Trump angrily denies Elon Musk will be part of sensitive Pentagon briefing on China: Live updates – UK Times

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are set to make an announcement in the Oval Office at 11 a.m. ET, and until now, there were no details concerning what it was going to be about.

CBS News reports that they will be announcing a contract award to produce sixth-generation fighter jets.

A standoff between the Trump administration and a federal judge in Washington, D.C. is at boiling point.

Judge James Boasberg has repeatedly extended a deadline for the administration’s answers about deportation flights to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act 1798 after he temporarily blocked them from leaving the U.S.

Last night, the administration suggested it is trying to cite a “state secrets” privilege to avoid answering his questions. The judge accused officials of being evasive and “woefully insufficient” in their reasoning.

This afternoon, government lawyers and ACLU plaintiffs will be appear in Judge Boasberg’s courtroom for a hearing in the case – after Trump and administration officials have attacked the judge and signaled a wider crisis with a system of checks and balance designed to prevent the president from authoritarian rule.

On Friday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “No District Court Judge, or any Judge, can assume the duties of the President of the United States. Only Crime and Chaos would result. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, formerly now-President Donald Trump’s defense lawyer, tells Judge James Boasberg that there are cabinet-level meetings underway over invoking a “state secrets” privilege to avoid answering the court’s questions about the El Salvador deportation flights.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the heads of government agencies to allow federal officials access to unclassified agency records, data, and systems to combat waste and fraud, the White House announced on Friday.

The order was posted on the White House website on Thursday, and a fact sheet indicated that Trump had signed it on Friday.

New York Congressman Mike Lawler issued a two-word response after being grilled live on CNN about rumors that Elon Musk donated to his re-election campaigns.

The Republican lawmaker sparred with former New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, as they discussed the reports that the world’s richest man was set for a secret Pentagon briefing about the U.S. military’s top-secret war plans for China.

Here’s James Liddell on how it played out.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, attacked The New York Times for its “garbage” report claiming that billionaire Elon Musk would be briefed Friday about the US military’s top-secret plans for a possible war with China.

“That is completely fake,” Parnell said on Fox & Friends Friday morning.

“This is egregious. This is fake. The New York Times should retract this story,” he continued.

“This type of garbage from The New York Times … undermines our mission,” he said, adding that Musk is “just coming over here for a visit again.”

Here’s Musk arriving for that “visit.”

Musk is meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who is due to appear for a live announcement with the president in the Oval Office at 11 a.m.

Progressive Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staged a rally in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday, attacking the new “oligarchy” running the government but also marking a significant break with their own party at a time when Chuck Schumer’s leadership is under fire.

Here’s Richard Hall on the Democratic Party’s “Tea Party moment”.

The Trump administration and a Democrat-affiliated law firm have reached an agreement for the White House to drop an executive order targeting the firm in exchange for the company doing tens of millions of dollars in free legal work to support administration initiatives.

The unusual development marks a new chapter in the White House’s retribution campaign against law firms it deems to have opposed its agenda or unfairly targeted Donald Trump.

Under the agreement, Trump will drop his executive order last week aimed at the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The order suspended the firm’s security clearances, barred it from federal buildings and threatened government contractors that did business with the firm.

In exchange for dropping the order, Paul, Weiss agreed to represent clients from “the full spectrum of political viewpoints,” commit to not using diversity hiring, and offer $40 million in pro bono legal services to support administration initiatives in areas like aiding veterans, promoting fairness in the justice system and combating antisemitism.

The president announced the deal on social media last night and singled out Mark Pomerantz, a former Paul, Weiss partner who later helped the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office build a criminal case against Trump.