Progressives and establishment Democrats celebrate Angie Nixon’s surprise Senate primary win in Florida – live | US politics

Health secretary RFK Jr, meanwhile, said:

A pantheon of superstar candidates made choosing our next FDA Commissioner one of the toughest decisions of my tenure at HHS. I’m confident President Trump and I chose the best person for the job: Dr. Heidi Overton.

Heidi brings exceptional judgment, professionalism, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to the American people. I have seen her challenge assumptions, demand excellence, and turn bold ideas into meaningful results.

At the @FDA, she will make our food supply safer, modernize drug approvals, unleash American medical innovation, accelerate access to lifesaving treatments, bring greater transparency and accountability to the agency, and restore Gold Standard Science as the foundation of every decision.

Congratulations, Heidi. I look forward to working with you to restore trust in the FDA and Make America Healthy Again.

And we’re already getting some sense from senators of how that might go. Democrat Patty Murray, of Washington, who sits on the Senate health committee, shared this on X:

Heidi Overton is a far-right, anti-abortion extremist who has no business leading the FDA. The American people deserve someone who will put science and facts FIRST, not another Trump sycophant who will make it their mission to attack medication abortion. I will vote NO.

Democrat Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said:

Trump is throwing down the gauntlet to both sides in the Senate – nominating an FDA head who demeans vaccines, denounces reproductive rights, & degrades science.

Republicans should have learned some lessons about needing to stand up now – not handwringing later about Trump officials who threaten public health.

Dr Heidi Overton is a medical doctor and currently a deputy director of the White House domestic policy council, who has worked on several of Trump’s second-term health initiatives. She has become a trusted figure in his administration and a champion of his goals.

But as the Associated Press notes, the new FDA commissioner will face challenges balancing Trump’s priorities, traditional Republican interests, and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s anti-corporate stance.

The previous FDA head, Dr Marty Makary, resigned in May, leaving unfinished projects like work on ultra-processed foods, antidepressants, and Covid-19 shots. Trump signed off on a plan to fire Makary after the president scolded him for not approving fruit-flavored vapes, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

To get confirmed, Overton will have to win approval from the narrowly Republican-led Senate and face questions from the Senate health committee. Its chair, Republican senator Bill Cassidy, has been a vocal critic of some of Trump’s actions to sow doubt in vaccinations, including denouncing the president’s claims about the MMR vaccine as “crazy, stupid”.

Donald Trump has nominated Dr Heidi Overton – an abortion opponent who stood next to the president as he made false claims about vaccines – to be commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Today I am honored to nominate the wonderful Dr. Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, as our next FDA Commissioner. Dr. Heidi has been a ROCKSTAR in my Administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE Health Agenda in History. She is known to take on the HARDEST issues, and bring me solutions that work best for the Country,” the president wrote on Truth Social today.

He continued: “She is SMART and RESPECTED by all! Dr. Heidi will work with Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Oz to RAPIDLY deliver on my priorities of FASTER Cures, INCREASED American Innovation, MAJOR Clinical Trial Reforms, LOWER Drug Prices, and even more MAHA WINS!”

The FDA, which regulates the nation’s drugs, medical devices and much of its food supply, has spent the bulk of the second Trump administration in tumult following widespread job cuts and disease outbreaks.

Overton would also take the reins of an agency tasked with regulating medication abortions, specifically the drug mifepristone, which has become an important piece of abortion access for the 23 million women living in states with bans. In a 2023 policy brief, Overton has previously described mifepristone as “teleabortion” and “abortion-on-demand”, which Congress should work to strictly regulate “to protect women and children”.

More recently, Overton appeared with Trump during a press conference for an executive order to split up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three separate shots. She stood by the president as he falsely suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even as scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link.

Donald Trump has said he will meet the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, later this year, in what would be their first of Trump’s second term.

Trump also said that North Korea had 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, in a rare and unusually specific assessment by a US president of Kim’s arsenal.

“Yeah, I will be,” Trump told reporters during a tour of a new helipad he is building at the White House, when asked if he planned to meet Kim later in 2026.

Trump gave no details, but the Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that he was eying a meeting when he travels to China for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.

Trump defended planning to meet Kim at the same time as he wages a war with Iran that he has justified on the grounds of preventing Tehran developing a nuclear weapon.

Referring to the North Korean leader, Trump told reporters:

He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen … If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it.

But he’s got them. I get along with him very well. I can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And I know Kim Jong-un very well, and he’s going to be fine.

Here’s the clip.

It comes two days after Trump ordered the US to scale back what he said were “inappropriate and hostile” joint military drills with longtime US ally South Korea, citing his “good relationship” with Kim in the decision.

Yesterday, South Korea’s military has confirmed that the US-led drills would end on Friday, six days earlier than originally planned.

Trump’s move came despite warnings from military officials from both countries warning that Kim’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from assisting Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Trump and Kim met three times in his first spell in the White House, and at the time he said they “fell in love” after exchanging “beautiful letters”.

But they haven’t met in his second term. In recent days Trump has dropped growing hints about communications with Kim, although he wouldn’t confirm when asked by a reporter today whether the pair were exchanging letters. “I can’t tell you that,” he said.

A US Census analysis of “noncitizen voting” in the 2020 election released on Wednesday by the US Census Bureau “fails the laugh test”, according to an examination by the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a non-profit that provides grants to state governments to increase the efficiency and voter turnout for elections.

“The administration does not provide a sufficient explanation of how it arrived at these numbers – and for good reason,” said David Becker, the CEIR’s executive director. “Census data cannot be reliably matched to public voter data, as it lacks any unique matching identifiers to compare to those public voter records. Any possible effort to ‘match’ such data would result in large numbers of false matches.”

Donald Trump referred to the census release on Wednesday in a Truth Social post, claiming that “the Census Bureau proves that over 24,000 Noncitizens voted illegally! The Census Bureau is going to analyze the next 32,000,000 Voters, and this number will explode. I WON THE ELECTION! We must pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”

The census report provides numbers for each state’s apparent noncitizen voters in curiously round numbers – multiples of 10 or 100 – instead of exact figures.

“But even given this shoddy and opaque methodology, the number of alleged noncitizens keeps getting smaller,” Becker said. “Now that number is only 24,000 out of 128m records. Even assuming these numbers are credible, and they are not, that figure would represent less than 0.02% of all voters in 2020. That said, it is good to see the administration now admit that these numbers are so small that they could not have altered the outcome of the 2020 election. All of the numbers cited in the census analysis are smaller than the margins of victory in each state and would not have been enough to change the winner of any state in 2020.”

Trump’s national address one month ago restated claims of a rigged 2020 election and foreign election interference. Those claims were belied by the very evidence he relied on in the speech, which had been investigated by intelligence officials who concluded with high confidence in 2021 that China “did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election”.

Nonetheless, federal agencies have declassified evidence and issued information releases purporting to bolster this claim in the days following the address, capturing social media attention on the right with each incremental release.

In a post to Truth Social, President Donald Trump threw the embattled US representative Cory Mills completely under a bus after Mills lost the Republican primary for his seat on Tuesday night.

“I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen,” Trump wrote. “He thought he could win, so who can blame him? We now have a great candidate, Ryan Elijah, running in his place! Ryan stands for EVERYTHING MAGA, and is respected by ALL. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Trump had endorsed Mills for re-election.

Mills, a former Army sniper and military contractor who represents a district containing St Augustine and Daytona Beach on the Florida coast, made headlines last year when a judge granted a protective order against him at the request of his former girlfriend, Lindsey Langston, who was reigning Miss United States at the time. Langston said Mills had threatened to release nude images of her and harm any future boyfriends. Mills denied the accusation and has not been charged with a crime.

Mills had also been under House ethics investigation for alleged financial misconduct in office, and for an accusation of “stolen valor” regarding the issuance of his Bronze Star decoration.

Reactions to Angie Nixon’s surprise victory in the Democratic primary for the US Senate in Florida range from shock and delight among progressives notching another win for a democratic socialist candidate, to despairing fence-mending from moderates, to curt dismissal on the right.

“Is our bullhorn on?” said Matthew Grocholske, president of the Democratic Progressive caucus of Florida. “Florida voters showcased at the ballot box on Tuesday that they want to chomp the oligarchy through people-powered wins. Our organizing over the past year has driven 158,000 direct voter contacts since January 1 through the efforts of our caucus alone. The movement we’ve built is embedded in a compassionate future where we fight for all: a future where we pass Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, Block the Bombs and abolish ICE. The only correct analysis is that our progressive agenda is a winning message.”

Nixon did not have the DSA’s endorsement, nor that of progressive political stars like the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or the US senator Bernie Sanders, who called Nixon’s victory a “huge upset” in a post on X.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, issued a joint statement Tuesday morning with the Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair.

“Angie Nixon has dedicated her career to fighting for Florida,” they said. “A lifelong native of Jacksonville and a former union organizer, Angie’s dedication to put working families first runs deep – and now, she’s running to take that fight to the Senate. Ashley Moody’s votes have cost Florida, from her siding with private insurance companies over Floridians to ripping away healthcare. In November, Florida will have a clear choice at the ballot.”

The Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, also released a statement.

“As an accomplished state representative and union organizer, Angie Nixon has dedicated herself to fighting for working families,” Martin said. “Floridians have chosen a proven leader with the experience and vision to lower costs, expand access to healthcare, make childcare and housing more affordable, fight for workers, protect public education, and deliver results for families across the Sunshine state. The DNC is ready to help elect Angie and work together to flip this seat, win the Senate majority, and deliver for all Floridians.”

Nixon is a state representative for Jacksonville and a former union organizer. She beat former Trump impeachment witness Alex Vindman despite being outspent more than 16 to 1. Vindman’s campaign was criticized by Democratic operatives for its focus on television spending with comparably less regard to field organizing, a strength for both Nixon and the Democratic Socialists of America, which she joined during the campaign.

David Jolly, who won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor on Tuesday night, found himself on MS Now telling voters that he rejects socialism, even as he congratulated Nixon on her victory and called her a “fighter” for education and healthcare.

Conservatives, meanwhile, have already declared the general election a walk for the Republican nominee.

“There are two things I would not want to be if I were running a statewide race in Florida: anti-Israel and communist-curious,” wrote Noah Rothmann in National Review. “The Democratic nominee for Senate, Angie Nixon, is both … There’s more than a whiff of capital ‘S’ socialism in all this. Given the scale of the Cuban and Venezuelan diaspora in Florida – demographics with living memory of the horrors that attend life inside the socialist world – the Sunshine State’s voters are likely to sniff it out. Even if the race for Senate in Florida is now a foregone conclusion, this race will still feature prominently in the national conversation. Why? Because it demonstrates that Republicans are right when they warn that the socialist phenomenon is coming to a town near you.”

Conservatives are dogpiling on US senator Darline Graham’s debate performance on Tuesday evening against US congressman Ralph Norman of South Carolina, as the two Republicans face a primary runoff next week.

Asked if Taiwan and the South China Sea are national security issues for the United States, Graham responded, “I’m just going to be honest here. On national security, I’m not that informed on national security.” Audible groans from the studio audience at the venerable Newberry Opera House ensued.

“So … but I do support the military,” she continued. “My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years. So, I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise.”

Lindsey Graham, Darline Graham’s brother and long-serving South Carolina senator, was notable for his involvement in foreign policy. South Carolina ranks sixth in military veteran population per capita, or about 8.4 percent of the state’s residents.

Darline Graham, a public administrator who has led the South Carolina Commission for the Blind since 2019, was appointed to complete the term of her late brother last month and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, which she has leaned on during the campaign and in debates.

“I fully trust President Trump when it comes to the war in Iran,” Graham said on Tuesday night. “Iran is the weakest they have been in 47 years. The one thing that concerns me is we cannot let them get a nuclear weapon. So I trust President Trump and everything he’s doing. I think he’s got this, and I trust him on it.”

But the thinness of her political resume and her political inexperience have become a point of contention in the contest. At one point during the debate, she referred to South Carolina’s “50 million” residents – a state that has about 5.5 million residents.

Both candidates are running to the right. Each argued against birthright citizenship in opposition to the US supreme court’s ruling affirming the 14th Amendment’s plain language. Norman – who in 2021 advocated for Trump to declare martial law to prevent Joe Biden’s accession to the presidency – called for Anthony Fauci to be imprisoned Tuesday night.

“I have a proven record,” Norman said Tuesday night. “Look me up. Eight years I’ve been in Congress as the most conservative member. You know how I will vote. My resume is my record.”

Results in the runoff election for a temporary successor to US congressman Eric Swalwell in California remain too close to call on Wednesday morning. State Sen. Aisha Wahab has a 51-49 lead of about 1,400 votes over Bay Area Rapid Transit Board President and former Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez, with about two-thirds of the vote counted according to the Associated Press.

Both Wahab and Hernandez are Democrats; California uses a “jungle” primary system for elections in which the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff. Wahab and Hernandez will again face each other again in the November general election for a full two-year term.

Outside spending amplified a race that pitted a relative progressive in Wahab against a centrist Democrat in Hernandez. The United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s political spending arm, contributed at least $1.2m in support of Hernandez, as well as $2.1m from Bold America Pac, which has received significant financial backing from the United Democracy Project, according to Politico.

An announcement of a three-day pause to the start of 50% tariffs on Canadian trade has left business and economic leaders thirsting for a resolution.

“Let’s be clear: the tariff delay provides relief on both sides of the border,” said Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses may not be closing up shop with this news, but an extension doesn’t bring the certainty that a signed interim deal would. We know that stability is in short supply and businesses will take any ounce they can get. This limbo state is not anyone’s preferred outcome – time is of the essence.

“We commend the negotiating team for their work and sense of urgency this week, and call on them to keep it up: ultimately, a resilient and integrated North American economy would be a stronger one for all.”

“The additional time is welcome, but the continued threat of tariffs leaves manufacturers and their workers facing the same damaging uncertainty,” said Dennis Darby, president and CEO of trade group Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, in a statement.

“Businesses cannot confidently make long-term decisions about production, hiring, technology adoption and capital investment without knowing the conditions under which they will trade with their largest market. Delay may buy time, but it does not remove the damage caused by uncertainty.”

President Donald Trump posted late on Tuesday on social media that he had paused the tariffs for three days “based on the fact that Canada and the USA, subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”

Trump has made a point of antagonizing Canada throughout his second term. Retailers in Canada have responded in kind, ridding their shelves of American goods, particularly alcohol. In March 2025, every province of Canada banned the import and distribution of American alcohol. Only Alberta and Saskatchewan have subsequently lifted their bans.

Though the US supreme court struck down much of Trump’s tariff regime earlier this year, the White House announced a 50% tariff on Canadian exports including wine and hockey sticks in July, saying that it sought to hold Canada accountable for discrimination against US-produced cars, alcohol and dairy products.

Most Canadians oppose offering concessions to the United States as part of a trade deal. Almost 70 percent of Canadians want a ban on American alcohol to continue.

Byron Donalds, a congressman backed by Donald Trump, won the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday in the race to succeed Ron DeSantis.

Donalds, who has represented south-west Florida since 2021, trounced three reasonably prominent Republican rivals, including Jay Collins, DeSantis’s handpicked lieutenant governor.

If he wins the November election, as he is expected to do in the conservative stronghold, Donalds would become the first Black governor in any southern US state.

So confident was Donalds of victory that his television advertisements in the weeks leading to the primary ignored his Republican challengers and focused on former Republican congressman David Jolly, who secured the Democratic party’s nomination on Tuesday.

With 80% of the vote counted, incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan and former Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola will be moving forward from Alaska’s open primaries to the general election.

Peltola is currently leading with 48% of the vote with Sullivan following at 42.8%. The other Dan Sullivan – a retired schoolteacher and US Forest Service employee who infuriated his namesake senator by running as a long-shot Republican candidate – is in a distant third place with 2.4% of the vote, followed by Democrat David Leslie and Republican Gerald Heikes, each with about 1.1%.

This election is yet another contest that could tilt the scale in the Democrats’ favor and help them retake control of Congress.

The Guardian’s Chris Stein has more:

Brendan Carr was very firm.

“As a general rule, we don’t get into any discussions that happen with the White House or don’t happen with the White House,” Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), told Politico’s Dasha Burns in a recent interview. Burns had pressed Carr to explain how exactly he came to issue a highly unprecedented order forcing ABC to apply early to renew its eight local broadcast licenses just one day after the man who appointed Carr, Donald Trump, and his wife Melania called for ABC to be punished for a joke made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

“Did you get a call or talk to the president either before or after you made that announcement?” Burns had asked. Later in the interview, Carr repeated his policy: “As a general matter, I don’t speak publicly about conversations with the White House, or whether they happen or don’t happen.”

While Carr may not be keen to detail his relations with the Trump administration, a trove of FCC documents – obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Democracy Forward, and provided to the Guardian – shed light on the close working relationship between Carr, his top staffers and members of Trump’s White House team.

Between 12 March 2025 and 11 February 2026, Carr attended at least eight meetings at the White House, according to the records, and had at least three scheduled calls with administration officials, including two conversations with chief of staff Susie Wiles. He also spoke by phone with administration officials such as controversial health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

In addition, the files provide insight into Carr’s media strategy, including communications with producers at Fox News, and make public previously undisclosed meetings he has held with media titans such as Fox Corp chief executive Lachlan Murdoch and Sinclair Broadcast Group chair David Smith.