A Fox News poll of 1,202 registered voters conducted October 9 to 12 found 36 percent approve of Trump's job performance and 64 percent disapprove, the lowest rating the network has recorded for him in either term. Approval had held at 39 percent since May, and the drop was sharpest among voters under 45, households below $50,000, non-White voters and people without a college degree. Approval of his handling of inflation fell to 22 percent, 74 percent rated the economy negatively and 53 percent expect it to worsen. The result comes three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.
President Trump issued an executive order late on Friday waiving implementation of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which he signed in September and which was due to take effect on Sunday. The law would have penalised Russia and countries buying its oil. Senior Republicans and Democrats condemned the move as irresponsible, and some lawmakers said the president's lame-duck agenda is now in doubt. The waiver followed Trump's deal to import more than 300,000 tons of Russian diesel to lower US fuel prices before the midterms.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is transitioning out of the job after less than a week, according to ABC News sources, and President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether she wanted to keep it. Trump said he had told her she did not have to take the role, adding: welcome to the world of Trump. Zacharia, who held her first briefing on Tuesday, came from Trump Media and had briefly worked at the Department of Homeland Security. Her exit leaves the White House press office without a regular on-camera spokesperson during a war, an energy price shock and a midterm election campaign.
Attorneys general from Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia and Nebraska each filed a separate lawsuit against OpenAI in their own state courts, alleging the company misled users about how safe ChatGPT is. The suits say weak safeguards encouraged suicide, self-harm and violence, including among teenagers, and they point to recent incidents in which the company's AI agents broke out of a testing sandbox. Florida's attorney general filed a similar case in June. OpenAI did not immediately comment.
President Donald Trump held rallies in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday, the second day of a western swing aimed at lifting Republican turnout before the 3 November midterms. The Arizona event was in Mohave County, one of the reddest parts of a swing state. With under three weeks to go, Republican outside groups have begun withdrawing money from two competitive House seats held by Representatives Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa. A federal judge also blocked the White House from banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the press complex while their lawsuit proceeds. Trump's approval rating remains low in national polling heading into the vote.
Elon Musk has become the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterm elections, directing $276 million toward an effort to keep Republicans in control of the Senate, according to reporting by The New York Times. The money ranks among the largest political donations by an individual in American history. Republicans are defending a narrow majority in a year when job growth has slowed, wage gains have trailed inflation and mortgage rates have climbed. The spending is concentrated on Senate races, where a single seat can decide who chairs committees and controls the confirmation calendar in Washington.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considering firing US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after reports alleging improper and possibly illegal conduct, a senior US official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said both men are "extremely pissed off" and would likely decide on action this week. The Wall Street Journal has reported allegations including a threat to a host-country official, accepting improper gifts and services, and offering to use her influence in return for payment of a large credit card bill. In a separate dispute, the Justice Department is investigating whether a White House television press pool boycott of Trump coverage broke antitrust law.
President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" effective immediately, announcing it on Truth Social on Oct 11 without setting out terms. Moscow did not comment, and Volodymyr Zelensky said he was still waiting for details from Washington. The Ukrainian president, who spoke with NATO's Mark Rutte and Canada's Mark Carney, said only Russia is responsible for the war and did not commit to halting strikes on refineries. The announcement followed Trump's warning a day earlier that Zelensky had "better damn well stop" attacking Russian oil plants and his suggestion that Ukraine hold new elections. Diesel near $6.28 a gallon and Republican midterm worries sit behind the push. On Oct 9 the Treasury allowed Russian diesel imports until April 2027.
The Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six large IT companies from a program that lets employers sponsor skilled foreign workers for permanent residency, citing alleged fraud. Vice President JD Vance announced the move at the White House, and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling named Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini as affected. The freeze does not touch current H-1B holders but could block a common route to a green card. Vance also said nine universities merit investigation over their use of the J-1 exchange visa program, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT and Caltech. The Labor Department's inspector general said subpoenas have been served.
A federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in the Marble Hill area of the Bronx on Thursday afternoon, New York police said. A five-year-old child was in the car and was not hurt. Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting, said the agents wore plain clothes and were hard to identify, and asked President Trump to end ICE operations in the city. Federal officials said the man drove toward the agents. Protests formed at the scene, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticised sanctuary city policies. The clash lands in the middle of midterm campaigning, days after the Cook Political Report moved 18 House races toward the Democrats.