The Political Markup for July 25, 2026

Politics

At the beginning of his first term in 2017, Trump’s businesses generated revenue of $594 million. In 2025, the beginning of his second term, they generated $2.24 billion, as Trump and his family ignore conflicts of interest between their businesses and his public position.

Democrat attorneys general and secretaries Of state have been meeting and preparing for possible election interference and intimidation by the Trump Administration.

Trump supported Lindsey Graham’s sister to succeed him in part because appointing Russell Fry to the U.S. Senate position would create one less Republican vote in the U.S. House.

Trump has cut the amount of national intelligence staff in half since the start of his second administration.

Conservatives opposed to JD Vance have started attacking him, as he’s believed to be a frontrunner in 2028.

The U.S. Transportation Department is believed to be renaming Penn Station in New York City after Trump.

Economy

In court documents, the Trump Administration admitted to intentionally canceling energy grants to parts of the country who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 and are represented by Democrats.

Businesses continue to sue the Trump Administration for its ongoing tariff schemes.

Over the next two years, the United Arab Emirates is planning to construct new shipping ports on its east coast off the Indian Ocean, helping to increase Mideast trade without going through the Strait of Hormuz.

International

Next week Trump is holding separate meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Benjamin Netanyahu. In September he’s holding a state visit for Xi Jinping.

While Trump alleges election interference by foreign adversaries in the U.S., he tried sending two State Department officials to Brazil to sow doubt in their elections and support the far-right presidential candidate.

Iran threatened to attack Britain and any other country who supports the U.S. and Israel war against them.

The new, harder-line Iranian leader is more interested in having a nuclear weapon than his father, who was killed at the beginning the war. This raises questions about Trump and Israel’s decision to start the war, which they claim was to stop Iran from having the weapon. Since the war began, it’s believed that Iran has recovered and relocated some of its nuclear components.

Comments by the wife of a U.S. soldier killed in the Iran war seem to contradict a statement by Trump that this soldier and three others recently killed had all expressed support for the war and its alleged mission to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. The Trump Administration is also fudging casualty data so it appears that less troops have died in the war.

Ebola continues to spread in Africa, with over 3,000 confirmed cases and nearly 1,500 deaths.

Trump is considering military action in Mali, where an al-Qaeda group has been terrorizing the African region.

Minnesota

Republican-endorsed candidates for governor and U.S. Senate face strong challengers who have better name recognition and more campaign funds, calling into question the benefit of the Minnesota Republican Party and its endorsement process.

This is backed up by new polling from KSTP and SurveyUSA which shows the endorsed Republicans trailing behind the other candidates:

• Republican governor primary

  • Mike Lindell — 35%

  • Lisa Demuth — 26%

  • Kendall Qualls (GOP-endorsed) —11%

  • Another Republican — 5%

  • Undecided — 22%

• Republican U.S. Senate primary

  • Michele Tafoya — 41%

  • Royce White — 10%

  • Tom Weiler — 7%

  • Adam Schwarze (GOP-endorsed) — 5%

  • Another Republican — 8%

  • Undecided — 28%

The other races included in the poll:

• Democrat U.S. Senate primary

  • Angie Craig — 40%

  • Peggy Flanagan — 40%

  • Another Democrat — 4%

  • Undecided — 16%

• Attorney General race

  • Keith Ellison (D) — 42%

  • Ron Schutz (R) — 38%

  • Undecided — 20%

Angie Craig and Peggy Flanagan are debating on MPR on Monday at 11:00 AM.

Bernie Sanders rallied with Peggy Flanagan at First Avenue.

Melissa Hortman’s father-in-law, a Republican, and other Hortman family members criticized Todd Blanche, Daniel Rosen, and the Trump Administration for not securing the death penalty for Vance Boelter.

MPR released a voting guide in advance of the primary where voters can see who’s running on their Democrat and Republican ballots.