# NEW: Trump Won't Rule Out Federal Takeover of Midterm Elections: "Stranger Things Have Happened" Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639/new-trump-won-t-rule-out-federal-takeover-of-midterm-elections-stranger-things-have-happened Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639/new-trump-won-t-rule-out-federal-takeover-of-midterm-elections-stranger-things-have-happened.md Podcast: [FiveStack with Dean Blundell & Zev Shalev](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639) Published: 2026-08-11T21:50:49+00:00 Episode link: https://www.narativ.org/p/new-trump-wont-rule-out-federal-takeover Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/210801969/488c001d30fd2cc01b158d5b8b0c942c.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639/episodes/new-trump-won-t-rule-out-federal-takeover-of-midterm-elections-stranger-things-have-happened Duration seconds: 3534 ## Resource Today’s FiveStack is brought to you by GroundNews — sign upo to and recieve 40% off their Vantage plan. 5️⃣ The Catering Cart Caper A White House official confirmed the ruse on camera: Trump boarded Air Force One in Turkey for the cameras, slipped out the far side into a catering truck, and flew home on a second jet — while his press corps and most of his cabinet rode the decoy, some told mid-air they were on “a dangerous flight.” Dean noted the one exception: personal aide Natalie Harp rode out with the boss. He also pulled the Clinton precedent — a credible threat once moved a president to a private jet, and every passenger was told. Nobody told this press corps anything. No reporting yet shows the Iranian threat was real, and a president who brags he is winning this war hid from it behind the submarine sandwiches. “Truly spectacular selfishness,” Dean called it — and that was the charitable reading. 4️⃣ Republicans Bankroll The Socialist Six states voted Tuesday, and in Wisconsin the biggest spender in the DEMOCRATIC governor’s primary was the Republican Governors Association — nearly $3.6 million in “attack” ads that every Democrat in the state read as a boost for democratic socialist Francesca Hong, the opponent Republicans believe they can beat in November. Dean called the whole practice, run by both parties, “a race to the bottom.” T extremes don’t legislate — you govern from consensus or you don’t govern — and a party that pays to nominate its opponent’s fringe has stopped trying to win arguments at all. 3️⃣ “Stranger Things Have Happened” Wayne Allyn Root — who has spent a year begging Trump in print to seize the 2026 elections — pitched him a “national-security emergency” takeover of the midterms on Real America’s Voice after midnight. Trump answered: “Let me… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639/episodes/new-trump-won-t-rule-out-federal-takeover-of-midterm-elections-stranger-things-have-happened/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/fivestack-with-dean-blundell-zev-shalev-7267639/new-trump-won-t-rule-out-federal-takeover-of-midterm-elections-stranger-things-have-happened.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.