Trump heads to rallies in Arizona and Montana after campaign stop-off in Alaska – US politics live

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Inflation hits 3.7% in final report before midterms

Gaya Gupta

US price increases reached an annual rate of 3.7% in September, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 3.4% in August.

This final inflation report before the pivotal midterm elections comes amid polls showing widespread dissatisfaction with the Trump administration over the cost of living.

Price increases are the highest they have been since the annual inflation rate reached a three-year peak of 4.2% in May. Gasoline accounted for over half of overall price increases, up 34% from last year. Fuel oil, which is used to heat homes, increased by 74% from last year, a worrying sign for households heading into the winter. Air travel, which many Americans rely on during the holidays, also increased by 22.4%.

Overall, consumer prices went up 0.6% from August. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, also ticked up by 0.3% in September to 2.6% annually.

Price increases this year have largely driven by the US-Israel war with Iran, which has caused energy prices to soar. Average gas prices remain over a dollar per gallon more than last year, according to data from AAA. Meanwhile diesel, which powers domestic supply chains, reached a record-high last month.

Here’s the full report:

Also today, while Trump traverses the sun belt, vice-president JD Vance will head to Atlanta, Georgia to rally for both Mike Collins, the Republican nominee facing Jon Ossoff in the US Senate race, and Rick Jackson – the GOP contender in the gubernatorial race – who is up against Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Democratic mayor of Atlanta.

Donald Trump has yet to weigh in on the late night ruling from a federal judge that blocks him from barring CNN, MS Now and Politico access to the White House grounds.

Previously, the president had blasted Judge Timothy Kelly – a Trump appointee – for issuing a temporary pause on his media ban. That expired on Tuesday, and Kelly handed down a preliminary injunction that stops the administration from blocking the outlets while the litigation plays out.

Later, Trump will continue his midterm campaigning blitz in Kalispell, Montana, where he’ll hold another rally.

The Senate race in the state has, increasingly, become one to watch. Here, Kurt Alme, a Republican and the former US attorney for Montana, is facing Alani Bankhead, the Democrat and a retired air force officer, as well as Seth Bodnar, an independent and US army veteran former president of the University of Montana.

Many leading Democrats in the state have coalesced around Bodnar, who is still trailing Alme in most polls, but leading Bankhead. This week, Shannon O’Brien, the chair of Montana Democrats, resigned and endorsed Bodnar. On MS Now, O’Brien said that that the party is “more divided than ever not because of our values but because of the race for the US Senate”. She noted that there are “serious questions” around Bankhead’s candidacy, which follows concerns from a number of state Democrats about the nominee’s past — including reporting tying her to right-wing groups, and questioning the fact she only moved to the state in 2022.

“Bankhead does not have the momentum, resources or will to win this race,” O’Brien wrote in her op-ed. “She has also benefited from Republican spending designed to split the opposition and clear a path for Alme. Democrats should ask themselves why Republicans so badly wanted her on the ballot.”

Bankhead, however, has been resolute. In a statement, her campaign slammed O’Brien’s decision to endorse Bodnar, adding that O’Brien has been “against the Democratic nominee since the summer”.

Donald Trump begins the day in Las Vegas, following his rally in Wasilla, Alaska on Tuesday. He’ll then travel to Bullhead City, Arizona for a midterms rally, where he’ll take the stage at 3pm ET.

A reminder that there are several competitive races in the state, notably the contest for the sixth congressional district, where the incumbent Republican congressman Juan Ciscomani is facing a challenge from Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, a former US marine who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The gubernatorial race in Arizona is also one we’re watching. Here, Katie Hobbs, the Democratic governor, is hoping for a second term, but will have to beat Andy Biggs, a current GOP congressman, who won Trump’s endorsement in the Republican primary.

Over in Greece, diplomatic sources say the country’s foreign ministry has yet to receive official notice of US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle’s enforced resignation.

Nearly 24 hours have passed since the newly installed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia announced that Kimberly Guilfoyle had been “asked” to leave the post in the wake of multiple ethics allegations.

The 57-year-old former fiancé of president Trump’s oldest son, Donald Jr, presented her credentials to the Greek president less than a year ago.

Protocol now demands that Greece’s foreign ministry is officially informed of the decision to replace Guilfoyle – in this case with the embassy’s deputy chief of mission Josh Huck, a respected career diplomat. But, on Wednesday, diplomatic sources told the Guardian they were still waiting to be informed.

“We need to be officially notified, which has not yet happened” said a senior diplomatic source at the ministry. “There is a formal procedure of which of course the United States is aware.”

Local media reports have suggested that Guilfoyle wants to stay on “for a while” in Greece – with some analysts privately surmising she would prefer to be out of view at least until after the 3 November midterms.

The erstwhile envoy, who hosted visiting US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Athens barely a week ago, has denied allegations of misconduct, both in the run up to her confirmation hearing last July and in the eleven months since she flew into Athens to take up the post.

How she leaves Greece will be key to her retaining “a semblance of dignity” according to other diplomats based in the country. Guilfoyle, who has not been seen for days, is believed to be “holed up” in Jefferson House, the US ambassador’s residence.

“The issue is she is now perceived to be so radioactive that no official wishes to be photographed with her,” said one. “Last week the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different with both countries signing strategic defence, energy and other bilateral agreements during Rubio’s visit.

“It was clear that with her reputation so tarnished, she couldn’t go on representing US interests but all this has also put a cloud over all the good work achieved last week.”

More than 14 months after Guard members began patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital, a federal appeals court on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether they should be sent home.

Oral arguments are scheduled at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The hearing comes months after the court paused a lower court’s ruling that the deployment was illegal.

Donald Trump deployed the guard in August 2025 as part of what he said was a crime-fighting mission in Washington DC. The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods and participated in cleanup efforts.

Trump’s Republican administration says the deployment has contributed to a decrease in crime in the city, where crime was already on the decline before the Guard arrived.

Officials and activists in the overwhelmingly Democratic city say the deployment is a waste of taxpayer money and has normalized the militarization of a major American city.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has said that president Donald Trump’s deal to buy Russian diesel was “very risky”, arguing that it could end up “legitimising Moscow”.

Once a key ally for Trump in Europe, Meloni has increasingly distanced herself after the US and Israel launched a war against Iran and has received scathing criticism from the US leader.

“We all understand, and share, the need to contain energy prices that are weighing on families and businesses, including in Italy.

“But we must be aware that the surge in fuel prices is mainly due to the war in Iran, and not to the conflict in Ukraine,” she said in a speech to parliament ahead of this week’s EU summit.

“The outcome of this decision is uncertain, while the risks are clear: legitimising Moscow while its bombs continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities, providing new revenue to finance the war, and implicitly weakening the leverage of sanctions.

“These are factors we cannot ignore and that contradict everything Western states, including the United States, have done so far to push Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table,” she said.

“I consider this choice very risky,” she added, referring to Trump’s deal.

The United States has “not changed” its policy on sharing intelligence with Ukraine, a US official said Wednesday, after Kyiv accused Washington of not warning it about incoming strikes.

“The US has not changed its policy on intel-sharing with allies and partners, such as Ukraine,” the US official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Russian strikes hit multiple regions across Ukraine overnight after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had received no advance warning from Western allies before a strike on a power plant in the capital.

Ukraine relies heavily on Western intelligence to detect incoming Russian attacks and help identify targets of its own, but renewed strain with US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on those arrangements.

A senior Ukrainian official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity Wednesday, said the United States was essentially “helping Russia” by not warning Kyiv about incoming strikes and slowing Starlink.

Judge extends White House access to banned media outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico

Jeremy Barr

A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to continue allowing journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico to access the building as the media coalition’s lawsuit against the Trump administration plays out.

Timothy Kelly, a district court judge, had on 24 September granted a 14-day reprieve for the news organizations, which six days earlier had been banned by the president in an extraordinary move from entering the White House grounds “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS”.

“Defendants (except for President Trump) and their agents, representatives, and all persons or entities acting in concert with them, shall not execute, implement, or enforce the September 18, 2026, decision to revoke the White House ‘hard pass’ press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO, thereby maintaining the status quo since the Court’s entry of a temporary restraining order on September 24, 2026,” the judge wrote in granting a preliminary injunction requested by the plaintiffs.

The organizations filed a lawsuit on 21 September seeking to overturn the ban as a violation of their rights under the US constitution. But that temporary restraining order expired on Tuesday, bringing the media companies into court late last week to ask for a preliminary injunction that would lift the ban during the duration of the lawsuit, which could take months.

During arguments at the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Kelly seemed inclined to lift the ban indefinitely, telling a lawyer for the federal government that his side had “a notice problem” that was “probably the biggest hurdle” they had to overcome.

Family of man killed by tiger criticise online content as Trump mocks fatal incident

The family of a British man who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park have spoken of their “severe distress” after Donald Trump shared a video of the incident on social media.

The president posted footage of William Chapman, 23, being fatally attacked by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park to 13m followers on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday evening.

Trump accompanied the short clip – which showed the animal biting and clawing Chapman as he sat in the enclosure, but not him being killed – with the signed message: “Don’t ever mess with nature!”

On Wednesday morning Trump followed this up with another post – this time an AI-generated video of him grappling with a tiger, which appears to mimic the original.

The clip, which is accompanied by the song ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, features the president copying the pointing gesture made by Chapman and ends with him hugging the animal.

Chapman’s family said in a statement that “deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress”.

They also posted a tribute describing him as a “bright, warm and engaging young man” and questioning what part his “significant mental illness over a number of years” and prescribed strong medication played in the incident.

Trump heads to Arizona and Montana after campaign stop-off in conservative Alaska

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Donald Trump will attend campaign rallies in Arizona and Montana later today, having spent the past 24 hours in Alaska – a sign of his party’s recent polling woes.

Conservative Alaska is one of several where the Democrats have a chance of flipping a Senate seat amid voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the Iran war.

Polling has shown Democratic candidate Mary Peltola tied ⁠or slightly ahead of incumbent Republican senator Dan ⁠Sullivan in a state the president carried by 14 percentage points in 2024.

Here, as in much of the United States, the president’s approval rating is flopping, hit by rising diesel and gasoline prices and a conflict in the Middle East that has proven deeply unpopular with voters.

Opening for Trump, Sullivan acknowledged that Alaskans face “challenges” when it comes to energy costs. But “the conflict in the Middle East is temporary,” he said. “The true forever war is the national Democrats’ war against Alaska oil and gas ⁠and our jobs.“

The president has taken to campaigning in conservative-leaning ​parts of competitive states, rather than in more politically diverse areas with more votes potentially up for grabs.

At one point, Trump pardoned two local repair shop owners who were convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act for removing pollution controls on diesel engines.

He also encouraged Republicans to vote by mail – a process he has repeatedly sought to curtail and discredit. Trump will spend Wednesday campaigning in Arizona and Montana.

In other developments:

In Alaska, Donald Trump repeated his false claim that he had to start his war on Iran because, “they were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon”. In fact, US intelligence agencies reported to Congress in 2025 that Iran had suspended its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003. Despite that assessment, in the summer of 2025, Trump ordered the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities which he later claimed had “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program. Eight months after that, he launched a full-scale war on Iran justified, he now says, by Iran being just weeks away from getting the bomb.

Aboard Air Force One on his way to Alaska for a campaign rally, the president of the United States posted video of a British man who was fatally mauled by a tiger last week on his social media platform with the mocking caption: “Don’t ever mess with nature!”

The new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, passed on an opportunity to set the record straight on whether she is licensed to practice law anywhere in the United States. Asked “Where did you pass the bar exam?” Zacharia just said: “I moved to China.”