SCOTUS’ 2025-26 session begins Monday, and many of its most urgent cases over the next 10 months will follow up on emergency docket rulings that largely have overturned rulings against President Trump’s Constitution-challenging executive orders. Read our preview in The Gray Area or on our Substack page.

TUESDAY 10/7/25

‘Many Details’ Linger in Peace – On the second anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari, says many details of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza strip need to be worked out, Reuters reports. The deal would return 48 Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinian security prisoners, and Hamas would relinquish its leadership of Gaza.

Timeline … Haaretz documents the Hamas attack and Israel’s response Tuesday in “Two Years of Hell.”

•••

Negotiations with Canada – Prime Minister Mark Carney goes to the White House Tuesday to meet with President Trump in an effort to bring down tariffs between the US and Canada, Marketplace reports. At issue is Trump’s 35% tariff on many Canadian goods, which excepts those goods covered by Trump 45’s US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which is scheduled for renegotiation in summer of 2026. 

Canada also faces a 25% tariff on heavy commercial trucks imported to the US scheduled for November 1.

•••

Court Considers Conversion Therapy – The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in Chiles v. Salazar, on whether Colorado’s ban on much-discredited “conversion therapy” violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment (per SCOTUSblog).

•••

De-Weaponize This – Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi, who in her confirmation hearing early this year said she would “de-weaponize” the Justice Department, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, less than two weeks after her indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey at President Trump’s behest. 

Comey is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Wednesday, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. He is charged with one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice.

•••

Renewables Beat Coal – Renewables led by solar and wind power surpassed coal as global energy sources for the first time in 2024, Ember reported Tuesday. Low-carbon sources accounted for 40.9% of world energy consumption, the green-leaning think tank says. Solar power grew by 29% in 2024, though electricity demand was up 4% largely due to an increase in heatwaves. –TL

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MONDAY 10/6/25

LAWSUIT TO BLOCK TROOP DEPLOYMENT – Illinois and Chicago sued Monday to block President Trump’s deployment of National Guard members in the city after the White House moved to send in hundreds of troops, The Hill reports. Gov. JB Pritzker objected to War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s federalization of up to 300 Illinois National Guard on Saturday, and to President Trump’s direction on Sunday of up to 400 federalized Texas National Guard members to Chicago, Portland, Oregon and potentially “where needed.” 

The complaint reads in part: “The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor.”

Nobel for Trump? – As President Trump sent National Guard troops and ICE agents to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, over the last week, Israel and Hamas are meeting in Egypt Monday to negotiate a “sweeping peace plan” that Trump presented last week. The Nobel Peace Prize Trump seeks and which his political nemesis Barack Obama received in his first term, is to be awarded Friday.

Let’s see if we can sort this out.

Like all of Trump’s near-deals, this one touted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last Monday is not yet done. But its prospects are quite good.

Hamas last Friday “signaled” willingness to release Israeli hostages captured in its October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, as a key part of Trump’s ceasefire proposal, in exchange for prisoners held in Israel. On Saturday, Netanyahu said Israel was “on the brink of a great achievement” that could include release of remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, according to The New York Times.

Israel’s government said Saturday it was preparing for “immediate implementation” of the first steps in Trump’s proposal.

Judge blocks Trump twice … Late Sunday evening US District Court Judge Karen Immergut, a Trump appointee, blocked the administration’s second effort to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, this time from California and Texas, saying the deployment would be “in direct contravention” of her earlier order blocking deployment of Oregon National Guard, Politico reports. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had sued the Trump administration, seeking to block the White House’s order to send 300 National Guard troops from California to Portland, ostensibly to “protect” ICE agents from protestors. The judge first ruling blocked a Trump administration order to send 200 Oregon National Guard troops into the city. 

Meanwhile, in Chicago … Still in play is the Trump administration’s plan to send Texas National Guard troops to Chicago, where armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been a growing presence. Last week federal agents conducted a “military-style” raid on a South Shore apartment building, arresting 37 people and “leaving behind cracked windows, broken doors and a lot of pain,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will not be suing the White House to prevent deployment of his National Guard to Chicago.

Like Newsom in California, Illinois’ Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, is trying to push back on Trump’s National Guard and ICE deployments.

“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Pritzker told Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
MONDAY 10/6/25

FRIDAY 10/3/25

No Jobs Report Today – Is the president, who fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer August 1 over poor (+22,000) July job growth numbers relieved the partial government shutdown has cancelled First Friday’s scheduled jobs report for September? Your answer might depend on your opinion of President Trump. 

Early this week just before the shutdown, Trump withdrew his controversial nominee, Heritage Foundation chief economist E.J. Antoni, to replace McEntarfer. Under McEntarfer and pretty much forever prior to that, the BLS chief would not see the actual jobs numbers, as well as Consumer Price Index numbers until the morning they are released.

September’s CPI are/were scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern, October 15.

Moody Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi told NPR Friday that the jobs and especially CPI numbers have been less reliable, anyway, since the administration’s federal employment cuts implemented by Elon Musk’s DOGE last spring.

“We don’t have the same number of folks collecting data,” Zandi told Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep. “I trust the data, but the quality no doubt is eroding.”

Economists were expecting a slight rebound in payroll numbers, meaning more than 22,000 jobs created in September, but still significantly weaker than a year ago, according to the crowd-sourced financial news service Seeking Alpha.

“The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 4.3%,” according to its report. Hiring Lab economist Allison Shrivastava described the current labor market as “stagnant,” and while Wall Street has been on a bull-market high since Trump retook the White House – largely due to a booming tech/artificial intelligence sector – the widely used three-month average of BLS numbers show a steady decline over the last year.

The three-month average for August was +29,000 jobs (per Seeking Alpha), down from +55,000 for the three months as of June and way down from +82,000 three-month average for August 2024.

Meanwhile … The shutdown extends into next week with no hope for a fourth Senate vote on the budget Friday. The House returns to Capitol Hill next Tuesday, CQ Roll Call reports. 

Senate roll calls have been 55-45 so far, with 60 votes needed. Two Democrats plus Sen. Angus King (I-ME) have joined Republicans voting for it, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has consistently joined Democrats in voting against it.

Democrats want extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies to be added to the continuing resolution. Republicans insist there is plenty of time to renegotiate ACA subsidies during after a CR reopens the government and are opposed to extending such subsidies to undocumented immigrants. Democrats call the GOP argument that federal subsidies would go to immigrants “misinformation.”

Who’s to blame? … NBC News’ Political Desk put together this helpful roundup of recent polls: Who is responsible for the partial government shutdown?

•An October 1 Washington Post poll says 47% blame Trump and the GOP, while 30% blame Democrats.

•A late-September New York Times/Sienna poll says 33% blame both sides, while 26% blame Trump and 19% blame Democrats. Another 21% were “unsure.”

•A late-September Marist/PBS News/NPR poll says 38% blame Republicans, 27% blame Democrats, 31% blame both and 5% blame neither.

•A late-September Morning Consult poll says 45% blame Republicans, 32% blame Democrats, 16% have no opinion and 7% blame “other.”

So far, it seems, the tradition of blaming the party and/or president in office is being upheld. –TL

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THURSDAY 10/2/25

A Different Kind of Shutdown – President Trump called the partial government shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity” in a Thursday morning Truth Social post, according to The New York Times.

The president was to meet with White House budget director Russel T. Vought “to determine which of the many Democratic Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut.” 

The Senate took a second vote on a continuing resolution to temporarily extend the 2025 fiscal year budget weeks into the 2026 fiscal year, but it was five votes short again. The Senate is off for Yom Kippur, but Republicans expect to vote again over the weekend, according to the NYT.

“If this thing drags on for a few days, or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off,” Vice President JD Vance told a press conference Wednesday. “We’re going to have to save money in some places so that essential services don’t get turned off in other places.”

In the past, federal employees affected by such shutdowns have been furloughed only to return to their positions with backpay, according to Federal News Network, which notes that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated as many as 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed, at a cost of $400 million per day in future compensation.

•••

Carrot for College Credit – The White House has invited nine colleges and universities to sign a “compact” affirming conservative values in exchange for access to federal funding advantages, The Wall Street Journal scoops in an exclusive news story Thursday. 

“Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a 10-point memorandum to the colleges, would require them to ban the use of race or sex in hiring and academics and seeks to create a “more welcoming” environment for conservatives, according to the scoop. It would require the institutions to freeze tuition for five years, cap international enrollment at 15%, require applicants to take the SAT or a similar admissions test, and “quell” grade inflation.

“Our hope is that a lot of schools see this is highly reasonable,” May Mailman, senior White House official for special projects told the WSJ. 

The nine initial schools invited to the special funding deal by the White House are:

•Vanderbilt University

•Dartmouth College

•University of Pennsylvania

•University of Southern California

•Massachusetts Institute of Technology

•University of Texas at Austin

•University of Arizona

•Brown University

•University of Virginia

•••

Committee for 1A Redux – Actor Jane Fonda has revived the Committee for the First Amendment in “defense of our constitutional rights,” reports NPR’s All Things Considered.

“The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia and the entertainment industry,” according to the organization, which counts 550 members including John Legend, Ben Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Billie Eilish and Spike Lee. 

Jane Fonda’s father, actor Henry Fonda, was one of the early members of the Committee for the First Amendment established in the 1940s in response to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

•••

‘Disturbing’ Book Bans – Pen America’s latest report on book bans counts nearly 23,000 cases in 45 states and 451 public school districts since 2021, calling it “disturbing normalization.” It says, “persistent attacks” conflate LGBTQ+ identities as “sexually explicit,” and “no read” lists prohibit specific titles statewide.

Pen America counted these as the top five banned books:

•Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange with 23 bans.

•Sold by Patricia McCormick and Breathless by Jennifer Niven, with 20 bans each.

•Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, with 19 bans.

•A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass, with 18 bans. –TL

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WEDNESDAY 10/1/25

No Deal – With Democrats blaming Republicans and Republicans blaming Democrats for a shutdown that could lead to layoff of as many as 750,000 federal workers, the Senate fell five votes short of the 60 needed to approve the seven-week continuing resolution that would have avoided a partial government shutdown while the two sides negotiate appropriations for the new fiscal year, according to CQ Roll Call. Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and John Fetterman (PA), along with independent Sen. Angus King (ME), who caucuses with Democrats, voted for the failed CR while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who maintains firm opposition to continuing resolutions voted “no” with most Democrats.

Democratic New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were talked out of joining “yay” votes after huddling with Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Roll Call notes.

Earlier Tuesday Senate Republicans voted down Democrats’ preferred four-week extension that would have included $1 trillion in health care spending over 10 years and prohibition on the Trump administration of further recissions of funding already appropriated.

In a memorandum shared with Politico last week, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget directed federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings under a federal shutdown. 

Medicare, Social Security, military operations, federal law enforcement, the US Postal Service and airport security screeners and air traffic control are among the federal government functions that are not affected by the shutdown, according to USA Today.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will not issue its September jobs report due Friday, October 3, nor its Consumer Price Index for last month, scheduled for Wednesday, October 15, so long as the federal government is under its partial shutdown, however.

•••

Short of a Loyalty Oath? – If the gathering of US military generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia Tuesday was not meant to be a loyalty pledge to President Trump, what was it?

Trump spoke for more than an hour, telling the high ranking gathering “If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room,” USA Today reports. “Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future. But you just feel nice and loose, okay?”

Referring to the type of military occupation Trump has imposed on Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and now on Portland, Oregon, the president said; “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for the military.”

The gathering also was a chance for War Secretary Pete Hegseth to play the eponymous World War II general depicted by George C. Scott in the opening scene of Patton, with a giant US flag behind him as he issued a similar warning to the senior officers.

“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he said. 

Hegseth spoke of weeding out political correctness in the US military, including DEI policies, while dismissing military attorneys, firing top generals and getting rid of transgender troops.

“You might say we’re ending the war on warriors,” he said. –TL

_____________________________________________

...Got Deals?...

TUESDAY 9/30/25

No Deal – The US appears headed for another government shutdown, first since the 22-day Trump 45 extravaganza in 2018. Congressional leaders left a meeting with President Trump Monday with no agreement to keep the government open past midnight Tuesday, CQ Roll Call reports. 

Republicans want a “clean” seven-week funding extension as passed by the House September 19, then blocked by Democrats in the Senate (needed 60 votes). 

Democrats want a stopgap to include extension of enhanced tax credits for health insurance purchased on government exchanges – part of the Affordable “Obama”-Care Act – set to expire at the end of the year. They also want protections against further White House recissions on previous appropriations.

•••

What’s the Deal? – Some 800 US military generals and admirals from around the world descend on Quantico, Virginia, Tuesday, where War Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to make a speech about the “warrior ethos” and maybe require a loyalty oath, according to USA Today, which reports the gathering could cost the government millions of dollars and require “unprecedented security.”

That’s troubling … “Loyalty oath?” Trump also is scheduled to attend. Does he plan to claim the US military for himself, just like the Justice Department?

•••

Here’s the Deal – The peace deal unveiled by President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference at which they took no reporters’ questions Monday, proposes demilitarization of Gaza, decommission of the military capability of Hamas and an Israeli military perimeter surrounding the area “for the foreseeable future,” Netanyahu said. Gaza will have a peaceful civilian government “run by neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

All Israeli hostages, living and dead, would have to be released within 72 hours of acceptance of the deal, Netanyahu said. 

“It’s called ‘peace in the Middle East,’” Trump said, claiming, in another bid for the Nobel, what he described as possibly one of the “great days ever” that could achieve “eternal peace.”

On the question of whether Hamas will accept such a deal, Netanyahu conjured his inner-Brendan Carr: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way,” the Israeli PM said.

This is a deal … Trump during the presser called out his son-in-law, Jered Kushner, as being instrumental in the peace deal. At the same time, Kushner’s Affinity Partners, with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Silver Lake made the biggest acquisition of a public company, ever, by purchasing electronic game publisher EA, for $55 billion. [Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund “invested” $2 billion in Kushner’s Affinity Partners at the end of the first Trump administration.]

This means EA, publisher of Madden, FC, College Football and Battlefield 6 among others further “game-washes” and “sports-washes” Saudi Arabia’s image as a human rights abuser and alleged murderer of Washington Post columnist Adnan Khashoggi in October 2018, notes Endless Mode, a games and anime news website. –TL

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MONDAY 9/29/25

Gaza Peace Plan Meeting at White House – In the week following recognition of a Palestinian state by virtually all United Nations’ members but the US and Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House for the fourth time since Donald J. Trump retook the presidency, to discuss Trump’s latest Gaza peace plan, The Guardian reports. The US laid out the 21-point peace plan along with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt at the UN last week.

“We’re getting a very good response because Bibi [Netanyahu] wants to make the deal too,” Trump said. “Everybody wants to make the deal,” which, he says, is designed to be more not just about Gaza, but rather a broader Middle East peace. 

But Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel is not ready to consider the “two-state solution” any time soon – ever, really. 

Writes Amir Tibon in an analysis for Haaretz, “Trump must prove he can rein in Netanyahu” and “convince Hamas and the world that Benjamin Netanyahu takes order from him. …” Not the other way around.

•••

Portlandia Marshall Law? – Portland, Oregon and not Chicago or New Orleans is next in the list of Democratic Party-led cities President Trump is ready to commandeer, after Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Trump cites Portlanders’ attacks on Immigration and Custom Enforcement facilities in the city.

“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack from Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump Truth Socialed. “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

But first, Memphis … The Memphis Safe Task Force, with members of the National Guard, Highway Patrol Officers and FBI, Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services personnel protecting such tourist stops as Elvis Presley’s Graceland, Beale Street and the Memphis Pyramid is set to commence Monday, with the support of Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee, according to the Commercial Appeal.

•••

Tariff the Flicks? – CNN reports that President Trump has revived his plan to tariff “any and all movies that are made outside the United States” by 100%, according to another Truth Social post. Trump first previewed such a tariff last May. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________________

FRIDAY 9/26/25

Retribution Time – Some eight years after then- and current President Trump fired the FBI director for investigating potential Russian ties to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has indicted the former director, James Comey on one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding, per The New York Times. Comey had testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020. 

The one and one-half page indictment was signed only by former Trump defense attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was appointed to run the Eastern District this month to replace interim US attorney Erik Siebert after he resigned under pressure from the president because he found insufficient evidence to indict New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud. 

Court records indicate the grand jury declined to indict Comey on a second false statement charge, according to the NYT.

Reaction … Comey said in an Instagram post he is innocent and welcomed the opportunity to vindicate himself in a trial. “We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” Comey said. He added a reference to his daughter, Maurene, who was fired in July after 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the Manhattan office, saying:

“Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she’s right, but I’m not afraid, and I hope you’re not either.”

Maureen Comey in September filed suit against the Justice Department for her firing.

Trump Truth Socialed: “JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” after James Comey’s indictment was announced.

•••

Trucking Tariffs – And pharmaceuticals and furniture. President Trump Truth Socialed Thursday he would impose a 100% tariff on “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Heavy trucks imported to the US would be tariffed at 25%. 

Daimler Truck North America assembles some Freightliners in Mexico. and Traton Group, also based in Germany, assembles its International heavy-duty trucks in Mexico, as well.

Trump is also imposing a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and other such products, and 30% on upholstered furniture, the WSJ reports.

•••

Hegseth Summons Military Leaders – Defense Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called a “mystery meeting” of the US military’s top officers, including hundreds of generals and admirals, to Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, The Associated Press reports. Hegseth gave no reason for the gathering of one-star or higher senior commanders and their advisors. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
FRIDAY 9/26/25

President Trump speaks to the UN General Assembly Tuesday [via C-Span].

THURSDAY 9/25/25

Shut-Down Threat – If Congress cannot reach a bipartisan agreement by 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, October 1, federal agencies are to “draw up plans” for permanent workforce layoffs, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought warned in a memorandum to those agencies, The Wall Street Journal reports. This would add mass firings in the federal government to the customary work furloughs during a funding lapse.

•••

Trying to Track Trump on Ukraine – After President Trump’s remarkable U-turn on the war in Ukraine in which he supports the country retaking land lost to Russia since at least February 2022, the question remains over the permanence of his position.

Is Trump truly over Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin, who has used recent ceasefire attempts to escalate his attacks on Ukrainian civilians (while testing Polish and Estonian airspace)? 

Does Putin no longer find Trump useful?

Trump did not get the chance to name the Ukraine war as his eighth peace deal, but he has successfully handed off responsibility – and funding – to the European Union and NATO. 

Sanctions, too. European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen September 9 announced a fresh batch of them against Russia, according to The New York Times, while Trump seems to be satisfied with his indirect sanctions on China and India purchases of Russian oil.

Certainly, Trump cannot afford to have a cutoff of Russia’s oil supply affect global (and thus US) oil prices?

On Wednesday, von der Leyen told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Wednesday that if Moscow ignores other warnings, Russian jets that intrude on NATO airspace should be shot down. 

“My opinion is we have to defend every square centimeter of the territory,” von der Leyen said.

This leaves the Trump administration’s policy for the war in Ukraine much like the Biden administration’s policy, less the $175 billion* the previous administration committed to the country and less fears over escalation to a Russian-NATO war, along with its nuclear warhead implications.

[*The Council on Foreign Relations on July 15 reported this level of US funding for Ukraine, as of April 2024, on refugees, law enforcement, independent radio broadcasts and mostly military-related expenditures.]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Wednesday that ending the war now “is cheaper than building underground kindergartens or massive bunkers for critical infrastructure later,” and “is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead.” 

While that might seem to be a warning about Russia’s weapons development, in fact Ukraine has become arguably the world leader in drone manufacturing. Ukraine’s drones have prevented Russia from making large-scale gains on the ground this year, Anne Applebaum writes in The Atlantic Daily, ensuring “that any territory occupied by the Russians comes at a terrible price, in equipment and lives.”

Ukrainian sea drones have cleared the Black Sea coast of Russian ships, and its air drones have targeted “many military objects, refineries and pipelines” that according to Applebaum have given Ukrainians belief such damage will force Putin to end the war. 

•••

ICE Shooting – The shooter who killed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee and injured two others at an ICE facility in Dallas Wednesday morning has been identified as Joshua Jahn, 29, according to Fox News. Jahn, who fired from a nearby rooftop left “five unspent shell casings” on the ground with “ANTI-ICE” written on them, according to The Texas Tribune. 

President Trump Truth Socialed; “This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to ‘Nazis.’”

But a former Homeland Security official, Juliette Kayyem, told NPR’s Morning Edition that Jahn appears to have much in common with alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson, 22, as a loner/relative newcomer to politics and an avid online gamer. –TL

_____________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 9/24/25

Trump-Putin Break-Up is Complete – Pundits and analysts are scrambling to figure out President Trump’s U-turn on the war in Ukraine as expressed in a press conference following his speech to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday. Trump now says Ukraine can win back all the land seized by Russia since the beginning of the war more than two and a half years ago, because the Russian economy has become so weak. 

It is not clear whether Trump supports Ukraine taking back parts of Crimea lost to Russia before the war.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the US president’s speech, which was to run 14 minutes (he began by complaining about a non-functional Teleprompter and up-escalator at the UN’s Manhattan headquarters), but went on for 57 minutes.  

Asked whether NATO could shoot down Russian military aircraft, Trump told reporters, “Yes I do.” (NPR’s Morning Edition.)

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal invoked NATO Article 4 after Russian jet fighters flew into her country’s airspace last Friday. This followed an incursion of unarmed drones Russia into Poland, some of which the Polish military shot down.

Trump Truth Socialed that Ukraine could recover its land lost in the war with the help of the European Union and NATO and called Russia a “paper tiger.”

“Russia is a bear, not a tiger,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian broadcaster RBC, according to the Helsinki Times. He added that there is “no such thing as a paper bear.” So there.

Break-up … Impetus for the break-up seems obvious. As Trump has attempted to make good on his promise to end the war, Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin has taken advantage of ineffective ceasefire talks to increase attacks on Ukraine and continues to attack civilians.

As Putin strengthens his bond with China and India, Trump has become far less “useful” to the Kremlin. 

Meanwhile, Trump dealmaking has resulted in member nations boosting their military contributions to NATO to 5% of gross domestic product. 

About that speech … In the speech to the General Assembly, Trump blasted the UN for failing to live up to its potential – not an unheard-of position from a “traditional” Republican leader. 

“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them. I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of those countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal,” Trump said (per Politico).

Trump also criticized UN members, specifically the European ones, for failing to adopt his style of anti-immigration policies.

“You’re destroying your countries,” he told them. “I can tell you I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.”

Mobile phone threat surrounded UN … The US Secret Service says it has dismantled more than 300 SIM servers packed with more than 100,000 SIM cards, clustered within 35 miles of the UN, Politico reports. Investigators say the operation could have blocked out cell service that would hurt emergency response and counterterrorism, as well as far more than Trump’s Teleprompter at the General Assembly.

•••

As Kimmel Was Saying … Website LateNighter points out that Jimmy Kimmel’s first line upon his return Tuesday from his suspension over his monologue after Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk’s assassination, mimics that of Jack Paar, who walked off NBC’s Tonight for four weeks in March 1960 over a dispute regarding a segment the network edited out. 

“As I was saying before I was interrupted …” 

On return of his ABC-TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live! the eponymous host said “It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man.”

Kimmel said he was not trying “to blame any specific group for the actions of what was actually a deeply disturbed individual,” though he understood some of Charlie Kirk’s supporters might have taken his monologue that way.

Kimmel also praised Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk for forgiving her husband’s murderer at last Sunday’s memorial in Glendale, Arizona. 

“That’s an example we should follow,” Kimmel said, adding it “touched me deeply.”

“This show is not important,” Kimmel said. “What’s important is we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Noting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s restrictions announced last weekend that reporters covering his department must pledge not to gather any information not formally authorized by the Pentagon for public release, including unclassified material, Kimmel said Trump “cannot take a joke.

“We have to speak out against this bully. He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists, too. He’s suing them. He’s bullying them.”

Trump reacts … With only minimal superfluous capitalization, Trump Truth Socialed Wednesday; “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
WEDNESDAY 9/24/25

President Trump and Erika Kirk at Sunday’s memorial for slain Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. 

TUESDAY 9/23/25

Trump Speaks to UN General Assembly – President Trump has meetings scheduled with leaders from eight Middle Eastern allies at the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday along with leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

“I’m going to meet with lots of the leaders at the UN, probably 20 … everybody wants to meet. I’m only one person,” Trump told reporters. 

Leaders from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Portugal and other countries will use the General Assembly to call on Israel to recognize a Palestinian state and end its attacks on Gaza. Trump is not on board, as he wants Israeli hostages to be released first. The president plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week, NPR says.

Estonia has called for an emergency meeting with NATO nations at the UN to talk about Russia’s incursion into its airspace last Friday.

•••

About Trump’s Autism Announcement – The Food and Drug Administration will soon notify physicians that use of the active ingredient in Tylenol, acetaminophen, is associated with increased risk of autism in newborns, USA Today reports.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” President Trump told a press conference attended with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Monday. “Fight like hell not to take it.”

Tylenol is used as a painkiller for pregnant women. Trump also advised mothers to avoid giving acetaminophen to newborns. 

As with most any advice coming out of RFK Jr.’s HHS, the medical community has  pushed back, citing numerous studies affirming Tylenol’s safety. This month ahead of Monday’s news conference, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have endorsed the use of acetaminophen during pregnancies, according to USA Today. 

•••

Kimmel Live! Lives – After a week of ‘indefinite hold’ of ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the host’s comments about the MAGA response to the assassination of Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk, the show returns to television Tuesday night. Except on Sinclair Broadcasting’s nearly 40 ABC affiliates. ABC runs eight of its own US stations and has 238 affiliates nationwide.

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after these conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Disney said in a statement released first on ABC’s Good Morning America Monday.

After Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite hold announced last Wednesday, various news outlets reported significant viewer cancellation of Disney’s Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Just prior to the show’s reinstatement, some 400 actors, musicians and directors signed an open letter with the American Civil Liberties Union denouncing the show’s suspension, The Mercury News of San Jose reports. 

On Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Monday night, host Jon Stewart played a clip of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) calling Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats against Disney over Kimmel’s monologue “dangerous as hell,” and on CBS-TV’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the eponymous host said, “Our long national late-nightmare is over.”

Colbert, whose show CBS cancelled last summer – the final Late Show will be next May – said, holding his latest Emmy trophy, he is once again “the only martyr in late-night.”

While Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s return comes as something of a relief from fears that his now-temporary cancellation by MAGA was the ultimate sign President Trump is out to stifle First Amendment rights for anyone to the left of Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, second-largest operator of US television stations according to Times World Now, and “known for conservative-leaning news,” says it will not run Kimmel’s shows. 

–TL

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MONDAY 9/22/25

Not This Week – Senate leaders gave the chamber “dual versions” from both parties of a stopgap funding bill passed earlier by the House that would fund the federal government through November, knowing neither had the 60 votes required to pass, CQ Roll Call reports. Sure enough, both were voted down both last Friday, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) voting against both, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) casting the lone vote from his party for the GOP version. 

The catch is that Congress is on recess this week, leaving next Monday and Tuesday for the Senate to sort this out and reach a compromise. 

•••

About That Palestinian State – French President Emmanuel Macron is set to formally recognize Palestine at the United Nations in New York City Monday, joining the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal and calling the move a “necessity” for his country, The Associated Press reports. Macron calls it the “beginning of a political process and a peace and a security plan for everybody,” while Israel calls it a “reward” for Hamas. 

We’d call it an exercise in futility, as the Netanyahu government is as far from accepting a two-state solution as Israel has ever been.

•••

Kirk Memorial – Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika said this about the alleged assassin of her husband, at a rally/memorial attended by tens of thousands according to news reports, at State Fair Stadium in Glendale, Arizona: “I forgive him because it is what Christ did.”

Erika Kirk set a Christian nationalist tone, including the remarks from Vice President JD Vance, for the memorial to her husband, the hard MAGA-right CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA.

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MONDAY 9/22/25

PHOTO: Cancelled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel ••• [Scroll down the right column for Rich Corbett's 'A Call for Responsible Political Discourse,' impetus for Stephen Macaulay's and Kirk Bell's counterpoints. Scroll down the left column for Hugh Hansen's response.]

By Todd Lassa

MAGA cancel culture came to ABC-TV Wednesday as it put Jimmy Kimmel’s (above) late night show on indefinite hold over the host’s monologue about the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk. The hold came after Nexstar Media Group, which seeks Federal Communications Commission approval to buy communications company Tegna for $6.2 billion, said it would drop Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its 32 ABC-TV affiliates, according to USA Today.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said on his show Monday. He went on to play video of Trump responding to a reporter’s question about how he is holding up in light of Kirk’s death by quickly pivoting to an update on construction of his White House ballroom. 

"He's at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” Kimmel said. “Demolition. Construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish. OK? And it didn't just happen once."

That was enough for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to call for Kimmel’s cancellation while on pundit Benny Johnson’s YouTube show Wednesday, saying; “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

CBS announced cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in July ahead of parent company Paramount’s impending merger with Skydance. Trump has Truth Socialed that he wants to see The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Myers, both on NBC, gone next.

It has been that sort of week in reaction to the tragic, fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, who was known for his debate skills. Kirk lured young people on the left into vigorous discussion and argument with the catchphrase, “Prove me wrong.” 

Since Kirk’s death, any comments about him that are less than reverential have become targets of the MAGA-right. 

“Free-speech absolutist” and future Tesla trillionaire Elon Musk last Friday pressed Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about Microsoft Blizzard game developers “trashing” Kirk. Nadella later replied that Microsoft was “reviewing each individual situation” of a “small subset” of Blizzard developers who had criticized Kirk’s views, which included his belief that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 should not be law.

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that visa revocations are “underway” for non-US citizens found to be “celebrating” Kirk’s killing, Axios reported.

NPR over the last weekend reported it had counted more than 30 people across the US who have been “fired, put on leave, investigated or faced calls to resign because of social media posts criticizing Charlie Kirk, or expressing schadenfreude” over his assassination. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi said on a podcast Monday the Justice Department would “absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,” but later clarified her comments, telling Axios such speech would not be prosecuted unless it incites violence.

Paramount’s Comedy Central on September 11 said it was pulling the August 6 “Got a Nut” episode of South Park, in which Eric Cartman mimics Kirk’s mannerisms, including that signature “Prove me wrong” phrase (per Denver’s Westword).

This all adds up to what The Atlantic’s David A. Graham calls, in a headline: “The Irony of Using Charlie Kirk’s Murder to Silence Debate.”

•••

We are not about to stifle debate here. As a civil media site, we stipulate you do not have to like Charlie Kirk’s politics to understand the tragedy behind his murder. 

Contributing Pundit Rich Corbett agrees with Kirk’s politics and in the right column he argues it is time for responsible political discourse. His fellow contributing pundit, Hugh Hansen, is skeptical responsibility can happen in today’s political climate.

There is room in both columns for your views on the matter. Become a citizen pundit and help us build healthy, civil dialogue on such matters. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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THURSDAY 9/18/25