NEW YORK (AP) — A new platform from a progressive group that’s notched several recent primary victories is becoming fodder for Republican attacks, as the GOP looks to frame Democrats as extremists and communists ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Although the Democratic Socialists of America’s Workers Deserve More platform doesn’t necessarily line up exactly with the candidates’ own agendas, prominent Republicans over the weekend decried it. The DSA platform proposes drafting "a new constitution” with significant changes to the structure of the U.S. government, including abolishing the Senate, replacing the president and the Supreme Court with leaders picked by Congress and allowing all permanent U.S. residents to vote. Alongside those changes, the platform, published earlier this month, calls for a number of social reforms.
“The barbarians are inside the gate — and Democrats are WELCOMING them in,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X. “Communism is no longer a far fetched threat. It is here on our SHORES!”
The Wall Street Journal’s conservative-leaning editorial board also warned about the agenda, calling it radical and writing that the job of Republicans and willing Democrats is to educate the country about it. But it cautioned Republicans to avoid communism attack lines, saying they wouldn't resonate with younger generations.
Progressive and DSA-backed candidates running in Democratic primaries across the country don’t all subscribe to the group’s full agenda. The left is also split between progressive and moderate wings that have different ideas about the best policies to carry the Democratic Party forward. But the DSA platform has created an opening for Republicans to attack Democrats with a broad brush as they look for an edge in races that will determine which party has a majority in Congress next year.
President Donald Trump this year has returned to an old habit of calling Democrats communists, saying they want to “destroy the traditional American way of life.” Other Republicans have followed suit, turning to more comfortable territory after months spent defending their party as disgruntled Americans fume about foreign wars and the high cost of living.
The DSA’s vision for the country laid out in mid-July proposes major changes that the group says can in part be achieved under the current system but ultimately would require “building a new society from the ground up.”
Among the suggested changes are expanding voting rights, publicly financing all elections, replacing the two-party system with a multi-party democracy, establishing public ownership of large corporations and expanding rights for immigrants while ending Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and deportations.
In a recent appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” the group’s co-chair Megan Romer confirmed various aspects of the agenda while acknowledging that some of the proposals, like abolishing borders and prisons, would be considered parts of a long-term plan.
The Republican National Committee over the weekend called attention to the platform in a post that several GOP lawmakers seized on to raise alarm.
“These people are insane,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz replied on X.
“Watch this clip closely,” wrote Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican. “These ideas could be coming to your community sooner than you think.”
The DSA's agenda comes as aligned candidates have triumphed in several recent Democratic primaries. They’ve capitalized on voter anger at the party establishment and rising skepticism of the U.S. alliance with Israel to edge out moderates in House races in New York and Colorado.
Democratic socialist candidates also have succeeded in mayoral elections in major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., New York and Seattle. An upcoming Missouri primary pitting a DSA-backed former congresswoman against the moderate Democratic incumbent will further test the movement’s momentum.
In other elections, progressive candidates have outlined where they differ from the DSA's agenda. In an upcoming Michigan Senate primary, for example, progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed has distanced himself from socialism, saying that he believes in capitalism but that it needs to be regulated.
Meanwhile, establishment Democrats including former Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison have forcefully pushed back against DSA candidates who run in the party’s primaries while criticizing the way the party is going.
“I say this with no ill will or animosity: if you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination,” Harrison wrote in a social media post in June. “Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure. Don’t ask Democrats to invest their time, money, and energy in your campaign. Focus on building the party you actually support.”
FILE - Jon Torsch wears a t-shirt promoting democratic socialism during a gathering of the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America at City Hall in Portland, Maine, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that halted President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list.
The ruling over the weekend rejected the Trump administration’s effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Also, the Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Here's the latest:
Trump was led on a tour of General Motors vehicles from different era. He was accompanied by CEO Marry Barra and other GM executives and sat behind the wheel of some of the automobiles.
“They’ve come a long way,” he said to reporters about the Detroit-based automaker. “It’s amazing what tariffs are doing for GM.”
Trump said he’s been good to the company but declined to say more.
“The rest of the world doesn’t love me, but that’s OK,” he said, alluding to the tariffs. “It’s called ‘America first.’”
A new rule going into effect Tuesday gives asylum officers discretion to send cases of immigrants seeking asylum directly to a judge for a final decision without doing an interview.
Historically, immigrants can ask for asylum either through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or from a judge in immigration courts, depending on their immigration status.
USCIS asylum officers would interview everyone who applied with their agency. If they think someone doesn’t qualify for asylum, the case goes to an immigration judge who ultimately decides.
Now, USCIS says asylum officers can look at the person’s file, decide they don’t qualify and send the case directly to a judge, without an interview.
The agency says this shortens the time it takes to decide asylum cases.
Groups that advocate for immigrants say it’s part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the asylum system.
“The impact of this rule could be disastrous for people in need of safety.” said Beth Oppenheim, President & CEO of HIAS.
Trump hasn’t ruled out selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, which is not a friend of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are meeting at the White House on Tuesday, and the prime minister has made clear he does not want Turkey to get the American-made jets.
Trump was asked about such a sale to Turkey as he flew to Michigan and said, in an apparent rebuff of Netanyahu, that “nobody tells me what we should be selling.”
“Turkey’s been a great ally for me,” he said of the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I think he’s done a very good job, did a good job with Syria. He’s a friend of mine,”
Asked if he and Netanyahu are on the same page when it comes to the war against Iran, Trump replied, “We have a little difference but pretty close, yeah.”
The president insisted that new meetings were requested directly by Iranian officials, saying they reached out directly “because we’ve been hitting them very hard.”
“We’re having good talks, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Monday on Air Force One. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen. And if it does, good. if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”
Trump rejected a suggestion that his patience with negotiations could be wearing thin.
“I have plenty of time,” he said.
The president insisted that he has a good relationship with the Senate majority leader — but that he’s just “got to get his job done.”
Trump has been escalating pressure on Thune to pass his voting restrictions bill before senators leave Washington for the August recess.
“The SAVE Act has to be done,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “They shouldn’t leave town.”
Trump also insisted that he hasn’t “even thought” about potential replacements for Thune.
The United States has stood by France in every conflict where “their freedom has been imperiled,” U.S. deputy ambassador Dan Negrea told the U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine after the brief U.S. walkout Monday, accusing France of “disingenuous grandstanding.”
He was apparently responding to a post from France’s U.N. Mission in Geneva on Friday criticizing U.S. opposition to a second four-year term for U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions to extend his term with the U.S. voting “no.”
The French Mission said: “The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it.”
Negrea shot back, calling the U.S. “the beacon of liberty for the world” and dismissing France’s ”political drivel.”
Asked about suggestions that the U.S. munitions are running low, Trump said stockpiles are in good shape and production needs to ramp up.
“We have a lot. I’d like to have more, to be honest,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
He blamed former President Joe Biden for giving U.S. technology to Ukraine. Trump said some more “sophisticated” weapons have been in shorter supply but he added that production has been accelerating.
“Every one of our contractors is building four to five plans right now, and we’re in very good shape,” he said.
Ahead of his visit to Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that Russia has been offering satellite images of U.S. bases in the Gulf region to Iran.
Asked about that Monday, Trump downplayed the impact of that assistance, saying the Russian help hasn’t had much impact.
“They may be giving, but if they are, it hasn’t worked out,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, en route to Michigan.
Trump also said he would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about it. Zelenskyy is set to meet with Trump on Tuesday.
The president was set to address a crowd of more than 1,000 at a General Motors proving ground in suburban Detroit, where the company tests vehicles before they are sold.
Some GM employees joined larger groups of Trump supporters, many wearing red “Make America Great Again” caps or t-shirts celebrating the president.
Behind the stage where Trump will speak later hung blue and white banners reading “American Cars. American Jobs.” Various models of cars and SUVs were parked nearby.
GM says the proving ground in Milford Township has more than 150 miles of test roads and was opened in 1924. That makes it the world’s oldest dedicated vehicle testing facility.
Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has also seen parts of its economy affected by the president’s tariffs, including on imported cars and auto parts.
A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. But Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.
The president is visiting Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit’s northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The index is coming off two weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 518 points, or 1%, as of 9:55 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%.
Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 5.4% to $86.74 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to over $100 a barrel last week before easing.
The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a ripple effect throughout the world’s economy.
▶ Read more
Mediators have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said Monday, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions. But scattered attacks by armed groups across the region underscored the lingering tensions.
Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities.
Two drone attacks were reported against a Kurdish Iranian dissident group in Iraq, and Jordan said it had shot down two drones, without saying where they originated. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Neither the U.S. nor Iran reported carrying out any attacks for three days — a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.
▶ Read more
President Trump plans to tout his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit on Monday, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.
Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, home to tracks and proving grounds for new models and vehicles. Early voting is underway for Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties.
Republican Mike Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits Trump-backed Rep. John James against Perry Johnson, a businessman turned politician who’s launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024.
Johnson is now trying to style himself in the president’s mold — despite missing out on his endorsement. He’s even holding a “Trump Tailgate” outside the president’s GM event.
▶ Read more
The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category.
It's raising questions about properly counting the impact to U.S. service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while providing little indication of how it intends to wind down a conflict that's unpopular with many Americans.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict, removed the four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops from its Iran war tally last week.
On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system’s website, listing the four Army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.
▶ Read more
The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
The statement contradicts repeated assertions by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials that the projects were canceled because they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or had other problems that made them a poor investment of taxpayer dollars.
Democrats and environmental groups seized on the court filing Friday, saying the administration had “weaponized” the federal government to kill good jobs and punish working families because of their political views.
▶ Read more
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that halted Trump’s executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list.
The ruling Saturday by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump issued an executive order in March for the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. It also ordered the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.
While Trump touted the proposed changes as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting, state election officials argued they were ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.
▶ Read more
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
