U.S. President Donald Trump dances on stage after delivering remarks during a campaign and economic policy event in the Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at SUNY Rockland Community College on May 22, 2026 in Suffern, New York. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Trump administration officials have pushed the office tasked with printing the nation’s money to move forward with designing a commemorative $250 bill with President Donald Trump’s portrait and signature, should legislation to create the new currency pass, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
It would mark the first time a living person has appeared on U.S. currency in more than 150 years. As of now, federal law explicitly states only deceased people can appear on United States currency.
But some Republicans in Congress are working to change that.
Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, has introduced a bill ordering the Treasury Department to print $250 Federal Reserve notes featuring a portrait of Trump.
The bill has 15 Republican cosponsors, a small sum for legislation that was introduced more than a year ago.
The bill has not passed — stuck in the House Financial Services committee for more than a year — but in a statement to ABC News, the Treasury Department acknowledged the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is “conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” should the legislation be signed into law.
It would still have to pass the Senate as well before it hits Trump’s desk, requiring a bipartisan majority of 60 votes for passage. Democrats are expected to try to block the effort.
If the bill doesn’t become law, it expires at the end of the 119th Congress. After that, Wilson or another member can try to reintroduce it in the 120th session.
A Treasury Department spokesperson called the bill a “proactive” measure.
“Should this legislative mandate be signed into law, the BEP is moving proactively to produce a $250 commemorative note which will appropriately recognize the 250th Anniversary of our great nation,” the spokesperson said.
The number 250 reflects the nation’s upcoming anniversary.
There’s been no word from Republican leadership on whether they would support Wilson’s bill, though none of its party leaders have signed on as cosponsors.
Two people familiar with the discussions told ABC News that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have pushed for the president’s signature to be added to the $250 bill.
The Treasury Department did not dispute the reporting.
“Based on the recommendation of U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, Secretary Bessent will recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Trump by adding his signature to the currency,” a spokesperson stated.
The Treasury Department insisted no taxpayer dollars will be used to produce the new bill, noting Bureau of Engraving and Printing finances its operations entirely through product sales and billings rather than relying on annual congressional appropriations.
The State Department announced it would begin issuing special edition passports featuring Trump’s portrait and signature to commemorate the anniversary.
The Washington Post was the first to report the news.
ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEWARK, N.J.) — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin amped up his threats Thursday to pull Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents who process international passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport to help control protesters outside of New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center.
Mullin continued to slam the protests, now in their seventh day, outside the Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention center over reports of poor living conditions and poor health among its 300 detainees. DHS has denied the allegations.
ICE agents have clashed with protesters who attempted to block vehicles from entering, prompting the federal agents to use pepper spray and batons against them.
Mullin told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that DHS needed to “prioritize federal police officers” in response to the protests and is considering pulling CBP agents from the airport to help agents outside the detention facility, which would delay processing international travelers and cargo.
“That may effect international flights coming in and out of their airport because I’m going to have to pull Customs and Border Protection officers out of being able to process international flights and put them helping our ICE agents,” he said.
“By the way, if you can’t process international flights because Customs is closed, you can’t obviously process international flights coming in from out of country,” he added.
Mullin said on Fox News that if “things don’t change” he’ll have to make the move “pretty quick.”
“We are not going to halt the flights, we won’t be able to process them because we won’t have officers there,” he said. “We will have to pull out our Customs and Border Patrol officers that process these flights and put them in these [detention] facilities to help protect our employees coming out to work.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty International, did not immediately comment on Mullin’s proposal.
Mullin has long been teasing a plan to pull CBP officers from airports that are in so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.” On Wednesday, he said he is “drawing up plans.”
However, Mullin’s controversial proposal has received pushback from travel groups.
U.S. Travel Association, a group representing the country’s travel industry, met with Mullin last week and expressed concerns about the plan to withdraw CBP officers from several cities.
“U.S. Travel believes such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation,” the group said in a statement Friday.
At least one Trump administration official has questioned such a policy.
Asked about the proposal in a congressional hearing last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he wasn’t familiar with Mullin’s comments but said it wouldn’t be a good idea to implement such a policy based on politics.
“I’d like to take a look at [Mullin’s] comments and get the context and I’d even ask him a question of what he meant by that, but we have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places. We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics,” Duffy said.
The demonstrations at Delaney Hall continued Wednesday night and protesters again clashed with federal law enforcement.
Several Democratic Congress members, including New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker, have visited the detention center over the last week and say they have seen the decrepit conditions first hand.
“The stories I’ve gotten, especially from women inmates, about the access to medical attention, seemed unsatisfactory, if not downright dangerous to their conditions,” Booker said Wednesday.
That same day, Mullin denied the allegations and the reports of a hunger strike inside the facility contending that there were “only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat” because they allegedly wanted their “ethnic right food.”
“Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want,” he told reporters.
A man is dead and a woman is injured after a house exploded in Michigan in an attempted murder-suicide, in Kent County, Michigan, on May 26, 2026. (Kent County Sheriff’s Office)
(PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich.) — A man is dead and a woman was critically injured after a home exploded in Plainfield Township, Michigan, on Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The home was completely destroyed with debris on fire when deputies and fire personnel responded to the scene after nearly 50 calls reported an explosion and house fire around 4 a.m., according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
“The fire was intentionally set, we believe, by the husband at this point, intending to be a murder-suicide at the residence,” Kent County Undersheriff Bryan Muir told reporters.
Officials have not released the names of the man and woman in the explosion, but said they believe “the husband” set the fire, Muir said. The woman was associated with the address, according to authorities.
Two neighbors — a teenager who lived next door and another man who lived nearby — pulled the injured woman from the home after the explosion, according to the sheriff’s office. She was treated on the scene and taken to the hospital in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said.
“We are very proud of them for stepping up and helping someone in need during an extremely dangerous situation,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Without their actions, it is likely she would have perished in the fire. She has some significant medical-related issues right now and we are hoping for a recovery,” Muir said.
Hours later, a dead man, believed to be the person registered to the address, was found at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators preliminarily believe a source of natural gas was released in the basement and used to start the fire, Alpine Township Fire Chief Jeremy Kelly said.
Investigators believe the explosion was a “domestic-related situation at the home,” Muir told reporters.
There are no concerns of any gas leaks or other home explosions in the area, Muir said.
“We want to relay to the family affected by this our deepest sorrows for having to deal with a situation so tragic,” Muir said.
A worker stacks groceries at a store in Brooklyn on May 12, 2026, in New York City. The rise in fuel, food, and other essentials for millions of Americans comes as the war with Iran continues to be a drag on both the domestic and international economy. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Inflation jumped for a second consecutive month in April as the Iran war drove up gasoline prices and strained household budgets, government data on Thursday showed.
Prices rose 3.8% in April compared to a year earlier, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, an inflation gauge preferred by the Federal Reserve. The PCE stood at 2.8% as recently as February.
Inflation now stands at its highest level since May 2023, the Commerce Department report showed.
The savings rate, meanwhile, fell to 2.6%, its lowest level since 2022, suggesting some strapped consumers are struggling to stash away extra funds.
A persistent increase in consumer prices may put pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates as a means of dialing back inflation. The latest reading comes days after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh began a four-year term atop the central bank.
For now, futures markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady when policy makers meet next month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of investor sentiment.
However, markets peg the chances of a quarter-point rate increase by the end of the year at more than one in three, well above where odds of a rate hike stood prior to the war, the tool shows.
The benchmark interest rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Middle East conflict prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of global oil supply. The standoff triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded.
As a result, gasoline prices surged. The price of an average gallon of gas stood at $4.42 as of Thursday, AAA data showed – an increase of $1.44 per gallon since the war began on Feb. 28. That amounts to a 48% price jump in about three months.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A suspect has been apprehended after a 26-year-old man was fatally shot while attending a prayer service in Minnesota, authorities said.
Khalid Ibrahim Abdi was shot multiple times just before 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Canterbury Park Expo Center in Shakopee, about 25 miles outside of Minneapolis, the Shakopee Police Department said.
He was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center and later died from his injuries, police said.
A suspect was taken into custody Thursday morning and is being held pending charges, police said. The suspect’s name has not been publicly released.
Abdi was a member and field representative of the AFSCME Council 5 labor union, according to AFSCME Council 5 executive director Bart Andersen.
“It is with unimaginable sadness and heartbreak to share that we lost our union brother and AFSCME Council 5 Field Representative Khalid Abdi today, who was shot and killed while attending an Eid prayer gathering,” Anderson said in a statement.
“Khalid will be forever remembered for his tenacious organizing spirit, his warm and inviting presence, and his unyielding passion and drive to fight for the working-class and all historically marginalized communities,” Anderson said.
“Please keep Khalid’s family, friends, neighbors, and all of us coworkers in your thoughts,” he continued. “Khalid’s tenacity, heart, and joy lives in all of us forever.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on May 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A court filing shows how businesses are getting money back from the U.S. government after the Supreme Court ruled many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal.
The Trump administration has sent out $20.6 billion in tariff refunds so far, according to a new court filing.
The filing sheds light on how tens of thousands of American businesses are starting to get money back from the federal government after the Supreme Court ruled many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal in February.
Walmart suggested last week it will cut prices for shoppers using the estimated $2.4 billion in refunds it’s owed.
“On tariffs, we are availing ourselves of the process to get refunds. We would definitely bias and try to prioritize price investment for that … we think the single best return that we can have on a $1 of capital right now is to invest in the customer and invest in price,” Walmart CFO John David Rainey said on the company’s earnings call.
Major companies like Walmart, Costco, Apple, Home Depot and General Motors have all confirmed in recent weeks they’re applying for refunds.
It’s unlikely that most companies will give money directly back to shoppers who already bought products with higher prices because of tariffs. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimates the tariffs that were ruled illegal cost the typical American household $700 last year.
UPS, FedEx and DHL said they will directly refund customers. UPS recently updated its website with details on how importers can claim to get money back.
In total, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it could owe up to $166 billion to more than 330,000 importers. The new filing notes $85 billion in refunds have been accepted so far, and the $20.6 billion represents money that has successfully gone back to importers who filed for refunds on the government’s online portal.
A U.S. trade official previously overstated the amount of money that had gone out to companies by $10 billion, the filing noted.
Workers line up to disinfect their protective equipment at General Referral Hospital of Mongbwalu during the Ebola outbreak response in Mongbwalu, Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on May 20, 2026. (Michel Lunanga/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Doctors and public health workers at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) told ABC News that the deadly virus is still spreading at an alarming rate.
“The outbreak is completely out of control,” said Dr. Richard Kojan in an interview from the city of Bunia in Ituri province, which is the hardest hit.
Kojan, who has been involved in fighting previous Ebola outbreaks in central and western Africa and is president of the Alliance for International Medical Action, said deep mistrust within some local communities is hampering efforts to contain the virus.
Another clinician, Dr. Richard Lokudi, who is the director of the main hospital in Mongbwalu, the hardest hit area, told ABC News that the disease was spreading “at an exponential speed.”
Dr. Lokudi said seven symptomatic patients suspected of having Ebola had recently “escaped” from Mongbwalu Hospital.
This was creating “chains and chains of contamination,” Dr. Lokudi said, adding that this was making the virus “difficult to fight.”
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,000 suspected cases of a rare strain of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo, have been identified in the eastern DRC and more than 230 suspected deaths from the virus have been recorded.
There is currently no vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain. Seven confirmed cases have also been identified in neighboring Uganda, the WHO said.
Last week, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Jeremy Konyndyk, who worked as a senior official at USAID under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and is now president of Refugees International, said that the outbreak had already reached an “explosive” level of transmission.
Konyndyk, who is based in Maryland, described the situation in central Africa as“about as urgent as any Ebola response has ever been” and said the 1,000 suspected cases were “almost certainly the tip of the iceberg” and “perhaps even an undercount by a factor of two or three.”
Health officials believe the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola had been circulating, undetected, in the Ituri province for up to three months before it was officially identified. The unusual strain was harder to identify via testing.
However, levels of mistrust within local communities toward measures to contain the virus, as well as skepticism that the virus even exists, are now hampering efforts to stem the outbreak, health officials say.
Kojan said there is currently a lack of laboratory testing capacity in the region, which is needed for accurate diagnosis and effective contact tracing.
The lack of lab capacity means symptomatic patients suspected of having the virus can wait for days for test results, increasing the risk of them leaving isolation prematurely, Kojan said.
“People don’t trust that, you know, Ebola is a reality,” he said.
The Congolese clinician said he was on “the front line” without access to a laboratory, meaning he was struggling to build trust with patients.
New cases every day
Both Both Dr. Lokudi and Dr. Kojan said their healthcare facilities were receiving new suspected cases of Ebola every day.
Amidst the high levels of mistrust, there has also been growing anger towards strict healthcare procedures, which are necessary to safely bury the dead and stop the virus from spreading.
The two Congolese doctors confirmed reports that on two occasions, isolation tents and healthcare facilities had been set on fire by angry crowds in recent days.
In an exchange of messages with ABC News on Tuesday, Lokudi said the police and military were now protecting his hospital, but he said angry groups of youths had still been gathering nearby.
He said that in some cases, amid “resistance” from local populations, officials were unable to safely access remote areas of Ituri province to investigate suspected deaths from the virus.
Lokudi described the situation as “really concerning,” saying that if teams do not go to such areas, then family members face a high risk of catching the virus if they themselves bury their loved ones.
Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids, so treating sick patients and handling the deceased should only be done by healthcare teams in protective suits. Ideally, a victim’s home should also be sprayed down with disinfectant.
In the remote rural communities affected, these vital protective measures can run contrary to local burial practices and reports suggest this, mixed with a level of misunderstanding, has been the source of many people’s anger.
Kojan described a lack of masks and protective clothing as another “really big problem,” and both doctors said more adequately trained healthcare professionals were needed on the ground to raise awareness and implement barriers to stop the spread of the virus.
Cuts to U.S. programs created difficulties
Konyndyk said significant cuts to U.S, humanitarian aid in the DRC had made things harder.
“We’re kind of fighting this one with several hands tied behind our back,” Konyndyk told ABC News.
“When we have fought Ebola in the past on this scale, it has been a combination of the Ministry of Health, WHO, USAID, CDC,” he said.
“USAID is fully gone, CDC is badly weakened. WHO has been badly weakened, the U.S., of course, withdrew from WHO and cut off all funding,” Konyndyk added.
The former USAID official said in an interview that they were “almost certain” that if USAID were still in place, this outbreak would have been caught earlier.
Konyndyk said he believed earlier reports of “an unknown viral hemorrhagic fever outbreak” in the region “would have been brought to the attention of the U.S. mission” in the DRC.
“I’ve talked with some of the members who worked on that team, who were forced out of the government, who would say things like, look, I would be on the phone every week with health leaders in this part of the country,” Konyndyk told ABC News.
“I think the U.S. visibility on that diminished badly and that contributed certainly to the US being slow to wake up to this, but also to the world being slow to wake up to it,” the humanitarian leader said.
A White House official in response said the claim that cuts to U.S. aid have affected the response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC was “ridiculous.”
“You could just as easily say people died because England didn’t give enough money or Canada didn’t give more or China didn’t. Why not blame the other countries who don’t do any foreign aid?” the official added.
The Trump administration has argued that its “America First Foreign Assistance programs” are intertwined with broader foreign policy goals and the national interest.
“The United States has saved more lives, and continues to save more lives, than any other country in the world, and we’re going to continue to do it,” the White House official said in a statement. “We’re not going to continue to pour billions of dollars out the door of American taxpayer funds for programs that don’t work and in some cases were flat-out corrupt.”
Back in the affected area of the DRC, both doctors interviewed by ABC said they had messages for the US and the world.
International support is needed urgently “on all levels,” according to Lokudi.
Kojan said he is appealing to the world to realize that this is about people’s “humanity.”
“People are really scared. It’s our humanity … so my message is, you know, we need attention.”
Hawaiʻi Island police released this undated photo of Jacob Daniel Baker, 36. (Hawaiʻi Island Police)
(HAWAII) — Police in Hawaii said they’re searching for a 36-year-old man wanted in connection with three homicides within days.
“Over the past 48 hours, our island has experienced three separate homicides in the Puna district, all of which we believe are connected and involve a single suspect,” Hawai’i Island Police Chief Reed Mahuna said at a news conference. Hawai’i Island is also known as the Big Island.
“We have mobilized significant resources and personnel to address this situation swiftly and thoroughly,” the chief said. “Bringing this suspect into custody without anyone further being harmed is the No. 1 priority.”
The suspect is identified as Jacob “Jake” Daniel Baker, of Pāhoa, Hawaii, police said. A gun wasn’t used in any of the homicides, but Baker “should be considered armed and extremely dangerous,” Mahuna said.
The first death was discovered Monday evening, when an officer responded to a home and found a 69-year-old man partially submerged inside a cement pond, police said.
On Tuesday afternoon, officers responded to a home just 400 to 500 feet away from the first victim and found a 79-year-old man dead from apparent blunt force trauma, police said.
On Tuesday night, the third victim — a 69-year-old man — was found dead about 19 miles away from the first two locations, police said.
No motive is known, police said. There’s no known connection between the victims besides the first two living near each other, police added.
“These are a tragic series of events and our thoughts are with those who are grieving,” the chief said.
Police urge anyone who sees Baker to not approach him and to immediately call 911.
Parents and guardians stand at Utumishi Girls Academy following the deadly fire in Nakuru, north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi on May 28, 2026. (Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — At least 16 students died in an overnight fire at a boarding school for girls in central Kenya, a government minister said Thursday.
Education Minister Julius Ogamba said in a statement posted to X that a “regrettable fire tragedy befell Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru County. Most unfortunately, 16 learners lost their lives while several others suffered injuries in the incident.”
The Kenya Police Service said in a statement posted to Facebook that “several other students were injured and are receiving treatment.”
The blaze broke out in a dormitory at the Utumishi Girls Senior School in the town of Gilgil in Kenya’s Nakuru County, police said, around 74 miles from the capital Nairobi.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, police said. “We are working to account for all students and support affected families during this difficult time,” the service said in its statement.
The fire was reported early Thursday at around 3:30 a.m. local time, according to the Kenya Red Cross, which said its team were supporting the ongoing multi-agency response. “Several students have been evacuated and are receiving treatment in various hospitals,” Kenya Red Cross said.
Ogamba expressed “our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and relatives of the learners who lost their lives in this sorrowful incident. We wish a quick recovery to those who were injured. We pray that God grants everyone strength and fortitude during this difficult and painful period.”
“Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing and updates will be provided in due course,” the minister added.
ABC News’ Charlotte Gardiner contributed to this report.
Texas State Rep. James Talarico, who won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the Texas primary election, speaks to ABC News. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee in the pivotal U.S. Senate race in Texas, appeared on Wednesday to walk back some of his past comments on religion that have become a major line of attack in the race against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
When asked about his comments in 2021 during floor debate in the legislature that “God is non-binary” in an interview on ABC News Live, Talarico replied that “Ken Paxton is clipping my past cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption,” as part of a “playbook” of “distraction and division.”
When pressed on his comments, Talarico replied that they were “meant to be deliberately provocative” and that he believes “you can’t use human categories to define God.” He said that Republicans are seizing on the comments “to try and distract from the corrupt system that Ken Paxton embodies.”
ABC News reached out to Paxton’s campaign for response to Talarico’s comments.
Talarico’s comments along with other statements on transgender rights and immigration were highlighted in Paxton’s first general election ad, which ends with the tagline “Radical Talarico: too low-T for Texas.” “Low-T” is a reference to levels of testosterone that is used to insult men for a lack of masculinity.
Republicans have used transgender rights as a major line of attack, including in the 2024 presidential race. The DNC’s after-action report on the election identified the Trump campaign’s attack ads labeling his opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, as “for they/them” as one of the most effective ads of the cycle.
Democrats think Talarico’s potential to reach beyond the Democratic base and appeal to independents and Republicans disaffected by Paxton’s candidacy could be enough to win the seat and possibly control of the Senate next year.
Paxton faced ethical and personal questions during the primary. He was acquitted in an Republican-driven impeachment trial in 2023. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”
Republican leadership, which had encouraged President Donald Trump to back Paxton’s opponent in the primary, Sen. John Cornyn, as more electable in the general election, have begun to coalesce around Paxton as the Republican nominee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a radio appearance Wednesday that Republicans were going “all-in” on Paxton and attacked Talarico as a “far left liberal.”
The Senate Majority PAC, which backed Cornyn in his primary race, has taken down past press releases and ads attacking Paxton and has issued a statement opposing Talarico without mentioning Paxton by name.
Talarico has made explicit overtures to Trump voters and Cornyn voters, who are necessary to win any statewide election in Texas, saying, “There is a lot of disillusionment among the president’s supporters here in Texas, and I’m extending an open hand to those Trump voters. So that they know they have a place in our campaign.”
While Cornyn has not explicitly endorsed Paxton in the election, he has said that he will “support the Republican ticket.”
