Day 1590: "Trump Always Chickens Out."

1/ Elon Musk said he’s “disappointed” with Trump over the House-passed tax and spending bill, calling it a “massive spending bill” that “increases the budget deficit” and “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.” The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, expands funding for military and immigration enforcement, while cutting funding for health care, education, nutrition, and clean energy programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would rescind Medicaid coverage for 8.6 million people, roll back food assistance for over 4 million, and eliminate clean energy tax credits used by millions of households and businesses. Musk added: “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.” The CBO also projected the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the deficit over ten years. Trump, nevertheless, dismissed Musk’s criticism, saying, “We will be negotiating that bill,” and “I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects.” (CBS News / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Bloomberg / NBC News / Associated Press)

2/ The White House will send a $9.4 billion rescissions package to Congress to formalize a portion of spending cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The proposal would eliminate $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $8.3 billion in foreign aid, including USAID and PEPFAR, and starts a 45-day countdown under federal law for Congress to act. Speaker Mike Johnson said the House is “eager and ready to act,” but gave no timeline or details. NPR, which is now suing the White House, called the cuts a “clear violation of the Constitution,” while Sen. Rand Paul said that “If Congress can’t cut $9 billion, I think most of them should resign and go home.” Some Republicans, meanwhile have warned that the package may not pass given previous attempts to rescind similar funding have failed. (Axios / Politico)

3/ A federal judge allowed the Trump administration to give DOGE access to the Treasury systems that handle trillions in payments and store Americans’ Social Security numbers and bank data. Judge Jeannette Vargas approved access for four DOGE staffers and said future employees could be cleared without court approval if they are properly vetted and trained. “There is little utility in having this Court function as Treasury’s de facto human resources officer,” she wrote. Vargas had blocked access in February, citing the administration’s “chaotic and haphazard” approach to security and privacy risks. DOGE staffers had previously tried to use the system to stop federal spending programs, prompting 19 Democratic attorneys general to sue. (CNN / ABC News / Politico / Washington Post)

4/ Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may ban government scientists from publishing in top medical journals, calling the Lancet, NEJM, and JAMA “corrupt” and “controlled by pharma.” Kennedy said HHS would create its own “in-house” journals unless the existing ones “change dramatically.” Experts warned the move could isolate U.S. research, weaken scientific credibility, and “delegitimize taxpayer-funded research.” The threat follows Kennedy’s push to end CDC vaccine guidance, cut NIH funding by $3 billion, and purge tens of thousands of HHS staff. (Politico / Washington Post / STAT News / The Guardian)

5/ Trump defended his pattern of threatening and then reversing tariffs after investors began using the term “TACO” – short for “Trump Always Chickens Out” – to describe his behavior. “You call that chickening out? It’s called negotiation,” Trump said, after delaying a 50% tariff on EU goods two days after announcing it. The phrase gained traction as traders profited by betting on market rebounds tied to his reversals. Asked about the nickname, Trump called the question “nasty” and claimed his threats forced talks. “They wouldn’t be over here today negotiating if I didn’t put a 50% tariff on,” he said. (HuffPost / New York Times / Bloomberg / CNBC / The Hill)

The midterm elections are in 524 days.

✏️ Notables.

• Stephen Miller and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem want ICE to make 3,000 arrests per day – triple the rate at the start of Trump’s first term. Miller reportedly told agents to “get arrest and deportation numbers up as much as possible,” leaving some officials fearing they’d be fired if they failed. ICE already holds nearly 50,000 people, exceeding its funding limit, while deportations from inside the U.S. have risen despite falling border crossings. (Axios / New Republic)

• Trump said Harvard should cap foreign student enrollment at 15%, claiming that “We have people who want to go to Harvard […] they can’t get in because we have foreign students there.” Since taking office, Trump’s frozen over $2.6 billion in research funding to Harvard, revoked its certification to accept international students, and moved to cancel all federal contracts. He’s accused Harvard of antisemitism and said its leaders “want to show how smart they are” but “they’re getting their ass kicked” and “all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper.” (Bloomberg / ABC News)

• The Trump administration sued North Carolina for failing to collect ID numbers from hundreds of thousands of voter registrations, calling it a violation of federal law. The Justice Department said the state used a form for years that didn’t clearly require a driver’s license or Social Security number, and then failed to fix old records before the 2024 election. (Associated Press / The Hill)

• Trump will wait two weeks to see if Putin is “tapping us along” before changing course on a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Trump, however, has refused to impose new sanctions after Russia launched 367 drones and missiles over the weekend, killing at least 12 people, saying: “I think I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up.” Trump called Putin “crazy” and warned he is “playing with fire,” but admitted, “until the document is signed I can’t tell you” if Russia is negotiating in good faith. (CNN / Politico / Washington Post / USA Today)

• Trump granted pardons to Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of defrauding banks out of $36 million and evading taxes over four years. “Your parents are going to be free and clean,” Trump told their daughter in a call from the Oval Office, despite prosecutors calling the couple “career swindlers” who funded a lavish lifestyle through fraud. The Chrisleys had served two years of 12- and 7-year prison terms, and their lawyer claimed they were targeted for “conservative values” – a claim Trump echoed while continuing a pattern of pardoning political allies and reality TV figures. (NPR / New York Times)

• Trump said he’s considering pardons for the two men who were convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job,” Trump said, claiming Adam Fox and Barry Croft, who were sentenced to 16 and 19 years in prison, “were drinking” and “said stupid things.” Prosecutors, however, said the men used encrypted chats, night vision goggles, and planned to bomb a bridge to block police during the 2020 plot targeting Whitmer over COVID restrictions. (NBC News / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / The Hill)