September 21, 2026 at 6:18 PM EDT
Trump-backed governor in the hot seat after vowing support for free press

Trump-backed governor in the hot seat after vowing support for free press After pledging to protect press freedoms throughout his nearly two years in office, Republican South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden found himself standing in front of reporters Friday with President Donald Trump as the president defended a decision to ban three news organizations from the White House. Rhoden was in the Oval Office for an unrelated reason: to talk about Trump administration efforts to save money on prescription drugs in the federal-state Medicaid health insurance program for people with low incomes.

September 21, 2026 at 6:09 PM EDT
Three Ts will dominate the Trump"'Xi summit -but don't expect much movement

Three Ts will dominate the Trump"'Xi summit -but don't expect much movement When Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last sat down in May 2026, talk was centered on three Ts: trade, technology and Taiwan. The latest summit, due to begin in the United States on Sept. 24, looks set to focus on the same set of issues again. The main difference will be that the technology element has been given added urgency by the sudden and rapid shift in developments in artificial intelligence.

September 21, 2026 at 6:04 PM EDT
Press has a 'slam dunk' case against Trump -- but he still holds the cards

Press has a 'slam dunk' case against Trump -- but he still holds the cards A top legal expert told MS NOW that "precious little" legal recourse exists to punish President Donald Trump's officials for going along with his new press ban and his many other illegal actions. Trump last week announced out of nowhere on Truth Social that he was banning MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, rehashing his longstanding complaints about "fake news" and accusing the networks of intentionally lying about him. The fallout from this ban was swift and damning, with numerous other news outlets condemning the decision and offering support for the three targeted outlets. On Monday, the entirety of the White House press pool announced that it would not be covering presidential events in solidarity, amounting to a boycott of the White House by the major news networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

September 21, 2026 at 5:51 PM EDT
Trump overstays welcome at NYC mayor podium after he was 'supposed to leave'

Trump overstays welcome at NYC mayor podium after he was 'supposed to leave' President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to overstay his welcome at the podium of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after the mayor's team attempted to dismiss the president from a press conference at Gracie Mansion. Trump and Mamdani appeared before the press after a meeting at the mayor's home. The meeting and press conference came after the president over the weekend banned certain news organizations from covering the White House. That ban, in turn, prompted the multiple news organizations to sue the Trump administration and decline White House pool duties in solidarity with their fellow outlets. Asked about the media ban, Mamdani said he "told the president that we're going to have all the members of the press here on the lawn." Trump was similarly asked if he's banning outlier "in order to distract from the Iran war and high gas prices, and took the opportunity to discuss his "landslide" 2024 victory. "It's interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me," Trump said to the assembled media. "So I wasn't very worried about that. Look at all that press. But no, I'm not." "I'm only doing it because I think the press also has an obligation. And, you know, I won in a landslide. I won the election in a landslide. I've done great things. I've done a lot of great things," he

September 21, 2026 at 5:45 PM EDT
Judge tears apart Florida teacher firing following Charlie Kirk post

Judge tears apart Florida teacher firing following Charlie Kirk post The state should drop charges, including an allegation of gross immorality, against a Duval County teacher who posted about Charlie Kirk after he was killed, an administrative law judge has recommended. The decision came last week, addressing charges against Hope McMath, who was an advanced placement art history teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a magnet high school in Jacksonville, when Kirk was killed in Utah in September 2025.

September 21, 2026 at 5:33 PM EDT
The hidden force behind the Supreme Court's high-stakes decision

The hidden force behind the Supreme Court's high-stakes decision Election officials exhaled when the Supreme Court recently ended months of uncertainty by blocking the Trump administration from restricting mail ballots this November. The Supreme Court decision clears the way for millions of Americans to vote by mail, just as they have in previous elections, though availability ranges widely from state to state.

September 21, 2026 at 5:25 PM EDT
The 1977 legal precedent set to tank the White House crackdown

The 1977 legal precedent set to tank the White House crackdown The president is going after the press again. On Sept. 19, 2026, journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were denied access to the White House after President Donald Trump revoked their credentials, citing "their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" On social media, Trump posted, "Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President."

September 21, 2026 at 5:18 PM EDT
The ultimate revenge: Trump was just deprived of his favorite thing

The ultimate revenge: Trump was just deprived of his favorite thing Everyone in the world knows how much Trump craves attention, especially televised attention. After all, his political career emerged from reality TV. He's known to watch several television screens simultaneously in the White House. He views much of what he and his regime do through the lenses of television (even deciding on cabinet and sub-cabinet officials on the basis of how they look on TV).

September 20, 2026 at 6:00 PM EDT
Top expert warns GOP running out of time to save must-win midterm race

Top expert warns GOP running out of time to save must-win midterm race Republicans are still running behind in a must-win swing state race in the coming midterms, and as one of the nation's top election forecasting experts warned, the party is almost out of time to turn things around. As President Donald Trump's toxic reputation with voters has tanked the GOP's midterm prospects, it has grown increasingly possible that it might lose its Senate majority, as well as the House of Representatives. One of the make-or-break races in that fight is in Michigan, where former Republican congressman Mike Rogers has continued to trail his Democratic opponent, epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed. Republicans have attempted to torpedo El-Sayed's chances by accentuating his progressive stances as too left-wing, as well as his past affiliations with controversial commentator Hasan Piker, but so far, these efforts have not seemed to seal the deal with voters.

September 20, 2026 at 5:36 PM EDT
Republicans panicking as Trump's crumbling base threatens midterms

Republicans panicking as Trump's crumbling base threatens midterms Top Republicans are well aware of the problem tearing apart President Donald Trump's winning 2024 base, according to a new piece from The i Paper, and they are scrambling for a response ahead of the midterms. Writing for the outlet on Sunday, journalist Sarah Baxter argued that should the GOP come up short in the midterms this year, losing their House majority and potentially the Senate as well, it will almost certainly be driven by one problem: Trump's racism. That, more than anything, has driven away most of the diverse coalition of voters he mustered in 2024 to win reelection.

September 20, 2026 at 4:56 PM EDT
Trump's 'diseased mind' goes much deeper than his obvious 'decline'

Trump's 'diseased mind' goes much deeper than his obvious 'decline' President Donald Trump's physical and cognitive "decline" is obvious for all to see, one veteran reporter told The Daily Beast, but the true cause of his "diseased mind" is something much worse than his health. Terry Moran is a longtime cable news journalist, best known for his over two decades of experience in high-profile roles with ABC News. His time at the network came to an abrupt end in the summer of 2025, when he took to social media and said that Trump's controversial deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, is "richly endowed with the capacity for hatred.

September 20, 2026 at 2:51 PM EDT
Trump's latest 'petulant outburst' will backfire on his own White House

Trump's latest 'petulant outburst' will backfire on his own White House President Donald Trump's latest "petulant outburst" appears to follow no real train of logic, and according to a new piece from The i Paper, it is also highly likely to backfire on his own White House staff in a surprising way. Trump this week took to his Truth Social account to announce an abrupt ban on Politico, MS NOW and CNN from the White House, accusing them of publishing "FICTION and LIES" about him. As the outlets gradually had their access stripped away in the following days, Trump added during an Oval Office event that he wanted to implement a "ban on the free press." The move was widely condemned as an effort to shut down unflattering reporting about him and his administration, as his presidency continues to spiral ahead of the midterms.