“Trump is reaching for a more drastic trade war weapon, with new threats to shut foreign goods out of the U.S. altogether,” Axios reports. “It would mark a significant evolution of the administration’s trade agenda, with potentially bigger economic fallout than the tariffs that have defined it so far.” “Trump may also have firmer legal […]

Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) stripped references to President Trump and his “America First” movement from prominent parts of her campaign website as she battles for moderate voters in an unusual incumbent-versus-incumbent California House race, Politico reports.

“If President Trump wants to rename New Mexico ‘New America,’ it would require a legal lift that he doesn’t control,” Axios reports. “New Mexico’s name is written into its constitution, putting an official name change beyond the president’s unilateral power.”

Punchbowl News: “Trump’s Monday night threat to ban the sale of aircraft from Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier didn’t land with some Republicans. The company employs more than 1,000 people at its U.S. headquarters in Wichita.”

“The only answer that I can come up with that explains the current behavior of Donald Trump is simply this: he wants the Republicans to lose. He hates them. He wants to torture them.” — James Carville, quoted by Mediaite.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) told CNN that he once suggested that President Biden pardon President Trump. Said Cox: “My hope was that could be a real example to the nation. I like to think that maybe things would be a little different today if he had actually made that decision.”

“A string of unexpected independent poll results in this year’s midterm elections is bringing national attention to a slate of candidates who otherwise would be considered long shots as campaigns turn to the general election sprint — but some recent major misses are raising questions about whether those findings can be trusted,” Politico reports. “Independent […]

“Hours after his government imposed retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion of imports from the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that Canada’s response had been unavoidable,” the New York Times reports. Said Carney: “I don’t believe in escalating the conflict; that’s not constructive. But our tariffs are necessary to protect our workers, […]

“Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III is stepping down following more than a year of tension with President Trump over the way U.S. history is portrayed at the world’s largest museum and research complex,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Bunch’s departure marks one of the highest-profile shake-ups amid Trump’s broader cultural campaign to restore more ‘truth’ […]

“Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump that Russia did not have ‘aggressive plans’ against Europe and praised U.S. peacemaking efforts to end his war in Ukraine in a phone call on Tuesday, the Kremlin said,” the Financial Times reports. “The call was the first time the presidents of Russia and the U.S. had spoken since western […]

A new Peak Insights poll in Montana finds Kurt Alme (R) leading Seth Bodnar (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 44% to 22%, with Alani Bankhead (D) at 19%. Senate Race Kurt Alme (R) 44%   Seth Bodnar (I) 22%   Alani Bankhead (D) 19%   Peak Insights poll

“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker launched a new political action committee over the weekend that plans to funnel millions of dollars into Democratic House races ahead of the midterms,” NOTUS reports. “Pritzker’s Ready for the Fight PAC — a phrase often used by the governor and repeated liberally in the committee’s first ad spot — plans […]

President Trump falsely claimed he was basically lifted out of the rubble on 9/11 by first responders. Said Trump: “Two fireman, big strong guys, they grabbed me under the arms — ‘got to get out of here!’ — and they literally lifted me up, and they started running with me.”

“President Donald Trump recently reiterated claims that he visited Ground Zero and assisted with recovery efforts shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,” The Independent reports.

“The Trump administration violated federal law when it shared confidential taxpayer information with immigration authorities, an appeals court ruled Tuesday,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The Internal Revenue Service improperly allowed data transfers based on partial addresses and failed to satisfy requirements that tightly tie legal information sharing to criminal investigations.”

“A former top aide to Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, is appearing in a new online ad endorsing his Democratic rival, James Talarico, in one of the most hotly contested and costly U.S. Senate races in the country,” the New York Times reports. “The aide, David Maxwell, served as Mr. Paxton’s director […]

“The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the Trump administration to resume expansion of an internal government database available to states to verify the citizenship status of voters,” Bloomberg reports. “The application submitted to the court on Tuesday marks the latest high-stakes, election-related fight to reach the justices in recent weeks.”

“Republican strategist Karl Rove said Tuesday he is ‘a little bit nervous’ about the GOP’s unprecedented midterm convention, warning that Republicans are making a late and risky bet on President Donald Trump with control of Congress on the line,” Mediaite reports. Said Rove: “I’m a little bit nervous about it because, look, we’re in the […]

“A group of Democrats, concerned their party is not moving quickly enough to address voter anxiety about artificial intelligence, has started a political action committee aimed at spurring a response to the issue,” the New York Times reports. “The organization, called Tomorrow Together and led by Democratic campaign veterans spanning the ideological wings of the […]

“A group of Democratic lawmakers — and some former GOP members of Congress — is asking the Supreme Court to block President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting, arguing that the president has unlawfully seized federal election powers that belong to Congress and the states,” MS NOW reports.

“The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on additional aspects of Iran’s aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners,” NOTUS reports. “The latest actions are part of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic […]

“President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation after U.S. envoys traveled to Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to restart negotiations to end the war in Ukraine,” Bloomberg reports.

Jane Haman: “Young Americans today have never witnessed Congress authorize a war, they’ve never seen a U.S. administration balance its books, they’ve never watched a well-funded and empowered state department operate, and they see only mistrust between allies. They assume the situation is normal. It is not.” “The real cost of forgetting the pre-9/11 world […]

Just out: All the Presidents’ Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror  by Peter Bergen. “The resulting war on terror cost trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, a series of misguided wars, and the damaged perception of American power. And yet despite its blunders, this campaign has kept America safe from large-scale […]

“President Donald Trump is embracing his inner cowboy, seeking to gallop into this week’s Republican convention in Dallas and save the midterm elections for his party just in the nick of time,” the Associated Press reports. “As first-of-their-kind festivities open Wednesday, Trump wants to stoke his core supporters’ enthusiasm by making Election Day on Nov. […]

“The Trump administration is planning to significantly reorganize the National Park Service and other bureaus of the Interior Department, the second major shake-up of the nation’s public lands infrastructure in less than two years,” NOTUS reports.

“Britain announced a ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and sanctions on companies involved in an accelerating building boom in the settlements, which are considered illegal by much of the international community,” the Washington Post reports.

NewsNation: “The fight for control of the Senate hangs in the balance with just eight weeks to go until the midterm elections, according to Decision Desk HQ.” “The nonpartisan election analyst on Monday shifted its November forecast to ‘a pure toss-up’ for the upper chamber of Congress for the first time since the beginning of […]

“Days before California voters receive their mail-in ballots, gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, and Steve Hilton, a Republican, will debate in a nationally televised face-off,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “After weeks of Hilton accusing Becerra of ducking debates, the nationally televised, hour-long CNN event — without a studio audience — will give millions […]

“Romania detained a Russian citizen suspected of spying on military sites for an alleged sabotage operation, as European allies of Ukraine accuse Moscow of intensifying a hybrid campaign across the continent,” Bloomberg reports.