Live updates: Trump speaks at Texas truck factory
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The president is visiting the facility outside Dallas before holding a rally tonight in Oklahoma for Republican candidates.
What to know today
- TRUMP TRIP: President Donald Trump is in Texas speaking at a Peterbilt truck factory outside Dallas. He then heads to Durant, Oklahoma, for a midterm election rally this evening.
- SUPREME COURT: The Supreme Court said it will consider whether immigrants subject to deportation can be held in detention indefinitely while their cases are adjudicated.
- PRE-EMPTIVE PARDONS: Trump said in an interview with Time magazine that he’s considering pre-emptively pardoning members of his administration before the end of his second term.
- REFLECTING POOL CASE: A Superior Court judge in the District of Columbia has permanently banned U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office from bringing charges against a former Olympic canoeist over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Federal commission approves construction plans for White House visitor screening center
The National Capital Planning Commission today unanimously voted to approve building plans for a new White House Visitor Screening Facility.
The project is part of Trump’s massive overhaul of the White House grounds but one that has enjoyed bipartisan support and drawn little pushback compared with his other construction plans.
The facility will be built off 15th Street in Sherman Park, with an entrance that leads below ground for screening and allows visitors to exit by the East Wing of the White House, the site of Trump’s more controversial ballroom project.
The commission’s chairman, Trump appointee Mark Paoletta, said today, “I look forward to the beautiful building be built on the White House grounds.”
First to NBC News: New ad campaign urges Californians to 'just try' backing a Republican for governor
“Just try it, California.”
That’s the cheeky slogan for a new six-figure TV and digital ad campaign that Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton's campaign says is aimed at targeting Gen Z and millennial voters in the deep-blue state.
The first ad released today features two young women sitting on a bed with an LGBTQ pride flag behind them as moody music plays in the background.
One of the women, who is wearing a “RESIST” shirt, anxiously tells her friend: “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Don’t be nervous. It’s not that bad,” she assures her. “Just try it.”
The friend then tells the woman to close her eyes as she takes her hand and helps her fill out her ballot for Hilton.
The ad ends with the first woman admitting “I think I liked it” as the friend holds up the completed ballot and tells her, “Now lick it.” The slogan “just try it” flashes on the screen.
"The Just Try It campaign is bold, and unafraid — everything that we are giving voters permission to be when filling out their ballots this year,” Hilton campaign spokesperson Hector Barajas said in a statement to NBC News. "California has been under one-party rule for 16 years, and life has become more challenging, unaffordable, and progressively worse with absolutely no checks and balances. It’s obviously time for something new, and it’s okay to vote different for once — so let’s just try it."
The provocative ad comes on the heels of Hilton’s debate last night against his Democratic opponent, former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. Polls show Becerra leading Hilton by double digits in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Judge keeps immigrant delivery driver shot by ICE in custody in alleged assault
A Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas will remain in custody on charges that he assaulted an officer while he was trying to evade arrest, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
Joel Angel Juarez / AP
U.S. District Judge Dustin Howell said the case against Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, should proceed after prosecutors presented body-worn camera video of the encounter in Austin, in which Garcés Pérez is alleged to have struck an ICE officer with his driver’s side mirror.
CBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision
Senior leaders at Customs and Border Protection were cut out of the decision to use their agency’s funds for a national ad buy featuring Trump and learned about it from a news report, according to a Department of Homeland Security official with direct knowledge of the decision-making process.
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and his senior advisers were not included in several meetings at which the idea of spending the agency’s money on the ads was discussed, the official said. And while CBP leaders were told that the White House was interested in using the agency’s funds for an ad campaign, the official said, they were not given the opportunity to weigh in or told when a final decision had been made.
Trump says he gives his administration an 'A-plus' on government, economy
Trump said this afternoon that he gives his administration a top rating when it comes to the federal government and economic outlook.
"I think the press isn’t treating us fairly. ... I give us an A-plus on the government, on economics, on everything," Trump told reporters before he left the White House for Texas and Oklahoma.
"Oil is going to come down very, very soon. Oil is coming down as soon as Iran is finished and they're finished pretty much right now," he said. "We’re getting more oil out of the Hormuz Strait now than we did before the war."
The latest NBC News average of polls found that 32% approve of the way Trump is handling inflation and cost of living, down from 40% in April 2025. It also finds that 33% think the country is on the right track, compared with 67% who think it's on the wrong track.
How 16 undecided voters are weighing their 2026 election options
James Morton isn’t sure which party he’s going to support in November’s elections, and he doesn’t like his options.
Morton, a 67-year-old retired truck driver in Colorado, said Democrats have “gone too far to the left towards socialism,” while Republicans are “globalists” who “don’t care about the working-class people in this country.”
Chelsea Stahl / NBC News
Morton, an independent who voted for Trump in 2024, is leaning toward backing third-party candidates in races for the House and the Senate this year. But he said his decision will come down to the high cost of living.
He's among the 5% of voters surveyed last month in a national NBC News poll who said they weren’t sure which party they wanted to see controlling Congress after this year’s elections. NBC News spoke with 16 of those undecided voters as they weigh their votes this fall, some of whom declined to share their full names discussing politics.
First on NBC News: Kennedy to roll out $10 million challenge to encourage Presidential Fitness Test in schools
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce a nationwide competition for schools aimed at expanding participation in the Presidential Fitness Test, which Trump revived last year.
Tom Brenner / Bloomberg via Getty
The challenge will offer $7 million in prizes to schools, districts and youth organizations that demonstrate effective ways to implement the test, the Health and Human Services Department told NBC News. Another $3 million in awards and vouchers will be available for fitness or sports equipment.
U.S. is 'studying' role Iran may have played in air base incident in U.K., Trump says
Trump said he is closely examining the incident near an air base in the U.K. that’s used by the U.S. and looking into Iran’s involvement. According to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Britain believes Iran was involved in the incident.
Trump says he’d consider issuing pardons to administration officials before he leaves office
Trump said in a new interview that he’s considering pre-emptively pardoning members of his administration before the end of his second term.
“Yeah, sure, I’d do that,” he said in an interview this week with Time magazine, which published a transcript of the conversation today.
Judge bars U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro from charging ex-Olympian in Reflecting Pool case
A Superior Court judge in the District of Columbia has permanently banned U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office from bringing charges against a former Olympic canoeist over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Work continued at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in September. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty
Judge Todd Edelman entered an order today that dismissed the case with prejudice. He cited the “exceptional circumstances” of the case and said the government’s “own representations make plain” that bringing another indictment against David “Davey” Hearn “is theoretical at best, and more likely, is simply fanciful.”
New legislation aims to block renaming aircraft carrier after Trump
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., plans to introduce three bills Thursday to block the Trump administration from scrapping plans to name an aircraft carrier in honor of a Black war hero and instead naming it after President Donald Trump.
Two U.S. officials said that Navy leadership has been discussing changing the proposed name of the aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller. The ship is still under construction but is set to be named in honor of Miller, an enlisted sailor who famously staffed an anti-aircraft gun during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Doris Miller was the first African-American sailor to receive the Navy Cross. U.S. Navy
Supreme Court to decide lawfulness of Trump’s immigrant detention policy
The Supreme Court said Thursday it will consider whether immigrants subject to deportation can be held in detention indefinitely while their cases are adjudicated.
The eventual ruling could endorse or end a key feature of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.
Trump says he and Republicans have done 'very bad job' touting economic wins
As Republicans confront political headwinds on the economy, NBC News’ Garrett Haake and Brian Cheung join "Meet the Press NOW" to discuss how the White House may be helping or hurting candidates ahead of the midterm elections.
Kennedy Center to remain closed to public as safety assessments continue
The Kennedy Center will remained closed as safety assessments continue at the cultural arts center with no definitive reopening date, according to an email sent to staff overnight and obtained by NBC News.
“Our facilities, safety, and security teams are now conducting a detailed emergency egress assessment to determine whether, and under what conditions, the building can safely support occupants and be evacuated while these restrictions remain in place,” according to the email from the Center’s Executive Director Matt Floca. “The main building will remain temporarily closed, pending that determination.”
Tarps remain on the facade of the Kennedy Center today. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty
Floca writes that the assessment, ordered by Kennedy Center leadership, is expected to be completed within the next two weeks.
The main building of the Kennedy Center has been closed since September 15, after the Center’s board voted to close for renovations. In court filings, Floca explained the closure would be reconsidered on a week-by-week basis, depending on the status of the assessment.
It comes as a separate evaluation completed over the past three months by engineering firm Walter P Moore found significant corrosion and water damage on most of the exterior “soffit panels” that make up the Kennedy Center’s overhang. The documents, obtained by NBC News, call for “immediate” fixes to prevent further damage to the Center’s structure.
The Walter P Moore firm suggested replacing the entire soffit panel system — each individual panel weighing more than 2,000 pounds — with what they call “a more durable solution.” They also recommend replacing the roof’s drainage system and improve the enclosure in-between the roof and the panels, along with the roof deck itself.
The firm suggests keeping the plaza area outside the front of the Kennedy Center closed to the public. “Because the soffit is located 60 feet above areas regularly occupied by the public, continued deterioration of the panels and their support system presents a falling object hazard and life-safety concern,” the report states.
“Walter P Moore recommends the area under and adjacent to the soffit panels be closed to the public until repairs or further evaluation is performed,” according to the assessment.
While there is no programming currently scheduled for any of the theaters inside the main building of the Kennedy Center, events continue inside a physically separate, newer, and much smaller building on the Kennedy Center’s campus. There are free events scheduled between Thursday and Sunday each week over at that building, called “The REACH.”
On the legal front, the court battle over the naming of the Center — and the more closure of the center — continue, with Judge Christopher Cooper asking for weekly updates from the Trump administration on the repairs.
Senate confirms Keith Sonderling to be labor secretary in final vote before midterms
The Senate confirmed Keith Sonderling’s nomination to lead the Labor Department on a 47-41 vote along party lines last night.
Sonderling had been serving in an acting capacity since April, when Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid a misconduct probe. Sonderling had served in several roles at the department before Trump nominated him in June.
The vote was the Senate’s final one before the Nov. 3 midterms. It is scheduled to return Nov. 9.
Keith Sonderling testifies during a Senate Committee hearing in May. Nathan Posner / Anadolu via Getty Images file
GOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race
Sen. Jon Husted, who faces a tricky path to keep his seat this fall in Ohio, is about to get another boost from national Republicans.
Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is pouring another $14 million into the state, according to details shared first with NBC News.
White House removes CNN from press pool for Trump’s upcoming trip to Texas and Oklahoma
The White House removed CNN from the press pool that’s set to cover a trip by Trump today, escalating a feud with the cable network after a federal judge blocked the administration’s push to restrict its media access.
CNN had been designated to travel with Trump, according to a press rotation document the White House released Sunday. But when the daily guidance came out for his scheduled visit to a truck manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas, followed by remarks in Durant, Oklahoma, it did not list CNN as providing pool coverage.
Trump to visit Texas and Oklahoma today
Trump will travel south today to tour a motor facility in Denton, Texas, and deliver remarks in Durant, Oklahoma.
The president previously said he would campaign for Republicans in 35 races ahead of the midterm elections, which are a little over a month away. The Texas Senate race is considered a major battleground, but the president does not have a campaign event on his schedule in the state today.
In Oklahoma, Rep. Kevin Hern, a Republican, is facing off against Democrat N'Kiyla Thomas for the Senate seat while Republican Mike Mazzei and Democrat Cyndi Munson square off in the governor's race. NBC News has classified both races as "solid GOP."
Trump previously won both states in his presidential bids. Tomorrow, the president plans to hold a rally in Mobile, Alabama. That state, too, is considered solidly red.
Trump has previously urged his base supporters to turn out to vote and pretend like he is on the ballot as polling shows Republicans facing strong headwinds going into the final stretch of campaigning before the midterms.
