The Trump administration on Monday released new fuel economy standards that relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.
The new rules were released shortly after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.
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Also, Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said Sunday.
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Mediators working to broker US-Iran deal even after Trump rejected latest Tehran proposal
Mediators are still working with Iran and the United States on brokering a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz — even after Trump publicly rejected Iran’s latest proposal, four officials familiar with the matter, including a senior U.S. official, told The Associated Press.
The indirect talks were expected to resume Monday and come as the conflict that’s caused global economic damage and badly battered Iran enters its eighth month. Multiple efforts to allow safe shipping on one of the world’s most crucial waterways have failed.
The officials divulged that the behind-the-scenes efforts continue even after Trump spurned an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets and waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.
— Samy Magdy and Matthew Lee
Democratic campaign chair says party has ‘momentum’
The leader of the Democratic effort to retake control of the U.S. House insists the party is well positioned heading into the final stretch of the campaign even as President Trump and his allies begin to unleash a massive amount of cash.
“This isn’t about having the most money,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told reporters Monday.
She said it was more important that Democrats have enough money to get their message out “and we do.”
Still, she said “we take nothing for granted.”
“Democrats across the battlefield are going to run hard until the very last moment,” she said.
Trump administration lowers fuel economy standards, critics say at a significant environmental cost
The Trump administration on Monday released new fuel economy standards that relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. The new rules were released shortly after Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.
Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. The change furthers Trump’s promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.
The Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that the finalized standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.
FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey says he’s leaving his position
And he says he’ll be returning to Missouri to be with his family.
Bailey made the announcement in a post on X on Monday morning in which he thanked President Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel for the opportunity to serve. He says the FBI has “delivered historic results.”
Bailey was named in August 2025 to be a co-deputy director, the No. 2 job, at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. He initially served alongside Dan Bongino and, once Bongino resigned, remained in his position as the FBI named another deputy director, Christopher Raia.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about Bailey’s departure.
Trump to announce $15 billion steel mill planned for Iowa
The White House said Trump on Monday will announce a new steel plant in eastern Iowa that would be one of the largest in the United States.
The president is expected to host steel executives at the White House for the event at 2 p.m. ET.
The mill is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India-based Essar Group. The announcement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The White House is framing it as part of Trump’s push to revitalize American steel. It comes as Trump is trying to energize Republican voters as his party faces challenging midterm elections. Iowa has found itself with competitive races for the Senate and the governor’s mansion this year.
Trump’s former Army secretary pens essay on military innovation, skips reason for exit
Former Army Sec. Dan Driscoll has written a 3,400-word essay in Foreign Affairs magazine that delves deeply into how the U.S. military can better prepare for the modern battlefield, including drone warfare.
But Driscoll’s article sheds no more light on why he resigned as the Army’s civilian leader in early September. Tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were widely reported, but Driscoll praises the leadership of Hegseth and President Trump in his article.
Driscoll argues the U.S. still needs to build nuclear submarines and stealth fighters. But he says the military must get better at rapidly producing cheaper weapons, such as the drones used by Iran and Ukraine. The solution lies in private industry innovation, Driscoll writes, with “software developers in the mud with soldiers.”
US and China release reciprocal $30 billion product lists for tariff cuts after Trump-Xi meeting
The United States and China released Monday reciprocal lists of products worth about $30 billion each that will see tariff cuts, from American hair products to Chinese toys, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade.
The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the U.S. since 2015. The U.S. had already reduced tariffs against China after Trump’s tariffs reached as high as 145% at one point last year, as tensions between the two countries eased.
China’s commerce ministry said in a statement the agreement will help strengthen trade cooperation.
Iran denies involvement in suspected plot targeting a US-operated air base in England
Iran’s embassy in London on Monday denied any involvement in a suspected plot targeting a U.S. operated air base in England.
The embassy said in a statement that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” surrounding the arrest of five men near the base in western England.
Five British men have been arrested on suspicion of planning a terror attack.
The men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted near RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that’s been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.
Trump asked China’s president if he wants to buy US arms, ambassador says
Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.
David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that, if consummated, would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday,” didn’t specify when the offer was made.
Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying arms to Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week. Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” and has sold it plenty of weapons.