Here’s the biggest news you missed this weekend
Americans’ views of President Donald Trump’s job performance remain negative amid a flurry of activity from his administration on tariffs, immigration and public health, according to the latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.
Notably, the poll shows U.S. adults expressing strong, bipartisan support for vaccines as Trump’s health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has moved to limit certain shots. The poll was conducted before Democratic and some Republican senators sparred with Kennedy over vaccine access at a contentious congressional hearing last week.
Just over 4 in 10, 43%, approve of Trump’s job performance in the survey, similar to his standing in June, while 57% disapprove. Trump’s weakest ratings are on economic matters, with 39% approving of his handling of inflation and 41% approving of his handling of trade and tariffs.
Trump continues to get stronger grades on his handling of immigration. The poll asked slightly different wording to different halves of the respondents. Those asked whether they approve of Trump’s handling of “border security and immigration” give him a 47% approval rating on the issue.
But those asked whether they approve of Trump’s handling of “deportations and border security” amid his administration’s aggressive deportation program give him a slightly lower 43% approval rating on the issue.
As redistricting fight spreads, most Americans oppose political parties drawing election lines
Politicians are moving quickly on redistricting efforts in several states to shape the 2026 midterm elections, but a large majority of U.S. adults — including those living in the critical states of Texas and California — oppose political parties’ controlling the drawing of congressional maps.
The findings in the latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey were gathered amid Texas Republicans’ successful effort to redraw their congressional map for 2026 to boost GOP chances of keeping the U.S. House majority next year. That move, at Trump’s urging, set off an arms race of mid-decade redistricting that now includes efforts by California Democrats and Republicans in other states.
Nationwide, over 8 in 10 (82%) prefer that nonpartisan commissions draw congressional districts rather than the party in power in each state.
Hyundai workers will be flown back to South Korea after massive raid
Workers detained during a massive immigration raid on a Hyundai facility in Georgia will be returned to their home country on a chartered flight, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s office has said.
Federal and immigration agents arrested 475 people Thursday — most of them South Korean nationals — and executed a judicial search warrant as part of a criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment at the facility.
The raid came just 11 days after a summit between Trump and Lee at the White House, where South Korean firms pledged $150 billion in U.S. investments. It has strained ties with South Korea, a key U.S. ally and the world’s 10th-largest economy.
“Negotiations for the release of the detained workers have been concluded,” a South Korean presidential spokesperson announced Sunday. “Once the procedures are complete, the chartered plane will depart to bring our citizens.”
Trump’s presence causes a delay at the U.S. Open men’s final
Trump’s arrival at the U.S. Open men’s singles final appeared to delay entry for spectators, resulting in long lines of frustrated fans and empty seats in sprawling Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The match between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz kicked off at 2:30 p.m. ET, half an hour later than scheduled, because of “security measures in place” and to “ensure that fans have additional time to get to their seats,” the U.S. Open wrote on X.
Trump walked around to wave to the crowd around 1:45 p.m. as the stadium was just about 10% full and was met with a wave of mixed cheers and boos. He then took his seat at the Rolex box at midcourt.
What he witnessed was a return to form for Alcaraz, who beat Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 for his second trophy at Flushing Meadows and his sixth overall at a major.
- Sabalenka repeats: Aryna Sabalenka beat American Amanda Anisimova to repeat as the women’s champion, making her the first woman to win the tournament in consecutive years since Serena Williams more than a decade ago.
Meet the Press
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is “confident” the Supreme Court will overturn an appeals court decision that found Trump’s far-reaching tariffs were unlawful.
He told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that if the Supreme Court rules against Trump, “there are numerous other avenues that we can take” to continue to impose tariffs.
But those other avenues, Bessent added, would “diminish President Trump’s negotiating position.”
Still, he largely defended Trump’s agenda, telling Welker earlier in the program that tariffs are not a tax on the American people and pointing to other markers of success in the economy.
White House aides have been exploring backup plans on tariffs for many months, because some White House officials anticipated the possibility that courts would intervene to stop the tariffs, according to two people familiar with the internal discussions.
Meanwhile, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on the show that he was ruling out a presidential run in 2028.
Asked by Welker whether he had ruled out running, Moore confirmed that he had and later reiterated his interest in serving another term.
“Our population is growing, Maryland is moving, and so I’m really excited about going back in front of the people of my state and asking for another term,” Moore said.
Politics in brief
- Chicago threats: Trump seemed to threaten to unleash the rebranded Department of War on the country’s third-largest city, posting what appeared to be an artificial intelligence-created image of himself in front of the Chicago skyline with helicopters, flames and the phrase “Chipocalypse Now.”
- Delaware donations: Former President Joe Biden has decided to build his presidential library in his home state, Delaware, and has tapped a group of former aides, friends and political allies to begin the heavy lift of fundraising and finding a site for the museum and archive.
- Tag team: Progressive heavyweights Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders rallied New Yorkers at an iteration of the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, where both levied attacks at Trump.
Fate of thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children hangs in the balance of peace talks
Armed with machine guns, balaclava-clad Russian soldiers burst into 16-year-old Vladislav Rudenko’s home in southern Ukraine, forced him to get into a car and drove away “in an unknown direction.”
Vlad is one of thousands of children kidnapped by Russia as part of a systematic relocation and re-education campaign, in which young Ukrainians are sometimes forcibly adopted or sent to military training camps.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly raised the issue of the “abducted children” as a top priority, including in a meeting with Trump and several European leaders last month. The International Criminal Court has also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of the war crime and issued a warrant for his arrest in 2023.
Mykola Kuleba, the founder of Save Ukraine, a leading nonprofit humanitarian organization supporting people trying to secure the return of their children from Russia, insisted world leaders’ “focus must remain on children, not just land.” But as ceasefire talks stall, the fate of those kidnapped hangs in the balance.
Aaron Rodgers turns back the clock in Week 1
Last spring, Aaron Rodgers took months to decide whether and where he would play during the 2025 NFL season.
Then the season began Sunday. And, playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rodgers immediately looked like the future Hall of Fame quarterback he is, leading a fourth-quarter drive to beat the New York Jets — his former team — 34-32.
“I love beating everybody, so it doesn’t matter who it is,” Rodgers said after the game. “But there were probably people in the organization who didn’t think I could play anymore, so it was nice to remind those people that I still can.”
- Ravens-Bills on ‘Sunday Night Football’: Two top AFC contenders — and MVP rivals Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen — square off on “Sunday Night Football” on NBC. Follow along for live coverage and analysis of the game.
Notable quote
I really am disappointed in how cruel this administration is to normal people. We don’t buy a lot. Most of us never even went over the de minimis amount that was there already.
Santiago Vance, who buys stem cell serums shipped to the U.S.
The end of the de minimis exemption is affecting the Korean beauty industry, with online shoppers saying they are getting hit with big, surprise fees on sunscreens, skin care, makeup and more.
In case you missed it
- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation after less than a year in office, plunging Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally, into fresh political uncertainty.
- The Justice Department asked a federal judge overseeing the case of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to deny NBC News’ request to unseal the names of two associates who received large payments from him in 2018, court documents show.
- Pope Leo XIV declared the late teenager Carlo Acutis the first millennial saint at an open-air Mass attended by tens of thousands of people in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square.
- A Utah violinist who has played with high-profile orchestras was released on bond after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him last month.
- Davey Johnson, an All-Star second baseman who won the World Series twice with the Baltimore Orioles as a player and managed the New York Mets to the title in 1986, died at 82.
- Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goaltender who helped the Montreal Canadiens win six Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s, died of cancer at 78.
- A former tech company employee seen embracing the former CEO of Astronomer on Coldplay’s audience “kiss cam” in July has filed for divorce from her husband, court documents show.
- American influencer and pilot Ethan Guo was released from a Chilean air base in Antarctica after two months and ordered to pay $30,000 in penalties after he landed a plane there without permission.
- Winning tickets for Powerball’s $1.8 billion jackpot were sold in Missouri and Texas, ending a three-month wait.