Jump on the Ban-wagon

Good afternoon. This is the Afternoon Sun newsletter for Sept. 18, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Donald Trump announced he will be banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, citing their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”

The president told reporters an hour later that the ban would be “a very simple ban. I don’t want them in my office, I don’t want them here.” He also suggested he could ban additional outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

• “You need a free press, you need a fair press and an honest press,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

A slate of governors moved to erect AI guardrails today, including Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger, who signed an order to increase data center oversight, and California’s Gavin Newsom, who ordered the state to accelerate developer regulations.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Trump has been calling MAGA Inc. super PAC funds “my money.” One campaign finance watchdog says that violates federal law in a new FEC complaint.

The Pentagon issued new, narrower testosterone-screening guidance for male troops Thursday, two weeks after abruptly pulling its first version.

The administration has started border wall construction through a section of West Texas’ Big Bend region, despite heavy opposition from the public.

More U.S. troops have died in the Middle East during the Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, The Washington Post reports.

The administration cleared a potential $24.3 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, despite U.S. intelligence warnings that China could gain access to the sensitive technology.

A nonprofit group with ties to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. solicited payment from companies in exchange for access to top HHS officials at an upcoming event, Bloomberg News reports.

THE COURTS

The NAACP, labor unions and other advocacy organizations sued the Trump administration, seeking to stop the potential deployment of federal agents at voting locations.

A federal judge aired doubts today that the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is as dead as the Justice Department has insisted it is.

Former board members of the Institute of Peace filed an emergency plea to stop the Trump administration from affixing the president’s name onto its headquarters.

An immigration officer pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to the FBI about being attacked before he shot a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown.

HE DIDN’T SAY SAUERKRAUT

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