‘All We Need Is an Ocean’

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for Aug. 27, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

It’s “Lake America” now, President Donald Trump declared via executive order — the latest escalation in the U.S.-Canadian trade war.

• “If you think about it, we have a Gulf, and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said, floating a potential name change for the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

The Trump administration’s new rule requiring states to submit voter data to a federal portal before national mail-in ballots can be sent is now in effect, USPS announced. The service acknowledged pending litigation against the rule, including from nearly two dozen Democratic-led states.

• As for the ballots already set to go out next week in states like North Carolina? “They’re able to figure it — North Carolina’s great,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s a great place. I won at golf three times.”

Scoop: Embattled Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) sent a 22-page “Dear Colleague” letter defending himself against sexual harassment allegations, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman and Oriana González report.

• In addition to digitally distributing the letter, staffers have been delivering copies to congressional offices in envelopes marked “confidential,” Oriana notes.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Mark Paoletta will lead the planning commission tasked with reviewing the White House’s many construction projects. The conservative lawyer works under OMB Director Russ Vought and serves as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Howard Lutnick says the Kennedy Center is “dangerous” because of falling chunks of concrete, adding that experts say the building can only be fully renovated if Trump serves as construction manager.

• Rep. Joyce Beatty’s legal team argued in court today that the facility’s Trump-allied board members are still trying to covertly override the judge’s prior order to removing the president’s name from the building. The Kennedy Center’s attorney said it’s not a renaming.

Pete Hegseth favors Sean Parnell to become the next Army secretary — but the controversial Pentagon spokesperson could face a tough path to Senate confirmation, NOTUS’ Joe Gould reports.

Greg Bovino says the Trump administration “absolutely” wants him dead after taking away his security detail earlier this year. The White House called the former Border Patrol chief’s allegation “absurd.”

THE STATES

Sen. Jon Ossoff criticized his opponent Mike Collins after a report revealed the Georgia Republican’s former staffer had a history of racist posts with Nazi and KKK imagery.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says he tried to persuade then-President Joe Biden to pardon Trump on the criminal charges he faced in multiple jurisdictions. Biden had seemed open to the idea, the Republican governor wrote in a passage of his upcoming book.

THE COURTS

European soccer’s governing body is going to court in three states against FIFA, president Gianni Infantino, Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital and American executive Greg Maffei.

• UEFA hopes to garner information through subpoenas and eventually criminally charge Infantino over his plans to sell stakes in the World Cup. The organization’s Florida filing mentions the probe led by top House Oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin into Infantino, who has not responded to the committee’s request.

LAKE PEPE SILVIA

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Erik Schutz. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.