Week 98 — The Return – The Weekly List

This week, amid mounting political losses and sagging polls, Trump struck out at a frequent and familiar target, the free press. In an unprecedented act, Trump banned three media outlets from the White House. When the networks banded against his clear violation of the First Amendment, Trump and his regime clumsily rolled out a version of state-television, Trump TV, another first, that immediately flopped. Timing for Trump’s abrupt stunt could not have been worse, with the United Nations General Assembly and an upcoming visit with China’s president on the schedule.

For the first time during the second regime, and with time running out ahead of midterms, Republican candidates sought to distance themselves from Trump and his policies en masse. Republicans in office spoke out publicly against his policies and corruption. This is hardly a profile in courage — it took Trump’s approval plummeting on every issue to make it happen. Once again, GOP members of Congress showed the country that self-preservation came first.

Trump’s ill-conceived Iran war has become a quagmire seven months later, with all sorts of unintended consequences playing out. This week he returned to his antics of threatening annihilation, but no one took his words seriously. Trump quietly capitulated on his Greenland takeover, while threatening Canada over its plans to join the European Union, sounding oddly like Russian President Vladimir Putin with his threats to Europeans on joining NATO. Meanwhile, Trump’s odd fawning over Russia and China continued, even as evidence continued to show those countries’ efforts to help Iran.

Overall, Trump is at a new low, for either regime, on all fronts, and is even, for the first time, losing his loyalist base in large numbers. Ensconced in his bubble, and surrounded by enablers, he continued to be obsessed with his legacy, and totally disconnected from the American people and their priorities.

On Monday, a poll by select pollster American Research Group found Trump’s approval hit a new low for either regime, 29% approve, 68% disapprove. On his handling of the economy, once his strongest issue, 26% approve, 71% disapprove, also a new low.
On Monday, a poll by Reuter/Ipsos found Trump’s approval hitting a new low for the pollster for either regime, with 32% approve, 66% disapprove. Trump’s approval on every issue was net negative, including immigration (-19), the economy (-44), and cost of living (-57).
On Wednesday, Rep. Joyce Beatty filed an emergency motion challenging the Trump regime’s closure of the Kennedy Center. The federal judge ordered center officials to explain the closure by 10 a.m. on Thursday.
On Wednesday, a member of Beatty’s legal team also said in a court declaration that she saw a forklift repeatedly run into the Kennedy Center pillars.
Later Wednesday, Trump threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center if his name was not added, telling reporters, “For me to go and fix it and subsidize it, I think the Trump Administration should have recognition,” adding if he does not, it was going to “get ripped down.”
Later Wednesday, Trump was photographed through a window of Air Force One looking at a placard with the words “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” over an image of a demolition.
On Thursday, the judge directed the Trump regime to provide 30 days notice before making any alterations to the center, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the Center’s main building.”
On Thursday, former staffers of the U.S. Institute of Peace asked a federal judge to block Trump from engraving his name on the facade of the headquarters, saying it would cause “irreparable harm” by damaging the organization’s independent mission.
On Friday, the Kennedy Center announced more layoffs in IT, communications, marketing, and sales, as the closure of the center continued. Layoffs included high-ranking staff members such as the center’s top spokesperson, and the head of board relations.
NYT reported that Richard Grenell, Trump’s first appointee as director of the Kennedy Center, had pursued a plan to send back art work at the center donated by other countries, and replace it with art work selected by Trump patrons.
On Friday, thousands of demonstrators who supported the Kennedy Center locked arms around the center in protest of Trump’s threats to demolish it. The event also included speakers and music.
On Wednesday, WAPO reported Trump officials in the National Park Service acknowledged in documents and emails that Trump’s planned arch will have “adverse effects” on dozens of historic sites if it is built as currently planned.
On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the arch would be used “for National Security purposes,” claiming it would double as a “military complex” housing drones and snipers, borrowing a strategy that had helped him win in the Supreme Court for his ballroom.
WAPO reported James McCrery II, the ballroom architect, had resigned in October over design features he believed were violations of building safety codes, including emergency exit routes and fire-containment measures. Trump dismissed his concerns, saying, “I am the code.”
MS NOW reported that Trump aides were exploring attaching Trump’s name to other government sites, including Ford’s Theatre, the playhouse where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened Europe if Canada became an associate member of the E.U., calling Canada “a terrible trade partner,” and saying them joining would be “a hostile act” and threatening to put “very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things.”
On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a speech in France, “Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” adding, “tariffs [are] being used to exert pressure,” and “Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion.”
Carney told reporters, “A stronger, more resilient, more sovereign Canada will be a more effective partner,” adding, “nobody is going to tell us what language we speak, no one is going to dictate our culture or with whom we can strike agreements internationally.”
On Wednesday, Trump lashed out at the Federal Reserve after the board voted unanimously to raise rates, posting on Truth Social, “Interest ‌Rates in the United States should be 1%,” adding, “we are the Best Credit in the World — BY FAR,” and “LOWER THE INTEREST RATES.”
Later, Trump told reporters, “I … talked to Kevin,” confirming he was speaking to the Fed chair and not blaming him, saying, “And I said you might ⁠as well vote with the board because it’s not going to matter,” claiming, “The board is very hostile. They’re very political.”
Mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan jumped to 7.12%, the highest level in more than two years. CNBC reported nearly 10% of borrowers were opting for riskier mortgages in the past week given higher rates. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to a 19-year high.
On Wednesday, at a campaign event in North Carolina, Trump downplayed the spike in gas prices, claiming, “You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” citing eliminating Iran’s nuclear weapons, which he had not done.
Attorney General Todd Blanche also spoke at the event for the Republican senate candidate in North Carolina, again breaking a post-Watergate precedent of attorneys general remaining apolitical, and possibly doing so in violation of the Hatch Act.
On Friday, in an updated report to Congress, U.S. Central Command said the cost of the Iran war had grown to $43.6 billion through Sept. 3. The report did not include the cost of damages to U.S. bases in the Middle East.
CNN reported Russia had helped Iran with precision strikes, including 14 Russian spy satellites flying over Prince Sultan Air Base, a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia, two days before strikes wounded 12 U.S. troops, and damaged or destroyed key military equipment.
NYT reported Trump was considering striking business deals with Russia even before the war with Ukraine was settled, a shift from his position of doing so after, even as Congress passed a landmark sanctions bill against Russia to apply pressure for compromise.
On Friday, WAPO reported according to six U.S. officials, there had been at least 22 American fatalities in the Iran war, four more than were listed in the Pentagon’s public database. Additionally, three contractors working in the region had been killed. Details of the deaths remained unclear.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon updated the death toll to 19 in the afternoon, hours after it was reported earlier by Task & Purpose. An official told the Post that a female Army officer experienced a fatal medical emergency while flying to the Middle East.
Bloomberg reported within hours of the strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed 123 girls, Pentagon officials knew the U.S. was to blame according to Pentagon investigators. Both outdated imagery and an over-reliance on A.I. tool Maven, provided by Palantir, were factors.
Before the strike, a checklist of issues in the kill chain needed to be addressed, and final approval was given by a U.S. commander. United Nations investigators said there was reasonable grounds to conclude that this and another attack that day were war crimes.
On Thursday, Trump told Axios that the Iran war was at a crossroads, saying, “I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It’s a big decision,” adding, “Anything could happen with me.”
On Sunday, a reporter from Fox News said Trump described “the current choices on the table as ‘wiping Iran out, letting them rot economically or making a deal,’” and that “He added, ‘My question is if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave.’”
On Wednesday, Republican House leadership dismissed members for break a day early, after an outgoing GOP House member planned to bring up a vote on impeaching Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth. The chamber will not return until after the midterm election.
A federal judge ruled that David Streever, a man in Rochester, NY who criticized ICE in an email, was protected by the First Amendment, after immigration officials threatened him with prosecution, barring the regime from acting on its warning.
GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida broke with Trump over immigration in an ad, saying he had gone too far: “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far….The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed.”
On Sunday, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, a Venezuelan man in Austin, TX was shot by ICE as he was making a DoorDash delivery. Perez said ICE did not ask him to stop or turn on flashing lights. He was taken to a hospital, then released into ICE custody with a bullet still inside him.
Perez was returned to the hospital on Monday night, then released. He came to the U.S. legally in 2024 under the CBP One, a program begun under President Joe Biden and ended by Trump. Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Texas Capitol in Austin.
On Sunday, ICE agents detained and then released a U.S. citizen in Evanston, IL. The man reported injuries to his head, neck, and teeth. ICE agents later told the Evanston police, who were summoned by onlookers, that the man “resembled a person they were seeking.”
AP reported that under a new policy, ICE had stopped posting the locations online of thousands of detainees who were subject to final deportation orders, an unprecedented action, making it much more difficult for lawyers and their families to find them.
WAPO reported a State Department official crisscrossed Africa to find countries willing to accept flights full of migrants who were not their citizens. So far, the regime had authorized or pledged $410 million to 31 countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America.
NYT reported that 29 migrants were deported to Equatorial Guinea, an autocracy, where they had no ties, and housed in a run-down hotel with prison-like conditions. When two tried to call for help, lawyers said they were bound, beaten, and thrown down a flight of stairs.
CBS News reported that the Trump regime was planning to welcome up to 17,500 more White South Africans to the U.S. as refugees over the next 12 months. The cost to the U.S. government to resettle the South Africans was projected to be $500 million.
Trump withdrew his nomination of Lance Schroyer, an ally of DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin and a former Oklahoma state trooper, for director of ICE, less than three months after nominating him. No reason was given. ICE had escalated arrests over the summer, drawing scrutiny.
On Thursday, Democratic AG of Virginia Jay Jones said in a letter to Mullin that DHS’s hunt for evidence of election fraud in the state “potentially violates several Virginia laws,” after DHS agents posed as voters in public facing websites to gain access to state voting records.
On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit against Vermont seeking voter rolls, becoming the 24th loss in 24 cases with rulings for Trump’s DOJ.
On Friday, MS NOW reported that a top DOJ official told senior officials on a conference call that prosecutors would be fired if they did not pursue cases of reported election fraud that the FBI or DOJ presented to them.*
WSJ reported that last year, when Blanche was deputy AG, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte had examined Blanche’s mortgages as a means of pressuring him to move forward with cases based on referrals by Pulte against Trump’s perceived enemies.
On Saturday, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of election laws to safeguard against the Trump regime, making it a felony to seize ballots, election records, or voting technology before an election is certified.
On Thursday, Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr. appointed eight new members to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federal panel whose decisions impact health care access for most Americans, after months of working to stymie their work.
Kennedy added members matching his political ideology, including at least three who denounced gender-affirming care for teens, and two who criticized Covid vaccines. HHS did not provide access to nomination and application materials on members to the public as was typical.
On Thursday, even after the federal government approved the Covid-19 vaccine for 2026–2027, the CDC had yet to make the vaccine available through the Vaccines for Children program, a federal program that provides access to roughly half of U.S. children.
On Friday, Kennedy gave a keynote at an anti-vaccine conference run by Children’s Health Defense, a group he once chaired, telling hundreds of activists, “You have a strong and steadfast friend” with Trump, and bragging about steps the two had taken to reduce childhood vaccines.
On Friday, NYU Langone Health reached a settlement with the DOJ to end gender-affirming care and pay $8.5 million. Under the settlement, the hospital said it would not need to turn over the names of patients to the regime, after waging a separate legal battle to protect patients.
On Friday, Trump announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House on Truth Social, posting it was “as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS,” adding, “Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.”
Later Friday, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by a female reporter from Bloomberg, whom he had previously insulted, if he was trying to intimidate the press from doing its job. He said, “No, no, no, no. I dislike dishonest press, like you. I think you’re terrible.”
Trump also said, “There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” adding, “if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my — into the people’s house,” and said the ban would be “effective immediately.”
Pressed further, Trump said it was not one particular story, but frustration built up over nearly two years, claiming, “They purposely write negative news, and they do that because they want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration.”
Trump also told reporters that Donald Jr. had paid back Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev for financing his wedding afterparty, saying, “I understand that Don has paid him back.” The move followed widespread, bipartisan backlash.
Later Friday, Trump posted that he struck a deal to give the U.S. “permanent control over security” in Greenland, with “a large Military presence,” claiming this addresses “ALL of our many U.S. concerns,” and “there will be NO COST” to the U.S.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “I am pleased that there is a prospect of a good agreement” between Greenland, Denmark, and the U.S. that “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.”
NYT reported that while Trump had repeatedly vowed to own Greenland, the deal did little to change the 1951 agreement. It was unclear why Trump dropped his demands. Experts said Trump’s threats did lasting damage to relations with Greenland, Denmark, and Europe.
On Friday, in a meeting in the Oval Office, regime officials clashed over whether the National Institutes of Health was funding priorities at odds with Trump’s agenda. Trump asked White House Budget Director Russ Vought to draft an order adding a regime commission to review grants.
On Saturday, journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, were barred from entering the White House, and had their badges confiscated, an unprecedented act. The move was so swift, it also caught aides in the Trump regime’s press office by surprise, and drew bipartisan rebuke.
On Saturday, in a series of Truth Social posts, Trump posted AI images depicting giant black trash bags with old logos of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico on them, being thrown out of the White House.
NYT reported that the move to target the press came as Trump had suffered a series of losses, including Supreme Court decisions, setbacks in the Iran war, the Federal Reserve raising rates, and record diesel prices. Trump’s approval was also falling ahead of midterms.
Trump also posted a series of posts on AI, vowing to form an “AI Force,” and accused pushback against AI and data centers of being hoaxes, like many other hoaxes he claimed were “generated by the Radical Left Dumocrats, for purposes of destroying our Country.”
WAPO reported that Trump and his family businesses had large AI-related investments, as well as financial stakes in industries that benefited from the AI buildout, which unlike with his predecessors were not placed in a blind trust, creating considerable conflicts of interest.
On Sunday, WSJ reported that the Trump regime planned to take steps to dismantle the International Criminal Court through additional sanctions, including forbidding transactions in U.S. dollars, cutting the court off from the global financial system.
Late Sunday, the White House removed CNN, which was scheduled to travel with Trump to New York City to cover his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly and other events, as part of the rotating pool.
On Monday, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico announced in a statement that they had filed a joint lawsuit in federal court, calling the abrupt ban a “direct assault on the First Amendment,” and seeking to immediately have their reporters’ access restored.
The three added, “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
A lawyer for the three outlets said the ban was “a direct assault on the First Amendment and a blatant violation of due process,” adding Trump “has been explicit that this ban is intended to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to intimidate journalists and news organizations.”
On Monday, the five major networks — Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News — who are part of pool coverage of Trump, suspended their coverage of Trump after CNN, whose turn it was on their rotation for Monday, was removed from their assignment.
In a joint statement, the five wrote, “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” adding, “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
The AP sent a note to media: “Please be advised that no network travel pool is expected to be with U.S. President Donald Trump today as he heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.” Network cameras had accompanied presidents since the 1950s.
Shortly after, Trump posted on Truth Social, “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press…It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” claiming the outlets were “corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated,” and “a threat to our National Security.”
Trump also attacked the federal judge assigned to the case, whom he appointed, but who had ruled against him in a case with former CNN journalist Jim Acosta in 2018, posting, “as usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively…shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office.”
Asked by reporters, Vice President JD Vance lied, saying Trump was not “banning” media outlets, adding, “What he’s doing is saying we’re not gonna give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda.”
Later Monday, Trump hosted a ribbon cutting for the opening of a helipad on the White House’s South Lawn, which was covered only by the White House and the second-tier news broadcaster camera, which was unable to pick up Trump’s voice over the roar of Marine One.
The lack of audio was widely mocked. An anchor from Newsmax, which was one of the few to show footage of the event, commented on the lack of audio, saying that Trump’s media ban was “backfiring just a little bit.”
Also on Monday, the NYT and WAPO said in a show of solidarity they would not publish photographs of Trump’s events until midnight Eastern time. NPR said it would not use White House audio until further notice. PBS would not use video or photos provided by the White House.
On Monday, the White House announced the launch of Trump TV, which would stream online, the first foray by a president into state-tv. The viewership Monday night as Trump held a state dinner in New York City, peaked at 8,000 viewers when launched to around 4,000.
On Monday, the U.S. price of diesel topped $6.50 for the first time in history, rising 87 cents in September alone, amid a global crunch created by the Iran war and Russia’s ban on exports.
On Monday, Paramount settled its lawsuit with California’s attorney general, clearing the way for its purchase of Warner Bros. Under the deal, Trump ally CEO David Ellison vowed to create an editorial-independence board to oversee CBS News and CNN.
Actor Sylvester Stallone told the Times of London that he had turned down Trump’s offer to appoint him as “special ambassador” to Hollywood, saying he told Trump it would be “impossible” and explaining why, but added that Trump did it anyway.
On Tuesday, a CNN/SSRS poll found 29% approved of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, 71% disapprove, a new low. On his handling of the Iran war, 26% approved, while almost two-thirds said the U.S. was losing the war, and 78% said he was not doing enough to end the war.
On Tuesday, Republican Sen. John Curtis called for an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Trump family’s business dealings, including Donald Jr. and the Russian oligarch, saying it could pose a national security risk, and undermines trust in government.
Curtis added in his letter, “They also ⁠may create expectations of a returned favor that … could even create national security vulnerabilities.” Later Tuesday, Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis supported Curtis’s call for an investigation.
On Tuesday, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker blasted the Trump regime, in a speech on the Senate floor, for giving Chinese President Xi Jinping a “lavish welcome here,” calling Xi “a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator” who cannot be trusted.
Reuters reported that Trump would greet Xi and his wife on the tarmac at the Maryland military base when they arrive on Wednesday evening, before a three day visit that would be a grand spectacle. Notably, Xi did not meet Trump on the tarmac for his 2026 visit.
On Tuesday, ProPublica reported that after the Trump regime eviscerated FBI and DOJ teams that handled public corruption, a major investigation of defense contractor Navatek was dropped, even as by the end of 2024 the FBI had enough evidence to pursue a bribery probe.
The probe would have ensnared GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who in exchange for large donations to her PAC made by a shell company had steered millions in defense contracts to Navatek, much of which was of no real value, as well as other top lawmakers in both parties.
On Tuesday, at the U.N., Trump berated CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins for asking a question, which he did not answer, saying, “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me.” His ban applied to the White House, which Collins tried to explain.
In his U.N. General Assembly speech, Trump said he “had a big decision to make” on Iran, to strike a deal or “annihilate the Islamic republic.” Trump added, “they’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election” but said he was not up for reelection.
Trump also said Cuba’s Communist government “will fall,” saying his regime was seeking a “fundamental change in the situation in Cuba,” calling it “an absolutely failed state.” As Trump spoke, members of the Iranian and Cuban delegations walked out.
Trump also celebrated his military operation in Venezuela, saying, “To the victor belong the spoils,” about his regime taking control of Venezuelan oil, a shocking statement at the institution founded to promote diplomacy.
Trump also targeted the ICC, calling it “an evil group of people” and saying, “I call on all nations that are nations of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately”
Trump again said that A.I. should be renamed ‘super intelligence,’ and said, “We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in,” and said warnings about A.I. were coming from the “same group of people” who promoted “the Russia hoax” and warned about climate change.
On Tuesday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the U.N. told Bloomberg News that if the U.S. finalizes plans to build a military base in Poland, it would be named ‘Fort Trump.’
On Tuesday, Trump officially named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his full-time national security adviser, after serving as the acting adviser for a year. Rubio was the first person to serve both roles since Henry Kissinger.
On Tuesday, Vance told reporters that the Trump regime had removed 750,000 people from the Affordable Care Act marketplace, claiming to have found fraud through either receiving premium subsidies they did not qualify for, or they were not real people.
The move stripped about 4% of enrollees from the marketplace, many of whom were just above the poverty line. Vance’s investigation gave enrollees 30 days to respond to inquiries, and many did not. Democrats called it an attempt to dismantle the ACA.
Late Tuesday, Trump posted a rant on Truth Social, including images of him on television, writing about “All of the SLEAZEBAGS,” including “Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlyn Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person,” noting their coverage, adding, “Why was she there.”
On Wednesday, in an overnight court filing, Trump’s DOJ cited national security concerns as a rationale for his press ban, claiming the outlets had “failed to maintain minimum professional journalistic standards by publishing classified and national security information.”
The DOJ also attached letters that it claimed were sent to the three outlets on Tuesday as a basis for their decision, although no story contained classified information, and some were not about national security. The letters were not on official letterhead and were unsigned.

* MSNOW rebranded itself as MS NOW. In this week’s list, and in weeks going forward, we will adopt that change.

On Monday, September 21, 2026, the regime launched Trump TV after Trump banned several media organizations from the White House.