Trump's $5,000 midterm promise

Plus, a secret weapon in Arctic waters.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. Trump says the war with Iran will end after the US midterms, touting a $5,000 payout if Republicans win. Meanwhile, Iran is likely to reverse-engineer a captured US underwater drone, and NATO allies foil a Russian subsea cable sabotage plot. Elsewhere, we have an exclusive on OpenAI's rogue agents. Today's Top News   Trump speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas. REUTERS/Evan Vucci United States President Donald Trump promised every American $5,000 if the Republicans hold onto Congress, as the party kicks off a rally-style pre-midterm convention in Dallas. Nandita Bose has more on the Reuters World News podcast. Trump gave tens of thousands of dollars in cash gifts last year to executive assistant Natalie Harp and three other ‌close aides working in the West Wing, according to financial disclosures released by the White House. One year after Charlie Kirk's assassination, the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, has grown dramatically, expanding its presence at colleges and high schools and cementing itself as a force in Republican politics. But some of the young voters Kirk helped bring into the party are not proving uniformly loyal to Trump. In other news Trump said he expected the war with Iran to end after the November US midterm elections and threatened again to attack a site associated with the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme after ‌the two sides launched their biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the start of the six-month-old war. Deep in Arctic waters near the remote Svalbard archipelago this spring, NATO allies caught Russian subs training to unleash a secret weapon designed to disable critical undersea cables without leaving any fingerprints. Iceland's government will submit a bill in February to ban whaling, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries in the world to continue commercial whaling. Chinese President Xi Jinping's much-anticipated visit to New Delhi this week, in what is his first trip to India in seven years, should further the diplomatic thaw between the giant neighbors — but there are few signs as yet that their business ties will improve. Business & Markets   A coil of copper rod sits on the production line for copper flat wire at the Wellascent factory in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, China. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo  The White House has not yet made a decision on refined copper tariffs as officials juggle concerns that higher prices for the red metal could raise manufacturing costs against ‌the potential benefits of encouraging more domestic mining, according to two people familiar with the matter. As Trump pressures institutions he views as adversaries, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One are fighting back. It is a strategy that legal experts and industry sources say may carry fewer risks than giving in. The heatwaves ‌that hit Europe this summer have heaped more inflationary pressures on the region which could also face a winter fuel crisis, said the UN climate secretary Simon ⁠Stiell. Technology AI agents unleashed by OpenAI used more than 10 previously undisclosed websites for unsanctioned communications earlier this year, according to six sets of independent investigators and data reviewed by Reuters, showing that the agents’ rogue activity was wider ranging than previously disclosed. Apple redefined its flagship smartphone with the launch of the Duo, a folding $1,999 iPhone, betting its design and promises of data privacy will let it leap ahead of rivals who have been selling folding phones for years. Not content to supply the leading silicon for powering chatbots, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang is using his vast cash hoard to prop up customers and forestall rivals. On this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate whether it can withstand the unstoppable force of competition. Nepal floods aftermath through the lens of Reuters photographers   A drone view shows houses covered in mud after the flash floods and mudslide, at Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, on August 29, 2026. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas The photos tell a story of lives, interrupted. The schoolroom, gaily decorated with paintings and letters. The paint shop, where the shelves still contain rows of once colourful cans. The bathroom, the closet that held neatly piled clothing, the yards. All are now covered with a thick layer of river mud that descended without warning on bustling communities. As the waters recede, the survivors remain stunned, grieving and praying. A string of miracle rescues in recent days has kept hopes alive that more people might still be saved from the catastrophe of August 26 when a glacier collapsed, sending a mass of mud and rock crashing into a river along the border between Nepal and China's Tibet. Read our special report In Pictures Parker Posey arrives for the screening of the movie "Wild Horse Nine". REUTERS/Yara Nardi From the red carpet to photocalls, style and scenes from the opening day of the Venice Film Festival. View gallery   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036