Highlights from Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025
- WEST BANK ANNEXATION: President Donald Trump said in an interview with Time magazine last week that Israel "would lose all of its support from the United States" if it annexed the already occupied West Bank. He spoke before Israel's parliament voted for an effective annexation of the Palestinian territory.
- VANCE INSULTED: As he left Israel for Washington, Vice President JD Vance called the Israeli Knesset’s vote on the West Bank annexation a “very stupid political stunt” and an “insult” to him. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the country and is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- RUSSIA SANCTIONS: Russia reacted with outrage today to new U.S. sanctions on its oil sector, which the Treasury Department imposed yesterday in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
- GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: The Senate voted this afternoon on whether to take up a Republican bill that would pay federal workers who haven’t been furloughed during the government shutdown. The procedural vote, which required 60 votes for the legislation to advance, failed 54-45.
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D.C. man sues after being detained for following National Guard around while playing ‘Darth Vader’s Theme’
A Washington resident filed a lawsuit today after he was handcuffed and briefly detained last month for protesting members of the National Guard patrolling D.C. neighborhoods by playing “The Imperial March” from the “Star Wars” franchise.
In a suit filed in federal court, attorneys for Sam O’Hara, 35, of Washington, said he would regularly protest the National Guard’s presence by walking several feet behind them and playing the march also known as “Darth Vader’s Theme,” from “The Empire Strikes Back,” the second film in the “Star Wars” series, when he saw them in the community.
“Using his phone and sometimes a small speaker, he played The Imperial March as he walked, keeping the music at a volume that was audible but not blaring,” O’Hara’s attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union said in the lawsuit. “Mr. O’Hara recorded the encounters and posted the videos on his TikTok account, where millions of people have viewed them.”
Trump directs Pete Hegseth to inform Congress about targeting drug traffickers on land
Trump said today that his administration will inform Congress about targeting drug runners on land, adding that the United States plans to kill people “who are bringing drugs into our country.”
After he touted recent military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats as a massive success, Trump said, “The land is going to be next.”
“We may go to the Senate and we may go to the Congress and tell them about it. But I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it,” Trump said at a White House roundtable for his homeland security task forces, which included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump then directed Hegseth to make it happen.
"Pete, you go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to say, 'Gee, we don’t want to stop drugs pouring in?’” he said.
He later added “we will go” to Congress.
Here’s the list of donors paying for Trump’s new White House ballroom
The East Wing of the White House was fully demolished today, a White House official said, as construction pushes forward to build Trump’s new ballroom.
The project is a significant expansion from what Trump said over the summer.
“It won’t interfere with the current building,” Trump said on July 31. “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
Trump said yesterday that the project would cost roughly $300 million, paid for by donors, including him. He has also said it will hold up to 999 people.
Federal worker jobless claims surged to more than 10,000 last week
Federal government workers filed 10,026 initial jobless claims in the week that ended Saturday, according to Labor Department data released tonight. The data comes by way of the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program.
That’s significantly higher than roughly 7,200 initial claims federal workers in the program filed in the week that ended Oct. 11, about 3,300.
While the government remains closed, the Labor Department and the Bureau of Labor Statistics are not publishing most key datasets and economic releases. The data in today’s Labor Department file comes from the states.
The data released today does not appear to include “continuing claims” data for only federal government employees, so it does not appear to be possible to determine how many total federal government workers are on the program now.
In addition, some data from Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee and the U.S. Virgin Islands was not made available in today’s dataset, so the total number could be higher.
Senate Democrats tread lightly on Maine primary as new poll shows Platner leading Mills
The Democratic primary in one of the most important Senate races of the 2026 cycle has been jolted by two recent events: the entry of two-term governor and establishment favorite Janet Mills and the rapid-fire revelations about Graham Platner, a first-time candidate undergoing a public vetting after getting national attention.
Despite his recent controversy, a rare poll of the Maine race shows Platner trouncing Mills by 34 points. The survey, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, found Platner leading Mills 58% to 24% among likely primary voters, with 14% undecided. It was conducted from Oct. 16 to Oct. 21, amid revelations of inflammatory online posts by Platner but before he said he covered up a tattoo after his campaign was informed it resembled a Nazi symbol.
None of that has changed the dynamics among their would-be Democratic colleagues in the Senate, at least for now.
B-1 bombers flew near Venezuela today
Two B-1 bombers flew from the United States to about 50 miles from the coast of Venezuela today, according to a defense official and flight tracker data for the aircraft.
The flights were a show of presence, the official said.
Trump was asked about the flights today and called the reporting false, though it was unclear whether he was denying the flights themselves or whether they were meant to increase pressure.
Jacqueline Kennedy Garden torn up as part of East Wing demolition
The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which used to sit south of the East Colonnade, was torn up as part of the East Wing demolition this week to build Trump’s massive new ballroom, according to a White House official.
It’s unclear how many of the plants, trees and shrubbery the White House was able to preserve, but an effort to do so is underway, the official said. Last month, White House officials said the National Park Service would work to possibly relocate some of the greenery affected by the overall construction to a nursery for potential replanting.
The garden was designed by Rachel Lambert Mellon, according to the National Park Service. She was also key in redesigning the Rose Garden, which started during the Kennedy administration and was finished during the Johnson administration. First lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson formally dedicated the garden to Jackie Kennedy in 1965.
The National Park Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Letitia James' attorneys want Trump officials and prosecutor Lindsey Halligan to stop talking publicly about her case
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ defense team asked a federal judge to enforce rules prohibiting the government’s “extra judicial disclosures and statements” in the criminal case against her.
“What precipitates this motion now is a digital messaging exchange that occurred after the government brought charges, between purported interim U.S. Attorney Halligan and Anna Bower, a senior journalist for Lawfare, published on Monday, October 20, 2025,” attorneys for James wrote in a court filing today.
Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower published several text message conversations she had over the messaging app Signal with Halligan, the acting U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, about James' case, which involves mortgage fraud charges. James has denied wrongdoing.
Halligan reportedly texted Bower: “You’re assuming exculpatory evidence without knowing what you’re talking about. It’s just bizarre to me. If you have any questions, before you report, feel free to reach out to me. But jumping to conclusions does your credibility no good.”
James' attorneys said they wanted a judge to stop what they called a “stunning disclosure of internal government information.”
“In order to ensure a fair trial and impartial proceedings for Attorney General James, we respectfully seek the Court’s intervention to prevent any further disclosures by government attorneys and agents of investigative and case materials, and statements to the media and public, concerning this case and any parties or witnesses,” they wrote.
James' attorneys also filed a notice saying they intend to file a motion at her arraignment tomorrow to dismiss the indictment, citing what they characterized as Halligan's “unlawful appointment.”
Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey filed a similar motion against Halligan in his case. The court has not ruled on that motion.
Democrats grapple with concerns about Black voter turnout in New Jersey
As Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill stood in the middle of the street in Newark’s West Ward on Sunday afternoon, she made it clear that voters there could be decisive in this year’s race for governor.
“New Jersey is a blue state. And so all we have to do is get everybody to the polls, because when we vote, we win,” Sherrill, who is in her fourth term, told her supporters as they prepared to knock on doors in her race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Sherrill repeated, “When we vote …”
This time the crowd finished her sentence: “We win!”
Sherrill’s message underscored how her path to victory relies on turning out the Democratic Party’s core supporters, including in the West Ward, a predominantly Black community in the state’s largest city.
But concerns about Black voter support and engagement have lingered among Democrats in New Jersey and nationally following Trump’s victory last year. Trump lost the state but made significant gains compared with his 2016 and 2020 results, particularly among voters of color in the state’s urban areas.
Trump says 'I hope' it's true that a grand jury is looking into charges into Sen. Adam Schiff
Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to comment when they were asked about reports that a grand jury is looking into charging Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., with mortgage fraud.
"I would just say Adam Schiff is one of the lowest forms of scum I’ve ever dealt with," Trump said. "He’s a horrible human being, a very dishonest person."
Trump added: "I have no idea what’s going on. You tell me that he’s gonna be indicted, I don’t know. You could ask Pam." The he turned to Bondi, who declined to comment.
"By the way, I hope it’s true," Trump added later. "But I don’t know anything about it."
Schiff's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
