The White House has responded angrily to suggestions that Donald Trump had fallen asleep in an Oval Office meeting.

At an event promoting maternal health and fertility, the president's eyes appeared to become heavy.

As administration officials standing behind him were speaking, the president closed his eyes for an extended period of time.

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But when a Reuters journalist posted a photograph of Trump with his eyes closed, the White House lashed out.

"He was blinking, you absolute moron," the White House's X account Rapid Response 47 replied.

The reporter's post had made no mention of Trump being asleep, simply captioning it: "US President Donald Trump attends a maternal health event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 11, 2026."

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu responded: "That is a verrrrrrrrryyyyy long blink."

"Imagine what happens when there are no cameras.

"Trump is not mentally or physically fit to be President of the United States."

https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2053894960261300578

Jimmy Gomez, another Democratic congressman, remarked: "This guy is asleep at the wheel, and he's about to drive the entire country off a cliff."

This is far from the first time Trump has appeared to nod off during a White House event.

In December, the president appeared to fall asleep during a televised cabinet meeting.

He later remarked he wasn't asleep, just bored.

"I didn't sleep. I just closed (my eyes) because I wanted to get the hell outta here," he said.

He also reportedly had trouble keeping his eyes open during an Oval Office event with pharmaceutical executives last month.

In the 2024 presidential campaign he repeatedly mocked his predecessor Joe Biden, who he called "Sleepy Joe".

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"How do you fall asleep when cameras are raging, right?" 

"You'll never see me sleeping in front of the camera."

Trump has a long habit of staying active on Truth Social well into the night, raising questions about his sleeping habits.

But he made no posts overnight on his social media page last night.

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A man will face court today, charged over a single-car crash in suburban Perth that killed two young girls last month.

The 24-year-old from Caversham was driving down nearby Muriel Street in Viveash with the woman and girls at 2.25 pm on April 17 when his Ford Territory left the road and hit a tree.

The little girls, aged three and four, were rushed to Perth Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

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Both girls fought for life for nine days in hospital before both died on April 26.

The driver and 24-year-old female passenger were also seriously injured in the collision.

Major Crash investigators launched inquiries and put out a call for witnesses following the incident.

Their investigations have now culminated in the driver being charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and one count of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He is expected to appear before Midland Magistrates Court today.

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A real estate boss has warned landlords may hike rents by up to 30 per cent if proposed changes to negative gearing come into effect.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is likely to announce sweeping reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax in tonight's federal budget as the Albanese government looks to tackle issues of housing affordability.

It is not known how much the government will change negative gearing, a generous tax break that allows an investor to deduct expenses related to properties from their taxable income, meaning they pay less at tax time.

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Although the changes could result in lower prices, Nathan Birch from property investment firm Blink Property said renters would feel the pinch from any changes, and warned it could be immediate.

"For Aussie battlers doing it tough, that means a $400 rental will become $550 almost immediately post the budget announcement if changes to negative gearing come into effect," Birch said.

"This will be catastrophic for so many Australians, and the government really needs to consider the wave of homelessness that could follow, particularly for our most vulnerable."

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Birch said the changes would have the strongest impact on "mum and dad investors", who were often renters themselves while they leased out their investment property and waited to save.

Birch said this would lead to a knock-on effect that benefited fewer people in the long run.

"When policy changes like this come into play, their own rents go up, leaving them no choice but to raise the rent on their investments," he said.

"It's a very dangerous knock-on effect that I'm not sure the Labor Government has considered adequately – particularly when so many renters and investors are Labor voters."

Treasurer Chalmers said despite promising against it in last year's election, the government had no choice but to take bold action to address the housing crisis.

"There are genuine intergenerational concerns and pressures in our budget, in our tax system, in our housing market and in our economy more broadly," Chalmers said last week.

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Criminals who recruit children or ignite 'kill cars' to break the law could face more time in jail, following a spate of shootings and firebombings.

In a bid to quash organised crime, the NSW government will introduce legislation today to create new offences and make it harder for those with gang links to get bail.

Anyone who sets a car alight after using it to traffic drugs, supply firearms or commit other serious crimes could face up to 12 years in prison, two years more than the punishment for destroying or damaging property by fire.

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The maximum penalty for recruiting a child for criminal activity will increase from 10 to 12 years and up to 15 years if the child is aged under 16 or is hired to steal cars.

Those who shoot a pistol or prohibited firearm in public will face up to 14 years in jail and criminals who fire at buildings or other cars could find themselves behind bars for 18 years.

"These comprehensive reforms will help keep the community safe, and hold organised criminals to account for the destruction and harm they inflict on our streets," NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said.

In recent months, police have made several arrests over alleged 'kill cars', which are used by organised crime groups or contract criminals to commit and get away with serious offences.

The vehicles are often stolen cars with cloned licence plates that contain balaclavas, weapons, and jerry cans which can be used to destroy evidence.

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Police claimed to have stopped an alleged 'kill car' plot in April after ramming into an Audi believed to be linked to multiple shooting and firebombing incidents across south-west Sydney.

Officers last October also pounced on a group of men in a car, allegedly trying to intercept and kill their target as he picked up a child from daycare.

In April, two men and a 17-year-old were arrested over their alleged involvement in a firebombing.

Concerns over youth crime have made headlines across the country.

Children committed 57.6 per cent of carjackings, 52.6 per cent of home invasions, 47.8 per cent of aggravated burglaries and 62.4 per cent of robberies, according to Victorian government statistics.

Queensland and Victoria have passed controversial laws requiring children to face adult sentences for serious offences, while the Northern Territory has lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10.

But youth justice experts say such reforms will lead to the incarceration of already-vulnerable children and would not prevent them from re-offending.

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The man accused of attempting to kill US President Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents' Dinner last month has pleaded not guilty to the four charges he faces.

Prosecutors say Cole Tomas Allen stormed through a security checkpoint at the hotel where the annual press dinner was being held while the president and top government officials were on a different floor.

Allen appeared before a federal judge in Washington, DC, on Monday (Tuesday AEST), hands and feet shackled together and stood by his lawyer as they entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.

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He has been indicted on charges including attempting to assassinate a president and assaulting an officer.

The judge presiding over the case, Trump-appointed Trevor McFadden, pressed Allen's lawyers on an earlier motion they had made seeking to remove US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and other administration officials from the case.

Allen's legal team argued that because Pirro and others were at the April 25 dinner and may have been targets according to their version of events, she should be recused from the case.

"We assume a lot about how victims feel," defence lawyer Eugene Ohm said during Monday's hearing, adding that Pirro is "very close friends with Trump" and should be removed for that alone.

"I'd be very surprised if they were victims in any legal sense," McFadden said, noting that they did not see the incident.

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Ohm said he wanted more information on how Pirro's office, which is prosecuting Allen, is structured in order to determine if the entire office should also be recused.

"It's likely we will be asking for the entire office" to be removed from the case, Ohm said, adding that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should also be recused because of his presence at the dinner.

The next hearing in the case is set for June 29.

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