Trump is still talking about Biden on an almost daily basis, an NBC News analysis has found. Elon Musk announces he’s shifting his focus back to Tesla. And “Doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell is found guilty of conspiring to kill her fourth husband.
Here’s what to know today.
In his first 100 days, Trump still leans on an old foe: Joe Biden
President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden are no longer in the midst of a bitter campaign, and they won’t be ever again. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from invoking his old rival on a near-daily basis.
An NBC News analysis shows Trump has spoken about Biden, his family or his administration at least 580 times, either in published remarks or on his social media site — an average of six times every day of his presidency.
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In Trump’s rhetoric, Biden is the perpetual boogeyman, reminding voters of how, he says, Americans were unhappy with high prices and illegal border crossings.
“I also don’t think he is over the fact that Biden beat him in 2020,” a White House aide to the former president said. Speaking on condition of anonymity to talk freely, they called Trump’s fixation with Biden “bizarre.”
Trump has accused Biden of weaponizing the government, disparaged his handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine and harped on claims that Biden left the U.S. with a $1.2 trillion trade deficit.
Whether his preoccupation with Biden is a clear strategy remains unclear, but Trump’s aides and subordinates have taken the cue. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has mentioned Biden 78 times in the 16 briefings she’s given thus far. Cabinet members routinely blame the former president for the challenges their agencies face and Trump-friendly conservative news outlets have also aided in the cause.
As the 100-day milestone approaches, Peter Nicholas and Meghan Shannon write, Trump is nearing the point where it’s harder to blame Biden for things going wrong.
Musk says time commitment to DOGE will ‘drop significantly’ as focus returns to Tesla
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he will be stepping back from his duties leading Department of Government Efficiency efforts at the White House to tend to his work at Tesla. The news came as a relief to investors in the automaker as the company reported that profits fell 71% to $409 million, compared with $1.39 billion during the same quarter one year ago.
“I think I’ll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so, and for as long as it is useful, but starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla, now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” Musk told investors on a call.
The tech billionaire has faced increasing opposition for his involvement in politics, making Tesla the target of country-wide protests and vandalism. Amid Trump’s back-and-forth tariffs announcements, the company also acknowledged that “rapidly evolving trade policy” could impact the immediate future of its products.
Tesla faces tariff exposure due to imported parts, and Musk admitted to pressing Trump on reversing his trade policy to no avail.
Musk also noted that he’s shifting focus from electric cars to robotaxis and humanoid robots, saying Tesla is on track to begin selling robotaxis in Austin, Texas, in June.
Lori Vallow convicted in fourth husband’s death
Lori Vallow Daybell, dubbed “Doomsday mom” by some, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of her fourth husband. Vallow Daybell, who represented herself at trial, told jurors that her brother shot Charles Vallow in self-defense following a family argument.
“This event was not a crime,” she said. “It was a tragedy. Don’t let them turn my family tragedy into a crime.”
But prosecutors dismissed the self-defense claim and argued she had several reasons for wanting her husband dead, including her desire to start a life with another man.
Vallow Daybell was convicted in 2023 of killing her two children and her first wife’s husband. She’s already serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, and has been charged in a separate case with conspiring to kill her niece’s estranged husband.
Read All About It
- A wildfire has grown over 8,500 acres in New Jersey, causing officials to issue evacuation orders for nearly 3,000 residents.
- The body of Pope Francis was moved to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City this morning, where he will lie in state for the next three days.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his cell phone to share information about U.S. military strikes in Yemen that he initially received via a system designed to transmit sensitive and classified information.
- Nearly half of U.S. residents live in an area with failing grades for air pollution, according to the American Lung Association.
- A contract to build a sprawling tent city for immigrants awaiting deportations at a Texas military base was terminated, marking another obstacle for Trump’s efforts to ramp up detentions.
- Karen Read’s second murder trial began with new details from the prosecution painting her as a woman fueled by anger and intoxication in an alleged fatal SUV attack on her boyfriend.
Staff Pick: The most unlikely No. 1 pick in the NFL draft
When the NFL Draft begins Thursday, it is expected that the Tennessee Titans will select quarterback Cam Ward with the first pick. Ward may look the part of a big-time quarterback now, but it was never a given he would ever be in this position. Ward had just one scholarship offer out of high school, and started college at a tiny school far from the NCAA’s most competitive football division. His story was a fascinating examination of risk and a reminder that sometimes politics determines who gets recruited and who does not.
— Andrew Greif, NFL reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Reef-safe sunscreen is great for your skin and it’s better for the environment. Experts recommend avoiding chemical formulas that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate. Plus, we did a deep dive into a viral body wash on Amazon that over 10,000 people have bought in the last month.
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