Texas and California — the two most populous U.S. states — are the leading actors in a back-and-forth push to remake the balance of power in the U.S. House, kicked off when President Donald Trump called for Texas to redraw district lines with the GOP’s fragile House majority imperiled in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

National Republicans are ramping up their efforts to squeeze out more GOP-friendly congressional seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections outside of the five seats they hope to gain in Texas.

Republican state lawmakers in Texas on Friday again failed to advance their controversial redistricting plan that would give them more seats in the U.S. House. Democrats fled the state in protest as the fight for control of Congress has spread to other states.

A meeting between Trump and Putin is tentatively scheduled for the end of next week, a senior White House official told NBC News.

The White House previously said President Putin must meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a meeting with Trump to occur -- something the Kremlin has not been willing to commit to.

Gold futures on Comex were up 0.1% at $3,456.80 an ounce Friday afternoon, retreating from a record high at $3,534.20 an ounce set after a ruling by the U.S. Customs and

The global gold market has been thrown into fresh turmoil after a US government agency indicated that bullion would not be exempt from tariffs.