In this fourth week of the government shutdown, Senate Republicans are gathering at the White House – not for urgent talks on how to end it, but to show unity with President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate on any Democratic demands.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “pep rally” and said it was “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson kept the House from coming into town during the shutdown. Schumer says his side wants to end the shutdown and fix the health care premium crisis that “looms over 20 million hardworking Americans.”
Kushner said Israel and Hamas are moving towards peace
“Both sides are moving from two years of very intense war to peacetime,” Kushner said during a news conference with Vance.
Kushner acknowledged the violence in Gaza that has tested the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, but played it down: “A lot of people are getting hysterical one way or another about the various incursions,” he said.
On Tuesday, the US president's top Middle East advisers met with the 10 freed hostages and their families.
“It was a really emotional moment,” Witkoff said. Many of them were emotional and grateful to Trump for his work to secure a ceasefire and free the hostages, he added.
“I didn’t see any victims in that room,” Witkoff said. “I saw very strong people.”
US Vice President urges patience as hostage remains are slowly returned
JD Vance visited the newly opened civil military cooperation center in Israel, which the US says is critical to Trump's Gaza peace plan, and said the fragile ceasefire is going “better than I expected.”
Vance also tried to downplay the idea that his visit was some kind of rush gamble to preserve the ceasefire agreement.
“My visit had nothing to do with the events of the last 48 hours,” said Vance, who was on his first visit as vice president to Israel and second ever to that country.
Vance was expected to meet with the families of the hostages whose remains are still in Gaza, as well as some of the living hostages released last week. He called for “a little patience” amid growing Israeli frustration with the slow pace of returning the remains of Hamas hostages.
“Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of debris. Some of the hostages don't even know where they are,” Vance said. “This is just a reason to advise a little patience.”
AP Photos: Inflatable suits reduce tension at anti-Trump rallies
Protesters have taken to wearing huge inflatable suits to calm tensions and attract attention at rallies against the Trump administration's policies.
The trend started in Portland, Oregon, when a protester showed up in an inflatable frog costume. Now there are crowds we gather every day and at night outside the immigration office they went crazy with unicorn, axolotl, dinosaur and banana costumes.
Republican senators praise Trump's efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine as administration sows doubt about vaccines
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, and No. 2 Senate Republican John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced the permission Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize next year for his work on Operation Warp Speed.
Cassidy said the project, which accelerated vaccine development with pharmaceutical companies during Trump's first term, “not only saved millions of lives, but also brought the American economy back to life.”
The praise underscores the tension between some Republicans' support for vaccines and the Trump administration's erosion of confidence in shots.
AP Investigation: Who benefits from MAHA's anti-science activities?
Powerful anti-vaccination advocates and people selling potentially harmful products such as raw milk profiting from the push write anti-science policies into law throughout the United States.
They portray the Make America Healthy Again movement as grassroots, but it is fueled by a network of well-funded national groups led by people who have profited—financially and otherwise—from sowing distrust in medicine and science.
The Associated Press found that state legislation includes language in text or public testimony that explicitly states the reason for changing the law is to make money or increase sales for dairy farmers.
AP Investigation: Wave of Anti-Science Bills Pushed by Kennedy Allies Sweeps State Houses
More than 420 anti-science bills This year, U.S. state legislatures introduced measures targeting long-standing public health protections such as vaccines, milk safety and fluoride. This is part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine an agenda based on conspiracy theories into law.
An Associated Press investigation found a wave of bills in most states pushed by people with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. About 30 of them were accepted or accepted. These efforts would undermine protections that have been in place for more than a century and are an integral part of American life and society.
Ukraine and European leaders blame Putin for derailing peace efforts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Tuesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of stalling amid diplomatic efforts to end it. invasion of Ukraine. Their statements oppose any moves aimed at forcing Kyiv to surrender lands seized by Russian troops in exchange for peace, since Trump has repeatedly suggested.
Eight European leaders, as well as senior European Union officials, said in a joint statement that they intend to press ahead with plans to use Moscow's billions of dollars (euros). frozen assets abroad help Kyiv win the war, despite some concerns about the legality and consequences of such a move. They also expressed support for Trump's peace efforts ahead of meeting with Putin in Budapest, Hungary.
A date for the Budapest summit has not yet been set, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday there was no sense of urgency. “We need preparation, serious preparation,” he told reporters.
Trump says he's giving peace in the Middle East a chance
Trump said in a social media post that he was not prepared to give the green light to U.S. allies who have “clearly, strongly and enthusiastically” offered to enter Gaza and “fix Hamas” if the militant group continues to “act badly.”
The Republican president said he told those countries and Israel: “NO YET!” because “there is still hope that Hamas will do the right thing.”
If they don't, Trump said, “the end of Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS AND VIOLENT!”
Trump's comments come as Vice President J.D. Vance visits Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others to help strengthen a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.
The President also thanked Indonesia for its assistance in the Middle East.
Thune's prediction will cause problems for candidate Trump
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed hope that the White House will withdraw the nomination of Paul Ingrassia, whom Trump chose to head the Office of Special Counsel.
Ingrassia's growing opposition comes after he said in a Politico report on the text chat that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “thrown into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “Nazi tendencies” at times.
“It won’t pass,” Thune told reporters.
Another Republican, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who sits on the committee with jurisdiction over the nomination, said he also does not support Ingrassia's confirmation.
A committee hearing to review Ingrassia's candidacy is scheduled for Thursday.
Obama will join gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia
Former President Barack Obama will campaign alongside Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Miki Sherrill as they run for governor in Virginia and New Jersey.
Their campaigns announced Tuesday that he will join them Nov. 1 at rallies in Norfolk, Virginia, and Newark, New Jersey. Election Day for both races is set for November 4th.
Spanberger, who formerly worked for the CIA and Congress, faces Marine veteran and Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl-Sears in the race for Virginia governor.
Sherrill, a congressman, former federal prosecutor and US Navy fighter pilot, is dating former Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.
Most Americans worry about health care costs: AP-NORC poll
About 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health care costs rising in the next year, according to a survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research findings are concerns that extend across all age groups and include people with and without health insurance.
Many Americans have other health-related concerns: About 4 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned that they cannot pay for the health care or medications they need, cannot access health care when they need it, or are losing or lacking health insurance.
Missed paychecks and programs that are running out of money
However, there was little urgency in Washington, with each side believing the other would eventually concede.
Last week, the president called Democrats' demands “crazy,” adding, “We're just not going to do it.”
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Republican senators will discuss strategy with the president during lunch on Tuesday. “He’ll share his ideas with us and we’ll discuss ours,” Hoven said. “We're doing everything we can to try to convince Democrats to join us” in passing the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.
Democrats say they believe Trump needs to be more involved in the government to reopen it.
“He needs to get off the game, off the golf course,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “We know that Republicans in the House and Senate do nothing without permission from their boss, Donald Trump.”
Belize signs 'safe third country' agreement, furthering Trump's immigration crackdown
Details “safe third country” agreement The announcement by Belize and the United States on Monday is unclear even to the Belize Senate, which must ratify the agreement before it takes effect. It comes as the Trump administration is pressuring countries in Latin America and Africa to help it crack down on immigration.
The deal appears to be similar to Paraguay's “safe third country” agreement under which asylum seekers currently in the United States can be sent there to receive protection. The State Department's announcement on X called it “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration, ending abuse of our nation's asylum system, and strengthening our shared commitment to working together to solve problems in our hemisphere.”
Belize's opposition leader Tracey Tagar Panton wrote on social media that the deal “could change Belize's immigration and asylum system, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security.”
