October 10, 2026
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Michael's Daily Memo
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“I want to thank President Putin.”
President Donald Trump said that on Friday, heading to a campaign rally, less than a month before the end of midterm voting.
The thanks were for diesel. Trump announced that Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons immediately, 500,000 more in November, and millions of tons after that. The Treasury promptly eased sanctions on Russian diesel until April 2027. This from the president who, just last month, signed a sweeping law meant to choke off the oil and gas money funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The political bet is plain: Americans paying $6.28 for a gallon of diesel care more about price than provenance. Maybe. But consider the wager. He hands Democrats a ready-made ad - the president thanking Putin weeks before an election - and gives Volodymyr Zelenskyy the line that this was “a weak decision by strong partners.” In return, energy analysts say prices probably won’t move much, because diesel shipped here is simply diesel that doesn’t go somewhere else.
All the cost, little of the benefit. It fits a pattern. He started the war with Iran that drove fuel prices up in the first place. He endorsed Ken Paxton over John Cornyn and put a safe Texas Senate seat in play. Defending that war at a Nebraska rally this week, he said of Iran, “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
Sometimes it seems as if he wants to lose.
Or maybe he reads the electorate better than his critics do. Voters have a long history of punishing incumbents over what they pay at the pump.
This is a test of our principles and our resolve. The answer will reveal whether it really is the economy, stupid - or whether Americans are still willing to sacrifice something in the name of principle.
So I’m asking: Should the U.S. buy Russian diesel if it lowers fuel prices?
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DAILY POLL
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Should the U.S. buy Russian diesel if it lowers fuel prices?
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TOP STORY
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized President Trump’s decision to ease sanctions and allow Russian diesel exports, calling the deal with Vladimir Putin “not fair and not honest” and warning it could undermine U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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Hurricane Isaias slammed into the Florida Panhandle and Alabama as a Category 2 storm, leaving more than 726,000 people without power while bringing damaging winds, flooding, downed trees and the threat of tornadoes across the Southeast.
Newly released video shows the moments before ICE agents shot Oscar Belgal in the Bronx, as authorities say the suspected gang member accelerated his vehicle toward agents attempting to detain him.
Nine people, including two children, were killed in a shooting and standoff at an Erie, Pennsylvania home Friday night, with the suspected gunman found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as investigators work to determine the circumstances and motive.
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A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
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Executives at Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI firms are privately war-gaming the political backlash expected after a first catastrophic AI-driven event, which many insiders believe could hit within six to 12 months and trigger a Democratic push to rein in the industry.
President Donald Trump has tapped Katie Zacharia, a longtime MAGA supporter and senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, to succeed Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.
Legendary Chicago Bears coach and Hall of Fame player Mike Ditka has died at 86, leaving behind a legacy that includes leading Chicago to its historic Super Bowl XX championship.
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MORE NEWS
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to broadcast the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan would mark the first public U.S. execution in decades and the first military death by firing squad since World War II, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, Netanyahu's former military secretary, told Channel 12 News that Israel's security establishment warned the prime minister of eroding deterrence before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and said there are 'enormous gaps' between the public record and what actually happened.
Public-health experts say Russia's quarantine of up to 200 people after a lab worker's death doesn't fit a routine plague exposure, raising fears about an engineered pathogen and exposing weakened U.S. biodetection capabilities under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
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For the Left
The federal budget deficit rose to $2 trillion in fiscal 2026, as interest payments on the national debt surpassed $1 trillion, tariff refunds and tax changes reduced revenue, and lawmakers face growing pressure to address the nation’s worsening fiscal outlook.
For the Right
D.C. election officials urged the National Guard to limit troop placement near ballot drop boxes after video showed soldiers standing beside one, raising concerns about federal election laws, voter intimidation and public trust.
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