Judge: Trump name added

illegally to Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations.

Trump said in response that he’s backing away from his proposed renovation and returning control of the arts institution to Congress. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Kennedy Center board’s March 16 vote to close the facility was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” with no regard for its legal obligations.

Cooper also concluded that the board “overstepped its statutory bounds” by unilaterally adding Trump’s name to the center. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it, he said.

Judge blocks payouts from

Trump’s $1.7B allies fund

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from paying any claims through a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for the Republican president’s allies who believe they were victims of a weaponized government.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday also barred the government from moving forward with the fund’s creation while litigation is pending to challenge it.

The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend the order blocking payouts from an “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which the government created to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.

The White House declined to comment.

Trump considers next move

on tentative deal on Iran

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump met with his advisers for about two hours but has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with a deal to extend the Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said the agreement has not been finalized. Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Trump said he was looking to make a “final determination.”

A senior administration official later said the roughly two-hour meeting with national security aides had concluded without a decision. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bondi refuses to answer

questions on Epstein files

WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi has finished her interview with House lawmakers about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files.

Bondi stood behind the Trump administration’s release of the Epstein files but refused to answer questions on President Donald Trump’s involvement in it. Democratic lawmakers said Friday that Bondi told them she would not speak about the Republican president in the closed-door interview. Several survivors of Epstein’s abuse gathered outside the Capitol office where lawmakers were interviewing Bondi.

The survivors tried to make their presence known to Bondi as she entered the room but say they were shoved aside by police officers.

Louisiana enacts new map

in bid to gain new GOP seat

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana is enacting a plan to try to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House in November.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the redistricting plan into law Friday in a bid to give Republicans a better chance to pick up an additional seat.

The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed the plan in response to late April’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana’s congressional district map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.

It’s the latest flare-up in a heated national redistricting battle, spurred along by President Donald Trump. The map makes Louisiana one of several Southern states taking steps to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district that elected a Democrat.

The Associated Press