Transcript

10.19.26 · Washington Post

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Monday,
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Speaker 1: October 19th, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
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Speaker 1: reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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Speaker 1: other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Speaker 1: Your reader for today is Woody Snowden. Today's front page
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Speaker 1: headlines from the Washington Post are as follows. As Iran
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Speaker 1: war spills over, a path of conflict. Saudis and Houthis
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Speaker 1: see fighting as the only way forward. France reels from unrest.
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Speaker 1: Buildings burned.
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Speaker 2: Hundreds detained.
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Speaker 1: Protests over prices brought rioting, looting. Election 2026. As midterms near,
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Speaker 1: Trump's approval reaches record low. Cruz tries to propel Paxton
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Speaker 1: in Texas's tight Senate race. For buyers, it's not your
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Speaker 1: parents' housing market. Interest rates look similar to the late
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Speaker 1: 20th century, but home prices don't. And rounding out the
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Speaker 1: front page, Trump unveils his plans for East Potomac course.
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Speaker 1: When there were far fewer households, 4 million home sales
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Speaker 1: per year means something different in a nation of 341
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Speaker 1: million people. Four million home sales back then is a
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Speaker 1: lot different from four million home sales now. There was
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Speaker 1: a larger percentage of people that could get into the
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Speaker 1: market then, Yun said. All of that is to say
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Speaker 1: the high-rate environment of the late 20th century was less
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Speaker 1: painful in some ways. On the other hand, interest rates
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Speaker 1: do matter.
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Speaker 2: A lot.
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Speaker 1: And other data shows the similarities between the past and present,
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Speaker 1: not just the differences. The National Association of Realtors calculated
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Speaker 1: what the monthly payment since 1980, assuming a 10% down
1:56
Speaker 1: payment and the average interest rate that month. Then they
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Speaker 1: divided that estimated monthly payment by the median American wage
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Speaker 1: at the time. In the early 80s, a median income
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Speaker 1: family would have had to spend more than 30% of
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Speaker 1: its income each month, sometimes even more than 40% to
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Speaker 1: make that monthly payment. When interest rates fell, those percentages
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Speaker 1: got far better. falling into the teens in the 2000s.
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Speaker 1: The moment rates climbed, those numbers climbed too. In 2023,
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Speaker 1: with interest rates above 6%, that median income family would
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Speaker 1: again have to spend more than 30% of its income
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Speaker 1: on a mortgage payment for the first time since 1985.
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Speaker 1: Families spend much more of their budget on housing payments
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Speaker 1: when rates go up. The organization did a similar calculation
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Speaker 1: to assess whether a median income family at any given
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Speaker 1: time could expect to qualify.
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Speaker 2: For a mortgage on a median priced house. For much
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Speaker 2: of the 1980s, the answer was no.
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Speaker 1: At the worst points, a median income household had less
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Speaker 1: than 65% of the income needed to qualify, putting home
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Speaker 1: ownership far out of reach. But by the late 80s,
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Speaker 1: with rates coming down, average families could qualify for average
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Speaker 1: house payments. The balance eventually improved so much that in
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Speaker 1: 2009 and 2010, shortly after the housing crash, a median
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Speaker 1: family had about 175% as much income as it needed
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Speaker 1: to qualify for that house. By 2012, that family was
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Speaker 1: earning more than twice as much as needed. The return
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Speaker 1: of high mortgage rates once again scuttled that progress for families.
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Speaker 1: In June 2022, with the average rate at 5.6% and climbing,
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Speaker 1: an average family earned too little to qualify for an
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Speaker 1: average house for the first time since 1989. Some real
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Speaker 1: estate agents have been recalling the history of mortgage rates
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Speaker 1: to reassure their clients. Today's 7% rate shouldn't stop them
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Speaker 1: from buying, they say, because it's just a return to
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Speaker 1: historic norms. The same rates that would have seemed unremarkable
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Speaker 1: to their parents if they were buying 40 or 50
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Speaker 1: years ago. But three straight decades of high rates is
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Speaker 1: quite different from the drastic swing between ultra-low rates just
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Speaker 1: five years ago, followed by quarter-century highs now. both psychologically
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Speaker 1: and economically. In terms of buyers' mindsets, it just feels
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Speaker 1: worse to take on a 7% mortgage when your neighbors
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Speaker 1: have a 3% rate, a feeling that nobody buying in
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Speaker 1: 1990 had to contend with. And that feeling shapes the
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Speaker 1: whole housing market. Owners don't want to sell if it
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Speaker 1: would mean moving to a new home with a much
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Speaker 1: higher rate. Builders are hesitant to build, knowing that purchasers
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Speaker 1: might balk if rates keep rising. It all leads to
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Speaker 1: fewer houses on the market and frustrated people who wish
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Speaker 1: they could buy them. Our second article from the front
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Speaker 1: page this morning is entitled France Reels from Unrest, with
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Speaker 1: public buildings burned and hundreds detained. More than 2,000 people
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Speaker 1: were detained in France, and a historic town hall was
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Speaker 1: set on fire as protests over rising prices gave way
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Speaker 1: to rioting and looting. Article written by Ellen Francis, and
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Speaker 1: Victoria Bisset.
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Speaker 2: Brussels.
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Speaker 1: France was reeling Sunday after mass protests over rising living
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Speaker 1: costs spiraled into riots and looting, leaving cities around the
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Speaker 1: country littered with debris, shattered storefronts, and charred buildings. With
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Speaker 1: public anger broiling over the policies of President Emmanuel Macron's administration,
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Speaker 1: more than half a million people took to the streets
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Speaker 1: for demonstrations.
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Speaker 1: Saturday before the violence broke out. It was some of
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Speaker 1: France's worst unrest in years and left a trail of
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Speaker 1: destruction from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south.
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Speaker 1: Police detained at least 2,000 people, officials said Sunday, as
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Speaker 1: the country woke up to images of wrecked government buildings.
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Speaker 1: Among the most shocking was the charred shell of a
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Speaker 1: historic town hall in Limoges, which was consumed by fire
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Speaker 1: in an arson attack. its spire collapsing into bright flames
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Speaker 1: in the night. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the
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Speaker 1: ultra-left of stoking Saturday's violence ahead of a presidential election
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Speaker 1: next spring. Lecornu said opportunist criminals had also joined in
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Speaker 1: to loot and destroy, and vowed that the government would
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Speaker 1: not be intimidated. Behind this, there is obviously a political
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Speaker 1: battle to wage, he told reporters.
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Speaker 2: We are at a point of no return.
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Speaker 1: As Macron Nears the end of his second and final term,
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Speaker 1: France is riven by bitter political fragmentation and confronting the
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Speaker 1: unpopular challenge of cutting public spending to avert financial disaster.
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Speaker 1: The mayhem follows weeks of student protests over underfunded schools,
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Speaker 1: which has converged with broader discontent over planned budget cuts,
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Speaker 1: high energy prices, and other grievances with the government. In
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Speaker 1: a sign of mounting voter discontent with the centrist conservative coalition,
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Speaker 1: Marine Le Pen of the hard-right National Rally Party is
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Speaker 1: leading in the polls, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the hard-left
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Speaker 1: Unbowed France Party is gaining momentum. In a televised speech
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Speaker 1: Sunday night, Macron said he understood people's concerns, but that
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Speaker 1: the state would be uncompromising with violence. He spoke of
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Speaker 1: students with deep anxiety about the future, and citizens suffering
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Speaker 1: from energy prices driven up by the U.S. war with Iran,
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Speaker 1: which he described as as a war that France was
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Speaker 1: not part of. He noted he would address this during
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Speaker 1: a trip to the Persian Gulf this week. Still, Macron
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Speaker 1: said the country needs order and calm, not an escalation
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Speaker 1: six months before a key election. All those who tell
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Speaker 1: you that today's urgency is to take to the streets
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Speaker 1: to demonstrate, to create disorder, have only one goal, to
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Speaker 1: damage the republic and steal the debate. Saturday's protests, France's
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Speaker 1: largest in years, began with marches that drew nearly 800,000 people,
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Speaker 1: including students, public workers, and others across the country, according
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Speaker 1: to French labor union CGT. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 550,000
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Speaker 1: people took part, including 110,000 in Paris, before several of
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Speaker 1: the rallies gave way to nighttime riots. Clashes later erupted
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Speaker 1: between aggressive groups on the sidelines and police officers who
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Speaker 1: unleashed tear gas. Masked rioters vandalized banks and shops in Paris,
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Speaker 1: ransacked a department store in Bordeaux, and set a city
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Speaker 1: tourism office ablaze in Lyon. In Paris, chaos erupted in
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Speaker 1: the late afternoon with the arrival of individuals whose sole
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Speaker 1: objective was to steal and loot, taking advantage of the disorder,
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Speaker 1: the capital's police said. Lamia El-Arajeh, deputy mayor of Paris,
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Speaker 1: spoke of a level of violence never seen before. We
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Speaker 1: witnessed scenes of methodical looting that have nothing to do
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Speaker 1: with social demands, nothing to do with the thousands of
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Speaker 1: demonstrators who marched peacefully throughout the afternoon, she told France
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Speaker 1: Info on Sunday.
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Speaker 2: It's absolutely tragic.
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Speaker 1: In Limoges, a town in central France known for making porcelain,
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Speaker 1: The 19th century town hall was set on fire by
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Speaker 1: vandals while some staffers and people were still inside, local
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Speaker 1: authorities said. In the city of Marseille on France's southern coast,
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Speaker 1: a group of people broke into the city hall.
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Speaker 2: They were later dispersed by law enforcement.
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Speaker 1: The violence has spurred debate about what constitutes legitimate protest
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Speaker 1: in France, a country with a long history of civil action.
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Speaker 1: Politicians and officials quickly shifted into finger-pointing mode on Sunday.
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Speaker 1: Le Pen, signaling that Mélenchon is her chief rival, posted
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Speaker 1: on social media that that legitimate social demands have once
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Speaker 1: again been taken hostage by the extreme left. Government officials
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Speaker 1: have also blamed Mélenchon, who has supported the protests while
10:27
Speaker 1: seeking to distance himself from the violence. Mélenchon fired back
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Speaker 1: that the prime minister was responsible, either out of incompetence
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Speaker 1: or efforts to create a party of order to make
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Speaker 1: people forget his failure in public finances. Although France's government
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Speaker 1: and far right have focused blame on what they describe
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Speaker 1: as the radical left, the Trump administration has highlighted the
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Speaker 1: French chaos to support its anti-immigrant agenda. President Donald Trump
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Speaker 1: again blamed migration on Sunday, as he had for previous protests.
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Speaker 1: France is burning, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Close your
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Speaker 1: borders and take control before it is too late. Vice
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Speaker 1: President J.D. Vance called on U.S. voters to take note
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Speaker 1: ahead of the midterm elections next month. This is the
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Speaker 1: future congressional Democrats seek for your country, he posted. At
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Speaker 1: the heart of France's woes, however, is the tension between
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Speaker 1: demands for better living conditions and a need to.
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Speaker 2: Cut public spending.
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Speaker 1: The CGT union said Saturday's escalation followed the government's stubborn
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Speaker 1: refusal to respond to people's demands, citing rising energy prices
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Speaker 1: and austerity plans that would affect pensions and wages. As
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Speaker 1: the government tries to control record debt, the anxiety on
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Speaker 1: the streets and in financial markets is dominating the presidential race.
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Speaker 1: While all of France's main candidates profess to have the answer,
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Speaker 1: none are keen to campaign on slashing social benefits, a
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Speaker 1: move many experts and officials say may be unavoidable. The
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Speaker 1: turmoil in France began to bubble up last month as
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Speaker 1: government borrowing costs surged while students' protests gained traction. with
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Speaker 1: the backing of influential labor unions. Before Saturday, hundreds of students, teachers,
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Speaker 1: and officers had been injured, as the school strikes fueled
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Speaker 1: wider frustrations and some descended into confrontations with police. Some
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Speaker 1: people in Paris have worn safety vests, echoing the yellow
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Speaker 1: vest anti-government protests, which grew into a movement against social
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Speaker 1: and economic inequality, roiling France between 2018 and 2020. Our
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Speaker 1: next article is entitled, As Iran War Spills Over, Saudis
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Speaker 1: and Houthis See Fighting as Only Path Ahead. The spiraling
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Speaker 1: conflict in the Arabian Peninsula is now the most volatile
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Speaker 1: front in the regional conflagration set off when the U.S.
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Speaker 2: And Israel attacked Iran.
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Speaker 1: Contributing to this article, Rachel Chason, Susan Hatemus, and Mohamed
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Speaker 1: El Shammah. Since their deadly attack on the airport in
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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia's capital last Saturday, Houthi militants have struck Aramco,
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Speaker 1: the state-owned oil company, and the presidential palace of the
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Speaker 1: Saudi-backed government in Yemen, raising the stakes in a war
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Speaker 1: in which there is no clear exit. Amid the Houthi strikes,
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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia has mounted a military campaign in Yemen to
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Speaker 1: reclaim territory seized by the Iranian-backed militia group. The Saudi leadership,
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Speaker 1: according to two officials who are part of Yemen's Saudi-backed government,
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Speaker 1: sees a battlefield victory as its only option. The fighting
13:36
Speaker 1: in recent weeks is the latest chapter in a bitter
13:38
Speaker 1: civil war that has raged on and off for more
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Speaker 1: than a decade. It is clear that in the years
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Speaker 1: when there was supposed peace, the Houthis and their allies
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Speaker 1: in Iran were preparing for war, said one of the
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Speaker 1: Yemeni officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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Speaker 1: discuss security issues. And this is not a war that
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Speaker 1: will affect just Saudi Arabia and Yemen, but the entire world.
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Speaker 1: The spiraling conflict is now the most volatile front in
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Speaker 1: the sprawling regional conflagration that was unleashed when the United
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Speaker 1: States and Israel attacked Iran in February, drawing retaliatory strikes
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Speaker 1: by Tehran on Persian Gulf nations and by Hezbollah, the
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Speaker 1: Lebanese militant.
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Speaker 2: Group in Israel.
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Speaker 1: With weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections, the
14:22
Speaker 1: high fuel costs have turned voters against President Donald Trump's
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Speaker 1: Republican Party And the White House is trying every lever
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Speaker 1: to bring down costs, including lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports,
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Speaker 1: so far without success or any change in the polls. Trump,
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Speaker 1: who is close with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the
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Speaker 1: de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has been reluctant to
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Speaker 1: get involved militarily in the war against the Houthis.
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Speaker 2: A U.S.
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Speaker 1: Bombing campaign against the militants last year caused high casualties
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Speaker 1: but ultimately did not stop the conflict. After the attack
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Speaker 1: on the Riyadh airport, Trump told reporters that he was
15:01
Speaker 1: weighing whether to join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, but
15:05
Speaker 1: his comments have been erratic. On Friday, Trump told reporters
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Speaker 1: that Saudi Arabia would probably accept assistance from Israel and
15:14
Speaker 1: suggested once again and without much evidence that Saudi Arabia
15:17
Speaker 1: might join the Abraham Accords, the peace framework in which
15:21
Speaker 1: several Arab nations agree to recognize Israel. Saudi Arabia's media
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Speaker 1: office did not respond to requests for comment.
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Speaker 2: With U.S.
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Speaker 1: Intervention unlikely, Saudi Arabia's war with the Houthis has become
15:32
Speaker 1: a zero-sum game, regional officials and analysts say, in which
15:37
Speaker 1: each side is ramping up attacks, but negotiations for now
15:40
Speaker 1: is off the table. Negotiation is not an option right now.
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Speaker 1: No one is talking about it, the Yemeni officials said.
15:47
Speaker 1: The two Yemeni officials and Raeed Kremli, a senior Saudi diplomat,
15:51
Speaker 1: said that they think the escalation by the Houthis is
15:54
Speaker 1: being driven partly by Iran as it seeks leverage in
15:58
Speaker 1: its continuing war with the U.S. Kremlin, who is Saudi
16:01
Speaker 1: Arabia's deputy minister for public diplomacy, told journalists during a
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Speaker 1: rare briefing on Thursday that Riyadh believes Iran is unwilling
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Speaker 1: to make concessions in its war with the U.S. and
16:13
Speaker 1: encouraged the Houthis to escalate. As the Houthis made stunning
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Speaker 1: battlefield advances, seizing territory along Yemen's Red Sea coast, and
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Speaker 1: claiming control over the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, the international
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Speaker 1: community failed to meet the moment and may now pay
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Speaker 1: a steep price, the two Yemeni officials said. About 20%
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Speaker 1: of international goods flow through Bab al-Mandab, either to or
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Speaker 1: from the Suez Canal, which ultimately connects the Mediterranean Sea
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Speaker 1: and the Indian Ocean. The disruptions, the Yemeni officials said,
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Speaker 1: will be felt far beyond the Middle East. One of
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Speaker 1: the officials asserted that gains by the Houthis, who also
16:53
Speaker 1: received support from Russia and China, are gains for the
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Speaker 1: enemies of the United States and Europe. The elites of
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Speaker 1: the United States have failed to understand the importance of
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Speaker 1: this land, the official said, adding that it is an
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Speaker 1: open question how control over Bab al-Mandab by the Houthis
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Speaker 1: and their Iranian sponsors will impact Europe's energy needs heading
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Speaker 1: into winter. From 2015 until 2022, when a fragile truce
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Speaker 1: was reached, The civil war between the Houthi rebels and
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Speaker 1: Saudi-backed government forces left hundreds of thousands dead in Yemen,
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Speaker 1: an impoverished nation of about 35 million people at the
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Speaker 1: southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The fight reignited in
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Speaker 1: July when the Houthis began firing at Saudi oil facilities
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Speaker 1: and blockading Saudi ships passing through the Red Sea. In
17:40
Speaker 1: recent days, the Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen has expanded from
17:44
Speaker 1: predominantly hitting military targets to also hitting Houthi-controlled oil infrastructure.
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Speaker 1: The Houthis have responded in kind, putting into practice a
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Speaker 1: doctrine they summarize as port for port, airport for airport,
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Speaker 1: blockade for blockade, said Ahmed Nagy, a senior analyst for
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Speaker 1: Yemen at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based policy institute.
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Speaker 1: Barrages of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition are damaging the
18:09
Speaker 1: Houthis more than they let on, Nagy said. but the
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Speaker 1: coalition has also been far weaker on the ground than expected.
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Speaker 1: This is a fateful, defining war, Nagy said. It will
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Speaker 1: decide the future of Yemen and of Gulf security. And
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Speaker 1: I think both sides know what the stakes are. It
18:24
Speaker 1: has become a zero-sum game. Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author
18:31
Speaker 1: and commentator, said that there was a certain amount of
18:33
Speaker 1: frustration in Riyadh that the U.S. is not providing help
18:37
Speaker 1: via American military aircraft. But there is also appreciation, he said,
18:41
Speaker 1: for the help that the Americans are providing in terms
18:43
Speaker 1: of intelligence and people on the ground. Saudi Arabia, long
18:48
Speaker 1: a world leader in oil production, prioritized protecting its oil infrastructure,
18:52
Speaker 1: Shahabi said, and did not expect the Houthis to attack
18:55
Speaker 1: an airport of civilians. After that attack, which killed 13,
18:59
Speaker 1: he said, Saudi Arabia is reprioritizing its air defenses and
19:03
Speaker 1: focusing on hitting the Houthis hard. Saudi Arabia is going
19:06
Speaker 1: to inflict pain on the Houthis to make them be
19:09
Speaker 1: more reasonable, he said. Even before the fighting resumed, Yemen
19:13
Speaker 1: faced a dire humanitarian situation with 18 million people facing
19:17
Speaker 1: severe hunger, according to the World Food Program. Since September,
19:22
Speaker 1: more than 200,000 people have been displaced, deepening instability. So
19:27
Speaker 1: long as the Houthis besiege the government-held city of Taiz,
19:31
Speaker 1: preventing food and supplies from reaching its nearly one million residents,
19:35
Speaker 1: the government won't back off from fighting, the other Yemeni
19:39
Speaker 1: official added. Unfortunately, it's a deadlock situation. Yemen's health minister,
19:45
Speaker 1: Qasem Bouhabe, warned last Saturday of a health and humanitarian
19:49
Speaker 1: catastrophe saying Taiz's hospitals were running low on fuel and
19:54
Speaker 1: medical supplies. As the Houthis ride their highest high in
19:57
Speaker 1: recent years, Saudi Arabia is facing a virtually impossible calculation,
20:02
Speaker 1: with military escalation the most viable option, said Adam Barron,
20:06
Speaker 1: a fellow at New America, a Washington-based think tank. If
20:10
Speaker 1: they do not accept the emergent status quo, Barron said,
20:13
Speaker 1: the Saudis would have to accept that the Houthis are
20:15
Speaker 1: going to be a dominant regional power with weapon-making capacity
20:20
Speaker 1: and an arsenal that is already more significant than some states.
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Speaker 1: The Houthis are so extreme, there is no way neighboring
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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia could accept them, said Mohammed al-Bashar, a Yemeni
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Speaker 1: American risk advisor, noting that the rebels want control of
20:34
Speaker 1: airports and ports, compensation for the Saudis for the years-long war,
20:38
Speaker 1: and for its members to be paid government salaries. There
20:41
Speaker 1: appears little room for negotiation and a lot of room
20:44
Speaker 1: for escalation, al-Bashar said, as the Houthis cross every red
20:48
Speaker 1: line imaginable, with attacks on civilians, including Muslim pilgrims who
20:52
Speaker 1: were hit in the airport attack. There is still a
20:55
Speaker 1: lot of room for more intense fighting, he said, for
20:58
Speaker 1: more bad things to happen. Our next article is entitled,
21:05
Speaker 1: Trump shares plan to overhaul East Potomac golf course amid
21:09
Speaker 1: court fight over land. The historic public facility will close
21:14
Speaker 1: for about 15 months, he said. A federal judge has
21:17
Speaker 1: ordered Trump administration officials to testify Monday about the origins
21:22
Speaker 1: and execution of the plan. Article co-authored by Rick Mace
21:29
Speaker 1: and Dan Diamond. President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration
21:34
Speaker 1: has developed a plan to transform East Potomac golf links
21:36
Speaker 1: into a championship-level golf course, saying the historic public facility
21:41
Speaker 1: will close November 15 and reopen approximately 15 months later.
21:46
Speaker 1: In a social media post, Trump said the Interior Department
21:49
Speaker 1: and golf architect Tom Fazio had developed a plan for
21:53
Speaker 1: the property, which he said would be capable of hosting
21:55
Speaker 1: events such as the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup.
21:59
Speaker 1: The rendering Trump released alongside the announcement depicts a dramatically
22:03
Speaker 1: remade Haynes Point with a single 18-hole championship course stretching
22:08
Speaker 1: nearly from shoreline to shoreline. It bears little resemblance to
22:11
Speaker 1: the existing course or to the more modest historic restoration
22:15
Speaker 1: plan the government attorneys have cited in court.
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Speaker 2: The design also appears to.
22:21
Speaker 1: Eliminate Ohio Drive, the roadway that loops around Haynes Point,
22:25
Speaker 1: a century-old grove of cherry trees and a historic.
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Speaker 2: Miniature golf course.
22:30
Speaker 1: If implemented as depicted, the plan would reshape space used daily,
22:35
Speaker 1: not only by golfers, but also by thousands of cyclists, runners, walkers, anglers,
22:40
Speaker 1: bird watchers.
22:41
Speaker 2: And other visitors.
22:42
Speaker 1: The announcement comes at a consequential moment in a bitter
22:45
Speaker 1: federal court fight over the property. One day before a
22:48
Speaker 1: senior interior official is scheduled to testify about work already
22:51
Speaker 1: undertaken at the course, government attorneys have repeatedly emphasized in
22:55
Speaker 1: court that Trump's broader redevelopment remained conceptual and that there
22:59
Speaker 1: was no final plan being implemented, while maintaining that the
23:03
Speaker 1: recent removal of hundreds of trees was a separate effort
23:07
Speaker 1: stemming from a years-old historic landscape report.
23:11
Speaker 2: Trump's post appeared to move well beyond that characterization.
23:14
Speaker 1: The administration has told the court that any redevelopment would
23:17
Speaker 1: first undergo required environmental and historic preservation reviews, but it
23:21
Speaker 1: was unclear Sunday how these processes could be completed, before
23:25
Speaker 1: Trump's newly announced November 15th start date.
23:29
Speaker 2: U.S. District Judge Ana C.
23:31
Speaker 1: Reyes, who is overseeing the case, demanded Sunday afternoon that
23:35
Speaker 1: government attorneys urgently explain why they testified on Friday that
23:40
Speaker 1: at most the president has given preliminary thought to any
23:43
Speaker 1: plan to remake the golf course.
23:47
Speaker 2: Stanley Woodward Jr.
23:48
Speaker 1: the Justice Department's third highest ranking official, on Sunday night
23:52
Speaker 1: responded in a filing saying that government lawyers were only
23:55
Speaker 1: commenting on Trump's publicly available statements. Any direct communication with
24:00
Speaker 1: the president would be protected by many constitutional-based privileges, Woodward added.
24:05
Speaker 1: He also reiterated the government's argument that Reyes should not
24:08
Speaker 1: halt the project because it is still in a preliminary stage.
24:13
Speaker 1: Trump's announcement to redesign the golf course did not necessarily
24:16
Speaker 1: represent the government's final action. since the project could still change,
24:20
Speaker 1: Woodward contended, comparing Trump's redesign to routine agency moves like
24:25
Speaker 1: trimming trees and replacing fences. It was not clear Sunday
24:30
Speaker 1: what the project would cost or how it would be funded.
24:33
Speaker 1: An Interior Department spokesman declined to comment Sunday, referring a
24:37
Speaker 1: reporter to Trump's social media post, and the White House
24:41
Speaker 1: did not immediately respond to further questions. Representative Don Beyer, Virginia,
24:46
Speaker 1: who represents Arlington County and other Democrats, criticized the president's
24:51
Speaker 1: plan Sunday, saying that Trump's golf course overhaul was a
24:54
Speaker 1: misplaced priority. The design Trump is pursuing would block off
24:59
Speaker 1: or eliminate roads and pads used by large numbers of
25:03
Speaker 1: local residents for cycling and walking, no doubt to make
25:06
Speaker 1: the area another exclusive hangout for his rich and powerful friends,
25:10
Speaker 1: Beyer said in a statement. He also accused the administration
25:15
Speaker 1: of misleading the public about why the park's trees were
25:17
Speaker 1: felled last week. Katie Zakaria, who was dismissed Friday as
25:22
Speaker 1: White House press secretary, posted altered images of President Donald
25:26
Speaker 1: Trump's Oval Office desk on Friday and Saturday. Local advocacy
25:30
Speaker 1: groups said that Zakaria appeared to be concealing a map
25:34
Speaker 1: of East Potomac Park. The White House declined to respond
25:37
Speaker 1: to questions about why the images were were altered and
25:41
Speaker 1: what they were concealing. The map posted by Trump on
25:45
Speaker 1: Sunday resembles the blurred image on his desk. The administration's
25:51
Speaker 1: plans for East Potomac have been evolving publicly for months.
25:54
Speaker 1: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum released a conceptual Fazio design in May,
25:59
Speaker 1: and Trump toured the course with Burgum and Fazio in June,
26:02
Speaker 1: carrying detailed plans of the property. Afterward, Trump said that
26:06
Speaker 1: work would begin September 1st. though that deadline passed without
26:10
Speaker 1: construction beginning. The question of how developed Trump's plans are
26:14
Speaker 1: and whether work already performed at East Potomac is connected
26:18
Speaker 1: to them has become central to litigation before Reyes. National
26:23
Speaker 1: Park Service crews removed more than 400 trees from the
26:26
Speaker 1: course last weekend. Government officials have maintained that the work
26:29
Speaker 1: was unrelated to Trump's proposed redesign and instead implemented recommendations
26:34
Speaker 1: contained in a 2019 cultural landscape report. intended to restore
26:39
Speaker 1: East Potomac's historic lynx-style character. Reyes rejected that explanation, at
26:44
Speaker 1: least preliminarily, concluding last week that government officials raced to
26:48
Speaker 1: undertake the tree removal plan because Trump demands haste on
26:51
Speaker 1: his redesign, rather than because of some newfound zeal to
26:55
Speaker 1: implement a portion of the years-old landscape report. She issued
26:59
Speaker 1: a temporary restraining order barring any additional tree cutting through
27:02
Speaker 1: October 26th. The dispute has become increasingly acrimonious. Reyes sharply
27:10
Speaker 1: rebuked government attorneys at an emergency hearing last week, saying
27:13
Speaker 1: their handling of the tree removal had undermined the court's trust.
27:17
Speaker 1: On Friday, the Justice Department asked Reyes to recuse herself,
27:21
Speaker 1: accusing her of animus and open hostility toward the administration.
27:26
Speaker 1: Reyes late Sunday evening rejected the administration's efforts to remove
27:30
Speaker 1: her from the case, arguing that Trump officials own conduct
27:34
Speaker 1: forced her hand. For instance, she defended her decision to
27:37
Speaker 1: have government officials testify on a federal holiday about their
27:40
Speaker 1: plan to cut down trees at East Potomac. The government
27:46
Speaker 1: created that inconvenience by insisting it would resume felling trees
27:50
Speaker 1: on the Monday of a holiday weekend, weather conditions permitting.
27:53
Speaker 2: Reyes wrote.
27:55
Speaker 1: Reyes has ordered Gregory Wisher, Burgum's deputy chief of staff
27:58
Speaker 1: for policy, and Jessica Boron, acting director of the National
28:02
Speaker 1: Park Service, to testify Monday about the origins and execution
28:05
Speaker 1: of the tree removal plan. East Potomac Park is a
28:08
Speaker 1: national park golf course recreational facility that is meant for
28:12
Speaker 1: everyone to enjoy, said Skye Perriman, president and CEO of
28:16
Speaker 1: Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs challenging the administration's actions.
28:22
Speaker 1: Our litigation is intended to protect this community jewel for
28:25
Speaker 1: the people and communities it serves. and we will continue
28:28
Speaker 1: to work with our plaintiffs to defend it from unlawful
28:31
Speaker 1: and harmful intrusion, Perryman said. Trump called the existing course old, broken, dilapidated,
28:37
Speaker 1: and of no further use or effect, describing it as
28:40
Speaker 1: completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe. East Potomac, however, is the
28:45
Speaker 1: busiest public golf facility in the Washington region, hosting 124,500
28:49
Speaker 1: rounds in 2025. Residents who frequent the course bashed news
28:56
Speaker 1: of Trump's plans on Sunday. Critics of Trump's plan have
29:00
Speaker 1: expressed concern that replacing the municipal facility with a championship-level
29:04
Speaker 1: golf course could result in higher greens fees, reduce available
29:08
Speaker 1: tee times, and price out some of its regular players.
29:11
Speaker 1: Trump said Sunday that the new course would remain open
29:14
Speaker 1: to the public, but did not say what it would
29:16
Speaker 1: cost to play or whether it would remain affordable to
29:19
Speaker 1: the golfers who use East Potomac today. Golf has been
29:25
Speaker 1: played for 124 years on the narrow Haines Point Peninsula,
29:29
Speaker 1: sandwiched between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel, and
29:32
Speaker 1: offering sweeping views of the Washington Monument. The facility currently
29:36
Speaker 1: includes the 18-hole blue course, 9-hole White Course, and 9-hole
29:41
Speaker 1: Par 3 Red Course, along with a two-tier driving range,
29:45
Speaker 1: practice areas, and a clubhouse. Trump's rendering replaces those courses
29:50
Speaker 1: with a single 18-hole championship layout, a large driving range
29:54
Speaker 1: and practice area, and a new clubhouse. The 12th Green
29:57
Speaker 1: sits at the southern tip of Haynes Point. and two
30:00
Speaker 1: large water features are carved into the peninsula's interior where
30:04
Speaker 1: none exists today. The design also bears little resemblance to
30:09
Speaker 1: the 2019 cultural landscape report that government attorneys have repeatedly
30:13
Speaker 1: cited in court to explain the work now underway at
30:16
Speaker 1: East Potomac. That plan envisioned restoring the existing public golf
30:21
Speaker 1: facility and its historic lynx-style landscape. Other long-standing features appear
30:26
Speaker 1: to disappear. The rendering does not show East Potomac's miniature
30:30
Speaker 1: golf course, which recently underwent a roughly $ 1 million restoration.
30:34
Speaker 1: The nearly century-old attraction is considered the nation's oldest continuously
30:38
Speaker 1: operating miniature golf course. Nor does the rendering appear to
30:42
Speaker 1: preserve the golf course's historic grove of Japanese cherry trees.
30:46
Speaker 1: East Potomac Park has become home to Japanese flowering cherries
30:50
Speaker 1: since shortly after Japan's celebrated gift of more than 3,000
30:53
Speaker 1: trees to Washington in 2012.
30:54
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
30:58
Speaker 1: In 1912. Extending the course toward the shoreline also puts
31:03
Speaker 1: new importance on Haynes Point's deteriorating seawall. The Park Service
31:07
Speaker 1: has already taken preliminary steps toward a major rehabilitation of
31:10
Speaker 1: the wall, a complicated project expected to cost hundreds of
31:14
Speaker 1: millions of dollars. Trump appeared to allude to that problem Sunday,
31:18
Speaker 1: describing the seawall as collapsing and hazardous. Trump said the
31:24
Speaker 1: new course would have a tremendously positive economic development impact
31:28
Speaker 1: on Washington.
31:29
Speaker 2: He said the U.S.
31:29
Speaker 1: Golf Association, the Professional Golfers Association of America, and the
31:33
Speaker 1: PGA Tour had already been notified that they would soon
31:37
Speaker 1: have one of the best and most spectacular golf courses
31:39
Speaker 1: anywhere in the world available for major events. It is
31:45
Speaker 1: also unclear who would operate the new facility. The National
31:48
Speaker 1: Park Service terminated its long-term lease with National Links Trust,
31:52
Speaker 1: the nonprofit that had been overseeing East Potomac and the
31:55
Speaker 1: district's other federally owned public golf courses. The National Links
31:59
Speaker 1: Trust has continued operating East Potomac under an interim arrangement.
32:09
Speaker 2: Our next front.
32:10
Speaker 1: Page article is entitled, In Texas Senate Race, Ted Cruz
32:14
Speaker 1: Tries to Push Ken Paxton Across the Finish Line. The
32:18
Speaker 1: Republican senator isn't on the ballot, but he's campaigning like
32:22
Speaker 1: it as the GOP's nominee to join him in the
32:24
Speaker 1: chamber tries to fend off James Tallarico. The article is
32:30
Speaker 1: written by Matthew Choi. The Woodlands, Texas. Senator Ted Cruz,
32:36
Speaker 1: Republican Texas, is not up for election this year, but
32:38
Speaker 1: he is campaigning across his home state as though he is.
32:43
Speaker 1: Rather than pitching himself, Cruz is making a spirited case
32:46
Speaker 1: for the Republican Senate bid of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cruz,
32:50
Speaker 1: a conservative firebrand, is trying to rally the party's base
32:53
Speaker 1: in a year where Republicans fear many of their voters
32:56
Speaker 1: will stay home. He has poured money into supporting Paxton,
32:59
Speaker 1: introduced the Attorney General to his large network of donors,
33:03
Speaker 1: and even gave him sartorial advice after President Donald Trump
33:07
Speaker 1: mocked Paxton's appearance despite having endorsed him. Unlike President Trump,
33:14
Speaker 1: I'm not going to comment on his wardrobe, Cruz quipped
33:17
Speaker 1: at a recent Paxton rally in Houston. I have advised
33:20
Speaker 1: him to go out and buy a bunch of Trump
33:22
Speaker 1: ties and just tie them real long. Republicans are facing
33:27
Speaker 1: a uniquely competitive Senate race in a state that Democrats
33:30
Speaker 1: have long dreamed of turning blue. Paxton, laden with personal
33:34
Speaker 1: and legal scandals, has lagged behind Democratic State Representative James
33:38
Speaker 1: Tallarico in fundraising and most public polls. In a sign
33:43
Speaker 1: of their concern, national Republicans are upping their involvement. Outside
33:46
Speaker 1: GOP groups have invested more than $ 200 million in ads
33:50
Speaker 1: going into the general election, and Trump and Vice President J.D.
33:54
Speaker 1: Vance have stumped for Paxton in Texas, including during a
33:58
Speaker 1: national party convention in Dallas. In addition to Cruz's appearances
34:02
Speaker 1: on the trail, Truth and Courage PAC, a Cruz-aligned super PAC,
34:06
Speaker 1: has spent more than $ 2 million in ads for Paxton.
34:09
Speaker 1: If Paxton prevails, Cruz's heavy investment in the race could
34:13
Speaker 1: pay off as he considers a 2028 presidential bid, earning
34:17
Speaker 1: gratitude from fellow Texas Republicans and impressing GOP primary voters
34:22
Speaker 1: beyond its borders. Tying himself so closely to Paxton carries
34:26
Speaker 1: some risk. if he loses in a state in which
34:28
Speaker 1: no Democrat has won a Senate race in nearly 40 years.
34:33
Speaker 1: But even if Paxton loses, Cruz will have still stepped
34:36
Speaker 1: up beyond the usual expectations for an incumbent to help
34:40
Speaker 1: his party in the state. For years as Texas's junior senator,
34:45
Speaker 1: Cruz was seen as the more vulnerable Republican in the
34:47
Speaker 1: state compared to the more tonally moderate Senator John Cornyn.
34:51
Speaker 1: Despite high approval among conservative voters, Cruz's two reelection campaigns
34:56
Speaker 1: attracted fierce challenges from Democrats, including a near loss in
35:02
Speaker 1: 2018 to former Congressman Beto O'Rourke. But in this year's race,
35:06
Speaker 1: where Paxton's controversies have divided the party, Cruz is using
35:10
Speaker 1: his popularity among conservatives in Texas to try to keep
35:13
Speaker 1: the Republican coalition together. That'll be particularly important after Paxton
35:19
Speaker 1: defeated Cornyn in a brutal primary where Senate Republicans and
35:23
Speaker 1: other Cornyn allies spent more than $ 90 million in his
35:26
Speaker 1: defense and attacked Paxton as unfit for office. That does damage,
35:31
Speaker 1: Cruz said of the primary efforts against Paxton. Paxton didn't
35:35
Speaker 1: have the money to counteract that. It's the reason why
35:38
Speaker 1: I got very engaged on the fundraising side because you
35:41
Speaker 1: cannot win a race if you're being outspent 10 to 1.
35:45
Speaker 1: Paxton reported more than $ 10 million in contributions to his
35:48
Speaker 1: campaign from July to September. On Thursday, his best-ever fundraising haul. Tallarico, however,
35:54
Speaker 1: reported more than $ 60 million during that period. Cruz's involvement
35:58
Speaker 1: in the midterms this year also extends beyond Texas. He
36:02
Speaker 1: has rallied or plans to rally for his fellow Republicans
36:04
Speaker 1: in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, Michigan, and Kansas. Such
36:09
Speaker 1: moves are typical of presidential hopefuls from both parties, seeking
36:13
Speaker 1: to bolster their alliances nationwide. Cruz has repeatedly teased a
36:18
Speaker 1: run for the White House once Trump is no longer
36:20
Speaker 1: on the ticket, at times exchanging barbs with Vance, who
36:24
Speaker 1: is widely seen as a Republican presidential frontrunner. When asked
36:28
Speaker 1: about his heavy involvement in this year's races, Cruz asserted
36:31
Speaker 1: he is focused squarely on maintaining a Republican Senate majority
36:35
Speaker 1: and deflected on how it could play into a presidential run.
36:40
Speaker 1: I am devoting every waking moment to fighting to hold
36:43
Speaker 1: the Senate and grow our majority in the Senate and
36:45
Speaker 1: to hold the House and grow our majority in the House,
36:48
Speaker 1: Cruz said in an interview. The 28 conversation will come
36:51
Speaker 1: for everybody, but it'll come after the midterms. Cruz's relationship
36:56
Speaker 1: with Paxton stretches back years. Cruz praised Paxton during his
37:00
Speaker 1: first race for attorney general in 2014. Cruz has continued
37:03
Speaker 1: to laud the attorney general for his more than 100
37:06
Speaker 1: lawsuits against the Biden administration. and consistent support for Trump,
37:10
Speaker 1: calling him the best state attorney general in the entire country.
37:14
Speaker 1: Cruz hasn't shied from the attorney general during his lowest
37:17
Speaker 1: points and defended Paxton during the attorney general's 2020-3 impeachment
37:22
Speaker 1: in the Texas House. Paxton was impeached over allegations of
37:25
Speaker 1: robbery and abuse of office to help a friend's legal situation.
37:29
Speaker 1: The same allegations, levied by his own senior staff, led
37:33
Speaker 1: to a federal investigation. The state Senate acquitted Paxton and
37:37
Speaker 1: the Justice Department declined to pursue criminal charges. When asked
37:41
Speaker 1: if tying himself closely to a candidate with so much
37:43
Speaker 1: baggage could risk his own political standing, Cruz said, I'm
37:46
Speaker 1: tying myself closely to Texas. On the campaign trail, Cruz
37:50
Speaker 1: has also made the race a mission to save the
37:52
Speaker 1: state from a candidate he calls extreme. Cruz has ridiculed
37:56
Speaker 1: Tallarico's past comments on Christianity and immigration, saying he would
38:00
Speaker 1: be more fitting for Berkeley, California than Texas. We are
38:03
Speaker 1: witnessing a hostile takeover of the Democrat Party, a Marxist
38:06
Speaker 1: and Islamist takeover that is really dangerous, and Texas is
38:09
Speaker 1: a battleground, Cruz said. When asked about Cruz's active support
38:14
Speaker 1: of Paxton, Tallarico's campaign pointed to his remarks to the
38:18
Speaker 1: Austin American Statesman editorial board, where the Democrat said, The
38:21
Speaker 1: first thing I would do after winning this seat is
38:24
Speaker 1: schedule a meeting with Senator Ted Cruz. He would be
38:26
Speaker 1: the senior senator from Texas, and I would hope to
38:29
Speaker 1: learn from him. I would hope to build a relationship
38:31
Speaker 1: with him, and I would hope to work with him
38:33
Speaker 1: to deliver for the people of our state. Cruz's involvement
38:37
Speaker 1: this year is in stark contrast to Cornyn, who has
38:39
Speaker 1: backed away from the Senate race in his home state
38:42
Speaker 1: and continues to criticize Paxton as a lackluster campaigner. Cornyn's
38:46
Speaker 1: disengagement has irked Paxton's allies, who recognize Cornyn's potential appeal
38:51
Speaker 1: to moderate voters, including those Cruz might not be able
38:55
Speaker 1: to reach.
38:56
Speaker 2: Will the middle-of-the-road Republicans turn out?
38:58
Speaker 1: They need to, said Hal Lambert, a Republican donor who
39:01
Speaker 1: hosted a September fundraiser for Paxton. There needs to be
39:04
Speaker 1: some efforts by the mainstream Republicans in D.C. to get
39:08
Speaker 1: Cornyn to endorse. Cornyn has focused his efforts on fundraising
39:12
Speaker 1: for Senate races in other states. He said he will
39:14
Speaker 1: back the Republican ticket in Texas, though he has not
39:17
Speaker 1: recanted his criticisms of Paxton. Neither he nor Paxton responded
39:21
Speaker 1: to requests for comment. Trump endorsed Paxton over Cornyn shortly
39:26
Speaker 1: before a primary runoff between the two. Trump said in
39:29
Speaker 1: a Truth Social post Thursday that Cornyn's continued distaste for
39:33
Speaker 1: Paxton was to blame if Paxton loses. Cruz remained neutral
39:38
Speaker 1: in the primary and urged his party to rally around
39:40
Speaker 1: Paxton after the runoff. Having Cruz, who has support across
39:44
Speaker 1: the state GOP, out for Paxton going into the general
39:47
Speaker 1: is showing that the Republican Party is behind him. said
39:49
Speaker 1: Representative Brandon Gill, Republican, Texas, who endorsed Paxton in the primary.
39:55
Speaker 1: Every Republican in Texas should be behind Ken Paxton right now,
39:59
Speaker 1: regardless of what you thought about the primaries, Gill said. Still,
40:03
Speaker 1: Cornyn's loss has remained an open wound for many Republicans
40:06
Speaker 1: in the state who have struggled to get over Paxton's
40:08
Speaker 1: past scandals, said John Huffman, a former mayor of Southlake, Texas,
40:12
Speaker 1: and a Cornyn ally. Unity doesn't come in politics or
40:15
Speaker 1: any other relationships because one person deems it important, Huffman said.
40:20
Speaker 2: Unity comes from restoring relationships, and there are a lot
40:23
Speaker 2: of broken relationships.
40:25
Speaker 1: Huffman, a lifelong Republican, said he would not vote for
40:27
Speaker 1: Paxton and hadn't decided whether to vote for Tallarico or
40:30
Speaker 1: leave the ballot blank. Cruz expressed confidence Republicans will hold
40:34
Speaker 1: on to Texas so long as they get their message
40:37
Speaker 1: out and get Republican voters to the polls. But he
40:40
Speaker 1: acknowledged success for his party will be a full court effort,
40:43
Speaker 1: and the race was currently effectively tied. The consequence of
40:49
Speaker 1: losing Texas would be massive, Cruz said, and I'm all in.
40:55
Speaker 1: Rounding out our front page articles for this Monday's Washington Post,
41:00
Speaker 1: an article entitled, Trump Approval Hits Record Low, Handing Democrats
41:05
Speaker 1: a Clear Midterm Edge. The president's approval rating is at
41:10
Speaker 1: 33 percent, with 66 percent disapproving and just over half
41:15
Speaker 1: saying they disapprove strongly. Meanwhile, the midterm support for Democrats
41:22
Speaker 1: is rising. Article co-authored by Dan Balz and Scott Clement.
41:28
Speaker 1: Two weeks from Election Day, Republicans face a bleak political landscape.
41:33
Speaker 1: President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to a new
41:36
Speaker 1: low and support for Democrats in the race for control
41:38
Speaker 1: of Congress is rising as inflationary pressures contribute to an
41:42
Speaker 1: acrid mood among voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
41:50
Speaker 2: Trump's approval among U.S.
41:51
Speaker 1: Adults now stands at 33%, with 66% disapproving, 52% said
41:54
Speaker 1: they disapprove strongly. That approval rating is four percentage points
42:02
Speaker 1: lower than in July and eight points lower than at
42:05
Speaker 1: this point last year. It's lower than at any point
42:09
Speaker 1: in his first term. Among likely voters, Trump's approval is
42:13
Speaker 1: 38 percent, with 62 percent disapproving. The poll also finds
42:19
Speaker 1: that for the first time in more than a decade,
42:21
Speaker 1: Democrats are seen as more trusted to deal with the economy.
42:27
Speaker 1: In the competition for control of the House, Democrats hold
42:30
Speaker 1: an eight-point lead among registered and likely voters, an improvement
42:35
Speaker 1: for the party since the post-July poll when the Democratic
42:39
Speaker 1: lead was three points with registered voters.
42:42
Speaker 2: Trump is central to Republicans' struggles.
42:45
Speaker 1: In a separate question, the poll asked voters whether they
42:48
Speaker 1: would rather have a Democratic-led Congress acting as a check
42:52
Speaker 1: on Trump, or a Republican one to support his agenda.
42:57
Speaker 1: By 58% to 39%, registered voters said they prefer the Democrats.
43:02
Speaker 1: That margin is roughly double what it was a year ago.
43:06
Speaker 1: The collective results of the new survey reveal an electorate
43:09
Speaker 1: that has lost faith in the president, is deeply worried
43:12
Speaker 1: about his decision to go to war with Iran, is
43:15
Speaker 1: feeling the effects of that war, especially the price of gasoline,
43:18
Speaker 1: on their pocketbooks, and now has more confidence in Democrats
43:22
Speaker 1: than Republicans to deal with major issues. Today, 72% say
43:27
Speaker 1: the country is heading in the wrong direction, up five
43:30
Speaker 1: points since April. The new survey findings do not predict
43:34
Speaker 1: how individual House or Senate races will turn out in November,
43:37
Speaker 1: but they help to explain why Republicans are on the
43:40
Speaker 1: defensive in these final weeks. Even in areas where they
43:43
Speaker 1: have traditionally held a strong advantage, Republicans still enjoy an
43:47
Speaker 1: overall lead in money to pour into political advertising that
43:50
Speaker 1: they hope will hold back the Democratic tide. Tellingly, those
43:55
Speaker 1: resources are shifting to protect some candidates in redder areas,
43:59
Speaker 1: a sign of the growing concerns among party leaders and
44:02
Speaker 1: strategists about the overall climate. As always, the question of
44:06
Speaker 1: who turns out to vote will decide how individual races go,
44:10
Speaker 1: with many of the most competitive Senate races still in
44:12
Speaker 1: the balance. Nationally, Democrats have a big advantage among those
44:16
Speaker 1: who said they're certain to vote or have already done so,
44:20
Speaker 1: but Republicans fare relatively well among voters who turned out
44:24
Speaker 1: in the 2024 or 2022 elections, which are also strong
44:28
Speaker 1: predictors of voting.
44:30
Speaker 2: One critical unknown is how.
44:32
Speaker 1: Many of Trump's 77 million voters from the 2024 election
44:35
Speaker 1: will cast ballots. Midterm turnout is always lower than in
44:39
Speaker 1: presidential years, and Republicans have had a harder time turning
44:42
Speaker 1: out their supporters when Trump is not on the ballot.
44:48
Speaker 1: The poll echoes those challenges. Democratic registered voters are more
44:53
Speaker 1: likely than Republicans to say they are certain to vote
44:56
Speaker 1: or have already done so, 75% versus 67%. While 75%
45:02
Speaker 1: of Republicans who support the MAGA movement say they're certain
45:05
Speaker 1: to vote, that drops to 57% among non-MAGA Republicans, though
45:10
Speaker 1: more than a quarter of these non-MAGA Republicans said they
45:14
Speaker 1: prefer Democrats in control of the next Congress. By contrast,
45:18
Speaker 1: 79% of Democrats who support the Democratic Socialists of America
45:22
Speaker 1: say they are certain to vote, as do 73% of
45:25
Speaker 1: non-socialist Democrats. Presidential approval has long been one of the
45:31
Speaker 1: most important indicators of how a midterm election will go.
45:35
Speaker 1: Based on history, Republicans are poised to lose seats from
45:38
Speaker 1: their narrow House majority and likely to lose control of
45:41
Speaker 1: the chamber next month. But how many is more difficult
45:45
Speaker 1: to predict, because in contrast to some past years, there
45:48
Speaker 1: are fewer swing districts. Republicans may also retain backing from
45:52
Speaker 1: voters who expressed only limited dissatisfaction with the president. The
45:56
Speaker 1: post-ABC Ipsos poll finds that among the 10% of likely
46:00
Speaker 1: voters who said they somewhat.
46:02
Speaker 2: Disapprove of Trump's performance, 58%.
46:04
Speaker 1: Prefer the Republican candidate for the House. Economic issues stand
46:13
Speaker 1: as a major threat to the GOP's hold on the
46:15
Speaker 1: House and Senate. Trump's economic approval rating has fallen to 28%,
46:20
Speaker 1: down from 33% in July, 41% in February, and 49%
46:25
Speaker 1: at this point in the 2018 midterm election campaign.
46:29
Speaker 2: About three in four.
46:30
Speaker 1: Americans disprove of Trump's handling of inflation and the cost
46:33
Speaker 1: of living in the United States. By a three-to-one margin,
46:37
Speaker 1: Americans said the state of the economy is either not
46:40
Speaker 1: so good or poor. Most Republicans, 53%, rate the economy positively,
46:46
Speaker 1: compared with 9% of Democrats and 16% of independents. At
46:50
Speaker 1: this point in 2022, when President Joe Biden was in office,
46:54
Speaker 1: impressions of the economy were almost identically negative. But in
46:58
Speaker 1: a sign of how party allegiance can affect attitudes, 54%
47:02
Speaker 1: of Democrats then rated the economy positively, compared with 8%
47:06
Speaker 1: of Republicans and 16% of independents. Economic strains on many
47:12
Speaker 1: Americans are great enough that 48% say they are financially
47:16
Speaker 1: worse off than when Trump returned to office in 2025.
47:19
Speaker 1: That represents the highest percentage saying this about any president
47:23
Speaker 1: in post-ABC polls since 1986. Among these financially stressed Americans,
47:31
Speaker 1: 78% favor Democrats for Congress, along with 71% of independents.
47:36
Speaker 1: Affordability is an issue that nearly all candidates are talking
47:39
Speaker 1: about this fall. and the survey points to many areas
47:42
Speaker 1: of difficulty for families. The biggest is the cost of gasoline.
47:47
Speaker 1: In February, before Trump launched the war with Iran, 71%
47:50
Speaker 1: said gasoline was affordable. Today, as the war has disrupted
47:54
Speaker 1: supplies and shipping, pushing up gasoline and diesel prices significantly,
47:59
Speaker 1: perceptions have flipped, with 71% now saying gasoline is not affordable.
48:06
Speaker 1: Majorities also say groceries, health care, and home energy are unaffordable.
48:10
Speaker 1: all up significantly since before the Iran war. Fewer than
48:14
Speaker 1: 4 in 10 said going out to dinner is affordable,
48:17
Speaker 1: down from half who said this in February. The shift
48:21
Speaker 1: against the president ripples throughout the survey. On Iran, 65%
48:25
Speaker 1: said it was a mistake to take military action, and
48:28
Speaker 1: 68% disapprove of the.
48:31
Speaker 2: Way Trump has dealt with U.S. allies.
48:33
Speaker 1: Roughly 6 in 10 disapprove of his handling of immigration.
48:37
Speaker 1: a sharp departure from the beginning of his second term
48:40
Speaker 1: when 50% said they approved. A majority, 56%, said Trump
48:44
Speaker 1: has gone too far in deporting undocumented immigrants, which compares
48:50
Speaker 1: with 48% in April 2025 as the deportation effort was beginning.
48:56
Speaker 1: Trump's negative ratings are boosted by significant criticism from his
49:00
Speaker 1: 2024 voters, including 23% who disapprove of his overall performance.
49:05
Speaker 1: 31% who disapprove of his management of the economy, and
49:09
Speaker 1: 38% who disapprove of his handling of inflation. Most of
49:12
Speaker 1: these critics said they support Republicans for Congress, but they
49:15
Speaker 1: are far less certain about casting ballots this year than
49:18
Speaker 1: Trump voters who approve of him. Trump is judged harshly
49:22
Speaker 1: on several measures of his commitment to fundamental principles of democracy.
49:26
Speaker 1: At least six in 10 people said he is not
49:28
Speaker 1: committed to protecting freedom of the press and freedom of speech,
49:31
Speaker 1: free and fair elections, and respecting the authority of Congress
49:35
Speaker 1: or the courts. Beyond major issues, the public disapproves of
49:39
Speaker 1: the ways Trump has conducted himself in office. The poll
49:42
Speaker 1: finds that 66% said he is using the presidency to
49:45
Speaker 1: enrich himself, up from 56% last fall. 8 in 10
49:50
Speaker 1: think it's inappropriate that he has pushed to put his
49:52
Speaker 1: name on the Kennedy Center in Washington. 59% view this
49:56
Speaker 1: as completely inappropriate. And 74% say it's inappropriate that the
50:00
Speaker 1: federal government paid for television ads promoting Trump and his policies. Overall,
50:06
Speaker 1: 66% said they see Trump as too extreme. The dissatisfaction
50:12
Speaker 1: with Trump inevitably has spilled onto a Republican party that
50:15
Speaker 1: has been remade in its image. Registered voters said they
50:19
Speaker 1: trust Democrats over Republicans to handle the economy by 40%
50:22
Speaker 1: to 33%, the first Democratic advantage on the economy in
50:27
Speaker 1: post-ABC polling since 2014. Voters split about evenly on this
50:32
Speaker 1: question in April and July of this year. Democrats also
50:36
Speaker 1: hold double-digit advantages on trust to handle inflation and the
50:40
Speaker 1: cost of living. Democrats are seen as more trustworthy on
50:43
Speaker 1: many issues, even though 54% of U.S. adults have an
50:47
Speaker 1: unfavorable view of the party, perhaps because even more Americans, 63%,
50:52
Speaker 1: dislike the Republican Party. The Republican Party is seen as
50:56
Speaker 1: too extreme by 55% of U.S. adults, compared with 36%
51:00
Speaker 1: who see the Democratic Party that way. Americans hold negative
51:04
Speaker 1: impressions of the president's MAGA movement and of democratic socialism,
51:08
Speaker 1: which has roiled the Democratic Party this year. But the
51:11
Speaker 1: MAGA movement is seen even more negatively at 69% unfavorable
51:16
Speaker 1: compared with 59% unfavorable toward democratic socialism. One quarter of
51:20
Speaker 1: Americans dislike both major political parties, but as often happens,
51:25
Speaker 1: these double haters swing against the party in power, favoring
51:29
Speaker 1: Democrats by 58%, to 32% in support for Congress. One
51:38
Speaker 1: factor boosting Democrats this fall and another sign of how
51:41
Speaker 1: Trump's policies and performance have hurt him and his party
51:45
Speaker 1: is a shift in the partisan leanings of Americans. The
51:48
Speaker 1: Pew Research Center's annual benchmarking survey, a comprehensive poll conducted
51:52
Speaker 1: over several months, found 47% of US adults identified as
51:57
Speaker 1: Democrats or lean Democratic this spring while 43% identified as
52:02
Speaker 1: or leaned Republican. That marked a shift from both 2025,
52:07
Speaker 1: when 46% of adults identified as Republicans, and 45% as Democrats.
52:13
Speaker 1: Post-ABC Ipsos polls are calibrated to match Pew's estimates for partisanship,
52:18
Speaker 1: and the latest poll reflects the national shift in party leanings.
52:25
Speaker 1: This concludes the reading of all front-page articles On today, Monday,
52:33
Speaker 1: October 20th, Washington Post. Other articles covered in today's A
52:41
Speaker 1: section include Two killed, ten hurt as pickup truck is
52:47
Speaker 1: driven onto soccer field. El-Sayed's exchange over Muslim Brotherhood goes viral.
52:54
Speaker 1: Takeaways from Vance's town hall forum in Michigan. Oregon town,
52:59
Speaker 1: known for its safety, reels after shooting. Why Kansas, other
53:05
Speaker 1: red states, remain hard cells for Democrats. Shorthanded U.S. campaign
53:11
Speaker 1: finance watchdog is sidelined for midterms. More Republicans say that
53:16
Speaker 1: Trump is enriching himself. Obama blasts Trump officials' pursuit of
53:22
Speaker 1: Representative Omar. Famed tapestry has the United Kingdom revisiting its
53:27
Speaker 1: bloody past. Four service members killed, 39 injured in fire
53:31
Speaker 1: at Canadian military base. Trump endorses Netanyahu in tense Israeli elections.
53:40
Speaker 1: It's election time in Brazil, and my free emergency care
53:43
Speaker 1: has me going viral again. Ukraine low on Patriot interceptors
53:48
Speaker 1: as strikes increase. Trump-Zelensky continue public feud with global implications.
53:56
Speaker 1: How borrowers can manage student loans before, during, and after college.
54:01
Speaker 1: After years of promises, faster airline Wi-Fi is arriving. And
54:06
Speaker 1: has artificial intelligence finally killed the cover letter? Under editorial
54:12
Speaker 1: and opinion section in today's Washington Post, you have opinion
54:15
Speaker 1: signs your smart devices were hacked by rogue AI. Maryland
54:19
Speaker 1: voters have a chance to reject extreme gerrymandering. A new
54:23
Speaker 1: level of chaos in Trump's Ukraine policy.
54:26
Speaker 2: Opinion? Want to quit cigarettes? The tools are painfully old. D.C.
54:31
Speaker 1: Mandated solar power and now residents are getting burned. Katie
54:35
Speaker 1: Zakaria's brief White House tenure speaks volumes. Regulating A.I. campaign
54:41
Speaker 1: ads isn't the American way. This concludes the reading of
54:45
Speaker 1: the Washington Post for today, Monday, October 20th, 2026. Your
54:50
Speaker 1: reader for today has been Woody Snowden. If you have
54:53
Speaker 1: any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program, please feel
54:57
Speaker 1: free to call us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening,
55:03
Speaker 1: and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio Eye.