The U.S. and Iran concluded on Saturday the third round of nuclear talks and agreed to meet again on May 3, said Omani foreign minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating between the parties.
Why it matters: The talks in Muscat on Saturday were the first time the parties dived into the technical details of a possible nuclear deal, especially the limitations the U.S. wants to impose on Iran's nuclear program and the sanctions Iran wants the U.S. to lift.
The fact the parties agreed to meet again is a signal for further progress in the negotiations.
President Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday that he thinks "we can make a deal without the attack. I hope we can." Asked if he's open to meeting Iranian leaders he said: "Sure."
Driving the news: The talks on Saturday took place between working-level teams from both sides and between the chief negotiators White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
What they are saying: "U.S-Iran talks today identified a shared aspiration to reach agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments. Core principles, objectives and technical concerns were all addressed", the Omani foreign minister said.
The spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said the talks were held in a "serious atmosphere".
What to watch: Witkoff traveled from Muscat to Abu Dhabi for talks with Emirati officials ahead of a President Trump's visit to the UAE in mid-May.
Why it matters: Friday's arrest of Milwaukee County judge Hannah Dugan, on charges of obstructing an immigration arrest, is a stunning escalation of President Trump's battles with political opponents.
But listen to the reaction from influential voices in MAGAworld, and you can see why you can expect more moves like it.
"I wouldn't necessarily say that what we've seen out of the DOJ so far rises to the level of full wrath when you're talking about accountability for people who waged lawfare," Natalie Winters, a correspondent for Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast, said Friday after the arrest. "We haven't had any names released."
The backstory: When Trump took office, his diehard fans were craving a pedal-to-the-metal offensive against the "deep state." Trump delivered a shock-and-awe series of first-100-day actions and executive orders.
But MAGA podcasts and social-media posts showed the true believers wanted more: arrests of political foes.
On Day 1, supporters got a dose of Trump maximalism when he blanket-pardoned most of those charged over the Jan. 6 riot — including those accused of violence.
The movement then expected a wave of arrests of bureaucrats. It never came.
"I don't know about you, but I'm still waiting for prosecutions," Judicial Watch head Tom Fitton said earlier this month.
Behind the scenes: Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have urged patience, insisting to the base that they're hard at work targeting "deep state" provocateurs and other enemies of MAGA. Friday's arrest took some pressure off.
Patel has "been taking a little heat from our base, actually," Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said on Charlie Kirk's podcast. "Kash and Pam both — [Trump faithful] want to know: What are they doing? They need to get started. This just shows you they do a lot of stuff behind closed doors and they can't do it in public, but they're acting fast on it."
"Just because you're not seeing something in the news does not mean that it's not happening," Mike Davis of the Article III Project, and a top Trump ally, added on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast. "There's a lot going on. There's a lot more that's coming. I can assure you … we're firing on all cylinders in the Trump administration."
Catch up quick: Dugan was arrested Friday for allegedly obstructing the arrest of a man who was in the country illegally, but was appearing in her courtroom on different charges. Dugan allegedly told FBI agents they needed to go see the court's chief judge before ushering the defendant out through a side door.
The defendant was ultimately apprehended after a brief foot chase.
Duggan's arrest came after a former judge in New Mexico was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Thursday on evidence-tampering charges.
Jose Cano, a former Doña Ana County magistrate judge, and his wife were allegedly allowing alleged Venezuelan gang members to stay on their property. Their arrest similarly sent MAGA into an uproar, combining immigration, crime and the "deep state" into one rallying cry.
American retailers are growingworried that President Trump's trade warand increased volatilitywill lead to empty shelves, higher prices and store closures as Chinese imports screech to a halt.
Why it matters: Many retailers stocked up on inventory in the first months of 2025, realizing that a storm was coming — but their inventories are poised to dwindle quickly.
The National Retail Federation expects U.S. imports to plunge by at least 20% in the second half of 2025 if increased tariffs remain in place.
"Shortages are a real possibility," Coresight Research analyst John Harmon tells Axios.
The big picture: Trump's trade war has sent the nation's retailers into scramble mode.
The CEOs of three of the nation's biggest retailers — Walmart, Target and Home Depot — privately warned Trump in a meeting Monday that his trade policy could triggermassive product shortages and price spikes.
The largest companies are reportedly pressuring suppliers to absorb extra costs. "We have decades of experience" with buyers, plus longstanding supplier relationships, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told reporters earlier this month.
Smaller retailers have fewer options: "We're not eager to raise prices," Skechers USA CFO John Vandemore said Thursday. "We would not be doing so were it not for" the tariffs.
Businesses that were already teetering are in serious trouble: "If they can't get goods, or their consumers revolt and don't want to pay the tariffs and their sales plummet, it seriously could push some retailers over the edge," Harmon said.
What we're watching: How fears of shortages affect consumer behavior. Several sectors have shown signs of people stocking up on products in anticipation of price increases.
"Starting in a couple of weeks, we are just going to start running out of stuff, and if the administration waits to resolve the problem until we have shortages and hoarding, that is just too late," Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, told NBC News.
The White House did not comment.
Follow the money: With higher duties and fewer supplies, prices are set to spike.
A slew of companies have warned of higher prices or have already increased them, including Procter & Gamble, Best Buy, Unilever, Ford, Shein, Temu, AutoZone and Hermès.
The Halloween and Costume Association warned that tariffs are threatening to "wipe out Halloween and severely disrupt Christmas unless urgent action is taken."
"Our members are reporting a wave of order cancellations, and it's creating serious concern about whether shelves will be stocked in time for Halloween," Michele Boylstein, the association's executive director, told Axios.
Threat level: It's only April, but back-to-school season is already at risk, Coresight's Harmon said.
Retailers will look to alternatives for product sourcing to avoid the steepest duties but "it's not like you can flip a switch and pivot to another supplier," Harmon said.
Sales to China of key commodities, like soybeans and pork, are plunging as the trade war begins to impact the domestic economy.
Why it matters: U.S. farmers export more than $176 billion in agricultural products annually — almost 10% of which is just soybean and pork shipments to China.
Losing even a fraction of those exports for the long term could be economically devastating.
By the numbers: In the week of April 11-17, net soybean sales were down 50% week over week and down 25% versus the four-week average, per data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released Thursday.
Net pork sales were down 72% week on week and 82% versus the four-week average, the USDA said.
What they're saying: "This is directly related to the tariff situation. There's no doubt about it, there's not some other magic behind-the-scenes thing going on," Rob Dongoski, global lead for food and agribusiness at consultancy Kearney, tells Axios.
The big picture: In his first term, President Trump bailed out farmers when 2018 tariffs on China impacted exports.
Those bailouts, collectively, ended up being so large that they almost equaled the tariff revenue generated.
This trade war is orders of magnitude larger than the last one, but there's been no explicit relief for farmers — yet.
Between the lines: "This already looks worse than 2018," American Soybean Association economist Jacquie Holland tells Axios. "That's because there's also a trade spat with Canada, a major supplier of potash which is a really key input for soybean production.
"Farmers are going to feel the pain of this at so many points on the supply chain, not just from the prices that they receive."
The intrigue: If exports are plunging, the surplus has to go somewhere, but the obvious option — more domestic consumption — may not be much of a solution.
"To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States," President Trump wrote on Truth Social in March.
But pork demand in the U.S. has been challenging in recent years, meaning there's no ready consumer safety valve. (International demand has been falling as well — and ironically, China was one of the few bright spots for growth before the tariffs hit.)
On the soybean side, Holland said there are calls for the EPA to increase biodiesel usage requirements, which she said could stabilize the market but wouldn't fully replace lost demand.
The bottom line: Spring planting season is in full swing now, but it's already looking like a rough year for farmers.
"1.4 billion people in China, that's a tough customer to replace," Dongoski said.
President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky met on Saturday in Rome on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral and discussed the effort to end the war with Russia.
Why it matters: This was the first meeting between Trump and Zelensky since their explosive Oval Office shouting match in late February, which led to an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.
The two leaders met as Trump calls for a high-level summit between Russia and Ukraine "to finish it off" and get a peace deal.
Zoom in: Trump and Zelensky first huddled for a few minutes with French President Macron and British Prime Minister Starmer, then set down for a 15-minute one-on-one meeting inside the St. Peter's Basilica.
"President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very productive discussion," White House communications director Steven Cheung said.
What they're saying: Zelensky posted on X that he and Trump had a "good meeting" and stressed the need for a "full and unconditional ceasefire and a reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out."
"Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results," Zelensky added.
The other side: After the meeting, as he was making his way back to the U.S. on Air Force One, Trump published a post on his Truth Social account criticizing Putin for the recent missile attacks on Ukraine.
"It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!", Trump wrote.
State of play: Trump presented a "final offer" to Ukraine and Russia last week to end the war. It includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion.
Ukraine rejected the U.S. proposal and, together with the U.K., France and Germany, gave Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg on Wednesday a counter-proposal, European diplomats say.
The Ukrainian counter-proposal stressed that a full and unconditional ceasefire needs to be the first step ahead of any negotiations on a final peace deal.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met for three hours on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and discussed the effort to end the war.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with more details.
New parents looking to purchase a stroller may want to get a jump start, as the price of baby gear is climbing thanks to President Trump's tariffs, CEOs warn.
The big picture: The president has become a powerful ally in the push for women to have more children but his roller-coaster tariffs have made it more expensive for parents to buy the baby products they need, industry leaders say.
Zoom in: Prices on baby essentials, like car seats and strollers, started increasing last week and are up, on average, by about 30%, said Elizabeth Mahon, founder of D.C.-based children's store Three Littles.
"Prices are through the roof right now," she said, adding that they're expected to continue going up in coming weeks.
Case in point: The price of an UPPAbaby stroller, which Mahon said is of one of the most popular strollers in the country, is going to jump from $899 to $1,200 in early May, she said.
Strollers and car seats from Nuna, another popular brand, already went up $100 and $50, respectively.
Over the next 30 to 45 days, Munchkin will instate price increases across about 90% of its products, which range from sippy cups to high chairs, CEO Steve Dunn told Axios.
State of play: 97% of strollers and 87% of car seats are made in China, according to Babylist, a popular baby registry platform.
Companies are telling consumers directly that the reason for price jumps are the tariffs.
UPPAbaby announced last week it would soon raise prices for many of its items due to rising import tariffs. The company said it tried to absorb as much of the cost as possible but found increases to be unavoidable.
In an open letter in the Washington Post on Wednesday, Babylist called for an "immediate reprieve from tariffs on essential baby products," saying the tariffs are essentially a "baby tax" impacting the cost of essential gear parents legally need to bring their newborns home safely.
13 other well-known baby gear companies, likeUPPAbaby, Munchkin and Frida, signed on to the letter.
What they're saying: Natalie Gordon, Babylist CEO and founder, said everything from car seats to cribs will face price increases across the board.
"These are essential items that every expecting parent needs, and they can't be delayed," Gordon told Axios. "It's an added burden at one of the most vulnerable and financially stretched moments in life."
Baby companies are being forced to make daily, reactive decisions to navigate the uncertainty of the tariffs, she said.
"That includes adjusting prices, but also delaying shipments of finished goods, which is likely to lead to stock shortages in the coming months," Gordon added.
Zoom out: Dunn, of Munchkin, wrote two letters to President Trump this month, asking for a permanent exemption from the tariffs for baby products.
"The reality is that there is no infrastructure or manufacturing base in the U.S. capable of producing the millions of low-margin, safety-critical juvenile and maternal health products American families need," he wrote.
Dunn told Axios that any manufacturing options in the U.S. at least doubles the cost of Munchkin's products.
"Birth rates are at a U.S. record low, and it's not really a mystery as to why," Dunn said. "Young families are buckling under the rising cost of food, housing and child care, and laying punitive tariffs on top of that burden doesn't protect the American dream — it taxes it."
Between the lines: The Trump administration is trying to incentivize women to have more children, but it's not necessarily making it more accessible to do so.
The White House is reportedly soliciting ideas about how to get more Americans to marry and have more babies, with proposals including cash "baby bonuses," Axios earlier reported.
But the tariffs impacting baby gear prices are making it exponentially more expensive for parents in the U.S. to keep their children safe, Mahon said.
"Eventually, even the more affordable car seats will be out of reach for many families," she said, noting that this will encourage people to buy secondhand or expired car seats, which are not safe for children.
The White House did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The bottom line: "I think that the best way that we can support families in having more children is to be committed to making it more affordable and be committed to providing more support for them," Mahon said.
Heads of state and royalty were among the 250,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for Pope Francis' funeral Saturday morning.
The big picture: Attendees included the Trumps, the Bidens, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince William.
They joined tens of thousands of ordinary people, including many young people, from all over the world.
The intrigue: The White House said President Trump had a "very productive discussion" with Zelensky on the sidelines of the funeral service, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. It was their first meeting since their Oval Office shouting match.
President Trump, right, shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron as Finland's President Alexander Stubb, looks on. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
The Trumps sat in the front row at the open-air mass. The Bidens were four rows behind them, The Washington Post reports.
Zoom in: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered a spirited and highly personal sermon, AP reports.
He spoke of Francis as a pope of the people who knew how to communicate to the "least among us" with a conversational style.
Clergy stand during the funeral of Pope Francis. Photo: Markus Schreiber/AP
After the service concluded, a motorcade took Pope Francis's body through Rome to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica where he will be laid to rest.
People lined the streets to applaud and bid a final farewell.
What they're saying: "Lock em up!!" Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, told Axios after the arrest.
"Good. We need to see more arrests!!" Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) said on X.
"Take note, local officials. Obstructing federal immigration enforcement will no longer be tolerated. The American people have spoken. And their voice is clear," posted right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec.
Catch up quick: FBI agents arrived at Dugan's courtroom last week to arrest a man who was in the country illegally. He was appearing before Dugan on separate charges.
Dugan confronted the agents in the hallway outside her courtroom, according to the FBI's criminal complaint, and told them they needed to go see the court's chief judge.
She then escorted the defendant through a side door and out the back of the courthouse, the charges state.
He made it outside, but was arrested after a brief foot chase.
What they're saying: "What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me," Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News. "The [judges] are deranged, is all I can think of."
The other side: "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable," said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).
Why it matters: It is a complete reversal of the policy that former President Biden and former Attorney General Merrick Garland put in place restricting subpoenas of reporters' news-gathering materials.
"This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi, referring to recent administration leaks, wrote in an internal memo obtained by Axios.
"I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks," she wrote.
The big picture: Bondi's announcement comes as her office prepares to investigate at least three suspected leakers referred Wednesday by National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
"A leaker within the IC sharing information on Israel / Iran with the Washington Post," Gabbard wrote last month on X. She has not specified what stories or journalists merited a leak investigation.
The intrigue: The Defense Department has reeled from a series of embarrassing leaks, including stories that portray Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as paranoid, vain, and careless with sensitive information.
CBS also reported that the former Fox pundit had a makeup studio installed at the Pentagon.
Four people have been fired or left the Pentagon as a result of the drama on Hegseth's watch. They have denied wrongdoing.
What they're saying: Bondi wrote that, under her new rules, "the news media 'must answer subpoenas' when authorized at the appropriate level within the Department of Justice."
She said that subpoenaed news outlets are to be given advanced notice and that the subpoenas will be "narrowly drawn."
Bondi also wrote that any warrants for reporters' materials "must include protocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities."
What to watch: Bondi said that, when considering whether to issue a subpoena, she will try to determine where there are "reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has occurred and the information sought is essential to a successful prosecution."
She also said that a subpoena will only occur after prosecutors have made "all reasonable attempts to obtain information from alternative sources" and pursued exhaustive negotiations with the reporter.
Threats to national security, she suggested, would create some exceptions to these policies.
An ABC News reporter first posted on X about the existence of Bondi's memo.
The FBI on Friday arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest.
The big picture: The complaint filed in U.S. District Courtcharges the judge with obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the U.S. and with concealing an individual to prevent his discovery or arrest.
What they're saying: Bondi said on FOX News Channel's America Reports that the Trump administration will target judges who oppose the president's growing immigration crackdown.
"What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me," Bondi said. "The [judges] are deranged is all I can think of. I think some of these judges think that they are beyond and above the law. They are not, and we are sending a very strong message today ... if you are harboring a fugitive… we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you."
Bondi alluded to the Trump administration's willingness to conflict with the Constitution.
When Fox News anchor John Roberts said that critics might interpret such prosecutions as "expanding" the powers of Article 1 of the Constitution, Bondi said "nobody is above the law."
"If you are destroying evidence, if you are obstructing justice… it will not be tolerated," Bondi said.
The Vesting Clause of Article 1 establishes the separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government.
The other side: Dugan's arrest shows that "Trump is going to use every weapon at his disposal to enforce his anti-immigrant agenda," Pace University Law Professor Bennett Gershman told Axios.
It's a federal crime to obstruct or interfere with immigration officials making arrest, Gershman noted, so Dugan's indictment doesn't set a special precedent.
But it does show that "invading courthouses, schools, probably even religious institutions as well to round up immigrants" is on the table.
"It shows that immigrants who must appear in court to answer charges, even very minor ones, are sitting ducks for ICE agents, and it likely places many immigrants in a terrible choice between appearing in court, which they are legally required to do, and potentially getting arrested, or not appearing and facing new charges or bench warrant for failure to appear."
What we're watching: ICE arrested a New Mexico judge and his wife on suspicion of hiding an alleged Venezuelan gang member in their house on Friday.
Despite the allegations and his March resignation, former Dona Ana County Magistrate Joel Cano and his wife have not been charged with any crimes, KOAT-TV reported.
Democratic lawmakers reacted with ferocity — and some Republicans with cheers — to the Friday arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented defendant avoid arrest by ICE agents.
Why it matters: To Democrats, the arrest marks a significant escalation in President Trump's efforts to consolidate power and use federal law enforcement to crush legal obstacles to his agenda.
"It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges," said House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "It's a whole new descent into government chaos."
"The Trump administration again is breaking norms in how it's dealing with immigration, the legal system, and normalcy. ... This is stuff I expect from Third World countries," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable."
What happened: Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Milwaukee County Circuit judge is in federal custody and was scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate later Friday.
A source familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest to Axios.
FBI Director Kash Patel, in a now-deleted post on X, accused Dugan of "intentionally misdirect[ing]" ICE agents who were attempting to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented defendant in her courtroom.
The other side: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) told Axios, "It is abundantly clear that many activist judges around the country have been acting politically in order to sabotage President Trump's agenda, and disenfranchise the 77 million Americans that voted for him."
"Judges are not supposed to write the law, and they certainly are not above it," he added.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a staunch Trump ally, told Axios he, too, supports the arrest, exclaiming, "Lock em up!!"
Said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.): "If she broke the law, she needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent. No double standards."
What to watch: Democrats are already calling for an investigation into the arrest and the facts surrounding it.
"If ICE is allowed to be above the law, then clearly they need to have their operation looked at closely," said Pocan.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a House Judiciary Committee member, said there should "absolutely" be a probe: "On the face of it, this is dangerous and outrageous and it is designed to intimidate our judiciary."
America's status as the top global investment magnet is in doubt.
Why it matters: Companies had been eager to spend billions to stand up factories, warehouses and more on U.S. soil, with confidence that political stability would make such investments worthwhile for decades to come.
But President Trump's trade policies have made the economic backdrop more erratic and businesses are hitting pause, with new questions about whether executives can make a multiyear bet on America.
The big picture: It is an unintended consequence of the on-again, off-again tariff policy out of the White House. Multinational corporations are not sure what the world will look like in less than 90 days, when Trump's freeze on reciprocal tariffs expires.
There has been assurance that negotiations may lead to de-escalation among major trading partners. But that is no guarantee.
What they're saying: "Overall, a tendency to take big bets — two- to three-year investments, or five- to 10-year investments with a new manufacturing location — all of those are on pause," Aparna Bharadwaj, a global consultant at Boston Consulting Group, tells Axios.
"Any business that wants to make those kinds of big investments will need to have certainty behind it," Bharadwaj says.
Between the lines: Trump hoped the tariffs would result in foreign dollars pouring into America, in the form of intentions to build factories and manufacturing sites.
While there have been isolated announcements of such investments touted by the White House, there are new questions about the sustainability of the policies that would make the investments worthwhile.
What to watch: This problem goes beyond the current trade environment. Many businesses realize that America's economic cycles are newly aligned with political cycles.
Huge legislation like former President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act risks disappearing in the years it takes companies to break ground on the investments made under the law.
"The swing between the blue and the red has become wider," Bharadwaj says. For decades, "it was a slight switch to the left, or slight switch to the right, but business could continue as usual."
The intrigue: The questions about capital expenditures are mirrored in financial markets, where foreigners are questioning the status of the U.S. as a safe haven.
The shakier domestic growth outlook implies a declining dollar and global investors' desire to rebalance their portfolios to be less concentrated in the U.S., Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius told reporters Friday morning.
"I'm talking about just an environment in which growth is significantly weaker for a period of time, inflation is higher, and the shine comes off of the American exceptionalism trade," Hatzius said.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday his office had arrested a Milwaukee judge who allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest in her courthouse.
Patel vowed last year to target members of the media and government officials during a second Trump administration, saying on Steve Bannon's podcast, "We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media."
He has drawn criticism recently — including from among Trump's base — for spending his time jet-setting to hockey games and UFC matches rather than running day-to-day operations at the FBI.
The latest: Patel said Judge Hannah Dugan had been charged with obstruction, but quickly deleted his X post announcing her arrest.
Here's what to know about Patel.
Kash Patel's background
Patel is the child of Indian immigrants, the AP reports, and is described in his Defense Department biography as a "native of New York."
He attended the University of Richmond for his undergraduate studies and received his law degree from Pace University in New York after completing a certificate in international law at the University College London Faculty of Laws.
He began his career as a public defender in Florida.
In a Saturday Truth Social post announcing his intent to nominate Patel, Trump wrote that his pick had "tried over 60 jury trials."
Friction point: The New York Times reported that colleagues from his time in the Sunshine State recalled he held deep animosity for Justice Department prosecutors. And Michael Caruso, who led the Southern District of Florida office at the time, said Patel avoided filing motions he would likely lose.
But Patel continued to climb through the legal ranks, becoming a terrorism prosecutor at the Justice Department.
Catching Trump's eye
As a staffer for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he was tasked with spearheading the panel's investigation into Moscow's interference in the 2016 presidential election at the direction of then-chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).
He was a key actor in Nunes and House Republicans' efforts to undermine the investigation into Russian influence.
Patel also assisted in writing a charged memo that accused FBI and DOJ officials of bias against Trump and abuse of their surveillance powers when spying on a former campaign adviser, Axios reported in 2019.
The intrigue: He was the primary authorof the "Nunes memo" — a role that impressed Trump, who ordered the staffer be given a post with the National Security Council, the Times reported.
The memo alleged that the Steele dossier played "an essential part" in justifying the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the Russia investigation.
The FBI, in a rare public statement, expressed at the time "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
Flashback: In an endorsement promoting the 2023 book, Trump is quoted as saying he will "use this blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government!"
Patel named a list of "deep state" officials to target in his book.
Patel's role in Trump's first administration
Patel served on the National Security Council toward the end of the Trump's first term, becoming chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.
As a senior NSC official, Patel was accused of running a covert backchannel to Trump on Ukraine matters — but he denied ever discussing Ukraine with the then-president.
Both Fiona Hill, Trump's former top Russia adviser, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, then the NSC's top Ukraine expert, mentioned Patel in their testimonies to impeachment investigators.
Hill alleged she heard Trump thought Patel was his Ukraine director (he was not) and that Patel was moving Ukraine-related "materials" outside of normal channels.
When Trump reportedly considered making Patel deputy director of the FBI, then-Attorney General Bill Barr told then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that Patel would only achieve the post "over my dead body," Barr wrote in his memoir.
Ex-CIA Director Gina Haspel also threatened to resign in December 2020 over Trump's plan to make Patel her deputy.
Charity and children's books
In the years since the first Trump administration, Patel has repeatedly promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and that "deep state" bureaucrats were out to get Trump.
In an interview on the "Shawn Ryan Show" earlier this year, Patel said he would "shut down" the FBI headquarters building in D.C. and "reopen it the next day as a museum of the 'deep state.'"
He launched "Fight with Kash," an organization to fund defamation lawsuits, shortly after Trump left office, per the AP. The group has since been rebranded as The Kash Foundation, a nonprofit formed to support whistleblowers, among other purposes.
But inconsistencies and vague language in media interviews that contrasted with IRS reporting raised eyebrows about the work his charity was doing.
Beyond the book he published last year, "Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy," Patel also penned a series of children's books titled "Plot Against the King." Spoiler alert — Trump is the "king."
He cast himself as a wizard: "Kash the Distinguished Discoverer."
The White House's control of the daily rotation of reporters with access to the president at certain events is not about "restrictions," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios' Mike Allen at an event in D.C. on Friday.
Why it matters: "It's not about ideology. It's about increasing the wide arrayof outlets that have access," Leavitt said.
"I don't view them as restrictions. We view them as opening accessto more outlets, more voices, more news, journalists and outlets," Leavitt said. "Why should a single outlet have the privilege of being in that 13-person press pool every single day?"
She connected the media strategy — which includes allowing MAGA influencers and podcasters into the briefing room — to President Trump's 2024 campaign.
"The President ran a non-traditional media campaign, which propelled him back to the highest office in the land, and we felt it was our responsibility to continue that in our coverage at the White House," she said.
Zoom in: She noted Trump's interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic's editor in chief, on Thursday after Goldberg reported on his accidental inclusion in an administration's Signal chat about military strike planning.
"The fact that the President is still willing to welcome that reporter into the Oval Office to have a direct conversation with them is exactly what we should expect in a leader of the free world," she said.
Leavitt said the interview with Goldberg was "cordial," but declined to share details about what was said.
Zoom out: The White House severed the traditional relationship between the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) and the communications office, drawing criticism for the government's control in the process.
"I think that a small group of journalists who comprise the board of the White House Correspondents Association should not dictate who gets to go into the Oval Office and who gets to ride on Air Force One," she said.
"There should be equal access for all outlets, and that's exactly what we're doing."
Catch up quick: The sparring between the WHCA and the White House communications shop started when the Associated Press, a newswire with a daily spot in the pool, refused to use Gulf of America for the Gulf of Mexico.
The AP sued the White House for excluding its reporters and photographers from presidential events and Oval Office gaggles. The White House has also defied a court order to allow an AP journalist into an Oval Office press conference.
During the legal dispute, the White House took control of the daily rotation of reporters in the pool and severing the normal relationship with the WHCA.
The White House's last change to the pool rotation removed the permanent spot for wire services. It also added two print media reporters and a new media position to the daily rotations.
The big picture: As traditional media loses influence, the White House is giving increasing access to a growing cast of Trump-friendly reporters, podcasters and influencers who boost his narratives from inside the house, Axios MAGA media expert Tal Axelrod has reported.
The increased access comes as part of the Trump administration's push to elevate "new media," which includes nonpartisan digital outlets like Axios and Semafor but also Trump-aligned outlets.
The White House is also remaking the seating chart in the Brady Briefing Room, adding space for Axios, NOTUS and Punchbowl.
What to watch: Trump has provoked media discourse as he teases running for a third term, which is not allowed under the Constitution. This week, he started selling "Trump 2028" hats on his official store website.
"It's just a hat," Leavitt said. "It's not something he's thinking of, though I hear hats are flying off the shelves."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Dugan appeared briefly in federal court Friday before she was released from custody, the Associated Press confirmed.
"Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety," her lawyer, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing, per AP.
Patel had announced the arrest on the social media site X then deleted it. He later reposted the announcement after Dugan appeared in court.
Driving the news: "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest," Patel said.
Patel added that Flores-Ruiz is currently in the FBI's custody.
Catch up quick: The Journal Sentinel reported this week that the FBI was looking into whether Dugan tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after that person was scheduled to appear in her courtroom last week.
In an email to judges, Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Ashley's note didn't mention Dugan or an FBI investigation into her conduct. His office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Dugan's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met for three hours on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
Why it matters: The fourth meeting between Witkoff and Putin comes a day after President Trump made a public demand that Russia stop its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine and focus on negotiating a peace deal.
"Vladimir, STOP! Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Thursday.
He said in apost Friday that after a "good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine" they "are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off.'"
"Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW," Trump added.
Driving the news: Putin's advisers Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev also attended the meeting.
Ushakov said in a briefing with reporters that the meeting was "constructive and useful."
He added that the meeting brought the U.S. and Russia "closer together" on Ukraine and other issues.
Ushakov said Putin discussed with Witkoff the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
The big picture: Trump presented to Ukraine and Russia a "final offer" to end the war. It includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion.
Ukraine rejected the U.S. proposal and together with the U.K., France and Germany gave Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg a counter-proposal, European diplomats say.
What he is saying: In an interview with Time magazine published on Friday Trump said he thinks Putin would rather occupy all of Ukraine, but claimed his diplomatic efforts and pressure brought the Russian president to the negotiating table.
Trump said he thinks Ukraine's president Zelensky also wants a deal. "We're getting very close to a deal," he said.
When asked about his campaign promise that he would end the war in Ukraine on Day One Trump said: "I said that figuratively... as an exaggeration, because to make a point."
The president said Ukraine will never be able to join NATO and claimed "what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO." Trump also stressed "Crimea will stay with Russia" and claimed that "Zelensky understands that."
Yes, but: A deal currently doesn't appear nearly as close as Trump claims.
Zelensky outright rejected parts of Trump's plan, such as recognition of Crimea as Russian.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Russia is ready to make a deal and just requires some elements of the proposal to be "fine-tuned."
Zoom in: Trump posted on Truth Social that Zelensky had yet to sign the planned minerals deal with the U.S., which he said was now "at least three weeks late."
Editor's note: This story was updated with Ushakov's comments and Trump's posts.
President Trump denied there's any risk Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will "drag" him into war with Iran in an interview with Time magazine, because he will be "leading the pack" for war if he can't get a deal.
Why it matters: Netanyahu is much more skeptical than Trump of diplomacy with Iran, and much more inclined to opt for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Trump has repeatedly said his priority is to negotiate a deal, but that Iran doesn't have much time before he will consider plan b to ensure Tehran never gets a bomb.
The intrigue: Trump denied that he outright stopped Israel from striking Iran, saying "I didn't make it comfortable for them, but I didn't say no."
"Ultimately I was going to leave that choice to them, but I said I would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped," he said.
Trump said he's not worried Netanyahu will drag him into war with Iran and added: "I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack."
But Trump said he thinks "we can make a deal without the attack. I hope we can." Asked if he's open to meeting Iranian leaders he said: "Sure."
What to watch: Trump remarks in a lengthy Time interview came ahead of the third round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in Saturday in Oman.
The talks this week will shift to a more technical, working-level format to delve into the details of Iran's nuclear program. State Department policy planning chief Michael Anton will lead the U.S. team, U.S. officials say.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi are expected meet in Oman this weekend after the technical talks are concluded.
Both sides insist they're ready to make progress if the other side is serious.
A defiant President Trump insisted in a new interview that the U.S. is less than a month away from potentially hundreds of trade deals, and that even Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him to talk business.
Why it matters: China denies it, other countries aren't saying it either, Trump won't say who the deals are with or share details, and the global economy is cracking as the saga plays out.
Driving the news: Time magazine released a sweeping interview with Trump Friday to review the first 100 days of his second presidency.
Time's reporters asked Trump if he'd call Xi to talk trade ("Nope.") and if Xi had called him ("Yep.")
"He's called. And I don't think that's a sign of weakness on his behalf," Trump said.
The other side: Chinese officials in recent days have steadfastly denied that any talks were happening, and insisted that the U.S. needed to make the first move by dropping its tariffs.
The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond Friday to Axios' request for comment on Trump's claim.
State of play: Just over two weeks into Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, U.S. officials have been in active negotiations with the likes of Japan and South Korea on trade deals — but nothing's been announced yet.
Asked why, Trump said "I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we're finished, by the way."
"I'll be finished," Trump added — though he also said some countries could come back and negotiate adjustments after he was done.
Yes, but: Trump also suggested something of a new view on trade talks, claiming he'd already made "200 deals" by unilaterally imposing tariffs.
"[T]he deal is a deal that I choose. View it differently: We are a department store, and we set the price," he said. "I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price, what I consider to be a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don't have to pay it. They don't have to do business with the United States, but I set a tariff on countries."
Zoom out: After a series of polls found Americans are less confident than ever in Trump's handling of the economy, he took credit for what he said was an economic rebound in his first weeks in office.
On growth, Trump cast doubts on the Atlanta Fed forecast that the U.S. economy contracted during the first quarter. "Well, they may have said that, but so far, they've been, I mean, I've been right." (Preliminary first-quarter GDP numbers will be out next Wednesday.)
On trade, Trump asserted that the trade deficit represented the U.S. "losing" trillions of dollars to other countries, a view widely rejected by economists who insist trade deficits are not, in and of themselves, bad.
On consumer prices, Trump insisted there was no inflation and that he'd brought down the prices of groceries, including eggs. (While egg prices are down sharply over the last month, overall grocery prices are essentially flat over the course of his presidency, per a Datasembly index derived from thousands of stores.)
On overall prices, Trump rejected widespread expectations of rising tariff-driven inflation, including a recent IMF forecast. "[Y]ou can't say what they think, because so far what I thought is right."
The Trump administration wants to empower local schools by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The catch: Local school districts nationwide already are struggling with teacher shortages, falling test scores and rising turnover in leadership.
Why it matters: Those measures of instability — along with ongoing debates over what should be taught, and how — are just a few of the problems local systems are facing as the White House signals that less help could be coming.
It's unclear precisely how the Education Department's demise will affect federal funding to local school systems.
The department is the primary source of federal money to local schools, but not the only one. Federal funds now make up an average of about 14% of a public school system's budget, with more typically going to lower-income areas.
The big picture: The Trump administration's push against federal mandates in education is based partly on the notion that local school officials best know how to shape their schools.
At the same time, the administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from districts that don't follow President Trump's demand that they end diversity policies and restrict the teaching of subjects such as racism in America. (That demand is now the focus of a court battle.)
Many education advocates fear public schools' problems are likely to get worse as the Department of Education fades away — especially if resources decline.
Zoom in: School districts' instability has been most apparent in the constant turnover among systems' leaders. Superintendents' firings and resignations have soared across the country, preventing many school systems from adopting long-term, effective plans, advocates say.
States with high percentages of students in poverty and lagging student achievement often have some of the highest superintendent turnover rates, according to national data collected by Superintendent Lab reviewed by Axios.
Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia saw more than 60% of K-12 public school districts experience at least one superintendent transition from 2019 to 2024.
New Mexico — which ranks at or near the bottom nationally on almost every measurement for public schools — had at least one new superintendent in 57% of its districts during that five-year period.
What they're saying: Rachel S. White, founder of Superintendent Lab and an education professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Axios that most of that turnover occurs in urban areas with large percentages of students of color.
"This whole idea of abolishing the U.S. Department of Ed, or at least greatly reducing its capacity to do the work, potentially can make the role of the superintendent even more important than it already is," White said.
A Department of Education spokesperson did not respond to Axios for comment.
Conservative-leaning groups have applauded Trump's move to close the department and give local governments more control.
"Returning decision-making authority and funding to the states can foster innovation, accountability and better educational outcomes," Virginia Board of Education President Grace Creasey said in a statement. "This is about putting parents and state and local leaders back in charge of education."
State of play: The country's K-12 student population is more diverse than it's ever been, but economic factors have led school enrollments to be increasingly segregated by race, fostering disparities in resources.
Many school boards are locked in heated cultural fights over issues such as library books, teachers' pay, trans athletes and teaching about enslavement — issues that can crowd out debates on strategies to raise test scores and graduation rates.
Zoom out: U.S. students had record-low reading comprehension scores last year in a learning loss trend exacerbated by the pandemic, a national education reportreleased in January found.
In 2024, the percentage of eighth graders with reading comprehension scores below the "basic" metric was the largest in the assessment's history.
The bottom line: The Trump administration's move to give local entities more control doesn't address long-standing education issues.
"Are these kids coming out to be productive citizens? Are they strong, moral people who can read and write and do math?" Tim DeRoche, founder of the nonpartisan education watchdog Available to All, told Axios.
You kind of lose sight of that in the power, politics and the economics of the whole game."
