In his remarks to business leaders this afternoon, President Donald Trump once again criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates as he would like him to.

“I have a guy in the Fed that I’m not a huge fan of,” said Trump. “He should reduce interest rates. I think I understand interest a lot better than him, because I’ve had to really use interest rates.”

The president appeared to be on a quest to oust Powell, who can only be removed for “cause,” but has since stepped back to following advice from his economic team, reports said.

Katie Hawkinson explains what happened:

A tiny island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is the staging ground of a major geopolitical tussle.

Palau is made up of more than 340 coral and volcanic islands perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, dotting Micronesia’s edge. It is geographically closer to China than any other Pacific Island nation and still formally recognizes Taiwan.

And now it is on the front line of a battle for influence, with China on one side and the U.S. on the other.

Speaking to business leaders at an “Investing in America” event at the White House, President Donald Trump thanked them for their attendance and briefly pondered what would happen if a bomb went off in the room.

He then reiterated his tax plan to drop tax rates for those who build their products in the U.S.

In a slightly bizarre moment, the president said he sees drones all over the place when he looks up while having dinner outside. It’s unclear where these dinners occur. Mar a Lago?

President Donald Trump’s assertion that in a trade war with China over tariffs, “maybe the children will have two dolls instead of thirty. Maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more,” appears to have presented Democrats with a new attack line to use against him.

It is one of the few public statements from the administration admitting that tariffs on imported goods mean higher prices for American shoppers.

Here’s Senator Elizabeth Warren:

The stock market during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days back in office marked the second-largest decline in the last 80 years — and it may have cost average Americans thousands.

Kelly Rissman looks at the numbers.

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, formerly lead counsel in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump in 2020, appeared on Fox News this afternoon to talk about the first 100 days of the administration.

He told Will Cain: “I do not know if it is incompetence, cognitive abilities, ignorance, or just plain flat out lying, but Donald Trump does not know that a photo he is showing is photoshopped, he does not know the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against him … He doesn’t understand what trade deficits are and is tanking our economy. You can call it whatever you want, but it’s been a pretty disastrous first 100 days.”

The tariffs imposed on other countries have created uncertainty among businesses and consumers. The economy, as a measure of GDP, shrank in part because of a rise in imports as companies stockpiled goods to avoid Trump’s tariffs.

Gustaf Kilander and Andrew Feinberg report from Washington, D.C.

Over 26,000 people have signed an online petition to stop Donald Trump from giving the University of Alabama’s commencement speech.

“Given the current political climate and the contentious legacy of the Trump administration, we believe that his presence would draw unnecessary controversy and negative attention to our university,” the petition states. “

“Commencement is a time to honor the hard work, dedication, and achievements of our graduating students—not to serve as a platform for political polarization.”

The petition also adds that there is “deep concern” over impact of the president’s involvement on the sense of safety of students of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and “other marginalized members of our campus community.”

“The values and rhetoric associated with President Trump do not reflect the inclusive and respectful environment we strive to uphold at the University of Alabama,” the statement says.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele asked the Trump administration for evidence that the 238 Venezuelans deported to his country’s maximum-security prison last month were actually part of a notorious gang, according to a report.

While Bukele and President Donald Trump appeared to be on the same page at last month’s meeting in the Oval Office, Bukele privately “expressed concern” about who the Trump administration sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, according to The New York Times.

Read more from Rhian Lubin here:

This comes after President Donald Trump paused student loan repayment due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. President Joe Biden went on to extend this relief, and student loan repayments didn’t resume until October 2023. Even then, borrowers still weren’t penalized for late payments until last fall.

Here’s what you need to know about your defaulted student loans: