DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The second murder trial of Karen Read, whose case has sparked a national debate on police accountability and won her legions of supporters, began Tuesday, with prosecutors and defense lawyers presenting theories during their opening statements about how her Boston police officer boyfriend ended up dead.
Read is accused of striking John O’Keefe with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in Canton, a town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Boston. She is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
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Karen Read, left, returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read chats with reporters while returning to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Attorney Alan Jackson gives his opening statement at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read listens during opening arguments at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her lead defense attorney Alan Jackson, left, for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecutor Hank Brennan arrives for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Judge Beverly Cannone listens in Norfolk Superior Court during Karen Read's trial on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read and her defense team appear in Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Karen Read defense team and prosecutor face off in Norfolk Superior Court for final motions before the start of Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Read sits with attorney Victoria George, who was a juror on her first trial and now part of her defense team, during Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Rad listens to prosecutor Hank Brennan during her second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile. A new prosecutor, Hank Brennan, is heading the state's case for the retrial. Attorney Alan Jackson presented the defense's opening statement.
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Read briefly spoke to reporters while leaving court, taking the opportunity to again say she isn’t guilty.
She also praised her legal team.
“I can’t be prouder and I’m fortunate to have them,” Read said. “We’ve got the truth.”
After her remarks, Read entered a black van and that drove off.
Testimony is set to resume on Wednesday.
The first day of Karen Read’s retrial has ended.
O’Keefe’s friend Kerry Roberts was testifying when the judge called the day to a close. She is expected to resume testifying on Wednesday.
The trial is expected to be lengthy, and attorneys were able to get through opening statements and two witnesses on Tuesday. The judge reminded jurors not to discuss the case outside court and not to follow news reports about it.
Kerry Roberts testified about receiving an early morning phone call from Read and that Read told her, “Kerry! Kerry! Kerry! John is dead.”
Read also said, “I think something happened to John. I think he got hit by a plow. He didn’t come home last night,” Roberts testified, describing her friend as “hysterical” during the call. She said Read also told her that “We drank so much that I don’t remember anything from last night.”
Roberts said she assumed at first that O’Keefe had been out drinking and had probably spent the night on someone’s couch.
The state has called a new witness in Kerry Roberts, a close friend of O’Keefe who was present at the scene when O’Keefe’s body was found.
Roberts has previously spoken about finding O’Keefe’s body in the snow. She described herself Tuesday as helpful to O’Keefe when he first started caring for his sister’s children.
Roberts said she became closer with O’Keefe after he assumed care of the children.
“I jumped in because he was a friend I knew from high school,” Roberts said. “We were just friends. Very close friends.”
The paramedic who was called to the scene where O’Keefe died testified that after Read told him that she had hit O’Keefe with her SUV, he heard her repeat the claim “several other times” in the background.
Jackson pushed back against Timothy Nuttall’s assertion, suggesting that the paramedic was changing his testimony.
“You didn’t clarify that she was running around like a chicken with her head cut off screaming I hit him to everybody else,” Jackson said.
Nuttall acknowledged that he wasn’t focused on what she was saying at that point, since he was providing “patient care.”
Read’s lead attorney pressed paramedic Timothy Nuttall about details from the scene of O’Keefe’s death in an attempt to portray his recollections as unreliable and fuzzy.
Nuttall provided details about Read’s appearance and statements at the scene during the investigation.
Jackson also pressed Nuttall over what the attorney described as his “inconsistent testimony.”
Some of Read’s supporters spread out a picnic blanket covered in free snacks outside the courthouse.
Dina Warchal of Waltham said she is fighting for Read’s freedom and improvements in police operations.
“I’m out here to show her support and to keep protesting because this movement has no quit, and we want changes in everything that has to do with this trial as far as police procedures and an innocent woman being framed for a crime she didn’t commit,” Warchal said.
“We just want the corrupt police officers held accountable for what they’ve done," she said.
Jackson described paramedic Timothy Nuttall’s testimony about the scene of O’Keefe’s death as inconsistent.
During cross-examination, the defense lawyer noted that during Read’s initial trial, Nuttall testified that Read told him twice that she “hit him.” But on Tuesday, Nuttall said she said it three times.
In response, Nuttall told Jackson that Read said it three times. He said Read made the statement when he arrived at the scene and found O’Keefe in the snow.
Read had blood on her face at the scene of O’Keefe’s death and said “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” paramedic Timothy Nuttall testified.
During opening statements, the jury was told to expect to hear Nuttall testify that Read used the words “I hit him.” The defense, though, denies that the statement is incriminating.
When Read made the statement, she had blood on her face, Nuttall told the court.
Police testified during Read’s first trial that she had blood on her face from attempting to perform CPR on O’Keefe.
The paramedic who responded to the discovery of O’Keefe’s body said O’Keefe was “very cold” when he arrived at the scene.
Timothy Nuttall told the court that he checked O’Keefe for signs of life but found none. He said the death was a “cardiac arrest in a hypothermic setting.”
Nuttall said hypothermia doesn’t constitute a medical diagnosis in that context, but that it makes clear that O’Keefe had been in the snow for some time.
Timothy Nuttall is the first witness called to the stand. He is a paramedic who treated O’Keefe at the scene that night.
The trial is expected to last several weeks, and both sides have warned jurors that they might need to sit through a long and difficult stretch of witness testimony and evidence. Investigators and acquaintances of O’Keefe and Read are expected to take the stand.
The judge earlier reminded the jury to give all witnesses equal weight.
The trial took a brief recess after prosecutors and defense lawyers concluded their opening statements.
The two sides painted very different pictures of the night of O’Keefe’s death. Read’s attorneys portrayed her as a victim of a police cover-up, while the state described Read as guilty of killing a beloved family man after their relationship soured.
The case will resume with testimony shortly.
As he did during the first trial, Jackson said Read’s taillight was damaged that morning as she clipped another vehicle at O’Keefe’s house, where she was staying, not from hitting O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the party.
He said the defense will introduce a video to show how the taillight was damaged.
“During the course of this trial, the commonwealth is going to desperately claim that Karen Read taillight was actually damaged by hitting John O’Keefe,” he told jurors. “They’ll have no evidence of it mind you. None. But they’ll make the claim.”
Jackson called the case “the very definition of reasonable doubt” and said prosecutors can not meet their burden of proof “when every piece of this case was handled by a disgraced investigator with a motive to protect his friends”
“By the end of this trial, you’ll conclude that Karen Read is not guilty of hitting John O’Keefe with her SUV. There was no collision,” he said. “She’s the victim of a botched and biased and corrupted investigation that was never about the truth, folks. It was about preserving loyalty.”
Jackson said O’Keefe’s injuries do not suggest he was hit by a car at all.
“Not a bruise,” the defense lawyer said.
Jackson told the jury that they will learn O’Keefe had abrasions consistent with being bitten by a dog. He said the injury to O’Keefe’s head was also not consistent with falling backwards onto the ground, as prosecutors alleged.
Jackson said medical evidence will also establish that hypothermia was not a factor, as prosecutors alleged. He said O’Keefe was injured somewhere warm and then moved, and that establishes reasonable doubt.
Jackson described the state’s case as hinging on fired state trooper Michael Proctor, whom he described as a “cancer.”
Proctor was the lead investigator in the Read case. Jackson said Proctor is the key to the state’s case and is also its “Achilles heel.”
Jackson listed a litany of failures in the investigation, including that investigators didn’t search the house, secure the crime scene or properly collect evidence. He then touched on sexist and crude texts about Read’s family and colleagues that surfaced during the first trial and eventually led to Proctor’s firing.
Jackson characterized Read as victimized by a police culture that sought go protect fellow cops.
Read’s defense team used its opening statement to describe her as a victim of a cover-up and to stress that she didn’t kill O’Keefe.
“At the end of the day folks, there was no collision with John O’Keefe,” Jackson said.
The defense attorney said the case will show that O’Keefe wasn’t hit by Read’s car. He acknowledged that O’Keefe’s death was a “tragic loss,” but said the investigation was corrupted by bias and deceit.
“The evidence in this case will establish ... above everything else three points — there was no collision with Jon O’Keefe. There was no collision. There was no collision,” Jackson said. “John O’Keefe did not die from being hit by a vehicle. The facts will show that. The evidence will show that. The data will show that. The science will show that and the experts will tell you that.”
Read and O’Keefe were headed to the end of their relationship before O’Keefe died, Brennan said.
He described how the couple’s relationship was faltering before O’Keefe died. They were arguments a few days before O’Keefe was killed and that O’Keefe had asked Read to leave, he said.
Brennan said text messages will be presented showing the tension between the couple and how Read would become irate when her calls weren’t returned.
“You will read those text messages and you will realize this was the beginning of the end of this relationship,” he told the jurors.
Brennan told the jury that O’Keefe was a “family man” who was a pillar of his community and was much more than just a police officer.
O’Keefe was a single parent of two children whom he adopted when his sister and her husband died within months of each other, Brennan said. Brennan said he cared for the children as if they were his own and provided them stability and love.
O’Keefe’s tumultuous relationship with Read changed all that, Brennan said.
“They led a good life,” Brennan said. “Enter Karen Read.”
Brennan began opening statements by describing the scene where O’Keefe was found dead.
He opened by describing how firefighters and paramedics got a call about a cardiac arrest. They jumped into the ambulance and headed out in near blizzard conditions. Their ambulance was sliding along the road and they couldn’t hear anything beyond the sound of the siren.
Arriving at 34 Fairview Road, they came upon a chaotic scene.
“He stepped out into bedlam,” Brennan said. “He heard a woman screaming.”
They came upon Karen Read, who he said told paramedics, “I hit him, I hit him.”
“It was at that time in the words of the defendant that she admitted what she had done that night, that she hit John O’Keefe,” Brennan said.
The judge addressed the heavy public interest in the trial before opening statements began.
Judge Beverly Cannone told the jury to ignore public comment about the trial while it is going on. She also told jurors it’s important not to conduct independent research or look at news coverage of the trial.
“You will decide what the facts are, where the evidence is contested, you will determine where the truth lies,” she said. “This trial will be decided by you, an independent jury.”
Cannone also told the jury not to use social media during the trial.
The jurors have entered the courtroom and received their instructions for the trial.
After giving them the instructions, the judge asked if they had refrained from discussing the case or doing any independent research about it.
The court also heard the charges against Read.
Judge Beverly Cannone said she received four motions over the weekend that need to be addressed.
She ruled that the defense can’t mention a consulting firm in their openings, which led the defense to request to be heard. They then entered into a sidebar with the defense arguing the firm should be mentioned.
The courtroom is packed, with little room for anyone other than essential court personnel and media.
The trial seats about 10 people on both sides. Read’s family is on one side and the O’Keefe’s are on the other – about 10 on each side.
Read could be seen chatting and smiling with her attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti. Reporters are behind them, sitting on stools.
Barriers are set up on both sides of the street in front of the building. Several state troopers and police officers are also positioned around the courthouse.
Police ordered a truck driver who slowed down to yell “Free Karen Read” to move along, and also chased off someone who was shooting video with their phone.
Read arrived at court just before 8:50 a.m. to some cheers from assembled supporters.
Family members from both sides also arrived just before 9 a.m.
Read smiled briefly as she entered the court. She did not answer a question about whether she was ready for her second trial.
The court had a police presence to try to maintain order as supporters gathered outside.
Supporters of Karen Read have assembled outside court in advance of her new trial.
The scene among supporters is similar to a reunion, with people hugging one another and calling out their names.
Ashlyn Wade, a Read supporter from Canton, where John O’Keefe was killed, said she was there to hopefully see Read cleared of charges.
“I’m here for justice,” she said. “The murderer going to jail and Karen being Exonerated — that would be justice.”
Dennis Sweeney, dressed as the judge in the case and wearing a pink T-shirt emblazoned with the word “assassin.” which was inspired by Read’s defense team, said he returned for the second trial because: “Karen Read is factually innocent and we want her freed.”
Karen Read, left, returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read returns to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read chats with reporters while returning to court following the lunch break with her defense attorney Robert Alessi at her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Attorney Alan Jackson gives his opening statement at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read listens during opening arguments at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her lead defense attorney Alan Jackson, left, for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecutor Hank Brennan arrives for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Judge Beverly Cannone listens in Norfolk Superior Court during Karen Read's trial on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read and her defense team appear in Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Karen Read defense team and prosecutor face off in Norfolk Superior Court for final motions before the start of Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Read sits with attorney Victoria George, who was a juror on her first trial and now part of her defense team, during Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Rad listens to prosecutor Hank Brennan during her second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting national security adviser to replace Mike Waltz, whom he is nominating for United Nations ambassador.
Trump announced the switch-up shortly after news broke that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were departing the administration just weeks after it was revealed he added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans.
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The administration asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.
The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.
A federal appeals court had earlier rejected the administration’s request.
The Trump administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians.
TPS is granted in 18-month increments to people already in the U.S. whose countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
The former congressman and failed presidential candidate said a student-led rally to counter the president’s appearance at the University of Alabama is an inspiring example of how far opposition reaches.
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Trump has won Alabama three times, each time by a landslide margin.
Still, O’Rourke noted the state’s history of civil rights and social justice protests.
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Last month DOGE terminated 75% of staffers and cut the funding and grants programs of state humanities councils, impacting thousands of recipients across the country.
The plaintiffs are the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association.
During a contentious exchange about deportations in his interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran this week, President Donald Trump brought up — from his perspective — how Moran had gotten into the White House in the first place.
“They’re giving you the break of a lifetime, you know,” Trump said in Tuesday’s prime-time broadcast. “You’re doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK.”
Emphasizing again that it was his choice that Moran was there, the president scolded, “You’re not being very nice.”
From an ethics perspective, it’s considered a breach for a news organization to let a newsmaker dictate who will conduct an interview. In the real world of competitive journalism, things aren’t always so simple.
▶ Read more about the interview and the choice of Moran to conduct it
Microsoft and Meta Platforms led Wall Street higher Thursday after the Big Tech companies reported profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected.
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The Office of Management and Budget expects to roll out the federal budget Friday, according to an agency spokesperson.
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The State Department announced Thursday that Julie Davis, a 30-year veteran of the foreign service, would be the charge d’affaires at the Kyiv embassy “during this critical moment as we move toward a peace agreement to stop the bloodshed.”
Davis is currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Cyprus.
The appointment came just a day after the U.S. and Ukraine signed an agreement on critical minerals and other resources which could pave the way for additional U.S. military support for Ukraine.
Davis, who has also previously served as ambassador to Belarus and deputy ambassador to NATO, replaces Bridget Brink at the helm of the Kyiv embassy. Brink announced she was leaving the post last month as the Trump administration pushed ahead with plans for Russia-Ukraine peace talks that many believed favored Moscow.
Trump announced the moves on Thursday after news broke that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were departing the administration.
The announcement just weeks after it was revealed that Waltz added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans. Rubio will also continue to serve as secretary of state.
The president’s threat comes after planned talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed.
Trump wrote on social media Thursday that “All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!”
He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the U.S.
The threat came after Oman announced that talks scheduled for this coming weekend have been postponed.
The department argues in filings Wednesday that the states’ lawsuits alleging harms that play a role in climate change would infringe on the federal government’s authority.
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In court filings, the DOJ said the federal Clean Air Act “creates a comprehensive program for regulating air pollution in the United States and “displaces” the ability of States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions beyond their borders.”
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Its members include Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, former U.S. housing secretary Ben Carson and TV talk-show host Phil McGraw. The commission was Patrick’s idea, Trump said.
Patrick told Trump, “There has never been a president who has invoked the name of Jesus more than you.”
McGraw said Trump is a “man of deep faith … who wants this country to have a heart and have religion.”
The meeting Tuesday was the first known Trump administration contact with Syrian officials since the fall of President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December.
The new Syrian authorities arrived in the U.S. last week to attend a series of meetings in Washington and New York as part of an effort to urge relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by America and its allies after Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.
In a statement released Wednesday, the State Department said while they do not discuss “private diplomatic conversations,” they continue to urge the interim authorities to “choose policies that will reinforce stability” for Syrians, “assure peace with Syria’s neighbors,” while developing the war-torn country’s economy.
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The president used the occasion to again promise that tax-cut legislation would work its way through Congress.
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Defense officials say that while the decline is a good sign, the numbers of reported assaults are still too high and the military needs to do more to get victims to report the often undisclosed crime.
U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people whom the Republican administration claims are gang members invading the United States.
“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States,” Rodriguez wrote Thursday. But, he said, “the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”
In March, Trump issued a proclamation claiming the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to deport immigrants, identified by his administration as gang members, without the usual court proceedings.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been used three times before in U.S. history, most recently during World War II, when it was cited to intern Japanese-Americans.
The proclamation triggered a flurry of litigation as the administration tried to ship migrants it claimed were gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Rodriguez’s ruling is significant because it is the first formal permanent injunction against the administration using the AEA and contends the president is misusing the law.
For the second time in recent months, the Food and Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors.
More than 20 of the agency’s roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated, according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters.
Food scientists who test samples for bacteria and study potentially harmful chemicals also have been told they will get their jobs back, but have yet to receive any official confirmation.
The reversals are the latest example of the haphazard approach to cuts at the agency, which have shrunk FDA’s staff by an estimated 20%. In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within days.
— Matthew Perrone
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz is set to depart the Trump administration.
That’s according to two people familiar with the matter, which marks the first major staff shakeup of President Trump’s second term.
Waltz came under searing scrutiny in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on the encrypted messaging app Signal, which was used to discuss planning for a sensitive March 15 military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen.
A far-right ally of the president, Laura Loomer, has also targeted Waltz, telling Trump in a recent Oval Office conversation that he needs to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the “Make America Great Again” agenda.
Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, is also expected to depart, according to the people. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move not yet made public. The National Security Council did not respond do a request for comment.
▶ Read more about Mike Waltz leaving the Trump administration
— Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Seung Min Kim
“It was a good conversation,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing. “Even though there wasn’t a specific agreement, the important thing is that we’re working on it.”
Sheinbaum, who said she and Trump spoke for 10 to 15 minutes Thursday morning, noted that the Trump administration had relaxed some of the tariffs on automobiles and auto parts this week, but said Mexico is still looking for a better deal for the automotive sector, as well as for steel and aluminum which face their own U.S. tariffs.
The U.S. is looking to reduce its trade deficit with Mexico, she said, noting that Mexico was working to find ways to help them do that.
The leaders agreed that their cabinet secretaries would continue negotiating.
“It is a good sign that we continue advancing,” she said.
French union leaders condemned the “Trumpization” of world politics, while in Italy, May Day protesters paraded a puppet of the American president through the streets of Turin.
Across continents, hundreds of thousands turned out for Thursday’s rallies marking International Workers’ Day, many united in anger over President Trump’s agenda — from aggressive tariffs stoking fears of global economic turmoil to immigration crackdowns.
In the United States, organizers framed this year’s protests as a pushback against what they called a sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees.
In Germany, union leaders warned that extended workdays and rising anti-immigrant sentiment were dismantling labor protections. In Bern, Switzerland, thousands marched behind banners denouncing fascism and war — part of a wider backlash against the global surge of hard-right politics.
▶ Read more about May Day marches around the world
President Trump will travel to heavily Republican Alabama on Thursday to speak to graduating students at the University of Alabama, where he’s expected to draw some protesters despite enjoying a deep well of support in the state.
Trump’s evening remarks in Tuscaloosa will be the Republican president’s first address to graduates in his second term and will come as he’s been celebrating the first 100 days of his administration.
The White House did not offer any details about Trump’s planned message.
Alabama, where Trump won a commanding 64% of the vote in 2024, is where he’s staged a number of his trademark large rallies over the past decade. It also is where Trump showed early signs of strength in his first presidential campaign when he began filling stadiums for his rallies.
▶ Read more about Trump’s planned trip to Alabama
Administration officials say they’re seeking a permanent home at the State Department for a memorial honoring fallen staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The memorial bears the names of 99 USAID and other foreign assistance workers killed in the line of duty around the world.
The Trump administration has dismantled USAID and terminated most of its programs and staff, accusing its humanitarian and development work of being wasteful and out of line with Trump’s agenda. Past presidents since John F. Kennedy argued that working for a more stable and prosperous world benefited U.S. security.
The State Department says workers removed the memorial from the former USAID headquarters Wednesday. It’s being held in a temporary location, the agency said.
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller says former Vice President Kamala Harris’ criticism of Trump are a “great reminder to the American people of just how blessed we all are that the leader sitting in the Oval Office today is President Donald Trump and not President Kamala Harris.”
“It would have been the end of America,” Miller said at a briefing with reporters at the White House on Thursday.
Harris said in a speech Wednesday night that Trump’s tariffs are “clearly inviting a recession.”
Miller countered that, “The only things Americans want to hear from Kamala Harris is an apology” for less strict immigration policies and enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border, which he said was “unforgivable.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added, “I think I speak for everyone at the White House, we encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and do speaking engagements.”
The planned negotiations between Iran and the United States this weekend over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program have been postponed, Oman announced Thursday.
A message online from Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social media platform X.
“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd,” he wrote. “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”
Al-Busaidi did not elaborate. Iran and the U.S. did not immediately acknowledge al-Busaidi’s comments.
The talks Saturday were to be held in Rome.
▶ Read more about nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran
A top White House official is defending Trump’s acknowledgement that steep tariffs on China might lead to fewer goods on the shelves at higher prices.
Trump said children maybe “will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller insisted Thursday that the president was “making the point that I think almost every American consumer agrees with.”
In a briefing with reporters, Miller said dolls made in the U.S. had higher quality standards than ones from China that he said could contain lead paint.
“Yes, you’d probably be willing to pay more for a better-made American product,” Miller said.
China’s state broadcaster has claimed in a social media post that the Trump administration has been seeking contact with Beijing through multiple channels to start negotiations over tariffs.
In a climbdown, the post by China Central Television says there’s no need for China to talk with the U.S. before the U.S. takes any substantive act but also said “there is no harm” for contact.
“China needs to observe or even force out the true intent on the U.S. side to stay proactive in the talks,” reads the post.
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said she also understands “it’s getting close” for talks between the two sides but such talks will be at the working level, not yet between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
There’s trouble as House Republicans race to build Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, especially over its trillions in costs and potential Medicaid changes.
Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, tax writing committee chairman Rep. Jason Smith and the chairman handling health programs, Brett Guthrie, are meeting with Trump.
Trump’s administration released a lengthy review of transgender health care Thursday that advocates for a greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming medical care for youths with gender dysmorphia.
The Health and Human Services report questions standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and is likely to be used to bolster the government’s abrupt shift in how to care for a subset of the population that has become a political lightning rod.
This new “best practices” report is in response to an executive order Trump issued days into his second term that says the federal government must not support gender transitions for anyone under age 19.
“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”
▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s stance on transgender health care
After months of tense negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine signed a deal that’s expected to give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and other natural resources, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure long-term support for its defense against Russia.
According to Ukrainian officials, the version of the deal signed Wednesday is far more beneficial to Ukraine than previous versions, which they said reduced Kyiv to a junior partner and gave Washington unprecedented rights to the country’s resources.
The deal covers minerals, including rare earth elements, but also other valuable resources, including oil and natural gas, according to the text released by Ukraine’s government.
It doesn’t include resources that are already a source of revenue for the Ukrainian state. In other words, any profits under the deal are dependent on the success of new investments. Ukrainian officials have also noted that it doesn’t refer to any debt obligations for Kyiv, meaning profits from the fund will likely not go toward the paying the U.S. back for its previous support.
▶ Read more about the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal
To understand the Justice Department’s struggles in representing President Trump’s positions in court, look no further than a succession of losses last week that dealt a setback to the administration’s agenda.
In orders spanning different courthouses, judges blocked a White House plan to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form, ruled the Republican administration violated a settlement agreement by deporting a man to El Salvador and halted directives that threatened to cut federal funding for public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
That’s on top of arguments in which two judges expressed misgivings to a Justice Department lawyer about the legality of Trump executive orders targeting major law firms and a department lawyer’s accidental filing of an internal memo in court questioning the Trump administration’s legal strategy to kill Manhattan’s congestion toll — a blunder the Transportation Department called “legal malpractice.”
▶ Read more about the Justice Department’s courtroom losses
Consumers can expect higher prices and delivery delays when the Trump administration ends a duty-free exemption on low-value imports from China Friday.
The expiration of the so-called de minimis rule that has allowed as many as 4 million low-value parcels to come into the U.S. every day — mostly from China — is also forcing businesses that have built their models on sourcing production in China to rethink their practices in order to keep their costs down.
But some might actually benefit from the termination of the duty exemption. For instance, companies that make their goods in the U.S. may feel relief from the competition of cheap Chinese imports, and likely experience a brighter sales outlook.
The move, which applies to goods originating from mainland China and Hong Kong, comes on top of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs totaling 145% on China. Beijing has retaliated with tariffs of 125% on the U.S., fueling a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Sellers are already seeing cautious consumers.
▶ Read more about the end to the de minimis rule
President Donald Trump hands pens used to sign an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, to religious leaders during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump listens during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump signs an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks about investing in America in the Cross Hall of the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump waves after speaking about investing in America in the Cross Hall of the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about investing in America in the Cross Hall of the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
