This story is being republished by InDepthNH.org in partnership with the AP Fund for Journalism
By The Associated Press
President Donald Trump told reporters that he believes the war in Iran “militarily is effectively over.” The president made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting with Qatar’s prime minister. Trump added that Iran has been “decapitated” but is still looking to make sure there’s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is defanged.
Earlier on Monday, Rep. Thomas Massie moved to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth based largely on the war in Iran. The impeachment resolution also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela. A vote in the House could come by mid-week. Hegseth said he would hold a press conference on Tuesday — his first in over 180 days — on the impeachment threat, adding that the war was necessary, even if unpopular.
Massie filed the impeachment resolution as soon as the House opened for the first day of sessions after the midterms. Lawmakers are returning to Washington for just six short weeks — a lame-duck sprint to finish the Republican agenda before the GOP majorities end with the change of power on Jan. 3, 2027.
Here’s the Latest:
Trump rejects amnesty for people living in the US illegally
After suggesting he was open to negotiating a deal with Democrats on immigration policy that he acknowledged might have been too tough, Trump on Monday said an amnesty was off the table.
“There won’t be amnesty,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Somebody suggested, will there be amnesty? No, but— they came in. They knew the law.”
Trump defended his administration’s deportation policy as “very strong.” Asked if he had talked with his newly promoted chief of staff, Stephen Miller, about immigration changes, Trump said no.
“My policy hasn’t changed,” he said, adding that the focus will be on removing “the worst of the worst.”
Trump says he’ll support Hegseth through impeachment attempt
“I’ll stand by him,” President Trump told reporters Monday, hours after a congressman introduced an impeachment resolution for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, read the resolution from the House floor just hours after it opened for the first day of sessions after the midterm election.
It largely focuses on the war in Iran but also includes references to Hegseth’s role in carrying out military actions in Yemen and Venezuela, with Massie saying Hegseth “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders” and “remains a threat to the Constitution.”
On Monday, Trump commended Hegseth for having “won the war” in Venezuela and as “winning the war” in Iran, which continues to drag on.
Trump went on to criticize Massie as a “sick guy” and a “loser.”
Hegseth has set a rare press briefing for Tuesday to discuss the matter.
Trump issues his most definitive statement on Iran since the midterm elections
President Donald Trump says he believes the war in Iran “militarily is effectively over.” The president made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting with Qatar’s prime minister earlier Monday.
“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump said. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”
Trump added that Iran has been “decapitated” but said he is still looking to make sure there’s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is defanged.
The president’s comments were his most definitive about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the Democratic sweep of the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump says FBI is ‘looking into it’ after Nvidia CEO acknowledges affair
Trump spoke highly of Jensen Huang after Huang acknowledged he had been intimate with a business executive who, according to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence determined was gathering information for China.
“He’s an amazing guy, I hope there’s no problem,” Trump told journalists at the White House. “If there is a problem, we’ll let you know about it.”
“I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something else, and I think that he’ll be in good shape,” Trump added.
He said Huang told him Monday “he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy.”
Asked whether he’ll bring up Huang when he speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said, “No, I don’t think so.” China’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the spying allegations as a smear campaign against Beijing.
Jeffries says Trump’s new chief of staff not a viable working partner for Democrats
The House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked during a news conference at the Capitol if the new White House chief of staff could be a viable partner as Democrats take charge of Congress.
Jeffries responded flatly: No.
He added: “His track record speaks for itself.”
The key architect of President Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, Miller was elevated Friday to become Trump’s chief of staff.
Jeffries, who is in line to become the House speaker in the new Congress, said: “I’ve gotten zero interest in working with that kind of individual.”
Democrats have a mandate to ‘get things done,’ Jeffries says
Following the Democratic sweep of the midterm elections, the party’s House leader Hakeem Jeffries said House Democrats will have the largest majority of any party in this century.
“It is a clear mandate for House Democrats to get things done,” Jeffries said at a Capitol news conference.
He said Monday that the party’s priorities will be “to make life more affordable for the American people, to hold the president accountable and to make sure that this country can return to be the best version of herself.”
Massie says lawmakers will have to answer for their vote amid push to impeach defense secretary
Whether they are leaving office in January or were reelected, Massie says his colleagues will “have to live with that vote.”
If they’re leaving Congress, “what do they have to lose?” the GOP congressman from Kentucky said. And if they plan to run for reelection in two years, they’ll have to answer to voters.
“This is the best vote you can take right now to put some daylight between yourself and the failed policy of this war in Iran and the way that it’s been handled,” Massie said.
Earlier Monday, Massie moved to force a vote to impeach Pete Hegseth, setting the stage for a dramatic vote on whether to remove the defense secretary and one of the most prominent Trump administration figures.
House Democratic leader Jeffries demands full congressional briefing on Nvidia
Hakeem Jeffries, leader of House Democrats, said Monday that the Nvidia issue did come up during a closed-door session with the CIA director and the Director of National Intelligence that was primarily about Iran.
“We’re going to need a full briefing, specifically as it relates to the Nvidia issue, so we can all get to the bottom of what has happened,” he said, “and what the implications are in terms of America’s national security.”
Shares of Nvidia tumbled more than 5% Monday after the computer chip maker, central to the artificial intelligence race, opened an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort.”
Nvidia’s announcement of the investigation Sunday followed Huang’s acknowledgment he had been intimate with a business executive who, according to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence determined was gathering information for China
US stocks rally, recouping more recent losses as oil prices drop
The U.S. stock market rallied to its best day since April and clawed back more of its big loss from last week as oil prices swing lower.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% Monday, its second straight gain following a wipeout on worries that Democratic victories in the midterm elections could mean a slowdown in the construction of AI data centers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.7%. Brent crude’s price dropped 5.8%, which helped lift the market. The strength came even though Nvidia, one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks, sank.
Massie urges House leaders to allow a prompt vote on Hegseth impeachment
He warned that Speaker Mike Johnson could try to delay a vote on his impeachment measure by moving to table it or refer it to a committee.
That would effectively kill the impeachment push, he said.
“They may try to get out of an actual vote on the substance of this,” Massie said. “We should have a vote and a rigorous debate on these eight articles of impeachment.”
Rubio gives more sober assessment of Russia-Ukraine peace efforts a day before US officials mediate talks
Hours after U.S. officials described Russia indicating a new openness to ending the war, Rubio said that the process still has “ways to go,” and that getting Europeans to the table with the Russians has still not happened.
His comments come as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to mediate talks with Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with Germany, the U.K. and France there on the sidelines.
“It’s been difficult to get anything productive out of that,” Rubio told reporters. “But we’ll keep trying. And that’s what we’ve been trying to do the whole time, is try to be creative and find ways that we can help bring that conflict in that war to an end.”
Rubio defends Hegseth as doing a ‘great job,’ calling Massie impeachment effort ‘unfair’
As Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the resolution, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended his fellow Cabinet secretary, saying that he believes he has been doing “a great job” and that it’s unfair that a Republican is pushing the effort.
“I think Pete’s done a good job, I really do. Again, I work with him. And so I see perhaps a side of him that the media doesn’t see and members of Congress may not see,” Rubio said, speaking to reporters at the Group of Seven industrialized democracies gathering in Paris. “But I think Pete works really hard. He’s incredibly smart.”
Massie launches articles of impeachment against Hegseth
The renegade Republican congressman took swift action as soon as the House chamber opened, a move that is expected to force an impeachment vote in the days ahead.
Thomas Massie is reading the resolution into the record from the floor of a nearly empty House. Few lawmakers are on hand, but the visitors’ gallery has dozens of people watching the proceedings unfold.
He said Hegseth “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders” and “remains a threat to the Constitution.”
Massie said Hegseth “thus warrants impeachment.”
Hegseth says Iran war necessary even if not popular
Asked about Vice President JD Vance blaming the Iran war for the massive GOP losses in the election, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that Trump said he would do it again, and “I agree.”
He repeated a line that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters a day earlier, “It doesn’t have to be necessarily popular, but it can be necessary.”
He reiterated that “Iran is devastated” though the Islamic Republic has been able to keep striking military bases in the Middle East used by the United States, causing billions of dollars in damage, as well as commercial ships in the disputed Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth said the war was necessary because “someone had to confront the Iranian regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.”