Top Items:
Marc Caputo / Axios:
“We're stuck:” GOP accepts Trump's all-about-me midterms — President Trump is hitting the campaign trail and doing the last thing many Republicans want: making the 59 days to the Nov. 3 midterms a referendum on him. — At the same time, they know it's inevitable.
Discussion:
Politico, PoliticusUSA, Washington Examiner, Alternet.org and Washington Post
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Republican House candidates tone down Trump on their campaign websites — Several congressional hopefuls have removed or downplayed mentions of the president and his priorities as Trump's popularity wanes. — Why did Mike Beltran, a Republican trying to unseat Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida), first decide to run for public office?
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Julia Mueller / The Hill:
Democrats seek to counter RNC's ‘Trump-a-palooza’ convention in Dallas
Democrats seek to counter RNC's ‘Trump-a-palooza’ convention in Dallas
Discussion:
KERA News, NewsMax.com, News Talk, GOP.com, FOX 26 Houston, Fort Worth Report and Washington Examiner
Associated Press:
US military hits 3 Iranian oil tankers after saying Navy warships were targeted with missiles — The U.S. military on Saturday said it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with missiles, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, UPI, Military.com, RedState, Global News, Daily Mail, Task & Purpose, The Gateway Pundit, WTOP News, France 24, NewsMax.com, Israpundit and CBS News
RELATED:
Sarah Davis / The Hill:
US only country to oppose UN resolution correcting Africa's size on world maps — The U.S. was the only country to not support a United Nations resolution adjusting the appearance of Africa and other regions on world maps. — The body passed the “Correct the Map” initiative by a margin of 164 to one …
Discussion:
NPR, The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, The Japan Times, France 24, Al Jazeera, Joe.My.God. and GB News
RELATED:
New York Times:
In Major Leak Hunt, Pentagon Gives Polygraph Tests to Joint Staff Members — About 50 people were tested, an unparalleled inquiry that comes in the wake of news reports about the war with Iran and the U.S. military's diminished stocks of munitions. — U.S. government investigators have taken …
RELATED:
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
Top military officials faced polygraphs over leaks of sensitive information on weapons stockpiles, sources say
Top military officials faced polygraphs over leaks of sensitive information on weapons stockpiles, sources say
Discussion:
Daily Mail and The Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
Gallup Polls Show Democrats Outnumber Republicans Ahead of 2026 Midterm Elections — Data from Gallup shows that Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have their largest advantage over Republicans since 2008. — The share of Americans who associate themselves with the Democratic Party …
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Hopium Chronicles and The Independent
RELATED:
Will Steakin / Politico:
Inside AOC's MAHA outreach
Reuters:
Putin's envoy Dmitriev to meet Witkoff, Kushner upon their arrival in Moscow, sources say — Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev will meet U.S. special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner upon their arrival in Moscow on Saturday, two people familiar with the upcoming visit told Reuters.
RELATED:
William Christou / The Guardian:
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner land in Moscow aiming to revive Ukraine talks
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner land in Moscow aiming to revive Ukraine talks
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Examiner, UPI, Associated Press, Fox News, Bloomberg, New York Times, CBS News, Al Jazeera, WTOP News, [your]NEWS, France 24, Breitbart, The Japan Times, CNN, NewsMax.com, Grabien, MS NOW, Politico, Military.com, The Moscow Times and The Hill
Associated Press:
Missouri asks US Supreme Court to allow use of new Trump-backed congressional districts in midterms — Missouri appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to allow the use of new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump in the fast-approaching midterm election.
Discussion:
Democracy Docket, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and The Hill
RELATED:
Yunior Rivas / Democracy Docket:
In latest win for voters, appeals court rejects bid to revive DHS voter purge database, for now — A federal appeals court Friday rejected the Trump administration's effort to immediately revive the use of a sweeping immigration database to check voter rolls, leaving in place a ruling that shut …
Discussion:
NOTUS, RedState and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Zach Montague / New York Times:
Judge Once Again Blocks Mail-In Ballot Rules
Discussion:
American Greatness, JusttheNews.com, The Japan Times, Democracy Docket, The Guardian, Forbes, MS NOW, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, NOTUS, Alternet.org, CBS News, The Hill, Politico and UPI
CNN:
Musk has started spending money to help Ken Paxton. Will it help change the course of the Texas Senate race? — PACs Congressional news Senate election US elections — For months, Texas Republicans have anxiously awaited the arrival of national resources to help boost Ken Paxton, one of the GOP's most vulnerable Senate candidates.
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs / Forbes:
Trump Confirms Tariff-Free Beef Is Coming From Brazil And Argentina Amid Quality Controversies — Topline — President Donald Trump confirmed that Brazil and Argentina, meatpacking nations embroiled in quality scandals in recent months, are among the countries that will be allowed to import …
Discussion:
American Greatness, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, The Hill and WTOP News
New York Times:
Maria Bartiromo's Downfall at an Increasingly Cautious Fox News — The network this week took Maria Bartiromo off the air, pulling one of the last hosts whose coverage of Dominion Voting Systems drew an expensive defamation lawsuit. — In July, as President Trump was preparing a prime …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Joe.My.God., CNBC, The Independent, The Wrap, Mediaite, CNN, Townhall, Washington Post, Deadline, NPR, The Maine Wire and The Nation, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
Inside the D.O.J.'s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists — As Dr. Anthony Fauci has faced public scrutiny from congressional Republicans, the D.O.J. has pursued a quieter and more expansive effort against a wider circle of researchers. — TIMES EXCLUSIVE
Liz Goodwin / Washington Post:
The mystery behind an audio clip that helped upend a Senate race — Artificial intelligence tools increasingly allow political actors to fool voters — and help candidates cast doubt on reality. — Summary — Late last month, left-wing firebrand Hasan Piker showed his Twitch viewers …
Chris Cameron / New York Times:
Tetris Owner Denounces Trump White House Clone of Game — Responding to Build the Wall, an apparent copy of the retro video game, the Tetris Company said “we take copyright infringement very seriously.” — The Tetris Company, the company that owns the rights to the classic video game …
Washington Post:
ChatGPT bans campaigns from using AI to make ads. They're doing it anyway. — A Post review found 39 campaigns that disclosed payments to AI companies, but consultants say many more do it and don't disclose it. — Summary — Artificial intelligence has subtly entered the machinery …
Mike Zapler / Axios:
Republicans sour on the economy — Republicans' confidence in the economy has plummeted over the last six months at a pace unseen since Covid — reminiscent of the declines during the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. … What's striking now is that Republicans …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Janay Kingsberry / The Atlantic:
The Rush-Job Presidency — Trump wants his ballroom and arch done while he's in office. There's a risk. — Construction is notoriously slow-going work. But in Donald Trump's Washington, cranes and bulldozers appear like DoorDash deliveries: fast, frictionless, and on demand.
Discussion:
New York Times, Forbes and HuffPost
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
September 4, 2026 — On September 5, 1882, workers in New York City celebrated the first Labor Day holiday with a parade. The parade almost didn't happen: there was no band, and no one wanted to start marching without music. Once the Jewelers Union of Newark Two showed up with musicians …
Ron Filipkowski / Meidas+:
The 75 Most Corrupt Things Trump Did in 2026 — So far. — ... This is a list of the 75 most corrupt things Trump did in 2026. These are not all of the corrupt things. There were many more, all of which I chronicled throughout the year in my daily column ‘Today in Politics.’ I was planning to list 100.
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
Ossoff and Talarico to Share Fund-Raising Event in Hollywood — The event with the Georgia and Texas Democrats will be hosted by Shonda Rhimes. — Two of the top Democratic fund-raisers this cycle are teaming up for a finance event with some big Hollywood names.
Vox:
How to survive a national debt scare — The national debt hasn't been a major issue in the 2026 midterms. But perhaps it should be. As of last month, the United States is in debt to the tune of $40 trillion. That's 12 zeros, which averages out to about $116,000 per American.
Vox:
Gen Z's politics aren't what people think — After 12 years of dominating American politics — either as president, as a candidate, or from the sidelines — Donald Trump will finally exit the stage in 2028, and it's anybody's guess what will come next. But one thing we do know is that Gen Z …

