Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026 - Election Day, SCOTUS Rebuffs Trump on Ballots, Habba’s $50 Million Pardon Deal
Today's Headlines: It's here, Election Day! Early turnout is already beating 2022 in 23 states, including Texas, Delaware, Georgia, and North Carolina, and polls have Democrats leading every major Senate race, with shots in Kansas, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Meanwhile, Trump wrapped up his campaign with a surprise Election Eve speech at the renovated reflecting pool, spending nearly an hour on its pipes, resodding the Mall, and cleaning up graffiti, and he “joked” about renaming it the Trump Reflecting Pool. Speaking of his renovation obsessions, his administration also submitted a 55-page East Potomac golf course overhaul plan with no cost estimate, no timeline, and no word on who gets to play, though it does include over $300 million for a seawall. On the legal front, a judge ordered the administration to stop demanding that California set aside 20,000 supposedly noncitizen ballots, so it ran to the Supreme Court, which rejected the request almost instantly. Clearly worried about the results, Trump promised to protect Elon if Democrats take Congress and investigate SpaceX and Tesla, and floated preemptive pardons for his staff, while the NYT found that none of the nine law firms that struck deals with Trump have taken cases checking his administration’s midterm meddling, with some scrubbing voting rights work from their websites and even firms without deals turning down such cases. On the pardon beat, Trump is reportedly “furious” that Alina Habba was allegedly paid $50 million to help secure a pardon for a Venezuelan billionaire and he didn’t get a cut, since he wanted some for his presidential library (spoiler: the billionaire did get the pardon). On the foreign front, Trump said “no” when asked whether he’d resume Iran strikes after the midterms and that he’s “in no rush,” which is better than usual, though Netanyahu reportedly wants strikes so he can throw Israel’s post-election process into chaos and force another election, and Iran promises a “powerful response” to any new attack. Finally, pro-Putin Iliana Yotova won Bulgaria’s presidential runoff with over 57% to Andrey Gyurov’s 39%, becoming its first elected female head of state on just 29% turnout, and while Bulgaria is in NATO, she opposes military aid to Ukraine and thinks talking to Putin will change his mind. Resources/Articles mentioned: WMTW: 2026 Midterm Election: How many people have voted early in the US? NYT: Democrats Show Strength in Final Days of Race for the Senate, New Polls Find WSJ: Trump Surprises Republicans With Election-Eve Speech About Reflecting Pool WaPo: Trump administration lays out plan to overhaul D.C. golf course NYT: Supreme Court Rejects Trump Administration Request to Intervene in California Ballot Case Axios: Trump vows to protect Musk, floats pre-emptive staff pardons NYT: As Midterms Near, Top Law Firms That Capitulated to Trump Are on the Sidelines NYT: Trump Erupted After Learning of Alina Habba’s $50 Million Deal Axios: Trump to Axios: "No rush" to decide on bombing Iran again ABC News: Iran live updates: Tehran warns of 'powerful response' to any renewed attack Yahoo: Pro-Putin candidate wins Bulgaria presidential run-off Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices