What to know today...
- NATIONAL GUARD: President Donald Trump said at a White House news conference this morning that he is federalizing the D.C. police and deploying the National Guard to the nation's capital as part of a crime-fighting effort.
- U.S. ECONOMY: Trump announced tonight that he planned to nominate E.J. Antoni, a longtime skeptic of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the new BLS commissioner after firing the previous agency head. He also said the U.S. would extend the China tariff deadline for another 90 days.
- TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT: Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not be invited to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
- JEFFREY EPSTEIN: A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury materials from Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case. The judge said the files do not identify anyone other than them as having had sexual contact with a minor.
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Secret Service closes areas around White House as precautionary measure after shooting nearly a mile away
Fence lines near the White House as well as the Ellipse are closed tonight following a shooting almost a mile away, law enforcement officials and a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service said.
There is no indication that the shooting is tied to Trump or the White House, and the Secret Service said the closures are a precaution.
The shooting happened on the 1200 block of 12th Street NW, the officials said.
D.C. police are looking for a man wearing a black shirt and a rifle, the officials said. It’s not clear if there are any shooting victims.
National Guard troops expected in Washington tomorrow
National Guard troops are expected on the ground in Washington, D.C., tomorrow, a White House official told NBC News this evening.
A second White House official said the troops are “being deployed to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.”
Guard members were sent a notification saying the order covers the period from Aug. 11 to Sept. 25.
Trump’s tax law will mostly benefit the rich, while leaving poorer Americans with less, CBO says
Trump’s tax and spending law will result in less income for the poorest Americans while sending money to the richest, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported today.
The CBO estimates that the 10% of poorest Americans will lose roughly $1,200 a year as they experience restrictions on government programs like Medicaid and food assistance, while the richest 10% of Americans will see their income increase by $13,600 from tax cuts. Overall, American households will see more income from the tax cuts in the legislation, including middle income households, but the largest benefit will go to the top 10% of earners.
Trump endorses Burt Jones in Georgia governor's race
Trump tonight endorsed Burt Jones for governor of Georgia in a Truth Social post.
Jones is the state’s lieutenant governor and is seeking the GOP nomination to succeed fellow Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited.
Trump highlighted Jones’ support for him in 2016, 2020 and 2024, saying “He has been with us from the very beginning.”
Jones was among 16 alternate presidential electors in Georgia who cast votes for Trump in 2020 after a vote count had already determined that Joe Biden had won the state. A special prosecutor said last year that Jones wouldn’t face charges for his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
State Attorney General Chris Carr is also seeking the GOP nomination. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms entered the race in May for the Democratic nomination.
Trump extends China tariff deadline by another 90 days
The Trump administration agreed to once again delay the deadline when tariffs on Chinese imports would rise as discussions between the two sides continue.
The new deadline would be Nov. 10.
“All other elements of the Agreement will remain the same,” Trump said tonight on Truth Social.
For companies and consumers, another pause means continued uncertainty as Trump’s sweeping tariff regime enters its fifth month.
Trump to nominate conservative economist as BLS commissioner
Trump announced tonight that he planned to nominate conservative economist E.J. Antoni as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that “E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE.”
Antoni’s planned nomination comes after Trump fired former commissioner Erika McEntarfer hours after a weaker-than-expected jobs report on Aug. 1. Trump said, without evidence, that the jobs report for July was “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”
Antoni did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. As chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Antoni has written a number of pieces for the think tank that are highly complimentary of the Trump administration.
Number of FBI agents on D.C. streets expected to exceed 120 over the next 30 days
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that the White House authorized as many as 120 FBI agents, mostly from the bureau's Washington Field Office, to work various shifts on the D.C. streets with the Metropolitan Police Department and other federal agencies this past weekend as part of the initial stages of the federal takeover of the police in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Post first reported the number of FBI agents.
Now that the takeover has been announced, the number of agents is expected to rise throughout the next 30 days.
The staffing is being determined by the field office leadership, based on orders from the White House. It’s a mix of agents who have volunteered for the assignment and agents who were just told to report for duty.
The agents are being pulled away from their regular jobs working for typical field office squads like terrorism, counterterrorism, violent crime, public corruption, cybercrime and bank robbery.
The official told NBC News that the past weekend was chaotic: agents were confused about their actual role on the streets and who they were reporting to at any given time.
GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa grilled during town hall in California
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., held a town hall this morning in Chico, California, where he was met by a rowdy crowd that repeatedly interrupted him and grilled him on the effects of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.
Attendees pressed LaMalfa on Medicaid cuts from Trump's bill, the impact of DOGE cuts and executive overreach.
"I’m concerned that the Republican Congress is no longer doing their job of overseeing the abuse of the executive branch. The president is not working for the American people," one attendee said.
Others criticized Trump's pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters. When LaMalfa argued that "there were not criminals involved" in the 2021 attack on the Capitol, he was met by boos.
Participants also raised concerns about raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of Trump's mass deportation efforts, as well as the war in Gaza, the lack of new releases in Jeffrey Epstein's case and recent cuts to public broadcasting.
"We’re very interested in the Epstein files," LaMalfa said.
He added that it was "a bad look to have this information be suppressed," but said that the files on "some level need to be redacted," a comment that was met by more boos.
LaMalfa is just one of many Republicans who have faced harsh criticism during recent town halls. Last week, Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., was met by chants of "vote him out" from attendees.
Charged N.J. influencer challenges Alina Habba's status as U.S. attorney
A federal defendant filed a motion today to dismiss their indictment, challenging the status of Alina Habba as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Cesar Humberto Pina, who is known as “Flipping NJ” and was charged last month with investment fraud, conspiracy to launder drug proceeds, and bribing a politician, argued that Habba is “currently without any legal authority to perform the functions and duties of U.S. Attorney.”
The court filing says the case should be dismissed “based on the unlawful appointment and continued occupancy of the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey by Alina Habba.”
The filing from attorneys Gerald Krovatin, Norman Eisen and Abbe Lowell argues that because Attorney General Pam Bondi “appointed Ms. Habba to serve as special attorney and simultaneously designated her as First Assistant in the Office with the purported authority to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney, it is unclear what legal authority she is now claiming to operate under.”
Habba’s 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire last month, prompting New Jersey judges to name Habba’s deputy to the position as the Senate voted on Habba’s permanent nomination to the post.
However, Trump abruptly withdrew Habba’s nomination and Bondi fired Habba’s replacement while appointing her to the deputy role, allowing Habba to re-assume the interim U.S. attorney position.
House Oversight confirms it was notified of Trump's plans to use D.C. police for federal purposes
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee received notification of Trump's plans to use the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes, according to an image of the letter the Republican-led panel posted on X this afternoon.
“As President of the United States, I have the obligation to ensure the safety and security of all Americans,” Trump wrote in his letter to Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
“I have determined that special conditions of an emergency nature exist that require the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal purposes, including maintaining law and order in the Nation’s seat of Government; protecting Federal buildings, national monuments and other Federal property; and ensuring conditions necessary for the orderly functioning of Federal Government.”
A 1973 federal law permits the District of Columbia to elect local officials like the mayor. It also includes a provision that enables the president to activate emergency control of the police by directing the mayor to provide "use of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes."
Trump is required to notify the chairs and ranking members on the “committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” if he’d like to invoke it longer than 48 hours.
The president is allowed to federalize the police in Washington, D.C., for 48 hours before he must notify Congress, and for a total of 30 days before he must get approval from Congress.
NBC News has reached out to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about whether it received a similar notification. The Republican staff on the committee confirmed they were notified; Democrats have not yet confirmed notification.
Trump recently beefed up federal law enforcement presence in the nation's capital, citing the city's crime rate and has indicated an interest in taking federal control of D.C.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a bill this year to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act.
