U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that he will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House on September 25, coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Trump said the leaders will discuss a range of trade and military agreements, including a “large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 deal, and the continuation of F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz criticized recent remarks by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, calling them “dangerous as hell.” Cruz said Carr effectively threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license if Jimmy Kimmel Live! was not taken off the air, likening the threat to the intimidation of a mafia boss in a movie like Goodfellas.

U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday in Tampa, Florida, has dismissed President Donald J. Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and Penguin Random House, labeling the complaint “decidedly improper and impermissible.” The judge ordered Trump’s legal team to revise and resubmit the lawsuit within 28 days of September 19.

According to sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump Administration is in advanced talks with the Taliban to re-establish a small U.S. military presence at Bagram Air Base in northeastern Afghanistan, intended as a hub for counterterrorism operations. The discussions come after President Donald J. Trump’s unexpected announcement yesterday during his visit to the United Kingdom, in which he said his administration is working to “get back” control of Bagram following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that Special Forces, in coordination with Syrian, Iraqi, and Coalition partners, conducted a raid today, September 19, in Syria’s Hama Governorate, killing a senior ISIS operative who posed a direct threat to the United States. Omar Abdul Qader Bassam, also known as Abu Abdulrahman al-Halabi, was a senior member of ISIS’s External Operations, actively planning attacks against the U.S. He had previously been involved in plotting the bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon and attempted ISIS operations in Europe and the United States. His death significantly disrupts the group’s ability to plan future attacks against Americans and allied partners. “We will not yield in our pursuit of terrorists seeking to attack the United States, our forces, or allies abroad,” said CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. “I commend the efforts of our skilled warfighters and all who supported them during the mission.” The raid was carried out jointly by U.S., Syrian, and Iraqi forces, resulting in the elimination of Omar Abdul Qader Bassam.

The Wall Street Journal reports exclusively that the Trump Administration is seeking congressional approval to sell nearly $6 billion in military equipment to Israel. The package includes a $3.8 billion deal for 30 AH-64 “Apache” attack helicopters and an additional $1.9 billion for 3,250 infantry assault vehicles for the Israeli Ground Forces. Delivery of the equipment is expected to take two to three years, with the purchases funded through U.S. foreign military financing—taxpayer dollars provided as part of the billions in annual military aid to Israel.

Estonia has formally requested consultations under NATO Article 4 after several Russian Air Force MiG-31s violated its airspace today. This marks the second time in two weeks that a NATO member has invoked Article 4 in response to Russian incursions.

The Swedish Air Force has released photos showing its JAS 39 Gripens intercepting the Russian MiG-31s that earlier violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland, later tracking them over the Baltic Sea.

The Polish Border Guard is reporting that a pair of Russian fighter jets are performing low passes over Poland’s Lotos Petrobaltic Oil Platform in the Baltic Sea.

Estonia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires following today’s airspace violation, in which three Russian Air Force MiG-31s crossed into Estonian territory over the Gulf of Finland for approximately 12 minutes. The incident came alongside another airspace breach near NATO territory earlier in the day, when a Russian IL-20M was detected operating without a flight plan or transponder signal over the Baltic Sea. In response, NATO launched Eurofighter Typhoons from the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) detachment at Rostock–Laage Airport in northern Germany to intercept the aircraft. Meanwhile, several Italian F-35s assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission were scrambled to address the MiG-31 incursion over Estonia.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said today that his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping was “very productive,” noting progress on several key issues, including trade, fentanyl, the war in Ukraine, and “the approval of the TikTok Deal.” Trump added that he and Xi have agreed to meet at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea, with plans for him to visit China early next year and for Xi to travel to the United States at an “appropriate time.”

After ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air under pressure from broadcasters and networks following threats from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Semafor: “An FCC license isn’t a right — it’s a privilege.” She added, “In normal times, under normal circumstances, I’ve always believed the First Amendment should be the ultimate right, with virtually no checks or balances. I don’t feel that way anymore.”

The U.S. State Department has approved a potential $780 million sale of Javelin missile systems, equipment, and support services to Poland. Warsaw has requested 2,506 FGM-148F Javelin missiles and 253 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units. The package also includes non-MDE items such as missile simulation rounds, battery coolant units, tool kits, spare parts, training, U.S. government and contractor technical assistance, transportation, and other logistics and program support, bringing the estimated total to $780 million.

Officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly pushed for a series of military strikes against targets in Mexico earlier this year—an idea that alarmed some figures at the White House and the Pentagon, according to people who spoke with *The Washington Post*. The discussions began about a month into the Trump administration after the president designated several Latin American drug cartels and criminal gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. DEA officials proposed strikes against cartel leadership and infrastructure in Mexico. At the time, Acting DEA Administrator Derek S. Maltz told *The Washington Post* he was “totally in favor of hitting the production labs and command-and-control leaders in Mexico,” arguing that “the cartels have killed more Americans than any terrorist organization in the history of America, so they need to be held accountable.” He acknowledged that Mexico’s government under President Claudia Sheinbaum had made “substantial arrests and seizures” but said far more needed to be done to stop the cartels.

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Krai in the Far East, marking the third major quake in the region this month. Tsunami advisories have been issued for Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, though officials confirm there is no threat to Hawaii or the U.S. West Coast.

Trump responded to the UK’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying: “We have to remember October 7th — one of the most horrific and violent days in world history. I want this to end. I want the hostages released. On this point, I do have a disagreement with the Prime Minister — one of the very few disagreements we’ve had.”

The Israel Defense Force’s Arab-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, has issued evacuation notices for three towns in southern Lebanon — Mays al-Jabal, Kfar Tebnit, and Dibbin — ahead of planned strikes on Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure.” The IDF message instructed residents: “For your safety, you must evacuate these buildings and nearby structures immediately and remain at least 500 meters away.”

At yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, Republican Rep. Troy Nehls remarked, “If Charlie Kirk had lived in Biblical times, he would have been the 13th disciple.”

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has released footage of aerial and amphibious landing drills conducted earlier this month in Puerto Rico by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU). The exercises were carried out with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), part of the naval task force deployed to counter narco-cartel activity in the Southern Caribbean near Venezuela’s coast.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced tonight on Truth Social that he intends to designate Antifa — a network of loosely and tightly connected far-left extremist groups that employ violence in their self-declared fight against fascism and racism — as a “MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” He also stated he will recommend investigations into individuals and organizations suspected of funding Antifa.