Putin Nears a Prize: Restoring Ties With the U.S. While Giving Up Nothing  —  Russia has sought to separate the war in Ukraine from potential business deals and diplomacy with the United States.  Its efforts now appear to be working.  —  Last October, President Trump imposed significant sanctions …

U.S. and Israel Draw Up Plans for Renewed Strikes on Iran After Elections  —  Renewed hostilities might not be any more successful than the war's first phase, and President Trump has repeatedly canceled plans for a return to major combat.  —  The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans …

Vance Defends Ramaswamy's Ad as Backlash Threatens Ohio Campaign  —  The vice president backed an advertisement featuring Democrat Amy Acton's mother, who has been estranged from Dr. Acton since her stepfather was charged with child rape.  —  Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended …

Peter Thiel breaks with Trump over Iran war: ‘We should not have done it’  —  Billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel said he's skeptical of the U.S. war with Iran and does not believe the United States should have launched it, putting the major Republican donor at odds with President Donald Trump …

Hegseth wanted Eisenhower's globe for his office.  His staff broke it.  —  Photos obtained by The Post show a gash in the World War II-era artifact that resulted from a botched relocation attempt inside the Pentagon.  —  SummaryLoading...  It was early this year when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted to move the world.

Democrats gear up for offensive against Trump's Treasury  —  Democratic lawmakers spent the past two years in the minority clashing with President Donald Trump's top financial officials.  If they take back power in Congress after next month's midterms, expect an all-out brawl, especially with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Rep. Ilhan Omar says she will move out of her Washington, DC, home after federal search  —  U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar will move out of her Washington, D.C., home that federal agents searched last week, she said Wednesday, noting that attention brought on by the raid has made her feel unsafe there.

Just How Much Are Young Voters Backing Democrats Now?  See the Shift.  —  In the new Times/Siena poll, 70 percent of young voters identified as Democrats or leaned that way — a jump from just two years ago.  —  In the last presidential election, Democrats' support among young voters was their lowest in two decades.

White House to Politico: Retract stories or face “consequences”  —  The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct recent stories about alleged staff drama, or it would suffer unspecified consequences.  — That deadline expires Thursday.

US, allies warn of critical vulnerabilities in programming underlying 70% of the internet  —  The National Security Agency and cyber agencies in Europe, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere on Wednesday urged organizations to take their websites offline immediately after OpenAI tools found critical bugs …

How Mark Zuckerberg Pushed Meta to Shield Him From California's Proposed Wealth Tax  —  The billionaire told Meta's board that he planned to list his Silicon Valley home for sale.  The company remade its stock structure to help him pay the tax if voters pass it.  —  Mark Zuckerberg was running out of time.

NYC Politician Lander Detained by Israel During Olive Harvest  —  Israeli forces briefly detained Brad Lander, a Democratic candidate for Congress from New York, as he and a group of rabbis and other volunteers took part in a West Bank olive harvest with Palestinian farmers.

Ballot Rejections Soared in Rural Counties After USPS Reduced Mail Service  —  Reporting Highlights  — Rural Cuts: Delays resulting from the U.S. Postal Service's cost-cutting measures have endangered the validity of ballots cast in rural areas, a ProPublica analysis found.

Scoop: Senate Republicans fear Mississippi is in play  —  Senate Republicans are weighing three last-ditch spending moves that would have been unimaginable six months ago: a cash infusion for Mississippi and even more money for South Carolina and Kansas. … But panic is spreading through the Republican Party.

Crypto megadonors up Ohio spending to $55 million to crush Sherrod Brown  —  A super PAC funded by the cryptocurrency industry is dumping an additional $9 million into an effort to block Sherrod Brown from recapturing an Ohio Senate seat, raising the group's total spending in the race above $55 million.

AIPAC retreats from candidate endorsements and direct giving as political backlash grows … The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, plans to stop endorsing candidates, making direct PAC contributions and earmarking contributions to candidates.

Trump's approval rating on economy hits all-time low as midterm looms: CNBC survey … With less than two weeks to go before the congressional elections, Americans are nearly as gloomy about the economy as they were when the nation was emerging from the pandemic, and President Donald Trump's …

Judge Restricts D.H.S. Field Operations Aimed at Unearthing Voter Fraud  —  The ruling largely blocked homeland security agents from carrying out field interviews in nine states, including California, as part of a sprawling effort to find noncitizens registered to vote.

It's Time to Take Starlink Away from Elon Musk  —  Americans did not give him the right to make national security policy  —  Did Elon Musk decide by personal fiat to cut off Ukraine's access to vital communications?  Although Musk claims that the decision was made by Trump …

State Asked Foreign Service Officers Up for Promotion Whether They Voted for Trump  —  The State Department has asked some foreign service officials up for promotion who they voted for in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, raising concerns the agency is violating a federal law …

Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion for Deceiving Users on Privacy  —  The penalty, one of the largest levied against the tech giant, stemmed from a lawsuit by New Mexico claiming the social media company had misled users about their data privacy.  —  A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion …

These 2024 Trump voters no longer admit to voting for him  —  Poll respondents who change their recalled vote from Trump to Harris (or not voting) largely disapprove of Trump — and that could be skewing polls  —  Last month, I showed that error in how Americans report who they voted …

Construction on Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch in DC could begin in just two weeks  —  The Trump administration told a judge Wednesday evening that construction on the president's controversial 250-foot triumphal arch could begin in just two weeks, days after the midterm elections.