Trump live updates: President says Texas is ‘entitled to five more seats’ as Dems ready for ‘knife fight’

National Democrats are closing ranks behind Texas state lawmakers who left the state to prevent Republicans from enacting a gerrymandered congressional map, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s wishes for the 2026 midterms.

From Illinois, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin promised the party is “bringing a knife to a knife fight.” He warned the GOP plan is “a test case for the rest of the country” and a “model for other red states to lie, cheat, and steal away to victory.”

California officials are considering their own efforts to further tilt their U.S. House delegation toward Democrats, in response to Texas.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Donald Trump’s push in Texas is “not democracy — that’s not America.” He mocked Texas leaders for doing Trump’s bidding. “When Donald Trump calls, they say, ‘Yes, sir, right away,’” Pritzker said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running for the Senate in 2026.

With reporting from the AP

Right smack dab in the middle of Washington, Donald Trump has found a place that’s trouble-proof.

The 47th president on Tuesday climbed way up to the top of the stairs for an unannounced visit to the roof of the White House briefing room so he could survey the site of the massive ballroom addition, which he announced last week.

Andrew Feinberg was at the White House.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Democrats have spent years issuing warnings over Republican threats to redraw the political maps that could determine the balance of power for years to come. Now, they’re prepared for “war.”

After protracted legal battles to unwind Donald Trump’s executive actions and unsuccessful attempts to derail the president’s agenda in Congress, Democrats appear to have reached a breaking point and are ready to do some map-making of their own, reluctantly preparing to fight fire with fire.

Conservative media baron Rupert Murdoch will give President Donald Trump regular updates on his health as part of an agreement to postpone Murdoch’s deposition in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against him over a Wall Street Journal article about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York, New York,” Trump’s lawyers said in their filing last week.

The Justice Department has admitted that grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases of Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell contain mostly publicly available information.

The Trump administration has been firefighting the fallout from the so-called “Epstein Files” since the DOJ released a memo last month that contained little new information and concluded no further investigation was warranted into the late sex offender’s alleged trafficking scheme.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Business Minister Guy Parmelin have flown to Washington in a last-ditch effort to avert punitive 39 percent tariffs imposed by the U.S. The steep duties, announced by President Donald Trump, have sent shockwaves through Switzerland, with the higher rate set to take effect this Thursday.

The tariffs, which were increased from an initial 31 percent rate announced in April, were revealed on Friday, prompting a swift response from Bern. The Swiss government described the visit as an attempt to “facilitate meetings with the U.S. authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland.” However, it did not specify which U.S. officials the delegation would meet, nor whether a direct meeting with President Trump was scheduled.

A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking indicated confidence that a resolution could be found if Switzerland presented a “meaningful offer.” The source alluded to a “bad interaction” during a phone call between President Trump and Keller-Sutter last Thursday evening, adding: “There was some kind of bad interaction, but that can blow over, if the Swiss come with a meaningful offer.” The individual also highlighted the significant trade imbalance, stating: “It is a large trade deficit, especially in per capita terms.”

President Trump himself addressed the conversation with Keller-Sutter during his interview with CNBC this morning, reiterating his concerns over the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland.

“Look, I did something with Switzerland the other day,” he told the broadcaster, referring to their call. “The woman was nice, but she didn’t want to listen, and they paid essentially no tariffs.” He continued: “And I said, we have a $41 billion deficit with you, madam… and you want to pay 1% tariffs. I said, you’re not going to pay 1%, we lose, because I view deficit as loss.”

With reporting from Reuters

President Donald Trump made an unusual appearance on the White House roof, briefly interacting with reporters below.

Asked about his presence, Trump said he was “taking a little walk” and mentioned the “ballroom on the other side.”

The White House announced last month that construction on a $200 million ballroom will begin in September, marking the first structural change since the Truman balcony was installed in 1948. One of the five men with him appeared to be James McCrery, architect for the project.

“Just another way to spend my money for this country,” Trump said. “Anything I do is financed by me.”

Here’s Andrew Feinberg’s report on the new ballroom: