Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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Deluded Trump Thinks People Will Blame Dems for Shutdown

The president is betting voters will blame a government shutdown on Democrats wanting to give health care to “millions and millions of illegal aliens.”

President Donald Trump is not worried about voters blaming him for a potential government shutdown even though his party controls not just the White House but also both chambers of Congress.

Trump met Monday with Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, who are pushing to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies and roll back Republican cuts to Medicaid in exchange for their party’s support on a short-term funding bill to keep the government open past Tuesday.

After the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the president told Politico that he didn’t think voters would hold it against him if the government shuts down.

“I don’t worry about that, because people that are smart see what’s happening,” he said. “The Democrats are deranged.”

He also repeated the Republican talking point that rather than keeping healthcare costs down, Democrats “want to destroy health care in America by giving it to millions and millions of illegal aliens”—a claim that he also illustrated on social media with a shocking deepfake video of Jeffries and Schumer.

In fact, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for the Affordable Health Care Act plans or for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program that Democrats are seeking to bolster, The New York Times reported.

Non-partisan polling has also found that 45 percent of respondents said they would blame Republicans for a shutdown compared to 32 percent who would blame Democrats, while a GOP firm found that 35 percent of voters would blame the White House or Republican leadership versus 34 percent who would blame Democratic leadership, according to Politico.

In response to a request for comment about why Trump is so confident voters will agree with him on the issue, a White House spokesperson said Democrats were threatening to shut down the government over a “$1.5 trillion wish list of demands, including free health care for illegal aliens.”

“The Democrats’ radical agenda was rejected by the American people less than a year ago at the ballot box, now they’re trying to shut down the government and hold the American people hostage over it,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

Regardless of who voters blame, they’ll be sure to notice if a government shutdown pushes the economy toward a dreaded state of stagnation—a perfect storm of poor growth, high unemployment and high inflation—or if their health insurance premiums skyrocket next year as the result of a Republican budget bill.

Premiums for ACA marketplace enrollees are expected to shoot up by 75 percent on average when former President Joe Biden’s advance premium tax credit expires at the end of the year, Newsweek reported.

More than 10 percent of the 24 million Americans enrolled in ACA marketplaces could be forced off their health insurance plans by the rising premiums, according to a March study from Harvard University.

Out-of-pocket expenses for employer-provided health care plans are also expected to spike by double digits next year because of rising costs, The New York Times reported.

All of this could seriously jeopardize Republicans’ chances of keeping control of Congress during next year’s midterm elections, according to Trump’s own pollsters.

If GOP candidates in competitive districts let the ACA tax credits expire, they will trail Democratic rivals in a generic ballot by a devastating 15 points, Republican pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward reported in July.“Unlike recent changes to Medicaid, which don’t kick in until after the midterms, voters on the individual insurance marketplace—who backed Trump by 4 points—will start getting notices of significant premium hikes this fall,” they wrote.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/deluded-trump-thinks-people-will-blame-dems-for-shutdown/?

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"War from within"

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Jim Watson/AFP, Win McNamee via Getty Images

More than 800 generals and admirals sat quietly as President Trump declared a new "war from within" — an American battlefield he claimed to be more dangerous than any foreign war zone. Why it matters: In one historic speech at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Northern Virginia, Trump eviscerated decades of civil-military restraint and proclaimed the armed forces as his weapon of choice against domestic "enemies," Axios' Zachary Basu writes. ? Both the content and setting were unprecedented: The top brass flew in from across the globe to hear the president redefine the military's mission and attack his political enemies in blistering terms. "We're under invasion from within," Trump mused during his hour-long address. "No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms." ? Trump already has ordered the National Guard to Los Angeles, D.C., Memphis and Portland — often over the objection of local officials. He sees those deployments as a playbook for other deep-blue cities — Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco — which he said Monday should be used as "training grounds" for the military. ? Between the lines: The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was designed to prevent presidents from using the armed forces as a domestic police force. Trump has sidestepped it with repeated National Guard deployments and by establishing a new "quick reaction force" for quelling domestic unrest. ? Zoom in: Opening the Quantico gathering, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the military would scrap "overbearing rules of engagement" and "untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country." Trump then applied that sentiment to the home front, urging troops who are harassed or assaulted by protesters to "get out of that car and do whatever the hell you want to do." Go deeper.

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Even Fox News Is Calling Out Donald Trump’s Totally False Claims

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham challenged Speaker Mike Johnson when he parroted the president’s talking points.

House Speaker Mike Johnson faced some unexpected pushback when talking to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham about the government shutdown.

Appearing Tuesday on The Ingraham Angle, Johnson repeated a popular MAGA talking point claiming that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was forcing the government to shut down for political purposes.

“He wants to give free health care to illegal aliens,” Johnson said, a claim President Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly made.

Ingraham responded, telling Johnson, “He [Schumer] says that’s not true. Democrats say it’s expanding Medicaid, getting dollars back from Medicaid.“

She then added, “It leaves some room for unauthorized immigrants—I call them ‘undocumented Democrats’—but they’re unauthorized immigrants in some cases, and there’s discretion to use the money toward individuals who are not here lawfully.”

Johnson then claimed Ingraham was “wrong” and went on a similar spiel to that of Trump.

In a post made to Truth Social last week that contained a number of factual errors, Trump wrote, “The Democrats want Illegal Aliens, many of them VIOLENT CRIMINALS, to receive FREE Healthcare.”

He also claimed that Democrats want to leave deceased individuals on Medicaid and Social Security rolls so that “criminals can continue to be allowed to receive that payment and steal their money.” Democrats are in support of “so many other things that will destroy America,” he added.

“We cannot let this happen!” the president concluded.

While disagreements over health care do lie at the center of the government shutdown, they relate to Democrats’ attempts to push for federal subsidies that would enable more Americans to afford healthcare. A reversal of cuts to Medicaid introduced by Trump is also among the discussions.

Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid, and Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill further limited the number of legal immigrants who are eligible for health-care subsidies earlier this year.

Republicans have continued to use false claims about immigrants to condemn the Democrats, however, with Trump going so far as to post an AI-generated video of Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries soundtracked by mariachi music and featuring Jeffries sporting a sombrero and mustache.

When confronted by Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, Johnson himself said the video “wasn’t [his] style,” though he argued with Dean over whether the intent of the video was indeed racist.

Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night, Johnson said that the president posted the video as a joke.

“I told her I disagreed with her perspective on it, but I tried to bring her back to the real issue. The fight tonight is not about social media posts. The fight is about where they‘re going to keep the government open for the American people,” Johnson told Collins.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/even-fox-news-is-calling-out-donald-trumps-lies/?

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Trump-Appointed Federal Prosecutor Disqualified From Multiple Cases

A judge says the MAGA loyalist is not serving the state.

A federal judge has disqualified a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor, stating she is “not validly serving” the state.

MAGA loyalist and 2020 election conspiracy theorist Sigal Chattah was appointed as interim U.S. attorney in March for a 120-day term, which expired in July.

The Trump administration reclassified her as the acting U.S. attorney, allowing her to remain Nevada’s top federal law enforcement official without Senate confirmation for an extra 210 days, a period due to expire in February.

Nevada federal defense lawyers in four cases questioned Chattah’s appointment, arguing that her term had ended in July.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Campbell sided with the defense lawyers and disqualified Chattah from overseeing those prosecutions.

“Given the Court’s conclusion that Ms. Chattah is not validly serving as Acting U.S. Attorney, her involvement in these cases would be unlawful,” Campbell, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, said as part of a 32-page ruling. “The Court will disqualify Ms. Chattah from participating in or supervising Defendants’ prosecutions.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Chattah’s office for comment.

Chattah is the latest federal prosecutor whom the Trump administration has placed in a position of power without Senate confirmation. A New Jersey judge ruled in August that Alina Habba had been illegally serving as U.S. attorney after a similar extension of her role.

Habba, a former personal attorney for Trump, did not take the news well. “I am the pick of the president, I am the pick of Pam Bondi, our attorney general, and I will serve this country like I have for the last several years in any capacity,” she told Sean Hannity on Fox News.

”We will not fall to rogue judges, we will not fall to people trying to be political when they should just be doing their job: respecting the president.”

Chattah previously ran her own law practice in Las Vegas and worked as a lawyer for the state Republican Party. She was unsuccessful as the Republican candidate for Nevada attorney general in 2022.

The ruling from the federal judge comes a day after Chattah asked the FBI to launch an investigation into voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Chattah claimed she had data from people living illegally in the U.S. who had voted in the 2020 election and some who allegedly received cash for ballots.

She also planned to exonerate six Republicans who posed as fake electors in an attempt to keep Donald Trump in power in 2020, and were prosecuted by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-appointed-acting-us-attorney-in-nevada-sigal-chattah-disqualified-from-multiple-cases/?

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Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Some 4 million people could lose federal housing assistance under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica. The rules would pave the way for a host of restrictions long sought by conservatives, including time limits on living in public housing, work requirements for many people receiving federal housing assistance and the stripping of aid from entire families if one member of the household is in the country illegally.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-housing-reforms-aid-hud-immigration-homelessness?

Judge quotes wife in ruling against Trump: ‘He ignores everything and keeps bullying ahead’

A federal judge invoked his wife in issuing another scathing ruling against President Trump’s second-term agenda Tuesday, this time concerning efforts to deport students who participated in pro-Palestinian advocacy.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4265605399803-judge-quotes-wife-in-ruling-against-trump-he-ignores-everything-and-keeps-bullying-ahead?

Trump Doubles Down On Portland After Ice Cube’s Bus Was Set On Fire

Donald Trump ordered federal troops to Portland, Oregon, as local officials continue investigating a fire that damaged Ice Cube’s tour bus shortly after his concert in the city.

https://local.newsbreak.com/portland-or/4264393330201-trump-doubles-down-on-portland-after-ice-cubes-bus-was-set-on-fire?

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Bending the Knee (Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Andrew Harnik / Getty.)

View in browser If you measure only in dollars (and not in dignity), YouTube got a pretty good deal. This week, the Google-owned platform paid $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump after the company suspended his channel six days after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. At the time, YouTube said it was “concerned about the ongoing potential for violence.” (Trump’s account was eventually reinstated in March 2023.) The terms of the settlement will direct $22 million to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit group that is raising money to finance an addition to the White House. Most creators are lucky if they get a gold plaque from YouTube; Trump’s getting a new ballroom. This is just the latest example of major tech companies bowing to Trump. Earlier this year, Meta and X settled similar lawsuits with Trump over suspending his accounts, paying $25 million and $10 million, respectively. These three companies alone have collectively paid Trump and his associates $59.5 million for the sin of enforcing the rules of their own privately held companies. There’s also Amazon, which made a reported $40 million deal with Melania Trump on a documentary project. Plus personal donations to Trump from various tech CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, who gave $1 million to his inaugural fund. All of this amounts to a rounding error for the tech giants—averaged out, YouTube made more than $107 million from ad revenue every single day last quarter—but these are still acts of profound obsequiousness and corporate cowardice. There are any number of reasons they may have chosen to pay up: Perhaps the tech elite have become genuinely red-pilled, fear regulation, or don’t want to lose out on government contracts. They have good reason to worry about personal retribution (last year, Trump accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of plotting against him in the 2020 presidential election and said that he would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he did so again). But in any case, by settling with Trump over these suspensions, the companies are effectively arguing that their content-moderation decisions following the insurrection were wrong. They are also arguing, in effect, that the government has the right to tell business owners what they can and cannot allow on their own platforms—a weak stance generally, and a weak stance on free speech specifically. This is embarrassing for them, but they get something out of it, too. By settling, the companies can pivot toward dispensing with the work of moderation altogether. The decision to suspend Trump can serve for them as a cautionary tale of what happens when the platforms are made to make difficult editorial decisions. They’re given an excuse to take a lighter touch. They double down on the idea that they aren’t truly publishers, which reinforces their long-standing arguments that the owners of social platforms should not be held liable for what happens on the sites they run. And they attempt to do so with a straight face even as they tune their algorithms to alter what content users see. This is precisely what Meta, X, and now YouTube appear to be doing. In January, Zuckerberg announced a plan to return “to our roots around free expression” by replacing Facebook and Instagram fact-checkers with a system of community notes. Under Musk, X has turned into a white-supremacist-friendly free-for-all of AI slop, Nazi propaganda, and autoplaying murder videos. (Community notes have been useful in some cases, but they’re not exactly consistent or fully adequate.) Last week, Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, said it would reinstate the accounts of creators banned for spreading election-denial content and misinformation about COVID. “YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse,” the company wrote in a recent statement to Congress about the decision. The New York Times recently reported that the platform would loosen rules around content, provided the videos “are considered to be in the public interest.” Multiple things are happening here. The first is that demonstrably false beliefs that were once considered fringe or outrageous are now ideological pillars of the current administration: The 2020 presidential election was stolen; vaccines are very dangerous; January 6 was a civil gathering of patriots. This has led many authority figures in Silicon Valley (who were quite vocal at the time about the need to combat disinformation) to feel sheepish about difficult but quite rational decisions made during the pandemic and the aftermath of the 2020 election—a time of mass death followed by a crisis in which the peaceful transfer of power was horrifically disrupted. The second is that the Big Tech platforms have, for years, begrudgingly agonized over content-moderation decisions. Facebook, as I wrote in January, is the prime example of this posture. The history of the company is of Zuckerberg making reactive, often totally contradictory decisions about what’s allowed. Facebook once claimed to be a neutral platform, only to get dragged in front of Congress, where it pledged to “secure elections.” For the better part of the 2010s, Twitter struggled to balance a desire for free-speech maximalism with scattershot attempts to quell harassment on the platform. Despite (and partly because of) its staggering size and reach, YouTube has been drawn into far fewer moderation controversies. But many of its largest moderation decisions—like its decision to take down thousands of bizarre child-exploitation videos in 2017—have been reactive, coming after inquiries from news organizations. To better understand the extent of the messaging shift from these technology companies, it is worth revisiting their reactions after January 6. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a note to employees just after the riots that “the lawlessness and violence occurring on Capitol Hill today is the antithesis of democracy and we strongly condemn it.” Four years later, Pichai stood on a dais to watch Trump take the oath of office. Testifying before Congress in March 2021, Zuckerberg argued that Facebook did its part “to secure the integrity of our election,” and then “President Trump gave a speech,” he added, referencing when the president told his supporters, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” and urged them to head to the Capitol building, where lawmakers were certifying the results. “I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words and the people who broke the law should be responsible for their actions.” Zuckerberg also attended Trump’s 2024 inauguration. Musk didn’t own Twitter in 2021, but in a blog post at the time, the company called the insurrection “horrific” and was unequivocal in its justification for banning Trump, noting that his posts were “likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are being received and understood as encouragement to do so.” You might notice that these statements and justifications are unusually clear and direct for tech companies and their executives. They aren’t full of vague bromides about community or civic discourse. They reflect the gravity of the moment they are describing—a violent mob smashing windows, assaulting police officers, and breaking into the Capitol building to attempt to overturn the results of a presidential election. Twitter’s statement—a dispatch from a company that no longer really exists—is perhaps the most revealing in that it connects actions on the platform to real-world harm. By settling their lawsuits with Trump, the companies are insinuating that these statements and corresponding enforcements were part of some kind of collective hysteria. In reality, they were the opposite: a rare moment of clarity—a realization that their actions and inactions have consequences for their users and the world. The job of content moderation at Facebook, YouTube, or even X scale is extremely difficult, bordering on impossible. It requires a level of monitoring that only finicky and error-prone automated systems can handle. It must take place on a global scale and require immense resources. Even then, the systems and people working inside them will make honest mistakes. Most important, it means having to come up with a set of rigid ideological principles and rules and enforce them consistently, making difficult calls on nuanced edge cases involving high-stakes actors and events. It’s grinding work that can require exposing low-paid moderators to the absolute worst of humanity. Sometimes there is no clear, right answer on a given ruling. None of this is easy or fun, but it is the work of governance, of responsibility. It is what the money is for, and it comes with the territory of the heady mission statements that tech companies embrace: organizing the world’s information or connecting the world or becoming the global town square. It’s precisely the work these companies would rather not have to do. In her best-selling memoir this year, the former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams wrote of the company’s executives that “the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become.” These words are also as good an epigraph for the Trump era as any. Rereading them in light of Big Tech’s full capitulation to the current administration makes clear that, while these about-faces are politically convenient, they reflect a broader harmony between the tech platforms and the MAGA movement. So much of Trump’s core appeal to his supporters is that he offers permission to behave in his image—to live shamelessly but also to enjoy a life of impunity and operate without having to realize that one’s actions have broader consequences for others. It is, in other words, an invitation to simultaneously grow more powerful and less responsible. Big Tech’s MAGA pivot is cynical, cowardly, and self-serving. It is also a perfect match. Related: Capitulation is contagious. Why Meta is paying $25 million to settle a Trump lawsuit

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Qatar Security Guarantees

The White House published an executive order yesterday declaring any armed attack against Qatar a threat to the US. President Donald Trump pledged to use all necessary means—including the military—to defend the energy-rich nation, marking an unprecedented arrangement between the US and an Arab state. Read here. The order, dated Monday, follows Israeli airstrikes three weeks ago targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital, Doha. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially defended the strikes, he apologized to Qatar on a call Monday coordinated by Trump. Earlier this year, Trump announced at least $1.2T in economic commitments with Qatar, which has been a major non-NATO ally since 2022. Preparations are also underway for a Qatari jet to be refitted as Air Force One. While this week's order resembles NATO security guarantees, it is not legally binding without Senate approval. That means Trump can choose how, and whether, the US responds. Saudi Arabia, which has long sought and failed to secure security assurances from the US, signed a mutual defense pact with Pakistan last month.   >  Trump administration freezes $26B for Democratic-leaning states—roughly $18B for NYC transit projects and $8B for green energy projects in 16 states—acting on threat to target Democratic priorities during government shutdown (More)

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?️ Trump's shutdown blue state blitz

The Trump administration went after Democratic leadership where it hurts on shutdown Day 1, targeting blue states with spending freezes, firings and cuts, Axios' Justin Green and Kate Santaliz write.

• Why it matters: Democrats effectively bet that President Trump wouldn't — or couldn't — follow through on mass firings and spending cuts during a shutdown.

1️⃣ On Day 1, the Trump administration:

• Froze $18 billion in federal funds for New York City's mass transit system. The administration said it's reviewing "discriminatory, unconstitutional contracting processes." But it's also the home city of Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.
• Froze $8 billion in climate projects across 16 blue and purple states.
• Fired most of the advisory council members for the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Washington Post reports.
• Told House Republicans to expect "consequential" layoffs across the federal workforce, sources told Axios.

Lead stories of today's N.Y. Times, Washington Post.

? What to watch: Like with DOGE, Democrats expect the final calls on these decisions to be made by the courts.

• Effects on daily life, by Axios' Herb Scribner.

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Donald Trump Hits GOP With Ominous New Order Over Shutdown Drama

The president issued his edict via a Truth Social post made on Wednesday night.

President Donald Trump had clear instructions for his fellow Republicans on the first day of the government shutdown: to use it as a chance to cut spending.

The 79-year-old posted the demand in a late-night Truth Social post after spending the day out of the spotlight except for an interview with conservative network One America News, which airs Friday.

“Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.

He followed that up with several reposts from his supporters, including one about President Joe Biden’s “Autopen Gate” and another about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s “expiration date.”

Other reposts include a graphic of Trump that simply reads, “Winning” and a meme of the president signing an order at his desk with the caption, “Cry all you want. He’s doing exactly what I hired him for.”

Trump’s focus on “dead wood, waste, and fraud” is reminiscent of the messaging during the presidential campaign that led him to establish the ill-fated Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

In his short tenure as head of the newly established department, Musk wasted some $21.7 billion of taxpayers’ money in a chaotic drive to cut federal spending.

The Republican Party stayed on message in the lead-up to the government shutdown, repeating Trump’s talking point that Democrats attempting to give free health care to undocumented immigrants were to blame for the shutdown.

The regular invocation of his talking points made his absence from public events on Wednesday all the more apparent, with CNN’s Erin Burnett highlighting the issue on Wednesday night’s edition of OutFront.

“We have not seen Trump today. We have not heard from Trump today. We haven‘t heard his voice,” Burnett said. ”On the first day of a government shutdown, as the Trump administration says layoffs are imminent, there is no sign of the president of the United States. And it is no secret to anyone, anywhere in the world that Trump loves to be seen.”

CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny suggested that Trump’s absence from the public eye could be because he doesn’t want to be publicly associated with the shutdown.

“[Trump’s absence] signals first and foremost, he does not want to be out front or the face of this shutdown, at least in its opening day,” Zeleny told Burnett.

“Of course, that could change and likely will change as the hours and days go forward,” he added, with the president proving this to be partly true with his late-night Truth Social edict.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-hits-gop-with-ominous-new-order-over-shutdown-drama/?

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Trump Finds a New Way to Use the White House for Tacky Racist Trolling

AI-generated meme of Hakeem Jeffries ran on loop in the press room.

Racist AI-generated videos set to mariachi music were played on repeat for hours in the White House in a doom-loop attempt to troll Democrats.

The two doctored clips, first posted by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, were played in briefing rooms as the government shut down.

The videos were played on monitors around the James S. Brady press room on a loop, as Vice President JD Vance shrugged it off as “funny.”

The clips slapped a mustache and big Mexican hat onto House Minority Leader Jeffries, and another used fabricated audio to make it sound like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dropped a slur about Democrats.

“The president is joking, and we’re having a good time,” the vice president Vance told reporters, promising “the sombrero memes will stop” if Democrats “reopen the government.”

White House press secretary Abigail Jackson told The Washington Post, “The sombreros will continue until the Democrats reopen the government!”

Jeffries, who is black and whose mother traces her roots to Cape Verde in Africa, has called the video “racist and fake,” but Vance pushed back.

“I honestly don’t even know what that means... Is he a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme?”

The clips—both set to mariachi music—were deployed in the briefing room to troll Dems, who the administration has falsely claimed are demanding health benefits for undocumented immigrants in funding talks.

Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for ACA subsidies, and Democrats say they want to extend subsidies for Americans and restore benefits for lawfully present immigrants stripped by the GOP’s July law.

The standoff has seen the first federal government shutdown since late 2018—in Trump’s first term.

It wasn’t the only attempt at trolling that took place in the White House on Wednesday.

Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, left a voice message telling callers to its comment line that “Democrats and Congress have shut down the federal government because they care more about funding healthcare for illegal immigrants than they care about serving you, the American people.

“Until Democrats vote for the clean Republican backed continuing resolution to reopen the government, the White House is unable to answer your call or respond to your questions.

“We look forward to hearing from you again very soon. And in the meantime, please know President Trump will never stop fighting for you.”

Trump has turned the White House into a stage for petty set-pieces throughout his second term.

In September, the West Wing colonnade’s new “presidential walk of fame” featured gold frames and a black-and-white image of Joe Biden’s autopen where the ex-president’s portrait should be. “Childish. Petty. Tacky. Predictable,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said at the time.

In August, it emerged that Trump had stashed Barack Obama’s official portrait—by Robert McCurdy—out of public view at the top of a restricted stairwell, a break with tradition that ensures thousands of visitors won’t see it on tours.

And this is the same president who spent July taking revenge for a failed bid to rename the Persian Gulf by slapping a framed, Sharpie-signed “Gulf of America” proclamation on a White House wall.

Whether or not it makes a difference to the electorate, it seems unlikely that the trolling will stop. As Vance put it from the podium: “You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. Jackson repeated her earlier pledge to continue using the sombrero dig “until the Democrats reopen the government.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-finds-a-new-way-to-use-the-white-house-for-tacky-racist-trolling/?

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Trump Shamelessly Blames His Enemies for Carnage He’s About to Order

The president has described the government shutdown as an “opportunity.”

President Donald Trump is trying to claim that it will be the Democrats’ fault if he uses the government shutdown to fire thousands of federal employees and cancel government-funded projects.

During an interview with far-right broadcaster One America News Network, the president addressed a leaked memo from the Office of Management and Budget instructing agencies to prepare for mass firings in the event of a shutdown, which then took effect Tuesday at midnight.

“Well, there could be firings, and that’s their fault, and it also could be other things,” Trump told OANN’s Daniel Baldwin. “We could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they’d be permanently cut.”

The president had tried to use the threat of mass firings as leverage against Democrats refusing to support a GOP spending plan to keep the government funded past Sept. 30 unless it extended health-care tax subsidies and rolled back Republican cuts to Medicaid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) responded to news of the memo last week with a statement saying the Trump administration had been firing federal employees “since day one—not to govern but to scare.”

“These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today,” he said.

The threat of firings came as news broke that the White House was begging hundreds of federal staffers laid off by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to return to work.

During the OANN interview, Trump claimed—without providing any evidence or legal authority—that the shutdown would give him extraordinary powers to fire employees and cancel projects that have already been funded.

“You could say—a lot of people are saying—Trump wanted this. That I wanted this closing,” he said. “And I didn’t want it. But a lot of people are saying it because I’m allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place, and I will probably do that.”

In a Truth Social post Wednesday night, he described the shutdown—which could push the economy into a recession and throw national air travel into chaos—as an “opportunity” for his party.

“Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.

In the meantime, the president has ensured that his pet projects—including tariffs talks, drilling permits and an ostentatious new White House ballroom—will continued as planned.

That “let them eat cake” approach prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to troll Trump with an AI-generated image portraying the president as Marie Antoinette, the profligate French queen guillotined during the revolution.

“TRUMP ‘MARIE ANTOINETTE’ SAYS, ‘NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU PEASANTS, BUT A BALLROOM FOR THE QUEEN!’” his press office wrote in a post on X.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-shamelessly-blames-his-enemies-for-shutdown-carnage-hes-about-to-order/?

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Trump Hid Sinister Message in Speech to Military: General

A retired general issued a warning about President Donald Trump’s order to military officials on an episode of The Daily Beast Podcast.

Donald Trump buried a sinister message in his speech to generals when he spoke about an “invasion from within,” one of the military’s most distinguished leaders has warned.

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling—a decorated combat hero— told The Daily Beast Podcast that Trump had opened a dangerous new path for the armed forces when he spoke to 800 generals, admirals, and their most senior enlisted advisers at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia.

Hertling warned that Trump’s idea to use “dangerous” American cities as “training grounds” for the military during a meandering diatribe Tuesday was actually more sinister and dangerous than it first appeared.

Troops are not trained to perform police activities unless they intend to become military police, Hertling pointed out.

“Breaking that razor’s edge into policing activities, again, is contrary to the Constitution and contrary to our laws,” he told Daily Beast Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty.

“It shouldn’t be done,” Hertling went on. “But what I heard the president say yesterday was an implied remark that he was telling everyone in that room is: Be prepared to do that. And that only happens once an insurrection occurs, like during the Civil War.”

After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly summoned some 800 generals from all over the globe to Quantico for the bizarre pep rally in front of a stage modeled on the set of the 1970 movie Patton, Trump took the stage to hammer the notion that “defending the homeland is the military’s first and most important priority,” citing Democratic strongholds like San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles as “unsafe places.”

“We are under invasion from within. We’re stopping it very quickly,” he said. “We’re not going to let this happen.”

Trump argued that his deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., “solved” the city’s woes. But a federal judge has ruled that his similar crackdown in Los Angeles in June was illegal, writing in a scathing 52-page opinion that the move essentially created “a national police force with the president as its chief.”

The deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles set off a firestorm of protests that saw tense clashes between troops and demonstrators. In D.C., however, the reception to Guard members was relatively muted, in part because soldiers were tasked with picking up trash for “beautification” efforts—despite Trump’s declaration of a “crime emergency” in the city.

“So unless he’s prepared to stoke that kind of insurrection by further dividing the American people and it turns to violence, soldiers are the means of last resort for any kind of police activity, primarily because they’re not trained to do things like that and secondarily because it’s against the law,” Hertling said.

The retired general recalled how he pushed back against “illegal or immoral” orders throughout his career.

“In each one of those cases, my bosses—higher-ranking officials—took my input, said, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. This is illegal. Let’s change this order,’” he said. “I’m not sure we’re going to get the same kind of action from the current civilian chain of command in both the White House and the Department of Defense.”

The White House told the Daily Beast that Trump is “rightfully deploying our U.S. military to help protect law-abiding citizens from threats within our homeland.”

“President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to end the violent crime crisis, which was enabled by Joe Biden’s incompetence as the... Daily Beast cheered him on,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

The Pentagon did not immediately return a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hid-sinister-message-in-speech-to-military-general/?

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Trump uses government shutdown to dole out firings and political punishment President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting “irreversible” cuts to programs important to Democrats. Read more.

Why this matters: Rather than simply furlough employees, as is usually done during any lapse of funds, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said layoffs were “imminent.” The Office of Management and Budget announced it was putting on hold roughly $18 billion of infrastructure funds for New York’s subway and Hudson Tunnel projects — in the hometown of the Democratic leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.   Trump has marveled over the handiwork of his budget director. “He can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way,” the president said at the start of the week of OMB Director Russ Vought, who was also a chief architect of the Project 2025 conservative policy book.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Who might be blamed for the government shutdown? A poll shows voters’ complicated views   Looming health insurance spikes for millions are at the heart of the government shutdown   Federal shutdown cuts off economic data vital to policymakers and investors   A prolonged US government shutdown could impact your travel plans   FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to ‘illegal immigrants’   Vance defends Trump meme of House Democratic leader in a sombrero as ‘joking’   A look at previous government shutdowns and how they ended   Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now   Judge blocks Trump cuts to anti-terror funding for New York City transit   ACLU sues Puerto Rico’s government over release of immigrants’ information   US takes a stake in company operating one of world’s largest lithium mines in Nevada   US military starts drawing down its mission in Iraq countering the Islamic State group   Trump administration imposes sanctions on some Iranian people and firms after UN decision   A top Air Force commander announces retirement on social media   WATCH: Planned Parenthood shuts down all operations in Louisiana after 40 years   New York rapper who joined Trump at campaign rally sentenced to 5 years for attempted murder   Conservative Wisconsin appeals court judge Maria Lazar is running for state Supreme Court   Former New York Gov. Cuomo apologizes to Jewish community for his COVID-19 response   Madison Cawthorn seeks comeback, running for Congress in Florida   Jane Fonda revives Cold War-era activist group to defend free speech

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Trump and Hegseth Gathered U.S. Military Leaders for an “Embarrassing” Rant

After a week of handwringing about the purpose of an unprecedented gathering of generals and admirals on Tuesday, the meeting in Quantico, Virginia, ended with standard fare from both President Donald Trump and his self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. 

https://theintercept.com/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-admirals-military-meeting/?

Trump Administration Conjures Up New “Terrorist” Designation to Justify Killing Civilians

Since beginning its lethal attacks on boats in the Caribbean last month, the Trump administration has faced a difficult question: How can the U.S. justify drone strikes against non-combatants?

https://theintercept.com/2025/10/01/trump-venezuela-boat-strike-designated-terror-organization/?

The Trump Administration Is Arguing It Can Hold Dreamers Indefinitely

Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago, an immigration activist and DACA recipient, has spent over 50 days in immigration detention in El Paso, Texas. Despite being in the United States legally, according to Santiago’s attorneys, the Trump administration is arguing that it can hold her indefinitely in a not-so-subtle attempt to run out the clock until her status expires and deport her. 

https://theintercept.com/2025/09/29/trump-daca-dreamer-deport/?

Trump says US is in ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels after ordering strikes in the Caribbean

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, following recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-cartels-armed-conflict-cb57804807e55a00ace60ad5f4d4f24d?

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CHART OF THE DAY

 

In the first half of 2025, lobbying on trade and tariff policy spiked to an all-time high. (Source: Bloomberg)

ps:Well ain't that interesting? Not!! For the man that says he's going to drain the swamp, he sure doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to do it!!!!!

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Trump, Vought to decide which "Democrat Agencies" to cut during shutdown "opportunity"

President Trump said Thursday he will meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, "of PROJECT 2025 Fame," to discuss agency cuts on day two of the government shutdown.

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/02/trump-vought-shutdown-agency-cuts-project-2025?

Federal Firings Loom

The US government may begin permanently firing federal workers—estimated to be in the thousands—as soon as today, as the government enters its third shutdown day. The firings would be in addition to the hundreds of thousands of workers who are typically furloughed during temporary closures (see overview).  President Donald Trump yesterday warned of mass layoffs and cuts to federal agencies after Senate Democrats this week blocked a House-passed stopgap funding bill to maintain government spending mostly at 2025 levels through Nov. 21. At least 60 votes are needed in the Senate to pass a measure; Republicans hold 53 seats. The Senate returns today to vote again on the Republican-led, House-passed bill as well as alternative proposals. Democrats are seeking the reversal of Medicaid cuts and the extension of expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits. Each federal department and agency has its own contingency plan for shutdowns. See the impact of furloughs here. Explore what different agencies do here.

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Trump leverages shutdown for total control

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

President Trump is seizing on the government shutdown as an "unprecedented opportunity" to consolidate control in the Oval Office, accelerating a trend toward unchecked power, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: Many Democrats see the shutdown as a necessary evil to slow Trump's steamrolling of democratic norms and independent institutions. So far, the standoff is only emboldening the White House. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was meeting yesterday with White House budget chief Russ Vought to discuss what "Democrat agencies" should get cuts. Trump flaunted Vought's role in Project 2025 ("he of PROJECT 2025 Fame") — the hard-right blueprint for expanding executive power that Trump disavowed during the campaign. For Vought, the shutdown offers a unique opening: a live test of theories he has spent years refining on how to weaken Congress, purge the bureaucracy and concentrate power in the presidency. Already, Vought has announced the termination of nearly $8 billion in funding for clean-energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 and have Democratic senators. He also has frozen $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects, a dig at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Legal challenges are inevitable: Congress controls the power of the purse, and federal officials have warned privately that Vought's plans for mass firings during the shutdown may violate appropriations law. ? The big picture: As Axios has documented, the shutdown is only one front in Trump's broader campaign of consolidation. Military: In an unprecedented partisan address this week, Trump told more than 800 generals and admirals to prepare for a "war" against domestic "enemies," urging them to treat America's cities as "training grounds." Academia: The administration is asking universities to sign a 10-point "compact" that would grant preferential access to federal funding if schools agree to freeze tuition, protect conservative speech, apply strict definitions of gender, limit international students and other Trump priorities. Rule of law: Days after Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge his political enemies, the Justice Department indicted former FBI director James Comey. Other Trump foes, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), are under investigation. Civil society: FBI director Kash Patel severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League yesterday, accusing the Jewish civil rights group of "functioning like a terrorist organization" after MAGA activists discovered that Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA was listed in its now-removed "Glossary of Extremism and Hate." Trump has urged DOJ to investigate Democratic megadonor George Soros' Open Society Foundations as part of a crackdown on liberal groups. Corporate America: Trump demanded last week that Microsoft fire its head of global affairs, Lisa Monaco, because she served in the Biden administration. ? What they're saying: After contacting the White House press office for comment, Axios received an automated reply warning of delays "due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown." White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson later told us: "Any lapse in funding, this one brought on by the Democrats, unfortunately requires the Administration to make tough decisions to keep mandatory government functions operational."

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Trump enlists K Street to jolt Dems

President Trump and top aides are enlisting powerful business and labor groups to push Senate Democrats to end the shutdown, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports.

• Trump is being briefed on which lobbying groups have called for an end to the shutdown. A White House aide told Axios it's "an easy way to signal to the White House that they are being constructive partners."
• White House officials tell Axios they've had about 400 calls with a range of interest groups in recent weeks to press them on the shutdown.

?️ The big picture: Trump and top administration officials have spent months in talks with trade groups, and have invited many of them into the White House for in-person meetings.

• Trump has made a point of meeting with trade groups, and has developed a relationship with Teamsters president Sean O'Brien, who spoke at last year's GOP convention.

Trump aides have hosted Teamsters officials in the White House Mess.

Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas partially accepts his peace plan

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hamas-israel-gaza-war-mideast-bba524e6ac9cc9877e71fefc804cb602?

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Trump administration taps Army Reserve and National Guard for temporary immigration judges The Trump administration is tapping National Guard and Army Reserve lawyers to be temporary immigration judges after firing dozens of existing judges, the latest step in a broader plan that experts warn could harm immigration courts and the military justice system. Read more.

Why this matters: Training for the first group of Army lawyers begins Monday and training for the second group is expected to start in the spring, several former and current military reserve lawyers said they were told.   Some immigration and military law experts are concerned the reservists will be put in the job without enough training or experience after more than 100 immigration judges were fired or left. Of particular concern, the administration is not requiring experience as an administrative law judge or in immigration law as in the past, said Margaret Stock, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and immigration lawyer.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Justice Department fires key prosecutor in elite office already beset by turmoil, AP sources say   The blame game is on at federal agencies, where political messages fault Democrats for the shutdown   Trump no longer distancing himself from Project 2025 as he uses shutdown to further pursue its goals   A look at which federal agencies are furloughing workers   An interactive map of where federal workers live   Fundraising groups step up to help reopen national park sites and welcome visitors   Trump administration cuts nearly $8B in clean energy projects in states that backed Harris   Arizona Democrat elected last month can’t be sworn in while the House is out of session   Nebraska Republicans are targeting voter-approved medical marijuana, following other GOP-led states   Ohio’s Jon Husted could be in the US Senate’s toughest 2026 race   Man pleads guilty to throwing Molotov cocktail at deputies during LA immigration protest   LA running club monitors for immigration agents   Former Iowa superintendent charged with federal firearms offense after immigration arrest   Where immigrants went during an unprecedented influx at the US border, by the numbers   US government is phasing out paper checks. Here’s what that means for you

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Trump pauses $2.1B for Chicago infrastructure projects, leveraging the shutdown to pressure Democrats

President Donald Trump’s administration will withhold $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, the White House budget director said Friday, expanding funding fights that have targeted Democratic areas during the government shutdown. The pause affects a long-awaited plan to extend the city’s Red Line train. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

BREAKING: Hegseth announces latest strike on a boat near Venezuela he says was trafficking drugs Hopes fade for quick end to shutdown as Trump readies layoffs and cuts Apple removes apps that allow anonymous reporting of ICE agent sightings   Trump sets Sunday deadline for Hamas to agree to a deal for ending the war in Gaza  President Donald Trump said that Hamas must agree to a proposed peace deal for Gaza by Sunday evening and threatened that the group will face more attacks if it doesn’t. Hamas said earlier this week it would study the proposal. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Israel intercepts the last boat from the Gaza flotilla as Israeli minister mocks the activists Photos show widespread protests after Israeli forces intercept Gaza-bound flotilla  Dutch high court orders government to reevaluate license to export F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel

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Trump Aides Secretly Panicking About His Looming Political Nightmare

The White House fears the GOP is heading for a midterm disaster over shutdown fallout.

Donald Trump’s inner circle fears voters will ultimately blame the GOP if health-care subsidies expire—a central issue surrounding the government shutdown—and that the backlash could severely damage the party in the 2026 midterms, according to a report.

Administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that the president’s bravado in blaming Democrats for the shutdown may not hold up next November, when potentially millions of people, facing rising health-care costs, could point the finger solely at the ruling party

The 79-year-old’s advisers are also panicking as voters struggle with rising inflation and a dire job market.

They fear the public will see Trump as bringing further financial hardship by allowing subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, to lapse.

The White House is so wary of the fallout that Trump aides are discussing proposals to extend Obamacare subsidies, even though the president has long vowed to repeal the health-care program, which was put in place by Barack Obama and is therefore hated by Republicans.

“It has the potential to be a significant issue,” Republican strategist Whit Ayres told The Journal. “Whether it becomes one or not depends upon the course of the election.”

Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked in their efforts to end the government shutdown, now in its third day. The GOP wants Democrats to agree to a continuing resolution, which would temporarily fund the government and reopen it while both sides negotiate a longer-term solution.

Democrats said they will only come to the table if Republicans guarantee that subsidies for low-income health insurance will not expire, and that Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts outlined in his “Big, Beautiful” spending bill are removed. The GOP has said it will not negotiate until the government reopens.

The GOP can ill afford any reason for voters not to back them in the 2026 midterms.

Historically, the ruling party suffers substantial losses in the midterms, and with Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority in the House, they already face a significant risk of losing their trifecta control for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.

If health-care subsidies expire at the end of the year, more than 22 million people could see their Obamacare premiums more than double from $888 a year to $1,904, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Data suggests Republican voters will be hit hardest if subsidies are not renewed. Of the 75 congressional districts where at least 10 percent of the population is enrolled in the ACA, 62 are in Florida, Georgia, and Texas, all states that voted for Trump in the 2024 election, the KFF found.

“Even though none of us were supportive of the ACA to begin with, we can’t walk away from the people that have had no place else to go to get their health-care coverage,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told the Journal.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-aides-secretly-panicking-about-his-looming-political-nightmare/?

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Devastating Poll Finds Trump Voters Want Him to Cave on Key Demand

Even the president’s most ardent supporters want Congress to renew ACA subsidies.

A majority of Republican voters, including Donald Trump loyalists, want enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act to be renewed, a key sticking point in the government shutdown, according to a new poll.

In total, 59 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of self-identified MAGA voters want to keep the Obamacare subsidies set, which are to expire at the end of the year unless Congress strikes a deal, the nationwide survey found.

The fight over the subsidies has helped push the government into its first shutdown in six years.

Democrats say they will not support a continuing resolution to temporarily fund and reopen the government unless the GOP agrees to renew the subsidies for low-income health insurance. They are also demanding that Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts, outlined in his “big beautiful” spending bill, be scrapped.

Trump, who has long vowed to repeal Obamacare, has so far been reluctant to back renewing the healthcare plans. He has also repeatedly pushed the false claim that Democrats forced the shutdown because they want to give free healthcare to immigrants in the country illegally.

Overall, 78 percent of U.S. adults say Congress should extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which were first implemented under former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and later in his Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The study, by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), questioned 1,334 adults.

“We get a very clear message that the majority of the public, regardless of their partisanship, regardless of their insurance, support Congress extending these tax credits,” Ashley Kirzinger, KFF’s director of survey methodology, told NBC News.

“It’s really hard to take a benefit away after it’s been given to people.”

If the subsidies expire, KFF analysis estimates that more than 22 million people could see their premiums jump from $888 a year to $1,904. The survey found that if that happens, about four in 10 people with an ACA plan would drop their coverage altogether.

“That’s going to result in a large number of individuals losing health coverage and becoming uninsured,” Kirzinger said. “When people don’t have health coverage, not being able to go to the doctor, not being able to get primary care, it can result in all kinds of detrimental health outcomes.”

Despite Trump and the GOP’s attempts to blame Democrats for the shutdown, the survey found that 39 percent of those who support renewing the subsidies said they would blame Trump if they expire, compared to 37 percent who would blame Republicans in Congress. Just 22 percent said Democrats would deserve the blame.

The White House has continued linking the shutdown to non-existent Democratic demands for immigrants.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Daily Beast, “President Trump and the administration have been clear. We will not have policy discussions while Democrats hold countless Americans hostage and demand free health care for illegal aliens. Democrats must reopen the government if they want to have meaningful policy debate.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/devastating-poll-finds-donald-trump-voters-want-him-to-cave-to-key-dem-demand/?

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TACO Trump Issues Another ‘Last Chance’ Ultimatum to Hamas

The president threatened—again—that if Hamas did not accept his deal he would “extinguish” them.

President Donald Trump threatened Hamas with a familiar ultimatum on Friday, warning they could accept his peace plan or be hunted down and killed.

Trump, 79, just days ago had urged Hamas to accept his 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, the president upped the pressure with an ultimatum to accept the proposal or be “extinguished.”

“As retribution for the October 7th attack on civilization, more than 25,000 Hamas ‘soldiers’ have already been killed. Most of the rest are surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, ‘GO,’ for their lives to be quickly extinguished,” Trump wrote.

“As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed,” the president added.

The president wrote that he was giving members of Hamas until 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday to accept the agreement.

“Fortunately for Hamas, however, they will be given one last chance!” he wrote. “Great, powerful, and very rich Nations of the Middle East, and the surrounding areas beyond, together with the United States of America, have agreed, with Israel signing on, to PEACE, after 3000 years, in the Middle East.”

The president wrote in all caps that the deal spares the lives of all remaining Hamas members, but if they don’t agree to it, there would be hell to pay.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” he wrote.

While the post ups the pressure for the deal, it also has the potential to cause mass confusion and chaos for those in the region as he urged Palestinians to get out of the way of a future onslaught.

“I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza,” he claimed. “Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help.”

On Monday, Trump met with Netanyahu at the White House where they announced Israel had agreed to Trump’s 20-point proposal. The president also signaled other countries in the Middle East were onboard.

The plan set out a series of conditions that must be met but could eventually lead to a two-state solution while also barring Israel from annexing Gaza.

It laid out how if both sides agreed to the deal, the war would immediately end and Israeli forces would withdraw to a line in preparation for all living hostages and bodies of the deceased to be returned.

The plan also outlined how a temporary Palestinian committee would take responsibility for daily operations. A new “Board of Peace” with heads of state and chaired by Trump would begin the process of rebuilding Gaza.

While it granted amnesty to Hamas members who laid down weapons, Hamas had not yet agreed to it at the time of Trump’s joint press conference.

Friday’s post was not the first time Trump has issued a fire and brimstone style threat to Hamas since returning to office in January, but it is the first since he revealed his peace plan.

In March, the president issued a “last warning” to Hamas as he demanded the return of hostages.

“I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 6.

He said “it is OVER for you” if Hamas did not return the hostages.

Trump also said in December before retaking office that there would be “hell to pay” if Hamas did not release all the hostages before he was sworn in.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-issues-desperate-last-chance-ultimatum-to-hamas-for-gaza-peace-plan/?

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Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas partially accepts his peace plan

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hamas-israel-gaza-war-mideast-bba524e6ac9cc9877e71fefc804cb602?

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Trump's visa bombshell

Illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios

U.S. employers, foreign residents and lawyers are reeling from the White House's surprise changes to the H-1B visa system. Why it matters: H-1B visas play a crucial role in driving high-skilled workers to the U.S., fostering economic growth and innovation. The administration's actions could imperil that system, Axios' Emily Peck reports. What to watch: Small businesses and startups say the changes will effectively block them from hiring foreign talent. Some big companies are talking about moving entire departments out of the U.S. ? Catch up quick: H-1B visas are issued through a lottery system to foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent. Only about 85,000 are issued a year. The biggest users are tech giants like Amazon. State of play: Last month, President Trump announced a $100,000 charge for an H-1B. There's still some confusion on how the system will work. Yesterday, a coalition of labor unions, health care providers, schools and religious organizations filed suit against the Trump administration over the constitutionality of the order. White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told Axios that Trump's plan discourages companies "from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas." Read on.