President claims commercials were ‘positive promotion for our Great USA’ but says he will now cover their cost
The Trump administration had faced questions over whether it illegally used taxpayer money to air television ads promoting Donald Trump five weeks before the US midterm elections.
Two congressional Democrats, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and George Whitesides of California, asked federal watchdogs to investigate the ads.
Donald Trump said he was “doing great” as his approval rating sank to a record low 32%. The president made the remarks as he headed to Nebraska, to campaign for a Republican senator there.
Pennsylvania is reporting the largest measles outbreak in the nation, with more than 1,000 cases this year. The governor of neighboring New York, Kathy Hochul, has declared a disaster emergency over an ongoing measles outbreak there.
Politico was barred from traveling on Air Force One for Trump’s trip to Nebraska, according to a report by CNN. This comes after the administration previously stopped CNN from similarly traveling with the president, despite a federal judge putting a temporary block on Trump’s overall ban on Politico, CNN and MS Now from the White House.
Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down as White House press secretary in August, is joining Fox News as an on-air contributor, according to an announcement from the network. Leavitt, 29, the youngest press secretary in White House history, left the administration after the birth of her second child earlier this year.
The supreme court heard the first arguments of its 2026-27 term, in a case that focuses on whether states can sue oil companies for the impact of climate change on their communities. The lawsuit was filed by local officials in Boulder, Colorado, against Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said there was no direct link between the sudden removal of US bombers from a UK airbase and a suspected Iranian plot at the site last week. “I wouldn’t just directly tie that to the move that was made,” Rubio told reporters, when asked about the B1 bombers. “The Department of War is constantly reallocating resources where they need to be,“ Rubio added, noting that the US has confidence in the security of all its bases.
