The Pressure Campaign

The Chatbot That Would Not Repeat the Claim

Late September 2026 the White House launched America.gov, an artificial intelligence chatbot intended to answer questions related to the government. The rollout was staged with a roster of tech figures: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Elon Musk. On stage Trump announced the site, and within hours the internet noticed something awkward.

The rumor that circulated on Sept. 29 was that the chatbot said former President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential vote, contradicting Trump’s longstanding claim that Democrats “stole” the 2020 election. Trump had made the claim as recently as Sept. 9, 2026, saying, “We won the presidency three times,” referring to the 2016 and 2024 elections that he won as well as the 2020 election that Biden won.

Snopes verification found the claim was true. The America.gov chatbot stated, “Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” When asked whether Trump was incorrect in saying he won 2020, the chatbot answered yes and cited certified records: “Certified records show Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 presidential election, 306–232 in the Electoral College. Donald Trump’s statement that he won that election does not match those records.” It linked to the National Archives and the Federal Election Commission.

The Associated Press reported that the site was modifying its answers “as Trump was speaking” at the Sept. 29 launch event, changing its response to say it couldn’t answer “political questions.” The AP also reported the chatbot said that “official federal sources do not show that widespread fraud changed the 2020 presidential election outcome. Isolated election crimes did occur and have been prosecuted.”

The episode captures a recurring tension in Trump’s 2026 communication: a public-facing tool built with government data producing answers that undercut his own narrative, followed by apparent efforts to steer its responses in real time.

Taxpayer-Funded Ads in the Midterm Stretch

On or after Sept. 23 the White House began running three television spots featuring President Donald Trump, each carrying a “Paid for by the U.S. Government” disclaimer. They aired on broadcast and streaming platforms, including Sunday political talk shows and college and NFL football games.

The White House described the spots as public service announcements in a Sept. 25 press release, pushing back on criticism. It said the announcements are “very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action.” Instead, the release said, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending — at home, at the border, and abroad. The administration argued that administrations of both parties have used public service announcements to explain policy and make the case for the nation’s direction, citing examples from the George W. Bush, Obama and Biden administrations.

Legal experts pushed back. Corporate law professor and former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter told FactCheck.org the Trump ads are “so clearly propaganda,” which generally refers to government communications intended to manipulate or influence public opinion. Vanderbilt professor John G. Geer said he does not buy the argument that the ads from the Trump administration and recent presidents are all the same, and his perception is that the Trump ads are more political. “We’ll see what the courts say,” he said, if a lawsuit brings the matter to the judiciary.

The first message to air includes images of Trump saying, “Together we will defeat communism, socialism, and Marxism in America. America will never be a communist country.” Viewers repeatedly hear the words “love me,” lyrics from a JMSN song. Near the end, UFC CEO Dana White compliments Trump and talks about him “fighting so hard for the country he loves.” A screen capture shows a black-and-white spot almost exactly the same as an ad released by Trump’s 2024 campaign.

The third ad, in black and white, shows Trump walking and staring into the camera as a voiceover says, “we will demolish the deep state,” “expel the warmongers from our government,” “drive out the globalists,” and “cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists.” It ends: “We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.” The video is almost identical to an ad from Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

The second ad, a minute long, features video and audio from Trump’s July 3 speech from a site near Mount Rushmore, as the president says, “We are the freest people on Earth, and by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history.” The ad ends with him saying, “This is only the beginning of the golden age of America.”

On Sept. 28, Painter and three other ethics experts wrote in the Contrarian that “These videos are not ‘public service announcements’ as the White House claims. They are clear attempts to boost Republicans’ chances in the impending midterm elections given their sagging poll numbers. The timing, content, and format of the videos all suggest they are covert attempts directed at the success of the Republican party.” The White House said “Trump is not on the ballot” this November, but the president has told wavering Republican voters to pretend he is. The experts noted two of the ads include references to defeating communism or communists, which is what Trump regularly calls democratic socialists running for Congress.

Border Wall Halt in Big Bend

On Oct. 2, 2026, a federal court in Texas temporarily blocked the Trump administration from building a border wall and other infrastructure across the state’s Big Bend region. Judge Kathleen Cardone said the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits of at least one of the claims in suit, that there is a likelihood that they will suffer serious, irreparable harm without an injunction, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh in their favor.”

The ruling covers Big Bend National Park, which sits on a bend of the Rio Grande, and extends across the roughly 500-mile-long Big Bend sector, about a quarter of the roughly 2,000-mile southern border. The project is part of a $46 billion effort by the Trump administration to line the southern border with a mix of 30-foot-tall steel walls, vehicle barriers, roads and surveillance technology.

Landowners, businesses and environmentalists united to oppose the plans. Opponents argued the Big Bend region is so remote and rugged that it serves as its own deterrent to illegal immigration, and that the administration violated the law when it issued a swath of waivers allowing it to bypass numerous regulations to speed up border wall infrastructure projects.

The lawsuit was brought by an environmental organization, advocates for a historic church in Ruidosa and a river guide, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security was wrong to bypass regulations meant to protect the environment, culture and archeology of regions like Big Bend.

The court’s decision came just weeks after the administration erected the first border wall panels in the Big Bend sector in mid-September. The pause of activity inside Big Bend National Park, imposed after bulldozers were spotted clearing land in August, had expired on Sept. 30. The administration said it’s reevaluating plans for the National Park but has not yet said what it will do there.

Laiken Jordahl with the Center of Biological Diversity that brought the suit called Cardone’s ruling a “total victory.” “The bulldozers are going to be sent packing until she rules on the merits,” Jordahl said. “This is such a historic day for Big Bend and for Texas and the Constitution.”

National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Tiernan Sittenfeld said in a statement: “Big Bend is no place for border barriers. It’s time for the administration to come to the table with the border communities that know Big Bend best, repair the damage from this ill-conceived project, and find new solutions.” The judge’s ruling also extends to areas up and downriver from the National Park, where Customs and Border Protection planned infrastructure projects that would largely require building across privately owned land. In a recent court filing, the government said it was prepared to refer some cases to the Justice Department where it hadn’t been able to secure permission from landowners.

Pressure by Phone Number

On Oct. 3, Trump used social media to pressure U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. The Act passed the House in July but faces roadblocks in the Senate, where some Republicans are strongly opposed.

“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill,” Trump wrote, noting that passing the proposal would give professional golfers more time on the greens. “So, everyone in Arkansas … tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all.” Trump added, “Call Tom on his cellphone,” and included a phone number with an Arkansas area code.

The Associated Press called the number but no one answered, and the voicemail box was full. The Guardian also called and was greeted with a message from the service carrier saying, “The wireless customer you are calling is not available. Please try again later.”

Cotton reiterated his opposition in his own social media post on Saturday afternoon. “No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent daylight saving time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” he wrote. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”

Cotton argued last year on the Senate floor that many Arkansans wouldn’t get sunrise until 8 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. during the dead of winter if daylight saving time was permanent. In that case, people in Seattle wouldn’t see sunrise until 9 a.m.; and in Williston, North Dakota, the sun wouldn’t rise until nearly 9:45 a.m. “The darkness of permanent daylight savings time would be especially harmful for schoolchildren and working Americans,” Cotton said. “As we saw in 1974, kids would … walk to school in the pitch black.”

As he left the White House later on Saturday for a campaign rally in Ohio, Trump was asked why he posted Cotton’s phone number. “We want to get away from this ridiculous way and custom of every – twice a year, turning your clocks back, turning your clocks forward, being late for dinner, being late for very important meetings,” Trump replied. Pointing to the White House behind him, Trump said he was speaking from personal experience. “Last time, six months ago, we’re changing clocks, and nobody changed the clocks, and everybody’s late … it discombobulates everybody,” he said.

This is not the first time Trump has released a U.S. senator’s phone number. While competing for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina described Trump as “unfit for office” after Trump denigrated the military service of Senator John McCain. Trump then released Graham’s personal cellphone number. That prompted a viral video in which the senator dramatically destroyed a series of flip phones. Graham later became a close ally of Trump before dying in July. McCain died in 2018.

A 2025 poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that if forced to choose, most Americans would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening. Only 12% of U.S. adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which requires people in most states to reset clocks twice a year, while 47% are opposed and 40% are neutral.

A Bishop’s Exit

On Oct. 3, 2026, the Episcopal bishop of Washington D.C., Mariann Budde, announced she will resign her post. The 66-year-old is the first woman to serve as spiritual leader of the Episcopal diocese of Washington, elected in 2011 after serving as rector of St John’s Episcopal church in Minneapolis for 18 years.

Budde shared in her resignation letter that she will be leaving her post on 3 June 2028 after the consecration and ordination of the new diocesan bishop. “I write today because I have discerned, in consultation with diocesan leadership and the Presiding Bishop’s office, that it is time to begin preparing for the election of your next bishop. I have not come to this decision lightly or alone, and it will not be easy to say goodbye to the diocese I love,” her letter said.

She gained national attention when she called on Trump to “have mercy” on the country’s immigrants and LGBTQ+ community after his second inauguration, urging him to consider “gay, lesbian and transgender children” from all political backgrounds, some of whom, she said, “fear for their lives.”

Trump demanded an apology in a post shared on social media. “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” the president said. “Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

It was not the first clash. During Trump’s first term, Budde published an opinion piece in the New York Times expressing outrage over Trump’s appearance in front of St John’s Episcopal holding up a Bible for a photo after federal officers used force to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters demonstrating against the police killing of George Floyd. Budde wrote that Trump had “used sacred symbols to cloak himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands.”

Looking toward the future, Budde wrote she is committed to ensuring a strong and healthy transition for her successor. “Alongside the diocesan staff and leadership bodies, I will do everything in my power to ensure that the diocese is as strong and healthy as possible for this leadership transition. I am praying for all involved, and especially for the one God is preparing to serve as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Washington,” she concluded.

Standing Orders

On Oct. 3, 2026, the Transportation Security Administration confirmed a policy change prohibiting airport security officers from sitting down while checking travelers’ IDs ahead of security checkpoints. A TSA spokesperson said the change is meant to keep officers alert. “This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert,” the spokesperson said. “All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function while simultaneously creating a welcoming and professional environment for travelers.”

The American Federation of Government Employees Council, the union representing TSA officers, pushed back, saying it was not involved in the decision. “These chairs serve as basic ergonomic and safety support for officers that stand and walk on hard surfaces all day,” the union said. “TSA is treating this matter like it is a privilege – it is not; it is basic safety and common decency for the workforce.” The union called the move a “disregard for employee rights and safety” and said it is an example of a broad pattern of TSA’s true consideration of the employees who keep the nation safe.

The TSA has navigated a tumultuous year after withstanding a 76-day government shutdown from February to April that resulted in officers working without pay. Due to the shutdown, some TSA workers did not report for unpaid duty or quit their jobs, and lines at security checkpoints grew across the U.S. TSA workers were finally paid at the end of March after a presidential order from Donald Trump. The government shutdown ended on 30 April after the U.S. House passed a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security.

The labor union is also raising alarms over a new program that will expand privatizing security checkpoints at three airports. The AFGE has been reviewing legal options to fight back against the privatization push from the Trump administration. In a statement, the union urged congressional and senatorial leaders to join its “collective resistance” against the administration.