🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
President Trump said the war with Iran will end "very soon" but declined to rule out further U.S. strikes before the midterms, telling reporters "it's possible" while predicting oil prices will come "plummeting down" once Tehran gives up the fight. Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal over the weekend that would have required the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift its naval blockade and waive sanctions on Iranian oil within seven days, even as President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled Iran is willing to negotiate nuclear limits and international inspections if Washington drops any push for regime change. The standoff took a darker turn Sunday when British authorities arrested five suspects near RAF Fairford, the English air base that hosts U.S. Air Force assets used in the Iran campaign, on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th, 2026
Before we get to today's news, here's what happened on this date in history. Two hundred and forty-five years ago on this date, a combined American and French force of roughly 19,000 troops began surrounding Lord Cornwallis's 9,000 British soldiers at Yorktown, Virginia, opening the siege that would end the Revolutionary War. General George Washington had abandoned his original plan to retake New York once French naval forces blocked Cornwallis's escape route down the Chesapeake Bay, and after three weeks of bombardment the British commander surrendered his entire garrison on October 19, 1781.
Nearly a millennium earlier, on September 28, 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, landed an invasion force of roughly 7,000 troops at Pevensey on England's southeast coast, setting in motion the end of the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. William claimed King Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne 15 years earlier, and after King Harold II was killed at the Battle of Hastings that October — reportedly shot through the eye with an arrow — William marched on London and was crowned the first Norman king of England that Christmas Day.
💥 Trump Says 25,000 Died Last Month in Ukraine War, Approves Patriot Missile Production for Kyiv
President Trump said 25,000 people died last month in the Russia-Ukraine war — and 32,000 the month before that, with roughly 97% of the dead being soldiers — as he pushes Volodymyr Zelenskyy to strike a peace deal with Vladimir Putin before winter. "I want him to settle with Putin, and I want Putin to settle with him," Trump told reporters Saturday on the White House lawn.
Trump confirmed he's approved a license allowing Ukraine to manufacture U.S. Patriot missile interceptors domestically, a decision Zelenskyy called "final"
Trump said he recently spoke by phone with Zelenskyy about ending the war, ideally before winter
The casualty figures, cited by Trump and not independently verified, would mark some of the deadliest months of the nearly four-year war
🚨 Trump Reaffirms ICE Can Arrest Any Illegal Immigrant After Confusing Guidance Sparks Agent "Alarm"
The Trump administration moved quickly to quash a weekend report that ICE agents had been told to stop arresting immigrants without criminal records, after verbal guidance to prioritize "worst first" left field offices confused and left some agents "shocked and frustrated." "There is no change in immigration enforcement policy," Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported, after DHS sent corrective guidance to field offices Saturday night.
DHS said flatly: "No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path"
The agency also announced a "nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities" targeting violent offenders
DHS says roughly 50,000 migrants are being arrested monthly, with deportations under the administration topping 2 million
💉 CDC Lists First 2026 Measles Death as RFK Jr. Disputes Two Pennsylvania Fatalities
The CDC has added the nation's first measles death of 2026 to its official count, even as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to question whether two Pennsylvania measles-linked deaths actually occurred, at one point suggesting they may have been "fabricated." Pennsylvania's health secretary says both individuals tested positive for measles, while Lancaster County's coroner says he's still investigating and was unaware of the second death.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's office accused Kennedy of "fearmongering" and blamed vaccine hesitancy for the confusion
Pennsylvania's outbreak has grown past 420 confirmed cases, marking the state's first measles deaths in 35 years
The CDC says it's still working to "determine what actually occurred" amid the discrepancy over the count
💵 Texas Secures $7.5 Billion From DHS to Repay Border Security Spending Under Biden
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas has been approved for a $7.5 billion federal reimbursement covering border security costs the state shouldered during the Biden administration. "Texas held the line when Washington would not," Abbott said. "Texas taxpayers spent billions to stop illegal crossings, catch criminals, and seize deadly drugs. This reimbursement is a victory for those taxpayers."
The money comes from the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund created under Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," secured by Sen. John Cornyn
Texas is still seeking an additional $3 billion from the Justice Department for related border spending
The state comptroller's office said the funds put lawmakers "in a far stronger position to deliver meaningful property tax relief next session"
🤖 OpenAI Admits Its AI Models Improperly Accessed Government Websites, Including SEC and Census
OpenAI has begun notifying dozens of government agencies, universities and other organizations that its AI models made unauthorized visits to their websites, after an internal review of "misalignment" incidents expanded following a discovery that its AI had improperly accessed the platform Hugging Face. Affected government sites reportedly include SEC.gov, Investor.gov and Census.gov, along with Australian government websites.
OpenAI acknowledged one of its models improperly accessed an Australian government healthcare database in June
Spokeswoman Liz Bourgeois said most of the flagged activity "involved routine research tasks, such as accessing public web content to answer questions"
CEO Sam Altman said the company is "prioritizing as best as we can based on severity," and the review is expected to take months