Politics
Why Michigan Democrats Are Worried About a Trump Supporter Winning a Low-Stakes Election
Democrats in one of the most important battleground states in the nation are rallying their forces in a comparatively small race — but one the party’s leaders fear could have big implications for the 2026 midterms and ‘28 presidential elections.
The unusual scene is playing out around a city clerk election in Southfield, Michigan, where Democrats entered the spring faced with the real possibility of a MAGA Republican who helped lead an effort to toss more than a million votes in the 2020 election becoming the local elections chief, virtually without a challenge.
Gavriel “Gabi” Grossbard is running for city clerk in Southfield, Michigan, where voting is taking place in just two months. Off-year elections like Grossbard’s have leapt in significance since 2020, when Donald Trump leaned on local officials in an attempt to overturn the presidential election. In some states, slates of “alternative” electors clashed with officials and even police officers.
But Grossbard, to Democrats in Michigan, represents everything MAGA wanted to achieve after its failure in 2020 and the subsequent return to power of Trump four years later. Once part of a legal bid to disqualify votes in three Michigan counties including Wayne, home to Detroit, Grossbard is alleged by Democrats to be a dyed-in-the-wool believer of conspiracy theories about America’s election systems.
And now Grossbard’s will be the only name on November’s ballot — as his Democratic opponent is stuck running a write-in campaign, and struggling to win a race that should have been a lay-up for the party, given the deep-blue tint of Southfield.
The incumbent, Janet Jackson, learned she was ineligible to run due to lingering issues related to her successful 2023 bid against him, when she beat Grossbard by roughly 50 percentage points. She never released a statement explaining her withdrawal.
Michigan Democratic Party officials faced the reality that Jackson’s ineligibility would have left the door wide open for the seat to be won by a MAGA Republican who signed on to a lawsuit that sought to invalidate the votes of more than one million Michiganders in 2020. Grossbard is also a former Republican congressional candidate who also ran for city clerk unsuccessfully in 2023.
In response, the party is throwing its weight behind the write-in campaign of Wynett Guy, an employee of Jackson’s office. Jackson’s ineligibility was the wrench in the works; in April of this year, Guy says that she reached out to offer her support for Jackson’s re-election bid, only to learn that the incumbent wasn’t eligible to run again. A spokesperson for Grossbard contended it was due to unpaid financial liabilities stemming from her 2023 campaign.
Guy has attacked Grossbard in an ad for his participation in the lawsuit as well as a challenge filed against her own ballot eligibility. The state party chair, Curtis Hertel, is meanwhile blasting Grossbard as an “extremist conspiracy theorist” as organizers pour into the city to reverse Guy’s fortunes.
There’s reason to believe that Grossbard would be on the far right fringe of his party’s elected officials in Michigan were he to win. In Facebook comments reviewed by The Independent, Grossbard defended protesters who participated in the attack on the Capitol, writing in one: “contrary to reports, no capital police death that day was caused by violence of any of the rioters.”
Other Facebook statuses posted by Grossbard and comments made by his wife Milaine and others strongly imply that the candidate himself was in Washington, D.C. during the attack on the Capitol, where dozens of police officers were injured as they clashed for hours with violent rioters. Several responding officers died after the attack.
“Im [sic] ok. Driving back to Detroit,” he wrote on the evening of January 6, 2021, in a status after the attack concluded. Comments following the post are entirely focused on the riot.
“So proud of my husband Gabi Grossbard,” wrote his wife in a Facebook status the same day. Another commenter replied: “We are behind you Gabi! Thank you for going! You are there for all of us!”
“Stay safe, please!” another Facebook user wrote in response to a now-hidden or deleted update posted by Grossbard on the morning of January 6. Grossbard liked the reply, but didn’t respond.
There is no indication Grossbard directly took part in storming the Capitol or any of the rioting.
The Independent reached out to Grossbard for clarification regarding where he was on Jan. 6, 2021, and whether he participated in demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol. A spokesperson for Grossbard’s campaign responded in an email, detailing a range of issues with the Southfield city clerk’s office which Grossbard has highlighted during his campaign, including a backlog of minutes from city council meetings: “a vote for Mr. Gabi Grossbard, would be a vote for much needed upgrades to the clerk’s office. The clerk’s office would be in compliance with all mandated laws [under Grossbard’s management].”
On a phone call, Grossbard’s volunteer campaign manager contended that the state party was attempting to smear the candidate and said that she did not know whether Grossbard had gone to the Capitol during the January 6 riots. The volunteer also claimed that Democrats and potentially the media were framing the race unfairly as an issue of race by pitting Black and Jewish candidates against one another.
Hertel, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, fired back in a text message: “That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. This is about Grossbard’s history of denying fair elections and his lack of qualifications for the job.”
With the November election now just two months away, Democrats are hoping an unconventional campaign to support Guy — who is one of two write-in candidates — will prevent a takeover of Southfield’s election office by a conservative who’d be a rare red dot in the city’s all-blue Democratic leadership.
The root of the problem for Democrats appears to be Jackson, who defeated Grossbard in his first run for clerk and then promptly faced a wave of issues leading to her own ineligibility two years later. According to Guy, she learned her boss was ineligible to run again just two days before a deadline to gather the 200 signatures requied for appearance on the ballot. Though Guy rallied to collect signatures, her petition and signatures were challenged by Grossbard in front of the state elections board — and she lost.
Grossbard’s spokesperson contended that the issues Jackson faced on her own campaign were endemic of a dysfunctional city clerk’s office that was more than a year behind in reporting city council minutes and was in violation of state open records laws. She also scorched state party officials who she argued were uninterested in the race and those longstanding issues before Grossbard’s victory looked like a real possibility. Guy, she argued, worked in the clerk’s office for months while those issues worsened.
Guy is now running to win a race where she won’t even be on the ballot, with the backing of state party organizers who’ve stepped into the race as triage. The Michigan Democratic Party chair told The Independent on Wednesday that volunteers were knocking on “thousands” of doors on Guy’s behalf.
“Right now, in Southfield, Michiganders are facing a choice between extremist, conspiracy theorist Gabi Grossbard and dedicated public servant, and write-in candidate Wynette Guy for Southfield Clerk,” said Hertel.
“Michigan Democrats are knocking thousands of doors and making thousands of calls to ensure that we elect someone that cares about the fairness, safety, and security of our election process.”
An airplane carrying Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was forced to make an emergency landing in the UK Wednesday due to a crack in its windshield, officials said.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on social media that on the way back to the U.S. after NATO’s Defense Minister meeting in Belgium, the plane made an “unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom” because of a crack in the aircraft’s windshield.
The plane landed based on standard procedures, and all of the passengers on board, including Hegseth, were safe, Parnell added.
“All good. Thank God,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Continue mission!”
Hegseth was traveling in a C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 used by the Air Force for VIP transport. Other top leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and occasionally, even President Donald Trump, use the aircraft when visiting airports with runways too short for the modified Boeing-747 Trump typically uses as Air Force One.
It was unclear what caused the crack in the plane’s windshield.
Flight tracking data showed that the plane took off from Brussels and made it past Ireland before turning around to land at Royal Air Force Mildenhall in England at 7:07 p.m. local time. It was not known what time the plane initially took off.
Hegseth and previous Secretaries of Defence have traditionally used a different aircraft for foreign travel, the Boeing E-4B.
The Boeing E-4B is a modified Boeing-747 that has been hardened for use as an airborne command post by the president or Pentagon leadership during nuclear conflicts. It is known within the Air Force as “Air Force One when it counts” and the “Doomsday plane.”
It was not immediately clear why Hegseth was traveling on the smaller, C-32 plane.
The C-32, which had to perform an emergency landing, has less capabilities than the E-4B, but is decked out with a more luxurious interior thanks to upgrades made during Trump’s first term as president.
During his time in Brussels, Hegseth warned the U.S. would “impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression” if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end.
“If we must take this step, the U.S. War Department stands ready to do our part in ways that only the United States can do,” Hegseth said at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group of Kyiv’s allies at NATO headquarters.
Hegseth did not elaborate. His comments came as Trump’s administration is considering a request by Ukraine for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
Earlier this year, an Air Force plane carrying Rubio to Munich was forced to return to Washington after experiencing a mechanical problem.
The trade war between China and the US intensified this week with both nations imposing new port fees on each other’s ships.
The latest escalation in tensions between the world’s two largest economies sent bilateral relations, and the markets, into a tailspin.
After Beijing announced stricter restrictions on rare earth exports – in retaliation for the US dramatically expanding sanctions on Chinese firms – president Donald Trump threatened 100 per cent tariffs and new curbs on “all critical software”.
Trade analysts suspect that Mr Trump’s threatened three-digit tariff will heighten market uncertainty in the near term, especially in sectors with strong supply chain exposure to China like manufacturing and technology.
Rare earths, vital for use in electric vehicles, aircraft engines, military radars and a range of everyday electronics, are a key sticking point in negotiations between the sparring nations.
China produces almost 70 per cent and processes nearly 90 per cent of the world’s rare earth elements.
The Chinese announcement was an apparent surprise to Mr Trump, who called it an “out of the blue” move. But, over the weekend, he sounded more conciliatory than in the past, although he still refused to withdraw the tariff threat.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”
China seems unfazed by Mr Trump’s threats and its export boom suggests Beijing may be gaining the upper hand in the trade war.
“China’s position is consistent. If there’s a fight, we will fight to the end; if there’s a talk, the door is open,” a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“The US cannot demand talks while simultaneously imposing new restrictive measures with threats and intimidation. This is not the right way to engage with China.”
Is China winning the trade war?
China appears to be gaining the upper hand in the ongoing trade dispute with the US, nearly six months after Mr Trump imposed steep import levies on the Asian economic giant.
Chinese exports rose 8.3 per cent in September from a year earlier to about £246bn even as shipments to the US fell about 27 per cent.
After Mr Trump declared his worldwide tariffs in April, several major countries moved to diversify their foreign trade, signalling a global shift towards a system where the US was no longer the central market.
In line with this shift, Chinese shipments to non-US destinations grew 14.8 per cent, the fastest since March 2023, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. The exports to the EU grew 14 per cent, to Asean countries by 16 per cent and to Africa about 56 per cent.
The minimal impact of the Trump tariffs on its overall trade only strengthened China’s resolve to adopt a firmer position in negotiations with Washington, as reflected in the stricter restrictions on exports.
Strong demand from markets beyond the US indicates that Chinese exporters may be less vulnerable to the additional tariffs threatened by Mr Trump. Chinese imports were up 7.4 per cent last month, pointing to a potential recovery in domestic consumption.
A self-driven recovery in China would mark a clear erosion of US dominance in the global economy. But analysts caution it is too soon to declare a winner in the trade dispute.
“While China’s recent export growth suggests some resilience, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that Beijing has gained an advantage in the trade war,” Lukman Otunuga, a senior market analyst at broker FXTM, told The Independent.
“Much of that uptick could reflect front-loading of shipments ahead of new tariffs or shifts in trade routes. The overall picture remains mixed, with both economies experiencing structural challenges amid the prolonged trade tensions.”
Mr Otunuga said the additional US levies were likely to heighten market uncertainty in the near term, and “investors may see higher volatility as markets weigh the impact on corporate earnings and global growth prospects”.
What are the new levies?
Mr Trump last week unveiled an additional levy of 100 per cent on Chinese imports to the US, along with new export controls on critical software, from 1 November. He also threatened to cancel a planned in-person meeting with President Xi Jinping, their first in six years, but US treasury secretary Scott Bessent later told Reuters the two leaders were on track to meet in South Korea in late October.
Bloomberg Economics estimates that a 100 per cent tariff hike by the US will raise effective rates on Chinese goods to 140 per cent, which could halt trade altogether.
“So far this year, China has shown that while it does not wish for a trade war, it is willing to retaliate to escalations as needed,” Lynn Song, chief Greater China economist at ING Bank NV, told Bloomberg.
“The export resilience will likely strengthen confidence in this approach ahead of the talks later this month.”
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, average US tariffs on Chinese imports reached 58 per cent by end of September, while Chinese tariffs were at 33 per cent.
Despite current rates already sitting 25 percentage points above the global average, China’s manufacturing strength continues to drive export growth.
In a tit-for-tat move, China hit US-owned vessels docking in the country with new port fees, which came into effect on Tuesday.
Vessels owned or operated by American companies or individuals would be subjected to a 400 yuan (£42) per net tonne fee per voyage if they were to dock in China, Beijing announced last week. The fees would be applied on the same ship for a maximum of five voyages each year, and would rise every year until 2028, when it would jump to 1,120 yuan (£117) per net tonne.
The duties are largely aligned with the port fees introduced by the US. Vessels owned or operated by Chinese entities will be charged $50 (£37) per net tonne for each voyage to the US, which will rise by $30 (£22) per net tonne each year until 2028.
China’s new port fees could affect oil tankers accounting for 15 per cent of global capacity, according to Clarksons Research.
Will Donald Trump meet Xi Jinping to negotiate trade?
Mr Trump and Mr Xi were expected to meet at the Apec summit in South Korea at the end of October. There was also talk of the US president visiting Beijing in January, but those meetings appeared less probable after the recent escalation in tensions.
Mr Bessent said the US president remained on track to meet the Chinese leader as he sought to reassure traders and investors on both sides of the Pacific, highlighting the cooperation between their negotiating teams and the possibility they could yet find a way forward from the current tariff truce.
“We have substantially de-escalated,” Mr Bessent told Fox Business Network on Monday.
Substantial communications between the two sides had taken place over the weekend and there would be US-China staff-level meetings this week in Washington on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual gatherings, he added.
“The 100 per cent tariff does not have to happen,” Mr Bessent said. “The relationship, despite this announcement last week, is good. Lines of communication have reopened, so we’ll see where it goes.”
“President Trump said the tariffs would not go into effect until November 1,” he added. “He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea. I believe that meeting will still be on.”
Washington and Beijing have been negotiating since May.
China’s commerce ministry confirmed on Tuesday that a working-level meeting had taken place the previous day.
It also highlighted formal negotiations held earlier in London, Stockholm and Madrid, culminating in a 90-day tariff extension.
The ministry, however, warned that “the US cannot ask for talks while simultaneously threatening new restrictive measures”.
Politics
Latest Ukraine-Russia War Update: Trump Official Says Putin Will Pay the Price if Fighting Continues!
US pressures Japan to halt Russian oil imports
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he has urged Japan to halt all imports of Russian energy, signalling a harder line from the Trump administration toward allies maintaining limited trade ties with Moscow.
“Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the US–Japan economic relationship and the Administration’s expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy,” Bessent posted on X after his meeting with Japan’s finance minister Katsunobu Kato in Washington.
The two met on the sidelines of the IMF annual meetings and the G7 and G20 finance leaders’ gatherings being held this week in Washington.”
Japan will do what it can based on the basic principle of coordinating with G7 countries to achieve peace in Ukraine in a fair manner,” Kato told reporters, when asked whether Japan was urged by Bessent to stop importing Russian energy.
Tokyo has already pledged to phase out Russian oil imports as part of the G7’s coordinated sanctions response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
However, Japan continues to buy Sakhalin Blend crude – a byproduct of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production from the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia’s Far East.
The energy source remains crucial for Japan, providing about 9 per cent of its total LNG imports, a key component of its energy security.
Shweta Sharma16 October 2025 04:01
IMF chief plans to visit Ukraine, Bloomberg reports
The International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, plans to travel to Ukraine, supporting its efforts to secure a new loan package in the fourth year of the war, Bloomberg has reported.
An IMF spokesperson said: “Our staff remains actively engaged with the Ukrainian authorities on macroeconomic policies aimed at maintaining stability, financing essential expenditures, and restoring debt sustainability, with a view to continued IMF support.”
The exact time of the visit is yet to be determined.
Harriette Boucher16 October 2025 04:00
India to stop buying Russian oil, Trump claims
Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, India’s top oil supplier, but could not halt its shipments “immediately”.
The announcement comes as Trump tries to step up efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy funding.
“Now I’ve got to get China to do the same thing,” Trump told reporters.
The Indian embassy in Washington has not yet confirmed this.
Harriette Boucher16 October 2025 03:00
Zelensky and Greek PM discuss possibility of U.S.-supplied natural gas
Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the possibility of the U.S. supplying natural gas to Ukraine as it struggles with the consequences of Russia’s multiple attacks on the country’s energy system.
Ukraine’s president said he was working to strengthen its air defence as much as possible before winter begins.
Harriette Boucher16 October 2025 02:00
Ukraine has prepared its ‘homework’ ahead of meeting with Trump, says Zelensky
Ukraine has prepared its “part of the homework” ahead of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in Washington on Friday.
He says the agenda will be substantive, and the meeting could bring the war closer to an end.
We have already prepared our part of the homework ahead of the meeting with President Trump – both the military component and the economic one. Every detail is ready. The agenda of our meeting with the President of the United States is very substantive, and I thank everyone who… pic.twitter.com/Jwpp5bdn5h
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 15, 2025
Harriette Boucher16 October 2025 01:02
Kremlin denies Trump’s warning that Russian economy set to ‘collapse’
The Kremlin has hit back at accusations by Donald Trump that the Russian economy is on its way to “collapse”.
Asked about Trump’s remarks at an energy conference in Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy and the economy for the government, said that Russia had a stable supply of gasoline.
“We have a stable domestic market supply, we see no problems in this regard,” Novak said.
“The balance is maintained between production and consumption, and we, on the part of the government and the relevant ministries, are doing everything to ensure that this remains the case.”
You can read more below…
Nicole Wootton-Cane16 October 2025 00:00
Nato defence ministers agree ‘counter-drone measures’, Rutte says
A meeting of Nato country defence ministers have agreed additional counter-drone measures to step up support to Ukraine, chief Mark Rutte said.
In a post on X he wrote: “Excellent discussions with Defence Ministers, reaffirming increased defence investment, enhanced defence production & stepping up support to Ukraine.
“We will also implement additional counter-drone measures — #NATO is ready to do what it takes to keep our 1bn people safe & our territory secure.”
Nicole Wootton-Cane15 October 2025 23:00
Ukraine has relied on trains during the war – Russia is creating new technology to target them
As war rages on in Ukraine, the country has become reliant on its rail networks, which it has so far managed to keep running despite repeated strikes.
But officials and analysts are warning that advances in Russian drone capabilities and the growing tempo of attacks pose a serious threat to the vital infrastructure.
You can read more below…
Nicole Wootton-Cane15 October 2025 22:00
Trump has threatened to give Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine – but can they turn the tide of the war?
Washington may give access to powerful Tomahawk missiles, with Moscow threatening to respond. Experts tell Nicole Wootton-Cane that the weapons could significantly boost Ukraine – but their power shouldn’t be overstated.
Nicole Wootton-Cane15 October 2025 21:30
Watch: Zelensky confirms meeting with Trump in Washington
Nicole Wootton-Cane15 October 2025 21:00
