Trump commutes former Rep. George Santos' sentence; urges Ukraine and Russia to stop fighting

In an X post tonight, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “This evening, Vice Premier He Lifeng and I engaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China. We will meet in-person next week to continue our discussions.”

Earlier today, Bessent first disclosed the possible meeting with the vice premier next week, saying it would take place in Malaysia. The timeframe is sooner than was expected, with Bessent previously saying he planned to meet with the Chinese in the immediate lead up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and possible Trump-Xi meeting.

This meeting next week would be the fifth in-person negotiating session between Bessent and his counterparts this year. 

Trump took another swipe at Rep. Thomas Massie today, urging Navy veteran Ed Gallrein to challenge the Kentucky Republican for his seat in next year’s midterms.

“Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won big SIX TIMES, must be thrown out of office, ASAP!,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday night. “Should he decide to challenge Massie, Captain Ed Gallrein has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, ED, RUN — MAGA!”

Gallrein previously campaigned for state Senate in Kentucky in 2024, describing himself at that time on his campaign website as a farmer, small business owner with experience in the armed forces as a retired Navy SEAL commissioned officer and decorated combat veteran. He was narrowly defeated by 118 votes in the primary last year by Republican Aaron Reed who unseated state Sen. Adrienne Southworth.

Read the full story here.

Two New York Republicans who voted to expel Santos from the House have put out statements criticizing Trump’s commutation of the former congressman.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who sits on the House Ethics Committee, said Santos only serving a few months of his seven year sentence is “not justice.”

“The President has the discretion to commute sentences for people convicted of federal crimes. In this case, Santos willingly pled guilty to these crimes and then complained about having to serve his sentence,” he said. “The victims of his crimes still have not been made whole, including the people he stole from and the voters he defrauded. He has shown no remorse. The less than three months that he spent in prison is not justice.”

And Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a swing district, said Santos’ crimes warrant more than three months behind bars. 

“George Santos didn’t merely lie — he stole millions, defrauded an election, and his crimes (for which he pled guilty) warrant more than a three-month sentence,” LaLota said. “He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged.”

The White House said today it would extend current tariff relief programs for some of the country’s largest automakers. The Trump administration also laid out the details of promised tariffs on heavy trucks and buses.

In late April, Trump signed an executive order to prevent automobile and auto parts tariffs from stacking on top of each other, which could add up quickly for North American automakers.

Trump’s order also gave automakers relief from separate tariffs that he applied to steel and aluminum products. The latest announcement will extend a tariff offset program from two years to five.

“The priority is to expand domestic vehicle production in the United States to ensure that we have good, high-paying jobs for American workers,” a senior administration official said Friday.

Read the full story here.

Former Rep. George Santos' prison sentence commuted by Trump

05:01

Trump said Friday that he had signed a commutation that would immediately release former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from prison.

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday evening. “Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”

In April, Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Read the full story here.

The Trump administration is expected to furlough 1,400 employees from the National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency that helps safeguard national security by overseeing the nuclear stockpile, according to a Department of Energy spokesperson.

Citing the government shutdown as the reason for the furloughs, the spokesperson said that about 400 employees from the agency "will continue to work to support the protection of property and the safety of human life."

Energy Secretary Chris Wright will travel to Las Vegas and be at the National Nuclear Security Site on Monday "to further discuss the impacts of the shutdown on America’s nuclear deterrent," the spokesperson added.

Politico first reported on the furlough plans.

More than 7,200 federal workers filed initial jobless claims last week, according to data posted on an obscure Labor Department website.

The site shows 7,224 federal workers filed claims with the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program for the week ending October 11. 

The numbers, which were first reported by Bloomberg News, are released on a one-week delay.

According to the program’s fact sheet, “The UCFE program provides unemployment compensation for Federal employees who lost their employment through no fault of their own.”

Read the full story here.

Trump said in a social media post after meeting with Zelenskyy today that Ukraine and Russia "should stop where they are" and both claim victory in the ongoing conflict.

"The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!," Trump wrote on Truth Social this afternoon.

"Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!" he added.

Speaking with reporters after his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy said that territory discussions are "very sensitive" and that Russia "really wants to occupy everything" and negotiate territories before laying down its arms.

"They want, before any kind of cease fire, make a deal about land, about our territories, etcetera," Zelenskyy said when asked about Trump suggesting that Ukraine may not be able to get all of its territory back.

"Our position is that, look, first we need cease fire. So we need to sit and speak and to understand where we are," he added.

Officials in the New York Republican Party today voted to suspend the state Young Republicans chapter following a Politico report that detailed racist and antisemitic messages sent between a group of young Republican leaders across the country.

In a statement following the New York state GOP’s decision, party chair Ed Cox said that New York State Young Republicans were “already grossly mismanaged” and that the “vile language of the sort made in the group chat has no place in our party or its subsidiary organizations.”

NBC News has not independently verified the contents of the group text thread, but Politico reported that the messages in the chat included racial slurs about Black and Latino people, praise for Adolf Hitler and jokes about sending political opponents to gas chambers.

Read the full story here.

President Trump told reporters that the path to peace between Russia and Ukraine involves “a president, a president and a president” or a “double meeting.” NBC News’ Garrett Haake reports on the possibility of a such a meeting as well as new details learned on the Trump-Putin Alaska summit.

Trump suggests a 'double meeting' may occur at Budapest summit

04:27

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will meet next week with his counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng — a surprise announcement that accelerates the timeframe for the two to meet.

Previously, Bessent was expected to meet with He closer to when Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of October or early November.

Bessent's meeting comes on the heels of tension between the two countries over rare earth mineral export controls and tariffs.

Asked if he thought momentum from the Middle East peace agreement was affecting the talks between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, "I do."

"I think we carry a lot of momentum, a lot of credibility," the president said. "Nobody thought it could be done. That was one nobody thought could be done, and we got it done."

He added that the situation was "far more complicated" than the one between Ukraine and Russia.

"This should be one that we get done, and I think the table is set properly here now, too, and it would be a great honor," Trump said.

He also said he believes Putin and Zelenskyy both want the war to be over. "All they have to do is get along a little bit," Trump said.

Trump told reporters that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "doesn't want to f--- around with the United States."

"He’s offered everything," he said when a reporter said that Maduro has offered everything, including natural resources. "You’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f--- around with the United States."

This comes after Trump revealed that he had authorized the CIA to take action in Venezuela.

“I authorized for two reasons, really,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

He added, “And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela."

Trump: Maduro 'doesn't want to f--- around with the United States'

00:23

Asked if he was concerned that Putin might just be trying to stall for more time, Trump said, "Yeah, I am."

"I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well. So it's possible, yeah, a little time, it's all right," Trump said. "But I think he wants to make a deal."

Trump began his White House meeting with Zelenskyy, acknowledging that the leader “has been through a lot.” Zelenskyy congratulated Trump on his work toward the truce between Israel and Hamas.

Zelenskyy to Trump: Middle East ceasefire provides 'momentum' to end Russia-Ukraine war

02:34

Trump said in his remarks to the press that he thinks the threat of the U.S. potentially providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may be causing Russian President Vladimir Putin to want to meet.

"I don’t know what’s bringing him to," Trump said when asked if the threat of the missiles is bringing Putin to the table. "I think he wants to make a deal. That’s all. I can’t tell you what’s bringing them. Sure ... the threat of that is good, but the threat of that is always there."

"Tomahawks are very dangerous weapons. They’re incredible weapons. If you like warfare. It’s one of the most accurate," he said, adding, "Tomahawks are a big deal. But one thing I have to say, we want tomahawks also. We don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country."

After speaking to Putin yesterday, Trump announced that he would soon meet the Russian president in Budapest, Hungary.

Trump said in his remarks to the press that he plans to discuss the war in Ukraine with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they are set to meet in South Korea later this month.

"I'll be discussing that, but I'd like, I'd love, to see it ended before that," he said.

He also added that the U.S. is in a "powerful position" ahead of his meeting with Xi because of his tariff policy.

"With tariffs, we made hundreds of billions of dollars, not only from China, but from others," he said. "And China wants to talk, and we like talking to China, so we have a very good relationship. And we meeting in South Korea couple of weeks."

Zelensky suggested a potential swap of Ukrainian drones for American missiles — a trade Trump seemed open to.

The Ukrainian president said that the country has "thousands" of drones, but "we don't have Tomahawks."

Trump was asked by a reporter if that was an exchange he'd be interested in.

"Yeah, we would," Trump said. "We build our own drones, but we also buy drones from others, and they make a very good drone."

Weeks after saying that he believed Ukraine could retake all of its territory that it lost from Russia, Trump appears to be leaving land swaps on the table again.

"You never know," Trump said when asked if land swaps need to happen to resolve the war. "You know war is very interesting. You never know."

In September, Trump said he believed that Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders.

Senate Republicans posted an ad blaming Democrats for the shutdown on X that used AI video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The video used a quote from a Schumer interview last week with Punchbowl News, where he said the Democrats had momentum in the shutdown fight with Republicans and "every day is better for us." The interview was not on camera, but the realistic-looking deepfake video shows Schumer speaking and then breaking into a big smile.

There is small type in the corner of the video under the NRSC logo saying "AI generated."

Trump said during his remarks to the press that he plans to address the possibility of Ukraine striking deep into Russia, an apparent reference to the U.S. providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

"We're going to be talking about that. That's something we'll be talking about you're right, it's an escalation, but we'll be talking about that," Trump said when asked if his administration would allow Ukraine to take that action.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at the White House for his meeting with Trump.

Zelenskyy is expected to request Tomahawk missiles and other U.S. defenses as a way to ratchet up pressure on Russia to begin negotiations on ending the war.

The Kremlin has said the provision of such weapons would mark a sharp escalation in the conflict.

Trump greets Zelenskyy at the White House today. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Trump is stepping up efforts to reinforce Republicans’ slim House majority by redrawing congressional maps. 

The president spoke by phone this morning with Indiana state Senate Republicans to encourage them to draw new district boundaries, a source familiar with the call told NBC News. The GOP already holds seven of the state’s nine House seats.

Trump’s call, which was first reported by The New York Times, follows efforts by Vice President JD Vance to nudge Indiana Republicans along on redistricting. Vance has twice visited with GOP leaders there, most recently last week.

As Republicans across the country pursue new congressional maps to boost their party ahead of next year’s midterm elections, Democrats are ramping up pressure on states where they can respond.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has held discussions with members of the Maryland delegation and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore in recent weeks about possible mid-decade redistricting efforts, according to a source with knowledge of the conversations. The source also said Jeffries spoke with members of the Illinois delegation about drawing new district lines, as Politico first reported.

Maryland has just one Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, in its eight-member House delegation. And in Illinois, where Democrats control 14 of the state’s 17 districts, GOP Rep. Mary Miller’s seat is the potential target, the source said.

Read the full story here.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will speak by phone today with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, to discuss the trade negotiations between the two countries, a senior administration official told NBC News.

Since China proposed strict new limits on the export of rare earth minerals last Thursday, prompting Trump to threaten a new 100% tariff on the country, there has been little communication between the two sides.

Yesterday, Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer turned up the heat, with the treasury secretary saying the United States would “neither be commanded nor controlled." Greer said the restrictions would be a "global supply chain power grab."

Greer told NBC News that the only way China could avoid more tariffs would be for it to drop the restrictions.

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-Ala., warned today about staffing levels at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is the agency that handles and manages the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

“We were just informed last night that the National Security Administration, the group that handles and manages our nuclear stockpile, that the carryover funding they’ve been using is about to run out," he said at a news conference with other GOP leaders. “They will have to lay off 80% of their employees. These are not employees that you want to go home. They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., ripped into White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a news conference this morning for claiming yesterday that "the Democrat Party’s main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals."

Criticizing Republicans, Jeffries told reporters on Capitol Hill, "Then you've got Karoline Levitt, who's sick, she's out of control, and I'm not sure whether she's just demented, ignorant, stone cold liar or all of the above."

"But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals and undocumented immigrants, this makes no sense, that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown," Jeffries said.

Jeffries speaks to reporters today at the Capitol. J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Leavitt made the remark in an interview on Fox News when asked for reaction to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's answering of questions Wednesday about whether Hamas should lay down its arms.

Trump announced two new efforts aimed at making in vitro fertilization more affordable. The White House said yesterday that it had struck a deal with two specialty pharmacies and a drug manufacturer to lower the cost of a commonly prescribed fertility drug. The administration also plans on issuing guidance encouraging employers to offer fertility benefits directly to their employees.

Trump announces IVF drug pricing deal that will lower costs

00:28

China accused the Trump administration of stoking global panic over its new rare earth export controls, as the issue threatens to reignite trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

The U.S. interpretation of the rare earth controls, which Beijing announced last week, “seriously distorts and exaggerates China’s measures, deliberately creating unnecessary misunderstanding and panic,” He Yongqian, the spokesperson for the Chinese Commerce Ministry, told reporters yesterday.

Trump has threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods in response to the rare earth controls, which U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this week were a “global supply chain power grab.”

The Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said China notified the U.S. and other countries before announcing the new curbs and that they were consistent with measures long in place in other countries, including the U.S.

She said the export controls for rare earths, which can have both civilian and military uses, were intended to prevent them “from being illegally diverted to improper uses such as weapons of mass destruction, and to better safeguard China’s national security and global common security.”

A government shutdown with no end in sight is starting to take its toll on middle America, the mayors of four cities say.

In interviews, the mayors of Kansas City, Missouri; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis and Cleveland told NBC News they’re hearing from their residents about the fear, economic insecurity and sheer anger over the chaos wrought by a standstill in the nation’s capital. 

Read the full story here.

WASHINGTON — John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term, surrendered to authorities today after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of mishandling classified information.

Bolton was seen by NBC News leaving his home in Bethesda, Maryland, in a black sport utility vehicle early in the morning. He entered the district courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, just after 8:30 a.m. ET for his initial court appearance.

Prosecutors have been investigating whether Bolton improperly retained classified materials after he left the first Trump administration. He is charged with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of that information. 

Bolton arrives for his arraignment today in Greenbelt, Md. Rod Lamkey / AP

Read the full story here.

Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the New Jersey governor’s race, and he is featured in new radio and digital ads from the Sherrill campaign. 

Obama endorsed and cut ads for former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia, earlier this week as well.

And he's gotten involved in another big November race as well, cutting an ad for the redistricting ballot measure fight in California.

India said it was “not aware” of a recent conversation between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, casting doubt on Trump’s claim that Modi had personally assured him that India would stop buying Russian oil.

The purchases are a source of tension between the U.S. and India, one of the top buyers of discounted Russian oil since Western countries stopped buying it over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Trump cited the oil purchases in August when he imposed a doubled tariff of 50% on India, which a former U.S. ambassador had said had been encouraged by the U.S. to buy from Russia to keep global oil prices stable.

Modi “assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Indian External Affairs Ministry, told reporters in New Delhi yesterday that he was “not aware of any conversation” between the two leaders Wednesday.

On Day 15 of the government shutdown, a U.S. senator hosted a well-attended birthday party for his bulldog.

Dozens of Hill staffers lined up inside the Capitol on Wednesday to wish Republican Sen. Jim Justice’s pup a happy birthday as she sat under a balloon arch wearing a pink and white hat. They noshed on cakes and dozens of cake pops shaped in 6-year-old Babydog’s likeness.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump gathered some of the richest people in the country for dinner at the White House. There were beef Wellington, butterscotch ice cream and gold-rimmed china but no mention of the government shutdown during Trump’s 37-minute-long remarks thanking his guests for their donations for a new White House ballroom.

“This is really a knockout crowd,” Trump said Wednesday evening, noting that their collective donations have exceeded the ballroom’s $250 million price tag.

And so it has been for the power brokers in Washington during a government shutdown that appears to have no end in sight. While thousands of federal workers are furloughed — or fired — and trying to stay afloat without paychecks, the ones responsible for the shutdown are literally, and figuratively, eating cake.

Read the full story here.

Trump said in a clip released this morning by Fox News that his recently threatened 100% tariff on China was "not sustainable."

Asked if the higher tariff could stand given the potential impact on the economy, Trump said "no, it's not sustainable," before saying that "it's probably not, you know, it could stand, but they forced me to do that."

The latest trade dispute with China began last Thursday when China restricted the export of rare earth minerals, critical to the manufacturing products ranging from smartphones to wind turbines.

However, Trump told Fox that he believes the U.S. relationship with China will be "fine" in the long run and still plans to meet with Xi Jinping next month to discuss trade issues.

The comments buoyed markets, with stock futures and some global markets jumping to the highs of the morning.

John Bolton has just left his home in Bethesda, Maryland, and is expected to surrender to authorities, two senior federal law enforcement sources told NBC News yesterday after the former national security adviser for Trump was indicted on federal charges.

Bolton is expected to make his initial court appearance later today, the two law enforcement sources said.

Prosecutors have been investigating whether Bolton improperly retained classified materials after his departure from the first Trump administration.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told news outlets on a daily press call today that the in-person meeting Trump said he would have with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, could take place within two weeks or a little later.

"There is a general understanding that there is no need to put anything off," he said.

Russia initiated the call with Trump after his trip to the Middle East for the signing of a peace plan between Israel and Hamas, Peskov said, adding that Putin "first and foremost wanted to congratulate President Trump on such a success."

Asked why Hungary was chosen as the location of the meeting, Peskov said that "such decisions are made together."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to ask Trump at a White House meeting today for more American-made air defenses and long-range missiles.

Trump said after a call with Putin yesterday that he and Russia's president will meet in Budapest, Hungary, to try to bring the war to an end. No date for the meeting has been set.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he will discuss his call with Putin “and much more” when he meets Zelenskyy, adding that “I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.”

Meanwhile, Russia battered Ukraine’s energy facilities with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in its latest heavy bombardment of the country’s power grid, authorities said Thursday. eight Ukrainian regions experienced blackouts after the barrage, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said.

Read the full story here.