Trump Says He Wants to Bring Back Alcatraz in ‘Large Format’

05:36 PM EDT

Washington Post cartoonist who quit over Bezos sketch wins Pulitzer

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes, who quit the Washington Post in January after the paper refused to publish her cartoon of Post owner Jeff Bezos, has been awarded the Pulitzer for illustrated reporting and commentary

Telnaes’ cartoon depicted Bezos kneeling before Donald Trump, alongside other tech and media moguls, and offering him bags of cash.

The Pulitzer board praised Telnaes “For delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years.”

05:30 PM EDT

Trump hosts crypto fundraising dinner at his golf club

President Trump is hosting a “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” fundraise at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, outside Washington on Monday.

The event, sponsored by his Maga, Inc. super PAC, costs $1.5-million a ticket and will include guests such as Trump crypto czar David Sacks.

05:14 PM EDT

Trump believes Carney wants to meet ‘to make a deal

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seem to be on different pages about their meeting tomorrow.

Carney appears to preparing for tough talks tomorrow, where he is expected to stand up to Trump after his high tariffs and his threats to annex Canada.

“We are meeting as heads of our government,” Carney said. “I am not pretending those discussions will be easy.”

However, on Monday, Trump appeared to be baffled by why the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister wanted to meet with him.

“I’m not sure what he wants to see me about,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “But I guess he wants to make a deal.”

05:03 PM EDT

How China is dodging US tariffs

Some Chinese exporters are routing goods through third countries to skirt the steep tariffs the United States has imposed on the world’s second-largest economy.

Chinese social media platforms are increasingly being courted by freight brokers offering the service since the Trump administration hiked duties on Chinese imports to as high as 245 percent.

Instances of transshipment became more frequent after Trump launched the trade war against China during his first term, citing alleged unfair trade practices and other grievances that prompting U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigations. Mislabeling origins was why the administration included uninhabited islands on its tariff list in early April.

China exports roughly five times as much to the U.S. as the other way around, and finding new markets takes time. The U.S.’s top trade partner, China, has vowed to “fight till the end” and imposed a reciprocal 125 percent tariff on most U.S. imports, among other countermeasures.

Chinese social media platforms have seen a spike in logistics firms offering exporters “place-of-origin washing” services.

Read in full from Micah McCartney on Newsweek.

04:59 PM EDT

Defense Secretary Hegseth orders military to cut 20% of four-star military officers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. military to cut a fifth of all of its four-star general officers.

He also ordered the National Guard to remove 20 percent of its leadership in a Monday memo, obtained by Associated Press.

Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

04:45 PM EDT

Canadian PM Carney arrives in Washington for Trump talks

Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Washington D.C. ahead of meeting with President Trump on Tuesday.

The meeting comes at a tense time for U.S.-Canadian relations after Trump’s tariffs and his repeated comments about making its northern neighbor its 51st state.

Trump’s rhetoric towards its closest ally scored a win for Carney’s Liberal Party who rode to victory on a wave of Canadian nationalism and outrage with the Trump administration.

Carney is set to meet with business leaders at a D.C. event on Monday evening before sitting down with Trump tomorrow.

04:20 PM EDT

Republicans warn Trump admin about Medicaid cuts

As Republicans debate how to rein in federal spending following President Donald Trump’s latest round of tax cuts, a proposed shift in Medicaid funding is drawing resistance: not from Democrats, but from within the GOP.

Moderate and battleground-district Republicans, including Representatives Mike Lawler of New York and Don Bacon of Nebraska, are publicly warning party leaders not to go too far in overhauling the safety net.

Nearly 80 million Americans are currently enrolled in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income individuals and people with disabilities.

States that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act could face steep federal funding reductions under a capped system. Analysts at the KFF estimate that such caps would cause 15 million enrollees to lose Medicaid coverage over the next decade.

The proposed cap doesn’t directly reduce individual benefits, but it limits how much the federal government pays per enrollee, regardless of how much care is actually needed. That could lead to states scaling back services or narrowing eligibility as they try to manage budget shortfalls.

Read in full from Suzanne Blake on Newsweek.

02:48 PM EDT

WATCH: Donald Trump plans 100% tariff on foreign-made films

02:47 PM EDT

Speaker Johnson acknowledges Memorial Day timeline for Trump’s bill may be too tight

Speaker Mike Johnson’s deadline for President Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill may have to be pushed back again amid Republican infighting.

Johnson had initially planned to get a bill on Trump’s desk to sign by Memorial Day. That was pushed back to the bill simply being passed by the House by the holiday, with the Senate expected to get it by late June.

However, even that new deadline, now just over three weeks away, may be changed, with Johnson telling reporters that it may now pass the House “shortly thereafter” Memorial Day.

Republicans have made progress on agreements to the bill, but House GOP members remain divided over certain issues including spending cuts and Medicaid.

02:37 PM EDT

Why Obamas may be shielded from Trump’s film tariff

President Donald Trump has floated a 100 percent tariff on films produced in other countries, but one of his chief political rivals would mostly be shielded from the policy if it goes into effect.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday that he wants to impose the tariff on movies produced in other countries as a way to help save the “dying” film industry. How the tariffs may be implemented and enforced remains a question Hollywood is facing on Monday, as films are not a material good affected by his other tariffs such as the 145 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports.

The tariffs would have little effect on former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s film production company, Higher Ground Media. That’s because most of the production already takes place in the United States.

Higher Ground Media has produced four feature films—Fatherhood, Worth, Rustin and Leave the World Behind. Leave the World Behind was filmed primarily in New York, Rustin primarily in Pittsburgh and Worth in Oregon. Fatherhood wasfilmed in Boston, with some scenes shot in Canada.

Read in full from Andrew Stanton on Newsweek.

02:35 PM EDT

Trump says he wants to bring back Alcatraz in ‘large format’

Donald Trump shared more details on his plan to reopen and expand the historic Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Monday.

The president, who said he wants to use the notorious prison to house “America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” told reporters at a White House briefing that Alcatraz represents “something strong having to do with law and order.”

“We need law and order in this country. So we’re going to look at it,” Trump added. “We’re seeing if we can bring it back in large format and a lot.”

“Nobody has ever escaped from Alcatraz,” he added.

Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin famously escaped the prison in 1962. Their escape became the basis for Clint Eastwood movie, Escape From Alcatraz.

02:12 PM EDT

Trump denies knowledge of pic of him as Pope, but says Catholics ‘loved it’

President Donald Trump has defended a picture that the official White House X, formerly Twitter account, posted out that showed him as the next Pope.

Trump said that post was a “joke” and despite the backlash, he claimed that it was only the “fake news media” that was upset.

“The Catholics loved it,” he said.

“I had nothing to do with it… I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually my wife thought it was cute.

“Somebody did it in fun, it was fine.”

01:54 PM EDT

Trump announces Washington DC will host 2027 NFL draft

Donald Trump has announced that the 2027 NFL draft will be held in Washington DC.

“It’s gonna be beautiful,” Trump said in a Monday press conference.

“It’s gonna be something that nobody else will be able to duplicate.”

01:53 PM EDT

Trump meeting with US citizen freed from Russian detention last month: Report

President Donald Trump is expected to meet with American citizen Ksenia Karelina after she was freed from Russian detention last month, CNN reports.

Karelina was charged with treason and sentenced to 12 years in prison for giving a small donation to a US-based charity that supports Ukraine. She was released in a prisoner exchange last month.

She is expected to meet with Trump at the White House later this afternoon.

01:30 PM EDT

Has anyone ever escaped Alcatraz? What to know as Trump releases plan

The notorious inmates and escape attempts associated with Alcatraz are coming back into view due to President Donald Trump saying on Sunday that he wants to revive the maximum-security prison.

Trump announced via Truth Social his intentions to “rebuild and open” the historic Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary that sits on its lonesome on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. His newest proposal, which has been scrutinized by some for the associated costs of reopening, follows his repeated desire to send U.S. criminals, particularly violent ones, to foreign prisons in countries like El Salvador.

Alcatraz, which for the past 60 years or so, has been more of a historical and tourist attraction than an actual penitentiary.

The site formerly operated between 1934 to 1963 and housed some of the country’s most notorious criminals, individuals like Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Some stories became lore that contributed towards the pop culture zeitgeist, like Clint Eastwood’s 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz

Read in full from Nick Mordowanec on Newsweek.

01:19 PM EDT

Proud Boys leader says he met with Trump

The leader of the Proud Boys, a far right group, has said that he met President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

Enrique Tarrio, who was facing 22 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6, was among the hundreds of rioters who were granted pardons by Trump.

“Yesterday, I had the honor of meeting the President of the United States, a moment I never could have imagined in my darkest days,” Tarrio said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. He praised Trump as “the greatest president since George Washington.”

He also claimed the the president had told him he loved him.

“He knew the hardships me and my family faced for three long years,” Tarrio said. “He knew how many times they moved me. And he said he is working on making things right. I thanked him for giving me life back. He replied with…’I Love You guys’.”

01:03 PM EDT

Bureau of Prisons will comply with Trump’s Alcatraz order

The Bureau of Prisons has said it will comply with President Trump’s order to reopen Alcatraz

Trump announced plans Sunday to reopen and expand the historic Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary to house “America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

The former prison in San Francisco, which operated from 1934 to 1963 and once held notorious criminals like Al Capone, would be “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” according to Trump’s Truth Social statement.

The director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, William K. Marshall III, said he has ordered an “immediate assessment” into how it can reopen.

“The Bureau of Prisons will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda,” the director, William K. Marshall III, said in a statement. “I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps.

“We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission,” he added.

12:57 PM EDT

WATCH: Donald Trump says he asked to send US army into Mexico to fight cartels

12:49 PM EDT

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan reacts to president’s Alcatraz remarks

Border Czar Tom Homan voiced support for former President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen Alcatraz Island as a detention facility, calling it a potential solution to the nation’s ongoing immigration challenges.

“We need detention beds,” Homan said, when asked about the idea. “I think it’s certainly an option, especially for the significant public safety threats and national security threats. It should be on the table,” he told reporters outside the White House.

The Trump administration has consistently pushed for expanded detention capacity to house migrants awaiting deportation proceedings. Homan also confirmed that discussions are underway with additional countries—beyond El Salvador—that may be willing to accept deported migrants from the United States. However, he declined to specify how many nations are currently involved, saying only that “there’s talks underway with countries.”

In response to questions about the administration’s recently announced plan to offer undocumented immigrants $1,000 and travel assistance to voluntarily return to their home countries, Homan indicated early signs of progress.

“I think we’ll have some movement,” he said, adding that migrants are “starting to get the message” that self-deportation can be a good option.

12:43 PM EDT

Trump discusses ending Ukraine-Russia war during call with Turkey’s Erdoğan

President Donald Trump has been discussing how to end the Ukraine-Russia war with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In a Monday post on Truth Social, the president said he had a “very good and productive” call Erdoğan which had covered the war, as well as the conflict in Gaza and Syria.

“The President invited me to go to Turkey at a future date and, likewise, he will be coming to Washington, D.C. During my four years as President, my relationship with President Erdoğan was excellent,” he added.

“In any event, I look forward to working with President Erdoğan on getting the ridiculous, but deadly, War between Russia and Ukraine ended — NOW!” Trump posted.

12:35 PM EDT

Warren Buffett says spending cuts needed because US deficit is ‘not sustainable’

Warren Buffett signaled his approval for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during a shareholder meeting.

The billionaire, who recently announced he is stepping down from Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, said that the spending cuts were essential because America’s debt was “not sustainable.”

“It’s a job I don’t want but it’s a job that should be done and Congress does not seem to be doing it,” he told a group Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday.

He added that “bureaucracy is something that is amazingly prevalent and contagious even in our capitalist system.”

However, he declined to praise Musk or his cost-cutting department by name.

12:25 PM EDT

White House says ‘no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made’

President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on films made outside the United States, but according to the White House, no final decisions have been made on the new tax.

“Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Hollywood Reporter.

12:09 PM EDT

Donald Trump’s Alcatraz prison idea faces scrutiny over costs

President Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen and expand the historic Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary is facing scrutiny over the potential cost of the plan.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said the former prison located in San Francisco, which operated from 1934 to 1963 and once held notorious criminals like Al Capone, would be “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” to house “America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

The proposal marks a significant escalation in Trump’s controversial detention policies, coming amid his administration’s disputed use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of individuals to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). His action targeted the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the United States is under invasion by criminal immigrants.

Trump’s push to reopen Alcatraz as a maximum-security prison has triggered a wave of backlash over the steep financial and logistical challenges the project would face.

CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins noted that the prison was originally shut in the 1960s because it was three times more expensive to operate than other federal facilities, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Read in full from Martha McHardy on Newsweek.

11:57 AM EDT

WATCH: Mike Pence says US Constitution is the ‘common ground’ uniting Americans

11:53 AM EDT

Mexican President Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s pressure to allow US troops into her country

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that she had refused Donald Trump’s request to allow U.S. troops into her country to help fight drug cartels.

“He said, ‘How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you.’ And you know what I said to him? ‘No, President Trump,” Sheinbaum said over the weekend.

“We can work together, but you in your territory and us in ours,” Sheinbaum added.

White House National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt said, following Sheinbaum’s comments, that Trump was working closely with the Mexican president to achieve the “most secure southwest border in history.”

On Monday, Sheinbaum attempted to smooth over the disagreement, telling reporters at a briefing that “sometimes we disagree,” she said referring to herself and Trump, “but it is said in the phone call, and there has been respect.”

She added that she and Trump were in “permanent dialogue.”

11:35 AM EDT

White House offers to pay migrants $1,000 to self deport

The Trump administration announced Monday that it will pay illegal immigrants to self-deport rather than await arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Those without legal status whom the administration says should not remain in the country could be paid as much as $1,000 if they use the CBP Home app to record their departure.

President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations have been hindered by multiple court challenges and stretched resources at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The administration began encouraging those without legal status to self-deport in early March. Figures on how many migrants have taken the White House up on that offer have, so far, not been made public.

In an announcement Monday, DHS said it was offering the stipend to those who prove they have made it back to their home country, using the self-deport feature on CBP Home.

Read in full from Dan Gooding on Newsweek.