NuseReal

Trump & Co Watch October 2025

Crypto markets surge as Trump confirms October 31 summit with Xi Jinping (LINK) 19 October 2025

Fox News: second 'No Kings' protests against Trump draw crowds across U.S. (LINK) — ground.news: 231 media reports (LINK) 18 October 2025

— "They say they're referring to me as a king. I’m not a king," Trump said in a Fox News interview.

Guardian: Millions of Americans protest Trump on No Kings day — (LINK)

Feds repeatedly use tear gas, pepper spray on crowd of hundreds outside Portland ICE (LINK) 18 October 2025

Trump denies Ukraine Tomahawk missiles, urges both sides to 'stop the war immediately' (LINK) 18 October 2025

US Embassy issues warning to Americans in Trinidad and Tobago as tensions with Venezuela escalate (LINK) — ground.news: 51 media reports (LINK) 18 October 2025

U.S. Homeland Security buying 2 private jets costing $172 million Kristi Noem's and DHS leaders' use amid government shutdown, reports say (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK) 18 October 2025

— Agency documents show the Department of Homeland Security said the jet buys were "a matter of safety" because the existing Coast Guard jet is over 20 years old, while the United States Coast Guard requested a $50 million Gulfstream V earlier this year.

President Donald Trump says two surviving "narcoterrorists" from a semi-submersible vessel destroyed by the US military in the Caribbean will be sent to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia (LINK) 18 October 2025

Trump signs order hitting medium and heavy trucks with 25 per cent tariff on Nov. 1 (LINK) — ground.news: 112 media reports (LINK) 17 October 2025

— The Trump administration will provide a credit for vehicle manufacturers who import some parts into the U.S. so they can make the vehicle in the U.S., in order to offset the tariffs, one of the senior administration officials said.

Trump administration furloughs nuclear weapons agency staff due to shutdown (LINK) 17 October 2025

Small U.S. businesses are being crushed by Trump's tariffs, and economists say it's a warning for the economy (LINK) 17 October 2025

— The higher costs have hit smaller companies harder because they have fewer levers to pull than their larger competitors. Their margins are slimmer, their supply chains less diverse and their negotiating power with vendors dampened by the smaller sizes of their orders.

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos released from prison after President Trump commutes sentence in federal fraud case (LINK) 17 October 2025

— The ex-lawmaker's lawyer says Santos was released from prison Friday night. He served roughly 84 days of an 87-month term. The Republican was ousted from office and sentenced to 7 years in prison for fraud and identity theft earlier this year. Trump announced the commutation on his social media platform Truth Social, calling the former lawmaker who lied about his credentials and used campaign donations to pay for lavish expenses "somewhat of a 'rogue'." The president said "at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN! George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!"

US sanctions former Haitian security head, gang leader for aiding gang coalition (LINK) — ground.news: 23 media reports (LINK) 17 October 2025

Court extends restraining order to shield more feds from shutdown RIFs (LINK) 17 October 2025

— Some agencies made clear that they believed the restraining order did not apply to members of collective bargaining units that agencies stopped recognizing in the aftermath of President Trump's March executive order that aimed to end union representation across wide swaths of the government. Judge disagreed.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton turned MAGA critic indicted on eight counts of transmission of national defence information and 10 counts of retention of national defence information (LINK) 16 October 2025

— He's the third prominent Trump adversary to face criminal charges in recent weeks, following former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent says US bought pesos again: currency tumbled 5.2 percent> (LINK) — ground.news: 10 media reports (LINK) 16 October 2025

US military seized survivors after Caribbean drone strike on suspected drug smuggling boat (LINK) — ground.news: 150 media reports (LINK) 16 October 2025

— Trump says military struck a 'drug-carrying submarine'.

Eric Trump sets to tokenize trump family real estate (LINK) 16 October 2025

JD Vance brushes off racist texts in Republican group chat as 'what kids do' (LINK) 16 October 2025

Trump authorizes CIA operations in Venezuela, says mulling land attack (LINK) 15 October 2025

Tom Homan denies taking $50,000 from undercover FBI agents: 'I'm not enriching myself' (LINK) 15 October 2025

U.S. military starts getting paid from odd source as shutdown hits Day 15 and rest of federal workers go without (LINK) 15 October 2025

— Politico reported that an Office of Management and Budget official said the money would come from its research and development pot. About $8 billion is being moved from accounts focused on research, development, testing and evaluation efforts.

U.S. federal judge suspends Trump's planned layoffs of federal workers during government shutdown, calling them unlawful (LINK) 15 October 2025

Pennsylvania man wrongfully imprisoned for more than 40 years faces deportation after ICE arrest (LINK) 15 October 2025

— Speaking to USA Today, Vedam's lawyer Ava Benach said: "Subu has lived in the US since he was a nine-month-old infant when he and his family arrived as lawful permanent residents of the United States … He was still a lawful permanent resident, and his application for citizenship had been accepted, when he was arrested in 1982."

Border Czar Tom Homan denies taking $50,000 from undercover FBI agents: 'I'm not enriching myself' (LINK) 15 October 2025

Major U.S. airports refuse to show DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's video blaming Democrats for the government shutdown (LINK) 15 October 2025

US revokes visas for 6 foreigners deemed by U.S. officials to have made derisive comments or made light of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month (LINK) 14 October 2025

— The announcement came as President Donald Trump was posthumously awarding him the highest US civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Elon Musk is making cybertruck sales look better by selling a huge number to himself (LINK) 14 October 2025

— Futurism: Musk has started selling unsold Cybertruck inventory to his own companies, as Electrek reports; SpaceX has taken delivery of hundreds of the trucks and is expected to receive thousands more. Carriers were also seen delivering trucks to Musk’s AI startup xAI's offices. The carmaker's pickup truck has flopped hard, not even selling 20,000 units this year. The company only sold 5,385 Cybertrucks in the third quarter of 2025, down a whopping 63 percent compared to the same period last year, and a mere 16,000 overall so far this year. The truck has been recalled eight times for sometimes-glaring design issues. It's been criticized for having a less-than-stellar range, especially given its premium price. Resale values have cratered, making it a poor long-term investment.

Trump plan to invite Netanyahu to Gaza summit aborted after Erdogan warning (LINK) 13 October 2025

— Turkish president threatened to pull out of Sharm el-Sheikh conference unless Israeli PM's attendance ruled out

France 24: Main takeaways of Trump's speech to the Israeli parliament: his statements were clearly meant to suggest that the ceasefire his administration helped broker could spark a deeper, lasting peace around a volatile region (LINK) 13 October 2025

— During an unexpected detour in his speech, Trump called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he described as "one of the greatest" wartime leaders. Netanyahu faces corruption and fraud charges, and several hearings have been postponed during the conflict with Hamas. The Republican president also used the opportunity to settle political scores and thank his supporters, criticising Democratic predecessors and praising a top donor, Miriam Adelson, in the audience.

Politifact: Fact-checking Donald Trump's speech in Israel (LINK) 13 October 2025

— He told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, "This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God." H repeated talking point about solving eight wars is exaggerated. Trump had a hand in ceasefires that have recently eased conflicts between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. But these were mostly incremental accords, and some leaders dispute the extent of Trump's role.

— Politicfact: The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, but violence in the region has continued, with hundreds of civilians killed since the deal’s June signing. After Trump helped broker a deal between Cambodia and Thailand, the countries have accused each other of ceasefire violations that have led to violent skirmishes. A long-running standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile remains unresolved, and it is closer to a diplomatic dispute than a military clash. In the case of Kosovo and Serbia, there is little evidence a potential war was brewing.

— "We dropped 14 bombs on Iran's key nuclear facilities, totally, as I said originally, obliterating them. That's been confirmed." It is impossible to know.

Heather Cox Richardson: Trump's new Columbus Day (LINK) 13 October 2025

JD Vance trashes 'fake story' about Qatari Air Force facility in Idaho — just two days after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made an announcement about the facility on Friday (LINK) 12 October 2025

— "Today, we’re announcing a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,"s declared Hegseth at a press conference also featuring his Qatari counterpart, Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

"Trump is letting Qatar build a military facility in the U.S." — and MAGA Is Not Happy (LINK) 12 October 2025

Meidas Touch: 6 January 2021 according to Trump 2025 (LINK) 12 October 2025

— At 12:37 AM, Donald Trump posted on his social media that "THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6…DO SOMETHING!!!" Donald Trump was the president on January 6, 2021. The FBI was controlled by Trump then, not Biden—and Biden would not be sworn in for another two weeks. In addition, even Trump official Kash Patel has acknowledged that the FBI was not placed in the crowd that day when Trump was president. The FBI responded to the scene of the insurrection after it took place, since its job was to respond to crimes. As of January 2025, over 1,000 insurrectionists have pled guilty to their crimes, and every one of the 220 cases that went to jury trial ended in a conviction. In all of those cases, the defendants were given all the evidence and never made a claim that the FBI was behind January 6, as Trump now claims while tweeting at 12:37 AM.

Donald Trump and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to chair Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday: will include leaders of the UK, Italy, Spain and France (LINK) 11 October 2025 2025

More than half of CDC staffers recently fired by Trump administration have been reinstated (LINK) 11 October 2025

— After a new round of layoff notices sent late Friday night to around 1,300 workers at the CDC, approximately 700 were reinstated on Saturday, while about 600 remain laid off, according to the union, which represents federal workers. "The employees who received incorrect notifications were never separated from the agency and have all been notified that they are not subject to the reduction in force," said Andrew Nixon, director of communications for the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Fox News: "Trump directs Hegseth to pay troops during ongoing government shutdown standoff as he rails against Schumer" (LINK) 11 October 2025 2025

Smithsonian museums and National Zoo set to close as shutdown takes its toll (LINK) 11 October 2025

MIT turns down Trump's policies for preferred funding (LINK) 10 October 2025

U.S.gov: "Taking Action to Defend America from the UN's First Global Carbon Tax — the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) “Net-Zero Framework” (NZF) — United States Department of State" (LINK) 10 October 2025

— "The United States will not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the United States or harms the interests of the American people."

Stock market: Dow sinks 800 points, S&P 500 and Nasdaq see worst day since April as Trump's renewed tariff threats spook Wall Street (LINK) 10 October 2025

Trump announces 130% tariffs on China (LINK) 10 October 2025

— CNN: Trump's announcement is tied to Beijing ramping up export controls on its critical rare earths, which are needed to produce many electronics. As a result, Trump appeared to call off a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that was scheduled for later this month in South Korea.

Trump to visit Egypt and Israel Monday amid ceasefire deal in Middle East (LINK) 10 October 2025

— Trump told reporters he will visit Cairo while in Egypt, and he plans to speak at the Knesset. He indicated many other world leaders would be in attendance.

Trump says Israeli captives to be released from Gaza on Monday (LINK) 10 October 2025

Trump promised not to let Israel break Gaza ceasefire to get deal (LINK) 10 October 2025

Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado dedicates award to Trump (LINK) — ground.news: 156 media reports (LINK) 10 October 2025 2025

Trump loses Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan activist María Corina Machado (LINK) 10 October 2025

Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown (LINK) 10 October 2025 2025

— In a court filing, the budget office said well over 4,000 employees would be fired, though it noted that the funding situation was "fluid and rapidly evolving".

Burkina Faso refuses to take deportees as US stops issuing visas (LINK) 10 October 2025 2025

Scott Bessent's $20 billion lifeline for Argentina a bailout for 'his hedge fund buddies', Says Paul Krugman (LINK) 10 October 2025

Canada-based Dominion Voting sold to company run by ex-GOP election official (LINK) 9 October 2025

— Trump and his allies falsely accused Dominion of engaging in a plot to steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden. Dominion later sued Fox News, whose on-air personalities had echoed Trump's claims, for defamation. Fox settled the case in 2023, and paid Dominion $787.5 million. In August, Newsmax agreed to pay Dominion $67 million to settle a similar lawsuit. In August, Newsmax agreed to pay Dominion $67 million to settle a similar lawsuit.

'Sharpiegate' meteorologist, found to have violated the agency's code of ethics during the first Trump administration, is officially the head of NOAA (LINK) 9 October 2025

— Trump, then in his first term, insisted that Hurricane Dorian posed a threat to Alabama (it was not), eventually producing a map that appeared to have been altered with a Sharpie pen to prove his point. Jacobs was the acting administrator at NOAA at the time.

Elon Musk agrees to settle with fired Twitter execs over $128 million severance not paid since he bought what is now X in 2022 (LINK) 8 October 2025

— The executives, including former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde and former General Counsel Sean Edgett, sued in 2024 alleging Musk withheld severance payments as a form of "revenge" after he was forced to go through with the $44 billion acquisition deal, which he had tried to get out of.

Canada's Trilogy Metals shares soar over 200% after U.S. government takes stake in minerals explorer as part of a push to unlock domestic supplies of copper and other critical minerals in the Ambler mining district in Alaska (LINK) 7 October 2025

Trump administration threatens no back pay for federal workers in shutdown (LINK) 7 October 2025

Heather Cox Richardson: In 2019, during the last government shutdown, President Donald Trump signed a law designed to make it clear that furloughed workers would get paid — (LINK)

Shutdown costing US economy about $15B a week, about a tenth of a percent of GDP: National Economic Council Director Hassett (LINK) 6 October 2025

Amid Trump's threat of shutdown layoffs, more federal employees being brought back to work (LINK) 7 October 2025

— The General Services Administration on Monday brought hundreds of employees back to work to manage its governmentwide real estate portfolio, after rescinding reduction-in-force notices they had delivered months ago. Monday afternoon, the Senate, for a fifth time, failed to pass stopgap funding bills introduced by both Democrats and Republicans.

Trump ends Venezuela talks, military options loom, new report (LINK) 6 October 2025

Trump said he "will have to take a look at" a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell after the US Supreme Court rejected her appeal: "Haven't heard the name in so long" (LINK) 6 October 2025

AP: Trump says the US has secured $17 trillion in new investments. The real number is likely much less (LINK) 6 October 2025

— The White House website lists total investments at $8.8 trillion, though that figure appears to be padded with some investment commitments made during Joe Biden's presidency.

Supreme Court declines to hear Laura Loomer lawsuit against social media companies for taking her off their platforms (LINK) 6 October 2025

ACLU lawsuit says ICE is unlawfully punishing immigrants at a notorious Louisiana detention center (LINK) 6 October 2025

Trump authorizes National Guard in Chicago as judge temporarily blocks his plan to deploy federal troops in Portland (LINK) 5 October 2025

Israel strikes Gaza after Trump calls for stop to bombing. The attacks came after Hamas said it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on Trump's peace plan (LINK) 4 October 2025

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announce bombing of another boat in the Caribbean near Venezuela, claiming it was trafficking drugs. "Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no US forces were harmed in the operation." Critics say the strikes violate federal and international law (LINK) 3 October 2025

The shutdown meant no U.S. jobs report. Other reports suggest the labour market just plodded along in September. (LINK) 3 October 2025

U.S. U.S. Department of Homeland Security approves Florida for a $608 million 'Alligator Alcatraz' reimbursement (LINK) 3 October 2025

— The reimbursement process potentially exposes the state of Florida to being forced to unwind operations at the remote facility for a second time because of a federal judge’s injunction in August. The Miami judge agreed with environmental groups who had sued that the site wasn’t given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center and gave Florida two months to wind down operations.

Live-streaming journalist deported to El Salvador after months in ICE custody (LINK) 3 October 2025

Hegseth fires U.S. Navy secretary's chief of staff (LINK) 3 October 2025

FBI agent fired for refusing James Comey perp walk for media (LINK) 3 October 2025

Trump charts path to total control amid government shutdown (LINK) 3 October 2025

U.S. Supreme Court again allows Trump to strip protections from some 300,000 Venezuelan immigrants: justices disagreed with lower-court judges who said the administration broke the law (LINK) 3 October 2025

— Without detailed reasoning the Supreme Court noted that the situation surrounding the judge's ruling had not significantly changed since May, when a similar preliminary order was blocked. The immigrants had been granted legal safe-haven status in the United States due to worsening economic and political conditions in Venezuela, allowing them to live and work in the U.S.

Des Moines school district says it will pursue legal action against consulting firm after superintendent detained by ICE (LINK) 3 October 2025

Fox News: DHS reveals extensive criminal history of former Des Moines superintendent who was arrested, in US illegally: Homeland Security officials say Ian Roberts built a long criminal record while living in the U.S. illegally, with arrests for narcotics and firearms possession — (LINK)

U.S. Government shutdown continues as White House weighs "thousands" of layoffs (LINK) 2 October 2025

— Mr. Trump posted earlier Thursday that he met with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to "determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday the cuts could number in the thousands. That's unusual since federal workers are usually either sent home or told to work without pay during shutdowns, and aren't permanently laid off.

Trump asks 9 colleges to commit to his political agenda and get favorable access to federal money (LINK) 2 October 2025

Gov. Newsom says he'll 'instantly' cut funding at California colleges that sign Trump pact (LINK) 2 October 2025

Witkoff's son plans to tokenize Trump family real estate, including Trump Tower Dubai (LINK) 2 October 2025

Trump administration cancels nearly $8 billion in climate funding to blue states (LINK) 1 October 2025

FBI cuts ties with Anti-Defamation League amid conservative backlash over description of Charlie Kirk. (LINK) 1 October 2025

— In a brief statement, Patel singled out the ADL’s associations with former FBI Director James Comey, a strident critic of President Donald Trump who was indicted last week on charges of obstruction and lying to the US Congress. FBI Director Kash Patel made the announcement on Wednesday after prominent conservative influencers, including Elon Musk, pounced on the ADL's inclusion of the murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in its "Glossary of Extremism and Hate". Patel said Comey had written "love letters" to the ADL and embedded agents within the group, which he accused of running "disgraceful ops spying on Americans". Patel did not elaborate on, or provide evidence for, his claims.

US government shuts down after Democrats refuse to back Republican funding plan: First shutdown in nearly seven years as Republicans accused of 'risking America's healthcare' in spending bill (LINK) 1 October 2025

Former Des Moines superintendent who was detained by ICE federally charged with being an "illegal alien in possession of firearms". (LINK) 1 October 2025

Pope Leo XIV says 'inhuman treatment of immigrants' in the U.S. isn't 'pro-life' on 1 October in response to questions from reporters who gathered outside of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo (LINK) 2 October 2025

— "I would reject there is inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House on 2 September. "There was, however, significant, inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the previous administration as they were being trafficked and raped and beaten, in many cases killed over our United States southern border."