Wednesday, May 27, 2026

An agonizing wait in Washington

Plus: A portrait of Lincoln makes its way west; US Men's Soccer team gears up for the World Cup. ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 
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The Short List

Wed May 27 2026

 

Phaedra Trethan National Correspondent

@wordsbyphaedra

👋🏼 Hello! I'm Phaedra Trethan, and these photos are expressive: E-X-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E, expressive, and the kids in them are impressive, I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E, impressive. 😎

In Wednesday's news:

Nine people remain missing after a chemical tank ruptured at a facility in Washington.
Texas voters chose a Trump-backed candidate over an incumbent in the GOP senate primary. ✅
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln has made its way from the White House to New York to a North Dakota museum. 🎨

But first: Sir, this is a Wendy's (lookalike contest). 🍟

An agonizing wait in Washington

Nine people remain unaccounted for after a chemical tank ruptured at a packaging facility in Longview, Washington. Two people are confirmed dead after the tank ruptured on Tuesday morning, and eight employees and one firefighter were injured. Rescue efforts were put on hold as the situation at the site was still unstable, though authorities said there was no immediate threat to the surrounding area.

Photos: On the scene in Longview, Washington.

Usa Washington Chemical Tank

People attend a vigil after a chemical tank rupture at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging pulp and paper mill, in Longview, Washington, on May 26, 2026.

David Ryder, REUTERS

Texans pick Paxton ✅

A four-term incumbent senator is the latest to fall to President Donald Trump's GOP purge: Sen. John Cornyn conceded the Texas Senate primary to state AG Ken Paxton, who'll face Democrat James Talarico in November's midterms.

Cornyn, an establishment Republican, lost the bitter campaign against Paxton , who's been plagued by personal and professional scandals but secured a last-minute Trump endorsement.

Watch: What Trump said about the midterms. 📺
What happened to lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol?
Watch: Trump's purge of GOP candidates he deems insufficiently loyal continues.
A Trump-backed congressional candidate in Arizona made racist jokes and exchanged sexually-charged texts with multiple women.

Usa Election Texas Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to supporters after winning the Republican runoff election for U.S. Senate in Texas, defeating incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn, in Plano, Texas, May 26, 2026. Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in the November general election.

Evan Garcia, REUTERS

Real quick

Former President Joe Biden is suing the Department of Justice over the release of transcripts from a series of 2017 conversations for his memoir. ⚖️
Protests outside and a hunger strike inside are escalating at a New Jersey immigrant detention facility.
Forecasters are warning that early-season hurricanes might pack a dangerous punch. 🌀
Some U.S. cities rebounded from COVID-related population declines. But another factor may be behind more recent population losses.

How one president turned to another for inspiration 🎨

In a USA TODAY exclusive, historians Douglas Brinkley and Harold Holzer traced how a little-known portrait of Abraham Lincoln became Theodore Roosevelt’s moral compass . "After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, the six-year-old future president watches from his grandfather's second-story window on Broadway as Lincoln's casket processes below on the New York leg of its 1,600-mile journey from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois," they wrote.

The story behind the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and its journey from the White House to North Dakota.

DavidJohnSoderquist.jpg

Brothers John Carl Soderquist (left) and David Eric Soderquist (right) are co-owners of a painting of Abraham Lincoln by the artist Ernest G. Wells. The painting will soon go on display at the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota. The library is set to open to the public July 4.

Provided by David Soderquist

Here's your World Cup home team! ⚽️

The U.S. Men's National Team is set and ready to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup right here in the good old USA. And of course, we at USA TODAY will have goal-to-goal coverage.

Not everyone can make the team. Here are the most notable snubs.
Who'll man the net for USMNT? Manager Mauricio Pochettino says the job is still up for grabs. 🧤
Dates, venues, times: What you need to know about the World Cup.

A break from the news

NASA wants to build a base on the moon. Here's what that might look like. 🌖
Why a plane full of strangers took time to applaud this 2-year-old passenger. 🥹 👏🏼
The cast of "Toy Story 5" has a new member. ¡Me gusta! 🐰

Phaedra Trethan is a national correspondent at USA TODAY. She'd love to hear from readers about The Short List, story ideas from across the nation and what words you struggle to spell ("accommodate" trips me up all the time). Email her at ptrethan@usatoday.com.

A section of the UFC Freedom 250 stage during assembly on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 25, 2026.

As a UFC arena is being built outside the White House before June's fight in the Capital, the internet is comparing it to a popular satire movie.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 27, 2026.
 

'Gas tax holiday?' Trump backs off pledge to suspend federal gas tax

President Donald Trump once said he would push for suspending the gas tax. But at the May 27 Cabinet meeting, it seemed to be far from top of mind.

Kyle Busch qualified an uncharacteristic 19th for the 2013 Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen.
 

How could pneumonia kill a healthy 41 year old

A NASCAR champion died from pneumonia at 41. Medical experts explain how a healthy athlete can succumb to the illness.

Matthew Perry attends the opening night on Broadway of Lucas Hnath's "A Doll's House, Part 2" in New York City on April 27, 2017.
 

Matthew Perry's assistant sentenced, last of five charged in his death

Matthew Perry's former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has been sentenced, marking the end of the criminal proceedings over the "Friends" actor's death.

A member of the National Guard stands on a vehicle.
 

El Chapo's nephew arrested in operation just outside Arizona border

Isai N, a reported nephew of notorious drug kingpin El Chapo, was arrested in Mexico and faces extradition.

Real life, real person senior adult man colorectal cancer survivor looking down at a blood test/IV bandage on his arm after returning home from an outpatient medical testing colonoscopy procedure. He is wearing a colon cancer awareness ribbon on his chest, and along with the outpatient hospital identification bracelets, he is wearing a blue colon cancer support wristband labeled: "Kick Cancer". That wristband was conceived, designed and produced by me - the
 patient/photographer. Part of my "Living with Cancer" series - #775615186.
 

A blood test for colon cancer screening? What these new guidelines say

The American Cancer Society is now adding blood tests to its guidelines for colorectal cancer screening. Here's what that means (and doesn't).

A diverse group of people in a ceremony taking the United States Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to become citizens.
 

Green card application process is upended with new memo

The green card application process, in place since roughly 1952, was meant to facilitate immigration. With one memo, it now does the opposite.

Visitors cool their feet in the fountain at the World War II Memorial, amid a dangerous heat wave afflicting the eastern half of the United States, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 25, 2025. Trump said he wants to renovate the fountain.
 

Next up in Trump's DC makeover? President eyes World War II Memorial

As renovations near completion on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Trump is considering similar changes to the World War II Memorial fountain.

British singer Ozzy Osbourne performs live on stage with his band at the Acer Arena on March 18, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. For the first time in 11 years, Osbourne known as the 'Prince of Darkness' returned to Australia to perform material from his new album 'Black Rain.'
 

AI-powered Ozzy Osbourne hologram is happening, his family says

Osbourne’s family unveiled plans for an AI hologram that will interact with fans using the late rocker’s voice and personality. Here's what to know.

In the ER, Christy Kirk was told her symptoms were anxiety. They weren’t - she had a hole in her heart that had gone undetected, leading to a stroke.
 

She had classic stroke symptoms. Doctors sent her home with anxiety medication.

In the ER, Christy Kirk was told her symptoms were anxiety. They weren’t – she had a hole in her heart that had gone undetected, leading to a stroke.

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