Friday, October 9 | By Steff Danielle Thomas and Colin Meyn
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It’s Friday. The leaves will soon be falling, but right now, the weekend is calling. 🍂
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Programming note: Hello! We are Steff Danielle Thomas and Colin Meyn filling in for Cate. Please send your tips, comments and story ideas to sthomas@thehill.com or cmeyn@thehill.com.
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Nobel committee made quite a statement with this year’s peace prize: |
The Associated Press | Eranga Jayawardena
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This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, a leading figure in international human rights law, coming as Israel and the U.S. seek to tear down the institutions she has helped build up.
“At a time of existential challenges – including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time – international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity,” the committee wrote in its announcement.
“And yet, the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack. We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice.”
Pillay’s resume: The jurist previously served as the United Nations human rights chief and was a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, she helped establish that sexual violence and propaganda could constitute genocide.
She is currently an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, in a case alleging that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
Perhaps most controversially, Pillay led a U.N. commission that found last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Angry reactions: Israel’s government fumed over the choice.
“If there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn’t just be a contender. She’d be a frontrunner. Her role in the relentless, politically motivated demonization of Israel and promotion of the genoLIE speaks volumes,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on the social platform X.
President Trump shared a post from attorney David Schoen, who worked on his second impeachment trial.
“Today the Nobel Committee shamed itself beyond repair and demeaned the once great Nobel Peace Prize by giving it to the UN’s Navi Pillay. Pillay is an unabashed hater of America and Israel,” Schoen wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Timely move: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that the U.S. is imposing full blocking sanctions against the ICC, escalating its fight against the global judicial body.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us,” Rubio said in a video message.
💬Follow today’s live blog.
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Pillay had Trump on her mind shortly after learning she won the prize.
“If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” Pillay said in a video clip shared from the moment she heard the news in Nuremberg, Germany.
Last year’s prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, presented her award to Trump in Washington after the president openly coveted the honor.
Trump’s team did not make a public push for the prize this year.
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Senate debates turn into slugfests: |
Forget polite exchanges about policy. Thursday night's Senate debates in Georgia, Michigan and Maine turned into a string of personal attacks, heated accusations and some memorable clashes.
In the Peach State, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) repeatedly called his Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins a “bigot” — accusing him of promoting extremist content online. Collins condemned racism and antisemitism but hit back by calling Ossoff a “trust fund kid” who can't relate to Georgians struggling with high prices.
In Michigan, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed couldn't even stop arguing during a commercial break.
“In 30 years of doing debates, I've never seen it continue during the commercial,” said moderator Rick Albin, from Nexstar’s WOOD TV in Grand Rapids, Mich.
El-Sayed labeled Rogers a “sock puppet” of Trump, while the Republican questioned his progressive opponent's medical credentials and made an unsubstantiated allegation about ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Maine had its own blowup: Sen. Susan Collins (R) demanded an apology after Democrat Troy Jackson accused her and her husband of making money off the Iran war — a claim he didn't substantiate.
“No, you owe me an apology,” Jackson shot back.
The common threads? Trump, the Middle East conflict and voters' frustration over rising costs.
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Trump hits the trail as polls turn sour: |
Trump is ramping up his midterm campaign appearances just as new polls reveal growing cracks in his support — including among voters who helped elect him.
A new Politico-PF Global poll found 26 percent of the president's 2024 voters think GOP candidates would have a better shot in November if they broke with him on certain issues, such as the economy, immigration enforcement and the Iran war.
And there's more: The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found 78 percent of Americans, including 64 percent of Republicans, hold the administration at least partly responsible for rising costs. Nearly 6 in 10 GOP respondents in particular said their living expenses are rising faster than their paychecks, according to the data.
Meanwhile, Trump is headed to Syracuse, N.Y., Friday to campaign alongside Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, following recent stops in Alabama, Nebraska and Texas. This week he added upcoming stops in Ohio, Alaska and Arizona.
The timing is particularly tricky for Republicans, who are now defending Senate seats in states like Kansas and Iowa that weren't expected to be competitive just months ago.
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U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle is under scrutiny over allegations she sought $100,000 from a Trump donor to pay off credit card debt in exchange for political access. Her attorney disputes the authenticity of messages at the center of the allegations.
🔎Read more about the MAGA donor, Eric Deters, here.
The controversy overshadowed Rubio's visit to Greece, while Democrats and at least one Senate Republican are demanding an investigation into her conduct.
It adds to a growing list of questions about the business dealings of the president’s allies, including two White House advisers who reportedly worked for a pro-Russia political party in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Trump has threatened to fire them if conflicts of interest are found.
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Hegseth draws fire heat over public execution plan: |
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to livestream the upcoming execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan is drawing sharp backlash from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) isn't questioning whether Hasan deserves the death penalty — but why the Pentagon wants to turn it into a public spectacle.
“Beyond disgusting,” Tillis wrote late Thursday, comparing the move to public executions carried out by oppressive dictatorships.
And he's not alone. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called the idea “medieval,” asking whether the Pentagon chief was trying to mimic ISIS executions.
The backdrop: Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood base in Texas in 2009, is scheduled to face a firing squad on Dec. 3 after Trump approved the action earlier this week. Hegseth argues that making it public will show people there are “serious consequences” for such crimes.
Historical wrinkle: The U.S. hasn't held a public execution since 1936.
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— 🏠 Trump established a committee to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Gov. board of governors member Lisa Cook made false statements on mortgage documents, with a hearing set for Nov. 5. Cook denies wrongdoing and previously fought off the administration's attempt to fire her.
— 👶 Millions of children are being automatically enrolled in “Trump Accounts,” a new investment program aimed at helping young Americans build wealth. The president says it could also help turn the next generation toward capitalism. Insiders can learn more here from The Hill’s Max Rego.
— 🚨 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani blasted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after an officer shot a man in a car with a five5-year-old inside. Mamdani said he called Trump and demanded ICE halt operations in the city.
— 📱 Forget the influencers. Melat Kiros, the 29-year-old democratic socialist who ousted a 15-term House incumbent in Colorado, says the secret to winning over Gen Z voters is talking about what matters to them — like rent, health care bills and student debt. Insiders can read The Feed here.
— ⚖️ Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wants answers — and an investigation — into whether the Health and Human Services Department fed courts false information about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency accessing sensitive government data.
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The New York Times: As Putin Wages Shadow War, Europe Looks for a Way to Hit Back
The Washington Post: Iranian campaign planted fake articles in real U.S. publications using ChatGPT
ProPublica: An Arizona County’s “Housing Hub” Is a Dead End for Many Homeless Families
The Wall Street Journal: Affluent and Older Americans Got Much Richer in the Postpandemic Years
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The House and Senate are out. President Trump is in Washington and New York. (All times EDT)
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2 p.m.: Trump participates in a swearing-in ceremony for newly confirmed Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.
3, 3:30 p.m.: The president has policy meetings.
7:30 p.m.: Trump campaigns in Syracuse, N.Y.
SATURDAY: The president holds executive time and then travels before traveling to Clarksville, Tenn., and then Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Georgia vs. Alabama college football game at 7 p.m. EDT.
SUNDAY: Trump has executive time and then travels to Sterling, Va., for the long weekend.
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🧀 Celebrate: Today is National Moldy Cheese Day! It is a charcuterie board lover’s dream! What is your favorite? I (Steff) am a big fan of a blueberry brie or light gorgonzola!
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Here is your daily reminder to not to take life too seriously. If you fall, dust yourself off and try again … try again … Just like these cute pandas.
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