{"id":252938,"date":"2026-06-02T23:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252938\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T23:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T23:41:09","slug":"trumps-1-8-billion-fund-is-not-moving-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252938\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s $1.8 Billion Fund Is \u2018Not Moving Forward\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a swell of criticism from both sides of the aisle, President Trump\u2019s acting attorney general said this afternoon that the administration was permanently halting its plans to create a $1.8 billion fund<\/a> to compensate people who claim to be victims of political persecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not moving forward with the fund, period,\u201d said Todd Blanche, the president\u2019s former personal lawyer who now leads the Justice Department. \u201cNot moving forward ever?\u201d a House Democrat asked him. \u201cCorrect,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n

Still, Blanche said that a separate provision, giving Trump and his family protection from I.R.S. audits, remained in effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other Trump administration news:<\/p>\n

California votes on its next governor<\/p>\n

It is Primary Election Day in six states. But no contest is bigger than the governor\u2019s race in California<\/a>, where a long list of candidates are seeking to succeed Gavin Newsom as the leader of America\u2019s most populous state.<\/p>\n

The state is very likely to elect a Democrat to its top office, but only two candidates earn a spot today in November\u2019s general election. There is no front-runner, but polls have made clear who is in the top three<\/a>: There\u2019s Xavier Becerra, a former House member who has the support of many moderate Democrats; Tom Steyer, a billionaire with no experience in elected office, who aligns more with progressives; and Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host<\/a> endorsed by Trump.<\/p>\n

We do not expect to know which two will advance tonight, because California has historically been slow to count votes. But my colleagues and I will be following the results here<\/a>. Polls close at 11 p.m. Eastern.<\/p>\n

Other interesting races:<\/p>\n

In Iowa, two Democrats with compelling personal stories are hoping to flip a Senate seat<\/a> in a state that has been deep red for years. (See the results here<\/a> when they come in.)<\/p>\n

In New Jersey, attention has centered on Thomas Kean Jr., a House Republican who is running unopposed, but hasn\u2019t been seen for months. (We searched for him<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In Los Angeles, the mayoral contest pits the Democratic incumbent, Karen Bass, against the reality television star Spencer Pratt<\/a>, a registered Republican, as well as a challenger from her left.<\/p>\n

For more, follow all of the elections here<\/a>, and use this helpful page<\/a> to monitor all of the biggest races.<\/p>\n

Russia bombards Ukraine\u2019s capital<\/p>\n

After warning of a major attack on Kyiv for more than a week, Russia finally struck today<\/a>. Hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles rained down on Ukraine this morning, killing at least 22 people, the authorities there said.<\/p>\n

But the bombardment could not hide the increasing signs of Moscow\u2019s weakness<\/a>. Russia appears to have lost more ground in May than it gained. Some analysts believe that the stepped-up strikes are an attempt to reclaim an advantage in potential talks and to re-engage the Trump administration, which has become more focused on the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

As vaccinations decline, hospitals see more disease<\/p>\n

Doctors around the country told my colleagues that they were seeing more cases of serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses that vaccines have long kept at bay<\/a>, including whooping cough and bacterial infections that can cause pneumonia or meningitis. Measles has also spread in parts of the country.<\/p>\n

The increase in cases, some of which is borne out in national data, appears to be fueled by an overall decline in vaccination rates after distrust in vaccines grew during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

More top newsHollywood is softening its stance on A.I.<\/p>\n

Martin Scorsese, the 16-time Academy Award nominee and essentially the living embodiment of cinema as high art, is embracing artificial intelligence<\/a>. He joined an A.I. start-up as a partner and used the technology during preproduction for a new film. \u201cCinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old,\u201d Scorsese said. \u201cWe have to be open to how it can evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments are a sign of the movie industry\u2019s shifting views on A.I. After loud opposition, some of Hollywood\u2019s big names have softened their criticism. (Others, like Seth Rogen and Guillermo del Toro, are still vocal detractors.)<\/p>\n

For more: Some content creators are making substantial money off A.I. slop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consider Winston Churchill, the artist<\/p>\n

Much has been said about Winston Churchill\u2019s leadership during times of war and peace. Less time has been spent assessing the hundreds of artworks he painted through the highs and lows of his power.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why a London museum decided to put together a serious retrospective of the famous prime minister\u2019s work. His paintings seem to offer a glimpse into the inner life of one of the 20th century\u2019s most defining figures. See them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Out of the audience and into the orchestra<\/p>\n

Last weekend, the Academy Award-winning composer Justin Hurwitz was leading an orchestral accompaniment to a screening of the movie \u201cLa La Land\u201d when his keyboard player fell ill. So he turned to the audience of 2,000 and asked, \u201cIs anybody like an amazing sight reader?\u201d<\/p>\n

Turns out, the answer was yes. A 21-year-old international relations student named Sterling Nasa stepped up and, after a 30-second briefing, stole the show<\/a> \u2014 with a solo during the song \u201cStart a Fire\u201d and even a bit of improvisation. He told us the performance gave him the confidence to consider pursuing music as a career.<\/p>\n

Have a masterful evening.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading. I\u2019ll be back tomorrow \u2014 Matthew<\/p>\n

Eli Cohen was our photo editor.<\/p>\n

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a swell of criticism from both sides of the aisle, President Trump\u2019s acting attorney general said this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-252938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}