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Some Republicans dumbfounded over Trump’s housing bill move
Live updates: Trump met with GOP senators after canceling housing bill signing ceremony
The president said overnight that he has told the Justice Department to investigate oil companies for not lowering gas prices as other consumer prices fall.
What to know today
- TRUMP HEADS TO HILL: President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the signing of a bipartisan housing affordability bill on Capitol Hill today, demanding on social media that Republican lawmakers move forward with an elections overhaul bill that has not had enough support to advance. The president joined Senate Republicans for lunch.
- NATO MEETING: Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House this afternoon.
- NYC LEFTISTS WIN: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his allies scored major wins in yesterday’s primaries in the state as they looked to expand the democratic socialist movement. The victories included former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander's defeat of Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman and community activist Darializa Avila Chevalier's dethroning of Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Trump says democratic socialist wave will 'make it easier' for Republicans in 2028
Trump called the democratic socialist candidates who recorded a sweep of victories in New York City last night "communists" and said the left's wins would "make it easier" for Republicans to win in 2028.
"Well, they're going radical left. They're going to really talk about the Democrat socialists. You talk really, it's really communists," he said in the Oval Office this afternoon.
Three democratic socialist candidates, all backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won congressional Democratic primaries yesterday, including Brad Lander, who defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who beat five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
Asked whether the wins could indicate a democratic socialist candidate on the Democratic ticket in 2028, Trump said, "Well, it should make it easier for Republicans."
"If you look throughout history, go back thousands of years, you've always had socialism and communism by different names, it's never ever worked, it's not going to work this time," he said.
Trump took a dig at Goldman, who won a crowded primary in New York's 10th Congressional District in 2022 after having been lead counsel in Trump's first impeachment trial.
"They beat a guy named Dan Goldman, who's a loser," Trump said. "He was one of my prosecutors, one of my many prosecutors that they used. Dan Goldman, not a good prosecutor, fortunately, but he's now looking for a job."
Trump calls Zelenskyy 'courageous' and says he's 'doing well'
Trump praised Zelenskyy as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office, saying, "He's doing pretty well."
Trump added: "Look, no matter how you look at it, he's doing pretty well. ... You have to say he's courageous, he's got great equipment, but he's got great men, he's got fighters."
Trump and Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven conference in France last week, with Trump saying in France that they had a “very good meeting" and that "we’re going to be focusing on that," referring to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy and Trump have had an at times friendly and at times tense relationship. An Oval Office meeting last year devolved into an on-camera shouting match among the two presidents and Vice President JD Vance. But in December, Trump called Zelenskyy a brave and hard worker during talks in Florida.
Darializa Avila Chevalier doesn't commit to back Jeffries for speaker should Dems win back House
Avila Chevalier, who yesterday defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat to clinch the Democratic nomination in New York’s 13th Congressional District, would not commit in an interview today to back Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to be House speaker should Democrats win back the lower chamber.
“That’s a conversation that I’ll be having with my coalition, with my community, to make sure that we are coming to a decision about what is best for the people here of New York 13,” she said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press Now.”
Avila Chevalier also addressed concerns about criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism veering into antisemitism.
“I have organized with so many Jewish community groups over the years to fight for Palestinian liberation, because those two things are intertwined. Palestinian liberation and the safety of our Jewish neighbors are one and one,” she said.
Avila Chevalier added that increasing antisemitism originated from the far right.
“We’re seeing a rise in fascism, and that rise in fascism has also been part of the reason that we are seeing a genocide happening in Palestine,” she said.
Pentagon seeks $80B to cover costs of Iran war
A number of Republicans in the Senate voted with Democrats yesterday to limit the president's war powers amid ongoing fragile talks with Iran aimed at ending the conflict. The Pentagon is asking Congress for roughly $80 billion to cover the cost of the war. NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell reports for the "TODAY" show.
House GOP leaders cancel planned vote that would have brought several bills to the floor
The House has canceled a planned vote on a rule that would have brought several bills to the floor this week as a group of Republicans vows to block any action until Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
Instead, at 4:30 p.m. the House will vote on two bills under suspension of the rules, meaning the bills will require two-thirds support from members. The bills do not need a rule to pass first on the floor.
Trump emerges from closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans, touts Iran talks
Trump emerged from the closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans and spoke about oil prices and the status of the negotiations with Iran in brief remarks to the media.
"We had a really great meeting, and we're very proud of the party, we like our leader, we like everybody, really, in the room. I don't like a few people, but that's OK. I think you know who they are," Trump said.
Trump said that the GOP is a "well-unified party" and said the U.S. is the "hottest country in the world."
"We have more factories being built right now than we have at any point at any time in the history of our country, and all of those factories are opening up soon. It's all jobs, and our job numbers are incredible," he said. "Anyway, I see that oil just broke the $70 number. Who would have thought that was going to happen? And that's during a war, and Iran is being very nice. They're agreeing to everything that I want, and they have to."
He did not address the housing bill he was supposed to sign today or the elections bill he is pressuring Republicans to pass.
NATO’s Rutte heads to the White House to soothe Trump ahead of next month’s summit
Reporting from Washington
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will check in face to face with Trump this afternoon, visiting him two weeks before the annual NATO summit when the Defense Department Pentagon is reviewing the size of the U.S. military footprint in Europe.
Trump has long been critical of NATO, arguing the U.S. provides more than its fair share of military spending. But his grievances have been louder since the Iran war as he fumed over some member countries' ignoring his call to help him restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has renewed his threats to leave the 77-year-old alliance, raising the stakes ahead of the summit in Turkey next month. But Rutte, who has become known as a Trump whisperer for his ability to charm Trump, is expected to use today’s White House meeting to try to appease him.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week lashed out at allies at a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He announced a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe.
Hegseth echoed some of Trump’s criticisms, faulting European allies for not letting the U.S. use bases in Europe to attack Iran. NATO allies were not consulted about the war before the U.S. launched it with Israel on Feb. 28, and some have openly criticized Trump’s strategy.
Trump has claimed NATO allies were not there for the U.S., and he has suggested leaving the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat the Soviet Union posed to European security. At the heart of the treaty is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. The only time it has been invoked was in 2001, to support the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The Pentagon’s warning that it will reduce its military presence in Europe to focus on threats elsewhere was the latest upheaval for the 32-member alliance since Trump returned to office.
He stunned European allies last year when he threatened to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark.
Trump responds to question about whether the SAVE America Act is more important than housing
Trump responded to a question about whether the SAVE America Act is more important than housing as he arrived on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Senate Republicans.
"It’s just every election is important. We’re doing very well," said Trump, who canceled signing a bipartisan housing bill this afternoon to pressure Republicans to move forward with an elections overhaul bill that does not have enough support to advance.
In remarks to reporters, Trump went on to bash the far left of the Democratic Party after several progressives won in primary races yesterday.
"They want a lot of communists to come in," he said. "I’m telling you a little bit differently, but the people that they’re pushing are communists, and this country is not going to have communists."
House postpones vote as GOP members vow to block other action until SAVE America Act advances
The House has postponed a 1:30 p.m. vote on a rule that would bring several bills to the floor this week as a group of Republicans vows to block any action until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, following Trump's urging.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is leading the effort to stop other bills from coming forward, said on X that she will “have to be a NO on rules for this week (and maybe even longer).”
Rules in the House are typically approved along party lines, so House GOP leaders cannot afford many defections. Without passing a rule, the House cannot bring forward bills to be debated and voted on.
The latest floor update for members said that “votes are expected in the House today,” though the chamber is in recess at the moment.
Some Republicans dumbfounded over Trump's housing bill move: 'What a s--- show'
While some hard-line Republicans are cheering Trump’s decision to hold up a bipartisan housing bill over the SAVE America Act, other Republicans are privately dumbfounded and disappointed.
“What a s--- show. ... Crazy crazy crazy,” one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak more freely, said in a text to NBC News. “A once in a generation housing bill falls victim to the nuts.”
Another expressed less surprise: “Trump did something outrageous to keep the spotlight focused on him. Shocker.”
And a third House Republican who represents a district Trump won handily in 2024 warned about the potential consequences for November. “I’m not that safe. No incumbent is safe,” the lawmaker wrote. “People are pissed off that we are not taking care of business.”
House Republicans prepare ad blitz to lock in Florida and Virginia redistricting wins
House Republicans are looking to capitalize on recent redistricting developments in Florida and Virginia, with a GOP super PAC announcing it plans to spend millions more in those states this fall.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and GOP leadership, is adding $22 million to its initial fall ad buys in the two states, according to an announcement shared first with NBC News.
House leader Jeffries says Mamdani 'has work to do' with Congress after candidates he endorsed beat incumbents
After several progressives backed by Mamdani defeated Democratic incumbents in New York primaries last night, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he and the mayor “agreed to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements.”
Speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Jeffries was asked if Mamdani has made enemies in Congress for not supporting incumbents, and the House minority leader responded that the mayor has “work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.”
Jeffries called his own relationship with Mamdani “a very good one.”
Asked if Democratic voters sent a message last night that they want Democrats in Congress to be more progressive, Jeffries said “we’ve got to look at the totality of all 215 members of the House Democratic Caucus, and that answer speaks for itself.”
Jeffries also called Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who was defeated by activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, “a tremendous public servant who will be missed.
Georgia lawmakers delay a major change to the state’s voting system
Georgia lawmakers voted today to extend a self-imposed deadline to implement a new voting system for this fall’s midterm elections days before it was set to fall out of compliance with state election code.
Georgians voting in person typically use a digital ballot-marking device that prints out a marked ballot with a QR code and a written summary of the voter’s choices. The QR codes, which are indecipherable to the human eye, are used to tabulate votes, though the audit process includes a review of spelled-out choices when checking the results.
The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted in 2024 to stop using QR codes to count votes by July 1 of this year, fueled in large part by unfounded allegations of voter fraud and a yearslong federal lawsuit about the integrity of the state’s voter system.
Judge wants to know why Kennedy Center sign is being hidden
A federal judge is asking the administration to explain why the sign to the Kennedy Center has been covered up since Trump's name was removed from facade.
In a ruling this morning, U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper directed both sides in the dispute over the renaming of the center and the board's decision to close it for two years to give him a status report on the case late next month.
"The report shall also indicate the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding that Defendants have erected on the front portico of the Center, to the extent they remain at that time," Cooper said, referring to materials that have covered the sign since he ordered Trump's name to be removed last month.
The center said it has complied with the order to remove the name, but has not explained the continued presence of the tarp in court.
Attorneys for the plaintiff in the case, ex-officio board member Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said in a filing it appears to be "a petty act of defiance," and they're concerned it will be there "for the long term."
They accused the board of "willfully sabotaging Kennedy Center’s iconic façade to assuage Defendants’ vanity or massage broken egos."
The center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order and the covered signage.
Trump cancels plan to sign major housing bill as he fights with Congress over elections bill
Trump abruptly canceled his plans to sign a major, bipartisan housing bill this afternoon, saying he will not do so until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, a sweeping elections bill that has become a focal point of his second term.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” he posted on his Truth Social account.
It was not immediately clear whether he still plans to sign the housing bill or veto it.
Trump has repeatedly pressed Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would overhaul elections in all 50 states and add new proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements.
Top Army general who was last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan is suddenly leaving his post
Reporting from Washington
The Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa — who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 — is unexpectedly stepping down from his post after just 18 months in the job, the Army confirmed late yesterday.
Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement provided to The Associated Press.
U.N. inspectors will visit Iran’s nuclear sites under U.S. deal, nuclear agency boss says
The head of the U.N.’s nuclear agency signaled today that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim deal between the United States and Iran to reach an end to the war.
The comment by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi was the firmest yet from the United Nations agency, which is viewed as key in determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Bill Gates told Congress he suspected Jeffrey Epstein ‘contemplated blackmailing’ him over affairs
Billionaire Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee this month that he believed Jeffrey Epstein “contemplated blackmailing” him over extramarital affairs, according to a transcript of the Microsoft co-founder’s interview released Tuesday.
“He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me,” Gates told lawmakers on June 10 as part of the committee’s probe into the late convicted sex offender.
'The politics of the past ends today': Chevalier celebrates projected New York primary win
Democratic candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier celebrated her projected win in the Democratic primary in New York’s 13th District after defeating incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Chevalier was joined by Mamdani, who had endorsed her.
New York Democrat Micah Lasher wins House primary that drew big spending from AI groups
New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher has won the Democratic nomination in the 12th Congressional District, NBC News projects, benefiting from his deep ties to the area and backing from party leaders in a primary that drew national attention.
Lasher emerged from a crowded field of Democrats that included fellow Assemblyman Alex Bores, Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg and George Conway, the former Republican lawyer-turned-prominent critic of President Donald Trump.
Trump accuses oil companies of gas price ‘gouging,’ calls for DOJ probe
Trump said overnight that he had instructed the Department of Justice to immediately probe oil companies for not lowering gas prices at the pump in line with falling costs, accusing them of “gouging” consumers.
Trump did not name any companies in his late-night message on TruthSocial, which was posted shortly after midnight.
House passes sweeping bill to lower housing costs, sending it to Trump’s desk
Reporting from Washington
The House passed a major housing affordability bill yesterday aimed at boosting the supply of homes and cracking down on large investors’ buying up houses.
The bill passed 358-32 one day after it cleared the Senate by a vote of 85-5. It now goes to Trump, who is supportive and is expected to sign it into law.
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman loses New York primary to former City Comptroller Brad Lander
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman has lost his New York City primary to former City Comptroller Brad Lander, NBC News projects, following a battle that highlighted Democratic divisions over Israel and showcased the clout of Mayor Mamdani, who backed Lander.
Lander won in New York’s 10th Congressional District amid a wave of challenges from Mamdani allies to sitting members of Congress as Mamdani looks to build on his momentum from last year’s election and further reshape the city’s politics.
Goldman is the fifth House incumbent to lose a primary so far in 2026, as a swath of voters express frustration with their party’s leaders.
Zohran Mamdani’s picks take key House primaries amid a broad battle over Democrats’ direction
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and key allies secured major wins in yesterday’s congressional primaries as they looked to build on his 2025 victory by expanding the power and presence of the democratic socialist movement in Washington.
Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander dethroned Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th District without much tension Tuesday, the first victory for the Mamdani-backed slate. Lander captured about two-thirds of the vote.
Later, Darializa Avila Chevalier — another young democratic socialist and community activist whose campaign flew under the radar before Mamdani endorsed her — defeated 10-year Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
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