Closing summary
This blog will be closing shortly but our live coverage will continue here:
Here is a summary of what we know and the developments so far:
Kirk, a 31-year-old influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at a university in Utah, triggering a manhunt for a lone sniper who the governor said had carried out a “political assassination”.
Authorities said they still had no suspect in custody as of Wednesday night, about eight hours after the midday shooting at Utah Valley University campus in Orem during an event attended by 3,000 people.
On Wednesday night, the campus of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem remained on lockdown, with traffic cones and flashing police cars blocking every entrance. At the nearby Timpanogos regional hospital, where Kirk was taken after the shooting and pronounced dead, roughly a dozen people held a vigil – one of several that took place that evening across the region – at the hospital’s entrance.
The lone perpetrator suspected of firing the single gunshot that killed Kirk remained “at large”, said the Utah Department of Public Safety’s commissioner, Beau Mason. The shot apparently came from a distant rooftop on campus.
Two men were detained and one was interrogated by law enforcement but both were subsequently released, state police said on Wednesday night.
Donald Trump blamed “the radical left” for the shooting and promised a crackdown, saying its “rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now”. In his address from the Oval Office Trump also provided a list of incidents of what he termed “radical left political violence” while not including violence against Democrats.
Cellphone video clips of Kirk’s killing posted online showed him addressing a large outdoor crowd on the campus, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Salt Lake City, about 12.20pm local time when a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand towards his neck as he fell off his chair, sending onlookers running.
Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, said: “This is a dark day for our state, it’s a tragic day for our nation. I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.” With the suspect still at large, there was no clear evidence of motive for the shooting, he said.
Trump ordered all government US flags to be flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk’s honour.
In Washington, an attempt to observe a moment of silence for Kirk on the floor of the US House of Representatives degenerated into shouting between Democrats and Republicans.
Kirk’s appearance on Wednesday was the first in a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” at universities around the country, where he would typically invite attendees to debate him live.
Nancy Pelosi, Gabrielle Giffords, Steve Scalise, Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer and Robert F Kennedy Jr – all US public figures who have experienced political violence themselves – paid their respects and condemned the shooting. Globally, leaders including the Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and UK prime minister Keir Starmer shared messages of condmenation at political violence.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani paid his respects to Charlie Kirk and condemned gun violence in the United States. In a video shared on X of Mamdani speaking at the annual Jews for Economic and Racial Justice (JFREJ) fundraiser, he took a moment to first address the news of the shooting and to speak more widely about the “plague” of gun violence in the country.
Utah Valley University has informed students, faculty and staff that its campuses will be closed for the rest of the week, and all classes and campus events will be suspended until next Monday. The school’s leaders said they are “shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk, a guest to our campus” and “grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy”.
Updated
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has shared a message on X about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. He said “we must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear”.
Starmer wrote:
My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk.
It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband.
We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear – there can be no justification for political violence.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has called the shooting of Charlie Kirk a “tragedy” and a “sign of the utter desperation and cowardice of those who could not defeat him in argument”. He also said that now “the world has a shining new martyr to free speech” as he described the views of the rightwing activist Kirk as “simple common sense”.
Johnson wrote on X:
The murder of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, and a sign of the utter desperation and cowardice of those who could not defeat him in argument.
Charlie Kirk has been killed not for espousing extremist views – because he didn’t. He has been killed for saying things that used to be simple common sense. He has been killed because he had the courage to stand up publicly for reasonable opinions held by millions and millions of ordinary people both in the US and Britain.
The world has a shining new martyr to free speech. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said on X that he is “appalled” by the murder of Charlie Kirk and added that there is “no justification for political violence”.
Carney wrote:
I am appalled by the murder of Charlie Kirk. There is no justification for political violence and every act of it threatens democracy.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and loved ones.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani paid his respects to Charlie Kirk and condemned gun violence in the United States.
In a video shared on X of Mamdani speaking at the annual Jews for Economic and Racial Justice (JFREJ) fundraiser, he took a moment to first address the news of the shooting and to speak more widely about the “plague” of gun violence in the country.
He said:
Before I begin, I do want to take a moment to address the horiffic political assassination that just occurred today in Utah. Charlie Kirk is dead – yet another victim of gun violence in a nation where what should be a rarity has turned in to a plague.
It cannot be a question of political agreement or alignment that allows us to mourn. It must be the shared notion of humanity that binds us all.
… It reminds us that this news is not just that of the murder of a prominent political figure, but also the news of a wife who grieves her husband [and] of a one-year-old and a three-year-old who will grow up without a father. And the fact that there are families who are feeling that same anguish right now in Colorado as they wait for their children, also shot at a school, to emerge from surgery is the same anguish that too many across our city and our nation reckon with in silence every day as we contend with an epidemic of suffering.
We can and must do more to challenge the status quo that has allowed this pain to become routine, that has allowed the question of ‘which mass shooting?’ to respond to the news of one that is shared. And it is incumbent on all of us to repair the tears in our shared civic fabric and to make our nation one that is worthy of its greatest ideals. With that, I wish that Charlie rest in peace as well as every other victim of gun violence from this day and before in our country.
Reporting by Cy Neff in Orem, Utah.
On Wednesday night, the campus of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem remained on lockdown, with traffic cones and flashing police cars blocking every entrance.
At the nearby Timpanogos regional hospital, where Charlie Kirk was taken after the shooting and pronounced dead, roughly a dozen people were holding a vigil – one of several taking place that evening across the region – at the hospital’s entrance.
The mourners draped the hospital sign in American flags and surrounded its base with a thicket of candles and homemade signs, including “Peacemakers wanted” and “we love you Charlie Kirk”. When the hospital’s lawn sprinklers abruptly turned on, gatherers smothered them with grocery bags and cut-off plastic bottles to keep the memorial dry.
CJ Sowers, 33, and Ammon Paxton, 19, were in the crowd for Kirk’s speech, and said they watched the shooting unfold.
Paxton said he was right in front of Kirk, and watched his body go limp. “Charlie Kirk was a major role model and hero for me,” said Paxton, who spoke with a red Make America Great Again cap folded in his hand. “One of our greatest heroes is dead.”
Greg Cronin, a faculty member at UVU, said that he has stood on the street corner, with a flag in hand, for the past seven hours. He said he was working in the building next to where Kirk was speaking and watched students flood through its halls after the shooting. Cronin said he hoped the shooting could bring people together in dialogue instead of further political division.
“We won’t minimize actions like this around the world, ever,” Cronin said. “But we can minimize the impact that they are allowed to have.”
Here is a graphic showing the site of the Charlie Kirk shooting at Utah Valley University campus and also the reported location of the shooter:
What we know so far
For those just joining us, here’s a recap of the day’s events as we’ve been bringing you the news of the killing of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah.
Kirk, a 31-year-old influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at a university in Utah, triggering a manhunt for a lone sniper who the governor said had carried out a “political assassination”.
Authorities said they still had no suspect in custody as of Wednesday night, about eight hours after the midday shooting at Utah Valley University campus in Orem during an event attended by 3,000 people.
The lone perpetrator suspected of firing the single gunshot that killed Kirk remained “at large”, said the Utah Department of Public Safety’s commissioner, Beau Mason. The shot apparently came from a distant rooftop on campus.
Two men were detained and one was interrogated by law enforcement but both were subsequently released, state police said on Wednesday night.
Donald Trump blamed “the radical left” for the shooting and promised a crackdown, saying its “rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now”. In his address from the Oval Office Trump also provided a list of incidents of what he termed “radical left political violence” while not including violence against Democrats.
Cellphone video clips of Kirk’s killing posted online showed him addressing a large outdoor crowd on the campus, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Salt Lake City, about 12.20pm local time when a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand towards his neck as he fell off his chair, sending onlookers running.
Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, said: “This is a dark day for our state, it’s a tragic day for our nation. I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.” With the suspect still at large, there was no clear evidence of motive for the shooting, he said.
Trump ordered all government US flags to be flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk’s honour.
In Washington, an attempt to observe a moment of silence for Kirk on the floor of the US House of Representatives degenerated into shouting between Democrats and Republicans.
Kirk’s appearance on Wednesday was the first in a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” at universities around the country, where he would typically invite attendees to debate him live.
With news agencies
Updated
The killing of Charlie Kirk has particular resonance for US public figures who have experienced political violence themselves. Here’s reaction from some of them, care of the Associated Press.
Nancy Pelosi
The former House speaker’s husband was seriously injured at their California home in 2022 by a man wielding a hammer. Pelosi, a Democrat, posted that “the horrific shooting today at Utah Valley University is reprehensible. Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation.”
Gabrielle Giffords
The Democratic former US representative suffered a serious brain injury from a 2011 shooting while meeting with constituents at a shopping centre in Arizona. She posted on social media that she was “horrified” to hear of Kirk’s shooting, saying: “Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”
Steve Scalise
The House majority leader, a Republican, was shot at practice for a charity baseball in Virginia in 2017. He asked people on X to “please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk after this senseless act”.
Josh Shapiro
The Democratic Pennsylvania governor was evacuated with his family from the governor’s mansion earlier this year after a man broke in and set a fire that caused significant damage. “We must speak with moral clarity,” Shapiro wrote on X. “The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.”
Gretchen Whitmer
The Michigan governor, a Democrat, was the subject of a failed kidnapping plot by rightwing extremists who hoped to ignite a civil war. She posted: “We should all come together to stand up against any and all forms of political violence.”
Robert F Kennedy Jr
The health and human services secretary appeared to invoke his family’s losses as he reacted to Kirk’s killing. Kennedy’s father, for whom he was named, was assassinated in 1968. RFK Jr wrote on social media that “once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era”, calling Kirk a “relentless and courageous crusader for free speech”.
Updated
The Utah university where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking to students is the state’s largest public university after years of rapid enrolment growth.
Utah Valley University, located about 40 miles (64km) south of Salt Lake City, has grown fivefold over the past three decades. It now has nearly 47,000 students, according to the university website.
The university was founded under a different name in 1941 as a vocational school focused on providing war production training, the Associated Press reports. Nearly nine out of 10 students at the school in Orem are from Utah, and 18% of them are aged 25 or older.
Utah is one of 14 US states that allow some level of concealed carry of firearms on public college and university campuses.
In the days before Charlie Kirk’s killing, he debuted his conservative message in Asia.
The rightwing activist cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned in Tokyo about a “globalist menace” on his first speaking tour of Asia, Reuters reports.
In Seoul on Friday he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference that has previously featured speakers including Donald Trump Jr.
“The phenomenon of young people, especially men, turning conservative is occurring simultaneously across multiple continents,” Kirk told the audience, who chanted “USA” as he entered the stage to a pyrotechnic display.
It is not unique to the US, which is why it deserves more attention. That is why I chose South Korea as my first Asian destination.
After Seoul, Kirk went Tokyo and spoke at a symposium hosted by the Sanseito party, which made its political breakthrough in a July upper house vote warning about a “silent invasion” of immigrants.
“I’m excited ... to learn and to hopefully invigorate the people of your great nation to keep fighting this globalist menace,” Kirk said in an interview with a Sanseito legislator posted on YouTube before the event.
The party’s leader, Sohei Kamiya, said on X he was “stunned and heartbroken” at the news of Kirk’s death, calling him a “comrade committed to building the future with us”.
Updated
Vance says Kirk helped with win poll as well as staffing 'the entire government'
Vice-president JD Vance has described his years-long friendship with Charlie Kirk and said that “like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016”, but later came to see him as essential.
Vance said in a lengthy post on X that Kirk advocated for him to become Trump’s vice-presidential nominee, and when he did, “Charlie was there for me … constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers”.
He said that “some of our most successful events were organized not by the campaign, but by TPUSA” – Turning Point USA, the conservative youth activist group Kirk co-founded.
Vance said:
So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene. He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.
Updated
Some experts worry that Charlie Kirk’s killing will inflame an already-divided US and inspire more unrest amid a surge in political violence.
In the first six months of this year the US had about 150 politically-motivated attacks, said Mike Jensen, University of Maryland researcher – nearly twice as many as in the same period last year, based on the university’s database tracking such violence since 1970.
Reuters also reports that domestic terrorism experts cite the increasingly inflammatory tone of US political discourse as well as economic insecurity among a convergence of factors for the increased violence.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has scaled back efforts to counter domestic extremism, redirecting resources toward immigration enforcement and citing the southern border as the top security threat.
Jensen said:
This is an administration that, whether you agree with it or not, has made profound changes to this country in the eight months it’s been in office
Some people love it, some people hate it. The people that hate it are starting to act out. People who love it are going to act out against those people that hate it, and it becomes a vicious spiral that could lead us into something really, really bad.
No suspect in custody over Kirk killing, authorities confirm
US authorities have no suspect in custody over the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk after hours of confused statements from officials about the Utah killing.
“This shooting is still an active investigation,” the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement, adding it was working with the FBI, the Utah county attorney’s office, the Utah county sheriff’s office and local police departments.
After two suspects were taken in and released, “there is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter”, the statement said.
Reuters reports the department’s statement as saying the shooting was “believed to be a targeted attack” by a shooter from the roof of a building but that it could not give further details “to protect the integrity of our investigation”.
As reported earlier, Utah governor Spencer Cox initially told a press conference that police were interviewing a “person of interest”, while Beau Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner, told the same press conference that the perpetrator – suspected of firing a single shot – remained “at large”.
FBI director Kash Patel said an unnamed person had been detained for questioning, then released. “Our investigation continues,” he wrote on social media.
Updated
Here’s footage we’ve just published of the moments leading up to Charlie Kirk’s shooting at the university campus event in Utah.
As reported, he had just been asked a question about mass shooters before an apparent shot rang out and people soon began running for cover.
The footage also has people later describing the chaotic scenes, including a man who says “everyone was just jumping on top of each other, no one was trying to get shot, everyone was just covering each other up, because no one knew if there were going to be more shots fired”.
Warning: some viewers may find this footage distressing.
Australian political leaders have expressed disbelief at what US officials are calling a “political assassination”.
Acting prime minister Richard Marles said his thoughts went out to Charlie Kirk’s family.
“There is absolutely no place for political violence,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television.
That’s the message that we have to take from this ... that is not a way in which to resolve arguments and disputes and discussions in society.
Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, said on X that Kirk’s death was “deeply distressing”.
There is no space for political violence in any democracy. My thoughts, and those of all Australians, are with his family and loved ones.
Australian Associated Press quoted the conservative senator James Paterson as echoing Marles’ comments and telling Sky News: “It does seem that there has been an uptick in this sort of violence recently, and that is not a good thing.”
In Australia, the head of Turning Point’s Australian organisation said he was devastated by Charlie Kirk’s death and compared him to a martyred prophet.
“Often, prophets are made most powerful when they’ve been martyred, and I think that’s what’s going to happen with Charlie Kirk,” Joel Jammal told the Australian Associated Press news agency.
I think [the killing] is going to solidify his vision, his movement.
His vision set down the pathway to show how we can breathe our values into politics.
Kirk, 31, co-founded the rightwing youth activist group Turning Point USA in 2012 to promote conservative, anti-woke views among young people.
Updated
A moment of silence on the floor of the US House of Representatives over Charlie Kirk’s killing has turned into a shouting match between Republicans and Democrats.
The commotion began when Republican representative Lauren Boebert rose after the moment of prayer to ask that the House also say a prayer for Kirk, according to multiple lawmakers who were on the floor during the incident, Axios reports.
Democrats then shouted “what about the kids in Colorado”, referring to a school shooting in Colorado that also occurred on Wednesday afternoon. Boebert responded that she was about to reference that tragedy before she was interrupted, the report continues.
Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna, who worked as Kirk’s director of Hispanic engagement at Turning Point USA, then stood up and yelled at Democrats: “You caused this!”
That prompted a raucous Democratic response, with Democratic representative Jahana Hayes, a leader on the gun violence prevention task force, shouting: “Pass some gun laws!”
Footage of the commotion from C-Span can be seen here on Instagram.
Updated
Utah Valley University resisted pressure to bar Charlie Kirk from speaking
Utah Valley University, where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday, resisted pressure to cancel his appearance despite an online petition written by a student and signed by nearly 1,000 people.
Instead, last week the university, which is the state’s largest public university, released a statement on “Free Expression and Neutrality,” in which the administrators wrote:
At Utah Valley University, we affirm our commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue. The university respects the rights of student clubs and organizations to invite various speakers to campus. As a public institution, UVU upholds First Amendment rights and fosters an environment where ideas — popular or controversial — can be exchanged freely, energetically, and civilly.
In a statement after the fatal shooting on Wednesday, the university president, Astrid Tuminez wrote that Kirk “was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus”.
Kirk was the founder of the student group that invited him.
“We firmly believe that UVU is a place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully,” Tuminez added. “Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus a safe place for all.”
Updated
In 2023, Charlie Kirk said gun deaths were a cost worth paying for the right the bear arms
The fatal shooting of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, who was a loud proponent of the second amendment, has reignited the heated political debate over gun control on social media.
Throughout the day, as Kirk’s many fans mourned his death, supporters of gun control have drawn attention to remarks the activist and youth organizer made in 2023, at Turning Point USA Faith event.
“The second amendment is not about hunting. I love hunting. The second amendment is not even about personal defense. That is important. The second amendment is there, God forbid, so that you can defend yourself against a tyrannical government,” Kirk said.
“Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty,” Kirk added.
“So we need to be very clear that you’re not going to get gun deaths to zero. It will not happen,” he said.
“You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death. That is nonsense,” he said. “But … I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
Updated
Trump blames 'radical left political violence' for killing of Charlie Kirk, fails to mention killing of Democratic lawmaker in Minnesota
In an Oval Office address delivered before the person who killed the conservative activist Charlie Kirk has even been identified, Donald Trump blamed ‘the radical left’ for the shooting and promised a crackdown.
“For years those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now,” Trump said.
“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials and everyone else who brings order to out country.”
He then provided a list of incidents of what he termed “radical left political violence, including the attempt to kill him last year, the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the 2017 shooting of Republican congressman Steve Scalise and what he called “the attacks on Ice agents.”
The president’s list notably did not include violence against Democrats, like the murder of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota state lawmaker, and her husband, and the shooting of another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife in June, by a man who a hit list of 45 elected officials — all Democrats.
He also chose to omit the attack on former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the Trump supporter who sent pipe bombs to leading Democrats, or the threats to the life of his first vice-president, Mike Pence, by pro-Trump rioters who beat police officers on January 6 2021.
Updated
Republican Nancy Mace rushes to blame Democrats for killing of Charlie Kirk, avoid questions on assassination of Minnesota Democrat
Without waiting for evidence about what motivated the person responsible for the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the rightwing activist and founder of a pro-Trump youth group, Republicans in politics and media rushed on Wednesday to place the blame on Democrats.
In Washington, Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace walked up to reporters before Kirk’s death was confirmed and said: “Democrats own what happened today. I am devastated. My kids have called panicking. They, probably all the kids of every conservative in the country called panicking. Just because you speak your mind on an issue doesn’t mean you get shot.”
When the NBC correspondent Ryan Nobles asked, “Then, by that logic, do Republicans own the shooting of the two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota? Isn’t this on both sides?”, Mace replied: “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m asking a serious question”, Nobles said.
“We don’t know what condition Charlie Kirk is in right now. Some raging, leftist lunatic put a bullet through his neck and you want to talk about Republicans right now? No.”
“This is on, the Democrats own this”,” Mace insisted.
On Fox, the host Jesse Watters similarly suggested that political violence was only coming from the left. “We’re going to avenge Charlie’s death,” Watters said.
Connecting the killing of Kirk with the failed assassination attempt on Trump, and the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, Watters said: “They are at war with us! Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us! And what are we gonna do about it? How much political violence are we going to tolerate?”
“This is unacceptable and has to stop, and it has to stop now,” Watters added. “And everybody’s accountable. And we’re watching what they’re saying on television and who’s saying what — the politicians, and the media, and all these rats out there.”
FBI forced out head of Salt Lake City field office last month during purge
As the FBI takes a central role in the investigation of the killing of Charlie Kirk, the rightwing political activist and commentator, the Salt Lake City field office is being led by a newly appointed special agent in charge, Robert Bohls.
That’s because, as MSNBC reported last month, FBI leaders in Washington forced the resignation of a decorated female Pakistani American counterterrorism agent who was appointed in February to run the office.
Mehtab Syed, who led the office from February until the end of July, was one of at least 18 special agents in charge – who run the 53 FBI field offices around the country – to be forced out since the FBI director and diehard Trump loyalist, Kash Patel, took office.
The news channel reported that Syed was told by an aide to Patel that she wasn’t a good fit for the office, according to sources in the bureau. She was offered a lower-level job in the FBI’s Huntsville, Alabama, facility, but decided to retire instead.
Syed was a former head of cyberterrorism and counterterrorism in the Los Angeles field office, a section chief in the counterintelligence section at FBI headquarters, and worked in Pakistan during the US war against al Qaeda, and in Jordan, during the battle to defeat the Islamic State or IS.
Bohls is also an FBI veteran but until this summer, he was section chief of the agency’s cyber operations support section in Washington, according to his yet-to-be-updated LinkedIn account.
According to a federal civil lawsuit filed on Wednesday against Kash Patel, Pam Bondi and the office of the president by Brian Driscoll, the former acting FBI director who was fired last month, agents have been screened for political loyalty to Donald Trump since Patel took office.
The suit alleges that Patel told Driscoll that changes had to be made at the bureau because “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it”.
Driscoll also alleges that Patel told him that as long as he “did not donate to the Democratic party, and did not vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election”, the vetting that he would be subjected to would not be a problem.
According to Driscoll, when he was interviewed by a White House aide, Paul Ingrassia, for an FBI job in January Ingrassia asked him: “Who did you vote for?”
Driscoll refused to answer the question and told Ingrassia that it was an inappropriate question given the Hatch Act, which bans executive branch employees from engaging in political activity.
Ingrassia, a former rightwing blogger, has been nominated by Trump to lead the office of special counsel, which is responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act.
Driscoll also said that he was asked, and refused to answer: “When did you start supporting President Trump?” and “Have you voted for a Democrat in the last five elections?”
Updated
Utah Valley University has informed students, faculty and staff that its campuses will be closed for the rest of the week, and all classes and campus events will be suspended until next Monday.
The school’s leaders said they are “shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk, a guest to our campus” and “grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy”.
Updated
FBI director says 'subject in custody has been released' and investigation continues
The person detained for questioning earlier in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk has now been released, the FBI director, Kash Patel, posted on social media.
“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” Patel wrote.
The release of the person, just over 90 minutes after their detention was announced, comes after the FBI special agent in charge in Utah, Robert Bohls, had declined to say that a suspect was in custody at a news conference.
Updated
Three student injured in shooting at Colorado high school near Columbine
Police in Jefferson county, Colorado said three students were shot on Wednesday at Evergreen high school, outside Denver.
According to Jacki Kelley, a police spokesperson, the first call from the school came at 12.24pm local time, which means that the shooting at the high school took place within minutes of the shooting of Charlie Kirk in the neighboring state of Utah.
One of the three students rushed to the hospital by emergency services was believed to be the shooter.
More than 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said.
The shooting took place in the same county as a 1999 mass shooting at Jefferson county’s Columbine high school that killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from injuries sustained in the shooting.
Updated
University police won't say if gun used to kill Charlie Kirk was recovered
At the recently concluded news conference on the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, a reporter asked the chief of the Utah Valley University police force, Jeff Long, if the gun used in the killing had been recovered.
Long paused and then said: “Um, I, at this point I can’t disclose that.”
Updated
Utah governor says authorities have 'person of interest in custody'
The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, just said at a news conference on the killing of Charlie Kirk that “we have a person of interest in custody, who is being interviewed right now”.
“I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination,” Cox also said, without revealing how he knew the motive of the shooter.
“At this point, there is no information that would lead us to believe that there is a second person involved,” Cox added.
Cox appeared to contradict what Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah department of public safety, had said just minutes earlier: “The suspect is at large.”
“The only information we have on the suspect, the possible shooter, is taken from closed circuit TV here on campus,” Mason also said. “We do have that. We’re analyzing it. But it is security camera footage that you can. You can kind of guess what the quality of that is. But we do know dressed in all-dark clothing. But we don’t have much better description other than that.”
Cox also said that the first person to be detained at the scene, George Zinn, was determined not to be the assassin, but has been charged with obstructing justice.
Although the FBI director, Kash Patel, posted earlier that a suspect was in custody, the FBI special agent in charge, Robert Bohls, did not confirm that at the news conference.
Updated
Suspect in fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk 'now in custody', says FBI director
“The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” FBI director, Kash Patel, just announced in a social media post. “Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with [FBI]. We will provide updates when able.”
Updated
Arizona’s governor, Katie Hobbs, released this statement on the killing of Charlie Kirk, who lived and worked in the state:
I am deeply saddened by the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I am saddened for Charlie’s family, friends, and Arizonans as they mourn his loss, and I am saddened for our country as our politics have descended into horrific violence. This tragedy is not about who Charlie Kirk supported politically. It is about the devastating loss of a father, a neighbor, and an Arizonan who called this state home, and whose life was cut short by senseless violence. We must stand together in rejecting violence, lowering the temperature of our politics, and recommitting ourselves to the values of civility, respect, and community that American democracy requires.
In May, Kirk told supporters of his political campaign group Turning Point Action that he was endorsing Republican congressman Andy Biggs to run against Hobbs in 2026.
“To secure President Trump’s legacy we need to win in 2028,” Kirk said. “To do that, we need to lock down Arizona, and doing that starts with taking down Katie Hobbs and winning back the governor’s mansion.”
Updated
Open-source investigators study video for signs of the shooter
As the police continue to search for the person who shot Charlie Kirk, online sleuths are studying video taken just before and after the shooting for clues as to the person location and identity.
Law enforcement officials told CNN that they have not yet identified a suspect.
Blake Spendley, a former researcher for the Center for Naval Analyses, who now conducts open-source intelligence (Osint) investigations for Hunterbrook Media, posted a video clip on his popular @OSINTTechnical X account showing what appeared to be a figure on the roof of a building on campus before the shooting.
Newly posted footage shows what appears to be an individual on the roof of the Losee Center at UVU in the moments before Charlie Kirk was shot. pic.twitter.com/6LaIyepVf3
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 10, 2025
Spendley also posted a second video clip that appeared to show a person running away across the roof after the shooting.
Additional footage shows an individual running across the roof of the Losee Center in the moments after the shooting. pic.twitter.com/5ouPzRynR3
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 10, 2025
Updated
Here is a statement on the killing of Charlie Kirk from the House speaker, Mike Johnson:
Utterly devastating. Charlie was a close friend and confidant. He will be sorely missed by so many. Every political leader must loudly and clearly decry this violence. Our prayers go out to his wife and young children. May he rest in peace.
Updated
This visualization of the Utah Valley University campus shows where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday, with the reported location of the person who opened fire, according to a university spokesperson:
Updated
Interim summary: what we know so far after Charlie Kirk shooting death
Charlie Kirk, a Trump ally and rightwing activist, has been shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday. Here’s what we know so far:
Kirk, 31, died after being shot during a presentation on campus. Donald Trump first announced the death in a Truth Social post.
Donald Trump wrote: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Campus police are investigating the incident. The university said the suspect is not in custody. A person arrested earlier has been released and is no longer a suspect.
Kirk, the executive director of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was shot at about 12.10pm local time while appearing at an event. In video posts circulating on social media, Kirk can be seen getting struck while speaking and sitting beneath a tent. Kirk was there as part of the American Comeback tour, which is hosted by the TPUSA chapter at Utah Valley. Video footage shows students on campus running away from the sound of gunshots.
Kirk was about 20 minutes into a presentation when a shot was fired from a nearby building, the university told CNBC. The university has said a “single shot” was fired towards Kirk.
Political leaders in the US immediately condemned the attack. Joe Biden, the former US president, tweeted: “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.”
Barack Obama also condemned political violence, writing on X: We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children
Senior Democrats and Republicans also condemned the shooting. Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Chuck Schumer and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among Democrats who condemned the attack. JD Vance, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth paid tribute to Kirk and asked the public to pray for him.
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, told reporters in the Capitol: “Political violence has become all too common in American society. This is not who we are. It violates the core principles of our country.”
In an internal email to staff members that was posted online on Wednesday, the Turning Point USA COO, Justin Streiff, said: “It is with a heavy heart that we, the Turning Point USA leadership team, write to notify you that earlier this afternoon Charlie went to his eternal reward with Jesus Christ in Heaven … However, in the meantime, Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action will be closed for business until Monday, the 15th – likely longer.”
The White House lowered its flag to half-staff in Kirk’s honor.
Updated
Obama, Biden and Harris condemn shooting of Charlie Kirk
Former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and the former vice-president Kamala Harris, have all condemned the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk in posts on social media.
While the motive of the person who shot Kirk remains unknown, as police hunt for a suspect, all three Democrats argued that political violence must be condemned.
“We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” Obama wrote. “Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.”
“There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now,” Biden wrote on social media. “Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.”
“I am deeply disturbed by the shooting in Utah,” Harris wrote before news of Kirkj’s death was announced by Donald Trump. “Doug and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his family. Let me be clear: political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”
Updated
White House lowers flag to half-staff in honor of Charlie Kirk
The newly installed flag on the north lawn of the White House was lowered to half-staff on Tuesday afternoon, after Donald Trump announced the death of Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot while debating students at Utah Valley University on Tuesday.
Trump wrote on social media that he was ordering all American flags to be lowered across the country until Sunday evening.
Updated
University confirms man detained after fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk is no longer a suspect
A spokesperson for Utah Valley University, Ellen Treanor, tells the Guardian: “A suspect was in custody, but they are no longer a suspect.”
In a statement, Treanor added:
It is with the tremendous sadness and shock that Charlie Kirk, who was invited by the student group TPUSA, was shot at about 12:20 when he began speaking at his planned event on the Utah Valley University Orem Campus. Kirk was immediately transported by his security team to a local hospital.
Campus was immediately evacuated. Campus is closed and classes have been canceled until further notice. We are asking those still on campus to secure in place until police officers can safely escort them off campus.
The incident is currently being investigated by four agencies: Orem Police, UVU Police, FBI, and Utah Department of Public Safety.
Updated
Hasan Piker, progressive influencer, says only gun control could have saved Charlie Kirk
Among those coming to terms with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday is the progressive streamer, Hasan Piker, who was scheduled to debate Kirk at Dartmouth College in two weeks.
On his Twitch live stream, Piker expressed horror at the shooting, and urged his followers not to celebrate it, but told viewers to stop writing in to tell him to wear a bulletproof vest or hire security for his public appearances.
“I don’t have any security,” Piker told his viewers. “It shouldn’t be like this.” He went on to argue that only gun control could prevent mass shootings.
“In a moment like this, a reasonable government would say: ‘All right, enough is enough,’” Piker said. “If we had a responsible government and not a bunch of fucking psychopaths running the show,” he added, the US would already have had serious gun control following the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
“I need to really reconsider the way I do everything outside, for the forseeable future,” Piker said.
“Before people say: ‘Wear a bulletproof vest,’ again, he got shot in the neck,” Piker said. “A bulletproof vest would not have saved Charlie Kirk.”
“The only thing that could have potentially saved Charlie Kirk,” he added, “was if our administrations, prior to this one and this one as well, actually had reasonable gun control as a policy position, in the aftermath of, I don’t know, a hundred other school shootings.”
Updated
'This is not who we are,' says House speaker Mike Johnson
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, told reporters in the Capitol a few minutes ago: “Political violence has become all too common in American society. This is not who we are. It violates the core principles of our country.”
Updated
Trump announces death of Charlie Kirk
Writing on his social network, Donald Trump just announced the death of Charlie Kirk.
The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!
Updated
Trump tells New York Post Charlie Kirk is 'not doing well'
A White House correspondent for the New York Post reports that she just spoke with Donald Trump on the phone about Charlie Kirk.
“He’s not doing well,” Trump told Diana Nerozzi. “It looks very bad.”
She then asked Trump how he was feeling. He replied: “Not good. He was a very, very good friend of mine and he was a tremendous person.”
Videos circulating on social media showed an attender at the student event on Wednesday asking Charlie Kirk: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”
In response, Kirk said: “Too many,” as the crowd clapped.
In a follow-up question, the attender asked: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
Kirk replied: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
Seconds later, Kirk could be seen struck in the neck as he falls back in his chair.
Updated
University says no suspect is in custody after shooting of Charlie Kirk – report
A spokesperson for Utah Valley University has retracted an earlier claim that a suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist, is in custody.
In a statement provided to Deseret News in Utah, university spokesperson Scott Trotter said: “We can confirm that Mr Kirk was shot, but we don’t know his condition. The suspect is not in custody. Police are still investigating Campus is closed for the rest of the day.”
Trotter told the New York Times that police had taken someone into custody earlier but have determined that he was not the gunman.
Updated
Kirk’s event in Utah today was the first of a 15-stop tour at universities across the country. Titled “The American Comeback”, the 31-year-old activist was due to speak at Colorado State University on 18 September.
Charlie Kirk shooting: what we know so far
Charlie Kirk, a Trump ally and rightwing activist, has been shot at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The university said in a statement that Kirk was taken away by his security. Law enforcement have told the AP he is in hospital and in a critical condition.
Campus police are investigating the incident. There are some conflicting reports about the detainment status of the suspect.
Donald Trump has asked for prayers for Kirk. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!”
Kirk, the executive director of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was shot at about 12.10pm local time while hosting an event. In video posts circulating on social media, Kirk can be seen getting struck while speaking and sitting beneath a tent. Kirk was there as part of The American Comeback Tour, which is hosted by the TPUSA chapter at Utah Valley. There is also video footage of students on campus running away from the sound of gunshots.
Kirk was about 20 minutes into a presentation when shots were fired from a nearby building, the university told CNBC. The university has said a “single shot” was fired towards Kirk.
FBI director Kash Patel has said that his agency is “closely monitoring” the situation.
The shooting sparked immediate condemnation from Republicans and Democrats. Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro and Chuck Schumer condemned the attack. JD Vance, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth paid tribute to Kirk and asked the public to pray for him.
Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, said that he has been “briefed by law enforcement following the violence directed at Charlie Kirk during his visit to Utah Valley University today.” Cox added that “those responsible will be held fully accountable,” and uged “Americans of every political persuasion” to condemn the shooting. He offered his prayers to Kirk, his family and all those affected.
Shortly before shots rang out, Kirk tweeted: “WE. ARE. SO. BACK. Utah Valley University is FIRED UP and READY for the first stop back on the American Comeback Tour.”
Updated
Charlie Kirk is in critical condition in hospital after shooting at Utah university – report
Charlie Kirk is in critical condition at a hospital, after being shot at a speaking event at Utah Valley University, a law enforcement official tells the Associated Press.
The university said earlier that a suspect was in custody, and the college campus has closed, and classes have been cancelled.
Updated
Eva Terry, another Deseret News reporter who was also at the event, described the direction of the shot, saying: “It looks like it came from the middle to the right side of the audience.
Describing the suspect, Terry said: “It looks like he was an older gentleman, probably in his late 50s to 60s, wearing what looks like a worker’s uniform.”
Eyewitness recounts Charlie Kirk shooting at Utah university
Kirk was being asked a question about mass shootings when he was shot in the neck, according to eyewitnesses.
Speaking to the Guardian, Deseret News reporter Emma Pitts who was at the event said: “He was on the second question and it was regarding mass shootings and the person he was debating had asked about if he knew how many mass shootings had involved a transgender shooter to which Kirk responded. Then he asked how many mass shootings had been in total in the last couple of years, I believe.
“And then before he could even answer, we heard a gunshot and we just saw Charlie Kirk’s neck turn to the side and it appeared that he had been shot in the neck. There was blood, immediately a lot of blood,” Pitts added.
“After the shots were fired, everyone immediately took to the ground … we were just trying to stay hidden. I don’t know how quickly it was, probably within a minute, everyone started running away … Since then the university has been completely evacuated,” said Pitts.
Updated
Utah Valley University, site of Kirk shooting, closes campus
Utah Valley University, based in Orem about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, has closed its campus and is cancelling classes “until further notice”, according to statement.
“Police are investigating. Leave campus immediately,” the university added.
Updated
We’re also hearing from several leading Democrats across the country, condemning the shooting at Utah Valley University.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro said in a post on X that “the attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society.” Shapiro added that “Political violence has no place in our country.”
Similarly, California governor Gavin Newsom described the shooting as “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
On Capitol Hill, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said that he was “praying” for Kirk and his family, while echoing statements denouncing political violence.
Updated
Alongside the president, several members of his cabinet have offered their prayers to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and Turning Point founder, who was shot during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University.
Vice-president JD Vance asked his followers to “say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father”, and attorney general Pam Bondi wrote that “FBI and ATF agents are on the scene. PRAY FOR CHARLIE.”
Meanwhile, Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department for Homeland Security, said that she and her husband “are lifting up Charlie, Erika, and their family in our prayers right now”.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth added that Kirk was “an incredible Christian, American, and human being”.
Updated
Utah governor 'briefed by law enforcement' on university shooting
Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, said that he has been “briefed by law enforcement following the violence directed at Charlie Kirk during his visit to Utah Valley University today.”
Cox added that “those responsible will be held fully accountable,” and uged “Americans of every political persuasion” to condemn the shooting. He offered his prayers to Kirk, his family and all those affected.
Utah Valley University confirms shooting on campus, suspect in custody
Utah Valley University has issued a statement, confirming preliminary details about today’s shooting on campus, where Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot.
Today at about 12:10 a shot was fired at the visiting speaker, Charlie Kirk. He was hit and taken from the location by his security. Campus police is investigating, a suspect is in custody.
Updated
Trump asks for 'prayers' for Charlie Kirk after shooting at Utah university
Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social about the shooting at Utah Valley University. “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!,” the president wrote.
FBI 'closely monitoring' shooting at Utah Valley University
FBI director Kash Patel has said that his agency is “closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.”
In a post on X, Patel said: “Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected. Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
The Guardian has not received independent confirmation on Kirk’s status yet.
Utah Valley University confirms shots fired on campus
The Utah Valley University police have confirmed to my colleague, Anna Betts, that shots were fired on campus.
According to Deseret News, a local media outlet based in Salt Lake City, bystanders report seeing Kirk shot near his neck during a Q&A with students.
They also report that “a suspect is in custody, according to a UVU alert sent to students. The campus is on lockdown.”
Unconfirmed reports of shooting at Utah Valley University
We are receiving unconfirmed reports of a shooting at the Utah Valley University, at an event where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was speaking.
The Guardian is seeking to independently confirm reports that Kirk has been shot. Utah senator Mike Lee, a Republican, said that he was “tracking the situation” closely. “Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he added in his post on X.
Updated
John Bolton, the former ambassador and national security adviser during Donald Trump’s first term in office, has said that “Putin has acted like he has a free hand since the Alaska summit.”
Referring to the bilateral meeting last month, which didn’t yield a ceasefire deal, Bolton added that the Kremlin leader has “ignored any further conversation on a ceasefire, the Russian military is expanding its operations, and he’s received the political support of his friends Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, and Kim Jong-un”.
A reminder, Bolton’s home and office were raided by the FBI in August.
Updated
Ex-FBI officials claim they were fired for investigating Trump in new lawsuit
Three former senior FBI officials sued its director, Kash Patel, and the federal government on Wednesday for wrongful termination, saying there had been widespread unlawful political influence at the bureau.
The three officials, Brian Driscoll Jr, Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC, asking a judge to declare their firings were illegal, reinstate them, and award them backpay.
The complaint details an episode in which Patel allegedly told Driscoll he had been instructed by the White House to fire any agent who worked on an investigation of Donald Trump.
“Patel explained that he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the president,” the complaint says. Patel explained that there was nothing he or Driscoll could do to stop these or any other firings, because “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it”.
The complaint also alleges Emil Bove, a staunch Trump ally and former top justice department official, asked Driscoll to compile a list of agents who worked on the investigation into the January 6 attack on the US capitol. When Driscoll said that the mass firing of those agents would not comply with FBI protocol and endanger national security, Bove said they would be referred to the justice department for a misconduct review.
Updated
DNC launches billboard featuring Trump's alleged 'birthday note' to Epstein
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has launched a mobile billboard to circle the White House today. It features a picture of the president and Jeffrey Epstein alongside Trump’s alleged birthday note to the late sex-offender, as part of his 50th birthday scrapbook.
“Donald Trump is hiding something, and Republicans in Congress are covering for him. Trump originally clamored to release the Epstein Files, but now that he knows he’s named in them, he calls them a hoax,” said DNC chair Ken Martin.
A reminder that Trump has insisted that he didn’t sign the note, and called his reported contribution to the album a “dead issue” on Tuesday.
New mobile billboard from @TheDemocrats featuring Trump’s birthday letter to Epstein spotted in DC 👀 pic.twitter.com/UJsEffa99H
— Matt Rein (@MatthewARein) September 10, 2025
Updated
Labor department inspector general announces BLS investigation
The office of the labor department’s inspector general – an independent watchdog – said that it was launching a “review” of “the challenges that Bureau of Labor Statistics encounters collecting and reporting closely watched economic data”.
The letter announcing the investigation was sent to acting BLS commissioner William Wiatrowski by the assistant inspector general of the labor department, Laura Nicolosi. It comes after yesterday’s landmark revision from the BLS, which found that job growth was overestimated between April 2024 and March 2025. There were actually 911,000 fewer jobs, according to the latest report.
For context, Donald Trump claimed, baselessly, that job report numbers were being rigged, and fired commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month. The revision, known as “benchmarking” is a standard, annual process from BLS.
Updated
Zohran Mamdani continues to hold a commanding lead in the race for New York City mayor, with a new poll released on Wednesday showing the Democratic nominee 15 points ahead of former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate.
The new poll, conducted by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill, shows Mamdani with 43% support among New York City registered voters, compared with 28% for Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June.
In the Emerson poll, the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, received 10% support, while the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, polled at 8%. Nine per cent of respondents said they were still undecided.
The new results mirror other polling by the New York Times/Siena University released this week, which found Mamdani leading Cuomo 46% to 24% among likely voters. In that poll, Sliwa received 15% support, and Adams 9%.
A markup of 14 bills, intended to codify Donald Trump’s intervention into policing Washington DC, briefly went off the rails after a Democratic congressman accused his Republican colleagues of being “lapdogs of the president of the United States”.
The House oversight committee is considering the bills on the day that Trump’s 30-day takeover of the capital’s police department expires. Democrats generally oppose the Republican backed legislation, and the spat erupted as the lawmakers were discussing the Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act, which includes among its provisions the creation of a commission to coordinate federal law enforcement in the district and neighboring states.
After Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins defended the bill, Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost asked if he would not support similar legislation for his state, given its relatively high rates of violent crimes.
“Where’s your bill for the occupation of the state of Louisiana to keep your people safe, if you’re at all sincere in this?” Frost asked. Higgins replied that he supported the state legislature, “which is doing everything it can to push back upon the crime rate of the Democrat-controlled cities”.
Frost then asked for his views on California, where Trump earlier this year ordered the national guard deployed in Los Angeles, alongside active duty Marines, but Higgins demurred.
Frost pressed on, accusing his Republican colleagues of being insincere: “You’re here because you’re lapdogs of the president of the United States,” he said.
The remark caused an uproar, and the Republican chair James Comer briefly suspended the hearing. When it reconveed, Frost asked to withdraw his comments.
The hearing is ongoing. Thus far there have been no signs that Democrats will support any of the bills aimed at deepening federal control of Washington DC, despite the GOP’s efforts to use the issue to accuse them of being soft on crime.
Here's a recap of the day so far
In an excerpt from her forthcoming book, 107 days, former vice-president Kamala Harris shares her struggles with the Biden administration on the rushed road to becoming the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election. The section of her book, published in the Atlantic, recalls the back-and-forth about Joe Biden’s capability to run for a second term. Ultimately, Harris concludes that the former president’s decision to run again was “reckless”.
The Senate banking committee approved Stephen Miran’s nomination to fill the vacant governor seat on the Federal Reserve board today. Donald Trump nominated Miran, who currently serves as a White House economic adviser. The committee voted along partisan lines, 13-11, with all Democrats voting against Miran’s confirmation, and claiming his independence is compromised. The vote now advances to the Republican-controlled Senate, where Miran is all but certain to be confirmed.
This comes after a federal judge ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Donald Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her. Next week, Cook and her colleagues on the Fed board will take part in a two-day meeting, where chair Jerome Powell is facing relentless criticism from the president to cut interest rates.
Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social about Poland shooting down several Russian drones earlier today. “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!,” the president wrote. It’s not clear what actions, if any, the administration is taking in conjunction with Nato allies. A White House official told Reuters that Trump intends to speak with Poland’s president and his political ally, Karol Nawrocki, later today.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in DC have called Russia’s actions “an act of war”.
And today is the last day of Trump’s federal takeover of the DC police. On 11 August issued a “public safety emergency” and invoked section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows him to take control of the Metropolitan police department (MPD) for 30 days. To extend this period he would need congressional approval, something that lawmakers haven’t indicated is likely.
Updated
Fired CDC director to testify in front of Senate committee
Suzan Monarez, the recently fired director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is set to testify before the Senate committee for health, education, labor and pensions (HELP) on 17 September.
Monarez will be joined by Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer who resigned in late August. Houry left the agency with alongside several other top public health officials, citing the alleged spread of misinformation under the Trump administration and political interference in her work.
Last week, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr addressed the Senate finance committee, where he was grilled by Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike about new Covid-19 vaccine policies, and the ongoing turmoil at the CDC – which included a shooting at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters and Monarez’s contentious ousting.
At the hearing, Kennedy said Monarez was “lying” about her claims that she was fired for refusing to sign off on the secretary’s new vaccine policies. Instead, Kennedy said that she was removed after admitting to being untrustworthy.
Monarez’s lawyers responded in a statement to Kennedy’s comments, calling them “false” and “at times, patently ridiculous”. They added that Monarez would repeat her published claims “under oath”.
Her appearance on Capitol Hill next week will be in front of the committee chaired by Republican senator Bill Cassidy, a former physician who has been skeptical of Kennedy’s stance on science and public health. Cassidy also serves on the finance committee and sparred with the health secretary on Thursday, accusing him of “effectively denying” people the Covid-19 vaccine.
'Here we go': Trump weighs in Poland shooting down Russian drones
Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to weigh in on Poland shooting down several Russian drones earlier today.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!,” the president wrote.
It’s not clear what actions, if any, the administration is taking in conjunction with Nato allies.
Senate committee confirms Trump nomination for Federal Reserve vacancy
The Senate banking committee approved Stephen Miran’s nomination to fill the vacant governor seat on the Federal Reserve board today. Donald Trump nominated Miran, who currently serves as a White House economic adviser.
The committee voted along partisan lines, 13-11, with all Democrats voting against Miran’s confirmation.
“President Trump is trying to seize personal control of the Fed in an attempt to escape accountability for his own economic failures,” said the committee’s ranking member Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts. “[Miran] knows that every vote he takes determines whether he can go back to his White House job. That is not independence – that is servitude.”
The vote now advances to the Republican-controlled Senate, where Miran is all but certain to be confirmed. It’s unclear whether this process will move quickly enough for Miran to attend the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week – where Trump is pressuring chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
Updated
We’re now hearing from Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate who was detained by the Trump administration for over three months.
“Not only is the US government sending money and weapons to Israel to kill Palestinians, but the Trump administration is saying you must be silent about watching your people, your community, be massacred with US tax dollars or else they will make you disappear,” Khalil said.
“The American people want their tax money to fund their communities, their education, their housing, not bombs and war planes that are killing Palestinians every single day and turning Gaza into rubble.”
My colleague, Oliver Laughland, recently sat down with Khalil and his family, to learn more about his time in immigration detention. You can read more below.
Updated
On Capitol Hill today, several lawmakers are speaking about the “Block the Bombs Act” – a piece of proposed legislation that would block the sale of US arms to Israel, as well as demanding the Israel’s compliance with US and international law.
“We know that ‘Block the Bombs’ bill is a first step towards real oversight and accountability for the consequences of a military campaign that in the last year and a half has leveled Gaza, displaced millions, and killed a reported over 62,000 Palestinians,” said Democratic congresswoman Delia C Ramirez, of Illinois, who introduced the bill.
The legislation now has 45 co-sponsors, all Democratic representatives.
Updated
Trump to speak with Poland’s Nawrocki later today
Donald Trump intends to speak with Poland’s president and his political ally, Karol Nawrocki, later today, a White House official told Reuters.
This comes after Poland shot down several drones that entered its airspace earlier on Wednesday, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine spread to Nato territory – in the most significant way since the full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Follow along with our latest developments in the region
Updated
Following on from my last post, Harris also called out the Biden White House for not pushing back on the frequent attacks by Republicans, who, she writes “mischaracterized my role as ‘border czar’”.
“No one in the White House comms team helped me to effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved,” she writes of her role to develop foreign investment in Central America.
And when it came to the war in Gaza, Harris notes that the administration’s frustration came from the former vice-president delivering her message “too well”, after she gave in speech in Selma, Alabama that highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in the region, and called on Israel to release more aid.
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed. None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well,” Harris writes of the president’s inner circle.
Updated
Kamala Harris says Biden's choice to run for re-election was 'reckless' in new book excerpt
In an excerpt from her forthcoming book, 107 days, former vice-president Kamala Harris shares her struggles with the Biden administration on the rushed road to becoming the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
In the section of her book, published in the Atlantic, Harris recalls the back-and-forth about Joe Biden’s capability to run for a second term.
“During all those months of growing panic, should I have told Joe to consider not running? Perhaps. But the American people had chosen him before in the same matchup,” she writes. “And of all the people in the White House, I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out. I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run.”
Ultimately, Harris concludes that the former president’s decision to run again was “reckless”.
“The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,” she says.
Harris, from her vantage point, tries to debunk any conspiracy theories that there was an institutional cover-up of Biden’s mental acuity. “I don’t believe it was incapacity. If I believed that, I would have said so,” she says. “As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country.”
Throughout the extract she lists her accomplishments both before her time at the White House and during her tenure as vice-president.
But, Harris notes that one of the biggest obstacles she faced was the unwillingness among the former president’s circle to stand up for her: “Getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible.”
Updated
Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s board meeting next week, and following a federal judge’s ruling that Lisa Cook (the governor Donald Trump is seeking to oust from the board) can stay in her role while she challenges her firing, the president took to Truth Social today.
He once again demanded Fed chair Jerome Powell lower the interest rate “right now”.
“Powell is a total disaster, who doesn’t have a clue!!!,” Trump wrote.
Updated
In the 30 days since Donald Trump took control of Washington DC’s police department and deployed national guard troops, the city has seen the indiscriminate detention of immigrants, the rise of racial profiling and the arrests of large numbers of people for low-level crimes.
The US president claimed the takeover, which began on 11 August, was necessary because of violent crime in the country’s capital, especially after the attempted carjacking and assault of a former Doge staffer. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” he said during a news conference at the White House at the time.
But while Washington DC has long struggled with gun violence, its violent crime rate is at a 30-year low, much lower than that of cities in red states. And the large majority of people affected by the federal takeover are not perpetrators of violent crime.
Both groups targeted – immigrants and those accused of minor crimes – have been largely picked up by law enforcement through racial profiling and other tactics that experts say have instilled a climate of fear and a distrust of law enforcement.
A White House official said on Monday that 2,120 people have been arrested since the start of Trump’s takeover, 20 known gang members had been arrested and 214 firearms had been seized. While violent crime has decreased during this period, Washington residents say the impact has not been worth the overbearing law enforcement presence.
“Trump’s crackdown does not create safety, but its opposite,” said Scott Michelman, legal director for the ACLU of DC. “People are scared to go to their jobs, to drop off their kids at school, and to go about their daily lives because of the pervasive law enforcement and military presence that Trump has foisted on this city.”
Updated
Federal takeover of DC police set to expire today
Per my last post, today is the last day of Trump’s federal takeover of the DC police. On 11 August issued a “public safety emergency” and invoked section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows him to take control of the Metropolitan police department (MPD) for 30 days. To extend this period he would need congressional approval, something that lawmakers haven’t indicated is likely.
Last month, Trump said that violent crime in DC was “the worst it’s ever been”, despite data that shows the district experiencing a 30-year low. Now the president considers the district to be a “safe zone” now, and has frequently touted arrest numbers, misleading statistics, and anecdotes about how nation’s capital is “virtually crime free”.
Donald Trump has no public appearances today, per his White House schedule.
On Tuesday, he ventured outside the gates of his official residence to show the impact of his crackdown on crime in DC. “We’re standing right in the middle of DC, which as you know about, over the last year, was a very unsafe place – over the last 20 years – and now it’s got virtually no crime,” Trump told reporters.
He dined at a nearby restaurant, but was confronted by several protesters chanting: “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!”.
Updated
President Donald Trump had dinner Tuesday night at a seafood restaurant near the White House, promoting his deployment of the National Guard and federalizing the police force in an effort to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital.
His motorcade made the short distance to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on 15th Street in the northwestern quadrant of the city following weeks of the president boasting about mobilizing federal authorities and the military that he says have made Washington “a safe zone.”
Cheers were heard as the president stepped from his limo - though there was also a smattering of boos and chants from protesters opposing US policy in support of Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza, AP reported.
“We’re standing right in the middle of DC, which as you know about, over the last year, was a very unsafe place - over the last 20 years – and now it’s got virtually no crime,” Trump told reporters.
He added that he wouldn’t have stood out “in the middle of the street” as recently as a couple of months ago. The suggestion was farcical, however, and didn’t actually reflect whether crime levels had changed in Washington, since the president is always surrounded by heavy security wherever he goes.
After entering the restaurant, a video posted on social media showed Trump shaking hands with some diners inside. But he also stared for an extended period at a small group of protesters who held up miniature Gaza flags and chanted: “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!”
The president moved closer to them and could be seen gesturing briefly, but didn’t appear to speak.
Suspect in stabbing of Ukrainian woman in North Carolina charged with federal crime
The justice department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
The federal charge comes amid growing questions about why Decarlos Brown Jr was on the street despite 14 prior criminal arrests before he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in an apparently random attack captured on video.
The case has become latest flashpoint in the debate over whether cities such as Charlotte are adequately addressing violent crime, mental illness and transit safety. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream – her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in a statement. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence – he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Zarutska had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to to the US to escape the war, according to relatives, who described her as determined to build a safer life.
Trump says he is 'not thrilled' about Israeli strike on Qatar
Donald Trump said on Tuesday Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by the Republican leader who added that a unilateral attack on Qatar does not serve American or Israeli interests.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East. The strike was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further escalate tensions in a region already on edge, Reuters reported.
Trump said he directed US envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar the attack was coming but that it was too late to stop the strike. However, Qatar contradicted such claims from the White House, saying reports it got a heads-up before the attack were false and a phone call from a US official came when blasts were already being heard in the Qatari capital, Doha.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Hamas said five of its members were killed in the Israeli attack in Doha, including the son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya.
Meanwhile, president Trump said on Tuesday his administration is continuing negotiations to address trade barriers with India and that he would talk to prime minister Narendra Modi, in a sign of a reset after weeks of diplomatic friction.
Trump, in a marked shift of tone, said he looked forward to speaking to Modi in the “upcoming weeks” and expressed optimism that they could finalize a trade deal, Reuters reported.
“I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our Great Countries,” he said in a post on social media.
Modi reciprocated the optimism in a social media post on Wednesday, saying Washington and New Delhi “are close friends and natural partners.”
He said teams from both countries are working to conclude the trade discussions at the earliest.
“I am also looking forward to speaking with president Trump. We will work together to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for both our people,” Modi said.
Trump considering restrictions on Chinese medicines, NYT reports
The US has been discussing severe restrictions on Chinese medicines, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing a draft executive order.
It comes as Trump urged EU officials on Tuesday to hit China with tariffs of up to 100% as part of a strategy to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a US official and an EU diplomat.
Trump also encouraged the European Union to slap India with similarly expansive tariffs, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
China and India are major purchasers of Russian oil and, as such, they play a vital role in keeping Russia’s economy afloat as it continues to pursue its expanded invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.
Trump made the request, which was conveyed via conference call, to EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan and other EU officials. The EU delegation is currently in Washington to discuss sanctions coordination.
Jump in US greenhouse gas pollution pushed global emissions higher – report
A jump in greenhouse gas pollution in the US helped push global emissions higher in the first half of this year. This could be an omen of what’s to come, with Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda set to significantly slow down the emissions cuts required to avoid disastrous climate impacts, a new forecast has found.
The “most abrupt shift in energy and climate policy in recent memory” that has occurred since Trump re-entered the White House will have profound consequences for the global climate crisis by slowing the pace of US emissions cuts by as much as half the rate achieved over the past two decades, the Rhodium Group forecast states.
The US is still expected to reduce its planet-heat emissions by between 26% and 35% by 2035 compared with 2005 levels, according to the report. But this is well down from a 38% to 56% reduction by 2035, which Rhodium forecast just last year during Joe Biden’s presidency.
None of these scenarios will be sufficient to allow the US, the world’s largest historic emitter of carbon pollution, to play its full part in helping the world avert a worsening climate breakdown coming from 2C (3.6F) or more in global heating.
The US and other governments agreed a decade ago in Paris to avoid this threshold but are badly off-track in required emissions reductions, ahead of a key UN climate meeting in Brazil in November to thrash out new targets.
Even under the best-case scenario, whereby fossil fuels become much more expensive and cheap renewable energy is swiftly deployed, the US will cut its emissions by just 43% by 2040, Rhodium found – well below Biden’s own pledged target, since jettisoned by Trump.
A judge in Michigan dismissed the felony charges against a slate of electors who falsely signed on to documents claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 election in the latest blow to efforts to hold the president and his allies accountable for attempting to overturn the results of the White House race he lost to Joe Biden.
Sixteen people were initially charged with eight felonies each related to forgery and conspiracy by the Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, in 2023, though one of them had his charges dropped after he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. The fake electors in Michigan will not go to trial.
District court judge Kristen Simmons decided that the state had not provided “evidence sufficient to prove intent”, a requirement for fraud cases. She told a courtroom on Tuesday that the case did not involve the intent of those who orchestrated the scheme, like Kenneth Chesebro and other Trump attorneys – but those who actually signed the documents, Votebeat reported.
“I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress,” Simmons said of those who signed the documents.
Nessel spoke against the decision in a press conference after, according to Michigan Advance. “The evidence was clear,” she said. “They lied. They knew they lied, and they tried to steal the votes of millions of Michiganders. And if they can get away with this, well, what can’t they get away with next?”
Trump supporters in seven swing states signed on as fake electors in the scheme. Some of the fake electors – and, in some cases, those who orchestrated the scheme – were charged for state crimes in five of those states.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, used his State of the State address on Tuesday to celebrate California’s achievements on its 175th anniversary of statehood but also to criticize Donald Trump for “targeting our state” as it battled wildfires this year, accusing the president of a “relentless, unhinged California obsession”.
The Democratic governor delivered his annual message in the form of a letter to the state legislature, and a video, instead of an address. Newsom, widely seen as a potential presidential contender for 2028, also criticized the president and his policies for bringing chaos and disruption to California, without mentioning Trump by name.
“As I write to you, California is menaced by a federal administration that dismantles public services, punishes allies across the globe, and sweeps the rule of law into the gutter,” Newsom wrote in the letter. “They have thrown away decades of progress on clean air and water, sent the US military into the streets of our cities, and used extortion in an attempt to bully our businesses and world-class public institutions. But California, this uniquely blessed state, is standing up.”
The video version of the message showed news footage of federal officers streaming through a Los Angeles park this year, after Trump deployed national guard troops and active-duty marines to the city to quell protests against immigration raids that swept up US citizens as well as documented and undocumented immigrants.
A video message from California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, posted on his official social media accounts on Tuesday.
Newsom’s video also showed mass protests against the deployment of federal officers in LA as the governor said: “There’s reason to be optimistic on this anniversary. So many people are asserting their moral authority and raising their voices to stand up for the ideals this country was built on.
“We are now nine months into a battle to protect the values we hold most dear and to preserve the economic and social foundation we built for California,” Newsom added in his letter. “We are facing a federal administration built on incompetence and malicious ignorance, one that seeks the death of independent thinking.”
Newsom hasn’t done a formal address in a few years, a departure from decades of tradition, which Republican lawmakers have criticized him for.
US supreme court clears way for Trump to withhold $5bn in foreign aid
The US supreme court on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court’s order that the Trump administration spend nearly $5bn in congressionally appropriated foreign aid money that it is seeking to cancel.
The order from the conservative chief justice, John Roberts, comes amid legal wrangling over Donald Trump’s moves to aggressively downsize US support of global development and emergency response, which has resulted in the dismantling of USAID.
Late last month, Trump informed the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, that he would not spend $4.9bn in foreign aid that Congress had previously approved, decrying it as “woke, weaponized and wasteful spending”. The money was to go to United Nations organizations and peacekeeping operations, as well as development assistance and democracy-promotion projects.
The move was a “pocket rescission”, when a president announces they will not spend money shortly before the 30 September end of the federal fiscal year, preventing Congress from acting on his request within the 45-day timeframe and leaving the money unspent. It was the first time in 50 years such a rescission had been made.
Washington DC federal judge Amir Ali last week ordered the Trump administration to spend those funds, prompting an appeal to the supreme court. In his order, Roberts, who handles emergency petitions from Washington DC, gave the aid groups who sued the administration until Friday to file a response to his order.
The US supreme court agreed on Tuesday to decide the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, setting up a major test of one of the Republican president’s boldest assertions of executive power that has been central to his economic and trade agenda.
The justices took up the justice department’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of his tariffs under a federal law meant for emergencies. The court acted swiftly after the administration last week asked it to review the case, which involves trillions of dollars in customs duties over the next decade.
The court, which begins its next nine-month term on 6 October, placed the case on a fast track, scheduling oral arguments for the first week of November.
The justices also agreed to hear a separate challenge to Trump’s tariffs brought by a family-owned toy company, Learning Resources.
The US court of appeals for the federal circuit in Washington ruled on 29 August that Trump overreached in invoking a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose the tariffs, undercutting a major priority for the president in his second term. The tariffs, however, remain in effect during the appeal to the supreme court.
The levies are part of a trade war instigated by Trump since he returned to the presidency in January that has alienated trading partners, increased volatility in financial markets and fueled global economic uncertainty.
US lawmakers call Russian drones entering Poland an 'act of war'
Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from Nato allies, with US politicians describing it as “an act of war”.
Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and Nato was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.
“Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahid drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House,” South Carolina Republican representative Joe Wilson posted on X.
“This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations. I urge President Trump to respond with mandatory sanctions that will bankrupt the Russian war machine and arm Ukraine with weapons capable of striking Russia.”
Democrat senator Dick Durban accused Vladimir Putin of repeatedly violating Nato airspace and “testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”
“After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored,” he posted on X.
Lisa Cook to remain at Federal Reserve while fighting Trump’s attempt to fire her, judge rules
A federal judge has ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Donald Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her.
Cook is legally challenging the US president after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, amid an extraordinary campaign by his administration to strengthen its control over the US central bank.
She asked US district judge Jia Cobb to impose a temporary restraining order against Trump’s attempt to “immediately” dismiss her, pending further litigation. The administration has argued that Trump is able to fire Fed governors “for cause” and appoint replacements.
Trump has spent months attacking the Fed, where most policymakers – including Cook – have so far defied his calls for interest rate cuts. He has spoken of rapidly building “a majority” on the central bank’s board, calling into question the future of its longstanding independence from political oversight.
Trump moved to fire Cook after one of his allies, Bill Pulte, whom he tapped to lead the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged she had claimed two different properties as primary residences when obtaining mortgages in 2021.
“How can this woman be in charge of interest rates if she is allegedly lying to help her own interest rates?” Pulte wrote on X. He referred the case to the Department of Justice for investigation.
After Cook declined to resign, Trump tried to remove her from the Fed’s board. The justice department is now looking into the allegations of mortgage fraud.
Leaked Ice document shows worker detained in Hyundai raid had valid visa
At least one of the Korean workers swept up in a massive immigration raid on a Hyundai Motor factory site in Georgia last week was living and working legally in the US, according to an internal federal government document obtained by the Guardian.
Officials then “mandated” that he agree to be removed from the US despite not having violated his visa.
The document shows that immigration officials are aware that someone with a valid visa was among the people arrested during the raid at the Hyundai factory and taken to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention for removal proceedings, where the people arrested remained on Tuesday before expected deportation flights back to South Korea.
The document in question reports on the man’s case and was leaked exclusively to the Guardian. It was written by an Ice agent. The Guardian is redacting the identity of the man in question, who arrived in the US in June, because it has not been possible to reach him directly and it is unclear whether he has any legal representation.
The document says that immigration agents from Atlanta “determined that [redacted] entered into the United States in [redacted], with a valid B1/B2 visa and [redacted] was employed at HL-GA Battery Company LLC as a contractor from the South Korean company SFA. From statements made and queries in law enforcement databases, [redacted] has not violated his visa; however, the Atlanta Field Office Director has mandated [redacted] be presented as a Voluntary Departure. [Redacted] has accepted voluntary departure despite not violating his B1/B2 visa requirements.”
Photo of novelty check suggests Epstein ‘sold’ Trump a woman for $22,500
A scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday released on Monday contains a photo of him holding a novelty check bearing Donald Trump’s signature, along with a note suggesting Epstein “sold” him a woman for $22,500, shedding further light on the longtime relationship between the president and the convicted sex offender.
The photo shows Epstein and Joel Pashcow, a longtime member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and a third figure, apparently a woman, whose face is redacted in the image, which was shared on social media by Democrats on the House oversight committee. The caption, apparently from Pashcow, reads: “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [redaction] to Donald Trump for $22,500.”
Epstein “showed early ‘people skills’ too”, the caption continued. “Even though I handled the deal I didn’t get any of the money on the girl!”
The check is signed “DJ Trump” in a style that differs from most of his signatures at the time.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the woman was someone whom Epstein and the now two-time US president – whose middle initial is J – “socialized with” in the 1990s. The woman’s lawyer told the newspaper that she cut ties with Epstein around 1997 and had no romantic relationship with either Epstein or Trump, does not know Pashcow, and had no knowledge of the letter, which she called a “disgusting and deeply disturbing hoax”.
White House would back forensic analysis of signature on Epstein letter
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics amid the ongoing furore over links between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, as the White House said it would support a forensic analysis of the signature on a letter purportedly given by the president to the convicted sex offender.
White House officials on Tuesday doubled down on their assertion that a sexually suggestive letter carrying what appeared to be Trump’s signature that was included in a birthday book for Epstein had not been signed by the president.
The letter, and its drawing of a naked woman’s torso, was part of a batch of documents released by the House oversight committee in response to a subpoena after its existence was first reported in July by the Wall Street Journal.
At a press briefing, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, denied Trump’s involvement in the letter and added that the White House would support an expert review of the signature to determine whether it had been done by Trump’s hand.
“Three separate signature analysts who said this was not the president’s authentic signature and we have maintained that all along. The president did not write this letter, he did not sign this letter,” Leavitt said.
Multiple White House officials have sought to distance Trump from the 2003 note suggesting the signature did not resemble recent examples. But officials have declined to address the fact that before his time in office, Trump regularly used only his first name in signatures, stylized with a line extending from the last letter – and Trump’s signature on a letter from 1995 closely resembled the one found on the note to Epstein.
You can read our story here
In other developments:
President Trump said on Tuesday his administration is continuing negotiations to address trade barriers with India and that he would talk to prime minister Narendra Modi, in a sign of a reset after weeks of diplomatic friction. Trump, in a marked shift of tone, said he looked forward to speaking to Modi in the “upcoming weeks” and expressed optimism that they could finalize a trade deal.
Trump, however, has urged EU officials to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% as part of a strategy to pressure Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to a US official and an EU diplomat.
A federal judge has ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her. Cook is legally challenging the US president after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, amid an extraordinary campaign by his administration to strengthen its control over the US central bank.
Trump said on Tuesday Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by the Republican leader who added that a unilateral attack on Qatar does not serve American or Israeli interests. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East.
Trump had dinner Tuesday night at a seafood restaurant near the White House, promoting his deployment of the National Guard and federalizing the police force in an effort to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital. His motorcade made the short distance to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on 15th Street in the northwestern quadrant of the city following weeks of the president boasting about mobilizing federal authorities and the military that he says have made Washington “a safe zone.”
Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday, the first time a member of Nato is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine. South Carolina GOP representative Joe Wilson posted on X: “This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations.”
The justice department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.
The US supreme court on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court’s order that the Trump administration spend nearly $5bn in congressionally appropriated foreign aid money that it is seeking to cancel. The order from the conservative chief justice, John Roberts, comes amid legal wrangling over Trump’s moves to aggressively downsize US support of global development and emergency response, which has resulted in the dismantling of USAID.
Updated
