{"id":131659,"date":"2026-06-03T09:23:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-latest-trump-keeps-immunity-from-tax-probes-while-scrapping-1-8-billion-compensation-fund\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:42:22","slug":"the-latest-trump-called-netanyahu-crazy-and-says-israel-is-complicating-peace-talks-with-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-latest-trump-called-netanyahu-crazy-and-says-israel-is-complicating-peace-talks-with-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"The Latest: Trump called Netanyahu \u2018crazy\u2019 and says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A giant portrait of President Donald Trump looks down from the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. The Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump's political allies after GOP senators revolted. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span>(AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Donald Trump, in an interview released Wednesday<\/a>, confirmed an earlier report that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> as \u201ccrazy,” and says he’s \u201ca little bit perturbed\u201d that Israel\u2019s fighting with Hezbollah<\/a> in Lebanon is holding back peace talks with Iran.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration is sticking with a deal to permanently drop tax claims<\/a> against Trump<\/a>, an extraordinary flex of executive power that could help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct, even as it scraps a $1.8 billion fund<\/a> to compensate the Republican president’s allies amid a fierce political backlash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump’s endorsements helped end the political careers of two senators and a congressman deemed insufficiently loyal, but he couldn’t lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa\u2019s Republican primary, setting up a Democratic opportunity to pick up a governorship. See other AP coverage of Tuesday’s primary results here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Latest:<\/p>\n

Democrat shows Rubio videos of Trump with his eyes closed, says \u2018something is wrong\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

California Rep. Ted Lieu displayed several clips of what he described as Trump sleeping while Rubio spoke during Cabinet meetings, saying they reflect concerns about the president\u2019s health. The short clips show Trump with his eyes closed on several instances during meetings from the last few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to ask you to come clean with the American people and the White House as well: There\u2019s something wrong with Donald Trump\u2019s health or cognitive abilities,\u201d Lieu said.<\/p>\n

In response, Rubio said, \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to respond to that other than to tell you that it\u2019s absurd and ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullin doesn\u2019t back down from threats to pull CBP officers from airports<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mullin was asked about his threat to remove Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in cities that don\u2019t typically cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Mullin said he isn\u2019t \u201cpunishing\u201d places dubbed sanctuary cities by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

But he blamed those cities for \u201crefusing to allow local and state enforcement officers to respond when we called\u201d and said he needs to protect his staff. \u201cIf that means I gotta pull them out of Customs and Border Protection from processing international flights, I will,\u201d Mullin said.<\/p>\n

Mullin did not say when he might implement his threat, which has sparked criticism from the travel industry for its potential to cause chaos just ahead of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

GOP congressman tells DHS secretary to use more discretion in ICE arrests<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a rare example of a Republican criticizing the Trump administration\u2019s deportation program, Rep. Carlos Gimenez urged Mullin to put more emphasis on apprehending violent criminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you need to use your discretion a little bit more as to who is being deported, who\u2019s being arrested, etc. Let\u2019s go after the worst of the worst,\u201d said Gimenez, whose South Florida district has a large heavy Cuban population.<\/p>\n

Referring to a comment from Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, Gimenez said it\u2019s unacceptable that ICE recently failed to take six criminal suspects into custody in Orange County, California.<\/p>\n

Mullin said ICE only has 48 hours after defendants are booked into local jails to take them into custody, a difficult deadline if not immediately informed of arrests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no excuse for it, but we just don\u2019t have the resources to get there like we need to,\u201d Mullin said.<\/p>\n

\u2018MAHA\u2019 movement flexes its power in Iowa, overcoming Trump\u2019s choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

The power of Trump\u2019s endorsement helped end the political careers of Sens. John Cornyn<\/a> of Texas and Bill Cassidy<\/a> of Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie<\/a> of Kentucky. But even though Trump jumped into Iowa\u2019s Republican primary by backing<\/a> Rep. Randy Feenstra for governor, GOP voters nominated Zach Lahn<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n

Democrats nominated Rob Sand, whose rural roots are rare among Democrats. Sand also is a proven winner in a Republican-leaning state, having been elected twice as auditor.<\/p>\n

Lahn was not well known in Iowa politics when he launched his campaign in November, but he built support among conservatives by championing a total ban on abortion, keeping liberal ideology out of public school classrooms and developing a following with the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement, which opposes the Trump administration\u2019s embrace of pesticides.<\/p>\n

Iowa Democrats rally behind former Paralympian in marquee Senate race<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democrats stunned by how Trump has remade American politics have spent the past decade debating which type of candidate is best positioned to energize voters and win elections, not moral victories.<\/p>\n

Iowa marked the latest stop in this sometimes agonizing conversation.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s establishment supported Josh Turek, a state representative who presented a compelling personal biography that included competing for the United States in four Paralympics. State Sen. Zach Wahls had offered himself as a more disruptive figure, refusing to back Chuck Schumer<\/a> of New York as the Senate Democratic leader if he were elected.<\/p>\n

Democratic voters united behind<\/a> Turek, who will face Republican Ashley Hinson in November.<\/p>\n

Oil rises toward $100 as U.S.-Iran ceasefire wobbles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oil prices are rising Wednesday following the latest flare-up in fighting<\/a> to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire<\/a>, and U.S. stocks are stalling near their records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 339 points, or 0.7%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.<\/p>\n

Weighing on the market was a climb of 1.1% for the price of a barrel of Brent crude to $97.07. It rose after the U.S. military said Iran fired missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain. The United States said it then struck an Iranian military ground control station on an island in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. Hope seems to be remaining on Wall Street that the United States and Iran will ultimately reopen the strait.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump talks up pairing of Vance and Rubio as a team in 2028 election<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump praised the possibility of Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio running as a ticket in the 2028 presidential election.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re both very talented,\u201d Trump said on the \u201cPod Force One\u201d podcast. \u201cI like them together. You know, it\u2019d be great. I don\u2019t know how you beat them if they\u2019re together. That would be a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president has previously talked up this combination. How Vance and Rubio feel about it is unclear. \u201cThey\u2019d have to agree to it, right?\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

There is still \u201ca long time left\u201d before the 2028 presidential election, Trump cautioned. But he said he observes how his aides and Cabinet officials interact and called the relationship between Vance and Rubio \u201cgood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Markwayne Mullin says DHS ready for \u2018complicated\u2019 World Cup security operations<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Homeland Security secretary said his agency is ready to help protect security at World Cup games across the U.S., but still has \u201ca lot of work to do\u201d ahead of the first game June 12 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very comfortable where we\u2019re at, and we feel like we have a zero-fail mission. But it\u2019s going to be complicated,\u201d Mullin told the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Millions of fans will be coming to the U.S., for the equivalent of \u201c78 Super Bowls in 38 days,\u201d he said, and \u201cwe have some very complicated countries that are going to be playing each other that have a tremendous amount of dislike against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credited state and local officials at host sites for their cooperation with federal agencies, and said \u201cI hope when FIFA is over, we can show that we can work together and continue to keep our cities and our streets safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio hopes for joint Israel-Lebanon statement on peace after new round of political talks<\/strong><\/p>\n

The secretary of state says he hopes the latest round of high-level political talks between Israel and Lebanon will result in a joint statement on ending hostilities.<\/p>\n

In testimony before lawmakers that started Wednesday shortly after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. began meeting at the State Department for a second day of negotiations, Rubio said the aim of the talks is to \u201cproduce a joint statement and an action plan on a track for security in that country, independent from Hezbollah, independent from nefarious influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is not participating in the talks, has become a major sticking point in efforts to end the war in Iran. Wednesday\u2019s discussion is the fourth between the two countries and follows a meeting focused on security issues that was held at the Pentagon on Friday.<\/p>\n

Rubio says Trump administration was aware and prepared for Iranian retaliation<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the second day of back-to-back Capitol Hill hearings, Rubio was pressed by a senior Democrat on whether he warned Trump about the scope of Iran\u2019s response if the U.S. were to strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you warn President Trump, before the Iran war began, that this conflict would drive up cost on gas, food, travel and the president? Yes or no?\u201d asked Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president and the full administration was aware that there would be consequences to action,\u201d Rubio responded. \u201cBut the consequences of Iran having a nuclear weapon were worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio\u2019s comments come despite reporting that Trump and U.S. officials underestimated Iran\u2019s retaliation to an attack, including its closure of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Gulf countries. The president himself has previously said no one thought Tehran would close the critical waterway.<\/p>\n

Bessent says he\u2019s unable to comment on IRS plan to give Trump audit immunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wyden questioned Bessent on whether the Trump administration would drop the IRS plan to confer audit immunity on Trump, as part of a settlement agreement to end the president\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.<\/p>\n

Wyden referred to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s Tuesday testimony to lawmakers that the Trump administration is scrapping plans for a $1.8 billion fund that would have compensated allies of the Republican president.<\/p>\n

Wyden asked Bessent: \u201cDoes the IRS audit immunity given to Trump, his family, and his businesses still stand?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s continuing litigation and I\u2019m unable to comment on ongoing litigation,\u201d Bessent said.<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary to be grilled over Trump\u2019s IRS settlement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Setting the tone for a hearing scheduled to examine Treasury\u2019s budget, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in his opening remarks that lawmakers would question U.S. Scott Bessent on the IRS plan to drop any probes of Trump, his family or the Trump organization over whether they have paid their fair share of taxes.<\/p>\n

The administration has dropped plans to create a $1.8 billion fund<\/a> to compensate the Republican president\u2019s allies, but is sticking with a deal meant to resolve Trump\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service<\/a>. The U.S. is \u201cforever barred and precluded\u201d from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization\u2019s current tax examinations, according to a one-page Justice Department document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Bessent owes the committee an explanation of what the Treasury knows about the dirty settlement, that\u2019s because his department was involved from beginning to end,\u201d Wyden said.<\/p>\n

Report: Disruption of Mideast energy supplies into next year would slam global economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

A prolonged disruption of energy supplies from the Middle East due to the Iran war<\/a> would deal a severe blow to the global economy, sending some countries into recession and spreading inflation and higher unemployment, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Hardest hit would be Asian economies that depend on crude oil, fuel and natural gas from the Persian Gulf, and poorer countries where people spend more of their incomes on fuel and food, the OECD said. The report analyzes two scenarios:<\/p>\n

1. Prolonged disruption: Global growth slows from 3.4% last year to 2.1% this year and 1.8% in 2027, potentially pushing some economies into or close to recession.<\/p>\n

2. Time-limited disruption, in which energy production and Gulf shipments start to return to pre-war levels in the middle of this year: Growth would slow to 2.8% this year and rebound to 3.1% next year.<\/p>\n

<\/element><\/p>\n

Another day of questions for Homeland Security secretary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Markwayne Mullin is in Congress again, this time in the House, after fielding fierce questions from skeptical Democratic senators over his short tenure leading Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

As Mullin walked into the hearing room Wednesday, protesters in the hallway could be heard yelling that he\u2019s an \u201cembarrassment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats slammed Mullin on Tuesday over his department\u2019s immigration policies and accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of mistreating detainees at a facility in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Mullin pushed back, saying that officers were following laws set forth by Congress and defended treatment of migrants at Delaney Hall.<\/p>\n

Rubio begins second day of congressional hearings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facing questions from lawmakers for the first time this week since the Iran war was launched in late February.<\/p>\n

The focus of Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing is the State Department budget. But it\u2019s likely to veer into issues concerning the Iran war, arms sales to Taiwan and an Ebola outbreak in Africa.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s hosting streak meets America\u2019s 250th birthday and the World Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n

When nearly all the scheduled musical performers pulled out of a concert series<\/a> marking America\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a>, Trump responded by making himself the headlining act<\/a> of the Great American State Fair.<\/p>\n

That put to rest any possible scenario where a president who has built his personal and political persona on seizing the spotlight might cede the stage to avoid overshadowing a celebration bigger than himself \u2014 like, for example, the World Cup, where he said he\u2019ll present the golden trophy to the winning team.<\/p>\n

From his reality shows<\/a> to the hours he\u2019s spent entertaining at events<\/a> to his evident pride in showing off his properties to his overhaul of the White House<\/a>, Trump can be a gracious, personable and highly watchable master of ceremonies. But he also tends to make every event about himself.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump thinks Todd Blanche will become his permanent attorney general<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asked in an interview if acting attorney general Todd Blanche<\/a> would get the post full-time, Trump said, \u201cI think he will.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president said his former personal attorney is doing a \u201cvery good job\u201d at the Justice Department. He told the \u201cPod Force One\u201d podcast that he did not have any other candidates in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see how he\u2019s received,\u201d Trump said of Blanche. \u201cAnd he\u2019s done a very good job. But I\u2019ve known him a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche has been the deputy attorney general and became the acting leader of the Justice Department in April after the departure of Pam Bondi as attorney general.<\/p>\n

Blanche would need to be nominated and confirmed by the Senate to shift from acting to the official attorney general.<\/p>\n

Trump says that Iran\u2019s supreme leader is involved in peace talks<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. president said that Iran\u2019s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, is \u201cinvolved\u201d in peace talks for ending the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a lot of respect for him,\u201d Trump said in an interview with The New York Post\u2019s \u201cPod Force One.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said Khamenei is not doing well to do injuries sustained in an airstrike, but \u201cthey say he\u2019s giving approval because that\u2019s the way it has been for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president added, \u201cWe seem to be getting along quite well,\u201d but said he had not previously thought about meeting with Khamenei until he was asked about the possibility in the interview.<\/p>\n

Trump said the U.S. had gone through two \u201csets\u201d of Iranian negotiators who were now gone, as well as some of the third set of Iranian negotiators.<\/p>\n

Trump says US blockade of Strait of Hormuz could continue through a summer of elevated gasoline prices<\/strong><\/p>\n

The president said in a podcast interview that oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could be blocked through the summer, as the extent of progress in peace talks with Iran remain unclear.<\/p>\n

Trump said he thought it was \u201cunlikely\u201d that the strait would stay closed that long, but he acknowledged to The New York Post\u2019s \u201cPod Force One\u201d that the U.S. blockade stopping tankers with Iranian oil could go through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I mean, I think it could be (closed through Labor Day), but I think it\u2019s unlikely. I think that we\u2019ll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Continued shortages of oil and natural gas could keep global prices elevated and inflict levels of inflation on the U.S. and other countries that could hamper growth.<\/p>\n

Trump says he works well with Netanyahu, even after confirming call in which he called the Israeli PM crazy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. president confirmed an earlier Axios report that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as \u201cf—ing crazy\u201d in a Monday phone call, saying he was \u201ca little bit perturbed\u201d that Israel\u2019s fighting of Hezbollah in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump has yet to show clear progress in talks to resolve the war with Iran and cement his goals of that country agreeing to abandon its development of nuclear weapons and reopening the Strait of Hormuz for oil and natural gas shipments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,\u201d Trump told The New York Post\u2019s \u201cPod Force One.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has emphasized in the past that he wanted to be a president who brought peace, but his comments suggested his affinity with Netanyahu reflects their mutual connection over being on a war footing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a wartime president,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe\u2019s a wartime prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILE
FILE – President Donald Trump stands on stage after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin, file)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin, file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Senate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters about Democratic efforts to push back on President Donald Trump's policies, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span>(AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A giant portrait of President Donald Trump looks down from the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. The Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump's political allies after GOP senators revolted. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)(AP […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131659"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131695,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131659\/revisions\/131695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131659"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}