The Latest: Supreme Court allows Texas to use map favoring Republicans in 2026

A divided Supreme Court has come to the rescue of Texas Republicans. Thursday's ruling allows the state's next congressional elections to use the GOP's new map pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.

The U.S. Southern Command announced another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, the 22nd attack on the Trump administration asserts were trafficking drugs.

And the Trump administration has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to prioritize visa applications for foreign investors or 2026 World Cup ticket holders, a mixed message amid Trump's expanding immigration crackdown. Trump is taking center stage at Friday's FIFA draw.

The Latest:

White House to submit plans for new ballroom to planning commission

The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump's new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began.

Will Scharf, named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said Thursday that White House colleagues told him the long-awaited plans will be filed sometime in December.

Separately, the White House confirmed Thursday that a second architectural firm has been added to the project. Spokesperson Davis Ingle said architect Shalom Baranes of Washington, D.C., was needed as construction moves into a new phase.

▶ Read more about the proposed plans

Another boat is sunk amid probe into the first strike

The U.S. Southern Command said the strike on the small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean Thursday was the 22nd strike so far, killing four people and raising the death toll to at least 87.

The strike was announced as Adm. Frank ''Mitch'' Bradley appeared for classified briefings as lawmakers began an investigation into the very first strike. Bradley told them there was no ''kill them all'' order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Democrats are pushing for the release of video they say shows a war crime, or murder.

Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricted map favorable to GOP

A divided Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Texas Republicans, allowing next year's elections to be held under the state's congressional redistricting plan favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that the map likely discriminates on the basis of race.

With conservative justices in the majority, the court acted on an emergency request from Texas for quick action because qualifying in the new districts already has begun, with primary elections in March. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the three liberal justices that her colleagues should not have intervened.

▶ Read more about the ruling

Trump calls people from Somalia ‘garbage'

But with one flourish closing a two-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump amped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric even further and ditched any claim that his administration was only seeking to remove people without legal status.

It was a riveting display in a nation that prides itself as being founded and enriched by immigrants, alongside an ugly history of enslaving millions of them and limiting who can come in.

Trump's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations have reignited an age-old debate — and widened the nation's divisions — over who can be an American,.

▶ Read more about Trump's recent comments

Appeals court: Trump must release school mental health grants

The program was funded by Congress after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, included grants meant to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists and social workers, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country.

▶ Read more about the decision

Trump to direct more water to California farms

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday announced a new plan for operating the Central Valley Project, a vast system of pumps, dams and canals that direct water southward from the state's wetter north.