AoSHQ The Morning Report
September 23, 2026
President Donald Trump used the United Nations gathering this week and the run-up to a White House summit to work through the largest foreign-policy files on his desk in one stretch: Iran, Russia, China, artificial intelligence, Greenland and a contracting global peace organization.In Other News
The results were plainly evident Tuesday when the second-term president signed an Arctic security deal that many said was impossible, forced Cuba's diplomats to storm out of a global meeting and earned polite applause from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) audience for defanging Iran's nuclear ambitions.
And on Wednesday, Trump pivots to another high-stakes meeting when China's president arrives for the summit.
"We've not seen anything like this, even during President Trump's first term, which in many ways was his learning phase. He was figuring out how to pull the levers of government. Now he's very very capable at it," former Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates told Just The News.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified Congress on Tuesday that the State Department will be redirecting $52 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) away from Europe and the Middle East and redistributing it here in the Western Hemisphere to some of the nations most closely aligned with the United States in Central and South America.In Other News
The money will go from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
The move should come as no surprise. Both Rubio and Donald Trump have been clear from the beginning of the president's term that it's time for Europe and various NATO allies to step up and spend more of their own money on their defense. They also released the Trump administration's National Security Plan last December, which made it clear that the United States would prioritize the Western Hemisphere over other regions of the world, including going after the cartels and organized crime that plague the region with drug trafficking and violence.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) accused legacy media Friday of launching a smear operation against the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial and offered the Massachusetts man sanctuary in the Sunshine State should he be harassed.
DeSantis included the blurb from NBC10 Boston on X. It promoted and provided a link to the “full investigation” — as the the outlet named it — of the holdout juror.
The governor said the juror was welcome in Florida.
“If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated,” DeSantis wrote.
NBC10 Boston reported Friday that the juror faced a criminal charge in 2021 for allegedly assaulting his then-wife. Citing a police report, the affiliate reported his 13-year-old nephew told police he saw the man grab her by the throat and throw her into the dresser.
The charge was later dismissed, and the couple divorced.
“Last year, that same teenage nephew referenced in the 2021 incident took out a restraining order after he said the juror pushed him to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face,” the outlet reported.
The order apparently was still active when the man was selected as a juror for the high-profile televised Clancy trial.
A powerful tribute to the victims and heroes of September 11th begins tonight at the top of Mount Washington.
The "Honor Summit" will send two beams of light into the night sky from the summit of New England's highest peak—similar to the iconic beams displayed each year in New York City at Ground Zero.
The tribute will run from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. tonight and each night through Saturday.
Organizers say the beams could be visible from as far as 135 miles away on a clear night, creating a sweeping reminder of the lives lost and the heroes who responded on September 11th.
Washington has spent nearly a decade arguing about Russiagate in congressional hearings, cable studios, memoirs, podcasts, and carefully lawyered statements.Also This ... New Hampshire Primary Election Results
Now somebody is bringing subpoenas.
The Justice Department has begun compelling former government officials to testify before a federal grand jury in Florida investigating whether crimes were committed during the government's Trump-Russia investigations.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue plans to spend up to $2 billion on his campaign to unseat Democratic incumbent Gov. Maura Healey in the November election, files obtained by the Herald show.
Minogue, alongside lieutenant governor running mate Shawn Oliver, plans on spending a maximum of $2 billion during the general election, according to the GOP megadonor’s Statement of Financial Interest filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) on Friday.
He says the high number is reflective of the controversial $2 billion state contract for a new courthouse in Springfield, awarded, in-part, to a firm co-owned by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s husband and the interim chief of the state’s Convention Center.
“For too long, the political establishment has looked out for itself while working families struggle to get ahead. People are fed up, and they have every right to be. The era of political insiders cutting sweetheart deals and putting themselves first is coming to an end,” Minogue told the Herald in a written statement.
“It’s time to put Massachusetts families first. It’s time for a government that works for the people, not the insiders,” he said.