Trump met with massive applause at NCAA wrestling finals in Philadelphia: Live updates

Venezuela said on Saturday it would resume accepting deportation flights from the United States after reaching an agreement with the Trump administration after the president invoked the Alien and Enemies Act in order to expedite the removal of Venezeulans to prison in El Salvador.

“Migration isn’t a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all of those in need and rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador,” a representative for the Venezuelan government said in a statement obtained by the New York Times.

Trump had invoked the Alien and Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants, who he claimed were members of the gang Tren de Araguas, without due process. A federal judge placed a temporary injunction on the flights.

It is unclear who was on the flights or if they are members of the Venezuelan gang. Officials admitted that many of the individuals do not have criminal records.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are in Philadelphia this evening to attend the NCAA wrestling finals.

They arrived in the city just before 7pm EST.

The U.S. Navy, under the orders of Donald Trump, has deployed a second destroyer to patrol the waters near the US-Mexico border, according to the US Northern Command.

Naval officials said in a Saturday news release that the USS Spruance departed Naval base San Diego and will assist in “combating maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration.”

The U.S. Navy sent another destroyer to the region last week.

Republican Representative Jim Jordan and Senator Dave McCormick will be joining Donald Trump and Elon Musk at the NCAA wrestling finals in Philadelphia on Saturday evening.

The event kicks off at 7pm EST.

Trump told reporters on Friday he was supportive of the wrestlers and excited for the championship showdown.

“We’re going to the big fight. … They have the NCAA, world, wrestling for college. And I’ve always supported the wrestlers,” Trump told reporters. “So, I want to support them. These are the great college wrestlers from the various schools. I think Penn State is leading, and Nebraska is in second place right now. And a lot of good things.”

Columbia University has largely agreed to a series of sweeping changes the Trump administration demanded from the university to restore $400 million in suspended federal funding.

The university will give police new powers to arrest students, partially ban face masks, and appoint a university official to oversee changes at a suite of university departments.

Kamala Harris topped a new poll on who Democrats would back in the 2028 presidential primary if it was held today, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in third place.

Despite losing the 2024 election to Donald Trump, the former vice president was backed by 36 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters in Morning Consult’s latest poll.

New York’s Ocasio-Cortez, who is currently touring the U.S. to rally against Trump’s policies with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, was in third place with 5 percent. Sanders, an Independent, sought the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020.

Harris’s former running-mate Tim Walz was also tied with Ocasio-Cortez at 5 percent, as was California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is often touted as a future party leader despite little national experience.

President Donald Trump confused reporters on Friday afternoon after claiming he “didn’t sign” the presidential proclamation that invoked the controversial Alien and Enemies Act in order to quickly deport migrants the administration says are part of a Venezuelan gang.

When asked by a reporter about signing the proclamation “in the dark” – rather than at the Oval Office desk or in a public capacity as the president has done with other executive actions – the president denied signing it at all.

“I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,” Trump said on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. “Other people handled it. But Marco Rubio’s done a great job. And he wanted them out, and we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.”

Despite his claim, the president’s digital signature does appear on the version of the proclamation available on the Federal Register website.

The White House later clarified that the president was referring to the original Alien Enemies Act, passed by Congress in 1798 and did sign the recent proclamation that invokes the highly controversial set of laws.

“President Trump was obviously referring to the original Aliens Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.

“The recent Executive Order was personally signed by President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act that designated Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in order to apprehend and deport these heinous criminals,” Cheung added.