What we covered here
• Trump’s Pennsylvania speech: President Donald Trump sought to debut a new economic message: Democrats drove up prices, “and we’re bringing them down.” But he undercut that at times, complaining that his prepared remarks were boring and setting off on long and often insult-ridden tangents.
• Boat strikes: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top administration officials briefed the “Gang of Eight” lawmakers on the controversial “double-tap” strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.
• Another win for Democrats: Eileen Higgins will be the next mayor of Miami, CNN projects, breaking a nearly 30-year Republican streak in the seat and giving Democrats another strong performance during the first year of Trump’s second term.
Our live coverage of the Trump administration has ended for the day. Get the latest here.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace contradicts Trump on affordability: "It is the number one issue in South Carolina"
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace told CNN on Tuesday that her constituents say affordability is the most important issue in South Carolina, contradicting President Donald Trump, who has insisted the issue is a Democrat “hoax.”
Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, also said that she agrees with Trump that the US economy is strong right now. She said she believes the tax breaks in Trump’s spending package – the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – will continue to fuel the economy.
Mace’s comments come as Trump tries to blame Democrats and former President Joe Biden for inflation while insisting his administration is working to lower prices.
“He needs serious help.” Rep. Ilhan Omar responds to Trump’s attacks on her during Pennsylvania speech
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar responded to President Donald Trump’s attacks on her tonight, calling the president “a national embarrassment.”
Her post on Bluesky came after the president’s rambling remarks in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, where he said Omar “does nothing but bitch” and that his administration “ought to get her the hell out” of the United States.
Trump also called Somalia “filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime” and said it is “the worst country in the world.”
Trump just spoke in Pennsylvania for more than 90 minutes on an array of topics. Here’s what you should know
President Donald Trump was expected to address how his administration will improve its standing on affordability during remarks tonight in eastern Pennsylvania.
Instead, while touching on the economy, Trump complained that his prepared remarks were boring and set off on several long, unrelated and expletive-riddled tangents during his speech in Mount Pocano.
Here’s what you should know about his remarks, which lasted more than 90 minutes:
Trump’s touts tariffs: Trump opened his speech by highlighting his tariff policy and the benefits he said it has brought to Pennsylvania. He also bragged about his initiative to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime hours.
Blame game: The president sought to debut a new economic message: Democrats drove up prices, “and we’re bringing them down.” But he called concerns about affordability “a hoax” before eventually acknowledging that he’d been encouraged not to say that because it’d be misconstrued. The president also maintained that blame for high prices rested on former President Joe Biden, relentlessly mocking his predecessor and calling him names.
Attacking the Fed: Trump renewed attacks on the central bank, seeming to suggest that Fed governors who were appointed under Biden may be illegitimate. From the stage, Trump then asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to look into what could be done. The Fed is expected to announce a third consecutive rate cut tomorrow at the conclusion of its two-day December policy meeting.
Attack on alleged drug boats: Trump highlighted the recent US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, drawing loud cheers as he praised the operation in blunt terms. “The missile that knocks the crap out of them,” Trump said, describing the strikes as the crowd erupted into cheers.
Railing against Somalis: The president continued to rail against Somali people. He said Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress in 2018, “does nothing but bitch” and said his administration “ought to get her the hell out” of the United States. He called Somalia “filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime” and said it is “the worst country in the world.”
CNN’s Adam Cancryn, Alayna Treene and Samantha Delouya contributed reporting.
PA crowd cheers as Trump praises boat strikes: “The missile that knocks the crap out of them”
President Donald Trump took a moment during his Mount Pocono rally-style speech in Pennsylvania to highlight the recent US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, drawing loud cheers as he praised the operation in blunt terms.
“The missile that knocks the crap out of them,” Trump said, describing the strikes as the crowd erupted into cheers.
“And now we’re going to do land, because the land is much easier,” the president added.
Trump has previously suggested that the United States is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela, saying that efforts for strikes on land will be starting “very soon.”
Trump’s comments come as his administration appears to be wavering on its earlier commitment to release full video of a September “double-tap” strike on an alleged drug boat, footage that reportedly shows US forces killing survivors.
President Donald Trump in an interview published Tuesday conceded that video he’s seen of the second strike on an alleged drug boat isn’t “pretty,” but defended the strikes as necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.
Trump returns to campaign mode in winding, insult-ridden speech
President Donald Trump traveled to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to tout his economic agenda and try to allay voters’ cost-of-living concerns.
But just a few minutes in, he decided he had some other topics to address.
Trump spent the bulk of his 90-minute-plus speech playing his greatest campaign-trail hits and soaking up his supporters’ adoration by riffing on everything from the benefits of tariffs, to the perils of Scottish windmills and the intimate details of his golf round with Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley. He also levied a slew of insults against immigrants and Democratic politicians.
“I haven’t read practically anything off the stupid TelePrompter,” Trump mused as he hit the 60-minute mark. “And then my speechwriters, they’re getting awards for some of the finest speeches, and I haven’t even read them.”
The swing-state appearance marked a return to form for a president who rose to prominence on the strength of his campaign mega-rallies, yet has done little domestic travel since returning to office nearly 11 months ago.
In that interval, Trump’s approval ratings have dropped significantly, with polls showing voters increasingly sour on the economy and wary of some of the drastic changes that the administration has enacted across nearly every element of American society.
Worried that Republicans now face a wipeout in next year’s midterms, Trump’s aides and allies have urged him to restart his travel in an effort to reassure voters he’s working to turn their fortunes around.
Yet egged on by the raucous crowd, Trump repeatedly abandoned his prepared remarks — casting aside what the White House had previewed would be a laser-focused speech on the economy in favor of pretty much anything else that came to mind.
“You can give up pencils,” Trump said, concluding one tangent on the merits of steel.
“We have people from all over the world being dumped into our country, the people that aren’t wanted in their countries,” he said amid a lengthy diatribe on immigration.
Later, while railing against Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, he declared: “Let me tell you, Black people love Trump.”
It was far from the administration’s core economic message. But Trump didn’t seem to care.
“I have fun,” he said. “I have fun.”
Trump continues attacks against Somalis during speech in Pennsylvania
During remarks tonight in Pennsylvania that were expected to be about the economy, President Donald Trump continued to rail against Minnesota’s Somali population, gripes with the community that he has voiced since US Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American elected to Congress in 2018.
He went on to attack Somalia as “the worst country in the world,” claiming that “they have no military.”
“They have no parliament,” the president incorrectly claimed. “They don’t know what the hell the word parliament means. They have nothing. They have no police. They police themselves. They kill each other all the time.”
Trump said his administration “ought to get her the hell out” of the United States, referring to Omar, to which the crowd could be heard chanting: “Send her back.”
Later in his remarks, Trump circled back to more attacks on Somalia, grouping it with other countries he called “hellholes” like Afghanistan and Haiti.
He mentioned that during a meeting during his first term with lawmakers, he posed a question: “Why is it we only take people from sh*t-hole countries? Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden? Just a few. Let us have a few. From Denmark?”
He continued: “We always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they are good at is going after ships.”
This post has been updated with more remarks about Somalia by Trump.
Trump touts initiative to cut taxes on tips and overtime
President Donald Trump tonight touted his initiative to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime hours during a speech that was meant to focus on improving the administration’s standing on affordability.
During a wide-ranging speech in Pennsylvania, the president pointed out people in the crowd in Mount Pocano who he said have benefited from the initiative.
The president mentioned a worker, a Marine Corps veteran, who put in more than 400 hours of overtime and who he said will now “take home thousands of dollars extra, which he plans to use to buy a first home.”
He also called a woman up onstage, a mother who homeschools her children, who said her family will benefit from Trump’s policies.
“The no tax on tips is incredible. No tax on overtime is incredible for my husband,” the woman said, as she stood beside Trump. “It all comes back to our family. It saves us and it’s for the future of our children.”
Trump also went on to tout his administration’s move to create investment accounts for all newborns in the country. He said $1,000 will be invested for each child with the hope of growing over their life.
“Friends, family, employers and loved ones will be able to add thousands of dollars a year, and it’s like a trust fund for every American child. It’s going to be something and it’s really exciting.”
10 months into office, Trump keeps the blame on Biden
President Donald Trump, speaking during one of the few rally-style domestic speeches since returning to office, easily slid back into 2024 campaign mode Tuesday evening, including training his attacks on one man he blames for high prices: former President Joe Biden.
Trump relentlessly mocked his predecessor during his remarks in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — a speech that was meant to focus on improving the administration’s standing on affordability, which is an issue his team has acknowledged is a problem for the GOP.
Trump’s officials have advised him to publicly recognize the economic pain Americans are feeling. There were flickers during his speech when he appeared to almost acknowledge that pain, but then he’d quickly claim responsibility lies with Biden and that prices are “coming down immensely.”
“Democrats are like ‘prices are too high.’ Yeah, they’re too high because they cause them to be too high. But now they’re coming down,” Trump told the crowd.
The president — who frequently noted he was veering off the teleprompter — also fell into old patterns by using his 2024 name for Biden, “Sleepy Joe,” while accusing him of overusing an autopen.
Trump revives claim that affordability concerns are a Democratic "hoax"
President Donald Trump on Tuesday sought to debut a new economic message: Democrats drove up prices, “and we’re bringing them down.”
But even he didn’t seem fully convinced.
Trump at multiple points during his Pennsylvania speech undercut his own messaging, complained that his prepared remarks were boring and set off on long unrelated tangents.
“If I read what’s on the teleprompter, you’d all be falling asleep right now,” Trump said just minutes into a speech meant to reenergize voters about his economic agenda.
A few minutes later, he derided the cost-of-living issues that he’d traveled to the swing state to talk about, calling concerns about affordability “a hoax.”
“They always have a hoax,” Trump said, reprising his claims that voters’ worries about rising costs were a political ploy manufactured by Democrats. “The new word is affordability.”
The president eventually acknowledged that he’d been encouraged not to call affordability issues a “hoax” because it’d be misconstrued. But even then, he insisted that Democrats were unfairly blaming him for rising prices.
“I agree the prices were too high,” Trump said. “They say affordability. And everyone says, ‘Oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.’ No, our prices are coming down tremendously.”
Trump’s trip to Pennsylvania marked the first of what the White House has promised will be a string of rallies around the country to tout his agenda and boost Republican lawmakers on the ballot next year.
The administration has sought to reboot its economic message, prompted by polls show increasing unhappiness with Trump’s performance on cost-of-living issues.
But Trump said Tuesday that it was his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who had to convince him to start traveling again.
“The chief of staff, and she’s fantastic, she said, ‘We have to start campaigning, sir,’” Trump said. “I said, ‘Already?’ They said, ‘We have to win the midterms and you’re the guy that’s going to take us over the midterm.’”
Trump suggests he can get rid of Biden's Fed appointees because of the "autopen"
President Donald Trump has been a frequent critic of the Federal Reserve since taking office. In a Tuesday speech focused on affordability, he renewed attacks on the central bank, seeming to suggest that Fed governors who were appointed under former President Joe Biden may be illegitimate.
“I just heard that all four commissioners, including ‘Too Late’… I hear that the autopen may have signed those commissioners,” Trump said. “If they signed those commissioners… I think it’s something we have to look into. You put people there that are not authorized to be there.”
From the stage, Trump then asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to look into what could be done.
It is unclear whether Trump’s comments were serious, but this is not the first time the president has challenged the Fed’s independence.
Trump has taken to calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell ‘Too Late,’ due to Trump’s belief that the Fed hasn’t lowered interest rates quickly enough. Powell was nominated by Trump in 2017 during his first term and was reappointed by Biden for a second term in 2021.
Biden appointed four other governors to the Federal Reserve: Michael Barr, Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson and Adriana Kugler, who has since stepped down.
Earlier this year, Trump fired Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud. Cook has sued, denying the allegation and arguing that the president lacks the authority to remove a Fed governor. The central bank is meant to operate independently and reports to Congress, not the president.
Trump has often mentioned Biden’s use of an autopen in an effort to delegitimize his predecessor’s actions as president.
Scalise says plan is to have health care vote in the House next week
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said GOP leadership is planning to present the final pieces of a health care plan to the Republican conference Wednesday with the hope of holding a vote next week.
Scalise said leadership had been meeting Tuesday with various committee chairs and members “to go through a number of pieces” for a plan to soften the blow of expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“We’re going to be presenting a lot of this to our full conference tomorrow, and then ultimately, have a very detailed conversation with our members tomorrow to decide which things we’re ready to move on next week,” he told reporters Tuesday night.
Scalise did not divulge any details of the plan but said they may have more details to reveal after meeting with the conference.
Trump touts tariff policy in speech about affordability
President Donald Trump opened his speech on affordability Tuesday by highlighting his tariff policy and the benefits he says it has brought to Pennsylvania, where he is speaking.
“We’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars, really trillions,” Trump said. “If you add to that all of the companies that are pouring their money into building plants in Pennsylvania and many other states. Auto plants, AI plants, plants of every type, which we would have never had if we didn’t put the tariffs on.”
It’s true that the US government has taken in billions of dollars from Trump’s tariffs so far this year. If existing tariffs remain in place, the US government will raise about $2.3 trillion between 2026 and 2035, according to the Tax Policy Center.
However, many economists warn that tariffs are already contributing to higher prices for some goods, and more companies have warned they will hike prices if tariffs stay in place.
NOW: Trump is now speaking in Pennsylvania about the economy
President Donald Trump is now delivering remarks at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania.
It’s in a swing district in eastern Pennsylvania and the first of many planned domestic trips the White House is organizing for Trump to speak on the economy, which it believes will be the key decider in next year’s midterms.
For Trump, who promised a new age of economic prosperity in his campaign, it’s a test of his ability to deliver, as GOP lawmakers prepare for an uphill battle defending their House and Senate majorities.
Ahead of Trump's speech tonight, here are other political headlines you should know about
We’re about to provide you with live updates from President Donald Trump’s remarks in Pennsylvania on affordability.
These are other political headlines from CNN that you should know about:
- In a move that could send millions of student loan borrowers scrambling, the Trump administration announced an agreement today to end the SAVE plan, a Biden-era repayment plan that has faced legal challenges for years. Read more here.
- The Senate will vote Thursday on a Republican-led alternative to Democrats’ three-year extension of soon-to-expire enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, Majority Leader John Thune announced.
- The Justice Department said in court documents that it plans to continue its efforts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey. See more here.
- Multiple officials told CNN there are no new US or European assessments suggesting there have been significant changes on the battlefield in Ukraine and they don’t see any indications President Vladimir Putin’s forces are likely to win the conflict quickly. The news comes following Trump’s claim that Kyiv is “losing” the war. Learn more.
- We also had analysis on how Trump’s emissaries to the Kremlin may have been spinning their wheels during talks last week in Moscow on a possible Ukraine peace deal, but the Russians can now press a new advantage: The deepening divisions between Washington and Europe. Get the details here.
- On another international front, after months of a pressure campaign that has seen the US military move thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean and Trump issue repeated threats against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the US administration is working on day-after plans in the event Maduro is ousted from power, according to two senior administration officials and another source familiar with the discussions. Get the details here.
- We also had analysis on how the controversy over the video of the double-tab strike on an alleged Caribbean drug boat is reminiscent of the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Read about it here.
- Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking abortion trends for decades, but this year’s report — including some of the earliest federal data reflecting the effect of significant changes to abortion access nationwide – has been pushed back until spring amid turmoil at the federal agency. Learn more here.
- And, finally, the Supreme Court left open the possibility that it might raise caps on how much money political parties may spend in coordination with candidates in a case initially filed by then-Senate candidate JD Vance. Find out more here.
Pennsylvanians react to Trump's rosy self-assessment of his work on the economy
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned speech on affordability, CNN asked people at a local grocery store how they felt about his economic policy — and whether they agreed with his assessment that his work on the issue was “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”
Patti Frable said she similarly disagreed with Trump’s glowing self-review, which he offered in an interview with Politico.
“The economy, it’s really rough right now, prices are so high, it’s paycheck to paycheck,” she said.
But Mike Ceci offered a more rosy assessment: Maybe just lose the pluses.
“That’s Trump opening his mouth too much,” he said, adding, “I would give him an A. You know, there’s always room for improvement.”
Trump-appointed federal appellate judge in the crowd for affordability event in Pennsylvania
A former Trump criminal defense attorney and Justice Department official turned federal appellate judge is attending the president’s speech at the Mount Airy Casino Resort.
CNN spotted Emil Bove, who Trump appointed to the bench for the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, in the crowd at the event, the first of many planned domestic trips the president intends to take in the coming months to speak about affordability.
It is unusual for a federal appellate judge to attend political events like these. Federal appellate judges enjoy lifetime appointments, in part to insulate them from partisan politics.
Schumer: Gang of 8 briefing "very unsatisfying"
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called today’s briefing from Trump administration officials “very unsatisfying” and indicated Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is still reviewing whether to allow lawmakers to see unedited video of the September 2 double-tap strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean.
Schumer said Tuesday he also asked the officials about the US’ strategy in Venezuela but “again did not get satisfying answers at all.”
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, said after the briefing he’s still reluctant to “reach a final conclusion” on whether the Trump administration’s actions in the Caribbean were legal or appropriate or not. “Once you reach those conclusions, you can’t, you can’t take it back,” he explained.
Warner said he’s requested the Trump administration turn over various documents, including execution orders, documents surrounding communications, and legal opinions.
“So far, I’ve not got those answers. I did not get a complete refusal, but I got inadequate answers that I’ve got to have, and frankly, I think members of Congress deserve,” he said.
“And for that matter, if all of this is not going to be shared with the American public, members of Congress need to make judgments, and we’ve got to have all those documents, and sure as heck, the videos themselves need to be seen, I believe, by the American public, but at the very least by all members of Congress,” Warner added.
Hegseth did not comment as he left the US Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after the briefing he still has not seen the video of the double-tap strike.
GOP senator admits Democrats not on board with Republican health care proposal
GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy said Tuesday he isn’t expecting any Democrats to support his legislation to address health care costs, an indication even Republicans know the plan they are putting up for a floor vote this week will fail.
“So far, no,” he told CNN when asked whether he thinks Democrats will get on board with his proposal.
Senate Republican leaders plan to put Cassidy’s bill, written with Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, up for a floor vote on Thursday alongside a vote on Democrats’ bill to extend expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years.
The Cassidy-Crapo plan does not extend the expiring subsidies. It seeks to alleviate health care costs by depositing payments to Americans’ health savings accounts.
Neither plan is expected to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.
Pressed by CNN on why he won’t hammer out a bipartisan proposal with Democrats given the expiring ACA subsidy issue, Cassidy told reporters, “It takes two to tango.”
He argued Democrats’ plan only helps insurance companies, not Americans burdened by high health costs.
“Why would Democrats want to give all the money to the insurance company as opposed to all the money to the patient? Why do they want them to have a $6,000 deductible as opposed to money in their purse, pocketbook, account by which to pay those initial expenses? That should be the basis for a bipartisan agreement. So far not,” Cassidy said.
Jeffries calls on Trump administration to release video of double-tap strike
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to release to the public video of the September double-tap strike on a suspected drug vessel.
“The full video of the double-tap strike should be released to the American people, so that the American people have an opportunity to determine for themselves whether that strike killing people who were shipwrecked and by all accounts were not presenting any threat to American military personnel – whether that kind of seemingly extrajudicial killing is consistent with American values,” Jeffries said.
He continued, “If Pete Hegseth and the administration think that their actions are justifiable, what are they hiding from the American people? Release the video.”
Jeffries’ comments came before he headed to a briefing that top Trump administration officials are giving to congressional leaders, expected to be on a range of topics.
