Live updates: Trump delivers remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast

In his remarks, Trump highlighted his efforts to lower the crime rate in Washington, D.C., arguing that the National Guard troop presence led to the city being safer.

"I think to me, it looks much more beautiful," Trump said. "You walk down the street, you have three guys that are six foot six and angry-looking people, but they actually are very nice. They're angry when they see criminals."

National Guard troops have been in the city for months, and a new Democrat-led report found that their deployment has cost more than $330 million in taxpayer dollars, but said it has not delivered measurable results.

Trump thanked El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, during his remarks for cooperating with U.S. deportations to his country.

"We’re also delighted to welcome visiting leaders and dignitaries for more than 110 countries. They’re here, including one of my favorite people, President Bukele of El Salvador. He has been so incredible. He has been such a great ally of this country. Thank you very much."

"Some of you have seen, he operates rather large prisons," he said. "They do a very humane job, but they’re very strong prisons, and we present a lot of the people that we capture — the murderers, the drug dealers, the people that came into our country illegally and have already committed massive crimes."

"We had 11,888 murders, and many of them are in your prisons right now," he continued.

Trump said it was Attorney General Pam Bondi who wanted Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, to show up at the FBI's search of a Fulton County, Georgia, election center last week.

"She took a lot of heat two days ago because she went in, at Pam's insistence, she went in, and she looked at votes that want to be checked out from Georgia," Trump said. "They say, 'Why is she doing it?' Right, Pam? 'Why is she doing it?' Because Pam wanted her to do it. And you know why? Because she's smart."

Gabbard told Democratic lawmakers this week that she was at the center as part of her role as the country’s top intelligence official, adding that she would share her intelligence assessments with Congress once those were complete.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, meanwhile, said that Gabbard “doesn’t work for the Department of Justice or the FBI” and that she was “not part of this investigation.”

The FBI searched the Georgia elections hub and seized records from the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County officials are suing the Trump administration to have the records returned.

In his prayer breakfast remarks, Trump appeared once again to falsely suggest he won the popular vote in his first presidential election.

"We won the popular vote by a lot," Trump baselessly said.

Trump won the Electoral College in 2016, winning him the presidency. However, he lost the popular vote to then-candidate Hillary Clinton.

Clinton secured more than 62.5 million votes, while Trump secured more than 61.2 million votes.

Later in the speech he falsely referred to the 2020 election as being "rigged," a claim that has been repeatedly debunked.

Trump again defended Kristi Noem's job leading the Department of Homeland Security despite the recent fatal killings by federal agents in Minnesota.

"Yesterday, I did the Super Bowl interview," he said, referring to Tom Llamas' interview with Trump for "NBC Nightly News." "'Sir, are you going to relieve Kristi Noem of her duties?' No," he said.

"I said, 'What would I do?' We have the strongest border in the history of our country," he added.

Trump also started off by mocking Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in his National Prayer Breakfast remarks.

"We have one guy is an automatic 'no,' no matter what," Trump said. "We just did the greatest tax cuts in history. He voted against."

Trump named Massie and said, "There’s something wrong with him. We call him Rand Paul Jr."

Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have opposed a number of Trump's policies and GOP agenda items. Massie also co-authored the bill that required the Justice Department to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein-related records, which Trump signed in November.

Trump hit out at Democrats shortly after starting his National Prayer Breakfast remarks, saying, "I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don't."

Lawmakers from both parties attend the annual faith-based breakfast. The program's honorary co-chairs are a Democratic senator and and a Republican senator.

At the top of his remarks, Trump referred to his jokes about not getting into heaven, criticizing journalists who he said covered those remarks seriously.

"I was just having fun," Trump said.

"I really think I probably should make it" into heaven, he said. "I mean, I'm not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good for perfect people, that's for sure."

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele gave remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he touted lower crime rates in his country and argued that it was a reflection of winning a spiritual war in his country.

"We won the spiritual war first, and that reflected in our physical world," Bukele said.

Bukele is a controversial figure in Washington where, months ago, he initially rejected Democrats' push for Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be returned to the U.S.

The breakfast typically brings together top lawmakers and power brokers in D.C. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is among those seated on stage.

The controversy over Texas state Rep. James Talarico’s alleged comment about one of his former Democratic opponents has exposed some of the racial divides unfolding in the party’s Senate primary, with just a few weeks until voters pick a nominee.

A TikTok influencer went viral this week with an allegation that Talarico described former Rep. Colin Allred as a “mediocre Black man,” which Talarico said was a “mischaracterization” as Allred slammed the comment as disqualifying.

“Go vote for Jasmine Crockett,” Allred said in a video response, endorsing Talarico’s opponent in the Democratic primary. “This man should not be our nominee for United States Senate.”

Allred had been running for the Democratic Senate nomination against Talarico, but he switched to a House campaign after Crockett jumped into the race. He told NBC News yesterday that he was moved to speak out in part because Black voters are so crucial to the state. And he suggested Talarico would not be able to win their support.

Read the full story here.

Trump will deliver remarks this morning at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event attended by every president since Dwight D. Eisenhauer.

It will be his sixth time speaking at the program. The annual bipartisan event dates back decades, and it is customary for presidents to attend.

This year's honorary co-chairs are Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is relaunching her Kamala HQ social media accounts in an attempt to reach out to young voters.

Harris' team is partnering with the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way to rebrand the accounts as Headquarters, according to a news release, with plans to expand to other platforms such as YouTube and Substack.

"This combination of these large social media accounts and an organization that has for decades been at the nexus of culture and politics will help power the progressive movement for another generation," the release said.

Harris is also taking on an honorary role with the advocacy group as chair emerita of Headquarters, the release said. Her senior adviser, Kirsten Allen, will also join the group's board of directors.

The Trump administration‘s deployment of the National Guard to the nation’s capital has cost taxpayers more than $330 million and delivered little in the way of measurable results, according to a new report from Democrats on the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Andy Kim of New Jersey released the report today as the National Guard’s presence in Washington could continue through the rest of 2026. The senators said the deployment is on track to exceed $600 million at the one-year mark, in August.

“What’s interesting is that, despite that significant investment of taxpayer dollars now six months into the mission, the National Guard has been unable to identify any specific measurable public safety outcomes directly attributable to their presence,” Peters, the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters on a media call.

The 14-page report characterizes the National Guard’s presence as having a vague crime-fighting directive with an “unrealistic or unachievable outcome that would leave them in D.C. indefinitely.” It says a top National Guard commander told staff members that their mission is to help drive down metrics such as violent crimes and drug overdoses so that they’re nonexistent.

Read the full story here.

The last major nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expires today, ushering in an era without constraints set by the world’s largest nuclear powers.

Without the New START treaty, which caps the number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 on each side, there will be no limits on the U.S. and Russian arsenals. Not only are there no discussions between Washington and Moscow on what comes next, but also officials from both countries are left guessing about the other side’s capabilities and intentions, increasing the possibility of misunderstandings and an unrestricted nuclear arms race not seen since the 1960s, experts and officials warn.

“For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals” of Russia and the U.S., United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement, calling it a “grave moment” for international peace and security.

Read the full story here.

The race to fill a vacant, safely blue House seat in New Jersey has set off an expensive competition between different interest groups, political figures and cash-flush super PACs to shape the future of the Democratic Party this year — one district at a time.

The Democratic primary to succeed Gov. Mikie Sherrill in Congress has attracted 11 candidates from across the ideological spectrum and various levels of politics, including an ex-lieutenant governor, a former congressman, a grassroots activist and a handful of local politicians.

It has also seen nearly $6 million of spending from outside groups and numerous endorsements from prominent figures with an interest in who will next represent this slice of North Jersey. The primary winner could potentially represent this district, which Kamala Harris carried by 9 points in 2024, for as long as they want, giving power to one faction or another of the Democratic caucus in the House. The winner could eventually run for higher office in the future, too, like Sherrill.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-Mass.,0 is putting her progressive star power behind Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, endorsing her in the competitive Democratic primary to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. 

Warren’s endorsement ahead of the March 17 primary was shared first with NBC News. 

It comes as the race ramps up and early voting begins today, with ads proliferating across TV and candidates trading jabs at debates.

In choosing Stratton, Warren passed over a fellow congressional Democrat: well-funded Rep. Raja Krishmamoorthi, who has led the race in early polling and fundraising. Gov. JB Pritzker endorsed Stratton last year, and records show that the billionaire has sunk $5 million into a super PAC to boost Stratton. Rep. Robin Kelly is also competing in the contest. 

This is the second endorsement that Warren has issued in a competitive Senate primary this election cycle.