President Trump promised success for the GOP in next year's midterm elections in a morning tweet, glossing over his party's failures in November's Virginia gubernatorial race and last week's Alabama special Senate election:
Don't forget: Trump issued full-throated endorsements of both Gillespie and Moore in their respective races. And Trump's also forgetting a Democratic win in a congressional race — California's 34th district — though it wasn't even contested by the GOP.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during a June briefing in Washington, DC. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday night he will lead a delegation to Taiwan "in the coming days."
Why it matters: It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. cabinet official to Taiwan since 1979. Azar is also the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the island state in six years. The visit has angered China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese officials accused the U.S. early Wednesday of "endangering peace" with the visit, AFP reports.
Photo: Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images
A major explosion has slammed central Beirut, Lebanon, damaging buildings as far as several miles away and injuring scores of people.
Driving the news: At least 100 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured in the blast — and the death toll is likely to rise, the Lebanese Red Cross said, per AP. Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosions occurred at a warehouse that had been storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for the past six years.