“The Trump administration is canceling an annual government effort to gather data on how many Americans struggle to get enough food,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

CBS News: “Contribute money to the new White House ballroom President Trump is constructing and, in exchange, donors may be able to choose a Trumpian option: their names etched inside the White House forever. At least that’s one option that has been discussed.”

Rolling Stone: “It was clear Donald Trump and his allies would ramp up their crackdown against any and all opposition in the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — and this week, the president’s second administration unleashed its most authoritarian blitz yet…”

“This ugly, authoritarian week didn’t happen in a vacuum. Trump just last month mused about how Americans want a “dictator,” and the administration now appears to be using Kirk’s shocking murder as an excuse to escalate Trump’s ongoing campaign for total power.”

“The ramp-up began on Monday, as Vice President J.D. Vance hosted Kirk’s podcast from the White House and huddled with Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy White House chief of staff and the man responsible for leading his mass vengeance campaign.”

For members: A Week That Changed Everything

A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll asked voters their opinions on six major topics of the day, yielding overall disapproval by double-digit margins in all of them.

“The U.S. attorney investigating New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, and the former F.B.I. director James Comey said he had resigned on Friday, hours after President Trump called for his ouster,” the New York Times reports.

“Erik S. Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had recently told senior Justice Department officials that investigators found insufficient evidence to bring charges against Ms. James and had also raised concerns about a potential case against Mr. Comey.”

However, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had withdrawn Siebert’s nomination: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!”

“President Donald Trump said he wants the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia removed, after investigators reportedly failed to find sufficient evidence to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud,” Politico reports.

“The president pointed to endorsements from Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to justify the firing.”

Said Trump: “Yeah, I want him out. When I saw that he got approved by those two men, I said ‘pull it.’ Because he can’t be any good.”

New York Times: “A comedian steps onto the stage and makes a joke or barbed comment that offends a powerful leader. Or maybe it’s a cartoon or television program that pushes buttons.”

“Regardless, the targets and their ilk accuse the creators and their bosses of violating moral standards and national virtues. Then the state cracks down. The authorities issue threats, exert financial pressure and hint at shutdowns, as the humorists hire lawyers, executives cower and everyone learns the obvious: Nothing negative or embarrassing will be allowed about the government or its friends.”

“Those who live in China, India, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela are familiar with this scenario. Each is governed with various levels of authoritarianism; all have seen comedians, broadcasters, journalists and cartoonists squeezed toward silence.”

ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl described a “major escalation” in President Trump’s crusade to punish his perceived enemies, Mediaite reports.

Karl later commented on X: “President Trump has made it perfectly clear — he would like to use the power of the federal government to silence his critics.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been given her own Secret Service detail, CBS News reports.

“President Donald Trump is expected to fire the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after his office was unable to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James,“ ABC News reports.

“Federal prosecutors in Virginia had uncovered no clear evidence to prove that James had knowingly committed mortgage fraud when she purchased a home in the state in 2023.”

Helen Lewis: “The right-wing podcast-industrial complex is establishing new norms and taboos—and expanding the White House’s power.”

“Staffers who opted into the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, voluntarily taking paid administrative leave with the expectation of leaving their jobs, are returning to the U.S. Labor Department,” Bloomberg Law reports.

These employees “have returned as full-time workers, after collecting their full pay and benefits for months without performing their job duties.”

“President Donald Trump and several members of his Cabinet will speak at a memorial in Arizona this weekend to honor Charlie Kirk, the conservative political organizer killed in a shooting on Sept. 10,” Politico reports.

Playbook: “No fewer than seven of the most senior figures in the U.S. government will speak at the event on Sunday — the president himself; plus Vance; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and policy guru Stephen Miller; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and DNI Tulsi Gabbard. There may never have been a funeral service quite like it.”

“Indeed, the memorial will serve as a launching point for what now looks likely to be one of the most significant aspects of Kirk’s death — its galvanizing effect on the conservative movement.”

President Trump said late Wednesday that he is designating the “sick, dangerous” Antifa as a terrorist organization, The Hill reports.

“Top Trump administration officials are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, despite investigators so far failing to find sufficient evidence supporting such charges,” ABC News reports.