Whether your thing is hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains or hitting Disneyland yet again, Christmas Day is a great time to enjoy the lighter freeway traffic and do some local exploring.
The backstory: SoCal might not be known as the Christmas-y spot in the world but L.A. and Southern California have everyone else beat with our gorgeous weather, and there's no shortage of ways to get into the seasonal spirit or just enjoy the outdoors on Dec. 25.
Why now: This year, Christmas also coincides with the start of Hanukkah, so there’s plenty going on for both holidays around the area, too. (And because there's always a need to help those in need, we have included some volunteering options too.)
Los Angeles may not be the world’s most Christmas-y city — I’m pretty sure that moniker belongs to New York City or London with their many shopping street light displays, or somewhere in Norway or Finland with snow and Santa-lore ...
But L.A. and Southern California have everyone else beat with our gorgeous weather, and there's no shortage of ways to get into the seasonal spirit or just enjoy the outdoors on Dec. 25. So we've compiled a list of our favorite things to do on Christmas, and what's still open.
Whether your thing is hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains or hitting Disneyland yet again, Christmas Day is a great time to enjoy the lighter traffic and do some local exploring. This year, Christmas also coincides with the start of Hanukkah, so there’s plenty going on for both holidays around the area, too. (And because there's always a need to help those in need, we have included some volunteering options too.)
Rent a swan pedal boat in Echo Park Lake
A favorite LA destination.
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Frederic J. Brown
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Echo Park Lake Echo Park COST: $13 per adult, MORE INFO
The iconic Echo Park Lake swan pedal boats are open for rental on Christmas Day, so pretend you’re an extra in Chinatown and take one out for the afternoon.
OC Fair and Events Center 88 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa COST: FROM $34, MORE INFO
Head to Winterfest! The OC Fair space in Costa Mesa hosts the area’s largest holiday festival, featuring an ice trail, snow park (yes, with real snow), holiday lights, festive treats, and more. And it’s open all day on Christmas.
Hanukkah on Ice, 4 to 6 p.m.
Consider ice skating.
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L.A. Kings Training Center 555 Nash St., El Segundo COST: $15, MORE INFO
Glide into the first night of Hanukkah as you skate on the L.A. Kings training ice with the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan Beach. The fee includes skate rental and food will be available for purchase.
Hanukkah Menorah Lighting, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Hanukkah starts Wednesday, Dec. 25 this year.
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Third Street Promenade 1300 block, Santa Monica COST: FREE, MORE INFO
Celebrate the first night of Hanukkah at the annual menorah lighting on Third Street Promenade. If you can’t make it out on Christmas Day, the event continues every night of the eight-day celebration.
Stroll the Venice Canals
Venice canals.
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eyetwist via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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Venice COST: FREE
As a Venice resident for nearly 20 years, a stroll through the Venice canals as the sun sets is one of my favorite Christmas time activities. Dozens of the cute houses and all the bridges in this special part of L.A. are all dolled up for the holidays, so take a walk and check them out before the decorations come down.
Head to the movie theater
Timothée Chalamet in 'A Complete Unknown.'
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Various locations COST: VARIES
Movie buffs have been waiting all year for the final Oscar-bait movies to come out. If movies are your thing, head out to your local theater on Christmas Day for the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (starring Timothée Chalamet), Babygirl (starring Nicole Kidman) or The Fire Inside (from Moonlight director Barry Jenkins). And if you want to be scared half to death, there's Nosferatu. Of course lots of new movies have come out in the past month since the Thanksgiving rush, so if you haven’t seen Moana 2, Wicked, The Brutalist, or Mufasa yet, better book your tickets now. Christmas Day is a deceptively busy time at the movies, so make sure to plan ahead or you’ll be in the very front row with a sore neck as your Christmas present.
And if old movies are more your thing, head to the Egyptian for an all-day celebration of their 20th anniversary, featuring screenings of The Polar Express, The Incredibles, House of Flying Daggers, Before Sunset, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Take a hike!
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Take your pick of favorite trails that are bound to be quiet early in the day and of course get busier once the presents are opened and a walk is in order after lunch. Head to Temescal or Palos Verdes for ocean views, do a quick circuit at Runyon, or venture further to Angeles Crest and make a day of it. Just remember services may be closed, so pack snacks and water accordingly!
Head to a theme park
Christmas lights cover "It's A Small World" at Disneyland during the Christmas season.
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All of the major theme parks in L.A. and Orange County are open on Christmas Day — Disneyland, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios — so while it’s a bit pricey, it’s a fun holiday present to yourself and your family to head to Disneyland or Six Flags for some rides or a real cozy Christmas at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal.
6555 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood COST: FROM $30, MORE INFO
Sure, plenty of bars are open on Christmas Day. But not all of them are decked out to the nines in Christmas spirit (and spirits!). This on-theme bar is more of an immersive experience than a bar and has the price tag to match. But what the heck, it’s Christmas.
Take a drive to Palm Springs or Big Bear
There's a new chair lift at Big Bear.
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The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is open on Christmas Day, as are the Big Bear ski lifts at Big Bear Mountain Resort, so enjoy the easy ride and take a day trip for some great views, hiking, or skiing. In Big Bear, the first new chairlift in 30 years just opened last week, so skiers can expect shorter lift lines all winter long.
Whether you’re hoping for a big Chinese feast or a fancy Christmas splurge, there’s plenty of great options open in the area, just make sure to plan ahead.
A few suggestions in a range of locations and a variety of price points:
San Gabriel Valley Newport Seafood, 518 W. Las Tunas Dr. COST: VARIES, MORE INFO
San Gabriel Valley, of course, is the go-to for incredible dim sum and other Chinese delights; Newport Seafood is one suggestion for great eats in the SGV; many others in the area are also open Christmas day, but check opening times and make a reservation to be sure.
Hollywood Genghis Cohen, 740 N. Fairfax Ave. COST: VARIES, MORE INFO
Come for the Chinese food, stay for the McConnell’s Hanukkah ice cream collab “Baby Got Mac(caroon)”.
Downtown San Laurel, 100 S. Grand Ave. COST: $179 per person, MORE INFO
Jose Andres’ outpost at the gorgeous Frank Gehry-designed Conrad hotel on Grand Avenue is a Christmas feast worth the splurge. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the restaurant will have a special tasting menu featuring Coca Escalivada, an olive oil bread topped with mussels in escabeche, red peppers, eggplant, and caramelized onion, and Vermicelli “Mac N’ Cheese” featuring fideuá pasta, baby squid, egg yolk sauce, and crispy shallots, as well as luxurious offerings like lobster tails with sherry wine and lobster bisque.
Volunteer in your community
If you have free time on Christmas, put that time toward helping others — that’s what the holidays are all about, right? Help give out produce, set up Christmas Day activities for unhoused neighbors in Hollywood, or help with meal distribution in Venice. You’ll feel good and help our community at the same time. What could be better?
Trump says U.S. will leave Iran within a few weeks
By NPR Staff | NPR
Published March 31, 2026 9:11 PM
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Leo Correa
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Topline:
President Donald Trump said today that the United States will be leaving Iran very soon, giving a two to three week timetable.
Why now: Trump's remarks came in response to a question about gas prices — which earlier today hit a national average of $4 a gallon. Asked what he would do about it, Trump said: "All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."
His timeline?: "I would say that within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three," Trump said.
Updated March 31, 2026 at 20:14 PM ET
President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will be leaving Iran very soon, giving a two to three week timetable.
Trump's remarks came in response to a question about gas prices — which earlier Tuesday hit a national average of $4 a gallon. Asked what he would do about it, Trump said: "All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."
"I would say that within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three," he added.
Trump also appeared to reverse previous promises about reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
"We'll be leaving very soon. And if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the strait, the Hormuz Strait, they'll go right up there, and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually, but we have nothing to do with that. What happens with the strait? We're not going to have anything to do with it," he said.
Just on Monday, though, Trump offered this threat on social media over the strait reopening: "If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"
The White House later said Trump would speak to the nation about the war at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Here are more updates from the war in the Middle East:
Iraqi authorities reported a foreign journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Tuesday. It turned out to be an American freelance reporter, Shelly Kittleson, according to Al-Monitor, a Middle Eastern news site for which she has written articles.
Iraqi security forces said they intercepted a vehicle that crashed and arrested one of the suspected kidnappers, but are stilling searching for the kidnapped journalist and other suspects.
U.S. officials say they're working to get her released.
"The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible," Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said on social media.
He said Americans, including media workers, have been advised not to travel to Iraq and should leave the country. The statement did not condemn the kidnapping or express concern.
Johnson said Iraqi authorities apprehended a suspect associated with Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, believed to be involved in the kidnapping.
This comes as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran enters its second month, and the fallout ricochets across the region.
Press freedom organizations expressed deep concern. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on "Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account."
Based in Rome, Kittleson has reported on Iraq, as well as Syria and Afghanistan, for years, according to Al-Monitor.
Reporters Without Borders said she is "very familiar with Iraq, where she stays for extended periods."
"RSF stands alongside her loved ones and colleagues during this painful wait," the organization said.
Al-Monitor said in a statement it is "deeply alarmed" by her kidnapping. "We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work," it said.
U.S. defense secretary visits troops
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an undisclosed trip to the Middle East to visit troops over the weekend. He did not divulge the location for the troops' safety.
"I spoke to Air Force and Navy pilots on the flight line who every day both deliver bombs deep into Iran, but also shoot down drones defending their base. Many had just returned from the skies of Iran and Tehran," he told reporters in a briefing Tuesday.
He said he "witnessed an urgency to finish the job" and tried to draw a comparison with America's earlier drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said the U.S. is improving bunkers and layered air defenses as a priority to protect troops and aircraft.
This comes after more than a dozen U.S. service members were injured, several severely, and U.S. aircraft were damaged in Iranian strikes on a base in Saudi Arabia last Friday. The Pentagon says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 300 wounded in what it calls Operation Epic Fury.
He repeated the administration's assertion that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, despite Iranian officials' denial that talks are happening.
He said the U.S. prefers negotiations, but would not rule out using ground troops.
"In the meantime, we'll negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said. "Our job is to ensure that we compel Iran to realize that this new regime, this regime in charge is in a better place if they make that deal."
President Trump told the New York Posthe is in talks with Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
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Security Council meets after U.N. peacekeeper deaths
Countries denounced the killings of three U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon this week as they met for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
"These are sadly not the only dangerous incidents faced by UNIFIL's courageous peacekeepers," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, said, using the acronym for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. "There has been a worrying increase in denials of freedom of movement and aggressive behavior."
Lacroix said initial findings suggested two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed Monday in a roadside explosion in southern Lebanon. A day earlier another peacekeeper from Indonesia was killed when a projectile hit a U.N. base, Lacroix said.
Their deaths came as Israeli forces have invaded Lebanon, intensifying a second front in the war in the Middle East. Israel says it is targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The U.N. has not pinned blame and is investigating the incidents.
Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, expressed condolences for the Indonesian peacekeepers' deaths.
Displaced people warm up around a fire outside their tent along Beirut's seafront area on March 30, 2026.
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Danon blamed Hezbollah for laying explosive devices that killed two peacekeepers on Monday.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz paid tribute to the Indonesian peacekeepers and urged Security Council members not to jump to conclusions but to allow the U.N. to investigate.
Indonesia's foreign minister called for a swift, thorough and transparent investigation.
Iran executions, Starlink arrests
Meanwhile, Iran says it has arrested 46 people who were selling Starlink internet connections — one of the few ways that people in Iran have been able to connect to the global internet while authorities block communication. Starlink allows users to connect directly to the internet via satellite, bypassing government firewalls.
Global internet monitor NetBlocks said the country's "internet blackout has entered day 32."
"Extended digital isolation is bringing new challenges for Iranians, from expired domains and accounts to unpatched servers on a degrading national intranet," it said on X.
Iran said it executed two people who had taken part in opposition activities as well as two citizens it accused of spying for the U.S. and Israel.
Rubio accuses Spain's prime minister of "bragging"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday responded to news that Spain had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war by lashing out at the NATO partner. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rubio answered a question about whether the EU and NATO countries had "betrayed the U.S." by focusing on Spain, a NATO member who has publicly adopted a position opposing the war in Iran.
Gas prices are displayed at a Mobil gas station on March 30, 2026 in Pasadena, California. The average price of one gallon of regular self-service gasoline rose to $5.99 today in Los Angeles County, climbing from $4.69 one month ago, amid the ongoing war with Iran.
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"We have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our – of their bases," Rubio said.
Earlier on Monday, Spain Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the country had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war. It is unclear when the closure started — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had hinted at the measure during a parliamentary debate on March 25.
The weekend the U.S. and Israel launched the attack on Iran, flight records showed at least 15 in-flight refueling planes leaving two jointly operated military bases in the south of Spain after not being allowed to provide support for the military action in Iran. Robles later confirmed the decision by the Spanish Government. That triggered a spat between President Trump and Spain's leadership the week after the war started. Trump said from the Oval Office that he would cut off all trade with Spain if the Spanish government did not allow U.S. forces to use the jointly operated bases. In response, Sánchez doubled down on his stance on the war in the Middle East.
Sánchez has relied on his opposition to the war, making it his main platform at the domestic level. Sánchez's Socialist Party has struggled to keep a government coalition from breaking apart, as he faces pressure to keep his party's hopes alive ahead of a parliamentary election due in 2027.
Trump slams allies
President Trump criticized France and the United Kingdom, among others, on his social media platform.
"All of those countries that can't get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump had asked allies for help after Iran largely blockaded the vital waterway, sending up oil and gas prices. But they have been hesitant to join in the war, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer repeating again this week that Britain would not get involved.
"You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!" Trump's post concluded.
He also said France "wouldn't let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory." and called the country "VERY UNHELPFUL."
Dalai Lama calls for peace
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday posted an appeal for an end to war in the Middle East.
"History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace," he said on his official account on X.
"An enduring resolution to conflict, including the ones we see in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, must be rooted in dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect — approached with the understanding that, at the deepest level, we are all brothers and sisters," he said.
He said he was adding his plea to one made at the Vatican by Pope Leo during his Palm Sunday Mass, adding: "His call for the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach."
Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv, Israel, Lauren Frayer in Beirut, Jennifer Pak in Shanghai, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Miguel Macias in Seville, Spain, Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg, Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Quil Lawrence in New York, Giles Snyder, Michele Kelemen and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report. Copyright 2026 NPR
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published March 31, 2026 5:55 PM
This April 2025 image shows an agency logo on a wall inside a LAHSA Commission meeting.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Topline:
The Los Angeles region’s homelessness agency missed a Tuesday deadline to submit a federally required annual audit of the agency’s financial records, which could jeopardize its federal funding.
The agency's interim CEO blamed the blown deadline on leadership turnover and competing demands on the finance team.
Why it matters: LAHSA manages hundreds of millions in federal dollars for homelessness services across L.A. County. Missing the audit deadline could put that funding at risk.
LAHSA officials say the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — or HUD — seems understanding. LAist reached out to HUD for comment but hasn't received any.
How we got here: An outside auditor said LAHSA was supposed to turn over its financial statements around December but didn't submit them until March. The auditor's draft report also flags a "significant deficiency" in how LAHSA detects accounting errors — a finding LAHSA may contest.
What's next: On Tuesday, LAHSA officials said the single audit would be filed within the next few weeks.
LAHSA also said it has tapped accounting firm KPMG to overhaul its financial systems. The agency's interim CEO acknowledged that the current system "is not working at all."
The Los Angeles region’s homelessness agency will miss a Tuesday deadline for submitting its federally required annual audit of the agency’s financial records, which could jeopardize its federal funding.
LAHSA executives blamed the delay on a “perfect storm” of leadership changes and competing priorities within LAHSA’s finance department, including an L.A. County review of LAHSA’s delayed payments to contractors.
“Our staff made a good-faith effort to meet the deadline,” interim CEO Gita O’Neill said at a LAHSA Commission meeting Tuesday. “However, over the past year, we've experienced several transitions. As a result, we could not get all the required materials to the auditors as quickly as needed.”
Each year, LAHSA, like all non-federal agencies and organizations that get substantial federal dollars, is required to hire an outside auditor to determine whether it’s properly tracking and reporting the taxpayer funds it manages.
LAHSA’s single audit report for last fiscal year was due March 31, nine months after fiscal year 2024-2025 ended. Earlier this month, LAHSA officials said they were on track to meet the March 31 deadline.
Justin Measley, lead auditor for the firm CliftonLarsonAllen, had warned that LAHSA was months behind schedule turning over records.
At a meeting Tuesday, Measley explained that because of LAHSA’s earlier delays, the firm would need at least an additional week to complete a quality-control review process.
“We’re moving at the fastest pace we possibly can,” Measley said.
On Tuesday, LAHSA officials said the single audit will be filed “at the earliest possible opportunity,” within the next few weeks.
Federal funds at risk
LAHSA manages hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year, through grants from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
O’Neill said the agency has been communicating with HUD officials regularly about the missed audit deadline and is “hoping for understanding.”
Janine Lim, LAHSA’s deputy chief financial officer, said she’s also been talking with HUD.
“They seem amenable to our situation and to our stated timelines,” Lim said. “So, we are hopeful that this will be a good outcome, despite having missed the deadline.”
HUD did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment Tuesday.
What went wrong
Measley said LAHSA’s financial statements should have been turned over around last December, but LAHSA only submitted them this month, after blowing through multiple extended deadlines.
Measley said he contacted LAHSA’s governing commission about the overdue documents March 3.
He said he also previewed his firm’s findings, noting one “significant deficiency” in its draft report, related to LAHSA’s timeliness in detecting accounting errors.
LAHSA could contest those findings, officials said. That would add additional back-and-forth between the homelessness agency and accounting firm before the audit report is ready to file.
Justin Szlasa, a LAHSA commissioner who chairs the audit subcommittee, told LAHSA’s CEO he’s concerned that there was no time provided for LAHSA’s governing body to review the audit report.
“Next year, we will absolutely do that,” O’Neill responded. “I think this year, we were under the gun, and so we felt it was the most important thing was to get it uploaded on time.”
O’Neill said the agency hired accounting firm KPMG to help modernize LAHSA’s financial systems, with a focus on its contractor payments.
“We have an outside, trusted voice to help us create a system that works going forward because the system we have is not working at all, in finance,” O’Neill said.
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President Donald Trump has escalated his efforts to influence American elections, signing an executive order that the White House says seeks to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state and use the U.S. Postal Service to "verify" mail ballots are for voters.
Why it matters: Trump has long railed — baselessly — about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and mail voting fraud. The executive order comes as Trump's Justice Department is seeking sensitive voter data from states, and is engaged in more than two dozen lawsuits for that data. The administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance. The order also comes as Trump pressures Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul that would impose new voter identification and documentation requirements. That bill is stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition and the legislative filibuster.
What's next: Trump said he believes the order is "foolproof." But election experts have already said the order — which was first reported by The Daily Caller — would face immediate legal challenges.
Updated March 31, 2026 at 20:44 PM ET
President Trump on Tuesday escalated his efforts to reshape American elections, signing an executive order that seeks to create lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, and instructing the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to verified voters.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he believes the order is legally "foolproof." But election experts said the order was unconstitutional, and voting rights advocates and Democratic state officials quickly pledged to sue to block the order from going into effect.
A previous executive order on elections, signed about a year ago, has been blocked by federal judges who said the president lacked the constitutional authority to set voting policy.
The Constitution says the "Times, Places and Manner" of federal elections are determined by individual states, with Congress able to enact changes.
"This Executive Order is a disgusting overreach from the federal government and shows how little the Trump Administration understands about election administration," Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state of Arizona, said in a statement Tuesday. "We will not let this order stand without a fight and will meet the federal government in court," he added.
Arizona is among more than two dozen states Trump's Department of Justice has sued over access to sensitive voter data.
The Trump administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance. Federal judges in three states have dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuits in those states.
In another case, a DOJ official admitted in court last week that the department plans to share that voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, to run it through the so-called SAVE system to search for noncitizens.
Trump has long railed — baselessly — about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and fraud associated with mail ballots.
The new executive order — which was first reported by The Daily Caller — takes aim at both.
It instructs the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to "compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State."
The order then "requires the USPS to transmit ballots only to individuals enrolled on a State-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, ensuring that only eligible absentee or mail-in voters receive absentee or mail-in ballots," according to a White House fact sheet.
Trump's executive order claims that "additional measures are necessary" to secure voting by mail, a form of voting he has used himself — including last week — but also falsely maligned for years. In the 2024 general election, nearly a third of all voters cast mail ballots.
The Postal Service should also review the design of mail ballot envelopes to protect "the integrity of Federal elections," the order says.
Collectively, the provisions would be a significant change to how mail ballot programs are currently administered in American elections, which are largely carried out by state and local officials.
"Our government's citizenship lists are incomplete and inaccurate. The United States Postal Service is overburdened and inadequate. This combines a car crash with a train wreck," the Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for expanded voting access and sued to block Trump's 2025 election executive order, said in a statement.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA, wrote on his blog that the order is likely unconstitutional. And regardless, he added, "the timing here makes this virtually impossible to implement in time for November's elections. … It seems highly unlikely any of this could be implemented for 2026, even if it were not blocked by courts."
The order comes as Trump pressures Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul that would impose new voter identification and documentation requirements.
That bill is stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition and the legislative filibuster.
The Supreme Court is also expected to rule this year on whether Mississippi should be allowed to count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received by election officials after Election Day.
The legal challenge, which could have sweeping implications for mail voting nationwide, was filed by the Republican National Committee and Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
Federal agents stand guard outside of a federal building and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in downtown Los Angeles during a demonstration in June.
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Topline:
Federal immigration officials arrested more than 14,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area in 2025 — the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an LAist analysis of new data from the Deportation Data Project.
What’s new: In 2025, federal officials arrested 14,394 people, up from 4,681 the year prior. Forty-six percent of people arrested had criminal convictions, 15% had pending charges and 39% had no criminal charges or convictions.
Why it matters: Federal officials have highlighted the arrests of the “worst of the worst” in the immigration raids that began in June, including "murderers, kidnappers, sexual predators and armed carjackers,” but haven’t published the details of the number of people who had criminal records.
Federal immigration officials arrested more than 14,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area in 2025 — the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an LAist analysis of new data from the Deportation Data Project.
The data project, an initiative between UCLA and UC Berkeley, publishes federal data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
In 2025, federal officials arrested 14,394 people, up from 4,681 the year prior. Forty-six percent of people arrested had criminal convictions, 15% had pending charges, and 39% had no criminal charges or convictions.
In a December news release, the Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested more than 10,000 people in the L.A. area since immigration raids began in June of last year, including "murderers, kidnappers, sexual predators and armed carjackers,” but did not publish details of the number of people who had criminal records.
The data from the Deportation Data Project shows that arrests in L.A. spiked in June, and about two-thirds of people arrested that month had no criminal convictions.
More than 313,000 people were arrested by ICE nationwide in 2025, according to an LAist analysis.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said the agency has not “verified the accuracy, methodology or analysis of the project and its results” and said “this only reveals how data is manipulated to peddle the false narrative that DHS is not targeting the worst of the worst.” The spokesperson said 61% of people ICE arrested across the country either had criminal convictions or pending charges.
The agency has regularly published press releases identifying people they have arrested and who they have called “the worst of the worst,” including from the raids in L.A. in June. But an LAist investigation and reporting from other outlets has found that some of the people on those lists already has been in custody and were serving lengthy sentences.
