Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week revealed in an interview with Axios that he asked President Trump on to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russia, even as far away as Moscow.

Zelensky made the dubious argument that this would force President Putin to the negotiating table to make significant compromise and end the war. Zelensky suggested that the Ukrainians might not even have to use the Tomahawks it was given, only that the threat alone could be enough to scare Putin.

The White House has not yet officially rejected the possibility, but instead is actually mulling the proposed transfer. Vice President JD Vance indicated while speaking to Fox News Sunday that President Trump would make the final decision. He said the White House is “looking at” the issue:

“You asked this question about Tomahawks. It’s something the president is going to make the final determination on,” Vance told Fox News.

“What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest for the United States of America,” he said. “I know we’re having conversations this very minute about the issue”.

“We’re certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans. And one of the things, again, that I think has really worked about the president’s policy in Ukraine and Russia is that it’s forced the Europeans to step up in a big way,” Vance continued. The Tomahawk missile has a range of approximately 1,550 miles and so could do serious damage deep into Russian territory, which President Putin has declared a bright red line (that is, utilizing US long-range missiles to attack Russia).

Allowing the Tomahawk transfer could spark the path to WW3 with Russia, but it’s a positive sign that Vance was very vague about it, only confirming ‘several’ requests have been made by European allies.

Trump has so far shown an unwillingness for such brazen escalation, and has yet to even pull the trigger on threatened secondary sanctions, to the chagrin of hawks in Europe.

However, Trump has also reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Putin’s unwillingness to engage in peace negotiations without Kiev making clear first that it’s ready to make serious territorial and other concessions.

This is probably why Zelensky is utilizing his argument that Tomahawks would somehow force Putin to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is still using long-range drones for strikes on the Moscow region. Overnight a Ukrainian drone strike killed a child and his grandmother in a town outside Moscow.

“Last night, air defense forces shot down four drones in Voskresensk and Kolomna,” Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov stated on Telegram. “Unfortunately, a tragedy occurred in Voskresensk: two people died in a fire in a private home — a 76-year-old woman and her 6-year-old grandson.”

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance confirmed today on Fox News that the Trump Administration is seriously considering the sale of BGM-109 “Tomahawk” Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM), which have a range of up to 1,500 miles, as well as other advanced weaponry, to Europe to provide to… pic.twitter.com/E9GmOMxZG1

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 28, 2025

Below are more Ukraine war related overnight developments & headlines via Newsquawk:

NATO

• Russian President Putin is to deliver a major speech this week, according to multiple media outlets.
• Belarus’s President said that if NATO threatens to shoot down Russian and Belarusian fighter jets, the response will come immediately, according to Reuters.
• NATO will boost its presence in the Baltic region following drone incidents in Denmark, according to Reuters.
• Denmark announced that unknown drones were spotted over several military facilities on Friday night, including the country’s main air base Karup, which houses Denmark’s F-16s and F-35s, according to Reuters.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

• Russian missiles and drones struck Ukraine in a “savage” 12-hour attack, according to Reuters.
• Russian sources said the Russian army launched strikes targeting military sites in Kyiv and its surroundings, as well as weapons depots and air defence systems.
• Poland closed its airspace after a “massive” Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital killed at least four people, according to Reuters.
• Ukrainian President Zelensky said he expects new EU sanctions on Russia this week, according to Reuters.
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said no one expects a return to Ukraine’s 2022 borders, calling it politically blind, according to Reuters.
• Ukraine said drones struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Chuvashia region, according to Reuters.
• The Kremlin said it has received no signals from Kyiv regarding the resumption of Russia-Ukraine talks, via RIA.

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“We really are living through Bloody September”

– Will Chamberlain

When the newly-formed Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, April 1861, they ignited the Civil War. They, at least, had a clearcut goal: to maintain an economy (and society) based on slavery. It was patently evil, but it was firmly established and it was their engine for daily life, and they didn’t want it to end.

When Charlie Kirk was murdered in 2025, Civil War 2.0 kicked off. The enemy this time are not Confederates with a coherent command structure and a goal. They are an army of nihilists like the gang in The Big Lebowski, who, for one reason or another, have failed to launch lives of meaning and purpose, and so have adopted the purpose of destroying the country they cannot thrive in. Unlike The Big Lebowski, this is not a joke. But, it’s obviously a different sort of civil war than the first one.

It appears that many of these nihilists, especially the ones amalgamated as Antifa, are straight-up mentally ill – crazed young women too untamed to find a mate, many obese and self-mutilated like tattooed savages with steel bones in their noses. . . young men, hormones afire, likewise frustrated, escaping into sexual fetish and psychotic obsessions with demons, violence, blame, enmity. They are warriors for their own deformed ids.

There is, for sure, plenty to complain about in American life as currently organized. It abounds with swindles and ruses, and much of the ill effect falls on young people who were rooked into college loans, are drowning in unpayable debt, are unable to find meaningful work in an economy dominated by cruelly gigantic companies, are unable to afford a place of their own to eat and sleep in, and whose bodies and minds are ravaged by junk food and pharma products.

Do not overlook the deleterious effects of the everyday environment we have created: the world of American suburbia. Above all, it requires a reliable car to even begin to function in, and that is beyond the reach of many newly-minted adults with no job or a shit-job. The sheer ugliness of American suburbia is punishing to human neurology. It induces anxiety and despair to a degree we can’t begin to reckon. Try walking a mile down a six-laner between the Sam’s Club and the DMV sometime.

Suburbia atomizes social relations, making everyone an isolated unit and it defeats any attempt to form real communities. Its schools function like minimum security prisons, generators of anomie and ennui. On top of all that, suburbia has entered its arc of economic failure. Even the gainfully employed middle-aged can no longer pay for it. It was built out of crappy materials that are falling apart now. A sane person would opt to not live in it, but since escape is so difficult from sea to shining sea, the other option is to go insane — especially if you’re just setting out in life.

All of this discontent gets converted, abracadabra, into political ideology. The old, reliable package of Marxism works whenever people feel cheated out of meaning, purpose, and a livelihood. And so, this anguished cohort of the young, defeated in making a life, driven mentally ill by their surroundings, hounded by the endless prompts of their beloved smartphones, wrecked by the things they put in their bodies, and broken by their demoralizing failures, become the useful idiots of their political elders.

And the Democratic Party, having become little more than a grifting machine of hustles and hoaxes, uses the young to generate ever more ill-feeling across the land over issues that self-evidently are against the interests of the young — so that the party can survive its present existential crisis.

It was not in young America’s interest to receive “Joe Biden’s” flood of illegal migrants across the border. Apart from their criminal histories, or the hidden agenda to form subversive cells for foreign enemies, the illegal migrants compete with young people in many realms of employment like the building trades, while they drive down wages generally. So why are the Antifas out there in front of the ICE facility affecting to “rescue” the deportees?

Because the mind-scrambling language of Marxian revolt has persuaded the Antifas that the illegal migrants are their “marginalized intersectional allies.” It’s bullshit, of course, but the mentally ill swallow it because they are desperate for meaning and filled with animus for all-and-any authority responsible for constructing and managing a system they have failed in.

Mr. Trump, the primary demon in their fantasies, and certainly the enemy of the Democratic Party’s corrupt grifting machine, attempts to restore an economy based on producing things of value, rather than financial flimflams. The catch is, he may not be able to do that using the old armature of gigantic corporate organisms operating on rollover debt. That phase of history is probably over.

We need a new armature, but one based on voluntary exchange, which is to say economic liberty, not top-town communist-type centralized planning. Everywhere that has been tried, it failed and blew up. Euro-style Socialism Lite is not a workable choice anymore, either, because we are leaving behind the cheap energy economy and the geopolitical deals that made six-week vacations, retirement at 60, and free medicine possible.

Neither the Democratic Party nor their Antifa foot-soldiers have a sane and coherent approach to this set of problems. The remaining option for them is to stay insane, to fight for crazy things like men in the women’s swim lane, and to act out their inchoate rage. If they keep escalating, the remaining sane sixty-percent or so of America will opt to put them down briskly and harshly, and it looks like that is about to happen.

Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearWire,

The pain of a government shutdown won’t just be political: Millions of low-income women and children could be left hungry as soon as next week if congressional Democrats and the White House do not come to a deal.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children will soon run out of funding. If they don’t cut a deal to keep the government open, a senior White House official told RealClearPolitics, “Democrats would be turning their back on WIC recipients.”

Called WIC for short, the program provides vouchers for healthy food to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, their infants, and young children. The $7 billion program is funded entirely by the federal government, but that money is expected to be depleted on Oct.1. New beneficiaries will be unable to enroll, and current WIC beneficiaries will be unable to have their cards reloaded.

“The program would run out of money in October, and women and children could no longer receive benefits,” a senior administration official said. “The White House and Republicans in the House-passed CR added $600 million so there will be no loss of benefits – clearly Democrats are ok with women and children losing WIC benefits.”

The program has been increasingly strained in recent years as enrollment increased and as the cost of food continues to rise. A small contingency fund does exist, about $150 million, but that is not enough money to provide food assistance for the more than 6.7 million that rely on the program. The administration has searched for additional money to reprogram but come up short.

“There’s no more quarters in the cushions,” the official said. “It’d get us maybe another day.”

House Republicans advanced a continuing resolution to keep the government open until Nov. 20. Other than additional money for new security for members of the executive and judicial branches, and programmatic change to free up $1 billion for the D.C. city government, it does not make big new spending changes.

Under pressure from their base and led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, congressional Democrats have balked at that deal and tried to open negotiations with the White House. They are seeking concessions on health care spending in exchange for their support. Late Tuesday, President Trump abruptly canceled a meeting with Democratic leadership.

“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The blame game commenced shortly thereafter, with Schumer blasting the White House for refusing to talk. “Donald Trump is causing the shutdown,” Schumer said at a Tuesday press conference. “This is a Trump shutdown, and he is barreling right toward it right now, and he knows he is going to be blamed for the shut down.”

The White House then quickly turned up the pressure, threatening to use a government shutdown as an opportunity to further remake the federal workforce. If the lights go off, Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, warned that thousands of government employees could permanently lose their jobs. On the home front, the White House now warns, millions of kitchen tables could begin to go bare.

Summary: Having finished their lengthy remarks, Trump and Netanyahu took no questions as they left to another room to sign documents related to the 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which Trump has hailed as having the backing of key Arab allies across the region. One consistent theme of both Trump’s and Bibi’s in the Monday afternoon presser was that if Hamas doesn’t agree, then “Israel will finish the job” – meaning completely take over and occupy the Gaza Strip while seeking the total eradication of Hamas. “If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accepted and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself,” Netanyahu made clear, echoing remarks Trump issued just prior.

Trump had made clear that all the hostages are going to be released, but several big, obvious question remain: after several assassinations of leading Hamas officials and commanders, who is left to speak for Hamas? Is Hamas on board with any of this whatsoever? Why would Hamas sign on to its own demise, given the 20-point plan calls for a ‘Board of Peace’ to oversee the disarming of all Hamas militants? Despite all this, Trump said the sides are “very close” to a deal and that he wants to see “eternal peace” in the Middle East. Again, one wonders whether Hamas militants deep inside the tunnels preparing to launch ambushes on IDF infantry columns are aware of any of this.

Interestingly, Trump said he was asked to be head of this Board of Peace, and also mentioned the high-level participation of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Trump described that “A gentleman known as President Donald J. Trump” will be in charge of something called the “Board of Peace” to oversee post-war Gaza. Tony Blair, “a very good man” will be on the board, others “will be named over the next few days” – Trump added. Does any neutral observer think Hamas or the Palestinians will actually buy into this?

But again, as Trump emphasized, if Hamas doesn’t accept then Israel will have the “absolute right and full backing… to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.” In reality it seems this is all an elaborate scheme for the US to simply and fully greenlight to total and permanent military takeover of Gaza (see the details of the 20-point plan below) – and as a way to get Arab Gulf countries on board, while mitigating the ongoing international pressure, especially from Europe. As an aside, Trump frequently invoked the ‘successes’ of the Abraham Accords and even mused that Iran might join one day (which must have been met with chuckles and derision in Tehran).

* * *

The full Trump 20-point plan for peace just issued by the White House below…

* * *

President Trump is once again hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, in order to mull the US president’s Gaza peace proposal amid mounting support among Western nations for Palestinian statehood. It remains that of course neither Washington nor Israel is on board with such recognition, but Trump has wanted to see a swift resolution as the war approaches its two-year mark next week.

This will be Netanyahu’s fourth White House visit since Trump returned to office in January. Despite the red carpet constantly being rolled out for him in Washington, he faces growing international isolation, especially in Europe.

During his last Friday speech before the UN General Assembly in New York, he lashed out at the leaders of France, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and other countries for “unconditionally” recognizing a Palestinian state. At the same time he thanked America for its firm pro-Israel stance.

But Trump is optimistic that a deal with Hamas to secure the release of all hostages can be salvaged. He told Reuters on Sunday that he hopes to gain Netanyahu’s support for a peace framework that would end the conflict in Gaza. “We’re getting a very good response because Bibi wants to make the deal too,” Trump said in a phone interview. “Everybody wants to make the deal.”

Regional powers have reportedly been involved, including including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt – in planning and backing the agreement, which is crucial for its chances of success.

“It’s called peace in the Middle East – more than Gaza. Gaza is part of it, but it’s peace in the Middle East,” Trump said. Per the published schedule for Monday:

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time (6 p.m. in Israel), when Trump will greet Netanyahu, according to the itinerary. The two men will then hold a meeting and sit for a meal together, followed by the press conference, scheduled for 1:15 p.m.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has previewed to reporters that “both sides have to give up a little bit and might leave the table a little bit unhappy.” But it seems this conversation is only being had with one side, given no signs of direct Hamas involvement in these discussions. 

The reality is that this month’s Israeli attack on Hamas officials in Doha was likely the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of ending the possibility of negotiations. Hamas says its negotiating team was lured to Qatar precisely with the promise of a new deal on the horizon, only to be attacked in a brazen Israeli operation, leaving five dead, as as well as a Qatari security guard.

So despite Trump’s optimism for the future, chances aren’t great, also at a time the IDF is pursuing the total takeover of Gaza City.

Hamas has meanwhile made clear that it won’t negotiate its own demise, while also wanting a full Israeli military withdrawal before all remaining hostages are released, but Netanyahu is still pledging to not end IDF operations until the complete eradication of Hamas is realized.

Trump reportedly wants to see an immediate halt to all military operations, but will Israel comply? Will Hamas comply? Both seem remain locked in a zero sum fight at this point, so it seems increasingly unlikely.

Earlier, we previewed the president’s 21-point plan for ending the Gaza war, which was first revealed over the weekend in Israeli media sources.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt issued a stark warning about the intensifying global race in artificial intelligence, and says that the U.S. is rapidly losing ground to China due to divergent strategies in developing advanced AI systems and integrating them into critical technologies.

In a fireside chat during the All-In Summit, Schmidt talked at length about the contrasting approaches, arguing that U.S. restrictions on chip exports have constrained China’s pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) but have not halted its progress in practical applications.

“I had thought that China and the United States were competing at the peer level in AI and that the good work that you have done and your predecessors did to restrict chips were slowing them down,” Schmidt said. “They’re really doing something more different than I thought. They’re not pursuing crazy AGI strategies partly because of the hardware limitations that you’ve put in place, but partly because the depth of their capital markets don’t exist. They can’t raise based on a wing and a prayer $100 million or maybe an equivalent to build the data centers. They just can’t do it.”

why is no one talking about this? schmidt: china’s AI strategy is not pursuing “crazy” AGI strategies like america, but applying AI to everyday things. this is because their capital markets lack depth, and compute is blocked. he warns this plus lack of open source are major… pic.twitter.com/W7RnEDtoG5

— Aaron Slodov (@aphysicist) September 26, 2025

Instead, Schmidt explained that China is focusing on embedding AI into practical applications, from consumer apps to robotics.

“The result is they’re very focused on taking AI and applying it to everything,” the former Google CEO said. “And so the concern I have is that while we’re pursuing AGI, which is incredibly interesting and we should talk about and all of us will be affected by this, we better also be competing with the Chinese in day-to-day stuff. Consumer apps.”

Schmidt then highlighted China’s robotics sector as a case study, drawing parallels to its success in electric vehicles.

“I saw all the Shanghai robotics companies and these guys are attempting to do in robots what they’ve successfully done with electric vehicles, right? And their work ethic is incredible,” Schmidt said. “They’re well-funded. It’s not the crazy valuations that we have in America. They can’t raise the capital, but they can win across that.”

Schmidt also raised concerns about China’s open-source strategy, which he sees as a geopolitical challenge.

“The other thing the Chinese are doing, and I want to emphasize this is a major geopolitical issue, is that my own background is open source,” Schmidt said.

“Open weights means open training data. China is competing with open weights and open training data. And the US is largely and majority focused on closed weights, closed data,” he added. “That means that the majority of the world, think of it as the Belt and Road Initiative, are going to use Chinese models and not American models.”

As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, a cascade of eye-popping deals is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into sprawling data-center empires, with OpenAI at the epicenter. The latest salvo came this week, as Nvidia committed up to $100 billion to the ChatGPT maker, a pact that underscores the sector’s breakneck pace—and its mounting risks. Coupled with OpenAI and Softbank’s $500 billion Stargate infrastructure push, these colossal investments are propelling U.S. tech giants into an unprecedented spending spree, even as skeptics warn of a frothy market driven more by hype than hard returns.

Ever since the Stargate project was announced, questions have swirled around whether Softbank has the funds to make it a reality. Others have pointed to the Nvidia-OpenAI deal as a negative signal for the latter.

“While the announcement is positive for OpenAI’s ability to ramp, we are concerned NVDA has become the ‘investor of last resort’, bailing out OpenAI’s overextended commitments,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria wrote in a recent research note.

Watch the entire interview below:

Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Despite a slight 0.2 percent dip in national home sales in August, real estate professionals nationwide remain cautiously optimistic about the fall market, which officially began on Sept. 22.

In its September existing home sales report, published Sept. 25, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) described the August slip as a seasonally adjusted rate and noted that year over year, the U.S. housing market has experienced a 1.8 percent increase in sales.

The inventory remained basically unchanged from July, with a decline of just 1.3 percent. However, compared with August 2024, inventory rose by 11.7 percent.

Home prices continued to climb for the twenty-sixth consecutive month year over year, with the median reaching $422,600.

“Home sales have been sluggish over the past few years due to elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in the report.

“However, mortgage rates are declining, and more inventory is coming to the market, which should boost sales in the coming months.”

As of Sept. 25, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.3 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

Jim Nabors, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), told The Epoch Times that the Federal Reserve will remain cautious, even in light of its recent interest rate cut announcement.

“Chairman Powell has emphasized that decisions will continue to be made ‘meeting by meeting’ based on incoming data,” Nabors said.

However, he is hopeful about the fall market as well as the fourth quarter, as NAMB has witnessed an increase in mortgage applications, particularly for refinancing.

“Lower rates will drive the nation to a more balanced market position, and the industry is beginning to transition from a seller’s market,” he said.

Nabors believes inventory growth will also create more options for buyers.

“Those borrowers who previously may have felt priced out of the market may come back around,” he noted.

“The market is already showing signs of better balance, which can benefit both buyers and existing homeowners looking to refinance.”

NAR senior economist Nadia Evangelou said that the group predicts mortgage rates will continue to decrease slightly by the end of the year, which should trigger more households to buy homes.

“We definitely expect to see more activity in the coming months,” she told The Epoch Times.

Midwestern States

Regionally, the NAR said the Midwest was the best-performing area in August, with a 2.1 percent hike in month-over month sales. Median home prices stood at  $330,500—up by 4.5 percent from August 2024.

Erika Villegas, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, forecasts a more robust fall and fourth quarter.

“If interest rates continue to stabilize, I think we’ll start to see more movement in the market,” she told The Epoch Times.

With an overall median sales prices of $360,000 for both single-family homes and condos in the city, condominium sales are up in September and are selling faster than single-family residences, noted Villegas.

“Condos are a very real possibility not only for younger first-time buyers but for those who are looking to downsize,” she said.

However, single-family home inventory in Chicago is still a big challenge.

“We just don’t have the inventory that we need to fill the needs of the market—especially for first-time homebuyers,” she said.

Villegas noted that bidding wars are still a reality both in the city and suburban areas.

“We recently had a deal with 11 offers on a property,” she said. “Depending on the house and the location, we’re still seeing over-asking offers of anywhere between $5,000 and $30,000.”

While there is some new construction, Chicago and its suburbs have limited land available.

“We desperately need new construction, and the City Council will be voting on laws about accessory dwelling units this month,” Villegas said.

According to the Chicago Association of Realtors, accessory dwelling units will help increase the housing supply for first-time buyers as well as the city’s workforce and senior citizens. The pilot program debuted in 2021, and new laws would extend the accessory dwelling units program to all 77 Chicago neighborhoods.

Western States

The West also experienced month-over-month growth in sales at 1.4 percent in August, with the median price reaching $624,300—an increase of 0.6 percent from August 2024.

Christy Walker, president of the Phoenix Association of Realtors, told The Epoch Times she’s also optimistic about the remainder of the year.

“Our pending sales are up, and our local lenders tell us that mortgage applications are also increasing,” she said.

As of September, Phoenix commanded a median price of $471,000, and in other suburban areas of Arizona, such as Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and Chandler, the median price was at $510,000, according to Walker.

Local residents who are first-time buyers or even move-up buyers often find themselves competing with Californians and Midwesterners who are looking to move to a warmer climate. Canadians, as well, continue to purchase vacation properties in the area.

The biggest challenge facing Phoenix area real estate professionals is the continual construction of build-to-rent communities.

“Arizona is number one in the country for this type of model, and a lot of people may be getting stuck in these communities,” Walker said.

“Initially, they may choose to move in if they can’t afford to buy, but if they don’t start to save, they could end up as a perpetual renter.”

Walker believes seller concessions will continue throughout the fall and fourth quarter .

Southern States

The NAR reported a 1.1 percent decrease in month-over-month sales for America’s southern region, where the median price in August was up by 0.4 percent from July, to $364,100.

Johnny Mowad, president of the MetroTex Association of Realtors in greater Dallas-Fort Worth, is convinced that the fall market and the fourth quarter will remain strong.

“Dallas is already booming, and this is the first time in decades that inventory has surged, especially in the suburbs,” he told The Epoch Times.

“The days of bidding wars on every home are fading and we’re seeing a market that looks more balanced.”

New construction in the region is also contributing to the inventory burst, Mowad noted, and buyers are beginning to have the upper hand. In Dallas County, inventory is up by 24 percent since last month, and in nearby Collin County, by 40 percent.

While Dallas sellers are now more willing to negotiate on prices, the market has not yet seen any significant price drops. As of September, the median price for a single-family home in Dallas County is $365,000—a 2 percent increase over August.

Mowad, a broker with Ebby Halliday Realtors in Dallas, expects the current momentum to continue into the fall and the fourth quarter.

“Even with negotiations, sellers are still getting great prices on their homes and they’re definitely going to see a positive return on their investments,” he said.

Jonathan Lickstein, president of the Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie Realtors, in Florida, told The Epoch Times that loan applications have risen about 18 percent, and with interest rates beginning to stabilize, he believes the area will continue to see in influx of local buyers and those from out of state in the coming months.

“Single-family homes in our region have experienced longer days on the market, but homes are continuing to maintain their value,” he said. “Sellers are negotiating, but most are still closing at 97 percent of the list price.”

Currently, Miami Dade County commands the highest median price at $660,000 for single-family homes, followed by Broward County at $625,000, Palm Beach County at $613,000, and St. Lucie County at $385,000, according to Lickstein.

The biggest challenge for the rest of the year, he noted, is the condo market, which continues to suffer from the fallout of the 2021 Champlain Tower condo collapse in Surfside. Billed as one of the worst disasters in the United States, the building collapse claimed the lives of almost 100 people.

As a result, explained Lickstein, condos built before 2005 are now subject to recurring inspections and repairs, which in many cases are forcing owners to incur huge payments for assessments.

“The newer buildings are not as impacted with this, but overall, the new regulations have seriously hurt the condo market,” he said.

Lickstein, chief operating officer of LoKation Real Estate in Pompano Beach, expects little change in the condo market through the end of the year. Condo prices are down all over, with Miami Dade’s median at $406,000, followed by Palm Beach at $300,000, St. Lucie at $282, and Broward at $265,000, he said.

Evangelou noted that both Texas and Florida lead the nation in single-family home inventory.

“Nationally, inventory is up, but we still need at least 300,000 more homes to balance out the market,” she said.

Northeastern States

The Northeast experienced the biggest decline at 4 percent for month-over-month sales in August, but the median price grew 6.2 percent from August 2024, to $534,200.

Bianca D’Alessio, a broker with Nest Seekers International in Manhattan, told The Epoch Times that the New York City market remains very active.

“There’s been a huge uptick and increased buyer confidence,” she said. “There’s an anticipation about the interest rates coming down further and buyers who have been looking for a long time are feeling that now is the time to get in.”

A new residential building in midtown Manhattan that D’Alessio is representing has already brought in hundreds of showings. Considered “affordable” by Manhattan standards, studio apartments are listed at $400,000, and one-bedrooms at $650,000, according to D’Alessio.

“The first open house had 90 people lined up to see the units in this walk-up building with no amenities,” she said.

Bidding wars are still common depending on the building and location, noted D’Alessio. New York City’s boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are equally as active.

“It’s reflective of what’s going on in the market, and I think we’ll be in for a successful remainder for 2025,” she said.

NAR Buyer Profiles

The NAR’s report indicates that first-time homebuyers comprised 28 percent of August sales—a jump from 26 percent in August 2024. Of all buyer transactions, 28 percent were in cash, and 21 percent were individual investors or second-home buyers. Only 2 percent were distressed sales from foreclosures or short sales.

While Evangelou believes that the next few months will be more prosperous for potential homebuyers, realtors, and mortgage professionals, she said affordability is still in issue that needs to be solved before creating a truly balanced market.

“Nationally, middle-income buyers with a household income of $75,000 can afford only 21 percent of existing homes,” she said.

“There have been some gains in affordable housing, but we need that number to be closer to 50 percent.”

The Wall Street Journal’s late Friday afternoon report, detailing the largest leveraged buyout (LBO) ever, which would take Electronic Arts (EA) private by private-equity giants, was confirmed by the video game company on Monday morning.

Here is the deal overview for the gaming company that owns EA Sports FC, Madden, and The Sims: 

• Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. 

• The transaction values EA at $55 billion enterprise value, the largest all-cash sponsor take-private in history.

• Shareholders will receive $210 per share in cash, a 25% premium to EA’s last unaffected price ($168.32) and above its all-time high ($179.01).

• PIF will roll over its existing 9.9% stake into the deal.

Financing & Structure Equity:

• $36 billion from PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners (capital from their own control).

• Debt: $20B fully committed by JPMorgan, with $18B expected to be drawn at close.

• Advisors: EA: Goldman Sachs (financial), Wachtell (legal) Consortium: J.P. Morgan (financial), Kirkland & Ellis (lead legal), with additional firms advising each partner.

Timeline and Approvals Expected close:

• Q1 FY27 (pending regulatory and shareholder approval).

• EA stock will be delisted after closing.

• For Q2 FY26 earnings (Oct. 28, 2025)

Notable quotes from EA leadership and PE firms:

• Andrew Wilson (EA CEO): Deal recognizes EA’s creative teams and “will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come. I am more energized than ever about the future we are building.” 

• PIF: Partnership will “fuel innovation within the industry on a global scale.” 

• Silver Lake: “This investment embodies Silver Lake’s mission to partner with exceptional management teams at the highest quality companies. EA is a special company: a global leader in interactive entertainment, anchored by its premier sports franchise, with accelerating revenue growth and strong and scaling free cash flow.” 

• Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners): “Electronic Arts ​is ​an ​extraordinary ​company with a ​world-class ​management ​team and a bold vision ​for ​the ​future. ​I’ve admired their ​ability to create iconic, lasting experiences, ​and ​as ​someone ​who ​grew up playing their ​games ​- and now enjoys them with his ​kids – I couldn’t be ​more ​excited about ​what’s ​ahead.” 

Here’s what some of Wall Street’s top desks are saying (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Bloomberg Intelligence

• Electronic Arts’ potential take-private deal “is priced at an 80% or more premium vs. multiples of global game makers,” though it “looks fair compared with Take-Two, especially given EA’s potential profit beats in 2026-27 and IP treasure trove”

Citi (neutral)

• “We believe this offer likely puts a floor underneath EA but not a ceiling,” although a competing bid is unlikely

• “If Battlefield 6 does particularly well, investors may seek a higher offer price”

Benchmark Co. (buy, PT to $250 from $200)

• “While the bid highlights the strategic value of EA’s portfolio, we view the timing as premature, effectively crystallizing value before the market can assess the potential of Battlefield 6 and the broader Battlefield cycle”

Baird (outperform, PT $170)

• “A deal could make sense given the company’s attractive FCF profile, and with likely opportunities to bring more efficiency to the organization and optimize the title slate”

• Baird suspects the board “would be open to a deal, and recognize other suitors could emerge (financial or strategic buyers), given the robust video game M&A environment, and with key EA titles FC and Battlefield now hitting the market”

Jefferies (buy, PT $200)

• “We view PIF and Silver Lake as sensible buyers for an LBO of EA, but the ~20% takeout premium implied in the $50B deal is smaller than would be expected,” although “we don’t see any obvious alternative buyers given big tech companies will likely remain more focused on AI capex investments”

In New York, shares extended gains from Friday, up another 5.5%, nearing the $210 level. 

. . . 

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

The swamp never wastes time protecting its own, and James Comey is no exception. The disgraced former FBI director, who has finally been indicted for lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, is already benefiting from the familiar playbook: put the right judge in place, create an appearance of fairness, and then quietly shield him from any real accountability.

On Thursday, following the grand jury indictment, Comey’s case was “randomly” assigned to U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff. In 2021, Joe Biden nominated Nachmanoff, and the Senate confirmed him to the federal bench with a razor-thin 52-46 vote, as three Senate Republicans — Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski — crossed over to support his confirmation.

If you believe that selecting Nachmanoff to preside over this case was truly random, then you haven’t been paying attention. Washington’s so-called “random assignments” seem to have a funny way of putting the most Trump-hostile judges on politically charged cases. Take Judge James Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, who just happened to land multiple Trump-related cases. Every single time, Boasberg ruled in ways that stretched or outright ignored constitutional boundaries to work against Trump. Yet, somehow, we’re supposed to believe these assignments are pure chance. Sure.

Judge Nachmanoff’s résumé doesn’t exactly inspire confidence either. Before becoming a magistrate judge for six years, he spent over a decade working as a federal public defender. That’s a career steeped in finding loopholes, bending rules, and negotiating ways to avoid accountability for defendants. He also defended al Qaeda member Zacarias Moussaoui.

And now he’s tasked with presiding over perhaps the most politically sensitive case since the Trump-Russia debacle that Comey himself helped orchestrate. It has all the makings of yet another judicial performance meant not to obtain justice, but to wash Comey clean.

Comey himself is projecting confidence, even smugness. After his indictment, he declared, “I’m not afraid,” clearly confident of his inevitable vindication. Of course he’s not afraid—why would he be? He knows exactly how the swamp game works: the very corrupt institutions that targeted Trump are now circling the wagons to protect him. Washington knows that convicting Comey would mean vindicating Trump’s long-standing claims of a deep-state sabotage. They’ll never allow that because it would expose years of abuse and corruption.

Let’s not forget how deep the animosity runs. Comey’s feud with Trump dates back to 2017 when Trump fired him for insubordination and dishonesty. From there, Comey reinvented himself as the loudest of Trump’s critics, playing the role of “principled public servant” while running cover for the FBI’s disastrous handling of the 2016 campaign and the Russia hoax.

I guess we should have seen this coming. The Washington swamp protects its own. James Comey presided over one of the darkest abuses of power in modern American politics, weaponizing the FBI against a duly elected president. Now, as he faces the charges he should have faced years ago, the establishment is already stacking the deck in his favor. The deep state isn’t afraid of justice—they’re afraid of accountability. And once again, it looks like the fix is in.

The deep state’s tactics to save James Comey show the swamp never quits. 

The largest marijuana ETF by market capitalization jumped in premarket trading after President Trump’s Truth Social account published an overnight informational video highlighting the health benefits of cannabidiol (CBD), an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant, for seniors. 

On Sunday evening, Trump’s social media team published a video that began with bold text reading, “You can revolutionize senior healthcare.” 

The video highlights that CBD can “restore” the endocannabinoid system, touting benefits such as reduced pain, better sleep, and lower stress. 

“When the system is restored, disease progression can slow down and years are added to your life, as well as years spent in good health,” the narrator claims, adding, “Doctors often prescribe dangerous and addictive pharmaceuticals.” 

“The system can be restored using hemp-derived CBD. When restored, pain subsides, sleep improves, and stress is reduced. Restoring the system may also slow disease progression – potentially adding years to your life,” the narrator continued. 

The video was first posted on Trump’s Truth Social account. 

New media post from Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/B2g3Uc4xfT

— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) September 28, 2025

Earlier this month, the president confirmed his administration was considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. 

“We’re looking at reclassification and we’ll make a determination over the next — I would say over the next few weeks, and that determination hopefully will be the right one. It’s very complicated subject,” Trump told reporters at the time at a news conference in the White House briefing room. 

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that Trump was weighing rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3 drug on Aug. 8. 

News of the overnight video sent AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) soaring in premarket trading, up 21% on 1.5 million shares traded by 0745 ET. 

. . . 

Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

The world is not going to see another crisis like the ones experienced in 2008 or 2011. No central bank or government is going to accept it.

You may think the prospect is good news.

However, the flip side is that this means secular stagnation and perennial crisis for wage earners and the middle class. There is a slow-motion eternal crisis that leaves the average citizen wondering why they cannot make ends meet, while governments boast about their economic stability.

A crisis is only the manifestation of a previous excess. When governments prioritise prudent investments, healthy public accounts, and attractive taxes, crises end quickly, and the recovery is stronger. However, when governments claim to be the solution and mask economic imbalances with increased spending, debt, and taxes, they merely create a significant transfer of wealth from the private sector to themselves, resulting in persistent inflation, higher taxes, weaker productive growth, and lower real wages that burden taxpayers.

Many commentators warn of an imminent 2008-style collapse or a debt crisis driven by the unsustainable fiscal situation of developed nations. It will not be like that.

A sovereign debt bubble does not burst like a real estate one. It implodes via a vicious cycle of persistent inflation, stagnation and confiscatory taxes. A sovereign debt bubble explodes in your face and in your pocket, slowly but surely.

The world has entered an era characterised by ever-rising public debt, aggressive fiscal interventions, and the permanent financial repression of savers and the middle class.

This perennial crisis is very different from an abrupt crash. It is driven by the constant erosion of the purchasing power of fiat money, productivity, and living standards, fuelled by constant public debt expansion and policy responses that ignore any deleverage or structural reform to focus on more taxes on the productive sectors.

Developed nations have exceeded all limits of indebtedness, and global central banks are avoiding sovereign debt while increasing their gold reserves.

The economic limit: More government spending and public debt lead to lower growth and the impoverishment of citizens in net real terms.

The fiscal limit: low interest rates combined with higher taxes lead to large deficits and increased interest expenses.

The inflationary limit: More government spending means more units of currency in the system and persistent inflation.

The French, British, Japanese, and US debt crises may be inevitable without serious spending cuts. As these debt crises unfold, the process of impoverishment becomes slow and painful, accompanied by a decline in the value of fiat money.

In 2025, global debt has soared to a record $337.7 trillion, an all-time high of 324% of global GDP. The public sector is overwhelmingly leading this increase. France, the UK, and Japan, through years of ultra-low rates and misguided public stimulus, have disregarded the warning signs and dangers of uncontrolled spending and public debt, resulting in massive budget deficits and debt burdens approaching or surpassing 100% of GDP.

France is the prime example of the dangers of letting governments take control of the economy. France has never implemented austerity measures; instead, government spending is excessive, and the tax wedge is harmful. Government debt surpasses 116% of GDP, with interest payments tripling from €26 billion in 2020 to €66 billion today.

If high government spending and taxes were the tools to deliver growth and sustainable accounts, France would be leading the world’s economic growth. Instead, it is in secular stagnation.

High taxes are not a tool to reduce debt but to justify it.

In Britain, long-term borrowing costs have surged to levels not seen since 1998 due to the country’s poor growth, uncontrolled spending, and rising inflation that has been exacerbated by higher taxes.

Japan, seen by some as the perfect Keynesian example of ever-rising debt with no risk, is no longer immune. With debt nearing 260% of GDP, yields on Japanese government bonds have risen to record highs and the prime minister announced that Japan’s situation was “worse than Greece”.

Yields on developed nations’ 10-year notes have reached new highs. Credit markets no longer assign “convenience yields” to government debt as they once did; instead, borrowing costs are rising fast despite interest rate cuts, showing the risk of a solvency crisis despite easy money policies.

The first ones to run away are central banks themselves. Global central banks, once the guaranteed buyers of sovereign bonds, are abandoning developed nations’ debt as a reserve asset, increasing gold purchases at a record pace. In 2025, central banks collectively bought more than 1000 metric tonnes of gold for a third consecutive year, bringing official reserves to over 36,000 tonnes globally. 95% of central banks expect to further increase gold reserves in the next 12 months, and for the first time in recent decades, their gold holdings surpass US Treasuries and euro area bonds as main reserve assets.

The sovereign debt bubble is imploding, and it will be paid with a painful and slow process of years of financial repression and destruction of the middle class. Policymakers prefer chronic crisis management instead of risking a dramatic 2008-style crisis caused by defaults and rapid deleveraging. Central banks have abandoned their inflation fight to ensure the sovereign debt bubble is “dissolved” through financial repression: cutting interest rates, flooding the markets with liquidity, and tolerating persistent inflation. However, disguising the true scale of fiscal imbalances and rewarding fiscal irresponsibility at the expense of currency stability makes governments ignore all the warning signs and soldier on with irresponsible spending.

The ongoing crisis will make wage earners poorer and create a dependent subclass incapable of saving or investing. Real interest rates will remain negative and money supply will rise faster than productive growth.

We may not see an abrupt headline crisis. It will be slow and painful, because it is already happening. Furthermore, monetary madness and government spending that destroy the value of the currency will continue to drive asset prices and gold to rise in nominal terms.

This is why market participants cheer the same policies that destroy the fabric of the economy: because they see asset prices soaring as the currency fades.

The world faces a slow-motion destruction of currency purchasing power. Inflation remains a persistent threat, eroding wages and deposit savings. Resources divert from innovation to debt service and government bureaucracy, stalling productivity growth. Thus, the middle class suffers higher taxes and persistent inflation, losing disposable incomes and social mobility.

This situation is not a result of government incompetence; rather, it is a deliberate strategy to create a dependent subclass that relies on government assistance due to the repression and elimination of financial freedom. The next time you request free services from the government, keep in mind that you will ultimately pay for them multiple times.