Politics Chat, October 15, 2026

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Trump has flipped U.S. foreign policy away from the post-World War II rules-based international order. He is openly siding with Vladimir Putin over Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump removed sanctions on Russian oil, even as Congress voted overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis for more sanctions. SpaceX communication systems that direct Ukraine’s defensive and offensive drones were disabled without warning. Elon Musk and the White House are trading blame over who gave that order. Reports from Ukraine indicate the systems are working again. Former representative Matt Gaetz and former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg have been sued in a civil lawsuit alleging they coordinated payments, drugs, and travel to obtain commercial sex acts. Scandals are breaking across the administration as officials turn on each other. The Washington Post reported that nearly $300 million in donations to Trump’s ballroom are flowing through an opaque fund he controls.

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