Trump’s chaos reigns: Greene backs Obamacare, UPS destroys packages, judges block Guard troops, the Senate funds the war machine, and Nobel defies Trump's tyranny.

Trump’s chaos reigns: Greene backs Obamacare, UPS destroys packages, judges block Guard troops, Senate funds war, and Nobel defies tyranny.

Trump’s chaos reigns: Greene backs Obamacare, UPS destroys packages, judges block Guard troops, Senate funds war, and Nobel defies tyranny.

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert, F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Thursday that there is a strong connection between circumcision and autism, and he linked the higher incidence of the condition to Tylenol. "There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, " Kennedy said during a Trump administration Cabinet meeting. "It's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. Kennedy did not specify which studies he was referencing, but a 2015 report from Denmark that tracked 334,000 Gen Z males suggested that males who were circumcised were more likely to develop autism before the age of 10 than those who were not. Acetaminophen, the active analgesic in Tylenol, is routinely used by pregnant women, but contraindicated by the Food and Drug Administration after 20 weeks gestation. In statements issued as recently as Sept. 5, The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorsed the use of Tylenol during pregnancy. Kenvue, Tylenol's manufacturer, has said it is evaluating scientific studies about the use of its product during pregnancy, but, to date, has found "no causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and developmental issues." On Sept. 22, Kennedy and President Donald Trump started a debate when they warned pregnant mothers not to take the drug because it may increase the chances of autism in children. Read More

“This is an achievement of a whole society,” said Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado upon receiving the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. “I am just, you know, one person. I certainly do not deserve this.” Donald Trump, on the other hand, did not receive the honor, despite believing—and asserting incessantly—that he deserves it more than anyone. The White House on Friday lamented that the prize was not bestowed upon the man who felt the most entitled to it: “President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” wrote Steven Cheung, the notoriously feisty White House communications director, on X. “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.” “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” Cheung continued, in a seeming slight to Machado, whom Trump has previously praised for her pro-democracy activism and resistance to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump and his team have vociferously campaigned for the award in recent months, spuriously claiming the president has ended eight wars during his second term. In August, the president reportedly called Norway’s finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, “out of the blue” to say “he wanted the Nobel Prize.” World leaders seemingly caught on to Trump’s yearning for a Nobel as a way to the president’s heart, with the rulers of several countries, such as Pakistan, Israel, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, scoring points with him by stating publicly that he deserves it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. added to his repertoire of controversial, unsubstantiated claims about causes of autism at a Thursday Cabinet meeting, where the health secretary linked circumcision to autism. President Donald Trump was repeating his administration’s hotly contested claim that Tylenol during pregnancy increases the risk of autism when Kennedy cut in to offer an example of “confirmation studies” to that effect. “There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” he said. “It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol. So, you know, none of this is dispositive, but all of it is stuff that we should be paying attention to.”Twitter embed Kennedy did not specify the research he was citing, but one high-profile study that matches his description is a heavily criticized 2015 study that found, in a subgroup of a larger cohort of Danish children, “risk of infantile autism in circumcised boys was twice that of intact boys.” Notably, experts have warned against drawing sweeping conclusions from that study, which was “observational,” not “causal,” and did not account for myriad possible “confounding variables,” such as “cultural or social factors affecting the likelihood of an (early) autism diagnosis.” It also did not investigate the use of acetaminophen. Kennedy’s remark came just after he flipped the scientific method on its head by announcing his effort to “make the proof” for the administration’s unproven Tylenol-autism connection. A federal judge in Illinois has ordered the Trump administration to stop beating, shooting at, and generally using violence against journalists and peaceful protesters. The Thursday ruling comes as ICE and the National Guard tear through the streets of Chicago, shooting at and arresting journalists, protesters, and immigrants alike. Judge Sara Ellis, the Obama appointee overseeing this case, has suspended federal agents from “using riot control weapons,” “firing [tear gas] canisters,” “using force, such as pulling or shoving a person to the ground, tackling, or body slamming an individual,” “striking any person with a vehicle,” and more abuses of power. The order applies to all agents from the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Border Patrol. Federal agents have done all of that in recent weeks. In September, an ICE agent shot a pepper ball inside CBS News Chicago reporter Asal Rezaei’s car completely unprompted, in just one of many recent attacks on journalists. Also last month, ICE shot Reverend David Black in the head with a pepper ball while he was praying outside of an ICE facility in Broadview. In yet another incident caught on camera, a CBP agent shot a woman five times, and then arrested her. “Federal agents have responded with a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians. Dressed in full combat gear, often masked, carrying weapons, bearing flash grenades and tear gas canisters, and marching in formation, federal agents have repeatedly advanced upon those present at the scene who posed no imminent threat to law enforcement. Snipers with guns loaded with pepper balls, paintballs, and rubber bullets are stationed on the roof of the Broadview ICE facility with their weapons trained on the press and civilians,” read the original complaint, made on behalf of the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago, and Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, among other local media organizations. Judge Ellis also noted that federal agents “must have visible identification (for which a unique recognizable alphanumeric identifier sequence will suffice) affixed to their uniforms or helmets and prominently displayed, including when wearing riot gear,” although she did not say they couldn’t still wear masks. The Temporary Restraining Order will last for 14 days, after which the case will move forward. The IRS is walking back an earlier promise to provide its furloughed workers back pay. The tax agency had notified its employees on Wednesday that they would be “compensated on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends” in accordance with the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. But that was apparently an overstep: The IRS corrected itself the following day, stating that it would defer to the direction of Russel Vought’s Office of Management and Budget. “An earlier memo circulated on furlough guidance incorrectly stated the nature of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 as it relates to compensation for non-pay and non-duty status,” the IRS posted on its X account Thursday. “OMB will provide further guidance on this issue, you will be updated accordingly.” An IRS employee that spoke with Federal News Network said that the initial email was automatically deleted from staff email inboxes by Thursday. Back pay for furloughed workers has been a point of contention throughout the eight-day government shutdown, despite the fact that it’s legally mandated. Donald Trump himself signed the bipartisan-supported law after the last government shutdown, which lasted a record 35 days from 2018 into 2019. On Tuesday, OMB tested the waters with potentially flouting the law, circulating a draft legal opinion indicating that furloughed federal workers would no longer be guaranteed back pay. Instead, the agency announced that members of Congress would need to specifically address the back pay provisions in a stopgap spending bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who voted in favor of the 2019 law, told reporters Wednesday that it was his “understanding that the law is that they would be paid.” “There is some other legal analysis that’s floating around. I haven’t yet had time to dig into and read that. But it has always been the case—that is, tradition and I think statutory law—that federal employees be paid,” Johnson said in a news conference. “And that’s my position. I think they should be. They should not be subjected to harm and financial dire straits.” The White House is using footage from Florida to make propaganda about the supposed “chaos” in Chicago, Illinois. As the National Guard troops have entered Chicago to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the Trump administration posted a video on X Wednesday to hype up its federal law enforcement operations in Chicago. “An incompetent Mayor. A delusional Governor. Chicago is in chaos, and the American people are paying the price,” the post read. “Chicago doesn’t need political spin—it needs HELP.” But spin was all that the White House had to offer—because the video contained some footage that had nothing to do with Chicago at all. The promotional video devolved into an onslaught of chaotic arrest footage, showing officers clad in tactical gear moving through the night to kick down doors and drag people out of their cars as Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks’s voice urged the city to welcome Trump’s advances. But The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that some of the footage was actually from Operation Tidal Wave, a state-wide operation in Florida that led to the arrests of 1,120 people, only 63 percent of whom had a criminal record. In fact, one shot that was used twice in the video about Chicago could be spotted in footage the DHS published in May of their work in the Sunshine State. Palm trees were visible in some of the shots included in the new video, clearly demonstrating that the footage was not all from the Windy City. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s spokesperson slammed the White House for their fake video. “We are proud that Chicago was just ranked the best big city in the United States. We are proud of its beautiful beaches, booming businesses, and decent people. However, we cannot claim credit for many palm trees here,” spokesperson Matt Hill told the Beast. “We know the lies don’t just come out of their mouth. So it’s not surprising that the Trump team spends more time producing videos purporting images of Florida as Illinois—rather than spending any time to lower prices or protect healthcare for hardworking Americans,” Hill added. The video also included footage of the Chicago skyline and streets from above, and images of Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Earlier this week, Trump claimed the two Democratic officials ought to be imprisoned. Clearly, Trump’s attempt to wage war on American cities requires a subsequent disinformation campaign. Earlier this week, the Oregon Republican Party shared a graphic about dangerous riots in Portland—but the images weren’t from that city either. The Trump administration has also used its excessive federal law enforcement response to make content that pushes the narrative that the United States has descended into chaos at the hands of Democratic leaders. Earlier this month, DHS used footage from a horrific raid on a Chicago apartment building where ICE officers dragged young children from their homes in zip-ties to make another promotional video. New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday for alleged mortgage fraud, following President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign to remove his outspoken critic from office. Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia reportedly personally presented the government’s flimsy case alleging that James committed mortgage fraud. Halligan, who was previously Trump’s personal attorney before becoming special assistant to the president, recently replaced Eric Siebert, who Trump officials had pressured to seek an indictment against James. James was indicted on one count of bank fraud, according to MSNBC. Multiple sources told ABC News last month that investigators had yet to produce a shred of evidence that James falsified bank documents to secure favorable terms on a mortgage for her Virginia home. Two Trump stooges, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, and Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s Working Weaponization Group, have staked their claim that James committed mortgage fraud on a single document claiming that the home she purchased in 2023 would be her primary residence. But investigators haven’t been able to prove she knowingly lied, or that the document was even considered by loan officers. Lawyers that drafted the document said the error was the result of a template that wasn’t corrected, sources told ABC News. Every other document submitted for James’s mortgage accurately stated she would not reside at the home. Pulte and Martin reportedly urged Siebert to seek an indictment against James at Trump’s direction. When Siebert declined, Pulte reportedly encouraged Trump to fire Siebert and have him replaced with someone else.In a bizarre post on Truth Social last month, which was revealed to be an errant DM to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump wrote: “Lindsey is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot.” He later reposted this rant, clarifying that he was writing about Halligan, and Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney suggested that Trump hoped to replace Siebert with Halligan to pursue his supposedly “GREAT case” against James. This story has been updated. Norway is bracing for Donald Trump’s reaction should he not be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Norway simply hosts the prestigious award ceremony—its government has no involvement in deciding who wins. But with hours on the clock before the Nobel Peace Prize recipient is named, Norway’s politicians are sweating that Trump may not know the difference. Kirsti Bergstø, the leader of Norway’s Socialist Left Party, told The Guardian that Oslo must be “prepared for anything.” “Donald Trump is taking the U.S. in an extreme direction, attacking freedom of speech, having masked secret police kidnapping people in broad daylight and cracking down on institutions and the courts. When the president is this volatile and authoritarian, of course we have to be prepared for anything,” Bergstø told the international newspaper. “The Nobel Committee is an independent body and the Norwegian government has no involvement in determining the prizes,” she continued. “But I’m not sure Trump knows that. We have to be prepared for anything from him.” The Nobel Prize Committee announced Thursday that it had decided the prize winner at the beginning of the week, before the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire arrangement between Israel and Gaza. Timeframe considered, “most Nobel experts and Norwegian observers believe it is highly unlikely that Trump will be awarded the prize,” The Guardian reported. It’s no secret that Trump has pined for the international honor: The U.S. president phoned Norway’s Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg “out of the blue” back in July to inquire about the possibility of acquiring the prize, using tariffs as a cover for their discussion. Trump has complained for years that his name has not yet been added to the ranks of prize recipients, who span some of the greatest figures of the last century, including Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, and Malala Yousafzai. Part of the contention could be that Trump’s supposed political nemesis, former President Barack Obama, received the award in 2009 for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Three other U.S. presidents have also won a Nobel Peace Prize. “They gave it to Obama for absolutely destroying our country,” Trump said, during an Oval Office meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb Thursday. “My election was much more important.” Trump’s obsession with obtaining the prize has led to some odd boasts over the last several months, including that he has resolved eight wars around the globe in his second term alone. Trump has so far claimed responsibility for peace between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, between Cambodia and Thailand, between Israel and Iran, between India and Pakistan, between Serbia and Kosovo, between Egypt and Ethiopia, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and for “doing the Abraham Accords,” all while complaining about a lack of recognition by the Norway-based judges’ panel. As Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan pointed out last month, all of Trump’s war-solving braggadocio is “demonstrably untrue,” to the extent that several of the listed examples were never even at war. “Nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months. And I’ve stopped eight wars, so that’s never happened before. But they’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that, I did it because I saved a lot of lives,” Trump said Thursday while answering a barrage of questions about the prize. “But nobody’s done eight wars.” President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal seems to be more geared toward preparing the region to be his “Riviera of the Middle East” than offering self-determination to Palestinians. “Can you promise Palestinians they will be able to stay?” a reporter asked Trump at his Thursday Cabinet meeting, just a day after he announced the ceasefire deal. “Well, they know exactly what we’re doing. We’re gonna create something where people can live, you can’t live right now in Gaza,” Trump replied. “It’s a horrible situation, nobody has ever seen anything like it. So yeah, we’re gonna create better conditions for people.” Twitter embed A deal that forces Palestinians out of their homes and puts redevelopment into the hands of the U.S., Israel, and Tony Blair isn’t a deal—it’s ethnic cleansing. This deal is also contingent upon Israel lifting the aid blockade and ending its genocidal attacks once the hostages are returned, but even that is not a guarantee. “Looking ahead, what guarantees Hamas disarms, and that Israel doesn’t resume bombing once the hostages are released?” another reporter asked. “Well the first thing we’re doing is getting our hostages back, OK? And that’s what people wanted more than anything else, they wanted these hostages back that have lived in hell like nobody has ever even dreamt possible,” Trump said. “After that, we’ll see. But they’ve agreed to things, and I think it’s gonna move along pretty well.” Israel “agreed to things” in the short-lived ceasefire of November 2023, which it broke on the very first day when the IDF opened fire on Gazans returning to their homes. When asked how this time would be any different, all the president could say was, “We’ll see.” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has drawn widespread criticism for manipulating science to fit his agenda, admitted that he is working to “make the proof” to support his controversial claim that the use of acetaminophen, or Tylenol, during pregnancy causes autism. Kennedy mentioned Tylenol at a Thursday Cabinet meeting because, he said, he’d been disturbed by a social media video: “Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at eight months pregnant—she’s an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School—and she is saying ‘F Trump’ and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta,” he recalled. It is not immediately clear what video he was referring to, and babies are not in the placenta, but attached to it, in pregnancy. The health secretary went on to cite a number of studies that allegedly support his Tylenol suspicions. Then he made an eyebrow-raising statement about the existing evidence: “It is not proof,” Kennedy said. “We’re doing the studies to make the proof.”Twitter embed According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, it is safe for women to use acetaminophen occasionally “as directed for fever and pain relief during pregnancy,” and patients should talk with their obstetrician about pain relief, as with all medications, during pregnancy. RFK Jr.’s stated plan to invent evidence to back up his controversial claim to the contrary has already drawn ridicule online. “Ah yes,” wrote Dr. Michelle Au, a physician, public health advocate, and Democratic state legislator in Georgia, “the scientific method famously instructs us to predetermine a conclusion and then do studies to ‘make the proof.’” But “make the proof” is a fitting credo for a man reshaping the public health system as Kennedy is now. The health secretary in June dismissed the CDC’s entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; installed his own hand-picked members, including vaccine skeptics; and fired Susan Monarez, the former director of the CDC, for refusing to “commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence,” as Monarez testified last month. Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem accused local leaders in Portland, Oregon, of “lying” because they wouldn’t back up her baseless claims that the streets were overrun with terrorists. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Noem excoriated Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Portland Police Chief Bob Day, after her surprise visit to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the South Portland neighborhood earlier this week. “I … met with the governor, met with the mayor, met with the chief of police, and the superintendent of the highway patrol. They’re all lying, and disingenuous, and dishonest people,” she said. “Because as soon as you leave the room, then they make the exact opposite response. “So, we’re looking at new facilities to purchase there in Portland too. And we’re gonna double down. And I told them if they didn’t meet our demands for safety and security on the streets then we’re going to bring in more federal law enforcement,” she added. But Noem’s trip Tuesday revealed that Portland isn’t the war zone the president claims. Local officials have continued to undermine the Trump administration’s outlandish claims about Portland. Kotek, who got wind of Noem’s visit, reportedly met her at the airport, where the governor said she “reiterated again that there is no insurrection in Oregon.” Outside the facility Noem visited, there were no hardened terrorists, only a handful of reporters and a guy in a chicken costume. By midday, there were about two dozen protesters, but they were still outnumbered by reporters, according to Oregon Live. And across the city, organizers threw a puppy parade to tell ICE to get its paws off Portland. Still, appearing on Fox News later, Noem called local leaders “a bunch of pansies” and said she wanted even more security at the ICE facility. Wilson said that the quiet day Noem witnessed was proof that “Portland continues to manage public safety professionally and responsibly, irrespective of the claims of out-of-state social media influencers.” It seems that Noem now hopes to punish Portland officials for their repeated assertions that they were doing a fine job of managing public safety on their own. On Wednesday, during a roundtable of right-wing influencers talking about anti-fascist resistance to the president, Noem accused Wilson and Kotek of “covering up the terrorism that is hitting their streets.” Noem also claimed that Portland police officers were “cheering” on protesters that were saying slogans such as “kill ICE agents” and “Molotov cocktails melt ICE.” Day told KGW8 that Noem’s claim was an “abhorrent allegation.” “Since the secretary had several people documenting her movements, we urge her to provide video evidence to support this claim,” he said. “Such inflammatory rhetoric undermines trust and distracts from our goal to ensure safety in the South Waterfront area. Our officers remain professional, dedicated, and committed to serving the people of Portland with integrity.”

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” in private lectures on Christianity that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Washington Post.Get concise answers to your questions. Try Ask The Post AI. In the four, roughly two-hour lectures, which began last month and culminated Monday at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Thiel laid out his religious views to a sold-out audience told to keep the contents “off-the-record,” according to an event listing. He argued that those who propose limits on technology development not only hinder business but threaten to usher in the destruction of the United States and an era of global totalitarian rule, according to the recordings. “In the 17th, 18th century, the Antichrist would have been a Dr. Strangelove, a scientist who did all this sort of evil crazy science,” Thiel said in his Sept. 15 opening talk, according to the recordings. “In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It’s someone like Greta or Eliezer,” he said, referring to Thunberg and Eliezer Yudkowsky, a prominent critic of the tech industry’s approach to AI. Thunberg has criticized global capitalism as a driver of environmental degradation while Yudkowsky advocates for limiting AI research to prevent the technology from surpassing human intelligence. Thiel previously funded Yudkowsky’s work, but said in his Sept. 15 lecture that he is now embarrassed by the association and that the AI critic and others like him have become “deranged,” according to the recordings. Follow Trump’s second term Thiel’s lectures come at a time of rising Christian nationalism in the United States. Christians have varying interpretations of the biblical Antichrist, but the figure is often understood to be an opponent of God who appears during the end times. The Post sent Thiel, through a spokesperson, a detailed list of questions about his remarks in the lectures but Thiel declined to comment. Yudkowsky said in a statement “my understanding is that authorities from multiple Christian denominations have stated that Thiel’s views, identifying the Antichrist with proposals to regulate the AI industry, are not deemed by them to be compatible with conventional Christian belief.” Spokespeople for Thunberg did not return a request for comment. Thiel, an early investor in Facebook and co-founder of data analytics firm Palantir, has long espoused libertarian views, arguing that politics, bureaucracy and regulations have led to economic stagnation in the U.S. and Europe. But the recent lectures appear to mark an intensification of this ideology and attempt to pitch it a grander scale. The recordings offer new detail about how the billionaire seems to place those who would critique or regulate tech developers into a religious good-vs.-evil worldview, where the future of all creation depends on giving innovators free rein. Silicon Valley leaders have escalated their fight against regulating AI since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Thiel has close ties to administration officials including Vice President JD Vance, White House science adviser Michael Kratsios and David Sacks, White House AI and crypto czar. As one of the industry’s most influential leaders, his effort to cast resisting oversight of technology development as a religious battle could intensify the industry’s crusade. Thiel said in his third lecture, on Sept. 29, that only a religious argument could inspire the proper response to the threat of a growing web of global rules, according to the recording. “There are a lot of rational reasons I can give why the one world state’s a bad idea: Turn the planet into a prison; I think the tax rates would be very high,” he said, according to the recording. “But I think if you strip it from the biblical context, you will never find it scary enough. You will never really resist.” The billionaire’s lectures were also notable as a forceful display of religiosity in an industry that has historically been secular. Christianity has recently become a significant presence in some influential tech circles, in part because of ACTS 17 Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading Christian principles inside the tech industry that organized the Thiel lectures. Those with tickets were required to attend the full series of four talks in addition to respecting the off-the-record policy, the event listing said. Thiel hinted in his third lecture on Sept. 29 that the restriction was intended to draw more attention to his ideas, according to the recording. “It’s a pretty good marketing shtick if you want everyone to hear about something, not to let anyone into the room,” he said. “I’m not bragging, but I’m not totally incompetent.” The billionaire spoke for nearly eight hours across the four private lectures about his theories of the role of technology in society and the world, according to the recordings, citing sources ranging from the Bible and theological and philosophical texts to Japanese anime. He acknowledged that technology could have negative effects on people and society, but argued that constraining its development would be more harmful. “Maybe these things are good or bad — stopping them seems far, far worse,” he said, according to the recordings. “If the internet or the AI deranges some people but we have to shut it down altogether, that feels like out of the frying pan into the fire — a cure that’s far worse than the disease.” A threadbare patchwork of state laws imposes limits on AI development, requiring California companies to safety-test products and preventing Texas companies from discriminating against protected classes. Despite a flurry of activity in Washington in recent years, no federal law has passed. Thiel argued that critiques of technology and calls for stricter regulation by Thunberg and others appear to echo biblical interpretations of an Antichrist who will win power by offering the world “peace and safety” from apocalyptic destruction, according to the recordings. He previously cited Thunberg in a June interview with the New York Times Thiel also accused Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, who is known for popularizing the idea that humanity will eventually invent a potentially dangerous “superintelligence,” of advocating for restrictions on technology that will hold society back, according to the recordings. In an interview, Bostrom said his views are “complex” and have evolved to focus more on the positive potential of AI. “Maybe he needs a new casting agency for his demonology,” Bostrom said of Thiel. Thiel, whose net worth is around $27 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, also used his private talks to criticize financial regulations. He said such rules were a sign that a singular world government has begun to emerge that could be taken over by an Antichrist figure who could then use it to exert control over people. “It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money,” Thiel said, according to the recordings. “An incredible machinery of tax treaties, financial surveillance, and sanctions architecture has been constructed.” Wealth gives the “illusion of power and autonomy,” Thiel added, according to the recordings, “but you have this sense it could be taken away at any moment.” Thiel has deep ties to the Trump administration and was early among tech figures to endorse the president’s first run for office in 2016. He did not donate to any Republican politicians in 2024, but was part of a network of tech elites who helped install Vance, a mentee, as vice president. Thiel has donated to GOP candidates this year, giving $850,000 to the joint fundraising committee of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), according to federal election filings. In his lectures and the Q&As that followed each one, Thiel offered views on whether figures including President Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, former president Joe Biden and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates were Antichrist-like figures, according to the recordings. Biden and Xi were not charismatic enough, Thiel said, according to the recordings, and while he declared Gates a “very, very awful person,” the investor said he was not “remotely able to be the Antichrist.” Thiel’s comments about Trump were more complex, according to the recordings. “If you, in a sincere, rational, well-reasoned way are willing to make the argument that Trump is the Antichrist, I will give you a hearing,” he said. “If you’re not willing to make that argument maybe you have to be open to possibility that he’s at least relatively good.” A spokesman for Thiel, Jeremiah Hall, said: “Peter doesn’t believe Trump is the Antichrist. His challenge was for Trump’s liberal critics to make that case if they want Peter to hear them out, and he knows that in practice they can’t and won’t do so.” The White House did not return a request for comment. Thiel also talked about other powerful figures in technology. He accused fellow tech investor Marc Andreessen of “pure Silicon Valley gobbledygook propaganda,” according to the recordings, in Andreessen’s 2023 essay titled “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto” that predicted AI would rapidly transform society in many positive ways. Thiel had kinder words about Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to the recordings, calling the entrepreneur, who has recently praised Christianity, one of the “smarter, more thoughtful people,” he knows. The investor said he recently encouraged Musk to renege on his 2012 commitment to the Giving Pledge movement co-founded by Gates, which asks wealthy people to commit the majority of their fortune to charitable causes, according to the recordings. “$200 billion — if you’re not going to be careful — is going to left-wing nonprofits that are going to be chosen by Bill Gates,” Thiel said he warned Musk, according to the recording, painting the philanthropist as among the malevolent forces besetting technologists. Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Andreessen and Gates did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters previously reported some of Thiel’s comments on Trump and Musk. Thiel has long been a devout Christian, but in recent times he and other prominent Silicon Valley figures have been more vocal about their faith. The movement has gained momentum since Trump’s reelection and has become entangled with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, which some see as a potentially all-powerful technology raising deep questions about humanity. ACTS 17, the Christian nonprofit that organized Thiel’s talks, is an acronym for Acknowledging Christ within Technology and Society. Its name also refers to the New Testament book of Acts, in which the apostle Paul travels to Athens where he debates the Christian Gospel with philosophers. The group’s founder, Michelle Stephens, is married to Trae Stephens, an investor at Thiel’s venture capital firm, Founders Fund, and a co-founder of military tech company Anduril. Stephens has said that she got the idea for ACTS 17 at a 40th birthday party for her husband in 2023. At the celebration, she has said in interviews, Thiel gave a speech about Christ and miracles, prompting her to realize that ministering to elites is just as important as Christian teachings about ministering to the poor. Stephens introduced Thiel at his first lecture on Sept. 15 as “one of the great capitalists” and also “great Christians of our time,” according to the recording. Protesters gathered outside the event, according to local news reports, with some dressed as devils or holding signs that accused Thiel himself of being the Antichrist. When asked for comment, Stephens asked The Post to “respect” the event’s off-the-record policy, and did not comment further. Garry Tan, chief executive of the start-up incubator Y Combinator and a member of ACTS 17, has hosted events in his San Francisco home — a converted church — about the intersection of Christian faith, science and technology over the past year. One gathering hosted by Tan in June featured Pat Gelsinger, former CEO of chipmaker Intel, and was organized by ACTS 17, according to a social post by Gelsinger. “Such a deep discussion on the ‘Holy Shift’ across life, AI, leadership and faith,” he wrote. A spokesperson for Playground, a venture capital firm where Gelsinger is a general partner, declined to comment. Tan said he thought Thiel’s comparison of potential overregulation of AI to the Antichrist was “thought-provoking” and a “somewhat tongue-in-cheek” use of the concept. “These are useful mental frameworks for how technology interacts with society,” he said. Overregulation of nuclear power has worsened the climate crisis, he added. “What if we do that to the age of intelligence? The future won’t repeat but it will rhyme.”

Among the long list of political adversaries President Trump has targeted in his second term are several Black women in powerful positions. There’s Lisa Cook, who serves on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, which has stood in the way of Mr. Trump’s desire to lower interest rates. And Fani T. Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought election interference charges against him. And now, there is Attorney General Letitia James of New York, who brought a civil case against Mr. Trump and won. All three women have risen to their posts as firsts. Ms. James is the first woman in New York to be elected attorney general and the first African American woman elected to statewide office. Ms. Willis is the first woman to serve as the district attorney for Fulton County, while Ms. Cook is the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve board. The president has denigrated each of them and tried to destroy their ability to work against his interests.Sign up for the Race/Related Newsletter Join a deep and provocative exploration of race, identity and society with New York Times journalists. Get it sent to your inbox. And Mr. Trump’s singling out of Black women who have crossed him comes as he has fired a series of Black officials from high-profile positions in what is now an overwhelmingly white administration that has banished diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government. On Thursday, Ms. James was indicted on bank fraud and false statement charges in Virginia in a case led by a federal prosecutor handpicked by Mr. Trump. The indictment came months after the president escalated a pressure campaign against Ms. James, as the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into her office and appointed a special prosecutor to investigate her real estate holdings. In August, Ms. Cook was accused of mortgage fraud by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who has made similar claims about Ms. James. A week later, Mr. Trump said in a social media post that he was firing Ms. Cook. (She has denied the allegations and sued Mr. Trump, and the Supreme Court last week allowed Ms. Cook to stay on the board for now.) Ms. Willis is also being investigated by the Justice Department. Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia have issued a subpoena for her travel records. Mr. Trump has attacked Ms. Willis and Ms. James verbally. He has called Ms. Willis racist and said she was out to “get Trump.” The president has called Ms. James “scum” and other insulting names, including a nickname for her that is reminiscent of a racial slur. When Ms. James ran for attorney general in 2018, she said she was motivated in large part by a desire to hold Mr. Trump accountable. After she won, Mr. Trump called her “yet another” attorney general who “does little else but rant, rave & politic against me” in a social media post. Ms. James sued Mr. Trump in 2022, accusing him of defrauding lenders by overvaluing his assets by more than $2 billion. She won, and in February 2024, a New York State judge levied a fine that with interest grew to more than half a billion dollars. That penalty was thrown out by an appeals court in August, and the case is set to be reviewed by New York’s highest court. In a statement on Thursday, Ms. James called the charges against her “baseless.” She said she stood by her office’s case against Mr. Trump, his family and his business interests. “We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence — not politics,” Ms. James said. Grace Ashford contributed reporting.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has called the charges baseless and desperate. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images WASHINGTON—The Trump administration for months has raised the specter of mortgage-fraud charges against the president’s perceived foes. Prosecutors finally delivered on that threat Thursday against New York Attorney General Letitia James, bringing an unusual case that legal observers said might never make it to trial. In a five-page indictment, secured from a federal grand jury in Virginia, federal prosecutors focused on a $109,600 loan that James took out in 2020 for a home in Norfolk, Va. The charges, signed by Lindsey Halligan, President Trump’s newly appointed U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia, allege that James knowingly misrepresented her intentions for the home by saying in loan documents that she would use it as a second residence but instead rented the property. With that claim, prosecutors said, James secured more-favorable borrowing terms and stood to net nearly $19,000 in savings for the life of the loan. She faces one count alleging that she violated a federal bank fraud statute, and another alleging that she made false statements to a financial institution. James, who previously brought a civil fraud case against Trump, called the charges baseless and desperate. Legal observers said the dollar figure fell well short of the typical federal prosecution alleging bank fraud, leaving an impression that the case wasn’t about the money. “The amount of loss in this case is small peanuts, period,” said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor in eastern Virginia. President Trump at the White House on Thursday. Samuel Corum/Press Pool The Justice Department could face challenges in establishing that James had an intent to commit fraud, said Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan. “The idea that someone would expose themselves to federal fraud charges for so little money doesn’t really make any sense,” she said. “It’s a red flag.” Mortgage-fraud prosecutions typically feature allegations of a more complex fraud scheme and losses suffered by a financial institution or other victims, legal experts said. “If DOJ brought cases like this regularly, many Americans who own vacation properties could be targets of federal criminal investigations,” said Rizwan Qureshi, a former federal prosecutor. Halligan said that the Justice Department brought the case for legitimate reasons and that the facts were clear. The charges against James “represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” she said. The prosecution upended the U.S. attorney’s office that brought it. People familiar with the internal deliberations said career prosecutors and the previous, Trump-nominated leader of the Virginia office, Erik Siebert, thought there wasn’t enough evidence to bring a case against James, or against former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey. He was charged late last month with lying to Congress and on Wednesday pleaded not guilty. The president pushed Siebert out and installed Halligan, who presented both indictments. The administration is pursuing potential mortgage fraud cases against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, who both deny any wrongdoing. Trump cited fraud allegations in his attempt to force Cook from office. Two lower courts have blocked her firing, and the Supreme Court declined to grant the administration’s emergency request to remove her now, instead scheduling arguments for January. James’s legal team has already signaled that it will seek to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the Justice Department initiated the prosecution for impermissible political reasons. Comey has done the same thing. Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said public statements by Trump and other administration officials could help the defense. “I would be shocked if this thing makes it to a jury trial,” he said. “I fully expect the judge to grant a motion to dismiss based on vindictive prosecutions.” James had faced scrutiny since April after Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department related to properties she bought in Norfolk in 2023 and in New York. Pulte’s referral alleged that she misrepresented that the Norfolk property was her principal residence to secure more-favorable terms. Thursday’s indictment focused on a different Norfolk house. James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has defended the bank documents related to the 2023 purchase in detail, saying James corrected an error on the form and told her bank she wouldn’t be living there. Lowell hasn’t addressed the 2020 purchase, which wasn’t included in Pulte’s criminal referral. “We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law,” Lowell said. Write to C. Ryan Barber at [email protected] and Lydia Wheeler at [email protected]

The Senate approved its massive annual defense policy bill late Thursday as the U.S. government remains shut down. The GOP-led chamber approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 70-20, aiming to fund the U.S. military at $924.7 billion in fiscal 2026. The vote came after lawmakers reached a deal earlier in the day to unlock the stalled legislation. The bill’s passage allows the House and Senate armed services committees to begin the sometimes arduous conference process, during which lawmakers hammer out a compromise between each chambers’ version of the legislation. The House version of the NDAA, passed last month, has a much lower top line at nearly $893 billion. The NDAA had come to the Senate floor in early September but saw little movement until Thursday morning. Action on the bill was stalled, as all 100 senators must agree to hold votes on amendments, with several sticking points causing a handful of lawmakers to halt the process. But Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) secured an agreement to vote on 17 stand-alone amendments and a package of nearly 50 less controversial amendments. “We simply cannot delay this process any longer,” Wicker said on the Senate floor. “Let me make it clear: If we do not bring this to the floor today, this matter will not have time for deliberation on the Senate floor, and we’ll have to basically pretend that we’re having a conference between House and Senate members, and a very small group of senators will have to write this bill and bring it to the floor for final passage. That’s not the way this ought to be done.” Votes were held throughout Thursday evening, during which senators blew through more than a dozen partisan amendments and the 50 add-ons before moving the bill. Among those passed was one from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who offered the proposal to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force for Iraq. It also would repeal a similar resolution passed in 1991 during the Gulf War. And in a show of bipartisanship, an amendment offered by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) made it into the bill and would give additional authorities to the Pentagon to counter drone threats over military installations. “Hundreds of drones have been spotted in the vicinity of military installations over the past few years, including military-sensitive sites like Langley Air Force Base,” Gillibrand said. “But current laws give the Department of Defense quite limited authority to mitigate these threats, and the patchwork of interagency coordination required to address them leaves gaps that endanger our military bases and the men and women who serve there.” But amendments that failed to pass included one from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) who had hoped to block money for President Trump to retrofit a luxury Qatari jet he accepted as an intended replacement for Air Force One. “Retrofitting this foreign-owned luxury jet to make it fully operational will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. That’s money that shouldn’t be wasted,” Schumer said. And Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) put forward a proposal that was voted down and would have stopped Trump and state governors from allowing National Guard troops from one state to be sent to another if a governor or mayor rejected the move. Among the issues that were resolved prior to the bill’s Senate passage was a roadblock posed by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who stalled the NDAA over a bipartisan proposal to scrutinize U.S. investments in China. She reportedly agreed to allow the bill to advance after receiving assurances that senators would address concerns raised by Microsoft, one of her state’s biggest employers, over the amendment. Another dropped effort was Sen. Ruben Gallego’s (D-Ariz.) insistence that senators vote on his amendment to label Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt — who was shot and killed by police while attempting to enter a restricted area of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — ineligible for military funeral honors, Politico reported. Updated at 10:55 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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CHICAGO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump's deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers in Illinois, five days after another U.S. judge blocked a similar deployment in Portland, Oregon. U.S. District Judge April Perry said that permitting Guard troops in the state would only "add fuel to the fire," after hearing more than two hours of arguments from lawyers for the U.S. government and the state of Illinois, which sued the Trump administration over the deployment. Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here. Separately, a three-judge panel at a federal appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday appeared likely to set aside the ruling blocking Trump's Portland deployment, which would clear the way for hundreds of soldiers to enter that city. The outcomes of the two cases could have significant implications for Trump's expanding campaign to deploy military personnel to the streets of U.S. cities over the objections from their Democratic leaders.Government lawyers in both courts said the Guard soldiers were needed to protect federal officers and property from demonstrators. The Democratic governors of Illinois and Oregon have accused Trump of deliberately mischaracterizing small, mostly peaceful protests as violent and dangerous in order to justify National Guard deployments. In delivering her decision on Thursday from the bench, Perry said she was having difficulty lending credence to the government's claims of violence during protests at an immigration facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois, where a small group of demonstrators has gathered daily for weeks. She cited a ruling from another Chicago judge, also issued on Thursday, that temporarily limited the ability of federal agents to use force to disperse crowds. Protesters and journalists had filed a separate lawsuit seeking that order, saying federal officers had injured them at the Broadview center. Perry said the behavior of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers has prompted the protests, and deploying Guard soldiers to Broadview would "only add fuel to the fire that defendants themselves have started." Her order will remain in effect until at least October 23. A White House spokesperson said the administration would appeal the order. "President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities and we expect to be vindicated by a higher court," said the spokesperson, Abigail Jackson. In a social media post, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said "Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law. Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago." Item 1 of 3 National Guard members walk at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon [1/3]National Guard members walk at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab On Thursday evening, around the time of Perry's ruling, about half a dozen Guard soldiers were milling around inside the gate at the ICE center in Broadview. A group of about 10 protesters were outside. At the appellate court in San Francisco, Stacy Chaffin, an Oregon assistant attorney general, echoed the language of the lower court judge who blocked Trump's deployment, saying the president's descriptions of Portland as riven by violence were "untethered from reality." The judges questioned whether they should only consider the current circumstances or take into account more active protests earlier this year that temporarily shut down ICE's Portland headquarters. U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson, a Trump appointee, said courts should not engage in a "day-by-day" review of whether troops were needed at any given time. The National Guard is part of the military and can be deployed overseas or domestically. In the U.S., the Guard is usually directed by governors and responds to events such as natural disasters. Under U.S. law, National Guard and other military personnel are not typically permitted to engage in civilian law enforcement. While a U.S. president can deploy the Guard under certain authorities, Trump is testing the limits of those powers by sending them to cities controlled by his political opponents. Trump on Thursday again suggested he intends to expand his effort to deploy troops to U.S. cities to combat what he claims is rampant violence. The president has previously sent troops to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Troops have also been deployed to Memphis, Tennessee, with the support of the state's Republican governor. "We're in Memphis. We're going to Chicago. We're going to other cities," the Republican president said at the start of a cabinet meeting. "We have a very powerful military," he said. "We have a very powerful National Guard. We are directly confronting the sinister threat of left-wing domestic terrorism and violence, including the terrorist group antifa," referring to a decentralized anti-fascist movement with no formal structure. A trial court in Los Angeles has ruled Trump's deployment of Guard troops there during the summer was illegal. The administration is appealing. Reporting by Diana Novak Jones in Chicago, Dietrich Knauth in New York and Jeenah Moon in Broadview, Illinois; Additional reporting by Dave Thomas and Emily Schmall in Chicago, Jonathan Allen in New York, Nate Raymond in Boston and Brad Brooks in Colorado; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Mark Porter, David Gregorio and Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Diana reports on product liability, litigation, mass torts and the plaintiffs' bar. She previously worked at Law360 and the Chicago Sun-Times.

WASHINGTON — In the unusual world of Congress during a shutdown, far-right firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has emerged as an unlikely ally of Democrats, seeking to save millions of Americans from spiraling health care costs. And she's not the only Republican making such an admission. The government shutdown comes as Republicans call for a "clean" continuing resolution that funds the government as it stands. However, at the end of 2025, the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, will expire. Democrats want a deal to continue the subsidies, but according to Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman, "Republicans do not want to extend these Obamacare premium tax credits at all, period." Democrats may agree with Greene that subsidies help fund costly healthcare premiums, but they aren't welcoming her with open arms quite yet, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) making a dig at her online, writing, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day." "Nothing she does surprises me," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Raw Story on Thursday. "For a change, she's using common sense." Some Republicans, too, agree with Greene and the Democrats on extending the subsidies. When speaking to Senate Republicans who remain on Capitol Hill during the shutdown, Raw Story found more strange bedfellows generated by increasing voter support for tax breaks on healthcare costs. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said that the Affordable Care Act is "important to a lot of us, not just to Democrats." She agreed that the subsidies should be extended, though she would like to see some reform. She didn't specify what. "But the sooner we can get an appropriations bill through, the better off we're going to be," she said. "There are many discussions going on, and I have been in very close contact with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who is very constructive and is trying to find a path forward. Collins refused to answer about being in a coalition with Greene. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story that he became the second Republican speaker of the North Carolina state House since the Civil War because he "was convinced" that former President Barack Obama "was going to make a bad healthcare decision." Now, he appears to have evolved. "We will be making a bad healthcare decision if we don't help — all we're really trying to do is reduce the waste and abuse," he told Raw Story, noting that it should be a tax cut that nixes high-income wage earners. "I do think there should be skin in the game for people that have means." Ultimately, he confessed that "MTG is right" and noted that only "a handful of members" want to see the subsidies expire. That isn't what reporters are hearing on the House side, however. One of those who opposes the subsidies is Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who told Raw Story that "Obamacare totally failed" and Republicans want to "fix it," but "the way to fix it is not to throw more money at it." He went on to call the subsidies "a massive fraud" that "won't fix the problem." The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that in 2025, "18.7 million (77%) of the total 24.3 million ACA Marketplace enrollees live in states President Trump won in the 2024 election."

Thousands of U.S.-bound packages shipped by UPS are trapped at hubs across the country, unable to clear the maze of new customs requirements imposed by the Trump administration. As packages flagged for customs issues pile up in UPS warehouses, the company told NBC News it has begun “disposing of” some shipments. Frustrated UPS customers describe waiting for weeks and trying to make sense of scores of conflicting tracking updates from the world’s largest courier. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Matthew Wasserbach, brokerage manager of Express Customs Clearance, said of the UPS backlog. “It’s totally unprecedented.” Wasserbach’s New York City-based shipping services firm helps clients move shipments through customs. He said the company has seen a spike in inquiries for help with UPS customs clearance.A Boeing 747 operated by UPS on the tarmac at Louisville International Airport in Kentucky during a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022.Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg via Getty Images file More than two dozen people who are waiting for their UPS packages explained the circumstances of their shipments to NBC News. They described shipments of tea, telescopes, luxury glassware, musical instruments and more — some worth tens of thousands of dollars — all in limbo or perhaps gone. Others have deep sentimental value: notebooks, diplomas and even engagement rings. The frustration has exploded online, with customers sharing horror stories on Reddit of missing skin care products, art and collectibles. They are confused and angry, and they want answers.Packages destroyed? “It’s almost impossible to get through to anybody to figure out what is happening,” said Ashley Freberg, who said she is missing several boxes she shipped via UPS from England in September. “Are my packages actually being destroyed or not?” Freberg’s boxes of journals, records and books were shipped on Sept. 18, according to tracking documents she shared with NBC News. Over the next two weeks, she received two separate notifications from UPS that her personal mementos had not cleared customs and as a result had been “disposed of” by UPS. Then, on Oct. 1, a UPS tracking update appeared for her packages, saying they were on the way. The tracking updates Freberg showed NBC News for that shipment revealed it was the most recent update she had received. UPS transport jets wait to be loaded with packages at UPS Worldport in Louisville, Ky., on April 27, 2021.Timothy D. Easley / AP file While sentimental value is impossible to measure, other customers fear they will not be able to recover financially if their goods were destroyed. Tea importer Lauren Purvis of Portland, Oregon, said five shipments from Japan, mostly containing matcha green tea and collectively worth more than $127,000, were all sent via UPS over the last few weeks and arrived at UPS’ international package processing hub in Louisville, Kentucky. Purvis has yet to receive any of the shipments, only a flurry of conflicting tracking updates from UPS. A series of notifications for one shipment, which she shared with NBC News, said that the shipment had not cleared customs and that UPS had disposed of it. But a subsequent tracking update said the shipment had cleared customs and was on the way. “We know how to properly document and pay for our packages,” Purvis said. “There should be zero reason that a properly documented and paid-for package would be set to be disposed of.” At least a half-dozen people described an emotional seesaw they were put through by weeks of contradictory UPS tracking updates about their shipments. The updates, they said, compounded the stress of not knowing what had really happened to their possessions.A UPS Boeing 767 aircraft taxis at San Diego International Airport, in San Diego, Calif., August 15, 2025.Kevin Carter / Getty Images file AJ, a Boston man who asked that NBC News use only his initials to protect his privacy, said he shipped a package from Japan via UPS on Sept. 12 including Japanese language books, a pillow and a backpack. After it sat in Louisville for nearly two weeks, AJ got a tracking update on Sept. 26, one of several that he shared with NBC News. “We’re sorry, your package did not clear customs and has been removed from the UPS network. Per customs guidelines, it has been destroyed. Please contact the sender for more information,” it read.UPS tracking updates for a package shipped from Japan to the United States.Obtained by NBC News Three days later, on Sept. 29, he received another, and this one read: “On the Way. Import Scan, Louisville, KY, United States.” For a moment, it appeared as though AJ’s shipment might have been found. But less than 24 hours after his hopes were raised, another tracking update arrived: “We’re sorry,” it began. It was the same notice that his package had “been destroyed” that he had received on the 26th. Two minutes later, he got his final update: “Unable to Deliver. Package cannot clear due to customs delay or missing info. Attempt to contact sender made. Package has been disposed of.” A mess for customs International shipping was thrown into chaos after the long-standing “de minimis” tariff exemption for low-value packages ended on Aug. 29. Packages with values of $800 or less, which were previously allowed to enter the United States duty-free, are now subject to a range of tariffs and fees. They include hundreds of country-specific rates, or President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, as well as new levies on certain products and materials. President Donald Trump holds a chart as he speaks about reciprocal tariffs at a "Make America Wealthy Again" event at the White House on April 2.Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images file The result is that international shipping to the United States today is far more complex and costly than it was even two months ago. The sweeping changes have caught private individuals and veteran exporters alike in a customs conundrum. It is difficult to know the exact number of the packages that are stuck in UPS customs purgatory. Shipping companies guard their delivery data closely. UPS reported to investors that in 2023, its international service delivered around 3.2 million packages per day. This week, the company told NBC News that it is clearing more than 90% of the packages it handles through customs on the first day. The rest of the packages, or less than 10%, require more time to clear customs and need to be held until they do. That could easily mean that thousands of UPS packages every day are not clearing customs on their first try.No easy fix In a statement to NBC News, UPS said it is doing its best to get all packages to their destinations while abiding by the new customs requirements. “Because of changes to U.S. import regulations, we are seeing many packages that are unable to clear customs due to missing or incomplete information about the shipment required for customs clearance,” it said. UPS said it makes several attempts to get any missing information and clear delayed shipments, contacting shippers three times. “In cases where we cannot obtain the necessary information to clear the package, there are two options,” it said. “First, the package can be returned to the original shipper at their expense. Second, if the customer does not respond and the package cannot be cleared for delivery, disposing of the shipment is in compliance with U.S. customs regulations. We continue to work to bridge the gap of understanding tied to the new requirements and, as always, remain committed to serving our customers.”A conveyor belt carries envelopes and small packages past UPS workers to their destinations at Worldport on Nov. 20, 2015.Patrick Semansky / AP, file NBC News asked UPS precisely what it does with packages when it tells customers their shipments have been unable to clear customs and have been “disposed of.” It would not say. On Sept. 27, a shipper in Stockholm received a formal notification from UPS that two packages her glassware company sent to the United States — which failed to clear customs — would be destroyed. “We are sorry, but due to these circumstances and the perishable nature of the contents, we are now required to proceed with destruction of the shipment in accordance with regulatory guidelines,” UPS told Anni Cernea in an email she shared with NBC News. The email continued, “There is no need to contact our call center for further information or to attempt to clear this shipment.” Cernea said, “It’s just outrageous that they can dispose of products like this without approval from either the sender or recipient.” From now on, Cernea said, she plans to ship her products via UPS rival FedEx.Trouble ahead Cernea’s decision to switch carriers hints at the worst-case scenario for UPS, which is that people could abandon the company. It is a potential crisis for the roughly $70 billion company. The company’s stock price is already down more than 30% this year, which analysts attribute to a mix of tariffs, competition and shifting shopping habits. As she awaits her missing journals and diplomas from England, Freberg is looking ahead to the biggest shipping months of the year. “I can’t even imagine how bad the holidays are going to be, because that’s a time where loads of people are shipping stuff overseas,” she said. “If it doesn’t get solved soon, I can only see it becoming an even bigger issue.” Isabella Morales contributed reporting.Kayla Steinberg

Israeli forces completed a pullback of troops from Gaza on Friday after Israel's Cabinet approved a plan for a ceasefire aimed at ending the devastating 2-year-old war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement early Friday that the Cabinet had approved the "outline" of a deal to release the hostages — a key part of the initial agreement. "The government has now approved the framework for the release of all the hostages — both the living and the deceased," the statement read. It did not detail other more contentious parts of the pact hammered out Wednesday. Hamas is believed to hold 20 living hostages and the bodies of another 26, while the fate of two more is unknown. The handover of the living hostages is expected to begin Monday. Israel has pledged to release about 250 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including women and children and about 1,700 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the war began, according to Hamas officials. Many have been held without charge. Most of the prisoners held in Israel are expected to be deported and not allowed to return home to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces began pulling back from the coastal highway into Gaza city overnight after the Cabinet approval of the ceasefire, which requires troops to retreat to a buffer zone. The official Israeli gazette of Cabinet decisions said the ceasefire began upon Cabinet approval of the agreement overnight Friday. Palestinian residents have been massing near Gaza City hoping to return to their damaged and destroyed homes. "I feel reborn," said Mohammad Rajab, 33, who said the Israeli army was so far preventing people from returning. "Despite all the sadness and the huge destruction, we are looking ahead and thinking about how we will build our lives, our future, our children's future, and rebuild everything that was destroyed and move away from war." "Israel has no goals to achieve nor do the Palestinians have anything more to lose," he said. In the southern Gaza Strip, tank shelling was heard and smoke seen rising in Khan Younis on Friday morning, according to residents. It was not clear whether any attacks fell within the bounds of the ceasefire agreement on the Israeli pullback. The war, sparked two years ago by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has killed at least 67,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, in Israeli attacks. About 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. A U.N. independent commission determined last month that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejects that characterization. The war also sparked dramatic power shifts in the region, including weakening Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and helping to result in the overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. It also deepened Israel's international isolation and made Israel and President Trump's goal of more Arab countries normalizing relations with the Jewish state less attainable. The ceasefire announced Wednesday still leaves questions over who will govern Gaza, reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory and whether Hamas would keep its weapons. Two senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said the U.S. would contribute about 200 troops as part of a multinational effort to support and monitor the ceasefire deal. They said the U.S. Central Command would establish a civil-military coordination center that would also be involved in movement of humanitarian aid. The U.S. would coordinate with Israel forces, and no American troops would be sent into Gaza. Other countries contributing troops are expected to include Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. President Trump is expected to travel to the region this weekend. The Israeli Knesset has formally invited him to address the assembly — the first such address by a U.S. president since 2008. A key part of the ceasefire deal would allow food and medicine to flow into Gaza. International experts this year declared famine in the Palestinian enclave as a result of Israeli restrictions on aid. Other countries expressed their support for the ceasefire and willingness to help. The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said an EU humanitarian team is ready at Egypt's now-closed Rafah border crossing with Gaza to facilitate aid movement. He said the EU assistance mission to the Palestinian Authority police in the West Bank could also support a "stabilization force" in Gaza. Anas Baba contributed reporting from Gaza.

Much of the public might be unfamiliar with Michael Ellis, but as regular readers might recall, he was a rather important figure during Donald Trump’s first term. In 2017, for example, Ellis was accused of using his position in the White House counsel’s office to feed sensitive information to one of the president’s congressional allies. Two years later, then-Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified under oath that Ellis was one of the officials responsible for transferring the summary of the infamous 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the National Security Council’s top-secret computer server. After Trump returned to the presidency, he rewarded Ellis with a dramatic promotion: The Republican operative and longtime Trump loyalist is now the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. On Monday, The New York Times reported: Michael Ellis, the deputy director of the C.I.A., has abruptly demoted a career lawyer who had been serving as the agency’s acting general counsel since January and installed himself in that role, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Ellis, who played a role in a series of controversies during President Trump’s first term, is also retaining his position as the No. 2 official at the C.I.A. I realize that bureaucratic flowcharts don’t exactly qualify as online clickbait, but take a minute to consider the significance of a move like this: According to the Times’ reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC, a Trump loyalist is helping lead the CIA, and the same Trump loyalist is also in control the agency’s legal judgments. Stephen Gillers, a New York University professor of legal ethics, told the Times that the arrangement seems “rather bizarre,” which seems more than fair. Gillers noted, however, “If the deputy director wants to do something and needs a legal opinion about whether or not he can do it, he can’t advise himself.” Well, the CIA’s deputy director shouldn’t be able to advise himself on legal matters, but if the Times’ account is correct, that’s precisely the dynamic the Trump appointee has created at the agency. The CIA didn’t comment on the arrangement, but a spokesperson for the agency did note that the president has nominated a different person, State Department lawyer Joshua Simmons, to serve as the CIA’s new general counsel. That’s true, and at least in theory, if he’s confirmed by the Senate, Ellis will no longer serve in both capacities. That would, of course, be a big step in the right direction, though in the meantime, the problem will apparently persist. This post updates our related earlier coverage.Page 2 It’s not exactly a secret that professional football has an enormous and loyal following in the United States, and the NFL’s cultural footprint has few credible rivals. Common sense might suggest that political leaders would want to align themselves with the league, if for no other reason than to side with the American mainstream. Donald Trump and his administration, however, can’t seem to help themselves. Five years ago, Politico highlighted the president’s “decadeslong grudge against the NFL” and the eagerness with which he incorporated the league into his broader “culture war strategy.” Also in the Republican’s first term, then-Vice President Mike Pence went to an NFL game, saw some players engage in a brief, peaceful and symbolic protest, and then left before kickoff in a performative display that cost taxpayers a fair amount of money. Five years later, Team Trump is still at it. After the league announced that Latin superstar and Trump critic Bad Bunny would headline the next Super Bowl halftime show, a controversial podcast personality asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week whether the NFL was possibly sending a message to the administration. She replied, “They suck and we’ll win and God will bless us.” Noem added, in apparent reference to league officials, “They won’t be able to sleep at night. ... They’re so weak.” This week, the president had some related thoughts of his own. On Newsmax’s Greg Kelly program, the conservative host raised the possibility of conservatives agreeing to “blow off the NFL” with a possible “boycott.” Trump responded that he’s unfamiliar with Bad Bunny, but he nevertheless considered the entertainer's role as a Super Bowl halftime performer as “absolutely ridiculous.” The president quickly added that he dislikes the league’s kickoff rule, saying it looks “ridiculous” and “terrible.” (The rule was instituted last year, but Trump continues to complain about it with unnerving frequency.) What’s more, earlier this summer, Trump used his social media platform to argue that the Washington Commanders should return to its previous, offensive name, adding, “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back. ... I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.” Since returning to power, the president has taken steps to exert unusual influence over everything from the economy to higher education, the judiciary to the media, the military to museums, labor unions to law enforcement, health care to corporations, independent federal agencies to banks, cultural institutions to nonprofit organizations, the legal profession to the entertainment industry. Evidently, it’s time to add professional football to his growing list of culture war targets.Page 3 In early August, Donald Trump was asked about a possible pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate who was convicted of child sex trafficking. The president didn’t rule out the possibility. “I’m allowed to do it,” he replied at the time, adding: “I know I have the right to do it.” Two months later, the Republican continues to leave that door open. NBC News reported: Asked in the Oval Office whether he would consider a pardon for Maxwell, Trump told reporters: ‘I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look.’ Asked to confirm whether he was considering such an action, Trump responded: ‘I wouldn’t consider it or not consider.’ As part of the same exchange, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked why Maxwell would even be considered at all as a candidate for clemency, he again said he’d have to speak to the Justice Department. Reminded that Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking, Trump concluded: “Yeah, I mean, I’m going to have to take a look at it. I’d have to ask DOJ.” In case this isn’t obvious, it would’ve been easy for the president to simply say, “No, I have no intention of pardoning a convicted child sex trafficker.” But once again, he chose not to. I won’t pretend to know what, if anything, is going to happen in this case, but the circumstances are hardly ideal. We know that Trump was reportedly told by his attorney general that his name appears in the Epstein files. We know that the Trump administration has refused to disclose those files. We know that the administration also already arranged to move Maxwell to a lower-security detention facility where convicted sex offenders typically aren’t housed. It’s against that backdrop that the president’s position remains unchanged: A Maxwell pardon is still on the table. Watch this space.Page 4 The list of prominent voices who’ve called on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign is not short. Everyone from members of Congress to leading medical organizations, members of Kennedy’s family to those who’ve worked with him at the Department of Health and Human Services, all agree on a simple conclusion: RFK Jr. should not be in his current position. It’s reached the point at which six former surgeons general — after having served in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, respectively — decided to link arms and write a new opinion piece for The Washington Post, warning Americans about the degree to which they see Kennedy as a public menace. Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored. As best as I can tell, this is unprecedented. Former surgeons general have spoken out on a variety of issues after having left office, but this is the first time that six former surgeons general — Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello and David Satcher — have issued a joint public declaration, urging the public to recognize the nation’s health secretary as dangerous. “Rather than combating the rapid spread of health misinformation with facts and clarity, Kennedy is amplifying it,” the sextet added. “The consequences aren’t abstract. They are measured in lives lost, disease outbreaks and an erosion of public trust that will take years to rebuild.” They added, “It’s worth reminding ourselves what Kennedy puts at risk. The FDA approves lifesaving drugs and holds pharmaceutical companies to high standards of safety and effectiveness. NIH pursues and funds cutting-edge research. CDC leads in emergencies from pandemics to opioids to natural disasters. Agencies at HHS spearhead efforts to address issues regarding mental health, substance-use disorders, primary care shortages and health insurance coverage for millions of seniors, disabled individuals, and low-income Americans. Mismanaging HHS endangers America’s health, undermines national security and damages our economic resilience and international credibility.” The retired surgeons general concluded: “Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk. He has rejected science, misled the public and compromised the health of Americans.” The op-ed did not explicitly use the word “resign,” but given the circumstances, they didn’t have to. RFK Jr. hasn’t responded to the piece, though given the thoroughness of the writers’ condemnation, it stands to reason that he’ll say very little about it and hope the public doesn’t notice it.Page 5 After Republicans failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act during the first year of Donald Trump’s first term, the president and his White House team shifted their strategy on the issue. In fact, in 2019, the GOP administration effectively gave up on the idea of Congress tearing down the health care reform law. Instead, Trump and his team urged the courts to take down the system and strip tens of millions of American families of their benefits. That plan ultimately didn’t work out for Republicans, either — the ACA has repeatedly withstood scrutiny from the U.S. Supreme Court — but as the Trump White House leaned into that strategy in early 2019, a reporter asked the president what his message was to families concerned about what he might do to their health security. “Let me tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care,” he responded. “You watch.” Well, we watched. Six years later, I think it’s fair to say the GOP is still not known as “the party of health care.” The rhetorical push, however, apparently remains ongoing. Politico reported: During a news conference Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back on Democratic rhetoric, arguing the [GOP megabill approved in July] would help ‘fix’ health care. Republican leaders have touted the bill’s ability to target fraud, waste and abuse in federal health programs. ‘Let me look right into the camera and tell you clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about health care,’ Johnson said. Despite the fact that Johnson gave his members another week off and they don’t appear to be doing any work on any issue, the House speaker quickly added that his party is “working around the clock every day to fix health care.” Hours later, the Louisiana congressman told Newsmax that Trump “wants to be the health care president.” The debate (such as it is) need not be complicated: Republicans opposed every major congressional effort at health care reform for several decades, up to and including the fight over the Affordable Care Act, which received a grand total of zero GOP votes. In the years that followed, Republicans made every possible effort to undermine and repeal the law, despite its successes. All the while, party leaders, including Trump, offered public assurances about their ability to deliver a superior model to the ACA, and after more than a decade of false promises, the GOP — “the ones concerned about health care” — still doesn’t have a plan that exists in reality. More recently, Republicans opposed the Democratic effort to increase ACA subsidies, making coverage even more affordable for millions of Americans, and they continue to resist efforts to maintain the status quo — which brings us to the ongoing government shutdown. All the while, the Republican administration is gutting the nation’s public health infrastructure in unprecedented ways, undermining potentially lifesaving medical research and, in recent months, even celebrating a far-right megabill that’s poised to do more damage to the nation’s health care system than any modern piece of American legislation. And yet, there was the House speaker, looking into a camera and declaring, “Republicans are the ones concerned about health care.” How he managed to deliver the line with a straight face remains unclear.Page 6 A couple of months ago, Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s notorious deputy chief of staff, offered an unsubtle assessment of the political opposition. “The Democrat [sic] Party is not a political party,” he said in August. “It is a domestic extremist organization.” The comments were unsettling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the unstated implications: If one of the president’s right-hand men sees his political opposition not as legitimate but as a public threat, that would necessarily justify a radical response. After all, domestic extremist organizations are, as a matter of course, subjected to all kinds of special scrutiny, including surveillance and criminal investigation. On Saturday afternoon, Miller took additional steps down the same right-wing path. “The Democrat [sic] Party has filled our legal and judicial system with radicals who protect leftwing terrorists,” the White House official wrote online. “This is a very real and dire crisis for our Republican form of government.” Less than an hour later, he kept going, publishing this related missive: The issue before is [sic] now is very simple and clear. There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country. It is well organized and funded. And it is shielded by far-left Democrat [sic] judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks. To the extent that reality still has any meaning, none of this was true. There is no “large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country,” and in recent decades, most acts of political violence in the U.S. came from the right. The nonexistent problem is also neither well “organized” nor well “funded.” Similarly, there is no secret cabal of judges, prosecutors and state attorneys general conspiring in the shadows. Indeed, though the White House likes to pretend otherwise, several of the judges who’ve ruled against Trump in recent months have been Republican-appointed jurists — including some chosen by Trump himself. But don’t overlook that last sentence in his missive: The “only” remedy, Miller claimed, is to use the power of the federal government to “dismantle” the cabal that he believes exists, reality notwithstanding. Hours later, after another Trump-appointed judge blocked the president from deploying Guard troops to Oregon to deal with an imaginary crisis, Miller’s stance took a hysterical turn. “Legal insurrection,” he wrote, condemning the ruling. He proceeded to reference “an organized terrorist attack on the federal government” that warrants a robust administration response, despite the fact that it’s only underway in the overactive imaginations of Miller and his allies. A day later, according to an NBC News tally, Miller used the word “insurrection” at least 12 times over the course of Monday. “The essence of post-liberalism is the rejection of the notion that some neutral standards of conduct apply to all parties,” The Atlantic’s Jon Chait explained in his latest column. “Miller, like Trump, appears to believe his side stands for what is right and good, and his opponents stand for what is evil. Any methods used by Trump are ipso facto justified, and any methods used against him illegitimate.” There might be a temptation to shrug this off, but that would be a mistake. There’s a growing body of evidence that suggests Miller isn’t just a hyper-partisan anti-immigration zealot, he also appears to be a leading White House official with a decision-making role related to military resources. The deputy chief of staff’s vision of a vast left-wing conspiracy is obviously weird and fantastical, but that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant.Page 7 This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 6 episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.” On Friday, shortly before Donald Trump held what looked a lot like a political rally with active-duty U.S. Navy sailors in Norfolk, Virginia, his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the U.S. Navy chief of staff. That firing didn’t make a lot of news when it happened, likely because it is just one in a long series of firings by the Trump administration. By definition, the military is not a political body that’s supposed to turn over every time there’s a new president, but since Trump has been back in office, the administration has been destroying the leadership of the U.S. military. Since Trump retook the White House, over a dozen top military officials have been fired or seemingly pushed out: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the Navy SEALs, the chief of naval operations, the head of the Navy Reserve, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, the head of the Air Force Global Strike Command, the top legal officer in the Air Force, the top legal officer in the Army, the top legal officer in the Navy and now, the Navy chief of staff. According to witnesses who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times, 'armed federal agents in military fatigues' have busted down doors. And on Monday, in what may or may not be related news, The New York Times reported that the administration has removed the top legal official at the CIA. At the same time that the administration has carried out this firing spree, we have seen the president explicitly tell all the country’s top generals and admirals that he wants them to plan to bring U.S. military operations to bear against Americans in cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Trump has already sent federalized troops, including active-duty Marines, into California’s largest city, Los Angeles. National Guard troops are still stationed in the state. And he’s now told the remaining top leadership of the military — the parts he hasn’t fired yet — that he wants the active-duty U.S. military to use both San Francisco and Los Angeles as military “training grounds.” But the American people aren't standing by silently. This weekend, there were big, peaceful protests against Trump and against his immigration agents in Los Angeles. It seems that sending in the troops there hasn’t made people any less interested in protesting against him. There were protests this weekend in Memphis against Trump’s plans to send troops there. Protests continued in Chicago as well ahead of the expected arrival of federalized National Guard troops. Federal agents have already been dispatched to the city. According to witnesses who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times, “armed federal agents in military fatigues” have busted down doors, “pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked.” During one raid, witnesses told the paper that agents “approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours.” They also said federal agents “used flash-bang grenades to burst through the building and several drones and helicopters were deployed.” The Associated Press reported that “agents used unmarked trucks and a helicopter to surround the five-story apartment building ... then went door to door, woke up residents and used zip ties to restrain them.” Reporters from NewsNation, who were invited to observe the operation, said agents “rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters.” Remember, this is what’s happening in Chicago before the military has been deployed. A lawsuit has been brought by a group of journalists and Chicago residents to try to stop these federal agents from infringing on people’s rights to protest, and on journalists’ right to report on the protests. Meanwhile, the state of Illinois itself has also filed its own lawsuit, asking a federal judge to block Trump from escalating further by sending not just agents like these, but federalized National Guard troops into the city as well. A similar lawsuit to stop Trump from sending troops into Oregon was successful this weekend. The judge, who was appointed by Trump, first blocked the president from federalizing the Oregon National Guard to send them into Portland under his command. The judge said there was nothing in the conditions on the ground in Portland that would justify the kind of military force that Trump wanted to use these troops for. The Trump administration responded by telling the judge it would send federalized National Guard troops from California or from Texas instead. But that same judge, in an emergency hearing late Sunday, told the administration, in no uncertain terms, that they were obviously trying to defy her first order and they were not allowed to do that, calling their move “in direct contravention” of her earlier decision. It's clear Trump doesn't have the law, the people, or even the politics on his side — and so the only response he can muster is force.Page 8 Today’s edition of quick hits. * I think we know how this one is going to turn out: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared poised to back a free speech challenge to a Colorado law that bans conversion therapy aimed at young people questioning their sexual orientations or gender identities in a case likely to have national implications. If the court rules against the state, it could affect more than 20 states that have similar bans and raise new questions about other long-standing state health care regulations.” * A tough time to fly: “Flight delays were reported across the country for a second straight day Tuesday as the Federal Aviation Administration braced for more airport staffing shortages amid the government shutdown. Delays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers caused delays Tuesday at airports in Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, Houston, Chicago and Las Vegas, the FAA reported.” * There’s no scientific or medicinal defense for decisions like these: “Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill on Monday called on vaccine manufacturers to develop separate shots for measles, mumps and rubella instead of the current vaccine, which combines the three.” * In South Carolina, a closely watched investigation: “Law enforcement officials in South Carolina are investigating a fire that engulfed the home of a state judge and a former Democratic state senator but say there’s no current evidence the fire was intentionally set.” * A welcome shift at the Pentagon: “The Defense Department on Monday loosened and clarified its new restrictions for press access to the Pentagon, after more than two weeks of negotiations with national news organizations.” * There should probably be a more robust public conversation about a possible U.S. military offensive in Venezuela: “President Trump has called off efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement with Venezuela, according to U.S. officials, paving the way for a potential military escalation against drug traffickers or the government of Nicolás Maduro.” * This seems like a worthwhile probe: “Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond ordered an investigative audit of the State Department of Education on Wednesday, one day after Ryan Walters formally resigned as state superintendent.” See you tomorrow.Page 9 The U.S. attorney general has traditionally been known as “the people’s lawyer.” Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, has gone out of her way to position herself as Donald Trump’s lawyer. The Senate Judiciary Committee held its annual Justice Department oversight hearing on Tuesday, and over the course of several hours, the nation’s chief law enforcement official put on an exceedingly unusual display. There have been plenty of tense exchanges between Justice Department officials and the panel’s members over the years, but it’s difficult to think of a comparable example of an attorney general showing outright contempt and disgust for senators from the opposing party. Bondi was, in roughly equal measure, combative, unprofessional and brazenly partisan, acting more like an employee of the president’s super PAC and less like an attorney general. At one point, she even pressed Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff to “apologize” to Trump for his first term impeachments, for reasons Bondi didn’t even try to explain. But it was the same California senator who also used the opportunity to share some of the receipts he’d collected over the course of the proceedings. As The New Republic noted: Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California took Attorney General Pam Bondi to task Tuesday for her incessant deflections and evasions throughout a Senate judiciary hearing. Bondi had verbally attacked Democratic senators throughout the hearing rather than answer their questions. Schiff was, evidently, keeping track of questions Bondi left unanswered, and he ran through the lengthy (yet inexhaustive) list. It was arguably the most memorable exchange of the frustrating hearing. As Schiff documented, Bondi refused to respond to all kinds of legitimate lines of inquiry, including:whether the attorney general consulted with career ethics lawyers before approving a $400 million gift from Qatar (a country she was a paid lobbyist for);what role she played in asking that Trump’s name be flagged in the Jeffrey Epstein files;whether White House border czar Tom Homan took the $50,000 from undercover FBI agents in the run-up to the 2024 election;whether career prosecutors found insufficient evidence to charge former FBI Director James Comey;whether Bondi discussed the Comey indictment with Trump;how the administration concluded that military strikes against civilians in international waters are legal;whether Bondi approved the firing of antitrust lawyers who disagreed with the Hewlett Packard merger;whether she supported a fund for violent insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6;whether the Justice Department had fired career professionals because they worked on Jan. 6 cases;and whether DOJ employees should have to abide by court orders. In effectively all of these instances, the attorney general could’ve offered substantive answers. She instead attacked senators for asking good questions she didn’t like. “This is supposed to be an oversight hearing of the Justice Department, and it comes in the wake of an indictment called for by the president of one of his enemies,” Schiff explained. “This is supposed to be an oversight hearing, and it comes in the wake of revelations that a top administration official took $50,000 in a bag, and this department made that investigation go away. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing, when dozens of prosecutors have been fired simply because they worked on cases investigating the former president. ... This is supposed to be an oversight hearing in which members of Congress can get serious answers to serious questions.” Bondi tried to interrupt the Californian as he presented his case, but she couldn’t stop the truth.

Oct. 10, 2025, 5:45 AM EDT By Erum Salam María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan politician, has won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, the award’s committee announced Friday. Machado is a democracy advocate and opposition leader who has built a powerful social movement despite the brutal authoritarian tactics of President Nicolás Maduro. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Machado earned the honor due to “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” calling Machado “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Machado earned the honor due to “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Past recipients include Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of atomic bomb survivors, “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons” in 2024; Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin in 1994; Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho in 1973; and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964. The Nobel Prize, first awarded in 1901, is named for Swedish inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, who left his fortune to recognize extraordinary contributions to humankind. The prize has six categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace and economic sciences. Despite his nomination by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (among others) — and having repeatedly expressed his wish to be recognized for diplomacy — President Donald Trump did not come away the winner. Trump said in September that if he didn’t win for his efforts ending foreign conflicts, “it’ll be a big insult to our country, I will tell you that.” Four U.S. presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 to Maria Corina Machado. She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times. Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government. This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree. At a time when democracy is under threat, it is more important than ever to defend this common ground. Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis. Most Venezuelans live in deep poverty, even as the few at the top enrich themselves. The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country’s own citizens. Nearly 8 million people have left the country. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment. Venezuela’s authoritarian regime makes political work extremely difficult. As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago. As she said: “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.” In political office and in her service to organisations since then, Ms Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. Ahead of the election of 2024, Ms Machado was the opposition’s presidential candidate, but the regime blocked her candidacy. She then backed the representative of a different party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in the election. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilised across political divides. They were trained as election observers to ensure a transparent and fair election. Despite the risk of harassment, arrest and torture, citizens across the country held watch over the polling stations. They made sure the final tallies were documented before the regime could destroy ballots and lie about the outcome. The efforts of the collective opposition, both before and during the election, were innovative and brave, peaceful and democratic. The opposition received international support when its leaders publicised the vote counts that had been collected from the country’s election districts, showing that the opposition had won by a clear margin. But the regime refused to accept the election result, and clung to power. Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair. In its long history, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has honoured brave women and men who have stood up to repression, who have carried the hope of freedom in prison cells, on the streets and in public squares, and who have shown by their actions that peaceful resistance can change the world. In the past year, Ms Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination. Maria Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy. Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard. In this future, people will finally be free to live in peace.

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