On Wednesday, oversight Democrats led by Robert Garcia released emails from the Jeffrey Epstein estate that had not been previously seen. Oversight Democrats claim the emails raise fresh questions about Trump’s past associations and what he may have known.
100 references to Donald Trump
The emails included more than 100 references to Donald Trump, though without any ‘gotcha’ emails directly implicating him in sexual crimes.
One email cited Trump as “the dog that hasn’t barked,” while another email to CNN’s Michael Wolff outlines how Epstein thought Trump would handle questioning in his direction. Another email said that Trump “knew about the girls,” regarding Maxwell’s poaching’ of young female Mar-A-Lago staff.
The Democrats claim these emails strengthen their arguments for releasing the Epstein files and that the emails are further proof that the White House is covering up criminal behaviour from Donald Trump.
selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump
The White House is rejecting the release as politically motivated ‘smear,’ with press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”, and that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Virginia Giuffre, one of the victims who testified against Epstein and Maxwell.
While the documents don’t actually implicate Trump in any direct criminal wrongdoing, they’re another example in a long line of documents placing Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein together.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 07: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral lunch with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban in the Cabinet Room of the White House on November 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Orban discussed the war in Ukraine, Hungary’s purchase of Russian oil, and European relations. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
In what might be the face-palm moment of his second term, Donald Trump just said America needs immigrants, and that American workers are not skilled, specifically those “in unemployment lines.”
Yes, that’s right, after more than half a decade of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and a Gestapo-like force in ICE, quite literally disappearing legal immigrants, Donald Trump just told American workers they aren’t enough to get the job done.
In an interview with FOX News that aired on Tuesday, Donald Trump said that the United States doesn’t have workers with “certain talents,” and offered his support for the H1-B skilled worker visa program.
Comments on Fox
Trump was pressed by Fox’s Laura Ingraham on whether he would reduce the H1-B program, and Trump responded with “you also do have to bring in talent.”
Ingraham tried insisting that the United States had talented workers, but Trump shut her down.
“No, you don’t, no, you don’t … you don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.’”
The president then strangely brought up the Hyundai plant fiasco that resulted in hundreds of legal South Korean workers being traumatically deported.
“In Georgia, they raided because they wanted illegal immigrants out — they had people from South Korea that made batteries all their life. You know, making batteries is very complicated. It’s not an easy thing. Very dangerous, a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people, early stages, to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get out of the country. You’re going to need that, Laura.”
Why the president would want to bring up an incident that could have only arisen due to administrative incompetence clearly surprised Ingraham, two weeks ago, Trump insisted that he was “very much opposed” to the raid on the Hyundai factory, leading many to wonder why it then happened.
H1-B Visa
In September, Trump signed an executive order to install a $100,000 application fee on the H1-B in an attempt to limit the number of people able to take advantage.
It was another example in a long line of orders cracking down on immigration, in this case, allowing the government control over the intake.
The H1-B is a three-year visa for skilled workers. It can be renewed once, with workers receiving an additional three years. The $100,000 fee allows Trump to control the intake of workers. By partnering with corporations and labour companies, Trump can now personally staff projects using international skilled workers while hindering individuals from successfully applying.
The vast majority of H1-B recipients are skilled workers from India.
MAGA response
The comments have struck Republican politicians with confusion. On the one hand, Trump is right, the U.S. does need international skilled workers. And by taking a looser stance on immigration, the GOP can start to appeal to the moderates. The problem? Anti-immigration has been the GOP’s identity for so long that the party is rudderless without it.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been the only major name to comment. Greene has a mixed bag when it comes to her resume with Trump. She was one of his staunchest supporters in the early years, but has been separated from DJT on the Epstein issue and the government shutdown.
Greene tweeted that “I believe you are good, talented, creative, intelligent, hard working, and want to achieve, I am solidly against you being replaced by foreign labor, like with H1Bs.”
She chose the third option, to come out against Trump, and reiterate right-wing talking points.
Some say this could be a ‘gotcha’ moment for Trump and his policies, but it’s more than likely the news cycle will move on before his voter base lets this sink in.
Inmates remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador on January 27, 2025. The CECOT, the largest prison in Latin America and emblem of the war against gangs of the government of President Nayib Bukele, celebrates two years since it was inaugurated on February 1. (Photo by Marvin RECINOS / AFP) (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)
Human Rights Watch has found insurmountable evidence that more than 250 Venezuelan men deported by Donald Trump have been extensively tortured in an El Salvadorian prison.
In early 2025, Donald Trump flew 252 ‘criminals’ to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador. Interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch and the Central American rights group Cristosal found that prisoners endured regular physical, sexual, and verbal abuse from guards and employees at the prison.
“We reached the conclusion that the Trump administration is complicit in systematic torture and enforced disappearances of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador,”
-Human Rights Watch
So-called criminals
“At President (Donald) Trump’s direction, DHS deported nearly 300 Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorists to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) Prison in El Salvador, where they no longer pose a threat to the American people,”
That was the statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ‘Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorists.’ That’s what 252 men were labelled as before being ripped away from their families in America.
The reality?
Human Rights Watch and Cristosal claimed in their report that at most half of the Venezuelans sent to Cecot had no criminal records, and only 3% had been convicted in the United States for a violent or potentially violent crime. Three percent of 252 is 1. Only one of the men sent to CECOT had committed a violent crime in the United States. For comparison, since 2021, six U.S. House representatives have been convicted of a crime.
The men were mostly targeted using their tattoos, with the government claiming them to be terrorist symbols. One of the most extreme examples is that of Neri Alvarado. His most prominent tattoo is an autism ribbon bearing his brother’s name. The U.S. government deemed it a symbol of terrorism.
The report
The report cited “inhumane prison conditions, including prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food,” among other reasons that CECOT is breaching the UN’s standard minimal rules for the treatment of prisoners.
The report found a systematic pattern of torture and human rights abuses took place daily at CECOT, and America’s involvement in the system has been likened to the horrors that took place at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib facility during the war on terror.
Director Human Rights Watch’s U.S. Juanita Goebertus stated:
“We reached the conclusion that the Trump administration is complicit in systematic torture and enforced disappearances of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador,”
Here is a list of excerpts from the 81-page document:
“Detainees were subjected to constant beatings and other forms of ill-treatment, including some cases of sexual violence,”
“Many of these abuses constitute torture under international human rights law.”
“People held in Cecot said they were beaten from the moment they arrived in El Salvador and throughout their time in detention.”
“These beatings and other abuses appear to be part of a practice designed to subjugate, humiliate, and discipline detainees through the imposition of grave physical and psychological suffering. Officers also appear to have acted on the belief that their superiors either supported or tolerated their abusive acts.”
The report interviewed more than 200 people, including 40 victims of CECOT and is filled with dozens of harrowing stories outlining abuse caused by Donald Trump’s government.
The prisoners were freed in June 2026 in a prisoner swap that saw the 250 men returned to Venezuela. In return, Venezuela freed 10 American citizens it had in prison.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: A supporter of gay marriage waves his rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2015, where cases are heard about the constitutional right of same sex marriage. (Photo by Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Today love won,” was the statement made by Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, on Monday after the Supreme Court voted not to overturn its landmark precedent, making gay marriage a constitutional right.
Instead, they denied the appeal made by a former Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, and then sentenced her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees.
Who is Kim Davis?
GRAYSON, KY – SEPTEMBER 8: Kim Davis, Clerk of Courts in Rowan County, Kentucky, looks over at Mike Huckabee after she was released from six days of incarceration at the Carter County Detention Center on September 8, 2015 in Grayson, Kentucky. Davis was ordered to jail last week for contempt of court after refusing a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. (Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images)
Kim Davis started refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples right after Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that gave gay couples the right to marry, in 2015. She was caught on camera that year refusing a gay couple a marriage license, and it went viral.
Davis claimed her Christian faith was the reason she was ‘unable’ to issue the licenses. After refusing multiple gay couple marriage licenses and being called out on social media, she began refusing all couples’ marriage licenses, along with 14 other counties in the south.
What ensued was two years of lawsuits. Six couples who were refused licences sued Davis and won; Davis appealed every decision against her.
In the end, Davis was jailed for five days, sent back to her desk, and forced to give licenses (albeit without her signature).
Davis stuck with consistent messaging throughout the process, stating.
“I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience.”
Davis lost her re-election campaign in 2019. She has been battling in court since, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and appealing quite literally every Supreme Court decision that goes against her (she’s even appealing the decisions against her appeals! Appeal-ception!).
Supreme Court says no
The appeal that was denied in this case was sent after lower courts rejected Davis’ claim that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion protects her from liability in the case.
If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of Davis, it would have set a precedent that would allow any judge to deny a gay couple a marriage license, as long as they cited religious reasons.
William Powell, an attorney representing the plaintiffs involved, said, “The Supreme Court’s denial of review confirms what we already knew: same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, and Kim Davis’s denial of marriage licenses in defiance of Obergefell plainly violated that right.”
‘Love won today’
After the Supreme Court’s shocking decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022, nothing was guaranteed in this case. Roe v Wade, of course, was the ruling that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to abortion and legalized the procedure nationwide.
The ruling to overturn Roe v Wade emboldened far-right Christian nationalist groups and sent hope through the MAGA crowd that they might be able to turn back the clock on human rights.
The Supreme Court is making a statement with this ruling: when it comes to cuts, human rights are not on the table.
LANDOVER, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 09: United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth U.S. President Donald Trump look on during a game between the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Football fans at Northwest Stadium were treated to a surprise on Sunday: Donald Trump, President of the United States.
DJT was seen in a suite with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Trump was shown on the video board in the second quarter and booed raucously as he valiantly tried to read the sheet in front of him. Trump was attempting to recite a military oath to swear in recruits.
Trouble reading
The Don recently bragged about ‘acing’ a dementia screener, made to assess whether basic cognitive function is still doable. He got another tough test at the Commanders game, when he was tasked with reading four sentences to the crowd.
The line Trump struggled with was a prompt for him to say his own name. What Trump was supposed to say was, “Please raise your right hand. I, Donald Trump, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Instead, Trump read out, “Please raise your right hand. I—and state your name—do solemnly swear, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,”
Yes, he said ‘state your name’ instead of saying his name. Of course, the president did have about 20,000 red-blooded, football-loving, true Americans booing the skin off him, so maybe he was nervous.
First since Jimmy
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – NOVEMBER 09: United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. President Donald Trump interact with fans during a game between the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Trump was the first president to attend a regular-season NFL game since Jimmy Carter in 1978. Ironically enough, Trump’s approval ratings are nearly identical to Carter’s at 34%.
That number leaves them in a three-way tie for second-last in the presidential popularity rankings.
Trump also attended the Super Bowl in February, and it’s assumed he’ll do the same in 2026.
Donald Trump stadium?
Experts can’t help but draw parallels between the rarity of this meeting and the rumour surrounding the Commanders’ new stadium.
The new stadium was approved on Sept. 17, and will include a billion-dollar investment from Washington, and a $2.7 bn commitment from the Commander’s organization.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emailed ESPN with a statement:
“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”
Since the stadium will be owned by the District of Columbia, not the Commanders, the team will not have proprietary naming rights.
A source confirmed that, “The team doesn’t have the authority. They can’t name the stadium … on their own. The city would be involved in that decision, and the Park Service would be involved.”
This means Trump could have some sway over the naming of the new stadium, much to the chagrin of football fans.
“They’re gonna build a beautiful stadium, that’s what I’m involved in. We’re getting all the approvals and everything else. And you have a wonderful owner, Josh and his group, and you’re going to see some very good things.”
-Donald Trump
Colorless commentator
Trump didn’t just stay in his press box on Sunday. He also appeared on FOX News’ broadcast near the end of the game, even getting to call an important moment late in the fourth quarter.
“Let’s see what happens. Not bad,” was his response to the three-yard drive from Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
The appearance on the FOX broadcast has garnered mass disapproval on social media. Donald Trump has invoked the other side of the “keep politics out of sports” crowd. Multiple posts on social media specifically attack the fact that Donald Trump is underqualified to be a sports broadcaster.
This means either some of the MAGA crowd believe being president is easier than doing play-by-play, or that Donald Trump is no longer capable of doing anything. Can both be true?
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk, who served as an adviser to Trump and led the Department of Government Efficiency, announced he would leave his role in the Trump administration to refocus on his businesses. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The richest man in the world might be getting significantly richer, and nobody is happy but him.
Techno-billionaire Elon Musk secured a possible trillion-dollar payout from Tesla shareholders on Friday after a promise to further the company significantly.
On Friday, Tesla’s majority shareholders voted with a 75 percent majority to offer Musk the pay package, given that he meets a set of criteria outlined by the shareholders.
The sheer magnitude of the payment has drawn criticism, but Tesla defended the move, claiming it was necessary to keep Elon involved in the company. According to Tesla, the company cannot afford to lose Musk.
‘A new chapter’
Musk took the stage in Austin following the announcement.
“What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,”
-Elon Musk
He added that “Other shareholder meetings are snoozefests, but ours are bangers. Look at this. This is sick.”
A list of requirements
Elon needs to achieve everything on the following list within the next 10 years to secure his absurd payout.
These are the milestones Musk will need to achieve:
Delivering 20 million Tesla vehicles and one million robots
Getting 10 million subscriptions to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature
Bringing one million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial operation
Earning up to $400bn in core profit
Eventually lifting Tesla’s overall market value to $8.5tn, currently $1.4tn
Per the agreement, Musk will not be receiving a salary during this time, but the stocks he would receive as compensation for completing the list are currently valued at nearly $1tn USD.
Can Musk hit the goals?
The laundry list of milestones Musk needs to hit will be no easy task, specifically raising Tesla’s market share from 1.4tn to 8.5tn.
Musk would need to raise Tesla stock by 466% in the next ten years, something experts claim is a long shot.
Self-driving disasters
US regulators are currently looking into hundreds of incidents involving self-driving cars, including the Waymo taxi service.
Right now, there is a debate regarding the transparency and honesty of Tesla regarding its Autopilot features. Multiple reports have been released claiming Tesla cars will disengage autopilot mode seconds before an impact, relieving the company of any responsibility for the accident.
Scale of wealth
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 5: White House Senior Advisor to the President and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk was meeting with Republican senators at a closed door lunch. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
A trillion dollars is an almost unimaginable amount of money, so let’s try to break it down.
If you earned 5 million dollars per day, it would take you just under 550 years to make a trillion dollars.
There are only 20 countries with a GDP of at least a trillion dollars, the number that Elon could earn in 2036.
At $4,350/acre, Elon Musk could buy a quarter of America’s farmland with $1 trillion.
Estimates from the Washington Post and economic experts say that America’s 90% hold a combined net worth of approximately $45 trillion USD. According to the Federal Reserve’s data, the median net worth of an American household (not individual) is $192,000. This means Musk could have the equivalent wealth of 5,000,000 working-class families.
And finally, we’ll use a classic example. If you counted to one trillion one number per second, it would take you about 31,600 years to reach one trillion. Try now, see how high you can get!
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju on November 1, 2025. (Photo by JUNG Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has finally unveiled his budget for 2025, and it has immigration experts worried.
Carney’s budget plans on slashing Canada’s acceptance of temporary residents, international students, and foreign workers significantly.
Cuts to immigration
Carney’s plan outlined his immigration strategy for the next three years, 2025-2028.
While there are cuts across the board regarding immigration, permanent residents aren’t seeing any. Carney plans on keeping the number of new permanent residents at 380,00 per year until 2028.
Where the cuts really take place are in temporary foreign workers and international students.
Carney plans on scaling back the number of new international students from 305,900 this year to 150,000 a year for the next three years.
Foreign workers are also seeing huge cuts, with the number of temporary foreign workers arriving being slashed from 367,750 to 230,000 in 2026, and 220,000 in 2027 and 2028.
Impact on refugees awaiting resettlement
Carney’s new immigration plan will see the annual rate for these privately sponsored refugees drop from 23,000 this year to 16,000 in 2026, while government-assisted refugees are reduced from 15,250 to 13,250.
There are currently more than 90,000 privately sponsored refugees awaiting resettlement in Canada. The lower quota will reportedly increase the wait time to up to 6 years for some of those waiting.
Still adding dept
Even with massive cuts to refugee programs and temporary residents, Budget 2025 is still going to increase Canada’s debt deficit.
In last December’s fiscal update, the Carney government projected the federal deficit to be $42.2bn in 2025-26. But the plan released by Carney will run a deficit of $78.3bn in 2025-26. The government says it will aim to reduce the federal deficit to $56.6bn by 2029-30, but the Conservative caucus has its deficit limit at $42bn, almost half of what Carney is proposing.
Added defence spending
Carney’s budget will increase defence spending by $84bn over the next five years, to combat what it calls an “increasingly dangerous and divided world”. Canada has already pledged to meet NATO’s goal of spending 3.5% of its GDP on defence.
Although the budget will increase defence spending, it will cut federal jobs significantly.
Cutting federal jobs
Carney’s ‘Canada Strong’ budget plans on weakening the federal workforce by 28,000 jobs from the federal public service.
The federal public service currently employs more than 350,000 people, with more than 40 percent of them living in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
The Canada Strong Budget 2025 will reduce the size of the federal public service by 40,000 jobs through job cuts, attrition, and early retirements. These cuts will take the workforce from 367,772 employees in March 2024 to 330,000 by 2028-29. There were 357,965 federal employees as of March 31, 2025.
Experts claim the cuts will only hurt Canadians.
“This budget really reads like austerity and Canada’s unions refuse to let workers pay the price,” Larry Rousseau, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, told reporters Wednesday morning.
“The government wants to cut tens of thousands of public service jobs. This will mean longer EI waits, slower passports, fewer safety inspections and food inspections, delays for seniors and families. You do not modernize services by gutting them. I cannot believe that I heard this morning from the prime minister that same old, same old about doing more with less.”
The president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Sharon DeSousa, says, “The services and programs people rely on are going to be slashed.”
Not confirmed yet
The Liberal party will need at least three conservative MPs to cross the floor to vote in the budget. One MP has already sided with Carney’s Liberals, meaning only two more are needed to put “Canada Strong” into effect.
“There were differing degrees of input which we received from the various opposition parties,” Carney said in Ottawa, the day after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented the first budget.
“I know, in fact, that there’s a lot in this budget that reflects the input from those parties from specific projects to certain programs and reinvestment in them,” he said. “So those parties are aware, and part of this is a process of digesting the budget.”
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 31: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport on October 31, 2025 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
On Friday night, FOX News aired a somewhat inaccurate report.
The report claimed that Islamic hate groups in Nigeria were targeting Christians. In reality, there are Islamic extremist groups killing Christians, but not because they’re Christians.
It just so happens that FOX is the in-flight entertainment on DJT’s Air Force One. Trump caught the segment, and was immediately enraged. Shortly after AF1 landed, the president took to Truth Social as an outlet for his anger.
Jihadist Groups in Nigeria
Where there may be truth to the statement ‘Christians are being killed by Islamic extremists’, its important to note that so are Muslims, and atheists, to an equal quantity.
According to Isa Sunusi, executive director of the group’s Nigeria program, “The jihadist groups kill both Muslims and Christians. They demolish mosques and churches. They don’t differentiate.”
The most prominent jihadist group in Nigeria, Boko Haram, began its ‘insurrection’ into Northern Nigeria in 2009, and has been consistently killing anyone it deems connected to secular religion.
“Boko Haram fighters killed politicians, civil servants, teachers, health workers and traditional leaders because of their relationship with secular authority,”
-Amnesty International
Trump catches FOX report
Trump took to Truth Social to let out his anger:
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
Trump went on to say that he would make Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” under the Religious Freedoms Act.
Trump doubled down on his opinion days later, instructing Pete Hegseth to “prepare for possible action,” and threatening that America would come in “Guns a-blazin.”
Karoline Leavitt made the president’s stance clear to reporters, “If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the United States will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may take action to wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,”
Trump wrapped it all up by submitting an informal threat of war on Truth Social.
“If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians,”
The United States military does not currently have troops in Nigeria. In 2024, the US government completed the withdrawal of 1,000 troops from neighbouring Niger, ending a long-time presence in the area.
From Nigeria’s perspective, Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said, “We are shocked that President Trump is mulling an invasion of our country.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 26: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an election rally in support of New York Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani at Forest Hills Stadium on October 26, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. The mayoral election will take place on November 4, 2025. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/Getty Images)
Bernie Sanders published an Op-ed in The Guardian on Saturday, emboldening Democrats not to give in to Trump’s shutdown, calling it:
If the Democrats cave now it would be a betrayal of the millions of Americans who have fought and died for democracy and our constitution. It would be a sellout of a working class that is struggling to survive in very difficult economic times.
The most prominent Democratic voice of the 21st century has spoken again, and he’s begging his colleagues in the Democratic Party to hold steady amidst the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
As of November 4, the U.S. government will have been shut down for 35 days, tying the record set by Trump’s first administration in 2019.
The Bill Shutting Down America
Donald Trump’s funding bill was turned down by Democrats on September 30, triggering the shutdown. The bill would raise premiums on healthcare for more than 15 million Americans, while funding tax cuts for the 1 percent. In total, there will be almost $170 billion in cuts to life-saving social programs targeting America’s working class.
Since Republicans control the Congress, the Senate, and the White House, traditionally, the onus would be on them to come to the table and negotiate the bill their party created.
The Democratic Party is still waiting for that to happen. Republican lawmakers are refusing to budge on any of the points Democrats are taking issue with – namely, the massive hikes to Medicare, and the cuts being made to SNAP, amongst other programs that directly benefit 60 percent of Americans.
How does the shutdown work?
Republicans need 60 votes to pass FY26, or even the temporary funding bill being proposed (HR-5371). With only 53 caucus members, the GOP need at least seven Democrats to cross party lines and vote against working-class Americans.
The Democrats are refusing to back down, instead pleading with Republicans to sit down and negotiate the bill.
Trump stated this weekend there would be no negotiating, and that if Democrats “don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
What does the shutdown mean
When the government is shut down, everything pauses. This means federal workers don’t get paid, federal programs stop receiving funding, and communication between branches of government and their constituents can be all but blocked.
What’s more, Republican House Leader Mike Johnson approved a 6-week paid vacation for his party, meaning most Republican Senators are no longer in DC.
Bernie’s piece
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an election rally in support of New York Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani at Forest Hills Stadium on October 26, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. The mayoral election will take place on November 4, 2025. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/Getty Images)
With millions of Americans feeling the effects of this shutdown, Democratic leaders are fielding thousands of calls from struggling constituents. This is who Sander’s piece on Saturday is targeting. The constituents sending the calls, and the Democrats answering them.
Sanders starts by outlining the gravity of the issue, calling it,
“This may be the most consequential moment in American history since the civil war.”
He didn’t mince words while talking about Trump either, calling DJT, “a megalomaniacal president who, consumed by his quest for more and more power, is undermining our constitution and the rule of law.”
Sanders also claimed Trump’s goal is to “utilize his victory to accelerate his movement toward authoritarianism.” A goal which Trump all but confirmed himself over the weekend, quoting, “Republicans have to get tougher; if we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
Sanders outlined how Trump’s FY26 budget would “throw 15 million Americans off their healthcare,” and cause more than “50,000 unnecessary deaths each year.”
Clearly targeting voting Americans, Sanders broke down the shutdown, trying to break through a wall of active disinformation pushed by right-wing news sites.
Let’s be clear: this government shutdown did not happen by accident. In the Senate, 60 votes are required to fund the federal government. Today, the Republicans have 53 members while the Democratic caucus has 47. In other words, in order to fund the government, the Republican majority must negotiate with Democrats to move the budget forward. This is what has always happened – until now. Republicans, for the first time, are simply refusing to come to the table and negotiate. They are demanding that it is their way or the highway.
San. Sanders ended the piece on a rousing note, emboldening Democratic Politicians and encouraging voters to stand firm.
If the Democrats cave now it would be a betrayal of the millions of Americans who have fought and died for democracy and our constitution. It would be a sellout of a working class that is struggling to survive in very difficult economic times.
Soon to be the Longest Shutdown in American History
TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju on October 29, 2025. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP) (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
As of November 5, this will be the longest government shutdown in American history, breaking Trump’s previous record of 35 days. The shutdown in 2019 was due to the bill that would have redirected almost $8 billion to build the Mexico-U.S. border wall.
The budget that triggered this shutdown will result in almost $170 billion in cuts to social programs. It is estimated the cuts could cause up to 250,000 deaths by the time Trump leaves office, and could send 20 million Americans into poverty.
Experts claim that 60 percent of Americans cannot afford a $1000 expense, making them highly susceptible to homelessness. The cuts proposed in FY26 could raise a family of four’s food expenses by more than $ 4,000 and Medicare expenses by $ 2,000.
With 60 percent of America less than $5000 away from homelessness, FY26 could push millions of families into homelessness.
Right-wing media outlets like Newsmax and FOX continue to claim that the budget will actually benefit Americans, but numbers are numbers, and we took ours from the White House website. So, unless Trump’s own numbers are wrong, Democrats must stay strong, or else millions of Americans will suffer.
KAMIANETS-PODILSKYI, UKRAINE - OCTOBER 5: The Vampire (Baba Yaga) Ukrainian heavy bomber drone performs a task of hitting a target with the most accurate possible drops during the Wild Drones Race at Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle on October 5, 2025 in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine. The Wild Drones Race is an initiative of Ukrainian UAV combat units, designed to develop their professional interaction and practical training of crews. The Wild Drones Race was organized by the DYKA GONKA sports community, which organizes obstacle races, together with the Ukrainian military. 20 UAV crews of combat brigades and units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine participating in the competition demonstrate their skills in controlling drones in difficult conditions close to combat. (Photo by Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Late on November 4, Ukrainian forces undertook multiple successful UAV operations, severely damaging the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant JSC in Bashkortostan and an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
“On the night of November 4, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the infrastructure of the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez plant (Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Russia). The Nizhny Novgorod Refinery has a maximum annual refining capacity of 18 million tons. The plant is engaged in supplying the Russian occupation army. A hit on the facility and a fire in the target area were recorded. The extent of the damage is being determined,”
– The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Explosion in Sterlitamak
STERLITAMAK PETROCHEMICAL PLANT
The aftermath of the blast in Sterlitamak was initially reported by Russian citizens living in the city. Their videos were circulated via the watchdog telegram channel, Cheka-OGPU.
The site also shared official communications from Kremlin authorities:
“Today, an explosion occurred in the water treatment plant of JSC SNHZ. Part of the plant collapsed. Five people were working there. According to preliminary reports, no one was injured. All emergency services have arrived at the scene. I am also on my way to the scene. The cause of the explosion is being investigated. I will keep you updated as information becomes available. Do not panic and trust only official sources.”
Radiy Khabirov, the head of Bashkortostan, told a telegram news source that, “Both drones were shot down by the Ministry of Defence and the security service of the enterprises. The debris fell in an industrial area near an auxiliary workshop,”
Contrary to Khabirov’s comments, Kremlin sources, city officials, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine all previously confirmed the explosion was caused by a UAV.
According to Ukrainian defense officials, “nearly twenty flexible tanks (approximately 900 m3 of fuel and lubricants) and two pumping stations were destroyed [in Sterlitamak].”
Explosion in Kstovo
KSTOVO, RUSSIA – SEPTMEBER 19: A general view of the RusVinyl Russian-Belgian joint polymer plant, near Nizhny Novgorod, 430 km. East of Moscow. Putin is having a one-day trip to Nizhny Novgorod region (Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
The other attack was also successful in destroying at least part of an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
According to Ukrainian watchdog channels, the operation was jointly carried out by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian Armed Forces drone operators, and Special Operations Forces, using more than 50 Bober and FP-1 UAVs.
The refinery supplied fuel to the Moscow region. Ukrainian officials stress that the facility was for military use, not international distribution.
Citizen reporters filmed a fire breaking out at the plant after the explosion, further damaging the refinery.
