Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.
In today’s issue:
- Amid feud, do Republicans heed Trump or Musk?
- Tariffs bear down on trade
- Trump: Ukraine, Russia “children on a playground”
- Paxton eats into Cornyn’s reelection hopes
A fiery public breakup Thursday between President Trump and Elon Musk stirred plenty of conjecture and drama. But after last year’s unlikely pairing of a quirky billionaire and politically skilled presidential challenger, the question remains, what’s different after their mano-a-mano spat?
Trump’s defensive reaction suggested he wants to shield the GOP’s “big, beautiful” budget bill from Musk’s accusations that it’s an “abomination.” Some Senate Republicans agree the House-passed version of the megabill risks defeat because fiscal hawks balk at adding to the nation’s nearly $37 trillion debt.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me,” the president wrote on Truth Social, “but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. … If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68 [percent] Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
By Thursday evening, the White House and Trump were trying to tamp down the rift and move on. The president is expected to speak by phone with Musk today. Trump told Politico during a brief Thursday phone call in which he was asked about Musk, “Oh it’s okay,” adding, “It’s going very well. Never done better.”
The Trump-Musk skirmish left their respective allies asking if the world’s richest man, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Trump get elected last year, would invest in political revenge aimed at the president and Republicans ahead of the 2026 elections. The billionaire promised $100 million to groups controlled by the Trump political operation but has not followed through.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election…,” Musk lamented on the social platform X, which he owns. “Such ingratitude.”
The president told reporters in the Oval Office that he was “very disappointed in Elon” before suggesting on social media that lucrative federal contracts with Musk’s companies could be “terminated” to save taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Hill: Tesla stock plummeted 14 percent Thursday on investors’ bet that the war of words between Trump and Musk could prove injurious to Tesla. The electric car company lost $150 billion in value.
Musk got behind a post on X calling for Trump’s impeachment, suggested killing the “big, beautiful” bill, warned that Trump’s tariff policy “will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” and asserted without evidence that Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender, were linked.
The Hill: Five takeaways from the explosive Trump and Musk divorce.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrambled Thursday to prevent Musk from scuttling the Trump tax cuts and spending agenda, which Johnson squeezed through the House by a single vote last month. It remains unclear whether Musk’s attacks will be effective among Republican lawmakers; the GOP base remains enthused about administration policies, according to recent polls.
The Hill: House Republicans broadly brushed off Musk’s campaign against pending legislation.
The Speaker wants the House to adopt a separate measure that would codify spending and budget cuts promoted by the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Johnson spoke with Musk by phone about the House-passed budget package on Monday and told reporters he thought the conversation had been positive and fruitful. A day later, according to Johnson, Musk “did a 180” and publicly opposed the measure, which the Speaker said, “surprised me, frankly.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a former chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, on Thursday lauded Musk as a patriot.
“I’m appreciative that he cares,” he said, referring to the ongoing debate about projected deficits and debt.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
By now you’ve seen the statements, posts and social media reaction of the Trump-Musk feud. I wanted to use this space today to share what two Republicans told me as the drama unfolded.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said what started this, at least publicly, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, cannot fail.
“We’re much closer than people are giving us credit for,” he said. “Again, to have 90 percent of the work done is incredible. Nobody is going to get everything they want.”
In the other chamber, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) told me, “I would say the bill is big. It’s not quite beautiful yet.”
He expects what he views as positive changes to occur in the Senate.
Republicans are not going to be able to duck the “big, beautiful brawl,” as Ogles described it to me. However, they know that what they will eventually be judged on isn’t how the Trump-Musk feud ends, but on how this legislation ends.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Positive trend: Workers who have 401(k) retirement accounts saved a record high average 14.3 percent of income in the first three months of this year, according to a Fidelity Investments analysis. In 2025, about 70 percent of the private-sector workforce has access to 401(k) options.
▪ The Treasury Department on Thursday said Beijing is not transparent about its currency exchange rate policies but declined to label China a currency manipulator.
▪ A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday suspended the latest attempt by the Trump administration to keep international students out of Harvard.
LEADING THE DAY
© Associated Press | Ng Han Guan
TARIFFS: Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday amid ongoing tensions and stalled negotiations between the two countries over tariffs.
“I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal. The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump said on Truth Social.
He added that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet “shortly” and that Xi invited him and first lady Melania Trump to visit China, while he invited Xi to the U.S. The U.S. is in a fragile truce with its top trading partner after officials hashed out an agreement with China last month to lower the tariff rate on imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. Beijing also lowered its rate on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by a record amount in April ahead of the implementation of Trump’s tariffs, according to a Thursday release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The trade deficit — a measure of U.S. goods imports — fell to $61.6 billion in April, a 55.5 percent drop from March.
Americans bought fewer foreign pharmaceuticals, cellphones and cars, and they cut purchases of machinery and other supplies.
ProPublica: Inside the artificial intelligence prompts DOGE used to “munch” contracts related to veterans’ health.
SUPREME COURT: The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously threw out Mexico’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the American gun industry that sought to usher in major changes to firearm sales by holding companies liable for cartel violence.
Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, said the lawsuit is barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a 2005 federal law that has provided firearms manufacturers broad legal immunity and come under criticism from gun control advocates.
The court also unanimously revived a straight woman’s “reverse discrimination” case against her former employer Thursday, lowering the legal hurdle for white and straight employees to bring such lawsuits.
▪ The Hill: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to restore AmeriCorps-funded programs in Washington, D.C., and 24 Democratic-led states as their lawsuit proceeds over recent cuts.
▪ The New York Times: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that a Catholic charity in Wisconsin was entitled to a tax exemption that had been denied by a state court on the ground that its activities were not primarily religious.
RECONCILIATION: Problems are multiplying for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other Senate negotiators in their bid to pass legislation to enact the megabill with Trump’s tax and domestic policy agenda by July 4.
Some Republican senators are barraging leadership with concerns about spending cuts for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, while budget hawks are demanding more deficit reduction and railing against a House compromise to lift the cap on state and local tax deductions.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton breaks down the issues threatening to derail the bill.
▪ The New York Times: The bill raises the maximum child tax credit to $2,500. But about a third of children would not receive the full credit because their parents have low wages or lack jobs.
▪ The Hill: With hurricane season officially underway, worry is mounting around whether Trump’s cuts to the federal government have endangered its disaster response.
WHERE AND WHEN
- The House will convene at 9 a.m.
- The Senate will meet on Monday at 3 p.m.
- The president will sign executive orders at 1:30 p.m. Trump will participate at 2 p.m. in a swearing-in ceremony for Navy Secretary John Phelan in the Oval Office. Trump will depart the White House at 3 p.m. for his residence in Bedminster, N.J., arriving after 6 p.m.
- The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will release its jobs report for May, a closely watched indicator of economic performance.
ZOOM IN
© The Hill | Greg Nash and J. Scott Applewhite, The Associated Press
TEXAS SHOWDOWN: Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) reelection campaign is facing serious warning signs as new polling shows the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton widening his lead in the Lone Star State’s Republican Senate primary. A poll conducted by GOP pollster Robert Blizzard on behalf of the Educational Freedom Institute showed Cornyn trailing Paxton by 22 points among the state’s Republican primary voters. The same poll shows Paxton leading among key demographics within the state’s GOP primary electorate including seniors and voters who identified as “MAGA.”
While Cornyn’s campaign has dismissed the findings as “silly season” for polling, they are the latest in a string of polls showing the longtime incumbent trailing his primary challenger. Texas Republicans say it’s another sign that Cornyn needs to ramp up his attacks and spending ahead of February’s primary.
“I think those numbers today are going to force Cornyn to go up on air and take a chunk out of Ken Paxton pretty damn soon,” one Republican strategist told The Hill’s Julia Manchester. “The question is, can he?”
▪ NBC News: New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary is next week – a test for the party and its future. Six Democratic candidates for governor embody different paths for the party after Trump made gains last year.
▪ The Hill: Democrats are furious with former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s decision to publicly leave the party and announce she’s a political independent while promoting her book.
OVERSIGHT: The race to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is getting crowded. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) threw her hat into the ring this week to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died last month of esophageal cancer, making her the fourth member of the committee — and the second member of the Congressional Black Caucus — to vie for the seat.
Not only is the list unusually long for such races, but it features two veteran septuagenarians and two congressional newcomers who are generations younger — setting the stage for another tense debate over the seniority system Democrats have favored for decades but has come under increasing scrutiny in an era when the party’s popularity is well underwater.
ELSEWHERE
© Associated Press | Evan Vucci
“CHILDREN FIGHTING”: Trump on Thursday compared Russia and Ukraine to two fighting children who needed to work out their differences before anyone could intervene. Trump said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the two countries were like “two young children fighting like crazy in a park.”
“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy,” Trump said on Thursday in an Oval Office news conference. “They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don’t want to be pulled. Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.”
Trump’s comments came during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s White House visit. Merz, who became Germany’s chancellor in May, was hoping to persuade Trump to play a more active role in defending Ukraine and forcing Russia to end its invasion of its smaller neighbor. But Trump essentially threw up his hands, saying that there was nothing the U.S. could do right now to bring the war, sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion, to an end.
▪ CNN: Russia launched waves of drones and ballistic missiles at multiple targets across a broad swath of Ukraine early Friday.
▪ Axios: Trump thought Ukraine’s surprise drone attack over the weekend was “strong” and “badass” but is concerned it will make his ceasefire mission even harder.
IRAN: Tehran is escalating its fight with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, accusing its inspectors of slander and presenting sloppy evidence, Bloomberg News reports. Meanwhile, Trump accused Iran of “slow walking their decision” in nuclear negotiations hours after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticized the U.S. proposal for a deal.
▪ BBC: Israel has carried out several airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying it was targeting Hezbollah’s drone production.
▪ The Times of Israel: Israel has been arming a criminal gang in Gaza as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave.
OPINION
■ Musk vs. Trump: Who’s afraid of creating havoc? by David von Drehle, columnist, The Washington Post.
■ After years of war, Syria glances westward — toward Trump, by Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), opinion contributors, The Hill.
THE CLOSER
© Associated Press | Mark Thiessen
And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! As we puzzled over the Pentagon’s proposal to change the names of some Navy ships, we discovered savvy readers familiar with a bit of trivia about White House renaming policies.
🧩 Here’s who went 4/4: Stan Wasser, Lynn Gardner, Jess A. Elger, Bill Kuckuck, Sari Wisch, Tom Chabot, Sol Brotman, Peter Spofera, Harry Strulovici, Keven Murphy, Michael McGinnis, Jonathan Simon, Rick Schmidtke, Bob Hickerson, Kenny Kraft, Pam Manges, Richard O. Fanning, Neil Bergsman, Laura Rettaliata, Joseph Foster, Linda L. Field, Mark R. Williamson, Jenessa Wagner, Mark Roeddiger, Brian Hogan, Jim Dykstra, Andre Larroque, Alan Johnson, Chuck Schoenenberger, Don Swanson, Jose Ramos, Luke Charpentier, Frank Hatfield, Richard E. Baznik, Dom Sacco, Carol Katz, Karen Mitchoff, James Morris, Rob Crozier, Steve James, Mitchell Rambin, John Gannon, Jack Turner, Arturo Jessel, Carmine Petracca, Savannah Petracca and Terry Pflaumer.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a Navy ship to be renamed, and the Pentagon is “considering renaming multiple naval ships named after civil rights leaders and prominent American voices.” From our quiz menu of ship names on the Pentagon’s chopping block, the answer we looked for was “all of the above.”
Trump made waves at the outset of his second term when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Trump wants North America’s tallest peak to revert to one of its prior names, Mount McKinley, which honored former President William McKinley.
Trump proposed — and then the White House said the suggestion was abandoned — renaming Veterans Day, observed on Nov. 11, as Victory Day for World War I.
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