Trump kicks off week with economic ‘win’ for Iowa

▪ Education Department strikes LGBTQ protections

▪ Iran denies involvement in U.K. incident

President Trump unveiled plans for a Minnesota company to build a new $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, kicking off the week with a dose of positive economic news as the GOP contends with weakening polls just five weeks out from the midterms.

Trump made the announcement alongside executives from Mesabi Metallics, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Republican Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson , who are facing competitive races for House reelection and for Senate, respectively.

“There’s a company known as Mesabi,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “And they’re going to make a big investment in a place called Iowa. I love Iowa. I won Iowa every time. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa.”

The White House said the mill would be the first mega-steel plant to be built in the U.S. since the 1960s. It is expected to begin operating in 2030 and eventually create 1,750 jobs in Iowa.

Iowa is among the handful of historically red states that have become competitive in 2026, as Democrats increasingly see control of the Senate as within reach.

The Hill’s Mallory Wilson reports that because of the tight races, Republicans from the Hawkeye State have had to weigh just how much they want to tie themselves to the president and his administration.

Hinson skipped Vice President Vance’ s trip to Iowa earlier this month, though her campaign cited a scheduling conflict. She has been among the loudest voices calling for federal action to address rising diesel prices.

Miller-Meeks was among the seven Republicans, and two vulnerable Iowa House members, to vote this month to block Trump from continuing the Iran war without first seeking congressional approval.

Since January, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, GOP approval on Trump’s handling of the economy fell from 80 percent to 56 percent and fell from 70 percent to 44 percent on his handling of the cost of living.

“Right now, the races are — it’s more about — it’s, you know, it is affordability issues, it’s the price of diesel in places like Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska and the Midwest, Minnesota,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said yesterday on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“I think that’s the issue,” he added. “ And what’s happening, Iran [has] sort of trumped everything else that’s going on.”

Trump is reportedly considering a pause or partial ban on exporting diesel fuel, though some key voices in the administration are opposed to it.

The Iowa plant marks Trump’s latest effort to revitalize domestic steel manufacturing after levying steel tariffs during his first term and increasing them to 50 percent last year.

Steel prices in America are some of the highest in the world, raising costs for businesses that rely on steel to produce goods. But steel-industry trade groups have pressed Trump not to weaken tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reported , crediting them with drawing more than $40 billion in investments and creating thousands of new jobs.

“President Trump is delivering on his promise to rebuild American industry, reshore manufacturing, and create new jobs. Today’s announcement underscores the President’s historic efforts to revitalize the U.S. steel industry,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement.

▪ The Hill : New polls have Democrats thinking big on Senate.

▪ The Hill : Trump approval slips to historic low in Wall Street Journal survey.

Trump denied discussing arms sales to China during his meeting last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, breaking with U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue’s comments on Sunday. Trump said China would probably want to buy U.S. weapons and it may be a “good idea,” but it wasn’t discussed.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey said that he is leaving the bureau after about a year in the role , planning to return to his family in Missouri. Bailey first shared his title with Dan Bongino, who stepped down in January, and then Christopher Raia, who has served since then.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instructed the Pentagon to deploy “advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities” to defend the upcoming midterms from foreign actors. He directed the head of U.S. Cyber Command to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security to counter possible cyber threats.

FILE – The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

CARVED OUT : The Education Department formally rescinded a Biden-era Title IX interpretation Monday that provided sex-based discrimination protections to students based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The change will require schools to return to Title IX rules as they were interpreted under the first Trump administration in 2020. The president had vowed to end the protections while on the campaign trail in 2024.

When the Biden administration rolled out the protections in 2024, officials restored Obama-era interpretations that the definition of sex discrimination under Title IX applies to cover sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Trump administration overturned former President Obama ’s interpretation during his first term and has now done so again with former President Biden ’s interpretation during his second term.

The Education Department said the move will protect women’s sports.

“We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy, or athletic opportunities of our women and girls,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

The Biden-era rule had already been struck down by a federal judge last fall following a lawsuit from a group of 15 Republican-led states.

The Title IX change wasn’t the only move on LGBTQ rights that the administration made Monday. It also asked the Supreme Court to lift a judge’s block on its policy restricting transgender inmates’ access to hormone treatments and gender-affirming surgeries.

Before the Supreme Court starts its new term next week, it will hear the Trump administration’s latest appeal on Wednesday defending the president’s authority to issue widespread tariffs.

The court already blocked his authority invoking one law, but now as The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld reports for Insider, the administration is attempting to get a green light under a separate statute. “Rinse and repeat, baby!” said one of the litigants. Sign up for Insider and click the link here to read his rundown.

▪ Washington Blade : U.N. human rights chief sounds alarm on ‘onslaught’ against LGBTQ rights.

ROLLING BACK : The administration also on Monday pulled back car efficiency standards requiring automakers to ensure their cars and lightweight trucks use less fuel.

Standards adopted during the Biden administration expected to have the country’s car fleet average 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031. The Trump administration lowered the number to 34.9 miles per gallon.

It argued that the move would make new cars $1,300 cheaper on average, though critics argue owners could pay more on gasoline as a result, in addition to worsening pollution and climate change.

Biden’s regulations were already undermined by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which lowered the penalty imposed on automakers that don’t comply to $0.

▪ The Hill : Samuel Alito recuses from major climate case.

▪ The Hill : House Republican says Americans feel ‘fatigue’ in rising diesel prices.

OVER THE FINISH LINE : The Senate approved a landmark college sports bill Monday night in a 77-22 vote, sending it to the House for consideration after tense negotiations.

The Protect College Sports Act would implement a wide range of rules as part of new federal oversight for the NCAA, including granting student athletes a new federal right to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness. It would cap agents’ fees at 5 percent, guarantee scholarships for 10 years after eligibility and allow athletes to transfer once without having to sit out for a year.

It would also protect the NCAA from antitrust lawsuits and prevent coaches from leaving midseason to coach or take over another program during the same season, among other measures. The legislation’s passage marks a rare bipartisan success as it received sweeping support across the aisle.

The final vote came after senators voted down a series of amendments, including provisions that would have limited increases in ticket prices that schools can charge for major sporting events and capped coaches’ salaries.

But the true hurdle for the bill may now come in the House, where it’s facing more opposition . Critics of the legislation have called it a gift to the NCAA and top conferences, allowing them to stifle the earning potential of the student athletes, especially minorities.

With the House out of session until after the midterms, the lower chamber isn’t expected to take up the bill until later this fall.

▪ Semafor : Ted Cruz wants Republicans to campaign on the bill.

▪ NPR : Athletes-turned-senators have a seat at the table.

ONWARD : Major television networks will continue to provide pool coverage of the president’s daily activities this week despite the White House’s efforts to block CNN from covering him.

Coverage resumed late last week after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back onto the White House grounds following a federal judge’s ruling blocking Trump’s banning of the three outlets from the building. But tensions popped up again after CNN was blocked from covering Trump on Air Force One ahead of his trip to Tennessee for a college football game.

A person familiar with the discussions told The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo that the networks are assessing the TV pool situation on a day-by-day basis. The major networks, which includes NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News, banned together last week in response to the bans, pulling out of pool coverage.

A White House schedule for TV pool rotation announced Sunday listed CNN as the primary pooler for Thursday, when Trump is scheduled to visit Texas and Oklahoma for rallies.

▪ The New York Times : A 7-day standoff that said so much about Trump, the media.

The president will make an announcement about America.gov at 10 a.m. He will participate in a meeting and luncheon on artificial intelligence at 12:30 p.m. and sign executive orders at 5 p.m.

Donald Trump, then the GOP candidate for president, speaks at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio., Sept. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar, File)

NOT OK : Republican senators are pushing back on the president’s new government-funded ads, warning that taxpayer funds shouldn’t be used for such brazen self-promotion.

The Trump administration has now released a few different ads made with government funding in which Trump is heard pledging to “cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists.” The White House has said the ads, which aired during “Fox News Sunday” and several college and professional football games, are “very clearly not campaign ads.”

It said the ads are just a “reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending.”

But The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that GOP senators aren’t buying that argument, warning that the ads create an improper appearance using taxpayer dollars for promotions that could be easily confused with regular campaign ads.

“It’s a great message. I like the message, but it shouldn’t be paid for by taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) noted that the latest ad is nearly identical to one that Trump posted to social media during his reelection campaign, arguing it crosses a red line.

The White House noted that the George W. Bush administration ran a national TV campaign explaining one of his signature legislative accomplishments in March 2004 as he was running for reelection and the Obama administration used national advertising to promote subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said constituents are concerned about affordability and don’t “want to be worried about how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.”

“I don’t know their [the White House’s] rules as well as I know mine, but I know mine would prohibit that,” he said.

▪ CNN : Trump personally helped orchestrate the taxpayer-funded ads.

▪ The Hill : Former White House ethics lawyer says ads could be ‘impeachable offense.’

A B1 bomber is towed past another B1 aircraft at RAF Fairford, a US airforce base in Fairford, England, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

NOT US : Iran strongly denied any involvement in what authorities say was a foiled terrorist attack attempt on a U.S.-operated air base in England.

The Iranian embassy in London said Monday in a post on the social platform X that it “categorically rejects” the “unfounded and malicious speculations” that link Tehran to the individuals detained near the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford air base the day before.

All five men, who are from London and range in age from 23 to 25 years old, were released on bail Monday but remain under investigation. They were initially arrested on explosives and terror charges after three vans considered suspicious were located outside the base.

Laurence Taylor , the head of Britain’s counterterrorism police, told reporters that the men’s release is subject to “stringent conditions” on their movement and contact with others. He did not say whether investigators had found explosives in any of the vans and didn’t take questions.

A robot used to dispose of explosives was used to inspect the vans, but it’s unclear if anything was found.

Taylor said detectives are investigating from “every possible angle,” including that this may have been perpetrated by proxies working on behalf of a “foreign state.”

Trump said he didn’t agree with the release of the suspects on bail.

Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing as mediators work behind the scenes with Iran and the U.S. to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump rejected Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal over the weekend.

▪ The Hill : Trump ‘surprised’ by release of the five men.

▪ The Hill Insider : Cuba tensions on the rise as Trump pushes for change.

Despite popular narratives, free speech is working in Macklemore’s favor , Steven Lubet writes in The Hill.

Democrats have already proven we can deliver on affordability , Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) writes in The Hill.

Actresses Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, from left, join Country Music singer Dolly Parton, right, in front of a mural advertising their motion picture “9 to 5” at the premiere night in Beverly Hills, Calif., on December 12, 1980. (AP Photo)

And finally … Weeks after Dolly Parton ’s death, her classic movie “9 to 5” will return to theaters next month for a one-week run.

NewsNation reported that a newly restored version of the film, which also stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin , will be shown in theaters nationwide from Oct. 9-15.

Disney will donate net proceeds from each U.S. ticket purchase to the Dollywood Foundation, the nonprofit that Parton created in the late 1980s to improve children’s education and literacy, Deadline reported . Proceeds will be used to support her Imagination Library, a program that gives free books to children across the country.

The country music star known as the “Queen of Country” died last month at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer.