Politics and views in the United States

Trump promises money as the GOP is at risk of electoral disaster, TPS for Salvadorans gets an automatic extension – although the migrants remain uncertain and George W Bush shares his memories of 9/11.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We will make our nation stronger, safer, richer, freer, and greater than it has ever been before.

You know that's what's happening.

President Donald Trump promises every adult citizen $5,000 if Republicans hold the House and Senate.

It's extremely unlikely Congress would back the legally questionable trillion-dollar pledge, not the first time the president's promised to pay out of this kind, and the GOP faces long odds to hold its razor-thin House majority.

A new UMass Amherst poll confirms more voters favor Democrats in both chambers.

Much of Republican unpopularity is rooted in the affordability crisis, making it harder to afford food, fuel, and health care.

Trump says the administration also wants to send a $500 rebate check to around 1 million people he claims were overcharged for their Affordable Care Act coverage.

Congress's failure to renew ACA premium subsidies is forcing many to go without health insurance.

Brad Woodhouse is with Protect Our Care. $500 is a drop in the bucket compared to what Americans are paying because Trump and Republicans gutted health care to bankroll massive tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.

Data from the United Way says more than 4 in 10 Connecticut residents can't consistently make ends meet.

The 2024 figures show more than half a million households statewide don't have the nearly $120,000 income, a family of four needs, not counting emergencies.

Daniel Fitzmaurice with the United Way of Connecticut says people are skipping medical care to pay for rent, utilities, and groceries.

We certainly hear about people delaying or denying medical care.

You know, I don't fill the prescription.

I don't even go to the dentist anymore because I don't want to know what it's going to cost to get the cavity filled.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is blocking Missouri from using newly gerrymandered congressional maps in the midterms.

But Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has previously said he would refuse to accept the outcome since state voters cast their primary ballots under the new maps.

Critics charged the Republican delayed a challenge to the GOP-led redistricting in order to force its use in the primary.

Six other Republican secretaries of state want the high court to block an administration move to civilly limit mail-in voting.

Their brief argues there's not enough time to implement the plan.

170,000 Salvadorans nationwide had their temporary protected status automatically extended for six months.

The Department of Homeland Security failed to formally publish the expected TPS termination, leaving those Salvadorans in limbo.

Morada Wouda is with the New York Immigration Coalition.

Instead of providing families with the certainty they deserve, the federal government has remained silent on the status of their legal protections. leaving Salvadorian TPS holders scrambling, wondering if and when they will be separated from their families, their jobs, and the communities they call home.

It's been 25 years since the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Speaking at his presidential center in Dallas, former President George W.

Bush describes what he felt when he first heard America was attacked on what was a sunny Tuesday morning.

I became a wartime president.

There is no doubt in my mind this was not a law enforcement event.

This was a war.

And the job of the president and the country and his team is to rally the nation to do what's necessary to protect our people.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.