White House aide Natalie Harp, right, looks after President Donald Trump, left, spoke to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control in Houston. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Here’s what we’re following:
Marco Rubio is on the second leg of a three-nation tour of South America aimed at boosting security cooperation with conservative leaders who have cozied up to Trump.
Rubio spent Tuesday in Colombia meeting with new conservative firebrand President Abelardo de la Espriella and is traveling to Quito on Wednesday for talks with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who has embraced the Trump administration’s get-tough stance on narcotics trafficking and illegal immigration. After Quito, he’ll see new Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori in Lima.
Coinciding with Rubio’s trip, U.S. forces intercepted and sank a vessel on Tuesday that Washington said had links to the Ecuadorian criminal group Los Choneros. It was the sixth such operation in less than two weeks and the second in as many days.
