DEAL WITH THE DEVIL: President Trump made a deal to buy Russian diesel fuel to lower prices in the US, effectively feeding Vladimir Putin’s war machine in his effort to conquer Ukraine. The deal undercuts US sanctions against Russia as Trump attempts to avert disaster in the midterm elections.

  Farmers and truckers have been devastated by the price of diesel, now at a national average of  $6.52 a gallon, according to AAA.

  The US has had sanctions on Russian energy exports since they invade Ukraine in 2022.

  Trump promised on his social media that, “Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!”

  Russia, in the midst of its war on Ukraine, is short on gasoline and overflowing with diesel. But there’s a question whether Russia, with its fuel production facilities under attack by Iran, can supply as much diesel as it has promised Trump.

INFINITE SCROLL:

— Asked whether he personally approved the live–stream execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, President Donald Trump said, “Did I approve? Absolutely.”

— President Trump has appointed a new press secretary to replace Karoline Leavitt and … OMG … she’s a beautiful toothy blonde.

  Trump yesterday named  Katie Zacharia, 42, who was briefly a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, to take over briefings at the White House. “She’s a friend of most of you,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I know she likes people. She likes all of you, actually. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

   Zacharia works at Fix California, an organization focused on advancing the conservative agenda in The Golden State. “President Trump has shown America that we can be great again, and he works to effectuate that greatness every single day,” Zacharia wrote on Twitter/X. “His confidence is a true privilege, and his leadership is a blessing to this country.” 

— The Trump administration imposed severe sanctions on the International Criminal Court, cutting it off from the international finance system. The US action came announcement came just hours after a former ICC judge was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. 

  Trump has accused the ICC of violating the sovereignty of the US and other countries, Israel included.

  Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a video that, “We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us,” He said. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”

— Outraged that once again he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump told a rally in Syracuse, New York that he deserves eight Peace Prize medals. “Today they gave out the Nobel Peace Prize to a person – I never heard of the person. Nobody did. It’s a mystery person,” Trump said. 

  He also posted a 600-word screed on his social media complaining about not winning the prize after his claim of settling eight wars.

  The award was given to former UN human rights chief Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former judge on the International Court of Justice.

  “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and, really, enemies of civilization,” Trump raged. “And we will not forget, Norway.”

  Norway does not administer the prizes. It’s the Nobel Committee.

IT’S POLITICAL: Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico came back to his campaign after nine days of absence. Appearing at the Austin City Limits music festival, he said that he’s had a “nasty case of the flu” and had been “home sick in bed.”

  Talarico’s absence had been an open door for criticism from Republican opponent Ken Paxton, who’s able to destroy himself without help. The NY Times reports on an incident in Paxton’s long history of escaping charges of corruption, citing a 2014 deposition about how he had been able to accumulate great wealth on a government salary.

  Testifying before SEC interrogators in 2014, Paxton used the phrases “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall” more than 200 times.

  About an occasion in which a man gave him $100,000 worth of stock, Paxton said he tried to pay for it but the man said, “I can’t take your money. God doesn’t want me to take your money.” 

THE OBIT PAGE: Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka, who as a rock-jawed coach led the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl championship in 1985, and whose hard-edged name became a punchline on Saturday Night Live, has died at age 86.

  On the field for 12 years, Ditka had 427 receptions, 43 touchdowns, and 5,812 receiving yards. He bore the nicknames “Iron Mike,” “Da Coach” and “The Hammer.” 

  A shouter on the sidelines, Ditka still had a tough guy charm and was beloved by Chicago football fans. He was the coach for the lunch pail crowd, the “Grabowskis” he called them. After leaving football, he became an analyst for NBC, CBS, ESPN.

 THE SPIN RACK: New York City’s mystery of “Mole Men” continues, with four unidentified men and a woman popping out of a manhole cover and speeding off in a car. There have been multiple sightings of people coming out of the sewers, but none have been apprehended and the authorities don’t know what the sewer visitors are doing. — The quaint little town of Carmel-by-the-Sea in northern California just got numbered street addresses for the first time in its 110 years. Less than a month before the midterm elections, registered voters are being required to update their address.

BELOW THE FOLD: Speed cameras still in their testing phase clocked 100,000 incidents of speeding along the Pacific Coast highway in Malibu over a nine day period. Obviously drivers have found the only road in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area where you can break the speed limit.

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