Top Democrats slam ‘Trump’s failing economic agenda’ following jobs report that experts call ‘mediocre’
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, has blasted Donald Trump’s “failing economic agenda” following the latest jobs report – which many experts have described as “mediocre” and “weak”.
“Since January 2025, Trump’s economy has only added 33,000 jobs a month on average, far below the 120,000-a-month average in 2024,” Warren said. “Since the start of Trump’s war, real wages have fallen 0.7% as his failed agenda keeps pushing prices up.”
Ahead of the November midterms, Democrats are hammering home that many of the Trump administration’s policies have resulted in a cost of living crisis, and urging voters to eschew Republicans vying for seats in Congress at the ballot box.
Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, noted that “American families are being squeezed on all sides by Trump’s disastrous economy”, in response to Friday’s figures.
Key events
Environmental groups sue Trump administration for slashing fuel economy rules
A group of environmental organizations have sued the Trump administration over its recent move to slash clean-car rules that had been aimed at reducing planet-heating emissions and boosting electric vehicles.
On Monday, the administration relaxed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (Cafe) standards that regulate how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline.
Donald Trump said last week that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car”, while boosting auto production in the US.
Trump has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV “mandate”, referring incorrectly to Joe Biden’s target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. No federal policy has mandated auto companies to sell EVs.
Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, hailed the new initiative – called Freedom Means Affordable Cars – which the agency said would reduce the average cost of new vehicles by $1,300, and save consumers $138bn over the next five years.
The lawsuit is currently a petition to review the Department of Transportation’s move.
New polling shows that a majority of Americans blame Trump for cost of living struggle
Ahead of Donald Trump heading to Mobile, Alabama today, it’s worth pointing out a new poll from AP-Norc which shows that a majority of Americans blame the president for their struggle with the cost of living.
This also comes as the latest jobs report shows tepid growth and a rise in unemployment. What’s more, wage growth has not kept up with inflation.
More than 60% of respondents say that the economy is worse off since Trump took office, and 52% of Republicans surveyed say that the president’s handling of the cost of living has been worse than expected.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) – which serves as the official campaign arm for House Democrats – moved eight districts on their map of targets this midterm cycle to “in play”.
Their list now includes, Virginia’s sixth, Washington state’s fifth, North Carolina’s 13th, Kansas’ second, Texas’ ninth, Oklahoma’s fifth, New Jersey’s second and Michigan’s first. This means the DCCC has identified 66 critical districts as competitive, in order for Democrats to reclaim control of the lower chamber.
While some forecasters expect the party to win the House, many of the competitions are neck-and-neck. The last time Democrats saw a so-called “blue wave” was in 2018 – when they flipped 41 seats.
Top Republican Super Pac pauses ad spend in North Carolina, focuses on Kansas – reports
The top Republican aligned Super Pac, the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), will pause it’s multimillion dollar ad spend in North Carolina in support of Michael Whatley, the GOP nominee for the open US Senate seat, according to multiple reports.
Democrats are hoping to flip the Tar Heel state in the upcoming midterm elections, where they need to net four seats in order to reclaim control of the Senate. Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s former governor, is the Democratic nominee and is leading Whatley in every poll, in some cases by double digits.
The SLF initially announced a $71m investment in the North Carolina race back in April – noting that Whatley – the former chair of the Republican National Committee with backing from Donald Trump – was a “battle-tested leader”. Semafor first reported the news that SLF shifting its spending priority, and is now reserving a seven-figure sum for the Senate race in Kansas – which has become increasingly competitive as Trump’s approval rating hits a record low nationwide.
While a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat in the Sunflower state in almost a century, the race between Republican incumbent Roger Marshall and his Democratic challenger, pastor Adam Hamilton, has become more of a concern for the GOP. The Cook Political Report, a prominent election forecaster, downgraded the competition from “leans Republican” to “likely Republican” at the end of September.
Democratic senators said today that they expect a vote before 13 December on the Trump administration’s pact to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia.
“The Senate will now have a chance to fulfill its statutory responsibility to study and weigh in on the impact this agreement could have in driving a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and potentially undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts around the world,” senator Jeff Merkley said in a release reported first by Reuters.
Merkley worked on getting the vote with four of his fellow Democrats.
The US will deploy about 500 troops to Texas’s Rio Grande valley this week, days after Coast Guard personnel came under fire from suspected cartel members near the Mexican border, NewsNation reports citing law enforcement sources.
NewsNation reported it had obtained video showing troops being dropped on to islands in the sector from Chinook helicopters.
The Coast Guard said Coast Guard Forces Rio Grande personnel encountered gunfire from the Mexican border near Garceno, Texas, on Saturday while conducting joint interdiction operations with federal partners, according to NewsNation’s report. Personnel returned fire in the incident, which is still under investigation.
No injuries to Coast Guard or other personnel were reported, and no damage to Coast Guard assets was reported.
Will Democrats take Congress from Trump? The key midterm races – mapped
Chris Stein, Alex Clark, Andrew Witherspoon and Ashley Kirk
A turning point in Donald Trump’s second term will soon arrive. On 3 November, voters across the US will decide whether to keep the president’s Republican allies in control of Congress, or return Democrats to the majority.
Many indicators of voter sentiment suggest the Democrats are favored to take back control of the House of Representatives, and potentially the Senate. Winning either would be a significant victory for the party and give it the power to block Trump’s legislative agenda and more aggressively investigate his administration.
This interactive piece charts and maps reveal where the battle for Congress will be fought.
Kennedy Center Honors to be held off site for the first time
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington’s Capital One Arena, not the arts institution that’s been at the center of a legal battle over adding Donald Trump’s name to the building, the Associated Press reports.
The 49th annual awards are set to take place at Washington’s downtown arena, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said. Few other details were immediately available, and an explanation for the change wasn’t given. The event will take place on 7 December.
The center’s Trump-picked board voted last month to close the performing arts venue after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the facade.
Trump has threatened in social media posts that safety repairs the center needs would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
A federal judge has twice said that can’t happen without the approval of Congress, which has allocated $257m for repairs.
The president hosted the 2025 awards , whose honorees included Sylvester Stallone and George Strait. He said at the time that he would rename the facility the “Trump Kennedy Center”, and not long after workers began adding his name to the building.
The board of trustees voted unanimously for the change, which has been challenged in court since.
Congress named the performing arts center as a living memorial to John F Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated.
The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.
As we bring you the news of the deal that European leaders have struck to release millions of barrels of diesel reserves, a White House official tells the Guardian that Donald Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday night, and with G7 leaders on Friday morning, to successfully negotiate the release of the stockpiles.
This detail comes after the administration publicly urged the leaders to tap into the reserves, and Trump has floated a possible diesel export ban, which Europe has warned would be economically crippling.
White House touts tepid jobs report as proof that Trump’s ‘reindustrialization agenda is working’
The White House has welcomed the latest jobs report – which shows fewer new jobs added than economists projected. Taylor Rogers, a spokesperson, highlighted the addition of “9,000 manufacturing jobs and 12,300 factory construction jobs over the month” as proof that Donald Trump’s “reindustrialization agenda is working”.
She noted that “wages are up over last year” – despite the fact they have not kept up with inflation.
Hegseth announces ‘one-day stand-down’ for service members to vote in midterm elections
Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, announced today that there will be a “one-day stand-down” this month, for service members to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. He added that many members of the military “face unnecessary, difficult ways of obtaining, completing, and returning absentee ballots while serving far from home” and said the directive would take place this year and every election year to come.
“We’re not telling you who to vote for, but we will give you every opportunity to do so,” Hegseth said in a straight-to-camera video. “Take that day to fill out your absentee ballot. Help your family members do the same, or go to the polling place yourself and exercise your right to vote.”
My colleagues are covering the move from G7 leaders to release up to 100m barrels of diesel reserves within four months, to mitigate the ongoing energy crisis as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Earlier, as I reported, Trump welcomed the news after urging European countries this week to tap into reserves while he weighed an export ban. However, the president offered few details about which countries had signed on to the deal.
On today’s episode of Politics Weekly America, Jonathan Freedland is digging into the Texas Senate race.
The Democratic Senate nominee, James Talarico, is surprising everyone, as polls have him leading his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton.
Jonathan speaks to James Henson, founder and executive director of the Texas Politics Project, about why a blue wave in the Lone Star state – which hasn’t seen a Democrat win a Senate seat in almost 40 years – would be seismic.
Trump claims Europe has agreed to release diesel oil reserves as he weighs export ban
On Truth Social, Donald Trump has claimed that Europe has “just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil”. This comes after the administration urged European allies to release their diesel reserves as fuel prices continue to rise due to the ongoing Iran war and the president continues to weigh an export ban. The president added that “the process will begin immediately”.
In the US the average price for a gallon of diesel sits at $6.3, up from $3.7 a year ago – a 70% hike.
Trump said on Wednesday that he was still “thinking about” a ban on diesel exports to curb the soaring cost of energy domestically. However, he noted that an embargo “might raise the price of other things.” Europe has warned of a further economic tailspin in the event of a ban.
A reminder that major sectors of US agriculture, manufacturing and commercial fishing depend heavily on diesel.
Europe has also becoming increasingly reliant on US diesel exports after Ukrainian strikes destroyed Russian oil refineries and Moscow implemented its own export ban earlier this year to preserve its supply.