Donald Trump claimed he had found a way to pay US military troops despite the federal government shutdown, saying he had instructed his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, to release funds.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “I am using my authority, as commander-in-chief, to direct our secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our troops PAID on October 15.”
The government shutdown began on 1 October and is the first since a 35-day closure that happened in December 2018 and extended into the new year during Trump’s first presidential term. There were close calls but no shutdowns during Joe Biden’s presidential term.
Trump says military members will be paid despite shutdown
The US president said he had identified the funds to make the payments to troops happen, adding: “I will not allow the Democrats to hold our military, and the entire security of our nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous government shutdown. The radical left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT.”
Trump and Egyptian president to chair Gaza peace summit
Donald Trump and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, are due to chair a Gaza peace summit with several world leaders in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh on Monday afternoon.
The meeting will take place “with the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries”, the Egyptian presidency said.
Democrats refuse to fold over shutdown as Republican outrage builds
The Democratic party is sticking to its guns on healthcare and says it is willing to hold out amid the government shutdown – much to the delight of its progressive supporters.
National guard troops in Illinois can remain but not deploy yet, judge rules
The national guard troops Donald Trump sent to Illinois can remain in the state and under federal control but cannot be deployed, an appeals court ruled on Saturday.
The appeals court granted a pause in the case until it can hear further arguments.
Trump wants to seem pro-worker – but actions suggest otherwise
Unpaid forced leave and mass firings are hardly the first things to spring to mind as hallmarks of a golden age of the American worker.
Yet these were the possibilities floated by Donald Trump this week as he addressed a government shutdown that began on 1 October and is showing no imminent sign of ending.
How Trump and allies are exploiting Kirk’s killing
Donald Trump and Maga allies have capitalized on the killing of rightwing influencer Charlie Kirk to expand attacks on liberal groups, donors, Democrats, and others by tarring many critics as the “enemy within” and “radical left” in a move that legal scholars and historians call authoritarian and anti-democratic.
What else happened today:
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with Ivanka Trump, addressed a rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Witkoff said Israeli hostages held in Gaza were coming home.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will travel to Egypt on Monday for talks on the peace plan presented by Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza, the Élysée Palace said.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 10 October.
