Trump goes after Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky congressman's district

Defense Department officials told senators in a closed-door briefing yesterday that they estimate the first six days of the war in Iran cost more than $11.3 billion, according to three sources familiar with the briefing.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told reporters today that he believes the amount is even higher, as the current figure does not include every aspect of the war.

“I expect that the current total operating number is significantly above that,” Coons said. “If all you’re looking at is the replacement cost for the munitions used, it’s already well beyond $10 billion.”

Reached for comment, a Pentagon spokesperson said: “We do not comment on closed-door discussions or matters. Regarding the cost of Operation Epic Fury, we won’t know the cost until the mission is complete.”

Read the full story here.

A man from Binghamton, N.Y., has been charged with making threats to Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Justice Department said this week.

Jeffrey Scott Hamm Jr., 32, allegedly posted comments on YouTube threatening violence against the president, ICE agents and Trump supporters, the DOJ said in a news release.

FBI Director Kash Patel reposted the release today on X.

“This Office, together with the FBI, will pursue anyone who makes such threats swiftly and aggressively. The defendant would have been better off saving his breath; now he’ll have plenty of time to reflect on his words while facing the consequences for them in federal court,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John Sarcone said in a statement.

Hamm appeared in court on Feb. 27 and was ordered to be detained while he awaits further proceedings. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the DOJ said.

Richard Kahn, who was Jeffrey Epstein's accountant, testified for roughly six hours today before the House Oversight Committee in its Epstein probe.

Committee chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Kahn named five people who paid Epstein, "and that was Les Wexner, Glenn Dubin, Steven Sinofsky, the Rothschilds and Leon Black."

Comer noted that the committee previously questioned Wexner and that Black will be deposed “very soon.” No one named by Kahn has been accused by the authorities of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Trump delivered a mixed message today about the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in his first remarks at a political rally since strikes began less than two weeks ago.

“You know, you never want to say too early you won,” Trump told supporters at a packaging plant in Hebron, Kentucky. “We won. The first hour, it was over.”

But moments later, he suggested that the U.S. mission is not complete, a characterization underscored by the ongoing use of American force in Iran.

“We don’t want to leave early, do we?” he asked rhetorically. “We’ve got to finish the job.”

Read the full story here.

Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republican leaders and committee chairs at their annual retreat earlier this week that Trump wants the SAVE America Act to be a top priority, brushing aside a GOP fight over a housing bill, according to one of the lawmakers in attendance.

The lawmaker said Johnson told members that, in his private conversation with Trump stressing the importance of the SAVE America Act, the president said “no one gives a (bleep) about housing.” Johnson did not repeat the curse word himself but made it clear that Trump used one, the lawmaker said.

Asked to comment on reporting that Trump told the speaker to focus on passing the SAVE America Act instead of Republican infighting over a housing bill, White House spokesman Davis Ingle told NBC News in a statement tonight that it “is not accurate whatsoever.”

Ingle said that Trump "has been laser-focused on making housing more affordable," while adding that the president "has made clear publicly that passing the SAVE America Act is Congress’s most urgent priority right now."

Johnson’s office did not provide a comment.

Several voters at Trump's rally in Kentucky told NBC News today that they won't be casting a ballot for Thomas Massie again, as the president backs farmer and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein in the GOP primary.

Chris Binion, a resident in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, told NBC News that he would not be voting for Massie this time around, despite having voted for the congressman "every time” before.

"It seems like he’s an obstructionist to the Republican way," Binion said.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., at the State of the Union address at the Capitol last month. Pool / Getty Images file

Billie Jean Wright, who also lives in Massie's district, said she is pulling her support because, "I don’t like the career politicians. I want a younger generation in there and something different."

Molly Howard, another district resident, said, "I voted for him. But would I vote again? Probably not."

Asked why she changed her mind, she said, "He just doesn’t align with all that I believe."

Trump invited Jake Paul, internet personality and professional boxer, onstage to speak at this afternoon's event in Kentucky.

"What Mr. Trump has taught me is courage. You know, we never back down from a fight, even if they're much bigger than you," Paul said. "I feel all the local Kentuckians feel the same way. You guys have that fight. You guys have that swag."

Trump praised Paul as he walked off stage, calling him a "courageous guy" and "a hell of a fighter."

"I'm going to make a prediction that you will be in the not too distant future running for political office, and you have my complete and total endorsement," the president said.

After bashing Massie, Trump brought Ed Gallrein onstage to address audience members in the district where he's looking to unseat the congressman.

Gallrein thanked Trump for his endorsement, saying his support “skyrocketed” after that.

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

“As you folks know, you deserve an authentic, true Republican conservative that stands shoulder to shoulder with our president and the Republican Party and against the Democrats who are trying to destroy our nation,” Gallrein said to the crowd.

“Mr. President, I will stand with you and the party to put America first and Kentucky always,” he added.

Trump bashed Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., this afternoon in Kentucky, calling him “a disaster for our party.”

The president has long feuded with Massie over the congressman voting against some of his policies.

Trump then praised Ed Gallrein, who is challenging Massie for his seat.

Trump calls Rep. Thomas Massie a 'disaster' at Kentucky rally

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Trump paused his remarks in Kentucky for a little more than five minutes after audience members standing behind him began calling out for medical assistance for a woman who appeared to collapse.

"Do you have a doctor in the house, please?" Trump said.

Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services who's popularly known as Dr. Oz, joined the first responders who arrived and provided help.

Amid voter disapproval over his handling of inflation and cost of living, Trump focused his early remarks in Kentucky today on the economy.

He highlighted tax cuts and commitments to build new factories in the U.S.

A Florida man was indicted this month over threats against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Trump.

Diego Villavicencio faces a four-count indictment that alleges he threatened a member of Congress, writing, “I’ll kill you and your family and you won’t do anything about it”; that he threatened an unnamed individual who, he wrote, would “be shot and killed on Sept. 23”; and threatened the president of the United States, writing: “I’ll be driving there to take a couple of shots at trump and some other corrupt plutocrats.”

Swalwell confirmed that the unnamed member of Congress in the indictment is him. Swalwell, an outspoken critic of Trump and 2026 candidate for governor of California, is a recurring target of threats. He also served as an impeachment manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial.

“The aim of this threat was to silence me,” Swalwell told NBC News. “Political violence has never been the answer. And it never will be. My family and I are grateful to the Department of Justice for their attention to this violent threat.”

Read the full story here.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has reported receiving many threats.  Etienne Laurent / AFP via Getty Images file

The Trump administration today asked the Supreme Court to immediately allow implementation of a policy that would remove protected status from thousands of Haitian immigrants living in the U.S.

Lower courts blocked the move, prompting Solicitor General D. John Sauer to turn to the high court, which granted a similar request last year relating to Venezuelan immigrants.

The case concerns the Temporary Protected Status program, which gives people legal status to live and work in the United States for up to 18 months, subject to renewal. The Trump administration, via Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has sought to terminate TPS for various countries.

The underlying lawsuit seeks to "second-guess the underpinnings of Secretary Noem’s decisions, including whether she consulted enough with other agencies, whether she correctly assessed country conditions, and whether her decision was preordained," Sauer wrote. The government's argument is that Noem's TPS decisions are not subject to legal challenge at all.

There was a heated exchange between Republicans and Democrats this afternoon on the Senate floor as both sides tried to pass legislation that would reopen parts or all of the Department of Homeland Security.

Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., tried to pass a DHS funding bill that excludes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the Secretary.

Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., however, objected and tried to pass a two-week extension of full DHS funding. Murray then objected.

The dueling efforts come as negotiations continue on reforms to ICE that would unlock enough Democratic votes to fully fund the agency through September.

The back and forth on the Senate floor captured how far apart the parties are on securing a deal to fully fund DHS, which is 26 days into a shutdown. Democrats are seeking changes to ICE in the wake of the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota earlier this year.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would not let his teen daughter ride the New York City subway at night. 

"I do think in America, we should expect a transit system that’s honorable and respectable and you should be able to have your 14-year-old daughter get on a metro train in New York City at 7 o’clock at night and feel safe," he said during a panel discussion. "And there’s no way in hell I would ever put my daughter on the MTA in New York."

Influential podcaster Joe Rogan this week questioned Trump’s decision to strike Iran, saying that some supporters of the president feel “betrayed” by the war.

Speaking about Iran with conservative author and writer Michael Shellenberger in a podcast episode released yesterday, Rogan said that the military operation “seems so insane based on what he ran on.”

Read the full story here.

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., is introducing a legislative package to revamp civics education and create an “apolitical structure” to teach people of all ages about the U.S. Constitution and government.

“As we reflect on the first 250 years of our nation, we need to be building out tools that will best set up younger generations for success as they shape America’s next chapter,” Kim wrote in a news release shared exclusively with NBC News. “In a time of great uncertainty, I hope this legislative package will help young people stay well-informed, engaged, and take us into the brighter future they deserve.”

Kim's office said the legislation would do the following:

• Establish a congressional commission to review existing federal education programs and develop a “national strategy” to help coordinate government support to schools.
• Unlock access to funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and permanently authorize the Education Department’s American History and Civics Academies with a dedicated $40 million annual investment.

Trump’s Fed chair nominee will continue to be stuck in the Senate as Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., posted on X that he will continue to hold Kevin Warsh’s nomination up until the DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell has concluded.

“It is unfortunate that an ongoing investigation prevents me from voting for Kevin at this time,” Tillis said, “I am awaiting further clarification from the D.C. District Court regarding the criminal case, particularly as seven Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, including the chairman, have stated that no crime was committed.”

Tillis met with Warsh yesterday, and he says Warsh “possesses impeccable credentials and a clear vision for maintaining the Fed’s independence while achieving its dual mandate.”

Because Tillis sits on the Senate Banking Committee, the narrow majority in the committee means his opposition to proceeding with Warsh means his nomination will be blocked.

Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., spoke with reporters this morning about the split within Senate Republicans regarding the filibuster and the SAVE America Act. 

“I think the most significant thing that Leader Thune said was we don’t have the votes to break the filibuster, and I think he’s reflecting what I hear within the conference,” Capito said. 

Lummis said Thune did not shoulder the blame for shutting down discussions about nuking the filibuster. 

“Members of the Republican Party in the Senate are not convinced that a talking filibuster can be used to pass this, that it will be an infliction of tremendous delays on other matters before the U.S. Senate, without the positive results of passage of the SAVE Act.”

When asked if the debates surrounding the passage of the SAVE America Act are helpful ahead of the midterms, Lummis said, “What I think the Republicans need to be focused on is getting domestic prices under control, addressing interest rates, addressing housing costs, addressing food costs, addressing insurance costs, addressing airplane fares. And for crying out loud, what we should be doing, first and foremost, is funding the Department of Homeland Security.” 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., responded to Sen. John Cornyn's sharp reversal on the filibuster by noting that most of the caucus is opposed to eliminating the filibuster.

"Sen. Cornyn is one of 53 Republican senators, and the opposition to nuking the filibuster runs very, very deep in our conference, I think, as you know," Thune told reporters.

The majority leader's comments come after Cornyn wrote an op-ed explaining he had changed his stance on the filibuster, which effectively requires most bills have the support of a supermajority of 60 senators to advance in the Senate. Cornyn wrote in the New York Post that he would support "whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary" for the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, which Trump is urging Republicans to do in order to reshape elections.

"For many years, I believed that if the US Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain," Cornyn wrote.

"But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt," he added.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was asked by NBC News about his past defense of the Senate filibuster and his recent decision to support a potential rule change to pass the SAVE America Act by eliminating the measure.

'Go away': Cornyn dismisses questions about support of filibuster

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, reversed himself on the Senate filibuster today after years of unflinching support for the 60-vote threshold to pass most bills.

Now, locked in a competitive Republican runoff for his Senate seat and eyeing Trump’s endorsement, Cornyn says he’ll support “whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul bill that Trump has called his No. 1 priority.

Cornyn supports the bill, but his GOP runoff opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has aligned with Trump in calling for abolition of the filibuster to pass the bill and criticized Cornyn for refusing to take the same stance.

Read the full story here.

Trump has vowed not to sign any bills into law until the SAVE America Act is passed, escalating his pressure campaign to get a sweeping voting bill across the finish line before this fall’s elections.

But Trump has repeatedly misstated the contents of the legislation in his public pitches for it and called for additions to the bill that would make those claims true.

Here’s what’s in the bill and what’s not.

Read the full story here.

NBC News’ Steve Kornacki is at the board breaking down the numbers in the Georgia special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, which will head to a runoff election in April.

Kornacki explains how Georgia special election led to runoff

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Consumer price growth was steady in February, right before the Iran war rattled global energy markets and sent prices skyrocketing.

The consumer price index rose 0.3% month over month or 2.4% from one year ago, which was in line with what analysts and economists were expecting.

Read the full story here.

Democrat Bobbi Boudman flipped a legislative seat in New Hampshire, which the party is touting as another sign that its candidates have the momentum heading into November's midterm elections.

Boudman won the Carroll County District 7 seat, which the Democratic National Committee said Republicans carried by 13 points in the previous election.

With Boudman’s election yesterday, Democrats have now managed to flip 28 legislative seats from Republicans since 2025, the DNC said in a news release.

Republican candidate Dale Fincher appeared to concede in a post on X, saying that his team put in their best effort, "but couldn’t come up with the numbers."

Some of the other states where Democratic flipped seats in special elections include Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania.

There could be another McAuliffe representing Virginia soon.

Dorothy McAuliffe — the former Virginia first lady, onetime State Department official and wife of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe — said today that she will run for Congress, putting a prominent name into the mix for a newly drawn district.

Read the full story here.

A van drove through a barricade near the White House this morning, according to D.C. Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Nathan Clark.

"There are no reported injuries at this time, the van operator was apprehended and the investigation is ongoing," Clark said.

The incident took place around 6:30 a.m. at a barricade on the corner of Lafayette Square, a park directly north of the White House, he said, noting that D.C. police officers responded to help Secret Service agents.

Streets around the White House were temporarily shut down after the incident.

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., will announce today that he is running for Senate in Oklahoma, two sources familiar with his plans told NBC News.

Hern will run to fill Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s seat after Trump selected the Oklahoma senator to be the next nominee for homeland security secretary. Hern’s plans were first reported by Punchbowl News.

Read the full story here.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is in a tight run-off in the Texas GOP primary, said today in a New York Post op-ed that he will support changes to the Senate rules to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that could be key in obtaining Trump’s endorsement.

Cornyn wrote that, “After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate, and on the president’s desk for his signature.” 

“This could be a “talking filibuster” that removes the obstructionists’ free pass and makes them defend their indefensible views on the Senate floor, or it could be a different reform,” he wrote. 

Cornyn’s support may not change the dynamics in the Senate in terms of the ability of Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act either through the so-called talking filibuster or through a rules change to break the 60-vote threshold. But it signifies the intense pressure Republicans like him are under to change their views of the significance of the filibuster to acquiesce to Trump and his base.

Trump’s pick for a senior role at the State Department said yesterday that he is withdrawing from consideration after having faced bipartisan backlash over his comments about race and religion.

Jeremy Carl, a conservative political commentator, said he was backing out of his nomination to be assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs because of a lack of support from Republican senators.

Read the full story here.

The percentage of voters with significant levels of confidence in the Supreme Court has dropped to its lowest point since NBC News began polling on the question in 2000, according to the most recent survey.

The latest NBC News poll shows that 22% of registered voters nationally said they have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the high court. Another 40% said they had “some” confidence, while 38% said they had “very little” or “no” confidence.

The previous low point for voters’ impressions of the Supreme Court came in the wake of the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, when 27% said they had a great deal or quite a bit of confidence. That number hit a high of 52% in December 2000, just before the court’s Bush v. Gore ruling that paved the way for George W. Bush to take office, a polarizing decision that buffeted the court’s popularity.

Read the full story here.

GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith will face off against Democrat Scott Colom in November in Mississippi, with NBC News projecting that both have won their respective primaries yesterday.

It will be a difficult race for Colom, a district attorney. A Democrat has not won a Senate race in Mississippi since 1982 and Trump won the state by 23 points in 2024. And Ty Pinkins, who was the Democratic Senate nominee against GOP Sen. Roger Wicker in 2024, is running for Senate again, but as an independent.

Read the full story here.

Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris advanced yesterday from a crowded field to a runoff in the special election to replace former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, NBC News projects.

Fuller, a district attorney, benefited from Trump’s endorsement in the solidly GOP district in the northwest corner of the state. Harris, a retired Army brigadier general and cattle rancher, lost to Greene in the 2024 general election in the 14th District.

Neither candidate was projected to win the majority needed to avoid a runoff in the special election. With 99% of the expected vote in, Harris was at 37%, while Fuller was at 35%. But Fuller enters the April 7 runoff as the favorite in a district Trump carried by 37 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race.

Read the full story here.

If Rep. Thomas Massie is right, Republicans in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District are more loyal to Trumpism than to Trump — and think he is, too.

“People support Trump, but they also support what he campaigned on,” Massie said in a phone interview with NBC News yesterday. “When people support me, they’re supporting the things that Donald Trump campaigned on actually getting done. And when they support Donald Trump, they’re supporting the man they voted for in the last election.”

Massie’s theory will get a major test today. That’s when Trump, who has called Massie a “moron,” a “lightweight” and a “loser,” takes their long-running fight to Massie’s backyard with a visit to Hebron, Kentucky, just outside Cincinnati. Trump has endorsed Massie’s opponent, farmer and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA KY has spent $2.6 million on ads in the race, according to AdImpact. The total is closer to $5 million in favor of Gallrein and against Massie when other outside political groups are included.

Read the full story here.