Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) was scammed in her home by people who said they were part of a cleaning crew, NBC Washington reports.
The suspects charged almost $4,400 to her credit card for work they did not perform.
A D.C. police report described Norton as having the “early stages of dementia.”
President Trump will likely name his new $300 million White House ballroom after himself, ABC News reports.
Already, officials are referring to it as “The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom.”
President Trump’s administration announced sanctions on the president of Colombia, intensifying a clash with the Latin American country over alleged drug trafficking, Bloomberg reports.
Trump has assailed Colombian President Gustavo Petro as an “illegal drug leader,” accusing him of allowing narcotics trafficking to flourish under his reign and threatening to impose U.S. sanctions on Colombian exports.
President Trump has now raised the estimated price of his White House ballroom construction to $350 million.
It was $200 million just a few days ago.
“President Trump has said he wants a whole new fleet of warships. And now they have a name,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Senior White House and Navy officials are in early discussions to replace the current mix of warships with a new ‘Golden Fleet’ that would be better suited to counter China and other potential future threats.”
“Trump, who has previously criticized the look of modern warships, is involved in the plans and has had multiple conversations with Navy officials about the new vessels.”
“The Trump administration does not believe it can shuffle money around to fund SNAP benefits into November,” Punchbowl News reports.
“The White House has spent the last few weeks trying to figure out if it could backfill SNAP accounts before they run out of money Nov. 1. But White House officials determined they do not have the authority to do so… Democrats will certainly disagree with this analysis.”
Axios: USDA says it can’t use emergency funds for food stamps.
“Donald Trump triggered a new bout of global trade turmoil on Friday, as his administration cleared the way for new tariffs on China and the U.S. president lashed out at Canada, a day after having cut off talks with his country’s northern neighbor,” the Financial Times reports.
Daily Beast: “Satellite imagery shows that six trees, including southern magnolias commemorating presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt, were axed or removed from the White House grounds this week as Trump abruptly demolished the East Wing.”
“The Defense Department confirmed that the Trump administration plans to funnel a $130 million donation from an anonymous ally of President Donald Trump toward paying military service members during the government shutdown,” CNN reports.
“The move marks a striking departure from government procedure for funding the military, which traditionally relies on public funds appropriated by Congress.”
Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) talked to The Atlantic about his controversial tattoo.
“He told me that after he got the tattoo, he had two full-body screenings for tattoos as a requirement for government work, including screening for ‘hate’ tattoos, in both the Army and as part of his State Department work, and that the skull was not flagged either time. He told me that members of his family are Jewish, and that he has had his shirt off around them many times without anyone objecting to the tattoo.”
Said Platner: “Eighteen years. It’s never come up.”
“A growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill has raised concerns about President Trump’s expanding war against drug cartels carried out without consultation or authorization by Congress, and is pressing for more information and involvement in a campaign whose legal basis remains murky,” the New York Times reports.
“Most in the group have not expressed explicit opposition to the strikes that have been carried out so far against boats in the Caribbean Sea and, this week, expanded to the Pacific… But for a GOP-led Congress that has seldom questioned Mr. Trump on any matter, foreign or domestic, the skepticism reflects a rare and potentially significant bit of dissent over a widening war.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States is sending an aircraft carrier to Latin America in major escalation of military buildup in the region, the AP reports.
“Premiums for the most popular types of plans sold on the federal health insurance marketplace Healthcare.gov will spike on average by 30 percent next year, according to final rates approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” the Washington Post reports.
” The rise in prices — affecting up to 17 million Americans who buy coverage on the federal marketplace — are by far the largest annual premium increases in recent years. The higher premiums, along with the likely expiration of pandemic-era subsidies, mean millions of people will see their health insurance payments double or even triple in 2026.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) admitted during a podcast that President Joe Biden failed to establish “a secure border” where President Donald Trump succeeded, the Washington Examiner reports.
Said Sanders: “I don’t like Trump, you know, but we should have a secure border. And it ain’t that hard to do. Biden didn’t do it. Those before him did not do it.”
He added: “We should have a secure border period. I think most people in the Congress agree with that.”
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will endorse Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor Friday,” Politico reports.
“The nod is coming after months of pressure and just before early voting begins Saturday.”
“Premier Doug Ford of Ontario, a populist conservative who has earned the moniker for headline-grabbing moves that get under President Trump’s skin, pulled off another dramatic moment with an anti-tariff ad that used 1987 audio of Ronald Reagan decrying tariffs as destructive,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump, in a late-night social media post Thursday, claimed the ad, which was paid for by the province of Ontario and has been broadcast since last week in the United States, was ‘fraudulent’ and announced he was ‘terminating’ trade talks with Canada.”
“New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty on Friday to criminal charges that she committed bank fraud and made false statements to a lender when she bought a house in Norfolk, Virginia, five years ago,” Bloomberg reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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