Today's Top Stories from NBC News

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025

In today's newsletter: Mamdani and Trump finally come face-to-face after the president's threats to pull federal funding for New York City. The realities of the drug trade in Latin America call into question part of the administration's stated rationale for its military campaign. And, the national redistricting battle casts a long shadow over the race for control of Congress next year.

Here's what to know today.

▼ The Lead

Mamdani and Trump to meet in the Oval Office

(Getty Images)

President Donald Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will sit down today in a highly anticipated meeting between the self-described democratic socialist and a president who referred to him as a "communist" while seeking to hinder his mayoral campaign.

The White House and Mamdani's team had worked behind the scenes to secure a session between the two men, who will speak face-to-face for the first time.

Trump, a native New Yorker who made his career in the city's real estate scene, announced the meeting in a social media post where he said Mamdani — whom he again called a "communist" — would be coming to Washington.

Mamdani defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo — whom Trump endorsed at the last minute — winning over a notable number of the president's supporters.

NBC News exit polls found that 10% of New York City voters who cast ballots for Trump in last year's presidential election voted for Mamdani.

Trump attempted to influence the mayoral race even before his endorsement of Cuomo. He told reporters that if Mamdani won he would withhold additional funding from New York City.

Asked if there's any chance Mamdani will be able to convince Trump not to strip New York City of additional funding, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "We'll see how the meeting goes."

Read the full story.

More politics news:

Trump accused several Democratic lawmakers of "seditious behavior," calling for them to "be arrested and put on trial" for behavior that, he said, could be "punishable by death."

A federal grand jury is investigating the handling of the DOJ's criminal investigation into Adam Schiff, according to a law enforcement source and a subpoena to a witness.

Long-simmering tensions between Trump and Ted Cruz are boiling over, with White House allies convinced that Cruz is aiming to boost his 2028 presidential prospects at the expense of JD Vance.

The DOJ has done a complete reversal on its position about whether the full grand jury in the James Comey criminal case reviewed the indictment before it was handed up to a federal judge.

The DNC took out a $15 million loan, an unusually large amount of debt for this point in the political calendar.

Rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of the Fugees was sentenced to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.

Trump and his Pentagon chief said military strikes on suspected drug boats in waters off Latin America are saving lives by preventing narcotics from reaching America's shores.

But drug cartels operating vessels in the Caribbean, where roughly 50% of the airstrikes have taken place, are mainly moving cocaine from South America to Europe — not to the U.S., according to current and former U.S. law enforcement and military officials as well as narcotics experts. And fentanyl is almost exclusively smuggled over land from Mexico, the officials and experts said.

The realities of the drug trade in Latin America call into question part of the administration's stated rationale for its unprecedented military campaign against suspected narcotics smuggling boats, and whether it will have any significant effect on the supply of narcotics in the U.S., according to the officials and experts.

Read the full story.

The redistricting fight scrambles midterm campaigns across the country

The national redistricting battle triggered by Trump has cast a long shadow over the race for control of Congress next year. It has not only shifted the House battlefield, but also created space for new candidates to move into new seats, ushering longtime members of Congress to the exit and exposing deep political rifts in state parties across the country.

The fight is still playing out as Republicans and Democrats tinker with district lines. A federal court ruling blocked the new Texas maps this week from going into effect — leaving the ultimate decision to the Supreme Court. The eventual decision whether to uphold that ruling will have a significant impact on a spate of races.

California's retaliatory map from Democrats — a similarly blunt partisan redraw explicitly aimed at canceling out Texas' GOP gains — has similar potential to upend the Republican caucus there. Both states also share another dynamic: state lawmakers who voted to draw the new congressional lines hopping into newly competitive races for Congress.

Read the full story.

▼ Read All About It

What began as a banner day for stocks turned into a major rout, as investors signaled ongoing skepticism about the artificial intelligence boom and trimmed hopes of support from the Federal Reserve.

An original copy of the first edition of the first "Superman" comic from 1939 — which had been lying undiscovered in an attic for decades — was sold at auction for more than $9 million, thought to be highest price paid for a comic book.

Amazon Prime members are starting to receive payments as part of the e-commerce giant's $2.5 billion settlement with the with the Federal Trade Commission. Here's what to know.

An emotional Megan Thee Stallion told a court she felt "defeated" because of a sexually explicit deepfake video a blogger is alleged to have encouraged followers to watch.

Ukraine said it would work with a U.S. delegation in Kyiv to study the new plan backed by Trump to end Russia's war.

▼ Staff Pick

AI insured

As loosely regulated AI agents are increasingly relied on by people and businesses alike, enterprises want to be financially protected from AI's failures. But many traditional insurance companies avoid touching AI at all.

I talked to the few insurers who are trying to offer specialized coverage for AI agents. They said that by pioneering insurance standards for AI-related risks, the insurance industry could also serve as a third-party regulator for the rapidly advancing technology.

– Angela Yang, culture and trends reporter

▼ NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

The NBC Select team rounded up the best gifts on Amazon worth ordering early this holiday season and the top Advent calendars for 2025. Plus, the best wireless and open-ear headphones for work, workouts and every playlist in between.