Trump blows up spy bill after Senate Republicans say ‘no’ to voter ID legislation

2026-06-17T20:20:43.816Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s derailment of a U.S. Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week is only the latest example of a growing ​rift with Senate Republicans, who are more willing to defy the commander-in-chief in the run-up to the November midterm elections.

Aiming to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill Pulte as ‌acting U.S. spy chief, Trump forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to postpone a confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, his permanent nominee for director of national security, who Republicans had hoped to fast-track into the job.

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“He made a colossal mistake,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said of the president’s move. “It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants.”

It was the latest in a series of actions by Trump that have upended Senate Republican plans to move major legislation intended to forward his ​agenda. Last month, his announcement of a $1.8 billion “antiweaponization” fund to compensate political allies who claim to have been victimized by federal authorities stalled a $70 billion bill to fund his immigration crackdown.

Trump has also ​ruffled Senate Republicans by unseating sitting incumbents, demanding $1 billion tied to his White House ballroom and the passage of his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, ⁠and by calling on the party to end the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and fire the parliamentarian.

SAYING ‘NO’ TO TRUMP

As a result, Senate Republicans have begun to say “no” to Trump’s more extreme demands including passage of the ​SAVE America Act, which would require lawmakers to do away with the filibuster because of vigorous opposition from Democrats.

“I think the president wants to add SAVE America to pretty much everything,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told ​reporters after Trump first called for the package of voting restrictions to be added to the surveillance bill. “But that, obviously, is not realistic to get the FISA bill done. And we want to get the FISA bill done.”

The result has been a deeper division between Trump and Senate Republicans less than five months ahead of the November midterm elections.

“I think we’re in for a bumpy seven months or so,” predicted Senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary reelection bid to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton ​last month.

But not all Republicans agree that Trump’s actions have been disruptive.

“He’s doing things that people want,” said Senator Rick Scott, a Florida hardliner who hopes to see warrant requirements added to FISA legislation. “Americans – Republicans, Democrats, ​independents – want election security. They want voter ID and stuff like that. And they don’t want to be surveilled.”

OUTRAGE OVER PULTE

Trump’s selection of Pulte as acting intelligence chief sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans over the housing regulator’s lack of ‌national security ⁠experience, and prompted Democrats to boycott legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for fear that Pulte would use his position to attack Trump’s perceived political enemies.

The president also doubled down on his demand that Senate Republicans attach the FISA legislation to his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, a package of sweeping voter restrictions that Democrats vigorously oppose.

Lawmakers and independent analysts say Trump’s longstanding disregard for Congress and the demands of legislating is coming into sharper focus now that Senate Republicans are confronting half a dozen competitive midterm races at a time when Trump’s foreign policy and trade initiatives have raised costs for ​voters.

“I think he really doesn’t see Congress as an ​entity for making deals with. He sees it ⁠as something subservient,” said Molly Nixon, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

LACK OF TRUST

Others said Trump has caused distrust by unseating Republican incumbents including Texas Senator John Cornyn, who has been seen as a reliable supporter of the president’s agenda.

“That destroyed what remained of any kind of trust,” Cornyn said. “That changed the playing ​field in a way where you’ll see a lot more of what I would call transactional relationships, as opposed to ones based on trust.”

Less than a ​year and a half into ⁠his second term as president, Trump has seen his approval ratings fall from 47% around the time of his inauguration to only 36% this month, slightly above his all-time low of 33% during his first term, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data. Among Republicans, his approval has dropped significantly over the same period.

Thune’s willingness to stand up to Trump and defend the integrity of the Senate has earned him the respect of his conference and even Democrats, despite the hyperpartisanship ⁠of Congress.

“I happen ​to have a lot of respect for Senator Thune,” said Democratic Senator Peter Welch. “Trump wants him to fire the parliamentarian. He ​wants him to get rid of the filibuster. And I see Thune as doing his best to maintain the independent integrity of the Senate.”

But that has also raised questions for Thune, who was asked by reporters about his relationship with Trump on Wednesday.

“It’s fine. The ​president has his own mind and makes his own decisions,” the South Dakota Republican said as he turned and walked away.

Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell

中国称支持缅甸全面参与亚细安及联合国事务

2026年6月18日 07:33 / 联合早报

中国国家主席习近平（右）星期二（6月16日）在北京同访华的缅甸总统敏昂莱举行会谈，会谈前在人民大会堂北大厅举行欢迎仪式并握手。 （法新社）

在缅甸自2021年军方发动政变后长期遭国际社会疏远之际，中国在与缅甸发表的联合声明中说，支持缅甸全面参与亚细安及联合国机制和进程。

缅甸总统敏昂莱本周访华期间，中国外交部星期三（6月17日）发布《中华人民共和国和缅甸联邦共和国关于加快构建中缅命运共同体的联合声明》。

声明指出，双方同意推进中缅经济走廊建设，稳妥推进皎漂深水港、木姐－曼德勒铁路等走廊重大项目合作；支持成立国际打击电信网络诈骗联盟，将加强双多边执法安全合作，打击网赌电诈、跨境赌博、拐卖人口、偷渡、制贩毒品、制假走私、金融诈骗等跨境犯罪活动。

声明也称，中国支持缅甸通过政治对话推进国内和平和解进程，也支持缅甸全面、平等、建设性参与亚细安及联合国机制和进程，维护缅甸合法权益。双方同意加强沟通协调，维护两国边境地区和平稳定，实现边境地区共同发展。

据法新社报道，敏昂莱2021年发动政变推翻由昂山素季领导的民选政府后，缅甸在外交上日益孤立，而中国则成为少数持续与它保持密切关系的国家之一。

近年来，亚细安一直将缅甸排除在领导人峰会之外。成员国对于是否应允许缅甸在国内局势持续动荡的情况下恢复全面参与亚细安事务，始终存在分歧。

不过，北京公开支持缅甸近期举行的选举。这次选举由亲军方阵营胜出，随后推选敏昂莱出任文职总统。

中国国家主席习近平星期二（16日）与敏昂莱会面时说，中国支持缅甸各方通过对话推进和平与和解。

另据联合声明，敏昂莱感谢习近平以及中国政府和人民给予缅甸代表团的热情友好接待，并邀请习近平在“双方方便的时候”访问缅甸。

Warsh Fed holds rates steady. Trump says ‘It’s all right. Whatever.’

2026-06-17 9:44 PM UTC / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump greets the new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after he was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump greets the new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after he was sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Purchase Licensing Rights

June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh after the new central bank chief concluded his first rate-setting meeting with ​a decision to leave interest rates unchanged and published projections that showed nearly ‌half of U.S. central bankers feel a rate hike will be needed this year.

“It’s all right. Whatever,” Trump said in France, when asked what he felt about the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates ​steady.

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Trump had repeatedly railed at Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, calling him a moron ​and a knucklehead, among many other names, for not cutting rates. Trump ⁠says that the central bank ought to lower borrowing costs to help the housing ​market, boost the economy, and reduce the cost of the government borrowing.

But on Wednesday, Trump ​had no such words for Warsh, whom he has said looks like he comes out of central casting for the part.

“It could happen,” Trump said, when asked about the possibility of a rate hike. “It’s hard ​to believe. It just keeps the country down and it’s so, it’s so, unusual. ​But we have a very good guy over there right now so I’m guided by what he ‌wants.”

Meanwhile, Warsh, ⁠at a press conference following the decision, declined to say anything about where rates may need to head.

He also declined to say whether he had spoken with the president since taking the helm at the Fed last month, though he did say he had met ​several times with ​Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“So ⁠on the president, I don’t have anything for you,” Warsh said. “With respect to the Treasury secretary, he has been posting pictures of ​our breakfast, so … I don’t think I can deny that the ​long tradition ⁠at the central bank is that the Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary meet weekly. I think we’ve pulled off three of those so far. Believe he’s overseas this week, so ⁠this will ​be the exception of the rule.”

Warsh told lawmakers at ​his confirmation hearing that he planned to cooperate closely with the administration on non-monetary policy matters.

Reporting by Dan Burns ​and Michael S. Derby, Steve Holland, Ann Saphir, Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

How alleged White House UFC attack plotters organized across four states

2026-06-17T16:09:19-04:00 / Fox News

Prosecutors say the group organized through encrypted Signal chats with tiered roles including drone operators and snipers

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Published June 17, 2026 4:09pm EDT

USSS calls alleged UFC terror plot ‘unique’ as new details emerge

Fox News legal analyst Kerri Urbahn discusses new information on an alleged UFC terror plot against a White House event and the suspects involved on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

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The men accused of plotting a mass-casualty attack at the UFC event held on White House grounds allegedly met through a TikTok group before moving their discussions into encrypted messaging apps, where prosecutors say they allegedly developed plans to kill government officials and other attendees, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Federal authorities have arrested five men accused of plotting a mass-casualty attack targeting UFC Freedom 250, the Sunday event held on White House grounds that was attended by President Donald Trump and other senior government officials.

According to federal court records, members of the group first connected around March through a TikTok community called “Vanguard of the Old,” where participants allegedly vetted one another through identification documents, workout videos and tactical content before moving into private Signal chats. The filings do not further describe whether Vanguard of the Old was a formal organization or simply an online chat community.

The filings identify five arrested participants in Ohio, California, Missouri and Nebraska and describe a network that prosecutors say evolved from online discussions into operational planning for an attack targeting UFC Freedom 250. Investigators allege members discussed using explosive-laden drones to trigger an evacuation before opening fire on politicians and other targets as crowds fled the area.

President Donald Trump hosts the UFC Freedom 250 fights on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2026, celebrating his 80th birthday with a series of Ultimate Fighting Championship matches.(Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images)

JUSTIN GAETHJE TARGETS ILIA TOPURIA’S DIVORCE, IGNITING FEUD BEFORE WHITE HOUSE SHOWDOWN

While prosecutors allege the group had developed operational plans, some officials, like Vice President JD Vance, have suggested the conspiracy never advanced to the point of becoming an imminent threat.

“There was a lot of security there,” Vance said during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Five.” “And it turns out the plot was like, not that advanced. They weren’t in town.”

Court documents identify an Omaha, Nebraska, man known online as “Shepherd” as the group’s alleged leader. Prosecutors say Shepherd helped build the organization’s tiered structure, directed planning discussions and coordinated members across multiple states through encrypted communications.

Once inside those encrypted chats, prosecutors say members organized themselves into a tiered structure that assigned participants to specific functions. Court records describe Tier 1 members as frontline operators expected to carry out missions and acquire firearms and body armor, while other tiers included drone operators, getaway drivers, recruiters, logistics personnel, technical support and social media advocates.

Court records repeatedly reference military-style training and organization.

Tycen Proper, the 19-year-old Ohio defendant whose phone helped investigators identify other members of the alleged network, told investigators he believed many participants had prior military experience, according to court documents, while his mother said some members represented themselves online as former military personnel. The filings, however, do not identify any defendant as having verified military service.

According to investigators, members also split into smaller chat groups based on operational assignments and locations.

Investigators say the network extended well beyond the five men charged. According to court records, Proper’s phone contained a primary Signal chat with approximately 19 participants, along with smaller operational chat groups organized by role and location.

Tycen Proper.(Franklin County Sheriff’s Office)

Tensions boiled over between federal agencies over the decision to make the case public. Two senior U.S. officials told Fox News that Secret Service leadership wanted to delay disclosing the investigation until additional arrests could be made, fearing that publicizing the probe could alert other subjects and complicate the ongoing investigation.

The disagreement surfaced publicly Tuesday when Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn, responding to questions about the case at an unrelated event, emphasized that the Secret Service had “led that investigation from the beginning” and suggested investigators intentionally avoided public disclosure while the case remained active.

“In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan we chose not to leak it,” Quinn said.

Tycen Proper allegedly acquired an AR-style rifle and a bullpup rifle painted with the American flag, officials said.(Department of Justice)

DANA WHITE DENIES AMERICA 250 UFC FIGHT AT WHITE HOUSE WILL BE ‘POLITICAL,’ ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICS

“I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office and that’s don’t choke on your own smoke,” he said.

The investigation began June 10 when Proper’s mother contacted local authorities after becoming concerned about his recent behavior, according to court records.

Proper’s father told investigators his son had allegedly recently met people online, was planning “recons” with them and intended to travel that weekend to meet members of the group. Family members also reported that Proper allegedly had purchased firearms, body armor, ammunition and tactical gear and had quit his job in preparation for what he described as “missions” and “recons.”

Bryan Omar Roa.(Department of Justice)

Michael Alan Thomas.(Department of Justice)

After investigators obtained a warrant for Proper’s phone, they allege they discovered Signal chats containing maps of Washington, D.C., proposed sniper positions, drone launch sites and discussions about escape routes.

Prosecutors say members allegedly discussed potential congressional targets, power infrastructure and other political figures before focusing on UFC Freedom 250.

Proper’s mother told investigators members of the group allegedly expressed anger about government corruption and the Epstein files.

According to court records, members of the group allegedly believed the United States was headed in the wrong direction and needed to be “torn down” and rebuilt. Some participants allegedly argued that people connected to Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country.

Prosecutors also allege that discussions increasingly focused on U.S. support for Israel and lawmakers viewed by group members as aligned with pro-Israel interests.

According to the filings, members discussed targeting politicians they believed were tied to pro-Israel lobbying organizations, while other conversations referenced billionaires and what participants described as “capitalist elites.”

Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas, both of California, allegedly met up for a training session in late May, according to messages obtained by law enforcement and shared in court records.

“Noble and I trained on vehicle dismount, cover vs concealment, bounding, and basic marksmanship today,” Thomas wrote to the group on May 25, according to court records.

FBI Director Kash Patel stands with singer Alexis Wilkins at the conclusion of the UFC Freedom 250 mixed martial arts event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, June 15, 2026.(Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)

By early June, according to court records, discussions inside the group’s encrypted chats had shifted toward operational planning surrounding UFC Freedom 250, which took place last Sunday**.

Court records show members discussing a rendezvous point in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where participants from multiple states were allegedly expected to meet before traveling to Washington.

Investigators also say members allegedly exchanged information about safe houses, fallback locations and escape routes that included traveling south along the Potomac River.

According to court records, the group’s alleged plan centered on creating chaos inside the White House event before targeting government officials and other attendees as they fled.

Prosecutors say members discussed using drones carrying explosive devices over the north side of the UFC venue, triggering panic and forcing crowds to evacuate. Investigators allege members of the group planned to position shooters and snipers along anticipated evacuation routes south of the venue, where politicians and other targets would be vulnerable.

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, UFC President Dana White and guests stand in the Octagon during the UFC Freedom 250 fight on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.(Evan Vucci/Reuters)

According to court records, a participant interviewed by the FBI in West Virginia said members of the group allegedly had canceled the operation by Friday, two days before the event. The reported cancellation came after authorities had already begun investigating the group following a June 10 call from Proper’s mother.

Authorities arrested suspects in Ohio, California, Missouri and Nebraska Saturday and Sunday after executing a series of search warrants tied to the investigation.

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“They had not really done that much planning,” Vance said. “And so, I get why people are so fascinated by it. I do think the political violence and rhetoric in this country is out of control. But thank God we have good law enforcement. We’ve got good FBI because it didn’t even get close to the point of execution.”

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398664570112

Dinner at Versailles, alpine air and an Iran agreement: How Trump made it through another G7

2026-06-17T21:52:54.994Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/17/politics/trump-versailles-g7

• President Donald Trump, notably, didn’t leave this year’s Group of 7 summit early or rip up any joint statements.
• He arrived in France with a lingering sense of triumph at having brokered a preliminary deal with Iran, which was praised by his fellow leaders.
• French President Emmanuel Macron engineered the lakeside summit to keep Trump engaged, culminating in a late-night dinner at Versailles.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Geneva, Switzerland—

For the first time in his two presidencies, Donald Trump attended a Group of 7 summit this week without blowing it up.

Sure, he complained when the temperature of the meeting room was too warm. He joked, upon arriving an hour late to one session, that he was his fellow leaders’ boss. The summit’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, was caught on a hot mic describing an al fresco first-night dinner with Trump as a “difficult discussion.”

Yet Trump didn’t leave early, as he did last year in Canada, which was a baseline success for Macron, who had engineered the lakeside summit to ensure the US president stayed for the entire program.

And instead of ripping up a joint leaders’ statement upon his departure, as he did after a particularly acrimonious summit in 2018, Trump endorsed surprisingly tough language in a group statement about Russia’s war in Ukraine, vowing “unwavering support” for Kyiv.

“This was something very special,” Trump declared when the summit had ended.

Perhaps it was the alpine air. Perhaps it was the lingering sense of triumph at having brokered a preliminary deal with Iran, which received undiluted praise from his fellow leaders despite their lingering questions about how it will all be implemented.

Or maybe it was the anticipation of dinner at Versailles, tacked onto the schedule by Macron to ensure Trump remained in France for the summit’s conclusion. Louis XIV’s symbol of regal excess (and, eventually, revolutionary class resentment) is “not gold leaf,” Trump explained this week, but the “real deal.”

When he arrived to the checkerboard marble courtyard at the oh-so-French dinner hour of 10 p.m., Trump was greeted with a bise on both cheeks by Brigitte Macron — who Trump claimed a few months ago was mistreating her husband.

“This is so beautiful,” he said after marveling at the classical facade with its gilded dormers. “Brigitte is an amazing woman.”

Dinner was, by French standards, a simple affair: black pork from Bigorre to start, asparagus from the Loire, poultry from Bourbonnais and a regional cheese plate.

His table pour trois with the Macrons, situated in the Lower Gallery, was surrounded by statues commissioned by the Sun King himself.

Trump has now attended five G7s (or six, if counting the one he halfheartedly hosted virtually during the Covid pandemic in 2020). Unlike his earlier outings, Trump is now a senior member of the exclusive club. Most of the other leaders were elected within the last few years, and aside from Macron, no one else in the group has attended as many.

That has lent Trump’s recent outings on the world stage a different tone. Unlike his first term, when advisers said Trump felt the need to demonstrate power and confidence to his more seasoned counterparts, Trump is more muted, even as he continues to drive a wedge with traditional allies.

He’s also older, a fact that was somewhat inescapable this week. After leaving Washington at 2 a.m. Monday following his 80th birthday UFC fight on the White House South Lawn, Trump flew overnight and began an afternoon of meetings at the Hôtel Royal, his voice sounding hoarse. Over the next two days, he met for hours with individual leaders and fielded questions multiple times a day. By the time he emerged for a 70-minute press conference two days later, he was visibly and audibly fatigued.

Behind the scenes, Trump was forceful in defending his Iran agreement to fellow leaders, according to officials familiar with the conversations. He framed the terms as a major win not only for the United States but for his fellow leaders as well.

Some meetings were periodically tense, including a one-on-one with Macron the day he arrived, according to a European official. But leaders lavished praise on the American president for his Iran agreement, which has the potential to end a months-long energy crunch that has affected Europe far more than the United States.

“I think it’s a gamechanger,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has spent the last several months jousting from afar with Trump, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “It allows us, and this is what’s happened in the meeting, to step back, look anew at Ukraine.”

Carney is one of several leaders who entered the summit looking for make-nice moments with Trump after he’d insulted them this year. Approaching the president at one meeting, Carney detailed an electric vehicle provision in a new trade deal with China.

“I thought you’d actually like that,” Carney offered. (Trump, who said he did like it, later said he didn’t remember the conversation).

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz waited until all the leaders were seated around their meeting table to stand up and present Trump — who he claimed a month ago was being humiliated in Iran — with a white soccer jersey bearing the number 47.

“We’re on the same team,” Merz wrote later under a picture of the moment.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — once Trump’s top ally in Europe whom he derided in April as “unacceptable” and weak — held a “clarifying” meeting with the president this week, according to the European official.

Later, she appeared unfazed when a fellow leader declared she was “friends again” with Trump.

“We have always been friends,” she said cheerfully. Later, she revealed she’d given up smoking.

中国官方拟出台新政规范外卖平台补贴行为

2026年6月18日 07:51 / 联合早报

中国官方拟出台新政规范外卖平台补贴行为

中国官方发布征求意见稿，拟对外卖平台补贴行为作出规范，以促进形成良性竞争的市场秩序。图为一名外卖骑手骑车经过广东省深圳市福田区一城中村。 （路透社档案照片）

在中国外卖平台行业竞争持续升温之际，官方发布征求意见稿，拟对外卖平台补贴行为作出规范，以促进形成良性竞争的市场秩序。

中国国家市场监督管理总局星期三（6月17日）发布《外卖平台补贴行为规范十条（征求意见稿）》，即日起至7月17日向社会公开征求意见，旨在规范外卖平台补贴行为。

意见稿指出，近段时间以来，外卖平台“拼补贴、拼价格、控流量”问题突出，损害平台内经营者、外卖骑手、消费者利益，挤压实体经济，加剧行业“内卷式”竞争。官方开展外卖行业市场竞争状况调查和评估后发现，中国外卖平台存在利用资本优势抢占市场、裹挟平台内经营者参加补贴、导致行业非理性竞争等问题，因此需规范外卖平台补贴行为，引导外卖平台依法合规经营，开展良性竞争。

《征求意见稿》主要涵盖四方面内容：一是明确总体原则，不得以开展长期、大额补贴的手段和方式，排除、限制市场竞争，扰乱市场竞争秩序；二是明确具体要求，不得强制平台内经营者参加补贴活动或者承担补贴成本，不得利用资本优势实施垄断、不正当竞争行为，不得以低于成本的价格销售商品。

三是明确监督措施，开展补贴活动前和实施补贴后向社会公开，并明确公开的主要信息，接受社会监督；四是明确法律风险，提示外卖平台补贴行为应遵守的相关法律规定，以及违法违规开展补贴活动的法律后果。

延伸阅读

外卖大战缓和之际 美团一季度仍亏损68亿元
外卖行业价格战持续 中国最高反垄断机构介入调查

市场监管总局指出，接下来将根据各方意见对《征求意见稿》进一步修改完善，并尽快推动出台相关规范，促进形成优质优价、良性竞争的市场秩序，推动行业创新和健康发展。

House candidate who started Pastors for Trump drops out of race after text messaging scandal

June 17, 2026 / 4:24 PM EDT / CBS News

Jackson Lahmeyer has dropped out of the House race in Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District — one day after advancing to a runoff in the Republican primary — amid a text-messaging scandal.

“After prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last twenty four hours, I’ve made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for Congress,” Lahmeyer posted on social media. “I do not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, who deserve a strong conservative voice representing them in Washington.”

The Daily Mail earlier this week published what it said were text messages between Lahmeyer and a former Miss Oklahoma, who is not his wife. In one alleged exchange, he called her “very cute” and sent a selfie of himself while at a party at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The text messages were also viewed by CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV. CBS News has not independently verified the texts.

Lahmeyer, a pastor who founded a group called Pastors for Trump, had received Mr. Trump’s endorsement in May, wth Mr. Trump reiterating his support on Monday ahead of the primary. Mr. Trump also posted a graphic on social media Tuesday night about Lahmeyer advancing to a runoff, which included the words “endorsed by Trump.”

But on Wednesday, Mr. Trump posted on social media that while he appreciates Lahmeyer’s “hard work under difficult circumstances,” he would now be supporting Mark Tedford, the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s primary, in the runoff.

“I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances — He has always been with me, and I will always be with him. But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford. Mark is Pro Trump and MAGA all the way!” Mr. Trump wrote.

Lahmeyer dropped out of the race shortly afterward.

After news of the text messages broke, Lahmeyer issued a statement calling it a “distorted story by a British Tabloid,” but he admitted to “crossing a boundary through text messaging.”

“This matter was already dealt with privately between me and my wife, Kendra, through counsel and prayer with God and spiritual advisors,” Lahmeyer wrote on social media on Sunday. “I own crossing a boundary line through text messaging. I also ended all communication. The British Tabloid tried to paint me out in a way which is not the case.”

With Lahmeyer dropping out of the race, Tedford will advance to the general election in November. The seat is open after Rep. Kevin Hern decided to run for Senate.

FTC alleges influential transgender health organization misled parents about safety of youth treatments

2026-06-17T18:48:12-04:00 / Fox News

Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas joined the federal complaint against the widely cited medical organization

By Brittany Miller Fox News

Published June 17, 2026 6:48pm EDT

Video

Advocacy group calls for FTC probe into APA over transgender care for kids

Dr. Kurt Miceli, Chief Medical Officer of “Do No Harm,” raises concerns over the American Psychological Association’s (APA) contradictory messages regarding gender-affirming care for children and adolescents. His advocacy group calls for a Federal Trade Commission probe into the APA’s alleged promotion of sex changes for minors, highlighting the organization’s conflicting statements made in 2024 and 2025.

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and four Republican-led states sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) on Wednesday, alleging the influential medical organization misled parents and doctors about the safety, effectiveness and necessity of transgender medical treatments for minors.

The lawsuit alleges WPATH, whose standards of care are widely used by physicians treating patients with gender dysphoria, made deceptive claims about puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex change surgeries while failing to adequately disclose potential risks and side effects.

“Parents have a right to make informed decisions about their children’s health,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson wrote on X. “The FTC will not allow parents and children to be deceived by medical organizations and providers who are prioritizing profit over children’s health and safety.”

‘TRANSGENDER MADNESS’ UNDER FIRE AFTER CONGRESS LETS TAXPAYER FUNDING BAN LAPSE

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson speaks during the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington, D.C., in April. On Wednesday, the FTC sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, alleging the organization misled parents and doctors about transgender medical treatments for minors.(Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images, File)

According to the complaint, WPATH removed age-based recommendations for certain transgender procedures from its Standards of Care. The FTC also alleges the organization promoted treatments that were not adequately supported by evidence regarding their safety and effectiveness.

The lawsuit, filed alongside Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas, marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to scrutinize medical interventions for transgender minors.

WPATH previously sued to block an FTC investigation into the organization, arguing the agency violated its First Amendment rights. A federal judge in May temporarily blocked the probe.

SEN HAWLEY WARNS IT WOULD BE ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ IF BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER FUNDS FLOW TO TRANS KIDS’ SEX CHANGES

A transgender rights supporter participates in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during protests on Capitol Hill.(Getty Images, File)

WPATH rejected the allegations and said its standards are intended to support individualized patient care. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the organization said its guidelines are based on individualized treatment rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Fox News Digital reached out to WPATH for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.

“WPATH is in a strong position to prove that the FTC is acting out of pure retaliation as part of the federal government’s relentless and targeted campaign to undermine gender-affirming care by attacking the First Amendment rights and the independence of professional medical organizations,” the group said in a statement to the AP.

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The lawsuit comes amid a broader national debate over puberty blockers, hormone therapies and sex change surgeries for minors.

Supporters argue the treatments can be medically necessary for some patients, while critics contend the long-term risks are not fully understood and that children may be unable to provide informed consent.

Brittany Miller is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital. Tips can be sent to brittany.miller@fox.com and @BrittMillerFox on X.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393542121112

This law firm has deep ties to Trump. A partner is his pick to be Manhattan’s top prosecutor.

2026-06-17T17:39:00-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-jamie-mcdonald-sullivan-and-cromwell-sdny/

Washington— It was not yet 4 o’clock in the morning in Washington on Wednesday when President Trump, an ocean away at the G7 summit in France, issued a demand for Republican senators: James “Jamie” McDonald, his pick for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, “must be confirmed” immediately.

“I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place,” the president said on his Truth Social platform.

McDonald is Mr. Trump’s choice to helm one of the nation’s most prestigious federal prosecutors’ offices — known for its independence and tough enforcement of Wall Street malfeasance and other white-collar crimes. And he would succeed Jay Clayton,who has been tapped by the president to become the next director of national intelligence.

Though little known outside the power corridors of Washington and Manhattan, McDonald has been a notable force during Mr. Trump’s second term. At Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the world’s largest law firms, where Clayton also once worked as a partner, McDonald has played a central role in persuading the Justice Department to drop or settle a string of high-profile cases for the firm’s corporate clients, according to court records and sources familiar with the matter.

Now, questions about his ability to maintain prosecutorial independence could play a central role in any confirmation review, Democratic Senate sources told CBS News, as Mr. Trump has sought to expedite his nomination.

Sullivan & Cromwell, where McDonald has worked since 2021, has emerged as a firm known for its close relationships with the White House during Mr. Trump’s second term.

Law firms have long sought to make use of close relationships at the Justice Department to assist their clients, which many lawyers consider zealous advocacy. But there are growing questions among senior lawyers at other big law firms and career prosecutors about whether Sullivan & Cromwell’s clients “are getting favorable treatment at the Justice Department — not because the facts of the law compel it,” but because some of the firm’s senior partners are aligned with the president, as one former Justice Department official who worked in a Democratic administration put it.

“Sullivan & Cromwell understands the D.C. game and knows that staying close to the president is the best way to navigate the current environment,” another former Justice Department official who worked in the second Trump administration told CBS News.

On Saturday, the president said in a social media post that he is confident McDonald — a former federal prosecutor and regulator — “will deliver strong results for our Country.”

The future of both Clayton’s and McDonald’s nominations is in flux after the president directed Clayton not to appear for a planned confirmation hearing on Wednesday, upending Senate Republicans’ plans to quickly install Clayton and resolve a standoff with Democrats.

Sullivan & Cromwell has more than a dozen offices across the globe and is headquartered in Manhattan. Its managing partner, Robert Giuffra, was at one point considered a contender to be Mr. Trump’s attorney general during his second term, sources familiar with the transition said.

“Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the great institutions in our city,” John Catsimatidis, a Manhattan billionaire who is friends with Mr. Trump, told CBS News.

Both McDonald and Giuffra represented Mr. Trump in past private matters. The firm is representing the president in his appeal of his criminal conviction for hiding a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as well as Mr. Trump’s appeal in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

And when Mr. Trump issued an executive order against the powerful law firm Paul, Weiss that could have crippled its access to the government, it was Giuffra who helped broker a deal between a business rival and the White House to drop the directive in exchange for the firm pledging $40 million in pro bono services. He did so alongside Boris Epshteyn, Mr. Trump’s personal attorney who has coordinated his legal defense strategy.

McDonald joined Sullivan & Cromwell after serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until 2017 and then as director of enforcement for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an agency that regulates commodity and derivatives markets and pursues civil enforcement actions for violations.

Chris Giancarlo, who headed the CFTC during Mr. Trump’s first term, said he hired McDonald because he wanted someone who would be tough on enforcement. Giancarlo said he liked McDonald’s background as a prosecutor who pursued public corruption and organized crime cases.

“He is strong, but fair,” Giancarlo told CBS News. “He doesn’t wear politics on his sleeve. To the extent people are concerned about political motivations, there is none of that with Jamie.”

The Adani case

More recently, Giuffra and McDonald have found extraordinary success brokering other deals between their clients who are facing investigations by law enforcement arms of the administration.

In May, the Justice Department’s unusual decision to ask a judge to dismiss criminal fraudand foreign bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and other defendants came after negotiations led by Sullivan & Cromwell.

The Adani case was slated to proceed, after it survived a review ordered by Mr. Trump into all pending foreign bribery matters to determine whether they should be dismissed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Before the motion to dismiss the case, senior Justice Department officials met with McDonald, Giuffra and Andrew DeFilippis of Sullivan & Cromwell, sources said.

In one such meeting at the Justice Department, Giuffra made a presentation that disputed evidence of the alleged bribery scheme, according to sources familiar with the matter and records reviewed by CBS News. One slide touted how one of Adani’s companies is “powering India’s progress,” and another slide said the Trump administration “would not have brought the case.”

If prosecutors were to drop the charges, Giuffra also said at the meeting, Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy, sources said. The meeting and discussion about the investment were reported earlier by The New York Times.

Adani has since agreed to pay $18 million to settle a parallel civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. And in May, the Treasury Department announced that it had reached a $275 million settlement with an Adani Group subsidiary for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. The subsidiary, Adani Enterprises, purchased shipments of liquefied petroleum gas sourced from Iran, the U.S. government said.

Both SEC and Treasury Department officials were also involved in meetings with the attorneys from Sullivan & Cromwell, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

CBS News has reached out for comment to the SEC and Treasury Department.

In May, just days after the government filed the motion to dismiss the Justice Department’s case against Adani, two prosecutors assigned to the case abruptly withdrew from it, according to court records. The motion did not include signatures from career prosecutors who brought the case, a departure from common practice that signaled dissent.

Democrats have since launched an investigation into the Justice Department’s decision to drop the Adani case. In a June 11 letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut questioned what they called the “transactional nature” of the decision to dismiss the case. The lawmakers suggested that Adani’s offer to invest $10 billion in U.S. energy and infrastructure projects smacked of a “quid pro quo.”

“I have serious concerns about a Trump loyalist who played a key role in the Adani dismissal serving in a critical U.S. Attorney role,” Warren told CBS News.

In a statement shared with CBS News, a spokesperson for Sullivan & Cromwell said that Giuffra, McDonald and all partners at the firm “have devoted their careers to and built their reputations on being exceptionally effective advocates for our clients, without regard to the administration in Washington.”

“Sullivan & Cromwell is hired to handle the most significant and challenging cases because we have the finest lawyers in the profession, and to suggest that the success of our firm and our partners is the result of anything other than the most rigorous legal argument and factual analysis and our judgment and experience is simply wrong,” the statement added.

A Justice Department official said that the department “often meets with outside counsel to discuss pending cases and potential resolutions to assure the best possible outcome for the American people” and that the decision to dismiss the case came after many months of discussion with the company’s lawyers and an internal review.

The Southern Coal case

McDonald was also one of the lawyers involved in convincing the Justice Department to drop a non-public criminal investigation into Southern Coal, a Roanoke-based coal mining company run by the son of Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

The investigation was sparked by concerns that Southern Coal was doctoring water testing reports required under a longstanding consent decree with the Justice Department and several states, one of the sources said. ProPublica reported earlier on the closure of the case, but McDonald’s role has not been previously reported.

Following meetings between Justice Department officials in the deputy attorney general’s office and lawyers for Southern Coal, including McDonald, the Justice Department instructed prosecutors to close the investigation, one of the sources said.

The investigation was still in its early stages when it was closed, the source said. A spokesperson for the Justice family’s legal team declined to comment.

In a statement to ProPublica earlier this month, Steven Ruby, an attorney for the Justice companies, said, “Ultimately the finding of the inquiry by the government was that there wasn’t any evidence to pursue criminal charges,” adding, “There’s never been any intentional wrongdoing by the companies.”

Sullivan & Cromwell declined to discuss the Southern Coal case or McDonald’s involvement. A Justice Department official said the defense attorneys followed a common practice by challenging the case.

“The bottom line is that this was a politically motivated prosecution for a case that can and should be resolved civilly,” the Justice Department official told CBS News.

The Live Nation case

During his time at Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald also represented music concert promoter Live Nation as it settled an antitrust case involving Ticketmaster, court records show.

The Live Nation case, filed in 2024 during the Biden administration, had bipartisan support among Republican and Democratic state attorneys general.Attorneys at the Justice Department who worked on the Live Nation case and attorneys for the states were surprised when they were notified earlier this year by Live Nation that settlement discussions would take place, according to sources familiar with the settlement.

“It was a very strange situation,” said a former Justice Department attorney. “We were told to keep the whole settlement discussions very tight and very close to the vest.”

Negotiations for the settlement between the government and Sullivan & Cromwell took place at the law firm’s offices in Manhattan, handled by Justice Department officials who did not work on the trial team. State attorneys general were left out of the meeting and remained in the lobby for several hours, sources said.

“We had people who were there and ready to join the conversation and were never included,” said Eleanor Blume, a senior legal adviser to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Blume added that the case’s handling “points to this being an extremely political decision.”

A Justice Department official said that the settlement “exceeded the outcomes of previous administrations” and that the department’s “overriding interest was providing immediate relief for consumers rather than risk an adverse decision or years of continued appellate litigation.”

All but a small handful of states decided to reject the settlement between the Justice Department and Live Nation, and continued to try the case. They prevailed, with a federal jury finding in April that Live Nation was liable for operating an illegal monopoly.

The 14-point US-Iran peace plan, annotated

2026-06-17 5:34 PM ET / CNN

By Zachary B. Wolf, Abbas Al Lawati, Lou Robinson, Annette Choi

Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images

The memorandum of understanding, MOU, between the US and Iran aims to expand on the ceasefire and get traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.

But at less than 800 words in English, the 14-point outline leaves a lot of details for later, including the touchy subject of Iran’s nuclear program. But it does promise Iran a lot of money – by lifting sanctions to Iran can sell its oil to the world, but also potentially giving Iran access to billions in frozen assets and $300 billion in financing.

The Trump administration is a great fan of multipoint agreements. The agreement that sought to end hostilities in the Gaza strip was a 20-point plan, and the administration’s unrealized plan to end Russia’s war on Ukraine was a 28-point plan.

It’s worth going line by line through the draft agreement, which was read out by a senior Trump administration official in a call with reporters.