National

(WASHINGTON) — An Abu Dhabi state-backed investment firm is making a major $2 billion investment in a crypto business deal that could serve as a major boost for Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial, according to Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial.

USD1, World Liberty Financial’s so-called “stablecoin” — a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value — is expected to be used to complete Emirati investment firm MGX’s $2 billion investment transaction in crypto exchange Binance, Witkoff said during an appearance with President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump at a crypto convention in Dubai this week.

“We are excited to announce today that USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin to close MGX’s $2 billion investment in Binance,” Witkoff announced in a video recording of the event posted on X. “We thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us, and I think it’s only the beginning.”

After once deriding cryptocurrency as a “scam,” President Donald Trump last September announced he and his sons Eric and Don Jr. were throwing their support behind World Liberty Financial, though its business model was largely unclear. This week’s development is the latest example of a foreign entity making a major investment that could boost a Trump family business.

Cryptocurrency and ethics experts told ABC News that the timing and scope of the Trump family’s foray into cryptocurrencies raise questions about whether investors — including those from overseas — could try to leverage their investments to curry favor with the administration. Critics have raised issues with the Trump administration’s regulatory role over cryptocurrencies while he stands to personally benefit from cryptocurrency ventures.

“Essentially, the president is taking the weakness in our current ethics laws that allow a president to continue to hold financial interests in businesses while he’s in a position of presidency to just a whole new level in this administration,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan government watchdog.

Trump has yet to release his financial disclosures as president, so it’s unclear what arrangements he has made to ensure a firewall between his personal businesses and his presidency. Last month a White House spokesperson told Reuters in a statement that “President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.”

The USD1 announcement was made during what the organizers described as a “fireside chat” between Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff, a son of Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, which was moderated by Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul who became one of World Liberty Financials’ biggest investors the day before Trump’s inauguration by purchasing $75 million worth of its other coin, WLFI.

A month after that investment, SEC lawyers under the Trump administration moved to halt an alleged fraud case against Sun.

Zach Witkoff during the event also announced that World Liberty Financial will be “natively integrating” its USD1 coin with Tron, a cryptocurrency founded by Sun, boasting that they will be “minting” hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars of coins from the arrangement.

Much of World Liberty Financial’s operation is still shrouded in mystery, but its founders have touted its ambitious goal of integrating their venture into the everyday traditional retail system.

During the event, Zach Wikoff said he wants to walk into a deli in New York City or the Four Seasons in Abu Dhabi and freely use World Liberty Financial’s tokens. Eric Trump, in response, jokingly admonished Zach Witkoff for using Four Seasons Abu Dhabi as an example, and not Trump Tower.

Zach Witkoff claimed World Liberty Financial’s USD1 coin, backed “one-to-one by short-term treasuries and cash equivalents,” will become “the most transparent, the most regulated, stablecoin in the world.”

The Trumps and the Witkoffs have together raised at least $550 million for World Liberty Financial coins, according to the New York Times.

During this week’s event, Eric Trump also discussed additional Trump business ventures in the UAE, saying that the Trump Organization was able to speed through a permit for a new skyscraper with the highest swimming pool in the world — expected to be in the Guinness Book of World Records — just within the last month.

ABC News’ Karem Inal contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — On the same day that the Trump administration is proposing billions of dollars in cuts to renewable energy, environmental and climate programs, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a significant reorganization of his agency.

“EPA is creating the first-of-its-kind Office of State Air Partnerships within the Office of Air and Radiation. This office will be focused on working with, not against, state, local and tribal air permitting agencies to improve processing of State Implementation Plans and resolving air permitting concerns,” Zeldin said in a video posted to YouTube.

Zeldin said the EPA is also creating an Office of Clean Air program that “will align statutory obligations and mission essential functions based on centers of expertise to ensure more transparency and harmony in regulatory development.”

Further, the agency is making changes to its Office of Water and creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions, which Zeldin says will “prioritize research and put science at the forefront of the agency’s rule makings and technical assistance to states.”

Zeldin says the EPA will add more than 130 new employees to address the backlog of new chemicals and pesticides waiting for a review and “elevate” the issues of emergency response, cybersecurity, water reuse and conservation.

On Monday, the agency announced a new initiative to address contamination by PFAS, which are also known as forever chemicals. During his remarks, Zeldin said the new EPA structure would help the agency better understand how the chemicals impact human health and the environment.

The restructuring moves come on the same day the Trump administration released its 2026 fiscal year budget.

The administration’s budget cuts $15 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a Biden administration initiative that provided funds for carbon capture and renewable energy projects. The budget also calls for slashing $6 billion for EV chargers.

The budget proposal also calls for cutting grants to environmental organizations and eliminating the EPA’s Environmental Justice Program, a division that enforced civil rights laws and ensured that all people received the same level of environmental protection.

Sierra Club legislative director Melinda Pierce wrote in a statement, “This budget outline would dangerously slash funding to protect our air and water, disinvest in the clean energy manufacturing boom that has powered our economic recovery, and raise costs for working families who are already struggling to get by amidst the chaos and uncertainty that this administration has created in just three short months.”

Zeldin said the reorganization would save more than $300 million a year and that the agency’s goal is to reduce staffing to match the level of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

“EPA will strive to accomplish all this while fulfilling our commitment to the rule of law, advancing cooperative federalism, and being good stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” Zeldin said in his remarks.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HENRY’S LAKE, Idaho) –Seven people were killed in a fiery crash between a van and a pickup truck on an eastern Idaho highway near Yellowstone National Park, officials said.

The Mercedes passenger van — which was operating as a tour vehicle — collided with the Dodge Ram pickup around 7:15 p.m. Thursday on U.S. Highway 20 near Henry’s Lake, the Idaho State Police said. The van was traveling eastbound, toward Yellowstone National Park, while the truck was traveling westbound, police said.

Fourteen people were in the van and one was in the pickup. Six people in the van — all foreign nationals — and the truck driver died in the crash, police said.

The truck driver was identified by the Fremont County Coroner’s Office as 25-year-old Isaih Moreno of Humble, Texas, police said.

The names of the victims in the van will be released by the coroner once their families are notified, police said.

“Due to the complexity of the incident, the identification of all individuals involved and notification of their next of kin will take time,” Idaho State Police said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Local resident Roger Merrill said he was driving home when he came upon the crash site just a few minutes after the accident apparently occurred.

“It had appeared they had maybe hit head-on — catastrophic damage to both” vehicles, Merrill told ABC News.

“Good Samaritans had already come out to help. There were several other pickup trucks alongside the road that were assisting,” he said.

“The fire did not start immediately — there was no fire present for probably 10 to 15 minutes after I arrived. And I observed what appeared to be steam coming from the pickup,” he said. “About that time, the first responder showed up, a member of the sheriff’s department. I could see they were trying to put the fire out under the truck with a fire extinguisher, but the flames quickly spread and engulfed both vehicles within minutes.”

All occupants involved in the crash were transported to hospitals, including three flown by air ambulance. The others were transported by ground ambulance with likely non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Two survivors have been hospitalized at Madison Memorial in stable condition; three others who suffered injuries were treated and released, according to a hospital official. Two patients were also taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, the hospital said.

The cause remains under investigation, police said.

Henry’s Lake is about 17 miles from West Yellowstone, Montana, which is a gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

U.S. Highway 20 closed for nearly seven hours after the crash and has since reopened, police said.

ABC News’ Jeffrey Cook and Alyssa Pone contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — One of the key witnesses in the Karen Read murder retrial continued to testify for a third day Friday on the events surrounding the death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who was found unresponsive in the snow outside a Massachusetts home in 2022.

Prosecutors allege, following a night of drinking in Canton, that Read struck O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV outside of a get-together at another officer’s home and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022. An autopsy found that the 46-year-old died of hypothermia and blunt force injuries to the head.

After a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the initial murder trial last year, Read is being retried on charges including second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a collision causing death. She has pleaded not guilty and maintains her innocence.

Jennifer McCabe, a friend of O’Keefe who had testified during the first trial, took to the stand for the third day during the retrial on Friday in Dedham, Massachusetts.

In her extensive testimony this week, McCabe recounted that she had attended a social gathering at a bar the night before O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow with him, Read and others. McCabe was also at the get-together following the gathering at the bar at a home belonging to her sister and brother-in-law, a Boston police officer.

McCabe and another friend of O’Keefe’s — Kerry Roberts — another key trial witness who testified last week — drove with Read through a blizzard to search for O’Keefe after he never came home the night before, ultimately finding him outside McCabe’s sister’s home unresponsive.

McCabe testified Wednesday that while talking to a first responder at the scene, she heard Read say, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”

Defense attorney Alan Jackson grilled McCabe on her recollection of the events of that day and in the days, weeks, months and years after, highlighting inconsistencies in her various testimonies and against police reports.

In one instance, Jackson noted that, after receiving a call from O’Keefe’s niece and Read that O’Keefe was missing, McCabe had called her sister, though she did not mention that call while testifying to the grand jury that indicted Read on the manslaughter and murder charges.

“There’s nothing nefarious,” McCabe said about the call, testifying that her sister did not answer and she didn’t remember calling her.

Asked by Jackson on her use of the word “nefarious,” McCabe said, “There’s nothing about me calling my sister that is nefarious, and I feel like you’re insinuating it might be and it’s not.”

Mark Jarret Chavous/The Enterprise via AP
Jackson also questioned McCabe about a broken taillight on Read’s SUV. McCabe testified that Read first mentioned the broken taillight in the early morning call with O’Keefe’s niece, though Jackson said that wasn’t included in a police report. McCabe stood by her account.

When pressed on forgetting certain details from that time, McCabe said, “There are certain things I’ll never forget.”

Jackson’s cross-examination also focused on McCabe’s Google search for how long it takes to die in the cold. She testified this week that Read asked her to Google that after finding O’Keefe in the snow, with the search made after 6 a.m. Though Jackson said there is evidence it was made at 2:27 a.m. that morning, hours before O’Keefe was found. McCabe denied she made the search at 2:27 a.m. and said she searched it later that morning, upon Read’s request.

Jackson also alleged that a group chat including McCabe and several family members showed they were colluding in the days following the death to coordinate their statements, which McCabe denied.

As he wrapped up his cross-examination, Jackson grilled McCabe on the moments after they found O’Keefe in the snow outside her sister’s home, and why she didn’t run in to check on her sister and brother-in-law.

“The reason you didn’t go inside the house is because you knew better,” he charged.

McCabe said she wasn’t worried because “something happened on the front lawn that had nothing to do with anything inside that house.”

“You weren’t worried about them at all because you knew what really happened, didn’t you?” he countered.

“At that moment, I didn’t know that he was hit by a vehicle and there was taillight found next to him,” she responded.

On re-direct, special prosecutor Hank Brennan questioned McCabe on her state of mind upon finding O’Keefe.

“I was shocked, confused, nervous, scared, anxious — my friend was lying there on the ground, I didn’t know what happened,” she said.

On the Google search, McCabe affirmed that Read asked her to search how long to die in the cold, and that she had never attempted that search before then.

Brennan brought up McCabe’s texts with Roberts later that day, including one in which Roberts texted, “I can’t stop seeing him in the snow, Jen, this is awful.”

“Is your state of mind collusion?” Brennan asked McCabe, to which she responded, “No.”

McCabe has been dismissed as a witness. The trial adjourned for the day, with a forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab on the stand.

Following McCabe’s testimony on Wednesday, Read alleged McCabe was lying on the stand, saying she never told the witness to make a Google search that morning.

“Every statement’s different. Under oath. Not under oath,” she said. “This is very similar to what we saw a year ago.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HENRY’s LAKE, Idaho) — Seven people were killed in a crash between a van and a pickup truck on an eastern Idaho highway near Yellowstone National Park, officials said.

The Mercedes passenger van — which was operating as a tour vehicle — collided with the Dodge Ram pickup around 7:15 p.m. Thursday on U.S. Highway 20 near Henry’s Lake, the Idaho State Police said.

Fourteen people were in the van and one was in the pickup. Six people in the van and the truck driver died in the crash, police said.

The cause remains under investigation, police said.

Henry’s Lake is about 17 miles from West Yellowstone, Montana, which is a gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

U.S. Highway 20 closed for nearly seven hours after the crash and has since reopened, police said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — A man is accused of intentionally plowing into a 10-year-old, a 12-year-old and a teacher in a hit-and-run outside a school at a church on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, officials said.

Justin Collin Adams, who was taken into custody on Thursday following an hourslong manhunt, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault and battery, according to online records. He was held without bond at a Friday court appearance.

Adams is accused of intentionally targeting children Thursday afternoon at the Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island, a beach town just outside of Charleston, authorities said.

Adams allegedly first drove onto the playground and struck a 12-year-old, who suffered minor injuries, an officer said in court Friday.

He then allegedly sped toward where kids were seeking protection and hit a teacher who “flew over the hood and onto the roof and onto the ground,” the officer said.

Adams allegedly then drove onto the sidewalk and struck a 10-year-old, pinning him under the car, the officer said.

A federal criminal investigator — who is a member of the church and spoke on behalf of the families at Friday’s court appearance — said about 40 students witnessed the attack.

The teacher remains in the hospital with serious injuries, the church member said.

One child was treated at the scene and released, police said, and the second child was admitted to a hospital and later discharged, according to a hospital spokesperson.

The 10-year-old had 4.6 inches of ground clearance under the car, the church member said, calling his survival a “miracle.”

The 10-year-old’s mom gave an emotional statement in court Friday, saying, “I hope that no other mother had to get this phone call that I had to endure yesterday.”

“By the grace of God, they were saved,” she said, adding, “I am here to hopefully get justice for all of the children.”

Adams, 36, allegedly ditched his sedan after the crash and fled on foot, possibly armed with a knife, according to Isle of Palms police Sgt. Matt Storen.

Authorities launched a massive manhunt, which included grid searches of houses, drones scanning the sky and checkpoints at the entryway to Sullivan’s Island, police said.

A sergeant in a Charleston County aviation unit helicopter ended up spotting the suspect, who was found in a boat at a dock across the street from the church, officials said.

Adams’ attorney said in court that two weeks ago Adams voluntarily checked himself in to a hospital psychiatric unit. He was diagnosed with depression and prescribed Lexapro, which is used to treat anxiety and depression, his lawyer said.

He is due back in court on June 13.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Newly released video shows the moments when Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongfully deported from the United States to a prison in El Salvador, was pulled over by state troopers in Tennessee in 2022.

The video, which was obtained by ABC News through a public records request, shows members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol questioning Abrego Garcia on the side of Interstate 40 after nightfall.

Abrego Garcia was not charged or arrested during the traffic stop, which lasted for more than an hour. This stop is separate from the stop in March by federal agents in Maryland that led to Abrego Garcia being taken into custody and ultimately deported to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member.

The 2022 traffic stop was disclosed in April in a press release issued by the Department of Homeland Security, which said it had a “bombshell investigative report” regarding the stop alleging that Abrego Garcia was a suspected human trafficker. The release included a screengrab of the body camera video.

“The encountering officer decided not to cite the subject for driving infractions but gave him a warning citation for driving with an expired driver’s license,” the release added.

“Kilmar worked in construction and sometimes transported groups of workers between job sites, so it’s entirely plausible he would have been pulled over while driving with others in the vehicle,” Jennifer Vasquez, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said in a statement after the release was issued.

The DHS press release said that the 2022 traffic stop occurred on Dec. 1, but an incident report released by the Tennessee Highway Patrol indicated that the stop took place on Nov. 30.

The traffic stop occurred in the Cookeville area, roughly 80 miles east of Nashville.

The trooper who pulled Abrego Garcia over told him that he was driving 75 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone. Abrego Garcia told the trooper that his license was suspended because he was waiting for an immigration paper, adding that he lives in Maryland and that the car he was driving belonged to his boss.

“You got a bunch of people in here, don’t you,” a trooper said after approaching the Chevrolet Suburban that Abrego Garcia was driving, according to the body camera video.

After going to his police car and returning, the trooper asks Abrego Garcia about how many rows of seats were in the car.

“I’ve never seen one with that many seats in it,” the trooper says.

“Oh, really?” Abrego Garcia responds.

The trooper then asks Abrego Garcia if there is anything illegal in the car.

“Nothing sir,” Abrego Garcia replies.

Abrego Garcia is asked to step out of the car and tells the trooper that he was traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, where he had a work project.

“Right now, I’m going back to home,” Abrego Garcia says before the trooper has a K-9 sniff the exterior of the vehicle. It appears that the police dog did not locate anything suspicious.

Troopers later allowed Abrego Garcia to sit in the back of a patrol car to escape the cold temperatures while they spoke among themselves and questioned his passengers, but no one at the scene was taken into custody.

“Thank you, bro,” Abrego Garcia says. “Thank you so much.”

Abrego Garcia was ultimately allowed to drive off, smiling at the trooper who stopped him as he exited the patrol car and returned to the Chevrolet.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security blurred license plates and redacted part of the audio of the traffic stop.

A federal judge ruled last month that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. Several members of the administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have suggested that the matter is up to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(OCEAN COUNTY, N.J.) — A second teenager has been arrested for arson in connection with a massive New Jersey wildfire that destroyed a commercial building, shut down a major highway and forced thousands of people to flee, prosecutors said.

The second suspect — an unidentified 17-year-old boy — was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with arson and aggravated arson for allegedly helping set wooden pallets on fire and leaving the area when the fire wasn’t fully extinguished, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.

The 17-year-old was also charged with hindering apprehension for allegedly giving “misinformation to law enforcement about how the fire started,” Billhimer said in a statement.

The first suspect, 19-year-old Joseph Kling, was arrested on April 23 in connection with the Jones Road Wildfire, which ignited in Ocean Township on April 22, prosecutors said.

The fire was caused by “an improperly extinguished bonfire,” Billhimer said. Kling allegedly set wooden pallets on fire and then left when the fire wasn’t fully put out, Billhimer said.

As of Monday, the Jones Road Wildfire had burned about 15,300 acres, Billhimer said. The blaze was 75% contained as of Thursday, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

On April 23, Kling was charged with arson and aggravated arson. On Thursday, he was charged with hindering apprehension for also allegedly giving false information to law enforcement, prosecutors said.

Kling is in custody at the Ocean County Jail and is due at a detention hearing on Friday.

The 17-year-old is being held at the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center, prosecutors said.

ABC News’ Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PITTSBURGH) — The baseball fan critically hurt in a 20-foot fall at PNC Park in Pittsburgh has been identified as Kavan Markwood.

Markwood fell from the bleachers onto the field during the seventh inning of the Pirates-Cubs game on Wednesday night, officials said. The game was briefly halted as emergency crews responded.

The Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety said the “incident is being treated as accidental.”

As of Thursday, Markwood remained in critical condition, according to the department of public safety.

Markwood previously attended Walsh University in Ohio.

“The Walsh University community was deeply saddened to learn about the tragic accident involving former student Kavan Markwood,” the university said in a statement. “Our thoughts and heartfelt prayers are with him, his family, and friends during this very difficult time. We are hoping and praying for a full recovery.”

After attending Walsh, Markwood transferred to Wheeling University in West Virginia, where he was a member of the football team in 2023.

“The Wheeling University Community is heartbroken,” the university said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Kavan, his family, friends, and all his loved ones. The Cardinal family is praying for a full and speedy recovery.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he saw the fall as it happened.

“The fact of how it went down. And then laying motionless, while a play is going on … it’s extremely unfortunate. I mean, that’s an understatement,” he told reporters after the game.

Shelton said he wanted to ask “everybody to keep him in their prayers.”

ABC News’ Matthew Holroyd and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — The man accused of driving into three people in a hit-and-run outside a preschool at a South Carolina church has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault and battery, according to online records.

Justin Collin Adams, who was taken into custody on Thursday following an hourslong manhunt, is expected to appear in bond court on Friday morning.

Adams allegedly struck two children and one adult on Thursday afternoon at the Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivan’s Island, a beach town just outside of Charleston, police said.

No one was critically hurt. One child was treated at the scene and released, while the second child and adult were taken to hospital, police said. The child at the hospital was later discharged, according to a hospital spokesperson, and Sullivan’s Island Police Chief Glenn Meadows said Thursday evening that he believed the adult was also due to be released.

Adams allegedly ditched his sedan after the crash and fled on foot, possibly armed with a knife, according to Isle of Palms police Sgt. Matt Storen.

Authorities launched a massive manhunt, which included grid searches of houses, drones scanning the sky and checkpoints at the entryway to Sullivan’s Island, police said.

A sergeant in a Charleston County aviation unit helicopter ended up spotting the suspect, who was found in a boat at a dock across the street from the church, officials said.

The crash is being investigated as possibly being intentional, Storen said. There was no altercation before the incident, according to Storen.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.