As President Donald Trump continues his Middle East trip, the future of his budget bill in Congress is uncertain.

Nearly a dozen House hardliners are threatening to oppose their party’s tax and budget bill because, they argue, it doesn’t cut enough in spending. But separately, another half-dozen GOP centrists are also refusing to support it without billions more in state and local tax (SALT) breaks.

Here’s what some House Republicans are saying:

Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, was arrested by US Capitol Police after protesting a congressional hearing featuring Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr, according to a law enforcement official.

Cohen, who has been arrested previously on Capitol Hill for his protests, was charged with crowding, obstructing and incommoding, the law enforcement official said.

Several other protestors were arrested alongside Cohen, one of whom was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, according to the law enforcement official.

CNN has reached out to US Capitol Police for comment.

The Qatari prime minister said Wednesday he does not expect to see progress soon from the negotiations his country is holding over a ceasefire in Gaza, criticizing Israel for sending a “bad signal” by continuing to bomb the enclave while dispatching a delegation to the talks.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told CNN’s Becky Anderson that Qatar had seen the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander as a “breakthrough that will help bring back the talks on track.”

But he added: “Unfortunately Israel’s reaction to this was (bombing) the next day, while sending the delegation.” He accused Israel of “basically sending the signal that (they) are not interested in negotiations.”

“Our teams are engaging with both parties. We hope to see some progress; I’m not sure if this progress will be something seen very soon with this continuing behavior,” he said.

Israel sent a team to Doha to continue the discussions, which coincide with US President Donald Trump’s visit to Qatar.

But the Qatari prime minister added of the talks: “If there is no willingness to behave in a meaningful negotiation, then how can we reach the solution?”

“At the end of the day the decision is in the hands of the parties,” he said.

President Donald Trump is not planning to travel to Turkey later this week to join Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks, two White House officials told CNN, a decision that closes the door to days of speculation that he could join Russian President Vladimir Putin at the negotiating table.

The president had previously floated the possibility of scrapping his Middle East travel schedule — one his team meticulously crafted for weeks — and adding a stop to personally mediate peace talks in Turkey.

Trump is currently scheduled to be in Doha, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday.

The Qatari prime minister and minister of foreign affairs insisted that the offer of a multimillion-dollar jet from the Qatari government for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One is a “government-to-government transaction,” rather than a personal gift to Trump, though it is still “under review” by both parties.

“This is a very simple government-to-government dealing when Ministry of Defense and Department of Defense are still exchanging the possibility of transferring one of our 747-8 to be used as Air Force One and it’s still under the legal review, so there’s nothing really – I don’t know what was, like, why it became, like, so big as a news that this is something, you know, considered in a very strange way,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said Wednesday in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson.

Al-Thani would not confirm if a Qatari official approached Trump with an offer to help, after Trump suggested it in an intervi ew with Fox News.

“It is a government-to-government transaction,” Al-Thani said. “It has nothing to do with personnel, whether it’s on the US side or the Qatari side. It’s Ministry of Defense and Department of Defense.”

Al-Thani dismissed any controversy and said ultimately, if the United States needs something and it’s legal, the Qataris will help.

“Nothing is changing our decision. At the end of the day, if there is something that the US need and it’s completely legal and we can, we are able to help and to support the US, then we are not shying away,” he said. “Even if there is something coming out of Qatar for the US it’s coming out of love, it doesn’t come out of an exchange of anything.”

However, Al-Thani said “of course” the offer would be withdrawn if the transaction were deemed illegal.

“We will not do anything illegal. If there was something illegal, there would be many ways to hide these kind of transactions when will not be visible for the public. This is a very clear exchange that’s happening between two governments,” he said. “I don’t see any controversy in it.”

Al-Thani shot down the idea that Qataris are trying to buy influence with the United States.

“Why would we buy an influence in the United States? If you look just in the last 10 years of the US-Qatar relationship, Qatar has been always there for the US, when it’s needed, whether it’s on the war against terror, whether it’s in the evacuation of Afghanistan, whether it’s on releasing hostages from different, different countries around the world,” Al-Thani said.

Qatar is “always stepping up to help and support the US because we believe that this friendship needs to be mutually beneficially for both countries,” Al-Thani continued.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told CNN Wednesday that the lifting of US sanctions on Syria is the “right step moving forward.”

“So lifting the sanction, we believe it is the right step moving forward,” the prime minister told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview immediately following the Qatar-hosted state dinner for the United States. “What we decided to do is to start engaging with them, to start to see if they are saying and doing the right things, then we should support them. We should support the stability of Syria. We should support that Syria shouldn’t fail, and shouldn’t turn into a chaos.”

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he plans to lift sanctions on Syria following the fall of the Assad regime last year, saying the move will “give them a chance at greatness.”

The removal of the sanctions is a significant win for the Syrian government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who seized power after the stunning defeat of the Assad regime in December. It is likely to be seen as a blow by the Israeli government, which escalated military and territorial advancements in Syria in the wake of the Assad collapse.

Trump said in remarks to a Saudi investment forum in Riyadh that he made the decision after discussing with it Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

President Donald Trump said today that he doesn’t want nuclear talks in Iran to take a “violent course,” pushing for the Iranians to accept a deal.

“You’re also working with us very closely, with respect to negotiating a deal with Iran, which is the far friendlier course that you would see,” Trump said at a state dinner in Doha, Qatar.

“I mean, two courses, there’s only two courses. There aren’t three or four or five, there’s two. There’s a friendly and a non-friendly, and non-friendly is a violent course, and I don’t want that. I’ll say it up front. I don’t want that, but they have to get moving,” the president added.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani later told CNN’s Becky Anderson that Trump and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, had a “very good and very productive discussion” on the negotiations.

The United States has been engaged in high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran for the past several weeks. US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Qatar for the state visit, and has been heading the American side of the talks.

Both the US and Iranian sides have agreed to further negotiations on a nuclear deal. Trump hasn’t publicly engaged on specifics he’s looking for, other than saying Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

This post has been updated with additional details.

US President Donald Trump has had an eventful Wednesday in the Middle East, starting the day in Saudi Arabia and ending it in Qatar.

He’s headed to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday for the final leg of his trip.

Catch up on the key moments from the president’s events Wednesday:

As President Donald Trump continues his Middle East trip, back in the US, several Republican hardliners said Wednesday afternoon they’re staunchly opposed to the House’s current version of the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” arguing that it doesn’t go far enough to change Medicaid and reduce the deficit.

This illustrates the challenge House Speaker Mike Johnson faces to bring together diametrically opposed factions of his conference to get a slim majority of votes.

told CNN’s Manu Raju that he “absolutely” has concerns about the bill increasing the deficit, responding “probably not, no,” when asked if he could support the legislation without changes.

Pressed by Raju on the strong opposition by Sen. Josh Hawley, also a Missouri Republican, to the Medicaid provisions in the bill, which he worried would impact benefits, Burlison pleaded for “fiscal responsibility,” arguing the current system for allocating federal funds to states is “reckless” and “not sustainable.”

predicted a “significant number” of Republicans have “very strong reservations” about the bill, saying he wants further changes to Medicaid and “now they want to pile on some more SALT money,” referencing the Republicans from high tax states who want a compromise to the proposed cap on state and local tax deductions.

Pressed by Raju on if leadership might lose the votes of less conservative members if they move on Roy’s demands, he responded, “we need to keep working through and have people go explain why they want to say they’re reforming Medicaid when they’re not,” making clear that the current proposed work requirements are unacceptable to him.

Asked by Raju if he thinks the bill will pass the House, , who also wants to see more Medicaid changes, answered “the final product? We’ll see,” flatly saying “no” when asked about the current version of the legislation.

House lawmakers repeatedly pressed US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on canceled medical research and mass layoffs during a Wednesday hearing on Trump administration proposals that could lead to even broader cuts.

Democrats on the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee repeatedly asked the secretary to explain cuts this year to health care programs, medical research and staffing before discussing a 2026 budget that would shrink the health agencies further.

Kennedy insisted he would spend the funds that Congress appropriated in the 2026 budget according to law. But Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, including ranking member Steny Hoyer and health subcommittee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, were focused on the agency’s spending this year, for budgets already authorized.

“We have to really keep a clear line here between a questionable proposal for ‘26 and what is going on right now against the legislation that we have passed and that has been signed into law,” DeLauro said.

The administration’s cancellation of National Institutes of Health grants amounted to $2.7 billion in eliminated research, much higher than previous estimates, according to a report issued by Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday.

In a post on X on Tuesday, HHS called the report “unequivocally false” and said it was politically motivated.

Kennedy also told House lawmakers Wednesday that Americans should not take advice from him on vaccinations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Turkey on Wednesday amid middling expectations for Russia-Ukraine talks in the coming days.

Rubio touched down in the coastal city of Antalya after traveling with President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabi and Qatar.

The initial purpose of Rubio’s trip – an informal meeting of the NATO foreign ministers – has been overshadowed by both the potential talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul as well as an expected engagement between Rubio and his Syrian counterpart.

The discussions aimed at ending the war in Ukraine were intended to be at the highest levels, between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president has said he would attend but would only meet with Putin. The Russian President has not agreed to attend, and it is unclear who the Russians would send in his absence.

Trump said Tuesday that Rubio “is going to be going there,” and on Wednesday floated the prospect that he too could attend. “I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there,” Trump said of Putin.

Trump also said Tuesday that Rubio would meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani – an engagement that comes after the US president met with the interim Syrian president and the US lifted sanctions on Syria.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to jointly celebrate on Monday the passage of the Take It Down Act — a first lady-supported bill aimed at protecting the victims of deepfake and revenge pornography.

The Trumps will both make remarks at a Rose Garden signing ceremony, according to a White House official.

The bill boosts protections for victims who have had sexual images of them shared non-consensually, including content generated by artificial intelligence known as deepfake porn. It passed both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support.

Melania Trump threw her support behind the effort, lobbying House lawmakers in April to pass the legislation. And the president referenced the bill during his address to a joint session of Congress, where the first lady hosted a teenage victim as one of her guests.

Targets of AI-generated, non-consensual pornographic images have ranged from prominent women, such as Taylor Swift to Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to high school girls.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas introduced the bill and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, have supported the effort.

According to Cruz’s office, the bill “would criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII (or ‘deepfake pornography’), and require social media and similar websites to have in place procedures to remove such content upon notification from a victim.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the Senate will make changes to the House version of the sweeping Trump agenda bill to ensure it can get the 51 votes it needs to pass in the Senate. The House is aiming to pass its version in a floor vote as soon as next week.

Thune was responding to concerns from Sen. Ron Johnson, a fiscally conservative Republican from Wisconsin, who said the bill may not be able to pass in the Senate because its spending cuts are not deep enough and he and other senators would need to be satisfied on that point to support it.

House leaders are carefully crafting their “one big beautiful bill” to balance the many competing factions in the House GOP conference. It could be even more difficult for the House to pass it again if the Senate makes substantial changes.

Thune said his leadership team and key committee members had been working closely with House Speaker Mike Johnson and other House committee members to try to sync up in advance as much as possible.

As Donald Trump continues to embark on his Middle East trip, during a congressional hearing Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that requirements had been met to suspend habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court, adding that she was not, however, a constitutional lawyer.

CNN reported Friday that Trump was personally involved in discussions over suspending habeas corpus and one of Trump’s top aides, Stephen Miller, confirmed publicly Friday that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending the procedure.

The Constitution only allows habeas corpus to be suspended when “in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

On Wednesday, Rep. Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican, asked Noem whether unlawful immigration into the US under President Joe Biden – which Noem has referred to as an invasion – was enough to meet the constitutional threshold to suspend habeas corpus.

“I’m not a constitutional lawyer but I believe it does,” Noem said.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who until recently had a $10 million US bounty on his head.

Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, once known by his militant nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met Trump in Riyadh six months after leading a swift campaign that toppled the half-a-century-old Assad regime, ejecting Iran-backed armed groups and declaring himself leader of the country.

Al Sharaa was placed on the US Specially Designated Global Terrorist list in 2013 for heading al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, known as Al Nusra Front, and allegedly orchestrating suicide bombings across Syria. The Saudi-born former jihadist had spent years fighting US forces in Iraq before moving to Syria to lead an armed Islamist rebellion that ousted the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting, described by Syria as “historic,” was the first between a US and Syrian president in 25 years, taking place during Trump Middle East tour, the first set of state visits of his second term.

Both leaders were seen smiling in photos released by the White House and the Saudi foreign ministry. The Syrian foreign ministry said Trump committed to “standing by Syria at this critical juncture.”

A day earlier, Trump announced the removal of decades-old sanctions on Syria, a move that prompted a 40-second-long applause from the audience, including a standing ovation from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Qatar signed an agreement Wednesday to purchase jets from US manufacturer Boeing for Qatar Airways.

The agreement was signed by both President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani during Trump’s visit to the Gulf Arab country.

A White House fact sheet released later in the day said it was a $96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing planes, contradicting Trump who said the deal was worth $200 billion and included 160 jets, though

“So it’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the Jets, that’s fantastic,” Trump said.

“So that’s a record, Kelly, then congratulations to Boeing,” he added, directing to his comments to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who was in the room.

Orders last year effectively ground to a halt after a door plug blew off of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max at the beginning of 2024, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Even with a rebound in orders toward the end of 2024, Boeing’s gross orders were just 569 for all of last year — down a stunning 60% from 2023.

Also not helping Boeing was a massive strike in the fall. About 33,000 machinists hit the picket lines in September, and Boeing didn’t restart production until early December. That sank Boeing’s deliveries to just 348 planes last year, down 34% from 2023.

So Trump’s tariffs served as a gut-punch to a company already on the ropes. Boeing is America’s top exporter, and tariffs threaten to make jets millions of dollars more expensive, particularly if foreign countries make good on their threats to retaliate with tariffs of their own. Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs also could jack up the cost of building planes, because Boeing sources parts and supplies from overseas.

The Trump administration appears to be seeking Boeing order commitments as part of its negotiating strategy on trade. Last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in the Oval Office that, as part of a larger agreement on a trade framework, a British airline has agreed to purchase $10 billion worth of Boeing jets. Reuters later reported the airline was IAG, and it would order around 30 of the 787 widebody jets.

Boeing’s stock rose 1.7% Wednesday. Although investors are enthused, they’re also aware that order commitments aren’t final, and airlines at times have been known to cancel orders they’ve publicly announced.

: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also signed agreements regarding defense, including a statement of intent on defense cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States. Hegseth also signed offer and acceptance letters for MQ 9B aircrafts and FS-LIDS. Trump signed a joint declaration of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America.

Kit Maher contributed to this report.

Note: This post has been updated to reflect inconsistent numbers given by Trump and the White House.

The White House announced Tuesday a $142 billion defense partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia, the first country Donald Trump visited on his first major international trip in his second term as president.

Here’s a look at the arms trade relationship between the United States and the Gulf states.

Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf countries like Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are in the top 15 largest importers of weapons globally, and a large proportion of their imports comes from the US.

American companies, led by Lockheed Martin, are the largest producers of arms worldwide.

Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman, and Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing, joined Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, alongside other American business leaders, at a lunch in Riyadh’s Saudi Royal Court — according to a list provided by the White House.

Trump, who is in Qatar on Wednesday, will visit the UAE on Thursday as the last stop of his international tour before heading back to Washington DC.

President Donald Trump has had an eventful Wednesday already: he touched down in Doha, Qatar, after a round of meetings in Riyadh. He is expected to take part in a slate of events in Doha, including a signing ceremony and state dinner.

Here’s a look into Trump’s schedule:

Trump attended a Gulf Cooperation Council leaders’ meeting earlier on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he lambasted his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, claimed the 2020 election was “rigged,” and took aim at the White House press corps.

Trump also had an informal meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa a day after the US president said he planned to lift sanctions on Syria

The president departed Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first stop on the first major international trip of his second term, and made his way to Doha, Qatar.

Trump was treated to displays of camels and red Cybertrucks as he arrived in Doha. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani greeted the president atop a red carpet.

The president is scheduled to participate in bilateral meetings, a luncheon and a signing ceremony.

State dinner: Trump will end his day by attending a state dinner at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there’s “something wrong” with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in response to the senator placing a blanket hold on all Justice Department political nominees.

His remark comes as Schumer is seeking answers related to the Trump administration’s plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One.

A blanket hold does not mean the Senate is unable to confirm these nominees, but it does force the chamber’s Republican majority to burn valuable floor time to overcome the hold. Only a simple majority vote is needed to overcome the hold.

Schumer demanded the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the US that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization.”

President Donald Trump received a second day of fanfare at his second destination of a four-day, three-stop Middle Eastern sojourn, treated to displays of camels and red Cybertrucks as he arrived in Doha, Qatar.

A former reality television star, the president is keenly aware of the stagecraft of a presidential visit, and his Qatari hosts pulled out all the stops to welcome him.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani greeted the US president atop a red carpet. And Trump’s motorcade was escorted through the streets of Doha by a cavalry of red Tesla Cybertrucks, a nod to the president’s senior adviser, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The motorcade was greeted at Amiri Diwan, the administrative offices of the emir, by dozens of mounted camels and Arabian horses.

The emir and the president observed a performance of both countries’ national anthems at a formal arrival ceremony.

Seated in plush, gilded chairs at a tea ceremony, the emir lavished praise on his guest, saying he was “extremely honored” and “very happy” to have the president visit, noting that Trump is “the first American president to officially to visit Qatar.”

Qatar has emerged as a key mediator for a number of conflicts, including efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Trump returned the praise, calling the emir a friend.