Supreme Court Backs Trump White House Ballroom, Iran Strikes & Campaign 2026

Republican midterm convention begins in Dallas, Texas. We get a preview from President Donald Trump, a reporter, and two republican congressional candidates from Illinois who are attending, plus the perspective of the chair of the Texas Democratic Party; On the way to Texas, President Trump tells reporters high energy prices due to the war with Iran will not fall until after the midterm elections in November; In New Hampshire, former U.S. Senator John Sununu wins the Republican Senate primary over another former U.S. Senator, Scott Brown, while in the state's first Congressional District race, Stefany Shaheen, daughter of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), wins the Democratic primary; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro gets upset when reporters asked about the Reflecting Pool vandalism case, dropped for lack of evidence,  which President Trump wants revived; New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch calls for 'moral clarity' about who were the heroes and who were the terrorists during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks at the unveiling of a memorial of NYPD members who have died from 9/11-related illnesses, ahead of Friday's 25th anniversary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani orders the release of over 170,000 pages of documents revealing that city officials knew of severe toxic air quality risks at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terror attacks, and President Donald Trump honors 9/11 first responders at a Tunnel to Towers event in front of the White House, ahead of Friday's 25th anniversary; Canadian tariffs of up to 50 percent against $20 billion of imports from the United States take effect. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says, 'I don’t believe in escalating the conflict. But our tariffs are necessary to protect our workers, protect our companies and our communities'; It's election day in New Hampshire, where voters are choosing Republican and Democratic nominees for an open U.S. Senate seat. We get the latest from a New Hampshire Union Leader political reporter; Great Britain bans imports from Israeli West Bank settlements, citing Israel's 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians. It is a move praised by some of the UK's allies but opposed by Israel and the U.S.; NATO hosts another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to discuss Ukraine's need for anti-missile defenses; Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch is resigning after disagreements with the Trump Administration about how to present U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First: We dig into the legal back and forth over mail-in voting and what it means for states ahead of this November's elections. That conversation with Dion Nissenbaum of the website "Votebeat." Then: The economy is the number one issue on voters' minds as the midterm elections approach. We speak with financial journalist Roben Farzad – host of the public radio show and podcast "Full Disclosure" - on the recent jobs numbers and what it means for the health of the overall economy. Finally: Immigration and border security is also a big issue in the midterm elections. We chat with Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies and Heidi Altman of the National Immigration Law Center about the Trump administration's record so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labor Department reports the U.S. economy gained 162,000 jobs in August, much more than many economists predicted. Unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%. President Donald Trump posting the numbers are 'great' and 'you haven’t seen anything yet!'; President Trump signs an Executive Order aimed at lowering beef prices by easing regulations on ranchers and farmers so they can process the meat themselves; Reaction to the Missouri Supreme Court striking down a new Congressional District map that advantages Republicans; North Carolina sends out the first mail-in ballots even as the Trump Administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the U.S. Postal Service to implement a plan to restrict mail-in voting in the midterm election; David Hearn goes to court to try to prevent the Justice Department from ever again charging him with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool; Members of Congress propose House rules changes, including banning insider trading, tougher sexual misconduct punishments and letting Members who are new parents vote by proxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vice President JD Vance holds a White House news conference and is asked about the war with Iran and rising fuel prices ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend, when millions of Americans will be traveling; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responds to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's assertion that the Canadians cut off trade talks with the U.S. because of internal Canadian politics; State Department launches the Foundry School, which the administration says is 'a national program to train the entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians, and industrial leaders needed to rebuild American manufacturing'; House passes a bill to cut off federal student aid to colleges that support boycotts of Israel; Billionaire Leon Black defies a Congressional subpoena in the Oversight Committee's investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; President Trump says next week's Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas in the lead up to the November midterm elections is 'big stuff'. We will talk about the convention with Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau Chief Joseph Morton, who plans to be there (47); Feminist activist Gloria Steinem dies at age 92. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chevron signs an agreement to invest $7 billion in Venezuela to double its oil production in five years. We hear from the Chevron CEO & U.S. Energy Secretary in Caracas; President Donald Trump says he was joking when he posted the Strait of Hormuz should be renamed the Trump Strait. He is also asked about the resumption of U.S. and Iran trading missile strikes for the past several days; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hosts technology company CEOs at 'G20 Innovation Ministerial' in North Carolina to discuss development of Artificial Intelligence; U.S. House Democrats meet on possible changes to party rules after two House Democrats voted with Republicans to advance Republican bills that were set to fail; House defeats a proposed Constitutional Amendment to require the Supreme Court have nine justices; House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing on national security threats that includes a discussion of Chinese spying; Wreath-laying at the World War II Memorial in Washington on this V-J Day, marking the Allies' victory over Japan that ended World War II in 1945. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House joins the Senate, with a large, bipartisan vote, in passing a short-term federal government funding extension from end of the fiscal year, September 30, through December 11. That means when President Donald Trump signs it into law there will not be another government shutdown before election day in November; It is primary election day in Massachusetts, where incumbent Ed Markey is being challenged by Congressman Seth Moulton; Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) defends himself on the House floor during debate on a resolution to censure him after the Ethics Committee found he sexually harassed two female staff members; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in New York City announces the arrest of over 2,000 criminal illegal immigrants in the past month. At the same time, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) call upon Secretary Mullin to releases tens of millions of dollars in counterterrorism grants they say are being withheld from the city; Senior House Republicans react to the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; Bill to create a monument in Washington to Medal of Honor recipients is about to become law; new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham makes his first statement as prime minister before the House of Commons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court allows President Trump to move forward with construction of a new White House ballroom. Plus, the latest on renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran, Congress returns from recess, and Campaign 2026 heats up in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Maine and California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First: The U.S. and Canada are in the throes of an all-out trade war that started with an announcement of new tariffs at the beginning of week – and ended with the President renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America." We speak with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro to hear what the tiff is all about. Then: This Friday marks the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington. We spoke with the Reverend Al Sharpton about THIS YEAR's March that he's leading – and why voting rights is the focus. And speaking of voting – the Supreme Court issued an emergency opinion this week – siding with President Trump on mail-in voting restrictions. We spoke with election law expert Michael Morley from Florida State University – about what it all means. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers and civil rights activists speak at the March on Washington's 63rd anniversary, with the theme "Defend the Vote"; Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh gives his first speech at the Fed's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, saying inflation is still too high, suggesting interest rate cuts may be coming. We will hear from the Chair and talk with Washington Post's Global Economics Correspondent David Lynch (17); U.S. war with Iran is six months old today. We will talk with Elise Labott, author "Cosmopolitics" Substack newsletter about the state of the conflict, strategy on each side, and what may come next (36); President Donald Trump visits the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to award medals to the Artemis II crew, discuss plans for future space exploration and to announce the creation of a new U.S. Space Force Academy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices