Trump endorses Netanyahu as Iran war, gas prices, and midterm pressure converge

Trump reverses course on Netanyahu endorsement

President Donald Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, writing on Truth Social that "BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" and praising him as an ally in the U.S. war on Iran, Al Jazeera reported. The endorsement reverses Trump's refusal earlier this month to back Netanyahu, Al Jazeera reported. Trump told Axios the endorsement was never in doubt, Al Jazeera reported.

Context of prior tension and war launch

Experts speculated that Trump's prior reticence may have come from public perception that Israel coaxed the United States into the conflict, Al Jazeera reported. The two leaders jointly launched the war against Iran on February 28, Al Jazeera reported. Reports of disagreements between them have included the war's conduct, Al Jazeera reported. Trump had reportedly asked Netanyahu not to take further action in Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported.

War disapproval and midterm stakes

A Pew Research Center poll this month found roughly two-thirds of U.S. voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the war, Al Jazeera reported. Trump's Republican Party faces a critical midterm election on November 3, Al Jazeera reported.

Voter anger over war costs confronts Vance in Michigan

The war's domestic fallout dominated a CBS town hall in Flat Rock, Michigan, where Vice President JD Vance faced questions from voters in a state emerging as a key battleground for Senate control, PBS News reported. A Michigan man who said he voted for Trump and Vance in 2024 but now plans to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed pressed Vance about high gasoline prices resulting from the war, PBS News reported. Vance acknowledged gas prices were too high and said it was important to be honest about why they are elevated, PBS News reported. He also claimed the biggest reason for high prices was that about 20% of American refining capacity went offline under President Joe Biden, Fox News reported.

Military widow's question exposes accountability gap

The town hall's most pointed exchange came from Joey Amor, the widower of Master Sgt. Nicole Amor, one of six U.S. soldiers killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on March 1 — the day after Trump started the war with Iran, PBS News reported. Amor asked about mistakes and fundamental failures that led to the soldiers' deaths and how leaders would be held accountable, PBS News reported. Vance acknowledged mistakes were made, saying there were issues with where troops were located that the administration realized was a huge mistake and had changed, PBS News reported.

Vance defends administration against corruption questions

When asked if he had seen anything in the White House that made him squeamish, Vance said he had never seen anything like that from the president, PBS News reported. Moderator Tony Dokoupil pressed Vance on whether Trump and others in his administration were profiting off the presidency, including the nearly $1.2 billion the president took in from his crypto businesses last year according to a federal filing, PBS News reported. Vance said selling access to the White House would be "disgusting and despicable" and that anyone responsible should face consequences, Fox News reported.

Vance asserts nuclear success, omits war's role

Vance also claimed the U.S. had destroyed the Iranian nuclear program, Fox News reported. He described Iran as the largest state sponsor of terrorism trying to choke off world energy supply without acknowledging that situation occurred because of the war Trump launched, PBS News reported.

Immigration rhetoric and oversight commitments tested

A naturalized citizen who voted for Vance accused him of scapegoating immigrants after he referred to H-1B visa holders as "foreign indentured servants," PBS News reported. Asked if he would comply with subpoenas investigating alleged corruption if Democrats take control of Congress in January, Vance said "Of course, of course I will. Look, we follow the law. I follow the law," Fox News reported. Vance also said during the town hall there is "of course" a chance he does not run for president, PBS News reported. When moderator Dokoupil asked if the administration is not striking the right balance, Vance replied that it is "constantly a work in progress," PBS News reported.

Johnson bets on Trump alliance to defend narrow House majority

Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes Republicans will hold their U.S. House majority, defying a surge of Democratic momentum in the final stretch of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, ABC News reported. Johnson first fell into the speaker's job almost by accident, a desperate choice by GOP colleagues after a contingent of renegade Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy in 2023, ABC News reported. In his three years as speaker, Johnson has pushed past doubters, holding his thread-thin GOP majority together to deliver Trump's agenda, ABC News reported. Most days he does not have a single vote to spare, ABC News reported.

Johnson's fundraising and rhetorical strategy

Johnson has secured proximity to Trump's power, joining Trump at a UFC fight in New York and gifting the president a speaker's gavel as Trump signed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" into law — a symbolic act critics saw as giving away the authority of a coequal branch of government, ABC News reported. Johnson has focused the election on Democrats he portrays as "communists," noting a handful of far-left liberals backed by the Democratic Socialists of America are on the ballot, ABC News reported. He has raised nearly half a billion dollars for House Republicans, ABC News reported.

Candidate quality and campaign momentum

Johnson calls his recruits and incumbents "workhorses, not show horses," ABC News reported. It is the crowds he says he sees as he crosses the country campaigning for GOP candidates, ABC News reported.

Democratic preparation and unresolved Republican agenda

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, in line for the speaker's gavel if his party sweeps to power, is preparing a first-100 days agenda for when the new Congress convenes in January if there is a change in control, ABC News reported. What Republicans will do if they retain power is less defined, ABC News reported. Voter frustration over high prices and the Iran war persists despite Johnson's challenge of leading one of the narrowest House majorities in modern times, ABC News reported.