Principals

1. Trade wars
2. Trump done with debates
3. Biden-Starmer meet
4. Lawmakers press Biden on Ukraine
5. Not ready for Kamala
6. CrowdStrike scrutiny

PDB: Biden’s last Quad summit set for Wilmington

Harris campaigning in Pennsylvania; Trump out west … Boeing workers go on strike … WaPo: Feds prepare charges in Iranian hack of Trump campaign

Trump the ‘tariff man’ vs. GOP free traders

Former President Donald Trump is threatening once again to become “tariff man,” and that means the Republican trade wars are back, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. The question this time is how hard GOP free traders in Congress — of which there are fewer than eight years ago — might fight him. Trump is making the congressional GOP quite nervous with his frequent talk of a global 10% tariff on imports, though it’s not clear they’d go all-out to stop him; instead Republicans say they’d lobby him against such a blunt approach. Others say more aggressive pushback may be warranted. “It’s going to be quite a test for them,” said former Sen. Pat Toomey. “Members are going to be very reluctant to stand in the way — until they start hearing from their constituents who are going to be losing jobs and closing factories.”

Trump won’t agree to more debates

Donald Trump said Thursday that he won’t agree to any more debates, leaving people in his orbit (who had spent the last two days suggesting the exact opposite) spinning. The former president has been wishy-washy on another debate since Tuesday night, suggesting he won that debate and that Kamala Harris’ team only wanted more because she’d “lost.” It’s the latest lesson for his campaign team in getting ahead of Trump, who is known to disregard his team’s advice and public comments. Trump’s campaign team has learned to roll with the punches, often remarking that he’s the candidate and makes the decisions. But Trump’s choice to not debate is yet another complication for his team, who will now have to walk back their own public remarks. Harris responded shortly after, saying she believes they “owe it to the voters to have another debate,” and that “what is at stake could not be more important.”

— Shelby Talcott

Biden hosts Starmer with Ukraine decision looming

President Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet at the White House today to discuss Ukraine and other pressing foreign policy issues. Starmer requested the meeting, a White House official said, and the two leaders are expected to talk about Ukraine’s defense as well as the security situation in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The meeting follows an unusual joint trip by both countries’ top diplomats to Ukraine and will be colored by Ukraine’s renewed push for Western countries to loosen restrictions on the use of donated weapons to strike targets inside Russia. There are signs there will be a breakthrough, but don’t expect any announcements. “I don’t think that they would want to have a moment where they stand up and say, ‘greenlight to strike into Russia,’” Phil Dickinson, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative, told Semafor. “I would be surprised if they do that because then that gives more of a pretense for Vladimir Putin to build up a narrative that the West is being more directly hostile.” Starmer, who already met with Biden in July just days after becoming prime minister, will underscore the “urgent need for a ceasefire deal” in Gaza, the British government said.

— Morgan Chalfant

‘Ukraine is being handcuffed,’ Dem rep says

A growing number of lawmakers are pushing the Biden administration hard to loosen restrictions preventing Ukraine from using Western weapons to strike deep into Russia. “Ukraine is being handcuffed,” said Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who was among a bipartisan group of more than 30 lawmakers that wrote a letter to Biden asking the president to “immediately” remove the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons earlier this week. Auchincloss told Semafor the Biden administration had the opportunity to deliver a “one-two punch to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s petro state” by allowing Ukraine to strike key oil refineries in the Moscow region and instituting tougher sanctions on Russian oil. “This can be [Biden’s] legacy,” Auchincloss said. “By the time he leaves office in January, this war could look very different all based on decisions he could make.”

— Mathias Hammer

Sitting anti-Trump Republicans not joining Harris

There’s a gusher of former GOP officials supporting Kamala Harris for president. Getting the backing of a sitting GOP member of Congress? Well, that’s tougher, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Take Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was impressed with Harris’s performance this week. She told Semafor she “saw a side of Kamala Harris that I’ve not seen before, which was a firm and clear kind of leadership presence.” But an endorsement? “I’m still really struggling with the policy perspectives that she brings to the table,” she said. “So, I’m still ‘none of the above.’” Similarly, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, had nothing to add to previous comments about the race and several other anti-Trump Republicans aren’t backing Harris either. But not all Democratic Caucus members are on board with Harris yet either. Still, independent Joe Manchin said he wants to have a conversation with Harris about policy and is “never going to say never.”

After a quick review of which moderator lessons and memes will stick from this week’s debate, Ben and Nayeema turn to New York Times reporter and former restaurant critic Pete Wells to answer the question on every foodie’s mind: What is a Critic in an Influencer’s World? Together, they explore the battle between the new wave of influencers and the old guard of gatekeepers in food. On the menu: the health hazards of criticism, how celebrity chefs and TikTokers have altered the power of his position, and whether diversifying food reviews in the midst of the culture wars is “DEI,” “virtue signaling,” or simply — as Pete reveals — an organic evolution.

Catch up with the latest episode of Mixed Signals.

CrowdStrike ex-employees: ‘Quality control was not part of our process’

New details about the inner workings of CrowdStrike are giving lawmakers something to dig into when they convene a hearing later this month on the company’s software failure. Semafor’s Rachyl Jones reports that software engineers at the cybersecurity firm complained about rushed deadlines, excessive workloads, and technical problems to higher-ups in the months before the company sent a faulty update to its software that paralyzed banks and airlines. “Speed was the most important thing,” said one former senior employee. “Quality control was not really part of our process or our conversation.” For its part, CrowdStrike disputed much of Semafor’s reporting and said the information came from “disgruntled former employees, some of whom were terminated for clear violations of company policy.” The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on the software incident on Sept. 24. There is no determination that the issues Semafor reported on were related to the July software failure.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t give House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole a heads up that he was postponing a vote on the short-term funding bill earlier this week, upsetting Cole.

Axios: Kamala Harris is doing better than President Biden among young voters, but she still has her work cut out for her: Harris’ current 15-point lead over Donald Trump among young voters “would be the worst showing by a Democrat since John Kerry lost in 2004.”

Playbook: The Harris campaign isn’t taking Trump’s no for an answer on a third debate. “He is just working through his feelings after losing very badly Tuesday night,” Harris spokesperson Brian Fallon said.

WaPo: The Harris campaign has added several former aides to the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns, including David Binder, Stephanie Cutter, David Plouffe, Mitch Stewart, and Jennifer Palmieri.

White House

• President Biden will host the next (and his last) Quad leaders summit in his hometown of Wilmington, Del., on Sept. 21 ahead of the UN General Assembly, the White House announced. The meeting — which brings together the leaders of the US, Australia, India, and Japan — was initially supposed to take place in India, but the country will now host next year’s gathering.
• White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned Trump ally Laura Loomer for social media posts denigrating the vice president’s Indian heritage and promoting conspiracy theories about 9/11. “No leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison,” Jean-Pierre said.

Congress

• A Republican-led congressional investigation found that Chinese cargo cranes being used at US ports pose an espionage risk. — WSJ
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would force another vote on legislation protecting women’s access to in vitro fertilization treatments that Republicans blocked in June.
• Sen. Joe Manchin said he is endorsing GOP candidate Larry Hogan in the Maryland Senate race. — DC News Now

Outside the Beltway

• Public buildings in and around Springfield, Ohio were closed due to bomb threats from someone who cited frustration with the city’s handling of Haitian migrants.
• New York City’s police commissioner Edward Caban resigned under pressure after his phone was seized in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Way Outside the Beltway

Economy

• The Biden administration released proposed rules that would impose a minimum tax on large companies.
• The US imposed sanctions on several officials aligned with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing them of obstructing free and fair elections in the country.
• Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel for the first time in three years.

Business

• Donald Trump’s allies are discussing privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if he wins the election. — WSJ

Courts

• A federal appeals court denied Donald Trump’s bid to block his New York hush-money conviction sentencing on Nov. 26. Also, New York’s highest court upheld the trial judge’s limited gag order on Trump in the same case. Meanwhile, a Georgia judge dismissed two charges against Trump in the state’s election interference case against him.
• A North Dakota judge struck down the state’s abortion ban.

Polls

• Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump 47% to 42%, in a two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll that was taken after their Tuesday debate and closed Thursday.

On the Trail

• Donald Trump said he would end taxes on overtime pay.
• JD Vance accused Apple of benefiting “from Chinese slave labor.” — CNBC
• Kamala Harris’ campaign said it raised $47 million in the 24 hours after Tuesday’s debate.

National Security

• Attorney General Merrick Garland decried what he said has been “an escalation of attacks” against Justice Department officials.
• Kamala Harris early in her term as vice president asked the intelligence community to review whether analysts were using gender-biased language in their reports after one of her briefers used what she believed was gender-biased language in a briefing on a female foreign leader she was to meet. — WaPo

Foreign Policy

• The US said it supports the creation of two permanent UN Security Council seats for African countries.
• Politico reported that outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will be the next chair of the Munich Security Conference, but Süddeutsche Zeitung said a “brutal power struggle” is ongoing about a final decision. The current chair has no interest in stepping down, and efforts to give a Norwegian a job that only former German officials have held have raised eyebrows in the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defense, the German outlet reported.
• The US Navy’s Seal Team 6 has been training for a potential conflict over Taiwan. — FT

Technology

• Shares of Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology closed at a new low Thursday.

Media

• The White House News Photographers Association criticized Kamala Harris’ campaign for restricting press access in an August letter. — Axios
• Voting technology company Smartmatic’s defamation case against Newsmax will go to trial on Sept. 30, a Delaware judge ruled.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the Montana Senate race from “toss up” to “lean Republican.”

What the Right isn’t reading: A Chicago judge ruled that the city’s Trump Tower violated local environmental regulations.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Karen Pierce is the British ambassador to the United States.

• Actually, the center could hold.
• Republicans fear Laura Loomer is influencing Donald Trump.
• LinkedIn’s have nots and have bots.