“President Donald Trump on Saturday said he approved new fuel economy standards, reversing former President Joe Biden’s stricter policies meant to fuel electric vehicle adoption,” CNBC reports.
“It is unclear what the final fuel economy standards will be, although Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously said that they would be sharply lower than the Biden-era policies.”
A new Insider Advantage poll in Maine finds Troy Jackson (D) is tied with Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 46%.
A new Insider Advantage poll in Iowa finds Josh Turek (D) leading Ashley Hinson (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 46%, with Thomas Leith (L) at 2%.
“Lawmakers in both parties blasted a plan by President Donald Trump to claw back more than $800 million in congressionally approved spending across the government, saying the president had no right to defy Congress in how he directs federal funding,” the Washington Post reports.
“The White House late Friday said it was taking a legally contested move to cut funding at federal agencies for a range of programs that direct government services toward immigrants, minority groups, climate change programs and other issues. It was the latest bid by the Trump administration to assert sweeping control over the government and to trim congressional powers.”
NBC News: Lawmakers slam Trump’s “unlawful” move to cut $810 million in federal funds.
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“President Trump again raged at his press coverage Saturday morning, calling on the courts to enforce bans of particular outlets from the White House,” The Wrap reports.
Said Trump: “Why should perpetrators of FAKE NEWS, like CNN and MSDNC, be allowed access to a very sacred place, the White House? Despite my big Election Win, almost 100% of ‘TRUMP’ coverage is negative, and has been for years!”
“If she suspected someone was going to start a fight with her as a child, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota sometimes struck first. As a tiny girl, she figured the element of surprise was an advantage,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“That willingness to go on the offensive has been a hallmark of her political career. When a man sprayed Omar with apple-cider vinegar from a syringe at a town-hall meeting here earlier this year, her first instinct wasn’t to cower, but to chase him with raised fists. In an interview, Omar said it isn’t in her nature to back down.”
“The lawmaker has been a forerunner for a faction of Democrats pulling the party leftward. That, along with her combativeness, has helped make her a top target for attacks from President Trump and conservatives, as well as GOP investigations. A massive welfare-fraud scandal in Minnesota—heavily tied to her fellow Somali immigrants—has only added fuel to the fire.”
“Don’t develop your oil and gas, just buy it from us, well, that’s great for them and terrible for us. The same is true on data centers. If they can convince Americans, ‘You don’t want data centers here, you want to just rely on the Chinese for AI,’ that’s great for China, and it’s terrible for America.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by Fox News.
“President Trump said on Saturday he turned down Iran’s latest cease-fire proposal that offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on the country’s nuclear program in exchange for U.S. concessions,” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “They made a proposal, but I rejected it.”
“Mr. Trump demurred when asked if he expected to restart military strikes after the November midterm elections, saying Iran wanted ‘to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.'”
Robin Wright: “In a whirlwind trip to New York this week, Mahmoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, looked exhausted. His country has been at war with the United States and Israel for seven months. Dark, puffy bags sagged under his eyes. His tone—at the opening of the UN General Assembly, on the sidelines of negotiations with U.S. envoys, in meetings with other world leaders, and at briefings for nuclear specialists, think-tank experts, and members of the media—alternated between bitter, biting, and bewildered.”
“The scenes were often surreal. Since February 28th, when the war began, Pezeshkian has frequently run his government from an underground location, to avoid the fate of his former boss, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of other politicians and military officers, all killed in air strikes.”
“This week, however, the U.S. Secret Service and the New York Police Department provided Pezeshkian protection in coordination with his own security detail of Revolutionary Guards, an Iranian military branch that has repeatedly been targeted during the war. It was the first time that the President of a country at war with the United States has been allowed to pay a visit.”
“Brazil’s government extended measures to contain rising fuel prices, ensuring continued relief for consumers ahead of the presidential election’s first round on Oct. 4,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the federal government to deploy its own immigration database to check voters’ citizenship, greenlighting a key part of the Trump administration’s push to expand its role in elections,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The administration has also threatened prosecutions of elections officials and is preparing to send poll monitors to a swath of states. Other efforts—such as getting the Postal Service to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots—have been blocked by the courts for the midterms.”
“Many states say they now see the federal government as an adversary on elections, with tensions and confusion already running high across multiple fronts.”
David Frum: “This has been a week of pain for anyone who borrows money.”
“All over the world, lenders are demanding higher interest rates. The global bond market is extracting higher yields from every borrower, starting with the biggest borrowers of all: national governments. But not every government is paying equally.”
“Trustworthy borrowers with solid finances and honest leadership pay less. Distrusted borrowers with disordered finances and corrupt leaders pay more. In times past, the United States would have headed that first list. Under President Trump, the United States has tumbled onto the second one.”
“Expectations were low entering President Trump’s meetings with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, this week, after officials on both sides tempered hopes for a breakthrough. Yet the summit’s stark lack of substance surprised even the closest China watchers,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“It was a visual affair designed to project a new phase of managed competition between a prevailing superpower and a rising one — a message that Washington and Beijing are ultimately capable of responsible leadership. But even a cursory look beneath the surface revealed the challenges ahead for the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship.”
And then there’s this: “Trump repeatedly patted Xi on the back, a gesture considered highly inappropriate in Chinese political culture.”
“The pitch was simple: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers is a common-sense conservative, while Democratic rival Abdul El-Sayed is a big-government socialist aligned with the party’s left wing,” Reuters reports.
“But when a canvasser backing Rogers delivered that message to Nick Delise, a three-time Donald Trump voter in suburban Detroit, he encountered some skepticism. Though Delise said he would probably vote for Rogers, he rejected the notion that Democrats were controlled by the far left, saying the party was focused on practical solutions to voters’ problems.”
“The exchange offered a first-hand look at a strategy Republicans are deploying in Michigan and other battleground states: to portray Democrats as ideological extremists who have moved too far to the left, while turning out less-engaged supporters needed to keep their congressional majorities in November.”
“A lot of them can’t spell it. They just don’t have the experience.”
— Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), quoted by NBC News, on Congress trying to regulate AI.
“The White House has offered assurances that the Trump administration won’t ban U.S. diesel exports, Senator Ted Cruz told refining industry leaders late Friday,” Bloomberg reports.
“Cruz’s message comes as the administration weighs options for slashing diesel prices amid a historic run-up in costs for the fuel.”
“The proposed permanent U.S. military base in Poland, dubbed Fort Trump, will cost as much as $4.4 billion and could open as early as in 2029,” Bloomberg reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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