Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for another potentially combative hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee as airstrikes between Iran and Israel threaten a potentially devastating wider war
The Latest: Hegseth taking questions as Trump demands Iran’s surrender to IsraelBy The Associated PressThe Associated Press
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for another potentially combative hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee as airstrikes between Iran and Israel threaten a potentially devastating wider war. President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that joining the Israeli strikes will “result in irreparable damage” for the United States.”
TikTok still isn’t banned: Trump is expected to sign yet another order extending the deadline for TikTok’s Chinese owner to divest the popular video-sharing app. Despite a ban on the app in the U.S. that went into effect the day before Trump’s inauguration, this will be the third time Trump has extended the deadline.
A federal judge has blocked the administration from limiting passport sex markers for many transgender and nonbinary Americans. And Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is “ alert and recovering” after being hospitalized out of caution following an allergic reaction, department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
Here is the Latest:
Trump says it’s not ‘too late’ for Iran to give up nuclear program
“Nothing’s too late,” Trump said when asked about whether direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations against Iran was becoming inevitable.
“I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble” Trump added during an event on the White House South Lawn to watch the raising of a new flagpole.
Iran’s supreme ruler, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ruled out Trump’s call for an unconditional surrender, and warned earlier Wednesday that any U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic Republic would “result in irreparable damage” for the United States.
“I say good luck,” Trump said when asked about the supreme leader’s statement.
Supreme Court deals stunning setback to transgender rights in Tennessee case
The Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, a stunning setback to transgender rights.
The justices’ 6-3 decision effectively protects from legal challenges the many efforts by Trump’s Republican administration and state governments to roll back protections for transgender people. Another 26 states have laws similar to the one in Tennessee.
It comes amid other federal and state efforts to regulate the lives of transgender people, including which sports competitions they can join and which bathrooms they can use. In April, Trump’s administration sued Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls sports.
▶ Read more about the Supreme Court ruling
No mention of Iran in Hegseth’s opening remarks to Congress
Hegseth has kicked off another day of testimony on Capitol Hill with remarks about his priorities for the military – but no mention of the threats posed by Iran.
Hegseth is testifying Wednesday before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, where he is expected to face questions about the Pentagon’s $1 trillion budget proposal as well as the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
He said he’s worked to eliminate wasteful spending while restoring American military dominance, and cited China as a key threat, saying the U.S. military must respond to Beijing’s rapid military buildup in recent years.
The U.S. has positioned significant numbers of refueling tanker and fighter aircraft to be able to respond if needed to the conflict between Israel and Iran, such as possible evacuations or airstrikes to protect U.S. personnel and air bases.
Hegseth may also face questions over the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines to respond to protests in Los Angeles.
Steve Bannon says MAGA skeptical of ‘forever wars’
The former Trump adviser’s comments come amid a schism between some in Trump’s base and national security conservatives over potential U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Speaking to journalists Wednesday at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington, Bannon said bitter feelings over Iraq were a driving force for Trump’s first presidential candidacy and the MAGA movement.
Terming Fox News “pure propaganda” and saying people are skeptical of the kind of drumbeat that led to the Iraq invasion, Bannon called the sentiment a “huge issue” for a MAGA movement that relies on veterans and parents of veterans.
“Where were they in the darkest days of the MAGA movement?” Bannon asked of Fox. He accused the network of turning its back on Trump after the 2020 election and laying the groundwork for war now.
A split forms in MAGA world as Trump weighs next steps on Iran
A schism has opened among Trump’s most devout MAGA supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president’s America First mantra call him out for weighing direct U.S. military involvement. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Trump should “go all-in” in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program. However:
1. Conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk: “The last thing America needs right now is a new war.”
2. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”
3. Commentator Tucker Carlson: “You’re not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy.”
4. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon: “It’s going to not just blow up the coalition … It’s also going to thwart what we’re doing with the most important thing, which is the deportation” of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
▶ Read more on the growing schism in MAGA world
Businesses hope to recover after military response to Los Angeles protests
With an overnight curfew lifted but military troops still guarding the the downtown federal detention building, boarded-up businesses in the adjacent Little Tokyo district hope customers will return quickly.
Don Tahara, the owner of Far Bar, said the historic Japanese American neighborhood has lost business and suffered some vandalism and break-ins after thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
But Tahara, a third-generation Japanese American immigrant, said the protests are a necessary response, and compared the Trump administration’s immigration raids to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
“The problems that Little Tokyo had 75 years ago was basically the federal government coming in and imprisoning all of them in concentration camps,” Tahara said. “They were uprooted from their homes and businesses, their churches … we’re seeing a repeat of that.”
Job growth suggests Trump’s trade policies are weighing on economy
So far this year, employers are adding a decent but far from spectacular 124,000 jobs a month, down from an average 168,000 last year and an average of nearly 400,000 from 2021 through 2023.
The slowdown is partly the drawn-out result of 11 interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023. But Trump’s aggressive and often-erratic trade policies — including 10% taxes on imports from almost every country on earth — are also weighing on the economy, paralyzing businesses and worrying consumers who fear they’ll mean higher prices.
The Fed, satisfied that an inflation was coming down, cut rates three times last year. But the central bank has turned cautious in 2025, worried that Trump’s tariffs will rekindle inflationary pressures. The Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged as it wraps up a two-day meeting Wednesday.
Unemployment claims dip amid signs economy is decelerating
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels, while the Labor Department said the four-week average rose to 245,500, the highest since August 2023.
Weekly unemployment claim are a proxy for layoffs and mostly have stayed within a healthy band of 200,000 to 250,000 since the economy recovered from a brief but painful COVID-19 recession in 2020, which temporarily wiped out millions of jobs.
In recent weeks, however, claims have stayed at the high end of range, adding to evidence that U.S. job market is decelerating after years of strong hiring.
▶ Read more on the latest Labor Department numbers
Hegseth faces more grilling from Congress as Iran-Israel conflict escalates
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for the last in a series of often combative hearings before lawmakers, who have pressed him on everything from a ban on transgender troops to his use of a Signal chat to share sensitive military plans.
The questions — which also have touched on his firings of top military leaders and even some of his inner circle of advisers — may be dominated by the escalation of airstrikes between Iran and Israel that threaten a potentially devastating regional war. But he is still expected to face sharp questions about his chaotic tenure, his opposition to women in combat jobs and efforts to shift funding from troop housing to border security.
The U.S. has shifted significant numbers of refueling tankers and fighter aircraft to position them to be able to respond if needed to the conflict, such as possible evacuations or airstrikes. Hegseth said this week that was done to protect U.S. personnel and airbases.
▶ Read more about Hegseth’s upcoming hearing
Trump says new ‘magnificent’ flagpoles to be installed at White House
Trump says that the two new flagpoles he’s paying for will be installed Wednesday on the White House grounds.
The White House broke ground last week on construction projects ordered by Trump to pave over the grass in the Rose Garden and install flagpoles on the north and south lawns.
The projects are part of a series of personal touches that Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, has added or is adding to the Executive Mansion and its grounds since he opened his second term in January.
“These are the most magnificent poles made,” Trump said in a social media posting “They are tall, tapered, rust proof, rope inside the pole, and of the highest quality. Hopefully, they will proudly stand at both sides of the White House for many years to come!”
36 countries face Wednesday deadline to commit to addressing US travel concerns
A weekend diplomatic cable sent by the State Department instructs embassies and consulates in the 36 countries, mostly in Africa, to gauge willingness to commit to improving their citizens’ travel documentation and take steps to address the status of their nationals in the U.S. illegally.
Countries that fail to address the concerns within 60 days risk being added to the U.S. travel ban.
The cable says the countries should reply by Wednesday 8 pm ET. There is no specific consequence outlined for countries that do not respond or commit.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the specifics in the cable, which was described to The Associated Press, but said the administration wanted nations to improve their own vetting processes for passport-holders, accept their nationals deported from the U.S. and take other steps to ensure their citizens are not a threat to the U.S.
The Washington Post first reported on the cable.
