Trump nominates Mike Waltz for UN ambassador in major shake-up of national security team

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is nominating national security adviser Mike Waltz as United Nations ambassador while Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz’s duties on an interim role.

He announced the major shake-up of his national security team shortly after news broke that Waltz and his deputy are leaving the administration. Waltz has been under scrutiny for weeks after reporting from The Atlantic that he had mistakenly added the magazine's editor-in-chief to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” Trump wrote on social media.

“In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN.”

There is precedent for the secretary of state to serve simultaneously as national security adviser. Henry Kissinger held both positions from 1973 to 1975.

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Judge bars deportations of Venezuelans from South Texas under the Alien Enemies Act

A federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and said President Donald Trump's invocation of it was “unlawful.”

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people who, the Republican administration claims, are gang members invading the United States. Rodriguez said he wouldn't interfere with the government's right to deport people in the country illegally through other means, but it could not rely on the 227-year-old law to do so.

“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,” wrote Rodriguez, who was nominated by Trump in 2018. But, the judge said, "the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”

In March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings.

"The Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful,” Rodriguez wrote.

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Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.

The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.

The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.

A federal appeals court had earlier rejected the administration’s request.

President Donald Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. TPS is granted in 18-month increments.

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Army plans for a potential parade on Trump's birthday call for 6,600 soldiers, AP learns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump's birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army's most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th anniversary festival on the National Mall and the newly added element — a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed.

The Army anniversary just happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14.

While the slides do not include any price estimates, it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on a parade of that size. Costs would include the movement of military vehicles, equipment, aircraft and troops from across the country to Washington and the need to feed and house thousands of service members.

High costs halted Trump's push for a parade in his first term, and the tanks and other heavy vehicles that are part of the Army's latest plans have raised concerns from city officials about damage to roads.

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Israeli military strikes near Syria's presidential palace after warning over sectarian attacks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israel’s air force struck near Syria's presidential palace early Friday hours after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of a minority sect in southern Syria.

The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the Druze minority sect near the capital, Damascus. The clashes left dozens of people dead or wounded.

Friday's strike was Israel's second on Syria this week, and attacking an area close to the presidential palace appears to send a strong warning to Syria's new leadership that is mostly made up of Islamist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

On Thursday, Syria's Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri harshly criticized Syria’s government for what he called an “unjustified genocidal attack” on the minority community.

The Israeli army said that fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of President Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus. Its statement gave no further details.

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Trump threatens sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil after US-Iran nuclear talks are postponed

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed.

Trump wrote on social media, “All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States “in any way, shape, or form.”

It was unclear how Trump would implement such a ban as he threatened to levy secondary sanctions on nations that import Iranian oil. But his statement risked further escalating tensions with China — Iran’s leading customer — at a time when the relationship is severely strained over the U.S. president’s tariffs.

Based on tanker tracking data, the U.S. Energy Information Administration concluded in a report published last October that “China took nearly 90% of Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports in 2023.” Trump has separately placed 145% tariffs on China as a way to raise federal revenues and rebalance global trade.

Trump's social media threat came after Oman announced planned nuclear negotiations for this coming weekend had been postponed. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X.

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China says it's evaluating US overtures for trade talks, but tariffs remain an obstacle

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday that Beijing is evaluating multiple approaches by the Trump administration for trade talks.

However, in a ministry statement it said one-sided tariffs of up to 145% remain an obstacle, undermining trust.

The statement reiterated China's stance that is open to talks, but also that Beijing is determined to fight if it must.

“The tariff and trade wars were unilaterally initiated by the U.S., if the U.S. side wants to talk, it should show its sincerity, and be ready to take action on issues such as correcting wrong practices and canceling the unilateral imposition of tariffs,” it said.

The statement cited an unnamed ministry spokesperson as saying that Beijing had taken note of various statements by senior U.S. officials indicating a willingness to negotiate over tariffs.

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May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda

CHICAGO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration's immigration crackdowns.

In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers' Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration's sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees. Protesters lined streets in many cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and held a boisterous rally outside the White House in Washington.

In Chicago, thousands of people rallied in a West Side park before marching through downtown to the lakefront. Some played drums and danced while others chanted “No justice, no peace!” The crowd included union workers, immigrant rights advocates, pro-Palestinian activists and students calling for better-funded public schools.

"We need to stand up and fight back,” said Latrina Barnes, a 48-year-old certified nurses assistant, adding that worries Medicaid and Medicare might be affected under the Trump administration inspired her to protest in a May Day rally for the first time.

Some rallygoers used humor to protest, displaying a Trump puppet, an inflatable Trump baby chicken and a Trump pinata shaped like a bull.

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Sex assault reports in the US military fell last year, fueled by a big drop in the Army

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of sexual assaults reported across the U.S. military dipped by nearly 4% last year, fueled by a significant drop in the Army, according to a new Pentagon report. It was the second year in a row with a decrease, reversing a troubling trend that has plagued the Defense Department for more than a decade.

Senior defense officials said that while the decline is a good sign, the number of reported assaults is still too high and the military needs to do more to get victims to report the often undisclosed crime.

According to the report, there were 8,195 reported sexual assaults in 2024 involving members of the military, compared with 8,515 in 2023. In 2022, there were 8,942 reported sexual assaults, a spike that triggered widespread alarm and led to new programs and an infusion of funding to try to combat the problem.

The overall decrease was due to a 13% drop in reported sexual assaults across the Army, which is the largest military service.

All the other services saw increases. The Navy had the largest jump of 4.3%, while the Air Force had a 2.2% increase and the Marine Corps rose by less than 1%.

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Driver who killed 4 by smashing through an Illinois after-school camp may have had health emergency

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The driver of a car that barreled through a building used for a popular after-school camp in central Illinois, killing three children and a teenager, was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and may have had a medical emergency, police said Thursday.

No decisions have been made on whether to file charges against the 44-year-old driver, Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly said at a news conference. The driver is not in custody, Kelly said.

Evidence that she may have had a medical emergency was “not conclusive” and the investigation is ongoing, Kelly said.

The car went off the road Monday, crossing a field and smashing into the side of the building in Chatham used by Youth Needing Other Things Outdoors, also known as YNOT. It traveled through the building, striking people before exiting the other side.

Six other children were hospitalized. Four of them remained hospitalized, including one in critical condition, a state police spokesperson said after Thursday's news conference.