President Donald Trump answered questions about a controversial Sept. 2 boat strike while in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon. Trump, who said Tuesday that he "didn't know" about a second strike on an alleged drug boat in September that reports say killed two survivors of an initial strike, said Wednesday that he would be open to releasing more video of the boat strike.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he didn't see the second strike and didn't see survivors from the initial strike. Hegseth has backed Adm. Mitch Bradley, who the White House said made the decision for the second strike. Bradley is set to brief the Senate and House Armed Services committees on the strikes on Thursday.
The State Department announced Wednesday evening that the former U.S. Institute of Peace building has been renamed after President Donald Trump "to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history."
“Welcome to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come,” the social media post reads.
The renaming comes as Trump has sought to establish himself as a peacemaker and openly lobbied for a Nobel Peace Prize (which he was not awarded this year).
President Donald Trump's name is seen recently placed on the outside of the United States Institute of Peace building headquarters, December 3, 2025 in Washington.
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The president often claims that he’s "ended eight wars."
On Thursday, Trump will host a trilateral meeting with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda at the White House, before using the newly renamed building as a backdrop for the signing ceremony of a peace and economic agreement with the two leaders.
-ABC News' Meghan Mistry, Isabella Murray and Fritz Farrow
Dec 03, 2025, 9:57 PM EST
Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted months ago by his own DOJ
President Donald Trump has pardoned Tim Leiweke, a former entertainment executive who was indicted just months ago by the Department of Justice for allegedly orchestrating a bid-rigging scheme.
The pardon, dated Dec. 2, was posted online by the DOJ. Trey Gowdy, a close ally of Trump, represented Leiweke in the matter. A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Gowdy has actively pushed the administration to drop charges or grant Leiweke a pardon.
A federal grand jury indicted Leiweke in July "for orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas."
Tim Leiweke speaks at the ceremonial ribbon cutting prior to tomorrow's opening night for the NHL's newest hockey franchise the Seattle Kraken at the Climate Pledge Arena on October 22, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
“As outlined in the indictment, the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding,” the head of DOJ's antitrust division, Abigail Slater, said in a press release at the time. “The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will continue to hold executives who cheat to avoid competition accountable.”
The circumstances surrounding the pardon are unclear. And the White House has not provided an explanation as to why Trump would issue a pardon to someone his own Justice Department investigated and indicted just months earlier.
Leiweke has a track record of slamming Trump, calling him the "world's single greatest con man" in a now-deleted social media post in 2024.
In a 2023 social media post, Leiweke also praised former Vice President Mike Pence "for standing up and fighting for our Constitution and due process."
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders
Dec 03, 2025, 4:48 PM EST
Trump continues to attack Omar, Somali immigrants
Trump was asked about the pushback from Minnesota leaders over his anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks on Somali immigrants.
The president continued his criticism of the community, the majority of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the U.S census, and took aim again at U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
President Donald Trump makes an announcement on changes to the country's fuel economy standards in the Oval Office at the White House, Dec. 3, 2025.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump said Omar, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, "shouldn't be allowed to be a congresswoman."
"Go back to your own country," Trump later said.
Dec 03, 2025, 4:40 PM EST
Trump on Cuellar pardon: 'He's a respected person'
Hours after President Donald Trump announced he granted a pardon to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were indicted on charges including bribery in 2024, Trump said he is a "respected person."
"He's a respected person. He was treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country, and he was right," Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Prosecutors alleged that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, began accepting the roughly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned by Azerbaijan's government as well as a bank headquartered in Mexico City.
