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Sep 6, 2026

Trump Tells the Fed to Cut Rates or He Will "Stop Trading" With Every Country the U.S. Runs a Deficit With — Ten Days Before a Meeting His Own Fed Chair Is Signaling Will Raise Them

On Friday, September 4, 2026, hours after a jobs report showed employers added 162,000 jobs in August, President Trump posted a Truth Social ultimatum telling the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates or he would cut off trade with every country that runs a surplus with the United States: "LOWER THE RATE OR I'LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT." He told the Fed Board it "must get smart — BE PATRIOTS for a change." The threat capped an unusually broad week-long pressure campaign: Vice President JD Vance told a White House briefing on September 3 that it was "proper and responsible" for the Fed to lower rates; National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said on September 4 that the administration "respect[s] their independence" but that the case for holding steady was "pretty strong"; and senior economic counselor Peter Navarro, in a Friday interview with Steve Bannon, called members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee "clowns" and said a hike would be "careless." The target of the campaign is Trump's own hand-picked Fed chair. Kevin Warsh, confirmed in May 2026 in the closest vote in modern history, used his Jackson Hole speech in late August to say the Fed's focus needed to be squarely on inflation, and markets put the odds of a quarter-point hike at the September 15-16 meeting at roughly 60 percent. The meeting falls eight weeks before midterm elections in which polling shows widespread voter anger over prices — a frustration Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) described on "Meet the Press" on September 6 as inflation "gutting people like a fish," while conceding his own party was unlikely to do anything about it before November.

“Except for inflation, which as I said, sucks, the economy’s solid.”
John Kennedy (R-LA) · Sep 6, 2026

An Armed Man Shoves Through the Crowd Toward Ohio's Democratic Nominee for Governor at the Canfield Fair — Two Handguns, Brass Knuckles and a Taser on Him, Several People Knocked to the Ground — and the Republican Governor, Senator and Nominee All Condemn It Within Hours

At about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, 2026, Dr. Amy Acton — the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio and the state's former health director — was speaking in the Mahoning County Democratic Party's tent at the Canfield Fair, outside Youngstown, when a 38-year-old Canfield man holding up a cellphone began shoving his way through the crowd toward her. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and security stopped him; several people were knocked to the ground and injured. Acton, a physician, was not hurt and stayed to treat one of the injured. The Mahoning County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Patrick Havas and said deputies recovered two handguns, a set of brass knuckles and a Taser, none of which were drawn. He was booked on disorderly conduct and two counts of assault. Havas shares an address with Andrew Havas, a Jon Husted campaign volunteer who resigned in July after NBC News reported his 2009 misdemeanor conviction stemming from sexual-misconduct accusations involving a 15-year-old; investigators have not described a political motive. Condemnations came quickly and across party lines. Gov. Mike DeWine, who said he had spoken with Acton and that she asked him to tell Ohioans she was okay, called violence or its threat at political events "always unacceptable." Sen. Jon Husted said he and his wife were "disturbed" and that the behavior "must never be tolerated." Attorney General Andy Wilson said "political violence of any kind has no place in Ohio or our nation." The campaign of Acton's Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, said candidates "should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence," and Sherrod Brown, the Democratic Senate nominee, thanked law enforcement for a "quick and professional response." The incident came four days before the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination in Utah and in a race recent polling has shown to be competitive.

“The attempted violence directed at Dr. Acton is unacceptable — political violence of any kind has no place in Ohio or our nation.”
Andy Wilson (R-OH) · Sep 6, 2026

The House Votes 212-206 to Write Nine Justices Into the Constitution — Nowhere Near the Two-Thirds It Needed, With Exactly One Democrat Voting Yes and Jim Clyburn Answering That "a Baker's Dozen Would Be a Good Number"

On September 2, 2026 the House voted 212-206 on H.J. Res. — the "Keep Nine Amendment" offered by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) — a proposed constitutional amendment reading that "The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices consisting of one chief justice and eight associate justices." A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds of the chamber, so a six-vote margin was not close; the resolution failed. The vote was the second of two messaging votes House Republican leaders scheduled in the run-up to the November midterms, paired with the resolution condemning socialism that passed 220-192 the day before. The premise of both was the same: force Democrats onto the record and use the answer in ads. On this one it worked in the narrow sense — every Republican voted yes and all but one Democrat voted no. Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), who represents a competitive eastern North Carolina district, was the lone Democratic yes. What the vote also documented is how far court expansion has traveled inside the Democratic Party since 2020. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the former majority whip and about as institutional a Democrat as the House has, said on the record that Congress "ought to expand" the Court and that thirteen justices would be "a pretty good number." Democratic leaders framed their opposition in structural terms instead — House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) argued the amendment would strip Congress of an authority the Constitution assigns it — while Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on Judiciary, said plainly that the point was to lock in "the political court that MAGA built."

“They want to sacralize and constitutionalize nine because Donald Trump likes the fact that they overturned abortion rights.”
Jamie Raskin (D-MD) · Sep 6, 2026

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Sep 6, 2026· Updated

Eight Months After U.S. Troops Seized Maduro, Trump Announces "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY" — a 100-Year Lease on 65 Billion Barrels of Venezuelan Crude

On Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, President Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States had "secured majority US control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer" — calling it "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY." As described by the administration, the arrangement covers 17 oil fields across Venezuela's main petroleum basins. A newly formed private company — the U.S. government partnering with a private operator the White House has not named — receives 100-year development rights. The United States takes what officials describe as 55 percent effective output, comprising an ownership stake plus the right to buy oil at cost, with the crude earmarked for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and military use. The administration projects roughly $100 billion in private investment into Venezuela's oil industry and more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Caracas. Trump said the deal "more than doubles American oil reserves" and "will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans." Trump said the agreement was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez, who called it a "historic milestone in bilateral relations." Rubio called it "a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people." The announcement lands roughly eight months after the January 2026 U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro and flew him to the United States to face narcoterrorism charges — an operation Congress never authorized, and one Democrats had argued from the start was about oil. Their reaction on Friday was to say the deal proved the point. Sen. Chris Van Hollen wrote that "this isn't a win," calling it "proof Trump put our service members at risk to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies." Sen. Tim Kaine, of the Foreign Relations Committee, said "Using our troops for a private oil grab is corruption at epic scale!" Republicans framed it as vindication: Sen. Bernie Moreno said that "if it were up to DC Democrats, Maduro would still be in power." Neither Trump nor Rubio disclosed specifics of the arrangement — the identity of the private operator, the production timeline, or who bears the cost of rebuilding Venezuela's degraded oil infrastructure. Major U.S. producers have kept their distance: ExxonMobil's CEO said earlier in 2026 that Venezuela was "uninvestable" in its current state, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips both remain wary years after their assets there were expropriated.

“The United States did no cost, zero cost to American taxpayers, but we’re going to get massive amounts of discounted oil price and ownership interest.”
Chris Wright (R-CO) · Sep 6, 2026

The Supreme Court Lets Trump's Mail-Voting Order Move Forward 71 Days Before the Midterms — "A Giant Leap Forward" or "A Dagger Into the Heart of Our Democracy"

On Monday, August 24, 2026, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration an interim victory on its effort to restrict who receives a mail-in ballot before the November midterms. In an unsigned emergency-docket order that divided the justices along ideological lines, the Court lifted the injunction U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani entered in June, which had blocked key provisions of President Trump's March 2026 executive order from taking effect in the 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued — a group that includes Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of confirmed adult U.S. citizens in each state, requires states that use mail balloting to hand the federal government lists of every registered voter receiving a mail or absentee ballot in a federal election, and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to decline to deliver mail ballots from states that do not comply. The Postal Service issued its final rules on August 22, adding new ballot design standards and serialized barcodes on outgoing and return envelopes. The majority wrote that its "disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the government to implement the order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell." Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, warning the decision creates a "Kafkaesque nightmare" that "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections." Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, wrote that the order "merely postpones adjudication" of whether the president may direct the administration of a state-run election at all. The ruling does not end the litigation. A second injunction Talwani issued on August 11 in a suit brought by the League of Women Voters and Democratic Party committees blocks the order nationwide and remains in force, and the states have said they will challenge the Postal Service's new rules. Democratic senators, governors and attorneys general cast the decision as sanctioning voter suppression weeks before ballots go out; Republicans who have long pushed to curb mail voting called it a win for election security and renewed their push for the SAVE America Act.

“We'll use every tool in our toolbox to ensure they know the truth about our elections. We'll follow the law. We'll protect the right to vote.”
Jocelyn Benson (D-MI) · Sep 6, 2026

The Pentagon Fires the Publisher, Editor-in-Chief and a Reporter of Stars and Stripes for "Insubordination" — the Editor Says It Was for Saying on CBS That Censoring the Troops’ Newspaper Would Be a Red Line

On Friday, August 21, 2026, the Pentagon issued separation notices to three people at Stars and Stripes: publisher Max Lederer, who had held the job for 19 years; editor-in-chief Erik Slavin; and Middle East reporter Lara Korte. The stated cause was insubordination. Slavin said he was told his dismissal was tied to a "CBS Sunday Morning" segment that aired in July, in which he was asked a hypothetical about censorship of news for service members and answered that it would be a red line. Stars and Stripes is partially funded by the Defense Department but has operated with statutory editorial independence since the Civil War era. The firings capped a months-long sequence: a March memo tightening the department's oversight of the newsroom and imposing content restrictions; the April termination of the paper's ombudsman, a post Congress created specifically to protect its independence; and, this month, the installation of an active-duty Navy public affairs officer, Capt. William Urban, as a "military deputy" to the publisher — reportedly without consulting Lederer, who announced his retirement days later. Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell was unapologetic, saying the department would "refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale" and that the paper would be "custom tailored to our warfighters." Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the firings "political interference and intimidation" and said he would seek Senate Armed Services Committee hearings and changes in the National Defense Authorization Act. The day before the firings, Blumenthal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) had written to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers by August 28 about the Urban appointment and Lederer's departure. The firings followed Stars and Stripes reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its record 250-day deployment — coverage that is itself the subject of a separate Senate inquiry.

“He’s pushed out journalists. He’s pushed out media. This is part of his effort to create fear and to clamp down on information.”
Jason Crow (D-CO) · Sep 6, 2026

U.S. Pauses Iran Bombing Campaign as Military Leaders Warn Trump About Dwindling Munitions Stockpiles

The United States paused its bombing campaign against Iran on the night of Friday, July 24, 2026, after nearly two weeks of consecutive nightly strikes, with operations placed "on a hold" according to a Defense Department source. On July 25 the military announced no new strikes for the first time in two weeks. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine had raised concerns in a White House meeting about the state of U.S. munitions stockpiles, telling Trump the military could execute the available options but warning of the implications. President Trump publicly dismissed the concerns, acknowledging the U.S. would like more of "the more sophisticated stuff" while insisting the military has what it needs and blaming the Biden administration for transfers to Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz conceded "a lot of stockpiles are depleted." The pause landed in the middle of a budget fight: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Caine asked senators to approve an $87.6 billion supplemental, including roughly $40 billion to expand production of solid rocket motors, precision-guided bombs, hypersonic weapons and counter-drone systems, while House Republicans advanced a separate $95 billion reconciliation framework. Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the services' munitions stockpiles are "under extreme strain," and Democrats including Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) argued the depletion showed the war lacked a coherent strategy.

“These types of precise munitions do not grow on trees. They take a long time to build up.”
Jason Crow (D-CO) · Sep 6, 2026

Hegseth Pentagon Purge of Senior Military Officers

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or forced out more than a dozen senior military officers since taking office, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George. The purge, framed as removing "woke" generals and restoring a "warrior ethos," has drawn bipartisan concern — particularly after the firing of Gen. George in April 2026 during the active U.S.-Iran conflict. Five former defense secretaries condemned the firings as "reckless" in a joint letter to Congress.

“Well, it's not my place to have confidence in him.”
John Kennedy (R-LA) · Sep 6, 2026

Three Four-Star Combatant Commanders and the Chief of Naval Operations Formally Tell Hegseth "Non-Concur" on Extending the Iran War — and When It Leaks, the Pentagon's Answer Is That Publishing It "Is a Crime"

The August 14, 2026 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book — the classified internal document that allocates which forces go where — asked the services and the combatant commands to sign off on extending the units committed to the Iran war. According to reporting published by The Washington Post on August 30, they did not. The commanders of U.S. European Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Southern Command, along with Adm. Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations, entered a formal "non-concur" — the military's institutional way of putting disagreement on the record. The chiefs of the Army and Air Force concurred but attached warnings that doing so carried significant risk. The substance of the objection was readiness. With so many aircraft, ships and air-defense systems pulled into the Iran campaign, the commanders responsible for Europe, the Pacific and Latin America told Hegseth they could not execute their own war plans if a crisis opened in their theaters — or, in one framing, defend the homeland. Caudle told Hegseth the Navy cannot sustain its current contribution when the campaign has no anticipated end date, and reported that barely a quarter of the destroyer fleet was ready to deploy. The Pentagon's public response was not to engage the readiness argument but to attack the disclosure. Chief spokesman Sean Parnell wrote that publishing the orders book is "a crime" and "a betrayal of the force," while simultaneously arguing that non-concurs are routine and that the secretary "sees them constantly." A Washington Post spokesperson said the paper was confident in its reporting and sourcing. In Congress — still in recess until mid-September, which sharply limited on-record reaction over the holiday weekend — the first responses came from House Democrats. Rep. Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran on Armed Services, said the episode was "another example of mismanagement by Pete Hegseth" and that his decisions "will have a negative impact on readiness for years to come." Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a senior Intelligence Committee member, tied it directly to China: with the carrier USS George Washington moved out of the Pacific and munitions stockpiles depleted, he told Bloomberg the United States is inviting Beijing to test it over Taiwan.

“The Department does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly. Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world.”
Sean Parnell (R) · Sep 5, 2026

Trump Says He Will Bill Europe for the Weapons the United States Already Gave Ukraine — "We Will Be Asking for That Money, Though Somewhat Belatedly" — and Halts Munitions Sales to Allies While He Denies the Iran War Has Drained the Stockpile

On September 3, 2026, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States would seek retroactive payment from European countries for the munitions and military aid sent to Ukraine under the Biden administration. "Hundreds of Billions of Dollars was given to Ukraine and NATO, free of charge, that Europe would have paid for — If they were only asked, but we will be asking for that money, though somewhat belatedly!" He did not name which countries he meant, or identify any legal mechanism for collecting. The post was also a rebuttal. Reporting through late August had described U.S. precision-munitions stockpiles heavily depleted by six months of war with Iran, and combatant commanders had formally objected to extending the campaign. Trump wrote that the United States has "virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade Ammunition" and is producing at "levels never seen before" — while simultaneously confirming a pause in sales to allies: "We are taking them for ourselves, the U.S.A., rather than selling them to others, but the sales to allies will soon again, begin." The demand landed as European governments were already refusing to join the Iran campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the G20 finance meeting in North Carolina, described a global energy shock driven by both the Ukraine and Iran wars. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, had just returned from a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine. She called the president's demand "outrageous" and said she would increase Ukraine funding if Democrats win the House.

“[If I] chair the Appropriations Committee, we will increase funds. And if we've got that same case in the Senate, then we've got the House and the Senate in sync to try to move forward.”
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) · Sep 4, 2026

A U.S. Bomb Misses a Communications Tower by 440 Feet and Lands on a Fisherman's Daughter's Wedding in Kuhestak — Asked About the Four Dead, the Vice President Says He Is "Extremely Skeptical" and That "Sometimes, Things Happen"

On the night of Tuesday, September 1, 2026, dozens of people gathered at a home in Kuhestak, a fishing town on the Iranian coast of the Strait of Hormuz, for the wedding of a fisherman's daughter. A munition struck the building. Iranian authorities named four dead — four-year-old Amir Ali Karimi, 16-year-old Mohammad Malahi, 43-year-old Kolsoum Malahi and 43-year-old Zarkhatoun Taheri — and the Iranian Red Crescent put the wounded at 67; a 22-year-old woman later died in hospital, bringing the reported toll to five. Reuters and The New York Times independently verified footage showing a wedding was underway when the building was hit. The strike was part of a wave of U.S. attacks on southern Iran that ended a month-long lull in the war. Six bombs targeted a communications tower in Kuhestak; one went astray by roughly 440 feet and hit the house. Weapons experts identified the ordnance as a Joint Standoff Weapon glide bomb, and three independent analysts concluded the munition was American rather than an errant Iranian air-defense missile. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper ordered an internal review. CENTCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said the command was aware of reports "which originated from Iranian state media" and that "the U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC." Asked about it at a White House briefing on Thursday, September 3, Vice President JD Vance said he was extremely skeptical of the Iranian account, said the United States never targets civilians, said the administration was investigating because "we care" — and, of the deaths, that "sometimes, things happen." The phrase drew immediate backlash. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a lead sponsor of the Iran war powers effort, called it "unbelievable gaslighting" in a video posted to X. It is the second mass-casualty incident of the war to put U.S. targeting under scrutiny. After the February 28 strike on a school in Minab that killed more than 165 people, 41 Senate Democrats led by Van Hollen, Kaine, Schatz and Warren pressed the Pentagon for the intended target, the authorizing officer, the munitions used and the precautions taken — and senators later moved to block Hegseth's travel funds until the report was delivered. Democratic members have asked for the Kuhestak findings; as of September 6 the review had not been sent to Congress. Iran's foreign ministry called the strike a "war crime" and wrote to the U.N.; human rights groups have called for an ICC investigation.

“It's unbelievable gaslighting. This is war. As if Americans can't see what's going on on their own phones, with their own eyes.”
Ro Khanna (D-CA) · Sep 4, 2026

Trump Signs an Executive Order Starting the Removal of Gray and Mexican Wolves From the Endangered Species List — "But You Can Shoot Them as of Today," He Tells Ranchers, and His Agriculture Secretary Has to Explain That They Still Cannot

On Friday, September 4, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Supporting America's Ranchers" that gives Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether the gray wolf and the Mexican wolf have met the recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act — and, if he finds they have, to begin the delisting process. The order also directs greater state involvement in wolf management and changes to how livestock depredations are investigated and how ranchers are compensated for confirmed kills. At the signing event Trump told ranchers they could shoot wolves "as of today." Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, standing with him, explained that the animals remain federally protected and that ranchers can only "sit and watch them destroy their herd" while the listing stands — the order starts a review, it does not itself lift protections. The wolf order was signed alongside a second rancher-directed order on meat processing, antitrust enforcement under the Packers and Stockyards Act, and a review of mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef — the White House's answer to the backlash from cattle producers over its decision to waive tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef. Republicans who have pushed delisting bills for years welcomed it. As of the following day no Democratic member of Congress had gone on record against the wolf order; the opposition on the record came from conservation groups.

“But you can shoot them as of today.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 4, 2026

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