WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump hosted close to 100 evangelical leaders Monday night at the White House, where he boasted about religious liberty gains at home and abroad and successful pro-life legislation under his administration’s watch, while also stressing the importance of the evangelical vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

In the days after two of President Donald Trump’s former insiders admitted to or were found guilty of felonies, the president’s detractors in the media rushed to declare him guilty by association and speculated on a possible impeachment. But Democrats in Congress are taking a more measured approach and counting on special counsel Robert Mueller to pave a smoother path for them to oust Trump.

A majority of Democrats prefer socialism but not capitalism, according to a Gallup poll published Monday, and rumblings by Democrats have led to speculation about the future of their party.

Elizabeth Heng, the Republican nominee for 12th Congressional District in California, is sure that Facebook rejected her advertising dollars last week in an attempt to censor her political views. The social media company said it was just following policy with the decision, which it later reversed. But the controversy that erupted demonstrated the public’s increasing concern over the power Facebook has to affect politics and public discourse.

In a preview of Republican strategy for the 2018 midterm elections, President Donald Trump boasted to the world last week of America’s booming economy. The U.S. gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.1 percent over the second quarter, the fastest in more than four years.

“If economic growth continues at this pace, the United States economy will double in size more than 10 years faster than it would have under either President Bush or President Obama,” Trump said.

WASHINGTON—At a gathering with representatives from more than 80 nations this week in the nation’s capital, the U.S. State Department pushed other countries to advance religious freedom. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo still has not answered questions about whether the issue came up during closed-door talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Helsinki.

President Donald Trump is trying to mend relationships with lawmakers on Capitol Hill after his efforts to improve relations with Russia backfired at home. Trump faced backlash this week from members of his own party and drew cries of treason from some Democrats for his approach to Russia at talks Monday in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which Trump publicly questioned U.S. intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S.