Closing summary
Here’s the key events in US politics news today, which produced a proposed Trump administration peace plan for Gaza with buy-in from Israel’s prime minister and a broad array of other governments, but no deal to avert the looming shutdown of the US federal government. “I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” JD Vance said.
In the background to all this news, the Trump administration was expected to send in national guard troops and other federal law enforcement to Portland, Oregon; Memphis, Tennessee; and, according to the state’s governor, Chicago, Illinois, in further escalation of the administration’s symbolic deployment of troops into politically progressive cities.
Donald Trump announced his proposed 20-point peace plan for Gaza, and held a public appearance with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he approved the plan. Neither leader took questions on the plan from journalists.
Hamas negotiators reportedly received a copy of the plan today, but have not yet responded.
The plan calls for a transitional government of Gaza that would involve international figures, including Trump and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, whose inclusion sparked some immediate pushback, given his historic role in supporting the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and the history of British colonization.
Meanwhile, the US federal government was headed for a shutdown on 1 October, as congressional leaders failed to reach an agreement on the US budget before the shutdown deadline.
Democrats are continuing to negotiate for extensions of healthcare subsidies for Americans that are due to expire soon. An end-of-day meeting with Trump and congressional leaders from both parties failed to produce a deal.
The pending shutdown may be more severe for Americans than in the past, as the Trump administration is threatening to permanently fire federal employees during the shutdown, rather than simply furlough them temporarily.
Airlines and other aviation groups warned that the federal government shutdown could immediately affect airline passengers, as well as slow the pipeline of air-traffic-controllers currently in training to fill a huge gap in these crucial jobs.
YouTube, following the footsteps of Facebook and Twitter/X, is caving to a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump in response to the platforms deactivating his profiles after the January 6 insurrection in Washington. YouTube will pay $24.5m to settle the lawsuit: more than $20m of that is reportedly expected to fund the construction of a Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom at the White House.
The Trump administration announced it was filing a lawsuit against Minnesota for the state’s immigration sanctuary policies, following similar lawsuits against Los Angeles and New York.
The US Treasury said on Monday that secretary Scott Bessent has chosen White House personnel official Michael Friedman as his new chief of staff, replacing Dan Katz, who is due to take the No 2 job at the International Monetary Fund, Reuters reports.
Friedman, who served as a special assistant for presidential personnel, played “a pivotal role” in staff selection for key positions across Donald Trump’s administration, Treasury said. Prior to joining the administration, Friedman held leadership roles at supply chain technology and e-commerce startups.
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Minnesota leaders have responded to the Trump administration’s new lawsuit against the state’s immigration “sanctuary” policies, with Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison calling the lawsuit “baseless” political retaliation against the state, while pledging to respond in court, the Associated Press reported.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said the city will continue to fight for its immigrants, adding that it “will not back down”.
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The decision by New York City mayor Eric Adams to suspend his sputtering re-election bid is unlikely to slow the upstart candidacy of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, political analysts said on Monday, Reuters reports.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old Uganda-born state assembly member, has polled well ahead of his main rival, former New York state governor Andrew Cuomo, with five weeks to go before election day, and persistent attacks by Donald Trump may only serve to burnish Mamdani’s image with New Yorkers opposed to the president’s policies.
Mamdani “is well ahead of Cuomo and something would have to dramatically change the narrative of the race for there to be a shift in the polling to suggest Mamdani could lose, and I don’t see that happening right now”, said Basil Smikle, political analyst and professor at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies.
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YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5m to settle a suit brought by Donald Trump in 2021 that alleged the platform wrongly suspended his channel after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. The Google subsidiary is the latest in a long string of tech companies to make a multimillion-dollar payout to the president over past decisions about his accounts.
Facebook-parent company Meta settled a similar lawsuit with Trump in January for $25m, and the social media platform X, previously Twitter, settled another for $10m in February. Most of the payout from the Meta suit will go to Trump’s presidential library fund. For the YouTube settlement, Trump has directed $22m of the payment to go to restoring and preserving the National Mall and supporting construction of the White House ballroom, according to documents filed in the US district court for the northern district of California. The lavish ballroom is expected to cost around $200m.
‘W'e’ve been under British colonialism already:’ Tony Blair’s ‘surprise’ role in Gaza
The Associated Press has some initial reactions to a “surprise” element of Trump’s Gaza peace plan: a proposal to create a transitional government for Gaza supervised by a “Board of Peace,” including Trump himself and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, told the Washington Post: “We’ve been under British colonialism already. He has a negative reputation here. If you mention Tony Blair, the first thing people mention is the Iraq war.”
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said: “Tony Blair? Hell no. Hands off Palestine.”
In recent weeks, reports of Blair’s involvement raised eyebrows among advocates due to the history of British imperialism in the region and in particular Blair’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq that was premised on claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which were proven false, the Associated Press reports. Blair himself faced criticism after his WMD claims were debunked. The 2003 US-led invastion widely criticized for a destabilizing effect on the region and its heavy death toll.
Republicans in Washington spent most of the day blaming Democrats for the coming federal government shutdown on 1 October, with some of them attacking Democrats’ use of the same budget negotiating tactics they themselves advocated for in the past.
From California, Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor, used his high-profile social media feed to blast out an alternate message:
Republicans have control of the House, Senate, and White House.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 29, 2025
If the government shuts down, it’s on them.
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From California, Politico reports state Republicans are worried about how little money they have raised to attempt to block the Democratic governor Gavin Newsom’s campaign to get voters approval to redraw election maps so that the state is likely to send five more Democrats to Congress –a counter to Texas Republicans’ move to reduce the number of Democrats representing Texas.
“Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly told House colleagues this summer that he planned to raise $100 million to defeat Democrats’ mid-decade gerrymander at the ballot box. So far he appears to have produced little more than $7 million,” Politico reports. More details on the dollars raised on each side here.
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Justice department sues Minnesota over sanctuary policies
The US Department of Justice said on Monday it has sued Minnesota and state officials over its immigration sanctuary policies, the latest move in a legal campaign by Donald Trump’s administration against jurisdictions run by Democrats, Reuters reports.
Over the summer, the justice department sued the cities of New York and Los Angeles over similar immigration policies. It also sued Boston earlier this month.
The administration has argued that sanctuary laws, which restrict the extent to which local law enforcement and government agencies can cooperate with federal immigration efforts, impede Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Representatives from Minnesota’s governor and attorney general offices, the Hennepin sheriff’s office, and the mayors’ offices for St Paul and Minneapolis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More context on what the administration’s previous lawsuit against Los Angeles looked like:
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The governor of Illinois said on Monday that the Trump administration was sending 100 members of the national guard to Chicago, even as the Trump administration is also sending troops to Portland, Oregon, another majority Democratic city, the Associated Press reports.
Trump has waffled on sending the military, but Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday it appeared the federal government would deploy 100 troops. Pritzker said the Illinois National Guard received word that the Department of Homeland Security sent a memo to the Defense Department requesting troops to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and facilities.
An immigration processing center outside Chicago has been the site of frequent protests and aggressive tactics by federal agents. The enforcement recently escalated, with agents using boats on the Chicago River and marching Sunday on Michigan Avenue and in upscale neighborhoods.… The sight of armed, camouflaged and masked Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous downtown Chicago landmarks has amplified concerns about the Trump administration’s growing federal intervention across US cities.
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The $22m Trump will receive from YouTube to settle a lawsuit over the company’s choice to suspend his YouTube page after Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 election will fund “a Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom at the White House”, the Wall Street Journal reports:
Trump’s share of the settlement—$22 million—will go to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, earmarked for the construction of a Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom Trump is building at the White House, according to the court documents.
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YouTube to pay Trump $24.5m for banning his account after 6 January – reports
Multiple news outlets are reporting that YouTube, which is owned Google parent company Alphabet, has agreed to pay nearly $25m to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over his suspension from the online platform in the wake of the 6 January insurrection.
JUST IN: Google pays $24.5 million to settle lawsuit Trump filed in 2021 over YouTube ban post #Jan6. $22M of that will go to build the new White House ballroom Trump wants to construct. It was 1 of 3 similar suits legal experts found dubious. Doc: https://t.co/NMatIHJ3d1
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 29, 2025
The Wall Street Journal has some key additional details, reporting that Alphabet executives wanted to make sure their $24.5m settlement was smaller than Meta’s $25m settlement with Trump in January.
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Louisiana issued a warrant for a California-based doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to the red state, court records filed earlier this month show.
The warrant is part of a burgeoning effort by anti-abortion activists and red states to target telemedicine abortion, which now accounts for one in four US abortions, and abortion providers who ship pills across state lines. These providers operate out of blue states, like California, that have enacted “shield laws” that aim to protect abortion providers from out-of-state prosecution.
The 2024 warrant for the doctor remains outstanding, according to the documents, which were filed as part of Louisiana’s effort to join a federal lawsuit that seeks to limit access to the common abortion pill mifepristone.
Read the full story here:
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There’s been plenty of blatant hypocrisy in Republicans’ statements about Democratic members of Congress and their approach to the coming shutdown, as multiple Congressional reporters have noted today:
And Russ Vought, who accused Dems today of hostage-taking, instigated much of the conservative opposition to CRs during the Biden presidency in protest of high spending levels https://t.co/rJlmlwDaDl
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) September 29, 2025
Punchbowl News reports that Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said early this evening he would not support a seven-to-10 day continuing resolution to temporarily keep the government open.
Schumer says he would NOT support a 7 to 10 day CR.
— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) September 29, 2025
“If House Republicans were serious, they’d be here right now,” Jeffries says.
— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) September 29, 2025
House is on recess until next week as shutdown starts on Wednesday.
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From Jerusalem, Jason Burke, the Guardian’s international security correspondent, has just published an analysis of Trump’s new peace plan for Gaza:
“At first glance, the 20-point plan outlined by President Trump and agreed by Benjamin Netanyahu appears more likely to end the two-year conflict in Gaza than anything we have seen so far. Trump has sunk a lot of political capital in bringing peace to the Middle East after “thousands of years”, as he put it. There is apparent deep and wide regional support and, seemingly, that of the Israeli prime minister.
But this is less a detailed roadmap than a rough back of an envelope sketch that allows an equal chance of getting badly lost as reaching the desired destination…
…With divisions deepening and anti-war sentiment spreading at home as well as increasing isolation and a string of diplomatic setbacks, Netanyahu may have made the calculation that more war would bring incremental gains at significant cost and now is the moment to declare victory.”
How do US federal government shutdowns typically work—and what makes the pending shutdown on 1 October very different?
My colleague Lauren Gambino breaks it down:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently about 3,800 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels, and the looming federal government shutdown could worsen that problem, Reuters reports.
Hundreds of air traffic control trainees at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City could also be furloughed “causing significant delays in the training pipeline and worsen the ongoing air traffic controller staffing crisis,” the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said.
Aviation unions, manufacturers, airports and other aviation groups separately warned in a letter that shutdowns force the FAA to “suspend air traffic controller and technician hiring and training, delay the implementation of safety initiatives, postpone maintenance and repair work to critical air traffic equipment, suspend air carrier pilot check rides, delay airworthy inspections for aircraft, defer the analysis of voluntary safety reporting, and suspend work on modernization programs.”
Lt. Col. George Hardy, the youngest fighter pilot of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first Black military pilots, has died. He was 100, the Associated Press reports.
“His legacy is one of courage, resilience, tremendous skill and dogged perseverance against racism, prejudice and other evils,” Tuskegee Airmen Inc. said in a Facebook post. Hardy was the last surviving combat pilot of the Tuskegee Airmen who went overseas.
Amid President Donald Trump’s attempts to purge federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the Air Force hadremoved training courses with videos of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, in January. They later restored them after bipartisan criticism.
The impending shutdown will be different from past government closures because the Trump administration has threatened mass firings of federal staff, adding that it could use the lapse in funding to downsize the federal government, Reuters reports.
The Office of Personnel Management in a Monday memo said while training and onboarding of new federal employees is not allowed under the law dictating the parameters of a shutdown, the employees who oversee any firings are to continue their work. Unlike in past shutdowns, furloughed federal employees will also be allowed to use their government-issued computers to check for layoff notices in their email, according to OPM.
“This outrageous plan threatens to cause lasting damage to the country and the safety of the American people by mass firing nonpartisan, expert civil servants and potentially even eliminating government agencies,” Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees shutdown operations, said in a letter to the administration.
British prime minister Keir Starmer on Monday welcomed Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Gaza with a new plan, Reuters reports.
“We call on all sides to come together and to work with the US administration to finalise this agreement and bring it into reality,” Starmer said. “Hamas should now agree to the plan and end the misery, by laying down their arms and releasing all remaining hostages.”
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Vice president JD Vance just argued that it was “preposterous” that Democrats were continuing to demand an extension of healthcare funding subsidies during negotiations over a looming government shutdown.
“Now they come in here and say: ‘if you don’t give us everything we want we’re going to shut down the government.’ It’s preposterous,” Vance said after a White House meeting with Democratic congressional leaders, Semafor reported.
But Vance himself previously campaigned on exactly this kind of “preposterous” negotiating tactic, Semafor’s congressional bureau chief noted.
Interestingly enough, Vance actually campaigned on fighting Biden for border money/enforcement
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 29, 2025
“we need to be willing to say to Joe Biden: ‘You don’t get another dime for your priorities unless you do your job and enforce and secure the Southern border” https://t.co/Ygh2bizsFB
At today’s meeting on the government shutdown, Trump was more interested in negotiating than Republican leaders, PunchbowlNews reports:
Emerging from the meeting, Democrats say Trump seemed more open to dealing than Hill Republicans.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 29, 2025
Vance just said at the W.H. sticks: "There were multiple times where Leader Jeffries or Leader Schumer would say, 'You know what, we should be doing this,' and the [resident of the…
Meanwhile, this was Democratic leaders’ message to reporters:
Schumer says there needs to be “bipartisan input on health care and on rescissions” in the CR
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) September 29, 2025
Jeffries says Dems are “deadly serious” about addressing health care “crisis”
They didn’t take any questions from reporters
Democratic advocacy groups are not keen on the idea of a one-week continuing resolution to temporarily keep the government open for more negotiations, HuffPost reports:
MoveOn also not into idea of a 1 week CR:
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) September 29, 2025
“The time for strongly worded letters and business as usual has passed. MoveOn members agree: Democrats should only support a funding bill that fixes the healthcare mess that Republicans made,” spox says https://t.co/gZRObRufjn
Airlines warn that government shutdown will slow flights
A group representing major US airlines warned on Monday that a partial federal government shutdown could strain American aviation and slow flights, as air traffic controllers and security officers would be forced to work without pay and other functions would be halted, Reuters reports.
Airline trade group Airlines for America, which represents United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others, warned that if funding lapses “the system may need to slow down, reducing efficiency” and impacting travelers.
Nicolás Maduro is ready to declare a state of emergency in the event of a US military attack on Venezuela, the country’s vice-president has said, warning of “catastrophic” consequences if such an onslaught materializes.
Washington claims its attacks are part of an offensive against Latin American drug cartels who are smuggling cocaine and fentanyl into the US. But many suspect they could be a prelude to a broader military intervention designed to end Maduro’s 12-year rule.
Read the full story here:
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Mike Johnson wants more time for negotiations as JD Vance blames Democrat over potential shutdown
More reactions from Congressional leaders’ meeting with Trump on the government shutdown.
House speaker Mike Johnson said he wants to allow more time for negotiations, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, vice-president JD Vance is blaming Democrats, saying Congress is heading towards a shutdown because Democrats “won’t do” the right thing, per Reuters.
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” Vance said, Semafor reports.
Not sensing much progress between Dems and GOP leaders/Trump WH ...
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 29, 2025
VP Vance: "Now they come in here and say: 'if you don't give us everything we want we're going to shut down the government.' It's preposterous"
"I think we're headed to a shutdown"
Updated
The upshot of Schumer’s meeting with Trump over the government shutdown, the senate minority leaders said: “We have very large differences,” the Huffington Post reports.
Doesn’t sound like a funding deal is coming.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) September 29, 2025
“We have very large differences,” Schumer says after meeting with Trump at the WH
My colleague David Smith has a recap of Trump and Netanyahu’s peace proposal “press conference,” at which the leaders did not answer questions from the press:
Donald Trump and the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have delivered an ultimatum to Hamas, warning the militant group to accept their 20-point peace plan for Gaza or face the consequences.
The two leaders met at the White House in Washington on Monday then held a joint press briefing in which they hailed their proposal as a historic breakthrough and new chapter for the Middle East.
But it was clear that Hamas had not been consulted and its position on the terms remained uncertain.
Both Trump and Netanyahu made clear that they were not offering Hamas a choice in the matter. If the group refused, Trump told reporters, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas.
Hamas negotiators now reviewing Trump’s peace proposal, AP reports
Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief presented Trump’s proposal to Hamas negotiators, who are now reviewing it in “good faith,” according to a person familiar with the matter, the Associated Press reports. The person was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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Two attorneys in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) anti-discrimination division said they were fired on Monday, a week after going public with a whistleblower report alleging that the Trump administration had dismantled efforts to combat residential segregation, my colleague Chris Stein reports.
As Trump heads to a meeting with Congressional leaders over the looming government shutdown, Axios has reported on one potential deal under discussion:
NEWS — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is sounding out Senate Dems on the possibility of a 7-10 day clean CR in the event of a shutdown, Axios has learned.
— Stephen Neukam (@stephen_neukam) September 29, 2025
Dems are playing hardball with GOP on funding. But they’re also quietly trying to find ways out of a potential…
How does Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza stands out from previous ceasefire proposals? For the first time, it tries to outline the key question of how the territory will be ruled after the war, the Associated Press explains:
The proposal would effectively put the territory and its more than 2 million people under international control. It calls for deploying an international security force and installing a “Board of Peace” headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee Gaza’s administration and reconstruction.
Hamas faces a bitter tradeoff — the proposal demands it effectively surrender in return for uncertain gains. The militant group would have to disarm in return for an end to fighting, humanitarian aid for Palestinians, and the promise of reconstruction in Gaza – all desperately hoped for by its population.
But the proposal has only a vague promise that some day, perhaps, Palestinian statehood might be possible. For the foreseeable future, Gaza would stay under a sort of international tutelage and would remain surrounded by Israeli troops.
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Senate majority leader John Thune told reporters before heading to the White House that he believes “there will be multiple opportunities to vote on keeping the government open” if they can’t do so tomorrow.
“I would expect additional opportunities,” he said.
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Hamas official says group has not received written Trump's Gaza peace plan
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi has reiterated that the group has not yet received Donald Trump’s written Gaza peace plan.
He gave the remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher TV shortly after Trump’s joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu in which the Israeli prime minister expressed support for the US plan but vowed to “finish the job” if Hamas rejected it.
Updated
“I’m going to the White House. They have felt the heat, and so we have finally… we’ve finally gotten our meeting. We hope they’re serious about getting something real done on health care,” Chuck Schumer told reporters as he left for the White House.
It’s straight to another high-stakes meeting for Donald Trump, with congressional leaders en route to the White House for crunch talks ahead of tomorrow night’s deadline for avoiding a government shutdown.
He is due to meet with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, House speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate majority leader John Thune.
At the end of his “press conference” with Netanyahu just now, the president said:
I’m meeting with, as you know, a couple of Democrats in a little while about the country, keeping our country open. They’re going to have to do some things because their ideas are not very good ones, they’re very bad for our country, so we’ll see how that works out.
Trump and Netanyahu do not take questions during press conference
Trump and Netanyahu then decide not to take questions from reporters, despite this being billed as a press conference.
“I think while we wait for these documents to be signed and get everybody in line, I think maybe it’s not really appropriate to take questions,” Trump says.
He asks Netanyahu what he thinks and whether he’d like to take questions from a “friendly” Israeli reporter or two, to which the PM says: “That’s a very, very tough proposition, but I would think, Mr President, that I would go by your instinct.”
As reporters stand up and yell questions anyway the two men shake hands and scarper.
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Netanyahu says he told the Qatari PM that “Israel was targeting terrorists, it wasn’t targeting Qatar, and of course we regretted the loss of the Qatari citizen who wasn’t our target”.
Trump’s plan provides “a realistic path for Gaza”, Netanyahu says.
The Palestinian Authority cannot have any role in Gaza without undergoing a “radical” transformation, Netanyahu says.
Updated
Netanyahu says Gaza will have a “peaceful civilian administration”.
Hamas will be disarmed, Gaza will be demilitarized, and Israel will withdraw linked to the extent of disarmament of Hamas, he adds.
Netanyahu says Israel will 'finish the job' if Hamas rejects deal
“This can be done the easy way or the hard way,” Netanyahu says.
“If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accepted and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself,” he adds.
Netanyahu says he 'supports' Trump's Gaza plan
“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza,” he tells Trump, “which achieves our war aims.”
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Netanyahu is speaking now.
Arab and Muslim partners are willing to step for the people of Gaza, says Trump.
Trump says of the trilateral phonecall with the Qatari PM that they agreed to launch a trilateral mechanism for security.
“They really had a heart-to-heart conversation,” Trump says.
“It was a great conversation, I thought. It was productive. It was everything that you need to have something turn out to be successful,” he adds.
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Trump demands Hamas to accept US plan to ‘end Gaza conflict’
“We’re not quite finished,” Trump says. “We have to get Hamas, but I think they’re going to be able to do that. So now it’s time for Hamas to accept the terms of the plan that we’ve put forward today.”
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Trump says Netanyahu understands it’s time.
Trump muses that he expects Iran will become a member of the Abraham Accords one day.
He then goes on a rambling tangent on everything from how to pronounce “Ahh-brah-hahm” to Joe Biden.
Israelis want to get back to peace, Trump says.
There are many Palestinians who wish to live in peace, he adds.
He says he wants “the Palestinians to take responsibility for their destiny, because that’s what we’re giving them”.
“We’re giving them responsibility for their destiny” but they must “prohibit terrorism and earn their way to a brighter future”, he adds.
“They don’t want the life that they’ve had. They’ve had a rough life with Hamas,” he says. “If the Palestinian Authority does not complete the reforms that I laid out and my vision for peace in 2020, they’ll have only themselves to blame.”
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Trump doubles down on countries who “foolishly” recognized a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu remains “very clear about his opposition to a Palestinian state”, Trump says.
Hamas and other terrorist factions will play no role on the board and no role in future governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly or at all, Trump adds.
Trump says he will chair transitional 'Board of Peace' for Gaza
Trump says his plan calls for a “Board of Peace”, an international body that will be headed by himself and leaders from other countries on the board.
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will also be on it, he says.
Others will be named over the next few days, he says.
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Trump says he feels they’ll have “a positive answer” from Hamas.
Trump says he would fully back Netanyahu to 'finish the job' if Hamas rejects proposal
Israeli would have “the right” and full US backing to “finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas”, if the group rejects the deal, Trump says.
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All parties will agree to a timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw in phases from Gaza, says Trump.
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Trump says he’s “hearing that Hamas wants to get this done too”.
Under the plan, Arab and Muslim countries will commit to demilitarize Gaza and decommission the military capabilities of Hamas and all other terror organizations, Trump says.
If accepted by Hamas, the deal calls for the release of all remaining hostages within 72 hours, Trump confirms.
Trump thanks Netanyahu for agreeing to Gaza plan
He thanks Netanyahu for agreeing to the plan.
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'Beyond very close' on Gaza ceasefire deal, says Trump
“We’re at a minimum, very, very close. And I think we’re beyond very close,” Trump says of reaching a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
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They’ve just discussed ending the war in Gaza, Iran, trade, the Abraham Accords, the bigger picture of “peace in the Middle East”, says Trump.
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Over an hour behind schedule, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have finally arrived.
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White House announces plan to 'end Gaza conflict' ahead of Trump-Netanyahu press conference
The White House has just sent out out a lengthy plan “to end the Gaza conflict”. Here is the full text:
Gaza will be a de-radicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.
Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.
If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.
Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.
Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.
Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the Jan. 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.
Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the Jan. 19, 2025 agreement.
Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.
This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.
A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.
A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.
Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.
A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A de-confliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.
Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (I.D.F.) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and time frames linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.
In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.
An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence to try and change mind-sets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.
While Gaza redevelopment advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.
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Netanyahu 'expressed deep regret' that Israeli strike on Doha killed Qatari serviceman, says White House
Here is the White House’s readout confirming the trilateral call reported earlier during which Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani over Israel’s strikes on Doha earlier this month.
Today, President Donald J. Trump hosted a trilateral phone call with His Excellency Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and His Excellency Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar.
The President expressed his desire to put Israeli-Qatar relations on a positive track after years of mutual grievances and miscommunications.
The leaders accepted the president’s proposal to establish a trilateral mechanism to enhance coordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances, and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threats. They underscored their shared commitment to working together constructively and clearing away misperceptions, while building on the longstanding ties both have with the United States.
As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman.
He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.
Prime Minister Al Thani welcomed these assurances, emphasizing Qatar’s readiness to continue contributing meaningfully to regional security and stability. Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed commitment to the same.
The leaders discussed a proposal for ending the war in Gaza, prospects for a more secure Middle East, and the need for greater understanding between their countries.
President Trump praised both leaders for their willingness to take steps toward greater cooperation in the interest of peace and security for all.
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A top House Democrat has condemned Republican speaker Mike Johnson for cancelling the chamber’s final two work days of the month, as the parties remain at loggerheads over how to prevent a government shutdown.
The House of Representatives was scheduled to be in session today and Tuesday but the Republican leadership cancelled those days earlier this month, in what was seen as an effort to pressure Democrats to accept their proposal for keeping the government funded beyond Tuesday.
In a letter to Johnson, House Democratic whip Katherine Clark said cancelling those days delays the swearing-in of newly elected Democratic representative Adelita Grijalva, as well as undermines the funding negotiations.
“We ask that you reverse your decision to cancel votes on Tuesday, September 30. If you remain unwilling to call the House into session, Representative-elect Grijalva should be sworn in during the pro forma session on Tuesday,” she wrote.
Once sworn in, Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature needed for a petition forcing a vote on legislation to release files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to succeed.
“Any delay in swearing in Representative-elect Grijalva unnecessarily deprives her constituents of representation and calls into question if the motive behind the delay is to further avoid the release of the Epstein files,” Clark said.
While we wait for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conference to begin, it’s worth remembering that anything agreed to today still has to be agreed to by Hamas – which is not represented in these negotiations – and as yet there’s no indication that they’ve done so.
Though any announcement coming out of the White House today will centre on the Trump administration’s 21-point ceasefire and postwar governance plan for Gaza, Reuters reports that Hamas spokesman Taher Al-Nono signalled that there had been no softening of the group’s refusal to disarm, and said it had not yet received Trump’s plan. “When we do, we will state our position on it according to the interests of our people,” he said.
Therefore, any agreement reach on the proposal today, which includes a number of actions Hamas must take including the release of all the remaining Israeli hostages within 48 hours and for the group to play no role in Gaza’s future governance, is likely only preliminary.
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Netanyahu apologizes to Qatar over Doha attack while at White House – reports
Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized to the Qatari prime minister over the Doha strike while at the White House this morning, according to multiple outlets.
According to Axios, which first reported the call, Netanyahu apologized to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani for violating Qatar’s sovereignty in carrying out the strike and expressed regret for killing a civilian.
According to CNN’s Israeli source, Netanyahu did not, however, say he was sorry for targeting Hamas.
Axios reports that the apology call was a key Qatari condition for resuming its mediation with Hamas over a deal to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages.
A Qatari technical team is also at the White House, a separate source briefed on the talks told Reuters. The New York Times also reports that a delegation of Qatari officials is in Washington as a part of an effort to achieve a deal.
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Jeffries says GOP promises not enough on Obamacare sticking point as shutdown deadline looms
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has spoken to reporters ahead of the looming 11th-hour meeting with Donald Trump and top bipartisan leadership later this afternoon to try to avoid a government shutdown.
Asked if Democrats would back a seven-week funding bill if Republicans say they will negotiate an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, which are due to expire at the end of the year, Jeffries said “no one can trust” the Republicans’ promises on healthcare.
Highlighting that the Senate failed to pass a Democratic-led government funding proposal that included a permanent extension of them, he told reporters:
Enough with the games that Republicans have been playing connected to the health care of the American people. No one can trust their word on health care. Are you kidding me?
He also brought up previous GOP efforts to repeal the ACA, telling reporters:
These people have been trying to repeal and displace people off the Affordable Care Act since 2010 – that’s 15 years. On behalf of the American people, we’re supposed to simply take their word that they’re willing to negotiate? The American people know that would be an unreasonable thing for us.
Responding to Trump’s repeated claim that it’s up to Democrats whether the government shuts down, Jeffries said: “We’ve said from the beginning that we’re willing to find a bipartisan path forward.”
He accused Republicans of trying to “misrepresent” the Democratic position, for example by falsely claiming that they want to extend healthcare to so-called “illegal aliens”. Jeffries emphasized that it’s already illegal for undocumented immigrants to receive federal healthcare benefits.
Let me address the continued effort to try to misrepresent the Democratic position. In fact, Republicans are lying because they know they don’t have the high ground. They have a weak position because they’re trying to continue to hurt the American people.
He added:
Nowhere have Democrats suggested that we’re interested in changing federal law. The question for the president is whether he’s interested in protecting the health care of the American people.
He said the Democratic leadership will “have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown” but doesn’t compromise on their demands.
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Johnson urges GOP unity as government barrels towards shutdown
House speaker Mike Johnson has “implored his Republican members on a private call this morning to stay unified in their position as the government barrels towards a shutdown and said he does not plan to bring the House back this week”, two sources on the call have told CNN.
The sources added that Johnson called on GOP lawmakers not to hold political events this week even though many will remain in their districts with the House not in session. He suggested he would bring the House back next week.
The orders from Johnson to the House GOP conference comes just hours before the top four congressional leaders will meet with Donald Trump at the White House in a last-ditch effort to avoid a shutdown before the government runs out of funding tomorrow night.
Johnson indicated that congressional GOP leaders are planning to hold a joint news conference on Wednesday – the first day of a would-be shutdown, the sources added.
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UAE presses Netanyahu to accept Trump's Gaza peace proposal and abandon plans to annex West Bank
The UAE is pressing Benjamin Netanyahu to accept Donald Trump’s Gaza peace proposal at their meeting today and to abandon any plan to annex the West Bank, a delegate with knowledge of the matter has told Reuters.
The United Arab Emirates, the most prominent Arab country to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration, warned Netanyahu that annexation would shut the door to further Israeli normalisation with leading Arab and Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, the delegate added.
The Israeli PM faces pressure to annex the occupied West Bank from far-right Israeli politicians who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a two-state solution.
We are waiting for Netanyahu to give Israel’s response to Trump’s Gaza peace proposal at his meeting with the US president today.
The UAE position on Trump’s plan was communicated to Netanyahu by its foreign minister sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in a meeting with the Israeli leader on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York on Friday, the delegate told Reuters. He called on Netanyahu to engage seriously with the Trump administration to move the plan forward to implementation, the delegate said.
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The uncertainty surrounding the meeting casts it as “one of the most critical” in the yearslong relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities, has told the Associated Press.
“Netanyahu might have to choose between Trump and his coalition members,” a number of whom want the war to continue, Gilboa said. A move by Netanyahu to end the war would leave him on shaky political ground at home a year before elections.
Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, agreed Trump is likely to demand a permanent ceasefire, leaving Netanyahu with few options.
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed, including only days ago in his defiant UN speech in which he declared he would “finish the job” in Gaza as scores of delegates walked out.
If Trump puts the pressure on, the Israeli leader would probably seek to include “red lines” in any deal, Ailam told AP. Netanyahu, he said, might demand that Hamas be dismantled. Netanyahu might also set a condition that if the militant group resumes fighting or returns to power, the Israeli military would have the right to operate freely in Gaza, he said.
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In the upcoming discussions, Donald Trump will try to close the gap with an isolated Benjamin Netanyahu who Trump believes is losing his grip on power, two senior administration officials have told Politico.
“Bibi is on his own island. Not just from us, from his own government,” said one of the officials.
One of the officials also told the outlet that Trump’s emphatic articulation of his position on West Bank annexation was about “being very firm in public while leaving some room for negotiations in private”.
The president’s growing frustration with Netanyahu – particularly after Israel’s strikes on Doha earlier this month, which deeply angered Trump and forced him to apologize to a key ally – aside, “he is going to try to get him to agree to some terms that then they could take back to [Hamas] and finally get something done”.
But, the official added, “it could also go off the rails”. Stay tuned.
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Trump says he's ‘very confident’ a ceasefire deal can be reached as Netanyahu arrives at White House
Benjamin Netanyahu just arrived at the White House, where he was greeted by Donald Trump.
The two leaders shook hands and briefly exchanged a few words, and Trump answered a question shouted from a reporter before heading inside.
Asked if he was confident a ceasefire deal could be reached, the president said: “I am. I’m very confident.”
Netanyahu stood by smiling and didn’t respond when asked if he was on board.
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Trump and Netanyahu to discuss postwar plans for Gaza at White House
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive at the White House any minute now for pivotal talks on the latest US-backed plans for postwar Gaza with Donald Trump.
The Trump administration’s 21-point peace plan has reportedly been largely well received by leaders from Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia. But it contains a number of “red lines” for Netanyahu’s far-right allies, who are propping up his government and pressuring him to take a hard line.
Though the Israeli prime minister signalled openness to the plan over the weekend, he has been long criticised for repeatedly prioritising his hardline allies over reaching a realistic cease-fire deal with Hamas to free the remaining hostages and end Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 66,000 Palestinian people and left the territory all but uninhabitable. Netanyahu would no doubt dispute that charge over his priorities, but with Israel more isolated than ever on the world stage, we shall see how willing he is to finally reach an agreement shortly.
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As a potential government shutdown looms and Trump is set to meet with the top four congressional leaders today, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this morning: “We want the government to stay open. The president is giving Democrats one last chance to be reasonable today.”
Democrats are seeking concessions on healthcare in order to support a short-term spending bill. Leavitt said there was room for negotiations and that “important policy discussions that can be had” beyond the shutdown battle.
But, she added, “we are nearing a government shutdown.”
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Trump also said details would be forthcoming on tariffs for furniture imports, after announcing levies of up to 50% last week.
“I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States. Details to follow,” he said in a Truth Social post, noting lost business in North Carolina.
Trump already announced a 50% tariff on imported kitchen cabinets and vanities, along with a 30% levy on upholstered furniture, which are set to take effect on 1 October.
Reuters notes that the import duties will make it more challenging for companies to hold down prices, while executives in the industry have raised concerns over the lack of manufacturing capacity in the US, as the country relies heavily on imports from China, Mexico and Vietnam.
Chief executives at Williams-Sonoma and RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, have both raised concerns about higher tariffs in recent earnings calls.
Prices for everything from clothes to TVs have gone up in recent months as manufacturers and retailers struggle with the ever-changing tariff environment while also trying to offset rising commodity and supply-chain costs.
Trump says US to impose 100% tariff on movies made outside the country
The United States will impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made movies, Donald Trump has said in a post on Truth Social this morning, an unprecedented move that threatens to upend Hollywood’s global business model.
The step signals Trump’s willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studios that depend heavily on international box-office revenue and cross-border co-productions.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby’,” he wrote.
It was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would use to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films. White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on how the tariffs would be implemented. Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast, Paramount Skydance and Netflix also did not immediately respond to requests.
Shares of Netflix were down 1.5% in early trading.
The president had threatened to impose such levies earlier in May but offered very few details, leading to confusion among entertainment industry executives about whether it would apply to specific countries or all imports.
Studio executives told Reuters earlier this year that they were “flummoxed” by how a movie tariff might be enforced, given that modern films often use production, financing, post-production and visual effects spread across multiple countries.
The move has drawn skepticism from legal and trade analysts. Some argue films are a form of intellectual property and part of the global trade in services, an area where the US often runs a surplus, raising questions about the legal basis for tariffs.
Co-productions with foreign studios have also become more common, adding to doubts about how such films would be classified.
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White House says 'very close' to deal on Gaza ahead of Trump-Netanyahu meeting
As I was writing that, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has told Fox and Friends that Israel and Hamas are “very close” to reaching an agreement on a framework deal to end the war in Gaza and ensure lasting peace in the Middle East.
Leavitt said Donald Trump would discuss the 21-point peace plan with Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House later today. The US president will also speak today with leaders in Qatar, who have served as intermediaries with Hamas, she said.
“To reach a reasonable deal for both sides, both sides have to give up a little bit and might leave the table a little bit unhappy, but that is ultimately how we are going to end this conflict,” she said.
Donald Trump is due to host Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House (his fourth visit since January) at 11am ET this morning, with a bilateral discussion and lunch to follow, culminating in a must-watch press conference at 1.15pm ET.
Trump claimed again on Sunday to be on the brink of a breakthrough in negotiations for a ceasefire in the devastated Gaza Strip, even as Israel presses on with its offensive.
The US president has floated a 21-point proposal for an immediate and permanent ceasefire that includes the release of all hostages within 48 hours, the disarmament of Hamas, freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, an immediate end to military operations in Gaza and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, no Israeli annexation of the West Bank, and an international trusteeship for Gaza, with an Arab and Muslim international security force.
“I hope … we can make it a go,” Netanyahu told Fox News yesterday, though he reiterated that any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza was still a “red line” for him (one of the points in Trump’s plan includes some involvement of the PA in Gaza’s new governing mechanism). ABC News also reported that on Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu met again with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and signaled an openness to the proposal.
But at the end of the day, the terms of the White House’s plan are politically problematic for Netanyahu, whose far-right allies – who are propping his government – oppose any negotiation with Hamas and are pushing for the permanent occupation of Gaza. We’ll bring you all the latest from the high-stakes meetings as the morning progresses.
As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has reversed course and will host a bipartisan gathering of the top four US congressional leaders at the White House this afternoon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a looming government shutdown.
Government funding will lapse and a shutdown will begin at the end of the day tomorrow, on 1 October, with the White House telling agencies to prepare to furlough or fire scores of workers, unless a temporary spending fix can be agreed upon.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries are expected to press for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of this year. Trump, House speaker Mike Johnson and Senate majority leader John Thune are expected to dig their heels in, even as open enrollment is due to begin on 1 November.
“If we don’t extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, more than 20 million Americans are going to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays, deductibles, in an environment where the cost of living in America is already too high,” Jeffries told CNN yesterday.
“We’ve made clear that we’re ready, willing and able to sit down with anyone, at any time and at any place, in order to make sure that we can actually fund the government, avoid a painful Republican caused shutdown, and address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have caused that’s [affecting] everyday Americans.”
Also yesterday, Thune told NBC News that “fundamentally, nothing has changed, though, and the choice remains the same” as the one facing lawmakers on the brink of the last looming shutdown. He accused Democrats of “hijacking” the process for ideological reasons and taking the federal government “hostage”. He said he was open to discussing an extension of the Obamacare subsidies, but not as part of this government funding bill, and only if there are new limitations placed on who can access those tax credits.
Republicans have warned that “Trump will make a shutdown politically painful, given his latitude over what agencies and programs stay open,” Politico notes. “I’d be much more worried if I was a blue state,” Republican senator Roger Marshall said. A source close to Trump has also told CBS News that “the president privately welcomes the prospect of a shutdown because it will enable him to wield executive power to slash some government programs and salaries”.
Three Trump officials told Politico that the administration hasn’t yet finalized closure plans for agencies. One ominously told the outlet: “I think it all hinges on [Monday’s] meeting.” We’ll bring you all the latest out of the meeting later today as we get it.
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Earlier we brought you the news that the state of Oregon filed a lawsuit in federal court on Sunday seeking to block the deployment of 200 national guard troops to Portland.
Speaking to Politico last night, the state’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, said: “I think part of what we’re seeing in America right now is a normalization about using the US military in ways that we just haven’t used them before – in ways that we believe to be unlawful. This, for us, truly is something [on which] you can’t stay quiet.”
He argued that the conditions on the ground do not merit the deployment of military force. “This is not an invasion,” he said. “This is not a rebellion, and there are no facts at all that indicate that there’s an inability to execute the laws of the United States.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Politico: “President Trump is using his lawful authority to direct the National Guard to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following months of violent riots where officers have been assaulted and doxxed by left-wing rioters. The president’s lawful actions will make Portland safer.”
Here’s my colleague Robert Mackey’s story from last night:
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Trump officials to announce plan to boost coal output
The US is set to announce on Monday policies to try to boost the output of coal, the interior department said, as the Trump administration seeks to reverse the decline of the fossil fuel’s use.
Donald Trump in April signed executive orders to increase coal output, in one of his many actions that run counter to global efforts to cut carbon emissions.
Coal-burning plants generated about 15% of US electricity in 2024, a fall from 50% in 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration, as fracking and other drilling methods have hiked natural gas output. Solar and wind power growth has also cut coal use.
Secretary of the interior Doug Burgum, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, and an energy department official are scheduled to hold an event on coal at the Interior Department later on Monday.
Chris Wright, the energy secretary, told Reuters last week he expects most of the nation’s coal-fired power plants to delay retirement to help deliver electricity needed to fuel artificial intelligence. Last month, Wright extended his emergency order to keep a Michigan coal plant running, even though the plant’s operator had been planning to shut permanently for economic reasons.
Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, predicted that 38 coal plants scheduled to close through 2028 would remain open, either on Trump orders or voluntarily.
Saudi real estate developer Dar Global plans to build a $1bn Trump Plaza project in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah as US president Donald Trump’s family business expands in the Gulf, the company said on Monday.
The project will be the second Trump-branded development in the kingdom after the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah last year, Dar Global said in a statement.
The bulk of the Trump Organization’s business is in the United States, but it has significant interests overseas, including in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reports.
It has partnered with Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company, on several projects, which include plans for Trump towers in Dubai and Jeddah as well as a real estate project in Qatar.
The indictment of former FBI director James Comey is part of a concerted effort by Donald Trump to “rewrite history” in his favor, a former senior White House lawyer claimed on Sunday as he warned of more retribution to come for the president’s political opponents.
Ty Cobb, who defended Trump’s first administration during the Mueller investigation into his 2016 campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia, also told CBS that he doubted Comey would be convicted, if the case ever reached trial.
Trump’s moves, he said on the Sunday morning show Face the Nation, were “wholly unconstitutional [and] authoritarian” and an attempt to hoodwink future generations.
“Trump wants to rewrite history so that the next generation may not know that he incited a violent insurrection, refused to peacefully transfer the power of the presidency after losing an election, stole classified documents and showed them to friends and guests at Mar-a-Lago, and that he was a criminal,” Cobb said.
“He’s a convicted felon. All, anybody involved in those events that offended him, they’re in real danger.”
Trump to meet with US congressional leaders in last-ditch effort to avoid shutdown
Donald Trump has reversed course and is purportedly planning to host a bipartisan gathering of the top four US congressional leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a looming government shutdown, the House speaker and the US president’s fellow Republican Mike Johnson said on Sunday.
Trump’s climbdown comes days after he scrapped a planned meeting to discuss the crisis with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the respective Democratic minority leaders in the House and Senate.
The president accused the pair of making “unserious and ridiculous demands” in return for Democratic votes to support a Republican funding agreement to keep the government open beyond Tuesday night – but left the door open for a meeting “if they get serious about the future of our nation”.
Johnson, appearing on CNN, said he spoke with Trump at length on Saturday, and that the two Democrats had agreed to join him and John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, for an Oval Office discussion Monday.
He did not say if Trump would be negotiating directly with the Democrats – but portrayed Trump as keen to “try to convince them to follow common sense and do what’s right by the American people”.
Schumer, talking to NBC’s Meet the Press, said he was “hopeful we can get something real done” – but was uncertain of the mood they would find Trump in when they sat down for the 2pm ET discourse.
“If the president at this meeting is going to rant, and just yell at Democrats, and talk about all his alleged grievances, and say this, that, and the other thing, we won’t get anything done,” Schumer said.
“We don’t want a shutdown. We hope that they sit down and have a serious negotiation with us.”
According to CBS News on Sunday, meanwhile, Trump is not hopeful the meeting will lead to an agreement.
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The number of people charged with breaking federal drug laws dropped to the lowest level in decades this year after the Trump administration ordered enforcement agencies to focus on deporting immigrants, a Reuters review of nearly 2 million federal court records found.
So far this year, about 10% fewer people have been prosecuted for drug violations compared to the same period of 2024, court records show, a drop of about 1,200 cases and the slowest rate since at least the late 1990s.
The reduction was more dramatic for the types of conspiracy and money-laundering cases often used to pursue higher-level traffickers. The number of people charged with money-laundering dropped by 24%, according to Reuters’ analysis.
Shortly after taking office in January, US president Donald Trump launched the broadest overhaul of US law enforcement since the attacks of 11 September 2001. He ordered thousands of federal agents to focus on fending off what he described as an “invasion” of illegal immigration.
The Trump administration is set to oversee the largest mass resignation in US history on Tuesday, with more than 100,000 federal workers set to formally quit as part of the latest wave of its deferred resignation program.
With Congress facing a deadline of Tuesday to authorize more funding or spark a government shutdown, the White House has also ordered federal agencies to draw up plans for large-scale firings of workers if the partisan fight fails to yield a deal.
Workers preparing to leave government as part of the resignation program – one of several pillars of Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce – have described how months of “fear and intimidation” left them feeling like they had no choice but to depart.
“Federal workers stay for the mission. When that mission is taken away, when they’re scapegoated, when their job security is uncertain, and when their tiny semblance of work-life balance is stripped away, they leave,” a longtime employee at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) told the Guardian. “That’s why I left.”
The total resignation program is set to cost $14.8bn, with 200,000 workers paid their full salary and benefits while on administrative leave for up to eight months, according to a Senate Democrats’ report in July.
Trump officials argue this outlay is worth it. The Office of Personnel Management claimed the one-time costs lower longer-term spending by the federal government. It also criticized job protections of federal civil servants, claiming the government should have a “modern, at-will employment framework like most employers”.
Harris calls Trump ‘incompetent and unhinged’ and makes call to ‘fight fire with fire’
Donald Trump has proven himself to be an “unchecked, incompetent, unhinged president,” and his opposition must follow leaders who are ready to “fight fire with fire,” his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris has said.
The former Democratic US vice-president delivered those fiery remarks on Saturday evening while accepting an award from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington DC – and after Trump’s fellow Republican allies have demanded that his liberal opponents tone down their rhetoric in the wake of the 10 September shooting death of rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk.
During a nearly eight-minute speech recorded by C-SPAN, Harris alluded to how the second Trump administration has cut healthcare protections as well as nutrition assistance benefiting the poor. She pointed to the administration’s implementation of tariffs that preceded a reported rise in consumer prices in August. She also mentioned the administration’s axing of $500m in funding for vaccines like the ones that helped end the Covid-19 pandemic, its deploying US military troops into the streets of multiple cities and other controversial actions as Trump’s approval rating has plummeted on average to -9.4% as of Saturday.
“Let us be clear – we predicted all that,” Harris said, echoing her 2024 campaign predictions that a second Trump presidency would be “a huge risk for America” and “dangerous”.
But Harris said what she never foresaw “was the capitulation” to him from once proud institutions. Top universities have agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle antisemitism claims. Law firms have acquiesced to performing pro bono work for causes that are dear to Trump – and to not engage in race-conscious hiring – to avoid executive orders from the president that could substantially slow their business down. And major US media platforms such as ABC and CBS have settled lawsuits, at multi-million dollar costs, brought against them by Trump rather than contest what pundits widely perceived to be winnable cases.
“Universities, law firms, media corporations, the titans of industry … have been so quick to kneel before a tyrant,” Harris said.
Harris held up what she considered to be a meaningful act of resistance: one centering on Jimmy Kimmel’s return to air after ABC temporarily suspended the late-night host’s show over comments criticizing the Trump administration’s response to Kirk’s killing.
Stephen Miller takes leading role in strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, according to three people familiar with the situation. At times, his role has superseded that of Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser.
The strikes on the Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying narcotics, which the administration has claimed were necessary because interdiction did not work, have been orchestrated through the homeland security council (HSC), which Miller leads as the homeland security adviser.
Miller empowered the HSC earlier this year to become its own entity in Donald Trump’s second term, a notable departure from previous administrations where it was considered part of the national security council and ultimately reported to the national security adviser.
As a result, the HSC has taken the lead on engaging the Venezuelan boats, the people said, a situation evidenced by his top deputy, Tony Salisbury, and others being the gatekeepers to details about what boat to strike until they are about to occur.
That was the case for instance with the second Venezuelan boat hit with hellfire missiles on 15 September. While the White House was informed the Pentagon had identified the boat as a viable target more than four days before, many top White House officials only learned of the impending strike hours before it happened.
A White House spokesperson said in a statement the strikes were directed by Trump, saying he oversaw all elements of foreign policy. “The entire administration is working together to execute the president’s directive with clear success,” the statement said.
Oregon sues to block ‘illegal’ deployment of 200 national guard troops to Portland
The state of Oregon filed a lawsuit in federal court on Sunday seeking to block the deployment of 200 national guard troops to Portland, arguing Donald Trump’s characterization of the peaceful city as “war ravaged” is “pure fiction”.
Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said at a news conference that she had been notified by the Pentagon that the US president had seized control of the state’s reservists, claiming authority granted to him to suppress “rebellion” or lawlessness.
“When the president and I spoke yesterday,” Kotek said, “I told him in very plain language that there is no insurrection, or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention in Portland.”
A Pentagon memorandum dated Sunday and signed by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, obtained by the Washington Post, said: “200 members of the Oregon National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days.”
Trump’s action, in asserting federal control of the state’s national guard troops, is clearly “unlawful”, Oregon’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, said, given that it was not taken in response to a foreign invasion or mass anarchy, but one small protest by dozens of activists outside a single Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) field office in Portland.
“Let’s be clear, local law enforcement has this under control,” Kotek, said. “We have free speech demonstrations that are happening near one federal facility. Portland police is actively engaged in managing those, with the federal folks a the facility, and when people cross the line, there’s unlawful activity, people are being held accountable.”
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza peace plan at the White House
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next hour or so.
We start with news that Donald Trump will host Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, with the US president pushing a Gaza peace proposal after a slew of western leaders embraced Palestinian statehood in defiance of American and Israeli opposition.
In Netanyahu’s fourth visit since Trump returned to office in January, the right-wing Israeli leader will be looking to shore up his country’s most important relationship as it faces growing international isolation nearly two years into its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.
He can expect a warm welcome compared to the chilly reception he received when he spoke on Friday before the UN general assembly where many delegates walked out in protest.
Netanyahu went on to deliver a blistering attack on what he called a “disgraceful decision” over the past week by Britain, France, Canada, Australia and several other countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, a major diplomatic shift by top US allies.
Trump, who had criticized the recognition moves as a prize to Hamas, told Reuters on Sunday he hopes to get Netanyahu’s agreement on a framework to end the war in the Palestinian territory and free the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
“We’re getting a very good response because Bibi wants to make the deal too,” Trump said in a telephone interview, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Everybody wants to make the deal.”
He credited leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Jordan and Egypt for their assistance and said the deal aims to go beyond Gaza to a broader Middle East peace.
“It’s called peace in the Middle East, more than Gaza. Gaza is a part of it. But it’s peace in the Middle East,” he said.
In other developments:
More than 100,000 federal workers are to formally resign on Tuesday, the largest such mass event in US history, as part of a Trump administration program designed to make sweeping cuts to the federal workforce. With Congress facing a deadline of Tuesday to authorize more funding or spark a government shutdown, the White House has also ordered federal agencies to draw up plans for large-scale firings of workers if the partisan fight fails to yield a deal.
Donald Trump has reversed course and is purportedly planning to host a bipartisan gathering of the top four US congressional leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a looming government shutdown, the House speaker and the US president’s fellow Republican, Mike Johnson, said on Sunday.
The indictment of former FBI director James Comey is part of a concerted effort by Donald Trump to “rewrite history” in his favor, a former senior White House lawyer claimed on Sunday as he warned of more retribution to come for the president’s political opponents.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, announced on Sunday that he was abandoning his faltering bid to win re-election, just over a month before election day. Adams, who was trailing in the polls, was elected as a Democrat but ran for re-election as an independent after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, which were then dropped by the Trump administration in exchange for his cooperation on immigration raids.
Children, including the very young, have been spending weeks or months in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention facility in a remote part of Texas where outside monitors have heard accounts of shortages of clean drinking water, chronic sleep deprivation and kids struggling for hygiene supplies and prompt medical attention, as revealed in a stark new court filing.
Updated
