The Latest: Federal appeals court to hear arguments in Trump’s bid to erase hush money conviction

Federal appellate judges will hear President
Donald Trump’s
quest to erase his criminal conviction on Wednesday — one of the ways he’s trying to get last year’s hush money verdict overturned. A three-judge panel is set to consider Trump’s efforts to get the New York case moved from state court to federal court, where he could then try to have the verdict thrown out on presidential immunity grounds.

Billionaire Elon Musk stepped back from his
explosive feud
with Trump,
writing on X
that he regrets that some of his posts
went “too far.”

An appeals court is allowing Trump tariffs to continue pending court challenges,
extending a similar ruling
made after another federal court ruled that he overstepped his presidential authority.

And the Justice Department says Trump
he has the authority
to
abolish national monuments
meant to protect historical and archaeological sites across broad landscapes, including
two in California
created by his predecessor at the request of Native American tribes.

Here’s the latest:

Senators critical of Defense Secretary as hearing kicks off

Pete Hegseth met with bipartisan criticism Wednesday as the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing kicked off.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, slammed him, saying that “more of your time so far has been spent inside the building on culture wars, rather than outside the building, deterring real ones.”

He criticized Hegseth’s moves to fire the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other “qualified uniformed leaders” and said the Pentagon is worried more” about each other than America’s enemies.

The chairman, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, expressed frustration that the Trump administration has yet to provide Congress with a full defense budget. He said current funding isn’t enough to support the nation’s defense, and the administration’s limited budget request has no funding for Ukraine security assistance — casting doubt on the potential for “lasting peace.”

Hegseth said he has moved quickly to kill wasteful programs and redirect funding to Trump’s priorities as his department assembles a comprehensive budget request.

GOP puts $40 million for Trump’s “Garden of Heroes” in his big tax cuts bill

The
new spending line
was tucked inside Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, whose chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has been at times a Trump critic.

The $40 million allotment would go to the National Endowment for the Humanities to build
Trump’s long-sought statue garden
. He first proposed the idea in 2020 during a time of political turmoil in the U.S. over honoring people with racist and other views, and followed up with executive orders.

Trump’s initial proposal for 30-plus “heroes” features Founding Fathers and presidents, civil rights pioneers and aviation innovators, explorers and generals, and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Absent from Trump’s initial list were any Native American, Hispanic or Asian-American individuals.

Trump to attend Wednesday’s opening night of ‘Les Misérables’ at the Kennedy Center

The president
and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend
the Kennedy Center’s
musical at a fraught moment, after he
replaced the previous leadership
with loyalists, had himself installed as chairman and pledged to rid the performing arts venue of programming he has complained is “woke” and too focused on leftist ideology and political correctness.

His takeover has upset some of the center’s patrons and performers. Sales of subscription packages are said to have declined, “Hamilton” canceled its planned run and other artists scrapped appearances or resigned. Understudies may perform Wednesday night due to boycotts by “Les Misérables” cast members.

In March,
the audience booed
Vice President
JD Vance
and his wife, Usha, after they slipped into upper-level seats in the Concert Hall to hear the National Symphony Orchestra. Trump appointed
Usha Vance
to the Kennedy Center board along with White House chief of staff
Susie Wiles
, Attorney General
Pam Bondi
and Fox News Channel hosts Maria Bartiromo and Laura Ingraham, among other supporters.

General Motors shares rise on $4 billion investment to move plants from Mexico to US

Trump
signed
executive orders in April relaxing some of his 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, a significant reversal as the import taxes threatened to hurt domestic manufacturers. Trump portrayed the changes as a bridge toward automakers moving more production into the United States.

But automakers and independent analyses say
the remaining tariffs
could raise prices, reduce sales and make U.S. production less competitive worldwide. Last month GM
lowered
its profit expectations for the year, estimating the impact of remaining
auto tariffs
at $5 billion for the company.

GM said it will add production of the gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox, which are made in Mexico, to its plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee and Kansas City, Kansas in 2027. GM will also begin making gas-powered full-size SUVs and light duty pickup trucks in Orion Township, Michigan.

CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday that GM is committed to building vehicles in the U.S. through 50 U.S. plants and parts facilities that support nearly 1 million American jobs.

Chinese rare earth minerals produced through forced labor, rights group says

The Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance says Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola and paint supplier Sherwin-Williams may be among companies linked to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where rights groups allege the Chinese government runs coercive labor practices targeting
predominantly Muslim Uyghurs
and other Turkic minorities.

The report found 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang are at risk of participating in China’s “labor transfer programs,” in which Uyghur are forced to work in factories as part of a
long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention
.

The named companies didn’t immediately comment.

A U.N. report from 2022 found
China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang
, where more than 1 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrarily detained as China targets terrorism and separatism. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the forced labor allegations are “nothing but a lie.”

President Joe Biden signed a law
blocking imports from Xinjiang
unless businesses can prove they were made without forced labor.

Trump announces that US-China trade deal is ‘done’

Trump says US will get magnets and rare earth minerals from China in a deal imposing 55% tariffs on Chinese goods — up sharply from the 30% set in Switzerland during talks in May.

In return, Trump said the U.S. will provide China “what was agreed to,” including allowing Chinese students to attend American colleges and universities.

Trump recently had begun to clamp down on Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses.

Inflation up slightly, costing Americans more for food

U.S. inflation picked up a bit last month as food costs rose, though overall inflation remained mostly tame.

Consumer prices increased 2.4% last month compared to a year ago, according to a
Labor Department report
released Wednesday. That is up from a 2.3% yearly increase in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% for the third straight month. Economists pay close attention to core prices because they generally provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.

The figures suggest inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, which would make it less likely that the Fed will cut its key short-term interest rate. Trump has repeatedly urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs.

Last week, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the inflation data, said it is
reducing the amount of data
it collects for each inflation report. Economists have expressed concern about the cutback, and while it isn’t clear how sharp the reduction is, most analysts say it is likely to have a minor impact. Still, any reduction in data collection could make the figures more volatile.

▶ Read more
about the inflation report

Trump hails appeals court ruling in favor of his tariffs as a ‘great’ win for the US

Trump commented on the ruling on Wednesday on his social media site, saying, “A Federal Appeals Court has just ruled that the United States can use TARIFFS to protect itself against other countries. A great and important win for the U.S.,” he wrote.

Veterans are divided over the Army’s big parade, being held on Trump’s birthday

Until recently, the Army’s long-planned birthday celebration did not include
a big parade
. Trump’s addition, featuring
hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft
and thousands of soldiers, has divided veterans.

Some liken it to the military chest-pounding commonly seen in North Korea, a step toward authoritarianism or a perverse birthday party for Trump.

Others see it as a once-in-a-lifetime accounting of the Army’s achievements and the military service of millions of soldiers over centuries. The parade is not about Trump, they say, but the public seeing the faces of soldiers when so few Americans serve.

The Army expects up to 200,000 people could attend and says the parade will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million.

Trump,
speaking at Fort Bragg
this week, said Saturday would be “a big day” and noted “we want to show off a little bit.”

▶ Read more
about veteran reactions to Saturday’s parade

Appeals court lets Trump administration keep collecting tariffs while challenges continue

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit extends a similar ruling it made after another federal court struck down the tariffs May 28, saying Trump had overstepped his authority.

The case involves 10% tariffs the president imposed on almost every country in April and bigger ones he imposed and then suspended on countries with which the United States runs trade deficits. It also involves tariffs Trump plastered on imports from China, Canada and Mexico to pressure them to do more to stop the illegal flow of immigrants and synthetic opioids across the U.S. border.

In declaring the tariffs, Trump had invoked emergency powers under a 1977 law. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled he had exceeded his power.

The tariffs upended global trade, paralyzed businesses and spooked financial markets.

Elon Musk backs off from feud with Trump, saying he regrets social media posts that ‘went too far’

Early Wednesday morning, he
posted
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”

Musk’s break with a president whom he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect appeared to put an end to his influence in the White House and prompted concerns about effects on his companies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be
particularly vulnerable
to retribution, and Trump has already
threatened
to cut Musk’s contracts.

Musk earlier deleted a post in which he claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with
infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
. Meanwhile, other posts that irritated Trump, including ones in which Musk called the spending bill an “abomination” and claimed credit for Trump’s election victory, remained live.

On Sunday, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warned that Musk could face “
serious consequences
” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.

A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in Trump’s bid to erase his hush money conviction

Trump’s quest to erase his criminal conviction heads to a federal appeals court Wednesday. It’s one way he’s trying to get last year’s hush money verdict overturned.

A three-judge panel is set to hear arguments in Trump’s long-running fight to get the New York case moved from state court to federal court, where he could then try to have the verdict thrown out on presidential immunity grounds.

The Republican is asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene after a lower-court judge twice rejected the move. As part of the request, Trump wants the federal appeals court to seize control of the criminal case and then ultimately decide his appeal of the verdict, which is now pending in a state appellate court.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Trump’s case, wants it to stay in state court.

▶ Read more
about Trump’s bid to erase his conviction