Huang (Nvidia)

•READ 'Hegseth Rants. Again.' Commentary by Stephen Macaulay in The Gray Area.

UPDATE: Presumed incoming chair of the House Intelligent Committee Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) told Politico he is “unsure” whether Megaspeed executive Alice Huang was conscious of China’s espionage activities in connection with her relationship to Nvidia chief/founder Jensen Huang, or whether she was a “useful idiot.”

Founder Out – Nvidia founder and Chief Executive Jensen Huang, “seen by many as the face of the AI arms race” (above) according to The Wall Street Journal, resigned Thursday after reports of two extra-marital affairs. The latest revelation, first reported in The New York Times, was of an inappropriate relationship with the senior executive in charge of Nvidia’s health care business, Kimberly Powell.

But it was the first affair to be revealed, with Alice Huang (no relation), an executive for Singapore-based Megaspeed that got Jensen Huang in hot water with Nvidia’s board. US intelligent officials believe Alice Huang was working for China’s intelligent services, thus potentially compromising Nvidia’s artificial intelligence dominance.

Or, should we say “super intelligence”?

The US intel reports are hanging over the White House, as President Trump apparently was informed of Alice Huang’s alleged connection with Chinese intelligence last spring. Jensen Huang has been among the tech broligarchs closest to the president since Trump returned to the White House early last year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent authored a WSJ guest op-ed on Tuesday titled, “Our Best Cyberdefense is American SI.”

•••

White House Threatens Oversight Committee – White House counsel Will Scharf wrote to incoming House Oversight Committee Chair Robert Garcia (D-CA) Wednesday, The Hill reports, that the committee’s likely investigations into the Trump administration “may cross the line into blatant criminality.”

Garcia responded Thursday morning, telling NPR’s A Martinez on Morning Edition: “We’re not going to be deterred, and we’re not going to be intimidated by Donald Trump or anyone in the administration.”

•••

Mississippi Goes Blue – The Associated Press Wednesday evening called the US Senate race in Mississippi for Democratic candidate Scott Colom. With 99% of the vote in, Colom had a 4,669-vote lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. This gives Democrats 55 Senate seats to the GOP’s 44, with Alaska yet to be called.

Colom becomes the first Black senator from Mississippi since post-Civil War Reconstruction and the first newly elected Democrat since segregationist John Stennis won a special election in November 1947 (he served to January 1989, when he was succeeded by Republican Sen. Trent Lott).

Stemming the chance the Trump White House might challenge the results in Mississippi, Hyde-Smith, who has voted often with the president, conceded Wednesday and called Colom with congratulations. That’s how it is done -- with grace.

•••

Kennedys Sue Over Arc d’Trump – Nine members of the Kennedy family political dynasty (not RFK Jr., of course) have sued the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to block construction of the president’s 250-foot triumphal arc, saying it would “obstruct the clear sightline of Kennedy gravesites” (per The Guardian).

•••

Gas Down – As refineries switch to a less-expensive winter blend and more oil comes in from the Middle East, the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular continues to tick down Thursday, just below $4, to $3.9081 per gallon, AAA reports. That’s 3.48¢ less than Wednesday’s average and 94.169¢ more than on February 27. Diesel is down 3.29¢ Thursday, to $6.0977 per gallon, which is north of March 5 by $2.3909. –TL

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Iran War, Week 30

VETERANS DAY 11/11/26

Jordan Will Lead GOP – House Republicans chose Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) their minority leader for the 120^th Congress over the more moderate Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), in a closed-door vote, The Hill reports. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) chose not to run for minority leader.

Current House count from the midterms is 255 Democrats to 167 Republicans, according to The New York Times.

•••

Meanwhile, Across the Aisle – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) appears to face no serious challenge to become the first Black Speaker of the House when the 120^th Congress convenes in January. It’s a bit different in the Senate, where Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) have publicly called for a “different” leader than Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) or a “concrete plan” that provides change, Roll Call reports. 

Schumer, current Senate minority leader and a former majority leader, has been given plenty of credit for the Democratic Party’s success in midterm races. Democrats will have at least a 54-46 majority in the Senate, and it could go to 56-44 if races in Alaska and Mississippi (!) swing in their favor.

“I’m confident I will be elected majority leader,” Schumer said Tuesday, “and our caucus is really united in focusing on bringing down costs, on ending the corruption, on ending the chaos, on ending the war. We have great unity in our caucus, and I’ll be proud to lead it.”

•••

More Gas Relief – AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.9429 Wednesday, down 3.59¢ from Tuesday and 97.649¢ more expensive than on February 27. Diesel is $6.1306, a drop of 2.66¢ from Tuesday and $2.4175 more expensive than on March 5. –TL

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TUESDAY 11/10/26

Hegseth Fires Back – As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on whether to advance Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) articles of impeachment against War/Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, Hegseth fired back Tuesday morning with his first press conference in six months, as covered by USA Today.

“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight and it’s not accountability,” Hegseth said. “It’s political spectacle. It’s a farce and a stunt, and everybody knows it.”

Hegseth compared himself to Donald J. Trump and the president’s two impeachment trials.

“Both times he came back stronger, and the American people sent him back to the White House,” Hegseth said. “Now they’re trying a third time, this time with a member of his cabinet. They will fail again.”

Hegseth is very likely correct on that last point. Though there’s a pretty good chance Massie will get the couple of extra Republicans he needs to join all Democratic House members to vote for impeachment this week, in the 119^th Congress, the Senate will fall far short of the 67 votes needed to convict. With Alaska and Mississippi Senate races yet to be called, there will be no more than 56 Democratic senators in the 120^thCongress next January.

“If standing with President Trump puts me in that company,” Hegseth said, “I’ll take that company every day of the week.”

•••

Ukraine, Russia, US Meet Again – Little more detail than that, as the three countries’ delegations met in Abu Dhabi Tuesday to begin their first tri-lateral peace talks since concluding the same in Geneva last February, with no results.

The three countries met for four hours and expect to meet again Wednesday, Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief, Rustem Umerov, told reporters. 

“The agenda includes key questions related to ending hostilities and moving closer to peace,” Umerov said, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is bracing for Russian hits on its utility infrastructure that would again knock out heat and electricity during the cold winter months. What’s more, Europe is looking for security guarantees from the talks. Earlier Tuesday, Ukraine’s delegation met with representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission, as well as US officials, the Independent reports.

•••

Russia Kills Independent News – One of Russia’s oldest independent news outlets, Novaya Gazeta closed its doors Tuesday after the Kremlin pulled its license, shut down its online access and kicked it out of its newsroom, the BBC reports. 

The government has pressured and persecuted the newspaper at least since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to Politico. 

Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993. The Soviet Union’s last president, Mikhail Gorbachev, contributed part of his Nobel Prize money to help fund it.

“For nearly five years of war, we managed to operate while completely surrounded by intelligence services. Now we have been killed,” the editorial staff said in a statement, October 30.

•••

Inflation Rises 0.4% in October – The Republican Party probably could have used this sort of news a month earlier: Consumer prices rose 0.4% in October in the month-over-month versus September, the Labor Department said Tuesday morning. There is no Consumer Price Index year-over-year for October because of the October 2025 federal government shutdown. The Labor Department says shelter costs rose, and its index for all items less food and energy was up 0.3%. 

The annual CPI will return next month with November’s year-over-year index.

•••

Gas Under $4 – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular is 12¢ cheaper than a week ago, according to AAA. The gasoline price average Tuesday is $3.9788, which is 3.051¢ cheaper than Monday and $1.01284 more expensive than on February 27. Diesel is not coming down as quickly – AAA says it’s averaging $6.1572 Tuesday, or 1.51¢ less than Monday, and up $2.4441 from March 5. –TL

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MONDAY 11/09/26

Hegseth Survives – By 211-204 vote Monday, the House sent Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-LA) articles of impeachment against ‘War’ Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the effort until the 120^th Congress convenes in January (without Massie). (Per NPR’s Morning Edition).

•••

Lame Duck Begins – The post-midterm lame duck session of the 119^th Congress begins this week with the Senate working Tuesday through Thursday, and the House working Tuesday and Thursday, with Wednesday off for Veterans Day. Senate Republicans were returning to Capitol Hill Monday “furious with President Trump, whom they blame for last week’s big losses” in both chambers, according to The Hill.

•••

Short Honeymoon – President Trump told Fox News late last Tuesday he would wield the power of the veto, then Wednesday told White House reporters he would try to work with Democrats, in a sort of Reagan comes to Tip O’Neil manner, then accepted Susie Wiles’ resignation Friday and named Stephen Miller her replacement as his chief of staff. 

But first … Reuters reported that if Democrats took control of the House and Senate -- which happens in January -- Trump would hand the reins to Miller and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, chief architect of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, based on the Unified Executive Theory to hand domination over the judicial and legislative branches to the president.

Crossing Miller … House Speaker for the 120^th Congress Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) does not expect to work with the White House under new Chief of Staff Stephen Miller the way he sometimes communicated with just-fired Chief of Staff (she’s moving to Trump’s political operations) Susie Wiles.

“It’s not going to happen with this chief of staff, in the sense he lasts,” Jeffries told Jonathan Karl on ABC News This Week with George Stephanopolous. 

We’re pretty sure Miller will be White House chief of staff right up to the end of Trump’s second term, January 20, 2029.

Jeffries did duck Karl’s pressing question of how the Democratic controlled House and Senate might pass serious legislation in the face of Trump’s veto threats. The incoming speaker instead referred to his party’s overwhelming wins last Tuesday and its quest to carry out the will of the people.

An ‘oops’ from Trump? … Finally, in a CBS News 60 Minutes interview with former New York Times conservative op-ed columnist Ross Douthat, Trump admitted his war on Iran had much to do with last Tuesday’s GOP drubbing, but added with an “emphatic yes” he would go to war with Iran again.

The “oops” comes in when discussing his immigrant deportation policy.

“I think it was too tough,” he told Douthat. His policy, using an often-unbadged state police force that deported many immigrants to third countries, who often had no criminal record “both helped and hurt” his popularity with the American public. 

“I think I got an A+ for closing up the border,” Trump said.

He did not grade himself for myriad shootings by ICE agents, including the fatal shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddleford, Maine and of protesters Renée Good and Alex Preti in Minneapolis.

•••

Honey Trap? – Artificial Intelligence industry leader Nvidia has begun an investigation into an alleged plot to trap its CEO into reveal intel to a Chinese executive allegedly recruited by her country’s Ministry of State Security and potentially influence the company to make its most advanced chips available to China, people briefed on the intelligence told The New York Times. A memo describing the alleged plot was circulated among Trump administration policymakers last spring that Alice Huang was tapped by China's MSS to collect the intel, according to the report. 

The nature of the alleged plot is what John Le Carré’s George Smiley would call a “honey trap.” CEO Huang has issued a public apology to his wife over an intimate relationship with Alice Huang, whose company, Megaspeed, began a multibillion-dollar purchase of advanced AI chips in 2024, about the time the two were photographed together at a Taipei bar.

"To many in the industry, the well-funded push by Megaspeed into AI appeared to come out of nowhere," the NYT reports.

"I was unfaithful to my wife," Huang wrote in a memo to Nvidia employees Sunday (NYT, again). "My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

As chief of the industry leading AI developer, CEO Huang has been an influential ally of President Trump, who had been briefed on Huang's relationship with the Chinese executive, "but chose not to do anything about it," according to the NYT.

After the markets opened Monday Nvidia’s shares slid while other tech stocks recovered from last week’s big bear market, The Wall Street Journal reports.

•••

A Bit More Relief at the Pumps – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline is just below $4.01 per gallon Monday, or $4.00931, which is down nearly 14¢ -- 13.999¢ to be exact – from Election Day last Tuesday. That’s still $1.04335 more expensive than February 27, the brink of war with Iran. Diesel on Tuesday averages $6.1723, or 11.52¢ less expensive than last Tuesday and $2.4592 more expensive than on March 5.

•••

CORRECTION: An earlier edition of this page misidentified the state represented by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 11/9/26

Analysis by Todd Lassa

Tuesday’s midterm election Blue Wave – or call it a crush, tsunami, mushroom cloud, whatever – looks like it could be the beginning of the end of the MAGA movement and maybe remains of the Tea Party movement that preceded it. But it’s too early to declare it time to put a fork into Donald J. Trump himself.

After all, there’s the president’s new red hat. Act now; just $35.95.

The hat represents President Trump’s key weapon for resisting the new Democratic majorities’ efforts to claw back his foreign adventure in Iran, his tariffs, his questionable – corrupt – side deals, his administration’s Stasi-like deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, funded to $85 billion, his “Department of War,” his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rehab, his Arc d’ Trump and his ballroom blitz.

By Wednesday morning, the Blue Wave could be felt soaking dry MAGA land in Texas, Kansas, South Carolina and maybe even Mississippi.

Will this Democratic dominance last beyond 2028? Probably not. But voters in those states and once-deep red districts within may never return to MAGA even as the last of Trump’s diehard faithful cough up another $40 for the latest hat update.

Trump, who told his midterm stump rally faithful – never saw rallies that big, except when he was running for president, he says – to think of him as on the ballot for Tuesday’s election. 

Calling in to Fox News Democracy 26 after the strength of the Blue Wave had made itself clear, Trump said; “It’s been done before, as you know, numerous times. It’s the power of veto, it’s one of the stronger powers that a president has and they’ll send over things that are insane and I’ll veto them and after a couple of months of vetos, then they’ll call and they’ll say, ‘how do we get this stuff done? And we’ll work together. I have a lot of friends in the Democrats, believe it or not.”

It was not the Iran war, he said initially, Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that everybody outside the White House predicted, and the way it pushed oil prices up, nor ICE’s killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian refugees, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff making side deals while shuttling diplomacy mostly to Vladimir Putin, his Smoot-Hawley-like obsession with tariffs, nor his insulting voters who reject data centers as “backwards and poor” that cost the GOP the House, Senate, several gubernatorial and many local elections. 

“They didn’t like the candidates,” he told Fox News. “And some of the candidates I endorsed, they fought me.

“I wasn’t on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, they would have got [unintelligible – maybe ‘done,’ but sounds like ‘down’].”

At the White House Wednesday, Trump reversed himself a bit, admitting that it was the war’s effect on the US economy that lost Republicans support Tuesday.

By now we can take it seriously when Trump says he will not run for an unconstitutional third term in 2028. He will take the money -- $2.2 billion last year, including $1.8 billion on cryptocurrency, the $TRUMP meme coin that lost 98% of its value for 740,000 mostly MAGA investors – and run.

The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate undoubtedly will try to impose the War Powers Act, again, introduce a bill imposing sanctions on Russia but without the escape clause allowed the president in the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and of course attempt to claw back its own budgetary powers.

President Trump will rule to wield his Sharpie another day, maybe with his new red hat on head. This leaves us with the question of whether a sufficient number of surviving Republican senators, maybe five to seven, will be brave enough to vote with Democratic and independent senators, minus John Fetterman (D-PA), to override his vetos.

There will not be a hat for that.

Lassa is founding editor of The Hustings.

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THU-FRI 11/5-6/26

The first 20 minutes of President Trump’s “closing argument” to vote for his party in Tuesday’s midterm elections was about his rehab of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “I’ve actually kept far more promises than I made,” Trump said.

•What's next? – Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings – right or left – in the subject line.

UPDATE – As of 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Wednesday, Democrats have 54 Senate seats after Tuesday’s elections, to the GOP’s 44 seats, leaving two races, Alaska and Mississippi to be called. The House count is 228 Democrats to 139 Republicans, leaving 68 races yet to be counted. With two states still undecided, 28 governors will be Democratic and 20 will be Republican. (Per The Associated Press).

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this news item misidentified the second state, after Alaska, still waiting for its US Senate race to be called.

•••

Democrats Take House and Senate – Early Wednesday Eastern time the Democratic Party has 52 US Senate seats to Republicans’ 41, while Dems have 202 House seats to 123 Republicans for next year’s 120^th Session of Congress, The New York Times reports. 

Michigan and Alaska are still counting ballots for their Senate races, but in Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is leading Republican Mike Rogers. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola has a slight lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

James Talarico’s trouncing of ethics-challenged Republican state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton for Senate, 55% to 43.2%, marks the first Democratic US Senate win in the state since 1988, according to The Texas Tribune. 

If that’s not enough for the Texas Democratic Party, Gina Hinojosa beat Republican Greg Abbott, governor since 2015, by 52.7% to 45.8% according to The Associated Press.

From the White House, CNN quoted President “Vote Like I’m on the Ballot” Trump; “If Greg Abbott hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months, he wouldn’t have lost.”

NBC News contributor and former Trump 45 US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called Trump’s choice of Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the primary a “big mistake.”

In Mississippi … Mississippi … with 97% of the votes in, Democrat Scott Colom leads incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 28 votes, CNN reports.

Adam Hamilton becomes the first Democratic US senator from Kansas since 1932, beating Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, 51.1% to 45.9%. 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has lost her bid for a fourth term, losing to Democrat Troy Jackson, 53.3% to 46.6%. 

Trump also backed South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham, appointed last summer to fill in the rest of her late brother Lindsey’s term, in her bid for a full six-year term. She lost early in the evening to Democrat Annie Andrews, 51.7% to 46.7%, The Associated Press reports. 

Former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown fought back for his seat lost in 2024 and won, beating incumbent Jon Husted, who was appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance, the AP reports. 

In Minnesota, Democrat Peggy Flanagan beat Republican and former NBC Sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya for the US Senate seat Democrat Amy Klobuchar vacates at the end of this year. Klobuchar, in turn, becomes Minnesota’s next governor with a 55.6%-42.5% win over Republican Lisa Demuth. –TL

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VOTE!

ELECTION DAY 11/3/26

The Price of Gas and Diesel – Election Day's national average for a gallon of unleaded regular is $4.1493, according to AAA, a break of 2.01 cents per gallon from Monday, but $1.18334 more than the brink of war with Iran, February 27. Diesel is $6.2875 Tuesday, 0.46-cent lower than Monday and $2.5744 higher than March 5. --TL

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The Midterms Are Nigh!

MONDAY 11/2/26

Democrat Backs Michigan Republican – After months of support for Abdul El-Sayed, who beat her in the Democratic primary for US senator from Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) has withdrawn her endorsement and thrown her support to El-Sayed’s Republican rival, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R).

Stevens told Politico Sunday that Rogers didn’t promise her anything and that she made her decision “this morning.” 

Several House Democrats told Politico they were considering kicking Stevens out of their caucus, while El-Sayed responded; “I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.”

That appears to be the proper attitude: The latest New York Times/Siena polls, taken October 23-November 1, shows El-Sayed leading Rogers in the race 53% to 42%.

•••

Trump v. the Midterms – President Trump has lost his bid to control Alaska’s race for US Senate, The Wall Street Journal reports, with a federal judge throwing out his Justice Department’s lawsuit Sunday that would block state officials from certifying election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lost to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola, because a retired teacher also named Dan Sullivan is running in the rank-choice election as an independent. Last week The New York Times reported that the Democratic Party set up independent Dan Sullivan as a spoiler for Republican Dan Sullivan. 

Peltola has denied knowledge of the scheme. 

However, consensus among legal scholars and pundits is there is no potential law broken in a party’s backing of a spoiler. And on Sunday, an NYT front page outlined how common the scheme is among both parties. 

Republicans have spent more than $2.2 million backing a socialist candidate for US Senate, where former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a centrist Democrat, is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted. 

A Republican group in Virginia has sent out mailers highlighting the Democratic-leaning positions of a “radical centrist” running in a competitive House race, according to the newspaper, and in Nebraska, Democrats and Republicans are helping third-party/independent candidates take votes from incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) and his Democratic challenger, Dan Osborn.

DOJ’s ‘competitive authoritarian’ efforts … President Trump’s ‘competitive authoritarian’ efforts via his Justice Department include a plan to send more than 1,000 election monitors to polling stations in every state. The Atlantic notes that the DOJ has been sending monitors for more than 60 years, but until now they watched polls to make sure Black voters and other minorities were not impeded from casting ballots. 

Earlier this year, FBI officials seized ballots from 2020 (for the election Trump is still challenging), has gathered material from Arizona and has questioned election officials in Wisconsin, the magazine reports. None of this has uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud.

So the midterms are in the clear? … In its own monitoring of Trump administration efforts to stifle the midterms, the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice at New York University reports that since the president has no authority over elections, “these efforts have been thwarted at every turn. His executive orders and overreach were blocked by courts, the SAVE Act died in the Senate, and state and local authorities still run elections according to the law, not the president’s whims. Trump’s plot to seize control of the midterm elections appears to have been defeated.”

But wait … This assessment comes after more money has been spent on midterm elections than in any previous year, including from individual contributions, dark money and ex-DOGE chief Elon Musk’s out-in-the-open $446 million in contributions to Republicans (The Guardian), including $150 million alone to Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton. 

Looming over this, the Justice Department in recent days has reminded election officials in all 50 states to preserve materials from their election, The Atlantic notes. 

•••

Trump’s WSJ Lawsuit Dismissed – In Miami, US District Judge Darrin Gayles threw out for the second time President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. This time, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice, which means Trump cannot file it again.

The lawsuit claimed Trump had been defamed by a WSJ article identifying him as the author of a birthday poem, outlined by a drawing of a woman’s curves, to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Judge Gayles said Trump’s allegations “are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the article, and often irrelevant” to his argument that the WSJ published the 2025 news story with actual malice, which is the standard required to prove defamation cases.

•••

This Beats a Campaign Rally – On Thursday, President Trump cancelled weekend campaign rallies scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Kansas and Iowa, only to later reschedule them both for Sunday.

On Saturday, Trump attended his own Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago, The Washington Post reports. The party had a jungle theme, “with guests in sequined leotards, face paint, and cheetah, leopard and tiger-print dinner jackets. Circus performers hung from the ceiling.” 

•••

Prices at the Pump – You’ll save a half a buck or more if you fill up your tank on the way to the polls Tuesday. Monday’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular eased 3.52 cents from last Friday to $4.1694 per gallon but still $1.20344 higher than on February 27. Diesel is $6.2921 Monday, down 2.8 cents from Friday and $2.579 higher than on March 5. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 11/2/26

Real GDP Jumps – Real Gross Domestic Product was up 3.4% in the third quarter, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reports Thursday. That’s an increase from Q2’s meh 2.2% growth. [CHART: BEA]

•Contributing Pundit Rich Corbett argues that European nations' continuing purchase of Russian energy is not drawing sufficient scrutiny. Read in The Gray Area.

UPDATE: President Trump has rescheduled rallies for midterm Republican candidates in Kansas and Iowa, which he had cancelled late Thursday, The Associated Press reports. The Kansas and Iowa rallies will now be held back-to-back on Sunday.

•••

Trump Changes General's Gender – Defense/War Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired another military general, this time three-star Army Gen. Brett Sylvia, who oversees planning at the Pentagon. Officials are alleging the general released information to a reporter about plans for Ukraine and Iran, NPR’s All Things Considered reports. The US and Israel reportedly are planning to resume heavy warfare after the US midterms next Tuesday. 

Asked about the general’s firing Thursday, President Trump apparently did not know who he was and only heard the name “Sylvia.”

“She’s got problems,” Trump replied (per Mediaite). “She’s gonna have a big problem. We’re very much looking for leakers.”

•••

Trump Cancels Rallies – President Trump has cancelled rallies for GOP midterm candidates in Kansas and Iowa, and says he will, instead, put out 19 campaign teleconferences over the weekend (NPR’s Morning Edition).

CORRECTION: The above news item listed the wrong Midwestern state, in addition to Kansas, for which President Trump had cancelled rallies planned for the weekend and misstated the campaign teleconferences planned in their place as "campaign videos." Trump has since rescheduled the rallies in the two states.

•••

Halloween Pump-Price Break – AAA’s national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular continued to ease into the Halloween weekend, to $4.2046 Friday, down 2.12 cents from Thursday and up $1.239 (+$1.23864) from February 27. Diesel is $6.3204 Friday, down 1.43 cents from Thursday and up $2.607 from March 5. –TL

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+3.4% GDP

THURSDAY 10/29/26

Dems Hand Trump ‘Election Fraud’ Fodder – In case President Trump -- who already has directed his Justice Department to sue the state of Alaska if Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) fails to win re-election next Tuesday -- doesn’t have enough fodder for his dubious and endless “election fraud” claims, the Democratic Party appears to have recruited the second Dan Sullivan that’s the subject of the president’s lawsuit threat, according to a report in The New York Times.

Sullivans’ – er, Sullivan’s – Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola has denied knowledge of the alleged scheme, according to the report. So has retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., NPR reports. He’s on the Alaska ballot just below Peltola’s name and above Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan’s name. There’s a fourth candidate, listed as a registered Republican, on the ballot as well.

The NYT reports it uncovered the alleged scheme based on interviews and text messages showing Peltola worked with Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and with other “would-be spoilers” to enter the race.

Trump says Peltola should be removed from the ballot (hardly an option five days before the election), The Wall Street Journalreports, while Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) ordered his state’s Department of Public Safety to investigate “evidence of an organized effort to manipulate Alaska’s elections.”

•••

Stalemate in Israeli Elections – With 90% of votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc leads with 53 Knesset seats to Gaidi Eisenkot’s 48 seats, while the Arab parties have ‘surged’ to 19 seats, The Times of Israel reports. 

•••

Fed Rate Holds Steady – The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee voted 10-2 to maintain its key interest rate at 3¾% to 4% Wednesday “in support of its dual-mandate.” That “dual mandate” is to support employment growth while sustaining a 2% inflation rate (the annual inflation rate hit 3.7% in September). 

The two FOMC members who voted against maintaining the current rate, Lisa Cook (whom President Trump tried to remove from the Fed last year) and Beth Hammack preferred a quarter-point increase. Economists expect the FOMC to raise interest rates at its next meeting in December.

The FOMC cited strong expansion of economic activity, resilient domestic spending, strong productivity growth, robust capital investment and job gains keeping pace with the workforce – so, the “K-shaped” economy prevails.

•••

Thursday’s Prices at the Pump – AAA reports the national average for unleaded regular is $4.2258 Thursday, 2.13 cents lower than Wednesday and almost $1.26 higher ($1.25984) than on February 27, about 28 weeks ago. Diesel is $6.3347 Thursday, according to AAA, down 1.52 cents from Wednesday and up $2.6213 from March 5. –TL

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Iran War, Week 28

WEDNESDAY 10/28/26

Israeli Election Update – With 77% of votes counted, moderate-right candidate Gaidi Eisenkot’s bloc, with 66 Knesset seats, has made a slight gain on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right bloc’s 54 seats, according to Haaretz’s election counter. A coalition of at least 61 of the 120 Knesset seats is needed for the coalition to choose a PM. 

As of Wednesday afternoon Israeli time, Netanyahu’s Likud party had 27 of his coalition’s 54 seats to Eisenkot’s Yashar party’s 22 of his coalition’s 66 seats.

Eisenkot’s gains as the count continues have been at the expense of Israel’s Arab parties, which would contribute 17 seats to his coalition.

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Wednesday’s Prices at the Pump – AAA reports the national average for unleaded regular is $4.2471 Wednesday, 1.9 cents cheaper than Tuesday, but $1.28114 costlier than on February 27. Diesel is $6.3499 Wednesday, 0.22-cent relief from Tuesday and $2.6365 more than on March 5. –TL

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TUESDAY 10/27/26

High Turnout in Israel – By noon local time Tuesday, turnout for Israel’s parliamentary elections was 31.5%, highest of an election since 1973, The Times of Israel reports. The center-right Yashar party’s Gaidi Eisenkot has passed ex-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the polls to be the lead opponent versus Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of Likud. 

While coming under close scrutiny by some Israeli conservatives for his handling (and alleged pre-attack knowledge) of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in which 1,195 Israeli civilians and security forces were killed, Netanyahu has continued his scare campaign, writes Haaretz, claiming “mass voter turnout figures in Arab communities.”

Bennett, meanwhile, has urged voters to back any party in an anti-Netanyahu bloc and says being the largest party has “no significance.”  Results by parliamentary seats are expected as early as Wednesday, but it could be weeks before a winning coalition chooses a PM.

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Meanwhile, Texas – More than 4.5 million Texans have cast their vote for US senator since early voting began last week Tuesday, Newsweek reports. That’s 74% higher than voter turnout at the same point before the 2022 midterms.

Democrats hope this bodes well for their candidate, James Talarico … but then, we are talking about the Democratic Party, which has a history of grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory and has not won a Senate race in the state in 32 years. 

President Trump, who has been stumping for midterm Senate, House and gubernatorial candidates in red states he won handily in 2024, is to travel to Texas Tuesday to try and help out the state’s über-MAGA attorney general, Ken Paxton.

For what it’s worth, Real Clear Politics’ poll average for the race shows Talarico at 48.4% to Paxton’s 46.9%, a lead for the Democrat that's well within the margin of error.

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Tuesday’s Prices at the Pump – AAA reports the national average for unleaded regular is $4.2661 Tuesday, down 1.97 cents from Monday but up a buck-thirty --$1.30014 -- from February 27. Diesel is up 0.29-cent, to $6.3521. That’s $2.6387 more expensive per gallon from March 5.

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Three Indictments and Comey – After two dismissed indictments, the Trump administration’s Justice Department has charged ex-FBI Director James Comey with a third, alleging he leaked national security information to The New York Times for a 2016 news article, The New Republic reports.

“Well, they’re back again,” Comey responded with a video on the left-leaning MeidasTouch. “It would be almost funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice. One that we cannot become numb to. Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. …”

Comey goes on to praise his family for their support. That would include his daughter, Maurene Comey, whom a judge ruled just hours before James Comey’s latest indictment, was wrongfully terminated in July 2025 by the DOJ as US attorney for the Southern District of New York. –TL

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MONDAY 10/26/26

Trump’s Pre-Midterm Defeat – Voters in Brazil handed leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva victory in the country’s second round of voting to defeat the President Trump-endorsed son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving 27 years in prison for trying to overturn Lula’s previous victory in an attempted 2022 election coup. Lula turns 81 Tuesday, 

Lula had lost the first round to Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, by two points earlier in October, but came back strong for the second round, with 51.8% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 48.2%. Lula’s surprise win comes after seven straight wins by right-wing leaders in elections in the region the last 18 months, according to The New York Times.

“I would like to thank the Brazilian people for the generosity they have shown me for a long time,” Lula said.

Not unexpectedly for the defeated son of the former right-wing leader convicted of attempting a coup in 2022, Flávio Bolsonaro has asked for the results to be annulled, after a Brazil’s judiciary ruled polls remain open Sunday for an extra two hours for an overflow of voters. Both the Bolsonaro campaign and the Lula campaign requested the voting extension, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, but the court’s ruling was directed at the Lula campaign request only.

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Trump Says Alaska Must Elect Dan S. Sullivan – In maybe the most baldfaced effort by the president to control the outcome of the November 3 midterms, Donald J. Trump confirmed Friday he directed the Justice Department to sue the state of Alaska over the US Senate race between two Dan Sullivans. 

“I’m the one that said, ‘do it,’” Trump told reporters in Florida Friday (per Newsweek).

The DOJ lawsuit demands that Alaska turn over election results unless Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan wins the ranked choice election. If Democratic challenger Mary Peltola beats him next week, the election results must overturn the results, according to the suit. 

An independent named Dan J. Sullivan is running against Sen. Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola. The Republican Party alleges the independent Sullivan is a Democratic plant to drain votes from Republican Sullivan, a charge that independent Sullivan denies. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this news story had misspelled Democratic candidate for senator from Alaska, Mary Peltola.

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Cost of Gas and Diesel – AAA reports the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular costs consumers $4.2858 Monday, 0.68-cent less than Friday and $1.31984 higher than on February 27. Diesel prices continue to rise, meanwhile, to $6.3492 Monday, up 3.2 cents over Friday and $2.6358 higher than on March 5, AAA reports. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 10/26/26

Ahead of what could be the largest national turnout for a midterm in decades – if not in a couple of centuries -- The Hustings and The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania, asks the question in our next live debate next Wednesday: “What Are Your Top Issues in this Midterm Election?”

Talking With, Not At … Debate & Donuts VII is set for Wednesday, October 25, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is free and open to anyone willing to discuss, in a civil manner, politics with people who may not agree with them. 

The Allen Theatre is 36 East Main Street, Annville, Pennsylvania.

If you are anywhere in the Central Pennsylvania region, say, between Harrisburg and West New Jersey on the Wednesday before the November 3 midterm election, please stop by. 

No matter where you are, you also are welcome to discuss this question in the right and left columns. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings, right or left, centrist-moderate, hard-right or prog-left, in the subject line, irrespective of the political position taken within. –Editors

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

Tesla unveiled its Roadster last week with a launch spectacle featuring SpaceX boosters attached to the car (and certainly some AI). CEO Elon Musk welcomes a Tesla-SpaceX merger (scroll this column for details). [IMAGE: Tesla]

Iran Warns Back – Tehran will strike not just US airbases and warships, but also airports, pipelines and other civilian targets of its Persian Gulf neighbors if the United States and Israel carry out plans to restart its air war on Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reports. The warnings were issued publicly and in private diplomatic communications, according to the report.

The Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly backed off plans for the resumption of air strikes in mid-October, ahead of next week’s elections in Israel, for the post-midterm plans, The New York Times and Financial Timesreported.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned in a speech that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is attempting to develop what the Israeli PM called “the bombs of death.” (This raises the question, ‘is there any other kind?’) Netanyahu was referring to nuclear weapons, which Trump has repeatedly stated that Iran must never have.

Netanyahu said in the speech that the only way to remove the threat of Iranian “bombs of death” is to overthrow the regime.

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Trump Must Be Deposed – Federal Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett has ordered President Trump to record a deposition in his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC by December 11 or face sanctions, including possible dismissal of the suit (The Guardian). Trump’s suit alleges the BBC spliced together two comments the president made about one hour before the January 6^th attack on the United States Capitol began for a Panorama documentary.

Judge Lett also rejected the Trump team’s request to prevent the seven-hour long deposition from being videotaped, even though it will be restricted to access by attorneys in the case.

Trump cancelled a deposition that was to be held last Friday, with his attorneys arguing the president had “other matters or national importance” that day. BBC attorneys countered that Trump had attended on October 16 a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia and a Republican National Committee event at Mar-a-Lago, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

The BBC had acknowledged the specific edit in question was misleading, according to The Guardian, but said Trump had falsely claimed the British broadcaster had used AI to insert words into his speech. Trump filed suit under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, though the Panorama documentary has never aired in the state.

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Fuel Upped – With the Strait of Hormuz “effectively closed” according to Political.org and Brent Crude trading above $114 per barrel Friday morning, according to Business Insider, AAA reports the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular costs consumers $4.2926, up 2.25 cents from Thursday and $1.32664 costlier than on February 27. AAA’s national average for a gallon of diesel is up 0.82 cents to $6.3172, or $2.6038 more per gallon than on March 5. –TL

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

Post-Election Attack on Iran? – The United States and Israel are working on plans to possibly attack Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, Morning Edition reports, citing a person briefed on the preparations who spoke with NPR Thursday on the condition of anonymity.

The US and Israel had initially planned to resume military action on Iran in the middle of this month, about two weeks before Israel’s October 27 elections, in which Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting to retain his seat as prime minister. President Trump earlier this week endorsed Netanyahu for re-election.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded Thursday, saying Iran is ready for war with the US and Israel.

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Fuel Up – In an up-down week, the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was up more than half a penny Thursday, +0.57 cent, to $4.2701, according to AAA. That’s up $1.30414 over February 27. Diesel prices fell for the second day in a row Thursday, to $6.3090 per gallon Thursday, down 0.84 cent over Wednesday and up $2.5956 over AAA’s March 5 average.  

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Mass Strikes on Ukraine – After real estate developer/White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with the president of Russia in Moscow, Wednesday to discuss a potential peace agreement, “humanitarian” Vladimir Putin’s military launched a mass overnight strike on Ukraine’s capital, The Kyiv Independent reports. This, despite Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s expressed interest in reaching a deal with the Kremlin to cease attacks on each other.

Russia’s attacks come as Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reached Kyiv in “a flurry of diplomacy” according to the Independent, bringing with him news Helsinki will allocate €2 million (US$2.2 million) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including for winter purposes. 

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MegaElon Merger? – SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Wall Street analysts in SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call Tuesday the boards of both his companies have formed special committees of independent directors to consider a merger, The New York Times reports. Wall Street analysts dialing in to Musk’s Q3 earnings call for Tesla the next day were told questions about the possibility of a merger were off-limits.

“Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes,” he told the SpaceX Q3 call. 

He said he would recuse himself from participating in both committees. If the largely fanboy base of shareholders for Tesla and SpaceX voted in favor of a merger, the combined monolith would be worth an estimated $3.5 billion (NYT’s number) to $3.7 billion (NPR’s number).

Either total could restore Musk's trillionaire status, as he is largest shareholder of both companies, and would cement his position as the world's most powerful life form.  – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 10/22/26