Trump administration live updates: Senate leaves for the night as shutdown looms

The Senate has adjourned for the night without approving a funding bill to keep the government open after midnight tonight.

Senators will return at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow.

At 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, the Senate will hold three votes — two procedural votes related to advancing the same two stopgap bills (House-passed and Democratic alternative) and one vote on a nominee. Further votes are expected later in the day.

As the sun set ahead of a looming government shutdown, the sound of Democrats blared across the White House briefing room.

The White House Press Office played on a loop an edited montage of Democrats’ past comments about previous shutdowns. Clips of Schumer and Sens. Sen. Amy Klobacher of Minnesota, Adam Schiff of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, as well as others, repeatedly blasted the idea of shutting down the government.

Federal employees who would be affected by a government shutdown got a memo today informing them of possible furloughs, along with a partisan accusation that Democrats in Congress were to blame.

The memo — sent to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Education Department and the Labor Department, among others — begins by saying Trump “opposes a government shutdown” and supports a House-passed Republican bill that would keep the government funded into November.

“Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands,” the memo says.

“If Congressional Democrats maintain their current posture and refuse to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded before midnight on September 30, 2025, federal appropriated funding will lapse,” it continues.

Read the full story here.

The Office of Management and Budget directed the heads of departments and agencies a memo tonight to prepare for a shutdown after the Senate rejected two bills aimed at keeping the government open.

OMB Director Russell Vought wrote in a copy of the memo posted ono X that "affected agencies show now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown” after both stopgap bills failed.

The memo also cautioned that the length of the shutdown would be “difficult to predict.”

“Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activity,” Vought wrote.

A House-passed stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21 failed in the Senate.

The 55-45 vote fell short of the 60 needed to pass.

The vote — the second time the Senate has taken up the GOP-backed measure — all but ensures the government will shut down at midnight.

The Business Roundtable, a group of the country's leading CEOs, said in a statement tonight that it "urges Congress to avoid a government shutdown."

"Funding the government is an essential responsibility of Congress," the group said. "A government shutdown would create uncertainty, disrupt critical services and harm American businesses, workers and families."

The board of the Business Roundtable includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

"Business Roundtable urges Congress to act promptly to avoid a government shutdown," its statement concluded.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., had an animated conversation with Johnson just a moment ago in which she said she wanted the speaker “desperately to lead.”

The pair were talking as Dean was standing in front of an NBC News camera before she had a television appearance. They were in full view of several network cameras and reporters.

Dean brought up Trump’s post last night of an artificial intelligence-manipulated video showing Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache.

“Is it racist?” Dean asked Johnson. “You put a sombrero on a Black man who’s the leader of the House. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead.”

Johnson responded that he was “working on it.”

The Senate voted against a Democratic bill that would avert a shutdown at midnight tonight.

The 47-53 vote fell along party lines. Sixty votes were needed to pass.

The measure, which would have funded the government through Oct. 31, included an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies and money to offset Medicaid cuts from Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."

The Senate will now vote on the House-passed Republican stopgap measure, which is also expected to fail to meet the 60-vote threshold.

The Smithsonian Institution, which consists of more than 20 museums and the National Zoo, said on its website today that in the case of a shutdown, it will remain open using prior-year funds through at least Monday.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor of Virginia, sidestepped repeated questions today about where she differs with Trump on policy.

"I'm not sure I understand your question, because I'm talking to you about policies that I'm going to put forth," Earle-Sears said when NBC News’ Peter Alexander asked her about any policy disagreements with Trump on "Meet the Press NOW."

Earle-Sears further questioned whether Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger was facing similar questions about former President Joe Biden's policies.

"I'm running to be governor of our great commonwealth of Virginia, and if we're talking about president's policies, then my goodness, did you talk to Abigail about Biden's policies that created inflation?" she said.

Two unions have sued the Trump administration over its plans to fire federal workers during the impending government shutdown, alleging that the “unlawful threats” were contrary to the law and should be declared unlawful by a federal court in San Francisco.

“These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious, and the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court,” the lawsuit, filed hours ahead of the shutdown, alleged.

The suit, which was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, involves the groups Democracy Forward and the State Democracy Defenders Fund. The court docket did not immediately reflect which judge would handle the case, which names Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as a defendant.

AFGE National President Everett Kelley said that announcing plans to “fire potentially tens of thousands of federal employees simply because Congress and the administration are at odds on funding the government past the end of the fiscal year is not only illegal — it’s immoral and unconscionable,” adding that more than one-third of federal employees are military veterans.

Read the full story here.

The chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus is calling on Johnson to swear in newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., who won the special election for her late father’s House seat last week.

In her letter, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., accused Johnson of delaying Grijalva’s swearing-in to delay a vote on releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“This Congress should stand with survivors, not predators,” Leger Fernández wrote.

Grijalva has signaled that she would support a legislative tool known as a discharge petition that would force a vote on bipartisan legislation to release documents related to Epstein. Supporters of the discharge petition are one vote short of the threshold needed.

With a shutdown just hours away, Jeffries said there have been no bipartisan talks today to keep the government's lights on.

"There have not been any conversations today. We'll see what happens in the Senate," Jeffries said, pointing to a Senate vote this evening on the House-passed bill that would fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21.

He said once that bill is defeated, it could open up "lines of communications" between the two parties.

Trump said today his administration is close to finalizing a deal with Harvard University after several months of clashes over federal funding. 

“We’re in the process of getting very close, and Linda is finishing up the final details, and they’d be paying about $500 million, and they’ll be operating trade schools,” Trump said, referring to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, during signing of an executive order in the Oval Office. “They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things. 

The administration announced another attempt to slash funding from Harvard yesterday. The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services said it would move to debar the school. If the move is successful, Harvard would be deemed unfit to do business with the government “because of its wrongdoing,” excluding it from any federal funds.

Trump said in the Oval Office this afternoon that Democrats are to blame for the impending government shutdown and that they in particular would be "very affected" by a funding lapse.

"Well, the Democrats want to shut it down. So when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs," Trump told reporters when he was asked why more layoffs would be needed after the Department of Government Efficiency's massive layoff efforts.

"So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected, and the Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats," Trump said.

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services received a memo this afternoon blaming Democrats for the looming government shutdown should funding lapse at midnight.

The memo noted that Trump supports the House-passed GOP funding bill. It does not have enough support to pass the 60-vote threshold required in the Senate, which would require at least seven Democrats to vote with Republicans.

The Senate will vote at about 5:30 p.m. on the two stopgap government funding bills, which are both expected to fail. Both votes are expected to last around 30 minutes each.

After they fail, a government shutdown is almost certain.

After the votes, both sides may make performative motions to unanimously pass bills to address various issues (such as government funding or health care), none of which are expected to pass. It’s not clear when the Senate will adjourn for the night.

Senate Republicans left a party luncheon today saying that if the government shuts down, they are preparing to come back for rare Friday and Saturday sessions (and maybe Sunday) to continue voting again on the House-passed clean stopgap funding bill.

Republicans said they will not be in session tomorrow afternoon and all day Thursday because of Yom Kippur.

“The idea is to not vote over Yom Kippur and then come back in,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told reporters. “We’ll continue to vote.”

A former senior counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development told NBC News that the agency's message on its website blaming the "Radical Left" for the government shutdown most likely violates the federal Code of Conduct.

"There’s no universe where that is acceptable or advisable under the Code of Conduct," said Donald Sherman, who's now executive director of the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

The code says "employees shall act impartially" and without preferential treatment, he said. "This agency is meant to service every American, whether they're right or left or have no political views whatsoever," and now the first thing people see on the site is about "political ideology."

A government shutdown would lead to the furloughs of about 750,000 federal employees, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

A key part of the new CBO report sent to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who asked for an assessment of the impacts, reads: 

“Using information from the agencies’ contingency plans and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), CBO estimates that under a lapse in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 about 750,000 employees could be furloughed each day; the total daily cost of their compensation would be roughly $400 million. The number of furloughed employees could vary by the day because some agencies might furlough more employees the longer a shutdown persists and others might recall some initially furloughed employees.”

Other “excepted” employees would work during a shutdown.

And as CBO notes, those numbers could change if there were a “reduction in force" for those subject to the furlough.

Since fiscal year 1977, Congress has passed all full-year appropriations bills by the Sept. 30 deadline only four times, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established that starting for fiscal year 1977, fiscal years would begin on Oct. 1 of each year and end on Sept. 30 of the following year.

The only times when Congress passed all appropriations bills by that deadline were for fiscal years 1977, 1989, 1995 and 1997.

Short-term spending bills, known as continuing resolutions, were needed for almost all of the other years to prevent a funding gap, the CRS said.

At his weekly press conference just hours before the midnight government funding deadline, Thune said that a shutdown can be “totally avoided” if Democrats vote for the House-passed stopgap funding bill this evening.

“It’s up to Senate Democrats, that’s where we are. And if they decide to vote it down tonight, they’re going to be the ones that have to explain at midnight tonight why the government shut down,” Thune told reporters.

Thune reiterated that Republicans are open to discussing an extension of ACA subsidies, but “you can’t do that in the context of, you know, a hostage situation.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News today that he expects a government shutdown to last until at least next week.

“I don’t think anything’s going to happen until the House gets back,” he said, predicting that Democrats would start to soften demands by then. “The demands by Schumer and Jeffries are kind of stupid, really.”

The House is scheduled to return to Washington on Oct. 7.

Republican Rep. David Schweikert is running for governor of Arizona, shaking up the battleground race that already includes two GOP candidates endorsed by Trump — and turning a pivotal, closely divided House district into an open-seat race in next year’s battle for control of Congress.

Schweikert, a 63-year-old Phoenix-area representative who has served in Congress for more than a decade, announced his decision in a series of local interviews in which he blasted the dysfunction in Washington, telling Axios Phoenix that while D.C. is “unsavable,” he believes “Arizona is savable.”

“We have a body that can’t even pass its appropriation bills,” he said to the Arizona Republic. He added: “In Arizona, I think you have the chance to actually bring in the changes, the technology, the modernization that would give us another decade of wage growth, some real prosperity.”

Read the full story here.

A federal judge heavily criticized the Trump administration’s crackdown on free speech as he ruled in favor of foreign students the government has targeted for their support of Palestinian rights.

Massachusetts-based Judge William Young, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, ruled that foreign students enjoy the same free speech protections under the Constitution’s First Amendment as American citizens do.

Read the full story here.

Trump's Presidential Library Foundation said in a press release that it approved a site at the Miami Dade College for the president's future library.

"On this ground will rise a bold tribute to a leader who reshaped history and restored America’s strength," said the press release. "It will be the greatest presidential library ever built, honoring the greatest President our nation has known."

The site is next to the Freedom Tower, the press release said, which historically served as a center for Cuban refugees. NBC News previously reported that the library would be housed in downtown Miami.

"A fitting neighbor to the Trump Presidential Library, Miami’s Freedom Tower once served as a federal processing center for Cuban refugees fleeing communism, a powerful reminder of America’s role as a refuge from tyranny," the press release said.

Democratic and Republican senators are blaming colleagues from the opposing party for the government shutdown that appears likely to happen tomorrow.

"Whatever comes after midnight is on Chuck Schumer," Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said about the Senate minority leader. He added about Democrats' demands to address Obamacare subsidies in the bill, “If you want to have a debate on health care, we can have a debate on health care,” Schmitt said. “You don’t hold the government hostage over that.” 

Thune and Schumer had a rare back-and-forth on the Senate floor this morning after Thune accused Democrats of “hostage-taking” and urged them to back the Republicans’ short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21.

Thune brought a chart with him showing 13 different occasions under President Joe Biden when Republicans voted with Democrats on similar, short-term bills to keep the government open.

“They’re rejecting … the very same kind of extension that, as I mentioned, they supported 13 times during the Biden administration,” he said.

Schumer then borrowed the chart from Thune, saying it was true Democrats had voted with Republicans on previous, short-term bills to avoid a shutdown. But those bills, he said, were negotiated with Republicans.

“Not once were Democrats asked for what input should be in the bill. We were not told about it. We’re not asked about it,” Schumer said.

“Every one of these times,” he continued, referring to the chart, “I went to the Republican leader and said, 'What do you need? What do you want?' And in many cases, we had to significantly change the bill.”

Thune responded that the GOP bill’s Nov. 21 deadline was negotiated with Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

“The Democrat leader and his colleagues have the same leverage on November the 21st” as they do now, Thune argued. “This is a short-term CR. This is what we do all the time around here.”

Congress has until the end of the year to address expiring Obamacare subsidies that Democrats want to extend, Thune said. “And we’re happy, as I said yesterday, and I’ve said on multiple occasions, to sit down with you to do that.”

Trump warned that if there's a government shutdown tomorrow, the administration can take actions that are "irreversible" that would be "bad" for Democrats.

This could include "cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like," Trump said.

While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after making his announcement on drug prices, Trump joked that he hoped he doesn't contract Covid.

"God bless you, Bobby," Trump said after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sneezed behind him. "I hope I didn't catch Covid just there."

"Give me a Paxlovid immediately," he joked, about the main treatment for Covid.

Though the House is in recess until next week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called his members back to Washington to drive a contrast with Republicans.

Democrats filled the House floor just before noon, holding a poster with GOP Speaker Mike Johnson’s face on it and the words “Missing Person.”

The House was holding what’s known as a “pro forma session,” where no business is conducted. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House committee responsible for funding bills, offered an alternative bill to keep the government from shutting down.

When DeLauro asked to be recognized by Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who was acting as speaker pro tempore, he did not acknowledge her and immediately adjourned the floor after the prayer and pledge of allegiance.

As Griffith was announcing the adjournment, Democrats started yelling at him to recognize DeLauro. Some yelled, “Shame on you.”

Most of the Democratic side of the floor was filled, which is not typical during a pro forma session; usually, only one or two members attend.

The House left town after passing a seven-week government funding bill and is not scheduled to return until Oct. 7.

Numerous agencies and departments have issued guidance in recent days on what to expect if there’s a funding lapse. But several have yet to release details on the potential impact on operations, an unusual lack of information so close to the funding deadline when compared to previous shutdowns.

How does a shutdown affect the military?

The majority of veteran benefits and military operations will continue to be funded regardless of a shutdown. However, pay for military and civilian workers will be delayed until a funding deal is reached, forcing them to continue their duties without pay.

Read the full story here.

Trump announced at a White House event that his administration has reached a deal with Pfizer for it to voluntarily sell its drugs at lower prices to Medicaid patients.

As part of the deal, Trump said, Pfizer will sell some of its drugs on a new “direct to consumer” website called “TrumpRx.” Trump said the website would be operated by the federal government, but offered few details about how the program would work.

Read the full story here.

Democrats filled the House floor during a pro forma session as top appropriator Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., attempted to offer an alternative continuing resolution to fund the government.

While DeLauro asked to be recognized by Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who was acting as speaker pro tempore, he did not acknowledge her and immediately adjourned the floor after the prayer and pledge of allegiance.

As Griffith was announcing the adjournment, Democrats started yelling at him to recognize DeLauro. Some yelled, “Shame on you.”

Most of the Democratic side of the floor was filled, which is not typical during a pro forma session. Typically, only one or two members attend the sessions, which are mostly a formality.

Democrats on the floor had a poster with Johnson’s face on it and the words “Missing Person.” The House left town after passing a seven-week continuing resolution and is not scheduled to return until Oct. 7.

A government shutdown could add another headwind to an already-precarious economy, but most analysts say that even a prolonged hiatus would have only a limited impact on the wider U.S. economy.

Government shutdowns put hundreds of thousands of “nonessential” federal workers on furlough, meaning they are forced to take a leave of absence without pay, while other “essential” workers will be required to show up to work without getting paid either. Often, such shutdowns lead to the closure of national parks and museums, fewer health inspections, slower services for veterans, longer wait times on Social Security phone lines and more.

While the government plays a big part in the economy, history shows that the lasting effects of shutdowns are limited.

Read the full story here.

What’s next? If Congress doesn’t pass anything, the government will shut down.

The Senate may stay in session until midnight to show they didn’t leave as the shutdown approaches, but they might also adjourn until the next day simply because they don’t have anything else to do.

If there is a shutdown, the next votes would be on Wednesday.

There is no bipartisan deal at this point to keep the government from shutting down at 12:01 a.m.

The Senate is in and waiting to vote later today on two short-term funding bills that have already failed. The House is out.

The Senate plans to vote in the late afternoon or early evening. They'll take up the House-passed continuing resolution that would keep the government open until Nov. 21, which most Democrats do not support. They'll also vote on a Democratic alternative that would extend expiring Obamacare subsidies and undo some of Trump's cuts to Medicaid from his "big, beautiful bill" — but Republicans don't support that bill.

Trump is now speaking from the Oval Office at an event announcing a drug pricing deal with Pfizer.

Visitors to the website for the Department of Housing and Urban Development are being greeted by a message blaming the "radical left" for the impending government shutdown.

"The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people," reads a pop-up at the top of the page.

If visitors close the pop-up, the same message is posted across the top of the home page. The pop-up and banner also appear if you go to other pages on the site.

The federal government is barreling toward a shutdown tonight, with President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders engaged in a fierce blame game and trading insults about each other online.

After his meeting on Monday with the Democrats, Trump shared a crude post on Truth Social that showed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., with fake AI-generated audio, saying Democrats “have no voters anymore, because of our woke, trans bulls---” and that if they give undocumented immigrants health care, they would vote for his party.

Read the full story here.

House and Senate Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer may be at very different stages in their leadership careers. But both New York Democrats have a lot to prove — and a lot to lose — in the high-stakes government shutdown battle.

For the 55-year-old Jeffries, this is his first real shutdown fight since taking the House reins from Nancy Pelosi 2 ½ years ago. While he was gearing up for a funding fight back in March, Schumer was not on board and ultimately helped Republicans keep the government open. Now, Jeffries — who has sometimes faced internal criticism for being too scripted and cautious — is fully leaning into the spending showdown with Trump and the GOP.

And the House Democratic caucus seems to be relishing in the shutdown swagger from their leader. At a closed-door caucus meeting Monday night, rank-and-file Democrats rallied behind Jeffries, giving him a pair of standing ovations as he reiterated that any deal with Republicans must include more health care funding, three members told NBC News.

Read the full story here.

Trump said in his speech that his administration plans to make "more historic announcements" in the coming months to "fully embrace the identity of the Department of War."

"I love the name. I think it’s so great. I think it stops wars," Trump said, without elaborating on the plans. "The Department of War is going to stop wars."

Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to rebrand the Defense Department as the Department of War, but it's a secondary title. Congress would have to pass legislation to formally change the department's name.

Trump said that Hegseth would soon be announcing "major reforms to streamline military acquisitions and expedite foreign military sales."

"We have tremendous numbers of countries that want to buy our equipment, and you know, many cases, it takes too long. They’re backlogged," Trump said.

The president said defense companies needed to make military equipment faster, adding that he told them, "you better get your ass going," because "we're getting countries to buy your equipment."

Trump characterized the country as being at war at home, explaining he was refocusing the military to help law enforcement domestically. He praised the National Guard troops in D.C. and railed against other Democrat-led cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

"They're very unsafe places, and we're going to straighten them out one by one," Trump said. "And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war, too. It's a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our border is essential to national security. We can't let these people in."

Trump said he told Hegseth "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military — National Guard, but our military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon."

Trump said in his remarks that Portland, Oregon, "looks like a war zone" and that "this place is a nightmare."

"It looks like a war zone, and I get a call from the liberal governor. 'Sir, please don't come in. We don't need you.' I said, 'Well, unless they're playing false tapes, this looks like World War II, your place is burning down,'" he said.

Trump mocked the governor of Oregon, who he said claimed his law enforcement personnel had Portland under control. The president said he told the governor that the city is a "nightmare."

Trump has authorized the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, but Oregon and the city have sued the administration over the move.

During his speech before the military brass, Trump revived his previous idea of making Canada the 51st state of the United States.

He said Canada called him a couple of weeks ago and Trump claimed its leaders expressed interest in being part of the missile defense shield Trump has dubbed the Golden Dome.

"They want to be part of it, to which I said, 'Why don't you just join our country? You become 51, become the 51st state, and you get it for free," he said. "So I don't know if that made a big impact, but it does make a lot of sense ... because they're having a hard time up there in Canada now, because, as you know, with tariffs, everyone's coming into our country."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has emphatically said that his country would never join the U.S.

Trump said that the military would be "bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character and strength."

"That's because the purposes of American military is not to protect anyone's feelings," he said. "It's to protect our republic, and it's the republic that we dearly love. It's to protect our country."

The comments mirrored Hegseth's speech, who emphasized that the military would focus on issues like fitness standards and ensure promotions were based on merit, not other factors.

Trump said in his remarks that he thought he would be able to strike a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

The president said it's been "such an honor" to play a role in ending conflicts around the world during his second term.

"And then we have Putin and Zelenskyy, the easiest one of them all, I said, that one, I'll get done. I thought that was going to be first," he said.

Despite months of negotiations and a summit with Trump and Putin in Alaska, the two sides don't appear to be any closer to ending the war.

Trump dedicated part of his speech to criticizing Biden's use of the autopen.

"How would you like to have your thing signed by an autopen?" Trump said. "You know, when I have a general and I have to sign for a general, because we have beautiful paper. They're gorgeous paper. I said, 'Throw a little more gold on it. They deserve it. Give me — I want the A paper, not the D paper.'"

Later, Trump praised his own signature, saying, "I love my signature, I really do. Everyone loves my signature." 

"I always think to myself, 'How can you have an autopen sign this?'" he said. "It's just so disrespectful to me. It's just totally disrespectful."

Biden's use of an autopen is a favorite attack of Trump's, although it's not clear how often Biden used an autopen. Trump has previously used an autopen, too.

Trump referred to deploying nuclear submarines near Russia earlier this year after a Russian official referenced nuclear weapons.

"We were a little bit threatened by Russia recently, and I sent a submarine, nuclear submarine, the most lethal weapon ever made," Trump said. "Number one, you can't detect it. There's no way. We're 25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines."

"Frankly, if it does get to use, we have more than anybody else," Trump said, referring to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. "We have better, we have newer, but it's something we don't ever want to even have to think about."

Trump addressed the U.S.' nuclear capabilities and noted the power of nuclear weapons.

"You don't have to be that good with nuclear. You could have one-twentieth what you have now and still do the damage that would be, you know, that'd be so horrendous," he said.

Trump said that people shouldn't "throw around" the word nuclear. "I call it the N-word. There are two N-words, and you can't use either of them."

The audience was quiet when Trump walked onstage, which is typical for a military event.

Trump, though, began his remarks by noting that he has "never walked into a room so silent before."

Some in the audience laughed, prompting Trump to joke, "Don't laugh, you're not allowed to do that."

"Just have a good time," he added. "And if you want to applaud, you applaud. And if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want. And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future."

People laughed, and Trump told the audience to "feel nice and loose."

Asked on his departure to Quantico whether he was preparing to take military action against Venezuela, Trump responded: “We’ll see what happens,” adding that drug trafficking into the U.S. by sea had stopped since the U.S. carried out several strikes on boats.

“We had a lot of drugs coming in through water — we call water drugs, just a simple term,” Trump said. “We don’t have any boats on the water. There are no boats. There are no fishing boats. There are no anything. So we hit a number of boats. You probably saw that, and since we did that, we have absolutely no drugs coming into our country via water, because it was lethal.”

Trump said the U.S would now shift its attention to cartels. “We’re going to look very seriously at cartels coming by land,” he said. 

NBC News has reported that the U.S. military is drawing up plans to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela, and that drone strikes could begin in a matter of weeks. 

Trump said this morning that Hamas will have three to four days to respond to the Gaza peace plan he outlined yesterday.

There is “not much” room for negotiation on the proposal, Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for Quantico.

The president repeated the remark he made during the unveiling of the plan yesterday that if Hamas rejects the deal, he would let Israel “go and do what they have to do.”

Hegseth said in his speech that he is issuing new policies that will overhaul the Defense Department inspector general and equal opportunity programs.

"I call it the 'no more walking on eggshells' policy," he said. "We are liberating commanders and NCOs. We are liberating you."

"We are overhauling an inspector general process — the IG that has been weaponized," he said.

"We’re doing the same with the equal opportunity and military equal opportunity policies," he said. "No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting, no more legal limbo. No more side-tracking careers, no more walking on eggshells."

Hegseth told officers that if they don’t like what they're hearing from him, they should leave the service. 

“If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he said. 

In his remarks, the defense secretary ticked off 10 new directives for the military, including new physical fitness standards for all troops and the hundreds of officers in the audience, and touted his efforts to rid the military of “wokeness” and “dudes in dresses.” 

Some officers may disagree with the direction he is taking the military, Hegseth said. He aded that they may be so inculcated with what he called the culture of previous administrations — led by “foolish and reckless political leaders” that created the “Department of Woke” — that as a result they should leave the service. Others, he said, want to be warriors and will stay. 

“We may lose good people,” he said.  

Trump threatened to fire military leaders he disliked "on the spot."

"I'm going to be meeting with generals and with admirals and with leaders, and if I don't like somebody, I'm going to fire them right on the spot," he said.

His remarks to reporters came shortly before traveling to address military officials in Virginia.

Hegseth said the Pentagon would crack down on "grooming standards."

"No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression," he vowed. "We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards."

Hegseth said if someone wants a beard, then "join special forces."

"We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans, but unfortunately, we have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards or leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards," he said.

Hegseth said if someone cannot meet male physical standards for combat, cannot pass a physical test or does not want to adhere to grooming standards, "it’s time for a new position or a new profession."

In his remarks, Hegseth launched into cultural and standards changes within the military, including criticizing "fat" military personnel during his address.

"Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops," he said. "Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon."

"It's a bad look," he added.

Hegseth said troops will be required to hit height and weight requirements and take fitness tests twice a year. He added that all troops will be required to perform physical fitness activity every day on duty.

"Most units do that already, but we’re codifying," he said.

Hegseth said in his remarks that his new policies aren't meant to block women from serving in the military, but then he detailed physical ability standards that could ultimately prevent them from serving.

"This is not about preventing women from serving," he said. "We very much value the impact of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world. But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral."

He continued, "If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. ... It will also mean that we mean that weak men won't qualify because we're not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death."

Hegseth said that upholding and enforcing high standards was "not toxic."

"Leading war fighters toward the goals of high, gender neutral and uncompromising standards in order to forge a cohesive, formidable and lethal Department of War is not toxic," he said.

He continued, asserting that it would be "toxic leadership" to endanger "subordinates with low standards" or promote people on a nonmerit basis.

Hegseth is speaking at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, and announced a series of steps he is taking to restore what he has called the “warrior ethos” to hundreds of senior officers he summoned to Washington, lecturing them on how they must adhere to grooming and physical fitness standards, leading with an eye on more lethality and less “wokeness.” 

Standing on a stage in an auditorium at the base, Hegseth told the officers how they should lead, and explaining to them that they must adhere to merit-based standards, maintain better grooming standards for themselves and their troops and keeping up their physical appearance and fitness. 

“We’re not talking hot yoga and stretching,” he said. 

If the new standards don’t go over well, that’s because standards must be high. 

“No more setting, achieving and maintaining high standards is what you all do and if that makes me toxic, so be it,” he said. 

Hegseth began his speech by outlining how the Trump administration is ending DEI-related policies.

"For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons — based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts," he said. There are no gender quotas in the military, according to the 19th.

Hegseth said that the Defense Department became "the woke department." He said the administration has "done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics."

"No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions," he said. "As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that s---."

The U.S. is providing $675,000 for demining programs in Cambodia, the U.S. Embassy said, after foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration raised fears for the future of the lifesaving work in the Southeast Asian nation.

“The United States is proud to be the largest demining donor to Cambodia, contributing over $220M since 1993, including $12M this year to enable Cambodian families to live and thrive in peace,” the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a post on X.

The U.S. is estimated to have dropped 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia during the Vietnam War, remnants of which still dot the countryside. From 1979 to 2024, landmines and unexploded ordnance killed nearly 20,000 people and injured more than 45,000 others in Cambodia.

The announcement follows a visit to Cambodia by several members of Congress.

Trump‘s peace plan was met with cautious optimism today by leaders across the Middle East and the world, but others were more skeptical about the proposal — and whether it would be welcomed by Hamas.

The plan was unveiled by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after talks that appeared to exclude Hamas, with the militant group saying “not a single Palestinian” had seen the plan before it was announced.

As the world awaited Hamas’ response, global powers lined up behind the U.S.-backed plan to end the Israeli assault and free hostages still held in the devastated Palestinian enclave.

Read the full story.

Trump and Hegseth will both deliver remarks this morning at an unusual gathering of hundreds of military leaders at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.

Hegseth called the meeting to highlight the U.S. military's accomplishments and discuss the the future of the Defense Department under his leadership, an official who knew of the plans said.

That includes prioritizing homeland defense over threats from China, Russia, Iran and terror groups, as will be outlined in the coming National Defense Strategy, the official said.

On the brink of a shutdown, the top two Democratic leaders met with Trump in the White House yesterday and urged him to agree to extend Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of the year in a bill to keep the government open.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said they had to explain the imminent consequences of inaction to Trump. People who get health insurance through Obamacare will begin getting notices in the coming days warning that their premiums will soon go up unless Congress extends the funds.

It has become the central demand of Democrats in exchange for their votes to fund the government, which will shut down at midnight tonight unless there is a deal.

Read the full story here.