A Nation on Edge

The White House was on lockdown earlier today after a shooting in downtown Washington, D.C., just two blocks northwest of the White House.

We are still learning new information, and this is a breaking news story as of Wednesday afternoon, but it appears as though two National Guard service members were shot and critically injured, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. President Trump was not at the White House at the time of the shooting. Both the service members and a suspect were transported to the hospital, according to the public information officer for D.C. Fire and Emergency Services. Police have confirmed that they have the suspected shooter in custody and Patel said during a press conference on Wednesday that the suspect would be charged with assault on a federal officer.

The extent of the soldiers’ injuries are not yet clear. Patel confirmed at the press conference that they were alive but in critical condition. The Associated Press reported that at least one of the troops exchanged fire with the shooter. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially reported via social media that the National Guard members had both been killed, before, minutes later, retracting that statement.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded to news of the shooting by requesting additional National Guard troops be sent to D.C.

“President Trump has asked me and I will ask the Secretary of the Army to the National Guard to add 500 additional troops — National Guardsman — to Washington, D.C.,” Hegseth said. “This will only stiffen our resolve to make sure we make Washington D.C. safe and beautiful.”

Trump, who is in Florida for Thanksgiving, vowed to ensure that the shooter — whom he called an “animal” — “will pay a very steep price.”

“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”

The National Guard troops were in Washington, D.C. as part of Trump’s nationwide deployment to mostly blue U.S. cities as part of a performative crackdown on supposedly rampant crime and to help curb protests against his violent and inhumane mass deportation effort. A judge recently found the deployment to be illegal, a determination that will likely ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

Obviously, moments like these put an already tense nation further on edge due to the increasingly fraught environment we live in, where political violence has become more routine, even over the course of the past year. Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were killed this summer. Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a Turning Point USA event in Utah. Trump’s endured two failed assassination attempts in the past few years. Trump himself stoked historically unprecedented political violence when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in 2021.

While the Trump administration claims the troops have been deployed to make American cities safer and to protect Trump’s immigration interests, the use of the military against U.S. civilians protesting ICE’s presence is itself unprecedented and, in many cases, has helped further stoke violence and unrest, rather than prevent it.

— Nicole LaFond

Trump Won’t Be Held Accountable for Georgia Election Interference

On Wednesday, a Georgia judge dropped the years-long election interference case against President Trump, related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Trump and 18 others were charged with racketeering back in August of 2023 by District Attorney for Fulton County Fani Willis. 

The charges were brought after a phone call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger came to light in 2021. During that phone call, in addition to peddling countless falsehoods about the 2020 election, he asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia — a state Joe Biden won by close to 12,000 votes.

“In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years,” prosecutor Peter Skandalakis, the prosecutor who took over the case, wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. 

Shortly thereafter, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee officially dismissed the case.

— Khaya Himmelman

Trump Writes Off ACA Extension 

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump told reporters he does not want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“I’d rather not. Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday.

The president’s dismissal of an extension to the subsidies — which congressional Democrats have been trying to force their Republican colleagues to do for several months — came just days after the White House postponed the release of a Trump health care plan that reportedly would extend the ACA subsidies for two years with adjustments to the eligibility requirements, including new income limits.

The plan, which was reportedly circulated by the Trump White House, was supposed to be released on Monday but was delayed. The White House did not give a reason for the delay but it came amid reports of pushback from congressional Republicans who would like to see the subsidies end.

If the subsidies expire, premiums are expected to significantly increase for millions who rely on the program. And an estimated two million more people are expected to become uninsured next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

— Emine Yücel

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