Farmers are on the “front line” of what President Donald Trump has described as a trade war with China, but the US will protect them, the president said Tuesday.

Recalling his first term, Trump said China treated US farmers poorly, but that “a great trade deal was made.” He added: “I rewarded our farmers with a payment of $28 Billion Dollars, all through the China deal.” He went on to say: “The USA will PROTECT OUR FARMERS!!!”

Trump also noted reports of China halting the delivery of Boeing jets to its airlines, which would be another blow to the struggling aircraft maker that builds all of its planes at US factories. “Interestingly, they just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft,” he wrote of China.

Take a look at how Trump’s trade war with China will hurt the farmers who voted him throughthese charts.

The Trump administration is looking at closing nearly 30 overseas embassies and consulates as it eyes significant changes to its diplomatic presence abroad, according to an internal State Department document obtained by CNN.

Embassies in Malta, Luxembourg, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan have been recommended for closure in the document. The list also includes five consulates in France, two in Germany, two in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one in the United Kingdom, one in South Africa and one in South Korea.

It also recommends reducing the footprint at the US diplomatic missions in Somalia and Iraq — two countries that have been key to US counterterrorism efforts — and “resizing” other diplomatic outposts.

It’s unclear if Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed off on the proposed closures. CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment on the document.

The proposed changes come amid a broader expected overhaul of the US’ diplomatic agency as the administration, spurred by the Elon Musk-backed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), makes dramatic changes to shrink the federal government.

CNN reported in March that the State Department was moving to close some of the consulates listed on the internal document.

Why does this matter? Embassies and consulates serve as important outposts for the State Department. They provide services like visa processing and assistance for American citizens in need. The posts also collect information to send back to Washington, DC, and officials say they are an important diplomatic tool as the US looks to counter nations like China. Most consulates do not have a large workforce.

President Donald Trump is threatening to tax Harvard University as a political entity after the institution rejected the administration’s policy change demands, which resulted in the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding.

More on the freezing of funds: The Trump administration has threatened numerous colleges across the US with funding cuts if changes in school policy weren’t made, and Harvard’s move appears to mark the first time an elite university has rebuked the White House over those demands.

Among the mandates in the administration’s letter are the elimination of Harvard’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs, banning masks at campus protests, merit-based hiring and admissions reforms and reducing the power held by faculty and administrators “more committed to activism than scholarship.”

The proposed changes are the latest effort of the federal task force to combat antisemitism on college campuses after a spate of high-profile incidents around the country in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

CNN’s Jeff Winter and Taylor Romine contributed reporting to this post.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a tour of Southeast Asia, positioning China as a stable partner in contrast to the US. President Donald Trump reacted by saying the tour was a chance to “screw” the US.

Melinda French Gates, the philanthropist ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, told CNN’s Abby Phillip in an interview Monday that she’s troubled by the US withdrawal from crucial roles on the global health stage.

When Phillip asked what keeps her up at night, Gates responded, “What keeps me up are young children dying.”

Studies have found that childhood vaccination has averted more than 150 million deaths since 1974, accounting for 40% of declines in global infant mortality. However, a billion-dollar grant to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which is also largely funded by the Gates Foundation, was reportedly among the foreign aid cuts detailed by the US State Department last month.

Insecticide-treated bed nets to fight the spread of malaria, another priority of the Gates Foundation, are estimated to have reduced all-cause death of young children by about 20% in several trials in Africa.

Gates said philanthropists can’t make up the difference in lost US funding.

Watch the interview with Gates tonight at 10 p.m. ET on CNN NewsNight.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it is “not easy” to agree on a deal with the United States on ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

When asked whether there was some agreement between the US and Russia on key parts of a future deal, Lavrov told the Kommersant newspaper: “The answer is immediately ‘no’.”

“It is not easy to agree on the key components of a settlement. They are being discussed,” Lavrov said in the interview, released today.

Lavrov indicated it may be too soon to think about normalizing relations with the US.

“Compelling commercial opportunities”: Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff said yesterday that commercial opportunities for Russia to do business with the US and Europe could be part of an “emerging” deal to end the war.

“I believe there’s a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too. Partnerships create stability,” Witkoff told Fox News.

He also discussed his nearly 5-hour-long meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin.

“It was a compelling meeting and towards the end, we actually came up with — I’m going to say finally but I don’t mean in the way that we were waiting, I mean in a way that it took a while for us to get to this place — what Putin’s request is to get to have a permanent peace here. So, beyond the ceasefire, we got an answer to that,” Witkoff said, without providing more details.

CNN’s Rashard Rose contributed reporting.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said yesterday that talks with Iran would be about “verification” of its nuclear program, stopping short of calling for Tehran to dismantle it altogether.

Witkoff did not mention a demand to fully dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, as other US officials have suggested, saying only that Iran does not need to enrich uranium past 3.67% to run a civilian program.

Some context: In December, Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, told Reuters that Iran was “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade.

US national security adviser Michael Waltz told CBS last month that Trump would demand a “full dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian officials have dismissed that proposal as a non-starter, accusing the US of using it as a pretext to weaken and ultimately topple the Islamic Republic. Tehran is entitled to a civilian nuclear energy program under a UN treaty.

On Friday, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iran had set strict terms ahead of the talks with the US, saying that “red lines” include “threatening language” by the Trump administration and “excessive demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program.” The US must also refrain from raising issues relating to Iran’s defense industry, Tasnim said, likely referring Iran’s ballistic missile program, which America’s Middle Eastern allies see as a threat to their security.

South Korea has earmarked a fresh budget of 12 trillion won ($8.4 billion) to beef up its economy and support industries dealing with the impact of Trump’s tariffs.

The stimulus package is two trillion won ($1.4 billion) bigger than the previous proposal of 10 trillion won, the country’s deputy prime minister and economy minister, Choi Sang-mok, said on Tuesday. Of the total, about one third is intended to support companies affected by global trade turmoil and also AI firms.

Choi urged lawmakers at the National Assembly to move quickly to approve the package as soon as possible. But domestic politics could get in the way. Rival parties may find it difficult to come to agreement as they prepare for a June 3 election that will determine South Korea’s next president.

Acting President Han Duck-soo, who assumed office after Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted over a martial law crisis that is still reverberating across the country, told CNN last week in an exclusive interview that South Korea “clearly would like to negotiate” with the US and praised the two countries’ “very strong alliance.”

Last week, Trump suspended his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries except China. But South Korea still faces a universal 10% levy, a metals tax and also tariffs on exports of cars and auto parts to the US.

Former President Joe Biden will deliver a keynote address this evening at the 2025 Conference of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) in Chicago, Illinois.

The remarks will be Biden’s first public remarks since leaving office in January.

He is scheduled to speak at 5:45 p.m. ET.

Read more about Biden’s public reemergence here.

President Donald Trump responded on social media to the conviction of the man accused of murdering Rachel Morin, a mother of five from Maryland.

Trump called Victor Martinez-Hernandez an “illegal criminal” and criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, claiming they enabled his entry into the United States.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly mentioned the case and also met with Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin.

Trump urged more focus from the media on Morin’s case instead of that of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.

Alongside El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office yesterday, Trump made clear that Abrego Garcia would not be returned to the US.

The European Union has published the list of American goods it will hit with retaliatory tariffs if trade negotiations with the United States aren’t successful.

The list of more than 400 products, published Monday, includes American toilet paper, eye makeup, cigars and tobacco, plus men’s and women’s clothing. Most of the imports will be subject to additional customs duties of 25%.

The EU measures were due to come into force today in retaliation for a sharp increase in US tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. However, the bloc of 27 countries suspended its countermeasures for 90 days until July 14 after the US delayed its so-called reciprocal tariffs.

According to EU calculations based on official US data for 2023, the top five goods exports from America to the bloc are oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and medicines, aerospace products and parts, medical equipment and supplies, and motor vehicles.

The US has so far hit the EU with 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum and 25% levies on cars. As for President Donald Trump’s 20% “reciprocal” tariffs on all other goods from the bloc, those have been reduced to 10% for 90 days.

A look at the markets: After Trump said he was considering a short-term tariff exemption for automakers, Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index was 0.6% higher at the start of trading today. Germany’s DAX rose 0.8% and London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.6%. However, France’s CAC index was 0.1% down.

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of key political developments across the US today.

A lot is going on, from immigration disputes to university funding pauses.

Tariffs: Today we’ll be watching to see whether President Donald Trump will firm up the auto tariff exemptions he hinted at yesterday. Most European markets edged up this morning after the announcement.

Immigration: We’ll also be following developments in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who was mistakenly deported from the US to a mega prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration says he’s a member of the MS-13 gang, a claim his lawyers and wife deny.

Yesterday, Trump met with the leader of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office, where the Salvadoran president made clear he had no intention of bringing Abrego Garcia back to the United States.

Universities: Another thread to keep an eye on is what’s happening across US colleges. Yesterday, the Trump administration said it was freezing billions of dollars of funding for Harvard University after the school rejected its policy demands. We’ll see how lawmakers, universities and students alike respond to that.

Separately, by CNN’s count, more than 500 students, faculty and researchers across the US have had their visas revoked this year.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who’s been in the United States for a decade, went into a Vermont immigration office yesterday hoping to begin the final step to becoming a US citizen. But instead, immigration officials detained Mahdawi, a prominent organizer of pro-Palestinian protests on campus a year ago. His detention appears to be part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters from last spring.