Pentagon sending F-35 fighter jets to Caribbean amid tensions with Venezuela
The Pentagon is sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to the Caribbean as tensions with Venezuela rise over the drug trade and the strike on narco-terrorists, a person familiar with the plans tells CBS News.
Reuters first reported the U.S. deployment of the jets, which will be deployed in operations targeting drug cartels.
On Tuesday, a U.S. military strike sank a Venezuelan boat and killed 11 people. The president and top officials said the vessel was transporting illegal drugs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike was just the start of a campaign against Venezuelan drug cartels.
By Willie James Inman, Jennifer Jacobs
White House acknowledges disappointing jobs numbers
The U.S. only added 22,000 jobs in August, falling short of forecasts. Some sectors, including manufacturing and professional services, lost jobs.
Economists had forecasted payroll gains of 80,000. The unemployment rate also ticked up slightly, from 4.2% in July to 4.3% in August.
Top White House officials acknowledged the numbers did not meet expectations. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, called it a “little bit of a disappointment number,” but said he expects that 22,000 figure to be “revised up.”
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said jobs “underperformed just a bit,” but said the economy as a whole is “still in the positive.”
By Kristin Brown, Kathryn Watson
Trump says it’s “time to end” the “Epstein hoax”
In a long Truth Social post, the president said it’s “time to end” the “Epstein hoax,” again blaming Democrats for pushing for answers that many of the president’s supporters are also demanding.
“The Department of Justice has done its job, they have given everything requested of them,” the president wrote. “It’s time to end the Democrat Epstein Hoax, and give the Republicans credit for the great, even legendary, job that they are doing.”
Mr. Trump has in recent weeks voiced frustration that members of Congress, including some in his own party, have not given up on pursuing more transparency about the details of the Epstein case.
Democrats are hoping to gain a sufficient number of votes, including from a handful of Republicans, to advance legislation forcing the Trump administration to release all federal Epstein files.
Trump expected to issue order on punishing countries that illegally detain Americans
The Trump administration is expected to issue an executive order as early as Friday establishing a designation for state sponsors of wrongful detention, CBS News has learned, in a move that would allow the U.S. to punish countries that illegally detain U.S. nationals or take them hostage.
Modeled after the designation of state sponsors of terrorism, the measure would provide tools for the State Department to penalize nations that use detained Americans as political leverage and potentially issue geographic travel restrictions on where a U.S. passport can be used.
Read more here.
By Camilla Schick, Olivia Gazis
