“President Trump has sometimes likened himself to a king. Now he has been given a crown,” the New York Times reports.
“Or at least a replica of one that researchers believe was worn by an ancient Korean ruler. Mr. Trump received the crown from President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea when they met on Wednesday in the city of Gyeongju.”
“Premiums for Affordable Care Act coverage will skyrocket 26%, on average, next year, according to a KFF analysis released Tuesday evening, just days before open enrollment starts on November 1,” CNN reports.
“The price hike is one of the largest jumps since Obamacare plans debuted more than a decade ago — and it doesn’t factor in the expiration of the enhanced premium subsidies.”
President Trump defended Israel’s strikes against members of Hamas and said he thinks that the peace deal he brokered earlier this month will hold despite rogue elements of the group attacking Israeli soldiers, Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “The Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.”
“Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going without pay; millions of Americans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food are set to miss payments starting this weekend; and air-traffic staffing shortages are causing groundstops across the country,” NOTUS reports.
“Congressional Democrats are under real pressure to cave — and they aren’t. And that’s genuinely surprising the progressives that pushed Democrats to leverage the government funding fight over expiring health care subsidies in the first place.”
A House GOP group is launching a $5 million ad campaign accusing Democrats in 15 competitive races of fanning the flames of political violence, Axios reports.
“Virginia doesn’t predict the future, but it does take its temperature.”
— A longtime Democratic operative, quoted by the Washington Post.
“The Senate will try again this week to rein in President Donald Trump’s tariff regime — even as some of its Republicans quietly hope for the justices across the street to squash it.,” Semafor reports.
Said one GOP senator: “This should be Congress’ call if you’re increasing taxes on the American people through tariff policy. We are the ones who dictate tax policy. This is a form of taxation.”
“The high court will hear arguments next week in a case that challenges Trump’s ability to use national emergencies to impose tariffs.”
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has seized on the plan that Republicans floated – and then discarded – to soften the government shutdown’s sting for some federal workers and aid beneficiaries,” Axios reports.
Wall Street Journal: “Behind the wave of white-collar layoffs, in part, is the embrace by companies of artificial intelligence, which executives hope can handle more of the work that well-compensated white-collar workers have been doing. Investors have pushed the C-suite to work more efficiently with fewer employees. Factors driving slower hiring include political uncertainty and higher costs.”
“Altogether, these factors are remaking what office work looks like in the U.S., leaving the managers that remain with more workers to supervise and less time to meet with them, while saddling the employees fortunate enough to have jobs with heavier workloads.”
Axios: How an AI job apocalypse unfolds.
“Former Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York has been an enthusiastic supporter of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and front-runner in the mayor’s race. So it seemed odd on Tuesday when an article appeared in The Times of London in which he was quoted saying he had concerns about Mr. Mamdani’s policy proposals,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. de Blasio told The New York Times on Tuesday evening that the comments attributed to him were invented and that he had not spoken with the British newspaper.”
Said De Blasio: “I’m astounded. It’s a complete fabrication.”
Washington Post: “Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have used similarly misleading footage in at least six videos promoting its immigration agenda shared in the last three months, a Washington Post analysis found, muddying the reality of events in viral clips that have been viewed millions of times.”
“Some videos that purported to show the fiery chaos of Trump-targeted cities included footage from completely different states. One that claimed to show dramatic examples of past administrations’ failures instead featured border crossings and smuggling boats recorded during Trump’s first term.”
“I don’t even want to talk about that, because the sad thing is I have the highest numbers I ever had… If you read it, it’s pretty clear: I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad. But we have a lot of great people.”
— President Trump, talking to reporters about running for a third term.
NBC News: “Republicans have spent more on TV ads in recent weeks on the race for attorney general — where past violent text messages by the Democratic nominee have roiled the race — than the higher-profile contest for governor, where the GOP candidate is the underdog.”
“Campaign finance rules in Virginia allow outside groups to donate directly to candidates, so the bulk of Republicans’ ad spending in these two races have come from Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the gubernatorial nominee, and Attorney General Jason Miyares.”
“Some of President Donald Trump’s aides have advised him against shifting the U.S. position on independence for Taiwan to favor China,“ NBC News reports.
“The aides have privately expressed concern that Trump, who is pushing to reach a sweeping trade deal with China, may choose to ignore their advice, the people with knowledge of the discussions said. They said they worry that Trump could walk away from long-standing U.S. policy on Taiwan or more subtly shift the U.S. position by framing it with new language.”
Axios: Trump-Xi meeting is high stakes for Taiwan.
“President Trump said that the U.S. expects to lower tariffs on China in exchange for cooperation in cracking down on the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Trump said that he would discuss such an agreement when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.”
The Economist finds President Trump’s net approval rating is -18 (39% approve, 57% disapprove) — the lowest it has been since his inauguration and three percentage-points lower than at any point in his first term.
“The Democratic leader of the Maryland Senate on Tuesday sent a letter to dozens of state lawmakers rejecting the party’s effort to redistrict in the state, bucking Democrats’ national effort to redraw congressional lines,” Politico 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.
