North Carolina lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a revised U.S. House map backed by President Donald Trump that is intended to help Republicans win an additional seat in next year’s elections.
The new congressional map reshapes the state’s only current swing district, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, by adding more Republican-leaning voters along the coast and shifting some inland voters into an adjacent Republican-held district.
While the GOP already controls 10 of the 14 House districts in North Carolina — a state Trump won by 51% last year — the revised map satisfies the president’s call for GOP-led states to secure more congressional seats for the party nationwide.
“The purpose of this map was to pick up a Republican seat. We’ve stated that over and over again,” state Sen. Ralph Hise, who helped draw the altered map, said this week.
The revised districts cannot be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, though a legal challenge by Democrats or civil rights groups is likely.
The administration most recently pushed for similar redistricting efforts in Indiana, but the state’s Senate chamber does not have the votes to pass a new congressional map, according to a spokesperson for Indiana Senate Republican Leader Rodric Bray.
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Trump administration announces another strike on alleged drug-carrying boat, in the Pacific Ocean
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says in a social media post the U.S. military conducted its eighth strike against an alleged drug vessel.
The Tuesday night strike occurred in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The seven previous strikes all targeted vessels in the Caribbean. According to Hegseth, the strike killed two people, bringing the death toll from all the strikes to at least 34 people.
In a brief video released by Hegseth, a small boat, half-filled with brown packages, is seen moving along the water. Several seconds into the video, the boat explodes and is seen floating motionless on the water in flames.
In his post, Hegseth took the unusual step of equating the alleged drug traffickers to the terror group that conducted the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Hegseth said, adding that “there will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice.”
▶ Read more about military strike
California governor will deploy the National Guard to support food banks
The roughly 5.5 million low-income Californians who receive food assistance through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could see delays in those benefits next month due to the government shutdown.
Gov. Gavin Newsom will deploy the National Guard to help by supporting food banks, he said Wednesday.
“This is serious, this is urgent – and requires immediate action,” the Democrat said. “Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps.”
His office did not offer immediate details on how troops will help.
Newsom deployed National Guard troops in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to help food banks. They worked with other volunteers to serve more than 800 million meals, the governor’s office said.
Website of Maryland company that tore down the White House East Wing is ‘under construction’
ACECO is the firm, and its block-lettered name was on the equipment used to demolish the East Wing so Trump can build a ballroom.
The company’s website was active on Monday after photos of the demolition work began to circulate. The site had all the information typically found on a corporate website, such as address, phone number, history and testimonials.
But it had all disappeared by Wednesday. The site showed just the company’s name above the words, “Redefining Demolition” and then, “This site is under construction.”
An ACECO representative did not immediately respond to voice mail messages left on Monday and Wednesday seeking comment on its work.
Local media reported that ACECO had become a target for online scorn because of its association with the White House demolition work.
Voting restrictions increase, voting access laws don’t keep pace
State governments are continuing to pass restrictive voting laws but the pace of laws increasing access has dropped, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law school and the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkely.
As of early October 2025, 16 states have enacted restrictive 29 restrictive laws, which will be in effect for the 2026 midterms. The action is close to a record set in 2021 and fueled by false claims of widespread election fraud.
That year, 17 states passed 32 restrictive laws, marking the highest total in the 14 years the Brennan Center has been tracking such legislation. This year, the number of laws passed expanding voting rights is 30, more than a 50 percent drop from 2021 when 62 such laws were passed.
Trump says GM and Ford leaders thanked him for his truck tariffs
Trump posted on his social media site that General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Ford Motor Co. chairman William Clay Ford phoned him to “thank” him for putting tariffs on mid size and large trucks.
“They told me that, without Tariffs, it would be a very hard, long ‘slog’ for Truck and Car Manufacturers in the United States,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I told them, it’s very simple, this is a National Security matter.”
So far this year, the stock of both companies are up nearly 30%, having recovered from a drop earlier in the year when Trump rolled out his tariffs.
While the president has portrayed his tariffs as helping domestic automakers, he recently adjusted his tariffs so that automakers can get rebates on imported parts in some of their vehicles, lessening the financial blow to their balance sheets.
Speaker Johnson says Trump believes he’s owed payment over Justice Department investigations
Johnson, R-La., said he spoke to the president multiple times this week, though they did not talk specifically about the issue of repayment for the federal investigations against him.
“I know that he believes he’s owed that reimbursement,” Johnson said at a GOP leadership press conference at the Capitol.
Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, dismissed concerns about the president’s actions.
“It’s just absurd,” he said. “They attack him for everything he does. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
The speaker said he understands that if Trump received the payment, “he was going to consider giving it to charity — I mean, he doesn’t need those proceeds.”
Indiana Senate lacks votes for redistricting
A spokesperson for Indiana Senate Republican Leader Rodric Bray confirmed to the AP that the chamber does not have the votes to pass a new congressional map.
“The votes aren’t there for redistricting,” Molly Swigart said in a emailed message.
The news comes a week after Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis as the White House pressures the solidly Republican state to redraw it’s congressional map. GOP Gov. Mike Braun has said a special session on redistricting will likely happen.
Trump gets defensive amid beef pushback
The president, facing criticism from beef producers and ag-state Republicans on his proposal to purchase beef from Argentina, is boasting about his record for America’s ranchers.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil,” Trump posted Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social, his social media site. “If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible!”
Trump added that “it would be nice if they would understand that” but acknowledged that ranchers have to get the price of beef down.
The White House has been mulling a plan to buy Argentine beef as a way to lower costs for U.S. consumers, but that’s been met with fierce resistance from ranchers and Senate Republicans who are otherwise allies of the administration.
North Carolina adopts new Trump-backed US House districts aimed at gaining a Republican seat
North Carolina lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a revised U.S. House map backed by President Donald Trump that is intended to help Republicans win an additional seat in next year’s elections.
The new congressional map reshapes the state’s only current swing district, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, by adding more Republican-leaning voters along the coast and shifting some inland voters into an adjacent Republican-held district. The GOP already controls 10 of the 14 House districts in North Carolina, a state Trump won by 51% last year.
The revised districts cannot be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, though a legal challenge by Democrats or civil rights groups is likely.
▶ Read more about North Carolina House map
White House uses USDA funds to open offices during shutdown
The administration is tapping into the Commodity Credit Corporation, an agency within the Agriculture Department, to re-open key offices nationwide that help farmers and ranchers access federal aid.
The USDA says about 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices will be open, with two workers at each office, even though the government shutdown continues and no federal workers are getting paid, unless the administration finds an alternate way to do so.
A White House official says the money to re-open the offices is coming from the CCC, which is allowed to borrow money from Treasury to help stabilize prices. The person was granted anonymity to speak about the administration’s plans that were not yet publicized.
— Seung Min Kim
Trump administration preparing for visit to US by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month
That’s according to several people familiar with the planning.
Work is underway to prepare a package of agreements President Trump and the crown prince could sign or witness during the visit, U.S. officials familiar with the plans for the trip said. The trip is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17-19, but the timing and status of the visit could change, according to two people familiar with the planning.
Those people and the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the trip before it has been announced. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment, and the Saudi Embassy declined to comment.
Details of the agreements to be signed weren’t immediately clear, but many are expected to be commercial and trade deals under the framework of a Strategic Economic Partnership that Trump signed with the crown prince during the Republican president’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May.
— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville
▶ Read more about relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia
Man taken into custody after driving car into security gate outside White House, authorities say
The U. S. Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the agency said.
Investigators searched his car and deemed it to be safe, Secret Service officials said in a statement.
The man, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, according to a Secret Service spokesperson. He’s expected to be charged with unlawful entry and destruction of government property, the spokesperson said.
Why Treasury doesn’t want you to see White House demolition photos
The U.S. Treasury Department sent an email to agency employees this week, telling them not to share photos of East Wing demolition, making way for a new White House ballroom.
“As construction proceeds on the White House grounds, employees should refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing,” the email states. The contents of the email, viewed by The Associated Press, directs employees to contact the Treasury press office for any prior approvals.
A Treasury official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said sharing photographs of the White House complex during the demolition could potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details.
— Seung Min Kim and Fatima Hussein
Agriculture Department is reopening some 2,100 offices to help farmers access $3B in aid
That’s despite the ongoing government shutdown.
The USDA said each Farm Service Agency office will have two workers, but didn’t explain where the money will come from to pay those workers during the shutdown. These offices help farmers apply for farm loans, crop insurance, disaster aid and other programs.
A USDA spokesperson said this move reflects President Trump’s commitment to helping farmers and ranchers, who are traditionally some of his strongest supporters. Recently, some of them have been unhappy with Trump’s latest moves although his support remains strong across rural America.
Just this week, ranchers were unhappy with Trump’s idea to import more beef from Argentina because that could hurt their profits, and earlier this month soybean farmers complained that a $20 billion aid package for Argentina allowed that country to sell soybeans to China. Farmers are also still waiting on details of an aid package Trump promised to help them survive his trade war with China, but that aid has been put on hold because of the shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson welcomes Trump’s ‘glorious’ White House ballroom
The GOP speaker said other presidents have also renovated the White House and didn’t face as much criticism as Trump.
At a morning news conference at the Capitol, Johnson listed off past renovations — from the swimming pool to the basketball court — and said Trump’s “glorious” new ballroom will be paid for by private donors.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee advances sanctions bills against Russia and China
A bipartisan group of senators is putting support behind a number of bills that would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for abducting Ukrainian children, as well as threaten sanctions against China for any aggression towards Taiwan.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s approval of the bills was a small step forward in the U.S. taking action, but represented a show of bipartisan progress at a time when Congress has often struggled to act on foreign policy. NATO Secretary NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was also on Capitol Hill visiting with lawmakers and some are taking the opportunity to rally support for U.S. involvement in Europe and Asia.
Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the committee, said he’s hoping the legislation also enables the U.S. to seize Russian assets, “get them forfeited and get them into the fight in Ukraine.”
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon is still speaking on the Senate floor after 15 hours
Merkley held the chamber open all night to protest President Trump’s “tightening authoritarian grip on the country” amid the government shutdown.
Merkley started speaking at 6:21 p.m. Tuesday evening and has been talking for more than 15 hours, with occasional breaks for questions from other Democratic senators who’ve joined him on the floor.
Merkley’s lengthy speech comes after Democratic Sen. Cory Booker broke the all-time record for longest continuous floor speech in April. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record set 68 years ago by then-Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
By holding the floor open all night, Merkley forced Senate floor staff, security and other support workers who are currently unpaid to work overtime hours. The government has been shut down since Oct. 1 as Democrats have demanded an extension of federal health care subsidies and Republicans have refused to negotiate until the government is reopened.
Final report on US hunger blocked during the government shutdown
The U.S. Agriculture Department in September said it would scrap the annual household food security report after 30 years, stating that it had become “overly politicized” and “rife with inaccuracies.”
The final report, for 2024, was scheduled for release Thursday, but all reports and data releases have ceased, an agency spokesperson said in a statement.
Ending the report will make it difficult to gauge the extent of hunger in the U.S. amid deep cuts in federal food assistance programs and the effect of tariffs and immigration crackdowns on rising food prices, said Joseph Llobrera, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.
“If USDA read its own reports, they would realize it’s apolitical,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu amid Gaza ceasefire efforts
Rubio will travel to Israel to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, the Israeli government announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration works to shore up the Gaza ceasefire deal.
▶ Read more about Mideast tensions
Vice President JD Vance meets privately with hostage families during his second day in Israel
The meeting was private and closed to press coverage.
But according to Vance’s office, other participants included his wife, Usha Vance; Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel; hostages who were returned alive under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas; and family members of deceased hostages whose remains have yet to be returned by Hamas.
Relatives of victims of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, also attended the meeting.
Vance also met separately Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Putin directs drills of Russian nuclear forces as his summit with Trump is put on hold
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces that featured practice missile launches, an exercise that came as his planned summit on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump was put on hold.
The Kremlin said that as part of the maneuvers involving all parts of Moscow’s nuclear triad, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia, and a Sineva ICBM was launched by a submarine in the Barents Sea. The drills also involved Tu-95 strategic bombers firing long-range cruise missiles.
The exercise tested the skills of military command structures, the Kremlin said in a statement.
▶ Read more about Russia’s nuclear drills
North Korea test-fires ballistic missiles ahead of Trump’s Asia trip
North Korea performed its first ballistic missile tests in five months Wednesday, days before President Trump and other leaders are expected to meet in South Korea.
South Korea’s military said it detected multiple short-range ballistic missiles that were launched from an area south of Pyongyang and flew about 350 kilometers (220 miles) toward the northeast. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t release more specific flight details but said the missiles didn’t land in the sea.
Trump is to leave for Asia at the end of the week in the first trip to the region of his second term. He plans to go to Malaysia first for a regional summit, and then head to Japan before traveling on to South Korea for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, an annual summit meant to promote economic integration and trade.
▶ Read more about tensions between North Korea and South Korea
Japan says it plans to tell Trump it will build up military and upgrade security strategy
Japan’s new foreign minister said Wednesday his country plans to show its determination to further build up its defense to rapidly adapt to changing warfare realities and growing tension in the region when U.S. President Donald Trump visits Tokyo next week.
Trump is expected to hold talks next Tuesday with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office Tuesday after being elected Japan’s first female leader.
Takaichi, who had spent much of past few weeks embroiled in internal political wrangling, has to face major diplomatic tests within days of taking office — Trump’s visit and two regional summits.
“We are firmly preparing for President Trump’s visit,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.
▶ Read more about U.S. relations with Japan