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

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🎤 Trump targets briefing room

The White House swimming pool, shown here in 1940, was later covered over to make room for the press briefing room. Photo: Bettmann Archive via Getty Images President Trump is pushing aides to evict the press from the White House and has talked about replacing the briefing room with an indoor swimming pool, The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write. Trump pitched the idea to former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in one of her final meetings with him in the Oval Office, telling her it'd be her "last legacy." Via Truth Social Trump has "told aides he would prefer to bring back the indoor pool President Franklin D. Roosevelt added in 1933 as therapy for his polio-afflicted legs; President Richard Nixon later covered it over to make room for the news media." Keep reading (gift link). ✈️ CNN is threatening further legal action against the Trump administration for denying its journalists access to Air Force One. The White House continues to bar the network from the pool that travels with the president. Keep reading.

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Trump and Vance announce $25M whistleblower program to encourage public to report alleged fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday announced a $25 million program to encourage the public to blow the whistle on suspected fraud in the U.S. government as they ramp up efforts to end the abuse of federal programs and dollars.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-whistleblower-vance-cc7c155c06cbab74d423911c36f5ac78?

ps:Seriously? After making a roar about whistle blowers?? He's now OK with whistleblowers??? Pathetic!!!!!

White House tensions rise ahead of midterms

As President Donald Trump fights to preserve Republican control of Congress, those closest to him are bracing for the possibility of a crushing defeat. Behind the scenes, administration officials and allies describe a White House increasingly consumed by infighting, finger-pointing and fears of a sweeping personnel shake-up if Republicans suffer major losses.

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Trump is doubling down on familiar themes: suggesting that American civilization is under threat and casting the election as a battle to defend White, Christian culture. At a rally in Kansas this week, he warned that Americans must protect their heritage from those who seek to destroy it, while also invoking racially charged rhetoric and Islamophobic paranoia.

It’s a return to the grievance politics that helped propel him to the presidency — even as many voters demand answers on the soaring cost of everyday life, from expensive groceries and gas to the rising cost of housing. Election Day on November 3 will offer some real insight into the staying power of Trump’s culture-focused message.

+ Read more: Trump officials brace for potential post-midterms presidential rampage

+ New CNN poll: Trump’s approval rating hits a new low

+ For subscribers: The president’s increasingly dark rhetoric is shocking — even for him

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Russia frees detained 74-year-old American

Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American detained in Russia for more than four years, has been released following a visit by US special envoy Steve Witkoff. The retired Michigan teacher had been designated as wrongfully detained by the State Department, and President Trump said Tuesday that he had raised his case with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Witkoff’s visit also included talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway on Tuesday that made “meaningful progress,” according to a US official.

+ Read more: Who is Stephen Hubbard? And why was he detained?

+ Plus: US envoy Witkoff lands in Russia for talks with Putin

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Trump renews call for New Mexico name change

President Donald Trump on Monday took to social media to renew his call for New Mexico to be renamed New America.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/20/repub/trump-renews-call-for-new-mexico-name-change/?

Trump’s DOJ steps up pressure on California over noncitizen voters 2 weeks from election

The U.S. Department of Justice is intensifying its campaign against voter fraud with a spree of arrests in the final weeks before Election Day, an effort that voting rights advocates warn risks instilling fear among voters.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/20/repub/trumps-doj-steps-up-pressure-on-california-over-noncitizen-voters-2-weeks-from-election/?

Russia agrees to resume three-way talks on Ukraine war with Kyiv and Washington, Kremlin says

Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations next month with Washington and Kyiv aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a Kremlin official said, potentially setting up the first such talks since February.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-witkoff-putin-trump-zelenskyy-talks-3f00c0c6fd10bab948c2c3f8502e0a91?

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US-Russia Relations Thaw

Russia has released American Stephen James Hubbard after nearly five years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. The deal, announced during a top US envoy's visit yesterday, appears to signal warming ties between Washington and Moscow. The news follows President Donald Trump's decisions this month to import Russian diesel and pause new sanctions (read previous write-up). Unlike previous prisoner releases, the US did not have to free anyone in exchange for Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher who was the last American in Russia considered wrongfully detained by the State Department (what's his full story?). Putin also agreed yesterday to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month. The last round took place in February, shortly before the US and Israel launched the Iran war.  Separately, Ukraine says the US has resumed sharing early-warning intelligence on Russian ballistic missile attacks after reportedly restricting it last week in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

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Vance's whine-free zone

Vice President Vance speaks at a rally yesterday in Sharonville, Ohio. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images Vice President Vance's call for fellow Republicans to "stop whining" about Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad in Ohio's race for governor showed a key part of his political mindset ahead of his expected run for president in 2028: Never back down. Why it matters: Channeling President Trump, Vance has shown contempt for what he sees as the old-guard GOP's reflex to cave under pressure from Democrats and the media, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes. Vance thinks too many Republicans sacrifice allies to make controversies go away, and that giving critics a political scalp only encourages them to demand another, according to people familiar with his thinking. It's an approach with some risk — namely whether Vance, entering a critical period in his political career, has the political muscle to get away with Trump's no-apologies approach. 🔎 Zoom in: Vance defended Ramaswamy yesterday amid bipartisan outrage over an ad featuring the estranged mother of Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. In the deeply personal ad, Acton's mother calls her daughter a liar, and says Ohioans shouldn't vote for her for governor. Not mentioned in the ad: Acton and her brother were removed from the mother's care as children after Acton accused her stepfather of sexual abuse. Her mother sided with the stepfather, leading to an estrangement that has lasted nearly 50 years. Vance said he was "disgusted" by fellow Republicans criticizing it, telling them to "stop whining." Asked whether the ad was appropriate, Vance said it was "not really my concern," and that politics is tough. The other side: Republicans and Democrats have criticized the ad, saying it crossed a moral line. "I would not have run that ad," U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who appeared alongside Vance and Ramaswamy at the rally, told AP. ps:Once again this administration shows just how pathetic it is!!!!!

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Trump's war problems surge

Traffic passes portraits of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran yesterday. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images Twelve days from midterms, President Trump can't escape the unpopular Iran war, which continues to dominate news coverage. Yesterday alone: The U.S. and Israeli militaries have drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes on Iran after Election Day, with targets that likely would include Iran's energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and missile and drone arsenal, the N.Y. Times reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin told White House envoy Steve Witkoff he "agrees in principle" to resume trilateral peace talks with Ukraine and the U.S. to end the war, Russian and U.S. officials told Axios' Barak Ravid. 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. For now, it seems the only concession Putin agreed to is to negotiate. More from Barak. Putin has never been so close to his goal of normalizing relations with the U.S. "without having to make any compromises on Ukraine," as The Times puts it. The State Department said it ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees to depart Saudi Arabia, "following an uptick in attacks on the kingdom by Iran-backed Houthi militants. The U.S. military has also been quietly reducing its footprint at posts in the Middle East due to ongoing regional threats from the Houthis and direct threats from Iran," CBS News reports. 🛢️ The big picture: Oil prices are still high (the national average for a gallon of regular is $4.27 today) and stock market futures are shaky due partly to war fears.

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⚠️ Least popular in 80 years

Graphic: The New York Times President Trump has the lowest approval rating for any president before a midterm since Harry Truman and the Democrats were routed in 1946, The New York Times' Nate Cohn writes. The final national Times-Siena poll before the election puts Trump's approval rating at 34% — down three points from last month. Graphic: The New York Times Likely voters preferred Democratic congressional candidates in their districts by 11 points. Keep reading (gift link). 🗳️ Sabato's Crystal Ball moved 28 House races toward Democrats, pushing the number of seats at least leaning their way to 223 — five more than the 218 needed for a majority. ❎ Turnout for early voting is soaring in many of the states that are expected to decide control of the Senate in next month's midterms, including Texas, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio, AP reports.

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⚡ Politico corrects after White House threat

The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct three recent stories about alleged staff drama, or it would suffer unspecified consequences, Axios' Marc Caputo writes.

• Last night, Politico posted a correction to one of the stories, originally posted last Friday: "An earlier version of this report, including its headline, mischaracterized the role White House chief of staff Susie Wiles played in then-press secretary Katie Zacharia's interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. POLITICO's follow-up reporting indicates she did not play a direct role in setting up the interview."

Last week's headline: "Susie Wiles helped set up Fox interview ahead of press secretary's exit."

• The new headline: "Susie Wiles 'offered positive reinforcement' for press secretary's Fox News interview ahead of her exit."
• Over the weekend, the New York Post reported that internal White House texts show five-day press secretary Katie Zacharia had personally pushed to go on TV ahead of the disastrous Sean Hannity interview. The Post reported that Zacharia texted a White House official: "I'd like to do news hits morning and evening."

📝 The big picture: The White House demand threatens to escalate already tense relations with Politico specifically and, more generally, the press corps that covers President Trump in Washington.

• Trump last month banned Politico, CNN and MS NOW from covering him in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. This week, CNN threatened further legal action to regain access to Air Force One.
• Trump also blocked all three outlets from the White House grounds, but a judge restored their access on Oct. 13.

🔮 What's next: White House Counsel Will Scharf didn't specify what consequences Politico faces. But a White House official said "all options are on the table" and described Trump's counsel as "uncharacteristically enraged."

• Trump is highly litigious with media organizations and, advisers say, his appetite for launching lawsuits hasn't diminished.

Politico didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

• More on the stories.

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Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall says the Ukraine war, not the Iran war, has caused high diesel prices

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said Wednesday that Ukraine’s war with Russia — and not the U.S. war with Iran — was to blame for high diesel prices that have imperiled his party’s control of Congress in the midterm elections.

https://apnews.com/article/senate-kansas-marshall-hamilton-diesel-ukraine-iran-b7f291bfc4271dd14b07533ca33129bd?

ps:He must be the only one that believes that?????