President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders focused on the military, including one that directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revise the Pentagon’s policy on transgender troops, likely setting in motion a future ban on their military service.

Democrats say they will lay out the 2024 election as “a choice between two very different visions of America” on the Democratic National Convention’s second night.

As former President Donald Trump has waded into contested primaries across the country, trying to exact revenge and remake the Republican Party in his image, he has endorsed a series of candidates facing serious allegations, especially concerning their treatment of women.

A former Trump aide and congressional candidate in Ohio has filed a defamation lawsuit over allegations of physical abuse that his former girlfriend and White House colleague is leveling while promoting her new book.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump teased running again for president in 2024 as he hosted a holiday reception at the White House. “It’s been an amazing four years,” Trump told the crowd, which included many Republican National Committee members. It showed dozens of people crammed into the broad Cross Hall of the White House state floor, standing closely together. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday defended the Trumps' decision to host the parties. Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokeswoman and chief of staff, had said last month that the White House would be moving forward with events, “while providing the safest environment possible."

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(CNN) - Melania Trump's visit Wednesday to a Boston hospital, was met with something the first lady doesn't normally encounter on her solo trips: dozens of protesters. Those in the crowd were primarily hospital employees, upset that Melania Trump's visit would create a public photo opportunity aligning members of the Trump administration with Boston Medical Center, 30% of whose patients don't speak English as a primary language, according to the hospital's website. Boston Medical Center's president and CEO Kate Walsh has been aware of the planned employee protest for several days, having received a letter from organizers requesting she cancel Trump's visit. In opening remarks to staff during her visit on Wednesday, Trump, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater beneath a green coat, did not address the protest. Trump toured the hospital's pediatric unit and met with families and children who have completed substance programs at Boston Medical Center.

A string of witnesses, some still working at the White House, have come forward to the investigative committees to detail what they describe as concerning behavior toward Ukraine. At the White House and Trump campaign headquarters, the impeachment developments have become all-consuming. The White House has also planned official events, though those often devolve into rally-like speeches. The White House is still in talks with a former senior Treasury Department official to handle a communications role. In the spot, Trump's campaign sought to cast Democrats as preoccupied with impeachment, even as Trump talks of little else.

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesWASHINGTON, D.C. - The White House is urging all federal agencies to cancel their subscriptions to The New York Times and the Washington Post. "The New York Times, which is a fake newspaper -- we don't even want it in the White House anymore. We're going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post," Trump said on Fox News' "Hannity" Monday evening. President John F. Kennedy canceled White House subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune over perceived bias. The White House eventually renewed its subscription.

As a result, "the summit would be significantly cheaper for taxpayers and our foreign guests," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told CNN. And though some of the pushback is predictable, it's another worry for a White House already facing an impeachment inquiry. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN Friday that holding the G7 at Trump's property is "completely out of the question." The White House counsel's office weighed in on the decision and conducted an analysis, but ultimately signed off despite concerns about the optics. The White House has not made public such an analysis, despite requests to release it.

A federal judge said he will rule on whether to block the White House from suspending Playboy correspondent and CNN political analyst Brian Karem's hard pass. A hard pass is the credential that gives journalists access to the White House grounds. Last year the White House without warning revoked the hard pass of Jim Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent. CNN ultimately won its case and the White House restored Acosta's hard pass. Asked if the Trump administration planned to continue its legal battle against Karem, Grisham declined to comment.

A federal judge said he will rule on whether to block the White House from suspending Playboy correspondent and CNN political analyst Brian Karem's hard pass. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham made good on that promise on August 16, suspending it until September 14. In Acosta's case, his pass was suspended by the White House press office abruptly. The Justice Department argues that the White House took appropriate steps before suspending Karem's access. Karem, a veteran columnist and editor, is a highly controversial figure within the White House press corps.

Was Ivanka Trump out of place during the G-20? Video released by the French presidential palace shows Ivanka seemingly awkwardly jumping into a conversation between foreign leaders at the G-20 summit in Japan. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at President Trump for bringing his daughter along instead of a "qualified" envoy. But former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended Ivanka, writing: "Phoning it in @AOC is wasting your time on Twitter while destroying jobs in NY. RELATED STORIES'Home of All Bad Ideas': Ivanka Trump's Office Is Mocked at White House, Author SaysIvanka Trump Look-Alike Vacuums Breadcrumbs in Bizarre Art ExhibitWhat's Going On With Ivanka Trump's 'Whisper' Voice?