President Donald Trump is on a winning streak in Republican primaries, most recently endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead of his Tuesday runoff victory over Sen. John Cornyn in Texas.
But Trump's tightening grip on his party could make it harder to win in the November midterms, when Republicans face a broader electorate that has soured, at least for now, on the president's second term and the economy.
Plus, building back U.S. weapons stores after Iran, ICE detainee suicides and the confusion over green cards. |
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President Donald Trump speaks during the 158th National Memorial Day Observance coinciding with the nation's 250th anniversary, at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 25, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) |
Trump is getting the Republican Party that he wants. But can he win in the midterms? — By Bill Barrow & Steve Peoples
Trump's midterms risk is compounded, Republican operatives say, by how cavalier the billionaire president has been in addressing Americans’ financial worries, which have been exacerbated by Trump's trade rollercoaster and his ongoing war against Iran.
Not only are prices higher after both instances, but the president has repeatedly described affordability concerns as a “hoax.”
It all comes as Trump badgers Congress to spend $1 billion on his White House ballroom project and allocate $1.8 billion to pay restitution to people who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes — potentially including those who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s a cascade that Republicans in every battleground House district, Senate election or statewide contest will have to navigate in the fall.
Read more from Barrow and Peoples on Trump's midterms maze. |
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It will take years to shore up key US weapons used in Iran war |
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) |
US will need years to replenish stockpiles of advanced weapons used in the Iran war, new analysis finds — By Ben Finley
U.S. military contractors need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in the Iran war, according to an analysis released Wednesday, adding to concerns that American forces would have limited firepower in any future conflict with China.
“The United States has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said in its new report. “The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”
China has a stated goal of ensuring its military is capable of taking Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, which experts see as more aspirational than a hard deadline. But Chinese President Xi Jinping warned this month that if Washington mishandles its relations with the self-governing island, the U.S. and China could end up clashing or even in open conflict. Read more from Finley on the U.S. weapons replenishment timeline. |
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AP investigation: ICE detainees dying by suicide at 'alarming' rate |
In this image from video provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee Brayan Rayo Garzon looks towards a surveillance camera in the Phelps County jail in Rolla, Mo., on April 7, 2025, shortly before he died by suicide. (Missouri State Highway Patrol via AP) |
ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an 'alarming' rate, an AP investigation finds —By Ryan J. Foley, Michael Biesecker & Morgan Lee
An Associated Press investigation found that at least 10 detainees, all men, have died by suicide since Trump took office in January 2025, a pace that far exceeds the growth in the detainee population, according to a review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroners’ rulings and police records.
Since October, seven deaths have been classified as suicides, a number that is already the most for any fiscal year in the agency’s history. ICE has usually recorded one or no such deaths annually.
The suicides account for nearly a fifth of the 51 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025. The majority of those deaths were from natural causes, and experts say many of them would have been preventable with timely medical care.
Public health officials and jail experts have said the unprecedented number of suicide deaths is an indication that authorities are failing to properly oversee the detention of tens of thousands of immigrants swept up in the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation strategy.
Read more from Foley, Biesecker and Lee on the ICE detainee deaths. |
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Trump’s new green card policy sparks confusion |
An information packet and an American flag are placed on a chair at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami Field Office on Aug. 17, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) |
Trump’s latest immigration move clouds the path to green cards — By Rebecca Santana & Gisela Salomon
When Trump's administration announced last week that it would require green card seekers to apply from their home countries instead of in the U.S., immigration attorney Flavia Santos Lloyd’s phone began ringing off the hook with clients worried about the implications for them.
Lloyd wasn't sure what to tell them, but she knew the confusing new policy would slow down applications.
“It has a chilling effect because we have some cases that we were going to proceed and I can tell already, we should wait and see what’s going on," she said.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that foreigners in the U.S. who want a green card will need to leave and apply in their home country, barring some unspecified exceptions.
The announcement, which potentially affects hundreds of thousands of green card applicants a year, was the latest immigration policy unveiled by Trump's Republican administration to stun and confound lawyers, advocates and immigrants. It's also part of a pivot by the administration to target legal pathways to immigration, after focusing since last year mostly on migrants in the U.S. illegally.
Read more from Santana and Salomon on green card commotion. |
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, waves as he takes the stage during a primary runoff election night event after winning the Republican party's nomination Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Plano, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) |
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