Monday, October 26, 2026 · Morning Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. Eight days out from the November 3 midterms, Trump spent Sunday [escalating anti-Muslim attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, portraying him as a threat to national security and questioning his loyalty to the United States](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6016816/trump-escalates-anti-muslim-attacks). At a Port Huron rally he called El-Sayed a "jihadist" while stumping for Republicans. El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, is locked in a dead heat against Republican Mike Rogers. The administration's closing argument is not wages, rent or jobs — it is raw bigotry aimed at a Muslim candidate, the playbook the right runs when it has nothing to offer the people it governs.

In Washington, House Judiciary Democrats [released a 50-page report detailing discrepancies in Trump's statements about Epstein while making multiple uncorroborated allegations, issued just eight days before the election](https://www.ms.now/news/house-judiciary-democrats-report-trump-epstein-files). A handful of Senate races will determine which party controls the chamber, and whether Democrats can come to power to stymie Trump's agenda. Meanwhile the administration is in court trying to block 20,000 California ballots, with two Ninth Circuit judges questioning how its position squared with the law.

Abroad, Israeli voters head to the polls Tuesday in a general election shaped by war, security and coalition math. Analysts call it [the most consequential in decades, a referendum on Netanyahu, who is fighting to retain his premiership as retired general Gadi Eisenkot emerges as his main rival](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-10-26/analysts-israel-elections-a-referendum-on-netanyahu-video).

In Brazil, Lula narrowly triumphed over Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of the right-wing leader he defeated four years ago — an upset that blocks Trump's push for a far-right Brazil and lands as a blow to Trump. But a U.S.-backed rare-earth deal shows American strategic gains can survive the setback — capital extracts its terms whoever occupies the palace. Back home, a fight over how to define ultra-processed food contributed to the resignation of Trump health adviser Calley Means.