The Latest: Trump signs executive order that gives drugmakers 30-day deadline to lower costs

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday meant to try to lower drug costs for American consumers.

The order, according to a White House official, also sets a 30-day deadline for the health department to broker new price tags for drugs. If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in that will tie the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to the lowest price paid by other countries.

Here’s the Latest:

House Republicans call for billions of dollars in cuts for Biden-era climate programs

House Republicans are seeking to reverse what one GOP leader called “the most reckless parts of the engorged climate spending” approved under former President Joe Biden.

Several moves are aimed at clawing back billions in spending authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The measure was intended to slow climate change and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.

Environmental groups warned that cuts would pave the way for more oil and gas industry activity on public lands and increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

The House committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means are set to discuss the plans Tuesday.

▶ Read more about what Republican House lawmakers are targeting

Trump starts Middle East trip with challenges and certainty

Trump is on his way to the Middle East, where he had intended to focus on pressing wealthy Gulf nations to pour billions in new investment into the United States.

But Trump finds himself navigating a series of geopolitical crises — and searching for glimmers of hope in the deep well of global turmoil.

Those challenges are casting greater import on his first extended overseas trip of his second term, but the president is brimming with an overabundance of confidence about some of the world’s most intractable problems.

▶ Read more about Trump’s three-nation visit

Arrests for illegal border crossings hover near 1960s-era lows

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that there 8,383 arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico in April. That marks a 17% increase from 7,184 in March, but it is down 94% from nearly 129,000 in April 2024. March’s tally was the slowest monthly rate since 1967.

The Border Patrol averaged 279 arrests along the Mexican border in April, down from more than 10,000 a day on the busiest days of Joe Biden’s presidency.

Illegal crossings fell by about half after Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders in December 2023 and by about half again when Biden imposed severe asylum restrictions in June. They plummeted more when Trump took office and effectively banned asylum altogether.

What’s next with Trump’s trade war truce with China

Trump’s agreement with China to temporarily slash tariffs for 90 days offered the world a bit of welcome relief. But what persists is a sense of uncertainty and the possibility that the damage from the trade war could already be done.

Trump declared the de-escalation of the trade war a victory, saying he would soon chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping about how to preserve the financial relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

Regardless, the tariffs are now elevated from when Trump took office, and the scramble to respond to the White House’s mix of threats and olive branches might leave CEOs, investors and consumers unwilling to take risks.

▶ Read more about what’s next with Trump’s trade war truce with China

Dow and S&P 500 rally following truce in the US-China trade war

The S&P 500 jumped 3.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,100 points, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 4.4% on Monday.

Hopes for an economy less encumbered by tariffs also sent crude oil prices higher.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against other currencies, and Treasury yields jumped on expectations the Federal Reserve won’t have to cut interest rates so deeply this year in order to protect the economy.

Analysts warned conditions could still quickly change, as has so often happened in Trump’s trade wars.

▶ Read more about the markets’ reaction to the truce in the U.S.-China trade war

House Republicans propose $5 billion for private school vouchers

A provision tucked in a Republican budget bill could be a financial boon for private and religious schools.

House Republicans are proposing a $5 billion program that would cover the cost of private schools or homeschooling for families that do not want to send their children to public school. It would be funded by donors, who can contribute money or stock and receive a dollar-for-dollar discount on their tax bills.

Backers say they want to provide children ways out from public schools that aren’t working for them. Critics say it would mostly benefit wealthy families by covering private school tuition and offering them tax breaks if they donate to the scholarships.

Homeland Security revokes temporary status for thousands of Afghans

The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it is terminating legal protections for thousands of Afghans who have been living in the United States for years, setting them up for potential deportation in about two months.

The decision to terminate the Temporary Protection Status for Afghans will go into effect July 12. DHS said about 11,700 Afghans hold TPS, although some of them have already obtained other legal status.

TPS allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. The program is among those targeted by the Trump administration as officials work to carry out their promises on the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.

Explaining the administration’s decision, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said conditions in Afghanistan have improved and no longer warrant TPS. She also said that “is contrary to the national interest” of the U.S. permitting Afghans to remain temporarily in the country.

Young South Africans carry American flags

Toddlers and other small children — including one walking barefoot in pajamas — held American flags as two U.S. officials welcomed the group of 49 white South Africans to the United States as refugees in an airport hangar outside Washington, D.C.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told reporters Monday that all of the new arrivals had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture.

Missouri Republican warns colleagues against Medicaid cuts

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley says voters were not calling for Medicaid cuts when they went to the polls in November and urged his colleagues to avoid them as part of a massive tax cut and border security package Republicans hope to get to Trump’s desk this summer.

Hawley, writing in The New York Times, said that if Republicans want to be a working-class party and control the majority “we must ignore calls to cut Medicaid.”

Hawley said the party’s “Wall Street wing” wants Republicans to slash health care benefits for the working poor. “But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,” he wrote.

State Department official: US rejects persecution by race in South Africa

Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau says the white South Africans who arrived as refugees Monday had “harrowing stories” of violence that they faced.

Landau said during a news conference after their arrival that by admitting them the U.S. is “sending a clear message” that it rejects the persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa, where the government has said such allegations are “completely false.” Landau said he spoke to the group about the importance of assimilation in the United States.

Troy Edgar, the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security spoke to the group about how his wife came to the U.S. from Iran.

“The United States has a long history of bringing people over,” Edgar said.

Officials welcome white South African refugees admitted to the US as refugees

An official from the State Department and another from the Department of Homeland Security were on hand Monday to welcome the small group to the U.S.

Many in the group welcomed at a ceremony at a hanger in Dulles Airport outside of Washington, D.C., held small American flags. Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau told the group that he was happy to see them holding the flags.

“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years. We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years,” Landau said.

Harvard responds to Education Department threats by saying it will not abandon its core principles

The university responded Monday to Education Department threats to halt grant funding by laying out the reforms it was undertaking but also warning that it would “not surrender its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of “unfounded retaliation.”

The letter from Harvard President Alan Garber detailed how the institution had made significant changes to its leadership and governance over the past year-a-half. Among the reforms, Garber said, was an “institution-wide strategy to combat antisemitism and other bigotry.”

Garber also attempted to rebut many of the allegations made by the Education Department. He insisted admission to Harvard was based on “academic excellence and promise” and there were no “quotas, whether based on race or ethnicity or any other characteristic” or a “ideological litmus tests” when it comes to hiring.

Garber also said he wasn’t aware of any evidence suggestion international students were “more prone to disruption, violence, or other misconduct than any other students.”

White South Africans have arrived in the US

A group of 49 white South Africans arrived Monday in the United States as the Trump administration welcomes them as refugees.

The decision to admit the Afrikaners has faced pushback by a South African government that disputes that description and by refugee advocates who question why the group is being admitted when the administration has suspended refugee resettlement from other countries.

They arrived at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington on a private charter plane and are expected to be met by a U.S. government delegation.

Trump told reporters Monday that he’s accepting them because of a “genocide that’s taking place.” That’s strongly denied by the South African government and has been disputed by experts in South Africa and even an Afrikaner group.

Trump en route to the Middle East on the first major foreign trip of 2nd term

Air Force One took off from a military base outside of Washington at 11:39 a.m. ET.

It will refuel at a military base in the United Kingdom before arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday morning local time. Trump is also stopping in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before landing back in the United States at the end of the week.

The president made a quick trip to Rome at the end of April to attend the funeral for Pope Francis, but the Middle East swing was always meant to be the first major foreign trip of his return to office.

Trump signs sweeping executive order for lower Rx drug costs

Trump has signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits over what the government will pay.

The order the Republican president signed Monday calls on the health department to broker new price tags for drugs.

If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in tying the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.

Public health agency leaders will start meeting with drug companies to offer new prices over the next month. Drugmakers argue threats to their profits could impact research to develop new drugs.

Trump floats the idea of Turkey detour for Ukraine-Russia talks during Mideast trip

The president said he’s optimistic about Thursday’s expected talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul on finding an endgame to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Trump, who is expected to be in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, suggested that he could make a detour to Turkey, if he thinks his presence might be helpful.

“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday,” Trump said. “I’ve got so many meetings … There’s a possibility there I guess if I think things can happen.”

Trump added there is “the potential for a good meeting” between Putin and Zelenskyy.

“Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey, President Erdogan is the great host,” Trump said.

Trump says he’s weighing the removal of sanctions from Syria

“We may want to take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start,” said Trump, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged him to do so.

The comments were striking change in tone from the president on Syria sanctions and the government of . Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

Al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December.

The Trump administration has yet to formally recognize the new Syrian government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, and HTS remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place.

Hawks in the White House and the Republican Party have been skeptical of al-Sharaa’s transformation and insist Syria remains a counterterrorism issue.

Trump defends Qatar’s gift of a plane as a ‘gesture of good faith’

Trump says the leadership of Qatar knew that Boeing has encountered delays building the next generation of the Air Force One aircraft and wanted to help by giving a plane to the U.S. government.

He said, “I could be a stupid person and say we don’t want a free plane” but that the gift from Qatar “helps us out” because the models he currently flies on are decades old.

“This was just a gesture of good faith,” Trump said.

News of the $400 million gift prompted criticism from some Democrats and Trump allies.

Trump said the plane would ultimately be decommissioned and go to his future presidential library. He said he would not fly on it after he leaves office.

Trump says he’s allowing white South Africans to come to US to avoid persecution

Trump said that in a post-apartheid South Africa that white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.

Trump said he doesn’t care whether the South African farmers are “white or Black” or “about their height, their weight.”

But at a time when the administration has sought to halt refugee admissions from many other countries undergoing political upheaval, Trump said the U.S. has “essentially extended citizenship” to South African farmers to escape from the violence.

The South African government has said U.S. allegations that white South Africans are being persecuted are “completely false” and the result of misinformation.

Drug price negotiations to begin, Oz says

Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says he and other top health officials will begin talks with drugmakers to discuss lowering prices over the next 30 days.

“They’re patriotic Americans,” Oz said. “They want what’s right.”

The executive order being signed by Trump on Monday gives the administration 30 days to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. If there is no deal, the U.S. will tie domestic drug prices to the lower rates paid abroad, which is the so-called “most favored nation” policy.

Senate Democrats denounce Trump accepting luxury Qatari plane

Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, Chris Coons, Chris Murphy and Brian Schatz issued a joint statement contending that President Donald Trump would engage in “a clear conflict of interest” if he accepted a $400 million luxury plane from Qatar.

Multiple news outlets on Sunday reported that Trump was set to be gifted the plane, which would be used as Air Force One during his term and then transferred to a personal foundation.

The senators called on their colleagues to reassert that lawmakers cannot take gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“Air Force One is more than just a plane — it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government. No one — not even the president — is above the law.”

Trump promotes executive order meant to reduce drug costs

Trump says he’s directing his administration officials to investigate foreign countries that “extort” drug companies

The order, according to a White House official, also sets a 30-day deadline for the U.S. Health Department to broker new price tags for drugs. If a deal is not reached, a new rule will kick in that will tie the price of what the U.S. pays for medications to the lowest price paid by other countries.

As he signed the order, he called it “one of the most consequential executive orders in our country’s history.”

“Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries, which is what we were doing,” Trump said. “We were subsidizing others’ health care.”

— By Seung Min Kim

Homeland Security says it’s targeting California over benefits to immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security says it is opening an investigation into a California program that pays money to some immigrants.

The Department said Monday that it had issued a subpoena to California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants to obtain records about the program.

That California program was created when Congress in 1996 took away federal Supplemental Security Income assistance for legal immigrants in a welfare reform law.

According to the program’s website, it pays money to elderly, blind and disabled people in California who are not citizens. The website says the program is entirely paid for by California.

The Trump administration has targeted states and communities that it considers to be lax when it comes to immigration enforcement.

Trump says EU “nastier” on trade than China

Fresh off a 90-day tariff rollback to hold talks with China, President Donald Trump said that on trade issues, the “European Union is in many ways nastier than China.”

Trump said while speaking on Monday at the White House that the EU would “come down a lot” on trade restrictions regarding the U.S., tearing into the longstanding ally. The U.S. president insisted that America has “all the cards” in trade talks with Europe because of the vehicles it buys from the continent’s automakers.

Trump said his executive order on pharmaceutical drug prices would mean that Europeans will have “to pay more for health care, and we’re going to have to pay less.”

The U.S. has a separate negotiating period on trade in which goods from the EU are being charged 10% import taxes.

Trump cheers special envoy for hostage Edan Alexander’s expected release from Gaza

Trump said that the U.S.-Israeli citizen was expected to be released by Hamas in the “next two hours” or “sometime today.”

“He’s coming home to his parents, which is really great news,” Trump told reporters at the White House shortly before he was scheduled to depart for a whirlwind visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

Trump credited his special envoy Steve Witkoff in helping win the release of Alexander, 21.

The president said that Witkoff, a New York real estate developer turned diplomat, knew “very little about the subject matter” but learned quickly.

“He has a special way about him,” Trump said of Witkoff.

Trump plans to speak with Xi after agreeing to tariff reduction for 90 days

President Donald Trump says he will likely speak with China’s leader Xi Jinping “maybe at the end of the week.”

That’s after negotiators from the U.S. and China meeting in Switzerland this weekend agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days of talks. The import taxes on China imposed by the U.S. would still remain higher than when Trump took office at 30%.

Trump told reporters on Monday that the reduced tariff rates didn’t include tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum as well as the potentially upcoming import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs.

Trump said he also spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday and he expected the tech company to make additional commitments to invest in domestic production.

Trump said the talks would be great for “unification and peace.”

Trump suggests promise of trade with US was factor in India-Pakistan ceasefire

Trump says the countries ended hostilities for a lot of reasons “but trade is a big one.”

Speaking at the White House on Monday, the president said the U.S. is already negotiating a trade deal with India and will soon start negotiating with Pakistan.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea Saturday in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to stop the escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed rivals that threatened regional peace.

Bessent expects next U.S.-China meeting in a few weeks

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the progress made in in trade talks with Chinese officials over the weekend and said he expects another meeting in a few weeks.

U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on tariffs after the weekend talks in Geneva.

“We had a plan, we had a process and now what we have with the Chinese is a mechanism to avoid an upward tariff pressure like we did last time,” Bessent said on CNBC.

Trump administration looking to expand legal power on deportation

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says the Trump administration is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally.

To achieve that, he says the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.

Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller told reporters outside the White House on Friday.

“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Trump’s plan to change pricing model for some medications faces opposition

Trump’s plan to change the pricing model for some medications is already facing fierce criticism from the pharmaceutical industry before he’s even signed the executive order set for Monday that, if implemented, could lower the cost of some drugs.

Trump has promised that his plan — which is likely to tie the price of medications covered by Medicare and administered in a doctor’s office to the lowest price paid by other countries — will significantly lower drug costs.

But the nation’s leading pharmaceutical lobby on Sunday pushed back, calling it a “bad deal” for American patients. Drugmakers have long argued that any threats to their profits could impact the research they do to develop new drugs.