Trump defends Jensen Huang, claims Chinese woman he had an affair with might not have been a spy

Taking time out of his busy schedule of posting on social media, Donald Trump sat down for a lengthy podcast interview on Thursday with the sports pundit Stephen A Smith to express sympathy for Jensen Huang, who resigned as chief executive of Nvidia after reports of extramarital affairs with an alleged Chinese spy and two company employees.

Asked by Smith, a bombastic commentator who has floated the idea of entering politics himself, if Huang should have stepped down, Trump sighed deeply before saying: “Well, the big thing is, was the woman a spy? And I don’t know if that’s been determined yet, but if the woman was a spy, yes. If the woman was not a spy, perhaps it would be different.”

Trump also defended Huang, who sat at his table at a White House state dinner for China’s president, Xi Jinping, in September as “a tremendous talent”.

“I can tell you this, somehow he’ll end up in his feet,” Trump added. “I mean, I know him; I know him pretty well. I always thought of him as a fine man.”

“I spoke to him yesterday,” he president continued. “He’s he’s going through hell.”

“He called me as the president – I’m president – and he called me and he said, ‘What I’ve done to my wife and family is, is- that’s what he talked about,” Trump told Smith.

Updated

A return to normal politics: Darline Graham meets with South Carolina senator-elect Annie Andrews

During the final stretch of South Carolina’s Senate race, Darline Graham laced into her Democratic opponent Annie Andrews, calling her “bat shit crazy,” at a rally with Donald Trump, in what came off as a feeble attempt to match the president’s bravado.

After Andrews’s stunning win, in a seat left vacant by Graham’s late brother, Lindsey Graham, the two appear to be civil.

Graham smiled as she stood next to Andrews, in a Thursday photograph on X.

“I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition, and I wish her and her team the best,” Graham captioned the post.

Democrat Cindy Holscher elected Kansas governor to replace term-limited Democrat Laura Kelly

Democrat Cindy Holscher has been elected Kansas’ next governor, narrowly defeating Republican Ty Masterson to keep the office in her party’s hands and extend a massive wave of Democratic victories across the country.

Democrats had already secured a majority of governorships in US states for the first time in two decades, even prior to the narrow win in Kansas, where Holscher had already declared victory but the Associated Press did not call the race until Thursday.

Holscher, a state senator, promised to halt new data centers and overcame a flood of money that Republicans poured behind Masterson, the president of the Republican-controlled state senate. She will succeed outgoing governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat who was barred from running for a third term by term limits.

Kelly, a centrist Democrat, had opposed the more progressive Holscher in the Democratic primary, and endorsed her rival, state senators Ethan Corson, but campaigned for the party’s nominee in the general election.

In a campaign ad supporting Holscher last month, Kelly described Masteron as an extremist and assured voters the Democrat would “govern from the middle”.

Masterson, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, remains the Kansas state senate’s Republican leader.

Retaining the governor’s mansion was the third in a series of big wins for Kansas Democrats, after Adam Hamilton was elected to the US Senate, defeating the Trump-backed incumbent Roger Marshall, and Chris Mann defeated the state’s incumbent Republican attorney general Kris Kobach.

Kobach has helped sow doubt about US elections and served as vice-chair of Trump’s short-lived commission on election fraud in 2017, when he tried, and failed, to find evidence to support Trump’s baseless claim that he had not lost the popular vote in the 2016 election.

Mann, a former police officer, had narrowly lost to Kobach in 2022.

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in Denver

Rob Sand, the governor-elect of Iowa, said Democrats should be cautious about spending too much time pursuing Trump administration investigations, claiming voters want to see progress, not rehashing of old wounds.

“Every time I read, right now, about more investigations of things that have already been reported on in the media, I’m thinking, why do we need to investigate that? It’s already been reported on. Why don’t you do something actually productive or better people’s lives,” Sand told reporters on Thursday in Denver at the What’s Next conference on the future of the Democratic party.

Sand recalled that while serving in the Iowa State Auditor’s office, the team typically did not pursue investigations that had been fully reported on because the public was already aware of potential corruption or misuse of taxpayer funds.

“I think that’s a pretty simple guideline for people,” Sand said. “Put your time into doing something that’s actually going to improve people’s lives and not just remind them of a bad thing that the other side did.”

Sand, who largely campaigned on a platform of being independent and called for the end of the two-party system, said he’s chosen to come to the What’s Next conference because he liked the organization behind it, Majority Democrats.

“I’m here for a day,” Sand said. “I think it’s important to talk about what we did in Iowa and anytime I can spread the message about making politics, making government, not redder or bluer, but redder and truer, I want to take that opportunity.”

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Senate Republicans press ahead with confirmations of federal judges nominated by Trump

While votes are still being counted in one tightly contested Senate election, the race in Alaska where Democrat Mary Peltola now holds a 3,975 vote lead over the nearest Dan Sullivan – the one who is the Republican incumbent – the outgoing Republican majority in Washington is using its final weeks in charge to stack the federal courts with as many judges nominated by Donald Trump as possible.

The Senate has already voted on Thursday to confirm one conservative, Gregory Cook, to be a US district judge in Alabama, and to move to final votes on Trump’s nominations of two judges he previously installed on the federal bench – Daniel Domenico and Anna St John – to serve on federal appeals courts.

The vote on St John’s nomination began with a flub by the senator presiding over the Senate, Darline Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is still serving out the remainder of her late brother Lindsey’s term, which ends in January, despite losing the seat to Democrat Annie Andrews last week.

Reading aloud from a piece of paper in front of her, Graham called the vote to end debate on St John’s nomination by mistaking the abbreviation for saint in her name, with the one for street. “The question is,” Graham said, “is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the nomination of Anna Street John of Louisiana to be United States judge for the fifth circuit shall be brought to a close?”

The Alliance for Justice (AFJ), a progressive judicial advocacy group, strongly opposed all three nominees.

Cook, who worked as a volunteer attorney in the 2000 Bush v Gore legal battle, is described by the AFJ as “a lifelong conservative who has consistently aligned himself with extremist ideologies in pursuit of more political power” whose “track record demonstrates a commitment to corporate interests and the spread of conservative ideology — not justice.”

Domenico, who is described by the AFJ as a potential supreme court nominee, was nominated to the US district court in Colorado by Trump in 2019. This year, Trump picked him to serve on the US court of appeals for the 10th circuit in Denver.

In January, when Trump nominated Anna St John to serve as a federal judge for the US district court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the AFJ wrote that she “has spent her legal career silencing women, attacking LGBTQ+ rights, and cutting off corporate accountability for everyday people.” Before being confirmed to that role, and then nominated to a federal appeals court in New Orleans, St John led the Hamilton Legal Law Institute, which the AFJ calls “a far-right extremist organization that routinely files lawsuits to attack civil rights, undermine consumer protections, eliminate gender equality, and deny basic human rights”.

In her confirmation hearing for her elevation the the appeals court in August, St John refused to say that Trump lost the 2020 election and refrained from characterizing the January 6 2021 Capitol riot as an insurrection.

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in Denver

Democrats from across the country have gathered at the What’s Next conference in Denver to discuss what the party should do moving forward – now that they’ve secured majorities in the US House and Senate, and won control of the governor’s offices in a majority of states.

The conference, hosted by the group Majority Democrats, is bustling with excitement. In the outdoor space, there’s a six-piece jazz band playing upbeat variations of Americana songs, flanked by a colorful food truck.

The main stage event will be livestreamed, starting at 2:30 Mountain Time.

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In the further annals of Donald Trump not changing a thing since last week’s midterm election defeat, he also mused earlier today on Truth Social: “Will the Seditious Six ever be prosecuted?”

“What they did was a great violation to our Country and its Constitution!” the president added.

It’s a reference to six Democratic lawmakers who last year published a video reminding members of the military and intelligence community that they can refuse illegal orders, amid concerns that Trump would attempt to use them against his political adversaries.

Here’s what senator Mark Kelly had to say about Trump’s latest threat:

The American people delivered a massive rejection of Donald Trump’s chaos and corruption last week. Now he’s again threatening to prosecute people who stand up to him because he’s afraid of being held accountable. Donald Trump has tried and failed to intimidate me for a year now. His threats won’t stop me from doing my job.

Immediately after Republicans suffered a drubbing in last week’s midterms, Donald Trump made some comments indicating he’d considering working with the incoming Democratic majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Just about everything he’s done since – from appointing immigration hardliner Stephen Miller his chief of staff to threatening one of the top Democratic investigators – indicates he’s not looking to change much at all. Further evidence arrived this afternoon in the form of a Truth Social post, where the president says he’d like to work with Chuck Schumer on fighting corruption – but only in states led by Democrats.

“Billions of Dollars are being stolen on an hourly basis. Hopefully his words will ring true! It will be an honor to work with him on this very big Democrat problem that, when solved, will literally balance the Budget of the U.S.” the president writes.

Little he writes in that sentence appears to be true. There are 8,760 hours in a year, and the Government Accountability Office estimated in 2024 that between $233 bn to $521 bn are lost to fraud annually – so certainly not billions “on an hourly basis,” as Trump wrote. Meanwhile, there are unanswered questions around how Trump has gone about increasing his wealth since he’s been president:

Related: Trump’s wealth dented after Democrats trounce Republicans in midterms

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Democrats may have ridden voter concerns over the war with Iran to their largest congressional majority in years in last week’s midterm elections, but Donald Trump today announced that the US is no longer bothering to find peace with its Middle Eastern adversary. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Andrew Roth:

Donald Trump has said that the US is no longer seeking a deal to end the war with Iran and ordered JD Vance, who had spearheaded recent efforts to restart negotiations with Iran, to focus on domestic politics instead.

In a post to his social media site on Thursday, Trump said he was redirecting the vice-president to focus his “complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S”.

Vance had reportedly been talking to intermediaries in Iran and Qatar about restarting negotiations to end the war, which began in February when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran. Iran responded by closing access to the strait of Hormuz, which led to a steep increase for the cost of fuel around the globe.

But on Thursday Trump appeared to shut down the negotiations, redirecting Vance to focus on domestic issues and downplaying the need for a final deal.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump wrote. “Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”

Related: Trump says no deal needed on Iran war and orders Vance to focus on domestic issues

We reported earlier that Ukraine’s president has said that Starlink, the satellite internet service it relies to counter Russian drone attacks, has slowed down, hampering its defenses.

Democrats are already expected to investigate a number of the activities of Elon Musk, who controls Starlink, and whether the service is being deliberately throttled for Ukraine could be on their list. While many of these inquiries are sure to be strictly partisan affairs, Michael McCaul, an outgoing House Republican who supports defending Ukraine against Russia, just signaled his support for this particular line of questioning, writing the following on X:

I am deeply concerned by reports that Ukraine’s access to Starshield has once again been restricted. These capabilities play a critical role in Ukraine’s defense against Putin’s relentless missile and drone attacks, which target civilian homes, parks, hospitals, and energy infrastructure.

With peace negotiations on the horizon, maintaining Ukraine’s momentum and leverage is more important than ever. I urge a full investigation into why these disruptions have now occurred twice and call for measures be put in place to ensure it does not happen again.

Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is facing potential legal trouble after a Democratic senator opened an inquiry into whether the lied to Congress, citing reporting by the Guardian. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Michelle R Smith:

A top Democratic senator has launched an investigation into evidence that Robert F Kennedy Jr “unlawfully lied” in his 2025 confirmation hearings to become the US health secretary, citing a report by the Guardian.

Ron Wyden of Oregon, the incoming chair of the powerful Senate finance committee, is seeking extensive records from Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the non-profit anti-vaccine group Kennedy has used as a vehicle to fuel his political rise, including all documents related to a 2019 trip Kennedy took to Samoa.

“We are beginning an investigation into evidence that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy, Jr unlawfully lied to Congress on multiple occasions,” Wyden said in a letter to the group that was sent on Wednesday and obtained by the Guardian. The letter was also signed by Angela Alsobrooks, a Democratic senator from Maryland.

In the letter, the two lawmakers cited reporting by the Guardian that indicated Kennedy lied about his reasons for going to Samoa in 2019, a trip that occurred just months before a measles outbreak killed 83 people in the Pacific island nation, mostly children under age five.

The trip, which Kennedy made as the chair and chief legal counsel of CHD, became one of the most criticized events in his career before he entered government. Critics, including Samoan officials, have said Kennedy’s presence emboldened anti-vaccine activists in Samoa, worsening a vaccination crisis. Kennedy has denied the allegations, saying he never gave any public statement about vaccines or discouraged Samoans from getting vaccinated.

Related: Senator opens investigation into evidence RFK Jr ‘unlawfully lied’ to Congress

The Trump administration faces an investigation of its scheme to take a 15% cut from any Nvidia chip sales going to China, as part of a deal to secure export licenses for the semiconductors.

Under the scheme, Nvidia chips made in Taiwan could be sold to Chinese companies if they were imported to the US first for a security review. This also made them subject to a 25% tariff under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which was aimed at dealing with imports that threaten national security. The commerce secretary could then grant an export licence to sell the chips to China.

Two Democratic senators are now demanding Trump officials retain all records relating to the scheme as the fallout from now former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a suspected Chinese spy continues to grow.

Senate finance committee ranking member Ron Wyden and House ways and means committee ranking member Richard E. Neal said they were beginning to investigate following reports of the affair – which led to Huang’s resignation on Thursday. One focus of the investigation appear to be report that both commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Donald Trump were briefed about the relationship but granted export approvals anyway.

In a statement, Wyden and Neal said:

The Trump administration’s ostensible attempt to mask an unconstitutional export tax as a national security tariff action – benefitting both Nvidia and the Chinese government – raises serious concerns within our committees’ jurisdiction over matters relating to taxation and tariffs.

Congress wrote Section 232 to give the president a tool to take action against imports he has determined to pose a national security threat; Trump’s use of the statute appears to have done the opposite, undermining US national security and putting Americans at risk.

Trump's commerce secretary faces being dragged into fallout from Nvidia scandal

Senior White ⁠House officials are discussing whether commerce secretary Howard Lutnick should be pushed out ⁠in the wake ⁠of ​the spy scandal surrounding Nvidia’s now former CEO Jensen Huang, two people familiar ⁠with the situation told Reuters on Thursday.

Here’s more from the Reuters report:

A growing number of lawmakers criticized Lutnick over ⁠the administration’s refusal to add dozens of Chinese ​companies to a key ‌US trade blacklist, ‌and over whether the government was properly overseeing ‌Nvidia’s exports to China.

Criticism of Lutnick’s actions predates Thursday’s resignation of Nvidia’s Huang, who announced he would step down as CEO of the leading AI chipmaker after revelations of an affair with ‌Alice Huang, whom US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. But the charge ​that Lutnick has not done enough to restrict AI chip shipments to China has bubbled up as the fallout of Jensen Huang’s actions grows.

The ⁠White House did not immediately respond to a ​request ​for comment on Lutnick’s future.

A ​White House official said of criticism ​of Lutnick ‌that President Donald ​Trump “maintains ​complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position.“

Updated

Here’s a bit more on the story of Pete Hegseth awarding a medal to the soldier who reprimanded him and his aides for breaking the silence around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington cemetery on Veterans Day.

A Pentagon official confirmed to CNN that Hegseth hosted members of the 3rd infantry regiment, known as the Old Guard, at the Pentagon “where he proudly awarded Specialist Iglesias the Joint Service Commendation Medal for the execution of his duties at the Tomb of the unknown Soldier on November 11, 2026”.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell addressed the incident in a statement: “The secretary and the entire department have always honored – and will always honor – the sacrifices our military men and women have made to keep America safe.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington national cemetery is one of the most sacred war memorials in the country, marking the final resting place of an unknown soldier who was killed in the first world war.

Soldiers from the Old Guard have maintained a round-the-clock watch over the tomb since 1948. Part of their responsibility includes enforcing strict standards of silence and respect, and correcting visitors whose behavior disrupts the solemn atmosphere.

The Joint Service Commendation Medal is awarded to members of the US armed forces who distinguish themselves by “meritorious achievement or service while serving in any specified activity”, according to the air force’s personnel center.

Related: Pete Hegseth awards medal to soldier who reprimanded him near Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

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When will the Alaska Senate race be called?

With Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom’s election confirmed yesterday, there is just one Senate race outstanding: Mary Peltola’s bid to oust Alaska’s incumbent Republican senator, Dan Sullivan.

Alaska typically takes a long time to count its ballots, due to the complicated logistics of elections in a massive state that’s home to many communities inaccessible by road. Thus far, things are looking good for Peltola: she is in the lead over Sullivan, with 86% of ballots counted, according to the Associated Press.

We may know the final result in the next few days. According to Alaska’s division of elections, tomorrow is the deadline for them to receive absentee ballots mailed in the US, while next Wednesday is the date they have targeted to receive overseas absentee ballots. On that day, they also plan to review races to see if any candidates have not reached 50%, and, if not, run ranked-choice tabulation.

Should Peltola win, Democrats will have won 56 seats in the US Senate, their largest majority since the 111th Congress that began in 2009 and ended at the start of 2011.

Speaking of things Democrats want to investigate, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Starlink, the satellite internet service his armed forces rely on to counter Russian drones, is once again unusably slow.

“We have detected speed restrictions on Starshield on our Ukrainian territory – in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine. The speed limit is back at 161 kilometers per hour – that’s 100 miles per hour,” Zelenskyy wrote on X earlier today.

“This directly affects our ability to intercept Russian jet-powered ‘shahed’ drones. These drones come from those areas, and because of the speed restrictions, we simply cannot catch up with them in time.”

Starlink is a project of Elon Musk, who Democrats will undoubtedly haul before Congress next year over an array of matters, including his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency initiative that made widespread cuts to federal staffing and funding. Expect the Starlink throttling to come up at some point as well.

Here’s the latest on the conflict in Ukraine:

Related: Putin says Russia would target foreign troops deployed to Ukraine

Top Senate Democrat Schumer calls for investigation into Nvidia scandal

The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has called for an investigation both into former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s ties to an alleged Chinese spy, and the Trump administration’s handling of the matter.

The White House reportedly knew about Huang’s involvement with a woman said to be linked to Chinese intelligence, but still let him accompany Donald Trump on an official visit to China. Here’s what Schumer – who may be the Senate majority leader in about two months – had to say about all that:

Despite Jensen Huang’s resignation, Congress must demand answers from Mr. Huang and others at Nvidia about how they may have put U.S. national security at risk.

The Trump administration must also answer for what it did once it learned about Mr. Huang’s relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset. Were government officials told not to investigate because of Trump’s relationship with Mr. Huang? What did Trump know when he personally invited Mr. Huang aboard Air Force One?

Americans deserve to know that those at the highest levels of power are putting America first, not their bottom line or their personal friendships.

Hegseth gives medal to guard who reprimanded him at Arlington cemetery

Pete Hegseth has issued a commendation to a US army sentinel who gave him and his entourage a reprimand yesterday, when the defense secretary visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark Veterans Day.

On X, Hegseth posted pictures of him pinning a medal on to the guard’s uniform, and wrote:

We love soldiers.

We love standards.

Well done, Specialist.

Carry on Patriots.

The sentinel, who was not named, shouted at the secretary and those accompanying him when someone laughed during their visit to the tomb. Here’s more about the incident, which was captured by a TV camera:

Related: Hegseth and aides scolded by guard for laughing at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

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The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is in line to become speaker when his party takes the majority in the chamber next year.

But it won’t be without controversy. Democrats have faced calls from activists and constituents to find another candidate, and a Change.org petition (started by someone who gets paid for such efforts) has received more than 1.15m signatures.

Asked about these tensions at his press conference, Jeffries issued a lengthy recap of his accomplishments while leading the party in the House during their soon-to-conclude period in the minority. He ended with:

The record speaks for itself. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important to talk to every single member of the House Democratic Caucus family about what the future looks like and how we can build upon this record where everyone doubted our ability to aggressively fight back and continue to bring about the type of bold, dramatic, and decisive change that the American people deserve.

Which is a pretty good sign that Jeffries has no intention of going anywhere next year but the speaker’s office.

Updated

For what it’s worth, Donald Trump thinks Apple CEO Tim Cook should take over as head of Nvidia.

“NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

Top House Democrat calls for classified briefing on Nvidia scandal

The Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries just said lawmakers should receive a classified briefing on the scandal surrounding chipmaker Nvidia.

The company is seen as among America’s most important, because it makes advanced chips that are powering the AI boom. Recently, it was revealed that its CEO, Jensen Huang, had an affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy, leading to his resignation today.

“We need a classified briefing made available to members of Congress as it relates to the Nvidia situation and to the extent that our national security has been compromised,” Jeffries said at his ongoing press conference. “The American people deserve answers, and we’re going to work to make sure that happens.”

Here’s more about Huang’s resignation:

Related: Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO after alleged affairs

The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, began his press conference today with a few words about the mass shooting in Washington DC.

“Our prayers and our thoughts certainly go out to anyone who has been victimized or hurt by this tragedy, all of the family members and loved ones,” said Jeffries, who is set to become speaker next year, when Democrats take the majority in the House.

“Our thanks go out to the Capitol Police, as well as of course the Metropolitan DC Police Department, and all of our law enforcement professionals [who] continue to work incredibly hard to keep the American people safe, and we’re grateful for their service, encourage their bravery, and their work.”

Here’s the latest on the shooting in the Logan Circle neighborhood:

Related: One dead and four injured in Washington DC shooting, with suspect contained

Perhaps you saw this ad from Scott Colom, who was just elected to serve as Mississippi’s first Democratic senator since 1989:

The New York Times spoke to Russ Hudson, the man who is grilling in the first part of the ad and uttered the “sheeeit” that has now become an emblem of Colom’s successful campaign. Here’s what he had to say, from the Times:

The lines, he said, felt natural. He left thinking maybe a couple thousand people would see it.

“I just did it like a Mississippian would,” Mr. Hudson said in an interview.

Now, Mr. Hudson, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, has found himself as the unlikely face of one of the most potent campaign advertisements of the 2026 midterm cycle. The ad, released in the final weeks of the election season, became a defining feature of Mr. Colom’s campaign and his surge to a stunning upset.

“I never expected it to do what it did,” Mr. Hudson said.

He even downloaded TikTok to keep up with all the commentary his friends were sending him about the ad. Someone made him a “pick another protein” shirt with his face on it, along with the other two women in the ad.

And he keeps fielding requests to, well, say it again.

“They make me throw my head back with it, too,” he said.

Updated

There’s also much more to know about the downfall of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is close to Donald Trump.

We have another live blog covering the fallout from his resignation, and you can read it here:

Related: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns over scandal and is replaced by CFO Colette Kress on interim basis – follow live

We now have a separate live blog covering the latest on the shooting in Washington DC’s Logan Circle neighborhood.

You can follow it here:

Related: Washington DC shooting latest updates: multiple people shot in Logan Circle

At least five shot by active shooter in Washington DC

An active shooter has reportedly barricaded himself after shooting at least five people in Washington DC near Logan Circle. Local police have put a notice out for a “white male, heavy built” wearing gray clothes. There is a shelter in place order for those in the immediate vicinity.

One local independent news outlet reported that the suspect has shot at police through the barricades.

Follow the Guardian’s reporting for more details.

Updated

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns following spy scandal

According to a company statement:

Jensen Huang has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately.

Huang is in the middle of a major geopolitical and corporate governance scandal after he admitted to extramarital affairs with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset.

The company added that current executive vice president and chief financial officer Colette Kress has agreed to serve as the interim CEO.

Follow the Guardian’s coverage.

Updated

Continuing his Truth Social ranting, Donald Trump said he has asked JD Vance to turn his “complete and total attention” to alleged corruption in Democratic-run cities and states, while also declaring that the US no longer needs a deal with Iran.

In the latest post this morning, Trump singled out Minnesota, California and Illinois as “poorly run, corrupt disasters” and claimed that “billions of dollars is being stolen each and every month”. He argued that the federal budget “could be quickly BALANCED” if what he called large-scale criminal activity were stopped, and said corruption was “in the Democrat Leadership’s blood”.

On Iran, Trump wrote:

CORRUPTION is in the Democrat Leadership’s blood! We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!

He wasn’t done and followed up with another pile on posts minutes later:

If the Democrats want to “root out corruption,” they should start with investigating Blue States, perhaps the most CORRUPT governmental structures and entities anywhere on Earth. Big time money is being stolen each and every hour of the day!

Updated

In a further post on Truth Social, Trump renewed his criticism of Senate Republicans, warning that the party cannot afford to let legislation stall in Congress after suffering significant losses in the midterm elections.

He urged Republican senators to take a more aggressive approach to advancing his legislative agenda, arguing that the Senate must no longer be a place “where things are sent to die”.

He singled out the failure to pass the Save America Act, which would introduce stricter voter identification requirements and require proof of US citizenship when registering to vote. He described its failure to pass as “devastating” for Republicans in the midterms.

Concluding his post, Trump wrote:

Anyway, good luck to our Republican Senators, work hard, and congratulations to John Thune for another year of leadership, Minority though it may be!”

Updated

Trump threatens to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops migrant caravans heading to US

Trump has threatened to immediately double tariffs on Mexico unless the country stops migrant caravans travelling north towards the US.

The president issued the warning on Truth Social on Thursday morning, linking the renewed movement of people through Mexico to what he described as the Republicans’ “perceived loss” in the midterm elections.

He wrote:

Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Many of the people in these Caravans are those that various countries don’t want - “Send them to America,” they say - But they will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!

The threat came as approximately 1,500 people, many travelling with children, began walking north from Tapachula in southern Mexico on Tuesday following the Democrats’ midterm victory, according to Reuters.

Updated

Trump attacks Democrats over ‘blue state corruption’ in Truth Social tirade

Donald Trump has been busy posting his latest commentary on Truth Social this morning, publishing a series of posts in which he takes aim at Democrats, revisits old grievances and accuses his political opponents of corruption.

In one post, the US president launched an attack on the Democratic party, describing its leadership as “one of the most corrupt and anti-American” in the country’s history. Coming just days after the Republicans suffered significant losses in the midterm elections, Trump’s latest broadside against Democrats appears to be an attempt to rally his party, as he urges Republicans to “fight hard”.

He wrote:

The Democrat Party, lead by one of the most Corrupt and anti-American groups of political leaders and hacks in the history of our Country, and even the World, is doing everything in their power to get away from MASSIVE BLUE STATE CORRUPTION by saying, over and over again, that the Trump Administration is corrupt. It is a sound bite that they viciously use, over and over again, in order to nullify the TREMENDOUS & UNPRECEDENTED theft that has taken place in our Blue States - Minnesota, California, and others, all over the U.S.A.

In a subsequent post, Trump returned to the controversy surrounding his personal tax returns during his first presidential term. He recalled what he described as a “relentless effort” by Democrats to obtain his tax records, claiming that, after the matter reached the supreme court, accountants spent a year examining his finances in an effort to find wrongdoing.

Unlike previous presidents in recent decades, Trump refused to voluntarily release his returns while campaigning for the White House and throughout his first term. After a lengthy legal battle, six years of Trump’s tax returns, covering 2015 to 2020, were subsequently made public by the House ways and means committee. You can read more on that here.

On Truth Social, Trump wrote:

Now, in order to deflect from MASSIVE BLUE STATE CORRUPTION & CRIME, they are at it again, illegally threatening Republicans with knowingly false accusations and charges. Other than cheating, this is how they won the Midterms - But we won’t let our Country go to hell!

Updated

Colom makes history with Democratic Senate victory in Mississippi

Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Mississippi has elected Scott Colom, a Democrat, as its senator, adding to a wave of Democratic gains across the country in this year’s midterm elections.

He defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the closely contested Senate race to become the state’s first black senator since the post-civil war Reconstruction era, marking a historic moment for Mississippi and a major breakthrough for the Democrats in a traditionally Republican state.

“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom said in his victory speech last night.

“I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.”

Just over a week since the midterm elections, the Associated Press called the race after absentee and provisional ballots were counted.

“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” Hyde-Smith said.

You can read more about Colom’s grassroots campaign, his viral advertising strategy and how he reached voters at Trump rallies despite limited early backing from national Democrats here:

Related: How Scott Colom won deep-red Mississippi with little help from Democrats

In other news:

  • US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, was admonished by a military guard after he and his entourage were seen laughing and talking near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where visitors are required to remain silent. The incident came days after Republicans blocked an attempt to impeach him.

Related: Hegseth and aides scolded by guard for laughing at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Updated