As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans arrived at the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent talks on how to end it, but for a display of unity with President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate on any Democratic demands.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the White House meeting a “pep rally” and said it’s “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the House out of town during the shutdown. Schumer says his side wants to end the shutdown and fix the health care premium crisis that “looms over 20 million hardworking Americans.”
The Latest:
Shutdown? What shutdown?
Usually during a shutdown, all non-essential federal government activities are on hold.
But the Trump administration has found ways to ensure troops get a paycheck and minimize other impacts of a shutdown.
Now, Trump is hinting at easing another casualty of the shutdown.
“We should probably just open them,” Trump said of museums closed during the shutdown.
The Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo are shuttered because of the shutdown -- at least for now
Trump defends his tariffs, saying TV ads against them are wrong
The president says he’s been watching the anti-tariff ads paid for by Canada’s Ontario province, saying he’d do the same thing if he was Canadian.
Still, Trump doesn’t think the ads are convincing to his supporters watching TV in the U.S.
“I do believe that everybody’s too smart for that,” Trump told senators who were gathered for lunch at the Rose Garden.
Trump credited his tariffs for generating what he claims will be $20 trillion worth of investments in America.
The White House has been unable to verify the sum is anywhere close to the level claimed by the president. Trump is traveling in the next several days to Japan and South Korea, in part, to finalize the terms of investments from those countries as part of an agreement to minimize the tariff rates Trump is charging on foreign goods.
Trump taunts Rand Paul at lunch
In the middle of complimentary shoutouts to various GOP senators, Trump paused to note that one of their own was not attending the lunch.
“We have everybody one but person,” Trump said. “You’ll never guess who that is.”
It was an easy guess — the uninvited was Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a constant thorn in the side of the White House who, as Trump said, “automatically votes no on everything.”
If Paul had asked, Trump said he would “begrudgingly” allow him to come.
Earlier this year, Paul was told that he and his family would not be invited to the big congressional picnic that the president hosts for members of Congress every summer.
After Paul called it a petty move, Trump issued an invite on his social media account, saying “of course” Paul and his family were invited to the South Lawn event.
Trump hosts GOP senators for lunch
The president is spending part of his Tuesday playing host, having Senate Republicans over for lunch at the Rose Garden.
“The incredible Rose Garden, it’s just an incredible place,” Trump said in remarks that opened up the lunch.
Dozens of GOP senators and senior administration officials are in attendance on the patio, which was decked out with yellow umbrella-covered tables for the occasion.
Cheeseburgers and fries are on the menu, as well as “Rose Garden chocolates” for dessert.
Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest on hold for now
Plans are on hold for President Trump to sit down with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to talk about resolving the war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official.
The meeting had been announced last week. It was supposed to take place in Budapest, although a date had not been set.
The decision was made following a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The back-and-forth over Trump’s plans are the latest bout of whiplash caused by his stutter-step efforts to resolve a conflict that has persisted for nearly four years.
-By Matthew Lee and Chris Megerian
Trump gets peace award from Richard Nixon Foundation
Trump on Tuesday received the Richard Nixon Foundation’s Architect of Peace Award, inviting surviving members of the former president’s family to the Oval Office.
White House aide Margo Martin posted pictures of the event, which was closed to the news media, on the social media site X.
Trump took Nixon family members to the West Wing colonnade to see his Presidential Walk of Fame and a picture of Nixon, who resigned in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.
Past winners of the award include former President George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George H.W. Bush. Kissinger has twice won the award, which was established in 1995.
Vance plans visit to the Holy Sepulcher
Vance, making his first trip to Israel as vice president, said he came to the country once before, but only “for about 36 hours.”
This time, his plans include visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It contains the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, as well as the believed location of his burial tomb.
“I think the world’s Christians will know that this country, that this region of the world means a great deal to me,” Vance said.
Mahmoud Khalil fights deportation in federal appeals court
Mahmoud Khalil appeared Tuesday in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia as he challenges Trump administration efforts to deport him over his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University.
The government wants to overturn a lower court order granting Khalil’s June release from a Louisiana immigration jail. Its attorney, Drew Ensign, said the case belongs before an immigration judge in Louisiana who ruled that Khalil could be deported. “All of this is being conducted in an improper forum,” Ensign said. “So that should be a full stop.”
Khalil’s attorneys asked the three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm the order, which prevents his detention and deportation.
Khalil, a legal U.S. resident married to an American citizen, issued a statement after the hearing: “I’m stating unequivocally: I will continue my legal fight in federal courts for my rights, and for everyone’s right, to free speech.”
▶ Read more about Khalil’s efforts to block his deportation
More than 100 Census Bureau workers targeted for layoffs in Arizona
More than 100 U.S. Census Bureau workers have been told they will be laid off in December due to a lack of funding from the federal government shutdown.
The 101 employees work at the Census Bureau’s call center in Tucson, Arizona, according to a mass layoff notice filed earlier this month with the state of Arizona. These workers help conduct surveys and answer questions about the statistical agency’s surveys. The bureau has another call center in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Earlier this year, around 1,300 Census Bureau employees took deferred resignations, voluntary separations or early retirement in recent months as part of the DOGE efforts to cut federal government spending.
Kushner says Israel and Hamas are transitioning to peace
“Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture,” Kushner said during a press conference with Vance.
Kushner acknowledged the violence in Gaza that has tested the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, but downplayed it: “A lot of people are getting a little hysterical about different incursions one way or the other," he said.
The U.S. president’s top advisers to the Middle East met with 10 of the released hostages and their families Tuesday.
“It was really an emotional moment,” Witkoff said. Many of them were emotional and grateful to Trump for his work in securing the ceasefire and release of hostages, he added.
“I didn’t see any victims in that room,” Witkoff said. “I saw very strong people.”
The US vice president urges patience with the slow return of hostage remains
JD Vance visited a newly opened civilian military cooperation center in Israel that the U.S. says is central to keeping Trump’s Gaza peace plan on track, and said the fragile ceasefire is going “better than I expected.”
Vance also tried to downplay that his visit was meant to be some sort of urgent play to keep the ceasefire agreement in place.
“My visit had nothing to do with the events of the past 48 hours,” said Vance, who was on his first visit as vice president to Israel and only his second ever to the country.
Vance was expected to meet with families of hostages whose remains are still in Gaza and some of the living hostages released last week. He urged a ‘little bit of patience’ amid growing Israeli frustration with Hamas’ slow pace of return of remains of hostages.
“Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,” Vance said. “It’s just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience.”
▶ Read more about developments involving Israel, Hamas and Gaza
AP Photos: Inflatable costumes deflate tensions at anti-Trump rallies
Protesters have taken to wearing oversized inflatable costumes to deflate tensions and draw attention at rallies against Trump administration’s policies.
Crowds across the U.S. and abroad rallied Saturday during “No Kings” demonstrations against what they call a slide into authoritarianism. While Republicans dismissed them as “Hate America” rallies, many had a festive, red-white-and-blue feel.
The trend began in Portland, Oregon, when a protester showed up in inflatable frog costume. Now, crowds there gathering daily and nightly outside an immigration facility have embraced the absurd, adding unicorn, axolotl, dinosaur and banana costumes.
▶ See a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Republican senators praise Trump’s COVID-19 vaccine push as administration sows doubt in vaccines
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, who chairs the Senate health committee, and the Senate’s No. 2 Republican John Barrasso, R-Wy, on Tuesday introduced a resolution nominating Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work on Operation Warp Speed.
Cassidy said the project that accelerated vaccine development with pharmaceutical companies during Trump’s first term “not only saved millions of lives but brought the American economy back to life.”
The praise highlights a tension between some Republicans’ support for vaccines and the Trump administration’s erosion of trust in the shots.
Trump recently falsely suggested a link between vaccines and autism. And Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has taken steps to sow doubt in immunizations, including changing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and firing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee.
AP Investigation: Who benefits from the MAHA anti-science push?
Powerful anti-vaccine advocates and people selling potentially harmful goods such as raw milk are profiting from the push to write anti-science policies into law across the United States.
They portray the Make America Healthy Again movement as grassroots, but it’s fueled by a web of well-funded national groups led by people who’ve profited — financially and otherwise — from sowing distrust of medicine and science.
The Associated Press found state legislation that includes language in the text or public testimony that explicitly spells out that a reason to change the law is to make money or increase sales for dairy farmers.
▶ Read more about who’s profiting from the anti-science push
AP Investigation: Wave of anti-science bills pushed by Kennedy allies hits statehouses
More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections — vaccines, milk safety and fluoride — have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year. It’s part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law.
An Associated Press investigation found that the wave of legislation has cropped up in most states, pushed by people with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Around 30 have been enacted or adopted. The effort would strip away protections that have been built over a century and are integral to American lives and society.
▶ Read more about what the AP investigation found
Ukraine and European leaders accuse Putin of stalling peace efforts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday of stalling for time amid diplomatic efforts to end his invasion of Ukraine. Their statements oppose any move to make Kyiv surrender land captured by Russian forces in return for peace, as Trump has on occasion suggested.
Eight European leaders as well as senior European Union officials said in a joint statement they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow’s billions of dollars (euros) of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war, despite some misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step. They also expressed support for Trump’s peace efforts ahead of a meeting with Putin in Budapest, Hungary.
No date has been set for the Budapest summit, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated Tuesday there’s no sense of urgency. “Preparation is needed, serious preparation,” he told reporters.
▶ Read more about diplomatic efforts for peace between Russia and Ukraine
Trump says he’s giving Mideast peace a chance
Trump said in a social media post that he’s not ready to give a green light to U.S allies who have “explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm” offered to go into Gaza and “straighten out Hamas” if the militant group continues to “act badly.”
The Republican president said he told these countries and Israel, ‘NOT YET!’ because “There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right.”
If they don’t, Trump said “an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!”
Trump commented while Vice President JD Vance is visiting Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others to help shore up the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The president also thanked Indonesia for helping out with the Middle East.
Thune prediction spells trouble for Trump nominee
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he hopes the White House will withdraw the nomination of Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel.
The growing opposition to Ingrassia comes after a Politico report on a text chat showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.
“He’s not going to pass,” Thune told reporters.
Another Republican, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who serves on the committee with jurisdiction over the nomination, said he doesn’t support Ingrassia’s confirmation, either.
A committee hearing to consider Ingrassia’s nomination is scheduled for Thursday.
Obama to join New Jersey and Virginia governor candidates
Former President Barack Obama will campaign alongside Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill as they run for governor in Virginia and New Jersey.
Their campaigns announced Tuesday that he’ll join them on Nov. 1 in rallies in Norfolk, Va., and Newark, N.J. Election Day is Nov. 4 in both races.
Spanberger, who formerly served in the CIA and Congress, is up against Marine veteran and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia governor’s race.
Sherrill, a congresswoman, former federal prosecutor and U.S. Navy fighter pilot, faces Republican former Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli.
Trump endorsed Ciattarelli and said Earle-Sears is “very good.”
Most Americans worry about health care costs: AP-NORC poll
Most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive, according to a new AP-NORC poll, as they make decisions about next year’s health coverage and a government shutdown keeps future health costs in limbo for millions.
About 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health costs going up in the next year, the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds — a worry that extends across age groups and includes people with and without health insurance.
Many Americans have other health care anxieties, too: About 4 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about not being able to pay for health care or medications they need, not being able to access health care when they need it, or losing or not having health insurance.
▶ Read more about American views on health care
Missed paychecks and programs running out of money
The effects of the shutdown are worsening. Federal workers are set to miss additional paychecks amid total uncertainty about eventually getting paid. Government services like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programs that serve needy families face funding cutoffs. The National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported air controller shortages and flight delays across the United States.
Still, there has been little urgency in Washington as each side believes the other will eventually cave.
Read more about where both parties stand on the shutdown
What about Trump?
Tuesday’s White House meeting will be a chance for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after he has been more involved in foreign policy and other issues.
The president last week dismissed Democratic demands as “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.”
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said that Republican senators will talk strategy with the president at Tuesday’s lunch. “He’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “Anything we can do to try to get Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.
Democrats say they believe Trump has to be more involved for the government to reopen.
“He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. “We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump.”
Belize signs ‘safe third country’ agreement, aiding Trump’s immigration crackdown
Details of the “safe third country” agreement Belize announced with the United States on Monday aren't immediately clear, even to the Belize Senate, which must ratify the deal before it can take effect. It comes as the Trump administration pressures countries in Latin America and Africa to help him carry out his immigration crackdown.
The deal appears to be similar to Paraguay's “safe third country” agreement, in which asylum seekers currently in the U.S. could be sent there to pursue protections. A State Department post on X called it “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration, shutting down abuse of our nation’s asylum system, and reinforcing our shared commitment to tackling challenges in our hemisphere together.”
Belize opposition leader Tracy Taegar Panton wrote on social media that the deal "could reshape Belize’s immigration and asylum systems, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers, and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security.”
