Wednesday morning news: October 14, 2026

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New White House press secretary » The White House has a new press secretary. Katie Zacharia faced reporters for the first time for a brief turn at the lectern on Tuesday.

ZACHARIA:  I am so honored to work for President Trump and the American people. I want to thank President Trump for his trust that he has placed in me

Zacharia was a California lawyer and conservative commentator. She recently worked for President Trump’s media company.

Earlier this year, she also served briefly as a spokeswoman and public-affairs official at the Homeland Security department.

She replaces Karoline Leavitt, who left the post in August.

Guilfoyle » Zacharia in her White House debut also made a big announcement regarding the US Ambassador to Greece.

ZACHARIA:  We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more on that story now from Washington.

HARRISON WATTERS: Former FOX News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle was engaged to Donald Trump Jr. before becoming the U.S. Ambassador to Greece.

The Wall Street Journal reported that ahead of her confirmation hearing last year, she asked a Trump donor to pay her credit card bill. In exchange, she reportedly offered access to Trump administration officials.

President Trump told reporters at the White House:

TRUMP: She was doing a great job, but we didn’t like what we were reading…

WATTERS: Guilfoyle said the allegations are false and that she intends to defend her reputation, but acknowledged her time was up at the State Department.

Deputy Chief of Mission Joshua Huck will lead the embassy until the Senate confirms a new ambassador.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters in Washington.

Trump and Vance trying to rally turnout » Election Day is just 20 days away. And President Trump is hitting the campaign trail, urging Republicans to cast their ballots.

Analysts say Democrats are likely to take the House, but the GOP still hopes to keep a Senate majority.

Trump spoke to reporters near his Marine One helicopter at the White House before leaving for Alaska to campaign for Senator Dan Sullivan:

TRUMP: That's a long way away, and I would only do it if I thought he was good, and he's very good. And so I'm going to Alaska to help Dan Sullivan, and then I'm stopping at numerous places. But I, I'm doing on average a rally a day.

RealClearPolling’s average puts Democrat Mary Peltola ahead of Sullivan by about a point.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Democrats hope to turn a US Senate seat in that state blue for the first time in almost 40 years.

Vice President JD Vance campaigned Tuesday for GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton in Tyler, Texas and announced the expansion of a local oil refinery.

VANCE: It means more opportunities for Texans, for your kids and your grandkids to build a life without having to leave the community that they love

RealClearPolling’s average puts Texas Democrat James Talarico about three points ahead.

Nationally, RealClearPolitics' Senate election map puts 46 seats in each party's column, with eight races rated toss-ups. Democrats need to win five of those eight to take control.

Trump on Ukraine intel, ending war » Reporters also asked Trump Tuesday about a recent Russian missile attack on Kyiv that had some questioning if the U.S. had pulled back intelligence support for Ukraine.

The government there says it received no advance warning from its partners before Monday’s strike.

A reporter asked Trump whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence:

TRUMP: No, we haven't. We helped them. But we're really helping them get to a final answer. We want the war ended, Peter. Uh, we are helping them and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end. So we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, also says Washington is still sharing intelligence. He links the late air raid warning to the type of missile Russia used.

Bank of America fine » The U.S. government just hit Bank of America with a fine of more than $1.2 billion dollars.

The Treasury Department says the bank didn’t alert authorities to more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. Some may have involved Chinese money laundering groups.

The bank admits it broke a law that requires banks to watch for and report possible money laundering.

The government also accused the bank of breaking sanctions against Iran and Russia.

But Bank of America says it has spent billions on technology and manpower to fight financial crime.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Hunter Baker will join us for Washington Wednesday. And later, commentator Cal Thomas on taking charge when government fails.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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