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President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was terminating trade talks with Canada, effective immediately.

Trump accused Canada of trying to interfere with an upcoming Supreme Court case about the legality of his "reciprocal" tariffs.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social after the Canadian province of Ontario began running a television advertisement in the United States featuring a speech from former President Ronald Reagan.

“They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote, referring to the high court’s scheduled Nov. 5 oral arguments on legal challenges to a significant part of Trump’s tariffs. They include the country-specific rates at the heart of both his foreign policy and economic agendas.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters Friday that his government stands ready to advance previously fruitful trade talks and "build on that progress when the Americans are ready to have those discussions."

The ad, which Ontario's premier, Doug Ford, posted on X, begins with Reagan saying, "When someone says, 'Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,' it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs, and sometimes for a short while it works, but only for a short time."

>https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/trump-canada-trade-ronald-reagan-rcna239508

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https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/shutdown-budget-congress-republicans-noem-johnson-20251022.html

The power of the House, the Senate, and the White House belong to MAGA. A simple rules change in the Senate and vote on the clean continuing resolution would reopen the government in time to keep food on the table for millions this Thanksgiving. We don't need the Democrats to save our people from going hungry the one day no one should.

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https://abcnews.go.com/US/truck-driver-country-illegally-influence-drugs-california-crash/story?id=126804313

The driver of a semi-truck that slammed into multiple vehicles, killing three people, on a California highway was allegedly under the influence of drugs, authorities said.

The driver -- identified by authorities as 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh -- has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury in connection with Tuesday's chain-reaction crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario, according to a criminal complaint.

He is in the United States illegally and an immigration detainer has also been placed on him, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/23/frustrations-boil-over-as-vance-delivers-firm-message-to-netanyahu-00621213

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Defense officials said they have accepted an anonymous gift of $130 million from a wealthy donor to help pay military salaries during the government shutdown, but they would not release any additional details about the unusual move.

President Donald Trump announced the donation Thursday, saying that a “friend” offered the money out of a sense of patriotism. As the shutdown grinds on, Defense Department officials have shifted unused research funds to ensure that troops did not miss their mid-month paycheck, but the status of their next direct deposit is uncertain.

On Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that DOD had accepted the money “under its general gift acceptance authority.” The department declined to answer questions about whether the donor is an American citizen or a foreign national.

“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members’ salaries and benefits,” Parnell said. “We are grateful for this donor’s assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”

White House officials said that covering the cost of military pay for the first half of October totaled about $6.5 billion. Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said that based on that figure, the new donation will cover about one-third of one day’s pay for the force.

He said certain accounts are available for public donations to federal military programs. But they are typically restricted to specific projects, such as building athletic facilities at military academies, and approved by Congress ahead of time. White House officials did not provide details on how and where this donation would be directed into the federal treasury.

“This sounds like a half baked idea that hasn’t been vetted or implemented,” Harrison said.

>https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/24/dod-accepts-anonymous-130-million-donation-to-partially-cover-troop-pay-00622219

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States warn SNAP benefits may stop in November if government shutdown continues

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-snap-benefits-delayed-usda/

States are warning struggling Americans who rely on food stamps to pay for groceries that they may miss out on benefits come November.

"Starting October 16, SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits will not be paid until the federal government shutdown ends and funds are released to PA," reads a notice from the Pennsylvania state website.

New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Texas are among the other states that have issued similar notices.

The wave of announcements come after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the federal food stamps program, issued a letter to state agencies on Oct. 10 saying that if the lapse in appropriations continues, there will be "insufficient funds" to pay full November SNAP benefits.

Reached for comment, the White House referred CBS News to the USDA, which then shared the letter it sent to states. Both declined to comment on what a lapse in funding could mean for the millions of Americans who rely on the program.

Advocates and SNAP recipients have warned the effects of being cut off from nutrition assistance could be devastating.

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Trump says declaration of war not needed on drug cartels

https://youtu.be/Q__bSi5rBlw?si=UesBWG7mKiiudNF3

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-declaration-war-not-needed-drug-cartels-2025-10-23/

"Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We're going to kill them,"

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his administration plans to brief the U.S. Congress on operations against drug cartels and that even though he did not need a declaration of war, operations against cartels on land would be next.
The U.S. military has been increasing its presence in the Caribbean, including deployments of guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and thousands of troops.

The United States has carried out a number of strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean since early September, killing nearly 40 people. While the Pentagon has provided little information, it has said some of those strikes have been against vessels near Venezuela.
"Now they (drugs) are coming in by land ... you know, the land is going to be next," Trump added, echoing comments he has made in recent weeks.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, speaking at a live event in Caracas on Thursday, warned that if the U.S. ever intervened in the country, "the working class would rise and a general insurrectional strike would be declared in the streets until power is regained," adding that "millions of men and women with rifles would march across the country."

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charlie-kirk-donations-critics-fraud-b2851182.html

A website that promised to unmask critics of conservative activist Charlie Kirk took tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency donations before going offline, according to a report.

The site “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” was launched hours after Kirk’s assassination on September 10 and pledged to name and shame those who spoke out against him to pursue “the largest firing operation in history.”

It asked supporters to contribute toward “a highly sophisticated enterprise system that will be impervious to Leftist attacks,” and directed them to cryptocurrency blockchains, the technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to Drop Site.

The website’s anonymous developers raised more than $30,000 from supporters between September 12 and 14, according to the outlet.

Now the domain www.charliesmurderers.com has gone dark.

The group justified asking for crypto donations at the time because it claimed it was working with Fortune 500 and Big Tech data scientists which didn’t come cheap.

“Our reputations are on the line. The people behind this are political operatives that have represented major parties and candidates,” the group previously wrote in a post on X. “Why would we jeopardize that for a 5-figure pay-day?”

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https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/17/science/mirror-cell-life-dangers

Article talks about specific type of bacteria research. Obviously dangerous. But as far as danger, you can forget labs when you consider what people can attempt themselves.

When talking to the AI bots like Grok, (You need to approach this topic sneakily like it is hypothetical, such as for writing a realistic story.) you will be informed of procedures you can follow from home or even in a prison setting to cook up nasty drug resistant bacteria. (Hundreds of millions dead without major leaps in next few years.) You would think this would not be feasible, but I’ve yet to get an answer or reason from Grok that implies this isn’t possible or pretty easy.

Lots of public studies about increasing infectivity and deadliness of things like bacteria or prions that may be pretry easy to work with at home. I’m no scientist but highly doubt any can give good argument against this valid point. I strongly suspect it is a more of people are not thinking this way and doing that rather than a lack of ability. We know virtually any gov or major criminal organization can probably do this and request cure to death or dispose of public with zero issues. North Korea possibly hinting at this with trash balloons.

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Public access to the White House has been suspended for about two months because tours started at the East Wing, and the demolition of parts of that wing and construction of the new ballroom have made the visits impossible, officials told CBS News.

White House officials said that although the tours are still paused, they expect to accommodate an updated tour route in coming days, as well as other public events, such as Halloween trick-or-treating.

Members of Congress, who receive White House tour requests from their constituents, told CBS News that bookings were suspended in late August.

The tours included public rooms in the East Wing as well as the Vermeil Room, Library, China Room, Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room and State Dining Room in the White House residence.

A message on the tour website, posted over the summer, says: "The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, it's theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits."

During construction, first lady Melania Trump's office has moved to the ground floor of the White House. East Wing staffers' desks have been set up in the China Room, and aides now gather in the map room.

Staff from the calligraphy office, White House Military Office, legislative affairs and the visitors office have decamped to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for now.

The White House Historical Association, a nonprofit organization that aims to protect, preserve and provide public access to the White House, confirmed that it took steps to document the White House East Wing this summer, prior to demolition.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/us/politics/elon-musk-duffy-nasa.html

Elon Musk lashed out this week at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the latest sign of the billionaire’s willingness to take aim at the administration he once served, particularly when it potentially affects his bottom line.

Over the past few days, Mr. Musk has lobbed insults at Mr. Duffy, who has been serving as the acting administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, accusing him of lacking intelligence, trying to dismantle NASA and putting astronauts in danger of being killed.

The tirade, which he issued in a series of posts on his social media platform, X, was prompted by Mr. Duffy’s announcement on Monday that NASA would reopen the bidding process for its next moon landing mission, Artemis III, the contract for which currently is held by the Musk-owned SpaceX.

“SpaceX, an amazing company, they do remarkable things. But they’re behind schedule,” Mr. Duffy said on Fox News, explaining that President Trump wanted to “beat the Chinese” and make another moon landing before the end of his term in the White House.

“We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the moon first,” he added.

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U.S. hits $38 trillion in debt, after the fastest accumulation of $1 trillion outside of the pandemic

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-hits-38-trillion-in-debt-after-the-fastest-accumulation-of-1-trillion-outside-of-the-pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet.

It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year.

WATCH: How debt interest is becoming a bigger problem for the U.S. government

The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances.

Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, who served in President George W. Bush’s Treasury Department, told The Associated Press that a growing debt load over time leads ultimately to higher inflation, eroding Americans’ purchasing power.

The Government Accountability Office outlines some of the impacts of rising government debt on Americans — including higher borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lower wages from businesses having less money available to invest, and more expensive goods and services.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/new-ice-recruits-showed-training-full-vetting-rcna238739
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed new recruits into its training program before they have completed the agency’s vetting process, an unusual sequence of events as it rushes to hire federal immigration officers to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy, a current and two former Homeland Security Department officials told NBC News.

ICE officials only later discovered that some of the recruits failed drug testing, have disqualifying criminal backgrounds or don’t meet the physical or academic requirements to serve, the sources said.

Staff members at ICE’s training academy in Brunswick, Georgia, recently discovered one recruit had previously been charged with strong-arm robbery and battery stemming from a domestic violence incident, the current DHS official said. They’ve also found as recently as this month that some recruits going through the six-week training course hadn’t submitted fingerprints for background checks, as ICE’s hiring process requires, the current and former DHS officials said.

Per ICE policy, applicants are required to pass drug tests and undergo security vetting through ICE’s human resources office before they show up for the training course. The former officials said the process was more strictly adhered to before a hiring surge that began this summer. The process was meant to weed out disqualified candidates before they would be sent to training.

Since the surge began, ICE has dismissed more than 200 new recruits while they were in training for falling short of its hiring requirements, according to recently collected internal ICE data reviewed by NBC News.

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https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/subprime-lender-primalend-capital-partners-files-bankruptcy-protection-2025-10-22/
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Subprime lender PrimaLend Capital Partners filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, in another sign that low-income consumers in the United States are under strain.
The company's filings in a Texas court showed that it listed both assets and liabilities of less than $500 million.

PrimaLend provides financing to consumer and specialty lenders through asset-based credit facilities. It also serves the "buy-here-pay-here" auto financing market, where dealers sell and directly finance vehicles for customers with poor or limited credit.

"We want to be clear: there is no impact to our dealer-borrowers' loans or terms. No debt is being called due or accelerated as a result of this process," PrimaLend CEO Mark Jensen said. "We are pursuing a sale process to maximize value of the business and strengthen our balance sheet."

The company is operating as usual with no disruptions, it said in a statement, reiterating that it is not going out of business.
Bloomberg News first reported on the bankruptcy earlier in the day.

Subprime lenders provide loans to borrowers with weaker credit histories or lower credit scores.
Last month, Bloomberg News reported that PrimaLend's creditors were weighing pushing the firm into bankruptcy after going unpaid for months.

Many lower-income consumers, according to analysts, are finding it harder to keep up with payments, prompting an uptick in delinquencies across auto, personal loan and credit card portfolios.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/22/white-house-trump-new-ballroom-demolition

Trump administration officials confirmed to various outlets on Wednesday that the White House’s East Wing will be demolished “within days”, a revelation given the administration has not submitted plans for the new ballroom to the federal agency that oversees construction of federal buildings.

In discussion with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Donald Trump was asked by Jeff Mason of Reuters to respond to the widespread surprise that the entire East Wing is being torn down. Trump said that the wing he described as a separate building “was never thought of as being much; it was a very small building”.

“Rather than allowing that to hurt a very expensive, beautiful building,” he continued. “In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure.”

Then, pointing at a model of the new ballroom on a table in front of him, and a new structure leading to the ballroom in the location where the East Wing used to be, Trump added: “The way it was shown, it looked like we were touching the White House. We don’t touch the White House.”

“That’s a bridge, a glass bridge going from the White House to the ballroom,” Trump said, of the new structure that will replace the East Wing.

Trump said the result is “going to be probably the finest ballroom ever built” and that the ballroom is “being paid for 100% by me and some friends of mine”.

The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing a senior administration official, that the ballroom plans will mean the demolition of the entire East Wing. The official also said the demolition should be finished by this weekend.