Wednesday, September 23, 2026 · Morning Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. The administration told a federal court late Tuesday that barring CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House is within Trump's rights, calling the outlets' access a “privilege” and citing national security. The Justice Department told the judges that the three outlets' reporting jeopardized national security and spread falsehoods — the government asking the courts to bless the punishment of journalism it dislikes. This is the same administration that deported more than 100 people to a brutal Salvadoran prison in defiance of a federal judge's order. The courts are a weapon when they serve power and an obstacle to be ignored when they don't.

The same machinery reaches ordinary people. ICE detained Ho Yin Mo, an aide to a California Democrat, at Harry Reid International Airport on September 17. Even a Miami Republican broke ranks: Rep. María Elvira Salazar said the president's immigration enforcement went too far — and drew backlash for it.

The right is also rigging the map. Missouri's redrawn congressional districts landed before the Supreme Court a third time after an appeals court revived new lines backed by Trump. Yet the gerrymander is not holding: Republicans who redrew their seats to make them safely red are now spending millions to defend them, forced back into play as Trump's favorability craters and the polling looks grim for the GOP. A majority of Americans say the country is on the wrong track and would back a Democrat in 2026.

Popular anger runs deeper than the ballot. [Fifty-eight percent of voters say new tech data centers will mostly hurt the country, and 65% oppose building them in their own communities](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/voters-dont-like-data-centers-they-really-dont-like-them-close-to-home). Meanwhile capital gets its own justice: Azerbaijan pardoned a French citizen a day after the EU lifted sanctions on a Russian billionaire following lobbying from Paris.