Trump admin live updates: WH doubles down on videos shown to South Africa's president

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speaking with ABC News’ Selina Wang on Thursday afternoon outside the Capital Jewish Museum, called for the White House to increase funding for the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education as well as for nonprofit security, in the wake of the shooting Wednesday that killed two staff members of the Israeli Embassy.

“The Trump administration should be making sure that we increase funding for the Office of Civil Rights, that there needs to be more investigation funding available to hold universities and colleges accountable, but we also need to make sure we increase funding for nonprofit security grants,” to support security apparatuses and personnel for institutions like the Capital Jewish Museum, Wasserman Schultz said.

Wasserman Schultz had earlier joined fellow Jewish members of Congress in a news conference outside the museum.

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She said that the Trump administration “needs to stop freezing funds” appropriated by Congress that are meant to keep people safe.

“When we see that two young people could be murdered in cold blood as a result of an act of antisemitic hate, I don't know how much more evidence you need to you need to be clear that we need to increase that funding and make sure that no one has to worry about their life ending when they're attending an event at any institution,” she said.

Asked what Democrats are doing right now to fight for that, Wasserman Schultz said she and colleagues are working to increase that funding and to "balance expression of free speech alongside making sure that we can help stop antisemitic attacks in their tracks" and make sure students feel safe attending university.

-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim, Selina Wang and Hannah Demissie

Several Democratic senators called for the White House and President Donald Trump to release the names of the guests of Thursday night's crypto gala dinner.

"Donald Trump's dinner is an orgy of corruption," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. "He is signaling to anyone who wants to ask for a special favor and is willing to pay for it exactly how to do that."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., accused the president of "selling out America" to foreign powers and putting America's national security at risk.

President Donald Trump hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, May 21, 2025, in Washington.

Blumenthal also pointed out that Thursday night's dinner is being held in secrecy when it is customary for the White House to release the guest list when a president of the United States holds a state dinner with foreign representatives.

"Donald Trump Is having 220 of the biggest investors, some more than $100 million in his meme coin, come to his private golf club without any disclosure, and apparently hiding, purposefully concealing, who they are, and some are from foreign powers," Blumenthal said.

The lawmakers pointed to several individuals who are expected to attend the dinner tonight or have expressed their intention of investing in the Trump coin in an effort to gain access to him, including controversial Chinese crypto mogul Justin Sun. Sun is not only the top holder of the Trump coin, but also among the top investors of World Liberty Financial, another crypto company founded by Trump's family members.

-ABC News' Soo Rin Kim and Lucien Bruggeman

President Donald Trump echoed Leavitt's comments against District Judge Brian Murphy's ruling that kept migrants deported to South Sudan in Djibouti for interviews.

"He would not allow these monsters to proceed to their final destination. This is not the premise under which I was elected President, which was to PROTECT our Nation. The Judges are absolutely out of control, they're hurting our Country, and they know nothing about particular situations, or what they are doing — And this must change, IMMEDIATELY!," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump then called on the Supreme Court to "put an END to the quagmire."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the videos President Donald Trump played when meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

One clip showing crosses was not what Trump made it out to be, as he claimed it was a "burial site" of murdered white South African farmers.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, May 22, 2025, in Washington.

Leavitt was asked who at the White House is advising Trump on such material and what protocols are in place when unsubstantiated information being shared publicly in front of world leaders. She did not directly answer the question, instead responding, "What's unsubstantiated about the video?"

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she was confident the Senate would pass the budget bill and that her team was "suiting up" to get it through the Senate.

When asked about GOP Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson's no votes on the bill, the press secretary stressed that the president has pushed for unity within the Republican party.

"Republicans like Thomas Massie and others should take note," she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, May 22, 2025, in Washington.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked if the White House would release the names of the guests who invested millions of dollars to have dinner with President Donald Trump Thursday night.

She didn't answer the question.

"The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner. It's not taking place here at the White House," she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked Judge Brian Murphy, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for his ruling over the deportation of eight men to the South Sudan.

Murphy ruled the administration "unquestionably" violated an earlier order by not giving the men adequate due process before deporting them. The judge, however, did not order their immediate return.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, May 22, 2025, in Washington.

Leavitt called the decision absurd.

"Judge Brian Murphy is not the Secretary of State. He is not the Secretary of Defense or the commander in chief. He is a district court judge in Massachusetts. He cannot control the foreign policy or the national security of the United States of America," she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt opened her press briefing on Thursday by stating that President Donald Trump is "saddened and outraged" by the killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C.

"The evil of antisemitism must be eradicated from our society," Leavitt said. "I spoke to the attorney general this morning. The Department of Justice will be prosecuting the perpetrator responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law. Hatred has no place in the United States of America under President Donald Trump."

Tributes are left at the Capital Jewish Museum, near the site where two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead, in Washington, May 22, 2025.

In a major reversal, almost all the 381 books the U.S. Naval Academy removed from the school’s libraries have been returned to the bookshelves after a new review using the Pentagon’s standardized search terms for DEI titles found about 20 books that need to be removed pending a future review by a DOD panel, according to a defense official.

The reversal comes after a May 9 Pentagon memo set Wednesday as the date by which the military services were to submit and remove book titles from the libraries of their military educational institutions that touch on diversity, race, and gender issues using the Pentagon’s specific search terms.

Prior to the Pentagon memo standardizing the search terms, the Navy used its own search terms that identified 381 titles. A defense official said that a new review using the DOD search terms found only two or three book titles included in the Navy’s earlier search.

In this Sept. 15, 2023, file photo, midshipmen are shown at work in the Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

“The Navy has reviewed library collections at all Department of Navy educational institutions to ensure compliance with directives issued by the President and Department of Defense,” Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesperson, said in a statement. “The Navy has identified and sequestered library materials potentially incompatible with the military’s core mission, pending the Defense Department’s formal review.”

“Nearly all of the 381 books originally pulled from the shelves at Nimitz Library are back in circulation,” he added.

--ABC News' Luis Martinez

President Donald Trump celebrated the House of Representatives passing "THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL," claiming that it is the "most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!"

In a new social media post, Trump highlighted that the legislation fulfilled his campaign promise of No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime. The President also recognized the tax deductions when consumers purchase an American-made vehicle, funding for the Golden Dome, and the "TRUMP Savings Accounts" incorporated in the legislation.

"Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill!" Trump wrote.

President Donald Trump walks into the East Room to celebrate the team's 2025 NCAA championship at the White House on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.

"Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" Trump continued before slamming the Democratic Party.

--ABC News' Kelsey Walsh