Donald Trump will attend campaign rallies in Arizona and Montana later today, having spent the past 24 hours in Alaska \u2013 a sign of his party\u2019s recent polling woes.<\/p>\n
Conservative Alaska is one of several where the Democrats<\/a> have a chance of flipping a Senate seat amid voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the Iran war.<\/p>\n Polling has shown Democratic candidate Mary Peltola tied \u2060or slightly ahead of incumbent Republican senator Dan \u2060Sullivan in a state the president carried by 14 percentage points in 2024.<\/p>\n Here, as in much of the United States, the president\u2019s approval rating is flopping, hit by rising diesel and gasoline prices and a conflict in the Middle East that has proven deeply unpopular with voters.<\/p>\n Opening for Trump, Sullivan acknowledged that Alaskans face \u201cchallenges\u201d when it comes to energy costs. But \u201cthe conflict in the Middle East is temporary,\u201d he said. \u201cThe true forever war is the national Democrats\u2019 war against Alaska oil and gas \u2060and our jobs.\u201c<\/p>\n The president has taken to campaigning in conservative-leaning \u200bparts of competitive states, rather than in more politically diverse areas with more votes potentially up for grabs.<\/p>\n At one point, Trump pardoned two local repair shop owners who were convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act for removing pollution controls on diesel engines.<\/p>\n He also encouraged Republicans<\/a> to vote by mail \u2013 a process he has repeatedly sought to curtail and discredit. Trump will spend Wednesday campaigning in Arizona and Montana.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n In Alaska, Donald Trump repeated his false claim that he had to start his war on Iran because, \u201cthey were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon\u201d. In fact, US intelligence agencies reported to Congress in 2025<\/a> that Iran had suspended its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003. Despite that assessment, in the summer of 2025, Trump ordered the US bombing of Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment facilities which he later claimed had \u201cobliterated\u201d the country\u2019s nuclear program. Eight months after that, he launched a full-scale war on Iran justified, he now says, by Iran being just weeks away from getting the bomb.<\/p>\n Aboard Air Force One on his way to Alaska<\/a> for a campaign rally, the president of the United States posted video of a British man who was fatally mauled by a tiger last week on his social media platform with the mocking caption: \u201cDon\u2019t ever mess with nature!\u201d<\/p>\n The new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, passed on an opportunity to set the record straight on whether she is licensed to practice law anywhere in the United States. Asked \u201cWhere did you pass the bar exam?\u201d Zacharia just said: \u201cI moved to China.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Over in Greece, diplomatic sources say the country\u2019s foreign ministry has yet to receive official notice of US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle\u2019s enforced resignation.<\/p>\n Nearly 24 hours have passed since the newly installed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia announced that Kimberly Guilfoyle had been \u201casked\u201d to leave the post in the wake of multiple ethics allegations.<\/p>\n The 57-year-old former fianc\u00e9 of president Trump\u2019s oldest son, Donald Jr, presented her credentials to the Greek president less than a year ago.<\/p>\n Protocol now demands that Greece\u2019s foreign ministry is officially informed of the decision to replace Guilfoyle \u2013 in this case with the embassy\u2019s deputy chief of mission Josh Huck, a respected career diplomat. But, on Wednesday, diplomatic sources told the Guardian they were still waiting to be informed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be officially notified, which has not yet happened\u201d said a senior diplomatic source at the ministry. \u201cThere is a formal procedure of which of course the United States is aware.\u201d<\/p>\n Local media reports have suggested that Guilfoyle wants to stay on \u201cfor a while\u201d in Greece \u2013 with some analysts privately surmising she would prefer to be out of view at least until after the 3 November midterms.<\/p>\n The erstwhile envoy, who hosted visiting US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Athens barely a week ago, has denied allegations of misconduct, both in the run up to her confirmation hearing last July and in the eleven months since she flew into Athens to take up the post.<\/p>\n How she leaves Greece will be key to her retaining \u201ca semblance of dignity\u201d according to other diplomats based in the country. Guilfoyle, who has not been seen for days, is believed to be \u201choled up\u201d in Jefferson House, the US ambassador\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue is she is now perceived to be so radioactive that no official wishes to be photographed with her,\u201d said one. \u201cLast week the atmosphere couldn\u2019t have been more different with both countries signing strategic defence, energy and other bilateral agreements during Rubio\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was clear that with her reputation so tarnished, she couldn\u2019t go on representing US interests but all this has also put a cloud over all the good work achieved last week.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More than 14 months after National Guard members began patrolling the streets of the nation\u2019s capital, a federal appeals court on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether they should be sent home.<\/p>\n Oral arguments are scheduled in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The hearing comes months after the court paused a lower court\u2019s ruling that the deployment was illegal, AP reports.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump<\/a> deployed the guard in August 2025 as part of what he said was a crime-fighting mission in Washington, DC. The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods and participated in cleanup efforts.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Republican administration says the deployment has contributed to a decrease in crime in the city, where crime was already on the decline before the National Guard arrived.<\/p>\n Officials and activists in the overwhelmingly Democratic city say the deployment is a waste of taxpayer money and has normalized the militarization of a major American city.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has said that president Donald Trump\u2019s deal to buy Russian diesel was \u201cvery risky\u201d, arguing that it could end up \u201clegitimising Moscow\u201d.<\/p>\n Once a key ally for Trump in Europe, Meloni has increasingly distanced herself after the US and Israel launched a war against Iran and has received scathing criticism from the US leader.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all understand, and share, the need to contain energy prices that are weighing on families and businesses, including in Italy.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we must be aware that the surge in fuel prices is mainly due to the war in Iran, and not to the conflict in Ukraine,\u201d she said in a speech to parliament ahead of this week\u2019s EU summit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe outcome of this decision is uncertain, while the risks are clear: legitimising Moscow while its bombs continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities, providing new revenue to finance the war, and implicitly weakening the leverage of sanctions.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are factors we cannot ignore and that contradict everything Western states, including the United States, have done so far to push Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI consider this choice very risky,\u201d she added, referring to Trump\u2019s deal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The United States has \u201cnot changed\u201d its policy on sharing intelligence with Ukraine, a US official said Wednesday, after Kyiv accused Washington of not warning it about incoming strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US has not changed its policy on intel-sharing with allies and partners, such as Ukraine,\u201d the US official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Russian strikes hit multiple regions across Ukraine overnight after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had received no advance warning from Western allies before a strike on a power plant in the capital.<\/p>\n Ukraine relies heavily on Western intelligence to detect incoming Russian attacks and help identify targets of its own, but renewed strain with US President Donald Trump<\/a> has cast doubt on those arrangements.<\/p>\n A senior Ukrainian official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity Wednesday, said the United States was essentially \u201chelping Russia\u201d by not warning Kyiv about incoming strikes and slowing Starlink.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Judge extends White House access to banned media outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico<\/p>\n Jeremy Barr<\/p>\n A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to continue allowing journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico to access the building as the media coalition\u2019s lawsuit against the Trump administration<\/a> plays out.<\/p>\n Timothy Kelly, a district court judge, had on 24 September granted a 14-day reprieve<\/a> for the news organizations, which six days earlier had been banned<\/a> by the president in an extraordinary move from entering the White House grounds \u201cas a result of their constant \u2018reporting\u2019 FAKE NEWS\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDefendants (except for President Trump) and their agents, representatives, and all persons or entities acting in concert with them, shall not execute, implement, or enforce the September 18, 2026, decision to revoke the White House \u2018hard pass\u2019 press credentials held by employees of CNN<\/a>, MS NOW, and POLITICO, thereby maintaining the status quo since the Court\u2019s entry of a temporary restraining order on September 24, 2026,\u201d the judge wrote in granting a preliminary injunction requested by the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n The organizations filed a lawsuit on 21 September seeking to overturn the ban as a violation of their rights under the US constitution. But that temporary restraining order expired on Tuesday, bringing the media companies into court late last week to ask for a preliminary injunction that would lift the ban during the duration of the lawsuit, which could take months.<\/p>\n During arguments at the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Kelly seemed inclined to lift the ban indefinitely<\/a>, telling a lawyer for the federal government that his side had \u201ca notice problem\u201d that was \u201cprobably the biggest hurdle\u201d they had to overcome.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Family of man killed by tiger criticise online content as Trump mocks fatal incident<\/p>\n The family of a British man who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park have spoken of their \u201csevere distress\u201d after Donald Trump<\/a> shared a video of the incident on social media.<\/p>\n The president posted footage of William Chapman, 23, being fatally attacked by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park to 13m followers on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n Trump accompanied the short clip \u2013 which showed the animal biting and clawing Chapman as he sat in the enclosure, but not him being killed \u2013 with the signed message: \u201cDon\u2019t ever mess with nature!\u201d<\/p>\n On Wednesday morning Trump followed this up with another post \u2013 this time an AI-generated video of him grappling with a tiger, which appears to mimic the original.<\/p>\n The clip, which is accompanied by the song \u2018The Lion Sleeps Tonight\u2019, features the president copying the pointing gesture made by Chapman and ends with him hugging the animal.<\/p>\n Chapman\u2019s family said in a statement that \u201cdeeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress\u201d.<\/p>\n They also posted a tribute describing him as a \u201cbright, warm and engaging young man\u201d and questioning what part his \u201csignificant mental illness over a number of years\u201d and prescribed strong medication played in the incident.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump heads to Arizona and Montana after campaign stop-off in conservative Alaska<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to the US politics<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n Donald Trump will attend campaign rallies in Arizona and Montana later today, having spent the past 24 hours in Alaska \u2013 a sign of his party\u2019s recent polling woes.<\/p>\n Conservative Alaska is one of several where the Democrats<\/a> have a chance of flipping a Senate seat amid voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the Iran war.<\/p>\n Polling has shown Democratic candidate Mary Peltola tied \u2060or slightly ahead of incumbent Republican senator Dan \u2060Sullivan in a state the president carried by 14 percentage points in 2024.<\/p>\n Here, as in much of the United States, the president\u2019s approval rating is flopping, hit by rising diesel and gasoline prices and a conflict in the Middle East that has proven deeply unpopular with voters.<\/p>\n Opening for Trump, Sullivan acknowledged that Alaskans face \u201cchallenges\u201d when it comes to energy costs. But \u201cthe conflict in the Middle East is temporary,\u201d he said. \u201cThe true forever war is the national Democrats\u2019 war against Alaska oil and gas \u2060and our jobs.\u201c<\/p>\n The president has taken to campaigning in conservative-leaning \u200bparts of competitive states, rather than in more politically diverse areas with more votes potentially up for grabs.<\/p>\n At one point, Trump pardoned two local repair shop owners who were convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act for removing pollution controls on diesel engines.<\/p>\n He also encouraged Republicans<\/a> to vote by mail \u2013 a process he has repeatedly sought to curtail and discredit. Trump will spend Wednesday campaigning in Arizona and Montana.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n In Alaska, Donald Trump repeated his false claim that he had to start his war on Iran because, \u201cthey were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon\u201d. In fact, US intelligence agencies reported to Congress in 2025<\/a> that Iran had suspended its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003. Despite that assessment, in the summer of 2025, Trump ordered the US bombing of Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment facilities which he later claimed had \u201cobliterated\u201d the country\u2019s nuclear program. Eight months after that, he launched a full-scale war on Iran justified, he now says, by Iran being just weeks away from getting the bomb.<\/p>\n![\"Helena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/helena.jpg\")
Helena Smith<\/p>\n