Lawmakers from both parties welcome Trump’s decision to cancel livestream of firing squad execution
Following the news that Donald Trump has canceled a plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, more lawmakers have welcomed the decision.
“Good. So sick to have ever considered this,” wrote Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, on X.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Curtis of Iowa, said “this is the right move, both for the loved ones of the victims and for the country.”
Curtis urged the administration to reconsider broadcasting the execution last week, warning that “cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment”, and is “not an effective deterrent”.
The president expressed private misgivings about the Pentagon’s move to broadcast the execution by firing squad, according to an Axios report published earlier this week, citing four people who had spoken with Trump.
Key events
We’re getting some more reaction following Trump’s move to cancel the planned livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution.
Thomas Massie, an outgoing Republican congressman from Kentucky who frequently spars with the president, said that “sanity prevails momentarily” in response to the news.
Meanwhile, one of Trump’s noted allies – far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer – said that broadcasting Hasan’s execution would have “really helped improve the morale of Americans in our country”.
“We need to feel a sense of national pride and have events that draw clear lines between those of us who support America, and those of us who empathize with America’s enemies,” she wrote on X, claiming that “a lot of people” were “looking forward” to the execution live stream.
Andrew Roth
Reporting from Kyiv
The White House’s unilateral effort to negotiate an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has collapsed as Moscow sent a record swarm of drones overnight to attack infrastructure in central Ukraine and Kyiv appeared to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries despite warnings from Donald Trump.
Moscow accused Ukraine of launching a strike against a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region, its first since Trump abruptly declared an “energy ceasefire” that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to.
Trump has demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop attacking Russian oil refineries, claiming it is the cause of a global rise in the price of diesel fuel.
An attack on two neutral ships in Romanian territorial waters at the mouth of the Danube River indicated that strikes against vulnerable commercial targets are set to expand.
On Wednesday Zelenskyy said he would resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, after briefly halting them to demonstrate that Ukraine was ready for peace talks. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” he told the Financial Times. He also attacked a gap in US intelligence sharing as “dangerous”.
Trump suddenly declared an “energy ceasefire” last week, writing on TruthSocial: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!”
Prior to the president’s announcement that Nidal Hasan’s execution by firing squad will no longer go ahead, a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News showed that 80% of Americans oppose a live online broadcast of the execution.
While the partisan breakdown shows that more Democrats (91%) oppose a live stream, 64% of Republicans still opposed the move.
Meanwhile, a majority of Americans, 53%, support executing Hasan by firing squad – while 42% are opposed.
Lawmakers from both parties welcome Trump’s decision to cancel livestream of firing squad execution
Following the news that Donald Trump has canceled a plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, more lawmakers have welcomed the decision.
“Good. So sick to have ever considered this,” wrote Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, on X.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Curtis of Iowa, said “this is the right move, both for the loved ones of the victims and for the country.”
Curtis urged the administration to reconsider broadcasting the execution last week, warning that “cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment”, and is “not an effective deterrent”.
The president expressed private misgivings about the Pentagon’s move to broadcast the execution by firing squad, according to an Axios report published earlier this week, citing four people who had spoken with Trump.
A reminder that last week, Pete Hegseth told rightwing broadcaster Real America’s Voice that the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, scheduled for 3 December, would be available to watch online.
Hasan’s sentence is the first military execution in more than 60 years, and would have been the first in US history to be publicly broadcast.
Democrats and several Republicans said the decision to livestream the execution would align the US with authoritarian countries who make a public “spectacle” of executions and could run the risk of radicalizing people watching by turning Hasan into a martyr.
On Friday, vice-president JD Vance appeared to quell concerns that the execution would actually be live streamed. “First of all, I’ve seen these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” Vance told reporters, after he was asked about how he squares his Christian faith with the Pentagon’s decision to broadcast the execution. Vance also said that if the decision was made to livestream Hasan’s execution, he was “not going to be watching it”.
Trump says Nidal Hasan execution will not be live streamed
Donald Trump has said that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the US army doctor who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, would not be livestreamed.
The decision, issued via a post on Truth Social, comes after bipartisan backlash to defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that Hasan’s execution by firing squad, would be broadcast online.
“Many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” Trump wrote on Thursday. “He [Hasan] will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
Today, a number of my colleagues who cover business, labor and consumer rights will be taking your questions about the impact of the economy of the upcoming midterms – now fewer than three weeks away.
Food and gas prices remain high, the job market is unstable, consumers are angrier than ever, and a new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, took over this year.
As we mentioned earlier, our exclusive polling shows that a majority of Americans (61%) believe the US is already experiencing a recession.
Tune in here:
Alongside his midterm stumping, Trump has devoted time to tout the his various renovation projects on the White House. On Truth Social the president shared pictures of the building’s South entrance and the new heliport – which he has frequently praised while speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn.
“The exterior walls and ornamentation, both missing and in bad condition, has been fully restored to the Highest Level, giving the White House many decades of additional life! It had to be done, and I am very proud to be the President who did it!” Trump wrote. “Likewise, the Ballroom and Military Complex, is on time, and on budget, and will make an unbelievably beautiful addition, the first since the West Wing in 1901, to the White House.”
However, Trump is not the first president over the last century to undertake this kind of work. In 1942, Franklin D Roosevelt added a second-story to the East Wing. Prior to that he added an indoor therapy swimming pool in 1933, which would eventually become the press briefing room. Later, Harry Truman rebuilt the entire interior with a steel frame and added the Truman Balcony on the exterior of the White House.
The estimated cost of Trump’s ballroom has also ballooned. The Guardian previously reported the number sits around $400m, while the Washington Post has reported total costs could reach $600m.
In June, the administration also redirected $352m in federal funds, designated for the Secret Service, toward’s the project. The funds were drawn from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the president’s sweeping domestic policy legislation. However, the law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs, not construction.
US officials considering ad campaign to urge South African Afrikaners to emigrate
Joseph Gedeon
The US government could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a media campaign in South Africa to figure out why more white Afrikaners are not applying to become refugees to the US, as Donald Trump had hoped.
State department officials, according to an August proposal seen by the Guardian, outlined a roughly $335,000 research and advertising effort after applications to the refugee program “trended lower than expected” since Afrikaners were allowed to apply directly online in November 2025. The document, written by the US mission in South Africa with a department research unit for the embassy in Pretoria, admits officials know little about why.
“There’s currently little research about why Afrikaners are not applying to request referral into the US Refugee Admissions Program,” the proposal reads.
The focus on Afrikaners flows from a February 2025 executive order directing officials to put Afrikaner resettlement first while the broader refugee program stayed suspended. Administration officials had said Afrikaners face racial discrimination and “white genocide”. The South African government has rejected the genocide claims, and experts have widely dismissed the idea that Afrikaners face targeted violence or genocide.
While Trump is in DC today, vice-president JD Vance will be in Monroe, Michigan, for a rally in support of Mike Rogers, the former Republican congressman vying to flip the open Senate seat against progressive Democrat, Abdul El-Sayed.
After back to back rallies in Arizona and Montana, Donald Trump’s day in Washington will consist of closed-door meetings, a private Rose Garden lunch and two tele- rallies. None of his scheduled events today are open to the press, but we’ll let you know if anything changes.
Tomorrow, the president will be back on the trail to campaign in Dalton, Georgia.
Key US voters say economy is getting worse ahead of midterms, new Harris poll finds
Lauren Aratani
The majority of those surveyed were pessimistic about the economy, with three quarters of Americans saying they are concerned about a recession while 61% wrongly believe that the US is already experiencing one. By its typical definition, the US is not currently experiencing a recession.
The poll shows growing weariness across the political spectrum over high prices.
Republicans, fighting to keep control of Congress, are losing support with independent voters, who are expected to be the deciding factor in key swing races. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of independents said the economy is worse, up from 48% who said the same in September 2024 in the heat of the 2024 presidential election.
Even within the Republican ranks, optimism has waned. In February 2025, just a few weeks after Trump was inaugurated, 39% of Republicans said the economy was getting better. By February 2026, just before the US launched attacks against Iran, that optimism was up to 49%. In the latest poll, just 28% of Republicans said the economy is getting better.
In the new poll, a vast majority of Americans agreed that there is an affordability crisis, including 96% of Republicans. But Americans still remain divided over who has a solution.
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Democrats (71%) were more likely than Republicans (59%) to say that their own party had a solution.
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Republicans were more likely (26%) to say neither party has a solution compared with Democrats (17%)
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Half of independents said neither party has a solution, while 14% sided with Democrats and 10% with Republicans.
Trump returns to White House amid weak polls ahead of midterms
Donald Trump is returning from the campaign trail to Washington DC this morning amid weak polls that could point to trouble for the Republican Party in the midterm elections.
Trump, who campaigned for Republicans in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday, recently reached a record low approval rating of 32% amid voter frustration about the continued the Iran war and rising US prices.
According to an exclusive new poll for the Guardian, voting groups that are key to winning votes in the midterms – including independents, rural voters and even some Republicans – are increasingly disenchanted with the economy. Three in four Americans are now concerned about the potential for a recession.
In another poll conducted by the Associated Press, about 8 in 10 voters overall say the economy or the cost of living is among their top issues for the upcoming election, while about two-thirds say this about healthcare and the war in Iran. Other issues that are stronger for Trump – like immigration or crime – are lower priorities.
US voters overwhelmingly want change in Washington, new poll finds
A strong majority of voters believe president Donald Trump is falling short at home and abroad, and they want significant change in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
The survey, which was conducted less than four weeks before Election Day, finds that registered voters who identify as Democrats are more enthusiastic than Republican voters about casting a ballot.
More voters want Democrats to win control of Congress and have a more negative view of Republicans.
The poll’s findings paint a difficult picture for Republicans, who are clinging to control of Congress under the weight of an unpopular war with Iran and surging prices in the US.
About 8 in 10 voters overall say the economy or the cost of living is among their top issues for the upcoming election, while about two-thirds say this about healthcare and the war in Iran. Other issues that are stronger for Trump — like immigration or crime — are lower priorities.
By Ariana Baio and Uwa Ede-Osifo
James Talarico, the Texas Democratic nominee for Senate, sat face to face with several undecided voters who grilled him on a slew of contentious issues including Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, abortion and foreign aid, during a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening.
Jodi Hunt, a self-described single-issue voter, probed Talarico’s pro-choice stance, asking: “How would you convince me as a Catholic voter that I can trust you would protect the most innocent among us?”
Talarico described the Bible as being silent on abortion, to which Hunt countered quoting “Thou shalt not kill”.
“We may have different, moral conclusions when it comes to this particular ethical question, but we actually have the same public policy goal,” Talarico said, framing abortion as a public health issue that could be solved with a reduction in unplanned pregnancies.
During the night, Talarico cast himself as a moderate, who would put the needs of Texans over party allegiances. He railed against the ultra-wealthy, framing them as the common enemy.
Turning to James Talarico, the Democratic candidate fighting for a Texas US Senate seat might not have sparred with his Republican rival Ken Paxton last night but that doesn’t mean he was spared from attacks.
At a rally in Texas on Wednesday, JD Vance responded to an audience member who shouted his praise by responding: “I love you too sir.” He then added: “In a totally platonic way, to be clear. I’m the vice president, not James Talarico.”
It’s part of the Republican strategy to cast doubt down on Talarico’s Texan credentials and whether he’s “man enough,” according to the New York Times.
Recent polls have shown that the Democratic candidate is leading against his Republican counterpart.
Meanwhile Paxton, who declined an invitation to meet voters with Talarico last night, has focused his efforts in an ad blitz. Already more than $500m has been spent on television ads for the Texas race, according to CNN.
Andrew Roth
The White House’s unilateral effort to negotiate an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has collapsed as Moscow sent a record swarm of drones overnight to attack infrastructure in central Ukraine and Kyiv appeared to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries – despite warnings from Donald Trump.
Moscow accused Ukraine of launching its first strike against a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region since Trump abruptly declared an “energy ceasefire” that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to. Trump has demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop attacking Russian oil refineries, claiming that it was the cause of a global rise in the price of diesel fuel.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he would resume strikes on Russian oil refineries after halting those attacks to show that Ukraine was ready for peace talks. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” he told the Financial Times. He also attacked the gap in US intelligence sharing as “dangerous”.
Images from Ryazan showed flames at the refinery, which regional officials said had been targeted by 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles. Debris from a drone struck by anti-aircraft fire had hit the refinery and sparked the fire, the ministry claimed.
In Ukraine, more than 360 Russian drones targeted Kirovohrad, a central region that has been hit less hard than others closer to Russia, in attacks that killed three and injured six.
Donald Trump claims Iran war ‘will end very soon’
US president Donald Trump claimed the Iran war “will end very soon,” as voters consider their options ahead of midterm elections that are taking place amid economic uncertainty and ongoing global conflict.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Trump said: “The Iran war will end very soon. It’s going to end very soon, as soon as I want it to end, it’ll end.” He added that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon” and that oil prices would “drop like a rock”.
The US president has in recent weeks attempted to shift focus towards Ukraine, and has suggested that its attack on Russian refineries are responsible for rising fuel prices. His renewed messaging on Iran suggests that the price of daily goods – and gas at the tank – are having an impact at the polls.
Voting groups that are key to winning votes in the midterms are increasingly disenchanted with the economy, according to an exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian. Three in four Americans are now concerned about the potential for a recession.
Elsewhere:
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James Talarico, the Texas Democratic nominee for Senate, faced a grilling from undecided voters on a range of issues from Gaza to his faith at a town hall. Something he emphasized was his aspiration to put residents above party allegiance.
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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the US after Ukraine’s military access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite was restricted. The US president has denied that the administration has cut intelligence sharing but Musk suggested on X that the US government was behind the restrictions.
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Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia is facing scrutiny over her claims that she’s a lawyer. Zacharia has clarified some of the questions but the big one remains: has she ever passed the bar?
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