Trump news at a glance: Elon Musk rallies voters to ‘kill’ the president’s signature tax bill
White House officials say Trump is committed to passing legislation despite vocal opposition from his billionaire donor. Key US politics stories from Wednesday at a glance.
Elon Musk has ramped up his opposition to Donald Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill, criticising it in about two dozen posts on his social media platform X in the past 24 hours.
In one post to his 220 million followers on the platform, Musk rallied voters to contact lawmakers, writing: “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”
White House officials said Donald Trump remains committed to passing his spending and tax bill through the US Senate, despite the increasingly vocal opposition from his billionaire donor.
Here are the key stories at a glance:
Trump’s tax bill would add $2.4tn to US debt
Donald Trump’s signature tax bill would blow a $2.4tn hole to America’s national debt over the next decade, according to a congressional budget office analysis, which came as Musk called for a new bill.
The non-partisan budget office said on Wednesday that Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” would decrease federal revenues by $3.67tn while cutting spending by $1.25tn through 2034, as the national debt currently stands at $36tn.
Trump issues sweeping travel ban barring entry to US from 12 countries
Donald Trump has signed a proclamation banning travel from 12 countries and restricting travel from seven others, reviving and expanding the travel bans from his first term.
The nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be “fully” restricted from entering the US, according to the proclamation. Meanwhile, the entry of nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted.
Trump orders inquiry into Biden’s actions as president over ‘cognitive decline’ reports
Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into his predecessor Joe Biden’s actions as president, alleging that his top aides masked the Democratic president’s ‘cognitive decline’.
“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” Trump wrote in the memo. “The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.”
Trump signs proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard
Donald Trump signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University, the latest move amid an escalating row between the Trump administration and the academic institution.
The proclamation suspends the entry into the US of any new Harvard student on a student visa, and directs the secretary of state to consider revoking existing visas.
“President Trump wants our institutions to have foreign students, but believes that the foreign students should be people that can love our country,” the White House said in a fact sheet about the proclamation.
Putin tells Trump Russia would respond to Ukraine attack
Donald Trump spoke for more than an hour with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, but he conceded the talks would not lead “to immediate peace” in Ukraine, and warned that Russia would respond to Ukraine’s successful attacks this week on its airfields.
Ice agents told to arrest more people even without warrants
Senior US immigration officials over the weekend instructed rank-and-file officers to “turn the creative knob up to 11” when it comes to enforcement, including by interviewing and potentially arresting people they called “collaterals”, according to internal agency emails viewed by the Guardian.
One email said: “We complained for the last four years about not being allowed to do our job, and now the time has come for us to step up!”
Trump’s tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum take effect
The US has doubled tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports to 50%, pressing ahead in the face of criticism from key trading partners with a measure that Donald Trump says is intended to revive the American industry.
Trump officials intensify Columbia dispute
The Department of Education announced that it has notified Columbia University’s accreditor of an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws by the elite, private university in New York that is part of the Ivy League.
The alleged violation means that Columbia, in the Trump administration’s assessment, has “failed to meet the standards” set by bodies responsible for the accreditation of degree-granting institutions. Accreditors determine which institutions are eligible for federal student loans and various federal grants.
Education head unsure if Black history lessons allowed in policy
Linda McMahon, the education secretary, said she is unsure if teaching students about two of the most notorious racist episodes in US history would fall foul of the Trump administration’s onslaught against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
What else happened today:
The BBC has defended its Gaza war coverage, accusing the White House of misrepresenting its journalism after criticism from the Trump administration over a report on a deadly strike near a US-backed aid site.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said he hopes a trade deal with the US could come into effect “in just a couple of weeks.”
A federal judge in Colorado temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting the family of the man charged in the attack in Boulder, Colorado.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 4 June 2025.