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 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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Trump in ‘Fox & Friends’ interview claims coronavirus vaccine coming ‘in a matter of weeks’  —  Thee president also spoke about Hurricane Sally, slammed Bob Woodward's book and ripped Joe Biden  —  President Trump in an interview on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday claimed a vaccine for coronavirus could be approved “in a matter of weeks.”

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.