Steph Whiteside / NewsNation:
Ramaswamy attack ad ‘backfiring’: GOP strategist  —  Get fact-based, unbiased political coverage from the NewsNation team ahead of the 2026 elections.  Get 24/7 news coverage with the NewsNation app.  Not sure how to find NewsNation on your TV?  Find your channel here.  And remember to sound off in the comments below!

Drop Site News:
The War Tehran Believes Is Coming  —  Iran believes the U.S. and Israel may strike before the midterms.  Top security official Gen. Mohsen Rezaei tells Drop Site Iran has new targets in its sights. … The U.S. and Israel are preparing to resume attacks on Iran, according to senior Iranian officials …

Marc Caputo / Axios:
White House to Politico: Retract stories or face “consequences”  —  The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct recent stories about alleged staff drama, or it would suffer unspecified consequences.  — That deadline expires Thursday.

Josephine Walker / Axios:
Democrats sue Trump over alleged voter intimidation campaign  —  Democratic groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday, accusing it of using unfounded voter fraud claims to muscle its way into how states run elections. … - They're asking a judge to declare the administration's actions unlawful and block further interference.

Vanessa Friedman / New York Times:
France Riots Expose the Rage Aimed at Dior, Hermès and Other Luxury Brands  —  The looting of stores belonging to brands like Dior, Celine and Hermès has exposed a crack in the glossy facade.  —  Amid all of the images and videos that emerged of the riots that took place …

Irie Sentner / Politico:
Impeachment is back on the menu  —  Impeachment dominated much of Donald Trump's first presidency.  Voters think it should come back for a sequel.  —  Half of Americans support impeaching Trump and more than two-thirds expect Democrats to try if they flip the House …

Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Border Wall Construction  —  A lower court judge had halted the administration's plan to erect hundreds of miles of barriers in the Big Bend region of Texas.  —  The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow …

Marc Rod / Jewish Insider:
AIPAC to end candidate endorsements, PAC contributions to allies  —  AIPAC leaders said that the United Democracy Project super PAC will continue, as the group urges its members to give directly to pro-Israel candidates  —  AIPAC announced on Wednesday that, after three cycles …

Luke Fountain / CNBC:
AIPAC retreats from candidate endorsements and direct giving as political backlash grows … The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, plans to stop endorsing candidates, making direct PAC contributions and earmarking contributions to candidates.

New York Times:
Vance Defends Ramaswamy's Ad as Backlash Threatens Ohio Campaign  —  The vice president backed an advertisement featuring Democrat Amy Acton's mother, who has been estranged from Dr. Acton since her stepfather was charged with child rape.  —  Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended …

Kierra Frazier / CBS News:
Teacher who survived Oregon school shooting recounts being shot, pretending to be dead to survive  —  Becky Drury, the 54-year-old teacher wounded in the shooting at an Oregon elementary school last week, is sharing a statement about her experience, saying the gunman shot her before she had “any chance to act.”

Alexander Hall / New York Post:
Americans who moved to Europe after Trump win now say they regret leaving  —  Liberal Americans who fled to Europe after President Trump's re-election shared how the grass is not always greener on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.  —  Wired Magazine released an article Thursday headlined “They Fled Trump's America.

NBC News:
U.S. troops and diplomats evacuating Middle East posts, sources say  —  The drawdowns are in response to ongoing threats in the region, sources say, and are taking place as President Trump weighs new military action in Iran.  —  DOHA — The U.S. military has quietly been scaling …

Lucy Papachristou / Reuters:
Putin says Russia has freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard  —  Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Eric McDaniel / NPR:
Top 2 Democrats on Intel say they're preparing for Trump to claim foreign meddling  —  The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees say they are operating under the presumption that President Trump and his allies will allege fraud related to this year's midterms in order to justify election interference.

Jenna Monnin / The Washington Sun:
The DNC Says MAGA Inc. Is Airing Another Ad Created With Taxpayer Dollars  —  Critics, including the DNC, have called the ads “propaganda.”  — Copy  —  The Democratic National Committee flagged to a federal judge this week that a super PAC linked to President Donald Trump paid to air …

Democracy Defenders Fund:
Big Win for Federal Workers: Federal Court Rules OPM Broke the Law by Handing DOGE Access to Sensitive Data  —  U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rules OPM unlawfully disclosed records belonging to tens of millions of current, former, and prospective federal workers

David Frum / The Atlantic:
The Bill for Trumpism Comes Due  —  Budget promises made, budget promises broken  —  “BALANCED BUDGET!!!  DJT” Donald Trump posted that promise on February 7, 2025, the 18th day of his current presidential term.  During the 2024 campaign, he had promised even more: the elimination …

Steve Benen / MS NOW:
Trump's fixation on transactional politics becomes an election-season scandal  —  In state after state, the president keeps telling voters that he could deliver for them, but if he's not satisfied with the midterms, he won't bother.  —  A group of veterans has made very serious claims …

Axios:
Scoop: Senate Republicans fear Mississippi is in play  —  Senate Republicans are weighing three last-ditch spending moves that would have been unimaginable six months ago: a cash infusion for Mississippi and even more money for South Carolina and Kansas. … But panic is spreading through the Republican Party.