Trump gives economy speech in Detroit; Supreme Court weighs state bans on transgender athletes

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is being investigated by federal prosecutors after she participated in a video with other Democratic lawmakers urging members of the military and the intelligence community not to follow illegal orders, her office confirmed this evening.

Slotkin said in an interview with The New York Times that she found out about the probe from the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Slotkin’s office confirmed her remarks to NBC News but did not elaborate.

“Facts matter little, but the threat matters quite a bit,” Slotkin told the Times. “The threat of legal action; the threat to your family; the threat to your staff; the threat to you.”

Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment tonight.

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The Republican-controlled House today advanced legislation aimed at fulfilling Trump’s long-running desire to “make showers great again” by voting to loosen federal efficiency standards for showerheads.

The bill — dubbed the Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing, or Shower ACT — passed 226-197, with 11 Democrats crossing the aisle in support.

Republicans have argued the measure would wash away unnecessary regulations and allow more water to flow through showerheads. Democrats warn the relaxed standards could soak consumers with higher utility bills and worsen environmental impacts.

“If they want a nozzle that dribbles on their head, well, then, go get one of those. If you want something that slices an orange, well, then, go get one of those. That should be your choice as a consumer,” said GOP Rep. Russell Fry, sponsor of the bill.

Read the full story here.

Trump today flipped the middle finger to a person who could be heard calling him a “pedophile protector” while he toured a Ford truck factory in Michigan.

In video shared by TMZ, Trump points to a person who is not seen in the frame and mouths some words. He then flashes his middle finger in that person’s direction.

Trump was touring the factory in Dearborn before delivering a speech in Detroit about the economy.

White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement tonight, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”

Read the full story here.

Trump, answering a question about what he would say to Renee Nicole Good’s father, said Good’s actions were “pretty tough” in an interview with “CBS Evening News’” Tony Dokoupil.

“I want to say to the father that I love all of our people. They can be on the other side,” Trump said. “I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person, but then her actions were pretty tough.”

Trump added that he has seen different versions of video showing an ICE officer fatally shooting Good, “but when you look at the way that was — that car was pulled away, there are a couple versions of that tape that are very, very bad.”

In a social media post hours after the shooting, Trump said Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer.” Cellphone videos by witnesses and the officer who shot Good contradicted that characterization.

Democrats are wrestling with whether to use a key Jan. 30 deadline to demand constraints on Trump’s immigration crackdown after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed an American woman in Minneapolis.

Progressives in the House and the Senate are calling on their party to hold firm in opposition to a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security unless it comes with conditions — such as requiring agents to wear identification, limiting Customs and Border Protection agents to the border and requiring judicial warrants to arrest suspects in immigration cases.

They say Trump is using autocratic tactics by deploying masked agents in cities to intimidate Americans who don’t support him.

“Democrats cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn’t restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing DHS, wrote on X after the Minneapolis shooting.

Read the full story here.

The Justice Department blasted a federal judge today for ordering it to explain why Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan continues to refer to herself as a U.S. attorney despite a court ruling that said she was unlawfully serving in the role.

The Justice Department, in a written response to an order from U.S. District Judge David Novak, accused Novak, a Trump appointee, of initiating an “inquisition” into Halligan’s official signature in court filings, which refers to her as “United States Attorney and Special Attorney” in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Novak’s order, the Justice Department said, “posits that the United States’ continued assertion of its legal position that Ms. Halligan properly serves as the United States Attorney amounts to a factual misrepresentation that could trigger attorney discipline.”

The Justice Department filing, submitted by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Halligan, says the “thinly veiled threat to use attorney discipline to cudgel the Executive Branch into conforming its legal position in all criminal prosecutions to the views of a single district judge is a gross abuse of power and an affront to the separation of powers.”

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Trump declared here today that “the Trump economic boom has officially begun” just hours after the Labor Department reported that consumer prices continued to tick upward during the first year of his term.

In remarks to a mostly staid, jacket-tie-and-lapel-pin audience of Detroit Economic Club members gathered in a casino ballroom, Trump touted his tax cuts, tariffs and trade deals. But he declined to elaborate on the details of newer agenda items aimed at controlling prices and addressing Americans’ concerns about affordability.

“In the coming weeks, I will be laying out even more plans to help bring back affordability,” he said, even as he called the issue a “fake word” generated by Democrats to convince voters that he is at fault for high prices.

In recent days, Trump has directed the home-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in a bid to lower rates, and he promised to ban large investment companies from gobbling up single-family homes. He mentioned those agenda items briefly, along with his request for credit card companies to limit interest rates to 10% — roughly one-third the level many of them now charge.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., hopes to use a coming vote on a government funding bill to force senators to go on the record about whether they support blocking the Trump administration from spending any funds for the U.S. military to secure or assist with operations related to Venezuela’s oil, NBC News has learned.

Schiff and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., are seeking to secure a floor vote on an amendment this week to the minibus government spending bill that says, “No funds made available by this or any other Act may be used for the United States military personnel to seize, control access to, operate, or provide security at facilities within Venezuela involved in the extraction, processing, or transportation of oil or other petroleum products.”

It’s not clear whether Schiff and Bennet will get a vote on their amendment, as senators are negotiating which amendments will be considered before they vote to pass the legislative package. Congressional appropriators who negotiated the bill are advocating for the package not to be amended, as that would require the House to pass the funding bill a second time.

A separate Schiff effort is expected to get a vote this week when the Senate votes on final passage of a war powers resolution related to Venezuela. Five Republicans voted last week to advance the resolution to a final vote, but Trump has been calling those Republicans asking them to change their votes when a final passage vote happens this week.

Hours after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week, Mayor Jacob Frey delivered a passionate and expletive-riddled response to the latest tragedy to befall his city.

He accused ICE of “trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” claiming that that interpretation of the video “is bulls---.” He said the agent who shot the woman was “recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying” and demanded that ICE “get the f--- out of Minneapolis.”

“We do not want you here,” Frey said. “Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy, are being terrorized — and now somebody is dead.”

His sharp-edged remarks ricocheted around social media, giving voice to the frustration and anger many around the country were feeling about the violence.

Read the full story here.

After his administration announced it was ending temporary protected status for Somalis, Trump again blamed the Somali population for fraud in Minnesota.

It's a "colossal fraud that is bleeding American taxpayers absolutely dry, the fraud being committed by Somali population in Minnesota. Have you heard of them? Lovely people," he said.

The administration has focused on the Somali community in Minneapolis following news reports that dozens of people of Somali descent have been convicted in fraud schemes related to Covid relief that netted over $1 billion. There are about 80,000 people of Somali descent in Minnesota.

“They come from a place with nothing and drive around here in Mercedes- Benz," Trump said. “It angers me so much."

Hours after the Supreme Court heard arguments related to transgender athletes, Trump sounded off on them in his address.

He said Democrats are "selling transgender for everybody."

"It's so ridiculous. It's so demeaning to women," he added. "I can't even believe it would go to the Supreme Court."

In his economic address, Trump ripped critics of the military attack that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power.

“You have people, Democrats, they say ‘I don’t know if we should’ve done Venezuela, I don’t know.’ Anybody that says that hates our country, OK? That was as flawless an attack as there has ever been," he said.

He also touted the amount of oil the country's new leadership is sending to the U.S. "We're taking in millions and millions of barrels of oil," he said.

Trump has begun speaking at the Detroit Economic Club after having toured a Ford truck factory in Dearborn, Michigan.

He took the stage to the patriotic Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA” and got a standing ovation.

Trump is delivering the speech after an NBC News poll last month indicated most Americans think the country is on the wrong track, with the economy a top concern.

The Supreme Court appeared likely to uphold state laws that ban transgender athletes from taking part in girls’ and women’s school and college sports.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, heard more than three hours of oral arguments today in separate cases involving two transgender students, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who challenged state bans in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively.

Read the full story here.

Kevin Rudd, the Australian ambassador to the U.S. who was highly critical of Trump before his return to the White House, is stepping down a year ahead of schedule, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Albanese told reporters that it was “entirely Kevin Rudd’s decision” and that his replacement would be announced later. He said Rudd, a former prime minister, had delivered “concrete outcomes” during his three years as ambassador, including securing U.S. government support for the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and negotiating an agreement with the U.S. on rare- earth minerals.

After Trump won the November 2024 election, Rudd said he had deleted past comments disparaging him online “out of respect for the office of President of the United States.” Asked about Rudd’s criticism during Albanese’s White House visit in October, Trump addressed Rudd across the table and said, “I don’t like you, either, and I probably never will,” to laughter from the room.

A White House official told Reuters that “Ambassador Rudd worked well with President Trump and the administration. We wish him well.”

Arguments in the second Supreme Court case have concluded.

The justices heard two similar cases that centered on laws that seek to limit transgender athletes' participation in girls' and women's sports.

Arguments in the second case lasted just under an hour and a half.

Joshua A. Block, who is arguing on behalf of his transgender student-athlete client, began his opening remarks arguing that there was not a reason to exclude her from girls' sports. 

“If the evidence shows there are no relevant physiological differences between BPJ and other girls, then there’s no basis to exclude her,” he said, referring to Becky Pepper-Jackson by her initials.

The second case centers on whether Pepper-Jackson is blocked by law from competing in girls' sports. 

Block argued that the law treated Pepper-Jackson differently — worse — than other girls.

Becky Pepper-Jackson and her mother, Heather Jackson, pose with members of their legal team outside the Supreme Court today. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP

Arguing in favor of the West Virginia law, Hashim M. Mooppan was pressed by a justice as to whether his arguments could allow teachers to, hypothetically, create a remedial high school class for boys only.

Mooppan referred to that hypothetical as “pseudoscience” and tried to isolate the idea of biological differences between sexes to apply to athletic abilities in sports.

Arguments in the first court case on transgender athletes' participation in girls and women's sports have concluded after two hours. The first case was initially scheduled to only last an hour.

Justices have now started hearing arguments in a separate case, which is also focused on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.

In his opening remarks in the second case, Michael R. Williams, who is arguing in favor of the West Virginia law, argued that biological sex matters in athletics.

Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court today. Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images

Iranians made their first calls to the outside world today since being shut off amid a crackdown on protests that a human rights group says has killed 2,000 people, as Trump urged civilians to keep protesting and said “help is on its way.”

In recent days, Trump has upped the pressure on Tehran, warning that he may launch military strikes while remaining open to negotiations. He also slapped a 25% tariff on those doing business with the Islamic Republic.

In a post on Truth Social this morning, he wrote: “KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers.” Then, without providing details, he added: “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

Iran has said it is open to diplomacy, while threatening the United States and Israel with retaliation if it is attacked.

Trump announces 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran

03:45

Read the full story here.

Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., announced in a statement on social media today that he won't seek re-election.

"The time has come to pass the torch to new conservative leaders, return home to Panama City and spend more precious time with my family and our beloved grandchildren," Dunn said in a post on X.

The five-term congressman's seat is considered solidly Republican, but it comes after a wave of announced retirements that will dramatically reshape the House.

In all, 47 members of the House have announced that they won't be running for re-election, including 26e Republicans. Democrats who are stepping down include longtime party leaders such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, of Maryland.

The president blasted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell today when he was asked if the DOJ investigation into the Fed’s renovation projects would undermine confidence in the central bank.

“Well, he’s billions of dollars over budget, so he’s either incompetent or he’s crooked. I don’t know what he is, but certainly he doesn’t do a very good job,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. The renovation of Fed office buildings is currently estimated to be several hundred million dollars more than the $1.9 billion that was forecast back in 2019.

Earlier in his brief chat with reporters, Trump said that new economic data should lead “too late Powell” to cut interest rates.

Powell said Sunday that the DOJ was threatening the Fed with possible criminal indictment related to his testimony before the Senate in June about the renovation of the agency’s office building, and that he believed it was part of pressure campaign to get him to lower rates.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said.

Lawyer Kathleen R. Hartnett, who is arguing for transgender student Lindsay Hecox before the Supreme Court, said in her opening remarks that the Idaho law in question was trying to control for “sex-based, biological advantages, not for all the many reasons one athlete may be better than another that have nothing to do with sex.”

Hartnett argued that Hecox “mitigated” the advantage of testosterone by taking estrogen and suppressing testosterone.

She urged the court to affirm a prior preliminary injunction if the Supreme Court did not find the case moot because Hecox wants to drop out of the case. A lower court had temporarily ruled in favor of allowing Hecox to continue playing sports if she wanted.

Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court today. Heather Diehl / Getty Images

Hashim M. Mooppan, who is arguing in favor of the state laws restricting transgender girls playing in girls sports, began his discussion by arguing that there were biological differences between people born male and female.

“It is undisputed that states may separate their sports teams based on sex in light of the real biological differences between males and females,” he said. “States may equally apply that valid sex-based rule to biological males who self identify as female. Denying a special accommodation to trans-identifying individuals does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity or deny equal protection.”

Mooppan argued that his claims remained “true, even assuming a man could take drugs that eliminate his sex-based physiological advantages.” He compared transgender girls and women who are athletes to “male athletes who take performance-altering drugs.”

The Democratic National Committee is launching an in-house voter registration fellowship program aimed at registering tens of thousands of new voters, DNC Chairman Ken Martin announced, calling the program the party’s “largest voter registration effort” in its history.

Martin said the program will launch with a seven-figure investment in Arizona and Nevada. Lamenting how Democrats have largely ceded their voter registration programs to nonprofit groups, contrasting with how partisan groups spearhead Republicans’ voter registration efforts, Martin said the program is about leveling the voter registration playing field with the GOP by centering a more partisan-focused approach. 

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment,” he said. “We can’t just assume that certain demographics, whether they be young voters, voters of color or otherwise, will automatically support the Democratic Party.”

Justices are first hearing arguments about the case surrounding college student Lindsay Hecox, who had challenged a law in Idaho.

Hecox is not competing in sports covered by the ban anymore, and she wants to drop out of the case, partially because of public scrutiny. The lawyer arguing in favor of the state law argued that the case, though, is not moot.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that Hecox only changed her mind “when new circumstances arose, i.e. the notoriety of this case.” The lawyer argued that nothing had changed.

Sotomayor asked the lawyer whether he doubted having someone’s name attached to a court case would continue attention on the person. The lawyer countered, arguing that there was no background principle of plaintiffs being allowed to leave litigation whenever they wanted.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced that it plans to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress after he failed to appear for a deposition as part of the panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena, which again was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner, we will move next week in the House Oversight Committee markup to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress,” Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters this morning on Capitol Hill.

Read the full story here.

Vice President JD Vance will host a meeting at the White House tomorrow between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

A Danish official said Vance's involvement raises the stakes for the meeting, which was already seen by Denmark as a crucial moment in its effort to ease tensions with the Trump administration over Greenland’s future. 

The White House has in recent weeks renewed a longtime goal of the president to acquire Greenland. Trump told reporters Friday that the U.S. would "do something on Greenland whether they like it or not."

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton do not plan to appear for their scheduled depositions on Jeffrey Epstein before the House Oversight Committee this week, according to a new letter they penned to its chairman.

“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote in the letter. “For us, now is that time.”

Supreme Court arguments have kicked off in a major case that could ultimately have widespread implications for transgender athletes.

The court will hear arguments in two cases revolving around whether transgender students can participate in girls' and women's sports. Republicans have enacted state laws aiming to restrict transgender girls and women from participating in girls' and women's sports.

The court will seek to determine whether the laws violate the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which ensures the law applies equally to all, or Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a Tuesday post to X.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed on X that “Somali nationals with TPS are now required to leave the United States by March 17, 2026.”

The U.S. provides temporary protected status to immigrants from certain countries that are impacted by safety conditions such as natural and man-made disasters.

Democrats need to drop the “abolish ICE” political slogan if they have hope of winning back the majority in Congress, a center-left think tank is warning. 

Third Way, in a memo to Democrats shared first with NBCNews, warned Democrats against talking in extreme terms in the wake of the highly charged days following the ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good. 

“The impulse is emotional. The slogan is simple. But politically, it is lethal,” a memo written by Sarah Pierce and Lanae Erickson, leaders in social policy for Third Way. “Every call to abolish ICE risks squandering one of the clearest opportunities in years to secure meaningful reform of immigration enforcement — while handing Republicans exactly the fight they want.” 

Last year, NBC News reported that some elected officials had resurrected “abolish ICE” into campaigns and talking points. Third Way implored the left to instead talk about ICE abuses and overreach but be clear that they still want secure borders and legal immigration. 

They pointed to polling and focus groups that showed “a window, not a wave” for change, with potential voters saying they wanted deportations but were not happy with how they are being carried out and who is being targeted.

“Even among Democratic primary voters, Third Way’s own polling shows a clear preference for a balanced approach over abolition, 65% to 35%,” according to the memo.

Trump is looking for unlikely allies as he rolls out a new agenda to try to address Americans’ concerns about affordability and position Republicans for the midterm elections: progressives.

Yesterday, he called Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after she delivered a speech excoriating her own party for being too cozy with its wealthy donors, according to Warren and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Read the full story here.

Trump will travel to Michigan today, where he will tour a Ford factory and deliver remarks at the Detroit Economic Club.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday that the Ford factory produces F-150 trucks. Leavitt said in a Fox News interview that during Trump's address,"he’s going to talk about all of the positive economic news that we continue to see as a result of his agenda."

The economy is consistently a top issue for voters, and an NBC News poll conducted in November and December found that 64% of adults felt the country is on the wrong track.

Trump is facing growing backlash from fellow Republicans over the Justice Department’s criminal investigation targeting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In a joint statement, every living former Fed chair, several treasury secretaries and other top economic officials issued a rebuke of the Trump administration and warn the inquiry threatens the Fed’s independence and the U.S. economy. NBC’s Garrett Haake reports for "TODAY."

Former Fed chairs speak out against DOJ's Jerome Powell prone

02:19

Former special counsel Jack Smith will testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee next week, Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced last night.

The scheduled Jan. 22 hearing comes after Smith sat for more than eight hours for a closed-door deposition with the Republican-led committee in December regarding his investigations into Trump. Smith had requested a public hearing before that testimony but Republicans refused.

Read the full story here.

The BBC will file a motion to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over its editing of a speech that made it appear he had directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.

In a filing late yesterday, the British broadcaster argued that the court in Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the case because it did not broadcast the program in that state, and that the president could not prove damages because he was re-elected after it aired.

Read the full story here.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are scheduled to give depositions today and tomorrow, respectively, to the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, but neither has confirmed their attendance, a committee spokesperson said last night.

“The Clintons have not confirmed their appearances for their subpoenaed depositions,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “They are obligated under the law to appear and we expect them to do so. If the Clintons do not appear for their depositions, the House Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings.”

Bill Clinton is scheduled for a deposition at 10 a.m. today and Hillary Clinton is scheduled for tomorrow morning. The Clintons were issued subpoenas in August along with several former attorneys general and former FBI Director James Comey as part of the committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Both depositions for the Clintons were originally scheduled for October.

Diving into a contentious social issue, the Supreme Court this morning considers whether states can ban transgender athletes from taking part in girls’ and women’s school and college sports.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will hear oral arguments in separate cases involving two transgender students, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who challenged state bans in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively.

Both won lower court injunctions that allowed them to continue to compete in sports.

Read the full story here.