1. Susie the safe
2. El-Sayed’s rebuke
3. Chamber in Iowa
4. AI task force meets
5. Call for AI export controls
6. Trump’s FDI haul
7. US-Ukraine rift
8. Kalshi’s court slowdown

PDB: Montana Senate race tightens

Trump in Georgia … Apple, Meta to join forces on new AI model … Three children, one teacher killed in shooting at Oregon elementary school

Trump advisers reject talk of a Wiles firing

Beyond President Donald Trump’s public dismissal of the idea, administration officials and advisers are universally skeptical that he’d consider pushing out White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. “I think it’s absurd,” one administration official said of talk that Trump would fire Wiles. One Trump adviser dismissed the speculation as “bullsh*t,” suggesting that people “trying to position themselves” to replace Wiles were fomenting the appearance of friction. Nearly a dozen people close to Trump cast doubt on reports of tension that Politico published on Thursday. Wiles has reportedly indicated her plan is to stay in her job until Trump leaves office, and she’s already his longest-serving chief of staff. When she’s had to turn her focus from the White House, however, her control has slipped — and her daughter’s ties to a company at the center of another internal drama are still sparking chatter.

— Shelby Talcott

El-Sayed rebukes GOP for anti-Muslim talk

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused Trump and Republican rival Mike Rogers of using his Muslim faith as a cudgel, Semafor’s Nicholas Wu reports. “Judge me by my actions and my work, but please do not assume that because I might pray differently than anybody who’s ever held this office, that somehow I am not deeply committed to this Constitution,” El-Sayed said Thursday. Trump and other Republicans have recently amplified claims that El-Sayed and his mother have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, some chapters of which have been designated as terrorist groups. El-Sayed, an American of Egyptian descent who would be the first Muslim senator if elected, denied any connection to the group, saying it’s “an insane thing to assume” about his family, and compared the rumors to false claims that former President Barack Obama, who has endorsed El-Sayed, is a Muslim, not a Christian.

Chamber of Commerce’s midterm moves

The US Chamber of Commerce is stepping up its fall advertising, launching a new $250,000 issue advocacy ad in Iowa, according to details first shared with Semafor. That follows two $500,000 ad buys from the business group, which has historically aligned with Republicans, praising incumbent Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and an endorsement for former GOP Sen. John Sununu this week in New Hampshire’s Senate race. The new ad praises Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, a GOP Senate candidate, for supporting Trump’s tax cut law, taking on surprise medical billing, and introducing the “Save Our Bacon” bill blocking state-based livestock standards. “We need to protect Iowa from higher costs,” the ad says. The ad will run for two weeks, focused in the western part of the state. Hinson is in a tight race against state Rep. Josh Turek.

— Burgess Everett

White House AI task force starts work

The White House’s AI task force has adopted its charter, seen first by Semafor’s Ashley Gold — and now it has just 120 days to figure out how the government should handle the rapid development of AI technology. The task force agreed to commission a report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to evaluate AI risk related to cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, biosecurity and dual-use applications, and model control and accountability. It also agreed to make a working group tasked with implementing the White House accord that major AI CEOs signed this month, and agreed to create a “law enforcement and consumer protection coordination committee” including the Justice Department and FTC. It’s not yet clear how the task force’s policies will be enforced, but a White House official told Semafor one stick could be imposing export controls on AI companies that disobey it.

AI safety group proposes export controls

Humans First, a conservative-led group advocating for stronger AI guardrails, is out with an “America First AI Policy” platform today, according to a memo shared first with Semafor. Key parts of the framework include tightening export controls against China and other adversaries; mandating independent testing for large AI companies; prohibiting the development of advanced AI practices like recursive self-improvement; banning federal use of cameras like Flock; requiring public reporting of AI incidents; and ensuring that frontier AI developers can be held liable for reckless conduct. The group also wants strict rules for AI used by children and calls for a pause on H-1B visas. “An AI policy that truly puts America First is centered around the American people — not globalist corporations and not unaccountable bureaucrats,” said Russ Walker, the group’s executive director and a Trump 2020 campaign adviser. “It is time for Congress to act and it is time for conservatives in particular to lead on this critical issue.”

— Ashley Gold

Trump administration logs record FDI

The Commerce Department’s SelectUSA program has secured more foreign direct investment under Trump than in its previous dozen-plus years combined, officials told Semafor. That’s $280 billion from firms like Singapore’s Bitdeer, Australia’s Graphinex, Belgium’s UCB, South Korea’s Korea Zinc, and Japan’s Isuzu Motors, spread across more than 345 projects. The program, launched in 2011, had previously brought in a total of $255 billion. Assistant Commerce Secretary David Fogel attributed the bump to the Trump administration’s efforts to scrap regulations and lower taxes — and its blunt use of tariffs, which have at times strained its relationships with trading partners. “One of the elements of that [agenda] is using tariffs as a leverage tool to exact investment commitments from foreign countries,” Fogel told Semafor. With the midterms less than three weeks away, Fogel argued that’s a “promise [to voters] kept.”

— Eleanor Mueller

US-Ukraine rift not affecting weapons

The US’ relationship with Ukraine has reached a new low — but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s current spat with Trump hasn’t affected the flow of US weapons to his country. The Pentagon has communicated to NATO members that a US procurement program that sends weapons to Ukraine via NATO is continuing uninterrupted, a European official told Semafor, echoing comments made by the US ambassador to NATO earlier this week. That doesn’t mean that European officials aren’t worried about the prospect of a lapse in weapons, as CNN reported; Trump has reportedly considered suspending arms shipments along with intelligence-sharing, and the Starlink slowdown Ukrainians suffered earlier this week was the result of an order from the White House, Reuters reported. Zelenskyy’s decision to resume strikes on Russian refineries may further strain ties. US lawmakers, however, are still demonstrating bipartisan support for Ukraine’s fight.

— Morgan Chalfant

Kalshi in no rush for SCOTUS ruling

Prediction market Kalshi is in no rush for the Supreme Court to wade into its battle with states. The company agrees with skeptics like the NFL that justices must eventually opine on whether states and tribes should regulate its sports event contracts as sports bets, a Supreme Court litigator working with Kalshi told Semafor. But it also believes that pending rehearing petitions and forthcoming CFTC rules are currently muddying the waters, the litigator said. Kalshi, represented by the attorney who convinced justices to strike down Trump’s tariffs, recently requested a month-long extension from the court. That extension, coupled with Kalshi’s rehearing petitions, has led the gaming industry to believe the company lacks confidence in its case. “It’s fitting that as Halloween approaches, Kalshi seems spooked by the idea of the Supreme Court taking up the case next year,” American Gaming Association spokesperson Rob Lockwood told Semafor.

— Eleanor Mueller

Blindspot: Arrests and earmarks

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets.

What the Left isn’t reading: The Washington Examiner reported on the Trump administration’s campaign against Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, which has resulted in more than 1,200 arrests across the country.

What the Right isn’t reading: Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., fought for a $4.2 million earmark for a project to address water shortage that could benefit his ranch, The Associated Press reported.