On his way to Florida for the weekend, Trump demands that senators stay in Washington to solve shutdown crisis
Before leaving the White House for a weekend trip to his resort in Florida, Donald Trump posted a demand for senators to stay in Washington and continue working to end the government shutdown.
As our colleague Chris Stein reports, Senate Republicans are expected to reject a proposal made on Friday by the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, which would end the longest government shutdown in US history by offering a deal to reauthorize funding in exchange for a one-year extension of tax credits that lower costs for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.
No matter what the Senate does, the shutdown cannot end this weekend, since the Republican-majority House has adjourned until Monday.
Trump left the White House for Florida just after 6pm local time.
Key events
Trump complains, again, about South Africa hosting G20 summit
Writing on his social media platform, Donald Trump complained, once again, about the upcoming summit meeting of the G20 being held in South Africa.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa”, Trump wrote, before repeating the entirely false conspiracy theory he has embraced, that the country’s white minority is under deadly assault from its Black majority.
“Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated”, Trump wrote, reiterating a false claim made by some white South Africans.
Trump added that no US government official would attend “as long as these Human Rights abuses continue”, but he looks forward to hosting the summit next year in Miami.
In May, Trump ambushed the visiting South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, with what he claimed was video evidence that that a genocide was being committed against white people under “the opposite of apartheid”. The immediate and widespread debunking of that false claim, which is popular among white racists in the US, seems to have had no impact on Trump’s delusional belief in it.
It was not immediately clear why Trump thought it was pressing to bring up this claim again, but earlier this week, he seemed to mistakenly say “South Africa” when he meant to say “South America” in a speech, and then tried to cover over the obvious error in his usual style, by pretending that he meant to say South Africa.
“For generations, Miami has been a haven for those fleeing communist tyranny in South Africa,” Trump said during a speech in Miami on Wednesday, just after railing against “socialist Venezuela”. Rather than correct himself, Trump then looked away from the teleprompter he apparently misread and riffed on South Africa before returning to his prepared remarks on South America.
“I mean, if you take a look at what is going on in parts of South Africa, look at South Africa, what’s going on. Look at South America, what’s going on,” Trump said.
Miami has of course been home to South Americans fleeing communism and socialism in Cuba and Venezuela for decades. It has no known population of refugees from South Africa, which has never had a communist government.
The president then returned to the subject of South Africa, in apparent damage control. “You know, I’m not going to, we have a G20 meeting in South Africa. South Africa shouldn’t even be in the Gs anymore, because what’s happened there is bad. I’m not going, I told them I’m not going”, Trump added. He then pivoted back to his prepared remarks, saying: “Take a look at what’s happening in different parts of South America.”
The G20 was expanded in 2023 to include the African Union, in addition to the European Union and 19 of the most industrialized nations: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
USDA says it will begin fully funding Snap benefits after court ruling
The department of agriculture says it will begin fully funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to do so.
The move comes a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to find the money to fully fund food stamps for 42 million low-income Americans in November by today, in a rebuke to the government’s plan to only provide partial aid during the shutdown.
“Later today, (Food and Nutrition Service) will complete the processes necessary to make funds available to support your subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to your EBT processor,” according to the USDA memo.
Republicans set to reject Democrats’ proposal to end longest shutdown in US history
Chris Stein
Republicans are set to reject a proposal made on Friday by the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, which would end the longest government shutdown in US history by offering Republicans a deal to reauthorize funding in exchange for a one-year extension of tax credits that lower costs for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.
“Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes healthcare affordability,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Leader Thune just needs to add a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising healthcare costs.”
He also proposed “a bipartisan committee that will continue negotiations after the government reopens on reforms ahead of next year’s enrollment period to provide long-term certainty that healthcare costs will be more affordable.”
“Now, the ball is in Republicans’ court. We need Republicans to just say yes,” Schumer said.
Senate majority leader John Thune appears unmoved by the offer, with his spokesperson Ryan Wrasse reiterating the demand that the government be reopened before the tax credit issue will be discussed.
“Extending the COVID bonuses *is* the negotiation – something that can only take place after the government reopens. Release the hostage. End the pain,” Wrasse said.
Read the full story:
DOJ urges NY appeals court to reverse Trump’s hush money conviction
The justice department urged a New York state appeals court to reverse Donald Trump’s felony conviction, saying it was based on improper evidence and a legal theory preempted by federal law.
The department aligned with the president’s argument that he is entitled to immunity for official acts taken while in office, and that introducing evidence of those acts at trial “can never be harmless,” Reuters reports.
In a filing submitted on Friday to a Manhattan appeals court, the department argued that federal law prevents jurors from considering whether Trump violated federal election rules by concealing a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, an act that could have disrupted his 2016 presidential campaign.
On Thursday, a federal appeals court ordered a lower court to reconsider whether Trump’s criminal prosecution in Manhattan deserved to be heard in federal court.
Trump was convicted last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said that he has asked the justice department to investigate meatpacking companies that he says are driving up the price of beef.
“I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation,” Trump said.
He did not mention the names of the companies.
Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef Packing Company together control around 80% of the market, according to Reuters. Last month, Tyson Foods and Cargill agreed to pay a combined $87.5m to settle a federal lawsuit brought by consumers who accused the companies of conspiring to drive up US beef prices by limiting supply.
Donald Trump has pardoned former New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry on past tax evasion and drug charges, citing the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year’s post-career embrace of his Christian faith and longtime sobriety.
Strawberry was an outfielder and eight-time All-Star, including seven with the Mets from 1983 through 1990. He hit 335 homers and had 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons.
Plagued by later legal, health and personal problems, Strawberry was indicted for tax evasion and eventually pleaded guilty in 1995 to a single felony count. That was based on his failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and sales of memorabilia.
Strawberry agreed to pay more than $430,000 as part of the case. He was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery and chemotherapy in 1998.
The following year, Strawberry was sentenced to probation and suspended from baseball after pleading no contest to charges of possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. He eventually spoke in court about struggling with depression, and was charged with violating his probation numerous times – including on his 40th birthday in 2002.
Read the full story here:
The day so far
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth unveiled sweeping changes to how the Pentagon purchases weapons, allowing the military to more rapidly acquire technology amid growing global threats. Hegesth said: “We are not building for peacetime. We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing. Building for victory should our adversaries FAFO [f*ck around and find out].”
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Donald Trump suggested that he could exempt Hungary from sanctions on importing oil from Russia as he praised Viktor Orbán’s hardline stance on immigration during a cozy White House summit.
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House minority leader Chuck Schumer made a new negotiating offer aimed at breaking the deadlock over the shutdown on the Senate floor, saying Democrats would vote to reopen the government if Republicans agree to extend the health care subsidies that are set to lapse at the end of the year for an additional year.
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The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly food stamp benefits amid the government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.
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If the federal government shutdown doesn’t end “relatively soon”, the Department of Transportation may decide to increase the number of cancelled flights at designated airports to 15 or 20%, transportation secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News, citing the likelihood of air traffic controllers not reporting to work.
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It came as the Federal Aviation Administration slashed commercial air travel, saying weeks of unpaid work by controllers had undermined capacity. About 800 US-linked flights were canceled as of Friday morning, according to the tracking website FlightAware.
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The federal government shutdown dragged consumer sentiment in the US to a near record low in November, according to a monthly survey conducted by the University of Michigan.
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Elise Stefanik, a Republican New York representative and staunch Trump supporter, officially launched her long-anticipated campaign for governor. Reports indicate that Stefanik – who defines herself as “ultra-MAGA” – has already been working behind the scenes to secure endorsements from key Republican figures and local officials.
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Donald Trump again demanded that Republican senators vote to end the filibuster, the Senate rule that requires most legislation to receive 60 votes to advance. “ If the filibuster is not terminated, then we will be in a slog with the Democrats, and very little for either party will be done. So it’s a good thing,” he said.
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The United States removed sanctions on Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a day after the United Nations Security Council did the same ahead of his historic meeting with Trump on Monday.
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Students, faculty and staff at more than 100 campuses across the US rallied against the Trump administration’s assault on higher education – the first in a planned series of nationwide. Protesters called on university administrators and elected officials to denounce the president’s months-long effort to force US universities to abide by its ideological priorities and urged them to reject Trump’s “compact”, which would give universities preferential access to federal funding in exchange for a commitment to advance the administration’s conservative agenda.
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Cornell University announced a settlement with the Trump administration, becoming the fifth university under investigation by the US government to do so. The agreement will see more than $250m in federal research funding restored. In exchange, the university will share admissions data with the government, pay $30m and invest $30m more in research programs benefiting farmers.
Donald Trump hosts a bilateral lunch with PM Viktor Orbán of Hungary in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
Students and faculty at over 100 US universities protest against Trump’s attacks
Alice Speri
Students, faculty and staff at more than 100 campuses across the US rallied against the Trump administration’s assault on higher education today – the first in a planned series of nationwide, coordinated protests that organizers hope will culminate in large-scale students and workers’ strikes next May Day and a nationwide general strike in May 2028.
The day of action was organized under the banner of Students Rise Up, a network of students including both local groups and national organizations like Sunrise Movement and Campus Climate Network. Students were joined by faculty and educational workers’ unions like the American Association of University Professors and Higher Education Labor United.
Protesters called on university administrators and elected officials to denounce the president’s months-long effort to force US universities to abide by its ideological priorities and urged them to reject Trump’s “compact”, which would give universities preferential access to federal funding in exchange for a commitment to advance the administration’s conservative agenda. Only one university, New College of Florida – a public school that state legislators have turned into a bastion of conservatism – has so far accepted it.
“Universities should be a place of learning, not propaganda machines,” Alicia Colomer, managing director at Campus Climate Network, said ahead of the protests. “That’s why students, workers and alumni around the country are taking action.”
As the day unfolded, hundreds of students across the country walked out of classes, unfurled banners, and rallied on campuses, often joined by faculty and other staff. In addition to denouncing the compact, they called for a more affordable education and for the protection of all students – from transgender to international ones.
At Brown University in Rhode Island – one of the first institutions to reach a settlement with the Trump administration earlier this year – passersby were invited to endorse a banner listing a series of demands by dipping their hands in paint and leaving their print, while a group of faculty members nearby lectured about the history of autocracy.
“Trump came to our community thinking we could be bullied out of our freedom,” said Simon Aron, a sophomore and co-president of Brown Rise Up. “He was wrong.”
‘Not building for peacetime’: Hegseth announces shift in Pentagon’s process for acquiring weapons
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has unveiled sweeping changes to how the Pentagon purchases weapons, allowing the military to more rapidly acquire technology amid growing global threats.
In a speech to industry leaders, military commanders and officials at the National War College, he detailed the transformation of the Defense Acquisition System in accordance with an executive order signed by Donald Trump in April.
“Today, at my direction, the defense acquisitions system as you know it is dead,” Hegesth said. “It’s now the warfighting acquisitions system. This isn’t just a name change.”
“We are not building for peacetime,” he went on. “We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing. Building for victory should our adversaries FAFO [f*ck around and find out].”
The restructuring is aimed at addressing what officials describe as “unacceptably slow” procurement by cutting through DOD red tape. The plan will create Portfolio Acquisition Executives who will have direct authority over major weapons programs to eliminate bureaucracy, while commercial products will become the default acquisition approach, streamlining the solicitation process, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
