Welcome to the online version of From the Political Bureauan evening newsletter with the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, campaign manager Alex Tabet and national political reporters Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar examine the pressure Senator Joni Ernst is feeling from the Iowa right over Pete Hegseth’s Secretary of Defense bid. Additionally, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker discusses some of the under-the-radar answers Donald Trump gave during their interview.
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Joni Ernst’s re-election approaches as she considers Pete Hegseth’s bid for Secretary of Defense
By Alex Tabet, Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa is facing some intraparty unrest in her home state as she weighs whether to support President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 2026 elections.
Ernst’s allies are not concerned about a potential primary challenge, noting that she remains popular among Republicans in the state and that she has strong conservative credentials. But conversations with a dozen GOP leaders and strategists from Iowa revealed anger toward Ernst among grassroots conservatives who want party members to back Trump’s Cabinet selections — and eye rolls from others who say rank-and-file Republicans don’t worry about Ernst. the extent to which some activists claim.
The episode illustrates the pressure Republican members of Congress have faced over the course of the Trump years — pressure that will intensify as he prepares for his reconquest with the party in a tighter grip than ever. Elected officials are fully aware of Trump’s tendency to retaliate for perceived disloyalty, and so are activists who can use high-profile situations as pressure points against those politicians.
And all this is happening in an era when voter anger and anti-establishment sentiment have made primaries much more dangerous for the incumbent.
“Here’s my problem: She’s not fully behind President Trump and his agenda and the selection of his team,” said Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical power broker in Iowa.
No prominent Republicans have stepped forward to oppose Ernst, who is in her second term, but conservative radio host Steve Deace recently suggested he could enter the race.
However, Deace said he would need Trump’s support.
“Donald Trump is king of the Republican Party; he conquered it, and he earned it,” Deace told NBC News. “If he no longer wants Joni Ernst to be a senator, she will no longer be one.”
Trump has not suggested he would support a challenger to Ernst if she opposes Hegseth. And a person familiar with the Trump transition team’s view of Ernst’s role in the confirmation process said any threats or discussions about mounting a primary challenge against her in 2026 are premature.
But some Trump allies, such as Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, have said senators like Ernst could face primary challengers if they don’t support his nominees.
These threats have sparked resistance from Ernst supporters.
“A lot of this is caused by gaslighting and attention seeking. What can we say today to get more clicks? Let’s attack a U.S. Senator for not doing what we demand at this exact moment,” said former Polk County GOP Chairman Will Rogers.
“Charlie Kirk did not elect Joni Ernst to this position,” Rogers added. “The people of Iowa did that.”
Read more →
Trump is open to raising the minimum wage – plus three other things he told me
By Kristen Welker
In my interview with Donald Trump last week, the president-elect said he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants, reiterated his desire to pardon those convicted of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and said he will work to extend the tax cuts passed during his first term.
But Trump told me some other revealing things during our 80-minute conversation that didn’t air on our hour-long “Meet the Press” program last Sunday. And I wanted to highlight these news events before Trump takes office next month.
1. He told his children and family not to work in his administration – unlike his first term. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll miss them, and they’re really skilled. But I say, ‘Just go have fun, do your business, do what you want to do. But don’t come in.’ Because whatever they did, they did it great. Although I must say, [daughter-in-law] Lara [Trump] has done a phenomenal job as head of the Republican National Committee, along with Michael [Whatley].”
2. He said he would not or could not divest his companies, such as the parent company of his social media site Truth Social. “Well, I don’t know how to repel? What does that mean? I’m not allowed to open and use it? I mean, all I do is – I – I don’t openly look at the – the company. I’m not even on the company’s board. I didn’t want to be on the board. I have other people, and they run it, and they run it very well, because Truth has become a very, very successful platform.
3. He was responding to a federal court ruling that could lead to TikTok being banned. “And I’ve been on TikTok, so I can’t really, you know, I can’t completely hate it. It was very effective. But I will say this: if you do, something else will take its place. And maybe that’s not fair. And what the judge actually said was that you can’t have Chinese companies. In other words, they have the right to ban it if you can prove that Chinese companies own it. That is what the judge actually said.”
When I pressed Trump on whether he would intervene to protect TikTok, he responded: “I’m going to try to make sure other companies don’t become even bigger monopolies.”
4. And he said he would consider raising the federal minimum wage, which currently stands at $7.25 an hour. “It is a very low number. I agree that it is a very low number. However, let me give you the downside. In California they have increased it to a very high number. And your restaurants everywhere are going bankrupt. The population is shrinking. It has had a very negative impact. But there’s a level where you could absolutely do it.
How will Democrats and progressives respond to Trump’s willingness to raise the federal minimum wage? Tune in this Sunday to “Meet the Press,” when I join Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. interview.
🗞️Today’s top stories
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🩺 On the mend: Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was injured and hospitalized in Luxembourg while on a congressional delegation trip. Read more →
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✈️ Get out: Travis Timmerman, the missing Missouri man who was unexpectedly found in Syria after he said he crossed the country to make a “pilgrimage,” was flown to Jordan by the U.S. military. Read more →
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➡️ Latest Russia-Ukraine war: Trump’s national security team has held talks with White House and Ukraine leaders as part of a joint effort to find a way to end the war with Russia. Read more →
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➡️Latest Israel-Hamas war: Trump’s pressure was a major factor in Hamas relenting on two key issues during ceasefire and hostage release talks with Israel, a senior Biden administration official said. Read more →
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🗣️ Let’s get together: New York Mayor Eric Adams met with incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, a meeting both men described in positive terms. Read more →
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💉 Push back: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a polio survivor, responded critically to a report in The New York Times that a top lawyer and former adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had once petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of the polio vaccine. Read more →
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📖 Brace yourself for Trump 2.0: In an interview with NBC News, outgoing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona emphasized the importance of the federal agency that oversees the nation’s public schools, which Trump has vowed to eliminate. Read more →
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⚖️ Legal legacy: President JoeBiden is on track to have appointed more federal judges of color than any of his predecessors. Read more →
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🏈 Game Day Guest: Daniel Penny, the man found not guilty in the chokehold of Jordan Neely, will be the guest of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday. Read more →
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🕔 No more jumping forward? Trump said he and Republicans will try to permanently abolish daylight saving time if he takes office. Read more →
For now, that all comes from the Political Bureau. If you have any feedback – like it or not – please email us at politicsnieuwsbrief@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
