Monday, Oct. 5

á           President Donald Trump left Walter Reed Military Medical Hospital after a weekend stay following his positive coronavirus diagnosis. ÒThough he may not be entirely out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all of our evaluations, and most importantly, his clinical status, support the presidentÕs safe return home, where heÕll be surrounded by world-class medical care 24/7,Ó White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said.

á           As Trump continued to downplay the significance of COVID-19, saying on Twitter to not Òlet it dominate your life,Ó the Centers for Disease Control reported the United States coronavirus death toll exceeded 210,000 people.

á           The White House blocked a Food and Drug Administration from making it a guideline for coronavirus vaccine developers to have at least two months of safety data from half of their trial volunteers before authorizing emergency use of the vaccine. The FDA published the guidelines anyway a day later.

Tuesday, Oct. 6

á           Trump tweeted that he had instructed his representatives to stop negotiating with Democrats in Congress for more coronavirus relief aid until after the Nov. 3 election.

á           Officials reported members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including Chairman General Mark Milley, went into self-quarantine after the Coast GuardÕs second-in-command, Admiral Charles Ray, tested positive for the coronavirus after a top-level meeting at the Pentagon last week.

á           Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent a day in Tokyo with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan in an effort to solidify support among regional allies against China. PompeoÕs trip, his first to the region since July 2019, was intended to include visits to Mongolia and South Korea as well but was cut short due to TrumpÕs coronavirus diagnosis.

á           The Justice Department disclosed that cybersecurity expert John McAfee was arrested in Spain on charges of failing to file tax returns and hiding assets.

á           A district court judged ordered IranÕs government to pay over $1.4 billion in damages to the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson who disappeared during a visit to an Iranian island in March 2007.

á           The House antitrust subcommittee released a 449-page report with proposals for a series of far-reaching antitrust reforms to curb the power of U.S. technology giants like Amazon and Google. The report is the result of a yearlong antitrust investigation that determined these tech companies abuse their dominance in the U.S. economy.

á           The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to reinstate Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar TsarnaevÕs death sentence, arguing that an appeals court improperly vacated the death penalty Òin one of the most important terrorism prosecutions in our nationÕs history.Ó

Wednesday, Oct. 7

á           Kamala Harris and Mike Pence faced off for their first and only vice presidential debate. Although the debate covered such topics as the Trump administrationÕs pandemic response and racial justice, popular reactions focused on HarrisÕs facial expressions and a fly that landed on PenceÕs head.

á           A federal appeals court unanimously rejected TrumpÕs effort to block ManhattanÕs district attorney from obtaining eight years of his tax returns for a criminal probe into TrumpÕs businesses, a decision he will likely appeal.

á           National Security Advisor Robert OÕBrien said the U.S. will reduce its troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 early next year.

á           OÕBrien warned China against any attempt to retake Taiwan by force, saying there was Òa lot of ambiguityÓ as to how the U.S. would react to such action.

Thursday, Oct. 8

á           The Trump administration announced another round of sanctions on Iran, effectively shutting the country out of the global financial system by blacklisting 18 major Iranian banks. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said, ÒTodayÕs actions will continue to allow for humanitarian transactions to support the Iranian people,Ó although previous sanctions have already been shown to prevent Iran from receiving humanitarian aid.

á           Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he has avoided going to the White House for over two months because of its pandemic response despite McConnell being one of TrumpÕs most powerful allies in Congress.

Friday, Oct. 9

á           The Trump administration gave notice that landlords could start eviction proceedings against tenants even while a federal eviction ban is in place.

á           The second presidential debate was cancelled, as confirmed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, following a dispute between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden over whether the event should be held virtually given TrumpÕs health status.

á           House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a new bill on the 25th Amendment to create the Presidential Capacity Commission, which would assess whether or not the president is mentally fit to hold office.

Saturday, Oct. 10

á           Trump held his first public event since being diagnosed with COVID-19. He addressed a crowd of a few hundred from a White House balcony, spoke about Òlaw and orderÓ issues in the country and did not wear a mask.

á           A federal judge rejected an attempt by TrumpÕs presidential election campaign to limit how mail-in ballots are collected in Pennsylvania, for example to disqualify officials to disqualify mail-in ballots with signatures that may not exactly match their signature on file and to bar counties from using drop boxes or mobile sites that arenÕt staffed and secured consistently across all counties in the state.

Sunday, Oct. 11

á           Trump claimed in a Fox News interview that he no longer has COVID-19 and is now ÒimmuneÓ from the virus. A later Trump tweet repeating the claim was flagged for violating the platformÕs rules about misleading information related to COVID-19.