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May 27, 2026

9 entries on this date.

AP investigation finds ICE detainees dying by suicide at an unprecedented rate

An Associated Press investigation published May 27, 2026 found that at least 10 people have died by suicide in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2025 — a pace far outstripping the growth of the detained population and unprecedented in the agency's two-decade history, against a historical baseline of roughly zero to one such death per year. Seven of the deaths have occurred since October 2025, already the most in any single fiscal year, and suicides now account for nearly a fifth of the 51 deaths in ICE custody over the period. AP's review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner's rulings, and police records found facilities repeatedly violated ICE's own detention standards on intake screening, suicide-risk monitoring, mental-health care, and access to materials that could be used for self-harm.

HRW: 4,353 Cubans deported to Mexico under undisclosed US deal, denied due process

In a report released May 27, 2026, Human Rights Watch documented that between January 20, 2025 and March 9, 2026 the Trump administration deported more than 18,000 third-country nationals, nearly 13,000 of them to Mexico under an undisclosed US-Mexico agreement; Cubans were the largest group, with 4,353 sent to Mexico. HRW found that none of the 53 deportees it interviewed were given any opportunity to contest their country of removal, a violation of due-process requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act and international law, and that detainees faced overcrowding, denial of medical care, and guard violence in US custody before being left stranded in southern Mexico.

Trump ordered D.C. National Guard levels not be lowered; Hegseth pledged to 'surge this summer'

At a White House cabinet meeting on May 27, 2026, President Donald Trump publicly directed that the number of National Guard troops deployed across Washington, D.C. not be reduced, saying "don't lower the number." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at the same table, responded that the administration would "surge this summer too." The exchange committed the executive branch to maintaining and expanding an ongoing federalized National Guard presence in the District, part of the administration's domestic security posture in U.S. cities.

JTF Southern Spear killed two aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 60th strike, ~196 campaign deaths

On May 27, 2026, U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a "lethal kinetic strike" on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean it described as operated by a designated terrorist organization, killing two men. It was the 60th strike of Operation Southern Spear and the second in two days, following a May 26 strike that killed one. The Pentagon offered no evidence the vessel carried drugs, and Congress has not authorized hostilities against Latin American drug-trafficking organizations.

Trump administration ordered DOJ prosecutors to stand down on criminal investigation into Venezuela's Delcy Rodriguez

In late May 2026, the Trump administration quietly directed federal prosecutors in Miami to pause a longstanding DEA-flagged criminal investigation into Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who has been a DEA "priority target" since 2018 over alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and gold smuggling. The Associated Press reported the directive was intended to avoid disrupting the administration's post-Maduro Venezuela stabilization strategy; a similar slowdown was applied to a parallel investigation into Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The Justice Department denied that any investigation existed to "shut down."

DOJ opens criminal perjury investigation into Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll

In late May 2026, CNN, CBS and NBC reported that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into whether writer E. Jean Carroll — who won a $5 million sexual-abuse/defamation verdict and a separate $83.3 million defamation judgment against Donald Trump — committed perjury in a 2022 deposition when she said no one else was funding her lawsuit, after it emerged that a nonprofit tied to Democratic donor Reid Hoffman had covered some of her legal costs. The probe is reportedly run out of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois and tied to a broader criminal inquiry into the Hoffman trust spanning money laundering, obstruction and conspiracy, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — a former Trump lawyer — recused. The Chicago U.S. Attorney, Andrew Boutros, publicly denied opening any investigation into Carroll; CNN reported that its sources reaffirmed the probe after the denial.

Trump publicly backs Kalshi and Polymarket, where son Donald Trump Jr. is a paid adviser, as his administration sues states to block their regulation

On May 27, 2026, President Trump declared on Truth Social that prediction-market firms Kalshi and Polymarket "will thrive" under his leadership and that the federal government is "setting the rules of the road" as the "gold standard for the States," while his administration actively backs the companies against state regulators. The CFTC and Department of Justice have sued Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois — and contested Minnesota's first-in-the-nation ban — to block states from regulating the operators as gambling. Donald Trump Jr. is a paid strategic adviser to both firms and his venture firm 1789 Capital is a major Polymarket investor, so the favorable federal posture directly benefits the president's family.

Pentagon awards Dell ~$9.7B software contract weeks after Trump bought Dell stock and publicly promoted the company

On May 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a five-year, roughly $9.7 billion blanket purchase agreement with Dell for Microsoft enterprise software and cloud services, consolidating dozens of separate contracts. The award came after President Donald Trump's portfolio acquired between $1 million and $5 million in Dell stock in early February 2026 (with smaller follow-on purchases in March, per his ethics disclosure) and after he repeatedly praised Dell and urged supporters to buy its products. Government-ethics specialists said the deal created the appearance of a conflict of interest, though under current rules it is not an ethics violation.

North Carolina auditor's elections liaison pressured Columbus County's board to cut early-voting sites

On May 27, 2026, Dallas Woodhouse -- the elections liaison in North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek's office -- texted Columbus County Board of Elections Chair Jillian McPherson-Edge that five early-voting sites was "overkill" and named three sites (Whiteville, Chadbourn, and Tabor City) to keep instead. On June 8, McPherson-Edge revised her own proposal from one site to three, matching Woodhouse's suggested list almost exactly. The county board later split along party lines and failed to reach the unanimous vote North Carolina law requires, sending the final site count to the State Board of Elections to decide.