Senate Republicans projected a unified front at the White House Rose Garden Tuesday, arriving at President Donald Trump’s invitation as they refuse to yield to Democratic demands for health care funds into the fourth week of the government shutdown.
While hosting, Trump praised the GOP leadership, singling out senators by name, trashed former President Joe Biden and previewed his own upcoming foreign travel and tariff policies.
“We’re a wealthy nation again,” he said.
The country, meanwhile, is feeling the financial hit of the shutdown, which is on track to become among the longest in U.S. history. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going without pay, Head Start programs for preschoolers nationwide are scrambling for funds, and economists warn of curbed economic growth.
Still, there are few signs of any end to the stalemate.
Other news we’re following:
- Trump-Putin summit is on hold, US official says: The meeting between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine was announced last week but is now uncertain following a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to a U.S. official. The reversal is the latest bout of whiplash as Trump continues his efforts to end the war he previously boasted he could settle in one day if he were elected to a second term. The meeting was supposed to take place in Budapest, although a date had not been set.
- Vance arrives in Israel: The vice president on Tuesday joined special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the region to shore up the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza. Vance will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is expected to stay until Thursday.
- Construction begins on Trump’s new ballroom: Crews on Monday started tearing down part of the White House’s East Wing to build a new ballroom Trump has championed, despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees such projects.
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