Does Trump Want to... Cancel the Midterms?
The president goes cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, Republicans pirouette on the cusp of losing their House majority, and CBS News grapples with a pair of rat problems?
💰 On this day in 2021, Elon Musk became the richest man in the world, worth some $186 billion. In the five years since, he’s expanded his war chest to a whopping $714 billion. But at least he’s doing good in the world, like *checks notes* ripping food from the hands of starving children… Oy vey…
Good morning! Peter here, once again reporting live from Gotham City, with a dollop of good news before we make like the Dark Knight and dredge through a proper sewer of bullshit. Because this edition of ‘First Draft’ is sponsored by Ground News, there is no paywall! Huzzah! Read away, my friends! However, do me a favor and tell me your favorite Batman flick in the comments!
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the president of the United States seemingly belongs in the very “insane asylums” he’s oh-so obsessed with, White House officials reveal they’re deadly serious about annexing Greenland, podcaster-turned-deputy FBI director-turned-podcaster Dan Bongino kicks off yet another MAGA civil war, and Bari Weiss struggles with both a metaphorical and literal rat issue at the Tiffany Network.
🚨 Don’t miss our LIVE in-person event in DC: Join Mehdi, Swin, Ro Khanna, Joy Reid, Jim Acosta, Sarah Matthews, Miles Taylor, and another very special political guest for a powerful evening at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, to mark one year of Trump, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026!
👑 The King Is Mad
Yesterday, on the five-year anniversary of a Capitol insurrection that saw thousands of brainwashed Joe and Josephine Six-packs attempt to end American democracy as we know it, Donald Trump stood before his House Republican caucus and floated the idea of finally making good on the Jan. 6 rioters’ mission.
“They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm,” the president lamented, warning he would be impeached again by a new House Democratic majority.
“I wish you could explain to me what the hell’s going on with the mind of the public… We have the right policy. [Democrats] don’t… They had the worst policy. We have to even run against these people? Now, I won’t say cancel the election, they should cancel the election, because the fake news will say, ‘He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’ They always call me a dictator.”
Well, yes, Mr. President, that label does at times feel apt (at the very least with a “wannabe” in front of it) given your past behavior.
You are the man, after all, who just last August suggested: “A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator.”
You are the man who, during the 2024 campaign, mused that you would be a dictator on your first day in office should you reclaim the White House.
You are the man who routinely rags on federal judges and courts when rulings don’t go your way.
You are the man who, nigh-day in and day out, threatens media companies, vows to challenge broadcast licenses, and sics lawsuits upon journalists and outlets that dare criticize you.
You are the man who has deployed federal forces into American cities.
You are the man who last year invoked Napoleon to declare you’re incapable of violating and law.
And you are the man who watched, in real time, as a violent mob beat police officers with flagpoles bearing your name, smeared feces on the walls of the people’s house, and hunted for lawmakers while chanting about hanging your own vice president and then waited hours before halfheartedly suggesting they go home. Even then, you made sure to tell them you loved them!
And now, five years to the day after the closest brush with democratic collapse in modern American history, you stand before your party and toy with the idea of scrapping elections altogether, as if the only real mistake made by the mob was their boorish execution.
Now, Trump’s defenders will say ‘But wait, Peter, he said he wouldn’t cancel the elections.’ Grow a prefrontal cortex, you goons! Why did he even mention such an extreme, unconstitutional, and anti-American idea? With Trump, it is always a case of testing the waters, seeding new and outrageous plans, prodding what he can get away with. The reason he is suddenly saying he won’t cancel elections is clearly, nakedly, PORNOGRAPHICALLY because he has thought about whether or not he could get away with canceling the midterms! Again, remember, this is the man who five years ago sent an armed mob to the Capitol to try and cancel the result of an election.
But enough of ancient history. Headlines from last month are practically hieroglyphics in this illiterate, TikTok age… What’s even more concerning is what the Bananas Orange Man has done in just this week!
As I sit here writing this lede, a New York Times push notification has interrupted my flow to inform me that the dynamic duo of Little Marco and Karoline Leavitt have told lawmakers that the president intends to secure the annexation of Greenland via either America’s wallet or its nuclear arsenal.
It’s insane. But here’s something even more insane.
I beg you, beware the harlequin buffoonery. Do not allow yourself to be lulled into complacency by the Trump term 1.0 rationale that the man is crazy like a fox. No, he’s just simply mad. He’s mad, nihilistic, dangerous, and a laughingstock that’s no laughing matter. Put simply: he’s The Joker.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Trump sees green in Greenland: As I touched on above, next on Trump’s imperialistic hit list could be Greenland after the White House openly said he was discussing “options” for “acquiring” the Danish territory, including through brute force. European leaders rallied behind Greenland, and Denmark warned that if Trump follows through on his threat of a military attack, it could crumble the NATO alliance.
California congressman dies: Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a pro-Trump Republican who was serving his seventh term, died at age 65 during a procedure after suffering a medical emergency. His death, along with Marjorie Taylor-Greene’s resignation, shrinks the Republican advantage in the House to a 218-213, two-vote majority.
A win in Wyoming: The Wyoming Supreme Court struck down two near-total abortion bans, including the nation’s first ban specifically on abortion pills. The conservative state’s high court ruled 4-1 that the extreme measures violated the Wyoming Constitution, writing: “A woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion.”
Pete’s a pig: The Pentagon has launched a six-month review of women in ground combat purportedly to ensure military “effectiveness,” according to a memo obtained by NPR. The sexist undertaking comes after Pete Hegseth said in 2024 that the US “should not have women in combat roles.” Two months later, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed him as Secretary of Defense.
🧠 Pop Quiz!
Many are speculating that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar will run for the governor's seat after Tim Walz's decision not to seek re-election. How many former and current US senators are running for governor in 2026 so far?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
💬 Quote Unquote
“Joe, the difference between Iraq and this is that Bush didn’t keep the oil. We’re going to keep the oil.”
That’s Trump saying the quiet part out loud (again!) to MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough on the phone.
After the US strike in Venezuela, Trump is now escalating threats against Greenland, Mexico, Iran, and Colombia. It’s an unprecedented time, with an incredible amount of misinformation around the political narrative.
Depending on which media outlet you choose, the story is framed in completely different ways. Some outlets treat these threats with the attention they deserve, calling out the undemocratic and dangerous nature of Trump’s words. Others glaze over them, focusing on speculation and partisan framing.
That’s where Ground News can help. Ground News gathers reporting from 50,000+ sources worldwide, allowing you to compare how the story is covered across the political spectrum. You can instantly see each outlet’s political bias and ownership. The unique Blindspot feature also allows you to uncover perspectives your news diet is missing.
When tensions are rising and confusion dominates, seek clarity. With Ground News’ Vantage Plan, you can get all these features and the full context before it’s too late.
Visit groundnews.com/zeteox and get 40% off the Vantage Plan — less than $5 a month.
(This portion of the post was sponsored content.)
🐀 RAT RACE AT CBS
Zeteo’s Prem Thakker has the latest from inside CBS News, where Bari Weiss is wreaking havoc on a depressing newsroom.
Paramount Skydance spent $150 million to buy the blog The Free Press and install Bari Weiss as the new “Editor-in-Chief” at CBS News. What they didn’t spend money on? Apparently, almost anything else.
Sources inside CBS tell Zeteo that the CBS offices in New York City are a “dump.” Abandoned offices. Broken water fountains. Bathrooms that don’t lock. Rat and bug infestations.
“Everything is old,” one source said, simply. The walls, doors, basic bones of the building. Even in areas that have gotten surface level updates, rat traps are still scattered around the baseboards. “You can’t bring people there for meetings.”
While some of these issues are longstanding, the lack of investment in fixing them has been especially frustrating for CBS staff in recent months.
Subsequent expenses have only rubbed salt in the wound.
To roll out the relaunch of CBS ‘Evening News,’ anchored by Tony Dokoupil, Weiss made plans for a private chartered plane to take the show on a 10-city tour, featuring possible segments of Dokoupil partying at an exclusive nightclub or jet skiing with rapper DJ Khaled.
“Maintaining stuff is boring, doing two-weeklong national ‘Evening News’ tours is flashy and cool,” another CBS source said.
Beyond basic maintenance, the network is reeling after additional layoffs, which has left staff stretched thin, under the new editorial structure overseen by Weiss. Another source familiar with the editorial mayhem described it as a “ticking time bomb.” The consequences, as seen by Dokoupil’s flub during his evening news premiere, may already be present. On Monday, the anchor mixed up a segment transition, leading to an uncomfortable moment of dead silence on-air, with the new lead anchor saying out loud: “First day, first day, big problems here.”
The hiccup came just days after Dokoupil pledged: “I can promise you we’ll be more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or any one else of his era.”
While Dokoupil’s first swings at bat may not be up to par with Walter Cronkite, it appears the late, beloved CBS anchor’s legacy isn’t being honored elsewhere anyhow.
The old radio room where Cronkite’s desk was, as one source put it, “trashed.”
That source was despondent about the broader state of affairs: “I dreamed of working at CBS since I was a kid. And now sometimes I look around and think… this is it?”
I wish I could thank you for that stellar reporting, Prem, but as a CBS News veteran, I just want to curl up in a ball and DIE. Perhaps, Bury Weiss herself can cover my corpse. We know that’s one of her natural talents!
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
The Israeli government has perfected what Zeteo contributor Diana Buttu calls “death by a thousand cuts” – the slow, methodical way of killing Palestinian life. Israel’s latest cut? It’s banning of dozens of international aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, from Gaza and the West Bank.
Diana, in her latest ‘Diary from a Palestinian in Gaza’ column, examines the deadly impact the ban will have and questions why there hasn’t been more outrage from the very Western countries that are home to these vital humanitarian organizations.
It will hit your inbox soon.
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza: A Palestinian man was killed Tuesday by an Israeli drone strike east of Khan Younis. At least 422 Palestinians have been killed since the so-called “ceasefire” agreement came into effect.
🇨🇴🇺🇸 Colombia doesn’t hold back: Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio warned that the country would use military force in response to any foreign aggression, as Trump continues to threaten Colombia after invading Venezuela. Seems like the rest of the world isn’t down with Trump’s so-called ‘Donroe Doctrine’!
🇸🇾 Deadly day in Syria: At least four people were killed Monday as fighting broke out between the Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Aleppo. The violence comes just days after senior SDF leaders met with government officials to discuss the integration of the two military forces.
🇸🇩 Sudan death toll climbs: Thirteen people, including children, were killed Tuesday in a drone strike in the North Kordofan region of Sudan, according to the United Nations. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Since the end of October 2025, more than 65,000 people have been displaced from across the Kordofan region.
🤦 WTF?!
Video by @ArthurDelaneyHP on Twitter.
Listen to what these J6ers are saying to the police officers. Just absolutely vile.
👊LET THEM FIGHT
Bring out the popcorn!
🧠 Trivia answer: Four senators.
ICYMI From Zeteo
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad contributed to this newsletter.
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Lego Batman is the only true Batman.
I always say: "these are dark days" … and then Trump says hold my adderall…