Trump again makes groundless accusation over California elections while Spencer Pratt lags in LA mayoral contest

A federal judge has struck down a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas imposed by the Trump administration, ruling that the charge was an unlawful tax rather than a permissible penalty and ordering it to be invalidated.

Legal reasoning behind the H-1B visa fee ruling

US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued the decision in a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The fee, announced last September, dramatically raised the cost of obtaining H-1B visas for foreign workers in highly skilled occupations such as IT, healthcare and engineering. Previously, the cost for an H-1B visa ranged from about $1,700 to $4,500, depending on whether the visa was expedited. Each year, Congress caps H-1B visas at 85,000, awarded through a lottery system in which companies pay a $215 registration fee followed by thousands of dollars more in application fees and legal costs if selected.

The Trump administration argued that the $100,000 payment constituted a monetary penalty that the president had lawful authority to impose under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals. The administration claimed the visas were being “abused” to undercut American wages and outsource IT jobs. However, Judge Sorokin, an Obama appointee, concluded otherwise. “Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” he wrote. He ruled that the president lacked any authorisation from Congress to impose such a tax.

The scale of the fee’s impact was evident even before the court ruling. According to an administration filing in March, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services had received just 85 payments of the $100,000 fee as of 15 February – a sharp drop from normal demand. There are as many as 730,000 H-1B holders in the US, and an additional 550,000 dependents including spouses and children, who together make up nearly 1.3 million residents, according to a January 2025 report from fwd.us, an immigration and criminal justice advocacy group.

Trump repeats rigged election claims

On Monday, Donald Trump again repeated his claim that the California election was rigged, this time in reference to the Los Angeles mayoral primary and reality TV star Spencer Pratt. “Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump had endorsed Pratt, a former Republican, a move that may have acted more as a hindrance than a help in deep-blue Los Angeles. Pratt has fallen behind LA city council member Nithya Raman in the contest to face the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, in the November run-off election. In the same post, Trump called California a “3rd World Nation” before declaring “Rigged Elections!” and asserting that “they” will now be “working on great guy Steve Hilton” – a Republican in the California gubernatorial race.

The president also amplified a post from congressman Abe Hamadeh on X, who claimed California is “incapable of running free and fair elections consistent with our constitution”. Trump wrote in response: “No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!”

These claims echoed those he made during an explosive interview with NBC’s Meet the Press aired on Sunday, which Trump walked out of after repeatedly making false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and facing questions about compensation for those charged in the January 6 insurrection. When NBC’s Kristen Welker pressed him for evidence of fraud in the California gubernatorial race, Trump accused her of being “crooked” and later “stupid”. He also became irritated when asked if those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers during the January 6 riots would be eligible for funding included in his “anti-weaponisation” fund. Trump claimed – without evidence – that rioters were actually invited into the US Capitol by FBI agents and took plea deals due to fears of longer prison sentences. “You know why they pleaded guilty? Because they were told they were going to jail for 15 years … because they were frightened. They were down. They were ushered into a building,” he said, refusing to answer whether such individuals should receive taxpayer funding. The interview ended with Trump taking off his microphone and saying: “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

Other political developments

In the highly watched Senate election in Texas, Democrat James Talarico is set to battle Trump-backed Ken Paxton. Dan Cogdell, an attorney who helped lead Paxton’s defence during his 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges, gave a statement to NOTUS on Monday that he would be supporting Talarico. Cogdell said his former client – the attorney general of Texas – “has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas”. He added: “And unlike Ken, I believe to my core that James Talarico believes in unity over division and that he knows how to assemble not only Democrats, but Independents and Republicans, and we need that right now.”

Voters in Maine headed to the polls on Monday for one of the most closely watched primary elections in the country, with the US Senate race seen as a potential Democratic pickup opportunity. Graham Platner, 41, an oysterman and marine veteran, is expected to advance as the Democratic nominee after his primary rival, the state’s two-term governor Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in April. Platner will likely face incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has held the seat for nearly three decades. Collins has walked a tightrope with Trump – she voted for his second impeachment conviction and opposed Pete Hegseth’s defence secretary nomination, yet she also voted for Brett Kavanaugh, a move that helped enable the overturning of Roe v Wade. Recent polling shows Platner holding a narrow lead over Collins.

Donald Trump’s hardline border czar, Tom Homan, again threatened to dispatch a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to New York City. Homan said he had reviewed a plan to expand ICE operations in New York and deploy “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen” in the city. The threat follows New York Governor Kathy Hochul signing legislation at the end of last month that bars state and local law enforcement from working with immigration authorities in New York jails. Homan said he had made a promise to Hochul: “you’re going to see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen in New York City, and it’s coming.” He has repeatedly threatened to send more ICE personnel to Democrat-run sanctuary cities, although such a move has yet to materialise in New York.

The Trump administration also announced plans to revoke the citizenship of 17 US citizens accused of immigration fraud, significantly expanding its denaturalisation drive. Justice Department officials told CBS News this represents the largest-ever effort by the US government to use its denaturalisation powers, which were rarely invoked before Trump returned to the White House. Some of the 17 targeted were convicted of violent or serious crimes, including sex offences against children; others were convicted of fraud crimes or accused of immigration fraud. Those targeted include a Haitian immigrant who allegedly sexually abused his daughter, a man from the former Yugoslavia convicted of sexually abusing a child, an immigrant from Mexico convicted of receiving sexually explicit images of minors, a former Catholic priest born in Colombia accused of child sex abuse, and a Filipino-born man who pleaded guilty to a child sex crime. The group also includes an Indian immigrant accused of filing fraudulent H-1B visa petitions, the daughter of a Colombian drug trafficker accused of money laundering, a man born in Jamaica convicted of wire fraud, and a Cuban-born woman accused of defrauding a tribal casino. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ would have “zero tolerance” for abuse of the naturalisation process. “Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters,” he said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin added: “American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here, break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege.”

The Kennedy Center has removed Donald Trump’s name from its website, although the front of the performing arts venue still reads: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” This comes over a week after a federal judge ruled that the name change had been carried out unlawfully. US District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal of all physical signage bearing Trump’s name and the elimination of any references to a “Trump Kennedy Center” from official materials within 14 days. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name,” he wrote. “And only Congress can change it.”

A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House South Lawn, a mixed martial arts show timed for Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. A 92ft tall, 600-ton fighting ring dubbed “The Claw” has been erected on the South Lawn. The suit, filed by the Public Integrity Project, contends the authorisation violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, that Congress did not consent to the erection of the ring, and that no environmental review was conducted. The suit says UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime Trump friend and ally, has denied the event is a birthday celebration but acknowledged it was “Trump’s idea”. The suit argues the event is “private” and “for-profit” and will likely be profitable for the UFC and its partners through VIP and sponsorship packages. Adding to conflict-of-interest allegations, Trump’s financial disclosures show he purchased up to $50,000 worth of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the UFC’s parent company, in March. The White House called the lawsuit “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” attempt to prevent Trump from hosting the fight.

Trump also posted on Truth Social on Monday that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting’” before claiming an hour later that they were “looking to do an immediate ceasefire” and that “final negotiations on peace” were under way. He had reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

The US State Department took steps to impose sanctions on more than 100 Nicaraguan officials in the Murillo-Ortega authoritarian regime and their family members. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the leadership “an enemy of humanity”, adding that “the Trump administration will not ignore their crimes and brutality, including the dictatorship’s singular role in the death of political opposition leader Brooklyn Rivera”. The move builds on sanctions imposed on five senior Nicaraguan officials in February and on individuals and companies in the country’s gold sector in April, including two sons of the country’s co-presidents.

Meanwhile, a five-block area around Madison Square Garden was placed on virtual lockdown during Trump’s visit to the NBA Finals game. Amid a fevered atmosphere as the Knicks attempted to win their first title since 1973, the watch party outside MSG was cancelled due to Trump’s attendance. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that because of the presidential visit, in coordination with the US Secret Service, there would be no watch party for Game 3. No one without an authorised reason was allowed in the secured area from West 30th to West 35th streets between Sixth and Eighth avenues. Watch parties were set to resume for Game 4, when the president is not scheduled to attend. City Hall announced another watch party with capacity for 5,000 at Bryant Park, in addition to events at Wollman Rink in Central Park and Brooklyn Bowl. The heightened security came after a stabbing at Penn Station directly below the arena injured six people; the suspect is in custody.