White South Africans given ‘refugee’ status arrive in US as Trump administration told they got ‘wrong end of the stick’ – live

First white South African ‘refugees’ arrive in US as Trump claims they face ‘genocide’

The Trump administration has welcomed 59 white South Africans it has granted refugee status in the US for being deemed victims of racial discrimination, Reuters reports, in a move that has drawn criticism from Democrats and stirred confusion in South Africa.

Donald Trump has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world – even those fleeing war – but in February offered to resettle Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, saying they faced discrimination.

Asked on Monday why white South Africans were being prioritized above the victims of famine and war elsewhere in Africa, Trump claimed, without providing evidence, that Afrikaners were being killed. “It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” Trump told reporters at the White House, going further than he has previously in echoing rightwing tropes about their alleged persecution.

He was not favoring Afrikaners because they are white, Trump said, adding that their race “makes no difference to me”.

South Africa maintains there is no evidence of persecution and that claims of a “white genocide” in the country have not been backed up by evidence. Treating white South Africans as refugees fleeing oppression has drawn alarm and ridicule from South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic issue it does not understand.

A state department official said the charter plane carrying the first 59 Afrikaners brought under Trump’s offer had landed at Washington Dulles airport. Some were heading to Democratic-leaning Minnesota, which has a reputation for welcoming refugees, while others planned to go to Republican-led states such as Idaho and Alabama, sources told Reuters.

Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the most senior Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, called the move “baffling”. In a statement on Monday she said:

The decision by this administration to put one group at the front of the line is clearly politically motivated and an effort to rewrite history.

Afrikaner ‘refugees’ from South Africa arrive at Dulles international airport. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Key events

Pentagon halting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender troops – Reuters

The Pentagon is halting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender troops as it moves to kick them out of the US military, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

“I am directing you to take the necessary steps to immediately implement this guidance,” Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in the memo.

The Pentagon referred questions to the Defense Health Agency, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters first reported last week a memo showing that US defense secretary Pete Hegseth issued instructions to the Pentagon to start kicking out transgender troops who do not elect to leave on their own by 6 June.

The actions illustrate how Donald Trump’s administration intends to swiftly act to remove thousands of transgender service members after a supreme court ruling last week cleared the way for a ban to take effect.

There are 4,240 US active-duty and National Guard transgender troops, officials have said. Transgender rights advocates have given higher estimates.

Here are some pictures of the group of 59 white South Africans who have arrived to be resettled in the US after being granted refugee status by the Trump administration.

Trump has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world – even those fleeing war – but has offered to resettle Afrikaners, claiming baselessly this morning that they face racial discrimination and “genocide”.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has rejected their classification as refugees and said the US government has “got the wrong end of the stick”.

Afrikaners arrive from South Africa holding US flags. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

South African children play with balloons as they arrive in the US with their families. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

The group of 59 people arrived at Dulles international airport. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

The day so far

Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in relations between China and the US after the countries agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with tariffs to be lowered by 115 percentage points. “They’ve agreed to open up China,” he claimed at a press conference at the White House this morning, adding that he and Xi Jinping may speak towards the end of the week. Wall Street rose sharply after the announcement, with the benchmark S&P 500 jumping 2.7% and the Dow Jones industrial average climbing 2.4% during early trading in New York. The fentanyl-related tariff will still apply, and Trump stressed that sector-specific US tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium will be unaffected.
The first white South Africans granted refugee status in the US arrived at Dulles international airport as Trump claimed baselessly that they faced “genocide”. Trump has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world – even those fleeing war – but in February offered to resettle Afrikaners saying they faced discrimination. South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said the US government had “got the wrong end of the stick” and rejected the classification of Afrikaners as refugees. “They are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country [since the end of apartheid], in accordance with our constitution,” he said. US senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the most senior Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, called the move “baffling”. In a statement she said: “The decision by this administration to put one group at the front of the line is clearly politically motivated and an effort to rewrite history.”
Top Democrats in the Senate are pushing for a vote on the floor of the chamber censuring Donald Trump’s reported plan to accept a $400m luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar for use as Air Force One and later as a fixture in Trump’s personal presidential library. News of a possible gift of the luxury jet prompted immediate scathing criticism from senior Democrats. Senator Chris Murphy described the idea of Qatar handing over the jet as being “just wildly illegal” and said that he would object to “any military deal with a nation that is paying off Trump personally – we can’t act like this is normal foreign policy”. Though the Qatari government has stressed that no final decision has yet been made, Trump appeared to confirm it on Monday when he doubled down, saying he would be “stupid” to turn down the “great gesture” of a free plane. The president also said Boeing delays in delivering a new Air Force One make it a practical decision and claimed repeatedly that it wasn’t a personal gift. As well as Democrats, far-right Maga activist Laura Loomer was also dismayed, she said: “This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.”
House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”, at least $880bn in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5tn in tax breaks. Influential senator – and staunch Trump loyalist – Josh Hawley warned that his party is suffering from an “identity crisis” over whether it stands for working Americans or rich corporate executives, signaling a worsening split among Trump’s congressional troops over the plans. In an opinion piece in the NYT, Hawley warned his fellow Republicans it would be “politically suicidal” to concede to huge cuts in the federal program that provides health insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans.
Trump unveiled an aggressive drug pricing strategy targeting pharmaceutical companies, promising to dramatically cut prescription drug costs for American consumers. Trump condemned the current pricing system as a “redistribution” that has allowed drugmakers to exploit US patients and signed an executive order that he says will lead to matching lower drug prices abroad. The president said the plan would reduce prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices in the US “almost immediately” by “30% to 80 or 90%”. The policy plan, dubbed “most favored nation”, would force pharmaceutical companies to match the lowest global prices, in effect ending what Trump describes as systematic overcharging.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the possibility of Trump’s participation in talks with Russia in Turkey on Thursday calling it “the right idea”. Trump – now off on a trip to the Middle East – had earlier said: “I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we’ve got to get it done.”
The Trump administration spent at least $21m transporting people to Guantánamo Bay on military aircrafts between between January and April, with the average flight cost totally over $26,000, NBC reported. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that Trump promised.

‘US government has wrong end of the stick’: white South Africans resettling in US are not refugees, says Cyril Ramaphosa

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa rejected the classification of a group of white South Africans as “refugees”, following their resettlement to the United States under a programme backed by Donald Trump.

Speaking at a conference in Ivory Coast, Ramaphosa said:

A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political, religious or economic persecution – and they don’t fit that bill. They are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country, in accordance with our constitution.

We are the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to stay, and we have never driven them out of our country.

He added:

We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them.

Trump said South Africa’s leadership was traveling to see him next week, and that he would not travel to a G20 meeting there in November unless the “situation is taken care of”.

His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said in February he was
skipping a G20 foreign minister’s meeting in South Africa, accusing the government there of “doing very bad things”.

The claim that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the black majority has become an established trope in rightwing online chatrooms, and been echoed by Trump’s South African-born ally Elon Musk.

Trump said earlier that the news media ignores the alleged persecution of white South Africans. He said, without evidence:

White farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa. If it were the other way around they would talk about. That would be the only story they’d talk about.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all US financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the international court of justice against Washington’s ally Israel.

A spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday it was working with the state department to support the South Africans’ resettlement, without giving details about what kind of assistance they would receive.

The spokesperson added that more arrivals were expected in the coming months. The state department paid for Monday’s charter flight, someone familiar with the matter told Reuters.

First white South African ‘refugees’ arrive in US as Trump claims they face ‘genocide’

He was not favoring Afrikaners because they are white, Trump said, adding that their race “makes no difference to me”.

Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the most senior Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, called the move “baffling”. In a statement on Monday she said:

The decision by this administration to put one group at the front of the line is clearly politically motivated and an effort to rewrite history.

Afrikaner ‘refugees’ from South Africa arrive at Dulles international airport. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Deputy attorney general tapped to serve as acting librarian of Congress

Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche has been appointed to serve as the acting librarian of Congress, a justice department spokesman confirmed on Monday, Reuters reports, after Trump recently fired Carla Hayden.

The White House announced that Hayden was being fired as librarian of Congress on 9 May, citing in part her advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Hayden, who was the first woman and first African American in the role, headed an office that has overall management responsibility for the library and sets out policy on its programs and activities. Barack Obama appointed her in 2016 to a 10-year term in the role that needed Senate confirmation.

Blanche is the latest Trump administration official to be asked to serve in multiple roles at the same time. Secretary of state Marco Rubio is also serving as the acting archivist, as well as Trump’s national security adviser and the acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development. US army secretary Daniel Driscoll, meanwhile, is also serving as acting director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. FBI Director Kash Patel also briefly served two roles, leading both the FBI and the ATF.

As Trump heads to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, the goal is to return with $1tn worth of deals and investment pledges, reports Axios citing two current and former US officials and two Arab officials.

“His regional agenda is business, business and business,” one Arab official told Axios, which notes “the geopolitical agenda is very much secondary”.

Axios writes:

Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman pledged $600bn in investments in the US over the next four years right after Trump took office. And the deals signed in Saudi Arabia will include at least $100bn in military sales as well as big energy and minerals deals.

The Qataris are also expected to announce $200-300bn in deals and investments, including a huge commercial aircraft deal with Boeing and a $2bn deal to purchase MQ-9 Reaper drones, a source with knowledge of the issue said. [Plus the offer to gift a certain $400m plane that we’ve been reporting about all morning].

The UAE already declared in March that it would invest $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

Trump clearly sees the Gulf as a place where there’s big money to be made, for the US and for businesses like his. The Trump Organization announced a new luxury real estate deal in Qatar just two weeks ago, and also has projects in Jeddah, Dubai and Oman.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the countries lobbying hard to gain access to advanced AI chips exported from the US. The Trump administration last week rescinded a Biden-era rule that aimed to block China’s access to advanced chips via third parties by capping how many could be exported to most countries. It has said it will replace it with a new rule, leaving open the question of whether the Gulf states will face any restrictions.

House Republicans unveil $880bn in Medicaid cuts that Democrats warn will leave millions without care

Here is more detail on the GOP’s planned cuts to Medicaid to fund Trump’s massive program of tax and spending cuts, from the Associated Press.

House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Sunday, at least $880bn in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5tn in tax breaks.

A preliminary estimate from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over the decade.

As Republicans race toward House speaker Mike Johnson’s Memorial Day deadline to pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, more than a dozen House Republicans have told Johnson and GOP leaders they will not support cuts to the healthcare safety net programs that residents back home depend on. Trump himself has shied away from a repeat of his first term, vowing there will be no cuts to Medicaid.

Eleven committees in the House have been compiling their sections of the package as Republicans seek at least $1.5tn in savings to help cover the cost of preserving Trump’s 2017 tax breaks. But the powerful energy and commerce committee was instructed to come up with $880bn in savings. It reached that goal with the Medicaid cuts and rolling back Biden-era green energy programs.

Central to the savings are changes to Medicaid. To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new “community engagement requirements” of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. People would also have to verify their eligibility to be in the program twice a year, rather than just once. This would probably lead to more churn in the program and present hurdles for people to stay covered, especially if they have to drive far to verify their income in person.

Many states have expanded their Medicaid rosters thanks to federal incentives, but the legislation would cut a 5% boost put in place during the Covid pandemic. Federal funding to the states for immigrants who have not shown proof of citizenship would be prohibited.

There would be a freeze on the so-called provider tax that some states use to help pay for large portions of their Medicaid programs. The extra tax often leads to higher payments from the federal government, which critics say is a loophole that creates abuse in the system.

The energy portions of the legislation include rollbacks of climate-change strategies Joe Biden signed into law in the Inflation Reduction Act. It proposes rescinding funds for a range of energy loans and investment programs while providing expedited permitting for natural gas development and oil pipelines.

Following reports of Qatar gifting a $400m super-luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to Donald Trump, senator Chris Murphy, a member of the US Senate foreign relations committee, on Monday announced that he will seek to block any arms sale to a nation whose government is directly enriching Trump and his family.

Murphy posted on X:

I will block any arms sale to a nation that is doing direct personal business with Trump. We should have a full Senate debate and vote. UAE’s investment in Trump crypto and Qatar’s gifting of a plane is nuclear grade graft. An unacceptable corruption of our foreign policy.

Normally, arms sales go forward without a vote. But any Senator can object and force a full debate and Senate vote. I will do that for any military deal with a nation that is paying off Trump personally. We can’t act like this is normal foreign policy.

Josh Hawley warns against ‘politically suicidal’ Medicaid cuts and says Republicans are in ‘identity crisis’

Ed Pilkington

Here’s more on Josh Hawley’s comments urging fellow Republicans against deep cuts to Medicaid to fund Trump’s tax cuts, warning it would be “politically suicidal”, from my colleague Ed Pilkington.

Hawley, the influential US senator from Missouri, warned that his Republican party is suffering from an “identity crisis” over whether it stands for working Americans or rich corporate executives, signaling a worsening split among Donald Trump’s congressional troops over the president’s plans for deep Medicaid cuts.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times published on Monday, Hawley – a devoted Trump loyalist who has backed some of the most controversial aspects of his Maga movement – warned fellow Republicans it would be “politically suicidal” to concede to huge cuts in the federal program that provides health insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans. He derided what he called the “Wall Street wing” of his own party that he said favoured corporate giveaways at the price of “slashing health insurance for the working poor”.

Hawley’s pointed attack on his Republican colleagues highlights the intensifying clash within his party over how to deliver Trump’s desire to extend his 2017 tax cuts. To pay for the extension, the House energy and commerce committee has been charged with finding $880bn in federal spending cuts over a decade – much of which is likely to come from Medicaid.

Late on Sunday, the committee released its latest iteration of its proposals. The plan would strip almost 9 million low-income Americans of their health insurance mainly by trimming Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The latest draft proposals would also require millions of low-income Americans who earn above the federal poverty level to contribute co-payments for medical services.

The plans for Medicaid cuts would require approval from both the House and the narrowly divided Senate. Hawley is one of a few Republican senators, including Susan Collins from Maine, who are putting up staunch resistance.

Zelenskyy on Trump’s possible participation in Turkey talks – ‘the right idea’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the possibility of Donald Trump’s participation in talks with Russia in Turkey on Thursday and expressed hope that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not “evade the meeting”.

“All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Türkiye. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,” Zelenskyy said on X.

He added that Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “can indeed host highest-level meeting”.

I have just heard President Trump’s statement. Very important words.

I supported @POTUS idea of a full and unconditional ceasefire — long enough to provide the foundation for diplomacy. And we want it, we are ready to uphold silence on our end.

I supported President Trump with the idea of direct talks with Putin. I have openly expressed my readiness to meet. I will be in Türkiye. I hope that the Russians will not evade the meeting.

And of course, all of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Türkiye. This is the right idea. We can change a lot. President @RTErdogan can indeed host highest-level meeting. Thank you to everyone who is helping.

Pentagon spent at least $21m on flights to Guantánamo, which currently holds 32 people – NBC News

NBC News reports that the Trump administration spent at least $21m transporting migrants to Guantánamo Bay on military aircraft between 20 January and 8 April, according to figures provided to Congress by the US military in response to questions from Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren.

The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, NBC reports citing a defense official, “a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that Donald Trump pledged”.

NBC writes:

Democrats condemned the Guantanamo effort as a wasteful ‘political stunt’ by Trump, who announced in late January that migrants would be held at the navy base, which houses the notorious detention facility. Two months after the effort began, administration officials acknowledged that it was logistically and legally flawed and beset by administration infighting.

Warren, a member of the Senate armed services committee, denounced the use of US military assets and personnel for the mission.

‘Every American should be outraged by Donald Trump wasting military resources to pay for his political stunts that do not make us safer,’ Warren said. ‘US service members did not sign up for this abuse of power.’

Democrats call Qatar plane offer a ‘conflict of interest’ if Trump accepts it

Democratic senators Cory Booker, Chris Coons, Chris Murphy and Brian Schatz have issued a joint statement arguing that there is a “clear conflict of interest” if Donald Trump accepts a luxury plane from Qatar’s royal family.

Trump earlier today defended his administration’s plan to accept the plane. “I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar,” he told reporters at the White House.

I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, no, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.

The Democratic senators urged colleagues to reassert that lawmakers cannot take gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“Air Force One is more than just a plane – it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” the lawmakers wrote.

Any president who accepts this kind of gift, valued at $400 million, from a foreign government creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government.

The White House is unveiling an aggressive drug pricing strategy targeting pharmaceutical companies, promising to dramatically cut prescription drug costs for American consumers.

Donald Trump condemned the current pricing system as a “redistribution” that has allowed drugmakers to exploit US patients, saying he will sign an executive order that would match lower drug prices abroad.

“We are subsidizing others’ healthcare, where they paid a small fraction of what we pay,” the president said in a press conference on Monday.

Even though the United States is home to only 4% of the world’s population, pharmaceutical companies make more than two-thirds of their profits in America … That’s not a good thing.

The proposed policy, dubbed as “most favored nation”, would force pharmaceutical companies to match the lowest global prices, in effect ending what Trump describes as systematic overcharging.

The new order aims to level the global pharmaceutical playing field, with Trump suggesting that “Europe’s going to have to pay a little bit more” while Americans will pay “a lot less”.

Donald Trump has been pictured boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews to begin his Middle East trip.

Trump is set to land in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by visits to Qatar and then the United Arab Emirates.

Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One, as he departs for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, at Joint Base Andrews. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Donald Trump boards Air Force One, at Joint Base Andrews. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier who was kidnapped on 7 October 2023, has been released by Hamas on Monday.

Alexander, 21, was the last living American hostage in Gaza. He is now “en route to Israeli territory through [the] Kissufim crossing with Gaza,” Reuters reports.

Donald Trump, speaking to reporters shortly before departing for his Middle East tour, said Alexander would be “coming home to his parents, which is really great news”.

Trump credited his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in helping secure the release of Alexander. “He has a special way about him,” Trump said of Witkoff.

He added that he hoped “other hostages” will be released.

Key takeaways from Trump press conference

Trump said tariffs on China won’t return to 145% after the 90-day pause, adding that he sees a deal happening. He called the talks in Geneva over the weekend “productive” and a ‘“total reset” had been achieved, and said he may speak to Chinese president Xi Jinping “maybe at the end of the week”. “They’ve agreed to fully open China,” he said, adding that Beijing had agreed to remove non-monetary barriers to US trade. He added that the 90-day pause doesn’t include tariffs on cars, steel, aluminum, or tariffs that may be imposed on pharmaceuticals.
In a tense exchange, Trump attacked ABC – which first broke the story of Qatar offering his administration a $400m luxury jet – calling the network “a disaster”. He claimed it wasn’t a personal gift to him but a gift to the DoD, and said Boeing’s delays in delivering a new Air Force One make it a practical decision. Turning down a free plane would be “stupid”, Trump said, adding that he has no plans to use the plane after he leaves office.
Trump welcomes news of a potential meeting between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday, and mused about flying to Turkey to join the discussions: “I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we’ve got to get it done.”
Trump said US drug prices could drop 90% due to his executive order, which aims to “equalize” prices for America with other countries. “It’s just a redistribution of wealth,” he said. “Europe and the rest of the world is going to have to pay a little bit more, and America’s going to pay a lot less.” He said he’ll add on to tariffs if countries don’t abide by his “equalizing” drug policy to lower prices.
Iran is “being very reasonable thus far”, said Trump, signalling that nuclear talks are going well and “intelligently”. “I think they understand that I mean business.”
Trump hinted towards removing sanctions on Syria following a query from Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He said: “We may take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start.”

‘ABC is a disaster’: Trump issues attack on network after claiming $400m plane from Qatar is not a personal gift

Asked what he says to people who view the luxury $4oom plane from Qatar as a gift to him, Trump says:

You’re ABC News fake news right? … You should be embarrassed asking that question.

ABC News broke the story. “They’re giving us a free jet. I could say no, no, I want to pay you $400m or I could say ‘thank you very much’,” Trump says, before descending into a golf analogy.

He reiterates that declining the offer would be “stupid”.

He doubles down that it’s not a gift to him but a gift to the Department of Defense, adding a further attack on ABC News: