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Trump says he will meet Putin again in Budapest after 'productive' call
Donald Trump has said that his call with Vladimir Putin – which lasted more than two hours – was “good and productive” and that they agreed to convene a meeting of high-level staff, including secretary of state Marco Rubio, next week in an undetermined location.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he and Putin would then also meet again in Budapest “to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end”. Trump said he would be discussing the call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House tomorrow, but he believed “great progress was made” today.
Trump also said he believed “the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine”. He said Putin thanked Melania Trump “for her involvement with children … and said that this will continue” and that the two leaders had also discussed trade between Russia and the US for when the war is over.
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Trump set to announce plan to make IVF more accessible – report
Donald Trump plans to announce a policy proposal this afternoon to make IVF more accessible, the New York Times is reporting, citing several administration officials.
A White House official familiar with the matter told the NYT that the administration “will issue guidance on what it is calling an employer benefit option to encourage employers to offer IVF and broader infertility coverage directly to workers, in the same way they would with vision or dental coverage”.
The NYT’s report adds: “It is unclear whether the new guidance will substantively affect how many employers will choose to offer such benefits. IVF typically costs $15,000 to $20,000 for a single cycle. The White House will not be providing any subsidies for employers that offer the coverage, and there will be no mandate that they participate.”
IVF is an issue that Trump repeatedly promised to address on the campaign trail but one that also highlights tensions within his support base. The NYT notes that today’s announcement follows months of deliberations in the Trump administration and meetings with leading proponents of IVF as well as Christian conservatives, who have moral and ethical concerns with the procedure.
Trump issued an executive order soon after taking office promising to lower costs and make the procedure more accessible, but no specifics were given and a report promised by May hasn’t materialised.
We’ll bring you more detail on the announcement as we get it later today.
Senator Mitch McConnell, 83, had a fall this morning on the way to vote in the Senate.
A video shows volunteers from the Sunrise Movement asking the Kentucky Republican questions about Ice and deportations when he fell to the ground. He can be seen reaching for his security detail’s arm as he falls and the two men quickly help him back to his feet. McConnell then turns back to wave and smile before walking off holding on to his detail’s arms.
McConnell, who has fallen several times in the last year, is set to retire in January 2027.
Schumer says Thune hasn't offered him any proposal to end the shutdown
On that subject, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer also just told reporters this morning that majority leader John Thune hasn’t offered him a proposal that would end the government shutdown.
“Leader Thune has not come to me with any proposal at this point,” Schumer told reporters during a press conference with House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, contradicting House speaker Mike Johnson’s earlier claim that Thune “offered to Chuck Schumer a vote on Obamacare subsidies, and Schumer said no”.
Johnson had also said that Schumer wanted “a guaranteed outcome”, which is in line with Jeffries’ sentiments in my last post. Thune had earlier said he could guarantee a vote but not that it would pass.
Jeffries says GOP 'can't be trusted on a wing and a prayer' and ACA commitments must be 'ironclad' to end shutdown
Earlier this morning, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said Senate majority leader John Thune’s offer of a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies wasn’t firm enough to move Democrats to end the government shutdown.
Thune has said he is willing to guarantee a vote on extending the ObamaCare subsidies extensions, though he said reforms to the program were needed and he couldn’t assure the outcome of the vote.
“I can’t guarantee it’s going to pass. I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote,” he had told MSNBC earlier.
Jeffries later told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that he hadn’t confirmed that Thune had an “actual offer” and that GOP leaders “can’t be trusted on a wing and a prayer”.
“We need a real path forward to address the crisis that Republicans have visited upon the American people in terms of healthcare, the cost of living and affordability,” he said, pointing to a pattern of Republicans attempting to repeal ACA subsidies “more than 70 different times since 2010”.
GOP commitments to extending ACA subsidies must be “ironclad”, Jeffries added.
“We need this corrected for the American people,” he said, as opposed to holding “some vote without an assured outcome”. He added:
For so many people, their healthcare is running toward a cliff, and if we don’t fix this, it’s going to go right over it.
Prosecutors expected to ask grand jury to indict Trump critic John Bolton
Hugo Lowell
Federal prosecutors are expected to ask a grand jury on Thursday afternoon to indict John Bolton, the former national security adviser in Donald Trump’s first term, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Details of what prosecutors in the US attorney’s office in Maryland will seek remains unknown, but previous case activity, including the search warrant for Bolton’s home, has pointed at charges related to mishandling classified information.
Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has said the former national security adviser did nothing inappropriate with classified records.
The potential indictment against Bolton comes at a particularly fraught moment for the justice department, which has been rocked by extraordinary pressure from Trump to expand a vendetta campaign to pursue criminal cases against his political enemies.
Trump says he's speaking with Putin, will disclose details of the call
Donald Trump has said he’s currently speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin on the phone.
“The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Ahead of the demonstrations across the country this weekend, dubbed ‘No Kings’ in protest of the Trump administration, leaders of the movement are addressing questions from the press.
Organizers estimate there will be more than 2,500 local demonstrations throughout the US. “We do not expect there to be any need for the National Guard to be deployed, but if the Trump administration attempts to do that as a way to intimidate peaceful protests, we are prepared for that,” they added.
Leaders of the coalition also said that they don’t anticipate anything other than a peaceful protest, and don’t currently have any information that would suggest any outside agitator groups are planning to disrupt the coordinated demonstrations.
Senate fails to pass funding bill to reopen government for 10th time
The Senate has rejected a House-passed funding bill that would reopen the federal government, which has been shutdown for 16 days.
In a 51-45 vote, this is the tenth time that the continuing resolution has failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to clear the upper chamber.
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East, as Israel and Hamas continue to carry out various aspects of the US brokered ceasefire deal.
This includes the news today that Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total number handed over to 120, according the Gaza health ministry and Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US president Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.
Johnson says Schumer declined a vote on Obamacare subsidies and says extension is not 'appropriate' to be part of stopgap funding bill
Mike Johnson said that he spoke with John Thune, the Senate’s top Republican, on Wednesday.
“He offered to Chuck Schumer a vote on Obamacare subsidies, and Schumer said no,” Johnson revealed, saying that Schumer wanted “a guaranteed outcome”.
More broadly, Johnson said the issue of extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits is a “very complicated issue”, and not something “that four people can go into a back room and guarantee an outcome on”.
He re-affirmed that adding the extension to a stopgap funding bill was not “appropriate”.
As has been the case in most of the recent press conferences that House Republicans have held during the government shutdown, Mike Johnson has become visibly more agitated throughout.
“I don’t like being mad Mike, I want to be happy Mike. I want to be the happy warrior,” he said before wrapping up questions from reporters.
Johnson condemns Young Republicans group chat messages
The House speaker has condemned racist, sexist and homophobic messages from a Young Republicans group chat that were leaked this week.
“We roundly condemn any of that nonsense,” Johnson said, while underscoring that he didn’t know the members of the chat accused of sending the messages. “Somebody posted a photo of me standing next to these guys wearing tuxedos. Obviously, I think it was at the inauguration, and people are just coming up and asking for selfies … I’ve never heard of that person in my life.”
Johnson also said he couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation into an image of American flag with a digitally altered swastika symbol seen in congressman Dave Taylor’s legislative office. The Republican lawmaker representing Ohio referred the matter to Capitol police and said that “the content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms” in a statement.
“Anybody in any party who espouses it, we’re opposing that,” Johnson said plainly today.
Mike Johnson said that Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman from New York, said the “quiet part out loud” during a televised CNN town hall on Wednesday.
“They don’t know what they want to end the shutdown. They couldn’t provide a single viable solution for the mess that they themselves have gleefully created,” Johnson said.
However, both lawmakers were resolute in their demands during the event. Ocasio-Cortez said she would not accept a short-term extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
“What we will not accept is the doubling of these premiums. And what we will not accept is allowing the teetering of this system to collapse right before everyone’s eyes,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez also rebuked any suggestion from Republicans that Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, was refusing to advance the House-passed funding bill for fear of a 2026 primary challenge from the New York congresswoman.
“They are saying this because they are refusing to do their job, they are grasping for straws, they’re trying to make this about political tabloids and political intrigue and horse races,” she said.
Johnson repeated the claim that Schumer is being manipulated by the progressive wing of his party. “It truly has become the far-left Marxist left that are running that whole operation,” he said.
Johnson says Republicans have 'no idea' how shutdown ends and continues to blame Democrats
Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, said that Democrats have offered no plan or strategy to end the government shutdown, which is now on day 16.
“Many of you have asked all of us: how will it end? We have no idea,” Johnson said. “It’s up to the Democrats, and they have to decide.”
We’re due to hear from House Republicans at 10am ET, as the government shutdown enters its 16th day.
Earlier today, House speaker Mike Johnson continued to blame Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, for the continued lapse of funding.
“He’s hurting the American people – and he knows it’s wrong,” Johnson said.
Pennsylvania Democrats launch plans to oust Fetterman – report
Top Pennsylvania Democrats are plotting to run against Senator John Fetterman, according to an exclusive report by Axios.
According to the news outlet, some Democratic officials are openly contemplating running against Fetterman or “keeping the door open” to a Senate bid in the event he retires.
A reminder that Fetterman has broken ranks with the Democratic party on several occasions since winning his Senate seat in 2022. Most recently, he’s voted to advance the House-passed continuing resolution to keep the government funded, while the rest of the party has continued to reject the bill. “I follow country, then party,” Fetterman said earlier this week. “I can’t vote for shutting the government down.”
According to multiple political insiders that Axios spoke to in the Keystone state, Democrats who could run against Fetterman include House representatives Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio, as well as former congressman Conor Lamb.
Fetterman did not respond to Axios’s question about whether he would run for re-election to the Senate or president in 2028.
Schumer criticizes Vance's comments over Young Republicans group chat leak
The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, has criticized Vice-President JD Vance’s over his comments following the leak of young messages from various Young Republican group chats.
“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said in a new episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do.”
Schumer pushed back against the comments: “Leave it to @JDVance to preach about the dangers of violent political rhetoric only when it serves his interests, and then ignore or excuse it when it comes from his own side.”
Donald Trump is at the White House today, per his official schedule.
He will receive his intelligence briefing at 11am ET, but we won’t hear from him until 3pm ET – when he’s set to make an announcement in the Oval Office.
We’ll bring you the latest as soon as we hear more.
Top Senate Republican says he can 'guarantee' vote on key healthcare provision as government shutdown enters day 16
Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Shrai Popat, and I’ll be bringing you the latest from Washington and beyond.
The Senate’s majority leader, Republican John Thune, said today that he has told congressional Democrats that he can “guarantee” a scheduled vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) Subsidies.
“I can’t guarantee it’s going to pass. I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote,” he said in an interview with MSNBC earlier.
For their part, Democrats have been resolute, without a negotiation on several healthcare provisions, they’re unwilling to advance a House-passed short-term funding measure that has stalled in the Senate nine times. That will be up for another (read: 10th) vote at 11am today.
Also on the table, Thune is planning to bring a full-year appropriations bill to fund the Pentagon through 2026 to the Senate floor today. “If we’re sitting around here voting every day and they keep voting to keep the government shut down, we need to be trying to move the needle on some of the other stuff that we need to get done,” Thune told the Hill in an interview on Wednesday.
To catch you up on other developments:
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Americans say their monthly costs have risen by between $100 and $749, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian. When asked to estimate how much their regular monthly household costs have increased from last year, 74% of those surveyed said they had seen increases of at least $100, according to the poll.
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Vice-President JD Vance sought to downplay the revelation that leaders of a group called the Young Republicans exchanged hundreds of racist, sexist text messages. “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said in a new episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do.”
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Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that San Francisco could be the next city he targets with federal troops, threatening a deployment that local and state officials have said is unnecessary and unwelcome.
