Kimberly Guilfoyle resigns as US ambassador at White House request

1. Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as the U.S. ambassador to Greece.

The White House requested her resignation after The Wall Street Journal reported that she had solicited $100,000 from a Trump donor in the run-up to her confirmation hearing last year. Guilfoyle said in a post on X that serving as ambassador “has been the honor of a lifetime” and pushed back on the recent allegations against her. Guilfoyle’s social-media post came shortly after White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said the White House had asked for her resignation. When asked about Guilfoyle, President Trump told reporters that he didn’t like what he had read about her and hadn’t spoken with her.

2. U.S. defense startups are flocking to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s government spurred a gold rush in August when it allocated over $7 billion to spend on drones over the next six years. U.S. startups working with Taiwan on sea and air drones range from small defense-tech firms to Anduril Industries, an arms supplier to the Pentagon and the Taiwan military whose drone contracts with Taipei have already passed the $1 billion mark. At least 13 U.S.-Taiwan collaboration agreements have been signed since September 2025.

3. Big banks warned rising interest rates could spoil the party.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo each reported higher third-quarter profit and revenue from a year earlier, in part because of the need for financing related to the artificial-intelligence boom, volatile equity markets and continued strength in consumer spending. But last month’s bond-market turbulence dinged results as the banks posted weaker-than-expected revenue from their businesses trading bonds on behalf of clients.

4. The Justice Department threatened the American Bar Association with an antitrust probe.

The department said ABA unfairly restricts part-time law faculty, hurting education and putting upward pressure on tuition costs. The missive adds to the Trump administration’s campaign against the country’s largest association of lawyers, which has come under fire from Republicans who say the group favors liberal political positions and shouldn’t have so much power to set professional and educational standards. The quality standards of the ABA’s accreditation council cover most law schools.

5. Six Flags closed 10 rides after a man died and several others were injured on one of its roller coasters.

Investigators believe the man was ejected from the ride and struck other passengers before falling to his death, based on interviews with witnesses and theme-park employees. The amusement park company said it was shutting down similar attractions across its parks out of an abundance of caution. Shares in Six Flags fell 14.4%.

The Number

The number of people left missing after drones struck two commercial ships sailing just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters. The strikes are a fresh threat for NATO, which is seeking to avoid direct confrontation with the Kremlin while pressing its members to call out Russia when there is enough evidence of its involvement in such attacks.

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Catch Up

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What Do You Think?

Last week, we asked whether affordability is a central issue for you in the midterm elections. Here’s what you had to say:

“Prices of everyday items, as well as other economic conditions and threats to Medicare and Social Security because I am elderly, are the biggest issues when I consider who to vote for in the midterm elections as well as the presidential election in 2028.” —Frankie Winchester, Maryland

“Some things are more expensive now, but most are not as expensive as they were during the Biden presidency. This is not the main issue for me for the midterms. I am far more concerned with the talk from Democrats to blow up the Supreme Court and kill the Senate filibuster. These are direct threats to our form of government.” —Susan Wilson, California

“Prices of life essentials have climbed significantly since the pandemic and continue to rise due to self-inflicted reasons like tariffs and war. We were promised the opposite.” —Evan Brown, Massachusetts

Responses have been condensed and edited.

Take a Break

In an era obsessed with the relentless pursuit of power, only one team hit fewer home runs than the Brewers this season. Yet they still ranked second overall in runs scored, a seemingly impossible combination that defies every piece of conventional wisdom about how baseball is supposed to work.

Beyond the Newsroom

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