Trump says he doesn't need congressional authorization for Iran conflict

The U.S. is withdrawing approximately 5,000 troops from Germany, Pentagon officials said today, after President Donald Trump was angered by criticism from the German chancellor over the war with Iran.

The troop moves would include one brigade combat team as well as other forces inside Germany, the officials said. The decision does not appear to affect the U.S. military’s massive medical support bases, like Landstuhl, where thousands of troops, including casualties from the Iran war, have been taken for medical treatment.

The decision was a direct response to comments made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but also reflected Trump’s frustration that U.S. allies aren’t doing enough. Trump has been threatening Germany and other NATO allies over their refusal to engage in the U.S. and Israel-led war on Iran. He suggested earlier this week he might pull troops from Germany.

“The Europeans have not stepped up when America needed them,” said a senior Pentagon official said. “This cannot be a one-way street.”

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President Donald Trump moved today to thin the Republican field running for Senate in Kentucky, endorsing Rep. Andy Barr and prompting businessman Nate Morris — who had support from key Trump world figures — to drop out of the race for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s open seat.

“I know Andy well, and he is always a Vote we can count on because he knows what it takes to GET THINGS DONE and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social site.

The post came 16 minutes after Trump wrote that he had met with Morris on Thursday and urged him to end his campaign and instead accept an ambassadorship.

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Trump tonight reiterated his claims that the economy will "snap back," despite rising costs as the U.S. continues its military operations in Iran.

Speaking to a crowd at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in affluent West Palm Beach this evening, Trump stuck an apologetic tone over high energy prices spurred by the Iran conflict.

"In the first administration, I think we had the greatest economy in history, in my first administration, and in the second, I think we're blowing it away," Trump said. "But we had to make a detour. I'm sorry. We had to make a detour to Iran. Everything will snap back."

At the $225-per-seat event, the president touted that that core inflation "has dropped to a five year low," with the exception of oil prices, but said "as soon as it's over, [prices] are going to drop like a rock," in reference to the war in Iran.

Gas and oil prices jumped again this week after Trump announced that he plans to maintain the blockade on Iranian ports, which has been enforced by U.S. naval forces since April 13.

Trump continued his claims that he doesn't need to ask Congress for authorization to continue military operations in Iran tonight during remarks at a dinner event in West Palm Beach.

"You know, they don't like the word war, and they call it a military operation, because that way you don't have a war, you don't have legal problems," Trump said. "But you ever hear a situation where we're knocking the hell out of somebody, and we have a congress saying, 'Please, You've only got three days left?"

Trump compared the eight-week-old conflict in Iran to the 19 years the U.S. spent in Vietnam and the 12 years in Iraq.

Trump said earlier today in letters to Congress that he doesn't need its authorization to continue operations in Iran, despite the fact that the War Powers Resolution calls for Congress' approval after a conflict hits its 60th day.

Since the U.S. began its military action on Feb. 28, the conflict met that mark earlier this week. Trump argued in his letters that he doesn't need approval since he ordered a ceasefire on April 7, even though the U.S. military is still actively enforcing a blockade in Iran.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp set the date for a special election to fill the congressional seat of former Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., who died while in office last month.

Kemp announced in an executive order today that the special election for Georgia's 13th Congressional District will be held July 28. The winner of that election will take the empty seat until whoever earns the vote in November's midterm elections is sworn in next year.

Scott, the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, died in April at 80 years old. The congressman represented the 13th District since 2003 and was running for a 13th term when he died.

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner told NBC News today that he spoke with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, on Thursday night about uniting to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

The call came after Schumer’s preferred candidate in the Senate primary, Gov. Janet Mills, abruptly ended her campaign Thursday morning, paving the way for Platner to win the Democratic nomination.

“At this point, we need to all coalesce and beat Susan Collins. I mean, that’s the goal. I mean, I spoke with Democratic leadership yesterday down in DC, and they are in agreement,” Platner said in a brief interview after a union rally Friday evening. The New York Times previously reported that the two had spoken.

Schumer “called, he congratulated us on a well-run race. And then nothing brings people together like the need to unseat Susan Collins. So we had a very nice conversation about doing just that,” Platner said.

Platner said he had not yet spoken with Mills, noting they had been “playing phone tag.”

A federal appeals court today granted the state of Louisiana’s request to reinstate a nationwide requirement that abortion pills be dispensed in person. The ruling represents a victory for opponents of abortion rights, since it limits access by blocking people’s ability to obtain mifepristone — one of the two pills used in medication abortions — through telehealth and by mail.

Telehealth prescriptions have been key to maintaining abortion access in states that outlawed or restricted the practice after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Anti-abortion politicians have just made it much harder for people everywhere in the country to get a medication that abortion and miscarriage patients have been safely using for more than 25 years,” Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney for the Reproductive Freedom Project of the ACLU, said Friday in a press release.

During the Covid pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration temporarily eliminated a requirement for mifepristone to be dispensed only in clinics, medical offices and hospitals. The change was then made permanent in 2023.

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Dr. Phil joined Trump on stage, telling the seniors in the crowd at the Villages in Florida that Trump is "restoring trust between Americans and the government."

"Because you understand, you understand that, this was, your benefits were never supposed to be taxed to begin with," he said, praising Trump's policy to reduce taxes on Social Security benefits. "That was the deal the American government made with the American people."

Dr. Phil urged the audience to vote and encourage their peers to head to the polls in the midterm elections this November.

"We've got midterms coming up, and you need to make sure that not only you vote, but find 10 people and make sure that they vote," he told the crowd.

Trump touted his efforts to lower drug prices, telling the crowd in Florida that those moves alone "should win us the midterms."

“I said, 'I better win the election,'" Trump said. "This is going into the second election, because what a job I did."

A recent report by Senate Democrats, however, found drugmakers that have signed pricing deals with the administration nevertheless raised the cost of hundreds of medications.

The president also noted that starting July 1, Medicare patients will be provided with coverage for weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Zepbound and Wegovy. Trump said the medications will be available for $50 a month.

In December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a temporary program to provide eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries with access to certain GLP-1 weight-loss drugs between July 1, 2026 and Dec. 31, 2027.

Trump attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and her home country, Somalia, adding to past claims he's repeatedly made alleging fraud by Somalis in the U.S. and pushing aggressive rhetoric against the congresswoman.

Trump said Somalia is a "filthy, dirty, disgusting, dirty, it's a horrible place."

"They say it's the worst country anywhere in the world that we got some beauties out there, but it's the worst," the president said. "And then [Omar] comes here from Somalia, and she tells us how to run the United States of America."

"She says, 'The Constitution gives me certain rights, I demanded that I be given these rights.' Get the hell out. What a phony," Trump said.

Trump began remarks to a crowd of seniors in Florida by addressing the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last weekend.

"Now, you know, I shouldn't be here. There was just a an attempt, I won't use the word an attempt, they say on my life," Trump said at an event at The Villages Charter School.

"I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quietly, beautifully and safely play out my term, destroying everything that comes in our way, like bad countries that want to get nuclear weapons," the president continued.

Cole Tomas Allen, who is accused of opening fire outside of the ballroom where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place Saturday, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president and related crimes.

Voting rights advocates filed a lawsuit against Louisiana officials for suspending the state’s House primaries after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled its congressional map was unconstitutional.

Absentee voting was underway ahead of the May 16 primary and early voting was scheduled to start Saturday. Following the Supreme Court's decision earlier this week, Louisiana's secretary of state delayed the House primaries but said all other races on the ballot, including for Senate, would go forward as scheduled.

Trump sent letters to Congress explaining that, due to the ceasefire, he doesn’t need its authorization for military operations in Iran, even though the conflict hit the 60-day mark this week.

“On April 7, 2026, I ordered a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between the United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,” Trump wrote in the letters, one of which went to the House and one of which went to the Senate.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will take a break from public events after undergoing a "routine out-patient urology procedure," on Friday, according to his office.

Pritzker is running for a third term as governor and is among the Democrats mulling a 2028 presidential bid.

“Earlier today, Governor Pritzker completed a routine out-patient urology procedure. Next week, the Governor will fulfill his duties and pause public events while resting," Matt Hill, deputy chief of staff of communications for Pritzker said in a statement. "The Governor is grateful for well-wishes and looks forward to resuming public events soon.” 

After Trump announced that he was planning to put a higher 25% tariff on truck and car imports from the European Union, Bernd Lange, the chairman of the E.U. Parliament's trade committee, told NBC News, "President Trump’s behaviour is unacceptable."

"This latest move demonstrates just how unreliable the U.S. side is," Lange said.

Referring to another one of Trump's tariff threats earlier this year, he added: "We have already witnessed these arbitrary attacks from the U.S. in the case of Greenland; this is no way to treat close partners."

Trump said he's "not satisfied" with Iran, saying that it wants to make a deal with the U.S. over ending the war, but its leadership is "very disjointed."

"They have no leaders, because, frankly, their leaders are very disjointed. They have a lot of problems right now. ... Their leaders are not getting along with each other," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for Florida.

He added: "They have no idea who their leaders are, but they're very confused, and that's because of the success we've had militarily. They essentially have no military."

Asked what military options were presented to him at the White House yesterday on resolving the war with Iran, Trump said, "I mean, do we want to go and just blast the hell out of 'em and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal? Those are the options." He said he'd prefer not to "blast them away."

Trump told reporters outside the White House that the administration will raise tariffs on cars imported from the European Union because, he said, it hasn't adhered to a trade deal.

"We raised the tariffs on cars coming in from the European Union because the European Union was not adhering to the trade deal we have," Trump said.

Trump said some European companies, however, are building plants in the U.S. and said when they open, "there won't be any tariffs."

"But we raised the tariffs because they were not, as usual, they were not adhering to the agreement that we have," he continued. "We have a trade deal with the European Union. They were not adhering to it. So I raised the tariffs on cars and trucks to 25% — that's billions of dollars coming into the United States, and it forces them to move their factory production much faster."

In a post on Truth Social, the president threatened to impose a 25% tariff on cars and trucks on the European Union next week.

“I am pleased to announce that, based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States," Trump wrote. "The Tariff will be increased to 25%. It is fully understood and agreed that, if they produce Cars and Trucks in U.S.A. Plants, there will be NO TARIFF."

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, will introduce legislation to change House rules to ban members from using prediction markets after the Senate passed a similar resolution yesterday that applied only to that chamber's lawmakers and staff. 

“I am leading this effort in the House,” Hinson, who is running for Senate, posted on X after the Senate action. “Let’s get it done.”

A spokesperson for Hinson told NBC News that the congresswoman “believes that Members of Congress shouldn’t be allowed to profit off of insider information, so she’ll be introducing legislation to modify House rules to ban the use of prediction markets for Members of Congress to profit off of political events.”

The House is now in a district work period and will return May 12.

Former President Joe Biden today backed former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ campaign for governor in Georgia, his first endorsement since leaving office last year.

“I’ve known her for a long time, and she’s something special,” Biden said in a video backing the former mayor, who served as a senior adviser in the Biden administration.

Biden added in the video that the “same qualities that made her a great mayor made her invaluable to our administration.” He called Bottoms “smart” and “focused” and said she “gets things done.”

“Georgia, she’s ready. She’s been ready,” said the former president, who included Bottoms on a short list of potential vice presidential running mates in 2020.

Bottoms is running in a crowded Democratic primary field, which also includes former Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves, former state labor commissioner and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who served as a Republican but later switched parties.

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Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said today that he doesn't plan to delay Georgia's primary this month to redraw his state's political maps for this year's elections.

“Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections,” Kemp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ahead of the state's May 19 primary elections.

He said that a Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais this week makes clear it "requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.”

A source close to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said that the White House accusation that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., delayed Dr. Casey Means' nomination is "bull----."

The source said Means, whose nomination for surgeon general was withdrawn yesterday, did not have the votes to be confirmed.

After pulling her nomination, Trump and other administration officials blamed Cassidy, the HELP panel's chairman, for standing in the way of her nomination in committee where a vote to advance it had stalled.

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur has had at least nine lives in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, a Toledo-area constituency that has grown more conservative over the last decade. That happened both organically, because of shifting demographics, and forcibly, because of Republican-drawn district lines.

Put them together, and she again in 2026 is one of Republicans’ top targets in the battle for House control.

Kaptur has beaten all comers on the way to becoming the longest-serving woman in congressional history. Now, she is running for a 23rd term in a district that was redrawn to stretch into even redder territory than before, and many believe the new boundaries make her more vulnerable than ever before.

But Republicans, who won a three-seat majority in the House in 2024, are sorting through a jam of their own. They are approaching a crowded primary Tuesday with no clear front-runner, as well as a concern that whoever emerges will need a big boost from the national party to finally unseat Kaptur.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., plans to campaign for Iowa Senate candidate Zach Wahls this month, adding firepower to a raging battle between progressive outsider candidates and the Democratic Party establishment.

Wahls, a state senator, is pitted against state Rep. Josh Turek, whom many perceive as the favorite of Democratic leaders in Washington, in the June 2 primary. The winner will take on Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in what promises to be a closely watched race in the fight for control of the Senate.

“Zach Wahls is running to shake things up,” Warren said in a statement announcing her May 10 visit to a Wahls rally in Des Moines. “He’s taking on a corrupt system that’s rigged against working families; a system where giant corporations, their lobbyists, and their super PACs funnel millions to candidates like Ashley Hinson, so those politicians let them jack up prices on groceries, prescriptions drugs, and the basics Iowans need to get by.”

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