What to know today
- JEFFREY EPSTEIN: President Donald Trump told reporters as he was departing Scotland that he had a falling-out with Jeffrey Epstein after the deceased sex offender "took people" who worked at Mar-a-Lago.
- VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: Trump also said Epstein "stole" Giuffre, a prominent Epstein survivor who died by suicide in April. Giuffre had said she met Ghislaine Maxwell while she was working at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager.
- MAXWELL SUBPOENA: The House Oversight Committee declined a request from Maxwell’s lawyers to grant her immunity in exchange for testifying to Congress.
- EMIL BOVE: The Senate voted tonight to confirm Justice Department official Emil Bove as an appeals court judge, a lifetime appointment for Trump's former personal lawyer. Only Republicans voted for Bove, who faced allegations of wrongdoing from three whistleblowers.
Republicans confirm former Trump lawyer Emil Bove to lifetime appeals court perch
Reporting from Washington
The Republican-led Senate voted tonight to confirm Emil Bove as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, granting a lifetime appointment to Trump’s former personal lawyer.
He was confirmed 50-49, with only Republican votes, as they set aside allegations from three whistleblowers about the conduct of Bove, a Justice Department official, which include accusations that he flouted laws and Justice Department procedures.
Just two Republicans voted with Democrats against the nomination: Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Susan Collins, of Maine.
Hours before the vote, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, dismissed the complaints raised by the third whistleblower as “another breathless accusation,” saying Bove denied the allegations under oath.
EXCLUSIVE: Pete Hegseth has discussed running for political office in Tennessee, sources say
Reporting from Washington
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has privately discussed the idea of running for political office next year in Tennessee, according to two people who have spoken directly with him about it.
If Hegseth were to follow through on the discussions, it would amount to a major leadership shake-up at the department that oversees the American military and millions of federal employees. The Defense Department bars civilian employees from running for political office, meaning Hegseth would have to resign to do so.
In a statement, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said, “Hegseth’s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump.”
One of the people said that their discussion with Hegseth happened within the past three weeks and that it was serious, not simply spitballing ideas. The other person, who also characterized it as serious, would not say when they had spoken — except that it was since Hegseth became defense secretary in January. The two sources, along with others in this article, were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Trump administration drops case against Trump donor, company that owns fast-food brands
The Justice Department today dropped a case against Fat Brands, the company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks, and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn, months after the White House took the unusual step of firing a career federal prosecutor who was involved in the case.
The motion to dismiss the federal case against Fat Brands, its chairman and co-defendants William Amond and Rebecca Hershinger came months after Trump supporter Laura Loomer and others attacked Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schleifer, who ran an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in 2020 for a House seat in New York.
NBC News in April reported on Schleifer's firing and concerns about its impact on the separation between the White House and the Justice Department and political interference in ongoing criminal cases.
The unopposed motion to dismiss the case against all defendants was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reidy and names interim U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli, who has been vocal about his support for Trump’s agenda on social media and in conservative media appearances.
Democrats clash over police funding in heated debate on Senate floor
The Senate floor devolved into a rare, intense clash between Democrats this afternoon when Sen. Cory Booker objected to unanimously passing a bipartisan package of police funding bills.
The unexpectedly heated debate concerned seven measures, previously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, designed to beef up resources and safety for first responders and law enforcement officers.
“What I am tired of is when the president of the United States of America violates the Constitution, trashes our norms and traditions, and what does the Democratic Party do? Comply? Allow him? Beg for scraps? No, I demand justice,” Booker, D-N.J., said on the Senate floor.
“It’s time for Democrats have a backbone. It’s time for us to fight. It’s time for us to draw lines,” he added.
Senate Republicans confirm Susan Monarez as head of the CDC
The Senate tonight confirmed Susan Monarez to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a party-line vote.
Monarez is the first CDC director without a medical degree in more than 70 years. She is also the first CDC director subject to Senate confirmation, following a new requirement from a 2023 law.
Monarez has led the agency as interim director since January. Trump nominated her in March after he abruptly withdrew his initial pick, Dr. Dave Weldon, shortly before Weldon's confirmation hearing.
Monarez holds a doctorate in microbiology and immunology and previously was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which is focused on federal research funding for biomedical innovations.
Senators grilled Monarez about her views on vaccines at her confirmation hearing last month. She acknowledged vaccines saved children’s lives and said fluoridated water was safe. Still, she dodged some questions about whether she agreed with some of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decisions.
Republicans split over the hunger crisis in Gaza as Trump says he’ll push for aid
Reporting from Washington
Trump’s call for additional aid to Gaza as children there starve has put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and split the Republican Party on Capitol Hill.
One of Trump’s top allies in Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has been a big proponent of the “America First” agenda, has gone so far as to call the situation in Gaza a “genocide.” And she publicly slammed one of her GOP colleagues, Rep. Randy Fine, of Florida, for saying Gazans should “starve away” until Hamas releases its hostages.
Greene, who led a 2023 resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over social media posts criticizing the Israeli government and supporting Palestinians, represents a small but growing faction of congressional Republicans who are expressing outrage at the starvation in Gaza.
Asked by NBC News today about Trump’s rhetoric about Gaza and calls for food centers, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said, “I think that I share the president’s view.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene rules out 2026 run for governor
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said in a lengthy X post today that she will not run for governor of Georgia next year, adding that her focus is on her House seat.
“If I was running for governor the entire world would know it because I would be all over the state of Georgia campaigning, I would have ads running, I would be raising scary amounts of money, and I would literally clear the field,” she wrote, but later on in her post she hinted at a possibility of a future run. Greene this year ruled out a 2026 Senate run.
New York Democrats unveil their own mid-decade redistricting scheme, targeting future elections
As Texas Republicans slowly move forward with plans to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, Democrats in New York today plowed ahead with their own scheme intended to counter any GOP redistricting efforts.
But the effort faces a long, arduous path forward and wouldn’t be scheduled to go into effect for years, illustrating the limited options at Democrats’ disposal as they hunt for ways to counter the GOP redistricting play in Texas.
Legislative Democrats in the blue stronghold unveiled a bill that would allow state lawmakers in Albany to conduct mid-decade redistricting — but only if another state were to do it first.
The proposal would, if enacted, effectively set up the prospect of a national redistricting tit-for-tat between Republicans and Democrats, with control of the House of Representatives in Washington potentially on the line.
Rep. Tim Burchett says he was kicked by a horse and broke a rib
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., detailed on X today how he was injured Sunday when a horse kicked him.
"He didn’t like being bit by that horse fly, and my rib was collateral damage," wrote Burchett, who is back in his state for August recess in the House.
Burchett, 60, made it clear that his injury wasn't slowing him down. He said he traveled 3½ hours yesterday to attend three events in the middle of Tennessee and traveled to another county today for two events.
"It’s going to take more than a broken rib to slow me down. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s concern and prayers for a quick recovery," he said.
Burchett represents Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District in the eastern part of the state, including Knoxville.
3rd Bove whistleblower provides evidence about handling of Eric Adams case
Reporting from Washington
A third whistleblower who approached senators with allegations against judicial nominee Emil Bove provided evidence suggesting Bove misled senators during his confirmation hearing when he discussed his handling of the Justice Department’s dismissal of the case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Details of the allegations that Bove misled senators have not been publicly disclosed. The connection to Adams’ case was first reported by The Washington Post.
The timing of Bove’s final confirmation vote in the Senate has not been announced, but it could be as soon as this evening.
Staff members for Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, met with attorneys for the whistleblower yesterday, but Grassley said the new allegations would not delay the confirmation vote.
In a stunning admission, Trump says Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago
Trump said Epstein “stole” Virginia Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago club, a stunning admission that could add to the scrutiny of his relationship with the late financier even as his administration seeks to move on from it.
Asked whether Epstein had stolen Giuffre, one of the financier’s most prominent abuse survivors, who led the charge calling for his arrest, Trump said, "I think so."
Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, has said she met Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell while she was working at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager.
“I don't know. I think she worked at the spa,” Trump said. “I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”
Trump says falling-out came after Epstein 'stole' staff from him
Trump repeated a claim to reporters this afternoon that he stopped allowing Epstein at Mar-a-Lago because Epstein snagged some of his employees from him.
“He took people that work for me, and I told him, 'Don’t do it anymore.' And he did it. I said, 'Stay the hell out of here,'” Trump said in response to a question from NBC News.
NBC News had asked about discrepancies between what Trump has said about his severed relationship with Epstein and the White House's claim that Epstein had been barred from Trump's club in Palm Beach, Florida, because he was a “creep.”
"Yeah, he took people. And because he took people, I said, 'Don’t do it anymore. You know, they work for me.' And he took, beyond that, he took some others. And once he did that, that was the end of him. I didn’t like, where they steal people, I don’t like it," Trump added later.
Asked whether any of the employees in question whom Epstein plucked from him were young women, Trump responded: “Well, I don’t want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken."
"The answer is yes, they were. In the spa. Yeah, people that work in the spa," he added.
Trump says the U.S. will help get food to children starving in Gaza
Trump reiterated his concern today about reports of starving children in Gaza.
"There’s nothing you can say other than it’s terrible when you see the kids. And those are kids, you know, whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving. That’s, I mean, they are starving," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to the United States from Scotland.
He added, "They got to get them food, and we’re going to get them food.”
A senior White House official told NBC News yesterday that Trump was "disturbed" and "troubled" by news images of starving children in Gaza.
DOJ reviewing 'missing minute' from Epstein jail cell tapes
The Justice Department and the FBI are reviewing the situation surrounding the report that the so-called missing minute from the surveillance video on the night Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 does exist on copies of the video in possession of law enforcement.
The Justice Department and the FBI this month released nearly 11 hours of video from at the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center's security cameras, but the time code on the screen moved forward one minute just before midnight, leading to questions about the one-minute gap.
It has always been a mystery why the minute was missing, and it has fueled even more conspiracy theories around Epstein’s death.
When Attorney General Pam Bondi was questioned about the gap at a Cabinet meeting with Trump this month, she said the Bureau of Prisons told her the missing minute was the result of a nightly reset of the video that caused the recording system to miss one recording minute every night.
The new information today was first reported by CBS News.
A Justice Department official said none of it changes what happened that night: that Epstein died by suicide.
Senate Democrats' outside groups raise tens of millions of dollars, gearing up for midterm fight
The major outside groups supporting Senate Democratic candidates are touting new fundraising numbers, shared first with NBC News, ahead of a deadline to report super PAC fundraising this week.
The figures are significantly lower than those of the groups’ Republican counterparts.
Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and its various nonprofit arms raised $32 million combined during the first six months of the year, ending June with $28.2 million on hand, according to communications director Lauren French.
Senate Leadership Fund and its nonprofit arm, One Nation, the super PAC and nonprofit group aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., brought in more from January through June, Axios reported last week. The report said the GOP-aligned groups raised more than $85 million combined over the same period, ending June over $83 million on hand.
“Senate Majority PAC ended the first half of the off year in a competitive posture, raising significant resources to fund the efforts that will defend Democratic seats and beat the Senate Republicans who are pushing a toxic and harmful agenda,” French said in a statement.
"It’s frankly not a shock that the party providing billionaires and corporations with the largest tax giveaway in history, all at the expense of working Americans and middle-class families, would reap the rewards ahead of such a massive corporate handout," French said of the disparity with the GOP groups.
Some super PACs' midyear fundraising reports are due to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.
House Oversight Committee rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s request for immunity in exchange for her testimony
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee declined a request from Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers to grant her immunity in exchange for testifying to Congress.
Maxwell’s lawyers said in a letter today that Maxwell would be willing to testify if she received formal immunity, alongside other requests.
If Maxwell “were to receive clemency, she would be willing — and eager — to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.,” her lawyers wrote. Otherwise, she would assert her Fifth Amendment rights and decline to testify, they said.
A spokesperson for Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the committee would respond to the letter “soon” but “will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony.”
The committee subpoenaed Maxwell last week for a deposition from prison to take place on Aug. 11.
Trump says Russia sanctions will go into effect in 10 days
Trump told reporters that the United States will impose tariffs and secondary sanctions on Russia in 10 days if it can't come to a ceasefire agreement on Ukraine.
"And I don’t know if it’s going to affect Russia, because he wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going, but we’re going to put on tariffs," Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "And the various things that you put on, it may or may not affect them, but it could."
No China tariff pause yet, says U.S. trade representative
U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer said that an extension of the current China tariff pause was "certainly something that's been under discussion," but that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would take that back to Washington, where Trump will decide if "that's something he wants to do."
Trump was asked about the proposed extension as he spoke to reporters at the end of his trip to Scotland, and he said Bessent told him he had had a "very good" meeting and would be briefed on the issue when they return.
Senate Democrats urge Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff to advocate for more aid to Gaza
Forty-four Senate Democrats penned a letter urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff to “advocate for a large-scale expansion of humanitarian assistance and services” in Gaza.
The letter comes as Israel is under increasing pressure to respond to a growing number of deaths due to starvation in the enclave.
The senators said that increased aid should include the use of “multilateral bodies and NGOs that can get life-saving aid directly to those in need and prevent diversion.”
“We stand in strong support of diplomatic efforts to return all hostages, end the fighting in Gaza, and bring humanitarian relief for the safety and prosperity of the Israeli and Palestinian people,” the letter concluded.
Sens. John Fetterman, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders did not sign the letter.
Thune says U.S. should do everything it can to be 'a helping hand' in Gaza
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said today that the Trump administration should do whatever it can to help ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including by helping starving children.
“I think we should do everything we can to be a helping hand. I know other countries, including the Israelis, are trying to address the food needs in Gaza," Thune said when asked if the administration needs to do more to respond to the crisis.
Thune added, "Unfortunately, you got a lot of bad actors in there that are interfering with that. But yeah, the United States should try and be a positive force there.”
EPA moves to repeal key finding behind greenhouse emissions' regulation
Trump’s administration today proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.
The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule rescinds a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
China says tariff truce with U.S. to be extended
U.S. and China's trade talks have ended in Stockholm after two days of discussions.
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said his country wants the ongoing tariff truce between the two sides, which has kept tariffs at 30% for goods shipped from China to the U.S., to continue.
He did not specify how long the extension might be, but Trump previously extended it by 90 days.
Trump ties ‘not bad’ but U.S. must accept North Korea as a nuclear power, Kim Jong Un’s sister says
North Korea said today that while the relationship between its leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump is “not bad,” the United States must accept the isolated country as a nuclear weapons state.
Dismissing the idea of further talks on denuclearization, Kim’s powerful sister said that reality has changed since Trump’s first term in office.
Sen. Angus King says he no longer supports the Israeli government, calls for halting U.S. aid
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, strongly denounced the Israeli government in a statement yesterday amid international calls to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“I cannot defend the indefensible," he said. "Israel’s actions in the conduct of the war in Gaza, especially its failure to address the unimaginable humanitarian crisis now unfolding, is an affront to human decency."
King said that while Israel was "clearly justified" in responding to Oct. 7, it doesn't legitimate its "indifference to the current plight of those trapped in what's left in Gaza."
“I in no way accept or condone the actions of Hamas, but recent events have placed a moral burden on Israel to ameliorate the current crisis, a burden it has thus far totally failed to meet," he said. “For these reasons, I am through supporting the actions of the current Israeli government and will advocate —and vote — for an end to any United States support whatsoever until there is a demonstrable change in the direction of Israeli policy."
Taiwan denies Trump administration blocked its president from visiting U.S.
The Taiwanese government denied reports that the U.S. had blocked President Lai Ching-te from a planned stopover in New York to avoid angering China.
The reports come as the U.S. is conducting its third round of trade talks with China, which claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory and considers such visits provocative.
“The president currently has no plans for overseas visits,” Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei told reporters in Taipei, citing recent extreme weather on the island and ongoing trade talks with the U.S. “There is also no so-called postponement, cancellation or any situation where the U.S. side has refused a transit stop.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it opposed Taiwan leaders transiting through the U.S. “for any reason.” The White House did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment overnight.
Though the U.S. has no formal relations with Taiwan, it is the island’s strongest international backer and has often allowed its leaders to visit U.S. cities on their way to or from other countries. Lai stopped in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam late last year, but has not visited the U.S. since Trump returned to office in January.
Taiwan supporters worry that Trump may make concessions to Beijing as he seeks to lower tensions and to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the news “a victory for Xi” and said it “sends a dangerous signal: that the United States can be bullied by Beijing into silence on Taiwan.”
“Let us hope it is not indicative of a dangerous change in U.S. policy,” she said in a post on X.
Former Rep. Wiley Nickel ends North Carolina Senate run, backs Roy Cooper
Former Gov. Roy Cooper is clearing the Senate Democratic primary field in North Carolina, with former Rep. Wiley Nickel announcing today that he is ending his Senate bid and endorsing Cooper in the race.
“We started this campaign to send Thom Tillis packing. Well, mission accomplished I guess!" Nickel said in a statement, referring to the state's Republican senator who decided not to run for re-election.
"It was an honor to work alongside Governor Cooper in the State Senate and in Congress. I’ve seen firsthand his steady, bipartisan leadership. He listens, he shows up, and he gets things done," Nickel said, announcing he is endorsing Cooper.
Nickel hinted at another run for political office, saying, "I’ve still got a lot of work left to do; that part hasn’t changed."
‘Worst-case scenario of famine’ unfolding in Gaza under Israel’s offensive, global authority on hunger says
The “worst-case scenario of famine“ is unfolding in the Gaza Strip under Israel’s assault, the world’s leading body on hunger said today, as the total number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its offensive passed 60,000, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.
“Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said in its alert. The IPC emphasized that its warning constituted an alert and was not a formal “famine classification.”
The alert comes as deaths from starvation in the enclave continue to rise amid a spiraling hunger crisis spurred by Israel’s military offensive and crippling aid restrictions.
Trump yesterday echoed mounting global alarm at conditions in Gaza, which he said amounted to “real starvation” — a break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Senate Armed Services Committee to be briefed on U.S. military strikes on Iran
Senators sitting on the Armed Services Committee will get a classified briefing this morning on the U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The briefing comes as U.S. assessments and officials offer conflicting reports on how much damage was inflicted. NBC News previously reported that a recent U.S. assessment indicated that only one of the three Iranian nuclear sites targeted by the U.S. was mostly destroyed.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran's notable nuclear facilities were "obliterated."
Chuck Grassley met with 3rd whistleblower on Emil Bove's judicial nomination
Attorneys for a third whistleblower with allegations against Emil Bove met with staff for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, yesterday, with the lawyers providing a summation of their client's complaint but not the underlying documents, Grassley’s office told NBC News.
The whistleblower approached Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and his staff with the complaint, which is unrelated to the allegations being made by the first two whistleblowers, a source familiar with the matter said. The whistleblower shared documentation about a different prosecution at the Justice Department, and while the details of the allegations are not public, the source said they contradict Bove’s testimony during his confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee.
Trump nominated Bove to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His Senate confirmation vote could happen as soon as today. Grassley, when asked if the three whistleblowers would delay Bove's confirmation vote, told NBC News, “No.”
Grassley’s office said that neither the committee’s top Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, nor Booker shared the whistleblower disclosure or any underlying evidence, and that Grassley’s staff was referred by Durbin’s staff to the whistleblower’s lawyers when they asked for additional information.
The existence of a third whistleblower with new allegations was first reported by The Washington Post.
Grassley’s office said it was made aware of reports of a third whistleblower Friday, and that it reached out to Justice Connection, which is representing the whistleblower, to request a meeting with their client and to review relevant evidence. Grassley’s office said they made themselves available to meet over the weekend, but that the meeting was not arranged until yesterday.
A spokesperson for Durbin said the whistleblower expressed a preference to engage directly with Republicans, adding in a statement: “Another whistleblower has come forward with evidence that raises serious concerns with Emil Bove’s misconduct. This is another damning indictment of a man who should never be a federal judge — and Senate Republicans will bear full responsibility for the consequences if they rubber stamp Mr. Bove’s nomination.”
Peter Carr, a former DOJ official who was fired by Trump and now serves as communications director for Justice Connection, put out a statement on the third whistleblower Friday, saying: “The whistleblower has tried to share this information with Republican senators for weeks and they have not provided any response. We urge the senators to hear from this whistleblower before the final vote on his nomination.”
Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ employee turned whistleblower, alleged last month that he and others were told to consider disregarding court orders a day before the Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations.
The White House has stood by Bove amid the whistleblower allegations.
Justice Department files misconduct complaint against judge in key deportations case
The Justice Department filed a complaint yesterday alleging misconduct by a federal judge overseeing several cases involving the Trump administration, including a challenge to the legality of deportation flights to El Salvador in March.
The complaint against U.S. District Chief Judge James Boasberg, filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff Chad Mizelle, alleges that Boasberg made improper comments during a judicial conference in March.
“While there,” Mizelle wrote, “Judge Boasberg attempted to improperly influence Chief Justice Roberts and roughly two dozen other federal judges by straying from the traditional topics to express his belief that the Trump Administration would ‘disregard rulings of federal courts’ and trigger ‘a constitutional crisis.’”
NBC News has not verified the remarks, which Mizelle said took place on March 11. The conference was not open to the public.
Trump denies he's seeking summit with China's Xi
Trump said he was not seeking a “summit” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but that he might visit China by invitation.
“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said after a call with Xi last month that both leaders had invited the other to visit. The U.S. and China are holding a third round of trade talks this week, which experts say could set the stage for the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders since Trump returned to office in January.
Republicans across the country are pushing bills to stop government ‘weather modification’
For years, outlandish theories about the U.S. government’s using airplanes to spray harmful chemicals over U.S. homes or powerful elites controlling the weather were relegated to the fringes of society.
As the internet has provided rocket fuel for such claims, Republican lawmakers across the country are introducing, passing and enacting laws to ban “weather modification” and environmental geoengineering and allude to the use of “chemtrails,” a longtime theory that planes are spreading chemical agents on an unsuspecting public. As more people are exposed to dangerous flooding, the GOP lawmakers have pointed to the fringe theories as potential explanations for extreme weather, pushing them further into the political mainstream. (Scientists have found evidence tying the increasing frequency of extreme weather to climate change.)
Republican lawmakers in nearly 20 state legislatures have proposed such legislation, with governors in Tennessee and Florida having signed bills into law. On the federal level, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., recently introduced the “Clear Skies Act,” which would outlaw forms of geoengineering and hit alleged weather modifiers with penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation and potential prison sentences of up to five years.