations.

“The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks,” according to the post by an account with the handle “DOW Rapid Response,” using the acronym for the administration’s preferred but unofficial name, Department of War.

Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, also spoke out on social media stating the church is “unequivocally Christian.”

“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets,” he wrote Saturday.

A concern from lawmakers is that service members who belong to the Latter-day Saints may not receive services from a Christian chaplain.

The issue places the Pentagon in the middle of a longtime theological dispute between Latter-day Saints, who believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and consider themselves Christian, and some members of other Christian faiths who believe the Salt Lake City-based church should be viewed as outside of Christianity.

Latter-day Saint church leaders declined to comment Monday.

The White House pointed States Newsroom to the department’s Monday afternoon social media announcement.

Shorter list

Citing a two-page letter posted to social media Friday, Parnell said the department was making a “long overdue move” to reduce the military chaplains’ overall list of religious affiliations to 31, down from an “unmanageable” 200.

“This decrease in religious affiliation codes is not designed to make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief, nor is it intended to provide a list of ‘officially approved’ religions. Rather, it is designed to allow chaplains to quickly look at the religious composition of their units and determine how they structure resources to best provide for warfighters of all faith groups,” Parnell wrote.

The list includes 21 separate Christian denominations, but lists the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints separately.

‘Christian nationalist takeover’

Criticism of the new list reverberated beyond Latter-day Saints.

Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president and CEO of the Interfaith Alliance advocacy group accused the administration Friday of pushing a “Christian nationalist takeover of the Department of Defense.”

“Religious freedom in the military must mean religious freedom for everyone who serves, not just those this administration finds politically useful,” Raushenbush said in a statement.

“Secretary Hegseth is not ‘streamlining’ anything. He is elevating one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of command. That is dangerous, discriminatory and fundamentally un-American. The First Amendment does not allow the government to create a hierarchy of faiths, and it certainly does not allow the Pentagon to decide which beliefs are worthy of recognition.”

Hegseth announced a restructuring of the military’s chaplain corps in March, which he said had been “infected with political correctness and secular humanism.”

Hegseth hosts a monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, to fill the top role at the Department of Justice on a permanent basis, he said Wednesday night.

Trump revealed Blanche as his choice at an outdoor event at the White House, saying “we are going to make him permanent attorney general” and adding that he expects Blanche’s nomination process to “go very quickly.”

Blanche has been leading the department in an acting capacity since former Attorney General Pam Bondi exited the administration in early April.

Blanche, of Florida, will almost certainly have that state’s two Republican senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, supporting his nomination.

The GOP-led Senate confirmed Blanche as deputy attorney general in early March 2025 on a party-line vote.

Blanche represented Trump in 2023 and 2024 during a New York state hush money case. A jury convicted Trump two years ago on 34 first-degree felony counts of falsifying business records.

The close tie between the president and his pick for attorney general is a major reason Democrats will oppose the nomination, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday.

“Trump picked Blanche because he’s loyal to the president alone – not the Constitution, not the rule of law, and certainly not the American people, and not to the values that this country has had for 250 years,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “For years, Blanche has been Trump’s personal lawyer and attack dog, and that didn’t stop when Blanche joined the department.”

Anti-weaponization fund

Blanche has taken heat in recent weeks, including from Republicans, for the department’s settlement in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS.

Trump dropped the suit in exchange for the department establishing a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for persons Blanche described on May 18 as “victims of lawfare.” The settlement revealed that the fund would be governed by five commissioners hand-chosen by Blanche, with only one involving consultation from congressional leadership.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle quickly objected to the proposal, noting the possibility that people convicted — then pardoned by Trump — of assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol could receive reparations from the fund.

When pressed at a May 27 Senate hearing on whether violent Jan. 6 defendants who were pardoned could reap taxpayer dollars from the fund, Blanche replied, “Anybody can apply.

“The commission will set rules, I’m sure,” he continued. “That’s not for me to set, that’s for the commissioners, and whether an individual, an Oath Keeper, as you just mentioned, applies for compensation, anybody in this country can apply.”

Several lawsuits quickly challenged the legality of the fund, including one from former police officers who deployed to the Capitol on Jan.6, and another from legal advocates who argued the fund would be illegally shielded from transparency laws.

After intense pressure, Blanche testified to a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday that the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period.”

The concession cleared the way for reluctant Senate Republicans to support a roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement package. Senate Democrats plan to stall the bill on the floor Thursday with a marathon of amendments, including proposals to curtail or outright ban such funds going forward.

The administration is still facing questions from lawmakers about a provision in Trump’s IRS settlement that absolves him, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, from tax audits. 

Epstein files

Blanche has also come under scrutiny for the DOJ’s handling of the release of files related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The botched release last year, when Bondi headed the department, initially exposed names of sexual abuse victims.

Democrats claimed Bondi told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a closed-door interview last week that Blanche oversaw the legally mandated release of the files and made the decision to not investigate any possible leads.

Bondi refuted the claim on social media following the interview.

WASHINGTON — The day after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization” fund was dead, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent evaded questions on Capitol Hill Wednesday about whether President Donald Trump, his family and the Trump Organization would be absolved from future tax enforcement, another part of the president’s IRS settlement.

During a budget oversight hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Bessent repeatedly cited “ongoing litigation” to sidestep lawmakers’ inquiries into the settlement details the administration negotiated to voluntarily drop Trump’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the IRS for the 2019 leak of his tax returns.

Committee Chair Mike Crapo said he wanted to give Bessent a chance to “set the record straight, understanding there is ongoing litigation.”

“What can you share with us about Treasury and the IRS role in the settlement agreement, specifically since IRS CEO Frank Bisignano signed the settlement agreement?” Crapo of Idaho asked.

Bessent responded that Treasury was represented in the case by the Department of Justice and so “any additional questions about the settlement or the fund should be addressed to the Justice Department and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, the committee’s top Democrat, said during opening remarks that Bessent “owes the committee an explanation of what the Treasury knows about the dirty settlement.” 

“That’s because his department was involved from beginning to end,” the Oregon senator added. “Treasury was a defendant and a negotiator in the lawsuit.”

Moments later, Wyden asked, “Does the IRS audit immunity given to Trump, his family, and his businesses still stand? I’d like a yes-or-no answer to that. I got five minutes, I’m gonna use them for these questions, okay, so that we understand what’s at stake here. This immunity deal is the biggest scam against the taxpayer in American history.”

Bessent responded: “As Albert Einstein said, that doing the same thing, expecting a different answer is the definition of insanity.”

“You’ve given no answers on this subject, and that’s why I’m going to ask these questions,” Wyden said.

“Because, as I said, there’s ongoing litigation,” Bessent replied.

Fund fails to launch

Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization sued the IRS and the Department of Treasury for $10 billion in damages for leaking his tax returns to news outlets. The contractor responsible for the leak was sentenced in early 2024.

On May 18, the Department of Justice announced the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for “victims of lawfare.”

Under intense worry, even from Republicans, that Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted police could receive reparations, Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the DOJ would “not be moving forward with the fund.”

The creation of the fund had mired Senate Republicans’ path to approving a bill that would fund immigration enforcement for multiple years. Trump had wanted the bill on his desk by June 1.

‘FOREVER BARRED’

But lawmakers are still searching for a clear answer on the department’s May 19 settlement addendum declaring “The United States RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES each of the Plaintiffs from, and is hereby FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims, counterclaims, causes of action, appeals or requests for relief … including tax returns filed before the Effective Date.”

Senate Democrats and legal advocates representing multiple plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging the settlement criticized the arrangement Tuesday.

The Department of Justice did respond to a request for comment, and the White House referred States Newsroom to the DOJ and the Trump Organization.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund appeared to be on shaky ground Monday as he continued to face opposition from his own party.

Trump had not yet made a public announcement by late afternoon, but several media outlets reported the president planned to possibly drop the fund to clear the way for Senate Republicans to advance a $72 billion immigration enforcement funding package. Politico reported White House officials communicated the decision Monday to Republicans on Capitol Hill, according to two unnamed sources.

Trump’s fund has sparked resistance from both parties as concerns mounted that Jan. 6, 2021, riot defendants who assaulted police officers could conceivably get reparations by claiming the law was “weaponized” against them for political purposes. 

A slew of lawsuits challenging what opponents called a “slush fund” followed, including from police officers who defended the Capitol that day.

Shortly after the reports circulated that Trump might shelve the idea, the Department of Justice defended the fund on social media but said it would comply with a court order issued Friday temporarily barring the government from any further action on the fund. The order did not address the merits of a suit filed against the fund.

“The Department of Justice disagrees strongly with the decision on the Anti-Weaponization Fund put forth by the United States District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, wherein the Court stated that, under no circumstances, may the Department of Justice proceed with the Anti-Weaponization Fund recently established in order to make up for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hate unfairly shown to so many people. This Fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise. The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling,” according to the department’s post on X.

The DOJ and the White House directed States Newsroom to the post when asked if the president would scrap the fund altogether.

Several Republicans vehemently opposed the fund, including retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who called the fund “stupid on stilts.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., abandoned plans for a floor vote on the immigration bill ahead of the Memorial Day recess as members threatened to defect unless the budget reconciliation package also included language to apply guardrails on the massive “anti-weaponization” pot of money.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday that even if Trump says he will drop the fund, “a promise from Trump is worthless.”

“If Trump and Republicans are truly abandoning this corrupt scheme, they should have zero problem banning it in law,” Schumer said on the floor. “This week, Senate Democrats will push legislation to ban this slush fund and ensure no president can ever do this again. Trump’s word is nowhere near enough.”

The Department of Justice announced the $1.776 billion fund on May 18 as a condition for Trump dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. A day later, the DOJ issued another order declaring Trump and his family would be forever immune from government inquiries, including tax audits, as part of Trump’s voluntary dismissal of the suit.

WASHINGTON — Transgender military members won a temporary victory against the Trump administration in federal appeals court Monday when two judges ruled a policy banning them from service violated their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.

Judges Judith W. Rogers and Robert L. Wilkins for the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling allowing those plaintiffs involved in the case to continue their service. The decision is a preliminary injunction, meaning the case will continue to play out in court.

The policy, issued by President Donald Trump in an executive order in January 2025 and carried out by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender,” Wilkins wrote for the 2-1 decision.

“As such, at this preliminary stage, I conclude that the Hegseth Policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus, and for those reasons the Policy violates Plaintiff-Appellees’ constitutional right to equal protection of the law,” continued Wilkins, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014.

Rogers was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Judge Justin R. Walker, a 2019 Trump appointee, dissented.

Walker argued U.S. Supreme Court precedent dictates “the military can deprive its members of rights that the Constitution may well guarantee to civilians.”

“Like today’s majority, I cherish those rights, and so I understand the impulse behind the majority’s unprecedented intervention into military affairs. But because the plaintiffs are service members not civilians, and because we are judges not generals, I respectfully dissent,” Walker wrote.

Jennifer Levi, the lead attorney for the eight military plaintiffs, said Monday’s appeals ruling is an “enormous victory.”

“I will say that the plaintiffs in this case have just served their country with incredible honor and courage, and this decision is a recognition of that fact,” Levi, senior director for GLAD Law, told States Newsroom in an interview.

“And really it’s important because (it is) recognizing that those who are capable of serving should be able to continue.”

States Newsroom reached out to the Pentagon and the White House for comment. 

Eight active-duty service members and transgender individuals who are actively pursuing enlistment in the armed forces initially brought the case, Talbott et al v. Trump, against Trump and Hegseth, among other officials and three branches of the U.S. military. The number of plaintiffs has since grown.

The preliminary injunction does not extend to the plaintiffs pursuing enlistment, and does not extend universally to all active transgender service members beyond those who filed the case.

Kara Corcoran, executive director of SPARTA Pride, an advocacy organization for transgender service members, said many transgender service members, including her, are uncertain about the future of their careers.

“While today’s decision provides important relief for certain named plaintiffs, it does not extend protection to the broader transgender military community. Thousands of service members remain subject to ongoing administrative actions, involuntary separation processes, and significant uncertainty about their futures,” said Corcoran, an 18-year Army veteran who is awaiting the military’s decision on whether they will allow her to claim retirement instead of a separation because she is transgender.

Corcoran said “there’s a lot of unknowns to the future” for named plaintiffs and others as the government could seek an emergency stay on the ruling as they did in a separate case, Shilling et al v. Trump. 

In Shilling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 18, 2025, upheld a lower court’s ruling that allowed transgender troops to continue serving, denying the government’s appeal.

In May 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump to ban transgender people from the military.

“This is now two appellate courts from both Schilling and Talbot who have now signaled to the Supreme Court that yes, this is irreparable harm to people who are in (this situation), and at the same time, it’s discrimination,” she said. 

WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was on Capitol Hill Friday for a closed door interview with lawmakers about her role in the release of the federal investigation files of Jeffrey Epstein — the now deceased wealthy sex offender who surrounded himself with influential entrepreneurs, academics and celebrities, including President Donald Trump.

But Democrats speaking to reporters outside the session criticized Republicans for not conducting the interview under oath or on camera and said Bondi did not answer many questions and blamed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the chaotic release of files related to Epstein. Bondi later denied on social media she evaded questions or tried to target Blanche.

Bondi sat for a transcribed hours-long interview before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as the panel continues its probe into the government’s handling of the Epstein case and sexual abuse survivors.

Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters before the early morning interview began that the panel is “continuing to move along, and hopefully today will be beneficial.” 

Epstein estate subpoena

The committee subpoenaed Epstein’s estate in August 2025 and made public all documents it received, Comer said. He said the committee has since conducted more than a dozen interviews and has six more scheduled throughout the summer, including with Epstein’s former assistant Lesley Groff, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and private equity investor Leon Black.

“The government has failed the survivors. There’s no question about that, and that dates back five presidential administrations,” Comer said. 

Comer credited Bondi for appearing a second time before the committee and criticized Democrats who he said “got up and walked out” of the first meeting in March while Republicans “asked questions for a couple of hours.”

 

Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., who sit on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, spoke to reporters on Friday, May 29, 2026, outside the committee’s closed door interview with former Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Video by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) 

Committee Democrats were highly critical.

The panel’s ranking member, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said the interview ground rules barring video and allowing Bondi to speak without taking an oath are a “disservice to the American people.”

House Oversight Democrats, and an Epstein abuse survivor, spoke to reporters outside the committee room for roughly 30 minutes following their portion of questioning.

The minority members said Bondi refused to answer any questions related to Trump’s knowledge of how the Department of Justice was handling the Epstein documents, and that a current DOJ lawyer was in the room with Bondi, choosing which questions she would answer. 

They also said Bondi sidestepped responsibility for the mishandled release of the files that initially unmasked victims’ names.

“She continues to push all of the investigation and the blame on acting AG Todd Blanche. She said, and I quote, ‘Acting AG Blanche was managing the entire investigation,’ end quote,” Garcia said.

Blanche, whom the president named as the acting attorney general after Bondi’s exit, was Trump’s personal lawyer prior to his second term. Committee Democrats said they plan to request Blanche come before the panel for questioning.

Bondi fires back

Bondi denied Garcia’s statement to reporters that she pushed blame on Blanche for the Epstein files release.

In two posts on X Friday afternoon, Bondi wrote, “I praised Acting AG Blanche’s management of this Herculean task. I said his ethics are beyond reproach and that he is an incredible Attorney General.”

She also denied remarks to reporters by panel member Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., that she was not forthcoming about the president’s knowledge of Epstein’s actions.

“MISREPRESENTATION by Walkinshaw.  What the world knows to be true is President Trump banned Epstein from Mar a Lago decades ago bc Epstein was a despicable creep!!” Bondi wrote.

States Newsroom contacted the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Trump has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed in a written statement to States Newsroom that department personnel accompanied Bondi to the interview.

“Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and other Department of Justice personnel attended former Attorney General Bondi’s transcribed interview to assist the Committee in understanding the Department’s role in implementing and complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act during her tenure,” according to the statement.

The spokesperson continued: “Because former Attorney General Bondi oversaw the Department at the time the Act was enacted and carried out, DOJ’s presence was solely to ensure accurate representation of Department processes, facilitate any necessary clarifications, and support a complete factual record for the Committee.

“As with any congressional engagement involving past Department actions, DOJ routinely provides staff with relevant institutional knowledge to support transparency, accuracy, and cooperation with oversight responsibilities.”

Survivor speaks out

Epstein survivor Liz Stein, now a human trafficking specialist and advocate for the organization World Without Exploitation, said outside the committee room that the Trump administration needs to do more to deliver justice to victims.

“These files contain leads, names, connections, friendships, patterns, witnesses, travel records, financial relationships and institutional failures,” Stein said. “In any other sex trafficking case of this magnitude, those leads would be aggressively pursued, but in this case they have not been.”

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund has attracted scrutiny for its corruption potential, even splitting congressional Republicans who rarely confront President Donald Trump’s decisions and policies. 

Among the top concerns: Could pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, riot defendants who assaulted police officers claim a slice of the pie and essentially be rewarded for committing political violence? 

Advocates are also legally challenging the fund’s structure that will conceal details from the public, including claimants’ names and amounts paid out.

Nikhel Sus, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, otherwise known as CREW, which has filed suit against the fund, told States Newsroom the administration’s order is a “flagrant power grab of congressional authority.”

The fund, established by the Department of Justice to settle Trump’s multibillion dollar lawsuit against the IRS, has also complicated Senate Republicans’ plans to pass a simple majority immigration enforcement funding package. Some GOP senators are withholding votes unless guardrails for the fund are included in the legislation.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill on May 21 to defend the fund, but many GOP lawmakers left unconvinced and with multiple questions remaining.

Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters the fund is “stupid on stilts” and resembles “tyranny.”

Others were sweating out questions at town halls during the congressional recess. 

“I do not think one penny of any fund should ever go to any January 6 insurrectionist that was in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 … I want to be very clear … I clearly think Congress needs to have an oversight role in this before I can sign off or support this,” U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., said at a town hall in Norfolk, Nebraska, on May 26.

The fund hit a road bump on May 29 when it was temporarily blocked in the courts. Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia, in a suit in which plaintiffs are represented by the advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Common Cause, issued a brief order halting the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department and other high-ranking administration officials from taking any additional actions to create the fund or make payments from it.

Brinkema, who made no decisions on the merits of the case, set a June 12 hearing.

What is the “anti-weaponization” fund?

In exchange for Trump and his family dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the 2019 leak of tax returns, the DOJ ordered the establishment of a settlement fund in the amount of $1.776 billion — a nod to the country’s founding. 

As part of the arrangement, Trump also agreed to drop an administrative claim for damages related to what Blanche described as an “unlawful” FBI raid of the president’s Mar-a-Lago residence, part of the Biden administration’s case against Trump for allegedly hoarding classified documents after leaving office. 

Trump also agreed to drop a claim for damages related to the DOJ’s 2019 inquiry into Russian meddling in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

Blanche introduced the fund on May 18 as a path to restitution for “victims of lawfare.”

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Blanche said in a press release. 

The fund will be led by five commissioners chosen by the attorney general, one of them in consultation with Congress. The president has the power to remove any member, according to the DOJ.

The department maintains the fund is nonpartisan. In addition to money, the DOJ will also issue formal apologies to eligible claimants, according to officials. 

Who is trying to limit or shut down the fund?

House Democrats tried to intervene in the president’s IRS case settlement, but U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams dismissed the case on Trump’s terms. Williams was appointed to the bench in the Southern District of Florida in 2010 by President Barack Obama.

On May 27, nearly three dozen former federal judges urged Williams to reopen the case, arguing the Trump administration “deceived” the court by not sharing with the judge details of the “anti-weaponization” fund. 

Further, the judges argued, the DOJ also claims the settlement forever absolves Trump and his family from tax audits and any other claims by a federal agency.  

“The parties to this case are using this lawsuit as the legal justification for these actions,” the judges argued.

Legislative proposals have also popped up in the House and Senate.

A bipartisan bill from Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., both up for re-election in swing districts, proposes to ban the use of federal money to pay claims submitted to the “anti-weaponization” fund.

“The Bipartisan Transparency for American Taxpayers Act ensures federal funds cannot be used for this fund without the transparency, oversight, and legal safeguards the American people deserve. Taxpayer dollars will not become a discretionary payout fund. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable,” Fitzpatrick said in a press release.

Suozzi characterized the arrangement as a “slush fund to pay off January 6th criminals and other maladjusted minions!”

When pressed during a May 19 Senate hearing on whether Jan. 6 defendants who were convicted of assaulting police officers would be eligible for the fund, Blanche said “anybody in this country can apply” and final decisions will be made by the fund’s commissioners.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., announced plans to introduce painful amendments when and if the Senate GOP brings its immigration enforcement funding bill to the floor.

Van Hollen said he will call for votes on an amendment to block payment to Jan. 6 defendants who have been convicted of violent crimes and sexual abuse of children.

The Maryland senator also said he will introduce an amendment that would prohibit members of Congress from receiving payouts.

“And as it currently stands, Members of Congress have the chance to benefit from this corrupt scheme. If Republicans won’t put an end to this fund entirely, they should at least join with us to bar Members of Congress from cashing in on it,” Van Hollen said May 21 in a written statement.

Who is suing?

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the fund.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Washington Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,  argued in federal court that the pardoned rioters could use payout money to organize.

“In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,” they argued in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

Legal advocacy groups, including CREW, Democracy Forward and Common Cause have also challenged the fund in court.

Through the order, the administration has granted itself “final unreviewable authority to disperse nearly $1.8 billion in money that Congress did not appropriate for that purpose to people that they subjectively determine are victims of so-called lawfare or weaponization,” Sus, of CREW, said in an interview.

The fund’s structure also flouts transparency laws, Sus said, not least of which includes moving $1.776 billion from the government’s legal judgment fund in a single transaction to a separate, unaccountable pot of money.

As the law stands now, the Department of Treasury publicly updates a website at least once per month with judgment award amounts paid to claimants by the U.S. government.

By withdrawing one lump sum, “they are wholly circumventing disclosure law that Congress passed specifically for that purpose to require disclosure for each settlement,” said Sus, whose organization filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

CREW also argues DOJ’s order is arbitrary and capricious.

“I think arbitrarily picking 1776 as the number for their (fund) valuation is the definition of an arbitrary capricious action — like they just did it because they thought it was cool,” he said.

“And that’s not how the government’s supposed to operate. They’re supposed to actually consider the facts, they’re supposed to have a reasoned explanation for why they’re doing things.”

In the Virginia case, another group of plaintiffs is represented by Democracy Forward and Common Cause.

Among the plaintiffs are Andrew Floyd, a former federal Jan. 6 case prosecutor who was fired by the DOJ in June 2025, and Joseph Caravello, a California university professor who was charged with felony assault on a federal officer after protesting an immigration raid last summer. A jury acquitted Caravello in April.

The nine-count lawsuit alleges in part the fund violates the plaintiffs’ First and Fifth Amendment rights, and violates the authority of Congress.

The fund “does not offer benefits to victims of ideological targeting by Democrats and Republicans alike; instead, it offers benefits to those who have espoused views that were, or were perceived to be, oppositional to Democratic administrations, but not to those who have espoused views that were, or were perceived to be, oppositional to Republican administrations,” according to the complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Juan Salinas II of the Nebraska Examiner contributed to this report.

 

  

WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued in a court filing that a shooting Saturday in the vicinity of the White House further proves the need for an East Wing ballroom with “a heavy steel, drone proof roof, missile resistant and drone proof columns, bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass,” among other features.

A gunman opened fire at a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and was killed when agents returned fire. One bystander was also shot and injured, according to the Secret Service. 

President Donald Trump was inside the White House during the incident but was unharmed, and no ongoing operations were impacted, according to the agency.

“This second attack on the President this month underscores the critical need for top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the Ballroom, a knitted, unified, cohesive part of the East Wing Project, which is vital for National Security, and is being constructed to ensure that the President can perform his constitutional duties in a safe and heavily secured facility,” Blanche argued.

The acting attorney general, Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, filed the supplemental brief Sunday opposing a federal court order that temporarily halted any above-ground construction on the ballroom.

Shooting at press dinner

The proposed ballroom “will provide a ‘SAFE HAVEN’ from attackers such as the one last night, and on April 25th,” Blanche wrote, referring to the gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month.

The alleged shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, who pleaded not guilty, is charged with attempting to assassinate the president and is being held in jail in Washington, D.C., awaiting trial. 

The Trump administration and his supporters in Congress amped up calls for a secure ballroom following the shooting at the historic annual dinner where Trump, the first lady and several Cabinet officials safely evacuated.

But skepticism among some Senate Republicans of using taxpayer dollars has all but scuttled a $1 billion Secret Service funding proposal — $220 million of which was earmarked for the ballroom.

Trump maintains the ballroom will be funded by private donors and routinely speaks about the project at unrelated events.

Drone port, sniper facilities

Blanche slammed the lawsuit against the White House construction project as “meritless.” The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed the suit in December, less than two months after Trump demolished the White House East Wing to make way for the large structure. 

The lawsuit, Blanche argued, “has been a great attack on our Country in that the Military, Secret Service, and Law Enforcement are not happy that all of these Top Secret features have been revealed to potential enemies, criminals, and all others, including the fact that there will be a major drone port and Government sniper facilities on the heavily secured roof of the Ballroom.”

The proposed ballroom is slated to have “bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment,” according to the court filing.

Trump posted an image of the filing on his Truth Social platform Monday morning.

The president also thanked the Secret Service on Truth Social in the wee hours of Sunday. 

“This event is one month removed from the (White House Correspondents’ Dinner) shooting, and goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it!” he wrote.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

WASHINGTON —  Kevin Warsh assumed his new role as chair of the Federal Reserve Friday after a swearing-in ceremony in the White House East Room, where U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the oath of office.

President Donald Trump said before a crowd of high-profile former and current lawmakers and officials that he wants Warsh, of Florida, to be “totally independent.”

“I want him to be independent and just do a great job. Don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody, just do your own thing and do a great job,” Trump said.

Warsh vowed to be a “reform-oriented” leader in brief remarks after he was sworn in as the 17th Fed chair by Thomas. Warsh’s wife, Jane Lauder, held a Bible for him.

“Our mandate at the Fed is to promote price stability and maximum employment. When we pursue those aims with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve, inflation can be lower, growth stronger, real take-home pay higher, and America can be more prosperous, and no less important, America’s place in the world more secure,” said Warsh, who previously served as a Fed board governor during the 2008 global financial crisis.

Also at the ceremony was Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whom Warsh worked with at the White House during President George W. Bush’s administration. 

Trump attacks on Powell

Warsh’s swearing-in ceremony caps Trump’s long campaign of public attacks on former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, appointed by the president during his first term in 2018. 

Trump ramped up threats over the past year to fire and replace Powell if he did not lower interest rates.

With the November midterms less than six months away, Trump is increasingly facing economic headwinds as inflation hit its highest mark last month since 2023, and the president’s approval ratings on the cost of living continue to sag.

Trump’s feud with Powell reached a boiling point in January when the Department of Justice opened a criminal probe into Powell and the central bank over the multibillion-dollar cost to renovate the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. After being subpoenaed, Powell issued a rare public video statement dismissing the investigation as a maneuver to weaken the Fed’s independence.

Trump’s investigation into Powell marred his nomination of Warsh, even within his own party. The retiring U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., withheld his key committee vote to advance Warsh’s nomination to the Senate until the Department of Justice announced in late April it would drop the probe. 

Just over a month prior to the administration nixing the case, a federal judge had blocked the DOJ’s criminal subpoenas, citing “abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair.”

Trump is also tangled in litigation after attempting to fire Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook. The Supreme Court is reviewing whether Trump overstepped his presidential authority when he fired her without cause.

‘Sock puppet’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, issued a scathing statement Friday morning questioning Warsh’s transparency about his investments during the nomination process, and alleging he will not remain independent from the president.

“Kevin Warsh starts his tenure with his credibility in tatters. Having proven himself to be Donald Trump’s sock puppet, I worry Mr. Warsh will prioritize the President’s political interests over the economic well-being of American families,” said Warren, D-Mass.

Powell will stay on as a member of the Fed’s board of governors. 

WASHINGTON — A multibillion-dollar package to fund immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term faced new delays Thursday as Senate Republicans showed a rare split with the president over his new “anti-weaponization” fund.

The administration dispatched Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans as many fought to add restrictions to Trump’s $1.776 billion fund as a condition for passing a proposed $72 billion for the departments of Homeland Security and Justice.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the hourslong closed-door meeting with Blanche included “spirited discussion.”

The Department of Justice announced Monday the fund for “victims of lawfare” in exchange for Trump dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Both agencies are under his purview.

“It’s unprecedented to see a settlement between two parties that seem to be the same person,” Paul said.

Ultimately, senators left their meeting with Blanche with no immediate path forward for the budget reconciliation bill that requires a simple majority to pass. Senate Majority Leader John Thune can only afford to lose a handful of votes in the GOP-led Senate that is split 53-47, as all Democrats vow to oppose the package.

“We’re going home,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said as he made flight arrangements with his staff while standing outside the meeting room. 

Thune told reporters “we will pick up where we left off.” 

Asked whether he thinks a resolution can be reached, the South Dakota Republican said “that’s what I’m counting on.” 

The Senate has adjourned except for pro forma sessions until the afternoon of June 1, the date Trump set to have the finished bill on his desk.

Among the sticking points in the Blanche meeting: whether Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendants who assaulted police officers would qualify for the financial relief.

“I did raise that issue,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “But we haven’t seen (bill) language yet.”

The administration maintains the fund will be nonpartisan, and not only open to Trump supporters. A five-seat commission — four to be appointed by Blanche and the fifth in consultation with Congress — will issue decisions on financial claims.

Further details emerged Tuesday from the Department of Justice, revealing that Trump and his family will be forever immune from tax audits as part of the settlement.

Ballroom battle

Before debate erupted over Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, Republicans had already fractured over a $1 billion Secret Service security earmark in the bill, $220 million of which was set to be used to “harden” Trump’s White House ballroom project.

The funds for the “East Wing Modernization Project” would have paid for bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies and filtration systems designed to detect chemical or other contaminants. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary Saturday after Trump supported another candidate, told reporters he would not vote for ballroom funds.

Democrats claimed credit for getting the $1 billion tossed from the bill after challenging whether the provision fit within the strict parameters of reconciliation. Ultimately, the Senate parliamentarian ruled it out, sparking a social media attack from Trump Tuesday.

Trump told reporters Thursday if Senate Republicans didn’t find a way to pass the extra security money, “Then the White House won’t be a very secure place.”

Senate Dems vow to stop ‘slush fund’

Democrats pounced on the opportunity to spotlight the Republican division.

“This afternoon, Republicans — so divided, so dysfunctional, so disorganized — are fleeing Washington,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at a press conference after movement on the package stalled. 

“Republicans are divided over things that Americans don’t want, but Democrats are united around things that the people do want — for us to lower their costs, rein in the chaos, fight the corruption that is endemic to this administration,” the New York Democrat added. 

Schumer added that “we’ll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it’s in the courts, whether it’s legislative, whether it’s through reconciliation, or any other legislative means.”

Senate Democrats still plan to offer up a handful of painful amendments for GOP senators to vote on during a marathon voting session when and if the bill finally reaches the floor. 

War powers vote postponed

On the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans abruptly delayed an Iran War Powers Resolution vote moments before it was scheduled to open on the floor.

This would have been the fourth time Democrats brought the privileged motion to the floor. The 1970s-era War Powers Resolution sets reporting procedures and limitations on a president’s military campaigns abroad.

An effort to curtail Trump’s campaign in Iran failed in a tied House vote just one week ago.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., shouted on the floor as the presiding officer moved procedures forward, skipping the War Powers Resolution.

“Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that’s costing tens of billions of dollars? Gas prices are through the roof. People can’t afford their groceries,” McGovern said, alleging the Republicans lacked the “guts” to vote on it.

The House now also leaves for the Memorial Day break and will not return until June 1.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.