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President Donald Trump responds to his latest Nobel Peace Prize snub by amplifying an attack that accuses the Norwegian Nobel Committee of disgracing itself by selecting South African human rights lawyer Navi Pillay.

Shortly after Pillay was announced as the 2026 winner for her contributions to international law, Trump reposted a message from his former attorney David Schoen, who had represented him during his second impeachment trial.

"Today the Nobel Committee shamed itself beyond repair and demeaned the once great Nobel Peace Prize by giving it to the UN's Navi Pillay," Schoen wrote.

Schoen called Pillay "an unabashed hater of America and Israel" and accused her of celebrating terrorists and rewarding Hamas, without providing evidence for those allegations.

He also attacked a United Nations commission Pillay chaired, which concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected that finding.

"She has no credibility in any normal sphere and has never done a thing to foster peace," Schoen wrote. "Just the opposite."

The attorney then claimed that Trump should have been awarded the prize, giving as reasons his Abraham Accords, his efforts to secure the release of the hostages, and his attempts to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

"President Trump gave us the Abraham Accords, which the world said would be impossible and is now expanding them!" Schoen wrote.

"He brought home the hostages when all seemed hopeless!" he added.

Schoen concluded that Trump's achievements were "the kinds of things the Nobel Peace Prize was intended to recognize and reward[!]"

The attack followed Trump's repeated pleading for his own nomination, arguing that his diplomatic record made him uniquely worthy.

Less than two days before the announcement, Trump said to reporters at the White House that no one in the history of the prize had deserved it more, adding his false claim that he had settled eight wars.

Pillay, who is 85 years old, had earlier held the position of United Nations high commissioner for human rights and that of a judge at both the International Criminal Court and the tribunal which investigated the Rwandan genocide.

The Nobel Committee lauded her many years of work in the promotion of international justice, especially her efforts to secure accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Pillay also seemed to make a joke about Trump's attempt to obtain the honor while celebrating her win with her colleagues in Germany.

"If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump," she joked.

The award will officially be presented in Oslo on December 10th.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin snapped at a reporter who asked a question he didn't like during a Friday press conference about another ICE agent-involved shooting in New York City.

Mullin delivered the statement after the incident as protestors and local lawmakers demand accountability. Mullin also struggled to get his facts straight, telling reporters at one point that the man shot by agents was "wanted for trafficking." In fact, one reporter explained, it was "traffic infractions." Mullin said he knew nothing about the man's case and pivoted to talk about Joe Biden instead.

At another point, Mullin said that they needed to take the man who broke a traffic law to a maximum-security facility, so they needed to remove him from the state. He wouldn't say where the man was. Mullin referred to the man as "the worst of the worst," and emphasized that he was "going after the worst of the worst" several times.

"They're going to try to make the gentleman they shot the worst human being you've ever heard of. But I want you to know that a father picking up his child was shot by a rogue agency controlled by Donald Trump," warned public advocate Jumaane Williams in a New York City press conference about the incident.

A reporter then asked him about the recent reports about the expensive luxury planes that were purchased under former Secretary Kristi Noem. The fleet of planes was painted as help for deportations, but photos of the planes showed two bedrooms, a stand-up bar, leather chairs, marble showers and other finery.

"This is what I hate about Fake News!" Mullin snapped.

The New York Times reported this week that the person who got the contract for the private planes was a big donor to Noem.

"You guys, you guys, when we're doing a press conference or something, you guys want to completely steer away when you realize that this isn't someone that you should be defending and you bring up something as ridiculous as that," Mullin ranted.

"I'm just — I'm just saying I'm not even going to entertain your question, because that's not what we're here for," Mullin claimed. "That's not — we're here for — if you want to add something that's detained to what we're having this press for, I'd be happy to do that. Okay? I'll take this last question because that wasn't even a question."

After the final question, he raged, "I'm so tired of it all of a sudden being controversial because it's a political talking point."

The Republicans' "One Big Beautiful Bill" ushered in such significant budget cuts that one rural West Virginia town is experiencing a hunger crisis.

Dunlow, West Virginia, has been hit particularly hard by cuts to two programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and federal food-purchasing cuts.

The GOP's budget bill mandated new eligibility and work-reporting requirements that have been particularly difficult in rural coal country, where jobs and training programs are scarce. While Trump claimed he'd bring back coal jobs during the 2024 campaign, he hasn't delivered. So, those who counted on those jobs are still struggling. Then Congress cut whatever safety net was left.

NBC reported Friday that approximately 24,000 West Virginians, including 8,000 children, have lost food-stamp benefits since last summer. Those are statewide figures, not counts specific to Dunlow or Matewan, but GOP Rep. Carol Miller, who covers that district, voted in support of the cuts. The state's senators, Jim Justice (R) and Shelley Moore Capito (R), also supported the legislation.

In fact, Wayne County, where Dunlow is located, voted 76 percent for President Donald Trump in 2024.

The second problem comes from the food-purchasing cuts. The GOP eliminated a $400 million program that purchased food from local farmers and put it in food banks to ensure that the needy could have access to healthy food. It also helped American farmers. The hit was twofold, hurting the food banks and farmers, who are also now suffering under tariffs and high diesel prices.

Facing Hunger told NBC News that its federal food supply has fallen by one-third. In Dunlow, that means the food pantry only has 2.5 pounds of USDA food per household in the entire month of August, said Bill Likens, who runs the pantry. A few years ago, that number was closer to 20 pounds a month.

The report noted that it isn't entirely the fault of the federal officials, however. Separate reporting by Mountain State Spotlight reported that West Virginia’s state allocation for food banks fell from $10 million annually under a previous funding to just $1.4 million in the current budget.

At a time when folks have less money for groceries because fuel costs and grocery prices have spiked, families are also losing programs designed to support them.

Speaking with residents, NBC News highlighted Washington D.C.'s distance from these kinds of communities and the struggles that they face. Dr. Mehmet Oz fumed at Molly Martinez of Gray Media's Washington News Bureau in an interview this week when she cited sweeping Medicaid spending cuts totaling $911 billion over the next 10 years. That includes $137 billion for rural America.

Now that hospitals and clinics are starting to close, the government is rushing to throw in $50 billion, but it hardly makes up for the $87 billion shortfall. The only response from the celebrity doctor was to allege the reporter was "deliberately duplicitous."

Retired school bus driver Bonnie Newsome told NBC News she remains affectionate toward Trump but admitted he has disappointed her. Without the food pantry, she said, couldn't survive.

Joanne Girvin, 73, told NBC that she has lost 20 pounds so far because she cannot afford enough food. She has started relying on eggs from backyard chickens and deer meat.

In an economically depleted region with limited jobs, significant disability and persistent child poverty, neighbors are sharing milk and redistributing pantry supplies.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly claimed, “President Trump is strengthening SNAP for the Americans who need it by ensuring these programs are sustainable for future generations." Thanks to him, she said, they can "crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.”

A long-time ally of President Donald Trump didn’t mince words with a profanity-laced description of Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, admitting he can’t stand her despite her MAGA-aligned politics.

An unnamed Trump insider gave the admission to Vanity Fair in a report that looked at how Katie Miller has become one of Washington's most prominent Republican socialites.

"I'll say I love her publicly, but the truth is I can't f—— stand her," the longtime Trump ally told the magazine.

The Trump ally nevertheless continues to accept invitations to Miller's podcast and her dinner parties due to her husband’s influence in the White House.

“But if she asks you to go on the podcast, or come over for dinner, you say yes, because Stephen Miller is the second-most powerful person in the world," the source added.

Katie Miller has turned the couple's house on a military installation close to Washington into a meeting place for senior officials of the Trump administration, members of the Cabinet and other prominent Republicans.

The events reportedly included plenty of entertainment, such as hibachi chefs, mechanical bulls, pizza food trucks and specially made desserts. The report states that one of her children’s birthday parties “featured a petting zoo with donkeys and other assorted animals.”

The Millers reportedly hosted several events, including celebrating Todd Blanche confirmation as attorney general and a birthday party for former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, which drew in almost 100 guests.

The Millers' gatherings have also been attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Leavitt gave a much more favorable evaluation of Katie Miller, praising both her hosting skills, adding that she “goes over the top.”

Insiders told the magazine that Katie started hosting parties at her house because well-known Trump administration officials often come across hostile crowds in public places around Washington.

The Millers previously lived in northern Virginia, where neighbors protested against his immigration policies and distributed leaflets identifying the family's residence. In late 2025, the couple moved into military housing because they were concerned for their children's safety.

Their decision came about as a result of demonstrations held in the neighborhood which attracted national attention, including a legal dispute concerning a Virginia activist who had distributed information about their home.

The Washington Post reported at the time that the local prosecutor then decided not to bring charges against the activist on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient and that the First Amendment provided relevant protection.

Katie Miller has built her public profile through her podcast, where she interviews Trump administration officials and business leaders.

Conservative Nick Catoggio tells the Dispatch that “it’s a rare case in which a public official was smart enough to have consciousness of guilt about her crime but not smart enough to avoid putting the evidence against her in encrypted digital writing.”

That’s the situation facing President Donald Trump’s most recent embattled ambassador, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Her alleged $100,000 shakedown of Trump campaign donor Eric Deters is making waves after Deter shared texts of Guilfoyle’s coercion to pay off her AmEx bill with the Wall Street Journal.

But Catoggio can’t seem to get past the existence of Guilfoyle’s apparent self-awareness coupled with her sloppy follow-through.

“Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things,” she texted Deters at one point. At another, she wrote, “What a nightmare you’ll literally cost me my ambassadorship stop writing.” And yet, Catoggio said she made no solid effort to hide her behavior.

“She seems to have assumed that Deters would never reveal the texts she had sent him, even if she stiffed him on the favor he sought. Imagine her shock at seeing a Trump courtier behave dishonorably,” said Catoggio.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that during a recent visit to Bulgaria this year, Guilfoyle allegedly told people that if they wanted natural gas from America, they should do business with the company owned by a lobbyist who had taken to hanging around her meetings with foreign officials.

“How many AmEx bills did he pay to earn that kind of referral? And how many others whom we don’t (yet) know about have also covered some of her debts?” asked Catoggio, citing The Bulwark’s Sam Stein alleging that “we’re hearing that there are more Guilfoyle stories coming.”

This particular scandal might have more legs than the average Trump scandal, with Americans starting to pay attention to political news as the November 3 election approaches. And Guilfoyle is no faceless bureaucrat, said Catoggio. Her Fox News gig made her famous, after all. And her allegations about her dealings with Deters are “unusually straightforward for a bribery story.”

“’Pay my credit card bill if you want a favor’ is a solicitation a sixth-grader could grasp,” said Catoggio.

But despite the perceived certainty of Guilfoyle’s criminality, Catoggio said this is one corrupt Trump lackey who probably isn’t getting fired anytime soon, despite the grenade she landed directly “in the White House’s lap.”

“The president has no good options on how to deal with Guilfoyle,” said Catoggio. “Leaving her in the job after the Journal exposé would amount to endorsing what she’s done, essentially taking ownership of the scandal, but she’s assuredly learned too much about Trump family malfeasance over the years for him to risk alienating her by firing her.”

“My guess is that he’ll do what he usually does and lateral her over to some private-sector position, buying her silence with a well-paid sinecure,” he said.

President Donald Trump is bracing for a potential investigation into his son Barron and is tapping his $400 million campaign fund to protect him ahead of the November midterm elections.

A report from the Daily Mail says that the president is drawing up contingency plans because of concerns that Democrats might look into members of his family if they take control of Congress again.

Per the report, Trump is setting aside some of the funds raised by his MAGA Inc. super PAC to pay for possible legal defense costs for members of his family, such as Barron, first lady Melania Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Democratic members of Congress have already mentioned that Barron might find himself drawn into an investigation.

"Leave no stone unturned," one Democratic source told the Daily Mail, adding that there should be no exceptions for members of the Trump family.

Previously, Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari had asked 20-year-old Barron to give testimony before Congress regarding his relationship with the alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, who is currently behind bars awaiting deportation to the UK.

"Barron Trump is an adult. He is somebody who is deeply involved in Trump's orbit and the whole manosphere, and he has a lot of influence," Ansari said in July.

"So he needs to be held accountable if he has committed any wrongdoing," she added.

Barron is yet to face any charges regarding the matter.

The president's youngest son is also involved in the family's cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial, since it has been under scrutiny by critics for possible conflicts of interest related to the Trump presidency.

There could also be investigations into Kushner's private equity firm, Affinity Partners, since it had received a $2 billion investment from a fund backed by Saudi Arabia after he had left his post in the White House in 2021.

Melania may also face further scrutiny over Amazon's reported $75 million investment in her documentary, since that agreement has led some Democratic lawmakers to wonder whether it involved improper political influence.

Trump is reportedly "angry" but "not surprised" by the prospect of investigations targeting his relatives.

The White House dismissed the allegations as being politically motivated.

"Democrats have nothing to run on, so they attack the president, members of his Cabinet, and members of his family instead of offering real solutions to help voters," an administration official told the Daily Mail.

Recent YouGov polling found that a majority of registered voters describe President Trump as "corrupt," with 53 percent, and "dangerous” at 51 percent being the second-biggest descriptor applied to the president.

The fact that preparations are being made comes as Republicans are under pressure to use more of the political fundraising reserves belonging to Trump in order to protect their vulnerable candidates before the elections on November 3.

Another recording of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was leaked to the press for a Friday report, prompting questions about who leaked it and why.

CNN published audio of the new leak and said it received it from “an attendee who opposes Paxton.”

The recordings are all from a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24 with a small group of lobbyists and insiders. The reports have described the event as having fewer than 20 people and the source has never been revealed.

The recording, Friday, shows Paxton complaining that outgoing U.S. Sen. Ken Paxton (R-Texas) wants him "to lose."

The Texas Monthly noted this week that "snitches" have become the latest in a long line of problems for Paxton's campaign.

"Believe it or not, a lot of campaigns conclude without this happening once. The gist of all three is that Paxton is not currently having fun, not a good time at all, on the trail. This is not as surprising or revelatory as the Pentagon Papers, though it’s useful to have it confirmed. But the fact that the leaks happened, and the nature of them, is pretty interesting and invites speculation," wrote reporter Christopher Hooks.

He asks whether the "wired up" person is a fan of James Talarico or Cornyn, but also suggests a third option.

"Republicans have allocated more than a hundred million dollars to save Ken Paxton — something Senate Republicans warned would happen if Cornyn lost the primary," wrote Hooks. "There are surely a lot of GOP loyalists who are p—— about this and would rather send that money to places like Michigan, Maine or Ohio, where it would do a lot more good."

Shortly after the GOP primary, Cornyn told the Texas Tribune that Paxton wasn't the right choice for a president who prioritizes loyalty over capability. He alleged that Paxton is "lazy" and can't fundraise or campaign. Everything that Cornyn warned would happen is unfolding exactly as he predicted.

Meanwhile, Paxton is responding by "preparing to blame others for what might be one of the most embarrassing defeats in modern political history," said former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).

Trump has backed Paxton, endorsing him in the primary and repeatedly campaigning for him in Texas. A loss would be a significant political embarrassment for the president, especially as Republicans fight to retain the Senate.

Trump has sought to reshape the Republican Party around loyalty to him, backing primary challengers against lawmakers who buck his policy demands. But success in a Republican primary does not guarantee victory in November. This year, Republicans face slowing job growth, higher food and gasoline prices, and average wage growth that has fallen below the latest available inflation reading. Trump’s war with Iran has also weighed on his approval ratings and his party’s election prospects.

As the GOP begins to triage in the final 26 days of the election, the Paxton recordings have exposed Republican tensions around his candidacy, but also that of other Trump-supported candidates. Still, the identity and motives of those distributing the Paxton audio clips remain publicly unresolved.

The most recent tirade by President Donald Trump against Fox News has become embarrassing since it has been leaked that officials from the White House and Republican operatives had been secretly pressuring the network regarding its coverage of a Democratic senatorial candidate.

As part of the behind-the-scenes campaign effort, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate in Michigan, has made appearances on Fox, which has made it more difficult for the Republicans to present him as politically extreme, according to Axios.

On Tuesday, White House officials raised their complaints directly with Fox regarding the interview given by anchor Martha MacCallum to El-Sayed. Furthermore, senior Republican operatives had also contacted the network's producers and executives in August to object to the favorable remarks made by host Jesse Watters.

On Tuesday, Trump publicly criticized the network, charging it with giving Democrats preferential treatment.

"Fox is promoting the Dumocrats, not the Republicans and MAGA. They have totally lost their way!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also charged MacCallum with giving a "softball interview" and objected to Fox not providing adequate coverage of his campaign rallies.

However, among Republicans, there is concern that Fox News is helping El-Sayed reach moderate voters in his campaign against Republican Mike Rogers.

Jason Roe, a strategist with the Michigan Republican Party, admitted there was a problem, stating that Fox was giving El-Sayed a "favor".

"It's only helping him reach center-right voters," Roe said. "But they are in business to make money, and he attracts eyeballs."

The frustration can be traced to El-Sayed's win in the Democratic primary, where Watters had praised the candidate for having defeated the party establishment, a comment which later appeared in El-Sayed's campaign television advertisement.

Watters then gave another surprise compliment.

"I actually like Abdul. I probably shouldn't like him, but I do," Watters said.

Fox reports that El-Sayed's appearance on Watters' show in August attracted nearly 3.4 million viewers. At the same time, Jay Wallace, president of Fox News Media, brushed off Trump’s comments, expressing the network's readiness to interview candidates that its audience might disagree with.

"Someone didn't necessarily like that," Wallace told Axios, apparently referring to Trump. "But that's what we do."

The New Republic's Greg Sargent expressed criticism, saying that the frustration of the Republicans came about because voters were given the chance to hear El-Sayed directly. "Translation: Don’t let voters learn the truth about this guy; it’ll make it harder for us to beat him!" he wrote.

Sargent called the apparent intention to limit such exposure "deeply humiliating" for Trump and his allies. Fox also mentioned that Rogers had been invited by Watters to take part in his show but had not replied.

The disagreement occurs while both candidates are vying for the vacant Senate seat in Michigan ahead of the November 3 midterms.

Isaias, rapidly intensifying into a hurricane, will hit the Gulf shore sometime today or overnight.

In Alabama, it is now law that the storm will strike from the Gulf of America rather than the Gulf of Mexico.

Of course, if you happen to be on the Mobile coastline, it hardly matters what name is used, what may matter more is whether this government engages with Federal Emergency Management Administration.

However, if you sit in the state Legislature, what you call the Gulf apparently is a matter of priority.

Alabama’s House Bill 2, which took effect last week, requires “all state and local entities and their employees” to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” following Donald Trump’s preference to reflect this “terminology in all newly created maps, documents, educational materials, websites, official communications, and other resources.”

Apparently, state is issuing instruction that the law covers anyone working in the state university system, journalists running WBHM, the University of Alabama at Birmingham-sponsored NPR affiliate radio station, or state working with a statement affecting, say, hurricane damage.

Republican lawmakers say faculty can call it the Gulf of Mexico “for historical purposes” during instruction.

Understandably, various university faculty have told publications like Inside Higher Ed this sounds, well, restrictive to academic freedom, though it is unclear just how often classroom professors talk about the Gulf with a label at all.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has ordered journalists at WBHM, NPR affiliate, to comply, according to emails obtained. Neither the Associated Press nor NPR, which supply news information to the radio station, accept the name change, which came about by a Trump executive order based on, well, nothing. Workers at the radio station said they will follow the law, but don’t understand how they are supposed to monitor mentions of the Gulf, as suggested by the university’s top lawyer.

Do We Need a Law?

A spokesperson for Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, said, “The state of Alabama refers to the Gulf as the Gulf of America, period. It is not hard to see that these so-called ‘free speech’ complaints are just a cover up for blatant bias against the Trump Administration.”

The law requires public employees to “make reasonable efforts to update all pre-existing resources owned by state and local entities” under their jurisdiction—including maps, educational materials and communications—to reflect the name change “where practicable,” making an exception if doing so “would impose an operational or financial burden.”

Jason Senkbeil, a tenured professor in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa’s Department of Geography and the Environment, said “been calling it ‘the Gulf’ and not saying which one for years because I didn’t know where this was going.” Now he will do as ordered.

Others said if state professors can be mandated to use Trump’s name for the Gulf, why not for other elements of teaching and research? Indeed, is there a difference between a professor discussing some aspect of the Gulf environment and a state mapmaker? Is the extension to what the NPR station says on the air an abridgment of freedom of speech and of the press?

Mostly, the case raises the other question: Why is this the issue before a midterm election in which voters are angry about runaway prices from tariffs and the unwanted war with Iran, excesses in mass deportation, and concerns about government corruption?

Terry H. Schwadron retired as a senior editor at The New York Times, Deputy Managing Editor at The Los Angeles Times and leadership jobs at The Providence (RI) Journal-Bulletin. He was part of a Pulitzer Gold Medal team in Los Angeles, and his team part of several Pulitzers in New York.