Trump's alternative reality  —  President Trump “goes there, on just about every topic imaginable,” as NBC's Brian Williams put it, during a pair of Q&As, two hours apart yesterday — one in the Cabinet Room and one with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Rose Garden .

‘A Soulless Coward’: Coach Gregg Popovich Responds to Trump  —  In an exclusive here at The Nation, the Spurs coach speaks about Trump's latest outrage.  —  We've all seen San Antonio Spurs' future Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich in a state of exasperation on the sidelines, or in post-game news conferences.

CNN poll: Trump approval steady, but more say he's leading in the wrong direction  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's approval rating holds steady in a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, but that overall stability belies declining views on how things are going in the country today.

Trump Falsely Claims Obama Didn't Contact Families of Fallen Troops  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump falsely asserted on Monday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other presidents did not contact the families of American troops killed in duty, drawing a swift, angry rebuke from several of Mr. Obama's former aides.

Sen. John McCain warns against ‘spurious nationalism’ in Liberty Medal speech  —  Washington (CNN)In a lofty and at moments pointed speech, Sen. John McCain on Monday cautioned against the US turning toward “half-baked, spurious nationalism” during an event honoring the war hero's contributions.

The fall of Tom Marino, Trump's pick for drug czar, explained  —  The Congress member was the main sponsor of a law that made the federal fight against opioids harder.  —  Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), President Donald Trump's pick for drug czar, hadn't gotten a single hearing from the Senate yet.

Jesus Campos, Vegas security guard shot before rampage, appears to have vanished  —  A security vehicle blocks an entrance at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas.  (David Becker / Getty Images)  —  The story seemed straightforward: The unarmed security guard approached …

How Donald Trump is negotiating like a hostage-taker  —  (CNN)As a candidate, Donald Trump sold himself as a deal maker.  As president, he's governing more as a hostage taker.  —  Across an array of domestic and foreign challenges, Trump's go-to move has become to create what amounts to a political hostage situation.

Malta car bomb kills Panama Papers journalist  —  Daphne Caruana Galizia, a blogger whose investigations focused on corruption, was described as a ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’ … The journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta was killed on Monday in a car bomb near her home.

57 Things I Need You to Stop Doing to the Women You Work With  —  I'm begging you: Don't be a creep at work.  —  A female friend of mine went on a foreign business trip early in her career with two colleagues who were both male, married, and senior to her at the company.

North Korea says ‘a nuclear war may break out any moment’  —  A U.S. F-35 stealth fighter is seen during the press day of the 2017 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017.  South Korean and U.S. troops launched five days …

White House brushes off House investigators over aides' use of personal email  —  The White House brushed off a bipartisan request from House investigators for details of senior administration officials' use of private email and encrypted messaging apps for government work …

Rex Tillerson and the Unraveling of the State Department  —  With an isolated leader, a demoralized diplomatic corps and a president dismantling international relations one tweet at a time, American foreign policy is adrift in the world.  —  One afternoon in late September …

Colin Kaepernick's collusion grievance against NFL centered on Trump's influence  —  Trump's tweets, rallies and contact with NFL owners will be a major part of Kaepernick's legal case  —  The influence and power of President Donald Trump will be a central element in Colin Kaepernick's collusion grievance …

For each scene of his presidency, Trump casts a villain (or two, or three ...)  —  Hillary Clinton is not running for president again in 2020 — she has said so, her aides know it, and there is no political rationale that would argue otherwise.  But for President Trump, facts like those simply miss the point.