Airmen from the Texas Air National Guard conduct preflight and postflight inspections on an MQ-9 Reaper aircraft at Keflavík Air Base, Iceland, in August. - Senior Airman Edgar Grimaldo/US Air Force/File
The United States military has had 81 aircraft destroyed or damaged in the war with Iran, a Congressional Research Service report released this week says.
The number includes both airplanes and helicopters as well as drones, with the MQ-9 Reaper drone– used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support and combat search and rescue – accounting for more than half of the losses.
But also on the list are some of the Pentagon’s most-prized assets, including an F-35A fighter jet and an E-3 Sentry, the four-engine jet with a large radar dome atop the fuselage used for target tracking and airspace management.
The totalcost of the aircraft lost is between $1.9 billion and$3.3 billion, depending on the Defense Department’s plans for replacements, the report said, citing figures from the Congressional Budget Office.
The total cost of the war is much higher – at least $45 billion, sources have told CNN. That figure doesn’t include damage to infrastructure at US bases in the region, including those where some of the aircraft losses happened.
Some of the aircraft included in the count may have been returned to service, including eight F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jets that sustained light damage in an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, in September.
The report is based on numbers contained in statements from the Defense Department; its inspector general; US Central Command, which has been conducting the operations against Iran; and news reports reviewed by the CRS.
The report poses several questions for congressional consideration, including whether lawmakers are getting enough information from the Pentagon on the losses to determine effects and remedies.
Defense Department reporting on Iran war losses has, to date,been vague. Even the Pentagon inspector general’s report on the losses, released in September, and covering action from February 28 to June 30, cites previous CRS reports for some of its aircraft loss numbers.
Other issues Congress needs to think about are whether to provide funding for repairs or replacements; whether there is enough industrial capacity to satisfy those requirements; and the effects on US military sales to foreign partners.
It also raises questions about how the Iran war has affected US posture outside the Middle East.
“Congress may assess whether losses in certain high-demand platforms that are aging and limited in number, such as the E-3 Sentry, create capability gaps or increase risk in other theaters,” the report says.
Analysts have said actions in the Middle East, including the Iran war and earlier confrontations with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an Iranian proxy group, have taken an especially heavy toll on the MQ-9 drones, which Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach told Congressearlier this year was the military’s “most valuable player” in the war with Iran.
Forty-five have been lost in the Middle East this year, “an alarming rate,” according to a September report from the Atlantic Council.
The Air Force has lost about 35% of its MQ-9s since 2004, it says.
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Roger Clemens is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame but he will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.
Clemens introduced Trump at a rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, with Trump dropping the announcement as the former pitcher stood nearby. During the announcement, Trump said he had played golf with Clemens earlier this year, which prompted him to call MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about his Hall of Fame case:
"We had a great time, he's an amazing guy. I said, 'I'm going to call the commissioner of baseball.' It's a ridiculous thing that you're not in the Hall of Fame with that kind of record. He won seven Cy Youngs!"
It's worth noting the MLB commissioner has no power over who gets into the Hall of Fame. That is determined first by voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), then a committee of voters determined by the Hall of Fame itself.
Trump is correct that Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, two more than any other pitcher in history. He also won two World Series championships, 11 All-Star selections, an AL MVP award, two 20-strikeout games and two triple crowns. It's one of the most impressive résumés in baseball history, but Clemens never received more than 65.2% of the BBWAA vote, or more than 25% of the vote in two go-arounds with the committee.
That would be due to rampant allegations of steroid use, which included dozens of mentions in the Mitchell Report based on testimony and evidence from his former trainer Brian McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone for years.
Clemens is generally accepted to have been a steroid user, but has always denied it. That was apparently enough for Trump, who chalked up Clemens' excellence in his 30s and 40s to natural athleticism:
"People talk drugs, he never admitted to anything. They have no information. They didn't find anything. It's not like, 'Oh jeez, load it up.' He never admitted to anything. He's just a physical monster, OK?"
Due to recent Hall of Fame rule changes, Clemens won't be considered for induction until at least 2031, and will be permanently ineligible if he again fails to receive at least five votes that year.
The Hall of Fame's character clause instructs voters to consider personal shortcomings with candidates, which has been the main justification for keeping steroid users out. With Clemens' case, it also comes up over allegations of a relationship with late country singer Mindy McCready.
In 2008, the New York Daily News reported that Clemens had been engaged in an affair with McCready since she was 15 years old. McCready confirmed she had a relationship with Clemens but denied it began when she was 15, while Clemens apologized for unspecified "mistakes in my personal life" but denied the claim that he had an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. McCready died by suicide in 2013 at the age of 37.
On Wednesday, Clemens said he was glad to receive the Medal of Freedom from Trump:
"I'm stunned, number one. Twenty-four years, y'all, this supersedes anything I've done in my playing career. To get it from this man, this president, there wouldn't be another president I'd want to get it from."
One awkward moment did come during the announcement, when Trump a) claimed Clemens was MLB's all-time leader in hit batters and b) said Clemens told him that resentment from hit batters was what sank his Hall of Fame eligibility:
"He was known for two things as a pitcher, power and accuracy. I said, 'Then Roger, how come you hit more batters than any other pitcher in history,' which is true. He hit more batters than any — and when he hit you, it hurt. When you have a ball going at 99 mph and it's aimed at your head — so Roger had some problems.
"He told me, part of the difficulty is the people on the board were people that he played against, so 'They all hate me.'"
Neither claim passes muster. Clemens is not MLB's all-time leader in HBPs, he ranks 15th in history with 159. If you narrow the group to only the live-ball era (since 1920), he's still only sixth.
Clemens himself disputed that claim while on stage:
"I don't think I lead Major League Baseball in hit batters, Mr. President."
As for the question of voters, the journalists that make up the BBWAA probably weren't annoyed about Clemens' propensity for hitting batters. As for the 16-person Contemporary Baseball Era committee that rejected Clemens in 2023 and 2026, we know who the voters were.
Former executives, veteran media members and baseball historians made up a majority of bothcommittees. The players on the committees consisted of Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith and Robin Yount. According to Stathead, none of Clemens' 159 HBPs were at the expense of any of those 13 players.
Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of planning to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America in Minnesota, according to newly unsealed court records.
Sheikhdoon Mohamud was taken into custody Tuesday after allegedly purchasing an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition from a confidential source for the FBI that prosecutors say he planned to use to attack a festival taking place at the Mall of America.
Mohamud has been under investigation by the FBI since December 2024 when a confidential source with the FBI began exchanging messages with him about either traveling to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab or carrying out a mass casualty attack on U.S. soil, court documents show.
Prosecutors detail scores of communications between Mohamud and the FBI source where he allegedly detailed his hopes of martyrdom, including one where he discussed just getting a "gun here and just start killing a bunch of white ppl."
Aaronp/bauer-griffin/GC Images/Getty Images - PHOTO: A general view of the Mall of America on January 04, 2024 in Bloomington, Minnesota.
By December 2025, Mohamud expressed interest in providing support to ISIS and the two regularly continued communicating as Mohamud shifted away from plans to travel overseas and instead indicated he was more intent on carrying out an attack in the U.S, the court documents allege. Throughout their communications, Mohamud allegedly suggested he had inspiration in his planned attacks from both the New Orleans New Years Eve attacker and Omar Mateen, the Pulse Nightclub shooter.
Prosecutors said Mohamud told the source he wanted to attack the Mall of America "because its owned by jewish" people, adding, "so if I kill even 30 people noone would go there anymore."
By August, Mohamud allegedly began planning a meetup with the source to purchase an AK-47 and ammunition, and Mohamud sent the following pictures of himself so the source could recognize him, prosecutors said.
Mohamud later allegedly settled on a meetup of Oct. 6 with the source to purchase the weapons and suggested he would plan to carry an attack on Oct. 24 targeting the Hmong Arts Celebration at the Mall of America, according to court documents.
During their meetup the undercover agent handed Mohamud a large duffel bag containing an AK-47 rifle and four magazines as well as a container with 200 rounds of ammunition, according to prosecutors.
The agent told Mohamud he was a member of ISIS and when he asked him about his attack plans, Mohamud again allegedly expressed intent to carry out a shooting at a festival at the Mall, and said part of his motivation was that he believed it was owned by Jews and that he was "angry at the bad treatment of Muslims" in the wake of the May attack on an Islamic Center in San Diego.
Upon exiting the vehicle, Mohamud was taken into custody at gunpoint by FBI agents, the affidavit says.
"The American people and the citizens of Minnesota should know from yesterday's arrest -- which was the culmination of an outstanding law enforcement and intelligence operation -- that federal law enforcement is standing up to their calling to protect us," U.S. attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen said Wednesday. "Here, because of their vigilance and diligence, they were able to detect the threat and disrupt it before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, 'maybe 30 to 60 people,' as we allege in far greater detail in the complaint."
Rosen and FBI special agent Christopher Dodson detailed the extensive communications between Mohamud and an FBI confidential source that they said showed he was "100% committed" to carrying out an attack.
"The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling," Dodson said. "They show the idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths, and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community."
Mohamud is believed to be an American citizen born in the United States, Rosen told reporters, though in the criminal complaint he refers to Somalia as the homeland of his parents.
Rosen noted that in 2025 after being alerted to his sharing of extremist material online, the FBI actually went to Mohamud's house to attempt to speak to his parents but were rebuffed.
"I just would say to parents all over Minnesota -- for that matter, all over America: If you get the indication, especially if you hear from federal law enforcement that your son or daughter is being radicalized to the point where federal law law enforcement wants to come and give you that warning, those are warnings that ought to be heeded," Rosen said.
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Health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor says no special measures have been ordered regarding a reported plague death in Russia (Igor IVANKO)
The United States made a formal request pressing Russia for information on the reported plague death of a laboratory technician, a source close to the matter said Tuesday, as calls grew for transparency from Moscow.
Russian authorities have denied that they are imposing anti-plague measures and played down the reports of an incident at a plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region last week.
But US President Donald Trump said he would speak soon with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the World Health Organization's head called on Moscow to be open about the situation.
"We have officially requested additional information from the Russian government," a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
"We are also in official communication with other countries around the world to share information," they added.
The request for information was sent via a confidential diplomatic communication, known as a demarche, according to a source close to the matter.
During a trip to Iceland, Rubio said: "We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately."
Trump later said he would be speaking to Putin about what happened.
"I have a call scheduled, yes," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he had spoken to Putin, adding that it would happen "very soon."
Asked what US intelligence agencies were saying about the situation, Trump said: "We're in very deep discussions. We'll be able to report on it probably tomorrow."
- Cause of death 'undetermined' -
Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported Friday that the dead woman -- named as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova -- may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.
Other media reported a possible link between her death and a lab accident at the facility.
The People of Baikal outlet also said up to 200 people with whom she may have had contact were under quarantine.
But Russian authorities say the cause of death is not confirmed and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has denied claims circulating in a document online that special measures had been put in place.
"We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue," it said on Telegram.
Russian officials said postmortem tests had not detected the disease.
Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said Monday that an inspection by health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor had found the woman died of pneumonia and the cause was "undetermined."
"No microorganisms linked to the young woman's professional work were found in her biological samples," he said, adding that no other staff at the institute had sought medical attention since her death.
WHO said that an update received Tuesday from Russia stressed that "no case of this dangerous disease has been recorded in the city of Irkutsk."
But its director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus later urged Moscow to be transparent, saying WHO had "requested further information" on the cause of the pneumonia case and other details.
"Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks," he wrote on X.
- Bacterial disease -
Plague is a bacterial disease that can occur in several forms, including pneumonic plague, which is the most contagious type and can be transmitted by respiratory means. Bubonic plague is transmitted by infected fleas.
Pneumonic plague, which causes lung failure, can be fatal if not treated early, according to WHO.
Trump said Monday he was ready to help Russia if needed.
But in an apparent response to Trump's offer, the Russian watchdog said Tuesday that Moscow was prepared to assist the US in combating its own outbreaks of infectious diseases.
It highlighted a "significantly worsened" measles situation in three US states, and a "fatal case of plague" recorded in New Mexico in June, among other things.
Measles cases have increased under the Trump administration, in which vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr serves as health secretary.
An international conference on plague and other infectious diseases will be held in Irkutsk on October 21-22, although organizers said it was "unrelated to the recent death of an employee of the anti-plague institute."
burs-dk/sla/lkd/jm
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Truck stops nationwide were warned to “proceed with caution” Tuesday by a major industry group after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to promote the use of “red dye” diesel fuel.
Red dye diesel is exempt from federal excise taxes because it is intended for farm equipment and other off-road uses.
The order, signed before farmers in Nebraska on Monday night, aims to bring down fuel prices by “temporarily” allowing highway use of red dye diesel fuel, according to a White House statement.
U.S. voters are deeply frustrated by the high price of gas, and the Trump administration is under intense pressure to bring down fuel costs before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Monday’s order instructs Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “defer certain diesel fuel tax payment obligations and to provide penalty relief to the extent permitted by law.”
It does not waive the federal taxes, because only Congress can eliminate a tax.
Following Trump’s directive, the Energy Marketers of America warned gas stations to “proceed with caution.”
“Whether relief is available, whom it covers, and on what conditions depend on Treasury determinations and guidance not yet issued,” the group said. “Deferral is not forgiveness.”
Moreover, the order does not “resolve EPA or state restrictions” on the dyed variety of diesel fuel, the EMA said.
Other trucking and gas industry groups sounded a similar note of caution.
“The White House appears to be trying to encourage the supply chain to move toward selling dyed fuel in non-traditional ways,” the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America and the National Association of Truck Stop Owners said in a note to their members.
“We do not expect most reputable diesel retailers and fuel marketers to do this,” they said. “First, the tax is still owed, so there’s limited upside.”
In addition, “the logistical challenges outweigh any visible upside: Residual dye lingers in tanks and fuel systems.”
For most fuel sellers, “the liability and customer risk outweigh any temporary, uncertain benefit.”
The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Despite an executive order promoting red dye diesel, trucking and fuel industry groups are warning their members it may not be worth the risk. (Clayton Steward / Bloomberg via Getty)
A group representing independent long-haul truckers also suggested Trump’s move would provide little benefit to its members.
“Allowing the wider use of red-dyed diesel will provide minimal relief. Market stability is essential to bring down costs for the long haul,” said Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
Since the war with Iran began, the price of diesel has surged from $3.76 per gallon to $6.32 as of Tuesday, a nearly 70% increase.
The Iran conflict is not the only conflict contributing to diesel’s skyrocketing price.
A recent escalation of the Ukraine-Russia war has included strikes by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries.
Russia, traditionally one of the world’s large diesel exporters, has responded to the attacks by imposing a diesel export ban through at least the end of October.
“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters in early September. “There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting the world.”
Oil prices also remain sharply elevated since the beginning of the year. Brent crude oil, which traded Tuesday night above $101 per barrel, is up more than 66% since the start of the year.
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REIM, Israel (AP) — Israelis gathered on Wednesday to commemorate the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people, saw 251 taken hostage, and sparked a devastating war in Gaza that has left much of the territory in ruins and its 2 million people living in dire conditions.
In southern Israel, families mourned at intersections, bomb shelters, and the site of a music festival that the militants overran three years ago in the deadliest attack against Israel. It is the first anniversary that all the hostages are home, marking a new stage of grief.
For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of life of misery and difficulties after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Most of the population of about 2 million people lives in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip’s cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military. Despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.
For the region, the day highlights a startling transformation over the past three years.
Israeli troops occupy a large chunk of southern Lebanon in their conflict with the Hezbollah militant group, which began firing on Israel in 2023 in support of Hamas. Iran and the United States are locked in a confrontation that has seen attacks across Gulf Arab countries and has shaken the global economy — a conflict that Israel helped launch and that the Gaza war paved the way for, even if they weren’t directly connected.
Families mourn at the Nova Festival site
In Reim, the town where the music festival was underway on the day of the attack, families gathered around photos of their killed relatives. They hugged at 6:29 a.m. — the exact time the first rockets were launched three years ago — as booms from explosions in nearby Gaza were heard.
Anya Davitashili, who lost her 25-year-old son, Sean, said she comes to the site every Saturday because it’s where she feels closest to him.
“I have a video of him dancing here that ends at 6:29 in the morning, it’s in front of my eyes all the time,” she said. “Every morning, you wake up and there is just endless missing.”
Hundreds of people came to pay their respects to the more than 350 people killed in and around the festival site.
A released hostage marks his first Oct. 7
Elkana Bohbot, 37, is marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time, after being released from 738 days of captivity last year. For most of that time, he said, he was held 50 meters (165 feet) underground in a dark, damp tunnel.
Bohbot, who was abducted from the festival, was kept in a small cell with other hostages, given very little food, and allowed to bathe only every few weeks, he said. His captors forced him to take part in several propaganda videos, including one where he acts out a fake call to his family.
In the 11 months since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation. In August, his wife, Rivka, gave birth to a daughter, fulfilling a promise that Bohbot made to himself in the tunnels to give his 5-year-old son, Reem, a sibling.
The newborn Michele is “not a symbol for my people, she is more of a symbol for the enemy,” Bohbot told The Associated Press. “So this child is the message for you that we were here, and we will always be here forever.”
In Gaza, Palestinians struggle to recover
No events are expected on Wednesday in Gaza, where Israel’s offensive has devastated the territory and displaced around 90% of its population, often multiple times. Restrictions on the entry of goods and aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis.
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says around half were women and children. The numbers from the ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
While a ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued, targeting what Israel says are Hamas militants. Since the ceasefire, 1,460 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.
Hamas portrayed the Oct. 7 attack as a response to decades of Israeli military occupation, land seizures and settlement construction. But the Palestinians’ dream of an independent state appears even more distant.
The anniversary comes to a radically altered Middle East
A contentious election in Israel at the end of the month hangs over this year's anniversary. The government’s official memorial services took place on Oct. 5, closer to the Hebrew calendar's anniversary of the attack.
The separate commemorations reflected deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his handling of the war and his reluctance to launch an official inquiry into failings of the day.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is hoping to unseat Netanyahu in Israel's upcoming elections, looked at the photos of the dead in Reim and spoke with sobbing family members.
Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the opposition Yashar! party, met with families at a bomb shelter in southern Israel where many were killed as they tried to flee.
The attack set in motion a cascade of events that led to wars across the Middle East as Israel confronted Hamas, Hezbollah and their backer Iran. Israel has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Lebanese remain displaced. The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.
Violence has also risen across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel’s far-right government has emboldened extremist settlers who have attacked Palestinians and destroyed their property.
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Oct 6 (Reuters) - Governments, courts and companies are considering restrictions and examining existing rules on smart glasses amid worries that the technology, brought to mainstream by Meta's Ray-Bans, could be used to photograph, film or audio-record confidential materials or people without their knowledge.
Here is a summary of what countries and regions are doing to protect people's privacy, in alphabetical order.
AUSTRALIA
The federal government said in September it was considering barring the use of camera-equipped smart glasses in government workplaces due to privacy and security concerns.
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher asked the country's Public Service Commission for advice on whether their use should be prohibited and what exemptions might be required.
BRITAIN
Courts in England and Wales have prohibited the use of Meta smart glasses because of restrictions on taking images and videos in courts.
British cinema operators are also introducing policies to prohibit or restrict camera-enabled smart glasses, the UK Cinema Association said in August.
EUROPEAN UNION
Smart glasses have attracted scrutiny from European privacy regulators and some lawmakers, and the European Data Protection Board has commissioned a report into their "social acceptability".
Member of the European Parliament Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová also urged the European Commission, which has not proposed legislation specifically targeting smart glasses, to consider possible action.
NORWAY
The government said it planned to propose a temporary ban on the use of AI glasses in places where the public regularly gather, such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres and public events.
Norway's capital Oslo banned smart glasses in schools in August.
UNITED STATES
New York's Unified Court System banned smart glasses from all its court facilities from July 20. The rule covers prescription and non-prescription eyewear or headwear containing cameras, microphones, computers or other technology capable of recording video or audio. Visitors carrying them must hand them over to court personnel for safekeeping before entering.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; compiled by Mirko Miorelli and Cian Muenster in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak.)
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President Donald Trump said Monday night that he will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for a multimillion-dollar pro-Trump ad blitz ahead of the midterm elections, saying his super PAC will now pay for them.
While he dismissed criticism of the ads as "a rather standard thing to do," he said he had decided to run them on his own dime rather than that of the U.S. government in a post on his social media platform.
"I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc," Trump wrote, referring to his super PAC.
Eric Lee/Reuters - PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks with media before boarding Marine One as he travels to Grand Island, Nebraska, on the South Lawn of the White House, Oct. 5, 2026.
The move comes after the U.S. government bankrolled a series of ads that aired nationally and heavily featured the president. One of the ads was a direct copy of a spot Trump's campaign ran in 2024.
A White House official confirmed to ABC News Monday night that MAGA Inc. will pay for ads moving forward but defended them as something previous administrations have used.
"Presidential Public service announcements are nothing new. Administrations of both parties have used public service announcements to explain policy and make the case for the nation’s direction," the official said.
Earlier Monday, Vice President JD Vance defended using taxpayer money to run the ads, claiming they are "public service announcements."
"They're not partisan. They're not -- you know, it's not like we're advocating for a particular candidate. We're trying to tell a story, I think, about how great the United States of America is," Vance said.
Trump defended the ads last week at an event in the Oval Office, saying they were "for the spirit of our country" and not a political endorsement for Republican candidates on the ballot this November or for his administration's policies.
"You have to understand; I'm not promoting a candidate. I'm not promoting myself because I'm not running for office. I'm promoting the country," Trump said.
"Now, if somebody said that that's wrong, I'll gladly pay the money. But these are ads for the country," he said.
U.S. Government - PHOTO: A fourth taxpayer-funded ad that promotes President Donald Trump’s policies ahead of the midterm elections shows scenes of Trump and the U.S. military amid the war in Iran as audio of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the president play over them.
Trump has implored Republican voters to "pretend" that he is on the ballot in the November midterm elections to boost voter turnout for GOP congressional candidates.
The federal government has spent at least $2.5 million to air the TV ads, according to an estimate from AdImpact, an advertising agency that analyzes ad spending across television.
A total of $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security's budget had been allocated for the effort.
Ethics watchdogs and several Congressional Democrats -- as well as some Republicans -- have said the ads are inappropriate. Some critics have said the ads could violate federal propaganda law.
Four ads have been aired over the last two weeks. One features Trump in monochrome, slowly walking down a hallway, describing "the final battle" against "the deep state," "the globalists," and "the sick political class that hates our country."
U.S. government video - PHOTO: The Trump administration appeared to run an ad on Fox News that has drawn criticism from Democrats as violating federal rules preventing the use of tax dollars for political purposes.
Another ad includes a montage of clips and images of Trump at events and rallies featuring onscreen text about the "largest tax cuts in history."
The latest ad, released last week, focuses on the U.S. war with Iran, now in its eighth month. Audio of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plays in the background as U.S. military footage, including unclassified strikes, is displayed.
The video in the ad appears to be the same as one played during the Republican midterm convention last month. And it played last Wednesday before Hegseth addressed 600 service members in his State of the Force speech at the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an Oct. 5 interview that "there’s no clear path forward" for legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.
Thune's comments, made to Politico, come days after President Donald Trump appeared to give out Sen. Tom Cotton's phone number amid the senator's objections to the bill.
"The president feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues," Thune told Politico. "It’s something we’re having conversations about, but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet."
In July, the House of Representatives voted to allow states to enact year-round daylight saving time, but the bill has stalled in the Senate. Cotton emerged as one of the leaders of the opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act.
During an October 2025 Senate floor speech, Cotton pointed to when daylight saving was briefly made permanent by Congress in 1974 and said that "millions of Americans traveled to work and school in darkness."
He said that returning to permanent daylight saving would "again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans" and "push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being."
While Cotton drew the president's ire, Thune told Politico that opposition among Senate Republicans extended beyond Cotton.
Sen. Roger Wicker raised concerns similar to those of Cotton's in remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 5, according to Politico. He said he was mindful of "safety concerns in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus in very early hours."
Thune has opposed previous attempts to make daylight saving time permanent, Politico reported. "Your geography probably has as much to do with your position on that as anything," he said, according to the news outlet.
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of American B-1 bombers from a British airbase.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers, and had recently been used in US strikes on Iran. Last week, five British men were arrested near the base — which Iran's Revolutionary Guards previously said was a legitimate target — on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
"We had an idea that there might be a threat, and why would I leave them there? It costs very little money to move them," Trump told reporters on Monday. "So we had a threat, and if we're going to be threatened, we just move them, and that sort of alleviates that. And we actually know the people that made the threat."
When asked if they were linked to Iran, Trump responded: "They would be linked to Iran."
Earlier on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said the US moved the bombers out of an abundance of caution.
"We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are, you know, they're trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engaged in acts of terrorism against the United States (and others), so we are being extremely cautious, and that's all I'd say about that," Vance told reporters.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no direct link between the sudden removal of the bombers and the suspected Iranian plot. He said the Pentagon is "constantly reallocating resources where they need to be."
A NATO military source had said on Monday: "It is still believed that Iran poses an acute threat to US assets in the UK."
While much about the incident remains unexplained, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said any plot was likely backed by Iran.
Iran has said accusations that it was involved in any plot are baseless, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X: "I can confirm Iran's belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You're barking up the wrong tree."
KEY AIR BASE FOR US STRIKES
Rubio said on Monday the US had confidence in the security of all its bases.
Fairford, located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, is one of the most important European bases for the US, being one of only a few suitable for heavy bombers such as the B-1 aircraft. It has played a key role in previous US campaigns in the Middle East, although its bombers are not stationed there permanently.
During the current conflict, the US had permission to use Fairford only to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, or so-called defensive strikes. London had refused permission for the US to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
That approach has strained ties between the US and Britain, typically one of Washington's closest allies.
A Pentagon official confirmed on Sunday that all US bombers that had been deployed to Fairford had headed to their home stations in the US.
The Pentagon said the US bomber force remained ready to deliver precision global strike capabilities "anywhere, anytime".
The New York Times, citing two US officials, said the US had rushed over the weekend to move the bombers after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot. It said some of the planes had left while aerial refuelling aircraft were still being scrambled.
A US official declined to comment. The British government also declined to comment, although a spokesman for Burnham said the base was safe.
Christoph Bergs, research analyst at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said the redeployment would in the short term reduce US capacity "to quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat".
But he noted that use of Fairford was already limited given London's stipulation on defensive strikes. The aircraft could now potentially be sent to either Diego Garcia or bases in the Gulf, to reduce the need for more air-to-air refuelling to cover the additional distance, but that would depend on capacity availability, negotiations with allies and security, he added.
TRUMP SAID PLOT WAS FOR 'BIG DAMAGE'
In the early hours of September 27, five British men in their 20s were arrested after being seen running into fields from three white vans parked near the base. Police said no explosive devices were found but a quantity of petrol was present.
The men have since been released on bail. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts four days later, has also been released on bail.
Trump said at the time of the first arrests that the plot had planned "big damage" and that it might have been connected to Iran. Trump later said he would not have released the suspects on bail.
A senior NATO military official said the removal of the bombers would have no impact on the alliance: "NATO's defensive agility towards any aggression remains unchanged and unmatched thanks to the unity, strength, and combined capabilities of 32 nations."
The Wall Street Journal first reported the removal of the US bombers.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York, Kate Holton and Sarah Young in London, Sabine Siebold in Germany, Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; writing by Sarah Young and Kate Holton; Editing by Nia Williams, Hugh Lawson, Gareth Jones, Andrew Heavens and Sanjeev Miglani)
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Jane Doe’s lawsuit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell University and the DA’s handling of her allegations. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)
A Cornell University student gave campus police leads in the alleged rape of Jane Doe in 2024 but expressed dismay over how the authorities handled the case.
The student, who spoke to NBC News on Sunday on condition of anonymity over concerns about repercussions, said she first heard about allegations that Doe was raped as a rumor on campus about 24 to 48 hours after the incident. Doe, who filed a lawsuit last month, claimed she was plied with alcohol and ketamine and gang-raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house the night of Oct. 19-20.
The student recalled rumors that Doe was planning to have a threesome but that it had “gone off the rails,” and she remembers being “really horrified by it.”
“From that night, I think, we just kind of started, like, hearing more,” the student said.
Talk of the alleged sexual assault became widespread on campus after the school issued a crime safety alert about a report of a sexual assault at a fraternity.
“The thing I think we all feel, like, betrayed in regards to is that, like, it wasn’t handled,” she said. “When we got the police report, I think we all assumed it was being, you know, it would be, like, handled properly, yeah, and it was, like, in good hands.”
The student, who discussed details corroborated by documents reviewed by NBC News, said she and a friend initially gave a tip to authorities after the crime alert was issued. Police later called her and asked her to come in and speak with them days after Doe reported the incident to Cornell police on Nov. 8.
Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house — but that the information wasn't referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)
The student said she decided to go to police after she saw screenshots of a Chi Phi group message on Snapchat and because “it felt like the right thing to do if we could help this girl.” Doe’s lawsuit included a screenshot of a Chi Phi Snapchat group message that said there was “free p----” in a room in the frat house where Doe was the night she alleges she was assaulted.
“That was, like, when I kind of internally made the decision. OK, like, I’m taking this all in, and then I’m going to the police tomorrow,” the student said.
She recalled sitting with one or two officers for about half an hour during her interview with police.
“They seemed fairly competent. It seemed like a normal interview process to me,” she said.
She said she walked them through everything she knew, including that fraternity members were messaging about the events of that evening with Doe and about potential witnesses.She also gave police secondhand information about drug use at Chi Phi and said she is familiar with the frat house and believed she knew where ketamine was alleged to be kept.
“I guess I assumed that, like, I wasn’t enough,” the student said.
Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday on the student’s account to police. In a video statement Saturday, President Michael I. Kotlikoff called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and said they raise questions about the investigations that were conducted. He said he welcomes an independent review of how the university handled the matter, which will be conducted by an outside law firm.
Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the fraternity house — but that the information was not referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told NBC News on Friday that the interviews that were flagged “were each of the frat members declining to speak on the advice of their attorney.” He did not respond to a follow-up request asking whether he was told about interviews with other fraternity members in addition to tips from callers.
Van Houten ultimately determined the allegations did not warrant charges because of a lack of criminality.
Doe’s suit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell and Van Houten’s handling of her allegations. Van Houten has since agreed to reopen his inquiry into Doe’s allegations, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week named state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the matter.
The student who spoke with campus police criticized how the department handled the matter. While students believed there was an active investigation into Doe’s claims, people continued going to Chi Phi, including the room at the center of the allegations.
Within Greek life at Cornell, “rumors spread fast,” the student said, and even if you did not know Doe or the men, “you knew someone who did.”
Doe’s lawsuit named Cornell, Chi Phi and the seven fraternity brothers among the defendants. None of the seven has been criminally charged. The fraternity was suspended from campus, and it remains barred.
Cornell said in a statement Sept. 28 that it conducted a thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation that handed down “a range of sanctions which included expulsions and suspensions” from the university.
Attorneys for two of the seven men have denied to NBC News that they sexually assaulted Doe. An attorney for a third man denied the allegations to ABC News. NBC News has not received responses to requests for comment from the five other men.
Chi Phi’s national fraternity condemned sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse in a statement Wednesday. It said that the fraternity members Doe named were kicked out of the organization and that the national fraternity permanently expelled the chapter.
“At every level of Chi Phi, we will take steps like these whenever they are needed to protect the integrity of our fraternity and the safety of our communities,” said Trey Robb, the national fraternity’s interim executive director.
Some of the men faced backlash as talk spread on campus.
Two of the Chi Phi brothers named in the suit were kicked out of their rugby club after the allegations came to light, a former teammate told NBC News.
“We kicked [them] off the team immediately before the school expelled them,” said the teammate, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The teammate said he has participated in discussions among a group of current and former rugby players about responding publicly to Doe’s lawsuit.
“As a team, it was important for us to support this victim,” he said. “We are extremely, extremely distraught.”
Cornell Rugby said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations and that its thoughts were with Doe.
“Players who were known to be connected with the alleged events were permanently removed from the team and alumni network as soon as their affiliation with the incident was established,” it said.
No current members of the team have been affiliated with Chi Phi, the statement said.
As news of the allegations spread, some discussions were supportive of Doe, but others shamed her in conversations, a former member of Doe’s sorority, Delta Delta Delta, told NBC News.
“Some people were sympathizing with Jane Doe, but also, people didn’t know details,” said the former member, who has graduated and requested anonymity out of a concern for privacy.
Another student and former member of Tri Delta told NBC News that she recalled learning about the incident through rumors and described the student body as “really pissed off about it.”
That student said that she was at the same sorority-hosted event the evening of Oct. 19 that Doe attended and which was referred to in her lawsuit but that Doe disappeared during the evening.
A few days later, the student said, Doe said people were spreading rumors about her and she was not sure what to make of it, “and it just seemed like everybody was very confused at the moment.”
A third former Tri Delta member told NBC News that the campus learned of the incident from the university alert and described students feeling “shock” and “really appalled.”
She, too, is critical of how Cornell handled the matter.
“I think that shows a lack of respect for their female students and kind of makes it less enticing to attend the university,” she said.
Today, within the sorority there is a resounding wave of support for Doe, she said, as well as “frustration and anger.”
Tri Delta said in a statement on behalf of its national organization and its Cornell chapter, “As an organization, we are committed to supporting women and victims of sexual violence.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://ift.tt/qUglrML.
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The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly as details remain unconfirmed.
A State Department official told Fox News that the U.S. is aware of reports of a death in Irkutsk Oblast, a region in southeastern Siberia, and is watching the situation closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies. The official stressed that many details have not been confirmed and called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know.
Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital that the U.S. intelligence community is likely to be collecting all-source intelligence on the incident.
FILE - A man has his nose swabbed. The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia.
"I would also expect our embassy in Moscow to be engaging with their diplomatic counterparts at an official level because we might have people in Russia who might be at risk," Hoffman warned.
"Washington will be speaking to all of our allies and partners in the region and sharing what we know."
Plague bacteria (Yersinia pestis) causes bubonic plague and is carried in the pathogen of rats and there are still many regions of the world where the disease occurs.
Pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early, the official said. Appropriate therapy should begin as soon as plague is suspected, and patients can be treated with intravenous or oral antimicrobials depending on the severity of illness and other factors, according to the CDC.
FILE - A State Department official says the U.S. is tracking reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia while pressing Moscow for timely, accurate information.
Cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world, according to the State Department official.
The official said the safety and security of U.S. citizens remains the department’s top priority and encouraged Americans traveling overseas to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, to receive updates.
Immigration, gun rights and climate change are on the Supreme Court docket (Stefani Reynolds)
The US Supreme Court opens its new term on Monday with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, gun rights and the fate of climate change lawsuits on the docket.
The session opens one month ahead of a crucial midterm vote that could see President Donald Trump's Republican Party lose its majority in the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate.
Losing control of Congress would force the president to have to rely even more on the conservative-dominated top court to push through his policies.
Not that it has always been in lockstep with Trump.
Trump suffered stinging defeats this year over his tariffs and bid to restrict birthright citizenship, sparking tirades by the president against the court, particularly the three justices he appointed during his first White House term.
"I gave them the position of a lifetime, and they vote against me often," he told Time magazine in a recent interview.
At the same time, the 6-3 conservative majority has allowed Trump to vastly expand his executive powers and handed him a number of victories on what is known as the emergency docket, where cases are fast-tracked without oral arguments.
At the end of September, for example, in an immigration case in which the three liberal justices dissented, the court allowed the administration to continue for the time being to deport undocumented migrants to countries that are not their own.
The court will hear oral arguments in that case during the fall term and a ruling in the administration's favor could open the floodgates to more so-called "third country" deportations.
More than 25,000 people have been sent to third countries since Trump returned to office after reaching secret agreements with some 35 nations, most of them in Latin America and Africa.
- 'Concerned about the future' -
In another immigration case, the court will weigh a new practice of automatically detaining undocumented migrants -- even those who have lived in the United States for years -- instead of releasing them while their cases are being adjudicated.
"The Trump administration is interpreting that mandatory detention statute in a way that no administration has ever done in the 30 years since that statute was enacted," said Cecillia Wang, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "It's to pressure people to, as the government puts it, self-deport."
The opening case of the term may decide whether climate suits brought by local governments against oil companies for their role in global warming can proceed or whether federal law should prevail.
On the election front, the Supreme Court will take up an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Trump and fellow Republicans have baselessly claimed for years that many non-citizens vote in US elections but studies have shown the actual number is insignificant.
Gun ownership returns to the court in a case challenging state or local bans on certain semi-automatic weapons such as AR-15s.
The role of religion in public education will be tested when the justices hear a case involving a Catholic preschool in Colorado that denies admission to children of LGBTQ+ parents.
The question in the case is "whether they have a right to receive taxpayer dollars without following the non-discrimination rules that apply to everyone else," said Dan Mack, director of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
On the eve of the new term, Justice Samuel Alito, a staunch conservative, gave a rare public interview in which he told Fox News Sunday he was "concerned about the future of the court."
"There has been a concerted effort to intimidate the court and justices on the court to try to influence us to decide cases," the 76-year-old Alito said.
A recent Gallup survey found that Americans' views of the Supreme Court are at their least positive since the organization began polling on the institution in 1972.
Only 34 percent of US adults approve of the job the court is doing, essentially unchanged from the record-low 33 percent approval tallied in July, Gallup said.
sst/cl/sla
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VANDALIA, Ohio — President Donald Trump rallied Saturday for Republicans in Ohio’s competitive races for Senate and governor, predicting that the party will defy expectations in a choppy midterm election climate.
“I think we’re going to have a big surprise, because they don’t know what’s happening,” Trump said while speaking onstage inside a high school gymnasium near Dayton.
“Just get out and vote,” Trump added. “If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big. And we’re going to shove it up their ass.”
The visit, part of what White House officials have told NBC News will be a push through at least 17 states between now and Nov. 3, was aimed at boosting Sen. Jon Husted and GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump, who won Ohio three times by comfortable margins, opened his speech with praise for both before moving into broader remarks to promote himself and his administration. He also offered support for local Rep. Mike Turner and for several House candidates in attendance, including Derek Merrin, the Republican running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio.
Husted’s bid to keep the Senate seat — which he was appointed to after JD Vance was elected vice president — has become a subject of concern among Republicans in Ohio and Washington. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo that Husted’s past enthusiasm for building data centers was hurting his campaign. Others have expressed worries that Husted, who has long wanted to be governor, has not put his full heart into the race.
The battle is one of the most expensive and competitive Senate races in the country this fall. Along with a handful of other key contests, the clash between Husted and Brown could determine partisan control of the chamber. This week, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, poured another $14 million into Ohio to prop up Husted, bringing the group’s investment in the state to $93 million.
“Sen. Jon Husted votes to put Ohio first, and he votes all the time,” Trump said before relating conversations he’s had with Thune and others: “They think he’s phenomenal.”
The high school gym where Trump spoke Saturday night was a smaller venue than has been typical for his rallies. The home court of the Butler High School Aviators seats up to 5,000. There were several stretches of empty seats in upper bleachers as Trump took the stage — and many more by the time he finished speaking 93 minutes later.
In Ohio and elsewhere, Republicans are wrestling with how to win at a time when polls show Trump and the war with Iran are highly unpopular and when voters most loyal to Trump might stay home because he’s not on the ballot.
“As a lifelong Republican who’s voted in every election since I was 18 and in every primary election as a Republican, I have real concerns that we’re going to be able to turn out the every-four-year Trump voter,” Nick Owens, a former GOP chair in Ohio’s Brown County and former member of the state Board of Education, told NBC News last month. “I have real concerns that those voters just will not come to the polls.”
Trump acknowledged that dynamic explicitly Saturday and repeated an argument he’s been making on the campaign trail this fall.
“When I run, we win,” Trump said. “But for some reason, when I don’t run, they draw 44% less people. So what I’m going to do is ask you to just pretend that I’m running, because if we do, and if you draw the people, you’re going to win, and we’re going to win big.”
Husted, speaking to reporters before the rally, described Trump as a unique asset in his race.
“Well, he won Ohio by 11 points in the last election, and if we get those same voters to turn out in this election, we’ll win,” Husted said.
Alex Triantafilou, the Ohio GOP chair, told NBC News that the rally was “hugely important” in the effort to motivate those low-propensity, Trump-loyal voters.
“We know in Ohio that if we turn out the same electorate that we turned out in 2024, that we’ll win every race,” Triantafilou said in an interview. “Nobody speaks to that crowd better than President Trump.”
The Saturday rally included a cameo from Jon Gruden, the former NFL coach who years ago was a teammate of Husted’s on the University of Dayton football team.
“Jon Husted is a lot more than my friend,” an animated Gruden told the audience. “He was a great player. … He will never quit on you or anybody.”
Trump marveled about Husted’s football-playing days, of which he said he was unaware until hearing about them from Gruden.
“Nobody told me you were a great athlete,” Trump said, before taking a jab at his Democratic rival: “And Brown was not — he was not an athlete. That guy can’t tie his shoes.”
For its part Saturday, the Brown team sent a mobile billboard linking Husted’s support for the Iran war to higher gas prices through Dayton and on the streets near the rally.
“Jon Husted has turned his back on working families — he’s only looking out for his billionaire buddies and special interests,” Brown said in a statement from his campaign.
Ohio also is home to what polls show is a close race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, a physician who served as the state’s health director under DeWine. Ohioans have not elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years, but at a time when high prices are top of mind for voters, there are questions about the billionaire Ramaswamy’s appeal, especially in rural parts of the state.
Ramaswamy, like Husted, addressed the crowd early during the rally, and Trump invited both to return to the stage during his speech. Trump introduced Ramaswamy by noting how he had briefly run against him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“He was a nasty guy,” Trump said of Ramaswamy. “But you know what? He was smart. He loves the state. He’s actually got a great heart.”
Compared with Husted, Ramaswamy was otherwise less of a focus of Trump’s remarks. Trump, for example, criticized Senate Democrats who this week blocked Husted’s Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to rein in higher utility costs associated with power-hungry data centers.
Republicans, Trump said, are “taking historic action to ensure that Big Tech data centers benefit local communities.”
Trump then made the argument for data centers, despite the fears it could be a losing issue for Husted.
“We want them,” Trump said. “Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.”
Trump also recited the lyrics to the 1968 Al Wilson song “The Snake” — a recurring, crowd-pleasing bit in his rally speeches — with a new, localized twist. Trump dedicated the song, which he uses as an allegory for trusting communities that welcome immigrants, to nearby Springfield, Ohio.
The city became a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election after Trump repeated the unsubstantiated and racially charged claim that Haitian immigrants in the city were eating pets.
At another point, the crowd broke into chants of “four more years” for the term-limited president.
“I’d love to do the four-more-year thing,” Trump responded in a teasing tone before suggesting that the press would overplay his remarks.
“We’re driving them totally crazy,” Trump said, referring to the media. “But I love doing it. I love being with you. I really do.”
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A dual U.K.-Iranian national who was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base in England that British authorities have linked to Tehran was released on bail Saturday.
The 25-year-old man was arrested in London on Thursday, and police have searched two properties in the U.K. capital, Counter Terrorism Policing said in a statement.
On Saturday, Counter Terrorism Policing announced that the man had been released on bail.
"The investigation into the circumstances surrounding events in Gloucestershire is continuing," the agency said in a new statement.
British police also initially reported that a second 26-year-old British national had been interviewed by investigators "under caution," meaning the interview was recorded and could be used in future prosecutions. However, they later disclosed that this was "not correct and has been removed" from their statement.
On Oct. 27, five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, were also arrested on suspicion of explosives and terror offenses close to the RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have also since been released on bail.
Their quick release drew criticism from President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But it also prompted questions in the U.K. as to whether the authorities had overreacted.
Police say they found a quantity of an accelerant – gasoline – in three vans linked to the five suspects, but no explosives.
Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said the investigation "is hugely complex, and our specialist teams are interrogating multiple lines of inquiry."
"As we've made clear, we're looking at all possible angles - including possible foreign state involvement," she said.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the U.K. sees "strong indications" that Iran played a part in the incident. Iran denies involvement.
"There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America," the prime minister told the BBC.
The base 100 miles west of London has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year's war with Iran.
Iranian authorities have warned that any bases used to attack the country would be considered legitimate targets, but the Iranian Embassy in London said in a statement shared Monday on social media that the regime "categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran" to the incident.
Burnham said authorities have the investigation under "the strongest grip and the closest control," and British officials had been "talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done."
U.K. officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in Britain and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.
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TEL AVIV — A Flydubai pilot attacked his fellow pilot using a crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls in an attempted terrorist attack, an official in the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.
The name of the alleged attacker is Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, multiple sources from three agencies briefed on the investigation, and a diplomat in the Middle East, told NBC News. Authorities have not officially released the identity.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views.”
Oman Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he previously worked for them.
Emirati officials are leading investigations into the mid-air incident, which occurred Wednesday on a flight carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A crash was averted, according to eyewitnesses and Israeli officials, when crew and passengers were able to enter the cabin and subdue the alleged attacker.
“Investigations into the incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said in an update on Saturday.
“The co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls,” he said.
Al-Hammami was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. The statement said his health had “improved,” but his medical condition was unclear.
Al Shamsi said investigations were ongoing to “establish the full circumstances, motives, and any links related to the incident.”
Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer said Friday that Israeli investigators would “join their Emirati counterparts in investigating this attempted mass murder and establishing precisely what happened, his motives and background.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday: “As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane, along with its passengers.”
He did not say how he reached that conclusion, but added: “We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
Netanyahu’s spokesman Doron Spielman told NBC News that the alleged attacker “talks on his social media about killing Jews.”
The alleged victim of the axe attack, Indian national Capt. Smit Machchhar, spoke for the first time Friday from a hospital in Abu Dhabi.
Machchhar was widely praised for his efforts to prevent the plane from crashing, opening the cockpit door and allowing passengers and crewmembers to rush in.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Machchhar said he had been “severely injured” and “could sense that the aircraft was going down.”
“I was acting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t let all of them die,” he said on a video call released by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that he told himself to “give just one last push” to the cockpit door.
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi called Machchhar the “Indian braveheart,” saying in an X post Saturday that he “remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well.”
Ayelet Epstein, a 47-year-old Israeli, told NBC News that her 14-year-old daughter asked if they were going to die when they heard shouting and “a huge fall started.”
“I told her, no, I don’t think so, we’re going to be OK,” she said, adding that “I was trying to rationalize things in a hopeful way for her.”
Epstein thanked Machchhar “from the bottom of my heart” for saving their lives, lauding his bravery.
A Flydubai spokesperson said Saturday: “We recognise that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements.”
The spokesperson added: “We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators.”
President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that there would be renewed strikes against Iran if it was behind the attack.
“You just ask them,” he said. “They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”
There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.
Raf Sanchez and Shira Pinson reported from Tel Aviv. Freddie Clayton reported from London. Tom Winter and Jonathan Dienst reported from New York.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Sipping tea from beer mugs with his coworkers, Kyle Bos listed the ways his life is changing.
Bos has two daughters, with a third due in January. At the grocery store, five items cost as much as a full cart once did. And on Wednesday, Bos and nearly 1,400 other people were laid off from their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio.
The layoffs — occurring just three days before Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday at a nearby high school — were large enough to basically erase an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. And they are one reason why Bos, 30, plans to spend the final weeks before the November election canvassing votes for Democrats.
Asked how many times he voted for Trump, Bos held up three tattooed fingers. But he said he’s done with the president.
“Something has to change politically in this country,” said Bos, a member of the United Auto Workers who identifies as a centrist.
Trump is campaigning in this area on Saturday
This year’s election is a test for the working-class coalition that lifted Trump into the White House and gave majorities to Republicans in the House and Senate. The outcome will be decided in places like Dayton, which once sprouted factories but shed about half of its 90,000 factory jobs since 1990 after the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade with China made it cheaper to buy auto parts from abroad.
Trump’s blunt talk and status as a celebrity businessman initially helped him around Dayton, where voters sensed that politics as usual had failed them. But voters this year are disgruntled about inflation and the war in Iran.
An Ohio race could help determine control of the Senate. Republican Sen. Jon Husted is facing a challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is trying to harness that disenchantment as he attempts a comeback two years after losing his seat.
Trump’s visit to the Dayton area is one of what he says will be a 32-day marathon of rallies to try to convince the public that the economy is better than they think.
“All over the country, they’re building factories, plants, manufacturing’s coming back,” Trump said on Thursday. “The only thing we’re doing badly at is public relations.”
Americans increasingly blame Trump for the high cost of living, though Trump has largely sneered at concerns about affordability. However, he has promised to give people $5,000 checks if Republicans win the House and Senate next month— something Bos said he found offensive.
“It feels like a bribe, a slap in the face, and, like, that we’re all ignorant,” Bos said.
When factory work moved abroad, Republicans gained traction
In the 1990s, as steady paychecks vanished, drug addiction and crime increased. Things seemed to hit bottom after the 2008 financial crisis, prompting Phil Plummer — who was then Montgomery County Sheriff — to enter politics.
“My jail was 40% drug addicts, 50% mental health patients, 10% criminals,” said Plummer, the Montgomery County GOP chairman who has been a Republican state representative since 2019. “We got it upside down — that’s what drove me to the state house.”
Plummer, the Montgomery County Republican chairman, is now on the ballot for the Ohio state Senate and said he thinks Trump is what keeps the GOP’s coalition of businesses and working-class families together.
In recent years, the local economy has improved as the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base steadily added government workers. The base has drawn new aerospace companies to the area such as Joby Aviation, Electra and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.
“In economic development, it takes time, and you have got to give it a little bit of time to bake, and then once it does, then you’re going to have something special,” said Jeff Hoagland, CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.
No tax on overtime doesn’t help these factory workers
The White House pointed to the $850 million investment by aircraft maker Electra — along with announcements in Ohio from Honda, Stellantis and others — as evidence Trump’s policies were creating jobs.
But at the former Navistar plant, Trump's broad tariffs never boosted demand and the plant’s former owner, International Motors, chose to offload the facility.
Trump’s major legislative achievement — the One Big, Beautiful Bill — contributed little to people’s take-home pay, even as it temporarily stripped taxes from tips and overtime.
“We weren’t getting a lot of overtime because of the economy,” said Marianne Donnelly, who drove a forklift at the factory. “There just wasn’t any to be had, very little to be had.”
Laid-off workers like Donnelly say they expect to be rehired in six to 12 months by Roshel, a Canadian manufacturer of armored vehicles, which is buying the plant. Roshel said in a statement that it’s “working with everyone involved not only to protect the current workforce, but to more than double it over the coming years through a phased process.”
Laid-off workers are looking for hope
On the Monday before the layoffs, Morgan Hughes and JoJo Burkhard were knocking on doors in Kettering, a Dayton suburb. They were trying to convince union members and retirees to vote for Democrats.
The Navistar job had helped Hughes, 35, buy a house at age 21 and work alongside her father. Burkhard said inflation had made it easier to swing voters to their side.
“It isn’t a hard pitch at all,” she said. “And even if they don’t want to stay Democratic long term, they’ll at least give the candidates a chance this election, which could be a turning point for us.”
After a morning of talking to voters, the pair settled down at a Chinese restaurant for some potstickers and the weight of the week hit them.
Burkhard cracked open a fortune cookie and tears began to well up. The layoffs meant no work for her, her boyfriend and her mother — and the words in small print almost seemed prophetic.
Her fortune read: “You’ll find your inner strength to overcome challenges.”
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