September 29, 2025: Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow our continuing coverage or read through the posts below.

A still from the AI-generated video posted by Donald Trump on X.

As the US government barrels toward a shutdown, President Donald Trump shared a racist video on social media that appears to be AI-generated, depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking in a fake voice.

Jeffries and Schumer had met with Trump just hours before at the White House to discuss the shutdown.

In the video posted Monday night, Schumer is depicted as arguing for undocumented immigrants to get “free healthcare” because minority voters hate Democrats and they could use the votes in the next election.

As mariachi music plays in the background of the video, the fake Schumer voice says: “There’s no way to sugar coat it: Nobody likes Democrats anymore.”

The fake voice goes on to echo false GOP claims about Democratic policies and slam liberal leaders as “woke.”

The video was posted on Trump’s X account as well his official Truth Social account. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Shortly after Trump posted the video, Jeffries wrote on X:

Schumer followed moments later, commenting on X:

Read the full story.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the only sustainable peace plan for Gaza is one “which recognizes and respects the rights of Palestinians.”

“Iran has always advocated for an end to the genocide in Gaza,” Araghchi told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday, after US President Donald Trump publicly announced his roadmap for peace in the enclave.

Araghchi told Burnett he had seen the plan and was waiting for a response from Hamas and Palestinians. The US proposal still requires signoff from Hamas and contains several provisions that the group has previously rejected.

“There have been more than perhaps 100 different plans in the past 80 years regarding this conflict in the Middle East,” Araghchi told Burnett.

“We are just waiting and watching if that is going to happen,” he added.

Some context: Iran has provided longstanding financial and military backing for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the enclave.

Sen. John Fetterman talks with members of the media on Monday.

Sen. John Fetterman, the lone Senate Democrat who voted for a GOP-led plan to extend government funding last week, warned of grave consequences for the country if Democratic lawmakers withhold their votes to avert a shutdown in an attempt to force Republicans to the negotiating table on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

“You’re running the risk of plunging our nation into chaos,” he told CNN, explaining that “millions and millions of lives will be upended.”

Asked about Democratic leadership’s insistence that Republicans will get blamed for a shutdown since they control Congress and the White House, Fetterman responded, “to me, it’s not about the politics of who gets blamed for it. It’s the damage that will occur to the millions of Americans.”

The Pennsylvania Democrat warned that a shutdown could allow Trump to “pull a lot more levers” to dramatically scale back the federal government.

“That would be the ideal outcome for Project 2025. It’s like oh my god could we get that lucky in shutting their government down,” Fetterman said, alluding to the policy proposal for Trump’s second term that Russel Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director, played a role in crafting.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks with CNN's Manu Raju on Monday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dismissed the idea that a government shutdown could embolden President Donald Trump to expand his power beyond the actions he’s taken in the first eight months of his second term in office.

Jeffries argued that Trump would take those steps in any event, despite the fears of many in his party that Trump would eliminate any guardrails left over his presidency during a prolonged shutdown.

Jeffries insisted that Democrats would not be blamed for causing a shutdown by trying to add additional provisions onto a straight extension of government funding — even though the party that has caught the blame for past shutdowns typically has been the one pushing for extraneous measures.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, right, talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both said today that they are against a seven-to-10 day short term funding bill to avert a shutdown while negotiations drag on, digging in on their push to extend key enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

“We are a ‘no’ to kicking the can down the road, this issue needs to be dealt with immediately,” Jeffries said when asked by CNN’s John Berman whether he would support the mini continuing resolution.

Schumer also echoed that point earlier when asked about a possible short-term funding bill — an idea that he had originally floated today — telling reporters, “No, we have to do it now. The time is a-wasting. We have to do it now.”

The National Weather Service would keep operating around the clock providing forecasts, watches, warnings, data and expertise even if the federal government shuts down on Wednesday, according to a contingency plan filed by the Department of Commerce.

However, most activities of the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis and the International Trade Administration, along with research conducted by other Commerce Department divisions, would cease.

Only about 8,300 employees out of nearly 43,000 Commerce Department staffers would be considered essential and continue working.

Medical care and critical services for veterans would not be interrupted during a government shutdown, the Department of Veterans Affairs said in its contingency plan. This includes suicide prevention programs, homelessness programs, the Veterans Crisis Line and caregiver support.

The agency would also keep processing and paying claims for education benefits, disability compensation and pensions, as well as loan guarantee programs. And its National Cemetery Administration would continue to inter veterans and eligible family members.

Some 97% of the VA’s nearly 461,500 employees would continue working, most of whom with pay funded through sources other than annual appropriations.

However, certain functions would cease until the impasse ends. The GI Bill Hotline would be suspended, as would assistance programs to help service members shift to civilian life. Also, the permanent installation of headstone and cemetery grounds maintenance would not occur until the shutdown is over.

Sen. Kevin Cramer speaks during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on January 21, in Washington, DC.

Senate GOP leaders are settling on a plan as they stare at a government shutdown starting Wednesday: Keep voting on a seven-week extension of funding until Democrats eventually capitulate.

The belief among top Republicans is that Democrats will start to bend after hearing public outcry over a loss of critical government services and as federal employees get furloughed — or even fired.

The GOP bill, which passed the House earlier this month largely along party lines, would extend government funding until November 21 and does not include extraneous policy provisions. But Democrats say they want the bill to include provisions to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies and to reverse Medicaid cuts enacted under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — and to constrain his ability to cut federal spending without the consent of Congress.

But Senate Republican leaders, emerging from a closed-door meeting, said they believe the Democratic position is unsustainable and they plan to pressure Democrats with repeated votes on the stop-gap measure.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, predicted that even if there is a shutdown, Democrats won’t be able to hold out for long.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks with reporters before he and the top congressional leaders went the White House to meet with President Donald Trump on the looming government funding crisis, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Democrats at caucus meeting this evening that he was surprised by how much listening President Donald Trump had done at an earlier White House meeting with top congressional leaders, a source in the room told CNN.

That is in part why some Democrats walked away from the meeting feeling like Trump had not been given the full picture on the situation with health care and enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, another source in the room told CNN.

“Jeffries seemed encouraged,” that source said.

Still, the two sides remain very far apart on reaching any sort of deal.

Sen. Eric Schmitt speaks during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 16.

Republican senators criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over his call to tie government funding to an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, arguing any negotiations on the expiring tax credits should take place outside of the shutdown fight.

“If you want to have that debate, that’s a debate to have. You don’t hold government funding hostage for it,” said GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt.

“Chuck Schumer is afraid of his own shadow, and he doesn’t want to be perceived as working with President Trump,” said Schmitt. “That’s a shame, because I think the American people are going to suffer because of it.”

Asked if there’s any room for negotiations on Obamacare subsidies by the October 1 shutdown deadline, Republican Sen. John Kennedy said, “not unless Chuck stops smoking wizard weed.”

Sen. John Kennedy speaks at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 17/

“We can negotiate the Obamacare subsidies and reform thereof, but we can’t do it by midnight tomorrow night,” said Kennedy. “That’s what Senator Schumer demanded, and it’s a very unserious proposal.”

Democratic Sen. Peter Welch said extending Obamacare subsidies and securing commitments that Trump will adhere to congressionally approved spending should be top priorities for lawmakers.

Sen. Peter Welch speaks with CNN on March 12.

“We’ve got to deal with the health care collapse. We’re going off a cliff, and we can’t leave Vermonters and Americans high and dry,” Welch said. “We need the president to acknowledge that he has to abide by what Congress authorizes for spending.”

Welch expressed skepticism about the two sides reaching a deal before midnight tomorrow.

“I think the odds are against it right now, and I say that with a lot of regret,” the Vermont Democrat said.

The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building is seen in Washington, DC on January 10, 2023.

All 74,300 Internal Revenue Service employees would continue working if the government shuts down on Wednesday, according to the agency’s contingency plan.

The IRS could keep operating thanks to funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, which the Democratic-controlled Congress approved in 2022.

Congress originally gave the agency roughly $80 billion to use over 10 years to improve customer service, expand enforcement, update technology and hire more staff. Democrats said the beleaguered agency needed the additional money for upgrades and staffing, while Republicans argued the funds would be used to hire tens of thousands of auditors to target hardworking Americans.

GOP lawmakers have sought to rescind the money ever since, slashing nearly $42 billion from the appropriation.

The Justice Department would largely continue operating in a government shutdown because most of its mission involves national security, law enforcement and criminal justice, which are considered essential, according to the agency’s contingency plan.

Roughly 102,300 employees out of more than 115,100 would remain on the job, though most would not get paid until after the impasse ends.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as federal prison staffers, would continue reporting to work.

Criminal litigation would continue, but civil litigation would be curtailed or postponed. The agency’s immigration court system would keep operating, according to the plan, noting the division has a backlog of close to 4 million cases, which would be “great exacerbated during a shutdown.”

A Passport Processing employee uses a stack of blank passports to print a new one at the Miami Passport Agency June 22, 2007 in Miami, Florida.

The State Department would continue issuing passports and visa, as well as assisting US citizens abroad, in the event of a government shutdown, the agency said in its contingency plan. Consular operations both domestically and abroad would remain open.

However, only about 10,350 employees would be considered essential workers, out of a total of nearly 27,000.

The agency would not be allowed to enter into new contracts or make new grants, except to protect life, property or national security. Also, new official travel would cease, except for national security or other essential purposes.

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks during an interview with FOX News Channel outside the West Wing of the White House on Monday.

While acknowledging some details need to be worked out, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said he is “very optimistic” and “hopeful” about reaching a final peace deal between Israel and Gaza, given the “widespread support” and “buy-in” from Gulf Coast Arab countries and Europe.

“We’ve been working all weekend on this,” Witkoff said. “The Israelis are bought into this, as the Prime Minister said, they want to do it the easy way first, so no threats. Let’s see if we can peacefully, get everybody home — on both sides by the way on the Palestinian side, as well as the Israeli side.”

While Witkoff said he did not yet have a sense on the response from Hamas, he said he would be speaking to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa tonight and was in touch with him “often” throughout the day.

US President Donald Trump publicly released his roadmap for Gaza peace today as he argued that he is “very close” to bringing an end to the nearly two-year long war that has now claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Here’s how European countries are reacting to Trump’s Gaza peace plan:

This post has been updated with reaction from Spain’s prime minister.

The foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority nations and the Palestinian Authority have welcomed US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Gaza after he announced a peace plan for the enclave.

Here are the countries who welcomed it:

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of these countries expressed confidence in the president’s “ability to find a path towards peace” and welcomed Trump’s comments last week about not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. They also expressed their commitment to work with the US on the agreement that “creates a path for a just peace on the basis of a two-state solution.”

The Palestinian Authority also echoed the statement, highlighting Trump’s “sincere and determined efforts” to end the war.

The statement said the plan would “ensure the unification of Palestinian land …end the occupation and open the path toward a just peace based on the two-state solution, with the independent and sovereign State of Palestine living side by side with the State of Israel in security, peace, and good neighborliness, in accordance with international legitimacy.”

Some background: While the peace plan acknowledges the possibility of a Palestinian state, it does not say the US would recognize such a state.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaks alongside Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget director, from left, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Vice President JD Vance, as they address members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House on Monday.

Time is ticking for Congress to pass a funding bill with lawmakers and the Trump administration hashing out last minute negotiations today.

They have until midnight tomorrow to approve a federal spending bill to avoid a shutdown.

Here’s what leaders from both parties said after a meeting with President Donald Trump this afternoon:

Vice President JD Vance said he believes a government shutdown will happen “because the Democrats won’t do the right thing.” He blamed Democrats for demanding negotiations on health care funding in exchange for keeping the government open.

But, Vance conceded Democrats did have some “reasonable” ideas, seeming to signal he was open to more discussion.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Trump was “operating in good faith” during talks today as he called for passing a continuing resolution. Johnson said that would be the “right, responsible, simple thing” for Republicans to do.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis, at the Capitol on Monday.

Meantime, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there are still “very large differences” remaining between the two sides. “I think for the first time, the president heard our objections, heard why we needed a bipartisan bill,” Schumer said.

He argued Democrats have not had any input in the GOP proposed bill. Schumer said Republicans need to ask Trump what Democratic proposals he would accept because “ultimately, he’s the decision maker.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed that there are still “significant and meaningful differences remain” leaving the meeting, but that lawmakers had a “frank and direct discussion” with Trump.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the Trump administration’s plan to end the war in Gaza “bold and intelligent” today, adding that it “offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering.”

Blair, who led his country into the war in Iraq while prime minister, said US President Donald Trump’s willingness to “chair the Board of Peace to oversee the new Gaza is a huge signal of support and confidence” in the future of Gaza.

A document released by the White House earlier said the board would include other heads of state, as well as Blair, who played a major role in developing the new plan.

French President Emmanuel Macron also welcomed the plan on a post in X.

“I expect Israel to engage resolutely on this basis. Hamas has no choice but to immediately release all hostages and follow this plan,” Macron wrote. “France stands ready to contribute.”

The Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on March 30, 2024.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has condemned US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, calling it a “recipe for regional explosion.”

In a statement, the group’s Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhalah said that through the US plan, Israel is trying to achieve what it had been unable to during its war.