NPR News: 06-02-2026 7PM EDT
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What recent changes did the Trump administration make regarding the anti-weaponization fund?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch says the Trump administration is scrapping its anti-weaponization fund. NPR's Jacqueline Diaz reports this came in testimony before Congress.
When pressed on the status of the controversial anti-weaponization fund, Blanch was unequivocal.
We are not moving forward with the fund, period.
He was speaking at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the DOJ budget. The almost $1.8 billion fund was created as part of a settlement resulting from a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Trump against the IRS. Trump sued over his previously leaked tax returns. That settlement also includes a provision granting immunity from tax audits for Trump, his family, and his companies. So the fund may be over, but the rest of the IRS settlement, including that immunity, still stands. And Blanche says the DOJ does not plan to change that deal. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News.
President Trump has named Bill Pulte to be the acting director of national intelligence. The job is supposed to ensure that timely and objective intelligence is provided to the president. But even some Republicans are questioning Pulte's qualifications. NPR's Eric McDaniel has more.
After the intelligence failures before the September 11th attacks and Iraq war, the office of the director of national intelligence was created to be the expert voice, presenting clear, factual information to decision makers, including the president. Pulte currently serves as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has used the post to go after the president's perceived enemies. Senator John Corden, a member of the intelligence community and a Texas Republican recently defeated by a trumped back primary challenger, has questions. I don't see any evidence of any qualifications for that job. Trump cited Pulte's qualifications for the role as someone with, quote, deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America.
Eric McDaniel, NPR News, the Capitol.
Iran says it stopped communicating with the U.S. mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it fights with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. President Trump is disputing the reports and says talks are continuing. Iran says fighting in Lebanon is part of the wider ceasefire talks with the U.S. over the war, but Israel and the U.S. maintain Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks. As NPR's Franco Ordonez explains, the renewed fighting has complicated Trump's fragile ceasefire with Iran.
Iran has made very clear that it sees the fighting in Lebanon as a direct link to the negotiations. And the fact that fighting started again just kind of highlights how hard it has been for Trump or really any U.S. president recently working with Israel when they have different security objectives. Trump wants a deal and Israel is looking at their security and really wants to weaken Hezbollah.
NPR's Franco Ordonez reporting. Primaries are being held today in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. The U.S. stock market added to its records today. This is NPR News from Washington. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin says last week's rocket explosion spared fuel tanks and some other critical parts of the launch pad. The company's massive New Glenn rocket blew up during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The blast sent shockwaves across the state. Blue Origin says the water tank at the pad is fine and the tower still standing can be repaired in place. The company says it can launch again by year's end. Scientists have started an ambitious new effort to develop gene therapies for brain disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and ALS.
NPR's John Hamilton reports.
The Allen Institute in Seattle is running the collaborative effort known as the Brain Health Accelerator. It's an outgrowth of the federally funded Brain Initiative, which was launched by President Obama in 2013. Ed Lean of the Allen Institute says scientists now know how to tweak a particular gene in certain brain cells.
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