Tonight, billionaire Elon Musk facing questions for the first time over his cost-cutting moves.

The major moment with President Trump in the Oval Office defending their deep government spending cuts as battles play out in the courts.

What they said about the Democratic criticism of Doge, why Musk says the federal bureaucracy should be slashed. And the president is asked,

will he follow federal judge's rulings against him? The American teacher on his way back

to the U.S. after being imprisoned for three and a half years in Russia. What we're learning

about the deal. 100 million under winter weather alerts, white out conditions in Kentucky, the nation's

capital under snow, as West Virginia gets more than a foot and where the next round is headed.

Plus, I never broke the law and I never would.

The political stutter, the backstory of why the Trump DOJ is abandoning the corruption

case against New York's Democratic mayor.

What's behind the shift?

The battle between the American tech giants and the global face-off for the future of AI.

The tuna recall impacting major retailers across the country, what you need to know. And the good news,

a gallery on ice you've heard of Burning Man is Minnesota's version, Freezing Man.

This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening and welcome. President Trump didn't have any kind words for judges who have paused

some of his efforts to rein in government spending, saying today maybe we have to look at the judges.

With Elon Musk at his side in the Oval Office, the president claimed without evidence that the

sweeping downsizing effort has already exposed billions of dollars of government

waste and corruption.

He credited Musk, who in turn, defended the propriety of his role as an unelected official

given broad authority to reshape the American government from the ground up.

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