Early Edition: October 7, 2025

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS — U.S. MILITARY ACTION IN THE CARIBBEAN

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has produced a classified legal opinion arguing that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to U.S. citizens, sources told CNN. The legal opinion justifies strikes against an expansive and secret list of cartels that go beyond those publicly designated as terrorist organizations, the sources said. Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen report. 

Trump has called off all diplomatic outreach with Venezuela, including talks with President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. officials said yesterday. The officials said that Special Presidential Envoy Richard Grennell previously had been leading the negotiations with Venezuela but Trump instructed him to stop all engagement last Thursday. Julian E. Barnes, Tyler Pager, and Maria Abi-Habib report for the New York Times.  

Maduro said yesterday that the Venezuelan government had warned Washington of a “false flag operation” by “extremist sectors of the local Venezuelan right” to plant explosives in the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. Maduro said in an interview that two sources had informed the United States of the possible attack and security forces were sent to reinforce the embassy. Reuters reports.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

Trump will only attend a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Malaysia this month if the Malaysian government allows Trump to preside over a ceremonial signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia, three sources said. The sources added that the White House also requested that the summit organizers exclude Chinese officials from the ceremony. Phelim Kine reports for POLITICO.

Trump yesterday spoke with Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, describing the conversation as “a very good telephone call” on social media. Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad characterized the call as “positive.” This was the first substantive conversation since the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods and imposed an array of sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Eli Stokols and Megan Messerly report for POLITICO.

Trump yesterday announced that all medium and heavy duty trucks imported to the United States will be hit with a 25% tariff from November 1. The White House has not released any further details on the tariffs. Courtenay Brown reports for Axios.

The White House yesterday announced a $35.6 million investment in Canadian mining company Trilogy Metals. The investment makes the U.S. government a 10% shareholder. Trump said he had signed an executive order allowing access to the Ambler mining district in Alaska, previously blocked by the Biden administration, to unlock domestic supplies of copper and other minerals. Reuters reports.

FEDERALIZATION OF DOMESTIC POLICING

Trump yesterday said that he could invoke the Insurrection Act to send troops to Chicago and Portland, as the law would allow him to bypass court rulings blocking deployment of cross-state National Guard troops. Separately, a military official said yesterday that 200 Texas National Guard members would fly to Chicago after a federal judge declined to block their deployment and that they would begin operations later this week. Julie Bosman, Shawn Hubler, Anna Griffin, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) yesterday threatened to withdraw their states from the National Governors Association if it did not condemn Trump’s deployment of National Guards troops across state lines. Newsom’s letter to the NGA said Trump’s calling up of troops was an “unprecedented assault” on states’ rights. Blake Jones reports for POLITICO.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Deputy Director of the C.I.A. Michael Ellis has demoted the lawyer serving as the agency’s acting General Counsel and put himself in the role instead, according to sources. Ellis will also retain his position as Deputy Director. It is unclear what has prompted Ellis’s decision to take control of legal assessments for the agency. Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt, and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said yesterday that Frank Bisignano, the Social Security Commissioner, will also serve as the Internal Revenue Service’s “chief executive officer,” a role which does not formally exist. The move circumvents the usual process whereby IRS leaders go through a Senate confirmation process. Jacob Bogage, Meryl Kornfield, and Hannah Natanson report for the Washington Post.

The Defense Department yesterday has slightly eased and clarified its new restrictions for press access to the Pentagon, following negotiations with news organizations. “Members of the news media are not required to submit their writings” to the Pentagon before publication, according to the new draft. However, a concern from the first draft as to how the Pentagon will determine whether a journalist poses a security risk is likely to be carried over following the release of the new draft. Erik Wemple reports for the New York Times.

Virginia Prosecutor Elizabeth Yusi informed colleagues that she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to two sources. Yusi reportedly said that she sees no probable cause to believe James engaged in mortgage fraud and plans to present her conclusion in the coming weeks. Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian report for MSNBC.

282 former Justice Department employees sent a letter yesterday demanding that Congress increase oversight of the department. DOJ employees are “being asked to put loyalty to the President over the Constitution, the rule of law and their professional obligations,” Stacey Young, who organized the letter, said yesterday. Josephine Walker reports for Axios. 

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

South Carolina state agents have found no evidence so far that a fire that destroyed an Edisto Island house owned by Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein was intentionally set, according to the state’s top law enforcement officials. The investigation is still ongoing. Jeffrey Collins reports for AP News.

The Supreme Court yesterday declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal to overturn her conviction for assisting Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse teenage girls. The justices did not explain their reasons for turning away the appeal. Andrew Chung reports for Reuters.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said yesterday that the Trump administration has carried out deportation practices that “address real challenges in manners not consistent with international law.” Grandi further criticized a general “backlash” in developed countries against migrants and refugees. Jamey Keaten reports for AP News.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

“I really think we’re going to have a deal,” Trump said yesterday on the first day of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on the U.S. ceasefire plan in Egypt. Palestinian and Egyptian officials told BBC News that the sessions this week are focussed on “creating the conditions” for a possible exchange of all Israeli hostages in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners. Rushdi Abualouf and Kathryn Armstrong report; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

Israeli strikes have killed 19 Palestinians in Gaza the last 24 hours, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel has not ceased its bombardment despite pressure on Netanyahu from Trump to stop bombing Gaza during the talks in Egypt this week. Ahmed Fahmy, Nidal Al-Mughrabi, and Andrew Mills reports for Reuters.

The United States has provided Israel with at least $21.7 billion in military assistance since the war on Gaza started two years ago, according to a study published by the Costs of War project today. A second report says the U.S. has spent roughly $10 billion more on security aid and operations across the Middle East in the past two years. Matthew Lee reports for AP News.

Over 6,000 people have been reported by Palestinian relatives in Gaza to still be buried under the rubble following Israeli airstrikes since the war began, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry said it has received reports from families of a further 3,600 others missing. The International Committee of the Red Cross medical charity has a separate list with at least 7,000 cases still unresolved, according to an ICRC spokesperson. Wafaa Shurafa and Sarah El Deeb report for AP News.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE  WAR 

“I sort of made a decision pretty much,” Trump said yesterday when asked if he had made a decision on supplying long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Trump said he wants to know what Kyiv plans to use them for before supplying them, adding that he’s “not looking to see an escalation.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that if Trump supplies Tomahawks to Ukraine, it would be a “completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS 

Iran-backed Houthi rebels have detained nine U.N. personnel, bringing the total number of arbitrarily detained U.N. staff in Houthi controlled areas to 53 since 2021, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said yesterday. Dujarric did not specify the timing or conditions of the latest detentions. Reuters reports.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Syria yesterday published preliminary results of its indirect vote for the first National Assembly elected since the fall of the Assad regime last year. Only six seats in the new 210-seat parliament went to women and ten seats to religious and ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Christians and two Alawites, according to a Reuters count verified by election observers. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has yet to appoint his nominees to the remaining third of seats. Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily report.

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces allegedly killed one person and injured four others in attacks on checkpoints of the Syrian security forces in Aleppo last night, according to Syrian state-run news agency SANA. The SDF denied attacking the checkpoints, stating that they withdrew forces from the area months ago. SANA reported this morning that a ceasefire has been reached, without providing further details. AP News reports.

The International Criminal Court yesterday convicted former Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al Rahman for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sudan’s Darfur region more than 20 years ago. Abd-Al Rahman is the first person to be tried for the atrocities in Darfur and has been found guilty on 27 counts, centring on attacks that occurred between 2003 and 2004. Anna Holligan and Wedaeli Chibelushi report for BBC News. 

Outgoing French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu began two days of talks with members of various parties today, aimed at resolving the political crisis in France at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron. Several French politicians expressed confusion about the scope of Lecornu’s responsibilities in the talks and why Macron requested them. Reuters reports.

TECH DEVELOPMENTS

OpenAI has signed about $1 trillion in deals this year for computing power to run its AI models, with the commitments dwarfing its revenue. “Open AI is in no position to make any of these commitments,” according to an analyst at DA Davidson, who added that OpenAI could lose $10 billion this year. Tabby Kinder and George Hammond report for the Financial Times.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. The complaint argues that the administration’s “deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful” and politically motivated. Dakin Adone reports for CNN; Avery Lotz reports for Axios.

A federal judge yesterday indicated she was inclined to order release of Kilmar Ábrego García from immigration custody should the government fail to quickly produce evidence it has plans to deport him soon. During a hearing the judge questioned whether the federal government was using a “trick bag” to detain him indefinitely by claiming his deportation was imminent. Minho Kim reports for the New York Times.