Trump sets off his foes with plans to deport 'homegrown' criminals (2025)

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump indicated he was open to sending Americans convicted of violent crimes to the notorious El Salvadorian megaprison, which is heavily overcrowded and faces allegations of human rights abuse.

'I'm all for it,' Trump said, adding that the attorney general was studying the idea.

'If it's a homegrown criminal, I have no problem, no,' he said, adding: 'I'm talking about really bad people.'

He talked about the idea in his meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.

Before the formal sitdown in the Oval Office began, El Salvadoran television captured Trump giving Bukele a tour of the room and asking him to build five more prisons.

'Homegrowns are next. The homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough,' Trump told Bukele.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville accused President Donald Trump of one of the most 'ignorant' acts in American history with his topsy-turvy application of tariffs that came to a head last week.

After Trump initially announced at least 10 percent tariffs on countries around the world and reciprocal tariffs on countries the White House viewed as not being fair to the U.S. on trade, the president reversed course and only let the 10 percent tariffs stick hours after all the tariffs were supposed to go into effect.

At the same time he ramped up a trade war with China last week - making the markets go haywire.

'In what will certainly be recorded as one of the most ignorant acts of political leadership in American history, the president of the United States has now willfully damaged the global economy with his tariff chaos,' Carville wrote in a New York Times op-ed Monday.

'Not only was this an act of economic warfare, it has broken the cardinal rule in American politics: Never destabalize the economy,' Carville continued. 'With it, the Trump administration is causing enormous damage to itself - and there can be no more disraction from this naked truth.'

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

Vice President JD Vance proved a bit of a butterfingers at the White House on Monday when he dropped his alma mater’s championship trophy.

He and President Donald Trump welcomed the 2025 College Football National Champions, the Ohio State University football team, to the Rose Garden for a celebration of their victory.

As they group gathered to pose for a photo, Vance went to pick up the championship trophy only to panic when the base came off and the top went flying.

The crowd audibly gasped and held up their phones to capture the moment.

Running back TreVeyon Henderson helped Vance reattach the trophy top to its base.

Vance wrote on X of the incident: 'I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it.'

Rarely in its 116-year history has the Oval Office been the scene of such brutal trash talk from a commander in chief.

President Donald Trump on Monday ridiculed CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House as he met with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador.

'Let's not start with CNN because they are just so wrong,' Trump began, as the pair took questions from the press, where Collins was present.

After several journalists asked the president questions, Trump pointed to Collins.

'Let's hear the question from this very low-rated anchor at CNN,' he said.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro home wasn't due to the Democrat's political leanings - with Trump pointing out that the attacker didn't like him either.

'The attacker was not a fan of Trump, I understand,' Trump told reporters, saying he didn't know what the suspect's motive was. 'Just from what I read and what I've been told,' the president explained.

Trump was asked about the early Sunday alleged arson at the Pennsylvania governor's mansion as he hosted El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office.

'The attacker basically wasn't a fan of anybody, probably just a wack job, and certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.'

The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, expressed general anti-government sentiment on his social media pages, posting memes that urged people to 'become ungovernable.'

In 2022 Balmer reposted artwork of a Molotov cocktail with the slogan: 'Be the light you want to see in the world.'

President Donald Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele led a united defense in the Oval Office on Monday as they defended keeping a Maryland man in a notorious megaprison after the Supreme Court ordered his return to the U.S.

Bukele argued he couldn't return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three who was mistakenly deported along with dozens of other migrants on March 15, to America.

Trump and his lieutenants doubled down on their decision, calling Garcia an 'illegal alien' and gang member who was rightfully kicked out of the country.

Backing the presidents up was Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff who has waged a personal war against illegal migrants.

President Donald Trump's National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett on Monday disputed that the president's tariff agenda would trigger a recession.

When asked by Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo if the United States could expect a recession in 2025, he replied, '100 percent not. 100 percent not.'

'If you look at the jobs numbers, they're very, very strong,' he said.

President Donald Trump welcomed El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to the White House.

The president did not take questions when he greeted Bukele at the door to the West Wing.

The two leaders headed into the Oval Office for their meeting, which will include discussions of U.S. deportations of migrants to El Salvador.

President Donald Trump gave another justification for his tariff hikes, saying products need to be made in the USA in case the country goes to 'war.'

'We're going to have our drugs made in the United States, so that in case of war, in case of whatever, we're not relying on China and various other countries, which is not a good idea,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday evening.

Trump has sparked fears of a recession with his crackdown on foreign imports as part of his campaign to products made in America, arguing he wants to support and ramp up manufacturing in this country.

And as Trump left open the possibility of more tariffs to come, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Vietnam as part of Southeast Asia tour, had his own words of warning.

'There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,' Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media. 'Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.'

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said it was ‘concerning’ that China suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals that are crucial for the world's car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.

‘They're concerning. And we're thinking about all the options right now,’ Kevin Hassett told reporters outside the White House. ‘Rare earths are a part of lots of the economy.'

He also said the administration was helping small businesses that relied on supplies out of China find alternative resources.

The officials understand ‘their concerns and are thinking about how best to address them, including by finding other suppliers that are not on the current list that China is on,’ he said.

‘The White House is concerned about China. Period,’ he added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky took another shot at President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance for their 'altered reality' surrounding the events that triggered the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump shared a crypic message on his Truth Social platform on Monday morning, presumably satisfied with new investments in the United States following his tariff announcements.

'THE BEST DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE!!!' he wrote.

NVIDIA announced Monday they will produce AI supercomputers entirely in the United States.

The Trump administration hailed the announcement as a major step forward for the president's agenda to bring more manufacturing to the United States.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump will welcome El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukel to the White House on Monday amid American deportations of migrants to that country.

More than 200 men accused of being Venezuelan gang members have been deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act.

The move sparked a mass of criticism and lawsuits, particularly around the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

But Trump may have a partner in Bukele, who calls himself world’s ‘coolest dictator.’

On Sunday, the Trump administration on Sunday announced that it had sent 10 more people alleged to be gang members to El Salvador over the weekend.

Adviser Stephen Miller told reporters outside the White House there was no limit on the number of illegal migrants to be deported.

'There's no upper limit to the agreement. We're going to continue to send foreign terrorist aliens to El Salvador,' he said.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

A majority of America’s top business executives are worried the country could enter a recession soon, a new survey found.

In a poll of more than 300 CEOs conducted in April, 62% said they see a recession or other economic downturn in the next six months, according to Chief Executive, an industry group that runs the survey.

That’s up from 48% who said the same in March.

The survey reflects the growing concern in corporate America about President Donald Trump’s on-and-off again tariffs and the volatility they’re causing in the global stock markets.

When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took the podium at the American Bankers Association on Wednesday morning he was anything but 'yippy' - the president's term to describe the handwringing of Republicans and financiers who were sounding the alarm on his tariffs.

Early on, Trump branded them as 'Panicans,' a 'new party based on weak and stupid people,' but Bessent struck a unique messaging balance that both reassured stock traders and his boss.

Bessent reassured the room of bankers that, thanks to the president's tariff threats, 75 countries were willing to negotiate with him, and that 15 of those nations had already proposed a deal.

The moves gives the likes of Apple and Samsung a major win while Americans dodge massive price hikes.

President Donald Trumpon Sunday insisted there will be no exemptions in the tariffs after there was some confusion when it came to electronics.

'NOBODY is getting “off the hook” for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!' the president posted on Truth Social.

A notice released late on Friday suggestedgadgets would avoid Trump's 125 percent import tax on Chinese goods and even his sweeping 10 percent global tariffs.