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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this morning that the White House hopes former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to speak out against the administration.
“I think I speak for everyone at the White House, we encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and speaking, do speaking engagements,” she said at the daily press briefing, suggesting that Harris’ remarks work in Republicans’ favor.
Harris denounced Trump and the first 100 days of his second term at an event yesterday in San Francisco, saying his policies threatened to bring about a constitutional crisis and were harming the economy.
The address by the former vice president, who may be considering runs for governor of California or for president in 2028, marked her return to the public spotlight after losing the last election to Trump.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for domestic policy, weighed in on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case at a White House news briefing this morning, repeating Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments that the administration won’t discuss its foreign policy negotiations publicly.
“As Secretary Rubio said yesterday in the Cabinet meeting, this administration is not going to publicly discuss the inside details of our foreign policy and negotiations with a foreign country, and in particular, we are not going to allow a district court judge to try to become the secretary of state,” Miller said.
Trump said in a recent interview with ABC News that he could have Abrego Garcia returned to the United States — remarks that conflict with his administration’s arguments in litigation over the Maryland man’s deportation that it would be up to El Salvador’s government to send him back.
Rubio is the one “managing the day-to-day relationship with El Salvador,” Miller said at the briefing, in which he also addressed a wide range of subjects, including tariffs, China and higher prices.
“Let’s just take a moment, number one, to express our gratitude to El Salvador for agreeing to take some of the most dangerous terrorists off of America’s streets and to put them into a safe environment where they cannot continue to engage in acts of terrorism or coordination with the Maduro regime,” Miller said.
Reporting from Hong Kong
The U.S. has been “actively” reaching out to China through various channels in the hope of starting tariff negotiations, Chinese state media reported.
China, which has contradicted Trump’s claims that talks are already underway, has said the U.S. must first “completely cancel all unilateral tariff measures” against China, which now total 145%.
“China has no need to negotiate with the U.S. before it takes any substantive actions. However, it will bring no harm to China at this stage if the U.S. wishes to engage with China,” Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state-run broadcaster CCTV, said in a post today, citing unidentified sources. It did not provide details.
China, which Trump referred to yesterday as the “chief ripper-offer” of the U.S., has taken a hard line against U.S. tariffs, responding with its own 125% levy on U.S. imports. Earlier this week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry released a video saying, “Bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst — it only deepens the crisis.”
“China won’t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out,” the video said.
China is starting to feel the bite of tariffs, however, reporting yesterday that manufacturing activity in April had fallen more than expected to a near two-year low, CNBC reported.
The U.S. currently has no official trade talks with China but deals with other trading partners are expected within weeks, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News yesterday.
Senate Democrats are calling out Trump in a letter this morning highlighting the impact his global tariffs could have on housing costs.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware, and Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, led a group of 19 Democratic senators demanding that Trump reverse course on his tariffs and warning of increased construction costs and interest rates for homebuyers.
“During your campaign, you promised to address America’s housing crisis and on day one of your Administration you signed an executive order to pursue “appropriate actions to … lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply.” the senators wrote. “Yet your reckless trade policies will only make the crisis worse.”
The tariffs could increase material costs for the average new home by as much as $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The senators specifically pointed to tariffs on aluminum, steel and appliances, writing that they will “undoubtedly” raise the cost of constructing new homes.
The senators also wrote that economic uncertainty caused by tariffs will only place more pressure on interest rates and cause mortgage rates to skyrocket in the midst of a nationwide housing shortage.
“If China retaliates against your tariffs by selling off U.S. Treasury bonds or U.S. mortgage-backed securities, that could also result in higher costs.” the senators wrote.
The letter comes as the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is set to hold a hearing at 10 a.m. today on the home insurance industry and housing costs.
Under pressure to make drastic budget cuts, Army leaders have struck an unusual agreement with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency: Don’t DOGE us; we will DOGE ourselves.
The process began at a White House meeting in March attended by Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, three defense officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Read the full story.
Elon Musk told reporters yesterday that he thinks the Department of Government Efficiency should look at the Federal Reserve, citing spending on renovations at its headquarters.
“I did see recently that they’re spending $2½ billion on redecorating. Sounds high. Who’s their designer?” Musk said, laughing. “I mean, what do you get for $2½ billion in redecorating? Must be incredible.”
Pressed on whether the central bank’s spending should be scrutinized, Musk said, “Since, at the end of the day, this is all taxpayer money, I think we would certainly — we should certainly look to see if indeed the Federal Reserve is spending $2½ billion on their interior designer. That’s, that’s an eyebrow raiser, you know? They’re like, can we see pictures of what you get for that?”
The Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, have been frequent targets of Trump, who has criticized the central bank for not lowering interest rates amid economic volatility stemming in part from the president’s tariff policy.
Trump’s massive China tariffs are jeopardizing American fireworks shows, threatening to drive up prices and limit supplies.
U.S. fireworks wholesalers and distributors say they’ve been canceling shipments from China for this year’s July Fourth holiday. Some are also halting manufacturing in China of fireworks for next year’s celebrations of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. Trump’s April 2 tariff rollout, which he dubbed “Liberation Day,” raised the effective import tax rate on nearly all Chinese goods to 145%, even after he walked back much of the other sweeping duties days later.
Last month’s chaotic trade policy swings occurred just as U.S. fireworks companies were preparing to receive their last July Fourth shipments from China, which makes around 75% of fireworks used in professional shows and 99% of consumer fireworks used in the United States, according to the National Fireworks Association. The companies say that the tariffs are too steep to absorb and that hiking prices on customers to offset them would make their products unaffordable.
Read the full story here.
The progressive organization Democracy Forward is seeking to turn dissatisfaction with Trump’s early performance into small group meetings across the country for people to voice their opposition to the president’s agenda.
In an announcement first shared with NBC News, Democracy Forward said “Dinners for Democracy” and “Coffee for Change” will focus in part on people seeking opportunities for engagement because their “members of Congress who are aligned with the Trump-Vance administration are unreachable or not holding town halls.”
“Through supporting people in gathering their community for dinner or for coffee, we are working to turn this crisis into a catalyst for change,” Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Democracy Forward says it has filed 60 legal actions against Trump’s administration since his inauguration.
The organization says it will provide event hosts conversation starters, discussion questions and other resources.
The initiative comes as polling suggests Democratic voters want to more aggressively fight Trump’s agenda, directing their lawmakers to resist compromising with him even if it risks bipartisan progress.
Democrat Carol Obando-Derstine today launched a campaign for the House in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, where freshman Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Penn., narrowly won last year, flipping a Democratic-held district into the GOP’s column.
“I’m running because I don’t want to stand by as Elon Musk and Ryan Mackenzie rip away health care from millions of people, devastate our economy and take food off families tables to hand out tax cuts to billionaire donors,” Obando-Derstine told NBC News.
“I’m running for Congress to fight back, to fight for working families like the one I grew up with, and to ensure that the people of this district, of PA-7, know they have a champion in office who will always put them before politics,” she added.
Obando-Derstine is a naturalized citizen from Colombia who has worked in various community-facing roles in the Lehigh Valley, including as an energy engineer and as an aide to former Sen. Bob Casey.
Though she’s never held elected office, Obando-Derstine cited that as an asset, saying, “There’s momentum around candidates like me. Right now, we have someone who isn’t showing up for our district, and more career politicians won’t change that.”
“This is the change that voters want to see, and that’s what I’m going to channel into this primary. I dedicated my life to helping people in this region. I haven’t dedicated my life to politics,” she added.
The general election in Pennsylvania’s 7th District is expected to be close, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating the race as a “Toss-up” and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listing the race as one of their targets for 2026. Mackenzie only won the race by 1 percentage point, or just over 4,000 votes, in 2024.
Former Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., who represented the district but lost to Mackenzie in 2024, is expected to endorse Obando-Derstine later today.
In a statement, Mackenzie’s campaign spokesperson, Arnaud Armstrong, tied Obando-Derstine to Wild, saying that electing Obando-Derstine would effectively be “a fourth Wild term.”
“Susan Wild’s stated goal was finding someone with ‘no record’ so they could make up an image to fool voters. The sad truth that has been exposed is that Obondo-Derstine is running to carry on Wild’s radical left agenda that caused the worst inflation in decades, disastrous open-border policies, failed foreign policy, and woke mandates,” Armstrong said. “Voters will reject this poorly veiled attempt by Wild’s special interest backers and consultants to obtain a fourth Wild term and all of the far-left policies that would accompany it.”
Elon Musk said that he’s in the process of stepping back from his nearly 24/7 role with the Department of Government Efficiency to focus on his businesses.
“Now we’re getting more of a rhythm,” Musk told reporters at the White House last evening. “And so the amount of time that it’s necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.”
Musk’s Tesla company this month reported a sizable drop in first-quarter profit and revenue.
Musk said that following an “intense” first three months of Trump’s administration — when he occasionally slept over at the White House at Trump’s invitation — he now expects to work on DOGE projects only one or two days a week and to be present in Washington every other week.
Read the full story here.
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Trump administration live updates: President will join prayer event and give University of Alabama commencement speech – NBC News
