MID MIDTERMS

Donald Trump’s back to his old hobby: Trying to tip elections in his favor. His efforts are getting downright spooky.

• The midterms are only months away… and they’re already giving President Donald Trump heartburn. Suddenly his focus has shifted from invasions (Greenland, Minnesota) to ballots and voter rolls. He’s calling for Republicans to “take over” voting in 15 states, after dispatching FBI agents to seize election documents in the battleground state of Georgia.

• Trump’s moves are alarming even moderate lawmakers, who are openly warning that he might tamper with upcoming elections.

• “I do think we need to up our guard,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told What A Day. “I am so afraid that we’ve seen some of these agencies [become] so politicized.”

• Warner isn’t a nervous nellie. But he’s warning Trump’s latest actions need to be taken seriously. “I have deep concerns about the fairness of our elections in ‘26 and ‘28 right now,” he said at a press conference today.

• Trump proposed his radically unconstitutional idea for seizing control of the voting system during a friendly chat with his former deputy FBI chief, Dan Bongino, who has returned to his true calling as a conspiracy-minded ultra-MAGA podcast bro. “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least 15 places,’” Trump said. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

• The president explained his thinking today… sort of. “If you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections,” he said. Well, shoes are just hats for your feet, na’mean?

• This unhinged idea is too much for even some hardcore Trump allies. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who kisses Trump’s ring daily, said: “I’m not in favor of federalizing elections. I think that’s a constitutional issue.”

Nationalizing elections may be banned by the Constitution. But Trump’s cronies can still cause mischief.

• The FBI raided an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, last week, carting off ballots from a district Trump has been ranting and raving about ever since it helped cost him the 2020 election. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was on the scene, told lawmakers that Trump personally requested her presence. Gabbard also said she “facilitated a brief phone call for the President to thank the agents personally for their work.” What could he possibly say to them? Thanks, goons! Let’s end American democracy!?

• Trump appears to have a two-part strategy to mess with the elections, Marc Elias, a prominent lawyer and voting rights expert, told the What A Day podcast.

• The first is before the elections: “Get access to the nationwide voter file,” Elias said. That way, the administration has every American’s private voter information. Trump’s team can use that to try to threaten states to remove large numbers of voters en masse, he said.

• The second comes after the elections: “The concern is, and what we just saw in Fulton County is that … Donald Trump sends the FBI into some congressional district in a close congressional race or a statewide race for Senate, and says, ‘We’re seizing the ballots and we’re going to count them,’” Elias said. “And that’s what I am so worried about.”

Trump’s latest actions are designed to sow distrust in the election process. “It’s up to every single one of us to save our democracy,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) tweeted.

WHAT ELSE? 👀

House lawmakers passed a bill to end the partial government shutdown. The bill only funds DHS for two weeks, however, as lawmakers continue debating restrictions to add to federal agents’ operations.

The U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the USS Abraham Lincoln, the Defense Department announced. The incident comes after Trump warned “bad things” will happen if Iran doesn’t strike a deal to curb its nuclear program.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in front of Congress about the Epstein files. This dramatic and surprising twist follows threats from GOP lawmakers to hold the pair in contempt for defying subpoenas last month. Bill Clinton under oath? Again? I wonder if Republicans remember the time he told a grand jury: “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” Good luck nailing this guy down!

The brothers of Renee Good testified in front of Democratic lawmakers about the death of their sister at the hands of a federal agent. “Sunlight doesn’t ask for recognition,” one of them said, explaining how Renee selflessly helped others. “She helped us grow, she helped us believe in ourselves. She helped us see the good, even when things felt heavy.”

Republicans are fuming at Jeanine Pirro for threatening to jail gun owners. Trump’s hand-picked U.S. attorney for Washington D.C. infuriated fans of the Second Amendment by telling Fox News that if anyone brings “a gun into the District, you mark my words, you’re going to jail.” One lawmaker’s response: “I have a license in Florida and DC to carry. And I will continue to carry to protect myself and others,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) tweeted. “Come and Take it!” I’m starting to think MAGA wants to protect some gun owners, but not others. Hmm.

Trump said he’s suing Harvard for $1 billion — after the New York Times reported that he had dropped his demand for $200 million from the university. “I hereby demand that the morons that run (into the ground!) the Times’ change their story, immediately,” Trump wrote on social media.

Get ready for the first AI-infiltrated Super Bowl, aka the AI-Slopper Bowl, with ads like this one from the parent company of Svedka. It features two very unsettling humanoid robots pouring and shaking vodka, before one of them drinks a cocktail that splashes down its chest (because it doesn’t have, you know, a throat and stomach). Very great, very normal!

LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️

French authorities raided tech freak Elon Musk’s X office in Paris, amid an investigation into the social media platform’s alleged spreading of sexual abuse images of children and deepfakes.

As American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin prepares for the Winter Olympics, her mom wears many hats: coach, advocate, roommate and friend. It’s the same dynamic she has had since Mikaela entered the international scene more than a dozen years ago: “People have this idea that my mom follows me around the world, like it’s some overbearing thing. It’s not. It’s the opposite,” Mikaela said. “My mom has led me around the world.” Awwww.

A 13-year-old Australian boy is being hailed as a hero for saving his mom and two younger siblings, who were stranded at sea while kayaking and paddleboarding. As the weather deteriorated, his mother sent the boy to get help — a trek that involved swimming 2.5 miles in worsening conditions and running a mile. “I knew it would be a long way … but the kayak kept taking in water, I was fighting rough seas,” the boy said. “I just said ‘all right, not today, not today, not today.’ I have to keep on going.”

An Asian elephant gave birth to a calf at the Smithsonian Zoo for the first time in nearly 25 years. “This birth fills us with profound joy,” one zoo official said. “When you see the calf and those heartwarming interactions with the herd, I hope you’ll be inspired to help save this endangered species.” I am so inspired after watching the video of the adorable little baby.

Crooked’s Jon Favreau hosted Adam Friedland, one of my favorite comedians, for an episode of Offline. “This was maybe one of the funniest conversations I’ve had on this show,” Favs said. Check it out!

Thousands of people gathered near Virginia’s Capitol building yesterday as 19 Buddhist monks completed their 100th day of a walk from Texas to D.C. Their goal? Spread a message of peace and unity.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the prestigious Westminster dog show, and the New York Times put together a collection of their best photos from the event over the past century.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is one month into his historic tenure, and his toughest challenge yet is… an unusual one for a new mayor. He started receiving a seven-month allergy shot regimen, so that his wife can get a cat for their new Gracie Mansion home. If Mamdani spends too much time with a cat, he starts looking like Will Smith in “Hitch,” the mayor told the Wall Street Journal. This guy is setting the bar very high for all men out there.