Pain in the Ads

THE LATEST

Donald Trump’s first campaign-style advertisement — which states it was “paid for by the U.S. Government” — drew scrutiny from both parties this week over its legality and messaging. The administration reportedly paid at least $443,000 to air the “Love Me” spot across the country.

• “Using taxpayer dollars, it feels like Viktor Orbán,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told reporters.

A new spot dropped this morning, also narrated by Trump and presented as paid for by the government, featuring multiple sweeping shots of Mount Rushmore and American landscapes. Administration spokespeople repeatedly insisted that the ads are “public service announcements” and do not contain political or campaign themes.

• “This is only the beginning of the golden age of America,” Trump says in the second ad.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Scott Bessent will not be the president’s new AI czar, Trump announced on Truth Social, following reports the Treasury secretary was a front-runner.

The State Department will propose a rule expanding election officials’ and nonprofits’ access to sensitive passport data to conduct voter checks.

Iran’s foreign minister said the country’s leaders have presented the U.S. a seven-day plan to end hostilities. The proposal resembles a previous agreement struck from June.

THE COURTS

The Supreme Court cleared the way for states to use the federal government’s overhauled immigration database to purge noncitizens from voter rolls ahead of the midterms.

• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke out this week against the court’s use of the emergency docket to fast-track decisions.

A federal appeals court rejected Anthropic’s challenge to the Pentagon’s decision to label the AI giant a national security risk earlier this year. The panel pointed to Anthropic’s ability to build restrictions or refusals into its models.

Another federal appeals court appeared reluctant today to force the administration to bring back the Venezuelan men it deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.

THE STATES

Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned from his position in New Jersey today after an ethics investigation concluded he made sexually explicit comments to a staffer. He has denied the allegations.

THE HILL

After Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) publicly asked Apple and Google to maintain his state’s name — which Trump said he could change to “New America” — on their mapping services, the senator’s office said neither company expressly committed to keeping the current name.

• Google said its Maps product is informed by “relevant local and regional determinations,” while Apple said it takes its data from the Geographic Names Information System, Luján’s office wrote in an email.

AT LEAST IT WASN’T THE SUBWAY

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