U.S. President Donald Trump steps off Marine One upon his arrival at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, Sept. 30, 2025. Hu Yousong/Xinhua via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — At least two survivors from a deadly U.S. military strike in the Caribbean Sea are now in custody aboard an American vessel after being rescued by helicopter, according to a person familiar with details of the incident.
The person said the survivors were aboard a semi-submersible vessel when they were hit in the attack.
The strike was the sixth military attack in the Caribbean Sea against suspected drug smugglers.
The military campaign is part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump who says he wants Venezeula’s president, Nicholas Maduro, to step down, blaming Maduro for orchestrating the flow of illicit drugs coming to the U.S.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened to attack Venezuela by land, confirmed ongoing covert operations inside the country and ordered bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons to fly in circles off its coast in what appears to be an unprecedented show of force intended to pressure Maduro to step down.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has denounced Trump’s statements and the military buildup in the region, saying the lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea constitute a policy of aggression, threats and harassment against Venezuela.
Reuters first reported that there were survivors in the latest attack and that two of them had been rescued by helicopter. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed, as the Pentagon and White House declined to provide details on the incident.
Admiral Avlin Holsey, who has been overseeing military operations in the region, announced unexpectedly on Thursday that he is stepping down from the post. Holsey did not say why he was leaving sooner than expected, after spending less than a year in the job.
According to a person familiar with his decision, Holsey had expressed reservations about ongoing military operations and that tension between Holsey and Hegseth had been evident for weeks. It was not immediately clear if Holsey objected to the legality of the boat strikes, which he would have had to authorize, or had voiced other concerns about the strategy in the region.
Some 10,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to Latin America this year under Trump as part of a massive buildup of military assets in the region, including eight Navy ships, F-35 fighter jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones.
On Wednesday three B-52 bombers took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and flew for hours near the coast of Venezuela, according to flight tracking data, in what appears to be a major show of force by Trump.
The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that has been used in conventional warfare in such places as Iraq and Syria and is capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The deployment of the B-52s was first reported by The War Zone.
On Thursday, a U.S. official confirmed that a special operations aviation unit had conducted training exercises in international waters near Venezuela earlier this month.
Since Sept. 2, Trump has ordered military strikes on at least six boats in the Caribbean Sea that the administration insists, without providing evidence, were carrying drugs to the U.S. The use of lethal of military force against drug boats is unprecedented and raises legal questions. Past administrations have relied on law enforcement to interdict drug shipments.
Israeli forces take security measures after organizing a raid in Hebron, West Bank on October 9, 2025. Amer Shallodi/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces are investigating reports Israeli troops who were occupying a key sewage treatment plant in Gaza set it ablaze amid a drawdown of their forces from much of the enclave’s territory last week as a part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
The Sheikh Aljin sewage treatment plant, located to the southeast of Gaza City, was badly damaged in the reported fire, according to Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility.
The CMWU told ABC News that an in-person investigation of the site on Tuesday, Oct. 14, confirmed that four of the plant’s six biological treatment towers had suffered massive fire damage.
According to the CMWU, the plastic cells and hydraulic systems inside the treatment towers had been destroyed and their concrete walls cracked by the fire.
Photos taken by the CMWU’s staff after the fire and provided to ABC News reveal the damage to the plant. The photos show multiple treatment towers with charred walls, their interiors burnt out and strewn with garbage. The treatment towers are scattered with Hebrew-language graffiti, including one reading, “I’ll be back soon.”
Before the devastating fire, the plant had the capacity to serve some 700,000 of Gaza’s approximately 2 million residents, the utility said.
The fire was first reported by Drop Site News, who uncovered two photos appearing to show IDF troops posing in front of burning structures at the Sheikh Aljin sewage plant to the southeast of Gaza City.
The date and authenticity of the photos could not be immediately verified but the structures seen in the images match those seen in the images provided by the CMWU.
The IDF told ABC News it was aware of the incident, and it is being reviewed.
It was not immediately clear when the fire was first set. NASA’s FIRMS system first detected a fire at the plant at 1:34 p.m. local time on Saturday, Oct. 11. And a satellite photo from Planet Labs taken on the same day shows smoke rising from one of the facility’s six biological treatment towers.
The IDF appears to have withdrawn from the site before Oct. 11 as Israeli troops vacated much of the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire came into effect on Oct. 10.
But earlier satellite images points to an IDF presence at the site in the days before the fire, experts say.
Tony Reeves, founder of the private intelligence firm MAIAR, said that it was difficult to make a definitive assessment, this image from Sept. 28 appeared to show objects consistent in their size and shape with military armored vehicles, as well as plowed earth like the kind often used by militaries for fortification.
Reeves said images from Oct. 7 and 11 appeared to point to a drawdown at the site with fewer vehicles present.
Jeremy Binnie, a defense analyst with the intelligence firm Janes, also told ABC News that while specific vehicles could not be identified the Sept. 28 and Oct. 7 images point to an IDF presence at the site.
The scene, Binnie said, “is consistent with an IDF temporary defensive position in the Gaza Strip as they routinely build protective berms and we would not expect civilian vehicles to be at a disused military position at this time.”
The CMWU said that owing to the destruction of another treatment plant at Bureij near Gaza’s border with Israel, before the fire the Sheikj Aljin plant had become the last remaining sewage treatment facility set up to serve much of central Gaza and Gaza City.
Protestors march during an anti-Trump “No Kings Day” demonstration in a city that has been the focus of protests against Trump’s immigration raids on June 14, 2025 in downtown Los Angeles, California. Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Activists and advocacy groups are staging a second round of “No Kings” protests across the country on Saturday in response to what they call abuse of power by President Donald Trump and his administration, including his immigration crackdown.
Organizers predict millions will take part.
Republicans are trying to brand the protests as “hate America” rallies and claim they’re prolonging the federal government shutdown.
Here’s what to know.
What are the “No Kings” protests?
The daylong “No Kings” protests set for Oct. 18 follow up on the thousands held in mid-June. They are being run by a coalition of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible, 50501 and others. Organizers say there are more than 2,600 events planned nationwide — including major cities such as New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago and Los Angeles — and say millions are expected to attend.
They have been “organized by regular people, by volunteers,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the ACLU, told ABC News.
While organizers have not released details on fundraising ahead of the protests, and the coalition has remained relatively decentralized, a few groups have indicated either heavy spending to promote the rallies or planned star power to increase buzz around them.
For instance, Home of the Brave, a political group, said Monday it was spending $1 million to advertise the No Kings protests, including in local and national newspapers.
Celebrities, including Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Alan Cumming and John Leguizamo, are slated to attend, according to a fundraising email on Thursday from the political action committee Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“We’ll be in the streets for immigrant families under attack and for voters who are being silenced. For communities being terrorized by militarized policing. For families who are about to lose their health insurance. And for every single person whose rights are threatened by this administration’s cruelty,” the group wrote in the email.
In advance of Saturday’s rallies, law enforcement is actively monitoring social media and the internet, as well as working with local organizers and potential counter-protesters, to get a sense of what might be expected. That vigilance comes as there continues to be heightened concerns about large-scale public gatherings, especially political events.
What are Republicans saying about the protests?
Republicans have been slamming the protests, claiming that the protests are a reason the Democratic Party does not want to end the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune asserted on Wednesday that Democrats are waiting to solve the funding issues until after Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies.
“The truth is — what Democrats really want is something Republicans can’t give them. And that is the approval of their far-left base,” Thune said.
Republican leaders have also framed the “No Kings” protests as a series of “Hate America” rallies, framing the upcoming events as meant to criticize America and what it stands for.
“And I encourage you to watch — we call it the ‘Hate America Rally’ that will happen Saturday,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see Antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists in full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
Johnson did not provide any proof to support his claims that “pro-Hamas supporters” and “Antifa types” will show up. Organizers have said they cannot control who shows up to protests from outside groups and have emphasized wanting to keep protests respectful and nonviolent.
In an interview taped with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, Trump was asked about the rallies and he shot down that he was a “king.”
“They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said.
Some state leaders have also said they are calling up more law enforcement in light of the protests, which supporters of the protests have said may be meant to “suppress” them.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, wrote on X on Thursday, that he “directed the Dept. of Public Safety and National Guard to surge forces into Austin” ahead of the rallies.
“Texas will NOT tolerate chaos. Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested,” Abbott wrote.
State Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the state House’s Democratic caucus, wrote in response, “Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do — and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them.”
How are protest organizers responding to Republican claims?
Organizers have countered that Republicans in power are responsible for the ongoing shutdown, and have said that Johnson and some other Republicans not saying the name of the protest is telling.
“I think it’s really telling that he spent an entire week calling this a ‘hate American Rally,’ on the attack against this coalition and Americans across the country, and he won’t even say the name of the protest,” Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the major groups in the “No Kings” coalition, told reporters on a press call on Thursday.
“That’s because if you say the name of the protest, ‘No Kings,’ the entire argument falls apart … there is nothing more American than saying that we don’t have kings and exercising our right to peaceful protest,” Greenberg said.
When asked if they thought the claims from Republicans would impact participant turnout on Saturday, organizers said they think it could have the opposite effect.
“I think, if anything, it will increase turnout,” said Schifeling. “I think Americans can really see through these sad attempts to distract attention from the failure of these Republican Congress people and Republican Trump administration to actually address what most Americans want and need from their government.”
Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, told ABC News that he welcomes the publicity, but simultaneously believes Republicans are trying to stop Americans from exercising their First Amendment right.
“I think the Republicans and Trump see that the largest peaceful protest in modern American history is coming together on Saturday to push back against the authoritarian overreach by this regime and its supporters in Congress, and they’re looking for ways to message against it ahead of time,” he said.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
John Bolton leaves his home on October 17, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. Former national security adviser Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
(GREENBELT, Md.) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts of an indictment charging him with unlawful retention and dissemination of national defense information.
Bolton entered his not guilty plea Friday morning in a hearing in federal court in Maryland before Chief Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan.
He was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents.
The indictment comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James as President Donald Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.
Unlike at Comey’s arraignment, Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell on Friday did not offer much in the way of any preview of his defense strategy for the charges Bolton is facing.
Judge Sullivan set a Nov. 14 deadline for pretrial motions to be filed in the case, and also set a scheduling conference for Nov. 21.
Bolton appeared at ease throughout the hearing, and responded to the judge’s standard questions asking him if he understood the nature of the charges against him and the potential penalties he could face if he is convicted.
He was released on recognizance with regular release conditions, and will have to surrender his passport to his legal counsel, and is prohibited from traveling outside of the U.S. unless he gets pre-approval from the court.
Bolton is charged with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September of 2019.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s relatives.
Sources told ABC News that the relatives referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter.
Bolton has been a target of Trump’s ire since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all book. Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office, related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
The investigation is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland, unlike the Comey and James probes which are being conducted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, who sources say brought the Comey and James charges against the advice of career prosecutors.
Comey, who was indicted on charges of lying to Congress, and James, who is charged with mortgage fraud, have both denied wrongdoing.
John Bolton leaves his home on October 17, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. Former national security adviser Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
(GREENBELT, Md.) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton is in a Maryland courthouse this morning where’s he’s scheduled to make his first court appearance at 11 a.m. ET after being indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents.
Bolton arrived at the federal courthouse before 9 a.m. ET Friday.
The indictment charges Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September of 2019.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s relatives.
Sources told ABC News that the relatives referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter.
The indictment comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James as Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.
Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office, related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
Democratic candidate for New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill speaks to a crowd alongside Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, in Westville New Jersey on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Sherrill is set to square off against Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli on November 4 for the position as New Jersey’s 57th Governor. (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Barack Obama formally endorsed New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, in a new ad first reported by ABC News.
“Mikie’s integrity, grit, and commitment to service are what we need right now in our leaders. Mikie Sherrill is the right choice for your next governor,” Obama said in the spot, released Friday morning.
Obama highlights Sherrill’s veteran status and argues she’s best suited to lower prices, as the party sees successes homing in on affordability.
“Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families. As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe,” Obama said in the ad.
Sherrill currently maintains a polling edge over her Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Sherrill said she was “grateful” for the former president’s support and urged voters to plan to head to the ballot box on or before Election Day.
“This November, we have an opportunity to chart a different path forward — to reject the chaos in Washington and lower costs in New Jersey — and I’m so grateful to have President Obama’s support and endorsement in this race. President Obama led historic efforts to lower healthcare costs and, now, Jack Ciattarelli is all in on Trump’s plans to raise premiums and kick hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans off their healthcare,” said Sherrill.
Per a new Quinnipiac survey, Sherrill leads Ciattarelli by six points. That same poll found that New Jersey voters say Sherrill would do a better job in handling schools and the NJ transit, and 61% of likely voters also say Sherrill’s background serving in the U.S. Navy for nine years makes them think more favorably of her.
Two governors’ races dominate this upcoming off-cycle Election Day, as Democrats hope to cling to power in the Garden State and flip control from Republicans in Virginia, as both incumbents are term-limited. On Wednesday, Obama boosted Virginia Democrats’ pick for governor, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, in a similar fashion.
Obama has been publicly supporting Sherrill, whom he calls a “friend” in the ad. His first fundraiser since the November elections was with the Democratic National Committee in New Jersey back in June, where he appeared alongside Sherrill.
More out-of-state Democrats are also throwing weight behind Sherill in the closing weeks of the race — over the weekend, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are set to campaign with her.
Luigi Mangione appears in court for a hearing on his state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 16, 2025 in New York City. (Curtis Means/Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration is making Luigi Mangione “a pawn to further its political agenda” and uttering or posting statements about him that are prejudicing the accused killer’s prospects at a fair trial, his attorneys argued Friday in a new court filing that asked a federal judge to either dismiss the indictment or take the death penalty off the table.
Federal prosecutors said President Donald Trump’s social media posts calling Mangione “a pure assassin,” and subsequent reposts by Justice Department officials, did not prejudice Mangione “because the statements were made by persons not associated with this matter.” The defense said the government can’t make that claim because of Trump’s unprecedented intervention in Justice Department matters.
“Unlike any of its predecessors since the Watergate era, the Department of Justice has not acted independently of the White House in this case — or in several others,” the new defense filing said. “This departure from the longstanding principle of prosecutorial independence has created a blurred and constitutionally troubling line between the Department of Justice and the Executive Office of the President.”
Mangione is accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2024. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including one death-eligible count of using a firearm to commit murder, and pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York and Pennsylvania. Defense attorneys have argued in a separate filing the death-eligible charge should not apply.
In its new filing, Mangione’s defense team expressed concern about tainting the pool of prospective jurors.
“The Department of Justice and the White House have coordinated to cultivate and disseminate negative public rhetoric deliberately designed to taint the prospective jury pool,” defense attorneys Karen Agnifilo and Avi Moskowitz wrote. “The significance of these prejudicial statements is that they have life or death consequences for Mr. Mangione.”
Prosecutors have argued that since no trial date has been set there will be ample time for the public to forget about anything Trump or others have said about Mangione, whose alleged attack was captured on video and who, police said, was arrested with the murder weapon in his backpack.
The defense said the statements still violate the rules.
“The government has engaged in purposeful, repeated, unlawful actions specifically designed to hurt Mr. Mangione’s chances at fair legal proceedings and a fair trial and as part of a wider government effort to further a political agenda,” the defense said. “These same officials — whether acting directly or through their subordinates — have continued on this course even after this Court has explicitly directed them not to has caused this case to be unlike any prior death penalty case.”
Meanwhile, Mangione’s Pennsylvania case is effectively on hold as he sits in jail in Brooklyn, New York, according to court documents.
In Pennsylvania, where Mangione was captured after a manhunt, he faces charges including carrying a firearm without a license.
Federal officials previously denied a request by Blair County, Pennsylvania, prosecutors to allow Mangione to be taken to Pennsylvania to make in-person court appearances, and Mangione has thus far refused to appear remotely.
A Pennsylvania judge ruled earlier this week that the case ultimately can’t move forward until Mangione can appear in person, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. The judge gave Mangione’s defense team 14 days to file a formal request for an in-person hearing or reconsider appearing remotely.
ABC News’ Jon Haworth and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House, Aug. 18, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, just days after celebrating an Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement he helped broker in the Middle East, turns his attention Friday to the Russia-Ukraine war, hosting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
Ukraine’s request for American-made Tomahawk missiles is expected to be a focus of the talks.
“They want to go offensive,” Trump said of Kyiv earlier this week. “I’ll make a determination on that.”
The long-range weapons would give Ukraine the ability to strike deep inside Russia, and Zelenskyy described them as a difference-maker in a conflict that has dragged three-and-a-half years. Moscow, though, warned that Tomahawk deliveries would mark “a dangerous escalation of relations between Russia and the United States.”
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a long phone call on Thursday, one day before his in-person meeting with Zelenskyy. In a surprise development, Trump announced he and Putin plan to meet again (this time in Budapest) to discuss the war after initial discussions among high-level advisers next week.
Trump said he would be telling Zelenskyy on Friday what he and Putin discussed in the call.
The president said he talked with Putin “a little bit” about Tomahawks in their two-hour conversation. He said he asked the Russian president how he would feel if he sold them to Ukraine. “He didn’t like the idea,” Trump said.
Trump also expressed concern about depleting the U.S. supply of Tomahawks.
“They’re very vital. They’re very powerful. They’re very accurate. They’re very good. But we need them too. So, I don’t know what we can do about that,” Trump told reporters as he took questions during an Oval Office event.
This latest diplomatic push comes nearly two months after Trump hosted Putin in Alaska for a high-profile summit that ultimately yielded no major breakthrough. Days later, Trump welcomed Zelenskyy to the White House as well as a delegation of European leaders who rushed to Washington to support the Ukrainian leader after an extraordinarily tense scene between Zelenskyy, Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office back in February.
Trump, who once said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war immediately upon his return to office, has lamented that the conflict is more difficult to bring to a close than he anticipated.
“This is a terrible relationship, the two of them have. … Because of my relationship with President Putin, I thought this would be very quick. And it has turned out to be — who would think I did the Middle East before I did this?”
In Alaska, Trump’s immediate goal was to set up a trilateral meeting with himself, Putin and Zelenskyy, or a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. Those meetings never occurred.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, after Trump announced he planned to meet Putin again in Hungary, asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt if the president still believed he could get Putin and Zelenskyy in the same room.
“I think he thinks it’s possible, and he would, of course, love to see that happen,” Leavitt said. “But right now, there were discussions and plans are now being made for the Russian side and our folks, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to meet and then for President Putin and President Trump to perhaps meet again. But I don’t think the president has closed the door on that at all.”
Meanwhile, Russia continues to bombard Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, firing more than 300 drones and about three dozen missiles at targets throughout Ukraine overnight into Thursday.
Zelenskyy, landing in Washington on Thursday, said he hopes “that the momentum of curbing terror and war, which worked in the Middle East, will help end the Russian war against Ukraine.”
“Putin is definitely not braver than HAMAS or any other terrorist. The language of force and justice will definitely work against Russia as well. We already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue, just hearing about ‘Tomahawks,'” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.
Zelenskyy met with American defense and energy companies on Thursday ahead of his Friday meeting at the White House.
Trump at times blamed Russia’s invasion on Ukraine and Zelenskyy, though has recently expressed frustration and disappointment with Putin. This week, he said “all we want from President Putin” is to stop the killing of Ukrainians and Russians.
“It doesn’t make him look good. It’s a war that he should have won in one week and he’s now going into his fourth year,” the president said on Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in remarks at a NATO gathering this week, also ramped up rhetoric against Russia, notably calling Moscow the aggressor.
“If this war does not end, if there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States, along with our allies, will take the steps necessary to impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression,” Hegseth said. “If we must take this step, the U.S. War Department stands ready to do our part in ways that only the United States can do.”
But so far, Trump and his administration has held back from imposing tougher sanctions on Russia. Instead, he’s focused on getting European countries and nations like India to stop purchasing Russian oil.
On Capitol Hill, there are growing calls among Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — to proceed with a bill that would put economic penalties on Russia.
Asked what he thought about those efforts on Thursday, Trump was noncommittal: “Well, we’re going to see.”
John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Trump, arrives home as the FBI searches his house August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. The FBI conducted a court-authorized search of Bolton’s home. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Maryland, charges Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors accuse Bolton of using a non-government personal email account and messaging application to transmit at least eight documents to unauthorized individuals that contained information classified at levels ranging from Secret to Top Secret.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September of 2019.
“For four decades, I have devoted my life to America’s foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals,” Bolton said in a lengthy statement, saying the indictment is part of a pattern of “Donald Trump’s retribution” against him since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all book.
“I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power,” Bolton said in the statement.
The move to indict Bolton comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James as President Donald Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.
Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office, related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
Prosecutors say one document listed in the indictment “reveals intelligence about future attack by adversarial group in another country.” Others allegedly contain information about foreign partners sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community; intelligence related to a foreign adversary’s missile launch plans; intelligence on leaders of a U.S. adversary; and one that detailed plans of covert action by the U.S. government.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s relatives.
Sources told ABC News that the relatives referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter.
Bolton’s wife was present at their home the day the search was executed nearly two months ago.
It was not immediately clear which is believed to be Individual 1 or 2.
Prosecutors further allege that Bolton unlawfully retained documents, writing and notes containing national defense information ranging to levels of Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information at his home in Maryland, stored both as paper files and on a number of personal devices.
The indictment says that at some point after Bolton left office as national security adviser, a cyber actor believed to be associated with Iran hacked his personal email account and gained access to the classified information he had previously emailed to his relatives.
What Bolton and his attorneys say
Bolton has denied ever unlawfully removing classified materials from his time in government and has said no such information was published in his 2020 memoir “The Room Where It Happened.”
In his statement on Thursday, Bolton said his book was “reviewed and approved by the appropriate, experienced career clearance officials.”
Regarding the 2021 email hack, Bolton said the FBI “was made fully aware.”
“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct,” Bolton said in the statement, referring to Trump. “Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom.”
Bolton’s attorneys have denied he ever mishandled classified information and said documents investigators found in their search of his home and residence were no longer considered classified.
“The underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago,” Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “These charges stem from portions of Amb. Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career — records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021. We look forward to proving once again that Amb. Bolton did not unlawfully share or store any information.”
“There is one tier of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a DOJ statement announcing the indictment. “Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
The 10 documents the indictment says were unlawfully retained by Bolton were allegedly seized during the searches of his home and office in August, and contained similar information to the documents Bolton is alleged to have unlawfully transmitted during his time as national security adviser.
The investigation is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland, unlike the Comey and James probes which are being conducted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, who sources say brought the Comey and James charges against the advice of career prosecutors.
Comey, who was indicted on charges of lying to Congress, and James, who is charged with mortgage fraud, have both denied wrongdoing.
Last month, a federal judge unsealed a redacted version of the affidavit that had been assembled by prosecutors in order to execute their court-authorized search of Bolton’s home. Most of the document concerned allegations surrounding the publication of Bolton’s book, which the first Trump administration unsuccessfully sued to block.
The federal judge overseeing that lawsuit expressed grave concerns over whether Bolton had included highly classified information in his book that could potentially compromise national security.
On the day that Bolton’s home and office were searched, Trump said that he was “unaware” of the searches but went on to call Bolton a “sleazebag.” Referencing the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago home in his own classified documents case, Trump told reporters that having your home searched is “not a good feeling.”
Trump pleaded not guilty in June 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
After Trump was reelected president last November, the case was dropped due to a long-standing Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump, asked about Bolton in a June 2022 Oval Office interview with Fox News, said, “He took classified information and he published it, during a presidency. It’s one thing to write a book after. During. And I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail for that, and that probably, possibly will happen. That’s what should happen.”
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel provided an update on the Trump administration’s progress in reducing violent crime. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced a deal on Thursday between his administration and pharmaceutical company EMD Serono to reduce the cost of some fertility medications.
Senior administration officials have said this deal will help millions of American women struggling to conceive with their ability to afford the expensive treatment.
Trump pledged to expand IVF access for Americans struggling to start families — making it a point of his presidential campaign. In February, he signed an executive order looking into how to lower costs and reduce barriers to IVF.
This deal “delivers on the president’s pledge,” an official said.
“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for couples to have babies, raise children and start the families they’ve always dreamed out,” Trump said during an announcement from the Oval Office.
Trump said EMD Serono, the largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world, has agreed to provide discounts for the cost of fertility drugs the company sells in the U.S., including its most popular, Gonal-f, which treats infertility in women and men.
Officials told ABC News a fertility drug typically costs between $5,000 and $6,000 per cycle, the officials said, and only about 30% of families have access to some sort of employer-based coverage.
Trump said EMD Serono will list its fertility drugs online at “very, very heavily reduced prices.”
“We’re pleased to announce that, depending on the patient’s income, the cost of drugs for a standard IVF cycle of infertility will decrease somewhere between 42 and 79% for families,” an official said, and “based on the results of this negotiation.”
The official said those drugs will be available in early 2026.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated the cost for a single cycle of IVF can range from $15,000 to $20,000, and can surpass $30,000 if a donor egg is involved.
The average number of cycles needed to become pregnant from IVF is 2.5, meaning the average cost of IVF to conceive successfully can exceed $40,000, according to the HHS.
In May, Trump signed an executive order to pressure companies to only charge U.S. patients the same rate as they charge in other countries, an effort called “most favored nation” pricing.
This kicked off a monthslong campaign to pressure pharmaceutical companies to drop their prices voluntarily, without regulation.
The White House also said that the two specialty pharmacies that account for more than 80% of the distribution of the drug — CVS Specialty Pharmacy and Express Scripts Freedom Fertility Pharmacy — told the administration they would “materially reduce their expenses associated with the handling of this drug, while still ensuring access to all families who wish to use it.”
