NuseReal

Trump & Co Watch October 2026

US President Donald Trump says the US is considering a possible attack on Iran as soon as Sunday, pointing out that Washington might have to "finish the job" or could reach a deal with Tehran. (LINK) — 25 October 2026

Trump at South Florida rally revives the idea of military intervention in Cuba after Iran (ground news LINK) — 23 October 2026

Trump claims right to seek third term despite constitutional restrictions, says 'they cheated us': argues his alleged 2020 election loss justified another bid despite the constitutional limit (ground news LINK) — 22 October 2026

Trump says Elon Musk restored Ukraine's Starlink access but declines to say whether they spoke (LINK) — 22 October 2026

Rubio, Hegseth point finger at Musk in Starlink and Starshield slowdown for Ukraine (LINK) — 22 October 2026

US veterans ask federal judge to block Trump's triumphal arch unless Congress approves it (LINK) — 22 October 2026

Trump ordered to sit for deposition by December 11 in his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, which has accused the US president of stalling to avoid answering questions under oath (LINK) — 22 October 2026

US federal judge restricts Department of Homeland Security field operations looking for noncitizen voters: "efforts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation" (LINK) — 22 October 2026

US: Sen. Lindsey Graham opposed LGBTQ+ rights. Three men say he paid them for sex, one aged 17 at time (LINK) — 22 October 2026

US: Rep. Ilhan Omar says she will move out of her Washington, DC, home after federal search: attention brought on by the raid has made her feel unsafe there (LINK) — 22 October 2026

Fox News: Ilhan Omar is not the Minnesota congresswoman's 'real name': sources: DNA, passport and phone were seized in an Oct 12 raid — (LINK)

New York Post: Why you should be VERY suspicious of Ilhan Omar's latest plea for cash (LINK) — 22 October 2026

US restaurant that offered free meals in Minneapolis since January to protest against ICE to shut down permanently (LINK) — 22 October 2026

Trump administration has appealed a federal judge's order requiring the State Department to reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa lottery and has separately asked the judge to put the order on hold while the appeal proceeds (LINK) — 21 October 2026

— Newsweek: The programme, commonly known as the green card lottery, makes available up to 55,000 diversity visas each year to people from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.

Trump administration holds up Patriot missiles for Ukraine (LINK) — 19 October 2026

Trump admin cuts to satellites will set back US weather forecasting by a decade, experts say (LINK) — 19 October 2026

Fox News: Judge Trump called a 'lunatic' abruptly backs off demand after showdown with DOJ over removal of hundreds of trees at a federally owned D. C. golf course (LINK) — 19 October 2026

Trump calls judge who demanded a halt to redevelopment of historic golf course in East Potomac a 'crazed lunatic' as interior official testifies on who ordered hundreds of trees cut (LINK) — 19 October 2026

Trump plans to begin DC golf course renovation in defiance of judge's order: Trump's administration cut down more than 400 trees at the historic East Potomac Golf Links last weekend despite a federal judge's court order to pause his plans over environmental and historic preservation concerns (LINK) — 18 October 2026

Trump endorses Netanyahu for reelection ahead of Israel vote (ground news LINK) — 18 October 2026

Report ordered by Trump names 9 banks that 'denied, debanked and discriminated' against customers over their politics: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capitol One, U.S. Bank and PNC Bank, as well as Canadian lenders Bank of Montreal and TD Bank (LINK) — 16 October 2026

— One of the incidents cited in the report includes JPMorgan subsidiary WePay, which closed accounts that belonged to merchants selling Trump-related items, CNBC reported. Internal screening lists flagged terms such as "MAGA," "Make America Great" and "America First," despite the fact that the institutions did not have formal standards for which material should be prohibited. JPMorgan told CNBC its policies prohibit discrimination and that WePay's process failed to meet its expectations. The issue has reportedly been fixed and WePay has been shut down.

— The report also found that it wasn't just conservatives who were impacted. According to the OCC, Capital One turned down relationships with an abortion-rights group after finding that 95% of its political contributions went to the Democrats. Customers who worked in certain industries were also impacted. The OCC found that some banks turned away customers based on their industries, including businesses tied to the oil and gas industry, firearms and ammunition, as well as crypto and tobacco.

No Kings Instagram account disappears amid nationwide Trump protests (LINK) — 17 October 2026

Meta says suspending No Kings account on day of action was done 'in error' — (LINK)

AP: Trump's decision to waive Russian sanctions outrages Congress, but no quick counter seen (LINK) — 17 October 2026

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia leaving White House role less than five days into job (LINK) — 16 October 2026

— Zacharia faced heavy criticism for her first press briefing on Tuesday, which lasted less than 15 minutes and included only three questions from reporters. In the president's first term, Anthony Scaramucci left his post as White House communications director after only 10 days.

US Secret Service deputy chief stepping down after 18 months (ground news LINK) — 16 October 2026

— His departure comes days after a 60 Minutes report examined the Secret Service's efforts to counter drone threats, which Quinn acknowledged the agency has not yet solved. Quinn said the decision was partly personal and partly because the agency is well-positioned for the future.

Trump says Saudi Arabia may accept Israeli help against Houthis, revive Abraham Accords: normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is "back on the table" (ground news LINK) — 16 October 2026

Trump administration seeks to remove judge who rebuked it over public golf course tree removal (LINK) — 16 October 2026

Trump shuts down Hegseth plan to livestream military execution (LINK) — 15 October 2026

Fortune: Trump's former top crypto advisor Bo Hines faces scrutiny over allegations his firm accepted millions from Tether while he shaped key stablecoin law (LINK limited) — 15 October 2026

Trump's top crypto adviser Patrick Witt departs administration — (LINK)

Elon Musk says Trump is 'ultimately' responsible for any curbs on Ukraine's Starshield systems (LINK) — 15 October 2026

— Ukraine had accused SpaceX of imposing new restrictions on the Starshield internet service without warning, leading to disruptions to Ukrainian military operations amid fresh Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure. On Wednesday, Serhii Beskrestnov, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on defense technology, said SpaceX had implemented a speed limit on Starlink terminals in motion, without notifying the country's defense forces. That had disrupted some missions, and the same restrictions also applied to Starshield, a military-grade satellite network, he said on Telegram. Some restrictions appear to have been partially lifted, with former Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanking Musk early Thursday morning that Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 kilometers an hour had been restored.

From January 2025-August 2026 US deported more than 16,000 people to third countries with which they may have no cultural or legal ties — Al Jazeera (LINK) — 15 October 2026

FBI arrest of Saudi national for allegedly planting a recording device in OpenAI's headquarters revives fears that U.S. tech companies are hiring spies (LINK) — 15 October 2026

— Last week, President Donald Trump awarded national medals to six tech titans for their contributions to American innovation. Five of them, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, were immigrants.

US government cuts subsidies for 189,000 Obamacare enrollees identified as duplicate or deceased, preventing $738 million in improper payments this year — (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

— CMS Deputy Administrator Peter Nelson reported that 58,000 individuals already held Medicare coverage, while another 11,000 subsidized plans were terminated for deceased individuals.

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says she misheard question on where she took bar exam when she said China: she did not pass California test (LINK) — 14 October 2026

US: Judge extends order blocking Trump from banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from White House (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations (LINK) — 13 October 2026

— Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, was facing mounting scrutiny over reports she allegedly asked a Trump donor to pay her hefty credit card bill in exchange for access to the administration and behaved inappropriately while in Athens. Trump said on Tuesday that she had done a good job, but will "not be there" in Greece any longer. "I didn't like what I read," he said.

Bipartisan group of 12 senators call on Trump to rescind Russian diesel deal (LINK) — 13 October 2026

ABC News: Trump again attacks Rep. Ilhan Omar, a US citizen, over immigration allegations: up for reelection in three weeks (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Fox News: Ilhan Omar's wealth scandal takes a turn just one day after raid of her DC home — (LINK)

Ilhan Omar says she 'will not be silenced' after US agents raid her home (LINK) — 12 October 2026

Trump Media advisor Katie Zacharia named White House press secretary (LINK) — 11 October 2026

Federal judge orders pro-Trump TV ads funded by taxpayers off air immediately (LINK) — 11 October 2026

— The administration had said in a court filing Saturday that the Department of Homeland Security, via a vendor, had placed ad buys through Sunday and had told the vendor to not purchase ads beyond that day. The judge ordered the Trump administration to "cancel or cause to be cancelled" any ads from airing or being disseminated, including those set to air Sunday night. The administration was barred from using funds appropriated to DHS to "develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements".

'Time for Ukraine to get new president,' says Trump after Zelensky condemns US diesel deal with Russia (LINK) — 10 October 2026

GOP lawmakers reject U.S.-Russia diesel deal: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) unveiled a bipartisan bill on Saturday that he says would block Trump from lifting sanctions, called the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act (LINK) — 10 October 2026

New Republic: Another member of Trump's inner circle works for Russian-linked group: chief of staff Susie Wiles's daughter works for Continental Strategy, a political lobbying firm that has a $35,000-per-month contract to represent a small self-governing territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina known as Republika Srpska (LINK) — 9 October 2026

— Two of the president's closest advisers, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, took time out of their pre-midterm elections schedules to travel to the Balkans to assist in that territory's elections. The two men were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to provide counsel on voting issues to the government, which is led by far-right nationalists. Republika Srpska is closely aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has made a considerable effort to make inroads with Trump and his allies.

Vance says 9 elite US universities will be investigated over possible foreign visas fraud (LINK) — 8 October 2026

Trump Accounts top 70 million as new stock-donation rules open door to 'mega donors', official says (ground news LINK) — 8 October 2026

Trump wants to turn his West Palm Beach golf course into the new Camp David (ground news LINK) — 7 October 2026

Newsom calls for 25th Amendment to remove President after Trump's remarks on California (LINK) — 6 October 2026

Trump suggests letting Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign event (LINK) — 5 October 2026

US Appeals court to hear lawsuit against RFK Jr. overhaul of the childhood vaccines schedule (LINK) — 5 October 2026

AOL: National Economic Advisor Says Trump 'won't inflate our way out of debt.' Trump says, Yes we will (LINK) — 3 October 2026

'God Made Trump' is just one of the president's taxpayer-funded ads set to hit airwaves for midterm blitz (LINK) — 3 October 2026

— The White House has defended the ad campaign as 'educational' and 'unapologetically patriotic'.

Trump demands Europe release emergency diesel reserves or risk being cut off from US supplies (LINK) — 1 October 2026

Heather Cox Richardson: Trump's defiance of Constitution: reportedly taking $52 million in military assistance lawmakers appropriated for European and Middle Eastern countries hurt by Russia's war on Ukraine and diverting it to right-wing governments in Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia (LINK) — 1 October 2026

US: Judge overturns Trump's decision to fire court-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle: Justice Department said it will appeal (LINK) — 1 October 2026

Guardian: Forget 'superintelligence': error-prone AI nearly sparked World War Three this month: almost brought the US into war with China (LINK) — 1 October 2026

— CNN report published on 18 September, which hasn't been verified by other major outlets, says due to government reliance on error-prone systems that are marketed by their manufacturers as being close to superintelligent. An intelligence report that claimed a chinese ship was transporting components of nuclear weapons. Military personnel made plans to intercept the Chinese vessel, complete with aircraft and soldiers ready to board the ship. A military skirmish of this kind between China and the US could quickly escalate and spiral into world war three. It was only moments before executing on the plan that American officials further investigated the intelligence report and found that it had been generated with the use of a chatbot and contained erroneous information about the vessel's contents.