Trump and RFK Jr. promote unproven claims about autism at White House event

Washington and Beijing will have to communicate better if they are to resolve their various disagreements — and if they don’t talk it could be “dangerous,” a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday during a rare congressional visit to China.

Though a group of U.S. senators visited Beijing in 2023, this is the first delegation of House lawmakers to visit China since 2019. Their trip comes amid tensions between the U.S. and China over trade, technology and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the leader of the bipartisan delegation, said they held “robust and very helpful” meetings with Chinese officials and that the objective of the trip was to reopen lines of communication between “the two most powerful countries in the world.”

“Our relationship is going to be the most consequential relationship in terms of what the world is going to be like for decades to come,” Smith told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “It is really important that we work to strengthen that relationship and better understand each other.”

Read the full story here.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ memoir of her failed 2024 campaign for the Oval Office skewers some of the nation’s most prominent Democrats — including former President Joe Biden — offers her perspective on crucial moments in the election and outlines her own regrets about her decisions and performance.

Published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday, “107 Days” zooms in on the narrow window during which Biden abruptly handed her the reins of the Democratic nomination and she lost to Donald Trump.

The book is notable among election memoirs in its often candid assessments of figures who are still active in politics and in the possibility that Harris will use it as a launch pad for a third bid for the presidency in 2028.

Read the full story here.

David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China, interjected with comments on last week’s phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“They had a great call,” he said. “They’re looking forward to getting together. I would say the relationship between President Xi and President Trump is actually very good and very encouraging right now.”

After the lengthy call, their first since June, U.S. officials said that Trump and Xi had agreed to meet on the sidelines of next month’s APEC Summit in South Korea and that Trump would visit China “early next year” followed by a Xi visit to the United States.

(It’s worth noting that the Chinese readout of the phone call did not include any mention of an upcoming meeting or reciprocal visits, but it did make a point of saying Trump had described Beijing’s recent military parade as “phenomenal and beautiful.”)

The news conference has concluded.

Some context on the visit to China by the U.S. congressional delegation, whose meeting with the Chinese defense minister yesterday came weeks after a massive military parade on Sept. 3 that showed off Beijing’s capabilities. 

Rep. Adam Smith acknowledged the need to improve communication with China given the advancement of military technologies on display, from drones to nuclear weapons.

“I hope we can ramp up that dialogue,” he said, “to make sure that we understand each other and we don’t stumble into any sort of conflict.”

In response to our question about lines of communication, Rep. Adam Smith acknowledged that “both China and the U.S. are in entirely different places now than they were even a decade ago.”

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday. Janis Mackey Frayer / NBC News

“It’s going to be different, because our two countries are in an entirely different place,” he said. “And then we have to look at what the broad issues are that we’re trying to resolve,” including trade, military competition, tensions on the Korean Peninsula and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“So I would say it’s going to be in a different place than where it was in the past, and that is where we need to go,” he said.

Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance lawyer and member of Trump’s legal team, was officially named interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Justice Department officials told NBC News today.

Attorney General Pam Bondi swore in Halligan around noon at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.

Halligan was part of the legal circle representing Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified records case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Trump announced over the weekend that he would appoint Halligan, a White House adviser with no experience as a criminal prosecutor, to the position in a series of Truth Social posts demanding that the Justice Department and Bondi criminally charge three of his longtime targets: New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Justice Department officials say Trump is expected to nominate Halligan to be the permanent U.S. attorney, requiring Senate confirmation.

Rep. Adam Smith is speaking now about the objective for the congressional visit to Beijing. He said the Chinese government has been “very generous with its time.”

“Everybody has disagreements,” said Smith, adding that the objective of the trip is to open up lines of communication.

“China and the United States are the two most powerful countries in the world. Our relationship is going to be the most consequential relationship in terms of what the world is going to be like for decades to come,” he said.

“It is really important that we work to strengthen that relationship and better understand each other.” 

We’re at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for a news conference with the first congressional visit from the House of Representatives in six years after the Covid-19 pandemic ended formal House visits to China in 2020.

We’ll hear from Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, a Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, about meetings the lawmakers have held with Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang, China’s No. 2 official, and Defense Minister Dong Jun.

Other members include Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Washington, a Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, both Democrats on the Armed Services Committee. It will also be the first official media event attended by the new U.S. ambassador to China, David Perdue.

Harris said in tonight's MSNBC interview that although she favored former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, she decided it would be a "real risk" to name him as her running mate.

"To be a Black woman running for president of the United States and as a vice presidential running mate, a gay man, with the stakes being so high, it made me very sad, but I also realized it would be a real risk," Harris said when she was asked about the decision.

"We had such a short period of time," Harris said. "I think Pete is a phenomenal, phenomenal public servant, and I think America is and would be ready for that."

Harris, who ultimately selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, also conceded tonight that "maybe I was being too cautious."

In recent months, Buttigieg has raised speculation about a potential 2028 presidential campaign.

Harris would not say in the interview whether she will consider a run for president in 2028.

"That’s not my focus right now," Harris said on MSNBC when host Rachel Maddow asked her about 2028. "That’s not my focus at all."

Asked whether a decision not to run for governor of California next year shed any light on her political ambitions, Harris said: "That was a decision before me, and I made the decision not to run for governor of California."

Harris had announced in July that she wouldn't run for governor in her home state, saying, “For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office.”

Harris was asked in an MSNBC interview tonight about New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani and what she makes of his candidacy in spite of some hesitation from fellow Democrats who have shied away from endorsing him.

"Look, as far as I'm concerned, he's the Democratic nominee, and he should be supported," Harris told host Rachel Maddow.

Asked whether she endorsed Mamdani's candidacy, Harris said: "I support the Democrat in the race, sure."

Harris also said she did not believe Mamdani was the party's only rising star, cautioning against losing "sight of the stars throughout our country who are right now running for mayor and many other offices."

Former Vice President Kamala Harris was asked in an MSNBC interview tonight about an admission in her forthcoming book, “107 Days,” that she had not predicted what she describes as the “capitulation” of industries that she says have traditionally served as the guardrails of democracy to Trump.

Harris told host Rachel Maddow that media organizations and big law firms had perhaps caved "because they want a merger approved or they want to avoid an investigation."

"But at some point they’ve got to stand up for the sake of the people who rely on all of these institutions to have integrity and to, at some point, be the guardrails against a tyrant who is using the federal government to execute his whim and fancy because of a fragile ego,” Harris said.

Harris praised the reinstatement of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after Disney announced the show's suspension last week over comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk's assassination, saying it "spoke volumes, and it moved a decision in the right direction.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said today that Jimmy Kimmel's suspension "should never have happened" after Disney announced that his show would be reinstated.

"Freedom of speech is under attack in the United States of America. Donald Trump is weaponizing the federal government to come after Americans who disagree with him, claiming that negative coverage of him is illegal. That’s unconscionable, unacceptable and un-American," Jeffries said in a statement.

"The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel should never have happened and that’s why House Democrats strongly denounced it," he added.

Jeffries also urged media companies to "hold the line against the Trump administration’s unconstitutional attacks on the First Amendment" and blasted Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who had floated the idea of Kimmel's suspension during an appearance on a podcast last week shortly before Kimmel's removal. Jeffries said Carr "should be fired immediately."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who is the chairman of the Health Committee, appeared to dispute Trump’s claim that acetaminophen use during pregnancy may cause autism, saying that “the preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case.”

“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim. The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case. The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem,” Cassidy, R-La., said on X.

Trump said today that the administration is issuing a warning to doctors not to recommend acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol and other widely used medications — for pregnant women, claiming it may be linked to autism in children.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with other major medical groups, say acetaminophen is among the few pain relievers considered safe for use during pregnancy, and studies have found no clear evidence linking it to developmental problems in children.

Trump signed an executive order today designating antifa, a decentralized set of extreme left-wing groups, as a “domestic terrorist organization.”

“I hereby designate Antifa as a ‘domestic terrorist organization.’ All relevant executive departments and agencies shall utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations,” the order says.

There is no domestic equivalent in federal law to a “foreign terrorist organization” — a label administrations use to sanction nonstate adversaries overseas. Congress has passed a statute that defines domestic terrorism but it carries no criminal penalty.

Trump is expected to meet with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week to discuss funding the government as the specter of a shutdown looms, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

A time and a date have not yet been set. The meeting is expected to take place in Washington.

Jeffries and Schumer, both of New York, had requested that the meeting take place ahead of the Sept. 30 funding deadline.

Trump said over the weekend, “I’d love to meet with them, but I don’t think it’s going to have any impact.”

Read the full story here.

Trump’s insistence that his attorney general bring charges against three perceived political opponents could backfire if any cases get to court, undermining his effort to see them punished, some legal experts said today.

Trump pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media Saturday about three people who’ve raised his ire and who’ve not faced criminal charges to this point: Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

He mentioned that he’d been impeached and indicted multiple times “OVER NOTHING!”

“JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED NOW!!!” he wrote. He also cited unspecified “statements and posts” he’d read contending that the trio are “‘guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”

Read the full story here.

Trump was flanked by Kennedy and other top administration officials, including Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, at today's autism announcement.

Two mothers who said they have children with autism also praised the administration for the announcement in brief remarks.

Trump today endorsed unsubstantiated claims about a link between Tylenol and autism and made a variety of outlandish claims about childhood vaccinations, offering perhaps his most emphatic support to date of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda.

At a White House briefing, Trump announced that his administration is issuing a warning to doctors not to recommend acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol and other widely used medications — for pregnant women, claiming it may be linked to autism in children.

“I want to say it like it is: Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” he said. “Fight like hell not to take it.”

Trump had been teasing the announcement for days, as Kennedy and other health officials have pledged to determine the cause of the developmental disorder by September. Researchers who’ve spent decades researching potential causes of autism say that the administration hasn’t uncovered new evidence — and that the existing data still doesn’t support its claims.

Read the full story here.

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will return to ABC’s airwaves tomorrow, nearly a week after it was suspended amid criticism of his remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” Disney, which owns ABC, said in a statement today. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

Disney announces Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show will return to ABC airwaves

02:03

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Disney added.

The announcement ends an impasse that had drawn national attention, plunging Disney into a political firestorm at the intersection of debates over free speech and “cancel culture.”

Read the full story here.

Dow Jones and News Corp. have filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit over The Wall Street Journal’s “Birthday book” reporting.

Attorneys for the newspaper argue there are three separate reasons the case should be dismissed. “First,” they write, “the Article is true.”

“The Birthday Book as produced by the Epstein estate and later publicly released by the House Oversight Committee contains a letter identical to the one described in the Article.”

Second, they say, "The article is not defamatory."

“Even if it had reported that President Trump personally crafted the letter—and it does not — there is nothing defamatory about a person sending a bawdy note to a friend, and the Article cannot damage Plaintiff’s reputation as a matter of law.”

They go on to argue that because Trump has publicly admitted that he was Epstein’s friend in the early 2000s, his reputation cannot be harmed by a suggestion that he was friends with him in 2003. “Indeed, he was listed in the Birthday Book as a 'friend' of Epstein. The fact that his relationship with Epstein may now be a political liability — over 20 years after the Birthday Book was presented to Epstein — does not change this conclusion.”

Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are holding a briefing at the White House.

They are set to make an announcement about findings pertaining to children's health, the White House said ahead of the event.

Taking up a major case on the structure of the federal government, the Supreme Court agreed today to consider whether Trump can fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission despite a law that limits his ability to do so.

While the court is deciding the case, a lower court ruling in favor of the commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, will remain on hold, the court said. That means she will not remain in office while the case is litigated.

In weighing the case, the conservative-majority court will decide whether a key 1935 Supreme Court ruling called Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld restrictions on the president’s power to fire FTC members, should be overturned.

The ruling would apply not just to the FTC but also to other federal agencies with similar restrictions.

Read the full story here.

The Secret Service arrested a man alleged to have shined a laser pointer at Marine One as the presidential helicopter was departing the White House with Trump on board, according to a criminal complaint filed today.

The incident happened Saturday evening, after a uniformed Secret Service officer, Diego Santiago, saw a shirtless man “talking to himself and being loud” on Constitution Avenue, right near the Ellipse, court filings say.

“Due to the lack of light on the sidewalk, Officer Santiago shined his flashlight at [the suspect] for further observation.” The suspect “then pointed and shined a red laser beam at Officer Santiago’s face, apparently in retaliation. The red laser beam hit Officer Santiago’s eyes and briefly disoriented him,” according to a statement of facts filed with the criminal complaint.

Santiago approached the man, later identified as Jacob Samuel Winkler, who “oriented the same red laser pointer at the direction of Marine One and activated the red laser beam,” the complaint says.

Read the full story here.

California becomes first state to ban most law enforcement from wearing masks

03:45

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers from covering their faces while they are conducting operations under a bill Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.

New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani said today that he withdrew from a local ABC town hall in protest of the network’s decision to suspend Kimmel.

Mamdani blasted the “cowardice” of the network’s parent company, Disney, in its decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air indefinitely in the wake of pressure from the Trump administration. The WABC town hall was scheduled for Thursday.

Read the full story here.

Trump announced on Truth Social that Kazakhstan has agreed to a major purchase of train and rail equipment from the United States.

"They have signed the largest Railroad Equipment Purchase in History, $4 Billion Dollars Worth of United States Locomotives and Rail Equipment," he said.

"We need to support our U.S. Rail Industry, which has been attacked by Fake Environmentalists for years," Trump said. "Congratulations to President Tokayev on his great purchase. This Country, and the World, was built on reliable, beautiful Railroads. Now they will be coming back, FAST!"

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on X that the "locomotives will power connectivity across Europe & Asia, linking The Middle Corridor, with American technology at its core."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at the briefing that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent Trump a letter, which other news agencies reported sought direct talks with the administration following U.S. strikes on alleged drug shipments from Venezuela.

"We have seen this letter," she told reporters. "Frankly, I think there were a lot of lies that were repeated by Maduro in that letter, and the administration’s position on Venezuela has not changed. We view the Maduro regime as illegitimate, and the president has clearly shown that he’s willing to use any and all means necessary to stop the illegal trafficking of deadly drugs from the Venezuelan regime into the United States of America."

Reuters reported over the weekend that Maduro sent Trump a letter offering to engage in direct talks with the Trump administration and rejecting allegations that Venezuela has played a major role in trafficking drugs.

The U.S. military has recently struck several boats from Venezuela that allegedly carried drugs.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told members of the media to go into Trump’s 4 p.m. announcement about autism with “some critical thinking skills and with some open ears.”

Trump is expected to suggest a link between pregnant women’s use of acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol and other widely used medications — and an increased risk of autism in children, according to The Washington Post. The president himself teased to the announcement last night, telling reporters he thinks the painkiller is a "major" risk factor for autism.

Leavitt said that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other health officials are “viewing things in a much different lens.”

“They are paying attention to studies, and the gold standard of science and research, that many in this city for far too long have turned a blind eye to,” she said.

White House says Trump will be signing TikTok deal later this week

02:05

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will sign a TikTok deal "later this week at some point."

Leavitt said that under the terms of the deal, "TikTok will be owned by a majority of American investors and controlled by a board of directors with extensive national security and cybersecurity credentials."

The tech company Oracle will be TikTok's security provider, and TikTok's algorithm will be "secured, retrained and operated in the United States," she said.

Asked by NBC News about whether Trump was going back on an inauguration promise to reject political persecution, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "no."

"It is not weaponizing the Department of Justice to demand accountability for those who weaponized the Department of Justice, and nobody knows what that looks like more than President Trump," Leavitt said.

"We are not going to tolerate gaslighting from anyone in the media or from anyone on the other side who is trying to say that it's the president who is weaponizing the DOJ," she said before going on to lay blame on former President Joe Biden for alleged weaponization against Trump.

Her comments come days after Trump publicly pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to target his political adversaries.

Trump will sign an executive order designating antifa, a decentralized movement of extreme far-left groups, as a domestic terrorist organization, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the briefing.

"Well, antifa is going to be designated a domestic terrorist organization," she said. "The president intends to sign that executive order very soon, as soon as it's drafted, as soon as today, later this afternoon."

Leavitt said that Trump campaigned on this issue, adding that there has been "a rise in violence perpetuated by antifa, radical people across this country who subscribe to this group."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt laid out a series of meetings Trump plans to hold tomorrow as world leaders head to the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly.

Leavitt said the president would hold bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Argentinian President Javier Milei, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He will also hold a group meeting with leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Trump will also deliver a "major speech touting the renewal of American strength around the world" tomorrow morning and attend a reception with world leaders in the evening, she said.

Trump is set to meet tomorrow with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Argentinian President Javier Milei at the United Nations General Assembly.

The details of Trump's expected meeting with Zelenskyy are still being worked out, a White House official said. It would come as Zelenskyy urges Ukraine's allies to take tough actions against Russia for its continued attacks on the country.

Trump's meeting with Milei will take place in Manhattan, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post to X.

"Argentina is a systemically important U.S. ally in Latin America, and the @USTreasury stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina," Bessent said. "All options for stabilization are on the table."

The man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump while the president golfed at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach last year rested his case in his trial today.

Ryan Routh, who has represented himself in the trial, announced after only a few hours of witness testimony that he would not be testifying.

The morning began with testimony from Routh’s firearms expert, Michael McClay, but it soon became clear that McClay was not answering questions the way Routh had anticipated, sometimes directly contradicting his questions. Notably, the government rarely objected to Routh's line of questioning, often leading U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to weigh in or correct him on his questions.

Cannon said that closing arguments will occur tomorrow.

Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer. He also faces several alleged firearm violations. If convicted of the most serious charge, Routh could face a sentence of life in prison.

While Trump’s aggressive use of executive power has resulted in a flurry of lawsuits, administration officials have won a series of high-profile victories at the Supreme Court in part due to careful case selection aimed at securing the backing of the conservative majority.

The White House has won 18 times at the Supreme Court since Trump took office and is on a 15-case winning run. The last loss was in May.

Read the full story here.

New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani today blasted ABC’s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air indefinitely, blaming Trump’s “authoritarianism” and the “cowardice” of the network's parent company Disney.

Mamdani said that he had withdrawn from a WABC town hall that had been scheduled for Thursday in protest.

At a brief campaign event on Roosevelt Island in New York City, Mamdani said the message sent by the sequence of events at ABC “is a message that the First Amendment is no longer a right that can be counted on” and that “it is government which will determine what should and should not be discussed, what can and cannot be spoken.”

Mamdani referred to "the responsibility that all of us have in this moment to showcase just how unacceptable these kinds of actions are, how unacceptable it is that we are living in a moment where Donald Trump’s actions are the ones which determine whether or not we can enjoy that which we have taken for granted for so many years,” Mamdani said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging the U.S. and European allies to take steps while the United Nations General Assembly meets this week to ramp up pressure on Russia for its continued strikes on Ukraine.

"The UN General Assembly is now effectively beginning its work, with leaders gathering in New York," Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X detailing Russia’s latest attacks on his country. "And it’s for the fourth time in a row that Russia accompanies one of the world’s highest-level annual diplomatic events with killings."

"That is precisely why it is so important for this diplomatic week to be productive,” he wrote. "Action must be taken so that murder and war do not become routine."

Zelenskyy called for "powerful pressure on Russia, and "new joint steps from everyone in the world who believes that international law must work again."

At Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, Trump described Kirk as someone who wanted to reach people and “did not hate his opponents” and wished the best for them. Trump noted that this was the difference between them, saying, “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them.”

Trump says 'I hate my opponents' at Charlie Kirk's memorial

01:45

Drones over Poland. Fighter jets above Estonia. Surveillance planes over the Baltic Sea.

To U.S. allies in Europe, the pattern is unmistakable: a deliberate campaign of escalation from the Kremlin, designed to probe NATO’s defenses and political resolve.

The question hanging over an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council today is how exactly the alliance will respond.

Read the full story here.

Texas Senate candidate Colin Allred is releasing his policy platform for his 2026 campaign, seeking to draw a contrast in the Democratic primary and against the Republicans he may face in the general election.

The six-page document, first reported by NBC News, is titled “A More Affordable Texas Agenda” and focuses on cutting costs. It begins with calls to repeal Trump’s tariffs, with Allred making clear his election would mean one extra Senate vote to undo the president’s taxes on imports.

The agenda includes a hodgepodge of bills Allred would advocate for if elected, from the Small Business Liberation Act, which would exempt certain entities from tariffs, to the Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would target groceries and consumer products.

Allred also embraces other long-standing populist liberal goals: requiring Medicare to negotiate prices with the drug industry, expanding Social Security benefits, and requiring 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Trump told reporters last night that Attorney General Pam Bondi should focus on investigating "everybody."

Asked on Air Force One who Bondi should look into in order to bring accountability, Trump said, "Everybody."

"Really, it’s a big office. She’s doing a good job. But focus on everybody, there are a lot of crooked people that were here before me, and people that almost destroyed our country," he said.

His comments came a day after Trump posted a message on Truth Social that Bondi needed to ramp up action against his political opponents.

Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One yesterday. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

State Farm Stadium in Arizona was filled to capacity with more than 60,000 people paying tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk. While some remembered Kirk as a “martyr” and “warrior,” his widow, Erika Kirk, leaned into her faith with a message for his accused killer.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and what Charlie would do,” she said.

At memorial, Charlie Kirk’s widow says she forgives accused killer

03:12

Trump struck a different tone, saying, “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,” Trump said. NBC’s Morgan Chesky reports for "TODAY."

Trump told reporters last night that he believed Tylenol was "a very big factor" in autism risk, despite a recent study finding that taking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, during pregnancy was not tied to autism.

Asked to confirm reports that he planned to tie Tylenol to increased risk of autism, Trump said, "We’re going to see tomorrow."

"We’re going to do it tomorrow, but I think it’s a very big factor," he added.

Tylenol is the brand name for acetaminophen, which can be used in other medications as well, including cold and flu drugs.

Trump also hinted at an autism announcement during his remarks at Kirk's memorial, saying, "I think we found an answer to autism."

A spokesperson for Kenvue, which makes Tylenol, emphasized in a statement that "we believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism."

White House set to link Tylenol to increased risk of autism

02:04

A group of U.S. lawmakers on a rare visit to Beijing told China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, that the world’s two largest economies need to step up engagement and “break the ice” as both superpowers made further inroads into stabilizing ties.

The visit yesterday was the first House of Representatives delegation to visit China since 2019. The Covid pandemic ended formal House visits in 2020, and relations rapidly deteriorated because of disagreement over the origins of the coronavirus that had spread all over the world.

Read the full story here.

Voters in New Jersey may not be see the president on the ballot when they select their next governor in November, but Trump still looms over the race, with the candidates clashing over his administration’s policies in their first debate. 

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill worked to tie Republican Jack Ciattarelli to Trump, while Ciattarelli stressed his independence from the White House while also defending some of Trump’s signature moves last night. The New Jersey Globe, Rider University and On New Jersey hosted the debate, which comes as the fall campaign heats up in New Jersey and a handful of other places with 2025 elections on tap.

The New Jersey race, along with the governor’s race in Virginia, are the only two gubernatorial contests in the nation this year, and they could provide early clues for how voters are responding to the Trump administration. Trump, who has endorsed Ciattarelli, lost both states by 6 points last year, though that result marked a significant improvement on his 2020 margin in the Garden State.

Read the full story here.

While Trump’s aggressive use of executive power has resulted in a flurry of lawsuits, administration officials have won a series of high-profile victories at the Supreme Court in part due to careful case selection aimed at securing the backing of the conservative majority.

The White House has won 18 times at the Supreme Court since Trump took office and is on a 15-case winning run. The last loss was in May.

“They’re ecstatic,” a person close to the White House said of the series of recent legal wins, adding that officials do not want to overplay their hand at the court.

But only a small number of the more than 300 active lawsuits filed against the Trump administration have made it to the Supreme Court.

Read the full story here.

Some called for forgiveness and unity yesterday at Charlie Kirk’s funeral in Arizona. Others called for combat and retribution. But one thing the Republican leaders had in common in their speeches was that the activist’s assassination should be a turning point, the start of a revival for religious conservatives.

Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, yesterday afternoon. Leaders in the MAGA movement, of which Kirk, 31, was a central part, attended, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, a number of Cabinet officials and billionaire tech executive Elon Musk.

Many speakers used their time eulogizing Kirk to also make renewed arguments for American conservatism with, they argued, Christianity, marriage, having children and open debate at the core.

Read the full story here.