Washington, DC

1. Trump takes convention stage
2. Bessent’s big buybacks
3. Oil crosses $100
4. Mifepristone case advances
5. The ‘ICE tax’

President Trump will speak at 9:15 pm EST from the Republican convention in Dallas.

Trump to speak at Dallas convention

DALLAS — President Donald Trump will address Republicans tonight at the midterm convention he personally requested, anchoring two nights of programming that only C-SPAN is covering start to finish. Today’s six hours of planned speeches and music will feature swing seat candidates, members of House and Senate leadership (though not Senate Majority Leader John Thune), members of the Trump Cabinet, and some MAGA celebrities like Adam Carolla. While his allies talk about border security, left-wing Democrats, and “Working Families Tax Relief,” the president will meet with his MAGA, Inc. super PAC network, as it begins making multimillion-dollar reservations for candidates. Trump will add to the GOP’s cash advantage with more fundraising tomorrow at an “RNC roundtable,” where photo ops with the president will sell for nearly $90,000.

— David Weigel

Treasury to buy back triple the bonds

The Treasury Department will buy back up to three times its usual amount of long-term debt tomorrow as the Trump administration continues trying to bring borrowing costs down. Markets barely registered the announcement, with yields dropping before climbing back up. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month he would at least double the buybacks after record-breaking debt helped push yields to their highest level since 2007. But the move has yet to pay off. “There’s always this dangerous tendency of people coming to Treasury … who believe you can do clever financial solutions to problems instead of fixing the fundamentals; they need to fix the fundamentals,” economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of American Action Forum, told Semafor. “They have to get serious; it’s got to be legislative, and they don’t like to legislate. So I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Crude hits $100 as Saudi exports drop

Crude crossed the $100 mark today for the first time since July, as Iran showed it’s willing to escalate and Saudi Arabia’s oil exports plunged. Tehran launched its largest attack on shipping vessels of the six-month-old war, calling the strikes on 10 ships retaliation for the US sinking five of its oil tankers. Iran has also unsuccessfully targeted US warships in recent days. Saudi Arabia has managed to keep its oil moving out of the region through most of the conflict by pivoting from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, but the Iran-backed Houthis are now blockading that route. As clashes with the Houthis intensify, Saudi oil exports have dropped to a 13-year low. Asked if peace talks might restart, Trump downplayed expectations. “We’re not looking for it,” he said. “This war will end immediately after our election.”

Louisiana mifepristone case looms over midterms

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals might thrust a new issue into the midterms — abortion. Today the conservative court heard oral arguments in a case brought by Louisiana challenging a Biden-era Food and Drug Administration regulation that allows for the telehealth prescription and mail delivery of the abortion drug mifepristone. In May the court attempted to temporarily overturn the FDA’s rule, but the Supreme Court blocked that decision while the litigation continued. Trump hasn’t commented on the case, and abortion hasn’t been a central policy issue in the midterms, a relief for Republicans. If the 5th Circuit rules in the next few weeks, that could change.

Cost-of-living message helps with deportation arguments, per new poll

The pro-immigration group America’s Voice, founded in 2008, has lately struggled with Democrats’ loss of credibility on “border security,” writes Semafor’s David Weigel. In 2024, its co-founder regretted that voter sentiment on the topic had raced so far to the right. One answer to that problem lies in polling: Respondents were asked first about “mass deportation,” then about its effect on prices, echoing research from liberal think tanks about the effects of deporting skilled labor. When respondents were told that deportations were increasing costs, their views turned negative, with higher-income voters moving the furthest. Voters earning more than $100,000 per year shifted 26 points against candidates who supported mass deportation after learning about the costs. This is helpful information for Democrats, but doesn’t alter the Trump administration’s strategy of arguing that mass deportation drives up wages.

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White House

• The Trump administration proposed changing the 2030 Census to exclude noncitizens. — WaPo

Campaigns

• Brandon Herrera, a GOP House candidate in Texas, has made inflammatory comments about the appearance and intelligence of women on his pro-gun YouTube show. — CNN
• The Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate race in Michigan.
• Thousands of demonstrators are expected to protest the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.

Courts

• The Missouri Supreme Court is considering contempt proceedings against Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins for continuing to pursue a GOP-backed congressional map despite a court ruling blocking it.
• A new lawsuit alleges that Cesar Chavez raped a longtime United Farm Workers volunteer in 1973 and accuses foundations tied to him of enabling and concealing abusive behavior.
• Florida officials sued Netflix for allegedly misleading parents about how it collects data on minors.
• The Supreme Court declined to hear a Catholic mother’s challenge to New York’s school vaccine requirements.

Tech

• OpenAI agents used more than 10 previously undisclosed websites for unsanctioned communications earlier this year, circumventing their restrictions to open communication channels. — Reuters

Congress

• Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was cleared of any wrongdoing after overstating assets on her financial disclosure form. — WSJ

Foreign Policy

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who traveled to Moscow last month, is expected to take on a greater role in efforts to end the Ukraine war (the White House called the story “fake news”). — FT

National Security

• The Transportation Security Administration is considering allowing TSA PreCheck passengers to bring water bottles through security at select airports. — CBS
• The US has destroyed six large fishing boats off the coast of Ecuador in the past two weeks, accusing them of refueling smaller vessels carrying drugs.

Immigration

• The Temporary Protected Status for Salvadoran migrants was set to expire today, though the Department of Homeland Security said it hasn’t formally announced the end of the program, leaving them momentarily protected.

— President Trump.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel