Trump uses anti-trans slur against Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina  —  Annie Andrews is a physician running against Sen. Darline Graham.

Trump suggests letting Iran ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign rally  — 3 min Click here to listen to this article  — California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president ‘deranged and dangerous.’  — The crowd in Grand Island, Neb., cheered the remarks about Los Angeles and San Diego.

Why Trump unexpectedly reversed course on taxpayer-funded campaign ads  —  The president is taking a step toward resolving an ongoing election-season scandal, but there are plenty of unanswered questions that need answers.  —  As this week got underway and JD Vance prepared to hit …

More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump's Immigration Crackdown  —  Experts have long warned that immigration dragnets and the erosion of civil rights for immigrants will inevitably result in the erosion of rights for citizens.

Potential Iranian Drone Attack Led to Exit of U.S. Aircraft From British Air Base  —  According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Paramount Closes Deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, Creating Media Behemoth  —  After a legal battle, Paramount has finally acquired Warner Bros. Discovery.  The new company, Skydance, combines Hollywood studios, streaming services and cable networks.  —  Paramount closed its deal …

Jim Bakker, Television Preacher Felled by Sex and Financial Scandals, Dies at 86  —  With his wife, Tammy Faye, Mr. Bakker built a broadcasting juggernaut around the gospel of prosperity.  —  Jim Bakker, a television evangelist who lost his popular and prosperous ministry in a 1980s sex scandal …

256. So Unexplained: Justice Alito's Non-Responsive Emergency Docket Defense  —  Justice Alito's new book purports to answer the Court's shadow docket critics—by rebutting a caricature and by ignoring the ways in which his own behavior has contradicted nearly every claim he makes.

Trump approves firing squad execution for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan  —  President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.  —  The U.S. military has not carried out the death penalty since 1961.

Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage  —  August Hanning, the man who once led Germany's spy service, is now under investigation for passing on state secrets.  —  Police have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage …

Midterm Elections in Maine, October 2026  —  Jackson and Collins Competitive in Senate Contest in Maine... Pingree Leads Charles by Double Digits in Race for Governor  — Jackson (51%) is +4 points against Collins (47%) among registered voters in the U.S. Senate race in Maine.

Trump says journalists should be ‘arrested’ for reporting on empty seats at rally  —  The president claims upper-level empty seats were simply attendees moving down to the main floor during the Vandalia, Ohio event  —  Become an Independent member to bookmark this article

Trump administration unveils plan to tie high birth and marriage rates to transit funding  —  Communities with high birth and marriage rates could soon gain an advantage in securing federal transit money — a long-sought goal of the Trump administration but one that a top Democratic appropriator calls “bizarre and dystopian.”

Collins stakes her future on her quiet Trump pushback  —  The News  —  When immigration enforcement deaths sparked bipartisan calls for Kristi Noem's resignation, Sen. Susan Collins privately lobbied her to stop the surge in Maine.  When the Commerce Department cut off sea grants …

Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump's interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’  —  John Murdock had been working for the agency for 18 years and his resignation comes during an exodus of longtime federal workers and scientists  —  An 18-year veteran of the US Department …

Arkansas campaign ad sparks conservative backlash for portraying lazy welfare recipient as white  —  A new video from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was standard issue Republican messaging for promoting her state's stricter rules for people on Medicaid.

If the polls end up missing, this may have been our early warning sign  —  “Low-effort” survey respondents vote very differently than other poll-takers, and that could be biasing polls by up to 3.5 points against  —  The biennial freak-out over potential error in election polls is now in full force.

AI Versus Everything Else  —  Until now, discussions of the potential economic problems created by the AI boom have mostly focused on the future.  Will it destroy millions of jobs?  Is there a bubble and will it cause a severe recession if it bursts?  Will it destroy humanity?

“Project Meridian” is the stuff of satire  —  To commemorate PN's 5th anniversary, this week we're offering paid subscriptions at the special yearly rate of $40 (or about 16¢ per edition).  This newsletter is only possible thanks to the support of paid subscribers.

Trump sows doubt about mail-in voting while encouraging it, as midterms approach  —  Trump himself has voted by mail twice in Florida elections this year.  —  President Donald Trump throws a pen into the crowd after he signed an executive order during a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center …

US Senator Murphy says Pentagon denied him access to US base in Qatar  —  Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy said the US Department of Defense denied him access to a key US military base in Qatar during a visit to the Middle East, describing it as part of a US government effort to conceal the impact of the Iran war.

Missing details keep U.S. plague response on hold  —  Two big unknowns stand in the way of determining how serious the plague threat in Russia is and whether travel advisories, restrictions at U.S. ports of entry or other precautions are warranted.  — We still don't know which pathogen killed …

Energy prices loom large in key Senate, House races  —  Scratch the surface of the year's biggest stories — the Iran war and AI — and both are bound up in the costs of energy. … - The war has kept gasoline prices way above $4 per gallon for months, and helped push diesel to record highs.

US, Israeli and European far-right figures to gather for conference in Israel  —  Trump's counter-terrorism ‘czar’, Sebastian Gorka, was scheduled to speak at conference but White House says he will no longer attend  —  A National Conservatism (NatCon) conference beginning today …

Trump says US will help Russia after Siberia plague institute death  —  US President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House told reporters that the United States will help Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia.  —  Trump told reporters as he left …

Trump wants to rewrite the midterm lexicon  —  President Trump has long nicknamed his opponents, and now, as November approaches, he's even trying to dictate the vocabulary around key issues. … - But as polling on those issues continues to haunt the president's party, Trump's new vocabulary may not be enough to change voters' minds.

The permitting deal is good and should pass  —  Against the underpants gnome theory of climate action  —  I don't agree with her position on the new permitting reform bill, but I think Genevieve Guenther perfectly captures the disagreement between the left and center-left …

Spain is becoming Europe's Cuba — and American capital is the next target  —  Spain is rapidly becoming a serious hazard for international investors.  Instead of upholding property rights, the country's political climate now drives its institutional decay, threatening to compromise a fragile legal system.

America.gov: Branding in Search of a Product  —  Last week the Trump administration held a big event, featuring Trump, his Cabinet, and Big Balls, to unveil America.gov.  —  What is America.gov?  Two answers.  — As of today, it's a chatbot that searches government websites and collates the answer using Grok and Gemini AIs.