President Donald Trump declined to commit to permanently scrapping a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund on Wednesday, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he still considered the controversial initiative “a beautiful thing” The comments inject fresh uncertainty into the Senate’s effort to pass $70 billion in new immigration enforcement funding. But Senate GOP leaders are powering ahead with plans to pass that funding — despite the remaining sharp disagreements in the party over how to handle the controversial settlement fund. Success is not yet guaranteed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his team are still working to quell internal GOP tensions over Trump’s push for the fund, which was created to compensate people who claim they were victimized by the government. The administration has sought to convince Congress that the fund is dead, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche telling lawmakers on Tuesday that it’s “not moving forward with the fund, period.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/anti-weaponization-fund-trump
As the World Cup grips North America this summer, China will again watch from the sidelines. But an unlikely story is bubbling up in the nation as Chinese fans cheer on unlikely amateur soccer players – from delivery drivers to villagers – now playing in packed stadiums back home in a rare sign, some believe, that the Beautiful Game may finally be taking root in the nation. For years, qualifying for soccer’s most prestigious competition has been a national goal for the world’s second-largest economy. It’s one of the “three wishes” President Xi Jinping once famously set out for the sport, alongside hosting and ultimately winning the tournament.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/sport/china-world-cup-dream-unraveled-future
President Donald Trump announced at a private dinner at the White House Wednesday night he will nominate Todd Blanche to be attorney general. Trump adviser Dan Scavino posted a video on X of Trump announcing the decision at the dinner in the Rose Garden. “Tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which is gonna go I think very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said in the video.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/trump-expected-nominate-todd-blanche-attorney-general
Six states ranging from California to New Jersey held primaries on Tuesday night. Many of the results from California will take a while to learn, given the state’s late poll-closing time and slow vote-counting. In the California governor’s race, Democratic former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is in strong position to get one of the two slots in the November election given how votes counted after Election Day in California are typically more Democratic. The other slot is likely to go either Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton or Democratic billionaire investor Tom Steyer.
As of Wednesday evening, the high-profile primary for California governor remains too early to call. Three candidates, Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer, remain in the race for two slots in the general election. Hilton continues to lead the pack following the first set of post-election night results, but Becerra and Steyer improved in nearly every county that reported, narrowing the Republican’s early edge.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/california-gubernatorial-primary-vote-count