“President Trump proffered sanctions relief for Russian diesel fuel. He publicly called for Ukraine to get a new leader. And he pressured Kyiv to stop a strike campaign against Russian oil facilities that has damaged the Russian economy.”

“Mr. Putin, in return, offered more war.”

Bloomberg: Putin can afford to wait for gifts from Trump.

“Not everybody in the state hates them, though: Electrical and construction unions that benefit from data center projects say the facilities can be a force for good in Nevada — and they’re figuring out how they can prove it to everybody else.”

“President Trump even has apparent qualms over holding the first public execution in the U.S. in some nine decades after receiving a deluge of bipartisan concern.”

New York Post: Mike Johnson urges Trump to rethink livestreaming Nidal Hasan execution: “I wouldn’t be watching.”

“The newly appointed press secretary spoke slowly and awkwardly during her debut press conference Tuesday, as if she had never seen or uttered the words in front of her prior to taking the podium. Her cadence was clunky, closer to that of a fourth grader reading school announcements over an intercom than a polished political communications professional. It’s clear he was never meant to be more than another blonde conservative placeholder on Fox News. The SNL spoof feels imminent.”

The Wrap: Trump’s new press secretary roasted over debut briefing: “SNL cold open come to life.”

Mother Jones: Katie Zacharia bombs first day as White House press secretary.

— President Trump, talking to reporters, on asking Guilfoyle to resign as Ambassador to Greece.

“A video of the incident showed a bald man in a T-shirt punching a woman in the face, pulling her hair, and hitting her repeatedly.”

Said Trump: “He’s a paid protester, they’re all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to mom. He’s going back home to mom.”

“It’s not clear whether he was referring to the protester as ‘he’ to be derisive or because he genuinely could not see.”

The Bulwark: Trump jokes as woman is beaten at his rally.

— A conservative strategist and activist, quoted by Rolling Stone.

Wrote Musk: “The Talarico campaign is hiding something big that voters ought to know about.”

“Musk’s reply amassed over 870,000 views, more than double the impression count of the post to which he was responding.”

Mother Jones: Elon Musk is the midterms’ biggest disinformation risk.

“Coloradans who tuned into a ‘Dateline’ rerun Monday afternoon, for instance, would have been treated to a firehose of ads about U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, the Republican fighting to keep his 8th Congressional District seat, or his Democratic opponent, former state Rep. Manny Rutinel.”

“Two-thirds of all survey respondents — and half of Republicans — said the federal government should be willing to spend more tax dollars to lower health care costs for Americans.”

“Eight minutes of Zacharia’s introduction to a national audience was taken up by a monologue touting President Trump’s accomplishments before she closed the show by announcing that Trump had asked for the resignation of Ambasasdor to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.”

Deadline: New White House press secretary debuts with a very short briefing.

“In more than half of the races for Governor and Senate, the two major-party candidates are not expected to participate in any debates before Election Day. The trend holds even in races viewed as competitive. The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates five races for Governor as true toss-ups. Three—Georgia, Nevada, and Ohio—are not likely to hold a debate. The same is true so far for two of the hardest-fought Senate races—Texas and Ohio.”

“Strategists explain the evolution as a response to how voters are consuming information. They say few voters watch the debates themselves. The more in-depth coverage of a debate offered by local journalists rarely reaches as many voters as the gaffes and gotchas from the event that are clipped and amplified by partisan media.”

— President Trump, quoted by the New Republic.

“During her first White House press briefing Tuesday, newly-minted Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was asked whether President Donald Trump planned to remove his ambassador to Greece following allegations that she engaged in illegal conduct.”

Said Zacharia: “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.”

“It also caused some unease among some former federal prosecutors, who say the search appears to have broken a few longstanding political and legal norms within the highest level of government.”

“There has long been an informal DOJ practice to not engage in headline-grabbing investigations or raids for roughly 60 days prior to an election if the matter can wait without jeopardizing a case, so as to not influence voting.”

The final three weeks of the midterm campaign are shaping up as a test of whether money can overcome an unfavorable political environment.

Republicans have a substantial financial advantage, but Democrats are running strong in the polls, leading or tied in many of the races that will determine control of Congress.

Said Trump: “She’s a disaster. She comes in from a country without laws, without police, without military. All they do is shoot each other, and she comes into our country and she says, ‘I have a constitutional right.’ She’s got a constitutional right. She’s telling us about the Constitution and she’s coming from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet.”