Trump flexes as the Freedom Caucus fades: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to From the Politics Desk , a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we break down the key takeaways from the latest round of primaries. Plus, Andrea Mitchell looks at the aftermath of the Abbey Gate attack five years later.

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Trump flexes as the Freedom Caucus fades: 3 primary night lessons

Analysis by Adam Wollner

Tuesday marked the final multistate primary day of the year. After a few more nominating contests in New England next month, we will be firmly in general election mode. But before we get there, let’s review three lessons we learned from the primary runoffs in South Carolina and Oklahoma .

Trump’s endorsement is still potent: It had been an unusually tough month for Republicans backed by President Donald Trump . Of the nine candidates he endorsed in House, Senate and gubernatorial primaries who have suffered defeats this year, six came in August .

But Trump bounced back in a big way last night, pushing appointed Sen. Darline Graham — whom he had recruited to run for the seat held by her late brother — across the finish line in South Carolina. Trump went beyond his usual level of support for primary candidates — supportive Truth Social posts and tele-rallies — and held an in-person event with Graham days out from Election Day. It seems to have paid dividends: Graham won Horry County, where the rally took place, by nearly 47 points over Rep. Ralph Norman .

Trump also eked out a win in Oklahoma. His endorsed candidate, former state Sen. Mike Mazzei , defeated Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond in the primary runoff for governor by 2,000 votes .

And so is his money: Trump went to bat for Graham in another key way. His allied super PAC, MAGA Inc., poured $830,000 into phone calls and text messages to voters ahead of the runoff.

MAGA Inc., which had more than $400 million on hand at the end of July, has otherwise been hesitant to open up its coffers this election season. The last time the group shelled out money for a Republican candidate came during a special House election in Georgia in March, when it spent $18,000.

Graham’s success may further fuel calls from Republicans for MAGA Inc. to spread the wealth as the party confronts a difficult political environment this fall.

The Freedom Caucus’ ranks continue to thin: Norman’s loss to Graham also marked a defeat for the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, as Sahil Kapur notes . (The congressman had also finished in third place in South Carolina’s June primary for governor.)

Earlier this month, Rep. Andy Ogles , R-Tenn., a Freedom Caucus member who was backed by Trump, lost renomination. And in May, Rep. Chip Roy , R-Texas, lost the primary for state attorney general.

Freedom Caucus members have also won Senate or gubernatorial nominations this year in Alabama, Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin. But that also means, win or lose, none of them will be back in Congress next year, potentially limiting the group’s influence on Capitol Hill.

5 years after Abbey Gate

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

It has been five years since 13 American service members died at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, killed by a suicide bombing as the troops were trying to help thousands of people desperate to escape before the Taliban takeover.

After a review of the risks the troops knowingly undertook, today the Pentagon elevated the posthumous valor awards for seven of the 11 Marines who died that day, having found that their commendations had been “inappropriately downgraded,” according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth .

One hopes the belated honors provide some measure of comfort to the grieving families and friends of the fallen. But five years after the Taliban reasserted its rule, the world community is for the most part ignoring the humanitarian crisis for the people of Afghanistan. The same goes for the plight of Afghan refugees still stranded around the world, as well as Afghan veterans in the U.S. who worked with the country’s military during the war and are now under threat of being sent back to unsafe conditions.

The International Rescue Committee says its relief workers in Afghanistan have provided essential services to 15 million people since 2022, but what had been 46 health facilities at its peak is down to just 16 today. The sharp decline has occurred largely since the U.S. and other governments cut funding in 2025. According to the IRC, which has worked in Afghanistan for 40 years, its 2026 humanitarian appeal is only a quarter funded. The nongovernment agency cites nutrition and maternal health, as well as outreach to malnourished children and pregnant women in the provinces, as the greatest need.

With Sunday marking five years since the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the IRC program director in Afghanistan, Bostan Fahim , appealed for help, saying, “At the exact moment Afghanistan’s hunger crisis hit its worst point in recorded history, the world pulled back the funding needed to respond.”

And despite bipartisan support for Afghan veterans in the U.S., they are now in legal jeopardy. The State Department has severely limited a refugee program that at its height accepted 120,000 people a year from all countries during the Biden administration. This year, the Trump administration has cut the total to 17,000 refugees a year, 12,000 of whom must be white Afrikaners, claiming without evidence they as a group are targeted for racial discrimination.

New bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress would provide Temporary Protected Status to Afghans in the U.S. who cannot safely return home because of their work during the war. U.S. veterans’ groups strongly support the effort. But their cause lost ground with the administration when an Afghan veteran last year was accused of shooting two National Guard service members near the White House, killing one and severely injuring the other. It became a rallying cry for the administration’s opposition to permitting other refugees to remain.

For five years, the U.S. has investigated and debated the calamity of the Afghan withdrawal. Images of the multitudes desperately trying to board the last flights out of Kabul are seared in our memories. Women in Afghanistan are once again being denied education, jobs and independent identities, along with the overriding absence of adequate healthcare, proper nutrition and clean water. International aid groups say it is long past time to remember the needs of those left behind who are living with the consequences of decades of war, repression and abandonment.

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That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Lauren Zola.

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