BIG: Elon Musk personally ordered the Starlink slowdown that crippled Ukraine’s drones.

Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone after it became public.

One source claimed they had also discussed it beforehand.

Musk had publicly said limits were up to the U.S. military and the president.

Trump said on Monday he didn’t know who was responsible.

Both men have been angry at Ukraine for striking Russian diesel refineries, which Trump blames for high fuel prices before the midterms.

Source: WSJ

Serbia's Vučić:

I'm certain that if we lost the elections, within ten days of the formation of a new government, we would see sanctions imposed against Russia.

I'm also concerned about the status of Kosovo and Metohija.

But that wouldn't be the end of the world.

Serbia's Vučić:

Putin very intelligently exploited Western hypocrisy and Western support for Pristina's decision on independence.

Putin said, "If you say that about Kosovo, then unlike you, I held a referendum in Crimea. You didn't even hold a referendum in Kosovo."

I've said this a thousand times to Western representatives.

Serbia's Vučić:

When I last spoke with President Putin, he was the only one who openly asked me, very rationally and intelligently: "Why are you resigning?"

I replied, "I want to demonstrate that I can win even without holding office, as an ordinary citizen."

He asked, "And what's going to happen during this month or so? What if something happens? You have no authority."

Serbia's Vučić:

I once told Vladimir Putin: "I will not be like some other leaders whom you, as a good friend, allowed to live in Moscow so that they could survive."

I will never leave Serbia.

Whatever happens, if I lose the election, if I'm persecuted, I will stay here.

Bessent on Iran:

They have decreed that anyone publishing the price of the currency can go to jail.

Bessent on Iran:

We haven't seen any loadings at the Iranian oil facility on Kharg Island since August. Iran currently has no oil on the water.

Think of it like a company going bankrupt that no one is going to give them money.

Bessent:

Except for this temporary energy price spike, most things are going well.

Bessent on Democrats taking control of the House:

I think there's very little they could do.

With a Democratic Congress, you can see it from my hearings: there's a lot more noise than signal.

The last time I went up, my hearing was ostensibly about international financial institutions. I didn't get a single question on that.

Hegseth:

American manufacturing doesn't just build our missiles and our tanks, it builds the middle class as well.

Good quality, stable, high-paying jobs that provide for families all across the country.

There's no reason to outsource these capabilities anywhere else.

Marco Rubio:

People need to grow up when it comes to foreign policy a little bit.

I don't think it's unusual, frankly, for the three most powerful nuclear-armed nations on Earth, for their leaders to communicate with one another.

Marco Rubio:

I hear people on TV: "Oh, you're rewarding so-and-so by talking to them." Well, that's absurd.

For example, how are you going to reach a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine if you don't talk to Russia and Ukraine? You have to talk to them, right?

Trump:

I'm studying his body. I've never studied the body of a man before. It's not my thing. Nothing wrong with it, of course. But it's never been my thing.

But I looked at his ass. I said, "His ass, shit, it's like a pile of muscle." Then I looked at his legs, and I said, "Man, his feet are big."

Netanyahu reportedly planned a major attack on Iran for October 10, but Trump blocked it over concerns about renewed war ahead of the November 3 U.S. midterm elections.

The proposed multi-day operation would have targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, power plants and other infrastructure.

Source: FT

Trump is considering removing journalists from the White House press briefing room and replacing it with an indoor swimming pool, originally built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

Trump has raised this idea several times, but his advisers previously discouraged it because keeping reporters nearby makes communication easier.

Some of Trump’s close advisers now support moving journalists to another government building, which would further limit their direct access to the president.

Source: NYT

According to U.S. intelligence, Putin has ordered a major escalation of covert sabotage operations across NATO countries.

The campaign began with a failed explosive-drone attack on Germany’s Leipzig airport in August and has since expanded to military suppliers, communications infrastructure and commercial shipping.

Russian military intelligence is allegedly coordinating these attacks to disrupt European support for Ukraine and spread instability.

Source: WSJ

According to the WSJ, aides to German Chancellor Merz said Germany would have considered invoking NATO’s Article 5 collective-defense clause if the Russian drone attack on Leipzig airport in August had caused mass casualties.

Such a move could have significantly escalated tensions between NATO and Russia, potentially leading to a direct confrontation.

Source: WSJ

Jake Sullivan:

If we replace Chinese influence in the Americas with our own form of neocolonialism, I think we, the United States, will end up worse off and we will pay for that over the longer term.

Jake Sullivan:

When President Trump left office in his first term, there were nine NATO allies that were at 2% of GDP defense spending.

When President Biden left office, there were 23.

Jake Sullivan on Ukraine:

If Ukraine just stops fighting or the world stops helping Ukraine fight, it's the end of Ukraine. If Russia stops fighting, it's just the end of the war.

This is a war of aggression and conquest that is being waged by one party against another.