U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 23, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to visit the U.N. General Assembly next week, where he will address the international organization and meet with global leaders, according to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz.
Trump will address the assembly on Tuesday and then have meetings with global leaders, Waltz said. Most notably, the president will meet face-to-face with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in a pull-aside meeting.
It will be the first time that the leaders will meet since the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured then-President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year. It also comes weeks after Trump announced that the U.S. and Venezuela reached a deal that he said would give the U.S. majority control of billions of barrels of oil reserves in the Caribbean country.
Other leaders Trump will meet with include United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and, in a multilateral meeting, the leaders of Gulf countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to Waltz.
On Trump’s meeting with the Gulf leaders, a senior administration official told reporters that the president will hear concerns from Gulf countries about the Iran war directly.
“In one way or another, we expect the Iranian regime to abandon its pursuit of a nuclear weapon, so I think just continuing to have that engagement and that diplomacy with our Gulf partners in that meeting will be incredibly important,” the senior administration official said. “But also, as you all know, the president truly values hearing from them and hearing their concerns. His engagement with them is ongoing and important, but hearing from them as a group will be incredibly important.”
The official said Iran would be a “key topic” in Trump’s conversations at the General Assembly.
Trump’s address to the U.N. on Tuesday will highlight how his administration has “confronted complex problems head-on,” Waltz said.
“We expect the president will highlight how he has, in his administration … confronted complex problems head-on around the world, many of the peace deals that he has driven to conclusion or is in the process of driving to conclusion,” Waltz told reporters.
“He will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, which is not only demanded by the United States, has been demanded by the U.N. Security Council and repeated resolutions, and he’ll talk about some of the United States’ accomplishments in over the past year, since the last time he was here, including in the Western Hemisphere, progress on the president’s 20-point peace plan in Gaza, and more,” Waltz added.
During his hourlong address at the General Assembly last year, Trump lambasted the leaders gathered in the conference hall, saying, “Your countries are going to hell,” while touting the work of his administration.
The president also accused the U.N. of not living up to its promise.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked. “It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to members of the media outside the U.S. Capitol on June 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. Sen. Schumer blasted President Trump’s new agreement with Iran, calling it an “epic failure” that keeps Americans in the dark due to a lack of transparency while leaving the U.S. in a worse strategic and security position. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose home state has been the target of many of the administration’s election challenges, told reporters Thursday, “If the president declares Georgia’s elections illegitimate, or if the president declares Georgia’s sitting United States senators illegitimate, he is declaring Georgia voters illegitimate. It’s Donald Trump who tried to defraud Georgia voters in that election.”
Ossoff is up for re-election in November and his seat is being targeted by Republicans as a possible pickup opportunity. He predicted that Trump would use his speech to rehash challenges to the 2020 election that failed in court.
“Here’s what’s going to happen tonight: the world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country,” Ossoff said.
In a White House briefing Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was tight-lipped about what the president would say besides that he will discuss “protecting the integrity of our elections.”
When pressed by a reporter about concerns from some Republicans that the president was litigating past elections that could turn off some swing voters, Leavitt said that Trump would focus on secure elections as key to American democracy.
“I’ve seen a lot of reporting and, frankly, misreporting about what the president will say. I think the American people will be relieved to hear what they are hearing from the president of the United States and his commitment to transparency and the focus on the integrity of our elections tonight,” she said.
When later pressed by ABC News’ Rachel Scott about the political concerns of some Republicans, Leavitt said only that people should wait until they’ve heard the speech.
Outgoing Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn and Rep. Thomas Massie said Trump looking back on the 2020 elections is not a productive message for the party as it heads into the upcoming midterm cycle.
Asked if he thought Trump focusing on the 2020 election going into the midterms was a good messages for Republicans, Tillis said, “No, not at all. Look, we can’t re-prosecute that campaign. Anytime you’re looking back, you’re not looking ahead and I’m looking ahead to these elections, and the president should as well.”
Massie said that the White House was “trying to convince the American people the problem is the elections” rather than other issues they are concerned about.
“The problem is not that we didn’t win the elections. The problem is that we broke our promises when we got here … So, it’s a ruse because they’re trying to convince the American people the problem is the elections. The problem is the people that they’ve elected.”
Cornyn said that he wasn’t pleased with Jay Clayton’s answers on the 2020 election during his Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing to be Trump’s director of national intelligence on Tuesday when he refused to answer who won.
“I thought a lot of it was pretty silly,” Cornyn said of Clayton’s performance. “I don’t know why we’re still talking about the 2020 election on either side of the aisle. We got important work to do and I think the most important is coming up here in the midterms. “In the meantime, to continue to do the people’s work, and when we’re talking about what happened six years ago, I don’t think we’re doing them any favors.”
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said Trump’s speech could influence how he votes on Clayton.
“If Donald Trump does what I expect and makes outrageous claims and uses those claims as an attempt to interfere in the elections, boy oh boy, more than ever do you need somebody in that role that’ll take truth to power,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Trump is “scared to death that he will lose in 2026” and is trying to change the subject.
“The bottom line is, if Trump wants to win the American people over, instead of the bulls— that he’s peddling about 2020, he ought to focus on lowering people’s costs, getting rid of the chaos in administration, getting rid of the corruption,” Schumer said.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
Melat Kiros participated in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old attorney and democratic socialist, will win the Democratic primary for U.S. House in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, the Associated Press projected, triumphing over longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette and notching another win for the left wing of the Democratic Party over established incumbents.
Kiros’ projected win is a stunning victory for a political newcomer and yet another apparent sign of Democratic voter discontent with incumbents, just a week after three insurgent candidates triumphed against incumbent or incumbent-backed candidates in New York City congressional races.
The primary challenger, who was fired from her law firm in 2023 after writing an open letter criticizing her employers’ response to pro-Palestinian protests, campaigned on channeling voters’ anger with the political system; her campaign also tapped into the strength of local and national branches of the Democratic Socialists of America.
DeGette, who has served in the House for around three decades, had argued that her experience, including in leadership roles during President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, made her effective at pushing back against the Trump administration.
Kiros will face Republican nominee Christie Peterson, an accountant, who was uncontested in the GOP primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat, which is based around Denver, as solidly Democratic.
Another victory for progressive wing in gubernatorial primary
The Associated Press also projected on Tuesday night that Attorney General Phil Weiser will win the Democratic primary for governor in Colorado, triumphing against Sen. Michael Bennet.
The results could potentially be seen as another sign of Democratic voters’ dissatisfaction with Washington and incumbents in Congress, even though the race was technically for a state position.
Weiser, who served in the Obama administration and as Colorado’s attorney general since 2019, had positioned himself as the insurgent in the race against Bennet, linking the longtime senator to Washington and gridlock in Congress. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is term-limited.
But there was better news for another congressman from Colorado. The Associated Press projected Tuesday night that incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper will win the Democratic primary for Senate in Colorado, putting him on a glide path back to Congress as he runs for a second term.
Hickenlooper triumphed over a primary challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who ran a progressive campaign and notched the endorsement of left-leaning organizations.
Inside the Melat-DeGette race
Still, most of the attention was focused on the 1st Congressional District.
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Kiros told ABC News she hoped to build on the movement’s momentum from last Tuesday in New York.
“Ultimately, folks are really tired of the party failing to meaningfully represent the values and policies that are extremely popular with our base,” she said. “And we’re looking for leaders that are unbought and unafraid to stand up to a lot of these corporations and special interests that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.”
Kiros has also been outspoken about criticism of Israel and its conduct in Gaza, another issue that has divided Democrats and played a major role in the New York primaries. She recently faced some pushback for not calling the June 2025 firebombing in Boulder, Colorado, of on a group of demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages antisemitic, although she condemned the violence and said she is committed to combatting antisemitism.
Kiros told ABC News on Monday that the attack was “a horrific attack on a group of Jewish people that were just engaging in peaceful protest,” and said that she is committed to combatting hate in all forms, including antisemitism; that responsibility also includes “making sure that we are rejecting this conflation of the state of Israel’s actions with Judaism and with the Jewish people, and making sure that we are preventing that kind of conflation from leading to the kind of horrific attacks that a lot of Jewish people are afraid of.”
While Kiros netted the endorsement of progressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, and some left-leaning groups, the race did not break down evenly along ideological fault lines.
DeGette is a leading member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who has led Democratic messaging on abortion rights and served as a House impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Unlike some incumbent Democrats facing primaries, she has criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and voted against additional U.S. military aid to Israel.
“Denver knows I don’t back down. That’s why I’m taking on Donald Trump to protect our reproductive freedom, abolish ICE, and pass Medicare for All. Together we’ll win and deliver on our progressive values,” DeGette said in a statement to ABC News before the primary.
In a recent interview with ABC affiliate KMGH-TV, DeGette argued that her time in Congress was an asset to her constituents.
But that long record also made her a target for frustrated progressives, who sense momentum after democratic socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez defeated establishment-backed Democrats in two New York City primaries — including the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — last week, with the help of democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“They see Melat as someone who has put up a fight — not just against Republican fascism, but also against the Democratic establishment that has failed voters,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, told ABC News.
The group helped Kiros and her allies knock on tens of thousands of doors and make more than 200,000 calls to potential voters since last week, according to the Justice Democrats.
DeGette’s record “is very progressive, and she’s not a moderate,” Doug Friednash, an attorney who was chief of staff to Hickenlooper, told ABC News. “A lot of young voters are demanding change … they look at rising health care costs, gas prices, and there’s a view that the establishment hasn’t done enough.”
Elsewhere, in Colorado’s 8th District, a battleground seat currently held by a Republican, Democrat Manny Rutinel, a 31-year-old state representative, was projected by the Associated Press to win the primary for the Democratic nomination against former state lawmaker Shannon Bird.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche attends a Cabinet Meeting at Camp Davaid, the presidential retreat, July 31, 2026, in Camp David, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Under pressure from two Republican senators blocking his confirmation as the next attorney general, Todd Blanche said he is formally rescinding his establishment of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
Blanche posted two separate orders on X Sunday night, one rescinding the nearly $1.8 billion fund, as well as another clarifying language regarding the scope of an arrangement that had shielded Trump from facing further IRS audits of his past tax returns.
As part of Trump’s settlement with the IRS in his $10 billion lawsuit against the agency, the DOJ issued an addendum, signed by Blanche in his role as acting attorney general, that would bar the government from continuing any existing audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family and their companies.
Cornyn said Thursday that he doesn’t need the DOJ to modify the language of the settlement, but that he wants written documentation that the settlement won’t provide tax audit immunity that extends to affiliated organizations for Trump and his family that weren’t part of the lawsuit.
Blanche’s post on Sunday is a signal that he had secured approval from Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who had been key holdouts on his nomination. The GOP senators had been working behind closed doors and in private talks with Blanche and his team to craft statements they’d find acceptable to alter the language of the controversial settlement.
“Sen. Cornyn has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice, which will be issuing a formal order permanently terminating the anti-weaponization fund and making clear in a binding written document that the scope of the audit settlement is limited to only the plaintiffs, including the President, and the IRS,” Cornyn spokesperson Natalie Yezbick said in a statement late on Sunday.
Some legal experts and even MAGA supporters of the fund, however, have already begun questioning whether it precludes DOJ from giving mass payouts to pro-Trump rioters or the clarification that Cornyn had initially sought to the IRS immunity clause.
The order dealing with IRS immunity notably states that DOJ would interpret the order to mean that it only applies to plaintiffs in Trump and his son’s initial $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS — but that interpretation doesn’t appear to be similarly binding on Trump’s personal lawyers or his family.
And some previous vocal supporters of the so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” are already cheering on the language of the order rescinding it — noting that there’s nothing specifically barring DOJ from payouts to pro-Trump supporters who may have attacked police during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Blanche’s orders on Sunday come after Trump floated the possibility of temporarily withdrawing Blanche’s nomination to permanently lead the Department of Justice because of the resistance from the two outgoing Republican senators.
Both senators’ terms will end in January. Cornyn lost a primary battle in Texas earlier this year after Trump endorsed his opponent, Ken Paxton. Tillis announced last year he would not seek reelection after Trump threatened to field primary challengers.
Withdrawing Blanche’s nomination is a decision that would have no consequence in terms of Blanche leading the DOJ.
Blanche can continue to serve as acting attorney general. Acting department officials can serve in the role for 210 days, according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — however, that resets if a nomination is withdrawn.
