TV networks stop covering Trump as a pool; CNN, Politico and MS NOW sue over White House ban
CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a First Amendment lawsuit Monday over their ban from the White House, and after the White House pulled CNN from a pool assignment, the major networks suspended the shared TV pool that has covered presidents for decades — Trump was inaudible at one event as a result. The Post finds past media bans rarely survive in court; the Journal reports Trump has repeatedly discussed evicting the press corps from the White House altogether.
Background: Trump announced the ban on Truth Social on Friday, citing the outlets' "constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"; their reporters had credentials confiscated at the gate Saturday. The outlets say the White House "revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting." NBC reports senior aides were caught off guard and that Trump had floated banning specific outlets earlier this term but was talked out of it.
Trump and Mamdani meet for an hour at Gracie Mansion
The president and New York's mayor held their third in-person meeting in under a year, at the mayor's residence, and every outlet describes the same cordial rapport between two men from opposite ends of politics. It opens a big week for both: Trump hosts Xi Jinping and speaks at the U.N.; Mamdani afterward criticized the White House coverage ban.
Iran threatens "new weapons" as Trump weighs a meeting; U.S. proposes $5 billion Gulf energy fund
Two months into a renewed U.S. naval blockade that has choked Iran's oil exports, an IRGC spokesman warned Iran would "change the weapons and geography of the war" if attacked again, even as Trump weighs meeting Iran's president in New York this week. The administration also proposed $5 billion to rebuild Gulf energy infrastructure wrecked in the seven-month war, and U.S. military leaders are split on whether to strike the Houthis for Saudi Arabia.
Pulte examined Todd Blanche's mortgages, not just Trump's adversaries'
The Journal reports housing chief Bill Pulte, while digging through the mortgage records of Trump's political opponents last year, also pulled those of Todd Blanche, then the No. 2 at Justice and now attorney general. The two were clashing at the time over those investigations, meaning Pulte turned the tool on a senior official inside the administration.
Appeals court backs Missouri GOP's redrawn House map, but the old map still stands for now
The 8th Circuit ordered Missouri's Republican-drawn map, which would eliminate one of two Democratic seats, be used this November. But the Supreme Court has already twice rejected it, so the state remains set to vote on the 2022 boundaries; the fight could return to the high court with six weeks left.
Six weeks to the midterms: prices up, Democrats ahead in polls, Republicans ahead in money
Gas averages $4.47 a gallon, up 41 percent in a year, diesel is at a record, and the Fed just raised rates for the first time in three years. A Post poll finds a record share of voters motivated to vote against Trump, while Republicans enter the stretch with a significant fundraising edge and a new ad blitz.
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a Democrat, endorsed Republican Mike Lawler in his critical New York swing seat via an op-ed praising Lawler's bipartisan record. It's a real boost for Lawler, whose district is one of the Democrats' top targets, and House Democrats are furious — one told Axios "people are pissed off."
Texas Senate: Bush and Cornyn snub Paxton; Musk spends quietly; Talarico narrowly ahead
George W. Bush and Sen. John Cornyn are hosting a Dallas fundraiser tonight for six Republican Senate nominees in battleground states — and pointedly left out Ken Paxton, the nominee in their own state. Elon Musk is putting money into the race but keeping a low profile after his very public Wisconsin loss, which Republicans prefer. A new poll has Democrat James Talarico narrowly ahead for Senate while Gov. Abbott leads his own race.
ICE agent shoots a Venezuelan immigrant in his car in Austin
An ICE agent shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, in the torso in his vehicle Sunday afternoon; he was treated and released into ICE custody. He says his car was struck twice before he was shot. It's the latest in a string of violent encounters between agents and people in cars during the immigration crackdown.
Trump's military arch, a Belarus fertilizer deal, and a warning on NIH grants
Trump's push to turn his planned triumphal arch near Arlington Cemetery into a military complex has complicated the required federal review and raised legal and safety concerns. He also said the U.S. is seeking to buy potash fertilizer from Belarus, a Russian ally, to depend less on Canada, which supplies about a third of the world market. And congressional leaders of both parties warned the White House against adding new controls over NIH grants, as Republicans grow uneasy about the administration's grant overhaul.
Pritzker says he lost 80 pounds on a GLP-1 after a diabetes diagnosis
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose weight Trump has repeatedly mocked, revealed he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes two years ago, started a GLP-1 drug, and has lost 80 pounds, which he says has transformed his health. He's a likely 2028 contender, which is why it's news.
Perry Hall teacher gets 15 years for sexually exploiting four students
A Baltimore County judge sentenced Sean Brooks, a former Perry Hall High School health and PE teacher, to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and related charges involving four students. Circuit Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. called him a "creep," "manipulator" and "predator" and said Brooks "does not seem to fully appreciate the consequences of his actions."
Maeve Dunigan, 30, who grew up in Catonsville, is out with "Read This to Look Cool," a collection of satirical essays about trying on personalities and worrying how you're perceived.
Developer MCB Real Estate filed permits this summer listing an Oct. 15 demolition start, but it hasn't secured the hundreds of millions in financing its redevelopment needs, and vendors at the waterfront pavilions say they haven't been told anything. MCB isn't answering questions about the schedule.
Baltimore crime: MTA worker arrested in downtown hit-and-run; 40-year-old cold case charged
Police arrested an MTA employee in a hit-and-run in downtown Baltimore that was caught on camera. Separately, a man was charged in the killing of Teresa Ann Houck, whose body was found in Druid Hill Park roughly 40 years ago.
Tribes walk away from Chesapeake Bay cleanup talks
A collective of Indigenous tribes said they've had enough after their push for a seat in the four-decade-old bay restoration effort was rebuffed. Less than a year ago, governors and federal officials had pledged to study including seven federally recognized tribes.
Putin's scripted election win; Ukraine answers with hundreds of drones on Moscow
Russia's first parliamentary elections since the invasion delivered United Russia its biggest-ever majority on the highest turnout in 15 years — results the Times says were engineered to signal Putin remains firmly in control. As the votes came in, Ukraine hit the Moscow region with hundreds of drones and missiles, striking a key oil refinery, a reminder that winning the war remains out of Putin's reach.
Xi comes to Washington: Taiwan, arms sales and an AI hotline
Ahead of Xi Jinping's state visit this week, the Journal reports Xi sees Trump as a "rare window" to convince Taiwan that resistance is futile — Taiwan's opposition KMT leader was feted in Beijing in April. Pending U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are the issue most likely to upend the summit. Separately, the U.S. proposed an AI incident alert system with China, and the U.N. General Assembly opened with a day of talks on rogue AI after several hacking episodes.
Iraq's prime minister pledges to disarm Iran-backed militias by June 2027
In an interview with the Times in Baghdad, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi laid out for the first time a phased plan to bring Iraq's sprawling militias under state control on an unusually aggressive timeline — central to how Iraq balances between Washington and Tehran.
U.N. expert: U.S. drug-boat strikes may be crimes against humanity
Ben Saul, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, published a paper saying U.S. airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats — which have killed more than 220 people — violate international law and plausibly constitute crimes against humanity. He also challenged the legality of the U.S. seizure of Nicolás Maduro.
Also abroad: Saudi film festival canceled; officer shot near Ontario synagogue on Yom Kippur
Saudi Arabia canceled the Red Sea International Film Festival as Houthi strikes on Riyadh disrupt flights. In Belleville, Ontario, a police officer was wounded in a shooting near a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
British Columbia sues OpenAI over a school shooting; OpenAI pitches safety standards at the U.N.
British Columbia alleges ChatGPT aided the Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting. The same day, ahead of Sam Altman's U.N. address, OpenAI proposed new ways to track AI misalignment risk and called for worldwide safety standards.
Oil falls a fourth day; LA senior-home shooting; Amazon drones swamp a Texas suburb
Oil prices fell for a fourth straight day as supply worries eased. A staff member at a South Los Angeles senior living center shot three colleagues, one critically, before being arrested. And Amazon's delivery drones are overwhelming a Texas suburb — "it's raining boxes."