The Latest: Trump says Democratic lawmakers’ message to the military is ‘seditious behavior’

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International Committee of the Red Cross is cutting hundreds of positions

The International Committee of the Red Cross is reducing hundreds of positions as top donors, including Germany and the United States, have cut humanitarian aid spending even as the number of conflicts has grown in recent years.

The Geneva-based organization, which focuses on protecting civilians and noncombatants in places of conflict, said Friday it was cutting the equivalent of about 2,900 full-time positions. That will leave it with about 15,000 worldwide.

Its assembly approved a budget of 1.8 billion Swiss francs (about $2.2 billion) for 2026, down 17% from this year, and it’s planning to boost efficiencies and focus more on in-the-field operations.

ICRC says it will focus on the “most critical” conflict zones, including Congo, Sudan, Ukraine and the Mideast conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Many humanitarian organizations have cut jobs and spending as traditional Western donors have reduced aid outlays this year, while increasing defense spending.

Zohran Mamdani en route to Washington

The mayor-elect of New York appears to be on his way to Washington meet with President Trump.

He posted a selfie on X, the social media site, sitting in a plane shortly after 8:30 a.m. He added an airplane emoji.

The White House meeting between the two men is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

Trump’s wind-down of the Education Department leaves schools fearing disruption

The Trump administration says its plan to dismantle the Education Department offers a fix for the nation’s lagging academics — a solution that could free schools from the strictures of federal influence.

Yet to some school and state officials, the plan appears to add more bureaucracy, with no clear benefit for students who struggle with math or reading.

Instead of being housed in a single agency, much of the Education Department’s work now will be spread across four other federal departments. For President Trump, it’s a step toward fully closing the department and giving states more power over schooling. Yet many states say it will complicate their role as intermediaries between local schools and the federal government.

▶ Read more about the Education Department

Supreme Court meets to weigh Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions, blocked by lower courts

The Supreme Court is to meet in private Friday with a high-profile issue on its agenda — President Trump ’s birthright citizenship order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The justices could say as soon as Monday whether they’ll hear Trump’s appeal of lower court rulings that have uniformly struck down the citizenship restrictions. They haven’t taken effect anywhere in the United States.

If the court steps in now, the case would be argued in the spring, with a definitive ruling expected by early summer.

The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term in the White House, is part of his administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

▶ Read more about Trump’s order on birthright citizenship

Trump and Mamdani meet Friday in the Oval Office. They’ve cast each other as adversaries for months

Trump has called New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a “total nut job.” Mamdani has called Trump’s administration “authoritarian” and described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

So their first-ever meeting, scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. EST at the White House, could be a curious and combustible affair.

Despite months of casting each other as prime adversaries, the Republican president and new Democratic star have also indicated an openness to finding areas of agreement that help the city they’ve both called home.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who takes office in January, said he sought the meeting with Trump to talk about ways to make New York City more affordable. Trump has said he may want to help him out — although he has also falsely labeled Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to yank federal funds from his hometown.

But for both men, the meeting offers opportunities beyond any areas of potential bipartisan agreement.

The two men are convenient political foils for each other, and taking the other one on can galvanize their supporters.

▶ Read more about their upcoming meeting

Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida

The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.

The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.

Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change to pursue what the Republican calls U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

▶ Read more about the plans for new oil drilling

Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg expected to leave his post as new peace plan emerges

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has informed the White House he’ll leave his post in January, according to two senior administration officials.

The move comes as the White House is working on a new peace plan aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine that is being largely coordinated by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin. That plan calls for major concessions by Kyiv, including ceding territory to Russia and abandoning certain weaponry.

The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity about Kellogg’s expected departure from the administration. They declined to comment on why Kellogg was departing. News of Kellogg’s expected exit was first reported by Reuters.

Kellogg was initially named special envoy for Ukraine and Russia during Trump’s presidential transition. But his role shrank as Witkoff, a real estate developer turned diplomat, emerged as the president’s chief interlocutor with Putin and his advisers.

▶ Read more about Kellogg’s departure

Trump expands tariff relief on coffee, fruit and beef from Brazil

Trump has further loosened tariffs on Brazil as part of his effort to lower consumer costs for Americans. The decision, released Thursday, affects coffee, fruit and beef, among other goods.

The White House said last week that Trump was rolling back some worldwide tariffs that were originally announced in April.

However, Brazil said that didn’t affect levies that Trump had enacted in July to punish the country for prosecuting his political ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Thursday’s decision harmonizes Trump’s plans, ensuring that neither the April nor July tariffs apply to certain products.

Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have been negotiating over trade, which could further reduce tariffs.

Trump steps up attacks on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, says network should ‘get the bum off the air’

Trump stepped up his attacks against ABC and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, urging the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post sent shortly after the comic’s latest episode ended.

The president this week had also expressed anger at the network’s chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, for questions she asked in an Oval Office meeting, which his press staff followed with a 17-point memo listing grievances against ABC News.

Trump’s latest attack against Kimmel came two months after ABC temporarily suspended the comic for remarks made following the assassination of GOP activist Charlie Kirk. ABC lifted the suspension following a public outcry.

Kimmel’s show Wednesday night began with a blistering monologue about Trump. Trump struck back in a Truth Social post sent at 12:49 a.m. Eastern. “Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air? Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it?” Trump said.

▶ Read more about Trump and Kimmel

Trump says Democrats’ video message to military is ‘seditious behavior’ punishable by death

Trump on Thursday accused half a dozen Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”

The 90-second video was first posted early Tuesday from Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s X account. In it, the six lawmakers — Slotkin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan — speak directly to U.S. service members, whom Slotkin acknowledges are “under enormous stress and pressure right now.”

Trump on Thursday reposted messages from others about the video, amplifying it with his own words. It marked another flashpoint in the political rhetoric that at times has been thematic in his administrations, as well as among some in his MAGA base. Some Democrats accused him of acting like a king and trying to distract from the soon-to-be-released files about disgraced financier and sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

▶ Read more about the video and Trump’s response