About a year before the World Cup, FIFA held a splashy opening for its latest office, a 17th-floor suite in Trump Tower. President Trump’s son Eric Trump said his family’s organization was “honored” to host the global soccer body.

FIFA signed a more than seven-year lease, worth about $4 million, according to two officials directly involved in the deal and documents reviewed by The New York Times. The suite mostly sits empty.

The terms of the deal, which have not been previously reported, raised concern among some senior FIFA officials about renting space in a Trump-linked building, in a high-tax state, without a clear need.

The deal offers another example of how FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, sought closer ties to President Trump ahead of the 2026 World Cup, despite pushback from senior soccer officials.

Mr. Infantino has lavished praise on the American president, even creating a special peace prize in his honor. During the World Cup, FIFA rescinded the suspension of Folarin Balogun, a star striker for the U.S. team, after a call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Infantino, prompting accusations of bias and political interference.

Since the tournament, Mr. Infantino has faced intense scrutiny over his conduct, including for engaging in secret talks to sell a portion of future tournaments to a private fund run by the brother of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The plan prompted European soccer’s governing body to threaten to bring a complaint to criminal court. Mr. Infantino has accused his critics of a harassment campaign.

FIFA’s American operations are mostly based in two offices in Miami. The organization has no plans to fully staff the Trump Tower location and the office sits largely idle, according to current and former FIFA officials who, like others cited in this article, requested anonymity to discuss private discussions and business deals.

The White House declined to comment. The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.

In response to questions about the lease, FIFA defended the arrangement, saying that it paid market-level rent for the property. The lease “complies with all local laws” and “was signed in accordance with FIFA’s standard internal processes,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA uses the nearly 5,000-square-foot space for special events and for meetings with dignitaries and soccer leaders, the organization said. It is mostly used during the yearly United Nations General Assembly.

The decision to open a representative office in Trump Tower was driven by Mr. Infantino, according to the two officials who were involved in the deal.

FIFA hired an international real estate consultancy to assess whether the deal was in line with market rates. But the two officials said that there was no clear business need for the office, especially since FIFA had the offices in Miami.

Officials flagged that opening another U.S. office, in New York State, could create an additional tax liability for FIFA, the documents show, and the organization worked with lawyers to establish that no business or commercial activities would take place there to avoid such taxes.

In an emailed response to questions about the lease, FIFA said, “New York is a global city, and FIFA is a global organization; it is therefore logical for FIFA to have a presence there.”

Miguel Maduro, a Portuguese former governance head at FIFA, said that selecting a facility tied to the American president might breach the organization’s conflict-of-interest provisions.

“This deal with the Trump Organization raises a clear conflict of interest in the light of FIFA’s interests in the U.S. World Cup or its partnership with President Trump’s Board of Peace,” Mr. Maduro said. As part of the plan, FIFA in February announced a proposal to build fields and a stadium in Gaza.

Mr. Infantino’s relationship with Mr. Trump has also prompted an ethics complaint by Norway’s soccer federation.

Alex Phillips, a former official at FIFA and other top soccer governing bodies, called the Trump Tower office “a completely unnecessary level of pandering.”

President Donald Trump insisted he had “nothing to do” with a federal raid at the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) early Monday morning.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. as part of an investigation into whether Omar’s late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, lied or gave misleading information in the 1990s when he sought legal status in the U.S. before he became a U.S. citizen.

Omar, a longtime Trump critic, accused the president of trying to “weaponize federal law enforcement,” stating, “I will not be silenced.” Many other prominent Democrats also criticized the search.

Hours after the raid, Trump took questions from reporters, one of whom asked if he knew about it in advance.

“Well, I understand they’re looking at her very carefully,” the president replied. “Uh, I’ve always found her to be totally crooked, personally. But that has nothing to do with me. I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a non-country. And then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution. I think she’s a terrible person. But that’s really up to the DOJ. I have nothing to do with it.”

Trump has frequently targeted Omar and other Somali Americans. The president has touted the dozens of Somali Americans implicated in fraud cases in Minnesota. On Thursday, the president urged Minnesotans to “fight back” against their Somali American neighbors, alleging, “You have been robbed.”

“The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they are doing,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “They view you as weak and stupid people. Fight back Minnesota, fight back!”

Trump has insisted that Omar does not belong in the U.S. and has repeated the baseless claim that she married her brother.

Last year, billionaire Elon Musk unleashed a small army of Silicon Valley techies to drain what he called the “swamp” of Washington — wielding the U.S. DOGE Service to slash at a bureaucracy they argued was bloated and corrupt.

But today, many of his former DOGE foot soldiers have leveraged their government stints to fuel private-sector ambitions: building companies that tap government largesse or that deploy knowledge they garnered during their brief tenures in Washington.

A Washington Post analysis found that roughly two dozen former DOGE staffers have parlayed their government experience into relevant private-sector jobs or investments — becoming founders, securing CEO positions or senior executive roles, amassing large stakes in start-ups looking to win government contracts or approvals, or taking the skills developed at DOGE to the private sector. Though several of the businesses are only months old, with little public activity, at least six DOGE alumni have registered on Sam.gov, a government contracting portal examined by The Post.

The migration of former staffers from DOGE — short for the Department of Government Efficiency — into the private sector has prompted a burst of funding for their businesses. Start-ups founded by, or with key investment from, DOGE alumni have raised at least half a billion dollars in funding, according to an analysis of government data, investor research platforms and venture capital funding disclosures, paired with lists of confirmed DOGE members compiled by The Post, the New York Times and ProPublica. They have built a cottage industry of ambitious but largely untested businesses, often helmed by inexperienced founders, sometimes drawing initial valuations in the billions of dollars.

Despite DOGE’s shaky track record on trimming the federal budget, the private sector has come to see experience with the group as a valuable commodity, said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a nonprofit-sponsored organization that advocates for government work to serve the public interest.

“They have enormous juice,” he said of ex-DOGE members, adding that they effectively combine two coveted power centers — Silicon Valley knowledge and government connections — leading to a dynamic where technologists with intimate, albeit limited knowledge of government functions and sometimes hyper-partisan viewpoints are in demand.

“The student has become the master,” Hauser said.

The start-ups include a host of firms focused on cybersecurity and defense technology, as well as ventures dedicated to helping businesses across America deploy artificial intelligence tools. Among the largest is Cathedral, an AI-enabled cybersecurity firm, founded by Gavin Kliger and Luke Farritor. Valued by investors at $1.4 billion, Cathedral aims to sell to both corporate America and government agencies, including the Pentagon, according to a person familiar with the business, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the firm has not made its operations public.

Kliger joined the Pentagon in 2025 and served as the Defense Department’s chief data officer until April 2026, according to his LinkedIn. He began fundraising for Cathedral by May. A Pentagon instruction issued in 2020, during the first Trump administration, said senior employees are barred from seeking government contracts for up to two years after serving. But fundraising for start-ups intending to seek government work would probably fall into a gray area, Hauser said.

Farritor, who has since left the company but still owns shares and “remains close,” the person said, served in roles across the Energy Department, the Health and Human Services Department and the General Services Administration during DOGE’s initial six-month blitz.

The co-founders of Special, a start-up that aims to “transform critical American industries” through AI, said in a company announcement that its founders were “motivated to extend the ethos of our work at DOGE back into the private sector.”

A former senior government ethics official said the large investment garnered by ex-DOGE members exceeds any example of trading on government experience he’s previously seen. Before the second Trump administration, many DOGE members were relative unknowns in Silicon Valley and unlikely to draw major investment.

“It has the appearance that they found a new way to monetize government service that is far beyond anything lobbyists ever dreamed of,” said Norm Eisen, who served as a White House ethics lawyer during the Obama administration and chairs a group that has filed numerous lawsuits challenging DOGE and its authority.

The revolving door that rewards public service with private-sector windfalls is a long-running and oft-criticized facet of federal work. An entire industry of executives, advisers and K Street lobbyists has leveraged experience in government for profit.

But those former officials often bring deep subject-matter experience and long track records, far exceeding the months-long government tenures allowed for the many DOGE members serving as special government employees.

While DOGE faced widespread public disapproval and fell far short of Musk’s promised $2 trillion in cuts, alumni have pitched their government experience as an asset to investors, said four people familiar with the pitches from Cathedral and Special, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Some investors view the founders’ time working in the tight-knit, pressurized environment of DOGE as an asset, according to one of the people, who compared it to undergoing training in efficiency.

It’s “less about what they got done in the time they had” than the mindsetthey developed from being part of DOGE, the person said: Looking deeply into government, “what did they see about what could be built or fixed?”

As former DOGE officials have moved into the private sector, they have formed an increasingly interconnected business network, investing in and working with one another. Two of Cathedral’s board members, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire, are allies of President Donald Trump who helped advise DOGE.

“I believe DOGE will be looked back upon as a generationally important program, and the Cathedral founders were some of its most talented builders,” Maguire said in a text message. Andreessen Horowitz, which has also invested in Special, declined to comment.

Special — founded by former DOGE members Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox — has drawn investment from at least seven former DOGE staffers or associates, according to a post from Andreessen Horowitz.

One of its investors, Banner VC, was founded by former DOGE members Adam Ramada and Brooks Morgan. The venture capital firm has raised nearly $300 million to date, according to Crunchbase.

Blitz Industries, founded by former DOGE member Ethan Shaotran, is registered to bid for government contract awards on Sam.gov. A LinkedIn page for Shaotran says he is “Rapidly hiring!”

While some firms now helmed by DOGE alumni have existed for years, a Post analysis of investor-focused sites, including Crunchbase and Pitchbook, and fundraising data, including Crunchbase’s Heat Score, found that the companies began attracting more investment interest after their leaders’ time in DOGE, leaving them flush with capital.

After former DOGE member Stephen Ehikian was appointed CEO in September 2025 of C3 AI, an AI software company targeted to federal and private customers, its stock increased by about 20 percent in the following weeks. In December, the company announced that the Department of Health and Human Services had selected C3 to power AI enterprise software, in what Ehikian called in a news release “a major step toward a modern, AI-ready architecture for national health data.”

Others were able to pivot their careers post-DOGE, taking on high-level roles in areas where they had little experience.

After Tyler Hassen, a former DOGE staffer appointed to the Department of Interior, was named CEO of a cleaning supply company in June, the business announced a shift to focus on providing infrastructure and permitting for data center buildouts. It soon unveiled a new name, Zone Frontier, and announced a $100 million public offering. Alex Spiro, who has served as Musk’s attorney, was appointed as the chairman of its board of directors.

Hassen, a former oil executive without tech experience before joining DOGE, said in an earlier interview with The Post that he was inspired by his time working with AI in the government to bring that experience to the private sector.

Some DOGE alumni have found themselves working in spaces dependent on government approvals. Unlike other DOGE members, Elie Mishory joined the cost-cutting group with prior government experience, including nearly two years in senior roles at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to his LinkedIn profile. In June, Mishory took a job as chief regulatory and legal affairs officer for Novig, a sports prediction market company backed by start-up incubator Y Combinator and venture capital firm Lux Capital, which is also a Cathedral investor.

Novig’s regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was touted in an August news release as “among the fastest in CFTC history.” In the release, Mishory said the certification was “approved in record time.”

For some investors, however, the DOGE connection carries a potential downside: It could draw scrutiny if Democrats regain control of Congress, according to two of the people familiar with DOGE investment pitches.

Investors have advised some of the founders to prepare for a potential midterm sweep by seeking to avoid the appearance of impropriety or hyper-partisanship, according to the two people.

“Everything has been done fairly, cleanly, openly, transparently and assuming that anyone could be the poster child … for congressional ethics targets,” said one of the people.

Hauser, of the Revolving Door Project, said government ethics rules were designed around long-tenured employees, without anticipating the outcomes of the temporary work arrangements afforded to many in DOGE. Though short, these stints allowed them to learn intimate details about the agencies in which they served.

“Washington is kind of vulnerable to this because a lot of our ethics laws were built in the 1970s [and] haven’t been updated since,” Hauser said. “There’s going to need to be a serial reconsideration of ethics laws.”

An attorney at President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice sent an apology letter to the court and to the plaintiffs after the president’s controversial taxpayer-funded ads continued to air hundreds of times in violation of the judge’s order.

The ads began on Fox News earlier this month, showing the president railing against “communism, socialism, and Marxism” and the “fake news media,” themes borrowed from his campaign trail rhetoric. The ads have since aired on other networks, including CNN and MS NOW — two of the very media outlets, along with Politico, that Trump has been fighting to ban from the White House.

At the end of the ads was a disclaimer that read, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” According to The Washington Post, the funds came from “$20 million the Office of Management and Budget added to a DHS budget line for ‘commemorative events.'”

Critics denounced the ads as propaganda and a waste of taxpayer money, as well as a potential violation of government ethics laws for being overtly political. Several congressional Republicans were among those criticizing the ads.

On Oct. 5, Trump responded to the backlash on his Truth Social account that he would pay for the ads with funds from his super PAC. Nonetheless, on Oct. 7, a coalition of plaintiffs sued the Trump administration, arguing that the “overtly political” ads were “personal and political propaganda through and through” and spending taxpayer funds on them was a violation of federal law. (The Democratic National Committee filed its own separate lawsuit challenging the ads as a violation of campaign finance laws.)

On Sunday, Judge Jennifer L. Rochon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order directing the Trump administration to immediately halt airing the ads. Rochon was nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2022. She previously clerked for Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Berry, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

The exact language of the order instructed the administration that it “shall cancel or cause to be cancelled any slot, placement, reservation, or arrangement for the airing or dissemination of the challenged advertisements, including those placements for the evening of October 11, 2026” — meaning any ads that were scheduled to air that evening were included. The order was entered at 6:46 pm ET Sunday and further demanded that the administration file a status report within 24 hours “confirming compliance with this Order.”

The order said that it would remain in place for two weeks and also barred the administration “from using, disbursing, or transferring funds appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security (‘DHS’) to develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements.”

On Monday, attorneys for the plaintiffs sent a letter to the judge “to bring to the Court’s attention information relevant to Defendants’ compliance” with the order.

According to the letter, a report by The Washington Post and data from AdImpact found “nearly 400” incidents where the ads aired on several different television stations.

“Plaintiffs do not presently seek contempt sanctions,” the attorneys wrote. “But given that the ads have continued to run on October 12—the day after Defendants insisted the ad-buy was no longer effective—Plaintiffs request a status conference to determine Defendants’ compliance.”

Later Monday evening, Jeffrey Oestericher, an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, sent a letter to the court as part of the required status report. In the letter, he admitted the ads had run after the order instructed them to stop, offered an apology, and confirmed that the government was now complying with the judge’s order.

According to Oestericher, the DOJ attorneys emailed the judge’s order to DHS that evening, but the DHS counsel did not see the email until Monday morning, and then sent the order on to the vendor that had been handling the ad placements.

“The undersigned apologizes to the Court and the plaintiffs,” wrote Oestericher, and added a lengthy paragraph declaring that the government now “is in compliance with the [judge’s order],” including confirming that the defendants know they cannot spend any funds appropriated to DHS to create, distribute, or air the ads, that any placements of these challenged ads must be cancelled and cannot be renewed, and that the vendor has been notified about the terms of the order.

An angry federal judge overseeing litigation challenging President Trump’s plan to overhaul a Washington, D.C., public golf course said the administration violated her instructions by cutting down hundreds of trees around East Potomac Golf Links on short notice over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who had previously warned the administration not to take irreversible steps on the project without telling her, on Monday temporarily barred further tree removal, and warned the government that she would initiate contempt proceedings for the slightest violation.

She also demanded to hear from three Interior Department officials under oath about plans the government made for the removals in the days before it told the court about them late Friday. Workers began taking down trees Saturday morning, and Reyes yelled at the suggestion from a Justice Department lawyer that as many as 430 trees had been removed.

“I have given the government every single benefit of the doubt that it would not do what it has done,” the Biden-appointed judge said during the three-hour hearing. “What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility” in the case, she said.

By the end of the hearing, Reyes questioned “whether or not I’ve been lied to.”

Justice Department lawyer Marissa Piropato said the tree removal was part of a longstanding maintenance plan and was unconnected to any golf course project. “This is not a renovation, your honor,” she said.

The East Potomac facility has been open for more than a century, offering the public affordable green fees in a picturesque setting close to Washington’s famous monuments. Trump has described the facility as run down and talked for months about redeveloping it, with an eye toward creating a course that could host major golf tournaments. He previously said the renovation would begin in September.

In court papers filed over the weekend, the administration said the project “remains at an early and conceptual stage.”

The DC Preservation League sued earlier this year, raising several legal arguments, including that the project raised environmental concerns and exceeded the president’s authority. The administration said its actions were legally compliant and argued the lawsuit was premature.

Trump has raced through several projects in the nation’s capital, including the building of a White House ballroom. Courts have struggled to keep up.

Reyes in previous hearings expressed concern that the Trump administration could move quickly on the golf course renovation and then tell her it was too late to “stop the trains.” The judge during those hearings said the government needed to inform her before taking major actions.

On Monday, Reyes sought testimony about the chronology of what happened. First up was Kevin Griess, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, who said he had been told about the tree removal from a deputy director at the National Park Service, Frank Lands.

The judge then called Lands to appear.

The two men described the removal as part of a seven-year-old plan to renovate National Park Service sites and said the speed of the weekend tree work wasn’t unusual. When Lands cited a third Interior Department employee, the judge said she needed to hear from that person, too.

The Justice Department said officials tried but couldn’t reach him on what was a federal holiday. The proceedings are scheduled to continue Tuesday.

A sixth measles-related death was reported Monday in Pennsylvania, involving a 39-year-old woman in Franklin County, amid the state’s largest outbreak in three decades.

In a statement, the county’s coroner office said the woman had underlying medical conditions, though it did not provide specifics. A spokesperson for the Franklin County coroner’s office said the “primary cause of death was a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles.”

Cardiac complications from measles can happen, but are uncommon.

The woman had not been vaccinated, the spokesperson said.

The state’s health department considers a death to be “measles-associated” if it occurred within 30 days of symptom onset and there is clinical evidence of a measles infection and a positive laboratory test. It also takes into account the person’s medical records and whether they were exposed to measles before they died.

As of Friday, Pennsylvania had confirmed 1,136 measles cases, with 219 hospitalizations. Two-thirds of those cases were diagnosed in adults.

The Pennsylvania health department said in an email Monday that it was aware of the Franklin County coroner’s announcement, and “is conducting a thorough review of the reported death.”

The death announced Monday is the sixth in less than two months in the state, suggesting the outbreak is far greater than reported. Historically, measles infections cause 1 to 2 deaths per 1,000 cases.

“I think we’re probably closer to 6,000 cases,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “They are vastly underestimating the number of cases. It’s much worse.”

The first two deaths announced in the state in late August were in infants, both in Lancaster County, which has accounted for the vast majority of cases in the state’s outbreak.

One father in Lancaster County told NBC News that his wife was sick with measles in August and went into labor a month early. Their baby died shortly after birth. The other was a 6-week-old who had a rare genetic condition.

Last month, a 40-year-old woman with asthma and severe lung disease died in Jefferson County, as well as an 18-year-old Mifflin County resident who died “due to complications of measles,” specifically a rare and severe neurological condition that causes inflammation in the brain.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in early October that the fifth death occurred in a 20-year-old woman with a compromised immune system because of leukemia.

The vast majority of people diagnosed with measles are unvaccinated. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, less than 1% of cases there occurred in people who were fully vaccinated.

The first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is typically given at around 1 year of age, and then around age 5. Two doses offer 97% protection against measles, usually for life.

During outbreaks, babies as young as 6 months old are eligible for a dose ahead of those two recommended shots.

Nationally, there have been 4,080 measles cases this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s the highest number of cases since 1991.

President Trump told reporters Monday his administration is "looking at" the possibility of firing U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The president's comments follow a series of Wall Street Journal reports alleging that Guilfoyle used her political connections to seek financial favors and promote private business interests.

The allegations include claims that Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of the president's son Donald Trump Jr.. sought $100,000 from a Trump donor in exchange for access to administration officials and allowed a lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

Guilfoyle's representatives have denied that she did anything wrong.

Asked if he's considering firing Guilfoyle, Trump said: "We're looking at it, yeah. We're not happy."

A federal judge issued a temporary order Sunday blocking the Trump administration from airing taxpayer-funded campaign-style television commercials. But the administration blew past a Sunday evening deadline and ran two of the ads into the early hours of Monday, advertising data from AdImpact shows.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in Manhattan wrote in an order Sunday that the administration must “cancel or cause to be cancelled” any ads from airing or dissemination, including those that were scheduled to air Sunday evening.

Her decision came after the Department of Homeland Security said in a court filing Saturday that the ads would “not continue” past Sunday and that it had no plans to purchase additional ad spaces past that date. President Donald Trump said earlier that campaign funds would be used to pay for the ads going forward.

The two-week order prohibits the administration from “using, disbursing, or transferring funds” appropriated to DHS to “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air” the commercials.

However, two of the ads aired numerous times after the deadline passed at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, according to data provided by AdImpact. The two ads ran during airings of various shows, including “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “ABC World News Tonight” and CBS News’s “60 Minutes.”

“DHS did not receive notice from the court in time to cancel the ad buys,” the White House wrote in a Monday statement. “The PSAs will be paid for by outside groups moving forward.”

The ads, which began airing in late September, included one that resembled a commercial for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and another of him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth advocating the Iran war.

The ads were paid for with $20 million the Office of Management and Budget added to a DHS budget line for “commemorative events,” The Washington Post previously reported. Congress had approved that spending for “Line-of-Duty death memorials, Department or agency anniversaries, and commendation ceremonies,” according to a House Budget Committee report.

The lawsuit challenging the commercials was brought by a coalition that included the advocacy group Common Cause. It argued that the ads violate federal law prohibiting agencies from using taxpayer money for unauthorized “publicity and propaganda.”

Rochon wrote that the plaintiffs are “likely to succeed on the merits” of their challenge and “will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”

Trump has not publicly commented on the order, but after backlash from Democrats and some Republicans, he said on Oct. 5 that his super PAC would cover future ad costs.

In a statement issued by Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization, the coalition said it was “pleased the court acted swiftly,” calling the ads “blatantly unlawful political propaganda.”

Last week, the Democratic National Committee filed a separate lawsuit over the ads, arguing that they violate campaign spending rules and make it harder for the group’s candidates to compete.

After this article was published, lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case filed a notice alerting the judge to The Post’s reporting and requesting that she evaluate whether the Trump administration complied with the temporary restraining order.

“Plaintiffs do not presently seek contempt sanctions,” the lawyers wrote. “But given that the ads have continued to run on October 12 — the day after Defendants insisted the ad-buy was no longer effective — Plaintiffs request a status conference to determine Defendants’ compliance.”

The US Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed emergency restrictions placing some products with synthetic opioid-like compounds derived from kratom under the strictest category of federal drug ‌control, if they exceed certain concentrations.

The DEA issued two notices of intent on Friday, based on recommendations from the US Department of Health and Human Services, to distinguish products containing trace amounts of the substances from ⁠intentionally enhanced or concentrated formulations.

The action targets four substances linked to kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia known to produce opioid-like effects

The DEA is targeting 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), found in trace amounts in kratom, and three related opioid substances derived or chemically modified from the plant: mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MGPI), MGM-15, and MGM-16

The DEA proposed that products in which 7-OH and ‌MGPI ⁠exceed certain concentrations, or fall below a specified mitragynine-to-7-OH/MGPI ratio, be temporarily placed in Schedule I

Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act is reserved for drugs with a high potential for ⁠abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the United States

The DEA in August cited an immediate threat to public safety to ⁠temporarily place MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16 under the strictest category of federal drug control

For 7-OH, the DEA said it ⁠had not yet issued a temporary scheduling order and would release a revised notice reflecting HHS's updated recommendation

President Donald Trump's administration is planning to move three senior officials from the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for ‌Super Intelligence (CAISSI) to the White House, news website The Information reported on Monday, citing a White House official.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick invited two ⁠White House officials, Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross, to co-manage CAISSI six months ago, the report said, citing a senior Commerce Department official

The three CAISSI officials, whose names have not been disclosed, will report to Kratsios and Cairncross, according to the report

A White ‌House ⁠official told The Information that coordination problems with the Commerce Department highlighted the need for CAISSI's leadership to be moved closer to the White House's AI decision-making process

CAISSI, a Commerce Department ⁠unit that evaluates advanced AI models for safety and capabilities, plays a role in the administration's framework for testing frontier AI ⁠systems before deployment

This month, Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton the administration's AI czar, tasking him ⁠with coordinating the federal government's efforts to maintain US leadership in the technology

In August, President Trump directed the Navy to figure out how to return to using steam catapults on aircraft carriers to hurl fighter jets into the air.

For U.S. military officials, the order marked the return of an old foe: Bill Jones.

Who?

Exactly. Trump has described the man as a “catapulter” who served in the Navy for 25 years and loves the smell of steam. Jones convinced Trump the old technology was superior to modern methods of launching jets, the president said.

The incident sent Navy leaders searching for Jones to figure out what he said that prompted the president to demand an overhaul of one of the most expensive weapons programs in history. They never found him, according to defense officials.

But they’re still dealing with the consequences of the mystery sailor and his chance encounter with the president.

It all started just months into Trump’s first term when he was in Virginia touring the USS Gerald R. Ford, the newest aircraft carrier in the Navy’s fleet.

This warship, the largest in the world and first in its class, cost about $19 billion but had experienced myriad problems over eight years of construction as cutting-edge, but unproven, technology was installed on the ship. It was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Trump seemed eager to apply his real-estate experience to the dazzlingly complex world of Pentagon procurement. He has said he grew tired of hearing excuses from the admirals and he wanted to hear from the people who operate the machinery.

“I said, ‘Let me see the catapult people,’” Trump recalled during an April 2019 speech. “They said, ‘Sir, you don’t really want to do that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, those are the people that know what the hell they’re doing.’”

Then it happened.

The president said a sailor told him the Navy was making a mistake by ditching the tried-and-true method of using steam catapults. The decision to use an electromagnetic system to launch planes faster and more efficiently was dooming the service to failure.

Trump has said the sailor told him if the electric catapults break you need geniuses from MIT to repair them, while the steam version can be fixed with a hammer and blowtorch. Industry officials said both descriptions vastly oversimplify things.

After the encounter, Navy officials scrambled to explain to the president why the technologies were chosen and why removing them would be extremely disruptive, according to former defense officials.

During a Thanksgiving call in November 2018 to sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, an older Nimitz-class carrier with steam catapults, Trump asked the ship’s commanding officer his opinion of steam versus electric catapults.

Then-Capt. Patrick Hannifin, now a three-star admiral in charge of naval forces in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, told Trump that while steam is reliable now, he preferred electromagnetic catapults.

When Trump pressed Hannifin that “you have to be Albert Einstein” to operate them properly, the captain responded: “You sort of have to be Albert Einstein to run the nuclear power plants that we have here as well, but we’re doing that very well.”

Trump said “that’s actually a very good answer.” The issue seemed to go away.

It came roaring back as Trump sought and won re-election.

He mentioned Jones by name during a January 2024 rally in Mason City, Iowa. Then in February 2025, Trump brought up the electric catapults when he swore in Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence.

There were rumors among industry insiders that Trump would sign an executive order telling the Navy to return to steam, but nothing happened—until this summer.

In August, Trump signed a national security memorandum directing the Navy to figure out the cost and timeline for installing steam catapults and hydraulic elevators in the ship currently known as CVN 81, expected to join the fleet in 2034.

The Navy isn’t getting its Ford-class carriers fast enough, and must simplify their design by using time- and battle-tested technology, an administration official said.

It hasn’t built a carrier with steam since the USS George H.W. Bush, which entered the fleet in 2009.

More problematic: “Steam catapults have been out of production for decades—no one makes them anymore,” said Hunter Stires, the maritime strategist to former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.

Since the order, Navy leaders have couched their public remarks.

“If we were to go back to steam and hydraulics with the elevators, we need to really understand the total cost of that,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said at a conference in Reno, according to USNI News. “That will be a significant design change.”

He said a February stress test of the Ford’s electromagnetic launchers showed they outperformed their steam peers.

Analysts and industry insiders say the new system could be more effective for future warfare since it could launch bomb-laden aircraft and drones. Shipbuilding experts worry putting steam back on a carrier would put the Navy technologically behind China.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has warned officials not to question the president’s decision.

“To be clear, the debate on whether we do this has ended,” he wrote in an Aug. 28 memo, referring to a broader set of recommendations including the steam catapults. “Our task now is to provide the plan on how to implement.”

Given the ship won’t be completed before Trump is set to leave office, and Democrats are expected to gain control of at least one chamber of Congress in the midterms, the chance that a new ship with the old catapults actually joins the fleet drops significantly. Still, the Navy is steaming ahead.

“This could ultimately be a multibillion-dollar change that was resulting from largely this one sailor’s interaction with the president,” said Bryan Clark, a naval expert with the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank. “Which is kind of crazy when you think about the level of impact a single person had.”

Trump has gotten personally involved in several other projects, from the new Air Force One and a class of high-tech battleships to a futuristic military drone port on the top of the White House.

In an attempt to find the mysterious Bill Jones, The Wall Street Journal contacted current and former Navy officials, lawmakers, White House aides and industry executives.

No one who was contacted knows the sailor’s identity.

A Navy spokesman said that without his date of birth or other identifying information, it “cannot accurately locate this Sailor in our records.”

Pope Leo XIV declared that capital punishment is "inadmissible" as the United States plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.

The American pope, in a post on X marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, quoted the revised Catholic teaching on capital punishment ushered in by his predecessor, Pope Francis. The Catholic teaching states that capital punishment attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.

"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," read the post under Leo's official handle, @Pontifex. "Effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption."

The U.S. Defense Department announced Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base, will be livestreamed. Hasan, scheduled to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. It would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961.

The decision to livestream the execution has drawn fierce criticism.

Leo's post didn't refer specifically to the planned execution in the U.S. or the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee late last month which has revived debate over the death penalty in the United States. However, it is common for the pope's official social media accounts to post messages marking such commemorations like the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

However, Leo's post came just hours after his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said explicitly that the planned U.S. public execution was "unacceptable."

Speaking specifically about the United States, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the planned livestreamed execution was "truly incomprehensible" and "unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle."

"The Church's position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent… ," Parolin said in comments carried by Vatican News. "It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this system today — I don't know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle; even if the person is guilty, of course, there are other methods."

The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed "shock" and "great sorrow" at the Pentagon's plans.

"In no way can Hasan's actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered," he said in a statement Friday. "The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people."

On Friday, President Trump said he approves of Hasan's execution by firing squad.

"He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad," Mr. Trump told reporters before flying to Syracuse, New York, for a political event. "I really don't care how he goes, as long as he goes. And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him."

Mr. Trump did not appear to answer when asked whether it was appropriate to livestream the event or whether he was going to watch the execution.

Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic convert, appeared to cast doubt on Friday about the livestream, telling reporters he wouldn't watch it and, "I don't know that that's actually going to happen."

US President Donald Trump criticized Yemen’s Houthi group Monday but did not outline any specific measures that his administration might take in response to its actions.

Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for Ohio, Trump was asked what he planned to do about the Houthis.

“Well, the Houthis are misbehaving very badly. No good,” he replied.

The Saudi capital Riyadh has faced repeated Houthi attacks in recent days, with strikes on King Khalid International Airport over two days forcing a temporary suspension of operations.

The strikes came amid continued military escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since July, including attacks on civilian aviation facilities and energy installations in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen’s government against the Houthis since March 2015. The group has controlled the capital Sanaa and several provinces since September 2014.

President Donald Trump’s whirlwind travel itinerary this month reflects a careful calculation as Republicans brace for midterm losses: where he can mobilize his most devoted supporters, where his low approval ratings make him a liability and where he can simply have a good time.

His packed agenda reflects political strategy, travel logistics and the reality that the president — despite being far more active on the campaign trail than his predecessor — is an 80-year-old man with a country to run, people around him say. Trump insists on signing off on the list of places he is visiting each week, according to two people with knowledge of the process.

Trump has publicly floated a visit to Maine, where GOP Sen. Susan Collins is in a tight reelection fight, but White House and outside advisers to the president say such a trip is highly unlikely. Two people involved in planning his schedule said there are no trips scheduled to Maine or New Hampshire.

Last week’s stops included deep-red Nebraska, where the Senate race is closer than once expected; Texas, for the second time in seven days; Upstate New York, to stump for his friend, gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who trails by double digits in many polls; and Tennessee, for a rally near a military base.

While in Syracuse, New York, Trump brought former professional boxer Mike Tyson onto the stage to speak.

Bad weather forced him to cancel a trip to Alabama for a college football game, which would have been his second visit to the state in just over a week. Football games are more fun for him than rallies, said one Trump adviser, who like others working on the president’s midterm strategy, was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

But the rallies — now often held in smaller venues than in years past — still serve as an escape for Trump as he presides over an unpopular war and faces his lowest approval ratings in office. When he traveled to Oklahoma earlier this month, he said he was doing so “to thank them” for supporting him.

In Clarksville, Tennessee, Trump said giving frequent speeches is “easy” because “there’s such love in these rooms.”

“It’s amazing when you stand up here. It’s just, like, the love,” he told the crowd. “I could say the stupidest things and you clap.”

“It’s the last time he’s really going to be able to do this in full force,” said Mark Mitchell, a politically independent pollster who previously supported Trump but is now critical of many of his policies. “A 30-day blitz of the country to do these rallies again when he’s the most unpopular president — it just doesn’t really make sense.”

Trump has at times been in high spirits while traveling and said he thinks campaigning is going well, one adviser said. But another person with knowledge of his behavior observed that Trump has been in a “foul mood.”

Trump’s advisers maintain that the rallies are the most effective thing Trump can do — short of lowering gas prices driven up by the war he started with Iran — to try to minimize Republican losses this fall. GOP officials say Trump showing up in the backyard of supporters who voted for him three times is the party’s best chance to turn out those voters this fall when he isn’t on the ballot. Republican enthusiasm is trailing that of Democrats. A recent survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that among those who say they are extremely motivated to vote, Democrats lead 59 percent to 35 percent. That’s a contrast with the 2022 midterms, when such extremely motivated voters were evenly divided between the two parties.

Supporters who sign up to attend the rallies submit their contact information to Trump’s political operation, which follows up with communications urging them to vote. Many of Trump’s supporters aren’t accustomed to voting in midterms or need to be reminded there’s an election this year, another adviser said, and all attention helps — especially in an election cycle where Democrats are highly mobilized.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, political director Matt Brasseaux and former White House deputy chief of staff James Blair — now working as an outside adviser with Trump’s political operation — have worked together to decide where Trump can be most useful, according to a person with knowledge of the process.

Determining where Trump can help has been trickier in House races than in Senate contests, several of which are competitive in states Trump easily won, the person said. Some House races are so tight that Republicans worry an unpopular Trump could hurt their efforts, while statewide races can more easily benefit from the president helping boost turnout in conservative enclaves.

This week, Trump is scheduled to visit Youngstown, Ohio, where the GOP under Trump has made significant gains; Wasilla, Alaska, a Republican stronghold north of Anchorage; and the heavily conservative areas of Bullhead City, Arizona, and Kalispell, Montana.

“There is no safer space for Donald Trump to go in Arizona than Mohave County, which is full of disaffected former Californians and conspiracy theorists and ‘Don’t tread on me’ types,” said Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist in the state, referring to the county Trump is scheduled to visit Wednesday.

Going to heavily Republican areas such as Bullhead City — or deeply red states such as Oklahoma, Alabama and Tennessee, as Trump has done in the last week and a half — is all but guaranteed to draw a friendly crowd, while still generating coverage in surrounding media markets and the national press, advisers say.

Bullhead City is on the Arizona-Nevada border, and Trump’s appearance there could help mobilize Republican voters in Nevada, where GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo has only a narrow lead over his opponent. Rep. Elijah Crane (R) also faces a competitive race in Arizona’s neighboring 2nd Congressional District.

Some choices are less strategic.

New York conservative talk radio host Bob Lonsberry urged Trump to cancel Friday’s trip to Syracuse, fearing it would harm the candidate’s chances. “Stay away, Mr. President,” he wrote on social media. “The last thing Bruce Blakeman needs is a visit from you.”

Other officials maintained that all provide some advantage, even if it is for a House race elsewhere in the state from where Trump is visiting, or a statewide race just over the border. The president combines political strategy with his personal preferences, such as accepting requests to campaign for friends such as Blakeman and Mike Mazzei, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in Oklahoma.

Since Labor Day, Trump has made 14 stops in other states, not including visits to his golf clubs in New Jersey and Virginia. Of those, two were presidential battlegrounds in the last decade.

In addition to political considerations, the president’s team faces logistical challenges in finding large and secure venues in rural places. He does not like to stay overnight except at his own properties, such as his hotel in Las Vegas.

Three people with knowledge of the schedule said Trump’s stop in Tennessee was something of a placeholder — a rally planned around the main attraction for him that day, the Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which he ultimately did not attend because of Hurricane Isaias. The White House chose the location after Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s team had for months recommended it, given its proximity to Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division, and the area’s population growth.

Blackburn, now the GOP nominee for Tennessee governor, is working to maximize GOP turnout as an independent candidate threatens to lower her margins, but the longtime elected official is not seen as being at risk of losing her race. GOP strategists hope Trump’s stop there also boosts Republican congressional candidates running in seats redrawn this year by the state legislature.

Two people involved in planning his schedule said there are no trips scheduled to Maine or New Hampshire. Trump is still scheduled to visit Michigan, a state whose Senate race he’s been vocal about, but early voting and other data could change that plan, one of his advisers said.

Wherever the itinerary takes him, some of Trump’s most devoted fans are willing to follow. Blake Marnell, the longtime Trump rally-goer known online as “Brick Suit,” has been driving through the night, sometimes for 14 hours, to make it to almost all the rallies this month.

In Durant, Oklahoma, supporters stood outside for hours in ponchos as a storm moved through the region on the day of Trump’s rally — which started two hours late due to weather delays.

In San Antonio, supporters lined up before dawn for his evening rally on Wednesday. One man told a KENS5 reporter he had driven nine hours to be there.

“I just love Trump. That’s why I came this week,” the man told the television reporter. “I didn’t have nothing better to do anyway.”

Beside him, another man who arrived before sunrise observed that he was used to seeing longer lines. “I’m surprised we’re still pretty empty right now,” he said.

A top Trump political operative has been tapped to help boost Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall's campaign in the weeks before the Nov. 3 election, the latest sign of how Republicans are scrambling to defend the red-state seat.

The hiring of veteran strategist Chris Grant reflects the GOP's growing anxiety over Kansas' Senate race. Marshall is running neck and neck with Democrat Adam Hamilton in a state President Trump won by 16 points in 2024.

Republicans fear losing Kansas could be a domino in costing them their Senate majority.

GOP operatives have become increasingly frustrated with Marshall's reelection campaign, which they believe hasn't been aggressive enough at a time when soaring fuel prices have particularly hurt farmers in Kansas and elsewhere in the Midwest.

Grant, who helped lead the main pro-Trump super PAC in 2024 and has remained involved in Trump's political operation, will be a senior adviser to Marshall and help guide strategy in the final three weeks.

Grant also worked on Marshall's 2020 Senate campaign.

"Chris is an absolute pro who has been a longtime friend to Team Marshall. Having him help land the plane these last three weeks is a no brainer," Brent Robertson, Marshall's chief of staff, told Axios.

Two GOP outside groups — the Senate Leadership Fund and Club for Growth — are pouring millions into the Kansas race.

SLF, the principal super PAC aligned with Senate GOP leadership, is spending $14 million in Kansas after shifting resources from the Senate race in North Carolina, where Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has a significant polling lead over former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley.

Trump said in a social media post Monday that he would campaign for Marshall "very soon."

A Democrat-aligned super PAC has announced plans to spend $5 million to help Hamilton.

Marshall has faced damaging headlines recently, including a New York Times report that his medical practice sued more than 700 former patients over unpaid medical bills, and that 81 were later arrested for missing court appearances.

Hamilton, a Methodist pastor, has won endorsements from two former Republican governors in Kansas, Mike Hayden and Bill Graves.

MAGA Inc. is planning to trim the map in a homestretch bid to cling to power in November.

The President Donald Trump-aligned super PAC, with several hundred million dollars still in the bank, is planning a series of major money moves coordinated with other leading GOP super PACs in the final three weeks before Election Day. The push includes cutting off spending to a group of less attainable House races, piling in money to shore up others and training its focus on key Senate seats to salvage Republicans’ Senate majority.

Ohio, Alaska and Iowa are the Senate races that Trump officials view as increasingly critical to keep their majority in the chamber, according to three GOP officials familiar with MAGA Inc.’s strategy, granted anonymity to candidly assess the midterms.

One of the people said MAGA Inc. and a leading House GOP super PAC would pull spending out of Michigan’s 8th District by the middle of this week. The move effectively acknowledges Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet’s strength over GOP challenger Tom Smith. They have similar plans for a group of other House races in the coming days that are trending away from Republicans.

The official stressed the tacking would amount to “re-allocating, not cutting” the total planned spend.

MAGA Inc. and its affiliates are still competing in all of the Senate battlegrounds, including Texas, where they expected to add at least $5 million and potentially more in the coming days, according to the official.

For the Senate, winning two out of those three states of Ohio, Alaska and Iowa would make it “hard” for Democrats to take the Senate, one of the senior GOP officials projected, adding that a three-state sweep would decisively put it out of reach for Democrats. That, however, would require Republicans to win Texas and a handful of other at-risk red states, while also flipping Michigan or another blue state. The same senior Republican official said there’s confidence GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson “probably pulls through” in the Iowa Senate race.

Texas, however, remains a massive headache for Republicans — and the GOP official is pointing to Ken Paxton as the problem.

The senior Republican official said MAGA Inc. would do what it can to help candidates and vowed to “unload the tank” — a promise the group has been making for months even as it’s only spent more than half of the half-a-billion-dollar war chest with three weeks to go.

But the onus for standing up a winning campaign is shifting. Ultimately, the official said, “it’s up to the candidates, not the outside groups” to “bring it home and have a reason to get a few more points of swing voters their way.” They also need to maximize their votes with Republicans, this person said.

“Over the next week to 10 days you will see a lot of moves — a lot of coordinated moves — that are around trimming the map for the home stretch,” the senior GOP official familiar with MAGA Inc.’s plans said. “It’ll be all over the place. It’ll just just be moving on from districts that we don’t think it’s the right time for, and piling in further on ones we think it is the right time for.”

That would force top House GOP groups to decide whether to shift their own cash to take over key spending from MAGA Inc. as they work to defend a host of once-safely red House seats Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024 that are now at risk. That includes key districts across the Midwest, North Carolina, Nevada, along with a seat in Kentucky, which Trump won by 15 points.

In Ohio, where Trump is traveling for a rally on Monday, Republicans have privately worried about GOP Sen. Jon Husted for months. The former lieutenant governor, who was appointed to serve out Vice President JD Vance’s Senate term, has been trailing former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in public and private polling for months. The top Senate GOP super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, has unloaded close to $100 million in Ohio and a slew of outside groups have joined, making it one of the most expensive Senate contests in the country. Just in the last week, Husted notched his first narrow lead over Brown in one recent poll.

“We want a maximum spend,” Ohio GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou, who played host to Vance on Friday in Lima and will reprise that role as the president lands in Youngstown, said in an interview. “We want as much attention. I mean, the president’s coming, the vice president. Look, I’m the chair of the Republican Party — I want full resources in this state. We welcome it very much.”

And while Texas has emerged as an unexpectedly expensive headache for Republicans, another GOP operative familiar with MAGA Inc.'s thinking suggested Ohio could end up costing Republicans more spending from all sides, despite its smaller size.

Democrats see the same final battlefield taking shape. Senate Majority PAC, the top Democratic-aliied PAC, is injecting $2.5 million in Iowa and $7 million in Ohio for television ads, according to plans shared first with POLITICO, “injecting new resources to help close the gap in those battleground states,” a spokesperson said. They’ll also continue to back aggressive digital campaigns in each state. This comes on the heels of SMP dropping $5 million in Kansas.

Beyond Ohio, other senior Republicans are busy trying to staunch the bleeding in red states across the map.

Top Senate GOP groups have already cut off spending in North Carolina, where Republicans are struggling to defend a GOP-held seat. They have also pulled some money back in Georgia but are still planning to unload millions more in the Peach State.

Senate Leadership Fund expects to keep spending broadly across the map in the final weeks. The group plans to pour even more money into Texas as a potential lifeline to Paxton, hitting a total of nearly $200 million. They’re also dropping dough in Kansas to defend Sen. Roger Marshall, whose tough race against Democrat Adam Hamilton blindsided top Republicans in the final weeks, along with a crop of other endangered GOP incumbents, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge of the plans. And, SLF is expected to keep unloading money into the Michigan Senate race, which Senate Republicans view as their top flip opportunity.

The senior GOP official familiar with MAGA Inc.’s strategy defended the group’s spending decisions, despite waves of criticism from some Republicans who wanted it to unleash all its $400-million-plus war chest, and sooner. So far, MAGA Inc. and its affiliates have spent just over $200 million this cycle, including future ad reservations, according to data from AdImpact.

The cash the wider MAGA Inc. operation deployed last month, which was close to $100 million, shielded candidates from further losses as the environment worsened for Republicans, the official argued.

“The money’s working,” the official said. “The money stopped everybody from getting killed in September when the environment rapidly deteriorated further. The money held the line.”

The campaigns that received the September spending were able to “stay afloat,” one of the other officials said. “There are more candidates in a position that they can still win their race today that wouldn’t have been had that not happened.”

Many of those GOP candidates, however, privately argue it was Trump’s poor approval rating and his decisions around the ongoing war with Iran, tariffs and sky-high fuel prices that are sparking voter backlash.

It was during that September panic that GOP officials became increasingly worried about the growing map.

At one point, Trump officials believed they may need to start intervening to boost even Sen. Ashley Moody in ruby-red Florida as warning signs shot up across the Sunshine State, according to two Trump officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

But recent internal polling for Moody has turned a corner, alleviating many of those concerns and prompting Trump officials to stand by plans for the president to visit the state — but more as a way to boost Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor, and several key House races that Republicans are worried about, according to the people.

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.

Broglio, in a statement Monday, also stipulated that any Catholic soldier assigned to the U.S. Army firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as contrary to the teachings of the church. He joins other Catholic leaders in speaking out against the death penalty and the livestream plans.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3.

Broglio recalled that he presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in that attack.

The crime committed by Hasan “was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?” Broglio asked.

“The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world,” Broglio added. “Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair to the whole world?”

Ten megadonors accounted for more than half of the $300 million that President Trump raised for the new White House ballroom and legacy projects around Washington, according to a new filing from the nonprofit he and his allies are using to take in the money.

The identities of the donors, who contributed between $10 million and $25 million apiece, weren’t included in the public filing by the Trust for the National Mall, a long established nonprofit which the White House has also used to manage funds it raised for the triumphal arch and the Rose Garden.

The annual filing shows the trust recorded $320 million in contributions and grants last year, up from less than $10 million in 2024. Three contributors gave $25 million apiece. The trust also racked up $210 million in expenses last year, the filing shows, most of it going to maintenance and capital improvement projects.

The documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal don’t show how much money has gone to each project and they don’t name the donors. The White House has previously identified some ballroom donors but hasn’t disclosed how much they contributed.

Spokespeople for the Trust for the National Mall and White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Journal has reported that Apple cut a check for around $25 million toward the White House ballroom project, while Microsoft gave around $10 million, among others. YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, gave $22 million to the nonprofit for the ballroom as part of a settlement for a 2021 civil lawsuit that Trump brought against the company.

The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation contributed $20.3 million to the trust, labeling the sum as “restricted — White House ballroom” in its own tax filing. It was by far the largest contribution during the year reported by the Perlmutter Foundation, created by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and his wife.

Trump has made beautifying Washington a priority in his second term and pushes companies and donors to write checks for tens of millions of dollars to finance these projects, the Journal has reported. His chief fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke calls major companies frequently making specific, at times eight-figures asks, the Journal reported.

No laws prohibit presidents from raising unlimited sums of money for nonprofits and public disclosure of donors isn’t required. Trump’s unprecedented fundraising from companies with business before his administration has raised concerns from congressional Democrats about the potential for conflicts of interest.

A spokeswoman for Trump previously said the president is the “most successful fundraiser in modern political history” and “President Trump can’t be bought.”

The newly released documents do provide some detail as to how the funds were spent.

The trust paid more than $800,000 to Florida Architectural Precast, a concrete manufacturer, for construction and other project services. The firm’s website lists Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club, as well as two of the president’s golf courses in Florida as some of its completed projects.

Luke Walters, the company’s chief operating officer, said in a LinkedIn post last year that its “manufacturing team” helped complete the White House Rose Garden. Walters posted pictures on the White House grounds, including one from within the Oval Office. The firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Trump has privately shared misgivings about livestreaming the firing-squad execution of a former Army major who murdered 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, according to four people who have spoken with the president.

Trump has been deluged with "negative input" about the idea from a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers as well as advisers inside and outside of his White House, a senior administration official said.

A livestream of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan's execution on Dec. 3 "might not happen," Trump told one confidant, who doesn't work in the administration and shared the comment with Axios.

"He didn't sound particularly enthusiastic" about webcasting the execution, the source said. "That's why he's calling around, doing the Trump thing, asking people what they think."

Hasan faces a firing squad at Fort Hood, where he went on his murderous shooting rampage 17 years ago. He would be the first person in the U.S. whose execution would be livestreamed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the norm-shattering idea Thursday on Real America's Voice.

"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it — that it's public — because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth said.

The idea was roundly condemned domestically and internationally. In the ensuing days, Trump started to publicly shift his positions:

At first, Trump was full-throated in his support. "Absolutely, I approve," Trump told reporters early Friday evening.

Later that night, Trump was more nuanced: "They want to do that because they want to set an example. I wasn't involved in that decision, but I understand the decision."

On Saturday, Trump took control by telling reporters he would have the final say: "There are two thoughts: Don't show it and show it. 'Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won't be doing what he did. So I'll make a decision, ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we'll make a decision," the president told reporters at the White House.

Vice President Vance has signaled where he thinks the president is going with the decision, according to a source.

"I don't know if that's actually going to happen," Vance, speaking off the cuff, told reporters Friday. He has privately repeated that to others.

"I'm not going to be watching it," Vance said.

Trump, Vance and everyone else in the administration is clear about supporting Hasan's execution. But the president is grappling with competing pressures.

"The president wants the bastard to pay, and a public execution might be that extra humiliation [Hasan] deserves," another confidant who spoke with the president said. "At the same time, he doesn't want to make the guy a martyr."

Said another: "This is an old dude in a wheelchair we're shooting. We want to livestream that?" (Hasan, 56, was permanently injured when he was shot during his capture.)

The divide in opinion over livestreaming the execution is another point of disagreement between Vance and Hegseth.

They've been on opposite sides when it comes to the use of military force in Yemen and Iran, to the leadership of the Army.

Advisers say the men have a good relationship.

Whether at the state or federal level, executions often are witnessed only by family members or select media. They haven't been livestreamed.

Executions used to be viewed in public squares, but that practice was discontinued in the 1930s, according to NPR.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's 2001 execution was viewable to loved ones and bombing survivors via a private closed-circuit telecast.

Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" Hasan fatally shot 13 people — including a pregnant woman — and wounded 32 others on Nov. 5, 2009, when they lined up for medical checks at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Processing Center.

The rampage was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

A special Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee report criticized the military for "political correctness" that blinded authorities to the major's increasingly clear Islamist radicalization.

Hasan will be executed unless something unexpected happens. The only real doubt is whether private citizens with no attachment to the case will be able to witness it.

"If I had to bet, I would bet the president doesn't authorize this," said one administration official. "But I'm not gonna get ahead of the boss and try to predict what he'll do."

"Hasan will be executed for his crimes," the official said, "and that's what matters."

NATO must modernize its military infrastructure to move forces and equipment from Western to Eastern Europe “where we would expect any future conflict,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Monday.

Speaking on a panel at the Warsaw Security Forum, Whitaker’s comments came as Washington reviews its military presence on the continent — with the ambassador saying that Europe ranks fourth among Washington’s strategic priorities, behind homeland security, the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific.

He pointed to outdated military bases, fuel supply chains and agreements governing the stationing of American troops in Europe as areas requiring attention under the ongoing U.S. force posture and basing review.

He emphasized the importance of military mobility and “moving things from the west to the east,” citing discussions with EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius. European officials warn that Russia could be ready to attack a NATO country by the end of the decade.

Whitaker did not announce any decisions to relocate or withdraw American forces. He nevertheless made clear that Washington is reassessing its global commitments to avoid spreading its military resources too thin.

“Superpowers and great global powers have mostly had challenges when they get overextended,” Whitaker said, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump wants allies to become “capable and not dependent.”

“The United States isn’t stepping back. We’re just asking you to step forward,” he said.

Whitaker also criticized countries that are falling short of their defense-spending commitments.

He said he had recently delivered a “very strong message” to political leaders in Czechia. The country’s defense spending for this year is approximately 1.8% of GDP, falling short of NATO’s current 2% benchmark.

European governments must continue strengthening their armed forces, he argued, warning that the continent still lacks many of the capabilities it needs to defend itself.

Kubilius, meanwhile, stressed the need to reduce Europe’s military dependence on Washington, highlighting EU efforts to develop its own drone defenses, satellite communications and surveillance capabilities.

Polish presidential adviser Marcin Przydacz, also on the panel, urged Western European allies to accelerate defense spending while emphasizing that NATO, rather than the EU, must remain responsible for Europe’s collective defense.

US energy regulators said the country's biggest power grid -- PJM Interconnection -- can ‌begin developing a database on Monday to track data centers, whose rapid expansion has driven up prices and threatened the reliability of the grid covering 67 million people, according to a regulatory filing.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in an order filed on Friday, rejected other central parts of a plan by PJM to manage data centers by temporarily shutting off grid power ⁠to the server warehouses to avoid blackouts in times of high energy demand.

The database approved by FERC could help the grid plan for the growth of data centers by revealing details about facilities like energy providers, in-service dates and power ramping-up schedules, as well as backup generation, fuel sources and location.

FERC said that PJM could submit a revised curtailment plan but would need to address various issues, including why data centers would be temporarily shut off from the grid before other large energy users.

PJM has been overwhelmed by an onslaught of data center electricity demand, which the grid operator forecasts to ‌triple ⁠by 2030 to about 29 gigawatts of capacity in its Midwest and Mid-Atlantic territory.

The rising demand has butted up against years of dwindling net electricity supplies in the region, contributing to a more than 1,000% increase in capacity costs in PJM since 2024 and a 6.8 gigawatt shortfall that could lead to blackouts.

In an attempt ⁠to manage data center demand, PJM has put several proposals before FERC.

In August, PJM proposed requiring new data center customers of 50 megawatts or greater in size pay to add new power supplies -- enough to cover the ⁠full electricity needs of the server warehouses -- or risk being shut off from the grid during times of power emergencies.

FERC rejected PJM's core plan of curtailing data center grid access during peak demand, ⁠saying that it strayed outside the grid operator's authority.

In its same August filing, PJM also proposed tracking those data centers, for which very few details about energy use have been provided to the grid.