President Donald Trump has pushed state legislators in Indiana to approve the maps, which would benefit Republicans, starting with the 2026 midterm elections.
At least 11 elected Republicans in Indiana have been the target of swatting attacks and other threats in the weeks since Trump publicly pressured state lawmakers to approve a new congressional map that would benefit Republicans.
In a lengthy social media tirade on Nov. 16, Trump blasted Indiana state Senate Republicans for not supporting the effort, naming two state senators and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. The next day, Trump said he would “strongly” endorse against anyone who opposes the push.
Indiana House lawmakers began taking up redistricting legislation today, formally introducing the new map. The state Senate is expected to do the same next week.
Republican state Sen. Republican Mike Bohacek, who opposes redistricting, said in a statement today that he was the target of a bomb threat last week.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that several of his New York offices have faced bomb threats via an email with the subject line “MAGA.”
Law enforcement is addressing the matter, and no one has been hurt, Schumer said in a statement, thanking law enforcement for the response.
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In an interview with NBC News, Indiana state Sen. Andy Zay criticized the “uncalled for and inappropriate” rhetoric surrounding redistricting.
“There’s an awful lot of rhetoric flying around that’s just totally uncalled for and inappropriate out of people that have been politically active for a long time,” Zay said.
Zay had said his business was hit with a bomb threat on Nov. 21 — days after Trump publicly urged state Senate Republicans to approve their redistricting measure.
He said he doesn’t blame Trump specifically for the rhetoric.
Zay said he communicated with the people at the White House nearly every day for about a month, though communication has been sparser over the past week. He declined to say who at the White House he was speaking with and said the goal of the conversations was “how to message and educate.”
He said that he is in favor of redistricting efforts broadly but that the new map proposals “don’t seem to be the best effort.” He said it was too early to decide how he would vote.
NBC News has asked the White House for comment on Zay’s remarks.
The White House confirmed today that the U.S. did launch a second strike on an alleged drug boat from Venezuela in early September and that it was ordered by Adm. Frank M. Bradley, who at the time headed the Joint Special Operations Command.
The follow-up strike killed the survivors of an initial U.S. strike on the vessel, which the Trump administration has said originated from Venezuela. Some lawmakers and legal experts say the second attack could constitute a war crime.
“With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement during today’s briefing.
“Adm. Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,” she added.
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The White House today released a summary of the results of a magnetic resonance imaging scan Trump underwent in what had been described as a “routine” physical in October, with his doctor saying he’s in “excellent” health.
The White House physician, Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, wrote in a memo that the MRI scanned Trump’s cardiovascular system and abdomen and that all of the imaging was “perfectly normal.” He said the imaging was done “because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
Trump is 79.
“The purpose of this imaging is preventive: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function,” the memo says.
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Indiana Republican state lawmakers released a new congressional map proposal today designed to net the party two seats in next year’s midterm elections.
The draft map would divide Indianapolis, most of which is represented by Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, into four districts. It would also split the Lake Michigan shoreline area, which is represented by Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, into two districts. Republicans control seven of Indiana’s nine congressional districts.
State House Republicans will consider the map this week, but it’s unclear whether the Senate will pass it. Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray has repeatedly said there isn’t enough Republican support to pass a new map, despite pressure from Trump.
Last month, 19 Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against reconvening in December on redistricting. Since then, many of the GOP members who voted with Bray have faced harassment and threats.
Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., will run for re-election despite the state’s newly approved congressional map, which makes his swing district more Republican-leaning.
The new map, approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and cleared by a federal court last week, aims to help Republicans flip Davis’ 1st Congressional District by redrawing the lines of what’s already a battleground seat.
Davis, a former state senator, was first elected to Congress in 2022.
Austin McCubbin, a senior adviser to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s campaign for governor of South Carolina, resigned today, accusing Mace on X of deciding “to turn her back on MAGA.”
McCubbin was South Carolina director for Trump’s 2024 campaign. Mace’s campaign had touted his hiring as a move that “underscores Mace’s commitment to the America First agenda.”
The contested GOP primary for governor had already turned into a fight to win Trump’s endorsement — with Mace playing a big role in the battle.
In his post, McCubbin said Mace had “fully embraced” a super PAC that has supported Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, both R-Ky., Trump has been deeply critical of Paul and Massie, who have broken with him on multiple policy fronts.
“My name has been used publicly, while going back on her word to pay me, to trade on my Team Trump status and to work on her behalf with the White House, and I am 100% breaking with her campaign out of loyalty to the President,” McCubbin wrote. “The 2026 gubernatorial race has always been first and foremost a run for the President’s endorsement. South Carolina is Trump Country.”
In response, the Mace campaign said via a spokesperson that “Mr. McCubbin didn’t raise a dime for the campaign or better yet, never even bothered showing up. When he demanded $10,000 a month for ‘services’ and was told no, he ran straight to X. Good luck with that.”
McCubbin said he first noticed that the Paul-affiliated PAC, Protect Freedom PAC, began spending on Mace’s behalf last month, though he did not make much of it at the time.
“When I talked to Nancy last Wednesday, it became clear she has fully embraced the Rand Paul PAC,” he added.
“Nancy Mace is wittingly or unwittingly a proxy for Rand Paul’s 2028 presidential campaign,” he continued. “That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
McCubbin added that after he warned Mace of the political risks she would face, Mace “accused me of mansplaining, a woke term used by people who hate men, who ironically are her best demographic.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I have nothing personally against Rand or Nancy,” he wrote. “This is about loyalty.”
“My advice to the President, my friends in the White House, and South Carolina Trump voters: scratch her name from the list,” McCubbin wrote.
Trump has commuted former private equity CEO David Gentile’s seven-year prison sentence, a White House official confirmed.
Gentile was sentenced in May to seven years on wire and security fraud charges. According to the Bureau of Prisons’ database, Gentile was not in its custody as of Nov. 26. The White House “pardon czar,” Alice Marie Johnson, also confirmed Gentile’s release on X.
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Trump said yesterday that he would release the results of the MRI test he underwent in October.
“If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” he said in an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida.
He said the results of the MRI were “perfect.”
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The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling disqualifying Alina Habba from her position as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The decision stems from a motion from Julien Giraud Jr., a New Jersey man who faced drug trafficking and firearm charges that predated Habba’s appointment.
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In an overnight Truth Social post, Trump pointed to a law that makes it illegal for someone “with intent to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States” by urging someone to be insubordinate.
The penalty for violating the law is a fine and/or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
“This is right on point,” Trump said in his post. “DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE!!!”
The post appeared to be a reference to Trump’s criticism of Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders. The president’s backlash culminated in him accusing them of “seditious behavior” that he said was “punishable by death.” He later walked back the comments, saying he was “not threatening death.”
The House and the Senate will be back in session this afternoon after the Thanksgiving holiday. The first votes today are not expected until this evening.
Tomorrow, lawmakers will also be watching the results of a special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, which is open after GOP Rep. Mark Green resigned from Congress this summer. Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn and Republican former state official Matt Van Epps will face off.
Trump again urged Tennessee voters to support the Republican candidate in tomorrow’s special election to fill an open congressional seat that was vacated when GOP Rep. Mark Green resigned this year.
“GET OUT AND VOTE FOR MATT VAN EPPS, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump pushed for people to support Republican Matt Van Epps, a former state official, over Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn.
The race has attracted outsized attention, despite Trump having carried the district by more than 20 points. Democrats have expressed optimism about their prospects, as off-year elections tend to generate less turnout overall and favor candidates who have more energized voters.
Trump is expected to sign congressional bills at 4 p.m., though the White House did not release details about which bills he is signing.
The Oval Office event is the only event on his public schedule today.
Indiana state lawmakers will consider redistricting when they reconvene today, even though the GOP state Senate leader previously said there are not enough votes to redraw the map.
Trump has publicly pressured the state’s Republican lawmakers to take up new maps to bolster the GOP’s prospects to keep the House after next year’s midterm elections.
It’s unclear if lawmakers have changed their minds after the pressure campaign. The Indiana push is the latest in a series of redistricting efforts across the country.
Both the House and the Senate have started inquiries into a reported second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September that killed the survivors of an initial strike.
The Defense Department conducted a second strike on a boat the Trump administration says was carrying drugs from Venezuela after the first strike on the boat failed to kill all of its occupants, one U.S. official and a source familiar with the Pentagon’s actions that day told NBC News.
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Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are “not serious people” in response to their comments about a video Kelly and several fellow Democrats made earlier this month urging military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”
“This president thinks he can bully and intimidate people, and he is not going to, he’s not going to stop me from speaking out and holding him accountable for the things that he does that are wrong and unlawful,” Kelly told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
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Trump says there’s a “good chance” for a deal, but his bid for peace now heads to the Kremlin and faces more work with Kyiv after what the United States described as “very productive” talks.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in the Russian capital to discuss changes that Kyiv and its allies have secured to the U.S. peace plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled last week that he was ready to have a “serious” conversation, but has shown little sign of stepping away from his hard-line demands that formed the basis of the original 28-point proposal backed by Trump.
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NBC News