Meet Trump’s new press secretary

Plus: Hurricane season ramps up  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

T. Michelle Murphy | October 11, 2026     Greetings from New York City, where debate over ICE’s presence has taken on new urgency after a federal immigration agent shot a man in Manhattan. The incident has prompted both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to call for an end to enforcement operations in the city—and for ICE to release its bodycam footage.  We’re also taking a look at how the lack of guaranteed paternity leave can compromise important child-development milestones. IN TODAY’S BRIEF Who is Katie Zacharia? ICE shooting aftermath Ken Paxton gets a boost One baby benefit we overlook Hurricane season’s delayed debut         READ THIS FIRST Trump taps Katie Zacharia as the new White House press secretary Terry Wyatt—Getty Images for 2521 Entertainment and Angel Studios President Donald Trump announced Oct. 9 that he has selected conservative commentator Katie Zacharia to serve as the next White House press secretary. Zacharia will replace Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down in August.  Zacharia currently works as a communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social. She previously worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a spokesperson for former Secretary Kristi Noem and has frequently appeared on Fox News and Newsmax.  Zacharia wrote on X that being selected as White House press secretary was “the honor of a lifetime” and vowed to “[communicate] to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day.” It is not clear when Zacharia will start. The Trump Administration, which often refers to itself as the “most transparent” in history, has not held a formal press briefing since Vice President JD Vance spoke in early September. —Nik Popli and Connor Greene Read the full story here.         SPONSORED REVERB Live concerts bring millions of fans together through music. Behind the scenes, REVERB channels that energy into environmental action. See how REVERB has helped eliminate 4.6 million single-use bottles and is driving an entire industry to make sustainability part of every show. Watch the episode         IN THE NEWS NYPD releases bodycam footage from ICE shooting incident Barry Williams–New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images One day after a federal immigration agent shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in New York City on Oct. 8, the New York Police Department (NYPD) released footage from one of its officers who responded to the scene.  The release prompted calls for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release bodycam footage of the incident and to end its operations in NYC. The NYPD video showed two police officers arriving at a scene where a man was sitting on the ground while another person held his neck. An ICE officer—wearing a neon construction vest, bearing an ICE badge, and holding an assault rifle—was making a phone call.  A police officer asked if the victim should be transported to a hospital. ICE officers did not respond. NYPD officers eventually lifted Belgal into the police vehicle, which took him to the nearest hospital. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Oct. 9 that the ICE officer involved in the shooting had been equipped with a body camera and that there is footage relating to the incident. He did not immediately make it clear when or how that footage will be released. TIME has reached out to ICE for comment. —Philip Wang Read the full story here.         THE CONTEXT Paxton’s estranged wife wades into Senate fray—without naming him Sam Hodde—The Washington Post/Getty Images Angela Paxton, the estranged wife of Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, has weighed in on the state’s hotly contested Senate race by encouraging Texans to vote Republican in the midterm elections—while avoiding directly mentioning her husband. Angela Paxton—who filed for divorce last year, alleging adultery—long remained mum on the race, in which her husband is facing off against Democrat James Talarico. Over the summer, she declined to share with The New York Times whether she would vote for Ken Paxton in the November election.  But as Talarico continues to hold a slim lead over her husband in most polls, and Election Day draws closer, she has been speaking out to urge voters to back the GOP when they head to the voting booths next month. In a speech to a group of Republican women in mid-September, she said that the Republican Party has “some vulnerabilities on our ballot,” but urged them to still vote for the party’s candidates “even if we’re mad at it.” —Chantelle Lee Read the full story here.         SPONSORED SEABOUND Nearly 90% of the world’s goods travel by ship. From the food on our shelves to the packages at our doors, shipping touches nearly every part of our lives, and so does its carbon footprint. Seabound is betting on an unexpected solution: a box of rocks. By turning limestone into a sponge that captures CO₂ emissions, the company is proving that small innovations can help change the course of global shipping. Watch the episode         HEALTH CHECK Paternity leave is not just a perk—it helps a baby’s brain develop svetikd—Getty Images The U.S. is one of the only wealthy nations on Earth with no federal guarantee of paid paternity leave. It is lagging far behind in this area. Where paternity leave does exist, it is often unpaid and unguaranteed, and mothers cannot transfer a portion of their maternity leave to the father. Most new fathers are back at their desk within a week of their child’s birth—right as the research suggests their presence does some of its most consequential work.  Alvin Thomas, a clinical psychologist and associate professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writes that children who have more consistent positive engagement with their fathers have better outcomes across some of the key child mental-health domains, including anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems. Secure attachment, more pro-social sibling interactions, and better social competence result in other benefits, like self-regulation. This is a hallmark indicator of school readiness and success; here, too, father engagement pays dividends, he argues.  Read the full story here.         SPONSORED AMINI Across the Global South, Amini is working to ensure nations are not left out of their digital future. From climate intelligence to sovereign AI, Amini is building the infrastructure countries need to own their data, strengthen public services and create economic opportunity on their own terms. Watch the episode         A VIRAL MOMENT Hurricane Isaias slams Florida Hurricane Isaias, which peaked as a Category 3 storm, made landfall near Destin, Florida, at about 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 9. Remnants of the first hurricane of the season will bring heavy rain, damaging winds, and flooding threats to the U.S. Southeast through Sunday.       Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW     More Newsletters from Click to sign up. D.C. BRIEF +FUTURE PROOF +HEALTH MATTERS +INSIDE TIME +IN THE LOOP +WORTH YOUR TIME + Subscribe to TIME Email us: thebrief@time.com Received this from a friend? Sign up here Connect with TIME   PRIVACY POLICY     © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508, United States Unsubscribe