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President Donald Trump took questions from reporters while announcing relocation of U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama
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President Donald Trump made his first official public appearance in a week, after online speculation about his health over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Running some 45 minutes behind the scheduled time of 2 p.m. ET, Trump announced the relocation of U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama while flanked by lawmakers from the state, before taking questions from reporters.
Addressing online rumors that he had died, Trump blamed the “so fake” media for the reports. While the president was seen at his golf course in Stirling, Virginia, over the weekend, he had no official engagements after holding a marathon three-hour cabinet meeting on camera last Tuesday.
Trump also announced — without giving details — that the U.S. had attacked a drug boat coming out of Venezuela, and said he will send federal troops to Chicago and Baltimore because of crime, despite local opposition and a court ruling it illegal.
Questioned about bizarre footage of a bag being thrown from an upper window of the White House, Trump dismissed the video as AI, saying the windows are sealed. The president said this despite an earlier explanation from his staff that it was a contractor disposing of something.
Later Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee has released over 33,000 pages of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after it subpoenaed the Justice Department for them.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has released more than 30,000 pages of the so-called “Epstein files” that it received from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The files, revolving around child sex abuser and New York financier Jeffrey Epstein, were released to Congress in response to a subpoena from the committee’s chairman, Representative James Comer, that was issued on August 5.
According to the committee, more documents may be coming from the Justice Department, noting that it has “indicated it will continue producing those records while ensuring the redaction of victim identities and any child sexual abuse material.”
Full article from Graig Graziosi:
After firing or forcing out dozens of immigration court judges, the Trump administration is planning to fill the benches with military lawyers under the command of the Department of Justice.
Last week, the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review gave itself permission to hire “any attorney” to serve as temporary immigration judges, even if they don’t have any experience in that area of the law.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to fill the bench in immigration courts across the country, according to a recent memo.
Alex Woodward reports.
Despite being based in Washington, D.C., staffers in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office appeared to confuse prominent government buildings on Tuesday when they boasted about touring the Supreme Court in photos taken at the Capitol building.
In a now-deleted X post, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. flaunted that Pirro, a former judge and Fox News host, organized “a tour of the Supreme Court” for the office’s fall 2025 intern class.
Ariana Baio has the story.
National Guard troops were deployed to Washington, D.C. to fight crime, but they have also participated in President Donald Trump’s beautification efforts, collecting 500 bags of trash along a 3.2-mile stretch.
When Trump announced last month he had placed D.C. police under direct federal control and deployed the National Guard to the city, he said he did it to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse.”
Now, soldiers are rescuing D.C. from litter, as Rachel Dobkin reports.
Republican House members convened outside the US Capitol on their return from recess, expressing robust support for Donald Trump’s initiatives to tackle crime in Washington, D.C.
Lawmakers from states including North Dakota and South Carolina reiterated concerns about capital crime, crediting Trump. Representative Buddy Carter, a Georgia Republican campaigning for a Senate seat, stated: “We are here today to talk about something Donald Trump promised during the campaign. He promised to make our nation safer and more prosperous.”
He then introduced ‘Make Our Streets Safe Again’ legislation.
Wyoming’s Representative Harriet Hageman added, “President Trump’s unyielding leadership and strength, coupled with proper congressional oversight, ensure that Washington, D.C., will reclaim its rightful place.”
The news conference was interrupted by two protesters, who Capitol Police apprehended. As the lawmakers concluded, dozens of demonstrators chanted “shame.”
A video that captured a mysterious object being thrown out of a White House window went viral, sparking wild conspiracy theories online before competing explanations were offered by an administration official – and the president himself.
Kelly Rissman has the bizarre story.
Donald Trump promised his presidency would usher in a “golden age” for American workers, but his administration has gutted union protections for tens of thousands of federal workers in what labor activists and historians have called the largest acts of union busting in American history.
Nearly half a million federal workers lost their union protections last month in the wake of the president’s executive orders demanding federal agencies abandon collective bargaining agreements and appeals court orders upholding those decisions.
Alex Woodward reports.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has welcomed federal law enforcement officials to remain in the capital indefinitely, signalling a significant willingness to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s efforts to take over public safety.
In a social media statement, Mayor Bowser said her order would “provide the pathway forward beyond the Presidential emergency.” She has previously stated that due to the federal government’s power over the District, she can achieve more by working with him on “their shared priorities.”
The Washington Post reports that the announcement on Tuesday afternoon was reportedly met with approval by Trump, giving the green light to elements of his administration’s operations in D.C., according to a senior White House official.
Last month, the president federalized the local police department, deployed National Guard members to the streets, and sent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to address immigration concerns.
There has been considerable pushback from residents of the district.
For the third time in recent weeks, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has rejected the Attorney’s Office’s attempt to criminally indict a person accused of making threats against an official – the latest sign of pushback from residents in the city overtaken by federal law enforcement.
Ariana Baio has the story.
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