Morning Frame is only available for paid subscribers. If you want to access the full daily briefing and impress your friends and colleagues with your keen understanding of shifting narratives, subscribe below!
Monday, November 9, 2026
Last week’s stunning midterm results fade into recent history, to be instantly replaced with the far more interesting evolving narratives like what the “blue tsunami” meant, and how Donald Trump and Democrats will react to historic trouncing. Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a stunning interview with the president in which Ross Douthat did a remarkable job pressing Trump on the billions he’s made in office, how immigration affected the midterms, and if he’d forgive his enemies to get into heaven. Trump shrugged his shoulders about his massive three-billion windfall in office, admitted immigration went too far, and refused to turn the other cheek and show grace to James Comey and Nancy Pelosi. He suggested limited amnesty for some undocumented workers, which angered the right, which didn’t exactly square with his naming Stephen Miller, the chief architect of a draconian immigration policy, as his new White House Chief of Staff. Meanwhile, hubristic Democrats continue to misread the results, showing a lack of discipline and competence that signals they might get this wrong.
01. Profiting From the Presidency? Trump Says He Can’t Divest From Cash as His Own Side Cries Corruption
[Gaining Traction]. Trump waved off a $3 billion gain to 60 Minutes, the same weekend after a former aide’s pay-for-play charge against Susie Wiles left his own side saying corruption.
Ross Douthat challenged President Donald Trump on the $3 billion growth of his net worth since he returned to office, citing a report from Forbes. Trump explained his riches by saying “so did everyone,” and after Douthat said he didn’t make that money, Trump said he “should’ve had stock.” Asked about World Liberty Financial, the crypto company he co-owns with his sons and which took money from investors tied to the United Arab Emirates, he said: “I know nothing about it.” Asked why he won’t divest, he said: “How do you divest from cash?” Every president has this problem, he said, “going back to George Washington.” He also plans to pardon “anybody that got within a thousand miles of the Oval Office.”
The charge that the Trump White House is a profit center grew, as even aides in his own administration made the same. Calley Means, who ran the MAHA effort at the White House until he quit, said on Face the Nation that Susie Wiles and her deputies catered to vape, sugar and pesticide donors and that her daughter’s lobbying firm went “from 0 to $30 million a year.” James Blair, one of the deputies he named, told Playbook the charge is “scurrilous, false, and defamatory.” Senator Ron Johnson said on tape there is corruption “within the Trump administration.” Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed Means on CNN as “something that someone says on a podcast.” More than half of voters told the Fox News Voter Poll that corruption factored into their vote, including half of Republicans. The three morning shows barely touched it.
TAKEAWAY: When Ron Johnson is admitting there is corruption in the White House, you know you’ve lost the room.