Key MomentTrump Takes A Victory Lap, Congratulations Ken Paxton On Texas Senate Primary Runoff WinPresident Donald Trump took a victory lap and congratulated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for his win in Texas's Republican Senate primary. Paxton, an embattled Republican who embraced Trump's endorsement, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn after a nasty and expensive intraparty fight over conservative priorities."Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career. John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday.The president said he will "do some nice, big, beautiful rallies" for Paxton ahead of the November midterms."Texas, this will be FUN!" he continued.Paxton's victory notably comes on the 3-year anniversary of his impeachment in 2023, when the Republican-led Texas state legislature voted to impeach him on allegations of bribery, abuse of public trust and obstruction of justice.He was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment later that year, allowing him to remain in office.Latest Live UpdatesAppeals Court Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration From Deporting Mahmoud KhalilAn appeals court ruled Tuesday that pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil should not be deported while he seeks a Supreme Court review of his detention case.Khalil, a green card holder who led protests against the Gaza war as a graduate student at Columbia University, welcomed the court’s temporary stay of a previous order denying a rehearing of his case.“This fight is far from over,” he wrote on X.The Trump administration also cannot detain Khalil while he attempts to have his case reviewed by the high court, ABC News reported.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Khalil in March 2025.He was released several months later, but the Trump administration has since been trying to deport him.Some good news. The appeals court has granted our stay request, preventing my detention or deportation while I seek Supreme Court review. This fight is far from over. More to come this summer!https://t.co/vcnHgfe2bv— Mahmoud Khalil | محمود خليل (@mahmoudkhalel) May 26, 20265 Villagers Missing In A Flooded Laos Cave For More Than A Week Have Been Found Alive, Rescuers SayFive villagers stuck in a flooded cave in central Laos for more than a week were found alive, rescuers said Wednesday, but two others are missing.The villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked the exit and trapped seven people, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.Read more from The Associated Press here:Matthew Perry's Assistant To Be Sentenced Today For Fatal Ketamine InjectionMatthew Perry’s former live-in assistant is scheduled to be sentenced today for administering the ketamine injection that killed the “Friends” actor in 2023.Kenneth Iwamasa, 60, will be sentenced in a Los Angeles federal court after pleading guilty as part of a plea deal to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death.Prosecutors are seeking three years and five months in prison, a lighter sentence than he might have received without a plea.“As defendant watched Perry spiral into darkness, he could have taken steps at any point to pull Perry back into the light,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo obtained by The Los Angeles Times. “But he chose not to help, and instead concealed the ongoing danger to Mr. Perry, which ultimately resulted in his death.”Democrats Urge Trump Not To Close Federal Childcare CentersA group of congressional Democrats is urging the Trump administration not to shut down a pair of childcare centers that serve U.S. Department of Agriculture employees, saying the looming closures are causing “chaos” for families.The two centers — one in Washington, D.C., and the other in nearby Beltsville, Maryland — are expected to stop operating on July 10, after the current provider recently declined to renew its contract. The closures come at a time when Trump officials are trying to move thousands of USDA jobs out of the Washington region as part of a major agency reorganization.In a letter Wednesday led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), 11 Democrats told Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that it appeared the agency was making employees’ lives “materially harder” on purpose. They urged Rollins to find a new contractor to provide childcare in the same spaces, noting the two centers had been operating for more than 30 years.“We view USDA’s childcare center closures as an escalation of the Trump Administration’s attack on the National Capital Region workforce,” the lawmakers wrote. “USDA is currently executing an unlawful and expensive ‘reorganization,’ which is an attempt to dismantle the agency and relocate large sectors of your workforce far away from where they have built lives, careers and families.”A USDA spokesperson said the closures have “nothing to do with the Department’s reorganization” and referred questions to the childcare provider, KinderCare.A KinderCare spokesperson said the centers have been operating at a loss for several years. “We would love to continue operating them, but cannot find a sustainable way to do so at this point,” the spokesperson said, noting that the company was working with families to find new arrangements for care.Democrats asserted in their letter that the agency hasn’t told employees what their other options might be. “Instead, USDA sent surveyors to classrooms while children were present to measure the rooms, presumably so that they can be repurposed,” they wrote.The childcare center closures were first reported by Politico. The Trump administration announced in July that it planned to force thousands of USDA employees to relocate hundreds of miles if they wanted to keep their jobs. Rollins claimed the move would “better align” the agency with its mission, but many workers see it as part of the White House’s bigger playbook aimed at shrinking federal agencies and getting civil servants to quit.The agency said about 4,600 USDA employees currently work in the capital region, but it plans to cut that number to about 2,000 as it moves jobs to Kansas City, Missouri; Salt Lake City, Utah; and other cities. The agency is also closing a major research facility in Maryland as part of the overhaul, prompting warnings from scientists that it would undermine crucial research.President Donald Trump will hold a cabinet meeting late Wednesday morning as he seeks to make a deal to end the nearly three-month war with Iran.This comes as Trump’s claims of an imminent deal send mixed signals, and as his job approval ratings tank ahead of the midterms. On Monday, military officials said the U.S. had carried out “self-defense” strikes on Iran targeting missile sites and boats, which Iran condemned and called a violation of the ceasefire.The meeting will also be held at the White House instead of the secluded Maryland retreat of Camp David, a site past presidents have frequently departed to for sensitive negotiations and diplomatic affairs.“Based on the possible bad weather conditions tomorrow, we will be having our Cabinet Meeting in the White House, and will be postponing the Cabinet trip to Camp David,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. Showers and thunderstorms are forecasted in the D.C. region on Wednesday.The convening will be Trump’s 12th cabinet meeting of his second term, and is expected to focus on the ongoing war with Iran, the economy, and other foreign policy updates. It could also be the last for departing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who announced she would resign on June 30.ICE Detainees Are Dying By Suicide At An 'Alarming' Rate, An AP Investigation FindsAt least 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, all men, have died by suicide since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, a pace that far exceeds the growth in the detainee population, according to a review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner’s rulings, and police records. Since October, seven deaths have been classified as suicides, a number that is already the most for any fiscal year in the agency’s history. ICE has usually recorded one or no such deaths annually.“Something is going profoundly wrong from any kind of public health or mental health perspective,” said Dr. Sanjay Basu, a University of California-San Francisco epidemiologist who cowrote a study documenting the increase in mortality and suicide rates among ICE detainees. “This is one of those alarming, sudden increases.”Read more from The Associated Press:Trump Calls Biden ‘A Crooked Politician'President Donald Trump responded with furor late Tuesday night to news of former President Joe Biden’s lawsuit against the Department of Justice over the looming release of audio recordings.“A Crooked Politician!!!” he posted on his Truth Social account while sharing a link to an article on Biden’s lawsuit.Biden seeks to prevent the release of audio recordings and transcripts of private conversations he had with his biographer in 2016 and 2017.DHS Secretary Again Threatens Processing Of International Travelers In 'Sanctuary Cities'Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday reiterated threats he has made against so-called “sanctuary cities,” noting that officials could try to impede the processing of international passengers in these localities. “We’re currently drawing up plans to say, listen, in these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities either,” Mullin said in a Fox News interview. Mullin previously raised the possibility in April and reportedly told travel executives earlier this month that DHS could halt customs and immigration processing for international travelers at airports in cities such as Philadelphia, New York City and Los Angeles. The agency is effectively considering these plans as punishment against cities that have limited local cooperation with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.Were such proposals implemented, it would cause major disruptions to tens of thousands of travelers who pass through these airports. A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The GOP’s $100 Million Problem Is Giving Democrats A Texas-Sized OpportunityNational Republicans have already spent $90 million trying to defeat Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Senate race. Now, they fear the GOP will have to spend at least that much trying to help him win.Paxton, a politician with a uniquely unsavory combination of far-right viewpoints, serious corruption allegations and a tawdry personal life, defeated longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday night, opening up a Texas-sized hole in the GOP’s bulwark of Senate control.Read more:Cook Political Report Shifts Texas Senate Rating After Paxton WinCook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections forecaster, has shifted its rating for the Texas Senate race more favorably toward Democrats after scandal-plagued state Attorney General Ken Paxton won a Republican primary runoff on Tuesday. Previously, Cook had rated the contest as “Likely Republican.” After Paxton’s victory, it updated the rating to “Lean Republican.”Democrats were broadly hoping for a Paxton win this week, given his vulnerabilities compared to incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “...Now that Republicans are saddled with a controversial candidate who’s been a weak fundraiser, we are shifting our rating from Likely to Lean Republican,” Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor wrote. “Paxton has a litany of ethical lapses for Democrats to exploit – from allegations of bribery and misuse of his office to marital infidelity, which led his wife to divorce him on ‘biblical grounds.’ Given the national environment, this is a race that certainly may have become competitive even if Cornyn had won, but Paxton’s flaws warrant an immediate move to the Lean column.”Read more from Cook Political Report: See All Updates