New York City Mayor Eric Adams, struggling with sinking approval ratings and a difficult re-election path, is reportedly weighing a role in the Trump administration, which could lead him to exit the mayoral race, according to a Thursday report in The New York Times.
People close to Adams, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he has privately acknowledged to allies that he is seriously looking at other professional opportunities. These conversations have intensified in recent months as his campaign has been plagued by poor polling numbers and persistent corruption allegations.
The Times reported that discussions have included go-betweens for President Trump, among them real estate developer Steve Witkoff. Adams and Witkoff met this week in Florida, a meeting not previously made public. Initially, City Hall attributed Adams’s absence to a “personal matter,” while a campaign spokesperson later said he was marking his 65th birthday. Adams himself explained afterward that he had met with “political figures,” including Miami’s mayor.
While the specifics of the talks remain unclear, they come after several reports in The New York Times and elsewhere that Trump’s circle has reached out to Adams regarding a potential position in Washington. Those same reports noted that Trump’s team has also considered finding a federal role for Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, in hopes of clearing the field for former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to take on Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, who has been criticized for his anti-Israel positions. Sliwa has strongly dismissed the suggestion.
David A. Paterson, the former governor of New York and a longtime friend of Adams, said the mayor told him he intends to stay in the race but has been keeping an open mind. “What ‘I’m listening’ means is that he realizes the odds of winning aren’t what he’d like them to be, so there might be another alternative for him,” Paterson explained.
The maneuvering comes at a time when the mayoral contest is becoming increasingly complicated. Polls consistently show Mamdani holding a solid advantage over his opponents.
Cuomo, who was defeated by Mamdani in the Democratic primary, is continuing his bid as an independent. Adams is also running independently, casting himself as the candidate who can “save” New York from Mamdani. Previous stories have claimed Trump has spoken with Cuomo on multiple occasions and even considered stepping in to block Mamdani’s rise—claims Cuomo has denied.
Mamdani, reacting to speculation about White House involvement, criticized the political maneuvering, calling such efforts “backroom deals” and “corrupt agreements,” which he labeled “an affront to our democracy.”
Mamdani’s controversial anti-Israel record has drawn further scrutiny, including his refusal to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada” and his public criticism of Israel on October 8, 2023—just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel.
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A new survey shows President Donald Trump earning strong marks from voters as he moves forward in his second term.
According to results released Thursday by the Daily Mail and J.L. Partners, Trump’s approval rating stands at 55 percent.
“This is the highest approval figure we have ever shown for Donald Trump,” said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners. The poll reflected a six-point rise compared with the same groups’ survey conducted in July, the Mail noted.
The report added, “The poll of 867 registered voters was conducted from August 21 – September 1 and has a 3.3 percent margin of error.”
Johnson explained, “It might seem surprising, but the news cycle has been ace for the president in recent days: his crime surge in DC is backed by the public, and economic news has been positive.”
In June, a Harvard-Harris survey showed Trump posting his highest approval numbers on immigration, according to Breitbart News.
The poll examined several key issues, comparing Trump’s approval levels with those of Joe Biden. For instance, Trump drew 44 percent support on the economy, while Biden had 37 percent approval in January.
Trump also garners broad approval for his policy of removing illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, with 80 percent of voters backing the approach. Support cuts across party lines, with 88 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of independents, and 72 percent of Democrats agreeing.
In August, Trump achieved a record personal high in an Associated Press poll, which placed his overall job approval at 45 percent, Breitbart reported.
The White House published an article Wednesday crediting Trump’s agenda with delivering major accomplishments:
“President Donald J. Trump’s America First agenda is delivering historic results at an unprecedented pace. From shattering tariff revenue records to securing the border and revitalizing our nation’s capital, the Trump Administration is proving that bold leadership gets real results.”
Meanwhile, Breitbart News highlighted another poll showing Vice President JD Vance leading California Governor Gavin Newsom in seven swing states in a hypothetical presidential matchup.
“The poll was conducted after Trump said that Vance could ‘most likely’ be the ‘heir apparent’ to lead the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement,” Breitbart reported.
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Employees should brace for a significant jump in the cost of their workplace health coverage beginning in 2026.
Although overall inflation has cooled compared with the past few years, businesses are bracing for the sharpest rise in health benefit expenses in a decade and a half, according to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans released Thursday.
For workers, this means higher deductions from paychecks and steeper out-of-pocket bills at the doctor’s office—adding to the financial pressure already caused by persistently elevated consumer prices, which may rise further once President Donald Trump’s new tariffs take effect.
Mercer projects that employees will pay an additional 6% to 7% in premiums on average. While some employers may attempt to hold down premium hikes, they often do so by shifting costs elsewhere, such as increasing copays and deductibles.
“The cost of coverage is going up,” explained Beth Umland, director of research for health and benefits at Mercer. “That’s a combination of higher prices for health care services and higher utilization.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies absorbed rising medical costs to shield their employees, but Mercer found that fewer are continuing that practice.
According to the survey, 59% of employers plan to make cost-cutting adjustments to their health plans in the coming year, up from 44% in 2024. These adjustments typically include raising deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for workers who seek medical care.
Employees will learn the full details of their 2026 benefits during open enrollment periods, which are usually held in the fall.
Sunit Patel, Mercer’s U.S. chief actuary for health and benefits, noted that many companies are trying to give workers more plan options, sometimes with lower price points. A common approach is offering broader provider networks but varying out-of-pocket charges depending on the doctor chosen.
Mercer’s forecast of a 6.5% increase in 2026 would mark the fourth straight year of steep cost growth, following a decade when yearly hikes averaged about 3%. The projection factors in anticipated employer strategies to curb spending. More than 1,700 companies with at least 50 employees were surveyed.
Other research aligns with these findings. The Business Group on Health said employers expect costs to rise 7.6% in 2026, after actual expenses in the past two years exceeded projections by wide margins.
“The story this year is perhaps more daunting and sobering than it ever has been,” Ellen Kelsay, the group’s CEO, said last month.
Health insurers are also preparing for steep increases, with PwC projecting medical costs for employers will grow 8.5% for the third consecutive year. The firm noted that its forecasts for 2024 and 2025 had to be revised higher based on insurers’ actual spending.
Cancer care continues to be the leading factor in rising costs for employers, fueled by higher diagnosis rates and increasingly expensive treatments, the Business Group on Health reported.
This trend has pushed companies to put more emphasis on prevention and early detection, such as expanding coverage for breast cancer screenings and less invasive alternatives to colonoscopies.
The rapid uptake of costly GLP-1 medications has also added to employers’ burdens. Nearly all large companies plan to cover these drugs for diabetes by 2026, while about three-quarters will cover them for obesity.
Around 80% of employers say usage of GLP-1s has already increased, and another 15% expect demand to climb further. To control expenses, many companies plan to require employees using the medications for weight loss to obtain prior authorization, join weight management programs, or fulfill other requirements.
Another contributor to rising costs is the growing demand for mental health services, which more employees are using. Businesses have been working to expand access and reduce stigma, but the additional utilization is driving up overall spending.
Looking ahead, employers are monitoring the potential for tariffs to push health care costs even higher, along with possible ripple effects from Trump’s domestic agenda, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill.” Analysts suggest the legislation could lead to more uninsured Americans, but Patel said it is too soon to measure its full impact given the many uncertainties that remain.
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A top immigration official in the Trump administration announced plans to make the U.S. citizenship test more challenging, saying the current version is “just too easy” and vowing to “declare war on fraud.”
Speaking Thursday at a Washington, D.C. event hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow argued that the exam should better reflect an applicant’s “attachment to the Constitution.”
“Simply put, I want to see the naturalization process returned to where I believe it should have been … based on what the Congress has said, based on what the statute says,” Edlow said, according to Mediaite.
“We’re looking for attachment to the Constitution. We’re looking for an understanding of the civic responsibility of being a U.S. citizen. We’re looking for actual understanding and ability to read and speak and write the English language; and, frankly, this test is just too easy. Six out of 10 questions right now is what people have to get right,” he continued.
Edlow noted that he has spoken to staff around the country and has been troubled by their feedback.
“They’re worried, and they’re looking forward to it,” he said. “They’re thanking me for doing what I’m doing, which pretty much all this comes down to is I am declaring war on fraud. I am declaring war on anyone that is coming to this country and wants to get a benefit but doesn’t want the responsibility of what it means to actually be a U.S. citizen.”
The possible changes mark the latest step by President Donald Trump’s administration to place stricter requirements on those applying for citizenship. Just last week, USCIS announced it would again begin interviewing neighbors and coworkers of applicants, a practice that had not been used since the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
Edlow emphasized that he doesn’t want the exam to be “so hard that it’s impossible” except for the highly educated, but insisted the test must be more rigorous. He suggested that applicants might be required to write an essay on the meaning of American citizenship and hinted that a more uniform format could be introduced going forward.
{Matzav.com}Hamas’s internal security division announced that its forces in Gaza are preparing to carry out executions of individuals accused of working as agents and collaborators for Israel in Gaza City.
The statement indicated that the planned executions are intended to disrupt Israel’s intelligence networks and diminish its ability to collect information ahead of a potential Israeli military campaign in the area.
Earlier accounts revealed that Palestinians who had been detained for spying for Israel admitted during questioning that Israel might be planning a preemptive assault to seize control of Gaza City.
The same report highlighted that Israel often relies on sophisticated technology when targeting militants, with one of the primary tools being the tracking of cell phone signals.
As a countermeasure, Hamas is said to have instructed its members to refrain from using mobile devices, or to keep them switched off, in an attempt to avoid Israeli monitoring and detection.
Despite the fact that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who resides in Ramallah, officially suspended executions years ago and holds the authority to approve such sentences, Hamas continues to carry them out independently in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has openly rejected Abbas’s authority and has long maintained that capital punishment in Gaza can be enforced without his approval.
The majority of Hamas’s executions have involved those accused of spying for Israel. In September 2022, Hamas executed two Palestinians convicted of providing information to Israel that led to the deaths of two individuals.
In May 2023, a military tribunal in Gaza handed down death sentences to several Palestinians convicted of passing intelligence to Israel, ordering executions by hanging and by firing squad.
By July, Hamas’s internal security “deterrence” division reported that it had conducted a number of “high-quality” operations, which included the execution of 12 people accused of collaborating with Israel and engaging in criminal acts.
{Matzav.com}