Trump said Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing” about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the CIA’s determination that the crown prince directed the murder.

By NBC News

Highlights from Nov. 18, 2025

EPSTEIN FILES VOTE: Congress is set to send to President Donald Trump legislation to compel the Justice Department to release records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After the House passed the bill, the Senate unanimously agreed to approve the measure as soon as it receives it.
SAUDI CROWN PRINCE’S VISIT: Trump told reporters during his meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, that the crown prince “knew nothing about” the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, contradicting U.S. intelligence. Trump held a dinner in the crown prince’s honor tonight.
TEXAS REDISTRICTING: A panel of federal judges has barred Texas from using its redrawn congressional map, which Republicans enacted this year in an effort to shore up the party’s narrow House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Hunter Biden wants more than $33 million from former Overstock CEO

Gary Grumbach Gary Grumbach is a NBC News Legal Affairs Reporter, based in Washington, D.C.

Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, is asking a federal judge to award him more than $33 million in a default judgment after former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne failed to respond to several filings and failed to appear for several hearings in Biden’s lawsuit over Byrne’s comments suggesting he solicited a bribe from Iran.

“$33.33 million award is not so low that Byrne can absorb it ‘with little or no discomfort,’” Biden’s attorney, Richard Harpootlian, writes. “Even if the award does not affect his lifestyle, Plaintiff believes an award of that size will cause Byrne discomfort and so satisfy the purpose of punitive damages. But it will not ‘destroy’ or ‘cripple’ Byrne. An award of $33.33 million would be less than 5% of his most likely earnings from his recent investment of the proceeds from his Overstock.com sale.”

Harpootlian notes that it would be “much less than the $40 million that Byrne publicly stated he spent on financing challenges to the 2020 presidential election and paying for living expenses for the families of participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol who were being prosecuted for those criminal actions.”

Biden is asking for $1 in nominal damages and $33.33 million in punitive damages.

Harpootlian, who represented Alex Murdaugh in his double murder trial, took over for Biden’s defense after attorney Abbe Lowell dropped out of the case.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Fed chair pick could be announced before Christmas

Tara Prindiville

In an interview with “Special Report’s” Bret Baier on Fox News, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Trump will meet with the shortlist of candidates for Federal Reserve chair after Thanksgiving and that he could announce his pick before Christmas.

“So we’ve moved the list from 11 to five. We’re doing another round of interviews, then some people in the White House will be doing interviews, probably right after Thanksgiving. Mid-December, the president will meet the final three candidates and hopefully have an answer before Christmas.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May.

Other topics discussed in the interview included Saudi Arabia’s nearly trillion-dollar investment in the United States and the timetable for it, concerns within the U.S. military about selling F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, and tariff revenue, among other topics.

Trump designates Saudi Arabia a ‘Major Non-NATO Ally’

Raquel Coronell Uribe

Trump said tonight that he is designating Saudi Arabia a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” saying the classification would take the country’s military cooperation with the United States “to even greater heights.”

“You always had a little cloud over your head, and sometimes that cloud was very big. That cloud is not there anymore, and we want to keep it that way,” Trump said before he announced the designation at a dinner honoring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Major Non-NATO Ally status is a designation that “provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation,” according to the State Department. It does not, however, require U.S. security commitments to the country.

Other countries that have the MNNA designation include Israel, Japan and South Korea.

The designation comes as part of Trump’s outreach to the country, which includes a massive investment deal from the Saudis. Trump said at the dinner that the investment would equate to $1 trillion.

Virginia Giuffre’s family reacts to House vote on Epstein files

Virginia Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law reacted to the House vote on a bill to compel the Justice Department to release the rest of the Epstein files. Giuffre, one of the most prominent survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse, died by suicide in April, with her family continuing the fight for justice for the victims of Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Elon Musk at White House dinner honoring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Tara Prindiville and Zoë Richards

Elon Musk is at Trump’s White House dinner tonight honoring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump patted Musk’s arm as he entered the East Room shortly before he began his remarks.

Musk had advised Trump on slashing government spending during the first few months of his second term as a special government employee. The two publicly clashed in June over Trump’s sweeping spending bill, which Musk opposed.

Also in attendance tonight are Apple CEO Tim Cook, Environmental Protection Administration Administrator Lee Zeldin, Fox News host Bret Baier, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., as well as Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Michael Boulos.

Sen. John Thune defends airdropped provision allowing senators to sue the government

Frank Thorp Vproducer and off-air reporter

Reporting from Washington

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., defended including a provision in the government funding bill that would allow senators to sue the federal government if their phone =” was accessed without their being notified, saying he doesn’t know what he would do if the House were to pass a bill to rescind the provision.

“The House isn’t implicated in what we did. It just simply applies to the Senate,” Thune said. “What this does is enables people who are harmed, in this case, United States senators, to have a private right of action against the weaponization of the … by the Justice Department.”

Pressed on the fact that many senators who could use the new ability to sue have said they support rescinding it and won’t use it to sue, Thune said: “I think the penalty is in place to ensure that in the future, if you get a Justice Department who did what Jack Smith did and weaponized the federal government against the Article I branch of the government — members the Article I branch the government — there is a remedy in place. There’s a recourse in place.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who is on the Appropriations Committee and whose bill included the provision, said he didn’t know it was in there until after he voted for it.

“I support repealing it. I didn’t support the provision that was put in there,” Mullin said. “It shouldn’t be retroactive. But I think now it maybe — may repeal the whole thing and have to put different language in it and not make it retroactive.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., admitted he worked with Thune to include the provision but said he would support rescinding it.

“Look, the bottom line is Thune wanted the provision, and we wanted to make sure that at least Democratic senators were protected from [Attorney General Pam] Bondi and others who might go after them,” Schumer said. “So we made it go prospective, not just retroactive, but I’d be for repealing all the provision, all of it, and I hope that happens.”