Trump news: President boasts about being in rap songs after press secretary shares police 'propaganda' video and contradicts CDC coronavirus study

ICE says international students cannot enter US for fall classes if courses are online

Despite the Trump administration's withdrawal of a policy to prevent international students from studying in the US if their college courses move online, Immigration and Customs Enforcement says students who didn't receive status to enter the US until after 9 March "will not be able to enter" the country in coming weeks as universities begin their fall semesters.

The agency also is preventing schools from filling out forms to allow those students to enter.

"Designated school officials should not issue a Form I-20 to a nonimmigrant student in new or initial status who is outside of the U.S. and plans to take classes" if they are fully online, the agency said.

Trump signs prescription drug pricing measures

Donald Trump has signed off on four measures in an attempt to "massively reduce" the costs of prescription drugs, bringing them more closely aligned with their costs in other countries, and to allow states and pharmacies to import drugs from Canada to avoid higher costs.

But the prices won't automatically adjust to international rates – Trump is giving the industry 30 days to find ways to lower costs.

White House press secretary criticised for airing 'propaganda' videos of Portland protest

White House press secretary Kayleigh McKenany, who routinely plays videos assembled by the administration at her daily briefings in front of reporters, shared several videos on Friday similar to clips that Donald Trump retweeted earlier this week.

The images show several protesters damaging Portland properties and antagonising law enforcement, which the White House has used to justify surging federal officers into the city.

Fox News had briefly pulled away from its broadcast of the press conference as the video was played.

McEnany accused the media of "ignoring" the "riots" before showing the clips.

Fox News host Harris Faulkner said: "We were not expecting that video, and our management here at Fox News has decided we will cut away at this time ... Some tough images there, a lot of things that we didn't anticipate to be shown in terms of some wording on the screen."

While the administration has attacked "left-wing mobs" and accused Democrat-run cities of enabling mass violence against police, the White House has dismissed that a majority of demonstrations have been peaceful. The Justice Department this week announced that is investigating the use of federal officers against protesters in Portland.

Watch: White House says children should go back to school despite risk of coronavirus transmission

Coronavirus relief package could lead to Social Security and Medicare cuts

A Republican coronavirus relief package will include legislation from Senator Mitt Romney that could result in cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Senate that Mr Romney's TRUST Act is "a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Senate Democrats, to help a future Congress evaluate bipartisan proposals for protecting and strengthening the programmes that Americans count on."

Though the TRUST Act is being touted as a means to protect the New Deal-era social safety programmes, critics say it would allow for cuts to the program to be pushed through Congress with minimal opposition.

"This would allow benefit cuts to be fast-tracked through Congress," Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, told Common Dreams. "Seniors and people with disabilities need their benefits boosted, not slashed."

'It's the retweets that get you in trouble': Trump says he often regrets sending tweets

Donald Trump said he often regrets some of his tweets and admitted to not always paying much attention to who he retweets to his 84 million followers.

“It’s not the tweets, it’s the retweets that get you in trouble," he said Friday in an interview with Barstool Sports at the White House.

Mr Trump, a prolific user of the social networking site who has often found himself in hot water for retweeting fringe commentators with bigoted views, was responding to a question about whether he ever wished he hadn’t tweeted.

"Too often," he said. "It used to be in the old days, before this, you’d write a letter and you’d say 'this letter’s really bad' and you’d put it on your desk and you’d go back tomorrow, and you’d say 'oh I’m glad I didn't send this.' But we don’t with Twitter right?”

Trump mocks 'rich people' and 'so-called allies' as he signs orders to lower drug prices

Before signing four executive orders aimed at lower drug prices, Donald Trump mocked "rich people" and "so-called allies" he contended unfairly benefit from inflated medicine costs.

"A lot of rich people ... aren't going to be so rich," the president said during a Friday afternoon event.

He said some company executives and "middle men" would not be "so happy with me" after the directives took effect.

Trump administration publishes rule banning transgender people from homeless shelters

Donald Trump's administration has published a new rule allowing homeless shelters to prevent transgender people from entering single-sex facilities that correspond to their gender identities.

The rule was released a month after a US Supreme Court ruling barred employers from discriminating against gay and transgender people, but it's the administration's latest measure to strip away protections for transgender people, from health care and in prisons to military service and in schools.

A Health and Human Services rule released last month rolled back Affordable Care Act protections to allow health providers to deny services to LGBT+ people.

The policy on homeless shelters says that shelter staff can consider "factors such as height, the presence (but not the absence) of facial hair, the presence of an Adam’s apple, and other physical characteristics" during the intake process.

Roughly 40 per cent of homeless youth identify as LGBT+, and nearly a third of transgender and gender non-conforming people experience homelessness in their lifetime, according to the Human Rights Campaign. 

“Federal agencies have a responsibility to ensure programs are accessible to everyone who is eligible, but the Trump-Pence administration is deliberately finding ways to facilitate discrimination against vulnerable communities, particularly transgender women of color,” said HRC President Alphonso David.

Federal unemployments are ending this weekend – millions of Americans are set to receive their last $600

Roughly 30 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits, or nearly one in five people in the US.

Congress failed this week to agree on a measure to extend federal benefits – an addition $600 – leaving an unemployment insurance gap for millions of out-of-work Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

Though the benefits expire on 31 July, every state will be paying out on Saturday and Sunday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Congress will be working on another relief attempt within the next several weeks, but nothing is on his agenda next week, and pressure from Democrats and furious unemployed workers has not moved the needle.

We're closing today's live coverage of the Trump administration.

Stay tuned with The Independent.