President Donald Trump says he wants his new acting director of national intelligence to cut the office, which has already been significantly scaled back during his second term. Trump noted aboard Air Force One the size of the office has been "way too high for way too long" and if Bill Pulte cuts it, he "wouldn't mind." The Republican president said in an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees. Trump says Pulte will stay in the acting position depending on how long it takes to get his successor confirmed. The president says he's considering five people but hasn't named them.

The Senate race in Iowa is one of the most closely watched this year and the general election matchup is now set, with Democrats hoping for a gain. Iowa is also where President Donald Trump's endorsement streak ended when his pick for governor lost in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Democrats have settled on a nominee in a New Jersey congressional district that could decide which party controls the House after November's elections. But much of the focus on this round of voting has been on California, in races for governor and Los Angeles mayor. Primary elections were also held in Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota.

President Donald Trump has wrapped up a three-hour visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House describes as preventive medical and dental exams. In a social media post after Tuesday's visit, the 79-year-old Trump said, "Everything checked out PERFECTLY." It was Trump's fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since returning to office 16 months ago. The tradition of the presidential physical goes back decades and offers a glimpse of the chief's fitness — though the White House decides what to reveal. Trump has recently talked about how good he feels, even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise regimen.

President Donald Trump has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan in his second term. That's raising questions about the Republican president's commitment to maintaining American support for the self-ruled island ahead of this week's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In December, Trump authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan but delayed its delivery and discussed the sale with Xi. Trump said Monday he expects Xi will ask him to hold back on arming Taiwan. Trump has accused Taiwan of "stealing" America's semiconductor business and pressured it to invest in U.S. tech sectors. Analysts say Xi might urge Trump to loosen ties with Taiwan, which Beijing views as its breakaway province.

Restless Democratic voters are rejecting their party's establishment. Six months before Election Day, Democratic voters are embracing change, taking a clear risk by picking less established and more polarizing candidates to represent them on the ballot this fall. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills has been forced to formally abandon her U.S. Senate campaign, unable to generate sufficient fundraising or enthusiasm to compete in a primary against Graham Platner, an oyster farmer with no political experience. Mills' announcement Thursday marked a stinging defeat for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who recruited her to lead the party's decades-long quest to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

A U.S. appeals court has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border. The court ruled Friday that immigration laws allow people to apply for asylum at the border, and the president cannot bypass this. The decision stems from Trump's action on Inauguration Day 2025, declaring the border situation an invasion and suspending asylum. The court found that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't give the president authority to override asylum procedures. The White House says the asylum ban was within Trump's powers, but the Department of Justice plans to seek further review.

A new AP-NORC poll finds that President Donald Trump's approval rating on the economy has slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher. Trump's approval rating on the economy dropped to 30% in April from 38% in a March AP-NORC poll. A similarly low share of U.S. adults, 32%, approve of the president's leadership on Iran, which is unchanged since last month. Even Republicans are showing less faith in his leadership, according to the poll, which shows a president who is struggling with unfulfilled promises to tame inflation and testing Americans' patience with a conflict in the Middle East that has dragged on longer than expected.

The House has rejected a resolution requiring President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the war with Iran unless Congress authorizes military action. The vote Thursday was the latest such attempt that fell short of passage as Republicans largely continue to support Trump's operation. Democrats are concerned about the United States getting further entrenched in another lengthy Middle East conflict and are promising to keep raising the issue through more votes in the coming weeks. Republicans counter by noting that Congress never voted on a war powers resolution when the Biden administration attacked Iranian-backed Houthis.

Donald Trump won the presidency by promising to lower costs and end wars. A year and a half later, he is a wartime president contemplating whether to send U.S. ground troops into an expanding conflict in Iran. Gas prices are spiking and Trump is urging Americans to be patient. Everything adds up to a perilous situation for Republicans in the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. The president did little to sell the war to skeptical voters before it started, and he defended his leadership on Wednesday night in his first major presidential address on the conflict.