Today in One Sentence. Trump announced a $25 million program to pay whistleblowers up to $30,000 for tips about government fraud; Trump’s political operation plans to spend more than $400 million helping Republicans in the midterms; Trump announced an $8 billion Agriculture Department bailout for farmers struggling with rising diesel prices caused by his war with Iran; Elon Musk reportedly ordered the slowdown of Ukraine’s military-grade Starlink service; the Trump administration delayed shipments of Patriot interceptor missiles European allies already purchased for Ukraine; Trump said he’s open to meeting with Putin and Xi without Zelenskyy; JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 election a day after Trump called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and gave him his “Complete and Total Endorsement”; and 70% of Americans are not confident that Trump will accept the results if Republicans lose in the midterms.

1/ Trump announced a $25 million program to pay whistleblowers up to $30,000 for tips about government fraud. “I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump said. “In other words, I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving and I’ll determine — and I will be very generous, believe me.” The White House, however, said tips must lead to a fraud conviction or significant federal enforcement action to qualify for payment. (Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / Washington Post)

  • The Department of Homeland Security spent hundreds of millions of dollars on seven Boeing 737s for Trump’s deportation campaign that have barely flown. Each jet has made fewer than five flights since April. (Bloomberg)

2/ Trump’s political operation plans to spend more than $400 million helping Republicans in the midterms. He said more than $300 million had already been spent on advertising, voter contact, rallies, and other efforts. The money comes from MAGA Inc. and an allied nonprofit whose donors are not disclosed.
(New York Times / Washington Post / Mediaite)

  • Michael Bloomberg is sending about $80 million to help Democrats in the midterms, with at least $50 million headed to House races, according to his team. (New York Times / CNBC)

  • Elon Musk pledged to give one SpaceX share to every “kid” in America next year, worth roughly $11 billion. Trump thanked him, saying the pledge was “exactly what was envisioned when we created Trump Accounts.” (Axios / Washington Post / Semafor)

3/ Trump announced an $8 billion Agriculture Department bailout for farmers struggling with rising diesel prices caused by his war with Iran. The one-time payments would cover part of farmers’ estimated losses this year, and follows a $12 billion bailout announced last December to offset losses from Trump’s tariffs and trade policies. The Agriculture Department, however, doesn’t have enough money in the designated account to fund the new payments. If funded, the bailout would bring the projected government payments to farmers this year to $55.4 billion, representing roughly a third of net farm income. Diesel prices, meanwhile, currently average $6.32 a gallon, up from $3.62 a year ago. (Reuters / New York Times / Politico / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / The Hill)

4/ Elon Musk reportedly ordered the slowdown of Ukraine’s military-grade Starlink service, which impacted some of its drones and weakened its ability to respond to Russian attacks. Musk claimed that limits on speed or usage were decided by the U.S. military and ultimately Trump. However, Trump said he didn’t know who was responsible, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon issued no directive and that Starlink could make decisions about its terms of service. Trump and Musk have criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian refineries, which Trump blames for rising diesel prices, although most analysts say the U.S. war with Iran has had a greater impact. (Wall Street Journal / CNBC / The Hill)

5/ The Trump administration delayed shipments of Patriot interceptor missiles European allies already purchased for Ukraine as Russia continues to attack Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hasn’t approved the transfers and the delay comes after Trump waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports and pressured Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries. The Trump administration has also reportedly threatened to suspend a NATO weapons-purchasing program unless Kyiv stopped the strikes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, acknowledged that while some interceptors may not have been delivered, he insisted “there has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, responded: “If you cannot rein Putin in, then give us interceptor missiles so I can protect our energy infrastructure.” (Washington Post / CBS News / Reuters / Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Politico / Axios)

6/ Trump said he’s open to meeting with Putin and Xi without Zelenskyy. Putin reportedly proposed a summit in China next month to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Trump said he wanted to focus on “denuclearization.” No meeting has been finalized. Ukraine’s foreign minister, meanwhile, warned that a meeting without Kyiv would “encourage Putin to continue this war.” Trump said it’s “time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,” adding that “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much.” (CNBC / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Axios / New York Times / CNN)

7/ JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 election a day after Trump called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and gave him his “Complete and Total Endorsement.” Vance, saying he’s focused on the U.S. midterms, said “I’m not anti-endorsing him. I’m not pro-endorsing him. I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, made an unannounced visit to Israel and met with Netanyahu amid U.S.-Israeli discussions about potentially resuming major military operations against Iran. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Politico / Axios / CBS News)

poll/ 47% of Americans see Republicans as the party of tech tax breaks – double the 21% who said the same for Democrats. (Politico)

poll/ 61% of Americans are confident that the midterms will be conducted fairly and accurately. 65% are confident that the votes will be counted accurately. (ABC News)

poll/ 70% of Americans are not confident that Trump will accept the results if Republicans lose in the midterms. Among Republicans, 36% say they’re not confident Trump would accept GOP losses, along with 77% of independents and 94% of Democrats. (Washington Post)

poll/ 71% of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction, and 58% agree that Trump is a “potentially dangerous dictator” and his power should be limited, up from 52% in March 2025. (PRRI

The 2026 midterms are in 14 days; and the 2028 presidential election is in 749 days.