Trump criticizes Democrats, touts his economic policies in White House address
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President Donald Trump argued in a national address that his economic policies are delivering for Americans.
What to know...
- President Donald Trump delivered a live prime-time address to the nation from the White House this evening, largely focusing on the economy. He will also hold a rally Friday in North Carolina.
- Trump's approach to the economy has largely been to blame his predecessor, President Joe Biden, for high prices while pointing to what he sees as the gains and progress during his administration. He repeatedly attacked Biden in his speech again tonight.
- A new initiative Trump announced in his speech is a "warrior dividend" for members of the military. He said 1 million service members would receive checks of $1,776.
- Trump has been battling concerns, including from within his own party, about whether he's doing enough to address Americans' worries about high prices. He has repeatedly insisted that affordability is a Democratic "hoax."
Trump seeks to defend his economy in prime-time speech to the nation
Amid slumping approval ratings, Trump used a prime-time speech tonight to deride his predecessor, assert that his economic plan is working and suggest that Americans need to be patient as his policies start to kick in.
Trump, in an 18-minute address from the White House, rolled out no new proposals apart from what he called a $1,776 “warrior dividend” that will go to nearly 1.5 million military service members in honor of the nation’s founding almost 250 years ago.
“And the checks are already on the way,” he said. “No one understood that one until about 30 minutes ago; we made a lot more money than anyone thought because of tariffs.”
Trump marshaled the power of incumbency to command broad television network coverage for a speech that largely reiterated points he has made in public appearances and interviews since he returned to office in January.
U.S. government admits errors in deadly midair collision near D.C.
The U.S. government admitted in court documents to failures that led to the January midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter that killed 67 people in all.
The government made the admission in a court filing today about liability for the Jan. 29 crash between American Eagle Flight 5342, which was on approach to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident,” attorneys for the government said in the filing.
U.S. military announces another strike on suspected drug boat that killed 4
A U.S. military strike killed four people on a suspected drug vessel in international waters in the eastern Pacific, defense officials said.
The attack today was described as “a lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization,” U.S. Southern Command wrote on social media.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post said.
Four people were killed, and no U.S. military forces were harmed, military officials said.
Trump kicked off speech with a sip of Diet Coke
According to a pool report, in the room with Trump tonight were White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, communications director Steven Cheung, longtime aide Dan Scavino, chief of staff Susie Wiles and aide Natalie Harp. The group of advisers stood in a corner during the speech.
Trump took a sip of Diet Coke before he began speaking, according to the pool report.
After he finished speaking, Trump turned to reporters and said, "You think that's easy?" and took another drink of Diet Coke.
He asked his staff how he did, and they responded positively.
Trump then remarked that Wiles told him he had to address the nation.
Trump claims 25 million undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. in the Biden era
Trump claimed that 25 million undocumented immigrants crossed into the United States under Biden.
"Our border was open, and because of this, our country was being invaded by an army of 25 million people," he said. "Many who came from prisons, jails, mental institutions and insane asylums.”
In reality, 7.4 million immigrants crossed the border illegally under Biden, according to CBP statistics. If you include those who crossed the border at legal points of entry but without documentation, the number is 10.2 million.
Roughly 800,000 immigrants came in through legal programs set up under Biden, such as the program for people coming from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Trump misleads on 'no tax on Social Security'
Trump incorrectly said his "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed this year includes “no tax on Social Security.”
In fact, the provision he’s referring to is a tax deduction for seniors; it has nothing to do with Social Security income, which will continue to be taxed as it has been. The IRS website provides more details.
Trump says this coming tax season could set records
Trump claimed that next spring is "projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time."
According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, because of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," tax season could be a lot brighter for millions of U.S. taxpayers.
The foundation estimates that the bill "reduced individual taxes by $144 billion for 2025."
Some other estimates put that figure at $100 billion. That could put the average refund around $1,000. It's not clear whether it would be a "record" year, however.
The refunds will also arrive as inflation continues to rise. It hit 3.0% in September, the highest since January.
Trump again criticizes Minnesota's Somali community
Trump again criticized Minnesota's Somali community.
"Since I took office, 100% of all net job creation has gone to American-born citizens, 100%. In the end, government either serves the productive patriotic, hardworking American citizen, or it serves those who break the laws, cheat the system and seek power and profit at the expense of our nation," he said.
"Look at Minnesota," he continued, "where Somalians have taken over the economics of the state and have stolen billions and billions of dollars from Minnesota and indeed from the United States of America. And we're going to put an end to it."
Trump has criticized Somalis often in recent weeks. He said this month that Minnesota was "a hellhole right now. The Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain."
Trump uses his speech to attack familiar targets
Trump spent much of his speech taking aim at some of his most frequent targets, including Biden, migrants and transgender people.
Early on, Trump jabbed at Biden, saying his predecessor made life "unaffordable," a word that has been directed at Trump in recent months as voters sour on his handling of the economy.
Trump also directed criticism at the Biden administration for "men playing in women’s sports, transgender for everybody," and he later took aim at migrants whom he accused of taking jobs that he rescued back for the American worker, saying, "Illegal aliens stole American jobs."
Trump claims '$18 trillion' in foreign investments in the U.S.
“Already, I’ve secured a record-breaking $18 trillion of investment into the United States,” Trump said early in his speech.
But experts say the real figure is lower by many trillions of dollars. The White House itself lists a figure of $9.6 trillion on its website.
Other analyses of Trump’s evolving figures have noted that Trump includes in his tally amorphous pledges made by U.S. trade partners that pledge investments by companies in that country — investments the government has little power to enforce.
A recent Bloomberg News fact-check found the real figure closer to $7 trillion. But there, too, many of the investments were vague pledges or part of framework trade deals that have not yet been signed.
Trump says egg prices are down 82% and 'everything else is falling rapidly'
Trump said the price of a Thanksgiving turkey fell 33% compared with last year's cost.
Trump has often cited a bundle of items sold by Walmart this year; however, this year's Thanksgiving offering was not comparable to last year's and included more generic brand items.
On a comparable basis, the cost of a Thanksgiving meal fell about 2% to 3% this year from last, according to a basket of items tracked by Wells Fargo's Agri-Food Institute.
Trump also said the price of eggs is down 82% since March. However, according to consumer price index data, the price of eggs is down only 43.9%. From the start of this year, the price of a dozen eggs has been up more than 10%.
"Everything else is falling rapidly," Trump also said. However, on an overall basis, the CPI shows that prices have risen every month since April, and in September (the most available data because the government shutdown) the rate of inflation hit 3.0%.
Trump blames Democrats for health care costs
Trump sought to blame Democrats for rising health care costs that many people are likely to see in the coming weeks.
"You see that now in the steep increase in premiums being demand by the Democrats, and they are demanding those increases, and it’s their fault," he said. "It’s not the Republicans’ fault. It’s the Democrats’ fault. It’s the 'un-Affordable Care Act,' and everybody knew it."
At the end of the month, the premiums of people who get coverage under the Affordable Care Act are set to spike after Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, failed repeatedly to reach a deal to extend enhanced subsidies.
Trump announces 'warrior dividend' for service members
Trump tonight announced a “warrior dividend” for members of the military.
“A warrior dividend in honor of our nation’s founding in 1776,” Trump said in his address to the nation. “We are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that, and the checks are already on the way.”
Trump said more than 1 million service members will receive the payment.
"Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody," he said.
Trump says prices are 'coming down fast' under his administration
Trump said that during the Biden administration, auto prices rose 22% "and in many states 30% or more," gasoline rose 30 to 50%, hotel rates rose 37%, and airfares rose 31%.
"Under our leadership, they are coming down and coming down fast," he said.
The reality is more complicated, and some of the increases Trump cited were overstated. It was unclear what source the White House used for its price information.
According to the most recent Consumer Price Index data, which the government publishes, new and used car prices rose 26%, gasoline prices rose 22%, hotel rates rose 20%, and airfare rose 3.5% under Biden.
Under Trump, many of those categories are down.
Trump continues to insist on economic progress
Voters have been sending loud signals recently that they're not happy with the economy. The NBC News Exit Poll, taken in recent elections in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City and California, found that voters were very concerned with the economy and financial issues.
A new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey found that Americans remain concerned about the cost of living.
And members of Trump's own party — from lawmakers who are MAGA stalwarts to voters who backed the president — have expressed concerns about whether he is doing enough.
Trump has continued to insist that the country is doing better than ever, an approach he is taking tonight. The speech is largely a long list of what Trump sees as his accomplishments on the economy, with little rhetoric expressing that he understands why many Americans say they aren't seeing relief.
Trump says much of his success is due to tariffs
Trump attributed much of his administration's perceived success this year to his tariff policies.
"Much of this success has been accomplished by tariffs, my favorite word, tariffs, which for many decades have been used successfully by other countries against us, but not anymore," Trump said.
"Companies know that if they build in America, there are no tariffs, and that’s why they’re coming home to the USA in record numbers. They’re building factories and plants at levels we haven’t seen," he said. He did not elaborate with details on the figures.
Tariffs have started to have an impact on consumers, but not in the way Trump suggests. A report Goldman Sachs analysts published in October found that American consumers were taking on as much as 55% of their costs.
Trump opens remarks with criticism of Biden
Trump opened his remarks by spending several minutes criticizing the record of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and touting a crackdown on illegal immigration among his administration's achievements in the first year of his second term.
"Over the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history. There’s never been anything like it," Trump said.
Trump begins speech
Trump has begun his address to the nation from the White House.
House rejects war powers resolutions
The House rejected a pair of war powers resolutions tonight.
In a 210-216 vote, the lower chamber rejected a resolution from Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., that would direct the president “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with presidentially designated terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere.”
Two Republicans — Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted for the measure.
The House also did not approve a war powers resolution from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., that would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”
The vote was 211-213, with three Republicans — Bacon, Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — voting with most Democrats for the measure.
Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure.
House approves GOP health care bill that doesn't include ACA subsidies extension
The House approved a Republican health care bill that does not include an extension of the ACA premium tax credits.
The vote was 216-211.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against the bill.
Some of the bill's provisions include expanded access to association health plans, pharmacy benefit manager transparency and, beginning in 2027, necessary funding for cost-sharing reduction payments.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
“We’ll be back in January to do much more of this, more policies, more ideas ahead, policy changes to fix the broken health care system,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after the vote.
House cancels votes Friday, will leave for holiday recess Thursday afternoon
The House has canceled a planned session day Friday, meaning members will leave town for the holiday recess tomorrow afternoon.
Originally, the House was supposed to be in session only Monday through Thursday this week. But after the government shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., added days to the legislative calendar, including this Friday.
"There’ll be long days and long nights here for the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us," Johnson said when the House returned from the multiple weeks of district work periods he created during the shutdown.
House passes bill to criminalize transition care for minors
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related medical care to minors.
The bill was approved largely along party lines in a 216 to 211 vote.
The measure, which is expected to die in the Senate, would impose the harshest penalty for doctors providing transgender treatments ever passed by the House.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who introduced the bill, said on the House floor today, "For far too long, children have been sexually exploited under the malicious falsehood of so-called gender-affirming care."
"American children are being systematically indoctrinated with perverse gender ideology by teachers, doctors, mental health counselors and on social media platforms," she added. She described transition-related care — which includes puberty blockers, which temporarily stop puberty, hormone therapy and, in rare cases, surgery — as mutilation and sterilization.
Also this week, the House is expected to vote on a bill, introduced by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, that would prohibit Medicaid from covering transition-related treatments for minors.
In remarks outside the House on Wednesday, Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., the country's first out transgender member of Congress, said the bills politicize "a misunderstood community and misunderstood care."
McBride said lawmakers should be concerned about Affordable Care Act tax credits' expiring Dec. 31, which would cause health care premiums for millions of people to increase. Instead, she said, GOP leadership “are obsessed with trans people.”
She added, in rare personal remarks, that "one of the things that gets so lost in this conversation is that the transgender adults of today were kids once."
"I was a kid once. I didn't have the courage to come out until I was 21, but it's a fact I have known about myself for my entire life," she said. "I didn't have the courage to come out until I was 21, and that means 21 years of pain, 21 years of unwavering homesickness that only went away when I was able to get the care that I needed. And my biggest regret in life is that I never had a childhood without that pain. I marvel at the courage of transgender young people today who are sharing themselves with their families and this world, despite the toxicity and the hate that too often emanates from the building behind me and from politicians within it."
She concluded, "It is already hard enough to be a kid, and government should not make it harder."
Senators introduce bill to prevent enforcement of Trump's AI executive order
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced a bill today that aims to prevent the Trump administration from implementing last week's executive order targeting state AI laws.
Markey's bill, named the States' Right to Regulate AI Act, would prevent federal funding from being used to administer or enforce Trump's order Thursday on "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence."
In a statement, Markey said: "Trump’s lawless AI Executive Order is a direct threat to our children, workers, planet, and marginalized communities. While I am confident that the courts will strike down Trump’s illegal power grab, Congress has a responsibility to assert its legislative authority and block this Executive Order."
Trump's executive order would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to create a task force to target what the administration terms "onerous" state laws on AI, in addition to several other provisions critical of state AI regulations.
AI has become an increasingly hot-button political issue. In recent weeks, the fight over states' ability to pass and implement meaningful AI legislation has formed new and unexpected coalitions between progressive Democrats and MAGA Republicans.
Markey was joined by 10 co-sponsors, including Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he will leave his post in January
Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a former conservative podcaster who became the No. 2 official at the FBI in the Trump administration, announced today that “I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January.”
“I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you,” he wrote on X.
Trump appeared to confirm Bongino’s departure today when a reporter asked about Bongino’s future as deputy director.
HHS cuts millions in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics
The Department of Health and Human Services has terminated seven grants totaling millions of dollars to the American Academy of Pediatrics, escalating its confrontation with the group, which is suing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy.
The grants supported initiatives aimed at reducing sudden infant deaths, improving teen and young adult health, preventing birth defects, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, and identifying autism early, according to an academy spokesperson.
The Washington Post first reported the cuts.
Federal judge blocks Trump administration policy requiring members of Congress to wait 7 days before visiting ICE facilities
A federal judge in Washington this afternoon paused a Trump administration policy that blocks members of Congress from making unannounced oversight visits to federal immigration detention facilities.
The administration this summer imposed a weeklong waiting period between requests for access and access itself. It also barred access to Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices.
But in Section 527 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, Congress has already prohibited DHS and ICE from preventing members of Congress from entering ICE facilities upon request, as well as from making temporary modifications that would change what visiting members of Congress see when they visit.
Because of that, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb wrote, what the Trump administration is doing is unlawful.
"The Court concludes that Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the challenged Oversight Visit Policies are contrary to law and in excess of DHS’s statutory authority," Cobb wrote.
The plaintiff members of Congress, led by Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., wrote in a statement: “Today’s decision is a critical victory toward restoring our ability to conduct essential congressional oversight on behalf of the American people. It reinforces the rule of law and reminds the administration that oversight is not optional. Real-time, on-the-ground visits to immigration detention facilities help prevent abuses and ensure transparency. Oversight is a core responsibility of Members of Congress—and a constitutional duty we do not take lightly. We’ll continue standing up for the rule of law.”
Trump defends Venezuelan oil tankers blockade
Trump defended his blockade on sanctioned oil tankers' entering and leaving Venezuela in comments to reporters this afternoon.
"We’re not gonna let anybody going through that shouldn’t be going through," Trump said.
"You remember, they took all of our energy rights, they took all of our oil from not that long ago, and we want it back, but they took it. They illegally took it," he said.
The Trump administration has been mounting a pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Tensions escalated further last week when U.S. forces seized an oil tanker in waters near Venezuela.
Trump argued when he announced the blockade on Truth Social last night that Maduro is using oil revenue to finance illicit operations, including “drug terrorism.”
White House installs plaques mocking former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden
The White House has installed plaques on the exterior of the building bashing Trump’s predecessors, including Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and promoting disinformation about their administrations.
The plaques were hung up below presidential portraits that have been on display on Trump’s recently added “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the White House colonnade.
The one placed under the portrait of the “Autopen,” which stands in for Biden’s portrait, refers to him as “Sleepy Joe Biden” and calls him “the worst President in American History.” The plaque includes a number of derisive statements about Biden, referring to his “severe mental decline,” “the Biden Crime Family” and his “Radical Left handlers.”
How the Trump administration pushed to reopen immigration cases, putting thousands at risk of deportation
More than 117,000 immigrants — at least half of whom have lived in the country a decade or more — face potential deportation after the Trump administration pushed to reopen cases previously paused by an immigration judge, an NBC News analysis shows.
Most of those requests to reopen, also known as “re-calendaring” cases, were filed in Arizona, California, Florida and New York.
In California, more than 30,000 cases were moved to be re-calendared, a 14,000% increase from the start of the Trump administration’s second term in January to October compared with the same period in the last year of Joe Biden’s term.
Senate votes to confirm Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator
The Senate voted 67-30 to confirm Jared Isaacman to be the head of NASA.
Trump nominated Isaacman in November for the second time, after he abruptly revoked Isaacman's first nomination in May, citing "a thorough review of prior associations."
Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4, has never worked for NASA or the federal government.
In Senate testimony, FCC chairman says his agency isn’t independent
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, testifying today before a Senate committee, said the FCC is not an independent government agency — a position that counters his previous public statements and the office’s own website.
In an exchange with Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Carr said the FCC is “not formally an independent agency” because, he said, commissioners can be removed by the president.
Luján asked whether an FCC online mission statement characterizing the agency as “independent” was “lying.” Carr replied, “Possibly.”
Senate passes Defense program bill, sending it to Trump's desk
The Senate voted 77-20 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, the massive defense program authorization bill that lays out the military programs and provisions that will later be funded through the defense appropriations bill.
The bill includes a provision that would restrict the defense secretary’s travel budget to 75% until he “provides to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command.”
The bill, which has already passed the House, now goes to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that he would not release the video of the second Sept. 2 boat strike, which has generated controversy and led critics to accuse the U.S. military of potentially committing a war crime.
"Of course, we’re not going to release a top secret full, unedited video of that to the general public," Hegseth said yesterday.
The administration has released numerous videos of other boat strikes, touting them on social media.
Trump to discuss military actions in Venezuela in address
Don’t expect Trump to roll out specific new policies in his address to the nation tonight, a senior administration official told NBC News.
The official also said that while Trump will make the administration’s case for its actions so far with Venezuela, he isn’t expected to break new ground there or speak specifically about the oil blockade he announced last night on Truth Social.
Senate advances Jared Isaacman's nomination for NASA administator
The Senate voted, 67-30, to advance Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA administrator to a final confirmation vote.
Isaacman's final confirmation vote is expected to happen within the next two hours.
Senate's FCC oversight hearing is over
The Senate's FCC oversight committee hearing has ended.
Carr faced questions regarding free speech, the pressure campaign against ABC and about the FCC's independence.
Thune pours cold water on Senate ACA subsidy extension vote by end of year
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., did not seem to think the dynamics have changed in the Senate now that the House discharge petition for a clean three-year extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies has gotten the 218 signatures to force a vote.
“Even if they have a sufficient number of signatures, I doubt they vote on it this week,” Thune said, adding that he predicts any vote on an extension "is going to be a very probably partisan vote.”
Now that the discharge petition has 218 votes, it's still not likely that the House will vote on the measure until next year, after the holiday recess.
"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it," the senate majority leader added.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Senate floor blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Thune for rising health care costs, citing their opposition to passing an extension of health care subsidies.
"Republican leaders inside the House and the Senate are making it clear that they are opposed and will be responsible for health care costs rising through the roof," Schumer said.
Jack Smith tells Congress he could prove Trump engaged in a ‘criminal scheme’ to overturn 2020 election
Smith told a congressional committee that his team found “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by NBC News.
Trump also “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” to keep secret his retention of classified documents found during an FBI search in Mar-a-Lago, Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee during a closed-door hearing.
Speaker Mike Johnson says he has 'not lost control' of the House
Speaker Mike Johnson said he has “not lost control” of the House after four House Republicans signed on to the Democratic health care discharge petition this morning. He described what appeared to be an animated discussion between him and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., on the House floor as “intense fellowship.”
“Look, we have the smallest majority in U.S. history,” Johnson said. “These are not normal times. There are processes and procedures in the House that are less frequently used when there are larger majorities, and when you have the luxury of having 10 or 15 people who disagree on something, you know, you don’t have to deal with it. But when you have a razor-thin margin, as we do, then all the procedures in the book people think are on the table, and that, that’s the difference.”
Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with reporters as he departs a vote at the Capitol today. Francis Chung / Politico via AP
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also spoke to reporters about the moderate Republicans’ fissure, explaining that “in a narrow majority, it’s par for the course.”
House moves forward on health care bill debate
The House approved a rule to proceed with debate on the Republican health care bill. The House is scheduled to vote on the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act during the 5:30 p.m. vote series.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., was the only Republican who voted against the rule.
DOJ must release Epstein files by Friday or risk repercussions, law’s co-author says
One of the sponsors of the law requiring the release of the investigative files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said he’s giving the Justice Department the “benefit of the doubt” that it will make the files public by Friday — warning that there would be repercussions if it doesn’t.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last month by Trump, “calls for the release, publicly, of these files,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told NBC News in an interview.
He said officials at the Justice Department have not responded to requests for information about how and when the files will be made public, but noted that the DOJ successfully moved to unseal grand jury records in the case, which he takes as an indication it is trying to comply.
The law requires the DOJ to make the files public by Dec. 19.
Khanna said in an interview Monday that he believes the information “will show in certain cases how powerful men said that they had control over the local police in New York or had contacts with the FBI and told survivors not to report things because they would not go anywhere. That needs to come out.”
Klobuchar presses Carr on whether Trump's comments about Rob Reiner were appropriate
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she wanted to bring up social media and asked Carr if it was appropriate for Trump to vilify Rob Reiner after his son Nick Reiner was arrested and booked on suspicion of murdering the filmmaker and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.
"Do you think it’s appropriate for, after a horrific murder and the stabbing, the stabbing of Rob Reiner and his wife, do you think it’s appropriate for someone to say that it happened, "due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome. He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J Trump with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights,'" she said, reading Trump's Truth Social post from Monday.
"Do you think that’s appropriate for the president of the United States to do that? And if Jimmy Kimmel would have said that, would have you have threatened to take him off the air?" she asked.
Carr responded, "Senator, look, Democrats on this dais are accusing me of engaging in censorship, and now you’re trying to encourage me to police speech on the internet."
She said that Trump's comments were "cruel." “I think they hurt President Trump to say that kind of thing. I think it hurts him with trust from the American people. But this is the kind of stuff that’s going on right now, and yet you are going after broadcast stations, except for Fox, and making threats."
Asked if he thinks there should be no rules in place for tech platforms, Carr said, "There’s no public interest obligation, there is no license."
Cruz asks FCC's Brendan Carr about the public interest standard and First Amendment protections
In his first question of Carr, Cruz asked Carr about whether he believes the FCC's public interest standard should be understood to encompass First Amendment protections to ensure the agency can't be used to chill speech.
The GOP committee chair began the line of questioning by saying he wanted to focus on free speech. He said "leftists" tried to stop a routine renewal of a Fox-owned broadcast station over complaints about 2020 election coverage. He then criticized ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, saying he's "angry, overtly partisan and profoundly unfunny."
"That sadly is true for most late-night comedians today who seem to have been collectively broken by President Trump’s election. Jimmy’s remarks about Charlie Kirk were tasteless, and ABC and its affiliates would have been fully within their rights to fire him or simply to no longer air his program," Cruz said. "That was their choice, but what government cannot do is force private entities to take actions that the government cannot take directly. Government officials threatening adverse consequences for disfavored content is an unconstitutional coercion that chills protected speech."
Cruz then asked Carr about the FCC's public interest standard, stemming from the Communications Act of 1934, which requires that broadcast licensees operate in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.”
Carr, who threatened ABC over Kimmel's comments on Kirk, agreed with Cruz, saying that the examples the senator laid out of "weaponization during the Biden years are perfect examples."
"The Fox case you mentioned was a renewal for a broadcast TV license, and petitioners sought to have the FCC not renew it based on content that aired on a separate cable channel," Carr said. "In a cable context, it’s entirely different. There’s no license, there’s no public interest standard."
"Similarly, we saw Democrats in Congress write letters to cable companies pressuring them to drop Fox News, OAN and Newsmax because they disagree with the political perspectives of those cable channels. And there again, it was cable, no broadcast license, no public interest standard, so the FCC has to write within the four corners of our precedents to be consistent with the Communications Act in the First Amendment concerns as well."
Jack Smith facing an 'unprecedented retribution campaign,' his lawyer says
Jack Smith’s attorney, Lanny Breuer, delivered remarks ahead of the House Judiciary Committee deposition.
Breuer said Smith “is showing tremendous courage in light of the remarkable and unprecedented retribution campaign against him by this administration and this White House.”
Breur added that his client conducted the investigations in question “based on the facts and based on the law and nothing more.”
Democrats secure enough GOP support to force a House vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies
Rep. Katherine Clark, the Democratic whip in the House, announced that Democrats secured the necessary 218 signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote on an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
"This is how we fight back for the American people," she said in a post on X.
A handful of Republican lawmakers signed onto the petition: Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
The signatures are now frozen. In seven legislative days, anyone who signed the petition can force a vote on the measure. With the House leaving town Friday, a vote could not take place until the new year.
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”
Fitzpatrick was the first Republican lawmaker to sign onto the petition.
Lawler said in a statement that "when leadership blocks action entirely, Congress has a responsibility to act."
"My priority is ensuring Hudson Valley families aren’t caught in the gridlock," he said.
House to vote on health care bill today
The House is set to vote today on a GOP-led health care bill.
The bill includes provisions such as codifying Association Health Plans and “choice arrangements” and efforts to increase transparency from pharmacy benefit managers. It does not include an extension on Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Republican leadership aides previously said lawmakers were developing an Affordable Care Act amendment to the bill, but House Speaker Mike Johnson said yesterday he wouldn't call the vote. The move guarantees that the subsidies will expire at the end of the month.
Former special counsel Jack Smith to testify behind closed doors before House Judiciary Committee
Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to testify behind closed doors at a deposition before the House Judiciary Committee today.
The interview is part of the GOP-led panel's probe of Smith's office and the investigations into Trump.
Smith's lawyer said earlier this month that though he pushed to testify publicly, that request was rejected by Republicans on the committee.
“Nearly six weeks ago, Jack offered to voluntarily appear before the House Judiciary Committee in an open hearing to answer any questions lawmakers have about his investigation into President Trump’s alleged efforts to unlawfully overturn the election results and retention of classified documents," Peter Koski said.
"We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics," he continued. "Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to testify before Senate committee
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is set to testify this morning before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee at an oversight hearing alongside two FCC commissioners.
Carr came under fire in September after he threatened to take regulatory action against ABC after late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel's comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The warning prompted ABC to suspend Kimmel's show for about a week that month.
In September, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who chairs the committee Carr is testifying before, was one of the first congressional Republicans to criticize Carr for his threats.
“I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying," Cruz said on his podcast after Kimmel’s show was suspended. "I like Brendan Carr. He’s a good guy, he’s the chairman of the FCC. I work closely with him, but what he said there is dangerous as hell."
White House scrambles to address Susie Wiles’ explosive Vanity Fair interviews
Susie Wiles generally helps quietly shape headlines. She is rarely the focus of them.
That changed in dramatic fashion Tuesday after Vanity Fair published a deeply reported profile of the 68-year-old White House chief of staff, whose decadeslong career in politics has been defined by a measured, steady-the-ship tone, never one that could be construed as undermining her boss.
In the two-part Vanity Fair piece — which included 11 interviews over nearly a year, with the White House’s cooperation — Wiles comes off as far more candid than her public persona. She not only speaks openly about both Trump and those who make up the core of his administration, but appears to acknowledge that at times she has been at odds with some of the policies that have been central to Trump’s second term. While not unusual for a chief of staff to disagree with the president they serve, those concerns generally remain part of private conversations.
Wiles revealed there had been “huge disagreements” over implementing tariffs, acknowledged that the administration must “look harder” at its process for mass deportation and said she had to “get on board” with Trump’s decision to give blanket pardons to Jan. 6 defendants. She said she initially believed only those who did not commit violent acts should be pardoned.
The profile prompted an all-hands-on-deck pushback from the White House and Trump’s political orbit. The central talking point became that the profile lacked context, and supporters blasted the outlet for being unfair rather than offering any direct refutation of the authenticity of quotes or what was reported.
Trump expands travel ban, adding 5 more countries and imposing new limits on others
The Trump administration is expanding its travel ban to include five more countries and impose new limits on others.
This move yesterday is part of ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration. The decision follows the arrest of an Afghan national suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over the Thanksgiving weekend.
In June, Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term.
At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Yesterday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S. to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration also fully restricted travel for people with Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents.
