South Carolina Senator Darline Graham has won the Republican Senate runoff, defeating Representative Ralph Norman to secure the nomination for the seat once held by her brother, the late Lindsey Graham. Graham, who had never run for elected office before, was appointed in July after her brother died suddenly. President Donald Trump campaigned for her, and his super PAC spent more than $827,000 on phone calls and text messages in the race. Her victory is being read as proof that Trump's endorsement remains a decisive force in Republican primaries, after several of his backed candidates stumbled in recent weeks. South Carolina has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in decades, so Graham is now all but assured of winning a full term in November.
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. The order came after negotiations between the United States and Canada collapsed last week, when the two countries failed to reach a trade agreement. Canada quickly rejected the new name. A Canadian maritime attorney said, "The Americans can call it whatever they want to call it. It is Lake Ontario." The renaming is the latest escalation in a trade dispute that has pushed the two neighbors toward a full-blown trade war. Trump has threatened tariffs of up to 50 percent on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts, and steel beginning in January. The two sides have since resumed talks, with Trump pausing new tariffs for three days.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, a symbolic move that comes as the trade war with Canada escalates. The lake is shared by the United States and Canada, and Canadian leaders have rejected the idea. The order is the latest in a series of US landmark renamings that have strained relations with neighbors.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for parts of President Donald Trump's executive order on mail-in voting, a decision that could reshape the November midterm elections. The court sided with the administration in a ruling announced Wednesday, allowing stricter rules on mail ballots to move forward. Democratic-controlled states immediately filed a new lawsuit challenging the order. Voting rights groups warned the rules could make it harder for millions of Americans to cast ballots. The court's action came as states prepare for a high-stakes election season, with control of Congress on the line. The decision is one of several recent court rulings that have split along familiar lines, with conservative justices in the majority.
The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration on new restrictions for mail-in ballots, a decision that could shape the midterm elections in November. The ruling clears the way for tighter rules on how ballots are collected and counted. Voting rights groups say the restrictions will make it harder for millions of Americans to vote, while Republicans say the rules protect election integrity. The decision lands weeks before key primary runoffs in South Carolina and as states prepare for the fall campaign. Democrats vowed to keep fighting for voting access, and legal challenges are expected to continue in lower courts.
A new online tracker shows the Trump administration has deleted or altered nearly 400 federal datasets across more than 60 agencies. The tracker, built by the research group dataindex.us, counts at least 28 deleted datasets and 338 modified data collections. Health data suffered the biggest losses, making up about 40 percent of the total. Examples include a database of federal law enforcement officer misconduct records, a survey of violence against children and youth, and real-time air quality readings from U.S. embassies around the world. Surveillance tools that track drug overdoses, disease outbreaks, and maternal health were among the most affected. Researchers warn the removals endanger the nation's ability to detect and respond to emerging disease threats and cut off public access to information about local health trends and chemical safety.
Data centers have become a defining issue of the 2026 midterm elections, with candidates in both parties campaigning against the giant computing facilities over rising electricity prices, water use and mistrust of big tech. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown has branded Republican Sen. Jon Husted 'the face of data centers.' In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing to restrict data centers in rural areas after initially welcoming the industry. Polls show more than 70% of Americans oppose a data center near their home, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has warned the issue is a 'sleeper' threat to the party. The backlash is scrambling traditional party lines ahead of November.
A federal judge in New York struck down President Trump's visa ban covering 75 countries. The Southern District of New York found the policy went beyond the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The ruling blocks one of the broadest immigration actions of the administration. Civil rights groups sued over the ban, arguing it was unlawful and discriminatory. The government says it will appeal the decision.
President Donald Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen publicly reunited on Cohen's radio show, ending years of bitter feuding. Cohen once called Trump a 'Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain' and testified against him in court and before Congress. The two traded insults for years after Cohen turned on his former boss. The reunion surprised many in political circles. Both men described the meeting as friendly and productive. Cohen served prison time for crimes related to his work for Trump. Political observers noted the timing, as Trump prepares for the 2026 midterm elections. The reconciliation closes one of the most unusual chapters in modern American politics.
Three candidates endorsed by President Donald Trump lost their Republican primaries on Tuesday in Florida and Wyoming, pushing the number of Trump-backed defeats this season to ten. In Wyoming, Megan Degenfelder lost the governor's race, taking under 30 percent of the vote. In Florida, Representative Cory Mills lost his House seat to Ryan Elijah, a former TV reporter, and Catalina Lauf finished behind talk radio founder Jim Schwartzel. Nearly 300,000 people voted in the three races. Analysts say the losses show Trump's grip on Republican voters has loosened, though his endorsement still carries weight in most contests. Trump said on Truth Social that he had told Mills to leave the race before he lost.