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

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🐊 Scoop: Trump as Florida Man

President Trump will return to his Florida base of operations to juice in-person early voting with an Oct. 23 rally in the southwest part of the state, Axios' Marc Caputo has learned.

Why it matters: Florida is among the GOP's least problematic states in midterms, 18 days away. But Republicans are worried about enthusiasm and turnout, even in Trump's newly adopted home state.

Polls show Rep. Byron Donalds and Sen. Ashley Moody with marginal leads over their Democratic opponents in the gubernatorial and Senate races.

• The Fort Myers rally is in the heart of Donalds' Southwest Florida district, among the state's solid Republican strongholds.

🗳️ State of play: Registered Florida Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by more than 1.5 million.

• So far, though, Democrats have cast more vote-by-mail ballots than Republicans, according to the state's Division of Elections.

Republicans used to dominate mail voting in Florida. But that began to change after Trump started demonizing the method in 2020. So now Republicans rely more on early in-person voting.

• "Next week is crunch time," said a top Florida Republican consultant. "It's still Florida, and we still have more voters. But the environment isn't great and, sure, no one turns out our base more than the president. I hope it works."

✈️ Coming attractions: Today, Trump officially kicks off his Florida season by overnighting at his Mar-a-Lago club after a rally this afternoon in Dalton, Ga.

• Tomorrow, he rallies at Northern Kentucky University's arena in Highland Heights, Ky., then is back in Palm Beach for a MAGA Inc. Candlelight Dinner.
• Sunday, he'll return to the White House.
• Monday, he rallies in Wichita, Kan.
• Tuesday, he rallies in Greenville, S.C.
• Wednesday, he rallies in Clemson, S.C.
• Thursday, he rallies in Sioux City, Iowa.
• Next Friday, he returns to Florida for the rally with Donalds and Moody.

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Zelensky and Trump clash over war

A new dispute over Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service is deepening the rift between the US and Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities say Starlink has restricted some military internet services, disrupting operations amid an escalating dispute with the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is threatening to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, despite Trump’s concerns that such attacks are driving up fuel prices ahead of the US midterms.

+ Read more: Zelensky praises ‘real leaders’ in Europe as his relationship with Trump deteriorates

+ Meanwhile: Ukraine runs out of Patriot interceptor missiles

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New WH press secretary’s credentials under scrutiny

New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia shared at least 15 social media posts over the past two years identifying her as an “attorney,” despite having failed the California bar exam. The posts have raised questions about how Zacharia represented her credentials after graduating from Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in 2011. She also repeatedly described herself as a lawyer during television and podcast appearances, though she acknowledged publicly that she had been advised not to use that term.

+ Read more: New WH press secretary failed the bar exam. She shared posts calling her an attorney anyway

+ Video: Zacharia denies misrepresenting her legal credentials

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Trump: Execution of Fort Hood shooter will not be livestreamed

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday announced that the execution of a man convicted of the Fort Hood shooting will not be livestreamed, a reversal after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public. 

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/15/repub/trump-execution-of-fort-hood-shooter-will-not-be-livestreamed/?

ps:Once again throwing his men under the bus!!!!!

Archbishop of the U.S. military says Catholic soldiers should not serve on firing squad

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic Church’s pastoral services to Catholics in the U.S. military, is condemning the proposed livestream of the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan.

https://apnews.com/article/catholic-archbishop-us-military-firing-squad-execution-bd71ca693547d67aa53a0a215a037006?

Embattled White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is leaving the job after less than a week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Katie Zacharia is departing as White House press secretary, saying it “was an honor to work for” President Donald Trump after a short and rocky tenure that was defined by questions about her professional background and lack of polish in fielding questions from journalists.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-katie-zacharia-press-secretary-c40a8c276f5e2a9d71685a5daba94731?

ps:Truly pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

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Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-sanctions-trump-ukraine-e50c561ab805883bb4e484c092d8fadd?

ps:What a pathetic agent for russia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trump increased investments in drugmakers that benefited from Medicare exemptions, Democrats say

Investments in pharmaceutical companies made on behalf of President Donald Trump increased significantly after he returned to the White House last year, with his portfolio adding millions of dollars in stock in firms that benefited from a Republican-backed law that shields certain medications from Medicare price negotiations, according to a report from congressional Democrats. Read More.

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Trump pauses new Russia sanctions passed by Congress amid deepening row with Ukraine

President signed the legislation championed by late senator Lindsey Graham last month but has waived the restrictions as they were due to come into effect

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/17/trump-puts-new-russia-sanctions-passed-by-congress-on-hold-amid-deepening-row-with-ukraine?

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Trump's October barrage

President Trump is carrying his insatiable appetite for controversy into the most unforgiving stretch of the electoral calendar, fortified by a decade of political survival, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• "Bottom line, it's gonna all work out. You know why? It always does," Trump told reporters this week.

Why it matters: Gone are the days of a single "October surprise." It's been swallowed by a barrage of scandals, provocations and shattered conventions that have persisted in the closing weeks of Trump's final midterm election.

The big picture: Axios has documented Trump's steady demolition of presidential norms in his second term, from the transition through his first 100 days and first year in office.

• This year, even the threat of losing Congress — and with it, much of his ability to pursue his agenda over the next two years — has done little to temper the pace or audacity of Trump's presidency.

🗓️ Consider the first 15 days of October alone, and the succession of controversies that might have shaken the foundation of a more conventional presidency:

• Raid on a political opponent: Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn.) home and seized her phone as part of an investigation aimed at stripping the sitting member of Congress of her U.S. citizenship and ultimately deporting her, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• Calls to shoot leakers: Trump declared at an Arizona campaign rally that officials who leak sensitive military information "should be shot," invoking an earlier era when he claimed the government routinely executed leakers.
• Concessions to Vladimir Putin: Trump eased sanctions on Russian diesel, demanded the ouster of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pressured Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries, even as Moscow continued bombing Ukrainian infrastructure.
• Federal crackdown on the press: The Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC after the networks suspended White House TV pool coverage to protest Trump's ban on three news organizations.
• $5,000 election promise: Trump pledged to send every adult American a $5,000 check if Republicans retain control of Congress, explicitly tying more than $1 trillion in proposed federal payments to the outcome of the midterms.

The other side: Three October episodes forced Trump into rare retreats.

1. A televised execution: Trump scrapped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream a convicted mass murderer's execution by firing squad after bipartisan outrage.
2. An ambassador's downfall: Trump forced Kimberly Guilfoyle — who was engaged to his son for four years until 2024 — to resign as ambassador to Greece after reports that she solicited $100,000 from a political donor to cover personal credit-card bills.
3. A five-day press secretary: Trump ousted Katie Zacharia amid scrutiny of her legal credentials and a widely criticized debut. Axios reports Trump was blindsided to learn that Zacharia — whom he had introduced as an attorney — had never passed the bar exam.

What they're saying: Far from seeing October as a month of political peril, the administration is celebrating it as a continuation of Trump's record.

• White House assistant press secretary Allison Schuster told Axios: "Since Day 1 of his administration, President Trump has boldly and consistently fulfilled his campaign promises to protect national security, make America beautiful, secure the border, crack down on crime, ensure free and fair elections, and make life more affordable."

The bottom line: Trump is treating a moment of maximum political vulnerability like business as usual, betting that the instincts that carried him this far won't fail him now.

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📺 Scoop: Trump sought Bartiromo

Before hiring Katie Zacharia for her five-day stint as White House press secretary, President Trump wanted to recruit former Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, two administration sources told Axios' Marc Caputo.

• Bartiromo, who was bounced from Fox's air last month but is still being paid under her contract, signaled she wasn't going to take the job.

"She's no longer on air, but she's still on the Fox payroll and the taxpayers can't compete with that," a source told us.

• Conservative commentator Scott Jennings was in contention but wasn't offered the job.

Go deeper.

Trump endorses embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late in his reelection campaign, a coveted boost because of Trump’s popularity but one that the American had withheld for months as the vote neared and the leaders’ strategies in the Middle East diverged.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-israel-netanyahu-reelection-prime-minister-ba88cdd728422d51e837231b2efbea81?

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💰 Time capsule: Ballroom donors revealed

Yesterday's Washington Post front page. Secret records obtained by The Washington Post (gift link) reveal $333 million in donations from corporations and billionaires bankrolling the White House ballroom. The list includes donors who benefited from government contracts, regulatory decisions and a presidential pardon involving a family member. 🎁 The biggest corporate donors include Apple ($25m), Nvidia ($25m), Microsoft ($10m), Palantir ($10m) and Lockheed Martin ($10m). Read the story. ps:So Pathetic!!

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Trump’s decision to waive Russian sanctions outrages Congress, but no quick counter seen President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect drew outrage Saturday from members of Congress, which had overwhelmingly passed the legislation in a bipartisan display of American support for Ukraine in the war with Russia. Lawmakers from both parties blasted the executive order late Friday, the latest in a series of steps that the Republican president has taken drawing the United States closer to Russia's Vladimir Putin. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ St Petersburg oil facilities ablaze as Ukraine launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia Online forum controlled by Nevada GOP House candidate contains slurs and Nazi talk, AP review finds A bitter Michigan Senate race rattles Jewish and Muslim voters already on edge over the war in Gaza California officials who process ballots from suspected noncitizens risk prosecution, US warns ICE pursuit in Houston that broke a man’s leg targeted a suspect who died years ago, family says Painting Eisenhower Building would diminish historic character of White House complex, report says No Kings rallies across US urge voters to cast ballots early ahead of midterms House Speaker Mike Johnson draws on faith as he fights to hold the Republican majority Trump’s new pitch for Republican candidates — they’re really good looking

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Trump dominated rural America. Iowa is testing whether Democrats can win them back

Standing in the doorway of his home near the corn and soybean fields that blanket this stretch of northeast Iowa, Dave Roethler doesn't know what happened to the Donald Trump he supported during his first presidency. Read More.   ps:Truly, truly pathetic   Analysis: For Trump, results have often revealed the art of no deal Trump Tower had just opened and “The Art of the Deal" three years from publication when 38-year-old Donald Trump suggested he could negotiate Russian arms control better than Ronald Reagan. Read More.

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Hegseth Ripped for ‘Pointless’ Military Stunt That Killed Airman

The airman died after a rappelling demonstration.

An airman has died after falling during a pregame rappelling demonstration at a college football game in Texas, prompting criticism of “military showboating.”

During a demonstration at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s annual Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game on Saturday, an unidentified service member lost control of his rope and fell to the ground. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.

The football game continued just 10 minutes after the airman was transported to the hospital.

The rappelling team consisted of members of the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, Task & Purpose reported. “We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the start of tonight’s football game. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues,” a UT San Antonio spokesperson wrote in an Instagram post Saturday evening.The fatal incident comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has emphasized a renewed “warrior ethos” within the U.S. military, something critics quickly highlighted.

“Thanks @PeteHegseth @SecWar for yet another pointless and tragic recruiting spectacle,” Jackie Singh, an aide on President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, wrote on X after the fatal incident.

Dem strategist Chris D. Jackson called the stunt “absolutely sickening.”

“This ridiculous military showboating at football games needs to STOP,” he wrote on X.

“Now a man could lose his life, all because some Hegseth-like official apparently thought putting on a macho spectacle for people who came to watch FOOTBALL was a brilliant idea. These men are human beings, NOT props for someone’s political theater.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson pushed back against the criticism, saying it was “disgraceful that anyone would use the tragic death of a service member to try to score political points.”

Hegseth, for his part, spent Saturday at a different sports stadium, attending a football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama. Before the game, he administered the enlistment oath to young men and women representing all service branches and the Tennessee National Guard. As he did so, he told them:

“We’ve had three core principles from the beginning of showing up at the War Department: restore the warrior ethos, rebuild the military, reestablish deterrence.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/airman-killed-in-hegseths-pointless-military-stunt?

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⛳️ Trump reveals golf course grand vision

Via Truth Social President Trump announced controversial plans to renovate the public East Potomac Golf Course in D.C. to a "World Class Championship Golf Course," despite a federal judge's orders to pause plans. Trump said construction would begin in November and that the new course will open in about 15 months. Friction point: Following Trump's Truth Social post, the U.S. district judge on the case ordered the administration to answer whether it still plans to argue that designs for East Potomac are just "preliminary." Keep reading. ps:Absolutely the most pathetic potus!!!!!

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‘60 Minutes’ Legend Goes In on Trump After Bust-Up With Boss Is Leaked

The show’s 35-year veteran put Trump’s obsession under the microscope.

60 Minutes legend Lesley Stahl delivered a scathing report on President Donald Trump’s federal election-meddling efforts just a week after an alleged editorial dust-up with her MAGA-curious boss, Bari Weiss.

Stahl, 84, dove deep into how the Trump administration has attempted to undermine the reliability of elections, speaking with state and local officials about their unprecedented actions regarding election security on Sunday night’s episode.

The 35-year-veteran correspondent first spoke with Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett about the administration’s January FBI raid on a local Georgia election facility.

“In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that we would be raided by the FBI,” Barrett, a Democrat, told Stahl on 60 Minutes.

In January, FBI officials stormed the Fulton County election office and seized hundreds of boxes containing ballots and voter rolls from the 2020 presidential election.

Barrett described how dozens of federal agents, wearing vests and carrying guns, arrived at the warehouse with a criminal search

warrant. She told Stahl she had no choice but to let them seize the ballots they were looking for, and that to this day, she still has

no idea where they went.

“I think it was all part of this concerted effort that’s happening nationwide to undermine faith in elections,” she said.

Stahl also spoke with Utah Republican Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, who agreed that the level of federal interference in

elections was unheard of.

“In the past two elections that I oversaw as lieutenant governor, the threats were all external. Non-state actors, cybersecurity

threats, and other things,” she said. “But now we also have threats coming from within our own government.

”Henderson described how Trump’s Justice Department demanded their “statewide voter registration list,” which includes voters’

sensitive personal information.

“They wanted things that we typically are required by law to keep private: Social Security numbers, full dates of birth, driver’s

license numbers,” she said, noting that DOJ officials didn’t explain why they needed the confidential data.

Henderson dismissed the government’s claim that noncitizen voting was a major problem, saying she found only 52 cases among

the over 2 million votes cast in Utah. Stahl said that the figure calculated out to two-thousandths of 1 percent.

The Utah Republican said the DOJ notified her last month that she was officially “under investigation,” but that she wouldn’t back down even despite the federal pressure.

“I’m just doing my job,” she told Stahl. “I have to tell myself it doesn’t matter what the consequences are, if—as long as I feel like I’m doing what’s right.”

Henderson continued, “I think this is an important thing for me to do—holding these guardrails, holding the line. Someone has to.”

Stahl then turned her attention to Trump.

“In America, elections are local. They’re run by towns and counties and states. It’s all in Article 1 of the Constitution. Congress makes laws regulating elections,” she explained. “But the president doesn’t have a role in running them. That hasn’t stopped Mr. Trump from signing two executive orders trying to create new federal voting rules.”

She also highlighted just how frequently Trump, 80, has belabored his claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.

“In the 21 months of President Trump’s second term, he has said, in so many words, the vote can’t be trusted more than 150 times,” Stahl said.Speaking with the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, Stahl pressed the Trump appointee on whether the president would go so far as to station federal ICE agents to polling locations.

“There is no plan to do that,” Dhillon, 57, answered, adding that the idea that Trump would challenge the midterm results was just “paranoia.”

“I don’t know what is going to happen, but I can tell you that absent some shocking contingency that is unexpected, there should be no interruption in the usual course of counting and certifying the results in the states,” she told Stahl.

Stahl’s in-depth report on Trump comes just a week after a claim that she had a heated debate with CBS News editor-in-chief Weiss over a 60 Minutes segment on violent Israeli settlers.

Insiders revealed to Status that Weiss, a fervent supporter of Israel and critic of media coverage in Gaza, inserted herself repeatedly into the editorial process behind the report and became “very, very hands-on.”

Weiss and her deputy, managing editor Charles Forelle, were even thinking of shelving the report for a later date, but Stahl wasn’t having it.

Stahl and Weiss then engaged in an “aggressive back-and-forth,” which resulted in the story coming to air last Sunday.

The 60 Minutes veteran, however, privately discussed quitting, according to Status.

“This is a ludicrous, twisted narrative. All ‘60 Minutes’ pieces go through a famously rigorous editorial process—which includes edits from editors. This piece received far fewer edits than most,” a CBS spokesperson said of the report at the time.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-legend-lesley-stahl-goes-in-on-trump-after-bust-up-with-boss-bari-weiss-is-leaked?

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Trump back on the road as analysts see more congressional races shifting in Dems’ favor

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has a flurry of travel on deck in the final frantic weeks leading up to the end of the midterm elections, in which the GOP is vying to maintain its control of both the U.S. House and Senate.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/16/repub/trump-back-on-the-road-as-analysts-see-more-congressional-races-shifting-in-dems-favor/?

National scrutiny on mail ballots changed Utah’s elections system

All Utah voters have automatically received a mail ballot since 2020. The reliably red state had championed universal mail voting. However, with voting under greater national scrutiny, Utah legislators rolled back universal mail voting.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/16/repub/national-scrutiny-on-mail-ballots-changed-utahs-elections-system/?

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Pay-for-play text rocks White House

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos via Getty Images Top Trump adviser Ric Grenell allegedly outlined a stunning pay-for-influence offer to a Turkish billionaire last year, Axios' Marc Caputo reports exclusively. The offer to Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon included access to "POTUS," "VIP events" and administration officials, according to a text message that the White House counsel is investigating. 🤳 The May 3, 2025, text to Mildon says: "Once the money comes to the company here, I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre [sic], and you'll be joining the VIP events and get close with the administration, even with POTUS." Administration officials say the text is key evidence in the White House's investigation of whether Grenell misappropriated a potential multimillion-dollar donation to the Kennedy Center, which he led at the time. Mildon is married to another Trump adviser: Alina Habba, former U.S. attorney for New Jersey. She stormed into the Oval Office on Oct. 9 and accused Grenell of hoodwinking her husband into making a Kennedy Center donation that never arrived, Axios first reported. Grenell has called the accusations "lies" and denied sending the text message. 💵 At the heart of the alleged scheme is a financial transaction involving a Houston-based defense company's software and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mildon and Habba's attorneys have told the White House. Mildon alleges that at Grenell's direction, he wired $17.6 million to Texas Armament & Technology. Mildon says the money was to be split in two parts: one for the Congo deal and nearly $6 million for the Kennedy Center. Habba told Trump it took 17 months for Mildon to learn the Kennedy Center never received the money he thought was included in the wire sent at Grenell's direction. It's unclear what the Congo contract was for, how it related to the Kennedy Center or what the financial specifics were. Keep reading.

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Musk pledges to give a share of his SpaceX company to 'every kid in America'

Elon Musk on Monday pledged to give one share of his company SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year. Read More.   ps:What a pathetic man! Instead of just paying off the national debt he'd rather buy an election!!   Judge grills Trump administration over plans to overhaul Washington golf course A federal judge on Monday questioned the Trump administration’s claims surrounding its efforts to redevelop a historic Washington golf course, challenging its contention that a recent tree-cutting spree did not indicate work was moving forward on the project, which is temporarily blocked by a court order. Read More.

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⚠️ GOP's redistricting firewall is cracking

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

House Republicans are quietly scaling back hopes for the 10-seat boost they sought from redistricting nationwide amid a souring political climate and polls showing a collapse in GOP support among Latino voters in Texas and Florida, Axios' Hans Nichols writes. Why it matters: On their down days, Republicans privately worry that the great redistricting war of 2026 will net them only one seat nationwide, according to top GOP strategists. 🔭 Zoom out: At the beginning of the cycle, Republicans viewed redistricting like an umbrella in a storm: It could keep their House majority dry in a light drizzle — but in a political hurricane, it wouldn't be enough. Two weeks before the midterms, Republicans no longer talk seriously about redistricting saving their House majority, as they did before the Iran war helped boost inflation and sink President Trump's approval ratings. They've also spent $133 million on TV ads in 15 redrawn districts that were supposed to be easy pickings, according to AdImpact. 🧮 By the numbers: Early this summer, Republicans believed they had created 16 more GOP-friendly seats: five in Texas, four in Florida, two in Ohio and one each in Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee. But since then, courts have tossed a Missouri map and the political environment has darkened, with Democrats holding an 8-percentage-point lead in new Washington Post-ABC polling. Keep reading. ps:Gerrymandering right out in the open!!!!!

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US ties with Ukraine hit new low as Trump slights Zelenskyy and eases up on Russia The U.S.-Ukraine alliance is careening toward a possible breaking point, with Moscow strengthened by President Donald Trump’s recent rejection of new Russia sanctions and Kyiv undermined by disruptions in satellite support for its drones during the war. Read more.

Why this matters: “At this moment in time, things look blacker than they ever had regarding this administration’s policy towards Russia and Ukraine,” said John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine under President George W. Bush. Current relations threaten to tip the balance of the war in Russia's favor and imperil America's security interests across the globe. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vladimir Putin raised the prospect of a meeting with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump told reporters Monday that he was open to it but expected it to focus on denuclearization efforts. Asked whether he would be willing to negotiate the end of the war without Zelenskyy, Trump appeared to indicate yes.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Zelenskyy says Ukraine got no early warning from partners as Russia hits the power grid again WATCH: Ukraine video claims to show the first-ever battlefield air evacuation by a drone Homeland Security grants temporary deportation reprieve for more than 100K Ukrainians and Sudanese

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How Trump Just Became Our Modern Benedict Arnold: Political Guru

David Rothkopf sounds the alarm on Trump’s stunning betrayal of Ukraine.

Benedict Arnold may have some competition for the title of America’s most infamous traitor, according to one foreign policy expert who says President Donald Trump’s latest moves to help Russia amount to a historic “betrayal” of the United States.

Daily Beast Chief Global Affairs Columnist David Rothkopf laid out the president’s controversial actions over the past few weeks. Trump, 80, waived sanctions on Russia, allowed the importation of Russian diesel, demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries, claimed President Volodymyr Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” and told Ukrainians to “get a new president.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine claims the U.S. has restricted its access to Starlink, the satellite internet network it needs to fight Russia, and has described lapses in intelligence-sharing that have left it without advance warning of deadly Russian strikes. Zelensky also said in an interview Sunday that Trump is trying to force his country to surrender.“The timing of this is associated [with] Russia being in a pinch, and because Trump is in an electoral pinch,” Rothkopf said on The Daily Beast Podcast. “And those things coincided and have produced what is really one of the most extraordinary acts of betrayal of the United States by any public official ever, and in that I include Benedict Arnold.”Revolutionary War turncoat Arnold was a major general in the Continental Army who defected to the British and commanded forces against the troops he once led. In the U.S., he is remembered as a traitor.Trump’s deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin puts him in a similar category, Rothkopf said.“I think that he has—or, at least until recently, he has—tried to present the idea that he was not completely under their thumb. And I would say, as of the past week, that’s over. The whole idea that we won the Cold War? Over. Donald Trump is subordinate to taking orders from Vladimir Putin,” Rothkopf told host Joanna Coles.

“You know those stories that came out after World War II, that there was some Japanese guy and he was living on an island for 20 years and he thought the war was still going on and he was still fighting it? Well, here is this KGB guy, Vladimir Putin, who... still believes in the old Soviet Union, feels the end of the Soviet Union was the worst thing that ever happened in history. He said that. And he wants to restore Russia to Soviet glory and Soviet dominance and achieve Soviet goals,” Rothkopf said.

“That is what they’re doing. Donald Trump is weakening the U.S. military; he’s weakening our institutions; he’s weakening our democracy; he’s undermining our standing in the world; he’s weakening our alliances; he’s weakening our economy. Now, in addition to doing all of these things, which are kind of on Vladimir Putin’s to-do list for Don, he’s now doing this thing of overtly helping Putin and overtly blaming Ukraine for the illegal Russian aggression and war crimes that have taken place against Ukraine.”

Rothkopf then discussed the potentially alarming implications of reporting that Russia is supplying Iran with upgraded drones and intelligence on U.S. targets in the region.

“We’ve seen so many instances where he’s sort of fawned over Putin, said he trusted Putin more than he trusted the intelligence community,” Rothkopf said, recalling the 2018 Helsinki summit between the two, after which a Daily Beast poll found that nearly half of Americans felt Trump’s comments had been “treasonous.”

“So we’ve seen this coming, and we’ve said, ‘Oh, he’s leaning in a bad direction.’ But he’s gone past leaning now,” Rothkopf continued. “And he [has] also minimized. He said... if Russia is giving any help to Iran, it’s not that much, and they won’t give more if I have my way—which acknowledges that they actually are giving aid to Iran. And that’s kind of the most extraordinary part of this. We’re in a shooting war with Iran, and the president of the United States is helping our enemy attack us. Holy s--t!”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-donald-trump-just-became-our-modern-benedict-arnold-political-guru?

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Mutual distrust widens the US-Ukraine divide

Nearly five years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, the path to peace is growing more complicated as tensions with Washington deepen. Trump on Monday told CNN that he would consider meeting with the leaders of Russia and China to discuss denuclearization — without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump then accused Zelensky of not understanding the situation and suggested it was “time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”

+ Analysis: US-Ukraine relationship worsens amid Trump and Zelensky’s mutual distrust

+ Meanwhile: Russian satellite makes possibly unprecedented approach to another spacecraft without permission ps:Mistrust?? What a joke!! Do they think we've forgotten who first stop giving the Ukrainians the arms and money that congress had appropriated to them?? Well I haven't!!!!!

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Ukrainians and Sudanese with temporary legal status will keep protections for now

WASHINGTON — Immigrants living in the United States with humanitarian status from Ukraine and Sudan will retain their deportation protections and work authorizations for now, the Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend. 

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/19/repub/ukrainians-and-sudanese-with-temporary-legal-status-will-keep-protections-for-now/?

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🇺🇦 Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call today that President Trump hasn't issued any kind of order to harm Ukraine. The call was an effort to push back on Ukrainian accusations that Trump is trying to coerce Zelensky into making concessions to Russia. More from Barak Ravid.

Cheap flights

In Europe, you can fly to another country for less than $30. So why is that so hard to replicate in the US? Part of the answer is the airports. ps:Greed!! And by the way we already had that in the U.S.!!!!   Thom Tillis, unfiltered As he prepares to leave Congress, the GOP senator gets candid with Jake Tapper about his opposition to President Donald Trump, his nickname for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — and why he thinks “it’s gonna be rough” for his party after the midterms.

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Two Paths Diverged (Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Chip Somodevilla / Getty; Alex Brandon / AP.)

View in browser Many people are understandably focused on the question of how AI will transform our civilization. Will it cure cancer? Will it end world hunger? Will it hack everyone’s bank accounts and incubate the next pandemic? But those who are already profiting from this technological revolution also have a more immediate concern. Their problem is—to paraphrase one of my favorite lines from Scarface—what to do with all the cash. Over the past few days, two of America’s most prominent AI leaders have offered proposals for returning some of the spoils of the AI boom to the public. On Sunday, Anthropic announced that it would set aside 5 percent of the company’s stock in a new LLC—the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund—to be spent on causes it deems to be in the public’s interest. More stock may be added as the company becomes more valuable. If the company goes public at its current projected valuation of $1.5 trillion, the fund could hold $75 billion, making it one of the largest charities on the planet. (For context, the Gates Foundation Trust had about $89 billion in it at the end of last year.) Elon Musk, a centibillionaire and a longtime skeptic of traditional philanthropy, criticized the move and tried to one-up it, writing on X that he’d be giving one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America.” According to The New York Times’ back-of-the-napkin math, this could end up being a donation of more than $10 billion. What AI’s biggest winners decide to do with their money could have profound consequences for how Americans live their lives. The birth of modern AI may turn out to be the biggest wealth-creation event in human history, yet most Americans are feeling those effects indirectly. AI is making some people’s jobs easier and driving innovation, but it isn’t hitting everyone’s personal finances equally, and almost half of U.S. adults think the technology will widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Musk and Anthropic are now laying out two different visions for AI-driven philanthropy—raising thorny questions about the level of control that the investor class will exert over our shared future. The first and most obvious question for Anthropic: What if the company’s understanding of the “public good” doesn’t line up with the public’s wants or needs? Anthropic’s leaders, Dario and Daniela Amodei, have already committed to giving away most of their own personal wealth, and Dario has written on his blog about the kinds of philanthropy he admires. The Gates Foundation and PEPFAR, President George W. Bush’s public initiative for global AIDS relief, are both on his list. But how the firm’s leaders will actually decide to apportion these gifts remains somewhat nebulous. A press release for Anthropic’s fund lists “large donations to traditional nonprofits” and “direct distributions to specific populations” as examples of possible projects. Another stated goal is to remediate the effects of a massive, AI-driven labor-market transformation—an ironic instance of a company trying to solve a problem it helped create. As many politicians and even AI corporations themselves have argued, this tech is powerful enough, and potentially such an important part of the global economy, that the wealth it creates may merit some degree of public control. Last October, as one possible plan for reckoning with the economic consequences of AI, Anthropic floated the idea of using “sovereign wealth funds to give citizens stakes in AI revenues.” (OpenAI’s leaders have also reportedly considered giving 5 percent of the company to the government.) At least for now, though, the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund isn’t giving anyone outside of the company a stake. And the fact that it won’t be a 501(c)(3), like the Gates Foundation, means that it won’t have to deal with the kinds of mandatory financial disclosures that are meant to keep charitable organizations maximally transparent. A democratic way to approach this project would be for the government to aggressively tax the company and decide for itself how to spend the money. Not every American agrees with their government representatives’ approach to resource allocation, but at least in the public sector, the people have a voice. Although Musk’s path is also billionaire-led, it gives Americans a much more direct stake. Donald Trump clarified yesterday that Musk’s donation, if it happens, would use the country’s new child-savings accounts (known as “Trump Accounts”) as a vehicle. Rather than earmarking shares for a self-sustaining charitable foundation, Musk would be effectively cutting out the middleman, giving American children a piece of the company that houses his biggest AI bets. It would likely be a smaller total donation than Anthropic’s; one share per child may not turn out to be all that much money in the long run. And Trump Accounts aren’t a perfect dispersal mechanism; parents can’t reject donated shares, and they can’t immediately sell them. Once account holders turn 18, though, they can spend Musk’s gift on whatever they want. Musk, like other tech billionaires, has questioned traditional modes of philanthropy. He knows that the public knows that giving can be an expression of power and control—a way to  rehabilitate a donor’s image or provide political insulation for the donor and his enterprises. Musk may be getting something out of this too. If more people own a little chunk of the AI economy, will they start to become more receptive to data centers and other Big Tech interventions? The donation could also give recipients a reason to be less critical of Musk and his businesses; people with a stake in the company might be more inclined to tolerate unscrupulous behavior. Still, if he can follow through on his approach (and especially if he continues to donate AI stock, as he hinted in his post yesterday), his gift could have a real impact. When SpaceX was about to go public earlier this year, my colleague Matteo Wong observed that “by weaving itself into the finances of most businesses and households in America, the AI industry is quickly making itself too big to fail.” AI is already deeply embedded in our life: in the businesses we interact with, in the pension funds and 401(k)s around which we plan our future. These massive donations, which represent a deviation from tech-industry norms, could reshape society for the better. But if the public comes to rely on Anthropic’s investments or on direct payouts from SpaceX, it’ll need to start caring even more about how well these companies perform. Public welfare needn’t be contingent on the whims of a few powerful firms; so much else already is. Related: Choose your overload—Musk vs. Bezos. Elon Musk is dropping a boulder in a kiddie pool.

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✈️ Witkoff takes peace plan to Putin

White House envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg today and present him with an updated proposal to end the war in Ukraine, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner will join the meeting virtually.

Why it matters: The White House hopes Putin will show more willingness to compromise after Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel sales and took other steps welcomed by Moscow.

Zelensky said yesterday that the next step should be a trilateral meeting between him, Putin and Trump — something Russia has refused to do so far.