Washington DC shooting: suspect in attack on national guard members identified as 29-year-old Afghan national – latest updates

12.57am GMT
Suspect in shooting of guard members identified as Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal

The suspected gunman win the shooting of two national guard members on Wednesday near the White House has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the United States in September 2021 and has been living in Washington state, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press and other outlets.

12.42am GMT
After golf, Trump comments on new polling and election in Honduras

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting of two national guard troops who were in Washington DC because Donald Trump wanted them there, the president posted once about the shooting on his social media platform and then moved on to other topics.
The attack took place while Trump was at his golf club in West Palm Beach and, according to the White House, the president was briefed on the shooting before he returned to his club, Mar-a-Lago.
Shortly after he arrived back at Mar-a-Lago, Trump posted about the shooting and referred to the attacker as an “animal”.
In the subsequent four hours, the president has made no further comment on the attack, or the critically wounded troops, but he did return to social media to endorse a Honduran presidential candidate and then to share the news that a new poll, from a pollster who has worked for Trump since 2011, found that he has “strong approval at 50%”.
The post about his approval rating, from a survey conducted by his pollster, John McLaughlin, which is nearly nine points higher than Trump’s average in national polls, was illustrated by a giant photo of Trump’s smiling face.

Updated at 12.43am GMT

11.44pm GMT
Law enforcement officials tell NBC News suspected gunman who shot uniformed troops is an Afghan national

NBC News reports that unnamed law enforcement officials tell the outlet that the suspected gunman, who is alleged to have shot two uniformed members of the national guard near the White House on Wednesday, “has been initially identified as an Afghan national.”
The FBI is investigating the shooting of the two guard members, who were both shot in the head, as a possible act of terrorism, officials briefed on the investigation told NBC.

11.12pm GMT
JD Vance asked troops to pray for wounded guard members, then joked about turkey

In remarks earlier on Wednesday at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, JD Vance, the vice-president, asked troops to pray for the two wounded members of the West Virginia national guard who were shot on Wednesday in Washington DC.

Later in his prepared remarks, Vance joked about the fact that Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
“Turkey, think about turkey,” Vance said. “Who really likes, be honest with yourself, who really likes turkey?”
After a small number of soldiers raised their hands and cheered, Vance told them: “You’re all full of shit. Everybody who raised your hands.”
As the audience laughed, the current frontrunner to be the Republican nominee for president in 2028 added: “Here’s how I know that every single one of you who raised your hand is lying to me: how many times do you roast an 18-pound turkey, just randomly? Just, you know, a nice summer afternoon, we’re going to go get an 18-pound turkey.”
“Nobody does it because turkey doesn’t actually taste that good,” Vance continued. “But on Thanksgiving… the most American holiday, we’re gonna cook a turkey, by God, because that’s what Americans do! We cook this gigantic American bird, and we do all kinds of crazy things to make it taste good.”

Updated at 11.14pm GMT

10.41pm GMT
FBI director sows confusion at news conference on shooting of national guard troops

Kash Patel, the FBI director, sowed confusion at a news conference when he seemed to stumble over his words while pledging to devote all necessary federal resources to the investigation of the shooting on Wednesday.
When it was his turn to speak, what Patel actually said was: “We will shortchange the American public with no resources to make sure we find and safeguard our nation’s capital, right here in Washington DC, and bring anyone responsible for this heinous act of violence to justice.”
Shortly after Patel spoke, Jeffery Carroll, assistant chief of Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, said that “at this time, there is no indication that there was any other suspect. The one suspect that was involved in this incident, they were shot during the interaction and transported to the hospital for treatment.”
Patel was then asked by a reporter to clarify why he had pledged to bring “anyone responsible” for the shooting to justice. Patel let Carroll answer the question. The police chief clarified that there was no active search for any other suspects, since video of the shooting reviewed by the police suggested that it appeared to have been the work of “a lone gunman”.

Updated at 11.51pm GMT

10.23pm GMT
Police say video suggests 'lone gunman' shot two national guard members in Washington DC

A review of video from the scene of the shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday appears to show that it was the work of “a lone gunman” who “ambushed” the troops, Jeffery Carroll, assistant chief of Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters at a news conference.
No motive for the attack was yet apparent, Carroll said.

10.08pm GMT
Injured national guard members are being treated for gunshot wounds, Washington police chief says

Two national guard members who were shot on Wednesday near the White House are being treated for gunshot wounds at a local hospital, Jeffery Carroll, assistant chief of Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, said at a news conference.
At approximately 2:15 pm, Carroll said, members of the national guard were “on high visibility patrols in the area of 17th and I Street NW when a suspect came around the corner” and opened fire.
The suspect was detained by other guard members and is also being treated at a local hospital, the chief said. Carroll added that the suspect was also shot.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, confirmed that the guardsmen are in critical condition. Asked by a reporter if the shooting validated the need for additional guard troops on DC’s streets, Bowser called the attack “a targeted shooting”.

Updated at 11.15pm GMT

9.42pm GMT
Hegseth says he is deploying 500 additional national guard troops to Washington DC at Trump's request, despite court order

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, just told reporters in the Dominican Republic that he has ordered the deployment of an additional 500 national guard troops to patrol the streets of Washington DC, at Donald Trump’s request, following the shooting of two guard troops on Wednesday near the White House.
As we noted earlier, that order comes after a federal court judge ruled last week that all of the guard troops should be withdrawn from Washington DC, since the deployment is probably illegal.
Although there is no public information about the motivation of the person who shot the two guard members, Hegseth insisted that the attacker was “targeting national guardsmen”.

Updated at 9.57pm GMT

9.26pm GMT

As we wait for more definitive information on the condition of the two members of West Virginia’s national guard who were shot on Wednesday near the White House, it is worth noting that a federal judge ruled last week that the deployment of guard troops to Washington DC is probably illegal and should be halted.
US district judge Jia Cobb, paused her ruling until 11 December to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
Cobb’s opinion cited the fact that over 1,000 of the national guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington DC are from states outside the capital district.
The DC attorney general, Brian Schwalb, an elected Democrat, sued on 4 September after Trump announced the deployment on 11 August.
The lawsuit accused Trump of unlawfully usurping control of the city’s law enforcement and violating a law prohibiting troops from performing domestic police work.

Updated at 9.33pm GMT

9.16pm GMT
West Virginia governor now cites 'conflicting reports' about condition of two guard members shot near White House

West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, appears to have retracted his earlier statement that two members of his state’s national guard died on Wednesday, after being shot in Washington DC.
“We are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information,” Morrisey wrote on social media minutes ago. “Our prayers are with these brave service members, their families, and the entire Guard community.”

Updated at 9.17pm GMT

9.02pm GMT
JD Vance addresses DC shooting at army base in Kentucky

In his remarks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, vice-president JD Vance addressed the shooting of two national members of the West Virginia national guard.
“We’re still learning everything. We still don’t know the motive. There’s a lot that we haven’t yet figured out, but what we do know is that a couple of national guardsmen were injured in the line of duty,” Vance said. “I think it’s a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they’re active duty, reserve or national guard, our soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America.”

Updated at 9.44pm GMT

8.55pm GMT

A reminder that Morrisey sent more than 300 members of West Virginia’s national guard to Washington DC back in August, to assist with Donald Trump’s “public safety emergency”. This included deploying hundreds of national guard soldiers to the nation’s capital, and taking control of the DC police department for a month.

Updated at 9.02pm GMT

8.52pm GMT

West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, announced in a widely quoted social media post that two members of the state’s national guard had died from their injuries following a shooting in downtown DC. However, about 20 minutes later, Morrisey said in a subsequent update that his office was “receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members”.
This post was updated after it was initially published to clarify that West Virginia’s governor subsequently reported uncertainty about the condition of two critically wounded national guard troops shot on Wednesday.

Updated at 9.51pm GMT

8.46pm GMT
FBI assisting with investigation into national guard shooting, says director Patel

The FBI director, Kash Patel, said that the bureau was “engaged and assisting with the investigation” after two members of the national guard were shot in downtown DC today.
“Please pray for them and we will update with more information as we are able,” Patel added.

Updated at 8.50pm GMT

8.34pm GMT
Trump says 'animal' who shot national guard members 'will pay a very steep price'

The president said today that the “animal” who shot two members of the national guard “will pay a very steep price”. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that both soldiers were “critically wounded” and also noted that the suspect was also “severely wounded”.

Updated at 8.38pm GMT

8.29pm GMT
Two national guard soldiers in critical condition after shooting in DC – reports

The two members of the national guard who were shot today are in critical condition in hospital, according to the Associated Press.
The AP cites a law enforcement official not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Updated at 8.38pm GMT

8.24pm GMT

A reminder that Donald Trump is not in Washington. He’s actually in Palm Beach, Florida at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
As we noted earlier today, this is his 19th day on this particular golf course since he returned to office. The White House said that he’s been briefed on today’s shooting.

8.18pm GMT
Noem sas DHS is 'working with law enforcement' on national guard shooting

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Kristi Noem said that her agency is “working with law enforcement to gather more information” on the shooting of two national guard soldiers in downtown DC.

8.13pm GMT

Reporting from the scene
After the incident, police cordoned off several streets around Washington’s Farragut Square. From nearby offices, large numbers of police cars and fire and rescue vehicles could be seen flooding into the square.
Office buildings in the square were put under lockdown, with workers told to leave by rear door if they wished to leave the premises. Law enforcement officers also ordered staff in the buildings to stay away from glass doors adjoining the square.

8.10pm GMT
White House in lockdown and 'actively monitoring situation'

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the White House was “aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation”. She added that Donald Trump had been briefed.
A White House official confirmed that the White House was in lockdown.

Updated at 8.18pm GMT

8.08pm GMT
DC police says 'suspect is in custody' following shooting of national guard soldiers

The DC police has said that a “suspect is in custody” following the reported shooting of two members of the national guard.
They note that the shooting took place at 17th and I Street in Northwest DC. The scene is now secured, per law enforcement.

7.58pm GMT
Two national guard soldiers shot near the White House – reports

Two members of the national guard have been shot in downtown DC, near the White House, according to the Associated Press. Emergency vehicles were seen responding to the areas. The condition of the soldiers is currently unknown.
The streets around Farragut West station, near the White House, have been closed off, per my Guardian colleagues.
We’ll bring you the latest as we get more information on this developing story.

Updated at 8.05pm GMT

7.18pm GMT
Here's a recap of the day so far

The final criminal case against Donald Trump ended on Wednesday with a filing for dismissal by the state prosecutor who took over the case. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the prosecuting attorneys’ council of Georgia, wrote in a 22-page memo today that he would not be pursuing charges against Donald Trump, or the Republican electors who were accused of taking part in a conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 loss to Joe Biden in the Peach state. A reminder that Skandalakis appointed himself to replace Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, after she was removed from the case by the Georgia supreme court.
The US supreme court has postponed a decision on whether to let Donald Trump fire the government’s top copyright official, leaving her in place for now in the latest battle over the president’s targeting of federal officials. The justices declined to immediately resolve the justice department’s request to lift a lower court’s ruling that had blocked Trump’s firing of Shira Perlmutter as the US register of copyrights and US Copyright Office director while her legal challenge to her removal proceeds.
Certain Republicans have criticized Steve Witkoff and his relationship with Moscow, after Bloomberg published the transcript of a call between Trump’s envoy and a senior Kremlin official yesterday. “It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired,” said outgoing Republican congressman Don Bacon, of Nebraska. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania representative Brian Fitzpatrick said the published details of Witkoff’s conversation were a “major problem”.
Senator Mark Kelly said that he’s “not backing down” amid a Pentagon investigation that claims the former navy captain broke military law by appearing in a video that tells service members to “refuse illegal orders”. While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talkshow on Tuesday, the Arizona Democrat slammed defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans. “He’s going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for reciting the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Kelly said. “It is so ridiculous. It’s almost like you can’t make this shit up.”

6.55pm GMT
Trump eyes reflecting pool revamp in Truth Social post

The president said in a Truth Social post today that the iconic reflecting pool, which sits in between the Washington Monument and the white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln, is due for an upgrade.
Without going into any details, Trump shared a black‑and‑white video of a pool being cleaned, set to Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye.
“This is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and I fix it,” the president wrote. “Study it hard because you won’t be seeing this Biden filth and incompetence much longer!”

Updated at 7.18pm GMT

6.34pm GMT
Trial set for Wisconsin judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant evade federal agents

A federal judge has said a trial will begin on 11 December in the case of a Milwaukee judge who is charged with helping an undocumented immigrant evade immigration agents.
In May, federal prosecutors charged Judge Hannah Dugan with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Dugan allegedly escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on 18 April after learning that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest. After Flores-Ruiz left the courthouse, federal agents chased him on foot and arrested him down the street.
Dugan’s attorneys maintain she’s innocent, and looks forward to proving so in court.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally re-entered the US after being deported in 2013. He was in Dugan’s courtroom the morning of 18 April for a hearing, after having been charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee county in March. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Flores-Ruiz had been deported.

Updated at 6.36pm GMT

6.15pm GMT

The Department of Justice said in a statement that homeland security secretary Kristi Noem was the official who made the decision to continue with the deportation flights of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador in March, despite a federal judge’s directive that the flights must be returned to the United States.
In a court filing on Tuesday, the justice department said that “Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove provided DHS with legal advice regarding the court’s order as to flights that had left the United States before the order issued, through DHS Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara” and that “after receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador”.
The justice department argued that “as explained below, that decision was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order”.
The filing came as James Boasberg, a US district judge, recently resumed his inquiry into whether the Trump administration violated his March orders to halt the deportation flights.
That month, the Trump administration had invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, designed primarily for use in wartime, to deport roughly 250 alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison.

Related: Noem made decision to continue deportation flights to El Salvador, justice department says

5.55pm GMT
Supreme court leaves copyright official targeted by Trump in place for now

The US supreme court has postponed a decision on whether to let Donald Trump fire the government’s top copyright official, leaving her in place for now in the latest battle over the president’s targeting of federal officials.
The justices declined to immediately resolve the justice department’s request to lift a lower court’s ruling that had blocked Trump’s firing of Shira Perlmutter as the US register of copyrights and US Copyright Office director while her legal challenge to her removal proceeds.
The supreme court’s order indicated that it would issue a decision concerning Perlmutter after it hears arguments already scheduled in two other cases involving Trump’s firing of Federal Trade Commission Democratic member Rebecca Slaughter and his attempt to oust Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. Those arguments are set for 8 December and 21 January respectively.
Conservative justice Clarence Thomas publicly dissented from the court’s order, noting that he would have granted the department’s request.

Updated at 5.59pm GMT

5.36pm GMT

Here is my colleague George Chidi’s report:

Related: Georgia prosecutor confirms final criminal case against Trump is ‘over’

5.32pm GMT

Trump’s defense lawyer Steve Sadow praised the decision in a statement.
“The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over,” he wrote on X. “This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”

5.21pm GMT

A reminder that a grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 loss to Joe Biden in Georgia.
The case remained the only criminal prosecution of Trump, but Fani Willis’s disqualification by the Georgia supreme court doomed the effort. The court ruled that her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, revealed in dramatic court filings in January 2024, created an impermissible appearance of a conflict of interest.

Updated at 5.34pm GMT

5.19pm GMT

Skandalakis concluded in his motion to dismiss that the inquiry undertaken by Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by the DoJ under Joe Biden, was the more appropriate venue for an investigation of Donald Trump’s attempts to stay in power after the 2020 election.
“The criminal conduct alleged in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit’s prosecution was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia,” Skandalakis wrote. “The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia.”

Updated at 5.34pm GMT

5.16pm GMT

Pete Skandalakis noted in his filing that the US supreme court’s ruling last year, which granted presidents “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for acts within their constitutional authority, meant that it would take “months, if not years” to litigate immunity issues in the Georgia courts.
“Bringing this case before a jury in 2029, 2030 or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat,” he wrote, adding that “the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years”.
He said the decision was “not guided by a desire to advance an agenda but is based on my beliefs and understanding of the law”.

Updated at 5.18pm GMT

4.40pm GMT
Judge dismisses final criminal case against Trump

Shortly after Skandalakis moved to drop the charges against Trump and his allies, Georgia superior court judge Scott McAfee dismissed the final criminal case against the president.
A reminder that Skandalakis appointed himself to replace Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, after she was removed from the case by the Georgia supreme court.

Related: Georgia prosecutor confirms final criminal case against Trump is ‘over’

Updated at 5.12pm GMT

4.20pm GMT
Georgia prosecutor moves to drop charges against Trump in final criminal case

Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the prosecuting attorneys’ council of Georgia, wrote in a 22-page memo today that he would not be pursuing charges against Donald Trump, or the Republican electors who were accused of taking part in a conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 loss to Joe Biden in the Peach state.
“There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment. Donald J. Trump’s current term as President of the United States of America does not expire until January 20, 2029; by that point, eight years will have elapsed since the phone call at issue,” Skandalakis wrote, referring to the now-infamous phone call that the president made to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes”.
We’ll bring you more details as they come in.

Updated at 4.40pm GMT

3.56pm GMT
Senator Kelly says he's 'not backing down', amid Pentagon investigation

Senator Mark Kelly said that he’s “not backing down” amid a Pentagon investigation that claims the former navy captain broke military law by appearing in a video that tells service members to “refuse illegal orders”.
While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talkshow on Tuesday, the Arizona Democrat slammed defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans. “He’s going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for reciting the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Kelly said. “It is so ridiculous. It’s almost like you can’t make this shit up.”
Kelly also called out the president for accusing Kelly, and the other five Democratic members of Congress who appear in the video posted to social media, of sedition, and saying their behavior is “punishable by death”.
“When [Trump] says these things, there are consequences,” Kelly added. “Isn’t this the guy two months ago that said, ‘we’ve got to stop this, like political violence issue’. He didn’t even make it to Thanksgiving.”

Updated at 4.03pm GMT

3.36pm GMT

Bloomberg’s scoop showing how Trump aide Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on the best way to get into Trump’s good graces is extraordinary for what it tells us about Witkoff’s dubious loyalties, and the Kremlin’s potential influence over US negotiation efforts. But equally interesting is the leaked material itself and where it may have come from.
The story covers two intercepted phone calls: one between Witkoff and top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, and another between Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, who has been deeply involved in negotiations with the Trump White House.
Bloomberg’s story was published without any byline or dateline, presumably because noting where the story was written or who wrote it could give clues as to the identity of the source. Bloomberg says only that it has “reviewed and transcribed audio” of the two phone calls, without giving any hint as to the sourcing or any checks done to verify authenticity.
Ushakov, who was on both of the calls, appeared to confirm the authenticity of the recordings on Wednesday: although he claimed some of it was “fake”, he said he would not comment on the rest because the calls were confidential, and said leaking such discussions is “of course unacceptable”.
In an interview with the newspaper Kommersant, Ushakov said some of his conversations were conducted on encrypted government channels, but suggested the calls with Dmitriev and Witkoff may have been made over WhatsApp. “There are certain conversations on WhatsApp that, generally speaking, someone might somehow be able to listen to,” he said.
The content of the calls provides proof of what many already suspected about Witkoff’s closeness to the Russian position in negotiations. The question of who took the highly unusual step of leaking such sensitive audio to a news agency is more complicated.
“It’s really hard to speculate. It could be 100m different things, including somebody on the Russian side trying to hurt Witkoff’s reputation,” said Daniel Hoffman, a former CIA Moscow station chief.
Read more of Shaun’s analysis about the leaked transcript below.

Related: Who leaked Witkoff’s call advising Kremlin on how to get Trump on side?

Updated at 3.50pm GMT

3.15pm GMT

As Donald Trump heads to his golf course in Palm Beach – his 29th day on this particular green since he returned to office – he has also been firing off posts on Truth Social.
“There is a new word for a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, which is almost everyone (GREAT POLICY IS THE KEY!),” he wrote. “It is, TEPUBLICAN??? Or, TPUBLICAN???”

3.03pm GMT

A reminder, that my colleague Jakub Krupa is covering the latest out of Europe. Earlier, he noted that the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it is important that member countries continue to support Ukraine and pressure Russia. That is what we are working on”. She added that EU foreign ministers today “welcomed the US’s push for the war to end”.

Related: Putin trying to negotiate an end to Ukraine war as he cannot win it on battlefield, says EU’s Kallas – Europe live

2.18pm GMT
'He should be fired': Some House Republicans slam Witkoff after leaked transcript of call with senior Kremlin official

Certain Republicans are moving to criticize Steve Witkoff and his relationship with Moscow, after Bloomberg published the transcript of a call between Trump’s envoy and a senior Kremlin official yesterday.
“It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired,” said outgoing Republican congressman Don Bacon, of Nebraska.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania representative Brian Fitzpatrick said the published details of Witkoff’s conversation were a “major problem”.
The GOP House member added that it was “one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop”. He encouraged the administration to allow secretary of state Marco Rubio to “do his job in a fair and objective manner”.

Updated at 3.27pm GMT

1.41pm GMT
Trump remains vague about future healthcare proposal, says he'd 'rather not' extend Obamacare tax credits

Donald Trump has no public events scheduled today. On Tuesday he left Washington to spend the Thanksgiving break at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
On Air Force One yesterday, he spoke with reporters briefly about a number of issues, including reports that the president would reveal a new healthcare proposal soon.
“I like my plan the best. Don’t give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly. Let them buy their own health care plan,” Trump said.
When asked if the president planned to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which are set to lapse at the end of this year, Trump said he would “rather not”.
“Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” he reiterated, pushing back against reporting earlier this week. “Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. The premiums are going up, and it’s the Democrats’ fault. But, you know, they are negotiating with me. It’s very interesting.”

1.09pm GMT
Mother of Karoline Leavitt's nephew arrested by ICE- reports

CNN is reporting that the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s 11-year-old nephew is in ICE custody after having been arrested earlier this month.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira, a Brazilian native, was arrested near Boston on 12 November as she was on her way to pick up her son, her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, told CNN.
The Department of Homeland Security has told CNN that Ferreira had been in the US illegally since 1999 after overstaying a tourist visa.
She hasn’t had any significant contact with the White House press secretary for several years, but shares joint custody of her son with her former fiancee Michael Leavitt, Karoline’s brother.
Ferreira had been driving to New Hampshire to pick her son up when she was detained. Michael told a local station that his son had not been able to speak to his mother since she was taken into detention.

12.49pm GMT
Trump slams 'purposely negative' New York Times report on his health

Trump’s first social media missive of the day has just gone out – and he’s blasting the New York Times for their lead story on his age-related struggles in office.
The report details signs of the 79-year-old president’s growing fatigue in office and his shorter days.
Trump called it a “hit piece” from a “cheap rag”, which he says is “purposely negative” about him. There was a lot more vitriol in the Truth Social post which included a personal attack on the report’s author. But I’ll highlight his response on the health claims:

“[They] did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite.
“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”

Updated at 12.54pm GMT

12.31pm GMT
Trump defends report of Witkoff coaching Putin aide

The Kremlin this morning has confirmed that Witkoff is due in Moscow again next week – expected given the progress reported on a peace deal between Ukrainian and US negotiators earlier this week.
But hanging over that is a report that has emerged of a leaked recording of Witkoff advising Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, last month on how he should pitch to Trump on the peace plan.
At the time, Trump was appearing to lose patience with Putin.
“Just reiterate that you congratulate the president [Trump] on this achievement... that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” Witkoff is quoted as saying in the Bloomberg report. “I think from that it’s going to be a really good call.”
Following this, a Trump-Putin call did eventuate, right before Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy arrived at the White House for a meeting. And since then, the US has unveiled its peace plan, which appears to offer far more concessions to the Russian side, setting off rounds of furious negotiations.
Last night when asked by reporters about the leaked recording, Trump said he hadn’t heard it but defended Witkoff, saying the reported approach to the Russians was just “standard negotiating procedure”.

“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” he said. “That’s what a dealmaker does.”

The deal as it stands appears to have been revised more in line with Ukrainian and European demands following US-Ukraine talks in Geneva this past weekend.
Zelenskyy has said a revised version could be “workable” but there are still several outstanding key issues. Zelenskyy is hoping to meet with Trump in coming days.

Updated at 12.53pm GMT

11.56am GMT
Kevin McCarthy says Marjorie Taylor Greene a 'canary in the coal mine' for Republicans

Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy has said Majorie Taylor Greene’s abrupt resignation is a sign of broader trouble for the GOP next year, given several House Republicans are leaving.
“She’s almost like the canary in the coal mine,” McCarthy told Fox News on Tuesday.

“And this is something inside Congress, they’d better wake up, because they are going to get a lot of people retiring, and they’ve got to focus.”

The GOP still has a slender House majority, and even with Greene’s departure has two votes to spare, but already, 22 House Republicans have said they will retire or forgo re-election next year. This is an above-average number analysts say.
Greene – a three-term representative from Georgia – resigned last Friday following weeks of an escalating public spat with president Donald Trump, over several issues including the release of the Epstein files.

Related: Marjorie Taylor Greene could have led the anti-Trump resistance but the mob boss got his way

Updated at 12.32pm GMT

11.50am GMT
Welcome to the US politics live blog

Hello and welcome to our US Politics blog for today. I’m Frances Mao and I’ll take you through the next few hours as lawmakers begin to head off for the Thanksgiving weekend.
The fall-out from President Trump’s attack on six Democrats who released a video urging US troops to defy “illegal orders” continues, after first the Pentagon and then the FBI reportedly launched investigations into the matter.
The two inquiries mark an extraordinary escalation in Trump’s use of federal institutions to go after political opponents, and sitting members of Congress. One of the Democrats who says she’s received questioning from the FBI called it a “scare tactic”.
Meanwhile, GOP veterans continue to weigh in on MAGA loyalist turned rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene’s departure – warning that the party’s facing several retirements next year that could leave it vulnerable ahead of the midterms.
And Russian officials have just confirmed that Steve Witkoff will return to Moscow next week to pursue a Ukraine deal – but it comes after a report showing Witkoff coaching a Russian official on how to appeal to the US president. Trump has defended his envoy. More on this shortly.

Updated at 1.22pm GMT