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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be pushed out after the midterms if President Donald Trump goes looking for someone to blame for the unpopular war with Iran, warned a retired Special Forces officer.

Mike Nelson, who spent more than two decades in the Army and is now a fellow at the National Security Institute, made the prediction on New York Times columnist David French's podcast, "The Opinions," comparing Hegseth's precarious position to that of Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned as defense secretary after Republicans' 2006 midterm losses.

"I do think there's a chance, if the president is unaware of how unpopular the Iran war is, that after the midterms he may seek to find someone, just as Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned after the 2006 midterms, that Secretary Hegseth may be not long for this world in the administration if the president looks for someone to point the finger to," Nelson said....

A Republican congressman exploded when a CNN anchor tried to pin him down on accepting campaign cash from a GOP colleague accused of abusing his ex-wife and daughter.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was among 16 GOP incumbents to receive contributions from Rep. Max Miller's (R-OH) Dependable Conservative Leadership PAC, and CNN's Dana Bash asked him about a statement from his campaign spokesman saying he would not give back a $10,000 donation from this campaign cycle.

"Well, first of all, there's been a lot of allegations leveled," Lawler said. "I know Max very well. I've talked to him personally over the last two years about this very difficult family situation. It's tragic; I don't think anybody disagrees about that. But this is something that should play out in family court. I think the fact that some in the media and my Democratic colleagues have tried to turn it into a spectacle and, you know, use this situation for political points is wrong."...

Gas prices are shooting up due to President Donald Trump's war with Iran, and CNN's Harry Enten said that's exacerbating the Republican Party's problems with affordability.

Higher costs of living remains a top concern for most Americans, and rising fuel costs could send up prices across the board and hurt the GOP's chances in November's midterm elections, based on the latest polling.

"I would say that this is the most troublesome sign that I have seen for the president of the United States and the Republican Party so far," Enten said. "What are we talking about? Well, let's take a look here: Voters on Trump and the cost of living, you know, back when he was re-elected back in October of 2024, he was beating Kamala Harris by 3 points on the cost of living, right? Look at his net approval rating now – whoo, down underwater we go. His net approval at a record low 41 points below water. You can't win when you're at 41 points below water on the cost of living. Kamala Harris couldn't win, the Democratic Party couldn't win, and I'm here to tell you that there's a better chance that I root for the New York Yankees than Donald Trump and the Republican Party winning when he's 41 points below water."...

President Donald Trump called the demand for documents around the Jeffrey Epstein investigation nothing more than a "Democrat hoax" when speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday.

However, one legal expert warned that the press conference of Epstein survivors outside of the U.S. Capitol will inspire more survivors to come forward, including those who are unrelated to the Epstein matter. She noted perhaps there might be more new indictments.

MSNBC legal analyst Kristen Gibbons Feden said that it has become clear the Epstein survivors aren't playing around. ...

A former strategist to George W. Bush's presidential campaign led an MSNBC panel into laughter over Fox News hosts who are bewildered by Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) trolling of President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters.

For the past week, Newsom's staff has adopted the Trump style of social media, with all-caps posts, finger-pointing, nicknames, and more. Supporters have responded to it with their own trolling, posting scores of AI images of Newsom as a superhero and even in bed with first lady Melania Trump.

"Hey MAGA, am I doing this right?" the posts read, referencing the Trump supporters who helped promote Trump trading cards showing their leader as a war hero, muscled superhero or mythic god....

President Donald Trump boasted that he had extracted a $600 billion "gift" from the European Union after threatening to impose 35-percent tariffs, but an economic analyst cast doubt on whether that money would ever be paid.

The president told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday morning that he had cut tariffs against the EU to 15 percent in exchange for the payment, which he said could be invested in "anything we want," but CNBC's senior analyst Ron Insana told MSNBC's Ana Cabrera that Trump's tactics were too "vague" to tell if they're effective.

"Well, we don't know because, you know, when what's what's being lost in translation is whether or not countries like Japan, South Korea, even the European Union are agreeing to write checks for anywhere up to $600 billion or more and simply hand the cash over to the United States, or whether they're offering loans or loan guarantees," Insana said....

Michigan Republican Mike Rogers appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday was panned on MS NOW Monday morning for being a waste of time because he just sucked up to Donald Trump.

It was so bad that “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough refused to share any clips from it and said he would have pulled the plug immediately after it began if it had been on his show.

Speaking with host Kristen Welker, Rogers, who is facing Dr. Abdul Al-Sayed for a seat in the Senate representing Michigan, ducked questions about Donald Trump — specifically his tariffs — while also attacking “you guys on the national press,” calling a question about whether he considers himself “MAGA” as “disgusting.”...

President Donald Trump's Justice Department asked a judge for a delay that would keep the warrant for the unusual raid on the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) secret through the midterm elections.

Lawyers in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office asked Chief Judge James Boasberg in a motion filed Wednesday to push back the deadlines for answering three requests to unseal the warrant records.

Neither of the two timelines the government proposed would release the records before the election on Nov. 3....

President Donald Trump left countless onlookers taken aback Saturday after speaking with reporters ahead of his rally in Georgia — and, according to some critics, having a difficult time doing so.

“Speaking to reporters before traveling to Georgia for a rally, Trump could barely speak, but what he said was nutso,” wrote independent journalist Aaron Rupar in a social media post on X to his more than 1.1 million followers.

Trump spoke with reporters Saturday moments after casting his early ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, and at times became combative as reporters pressed him on topics such as government corruption, golfing and the midterms....