What to know today
- BOLTON RAID: The FBI this morning began searching the home of former national security adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into classified records, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. Bolton served during President Donald Trump's first term but has been a fierce critic of the president in recent years.
- VANCE EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance confirmed in an exclusive interview with NBC News today that the Trump administration is “in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation” into Bolton, but he denied that the probe was retribution for Bolton’s criticism of the president.
- RUSSIA-UKRAINE: Russia’s top diplomat said today that no meeting is planned between President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, casting new doubt on Trump’s push for a summit to end the war.
- MAXWELL TRANSCRIPTS: The Justice Department this afternoon released transcripts and audio from its interview last month with Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell told DOJ officials that she never saw Trump or former President Bill Clinton do anything inappropriate.
EXCLUSIVE: ICE director says agents won’t be at D.C. schools on the first day — but may be going forward
Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said parents in Washington, D.C., should not expect to see ICE officers visiting schools when kids go back to school in the nation’s capital on Monday. But he said there may be circumstances when ICE comes on school campuses in the future.
“Day one, you’re not going to see us,” Lyons told NBC News in an interview yesterday.
But he did not rule out the possibility of ICE needing to come on school campuses in the future in special circumstances. Lyons said ICE officers may need to make welfare checks on students in the district or anywhere in the U.S. if they were identified as an unaccompanied child when they crossed the southern border.
“We want to use our special agents and our officers to go ahead and locate these individuals. And if [there are] some we haven’t, and the last known address was at a school, we just want to make sure that child is safe,” Lyons said. “If we have the opportunity to reunite that parent with that child, that’s what we want to do.”
‘We’ll see what happens’: Trump ends week of Ukraine-Russia talks on a more tentative note
One week after Trump’s summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin seems in no hurry to build on progress that Trump said was made in his bid to end the war in Ukraine.
Any momentum from their nearly three-hour meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, appears to have slowed, though administration officials say they’re not giving up on a solution and will keep working to broker an elusive peace deal.
Russia’s top diplomat said in an interview with NBC News today that Putin is prepared to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though the agenda for a sit-down is “not ready at all.”
“President Putin said clearly that he is ready to meet provided this meeting is really going to have an agenda, presidential agenda,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an exclusive interview.
U.S. takes 10% stake in Intel as Trump flexes more power over big business
The Trump administration said today that it had taken a 10% stake in Intel, Trump’s latest extraordinary move to exert federal government control over private business.
The United States will not seek direct representation on Intel’s board and pledged to vote with the current Board of Directors on matters requiring shareholder approval, “with limited exceptions,” according to a joint release from the Trump administration and Intel. The move also comes as the United States vies with China in the race to dominate the artificial intelligence industry.
Trump also announced the deal on his Truth Social platform, praising the company’s CEO just two weeks after he called on the executive to resign over alleged China ties.
Trump taps Sergio Gor as U.S. ambassador to India and special envoy
Trump today tapped top White House official Sergio Gor for two high-profile roles in Asia: U.S. ambassador to India and special envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs. Both positions require Senate confirmation.
Gor played a key part in building Trump's second administration as his director of presidential personnel. He was similarly involved in efforts to cut staff at key departments, including the Marco Rubio-led National Security Council. Trump referenced that work in a Truth Social post today.
"Sergio and his team have hired nearly 4,000 America First Patriots across every Department of our Federal Government in RECORD time," Trump wrote. "Sergio will remain in his current role at the White House until his confirmation."
Gor is expected to stay on in his existing role until the end of the year, according to a senior administration official. It is not immediately clear who will replace him as head of the personnel office.
CIA provided intel that lead to FBI search of John Bolton's properties
CIA Director John Ratcliffe provided FBI Director Kash Patel the intelligence that served as the basis for a search warrant of John Bolton's home and office, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The intelligence, the source said, involved what was alleged to be a mishandling of classified material by Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser during his first term, before a contentious exit strained their relationship.
Bolton was similarly investigated over classified information after his exit from the first Trump administration. The Justice Department at the time pursued legal action to block Bolton from publishing a memoir about his work in the Trump administration, and sought to prevent him from profiting off the book.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen calls Abrego Garcia's release a win for due process
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., touted Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release from federal custody this afternoon as a win for due process and the rule of law, but warned that Abrego Garcia's legal rights are still under attack by the Trump administration.
"I’m glad that he is being returned to his home and his family, where he rightly belongs," Van Hollen said in a statement. "While I have no doubt the Administration will continue its attempts to undermine Mr. Abrego Garcia’s rights, we will continue fighting to see them maintained — because due process in this case does not end with his release."
"This is a matter that’s greater than just this one case or one man — if one person’s rights are denied, then the rights of all of us are at risk," he added.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador in April to visit Abrego Garcia after he was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to CECOT, the country’s notorious mega-prison.
Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland before he was deported, was released from Salvadoran custody in March but immediately detained and charged with federal immigration crimes upon his return to the United States. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will face a criminal jury trial in Tennessee early next year.
Pete Hegseth fires head of Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the head of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, according to White House and Pentagon officials, another in a raft of senior officers who have been removed under Hegseth’s watch.
The firing follows a controversial initial assessment by the agency in June indicating strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities had limited effect, seemingly contradicting Trump’s claim at the time that they had been “obliterated.”
Pentagon and White House officials issued brief statements that did not provide any rationale for the firing, but said Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA Director.” The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kruse’s firing was first reported by The Washington Post.
Administration officials gave no reason for the firing of Kruse, who had been in the job since February 2024 and would normally be expected to serve until 2027. Congressional officials also confirmed the firing and said they were told it was for a “lack of confidence,” a bland expression the military often uses to cover any number of reasons someone is removed.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is released from federal custody in Tennessee
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from federal custody today, months after he was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison and accused of being a gang member.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in the Middle District of Tennessee ordered Abrego Garcia’s release from a jail near Nashville, Tennessee, where he had been held since he was freed from El Salvador’s CECOT prison in June.
Abrego Garcia is en route to his family in Maryland, Sean Hecker, one of his attorneys, said.
Trump says U.S. will take a nearly 10% stake in Intel
Trump said today that his administration planned to take an approximately 10% stake in chipmaker Intel.
Such a move would represent a largely unprecedented intervention in an investor-owned business by the U.S. government.
Trump said told reporters gathered in the Oval Office that Intel had agreed to give the government the stake as part of discussions about the payoff from grants it has received from the 2022 CHIPS Act, passed during President Joe Biden's administration.
An Intel representative declined to comment.
“I said, ‘You know what? I think the United States should be given 10% of Intel,’” Trump said while recalling a conversation with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Previously, Trump had called for Tan's immediate resignation over alleged China ties.
Intel has struggled to keep up with rivals such as Nvidia and AMD amid the artificial intelligence boom that began gaining steam in 2023, with shares down some 60% from their highs during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company's stock was up about 7% this afternoon. Its market value is about $110 billion.
Canada drops many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.
Canada removed many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. today, marking a significant step forward in the two countries’ relationship.
Canada in March imposed counter-tariffs of 25% on a long list of U.S. products that fall in line with the North American trade deal after the U.S. had announced 25% duties on steel and aluminum. Notably, Canada’s 25% tariffs on U.S. autos, steel and aluminum will remain in place for now, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a press conference today.
