The Latest: Indiana GOP rejects redrawn congressional map despite pressure from Trump

Indiana’s Republican-led Senate has decisively rejected a redrawn congressional map that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The vote on Thursday was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signaling the limits of Trump’s influence even in one of the country’s most conservative states.

Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not — despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.

The latest:

President Donald Trump says Thai and Cambodian leaders have agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes had threatened to undo a ceasefire the U.S. administration had helped broker earlier this year.

Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting on Friday following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.

Department of Justice attorneys make that argument in responding to a lawsuit against the White House by the National Association for the Deaf.

Government lawyers haven’t elaborated on how doing so might hamper the portrayal Trump seeks to present to the public. But overturning policies encompassing diversity, equity and inclusion have become a hallmark of his second administration.

The association sued the White House in May, saying not using American Sign Language interpretation at press briefings or when Trump gives remarks prohibits “meaningful access to the White House’s real-time communications” to the Deaf community and hard of hearing.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately comment Friday.

President Donald Trump’s administration is ending the temporary status that has allowed more than 4,500 Ethiopians to live and work in the United States for more than three years.

The decision announced Friday by the Department of Homeland Security comes as the White House moves to put more immigrants in the U.S. eligible for deportation. Ethiopia is the latest in a string of countries to lose Temporary Protection Status.

DHS said that conditions in Ethiopia have improved and no longer pose a serious threat to the safety of returning Ethiopian nationals.

Ethiopians in the U.S. with no other lawful status have 60 days to voluntarily leave the country, said DHS. After February 13, 2026, DHS may arrest and deport Ethiopians whose TPS has been terminated.

During the Biden administration, the number of people protected by TPS grew significantly. Nearly 1 million Venezuelans and Haitians were protected. President Trump has already ended TPS for Venezuelans, Hondurans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Ukrainians, and thousands of people from Syria, Afghanistan, Nepal and Cameroon.

Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House — and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate.

Republicans have lost a series of elections over the past month, some resoundingly. The latest setbacks came this week when a Democrat won the Miami mayor’s race for the first time in three decades. Democrats also won a special election in a historically Republican district in Georgia.

There are also signs that Trump’s influence over his party has its limits, and he failed Thursday to persuade Indiana state senators to approve a new congressional map that could have helped Republicans pick up two more seats.

Perhaps most concerning for Republicans, Trump is losing ground on the very issues that powered his comeback victory last year, potentially undermining his utility as a surrogate for the party’s candidates in the midterm elections. Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how he’s handling the economy, down from 40% in March, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists seeking an architecture review and congressional approval over his White House ballroom project.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking a federal court to stop Trump’s White House ballroom project until it goes through comprehensive design reviews and public comments and wins approval from Congress.

The National Trust argues that Trump, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not seeking congressional approval for a project of this scale.

Trump, a Republican, already has bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews when he razed the East Wing of the White House. He has more recently fired the initial architects for a ballroom that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before East Wing’s demolition.

House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew.

The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.

The photos released Friday were separate from the case files that the Department of Justice is now compelled to release.

The photos were released without captions or context and included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out. The committee did not say why their faces were blacked out.

Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from crafting their own regulations for artificial intelligence, saying the burgeoning industry is at risk of being stifled by a patchwork of onerous rules while in a battle with Chinese competitors for supremacy.

Members of Congress from both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight for the powerful technology.

But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations race to dominate artificial intelligence, and China’s central government gives its companies a single place to go for government approvals.

A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the Education Department to add nursing to a list of college programs that are considered “professional,” adding to public outcry after nurses were omitted from a new agency definition.

The Trump administration’s list of professional programs includes medicine, law and theology but leaves out nursing and some other fields that industry groups had asked to be included. The “professional” label would allow students to borrow larger amounts of federal loans to pursue graduate degrees in those fields.

The president will sign a bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to members of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team who defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union team during the Cold War.

The game held in Lake Placid, New York, is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports.

President Donald Trump reacts to guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania greet guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — One baby Jesus lays in a manger in the snow, wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with his wrists zip-tied. Mary stands nearby outside the Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled “ICE.”

In another Chicago suburb, not far from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has drawn protests over detentions, a sign at the manger outside the Urban Village Church says “Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.” And more than a thousand miles away, the Christ child went missing from a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, replaced by a hand-painted sign: “ICE was here.”

These and other stark reimaginings of Christ's birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Their creators say they are placing the ancient story in a contemporary frame, portraying the Holy Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation that many families — including their own parishioners — are experiencing today.

Supporters of the displays say the Bible is on their side, but critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery and some arguing they should lose their tax-exempt status. The archdiocese in Massachusetts ordered that the manger must be “restored to its proper sacred purpose.”

The debate comes as immigration enforcement intensifies in states and cities whose leaders object to the immigration crackdown. In September alone, a combined total of at least 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts, according to federal arrest figures released by immigration authorities.

For churches, Christmas is a time “when we have public art out on the lawn and we get an opportunity to say something,” said Rev. Michael Woolf, senior minister at Lake Street. Another Nativity scene created by the Baptist congregation one recent year showed Jesus in rubble — a “plea for peace” in Gaza, he said.

St. Susanna parishioners locked baby Jesus in a cage in 2018 to protest how President Donald Trump's first administration was separating families at the border. Another year, they depicted the infant floating in water polluted with plastic to highlight climate change.

Boston Archbishop Richard Henning ordered this year's display taken down. As of Thursday, Father Steve Josoma was seeking a meeting and had yet to comply.

“The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging,” a diocesan spokesperson said.

Some Catholic activists want the priest punished.

“This is really a grave scandal for Catholics, and I think he’s playing with fire,” said C.J. Doyle, director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “The archbishop can remove him as pastor, suspend him from active ministry — he can even close the parish and sell the property right out from under him.”

Josoma said the display's purpose is to move “beyond static traditional figures and evoke emotion and dialogue” in response to the fear many parishioners face as federal forces arrest more than undocumented immigrants, sweeping up longtime legal residents and spreading anxiety.

In Illinois, the detention campaign has left bystanders choking on chemical sprays and children traumatized at the site of neighbors and teachers being taken away, prompting state and local investigations.

“We wanted to reflect sort of the reality that our community is experiencing,” Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at the United Methodist church in Evanston.

After the figure of Joseph blew down and was damaged, leaving Mary alone with the baby, they put up an explanatory sign: “Joseph didn't make it. We hold this space to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.”

Critics either don't fully understand the message or “find it really challenging to their conscience and are lashing out at the art rather than engaging with what the actual message is,” Westerfield said.

Phil Mandeville, who sits on St. Susanna’s Parish Council and coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee, said long-standing relationships make the parish resolute about keeping the display.

The committee has worked with about 10 refugee families since 2019, helping them find housing, enroll in school, learn English and secure work. Much of the effort is done in partnership with the federal government, which puts families through extensive vetting before they arrive, he said.

“Just to emphasize the reason for all of this — it’s not a stunt,” Mandeville said. “We work on a daily basis with refugees. But people get upset about a bit of plaster. I care more about individuals than I do a manger scene. I understand what it represents — I don’t understand why no one cares about these human beings.”

“Look at the Gospel just before Christ was executed — that was political,” he added. “We were always taught: when you’re unsure how to act, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that, and it doesn’t seem to jibe.”

The controversy in Evanston drew volunteers from a nearby synagogue, who stood outside during Lake Street's services to help worshippers feel safe. Reactions outside the Dedham church ranged widely.

Walter Niland snapped a selfie and said he disagreed with the display. “I believe that the church enjoys a tax-exempt status,” said Niland, a Catholic from a neighboring town. “We should speak to spiritual matters, not matters of political division.”

Others came to challenge the parish directly — including one man who livestreamed his attempt to pull on locked church doors.

Steve Grieger, a former Catholic schoolteacher, drove an hour from Worcester to show his support.

“The Archdiocese says, ‘Oh no, that goes against our tradition.’ Well, we’re living in times that are totally abnormal. We can’t just proceed as normal,” Grieger said. “If we’re following the scriptures of Jesus, then we have to recognize that these ICE raids, and all of these terrible things going on, are totally against that.”

Bargfeld reported from Evanston.

An "ICE WAS HERE" sign is posted in the empty spot for the baby Jesus at a Nativity scene displayed at St. Susanna Church, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A mannequin representing a Roman solider wears a mask in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

An "ICE WAS HERE" sign is posted in the spot for the baby Jesus at a nativity display at St. Susanna Church, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A "PEACE ON EARTH?" sign is posted on the top of a nativity display, which features an ICE WAS HERE sign in the spot for the baby Jesus, outside St. Susanna Church, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A mannequin representing the Mother Mary wears a mask in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

The Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf sits in his office at Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

A sign of explanation is part of the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

A mannequin representing the Mother Mary wears a mask in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

An "ICE WAS HERE" sign is posted in the spot for the baby Jesus at a nativity display at St. Susanna Church, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A doll representing the baby Jesus is zip-tied in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)