Overview
- Recent state and local elections in Virginia and New Jersey broke for Democrats, with exit polls highlighting cost of living and health care as top voter concerns.
- A Rasmussen tracker cited by coverage shows the share saying the country is on the 'right direction' path at 38%, the lowest since before Trump’s inauguration.
- Washington Examiner graders gave Trump poor marks for the week, arguing his emphasis on overseas actions has sidelined kitchen-table issues important to his base.
- The Examiner reports that the ongoing government shutdown and a refusal to fully fund SNAP became flashpoints, with a late Friday Supreme Court decision described as backing the administration’s stance.
- A Daily Signal analysis defends Trump’s foreign-policy reset as a long-term economic strategy, even as other commentators question the legality of strikes on Venezuelan drug boats and note talk of intervention in Nigeria.