Democrat Stevens has backed Republican Rogers in a Senate race, according to a liveblog tracking the Nov. 3 U.S. congressional elections and developments in Donald Trump's second presidency. The liveblog listed the endorsement without giving further details about the contest.
Among the legal developments, a court rejected a Trump lawsuit concerning the election in Alaska, and a U.S. court barred Trump's government from pressuring election workers. The liveblog also said the U.S. government was tightening investigations against Democrats in Alaska. It separately noted a lawsuit concerning Trump's triumphal arch and reported that two Chinese nationals were convicted of espionage in California.
The Trump administration mocked detained migrants in a roughly one-minute Halloween video that began with horror-film figures and then showed arrests and detained migrants, with an on-screen caption identifying one of those shown as a man sought for homicide. The immigration agency plays a central role in Trump's campaign for mass deportation of people without valid residence permits. The Defense Department circulated a video titled "We are haunting America's enemies" showing rocket launches, soldiers and explosions, including clips in which Trump announces the killing of drug traffickers and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatens to kill people who kill Americans. The FBI published an animated video featuring a cartoon of FBI chief Kash Patel and, to a variation of "Thriller," presented numbers on a claimed decline in crime.
Trump allowed Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential election, unlimited stay in the United States, a move likely to further strain relations between the two largest democracies in the Americas. Before that, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Atlanta. Bolsonaro left Brazil after losing the presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; shortly after his defeat, a Brazilian judge ordered his passport confiscated because he was under investigation for money laundering and police considered him a flight risk.
At the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, there was no "family photo" with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, according to the liveblog. Wadephul said there must be "no false optical signals" and that "there is no normality with Russia," while stressing the importance of debating controversial issues with Lavrov in the plenary. He said he would again call on Russia to accept Ukraine's offer of a ceasefire, starting in the Black Sea. Rubio called for more cooperation among the G20.
Pope Leo XIV voted in the U.S. midterms, with the Catholic news agency KNA describing it as probably a novelty for a pope to exercise his voting right as a citizen of another country. Leo, born in Chicago in 1955 as Robert Francis Prevost, also has Peruvian citizenship because of his long service as a missionary and bishop in Peru. Relations between the current Vatican and U.S. leaders are considered tense: Leo has repeatedly criticized Trump's policies on press freedom, migration and the Iran war, and Trump has sharply attacked him personally. The two have not met directly.
Trump canceled two of his last campaign appearances before the midterms, saying Republicans were "in a strong position" in Kansas and Iowa and that the previously planned events would "not take place as scheduled." He also sharply attacked a reporter who asked whether he was tired of traveling, saying, "You're sick to ask this question," and adding, "I feel great. You're disgusting." The exchange came after Trump returned to Washington from a campaign tour in South Carolina. Separately, Merz said he sees a long-term change in U.S. policy regardless of the midterms.
The military chief briefed Trump on indications of possible attacks on Iran after the midterm elections, according to the liveblog. Speculation has persisted about possible new U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran after Tuesday's vote, while U.S. media recently reported new efforts by Trump's administration and regional mediators toward a diplomatic solution, with Vice President JD Vance playing a leading role. The Strait of Hormuz has long been a central dispute between Washington and Tehran, and Iranian forces have intensified attacks on ships in the waterway in recent weeks. Tehran aims to pressure Trump before the congressional elections with rising energy prices, and the Iran war Trump himself began, along with higher fuel prices, is weighing heavily on his campaign for Republican colleagues.
Sources: FAZ.