Key events

Pete Hegseth ordered the defense department to ‘protect and uphold the reliability of America’s voting mechanisms against external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors’ in a 22 September memo first reported by Axios.

In the memo, Hegseth directed the leaders of US cyber command and the combat support agencies to prioritize “intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do notmeddle in our democratic system”.

He also directed the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to “execute collection and production on foreign threats to our elections” and US cyber command to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security “to counter potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting our elections”.

Hegseth’s order comes as concerns about artificial intelligence are on the rise, but also as the Trump administration has spread misinformation about voter fraud. In July, Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 election, which he lost.

As my colleague Robert Tait reported at the time, Democrats warned that Donald Trump was trying to sow confusion, spread misinformation and lay the groundwork to challenge the results of the midterm elections, which polls suggest could deliver significant losses for the president’s party.

Here's a recap of the day so far

• Donald Trump confirmed that the US negotiating team spoke with Iranian officials through mediators today. This comes after the president rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Tehran over the weekend, and in response Iran said it has “no plans” to negotiate with Washington. However, in the Oval Office today, Trump was resolute.“We’re going to win,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be one way or the other. It’s going to be it’s going to go pretty quickly.”

• Trump will also be on the campaign trail this week – hosting rallies in Durant, Oklahoma, on Thursday, Mobile, Alabama, on Friday and Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday. The first two states are GOP strongholds, and Trump has pushed voters to turn out to the polls and pretend the president was at the top of the ballot this midterm cycle. There are now growing concerns from national Republicans that the party is facing stronger headwinds in otherwise safe seats and states, amid record-low polling for the Trump administration.

• Andrew Bailey said he is stepping down as one of the FBI’s two deputy directors after just over a year in the role – a short tenure that unfolded as he helped oversee several of Trump’s election‑related investigations. Bailey was appointed in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino at a moment of sharp tension between FBI and justice department leadership over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The move was striking because the bureau has historically had only a single deputy director. More here

• While the lawmakers in the US House have already left Washington to get a head start on midterm campaigning, the Senate is hoping to wrap up its legislative agenda this week. Today, we can expect a vote in the upper chamber on the Protect College Sports Act, which attempts to provide greater protections for university athletes in the US. The bill includes provisions for players to earn compensation from their name, image and likeness – known as NIL payments – and allow them to transfer schools (and teams) without being penalized or forced to sit out for a defined period of time.

• Trump also spent some of his weekend posting about his frustration with the US supreme court, after the justices repeatedly blocked Missouri from using a Republican-friendly congressional map for the upcoming midterm elections that the president had backed. “They continuously, three times now, overrule Judges who came to the correct decisions,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, in another stunning rebuke of the judiciary. The president has increased his pushback against the top court, particularly after rulings Trump considers unfavorable in the last year.

Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump repeated that gas prices would come “way down” once the war ends, when asked if consumers should expect elevated costs until that point in time.

“Two things are going to happen,” the president said. “Iran will never have a nuclear war. That’s a very big thing because if you want to see turmoil and a travesty. Let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon. I’m not only talking about Israel and big parts of the Middle East, but let them hit us with a nuclear weapon … The inflation’s coming way down, and when you see what happens as soon as that war ends, inflation’s going to be eradicated totally. But nobody talks about that. Gas is going to go way down, and it’s already.”

The last two statements here in particular are both false. Inflation is currently higher than when Joe Biden left office in 2025, and the price of gas, as I mentioned earlier, is higher than this time a year ago. It’s also 40 cents higher than it was a month ago.

Trump says US will win war with Iran: 'It’s going to be one way or the other'

Donald Trump confirmed that the US negotiating team spoke with Iranian officials through mediators today. This comes after the president rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Tehran, and Iran said it has “no plans” to negotiate with Washington.

Once again, Trump was resolute.

“We’re going to win,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be one way or the other. It’s going to be it’s going to go pretty quickly.”

Trump repeats that Republicans are running against 'communists, lunatics, socialists' in message to voters

When asked what his message to voters is ahead of the midterms, as he prepares to campaign in Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio, Donald Trump insisted that Republicans are “running against communists, lunatics, socialists”.

“We’re running against people that are going to open up the border,” Trump said, while repeating that the US is going to win the war in Iran “very soon”.

“That’ll be over, and the gas prices will come tumbling down,” the president said, as the average price for a gallon of fuel is more than a dollar higher than it was before the conflict began in February.

Trump went on to blast the polls as “fake”, many of which show Republicans, like Hinson, in neck-and-neck races in states that Trump won by double-digits in 2024.

As Trump announced the investment from Minnesota-based Mesabi Metallics to build the “largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa”, he shouted out some of the representatives from the state, who were standing alongside him in the Oval Office, who are facing tough election races in the upcoming midterms.

A reminder that that Joni Ernst, the incumbent Republican senator is retiring and congresswoman Ashley Hinson is facing former Democratic state lawmaker and Paralympian, Josh Turek. Down ballot, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn also have tight races in November.

Speaking to reporters, Trump repeated his pledge to dole out $5,000 to every adult US citizen if Republicans retain control of both chambers Congress. The president has claimed this money would come from tariff revenue, despite the significant legal questions around the incentives.

Boston has sued Donald Trump’s administration over the withdrawal of a $20m grant for infrastructure improvements in the latest example of cities across the country mobilising against the federal government.

Boston is challenging a decision by the transportation department to cancel funding for a project on the basis that it included a small allocation for electric vehicle charging.

The grant was awarded to Boston during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (Raise) programme.

The city argues the Roxbury Resilient Corridors project would improve safety, public transport, accessibility and traffic flow. Three streets identified for improvements are in the top 3% of Boston’s streets in terms of concentration of traffic injuries and fatalities. They are in an area classified by the transportation department as one of “persistent poverty” and a “historically disadvantaged community”.

Boston says the department gave a single reason for withdrawing the grant in September last year: it included electric vehicle charging infrastructure. However, the city contends this accounted for less than 1% of the project’s costs.

The lawsuit argues that the decision was unlawful and overtly political and contradicted the purpose of the Raise programme, which Congress established to support infrastructure projects promoting sustainability, safety and technological innovation, including in underserved communities.

In a short while, Donald Trump is set to make an announcement unveiling a new $15bn steel plant in eastern Iowa, according to multiple reports. The facility would be one of the largest in the US.

We’ll bring you the latest lines as that gets under way in the Oval Office. A reminder that this is one of the first White House events since the president’s ban on three media outlets, CNN, MS Now and Politico, was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

Trump to hit campaign trail in Republican strongholds as he urges voters to 'pretend I'm on the ballot'

This week, as part of his efforts to boost Republicans on the ballot ahead of the November midterms, Donald Trump will be on the campaign trail and hosting rallies in Durant, Oklahoma, on Thursday, Mobile, Alabama, on Friday and Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday.

The first two states are GOP strongholds, and Trump has pushed voters to turn out to the polls and pretend the president was at the top of the ballot this midterm cycle.

There are now growing concerns from national Republicans that the party is facing stronger headwinds in otherwise safe seats and states, amid record-low polling for the Trump administration. The president initially said that he would focus on campaigning for GOP candidates in 35 competitive races, telling supporters at the GOP midterm convention that his time was best spent in those battlegrounds in the run-up to November.

FBI deputy director says he's leaving after just over a year in the role

Andrew Bailey announced that he was leaving his position as one of the FBI’s two deputy directors after just over a year on the job. He said he would be returning to Missouri to spend time with his family.

Bailey was named co-deputy director in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino at a time of high tensions between FBI and justice department leadership over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The appointment was unusual because the FBI has only had one person at a time in the deputy director position, the bureau’s No 2 job.

A former attorney general from Missouri and ardent Republican backer of Donald Trump, Bailey remained in his position after Bongino announced his departure and as the FBI in January added another deputy director, veteran agent Christopher Raia, to serve under director Kash Patel.

Bailey announced his resignation from the FBI in a post on X on Monday in which he thanked Trump, attorney general Todd Blanche and Patel for “the opportunity to serve in the FBI”.

Texas Republican called for public execution of Democratic leaders – report

Ariana Baio

Bo French, a Texas Republican running to lead a powerful state agency, has a history of making controversial social media posts, including calling for the public execution of Democratic leaders, according to a recent investigation from CNN’s KFile team.

French, who is running to lead Texas’s railroad commission, has recently faced criticism from members of his own party after making a racist post on social media. Powerful Republicans, including the Texas senator John Cornyn, said they would not support French in the upcoming election.

But the latest spat over French’s social media has led to a deeper look at his online history. In a review of old posts from social media accounts that seemingly belonged to French, CNN’s KFile team found that the Texas Republican repeatedly called for public executions of opponents.

Rubio announces visa restrictions over international child abduction cases

Joseph Gedeon

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced a new policy restricting visas for foreign officials, judges and others deemed responsible for obstructing the return of American children abducted across international borders, as well as for their immediate family members.

In a press release, Rubio said:

When foreign government officials, judges, judicial administrators, law enforcement officials, and others intentionally obstruct the prompt resolution of these cases, they prolong family separations and block the return of children to the United States … This policy gives the Department a new accountability tool to press non-compliant countries to meet their obligations.

The statement did not name any countries or individuals targeted.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says suspected 'migrant caravan' is part of GOP plan to 'scare' voters ahead of midterms

After the Department of Homeland Security said that it is actively tracking a so-call “migrant caravan” which departed San Pedro Sula, Honduras last week, and is traveling through Mexico for the southern US border, Marjorie Taylor Greene – the former congresswoman and ex-Trump ally, said that the news is a fear-mongering tactic ahead of the November midterms.

“We have not seen a caravan headed to the U.S. southern border in several years, why now? Oh yeah, there is an election coming and the GOP needs to scare you into voting because nothing else is working,” she wrote on X.

Greene has become a notable critic of her former party after she left Congress at the beginning of this year – breaking from Donald Trump and many of her colleagues on key issues like the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, US support of Israel and the Iran war. Subsequently, the president branded Greene a “lunatic”.

The Trump administration on Monday announced it was slashing clean car rules that had been aimed at reducing planet-heating emissions and boosting electric vehicles.

The move, which was criticized by environmentalists, relaxes requirements on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks for model years 2022 through 2031.

The new rule, announced by the Department of Transportation, reverses a push by the Biden administration to accelerate the transition to EVs. Transportation is the largest source of climate emissions in the United States, accounting for about 28% of total US greenhouse gas emissions according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Monday’s move follows the Trump administration’s rollback of the government’s ability to impose requirements to track, report and limit climate-heating pollution from cars and trucks.

Donald Trump said on Truth Social Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car”, while boosting auto production in the US.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV “mandate”, referring incorrectly to Joe Biden’s target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. No federal policy has mandated auto companies to sell EVs.

Sara Sneath

Recent attacks on US universities by the Trump administration have built on decades of efforts by libertarian donor networks, fossil fuel companies and conservative thinktanks to reshape university governance and increase outside influence, according to a new study.

The authors of the new perspective study argue that the erosion of university autonomy has left colleges more vulnerable to corporate interests, especially within climate and energy research.

In 2025, the Trump administration froze billions of dollars in research funding, launched investigations into 75 institutions and pushed colleges to sign agreements supporting administration policies in exchange for federal funding. The federal government canceled $4m in climate research grants at Princeton University alone and accused scientists of fueling “climate anxiety”.

If you’re a young researcher watching that, you might think twice about asking a question that could cost you your funding, said Noel Healy, of Salem State University, the lead author of the study published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

“Climate policy is only as good as the evidence behind it. When the industry being regulated gets to shape the questions researchers ask, it ends up shaping the policy too,” he said.

The Academic Freedom Index, which measures how freely scholars and universities can teach, research and express ideas without interference, found that US institutional autonomy fell from 3.3 in 2019 to 1.7 in 2025, on a scale of 0 to 4.

“Since 2025, scientists have been deleting words like ‘climate change’ from their grant applications because those words can get an application rejected,” Healy said. “Some universities have shut down programs before the government even asked them to, hoping to avoid becoming a target. You don’t have to ban speech if people fear that speaking up will cost them their funding. People start deciding it’s safer to stay quiet.”

Read the full report here: