Hegseth confirms plan to cut 20% of US top military brass and rails at ‘beardos, weirdos and wimps’  —  Pentagon head hails military with ‘no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals’ in anti-DEI rant  —  The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth …

FlyDubai Flight to Tel Aviv Issues Distress Signal Before Landing in Saudi Arabia  —  Passengers intervened and “prevented a disaster” after one pilot stabbed another during a flight from Dubai, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.  The motive for the attack was not clear.  —  Here's the latest.

Tennessee Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Still Alive After Attempts to Execute Her, Lawyers Say  —  Christa Pike was convicted of murdering a classmate in 1995.  It was not clear what went wrong in the execution or what her current medical condition was.  —  A Tennessee woman convicted …

Eric Schmitt was warned about the Jack Smith texts.  He used them anyway.  —  As they prepared for the testimony of former special counsel Jack Smith, Republican staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Sen. Eric Schmitt a warning: The texts they had obtained from the Justice Department …

Trump says ‘only Hispanic’ could survive fall at ballroom site  —  Trump invited attendees of a Hispanic Heritage Month to be among the first to walk on his ballroom floor.  —  Loading...  President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the attendees of a National Hispanic Heritage Month celebration …

Pete Hegseth appoints Elon Musk to US taskforce on future of warfare  —  A year after his explosive tenure at Doge, the SpaceX CEO is back in the Trump administration's good graces  —  Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that Elon Musk will co-lead a government project to study the future of warfare …

Democrats fail to stop Trump from canceling $810M in funds approved by Congress  —  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) blocked the effort, meaning the Trump administration will succeed in eliminating the funding it deemed “wasteful.”  —  SummaryLoading...  Senate Democrats' attempt …

How Zuckerberg shaped Trump's AI industry pledge  —  The Scoop  —  The idea for what became President Donald Trump's Tuesday pact with the AI industry came from a conversation between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and House Speaker Mike Johnson at last week's state dinner, a source familiar with the matter told Semafor.

EXCLUSIVE: Senator Accuses DOJ and FBI of Withholding Secret Epstein Banker Interview, Demands Release of All FBI 302s  —  Add MeidasTouch as a preferred Google sourceUse your Google account to add this to your settings  —  Senator Ron Wyden is accusing the Justice Department and the FBI …

Centrist Dem's Supreme Court plan boosts momentum for revamp  —  Democratic efforts to revamp the Supreme Court gained momentum Thursday as an influential center-left think tank released a plan to limit justices' terms and misconduct.  Third Way's proposal, shared first with POLITICO …

Senate Republicans Leave Town Wondering: Did We Do Enough?  —  “I hate to leave good bills on the table, but I understand that some of my colleagues want to get back and start campaigning again,” Sen. John Kennedy said.  — Copy  —  Republicans made a last-gasp bid Wednesday …

PAC spent $131 million in 17 days to rescue Paxton in Texas Senate race  —  The new Texas PAC spent a staggering $131 million in just 17 days to boost Republican Ken Paxton in his battle for a U.S. Senate seat, new financial reports reveal.  And tens of millions more could be on the way.

Oil Is Flowing From the Persian Gulf, but Prices Remain High.  Why?  —  Crude oil costs close to $100 a barrel because traders are worried hostilities could soon restart and the world is burning through its emergency stockpiles.  —  More oil is flowing from the Middle East than at any point since …

How Trump's signature issue fell off voters' radar  —  Immigration — the issue that helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency and rally his supporters over the past decade — has become an afterthought for voters. … What was once a rallying cry for the party is losing salience …

Texas Governor Race Puts Pressure on Andy Beshear and Democratic Governors Association  —  Allies of Gina Hinojosa want a Democratic group to support her bid for Texas governor — putting pressure on its chairman, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, who is weighing a run for president.

Trump's White House visitor screening center poised for approval  —  The project, which would revamp how visitors enter the White House grounds, is one Trump construction effort that has drawn wide agreement.  —  SummaryLoading...  President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping changes …

The Flailing President  —  Poll after poll shows that Trump's presidency is not going well.  And he has only himself to blame.  —  The white house's south lawn was prepared just so: A full honor guard, complete with American and Chinese flags, stood at attention.

Trump loses favor with crypto fans who call him out for cashing in  —  The president's 2024 campaign leaned into crypto to attract young men, a demographic that is deserting Republicans in the midterms.  —  SummaryLoading...  Carl Runefelt, a cryptocurrencies-focused streamer known as …

Congressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election  —  The weeklong staff trip, including stops at a Ferrari factory and Champagne, was to be led by an aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson and was canceled after NBC News asked about the itinerary.

Hackers stole millions of US military personnel records during months-long data breach  —  The U.S. government is reportedly alerting millions of current and former U.S. military service members and staff that their personal information was stolen during a months-long breach …

Judge Questions Secrecy Around Trump Administration's Memo on Boat Strikes  —  The judge also ordered the Justice Department to privately show the court the contested document, which blesses the disputed killings at sea.  —  A federal judge dealt a blow on Wednesday to the Trump administration's efforts …

Justice Department files ethics complaint against Minnesota federal judges  —  The Justice Department has filed a formal complaint against nearly all of the federal district court judges in Minnesota, alleging that they violated the judicial ethics code by speaking out about the impact …

America leaves Iraq, again  —  This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day.  Subscribe here.  —  The last US troops in Iraq formally withdrew today, 23 years after the United States first invaded Iraq …

White House removes CNN from press pool for Trump's upcoming trip to Texas and Oklahoma  —  CNN was previously scheduled to fly on Air Force One and also provide on-the-ground coverage of Trump's trip.  —  The White House on Wednesday removed CNN from the press pool that's set to cover …

Democratic Senators Challenge Trump Officials on Pentagon's Venezuela Oil Deal  —  Ranking Senate Democrats on the foreign relations, energy, banking and armed services committees question deal crafted by top Trump officials  —  Senate Democrats are challenging the legality and prudence …

Decline in tourism hits US economy  —  Overseas visitors to the US are on track to drop by almost two million year-on-year, with even the FIFA Men's World Cup failing to arrest the decline in tourism.  —  The slide is hurting the US economy, and as Axios put it, is partly “self-inflicted …