2018 Day 607: Trump declassified Comey's text messages and 20 pages of FISA documents related to Carter Page; he plans to cap the number of refugees allowed into the country at an all-time low of 30,000; he called Brett Kavanaugh "a great gentleman" who doesn't deserve to have his allegations of sexual assault discussed in public; and Trump says he's prepared to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports. Sep 18, 2018
2019 Day 972: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of having carried out an "act of war" with strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia; Trump directed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "to substantially increase" U.S. sanctions on Iran; the White House fired the Department of Homeland Security's general counsel; the acting director of national intelligence refused testify before Congress or hand over a whistleblower complaint to lawmakers; and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. Sep 18, 2019
2020 Day 1338: The Department of Health and Human Services rewrote the CDC guidance about who should be tested for the coronavirus last month and then “dropped” it on the CDC website despite staff scientists’ objections; the CDC reversed its coronavirus testing guidance and now recommends that people get tested if they've been exposed to COVID-19; Trump – contradicting his administration's own health officials – claimed there will be enough doses of coronavirus vaccine for every American by April; and United States lawyers at Julian Assange’s extradition trial accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon in return for information that would resolve the "ongoing speculation about Russian involvement" in the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails. Sep 18, 2020
2023 Day 972: Kevin McCarthy’s latest short-term funding proposal to avert a government shutdown doesn't have enough votes to pass; federal prosecutors asked the judge overseeing Trump’s indictment for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election to impose “a narrowly tailored” gag order on him; Trump accused "liberal Jews" – on the final day of the Jewish New Year celebration – of voting “to destroy America & Israel”; Trump, who appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, called Florida's six-week abortion ban a “terrible mistake”; Biden sent acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit to help mediate negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers; and 75% of Americans said they support the United Auto Workers. Sep 18, 2023
2024 Day 1338: The Springfield City School District has received 36 shooting and bomb threats since Trump and JD Vance falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating pets; at least 111 former Republican national security officials endorsed Kamala Harris, calling Trump "unfit to serve again as president"; the Georgia Election Integrity Coalition – a group of officials and election deniers – is reportedly planning to call the results of November’s election into question before a single vote is cast; the FBI is investigating suspicious packages containing “an unknown substance” sent to elections officials in more than 16 states; the Teamsters won’t endorse a presidential candidate for the first time since 1996; the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point and projected two more cuts before the end of the year; U.S. will face a shortage of six million workers by 2032; and 54% of Americans said they support the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, including 86% of Republicans, 58% of independents, and 25% of Democrats. Sep 18, 2024
2025 Day 1703: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened ABC stations with “remedies” and possible license revocations over Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about Charlie Kirk’s killing; Disney and ABC responded by suspending Kimmel’s show "indefinitely"; Trump celebrated ABC’s suspension of Kimmel’s show, urged NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and threatened to strip broadcast licenses from networks critical of him; Obama condemned the Trump administration after pressuring ABC into suspending Jimmy Kimmel, calling it “government coercion"; House Democratic leaders said they would support a Republican resolution honoring Charlie Kirk. Sep 18, 2025