Trump’s ballroom bulldozes East Wing; Cuomo, Mamdani clash in final debate
President Donald Trump once promised his new White House ballroom would “respect” the existing building. Now, the entire East Wing is being demolished to make room for it, and critics aren’t happy.
Plus, the gloves came off in New York’s final mayoral debate. Zohran Mamdani went straight at Andrew Cuomo — even pointing out one of his accusers in the audience.
And despite backlash, the NFL is sticking with Bad Bunny as its Super Bowl halftime headliner.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
Trump’s $300M ballroom project sparks criticism as entire East Wing is to be demolished
The White House is looking a bit different as crews begin tearing down the East Wing. A full demolition is underway as part of President Donald Trump’s new $300 million grand ballroom project.
The expanded demolition comes months after Trump said work wouldn’t touch the existing White House.
“It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.. It’s my favorite place, I love it,” Trump said in July.
It looks like the plan has now changed.
The entire East Wing, built in 1942 and long used for the first lady’s office, is coming down.
The White House said it’s simply “modernizing and rebuilding,” calling the criticism “fake outrage.”
Former first lady Hillary Clinton expressed her own criticism, writing on X, “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation called for a halt, warning that the new ballroom could “overwhelm the White House itself.”
Trump, who’s personally raising money for the project, calls it a “visionary addition” that will host nearly 1,000 guests and stands as a “beacon of American excellence.”
US sanctions two Russian oil companies
Trump announced the most sweeping sanctions yet of his second term, placing new restrictions on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia’s two biggest oil companies. The president also sanctioned dozens of subsidiaries that help fund the Kremlin’s war machine against Ukraine.
When asked why, Trump said it was time.
These are tremendous sanctions. These are very big. They’re against their two big oil companies. We hope they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled,” Trump said. “ I think that they’ll certainly have an impact. They’re massive sanctions and sanctions on oil. The two biggest oil companies. Among the biggest in the world. Hopefully, he’ll become reasonable, and hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable too. It takes two to tango, as they say.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the move a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the U.S. is ready to take further action if necessary to end yet another war.
The sanctions are expected to cut deeply into Russia’s economy, which is heavily reliant on oil exports.
The U.K. and E.U. have imposed similar measures, while European leaders prepare a new $200 billion package to keep Ukraine armed through next year.
NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, who was sitting alongside the president, praised the move, saying the sanctions “change the calculus” and turn up the heat on Putin to negotiate a ceasefire.
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“Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire” | President Donald Trump via Truth Social -
“Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire” | President Donald Trump via Truth Social -
“Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire” | President Donald Trump via Truth Social -
“Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire” | President Donald Trump via Truth Social
US strikes two more vessels in the Eastern Pacific
The U.S. executed strikes on two more suspected drug boats in the Eastern Pacific. The move is the latest in a widening campaign to target cartels at sea.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strikes in posts on X, saying the vessels belonged to a designated terrorist organization and were moving along a known narco-trafficking route in international waters.
The first strike hit Tuesday off Colombia’s coast, killing two people. The second came on Wednesday morning, killing three more.
Those strikes bring the total to nine since last month, and at least 37 suspected traffickers have been killed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters before boarding a plane to Israel Thursday morning and praised what he called a precise, carefully tracked operation.
“Every one of these strikes involves boats and shipments that were tracked from the very beginning. From the moment these things were put together, the moment they were coordinated, we know where they’re headed. We know what their drop-off points are; we know what organizations they’re involved in. These things are tracked very carefully. There are hundreds of boats out there every single day, and there are many strikes that we walk away from and that the Department of War walks away from because it doesn’t meet the criteria.”
— Secretary of State Marco Rubio
The strikes mark the first time U.S. forces have hit cartel vessels in the Pacific since the new rules of engagement took effect last month.
Cuomo, Mamdani clash in final NYC mayoral debate
With less than two weeks until Election Day in New York City, Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa faced off last night for a final debate.
Cuomo criticized Mamdani as untested and unqualified.
“You have never had a job, you’ve never accomplished anything. There’s no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for eight and a half million lives. You don’t know how to run a government,” Cuomo said.
But the night’s biggest moment came when Mamdani fired back, telling Cuomo that one of his sexual harassment accusers, Charlotte Bennett, was in the audience.
The audience gasped, then cheered.
“One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is in the audience this evening,” Mamdani said. “You sought to access her private gynecological records. She cannot speak up because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?”
Cuomo defended himself by saying that several district attorneys reviewed the allegations and dismissed the cases. Then he attempted to shift focus to foreign policy.
On substance, both men agreed that ICE has no place in New York City, but were split on how to deal with Trump.
Cuomo said he would confront the president, while Mamdani claimed Trump wanted Cuomo to win.
Sliwa argued that you can’t beat Trump but instead negotiate with him.
Election day in New York City is Nov. 4.
North Carolina rewrites congressional map in favor of GOP
North Carolina, now the first swing state to approve a new congressional map, has adopted a plan designed to give Republicans an advantage in next year’s midterms.
Protesters had to be removed from the state House gallery before Wednesday’s vote, which passed 66 to 48. The state Senate approved the plan on Tuesday.
The new boundaries put Democratic Rep. Don Davis at risk, as his northeastern district would lose several counties and gain more Republican territory along the coast.
Election data suggest the GOP could win 11 of North Carolina’s 14 seats, up from the 10 it currently holds.
Under state law, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cannot veto congressional maps.
North Carolina joins Texas and Missouri — both of which have already approved new maps favoring Republicans ahead of 2026.
NFL stands with Bad Bunny despite Super Bowl halftime backlash
The NFL announced it will keep its original Super Bowl headliner regardless of the amount of backlash.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said Bad Bunny would remain the Super Bowl halftime act, even after Trump criticized the choice, saying he’d “never heard of him.”
The commissioner said the decision was made after careful consideration and that you can’t please everyone.
“It’s carefully thought through. I would say that I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching, but we’re confident that it’s going to be a great show and that he understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.”
— NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
Bad Bunny, who has been openly critical of Trump, is expected to perform in Spanish when he takes the stage on February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
