SEE IT: LA voters split on Pratt’s mayoral bid as one issue dominates Election Day

2026-06-02 1:15pm EDT / Fox News

Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary will narrow the field to two candidates for the November general election

By Andrew Mark Miller , Paul Steinhauser , Kiera McDonald Fox News

Published June 2, 2026 1:15pm EDT

WATCH: LA residents speak out on homeless problem, which mayoral candidate they want to fix it

Fox News Digital spoke to Los Angeles residents about what issues matter to them and who they are voting for to fix it as mayor.

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LOS ANGELES — Outside a Bristol Farms market in LA’s Westchester neighborhood, residents who spoke to Fox News Digital all agreed that homelessness is a top problem facing the city, but disagreed on which mayoral candidate is the right choice to clean it up.

“Love him,” Shelley Zuckerman said about reality television star and independent candidate Spencer Pratt, adding that homelessness is a main motivator of her support for the reality TV star’s mayoral run.

“The fact that he’s not a politician, so he may or may not be a liar, we don’t know that yet, and I know that he wants to do something for LA that the politicians have been saying they’re going to do and then don’t,” Zuckerman added. “And I know politics works, that once you get in there you can’t always do what you want to do, but at least he’s got the passion.”

SPENCER PRATT SAYS HIS POLICY WILL FORCE HOMELESS OUT OF LA AND INTO CITIES LIKE SEATTLE

Los Angeles residents say homelessness is the top problem facing the city as they head to the polls for the mayoral primary.(Fox News Digital)

When asked if crime was a motivating factor to vote for Pratt, Zuckerman’s husband Saul responded, “Of course.”

The couple says they are supporting Republican Steve Hilton for governor.

Patrick Reynolds, who lives in the neighborhood, said he is “not happy with any of the candidates” and called Pratt a “clown” before saying he voted for incumbent Mayor Karen Bass “a little reluctantly.”

Homelessness has been a top-of-mind concern for voters in Los Angeles, and despite Bass being mayor for the last four years, Reynolds said he believes she’s the best choice on that front.

Reynolds, who said he is supporting billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer for governor, spoke at length about the problems with homelessness, including a local park he said has become “too dangerous” to visit in recent years.

KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt hosts a campaign block party on 10th Avenue in Los Angeles on May 20, 2026.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“Homelessness for sure,” a woman named Diane, who said she voted for Bass, told Fox News Digital, “That’s number one on my list, and I think she’s tried very hard to fix that problem. It’s a big problem, I know. And I just think she is down to earth. She’s not some rich billionaire, which I appreciate.”

Diane said she is supporting former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who served in the Biden administration, for governor because he is a “good guy.”

“I like that he is an immigrant and that he has worked his way up in this world,” Diane said. “I think he has a good sensibility. I like also that he isn’t a billionaire. I can relate to him.”

Dan Madden, a resident of nearby Manhattan Beach, told Fox News Digital that if he could vote in LA proper, he’d go with Pratt.

WHO IS TOM STEYER? ANTI-ICE BILLIONAIRE IN CA GOVERNOR’S RACE FACES SCRUTINY OVER DETENTION INVESTMENTS

A Los Angeles city councilwoman and progressive candidate for mayor Nithya Raman, left, pictured alongside incumbent mayor Karen Bass, right.(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“That’d be my man,” said Madden, who added that he is voting for Hilton for governor. “The last 20 years in Los Angeles has been screwed.”

“It’s getting worse,” Madden said about the homeless situation in the Los Angeles area. “They cleaned up here and there. Spots, especially along the beach, coastline, you see it cleaned up. Two months later, everybody’s back.”

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Pratt, a registered Republican running as an independent, faces off in a nonpartisan mayoral primary against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a socialist.

Tuesday’s election will determine which two candidates advance to the November general election. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, they will automatically be named the next mayor.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

Video shows massive drug-smuggling tunnel connecting U.S. and Mexico

2026-06-02 1:05 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mark Osborne

Four people have been arrested and charged with trafficking more than $45 million in cocaine through an elaborate 2,000-foot-long tunnel between border cities in Mexico and California, complete with electricity, reinforced walls, ventilation and a rail system, according to federal officials.

The tunnel was discovered as part of a monthslong investigation into a warehouse for a supposed discount store, Buy 4 Less, located near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, right across the border from Tijuana, Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

By the end of the operation, more than a ton of cocaine and the sophisticated tunnel underneath the store were found, officials said.

“For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement.

A stairway of a cross-border drug tunnel between U.S. and Mexico, in this handout image released June 1, 2026, with location given as between Otay Mesa, California, U.S., and Tijuana, Mexico. US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California/Handout via REUTERS

The U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Tunnel Task Force began surveilling the purported Buy 4 Less store in December 2025 when, federal officials said, a new group of apparent employees was seen in and around the store.

Federal officials keeping an eye on the store noted, “During the surveillance, the activity around the Buy 4 Less location did not appear to be consistent with a normal retail location. For example, investigators observed minimal foot traffic from customers coming in and out of the Buy 4 Less store.”

The employees were allegedly seen taking apparently empty suitcases — based on how they were handled, according to the Department of Justice — across the border into Tijuana by car and sometimes even by hand.

However, federal agents didn’t move in on the location until May 29, when they allegedly spotted “large, heavy items” being placed into a white van at the store. The truck left the location and was parked on a street a short distance away, officials said.

A man on a bicycle was then allegedly observed riding up to the van, taking a key out of a secret spot near the gas cap, and driving the van back-to-back with another van, officials said. A large truck also drove up to the vans and deep freezers loaded with packages were transferred between the vehicles, according to the Justice Department.

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies then moved in and busted the operation, according to the DOJ. At the same time, agents allegedly watched another truck being loaded with packages at the Buy 4 Less store, officials said. That truck was also pulled over by authorities shortly after leaving the parking lot.

Crates with bags of cocaine seized by U.S. authorities, in an unknown location, as a cross-border drug tunnel between U.S. and Mexico was discovered, in this screengrab taken from a handout video obtained by Reuters on June 2, 2026. US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California/Handout via REUTERS

In the end, federal officials said more than 2,269 pounds of cocaine were found between three vehicles that were pulled over.

The DOJ was granted a warrant to investigate the Buy 4 Less store, upon which they found the exit of the tunnel concealed under the floor of a storage room in the building, officials said. The tunnel was as much as 55 feet deep and extended just over 1,000 feet to the U.S.-Mexico border. It continued on the Mexico side of the border for another more than 800 feet, the DOJ said.

Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, from San Diego; Jose Jimenez, 32, from San Diego; Antonio Cortez, 18, of Mexico; and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26, of Mexico, were arrested and charged with distribution of a controlled substance. Hernandez Lopez is also facing charges of constructing, financing, or using unauthorized tunnels and importation of a controlled substance. All four men face a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

“This investigation and seizure represent a significant blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel,” Kevin Murphy, acting special agent in charge for HSI San Diego, said in a statement. “The discovery and dismantlement of this sophisticated cross-border tunnel, along with the seizure of more than a ton of cocaine, underscore the commitment and collaboration of Homeland Security Investigations and our Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) partners.”

Heading to Europe this summer? What to know about the EU’s new Entry/Exit system.

2026-06-02T14:12:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Updated on: June 2, 2026 / 3:21 PM EDT / CBS News

Gearing up for a trip to Europe this summer? Experts say to be prepared for potential disruptions as countries iron out wrinkles of the European Union’s so-called Entry/Exit System, a new border management process that requires travelers to submit biometric data when they arrive in certain locations.

“The goal is for people to be able to move through immigration without needing to stop and have their passport stamped,” Julian Kheel, CEO and founder of Points Path, a flight awards search engine, told CBS News. “Once the bugs are shaken out, I do think we’ll end up with a faster process, but it could be a while before we get there.”

Here’s what to expect if you’re traveling to Europe soon.

What is the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System?

The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which became fully operational in April, replaces passport stamps and aims to speed up border processing for travelers. The system requires Americans and other non-EU nationals to provide biometric data, including fingerprints and a facial scan, as well as passport details, upon arrival in certain countries overseas.

That information is used to verify travelers’ identity and track their entry and exit at border checkpoints — for example, when they leave the country to return to the U.S. or cross into other participating countries — as part of an effort to increase security. Visitors may provide that data using self-service kiosks before seeing a border control agent, while in some cases the agent will enter their information.

Twenty-nine countries use the Entry/Exit System, mostly in the EU, except for Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. All participating nations are part of the Schengen Area, a group of countries that allows people in the zone to travel across borders freely without undergoing customs checks (Cyprus and Ireland are the only EU members that are not part of the Schengen Area).

“The new system does not change your entry requirements as far as visas or how long you can stay in the Schengen Area. None of those rules has changed,” Kheel explained. “This is simply recording your entry and exit in and out of the area.”

Will I have to wait in line?

The short answer is it depends. EU-LISA, the European Union agency responsible for managing the Entry/Exit software, said in an email to CBS News that the time required to initially register with the system “may vary depending on the traveler’s individual circumstances and the procedures applied at the relevant border crossing point.”

Your wait time will also likely hinge on how busy an individual airport is, Kheel said.

“It really varies depending on the demand at any given time,” he said, adding that some travelers have gotten through easily while others have encountered more significant delays.

“When it does come to longer lines, it is typically the larger cities and airports, places like Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Schiphol in Amsterdam, essentially the major hubs where a lot of passengers are all coming in at the same time,” he said.

Agata Lyznik, a spokesperson for the Airports Council International, a global trade association for the airport industry, said a survey the group conducted at 45 airports in 20 EU states showed that lines for travelers waiting to enter their information in the system are up to 3.5 hours at peak travel times.

Those lines are “specifically due to the EES procedure,” Lyznik said in an email, adding, “We did not see such waiting times last summer, when the system wasn’t in place.”

CBS News reached out to several major airports in Europe to ask about how the Entry/Exit System is impacting wait times. A spokesperson from the Spanish Ministry of Interior said the system has yielded positive results and that no significant incidents have occurred at Spanish airports since it was implemented on April 10.

What are the issues contributing to delays?

Experts say most of the bottlenecks stem from issues with self-service kiosks at certain airports, where people can upload their biometric and passport information for the Entry/Exit System before passing through border patrol.

“An agent still needs to confirm a passenger arriving and departing by matching the biometrics to the stored ones each time you enter and leave the country, but that’s a quicker process,” Kheel said. “It’s this first-time registration that everyone is having to do at the same time, plus technical issues, that are causing the bulk of delays.”

Kheel, who recently used a kiosk to register for the Entry/Exit System while traveling, said the machines “have not been shown to be particularly quick or efficient.”

“I had to make several attempts for the machine to properly record my fingerprints, and it certainly took longer than the one minute estimated by the authorities,” he added.

Lyznik from the Airports Council said the kiosks aren’t online at certain airports due to technical issues integrating the Entry/Exit System into the machines’ hardware. But even in places where the equipment is in use, other issues are cropping up.

“They are frequently out of order due to excess dust and grease from taking fingerprints,” Lyznik said. “The kiosks need to be routinely cleaned between the passage of passengers, which right now is seldom the case.”

Depending on the airport, some travelers will register their biometric data directly with a border patrol agent, meaning they won’t need to interact with the self-service kiosk, as outlined on the European Union’s website.

How can I prepare if I’m traveling to affected countries?

Although it’s hard to anticipate how long lines will be at any given airport, Katy Nastro, a travel expert at the flight deals website Going.com, advised travelers to err on the side of caution and get there early.

Planning ahead is especially important for people with flight connections who are continuing on in the Schengen Area, as they may be required to register their EES information during their layover, Kheel said.

“If you’re going to be required to go through immigration on a connection point before continuing onward, you may want to book your flight to leave extra time,” he said.

Some travelers can pre-register their Entry/Exit System information in advance using an app called “Travel to Europe.” However, it’s only available to people entering Sweden and Portugal, so most travelers to Europe can’t use it.

Edited by Alain Sherter

US picks Louisiana, Oklahoma rare earth projects for $134 million funding

2026-06-02 5:12 PM UTC / Reuters

By Reuters

June 2, 2026 5:12 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

Blocks with symbols and atomic numbers of Rare Earth Elements (REE), in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

June 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy said on Tuesday it has selected projects ​in Louisiana and Oklahoma for $134 million in funding ‌to extract rare earth elements from waste streams.

Washington has been pushing to boost domestic critical minerals output ​and cut dependence on China, which ​dominates the global rare earths supply chain.

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• The ⁠funding includes about $67 million for a ​project led by the Colorado School of ​Mines and ElementUSA to build a facility in Louisiana that will extract and refine rare earths from bauxite waste.
• The ​plant is expected to test the ​process at commercial scale and produce 150 to ‌1,000 ⁠metric tons of rare earths annually from tailings.
• The DOE also selected a project by Phoenix Tailings to build a demonstration plant in Oklahoma, in partnership ​with the Massachusetts Institute ​of ⁠Technology, to convert industrial waste into high-purity rare earth metals and ​establish a new domestic supply ​route.
• In ⁠May, the agency had selected rare earth magnet maker USA Rare Earth (USAR.O) to receive up to $19.3 million ⁠for ​a pilot rare earth processing ​project aimed at boosting domestic supply chains.

Reporting by Varun ​Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

One Senator calls GOP push back on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘full-on revolt’. Could we see a more assertive Senate GOP? | CNN Politics

2026-06-02T18:02:16.120Z / CNN Politics

One Senator calls GOP push back on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘full-on revolt’. Could we see a more assertive Senate GOP?

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 2:02 PM EDT, Tue June 2, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/politics/video/inside-politics-dni-pulte-anti-weaponization-fund-senate

One Senator calls GOP push back on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘full-on revolt’. Could we see a more assertive Senate GOP?

Inside Politics

President Trump is having problems with his own party. Senators enraged by the Justice Department’s nearly $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund are waiting for the Trump administration to kill that fund before passing a key part of Trump’s agenda. The Inside Politics panel weighs in on the Senate GOP’s ongoing push back and whether it could expand to other White House decisions, like the appointment of Trump attack dog Bill Pulte to the nation’s top Intel role.

5:44 • Source: CNN

Flesh-eating screwworm detected 25 miles from U.S. border, USDA says

June 2, 2026 / 3:34 PM EDT / CBS News

By Emily Mae Czachor News Editor
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and climate. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

Read Full Bio

A flesh-eating New World screwworm was recently detected in Mexico just 25 miles from the United States border, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The encounter was the closest to U.S. soil since at least last September, federal data shows.

The screwworm was found in a 5-year-old goat on Thursday in Mexico’s Coahuila state, which shares a border with southwestern Texas. U.S. officials have tracked 32 cases of the parasitic fly throughout the Mexican state, including 19 active cases, according to the USDA.

Overall, at least 26,216 screwworm cases have been identified across Mexico, and upward of 2,700 remain active, the USDA said. The department shares updates twice a week on any new cases found within 400 miles of the U.S. in Mexico, and it prominently notes on a webpage dedicated to the New World screwworm that the pest “is not currently present” stateside and that “the current risk to livestock, other animals, and people in the United States remains very low.”

But in recent months and years, the parasite has shown up closer to the U.S. than ever before. In April, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced it had been found at a location in Mexico that was 60 miles from the U.S. border, CBS Texas reported at the time. Texas officials have warned outdoor enthusiasts about the parasite since late 2024, when the state’s Parks and Wildlife Department issued an advisory saying the screwworm had recently been detected in a cow in southern Mexico.

Last year, the first case of a New World screwworm infestation in a human was confirmed in the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services announced at the time. The case was detected in a traveler who had returned to Maryland from El Salvador, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told CBS News in a statement. Maryland health officials later said the person had recovered, and investigators did not find evidence of transmission to other people or animals.

The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that feeds on warm-blooded animals and people. It lays its eggs in open wounds or orifices like the eyes, ears, nose or mouth, which can then eat living tissue or flesh once they hatch, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The screwworm is typically found in South America and parts of the Caribbean, but it has been detected farther and farther north in Central America and Mexico over the last three years, the CDC said.

Edited by Melissa Gaffney

The Associated Press and Sarah Lynch Baldwin contributed to this report.

White House Correspondents’ Association reschedules dinner after shooting incident

2026-06-02T16:34:14.485Z / CNN

By Betsy Klein

Updated 1 hr 33 min ago
Updated Jun 2, 2026, 2:33 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jun 2, 2026, 12:34 PM ET

First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Summary

• The White House Correspondents’ Association announced it will hold a second dinner on July 24 with enhanced security measures.
• April’s event at the Washington Hilton was halted after a gunman opened fire in a nearby hallway.
• The July gathering will be “more intimate” and serve as a statement against violence and intimidation of the press, the association said.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

The White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Tuesday that a second correspondents’ dinner, with bolstered security measures, will be held this summer after April’s event was halted by a shooting incident at the Washington Hilton.

President Donald Trump later said he has accepted an invitation to speak at the July 24 dinner, which he said would be held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC — formerly the Trump International Hotel.

The decision to reschedule the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was “not automatic” and made “after thoughtful consideration and input from our members,” association president Weijia Jiang in a letter to members. She said the July event will have “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures.”

During April’s dinner, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Cabinet were escorted from the Washington Hilton’s ballroom after a gunman opened fire in a nearby hallway. Journalists and other VIPs took cover under tables in the chaos.

Jiang said the July dinner will be a “more intimate gathering” and that the association has raised funds to cover the costs of the second dinner for members who initially purchased tickets. There are also plans to offer financial support for the scholarship winners who plan to travel back to Washington for recognition.

The event, she added, “will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.”

After April’s incident, Trump had expressed interest in attending a second dinner, initially calling for it to be rescheduled within 30 days. On Tuesday, he praised the decision to hold another event.

“This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out,” he added, going on to tout that the setting is a “building and Ballroom that I built.”

Jiang’s announcement did not provide details on the programming or location, noting that specifics would be communicated “directly with attendees.”

The man accused of running past Secret Service with loaded firearms and knives in an attempt to kill Trump during April’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner has pleaded not guilty to four charges.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Obama judge clears left-wing group to fly ominous flag aimed at Trump on his own turf

June 2, 2026 2:18pm EDT / Fox News

Interior Department says ‘this type of behavior should not be tolerated’ while complying with the court’s orders

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published June 2, 2026 2:18pm EDT

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An Obama-appointed federal judge temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing an anti-Trump “86 47” flag near the National Mall, delivering a win to a progressive activist group and drawing sharp pushback from President Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior.

“This opinion is from an Obama-appointed judge. In what world have we lost all decency, to demand that any threat against the President be taken very seriously,” said a DOI spokesperson to Fox News Digital. “While the Department shall and does comply with the Court’s orders, this type of behavior should not be tolerated.”

Progressive group Accountability Now USA flew the flag near the National Mall alleging that the National Park Service violated their First Amendment rights by threatening to revoke their permit. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C., granted a temporary restraining order Monday allowing the flag to remain displayed for now.

The dispute comes amid heightened administration scrutiny of “86 47” messages after the Department of Justice charged former FBI Director James Comey over a similar message.

CALIFORNIA BEACH ‘RESIST!’ PROTEST PUSHES ‘KINDNESS’ WHILE CALLING TO ‘86 47’ IN ANTI-TRUMP MESSAGE

A D.C. district judge permits activists to fly “86 47” flag near the National Mall.(Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Comey was charged with two federal counts over an Instagram post last year showing seashells arranged to read “86 47,” and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The administration has interpreted the number “86” as a political threat, pointing to its common use in the restaurant industry to mean removing or refusing service and its perceived connection to Trump as the 47th president.

Comey has denied he intended any violent threat toward Trump, explaining he understood it meant leave or ditch.

LEGAL EXPERTS WARN COMEY ‘8647’ INDICTMENT FACES FIRST AMENDMENT HURDLES

James Comey is facing two federal charges and up to 10 years in prison for sharing an Instagram post showing seashells arranged to read “86 47.”(JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Moss was appointed to the federal bench by Obama after previously serving in Bill Clinton’s Justice Department. He has also contributed to and volunteered for Democratic candidates and causes.

The judge found the meaning of “86” ambiguous, noting the flag itself did not contain violent symbols and bore patriotic colors, writing “the evidence shows that Plaintiff displayed the 8647 flag to urge that Congress impeach and remove President Trump from office.”

Moss did note that “a true threat to the life or safety of the President would undoubtedly outweigh the interest of the public or the speaker in continuing to urge that unlawful conduct.”

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024.(Anna MoneymakerGetty Images)

Trump has repeatedly been targeted by violence, including just in April at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

There were two assassination attempts on Trump’s life in 2024, beginning in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his ear after a gunman climbed onto a roof during a rally on July 13, 2024.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui recently drew backlash from Trump allies after apologizing to Cole Allen, the suspect accused of plotting an assassination attempt tied to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, over his treatment in custody.

“At a minimum, I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to,” said Faruqui.

The temporary restraining order for the flag case is in place for 14 days as litigation continues.

Fox News Digital reached out to Moss’ chambers for comment.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

What are Freedom 250 and America250? Concert confusion highlights dual groups planning celebrations

June 2, 2026 / 12:14 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington— The decision by many performers to back out of a concert series for the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding almost as soon as the lineup was announced last week revealed confusion surrounding plans for America’s big birthday bash in the nation’s capital.

There are two different organizations planning various celebrations for the 250th anniversary. One — Freedom 250 — is a White House-connected, public-private partnership that’s hosting a “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall, along with the concert series and a UFC match at the White House. The other — America250 — was established by Congress a decade ago to plan nonpartisan celebrations nationwide.

Last week, most of the original lineup of performers announced by Freedom 250 said they wouldn’t be playing, with some citing concerns about possible politicization. Over the weekend, President Trump threatened to cancel all performances at the Great American State Fair and said he may hold a Make America Great Again rally instead, fueling critics’ accusations that he’s politicizing the country’s birthday celebrations.

“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday, adding, “Cancel it.” He also said he wants to “give a major speech” instead of listening to “third-rate ‘artists.’”

The turmoil surrounding the concert lineup brought the groups’ differing approaches to the forefront, with just weeks to go until July 4.

What is Freedom 250?

Freedom 250, the organization responsible for the fair and concert series, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works with the White House and various Trump administration agencies to plan events surrounding the 250th anniversary.

Freedom 250 was created under the “Salute to America 250 Task Force,” which Mr. Trump established through an executive order shortly after he took office to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

A spokesperson for Freedom 250 said Mr. Trump will personally kick off the celebration at the Great American State Fair.

“The Great American State Fair will bring together all states and territories to showcase the very best of America through state exhibits, industry displays, family friendly attractions and movie screenings, musical performances, military ensembles, incredible flyovers, and an iconic Ferris wheel on the National Mall,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said. “As the visionary behind the Great American State Fair, we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24 in an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday.”

Freedom 250 is also behind UFC Freedom 250, scheduled for June 14 on the White House South Lawn. The South Lawn is already being transformed for the fights, with rigging visible from outside the complex. Freedom 250 is also behind the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., in late August.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks during the announcement of the street race circuit “Freedom 250 Grand Prix Washington, D.C.” next to a IndyCar show car on Monday March 9, 2026, in Washington. Jose Luis Magana / AP

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Freedom 250 is not required to disclose donors, but it lists private partners that include Exxon Mobil, Blockchain Association, Oracle, Northrop Grumman, John Deere, Mastercard and more.

“It’s not about the transparency of the donors,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “This is about Americans celebrating the 250th anniversary.”

What is America250?

America 250 is also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It’s the supporting nonprofit and nonpartisan organization of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. The commission is bipartisan, including both Democratic and Republican members of Congress.

America250’s charge is to lead the commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and plan events not only at the national and international levels, but state and local levels as well.

The commission was created by Congress in 2016 to plan ahead and coordinate events for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

America250 commissioners include Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, as well as Republican Reps. Robert Aderholt, Maria Elvira Salazar and Democratic Reps. Dwight Evans and Bonnie Watson.

Other commissioners include Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson and current Democratic candidate for Congress in New York, and former top White House official Kellyanne Conway. Rosie Rios, the U.S. treasurer under former President Barack Obama, was appointed by President Joe Biden as the commission’s chair.

On its website, America250 described Freedom 250 as the group that will “lead the delivery of the president’s national signature events.”

“Together, we will ensure that our nation’s 250th anniversary becomes a unifying and unforgettable moment for all Americans,” America250 said.

America250 has already marked the Super Bowl and Rose Parade, and helped spread American flags at events throughout the country. On July 4, it will launch Time Square ball drops, bury a time capsule in Philadelphia, and host America’s Block Party in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

“As the national organization charged by Congress to represent all 350 million Americans (“350 for 250″), America250 will continue to focus on the values-based programming approved by our bipartisan Commission at the local, state, national and international levels, including once-in-a-lifetime celebratory moments during the 4th of July weekend,” America250 chair Rosie Rios said in a statement. “We are supportive of the many other organizations planning events for the 250th at the federal, state and local level, so all Americans have ample opportunities to join in the celebration.”

Why the president wanted to influence the 250th anniversary events

When Mr. Trump announced the creation of Freedom 250 in December 2025, he said he was fulfilling his campaign pledge “to give America the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen for America’s 250th anniversary.”

“To help carry out these exciting plans, we have created a new public-private partnership,” the president said. “It’s called Freedom 250. Working with states, companies and organizations across the country we will renew the patriotism, pride and pioneering spirit of America and lay the groundwork for the next 250 years of independence and freedom. This will be a time like you’ve never had in your lives.”

Although Mr. Trump isn’t directly heading up Freedom 250, he is the chair of the “Salute to America 250 Task Force,” creating an avenue for him to have more influence over anniversary events.

What critics of Trump’s influence on 250th celebrations are saying

Some performers who dropped out of the concert series cited concerns about politicization, and concern for their fans.

Young MC, one of the artists, posted on Facebook that the “artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” and that he hopes to perform in Washington in an event “that is not so politically charged.”

The Commodores said, “Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party,” the statement said. “We support the betterment of all Americans.”

Country singer Martina McBride announced on social media she will not perform. She wrote that she initially signed on because she was told the event would be nonpartisan, which she said “turned out to be misleading.”

Others are encouraging the president to not turn the celebration into a political speech.

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh said replacing musicians with a speech would be “lame and boring,” suggesting the president or Freedom 250 should find other performers instead.

When Mr. Trump proposed giving a major speech instead of hosting a concert, Jenna Ellis, one of the president’s former lawyers who has since become critical of him, wrote, “America 250 is not about Trump. This is so egotistical.”

Political gravity is coming for some of Trump’s most jarring ideas

2026-06-02T17:20:52.475Z / CNN

President Donald Trump is signaling retreat from some of his wildest endeavors after facing pushback from the courts and members of his own party.
The most recent instances came over his $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and the Kennedy Center.
The familiar pattern of Trump pushing the envelope — and then having to pull back — suggests he’s not as powerful as he seems.

President Donald Trump just keeps pushing the envelope — his appointment of a controversial housing official as the new acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday is the freshest evidence of that.

But recent events have also reinforced that political gravity still applies to the president. Some of his most jarring ideas have hit roadblocks in the courts and forced even Republicans to buck him, showing that his domination of Washington is hardly a given anymore.

On Monday, CNN reported that the administration signaled to GOP congressional leaders that it plans to drop its $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” after an adverse court ruling. The fund had caused a GOP revolt and threatened the party’s broader legislative agenda.

That followed Trump on Friday seemingly giving up on his efforts to Trump-ify the Kennedy Center. He said he would transfer control of it to Congress after a judge ruled that putting Trump’s name on the center was illegal and blocked a planned closure.

In both situations, it remains up in the air precisely how much Trump has capitulated. But he’s at least telegraphing retreat.

Both ideas were wild to begin with — and now the president appears to be dealing with the consequences.

The legally problematic nature of the administration’s “anti-weaponization fund,” which was intended to compensate Trump allies who claimed they were victimized by the prior administration, was readily apparent from the moment it was announced.

It was created as part of a settlement to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS after a government contractor leaked his tax returns years ago. Trump was settling with the government that he effectively controls — a situation that led a judge to question whether the two sides of the settlement were colluding.

The settlement was also set to benefit third parties who had nothing to do with the litigation. The fund was due to have little transparency or oversight, and it was not approved by the judge.

The White House and the Justice Department tried to argue that this was a fund for anyone who was victimized by a purportedly “weaponized” justice system during the Biden administration — including potentially Democrats. But it looked a whole lot like Trump was just creating a slush fund to pay allies. The administration even granted that it could benefit some January 6, 2021, defendants who assaulted police.

And that gets at why this was so politically problematic.

While Trump’s pardons of nearly all January 6 defendants got somewhat overshadowed during the breakneck first days of his second term, polls showed how overwhelmingly unpopular those pardons were.

Both a Washington Post-Ipsos poll and a Pew Research Center poll showed at least 74% of Americans and a majority of Republicans disapproved of pardoning those who committed violent crimes.

And here was the White House — including Vice President JD Vance — being put in the position of defending potentially giving money to people who beat up police.

The optics quickly became a line-in-the-sand moment even for some pretty Trump-loyal Republicans in Congress.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune called for the administration to “shut it down themselves.” Others like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Kennedy of Louisiana (no relation to the former president) are now saying their party needs to see the White House more explicitly rule out resurrecting the fund in the future, after the Justice Department gave a somewhat qualified statement on the matter.

It remains somewhat unclear what happens next. Trump has not committed publicly to terminating the fund, telling ABC in a phone call Monday, “We are subject to the courts.”

Just to distill this down to its most-shocking basics: Trump plastered his name on a building memorializing a dead president.

He claimed he was surprised by the center’s board adding his name to the building, but he had previously proposed such a change and had purged board members to install loyalists.

It’s one thing to put the name of a living president on things — something that rarely happened before Trump, as The New York Times found in January — but it’s quite another to take a memorial to one of those dead presidents and append Trump’s name to it.

And he did so despite the law. The “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” name is a matter of federal law, which was not changed before Trump’s name was suddenly added.

His takeover of the Kennedy Center was already highly legally suspect and controversial; then he gave everyone a shorthand for just how drastic this gambit was.

It remains to be seen if and when Trump’s name will be removed from the performing arts center’s exterior; he has sent confusing signals about his intent to keep fighting. (And while he said he was transferring control to Congress, the legislative branch is already responsible for the center’s annual appropriations for operations and maintenance.)

But any situation in which his government would be forced to remove his name from the building would be an indelible — and telling — image.

Trump pushing the envelope to previously unthinkable places and eventually having to pull back has become a familiar tale.

Perhaps the other best example of him retreating this year was his aborted push to get control of Greenland (an idea that polled about as popularly as black mold.) Trump gave up on that in January — at least for the time being — amid pushback from both Republicans and foreign allies.

Trump is also pressing his luck with his coveted White House ballroom, by repeatedly going back on the terms initially laid out. First he promised not to touch the existing East Wing, before suddenly demolishing it. Then he repeatedly said the ballroom would only be paid for with private donations, before suddenly asking Congress for hundreds of millions of dollars for security for it.

Republicans have panicked about the optics of using taxpayer money to build an opulent ballroom while Americans’ economic anxiety is damaging their 2026 election hopes. GOP leaders dropped the funding from an immigration enforcement bill amid an adverse ruling from the Senate parliamentarian and strong pushback from within their party.

In all of these cases, Trump was asking the courts and/or Republicans to sign off on what seemed to be impossible requests. He was asking them to stomach something drastic because he’s Trump, and they’re supposed to do what he wants.

That can accrue to his benefit when it works, because it shows how powerful he is. (Indeed, his successful efforts to knock off GOP incumbents in primaries have reinforced that loyalty to Trump is the easiest path for everyone in his party.)

But when his wild gambits push the envelope too far — and increasingly seem to jeopardize the GOP’s chances in November — they reinforce that Trump isn’t the unrestrained leader of his political movement that he’d like to be.

In fact, he’s a historically unpopular president who looks increasingly desperate to just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.

And judging by the appointment of Pulte, Trump is not stopping anytime soon.