Whiplash election year enters its final stretch as Trump holds wild cards

As the final midterm of President Donald Trump’s presidency nears, the political landscape is described as especially volatile, with Trump continuing to dominate the conversation. The Associated Press notes that in early in the cycle the U.S. was not at war with Iran and that the White House East Wing and the Kennedy Center were not under threat, contrasting those assumptions with today’s debates. House Speaker Mike Johnson said some of the turmoil is out of politicians’ control. The article points to shifting congressional maps in Texas, California and Florida, and to Missouri’s Republican attorney general appealing a court ruling that blocked a Trump-backed map. It also cites potential campaign pressure from tariffs on Canada, uncertainty tied to Trump’s efforts to limit mail ballots, and his reported $400 million-plus that could influence the election. Trump’s crypto income of $1.2 billion last year, reported via a federal filing, is linked to a bipartisan Senate push for stronger crypto regulation.