President Donald Trump takes his midterm campaign blitz to Texas, where Senate candidate Ken Paxton is locked in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join Trump to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries, according to a congressional aide and two U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, the Iran war, which Trump often describes as a “little detour,” has emerged as an unforced liability for a president who promised to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars. Republican strategists privately acknowledge it’s severely damaging party efforts to retain control of Congress as gasoline price hikes drive up costs across the economy and new hostilities emerge.
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And two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress about investigations involving Hunter Biden have a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Lawyers for Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides call the charges baseless and politically motivated, the latest in a series of splashy investigative actions by the Justice Department as Americans go to vote.
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Republicans try to shake voter frustration over the Iran war
GOP strategists privately acknowledge that the Iran war is severely damaging their push to retain control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
They point to voters like Noor Dubow, who says he’s regularly voted for Republicans who align with his economic views, even though he’s never been a fan of Donald Trump or the president’s dehumanizing rhetoric toward immigrants. Not this year — Dubow says his early midterm election ballot tipped more toward Democrats because of his frustration over Trump’s war with Iran.
“Where are the Republicans in Congress?” asked Dubow, 44, a dispatcher at a trucking logistics firm in Columbus, Ohio, where he has a bird’s eye view of the surging fuel prices disrupting the economy. “Why aren’t the Republicans holding Trump accountable?”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker steps up spending in Mississippi, Kansas and South Carolina
The billionaire Democrat, who is on the cusp of reelection and considering a 2028 presidential bid, is directing some last-minute campaign spending on Senate Democratic nominees in traditionally Republican states.
Pritzker’s Ready for the Fight PAC is making a $1 million ad buy for Scott Colom against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi and spending $500,000 for Adam Hamilton against GOP incumbent Roger Marshall in Kansas.
Shared first with The Associated Press, the plan also includes money for voter turnout in Mississippi and South Carolina, where Democrat Annie Andrews wants to unseat Sen. Darline Graham. All three would be upsets as Democrats seek to flip the Senate.
Meanwhile, Illinois first lady MK Pritzker said she donated $500,000 to Democrat Amy Acton’s gubernatorial campaign in Ohio because of her opponent’s controversial ad featuring her estranged mother.
Political ad spending in the midterm elections has set a new record
With spending on campaign ads now reaching $11.21 billion, the 2025-2026 midterms have become the most expensive ever, according to AdImpact, which tracks media spending.
A week out from Election Day, total spending and reservations has topped the $11.20 billion spent in 2023-2024 period, which included the presidential contest.
The latest figure has not been adjusted for inflation.
Trump vows to appeal temporary hold on renovation of Washington golf course
The president says he’ll appeal a federal judge’s order putting a temporary hold on his plans to renovate a Washington golf course.
“The Development of this World Championship Public Facility must begin, immediately, if it is to be completed in a timely and seasonal manner,” he posted on social media.
Trump said the East Potomac Golf Course could hold major events once renovated and would remain public with reduced rates for residents of the nation’s capital.
Judge Ana Reyes’ preliminary injunction temporarily bars the removal or damage of any more trees on the course, ordering the administration to give 10 days’ notice in writing before making any “irreparable modification” to any of the course’s “forms or features.”
“The Court earlier stated, ‘I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees.’ The Court still does not speak for the trees. It speaks only for the rule of law,” Reyes wrote.