What to know today
- PEACEKEEPING FORCES: President Donald Trump pledged today that he would not send U.S. troops into Ukraine to help secure it against Russian attacks, saying European nations would provide peacekeeping forces.
- RUSSIA-UKRAINE BILATERAL: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this afternoon that Russian President Vladimir Putin told Trump he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The White House is now seeking a venue for that meeting, and possible locations include Budapest and Geneva.
- DOJ PROBE: The Justice Department is investigating whether Washington, D.C., police manipulated crime data to make the city's crime rates appear lower than they actually are, two senior law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News.
- TEXAS REDISTRICTING: A Democratic legislator from Texas said in an interview with NBC News that she will live out of the statehouse chamber until Labor Day if necessary after she refused a GOP demand that Democrats agree to around-the-clock security escorts before they are allowed to leave the building. Democratic lawmakers have returned to Austin after they fled the state to try to deny Republicans a vote on their redistricting plan.
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Kristi Noem says border wall will be painted black so it's 'even harder' to climb
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said today that the U.S.-Mexico border wall will be painted black at Trump's request, reasoning that a dark wall in the heat will "to make it even harder for people to climb."
"Today, we are also going to be painting it black. That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb," Noem said at a news conference at the border wall in New Mexico.
"So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally," she added.
The sweeping domestic policy bill that Trump signed into law last month includes $46.5 billion for Customs and Border Patrol to continue building the border wall and related infrastructure that was started during his first term.
Trump special envoy says security guarantees will be the starting point for Ukrainians in any peace deal
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said tonight that security guarantees will play a key role in any Ukraine peace deal.
“The president, Sean, has said that the Ukrainians actually can make a peace deal if they want to. Now we’re not suggesting that they — they have to take it. The president has also said it’s going to be for President Zelenskyy to make that judgment call,” Witkoff said on Fox News’ "Hannity."
“I think that judgment call is all going to be, it’s going to begin with security guarantees. They want to make sure that this can never happen again to them, and that’s exactly how they ought to be thinking,” he added.
Witkoff said that in the negotiations, the U.S. role is to bridge the divide between Ukraine and Russia enough for them to engage in negotiations. He went on to say that Trump's "got a real sense of what it’s going to take for Ukraine to meet in the middle and to move the Russians.”
Colorado Democrats at town hall say coalition-building is needed to counter Trump
In a joint town hall tonight, two Colorado Democrats said there's no "master plan" in the works to turn the trajectory of the party around.
Asked by a town hall attendee whether a “master plan” was underway or in development, Sen. Michael Bennet responded, “I think the answer is no. That’s what I believe,” adding that Democrats must run on more than just opposition to Trump.
“He’s not doing anything, basically, that he didn’t promise to do when he was running for office, which is part of the problem, when he built a majority coalition to get elected president, and we couldn’t stop it. Knowing what we know about it sitting in this room, and we have to ask ourselves why are we not able to build a governing coalition to beat them either time?” Bennet said.
Rep. Joe Neguse said the Democratic Party hasn’t offered Americans an “optimistic, hopeful vision for the future.”
“There’s no one running to save us. I mean, there’s not, you know, we — it’s the folks in this room, right?” he added. “There is no panacea. There’s no master plan. It is about doing the work, developing and building coalitions.”
Democrats have shown signs of division over how to handle Trump's second term, with some preferring to focus on firm opposition to Trump while others have worked with Republicans on issues that benefit their constituents.
Rep. Debbie Dingell says at Michigan town hall that threats against members of Congress are 'very real'
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said at a town hall tonight in Northville, Michigan, that members of Congress face "very real" threats against their safety for opposing Trump.
“I don’t think people really understand what it’s like to be in the Trump tunnel of hate. Unfortunately, I’ve been there more than once. There’s something about me that triggers him,” Dingell said.
She was answering a question about what voters can do to ensure Republicans in Congress who are helping Trump carry out his plans aren't re-elected.
"It's different out there now," Dingell said. "I can handle screaming. I can handle people disagreeing. But there are people that want to see me die — that's real these days. It is very real that there are people that are threatening people, and people fear that."
The deadly shooting of a state senator in Minnesota in June and the discovery of a list of names of Democratic officials that the suspect allegedly aimed to target, including several members of Congress, sent a fresh wave of fear over political violence on Capitol Hill.
U.S. Capitol Police said in February that the number of threat assessment cases grew for a second consecutive year in 2024, with investigations into 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress.
Trump to review museums beyond the Smithsonian, White House official says
A White House official confirmed to NBC News tonight that Trump plans to expand his review of museums beyond the Smithsonian.
The official said, “President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable. He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there.”
Trump said on Truth Social this afternoon that he has ordered his attorneys to conduct a review of Smithsonian museums, characterizing their portrayal of U.S. history as too negative and too focused on “how bad Slavery was.”
Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting with European leaders marks a historic moment
Seven European leaders joined Zelenskyy in Washington yesterday in a rare display of trans-Atlantic unity. The gathering marked the first time in decades that such a broad delegation of allies had assembled at the White House under such pressing circumstances.
Shortly after noon, one by one, the heads of state and NATO partners passed the White House gates, where they were met by Trump’s chief of protocol and, in Zelenskyy’s case, by Trump himself.
Some met with Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and other officials that morning. Others made their way to the White House directly from Dulles and other airports. They were there to bolster Zelenskyy after a disastrous White House visit in February, when he clashed with Trump and Vice President JD Vance — and after Trump held a nearly three-hour one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
The show of support for Zelenskyy involved French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who pivoted from their own national agendas to present a united front as Trump seeks an urgent end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump says he thought it 'would be better' for Putin and Zelenskyy to first meet without him
In a radio interview this evening, Trump explained his thinking behind trying to set up a bilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy.
"I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see. I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we’ll see how they do and, if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I’ll go and I’ll probably be able to get it close," Trump said in a phone interview on “The Mark Levin Show."
"I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they’re in the process of setting it up, and we’re going to see what happens," he added.
Trump said on social media yesterday after having met with Zelenskyy and other European leaders that he was arranging a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin and that a trilateral meeting including the United States would follow. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this afternoon that Putin told Trump he would meet with Zelenskyy.
Analysis of recent crime data for D.C. finds marginal differences before and after federal takeover
An analysis by NBC Washington of Metropolitan Police Department data shows that while crime is down slightly across Washington since last week's federal takeover of the D.C. police and the deployment of the National Guard, there do not appear to have been major shifts in policing or in the number of people taken off the streets.
Of the 622 people arrested by D.C. police and federal agents from Aug. 11 — when Trump announced the federal takeover of MPD — to yesterday, about a third were charged with misdemeanors under D.C. law: simple assault, driving without a valid license and trespassing.
During the same week after the takeover, 25% of the people arrested were charged with felonies. That’s down 3% from the previous week — Aug. 3 to Aug. 10 — when 28% of those arrested were charged with felonies.
A review of publicly available crime data for D.C. shows that reports of crime appear to be down 10% when the two one-week periods are compared.
MPD said it received reports for 576 total crimes the week before Trump announced the takeover. Of those crimes, 48 were considered “violent,” indicating they were homicides, sexual abuse, assaults with a deadly weapon or robberies.
During the first week the federal takeover, the number of total crimes was down to 516 reported — a 10% drop overall. Of those, 33 were considered violent crimes.
This data does not include immigration violations, which have been a focus of the federal agents on the streets of Washington but is not tracked by MPD. In data provided by the White House, the Trump administration said more than 160 undocumented immigrants were arrested from Aug. 7 — when federal agents were ordered on the streets of D.C. — to yesterday morning. The White House did not break down the immigration arrests on a daily basis.
As of today, more than 1,900 officers, soldiers and agents were on the ground in D.C. supporting Trump’s efforts.
NBC Washington reported last month that an MPD commander was suspended and put on leave in May after the department began investigating allegations he altered crime data. The Justice Department has since launched its own probe.
White House joins TikTok, which Trump tried to ban in 2020
The White House joined TikTok today, with its first post featuring imagery of Trump at rallies and a UFC fight and shaking the hands of law enforcement officials and U.S. Steel workers.
In the short video, Trump says, "Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation."
Trump nearly banned TikTok through a 2020 executive order, which ordered its closely held Chinese parent company to divest ownership of the app. Congress later passed a bipartisan law that banned the app, which President Joe Biden signed into law. But after Trump took office again, he has repeatedly allowed it to continue operations in the United States.
Trump and Hungary's Orbán speak by phone as White House searches for a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting spot
Trump spoke on the phone today with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a White House official told NBC News.
Orbán, a close Trump ally, has been one of the few European leaders who have stood by Putin’s side during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A senior administration official said that the United States is looking to secure a meeting location and date for a Putin and Zelenskyy sit-down and that Budapest and Geneva are among the sites that have been discussed. Various countries have offered to host, the official added.
The number of countries available to offer a venue is limited since the International Criminal Court previously issued an arrest warrant for Putin that all of its member states are obliged to follow. Hungary, which voted to withdraw from the ICC this year, could host Putin without risk of his arrest. Other countries that aren't ICC members include Turkey and Qatar.
The senior administration official said both Trump and Putin have a good relationship with Orbán, which could be a factor in finding a site.
