The U.S. government shutdown continues into its sixth day, raising concerns about federal program funding, while President Trump confirmed a 25% tariff on imported trucks effective November 1 and engaged in tariff discussions with Brazil, signaling ongoing trade policy shifts. Domestically, the administration faces a lawsuit from Illinois over potential National Guard deployments and is investigating the financial networks of Antifa, as the Supreme Court prepares to review presidential powers, including tariffs. Internationally, indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas are set to begin, potentially impacting regional stability.
What to know today... - SHUTDOWN DAY 6: The government shutdown has entered its sixth day amid a standoff between Democratic and Republican leaders. The House is out this week after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., canceled votes, saying the chamber has done its job in passing a short-term spending bill last month. - ILLINOIS LAWSUIT: The state of Illinois filed a lawsuit today to prevent President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Chicago. - MAXWELL APPEAL: The Supreme Court rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s challenge to her criminal conviction for recruiting and grooming teenage girls for sexual abuse by the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. - GAZA PEACE TALKS: Israel and Hamas are poised to conduct indirect peace talks to end the two-year war and free the remaining hostages from Gaza. Andrew Cuomo says electing Zohran Mamdani would be a 'gift' to Trump Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on ABC’s "The View" this morning that electing his Democratic primary opponent for New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, would be a "gift" to Trump. "It's good for Donald Trump because it's the excuse he needs to take over New York, which he has said he will do," Cuomo said. "Going into the midterms, [Trump] will take a picture of Mamdani around the country and say, 'Here’s what happened to the Democrats. They are now communists. They hate the police, they legalized prostitution, legalized drugs,'" Cuomo warned. NBC News has reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment. The former governor framed himself instead as the "last person" that Trump wants as mayor, saying that he and the president "fought on a daily basis" during the pandemic. Trump says trucks to face 25% tariff Nov. 1 Trump said on Truth Social that medium- and heavy-duty trucks imported into the U.S. will see a 25% tariff starting Nov. 1. Trump had previously said this tariff would take effect Oct. 1, but that date came and went without the White House releasing any executive orders to institute the levy. Mexico, a top-three U.S. trading partner, is the largest exporter of these kinds of trucks to the U.S. The president also planned a 100% tariff on pharmaceutical imports starting Oct. 1, but the White House said later that it would "begin preparing" the tariff on that date, rather than imposing it. Leavitt denies Trump plans to take over cities with military During her news briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump wants to take over Democratic-led cities with the military or National Guard, saying that Democratic mayors shouldn't be concerned about a long-term military or National Guard presence in their cities. "You guys are framing this like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military," Leavitt said. "The president wants to help these local leaders who have been completely ineffective in securing their own cities, and we have already seen there’s a positive formula for that." Leavitt pointed to the National Guard deployment in Washington as a key example of the crime-fighting effort. "The murder rate has declined significantly," Leavitt said. "Our streets are safer. People who live here feel safer — all of you in this room, I know you do, you just won’t admit it," Leavitt said. "It’s a proven system that works, and the president wants to make America city safe again. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that." White House says FBI, Treasury and the intelligence community are investigating antifa White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the briefing that the investigation into the far-left, decentralized antifa movement and the financial backing of it and associated groups is taking place across the administration. "The FBI is working on it, alongside the White House's Homeland Security Task Force," she said. "We have our intelligence community looking into this as well, and even the secretary of treasury is involved with these matters, since they are financial in nature, and we will continue to get to the bottom of who is funding these organizations in this organized anarchy against our country and our government." Leavitt warns that WIC, SNAP will exhaust funds 'very soon' At the beginning of the briefing, Leavitt warned that if the Senate fails to reopen the government tonight, key federal food assistance programs for low-income households and pregnant women will run out of money. "The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will run out of federal money very soon," Leavitt said. "It can be easily fully funded if Democrats simply vote tonight to reopen the government." White House says Trump has spoken to GOP leaders in Congress amid shutdown White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump has spoken to GOP leaders in Congress amid the ongoing government shutdown. Asked what the president has been doing today to resolve the shutdown, she said Trump "was on the phone with Speaker Johnson. He's also spoken with the Senate majority leader, who are in touch with, of course, moderate Democrats and Democrats across the board, who we understand, hopefully, want to do the right thing by their constituents to reopen the government. "So the president is being kept very well apprised of the ongoing shutdown on Capitol Hill," Leavitt said. Trump to host Canadian and Finnish leaders and hold a Cabinet meeting this week, White House says Trump will host Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House tomorrow and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a news briefing this afternoon. Trump will also host his eighth Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday. Trump holds phone call with Brazil's president about tariffs and the economy Trump held a phone call with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this morning and discussed the economy, tariffs and trade. Lula said in a post on X that he asked Trump to lower the steep 40% tariffs on his country and said that Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to negotiate further. He also expressed a willingness to travel to the United States for further talks, Brazil's government said in a statement. Trump commented on the call in a Truth Social post, writing that "we will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not too distant future." Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Brazil in part because of the legal case surrounding his political ally, and former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of an attempted coup last month and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. Trump’s presidential library fund is dissolved as a Florida nonprofit for apparent failure to file mandatory report The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund Inc. appears to have been administratively dissolved as a Florida state nonprofit corporation last month because it failed to file an annual report with state officials. According to records on the Florida Department of State website, the dissolution took effect Sept. 26. The fund was first established in Trump’s home state in December. A lawyer listed as representing the library fund declined to comment. Annual reports are due by the third Friday in September in Florida. At the federal level, Trump’s presidential library is managed by the National Archives and Records Administration, which does the same for all presidents. Dissolved business entities are technically “prohibited by statute from engaging in any activities other than those necessary to liquidate its assets and wind up its affairs,” according to the business services firm Wolters Kluwer. “But despite this prohibition, it is not unusual to see an administratively dissolved business entity continuing to operate as a going concern, because the people who are acting on its behalf are unaware that it has been dissolved,” the firm notes on its website. Illinois sues the Trump administration over National Guard deployment to Chicago The state of Illinois filed a lawsuit today in an attempt to block the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops on the streets of Chicago. “The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the Illinois attorney general’s office wrote in the filing, which names Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll as defendants. Presidential powers in focus as Supreme Court begins new term Supreme Court justices are beginning a new term with a docket that’s already packed with high-profile issues, including several key challenges to Trump’s powers. NBC’s Laura Jarret reports for "TODAY" to break down cases to watch in the high court including tariffs, birthright citizenship and more. Speaker Johnson rejects Hakeem Jeffries' call for a prime-time debate on the shutdown Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' call for a prime-time debate on the House floor about the government shutdown. "My friend Hakeem had his shot," Johnson said at a news conference this morning. "We debated all this on the House floor." Johnson added that Jeffries, D-N.Y., had previously spoken on the House floor for seven or eight minutes. "He had all of his colleagues lined up. They gave it their best shot, and they argued, and they stomped their feet and screamed at us and all that," he continued. "And still, we passed the bill in bipartisan fashion and sent it over to the Senate. The House has done its job." Jeffries proposed the idea in a letter to Johnson this morning. "I write to challenge you to a debate on the Floor of the House of Representatives any day this week in primetime, broadcast live to the American people," it said. Johnson said he spoke to the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patty Murray, D-Wash., two days ago and told her he would agree to moving a package of spending bills on the floor once the shutdown impasse ends. Jeffries speaks out on shutdown, health care House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joined "Today" to speak out on the political stalemate as the government shutdown enters a sixth day and why Democrats are choosing now to address increasing health care costs for tens of millions of Americans. Supreme Court rejects Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her criminal conviction Reporting from Washington The Supreme Court rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s challenge to her criminal conviction for recruiting and grooming teenage girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein. Today's decision means that Maxwell’s conviction on three counts and her 20-year criminal sentence remain in place. Treasury secretary and Social Security Administration chiefs to serve in dual roles at IRS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said today that he would remain as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and was naming Frank Bisignano as the agency's chief executive officer Bessent has been acting IRS commissioner since early August, while Bisignano has been the head of the Social Security Administration. Multiple roles have become the norm in the Trump administration, with Budget Office Director Russell Vought also serving as the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also serving as national security adviser. Stephen Miran, the chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, is currently working as a Federal Reserve governor while on temporary unpaid leave from the White House. The administration briefly discussed the idea of Bessent serving as Fed chair and Treasury Department chief at the same time, but he is now interviewing other candidates for Fed chair. Rep. Wesley Hunt launches Republican bid for Senate in Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, is jumping into the Senate race in Texas, joining a competitive primary battle between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Hunt told The Associated Press in an interview that he believes that polling indicates “people want an alternative, and I’m going to give it to them.” The congressman highlighted his support for Trump on his campaign website, saying he was “fighting alongside President Trump to codify DOGE cuts, secure our border, and fight for economic prosperity for all Texans.” The New York City divide shaping its contentious mayoral race New York City’s mayoral contest has fully surfaced a tension bubbling in city politics for years: the divide between lifelong New Yorkers and young professionals who have recently moved in. In his 7-point Democratic primary win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani cleaned up with younger voters who live in some of New York’s most gentrified neighborhoods — including Bushwick, Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Cuomo, meanwhile, edged out Mamdani in majority-Black, outer-borough neighborhoods that have experienced less gentrification, as well as other places like the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, also home to many longtime New Yorkers. That divide is playing out in the general election, too, where Cuomo is running as a third-party candidate. A CBS News survey last month found that Mamdani held a 51-point edge over Cuomo among voters who have moved to New York within the last 10 years. Among voters who have lived in New York for more than 10 years, Mamdani’s advantage over Cuomo dropped to 19 points. And among born and raised New Yorkers, Mamdani held a smaller, 7-point advantage over Cuomo. Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, two fixtures of New York politics for decades, combined to win 49% of this demographic. Trump says federal layoffs are 'taking place right now' Trump told reporters yesterday that federal employee layoffs were "taking place right now, and it’s all because of the Democrats." The president did not elaborate on the extent of the layoffs. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said last week that the number of firings would likely be in the thousands. Leavitt later clarified during an afternoon press briefing today that "the president was referring to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed as a result of this federal government shutdown." Trump looms over Tennessee special election in a deep-red House district As the special House election for a deep-red congressional district in Tennessee approaches, one issue has shaped the race above all else: Donald Trump. A crowded field in Tuesday’s GOP primary to fill former Rep. Mark Green’s seat spent months fighting over who’s the most pro-Trump before Trump stepped in with an endorsement for Matt Van Epps at the end of last week. Other issues have fallen to the background, blurring the lines between candidates, while the increasing drumbeat of campaign ads largely revolved around support for Trump and his policies. Trump and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn each carried the 7th District by about 20 points last year, making the Republican primary the main event in the special election to replace Green, who resigned this year. But with campaigns expecting much lower turnout than usual because of the irregular election dates, it’s possible the Dec. 2 special general election could be a closer contest than the election was last year, like other special elections around the country this year. Israel-Hamas talks set to start in Egypt raise hopes of ceasefire and prisoner swap Israel and Hamas were poised to conduct indirect peace talks today, with hopes it could represent the best chance yet to end the two-year war and free the remaining hostages from Gaza. On the anniversary eve of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, and subsequent military operation by Israel, representatives from all sides were due in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss a 20-point peace plan tabled by President Donald Trump to halt the conflict. U.S. shutdown enters Day 6 as Trump dodges on Obamacare funds Reporting from Washington The U.S. government shutdown entered its sixth day today with no end in sight after another round of blame games and sniping between leaders of the two parties on the Sunday talk shows. Democratic and Republican leaders are locked in a standoff about the way forward as it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bill, and the GOP needs five more Democrats to advance its bill to reopen the government temporarily. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called it a partisan bill written without Democratic input, demanding a negotiation to win the necessary votes from his party. But Republican leaders insist there will be no negotiation over their short-term bill. NAACP spends to mobilize Black voters in California redistricting fight and New Jersey and Virginia governors' races The NAACP will invest $750,000 to mobilize Black voters to cast ballots and monitor the polls ahead of key elections in three states this fall, the group exclusively told NBC News. The group will spend a quarter-million dollars in California, where a new congressional map that would further boost Democrats is on the ballot, as well as in New Jersey and Virginia, which are hosting governors' races. The nonpartisan NAACP is not endorsing a candidate in New Jersey or Virginia. In California, the NAACP will seek to reach 1.2 million voters and train at least 300 poll monitors in support of a mid-decade redistricting effort spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The California gerrymander comes in response to new GOP-drawn map in Texas, which the NAACP has sued over, calling it “racially motivated.” In New Jersey, the NAACP plans to reach out to 175,000 voters in Newark, East Orange, Irvington, Trenton, Paterson, and Jersey City, as well as train at least 350 poll monitors ahead of the election between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli. In Virginia, the group aims to engage and educate 300,000 voters and recruit 300 poll workers amid a high-profile race for the governor's mansion between Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. “We cannot afford to sit this one out while Trump and the federal government chip away at our civil rights,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. The U.S. is facing a confluence of fiscal, trade, and legal uncertainties that elevate market risk. The government shutdown, now in its sixth day, is creating immediate economic headwinds by furloughing federal workers and threatening to exhaust funding for key social programs like WIC and SNAP, which could dampen consumer sentiment and spending. On the trade front, the administration confirmed a significant policy shift with a 25% tariff on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting November 1, a move that will directly impact supply chains and increase costs for logistics and manufacturing sectors, particularly those reliant on Mexico, the largest exporter. This aggressive tariff posture is further exemplified by ongoing discussions with Brazil over its 40% tariffs. Domestically, political and legal friction is high, evidenced by a lawsuit from Illinois to block federal use of the National Guard and an upcoming Supreme Court term set to review the scope of presidential powers, including on tariffs. While the initiation of indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas offers a potential geopolitical de-escalation, the overall environment is characterized by policy unpredictability and political gridlock, consistent with the moderately negative sentiment and elevated market impact score.
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