What we covered here
• Reaction to SOTU address: President Donald Trump took a victory lap in his 2026 State of the Union speech last night, during which he touted the economy, took jabs at Democrats and briefly touched on foreign affairs. Read an annotated, fact-checked version of his speech.
• Democratic response: Democrats said the speech showed Trump is out of touch with average Americans. During the official Democratic response, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger sharply criticized the president over affordability concerns and his immigration crackdown, offering a preview of the party’s message ahead of November’s midterms.
• Cuba shootings: Amid heightened tensions between the US and Cuba, Havana said tonight its forces fatally shot four people attempting to “infiltrate” on a Florida-registered speedboat. Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US embassy in Havana was looking into the incident.
Our live coverage of Trump administration news, including the State of the Union address and reaction, has wrapped for today. Please scroll through the posts below for all the details or find the latest US political news here.
Boat passengers were Cubans with US residency and had weapons, Cuba says
The passengers on a Florida-registered boat that opened fire on Cuban forces were all Cubans with residency in the United States and intended to infiltrate Cuba for “terrorist purposes,” the island’s government said tonight.
Six passengers have been detained, the statement added.
Two of the six detained “are wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in promoting, planning, organizing, financing, supporting, or carrying out acts of terrorism within Cuban territory or in other countries,” the statement continued. “According to preliminary statements from those detained, intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.”
Former US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta discussed the incident today on CNN.
Catch up on the latest politics headlines from today
We’re staying across all the news developments today, from the latest on Trump administration’s deportation policies to a new announcement on Medicaid funds.
If you’re just joining us, catch up on the latest headlines:
- FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the removal of at least 10 employees involved in the investigation of President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, sources told CNN.
- The Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside, a federal judge ruled in a case that already reached the nation’s highest court.
- Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration is withholding more than $250 million in Medicaid funds from Minnesota, claiming widespread fraud.
- A Trump Homeland Security appointee told state elections officials that federal immigration agents won’t be deployed to polling places during the 2026 midterms, multiple sources say.
- Trump in his State of the Union address said he intends to help private-sector workers save for retirement if they don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan. New details on that proposal will be offered “soon,” the White House told CNN in an email.
- Cuban forces shot dead four people in a Florida-registered speedboat that entered Cuban waters. The US embassy in Havana is working to determine whether the people are American citizens or permanent residents, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has been drafting military options for potentially striking Iran. But in meetings, Caine has been vocal about the potential downsides of launching a major military operation targeting Iran, raising concerns about the scale, complexity and potential for US casualties of such a mission, sources say.
CNN’s Jeanne Sahadi, Adam Cancryn, Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, Haley Britzky, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, Mauricio Torres, Hira Humayun and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
First lady Melania Trump will preside over UN Security Council meeting next month
First lady Melania Trump will preside over the United Nations Security Council meeting next month when the United States assumes the council’s presidency “to emphasize education’s role in advancing tolerance and world peace.”
“Mrs. Trump’s leadership will mark the first time a sitting U.S. First Lady presides over the Security Council as members consider education, technology, peace, and security,” the first lady’s office said in a press release.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, members of the UN Security Council and international stakeholders are also expected to attend the meeting at UN headquarters in New York on March 2. The meeting’s topic is “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict.”
Trump has shown an interest in securing the release of children allegedly abducted during the war between Russia and Ukraine. Most recently, she announced the release of Ukrainian children and one Russian child back to their families, an effort that she has championed during her husband’s second term.
The US is independently working for more information on Cuba incident, Rubio says
Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured Wednesday that the United States would get to the bottom of an incident off Cuba’s coast involving a Florida-registered speedboat, stressing that the State Department is working on gathering their own intelligence.
The US embassy in Havana is “asking for access to the people that were on those vessels” to determine if they were US nationals or permanent residents, Rubio told reporters.
While Rubio declined to comment on the specifics of who might have been on the vessel, he said the incident did not involve any US government personnel.
When asked by CNN how the US might retaliate if US citizens or residents were among those killed, he said, “we’ll make a determination on the basis of what we find out.”
Vance says White House is monitoring deadly incident off Cuba's coast
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday he’d been updated by the top US diplomat on a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat near Cuba.
“Marco (Rubio) briefed me about 15 minutes ago on it, but we don’t know a whole lot of details,” Vance said, referring to the US secretary of state, during an unrelated event at the White House.
“Certainly, you know, a situation that we’re monitoring, hopefully it’s not as bad we fear it could be. But can’t say more, because I just don’t know more,” Vance said.
He referred other questions to the White House, which has not commented on the incident.
Cuba’s interior ministry said earlier that four people in a Florida-registered speedboat were killed by Cuban forces Wednesday morning after the vessel entered Cuban territorial waters.
5 takeaways from Casey Means' hearing to become the nation's top doctor
Dr. Casey Means, an author and wellness influencer who is the president’s nominee for surgeon general, testified for more than two hours today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Here are five takeaways:
- Means’ vaccine views were a common theme, with both Democrats and Republicans questioning her stance on the childhood schedule and specific immunizations. She said vaccine policy would not be a priority as surgeon general but emphasized that “parents’ autonomy needs to be respected.”
- Sen. Ed Markey interrogated Means’ conviction on pesticide action, arguing that a new executive order from President Donald Trump represented a reversal for “Make America Healthy Again” advocates. “I am not in any way backing away from this issue. It is a core passion my life,” Means replied, adding that she believes the administration is acting in “good faith” to reduce pesticide usage.
- Means declined to take a firm stance on limiting the abortion pill mifepristone to in-person prescribing, saying it was outside the purview of the surgeon general’s office. “I do believe that a very thorough conversation with your doctor before taking any medication,” she said. “Unfortunately, in our current health care system, because of how overburdened doctors are, this often doesn’t happen.”
- Means dropped out of her medical residency program months before completion — a decision she described as disillusionment with the health care system — and today, Democrats questioned the status of her medical license. She said that it is inactive because she is not seeing patients but that she has unique experiences to bring to the surgeon general role.
- Sen. Susan Collins questioned Means about psychedelic drugs, drawing from a passage in Means’ 2024 book where she discussed using psilocybin, or psychedelic mushrooms, during her mother’s illness and death from pancreatic cancer. The nominee spoke about emerging science in psychedelic therapies for mental health, but Collins seemed most concerned about what her stance could mean for illicit drug use. “What I would say as a private citizen is in many cases different than what I would say as a public health official,” Means said.
Trump ran a victory lap in last night's State of the Union. What lawmakers had to say
President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address on record last night, in which he largely focused on the economy and took jabs at Democrats.
This is how lawmakers took it:
“Out of touch”: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Whip Katherine Clark slammed Trump as being out of touch and ignoring “real issues,” especially when it comes to affordability.
“Touching”: Republican Rep. Byron Donalds said last night’s address showed Trump is prioritizing the affordability crisis. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler said Trump used the room “effectively” with “touching moments that I think did unify the American people.”
Reaction was international, too:
Iranian criticism: Iranian spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei accused Trump of “big lies” against Iran during his speech.
In other news:
State of the Union guest arrested and released: Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said her State of the Union guest, arrested for allegedly demonstrating during the event, has been released and is “safe.”
Iran sanctions: The Trump administration slapped sanctions on more than 30 targets tied to “illicit” Iranian oil sales and the country’s ballistic missile production ahead of talks between Washington and Tehran.
Trump lashes out: Trump issued racist attacks against Omar and Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib on TruthSocial today after they repeatedly yelled at him during his address. He said they “look like they should be institutionalized” and that “we should send them back from where they came.”
Noem threatens TSA PreCheck suspension: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the agency may again suspend TSA PreCheck by prioritizing “standard” security lanes at the airport, hours after Trump called for Democrats to join Republicans and refund the department.
CNN’s Rhea Mogul, Kaanita Iyer, Rebekah Riess, Alejandra Jaramillo, Manu Raju and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
DOJ reviewing whether Epstein documents naming Trump were improperly withheld
The Justice Department is reviewing whether Jeffrey Epstein-related documents mentioning President Donald Trump were improperly withheld from public releases, the department said in a statement today.
The review comes after several news outlets including CNN reported that witness interviews from the criminal trial of Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell appear to be missing from the massive trove of files released by the Justice Department last month, including three interviews related to a woman who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her decades ago.
The Justice Department has previously identified reasons why it would redact or withhold documents, including that they are duplicates, privileged, or are part of an ongoing federal investigation. The Justice Department has not said which instance applies to the interviews.
Many documents have also been removed and added back to the DOJ’s Epstein files website over the weeks since the initial release, CNN has reported, including some the department says were “temporarily removed for victim redactions.”
GOP senator weighs in on FBI director's trip to Winter Olympics
Republican Sen. John Kennedy weighed in on FBI Director Kash Patel’s trip to Italy after images surfaced of him chugging beer in the US men’s hockey team locker room at the Olympics.
The senator from Louisiana said that public perception of government officials plays an important role.
“Given the fact that Congress is polled right up there in the minds of the American people with hemorrhoids, perceptions are important,” he said.
Democrats have also raised concerns about Patel’s Olympics trip due to his use of an FBI Gulfstream jet for personal travel. But he doesn’t have a choice: A post-9/11 government regulation requires the attorney general, and since 2011, the FBI director, to use government aircraft for all travel, including personal trips.
Kennedy also took a shot at a prominent Democrat, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
More context: Rice has come under fire by some conservatives after she said on a recent podcast that companies that bent the knee to Trump “are going to be held accountable” by those who oppose the president and “win at the ballot box.”
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump called on Netflix to remove Rice from its board “or pay the consequences” amid the company’s Warner Bros. merger bid.
Watch video of Patel celebrating with Team USA in this report from CNN’s Jake Tapper:
Jeffries defends Rep. Al Green protest at SOTU
Leesburg, Virginia — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday defended his member, Rep. Al Green of Texas, who was removed from the House chamber Tuesday night for protesting President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.
Green had been holding a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!” — a reference to a racist video recently posted to Trump’s Truth Social account — when the senior Texan was forced to leave the chamber.
Asked about Green’s protest, Jeffries called it “appropriate and restrained at the same period of time.”
“His message that he communicated was obviously on point. But it was far less profane than my reaction to the very same racist video that Donald Trump felt compelled to produce,” Jeffries said, referring to his own response to Trump’s video, in which the minority leader said “f**k Donald Trump.”
Jeffries told his members that if they planned to go to the speech, they were expected to “express ourselves in a manner consistent with being in the House chamber. And that was done,” he said when asked about Green.
Top Democrats on intelligence committees demand Gabbard respond to whistleblower report
The top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard demanding answers amid scrutiny over restricted access to a whistleblower report filed last year.
The report was not transmitted to Congress until about nine months after it was filed, and top lawmakers were barred from viewing the unredacted report.
In their letter, Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Mark Warner note that the DNI office cited executive privilege when it said it could not share the unredacted report on the incident.
“This response and assertion of privilege over this type of intelligence report is unprecedented. The request and provision of intelligence reports have been longstanding practice between the IC and its congressional oversight committees,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Moreover, it is not clear how this intelligence report could implicate executive privilege, which typically protects the deliberation and communications of the President and his senior advisors.”
They ended the letter asking whether the president asserted executive privilege, and on what grounds.
Warner addressed the whistleblower report earlier this month in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper:
Trump speaks with Zelensky as Ukraine war enters fifth year
President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
The call came as Zelensky is publicly encouraging Trump to continue supporting Ukraine. He told CNN’s Clarissa Ward this week he wants the US president to “stay on our side.”
Slow-moving peace talks, mediated by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have so far failed to yield a peace agreement.
Trump made only a cursory mention of the Ukraine conflict in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
“We’re working very hard to end the ninth war, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month. Think of that, 25,000 soldiers are dying a month,” Trump said, before adding his frequent aside: “A war which would have never happened if I were president, would have never happened.”
In a post on X, Zelensky said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner joined the call, and the four spoke about upcoming trilateral talks among Ukraine, the US and Russia. Zelensky expects the trilateral talks to open up an “opportunity to move talks to the leaders’ level.”
However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today that while he could see a summit involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump, and Zelensky in the event of a deal, he doesn’t see the use of a Putin-Zelensky meeting now.
Medicare trust fund projected to run dry 12 years earlier, CBO says
President Donald Trump is touting that he cut taxes on Social Security benefits, but that loss of revenue is expected to lead to a key Medicare trust fund running dry much sooner.
Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund is forecast to run out of money in 2040, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest projection. That’s 12 years earlier than CBO’s most recent prior estimate.
The trust fund, which finances Medicare Part A hospital, hospice care, short-term nursing care and other services, will be depleted sooner than projected for several reasons, CBO said. The trust fund will receive less revenue from income taxes on Social Security benefits, which account for about one-eighth of the fund’s revenue, because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced tax rates and created a temporary enhanced deduction to senior citizens. (The legislation did not eliminate taxes on Social Security, contrary to Trump’s claims.)
Also, CBO projects reduced revenue from payroll taxes because it forecasts workers will earn less, and it expects less interest income because of smaller trust fund balances. Meanwhile, spending is projected to be greater. These factors are also weakening the trust fund’s finances.
Iran dismisses Trump’s missile claims as “fake news,” says it seeks "fair" deal
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s accusation that Tehran is developing missiles capable of reaching the United States, calling the claim “fake news.”
Trump, addressing Congress on Tuesday night, said Iran has “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States.”
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Araghchi insisted that Iran’s missile program is strictly defensive, with self-imposed limits keeping the missiles’ ranges below 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles).
Speaking from Tehran today ahead of a new round of talks with the US in Geneva, Araghchi said Iran is fully prepared for both war and peace but remains committed to diplomacy and a fair nuclear agreement.
“Our armed forces are prepared to do their job, and we know how to defend ourselves, and this is what we did last time,” he said, emphasizing that Iran’s preparedness serves as a deterrent.
Araghchi expressed hope that ongoing negotiations could yield a “fair, balanced and equitable deal,” but he voiced skepticism about Washington’s intentions, citing past experiences when talks were followed by military action. “If there is a real, serious determination on their side, I believe it (agreement) is achievable,” he said.
On the nuclear issue, Araghchi reiterated Iran’s position: “We have no intention to go for nuclear weapons and no intention to go for long-range missiles.” But he also said that Tehran will not give up its right to peaceful nuclear technology. He added that Iran is willing to address any concerns through transparency and international oversight, but expects sanctions relief in return.
Omar says her guest was charged with unlawful conduct for standing up silently at SOTU
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said her State of the Union guest was charged with unlawful conduct for standing up silently during President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday night.
Omar said her guest, Aliya Rahman, was arrested because she stood up in the gallery for a “short period of time, part of which other guests were also standing.”
Omar said that reports indicate that Rahman was “aggressively handled” and was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment, and “later booked at the United States Capitol Police headquarters.”
“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy. I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred,” Omar said.
A statement from Capitol Police Tuesday evening said that Rahman was arrested after demonstrating during the speech.
The statement said, “All State of the Union tickets clearly explain that demonstrating is prohibited. At approximately 10:07 p.m., a person in the House Gallery started demonstrating during tonight’s State of the Union Address. The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders. It is illegal to disrupt the Congress and demonstrate in the Congressional Buildings, so 43-year-old Aliya M. Rahman of Minneapolis, MN, was arrested for D.C. Code §10-503.16 - Unlawful Conduct, Disruption of Congress.”
Trump says Omar and Tlaib should be sent "back from where they came”
President Donald Trump lashed out at Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib after they repeatedly yelled at him during his State of the Union address, saying the two Democrats “look like they should be institutionalized” and that “we should send them back from where they came.”
“When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible,” Trump wrote in an insult-laden Truth Social post.
During his first term, Trump also used racist language to attack progressive Democratic congresswomen, including Tlaib and Omar, suggesting “they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” (Tlaib is a natural-born US citizen and Omar became a citizen in 2000, according to The New York Times.)
In calling on the two Democratic lawmakers to “get on a boat,” Trump on Wednesday also veered into personal attacks against actor Robert De Niro, comparing him to Rosie O’Donnell, whose citizenship he’s previously threatened to revoke. “They should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying.”
During Trump’s Tuesday speech, Omar and Tlaib objected to his characterization of Minnesota’s Somali community as “pirates” and accused him of enabling the deaths of US citizens through his hardline immigration crackdown in the state.
Trump administration imposes new sanctions targeting Iran ahead of high-stakes talks
The Trump administration today slapped sanctions on more than 30 targets tied to “illicit” Iranian oil sales and the country’s ballistic missile production ahead of high-stakes talks between Washington and Tehran.
The US Treasury Department said the new sanctions were part of the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. They come as the administration ratchets up military pressure on Tehran to accept a new nuclear deal.
Delegations are slated to sit down in Geneva tomorrow for another round of negotiations.
The latest sanctions hit vessels “operating as part of Iran’s shadow fleet,” the Treasury Department said in a press release.
They also target “multiple networks” in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates “that enable Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) to secure the precursor materials and sensitive machinery required to reconstitute ballistic missile and ACW production capacity, as well as proliferate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to third countries.” (ACW refers to advanced conventional weapons.)
The latter sanctions were imposed in support of the snap back of UN sanctions on Iran following the collapse of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Treasury Department said.
Meanwhile, Iran accused President Donald Trump of reiterating “big lies” about Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program during yesterday’s State of the Union address. CNN’s Paula Hancocks delves deeper into Tehran’s response:
After President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, Iran's foreign minister accused Trump of "big lies" and likened Washington's stance to Nazi propaganda. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
Thune warns it'll be difficult to pass bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he recognizes there is high interest from President Donald Trump and many congressional Republicans to move a bill that would require a person prove citizenship to vote, but warned Democrats will block it with a filibuster.
And he cautioned there is not enough support among Senate Republicans to change filibuster rules as some are advocating.
“At some point we’ll get a get it up on the floor and get it up for a vote. I just can’t guarantee an outcome or a result, which is, you know, obviously always going to be subject to where the votes are,” he told reporters.
Thune said his conference remains divided on changing filibuster rules to take up that bill, the SAVE America Act, so that is not an option right now.
“The conference is not unified on an approach on that yet,” he said about the so-called “taking filibuster,” that Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, and others are pushing.
GOP leaders worry the complicated process of that approach could lead to potentially weeks of debate that would eat up valuable floor time.
He said they could not turn to it until the funding standoff with Democrats over the Department of Homeland Security is resolved.
Thune also said his GOP senators are “not unanimous” on some of the other issues Trump raised in his State of the Union speech, such as drug pricing changes and a ban on institutional investors buying single family homes.
Noem threatens to again suspend TSA PreCheck amid DHS shutdown
Hours after President Donald Trump called for Democrats to join Republicans in refunding the Department of Homeland Security during his State of the Union address, the department’s secretary Kristi Noem has said that it may again suspend TSA PreCheck by prioritizing “standard” security lanes at the airport during the partial government shutdown.
It comes after the department walked back its decision over the weekend to pause TSA PreCheck, which allow travelers to get through airport security more quickly amid the ongoing DHS shutdown. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program remains paused.
“We prioritize security lanes as we can staff them. So the ones that use the most travelers, which is the standard lanes, will be prioritized because most of the traveling public goes through those lanes,” she added.
Meanwhile, Noem denied that the department reversed its decision on halting PreCheck, saying, “We never reversed the decision. We just talked about it. What priorities we’d have to make if we had the situation where call outs went high.”
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry were not paused during last year’s government shutdown, which lasted 43 days.
