“Texas Republicans have often kept Washington at arm’s length, charting an independent course even when a Republican occupies the White House,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
“President Donald Trump changed that.”
“From congressional redistricting to the administration’s tariffs, the war in Iran and aggressive deportation efforts felt by businesses, Texas Republicans are now closely tied to Trump.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates: “Trump’s quarter millennial—featuring overt buffoonery and historic grifting as neighbors—was characteristic of his two presidencies. But both emanate from something his opponents have never quite grasped. Trump is not just the most acquisitive politician of his era, he is also the most visionary, gifted with the ability to appreciate his country’s darkest pathologies and profit from them.”
“Perhaps more importantly, Trump understood that the inanities and shibboleths of this country’s alleged institutional guardians, its senators, lawyers, elite universities, and free press, were little more than that, and the guardrails of this liberal democracy were illusions easily dispelled by one who would dare. One such as Trump.”
“President Donald Trump and his faithful are on the rally circuit once more. The question for Trump, GOP candidates and midterm voters is whether it’s with the same feeling,” NBC News reports.
“His travel schedule, which now features near-daily rallies, often in heavily Republican enclaves, is designed to pump enthusiasm into a base that pollsters, political insiders and voters say is showing signs of fatigue — and even disaffection — as a president with dismal approval ratings hits the campaign trail for a sixth consecutive election.”
“President Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Friday to wade into his years long legal battle with former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and ex-Justice Department officials over the 2016 election, appealing a case that a lower court concluded was ‘frivolous,'” CNN reports.
“Trump filed the lawsuit in 2022 against Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of other people and entities he said conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by falsely tying him to Russia.”
“President Trump took to Truth Social Thursday to encourage Alaska voters to vote for the Republican ticket in November and criticized the state’s voting system in the process,” NewsNation reports.
“Trump questioned why there are three Republicans facing off against one Democrat in the November governor election, calling the system ‘stupid.'”
“Navi Pillay, an outspoken supporter of international law who has served as a judge on multiple global courts and as the UN’s top human rights official, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday,” Axios reports.
“President Trump once again did not win the prize he has openly coveted.”
A new Pew Research poll finds Donald Trump’s approval at 30%, while 68% disapprove.
“Democrats are zeroing in on the Pentagon and defense contractors as they prepare to scrutinize potential conflicts of interest in the Trump administration should they win control of Congress,” Bloomberg reports.
“Companies that have contracts with the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are particularly vulnerable… That’s partly because Congress expects the administration will continue to ignore or slow-walk their requests for information — as it has even when Republicans were in control.”
The Justice Department is seeking a federal criminal indictment of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on charges of lying to Congress about President Donald Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Punchbowl News reports.
Aaron Blake: “It has become abundantly clear that Republicans in tough races aren’t especially eager to campaign with President Donald Trump ahead of the midterm election.”
“Few of them showed up to Trump’s midterm convention last month. His travel schedule since then has rather curiously featured lower-tier states like Alabama, Oklahoma and New York and only a handful of real battleground races. And even in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is skipping Trump’s upcoming rally (citing scheduling conflicts, of course).”
“Trump increasingly appears rather sensitive about this dynamic — which makes sense, given he’s latched onto the theory that he alone can push his party to victory in less than four weeks, despite his low approval numbers.”
“He went on a tear about his rallies on Tuesday, bringing it up at least five separate times.”
“President Trump isn’t going to like how the European Parliament is allowing him to be depicted,” the New Republic reports.
“An eight-foot-tall statue covered in 23-karat gold leaf has been erected at the building in Strasbourg, France, showing a naked, overweight Trump being carried on the back of a much smaller man, while the president holds a golf club, a tiny world-shaped ball, and the scales of justice.”
The base is inscribed with the words: “I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden. I will do anything to help him. Except stepping down from his back.”
Foreign Policy : “President Donald Trump stood in front of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 and made two explicit threats. He threatened to use military force in Latin America in service of U.S. interests, and he threatened annihilation for both the Iranian government and the Iranian people.”
“The actions he proposed contravene both the international laws prohibiting war and the international humanitarian law that protects civilians in conflict. What’s more, the UN. Charter prohibits even threats of aggression, while the laws of war, themselves part of U.S. law, prohibit indiscriminate threats against a civilian population.”
“Accordingly, Trump’s public deliberations about who to invade and who to annihilate were themselves crimes, committed in full view of thousands of diplomats and heads of state.”
“When President Donald Trump rallies in San Antonio on Wednesday, the stakes for his party will be clear: In a difficult national climate for Republicans, they likely need to hold Texas’ Senate seat to keep their majority,” MS NOW reports.
“For Trump, people close to him say, the stakes are more personal: protecting his record as the GOP’s kingmaker.”
CNN: Trump rallies in Texas as Paxton deflects blame for flailing campaign.
“With the war it’s just artificial, it’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over very soon. It’s essentially almost over with.”
— President Trump, quoted by NewsNation.
“Umar Kremlev said President Donald Trump’s son had repaid the money the Russian tycoon had spent on post-wedding celebrations he hosted as a gift,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Kremlev: “He paid it back, but I didn’t understand why because I don’t consider it some kind of special gift.”
“President Donald Trump might be in a political hole, but his brand of conservative populist nationalism is flourishing across the globe,” Stephen Collinson reports.
“Rising star Flávio Bolsonaro’s shock win in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election Sunday bolstered Trump’s project of remaking the Western Hemisphere in his political image.”
“Populist right-wingers are also on the march in Europe, fueled by the same failures of foreign leaders to tackle the cost of living and deliver promised change that are haunting U.S. Republicans as the midterm elections draw near.”
The Guardian: U.S., Israeli and European far-right figures to gather for conference in Israel.
“President Trump recruited a fleet of Fox News personalities for his second administration, filling key cabinet positions with the likes of Pete Hegseth, Sean Duffy and Mehmet Oz,” the New York Times reports.
“Now a homegrown star of the Trump White House is headed to Fox News.”
“Karoline Leavitt, who until August served as Mr. Trump’s press secretary and chief spokeswoman, is joining the Rupert Murdoch-owned channel next month as an on-air contributor.”
“The next census determining America’s political representation — and billions of dollars in federal funding — will take place after President Donald Trump leaves the White House. But his administration is moving now to leave his mark on the count,” Politico reports.
”Former Census Bureau officials and advocates critical of the Trump administration caution that some of the changes being put into motion now by the agency could be difficult for a future administration to reverse in time for the 2030 count — particularly Trump’s attempts to remove undocumented immigrants from the total count.”
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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