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Trump admin live updates: Judge releases Venezuelan couple accused of being gang members, rips government evidence

He headed to the new military immigration enforcement area without reporters.

Last Updated: April 27, 2025, 7:52 PM EDT

A federal judge ordered a Venezuelan couple, accused by the Trump administration of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, to be released, delivering a stinging rebuke of the government's evidence in the case.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday was making an announced trip to the southern border -- without reporters -- as he faces new scrutiny in Washington.

ABC News has confirmed that, in at least two separate meetings, Hegseth accused top-ranking military officers of leaking to the news media and threatened to polygraph them.

Hegseth also used the Signal app on a personal computer in his office that was connected to the internet on an unsecured commercial line, what's known as a "dirty line," two sources confirmed to ABC News Thursday. A Pentagon spokesman called that report "fake news."

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 23, 2025, 6:05 PM EDT

Trump goes to bat for Musk as Tesla sales drop

President Donald Trump was asked about Elon Musk after he said he will be stepping back from his duties with the Department of Government Efficiency likely in May to focus on Tesla, which reported major losses in the last quarter, as well as his other businesses.

President Donald Trump holds an executive order relating to education in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2025.
Alex Brandon/AP

The president referred to Musk's work in the past tense but praised his abilities as a businessman and for allegedly finding millions of dollars in federal waste. Trump acknowledged that Musk will have to focus on his private businesses soon.

"We have to, at some point, let him go and do that," Trump said. "And we expected to be doing it about this time. But I'll talk to Elon about it."

Apr 23, 2025, 6:01 PM EDT

Trump cites 'common sense' in Washington football team name debate

When asked about Washington's football team and whether it will be known as the Washington Commanders or if it will revert to its controversial former name, the Washington Redskins, President Donald Trump emphasized the need for "common sense," whether that be "popular or unpopular."

"I spoke to people of Indian heritage that love that name, and they love that name," Trump said, adding that he believes it is a "superior name to what they have right now." However, while mentioning several teams named after Native Americans, such as the Kansas City Chiefs, he noted that "the Redskins, perhaps that's a little different, a little bit different."

Apr 23, 2025, 5:47 PM EDT

RFK Jr says HHS will withhold funding from medical schools that lack nutrition courses

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a health roundtable in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday that his department will at some point begin withholding HHS funding for medical schools that do not have nutrition programs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends the swearing in of Mehmet Oz as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 18, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

"One of the things we're doing now with medical schools is there's almost no medical schools that have nutrition courses, and so they're taught how to treat illnesses with drugs but not how to treat them with food or to keep people healthy so they don't need the drugs. There's other gaps in their training that we're going to address," said Kennedy, who does not have a medical degree or formal training. br/>
"But one the things that we'll do over the next year is to announce that medical schools that don't have those programs are not going to be eligible for our funding and that we will withhold funds from those who don't implement those kinds of courses," he added.

HHS has not responded to ABC News' request for comment about the proposal.

-ABC News' Michael Pappano and Will McDuffie

Apr 23, 2025, 5:30 PM EDT

Trump signs order enforcing laws on foreign payments to American universities

President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders related to education Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office, including one that charges departments with enforcing laws that require that American colleges and universities disclose when they receive foreign gifts.

President Donald Trump looks on before signing executive orders in the Oval Office, April 23, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters

"There are currently laws on the books requiring certain disclosures of universities when they accept large foreign gifts," White House staff secretary Will Scharf said while presenting the president with the executive order. "We believe that certain universities, including, for example, Harvard, have routinely violated this law and this law has not been effectively enforced."

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