Trump has ended his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, speaking to the body for a little under an hour.

Trump said in his remarks that free speech should be protected, although he and his administration have repeatedly gone after news organizations and networks over their coverage.

“Let us defend free speech and free expression. Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today, it’s called Christianity. And let us safeguard our sovereignty and cherished qualities that have made each of our nations so special, incredible and extraordinary,” he said.

Trump and other administration officials have also reiterated the same message on free speech, but have defended FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats to take action against ABC over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about the accused killer of Charlie Kirk. Trump has also sued several media organizations over what he perceives as negative coverage of him.

The president told reporters on Friday that it’s “illegal” that TV networks broadcast “negative reporting” about him.

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Trump extolled his administration’s use of tariffs as a way to protect the U.S. economy, saying America and other nations have been hurt by countries he claims have ignored international trade rules — an apparent reference to China, among others.

“The countries that followed the rules, all their factories have been plundered. It’s really sad to watch. They’ve been broken. They’ve been broken by countries that broke the rules,” Trump said.

“That’s why the United States is now applying tariffs to other countries,” he said. “And much as these tariffs were for many years, applied to us, uncontrollably applied to us, we’ve used tariffs as a defense mechanism under the Trump administration.”

Trump pushed nations to accept his worldview, claiming he was always correct and touting MAGA hats that read, “Trump was right about everything.”

“I don’t say that in a braggadocios way, but it’s true,” Trump said. “I’ve been right about everything.”

“And I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail,” he said, “and if you don’t stop people that you’ve never seen before, that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail.”

Trump called climate change “a con job” in his remarks, going on at length criticizing efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of industrialized nations in Europe.

“You know, it used to be global cooling,” Trump said. “If you look back years ago, in the 1920s and the 1930s, they said global cooling will kill the world. We have to do something. Then they said global warming will kill the world, but then it started getting cooler. So now, they could just call it climate change, because that way they can’t miss climate change, because if it goes higher or lower, whatever the hell happens, there’s climate change,” he said.

Much of the rise in temperatures happened in the latter half of the last century, with the rate of increase accelerating in this one, according to scientific organizations studying the issue.

Trump claimed without evidence that climate change predictions made by the U.N. and other groups have been wrong.

“It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion, climate change,” he said. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.”

Trump called for denuclearization and an end to biological weapons research and development, announcing that the administration will lead an “international effort” to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention and that he wants a “cessation of the development of nuclear weapons.”

“We just can’t ever use them. If we ever use them, the world literally might come to an end,” Trump said. “There would be no United Nations to be talking about. There would be no nothing.”

Trump claimed that despite “reckless overseas experiments” contributing to the Covid pandemic, an apparent reference to China, “many countries are continuing extremely risky research into bioweapons and manmade pathogens. This is unbelievably dangerous.”

Trump touted the White House’s decision to carry out strikes on Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying drugs, and emphasized his willingness to do it again.

“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America: Please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” Trump said. “That’s what we’re doing. We have no choice. Can’t let it happen.”

Trump said he has designated multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations as part of his effort to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. 

Trump spoke about his administration’s approach to stemming migration into the U.S.

“In America, we’ve taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration,” he said. “Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming. They’re not coming anymore. We’re getting a lot of credit, but they’re not coming anymore.”

Trump said that it’s a “humanitarian act for all involved” because, he said, people have died or have been raped on the trip into the U.S.

“What we did was a victory, and we saved so many lives of people that wouldn’t make the journey,” he said, without citing specifics. “That journey was loaded up with death, loaded up with death, dead bodies all along, all along the roads of jungles to get up.”

Trump slammed United Nations countries over migration, saying, “Your countries are being ruined.”

He claimed that the U.N. was effectively “funding an assault on Western countries and their borders” by providing funds for certain migrants.

Trump blamed political correctness for what he said was a lack of effort to curb migration in Europe.

“Europe is in serious trouble,” Trump said. “They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before. Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe. … Nobody’s doing anything to change it, to get them out. It’s not sustainable, and because they choose to be politically correct, they’re doing just absolutely nothing about it.”

The United Nations has a refugee agency that helps provide assistance to displaced people. It is unclear if Trump was referring to the agency.

Trump lamented that the war in Ukraine was still ongoing, reiterated that he originally believed it “would be the easiest” war to end. He had claimed on the campaign trail that he could end the war in one day.

“Everyone thought Russia would win this war in three days, but it didn’t work out that way,” Trump said. “It was supposed to be just a quick little skirmish. It’s not making Russia look good.”

He continued, saying that Russia’s initial attack “was something that should have taken a matter of days, certainly less than a week, and they’ve been fighting for three and a half years.”

Trump criticized European countries for buying Russian oil at the same time they are trying to ramp up pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

“They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia,” he said.

“It’s embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it. … They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise we’re all wasting a lot of time,” Trump said.

The president said he planned to discuss the issue with European leaders today.

Trump said the decision by some nations, including the United Kingdom and France, to recognize a Palestinian state would reward Hamas for the terrorist group’s atrocities, including the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can’t forget Oct. 7,” he said. “Some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.”

“This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire,” Trump added. 

Trump repeatedly called for the release of all hostages, which drew applause from the audience.

“We got to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back. We don’t want two and four,” he said. “I always said the last 20 are going to be the hardest. And that’s exactly what happened. We have to get them back.”

Trump criticized the United Nations, claiming it has not tried to end several wars that he says he worked to end. (Other United Nations countries, however, have been involved in efforts to end various wars around the world.)

Trump said the list of wars he ended include Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them, and sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them,” Trump said.

“Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements, but for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with the mothers and fathers because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless and inglorious wars,” Trump said. “What I care about is not winning prizes, it’s saving lives.”

Trump detailed his administration’s hard-line immigration policy, listing the consequences for people who enter the U.S. illegally.

The president said that it could lead to jail time, being deported back to the country of origin, or “perhaps even further than that — you know what that means,” he said.

Trump thanked El Salvador “for the successful and professional job they’ve done in receiving and jailing so many criminals that entered our country.”

“It was under the previous administration that the number became record-setting, and they’re all being taken out,” he said. “You have no choice, and other countries have no choice, because other countries are in the exact same situation with immigration. It’s destroying your country, and you have to do something about it.”

Trump touted the foreign investments in the U.S. that have come into the country since he took office again, saying funds were “being invested in the United States and is now pouring in from all parts of the world.”

Trump said $17 trillion is being invested in the U.S. through trade and investment agreements that his administration negotiated. It is unclear whether he is including foreign investment commitments that have yet to come to fruition.

Trump came up to the podium and said that the teleprompter wasn’t working.

“I feel very happy to be up here with you … and that way you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” the president said, drawing laughter from the room.

The teleprompter then appeared to be working as he began delivering prepared remarks.

Trump is now speaking at the U.N. General Assembly.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is reprising a line from Trump’s presidential campaign in a new TV ad, with the Republican suggesting her Democratic opponent in the governor’s race “is for they/them, not us.”

“How radical is Abigail Spanberger? She didn’t just vote to let men in girls’ locker rooms. She wrote the bill,” a narrator says in the ad. “Spanberger believes this man has the right to undress next to little girls, but it gets worse. If a child wants to change genders, Spanberger says the parents shouldn’t be told. That’s insane. Radical Abigail Spanberger is for they them, not us.”

Republicans have been leaning into anti-transgender attacks in the race. 

Spanberger has responded to those attacks in a recent TV ad, where she says: “Nothing matters more to me than the safety of all our kids, and as a law enforcement officer, I went after child predators. So it really angers me to hear these lies about who I am. I believe we need to get politics out of our schools and trust parents and local communities.”

First lady Melania Trump will host a reception for dozens of spouses of heads of state today in New York, where she plans to announce a new global initiative focused on children, the White House said. 

The initiative is focused on prioritizing the personal development of children; unifying efforts related to technology and education and children; and working with the private sector to provide access to education technology and exchange solutions about artificial intelligence, the White House said.

Melania Trump is also expected to meet with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at some point today. Last month, President Donald Trump hand-delivered a letter to Russian President Putin from the first lady about children affected by the war in Ukraine. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought a letter from his wife for Trump to deliver to the first lady, thanking Melania Trump for writing to Putin. 

U.S. Secret Service agents have dismantled a network of electronic devices in multiple locations around New York City that could be used to disable the city’s cellphone network, officials said today. They said the system was also used to anonymously convey assassination threats against senior U.S. officials and for criminal activities.

In five locations within 35 miles of New York, Secret Service agents discovered more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards, officials said. They said the system could also be used for criminal activity and that 80 grams of cocaine, illegal firearms, computers and cellphones were also found at the locations.

“These devices allowed anonymous, encrypted communications between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises, enabling criminal organizations to operate undetected,” Matt McCool, the head of the Secret Service New York Field Office, said in a video statement released this morning. “This network had the potential to disable cellphone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.”

Read the full story here.

A pot of funding for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act expires at the end of this year, and Republicans in Congress are rejecting Democrats’ demands to extend it this month in a government funding bill.

Expiration of the funds would lead to sharp premium hikes for people all over the country. While they officially expire after the last day of 2025, there is some urgency to act soon: Insurers are filing their rates over the next few weeks, and open enrollment begins Nov. 1. Failure to act by then could cause many people to drop their coverage for 2026.

Read the full story here.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris offered only a mild endorsement of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” last night, comments that come as other prominent Democrats have been slow to embrace the progressive state lawmaker’s candidacy.

“Look, as far as I’m concerned, he’s the Democratic nominee and he should be supported,” Harris said when asked about her thoughts on Mamdani and why some in the party have been slow to back him.

Asked whether she endorsed Mamdani, she offered a tepid response before turning to other up-and-coming names in the party.

Read the full story here.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC’s “TODAY” that the U.S. might have to impose further sanctions on Russia “at some point” in the effort to end the war in Ukraine, but argued that “the minute we go heavy on the sanctions and everything else, our ability to act as a broker to bring about peace is diminished.”

Rubio criticized European countries that continue to buy Russian fossil fuels, which he called “absurd,” and pushed them to do more to put pressure on Russia.

Some countries are “asking for the U.S. to impose more sanctions, but there are countries in Europe that are not doing enough, so I think they need to do more,” Rubio said.

In an interview on NBC’s “TODAY,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration’s goal was to have peace in Gaza, but argued that peace could not happen with Hamas in existence.

“The goal is not to end the war. The goal is to have peace,” Rubio said. “And obviously you can’t have peace as long as Hamas exists.”

He dismissed concerns about the possibility of the U.S. being increasingly isolated for not recognizing a Palestinian state, as many allies have done in recent days.

“It also is a reward for Hamas,” Rubio said. “It really is. It makes Hamas feel like they carried out this massacre on Oct. 7, and now they get this in return.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ memoir of her failed 2024 campaign for the Oval Office skewers some of the nation’s most prominent Democrats — including former President Joe Biden — offers her perspective on crucial moments in the election and outlines her own regrets about her decisions and performance.

Published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday, “107 Days” zooms in on the narrow window during which Biden abruptly handed her the reins of the Democratic nomination and she lost to Donald Trump.

The book is notable among election memoirs in its often candid assessments of figures who are still active in politics and in the possibility that Harris will use it as a launch pad for a third bid for the presidency in 2028.

Read the full story here.

Washington and Beijing will have to communicate better if they are to resolve their various disagreements — and if they don’t talk it could be “dangerous,” a U.S. lawmaker said today during a rare congressional visit to China.

Though a group of U.S. senators visited Beijing in 2023, this is the first delegation of House lawmakers to visit China since 2019. Their trip comes amid tensions between the U.S. and China over trade, technology and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the leader of the bipartisan delegation, said they held “robust and very helpful” meetings with Chinese officials and that the objective of the trip was to reopen lines of communication between “the two most powerful countries in the world.”

“Our relationship is going to be the most consequential relationship in terms of what the world is going to be like for decades to come,” Smith told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “It is really important that we work to strengthen that relationship and better understand each other.”

Read the full story here.

Trump will address the United Nations General Assembly today at a moment of heightened strain with U.S. allies over Palestinian statehood, trade and other flash points as his administration retreats from the global body.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed Trump’s remarks, saying he will highlight “the renewal of American strength around the world” and what the White House sees as key accomplishments since he returned to office, including winding down conflicts abroad. Leavitt said Trump would also deliver a “straightforward and constructive” vision of global leadership.

After his speech, Trump is scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as leaders from Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union. He will also take part in a multilateral meeting with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Leavitt said.

Read the full story here.

Former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s campaign for Virginia governor is launching a new TV ad today, knocking Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for her stances on taxes and Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending legislation. 

“When she speaks about taxes, it’s disturbing,” a narrator says in the 30-second ad, shared first with NBC News, which also labels Earle-Sears as a “MAGA Republican.”

“Sears pledged not to raise a penny of taxes on billionaires and corporations. But what about you? Sears backs Trump policies that are raising prices for everything: groceries, mortgages, health care, electricity. You pay more so billionaires pay less,” the narrator says.

The ad points to Earle-Sears’ agreeing to Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge to oppose any efforts to raise taxes and her support for Trump’s so-called “one big beautiful bill.”  Earle-Sears said during a Newsmax interview in July that the measure “does so many great things.” 

The ad is Spanberger’s first new TV spot since early voting kicked off Friday. Her campaign has so far dominated the airwaves, spending $22.1 million on ads to Earle-Sears’ $9.7 million, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Voters in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District will fill the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s vacant seat tonight, with Democrats favored to hold onto the district, which then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried with more than 60% of the vote in 2024.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva, the late congressman’s daughter and a former county supervisor, faces Republican Daniel Butierez in the special election. The district takes hundreds of miles of the U.S.-Mexico border from Tucson to Yuma, as well as a slice of the Phoenix suburbs.

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET). Republicans’ majority in the House currently stands at 219-213, with two vacancies in districts Democrats won last year and one vacancy in a district Republicans won last year.