Top Senate Democrat blames ‘heartless’ Trump for food aid being cut off

Summary

Thanks for reading the US politics live blog. We’re pausing the blog for now, and here is a look back at our top stories:

The US government shutdown hit its 29th day, with no indication Democrats and Republicans were close to an agreement to restart funding.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called Trump “heartless” after his administration determined it could not continue a crucial food aid program because of the shutdown.
John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, blocked a bill to continue federal food aid from passing the chamber, arguing Democrats should vote to reopen the government instead.
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan forecaster, predicted the shutdown would negatively impact the economy, but much of its damage would be reversed when the government reopens. Nonetheless, anywhere between $7bn and $14bn in real GDP will be lost.
Donald Trump continues his trip through Asia, with the White House confirming a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday. That prompted Democratic senators to write to Trump, asking him “not to negotiate away” national security measures targeting Beijing.
Two federal prosecutors were suspended after saying “a mob of rioters” attacked the Capitol on January 6.
The Federal Reserve made a quarter-percentage-point cut to its interest rates, while warning of “elevated inflation” and an uncertain economic outlook.
Las Vegas may be the site of the proposed midterm political convention Trump wants Republicans to hold ahead of next year’s pivotal legislative elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Thanks for reading the US politics live blog. We’re pausing the blog for now, and here is a look back at our top stories:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

n
Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

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New polling indicates voters across the country are downbeat on Donald Trump, and, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, skeptical his policies can lower their cost of living.

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A survey of 1,000 American adults conducted earlier this month by the University of Massachusetts Lowell and YouGov found Trump’s approval rating is at 42%, and 65% of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track. The numbers were similar to data from April 2024, when the question concerned Joe Biden’s performance as president – a sign of long-term dissatisfaction with governance across the country across parties.

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“These numbers are not particularly strong for the Trump administration, especially considering we’re in the first year of his second term,” said Rodrigo Castro Cornejo, a political science professor and associate director of the university’s Center for Public Opinion.

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In Wisconsin, Marquette University Law School found that inflation and the cost of living was the top concern of the 846 registered voters surveyed, with immigration in second and health insurance third. There was, however a partisan split over the top issue: for Republicans, it was immigration, while Democrats and independents were most concerned about inflation.

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When it came to Trump, 57% of those surveyed in Wisconsin thought his policies would cause prices to rise, 30% believed they will cause it to fall and 12% think they will have no effect. There was a substantial partisan split here, too, with Republicans more likely to see him as effective against inflation, and Democrats much less so.

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With Donald Trump set to meet China’s president Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday (which will be 10pm on Wednesday in Washington DC), Democratic senators have asked him to protect the national security of the United States and its allies in what are expected to be high-stake trade talks.

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“Ahead of your meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, we write to urge you not to negotiate away America and our allies’ national security,” reads the letter signed by 12 Democratic senators, including minority leader Chuck Schumer.

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Saying that the Chinese Communist Party “poses a fundamental threat to US national security, economic prosperity, and global leadership”, they note that there has previously been bipartisan support for “export controls and investment screening mechanisms on critical technologies” being sent to China.

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“We are deeply disturbed by your recent statements and actions, which indicate that you are all too willing to sacrifice these vital national security tools for empty promises and illusory ‘wins,’” the senators write.

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They urge Trump not to relax restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States, allow a Treasury program that ensures US firms don’t help China develop sensitive technology to continue and to not agree to any statements that indicates the US “opposes” the independence of Taiwan.

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“America’s export controls, investment safeguards, and our longstanding security partnerships must not be on the negotiating table,” the Democrats said.

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Things just grew heated on the Senate floor after the Democratic senator, Ben Ray Luján, of New Mexico asked the chamber to unanimously pass his bill guaranteeing federal food aid during the shutdown.

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John Thune, the Republican majority leader, blocked the bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), arguing that Democrats should instead vote to reopen the government.

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“Snap recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country, and we’ve tried to do that 13 times. You voted no 13 times. This isn’t a political game,” Thune said, referring to the number of votes he has held on the Republican bill to fund the government through 21 November.

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Democrats have blocked passage of that bill, because it does not address their health care concerns, including the extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans.

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Thune continued to hammer Luján’s bill:

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This request is a transparent admission that Democrats want to keep the shutdown for what – another month longer? This bill is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long term.

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In response, Luján accused Thune of refusing to compromise:

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When you hold power, when you’re the majority, you meet people, you pull them in. You don’t tell folks, you know where my office is. You all have heard me talk about the late governor Bruce King, a cattle farm out in New Mexico. He used to tell us when people can’t figure out what’s going on, you lock them up in a barn and you don’t let them out until they figure out how to get along.

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Well, we don’t got a barn. Maybe they’ve got an office around here to sit some people. And there’s a White House. It’s easy to get in – there’s a big hole in it.

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More about that big hole:

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Two federal prosecutors have been put on leave after writing in a court filing that “a mob of rioters” attacked the Capitol on January 6, Reuters reports.

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Donald Trump pardoned all those convicted or facing charges over the insurrection at the Capitol on the first day of his second term. Reuters reports that Samuel White and Carlos Valdivia were prosecuting Taylor Taranto on gun charges after he drove to the neighborhood around Barack Obama’s Washington DC home in 2023. Taranto had previously been involved in the January 6 attack, and White and Valdivia noted his presence at the Capitol in a memo where they argued he should face a 27-month sentence on the gun charges.

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The story was first reported by ABC News. Here’s more, from Reuters:

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Taranto had previously been charged for his role in the 2021 assault on the Capitol and was pardoned in January on Trump’s return to the White House. He was one of nearly 1,600 people pardoned but remained incarcerated on the 2023 gun charges.

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Trump and his allies have sought to play down the January 6 violence, decrying the prosecutions as a “national injustice.”

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White and Valdivia had asked US district judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC, to impose a sentence of 27 months for Taranto.

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They were not provided an official reason for their removal, which was carried out by the executive office for United States attorneys, three of the people said. A justice department spokesperson declined to comment and Reuters could not immediately reach the two attorneys for comment.

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The decision to place them on leave marks the latest in a string of personnel actions targeting justice department employees who worked on criminal or civil cases disfavored by Trump and his supporters. More than 200 prosecutors, agents and other personnel have been fired, some of whom worked on two criminal cases against Trump or on cases related to the attack on the Capitol.

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Taranto was convicted on gun charges after having “perpetrated a hoax” on 28 June 2023, in which he falsely claimed he would cause a car bomb to drive into the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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The next day, after Trump posted Obama’s purported address on social media, Taranto reposted it and began live-streaming himself as he drove into Obama’s neighborhood in Washington DC In the video, he said he was searching for “tunnels” to access private residences. Eventually he parked and walked into a restricted area protected by the US Secret Service where he stated: “Gotta get the shot, stop at nothing to get the shot.”

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In a search of his van, law enforcement found two firearms, a stabilizing brace and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

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Here’s a rundown of what’s been happening today:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

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Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that the government shutdown has undermined US economic growth, but restored funding should undo the damage.

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“The shutdown of the federal government will weigh on economic activity while it persists, but these effects should reverse after the shutdown ends,” Powell said at his ongoing press conference.

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He noted that the shutdown had also delayed the release of some government data the central bank relies on to make its decisions.

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Powell also nodded to the economics impacts of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, saying: “Job gains have slowed significantly since earlier in the year. A good part of the slowing likely reflects a decline in the growth of the labor force due to lower immigration and labor force participation, though, labor demand has clearly softened as well.”

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The Federal Reserve has voted to slash its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point amid inflation that has remained “somewhat elevated” and an uncertain US economic outlook.

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The rate cut comes as the central bank shifts from fighting the inflation that plagued the economy’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and towards bolstering economic growth and the labor market.

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“Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments. Inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and remains somewhat elevated,” the policy setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement released just now, following the conclusion of its regular meeting.

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In a sign of the tricky balance the Fed faces between quelling inflation and supporting hiring, the statement noted: “Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that downside risks to employment rose in recent months.”

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The decision was endorsed by 10 of the committee’s 12 members. Donald Trump’s former top economic adviser, Stephen Miran, dissented, arguing for a cut of a half a percentage point, in line with the president’s desire for lower interest rates. Jeffrey Schmid also did not vote for the decision, preferring not to lower the rate.

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Democratic senator minority leader Chuck Schumer is laying into Donald Trump, after his administration announced that it could not continue a crucial food aid program beyond Saturday, because of the government shutdown.

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Schumer argues that money is available to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), otherwise known as food stamps, but Trump refuses to use it.

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“For the first time in history, a president, Donald Trump, is refusing to fund Snap during a shutdown,” Schumer told a press conference.

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“Forty-two million Americans – hungry children, middle class families who’ve just … lost [their] job, veterans, senior citizens who struggle to pay for their food, all of these people will lose their SNAP benefits, not because the money’s gone, not because it’s not permitted, because Donald Trump ordered it stopped. Donald Trump is a vindictive politician and a heartless man.”

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Donald Trump’s advisers are considering hosting his proposed political convention ahead of the 2026 midterms in Las Vegas, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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Political parties typically hold conventions ahead of presidential elections every four years, but Trump has floated the idea of a convention ahead of next year’s midterm elections, where the GOP will be defending their majorities in Congress.

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They control the House of Representatives by a mere three seats, when all vacancies are filled, and the Senate by the same amount. The party in power has lost control of the House in recent midterms – as Trump did, during his first term in 2018 – and the Democrats are seen as having a good shot of retaking the lower chamber. That would give them expanded powers to investigate his administration, and block much of his legislative agenda.

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Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada, a swing state that Trump became the first Republican to win in two decades last year, when he triumphed over Kamala Harris.

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The US government shutdown has temporarily slowed the economy, and while most of its ill effects will disappear once funding is reauthorized, between $7bn and $14bn in GDP will not be recovered, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts.

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Their prediction underscores the shutdown’s potential for economic damage, which is now on its 29th day. Congress failed to agree on extending funding beyond the end of September, leading federal agencies to curtail their operations, around 700,000 workers to be furloughed and hundreds of thousands of others to continue working without pay.

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The CBO predicts that the shutdown will slash real gross domestic product, which has been adjusted for inflation, by between one and two percentage points in the fourth quarter, though much of that damage will be undone whenever funding is restored.

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But there will nonetheless be a lingering economic hit, CBO forecasts. If the shutdown were to end today, it would cost $7bn, while if it ended after six weeks, on 12 November, it would cost $11bn. After eight weeks, on 26 November, the toll would be $14bn.

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The US government shutdown has dragged into its 29th day, with no sign that lawmakers in Congress are anywhere near approving a measure to get federal agencies working again.

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The Senate yesterday held its 13th vote on a bill that would fund the government through 21 November, but Democrats blocked its advancement because it does not include funding for their healthcare priorities. The House of Representatives remains out of session on Republican speaker Mike Johnson’s orders, as it has since 19 September. The prolonged recess is seen as a gambit to force Senate Democrats to get on board with the funding proposals, which Republicans passed through the House with almost no Democratic votes before leaving Washington DC.

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All signs point to no resolution of this crisis today. While the Senate will take votes, majority leader John Thune has not announced plans to bring the funding bill back up.

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Donald Trump will meet with Chinese president Xi Xinping on Thursday in South Korea, the White House has confirmed.

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The meeting will take place at 11am local in Gyeongju, South Korea – which is 10pm in Washington DC.

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It’ll be their first encounter since Trump returned to the White House to begin his second term, and there’s much to discuss – trade being among the top issues. Here’s more on that:

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Donald Trump has fired all six members of an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing his controversial White House ballroom and planned ‘Arc de Trump’ in Washington DC, according to reports.

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The Washington Post reported that all members of the Commission of Fine Arts were dismissed on Tuesday.

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“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the Commission of Fine Arts is terminated, effective immediately,” read an email sent to one of the commissioners, which was obtained by the Post.

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Read the full story here:

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South Korea welcomed US president Donald Trump on Wednesday with a replica gold crown and awarded him with the ‘Grand Order of Mugunghwa’, the country’s highest decoration, the presidential office said.

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US and South Korean warplanes escorted Air Force One on approach, and on the tarmac a South Korean military band greeted Trump with a rendition of ‘YMCA’ and guns fired a salute.

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Lee is hoping to win concessions from Trump in drawn-out negotiations aimed at lowering US tariffs on South Korea, and has wooed the US president by praising his outreach to North Korea.

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Lee’s office said that in recognition of Trump’s role as a “peacemaker” on the Korean peninsula, he was awarded the ‘Grand Order of Mugunghwa’, which is named after South Korea’s national flower, a pink hibiscus also known as the Rose of Sharon in English.

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“I’d like to wear it right now,” Trump said when presented with the glittering award. A South Korean official said he was the first US president to receive the honour.

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Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung as he receives a gift of a gold crown and an award of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, not seen, during a high honor ceremony at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.”,”caption”:”President Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung as he receives a gift of a gold crown and an award of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, not seen, during a high honor ceremony at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1761735764000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”11.02 GMT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1761736727000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”11.18 GMT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1761736727000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”11.18 GMT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”11.18″,”title”:”Trump presented with golden crown in South Korea”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Wed 29 Oct 2025 22.08 GMT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 29 Oct 2025 10.50 GMT”},{“id”:”6901e7b68f082a2c2074be18″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I am Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.

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We start with the news that progressive civic groups and opposition politicians held anti-US protests in Gyeongju on Wednesday as Donald Trump arrived for events related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

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The protesters accused Trump of imposing unfair tariffs and pressuring South Korea to increase defense spending. Some staged a performance depicting the US president bound with rope, while others waved red cards and chanted slogans such as ‘No kings, Trump not welcome’ and ‘No to APEC’.

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Kwon Young-kook, leader of the Justice Party, criticized APEC for “catering to powerful nations instead of promoting genuine economic growth”.

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Korean protesters shout slogans near the meeting venue of US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during a rally against Trump’s visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, 29 October 2025.”,”caption”:”South Korean protesters shout slogans near the meeting venue of Donald Trump and South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, during a rally against Trump’s visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, 29 October 2025.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

It came as Trump and South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, finalised details of their fraught trade deal at a summit in South Korea on Wednesday, and the US president also sounded an optimistic note about a looming summit with China’s Xi Jinping.

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“We made our deal, pretty much finalized it,” Trump said at a dinner with Lee and other regional leaders on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific forum.

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Trump also said his meeting with Xi on Thursday was likely to be three to four hours long and he expected the talks to go well. The meeting is expected to focus on trying to strike a trade war truce.

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In other developments:

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n
The Republican-led US Senate has passed a measure that would terminate Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Brazilian imports, including coffee, beef and other products, in a rare bipartisan show of opposition to the president’s trade war. The vote passed 52-48. The resolution was led by Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat of Virginia, and seeks to overturn the national emergency that Trump has declared to justify the levies.

n
A federal judge has ordered Gregory Bovino, a senior border patrol official leading the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, to appear in federal court each weekday to report on the day’s incidents in an exceptional bid to impose oversight over the government’s militarized raids in the city. The order came after a terse hearing on Tuesday morning.

n
A federal judge disqualified acting US attorney Bill Essayli in Southern California from several cases after concluding Tuesday that the Trump appointee has stayed in the temporary job longer than allowed by law. US district judge J Michael Seabright disqualified Essayli from supervising the criminal prosecutions in three cases, siding with defense lawyers who argued that his authority expired in July.

n
The US government shutdown stretched into its 28th day with no resolution in sight on Tuesday, as the Senate remained deadlocked over spending legislation even as a crucial food aid program teeters on the brink of exhausting its funding.

n
The Trump administration is planning to revamp the leadership of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to reports, as the government seeks to intensify its mass deportation efforts. Multiple news outlets have reported that the government intends to reassign multiple directors of ICE field offices in the coming days, potentially replacing them with border patrol officials.

“,”elementId”:”74365e68-ed57-45df-872e-4f031ac1c010″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:false,”summary”:true},”blockCreatedOn”:1761735048000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.50 GMT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1761742773000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”12.59 GMT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1761735048000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.50 GMT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.50″,”title”:”Trump’s South Korea visit met with protests amid trade talks”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Wed 29 Oct 2025 22.08 GMT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 29 Oct 2025 10.50 GMT”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”,”renderingTarget”:”Web”,”serverTime”:1761815720253}”>

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Polls show voters remain sour on Trump, policies

New polling indicates voters across the country are downbeat on Donald Trump, and, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, skeptical his policies can lower their cost of living.

Democratic senators urge Trump ‘not to negotiate away’ national security in meeting with Xi

“America’s export controls, investment safeguards, and our longstanding security partnerships must not be on the negotiating table,” the Democrats said.

Amid the logjam in Congress over reauthorizing government funding, two dozen states have sued the Trump administration over its plan to pause Snap on 1 November. Here’s more on their case filed yesterday, from the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino:

A coalition of more than two dozen states on Tuesday sued the Trump administration over its decision to suspend food stamps during the government shutdown.

The lawsuit, co-led by New York, California and Massachusetts, asks a federal judge to force the US Department of Agriculture to tap into emergency reserve funds to distribute food benefits to the nearly 42 million families and children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). The USDA has said no benefits will be issued on 1 November.

“Snap is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running,” the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on Snap, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families.”

Republican Senate leader calls bill funding food aid during shutdown ‘cynical’

John Thune, the Republican majority leader, blocked the bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), arguing that Democrats should instead vote to reopen the government.

Democrats have blocked passage of that bill, because it does not address their health care concerns, including the extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans.

Thune continued to hammer Luján’s bill:

This request is a transparent admission that Democrats want to keep the shutdown for what – another month longer? This bill is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long term.

In response, Luján accused Thune of refusing to compromise:

When you hold power, when you’re the majority, you meet people, you pull them in. You don’t tell folks, you know where my office is. You all have heard me talk about the late governor Bruce King, a cattle farm out in New Mexico. He used to tell us when people can’t figure out what’s going on, you lock them up in a barn and you don’t let them out until they figure out how to get along.

Well, we don’t got a barn. Maybe they’ve got an office around here to sit some people. And there’s a White House. It’s easy to get in – there’s a big hole in it.

More about that big hole:

In the government funding standoff, Democrats are demanding that Republicans support extending tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans, arguing that they will soon become unaffordable for many enrollees without congressional action. Here’s the Guardian’s Joseph Gedeon with more about just how much prices may rise:

People in the US shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face a steep 26% average price increase next year, according to new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released just days before enrollment begins on 1 November.

The jump represents one of the sharpest rises since the healthcare program launched over a decade ago, with consumers using the federal healthcare.gov platform set to see even steeper hikes of 30% on average. State-run marketplaces are also expected to experience a 17% increase.

But the financial pain for many of the 24 million Americans enrolled in ACA plans, now a record number, could be far worse. Enhanced subsidies that have kept premiums affordable for millions are set to expire at year’s end, which threatens to more than double what many households actually pay out of pocket, according to KFF.

The research from the non-partisan health policy organization found that monthly payments for subsidized enrollees could increase by an average of 114% if Congress fails to extend the enhanced tax credits. The healthcare.gov website, which opened for preview shopping on Tuesday, is already displaying the higher costs that reflect the lapse in assistance.

Federal prosecutors suspended after calling January 6 defendants ‘rioters’

Two federal prosecutors have been put on leave after writing in a court filing that “a mob of rioters” attacked the Capitol on January 6, Reuters reports.

The story was first reported by ABC News. Here’s more, from Reuters:

Taranto had previously been charged for his role in the 2021 assault on the Capitol and was pardoned in January on Trump’s return to the White House. He was one of nearly 1,600 people pardoned but remained incarcerated on the 2023 gun charges.

Trump and his allies have sought to play down the January 6 violence, decrying the prosecutions as a “national injustice.”

White and Valdivia had asked US district judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC, to impose a sentence of 27 months for Taranto.

They were not provided an official reason for their removal, which was carried out by the executive office for United States attorneys, three of the people said. A justice department spokesperson declined to comment and Reuters could not immediately reach the two attorneys for comment.

The decision to place them on leave marks the latest in a string of personnel actions targeting justice department employees who worked on criminal or civil cases disfavored by Trump and his supporters. More than 200 prosecutors, agents and other personnel have been fired, some of whom worked on two criminal cases against Trump or on cases related to the attack on the Capitol.

Taranto was convicted on gun charges after having “perpetrated a hoax” on 28 June 2023, in which he falsely claimed he would cause a car bomb to drive into the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The next day, after Trump posted Obama’s purported address on social media, Taranto reposted it and began live-streaming himself as he drove into Obama’s neighborhood in Washington DC In the video, he said he was searching for “tunnels” to access private residences. Eventually he parked and walked into a restricted area protected by the US Secret Service where he stated: “Gotta get the shot, stop at nothing to get the shot.”

In a search of his van, law enforcement found two firearms, a stabilizing brace and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The day so far

Here’s a rundown of what’s been happening today:

The US government shutdown hit its 29th day, with no indication Democrats and Republicans were close to an agreement to restart funding.
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan forecaster, predicted the shutdown would negatively impact the economy, but much of its damage would be reversed when the government reopens. Nonetheless, anywhere between $7bn and $14bn in real GDP will be lost.
Donald Trump continues his trip through Asia, with the White House confirming a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve made a quarter-percentage-point cut to its interest rates, while warning of “elevated inflation” and an uncertain economic outlook.
Las Vegas may be the site of the proposed midterm political convention Trump wants Republicans to hold ahead of next year’s pivotal legislative elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called Trump “heartless” after his administration determined it could not continue a crucial food aid program because of the shutdown.
Demonstrators in South Korea staged “No Trump” protests as the US president visited the city of Gyeongju for events around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Fed chair Powell says shutdown has hit growth, but effects ‘should reverse’ when government opens

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that the government shutdown has undermined US economic growth, but restored funding should undo the damage.

“The shutdown of the federal government will weigh on economic activity while it persists, but these effects should reverse after the shutdown ends,” Powell said at his ongoing press conference.

He noted that the shutdown had also delayed the release of some government data the central bank relies on to make its decisions.

Here’s more from the Guardian’s Lauren Aratani on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision:

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, the second rate cut this year amid economic turbulence from the federal government shutdown and Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The decision to cut the Fed’s benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4% comes at an extraordinary moment for the central bank. The Fed has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates despite persistent inflation.

In a statement, the Fed said that the unemployment rate had gone up but remains low. “Job gains have slowed,” the statement reads. “Inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated.”

The ongoing federal government shutdown, now one of the longest in US history, has also complicated the Fed’s job. Collection of important economic data has been indefinitely halted as employees at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are furloughed during the shutdown.

The Fed typically studies BLS data to determine labor market conditions, including the number of new jobs added to the economy and the current unemployment rate. The last jobs report was released in early September, before the shutdown, and gave a relatively bleak snapshot of the jobs market in August. The number of jobs added to the economy in August was down by more than 100,000 since the spring, and unemployment crept up to 4.3% – the highest since 2021.

Though BLS was scheduled to release September’s job market report in early October, it suspended its release once the shutdown started. Private payroll firm ADP reported earlier this month that the private sector cut 32,000 jobs in September, a sign that the job market is continuing to slow.

Federal Reserve slashes interest rate again, notes ‘somewhat elevated’ inflation

The Federal Reserve has voted to slash its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point amid inflation that has remained “somewhat elevated” and an uncertain US economic outlook.

The rate cut comes as the central bank shifts from fighting the inflation that plagued the economy’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and towards bolstering economic growth and the labor market.