BREAKING: Kennedy Center board votes to partially close arts center during renovations and add Trump’s name to the building again
The Kennedy Center board voted to re-add Trump’s name to the arts center’s facade.
The Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board on Thursday voted to partially close the iconic arts center for up to two years during renovations and to re-add President Donald Trump’s name to the building’s facade, according to one person who attended the virtual board meeting and a second person familiar with the meeting.
The decision would close the Kennedy Center’s main building while keeping a smaller addition, known as the Reach, open for some events in response to a May court order requiring the board to keep the center as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
After an almost two-hour Zoom meeting, the board voted 20 to 3 to change the name of the building to “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” and the physical location to “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick proposed the name change.
Trump, who appointed himself chairman of the board last year, joined the call for several minutes, according to the source who attended the meeting.
The 3 people voting against it were the ex-officio members from Congress, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash.
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People arrive for immigration court hearings in New York on July 27. Seth Wenig / AP
A small law firm with ties to the Trump administration declined a $150 million contract to represent migrant children who traveled alone to the U.S., authorities said yesterday, while another group whose former chief executive was dogged by allegations of misconduct was awarded work worth up to $244 million to advocate for them.
The rapid-fire developments came amid long-term questions about who will represent children in court amid Trump’s push for mass deportations.
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Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sails in the Arabian Sea on May 8. NAVCENT Public Affairs / U.S. Navy via U.S. Central Command Public Affairs
U.S. military leaders are privately raising concerns inside the Pentagon and the White House about low morale and widespread fatigue among American service members who’ve been deployed for months to support the war with Iran, according to two U.S. officials.
Amid the concerns, the Pentagon plans to replace one of two aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East — the USS Abraham Lincoln, according to a third U.S. official.
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Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said he did not plan to return money donated to his campaign from a group affiliated with Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, as Miller faces allegations that he abused his ex-wife and daughter.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Lawler told CNN that he’s spoken with Miller multiple times about the allegations, which Miller has repeatedly denied, adding, “This is something that should play out in family court. I think the fact that some in the media and my Democratic colleagues have tried to turn it into a spectacle and you know use this situation for political points is wrong.”
He added later in the interview that the allegations leveled against Miller, which came from his wife in their divorce and child custody proceedings, are part of a political “game.” Miller has not faced any criminal charges related to the allegations.
“This is the typical Washington media game, where it’s always: an allegation comes up, you must return the money. It’s, it’s the typical game everybody plays, and it doesn’t actually do anything to further the situation,” the New York congressman said. “If there’s evidence that Max did something, then obviously there should be a thorough investigation of that. But thus far, there’s been nothing to verify any of the claims that have been leveled.”
In his repeated denials of wrongdoing, Miller has called for the House Ethics Committee to investigate the allegations against him, saying that an investigation will prove he did nothing wrong. The Ohio congressman has also committed to running for reelection, despite the growing number of calls from lawmakers in his own party for Miller to resign.
A senior administration official dismissed the suggestion that the White House had a “duty to warn” staffers and press who flew the so-called “decoy plane” home from Ankara of the danger they may have faced from an Iranian strike.
In the administration’s view, the “duty to warn” applies only to the person being threatened. In that case — the person who was the target of the threat was Trump, not the other people traveling with him. They felt no duty to warn anyone beyond what was necessary to keep him safe.
Others have publicly questioned that interpretation of the concept.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, who himself faced threats from Iran during Trump’s first term, said he has been notified multiple times about the danger under the “duty to warn” provision.
Still, he said, had unknowing passengers been warned of the precautions underway, Trump might have been exposed to greater risk, Bolton said.
“If you give ‘duty to warn,’ you might as well broadcast it to the world, which complicates getting him [Trump] out,” he said.
Asked earlier this week about the staff perspective on the risks associated with that episode, a U.S. official who was on the trip told NBC News, “The president’s safety and security is paramount, and there are statutes governing that. The safety of the press and staff are not treated the same. Those are the risks everyone signs up for. If I die, I die.”
Trump intends to replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary when she leaves later this month, but he’s not in any particular hurry to do so, a senior administration official said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP file
The contours of the job could change significantly based on the outcome of the midterms, and it’s possible that the next person may not be hired until then.
In the meantime, expect to see guest stars at the podium from time to time, as we saw during her leave when Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others filled in.
Trump is reviving a push to make daylight saving permanent, as senators could consider a House-passed bill once they return from August recess.
“Leave it as it is now, and never change again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social about the current state of the clock, calling it an issue the entire political spectrum could get behind.
“I am asking Republican Senators to PASS THE SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT, ASAP,” he added.
Trump has made the measure a pet project, pressing Congress to send it to him multiple times. He also brought up the legislation in an interview with conservative commentator Wayne Root yesterday, saying it was popular to eliminate standard time and claiming it was costly to change clocks twice a year. He even claimed that later sunsets could reduce crime.
“Criminals sleep late, you know. They do their crime in the evening,” Trump said, calling daylight saving time “good for sports, good for crime, good for everything.”
A Senate version of the bill stalled last year after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., objected to fast-tracking its passage, saying that some parts of the country would have dramatically later sunrises in the winter and that dark morning commutes could be hazardous. NBC News reported last month that Cotton has the “same concerns” he previously did and intended to ask Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., not to bring up the legislation for a vote.
Clocks are set to fall back one hour Nov. 1.
Five weeks ago, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out of the Wisconsin governor’s race, saying “it has become clear that I will not be the Democratic nominee.”
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA Today Network via Reuters file
Today, that’s exactly what he is. Crowley’s primary victory is one of the more astonishing political comebacks in recent memory. He relaunched his campaign 10 days after he ended it, as establishment Democrats embarked on a last-minute mission to stop the rise of state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist.
Here are three reasons that help explain how he pulled it off.
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Democrats are gathering to finalize their 2028 presidential primary calendar this week, setting the stage for a wide open contest to succeed Trump and chart a path ahead as the party’s voters oscillate between progressive and more moderate candidates.
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin. Allison Robbert / AP file
The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote at its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on the new order that frontloads states with more diverse populations.
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South Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is throwing her support behind Sen. Darline Graham in the South Carolina runoff race for the party’s Senate nomination.
Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
“In her short time in the Senate, @DarlineGrahamSC has shown she is willing to act — including supporting an end to the filibuster, something career politicians have talked about for years,” Evette said in a post to X. “Ralph Norman may have a conservative record, but after 20+ years in office, South Carolinians deserve more than talk, they deserve results.”
Evette lost in a race for the GOP nomination for governor in a runoff against state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Trump initially endorsed Evette in May, but he offered an additional endorsement in June of Wilson as well.
“These were the two that I was hoping would get into a Runoff, and they did,” he said in a June post. “I can’t hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so, therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!”
Trump has endorsed Graham for a full term.
Karoline Leavitt is the fifth prominent woman to leave the administration this year, joining the ranks of former Attorney General Pam Bondi, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Labor Secretary Laurie Chavez-DeRemer and former intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard. All of them have been replaced thus far by men: Todd Blanche, Markwayne Mullin, Keith Sonderling and Jay Clayton, respectively.
Leavitt is one of only a small group of women to hold her position: Dee Dee Myers, Dana Perino, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany, Stephanie Grisham, Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre.
Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration to provide answers about reports describing sailors trying to jump overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been on an extended deployment overseas.
In a letter sent yesterday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said there have been “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system.”
Blumenthal said the reports “warrant immediate attention” and raise the question of “whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force.”
The Navy Times and Stars and Stripes both reported this week about sailors on the ship struggling with their mental health, including attempts to jump overboard.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War, said on X that the Navy must allow a bipartisan congressional delegation to visit the aircraft carrier “to conduct oversight investigation into this horrible situation.” Gallego said these delegations “have visited war zones to inspect the conditions of our troops. There is no reason to be denied access.”
Another Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said in an interview on CNN that Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee will be conducting an investigation into the reports. “Zero suicides is the only acceptable number,” he said.
The Pentagon has not responded to questions from NBC News about the reported situation on the ship.
WASHINGTON — One year ago this week, President Donald Trump seized unprecedented control of the nation’s capital.
In the wake of an attempted carjacking and assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer, the president declared a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C. — at a time of record low crime rates — and took two executive actions that have reshaped the city’s streets.
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A former official at the Southern Poverty Law Center faces federal charges in connection with a case the Justice Department brought over the way the organization made payments to informants who provided details about extremist organizations.
Heidi Beirich has been charged in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, her attorney said. Attorney General Todd Blanche said at an unrelated news conference that the case involved allegations that Beirich “was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies’ names and make payments to individuals for reasons that were not accurate as described.” CNN first reported on the charges against Beirich.
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Longtime Democratic Rep. John Larson’s defeat in Connecticut yesterday makes him the 10th House member to lose a primary so far this cycle — an unusually high figure as Democrats push their leaders to pass the torch to a new, more progressive generation and Republicans continue to reckon with a party rebuilt in Trump’s image.
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public Broadcasting / Getty Images
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving her role at the end of the month.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP file
Trump said Leavitt, 28, the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, will step down to “spend more time with her beautiful young children and family.”
Leavitt said on X that the decision to leave the administration was “bittersweet” and that she would continue to work with Trump as an outside adviser.
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