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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 29, 2026

Trump Hosts Zuckerberg, Musk, Amodei and Huang for a White House Lunch and Announces They Have Signed an Accord to "Self-Police" — "I Think It's Morally Binding" — the Same Day Ted Cruz Blocks the Senate's Bipartisan AI Safety Bill and Bernie Sanders Says "Congress Does Not Regulate AI. AI Regulates Congress"

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, President Trump hosted nearly 20 technology executives — among them Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Google's Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Palantir's Alex Karp and OpenAI's Greg Brockman — at a White House "Super Intelligence Luncheon" attended by Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet members. Afterward Trump announced that the companies had signed "The White House Accord on Superintelligence: A Joint Commitment on Frontier SI Responsibilities," a voluntary statement of principles promising internal controls and internal and external review of frontier models. Asked whether it was binding, Trump said, "I think it's morally binding." The accord has no enforcement mechanism. The summit came weeks after OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed that AI agents had gone rogue and accessed systems without authorization, and as calls for a development slowdown grew. That same morning, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Commerce Committee, objected to a unanimous-consent request by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) to pass the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act of 2026, which would create a permanent AI safety board at the Commerce Department with authority to review frontier models 45 days before release.

“There's a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation, and we automatically have regulation. … But the self-regulation is very important. … I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police. … I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution. We can't stifle it, and we're leading by a lot. [Asked whether the accord is binding:] I think it's morally binding.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 29, 2026

Artificial Intelligence

Five Weeks Before the Midterms, Senate Republicans Block Tammy Baldwin's Resolution to Overturn Trump's Obamacare Marketplace Rule — Susan Collins Is the Only Republican to Vote Yes, and Baldwin Says the Rule Will Make "Out-of-Pocket Costs … Skyrocket"

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, the Senate rejected a motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 197, Sen. Tammy Baldwin's (D-Wis.) Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Trump administration rule governing the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The vote was 48-51 on the Senate floor record (some outlets reported 48-50); Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was the only Republican to vote with Democrats. The rule promotes catastrophic and bronze-tier plans with very high deductibles, loosens network-adequacy requirements and lets insurers sell plans without provider networks. Democrats say it will push up to 2 million people off marketplace coverage and raise the maximum out-of-pocket limit to $15,600 for individuals and $31,200 for families in 2027. The vote was one of the Senate's last before members leave to campaign.

“Americans have been clear that they need lower health care costs. And what does President Trump do to respond? He pushes a policy that will cause out-of-pocket costs to skyrocket. … [In a statement after the vote:] For over a decade, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, without a plan to replace it for the 23 million Americans who rely on this program for insurance.”
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) · Sep 29, 2026

The Education Department Formally Erases Biden's Title IX Rule and Reinstates the 2020 Trump Regulation — Linda McMahon Says It "Restores the Commonsense Language," Tim Walberg Says It "Restores Longstanding Protections for Women and Girls," and Pramila Jayapal Says "Every Day, This Administration Continues to Target LGBTQIA+ Kids"

On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, the Education Department announced a final rule formally rescinding the Biden administration's 2024 Title IX regulations, which had defined sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and restoring the 2020 regulations written during President Trump's first term. The rule took effect on publication in the Federal Register on Sept. 29 without a public comment period. Federal courts had already struck down the 2024 rule, and the department said "nothing changes in practice" because it has enforced the 2020 rules since January 2025. The 2020 regulations strengthen due-process protections for students accused of sexual misconduct and do not explicitly address LGBTQ+ discrimination. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and House Education Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) welcomed the move. Democrats, LGBTQ+ advocates and survivors' groups said it strips protections from transgender students and sexual-assault survivors.

“Thanks to today's action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflect court orders and congressional intent — reducing confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions. … This action restores the commonsense language promulgated in the first Trump administration.”
Linda McMahon (R-CT) · Sep 28, 2026

Sep 17, 2026· Updated

The Fed Raises Rates for the First Time Since 2023 as Trump's Own Chair Says "The Plain Fact Is That Inflation Is Too High and Has Been for Too Long" — Trump Answers That Rates "Should Be 1%, or Less," Calls the Board "a Bunch of Politicians," and Says He Told Kevin Warsh "You Might as Well Vote With the Board," While Elizabeth Warren Calls Warsh Trump's "Sock Puppet"

On Sept. 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise its benchmark rate by a quarter point, to a range of 3.75% to 4%. It was the Fed's first increase since July 2023 and the first under Chair Kevin Warsh, whom President Trump picked and the Senate confirmed in May. Updated projections showed 16 of 18 officials expect another hike before the end of the year. At his press conference, Warsh said inflation, 3.4% as of August, was "too high" and pointed to a strengthening economy and "hot spots around the world." Renewed U.S.-Iran fighting has pushed gas prices up. The hike came 12 days after Trump threatened to "stop trading" with deficit countries unless the Fed cut rates. Trump wrote on Truth Social that rates "should be 1%, or less," called the board "very political," and told reporters he had said to Warsh beforehand, "you might as well vote with the board because it's not going to matter." Asked about that conversation, Warsh said, "I've got nothing for you on a discussion with the president." Trump said he still has confidence in Warsh. A day before the decision, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett had said the White House would "respect the process." Democrats blamed Trump's tariffs and the Iran war for the price increases behind the hike.

“It’s a monumental mistake. … When the Fed raises rates on top of an energy price shock, it runs the very real risk of an overreaction in driving the economy down into a recession or worse. … It is inexplicable that the Fed and Kevin Warsh do not understand that history. [What the Fed is doing is] ahistorical and bad economics.”
Peter Navarro (R) · Sep 17, 2026

Sep 17, 2026· Updated

In Two Days the Government's Own Scorekeepers Put a Number on the Iran War — the Pentagon's Inspector General Says the Munitions Spent Have Caused "Strategic Inventory Shortfalls," and the CBO Says the War Has Cost $38 Billion and Will Add Half a Point to Inflation — While Trump Posts That America Is "Producing More Exquisite and Elite Weapons Than at Any Time in Our History"

On Sept. 14, 2026, the Defense Department's inspector general delivered its first congressionally mandated report on Operation Epic Fury, the war with Iran that began in late February. Covering Feb. 28 through June 30, the report put the cost to the Pentagon and State Department at $33.4 billion, $22.3 billion of it in expended munitions, and found that "the munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply." It also documented that Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan — the first formal public accounting of American losses in the war. The next day, Sept. 15, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its own estimate: the war has directly cost the Pentagon more than $38 billion through the beginning of August and is on pace to consume $2 billion to $3 billion more every month. CBO also projected that the war will push inflation roughly 0.5 percentage points higher than previously forecast into the first quarter of 2027, driven largely by reduced oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and disrupted Red Sea shipping. The CBO score was produced at the request of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Senate Democrats, who had written that "the administration has not been fully truthful or transparent in its public accounting of the war's costs so far" — a concern they tied to an expected administration supplemental funding request of as much as $200 billion. Both reports landed against months of administration assurances to the contrary. Two weeks earlier Trump had said US ammunition stocks were "virtually unlimited"; on Sept. 14, the day the IG report dropped, he posted that the United States is "producing more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History," without addressing the findings. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the supplemental would wait until after the November midterms.

“Despite asking for tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars, you have so far failed to provide basic information on how this money has and will be spent. … Congress must have access to this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities. It is the bare minimum that any American would expect in balancing their own household budget.”
Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) · Sep 17, 2026

Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon Share a Stage Blocks From the White House to Demand Limits on AI — Sanders Calls for "a Complete Ban on Artificial Superintelligence" and Asks Trump to Negotiate an AI Treaty With Xi, Greg Casar Says "No One Can Win the AI Arms Race," and Chip Roy Answers That "We're Not Supposed to Be Tools for Data Collection" — a Day After Trump Posted That the Danger Is "a HOAX"

On Sept. 15, 2026, the Future of Life Institute convened the Pro-Human Assembly in a Washington conference center blocks from the White House — a one-day gathering that put Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon on the same stage, alongside Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.), AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, AFT president Randi Weingarten, and actors Ashley Judd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Sanders used his remarks to call for a pause on advanced AI development until a federal AI regulatory body is operating, and for "a complete ban on artificial superintelligence." He said he would introduce that legislation with Casar and pressed Trump to negotiate an AI treaty with Xi Jinping at their coming summit, invoking Reagan and Gorbachev's nuclear arms agreement as the precedent. Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, framed the moment as a "history-defining" one and argued for banning AI systems too powerful for humans to control. Chip Roy, the only Republican member quoted at length from the stage, grounded his objection in the dignity of work and in religious terms. The assembly met one day after President Trump posted on Truth Social that "AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX," alleged a "SICK conspiracy" against AI and data centers, and said a "STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT" is the only guardrail AI needs — remarks that reportedly worried some White House officials and that came as Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk were publicly asking government to slow the pace of frontier development.

“None of this can just happen in the United States alone. There must be international cooperation. … I am doing all that I can to see that President Trump and President Xi of China negotiate an AI treaty when they soon meet. … Back in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, two people with very different political and ideological positions, understood that a nuclear war would not be good for either country or the rest of the world—and they reached a nuclear arms agreement. Trump and Xi can do the same. … I know there are many who think that is impossible. It's not.”
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) · Sep 15, 2026

Artificial Intelligence

Hours Before the Crypto Bill's Make-or-Break Senate Vote, Trump Agrees to Ethics Rules on His Own Family — Lummis Says He "Voluntarily Agreed to Unprecedented Ethics Restrictions," and Elizabeth Warren Calls the Deal a "Weak Fig Leaf" That Will Not Stop "His Next $1.4 Billion in Crypto Profits"

Late on Sept. 13, 2026, Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) released what they called the final text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act — the CLARITY Act — ahead of a cloture vote Majority Leader John Thune had scheduled for 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 15. The sponsors said the draft contained 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats and adopted substantially all of the Tillis-Gallego ethics language, including a role for state attorneys general in enforcing conflict-of-interest rules against federal officials. President Trump, whose 2025 financial disclosure reported roughly $1.4 billion in crypto-related income, signed off on most of it. The concession did not move the Democrats whose votes the bill needs to reach 60. On the Senate floor the night of Sept. 14, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the ethics deal a "weak fig leaf" and argued the enforcement design means "the law could never be enforced against Donald Trump." Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — co-author of the ethics framework Republicans said they had adopted — told reporters the same evening that the final language "leaves a lot to be desired." Seven Senate Democrats had already said in July that the Republican text "falls short," and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has said she will not support market-structure legislation without an enforceable ban on officials profiting from crypto. Seventeen state attorneys general and the banking industry also came out against the final draft. A failed cloture vote would effectively end the bill for 2026, seven weeks before the midterms.

“The full cost of today's result may not be known for years to come, but this much is clear: it increases the risk that the standards that global financial markets adhere to in the future will be those of Brussels or Beijing, rather than Washington and New York.”
Patrick Witt (R) · Sep 15, 2026

Sitting Next to the Taoiseach in Dublin, Trump Breaks Decades of American Neutrality on Northern Ireland — "I'd Love to See It Unified. It's Going to Happen Eventually" — as Unionists Answer That Their Future "Will Be Decided by the People of Northern Ireland, Not by Commentary in … Washington"

On Sept. 12, 2026, during a visit to Ireland built around the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf resort, President Trump told reporters in Dublin — seated beside Taoiseach Micheál Martin — that he would "love to see" Northern Ireland and the Republic unified, calling it "a fantastic thing" that is "going to happen eventually." Later that day he called it "a very cool thing" and, at an event at the U.S. ambassador's residence, acknowledged the controversy: "I gave a nice answer, I think. We'll worry about it tomorrow." The remarks broke with Washington's long-standing neutrality on Northern Ireland's constitutional status, which under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement can change only through a referendum called at the British government's discretion. They came two weeks after new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said such a vote was "off the table"; his office responded that he would stick to the Good Friday Agreement. Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson and Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows condemned the comments, while Sinn Féin welcomed them. Martin urged a "calm perspective." In Washington, Rep. Brendan Boyle said bipartisan U.S. support for the Good Friday Agreement "is not going to change."

“It just seems to me that you have Northern Ireland and you have Ireland, and it would seem to me that one of the naturals of all time is put them together.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 13, 2026