Oval

WASHINGTON — Halfway through President Trump’s inaugural White House meeting this term with congressional leadership days before a government shutdown, the red hats appeared on the president’s desk.

“Trump 2028,” they said, situated across from the seated lawmakers, Vice President JD Vance and several untouched Diet Cokes.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries leaned over to Vance, a potential 2028 contender, and quipped, “Hey, bro, you got a problem with this?”

The room chuckled in response.

“It was the random-most thing in the world, because we’re sitting there, we’re having a serious conversation, and all of a sudden these two red hats appear,” Jeffries recalled later at the Capitol.

“It was all so unserious,” the New York Democrat said, describing a roving cameraman capturing the moment. “We were there for serious reasons that it wasn’t really a big part of, you know, the discussion. It was theatrics.”

The moment was vintage Trump — grabbing the attention and seeking to throw negotiators off their game — but it also underscored the president’s disregard for Congress, a coequal branch of the government, and in particular his opponents across the political aisle.

From historic first meeting to viral trolling

What was once considered a historic occasion — the president of the United States convening his first “big four” meeting of congressional leaders from the House and Senate — was reduced to another viral souvenir of Trump trolling his opponent.

And after the more than hourlong session, the president failed to strike a deal with the leaders to prevent a federal government closure.

“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House the next day, hours before the midnight deadline.

This wasn’t just a routine meeting of the president and congressional leadership. It was the first time Trump had gathered the leaders of Congress, more than eight months into his presidency — and the first time he and Jeffries had officially met.

But more surprising was how little came from it.

Healthcare funds

During the White House meeting, Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer laid out their arguments for saving healthcare funding as part of the shutdown talks.

Trump said very little, doing more listening than talking, the leaders said.

“He didn’t seem to know about the healthcare premiums going up so much,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

With the Republican leadership, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the conversation ranged across their views of the healthcare situation.

“Lively,” Thune (R-S.D.) later said.

The discussion included the Democrats’ demands to ensure subsidies to help people buy private insurance on the exchanges run by the Affordable Care Act are made permanent. The subsidies were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and are set to expire at year’s end, which would cause premiums to skyrocket, nearly doubling in some cases.

The conversation also touched on the new rural hospital fund that is important to Republicans, set up under Trump’s big bill as a way to compensate for its cuts to Medicaid healthcare providers.

Johnson (R-La.) said Trump showed “strong, solid leadership. He listened to the arguments.”

Trying to catch the president’s attention

This is the best the Democrats could have hoped for — to have an airing before the president that began to turn the dial toward their demands. And it is what the GOP leaders had tried to avoid as each party tries to blame the shutdown on the other.

Johnson had suggested Trump back out of an initial meeting with the Democrats — after the president had agreed to one — arguing it would be a “waste of time.”

But Trump relented, and granted them Monday’s closed-door Oval Office session.

The Democrats have been here before. During Trump’s first term, the president repeatedly negotiated deals with the Democrats — “Chuck and Nancy,” as he called Schumer and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — to fund the government, raise the debt limit and achieve other goals.

Those bargains Trump made frustrated his party’s lawmakers.

Republicans, aware of that history, are trying to steer the conversation in a different direction, saying they would leave the door open to discuss the healthcare issue with Democrats later — once the government has reopened. They also took issue with the characterization of Trump as unaware of the depth or magnitude of the healthcare situation.

“I’m highly skeptical the president was hearing about it for the first time,” Vance said afterward.

One Republican not authorized to publicly discuss the private meeting and granted anonymity to do so said Schumer’s suggestion that Trump didn’t know about the subsidy problem was exaggerated.

So far in his second term, the president has been able to accomplish his priorities either on his own, with executive actions and the Elon Musk-led cuts that tore through federal offices, or with a compliant Congress passing his signature tax breaks and spending cuts bill, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” that is also fueling his mass deportation agenda.

But Washington doesn’t run on the White House alone, and Congress is not a majority-takes-all institution — traditionally, at least. Turning most bills into laws generally has required the give-and-take of bipartisan compromise, particularly in the Senate, and particularly when it comes to the annual appropriations needed to keep government running.

Then came the sombrero taunts

Hours after the lawmakers left the meeting, Trump’s team posted a fake video that showed Jeffries adorned in a sombrero with a faux mustache standing beside Schumer outside the White House. It was widely seen as racist.

“When I was practicing law, there was a Latin phrase that was always one of my favorites,” Jeffries said back at his office at the Capitol. “Res ipsa loquitur. It means: The thing speaks for itself.”

“We had a full airing of our positions on Monday, which should have set the baseline for a follow-up conversation from the administration to try to reignite a meaningful bipartisan path toward funding the government,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the president’s behavior subsequent to the White House meeting deteriorated into unhinged and unserious action.”

Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.

Will Jacks takes a brilliant leaping one-handed catch to remove Ollie Pope off the bowling of Sam Curran as London Spirit face Oval Invincibles in the men’s Hundred at the Oval.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Hundred – Oval Invincibles v London Spirit

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Northern Superchargers and Oval Invincibles are guaranteed a top-three finish after the Superchargers won the encounter between the two teams in the earlier match at Headingley.

Both teams have 20 points and only Trent Rockets, currently on 16 with two games to play, can match or overtake them.

After Harry Brook’s first half-century of this year’s Hundred and Zak Crawley’s rapid 49 helped Superchargers set a target of 199, Will Jacks’ 11-ball 25 gave the Invincibles a brisk start in their chase.

But Jacob Duffy halted his charge inside the powerplay before Tom Lawes struck twice, dismissing Tawanda Muyeye and the in-form Jordan Cox – who came into the match on the back of three consecutive half-centuries.

When Sam Curran edged Matthew Potts to wicketkeeper Michael Pepper, the Invincibles were reeling at 115-4.

But Donovan Ferreira gave them some hope by hitting three fours and three sixes from seven deliveries before falling for a 15-ball 41 – Duffy ending the chance of a dramatic comeback to set the Superchargers on their way to a crucial win.

Earlier, openers Crawley and Dawid Malan gave the hosts a flying start after being sent in to bat by Invincibles skipper Sam Billings.

Crawley set the tone, helping them race to 49 without loss by the end of the powerplay, before falling just one run short of a fifty.

Captain Brook consolidated the Superchargers’ innings with a 27-ball 56 that included five sixes and three fours, before David Miller added the finishing touches, launching Tom Curran for three consecutive sixes in the final set to take them to 198-4.

Two-time defending champions Invincibles will host London Spirit in their final game on Monday, while Superchargers take on Manchester Originals the following day, live on the BBC.

Spectacular fifties from Jordan Cox and Sam Curran fired Oval Invincibles to a thrilling six-wicket victory over Trent Rockets in a table-topping clash in The Hundred.

Cox hammered an unbeaten 58 from 32 balls and Curran struck 54 from 24, as the Invincibles hit a remarkable 103 runs from 28 deliveries to drive to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Opener Joe Root struck a season-best 76 as Rockets reached 171-7 and the visitors looked well-placed in their reply when they had their opponents 70-2 after 60 balls.

However, Cox and Curran launched a superb turnaround from that point, adding 51 from the next 10 legitimate deliveries.

The pair smashed six sixes and a four between them as they took 19 off David Willey and 32 from Sam Cook, who bowled the most expensive five-ball set in men’s Hundred history.

Curran reached his fifty from 22 balls, but fell before the close, caught on the ropes off Rehan Ahmed.

Cox pushed on, reaching his own half-century from 30 deliveries, guiding his side home alongside Donovan Ferreira and Sam Billings.

The win near guarantees Invincibles a play-off spot and offers further evidence as to why the two-time defending champions remain the team to beat in the men’s competition.

Trent Rockets kept their slim qualification hopes alive with a six-wicket win over Oval Invincibles in The Hundred women’s competition.

Rockets made hard work of chasing just 110 at The Kia Oval after a flurry of middle-order wickets, but Heather Graham held her nerve with an unbeaten 19 from 11 balls and they reached their target with 16 balls to spare.

The visitors had a flying start from Bryony Smith and Grace Scrivens, who added 51 in 35 balls together, but the Invincibles fought back to remove Smith for 24 and claimed the huge wickets of Nat Sciver-Brunt for two and Ash Gardner for 11.

Scrivens then fell for 34 but Graham and Jodi Grewcock, with 21 not out, settled the Rockets’ nerves and sealed their first win against the Invincibles.

In contrast to the Rockets’ rapid start, Invincibles crawled to 13-1 from their powerplay, which included 16 dot balls, as captain Lauren Winfield-Hill fell for seven from 14.

Former Australia skipper Meg Lanning revived the innings as she kicked on to 45 from 35 balls, but Ash Gardner changed the course of the game as she dismissed Lanning and Marizanne Kapp in the space of three balls.

Paige Scholfield whacked the last ball for six to take Invincibles to 109-7 but her 16 not out was the second highest score of the innings as they failed to put partnerships together throughout.

Both Rockets and Invincibles, who are two-time winners, need to win all of their remaining games and still hope for other results to go their way.

Sam Curran stars as he takes three wickets and completes a run-out to wrap up a dominant victory for Oval Invincibles against Southern Brave to move the two-time defending champions four-points clear of The Hundred table.

MATCH REPORT: Curran shines as Invincibles thump Brave

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A fired-up Liam Livingstone brilliantly took down Rashid Khan to lead Birmingham Phoenix home in a thrilling and unlikely chase of 181 against defending champions Oval Invincibles in the men’s Hundred.

MATCH REPORT: Livingstone takes down Rashid to secure thrilling win

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Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye shared a blistering 114-run stand as defending champions Oval Invincibles inflicted a nine-wicket thrashing on Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

Having skittled the visitors for 128 at The Kia Oval, Invincibles bludgeoned their way to victory from 57 balls – the joint second-fastest win in the men’s competition in terms of deliveries remaining – to maintain their perfect start to the tournament.

Muyeye finished unbeaten on 59 from 28 balls, while Jacks fell for 61 from 26 with just 15 required for victory.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the pick of the Invincibles bowlers, taking 3-19, while fast bowler Saqib Mahmood also impressed with 2-26.

After being put in to bat, Originals were in trouble early, with opener Matty Hurst and England star Jos Buttler both dismissed without scoring.

Captain Phil Salt smashed three sixes in his 41 from 32 balls and put on 50 with New Zealand’s Mark Chapman to give the away side hope before both fell to the irresistible Rashid.

The wickets kept tumbling and matters only got worse for the Originals with the ball as Jacks and Muyeye went to work.

Jacks was responsible for 21 of the 25 runs taken from Jimmy Anderson’s first 10 balls but the England legend was not alone in going the distance.

Every bowler was under threat as Jacks made the early running, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in total, before Muyeye joined the party and briefly overtook his opening partner.

It was 24-year-old Muyeye who reached his half-century first, from 22 balls – a delivery quicker than Jacks – and he was there at the end as a Jordan Cox boundary put the winless Originals out of their misery.

Watch highlights as debutant Rashid Khan and team-mate Sam Curran both take three wickets in a dominant win for the Oval Invincibles over the London Spirit in their opener of The Men’s Hundred at Lord’s.

MATCH REPORT: Men’s Hundred: Oval Invincibles v London Spirit

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Grace Harris’ brilliant 89 unbeaten off 42 balls, including six maximums, helps London Spirit begin their title defence with a 17-run win over Oval Invincibles in The Women’s Hundred.

MATCH REPORT: Harris blasts Spirit to win in Hundred opener

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If the fourth day of this Test was astonishing for its fluctuations and high emotion, the fifth day provided drama that was barely believable.

England’s target of 374 represented their second highest successful chase in Tests and the highest ever on this ground. They began Monday on 339-6, 35 adrift.

Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton were being given a torrid time on Sunday before the weather ended play early. England’s task instantly looked easier on Monday when Overton pulled Krishna’s first ball of the day for four and followed by inside-edging the next delivery past his stumps to the fine-leg fence.

The runs required were down to 27, then the pendulum swung once more.

Smith looked all at sea. He played and missed at his first two balls from Siraj and edged his third. There was a wait to see if Jurel had pouched the catch, but there was no doubt.

Atkinson edged the first ball he faced, inches short of KL Rahul at second slip. India’s fans, comfortably outnumbering the England support, surrounded the ground with noise.

Siraj charged in again. Overton played all around his pad. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena took so long to raise his finger, Overton had completed a run. The England man was so sure the review would save him, he began to mark his guard, only for the replay to show umpire’s call for shaving the leg stump. India were delirious.

Atkinson was unsure whether to farm the strike or trust Josh Tongue. The sky got darker and floodlights took hold. Tongue was given leg before to Krishna, only for the review to show the ball missing leg stump. England still needed 19.

England had added two more when Tongue was bowled by Krishna. There was confusion as to whether Woakes would bat, only for the 36-year-old to appear with his left arm covered by his England sweater.

Woakes ultimately never faced a ball, but his bravery will not be forgotten.

Atkinson’s mighty blow off Siraj was parried over the ropes by Akash Deep and left England with 11 to win. India captain Shubman Gill had the decision over bringing in the field to prevent the single, or to protect the boundary. He chose the latter. Woakes was in obvious pain when he shuffled the bye off the final ball of Siraj’s over.

Atkinson dug out Krishna for two to long-on, at the beginning of the next over. India kept the field back. England took another single. They needed seven when Siraj set off once more.

Atkinson cleared his front leg again, attempting another heave to the leg side, but Siraj’s yorker was pinpoint. He ended with 5-104, his effort every bit as heroic as the lion-hearted Woakes.

Tyler Perry is facing legal backlash to the tune of $260 million from an actor who appeared in his BET drama “The Oval” and is accusing the media mogul of quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery and retaliation, among other counts.

Perry’s accuser, actor Derek Dixon, filed his lawsuit against the billionaire film and TV producer in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday. The actor claims Perry leveraged his power and standing in entertainment “to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic with Mr. Dixon — initially promising him career advancement and creative opportunities,” according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Tyler Perry Studios and the And Action production company are listed as co-defendants.

“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Perry’s attorney Matthew Boyd said in a statement to The Times. “But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”

In his 46-page complaint, Dixon says he met the “House of Payne” creator in September 2019 when he was working as event staff for one of Perry’s parties. The multi-hyphenate entertainer offered Dixon the chance to audition for his show “Ruthless” a month after their first meeting. Perry claimed he would “change [Plaintiff’s] life” and offered him a small role in the TV series, “setting up the first stage in a series of escalating quid pro quo offers,” the lawsuit alleges.

From January 2020 to June 2024, Perry “sustained a pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault and retaliation,” the lawsuit alleges. Dixon appeared in 85 episodes of Perry’s presidential drama “The Oval” from 2021 to 2025, according to IMDb.

Dixon accused Perry of relentlessly probing him about his sex life, making suggestive comments and expressing jealousy about his interactions with other men during the duration of their work together. The complaint features multiple screenshots of alleged conversations between Dixon and the media mogul, including messages in which the director asks “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” and likens the actor to a rose but says he is “so blocked that you refuse to be smelt [sic] or opened.”

The lawsuit — which evokes cases against Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey and other high-profile Hollywood figures accused of sexual harassment — also details multiple occasions where Perry allegedly groped the actor. The first was in January 2020 when Dixon stayed the night in a guest room at Perry’s home in Georgia and allegedly felt Perry “slip into bed behind him and start rubbing Dixon’s body around his inner thigh in a highly sexual and suggestive manner.” Dixon also accuses Perry of “violently” grabbing his throat in March 2020, groping his buttocks in a trailer later that year, and pulling down his underwear and groping his buttocks again in June 2021.

The complaint underscores that Dixon repeatedly refused Perry’s advances and walked a fine line, keeping his interactions with Perry professional but friendly enough to remain in his good graces. He claims the threat of Perry killing off his character constantly loomed over his “Oval” tenure. In addition to casting Dixon in his series, Perry also expressed interest in helping the actor develop a show, the lawsuit says.

Dixon distanced himself from Perry after the alleged June 2021 assault, the lawsuit says, but the producer’s “fixers” reached out with a new storyline for his “Oval” character and a pay raise. They also allegedly told Dixon he could not tell his castmates about the new perks.

Perry allegedly continued to ask Dixon about his sex life through the years that followed and in March 2024 plans to pitch Dixon’s show began to fall apart. After Perry offered Dixon a writing spot on one of his series in June 2024, Dixon “woke up and realized Perry was never going to be serious about helping Dixon” grow his career, the lawsuit says.

Dixon claims he reported the alleged sexual harassment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but the complaint was not investigated. Dixon left “The Oval” and Perry allegedly retaliated by telling Dixon he could say only that he was taking medical leave. “Defendant made the leave of absence unpaid and therefore terminated Plaintiff’s employment causing Dixon additional loss of income and insult,” the suit says.

The lawsuit also includes allegations of work environment harassment, workplace gender violence, sexual assault, negligent retention and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

June 5 (UPI) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Washington on Thursday to meet with President Donald Trump in person for the first time.

Before their meeting, Merz had said that he was looking forward to his first face-to-face meeting with Trump after the two have previously spoken over the phone

“Our alliance with America was, is, and remains of paramount importance for the security, freedom, and prosperity of Europe. The United States is an indispensable friend and partner of Germany,” Merz posted to X Wednesday.

The topics of discussion are expected to range from tariffs and trade to Russia’s war on Ukraine and the state of the Middle East.

Trump and Merz reportedly speak with each other on a first-name basis, however, in a speech given Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the current tone of German-U.S. relations as being “as rough as it has not been in a long time.”

Trump has also levied tariffs on all member nations of the European Union, Germany included, that will impose a 50% duty on all European goods starting July 9, a deadline that was extended from June 1 to allow more time for trade negotiations. The Trump administration has also upped tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports from 25% to 50%, with only Britain excluded.

Germany announced last week it will provide a nearly $5.7 billion military aid package to Ukraine that will finance long-range weapons to be produced by Ukraine, which Merz announced can be deployed by the Ukrainian military for use inside the borders of Russia. Trump, however, had ordered a pause on military aid to Ukraine in March shortly after his combative February meeting with Zelensky.

It is unclear if Trump has any issue with Germany’s aid for or relationship with Ukraine.

May 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump bid multi-billionaire Elon Musk farewell from his role as a senior adviser tasked with shrinking the government through program cuts and worker departures.

Musk, dressed in all black in a T-shirt, jacket, DOGE baseball cap and pants, appeared with Trump in the White House’s Oval Office, 130 days after beginning as a special government employee, including running the Department of Government Efficiency.

“Today, it’s about a man named Elon, and he’s one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced,” Trump told reporters about Musk, who is worth $421.2 billion, according to Forbes. “He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation, and we appreciate it.”

Then, a video by CNBC’s Joe Kernan and Rick Santelli was shown that praises the Trump administration.

Musk claims to have identified more than $160 billion in federal spending cuts since Trump entered office on Jan. 20. That includes 56,000 employees terminated and 34 taking buyouts. There are plans to dissolve the Department of Education and cut health programs despite Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy‘s goal to Make Amerca Healthy Again. The Department of Defense and Homeland Security aren’t facing as severe cuts.

Musk initially predicted he could cut $2 trillion from the nation’s roughly $6.8 trillion federal budget. Despite the much lower number, Musk said he believes the savings will reach $1 trillion.

“It’s just a lot of work going through the vast expenses of the federal government and just really asking questions,” Trump said.

Musk said the president wants him to still help out.

“Elon is really not leaving,” Trump said. “He’s going to be back and forth. It’s his baby.”

Musk, who personally spent $277 million to bring Trump back to the White House, announced his departure Wednesday on X, saying the DOGE “mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

During the public appearance with Trump, Musk said: “This is not the end, but the beginning. My role as a government employee has to end. It comes with a time limit.”

Musk said he will remain as an informal adviser and make trips to the White House. Plans are for him to maintain an office in the White House.

“The DOGE team is doing an incredible job and will continue to do an incredible job,” he said, noting most of the 100 workers will remain in government. “I look forward to being back in this room. Isn’t it incredible? “

He said loved the “gold in the ceiling” of the Oval Office.

Musk was presented with a special symbolic gold key to the White House.

Musk plans to focus more on his businesses: Tesla, SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI, which now includes X.

Musk told reporters last week that he had worked in Washington, D.C., on his DOGE initiative “seven days a week, or close to seven days a week” during Trump’s first 100 days in office. He frequently traveled on Air Force One with Trump to the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and recently to the Middle East.

This has meant less attention to his companies, including publicly held Tesla, the company that makes electric vehicles, solar panels/shingles and energy storage devices.

He said his efforts have been far more challenging than expected and DOGE had become “the whipping boy for everything.”

He also became at odds with Trump on Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package going through Congress.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS Sunday Morning. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”

Later Friday Trump was to head to Pittsburgh to praise a partnership between iconic U.S. Steel and its Japanese rival, Nippon Steel.