Later today, we’ll hear from press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who will hold a White House briefing at 1pm EST.
With Congress on recess this week, we’ll also be looking to hear the administration’s latest response to the looming government shutdown.
The Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding bill on Friday, after both Democratic and Republicans versions of a short term resolution to keep the government funded stalled in the upper chamber.
Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who heads the US Senate’s commerce committee, has urged Donald Trump to support international efforts by an airline trade group to raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 – despite opposition from a pilots association, which says such a move could increase travel risks.
In a letter first reported by Reuters on Sunday, Cruz asked Trump to support efforts the upcoming opening of a United Nations aviation meeting in Montreal.
“America should lead on the international stage in support of raising, or even abolishing, the pilot retirement age,” said Cruz, who leads the Senate panel overseeing aviation issues. He added current policy is “forcing thousands of highly qualified and experienced pilots into early retirement every year”.
In 2024, Congress rejected a push to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65. Lawmakers rejected the bid to hike the retirement age after some cited a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which had called for a scientific and safety analysis before making the decision.
International rules prohibit airline pilots older than 65 from flying international flights, and many countries, including the US, apply the same rule domestically as well.
The White House did not immediately comment.
Hundreds of environmentalists gathered in New York City’s Stuyvesant Square Park and a nearby Quaker meeting house on Sunday to rally in support of solar power and other forms of renewable energy. The event was part of a national “day of action” billed Sun Day, founded by veteran environmental activist Bill McKibben and first Earth Day coordinator Denis Hayes.
“It’s so sad to watch the sun going to waste,” McKibben said at a press conference, standing beside environmentalists and their children. “Every single day, energy from heaven going to waste while we drill down to hell for another dose of the stuff that is wrecking this planet.”
McKibben was joined at the press conference by other activists, as well as officials from New York and his home state of Vermont.
“We have the ability here to protect our children, to protect our future,” said New York’s lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
The event in the park followed an all-afternoon celebration of clean power, with displays of solar panels, child-friendly lessons on renewable technology, and panel discussions. One popular panel featured McKibben and New York City’s comptroller, Brad Lander.
Turning Point USA receives major donations after founder Charlie Kirk's death
The powerful fundraising operation that rightwing activist Charlie Kirk led to build the influential college group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is receiving a wave of support from large donors and Donald Trump allies since his murder, which suggests the group will remain a major force on the American right, campaign finance experts and consultants say.
New backing and appeals for help to sustain TPUSA have come from, among others, Lynn Friess, the widow of mega-donor Foster Friess, who was Kirk’s first major backer when he formed his campus-focused Republican group in 2012 at the age of 18. Friess pledged $1m to TPUSA days after the 31-year-old’s killing.
In an email to friends and allies on the right, Friess wrote on 14 September that her donation was to support a surge in “new TPUSA chapters springing up across the country … helping this incredible movement grow even stronger”.
Far-right former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who was close to Kirk and appeared at some TPUSA events in recent years, also sent out a fundraising appeal to help sustain TPUSA, while Dallas multimillionaire Doug Deason has indicated he plans to increase his already hefty backing for the group.
Kirk’s success roping in big donors, many of whom remain anonymous, is apparent in its rapid growth according to tax filings, In 2024, Arizona-based TPUSA reported raising $85m, or more than double the $39m it hauled in during 2020.
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Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch will probably be involved in the effort to buy TikTok in the US, Donald Trump said in an interview on Sunday.
The president was asked about the status of the sale of the app during an interview with Peter Doocy on The Sunday Briefing on Fox News. Trump administration officials have signaled that a deal for the Chinese-owned social media platform was imminent, though there has been some confusion about the status of the agreement.
Trump said moguls Larry Ellison and Michael Dell were involved in the deal before adding: “I hate to tell you this – a man named Lachlan is involved. You know who Lachlan is? That’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch.
“Rupert is probably gonna be in the group, I think they’re gonna be in the group, a couple of others. Really great people. Very prominent people. And they’re also American patriots, they love this country, so I think they’re gonna do a really good job.”
Such a deal would involve Fox corporation being among the group of investors in TikTok, CNN reported on Sunday, not Rupert and Lachlan as individual investors.
A delegation of US lawmakers met with Chinese defence minister Dong Jun on Monday in the first House of Representatives visit to Beijing in six years, with talks aimed at bolstering exchanges including military-to-military communication.
The bipartisan delegation was led by Democratic US representative Adam Smith, the current top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee that oversees the US Defense Department and armed forces.
“We are the first delegation from the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and we feel strongly that there should be more frequent visits and more robust conversation,” Smith told Dong.
“We want to open up the lines of communication. And in particular around military matters,” Smith said, according to a pool report organised by the US embassy in Beijing.
Dong said the visit marked a “good” phase in efforts to strengthen China-US communications.
Trump officials reportedly set to tie Tylenol to autism risk
Donald Trump’s administration is on Monday expected to tie pregnant women’s use of the popular medicine Tylenol – known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world – to a risk of autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported.
Trump officials are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.
Medical guidelines say it is safe for pregnant women to take Tylenol, the over-the-counter pain medication whose active ingredient is known as acetaminophen in the US and paracetamol elsewhere in the world.
Trump teased the announcement during the memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, telling the crowd “I think we found an answer to autism.” On Saturday, the president said the planned announcement would be “one of the most important things that we will do.”
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Trump hails Charlie Kirk as ‘a martyr for America’s freedom’ at memorial
Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with the news that Donald Trump praised Charlie Kirk as a “great American hero” and “martyr” for freedom as the president and other prominent conservatives gathered on Sunday evening to honor the slain conservative political activist.
The memorial service for Kirk, whom Trump credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners.
“He’s a martyr now for America’s freedom,” Trump said in his tribute to the 31-year-old. “I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie. And neither now will history.”
Kirk’s assassination at a 10 September appearance on a Utah college campus has set off a fierce debate about violence, decency and free speech in an era of deep political division.
The Associated Press reports that those close to Kirk prayed and the floors at the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals shook from the bass of Christian rock bands, as the memorial started with the feel of a megachurch service before veering into something more akin to a political rally.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, in her own address said in the midst of her grief she was finding comfort that her husband left this world without regrets. She said she forgives the man who is charged with killing him.
Trump, who closed out the service, remarked that Charlie Kirk “did not hate his opponents” and “wanted the best for them,” an attribute he found hard to understand.
“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,” Trump said. “I’m sorry, I am sorry Erika.”
You can read our report here:
In other developments:
Donald Trump met with billionaire Elon Musk, his once trusted adviser with whom the president had a spectacular public falling out, at a memorial event for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, raising speculation that the two could be reconciling. Trump shook hands with and chatted to Musk, who once led the president’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which took a hatchet to the US federal workforce and agencies in the early months of Trump’s second administration.
Trump’s administration is on Monday expected to tie pregnant women’s use of the popular medicine Tylenol – known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world – to a risk of autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported. Trump officials are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.
The United States called on Sunday the recognition of a Palestinian state by several key allies - including Britain, Australia and Canada - “performative”. “Our focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures. Our priorities are clear: the release of the hostages, the security of Israel, and peace and prosperity for the entire region that is only possible free from Hamas,” a US State Department spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.
Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch will probably be involved in the effort to buy TikTok in the US, Trump said in an interview on Sunday. The president was asked about the status of the sale of the app during an interview with Peter Doocy on The Sunday Briefing on Fox News.
Trump said he was appointing his former lawyer Lindsey Halligan to be US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia after an extraordinary outburst in which he overtly put pressure on his attorney general to more aggressively pursue senior public officials he regards as his political enemies.
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