Netizen: 3: Trump

Friday, October 03, 2025

3: Trump

Deepfakes, Insults and Job Cuts: A Government Shutdown Like No Other Shutdowns are always unpleasant affairs. But President Trump has used his power in aggressive and strikingly personal ways. ........ “Clinton and I sat together for 35 days, and the only four balanced budgets in the last century came out of our ability to fight in the morning and cooperate in the afternoon,” he said. ........ because government shutdowns were so rare at the time, the White House was at a loss for what tactics Mr. Clinton should use. ........ Clinton aides intentionally kept Mr. Gingrich away from the president because it was “making him crazy,” Mr. Griffin recalled in an interview....... “The fundamental difference is the hostility and vitriol that are behind all of this. It feels very different.” ........

Trump charts path to total control amid government shutdown President Trump is seizing on the government shutdown as an "unprecedented opportunity" to consolidate control in the Oval Office, accelerating a trend toward unchecked power. ....... Government shutdown or not, Trump has spent his presidency methodically erasing the independence of institutions that once served as checks on executive power.

Trump gives Hamas Sunday deadline to accept Gaza peace plan The plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release within 72 hours of 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas - as well as the remains of hostages thought to be dead - in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans. ......... Arab and Turkish mediators are understood to be pressing Hamas for a positive response to the proposal, but

a senior Hamas figure has said the armed group is likely to reject it.

........ Mediators have made contact with the head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, who has indicated he does not agree to the new US ceasefire plan ........ It is thought that some of Hamas's political leadership in Qatar are open to accepting it with adjustments - but have found their influence limited as they do not have control of the hostages held by the group. ........ The 20-point plan, agreed by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and announced by both at the White House on Monday, also says Hamas will have no role in governing Gaza, and leaves the door open for an eventual Palestinian state. ......... However, Netanyahu later reinstated his longstanding opposition to a Palestinian state, saying in a video statement shortly after the announcement: "It's not written in the agreement. We said we would strongly oppose a Palestinian state." ........ European and Middle Eastern leaders have welcomed the proposal. The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has called the US president's efforts "sincere and determined". ............ The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. ......... At least 66,288 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Trump sees ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to punish Democrats as shutdown enters day two Republicans and Democrats engage in war of words as White House also uses impasse to cut government spending ......... “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. ........ “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.” ........ The government shutdown on Wednesday at midnight, after Democrats refused to support a Republican plan to continue funding unless it included a series of healthcare-focused concessions. Vought has threatened to use the shutdown to conduct further layoffs of federal workers, and on Wednesday announced the cancellation of billions of dollars in federal funding for projects tied to Democrats. ........ About $18bn was frozen for infrastructure projects in and around New York City over “unconstitutional DEI principles”, Vought said, referring to the diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that Trump has sought to stamp out from the federal government. The projects for which money was held include the Second Avenue subway line in Manhattan and the Hudson River tunnel project connecting the city to New Jersey. ......... The Democratic senator Adam Schiff, who represents California, one of the states for which funding was slashed, responded: “Our democracy is badly broken when a president can illegally suspend projects for Blue states in order to punish his political enemies. They continue to break the law, and expect us to go along. Hell no.” ......... At the White House on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that “layoffs are imminent”, but gave no further details. That’s a shift from past shutdowns, when federal workers were furloughed or told to work unpaid, with back pay coming once funding is restored. ...... “I quite literally have nothing to negotiate,” Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, said on Thursday. The Republican-controlled chamber has passed a bill to fund the government through 21 November, but it needs at least some Democratic support to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancements in the Senate.

The US economy lost 32,000 private-sector jobs in September
US Consumer Confidence Declines Again in September
Democrats rally around healthcare in shutdown fight, hoping for edge in 2026 Democrats in the U.S. Congress have rallied around healthcare as their top policy issue in a government shutdown standoff with President Donald Trump's Republicans, hoping a focus on Americans' concerns over access and affordability could help them in next year's midterm elections. ......... The shutdown enters its third day on Friday, with the majority Republicans saying they will only back a stopgap bill to keep agencies funded through November 21. Democrats back a measure to continue and expand healthcare subsidies for the 24 million Americans who get their coverage through the Affordable Care Act. ........ Republicans hold a thin 219-213 House majority and face a challenge because the incumbent president's party typically loses seats in midterm elections. At Trump's urging, several Republican-led states are working to redraw congressional maps before November 2026 to limit Democrats' path to the majority. ........ Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority and are favored to retain it as they are defending few seats up for grabs in battleground states. Democrats would have to hold seats in Georgia and Michigan where Trump won and win competitive races in Maine and North Carolina in addition to more Republican-leaning states such as Ohio and Iowa or Texas to win the majority. ....... Public opinion polls have shown that Americans currently view Republicans as somewhat more to blame for the shutdown than Democrats.