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Why this matters:

• David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years, and one shared a voicemail with the AP from last winter in which he told her that he thought someone should slit her throat.
  
  

• Brouillette’s troubling past further challenges how thoroughly the Department of Homeland Security has vetted recruits as it went on a hiring spree to help carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. 
  
  

• ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that the agency will not confirm or deny “attempts to dox” its officers. “The ICE officer in question has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training including use of force training,” Bis said. Brouillette didn’t respond to text messages or an email seeking comment. Three relatives who said they had spoken to him since the shooting, including an ex-wife and daughter, said he told them he acted in self-defense.

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• Outrage after ICE agents tackle man at Las Vegas airport

POLITICS

Trump uses primetime address to raise doubts about US elections ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation Thursday to elevate his yearslong push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of U.S. elections and dispute his 2020 loss in an appeal for more restrictive voting laws ahead of the midterms. Read more.

Why this matters:

• Trump’s speech presented allegations of interference and influence in ways that lacked key context, while failing to produce evidence that votes had been manipulated or the election outcome had been altered. Trump used the remarks to justify his push to pass a strict voter ID bill in Congress that has not advanced because it lacks enough support from Republicans.
  
  

• Election security experts say the decentralized U.S. voting system, with the power over elections residing with the states instead of the federal government, is a strength. Americans vote in more than 10,000 different jurisdictions with different rules, making the nations’ elections extraordinarily complicated but safe from widespread fraud. No credible intelligence has emerged showing the vote count in 2020 was manipulated by foreign actors. Repeated audits and reviews, many run by Republicans including Trump’s then-attorney general, have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.

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• To air or not to air? Nation’s TV networks struggle to find the right balance for Trump speech
  
  
• Why American elections are so complicated — and secure
  
  
• China rejects Trump’s election interference claim as ‘groundless accusations’
  
  
• Recent polling data on Trump
  
  
• China and Xi are seen more favorably than the US and Trump in many nations, new survey says
  
  
• Trump’s teleprompter operator on unpaid leave for alleged prediction market bets on speeches
  
  
• Acting AG meets with Epstein accusers after demand from key GOP senator
  
  
• Hegseth again backs a low-altitude military flyover as maneuvers draw scrutiny
  
  
• WATCH: Fighter jet flyover at a crowded beach
  
  
• Trump officials want to make testosterone drugs easier to prescribe. Is that a good idea?

US NEWS

‘I’m at war with myself’: One woman’s struggle to break out of a romance scam

Romance scams are on the rise across the United States. Last year, more than 49,000 Americans reported losing a collective $1.3 billion to romance scams, according to available FTC data shared with The Associated Press. Read more.

Why this matters:

• The growth in romance scams comes in part from acute social isolation ushered in by the COVID-19 epidemic and lockdowns. In a first-of-its-kind study in 2025, the World Health Organization found that years after the world opened up again, people continue to suffer from loneliness. Estimates for people globally who report loneliness range from 1 in 6 to 1 in 2.