Axios

President Trump said Thursday that the administration is finalizing a plan that would prevent immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally from receiving asylum.

Why it matters: The briefing comes as Trump continues to make immigration a focal point ahead of the midterm elections and as a caravan of thousands of Central Americans — many of whom are likely to seek asylum — makes its way through Mexico toward the U.S.

President Trump, who has frequently made false and misleading statements while in office, told ABC News' Jon Karl that he tried to tell the truth, "when [he] can".

"Well, I try. I do try ... When I can, I tell the truth. And sometimes it turns out to be where something happens that’s different or there’s a change, but I always like to be truthful."

By the numbers: The Washington Post’s Fact Checker reported last month that Trump made more than 5,000 false or misleading statements in the first 601 days of his presidency, an average of 8.3 claims a day.

When asked at a Washington Post event if President Trump has called Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to personally ask for lower interest rates, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow replied: "Not yet."

Why it matters: Trump has publicly criticized Powell at least six times for raising interest rates in the midst of a booming economy, even going as far as to claim the Fed is his "biggest threat." Kudlow said Trump doesn't want to replace Powell, but — as Axios' Jonathan Swan reported last month — the president has no plans to curb his attacks against the Fed, an institution historically viewed as independent from the White House.

More than half of registered voters (56%) say that President Trump has done more to divide the country than to unite it, but even more (64%) say national news media has divided the country, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll.

The big picture: In an interview with "Axios for HBO," President Trump defended his red-hot rhetoric against the media, claiming that he has to do so "when people write stories about me that are so wrong." And when asked if he was worried that some supporters might take his incendiary message too far, Trump responded, "It’s my only form of fighting back. I wouldn’t be here if I didn't do that."

Since 2014, at least 56,800 migrants around the world have gone missing or been killed, according to an Associated Press report.

The big picture: The AP's number doubles the one from the UN's International Organization for Migration, which is the only official attempt to tally the toll of the world's migration crisis. And the news agency admits that its count is "still low" as a portion of migrant deaths inevitably go undiscovered or unreported.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who announced his retirement at the beginning of this year, criticized Republican rhetoric about a migrant caravan moving through Mexico as "using fear to stimulate people to come out at the polls," the Tennessean reports.

"I've just never been angry at someone who wants to come to the greatest nation on earth and live the kind of life that we lead. To make pejorative statements about all of them…I don’t approve of that. I don't."

The big picture: President Trump has been pushing misleading warnings about the caravan, claiming that a full-on invasion at the southern border is imminent. Corker told the Tennessean that the issue is a "political football" and broke with the conspiracy theory that the caravan is being funded by liberal billionaire George Soros: "If anybody's funding it, it's some Republican donor, because it has obviously turned into an election issue that has benefited the Republican side."

In one of the most blatant and misleading attempts ever to scare American voters days before an election, President Trump is warning in speeches, tweets, interviews and ads that scary, deadly migrants are about to storm our southern border.

Reality check: Almost none of what he warns is demonstrably true, at least in terms of scale and scope of threat. 

Recent Department of Homeland Security records show that 433,556 foreign graduates were approved for temporary jobs in their academic field in the U.S. after finishing school in 2017, per The Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: More students from outside the U.S. are choosing to stay in the country for jobs as software engineers and other highly-skilled roles that Americans aren't studying for, under the federal work-authorization program, per the data.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee broke the $100 million online fundraising mark on Tuesday, exactly one week ahead of the midterms, Politico reports.

Why it matters: The DCCC broke its previous online fundraising record, $75.27 million during the 2016 election cycle, in August. The committee has so far raised $250 million overall in 2018 with online donations accounting for nearly 40% of the total.

President Trump told reporters Wednesday that if President Obama could "do DACA, we can do this by executive order,” referring to his plan to use an executive order to end birthright citizenship for immigrants who are not permanent residents of the U.S.

Between the lines: The Trump administration has railed against Obama for using an executive order to implement DACA, which protects unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation, calling it unconstitutional and working to overturn it. But now Trump is using it in defense of his own planned order. Most scholars believe such a move would require a constitutional amendment — not executive order — to change birthright citizenship.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decisions to step down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in December and to not run for re-election in 2021 will have repercussions for Germany, Europe and the transatlantic relationship.

The big picture: Merkel’s leadership has been marked by her commitments to decency, multilateralism and diplomacy. Even in the face of the far-right-wing Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), Germany's center will still hold, but her replacement will probably shift the CDU rightward.

President Trump lashed out at House Speaker Paul Ryan on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, saying Ryan should focus "on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship."

"Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about! Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!"

The backdrop: Following Axios' reporting that Trump plans to sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship, Ryan told WVLK that Trump "cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order." Ryan was visiting vulnerable Republican Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky when he made the comment.

President Trump said on Twitter Wednesday that birthright citizenship "will be ended one way or the other," after telling "Axios on HBO" that he plans to issue an executive order that would attempt to remove the right.

"So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof.' Many legal scholars agree. ... Harry Reid was right in 1993, before he and the Democrats went insane and started with the Open Borders (which brings massive Crime) 'stuff.' Don’t forget the nasty term Anchor Babies. I will keep our Country safe. This case will be settled by the United States Supreme Court! The World is using our laws to our detriment. They laugh at the Stupidity they see!"

The national director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, urged House Speaker Paul Ryan in a letter on Tuesday to take action against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) by stripping him of his subcommittee chairmanship and initiating censure proceedings for King's "anti-Semitic and offensive" actions.

The big picture: Outrage has mounted on King in recent days, with dairy company Land O'Lakes ending their donations, and Rep. Steve Strivers, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, condemning King's "completely inappropriate actions and comments." King said in a statement that the "attacks are orchestrated by nasty, desperate, and dishonest fake news."

With less than a week until Election Day, top operators in both parties tell me the events of the past week have helped lock in the split decision they have long seen coming: The House flips to Dems (probably decisively), and Republicans hold the Senate (and perhaps gain two seats).

What they're saying: Democrats who had grown skittish about taking the House say they're resting easier. "The panic has abated," said a well-known Democrat on a secret mission in one of the key states.