What to know today
- PATEL TESTIMONY: FBI Director Kash Patel testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a tense hearing that lasted over four hours.
- CHARLIE KIRK INVESTIGATION: Patel repeatedly defended his handling of the investigation into conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week. He had faced criticism for his actions and social media statements during the manhunt.
- EPSTEIN CASE: Patel also defended the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and blamed former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was the prosecutor in Epstein's Florida case in 2006.
- TRUMP'S U.K. TRIP: President Donald Trump arrived in London, where he'll become the first elected leader to be honored with two state visits to the United Kingdom.
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Trump slams Australian journalist in heated White House exchange
Trump told an Australian journalist that he was “hurting Australia” after he asked a question about the president’s business dealings, saying he would report the journalist to the Australian prime minister.
“Is it appropriate, President Trump, that a president in office should be engaged in so much business activity?” journalist John Lyons from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation asked Trump yesterday on the White House lawn.
“I’m really not. My kids are running the business,” Trump responded, before asking Lyons where he was from.
“You are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me,” Trump then said. “Your leader is coming over to see me very soon, I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone.”
Although a bilateral meeting between Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has yet to be scheduled, the two could meet next week while they are both in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
India says U.S. trade talks are 'positive' and 'forward looking'
India said trade talks with the U.S. are “positive” and “forward looking,” as Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first call in months amid tensions over tariffs and other issues.
The two leaders said they spoke yesterday, the day before Modi’s 75th birthday today, in their first publicly known call since June. The relationship between Trump and Modi, who refer to each other as “dear friends,” has deteriorated in recent months, especially after the U.S. doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil, which Trump says are aiding Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
“Just had a wonderful phone call with my friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I wished him a very Happy Birthday! He is doing a tremendous job,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Narendra: Thank you for your support on ending the War between Russia and Ukraine!” Trump added, without giving details.
Responding on X, Modi thanked Trump for the birthday call and said he was “fully committed” to taking U.S.-India relations to new heights. “We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict,” he added.
Their call came the same day as talks in New Delhi between Indian trade officials and a U.S. delegation led by Brendan Lynch, assistant U.S. trade representative for South and Central Asia. The Indian commerce ministry said the talks between India and the U.S., its largest export market, were “positive” and “forward looking.”
“It was decided to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Trade Agreement,” it said in a statement yesterday, without giving details.
U.K. police arrest 4 after photos of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are projected onto Windsor Castle
Police in the U.K. arrested four people after photos of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected onto Windsor Castle Tuesday night.
The projections included photos of Trump and Epstein; of the two joined by first lady Melania Trump with Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell; and of a lewd birthday message Trump allegedly sent Epstein in 2003 for a 50th birthday book.
Trump arrived in London on Tuesday for a state visit. He’s expected to spend most of Wednesday at the castle with King Charles III and Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family.
Democrat wins special election for seat held by slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman
Minnesota voters chose a Democratic successor today for the state House seat that had been held by Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June.
Democrat Xp Lee defeated Republican Ruth Bittner in the special election in the solidly Democratic district in the northwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities, The Associated Press projected.
Lee’s win comes three months after Hortman, a former state House speaker, and her husband were killed in what Minnesota authorities have described as a “politically motivated assassination” at their Brooklyn Park home on June 14.
Another legislator, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in their home that evening and were severely wounded. The man who has been charged in both shootings, Vance Boelter, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of second-degree intentional murder and attempted murder.
Judge rejects request from NBC News to unseal names of two Epstein associates he wired $100K and $250K
A federal judge in Manhattan denied a request from NBC News today to unseal the names of two associates of Jeffrey Epstein who, according to prosecutors, received large payments from him in 2018. The judge, Richard Berman, cited privacy and safety concerns expressed by lawyers for the two individuals.
Judge Berman wrote that a lawyer for the first associate stated that “after Epstein’s arrest and subsequent death Individual-1 was ‘the subject of death threats.'" The attorney added that law enforcement officials and other victims’ attorneys “now all recognize [Individual-1] was mislabeled as a potential co-conspirator, rather than a badly harmed victim.”
The judge also said that a lawyer for the second associate stated that, “after years of extensive investigation, we have ultimately concluded that [Individual-2] and [Individual-1] were both victimized by Jeffrey Epstein … and should be afforded the same protections that have been afforded to all other victims.”
In late August, NBC News filed a request that the names of the two individuals cited in court filings by prosecutors be made public. According to a redacted letter prosecutors filed with the court, the first associate received a payment of $100,000 from Epstein and the second associate received a payment of $250,000, both in 2018, days after the Miami Herald began publishing a series of investigative stories where victims criticized a plea deal he received in Florida in 2008 as too lenient.
As part of the plea agreement, Epstein secured a statement from federal prosecutors in Florida that the two individuals would not be prosecuted, according to court records.
Raw emotion rages on Capitol Hill as lawmakers grapple with Charlie Kirk’s killing
Nearly a week after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, emotions are running high on Capitol Hill, with many GOP lawmakers publicly grieving for their friend and casting blame on Democrats and the media for the conservative activist’s shocking death.
Resolutions to honor Kirk — and punish his opponents — are flying around Congress. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Buddy Carter, R-Ga., both running for higher office in 2026, have authored dueling resolutions to strip Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of her committee assignments after she criticized Kirk’s past “words and actions” immediately after the shooting.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who was close to Kirk, is calling on Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., to fire a staffer who re-posted a quote on social media saying Kirk was “a casualty of the violence he incited.”
And Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who is running for attorney general in Texas, is calling for the creation of a special committee to investigate the “money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America” in light of Kirk’s death.
Republican bill would fund extra security for Supreme Court but omits lower court judges
The White House and its top Republican allies in Congress have, for now, snubbed federal judges who asked for additional security funds as a result of a recent spike in violent threats.
While a short-term government funding bill House Republicans unveiled today included $30 million in security funds for members of Congress and $28 million to help protect justices of the Supreme Court, it didn’t include the money requested for security for lower court judges.
The request was made by the U.S. Judicial Conference, the policy arm of the judiciary, which held its biannual meeting in Washington today.
The Republican stopgap bill “does not provide additional money for the lower court’s judicial security,” federal Appeals Judge Amy St. Eve, who serves on the Judicial Conference’s budget committee, said on a call with reporters shortly after its release.
Trump says Republicans will hold a midterm convention
Trump said today on Truth Social that the Republican Party will hold a convention ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
He did not provide details about the time or place for the event but said it will be held “to show the great things we have done since the Presidential Election of 2024.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi says DOJ will be ‘targeting’ people who use ‘hate speech’
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Trump administration will be “targeting” hate speech, which she differentiated from free speech — and then tried to walk it back a day later.
“There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech,” Bondi said in an interview with “The Katie Miller Podcast” that aired yesterday, appearing to shrug off First Amendment concerns.
Asked if the Justice Department would be cracking down on groups that engage in such speech, Bondi said, “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything — and that’s across the aisle.”
U.S. ambassador to the U.K. greets Trump at Winfield House
Trump and the first lady were greeted at Winfield House, the official residence of the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., by Ambassador Warren Stephens and his wife, Harriet.
Speaking briefly to the media before he entered the residence, Trump thanked Stephens for welcoming him and said he was excited to be back in the U.K.
“I have a lot of things here, they warm my heart,” listing his resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeen in Scotland as examples.
Trump also said he was ready for a “big day” tomorrow. He is expected to stay overnight at Windsor Castle with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, where he will receive a carriage procession of the estate. Asked by a journalist what his message to the king is, Trump called him “a friend of mine for a long time.”
“Everybody respects him, and they love him,” Trump said.
