Live updates: Vance talks midterm outlook and 2028

In a secret meeting at the White House complex this summer, an aide to Stephen Miller laid out the plan: To make it easier for states to round up and institutionalize mentally ill homeless people, the Trump administration was pushing a drastic policy change that would weaken the rights of millions of disabled Americans.

Hugo Dwyer, one of those seated around the wooden conference table, couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The strategy described by Miller’s aide, Daniel Wasserman, threatened to roll back decades of progress in the disability rights movement — all to serve the president’s demand to clear homeless encampments in U.S. cities.

“I really cannot support this,” Dwyer, an advocate for people with intellectual disabilities, recalled telling Wasserman. “You’re talking about forcing people into institutional settings.”

Read the full story here.

Trump announced this morning South Korea that South Korea is investing $8.4 billion in an oil recovery project, though he didn't provide additional details.

"I am thrilled to announce the Republic of Korea Deal keeps getting BETTER! 8.4 Billion Dollars for an enhanced Oil Recovery Project. Producing more Oil and Gas means American Energy Dominance and Energy Security in the World for the Future!" he wrote on Truth Social.

It comes after Trump announced a plan this week for South Korea to invest $54 billion to build a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, part of a broader South Korean investment of $200 billion as part of the U.S.-Korea trade and investment agreement announced last year.

Trump is set to hold a rally in Alabama tonight as part of his midterm elections blitz to 17 states.

The president will deliver remarks around 6 p.m. ET in Mobile, according to the White House. Alabama isn't considered a battleground state, though there are a few notable matchups in the upcoming general election.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is running for governor against Democratic former Sen. Doug Jones; and GOP Rep. Barry Moore is running for Senate against Democrat Everett Wess. NBC News rates both races as solid Republican.

The president is expected to travel to at least 17 states before the midterm elections. Last night, he held a rally in Oklahoma. Trump has acknowledged in recent days that Republicans face an uphill battle in keeping control of Congress, noting that the party in power has often lost historically in midterm elections.

Trump Launches Major Campaign Trail Blitz in Lead-up to Midterms

02:00

After suffering massive voter registration losses in the wake of the last presidential election, Democrats have stemmed the bleeding in several key states heading into this year’s midterms, according to an NBC News Decision Desk analysis.

NBC News’ Decision Desk analyzed voter file data from TargetSmart, a progressive data firm, for seven of the states that were the closest in the 2024 election and which registered voters by party: Arizona, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. From late 2024 through late 2025, Republicans significantly improved their voter registration margin over Democrats in all seven states, including by roughly 100,000 in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

But from late 2025 through the middle of this year, Democrats managed to reverse, though not completely erase, those losses in five of them, adding more registrants on net than Republicans in Arizona, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And in New Hampshire and North Carolina, Democrats have slowed the decline.

Read the full story here.

Trump’s harsh criticisms may still be ringing in the ears of Supreme Court justices when they return to the bench for a new nine-month term next week.

In the final months of its previous term and over its summer break, the conservative-majority court, which includes three Trump appointees, ruled against Trump on some of the issues he holds most dear.

Read the full story here.

Vice President Vance acknowledged yesterday that Republicans face an “uphill climb” in next month’s midterm elections — and that the results may be a data point he reviews as he decides whether to run for president in 2028.

“Historically there’s always a bit of an uphill climb, and I think you definitely sense that,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News. “I also think you can sense a sense of cautious optimism, in the sense that, you know, people feel like the numbers are sort of moving, maybe in our direction.”

He added: “Politically, there’s just a recognition that it’s always going to be hard to win a midterm when you have the White House, the Senate and the House.”

Vance spoke aboard Air Force Two shortly after it landed on a return trip from Lakeland, Florida, where he campaigned for Sen. Ashley Moody and Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor. It was his latest headlining gig at a rally meant to boost support for the party’s candidates in what is expected to be a challenging year for the GOP.

Read the full story here.