The US Senate has opened debate on whatDonald Trumpcalls his“big beautiful bill”as new analysis says changes made to it in the chamber will add nearly $3.3tn to the nation’s debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in healthcare coverage.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’sanalysisadds to the challenges for Republicans as they push to get the bill over the line by the US president’s self-imposed deadline of 4 July. After release of the bill’s new costs, Trump cajoled and threatened lawmakers from his own party, posting on his Truth Social platform: “REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected.”
Senator Thom Tillis announced he would not run for re-election next year, a day after the North Carolina Republican voted against Trump’s legislation, prompting insults from the president.
Trump meanwhile said he was considering forcing journalists who published leaked details from a US intelligence report on the American military strikes on Iran to reveal their sources, also saying his administration may prosecute those reporters and sources if they don’t comply.
Here are the keyTrump administrationstories at a glance:
TheUS Senateopened debate onDonald Trump’s sprawling domestic policy legislation on Sunday, the package of tax cuts, increased spending on immigration enforcement and drastic reductions in funding for healthcare and nutrition assistance that the president calls his“big beautiful bill”. Formal debate on the measure began after Democrats forced Senate clerks to read the entire 940-page bill aloud, to underscore their argument that the public is largely unaware of what the package contains and to delay a final vote until Monday.
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Republican Thom Tillis said he would not run for re-election to the US Senate next year, a day after the North Carolina senator’s vote against Trump’s signature piece of domestic legislation prompted the president to launch a barrage of threats and insults – as well as promise to support a primary challenger to defeat him in their party’s 2026 primary.Tillis said: “In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.”
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The University ofVirginiareceived “explicit” notification from theTrump administrationthat the school would endure cuts to university jobs, research funding and student aid as well as visas if the institution’s president,Jim Ryan, did not resign, according to a US senator. In an interview withCBS, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner defended Ryan – who has championed diversity policies that the president opposes – and predicted Trump would similarly target other universities.
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Donald Trumpsaid he was weighing forcing journalists who published leaked details from a US intelligence report assessing the impact of the recent American military strikes on Iran to reveal their sources. The president also claimed his administration may prosecute those reporters and sources if they don’t comply. In a Fox News interview Trump doubled down on his claim that the 21 June airstrikes crippled Iran’s nuclear program and dismissed the leaked intelligence assessment in question – which suggested the strikes only temporarily disrupted Iran’s nuclear development – as incomplete and biased.
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The president threatened to blockNew York Cityfrom receiving federal funds if favoured mayoral candidateZohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, “doesn’t behave himself” should he be elected. Mamdani, meanwhile, denied that he was – as the president claimed – a communist. But he reaffirmed his commitment to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers while saying: “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.”
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Blood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in numberandspreading across the US, to the extent that they could cover the entire eastern half of the country and infect millions of people, experts warn.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN said the Islamic republic’s nuclear enrichment“will never stop”because it is permitted for “peaceful energy” purposes under the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. “The enrichment is our right,” Iravanitold CBS News.
Catching up?Here’s what happened on28 June 2025.