Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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Mail-in voting isn’t changing despite Trump’s push

Mail-in ballots are prepared at the Wake County Board of Elections in Raleigh, North Carolina, on September 11, 2026. (Allison Joyce/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court late Monday handed President Donald Trump a major defeat in his quest to limit mail-in voting.

A majority of the justices blocked the procedure that would have allowed the US Postal Service to withhold potentially millions of mail-in ballots. The court offered little explanation in its order but said the administration was unlikely to succeed in defending the new requirements, which Trump says are needed to curb voter fraud.

With just 50 days until the midterms — and mail-in voting already underway in some states — lawmakers from both parties warned the changes could have thrown the election process into total disarray. Trump’s plan would have required states to share voter information with the Postal Service and add barcodes to ballot envelopes to track them, potentially upending the existing processes at the eleventh hour. Also worth noting: Trump has spent years railing against mail-in voting with false claims of widespread fraud, despite voting by mail himself.

+ Read more: Supreme Court rejects Trump’s plan to limit mail-in voting in midterms

+ Video: CNN’s Joan Biskupic breaks down the ruling

+ Analysis: Americans’ increased belief in voter fraud is a scary prospect in 2026

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Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions ahead of midterms The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections. It allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years and have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast. Read more.

Why this matters: The Supreme Court majority wrote that the administration’s push to implement the restrictions this year is likely to lose in court, though the brief emergency order didn’t detail its reasoning. Two justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.   Justice Brett Kavanaugh, meanwhile, agreed that the restrictions should not go into effect for the midterms but indicated he might rule in favor of the Trump administration if the issue comes back before the court at a later time.   The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but have in the past framed the restrictions as commonsense changes aimed at keeping elections secure.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Our full report  Democrats and activist groups plan to push back if Trump tries to interfere in midterm elections  EPA eliminates rule that limits planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants DHS voter probe may break state laws and wrongly implicate US citizens, whistleblower alleges  Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate, defying Trump’s demands  Ex-CIA Director John Brennan issued subpoena in Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation, lawyer says  ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainees were held in small metal cages, federal report says  Texas landowners ask a court to stop Trump’s Big Bend wall plans  Kennedy Center board to propose new options for honoring Trump as center confronts solvency worries  Trump nominates wife of ‘God Bless the USA’ singer Lee Greenwood to serve as US ambassador  Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding celebration was partially funded by Russian oligarch, the couple confirms  McConnell returns to the Senate for the first time since his June hospitalization

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Trump slams the Supreme Court for rejecting his push to restrict mail ballots

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday went after the Supreme Court after it rejected his push to restrict mail-in voting in this year’s midterms, saying justices who opposed him were “not the people I interviewed.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-supreme-court-justice-mail-voting-7a937a7b4a37214d40a7a9aa4c2b5ce2?

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Fencing goes up around the main Kennedy Center building after Trump-aligned board votes to close it

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fencing went up Wednesday around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs.

https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-center-fencing-trump-close-repairs-76857d537ec8cabd87be5065fb9428ac?

Kennedy Center will close for renovations after judge blocks returning Trump’s name to building

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to close most of the iconic performing arts venue just hours after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning President Donald Trump’s name to the building.

https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-center-closure-board-trump-ruling-1dfbfaac695f6817719477101b971a54?

US acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space

The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, a remarkable revelation after previous warnings about countries such as Russia possibly weaponizing a global frontier long agreed in treaties to be used for only peaceful purposes. Read More.

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Maximum Capacity (David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty)

View in browser Gasoline prices have been up all summer, as have jet-fuel prices, as have home-heating-oil prices—but nothing has jumped quite like diesel. The average price for a gallon of diesel in the United States just hit an all-time high of $6.27, almost double what it was in late February. It’s no secret that the Iran war is largely responsible for America’s energy woes. So far, Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay these increases as temporary side effects (a “little glitch,” he said in March) and remind everyone that oil prices were higher under Joe Biden (which is true). Lately, though, the president has been telling us to look away from Iran and toward a different war. Over the weekend, he called on Ukraine’s president to stop striking Russian oil refineries, which he said was “causing a shortage of diesel.” And yesterday morning, he announced a partial energy cease-fire between the two countries, claiming that the “World’s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran.” (Although both Ukraine and Russia have signaled that they’d be open to such an agreement, they continued attacking each other last night.) Focusing on Eastern Europe may be a convenient distraction tactic, but the reality is that this war is ultimately less important for U.S. diesel than the one that Trump is waging in the Middle East. Diesel’s rally has to do with how it’s distilled. Diesel, like gasoline, primarily comes from crude oil, which has been in short supply since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut down in February. Middle Eastern crude, which is sludgy and sulphurous, is particularly conducive to producing diesel. Making matters worse, many local refineries have been attacked or have preemptively gone offline, leaving the region less equipped to handle the crude that remains. Yemen’s Houthis attacked a major Saudi facility last week as a prelude to a broader offensive. The refinery problem is global. At their summer peak, the world’s facilities were producing 4.2 million fewer barrels a day than they were last year. As Trump has pointed out, Ukrainian attacks on refineries in Russia—usually the world’s second-largest diesel exporter—have only compounded the issue. With Moscow maintaining its ban on diesel exports (meant to protect domestic supply), more countries are turning to the U.S. to make up the difference. American plants are now “running all-out,” per the American Petroleum Institute, using almost all of their processing power, and the U.S. is exporting more refined-oil products on average than it was last year. U.S. refineries typically shut down for at least a couple of weeks for maintenance around this time of year, too, which could potentially squeeze supply even more. Still, Matt Smith, the director of commodity research at the data firm Kpler, told me that Ukrainian aggression “isn’t equally to blame, let alone the leading factor,” in America’s rising diesel prices. Even if Russia and Ukraine agreed to a cease-fire today, global refining capacity wouldn’t magically return right away. As I wrote in May, damaged facilities take time to repair and come back online once they’ve been shut down. Gregory Brew, an energy historian and a senior analyst at Eurasia Group, told me that for any détente to have an effect on diesel prices, “it would likely need to last several weeks at least.” Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East remains unstable. The Saudi Arabian government recently shut down a crucial pipeline that was damaged in a strike by Iran-aligned militias in Iraq (the pipeline had been moving 4 to 5 percent of the global oil supply—several million barrels a day). Combine these risks with elevated seasonal demand for diesel, which in the U.S. tends to peak around the harvest season, and it’s clear that the European conflict is only one force among many behind this price spike. Americans are feeling the effects. One gas station in San Diego has been selling diesel for $9.99 a gallon, which is as high as its three-digit physical display will permit. Groceries may become more expensive because farm equipment and refrigerated 18-wheelers tend to run on diesel. Trains predominantly use diesel, too, and railroads’ fuel surcharges on grain shipments have more than doubled over the past year. Nearly 5 million homes could be paying more for heating oil (which is chemically similar to diesel and subject to some of the same economic pressures) as well. As everyday costs continue to climb, voters are growing more and more dissatisfied with Trump’s handling of the economy. And over the past few months, the president has been looking for someone—anyone—to share the blame. A speedy Trump-negotiated end to the Ukraine war is unlikely for many reasons. But even in the fantasy world where he pulls that off, it wouldn’t save him from a diesel spike of his own creation. Related: Trump loses the other strait. The lag between an Iran deal and lower oil prices

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Trump’s fixation

President Donald Trump has been preoccupied with the Kennedy Center’s programming, his hand-picked board of trustees, renovations and insisting his name belongs on the building. CNN’s Aaron Blake says it shows how consumed the president is with his own glorification.

➕ Is the Kennedy Center closed? Question hangs over arts institution as judge orders update

💬 CNN Office Hours: Share your midterms questions and join the conversation live this evening at 7 p.m. ET ps:How pathetic!!!!!   Dr. Nicole Saphier, Trump's 3rd surgeon general pick, faces Senate questions over her vaccine stance Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump’s third surgeon general nominee, was grilled at her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about her stance on childhood vaccines, voicing support for immunization as she seeks to serve in an administration that has moved to make sweeping changes to vaccine guidance. Read More.

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Substandard

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President Trump appointed Kash Patel to lead the FBI not because of his brief experience in law enforcement but because he is a political brawler. The problem, as Patel demonstrated yesterday, is that he is not a very good one: No skilled political messenger would have allowed nearly every headline about a Senate hearing to connect their name and agency with bestiality.

Yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was Patel’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since a raucous visit in May. (At that hearing, Patel and Senator Chris Van Hollen verbally agreed to each take a self-screening test for alcohol abuse. Van Hollen posted his results the next day, but his office said it never heard back from Patel.) It was also Patel’s first hearing since CBS News revealed changes to FBI hiring standards, which reportedly now allow the bureau to consider applicants who have hired prostitutes fewer than three times, stole from an employer more than three years ago, or engaged in sex with animals before the age of 18.

Democrats were eager to press Patel on the changes, but the hearing’s buzziest exchange turned out to be between Patel and Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a Republican. During his questioning, Kennedy seemed to be doing everything he could to offer Patel a chance to defuse the story—but Patel, unable or unwilling to recognize the openings, didn’t take them.

The ranking Democrat, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, asked about the new requirements first. Patel said the bestiality change was designed to ensure that people who had been forced to engage in sex with animals were not shut out of an FBI job. “We did not want to punish victims of bestiality,” Patel said. “We are not going to target victims.” Whether this is accurate is unclear. The memo laying out the new standards has not been made public, but sources told CBS News that the rules “do not distinguish between candidates who were coerced into sexual activity with animals, as opposed to those who engaged in such acts willingly.”

Kennedy was the next senator to quiz Patel, and he tried to do some cleanup. “I’m really trying to understand,” he said, rubbing his face. “’Cause I listened to the exchange between you and Senator Durbin, and I’ve read a few news accounts, and I’m confused.” He asked Patel, almost rhetorically, to affirm that the FBI still had hiring standards, and Patel argued that changes had been necessary to ensure the quick hiring of good agents. As for bestiality, the old rule had “automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it.”

Kennedy, a bit of a ham, couldn’t resist a jibe: “So you disqualified the animal?” But he was also losing patience. “I’m trying to understand why you did this,” he said, and then offered an unusually frank description of how many Senate hearings work today: “I understand the game. People try to make you look bad. We do the same thing when the other party’s in office.” He gave Patel another shot. The director replied that sometimes human traffickers force victims to engage in bestiality, and that the FBI did not want to disqualify victims—even though, again, the guidelines reportedly don’t make such a distinction.

An exasperated Kennedy wasn’t buying it. “Someone came to you and recommended” this? he asked. “And when you saw bestiality—I say this with respect—the person who recommended it, why didn’t you just say, ‘What planet did you parachute in from? Why do I wanna lead with my chin and get into bestiality?’”

One answer is that Patel just isn’t very politically astute. It’s hard to claim you’re cleaning up and reforming the FBI, as Patel has, when you’re allowing johns and people who stole from their employers to apply. As for bestiality, more careful wording of the FBI memo that first laid out the new standards would have avoided the controversy. Better preparation for the hearing might have given him a clearer explanation than what he offered. And sharper instincts would have told Patel that Kennedy was trying to help him out. Any high-level appointee should be able to get through a congressional hearing without bestiality becoming the main topic. Instead, Patel takes his cues from Trump, whose instinct is always to push back. But what works for Trump doesn’t work for others. It’s not even clear whether it works for Trump anymore.

Patel may have felt a need to loosen qualifications for agents because the FBI has experienced an exodus of staffers since he took over. More than 1,100 special agents, who had an average tenure of almost 22 years, left in 2025 alone, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. Durbin has alleged that more than 5,000 nonpartisan civilian staffers departed last year. Some left of their own accord, and others were fired who were involved in investigations that Trump and Patel don’t like, such as those looking into the January 6 riot. This spring, my colleague Sarah Fitzpatrick reported that Patel’s colleagues had been concerned about what they described as Patel’s excessive drinking, repeated absences, emotional outbursts, and impulsive behavior. (Patel denied the allegations and sued Fitzpatrick and The Atlantic for defamation, demanding $250 million.)

If Patel doesn’t have the skills and temperament to run the FBI well, isn’t really cleaning up the bureau’s ranks, and can’t even get through a standard Senate hearing without things going off the rails, one might wonder why he’s in the job at all. Lower hiring standards apparently start at the top.

Related:

• Kash Patel’s performative deflections
• The FBI director is MIA.

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💵 Trump's Fed fury

Via Truth Social

The Fed's decision to raise interest rates yesterday for the first time in three years put new Fed chairman Kevin Warsh immediately at odds with the man who picked him, Axios' Neil Irwin and Rebecca Falconer write. The Fed unanimously raised rates a quarter point, to between 3.75% and 4%. Twelve of 18 officials expect another hike this year, while four expect two more. President Trump responded on Truth Social: "LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!" He said rates should be 1% or lower. Later, Trump said he still has confidence in Warsh while blaming the rest of the Fed for the hike: "I'm relying on Kevin, but he's got a very tough board." More on the rate hike.

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🗳️ States brace for ICE at polls

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Adam Gray/Getty Images

The Trump administration's hints about sending ICE agents to election polling places this fall have led state officials from Maine to Oregon to make plans to counter any actions that could affect voters, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes. Why it matters: It's illegal for federal law enforcement to be at polling places. But when asked about ICE at the polls, President Trump said in May he'd "do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections." Keep reading.

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Fed rate hike likely means more expensive credit cards and mortgages, but savers may rejoice Trump administration has cut or frozen $177 billion in grants across every state, analysis shows Dr. Nicole Saphier, Trump’s 3rd surgeon general pick, faces Senate questions over her vaccine stance Trump suggests EU allowing Canada as associate member could be a ‘hostile act’ House approves sweeping Russia sanctions bill, sending it to Trump Trump administration hits South Africa with new sanctions over alleged discrimination against whites US troops must prepare to fight around the moon, Trump’s top military adviser says House passes bill aimed at addressing impact of data centers on energy costs Federal judge restricts warrantless immigration arrests in Southern California AP exclusive: Change in human trafficking policy could make some minors easier to deport Fencing goes up around the main Kennedy Center building after board votes to close it Trump and Whatley double down on the administration’s record in North Carolina Senate contest  Kamala Harris is to campaign in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed  The Obamas’ family dog Sunny dies, the former president says US approves visas for top Iranian leaders to attend UN high-level meeting even with sides at war  Man accused of ties to bin Laden and tortured after 9/11 has 20-year Guantanamo detention reviewed  Kennedy tells anti-vaccine activists they have a friend in Trump’s White House  Judge strikes down Trump policy that cut millions in teacher-training money  Trump withdraws Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, as his nominee to lead ICE  Killing endangered wildlife is legal if they aren’t the target, new Trump rule says  Judge orders Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes

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Trump withdraws Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, as his nominee to lead ICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday that it was withdrawing its nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ensuring that an agency at the forefront of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda will remain without a Senate-confirmed leader for at least a while longer.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-ice-4cd354253c2e19ad2cb5e608fccf27e7?

Judge orders Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as President Donald Trump has threatened.

https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-center-fencing-trump-closed-repairs-128f25afb33841baff16245d492f320c?

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🐊 Fear and loathing in Trump's backyard

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Axios' Marc Caputo, a Miami Herald alumnus, writes from his Miami home: Staring into the camera, Rep. Maria Salazar cut a new campaign ad that told President Trump what so many of her fellow Hispanic Republicans in Miami are saying: The immigration crackdown has gone too far. Why it matters: The anger at Trump over heavy-handed immigration enforcement is palpable in Miami-Dade County, and there's mounting political worry among Republicans across the state that it could cost the GOP in the midterm elections. 🔎 Zoom in: A bellwether, Miami-Dade is Florida's most populous county, which Trump flipped to the Republican column in 2020 and 2024 thanks to strong Latino support, especially among Cuban Americans. "Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far," Salazar says in her ad. "The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today." Trump carried her district by 15 points two years ago. Today, she's tied in polls with newscaster Eliot Rodriguez, a fellow Cuban American, who said her new ad was a sign of desperation. A Trump adviser told Axios: "I'm getting the Trumpiest Cubans sending me videos from Miami of guys getting busted at places like the gas station, for no apparent reason." A GOP pollster from Miami said: "Support is just evaporating. The economy sucks and ICE is just out of control. People feel they didn't sign up for this." Keep reading.

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🇻🇪 Scoop: Trump plans Venezuela sit-down

President Trump is planning a first-ever meeting with Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, as early as Tuesday, sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios' Marc Caputo.

• Why it matters: The potential meeting showcases the close relations between the nations under Trump. But it's also fraught with political risks that stretch from Miami to Caracas.

👀 Behind the scenes: Trump is already planning to meet with Gulf leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York next week to discuss the Iran war, and those who know his thinking say he wants to make time for a sideline sit-down with Rodríguez, sources said.

• A Trump adviser told Axios: "Iran is tough, but Venezuela is without a doubt the president's top success and Delcy is a key to that. Unless something goes really wrong, the president wants to make time."
• A senior administration official cautioned: "Nothing is finalized. This is up to the president."