Sunday, October 25, 2026 · Evening Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. Nine days out from the November 3 midterms, the administration is working the machinery of the vote itself. Attorney General Todd Blanche doubled down on the DOJ's Alaska lawsuit, insisting that President Trump is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape or form — even as the conduct at issue could be a crime. Sen. Thom Tillis called California "guilty" of ballot harvesting. The White House, meanwhile, moved to strip some tariffs off Canadian goods after an embattled Republican senator in Maine lobbied for it — a naked bid to prop up its own candidates.

The giveaways run one direction. Trump boasted that American oil companies are making a "fortune" on the Iran war while Americans pay record prices at the pump. At a Michigan rally he escalated his attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, going after the Muslim Senate candidate's faith and claiming his background shows sympathy for extremists — a day after Obama campaigned for Democrats and warned of division.

Abroad, the left pushes back. In France, an estimated 410,000 marched against inequality and living costs, with clashes in several cities for a second straight weekend. In Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic conceded: "It is clear that we have lost these elections." He had led with virtually absolute power for 14 years and smeared the student movement against him as a foreign-led plot.

The bills keep coming due. U.S. measles cases have more than doubled from last year, Pennsylvania worst hit with at least 1,338 confirmed cases across 44 counties. And accountability may yet follow: Liz Oyer, fired as pardon attorney by Blanche in 2025, says a loophole could haunt these officials for years. Even now Trump found time to tell Norway it "sucks" over the Nobel.