President Trump used a Saturday rally in Kentucky to frame the November midterms as a referendum on his second-term agenda, warning supporters that Democrats would unwind his policies if they take either chamber. Fox News Power Rankings now put the Senate at 47-47 with six toss-ups, and Speaker Mike Johnson says he expects a "working majority" but concedes it won't be a big one. Even Bernie Sanders admitted Democrats failed working-class voters economically.
Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving key Russia sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act — the very law he signed last month — hoping to pull Putin toward a Ukraine peace deal. Six Republican senators including Tillis, Collins, Murkowski, McConnell and Cornyn joined Democrats in demanding he rescind it, with Ted Cruz calling it "a mistake." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back hard on Sunday, insisting "no one has been tougher" on Russia.
September consumer prices rose 3.7% annually, up from 3.4% in August, with gasoline alone jumping 9.1% in the month and the national average now at $4.33 a gallon — up more than 45% since the Middle East war began. The 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.53%, its highest since 2023, and University of Michigan consumer sentiment slid to 46.3. Trump's approval on inflation has fallen to 22% in Fox polling, with six in ten voters naming cost of living as their top concern.
Former President Obama issued a lengthy statement accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing federal power against political enemies after agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home as part of a criminal probe into her immigration status. Reporting indicates family text messages found on her sister's phone triggered the search warrant. Border czar Tom Homan said Omar could be stripped of naturalization and deported if immigration fraud is proven.
Trump and CENTCOM have kept the Strait of Hormuz open to everyone but Iran, even as Tehran markets a seven-day peace framework premised on the claim that it controls the waterway. Trump warned on Truth Social Sunday that Washington could "soon finish the job" unless Iran changes course, while a senior Iranian security official said Tehran has a more devastating response ready. Roughly 9,000 additional sailors and Marines are deploying aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Makin Island groups, pushing regional US naval personnel past 20,000.
Trump announced Sunday an immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, barring strikes on each other's energy infrastructure. It landed one day after he publicly criticized President Zelensky for hitting Russian refineries and floated the idea of new Ukrainian leadership. Russia had launched roughly 300 drones following Ukraine's latest refinery strike.
The United States and Japan have launched an eleven-day joint exercise involving 57,000 troops, with seven additional countries participating. The drills include missile deployments and island-defense operations in waters near Taiwan. It is one of the largest allied shows of force in the region, arriving as the Pentagon's expanding Chinese military company blacklist underscores how structural the US-China rivalry has become.
At SpaceX's McGregor, Texas rocket facility, Tesla unveiled the redesigned Roadster, which drove up a curved ramp until fully upside down, then launched into the air, flipped, and landed. It uses SpaceX-derived cold-gas thrusters that release highly compressed gas rather than burning fuel, plus four electric fans that suction the car to the surface for grip. Tesla claims a thruster-assisted zero to sixty in about 0.81 seconds, with production targeted for 2028.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed the agency holds imagery of unidentified objects it genuinely cannot explain, saying plainly, "we don't know what it is." The admission came alongside newly declassified UAP files showing unexplained phenomena captured on military sensors. Notably, the records contain no evidence of alien bodies or recovered spacecraft.
American Airlines Flight 37 from Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth diverted to New York's JFK after six of the aircraft's eight lavatories quit working, leaving two for the entire plane. Air traffic control audio captured the exchange perfectly: "You said only two potties, is that right?" — "That's affirmative." A retired airline captain told Fox that beyond hygiene, long restroom lines create genuine safety and security problems when the seat belt sign comes on.
