President Donald Trump has been anticipating this weekend to mark a significant moment for his administration.
Friday brings the World Cup back to American soil. Sunday marks his 80th birthday celebration with a UFC fight night hosted at the White House. Following that event, he’s set to travel to the G7 summit in the French Alps. However, Trump raised expectations further by declaring that the United States and Iran might reach an agreement this weekend to conclude their current conflict.
At the same time, recent AP-NORC polling data reveals that independent voters have become more dissatisfied with Trump throughout his second term, especially those lacking college education.
Here are the current developments:
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney emerged as a representative of middle power opposition following a notable address earlier this year, though he’s anticipated to tone down his Trump criticism at the forthcoming European summit.
Carney’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, elevated him to international political prominence in January when he proclaimed the end of the global rules-based system and criticized powerful nations’ coercion of smaller states. The prime minister garnered extensive acclaim and media coverage for his statements, overshadowing Trump at the event.
However, the Group of Seven summit involving industrialized democracies starting Monday in France precedes the planned July 1 assessment of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the current version of the North American trade agreement that has connected the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada since the early 1990s. This represents a critical juncture in trade negotiations, with Trump indicating this week he might not extend the agreement.
Trump’s selected Kennedy Center board is making an eleventh-hour attempt to maintain his name on the renowned performing arts center’s exterior before a court-mandated Friday deadline for its removal.
The board decided Thursday to request a postponement of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 decision declaring Trump’s name was unlawfully placed on the Kennedy Center, according to someone knowledgeable about the action who asked for anonymity regarding a private session. The official petition was submitted late Thursday.
Cooper determined that only Congress possessed authority to modify the Kennedy Center’s designation and mandated Trump references be eliminated by Friday. He additionally prevented the administration from shutting down the cultural and arts facility for major renovations scheduled to begin in July and continue for two years.
Independent voters have become more dissatisfied with Trump during his second term, according to new AP-NORC polling research, particularly those without college degrees.
The research from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research demonstrates that while approximately half of independents lacking college education viewed Trump favorably around the 2024 election, his support among this demographic dropped to roughly one-quarter this spring. This change has eliminated the substantial education divide that existed among independents before Trump began his second term, with independents now maintaining similarly unfavorable opinions of the president regardless of educational background.
The research combined nearly two dozen AP-NORC surveys from July 2024 through April 2026, enabling detailed examination of Trump support changes across multiple distinct timeframes, including the final six months of 2024, Trump’s first 100 presidential days, summer 2025 when the Big Beautiful Bill was enacted, last fall’s government shutdown and the start of the Iran conflict.
Trump has been anticipating this weekend to represent a major milestone for his presidency.
The World Cup comes back to America on Friday for the first time in three decades after Trump committed himself to securing the bid to co-host the soccer tournament during his initial term. Sunday brings his 80th birthday festivities during a UFC fight night expected to attract thousands to the White House grounds. Shortly after the concluding match, he’s planned to depart for the G7 summit in the French Alps for discussions with multiple world leaders he’s been clashing with over warfare and trade policies.
Yet Trump elevated expectations further for the upcoming period when he declared Thursday that the United States and Iran might reach terms this weekend on an accord that would establish the framework to conclude the three-month conflict that has been widely unpopular among Americans and disrupted international oil markets. He indicated plans to send Vice President JD Vance to the agreement signing.
