Political News Roundup: Trump Hits the Midterm Trail as Price Concerns Deepen

As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 1, 2026.

President Donald Trump opened an intensive midterm campaign push Thursday as Republicans tried to defend their narrow congressional majorities against growing voter frustration over prices. A new national poll found that only about one-quarter of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Meanwhile, federal judges issued significant rulings on noncitizen voting and the leadership of the U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle. Seven states also challenged the administration’s attempt to cancel congressionally approved funding. Overseas, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated warnings against Western escalation, while Reuters reported that Iran is preparing options for a broader response if large-scale U.S. attacks resume.

Trump starts a 32-day midterm campaign push

Trump began a planned 32-day campaign swing with stops in Texas and Oklahoma. The president aims to mobilize Republican voters before the November 3 midterm elections, when control of the House and Senate will be at stake.

The opening itinerary emphasizes states that Trump won comfortably. However, several once-reliable Republican Senate races have become more competitive. In Texas, Trump planned to campaign with Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee. He will also visit Oklahoma and Alabama before moving toward more competitive states.

Trump told a White House audience Wednesday that his administration had done “an extremely poor job of promotion” while doing what he described as a strong job running the country. That is the president’s political assessment, not an independently established measure of economic performance.

Reuters reported the campaign schedule and Republican concerns. Some GOP candidates remain eager for Trump’s turnout operation. Others worry that his low approval ratings, the war with Iran and high energy costs could hurt them with swing voters.

Poll finds broad dissatisfaction over prices

A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 26% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. Only 17% approve of his handling of the cost of living.

About 65% said Trump’s policies bear at least some responsibility for high prices. In addition, about six in 10 respondents said the country is worse off than it was when he began his second term.

The poll surveyed 2,140 adults from September 24 through September 28 using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The results measure public opinion at the time of the survey; they do not prove which policies caused specific price increases.

The Associated Press published the results and methodology. The poll adds pressure on Republicans to show progress on household costs during the campaign’s final month.

Judge rejects federal noncitizen-voting prosecution

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz dismissed a criminal case against Chelsea Cox, a Jamaican national accused of voting in the 2020 election. He found the federal statute used to prosecute her unconstitutional.

The 1996 law makes it a federal crime for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election. Leibowitz concluded that the Constitution gives states, rather than Congress, primary authority to set voter qualifications.

The ruling applies directly only to Cox’s case. It does not erase state citizenship requirements, and it does not bind other federal judges. Every state requires voters in federal elections to be U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department can appeal. Reuters described the decision as the first known federal ruling to invalidate the statute. A Reuters analysis found that federal prosecutors have charged 129 people under the law.

The administration has emphasized noncitizen voting as an election-security issue. Critics say the government exaggerates a rare problem. Thursday’s decision resolved a legal question in one prosecution; it did not determine how often noncitizens vote.

Court restores Seattle’s court-appointed U.S. attorney

Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian ordered the Trump administration to recognize Roger Rogoff as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. Federal judges appointed Rogoff on July 15 after the previous acting prosecutor’s temporary term expired.

Trump fired Rogoff less than an hour after he took the oath. Rogoff sued, arguing that the president lacked authority to remove a prosecutor appointed by the court under the federal vacancies statute.

Bastian ruled preliminarily that Rogoff has remained the lawful officeholder since taking the oath. The administration is expected to continue contesting the decision. The ruling reflects a broader dispute over presidential power and the judiciary’s statutory role in filling U.S. attorney vacancies.

Reuters reported the order and the disputed appointment history.

Seven states sue over canceled federal funds

California and six other states filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully withholding money that Congress had appropriated. The disputed funds include roughly $810 million that the White House moved to cancel shortly before the federal fiscal year ended.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said a president cannot eliminate a program simply because he disagrees with it. The states argue that the administration violated Congress’s constitutional spending authority and federal budget law.

The administration has defended the reductions as cuts to programs that do not benefit American citizens. That is the White House’s stated justification. A court has not yet ruled on the states’ new claims.

California says it expected to receive as much as $1.1 billion for projects affected by the broader funding dispute. The California attorney general’s office published its complaint and explanation, while Reuters independently reported the filing.

Georgia board delays action on ballot-privacy flaw

Georgia’s State Election Board declined to immediately adopt a Republican-backed proposal intended to address a software flaw that can potentially link ballots with individual voters. Officials and experts said the flaw does not change vote totals, but it could compromise ballot secrecy in certain circumstances.

The proposed fix would have required poll workers to shuffle ballots before voters cast them. Two Republican board members expressed concern that a late procedural change could confuse election workers or create new risks before early voting begins October 13.

The board instead approved a resolution urging Georgia’s secretary of state to address the issue. The Associated Press reported that the board did not vote on the proposed shuffling rule.

Putin warns the West against further escalation

Putin said the world is moving through a dangerous period and warned Western governments not to escalate their confrontation with Russia. Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club, he again said Moscow would use all available means to defend Russian territory, including Kaliningrad.

His remarks followed a Russian diplomatic note that threatened a severe response if NATO attempted to isolate the Baltic exclave. NATO says it has no plan to attack Russia and describes its exercises as defensive.

Putin also said he remains open to talks with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the same time, he acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries have caused economic damage.

Reuters covered Putin’s speech and the Western response. His claims about Russian military intentions remain statements by the Kremlin, which Western governments dispute.

Iran prepares options as diplomacy continues

Iran is preparing a broader response if the United States resumes large-scale attacks, according to Iranian officials and other sources cited by Reuters. The sources said commanders are considering possible targets, geography and timing.

Those preparations have not been independently verified, and Iran has not publicly released a detailed operational plan. Tehran is also pursuing a seven-day diplomatic proposal aimed at reducing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

An Iranian official told Reuters that prospects for an agreement remain poor. The United States has rejected Iran’s current proposal, but diplomatic contacts have continued.

Reuters attributed the military-planning account to multiple sources. Because parts of the report rely on unnamed officials, the details should be treated as credible reporting about preparations, not proof that Iran has decided to launch a specific attack.

What to watch next

The final month of the midterm campaign will test whether Trump can motivate Republican voters without deepening the party’s losses among independents. Household costs, energy prices and the Iran conflict will remain central campaign issues.

Federal appeals courts may soon review the rulings on noncitizen voting and the Seattle prosecutor. The states’ funding lawsuit will also test the boundary between presidential budget control and Congress’s power of the purse.

Abroad, officials will watch for military actions that match the increasingly direct warnings from Moscow and Tehran. Diplomatic statements remain important, but verifiable troop movements, attacks and formal agreements will provide the clearest evidence of what comes next.