Trump wants to see bigger tax cuts in the budget bill
Trump says he wants to see bigger tax cuts in the budget bill (which passed the House by the skin of its teeth).
“I’d like to see a bigger cut in taxes,” Trump says. “ The bill is a great bill. It’s going to be jiggered around a little bit, it’s going to be negotiated with the Senate.”
Musk was also asked to chime in by the reporter about what changes he wants to see (following his criticisms this week) but Trump moves on.
Key events
Trump says that both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are stubborn as he tries to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Asked if he believes Putin is stubborn, Trump says he was surprised and disappointed by Russian bombing in Ukraine while he was trying to arrange a ceasefire.
Trump says he still wants foreign students to attend US colleges despite his fight with Harvard over how many students it enrols from outside the country.
Musk says his bruised eye was caused by ‘horsing around’ with his son
Asked about his black eye, Musk claims he was punched in the face by his five-year-old son while they were “horsing around”.
Trump wants to see bigger tax cuts in the budget bill
Trump says he wants to see bigger tax cuts in the budget bill (which passed the House by the skin of its teeth).
“I’d like to see a bigger cut in taxes,” Trump says. “ The bill is a great bill. It’s going to be jiggered around a little bit, it’s going to be negotiated with the Senate.”
Musk was also asked to chime in by the reporter about what changes he wants to see (following his criticisms this week) but Trump moves on.
Léonie Chao-Fong
Fact check: Trump claims Musk’s Doge uncovered the Biden administration “spent $8m on making mice transgender”.
Trump made this claim during his address to Congress in March, and it’s unclear where he got this figure from.
Multiple outlets have suggested that he was referring to health studies that involve “transgenic” mice, which are lab research mice that have been genetically modified to better model human disease response.
The White House released a statement after Trump’s initial comments in March that referenced studies on the effects of hormone therapy. None of the studies listed were specifically focused on “making mice transgender”.
Trump says his advice for French president Emmanuel Macron, who has been shown on a video through an open plane door being pushed in the face by his wife, was “make sure the door remains closed”.
Trump says he had spoken to Macron in the wake of the video that showed his wife, Brigitte, giving him a shove on their plane.
Macron has shrugged off the incident as a moment of playfulness. “He’s fine,” Trump says.
Asked if he would consider pardoning Diddy, Trump says nobody has asked him to, but: “I know people are thinking about it … I think people have been very close to asking.”
“I would look at the facts,” he adds.
Trump cites previously debunked claim in list of Musk’s achievements
Robert Mackey
In support of his claim that Elon Musk helped identify and cut wasteful government spending, Trump just cited the cutting of what he called “$45m for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma”.
“In Burma”, the president added. “Does anyone know about Burma?”
As we first reported in February, there is no evidence that any such scholarships were ever planned. As the former representative Tom Malinowski pointed out, when this claim was first made by Musk’s “department of government efficiency”, this appears to be a reference to a very kind of different program, the USAid Lincoln Scholarships, which helped educate young people struggling for freedom against Burma’s military dictatorship.
It is not clear why Trump or Musk wrongly thought that these were scholarships aimed at promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion”, but, as Malinowski noted, the USAid project description did specify that the scholars were Burmese students “from diverse backgrounds”. In the context of that country, where a military dictatorship has exploited ethnic and religious divisions to stay in power, helping to educate young leaders from all of the country’s ethnic groups seems like sound policy.
Fact check: Trump’s claim about hotels housing migrants in New York
Léonie Chao-Fong
Fact check: Trump claims that Elon Musk’s Doge “cancelled $59m for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City”.
Musk claimed in February that his team had discovered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had sent $59m to “luxury hotels” in New York City to house illegal migrants. He claimed the money had been “meant for American disaster relief”.
Musk gave no evidence to support this claim. Multiple outlets have reported that the money was appropriated by Congress and allocated to the city – not directly to the hotels – last year by Fema.
Musk’s claim likely referred to payments made by the Shelter and Services Program, which gives money to reimburse cities, towns or organizations for immigration-related expenses, according to Associated Press.
A New York City office spokesperson told the news agency that only some of the $59m was for hotel costs, and that the city has never paid luxury rates.
Musk again says he expects to continue to provide Trump with advice, to which Trump says: “I hope so.”
Trump says he’s feel they’re “very close” to an agreement on Gaza, and feels he’s “fairly close” to a deal with Iran also.
Trump says he’s sure he will speak to China’s Xi to hopefully work out trade dispute
Trump repeats his claim that China “violated a big part of” the agreement they made, but he doesn’t expand on what he’s alleging China did.
He says he’s sure he’ll speak to Chinese president Xi Jinping to work it out.
Musk dodges question about reported drug-taking
Musk was about to be asked about the NYT report that he allegedly took large amounts of drugs including ketamine while advising Trump, but he cuts the reporter off and dodges the incoming question entirely.
Musk says he’ll continue visiting the White House as a “friend and adviser to the president”, before veering off to compliment the “stunning” Oval Office, in particular “the gold on the ceiling”.
Musk says his time as special government employee had to end, but this isn’t the end of Doge, it’s more the beginning, he says, adding: “It’s a way of life.”
He says he’s confident that “over time” that Doge will reach $1tn of savings he promised (in the last 130 days it hasn’t come close).