Good Day, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Two Thirds Of America Call Trump A Crook. Can The GOP Survive The Midterms?
A new Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos poll just dropped, and it’s a wreck for Donald Trump. His approval is down to 33%, the lowest of either term. 66% disapprove. Three out of four Americans say he’s botched inflation and the cost of living. And here’s the killer number. 66% say Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself, up from 56& last fall. That includes 73% of independents and more than a quarter of Republicans. Eight in 10 say slapping his name on the Kennedy Center was inappropriate. And for the first time since 2014, voters trust Democrats over Republicans on the economy. When two thirds of a country believe its president is a crook, that’s not a polling problem. That’s a legitimacy problem.
Will Israel Make Its Hard Right Turn Permanent?
On October 27, Israelis vote in an election that could lock in nationalism for a generation. Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s run the country on and off for 19 years, wants a new mandate after reducing Gaza to rubble, occupying part of Lebanon, and bombing Iran. He’s under an ICC arrest warrant. His challenger is Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief who says Netanyahu owns October 7th. It’s a dead heat. Neither bloc is near the 61 seats needed to govern. Only 21% of Israelis identify as left of center. Finance Minister Smotrich wants Gaza’s two million Palestinians “voluntarily” removed. Ben Gvir’s armed settlers attack West Bank Palestinians with impunity. Netanyahu swears he’ll never partner with Arab parties, a fifth of the country. And Trump just endorsed him. Democracies don’t die in one election. But they can get locked in.
Trump’s Fraud Hunters Find No Fraud. So Who Are They Hunting Instead?
Remember the White House task force Trump set up to prove the election was stolen? The Washington Post reports it’s found no fraud. Zero. So it switched jobs. Led by pro-Trump journalist John Solomon, it’s now dumping records from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and Jack Smith’s classified documents case, and on Friday, State Department emails from officials who testified at Trump’s first impeachment. Trump allies call it evidence for the Justice Department’s sprawling Florida conspiracy case aimed at indicting the people who investigated him. Legal experts told the Post the records mostly show routine, court approved investigative work. And it all still sits on the White House website under the heading “election integrity.” This is what retribution looks like when it wears a badge. Investigate the president, and the president investigates you.
The news you need. Twice every weekday.
Did Trump Just Sell Out Ukraine For Putin’s Diesel?
Sunday on Truth Social, Trump melted down. Late Friday he’d signed an order waiving the sweeping Russia sanctions Congress passed last month, the late Lindsey Graham’s bill, which Trump himself signed. Then he cut a diesel deal with Putin. Then he blamed Zelenskyy for high fuel prices, though oil experts say the real culprit is his war on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Now he claims sanctions would scare Russia from the bargaining table, and that Russia’s going easy on Iran so he wants to keep it that way. Lawmakers in both parties revolted. Harvard’s Joseph Allen called it a disgraceful message from a man “not worthy” of the presidency. Zelenskyy says the move rewards Putin. Russian diesel money buys Russian missiles. Every one of them now has Trump’s signature on it.
Russia Is Raping Ukrainians As A Weapon Of War. Where’s Washington?
A piece on Timothy Snyder’s Substack by journalist Sara Cincurova should be required reading at the White House. She’s spent two years gathering testimony from more than 60 Ukrainian survivors of Russian sexual violence. Her conclusion is blunt. This is strategy, not soldiers out of control. A UN commission found in 2024 that Russian rape amounts to a war crime and torture. Ukraine’s prosecutors have recorded 250 rapes of women and 24 of children, and the real number is far higher. Men in Russian captivity describe electric shocks to the genitals, and threats of castration meant to stop Ukrainians from reproducing. There’s Halyna, a retiree raped by a soldier her grandson’s age. And Olena, raped while pregnant, who lost the baby and hasn’t seen her imprisoned son in seven years. This is the regime Trump just handed a sanctions waiver.
Where’s The $10 Billion America Promised Its Disaster Victims?
The Guardian reports survivors of the LA wildfires, the St Louis tornado and the Texas Hill Country floods are still waiting on federal recovery money. Nothing’s gone out since Hurricane Milton in October 2024. LA County and St Louis alone need more than $10 billion. The HUD program that rebuilds homes after FEMA leaves has no standing fund, so Congress votes disaster by disaster. In July they wrote it into law, then funded nothing. Demetrice Davis, whose St Louis home is still wrecked, says “the government agencies are not really doing what they’re supposed to do.” Congresswoman Judy Chu says Trump still hasn’t delivered. 137 million Americans lived in a disaster zone in 2024. Washington’s message to them is simple. You’re on your own.
And that’s the way it is, Today Monday, October 19, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
