Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intensifying demands from Congress to release the full video of an attack on an…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intensifying demands from Congress to release the full video of an attack on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors in what Democrats and legal experts said may have been a war crime or murder. Hegseth provided a classified briefing for congressional leaders Tuesday alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at the Capitol. He said he’s still weighing whether to release the video.
The situation has awakened the Republican-controlled Congress to its oversight role after months of frustration about the trickle of information from the Pentagon. Meanwhile, the U.S. military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday as the Trump administration raises pressure on President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump’s speech on combating inflation turns to grievances about immigrants: On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn’t quite command his full attention. Yet he meandered during his remarks, asking why the U.S. couldn’t take in more immigrants from Scandinavia and using an expletive to describe countries such as Haiti and Somalia.
The Latest:
Mamdani ally launches primary bid against Democratic House incumbent
The outgoing comptroller of New York City is challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in a Democratic primary for a liberal district in lower Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn.
Brad Lander, a progressive ally of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, in a video and social media posts promised Wednesday to offer “courageous leadership in the face of Donald Trump’s attacks on New Yorkers.”
Lander scheduled a public speech about his campaign Wednesday evening near his home in Brooklyn. He’s has been eyeing a challenge to Goldman since he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Mamdani this summer.
Lander and Mamdani endorsed one another during the mayoral primary in an effort, as part of the city’s ranked choice voting system, to join forces against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who at the time was the front-runner.
Texas Senate race shows Democrats split on Trump in midterms
A Dallas congresswoman opened her Senate campaign by telling voters that she “has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump.” Her Democratic primary opponent insisted that Americans are tired of “politics as a blood sport.”
The divergent approach highlights how U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are navigating a race where Democrats hope to break a three-decade losing streak in Texas. It also reflects a broader divide within the party, with some candidates continuing to focus on Trump while others barely mention his name.
Figuring out the best approach will be critical for Democrats who are seeking control of Congress next year and already maneuvering for the 2028 presidential race.
▶ Read more about how Trump features in races around the country.
Federal Reserve likely to cut rates as Trump eyes a new chair
The bigger question for financial markets and the economy is what Chair Jerome Powell may signal Wednesday regarding the central bank’s next steps.
This would be the third cut in a row and bring the Fed’s key rate to about 3.6%, the lowest in nearly three years. For Americans struggling with high borrowing costs for homes, cars, and other large purchases, rate cuts could reduce those costs over time — though it’s not guaranteed.
This week’s meeting could presage a much cloudier path ahead. The government shutdown delayed two months of jobs and inflation data, leaving the Fed with much less information on hiring and inflation. And with Powell’s term as chair ending in May, Trump will nominate a replacement, possibly as soon as this month, who will almost certainly push for lower borrowing costs.
Elon Musk says he would not lead DOGE again
The mega billionaire says the overall effort was only “somewhat successful.”
Musk made his comments to Katie Miller, a conservative operative who works for Musk and is married to Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
“I don’t think so,” Musk said when she asked on her podcast whether he’d restart the now-shuttered Department of Government Efficiency. Musk said DOGE identified billions in “zombie payments” but wasn’t able to enact his promised sweeping reduction of the federal footprint.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, who also owns X, said he’d focus on business instead. Musk acknowledged that his businesses, especially Tesla, faced backlash because of DOGE’s unpopularity.
Things turned in his favor after he left the Trump administration. Tesla shareholders approved a pay package that could make Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
Democrats add House seats to their 2026 target list
Emboldened by recent elections, Democrats are adding more Republican-held House districts to 2026 midterm target list.
Several additions result from recent gerrymandering by state legislatures: Republican Darrell Issa’s California district, North Carolina seats held by Republicans Greg Murphy and Chuck Edwards, and a newly drawn open seat in Texas.
Sacramento Democrats redrew Issa’s seat to their favor. Murphy’s and Edwards’ districts also became less solidly Republican when GOP lawmakers in Raleigh strengthened Republican chances elsewhere. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also added Florida Republican Laurel Lee’s district.
Trump won there and in the newly added Texas seat by double digits in 2024, but Democrats note that in elections across the country this year, their candidates made double-digit gains compared to the presidential election.
Republicans’ anxiety about Hispanic voters grows
Republicans in Florida have found strong support from voters with heritage from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as they likened Democratic leaders to the governments they fled.
But U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican whose district is being targeted by Democrats and includes the city of Miami, said Hispanics also want a secure border, a healthy economy and some relief for “those who have been here for years and do not have a criminal record.”
“The Hispanic vote is not guaranteed,” Salazar said in a video post after Democratic wins in New Jersey and Virginia. “Hispanics married President Trump, but they are only dating the GOP.”
Democrat David Jolly, running for Florida governor, celebrated the results in Miami: “Change is here. It’s sweeping the nation, and it’s sweeping Florida.”
Democrat wins by huge margin over Trump-endorsed candidate for Miami mayor
Voters elected Eileen Higgins by a margin of about 19 percentage points on Tuesday, defeating a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump to end her party’s nearly three-decade losing streak and give Democrats a boost in one of the last electoral battles ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“We are facing rhetoric from elected officials that is so dehumanizing and cruel, especially against immigrant populations,” Higgins told The Associated Press after her victory speech in the Hispanic-majority city that may become the home of Trump’s presidential library. “The residents of Miami were ready to be done with that.”
The victory provides Democrats with some momentum as the GOP looks to keep its grip in Florida. “Tonight’s result is yet another warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said in a statement.
Trump peace deals at risk as fighting surges in Congo and at Cambodia-Thailand border
Less than a week after Congo and Rwanda signed a deal in Trump’s presence in Washington that was meant to halt fighting in eastern Congo, and less than two months after he witnessed Cambodia and Thailand sign a ceasefire pact in Malaysia to end their border conflict, fighting has surged in both places.
The developments have caused international alarm, which resulted in urgent calls to halt the renewed violence.
US military flies 2 fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela as scrutiny grows
Public flight tracking websites showed a pair of U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jets fly over the Gulf for more than 30 minutes flying over water. A U.S. defense official called it a “routine training flight.” Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, the official could not say if the jets were armed, and said they stayed in international airspace.
The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. President Donald Trump says land attacks are coming soon, without saying where.
▶ Read more about the fighter jets
Trump’s crackdown on immigration is taking a toll on child care workers
Not long after Trump took office in January, staff at CentroNía bilingual preschool began rehearsing what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials came to the door.
In October, the school scrapped its beloved Hispanic Heritage Month parade. ICE had begun stopping staff members, all of whom have legal status, and school officials worried about drawing more unwelcome attention.
All of this transpired before ICE officials arrested a teacher inside a Spanish immersion preschool in Chicago in October. The event left immigrants who work in child care, along with the families who rely on them, feeling frightened and vulnerable.
Trump’s push for the largest mass deportation in history has had an outsized impact on the child care field, which is heavily reliant on immigrants and already strained by a worker shortage. Immigrant child care workers and preschool teachers, the majority of whom are working and living in the U.S. legally, say they are wracked by anxiety over possible encounters with ICE officials. Some have left the field, and others have been forced out by changes to immigration policy.
▶ Read more about the impact on child care workers
Trump once denied using this slur about Haiti and African nations. Now he boasts about it
Trump admitted Tuesday what he earlier denied: He used the slur “shithole countries” to disparage Haiti and African nations during a 2018 meeting with lawmakers. Now he’s bragging about a comment that sparked global outrage during his first term.
Back then, Trump had denied making the contemptuous statement during a closed-door meeting, but on Tuesday, he showed little compunction reliving it during a rally in Pennsylvania. He went on to further disparage Somalia as “filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
Trump was boasting that he had “announced a permanent pause on Third World migration, including from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries,” when someone in the crowd yelled out the 2018 remark.
That prompted him to recall the 2018 incident. His telling hewed closely to the description offered at the time by people briefed on the Oval Office meeting. Trump posted on Twitter the day after that news broke that “this was not the language I used” and claimed he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments
Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.