Sunday, October 18, 2026 · Morning Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. Weeks before the midterms, the administration is tightening its grip on the vote. Legal expert Joyce Vance theorized the escalation is part of a grander scheme, a contingency plan should Republicans suffer a loss. It lands as Democrats lead the House vote choice and Trump's approval hits a record low, with half or more Americans calling every household purchase category measured "unaffordable."

Rather than answer the squeeze on wages and prices, Trump spent Saturday [in Kentucky rallying candidates while taking criticism, including from his own party, for ordering sanctions relief for Russia even as it keeps striking Ukraine](https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/president-trump-faces-backlash-over-russia-sanctions-relief-271759941812). Zelenskyy says Trump is letting Putin off, and experts say the waiver brings only limited relief to US fuel buyers while undermining Kyiv. Meanwhile he has been especially eager to talk about the physical appearance of some men.

The cost of living is driving people into the streets. In Paris, police arrested a record 855 people and used tear gas as protests over rising costs erupted; "we're fighting against the same system," one young woman at the demonstrations said. In Israel, Arab citizens say four years under Netanyahu's far-right government have grown so intolerable that they are mobilizing in record numbers to unseat him in a tight vote.

At home the machinery of neglect grinds on: the CDC is sending a disease expert to Pennsylvania amid a measles outbreak. In Texas, scandal-dogged attorney general Ken Paxton is running for the US Senate; Republican María Elvira Salazar cut an ad warning Trump he has "gone too far" on immigration, a sign of GOP fear its Latino gains are slipping. The bosses blame the economy; one syrup CEO admits layoffs are a choice.