Principals

1. McConnell speaks to Semafor
2. Zelenskyy meets Trump
3. Harris visits border
4. Pence’s post-Trump play
5. Mayoral blowback in Congress?
6. Harris’ new battleground ad
7. Latvia president on Russia, AI

PDB: A for-profit OpenAI could attract more investors — as well as more scrutiny on Microsoft.

Biden in Scranton; Trump in Michigan … Helene downgraded to tropical storm, moves across Georgia … WSJ: Japan’s new leader wants to remake US military alliance

McConnell on tariffs, filibuster and Ukraine

Semafor sat with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, and the filibuster was top of mind, Burgess Everett reports. The Kentucky Republican clearly believes Democrats now have the votes to change the filibuster … if they get the majority of course. And on that front McConnell would only say the GOP has a “good chance” of taking the majority, far from the guarantee you’ll hear from some Republicans. Still, McConnell’s recounting of standing up to Trump on the filibuster got us thinking: What will he be like as a free-agent senator? If his comments on Trump’s proposed tariffs are any hint, well, it could get pretty interesting. “I represent Kentucky, in addition to having this job. We’ve had a very bad experience in our signature industry with tariffs,” McConnell said of the bourbon industry. Perhaps that’s just a barrel-aged taste of what’s to come.

Zelenskyy to meet with Trump

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set for a high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump, following GOP outcry over the Ukrainian leader’s trip to Pennsylvania. The two will meet at Trump Tower, per Semafor’s Shelby Talcott, one day after Zelenskyy visited the White House to brief President Biden on his so-called “victory plan.” The meeting might be icy: Trump, who wouldn’t say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia during this month’s debate, lambasted Zelenskyy earlier this week after he called JD Vance “too radical” in an interview with the New Yorker, while House Republicans have launched investigations into the Pennsylvania trip, suggesting it amounted to election meddling. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Semafor’s Burgess Everett that he told Zelenskyy on Thursday that his trip and comments were a “mistake” and that Zelenskyy “understood.” Meanwhile, Biden directed his team to dig into the “victory plan” over the coming weeks, with designs on meeting Zelenskyy in Germany next month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Harris spotlights immigration in Arizona

Kamala Harris heads to the southern border today, seeking to shore up one of her key policy vulnerabilities: border security and immigration. Harris will visit Douglas, Ariz., on the US-Mexico border, to position herself as tough on border security while highlighting Donald Trump’s role in squashing a bipartisan border bill. “The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games,” she will say. A Marist poll released Thursday found Trump beating Harris 50% to 49% among likely voters in Arizona, within the margin of error. Immigration was listed as the top issue by 21% of respondents, behind preserving democracy (27%) and inflation (26%). A recent CNN poll found voters trust Trump more to handle immigration. Trump and Republicans have tried to paint Harris, who led a White House push to address the root causes of migration, as responsible for the influx of migrants at the southern border. Some prominent Democrats including Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly will join the trip. Retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a key architect of the unsuccessful bipartisan border bill, is not expected to attend.

— Morgan Chalfant and Burgess Everett

Pence plots a post-Trump future

Former Vice President Mike Pence is laying the groundwork for a post-Trump Republican Party should Donald Trump lose in November, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett report. That entails publicly pushing back against “protectionist tariffs” and “isolationism,” while also trying to recruit allies to his cause. “We’re trying to plant a flag for conservatism and believe that many of our traditional conservative groups have become far more enamored with populism these days and walked away from those principles,” longtime Pence adviser Marc Short said. But there’s a broader question of whether Pence even still belongs in the GOP, which has become increasingly populist. Pence doesn’t fit into “the Republican party of today,” said Sen. Mitt Romney. “The Republican Party of tomorrow may be a different matter.”

Adams indictment buoying Republicans in NY races

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ indictment on bribery and fraud charges is a world away from Congress, but Republicans are still trying to make it count in Empire State races that could make the difference in the battle for the House this fall. The House GOP’s campaign arm shared internal polling conducted before the indictment with Semafor that found Adams’ favorable rating never breaking 30%, with an average of 24%. And several Democratic challengers to sitting Republicans leapt to call for Adams’ resignation on Thursday — an indication that even miles from the five boroughs, the mayor’s troubles may resonate with swing voters. “Tying Eric Adams to every Democratic candidate was always the plan,” one GOP strategist said, adding that the indictment makes those efforts “[punch] harder.”

— Kadia Goba

Can Centrism Go Viral? On this episode of Mixed Signals, Ben and Nayeema discuss a reporter’s digital dalliance with RFK. Jr, and what it says — and doesn’t — about journalism. Then they bring on Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and a star of the anti-MAGA movement. They ask: Is the hot new space in the media, and on YouTube, in the political center? Finally, Max joins in for blindspots to get quick takes on VP Harris’ decision to guest on the All the Smoke podcast.

Catch up with the latest episode of Mixed Signals.

In new ad, Harris says Trump attacks ‘designed to tear us apart’

Kamala Harris’ new campaign ad pushes back against Donald Trump’s attack spots. “They are designed to tear us apart,” she says in the direct-to-camera spot, shared first with Semafor. The ad began airing in battleground states on Thursday, as a new Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll showed Harris narrowly leading Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. The advertisement is a fresh attempt by the campaign to counter Trump’s attack ads, which have hit Harris on immigration and sought to paint her as “dangerously liberal.” In the 30-second “Life’s Work” spot, Harris touts her work as a prosecutor, saying she “took on drug cartels and human traffickers to protect our communities.”

Latvian president calls for lighter European regulation on tech

Latvia’s president called for a harder line on Russia and a softer line on AI in an interview with Semafor. Edgars Rinkēvičs’ remarks on the latter point to growing signs within the European Union that it is lagging behind global competitors in the race to develop artificial intelligence: A report by a former European Central Bank chief warned this month that the EU was falling behind the US and China, and the bloc’s incoming antitrust chief said its regulations must “evolve” to help foster regional tech giants. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Rinkēvičs also urged NATO allies to loosen rules on Kyiv’s use of donated weapons: “You can’t expect the Ukrainians to fight with their hands tied.”

— Ben Smith

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Joe Teirab, a Republican congressional candidate trying to unseat Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., distanced himself from earlier comments he made about privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age.

Playbook: Some immigration advocates are worried that Kamala Harris is putting too much emphasis on enforcement at the border while focusing too little on opening up legal pathways to immigration.

WaPo: Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has refused to endorse Harris despite “subtle pressure” from Republicans who have supported her campaign. He wants to “preserve his ability to rebuild the Republican Party in a post-Trump world,” and also has concerns about his family’s safety if he were to back Harris.

Axios: Democrats are spending millions of dollars in Texas and Florida “in a Hail Mary effort to keep their Senate majority.”

White House

• The Biden administration plans to cement the sweeping restrictions on asylum at the southern border it enacted over the summer. — CBS News
• President Biden said “I don’t know” when asked by a reporter if New York City Mayor Eric Adams should resign.

Congress

• Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to resign.

Outside the Beltway

• Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a formal apology for the state’s role in slavery and discrimination against Black people.

Economy

• Revised data from the Commerce Department showed that the US economy rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic more quickly than previously thought.
• China’s stock market was on track for its best week since 2008 following Beijing’s announcement of stimulus packages to boost the country’s flagging economy.

Business

• United Atlantic Ventures, co-owned by two former “The Apprentice” contestants, dumped nearly 7.53 million shares of Truth Social parent company Trump Media.
• Satellite-TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network are closing in on a merger deal.

Courts

• New York appellate court judges in a hearing Thursday appeared skeptical of a more than $450 million civil judgment against Donald Trump after a judge ruled he fraudulently inflated his wealth.
• Special counsel Jack Smith filed a compilation with US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan of the evidence to support the charges that Trump violated federal law in his push to overturn the 2020 election results.
• Rudy Giuliani’s law license was permanently revoked in Washington, DC.
• The Justice Department is investigating Super Micro Computer. — WSJ
• Newsmax settled with Smartmatic to avoid a trial in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit.

Polls

• Donald Trump leads Kamala Harris 51% to 48% among likely voters in Arizona, according to a Fox News poll. Meanwhile, a separate Fox News poll shows Harris leading Trump in Georgia 51% to 48% among likely voters there.

National Security

• The State Department is offering up to $20 million for information that leads to the arrest of a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who is said to be involved in a plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton.

Foreign Policy

• Israel said it has secured $8.7 billion in military aid from the US.
• China’s new nuclear-powered attack submarine sank earlier this year, which Beijing attempted to cover up. — WSJ

Technology

• Prospective new investors in OpenAI like Abu Dhabi’s MGX have privately made clear that investing billions in the startup would require taking an ownership stake in a for-profit version of the company — a move that would also give shares to its largest investor so far, Microsoft, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reports.
• X suspended Ken Klippenstein after he published the hacked JD Vance dossier.

Media

• Melania Trump appeared for an interview on Fox News.
• Hoda Kotb is leaving the “Today” show early next year.

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: Mark Zuckerberg now identifies more as a libertarian.

What the Right isn’t reading: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new laws designed to curb oil and gas pollution.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

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

Tom Emmer is a Republican congressman from Minnesota and the House Majority Whip.

• Harris escalates her courtship of crypto.
• Nvidia-backed robotic manufacturing startup taps new CEO with an eye to AI.
• Biden announces ‘surge’ in military assistance to Ukraine.