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What to know today
- TRUMP’S U.K. VISIT: President Donald Trump met with King Charles III at Windsor Castle for a day of royal festivities, including the largest military contingent for a visiting foreign leader in living memory. Trump, who will meet privately with Prime Minister Keir Starmer tomorrow, is attending dinner with Starmer and other British officials.
- FED MEETING: The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time this year by a quarter-point. The two-day meeting is being held with newly confirmed Fed official Stephen Miran and Lisa Cook, whom Trump is trying to fire.
- PATEL TESTIFIES: FBI Director Kash Patel testified at a fiery House committee hearing a day after a four-hour hearing in the Senate. He faced questions about Jeffrey Epstein’s case from Democrats, as well as about political violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
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White House plans to take action targeting left-wing groups as early as this month
The administration is putting together plans to take action against left-wing groups that Trump and his allies accuse of fomenting political violence, according to three people familiar with discussions about the federal response to Kirk’s assassination. One of the sources said the moves could come as early as the end of the month.
The White House is “trying to move quickly while not rushing,” the person added.
The actions, which are still being formulated, are expected to include investigations into the tax-exempt status of certain liberal organizations, the same source said. They were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“The White House is exploring a wide variety of options to address left-wing political violence and the network of organizations that fuel and fund it,” an administration official said. “The emphasis and focus are on criminal actions,” the official added, “not political speech.”
Federal probe into Trump foe Letitia James hits a standstill, law enforcement officials say
The mortgage fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James is at a standstill because federal agents and prosecutors don’t believe they have enough evidence to get a conviction if the case were to go to trial, two senior federal law enforcement officials told NBC News today.
The White House and several top administration officials, however, have continued to push the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to seek an indictment against James, who brought a civil fraud case against Trump after his first term in office.
Trump says he's designating antifa as a 'major terrorist organization'
Trump said on social media that he would designate antifa as a terrorist organization and recommend investigating those deemed responsible for funding it.
"I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices."
The post provided few details, including how he’d make the designation or how he would target antifa — which lacks centralized leadership and structure.
Trump had indicated in the Oval Office on Monday that he would be likely to designate antifa as a domestic terrorist organization if he had support from key members of his administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I would do that 100% and others also, by the way, but antifa is terrible,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show suspension sparks outrage from Democrats
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has sparked outrage from Democratic lawmakers, who took to X to express their frustration.
Disney-owned ABC announced today it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air “indefinitely” following the host’s comments Monday about Kirk.
“The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois wrote: “A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted, “America is meant to be a bastion of free speech. Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel.”
Schumer added, “This is about protecting democracy. This must go to court.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., posted, “This is perhaps the first Administration to make comedy illegal.”
Some Republicans applauded the move, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who wrote, “Maybe lying about a deranged left-wing murderer wasn’t a good career move?”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said, “If a broadcaster won’t tolerate attacks on Charlie Kirk, why should Congress? ABC did the right thing. The House failed miserably tonight. We won’t forget.”
Mace authored a resolution to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., of her committee assignments after she criticized Kirk’s past “words and actions” following the shooting.
Vance says those who 'celebrate' Kirk's death shouldn't be protected from being fired
Vice President JD Vance said in a Fox News interview that aired tonight that those appearing to "celebrate" Kirk's assassination shouldn't be shielded from being terminated from their jobs.
"The First Amendment protects a lot of very ugly speech, but if you celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death, you should not be protected from being fired for being a disgusting person," Vance told host Jesse Watters when he was asked about consequences for those appearing to celebrate Kirk's death.
"If you’re a university professor who benefits from American tax dollars, you should not be celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death, and if you are, maybe you should lose your job, or your university should face a loss of funding," Vance added.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Fox News interview yesterday that "employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people," after she suggested in during a podcast interview that aired Monday that the Justice Department would be "targeting" people over "hate speech" related to Kirk's assassination.
Democrats release competing funding bill as tensions over looming shutdown grow
House and Senate Democratic leaders released a competing bill today that reflects their vision for how to fund the government on a short-term basis, drawing a marked contrast with the Republican proposal as a potential shutdown nears.
The Democratic legislation would permanently extend Obamacare subsidies that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, as well as reverse Medicaid cuts enacted in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” It would lift the freeze on foreign aid funding that the White House is withholding through “pocket rescissions” and restore funding for public broadcasting.
It would keep the government funded through Oct. 31.
Jeffries urges Rep. Nancy Mace to 'cease and desist' from comments about stripping Rep. Ilhan Omar of citizenship
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement today that Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., “must cease and desist her inciteful behavior immediately” following her social media posts saying Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., should be stripped of her citizenship.
"Nancy Mace is a complete and total disgrace. Her racist, unhinged and xenophobic comments about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are beneath the dignity of the Congress. Is this what civility looks like in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives?" Jeffries said.
Jeffries referred to an era of "intense political violence," citing the assassinations of Kirk this month and former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman in June.
"Nancy Mace’s crazed rhetoric has put a target on the back of Rep. Omar. Mace must cease and desist her inciteful behavior immediately," Jeffries said.
Mace introduced a resolution yesterday to censure Omar and remove her from committee assignments. The measure accused Omarof having “smeared Charlie Kirk” in an interview after his death and "disparaged" his character and those mourning his death by reposting a video on X that was critical of him.
Mace wrote on X ahead of the vote this afternoon that "Ilhan Omar should be stripped of her seat and her citizenship."
The House voted 214-213 this evening to table Mace's resolution. Republican Reps. Cory Mills of Florida, Mike Flood of Nebraska, Tom McClintock of California and Jeff Hurd of Colorado voted with all Democrats to table the measure.
Disney’s ABC pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after FCC chair blasts host’s Charlie Kirk monologue
Disney’s ABC said “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a spokesperson confirmed to NBC News, after the late-night host’s Monday monologue about Kirk.
Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA, was giving a presentation at Utah Valley University when he was fatally shot last week.
During his monologue Monday, Kimmel raised the possibility that the suspect in Kirk’s shooting, Tyler Robinson, might have been a pro-Trump Republican.
“The MAGA Gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
‘I’m very concerned about the future of my country’
Holding a sign emblazoned with the words “I am a proud American. I am not proud of Trump,” Nancy Janin said she felt it was important to be at today’s march in London demonstrating against Trump's state visit to the U.K.
“I’m very concerned about the future of my country that I love very much,” said Janin, 73, who was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now lives in London. “I feel like this administration, Trump, is destroying it.”
Janin, who used to work in finance, said she was here to advocate for an “America that is for many people.”
“It’s not meant for one particular way of thinking or one particular socioeconomic group or racial group,” she said.
Bipartisan Senate group releases new bill to help increase affordable child care
Amid intense polarization, alleviating the rising cost of child care for millions of American families is an area in which Republicans and Democrats in Washington believe they can find common ground.
A bipartisan group of senators is unveiling a new bill today, shared first with NBC News, that would expand a key grant program for child care that hasn’t been touched in more than a decade.
