The Latest: Trump welcomes Bahrain crown prince after signing nuclear energy deal

President Donald Trump will welcome Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to the White House on Wednesday. It’s the latest example of how the president has courted Arab leaders from the Gulf, where Trump recently visited.

The United States and Bahrain have that will pave the way for the two countries to enter into a formal civilian-nuclear cooperation deal as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to enhance global energy security.

Here’s the latest:

Trump defends Bondi, says she’s ‘done very good’ on the Epstein case

The president complained that Attorney General Pam Bondi has been “waylaid” over her handling of the case, but that he thinks “she’s doing a great job.”

Bondi has given out “credible information” about Epstein “and if she finds any more credible information she’ll give that, too,” he said.” What more can she do than that?”

Trump said Bondi has “bigger problems” to work on and cited the administration’s work to remove criminals who are in the U.S. illegally.

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Trump continues criticizing his supporters over Epstein conspiracy theories

Although parts of the president’s base have clamored for more information about the Jeffrey Epstein case, Trump has made it clear that he’s done with the story.

“It’s all been a big hoax,” he said in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.”

Trump echoed a social media post earlier in the day, when he said talking about the case distracts from his accomplishments.

Trump opens his meeting with flattery

Sitting with the crown prince of Bahrain, he described the Gulf nation as a “fantastic ally.” He said they would discuss trade and other topics.

The prince said they would announce $17 billion of investments in the United States, which “builds upon a legacy that we’re very proud of.”

Trump only wants a Federal Reserve chair who would cut interest rates

The president said Wednesday that he wants to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with someone who would cut interest rates, setting one of the criteria for candidates seeking to lead the U.S. central bank.

“I’m only interested in low interest people,” Trump told reporters.

The White House is pressuring Powell over the cost of renovating Fed buildings, but Trump has been outspoken in attacking Powell for declining to the Fed’s benchmark interest rate until the inflationary impact of the president’s tariffs is reflected in the data.

Trump insists that inflation is low and has suggested anyone with a brain could be the Fed chair.

“It’s not a tough job, to be honest, assuming you’re smart,” he said. “It might be one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever seen.”

Trump floats Powell dismissal in meeting with lawmakers

The president indicated in a private meeting late Tuesday that he is leaning in favor of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The comments came in a meeting with House Republicans in the Oval Office, according to a White House official.

During the meeting, which was scheduled on a separate matter, Trump asked lawmakers how they feel about Powell, and they expressed support for dismissing him, said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

In response, the president communicated that he was leaning in that direction, according to the official.

— By Seung Min Kim

Bahrain’s crown prince arrives at the White House

Trump met his guest at the door to the West Wing. He did not answer questions about the potential for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Maine clinics sue over Medicaid defunding

One piece of the big budget and policy measure Trump signed this month sought to cut off Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood affiliates.

But the nation’s biggest abortion provider isn’t the only organization hit by the cuts.

Maine Family Planning sued Wednesday seeking to have reimbursements for its clinics restored. The group says it can be hard for many people in rural Maine to access health care without it.

Medicaid is already barred under federal law from covering most abortions. This defunding measure impacts other services – including contraception, cancer screenings and primary care – offered by certain abortion providers.

A judge has already restored Planned Parenthood’s reimbursements for now.

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Trump slams his own supporters as he tries to move past Epstein ‘SCAM’

Trump faces mounting criticism from his political base over the Justice Department’s failure to release much-hyped records in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bulls---,’ hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote on his Truth Social site Wednesday morning.

He goes on to say: “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

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Rubio says US ‘very concerned’ by surge in Israel-Syria violence, seeking a restoration of ceasefire

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he had just been on the phone with “relevant parties” and hoped to have an update later Wednesday.

“We want the fighting to stop because we had a ceasefire,” he said. “Overnight it broke down, so we’re talking with both sides, all the relevant sides, and hopefully we can bring it to a conclusion.”

Earlier Wednesday, the Israeli military launched are airstrikes in the heart of Damascus, hitting the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters and near the presidential palace in the hills outside the capital.

Clashes have raged for days in the southern Syrian city of Sweida between government forces and Druze armed groups, and Israel has launched dozens of strikes targeting government troops and convoys. Israel says the strikes are in support of the religious minority group, and has vowed to escalate its involvement.

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Trump to sign Louisiana senator’s fentanyl bill into law

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., asks a question during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy’s office says he has been pushing the HALT Fentanyl Act since 2021.

The bill would make permanent a 2018 emergency rule that classifies the synthetic opioid and its knockoffs as Schedule I controlled substances. That change would result in harsher sentences for possession of the drug.

The White House has a bill-signing ceremony scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

US and Bahrain pave the way for a civilian-nuclear cooperation deal

The U.S. and Bahrain signed the agreement as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to enhance global energy security.

The deal will open up negotiations on what is known as a “123 agreement.” It will allow U.S. and American companies to invest in and construct nuclear energy projects in Bahrain, an island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia with a population of around 1.5 million people.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani signed the memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, after Rubio signed a similar agreement with Malaysia last week.

“The United States is prepared to be partner with any nation on Earth that wants to pursue a civil nuclear program that clearly is not geared towards weapons and or threatening the security of their neighbors,” Rubio said.

Huckabee makes surprise visit to Netanyahu’s trial

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s visit to the courthouse was a rare act of involvement in his host country’s internal affairs. It comes after Trump condemned the trial as a “witch hunt.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

Huckabee said Wednesday’s appearance was a matter of “representing what the president has said repeatedly.”

“The president has made his position very clear,” Huckabee said ahead of his visit to the courthouse in Tel Aviv. “It’s a personal thing for him. He considers the prime minister a friend.”

After the visit, Huckabee reposted Trump’s call for the trial to be thrown out and added the comment: “My conclusion? Trump is right…again.”

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A look inside a lab making the advanced fuel to power growing US nuclear energy ambitions

Near signs that warn of radioactive risk at Oak Ridge ��ɫֱ�� Laboratory, a half-dozen workers from the nuclear power company X-energy are making what appear to be gray billiard balls. Inside, they’re packed with thousands of tiny black spheres that each contain a speck of uranium enriched beyond what today’s power plants use.

The United States is chasing a new age of nuclear power that banks on domestic production of reactor fuel like X-energy is making, and though the work at Oak Ridge is unfolding across just 3,000 square feet, X-energy and others are already revving up for big production.

President Trump set a goal of quadrupling domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, to speed up development. A could be operational around 2030.

But just like cars won’t run without gas, those plants won’t run without fuel. To expand nuclear energy long-term, the nation must maximize its nuclear fuel production, .

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Wholesale inflation can indicate where inflation might be headed

Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably measures of health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.

Inflation began to flare up for the first time in decades in 2021, as the economy roared back with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns. That prompted the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs helped bring inflation down from the peaks it reached in 2022, and last year the Fed felt comfortable enough with the progress to cut rates three times.

But it has turned cautious this year while it waits to see the inflationary impact of Trump’s trade policies. Trump has on the Fed to cut rates, a move that threatens the central bank’s independence.

US producer prices unchanged, with wholesale inflation remaining under control

U.S. wholesale inflation cooled last month, despite worries that Trump’s tariffs would push prices higher for goods before they reach consumers.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — was unchanged last month from May and up 2.3% from a year earlier. Both measures came in below what economists had expected.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices were also unchanged from May and up 2.6% from June 2024.

The report on wholesale inflation came a day after the last month rose 2.7% from June 2024, the biggest year-over-year gain since February, as Trump’s sweeping tariffs pushed up the cost of everything from groceries to appliances.

Trump’s schedule, according to the White House

1. 11 a.m. ET — Trump will greet and host a meeting with Bahrain’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa

2. 3 p.m. — Trump will participate in a bill signing ceremony

3. 7 p.m. — Trump will have dinner with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani

Some Republicans remain skeptical of the rescissions package

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was particularly concerned about a lack of specifics from the White House.

“Nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Collins said. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”

The Office of Management and Budget acts as a nerve center for the White House, developing its budget, policy priorities and agency rule-making.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she didn’t want the Senate to be going through numerous rounds of rescissions.

“We are lawmakers. We should be legislating,” Murkowski said. “What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told: ‘This is the priority and we want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round.’ I don’t accept that.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Collins and Murkowski joined with Democrats in voting against the Senate taking up the measure, but the large majority of Republicans were supportive of Trump’s request.

Trump administration says it is ending deployment of 2,000 ��ɫֱ�� Guard troops in Los Angeles

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the decision Tuesday in a statement.

Roughly 4,000 ��ɫֱ�� Guard troops and 700 Marines had been deployed. It was not immediately clear how long the rest would stay. The troops were tasked with protecting federal buildings and guarding immigration agents as they carry out arrests.

The president of about 4,000 California ��ɫֱ�� Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in early June to respond to protests against immigration raids in and around Los Angeles.

Their deployment went against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sued to stop it.

A district court judge initially said Trump acted illegally in deploying the Guard over Newsom’s opposition, but an appeals court said the administration could keep control of the troops. The case is ongoing.

Newsom said the ��ɫֱ�� Guard’s deployment to L.A. has pulled troops away from their families and civilian work “to serve as political pawns for the President in Los Angeles.”