President Donald Trump told Texans they'd better accept data centers in their communities and floated making Venezuela the 51st state as he stumped for Republican Ken Paxton on Wednesday, while Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico said a “corruption crisis” plagues U.S. politics.
Social media videos believed to be produced with artificial intelligence and linked to Russia are misusing real people’s names and photographs to spread disinformation about two Democratic Senate candidates in the final stretch of midterm voting.
And Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on television ads focused on transgender-related attacks against Democrats as Americans go to vote, betting that struggling GOP candidates can leverage the divisive cultural issue to overcome concerns about Trump’s leadership and the state of the economy.
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Voters in an Atlanta-area county say they have not received absentee ballots, blame private vendor
A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Cobb County election officials says about 2,900 voters are “on the brink of disenfranchisement” because they haven’t received the ballots they requested.
The county contracted with Fort Orange Press, based in Albany, N.Y., to mail out the ballots.
The company and county election officials did not immediately respond Wednesday to phone and email messages seeking comment.
The suit alleges that ballots reported as “issued” after Oct. 5 have experienced an “unprecedented lag” and says the “only plausible explanation is a breakdown in the out-of-state private vendor’s ability to deliver ballots to voters in a timely fashion in accordance with state law.”
The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, asks a judge to declare that Cobb County election officials have violated the law and the state Constitution. It also asks that the county be ordered to immediately notify all affected voters and send them absentee ballots by overnight mail and include overnight return mailing.
Citing use of forced labor, US bans imports from Chinese biotech companies BGI and MGI
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced that goods by the Chinese biotech company BGI are prohibited from entering the U.S.
BGI Group, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, is a genomics and biotech company that develops genetic sequencing technologies for research, healthcare and commercial use, the federal agency said. It has controlling stakes of BGI Genomics and MGI Tech. All three are added to a blacklist by the Department of Homeland Security under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The law that took effect in 2022 bans imports of goods made with forced labor in China’s ethnic Xinjiang region.
BGI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and Erdogan discuss Hormuz, Yemen and Russia-Ukraine war
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call that Turkey was monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen and supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the issues, according to the Turkish presidential communications office.
During Wednesday’s call, Erdogan also told the U.S. president that Turkey was ready to help revive negotiations between Ukraine and Russia aimed at ending the war.
The two also discussed efforts to strengthen ties between Turkey and the United States ahead of the next year’s centenary of their diplomatic relations, the communications office said in a statement.
Rubio no longer traveling with Trump for Ohio campaign stop, State Department official says
A State Department official says Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pulled down plans to travel with President Donald Trump to a midterm campaign event in Ohio later Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rubio’s schedule had never been formally released, said “as often happens, schedules change and the secretary is no longer traveling with the president today.”
The official gave no reason for the cancellation of the trip, which would have been Rubio’s second campaign-related journey with Trump in two days.
On Tuesday, Trump coaxed Rubio onto the stage in Corpus Christi, Texas, and his top diplomat made very brief nonpolitical comments about how he was honored to serve the country and work for Trump.
Secretaries of state have traditionally avoided domestic politics for protocol and legal reasons and Rubio appeared to tread a fine line at the Texas event, which coincided with an announcement of a major delivery of crude oil from Venezuela, an issue on which he has been intimately involved.
—- Mathew Lee
Another federal judge rules against Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads
A federal judge on Wednesday said the Trump’s administration can’t run its government-funded pro-Trump ads for now, siding with Democrats who had sued over the TV spots.
The Democratic National Committee had argued the ads were illegal government-sponsored propaganda.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan’s temporary restraining order has little practical impact before the election because the administration was already ordered to temporarily stop airing the ads in a different case.
But the ruling is another blow against the administration in its efforts to promote Trump’s political message in the final stretch before the midterms.
Hegseth says US will defend its interests and its allies in Southeast Asia
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has met with counterparts from Australia, Japan, India and other nations in the Philippines for annual defense talks among Southeast Asian countries.
Speaking at the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference, Hegseth said the U.S. would defend its interests and its allies in the region, while their respective navies would keep cooperating.
“These are not symbolic things, they are concrete demonstrations of what serious partners do,” Hegseth said. “Serious partners train together, learn together, plan together and build the confidence and competence necessary to prevent conflict.”
Hegseth met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the progress of a defense partnership, which has included information sharing and a recent joint exercise, the Pentagon says. Hegseth also met with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to discuss recent military cooperation.
Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged despite elevated inflation, gives little signal of next move
The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday at about 3.9% despite elevated inflation, while providing little hint about the central bank’s next moves.
“Inflation remains elevated,” the Fed said in a statement released after its two-day policy meeting. Holding off on an increase will allow “the accumulation of more information” that will help determine what policy the Fed should pursue “to ensure a timely return of inflation” to the central bank’s 2% inflation target, the statement said.
The Fed, led by Chairman Kevin Warsh, raised its benchmark rate last month for the first time in three years, defying President Donald Trump’s demands for rate cuts, in an effort to get inflation back to its 2% target in a “timelier” manner. The Fed is tasked by Congress to combat inflation, and it does so by lifting rates to slow borrowing and spending and cool price increases.
ACLU, others sue to block Trump program searching for noncitizen voters
The civil rights groups argued in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Northern California that the administration’s systemic effort to comb records looking for rare instances of noncitizen voting targets naturalized citizens but not people born in the U.S.
They argued that’s a violation of those citizens’ rights.
“The Unlawful Voter Initiative therefore subjects naturalized and derivative citizens to investigatory scrutiny related to voting qualifications that natural-born citizens do not face,” the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit is one of many against the initiative and comes as the Trump administration is using the list to try to force California to set aside up to 20,000 ballots from what it suspects are noncitizens.
A federal judge in Oakland has already ordered the administration to stop using the program but the administration is appealing that ruling.
Dems’ House campaign chair DelBene says voters are not just opposing Trump
DelBene does not dispute that her party’s prospects have been boosted because “people are hurting from the broken promises from Republicans” and the Trump administration.
But while campaigning for Democrats in Ohio, DelBene said she’s met voters who have bought into the party’s own ideas about countering Republicans.
“Absolutely, people are also voting to have representatives who are going to fight for them and fight for the future of our communities,” she said.
Would-be Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and many Democratic nominees have pledged legislation to restore Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reverse Republican Medicaid cuts, hold votes against the Iran war and undo Trump’s tariff regime.
DelBene said Democrats will “focus on lowering costs, making sure that folks in our country have health care, making sure that we have a House of Representatives that’s standing up to corruption and actually doing its job as an independent branch.”
House Democrats’ campaign leader is confident as she hits the road for final stretch
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, is in Ohio campaigning for Democratic nominees, incumbents included, as her party tries to flip the House.
“We are gonna take back the majority, and we’re gonna have a strong governing majority,” DelBene told AP, while stopping short of a specific number.
Democrats’ battleground includes 92 districts nationwide: 26 they hold now and 66 Republican-held or newly drawn by GOP legislatures. Republicans held a 220-215 advantage before state-level redistricting that Republicans hope yields several more seats.
Democrats’ battleground list includes many districts Trump won by double digits, even 20 points.
“We’re gonna win in some of those,” DelBene said, saying Democrats have recruited nominees “who are deeply connected to their communities, who are who are authentic and independent-minded and have crossover appeal.”
DelBene also will campaign with Democrats in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
US Sen. Tom Cotton is confident GOP will have a ‘successful’ midterm election
Rep. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, who is running for reelection, said during a news conference in Little Rock, Arkansas on Wednesday that he is confident the GOP is going to take the Senate and House majority.
“It’s nip and tuck all around the country, but we’ve got great candidates running,” Cotton told The Associated Press during a news conference about a bill he introduced to jam cellphone signals in prisons.
Cotton joined Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr in Little Rock to announce an upcoming vote on the Cellphone Jamming Reform act to help stop contraband phone usage in correctional facilities.
“For the last two years, we’ve been able to take important public safety initiatives like this one here today to protect our communities from contraband cellphones,” said Cotton who was optimistic about a “successful” midterm election in November.
Iran war’s costs grow to an estimated $47.1 billion as of Oct. 16
The figure from U.S. Central Command, provided to Congress and obtained by The Associated Press, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched by the United States and Israel eight months ago.
The latest price tag shows a $3.5 billion bump in spending since early September, when the figure stood at about $43.6 billion.
The growing cost of the unpopular war and its economic ripple effects on energy prices could hurt Republicans in next week’s midterm elections.
Trump has said new strikes on Iran are an option after the midterms and is sending more military resources to the Middle East, despite initially promising Americans a military campaign that would last only a matter of weeks.
Speaker Johnson to campaign in 21 districts in final week before election to try to save GOP majority
House Speaker Mike Johnson is on the campaign trail to try to shore up his razor-thin Republican majority.
His campaign said he’s visiting 21 districts across 13 states, starting Tuesday through Election Day, stumping for both challengers and incumbents in narrowly divided districts, including many he’s visited before.
On Tuesday, he campaigned with New York Rep. Mike Lawler. On Wednesday, he was to campaign with Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry and Derrick Merrin in his challenge to Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio.
On Thursday he’ll be in Wisconsin with Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Arizona with Rep. Juan Ciscomani. Friday he’ll be in Pennsylvania with freshman Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
He’s also campaigning for Reps. Zach Nunn of Iowa and Jen Kiggans of Virginia, and challengers Michael Bouchard in Michigan, Greg Cunningham in New Mexico, Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina, Eric Conroy in Ohio and Michael LiPetri Jr. and Jeanine Driscoll in New York.
FDA scientists opposed the Trump administration’s effort to ease peptides access
A plan to give Americans easier access to unproven peptide drugs favored by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was opposed by most Food and Drug Administration scientific staff members, according to six people familiar with the policy’s development.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential government deliberations.
The document covers certain injectable peptides popular within the wellness industry. It recently underwent regulatory review at the White House, typically the final step before publication.
FDA drug staffers warned it could undermine the agency’s longstanding mission of keeping unproven health products off the U.S. market, according to the people familiar with its development.
Rubio to make second midterm campaign appearance with Trump in two days: official
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will accompany President Donald Trump to campaign event in Ohio later Wednesday, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rubio’s schedule has not yet been made public.
The trip will be Rubio’s second midterm campaign journey with Trump in two days, following his appearance with the president at two events in Texas on Tuesday. The official said Rubio would be traveling in his capacity as Trump’s national security adviser.
On Tuesday, Trump coaxed Rubio onto the stage in Corpus Christi and his top diplomat and national security adviser made very brief non-political comments about how he was honored to serve the country and work for Trump.
Secretaries of state have traditionally avoided domestic politics for protocol and legal reasons and Rubio appeared to tread a fine line at the Texas event, which was coupled with an announcement of a major delivery of crude oil from Venezuela, an issue on which he has been intimately involved.
Judge poised to name special master to evaluate noncitizen voting claims
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing the Justice Department lawsuit that seeks to prevent California from counting thousands of ballots allegedly cast by noncitizens. He said Tuesday that an independent special master could evaluate both sides’ claims before the state’s Dec. 11 deadline to certify the election results.
It is not clear how or if this process involving 20,000 ballots would affect the choices of the 23 million voters who began casting ballots in California weeks ago. Alleged voting by noncitizens has been a key focus of Trump’s administration, though available data indicates it’s exceedingly rare.
The Justice Department also asked Washington state to sequester hundreds of ballots cast by alleged noncitizens, and sued to delay certification of Alaska ’s vote if its Republican senator doesn’t win.
Trump approves of allowing Bolsonaro and family to stay in the US
Bolsonaro arrived in Miami with his wife and two daughters on Wednesday after they drove across Brazil’s border with Argentina and then flew to Ecuador. The 45-year-old senator and his family were granted United States visas, and Trump said early Wednesday that he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the U.S., calling him and his family “fine people.”
Bolsonaro is under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in two cases. The court had ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday — two days after he lost the vote to Lula.
Bolsonaro, his wife Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, and his daughters Carolina Figueira Bolsonaro and Luiza Figueira Bolsonaro were seen on video stepping out of a small plane that landed Wednesday morning at Miami’s Opa Locka airport.
Trump, Vance, Obama to appear at rallies in competitive states
With less than a week to go until Election Day, Trump will campaign today in Ohio, Vice President JD Vance in North Carolina and former President Barack Obama in Atlanta. All three are battleground states.
RFK Jr. fact checked on claim that Arabs ‘don’t produce science’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is scheduled to campaign Wednesday at the “Make Iowa Healthy Again Rally” in Des Moines, is facing blowback for anti-Arab comments he made.
“There’s 500 million Arabs in the world and yet they don’t produce science,” Kennedy said while stumping for Republican Senate Candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan. “They don’t win the Nobel Prize. They don’t win the Fields Prize. They don’t win the Wolf Prize. They don’t produce literature.”
An HHS representative did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment about Kennedy’s claim, which has been widely condemned as untrue and racially biased.
Arab prize-winners include four Nobel Peace Prize winners. Arabs also have won Nobels for Chemistry and Literature, a Wolf Prize in Chemistry and a Fields medal for outstanding achievement in math.
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Trump has made the midterms all about himself. Will it work?
President Donald Trump likes to play make-believe with his supporters: “Just close your eyes,” he tells them, “and pretend I’m on the ballot.”
It’s a typically self-involved appeal as Trump finishes the midterms with a cross-country blitz of campaign rallies that allow him to bask in applause.
Outside the venues, he’s profoundly unpopular. While Republicans still love Trump, his overall approval ratings are low enough to potentially sink his party.
And with voters concerned about the war with Iran, artificial intelligence, redistricting fights, high energy prices and the cost of living, Trump’s approach might be the election cycle’s biggest gamble.
“I don’t think there’s anybody that wants Donald Trump out there at these rallies more than Democratic candidates,” said Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List, which focuses on electing Democratic women who support abortion rights. Every time there’s another Trump event, she said, “we look at that as a win.”
Buttigieg campaigns in Mississippi with Democratic Senate hopeful
The former Transportation Secretary joined Democrat Scott Colom in Biloxi on Tuesday, where he said it’s time to end “the name calling” and “viciousness” of today’s politics.
“It is time for a politics that recognizes that the U.S. flag isn’t planted on one side or the other of a political aisle, because all of us are loyal to the Republic for which it stands,” said Buttigieg, a potential 2028 presidential candidate who has been campaigning with Democrats in Republican-leaning areas like Mississippi.
Colom is running against GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. On Monday, Trump visited the state to hold a rally for the Republican senator.
Buttigieg spoke about the high price of diesel and Trump’s decision to go to war in Iran, telling voters, “We can do better than that under new management.”
Who should be believed? Trump’s social media post on golf course leads lawyers back to court
Trump’s social media posts on the renovation of a historic golf course in the nation’s capital are putting Justice Department lawyers in the uncomfortable position of explaining whether the president of the United States should be believed or not.
U.S. Judge Ana Reyes said Tuesday that the department should clarify “whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026.” She ordered Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. to appear in court Friday or Monday for a status hearing.
Tuesday’s order came in response to Trump’s social media post late Monday criticizing Reyes’ temporary injunction stopping work at East Potomac Park.
That injunction, issued Monday, was in large part due to previous Trump announcements — via social media — that plans had been completed for the golf course and construction would begin next month. Trump said the facility would be closed for 15 months. The following day, he set the timetable to “immediately.”
