Julia Jester

Share this –

Julia Jester

Sep. 16, 2025, 11:37 PM EDT

By Julia Jester

Julia Jester is a producer for NBC News based in Washington, D.C.

Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.

test MS NOW - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News

Homepage New

Share this –

On the left, a Lego MAGA supporters holds up a light beside the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle. On the right, Lego Donald Trump stands at a podium before Lego Pope Leo XIV, the shadow of the devil cast on the wall

Banned AI-generated Iran propaganda videos using Legos have gone viral

Ken Dilanian & Julia Jester

Donald Trump, outside, looks ahead. A member of the media's hand sticks a microphone toward him.

Republicans keep hoping for Trump’s economic pivot. It keeps not coming.

Akayla Gardner, Jacqueline Alemany & Jake Traylor

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Capitol Hill.

RFK Jr. takes lashing in first of several contentious health hearings

Brandy Zadrozny

Dave Chappelle speaks into a microphone while seated.

Why Dave Chapelle’s criticism of Lauren Boebert feels so laughable

Katherine LaNasa as Dana in "The Pitt".

This one aspect of ‘The Pitt’ is extremely inaccurate. And I’m so grateful.

Eric Swalwell, seen from the shoulders up, looks onward.

DOJ launches investigation into Eric Swalwell

Ken Dilanian & Erum Salam

Two people sit on a sofa in front of charred cars. One person stands behind the couch.

Live updates

Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire

26 minutes ago

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire takes effect

Ebony Davis

35 minutes ago

Iran approaches Lebanon-Israel ceasefire ‘with caution’

Ebony Davis

53 minutes ago

UAE expresses support for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

Ebony Davis

Donald Trump speaks into a microphone.

House Republicans block measure to rein in Trump on Iran as floor debate gets heated

Kevin Frey & Mychael Schnell

Today’s Elections

New JerseyNJHouse

Mejia, Hathaway race to fill House seat in NJ

Ahmed Shihab‑Eldin.

My friend is locked up in Kuwait for committing journalism

Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani

Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump talking on the phone in 2019, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the text of their 2019 phone overlayed

Tulsi Gabbard didn’t prove a conspiracy. But she did expose something more alarming.

Viktor Orbán, in focus on the left, and Donald Trump, out of focus on the right.

Trump denies involvement in Orbán’s failed re-election bid, despite evidence to the contrary

Rattner: Trump’s budget proposal is ‘fodder’ for Democrats ahead of midterms

Pope Leo XIV's brother, John Prevost, holding a photo of himself and his two brothers.

Police investigating bomb threat at home of Pope Leo’s brother

Julianne McShane

Greg Abbott, seen close up, gesturing with his hand.

Abbott threatens to terminate Houston public safety grants over ICE policy change

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap listens during a legislative session.

Emails reveal Arizona election official egged on Trump administration meddling

President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump depart the White House.

Eric Trump joining his father in China isn’t just inappropriate — it sends a message

The Albina Bulk carrier sits anchored at Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman.

Trump’s naval blockade is a disaster in the making

Attorney General Todd Blanche during a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building.

Acting Attorney General Blanche tries and fails to justify DOJ’s personnel purge

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol.

Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter to plead guilty in child sexual abuse case, adding to pattern

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, US secretary of labor, during the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C.

Chavez-DeRemer’s controversies intensify, putting her future at the Labor Department in doubt

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson makes her case against the shadow docket revolution

Eric Swalwell.

As Swalwell exits Congress in disgrace, Republicans concoct weird new conspiracy theory

Mookie Betts and his teammates walk into Dodger Stadium, all wearing jersey number 42.

One of sports’ biggest lies circulates on Jackie Robinson Day

Kevin B. Blackistone

George Eastman looks down while speaking in front of a podium.

California attorney who tried to help overturn 2020 election loses law license

The Associated Press

Justin Fairfax presides over the Senate at the Virginia State Capitol.

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife and then himself, police say

Clarissa-Jan Lim

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., backlit.

The GOP’s latest attempt to privatize Medicare is a nightmare. RFK Jr. must answer for it.

Rep. Suzan DelBene

Lawrence: Trump says ‘nobody has ever ended one war.’ Is that the stupidity or insanity speaking?

Sotomayor issues rare apology for remarks about Kavanaugh

Sen. Klobuchar: What Trump is asking for his Iran war could help the lives of Americans

Eugene Robinson: ‘It is so arrogant of Vance to claim to school the pope on theology’

Molly Jong Fast: How a poorly attended TPUSA event capped JD Vance’s ‘humiliation tour’

New York Attorney General Letitia James on verdict against Ticketmaster and Live Nation

MS NOW OPINION

Understand Today’s News

Know Your Value

EWG HighSchool students gather for annual Earth Day dinner.

Small swaps, big impact: How to start cleaner living today

Earth Day: Why sustainability and transparency matter more than ever

Did you just get the ‘Gen Z stare’ at work? This is why.

Nominations for Forbes and Know Your Value’s 2026 ‘50 Over 50’ list are open now!

Dawn Staley argues with Geno Auriemma during the second half of a NCAA Women's Final Four semifinal game.

Mika on Dawn Staley’s big moment — and why it’s good for women everywhere

Nancy Pelosi smiles while gesturing behind a podium.

The skill that helped Nancy Pelosi fight for women for 40 years

Portrait of American NASA astronaut Eileen Collins at the Pilot's Station on Shuttle Discovery.

‘Don’t follow the crowd’: How Eileen Collins forged her own path to space

Annika Malacinski smiles with her ski outside.

The only winter Olympic sport without women — and the athlete determined to change that

This is a video screenshot, showing Mamdana Dayani interviewing Noor Pahlavi - side by side.

‘If you care about women’s rights, you should care about Iran’: Activist Mandana Dayani

Halle Berry poses for photos at a red carpet event.

Halle Berry: Women shouldn’t have to stay ‘forever 30’

A graphic headlined "Forbes 30/50 Summit." On it, photos from (top left, clockwise) Simone Biles, Diane von Furstenburg, Sophia Bush and Diana Flores.

Simone Biles, Diane Von Furstenberg, Sophia Bush, and more to headline Know Your Value, Forbes’ 30/50 Summit

Shot of a young black businesswoman looking stressed out in an office.

The words that slipped out after HR fired me still terrify me

Latest from MS NOW

16min ago

Maddowblog

Thursday’s Mini-Report, 4.16.26

4h ago

Maddowblog

For Team Trump, ‘national security’ becomes the answer to every question

4h ago

News

The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: ‘Woe to those who manipulate religion for … military, economic and political gain’

6h ago

News

DNI Gabbard targets whistleblower, ex-inspector general in criminal referral

6h ago

Maddowblog

Thursday’s Campaign Round-Up, 4.16.26: New Jersey voters to fill key congressional vacancy

8h ago

Maddowblog

Tulsi Gabbard impresses her audience of one with another indefensible abuse

8h ago

Maddowblog

Tuberville steps on GOP message, concedes ‘we ain’t done anything in the majority’