Today’s notice: What’s the message out of Republicans’ midterm convention? Nearly 70 candidates have self-funded their campaigns; most lost. Democrats eye a DOGE-ish idea. And: What’s happening with the screwworm scare?
THE LATEST
There’s been a lot of reporting about Republicans frustrated with White House messaging — that it’s all about Donald Trump, and not about what voters care about, or at least what to tell them 56 days from the midterms. This week in Dallas, the party’s midterm convention could provide another taste of that messaging.
If last month is any preview, expect to hear about communism, liberals and how Democrats, including Joe Biden, are to blame for the current ills. Nearly 20 months into office, Trump still often mentions the former president — dropping more than a dozen references to Biden in August alone.
Trending
A White House official told NOTUS that Trump has made Biden his foil because “he’s drawing a contrast with the historic successes of his first 19 months with the Biden years.”
Former Biden White House comms strategist Andrew Bates — who’s advising multiple Democratic campaigns this cycle — says he thinks Trump’s references to his predecessor only underscore how good things were pre-Trump. Republicans “going out of their way to bring up a time when the economy was stronger and we weren’t stuck in Iran just highlights how much they’ve ripped off the American people and failed the tests they set for themselves in 2024,” he said.
Trump launched a torrent of Truth Social posts this weekend: sharing fake AI images of “Iran’s Navy” on the ocean floor; claiming the moon and the Strait of Hormuz as American territory; depicting Mexico, Canada and Greenland covered in the red, white and blue; rebranding New Mexico as “New America.”
He also celebrated shiny D.C. statues and fountains, unveiled Space Force uniforms and brought George Washington to the Oval Office for a chitchat. And, of course, he posted Biden wearing a Trump 2024 cap. Those issues aren’t necessarily topping voters’ lists — It may cost me $100 to fill up my truck but dammit, have we renamed New Mexico? It could explain why so many Republicans didn’t buy a ticket to Texas.
More on NOTUS: Suspect Identified in Attack on Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Amy Acton | Missouri Group Asks the Supreme Court to Let Former District Maps Stand | German Far-Right Party Is Projected to Win Regional Election | Trump Administration Asks the Supreme Court to Lift Block on Mail-in Voting Regulations
From the campaign trail
Self-funding and still coming up short. A record number of wealthy candidates — 69 — have so far spent more than $1 million of their own money to support their campaigns for federal office, NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports. And as primary season ends, about two-thirds of these self-funders have already turned out to be losers. Mark spoke with some of them, and a surprisingly high number said the experience of spending millions of their own dollars just to flame out has left them hungry to run again.
From a potential future
Democrats wanna DOGE, too. The Trump team and DOGE were “correct in identifying that people want things to work better,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger told NOTUS’ Natalie Alms. “Rather cynically, they used that sentiment to their electoral advantage, and then used it as a mandate to break things further.” She’s one of many Democrats who say there’s a way to pick up the mantle Elon Musk nominally claimed — tech modernization — to showcase that liberals can make state and local governments hum. Natalie explores how some in the Democratic Party hope they’ll get the chance to unleash their own DOGE soon.
NOTUS METRO
Local news: D.C. Is on Track to Control Armory Land Near RFK Stadium, by Kendall Staton
Sports desk: National Pundits Have Low Expectations for the Commanders This Season, by Alex Schiffer
DMV High School Football Players of Week 2, by Noah Ferguson
NEW ON NOTUS
The strange case of the disappearing screwworm. The dangerous pest, discovered within the United States in June, has been targeted by the Agriculture Department with the goal of protecting cattle and other livestock herds from an infestation straight out of a horror movie. The effort was expected to take years, NOTUS’ Tyler Spence writes, but in August the USDA publicly reported that only four cases were detected, and none in cattle. Tyler writes that many people who follow the screwworm are very skeptical of this figure. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, biologically,” a former longtime USDA official told NOTUS.
Some experts question whether the agency has the personnel and the resources to properly track and contain the screwworm, Tyler writes, and point to the significant department staff reductions from DOGE. The USDA says it’s simply very good at its job: “The low case count is a direct result of the aggressive, science-driven five-prong strategy to eradicate NWS unveiled by Secretary [Brooke] Rollins a year ago,” a spokesperson said.
More: Judge Says Trump Administration Must Provide 48 Hours’ Notice Before Arch Construction | Fetterman Dismisses Bombshell Report as ‘Smears’ and ‘Half-Truths’ | Trump’s Super PAC Drops $10 Million in Texas Senate Race
NOT US
- For Fired DeSantis Campaign Staff Member, a Second Chance at State Dept., by Andrea Fuller, Ken Bensinger and Edward Wong for The New York Times
- The DSA Is Using Coffee With Comrades and Socialist Softball to Convert the Curious, by Joshua Chaffin and Maya Davis for The Wall Street Journal
- Hot-Dog Heaven: Inside Trump’s Golf Getaways, by Dan Alexander for Forbes
- A CNN journalist spent years reporting on al-Qaeda. Now he’s handing over a massive archive. By Scott Nover for The Washington Post
WEEK AHEAD
Today
Primary election in New Hampshire.
Trump delivers remarks at Steel Across America.
Wednesday
The Republican midterm convention begins in Dallas.
Primary election in Rhode Island.
Thursday
Trump headlines the Republican midterm convention.
One year since the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah.
Friday
25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Monthly Consumer Price Index numbers released.
Saturday
Trump travels to Ireland.
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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Nikie Johnson. Photo by Tony Gutierrez/AP.
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