President Donald Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service after reports that a resolution of the case was close at hand. The disclosure was made in a filing in federal court in Florida, where the lawsuit was filed.
Earlier in the day, and oil prices jumped after Trump warned Tehran that the 鈥渃lock is ticking鈥� as U.S.-Iran negotiations over a permanent end to the stall. U.S. futures fell and markets in Japan and South Korea pulled back from their records.
Here’s the latest:
Justice Department announces $1.7B fund to compensate Trump allies in deal to drop IRS suit
The Trump administration said Monday that it鈥檚 creating a $1.7 billion fund to compensate prosecuted allies of the Republican president after he moved to drop his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
The 鈥淎nti-Weaponization Fund鈥� was announced by the Justice Department as part of a deal to resolve President Trump鈥檚 case over the leak of his tax returns.
Democrats and government watchdogs immediately what they called a 鈥渃orrupt鈥� and unprecedented resolution.
Trump鈥檚 lawsuit followed the leak of tax returns
, alleging a previous leak of his and the Trump Organization鈥檚 confidential tax records caused 鈥渞eputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs鈥� public standing.鈥�
The president鈥檚 sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are also named plaintiffs in the suit.
In 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn 鈥� who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense and national security tech firm 鈥� after pleading guilty to leaking tax information about Trump and others to two news outlets between 2018 and 2020.
Trump and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul trade blame on the Long Island Rail Road strike
Hochul, a Democrat, has blamed the Trump administration for cutting mediation short in September and pushing the unions toward a strike. Trump, a Republican, said on his Truth Social platform that he had nothing to do with it.
鈥淣o, Kathy, it鈥檚 your fault, and now looking over the facts, you should not have allowed this to happen,鈥� Trump said.
Commuters in New York City鈥檚 suburbs navigated a gauntlet of car, bus and subway routes to get to work Monday after a strike on the Long Island Rail Road that the nation鈥檚 busiest commuter rail system entered its third day.
Hochul urged companies and agencies that employ workers from Long Island to let them work from home whenever possible.
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It鈥檚 not immediately clear who precisely will stand to benefit from the fund
But its creation reflects Trump鈥檚 long-running claims that the Biden administration Justice Department was weaponized against him.
He鈥檚 cited as proof the since-dismissed criminal charges he faced between his first and second terms of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost and of retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Several aides of his were also prosecuted, as were hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general during former President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration, has repeatedly denied allegations of politicization and has said his decisions followed facts, the evidence and the law. His Justice Department also investigated Biden for his handling of classified information and brought separate tax and gun prosecutions against Biden鈥檚 son Hunter.
草莓传媒 that administration contemplating fund to pay Trump allies draws backlash from Democrats
Rep. Jamie Raskin called the idea 鈥渦nconstitutional.鈥�
鈥淭his, of course, is a political grievance fund that Donald Trump can use to pay off his friends,鈥� Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview Sunday on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥�
鈥淚f these people have a valid cause of action, they should bring it to the court like every other American does, and use the system of due process, and proving things by clear and convincing evidence, or a preponderance of evidence, go and prove it. But the idea that Donald Trump can just pass it out like a pardon is absurd,鈥� he added.
Trump moves to dismiss $10B suit over leak of tax returns after reports of a resolution
President Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns after reports that a resolution of the case was close at hand.
The disclosure was made in a filing in federal court in Florida, where the lawsuit was filed.
ABC 草莓传媒 first reported last week that Trump was prepared to drop his lawsuit as part of a deal that would create a $1.7 billion fund to pay allies of the president who believe they were wrongly investigated and prosecuted.
The court filing did not mention terms of any potential deal.
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Will White House correspondents鈥� dinner be rescheduled? Some say: 鈥楲et鈥檚 call the whole thing off鈥�
More than three weeks after the was thrown into chaos and panic when a man stormed the Washington Hilton lobby and opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill President Donald Trump, the event has yet to be rescheduled.
The association 鈥渃ontinues to weigh options for rescheduling the event,鈥� its president, Weijia Jiang of CBS 草莓传媒, said from China last week where she was covering Trump 鈥� alongside whom she hit the floor that night as shots rang out.
鈥淲e will do this again,鈥� Jiang had said then. Trump, for his part, said on social media the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days (though it鈥檚 not up to him), which would bring it to late this month.
That seems hardly likely, at least not an event that would accommodate close to 3,000 people. WHCA board members are scoping out smaller venues, a person familiar with the situation said, with the understanding that, if rescheduled, it would necessarily be a pared-down event 鈥� a nod to financial as well as security concerns.
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Redistricting debate shifts to South Carolina as Republicans seek clean sweep of US House seats
An effort to reshape South Carolina鈥檚 congressional districts will get its first full airing Monday in the state House, as lawmakers launch a lengthy and potentially testy discussion on whether to accede to Trump鈥檚 desires for a U.S. House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans.
Tense debates already have played out in , and Louisiana as Republicans push aggressively to leverage a recent that weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts. The ruling has opened the way for Republicans to redraw districts with large Black populations that have elected Democrats.
In South Carolina, that means targeting a seat long held by , the only Democrat among the state鈥檚 seven representatives in the House.
Early voting is scheduled to begin May 26 for South Carolina鈥檚 statewide primaries on June 9. In addition to redrawing congressional districts, legislation pending in the state House would move the U.S. House primaries to August. If it clears the House, the legislation then must go to the Senate.
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China agrees to boost trade for US agricultural products following Trump-Xi summit
China has agreed to ramp up trade for U.S. agricultural products such as beef and poultry, buying at an annualized rate of $17 billion per year for 2026 and at that level for 2027 and 2028, the White House .
China would restore market access for U.S. beef and resume imports of poultry from U.S. states determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be free of the bird flu, the White House said. The deals are on top of China鈥檚 soybean purchase commitments last year.
The agreements offer some hope to American farmers harmed by the trade war as they saw for soybeans and other products dry up. Farmers also are feeling new pressure from Trump administration policies 鈥� the war that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran has curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade corridor that has restricted and sent .
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Drone strikes UAE nuclear plant as US and Iran signal they are prepared to resume war
A drone strike sparked a fire on the edge of the United Arab Emirates鈥� sole nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an 鈥渦nprovoked terrorist attack.鈥� No one was blamed, but it highlighted as the United States and Iran signaled they were ready to fight again.
There were no reported injuries or radiological release. The UAE, which has hosted air defenses and , recently accused Iran of launching Tensions have risen over the , a vital waterway gripped by Iran, which is under a U.S. naval blockade.
The remains tenuous, with diplomatic efforts for a more durable peace having faltered. And fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon despite a nominal ceasefire there.
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Stocks fall and oil rises after Trump warns Iran that 鈥榗lock is ticking鈥�
World shares mostly retreated and oil prices jumped on Monday after Trump warned Tehran that the 鈥渃lock is ticking鈥� as U.S.-Iran negotiations over a permanent end to the stall.
U.S. futures fell and markets in Japan and South Korea pulled back from their records. In early European trading, Britain鈥檚 FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 10,205.31. France鈥檚 CAC 40 lost 0.9% to 7,883.42, and Germany鈥檚 DAX dropped 0.1% to 23,925.82.
During Asian trading, Tokyo鈥檚 Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 60,815.95, a decline led by technology-related stocks. It reached all-time intraday high levels last week above 63,000.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond surged to as high as 2.8%, its highest level since the late 1990s. That鈥檚 part of a broader shift toward higher yields as the Bank of Japan gradually raises interest rates and higher energy costs raise expectations of rising inflation. The yield was around 2.55% just one week ago.
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