Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 187
Bad Instincts
“President Donald Trump said he expected to notch many deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their White House summit next week,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “We’re going to have a lot of different deals. We’re not just doing it for our health.”
“President Donald Trump said he disagreed with a Republican from Florida who criticized his immigration policies, defending his stance for helping him and other GOP lawmakers win office,” Bloomberg reports.
“Maria Elvira Salazar, who is fighting to keep her seat in November’s midterm election in a Miami-area district heavily impacted by the administration’s policies, posted an ad this week saying Trump’s approach has gone too far.”
Said Trump: “I disagree with her. She obviously doesn’t have a very strong feeling for the border, but I do, and I understand what she’s saying.”
He added: “I’m very strong on the borders, and she isn’t, and she’s a nice person. I got her elected. Without me, she wouldn’t have gotten elected. She got a little bit soft on the border.”
“President Trump said Friday that his eldest son, Don Jr. had paid back a Russian oligarch who footed the bill for the younger Trump’s wedding festivities earlier this year,” the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, but it’s totally allowed. But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received more than $250,000 worth of free flights to Fiji and Greece as well as use of a vacation home in Washington, D.C,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“All were gifts from Gavin de Becker, a security consultant and supporter.”
“The Russian government has been targeting Americans with covert online disinformation operations seeking to undermine public confidence in November’s midterm elections, using a familiar playbook in an attempt to inject chaos into the voting season,” the New York Times reports.
“Classified U.S. intelligence assessments from recent months have determined that the Kremlin has again authorized a digital influence campaign to peddle content across social media in hopes of seeding or amplifying domestic divisions around the election season.”
“The word ‘socialism’ doesn’t really resonate. The word ‘communism’ resonates.”
— Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), quoted by Axios, giving advice to House Republicans on how to attack Democrats.
“The Trump administration plans to roll out a new A.I. air traffic control tool designed to predict and prevent flight delays in the Washington region starting Monday, as the opening step of an eventual nationwide deployment,” the New York Times reports.
“The House Republican campaign arm raised $13.5 million in August, widening its financial edge over Democrats heading into the final stretch of the midterms,” Axios reports.
“The National Republican Congressional Committee is entering the final weeks before Election Day with a $13 million cash advantage over its Democratic counterpart — the largest lead the committee has ever held at this point in the election cycle.”
“President Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington must have a constant flame atop the structure to make it safe for planes to pass by in one of the busiest airspaces in the country, the Federal Aviation Administration said,” the New York Times reports.
“In a hazard study released on Friday, the FAA deemed the proposed arch, which would sit along a flight path less than a mile from Ronald Reagan National Airport, safe for air travel provided that Mr. Trump complies with recommended safety measures.”
“A nonprofit group with ties to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. solicited payment from companies in exchange for access to top agency officials at an upcoming event,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Trump administration ended its latest effort to block federal funding for the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey, dropping an appeal of a court ruling against the U.S,” Bloomberg reports.
“The government agreed to dismiss its challenge to a June ruling by a federal judge who said that withholding funds from the project ‘flagrantly’ violates the law.”
“Rifle-toting supporters of Iran’s theocracy poured into the streets of Tehran on Friday in a defiant display of military power, as diplomatic efforts to end the war with the U.S. stagnate and economic frustration mounts,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Massive crowds of men and women joined the government-organized rally, waving Iranian flags while chanting ‘Death to Israel!’ and ‘Death to America!'”
“President Trump said Friday he is banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘effective immediately,’ escalating his long-running battles with news organizations,” Axios reports.
Washington Sun: Trump says he will ban three major media outlets from the White House.
“House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent lawmakers home until after the midterms, but when they return, they’ll quickly face a showdown over impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a renewed Epstein files fight and a looming government funding deadline,” Axios reports.
“None of these issues will be easy to resolve and could create a headache for the Trump administration in a lame-duck session after Election Day.”
“Vice President JD Vance on Friday mounted a vigorous defense of the Trump administration’s policies and Iowa GOP candidates on the November ballot, arguing that the Democrats had turned into the party of ‘lunatics,’ in his second trip to the politically consequential state this year,” the Washington Sun reports.
Said Vance: “Let’s send the crazy packing and get them out of Washington, D.C. and get them out of Des Moines.”
“The Trump administration has started building the border wall through a west Texas section of the Big Bend region, marking the first major construction in an area of the U.S.-Mexico border where the administration’s plans have met with heavy opposition,” the Washington Sun reports.
“In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections began Friday, ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide which party they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis, a prolonged war in Iran and other pressing issues,” the Associated Press reports.
“The intelligence report, circulated across the U.S. military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program,” CNN reports.
“The U.S. military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the U.S. military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.”
“It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying.”
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.