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
At the top of the Obama Presidential Center, in its sunlit Sky Room is where you’re meant to take it all in. The panoramic views are impressive: Surrounding the campus is Chicago’s South and West Sides, as well as the ultramarine of Lake Michigan. But, more than that, it’s a moment to pause after scaling several floors of history and Barack Obama’s political legacy — not-too-distant memories for many. Overhead, a monumental artwork by the artist Idris Khan gives the illusion of continued ascent. Words from President Obama’s famed remarks in Selma, Alabama, are stamped and overlapping, sloping upwards as a swath of blue until they reach a rim of light. In Selma, and elsewhere, the former president often spoke about collectively shaping destiny. And that seems to be the final note as you climb up through the museum: the unwritten, wide-open future. On June 19, coinciding with Juneteenth, the highly anticipated center will finally open to the public. It’s been in the works for more than a decade, and cost $850 million to build — a number that kept growing, becoming by far the most expensive presidential library in history.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/style/obama-presidential-center-first-look-inside
Kim Jong Un inspected a new plant that makes weapons-grade nuclear material on Wednesday and said Pyongyang plans to “beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” according to a report from state-run media. The North Korean leader said that his country has more than doubled its capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear material in the past five years and that the new plant will help strengthen its nuclear war deterrent, according to the report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim instituted the push for more nuclear weapons under a five-year plan that was implemented after denuclearization talks with the United States, including three meetings with US President Donald Trump during his first term, ended in failure.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/asia/north-korea-nuclear-plant-kim-intl-hnk-ml