What to know today
- President Donald Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the final leg of his Middle East trip. Earlier today, he addressed U.S. military personnel at Al Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar, where he praised the troops and lauded a multibillion-dollar package of business and defense deals the U.S. sealed with that country.
- Iran said it is ready to sign a nuclear deal with the U.S., under certain conditions, in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
- The Supreme Court heard arguments today over the president's plan to end birthright citizenship, focusing on the power of judges to block presidential policies.
- The Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service are investigating a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey that several U.S. officials interpreted as calling for Trump's assassination, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said today.
Former FBI Director James Comey under investigation for post seen as a potential threat to Trump’s life
The Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service are investigating a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey that several U.S. officials interpreted as calling for the assassination of Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday.
In a now-deleted post on Instagram, Comey shared a photo of what he described as a “shell formation” on a beach that formed the numbers “8647.” The post was swiftly condemned by administration officials, Republican lawmakers and Trump allies who said it blatantly targeted Trump, the 47th president of the United States.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “eighty-six” can informally mean “to get rid of.”
Is Syria’s new president a U.S. ally or enemy?
Trump met yesterday with Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in an effort to forge a new relationship with the country, the first time a U.S. president has met with its leader in decades. But what kind of relationship the U.S. will have with a person it once called an Al Qaeda terrorist remains unclear.
“We’re living in a very unusual world where suddenly people who professed hatred of the West and in particular the United States are now being accepted as potential allies and partners,” said Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the Asia Pacific Foundation.
Senate Republicans put House on notice: We won’t accept your Trump agenda bill without changes
Reporting from Washington
As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for Trump’s agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands.
“No. We’ll make changes,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things we agree on. … But there’ll be changes in a number of areas.”
Ahead of G-20 meeting in South Africa, State Department says it will ‘engage with the G20 where it aligns with U.S. interests’
The State Department today said the U.S. would “engage with the G20 where it aligns with U.S. interests” following a report that the White House is directing departments and agencies not to work on the November G-20 summit in South Africa.
The Washington Post reported that the White House is directing departments and agencies not to work on the upcoming G-20 summit. Asked for comment on that reporting, a State Department spokesperson said, "We refer you to President Trump's recent remarks regarding South Africa and our participation in the G20."
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump earlier this week alleged that a “genocide” is taking place against white South Africans — though the State Department has issued no such formal designation — and reiterated the threat he made last month not to attend the meeting of some of the world’s largest economies “unless that situation’s taken care of.”
“How could we be expected to go to South Africa for the very important G20 Meeting when Land Confiscation and Genocide is the primary topic of conversation?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Claims of a genocide against whites in South Africa have been disputed but have motivated the administration to accept Afrikaners to the U.S. as refugees.
Former DOJ attorney sues department for records related to her termination
Former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer filed a lawsuit this afternoon in United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Justice for withholding records related to her termination and the documentation that details the request for Mel Gibson to have his gun rights restored.
Oyer believes her refusal to support a request to restore Gibson’s gun rights — stemming from his prior domestic violence charges — is the reason she was terminated earlier this year.
The lawsuit alleges that the DOJ has unlawfully withheld records related to her firing.
After her dismissal, Oyer submitted two requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act seeking communications regarding the Gibson matter and records related to her termination. The DOJ acknowledged receiving the requests but failed to provide key documents within the required deadlines.
The complaint asks the court to compel the DOJ to produce the improperly withheld records immediately.
Tulsi Gabbard is taking steps to have more control over the president's daily intelligence brief
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is taking steps that appear designed to bolster the role of her office in the presentation of intelligence to the president, according to a government official and two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Gabbard plans to move the office that prepares the president’s daily intelligence briefing from the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a few miles away in McLean, the official and the sources said. But it’s not clear when the move will take place and how the ODNI will muster the resources and manpower needed to carry it out.
The New York Times first reported the planned move.
As director of national intelligence, Gabbard oversees and approves the president’s daily briefing or PDB. A large staff of analysts and other employees at the CIA compile the classified briefing, creating detailed text, graphics and videos based on the latest intelligence gathered by America’s spy agencies.
The ODNI currently lacks the staff and digital tools needed to put together the brief, former intelligence officers said.
“The DNI has always controlled the PDB. She is just moving it physically to ODNI from CIA in a streamlining effort,” said a government official with knowledge of the matter.
An internal CIA memo on Tuesday informed the workforce about the planned move, saying the agency had identified agency staff to work with their counterparts to facilitate the move but that the exact timeline was still being worked out, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment.
There has been friction at times over the years between the CIA and ODNI. The director of national intelligence position was created after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the CIA — traditionally the country’s most powerful spy agency — was initially skeptical of a new office overseeing the entire intelligence community.
Apart from the president, the PDB is typically shared with a small number of cabinet members and top aides. What material goes into the daily briefing — and how it’s presented — can decisively shape a president’s decision-making.
By choosing to bring the daily brief operation into her headquarters, Gabbard appears to be looking to have tighter control over what intelligence material reaches the president, especially after an assessment became public that contradicted Trump’s claims about a Venezuelan cartel, former intelligence officers said.
Gabbard also plans to move the National Intelligence Council, which oversees major analyses drawing on contributions from across U.S. spy agencies, to the ODNI. The National Intelligence Council is a part of the ODNI but has been physically located at the CIA.
Tiffany Trump announces birth of a son, president's 11th grandchild
Trump's youngest daughter, Tiffany, announced the birth of her first child today, a son named Alexander Trump Boulus. The new arrival is Trump's 11th grandchild.
"Welcome to the world our sweet baby boy, Alexander Trump Boulos. We love you beyond words. Thank you for coming into our lives!," Tiffany posted on X.
Tiffany Trump married business executive Michael Boulos in 2022. His father, Massad Boulos, serves as Trump's senior adviser for Africa.
GOP Rep. slams $150 billion military spending hike for ‘war pimps at the Pentagon’
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., slammed the $150 billion in new military spending in the sweeping party-line bill making its way through the House, saying the Pentagon doesn’t need that money.
“The war pimps at the Pentagon who are supposed to be — we’re building aircraft carriers that we don’t need. Because why? They’re built strategically, the components are being built in powerful members’ districts. And that’s a problem,” Burchett told NBC News.
He said if the military needs funding to modernize, it should cut wasteful or unnecessary programs in the Pentagon budget. “But that’s not the way they operate, because you have members of Congress who own stock and companies that are going to profit from it. And you have people’s jobs.”
Burchett is seen as a key vote on the package in the narrow House majority, and it would be a problem for House GOP leaders if he votes against it due to his concerns about military spending.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says 'no evidence' New Jersey Democrats did 'anything wrong' at ICE facility
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said today that there is "no evidence" that House Democrats did "anything wrong" when last week they visited Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, which is being used as a facility by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"There is zero basis to hold any member of Congress accountable, either as a result of House Floor action or activity based on weaponizing federal law enforcement against members of the Democratic Party. There’s no evidence to suggest that any member of Congress who was in Newark visiting the detention facility in connection with their oversight authority has done anything wrong,” Jeffries told reporters at a press conference.
Jeffries said there have been no videos that suggest the lawmakers "engaged in any inappropriate activity" and said that, if they existed, they would have been released publicly by now.
“The members of Congress — Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver and Rob Menendez — were the ones who were subjected to overly aggressive behavior by people who are weaponizing the authority of the federal government as part of some effort to try to intimidate House Democrats," Jeffries said. "They will not be successful, as it relates to their efforts to intimidate us, not today, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not next year, not ever.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security suggested last week that the Trump administration could pursue arrests of the lawmakers. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on trespassing charges as the situation unfolded at the facility last week.
Democrats to release report touting clean energy tax credits House Republicans are seeking to roll back
Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee will release a report today touting economic and national security success of the clean energy tax credits in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, as House Republicans prepare to repeal key elements of that law as part of their massive bill for Trump's agenda.
Rather than focusing on the environmental impacts, the report, led by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and obtained first by NBC News, details the energy investments as “vital to the future of the U.S. economy” because the Chinese government is “heavily investing in its own clean energy sector.”
It also highlights thousands of new jobs created as a result of the energy tax cuts imposed by the IRA, which was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. The JEC serves as a bipartisan advisory body to both Congress and the executive branch.
Concerns over the impact of scaling back or repealing the clean energy provisions stretch beyond the Democratic side of the aisle, with some Republicans in the House and Senate urging their colleagues to rethink their plan.
In a joint statement to House GOP leaders yesterday, a group of 12 moderate House Republicans said they don’t want “to provoke an energy crisis or cause higher energy bills for working families” as a result of the provisions in the bill advanced by the House Ways and Means committee, which is tasked with the tax portion of the Trump agenda bill.
“While many of these provisions reflect a commitment to American energy dominance through an all-of-the-above energy strategy,” the statement, led by Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., said. “We must ensure certainty for current and future energy investments to meet the nation’s growing power demand and protect our constituents from higher energy costs.”
On the other side of the Capitol, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, John Curtis, R-Utah, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, all raised concerns about repealing or phasing out subsidies for electric vehicles and other clean energy tax incentives.
Murkowski told NBC News that they “made clear that we needed to take a cautious approach to the energy tax credits and make sure that we don’t lose out on some of the good investments that we built.”
Senate Democrats file resolution to block arms sales to Qatar
A group of Senate Democrats introduced a joint resolution of disapproval today that would block a $1.9 billion arms sale to Qatar.
The resolution comes as a response to Trump's acceptance of a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One.
“This isn’t a gift out of the goodness of their hearts — it’s an illegal bribe that the President of the United States is champing at the bit to accept. That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy. Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a ‘palace in the sky’ or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the sponsors, wrote in a statement.
The resolution is privileged so it will be fast-tracked to the Senate floor for a vote. The House, however, likely won't take up the measure.
Trump has come under fire for his acceptance of the jet, drawing criticism from some Republicans including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and many Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has placed a hold on all of Trump's political nominees at the Justice Department until he gets answers about the gift.
A vote on a bill to regulate crypto could come next week
The bipartisan group of senators negotiating a path forward on the GENIUS Act, a bill that would regulate the stablecoin industry, has gotten closer to an agreement for an amendment that would address Democratic concerns about the underlying bill and unlock the path forward for the legislation in the Senate.
The amendment, which is being circulated by Democratic negotiators and has been obtained by NBC News, includes new changes to consumer protection safeguards, limitations on Big Tech issuing stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value) and expands ethics standards to special government employees (which would temporarily apply to Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks). Democrats are also circulating a document touting their “WINS” since beginning the negotiation process last week — that document has been obtained by NBC News and is attached.
The text of the amendment is 90% finalized, but Democrats are seeking guarantees from Republican leadership that they would get a vote on it if they provide the necessary support to advance the legislation, per two sources familiar with the negotiations.
In exchange for a vote on the amendment, Democrats say they have committed to supporting the underlying legislation, according to the sources.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed cloture on the GENIUS Act Thursday, setting up a second procedural floor vote on the bill for next week.
Last week, Democrats and two Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., blocked the bill from advancing, demanding stronger national security and anti-money laundering provisions. The Trump family’s crypto dealings with World Liberty Financial, and President Trump’s Meme coin dinners have exacerbated concerns among Democrats, but there are no provisions in the amendment that would prohibit Trump and his family from continuing their crypto ventures.
Senate Republicans have been noncommittal about supporting the amendment, but the updated changes are likely to get more Democrats on board beyond the core group involved in negotiations.
While there was momentum to begin voting on the GENIUS Act today before the Senate leaves town for the weekend, a vote is not expected, according to people with direct knowledge, though Thune was holding open the possibility of having a vote later this afternoon.
Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans are looking to raise SALT cap above the $30K initially proposed
After meeting with key cohorts within the House GOP Conference today, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that Republicans are exploring raising the SALT cap above the $30,000 initially proposed.
“If you do more on SALT, you have to find more in savings,” Johnson said of the discussions, referencing the state and local tax deductions. “So these are the dials, the metaphorical dials I’m talking about. That’s what is involved here when you’re trying to craft a piece of legislation that is this comprehensive, is this complex, it requires a lot of thought and deliberation.”
SALT is the federal deduction for state and local taxes. Trump's 2017 tax law set a $10,000 limit for SALT and Republicans have proposed a $30,000 cap in the new reconciliation bill being crafted. The issue has been a major sticking point in negotiations over a final bill.
Johnson said House Republicans will continue to work this weekend to reach a consensus on the details of the reconciliation bill, adding that they “are still on path to pass this bill next week, to have it on the floor.”
Trump says nothing will happen in Ukraine-Russia negotiations until he meets with Putin
Before landing in the UAE today, Trump said that no other progress will happen in the Ukraine-Russia negotiations until he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Nothing’s gonna happen until Putin and I get together,” he told reporters on Air Force One. He added, “I don’t believe anything’s gonna happen whether you like it or not, until he and I get together.”
He had previously suggested that he would fly to Turkey to attend talks today if Putin showed up to the meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the Russian leader wasn't present.
Rubio says he doesn't have high expectations for potential Ukraine-Russia talks
Rubio lowered expectations for Ukrainian and Russian delegations' talks in Turkey, saying, "We don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow."
Rubio said that he would meet with the Ukrainian delegation tomorrow, and he did not specify who from the U.S. would meet with the Russian delegation.
The secretary of state argued that he thinks the only way for the war to see a breakthrough is with a direct engagement between Trump and Putin. He predicted that talks would not be productive until that encounter took place.
Although Putin originally called for the talks, the Kremlin confirmed today that the Russian leader would skip negotiations. Zelenskyy is in Turkey.
Stephen Miller re-emerges as an ‘untouchable’ force in Trump’s White House
Outside of President Donald Trump, no White House official has accumulated more influence in this administration than Stephen Miller, the 39-year-old anti-immigration crusader whose brain and bare-knuckled tactics have been deployed to drive the agenda for the commander in chief.
Not Vice President JD Vance. Not chief of staff Susie Wiles. Not anyone else.
It is Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, who loaded up scores of executive orders for Trump to sign in his first months back in office — on topics ranging from the declaration of a national emergency at the southern border to dismantling diversity programs in the federal government and withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
“Stephen is the president’s id,” said one former Trump adviser who knows Miller well. “He has been for a while. It’s just now he has the leverage and power to fully effectuate it.”
FBI field offices ordered to shift agents to immigration crackdown
FBI field offices around the country have been ordered to assign significantly more agents to immigration enforcement, a dramatic shift in federal law enforcement priorities that will likely siphon resources away from counterterrorism, counterintelligence and fraud investigations, multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News.
The orders, given in a series of memos and meetings in FBI offices this week, come at a time when the Trump administration is proposing to cut 5% of the FBI’s budget, and as the Justice Department is deprioritizing investigating certain types of white collar and corporate crime, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.
Russian delegation says it plans to pick up on 2022 peace talks
The high-stakes talks between Russia and Ukraine called for by Putin hit speed bumps today, as the Kremlin confirmed he would be skipping the negotiations and Trump added that “nothing” would happen unless he and his Russian counterpart attended.
Uncertainty over the start date, location and whether either side would even participate made for chaotic scenes in the Turkish capital, Ankara, as well as in Antalya and Istanbul — where some 200 journalists and crew were massed outside the Ottoman-era Dolmabahçe Palace with no clear idea of when talks would get underway.
The Russian team said it is here on the instructions of Putin and planned to pick up where the failed talks of 2022 left off. This is likely to be a nonstarter for Ukraine, because the Kremlin’s stance at these earlier negotiations included proposals like Ukrainian neutrality, which Kyiv rejects.
Ukraine says it is here to negotiate a ceasefire, not a surrender.
NBC News asked the Russian team whether Putin is prepared to compromise. There was no answer. The two sides are as far apart as the Bosporus running through Istanbul is wide.
Progressive activist David Hogg endorses in open congressional race
Leaders We Deserve, a group co-founded by progressive activist David Hogg (who has been sparring with the Democratic National Committee over his support for primary challenges to incumbent Democrats) has endorsed in a race for an open congressional seat in Illinois.
Despite his feud with the party, he's not endorsing against an incumbent. Instead, he's endorsing state Sen. Robert Peters in his bid for the South Side district that extends into Chicago's southern suburbs. That seat is being vacated by Rep. Robin Kelly, who is running for Senate. Peters announced his bid this week and has been backed by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Hogg is currently a vice chair of the DNC, but the national party is weighing whether to call a new election for him and fellow vice chair Malcolm Kenyatta over a procedural issue with how their vote was conducted a few months ago.
Duffy says he's 'very concerned' with the air traffic coming out of the Pentagon
During an exchange with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed deep concern about the heavy air traffic still related to the Pentagon in the wake of the deadly air disaster over the Potomac earlier this year.
"I'm very concerned about the amount of traffic that's coming out of the Pentagon. And I think if there's training missions, those training missions can be done at certain times of the day when we have less traffic into DCA," Duffy said, referring to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
He said that there have still been helicopters coming out of the Pentagon doing training missions or carrying VIP guests.
"That has been a concern," Duffy said.
Collins says Trump's plan to accept Qatari jet is 'rife with legal, ethical, and practical impediments'
Maine Sen. Susan Collins became the latest Republican to criticize Trump's plan to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to be used as Air Force One.
In a statement shared first with NBC News, Collins said the gift is "rife with legal, ethical, and practical impediments, including the potential for espionage."
"I'm not sure how we would be able to adequately inspect and outfit it to prevent that from happening," Collins said. "Also, by the time the plane is done, the President’s term may well be nearly finished."
"Ultimately, I’m not sure why this is necessary at all," she continued.
Duffy says there have been 'cracks' in aviation system 'to the tune of multiple 100 per week'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted that there have been cracks in the nation's aviation system, and said there have been numerous ones each week.
"We do see cracks in the system, we see those cracks to the tune of multiple 100 per week," he said before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
Duffy said that it should be "troubling for everybody" and is a "warning sign that time is not on our side, and it’s important that we make the investments."
He explained that the air traffic control shortages are "critical" and said they're 3,000 people short, and it's been at that level for some time.
His answers came in response to Hyde-Smith saying, “We’re all very troubled by the mishaps within our nation’s air traffic control systems, but the staffing shortages and the technological issues, particularly in the New York space. They’re not isolated incidents, incidents and these, these have been happening across the country, and they highlight a system that is under tremendous strain."
The senator said that Congress has a responsibility to take legislative action.
Hyde-Smith says she's 'disappointed' with proposed Trump cuts to rural program
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., said in her opening statement that she's disappointed with the Trump administration's 2026 budget request for the Transportation Department because it proposes cuts to a program that expands access to rural communities.
"I was disappointed to see that the administration proposes drastic cuts to the Essential Air Service program," she said. "The EAS program connects our nation's rural communities to the broader transportation network by facilitating safe air travel for customers traveling to and from smaller markets like in Greenville, Mississippi, Tupelo and Hattiesburg, Mississippi."
Hyde-Smith said she knows Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy understands the importance of the program because he has multiple EAS-supported airports in the district he represented as a congressman.
"Drastically cutting this program will have a severe impact on rural communities and regions that rely on having access to the broader transportation network," she said.
Supreme Court revives excessive force claim over deadly Houston police shooting
The Supreme Court today allowed the mother of a Black man killed following a routine traffic stop in Houston to pursue an excessive force claim against the police officer who shot him.
The justices faulted a lower court for focusing solely on the moment force was used and not the moments leading up to it.
“Today we reject that approach,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for a unanimous court. “To assess whether an officer acted reasonably in using force, a court must consider all the relevant circumstances, including facts and events leading up to the climactic moment.”
Photos: Trump arrives in Abu Dhabi
Arriving at the presidential terminal today in Abu Dhabi, Trump was greeted by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and a gathering of young girls in traditional attire.
While en route to Abu Dhabi, passengers on Air Force One glimpsed Palm Islands, a man-made archipelago in Dubai.
The rampant federal fraud that DOGE is largely ignoring
International criminal groups are stealing as much as a trillion dollars a year from U.S. government programs, but DOGE has done little to address the problem, according to a new report by a private anti-fraud firm.
“It’s the government’s dirty little secret — this has been an ongoing effort by nation states and other criminal organizations for years,” said Jordan Burris, who is vice president of Socure, an identities management firm, and a former White House official. “We’ve been able to confirm that these coordinated attacks are pilfering government programs and doing so at a velocity that is relentless.”
New U.S. ambassador to China arrives in Beijing
Reporting from Hong Kong
David Perdue, the new U.S. ambassador to China, has arrived in Beijing, where he is likely to stress his close ties to Trump as he tries to improve relations between the world’s two largest economies.
“It is an honor to represent President Trump as the U.S. Ambassador to China,” Perdue said on X. “I am ready to get to work here and make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
Perdue, 75, a former Republican senator from Georgia who was sworn in last week, replaces veteran diplomat Nicholas Burns as U.S. ambassador. He spent much of his 40-year international business career outsourcing manufacturing to Asia but became known in the Senate for his hawkish stance on China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party.
His arrival comes days after the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each other’s imports as they work toward a broader trade deal.
The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said it was willing to “facilitate” Perdue’s work on U.S.-China relations.
“We have always approached and handled the relationship based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular briefing in Beijing. “We also hope the U.S. will work with China in the same direction.”
Trade tensions are stalling exports, Asia-Pacific countries say
Trade tensions threaten to halt export growth across the Asia-Pacific region, representatives from almost two dozen countries warned today.
The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping, which accounts for about half of global trade and includes the U.S., said in a report that its export volume is projected to grow just 0.4% this year, down from 5.7% in 2024. The bloc also cut its regional economic growth forecast for this year to 2.6% compared with 3.6% growth last year.
“From tariff hikes and retaliatory measures to the suspension of trade facilitation procedures and the proliferation of non-tariff barriers, we are witnessing an environment that is not conducive to trade,” said Carlos Kuriyama, director of the APEC Policy Support Unit.
“This uncertainty is hurting business confidence and leading many firms to delay investments and new product launches until the situation becomes more predictable,” he added.
At the center of global trade tensions are the U.S. and China, which slashed tariffs on each other’s goods this week as they work toward a broader trade deal.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang today on the sidelines of an annual session of APEC trade representatives on the South Korean island of Jeju, Reuters reported, citing the South Korean Industry and Trade Ministry. The ministry did not provide details.
Walmart warns tariffs are still too high, price hikes likely
Walmart this morning warned its shoppers that price hikes would likely hit its shelves within weeks, potentially at the end of this month.
That's even after Trump lowered new tariff levels on Chinese goods to 30% from 145%. Walmart finance chief John David Rainey indicated that the administration has further to go to resolve cost pressures that have risen at a scale and speed without “historical precedent."
The retail giant also said it's able to make supply chain moves in order to avoid some price increases, reflecting flexibility and scale that smaller businesses lack as they navigate Trump's ever-shifting tariff policy.
Vance and Rubio to head to the Vatican for pope's inaugural Mass
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass in Vatican City, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to NBC News.
The new pope will preside over the Mass. Vance, who is Catholic, met briefly with Pope Francis before his death last month.
The vice president, Rubio and second lady Usha Vance will be among the U.S. delegation attending the Mass, which marks the formal installation of the first U.S.-born pope.
Leo, who was born Robert Prevost in Chicago, was elected pope by a conclave last week.
Trump suggests again he could attend Russia-Ukraine peace talks 'if it was appropriate'
Reporting from Qatar
Trump again suggested he could join peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey tomorrow and said he anticipated that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend.
Negotiations were due to start today in Ankara, with additional talks taking place in two more Turkish cities and U.S. diplomats attending alongside Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But Putin's decision not to go has thrown the talks into doubt.
"I'd go on Friday if it was appropriate, but we have people right now negotiating," Trump said, speaking at a roundtable meeting of business executives in Qatar as part of his tour of the Middle East. He also said earlier this week that his attendance was a possibility.
Referring to Putin, Trump said at the roundtable: "Why would he go if I’m not going? Because I wasn’t going to go."
"And I said, I don’t think he’s going to go, I don't know," Trump added. "And that turned out to be right. But we have people there.”
Trump vows to 'end conflicts, not start them' in address to U.S. troops
Trump addressed U.S. troops stationed at Al Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command. During his remarks, Trump said he aims to “end conflicts, not start them,” but added that he “won’t hesitate to wield American power” to defeat its enemies.
Putin skips direct Ukraine peace talks in Turkey that he suggested
Confusion swirled around high-stakes peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that were called for by Russian President Vladimir Putin today, as the Kremlin confirmed that Putin himself would be skipping the negotiations.
Uncertainty over the start date, location and whether either side would even participate made for chaotic scenes in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Antalya and Istanbul — outside whose Ottoman-era Dolmabahçe Palace some 200 journalists and crew were massed with no clear idea of when talks would get underway.
Supreme Court weighs Trump plea to implement plan to limit birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court today weighs whether to allow Trump’s radical reinterpretation of the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship to go into effect, at least in part, while litigation continues.
In an unusual move, the court is hearing oral arguments on a series of Trump administration emergency requests seeking to limit the scope of nationwide injunctions that blocked the plan almost as soon as it was announced in January.
A decision siding with the administration would not only provide a boost to Trump’s birthright citizenship proposal, but would also help the administration implement other policies via executive actions, many of which have also been blocked nationwide by lower court judges.
The justices have not agreed to take up the bigger legal question of whether Trump’s plan comports with the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Trump talks trade deals, WWII holidays and armed force pay in speech to U.S. troops in Qatar
Trump touched on everything from arms deals to efforts to commemorate WWII and the future of Gaza in a speech to U.S. armed forces at a base in Qatar today.
The president praised the assembled troops and aviators as “the finest we have in the battle to defend civilization” and lauded a multibillion-dollar package of business and defense agreements with Qatar sealed this week, including a $96 billion order of Boeing 787 planes.
Trump mentioned that he had spoken to several European leaders this month, who were commemorating the anniversary of the end of World War II, repeating his promise to designate two days as national holidays in the U.S. to mark the occasion.
“Everybody was celebrating but us and we won the war! We won the war. Without us they don’t win the war, we’re all speaking German, maybe a little Japanese too,” he said.
Referring to France's national holiday, he said: “I think we did a little more than France to win the war. When Hitler made the speech at the Eiffel Tower, that wasn’t exactly ideal.”
Trump won applause by pledging to increase salaries for the armed forces, but he added: “You don’t have to take it, for the good of the country.”
In pictures: Trump addresses U.S. troops
The third day of Trump’s Middle East tour started with a breakfast with business leaders at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha, Qatar. He then traveled to Al Udeid Air Base to address a large crowd of U.S. troops.
South Africans dispute claims of genocide against white farmers in their country
A day after 59 white South Africans were welcomed to America as refugees, more than 86,000 South African farmers — who are mostly white — are gathering this week at the NAMPO Harvest Day trade fair, an annual agricultural exhibition considered the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Over four days, the attendees will discuss innovations in technology, collaborations and various other elements of an industry that last year generated nearly $14 billion in revenue.
Notably, according to one participant, there is no planned discussion of violence against white farmers or “Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation” without compensation, as Trump wrote in a Feb. 7 executive order that opened the way for the 59 South Africans to come to the U.S., despite a ban on refugees from other nations.
Inside Iran as Trump presses for nuclear deal
A top Iranian official is responding to Trump’s new message to Iran. Trump says Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, but that he is open to negotiating a new nuclear deal. NBC News’ Richard Engel is in Tehran.
Trump to address troops at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base
Reporting from Qatar
Reporters are awaiting Trump at Al Udeid Air Base, a vast facility outside Doha that is home to the headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command.
The president will give remarks to troops in a hangar in Al Udeid, the biggest U.S. military facility in the Middle East, later this morning against a backdrop that reads “Peace Through Strength.” “Eye of the Tiger” and other campaign rally favorites are playing.
Trump meets with U.S. and other business leaders in Qatar
Reporting from Doha, Qatar
Trump began his day in Qatar at a breakfast with business leaders from American aerospace and defense companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
Among others in attendance were Abdulaziz Al-Rabban, the chairman of Al Rabban Capital, and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
Qatar’s delegation included the chair of the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a partner of the president’s family real estate business helping to build Qatar’s first Trump-branded project.
Later, Trump will give remarks to troops in a hangar at Al Udeid Air Base, a sprawling facility and home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command. The president is on the second leg of his three-country tour of the Middle East, where he is meeting with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Is Syria’s new president a U.S. ally or enemy?
President Donald Trump met yesterday with Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in an effort to forge a new relationship with the country, the first time a U.S. president has met with its leader in decades. But what kind of relationship Washington will have with a person it once called an Al Qaeda terrorist remains unclear.
“We’re living in a very unusual world where suddenly people who professed hatred of the West and in particular the United States are now being accepted as potential allies and partners,” said Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the Asia Pacific Foundation.
Top Iranian official says Tehran would forgo highly enriched uranium in nuclear deal with Trump
Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told NBC News on Wednesday.
Ali Shamkhani, a top political, military and nuclear adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the most senior Iranian officials to speak publicly about the ongoing discussions.
He said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium which can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions on Iran.
Asked if Iran would agree to sign an agreement today if those conditions were met, Shamkhani said, “Yes.”