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      Trump directs Pentagon to match Russia and China in nuclear weapons testing

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      Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to immediately start matching other nuclear powers in their testing of nuclear weapons, specifically citing Russia and China.In a post to Truth Social, Trump said “because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”The post came less than an hour before Trump met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in South Korea on Thursday morning in an effort to come to a trade war truce. The meeting was the first between the two since 2019.The United States last held a full nuclear weapons test in 1992, and China and Russia are not known to have held any such tests since the same era. Trump’s reference to “on an equal basis” left it unclear what weapons testing could take place, or whether he was referring to displays of power similar to those recently conducted by Russia.Since 1998, no country other than North Korea is confirmed to have conducted a full explosive nuclear test. But nuclear-armed countries such as the US have subsequently carried out simulated nuclear explosions using high-powered computers, as well as related nuclear physics experiments, tests of nuclear-capable missiles, warhead mechanisms and “subcritical” tests of nuclear materials to ensure their arsenals remain viable.Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to questions about the announcement from Trump.Speaking on Air Force One after his meeting with Xi, Trump said he would “like to see” denuclearisation, adding that the US was “talking to Russia about that”.“And China would be added to that if we do something,” he said, without elaborating.On Thursday China’s foreign ministry told a regular press conference that Beijing hoped the US would honour the non-proliferation treaty “and take actions that contribute to regional peace, rather than the opposite”.“We would like to emphasise that China remains committed to the path of peaceful development, pursuing defensive national security policies and friendly diplomatic policies,” said spokesperson Guo Jiakun. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday that Russia had successfully tested its “unique” nuclear-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead. The Kremlin described it as part of efforts to “ensure the country’s national security”. Trump later described Putin’s announcement as “not appropriate”. Sergei Ryabkov, a close aide to Putin, told Russian media that Moscow had notified the US in advance about the test.The timing of Russia’s Burevestnik testing is notable, coming amid the Kremlin’s intensified nuclear posturing and a break in US-Russia talks over the war in Ukraine.On Wednesday, Putin said Russia also carried out a test of a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo that military analysts say is capable of devastating coastal regions by exploding a nuclear warhead and triggering vast radioactive ocean swells that would swamp and contaminate cities.Trump also falsely noted in his Truth Social post that the US had more nuclear weapons than any other country, a claim he repeated during his Air Force One press conference. Russia currently has the most confirmed nuclear weapons, with more than 5,500 nuclear warheads, while the US has 5,044 nuclear weapons, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.The last full nuclear test by the US, codenamed “Divider,” was carried out on 23 September 1992 at what is now called the Nevada National Security Site. The then president, George HW Bush, announced a moratorium on underground nuclear testing that same year. The US still, however, has the ability to resume tests at the Nevada National Security Site.In response to Trump’s post, Nevada congresswoman Dina Titus posted on X: “Absolutely not. I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”Despite repeated statements from both Moscow and Washington about wanting to halt the arms race, little progress has been made. The Kremlin has recently criticised Trump’s push to develop a missile shield – known as the Golden Dome – which he claims would make the US impervious to attack.During his first term, Trump reportedly sought to increase the US nuclear arsenal “tenfold”.In December 2016, he tweeted: “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”Additional reporting by Helen Davidson in Taipei and Jason Tzu Kuan Lu More

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      Trump news at a glance: president’s effort to sue his own DoJ is ‘absurd’ and ‘frivolous’, expert says

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      What are the odds that the president can successfully sue his own government to recoup hundreds of millions in damages from past federal investigations? If he were any other claimant, it would be a long shot, according to a legal expert and a former Department of Justice official who handled damages claims against the government.Trump has asked the justice department to pay him $230m in damages, the New York Times reported last week. The amount is the total of two separate claims in which Trump argues he is entitled to compensation because of investigations into the links between Russia and his 2016 campaign as well as the 2022 search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and subsequent criminal prosecution.“Typically, someone who was asking for this amount of money, it would be very quickly rejected, because it would be thought of as absurd to request that amount,” said Gregory Sisk, a law professor at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. “I cannot think of any prior claim, at least at this early stage, that has been settled that involves money approaching that level.”Trump’s ‘absurd’ DoJ compensation bid would be rejected if he were anyone else, experts sayDonald Trump’s effort effort to win $230m in damages from Mar-a-Lago and Russia investigations is being criticized as “frivolous”, one expert told the Guardian.The effort is also seen as a staggering act of corruption because the two justice department officials with power to sign off on the claims are Trump appointees and allies. House Democrats sent a letter to the justice department this week calling the effort “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional”.Read the full storyTrump fires federal arts board in charge of reviewing White House ballroom and ‘Arc de Trump’Donald Trump has fired all six members of an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing his controversial White House ballroom and planned “Arc de Trump” in Washington DC.The Washington Post first reported that all members of the Commission of Fine Arts were dismissed on Tuesday.“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the Commission of Fine Arts is terminated, effective immediately,” read an email sent to one of the commissioners, which was obtained by the Post.Read the full storyRevealed: Pentagon orders states’ national guards to form ‘quick reaction forces’ for ‘crowd control’A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.The memo, signed on 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of the Pentagon’s national guard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide.Read the full storyObamacare insurance prices will jump up 26% next year, report predictsPeople in the US shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face a steep 26% average price increase next year, according to new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released just days before enrollment begins on 1 November.Read the full storySenate Democrats demand list of donors to $300m Trump ballroomSenate Democrats, led by Adam Schiff of California, are calling for full disclosure on how Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom is being financed.The effort follows the release of a donor list showing that wealthy individuals and corporations, many with business before the federal government, have contributed to the project. Democrats argue that without transparency, the financing of the ballroom could become a channel for improper influence within the administration.Read the full storyToyota denies promising to invest $10bn in US after Trump announcementThe Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor has denied Donald Trump’s suggestion that it is poised to invest more than $10bn in the United States over the coming years.On a visit to Japan earlier this week, the US president claimed he had been told that the carmaker was going to be setting up factories “all over” the US “to the tune of over $10bn”.“Go out and buy a Toyota,” added Trump.Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism”.

      The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, the second rate cut this year amid economic turbulence from the federal government shutdown and Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Fed has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates despite persistent inflation and no longer has access to key data thanks to the shutdown.

      Pro-Palestinian students are threatening to sue George Mason University in Virginia after the school cited a contentious definition of antisemitism it recently adopted to demand the removal of a social media post in which they described Israel as a “genocidal Zionist state” and the US as “the belly of the beast”.

      Cuts at CBS began on Wednesday morning and are expected to affect a significant number of news division employees, though probably fewer than 100 people. The company declined to provide a specific number.

      Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for Congress, has been indicted on federal charges related to her participation in protests outside an ICE processing facility near Chicago in September. The 26-year old Palestinian American candidate and five other individuals were accused of “physically hindered and impeded” a federal agent who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators”.
      Catching up? Here’s what happened Tuesday 28 October. More

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      Top Senate Democrat blames ‘heartless’ Trump for food aid being cut off – US politics live

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      Democratic senator minority leader Chuck Schumer is laying into Donald Trump, after his administration announced that it could not continue a crucial food aid program beyond Saturday, because of the government shutdown.Schumer argues that money is available to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), otherwise known as food stamps, but Trump refuses to use it.“For the first time in history, a president, Donald Trump, is refusing to fund Snap during a shutdown,” Schumer told a press conference.“Forty-two million Americans – hungry children, middle class families who’ve just … lost [their] job, veterans, senior citizens who struggle to pay for their food, all of these people will lose their SNAP benefits, not because the money’s gone, not because it’s not permitted, because Donald Trump ordered it stopped. Donald Trump is a vindictive politician and a heartless man.”Thanks for reading the US politics live blog. We’re closing down for the day, and here is a look back at our top stories:

      The US government shutdown hit its 29th day, with no indication Democrats and Republicans were close to an agreement to restart funding.

      Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called Trump “heartless” after his administration determined it could not continue a crucial food aid program because of the shutdown.

      John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, blocked a bill to continue federal food aid from passing the chamber, arguing Democrats should vote to reopen the government instead.

      The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan forecaster, predicted the shutdown would negatively impact the economy, but much of its damage would be reversed when the government reopens. Nonetheless, anywhere between $7bn and $14bn in real GDP will be lost.

      Donald Trump continues his trip through Asia, with the White House confirming a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday. That prompted Democratic senators to write to Trump, asking him “not to negotiate away” national security measures targeting Beijing.

      Two federal prosecutors were suspended after saying “a mob of rioters” attacked the Capitol on January 6.

      The Federal Reserve made a quarter-percentage-point cut to its interest rates, while warning of “elevated inflation” and an uncertain economic outlook.

      Las Vegas may be the site of the proposed midterm political convention Trump wants Republicans to hold ahead of next year’s pivotal legislative elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.

      Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
      New polling indicates voters across the country are downbeat on Donald Trump, and, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, skeptical his policies can lower their cost of living.A survey of 1,000 American adults conducted earlier this month by the University of Massachusetts Lowell and YouGov found Trump’s approval rating is at 42%, and 65% of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track. The numbers were similar to data from April 2024, when the question concerned Joe Biden’s performance as president – a sign of long-term dissatisfaction with governance across the country across parties.“These numbers are not particularly strong for the Trump administration, especially considering we’re in the first year of his second term,” said Rodrigo Castro Cornejo, a political science professor and associate director of the university’s Center for Public Opinion.In Wisconsin, Marquette University Law School found that inflation and the cost of living was the top concern of the 846 registered voters surveyed, with immigration in second and health insurance third. There was, however a partisan split over the top issue: for Republicans, it was immigration, while Democrats and independents were most concerned about inflation.When it came to Trump, 57% of those surveyed in Wisconsin thought his policies would cause prices to rise, 30% believed they will cause it to fall and 12% think they will have no effect. There was a substantial partisan split here, too, with Republicans more likely to see him as effective against inflation, and Democrats much less so.With Donald Trump set to meet China’s president Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday (which will be 10pm on Wednesday in Washington DC), Democratic senators have asked him to protect the national security of the United States and its allies in what are expected to be high-stake trade talks.“Ahead of your meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, we write to urge you not to negotiate away America and our allies’ national security,” reads the letter signed by 12 Democratic senators, including minority leader Chuck Schumer.Saying that the Chinese Communist Party “poses a fundamental threat to US national security, economic prosperity, and global leadership”, they note that there has previously been bipartisan support for “export controls and investment screening mechanisms on critical technologies” being sent to China.“We are deeply disturbed by your recent statements and actions, which indicate that you are all too willing to sacrifice these vital national security tools for empty promises and illusory ‘wins,’” the senators write.They urge Trump not to relax restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States, allow a Treasury program that ensures US firms don’t help China develop sensitive technology to continue and to not agree to any statements that indicates the US “opposes” the independence of Taiwan.“America’s export controls, investment safeguards, and our longstanding security partnerships must not be on the negotiating table,” the Democrats said.Amid the logjam in Congress over reauthorizing government funding, two dozen states have sued the Trump administration over its plan to pause Snap on 1 November. Here’s more on their case filed yesterday, from the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino:A coalition of more than two dozen states on Tuesday sued the Trump administration over its decision to suspend food stamps during the government shutdown.The lawsuit, co-led by New York, California and Massachusetts, asks a federal judge to force the US Department of Agriculture to tap into emergency reserve funds to distribute food benefits to the nearly 42 million families and children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). The USDA has said no benefits will be issued on 1 November.“Snap is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running,” the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on Snap, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families.”Things just grew heated on the Senate floor after the Democratic senator, Ben Ray Luján, of New Mexico asked the chamber to unanimously pass his bill guaranteeing federal food aid during the shutdown.John Thune, the Republican majority leader, blocked the bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), arguing that Democrats should instead vote to reopen the government.“Snap recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country, and we’ve tried to do that 13 times. You voted no 13 times. This isn’t a political game,” Thune said, referring to the number of votes he has held on the Republican bill to fund the government through 21 November.Democrats have blocked passage of that bill, because it does not address their health care concerns, including the extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans.Thune continued to hammer Luján’s bill:
      This request is a transparent admission that Democrats want to keep the shutdown for what – another month longer? This bill is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long term.
      In response, Luján accused Thune of refusing to compromise:
      When you hold power, when you’re the majority, you meet people, you pull them in. You don’t tell folks, you know where my office is. You all have heard me talk about the late governor Bruce King, a cattle farm out in New Mexico. He used to tell us when people can’t figure out what’s going on, you lock them up in a barn and you don’t let them out until they figure out how to get along.
      Well, we don’t got a barn. Maybe they’ve got an office around here to sit some people. And there’s a White House. It’s easy to get in – there’s a big hole in it.
      More about that big hole:In the government funding standoff, Democrats are demanding that Republicans support extending tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans, arguing that they will soon become unaffordable for many enrollees without congressional action. Here’s the Guardian’s Joseph Gedeon with more about just how much prices may rise:People in the US shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face a steep 26% average price increase next year, according to new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released just days before enrollment begins on 1 November.The jump represents one of the sharpest rises since the healthcare program launched over a decade ago, with consumers using the federal healthcare.gov platform set to see even steeper hikes of 30% on average. State-run marketplaces are also expected to experience a 17% increase.But the financial pain for many of the 24 million Americans enrolled in ACA plans, now a record number, could be far worse. Enhanced subsidies that have kept premiums affordable for millions are set to expire at year’s end, which threatens to more than double what many households actually pay out of pocket, according to KFF.The research from the non-partisan health policy organization found that monthly payments for subsidized enrollees could increase by an average of 114% if Congress fails to extend the enhanced tax credits. The healthcare.gov website, which opened for preview shopping on Tuesday, is already displaying the higher costs that reflect the lapse in assistance.Two federal prosecutors have been put on leave after writing in a court filing that “a mob of rioters” attacked the Capitol on January 6, Reuters reports.Donald Trump pardoned all those convicted or facing charges over the insurrection at the Capitol on the first day of his second term. Reuters reports that Samuel White and Carlos Valdivia were prosecuting Taylor Taranto on gun charges after he drove to the neighborhood around Barack Obama’s Washington DC home in 2023. Taranto had previously been involved in the January 6 attack, and White and Valdivia noted his presence at the Capitol in a memo where they argued he should face a 27-month sentence on the gun charges.The story was first reported by ABC News. Here’s more, from Reuters:
      Taranto had previously been charged for his role in the 2021 assault on the Capitol and was pardoned in January on Trump’s return to the White House. He was one of nearly 1,600 people pardoned but remained incarcerated on the 2023 gun charges.
      Trump and his allies have sought to play down the January 6 violence, decrying the prosecutions as a “national injustice.”
      White and Valdivia had asked US district judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC, to impose a sentence of 27 months for Taranto.
      They were not provided an official reason for their removal, which was carried out by the executive office for United States attorneys, three of the people said. A justice department spokesperson declined to comment and Reuters could not immediately reach the two attorneys for comment.
      The decision to place them on leave marks the latest in a string of personnel actions targeting justice department employees who worked on criminal or civil cases disfavored by Trump and his supporters. More than 200 prosecutors, agents and other personnel have been fired, some of whom worked on two criminal cases against Trump or on cases related to the attack on the Capitol.
      Taranto was convicted on gun charges after having “perpetrated a hoax” on 28 June 2023, in which he falsely claimed he would cause a car bomb to drive into the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
      The next day, after Trump posted Obama’s purported address on social media, Taranto reposted it and began live-streaming himself as he drove into Obama’s neighborhood in Washington DC In the video, he said he was searching for “tunnels” to access private residences. Eventually he parked and walked into a restricted area protected by the US Secret Service where he stated: “Gotta get the shot, stop at nothing to get the shot.”
      In a search of his van, law enforcement found two firearms, a stabilizing brace and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
      Here’s a rundown of what’s been happening today:

      The US government shutdown hit its 29th day, with no indication Democrats and Republicans were close to an agreement to restart funding.

      The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan forecaster, predicted the shutdown would negatively impact the economy, but much of its damage would be reversed when the government reopens. Nonetheless, anywhere between $7bn and $14bn in real GDP will be lost.

      Donald Trump continues his trip through Asia, with the White House confirming a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday.

      The Federal Reserve made a quarter-percentage-point cut to its interest rates, while warning of “elevated inflation” and an uncertain economic outlook.

      Las Vegas may be the site of the proposed midterm political convention Trump wants Republicans to hold ahead of next year’s pivotal legislative elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.

      Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called Trump “heartless” after his administration determined it could not continue a crucial food aid program because of the shutdown.

      Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
      Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that the government shutdown has undermined US economic growth, but restored funding should undo the damage.“The shutdown of the federal government will weigh on economic activity while it persists, but these effects should reverse after the shutdown ends,” Powell said at his ongoing press conference.He noted that the shutdown had also delayed the release of some government data the central bank relies on to make its decisions.Powell also nodded to the economics impacts of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, saying: “Job gains have slowed significantly since earlier in the year. A good part of the slowing likely reflects a decline in the growth of the labor force due to lower immigration and labor force participation, though, labor demand has clearly softened as well.”Here’s more from the Guardian’s Lauren Aratani on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision:The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, the second rate cut this year amid economic turbulence from the federal government shutdown and Donald Trump’s tariffs.The decision to cut the Fed’s benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4% comes at an extraordinary moment for the central bank. The Fed has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates despite persistent inflation.In a statement, the Fed said that the unemployment rate had gone up but remains low. “Job gains have slowed,” the statement reads. “Inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated.”The ongoing federal government shutdown, now one of the longest in US history, has also complicated the Fed’s job. Collection of important economic data has been indefinitely halted as employees at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are furloughed during the shutdown.The Fed typically studies BLS data to determine labor market conditions, including the number of new jobs added to the economy and the current unemployment rate. The last jobs report was released in early September, before the shutdown, and gave a relatively bleak snapshot of the jobs market in August. The number of jobs added to the economy in August was down by more than 100,000 since the spring, and unemployment crept up to 4.3% – the highest since 2021.Though BLS was scheduled to release September’s job market report in early October, it suspended its release once the shutdown started. Private payroll firm ADP reported earlier this month that the private sector cut 32,000 jobs in September, a sign that the job market is continuing to slow.The Federal Reserve has voted to slash its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point amid inflation that has remained “somewhat elevated” and an uncertain US economic outlook.The rate cut comes as the central bank shifts from fighting the inflation that plagued the economy’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and towards bolstering economic growth and the labor market.“Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments. Inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and remains somewhat elevated,” the policy setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement released just now, following the conclusion of its regular meeting.In a sign of the tricky balance the Fed faces between quelling inflation and supporting hiring, the statement noted: “Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that downside risks to employment rose in recent months.”The decision was endorsed by 10 of the committee’s 12 members. Donald Trump’s former top economic adviser, Stephen Miran, dissented, arguing for a cut of a half a percentage point, in line with the president’s desire for lower interest rates. Jeffrey Schmid also did not vote for the decision, preferring not to lower the rate. More

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      Democratic contender for Congress indicted over Chicago ICE protests

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      Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for Congress, has been indicted on federal charges related to her participation in protests outside an ICE processing facility near Chicago in September.The indictment, filed last week, alleges that the 26-year old Palestinian American candidate and five other individuals “physically hindered and impeded” a federal agent who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators”.Abughazaleh, who is running for Illinois’s ninth congressional district to replace the outgoing Democrat Jan Schakowsky, was charged with conspiracy to forcibly impede or injure a federal agent, and assaulting or impeding the agent while they were performing official duties.According to the indictment, the group “conspired with one another and others, known and unknown, to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat, Agent A, a United States law enforcement officer, from discharging the duties of his office”.It alleged that Abughazaleh, along with the other individuals, “banged aggressively” on the agent’s vehicle, “crowded together in the front and side” of the vehicle and “pushed against the vehicle to hinder and impede its movement”.According to the indictment, the group etched the word “pig” on to the vehicle and broke a side mirror and a rear windshield wiper. It also alleged that Abughazaleh specifically “joined the crowd at the front of the government vehicle, and with her hands on the hood braced her body and hands against the vehicle while remaining directly in the path of the vehicle, hindering and impeding” the agent.Following the indictment, Abughazaleh, who is known for her large social media platform on which she frequently criticizes Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns, called the indictment “political prosecution”.“This is a … gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the first amendment. This case is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges,” she said.Abughazaleh added: “As I and others exercised our first amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and teargassed hundreds of protesters, myself included. Simply because we had the gall to say masked men abducting our neighbors and terrorizing our community cannot be the new normal.“This case targets our rights to protest, speak freely, and associate with anyone who disagrees with this government … I’ve spent my career fighting America’s backwards slide towards fascism and I’m not going to give up now,” she continued.The indictment comes as the Trump administration ramps up federal immigration raids across numerous progressive cities including Chicago – a move which has been harshly criticized by local and state leaders.The raids have drawn widespread opposition from the public, congressional Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups, with the ACLU describing them as a “build out of a national paramilitary policing force that could be used to … consolidate President Donald Trump’s power”. More

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      DeSantis urges Florida universities to stop hiring foreign visa workers

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      Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is urging the state’s universities to stop hiring international employees through the H-1B visa program.DeSantis said he wants the Florida board of governors “to pull the plug” on the practice. Nearly 400 foreign nationals are currently employed at Florida’s public universities under the H-1B visa program, reported the Orlando Sentinel.“Universities across the country are importing foreign workers on H-1B visas instead of hiring Americans who are qualified and available to do the job,” said DeSantis in a statement. “We will not tolerate H-1B abuse in Florida institutions. That’s why I have directed the Florida Board of Governors to end this practice.”However, it’s unclear how such a move could be carried out. States do not have authority to revoke federal visas, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations prohibit firing employees based on immigration status.Last month, Donald Trump raised the H-1B visa fee from $215 to $100,000, a decision likely to face legal challenges. He also issued a proclamation alleging “systematic abuse” of the program.The H-1B program permits employers to hire skilled foreign professionals for specialized positions that are difficult to fill with US workers. Across Florida, more than 7,200 people hold H-1B visas.The program has caused friction among Trump supporters. Some, such as Elon Musk, argue it’s essential for US innovation, while others, including DeSantis, contend it enables companies to replace Americans with lower-paid foreign labor.DeSantis cited positions filled by workers from China, Argentina and Canada, arguing these roles were taken from qualified Floridians in favor of “cheap labor”.The University of Florida is one of the state’s largest users of the H-1B program, employing more than 150 staff members under the visa, according to an Orlando Sentinel review of federal data. Other universities also rely heavily on the program, including the University of South Florida with 72 employees and Florida State University with 69, according to the Tampa Bay Times.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionEducators note that most H-1B visa holders at these institutions work in departments such as computer science, engineering, physics and chemistry. About 60% of people who earned PhDs in computer science from US universities in 2023 were temporary visa holders, not citizens or permanent residents, reported the Sentinel.Donald Landry, the University of Florida’s interim president, said during the news conference that the university will embrace DeSantis’s review of H-1B visas. “Occasionally, some bright light might be good enough for the faculty, and then we will try and retain the person into whom we’ve invested so much,” Landry said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “But that’s the exception that proves the rule.” More

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      US could lose between $7bn and $14bn during shutdown, budget office says

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      The US is set to lose between $7bn and $14bn as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown, according to the congressional budget office.On Wednesday, the nonpartisan federal agency released its estimates in a new report to the House budget committee as the government shutdown reaches four weeks.According to the report, the shutdown will also reduce the US’s GDP by one to two percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2025.In his report, Phillip Swagel, the CBO director, said: “In CBO’s assessment, the shutdown will delay federal spending and have a negative effect on the economy that will mostly, but not entirely, reverse once the shutdown ends.”“The effects of the shutdown on the economy are uncertain. Those effects depend on decisions made by the administration throughout the shutdown. In addition, how federal employees and contractors respond to the delay in compensation is uncertain,” Swagel added.The US government shutdown stretched into its 29th day on Wednesday with no sign of an end to the crisis. The Senate remained deadlocked over spending legislation and on Tuesday Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-backed bill that would have funded federal agencies through 21 November.Democrats have refused to support the bill to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancement in the Senate because it does not include funding for healthcare programs, or curbs on Donald Trump’s cuts to congressionally approved funding.According to the CBO report, economic activity at the end of 2025 will be lower as a result of the shutdown, with the decline being driven by three factors: fewer services will be provided by federal workers, federal spending on goods, services and food benefits will be temporarily lower and a drop in overall demand will temporarily decrease production from the private sector.The report laid out three loss estimates amid the government shutdown. If the government opens this week, a total GDP loss by the end of 2026 would be $7bn. If the shutdown lifts after six weeks, or around 12 November, the total GDP loss would be $11bn. The estimated losses after the eight-week shutdown scenario were projected to be $14bn.The CBO added that although a government shutdown lasting four weeks would not affect federal spending for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits, how a longer shutdown would affect Snap benefits is uncertain.The report comes as more than two dozen states – led by New York, California and Massachusetts – sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to suspend food stamps amid the shutdown.Meanwhile, nearly 11,000 air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, missed their first paycheck on Tuesday.With two weeks of unpaid work, as well as staffing issues being reported across major cities including Chicago, Dallas and Nashville, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, has warned that another missed paycheck would be financially “harder [for employees] … as expenses continue to roll [in]”. More

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      Jared Kushner is back – and so are big questions about his financial ties | Mohamad Bazzi

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      In Donald Trump’s first term, his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was omnipresent. He worked on criminal justice reform, Covid-19 vaccine development and modernizing technology across federal agencies. His portfolio extended to foreign policy, as he brokered a new North American trade agreement and negotiated peace deals in the Middle East. But when Trump returned to the White House in January, Kushner stayed out of the limelight and declined to take a formal role in the administration.A few weeks ago, Kushner re-emerged as a central player behind Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which so far has achieved a ceasefire, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Kushner took a victory lap, as Trump and others in the US administration gave him significant credit for helping negotiate a ceasefire after two years of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Kushner is being hailed as the consummate deal-maker, a private citizen whose business acumen succeeded where career diplomats failed.But as in Trump’s first term, Kushner’s diplomatic work often overlapped with his business dealings, raising questions about financial conflicts. In fact, his potential conflicts are even more conspicuous today. Kushner’s key role in brokering the Gaza deal, which includes a framework for the territory’s postwar redevelopment, cannot be separated from the investment firm he owns, Affinity Partners, which is overwhelmingly financed by the very Arab petrostates critical to the agreement and potential reconstruction – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these three states provided crucial support to Kushner after he left the White House in January 2021, investing billions of dollars that allowed him to launch and expand his private equity firm.Six months after the end of the first Trump administration, Kushner’s newly created company secured a $2bn investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. It was an unusually large stake, considering that Kushner and his firm had little experience or track record in private equity. In fact, the kingdom’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, overruled a group of advisers who had objected to investing in Kushner’s new project. The advisers warned that due diligence conducted on behalf of the Saudi Public Investment Fund had found the firm’s early operations “unsatisfactory in all aspects”. But leaked internal documents published by the New York Times showed that Prince Mohammed dismissed those concerns, and he was more focused on using the infusion of Saudi cash to cultivate a “strategic relationship” with Kushner.It’s no surprise that the prince would want to reward Kushner for his steadfast support during Trump’s first term – and hedge the kingdom’s bets in case Trump returned to power. Throughout his first term, Trump tried to shield Prince Mohammed from blame for the 2018 assassination of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was ambushed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-member hit team. Despite a CIA assessment that concluded, with “high confidence,” that the prince had ordered the killing, Trump and Kushner offered the Saudi regime continued political support and billions of dollars in US weapons sales.The scale and timing of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s commitment to Kushner suggests its $2bn in funding wasn’t driven by market forces, but rather a bet by the crown prince on continued goodwill from a future Trump administration. A subsequent congressional investigation revealed that the Saudi leader did not earn a traditional return on his investment.In September 2024, as Trump was running for president, a US Senate committee found that Kushner’s firm had been paid $157m in management fees from foreign clients since 2021 without returning any profit to its investors. The Senate investigation, which was launched by Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator from Oregon who chaired the finance committee at the time, showed that Affinity Partners had collected $87m in fees from the Saudi wealth fund. In a letter to Kushner’s company, Wyden questioned why the firm had not generated any profit for its investors, despite charging hefty management fees – and he raised concerns that the entire venture was a way for foreign powers to buy influence in anticipation of Trump returning to power. “Affinity’s investors may not be motivated by commercial considerations, but rather the opportunity to funnel foreign government money to members of President Trump’s family,” Wyden wrote.In December 2024, Kushner revealed that he had raised an additional $1.5bn for Affinity Partners from investment funds controlled by Qatari and UAE government officials. In a podcast interview, Kushner said he had “pre-emptively tried to avoid any conflict” by securing new funding from his existing investors before Trump won the presidential election. The added funds brought the firm’s total assets to $4.8bn by the end of last year, nearly 99% of it from foreign sources. The increase in management fees raked in by Affinity has also boosted Kushner’s personal wealth, and turned him into a billionaire, according to Forbes.After Republicans regained control of the Senate in January, Wyden lost the finance committee chair position and his investigation into Kushner’s company foundered. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, and a supreme court ruling last year that gave Trump broad immunity for official acts, Trump and his family are facing little scrutiny in Washington for exploiting the presidency to promote their business interests.Aside from being the primary funders of Kushner’s firm, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE also have deals at various stages of development with Trump’s family business. Those Trump-branded real estate projects, hotels and golf resorts are worth billions of dollars. And like most foreign deals negotiated by the Trump Organization, the company won’t put up any capital but will earn millions of dollars in branding and management fees once projects are operational. As he’s done throughout his career, Trump continues to sell his name to make easy money.The Trump administration insists that Kushner’s diplomatic work in the Middle East – while he manages an investment firm funded by three Arab monarchies – poses no conflict of interest. When a reporter asked about the appearance of self-dealing at a press conference on 1 October, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, snapped back: “I think it’s frankly despicable that you’re trying to suggest that it’s inappropriate for Jared Kushner” to help Trump negotiate the Gaza ceasefire deal. She added: “Jared is donating his energy and his time to our government, to the president of the United States, to secure world peace, and that is a very noble thing.”Trump also praised his son-in-law’s diplomatic skills, telling a cabinet meeting on 9 October: “I put Jared there because he’s a very smart person and he knows the region, knows the people, knows a lot of the players.”It’s true that Kushner leveraged his relationship with Arab leaders, along with a family friendship with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to finalize Trump’s 20-point peace plan. And Kushner helped persuade both the Israeli government and Hamas to accept a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner swap, while delaying thornier questions to later negotiations.But even as he brokered the fragile ceasefire agreement, Kushner continued to negotiate business deals that benefit his firm and foreign partners – including Saudi Arabia, which the Trump administration was consulting as part of its emerging Gaza deal. On 29 September, the same day that Trump and Netanyahu revealed their Gaza agreement at the White House, Kushner and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund announced that they had reached a $55bn deal to acquire the video game publisher Electronic Arts. The game maker is dominant in sports gaming, and Saudi Arabia has made a push in recent years to buy soccer teams and other sports franchises.The Electronic Arts deal will require approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a panel of federal regulators that evaluates large foreign deals which could raise national security concerns. In 2023, members of Congress launched an investigation into the Saudi fund’s investments in US sports, especially the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, a rival to the PGA Tour.Will the Saudi interest in Electronic Arts face similar scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment under the Trump administration? That’s highly unlikely, considering that the president’s son-in-law will be one of the deal’s beneficiaries. The Financial Times reported last month that Kushner’s involvement could ease the sale’s path with US regulators.Unlike his central role during Trump’s first term, Kushner now seems to prefer serving as a powerful deal-maker behind the scenes in the Middle East. And with no formal job in the current administration, Kushner has avoided most previous criticism of his business dealings. He has no White House title, and far less oversight this time around.But he will probably remain at the center of negotiations about rebuilding Gaza, and reviving a potential diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a longtime goal of the Trump administration. And with little resistance from Congress, Kushner and the rest of Trump’s family will continue to reap the financial benefits of dominating the US government.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University More

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      JD Vance did nothing as Trump cuts cost his Ohio home town millions. Will it reshape the city council?

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      When the Middletown high school marching band performed at the presidential inauguration in Washington DC in January, they did so having called on parents, relatives and friends to empty their pockets to help pay for the trip.Despite his apparent nous and wealth, built from a former career in venture capital, Middletown native JD Vance declined to help the students and their supporters get to the capital on the day that honored and marked him as one of the most powerful people in the country.And in May, when the community learned that Donald Trump’s Department of Education was taking back a $5.6m grant that Middletown’s schools had been awarded, school representatives and local politicians, many of them Republicans, wrote to Vance, begging him to reinstate the funding.“To a public school district, $5.6m, that’s not just some easy figure to come up with to complete the project,” the Middletown schools superintendent, Deborah Houser, told WVXU.But all they heard back from Number One Observatory Circle, the vice-president’s Washington DC residence, were crickets.It’s for these and other reasons that progressives Scotty Robertson and Larri Silas decided to run for two seats on Middletown’s non-partisan city council in next month’s election.View image in fullscreenWith national midterm elections still a year out, the Middletown city council election could represent one of the first political temperature checks following nine months of upheaval fueled by White House policies that have targeted working-class Americans like many in Middletown.Although the Middletown city council is officially non-partisan, its current makeup leans 3-1 in favor of Republican members, with the fifth member, the mayor, being regarded as a centrist. The two council seats up for election are now occupied by Republicans.If both – or either – Robertson and Silas win, the swing would send shock waves all the way to Washington.“Middletown is a city that has communities with some very vulnerable populations. The [Trump administration] policies are designed to help billionaires, and there are not a lot of his billionaire friends that exist in Middletown,” says Robertson, a West Virginia native and pastor who moved to Middletown eight years ago.“Peter Thiel doesn’t live in Middletown.” Tech billionaire Thiel is thought to have played a major role in financing Vance’s political rise.Despite Vance being Middletown’s most famous son and Ohio broadly safe ground for Republican politicians for at least a decade, tellingly, nearly four in 10 of voters in the city of 50,000 people chose not to back Vance and Trump in last year’s presidential election.As a young Black woman in a city where 27% of the population is non-white, Silas’s candidacy could prompt residents not normally politically motivated to get out and vote in light of the wider political climate in the country.“I think a lot of people in Middletown want change, and that people see youth as change,” says the 22-year-old nursing home staffer and third-generation Middletown resident.“A lot of people say they want to see the youth get involved [in politics]. But when you do, you’re often criticized for not having experience.”Silas was jolted into politics after longtime Democrat Sherrod Brown lost his Ohio Senate seat to Bernie Moreno, a Republican endorsed by Trump, last November.“I thought: ‘What can I do? I can’t change national politics, but I can get involved someway,’ she says.National polls show Vance’s unfavorability rising since becoming vice-president. Those describing themselves as independents, a crucial voting bloc, have recorded their unfavorable view of Vance increasing from 48% around inauguration day in late January to a record 57% in early October. A similar increase has been recorded among African Americans and Hispanic voters, who make up a considerable number of Middletown residents.Vance has been criticized locally for not stepping in to save a Biden-era grant worth hundreds of millions to a local steel plant that would have created hundreds of clean energy jobs. In December, his mother admonished Middletown’s city council for not doing enough to recognize his achievements.Silas and Robertson claim Vance’s policies and lack of support are damaging Middletown’s prospects.“I’m confused [by Vance]. He says he wants to govern for the working person, for the average person, yet the policies that he supports are policies that hurt poor, working people disproportionately,” says Robertson.Last month, Vance posted on X, saying: “Democrats are about to shutdown the government because they demand that we fund healthcare for illegal aliens,” a claim that has no basis in reality.“Middletown has families that are disproportionately in the socioeconomic class that these policies are hurting. That’s why these policies are having a much more disproportionate impact on Middletown.” The US Census Bureau recorded that child poverty in Middletown is 29%, 13% above the national average.Meanwhile, one of Silas and Robertson’s city council opponents, incumbent Paul Lolli, courted controversy last year when receiving a $135,981 payout after retiring from his job as Middletown city manager “due to personal circumstances”. While more than $43,000 of that was attributed to accrued paid time off, the remainder accounted for six months of salary and insurance benefits premiums. Emails and voicemails left by the Guardian with Lolli were not responded to.Lolli and his right-leaning co-runner, a former city council member, have claimed it isn’t Vance’s job to lift up his home town.Past vice-presidents, however, have ensured their own communities were recognized.Kamala Harris helped bring millions of dollars in funding and grants into Oakland, California, her home town, during her vice-presidency.Still, the challenges facing Robertson and Silas are significant, chief among them the gap in experience between them and their opponents, who have collectively worked in city administrative positions for decades.Calling out Vance, a hometown hero for many Middletown residents, could also be costly.Experts say that Vance’s unpopularity – and that of vice-presidents in general – is largely down to how people see the president.“It’s hard to know how seriously to take a rating of JD Vance as an individual, as an office holder, because I think mostly what I think people are doing is transferring their opinion of Donald Trump as a president to JD Vance,” says Christopher Devine, associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, who has written two books on vice-presidents.He says many people who turn out for a presidential election do not take part in local polls such as city council elections.“The more localized and less visible in terms of the office, the lower the turnout’s going to be,” says Devine.“Those folks who came out in force to vote for Trump and Vance in Middletown in 2024, that’s not going to be the same for people who are voting for city council in the fall of 2025.”Silas, whose family members were part of the Great Migration of job-seeking African Americans who moved from the south to the midwest more than a century ago, says she first heard of Vance when she voted against him in a Senate election he ultimately won in 2022. Vance secured Trump’s endorsement for the race, which was funded by millions of dollars from billionaires such as Thiel.For Robertson, countering the White House-fueled movement against working Americans starts in Middletown.“I think that our country in general is at a pivotal moment,” he says.“If good, decent people with the right motives don’t stand up and run for office and participate in the political process, then that leaves it ripe for picking for the bad actors.” More