{"id":135795,"date":"2025-05-01T14:32:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-live-updates-president-will-join-prayer-event-and-give-university-of-alabama-commencement-speech-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:32:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:32:42","slug":"trump-administration-live-updates-president-will-join-prayer-event-and-give-university-of-alabama-commencement-speech-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-live-updates-president-will-join-prayer-event-and-give-university-of-alabama-commencement-speech-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration live updates: President will join prayer event and give University of Alabama commencement speech – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rebecca Shabad<\/span><\/span><\/span>
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this morning that the White House hopes former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to speak out against the administration.
“I think I speak for everyone at the White House, we encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and speaking, do speaking engagements,” she said at the daily press briefing, suggesting that Harris’ remarks work in Republicans’ favor.
Harris denounced Trump and the first 100 days of his second term<\/a> at an event yesterday in San Francisco, saying his policies threatened to bring about a constitutional crisis and were harming the economy.
The address by the former vice president, who may be considering runs for governor of California or for president in 2028, marked her return to the public spotlight after losing the last election to Trump.
Rebecca Shabad<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for domestic policy, weighed in on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case at a White House news briefing this morning, repeating Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments that the administration won’t discuss its foreign policy negotiations publicly.
“As Secretary Rubio said yesterday in the Cabinet meeting, this administration is not going to publicly discuss the inside details of our foreign policy and negotiations with a foreign country, and in particular, we are not going to allow a district court judge to try to become the secretary of state,” Miller said.
Trump said in a recent interview with ABC News that he could have Abrego Garcia returned to the United States \u2014 remarks that conflict with his administration’s arguments <\/a>in litigation over the Maryland man’s deportation that it would be up to El Salvador’s government to send him back.
Rubio is the one “managing the day-to-day relationship with El Salvador,” Miller said at the briefing, in which he also addressed a wide range of subjects, including tariffs, China and higher prices.
“Let\u2019s just take a moment, number one, to express our gratitude to El Salvador for agreeing to take some of the most dangerous terrorists off of America\u2019s streets and to put them into a safe environment where they cannot continue to engage in acts of terrorism or coordination with the Maduro regime,” Miller said.
Peter Guo<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Reporting from Hong Kong
The U.S. has been \u201cactively\u201d reaching out to China through various channels in the hope of starting tariff negotiations, Chinese state media reported.
China, which has contradicted Trump\u2019s claims<\/a> that talks are already underway, has said the U.S. must first \u201ccompletely cancel all\u00a0unilateral\u00a0tariff measures\u201d against China, which now total 145%.
\u201cChina has no need to negotiate with the U.S. before it takes any substantive actions. However, it will bring no harm to China at this stage if the U.S. wishes to engage with China,\u201d Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with\u00a0state-run broadcaster CCTV, said in a post today, citing unidentified sources. It did not provide details.
China, which Trump referred to yesterday as the \u201cchief ripper-offer\u201d of the U.S., has taken a hard line against U.S. tariffs, responding with its own 125% levy on U.S. imports. Earlier this week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry released a video<\/a> saying, \u201cBowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst \u2014 it only deepens the crisis.\u201d
\u201cChina won\u2019t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out,\u201d the video said.
China is starting to feel the bite of tariffs, however, reporting yesterday that manufacturing activity in April had fallen more than expected to a near two-year low, CNBC reported<\/a>.
The U.S. currently has no official trade talks with China but deals with other trading partners are expected within weeks, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News yesterday.
Kate Santaliz<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Senate Democrats are calling out Trump in a letter this morning highlighting the impact his global tariffs could have on housing costs.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware, and Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, led a group of 19 Democratic senators demanding that Trump reverse course on his tariffs and warning of increased construction costs and interest rates for homebuyers.
\u201cDuring your campaign, you promised to address America\u2019s housing crisis and on day one of your Administration you signed an executive order to pursue \u201cappropriate actions to … lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply.\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cYet your reckless trade policies will only make the crisis worse.\u201d
The tariffs could increase material costs for the average new home by as much as $10,000, according to the\u00a0National Association of Home Builders<\/a>. The senators specifically pointed to tariffs on aluminum, steel and appliances, writing that they will \u201cundoubtedly\u201d raise the cost of constructing new homes.
The senators also wrote that economic uncertainty caused by tariffs will only place more pressure on interest rates and cause mortgage rates to skyrocket in the midst of a nationwide housing shortage.
\u201cIf China retaliates against your tariffs by selling off U.S. Treasury bonds or U.S. mortgage-backed securities, that could also result in higher costs.\u201d the senators wrote.
The letter comes as the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is set to hold a hearing at 10 a.m. today on the home insurance industry and housing costs.
Courtney Kube<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Gordon Lubold<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Under pressure to make drastic budget cuts, Army leaders have struck an unusual agreement with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency: Don\u2019t DOGE us; we will DOGE ourselves.\u00a0
The process began at a White House meeting in March attended by Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, three defense officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.\u00a0
Read the full story.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Tara Prindiville<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Garrett Haake<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Elon Musk told reporters yesterday that he thinks the Department of Government Efficiency should look at the Federal Reserve, citing spending on renovations at its headquarters.
\u201cI did see recently that they\u2019re spending $2\u00bd billion on redecorating. Sounds high. Who\u2019s their designer?” Musk said, laughing. “I mean, what do you get for $2\u00bd billion in redecorating? Must be incredible.\u201d\u00a0
Pressed on whether the central bank’s spending should be scrutinized, Musk said, \u201cSince, at the end of the day, this is all taxpayer money, I think we would certainly \u2014 we should certainly look to see if indeed the Federal Reserve is spending $2\u00bd billion on their interior designer. That\u2019s, that\u2019s an eyebrow raiser, you know? They\u2019re like, can we see pictures of what you get for that?\u201d
The Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, have been frequent targets of Trump<\/a>, who has criticized the central bank for not lowering interest rates amid economic volatility stemming in part from the president’s tariff policy.
Shannon Pettypiece<\/span><\/span><\/span>
J.J. McCorvey<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Trump\u2019s massive China tariffs<\/a> are jeopardizing American fireworks shows, threatening to drive up prices and limit supplies.
U.S. fireworks wholesalers and distributors say they\u2019ve been canceling shipments from China for this year\u2019s July Fourth holiday. Some are also halting manufacturing in China of fireworks for next year\u2019s celebrations of the 250th anniversary of America\u2019s independence. Trump\u2019s April 2 tariff rollout, which he dubbed \u201cLiberation Day,\u201d raised the effective import tax rate on nearly all Chinese goods to 145%, even after he walked back much of the other sweeping duties<\/a> days later.
Last month\u2019s chaotic trade policy swings occurred just as U.S. fireworks companies were preparing to receive their last July Fourth shipments from China, which makes around 75% of fireworks used in professional shows and 99% of consumer fireworks used in the United States, according to the National Fireworks Association. The companies say that the tariffs are too steep to absorb and that hiking prices on customers to offset them would make their products unaffordable.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Nnamdi Egwuonwu<\/span><\/span><\/span>
The progressive organization Democracy Forward is seeking to turn dissatisfaction with Trump\u2019s early performance<\/a> into small group meetings across the country for people to voice their opposition to the president’s agenda.
In an announcement first shared with NBC News, Democracy Forward said \u201cDinners for Democracy\u201d and \u201cCoffee for Change\u201d will focus in part on people seeking opportunities for engagement because their \u201cmembers of Congress who are aligned with the Trump-Vance administration are unreachable or not holding town halls.\u201d
\u201cThrough supporting people in gathering their community for dinner or for coffee, we are working to turn this crisis into a catalyst for change,\u201d Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Democracy Forward says it has filed 60 legal actions against Trump\u2019s administration since his inauguration.
The organization says it will provide event hosts conversation starters, discussion questions and other resources.
The initiative comes as polling suggests<\/a> Democratic voters want to more aggressively fight Trump\u2019s agenda, directing their lawmakers to resist compromising with him even if it risks bipartisan progress.
Alexandra Marquez<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Democrat Carol Obando-Derstine today launched a campaign for the House in Pennsylvania\u2019s 7th District, where freshman Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Penn., narrowly won last year, flipping a Democratic-held district into the GOP\u2019s column.
\u201cI\u2019m running because I don\u2019t want to stand by as Elon Musk and Ryan Mackenzie rip away health care from millions of people, devastate our economy and take food off families tables to hand out tax cuts to billionaire donors,\u201d Obando-Derstine told NBC News.
\u201cI\u2019m running for Congress to fight back, to fight for working families like the one I grew up with, and to ensure that the people of this district, of PA-7, know they have a champion in office who will always put them before politics,\u201d she added.
Obando-Derstine is a naturalized citizen from Colombia who has worked in various community-facing roles in the Lehigh Valley, including as an energy engineer and as an aide to former Sen. Bob Casey.
Though she\u2019s never held elected office, Obando-Derstine cited that as an asset, saying, \u201cThere\u2019s momentum around candidates like me. Right now, we have someone who isn\u2019t showing up for our district, and more career politicians won\u2019t change that.\u201d
\u201cThis is the change that voters want to see, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to channel into this primary. I dedicated my life to helping people in this region. I haven\u2019t dedicated my life to politics,\u201d she added.
The general election in Pennsylvania\u2019s 7th District is expected to be close, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating the race as a \u201cToss-up\u201d and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listing the race as one of their targets for 2026. Mackenzie only won the race by 1 percentage point<\/a>, or just over 4,000 votes, in 2024.
Former Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., who represented the district but lost to Mackenzie in 2024, is expected to endorse Obando-Derstine later today.
In a statement, Mackenzie’s campaign spokesperson, Arnaud Armstrong, tied Obando-Derstine to Wild, saying that electing Obando-Derstine would effectively be “a fourth Wild term.”
\u201cSusan Wild\u2019s stated goal was finding someone with \u2018no record\u2019 so they could make up an image to fool voters. The sad truth that has been exposed is that Obondo-Derstine is running to carry on Wild\u2019s radical left agenda that caused the worst inflation in decades, disastrous open-border policies, failed foreign policy, and woke mandates,” Armstrong said. “Voters will reject this poorly veiled attempt by Wild\u2019s special interest backers and consultants to obtain a fourth Wild term and all of the far-left policies that would accompany it.”
Garrett Haake<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Elon Musk said that he\u2019s in the process of stepping back from his nearly 24\/7 role with the Department of Government Efficiency to focus on his businesses.
\u201cNow we\u2019re getting more of a rhythm,\u201d Musk told reporters at the White House last evening. \u201cAnd so the amount of time that it\u2019s necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.\u201d
Musk\u2019s Tesla company this month reported a sizable drop in first-quarter profit<\/a> and revenue.
Musk said that following an \u201cintense\u201d first three months of Trump\u2019s administration \u2014 when he occasionally slept over at the White House at Trump\u2019s invitation \u2014 he now expects to work on DOGE projects only one or two days a week and to be present in Washington every other week.\u00a0
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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