Highlights from May 30, 2025
- President Donald Trump held a press event in the Oval Office with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is leaving the White House after spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to slash wasteful federal spending.
- The president lauded Musk's work on DOGE and said the tech mogul is "really not leaving" the administration and would be "back and forth."
- PBS and a public television station in Minnesota have filed a lawsuit against Trump and members of his administration over his executive order to cut PBS’ funding.
- At an event in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, today, Trump said he will double tariffs on steel imports.
Trump says chief of staff Susie Wiles 'can handle' potential phone breach amid probe
Trump expressed confidence to reporters today that his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles "can handle" a potential phone breach that led to an effort to impersonate her amid a federal investigation into the matter.
"She's an amazing woman. She can handle it," Trump told reporters after returning to Washington DC. "I've heard that they breached her phones or they tried to impersonate her. Nobody can impersonate Susie. Nobody."
A White House official confirmed to NBC News last night that federal authorities launched an investigation into an effort to impersonate Wiles, after an unknown person reached out to prominent Republicans and business executives pretending to be her.
The official confirmed that in recent weeks senators, governors, business executives and others have received text messages and phone calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles but was not her.
“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” an official White House spokeswoman said yesterday.
News of the investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Judge says DOJ 'utterly disregarded' order in deportation case
A Trump-appointed judge in Maryland chided the administration today for failing to comply with her order in the case of a man she found was improperly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found the Justice Department "utterly disregarded this Court’s May 20, 2025 Order" directing it to outline the steps it has taken to "facilitate" the return of a Venezuelan man identified only as Cristian.
"Defendants’ untimely response is the functional equivalent of, 'We haven’t done anything and don’t intend to,'" wrote Gallagher, who was nominated to the court by Trump in his first term.
They "not only ignore the requirements of this Court’s Order, but also make no attempt to offer any justification for their blatant lack of effort to comply," she wrote.
She said the status report filed by the government "disregarded the deadline and the substantive requests in this Court’s May 20, 2025 Order. Instead, Defendants simply reiterated their well-worn talking points on their reasons for removing Cristian and failed to provide any of the information the Court required."
Cristian's case is similar to that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the administration acknowledged should not have been sent to El Salvador, but with some key differences.
While both were deported on the same day, the government said it deported Cristian under the Alien Enemies Act, and has alleged he's a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The judge noted that Cristian came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, and was part of a class action suit she's presided over for years. Under the terms of a settlement agreement with the government in that case, Cristian was supposed to have his asylum claims heard on the merits before he could be deported. Gallagher directed the administration to try to bring him back for proper hearings in a ruling last month.
The judge gave the administration until Monday to "remedy their noncompliance" by providing additional information, and invited the plaintiffs' lawyers to give her input on "any additional relief sought by the Class."
Trump raises steel tariff to 50%, arguing it's 'saved' U.S. Steel
Trump announced during remarks at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh that he will double the tariffs placed on steel imports from 25% to 50%. He told the crowd that the increase will “further secure the steel industry in the United States.”
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported last week that total steel imports have fallen marginally over the last 12 months, but have more rapidly declined in recent months, including a 17% drop from March to April.
Trump said his decision to place tariffs on global steel imports "saved" U.S. Steel, arguing it protected the domestic production company from "outside, horrible influence."
Trump first made the remark while recounting a conversation he had with U.S. Steel President David Burritt, who he claimed first brought the idea of placing tariffs on steel imports to his attention.
"They were dumping steel all over the United States, and we saved it. It was a great honor. And Dave was really the first one that brought it to my attention, and I appreciate it, Dave, you did a good job," Trump said, crediting Burritt for getting "this whole thing started."
NEC council director says he never witnessed Elon Musk using drugs
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said during an interview today that he never witnessed Elon Musk taking drugs.
Asked during a CNN interview if he had witnessed any drug use, Hassett told host Katie Hunt, "Not even once."
"No, not in a million years. And I could just say that he is a person who's so filled with joy that it's just a natural way that he is, and he's just been absolutely a blast to work with," Hassett said. "And of course, there's no sign whatsoever anything like that."
The New York Times reported earlier today that Musk has consumed drugs intensely, but it was unclear if he had been using them during his stint as a special government employee.
Trump tours U.S. Steel facility ahead of remarks
A group of what appeared to be three U.S. Steel workers gave Trump a brief tour of the corporation’s Irvin processing plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, ahead of the president’s remarks there.
One of the workers presented Trump with what appeared to be a gold safety helmet prior to the tour, which Trump kept in his hand as he looked at the materials and products housed at the facility.
Trump ignored questions from reporters after he neared the group covering the tour, and journalists were soon after moved to a different location, with Trump out of sight. It is unclear what Trump discussed with the workers during the tour.
PBS sues Trump administration over executive order that cut its funding
PBS and a public television station in Minnesota have filed a lawsuit against Trump and members of his administration over his order to cut PBS’ federal funding, calling Trump’s executive order an “unprecedented presidential directive attacking PBS and its member stations ('PBS Member Stations') in a manner that will upend public television.”
They say Trump's executive order makes “no attempt” to hide that funding is being cut off because of the content of PBS programming, and in a desire to alter the content of speech. “That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations’ private editorial discretion,” they write.
The EO “smacks of retaliation” for perceived political slights in news coverage, something PBS says would be a violation of the First Amendment.
PBS is asking a federal judge to block several parts of the executive order, including its restrictions on federal funding to PBS member stations.
NPR filed a similar lawsuit last week over the same executive order.
White House responds to questions about Musk's alleged drug use
In response to an inquiry to the White House about the New York Times story on Musk’s alleged drug use and, specifically, whether the White House had requested Musk take a drug test ahead of his formal employment with the federal government or during his time as a special government employee, WH deputy press secretary Harrison Fields provided in a statement to NBC News:
“Few CEOs in America would leave the comfort of the C-suite to serve in the federal government. Yet Elon Musk did just that, joining the Trump Administration’s efforts to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. DOGE and its core mission is now embedded in the fabric of the federal government and continues to drive efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. In just four months, Elon has accomplished more for American taxpayers than many career politicians—a fact often overlooked by the legacy media.”
Stephen Miller did not directly address NBC News’ question on the issue on whether the White House had concerns about drug use by Musk.
Asked about pardoning Diddy, Trump says he would 'look at the facts'
Trump is not ruling out a pardon for Sean "Diddy" Combs, telling reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon that he would “certainly look at the facts.”
Trump, asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy whether he would consider taking that step, said “nobody’s asked” but added that “people are thinking about it.”
Trump went on to say that he hasn’t seen or spoken to Combs in years, and that he hasn’t followed Combs’ trial closely.
In a 2012 episode of “The Apprentice,” Trump called Combs “a good friend of mine” and “a good guy.”
In his second term, Trump has issued pardons for various celebrities, including reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley; rapper NBA YoungBoy; and hip-hop star Lil Wayne.
Trump claims: 'I solved inflation'
Trump claimed during the Oval Office press event that he has solved inflation.
"I solved inflation. I believe already I got the fuel prices down. The fuel prices came down," he told reporters.
"You had tremendous inflation — the greatest inflation probably in the history of our country, under Biden ... I know the economy was terrible for the people because they couldn't afford the energy, and the energy brought everything else up," he added. "In four months, we solved it."
On Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the Federal Reserve’s preferred 12-month inflation reading came in at 2.1% for April, down from 2.3% in March and nearly hitting the central bank’s 2% target.
However, the Fed continues to warn that above-target inflation may persist, largely as a direct result of price increases from tariffs.
Musk says his 5-year-old son gave him a black eye
Musk said the mark on his face is a black eye from his 5-year-old son punching him in the face. Asked by a reporter about the mark, Musk said he was playing around with his young son and challenged him.
"I said, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face.' And he did," Musk told reporters.
Trump chimed in, "X could do it!"
"I didn’t really feel much at the time," Musk said. "But I guess it bruises up."
