Elon Musk publicly criticized Trump's signature legislative package, calling himself "disappointed" by what Trump terms his "big, beautiful bill" and arguing it inflates the deficit. This marked the most significant fracture in their alliance since Trump took office, with reports describing a "bad bromance" and Wall Street developing code words for betting against Trump's threats.
Trump-Putin relations deteriorated further as Russia accused Trump of being "not sufficiently informed" about Ukraine after his recent criticism of Putin. However, conflicting reports emerged about potential prisoner exchange agreements.
Courts blocked Trump's tariff powers in sweeping rulings, preventing him from imposing emergency tariffs unilaterally. Trump pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and former GOP Representative Michael Grimm, while indicating he would consider pardoning those convicted in the Whitmer kidnapping plot.
The administration proposed capping Harvard's international student enrollment at 15 percent while announcing visa restrictions on Chinese students and foreign nationals involved in censoring Americans.