The Latest: Grand jury transcripts from abandoned Epstein investigation in Florida ordered released

A federal judge in Florida on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the federal sex trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said the law President Donald Trump recently signed ordering the release of related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury.

Meanwhile, a federal vaccine advisory committee voted Friday to end a longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of liver illnesses. Democrats are pushing for the release of video of the first U.S. military strikes on a boat in the Caribbean that they say shows a war crime or murder. And Trump took center stage at Friday’s 2026 World Cup draw.

The Latest:

Oregon affordable housing complex sues ICE over tear gas

The lawsuit filed Friday says agents’ use of gas during protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has sickened residents in the housing complex next door, contaminated their apartments and confined them inside.

The complaint filed by the nonprofit REACH Community Development and multiple residents says tenants have experienced difficulty breathing, coughing, headaches and other symptoms following exposure to chemicals from tear gas, smoke grenades and pepper balls.

It says some have worn gas masks indoors including while sleeping and found canisters on their balconies, in the courtyard and in the parking garage.

The lawsuit seeks to prohibit the use of chemical agents likely to infiltrate apartments unless necessary to protect against an imminent threat.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE are among named defendants. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

New Orleans mayor demands transparency as federal immigration crackdown continues

On the operation’s third day, Democratic Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said she sent a letter to Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino with a set of demands. Among them was information on how many people have been detained, their identities and charges they face.

Amid growing concerns over aggressive arrests, which have included foot and car pursuits, Moreno asked that agents stop wearing masks and for safeguards against racial profiling.

She also said detainees must have prompt access to legal representation, medical services, language interpretation and family notification.

Louisiana attorney general urges New Orleans police to cooperate with Border Patrol

Liz Murrill urged the city’s police department to “fully cooperate” with federal immigration agents who are carrying out a crackdown in the city.

In a letter sent to Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick on Friday, Murrill said she believes the department’s current practices violate a state ban on sanctuary city policies.

Kirkpatrick could not immediately be reached for comment.

Florida lawmakers tell Trump to keep oil drilling off state’s coasts

Florida’s Republican-dominated congressional delegation is urging the Trump administration to drop a plan that would allow new oil drilling off the state’s coast.

A letter signed by Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody says the Interior Department plan would put the state’s thriving tourism industry at risk and disrupt military operations in a key training area.

The letter to President Donald Trump is signed by all 30 members of Congress from Florida, including 22 Republicans and eight Democrats. It represents rare pushback against the Republican president by GOP lawmakers and demonstrates how important Florida’s beaches and coastal waters are to its economy.

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has also said the Trump administration should reconsider.

Members of Congress express concern at Netflix-Warner Bros. merger

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., in an interview with the AP: “When the digital ink is still wet on the deal, I think it would be very premature for someone to say, ‘Over my dead body.’ But rather one should say, ‘Yeah, this one we predicted, if it happened, that it would be a serious concern.’ It has now happened, and that serious concern is going to take some time, effort, and study and possible changes in the deal.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on social media: “This deal looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare. A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market. It could force you into higher prices, fewer choices over what and how you watch, and may put American workers at risk.”

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in a statement: “One company should not have full vertical control of the content and the distribution pipeline that delivers it. And combining two of the largest streaming platforms is a textbook horizontal Antitrust problem.”

Kiss rock star Gene Simmons pops up at the White House

The rocker surprised journalists in the James Brady Press Briefing Room, where he appeared at the podium and parried away a few questions. His appearance came as Kiss is set to be honored this weekend at the Kennedy Center.

His wife, Shannon Tweed, pleaded with him to stop and eventually led him out of the room by the arm.

Simmons joked to the reporters: “It was wonderful to talk to me,” as he left.

World Cup event ends with a Trump anthem

Organizers brought out the Village People to perform “YMCA,” a standard on the set list of Trump campaign events.

Naturally, Trump, who watched much of the draw from a Kennedy Center balcony, stood up and danced.

Trump security strategy cites Monroe Doctrine in asserting power in the Americas

Trump’s national security strategy document released Friday lays out, as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”

The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe in 1823 was originally aimed at opposing any European meddling in the Western Hemisphere, and later used to justify U.S. military interventions across Latin America.

Along with combating drug trafficking and controlling migration, Trump’s document describes a reimagined footprint after building up the largest military presence in the region in generations. That means, for instance, “targeted deployments to secure the border and defeat cartels, including where necessary the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades,” it says.

Trump’s security strategy slammed by congressional Democrat

Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, who sits on House committees overseeing intelligence and the armed forces, called the strategy “catastrophic to America’s standing in the world and a retreat from our alliances and partnerships.”

“The world will be a more dangerous place and Americans will be less safe if this plan moves forward,” Crow said.

Somali lawmakers in Maine push back at Trump comments

Three Somali American lawmakers from Maine issued a joint statement criticizing Trump’s remarks about Somali immigrants. Rep. Mana Abdi of Lewiston, Rep. Deqa Dhalac of South Portland and Rep. Yusuf Yusuf of Portland are the first Somali Americans to serve in the Maine House of Representatives.

“An attack on Somali Americans, on TPS holders, or on any immigrant community is an attack on all Americans. Maine is stronger when we stand together, reject dehumanization, and insist on a future rooted in safety, fairness, and shared belonging,” said the statement sent Thursday.

Maine is home to several thousand residents of Somali descent.

The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump’s birthright citizenship order violates the Constitution

The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship.

His order says that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens. The justices said Friday they will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions.

Those restrictions haven’t taken effect anywhere in the country. The case will be argued in the spring. A definitive ruling is expected by early summer. Birthright citizenship is the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the court for a final ruling. The order is part of his administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

Just when Florida Epstein documents will be made public remains unknown

But it could happen later this month.

The government had asked the court for permission to include the usually secret grand jury records in the files they are required to make public under the new federal law. The legislation requires the Justice Department to make the documents public in a searchable and downloadable format within 30 days of Trump signing it into law.

Indiana House advances redistricting bill to state Senate

The Indiana state House passed a redistricting bill Friday, advancing the legislation backed by Trump to a high-stakes fight in the state Senate.

The House, with a Republican supermajority, voted 57-41 to pass the proposed congressional map that would split the city of Indianapolis into four districts and set the GOP up to win all nine of the state’s congressional districts.

Republicans currently hold seven of the nine districts. It is unknown whether there are enough votes in the state Senate, which is set to convene on Monday, to give final passage to the map.

Judge orders release of Epstein grand jury transcripts in Florida

The grand jury transcripts involve the federal sex trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed last month by Trump, compels the Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors to release by Dec. 19 the vast troves of material they’ve amassed during investigations into Epstein.

Other requests to unseal Epstein documents remain pending:

1. the 2006-2007 Florida grand jury investigation into Epstein,

2. his 2019 sex trafficking case in New York,

3. and Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case, also in New York.

The Florida request was approved Friday. The New York requests are pending, with the Justice Department facing a Monday deadline to make its final filing — a response to submissions by victims, Epstein’s estate and Maxwell’s lawyers. The judges in those matters have said they plan to rule expeditiously.

US and Ukraine officials to hold further talks Friday on peace plan

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s meeting in Florida on Thursday with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, was “productive,” according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The American and Ukrainian officials were due to brief their respective leaders on Friday and reconvene for further talks later in the day, the official added.

— Aamer Madhani

Trump calls FIFA prize ‘truly one of the great honors of my life’

The president wore the medal around his neck and stood near a gold trophy that bore his name, depicting hands holding up the world, as he accepted the new FIFA peace prize at the 2026 World Cup draw.

Trump thanked his family and first lady Melania Trump, then Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for their “coordination and friendship and relationship. … But most importantly, I just want thank everybody.”

Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, had been expected to receive the newly created FIFA prize. He and FIFA president Gianni Infantino are close allies, and Infantino had made it clear that he thought Trump should have won the Nobel for his efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.

Infantino told Trump on stage that he had worked to obtain peace “in your way, but you obtained it in an incredible way.”

He assured Trump “You can always count on my support.”

▶ Read the latest developments surrounding the 2026 World Cup draw

Bessent describes ‘constructive’ call with Chinese counterpart

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke with Vice Premier He Lifeng and had a “constructive” conversation, Bessent said in an X post Friday.

“Greer and I discussed the ongoing implementation of the Busan arrangement between President Trump and President Xi, which is going well,” Bessent said, referring to the U.S.-China trade understanding announced after Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, in October.

“I also reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to continued engagement with China,” Bessent said.

Fed’s preferred inflation gauge stayed elevated in September as spending weakened

The data — a months-old snapshot delayed five weeks by the government shutdown — likely eases the way to a widely expected interest rate cut by the central bank next week.

Prices rose 0.3% in September from August, matching the previous month’s increase, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% target, partly because of Trump’s tariffs, but many Fed officials argue that weak hiring, modest economic growth, and slowing wage gains will steadily reduce price gains in the coming months.

The Fed’s decision remains tricky: It would typically keep rates high to fight inflation. At the same time, it is worried about weak hiring and a slowly rising unemployment rate. It hopes that reducing rates will spur more borrowing and boost the economy.

Suspect in DC pipe bomb case said to have confessed in interviews with investigators, AP sources say

The man accused of planting a pair of pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack confessed to the act in interviews with investigators, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Brian Cole Jr. also indicated that he believed the 2020 election was stolen and expressed views supportive of President Donald Trump, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss by name an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The details add to a still-emerging portrait of the 30-year-old suspect from Woodbridge, Virginia, and it was not immediately clear what other information or perspectives he may have shared while cooperating with law enforcement following his arrest on Thursday.

— Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman

US consumer sentiment improves but remains subdued

Worries about inflation eased a bit among U.S. consumers this month, but their mood remains gloomy.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, released Friday in a preliminary version, rose to 53.3 early this month from a final reading of 51 in November. This beats the 52 mark economists had forecast but it’s still down considerably from 71.7 in January.

Expectations for year-ahead inflation dipped from 4.5% last month to to 4.1%, the lowest level since Trump returned to the White House and began imposing sweeping taxes — tariffs — on imports from countries around the world.

The average U.S. tariff rate has climbed from 2.4% in January to 16.8% last month, highest since 1935, according to calculations by the Budget Lab at Yale University.

More countries to be added to travel ban, Noem says

The Homeland Security secretary says the Trump administration is expanding its travel ban from 19 to more than 30 countries.

Kristi Noem wouldn’t say which countries would be included in the expansion as she spoke in an interview late Thursday with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham.

Trump is “continuing to evaluate countries,” Noem said. “If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?”

World Cup draw features the leaders of Mexico and Canada, in addition to Trump

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is attending the World Cup draw Friday afternoon at the Kennedy Center — her first face-to-face meeting with Trump since he returned to the White House in January.

Also on hand will be Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who hasn’t met with Trump since the U.S. president clashed with Ontario over an ad criticizing U.S. tariff policymaking.

Officials from all three countries recently began reviewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term and replaced the 1994 NAFTA pact. Trump says he’ll meet with the other two leaders after the event, with trade on the agenda. “We are going to meet with both and we are getting along very well,” Trump said.

US judge temporarily blocks layoffs of about 250 State Department workers

Unions say the State Department notified the employees on Monday that they would be fired on Friday.

But U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled Thursday that the union representing the employees is likely to prevail on its argument that the government funding bill that ended the shutdown prohibits the cuts.

A message to the department was not immediately returned.

The administration argued that the funding bill only prevented layoffs initiated during the shutdown. It had notified the 250 or so foreign and civil service employees of their terminations well before the shutdown started.

Illston, nominated to the bench in San Francisco by President Bill Clinton, said nothing in the “plain text” of the funding bill’s layoff prohibition supports that interpretation.

Melania Trump cheers hospitalized children for Christmas

Two patients escorted her into the festively decorated atrium at Children’s National Hospital in Washington.

The first lady sat in a big red chair in front of a large Christmas tree and read, “How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney,” by Mac Barnett.

She told the children she hopes Santa will visit and “bring you a lot of toys.”

“I wish you a lot of strength,” she said.

She made small talk with the children in the audience before departing with a “merry Christmas..” She also was to make private visits with children in the hematology/oncology wing.

Miami mayoral runoff tests GOP’s strength in Florida

Sen. Ruben Gallego is joining Democrat Eileen Higgins in Miami this weekend for early voting events. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also supported her in a video shared by her campaign on Friday. If she wins the mayoral runoff, she could become the first Democrat to lead Miami in over 25 years.

Emilio Gonzalez has received endorsements from Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and is rallying voters with Sen. Rick Scott on Friday. A loss for the Republican in the nonpartisan race could be perceived as a setback for the GOP in Florida, given how much Miami has moved to the right over the years.

Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, has been campaigning for fellow party members in Latino areas, helping New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger. Both off-year election results last month showed signs of a Hispanic shift away from Republicans.