Thirteen Senate Democrats wrote to President Donald Trump in a letter Friday to express concern that Elon Musk is “exploiting his position” as a senior White House advisor to “influence foreign governments for his own financial gain,” and to call on him to investigate these allegations.

The letter cites reports that Musk is allegedly “taking advantage of his government role to coerce concessions from foreign governments for his own benefit, including unfettered market access as well as contracts with his companies, in exchange for favorable treatment by the U.S. government.”

Democrats are particularly focused in this letter on recent reports about business deals struck between Musk’s company Starlink and other countries. They cite reporting by the Washington Post about recent distribution deals and licensing deals reached between Starlink and several countries, including India and Bangladesh.

If these actions took place in the White House or Blair House, Democrats say, they could be in violation of U.S. law. Democrats say this should be investigated and call on Trump to make public any findings.

“The fear that officials are misusing their authority for self-enrichment, be it through government contracting or through corrupt interactions with foreign governments, is not one that Americans should have to countenance. Brazen corruption of that sort is seen in despotic regimes, not the United States of America,” the letter states.

The White House has released its proposed FY2026 budget Friday – which calls for $163 billion in cuts to federal spending, according to a letter that OMB Director Russell Vought sent to Congress alongside the proposal.

Many of those cuts will come from agencies, including the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, USAID and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. But there are plans to increase funding in some areas – primarily for defense and border security.

“The President is proposing base non-defense discretionary budget authority $163 billion-22.6% below current year spending, while still protecting funding for homeland security, veterans, seniors, law enforcement, and infrastructure,” Vought said in a letter about the proposal.

The budget proposal from the White House is basically a wish list, but it does serve to illustrate the administration’s priorities and what the White House hopes is a jumping off point for negotiations with Congress.

President Donald Trump is touting economic markers as he continues to defend his tariff policy in a new social media post. Trump touted gas prices, which he incorrectly claims have been the “lowest in years,” as well as jobs data, saying there is “strong employment.”

Hiring slowed but remained robust in April following Trump’s tariff rollout. The U.S. added 177,000 jobs in April.

“Just like I said, and we’re only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting started!!! Consumers have been waiting for years to see pricing come down,” Trump wrote in a social media post on his platform after the latest jobs data was released.

From Baltimore to Houston, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested four migrants who were allegedly in the country illegally and are accused of crimes against children.

Just outside of Washington, D.C., ICE arrested a Ghana national who was convicted of possession of child pornography. In Boston, ICE arrested a Salvadorian man who was convicted of raping a child. In Detroit, ICE arrested a Mexican national who was convicted of “criminal sexual conduct,” and in Houston, ICE arrested another Mexican national who was convicted of a similar crime.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has claimed that in the first 100 days of the administration, they have deported 150,000 people who were in the United States illegally.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he is renaming Veterans Day, which is celebrated on Nov. 11, as “Victory Day for World War I.”

May 8, he said, will now be marked as “Victory Day for World War II.”

“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!,” Trump wrote.

He added that many allies celebrate the end of those wars on the respective dates. It is unclear what mechanism Trump will use to rename the holidays, as it has not been released that he has signed any action about the dates.

Establishing a federal holiday or a patriotic or national observance requires the passage of a law, according to the Congressional Research Service. Lawmakers created “Armistice Day” in 1938 to commemorate World War I. Then, in 1954 after World War II and the Korean War, they renamed it “Veterans Day” at the urging of veterans groups.

On his way to Florida aboard Air Force One on Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS.”

According to a fact sheet from the White House, the order blocks federal funding to NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service to the maximum extent allowed by law. It also prevents indirect funding to PBS and NPR by prohibiting local public radio and television stations, and any other recipients of CPB funds, from using taxpayer dollars to support the organizations.

The order mandates that the CPB revise its 2025 General Provisions to explicitly prohibit direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS. It directs all federal agencies to terminate any direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS and to review existing grants and contracts for compliance. Additionally, it instructs the Federal Communications Commission and relevant agencies to investigate whether NPR and PBS have engaged in unlawful discrimination.

In the fact sheet, the White House claims the two news organizations “have fueled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars.”

NPR and PBS are primarily funded through a combination of public and private sources. The CPB, a federal agency, provides a portion of the funding, along with private donations from individuals, foundations and corporations.

Graduates at the University of Alabama greeted President Donald Trump with loud cheers and applause as he touted the first 100 days of his second term and offered advice in an address.

In his speech, Trump, who called his audience the first graduating class of the “golden age of America,” referenced his second-term agenda and blasted judges who have impeded parts of his immigration policy.

“They have to let us do the job that the voters want us to do,” Trump said. “Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process. But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally? They want to give them due process. I don’t know.”

Trump also shared his experiences of “beating the odds” and told the graduates to be passionate about what they do and think big.

“If you want to change the world you have to have the courage to be an outsider,” he said. “In other words, you have to take certain risks and do things a little bit differently. Otherwise, if that weren’t the case, everybody would be successful.”

The Department of Defense’s inspector general is now looking at a second Signal chatroom that Hegseth created in which he shared timing for the impending attack on the Houthis in Yemen with family members and his attorney, an official with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News.

“The DOD OIG’s evaluation of the secretary of defense’s reported use of a commercially available messaging application for official business remains ongoing, and as such, I am unable to speak about the scope or timeline to protect the integrity of the process,” a DOD Office of Inspector General spokesperson said when asked to comment on the development, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Trump announces secondary sanctions warning on Iranian oil