Category: Politics

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met in the Oval Office Friday discussing topics around affordability and safety in New York City, appearing cordial despite trading barbs for months.

“I just want to congratulate. I think you’re going to have hopefully a really great mayor and the better he does, the happier I am. I will say there’s no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything. And we’re going to be helping him, to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York and congratulations, Mr. Mayor,” Trump said.

“It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

In the days leading up to their first face-to-face meeting, the two New Yorkers told the press they are looking forward to working together to help the Big Apple, especially when it came to affordability. Trump and Mamdani appeared cordial and shook hands after the 25 minute closed door talk and said they agreed on a lot.

“I’m not concerned about this meeting. I view this meeting as an opportunity for me to make my case,” Mamdani told reporters Thursday at a news conference.

Trump announced the meeting on Wednesday night on social media, repeating the “communist” label he’s been using against Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialist group, and putting his middle name, Kwame, in quotes.

In a radio interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade out Friday before the meeting, Trump said he believes the meeting will go well and that he came after Mamdani a little too hard during the election cycle.

“He’s got a different philosophy. He’s a little bit different. I give him a lot of credit for the run. They did a successful run, and we all know that runs are not easy, but I think we’ll get along fine,” Trump said. “Look, we’re looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong, and you know, there’s such a different philosophy”

Ahead of the meeting, Robert Wolf, a former UBS executive who is close with former President Barack Obama, said on X that he had a Zoom call with Mamdani Thursday “discussing recent economic news and his upcoming meeting with President Trump.”

Mamdani has been a vocal critic of the administration over its policies, including increased deportations, cuts to government agencies and attacks on cities run by Democrats.

On election night, the 34-year-old mayor-elect spoke directly to Trump in his acceptance speech and told him to “turn the volume up,” as he vowed to protect immigrants.

“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.

When asked about the election night comments during his radio interview.

“I don’t know exactly what he means by turn the volume up, because turn the volume up. He has to be careful when he says that to me,” Trump said.

Since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary, Trump has spoken out against the state assemblyman, at one point threatening to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.

“We’re going to be watching that very carefully. And a lot of people are saying, he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed with no evidence in July.

The president has also threatened to withhold federal funding to New York if Mamdani won the election.

Mamdani’s critics have raised skepticism about his proposals, calling them far-fetched and improbable, as some would require state approval. He has also come under fire for his past comments criticizing the NYPD and Israeli government actions in the Gaza conflict.

The mayor-elect has apologized for his comments against the department and vowed to fight for Jewish New Yorkers, while still being critical of the Israeli government’s polices during the conflict.

Mamdani has also repeatedly brushed aside the threats and said he will continue to speak out against the administration’s conservative policies.

“His threats are inevitable,” Mamdani told ABC News a day after the election. “This has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with intimidation.”

At the same time, Mamdani has said he was open to talking with Trump, especially when it comes to affordability issues, noting that Trump won his re-election promising to bring down rising prices.

“I have many disagreements with the president. I intend to make it clear that I will work with him,” Mamdani said Thursday.

The mayor-elect won the election on a campaign to help New Yorkers with costs, with proposals such as raising the income tax on New Yorkers who earn over a million dollars a year, providing free child care to parents with kids as early as six weeks old, and free public buses.

Following Mamdani’s victory and other key wins by Democrats, Trump has said in social media posts and news conferences that he and the Republicans are the party working to lower costs.

 “We’re fighting for an economy where everyone can win, from the cashier starting first job to a franchisee opening his first location to the young family in a drive through line,” he told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Monday.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Tonya Simpson contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Several Democrats accused by President Donald Trump of “seditious behavior” defended their message to military members that they can refuse illegal order. The president and administration officials suggested the action could be punishable by law.

The video featuring six Democrats who served in the military or in the intelligence community set off more than a dozen social media posts by Trump, who called them “traitors” and said their action could be “punishable by death.”

“I think it’s important to say that there is nothing more American than standing up for the Constitution, that’s what we were doing. President didn’t like it, so now he calls for us to be hanged,” Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” on Thursday night.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, on MS NOW, said the message to military members was “chapter and verse” from the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“I think his reaction is just characteristic of a political system that no one is proud of right now,” she said.

The president, appearing on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Friday, continued to lash out at the lawmakers.

“These are bad people. These are people that, in my opinion, broke the law. Now, what happens to them? I can’t tell you, but they broke the law,” Trump said.

But after some bipartisan backlash to his comments about the death penalty, Trump softened somewhat.

“I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death … That was seditious behavior, that was a big deal. You know, nothing’s a big deal, today’s a different world,” he said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday was forced to clarify to reporters on Thursday that “no,” Trump does not want to execute members of Congress.

But Leavitt called the video by Democrats “dangerous,” and falsely characterized Democrats of encouraging military members “to defy the president’s lawful orders.”

“It perhaps is punishable by law. I’m not a lawyer. I’ll leave that to the Department of Justice and the Department of War to decide,” Leavitt said.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in an appearance on “Hannity” on Fox News on Wednesday, said he wanted to know why the lawmakers released the video.

“What is the reason that they all went on a video and encouraged young men and women to defy court orders without even giving a hint of what’s illegal, without even giving any suggestion of what law or what order they’re being asked to violate. You cannot do that in this country, especially if you’re a leader,” Blanche said.

“So what does the investigation look like? I think they should be held to account. I think that those congressmen should be required to answer questions and to answer questions about why they did what they did. And the American people deserve that, and so does President Trump,” he added.

When pressed if an investigation was underway, the deputy attorney general responded: “Look, we don’t, Sean, you know we don’t talk about investigations.”

In the video, which was released on Tuesday, none of the Democrats mentioned any specific illegal orders given to service members. It’s not clear whether service members have been asked to break the law.

Both Kelly and Slotkin, when asked why they felt the need to share the video message, pointed to recent administration actions that have raised legal challenges, including lethal strikes against alleged drug boats in Latin America and the deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities.

“He has talked about sending troops into more U.S. cities, he’s talked about invoking the Insurrection Act,” Kelly told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

“All of us had been getting outrage from folks in uniform, folks in the intelligence community saying like, ‘Hey, we’re really concerned,'” Slotkin said on MS NOW. “‘You know, I’m being deployed to a city or, you know, inside the United States, or I’m being asked to conduct strikes in the Mediterranean. And I don’t understand … like how this is legal?'”

Slotkin corrected that she meant strikes in the Caribbean Sea, where dozens of people have been killed in strikes the administration says is part of its “war” against drug cartels in the region.

The administration has defended the legality of the boat strikes and the use of National Guard troops in American cities, including Washington and Los Angeles.

“They’re suggesting … that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander in chief and through this chain of command, through the secretary of war, is lawful,” Leavitt said on Thursday.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As of Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government will be added to the U.S. State Department’s list of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations.

Declaring Maduro the head of a foreign terrorist organization — instead of a corrupt dictatorial regime, as the U.S. government has regarded him for years — is an unprecedented move that President Donald Trump insists gives him the authority to strike inside Venezuela, as some outside experts question his rationale.

What happens next is far from clear, in part because Trump hasn’t said what he wants to happen. When asked by a reporter at an Oval Office press conference on Nov. 17 what Maduro could do to placate the U.S., Trump called it a “tricky” question.

But some experts said that forcing Maduro from power without a long-term plan could leave a power vacuum, potentially giving way to violence and chaos.

“Any post-Maduro government will live or die based on the amount of security cooperation the United States is willing to provide,” said Henry Ziemer, an associate fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC News.

Here are three things to know about what could happen next:

Trump could use military strikes inside Venezuela and force Maduro to flee.

After weeks of lethal military strikes on suspected drug vessels, the State Department this week told Congress that Maduro wasn’t just a foreign leader but the head of “Cartel de los Soles.”

Experts told ABC News the term, which translates to “Cartel of the Suns,” is a general reference to corrupt Venezuelan officials, including those involved in the drug trade. The Cartel de los Soles has not been listed on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s annual National Drug Threat Assessment or in the United Nation’s World Drug Report.

The designation becomes official on Monday following a seven-day notice period to lawmakers, putting Maduro on the same list as terror networks like al-Qaida and the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. Maduro denies the allegation, instead calling for diplomacy.

Trump suggested the label gives him the authority to launch strikes, although legal experts told ABC News that claim is dubious. According to the Congressional Research Service, the list primarily serves “the purpose of imposing financial sanctions, immigration restrictions, or other penalties in pursuit of law enforcement or national security goals.”

In an interview with the right-wing One America News Network, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth insisted the decision was about giving the president greater military options.

“Nothing’s off the table, but nothing’s automatically on the table,” he said.

Maduro could placate Trump, but there’s no clear path for that.

While labeling Maduro a terrorist leader, Trump also said he’s open to negotiations. But when asked if Maduro could do anything to get Trump to back down, the president wasn’t clear.

“You know, the question’s a little bit tricky,” Trump said Nov. 17 in the Oval Office. “I don’t think it was meant to be tricky. It’s just that, look, he’s done tremendous damage of our country, primarily because of drugs,” and “the release of prisoners into our country has been a disaster.”

Some U.N. officials and regional experts said that Venezuela facilitates and profits off the drug trade, but that drug smuggling routes in the Caribbean are primarily headed for Europe. The majority of drugs coming into the U.S. enter through Mexico and legal ports of entry, they say.

Maduro has denied profiting from the drug trade.

Some independent experts also said Trump’s claim that Venezuela is emptying its prisons and sending people with mental illnesses to the U.S. is not supported by evidence. According to the Migration Policy Institute, some 770,000 Venezuelan immigrants live in the United States — the vast majority arriving after fleeing Maduro’s authoritarian regime and the ongoing economic crisis there.

Trump’s endgame makes more sense when you consider the bigger picture, some conservatives say. The U.S. has long seen Maduro as a source of chaos and instability in the region, but has not been willing to try to force a change.

“I think what we’re doing sends a message to leaders across the hemisphere about the U.S. being very serious about protecting the American people against these narco threats and the weaponization of these illicit activities and criminal activities,” Andres Martinez-Fernandez, senior policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security, told ABC News.

“I do think you’re starting to see. … other governments in the region that are more forward-leaning and more aligned with the United States,” he said.

US strikes could trigger chaos inside Venezuela, experts warn.

David Smolansky, who is deputy director of international affairs for the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, told ABC News that the opposition, which is in exile, is ready to “provide Venezuelans an orderly and democratic transition.”

“What we are focused on is to be ready when the transition begins,” he said, citing the 2024 election of Edmundo Gonzalez with 67% of the vote. “We’ve been ready for a while.”

A new Venezuelan government, though, would inherit serious immediate challenges. Analysts said a new government would need security, help in reforming Venezuela’s armed forces and intelligence support from the U.S.

Zeimer said one major challenge would be convincing people throughout the Venezuelan government that they will be safe without Maduro. And part of their calculation will be how successful a new regime could be.

“Maduro is nothing if not wily and adaptable,” Zeimer said. “He’s been able, time after time, to get the United States to negotiate, and use negotiations, basically as a way to release the pressure and commit to things that he has no plans on following through with and hang on to power.”

“I think he is still definitely trying to do that,” he added. “It is telling that he’s yet to flee.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Friday will mark the first time that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump will meet face to face following a war of words between the two leaders throughout Mamdani’s campaign and election.

And while Trump announced the meeting with an insult against the progressive Democrat’s policies, Mamdani has maintained that he is looking forward to the White House meeting to discuss his agenda, including tackling a “national crisis of affordability.”

“I’m not concerned about this meeting. I view this meeting as an opportunity for me to make my case,” Mamdani told reporters Thursday at a news conference.

Trump announced the meeting on Wednesday night on social media, repeating the “communist” label he’s been using against Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialist group, and putting his middle name, Kwame, in quotes.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he was going to “work something out,” and meet with the mayor-elect in Washington.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” he told reporters.

Ahead of the meeting, Robert Wolf, a former UBS executive who is close with former President Barack Obama, said on X that he had a Zoom call with Mamdani Thursday “discussing recent economic news and his upcoming meeting with President Trump.”

Mamdani has been a vocal critic of the administration over its policies, including increased deportations, cuts to government agencies and attacks on cities run by Democrats.

On election night, the 34-year-old mayor-elect spoke directly to Trump in his acceptance speech and told him to “turn the volume up,” as he vowed to protect immigrants.

“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.

Since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary, Trump has spoken out against the state assemblyman, at one point threatening to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.

“We’re going to be watching that very carefully. And a lot of people are saying, he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed with no evidence in July.

The president has also threatened to withhold federal funding to New York if Mamdani won the election.

Mamdani’s critics have raised skepticism about his proposals, calling them far-fetched and improbable, as some would require state approval. He has also come under fire for his past comments criticizing the NYPD and Israeli government actions in the Gaza conflict.

The mayor-elect has apologized for his comments against the department and vowed to fight for Jewish New Yorkers, while still being critical of the Israeli government’s polices during the conflict.

Mamdani has also repeatedly brushed aside the threats and said he will continue to speak out against the administration’s conservative policies.

“His threats are inevitable,” Mamdani told ABC News a day after the election. “This has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with intimidation.”

At the same time, Mamdani has said he was open to talking with Trump, especially when it comes to affordability issues, noting that Trump won his re-election promising to bring down rising prices.

“I have many disagreements with the president. I intend to make it clear that I will work with him,” Mamdani said Thursday.

The mayor-elect won the election on a campaign to help New Yorkers with costs, with proposals such as raising the income tax on New Yorkers who earn over a million dollars a year, providing free child care to parents with kids as early as six weeks old, and free public buses.

Following Mamdani’s victory and other key wins by Democrats, Trump has said in social media posts and news conferences that he and the Republicans are the party working to lower costs.

 “We’re fighting for an economy where everyone can win, from the cashier starting first job to a franchisee opening his first location to the young family in a drive through line,” he told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Monday.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Tonya Simpson contributed to this report

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday called several Democratic veterans and national security specialists “traitors” who should face the death penalty for releasing a joint video where they said that U.S. service members could refuse illegal orders — a move that has prompted some lawmakers to call the president’s rhetoric “dangerous” and “a threat.”

“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???,” Trump wrote on social media Thursday morning.

Trump also reshared a social media post responding to the Washington Examiner’s article about the Democrats, calling for them to be hanged. 

In another post, the president said “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

In the video directed at military members, Democrats — including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly — said that military service members can refuse illegal orders.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the congressional Democrats said in the video posted Tuesday.

“The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from aboard, but from right here right at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” the group continued. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

None of the Democrats mentioned any specific illegal orders given to service members. It’s not clear whether service members have been asked to break the law.

ABC News has asked these lawmakers to clarify the orders in question.

The language in the video is similar to what is said in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which states that service members are required to follow lawful orders, but can be prosecuted for following unlawful orders.

The Democrats who appeared in the video released a joint statement Thursday following Trump’s comments.

“What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty,” the Democrats said in the statement.

“But this isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.”

Asked if Trump wants to execute members of Congress, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president did not — adding that the Democrats in the video are “encouraging [service members] to defy the president’s lawful orders.”

“Let’s be clear about what the president is responding to, because many in this room want to talk about the president’s response but not what brought the president to responding in this way. You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military to active-duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders,” Leavitt said during Thursday’s press briefing.

While the president has suggested this behavior by Democrats may be punishable by death, Leavitt said it may be “punishable by law.” She said the Democrats “knew exactly what they were doing” with their message.

“To signal to people serving under this commander in chief, Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can betray your oath of office, that is a very, very dangerous message. And it perhaps is punishable by law. I’m not a lawyer. I’ll leave that to the Department of Justice and the Department of War to decide.”

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric in his social media posts “makes political violence more likely” and called for Trump to be condemned for his posts.

“Let’s be crystal clear, the president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials. This is a threat, and it’s deadly serious,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We have already seen what happens when Donald Trump tells his followers that his political opponents are enemies of the state. Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely.”

Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric could be dangerous in a political contentious environment.

“He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline, every senator, every representative, every American, regardless of party, should condemn this immediately, without qualification, because if we don’t draw a line here, there is no line left to draw,” Schumer said.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul also said rhetoric like this could be dangerous.

“I don’t think it’s a really — a good idea to talk about jailing your political opponents or hanging them or whatever else. I think we have political disagreements and we need to work them out in a political way,” Paul said. 

Paul warned the rhetoric in Trump’s posts could inspire violence.

“That kind of rhetoric isn’t good and it stirs up people among us who may not be stable who may think well ‘traitors,’ what do we do with traitors? It’s the death penalty. Maybe I’ll just take matters into my own hands, which is not something we should be encouraging,” Paul said.

House Democratic leaders on Thursday issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s posts on social media, calling on him to delete them “before he gets someone killed.”

“We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous death threats against Members of Congress and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same,” said the statement signed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed Trump’s social media comments, telling reporters Thursday that the president did not make a call to incite violence.

“He’s defining a crime,” Johnson said. “He, I’m sure, acknowledges that the attorneys have to figure all that out.”

A reporter pressed the speaker that Trump’s statement contended it was punishable by death.

“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” Johnson said. “That is a factual statement. But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that.”

Johnson criticized the Democrats involved in the video, calling it a “wildly inappropriate thing for so-called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine combat veteran, slammed Trump’s comments, telling ABC News that the president “doesn’t understand the military.”

“He thinks the military is one of his personal little play toys,” said Gallego, who was not in the Democrats’ video. “He, for some reason, thinks that men and women upholding their oath is a contradiction to him as commander in chief — which, again, tells you he doesn’t really understand his role.”

ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Michelle Stoddart, Justin Gomez, Anne Flaherty, Devin Dwyer, Isabella Murray and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Friday will mark the first time that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump will meet face to face following a war of words between the two leaders throughout Mamdani’s campaign and election.

And while Trump announced the meeting with an insult against the progressive Democrat’s policies, Mamdani has maintained that he is looking forward to the White House meeting to discuss his agenda, including tackling a “national crisis of affordability.”

“I’m not concerned about this meeting. I view this meeting as an opportunity for me to make my case,” Mamdani told reporters Thursday at a news conference.

Trump announced the meeting on Wednesday night on social media, repeating the “communist” label he’s been using against Mamdani, who is a member of the Democratic Socialist group, and putting his middle name, Kwame, in quotes.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he was going to “work something out,” and meet with the mayor-elect in Washington.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” he told reporters.

Mamdani has been a vocal critic of the administration over its policies, including increased deportations, cuts to government agencies and attacks on cities run by Democrats.

On election night, the 34-year-old mayor-elect spoke directly to Trump in his acceptance speech and told him to “turn the volume up,” as he vowed to protect immigrants.

“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.

Since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary, Trump has spoken out against the state assemblyman, at one point threatening to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.

“We’re going to be watching that very carefully. And a lot of people are saying, he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed with no evidence in July.

The president has also threatened to withhold federal funding to New York if Mamdani won the election.

Mamdani’s critics have raised skepticism about his proposals, calling them far-fetched and improbable, as some would require state approval. He has also come under fire for his past comments criticizing the NYPD and Israeli government actions in the Gaza conflict.

The mayor-elect has apologized for his comments against the department and vowed to fight for Jewish New Yorkers, while still being critical of the Israeli government’s polices during the conflict.

Mamdani has also repeatedly brushed aside the threats and said he will continue to speak out against the administration’s conservative policies.

“His threats are inevitable,” Mamdani told ABC News a day after the election. “This has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with intimidation.”

At the same time, Mamdani has said he was open to talking with Trump, especially when it comes to affordability issues, noting that Trump won his re-election promising to bring down rising prices.

“I have many disagreements with the president. I intend to make it clear that I will work with him,” Mamdani said Thursday.

The mayor-elect won the election on a campaign to help New Yorkers with costs, with proposals such as raising the income tax on New Yorkers who earn over a million dollars a year, providing free child care to parents with kids as early as six weeks old, and free public buses.

Following Mamdani’s victory and other key wins by Democrats, Trump has said in social media posts and news conferences that he and the Republicans are the party working to lower costs.

“We’re fighting for an economy where everyone can win, from the cashier starting first job to a franchisee opening his first location to the young family in a drive through line,” he told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Monday.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Tonya Simpson contributed to this report

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — When a federal court Tuesday dropped its bombshell 160-page decision invalidating Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting effort as blatant racial gerrymandering, there was one big missing piece of the puzzle: a dissent.

It turns out Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, who authored the majority opinion, didn’t allow dissenting Judge Jerry E. Smith, a Reagan appointee, much time to respond in writing, releasing the ruling before the counterpoint was finished, as is customary.

“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!” Smith wrote bluntly in a statement released late Wednesday.

What followed was a remarkable statement of sharp personal criticism and vigorous legal argument, notable both for its tone and rationale, which could potentially influence members of the Supreme Court who will ultimately decide the fate of Texas’ 2025 map.

Smith, a member of the federal bench for more than 37 years, repeated the phrase “I dissent” 15 times over 100 pages.

He accused Brown of “pernicious judicial misbehavior” — the “most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered” — for not waiting to consider his dissent before going public with the ruling.

Brown’s opinion, joined by Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee, and released Tuesday afternoon, blocked Texas from deploying a new congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, concluding “substantial evidence show that Texas racially gerrymandered the map.”

The decision roiled a nationwide redistricting arms race initiated by President Donald Trump as part of a bid to retain Republican control of the narrowly divided House of Representatives. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will appeal.

Brown concluded that the entire redrawing effort — which typically only happens once every decade — was undertaken primarily in response to an explicit Trump Justice Department request “based entirely on the racial makeup” of four Democrat-held districts.

Federal law and Supreme Court precedent prohibit race as a predominant factor when drawing maps that either intentionally disenfranchise minority voters or otherwise effectively dilute their influence.

The judge further reasoned that his opinion had to be released expeditiously — even before the dissent was finished — because of the urgent need for state officials to have certainty about the outcome in order to prepare for election season.

Smith accused Brown of doing the bidding of liberal billionaire activist George Soros and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “If there were a Nobel Prize for fiction, Judge Brown’s opinion would be a prime candidate,” Smith wrote.

“If this were a law school exam, the opinion would deserve an ‘F,'” he said later in an unusually harsh rebuke.

Smith defended Texas’ mid-decade redrawn map as a purely partisan and entirely legal exercise.

“The most obvious reason for mid-cycle redistricting, of course, is partisan gain,” not deliberate racial animus, Smith wrote. He noted the Supreme Court has said courts must stay away from interfering with the political exercise of map-drawing.

Smith concluded his dissent with a remarkable bullet-point list of what he calls “misleading, deceptive, or false statements” that Brown made in the opinion — a highly unusual move in the buttoned-up world of judicial decorum.

Texas has not yet formally filed its appeal with the Supreme Court but is expected to do so quickly and will likely draw upon Smith’s dissent.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday called several Democratic veterans “traitors” who should face the death penalty for releasing a joint video where they said that U.S. service members could refuse illegal orders — a move that has prompted some lawmakers to call the president’s rhetoric “dangerous” and “a threat.”

“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???,” Trump wrote on social media Thursday morning.

On Thursday morning, Trump reshared a social media post responding to the Washington Examiner’s article about the veteran Democrats, calling for them to be hanged.

In another post, the president said “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

In the video directed at military members, Democratic veterans — including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly — said that military service members can refuse illegal orders.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the congressional Democrats said in the video posted Tuesday.

“The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from aboard, but from right here right at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” the group continued. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

None of the Democrats mentioned any specific illegal orders given to service members.

ABC News reached out to Slotkin’s and Kelly’s offices for comment.

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric in his social media posts “makes political violence more likely” and called for Trump to be condemned for his posts.

“Let’s be crystal clear, the president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials. This is a threat, and it’s deadly serious,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We have already seen what happens when Donald Trump tells his followers that his political opponents are enemies of the state. Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely.”

Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric could be dangerous in a political contentious environment.

“He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline, every senator, every representative, every American, regardless of party, should condemn this immediately, without qualification, because if we don’t draw a line here, there is no line left to draw,” Schumer said.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul also said rhetoric like this could be dangerous.

“I don’t think it’s a really — a good idea to talk about jailing your political opponents or hanging them or whatever else. I think we have political disagreements and we need to work them out in a political way,” Paul said.

Paul warned the rhetoric in Trump’s posts could inspire violence.

“That kind of rhetoric isn’t good and it stirs up people among us who may not be stable who may think well ‘traitors,’ what do we do with traitors? It’s the death penalty. Maybe I’ll just take matters into my own hands, which is not something we should be encouraging,” Paul said. “So I have a lot of disagreement with Democrats but I try to keep it on a civil level and try not to call any of them ‘traitors’ or anything like that because I think that’s something that could inspire some people among us who aren’t stable.”

House Democratic leaders on Thursday issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s posts on social media, calling on him to delete them “before he gets someone killed.”

“We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous death threats against Members of Congress and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same,” said the statement signed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar.

The Democrats called on Trump to “immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed Trump’s social media comments, telling reporters Thursday that the president did not make a call to incite violence.

“He’s defining a crime,” Johnson said. “He, I’m sure, acknowledges that the attorneys have to figure all that out.”

A reporter pressed the speaker that Trump’s statement contended it was punishable by death.

“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” Johnson said. “That is a factual statement. But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that.”

Johnson criticized the Democrats involved in the video, calling it a “wildly inappropriate thing for so-called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral is being held at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, with several high-profile political figures attending the service for the man considered one of the most influential vice presidents in U.S. history.

Former President George W. Bush, who Cheney served for two terms, delivered a eulogy. Bush described the moment he decided to choose Cheney as his vice president.

“At such a moment, most in this position would have jumped at the chance. But Dick stayed detached and he analyzed it. Before I made my decision, he insisted on giving me a complete rundown of all the reasons I should not choose him,” Bush said.

“In the end, I trusted my judgment. I remember my dad’s words when I told him what I was planning. He said, ‘Son, you couldn’t pick a better man,'” Bush said.

Bush said in 2004, Cheney offered to resign if Bush wanted to replace him. Bush said he thought about it, but “after four years of seeing how he treated people, how he carried responsibility, how he handled pressure and took the hits, I arrived back at the conclusion that they do not come any better than Dick Cheney.”

“On that score, history should record that I chose my vice president not once, but twice,” Bush said.

Cheney’s grandchildren and his daughter Liz spoke after Bush.

Liz Cheney, who like her father represented Wyoming in Congress, said he was inspired to live a life in public service by President John F. Kennedy.

“Dick Cheney became a Republican, but he knew that bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans,” she said. “For him, a choice between defense of the Constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all.”

Bush was seen wiping away tears as Liz Cheney spoke about her father.

Other speakers included Cheney’s longtime cardiologist Jonathan Reiner and Pete Williams. Williams shared several anecdotes from serving as Cheney’s press secretary when he was defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush, including Cheney’s response when Williams offered to resign in 1991 when he was about to be outed as gay by a magazine.

“He wouldn’t hear of it,” Williams said. “And for several days after that article appeared, he would call me on the direct line to my desk at the Pentagon to ask how I was doing and to tell me to get on with the job.”

Among the hundreds of mourners were President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Vice President Al Gore and former Vice President Dan Quayle.

A White House official confirmed to ABC News that President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral. Vice President JD Vance was also not invited, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Also at the service were Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, Bill Kristol, Hugh Hewitt and former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.

Cheney died on Nov. 3 at the age of 84 due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” the family said in a statement at the time. “We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

A polarizing and powerful figure, Cheney worked for four decades in Washington. He served as a representative in Congress, as secretary of defense and then vice president.

He played a leading role in the response to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.

Washington National Cathedral, situated just miles north of the White House, has been the site of several state funerals for former presidents, including Jimmy Carter, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush.

After news of Cheney’s death earlier this month, the White House lowered flags but made no major proclamation.

President Trump was silent on Cheney’s death. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump was “aware” of his passing.

Trump and Cheney have a history of tensions, as Cheney became a blunt critic of Trump following his push to deny the 2020 election results and the pro-Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cheney, a lifelong conservative voice, endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee, over Trump in 2024. Explaining his decision, Cheney said “there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”

Trump responded at the time by calling Cheney an “irrelevant RINO” and “King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars, wasting Lives and Trillions of Dollars.”

Vice President Vance, asked about Cheney during a Breitbart news event on Thursday morning, expressed his condolences.

“Obviously, there are some political disagreements there, but he was a guy who served his country. We certainly wish his family all of the best in this moment of grieving,” Vance said.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral is being held at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, with several high-profile political figures attending the service for the man considered one of the most influential vice presidents in U.S. history.

Former President George W. Bush, who Cheney served for two terms, delivered a eulogy. Bush described the moment he decided to choose Cheney as his vice president.

“At such a moment, most in this position would have jumped at the chance. But Dick stayed detached and he analyzed it. Before I made my decision, he insisted on giving me a complete rundown of all the reasons I should not choose him,” Bush said.

“In the end, I trusted my judgment. I remember my dad’s words when I told him what I was planning. He said, ‘Son, you couldn’t pick a better man,'” Bush said.

Bush said in 2004, Cheney offered to resign if Bush wanted to replace him. Bush said he thought about it, but “after four years of seeing how he treated people, how he carried responsibility, how he handled pressure and took the hits, I arrived back at the conclusion that they do not come any better than Dick Cheney.”

“On that score, history should record that I chose my vice president not once, but twice,” Bush said.

Cheney’s longtime cardiologist, Jonathan Reiner, kicked off the service. Reiner said Cheney suffered a “relentless disease intent on killing him but he never looked over his shoulder, only ahead.”

Pete Williams shared several anecdotes from serving as Cheney’s press secretary when he was defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush, including Cheney’s response when Williams offered to resign in 1991 when he was about to be outed as gay by a magazine.

“He wouldn’t hear of it,” Williams said. “And for several days after that article appeared, he would call me on the direct line to my desk at the Pentagon to ask how I was doing and to tell me to get on with the job.”

According to the cathedral’s program, Cheney’s daughter, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, and his grandchildren will also give remarks.

Among the hundreds of mourners are President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Vice President Al Gore and former Vice President Dan Quayle.

A White House official confirmed to ABC News that President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral. Vice President JD Vance was also not invited, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Also at the service are Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, Bill Kristol, Hugh Hewitt and former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.

Cheney died on Nov. 3 at the age of 84 due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” the family said in a statement at the time. “We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

A polarizing and powerful figure, Cheney worked for four decades in Washington. He served in Congress, as secretary of defense and then vice president under President George W. Bush.

He played a leading role in the response to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.

Bush, in a statement after Cheney’s death, called Cheney “a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every position he held.”

Washington National Cathedral, situated just miles north of the White House, has been the site of several state funerals for former presidents, including Jimmy Carter, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush.

After news of Cheney’s death earlier this month, the White House lowered flags but made no major proclamation.

President Trump was silent on Cheney’s death. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump was “aware” of his passing.

Trump and Cheney have a history of tensions, as Cheney became a blunt critic of Trump following his push to deny the 2020 election results and the pro-Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cheney, a lifelong conservative voice, endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee, over Trump in 2024. Explaining his decision, Cheney said “there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”

Trump responded at the time by calling Cheney an “irrelevant RINO” and “King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars, wasting Lives and Trillions of Dollars.”

Vice President Vance, asked about Cheney during a Breitbart news event on Thursday morning, expressed his condolences.

“Obviously, there are some political disagreements there, but he was a guy who served his country. We certainly wish his family all of the best in this moment of grieving,” Vance said.

ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.