I never considered voting for Trump in 2016.  I may be forced to vote for him this year.  —  Danielle Pletka is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.  —  In 2016, I never considered voting for Donald Trump.  The Johnny-come-lately Republican and his nasty schoolyard jibes seemed …

Trump ad asks people to support the troops.  But it uses a picture of Russian jets.  —  A digital ad released by a fundraising arm of the Trump campaign on Sept. 11 calling on people to “support our troops” uses a stock photo of Russian-made fighter jets and weapons.

Trump's Perverse Campaign Strategy  —  If the president's allies are talking about the moment “shooting will begin” and “martial law,” it's not by accident.  —  On Sunday, Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services …

Trump Defends Indoor Rally, but Aides Express Concern  —  “I'm on a stage, and it's very far away,” Mr. Trump said of the gathering on Sunday.  His own campaign aides privately called the move a game of political Russian roulette.  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump and his campaign are defending …

Judge rules Chad Wolf likely unlawfully serving as Homeland Security secretary and temporarily blocks some asylum restrictions  —  (CNN)A Maryland federal judge on Friday ruled that Chad Wolf is likely unlawfully serving as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and temporarily barred …

Staggering Number of Hysterectomies Happening at ICE Facility, Whistleblower Says  —  “We've questioned among ourselves, like, goodness, he's taking everybody's stuff out,” said a former nurse at the facility.  “That's his specialty, he's the uterus collector.”  —  CS

Don't expect our elites to learn from the Los Angeles horror  —  The attempted assassination of two Los Angeles County deputies, caught on a security video, is chilling and enraging enough.  —  A man walks up to the parked black-and-white cruiser and fires point-blank through the passenger window, then runs away.

Rank-and-file House members achieve rare bipartisan consensus in bid to press Hill leaders to cut stimulus deal  —  (CNN)A bipartisan group of House members is unveiling a sweeping proposal to inject up to $2 trillion in aid to the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, a move aimed …

How Trump's Middle East Plan Could Boost the Region  —  Four years ago, in the midst of a divisive U.S. presidential election, we led a bipartisan task force taking a renewed and comprehensive look at the Middle East.  In addition to the region's many problems, we identified “green shoots” …

He Hunted Bin Laden for CIA.  Now He Wants Americans Dead.  —  ‘ELIMINATE THEM’  —  Michael Scheuer used to hunt Osama bin Laden, whom he now says he admires.  Now his quarry is Donald Trump's enemies, whom he equates with terrorists.  —  The former senior CIA official once in charge …

Justice Department internal watchdog is investigating Roger Stone's sentencing, say sources  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General has begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, a longtime friend …

Fact check: Trump makes four false claims in one sentence  —  Washington (CNN)In what may be a new record for President Donald Trump, he made four false claims in one sentence of a tweet on Saturday.  —  The sentence was about Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 election opponent, and Andrew McCabe …

A fake FBI raid orchestrated by right-wing activists dupes The Washington Post  —  A fake FBI raid staged Monday by a notorious right-wing activist and conspiracist turned into an embarrassment for The Washington Post, which briefly reported the faux-event as if it were the real deal.

Bill Gates Wonders Whether FDA Can Be Trusted on a Covid Vaccine  — Philanthropist says political pressure cost agency credibility  — Polls show confidence slipping as Trump pushes for approval  —  Bill Gates used to think of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the world's premier public-health authority.

White evangelicals and Catholics may finally be opening their ears  —  To whom can I speak and give warning?  Who will listen to me?  Their ears are closed so they cannot hear.  —  Jeremiah was as good as it gets in the prophet business, but he could be a bit of a downer.

Boats, flags and merchandise: Trump is core to supporters' identity  —  If President Trump defies today's swing-state polls and pulls off another upset, what will we have missed that could have been a clue?  —  Here's a big one: Trump flotillas ... Trump flags bigger than American flags …

Trump Goes Unmentioned in Most TV Ads for House, Senate Campaigns  —  Democrats are sticking with an ad strategy of campaigning on policy promises, while Republicans avoid Trump while wooing swing voters  —  President Trump dominates television news coverage, but there is one corner …

After an Inlander article about her links to conspiracy theory websites, Rep. Jenny Graham responds with profanity, threats and another conspiracy website  —  State Rep. Jenny Graham (R-Spokane) called me on my cellphone the day the Inlander published my story about her unwittingly linking to conspiracy theory posts on Facebook.

Washington's cozy media-political cocktail circuit needs a cooling-off.  Now is the perfect time.  —  From the perspective of the Washington women involved in “Girls' Night Out,” the social gathering was friendly, professionally helpful, and harmless.  —  For about 10 years …

Confessions of a New Gun Owner  —  Even in suburbia, people are losing confidence the police will keep them safe.  —  On Monday it became official: The police issued me a gun permit.  —  Never did I imagine I'd be here.  Not because I was anti-gun.  My dad was a career FBI agent, so my siblings and I grew up with guns.

Global views of U.S. plunge to new lows amid pandemic, poll finds  —  President Trump defended his handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic during an interview with Fox News over the weekend, arguing that he took “tremendous steps” early in the outbreak, which “saved probably two or two-and-a-half million lives.”

Trump alma mater says Biden plan would lead to more economic growth  —  Joe Biden's economic proposals would create a faster growing economy, higher wages for American workers and reduce the debt compared to where the U.S. is headed under President Donald Trump, according to new analysis …

Cities Were Filled With Mass Protests in the Summer of 2020.  They Are Different Now  —  Law-enforcement officials say presence of armed fringe groups from both sides of political spectrum raise prospect of a new wave of violence  —  Months of mass protests have given way to more violent …

Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin decided the 2016 election.  We'll have to wait on them in 2020.  —  Huge surges in mail voting will change how and when votes are counted in 2020.  Here's our guide to the rules.  —  The most important states in the 2016 election are among …

New evidence makes Hunter Biden's ‘business’ deals reek worse than ever  —  Foreign entities looking to influence American politics sometimes devise lucrative commercial deals involving a politician's family.  While the deals can, and do, ensnare politicians of all stripes …

Noted Bibliophobe Donald Trump Claims He Read 466-Page Woodward Book in One Night  —  President Trump appeared on Fox & Friends again this morning, rambling on for 45 minutes until the hosts mercifully told him it was time for him to leave.  During his appearance he regaled the audience with a brief …

A US Diplomat Is Pleading With Belarus To Release Her Spouse From Jail  —  A dual American Belarusian citizen and political strategist who has worked for presidential candidates in the United States has been languishing in a jail in Minsk, Belarus, for nearly two months.

Florida offers key test of Biden team's pandemic campaign plan  —  WASHINGTON — There's no set playbook for running against a candidate like Donald Trump during a global pandemic.  But to understand the formula that Joe Biden's campaign thinks they can use to topple the incumbent in November's election …

POLITICO Playbook: Inside the House Dem leadership talks  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP MET in the Capitol for the first time in a while Monday evening, and they began to confront what many of them see as an only-in-a-TRUMP-presidency question: If DONALD TRUMP loses …