How Ro Khanna is looking to build on his Epstein files victory: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Sahil Kapur speaks with the House Democrat who led the charge to pass the Epstein files bill about what comes next. Plus, Andrea Mitchell dives into President Donald Trump’s growing foreign policy priority list.

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— Adam Wollner

How Ro Khanna is looking to build on his Epstein files victory

By Sahil Kapur

With a near-unanimous vote in Congress to pass his bill requiring the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Rep. Ro Khanna can claim a victory that no other Democratic presidential prospect has achieved: cracking the MAGA coalition.

Early polls suggest he’d be a heavy underdog if he runs in 2028. But the California Democrat has been traveling to swing states and early contests to test the water for a possible White House bid.

Khanna’s and Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s bill — which was co-sponsored by GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado — has now passed the House and Senate and is waiting on President Donald Trump’s signature.

In an interview moments before the House vote on his bill, Khanna told NBC News his project contains the building blocks of a national vision.

“Whatever role I have, I hope it’s a role in shaping the national future of the Democratic Party and the country,” he said. “We need to build an enduring coalition around a vision of new economic patriotism that can unite the left and right. And the elements of that are to rail against an elite governing class that has created a system that’s not working for ordinary Americans. And then to offer a concrete vision of how we’re going to prioritize the economic independence and success of those forgotten Americans, as opposed to just this billionaire elite class.”

Khanna’s approach is unique among Democrats. He doesn’t quite have the fiery rhetoric of other rumored White House hopefuls such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, or the national progressive profile of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Simply put, his willingness to partner with MAGA figures who are detested by liberals may not be a selling point for an angry and fired-up Democratic base.

“That’s a criticism I sometimes get,” Khanna quipped.

Khanna tends to look for GOP lawmakers to partner with on populist issues that both the left and the right can sell as a rebuke of an entrenched establishment.

He has teamed up with Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., to repeal Trump’s tariffs on coffee, and with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, to propose congressional term limits. He worked with Republicans to advocate for reining in the government’s warrantless surveillance powers under FISA Section 702 and to prevent U.S. military intervention in Yemen.

Read more from Sahil →

Trump adds to his foreign policy agenda with the Saudi crown prince’s visit

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

President Donald Trump appeared energized and jovial hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at an investors’ conference in the Kennedy Center that Trump now chairs. Speaking about the benefits of an enhanced security and economic relationship with the Saudi kingdom, Trump was also notably proud of what he called of the “unbelievable show” at Tuesday’s lavish dinner, while promising that the next time the crown prince visits he will have a much bigger venue — the ballroom he’s building that can seat 900 people, not the 119 guests at last night’s affair.

For the Saudis, the crown prince’s first visit in seven years was an inflection point, an opportunity to try to turn the page on the lingering controversy over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and cement his ties with the U.S.

His visit produced a security agreement and promises of F-35 advanced fighter jets and, in the future, civilian nuclear technology, plus access to AI and computer chips.

The Saudis are pivotal to major U.S. diplomatic goals in the Middle East, especially resolving the future of Gaza. Before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the crown prince was known to be close to joining Trump’s Abraham Accords by recognizing Israel, potentially transforming the region. Since the devastating two-year war, the Saudis have told the U.S. that normalization with Israel will now require the U.S. pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept a pathway to statehood for Palestinians.

Trump also said the crown prince would like him to do something about Sudan, which he said was “not on my charts,” quoting the Saudi leader as telling him, “Sir, you’re talking about a lot of wars, but there’s a place on Earth called Sudan.”

Sudan has devolved into one of the most brutal wars in modern history, with hundreds of thousands killed and mass graves in the blood-stained desert sands visible from commercial satellites. For more than two years, U.S. diplomats, alongside Saudi Arabia, Egypt and some European allies, have been fruitlessly trying to negotiate a ceasefire. Millions of refugees have fled to surrounding countries to escape what the U.S. has declared a genocide, overwhelming available assistance and threatening to destabilize the region.

As first reported by The New York Times in 2023, multiple U.S. officials and foreign diplomats have confirmed to NBC News that the rebel forces have received billions of dollars in weapons from an American ally, the United Arab Emirates. The Saudis, concerned that the country will turn into a haven for ISIS and other resurgent terror groups, are supporting the regime. In recent weeks, the rebels gained control of a key city, El Fashir, threatening a collapse of the central government.

Putting more energy into stopping the horrific bloodshed in Sudan would add to an already ambitious foreign policy menu that includes threats against Venezuela and Nigeria.

Elsewhere, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, today was hatching a plan to offer Russian President Vladimir Putin major territorial concessions in exchange for security guarantees to kick-start dormant negotiations in Ukraine.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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