OnPolitics Today: 'A plot gone awry'

FROM WASHINGTON AND BEYOND

Monday, October 22

President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House in Washington, D.C., for a Houston rally to support Sen. Ted Cruz Oct. 22, 2018.

'He says he is not involved nor is the king'

In today's edition: We sat down with Trump.

Today's subject line quote: President Donald Trump, talking with USA TODAY White House correspondent David Jackson and Washington bureau chief Susan Page aboard Air Force One

It's Monday, OnPolitics friends, and we're getting ready for tonight's Texas rally, in which President Donald Trump stumps for his old rival, Sen. Ted Cruz.

As we wait for the odd couple to trade polite if detached compliments, we ask you do a few things: Join our Facebook group. Get your friends to subscribe to OP. Keep up with the latest.

Cool? Cool.

So, we sat down with Trump

In an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump questioned the account Saudi officials have given him about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi - but said he still believed it was "a plot gone awry."

He also indicated that he would oppose efforts to cease arms sales to the kingdom. After all, there are "many other" potential penalties, he said.

Further, he noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman says he "is not involved, nor is the king."

Trump was expansive during the interview, talking about the midterms and his agenda for when the next Congress is in session.

Read the story here.

Tweet o' the day

Don't forget.

Screenshot via Twitter

"I have been beaten, my skull fractured, and arrested more than forty times so that each and every person has the right to register and vote. Friends of my gave their lives. Do your part. Get out there and vote like you've never voted before. #vote #goodtrouble." - Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat and civil rights hero. His plea comes amid a controversy in his state over alleged voter suppression.

Migrants on the move

Central American migrants walking to the U.S. start their day departing Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018.

Moises Castillo, AP

As a group of about 5,000 Central Americans continue to make their way northward, President Donald Trump continued Monday to lob threats against other governments over not stopping the caravan.

"Sadly, it looks like Mexico's Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in," he tweeted. "I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!"

For what it's worth, his attack on "criminals and unknown Middle Easterners" was offered without evidence.

"There isn't a single terrorist here," Denis Omar Contreras, one of the caravan organizers, told the Associated Press.

Elsewhere in politics

•	Unexpected battlegrounds: A look at five key races in unlikely places
•	Sen. Bill Nelson building lead over Gov. Rick Scott in Florida Senate race
•	Poll: President Trump's approval rating hits new high as Democratic lead shrinks in tight races
•	Twitter, Lyft, Bumble and Tinder: How tech and social media companies may change the election this year
•	These Senate races will decide control in President Trump's Washington

Thanks for reading

Rawr.

A Siberian tiger swims in its pool to reach a pumpkin filled with meat on September 27, 2018 at the Tierpark Hagenbeck zoo in Hamburg, northern Germany. (Photo by Axel Heimken / dpa / AFP) / Germany OUTAXEL HEIMKEN/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: 581774509

AXEL HEIMKEN, AFP/Getty Images