Posted by Matt Kiser
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2026/06/02/day-1960/
Today in one sentence: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead; Trump named Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence; Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that Trump hasn’t offered Iran sanctions relief simply to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; Trump reportedly yelled “What the fuck are you doing?” at Benjamin Netanyahu during a call over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon; seven Democratic-led states sued to block the Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded deal paying TotalEnergies $795 million to walk away from an offshore wind lease and put the money toward oil and gas instead; the National Science Foundation will dismantle most of the $368 million Ocean Observatories Initiative; Trump signed a scaled-back AI order that asks companies to voluntarily give the government up to 30 days of early access to powerful new models before public release; and the White House Correspondents’ Association rescheduled its annual dinner after a gunman disrupted the April event.
1/ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead. Senate Republicans had threatened to hold up the roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement bill unless the White House killed the taxpayer-funded payout that was created through Trump’s settlement with his own IRS over the leak of his tax records. Lawmakers in both parties had also objected to the lack of oversight and the possibility that Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police could collect payouts. “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche told lawmakers, while still defending the premise, saying “the reasons for the fund remain as important as they were before.” Blanche, however, left intact the settlement provision barring audits and tax-enforcement actions involving Trump, his family, and related businesses over past returns. “Nothing has changed with that,” Blanche said, while insisting “it’s not immunity.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, meanwhile, accused him of giving Trump and his family “tax immunity to the tune of about $100 million.” (Politico / Reuters / New York Times / CNBC / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg)
2/ Trump named Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence. Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, has no known intelligence or national security experience, but will nevertheless oversee the 18-agency U.S. intelligence community while he continues to run FHFA and chair Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte’s used his housing job to make or push mortgage fraud referrals against Trump’s perceived enemies, including Letitia James, Adam Schiff, Lisa Cook, and Eric Swalwell. “We don’t need a weaponized DNI,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. “We need professionals there.” Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican on the Intelligence Committee, added: “I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job.” Naming Pulte acting DNI allows Trump to bypass Senate confirmation for up to 210 days. (New York Times / NBC News / Politico / Axios / CNN / Associated Press / Reuters / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
3/ Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that Trump hasn’t offered Iran sanctions relief simply to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying any relief must be “condition-based” and tied to Tehran giving up nuclear activities. Rubio said Iran must declare the strait open, stop firing on or threatening commercial ships, help remove mines, and enter talks on “severe and long-term limitations” on its nuclear program while acknowledging that “it is not a guarantee” that any deal will be acceptable. He also pushed back on Iranian state media claims that the two sides had stopped exchanging messages, saying talks are continuing through intermediaries because “talks with Iran are not like talks with Switzerland.” Trump likewise claimed the reports were “false and erroneous,” saying talks had continued “four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today,” even though he said a day earlier that he “couldn’t care less” if Iran ended the negotiations, because they had “started to get very boring.” (New York Times / CNBC / Reuters / Washington Post)
- Trump reportedly yelled “What the fuck are you doing?” at Benjamin Netanyahu during a call over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, demanding that the prime minister abandon a planned strike on Beirut because it could derail U.S. talks with Iran. One U.S. official summarized Trump’s message as: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Israel no longer plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. (Axios / ABC News / Mediaite)
4/ Seven Democratic-led states sued to block the Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded deal paying TotalEnergies $795 million to walk away from an offshore wind lease and put the money toward oil and gas instead. New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont argued that the Interior Department illegally canceled the New York-New Jersey lease without the required hearing or national security review, then used the Judgment Fund, a taxpayer-backed account for settling legal claims, even though TotalEnergies hadn’t sued the government. The project was expected to power roughly one million homes and businesses. (Reuters / Associated Press / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Axios)
5/ The National Science Foundation will dismantle most of the $368 million Ocean Observatories Initiative, removing more than 900 deep-sea instruments that scientists have used for a decade to track ocean currents, carbon absorption, marine heat waves, fisheries, coastal flooding, and climate change. NSF said the “descoping” would remove in-water infrastructure from four of the program’s five arrays, including the Irminger Sea station used to study the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, while leaving the Regional Cabled Array off Oregon in place for now. (New York Times / Scientific American / E&E News)
6/ Trump signed a scaled-back AI order that asks companies to voluntarily give the government up to 30 days of early access to powerful new models before public release. The policy, however, creates a review process that doesn’t require companies to participate or explain what happens if they don’t. The order nevertheless directs federal agencies to strengthen cyber defenses, create an AI cybersecurity clearinghouse, and develop classified benchmarks for deciding which “frontier” models warrant scrutiny, while explicitly saying it doesn’t authorize mandatory licensing, preclearance, or permitting. (Politico / Associated Press / CBS News / Washington Post / NBC News / Axios / Wall Street Journal)
7/ The White House Correspondents’ Association rescheduled its annual dinner after a gunman disrupted the April event forcing Trump, JD Vance, Cabinet officials, journalists, and media executives to evacuate or take cover. WHCA president Weijia Jiang said the second dinner will be a “more intimate gathering” with “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures,” and that members who bought tickets won’t have to pay again. (CNN / Reuters / CBS News)
The 2026 midterms are in 154 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 889 days.
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