NPR News: 06-04-2026 12PM EDT
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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Close Trump ally turned critic John Bolton has reached a plea deal that appears to resolve the Justice Department's criminal case against him. A person familiar with the matter says the president's former national security advisor during his first term plans to plead guilty to mishandling classified documents.
What plea deal has John Bolton reached regarding classified documents?
Last October, Bolton was indicted on 18 counts. A source tells NPR that under this deal, he pleads guilty to one count of retaining classified information and will be fined $2.25 million. President Trump says he intends to nominate his former personal lawyer to permanently take charge of the Justice Department. Todd Blanch has been the acting attorney general since his boss, Pam Bondi, was fired in April. Here's NPR's Frank Ordonez.
Blanch has been very aggressive since taking the role, including investigating former FBI Director James Comey over a photo posted online that officials said was a threat to the president. and announcing the $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund that would have paid people the Trump administration decided were unjustly politically targeted. Franco Ordonez, NPR News.
Well, Trump is named David Venturell as the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. He was previously an executive with the private prison company GeoGroup. More from NPR's Meg Anderson.
About a third of immigrant detainees are in a facility run by GeoGroup. In 2025, GeoGroup's profits soared nearly 700 percent from the year before. Scott Shukart was a top official at ICE under President Biden. He says the level of influence GeoGroup has in the detention industry is concerning. When Gio comes in for a meeting, it feels like a fraternity reunion. He says that raises questions about potential conflicts of interest. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told NPR that David Venturella is a veteran government official who abides by all ethics requirements. Maggie Anderson, NPR News.
Under the threat of more cross-border missile and drone strikes with Ukraine, Russia is hosting a major economic forum in St. Petersburg. NPR's Charles Mains reports on how the United States is showing up, given President Trump's repeated attempts to mediate negotiations for ending the years-long war in Eastern Europe.
The Trump administration is present in a way. I was just watching Rodney Cook, who's overseeing Trump's White House ballroom project and currently heads the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, take part in a cultural roundtable among all these official delegations from about 130 countries. You also find American far-right influencers. You also see representatives from Europe's far-right, including Germany's AFD party. All of this suggesting that Russia is making conservative alliances that go far beyond the politics of the current moment.
That is NPR's Charles Mains reporting from Washington. This is NPR News. More students are going to college despite questions about value and affordability. NPR's Alyssa Nedwarny reports the growth is driven largely by community colleges.
How is the Trump administration influencing the Justice Department?
More than 18 million students were enrolled in some sort of higher education this spring, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. Enrollment in community colleges, which includes trades and vocational degrees, reached 5.8 million, more than 5 percent above spring 2021.
The pandemic hit us really hard.
Pedro Navarrete oversees admissions at Yakima Valley College, which mainly offers associates and certificate degrees in Washington state.
Since the 22-23 academic year, we've been on an enrollment recovery.
He says as life gets more expensive, a cheaper degree at a community college is even more important. It's not all gains, though. The new national data did show declines in master's degree programs and also among international students, especially in graduate school. Alyssa Nadworny, NPR News.
The New York Knicks seem to be incapable of losing as Bruce Conby's reports they won the first game of the NBA Finals, extending a prodigious run.
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