You've read all the day's big stories.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper publicly rejected President Trump's characterization of news coverage about the Iran conflict as treasonous, according to The Hill. Said Tapper: "Reporting these facts isn't treason, and it's deranged for any president to say such a thing and potentially dangerous for the reporters he's targeting."
Cuban officials announced the country has exhausted its oil and diesel supplies amid a deepening humanitarian crisis and increasing pressure from the Trump administration, which has threatened potential military action if Cuba does not change its government on U.S. terms, according to The Hill.
The crisis unfolds against a backdrop of decades-old U.S. sanctions rooted in Cold War tensions, which have significantly constrained Cuba's access to international energy markets.
President Trump said he does not think about Americans' financial situation, according to The Bulwark. The admission is one of several on-camera contradictions documented by Will Saletan, who also flags Trump claiming oil could reach $300 per barrel while separately taking credit for falling gas prices.
The chief executive of ActBlue, the Democratic Party's primary small-dollar fundraising platform, has agreed to testify before Congress regarding the organization's procedures for screening foreign donors, according to The New York Times. Republicans in Congress have directed scrutiny at ActBlue over whether its vetting processes adequately block illegal foreign contributions to Democratic candidates at federal and state levels.
President Trump called Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) a "sleazebag" and "disloyal disaster" on the day of Louisiana's Senate primary, according to The Hill. Said Trump on Truth Social: "Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA. Now he's going to get CLOBBERED."
The Trump administration allowed a waiver designed to encourage Russian crude sales to lapse, tightening global oil supply at a moment when the Iran war is already raising concerns about fuel costs, according to Bloomberg Politics. The decision comes as U.S. gasoline prices face upward pressure from Middle East supply uncertainty, with the expiring waiver removing one mechanism that had offset some of that tightness.
Democratic strategists are urging the party to move away from Trump-focused attacks and toward bread-and-butter economic concerns as the central argument for the 2026 midterms and 2028, according to The Hill. Working-class voters, the argument goes, want less about hating Trump and more about kitchen-table issues.
Kentucky's 4th District Republican primary, in which President Trump campaigned to remove Rep. Thomas Massie, has drawn $25.6 million in spending, making it the most expensive House primary contest in U.S. history, according to The Hill.
Said AdImpact, the ad-tracking firm: the $25.6 million total is the highest recorded for a House primary.
Defense equipment prices across Europe have climbed more than 50 percent over the past two years as NATO member states accelerate military spending, according to Bloomberg Politics. Said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur: "European nations are seeing higher prices for defense supplies that have climbed in some cases by more than 50% in the last two years."
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate Virginia's new congressional map, which voters had approved but the state Supreme Court struck down, according to The Hill. Said Gov. Abigail Spanberger: "The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes" of Virginians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Beijing on May 19–20 for a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to CBS News. Said former U.S. Trade Representative negotiator Wendy Cutler: "So far, it doesn't seem like Trump and his team have a lot to show for the visit" — a reference to Trump's own China summit, which concluded less than 24 hours before the Kremlin announced Putin's trip.
President Trump called Sen. Bill Cassidy "a disloyal disaster" and "a terrible guy" on Saturday, backing Rep. Julia Letlow in Louisiana's Republican primary against the Senate Health Committee chair, according to STAT News. Cassidy's campaign and a supporting super PAC spent a combined $21.9 million on the race through Saturday, compared to roughly $9.9 million between Letlow's campaign and her backing PAC, per ad-tracking firm AdImpact; if no candidate clears 50 percent, a runoff is scheduled for June 27.
Public health experts assessed the risk to cruise travelers as low following a hantavirus outbreak that drew renewed attention to disease surveillance aboard ships, according to The Hill. Hantavirus is typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, not person-to-person, limiting the outbreak's potential spread in a shipboard setting.
President Trump mentioned imprisoned Hong Kong media owner Jimmy Lai during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to The Hill. Said Lai's daughter Claire: "We don't know the details of the conversation" between the two leaders, but she praised Trump for raising her father's case.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said President Trump communicated directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping that Washington intends to maintain the Taiwan status quo, including a planned arms sale to the island, according to The Hill. Said Waltz: "I think the president was quite clear that it is going to be status quo going forward."
Sen. Bill Cassidy sits in third place in the Republican primary for his Louisiana Senate seat, behind a Trump-backed challenger, according to Politico. The two-term incumbent has faced sustained political pressure since casting one of seven Republican votes to convict Donald Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial.
The Supreme Court ruled that a new congressional map approved by Virginia voters cannot be used, finding legal flaws in the process that produced the referendum, according to NBC News. The map had been designed to increase the number of Democratic-leaning districts in the state.
Kevin Warsh, widely expected to become the next Federal Reserve chair, has been privately arguing that the Fed should scale back its public commentary and forward guidance, according to RealClearPolitics. The position would mark a significant departure from the communication-heavy posture the Fed has maintained since the 2008 financial crisis.
President Trump returned to Washington after a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that covered trade, Taiwan, and Iran but produced no formal agreements, according to NBC News. Said Trump at a state banquet: the two countries share a "deep sense of mutual respect" — though markets fell in the days following the talks, and Secretary of State Rubio told reporters U.S. policy on Taiwan remains "unchanged."
An Oklahoma court ruled that public pension funds must be managed solely in the financial interests of retirees, not directed by political mandates, according to The Hill. The decision reinforces fiduciary duty as the governing standard for public retirement systems, limiting the ability of state officials to redirect pension investments for political purposes.
President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe among the senior officials involved in related discussions, according to RealClearPolitics. Matthew Spalding, author of "The Making of the American Mind," joined analysts assessing the summit's implications for the bilateral relationship.
Sen. Bill Cassidy faces a Louisiana reelection race testing whether his 2021 vote to convict Donald Trump in the post-January 6th impeachment trial remains a liability with Republican primary voters, according to NPR Politics. Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump, making him one of the few in that group to seek another term.
President Trump defended his earlier remarks that he was not factoring Americans' cost-of-living concerns into negotiations to end the conflict with Iran, according to The Hill. Said Trump on Fox News: "That's a perfect statement. I'd make it again."
The United States and China agreed to reduce levies on certain products to promote bilateral trade, according to Bloomberg Politics. Said China's Commerce Ministry in a statement: the two sides would lower tariffs on unspecified goods as part of the agreement.
Louisiana voters went to the polls for a primary that includes a U.S. Senate race, several statewide contests, constitutional amendments, and local races in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, according to Bloomberg Government. Said Bloomberg Government congressional reporter Victoria Knight on Bloomberg This Weekend: the Senate contest is among the most closely watched races on the ballot.
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said the United States is losing credibility as a global power willing to defend its interests while China accumulates wealth and influence, fundamentally reshaping how the rest of the world views the two nations, according to Bloomberg Politics. Said Dalio: the dynamic amounts to a new "tribute system" centered on China's ascent.
President Trump traveled to Beijing for diplomatic talks while U.S. military operations against Iran continued and the 2026 primary season moved forward, according to NPR Politics.
President Trump announced that U.S. and Nigerian military forces conducted a joint operation killing a senior ISIS commander described as "the most active terrorist in the world," according to The Hill. Said Trump: "Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission."
Rising diesel and fertilizer prices, driven by the Iran conflict, are pushing Midwest farmers into their most severe financial stress in decades as planting season begins, according to Axios. Said Mark Mueller, Iowa Corn Growers Association president: "The current landscape is more challenging than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis" — a period when soaring interest rates and collapsing exports triggered agricultural bank failures across the region.
Estonia's foreign minister warned European allies against entering direct negotiations with Russia, arguing that Ukraine currently holds the advantage on the battlefield and that engaging the Kremlin now would squander that position, according to Bloomberg Politics. The minister did not name specific countries but said Europe should not take "the Kremlin's bait."
Large U.S. employers including Deloitte and Zoom are reducing workplace benefits that expanded during pandemic-era labor shortages, with paid parental leave, fertility subsidies, and 401(k) matches now under review, according to Axios. The pullbacks follow years of competitive benefit packages and reflect rising health-care costs, diminished worker leverage, and increased corporate spending on artificial intelligence.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, leaving the agency without confirmed leadership in its top post and in its drug and biologics divisions, according to STAT News. Said former FDA principal deputy commissioner Joshua Sharfstein: "The administration's norm-shattering masks a more fundamental misunderstanding of how administrative power can bring about lasting change," adding that Makary and deputy Vinay Prasad repeatedly overruled staff scientists and announced policy by press release rather than through official vetted documents.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is in danger of losing his Republican primary, five years after voting to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, according to The Washington Post. Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump following the January 6 Capitol attack.
President Trump arrived in Beijing for a summit with Chinese leaders as the ongoing U.S. war with Iran and domestic economic pressures complicated his negotiating position, according to the Washington Post. The visit comes roughly one year after Trump launched his second-term foreign policy agenda with promises of a new era in great-power relations.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) drew sharp criticism from fellow Democrats after appearing on Fox News and defending President Trump, according to The Hill. Said one unnamed Democratic critic, per the report: Fetterman, once touted as a working-class populist capable of winning over independents and Republicans, is now seen by some in his caucus as turning his back on the party ahead of the 2026 cycle.
Jamie Ager, a North Carolina farmer, is running for Congress by separating himself from the national Democratic Party in an attempt to win a rural seat, according to the Washington Post. The race is being watched as a test of whether Democrats can recover ground in rural districts they have steadily lost over the past two decades.
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he did not "want to say" whether the United States would defend Taiwan militarily, raising questions about U.S. commitments to Taipei following his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to The Hill. Said Trump: "I don't want to say."
Congressional aides and former staff say sexual harassment remains widespread on Capitol Hill despite measures enacted nearly a decade ago to make complaints easier to file, according to The New York Times. The 2016-era reforms lowered procedural barriers but did not eliminate the power imbalances that discourage staff from reporting misconduct against sitting lawmakers.
Political campaigns and outside groups are directing money to social media influencers to promote political priorities while bypassing disclosure requirements, according to The New York Times.
The arrangement exploits a gap in campaign finance law that leaves audiences with no way to identify who is funding the content they see.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Beijing on May 19-20 for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Bloomberg Politics. The visit follows Xi's summit with President Trump in the Chinese capital by only days, positioning the Putin-Xi meeting as a direct sequel to the U.S.-China talks.
China's commerce ministry formally objected to the European Union's use of its Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the second official rebuke from Beijing in two days, according to Bloomberg Politics. A day earlier, China's justice ministry had characterized EU cross-border probes under the same regulation as "improper extraterritorial jurisdiction."
Sen. Bill Cassidy faces his first Louisiana voters since his 2021 vote to convict Donald Trump, running against Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow, former Rep. John Fleming, and businessman Mark Spencer in Saturday's Republican primary, according to Roll Call. Said Trump of Cassidy on Truth Social: "a very disloyal person" — a rebuke tied to Cassidy's role, as HELP Committee chair, in blocking surgeon general nominee Casey Means; a super PAC supporting Cassidy has spent more than $10 million on the race.
Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research since December, is leaving her post, according to CBS News. Said one agency source when Høeg was appointed: "Putting Tracy Beth in charge is like dropping an atom bomb." Her departure comes three days after FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary resigned amid internal disputes, including over the administration's decision to approve flavored e-cigarettes over Makary's reported objections.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeanne Shaheen called on the Trump administration to allow a sanctions waiver covering purchases of Russian oil to lapse at its scheduled expiration just after midnight Saturday, according to The Hill. Said Shaheen: "Tonight, when the current license for Russian oil expires, it should not be renewed."
A delegation of prominent American chief executives traveled with President Trump to Beijing for his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the New York Times. The CEOs were seeking market access and relief from U.S.-China trade tensions that have disrupted their supply chains and export relationships.