The Latest: Trump heads to Maryland in effort to tout factory investments amid economic fears

President Donald Trump was using a trip to Maryland on Tuesday to highlight a $3.7 billion investment by the military technology company Anduril to build components for nuclear-powered submarines at a Baltimore-area shipyard.

The Trump administration is trying to revive America’s shipbuilding capabilities for national security and economic reasons.

It's one of a series of events Trump is holding across the country to showcase factory investments, while high gasoline prices from the Iran war and persistently elevated inflation have damaged the president’s approval ratings on the economy. The high prices are rattling voters around the country — but especially rural ones, who have backed the president and his party in recent elections.

With less than a month before the midterm elections on Nov. 3, Trump is trying to rally support for his party — a campaign blitz that has so far taken him to deep red states such as Oklahoma, Alabama and Nebraska.

The Latest:

South Carolina governor candidates face off in only general election debate

Both Attorney General Alan Wilson and state Rep. Jermaine Johnson shared personal stories to help explain their stances on healthcare reform as they met at a TV studio in Columbia on Tuesday. But they differed over whether Medicaid should be expanded in the state.

On data centers, Johnson, the Democratic nominee, pointed toward his introduction of a moratorium in South Carolina. Wilson, the Republican, said he favored “local control” over new construction.

The candidates also had the opportunity to question each other directly. Johnson asked Wilson about millions in legal fees he said had gone to the prosecutor’s “friends and your law partners.”

Wilson asked Johnson about how as governor he would work with legislators despite his “zero success or accomplishments as a House member.”

Republicans have held South Carolina’s governor’s office for more than 20 years.

Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins distances herself from Trump at first debate with Troy Jackson

“I’m not exactly his favorite senator,” Collins said during a back-and-forth about her support of Trump.

Collins refuted Jackson’s claim that she voted with the president 96% of the time, saying that number was based off a flawed study and that the number is actually considerably lower. The Republican also said she voted more often with Democrat Joe Biden when he was president.

Democrats have targeted Collins’ seat as they try to win the Senate majority. Maine voters in 2024 supported Democrat Kamala Harris for president over Trump.

Collins also shot down a question about whether Trump — who is on a 32-day sprint of holding rallies for GOP candidates — would hold one for her.

“I don’t think President Trump is going to come to Maine,” she said.

Battleground House Republican touts independence, vote against war during debate

Republican Rep. Tom Barrett cast himself as an “independent voice” in Congress during a Tuesday debate with progressive activist William Lawrence as the two compete for a highly competitive mid-Michigan House seat.

Barrett repeatedly pointed to his votes for a war powers resolution seeking to end the war in Iran, using them as evidence that he has been willing to break with his party and President Donald Trump.

“Our national leaders, whether it’s the president or anybody else, have to be contemplating the downstream effects of every decision that we make,” Barrett told reporters after the debate. He said there was a “tremendous amount of pressure” on him ahead of the vote.

In a phone interview afterward, Barrett said his votes were driven in part by his campaign pledge two years ago to oppose “foreign conflicts and endless wars.”

“A number of my Republican colleagues came up to me afterward and told me they really respected and agreed with the vote I had cast, but they felt they weren’t in a position to vote that way themselves,” Barrett said.

Trump says the U.S. is beginning a ‘golden age of shipbuilding’

He talked up billions of dollars of planned investments in U.S. shipyards and lamented declining U.S. shipbuilding capacity.

“This place will roar with the sound of high tech manufacturing, building ships and submarines that will be feared by our enemies all over the world,” he said at the Sparrows Point shipyard outside Baltimore.

Anduril Industries says it will spend $3.7 billion to boost production capacity for submarine components.

Trump boasted about the strength of the U.S. military, recounted sending $1,776 payments to members of the military last year and recalled his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

He did not mention Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat and potential 2028 presidential candidate who did not attend the event in his state and was blocked from speaking, according to his spokesperson. A White House official said the governor was invited to attend as a guest.

US believed Iran-linked threats were meant to kill troops and destroy planes at UK base, official says

A U.S.-run military air base in England faced Iranian-related threats and the Trump administration believed that the intention was to kill as many American troops and destroy as many U.S. planes as possible, a U.S. official said.

RAF Fairford has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including the current Iran war. Authorities have linked a suspected terror plot there to Iran, with six men arrested and later released on bail under investigation.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, could not speak to whether the threat was tied to a drone or some other kind of attack.

The United States moved its B-1 bombers from the base Sunday. Trump told reporters Monday that he didn’t want to tempt “the enemy” by having the bombers there.

YMCA starts blasting after Trump’s speech -- except he wasn’t done yet

As the president spoke, the song “YMCA” — which typically blares when his speeches are over — accidentally began playing.

The jarring interruption lasted only a second.

Trump didn’t react before the music stopped -- and then he continued talking as if nothing had happened.

Trump is speaking at a shipyard outside Baltimore

Banners for the defense contractor Anduril had slogans including: “The Grind That’ll Win,” “Who Dares Strike at Liberty,” “Command the Sea Command the World” and “The Shipyard is the Weapon.”

The crowd includes midshipmen in uniform from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Anduril says it will invest billions of dollars in the Sparrows Point shipyard to support submarine construction.

Trump says the Reflecting Pool will be filled with water again soon and he will visit

The president told reporters as he prepared to leave the White House on Tuesday that work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is almost complete and it would be refilled with water soon. The pool is undergoing a second round of repairs after a first round was botched.

Trump claimed vandalism was behind the botched job. The Justice Department charged a former Olympian with intentionally damaging the pool, but then abruptly dropped the case after determining he was not responsible and instead it was caused by a botched installation by a contractor and a rush to complete the job.

Still, Trump on Tuesday repeated his unfounded claims that the pool had been vandalized.

Trump says he’s happy Paramount-Warner Bros merger has closed

The president says the combined entertainment firm will be is “going to be a great company.”

Paramount completed its takeover of rival Warner Bros on Tuesday, bringing the empire under control of billionaire David Ellison, the son of Trump donor Larry Ellison.

“That’s a great merger. I’m glad they let it go,” Trump said before leaving the White House for a speech in Maryland.

Rubio arrives in Greece ahead of speech on democracy

The U.S. secretary of state arrived in Athens late Tuesday, the second leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies to discuss deepening economic, energy and security ties.

The trip follows a stop in Iceland where he sought to reassure the island nation that President Donald Trump does not have designs on the country.

Rubio will meet top Greek officials on Wednesday before delivering what the State Department is billing as a major speech on democracy near the ruins of the Acropolis, a widely recognizable symbol of ancient Greece and the creation of the concept of popular participatory government.

The Trump administration has repeatedly called out countries in Europe for backsliding on democratic principles by stifling the free speech of conservatives and falling short on commitments to international partners like the United States. But, many of those countries have rejected the complaints and accused the U.S. under Trump of being guilty of similar behavior.

Trump ties student demonstrations in France to immigration policy

The protests are about deteriorating conditions in French high schools.

“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration,” Trump posted on his social media site. “This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!”

The U.S. president has long criticized immigration policies in Europe, offering vague assertions that the quality of life in many countries would improve with stricter laws.

The French protesters are focused on dilapidated buildings, teacher shortages and inequalities between schools, not religion or immigration policy.

Trump’s midterm campaign travel blitz may take him to South Carolina

There are tentative plans for the president to travel in the coming weeks to South Carolina, where Republican Darline Graham is trying to win a full term to her brother Lindsey Graham’s seat.

The trip was confirmed by a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump hasn’t committed to reimbursing taxpayer funds spent on ads, White House official says

When Trump pledged to secure outside funding for an ad campaign that has drawn backlash for using taxpayer dollars to glorify his presidency, he wasn’t committing to reimburse any already-spent dollars, a White House official clarified Tuesday.

Trump on Monday evening posted on his Truth Social platform saying he plans to use his MAGA Inc. super PAC to cover the cost of the ads going forward. That post was not referring to reimbursement, said the White House official, on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the spending.

Money from the Department of Homeland Security was tapped to award a $20 million contract for the ads, which promote Trump and echo his political messaging ahead of the midterms.

AdImpact, which tracks media spending, said more than $11 million has been spent on airing the ads so far.

Senate Leadership Fund putting $5M behind Darline Graham in South Carolina

The super PAC supporting Republicans in Senate races still projects confidence about the interim senator’s bid to win a full term in her late brother Lindsey Graham’s seat.

The money, according to a person familiar with the plans and not authorized to speak about them publicly, is intended as an insurance policy to shore up Darline Graham in her general election against Democrat Annie Andrews.

The move, first reported by Axios, comes several days after news that SLF was pulling back in North Carolina and pouring money into Kansas, as Republicans’ plan to maintain their majority has become a defensive fight ahead of November’s midterms.

Trump rallied with Graham days before she won a GOP runoff in the Senate race and is expected to return to South Carolina in the coming weeks.

Inspector general investigations sought in Reflecting Pool investigation

Lawyers for a former Olympian the Justice Department charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, only to abruptly drop the case after determining he was not responsible, urged two government watchdogs on Tuesday to examine what they say was a flawed investigation and prosecution.

The attorneys for David Hearn said in a letter to the inspectors general for the departments of Justice and Interior that “incompetence and misconduct” were committed by government officials operating under pressure from President Donald Trump, and that watchdog investigations were needed “to determine what happened inside their agencies that led to the shocking and indefensible treatment” of their client.

The letter was filed days after a District of Columbia judge permanently dismissed the case, ending a brief prosecution derided by defense lawyers and other critics as an abuse of government power pushed by a president who insisted vandalism, not human error, was to blame for damage at the landmark.

White House clarifies Trump’s comments about Iran attacking US cities

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said Tuesday that the president’s comments have been misunderstood and misrepresented in a “media freakout.”

Trump was discussing the Iran war and the resulting high gas prices Monday night when he mentioned the possibility of an Iranian attack. “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said. “They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”

“He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President,” Cheung said on social media.

At least one Republican running for Congress sees it differently, saying “no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”

“As a Navy veteran, I served to protect Americans, not write off American cities as an acceptable price of war,” posted Jim Desmond, a GOP nominee in San Diego.

US military cancels off-base privileges in Okinawa after Marine accused of strangling woman in Japan

The U.S. military in Okinawa, Japan, is pausing all operations and halting off-base privileges for two days and ordering training for troops after a Marine was arrested on suspicion of killing a Japanese woman.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said the case demands “we pause for reflection” and that serving on Okinawa “comes with responsibility.”

The 48-hour pause, which is standard after such incidents, halts operations Wednesday through Friday, also bans drinking alcohol on and off base. Service members will receive training on standards, discipline and “our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community.”

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, has denied allegations that he strangled Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel early Saturday, according to Japanese media.

Filmmaker: Israel needed US technology and military funding to destroy Gaza

The Associated Press also has reported on Israel’s use of AI models developed by U.S. tech giants in the war in Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank, part of a package that won the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting. Microsoft later reduced the Israeli military’s access to its products.

The film’s Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, want Americans to see the film and to understand their government’s role. An academic study found that the Biden and Trump administrations provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel in the first two years of the war.

“Much of what is being described was done with American taxpayer money,” Abraham said.

Israel’s military has ‘categorically’ denied the filmmakers’ findings

The military threatened to track down the soldiers who describe alleged atrocities in the documentary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “NAZA” is antisemitic, and a Cabinet minister threatened to strip the filmmakers of their citizenship.

The documentary is based on interviews with over 100 confidential sources, in collaboration with The Guardian. Soldiers describe using an AI tool to create tens of thousands of targets with Hamas connections across the crowded Gaza strip. One soldier said approval was given to target a single militant even though the operation anticipated 500 civilian deaths.

In a lengthy rebuttal, Israel’s military said targeting orders “explicitly, comprehensively and clearly distinguish” between militants and civilians and that it strives to minimize civilian harm “to the greatest extent feasible.”

Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, in response to the killing of some 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 others in Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israeli documentary ‘NAZA’ stirs Gaza debate ahead of US elections

The opening in U.S. theaters of the “NAZA” documentary, in which Israeli military insiders describe what they say was the reckless killing of civilians in Gaza, is likely to rekindle the searing debate over America’s military support for Israel ahead of congressional elections.

Israel’s wartime conduct has sparked global outrage, as have the billions of dollars in American military support provided by the Biden and Trump administrations. The war has bitterly divided Democrats and some Republicans.

The film received a record 25-minute standing ovation when it debuted at the Venice Film Festival. The backlash in Israel, which holds its own elections at the end of this month, has been just as thunderous.

“NAZA,” the Hebrew acronym for collateral damage, contends that Israel used artificial intelligence and other sophisticated systems to kill suspected militants in strikes the military knew would kill large numbers of civilians.

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Democrat responds to Arkansas governor’s Medicaid moocher ad

Despite the welfare queen trope, there are more white Americans than Black Americans using social service programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. The persistent right-wing rhetoric about Black Americans and public assistance often ignores how generations of structural racism have produced economic disparities that contribute to their disproportionate participation in these programs.

The bigger question, Arkansas Democratic congressional candidate Chris Jones said, is not race but “why so many people who are working hard still struggle to afford groceries, housing, health care and the basic necessities of life.”

Jones, who is Black, grew up in a family relying on food stamps. A welfare recipient is not “looking for a way out of work,” but “for a way forward,” he told AP in a statement.

Arkansas campaign ad sparks conservative backlash for portraying lazy welfare recipient as white

A new video from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was standard-issue Republican messaging for promoting her state’s stricter rules for people on Medicaid: No more could able-bodied people lounge around while receiving taxpayer-funded healthcare, she said — they needed to work.

But the decision to portray an unemployed moocher as a young, white, cheeseball-chomping gamer named Brad has upset some commentators who said the video should have featured a Black woman instead.

“Republicans don’t have the balls to do this ad with ‘Shaniqua’ as the villain,” posted Matt Walsh, a conservative writer.

Sean Davis, co-founder of the Federalist website, wrote that “our government has systematically discriminated against white men for decades now, and yet now has the audacity to dishonestly mock young white men as welfare queens.”

In fact, when it comes to Medicaid expansion in Arkansas, the state says about 60% of recipients are white and around 18% are Black.

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U.S. trade deficit hits 17-month high on AI investment boom

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $105.6 billion in August, biggest gap between what America imports and what it exports since March 2025, as booming investment in artificial intelligence drew in foreign computer chips and equipment.