Morning Frame is a daily digest for news-obsessed, confident, and charming readers. It highlights what stories are emerging, crossing partisan bubbles, and fading. Powered by Narrative Prism software, which ingests thousands of bits of media every day.
Monday, September 28, 2026
A third government-paid Trump ad ran during two NFL games Sunday. The ad is a recycled 2024 campaign ad and features Trump’s voice saying, "This is the final battle," and promises to "rout the fake news media." The closing tag says paid for by the U.S. government. AP puts the spend at $443,000. Thursday, the reported figure was $13,000. Not significant dollars in terms of a federal budget, of course, but should any federal dollars go towards a political campaign advancing the administration in power? No, at least in the eyes of even GOP Senator John Kennedy, who said on CBS that no public official should "spend public money on private ads for themselves." Meanwhile, the White House prefers to keep its fight with the press going, removing CNN from Air Force One for a Saturday trip to Knoxville.
01. Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Ads Multiply and Reach the NFL
[Gaining Traction]. On Friday, it was a DC local spot on Fox News. By Sunday, it was three ads, two NFL games, and a broadcast network warning its own viewers.
The ad that ran during at least two NFL games Sunday is a 2024 Trump campaign spot with a new tag on the end. The footage matches nearly precisely. Trump’s voice narrates the spot, promising “the final battle” and saying he’ll “demolish the deep state” and “rout the fake news media.” The only difference is the tag at the end reading “Paid for by the U.S. government.”
The right-of-center Washington Times headlined its report as the Trump administration airing a Trump campaign ad with public money. AP reported that the first of the three spots has cost at least $443,000 so far.
Margaret Brennan warned her Face the Nation audience Sunday that one of the ads was about to run during the show she was anchoring. She then accurately described the ad as a news item before it aired, down to the voice calling Trump “the toughest, most resilient person I ever met.”
The White House defended the ads as public service announcements, calling them “educational and unapologetically patriotic.” Progressive consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen filed complaints with the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel on Thursday.
CNN opened its 6 and 7 a.m. hours discussing the ad. Morning Joe opened on it too, with Joe Scarborough blasting it “such an Orban... Putin move,” and criticizing Republicans for letting Trump “seize” public dollars. Fox & Friends never mentioned it in either hour.
TAKEAWAY: It seems self-evident that this propaganda crosses a big line, as even traditionally pro-Trump voices are calling foul. But the timing of this story comes just as the press ban moves out of A blocks and is replaced by this story, which is a great outcome for a White House that much prefers this leading a rundown over a disastrous Iran War, the high price of gas and death spiral polling numbers.
02. Trump’s Own Base Walks Away From Him
[Gaining Traction]. Friday, the break came from senators voting against his war. Today, two of the superfans who followed him from rally to rally told Playbook he can’t be trusted.
Trisha Hope joined the Front Row Joes in 2018, after publishing a book of Trump’s tweets that helped pay for her travel to his rallies. She gave up her apartment in Texas and bought an RV to follow him. She told Playbook he is “a fraud and liar,” and that if Republicans lose the midterms and he is impeached again, “I will be walking the halls of Congress in support of that impeachment.” Rick Frazier, a founding Joe who has been to more than 100 rallies, says “he can’t be trusted” and that he may not vote in November. Frazier lives in Ohio. He also told Playbook that 95 percent of the Joes are still with Trump.
Republican approval of Trump fell to 73 percent in last week’s Reuters/Ipsos poll, from 82 the week before, and Breitbart put that on its homepage Sunday. The Cook Political Report moved 15 House races toward Democrats. Its founder, Charlie Cook, told ABC “it was almost like the bottom fell out suddenly.” Thom Tillis told Tapper that holding the House will be “impossible or very difficult.”
A Trump adviser told CNN’s Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes the midterms are “obviously going to be F-ing rough,” and that the best case is keeping the Senate and losing the House. The plan, per CNN, is to quit chasing swing voters and turn out the base. Trump campaigns this week in Oklahoma and Alabama, states he won by more than 30 points. On Fox News, Larry Kudlow used his first Sunday as host of Sunday Morning Futures to call Trump’s $5,000 midterm check “a little hokey.”
TAKEAWAY: Trump spent his weekend at two of the safest of spaces he could find, attending a Texas-Tennessee college football game in Knoxville and the President’s Cup golf tournament at the tony Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago. Missing from his weekend schedule? His classic Trump rallies, which might be due to a lack of support.
03. The Iran War Now Runs on the Midterm Calendar
[Gaining Traction]. Iran floated a seven-day plan Friday. Over the weekend Trump rejected it, and the Journal reported he has told aides he expects the bombing to start again after the election.
Trump rejected Iran’s plan Saturday and told Axios’s Barak Ravid, “They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make.” When asked whether he might resume strikes, he said, “I am always thinking about it.” The Wall Street Journal reported he has told aides he expects the bombing to start again after the midterms. Mike Waltz, his UN ambassador, was asked about that on both NBC and CNN Sunday and dismissed it as “anonymous reporting” and “some reporting by a newspaper.
He also never said it was wrong.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Kristen Welker that Iran has “no reason to come back to diplomacy,” that “we don’t care about, you know, U.S. midterm elections,” and that Iran will stand firm “even if it comes to a doomsday war.” He also said Tehran is still waiting for a formal answer through the mediators.
Rep. Jim Himes told Face the Nation that, as he sees it, the Trump administration just gave Iran undue influence in the midterm elections. If Iran wants Republicans to lose, it has the Houthis fire at five ships, the price of oil and gas spikes, and “Mike Lawler and Ashley Hinson lose their elections.”
Welker played a clip of Trump saying Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated,” for Ambassador Waltz. He later admitted Iran “moved and dispersed highly enriched uranium.”
TAKEAWAY: The disastrous Iran war and its negative effects at the pump are a big issue with midterm voters. Trump’s refusal of any sort of temporary peace deal with Iran might make him look strong (in his own eyes at least), but it's hurting people's pocketbooks.
“I don’t think any public official, including President Trump, or Kristi Noem, or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.”
That’s Republican Senator John Kennedy going against the White House by telling Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan that President Trump shouldn't spend public money on ads for himself. “Now, the White House sees it differently,” he added before comedically acknowledging his public defection, “I may end up with a sombrero on my head.”
He typically plays the role of folksy defender on Sunday television, as he did for most of his Face the Nation segment. He backed the rejection of Iran’s offer (”The president’s not Bambi’s baby brother”) and cheered the $810 million Trump canceled without Congress. Then Margaret Brennan told him the government-paid Trump ad was running on her show that morning, and he drew a line.
The data tells the real, better stories beneath the headlines.
Networks Resume Pool Coverage Without CNN: The five-network pool returned to covering the president after last week's court order that temporarily ended the press ban. On Saturday, the White House pulled CNN from Air Force One rotation and put pro-Trump Real America's Voice in its place. Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC the president "has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane."(The New York Times)
Fetterman Calls Himself a “Lifelong Republican”: When asked why he doesn't become an independent during a Texas Tribune event, the Pennsylvania Democrat answered, "because I'm a lifelong Republican" before correcting himself. He then spent Sunday insisting the party label question can wait until after the midterms. (Fox News)
Talarico Dares Paxton to a Fox News Debate: The Texas Democrat posted a voicemail he left Ken Paxton inviting the Republican Senate rival to a Fox News debate with Bret Baier moderating. A GOP-aligned poll shared with Playbook has the race tied at 48 (Politico)
Based on transcripts from the 6 and 7 a.m. hours of Fox & Friends, CNN This Morning, News Central, and Morning Joe.
“Donald Trump’s Joes are starting to feel like they overpaid for the front row.” That’s the notable lede of Politico Playbook’s Monday morning edition, which explains how even a group of Trump’s most avid supporters, called “Front Row Joes,” are losing their religion. Named for their consistent presence at Trump rallies, Playbook quotes a few who are more likely to sit this election out. Things are not looking good for a Trump-tied Republican Party with midterms just five weeks away. The best evidence for the writing on the wall? Fox & Friends spent nearly a half hour of their 6 am coverage detailing a juror holdout from the Lindsey Clancy trial instead of defending Trump or attacking Dems. Meanwhile, polls go from bad to worse, and Jonathan Lemire said the word “wipe out” as a way to describe what the GOP has started to expect.
The Morning Frame tracks which political stories are spreading, which are stalling, and how you can tell the difference. Powered by Narrative Prism.