News From Around the Web
#1 Donald Trump Scolds CNN Anchor for Covering Him at the UN - Ariana Baio for The Guardian, Rapid Response 47, Gina Milan, Ryan Rozbiani, Ryan Fournier, and New York Post on X
Donald Trump has scolded a CNN anchor for covering him at the UN in New York after banning the network and two other media outlets from the White House. Kaitlan Collins asked the US president on Tuesday when the Iran war would end, citing a poll that claims two-thirds of Americans don’t think the US is winning. “It’s an honor to be here. I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” Trump began before telling Collins, “You should not be here covering me. “You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me.”
#2 Defending Reporter Ban, Justice Department Argues Stories on Trump’s Ballroom Project, Iran War Threaten National Security - Katelyn Polantz and Tierney Sneed for CNN, MeidasTouch/Bluntrauma, TheIndependent, MuskIsAPutz, Loreyla D'Orazio, Trump Is The Anti-Christ, and NewsTongue on X
The Justice Department said late Tuesday that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico can be shut out from areas of the White House at the president’s will. The lawyers argue that the outlets’ coverage of the Iran war and of President Donald Trump’s ballroom construction could amount to a national security risk that justifies the ban. A court filing from the Trump administration late Tuesday night argues “access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” in spite of First Amendment protections around press freedom. The filing also argues Trump can control private areas of the White House to protect national security information that may be inside the complex – an argument in line with other abrupt lockdowns and changes Trump has made to the White House...
#3 Trump Signals Breakthrough With Ukraine as Zelenskyy Brings Demands to UN - Morgan Phillips for Fox News, Rapid Response 47/Mr Feliz Dickson Brown, Sky News/RealDirtyManpon, Scarlett & Carter's BaPa, Hindustan Times, and Miu on X
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday as President Donald Trump presses for an end to Russia’s war and Kyiv seeks to shape the emerging diplomatic push after more than four-and-a-half years of conflict. Zelenskyy’s speech comes the day after he met with Trump in New York, where the two discussed finally putting an end to the war. Trump said that he believes a deal can be reached, though he did not disclose what that agreement would involve. "We’re working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done," Trump said, adding that an agreement would happen "more quickly than people understand."
#4 U.S. and Iran Hold First Talks Since June After Trump Threatens Regime With Annihilation - Frank Andrews and Khaled Wassef for CBS News, Wyatt Washburn, Papa Hemingway, Mother Jones, JAVIER YEARSON Journalist. Broadcaster, and Free Watcher on X
Iranian state media say the country's president will address the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, after President Trump said the first talks between U.S. and Iranian envoys in months went well the previous day. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened Wednesday to attack U.S. interests in the Middle East and to "close Bab el-Mandeb completely to American ships" if Washington joins Saudi-led military operations against the group in Yemen. Mr. Trump told the General Assembly Tuesday that he had a "big decision to make" on whether to seek a deal to end the nearly 7-month war, or to "annihilate" Iran and drive it "into hell with no chance of survival."
#5 Trump-XI Meeting Comes Amid Tensions on Iran, Taiwan and Trade: What to Know - Mariam Khan for ABC News, Coin Bureau, Eric Daugherty, Bloomberg, and NewsNation on X
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will have to navigate several thorny issues when the two meet this week during a high-stakes state visit at the White House. "We're going to talk about a lot. It's going to be a great meeting. And we're going to have a look -- we have a very good relationship," Trump said Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "Look, he likes China. I like the U.S. He loves China. I love the U.S. That's the way it is. But we're going to have a big -- it's a big deal tomorrow night. Everybody wants to be there. Everybody wants to be there," Trump said...
#6 ‘Block the Merger’ Push Continues as Paramount Settles With State AGs - Lauren Wilson and Saba Hamedy for NBC News, SASSYCHICK, Variety, Polymarket, jazzlaro69@gmail.com, Edward Calame priv/acc, and Carroll D. Glass on X
Outside the New York Attorney General’s Office, about 20 opponents of the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger gathered Monday to urge Letitia James not to settle the states’ legal challenge to the deal. Holding signs reading “#BlockTheMerger,” the protesters — led by members of the Committee for the First Amendment, a free-speech advocacy group headed by actor Jane Fonda — called on James to “stay strong” and resist making concessions in negotiations with Paramount...
#7 Ossoff Challenged to Return Epstein-Linked Donation or Retract ‘Epstein Class’ Attack - Peter Pinedo for Fox News, Erik Hoffmann, Fox News Politics, Politics Watch, Mike Collins War Room/Leah Carbonneau/AuditTheMachines, and Zohreen Shah on X
Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is being criticized as a "hypocrite" and faces a challenge to return a sizable donation from a Jeffrey Epstein-linked billionaire or drop one of his main lines of attack on Republicans as representing the "Epstein class." Ossoff has framed his re-election effort as pushing back on the influence of wealthy elites and getting big money out of politics. However, his campaign received the maximum legal contribution of $7,000 from Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist who previously admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island. Hoffman also donated $1 million to an Ossoff-linked political action committee, New Engagement PAC. Hoffman has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But Ossoff’s Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins, says that accepting donations from Hoffman shows Ossoff "has been nothing but a hypocrite the entire time."
#8 Pete Hegseth Confronts House With a Lame-Duck Impeachment Dilemma - by Mike Lillis for The Hill, Democratic Coalition, The Golden Age (BARRON)/MJ O'Brien, Steven Dennis/Ashley Hinson/Saint Michael, and jaybethomas on X
The impeachment effort against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posed a dilemma for Republican leaders ahead of the midterms. In the lame duck, it could be Democrats in the bind. Hegseth is leading an unpopular war in Iran, and GOP leaders were eager to avoid an impeachment vote this month, which would have put some vulnerable Republicans in a tough spot heading into November’s elections. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defused the issue by punting that vote until after the elections...
#9 Trump Reportedly Blew Off Safety Codes in White House Ballroom Construction: ‘I Am the Code’ - Kathianne Boniello for Mediaite, Dan Diamond, USA-Monroebert, The
Daily Beast, and Newser on X
President Donald Trump allegedly scoffed at fire and safety code issues in the early stages of the White House ballroom project. Sources told The Washington Post the first architect to tackle the job, James McCrery II, stepped down in October after repeatedly pointing out that Trump’s early designs for the project were problematic. Trump, who would regularly mark up images and plans for the controversial space with a black Sharpie, wanted designs that skimped on required emergency exits and didn’t have proper fire safety measures, according to the report.
#10 Trump Warns He’ll Be ‘Last Republican President’ if Senate GOP Doesn’t Make Major Change - Alex Miller for Fox News, Keith Carter/The Persistence, msbrats_corner,
Gabriela/TERITA, Mark Tatum/Janie Johnson - America is Exceptional, and Ethereal712 on X
President Donald Trump has changed his pitch to wary Republicans who are hesitant to undo a decades-old safeguard in the Senate: if they do nothing, he may be the last Republican president. Trump has long demanded that Republicans nuke the filibuster, which has blocked key parts of his agenda, to pass the SAVE America Act. He has warned that Democrats would eliminate the firewall themselves if they regain power, allowing them to push through their most partisan priorities. Now, he’s warning that if Republicans don’t pull the trigger, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico will become states and elect only Democrats to Congress, likely foiling the chances of a future Republican winning the White House...
