Olivia Troye, former aide to Mike Pence, to run for Congress in Virginia as a Democrat
Olivia Troye, former national security official under the Trump administration, speaks during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence who was among the highest-profile Trump administration officials to become a vocal critic of the president during his first term, is launching a bid for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia.
Troye served as Pence’s homeland security adviser but spoke out against President Donald Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and has since become a fierce critic of Trump. She also spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention as one of the Republicans supporting then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.
“They sent MAGA after me. Tried to bankrupt me. Threatened to kill me. They thought they could silence me. They obviously don’t know me very well,” Troye said in a video released by her campaign.
“In 2024, nothing could keep me from telling the truth on the stage of the Democratic National Convention. Because I believe in fighting for what’s right — for those who can’t fight for themselves. That’s why I’m a Democrat and that’s why I’m running for Congress.”
A press release from her campaign says that Troye is set to run in the “new proposed seventh district” in Virginia. That refers to the district lines in a new congressional map proposed by Democrats; voters are deciding in an April 21 statewide ballot measure vote in Virginia if the Democratic-controlled legislature should be allowed to implement it.
The current 7th district is represented by Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman, although under the proposed map Vindman would be in the new 1st district. Troye’s campaign says she is working on helping the measure pass, but would not mount a primary challenge to Vindman if it does not.
Multiple other notable candidates such as former Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, former federal prosecutor JP Cooney, and state Delegate Dan Helmer are also running for the proposed 7th district.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on May 25, 2026, in Arlington, Virginia. Memorial Day honors those who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is expected to hold a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
Sources told ABC News that the plans are subject to change due to possible inclement weather in the Washington, D.C., area.
According to the White House official, all Cabinet members are expected to attend, and the meeting will “highlight recent successes of the administration including economy and small business wins, Task Force to Eliminate Fraud highlights, and foreign policy updates.”
The travel to the presidential retreat was first reported by the New York Post.
The trip would be Trump’s first return to Camp David in almost a year.
Trump previously visited the retreat in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, last June in what the White House described at the time as “a regular off campus retreat of principals attended by the President and Vice President.”
The decision to hold an official Cabinet meeting at Camp David marks a departure from typical practice, though it is not unprecedented. Trump held a Cabinet meeting there in September 2017, as well, which was closed to the press.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar shout during U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, February 24, 2026, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is bashing two of the Democrats who repeatedly interrupted his State of the Union speech by shouting at him, calling them “LUNATICS” who “look like they should be institutionalized” in a social media post on Wednesday.
During his Tuesday evening address, Trump attacked Democrats several times, with his comments on his immigration crackdown eliciting jeers from Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who repeatedly said the president was “killing Americans” — a reference to the fatal shootings of Minnesota residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement earlier this year.
Their fatal shootings were amid the administration’s “Operation Metro Surge,” which sent federal agents to Minnesota as part of its immigration enforcement. Border czar Tom Homan announced earlier this month that the effort was ending.
“When you watch Low IQ Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as they screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event, they had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized,” Trump said.
In his social media post, Trump also said “we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible.”
Omar, who fled Somalia and came to the U.S. as a refugee when she was a child, has been living in the country since she was 12 years old and is a U.S. citizen. Tlaib was born and raised in Detroit; she is the daughter of Palestinian immigrant parents.
Trump’s social media post about Omar and Tlaib mark his first comments the day after his major address.
Omar has been the target of verbal attacks from Trump for years. Earlier this year, his attacks have come alongside escalated rhetoric describing the Somali community in Minnesota, the largest in the nation.
During Tuesday night’s speech, Democrats remained seated when Trump asked members of the chamber to stand if they supported the idea that the American government was “to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Trump said at the seated Democrats.
“You have killed Americans,” Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, repeatedly shouted as Trump continued talking.
Tlaib, who was seated next to Omar, also shouted at the president throughout his speech. She even appeared to repeatedly mouth “K-K-K” as Republicans chanted “U-S-A, U-S-A.”
Omar told CNN Wednesday morning that she had no regrets for calling out the president during the speech, especially since Trump did not mention the fatal shootings of Good and Pretti.
“It was really unavoidable. The president talked about protecting Americans, and I just had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents,” she said.
The speech was punctuated at times by other interjections, including from Tlaib, a Democrat of Michigan and outspoken critic of the president, who at one point in the speech called Trump “the most corrupt president.”
After the president said that Democrats “are crazy,” Tlaib, who was wearing a pin that said, “F*** ICE,” stood briefly, then sat down again before again shouting at Trump from her seat.
“How’s those Epstein files?” she shouted as the president spoke.
Neither Omar nor Tlaib were asked to leave the chamber, but they were among the many Democrats who left before Trump finished his speech, which lasted one hour and 48 minutes — making it the longest speech before a joint session of Congress in history.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked after the speech if Omar or Talib would see any consequences for their actions.
“We’ll find out,” Johnson responded.
ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump answers questions during a press briefing held at the White House February 20, 2026, in Washington, DC. The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled against Trump’s use of emergency powers to implement international trade tariffs, a central portion of the administration’s core economic policy. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s products, just hours before the deadline the Pentagon set for the AI company to agree to its terms.
“I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
“Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” Trump added.
ABC News has reached out to Anthropic for comment.
The AI company’s CEO has made clear that despite threats from the Pentagon, they refuse to drop their two key demands: no use of its artificial intelligence for fully autonomous weapons — meaning AI, not humans, making final battlefield targeting decisions — and no mass domestic surveillance.
Anthropic told ABC News that amid negotiations, the latest contract language from the Pentagon does not fully commit that the military will not use their technology for those two use cases.
In fact, Anthropic said the “new language” added into the contract by the department would allow their safeguards to be “disregarded at will.”
“The contract language we received from the Department of War made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons,” Anthropic told ABC News.
The company added, “New language framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will. Despite DOW’s recent public statements, these narrow safeguards have been the crux of our negotiations for months.”
Top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have sent a private letter to Anthropic and the Pentagon, urging them to resolve their fight.
The Senate leaders are urging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, to extend their negotiations and work with Congress to find a solution, according to the letter obtained by ABC News.
The Pentagon claims it has no intention of using Anthropic’s AI for cases that involve mass domestic surveillance or autonomous kinetic operations. However, it says Anthropic’s guardrails could jeopardize military operations.
The Pentagon said that if Anthropic does not agree to its demands by 5:00 p.m. ET Friday, they will terminate the partnership with Anthropic and label the company a “supply chain risk” – a designation usually reserved for foreign adversaries.
“The Department has stated that it does not intend to conduct mass surveillance or use autonomous weapons without humans on the loop — positions that we in Congress endorse,” the letter from the Senate leaders reads. “It is clear, however, that the issue of ‘lawful use’ requires additional work by all stakeholders. We must determine whether additional legislative or regulatory language is required, and, if so, what that law and regulation should entail.”
“By Friday, February 27, the DOD could essentially declare war not on a foreign nation but on one of America’s most successful frontier AI companies if it does not bow to its demands,” Adam Conner, the vice president for technology policy at American Progress, wrote in an article on their website.
“This would be an unprecedented and unnecessary peacetime move that sends the signal to other private companies that they must do the Trump administration’s bidding or face existential consequences,” Conner wrote.
