Highlights from June 11, 2025
- ELON MUSK: The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said on X that he regrets some of his posts about President Donald Trump. Musk apologized after Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles reached out to him and urged him to end the feud, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
- TRADE TALKS: Trump said the United States will maintain high tariffs on China in a Truth Social post this morning announcing a preliminary trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping that's awaiting "final approval."
- LOS ANGELES PROTESTS: The Justice Department called California's bid to block the Trump administration from sending the military to deal with protesters in Los Angeles a "crass political stunt." Thousands of people across the country have joined demonstrations against the administration's immigration raids.
- 'LES MISÉRABLES': Trump attended the musical's opening night at the Kennedy Center.
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Abrego Garcia's attorneys argue he should be released from detention pending trial
In a filing opposing the government’s wishes to detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia pending trial in the federal case against him, attorneys for Garcia say “the government isn’t even entitled to a detention hearing in this case—much less detention.”
They argue that because the charges — conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens — are not crimes of violence, not offenses for which the maximum sentence is 10 years or more and not ones that involve a minor victim or involve the possession or use of a dangerous weapon, “Mr. Abrego Garcia should be released.”
They also argue Abrego Garcia is not a flight risk. “The government points to zero facts suggesting that Mr. Abrego Garcia: (1) has a history of evading arrest, (2) has systematically engaged in international travel in the recent past, (3) has strong relations in countries that would cause him to seek refuge there, or (4) has any prior felony convictions.”
Abrego Garcia’s arraignment and detention hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in Nashville, Tennessee.
U.S. Capitol Police arrest protester outside Heritage Foundation
U.S. Capitol Police said they arrested a man today outside the conservative Heritage Foundation, alleging he pepper-sprayed and spat on two special police officers conducting security operations for the building.
Nathaniel Wetter-Taylor, 39, was arrested on two counts of assault on a police officer. Police say he appeared to be a lone protester who got into a dispute with the special police officers. No major injuries were reported. The Heritage Foundation's building is a block from Senate office buildings.
The arrest comes amid days of protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids in Los Angeles and other cities. In a social media post, Trump said of the protesters' interactions with law enforcement: “IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”
Protests outside the Heritage Foundation have been semiregular occurrences since Trump's election to a second term, when he began implementing policies similar to the Project 2025 agenda the group created.
Trump speech at Fort Bragg prompts new questions, concerns about politicization of military
Defense Department officials say soldiers who cheered and jeered yesterday at Trump’s political statements at a rally at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, did not violate military regulations, but a former military legal officer said they did just that.
During the speech, uniformed soldiers yelled in support of Trump’s political statements and booed Newsom and former President Joe Biden.
“Do you think this crowd would have showed up for Biden? I don’t think so,” Trump said to boos about Biden.
Republicans clobber Democrats in annual Congressional Baseball Game
Republicans emerged victorious tonight at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, trouncing Democrats 13-2 and extending their winning streak to five years.
House members were the bulk of the nearly 60 players. Only four senators were on the field: Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was the highest-ranking House Republican to play in tonight's game, nearly eight years after he was shot while he was practicing for the 2017 matchup.
Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., was the top House Democrat in the game, with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watching from the sidelines.
The game has been a congressional tradition since 1909.
In 2016, the game evolved into a foundation: Congressional Sports for Charity, which says it aims to “provide support to worthy and effective charities serving vulnerable children and families in the Washington DC area as well as scholarships to deserving local youth.”
This year’s game set a fundraising record, bringing in more than $2.75 million for local charities, according to the foundation. The 2024 game raised $2.2 million and sold over 30,000 tickets.
Eight protesters were arrested during last year’s game. The group Climate Defiance took responsibility for the incident, posting pictures of supporters wearing shirts with the phrase “end fossil fuels” on them.
Wisconsin group sues Elon Musk, alleging million-dollar check giveaways were voter bribes
A Wisconsin watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk claiming he unlawfully bribed voters with million-dollar checks and $100 giveaways in the state’s latest Supreme Court election.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign — a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that investigates election transparency — and two Wisconsin voters filed the suit against Musk, his super PAC, America PAC, and another Musk-owned entity called the United States of America Inc.
The plaintiffs claim that Musk and his entities violated state laws that prohibit vote bribery and unauthorized lotteries. The suit also accuses Musk of conducting civil conspiracy and acting as a public nuisance.
‘Incredibly petty’: Sen. Rand Paul says he was ‘uninvited’ to White House picnic over breaks with Trump
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was “uninvited” to an annual White House picnic typically attended by members of Congress and their families, framing the move to reporters today as retribution for his opposition to key components of Trump’s agenda.
“They’re afraid of what I’m saying, so they think they’re going to punish me, I can’t go to the picnic, as if somehow that’s going to make me more conciliatory,” Paul said. “So it’s silly, in a way, but it’s also just really sad that this is what it’s come to. But petty vindictiveness like this, it makes you — it makes you wonder about the quality of people you’re dealing with.”
Paul, who said he attended picnics hosted by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, told reporters he called the White House today to secure tickets to the annual picnic but was told he was not invited. He said he had family members flying to Washington to attend the event, including son, daughter-in-law and 6-month-old grandson, who he noted owns a “Make America Great Again” hat.
“I just find this incredibly petty,” Paul told reporters. “I have been, I think, nothing but polite to the president. I have been an intellectual opponent, a public policy opponent, and he’s chosen now to uninvite me from the picnic and to say my grandson can’t come to the picnic.”
Trump says U.S. personnel are being moved out of the region as Iran tensions mount
Trump indicated to reporters tonight that some U.S. government personnel in the Middle East are being moved as tensions in the Middle East grow and hopes of the United States’ reaching a nuclear deal with Iran hit a roadblock.
“Well, they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens. But they are, we’ve given notice to move out," Trump said in response to a question about news reports that personnel were being relocated.
Asked whether anything can be done to dial down the temperature in the region, Trump said: “They can’t have a nuclear weapon. Very simple, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. We’re not going to allow that.”
Trump told the New York Post in a podcast interview released this morning that he has grown less confident in reaching an agreement with Iran over its ability to enrich uranium, an early step in manufacturing nuclear weapons.
"I’m getting more and more less confident about it. They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame, but they — I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago."
Trump admin tells immigration judges to dismiss cases in tactic to speed up arrests
A recent memo to immigration judges obtained by NBC News provides fresh insight into how the Trump administration is pulling off a new tactic — dismissing pending immigration cases, then immediately moving to arrest the immigrants — that is part of its bid to quickly increase the number of immigrants it is detaining.
In the memo, the Justice Department instructs immigration judges, who report to the executive branch and are not part of the independent judiciary, to allow Department of Homeland Security lawyers to make motions to dismiss orally and then move quickly to grant those dismissals, rather than allow immigrants the 10-day response time that had been typical.
David Hogg won't run for DNC post again after party orders redo of vice chair elections
Progressive activist David Hogg said he won’t seek to continue as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee after it called for a redo of the February election that elevated him to the post.
Shortly after the DNC announced it would hold new elections tomorrow for two vice chair positions held by Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as a result of a procedural challenge, Hogg announced he would not be a candidate.
The decision comes amid a public spat with the DNC and its chairman, Ken Martin, over Hogg’s decision to support primary challenges to Democratic incumbents, a spat that loomed over the vote even though it was not directly related to the challenge that ultimately led the party to call for a new election.
DNC will redo party elections for David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta’s posts after procedural error
The Democratic National Committee has voted to hold new elections for two of its vice chair positions after a procedural challenge, meaning Florida activist David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who were elected to the party’s executive committee in February, have to run again to keep their positions.
They won’t have to wait long: A new, virtual, election between Hogg and Kenyatta begins tomorrow. And the loser will be able to run in a subsequent election for the final vice chair slot.
