Trump news at a glance: a senator quits, the ‘big beautiful bill' loses its name – but senate still passes Trump's megabill
At the 11th hour, minority Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer won a small victory in having the name of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' stricken, but it wasn't enough to stop its passage – the act was passed just minutes later.
The bill needs approval by the House of Representatives, which previously passed it by just one vote. If it becomes law, it would allow Trump to deliver on many of his election pledges, including making temporary tax cuts from his first term permanent, a major boost in spending on border protection and defense, and more oil and gas production. That will be partly funded by slashing spending on Medicaid and health programs, food stamps, student loans and clean energy tax credits.
Here are the day's key stories:
The passage of Donald Trump's major tax and spending bill is a victory for Senate Republicans, who faced infighting and deep divisions over measures like Medicaid cuts and even saw one lawmaker choose to retire after clashing with Trump.
It remains unclear if changes made by the Senate will be accepted by the House. While Republicans control both house of Congress, factionalism in the lower chamber is particularly intense.
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Trump on Tuesday toured 'Alligator Alcatraz', a controversial new migrant detention jail in the remote Florida Everglades, and celebrated the harsh conditions that people sent there would experience.
The president was chaperoned by Florida's hard-right governor, Ron DeSantis, who hailed the tented camp on mosquito-infested land 50 miles west of Miami as an example for other states that supported Trump's mass deportation agenda.
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Trump and administration officials have threatened CNN over what they said was its promotion of a new app that allows users to track and try to avoid Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.
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Donald Trump claimed that Israel was ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.'
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The Trump administration raised the possibility of stripping Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City, of his US citizenship as part of a crackdown against foreign-born citizens convicted of certain offences.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, appeared to pave the way for an investigation into Mamdani's status after Andy Ogles, a rightwing Republican representative for Tennessee, called for his citizenship to be revoked on the grounds that he may have concealed his support for 'terrorism' during the naturalization process.
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Legally mandated US national climate assessments seem to have disappeared from the federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their back yards from a warming world.
Scientists said the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. Websites for the national assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within Nasa to comply with the law, but gave no further details.
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The US is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia.
The chair of the Federal Reserve blamed Trump's tariffs for preventing the immediate interest rate cuts the president has demanded.
Months after Trump expressed negative opinions about a portrait of him in the Colorado state capitol, a White House-approved replacement now hangs in its place.
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's bid to end temporary deportation protections and work permits for approximately 521,000 Haitians before the program's scheduled expiration date.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk's reignited feud continued on Tuesday with the former political allies trading sharp public threats of retribution.
Catching up? Here's what happened on 30 June 2025.
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The Guardian
17 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Democratic lawmakers denied entry to ‘Alligator Alcatraz' immigration jail
A group of Florida lawmakers were denied entry on Thursday into the new Florida-based immigration jail dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' one day after the first immigrant detainees began to arrive. Five Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter the facility, which was previously toured on Tuesday by White House officials, but were stopped by law enforcement officers from local agencies, according to the state representative Anna Eskamani in an interview with CNN. 'This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,' the five said in a joint statement. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that the first detentions at the facility began on Wednesday, but did not respond to questions regarding the number of people detained so far. The controversial Everglades jail was quickly set up in a partnership between the federal and Florida state governments. Sitting approximately 50 miles (80km) west of Miami, the remote facility is managed by the state but in large part funded the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). 'It might be as good as the real Alcatraz. A little controversial, but I couldn't care less,' Trump said on Tuesday after touring the site. During the tour, Trump joked about immigrants being pursued by snakes and alligators if they attempted to escape. Since Trump took office, Florida has been assisting the administration's goals in rounding up a large number of immigrants to be detained and deported. Through a program called 287(g), local law enforcement agencies partner with DHS and become deputized to carry out immigration enforcement operations. According to the state government, Florida has more 287(g) deputizations than any other state in the US, which has allowed it to engage in widespread operations targeting immigrant communities. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Immigrants arrested by Florida law enforcement under the arrangement will be detained at the facility, DHS said. 'You'll have a lot of people that will deport on their own because they don't want to end up in an Alligator Alcatraz, or some of these other places,' Florida governor Ron DeSantis said after touring the facility with Trump. 'This is a model, but we need other states to step up.' Being undocumented in the US is not a crime; rather, it is a civil offense. Data analysis by the Guardian shows that there has been a dramatic nationwide increase in the arrest of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record. The White House has pressured immigration officials to arrest 3,000 people per day, with the reported goal of reaching one million a year. Two non-profit groups have sued DHS, claiming the site's buildup is violating environmental policies. DHS said it expects the facility to expand quickly to 5,000 beds.
Metro
39 minutes ago
- Metro
'Bear Alcatraz' floated as migrant center near alligators opens for Trump
As 'Alligator Alcatraz' begins taking in illegal migrants, one US state has floated opening another detention center surrounded by another menacing animal – bears. Alaska responded to a Trump administration official's call for migrant detention centers similar to the newly opened one in the middle of the Florida Everglades to be built. 'Every governor of a red state, if you are watching tonight: Pick up the phone, call (the Department of Homeland Security), work with us to build facilities in your state so we can get the illegals and criminals out,' White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle earlier this week. Alaska replied: 'We don't have alligators, but we have lots of bears.' The unidentified spokesperson also said: 'I am not aware of any plans for an Alaska version of Alligator Alcatraz.' It comes as President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured the 'Alligator Alcatraz' facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee which can already house at least 3,000 migrants. Florida officials noted that the center is surrounded by dangerous animals including alligators and pythons, as well as mosquitos, giving potential escapees a treacherous path ahead. Trump praised the facility, which was first offered by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and said the Sunshine State would be getting another a second one like it 'and probably a couple more'. He said he wanted to see more such facilities in 'many states'. 'The incredible thing is picking the site because the site was one of the most natural sites. It might be as good as the real Alcatraz,' Trump said, referring to the infamous former maximum security prison at Alcatraz Island in California. More Trending 'Well, that's a spooky one too. That's a tough site. So I really think it could last as long as they want to have.' The first group of migrants arrived at Alligator Alcatraz on Thursday. 'People are there,' said Uthmeier's Press Secretary Jae Williams, providing little other detail. Alaska, nicknamed The Last Frontier, is home to roughy 100,000 black bears, 30,000 brown bears and 7,000 polar bears, according to its government. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Six dead and summer camp children missing as 'catastrophic' river floods sweep Texas MORE: Frightening text message that caused plane to divert mid-flight MORE: Truth behind Amelia Earhart's missing plane may have been solved after 88-year mystery
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Newsom to head to South Carolina next week to speak to Southern voters as his flirtation with 2028 grows
California Governor Gavin Newsom will visit Trump strongholds in South Carolina next week, in a two-day trip seen by many as a prelude to a long-rumored 2028 presidential campaign. The Democrat 's trip to the state, which went for Trump in 2024, will see him visit rural counties, including Pickens County, where the president won 76 percent of the vote last year. South Carolina has the first Democratic presidential primary on the calendar, and has a large share of Black voters, a core part of the Democratic base. 'Governor Newsom leads the largest economy in America and the fourth largest in the world, and he's coming to meet folks in towns that have been hollowed out by decades of Republican control,' state Democratic party chair Christale Spain, said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. 'This is about building partnerships, uplifting communities, and showing rural voters they aren't forgotten.' The trip will see the governor, perhaps the country's most prominent Democrat outside of Washington, visit settings including cafes, coffee shops, churches, and the Kershaw County Council on Aging, according to an itinerary obtained by the state's Post and Courier newspaper. He last visited the state in 2024 to campaign for Joe Biden. California congressman Ro Khanna will visit South Carolina later this year for an event highlighting those impacted by the Trump administration's cuts to Medicaid. Newsom has a long history of using national campaign-style tactics, even when he's not running for president, including participating in a 2023 debate with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and paying for critical TV ads in Republican states the year before. Since Trump return to office, however, the Democrat has shifted into a new gear, embracing a role as one of the most vocal opponents of the new administration. In June, California sued the Trump administration over its decision to send in National Guard troops in response to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. Newsom also gave a speech that month accusing the president of ushering in 'authoritarianism' and dared federal officials to arrest him instead of conducting immigration raids against low-level offenders. The tactic appears to be getting attention in Washington, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to claim in June Newsom ought to be 'tarred and feathered.' In January, as wildfires ravaged Los Angeles, Trump repeatedly, and often inaccurately, alleged that California leaders' environmental policies were to blame for hydrants running dry. The following month, the president ordered officials to release billions of gallons of water from reservoirs in the state, a move largely seen as a symbolic gesture with little relation to stopping wildfires. The fires continue to be a sticking point between Newsom and the administration, and in June President Trump threatened to withhold disaster aid to California in response to the protests. Elsewhere, Newsom has embraced a pugnacious style and launched a podcast this year which often features conservative guests like activist Charlie Kirk. The project comes after 2024 Democratic campaigns were criticized for not doing more to leverage the ' manosphere ' of podcasts and influencers reaching young male voters.
