Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Back in April, President Donald Trump made his decadeslong view on tariffs the official policy of the United States by imposing sweeping levies on virtually all global trade partners.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will consider whether those tariffs are lawful and allowed to stand.

Trump is calling it the “most important” case before the court in its history.

As Supreme Court returns, major tests ahead for Trump’s presidential power
In a sign of his personal stake in the issue, Trump had talked about going to watch the arguments himself, which would have likely made him the first sitting U.S. president to do so. But he reversed course on Sunday, saying he didn’t want to cause a distraction by attending.

“No, I don’t think so, because I don’t want to call a lot of attention to me. It’s not about me, it’s about our country,” he said.

“I wanted to go so badly, I just don’t want to do anything to deflect the importance of that decision,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a weekend in Florida.

The president has painted the outcome as existential to the country’s future.

“Everybody uses tariffs on us. If I wasn’t allowed to use tariffs on them, we would be a third rate — we would be a third world nation,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.

Trump’s yearslong push for tariffs turned reality

When Trump unveiled his tariffs on April 2, a date he dubbed “Liberation Day” for the U.S., he described them as retribution for a grievance he’s held since the 1980s when he was a Manhattan real estate developer.

“I’ve been talking about it for 40 years because I saw what was happening 40 years ago,” Trump said.

“I’d be on a television show, I’d be talking about how we were being ripped off by these countries. I mean, nothing changes very much. The only thing that changed were the countries, but nothing really changes. It’s why it’s such an honor to be finally able to do this,” Trump added.

Trump that day declared trade deficits a national emergency as he hit nearly every country with a baseline 10% tariff rate and tougher, so-called “reciprocal” rates on countries he deemed as the worst trade offenders.

Since then, the administration says it has raked in billions of dollars in revenue and Trump has touted various deals with the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, South Korea and most recently China.

But the tariff rollout led to economic uncertainty and concerns of price increases for American businesses and consumers. One recent estimate from the Yale Budget Lab said tariffs will cost U.S. households $1,700 per year.

A new poll from ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos found more than 6 in 10 American disapprove of how Trump is handling tariffs and the economy overall.

Tariffs central to economic agenda, but Trump uses them for more

Trump said on “60 Minutes” that he believed the U.S. economy would “go to hell” if the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs, now the cornerstone of his entire economic agenda.

But he has used tariffs for leverage not just in trade negotiations but in a number of foreign policy matters.

Trump said the threat of tariffs helped him bring an end to international conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, India and Pakistan and more. He’s used them to pressure Mexico and China into pledging more action to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil over the country’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, a hard-line conservative who was convicted of trying to overthrow democracy.

Most Americans say country is on the wrong track, blame Trump for inflation: Poll
Trump relied on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose his tariffs, sidestepping Congress in the process. Trump on Sunday, during his “60 Minutes” interview, bemoaned it would take Congress too long to act if he didn’t have the power to impose tariffs himself.

“You want that power. You want that executive power,” CBS’s Norah O’Donnell asked Trump.

“You need it to ru– to protect our country. This is a national secure — tariffs are national security,” Trump said.

It’s the biggest– I think it’s one of the biggest decisions in the history of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(RICHMOND, Va.) — The Republican candidate has a familiar closing message in the Virginia gubernatorial race.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign spent millions of dollars on ads attacking Democratic nominee and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger for her stance on transgender rights in Virginia schools.

One ad claims Spanberger supports “men in girls’ locker rooms,” and closes with the notion that “Abigail Spanberger is for they/them, not us” — a direct echo of an ad the Trump campaign used against Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The incumbent Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, assumed office in 2022 and is ineligible to run for re-election.

The debate over trans rights also played a role in Youngkin’s 2021 campaign. Youngkin has rolled back accommodations for trans students and increased parental notification requirements during his time in office.

Nicole Neily, president and founder of the nonprofit Defending Education, said that the focus on this issue in Virginia began with Youngkin’s race, which he won by championing parental rights in Virginia schools.

Virginia GOP governor candidate called Trump a ‘liability’ ahead of 2024
“This is an issue that has been on the radar of parents across Virginia,” Neily told ABC News. However, she added that in this particular race, she “can’t see this flipping the election by any stretch.”

Throughout the race, Earle-Sears has continued the Youngkin administration’s focus on the issue, she told ABC News in a statement.

“We see it’s about $30 million worth of attack ads against me related to trans youth,” the Democrat told Katie Couric in an interview last week. “There’s a real effort to engage in some level of fearmongering.”

Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

“I do find it really objectionable that there would be kids who turn on the television and as in an effort to attack me, see images of themselves sort of reflected as a villain,” Spanberger added. “I really do believe that a lot of these choices, whether it’s sports participation or bathroom usage, needs to be made at the very local level with parents and teachers and administrators and not necessarily dictated — certainly not by the federal government — or the state government.”

In a recent ad her campaign released that appeared to be in response to the Earle-Sears team’s ones, Spanberger spoke to this directly.

“I believe we need to get politics out of our schools and trust parents and local communities,” she said.

Spanberger has maintained her lead against Earle-Sears, as Virginians cite issues like inflation and threats to democracy as some of their biggest concerns in the election, according to a recent poll from Christopher Newport University.

Furthermore, Virginia is home to over 300,000 federal workers, who have likely been affected by the actions taken by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and the current government shutdown.

Virginia-based Republican strategist Tucker Martin believes that beyond Earle-Sears’ closing strategy, the current political environment in Virginia meant that her campaign for governor was “uphill from the start.”

“Any Republican who is going to be the Republican nominee for governor in this cycle — with Trump back in the White House in a state that he’s lost three straight times by significant margins — was going to be in big trouble,” Martin told ABC News.

Could the federal layoffs impact the Virginia governor race?
Martin doesn’t think Earle-Sears’ focus on trans rights has resonated “at all” among voters.

“Transgender issues just aren’t top of mind for Virginians right now,” he said.

“What works well in Florida or Wisconsin may not work well in Virginia or New Jersey,” Martin added, invoking another hotly contested gubernatorial race this year. However, Martin said that it could prove to be a “powerful issue” in “competitive congressional races.”

With the 2026 midterms fast-approaching, and Republicans seeking to maintain their control of both chambers of Congress and Democrats hoping to flip some seats, the political salience of culture war debates like this one is something that both parties will be paying attention to.

“Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors,” DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton told ABC News in a statement.

“Rather than getting involved in personal matters, House Republicans should perhaps spend their time expanding the middle class, lowering costs, and protecting freedoms,” Shelton’s statement continued. “That’s certainly what House Democrats are focused on — and it’s why we’ll win in 2026.”

Spanberger has been able to avoid addressing the debate head-on in this race, often pointing to her experience investigating child predators as a federal law enforcement officer and her belief that such decisions should be left up to local communities.

According to Martin, this question is something that Democrats like Spanberger will need to shore up their stances on in upcoming elections in other states or districts.

“I wouldn’t say the Spanberger campaign has handled it well, but what they have going for them is it’s just not an issue in Virginia that voters are particularly concerned about,” Martin said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has committed to partially funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with a $4.65 billion payment — but using emergency funds to pay for reduced SNAP benefits could take “a few weeks to up to several months,” a top USDA official told a federal judge in a sworn court filing Monday.

The disclosure comes after a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds to pay for SNAP amid an ongoing government shutdown by Wednesday. Following the court order on Friday, Trump said it would be his “honor” to fund the food assistance program.

In addition to the delay, the Trump administration also said it was $4 billion short of the expected $8 billion cost to fund SNAP for the month of November, in part because they are declining to tap an additional bucket of emergency funds held by the USDA.  

Trump says he has asked court to ‘clarify’ SNAP ruling with funding set to lapse
“Defendants have worked diligently to comply with the Court’s order on the short timeline provided by the Court and during a government shutdown,” DOJ lawyers wrote in a filing on Monday.

“I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,” Trump posted on social media late Friday. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.”

The $4.65 billion in funding will cover half of the households relying on the food assistance program, according to a declaration from Patrick Penn, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services.

That payment will completely expend SNAP’s contingency funding, according to Penn.

“This means that no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely,” he said.

While the Trump administration could use additional funds from tariff revenue, known as Section 32, Penn said the government declined to do so to save the money for child nutrition programs.

“Amid this no-win quandary and upon further consideration following the Courts’ orders, USDA has determined that creating a shortfall in Child Nutrition Program funds to fund one month of SNAP benefits is an unacceptable risk, even considering the procedural difficulties with delivering a partial November SNAP payment, because shifting $4 billion dollars to America’s SNAP population merely shifts the problem to millions of America’s low income children that receive their meals at school,” Penn said.

Beyond the budget shortfall, Penn warned that distributing the reduced benefits could take weeks or months because of “procedural difficulties.”

“There are procedural difficulties that States will likely experience which would affect November SNAP benefits reaching households in a timely manner and in the correctly reduced amounts,” he wrote. “There are procedural difficulties that States will likely experience which would affect November SNAP benefits reaching households in a timely manner and in the correctly reduced amounts.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — From New York and New Jersey to California, millions of Americans are voting this fall in multiple states, in several notable local and statewide elections for the first time since last November’s presidential race.

The results from Tuesday’s off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia — and the New York City mayor’s race — will give voters an opportunity to weigh in on the state of the country and their communities.

ABC News has launched a series of stories and reports across multiple platforms to comprehensively cover the issues at the center of this year’s elections and look ahead at the 2026 midterms.

Tuesday’s elections could hold clues to how Americans view this pivotal moment in the country, and reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position one year away from the consequential 2026 midterm elections.  

And in California, where Democrats have asked voters to approve redrawing the state’s congressional map as part of a national redistricting battle, the results will help shape next year’s fight for the balance of power in Washington and control of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The stakes are high for both parties: A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, found that two-thirds of Americans say that the country is “pretty seriously off on the wrong track,” compared to one-third who say it is moving in the right direction.

That figure, while lower than the 75% of Americans who said the same at the same time last year, comes as 6-in-10 Americans blame President Donald Trump for the current rate of inflation.

More than 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, management of the federal government and tariffs — and 64% said he is going “too far” in trying to expand presidential power.

At the same time, 68% of Americans say the Democratic Party is “out of touch with the concerns of most people in the United States today,” compared to 63% who feel the same way about Trump, and 61% who say the Republican Party is out of touch.

Voters will weigh in on the state of the country this fall as the federal government remains shut down, with Democrats locked in a battle with Republicans and the Trump administration over federal spending and health care.

Americans blame both parties for the logjam that is jeopardizing some federal programs and frozen pay for hundreds of thousands of government workers. The message some voters send this week could potentially break the impasse, and jump start talks to reopen the government.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As the negative impacts of the 33-day government shutdown compound, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday he doesn’t see the present funding impasse in terms of politics, insisting what Democrats are “focused on is the American people.”

Asked by ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz what Democrats have gained since the shutdown began, Kaine said, “Well, I don’t look at this as politics.”

“I mean, the president told the House, do a budget and, in his words, don’t deal with Democrats. So, Senate Democrats put an alternative on the table 12 days before Sept. 30 that fixed the health care wreckage that the Republicans caused and that ensured that a deal would be honored, both by Congress and the White House. The president refused to meet until the day before the deadline,” Kaine continued. “The guy’s unserious.”

Raddatz followed up to press Kaine: “Not talking about politics. What have Democrats gained during this period? And how long can this last?”

“I’m a United States senator,” Kaine said. “And I — yes, I run as a Democrat, and I’m a Democrat, but I just don’t approach my work that way. So, when you ask what Democrats have gained, what we’re — what we’re focused on is the American people. We want President Trump to stop firing people, canceling economic development projects. We want them to stop raising everybody’s costs.”

Kaine said Democrats want Trump to “simply sit down” and negotiate a “budget deal that puts us on a path to a health care fix.”

As the shutdown drags on, neither side has moved much from their initial stances. The Democrats continue to insist on health care priorities, including an extension of expiring tax credits for millions of Americans who get health insurance via the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans and White House continue to insist the only viable option is to pass the short-term funding bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21 and has failed to pass 13 times in the Senate.

‘We will delay, we will cancel’ flights to make sure people are safe: Duffy on ATC issues
Americans are now learning just how much their health care premiums would increase next year if these tax credits aren’t extended. But the consequences of the shutdown are also becoming more apparent: air traffic controllers are increasingly calling out sick leading to delays and ground stops, and the critical SNAP food assistance program is now in limbo after a judge ruled the administration must continue to fund the program, despite the administration claiming it legally cannot.

Here are more highlights from Kaine’s interview:

Kaine refutes GOP claims that Democrats are trying to give health care to “illegal immigrants”
Raddatz: I know you heard Secretary [Sean] Duffy [who appeared earlier on the show] talking about the onus is on the Democrats and that you are fighting to get illegal health care for immigrants.

Kaine: That’s a lie. The health care battle is not about health care for illegal immigrants and Sean Duffy knows it. It’s about millions of Americans who, in the last few weeks, have gotten premium increase notices that tell them that Donald Trump’s big, beautiful bill is delivering them big, ugly health insurance bills within the next few weeks unless we can find a fix.

On reports bipartisan rank and file senators are meeting to try to end shutdown

Raddatz: There are reportedly conversations among rank and file senators to try to reach — to negotiate the reopening of the government for a few weeks. Is that going on right now? Are you part of those discussions?

Kaine: I would say, Martha, I’m sort of at the edge of them. There is a group of people talking about these two issues, a path to fix the health care debacle and a guarantee that if we reopen government, I’m calling it a moratorium on mischief. If we agree to reopen, President Trump’s got to stop the firings.

The FAA, we’re talking air traffic control, they’ve forced 2,400 people out of the FAA during Trump’s first year when they were already short 3,000 air traffic controllers. Stop the firings, stop the game-playing, stop going after blue cities and helping red cities. Let’s have a moratorium on mischief during whatever this period is. Get on a path to fix people’s health care. If the president engages, we will be — we will find a deal I think within hours.

On Virginia Democrats’ chances in Tuesday’s governor election

Kaine: I feel really good about it, Martha. And here’s why. In Virginia, we are the best red to blue turnaround in the country in the last 25 years. And the way we’ve done it is by focusing on the economy. Abigail Spanberger, our candidate, three pillars to her campaign: affordability, jobs, and education, which is about kids, but also about our workforce. Her opponent is running ads on offbeat cultural issues that don’t really matter to most people. In Virginia, Democrats focus on the economy, winning the economic arguments, delivering economic results. And that’s why the state has moved from red to blue so dramatically since 2000.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Beginning Saturday,  some 42 million low-income Americans, including 16 million children, lost access to benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown continues.

The Department of Agriculture has said that funding for this month’s benefits, which it says comes to about $9.5 billion, has run dry. 

A federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily ordered the Trump administration on Friday to continue SNAP funding, following a lawsuit by several states. Another judge in Boston ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to suspend SNAP funding is “unlawful,” but declined to immediately order that the program be funded. 

Trump said Friday that his administration’s lawyers are not sure they have the legal authority to pay for SNAP during the government shutdown and said he has asked for clarity from the courts in the wake of two recent decisions.

“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” Trump said in a social media post.

The administration has used funds for other services to fund military pay during the shutdown.

SNAP has traditionally been entirely federally funded, but is administered by states. That means the shutdown’s impact on SNAP and when benefits will start to become unavailable will vary by state. 

Some states have initiated their own contingency plans, using their own funding in most cases, to keep their SNAPs running.

Here is a list of what states have announced so far:

Arizona
On Oct. 29, Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the state would be deploying $1.8 million in funds to offset the loss of SNAP.

Of that money, 1.5 million, she said, “will be allocated to food banks across the state to fill gaps for SNAP households seeking food,” while the remainder will be used by  Food Bucks Now, an emergency fresh food program that provides vouchers for vegetables and produce.

California
The state allocated $80 million to food banks across the state, according to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Colorado
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis sent a request last week to the state legislature to approve “$10 million in General Fund revenue to support food banks and pantries, and another to extend previously approved funding for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition access through November.”

Connecticut
Three million dollars in emergency funding was given to  Connecticut Foodshare, a nonprofit that helps food banks in the state, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said on Oct. 27.

Delaware
Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer declared a state of emergency on Oct. 29 that “ordered that funds be identified and transferred to the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) for the continuation of SNAP payments.”

Payments will be made weekly.

Hawaii
On Oct. 29, the state has launched the Hawaiʻi Relief Program which will provide “up to four months of TANF support for housing and utility payments for eligible families who have at least one dependent child in their household and are in financial crisis or have an episode of need.”

Residents who are not SNAP beneficiaries can apply, according to Gov. Josh Green.

The state also donated $2 million to food banks.

Illinois
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order on Oct. 30 that allocated $25 million in state funding to food banks.

Iowa
The state was ordered by Gov. Kim Reynolds to match up to $1 million in donations to the state’s food banks.

Louisiana
Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency on Oct. 24 and ordered the state legislature to authorize stabilization funds to help residents in need.

As of Oct 31, the legislature has not given the authorization.

Maine
One million dollars from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’s office will be sent to food banks.

Maryland
Gov. Wes Moore issued a state of emergency on Oct. 30 and allocated $10 million to food banks

Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance program, which provides food assistance, received an additional $4 million in state funding, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced Thursday.

Minnesota
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced on Oct. 27 that he had allocated $4 million to food banks.

Missouri
Five million dollars from the state has been delivered to food banks, Democratic Gov. Mike Kehoe said Oct. 29.

An additional $10.6 million fund transfer was sent to Missouri Area Agencies on Aging for programs to feed seniors.

New Mexico
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Oct. 29 that the state would  distribute $30 million in state-funded food benefits onto existing EBT cards for eligible New Mexicans.

New York
A state of emergency was declared on Oct. 30 by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The governor announced that the state would provide $40 million in new funding for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides emergency food relief, and $25 million to Nourish N.Y., which supplies surplus agricultural products to food banks.

North Carolina
The state will offer $10 million to state food banks, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said on Oct. 30. An additional $8 million will be funded by private organizations and charities in partnership with the state, the governor said.

North Dakota
Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong announced on Oct. 30 that he allocated $915,000 of state funds to food banks and $600,000 for the state’s (WIC) program.

Ohio
Twenty-five million in state funding will be used to offset SNAP losses, GOP Gov. Mike DeWine said after he signed an executive order on Oct. 30.

As part of the order, as much as $18 million in emergency relief benefits will be given to Ohio residents who are at or below 50% of the federal poverty level. Seven million dollars will also be donated to food banks.

Oregon
Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek declared a food emergency on Oct. 29 that will be in effect in November and December.

Kotek ordered that “$5 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) carryover funds,” be sent to food banks.

“TANF carryover is unspent federal TANF funding from prior years that remains available until used,” the governor’s office said in a news release.

Rhode Island
A state of emergency was issued by Democratic Gov. Dan McGee on Oct. 28 and he allocated $6 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to 20,000 eligible families.

He also allocated “$200,000 of Social Services Block Grant funding to enhance capacity at the RI Community Food Bank,” according to the governor’s office.

Virginia
GOP Gov. Glen Youngkin issued a state of emergency and launched the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) initiative.

The program will provide residents with state funds weekly to be used in lieu of SNAP through November. A million dollars will also be allocated to food banks.

Washington
The state will provide $2.2 million per week to food banks across Washington until SNAP funding is restored, according to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson.

West Virginia
Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced on Oct. 28 that the state would be supporting a food drive and match up to $13 million in donations to food banks.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday defended comments about his faith and marriage after critics accused him of throwing his wife’s Hindu religion “under a bus” during a Turning Point USA event earlier in the week.

Vance responded to a user on X who referenced the comments the vice president, who was raised Protestant but converted to Catholicism in 2019, on Wednesday. Vance spoke to the crowd about his faith and how it relates to his relationship with Usha Vance, who was raised Hindu.

“For us, it works out now most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church, as I’ve told her, and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends, do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church. Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way. But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me,” the vice president said.

The comments have been met with extensive criticism.

“It’s weird to throw your wife’s religion under the bus, in public, for a moment’s acceptance by groypers,” the X user posted on Thursday.

Vance responded to and reposted to the comment, which he called “disgusting” and said he was being open when people were curious about his faith and family life.

“My Christian faith tells me the Gospel is true and is good for human beings. My wife — as I said at the TPUSA — is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago. She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage — or any interfaith relationship — I hope she may one day see things as I do. Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife,” he said.

The X post was deleted after Vance reshared it and made his response.

Vance argued the post was “anti-Christian bigotry.”

“Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have many consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with other people. That is a completely normal thing, and anyone who’s telling you otherwise has an agenda,” he contended.

The Vances were married in an interfaith Christian-Hindu ceremony in 2014 and he has talked openly about their interfaith relationship.

During an interview with the New York Times last year, JD Vance said his wife has been supportive of his faith and has attended church with their three children.

“No, she hasn’t,” the vice president told the Times when asked if Usha Vance had converted to Christianity.

“That’s why I feel bad about it. She’s got three kids. Obviously, I help with the kids, but because I’m kind of the one going to church, she feels more responsibility to keep the kids quiet in the church. And I just felt kind of bad. Like, oh, you didn’t sign up to marry a weekly churchgoer. Are you OK with this? And she was more than OK with it, and that was a big part of the confirmation that this was the right thing for me,” he added.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Friday denied reports that he’s made a decision to strike inside Venezuela.

“There are reports that you are considering strikes within Venezuela. Is that true?” a reporter asked the president on Air Force One as he traveled to Florida for the weekend.

“No,” Trump said.

The Miami Herald reported on Friday that the administration had made a decision to attack Venezuelan military installations and that it could happen imminently.

The reporter followed up by asking him, “Have you made a decision on that?”

“No, it’s not true,” Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump isn’t just remaking the East Wing of the White House. On Friday, he showed off an entirely renovated Lincoln Bathroom on his social media platform.

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House,” Trump wrote on Truth Social alongside photos of the before and after. “It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”

He continued, “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Thursday marks the 30th day of the federal government shutdown and the American public has grown more concerned about the shutdown throughout the month and more disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the federal government, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.

More Americans blame Trump and the Republicans in Congress than the Democrats for the shutdown, the poll finds.

Three-quarters of Americans say they are concerned about the government shutdown, up from two-thirds who said the same on the first day of the shutdown in a Washington Post poll. Now, 43% of Americans say that they are “very” concerned about the shutdown, up from 25% on Oct. 1.

Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 33% say congressional Democrats are responsible and another 22% are not sure. That is barely a shift from the Post’s poll on Oct. 1 when 47% blamed Trump and Republicans, 30% blamed Democrats and 23% were unsure at the onset of the shutdown.

Democrats are more united, saying that Trump and Republicans are to blame for the shutdown (81%) than Republicans saying Democrats are to blame (72%). Twice as many independents say Trump and Republicans are responsible (46%) than Democrats (23%).

Majorities across partisan lines say they are concerned about the shutdown: Nearly nine in 10 Democrats along with over seven in 10 independents and over six in 10 Republicans are concerned about the shutdown, but more Democrats say they are “very” concerned (62%) than independents (43%) or Republicans (26%).

Concern over the shutdown is higher among women, with 81% voicing concern, compared with 68% of men.

And a growing share of Americans disapprove of how Trump is managing the federal government. In all, 63% disapprove today, up from 57% in April and 54% in February. Just over a third (36%) approve in the most recent poll.

The ABC/Post/Ipsos poll asked Americans to explain why they think either Trump and Republicans or Democrats are to blame for the federal government shutting down. Here are some of their written responses:

“They won’t budge on the concerns of healthcare premiums skyrocketing for all Americans. He is not for all Americans, only his interests matter,” said a 65-year-old Democratic woman in Wisconsin.

“They seem more interested in keeping power than working for the country’s benefit,” said a 78-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in Oregon.

“They control all of the portions of the federal government,” said a 45-year-old Democratic man in Tennessee.

“Trump is the president and the Republicans hold the majority. Not only that, Speaker Johnson let out the House on vacation, and Trump/Republicans won’t even try to work with Democrats on the loss of healthcare funding that is going to hurt millions of people,” said a 34-year-old Democratic woman in Minnesota.

“Trump said it himself a few years ago that it’s the President’s job to bring the 2 sides together,” said a 59-year-old Democratic-leaning independent woman in Pennsylvania.

“President Trump and the Maga GOP are refusing to negotiate over the Affordable Care Act expiration regardless of the negative impact on many of their supporters and they have no alternative plans for keeping the cost of healthcare from rising,” said a 69-year-old Democratic woman in Virginia.

“The Republicans control Congress. They won’t negotiate. Of course they’re responsible. We cannot take healthcare away from millions of Americans,” said a 40-year-old Democratic woman in Iowa.

“They refuse to negotiate in good faith,” said a 78-year-old Democratic-leaning independent man in Ohio.

Among those blaming Democrats:

“They want healthcare for illegal immigrants to be paid for out of my pocket. Not right,” said a 78-year-old Republican woman in Oregon.

“Because they will not budge,” said a 37-year-old Republican-leaning independent woman in Arizona.

“They want to negotiate subsidies on health care, but they do not want to conduct the negotiation within the relevant House and Senate committees. They are holding all of the government hostage over one issue,” said a 78-year-old Republican man in South Carolina.

“They voted down the continuation resolutions multiple times,” said a 56-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in Nebraska.

“The Democrats are the ones who will not budge on coming to an agreement,” said a 43-year-old independent woman in Texas.

“The Democrats have supported the items in the continuing resolution and are demanding things that continue to build the debt,” said a 69-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in California.

“Republicans offered and passed a clean bill with no Republican additions and Democrats continually vote no,” said a 76-year-old Republican man in Texas.

Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.