Trump live updates: Judge rules Elon Musk’s DOGE ‘likely violated’ Constitution by shutting down USAID

Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, D.C.

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News star who is deeply embedded within Donald Trump’s inner circle, warned the president this week that a strike on Iran “would certainly result” in a war that would cost billions of dollars and lead to “thousands of American deaths” in the region.

Justin Baragona has the story.

The Health and Human Services Department is weighing plans to drastically cut the federal government’s funding for domestic HIV prevention, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The plans could be announced within a day, according to sources, but they haven’t been finalized and could be pulled back or adjusted.

The discussions arise as the Trump administration prepares for significant personnel cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of an agency reorganization, people familiar with the planning said.

The cuts and reorganization aim to exploit a weakness in the agency’s legal framework: No single law defines its purposes and authorizes its various programs.

The CDC has a department focused on preventing HIV and other infectious diseases. This department funds state and local surveillance programs for HIV, syringe services, and community outreach initiatives.

The agency reported spending approximately $1.3 billion on preventing HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis during the 2023 fiscal year, as stated on its website.

The Health Department said it is following the administration’s guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the president’s broader efforts to restructure the federal government.

“No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division has been made,” a department spokesman to the Journal.

Elon Musk’s attempts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development through his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have “likely violated the Constitution in multiple ways,” according to a federal judge’s ruling.

District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks DOGE from access to any USAID systems and from doing “any work” related to shutting down the agency.

Amid a multi-week Wall Street sell-off that has seen the major stock market indexes approach correction territory over economic uncertainty largely spurred by President Donald Trump’s chaotic trade war, Fox Business anchor Charles Payne grumbled that this was all the media’s fault.

With the Dow Jones index down hundreds of points on Tuesday afternoon, breaking a brief two-day comeback, Payne appeared on Fox News’ America Reports to discuss investors’ continued apprehension and the White House’s attempts to tout the “success” of its economic policies.

Billionaire Bill Gates is reportedly appealing to the White House to keep funding global health programs – and warning that his own foundation is unable to fill in gaps.

The Microsoft co-founder recently met with the National Security Council and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Julia Musto has the story.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed holding ice hockey games featuring U.S. and Russian players during his call with President Donald Trump today.

This suggestion, which reflects the Russian leader’s attempts to foster friendly relations with Trump, emerged during their discussion centered on finding a peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine.

The Kremlin shared in a readout of the call that Putin suggested American and Russian players from the NHL and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) could participate in these matches. The Kremlin noted that Trump supported the idea.

The KHL is a championship dominated by Russia, which also includes clubs from Belarus, China, and Kazakhstan.

Putin, a passionate amateur ice hockey player, has supported the KHL since its establishment on his initiative in 2008.

The NHL told the Associated Press it was aware of the Trump-Putin conversation but had no immediate comment.

Ashley Parker apparently requested an interview with the president — which Trump rebuffed in a very public way. He branded her a “Radical Left Lunatic” who was “not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview” in a Truth Social post Tuesday.