Russia denies giving Iran intelligence on US troops in Middle East, Witkoff says
U.S. Sailors prepare ordnance on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, Mar. 4, 2026. (US Navy)
(WASHINGTON) — Russian officials denied in a phone call with President Donald Trump that they are sharing intelligence on U.S. military assets with Iran, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday.
“We can take them at their word,” Witkoff said during an interview with CNBC. “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”
Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday for about an hour.
“Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing. That’s what they said,” Witkoff said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Trump and Witkoff sent a message to Russia that “if that was taking place. It’s not something they would be happy with, and they hope that it is not taking place.”
“As for further details about the discussions between these two leaders, I’ll leave it to the president to divulge any more of that conversation,” Leavitt said.
ABC News reported on Friday that the U.S. believes that Russia has been providing Iran the locations of American troops in the Middle East, including aircraft and ships, according to two people familiar with the intelligence.
An intelligence official confirmed to ABC News the U.S. belief that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran but did not say exactly what type of information was being shared.
The intelligence sharing could enable the Iranians to target specific locations with ballistic missiles and drones, putting U.S. service members at risk.
Trump himself downplayed Russia’s involvement during a news conference Monday in Florida.
“… he wants to be helpful,” Trump said of Putin and his involvement with Iran.
Putin has been a firm supporter of Iran as the conflict has unfolded. Putin congratulated the country’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and said in a statement that he reaffirmed Russia’s “unwavering support for Tehran and our solidarity with Iranian friends” in a letter put out by the Kremlin.
Trump said that Putin was “very impressed” with Operation Epic Fury.
“We talked about that with President Putin. He was very impressed with what he saw because nobody’s ever seen anything quite like it,” Trump later added in the news conference.
Over the weekend, Trump said any intelligence sharing between Russia and Iran was inconsequential.
“If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami.
Sen. David McCormick leaves the Senate Republicans’ lunch meeting in the Capitol, Nov. 19, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Congressional Republicans appeared split Monday in their responses to the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday — from calling for an investigation to remaining silent or backing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not issued a statement on the shooting and his office has not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune issued a statement on Monday that did not directly address the shooting but applauded the White House dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota in hopes of “turning down the temperature,” while encouraging Minnesota officials to work with the Trump administration in getting “dangerous criminals off America’s streets.”
More than two dozen congressional Republicans have called for a thorough investigation, according to ABC News’ count.
At least eight GOP senators said they support an investigation into the shooting, including Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick — a Trump ally.
“As I have often said, I support the Border Patrol, ICE, and the critical work they do to enforce our laws. Irresponsible rhetoric and a lack of cooperation from Minnesota’s politicians are fueling a dangerous situation. I also agree with the NRA and others — we need a full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis. We need all the facts,” McCormick said in a post on X.
Moderate Senate Republican Lisa Murkowski urging, in a post on X, that a “comprehensive, independent investigation of the shooting must be conducted in order to rebuild trust and Congressional committees need to hold hearings and do their oversight work. ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.”
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy called for a joint state and federal investigation into the shooting — warning “the credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.”
While he did not call for an investigation, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized the administration’s rhetoric on the shooting.
“What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they’re describing this — that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing that we took out a violent terrorist, hooray,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz” on Monday.
More than a dozen House GOP lawmakers echoed similar sentiments, including House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, who expects a “full investigation” into the shooting.
“CBP and ICE have already been invited, and I expect each to testify before the Committee in the coming weeks. It is critical that Congress conduct its due diligence to ensure the safety of law enforcement officers and the communities they protect. I take my oversight duties of the Department of Homeland Security seriously, and we expect recent events to be thoroughly discussed at our hearing,” Garbarino said in a statement.
Moderate New York Rep. Mike Lawler called for an independent investigation into the shooting but said calls to “abolish” ICE are “misguided.”
“Let this be a moment for Americans of common sense and good will to come together and work towards a solution,” he said.
Despite this, several Republicans have also rushed to the Trump administration’s defense.
“The governor and local leaders’ rhetoric has empowered criminals and put federal law enforcement’s lives at risk. It’s dangerous and has made the situation in Minneapolis much worse. Unlike my Democrat colleagues, I’m going to let law enforcement conduct their investigation and not jump to asinine conclusions. We are grateful no Border Patrol officers were harmed,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in a statement.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona urged Americans to “stop interfering with federal enforcement officers.”
Responding to Trump’s social media post that called for deporting “criminal illegal aliens,” Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said, “We cannot back down. Trump is right: ICE will continue to enforce the law in Minnesota. Deport them all.”
Poll workers place a sign outside a polling station for the New Jersey Primary at a firehouse in Hoboken, N.J., June 4, 2024. (Gary Hershorn/ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Amid President Donald Trump’s repeated unsubstantiated accusations of rigged voting and calls to nationalize elections, an updated version of the GOP’s signature piece of election reform — now called the SAVE America Act — is set to reach the House floor for a showdown vote later Wednesday.
The original, called the SAVE Act, was sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, passed out of the House in April, but has stalled in the Senate since — attracting intense pushback from Democrats, who say the bill would damage voting accessibility and discriminate against low-income voters who are unable to get government ID.
Trump and top Republicans have argued the revised bill is necessary to protect the country’s election process before the 2026 midterm elections in November.
“America’s Elections are Rigged, Stolen, and a Laughingstock all over the World,” Trump wrote on social media. “We are either going to fix them, or we won’t have a Country any longer. I am asking all Republicans to fight for the following: SAVE AMERICA ACT!”
There has been no credible evidence of widespread fraud or substantiated claims of U.S. elections being rigged.
What is the SAVE America Act?
Republican lawmakers tout the SAVE America Act as the next step in securing what they call “election integrity.” The bill would restrict mail-in ballots, require photo ID at polling places and mandate states obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote in a federal election.
Citizenship documents include:
A valid United States passport
A Real ID
A birth certificate
United States military ID card, together with a record of service showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States
Federal, state or tribal government ID card showing the applicants place of birth
A driver’s license without a Real ID stamp would not be accepted as proof of citizenship.
This process would include mail voter registration applications, requiring people to provide documented proof to an appropriate election official before being approved.
The bill would also require states to scrub noncitizens from their current voter records and create programs to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens by using data from various state agencies, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
On Election Day, voters would be expected to bring a valid photo ID which they would be required to present before getting access to the ballot box. If an ID does not have a photo, a voter would have to prove U.S. citizenship or provide the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number.
Along with ID requirements, Trump has called for restrictions on voting by mail, disallowing mail-in voting except for instances of illness, disability, military or travel.
Several high-ranking Republican leaders allege the bill would stop instances of noncitizens voting in elections, an issue they argue has damaged the credibility of election results.
Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal and state elections, though some cities allow noncitizens to vote on some local elections.
“A number of states deliberately don’t want to check whether or not somebody’s here legally when they register, and then they mandate in some states that they can’t show picture ID. That’s a recipe for voter fraud,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said during an interview on Fox News. “…one person, one vote only matters if you’re having these protections like the SAVE America Act.”
Experts have long insisted that noncitizen voting is a rare problem. Voter roll audits before the 2024 elections in Georgia found only 20 registered noncitizens out of 8.2 million registered voters statewide. Nine of those actually cast a ballot.
The president has suggested noncitizen voting has allowed Democrats to win elections when they otherwise shouldn’t have, including unfounded claims that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election.
“We need fair elections. We need elections where people aren’t able to cheat. And we’re going to do that, I’m going to do that, I’m going to get it done,” Trump said.
Why the controversy?
Implementing voter ID is not a novel idea in the United States. The National Conference of State Legislatures tracks 36 states that require voters to show some sort of identification at the polls.
Sentiment over voter ID is also recorded as mostly positive, with a Pew Research Center poll citing 83% of the 3,554 Americans surveyed as in favor of requiring all voters to show government issued photo IDs before voting.
In that same survey, 58% of respondents said they were in favor of maintaining mail-in voting.
Still, key Democrats on Capitol Hill have been strongly opposed to the bill, arguing it makes voting more difficult and less accessible.
“Our elections are key to our democracy. The SAVE Act would make it harder for registered, legal voters to vote,” California Democrat Rep. Mike Thomson said. “At a time when the president is talking about nationalizing elections, we must protect our democracy and every voter’s choice.”
Though the bill made it through the House with a 220-208 vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the bill would be “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
“The Republicans’ SAVE Act reads more like a how-to guide for voter suppression. It goes against the very foundations of our democracy,” Schumer said. “Mark my words: This will not pass the Senate.”
Others, such as Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), argue Republicans are deliberately timing the change in voter rules before consequential midterm elections.
“Republicans will stop at nothing to interfere with the 2026 midterms — including leveraging ICE to gain access to sensitive voter information or pass their anti-democratic SAVE Act,” Padilla said. “We’re not going to let them get away with their attempts to suppress the right to vote.”
In the Senate, the bill would need to garner support from some Democrats in order to overcome a 60-vote threshold to advance over an expected Democratic filibuster.
Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (left) and former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (right) campaign in Leesburg, VA on Monday, April 20, 2026. (ABC News)
(RICHMOND, Va.) — Voters in Virginia head to the polls Tuesday to vote on a redistricting ballot measure referendum that could have major implications for the midterm elections.
The referendum will decide if the Democratic-controlled legislature should be allowed to redraw the state’s congressional map. That would allow the legislature to implement a map that would reconfigure four congressional seats to favor Democrats, which could have major implications for control of the U.S. House after November’s midterm election.
Democrats have said they need the measure in Virginia to pass in order to continue to counter previous mid-decade redistricting that benefited Republicans in Texas and other states. But Republicans have called it a power grab in a state that is relatively split even politically, and say it sidelines a redistricting commission voters previously approved.
Surrogates for both sides of the measure have been campaigning in full force ahead of election day, and President Donald Trump weighed in on Monday night in a rally held by telephone.
“This referendum is a blatant partisan power grab… if it passes, Virginia Democrats will eliminate four out of five congressional seats [held by Republicans in Virginia], so you’re going to get just wiped out in terms of representation in Washington,” Trump said on Monday.
But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a strong proponent of the measure, said earlier Monday that the redistricting was because of Trump, who encouraged Texas and other states to redistrict in 2025.
“We believe that it’s the voters of Virginia and the people of this country who should decide which party is in the majority… not Donald Trump and his extreme MAGA sycophants in state legislative bodies across the country who were ordered by Donald Trump to gerrymander the national congressional map as part of the effort to rig the midterm elections,” he told reporters on Monday.
During mid-decade redistricting in 2025, nine seats were redrawn to benefit Republicans, while six seats were redrawn to benefit Democrats. If Democrats add four seats to their count, then Democrats might only net one new seat if all seats flip as expected in November. But Florida is also set to consider mid-decade redistricting, which is expected to help Republicans bolster their count.
In the Virginia election, the Democratic-supported side of the measure far outfundraised and outspent the main group supporting a “no” vote, according to campaign finance filings, although both sides raised and spent millions. As of April 10, Virginians for Fair Elections, the flagship organization campaigning in favor of redistricting, has raised over $64 million, while Virginians for Fair Maps Referendum Committee, the largest organization campaigning against redistricting, has raised under $20 million.
While Democrats framed many of their arguments in favor of the redraw as meant to counter Trump, the president himself did not campaign for the “no” side in person and did not engage much with the election until the day before Election Day.
Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, asked by ABC News outside of an anti-redistricting campaign event in Leesburg, Virginia, on Monday if he thinks Trump or national Republicans should have gotten more involved with the race, downplayed the need for that, saying that the opposition to redistricting could go across party lines.
“I think what we’ve seen is that, first of all, it’s been a grassroots effort across the Commonwealth,” Youngkin told ABC News. “There are so many [vote] ‘no’ signs around the Commonwealth… and at the heart of it, that’s Virginians standing up, not just Republicans.”
