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Jury selection begins in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial
03:14
Trump says he plans to reopen Alcatraz prison
01:50
Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz prison for worst criminals
00:20
Dave Portnoy reacts to antisemitic incident at Philadelphia Barstool Sports bar
01:23
Last-minute rush to get a Real ID
01:58
Father accused of killing sheriff’s deputy after son’s death
01:47
Air traffic controller shortage leads to delays at major travel hub
00:54
Warren Buffett sounds alarm on trade war
01:08
Exclusive: Trump defends second term agenda in new interview
03:16
Pilot dies in small plane crash in California’s Simi Valley
00:30
Former Michigan officer takes stand in trial over fatal shooting of unarmed man
03:30
Fight breaks out inside Kansas courtroom during murder sentencing
01:54
Video shows woman using racist slur on playground
00:50
California searches for new ways to combat the homelessness crisis
05:39
Voters in Texas to decide whether Elon Musk will get his own SpaceX-run city
04:40
Mississippi man spends 940 days waiting in jail for trial that never came
04:48
Derby dirt: Keeping the Churchill Downs track in perfect shape
03:17
Science drives horse safety at Churchill Downs
02:41
Illinois man sentenced to 53 years in prison for hate crime murder of Palestinian-American boy
02:26
‘It stinks, but it’s a job’: Scooping poop at the Kentucky Derby
02:07
Live Video
Watch live coverage as President Trump delivers remarks at the White House where he is expected to announce that the 2027 NFL draft will be held in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the plans.
UP NEXT
Jury selection begins in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial
03:14
Trump says he plans to reopen Alcatraz prison
01:50
Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz prison for worst criminals
00:20
Dave Portnoy reacts to antisemitic incident at Philadelphia Barstool Sports bar
01:23
Last-minute rush to get a Real ID
01:58
Father accused of killing sheriff’s deputy after son’s death
A small group of veterans, their chests decorated with medals and legs covered in blankets, sat on the front row watching the ceremony. More veterans took part in the parade, some saluting, others blowing kisses to the crowds. Some held tulips and other flowers.
Germany finally surrendered on May 8, now known as Victory in Europe Day. Liberation Day in the Netherlands is celebrated on May 5, a day after the country observes two minutes of silence to honor its war dead.
Like Tusk, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans used the occasion to call for renewed efforts to nurture peace.
“War and aggression are back in Europe and it is up to us to protect peace,” he said.
Events across Europe marking the end of the 1939-45 war come as the traditional friendly links with the United States, whose forces helped liberate the Netherlands and much of the continent, are fraying. The European Union and the administration of President Donald Trump are now embroiled in a trade war.
Tusk appealed for unity at a time of global insecurity.
“Genuine solidarity between people and nations that will prevent the evil from shaping our present and future,” he said. “The time of Europe’s carefree comfort, joyous unconcern is over. Today is the time of European mobilization around our fundamental values and our security.”
Donald Trump and NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker discuss the economy, immigration and more. Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado overcome the odds to win the Kentucky Derby. Plus, a look at a potential favorite to succeed Pope Francis ahead of the conclave to elect a new Catholic leader.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump defends the economy, says he won’t seek a third term in ‘Meet the Press’ interview
In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, President Donald Trump downplayed fears from his critics about the economy, skirted a question about whether he has to “uphold the Constitution” when it comes to due process for immigrants and weighed in on whether he would run for a third term as president. The interview at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, covered an array of issues he has addressed in his first 100 days in office.
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Trump’s approval numbers have slid modestly amid a flurry of executive actions that have tested the constitutional limits of presidential power over the size and scope of the government, the due process rights of noncitizens and the punishment of opponents. Still, Trump waved away concerns about his expansive tariffs program.
Here’s what Trump had to say about…
→ The economy, as he implements tariffs: “Look, yeah. Everything’s OK. I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
→ Whether he would uphold the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, which concerns due process: “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer.” Trump suggested his wishes to rapidly carry out mass deportations may take precedence over giving immigrants the right to due process.
→ Seeking a third term: “I’ll be an eight-year president; I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important.” It was his clearest indication yet that he won’t try to extend his stay at the White House, but he didn’t name a potential successor.
→ Calling out CEOs for business tactics he doesn’t agree with, which he did last week to Jeff Bezos when it was reported that Amazon will begin to list tariff charges on certain purchases: “If I think that somebody’s doing something that’s incorrect, wrong or maybe hurtful to the country, I’ll call. Wouldn’t you want me to call?”
→ A military parade he wants to host on June 14, which is both Flag Day and his birthday: “Peanuts compared to the value of doing it,” Trump said. Defense officials said the estimated cost could be as high as $45 million.
Trump also expressed optimism that lawmakers can reach a July 4 deadline to pass a bill to push forward his agenda; said he will not take TikTok away from Americans; and predicted his policies will prove popular enough that Republicans will retain control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm election.
Several prominent Catholics criticized Trump after he posted a seemingly AI-generated image depicting himself as pope.
Kentucky Derby’s winning jockey overcame an injury and the odds
Jockey Junior Alvarado celebrates atop of Sovereignty after winning the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3.Alex Slitz / Getty Images
On a muddy track at Churchill Downs, 9-to-1 outsider Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, with favorite Journalism ending up in second place. Jockey Junior Alvarado, who took home $3.1 million in winnings, achieved his first career win in horse racing’s signature event after five previous losses.
But even before Saturday, Alvarado had already pulled off an upset of his own, bouncing back from a hairline fracture in his shoulder two months ago that left him sidelined for weeks. “Every day since I got the injury I kept telling God, ‘Please heal me, please heal me,’” Alvarado said. “If it’s meant to be, I know you’re going to put me right back in action before the Derby.” His prayers were answered. Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott also assured Alvarado the horse was his to ride once he recovered. The rest was history. Read the full story here.
Israeli ministers okay plan to capture all of Gaza
Israel plans to expand its military offensive in the Gaza Strip and seize the entire Palestinian enclave, an Israeli official with knowledge of the matter told NBC News Monday.
The new plan, which was earlier approved unanimously by the country’s security cabinet, foresees a full Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, and making sure humanitarian aid does not fall into Hamas’ hands.
Israel, before the last ceasefire went into effect, had already taken full control of a third of the Palestinian enclave.
On Sunday, the Israeli army began calling up tens of thousands of its reserve soldiers to “intensify and expand” its presence in an attempt to increase the pressure on Hamas to return the remaining hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack.
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial is set to begin today in New York with jury selection. The trial comes after his arrest in September, when he was indicted by federal prosecutors. He faces five criminal counts, including one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has pleaded not guilty and vehemently denied wrongdoing.
The federal case revolves around four alleged victims who are all expected to testify over the course of what is predicted to be a monthslong trial. Here’s what else to know about allegations in the case, the judge and more.
NBC News will be following the action closely. Sign up to receive a newsletter with exclusive reporting and analysis throughout the trial.
Guatemalan mother and days-old baby detained at border
A Guatemalan woman who gave birth to an American baby less than a week ago is being held along with her newborn in ICE custody as she faces deportation, U.S. officials said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that the woman was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol agents and hospitalized after she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally between checkpoints in Arizona while she was eight months pregnant. The spokesperson said she gave birth in a hospital “under supervision” and was transferred to ICE custody after she was discharged by medical staff. Luis Campos, a lawyer for the woman, told NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson that his client gave birth last Wednesday.
Campos said he believes the woman will be deported and her child will be removed with her, despite the newborn’s status as a natural-born U.S. citizen. In recent weeks, three other U.S. citizen children from two families were removed from the country with their mothers under what representatives and critics have characterized as rapid deportation that aims to circumvent their right to due process. Federal border agencies have denied the allegation. Read the full story here.
Read All About It
The federal government will resume collecting defaulted student loan payments from millions of people, starting today. Here’s what to know. Meanwhile, pessimism is running high among this year’s new college graduates, who face a tougher job market than in past years.
Philadelphia police are investigating and a Temple University student has been suspended after an alleged antisemitic incident at a Barstool Sports bar. Barstool founder Dave Portnoy also commented on the incident.
Is kissing someone who just ate gluten safe for people with celiac disease? New findings suggest the answer is yes.
Lady Gaga’s team said they found out about an alleged bomb threat through media reports after Brazilian authorities announced they thwarted an alleged attack at her Rio de Janeiro concert on Saturday.
Staff Pick: The ‘Asian Francis’ possibly in contention to be the next pope
Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle attends a mass at St Peter’s basilica in The Vatican, on April 30.Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images
Who will be the next pope? Good question. The bigger question: Which way will the Catholic Church’s pendulum of liberal-versus-conservatism swing? The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor begins Wednesday, and one favorite to be elected is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines.
Tagle, 67, has been dubbed the “Asian Francis” for his emphasis on poor and marginalized people. But what makes his potential selection interesting is his country of origin. Despite being the biggest Catholic nation in Asia and the third-largest in the world, the Philippines is one of the more LGBTQ-friendly countries in the region, opening the possibility of continuing Francis’ embrace of gay Catholics into the next papacy.
But Tagle also has been dogged by a record of poor administration in his role leading a Vatican organization, making for a big decision for the 100-or-so cardinals this week. — Jeremy Mikula, weekend platforms director
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
A portable blender makes whipping up smoothies, protein drinks or the occasional frozen margarita quick and easy. Here are the nine best portable blenders to shop. And if you’re looking to spruce up your apartment with rental-friendly upgrades, consider these tricks.
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This year’s new college graduates are heading into a tougher job market than last year’s — who had it worse off than the class before that — just as the Trump administration cracks down on student loan repayments.
Recent grads’ unemployment rate was 5.8% as of March, up from 4.6% a year earlier, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported last week. The share of new graduates working jobs that don’t require their degrees — a situation known as “underemployment” — hit 41.2% in March, rising from 40.6% that same month in 2024.
“Right now things are pretty frozen,” Allison Shrivastava, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, said of entry-level prospects. “A lot of employers and job seekers are both kind of deer-in-headlights, not sure what to do.”
Employers and job seekers are both kind of deer-in-headlights, not sure what to do.
Allison Shrivastava, economist, Indeed Hiring Lab
That squares with Julia Abbott’s experience.
“I just feel pretty screwed as it is right now,” said the psychology major who’s graduating this month from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She said she’s applied to over 200 roles in social media and marketing, but “minimal interviews come out of it.”
Internship postings typically rise sharply in early spring, but they’re lagging 11 percentage points behind last year’s levels, Indeed said in April. The hiring platform sees demand for interns as a stronger gauge of new grads’ job prospects than entry-level postings, which increasingly target people with at least a few years’ experience.
In a worrying sign for the class of 2025, internship openings are “far below where they were in 2023 and 2022, when the labor market was exceptionally competitive,” Shrivastava said.
Young college grads have historically seen lower unemployment levels than the labor force overall, and they still do. But as The Atlantic pointed out Wednesday, this gap has narrowed to a record low, taking some of the shine off the traditional benefits of a bachelor’s degree.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is restarting the “involuntary” repayment of federal student loans in default, a move that could sap money from paychecks, tax refunds, Social Security payments and disability and retirement benefits from millions of borrowers.
Repayments were paused during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2020 in response to Covid-19. The pandemic-era reprieve from forced collections ends Monday, just as a new TransUnion report finds a record share of federal student loan borrowers are 90 days or more past due and at risk of default — at 20.5% as of February, up 10 percentage points from five years earlier.
The debt crackdown comes as workers across the labor force confront a tougher hiring landscape. Employers added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April, government data showed Friday, but analysts were quick to flag warning signs ahead.
Average pay growth has slowed to a crawl, and unemployment metrics indicate it’s taking longer for people looking for work to secure it. While the latest jobs numbers point to a “resilient” labor market, “we should curb our enthusiasm going forward given the backdrop of trade policies that will likely be a drag on the economy,” Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, said in a statement Friday. “The outlook remains very uncertain.”
These headwinds are making many employers increasingly cautious about hiringyoung graduates.
Employers have pulled back plans to hire more new grads over just the last six months, according to a February and March survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which polled major companies including Chevron, PepsiCo and Southwest Airlines. While most said their new-grad recruitment plans are holding steady, the share of respondents planning to expand entry-level hiring dipped to 24.6% this spring. That’s down from 27% last fall and the lowest rate since autumn 2020, during the depths of the pandemic.
In March, NACE released salary projections showing a mixed picture for the class of 2025, with social sciences graduates set to see a 3.6% drop in pay since last year, while agriculture and natural resources majors were on track for a 2.8% bump over their ’24 predecessors. The estimates, however, were based on employer survey data from last fall, weeks before Trump took office.
“I’m not surprised that new hiring is being restricted,” said Andy West, a senior partner at the consulting firm McKinsey who advises CEOs on corporate strategy and finance. He said some clients are increasingly discussing ways to “reallocate resources” amid tariffs and other macroeconomic worries, he said. As employers hunt for cost cuts and stability, many tend to zero in on expenses that fluctuate over time, including payrolls.
It just feels really scary, like walking into this world and not having something set out for me.
Julia Abbott, James Madison University, class of 2025
“When it comes to hiring and talent, often these are very short-term decisions around slowing down,” he said.
Class of ’25 job seekers are adjusting their expectations to the tighter market.
More than half have ditched the “dream job” plans they entered college with, according to a February survey by the grads-focused hiring platform Handshake. And 56% of current seniors are somewhat or very pessimistic about launching into the workforce right now. That’s about the same share as last year, but outlooks are down more sharply in fields like computer science, where over a quarter of seniors with that major voiced extreme pessimism.
Anxiety around landing a first full-time job is common among college students, but the deep uncertainty this year threatens to put a damper on commencement season.
“I can’t really celebrate my past four years,” said Abbott, the JMU senior. “It just feels really scary, like walking into this world and not having something set out for me.”
The central African nation of Rwanda is in discussions with President Donald Trump’s administration on a possible deal to accept deported migrants from the United States, the country’s foreign minister said late Sunday.
Olivier Nduhungirehe told state broadcaster Rwanda TV that early talks were under way, according to Reuters news agency. The news followed multiple news reports that the U.S. was seeking an international partnership to deport people, amid an ongoing crackdown on foreign visa holders, student activists and suspected criminal gang members.
“We are in discussions with the United States,” Nduhungirehe said in the interview, according to Reuters. “It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing …. still in the early stages.”
NBC News contacted the Rwandan government in the capital, Kigali, for comment. The White House was also asked for comment overnight.
On the campaign trail Trump promised to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in U.S. history and in office he has deported many to El Salvador and elsewhere, with ongoing legal action questioning the legality of some ICE arrests, detentions and removals.
At least three people have died and five more were wounded after multiple shooters opened fire Sunday night in Glendale, Arizona, police said.
Public information officer Moroni Mendez of the Glendale Police Department said at a news conference Sunday night: “There are three dead people from this incident, and there’s a total of five other victims having sustained some sort of injury from either shrapnel or gunshot wounds.”
The details of the shooting are scarce and Mendez said it was unclear whether two rival groups were firing at each other.
“Whether they know each other, whether they’re related, whether they’re allies or opponents, we don’t know yet, and that’s what we’re trying to solve and figure out,” Mendez said.
There have been no arrests, but Mendez added that there is no ongoing threat to the public.
No information would be available on the identity of the victims while next of kin were informed. Police said they planned to continue to investigate the scene through the night.
Earlier, police said they received multiple reports of a shooting at an establishment near 57th Drive and Lamar Road around 7:45 p.m.
An unidentified witness told NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix that the restaurant El Camarón Gigante was holding a family-friendly Cinco de Mayo party with dozens of people of all ages in present at the time of the shooting.
The witness had just left the restaurant, he told the station, when he heard more than 20 shots ring out over the course of 15 to 20 seconds. After a roughly 30-second pause, about 10 more shots were fired, he said.
The witness said he applied pressure to the wounds of a woman who had been struck more than once. He also said he saw paramedics “doing pretty heavy-duty chest compressions” on three people, as well as someone conscious and breathing being taken out via stretcher.
Mendez said more than one person opened fire, but there were no immediate arrests. “Quite a few people” were detained, but officers were trying to determine whether they were victims, witnesses or suspects, he said.
No police officers fired their weapons, Mendez said.
He called it an “enormous scene” that would likely take investigators “well until the daytime hours” to clear.
The Mexican Consulate in Phoenix said on Facebook that it was offering assistance to any Mexican citizens after the shooting.
Israel’s security cabinet on Monday approved plans to expand its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to public broadcaster Kan, and has begun calling up tens of thousands of its reserve soldiers.
On Sunday, meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile attack at Israel’s main international airport, Ben Gurion, hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security cabinet meeting to discuss “the next stage” of the war in Gaza, according to a video message he posted on X Sunday.
The Israeli military said it will mobilize its reservists to “intensify and expand” its fighting against Hamas in an attempt to increase the pressure on the militant group to return the remaining hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attacks.
“We are increasing the pressure with the aim of returning our men and defeating Hamas,” Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a statement Sunday, adding that the troops would “operate in additional areas and destroy all infrastructure above and below the ground.”
Displaced residents taking refuge at a school in Gaza City on Sunday. Mahmoud Abu Hamd / Anadolu via Getty Images
Morethan 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive, including thousands of women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Some 1,200 people were killed during the militant group’s attacks in southern Israel, with around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
A Guatemalan woman who gave birth to an American baby less than a week ago is being held along with her newborn as she faces deportation, U.S. officials said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Sunday that the woman was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol agents and hospitalized after she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally while she was eight months pregnant.
She gave birth in the hospital “under supervision,” the spokesperson said. She was discharged by the medical staff and transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement as she awaits a court date, the spokesperson added.
A CBP spokesperson said in a separate statement Saturday that the woman “illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico between ports of entry near Tres Bellotas Ranch” in Arizona last week.
The location is on federal land just north of the U.S.-Mexico border along a desolate stretch of the Sonoran Desert about 72 miles south-southwest of Tucson.
Following hospitalization, the CBP spokesperson said, “processing” was completed and the unnamed mother was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge. Upon completion of the processing, the spokesperson said, she was given the opportunity to contact a lawyer.
“This morning, custody of the woman was transferred to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations with a court date to appear before an immigration judge,” the CBP spokesperson said Saturday. “The child remains with the mother.”
A lawyer for the woman, Luis Campos, told NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson on Friday that his client gave birth Wednesday and that he had been denied access to her during her time under hospital care at Tucson Medical Center.
A spokesperson for the medical center did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Reuters reported Saturday that the mother “avoided fast-track deportation after intervention by” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who the publication said had intervened.
“While Gov. Hobbs supports securing the border, she has been clear in her opposition to inhumane immigration enforcement practices,” Hobbs’ spokesperson, Liliana Soto, said Friday on X. “The governor will continue fighting to protect the constitutional rights of every Arizonan and keep our communities safe.”
Hobbs’ press office did not immediately respond to a request for more information Sunday.
The CBP spokesperson said Saturday that the mother had no right to legal representation until processing was completed and she had a court date.
The spokesperson’s statement mentioned the woman has a child, but it did not mention she had just given birth in custody. It described her as “eight months pregnant” when she was apprehended north of the border.
“She was immediately given the opportunity to contact an attorney” following processing and the establishment of a notice to appear, the spokesperson said. “At all times, agents followed the law and adhered to CBP procedures. No entitlements were denied.”
The DHS spokesperson’s statement Sunday confirmed that the woman had crossed into the United States with an “unborn child.” It characterized her as having been “rescued” by CBP agents.
Both DHS and CBP said the child has remained with her.
Campos said he believes the woman will be deported and her child will be removed with her, despite the newborn’s status as a natural-born U.S. citizen. “The child will probably go with her,” he told KVOA.
He said he hopes to apply for asylum for the woman because she feared for her life in Guatemala.
Experts have said growing violence in Mexico along its border with Guatemala — where Guatemalans are known to work seasonal jobs in agriculture — along with a lack of job opportunities in their homeland have inspired tens of thousands of Guatemalans to trek north to the United States.
President Donald Trump’s early second term in the White House has brought a promised crackdown on those in the United States illegally.
One of the recently removed children is a 4-year-old with Stage 4 cancer and a treatment regimen in the United States, representatives of his family have said.
Trump’s border “czar,” Tom Homan, said April 28 that the mothers requested that their citizen children depart with them. “This was a parental decision,” he said.
The mothers, however, said they were given no choice but to keep their young ones with them while they were being deported, according to a lawyer representing one of the families.
Under an executive order, the Trump administration has also sought to end the kind of birthright citizenship — automatic U.S. nationality granted to almost anyone born in the country and its territories — to which the Guatemalan mother’s newborn is otherwise entitled.
Federal courts paused the order, and the administration has requested emergency intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the matter May 15.
President Donald Trump said Sunday he will direct several federal agencies to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz,” a facility that for decades was a federal prison and is now a national park.
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he added.
Alcatraz Island, a former military fortress and prison in San Francisco Bay, was turned into a federal penitentiary in 1934 and over the course of 29 years housed more than 1,500 people “deemed difficult to incarcerate elsewhere in the federal prison system,” according to the National Park Service.
According to aNational Park Service study, it was initially deemed unfit to serve as a federal institution because of its small size, isolated location and lack of fresh water. However, Sanford Bates, the director of the Bureau of Prisons in 1933,later found it “an ideal place of confinement for about 200 of the most desperate or irredeemable types.” It was formally opened as a federal penitentiary the next year.
Trump suggested in his post that he’d like to restore the facility to that purpose.
“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” he wrote.
The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, the average population of Alcatraz during its use was 260 to 275. The facility never reached its capacity of 336 people, and it held less than 1% of the total federal prison population.
Trump seemed to suggest the island could be used to house some undocumented immigrants he has been seeking to remove from the country, making a pointed reference in his post to “judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals who came into our country illegally.”
Trump in March sent more than 200 deportees he accused of being Venezuelan gang members to a terrorism confinement center in El Salvador, arguing his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act enabled him to do so, even though a federal judge blocked the effort.
A Trump-appointed federal judge last week rejected Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the alleged Venezuelan gang members.
Trump decried the judicial rulings in explaining his rationale for reopening the prison Sunday evening, describing Alcatraz as a famous “symbol of law and order.”
“The judges, so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single, think of it, every single person that’s in our country illegally,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday evening. “That would mean millions of trials, and it’s just so ridiculous what’s happening.”
Trump similarly announced an effort in March to detain immigrants he’s seeking to deport in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but concerns about the legality and the cost of the move have led the administration to reconsider the plan.
It is unclear how feasible the move is considering ongoing budget constraints at the Bureau of Prisons, which told a union representing some of its staff members in Decemberthat it planned to close several facilities.
Alcatraz closed as a penitentiary in 1963, according to the Bureau of Prisons, because of expensive operating costs further heightened by the physical isolation of the island, which meant all food and supplies had to be delivered by boat.
“An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” the Bureau of Prisons wrote of the penitentiary’s closing.
Nearly a decade later, in 1972, Congress established the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, which included Alcatraz Island. The complex opened to the public a year later, and it has gone on to become among the most popular National Park Service sites, according to the agency, hosting more than 1 million visitors annually.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, whose district includes the island, said Trump’s proposal “is not a serious one,” noting on X that it is now “a major tourist attraction.”
A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom also downplayed the legitimacy of the idea.
“Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.,” said Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Newsom’s deputy director of communication.
BOSTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday repeatedly invoked the Constitution and said it is what “binds us all together” after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
Pence received the award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021,” the JFK Library Foundation said.
“To forge a future together, we have to find common ground,” Pence said. “I hope in some small way my presence here tonight is a reminder that whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations. …. It’s what makes us one people.”
His comments came hours after an interview with Trump aired in which he was asked whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens both deserve due process as laid out in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Trump was noncommittal.
“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump said when pressed in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. It was taped Friday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and aired Sunday.
Pence never mentioned Trump during his 10-minute speech but made several references to the Trump administration.
Referencing what he called “these divided times, in these anxious days,” he acknowledged that he probably had differences with the Democrats in the room but also with his own Republican Party “on spending, tariffs and my belief that America is the leader of the free world and must stand with Ukraine until the Russian invasion is repelled and a just and lasting peace is secured.”
Trump pressured Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud. Pence refused, saying he lacked such authority. When a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some chanted that they wanted to “hang Mike Pence.” Pence was whisked away by Secret Service agents, narrowly avoiding a confrontation with the rioters.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote at the time on X, formerly Twitter, as rioters moved through the Capitol and Pence was in hiding with his family, aides and security detail inside the building.
Pence rejected the Secret Service’s advice that he leave the Capitol, staying to continue the ceremonial election certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory once rioters were cleared.
In describing his role, Pence told the audience that “by God’s grace I did my duty that day to support the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States of America.”
“Jan. 6 was a tragic day but it became a triumph of freedom. History will record that our institutions held,” he said in his speech. “Leaders in both chambers, in both political parties reconvened the very same day and finished democracy’s work under the Constitution.”
JFK’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, who along with his grandson Jack Schlossberg presented the award, said Pence’s actions that day were a reminder that democracy must not be taken for granted.
“At the time I thought Vice President Pence was just doing his job,” she said. “Only later did I realize that his act of courage saved our government and warned us about what could happen and is happening right now.”
The Profile in Courage Award, named for a book Kennedy published in 1957 before he became president, honors public officials who take principled stands despite the potential political or personal consequences. Previous recipients of the award include former Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.
Pence has emerged as one of the few Republicans willing to take on the Trump administration.
His political action group, Advancing American Freedom, campaigned against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation’s health agencies. He’s delivered speeches urging the president to stand with longtime foreign allies and posted an article he penned more than a decade ago on the limits of presidential power after Trump claimed that, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
