• Elon Musk sounded the alarm about Taiwan's vulnerability to a Chinese invasion, per a new book.
• He told Trump and tech CEOs that the US was "headed for disaster" in the event of a Chinese invasion.
• Musk was in a meeting where the CEOs discussed the possibility of bringing chipmaking to US shores.

Elon Musk expressed grave concern about Taiwan's dominance in the chip market — and the possibility of a Chinese invasion — in a tech CEO meeting at the White House last year, according to a book published on Tuesday about President Donald Trump's second term.

The book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, reported that the SpaceX owner had met with Trump and the CEOs of firms such as Dell, Qualcomm, and Intel on March 10, 2025.

Haberman and Swan wrote that Musk told the gathering in the Roosevelt Room that he was "shitting bricks about our vulnerability to China."

But Musk had grown increasingly alarmed in recent years, especially over the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which would jeopardize the supply of high-end chips that Musk's companies depended on.

And now, with these CEOs as his audience, Musk was frantically sounding the alarm about the fact that an island country roughly the size of Maryland, floating eighty-one miles off mainland China, produced around 70 percent of all the semiconductors on earth and 90 percent of the most advanced chips. He was lecturing a gathering more familiar with this problem than perhaps any other group of people in the world. But Musk kept banging away.

"If we don't start building chips outside the zone of confrontation," he said, "we are headed for disaster." He reiterated the point: "Somebody's got to build the damn fabs [fabrication plants] outside the battle zone!"

According to the book, Trump said China's leader, Xi Jinping, had given assurances that Beijing would not launch an invasion of Taiwan while the former sat in the White House.

But Haberman and Swan reported that Trump added a caveat: "Could be lying. Taiwan is the apple of Xi's eye, just like Ukraine was for Putin."

The group of CEOs, alongside Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, then discussed how the US might claw back some of the world's semiconductor supply chain and shift factories from Asia to American soil.

"The United States will only have thirty percent of TSMC's capacity in 2029. If China invades Taiwan, the entire economy crashes," Musk said, per the book.

In May, Musk and other American tech CEOs, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Apple's Tim Cook, accompanied Trump on an official visit to China.

Musk was widely regarded as a figure who could help stabilize Beijing and Washington's economic ties.

Tesla operates a major factory, Gigafactory 3, in Shanghai that employs roughly 20,000 workers. The American automaker enjoys the rare arrangement of wholly owning the factory without needing a joint venture with a Chinese firm.

The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

"Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" is available for purchase on Amazon.

After pummelling his opponent in a bout sponsored by Truth Social on the White House South Lawn last Sunday, UFC fighter Josh Hokut extolled President Donald Trump for "having the balls to put some shit like this on."

Over 4,000 people watched Hokut and 13 others duke it out at UFC Freedom 250, a $60 million production celebrating America's 250th anniversary and Donald Trump's 80th birthday. Onlookers sat under the Claw, a 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel arch and encircled the octagon festooned with logos for the event's sponsors: Monster Energy, Meta, Starlink, Polymarket, and the Saudi entertainment festival Riyadh Season. (After a few rounds of fights, the signage for munitions manufacturer Anduril Industries was appropriately splattered with blood.)

Seated closest to the action was the first family and Trump's nearest and dearest — donors who had given at least $1 million; David Ellison, whose Paramount+ streamed the fight exclusively; and technocrats such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Military servicemembers helped fill the stands, too, though troops on TV "MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO," according to a memo reported by the Washington Post. The administration's message: only those sufficiently jacked can attend the state-sponsored cage match.

The White House touted the fight, originally scheduled for July 4, as "one of the greatest and most historic sporting events in history." It was a semiotician's fever dream — a branded, chest-thumping caricature of American carnage, carnivalism, and capitalism. For some fighters, paid in stablecoins from Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial, and for fans, paid in jumbotron bloodshed and Bud Light-backed brotherhood, there was also an American berserk form of catharsis.

"There's only one person more incredible than the Incredible Hok, and that's my lord and savior Jesus Christ," Hokut continued in his victory speech. Then he said he was going to have sex with another fighter's mom. "Lastly, Michelle Obama is a man."

A few hundred yards away on the Ellipse, along with 85,000 gathered for the Fan Fest watch party, I couldn't hear Hokut's last line ("Am I right, America?") over the cheers.

By then, the crowd had been reveling in the humidity and the José Cuervo for more than seven hours.

They paraded in at 3:00 p.m., wearing Uncle Sam hats, rhinestoned minidresses, and t-shirts sporting their favorite fighters and slogans like "I'm Voting for a Convicted Criminal," "I'm Just Here for the Wieners," and "I ❤️ Hot Moms."

Men — many of whom were shirtless, as if they were ready to spinkick anyone who cut them in the energy drink line — outnumbered women at least five to one. One standing by the Boy Scouts Memorial fountain bit into a dumpling and smiled as pork juice squirted onto his chest. "Freedom!" he said. Some did pushups on the lawn to get a pump before posing for a picture at the Total Wireless Weigh-In fan experience. (At the actual weigh-in on Saturday, Hokut appeared to vomit on himself.)

Among those going pecs out for the president was Gaige Dengler, a 22-year-old Chipotle worker from Maryland, who took up mixed martial arts a few years ago to work through his anger. "Therapy wasn't really working," he said.

"I'm punching these dudes super hard in the face. I'm getting punched hard in the face. And afterward, they hug me, and they're like, 'Dude, good job.' It's the most supported and respected I've ever felt."

Dengler, who brought his uncle along on Sunday, he said, was seeking the same kind of camaraderie on the South Lawn. "It's a great opportunity for America to kind of unify again. It's kind of like a renewal for America."

Tommy Bui, a 28-year-old who works in hospitality and who was dressed in a black suit with a gold koi fish brooch affixed to his lapel, told me at the Topps trading card booth that he has lost $200,000 to "predatory" sportsbetting apps and casino games over the last few years. Bui wagered $1,000 on the White House fights. When I met Bui, he was chatting with Benjamin Tran, 27, who had recently sworn off betting apps because he wants to have a family soon.

Nearby, a US Navy mechanic from Kentucky told me he was there for "beer, girls, and the White House."

There were plenty of all three and much more to find sprawled across the Ellipse's 50 acres. For much of the afternoon, Fan Fest was a testament to Americans' insatiable capacity to stand in line — to ride the Nothing Stops Ram mechanical bull; to listen to a Ram Truck rev its engine really loudly; to create fighter characters at the Meta booth; to relieve oneself in the Crypto.com Ram Trucks porta-potty village; to take selfies with the Budweiser Clydesdales or models donning Monster Energy sports bras; to test one's fighting strength at the Bud Light Power Punch, or the Exodus UFC Striking Challenge, or Nitro Circus Power Slap.

I took a few minutes to cool off at the one attraction I managed to find with no line, the Budweiser History Museum. I was dizzy and discombobulated by the uncanny slurry of tech conference, NASCAR tailgate, Trump rally, West Village pop-up shop, prayer circle, and backyard barbecue. Thousands of others seemed to feel the same, lying on the grass, napping, or checking their phones as they waited for night to fall.

The jumbotrons played several AI-generated ads that reminded us that "America is winning" and that we're pioneering patriots at a world-historic event. One compared the night's fighters to the soldiers who'd stormed Normandy, the men and women who'd marched on Selma, and the firefighters who entered the Twin Towers on 9/11. (Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio likened the cage match to the moon landing.) The Army's Down Range band performed covers of "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Man, I Feel Like a Woman." There was a live taping of Logan Paul's podcast. At one point, Paul's cohost Mike Majlak announced, "If you got a small dick, you're smart. We've got some smart motherfuckers out there in the crowd."

Night fell, people took their seats on the lawn, and the broadcast began. Trump and UFC CEO Dana White walked out of the Oval Office and down the aisle to their seats, a fitting start to the culmination of the president and the league's yearslong courtship. Then fighters delivered knockout after knockout until 1:00 a.m., giving each other black eyes and concussions and taking questions from Joe Rogan in the Monster Strawberry Lemonade Unleash the Beast post-bout Q&As. The crowd hooted at hooks and screamed for more every time someone was thrown onto the floor. When the night was still young, and the gnats weren't yet dancing in the klieg lights, a young man, wearing American flag shorteralls and clutching a beer snake as long as George Washington's scabbard as he crossed the Delaware, took in the scene and offered his friends a benediction. "I ain't no snitch,' he said, "but Blake just shat his pants."

"What this fight is really all about, and why we're doing it at the White House, is it's the 250th birthday of America," White told The Hollywood Reporter before the event. "From the first fight of the night until the main event, we will tell the story of America." The story that UFC Freedom 250 ultimately told was a synecdoche of Donald Trump's America, where excess is branded as excellence, where the bag is up for grabs if you bend the knee, where everything from redwood forest fires to wars and annexations across the gulf stream waters can be bet on, where there is nothing the country won't do for a good episode of TV.

Zak Jason is the executive editor of Business Insider's Discourse team.

• Private student-loan collectors penalized for claims of misleading behavior could work with borrowers again.
• It's part of Trump's transfer of defaulted student loans from the Education Department to the Treasury.
• It could expose borrowers to high collection fees and repayment challenges.

Private companies penalized for their student-loan collection tactics may be making a comeback.

As President Donald Trump transfers federal student loans from the Department of Education to the Treasury Department, defaulted borrowers will be routed through the Treasury's "Cross-Servicing program," which uses private contractors to collect federal debts. Two agencies in that system, Pioneer Credit Recovery and Transworld Systems, were previously sued or fined by federal watchdogs for "misleading" or "abusive" practices.

Lawmakers and administration officials in Trump's first term pushed to terminate contracts with private collectors over high costs and accusations of predatory behavior. Former President Joe Biden ended their contracts in 2021. Now, with student-loan defaults at a record high, education policy experts say bringing private collectors back could expose borrowers to higher collection fees, confusion, and greater risk of falling back into default.

More than 10 million student-loan borrowers are in default or delinquency, Department of Education data shows. Involuntary collections, which include wage garnishment and federal benefits seizure, have been paused since January while the department prepares for major repayment changes. The department has not specified when the pause will lift, and did not comment in time for publication on the extent to which Pioneer and Transworld would be involved in collections once they resume.

"No reasonable person would expect that these companies are going to be doing what they're supposed to be doing and going to be effectuating borrowers' rights," said Bonnie Latreille, a former official in the Education Department's Federal Student Aid office.

The Trump administration says that the Treasury is best equipped to manage collections. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a March press release that the agency has "the unique experience, the operational capability, and the financial expertise to bring long overdue financial discipline to the program and be better stewards of taxpayer dollars."

A troubled student-loan collection history

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which began supervising private collectors in 2013, found that they made various misrepresentations to defaulted borrowers, such as implying they'd be sued when that wasn't certain, and pushing more expensive repayment pathways.

Lawmakers later said private collection agencies "receive more than ten times as much" money for steering borrowers into their preferred repayment option, despite high redefault rates. "The Department is rewarding these agencies for behaviors that work in opposition to the prospect of student borrower success," they said.

In 2017, the CFPB sued Pioneer for engaging in "deceptive" and "abusive" practices and violating consumer protection laws, including by steering borrowers into costly forbearances instead of more favorable income-driven repayment plans. The court ordered the company in 2024 to pay $100 million to affected borrowers. Also that year, CFPB fined Transworld $2.5 million for filing debt collection lawsuits without proof that the debt was owed.

Transworld said at the time that it settled with the CFPB to avoid costly litigation. Navient, which oversaw Pioneer, denied any wrongdoing.

Because the Treasury already uses these companies to collect other payments, like taxes, using them is "the most straightforward way" to resume collections on defaulted student loans, said Colleen Campbell, former executive director of Federal Student Aid's loan portfolio management office under Biden. Simplicity for the administration doesn't necessarily mean clarity for borrowers.

"It just gets a little bit more complicated when there are more entities and agencies involved in what happens with the borrower," Campbell said.

Collecting on defaulted student loans requires specific knowledge of student-loan borrowers and policy, said Sara Partridge, the associate director of higher education at the left-leaning think tank the Center for American Progress. There's no evidence the Treasury has the necessary expertise to oversee these agencies, she said.

With private collectors returning, borrowers could face high collection fees, a harder time getting complaints resolved, and potential redefault, higher education policy experts said.

Campbell added that private companies were previously criticized for their variable fee structures. For example, the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute said in a 2018 report that "harsher penalties are imposed on borrowers who quickly repay their loans in full after defaulting than on those who engage in a lengthy, bureaucratic 'rehabilitation' process but make no progress in paying down their debts."

Another concern is potentially poor coordination between agencies as the transfer happens, Campbell said.

"What you don't want is for somebody to go through all of the steps of getting out of default, only to have them feeling like they're lost in the process yet again because of the handoffs that have to happen between vendors," Campbell said.

Partridge added that the shift could make it harder for borrowers to get repayment help because two agencies would be responsible for managing accounts.

The Department of Education did not specify a timeline for the transfer to the Treasury, which will begin with defaulted borrowers before expanding to the broader federal loan portfolio. Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said during a fireside chat in April that it's "undeniable" that the Treasury is well-equipped to manage federal student loans.

"We want to make sure that we're developing best practices, along with our Treasury colleagues, to be able to service that debt in a much more effective way than we ever have," Kent said.

• Donald Trump Jr. married Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach model and socialite, on May 24.
• Trump Jr. was previously engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle and married to Vanessa Trump.
• Anderson and Trump Jr. were first linked in September 2024 and attended the inauguration together.

Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson are married.

The couple tied the knot on a private island in the Bahamas over Memorial Day weekend.

Trump Jr., 48, and Anderson, 39, made their public debut as a couple at President Donald Trump's inauguration following months of speculation about the nature of their relationship.

Since going public in January 2025, Trump Jr. and Anderson have appeared together at numerous White House events and Palm Beach galas.

Trump Jr., who is Trump's oldest son, was previously married to Vanessa Trump, with whom he has five children, but they divorced in 2018. In 2020, he got engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and campaign advisor whom Trump appointed as his administration's ambassador to Greece, but they broke up in 2024.

Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite, model, and the founder and executive director of the wildlife conservation nonprofit Project Paradise, was first spotted in the Trump family's orbit at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.

Trump announced his son's engagement to Anderson at a White House holiday party in December.

Representatives for the White House, Trump Jr., Guilfoyle, and Anderson did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Here's a timeline of their relationship.

July 2024: Bettina Anderson was seated behind Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle at the Republican National Convention.

Anderson was photographed sitting behind Trump Jr., Guilfoyle, and other members of the Trump family on the third and fourth days of the Republican National Convention.

Guilfoyle was still wearing her engagement ring.

September 2024: The Daily Mail reported that Anderson and Trump Jr. were seen kissing and eating brunch together in Palm Beach.

Anderson and Trump Jr. were photographed dining together at the Honor Bar, a restaurant located about 4 miles from Mar-a-Lago, The Daily Mail reported.

Neither responded to a request for comment at the time about the nature of their relationship.

October 2024: Anderson cohosted a Trump campaign fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago featuring Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Tickets to the fundraising dinner cost $100,000 a couple, and admission to a fireside chat cost $30,000 a couple, the Palm Beach Daily News reported. Serving on the host committee of the event required a $250,000 contribution.

December 2024: Anderson and Trump Jr. were photographed holding hands in Palm Beach.

Anderson and Trump Jr. were photographed holding hands as they left Buccan, a restaurant in Palm Beach, on Anderson's 38th birthday, The Daily Mail reported.

Anderson also shared a photo on her Instagram story of a bouquet of flowers and a card reading, "Many have said you're aging out but I think you're perfect...happy birthday!" She tagged Trump Jr. in the post, suggesting he was the sender.

Later that month, Anderson joined Trump Jr. at the Trump family's New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.

December 2024: Trump Jr. told Page Six that he and Guilfoyle "will never stop caring for each other."

While Trump Jr. did not officially confirm that he and Guilfoyle had broken off their engagement, he said in a statement to Page Six that they "will always keep a special bond" and that he "could not be more proud of her and the important role she'll continue to play in my father's administration" as ambassador to Greece.

January 2025: Anderson and Trump Jr. attended inauguration events together, marking their public debut as a couple.

Anderson and Trump Jr. attended an inaugural reception at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, on January 18. On January 19, they held hands and danced to "YMCA" by The Village People at the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball.

Anderson and Trump Jr. traveled to the Capitol Rotunda together on Inauguration Day but sat separately for the ceremony. Trump Jr. sat with his family members on the inaugural platform, while Anderson took her seat in the crowd.

Guilfoyle was also seated in the audience for the inauguration, but not with the Trump family as she had been at the RNC.

February 2025: They attended the Super Bowl together.

President Trump was the first sitting president to ever attend the Super Bowl. He was joined by Trump Jr., Anderson, and other family members and associates to watch the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

March 2025: Trump Jr. and Anderson engaged in public displays of affection at Trump's address to a joint session of Congress.

Trump Jr. and Anderson were photographed cuddling in their seats in the House chamber before Trump's speech began.

March 2025: The couple walked the red carpet together at a gala in Palm Beach.

Trump Jr. and Anderson attended the mfAR Palm Beach Gala in support of the organization's AIDS research and global HIV prevention.

Other celebrities in attendance included Martha Stewart, who received mfAR's Award of Inspiration, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ricky Martin.

The gala was held days after People magazine reported that Trump Jr.'s ex-wife, Vanessa Trump, was dating Tiger Woods.

April 2025: Anderson and Trump Jr. attended the White House Easter Egg Roll.

That same month, they also attended a golf event at Trump National Doral, Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida.

June 2025: They appeared together at another official White House event, the US Army's 250th anniversary military parade.

Trump Jr. and Anderson were seated in front of Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos for the military parade in Washington, DC, which featured 6,600 troops, 150 vehicles, and over 50 aircraft.

July 2025: Anderson joined Trump Jr. and two of his children on Trump's visit to Scotland.

Trump Jr. and Anderson joined Eric and Lara Trump at Trump Turnberry, one of Trump's golf clubs in Scotland, for the announcement of a new trade deal between the US and the European Union.

They were then joined by two of Trump Jr.'s children, Spencer and Chloe, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new golf course at Trump International Golf Links.

December 2025: Trump announced the couple's engagement at a White House holiday party.

Around the same time that Page Six broke the news of Trump Jr. and Anderson's engagement, Trump announced that the two were engaged and called them up to the White House podium to say a few words.

In a video from the event shared by far-right activist Laura Loomer, Trump Jr. thanked Anderson "for that one word, yes."

Anderson could be seen in the video wearing a diamond ring.

"This has really been the most unforgettable weekend of my life, and I get to marry the love of my life, and I feel just like the luckiest girl in the world," Anderson said at the holiday party, according to the video.

May 2026: Trump Jr. and Anderson held their wedding in the Bahamas over Memorial Day weekend.

Trump Jr. and Anderson obtained a Florida marriage license and legally wed on May 21, days ahead of their ceremony on a private island in the Bahamas on May 24, TMZ was the first to report.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and Lara Trump, and Tiffany Trump and Michael Buolos were in attendance in the Bahamas, their social media posts showed.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he was unable to attend the wedding.

"While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so," the president wrote. "I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time. Congratulations to Don and Bettina!"

• President Donald Trump is reshaping Washington, DC, from the White House to federal buildings.
• A proposed 250-foot triumphal arch celebrating America's anniversary would be the world's largest.
• His $400 million White House ballroom plan has sparked legal battles and backlash.

During his second term, President Donald Trump has left an increasingly visible mark on Washington, DC, from department name changes to 30-foot-tall banners of his portrait.

Another plan taking shape is a 250-foot triumphal arch, which was approved by a federal board on Thursday.

It's the latest on Trump's growing list of changes to America's capital. Among them, the president's remodeling of the White House — including his proposed 90,000-square-foot, $400 million ballroom and the subsequent demolition of the East Wing — has drawn the most attention so far.

The ballroom project faced legal pushback after a judge ordered the administration to halt construction until it received congressional approval. The judge's order was later put on hold by a federal appeals court, which allowed construction to continue while the case proceeds.

Trump has defended the project by pointing to past presidents' renovations, expansions, and modernizations of the White House, and by emphasizing the ballroom's importance for hosting large events. The administration has also dismissed criticism of the construction as "manufactured outrage."

While many of his projects remain ongoing or in legal limbo, the changes the president has already made to the White House and its surrounding areas have altered the face of the nation's capital. Reasons given for the changes include government efficiency, beautifying the city, and marking America's 250th birthday.

See some of the ways in which Trump has remodeled the White House, US government buildings, and beyond during his second term.

The shuttering of USAID was one of the first physical signs of the Trump administration's remodeling of the nation's capital.

Shortly after taking office, Trump's Department of Government Efficiency spearheaded a sweeping dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.

The department froze the agency's foreign aid, slashed its staff and programs, and ultimately moved to dismantle much of the agency's operations and shift remaining functions to the State Department.

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush joined critics in condemning the move, with Obama calling it a "travesty."

Administration officials framed it as a cost-cutting and accountability effort, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying USAID had "strayed from its original mission" and that "the gains were too few and the costs were too high" around the time of its effective shuttering.

The agency, founded in 1961 to counter the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, was housed in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in DC, alongside other government agencies.

Following the agency's formal folding into the State Department on July 1, 2025, its staff, offices, and signage were removed from the building that once housed it.

In May 2025, the US Department of Agriculture debuted banners showing Trump alongside Abraham Lincoln.

By the first spring of his second term, Trump's portrait started appearing on government buildings, with the first being the US Department of Agriculture building, the Jamie L. Whitten Building, in the National Mall.

The 31-foot-tall banners, which were installed to honor USDA's 163rd birthday, cost the department an estimated $16,400, the Washingtonian reported.

They "acknowledge the vision and leadership of USDA's founder, Abraham Lincoln, and the best advocate of America's farmers and ranchers, President Trump," USDA's then-director of communications, Seth W. Christensen, told The Washington Post in May 2025.

There is little modern precedent for the banners, which raised concerns about the politicization of federal buildings. Instead, the norm is for presidential portraits to be displayed inside government buildings and updated between administrations.

The Department of Labor building also features portraits of Trump alongside Theodore Roosevelt.

In August, the US Department of Labor debuted its own Trump banners, initially to commemorate Labor Day but kept up throughout the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations after receiving a "tremendous positive response," a department spokesperson told The New York Times.

The Department of Labor's banners read "American Workers First" and depict the president alongside Theodore Roosevelt, who helped lay the groundwork for the modern Labor Department.

A September report by Sen. Adam Schiff of California also mentioned that the US Department of Health and Human Services had solicited 88-foot-tall banners promoting health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's "Make America Healthy Again" slogan for an estimated cost of $33,726.

In February, a similar banner was hung at the Department of Justice's building.

The latest federal department to showcase the president's portrait is the Department of Justice, which has traditionally operated somewhat independently of the White House to curb political influence.

The banner, hung in February, features the president's portrait and reads "Make America Safe Again."

Among its critics, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the display "beyond parody," while New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim wrote on X, "The Department of Justice is supposed to work for and represent you, not him."

A DOJ spokesperson said, "We are proud at this Department of Justice to celebrate 250 years of our great country and our historic work to make America safe again at President Trump's direction."

The Kennedy Center board voted in December to add Trump's name to the institution.

In December, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts was renamed by its board to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

The name change came after a unanimous vote by the center's board of trustees, which was largely reshaped by the president.

"I was honored by [the renaming]," Trump said in the days following the name change. "Its board, it's a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country. And I was surprised by it."

Renaming the center, created by Congress as a memorial to US President John F. Kennedy, would require congressional approval. The board's decision to rename it has faced criticism, including from some members of the Kennedy family. Some performers have canceled booked appearances in the center, while legal battles have emerged as Democratic members of Congress seek to block the name change.

In March, the center announced it would undergo renovations starting this summer, during which it would temporarily pause operations, with work expected to last two years.

The US Institute of Peace building also had Trump's name added to it in December.

The US Institute of Peace was another DC institution that saw Trump's name added to it.

The Congress-funded, nonprofit think tank was renamed by the administration in a State Department announcement that described Trump as "the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history," per a social media announcement.

"Marco named it after me," the president said at a Board of Peace meeting in February, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "I had nothing to do with it, I swear I didn't. I swear. I had no idea."

Rubio showed his support on X, posting, "President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It's time our State Department display that."

The president plans to build the world's largest triumphal arch.

In October, Trump first proposed the building of a monumental arch, dubbed the "Independence Arch," to commemorate America's 250th anniversary.

The arch, proposed to be 250 feet tall, would sit across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial on the Memorial Circle roundabout near Arlington National Cemetery.

While construction on the arch has not yet begun, surveying of the land plot has started, even amid an ongoing lawsuit in which a group of Vietnam veterans sued to block the administration from building the monument.

The group argued that the structure "would dishonor their military and foreign service and the legacy of their comrades and other veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery," per the lawsuit.

In response to a legal challenge from congressional Democrats, a White House spokesperson told The Washington Post of the structure, "It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today,"

On May 21, the Trump-appointed US Commission of Fine Arts approved the arch's design, partly clearing the way for its construction.

The approved revised design for the arch — which some have nicknamed "Arc de Trump" — features a figure reminiscent of Lady Liberty atop the structure, gilded eagles, gold-lettering inscriptions, and a 360-degree observation deck open to visitors.

The arch, which would be nearly half as tall as the Washington Monument obelisk, would dwarf France's historic Arc de Triomphe, the world's most famous triumphal arch, and be the tallest triumphal arch in the world.

The demolition of the East Wing has already begun to give the People's House a new face.

In October 2025, the White House's East Wing was demolished, leaving only rubble behind and clearing the way for the president's ballroom project.

Previously, the largest event space in the White House was the East Room, which had a capacity of around 200 people. For larger events, tents were erected on the South Lawn.

"For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc.," Trump wrote on Truth Social in October. "I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!"

The president has said the project will be funded by private donors, including Big Tech companies and wealthy individuals.

The demolition of the wing, originally added in the early 20th century and expanded in 1942, altered the facade of the president's mansion and forced the relocation of the first lady's staff offices.

It was also met with criticism from preservationists, who said the president needed to obtain congressional approval for the project.

"It's not his house. It's your house. And he's destroying it," former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote on X after photos of the demolition emerged.

When completed, the president's proposed ballroom will further transform the White House.

The 90,000-square-foot, $400 million ballroom will be the largest change Trump has made to the White House — others include Rose Garden renovations, new marble floors, and gold embellishments. The new ballroom will also impede the South Lawn's historic driveway, making it no longer circular.

The president's ballroom project has sparked controversy and legal battles. The project was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on March 31, who ruled that the president must seek congressional approval before proceeding with the renovation.

A federal appeals court later paused the judge's order, allowing construction to continue while the case proceeds.

As of May, the ballroom construction is projected to be completed by September 2028, the president told reporters.

Renovations to the Rose Garden have already changed the White House's exterior.

In July 2025, the president renovated the White House's Rose Garden, which is often used for press conferences and larger gatherings.

The renovation paved over the grass with light-colored stone while keeping the garden's namesake rose bushes, citing the foot traffic during events as the main reason for the project.

It wasn't the first time the Rose Garden had changed looks, as it famously did under the Kennedy administration, when roses, magnolia trees, and other perennial and annual flowers were added.

In 2020, Melania Trump oversaw a garden renovation that included the addition of limestone walkways along the open lawn.

In the Potomac River's Tidal Basin, Trump has pushed changes to the East Potomac Golf Links.

Also on the riverside, alongside the Potomac River, is the East Potomac Golf Links, a public golf course that the president has also set his eye on for a potential takeover.

In December 2025, the Trump administration issued the National Links Trust — a nonprofit that operates and maintains public golf courses in Washington, DC, under a 50-year lease with the National Park Service — with a termination notice, The Athletic reported.

The National Links Trust said it was "devastated" by the decision, saying it "has consistently complied with all lease obligations as we work to ensure the brightest possible future for public golf in DC."

Of Trump's involvement with public golf courses, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Golf Digest, "As a private citizen, President Trump built some of the greatest golf courses in the world, and he is now extending his unmatched design skills and excellent eye for detail to D.C.'s public golf courses."

In May, the Trump administration and the National Links Trust reached a deal keeping the nonprofit in charge of DC's three municipal golf courses while clearing the way for the renovations at East Potomac, Golf Digest reported.

During the demolition of the White House East Wing and the construction of the new ballroom, locals have reported that the park has been turned into a dump for construction rubble and debris.

A lawsuit filed in February sought to restrict Trump's takeover of the golf courses. It said that dumping the rubble on the course grounds is "unlawful and possibly hazardous" due to the possible presence of asbestos.

Testing results later released by the National Park Service found that the debris dumped on the fields contained harmful chemicals like lead, chromium, PCBs, pesticides, and petroleum byproducts.

Directly north of the White House, Lafayette Square was fenced off in January for a renovation project.

Lafayette Square, a 7-acre public park directly north of the White House, has also seen changes during the second Trump administration.

The park is a popular attraction for visitors thanks to its views of the People's House, but in recent months it has undergone a makeover.

In late January, the Washington Post reported that the park had been fenced off as part of an improvement project and that it had been designated a National Historic Landmark since 1970.

The work, expected to last through May, will focus on fixing fountains, sprinklers, benches, and curbs. It is part of a broader initiative undertaken by the National Park Service to "beautify," restore, and upgrade public parks in the nation's capital.

The New York Times also reported that the president was interested in replacing the park's brick walkways with granite to prevent protesters from removing bricks and throwing them.

A statue garden dedicated to American heroes is planned to take over West Potomac Park.

West Potomac Park, located just west of the Jefferson Memorial along the Potomac River, serves as a public multipurpose field, where locals often organize sports and other events.

Trump's Garden of Heroes, a planned 250-statue monument commemorating American icons, is another of the president's many projects around Washington, DC.

In May, the president announced that the riverside park would soon be the location of the Garden of Heroes, despite lingering questions about project approval, timeline, and costs.

Trump described the existing park as a "totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River" on a post on Truth Social.

A sudden repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool also raised legal concerns.

In April, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which stretches between the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial, started undergoing a makeover.

The renovation involves resurfacing the pool, which has long had leaks and algae blooms, with a waterproof compound and painting the formerly gray pool an "American flag blue," as the president described the color.

The administration has defended the renovation as an expedited repair ahead of America's 250th anniversary celebrations, with a Department of the Interior spokesperson saying that the blue surface "will enhance the visitor experience by making the pool reflect the grand Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument."

There have been questions about the cost and process of the project, which was reportedly awarded under a no-bid contract. The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a DC-based preservation nonprofit, sued the administration days after the project began, alleging that the renovation was conducted without completing the proper reviews required under federal preservation law.

Additionally, the renovation, initially described as a $1.8 million project, was later reported by The New York Times to cost over $13 million.

An Interior Department spokesperson told the Times that the higher price tag "reflects the effort necessary to expedite the timeline of completing the leak prevention coating project — more people, more materials, more equipment and longer hours ahead of our 250th."

• US presidents have redecorated the Oval Office in different ways since it was first built in 1909.
• Most presidents have sat at the Resolute Desk, but others brought in their own personal furniture.
• President Donald Trump has added numerous gold embellishments to the Oval Office.

It's been more than a century since the Oval Office was first built at the White House under President William Howard Taft. In that time, US presidents have each made different design choices to redecorate the formal workspace.

Some presidents, like President George H.W. Bush, have brought in their own furniture to replace the Resolute Desk. Others, like President Donald Trump, have reinstated vintage Oval Office pieces while adding their own personal flair.

Take a look at how the Oval Office has changed through the years.

The first iteration of the Oval Office was built under President William Howard Taft in 1909 as part of an expansion of the West Wing.

Inspired by the White House's oval-shaped Blue Room, the president's formal workspace was designed by architect Nathan C. Wyeth.

Taft's Oval Office featured an olive-green color scheme.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt redesigned and moved the Oval Office as part of another West Wing expansion in 1934.

The Oval Office was moved to the southeast corner of the White House.

Roosevelt kept a variety of items on his desk, including photos of his sons, ceramic animal figurines, and an appointments easel with his daily schedule, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

President Harry Truman's Oval Office was the first to feature a rug with the presidential seal.

Truman decorated the Oval Office with the turquoise rug and matching curtains. The walls were painted a lighter seafoam green.

President John F. Kennedy was the first president to use the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

The Resolute Desk, made of wood from the British ship H.M.S. Resolute, was gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880. Previous presidents kept the desk in the second-floor office of the White House Residence and the Broadcast Room, according to the White House Historical Association.

President Lyndon Johnson replaced the Resolute Desk with his own desk, which he'd used as a US senator and vice president.

He also redecorated the Oval Office with white drapes with red trim, evoking the American flag.

President Richard Nixon chose bold hues of blue and yellow to decorate the Oval Office.

Nixon's Oval Office rug, in the same blue color as the American flag, was designed by first lady Pat Nixon.

President Gerald Ford changed the color scheme of the upholstery to burnt orange and khaki.

Ford's decor included the wheel from the SS Mayaguez, an American container ship that was seized by Cambodian forces in 1975 and rescued at Ford's direction.

Ford also added a mahogany Seymour tall case clock in 1975.

The clock, built between 1795 and 1805, has remained in the Oval Office under every subsequent president since 1975.

President Jimmy Carter brought the Resolute Desk back to the Oval Office.

Otherwise, he left most of Ford's decor.

President Ronald Reagan redecorated the Oval Office during his second term with a rug designed by first lady Nancy Reagan.

The rug featured the presidential seal in the center with sunbeams emerging from the middle, surrounded by a border of olive branches.

President George H.W. Bush redid the Oval Office in shades of blue and gold and brought in the C&O desk that he used as vice president.

The Resolute Desk was moved to the Residence Office.

President Bill Clinton chose Arkansas-based interior designer Kaki Hockersmith to give the Oval Office a new look.

Hockersmith designed the yellow curtains and the blue rug with the presidential seal. Clinton also chose to bring the Resolute Desk back to the Oval Office.

First lady Laura Bush designed a new rug for President George W. Bush's Oval Office.

The rug featured a sunbeam design with the presidential seal at its center, reminiscent of Reagan's rug, and a lone star in a nod to Bush's home state of Texas.

President Barack Obama added striped wallpaper and a new rug with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.

The quote on the border of the rug read, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.''

During his first term, President Donald Trump reinstalled Reagan's rug and added a portrait of President Andrew Jackson.

He also brought back Clinton's gold curtains and chose a new off-white wallpaper.

President Joe Biden brought back Clinton's Oval Office rug and added new portraits.

Biden hung portraits of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.

In his second, non-consecutive term, Trump has made significant changes to the Oval Office, adding numerous gold embellishments.

Many of the gold decor pieces in Trump's Oval Office came from the White House collection, but Trump also imported some statuettes from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump also added flags representing different branches of the US military and additional presidential portraits, with President George Washington in the prominent center spot above the fireplace mantle.

Other additions include the same rug from his first term, originally designed for Reagan, numerous pieces of artwork, and a button on his desk that summons a staffer with a Diet Coke.

• The Department of Education announced its final rule for its student-loan repayment overhaul.
• The rule includes new repayment plans and borrowing caps for advanced degrees.
• The changes will be implemented beginning July 1.

It's official: millions of student-loan borrowers will face sweeping repayment changes this summer.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump's Department of Education announced its final rule for its student-loan repayment overhaul, which includes new borrowing caps and repayment plans that will go into effect on July 1.

Nicholas Kent, the department's undersecretary, told reporters on a press call that the final rule includes four key provisions: the elimination of the Grad PLUS program, new loan limits for graduate and professional students, allowing schools to establish their own loan caps "that match the true value" of the programs they offer, and the creation of two new repayment plans.

"Collectively, our changes will ensure students continue to have the access that they need for federal student loans, while helping prevent borrowers from taking on unmanageable debt levels that they may never be able to repay," Kent said.

The changes stem from Trump's "big beautiful" spending legislation, and were negotiated with stakeholders, including industry representatives and borrower advocates, at the end of 2025.

The new borrowing caps are among the most discussed changes in the overhaul. The Department of Education is setting a $100,000 lifetime cap for graduate students and a $200,000 cap for professional students, and it narrowed the definition of "professional" to 11 programs, including law, medicine, and dentistry. That means previously eligible programs, like postgraduate nursing, are no longer eligible.

Some students and advocates have raised concerns that the caps could push students to seek additional financing in the private lending market or forgo their programs altogether.

Additionally, the department is capping Parent PLUS loans for the first time, which allows parents to borrow the full cost of attendance for their kids' programs. The new cap for parent borrowers will stand at $20,000 annually.

The department will also be rolling out a new Repayment Assistance Plan, replacing existing income-driven repayment plans, including the SAVE plan, which the administration is eliminating. RAP would waive unpaid interest and set monthly payments at a minimum of $10, which is less generous than the terms of existing plans. This will increase borrowers' monthly payments, according to Federal Student Aid projections, sometimes by hundreds of dollars.

Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• The government filed charges on Monday against Cole Allen, the WHCD shooting suspect.
• He was charged with attempted assassination of the president, which could land him life in prison.
• Prosecutors included an email Allen sent before the alleged shooting explaining his actions.

Federal prosecutors on Monday charged 31-year-old Cole Allen, the suspected White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter, with attempting to assassinate the President of the United States.

That rarely used charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The seven-page criminal complaint also includes two gun charges: transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The complaint said that at the time of his arrest, Allen possessed a 12-gauge pump action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol. He purchased the shotgun in 2025 and the pistol in 2023, according to prosecutors.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said at a press conference on Monday that there "will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold."

Allen's lawyer, public defender Tezira Abe, didn't return a request for comment. In court on Monday, Abe said Allen has no prior arrests or convictions and "is presumed innocent at this time," NBC reported.

The dinner, an annual toast to the First Amendment attended by journalists, politicians, and the occasional celebrity, was disrupted on Saturday after shots rang out in the lobby of the Washington Hilton, the hotel where the event was held.

The president and senior administration officials are typically at the dinner as well, though this was the first time Trump attended as president. Saturday night's incident was the third known assassination attempt that Trump has faced.

Since the incident, Trump and some of his allies in Congress have said that the shooting makes it all the more important that the new White House ballroom in the East Wing be built, given the higher security.

Tim Röhn, the senior editor of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, wrote that the security protocols at the event was "surprisingly lax," entailing simply flashing a screenshot of an invitation and passing through a metal detector before entering the ballroom.

Prosecutors say in the criminal complaint that Allen sent an email, likely pre-scheduled, shortly before 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, when he approached the security checkpoint at the Hilton.

That email included a message in a .txt file called "Apology and Explanation," along with his "sincerest apologies for all the trouble I've caused."

He signed off on the email "Cole 'coldForce' 'Friendly Federal Assassin' Allen," according to the complaint.

Here's the full text of the message Allen sent to family:

Hello everybody!

So I may have given a lot of people a surprise today. Let me start off by apologizing to everyone whose trust I abused. I apologize to my parents for saying I had an interview without specifying it was for "Most Wanted."

I apologize to my colleagues and students for saying I had a personal emergency (by the time anyone reads this, I probably most certainly DO need to go to the ER, but can hardly call that not a self-inflicted status.)

I apologize to all of the people I traveled next to, all the workers who handled my luggage, and all the other non-targeted people at the hotel who I put in danger simply by being near.

I apologize to everyone who was abused and/or murdered before this, to all those who suffered before I was able to attempt this, to all who may still suffer after, regardless of my success or failure. I don't expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get this close, I would have taken it. Again, my sincere apologies.

On to why I did any of this:

I am a citizen of the United States of America.

What my representatives do reflects on me.

And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.

(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I've had to do something about it.)

While I'm discussing this, I'll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I'm not military so too bad.)

Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

Secret Service: they are targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated nonlethally if possible (aka, I hope they're wearing body armor because center mass with shotguns messes up people who *aren't*

Hotel Security: not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me)

Capitol Police: same as Hotel Security

National Guard: same as Hotel Security

Hotel Employees: not targets at all

Guests: not targets at all

In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls)

I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people chose to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn't come to that.

• Donald Trump owns his own social media company.
• But Truth Social isn't where to go if you want a lot of people to see you attack Jimmy Kimmel.
• So Melania Trump made sure her demand that ABC do something about Kimmel appeared on Elon Musk's X, too.

Melania Trump says ABC should "take a stand" over Jimmy Kimmel, because she doesn't like a joke the talk show host made last week.

First things first: The first lady calling on a media company to do something about its employee because she doesn't like what that employee said is a bad thing. It's an attempt to use the power of the White House to silence speech that the White House doesn't like.

And it's just as worrisome as it was last September, when Brendan Carr, Trump's pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, told ABC owner Disney to "take action, frankly, on Kimmel" because Kimmel had made a joke about Trump supporters and Charlie Kirk. Disney suspended Kimmel for a few days and then reinstated him after public outcry.

There is a difference between Carr's demand and Melania Trump's demand on Monday, since Carr is a regulator with direct oversight over parts of Disney's business, and Melania Trump doesn't have any formal power over … anything. But she's still using the power of the White House to try to control speech, and that should alarm anyone with any common sense. (I've asked her office for comment.)

Let's see how new Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro responds to this one.

Much less important, but still interesting to me: The first lady's choice of platform to make her demand/threat. Melania Trump used Elon Musk's X, the site formally known as Twitter, to post her thoughts on Monday, using both her official First Lady of the United States account and her own personal account.

Trump also posted the same statement on Truth Social, the social media site owned by her husband. But that one seemed obligatory. Not in the way it's literally obligatory for Donald Trump to post at least some of his thoughts on his own social platform before he puts them anywhere else. But in the way you're supposed to tell your significant other you think they make the best pasta, when what you really crave is Olive Garden.

The numbers make it clear why Melania Trump chose to use X to make a splash: Her post on that platform has 230,000 likes, and that number is skyrocketing. Her Truth Social post has 6,500 likes and is traveling at a much more leisurely pace.

All of which is a reminder that while Truth Social is the Trump-owned Twitter alternative Donald Trump uses, it remains a minor-at-best platform. One that won't tell you how many users it has, and one that managed to lose more than $700 million on revenue of $3.7 million in 2025.

None of that is news, nor does it seem to matter to Trump, who still owns a company worth nearly $3 billion, even after a stock plunge and the departure of its CEO — perhaps because the company's current plan is to merge with a nuclear fusion company.

It also doesn't matter where Donald Trump truths or posts or spouts off — he's the president of the United States, so just about anything he says that's noteworthy gets instantly transmitted through the global media ecosystem. Like what happened on Monday afternoon, where he piggybacked on his wife's post and explicitly called on Disney and ABC to fire Kimmel.

But for the rest of us — including the first lady of the United States — where you post a message matters. Which is why she's using the one that helped her husband get into the White House in the first place.

• President Donald Trump called for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to be "immediately fired."
• Trump and first lady Melania Trump took issue with a sketch Kimmel aired on Thursday night.
• Kimmel joked at the time that Melania Trump had "the glow of an expectant widow."

President Donald Trump is reigniting his long-simmering feud with Jimmy Kimmel — and his pressure campaign on ABC and parent company Disney to part ways with the late night host.

"Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post on Monday afternoon.

Trump's call puts a potentially fraught issue on Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro's plate after the executive took over for Bob Iger just months ago.

Hours before Trump's post, first lady Melania Trump similarly expressed outrage over Kimmel's Thursday night monologue, in which the comedian gave a faux-White House Correspondents' Dinner speech to lament the decision to not have a comedian deliver a routine during the dinner, as is usually tradition. The correspondents association, an organization for reporters who cover the White House, elected to have a mentalist provide the evening's entertainment instead.

During the sketch, Kimmel said, "And, of course, our first lady Melania is here. Look at Mel — so beautiful, you have the glow of an expectant widow."

"Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country," Melania Trump wrote on X on Monday morning in a rare public statement. "His monologue about my family isn't comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America."

Trump, for his part, wrote that he appreciated that "so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale."

In his post, the president said that Kimmel, "who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking."

"He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren't, and never would be," Trump wrote.

As part of Kimmel's sketch, the comedian showed clips of Trump and other well-known figures reacting to his jokes. The footage appeared to be from previously recorded events, including Trump's State of the Union. Among the celebrities depicted was wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who died in July.

On Saturday evening, just as the annual dinner was about to begin, a gunman tried to rush through security. Authorities have said the suspect, Cole Allen, shot a Secret Service officer in their protective gear before being arrested. Allen is expected to appear in federal court on Monday.

Trump, the first lady, Vice President JD Vance, and other members of the Cabinet were rushed out of the ballroom where the dinner was occurring. Trump later told reporters at the White House that he wanted the dinner to resume but was told that for security reasons that it needed to be canceled.

ABC suspended Kimmel last fall for comments he made following the assassination of conservative podcaster and organizer Charlie Kirk. Democratic and even some Republican lawmakers criticized FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for jawboning local ABC affiliates to stop broadcasting Kimmel as criticism spread over the comedian's remarks.

Ultimately, Kimmel was reinstated days later and experienced a brief surge in ratings as fellow late night hosts railed around him.

In December, Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension with ABC to continue "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" through May 2027.

• Trump and other officials were safely evacuated from the annual press dinner.
• Business leaders, including UFC CEO Dana White, were in the room.
• Here's what execs are saying about the incident.

Chaos broke out at Saturday night's annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, DC, after multiple gunshots were heard in the ballroom.

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and a host of protectees, including the vice president and multiple Cabinet members, were ushered to safety, the Secret Service said.

Trump said in a press conference following the incident that a Secret Service agent was shot in his bulletproof vest.

The suspect is in custody, and investigations are ongoing.

Here's what people in the big leagues of business are saying about the incident.

Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO

Musk reposted an X post from the White House, which included a statement from Trump.

"'In light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully.' - President Donald J. Trump," the tweet read.

Musk became a particularly vocal Trump backer after the July 2024 assassination attempt at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In 2025, the two hit a relationship rough patch and traded some barbs, but they have been cordial at public events since.

Dana White, UFC CEO

White was a guest at the dinner and was in the room when chaos broke out.

"It was fucking awesome. I literally took every minute of it in. It was a pretty crazy, unique experience," White was seen saying in a video posted on X by MMAJunkie, part of USA Today's sports desk.

Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide

Thompson sent a memo to all CNN staffers after the incident, according to screenshots of the memo posted to X by Brian Stelter, the network's chief media analyst.

Thompson highlighted the CNN team's real-time response and on-the-ground reporting as the shooting unfolded.

"We know this was a frightening and disruptive situation for those in the room, and for your colleagues and loved ones watching live on CNN. Moments like this can stay with you in ways that aren't necessarily immediate or obvious," Thompson wrote.

"Please take care of yourselves and one another," he added.

Luther Lowe, head of public policy at Y Combinator

Lowe is married to Weijia Jiang, the CBS journalist who chairs the White House Correspondents' Association. Jiang got her share of accolades from media peers and viewers alike for her poise under pressure — she was onstage next to Trump during the shooting, and took a front-row seat in the briefing room after.

"So proud of @weijia. She was on the stage less than an hour ago presiding over the abrupt end of the dinner and now she's in the front row of the White House briefing room waiting to for the President to speak," Lowe wrote.

Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, cofounders of Kalshi

The cofounders of the popular predictions market attended the event together.

"This was Luana and I's first White House Correspondents Dinner. The moment was scary, but the dinner until then was a great gathering of people from all sides," Mansour wrote on X.

"Grateful for law enforcement and that the President and everyone is safe," Mansour said, giving a shoutout to CBS's Jiang, too.

Lara thanked Mansour on X for pulling her under the table to keep her safe.

"If your co-founder isn't protecting you in a shooting situation, find another one," she wrote.

Bilal Zuberi, founder of VC firm Red Glass Ventures

"Pretty scary that our most important leaders of the government were at risk today. President Trump, Vice President Pence, and House Speaker Johnson were all in that room," Zuberi wrote on X.

"From multiple attacks against our president to attacks against politicians around the country, to attacks on politicians and leadership around the world - these are abhorrent, and people everywhere should vehemently oppose and condemn them!" the tech investor added.

Gary Tan, president and CEO of Y Combinator

"I mean… I was definitely under the table. In a shooter situation, you want to be as low as possible," Y Combinator president and CEO, Garry Tan, wrote on X on Sunday.

"As I was under the table with other attendees, Marco Rubio pushed my chair out of the way making a fast exit with Secret Service. I now know we were in no serious danger but in that moment I wondered how many shooters there were and what would mean for 2,000 people in that room."

• A suspect in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting is in custody.
• Photos of the suspect posted by Trump appear to match those on the LinkedIn profile for Cole Allen.
• Allen is a Caltech graduate, an indie video game developer, and a teacher, according to the profile.

Photos of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter posted online by President Donald Trump on Saturday night appear to match the LinkedIn profile of Cole Allen.

Multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, have reported that Allen is the suspect now in custody. Business Insider was not able to independently confirm the suspect's identity. Authorities have not yet publicly identified the suspect by name.

Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the suspect left a "manifesto" that called for the targeting of Trump administration officials.

Here's what we know so far.

Allen, 31, is a resident of Torrance, California. Police conducted a raid on a home in Torrance overnight. Allen describes himself on his LinkedIn as a "mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth."

His current job is listed as part-time teacher at C2 Education, which provides "personalized support designed to improve test scores, strengthen academic skills, and help students reach their full potential."

Allen has been in the role for six years, according to his LinkedIn profile, while also independently designing and building video games, including one he calls "Bohrdom." Allen described the game online as "a skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality."

He graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then earned his master's in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also held a summer student fellowship at NASA in 2014, where he worked at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, said during a press conference after the shooting on Saturday night that Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he tried to bypass a security checkpoint at the event.

In a video Trump posted to his TruthSocial account, the shooter can be seen running at full speed past security officers.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Margaret Brennan on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning that the shooter traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago to DC by train. Blanche also said that the shooter was not cooperating with law enforcement.

Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the defendant has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a law enforcement officer using a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned on Monday.

• The suspect traveled from Los Angeles to Washington by train with two guns, an official said.
• President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated and are safe.
• The accused man will be formally charged in federal court on Monday.

The suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner traveled from Los Angeles to Washington by train and checked into the hotel where the event was held — with two guns and a plan to target Trump administration officials, the nation's top prosecutor said on Sunday.

"We know that there were some writings, and we've already spoken with several witnesses who knew him," Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, said on NBC News' "Meet the Press."

Blanche stressed several times during the interview that the information about the suspect, widely identified by media citing law enforcement officials as Cole Allen, was "very preliminary."

Blanche said the suspect will be formally charged in federal court on Monday morning and faces at least two felonies — assault on a federal officer and discharging a firearm during that assault — that relate to a Secret Service agent who was shot at but protected by his armored vest.

No one else was injured during the chaotic incident at the Washington Hilton, where hundreds of journalists and government officials — including Trump, the first lady, Vice President JD Vance, and House Speaker Mike Johnson — were gathered for the annual celebration of a free press.

The shooting has raised questions about the level of security at the event, which Trump boycotted in his first term and last year. He was quickly hustled off stage and evacuated to the White House after the shots rang out.

A security video posted by Trump on Truth Social hours after the shooting showed an individual running past security officers outside the main doors of the event. Officers in the video could be seen trying to grab the man, then drawing their weapons and pointing their guns at him.

In a press conference following the incident, Trump said a Secret Service agent was shot in his bulletproof vest and said that "he's in great shape."

What we know about the suspect

Photos of the shooter posted online by Trump on Saturday night appear to match the LinkedIn profile and other photos of Allen. Authorities have not publicly named him, and Business Insider has not independently confirmed his identity.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, describes himself on his LinkedIn as a "mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth."

His current job is listed as part-time tutor at C2 Education, which provides "personalized support designed to improve test scores, strengthen academic skills, and help students reach their full potential." He graduated from CalTech in 2017 and earned his master's in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025.

Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said in a press conference following the president's remarks that the suspect was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he tried to bypass a security checkpoint at the event.

The suspect was not struck by gunfire and was transported to a hospital for evaluation, Carroll said.

In remarks after the incident, Trump described the suspect as a "sick person" who had been "totally subdued and under control."

Inside the room when the shooting occurred

The incident occurred after 8:30 p.m. Friday night, shortly after Trump took his seat.

There was suddenly shouting in front of the stage, according to Tim Röhn, the senior editor of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, who attended the event. Business Insider is part of the network.

Röhn reported that pushing and chaos broke out, people started running, guests threw themselves to the floor, and hid under tables. From behind the curtains onstage, heavily armed officers emerged and pointed their rifles at the crowd.

Guests needed a screenshot of an invitation to gain access to the premises and the building, Röhn reported. Photo ID wasn't required. Inside, Secret Service agents patrolled in some areas with dogs, and there was an airport-style security checkpoint in front of the ballroom. Jackets did not need to be removed for security checks.

CBS senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, said law enforcement had requested that everyone leave the premises "consistent with protocol," and that Trump "insists" the event be rescheduled within 30 days.

Röhn reported that, following Jiang's remarks, attendees started leaving the venue.

Suspect to be arraigned on Monday

Blanche said law enforcement had worked through the night to piece together information about the suspect and had obtained warrants to examine his devices in their search for a motive.

"We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack," Blanche told "Meet the Press," adding, "Obviously, President Trump is a member of the administration."

He added, "It does appear he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president, but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that."

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, who was at the dinner, said at a press conference that her office would consider terrorism charges if the investigation revealed evidence sufficient to sustain them.

Responding to reporters' questions during his press conference, Trump advocated for the man to be sentenced to life in prison.

'Praying for our country tonight'

Until the start of the event, it was unclear when Trump would appear and how long he would stay.

Though Trump appeared as a private citizen and media personality in 2011 and 2015, he boycotted the White House Correspondents' Dinner during his first term.

The Washington Hilton hotel, long the site of the annual dinner, is where President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt, just steps outside the hotel after addressing a labor gathering.

Trump was the target of two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign, including a shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left him injured, and a separate incident at one of his Florida golf courses in which a suspect was apprehended and later sentenced to life in prison.

• Senior Editor Tim Röhn was among the attendees at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
• He described the fear and panic in the room after hearing someone shout, "Shots fired."
• He was struck by how "lax" security was at the event throughout the evening.

Just after 8:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, chaos erupts in the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Washington, and a wave of fear sweeps through the room. I am seated at one of roughly 200 tables when I suddenly hear dull, thudding sounds cutting through the loud music.

Barely a second later, people begin throwing themselves to the floor — first in the center of the room, near the stage, then everywhere. I hear someone shout something like "Shooting" or "Shots fired."

I drop down as well, crouching, my eyes fixed on the stage. President Donald Trump, who had arrived only minutes earlier, is rushed away. From behind the curtain, heavily armed officers emerge, pointing their weapons toward the crowd. Secret Service agents sprint through the ballroom, vaulting over tables and chairs. Glass shatters. High-ranking politicians are pulled to safety and ushered out of the room.

It feels like a movie — but this is not Hollywood. This is reality: the storied White House Correspondents' Dinner, with Trump attending as president for the first time, suddenly transformed into the scene of a crime.

Was Trump the target? It wouldn't be the first time. The thought flashes through my mind in those seconds. I think about gun violence in the United States (I moved here only 8 months ago). Shootings happen constantly, everywhere — so why not here, at the Trump dinner? I am shaken, but not surprised.

No all-clear is given, yet after a few minutes, people slowly get back on their feet. Somehow, things must go on. Phones come out; people film, text, try to make sense of what just happened. It remains completely unclear what occurred — only one thing is certain: no one is allowed to leave the ballroom.

When word spreads that a "shooter" has been apprehended in the lobby, I feel a sense of relief. Twice, an announcement follows that the event will resume shortly. But it never does. Trump himself invites the press to the White House for a briefing; the dinner is over. Guests are asked to leave the hotel.

On my way out, I think about the security precautions — or lack thereof — that had struck me as surprisingly lax throughout the evening, given the presence of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and several cabinet members.

A few hours before, traffic outside the Hilton had ground to a halt, and I had jumped out of my taxi about 500 meters away and walked the rest.

Right outside the hotel, there are shouting Trump opponents, some of whom harassed and insulted dinner guests. All it took to gain access to the premises — and the hotel — was flashing a screenshot of an invitation while passing by. Only those heading into the ballroom on a lower level had to pass through a metal detector. No need to remove a jacket. No request for a passport or ID. Once, even activists managed to slip onto the red carpet to protest Trump.

Is that adequate security for such a high-profile event? I wouldn't presume to deliver a final judgment — but I am certain of one thing: it will be debated.

A spokesperson for the Washington Hilton directed Business Insider to the US Secret Service, which it said "served as the lead security organization for this event." Business Insider has also contacted the US Secret Service for comment.

Tim Röhn is the senior editor of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network. Business Insider is part of the network.

• The Presidential Emergency Operations Center was first built for FDR during World War II in 1942.
• The PEOC served as a command center in the aftermath of September 11.
• Trump confirmed the construction of a new military complex beneath the planned White House ballroom.

When people see the White House for the first time in person, they often remark that it looks small from the outside.

Matt Costello, chief education officer and director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, told Business Insider that appearances can be deceiving.

"There's a lot more to the White House than meets the eye," he said. "It has six floors, about 55,000 square feet. There are two sub-basements underneath the house that were part of the Truman renovation. And then, of course, you've got the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. So there's a bigger apparatus, so to speak, for the president and their safety and security than you might expect when you first see it."

The existence of a secure facility beneath the White House, known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the PEOC, or simply the "White House bunker," is something of an open secret, inspiring portrayals in film and TV such as "White House Down" and "24." However, details about its protective and operational capabilities remain classified.

The PEOC has undergone various expansions and transformations through different White House renovations, including the ongoing construction of President Donald Trump's new ballroom where the East Wing once stood.

"I would imagine, like many White House spaces, it's evolved and changed, and it's been updated to have the most advanced telecommunication systems, secure lines, everything that a president or vice president or first family or Cabinet members might need in the event of some kind of national catastrophe or emergency," Costello said. "It is considered the safest place to go on the White House grounds."

Here's what we do know about the PEOC.

The first iteration of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center was built in 1942 to protect President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, a temporary bomb shelter was built in the Treasury Department in 1941.

When Roosevelt expanded the East Wing and added a second story in 1942, a new presidential bomb shelter was built beneath it. It featured a bedroom and bathroom, as well as ventilation masks, food, and communications equipment, all fortified behind concrete walls.

"The best time to construct something underground is when you're building something above ground, especially when it comes to the White House," Costello said.

During these White House renovations, Roosevelt also converted a cloakroom in the East Wing into a movie theater.

The bunker was expanded as part of President Harry Truman's extensive White House renovations from 1948 to 1952.

The four-year, $5.7 million renovation was required to reinforce the entire White House structure, which had begun to sag into the ground. The Trumans temporarily moved to Blair House as workers hollowed out the White House.

"When they do the Truman renovation, where they essentially gut the inside of the house and then rebuild it from the inside out with concrete and steel, they really are fortifying the White House to serve as a bomb shelter," Costello said.

As the world entered the age of nuclear weapons, the PEOC was also expanded and updated during this renovation.

"As there are these wider changes around the world, they impact how presidential security is revisited, reassessed, and then adapted as needed," Costello said.

The PEOC largely remained a theoretical precaution until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

When the first plane hit, Cheney turned on the news in his office at the White House. After the second plane hit, his lead Secret Service agent burst in to escort him to the PEOC, Cheney said in an interview with the American Enterprise Institute in 2011.

Cheney said the Secret Service agent "put one hand on the back of my belt, one hand on my shoulder," and "literally propelled me out of my office."

Cheney was joined in the PEOC by staff members, including National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, and Presidential Counselor Karen Hughes. He advised President George W. Bush, who was in Florida at the time, not to return to Washington, DC, marking the first time in US history that the continuity of government operations plan was implemented.

The PEOC served as a command center in the aftermath of the attacks.

Rare photos of the PEOC on September 11 were released by the National Archives in 2014 as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, offering a glimpse inside the top-secret space.

"As far as I'm aware of, I think those are the only publicly released ones, and they were publicly released because they were forced to be released," Costello said of the images.

The photos showed a conference room with phones, video call capabilities, television screens playing news reports, world clocks, and a map of the United States.

Former first lady Laura Bush wrote about her time in the PEOC on September 11 in her White House memoir, "Spoken from the Heart."

"I was hustled inside and downstairs through a pair of big steel doors that closed behind me with a loud hiss, forming an airtight seal," she wrote in "Spoken from the Heart" of her experience on September 11.

"I was now in one of the unfinished subterranean hallways underneath the White House, heading for the PEOC, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, built for President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II. We walked along old tile floors with pipes hanging from the ceiling and all kinds of mechanical equipment."

Upon returning to Washington, DC, on September 11, President George W. Bush was brought to the PEOC.

Laura Bush wrote in her memoir that George W. Bush arrived at the PEOC at 7:10 p.m. on September 11.

When the Secret Service suggested that she and her husband spend the night in the secure bunker, Laura Bush wrote that they declined because the foldout bed "looked like it had been installed when FDR was president."

In 2020, President Donald Trump was reportedly rushed to the bunker as demonstrators protested the killing of George Floyd outside the White House.

It was widely reported that Trump was taken to the PEOC as a precaution when protesters breached temporary fences outside the White House. Trump told Fox News Radio that he had visited the bunker to inspect it, not to take shelter there.

"I was there for a tiny, short little period of time," Trump said. "They said it would be a good time to go down and take a look because maybe sometime you're going to need it."

When Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he demolished the East Wing and began building a new ballroom, leaving the future of the PEOC below uncertain.

The White House announced that the new ballroom would measure 90,000 square feet, seat around 1,000 people, and serve as a "much-needed and exquisite addition." Trump and other "patriot donors" will fund the $400 million project, the White House said.

Trump confirmed that a "massive" new military complex was under construction beneath the ballroom after the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit to halt the project.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's lawsuit alleged that Trump had no legal authority to demolish the East Wing and replace it with a ballroom.

In March, a federal judge's ruling halted above-ground construction until Congress approves the project, but allowed work related to "the safety and security of the White House" to continue.

Trump then confirmed what the lawsuit had alluded to: a new and improved PEOC was in the works.

"The military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed," he told reporters on board Air Force One on March 29.

He added that the ballroom would essentially function as a "shed" for the secure facility below.

"We have bio defense all over," he told reporters on March 31. "We have secure telecommunications and communications all over. We have bomb shelters that we're building. We have a hospital and very major medical facilities that we're building. We have all of these things, so that's called: I'm allowed to continue building as necessary."

A federal appeals court allowed construction to continue temporarily while it reviews the case more closely, with a formal hearing scheduled for June 5.

• Trump weighed in on prediction markets — and didn't sound too happy about them.
• "The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino," Trump told reporters.
• It came after the DOJ indicted a US soldier for profiting off of the Maduro raid via Polymarket.

President Donald Trump sure doesn't sound like a prediction market enthusiast.

Asked on Thursday if he was concerned about the potential for insider trading on prediction markets, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he was "never much in favor" of betting in financial markets.

"The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino," Trump said. "I don't like it, conceptually, but it is what it is. No, I think that I'm not happy with any of this."

"They have all these different sites, they have 'predictive markets,'" Trump continued. "It's a crazy world. It's a much different world than it was."

Trump's comments came shortly after the Department of Justice indicted a US Army soldier who was involved in the planning of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro. Prosecutors say Gannon Ken Van Dyke used classified information to reap more than $400,000 in profit on Polymarket.

That trade caught the public's attention in early January, leading to the introduction of a raft of bills on Capitol Hill to both rein in the industry and protect against potential insider trading.

On Thursday, Trump said he wasn't aware of the indictment, but joked that the case sounded like when Pete Rose, the former manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was caught betting on his own team.

"Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good. But he bet on his own team," Trump said.

Trump previously told The Washington Post that prediction markets are better than "fake polls," referencing the fact that both Kalshi and Polymarket gave Trump stronger odds of winning the 2024 election than traditional polling.

"They predicted me pretty right… by a landslide," Trump said at the time.

Trump's lament about prediction markets, which seemed to echo some comments that Democrats have made about the industry's impact on society, contrasts with the way his administration has approached the industry.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig, the top federal regulator of prediction markets, has moved to defend prediction market companies in the midst of legal battles with states over sports and elections betting.

"It's something that I think is valuable to society," Selig said of prediction markets in a February podcast appearance.

The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., is also financially involved in the industry, serving as a strategic advisor to Kalshi while investing in Polymarket.

• President Trump will be the first sitting US president to have his signature on the nation's currency.
• The move is symbolic of the nation's "fiscal strength" under Trump, the Treasury announced Thursday.
• Since Trump took office, the dollar has fallen amid sweeping tariffs and global conflict.

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that President Donald Trump's signature will appear on future US paper currency, marking the first time a sitting president's name will be printed on American bills.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a press release, framed the move as symbolic, saying US currency should reflect the country's economic standing under Trump's leadership and serve as a marker of the nation's "fiscal strength and stability."

The decision breaks with long-standing precedent. For more than a century, US banknotes have carried the signatures of Treasury officials — not the president.

The Treasury said the move was to commemorate the coming 250th anniversary of American independence, as the administration pursues a broader effort to mark the milestone through currency and coin redesigns.

New bills bearing Trump's signature, along with that of the Treasury Secretary, will begin being issued at the semiquincentennial, the Treasury said. It's unclear which bills will bear Trump's signature or how long the initiative is expected to last.

"The decision for Trump to end years of precedent of Treasury Secretaries signing bills is another piece of evidence that Trump is trying to brand everything in his name, even though it is unusual and in the mold of what more undemocratic leaders typically do in other countries," Christian Grose, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, told Business Insider.

Grose said the move risks making using cash a partisan act, potentially making Trump's supporters more enthusiastic about cash payments, and Democrats more likely to use electronic payments.

The US dollar has faced downward pressure in recent months, driven in part by sweeping tariffs that have rattled global trade and increased import costs, as well as the ongoing war in Iran, which has heightened geopolitical risk and unsettled currency markets.

Economists have warned that both factors can weaken demand for the dollar by slowing growth and increasing uncertainty.

Trump is sending ICE agents to fill a TSA officer shortage during the government shutdown, but a major federal union warns this could create safety risks.

Scott Galloway never claimed to be an activist.

"I'm too lazy, selfish, socially minded," he told Business Insider on a February call about his unlikely leadership of two movements at once, both with Big Tech in the crosshairs. "I saw an opportunity for a new form of economic activism," he said, "but I'm a long way from being a Cesar Chavez or refusing to give up my bus seat."

Later in our call, he analogizes his "Resist and Unsubscribe" initiative — which urges Americans to unsubscribe from Big Tech to protest the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown — to the 1955-1956 Montgomery bus boycotts. At one point, he calls activists "more noble" than himself. Seconds later, he describes not wanting to "get on a call with a bunch of people in Birkenstocks."

I asked his cohost, Kara Swisher, the same question: Is Scott an activist? Not in a traditional sense, she texted me, or he would have formed a coalition. "I got a lot of pings from people who do organizing that this was a dumb way to do it," Swisher wrote. "It wasn't."

If you don't know Galloway's name, you've certainly seen his clips. The executive-turned-professor-turned-podcaster rakes in millions from his center-left media empire, including four podcasts, two newsletters, and six books, the latest about how young men are socially and economically disadvantaged, thanks in part to Big Tech. He's a sort of shock jock for the TikTok age — and his 400,000 followers there love it.

In recent months, his anti-Big Tech efforts have made him an even bigger lightning rod. He's been disinvited from two speaking gigs, he said, because the hosts didn't "want controversy." (He declined to share which gigs: "I'm hoping they invite me next year.") He's also heard from CEOs or chief marketing officers of 20% of the companies he's targeted, he said, who have mostly been kind. He says he's disappointed because he wishes they felt more threatened.

It's a surprising turn for the serial entrepreneur and business school professor. He's a provocateur, a testosterone-injecting multimillionaire who students call a "dick." Is this the man who can move the masses to quit Amazon Prime cold turkey?

Galloway is a businessman at heart. Even his activism is done through the market.

After federal agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Galloway launched his Resist and Unsubscribe campaign. The best way to catch President Donald Trump's attention, he reasoned, was the market. Since, he said, corporations were providing the "data, infrastructure, and logistics" to assist with Trump's immigration crackdown, it was time for Americans to vote with their dollars.

He wanted to walk the walk — and that meant cutting his own subscriptions. He quickly found that he'd been paying for some duplicates: four Apple TV Plus accounts, three ChatGPT subscriptions. He had four AT&T contracts, of which "three are for Blackberrys and iPads that have been in landfills for the last decade," he told me.

The Galloway family also found some workarounds. His son found a "probably illegal" way to watch the Premier League without Paramount+. He binge-watched "Heated Rivalry" before dumping HBO Max. The hardest app to give up was Uber, which he said on his podcast was costing him $34,000 a year.

On stock ownership, Galloway is more mixed. He's hesitant to sell his Amazon shares while the stock is down, but he said he did sell down almost all of his Apple shares.

"I'm especially offended, personally, by Tim Cook," he said. Galloway said that Cook paints himself as a "soft, gentle, nice guy" while sucking up to Trump at the "Melania" premiere. ("I'm not a political person on either side," Cook recently told Good Morning America.)

He plans to move his money out of Goldman Sachs and is debating whether to choose a regional US bank or the Royal Bank of Canada.

If you're worried that you can't fully unsubscribe, he gets it.

"I don't have entire moral clarity around this," Galloway said. "I still have an iPhone, and I'm not giving it up."

As February came to a close, Galloway felt contented. Resist and Unsubscribe had hit 23 million views on social media and 2 million unique site visits, he said. An estimate on his website shows how much market capitalization the movement would wipe out if 5% of visitors canceled two subscriptions. As of this story's publication date, it calculated just over $281 million in losses.

When Galloway first started talking about the plight facing America's young men five years ago, it produced a "gag reflex," he said. People compared him to manosphere influencer Andrew Tate and accused him of misogyny.

Galloway has said that young men are more economically and socially disadvantaged than young women. He points to the stats. Young men account for only 42% of students at four-year universities, and 63% of young men are single. "If you go into a morgue and there are five people who died by suicide, four are men," he said.

His book, "Notes on Being a Man," published in November, is a how-to guide for the disenfranchised young man in your life. Of course, young people are reading for pleasure less and less. His most encouraging feedback comes from mothers, Galloway said.

The book has also received plenty of criticism. In her review in The New Yorker, Jessica Winter writes that Galloway thinks "men should still rank above women in the social hierarchy, but just not as much as before."

Galloway seemed taken aback. "I think that's a total misinterpretation of what I've written about," he said. Those on the left — which he groups The New Yorker into — seemed to think that young men don't have problems, he said. "They are the problem."

"We have decided, in the social hierarchy, young men are less deserving of empathy than women," Galloway said.

Galloway also faced misogyny accusations from women online after calling himself a "'50s dad" who wasn't sure if there should be mandatory paternity leave. He said that dads are a "waste of time" in the first few months of a child's life, and that their only jobs are to keep babies from drowning and "make sure moms don't lose it." In The New York Times, Jessica Grose called it "loud and wrong."

On this subject, Galloway was more remorseful. "The comments on paternity leave were meant to be funny," he said. "They weren't. It was stupid, and so far I've paid a fairly significant reputational price."

He was less sympathetic to the Times, which he said "made a cartoon out of my comments so that they could play guardians of gotcha."

Stirring up controversy has long been part of Galloway's brand. Why not double down?

"I try to be provocative, I try to be funny, I try to say what I'm thinking," he told me. "Against paternity leave? No, that's absolutely not the message I want to communicate."

It's easy to think that Galloway hates Big Tech to the bone.

Tech is the target of both of his movements. He accuses the industry of helping to push young men down; in his book, he analogizes Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg to heroin dealers standing outside a middle school. Then, for Resist and Unsubscribe, he asks you to stop paying these companies entirely.

Indeed, on our call, Galloway spared no barbs for the tech CEOs. "I don't think there's any way feasible that he could be described as a good person," he said of Zuckerberg.

But the tech industry is full of his friends, his former coworkers, and the people who made him rich. Galloway is an entrepreneur, after all; he made (some of) his millions on the sale of the business intelligence firm, L2. He wrote a book about Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, which he called a "love letter."

Of the executives targeted by Resist and Unsubscribe, Galloway said that half are acquaintances, a quarter are "friendly" with him, and one or two are friends. "I find that they're, on the whole, good people," he said of tech executives.

That's what makes his shift to organizing so surprising. He's not raging against an industry from the outside; he could well be part of the in-crowd if he wanted to. He was a successful business executive with a vengeful spirit, then a snarky podcaster — and now a man trying to save the world.

Galloway said that humans are "net gainers" from Big Tech — but that we're also net gainers from pesticides and fossil fuels. What's Big Tech's emission? "Rage," he said.

Pesticides and fossil fuels are regulated by the government. For tech, we often rely on a benevolent CEO, Galloway said. He's not sure they exist anymore.

"If we're waiting on the better angels of Mark Zuckerberg to show up, don't hold your breath," he said.

• Netflix's co-CEO said he's asked President Donald Trump to avoid tariffs on foreign-made films and TV.
• Ted Sarandos said he thinks tax incentives are a better bet to boost US production.
• Global filmmaking has been a key differentiator for Netflix in the streaming wars.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos doesn't think tariffs are the right way to boost US movie and TV production — and he thinks he's gotten through to President Donald Trump on the issue.

"He has brought up tariffs for the movie and television industry many times, and I've hopefully talked to him the way out of them," Sarandos said in a new interview with POLITICO, which, alongside Business Insider, is part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network.

Trump has been keen on using tariffs to encourage more filming in the US. In May, he announced on Truth Social a plan to impose a 100% tariff on films produced outside the US. He hasn't implemented it so far.

Trump's plan to add tariffs on foreign movies stemmed from a desire to slow production declines in Hollywood and other areas of the US that "are being devastated" by filming incentive programs abroad, he wrote in his May announcement on Truth Social.

Los Angeles production work has been dropping off for years, and the city's media professionals are feeling the pain. Overseas filming hubs like London have been courting production work by offering big cost-saving incentives.

Sarandos said he'd prefer the US use similar tax incentives to bring filming back home.

"Healthy incentive programs attract a lot of production, and you've seen a lot of them move from California to Georgia to New Jersey," Sarandos told POLITICO. "Having the incentives versus tariffs is much better."

The tariff structure for a movie, which isn't a physical good, isn't entirely clear. A White House spokesman said in a statement shortly after Trump's announcement that "no final decisions on foreign film tariffs" had been made and that the administration was "exploring all options to deliver on President Trump's directive to safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again."

A fee on foreign productions could become very expensive for Netflix, which has released a slate of international films and TV shows over the years, including "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Squid Game," and "Adolescence."

Netflix's global reach and its ability to turn a South Korean or German drama into a global hit have been key differentiators for the company, which is expected to spend as much as $20 billion on content this year.

• Oil climbed on Sunday as the US and Israel's war with Iran entered its third week.
• The near closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt the global oil supply chain.
• Higher oil prices mean higher prices for Americans at the pump and in other goods.

Oil futures climbed in early trading on Sunday as the US and Israel's war with Iran entered its third week, disrupting the global supply chain.

Brent oil reached $106.33, up nearly $3 from when the market closed on Friday. West Texas Intermediate hit $101.19 on Sunday.

For Americans, surging oil prices mean spending more at the pump. The national average price for gasoline hit $3.69 on Sunday. Gas prices have surpassed $3 in all 50 US states for the first time since 2023.

The International Energy Agency said last week the war has caused the largest oil market disruption in history, and that global oil supply will drop by 8 million barrels per day in March.

Kevin Hassett, the US director of the National Economic Council and a top aide to President Donald Trump, said Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that the US is working to minimize the fallout for American consumers.

"The big problem right now would be energy prices, and we're watching and monitoring closely," Hassett said.

Much of the instability in the oil market stems from the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran controls and through which about 20% of the world's petroleum passes. Trump has called on other nations to help secure the strait, but has so far received either lukewarm replies or none at all.

Attacks on major oil hubs are also likely driving up prices. Trump said late Friday that the US had "totally obliterated" military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, where refineries process almost all of the nation's oil exports.

The president threatened to target oil infrastructure on the island if Iran continued to prevent ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. An attack on the key Iranian oil center would further destabilize the global oil market.

In response, Iran said that ports, docks, and "American hideouts" in the United Arab Emirates could be targeted. Fire later broke out near the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the only multipurpose maritime facility on the UAE's east coast and a major oil depot, on Saturday. The local government said an intercepted drone caused the fire.

Any end to the conflict, meanwhile, appears to be a long way off. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Sunday that there has been no discussion of a ceasefire.

"We are only defending our people from this act of aggression," Araghchi said on "Face the Nation."We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time."

• First lady Melania Trump is keeping a relatively low profile during Donald Trump's second term.
• She divides her time between homes in Florida, New York, and DC.
• The first lady released a documentary, "Melania," in January.

It's a refrain dating back to the first Trump White House: Where's Melania?

First lady Melania Trump, who remained an enigmatic figure during President Donald Trump's first term, has often kept a low profile during his second.

Ahead of the 2025 inauguration, Melania Trump told Fox News that she planned to divide her time between the White House, Trump Tower in New York City, and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

This schedule has, at times, made her an infrequent White House presence. However, the winter has been a busier time for the first lady, between the White House Christmas decorations and the premiere of her documentary, "Melania," in January.

Melania Trump's muted fashion choices could also indicate her desire to remain out of the spotlight. At White House events, she has largely appeared wearing neutral basics in black, beige, cream, and gray. It's a departure from the bold outfits she often chose during Donald Trump's first term.

A spokesperson for the Office of the First Lady declined to comment.

Take a look at the first lady's White House activities and appearances thus far.

January 20, 2025: Melania Trump attended the inauguration.

Melania Trump held the Bible as Donald Trump was sworn in for his second non-consecutive term, and the couple danced together at several inaugural balls later that evening.

For the swearing-in ceremony, Melania Trump wore a navy coat and skirt by Adam Lippes, an American designer. She accessorized with a matching wide-brimmed hat by Eric Javits.

Her black-and-white inaugural gown was designed by Hervé Pierre.

January 21, 2025: The president and first lady joined Vice President JD Vance and Usha Vance at the National Day of Prayer Service.

The service, the last of Donald Trump's inaugural events, was held at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

January 24, 2025: Melania Trump and Donald Trump visited California and North Carolina to survey damage caused by natural disasters.

Melania Trump joined Donald Trump to visit Los Angeles in the aftermath of multiple wildfires and neighborhoods in North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Together, they met with first responders and residents who had lost their homes and businesses. Melania Trump was photographed hugging and shaking hands with those affected by the natural disasters.

February 22, 2025: Donald Trump and Melania Trump hosted the National Governors Association dinner at the White House.

Melania Trump wore a black Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, similar to the outfit she chose for her official White House portrait, while posing for photos with governors from across the US.

Donald Trump thanked Melania Trump in his speech, saying that she "made the evening beautiful."

March 3, 2025: She participated in a roundtable discussion on the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act targeting revenge porn.

"TAKE IT DOWN" is an acronym for "Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks."

The act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, and requires websites to remove them.

"Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm," Melania Trump said in her opening remarks.

She wore a tan three-piece suit by Ralph Lauren with a black tie.

March 4, 2025: Melania Trump attended Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress.

The first lady's guests included the families of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was fatally shot during an assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Laken Riley, who was killed by a man who had entered the US illegally.

Melania Trump wore a gray skirt suit by Dior.

April 1, 2025: She attended the International Women of Courage Awards.

Melania Trump, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, presented awards to several notable women in a ceremony held at the State Department. She wore a leopard-print coat designed by Milly Park.

"These extraordinary women illuminate the transformative power of love in shaping our world," she said in her remarks at the event. "Their journeys remind us that true courage is born from a deep commitment to others, showing that love fuels the call for justice."

April 2, 2025: She spoke at the annual Congressional Club's First Lady's Luncheon.

"Our community flourishes when we unite to uplift our children and equip them to turn dreams into reality," she said in her speech.

April 21, 2025: She appeared alongside Donald Trump at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Melania Trump read the book "Bunny with a Big Heart" to a group of children at the event while wearing a cream Mackage trench coat.

April 25, 2025: Donald Trump and Melania Trump departed the White House together to travel to Pope Francis' funeral.

The president and first lady were among several world leaders who attended the late pope's funeral in Vatican City.

May 8, 2025: She hosted an event for military mothers and unveiled a US postage stamp honoring Barbara Bush at the White House.

"I applaud Mrs. Bush's mark defending our society's vital need for women across all avenues, whether CEO or homemaker," Melania Trump said at the unveiling. "We have, can, and will build better families and run innovative businesses at the same time, ultimately shaping a brighter future."

She wore a white suit jacket paired with a black pencil skirt.

May 19, 2025: Melania Trump spoke at the signing ceremony for the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act in the Rose Garden.

The bill, which was first presented to Congress in 2024 before Donald Trump took office, received widespread bipartisan support.

"Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation: sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," Melania Trump said in her remarks at the signing ceremony.

The first lady wore a gray Prada suit for the event.

May 20, 2025: Melania Trump hosted a Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event for children in the Kennedy Garden.

The first lady greeted the children of White House staffers as they participated in an arts-and-crafts activity.

"It is always special to see children's creativity and spirit on display, especially here at the White House where so many hardworking men and women support the success of our nation every day," she said in a White House statement.

She wore a white Dolce & Gabbana button-down shirt and a patterned skirt by Michael Kors.

May 21, 2025: She spoke at the Senate Spouses Luncheon held at the National Gallery of Art.

Melania Trump, wearing a white skirt suit, spoke about her Be Best platform, which focuses on children's well-being, and her Fostering the Future initiative, which supports children transitioning out of foster care.

"Together, we will uplift and empower our children, ensuring they have the support needed to thrive," the first lady wrote in a post on X. "Let's continue this vital mission and inspire a brighter future for all!"

June 11, 2025: She accompanied Donald Trump to the opening night of "Les Misérables" at the Kennedy Center.

Melania Trump wore a black midi dress designed by Bottega Veneta, while Donald Trump wore a black tuxedo.

Second lady Usha Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s wife Cheryl Hines wore midi dresses similar to Melania Trump's.

June 12, 2025: She greeted attendees at the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House.

Melania Trump shook hands and took selfies with members of Congress and their families at the annual White House event. She paired a basic white shirt with vibrant floral pants by Dolce & Gabbana.

June 14, 2025: Melania Trump attended the US Army's 250th anniversary parade alongside Donald Trump.

The military parade featured 150 Army vehicles, 50 aircraft, and around 6,600 troops in uniform making their way down Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, to mark the US Army's historic anniversary. June 14 was also Donald Trump's 79th birthday.

Melania Trump escorted Donald Trump onstage for his remarks at the event, but did not issue any statement of her own. She wore a pinstriped ivory skirt suit by Adam Lippes.

July 3, 2025: She visited Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, ahead of July Fourth.

After arriving at the hospital carrying toys for children, the first lady chatted with patients, took part in July Fourth-themed crafts, and visited the hospital's healing garden, which features a rose bush from the White House.

July 4, 2025: Melania Trump appeared beside her husband at Fourth of July events at the White House.

The first couple watched the July Fourth fireworks display from the White House. They also hosted a military family picnic on the South Lawn earlier in the day.

Also that day, Donald Trump signed his tax and spending bill, which he dubbed his "Big Beautiful Bill," after it was passed by the House of Representatives on July 3.

She wore a white shirtdress by Thom Browne.

July 11, 2025: The president and first lady visited central Texas towns devastated by flash flooding.

The first couple visited Texas a week after the Guadalupe River in Kerr County rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes as rain battered the region, leaving more than 130 dead. The Trumps met with families of victims, first responders, and local officials.

"It's a horrible thing, it's a horrible thing," Donald Trump told the press as he departed the White House on July 11. "Nobody can even believe it — that much water that fast."

At a press conference in Texas, Melania Trump said, "My deepest sympathy to all of the parents who lost beautiful young souls — deepest sympathy from all of us to the community, to everybody who lost a loved one. We are grieving with you. Our nation is grieving with you."

July 13, 2025: They attended the FIFA Club World Cup final, which Melania Trump watched from behind a striking pair of Dior sunglasses.

Donald Trump and Melania Trump watched Chelsea defeat Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Donald Trump, who received both cheers and boos at the game, called it "a great match."

Melania Trump watched the game from behind her bright-white Dior sunglasses, which resembled the Vuarnet glasses worn by Sam Altman at Sun Valley just days earlier. She wore them with a black-and-white Michael Kors outfit.

September 4, 2025: Melania Trump attended a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education.

The task force was created in April as part of Donald Trump's executive order, "Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education For American Youth."

"Our future is no longer science fiction," Melania Trump said at the meeting. "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children — empowering, but with watchful guidance."

The first lady wore a gray striped suit with a white shirt and belt.

September 4, 2025: After her task force meeting, she joined Donald Trump for a White House dinner with tech and business leaders.

The guest list included Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Tim Cook among over a dozen tech and AI executives. Elon Musk was not in attendance, though he sent a representative to the event.

During the dinner, Altman called Donald Trump a "pro-business, pro-innovation president," and Cook thanked the president for "helping companies around the world" and the first lady for "focusing on education."

Melania Trump changed into a black outfit for the gathering.

September 11, 2025: The president and first lady attended a ceremony at the Pentagon on the 24th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

They observed a moment of silence in memory of those who were killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

September 16, 2025: She joined Donald Trump on a state visit to the UK.

Donald Trump and Melania Trump disembarked from Air Force One at London Stansted Airport and were greeted by British soldiers and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

September 17, 2025: They received a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle with King Charles and Queen Camilla.

A horse-drawn carriage ride transported them to Windsor Castle, where troops were assembled in a Guard of Honor. Afterward, they viewed items from the Royal Collection and toured St George's Chapel.

Melania Trump accessorized her Dior skirt suit with a purple hat that matched Donald Trump's tie.

September 17, 2025: Later that evening, Melania Trump wore a yellow Carolina Herrera gown to a state banquet at St George's Hall.

Donald Trump was escorted into dinner by King Charles, and Queen Camilla entered with Melania Trump.

September 18, 2025: Charles and Camilla said farewell to Donald Trump and Melania Trump on the final day of their state visit.

"He's a great gentleman and a great king," Donald Trump said of Charles after their formal goodbye at Windsor Castle.

September 18, 2025: Melania Trump visited Queen Mary's Dolls' House with Queen Camilla and Frogmore Gardens with Kate Middleton.

Melania Trump changed from a tan skirt suit to a tan jacket and cream slacks, which were better suited for playing lawn games with children from the Scouts' Squirrels program at Frogmore Gardens.

September 23, 2025: The first lady launched a new project at the United Nations General Assembly.

Back in the US, Melania Trump launched a global coalition called "Fostering the Future Together" dedicated to "enhancing the well-being of children through the promotion of education, innovation, and technology," the White House said.

October 5, 2025: She joined Donald Trump to mark the Navy's 250th anniversary.

The president and first lady greeted sailors and observed demonstrations during a visit to the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia.

October 10, 2025: Melania Trump spoke about her connection with Russian President Vladimir Putin that helped reunite displaced children.

Melania Trump wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in August, urging him to end the war in Ukraine to restore the "melodic laughter" of children displaced by the conflict.

In October, she announced that her "open channel of communication" with Putin had helped reunite eight Ukrainian children with their families.

October 30, 2025: The president and first lady handed out candy at the White House for Halloween.

Neither dressed up in a Halloween costume — Donald Trump wore one of his signature red hats, and Melania Trump wore a brown coat with orange trim by Marni.

November 13, 2025: Melania Trump launched a new "Fostering the Future" initiative.

In the East Room of the White House, Trump signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the foster care system as part of Melania Trump's new "Fostering the Future" initiative.

The program, an extension of the first lady's "Be Best" initiative, aims to enhance opportunities for young people in foster care, including connecting them with educational and employment resources.

"This Executive Order, 'Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, ' gives me tremendous pride," Melania Trump wrote on X. "It is both empathetic and strategic. It will certainly be impactful."

November 18, 2025: Melania Trump and the president welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia to a state dinner.

The couple welcomed the prince, who had met with Trump earlier in the day, to a state dinner at the White House.

The first lady wore a floor-length Elie Saab gown in what The New York Times dubbed "Saudi green," noting it was a similar hue to the green of Saudi Arabia's flag.

November 19, 2025: Usha Vance joined her while visiting military families and schools in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Melania Trump and Usha Vance stopped by DeLalio Elementary School on the Marine Corps Air Station New River, part of the Camp Lejeune Community Schools system.

November 24, 2025: Melania Trump welcomed the Official White House Christmas Tree.

The Official White House Christmas tree, an 18-foot concolor fir from Sidney, Michigan, was displayed in the Blue Room as part of the first lady's White House Christmas decorations.

Melania Trump wore a cream Christian Dior coat with red gloves and Manolo Blahnik heels in holiday plaid.

November 25, 2025: The president and first lady pardoned a turkey in the Rose Garden.

Donald Trump pardoned two turkeys named Gobble and Waddle. Melania Trump stood beside him in a brown tweed skirt by Ralph Lauren and a matching bomber jacket by Anine Bing.

November 30, 2025: After spending Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump and Melania Trump returned to the White House.

The first lady arrived on the White House lawn in an olive Burberry coat and sunglasses.

December 1, 2025: Melania Trump and Usha Vance made another joint appearance, this time at an American Red Cross holiday event.

Melania Trump and Usha Vance wrote holiday cards and assembled care packages for deployed US military service members at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The first lady's wool shirt jacket and turtleneck were both by Ralph Lauren. She also wore brown skinny jeans and knee-high boots by Christian Louboutin.

December 4, 2025: Melania Trump and Donald Trump attended the National Christmas Tree lighting on the White House Ellipse.

Melania Trump wore a white Chanel coat as she performed the honors, pressing the button to illuminate the 32-foot-tall red spruce.

December 5, 2025: Melania Trump read the book "How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?" at a Children's National Hospital holiday event.

It was a busy day for the first lady. Later that night, she also welcomed singer Andrea Bocelli to the White House and attended the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

December 7, 2025: The president and first lady walked the red carpet at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.

Melania Trump's black Givenchy gown may have been a nod to LVMH, the conglomerate that owns Givenchy as well as Tiffany, which designed the new Kennedy Center medallions awarded to honorees.

December 8, 2025: She was joined by Santa Claus at a Toys for Tots charity drive at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

The first lady wore a white coat by Proenza Schouler as she greeted military families and supporters of Toys for Tots.

"This Christmas season, you, your friends, and your families should wish for the ultimate gift — love," she said in her remarks at the event. "After all, love travels further than Santa's sleigh and America's Ospreys."

December 11, 2025: Melania Trump spoke at the Congressional Ball held at the White House.

Wearing a Dolce & Gabbana suit with a black lace top, Melania Trump thanked legislators for their "overwhelmingly bipartisan support" for the Take It Down Act.

December 12, 2025: The president and first lady hosted a holiday reception at the White House.

Melania Trump wore a white skirt suit, while Donald Trump wore his signature red tie.

December 24, 2025: On Christmas Eve, Donald and Melania Trump called US service members and spoke to children while participating in the NORAD Santa Tracker.

The president and first lady spent Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, which has often functioned as Donald Trump's "winter White House."

On Christmas Eve, they called US service members to wish them a merry Christmas and fielded calls from children while tracking Santa Claus with the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The first lady wore a black Valentino dress with embroidered sleeves and black Christian Louboutin heels.

December 31, 2025: Melania Trump wore sparkles to Mar-a-Lago's annual New Year's Eve party.

Melania Trump's silver sequined dress was designed by The New Arrivals.

January 28, 2026: Melania Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange while promoting her documentary, "Melania."

"Superior storytelling drives culture, and in turn, moves markets," the first lady said in her remarks. "In the near future, cultural influence will matter as much as economic power."

She wore a black coat dress with a leather belt.

January 29, 2026: After holding a private White House screening, Melania Trump attended the world premiere of her documentary at the Kennedy Center.

She walked the red carpet wearing a black Dolce & Gabbana skirt suit alongside Donald Trump.

February 4, 2026: The first lady met with freed Israeli hostages Aviva Siegel, who appeared in "Melania," and Keith Siegel.

Aviva Siegel was held hostage in Gaza by Hamas for 51 days and freed as part of a temporary ceasefire brokered by the Biden administration. She previously met with Melania Trump while her husband, Keith Siegel, was still held in Gaza, in a scene featured in the "Melania" documentary. Keith Siegel was eventually freed after 484 days, and a title card at the end of the film notes that Melania Trump "played a key role" in securing his release.

When a reporter asked Melania Trump if it was appropriate to promote her documentary at a White House event, she responded that meeting with the Siegels was "not promotion."

"We are here celebrating the release of the hostages, of Aviva and Keith," she said. "They were in Washington, DC, and they called me. They said they would like to come over to thank me and to give hugs, and that's why we are here. It's nothing to do with promotion."

The first lady wore a black suit with a white button-down shirt.

February 11, 2026: Melania Trump participated in Valentine's Day craft projects at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

Ahead of Valentine's Day, Melania Trump visited children receiving medical treatment at the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She wore a khaki dress with a red belt.

February 13, 2026: The president and first lady visited troops at an Army base the day before Valentine's Day in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

"Love letters have symbolized the union of patriotism and family devotion among our soldiers for 250 years," Melania Trump said at the event. "The harmony of love of country and love of family is what makes us uniquely American. It is this very balance which strengthens our military and builds our communities."

The first lady wore a tan wool Dolce & Gabbana coat with red leather boots from Vivian.

February 20, 2026: She donated her inaugural gown to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, as is traditional for first ladies.

Melania Trump is the first non-consecutive first lady to donate an inaugural gown to the Smithsonian for a second time.

Her gown was designed by Hervé Pierre and paired with a reproduction of a 1955 diamond brooch by Harry Winston.

"Human nature resides in the discipline of detail," Melania Trump said in her speech at the museum. "Everything is in the detail. It's a testament as to why America's fashion industry can lead the rest of the world."

February 21, 2026: She accompanied Donald Trump at a White House dinner with state governors.

Donald Trump invited only Republican governors to the dinner, which was held in the East Room.

Melania Trump wore a black blouse with metallic pants from Dolce & Gabbana.

February 24, 2026: Melania Trump presented the Medal of Honor to a veteran at the State of the Union.

Captain E. Royce Williams, 100, was part of the longest aerial engagement in the Navy's history during the Korean War, a battle kept classified for decades due to Soviet involvement.

Melania Trump wore a charcoal Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit.

March 2, 2026: Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting.

Melania Trump became the first sitting first lady to preside over the UN Security Council, where she spoke about the importance of children's safety and education around the world.

"Security Council members, I encourage you to pledge to safeguard learning in our communities and promote access to heightened education for all," she said in her remarks. "I implore you to build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education."

The first lady wore a gray skirt suit cinched with a black belt.

March 7, 2026: The president and first lady attended the dignified transfer of six US soldiers who were killed in the Middle East.

Melania Trump wore an all-black ensemble as the soldiers' remains were returned to the US at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

March 12, 2026: Melania Trump appeared at a White House Women's History Month event with Donald Trump.

"To all of the young women, entrepreneurs, and future leaders: make time for yourself," Melania Trump said in her speech. "Educate yourself daily and spread your passion. Be courageous and take risks. Advance your profession through inspiration. Be a bold chief executive while keeping your family, if you choose so, at the center of your nation's future."

Melania Trump wore a black crewneck sweater with a leopard-print skirt.