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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 3, 2025, 9:22 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 3, 2025, 9:30 AM EDTBy Rebecca ShabadWASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Friday that it is putting $2.1 billion in funding for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, the latest move to target Democratic-run cities during the government shutdown.The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, said in a post on X that the funding is for “specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project.” He said it has been “put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”The Department of Transportation said the decision to pause the funding comes after it issued an interim final rule this week barring “race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.” It said it sent letters on Friday to the Chicago Transit Authority to notify officials that the projects “are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.””The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters, or electricians are. They just want these massive projects finally built quickly and efficiently,” the department said in its announcement. It added that the government shutdown “has negatively affected the Department’s staffing resources for carrying out this important analysis.””We urge Democrats in Congress to stop holding the federal government’s budget hostage so USDOT can get back to the important work of the American people,” the department’s release said.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.President Donald Trump and administration officials warned that they planned to target programs favored by Democrats during the government shutdown. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on what cities the administration might be planning to target next, referring NBC News to the Office of Management and Budget for further information.The halt in Chicago rail project money comes after Vought announced on Wednesday, the first day of the government shutdown, that the administration was putting $18 billion for two infrastructure projects in New York City on hold. They include a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River and an expansion of the Second Avenue subway line. Freezing money for the projects stands to impact constituents of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who are leading the Democratic opposition in Congress to the Republican short-term government funding bills.Separately, the Department of Energy announced Thursday that it was terminating $7.56 billion in financial awards for 223 energy-related projects. Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said that the funding targeted 16 Democratic-led states, including 108 congressional districts represented by Democrats and 28 represented by Republicans.Rebecca ShabadRebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.Jay Blackman contributed.

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November 18, 2025

Nov. 18, 2025, 5:00 AM ESTBy Babak Dehghanpisheh and Monica AlbaWhether viewed as a visionary reformist or a murderous despot, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, will be taking a huge step toward rejoining the international community when he meets with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.Bin Salman, 40, became an international pariah after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government, in 2018, though Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that the crown prince himself ordered the killing.Then-President Joe Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2022 and controversially fist-bumped bin Salman, an image that went viral, at a time when most leaders had shunned the crown prince. Bin Salman said in 2019 that he took “full responsibility” for the Khashoggi killing since it happened on his watch, but denied ordering it. But it is bin Salman’s trip Tuesday, his first during Trump’s second term, that will be seen more broadly as a move toward acceptance back into the diplomatic fold. Trump attends lavish welcome ceremony at Saudi Royal Court00:53“He’s a different kind of figure now. Obviously, the questions about the manner of his rule and internal repression, those things haven’t gone away. But he’s a changed figure; it’s a changed moment. And, I think, important symbolically in that sense,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, the U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group, a global nonprofit organization based in Brussels that works to prevent conflicts.He added: “He’s central to what this administration wants to do in the region.”Trump and bin Salman are expected to sign economic and defense agreements, a White House official told NBC News. Even before bin Salman had set foot in the United States, Trump confirmed at an Oval Office event Monday that he would be willing to sign off on the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, a contentious move that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East, where Israel has been the primary recipient of America’s cutting-edge military technology.Trump’s announcement of the sale may not actually lead to Saudi Arabia’s receiving the F-35s anytime soon, analysts say. “The devil will kind of be in the details there,” said Andrew Leber, a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has done extensive research on Saudi Arabia, noting that a similar deal announced with the United Arab Emirates fell through. He added, “That deal ultimately ran aground on a combination of U.S. concerns with maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge and concerns about the extent to which U.S. security technology might leak to China.”The possibility of Saudi Arabia’s normalizing relations with Israel will be a key part of the talks, according to the White House official. The official said Trump “hopes” the kingdom will soon join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 U.S.-brokered agreement that led a number of regional countries to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel, though analysts are skeptical about a breakthrough.“There’s no near-term horizon for normalization at the moment,” said Hanna of the ICG. “The risks for Mohammed bin Salman are extremely high if he joins the Abraham Accords,” agreed Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. He noted that the Saudis had made clear they would need some form of Israeli commitment to a path to a Palestinian state — something the Israelis have publicly dismissed. The crown prince’s strategy was generally “to minimize the risks to his rule,” said Gerges.Even if bin Salman does not announce the establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel, he has won favor with Trump as one of the regional leaders who helped pull together the current ceasefire between the Israel Defense Forces and the militants of Hamas. Trump has long touted his deal-making abilities, and, according to a senior administration official, a number of deals are expected to be announced Tuesday, including a multibillion-dollar Saudi investment in America’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, enhanced cooperation on civil nuclear energy and fulfillment of the Saudis’ $600 billion investment pledge via dozens of targeted investments.Critics have raised questions about Trump’s affinity for mixing personal business and diplomacy. His properties have for years hosted tournaments for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. And The New York Times reported this weekend that the Trump Organization is looking at a huge real estate deal with Saudi Arabia.“There’s some massive ethical questions in here,” said Leber of the Carnegie Endowment. “It’s very obvious that all of the Gulf states have realized that the way you get to Trump is to find some way to enrich his family members, enrich his friends, promise to enrich them down the line.”Governments dealing with Saudi Arabia, human rights groups have long said, should also push the country’s leaders on its dismal human rights record. In August, a report from Human Rights Watch noted an “unprecedented surge” in executions in 2025, with 241 people killed as of Aug. 5. Still, the restrictions on women, another regular criticism leveled at the kingdom, have been eased, and bin Salman has tried to open up the society to Western exports, like Ultimate Fighting Championship matches and comedy shows, though the comedians who recently appeared at a comedy festival in Riyadh, including Louis C.K. and Bill Burr, were blasted for performing there. “This hasn’t been political reform in the sense of creating space for real politics, but he’s absolutely, fundamentally reoriented Saudi society and changed the role of the religious authorities,” said Hanna of the ICG. “There’s incredible social change that has happened partly because he’s operating without any real constraints.”Babak DehghanpishehBabak Dehghanpisheh is an NBC News Digital international editor based in New York.Monica AlbaMonica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.Abigail Williams and Freddie Clayton contributed.

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