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Pam Bondi already fired as attorney general, Cabinet official teed up as replacement: sources

April 2, 2026 12:33pm EDT / Fox News

EPA Director Lee Zeldin is reportedly being considered as Bondi’s replacement after a White House meeting Tuesday

By Katelyn Caralle, Emma Colton Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391339993112

Lee Zeldin breaks down Iran conflict’s impact on oil, US energy policy

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin discusses how the Iran conflict is driving oil price volatility, U.S. efforts to stabilize energy costs and the Trump administration’s ‘energy dominance’ strategy on ‘Fox News Live.’

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FIRST ON FOX —President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Fox News Digital.

Trump confirmed the ouster in a Truth Social post Thursday, underscoring that he views her as “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend” as she moves into an undisclosed role in the private sector.

“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” he continued. “We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as interim attorney general, Fox News reported Thursday.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS AG BONDI IN PROBE OF EPSTEIN CASE ‘MISMANAGEMENT’

President Donald Trump reportedly has already fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Fox News Digital.(Getty Images)

“Our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General,” Trump added in his post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Bondi met with Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday night ahead of his speech to the nation on the war in Iran, according to two sources familiar with the meeting who spoke to Fox News Digital ahead of Trump’s announcement.

Bondi departed for Florida Thursday morning, Fox News reported, where she is filming an NFL-affiliated child safety initiative.

The president is reportedly considering replacing Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin, according to the sources familiar with the matter. Trump held a meeting with Zeldin at the White House Tuesday to discuss wildfire and prevention, where talks of the transition also unfolded, according to an individual familiar with the meeting.

That source relayed to Fox News Digital that Zeldin would be a plausible replacement, adding that Trump could change his mind at any point.

President Donald Trump is reportedly considering replacing Pam Bondi with Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin, pictured here, according to the sources familiar with the matter.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The ouster follows a recent New York Times report detailing that Trump was preparing to replace Bondi with Zeldin as the president had become increasingly dissatisfied with her performance in the role.

WHY KRISTI NOEM’S FIRING TOOK SO LONG AS SHE WRECKED DHS AND DAMAGED DONALD TRUMP

When initially asked about the meetings and Bondi’s ouster Wednesday evening, the White House directed Fox News Digital to the same comment defending Bondi that the office provided to the Times.

“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” Trump’s comment states.

Attorney General Pam Bondi met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday night ahead of his speech to the nation on the war in Iran, and she reportedly was informed of her ouster, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The ouster came the same day Bondi accompanied Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning for oral arguments on the high-stakes birthright citizenship case.

Sources confirming to multiple outlets Zeldin’s potential ascension to her former role comes as he prepares for an event with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thursday afternoon to make an announcement on addressing rising instances of microplastics in drinking water.

Bondi’s entire tenure at the DOJ has been riddled with public scrutiny, especially as it relates to her promise to release the entirety of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

She told Fox News at the onset of taking her role at the helm of the Justice Department in February that the files were “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

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The trickle of information from her agency over the ensuing year and the lack of new information left Americans frustrated that she was reneging on the promise of releasing the the files.

Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify that Bondi was out as AG before Trump’s address Wednesday night, and left Washington, D.C., the following morning.

Katelyn Caralle is an editor on the politics team.

‘Pam did a tremendous job’: Trump announces Bondi ouster in Truth Social post

Published 1:56 PM EDT, Thu April 2, 2026 / CNN Politics

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‘Pam did a tremendous job’: Trump announces Bondi ouster in Truth Social post

President Donald Trump has ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. She will be replaced for now by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who will serve as acting attorney general, Trump said.

0:43 • Source: CNN

‘We’re not going to fund a lawless ICE and a lawless CPB”: Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on partial DHS shutdown

2026-04-02T17:59:22.148Z / CNN Politics

By Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, CNN

Published 1:59 PM EDT, Thu April 2, 2026

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“We’re not going to fund a lawless ICE and a lawless CPB”: Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on partial DHS shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joins CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown to discuss the latest developments in the apparent deal struck between Republican leadership in the House and Senate to partially reopen the DHS, saying that the GOP was “hardly unified” as President Trump touted.

8:03 • Source: CNN

Colorado appeals court orders resentencing for former county clerk Tina Peters in election fraud scheme

Published Apr 2, 2026, 12:53 PM ET / Associated Press

Tina Peters listens during her trial in Grand Junction, Colorado, on March 3, 2023.

Scott Crabtree/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel/Pool/AP/File

AP—

A Colorado appeals court ruled Thursday that a former county clerk convicted in a scheme that attempted to find proof of fraud in the 2020 presidential election should be resentenced.

Tina Peters is serving a nine-year prison term after being convicted of state crimes for sneaking in an outside computer expert to make a copy of her county’s election computer system during a software update in 2021. A photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were later posted on social media and a conservative website.

Judges on the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld her conviction, but said that a judge should not have considered Peters’ continued promotion of election fraud conspiracies when he sentenced her in 2024. The court sent Peters’ case back to a lower court for a judge to issue a new sentence.

Calls for Peters’ release have become a cause celebre in the election conspiracy movement. President Donald Trump has sought unsuccessfully to pardon Peters and pressured Colorado to set her free.

Peters was unapologetic when she was sentenced by Judge Matthew Barrett and insisted that she tried to unearth what she believed was fraud for the greater good. He ripped into her, calling her a “charlatan” who had used her position to “peddle snake oil.”

Peters was the former clerk in Mesa County, in the far western part of Colorado, and convicted by jurors in the Republican stronghold that has supported Trump.

Trump has threatened to take “harsh measures” against Colorado unless the state releases her. In February, Trump said Colorado was “suffering a big price” for refusing to release her.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, has accused the Trump administration of waging a “revenge campaign” by choking off funds and ending federal programs over the state’s refusal to free Peters.

The appeals court found that the sentence punished Peters for maintaining that there was fraud in the 2020 election.

“For these reasons, we conclude that the trial court obviously erred by imposing sentence at least partially based on Peters’ protected speech,” the court said in its ruling Thursday.

Weiser said in response to the ruling that the original sentence had been “fair and appropriate.”

“Whatever happens with her sentence, Tina Peters will always be a convicted felon who violated her duty as Mesa County clerk, put other lives at risk, and threatened our democracy. Nothing will remove that stain,” Weiser said in a statement.

Weiser, a Democrat who is running for governor, noted that the court affirmed Trump’s attempt to pardon Peters was “meaningless” since presidential pardons don’t extend to state crimes.

The Justice Department inserted itself into Peters’ bid to be released while her state appeal was considered. The federal Bureau of Prisons tried to get Peters moved to a federal prison. After both efforts failed, Trump in December announced a pardon for Peters that was considered symbolic since Colorado says it doesn’t apply to her state convictions.

But in January, the state’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said he was considering granting clemency for Peters, calling her sentence “unusual and harsh“ for a first-time, non-violent offender.

Peters was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with the requirements of the secretary of state.

Peters’ lawyers didn’t deny that she used the security badge of a local man she pretended to hire to allow the an associate of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to make a copy of the Dominion Voting Systems election computer server during an annual software update in 2021.

But they said she only wanted to preserve election data and find out whether any outside actor had accessed the system while ballots were being counted. They said she didn’t want the information made public.

Golden Dome, ships and missiles top Trump’s $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense wish list

2026-04-02T18:42:06.207Z / Reuters

By Mike Stone

April 2, 2026 6:42 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

节点运行失败

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is set to unveil a $1.5 trillion defense budget request for the ​next fiscal year on Friday, by far the ‌largest year-over-year increase in defense spending in the post-World War Two era.

Funding for Trump’s marquee but controversial $185 billion “Golden Dome” missile defense shield is ​expected to be included in the budget request ​as well as Lockheed Martin LMT.N F-35 jets and warships.

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Procurement ⁠of Virginia-class submarines made by General Dynamics GD.N, and Huntington ​Ingalls Industries HII.N as well as other top shipbuilding priorities is ​expected.

Last year, Trump asked Congress for a national defense budget of $892.6 billion then added $150 billion through a supplemental budget request, sending the total price ​tag over $1 trillion for the first time in history.

While ​the budget request framework for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2027 ‌is ⁠set to be unveiled on Friday, a Pentagon official said more details on the defense budget will be announced on April 21.

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Earlier this year the administration was contemplating whether the $1.5 ​trillion budget ​request could be ⁠in the form of a $900 billion national security budget, with a $400 billion to $600 billion additional ​request, similar to the structure used in ​2026.

The administration ⁠plans to use funds for more weapons production in the hopes of deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and ⁠to ​rebuild weapons stocks depleted by conflicts ​in Israel, Iran and Ukraine.

The budget request will be debated in Congress in ​the coming weeks and months.

Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Schumer, Jeffries sue Trump, accuse him of trying to ‘rig’ mail-in voting

April 2, 2026 12:26pm EDT / Fox News

Schumer, Jeffries and party committees file suit in DC federal court to block Trump’s order signed Tuesday

By Alex Miller, Fox News

President Donald Trump acknowledges potential legal challenges to his mail-in voting executive order, but signs it in anticipation of objection by ‘rogue judges.’

Top congressional Democrats, party campaign arms and allied groups are suing President Donald Trump and his administration over a sweeping order he signed this week that would increase federal involvement in elections.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., along with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic National Committee, filed the lawsuit Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks to block Trump’s executive order signed Tuesday targeting mail-in voting and voter eligibility, as Senate Republicans continue debating the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER OVERHAULING MAIL-IN VOTING IN MAJOR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hold a news conference at the Capitol, June 11, 2025.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

“The American people are fed up with Republicans’ price-spiking, health care-gutting agenda and are ready to vote them out,” Schumer, Jeffries and the committee chairs said in a joint statement. “That’s why Donald Trump is desperately trying to rig our elections by making it harder to vote for seniors, Americans with disabilities, members of the military, rural communities and other working families who rely on vote-by-mail. This move is blatantly unconstitutional, and we will fight against it.”

“We are taking action to challenge Trump’s executive order to protect the right to vote and ensure every eligible American can make their voice heard at the ballot box,” they added.

Trump has warned Republicans that if they cannot pass the SAVE America Act — which is unlikely given unified Democratic opposition in the Senate — the GOP could face major losses in the upcoming midterm elections.

GOP TRIGGERS MARATHON SENATE FIGHT TO EXPOSE DEMS’ OPPOSITION TO TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on mail-in ballots in the Oval Office of the White House, March 31, 2026.(Evan Vucci/Reuters Photos)

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson fired back, “Only Democrat politicians and operatives would be upset about lawful efforts to secure American elections and ensure only eligible American citizens are casting ballots.”

“President Trump campaigned on securing our elections and the American people sent him back to the White House to get the job done,” she said.

The executive order, signed earlier this week, reflects Trump taking matters into his own hands amid the political reality in Congress.

The order would create federal “citizenship lists” of U.S. citizens using government databases, require those lists to be shared with states before elections, and give the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) authority over mail-in voting logistics. It would also require voters to be enrolled with USPS to receive mail ballots.

The order would allow USPS to refuse delivery of ballots from people not on its approved list and impose new federal design and processing rules for mail-in ballot envelopes.

SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADS FOR DEFEAT

Vote-by-mail ballots are inspected at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on Nov. 4, 2025, in California.(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Democrats argue the order is unconstitutional on several grounds, including that it overrides states’ authority over elections, violates the separation of powers, breaches privacy laws and risks disenfranchising millions of voters.

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They argue Trump has “no such authority” to impose sweeping changes on elections nationwide.

“If permitted, the President’s actions would fundamentally alter the constitutional balance between the states and the federal government by allowing the executive branch to wield federal power to pressure states into adopting federal preferences for the conduct of elections,” they wrote in the lawsuit.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Court tosses sentence for former clerk in scheme tied to 2020 election

April 2, 2026 at 1:43 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

The Colorado appeals court ordered a new sentence for Tina Peters, a former county elections official convicted for her efforts to boost Trump’s false claims.

Tina Peters at her trial on March 3, 2023, in Grand Junction, Colorado. (Scott Crabtree/Grand Junction Daily Sentinel/Pool/AP)

By Patrick Marley

A Colorado appeals court Thursday threw out the nine-year prison sentence for Tina Peters, a former Mesa County clerk convicted on charges related to a scheme to bolster President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump’s ballroom gets the green light from loyalist-stacked commission

2026-04-02T18:14:34.772Z / CNN

By Betsy Klein

Updated 1 hr 34 min ago

Updated Apr 2, 2026, 2:27 PM ET

PUBLISHED Apr 2, 2026, 2:14 PM ET

President Donald Trump’s sprawling ballroom project officially got the green light on Thursday from a board that oversees planning for federal buildings and land, marking the latest step in an accelerated process that now faces some legal uncertainty.

Despite more than 32,000 public comments overwhelmingly opposed to the project, the National Capital Planning Commission was stacked with Trump loyalists who voted in favor of the measure.

Thursday’s vote clears a hurdle, but the ballroom’s future is unclear after a federal judge threw a wrench into Trump’s plans when he ruled earlier this week that construction must stop until it’s approved by Congress.

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” said Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, in his ruling Tuesday.

He added: “Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” The Trump administration has already appealed Leon’s ruling.

The judge delayed implementation of his ruling for two weeks, telling the White House that any above-ground construction during that time may have to be reversed if a higher court doesn’t quickly overturn his decision.

It’s still unclear if the legal wrangling will stall the construction or if Trump’s lawyers will convince a different federal court to let that work proceed for now, keeping the project in a holding pattern for the moment.

Meanwhile, experts have raised concerns about the scale and scope of the addition to the White House grounds, along with the introduction of Corinthian columns, and the asymmetric changes it will impose on the existing once-circular driveway. But the ballroom has been on the fast track since the East Wing was demolished last October to make way for the massive new structure, which is expected to cost between $300 and 400 million.

Trump has maintained that the ballroom, which is being privately funded, isn’t subject to any oversight and that he should be able to continue with the changes without any serious scrutiny.

NCPC chairman Will Scharf, a top Trump aide, heralded the project, saying in his remarks ahead of the vote that he believes that, in time, “this ballroom will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House.”

Scharf also sought to push back on criticism of the project. Space to accommodate 1,000 people, he said, is “not an unreasonable number programmatically,” adding it could be needed for entertainment, speeches and displays. As for the height of the structure, he said that the project “befits a high ceiling.” And regarding criticism of the president, he noted that Trump “will get very limited use of this structure before the end of his term.”

Other Trump-aligned commissioners praised the president’s role in the project. But DC Council chairman Phil Mendelson, who serves on the commission in an ex-officio capacity, offered the most substantive negative feedback as he lamented what he described as a “rushed process.”

“I think there’s a lot of value to the iterative process and we’ve not had that,” Mendelson said.

He continued: “It is possible to build a 1,000-person ballroom that, unlike the plan currently under review, truly honors the iconic status, the primacy and historic significance of the People’s House.”

He also said he “didn’t get a persuasive answer” from the architect on why the building needs to be so tall.

“I’m trying to be nice here: It’s just too large,” Mendelson said.

Commissioner Linda Argo echoed Mendelson’s comments, expressing concerns about “a rush to approve something this significant.”

Mendelson voted no, Argo voted “present,” and commissioner Arrington Dixon also voted “present.” All of the other commissioners approved the project, and it passed.

The remarkable speed with which the multimillion-dollar project has progressed has underscored an emboldened Trump’s personal interest in unveiling a finished ballroom before the end of his second term, part of a broader effort to remake the White House and Washington to suit his style and taste. He has promised it will be complete in the summer of 2028, months before he leaves office.

Artist renderings of the planned White House Ballroom are photographed on Tuesday.

Jon Elswick/AP

A construction crane stands over the White House on Wednesday.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The president, a former real estate developer, has been deeply involved in this project, from floor plans to marble selection, underscoring that it has been a key priority.

“I’m so busy that I don’t have time to do this,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday as he presented mockups of the new structure.

He added: “I’m fighting wars and other things, but this is very important, because this is going to be with us for a long time.”

The project has already received signoff from another key body, the Commission of Fine Arts, which is also composed of Trump allies.

At the last NCPC meeting, the commission heard dozens of experts – architects, historians, preservationists and former White House staffers; representatives from key groups like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the DC Preservation League, and the American Institute of Architects; and concerned citizens who voiced opposition to the project. Just one person, the owner of a local historic event venue, spoke in support of it.

Public Citizen, a government watchdog organization, is already questioning the validity of the NCPC vote. The group alleges in a report that Trump’s installation of a trio of top allies to the commission – staff secretary Will Scharf as chair, Office of Management and Budget associate director Stuart Levenbach as vice-chair, and deputy chief of staff James Blair as a commissioner, violates the law. The three White House staffers, the report says, “fail to have any of the ‘experience in city or regional planning’ the law requires appointees to have.”

“I was appointed because I did have the qualifications necessary to serve on the commission,” Scharf said at the March meeting, pointing to experience as policy director to the governor of Missouri and calling the claims “insulting.”

Neither Blair nor Levenbach responded to Public Citizen’s assertions.

This story was updated with additional information.

Planning commission approves Trump’s ballroom and East Wing design

April 2, 2026 / 2:30 PM EDT / CBS News

By

Arden Farhi Washington bureau managing editor

The National Capital Planning Commission voted Thursday to green light President Trump’s 90,000-square-foot East Wing makeover, the final regulatory obstacle for a project that hit legal headwinds earlier this week.

The commission, which is chaired by a White House staffer, voted 9 to 1 to approve the design, which includes a ballroom with seating for 1,000 guests. Two commissioners voted present.

Even with the commission’s vote, above-ground construction is likely to soon be on hold. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the administration must get congressional authorization before proceeding with the ballroom. The Department of Justice has already appealed.

The commission’s vote was delayed a month by public opposition to the project. Some 32,000 comments poured in online. More than 100 people, including architects and preservationists, signed up to speak at the March commission meeting.

James Blair, a commissioner and senior White House aide, called the critiques largely “unserious” and politically driven.

Mr. Trump has called the project the “finest ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world.”

The White House announced its intent to build a ballroom in July at a cost of $200 million. The privately financed endeavor’s price tag has since doubled. The new space will house offices for the first lady, kitchen space, a double-decker colonnade and upgrades to a secure underground military complex.

It is not clear whether taxpayer or private dollars are funding the military bunker.

Early on, Mr. Trump said the renovations would not impact the existing White House structure, but heavy machinery shredded the East Wing in October, demolishing what had been a White House fixture for generations.

Pieces of the structure were hauled off to a scrap yard in Maryland. Dirt has been trucked to a nearby golf course.

In December, the Trust for Historic Preservation sued to stop construction. A judge initially denied the Trust’s request for a temporary restraining order, but ultimately sided with the Trust, citing a lack of congressional authorization and a questionable financing arrangement.

Democrats have also objected to the president’s use of private donations to pay for the project. The president enlisted a nonprofit organization to collect donations from companies and individuals — some with business before the government, including tech giants and defense contractors.

“This vanity project has become an instrument of corruption,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told CBS News. “We are demanding information not just from the government and the White House, but from the donors themselves about what they have at stake.”

Several Democratic members have introduced legislation to constrain this and future projects, but none have received a vote in the Republican-controlled Congress.

The White House has shared a partial list of donors and hosted a dinner recognizing them last fall. It has yet to disclose how much each donor has given and how much has been raised for construction.

The Commission of Fine Arts, another regulatory body with jurisdiction over federal construction in Washington, unanimously approved the East Wing design in February after being first briefed on it in December. The commission is composed of Trump appointees, including Chamberlain Harris, the president’s executive assistant.

Previous White House renovations, all of which were less significant than the East Wing project, have undergone months — and sometimes years — of scrutiny by the CFA and NCPC.

NCPC chairman Will Scharf defended the commission’s speedy approval timeline of just over three months. “The notion that we have been less than thorough, that we have not met our obligations is frankly insulting to the work that our team has done,” Scharf said, adding that he read every public comment the commission received.

“I think there is a lot of value to the iterative process and we have not had that,” said commissioner Phil Mendelson, a Democrat who serves as chairman of the D.C. council. “It’s just too large.”

Mendelson was the lone ‘no’ vote Thursday.

CFA’s rubber stamp came despite thousands of public comments that the commission’s secretary Thomas Luebke described as “overwhelmingly in opposition — over 99%.” Several comments cited the speed at which the president has moved.

Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president shared new architectural renderings of the ballroom which showed the annex’s south face without a grand staircase that had been in previous iterations, including the design that CFA had approved. An analysis of the previous plans by the New York Times pointed out some idiosyncrasies in the design, among them, that its grand staircase didn’t lead to the ballroom and there was no door on the side facing the staircase. Mr. Trump showed the new renderings soon after the Times’ article was published.

Luebke did not answer CBS News’ questions about whether the CFA will reconsider the project in light of the architectural changes.

NCPC was informed of the change Wednesday and voted to approve it Thursday.

Trump backs off campaign promises to protect Medicare, help with child care

2026-04-02T18:33:43.948Z / The Washington Post

As a candidate, Trump pledged to prioritize child care affordability and preserve Medicare. A spokeswoman argued that the president, in his comments Wednesday, was referring to fraud.

April 2, 2026 at 2:33 p.m. EDT 35 minutes ago

Trump reverses himself on childcare promise

President Donald Trump previously said he was committed to make childcare more affordable. Yet, on April 1 he said the federal government cannot afford to help. (Video: The Washington Post)

By Isaac Arnsdorf

President Donald Trump said this week that Medicare and day care were too expensive for the federal government to cover, reversing himself on explicit campaign promises to protect the seniors’ health insurance program and address child care costs.