Stephen Miller may have just accidentally confirmed that he, not President Donald Trump, is the one calling the shots in regard to deportation raids and National Guard deployments.

“Illinois governor says we’re provoking actions that are unlawful,” Miller said on CNN on Monday. “Why would the mere presence—just think about this for a second. If I put federal law enforcement and National Guard into a nice sleepy Southern town, is anyone gonna riot?”

Miller’s use of the first person is alarming here, suggesting that he—an unelected deputy chief of staff—has either the complete authority or an outsize influence on the administration’s most authoritarian decisions.

“Miller says quiet part out loud,” one user wrote on X. “He determines where to put ICE, CBP & other federal agencies, but he is also doing the same for various National Guards. An unelected staffer making these decisions, where is the president? Both Miller and Vought are running this admin.”

Additionally, Miller misrepresents small Southern towns and the actions of the National Guard. If hundreds of armed military members descended on some remote Southern locale and started violently rounding up neighbors, employees, and friends, I’d be willing to bet that it wouldn’t go so peacefully.

Miller made the remarks in the same interview where he claimed Trump has “plenary authority,” after being asked whether the administration would abide by court rulings blocking his deployment of troops to American cities.

https://newrepublic.com/post/201663/stephen-miller-says-i-trump-powers-national-guard

The White House slammed the Nobel committee on Friday for playing “politics” with its prestigious peace prize after President Donald Trump lobbied heavily for the honor — only to see it awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The committee said it was honoring her “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Her victory came as the Trump administration has repeatedly targeted vessels off Venezuela’s coast, claiming they were “drug ships,” escalating its campaign against Venezuela’s drug cartels.

The White House was bitter in its response to Friday’s award announcement. President Trump “has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on social media. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” he added. Trump campaigned heavily for the prize, repeatedly boasting he had ended “seven wars” and reposting tributes on social media. But he tried to downplay expectations on Thursday, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “They’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that. I did it because I saved a lot of lives.” When asked about the pressure from Trump’s allies to give the president the award, Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes told reporters on Friday: “We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace.” He added that the award is based on “courage and integrity, so we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

>https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article312451909.html

https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-federal-worker-firings-0439e8d0979d9a32e021c5c851fea1cf
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started, an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown dragged into a 10th day.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.

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.”

The firings would hit the hardest at the departments of the Treasury, which would lose over 1,400 employees, and Health and Human Services, with a loss of over 1,100. The Education Department and Housing and Urban Development each would lose over 400 staffers. The departments of Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency were all set to fire hundreds of more employees. It was not clear which particular programs would be affected.

The aggressive move by Trump’s budget office goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown and escalates an already politically toxic dynamic between the White House and Congress. Talks to end the shutdown are almost nonexistent.

Typically, federal workers are furloughed but restored to their jobs once the shutdown ends, traditionally with back pay. Some 750,000 employees are expected to be furloughed during the shutdown, officials have said.

In comments to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday night, Trump said many people would be losing their jobs, and that the firings would be focused on Democrat-oriented areas, though he didn’t explain exactly what that meant.

https://www.dw.com/en/trump-says-he-will-impose-additional-100-tariffs-on-china/a-74315664
US President Donald Trump has announced new 100% tariffs on all Chinese goods, in addition to already existing tariffs on Beijing, after China placed export controls on rare earths.

The US president claimed the tariffs, which will go into effect on November 1 "or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China" were reciprocal.

Trump plans to impose export controls on "any and all critical software."

"It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

"It is absolutely unheard of in international trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations".

Trump then announced the new punitive measures in retaliation. The new 100% tariffs come on top of 30% US duties which were already in place on Chinese imports, summing up to a whopping 130% tariff rate on Chinese goods.

The new tariffs threaten to restart a trade war first launched earlier this year shortly after Trump took office, with both nations exchanging exponentially high tariffs which were later paused after several rounds of negotiations.

Earlier on Friday, Trump threatened to cancel a meeting planned with Chinese President Xi Jinping in nearly three weeks in South Korea.

The US president had said there was no reason to hold the meeting after China announced its dramatic expansion of its rare earth element export controls.

On Friday evening however, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he has not cancelled the meeting.

Beijing dominates the market for rare earths, which are essential for tech manufacturing.

Day 10 of making a thread every day until Democrats allow the US government to re-open

Day 10 Updates:
- Vought begins layoffs, workers receive 60 day notice https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-live-updates-as-military-poised-to-miss-first-paychecks-next-week/
- Agencies impacted by layoffs include dept. of education, health and human services, cisa, and the treasury https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/oct/10/letitia-james-donald-trump-us-politics-live-news-updates
- Congress will not vote on new issues until the Democrats re-open the government https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-johnson-house-gop-leadership-hold-news-briefing-on-shutdown-as-deadlock-continues

At the heart of the standoff is Democratic Party demands that Republicans agree to an additional $700bn in spending by restoring cuts to healthcare that were enacted over the summer and make permanent the expiring temporary COVID emergency health care credits enacted in 2023 that are due to expire Jan 1, 2026.

https://time.com/7324968/qatar-idaho-air-force-facility-hegseth-trump/
A new Qatari air force facility will be built in Idaho, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday.

“Today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho,” Hegseth told reporters. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

Hegseth said that the facility would host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details about the arrangement.

The announcement came as Hegseth thanked Qatar for its role in peace talks between Israel and Hamas. Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, helped mediate the cease-fire negotiations that were held in Egypt this week. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a cease-fire deal.

“No one other than President Trump could have achieved the peace—what we believe will be a lasting peace—in Gaza, and Qatar played a substantial role from the beginning, working with our folks to make sure that came about,” Hegseth said on Friday.

By Friday, Israel pulled its troops back to agreed positions in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has 72 hours to release the remaining 48 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are thought to still be alive, under the terms of the deal.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89d4zw8704o
Nineteen people are missing after a blast at a military explosives manufacturing facility in Tennessee on Friday.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said four or five people were taken to a nearby hospital after the enormous explosion that levelled a factory, and that several are deceased.

"There's nothing to describe, it's gone," he said.

The plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee - roughly 56 miles (90km) south west of Nashville - specialises in the development, manufacture, handling and storage of explosives. The cause of the blast remains unclear.

Aerial video from the scene showed charred debris, smouldering vehicles and little remaining of the facility, which is owned by Accurate Energetic Systems.

Sheriff Davis, who was visibly emotional during his first media briefing of the day, declined to say exactly how many people died.

But he noted that the plant had been up and running when the explosion happened and that secondary blasts forced first responders to keep their distance from the site.

Workers who had just started their day "now may be missing or deceased".

"A lot of times, when I have these types of situations, I refer to them more than just a person...we're missing 19 souls," Davis said.

During a second briefing hours later, Davis confirmed that 19 people were still unaccounted for and that the explosion happened in a large building. It flung debris across a half square mile, he added.

"This was a massive enough explosion that I can tell you that folks in Waverly felt and heard this explosion," he said, referring to a town about 15.5 miles (25km) north west of the facility.

Davis declined to answer whether he believed the explosion was accidental or intentional, saying that "we have to make the worst assumption in order to find the truth".

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in a social media post said his office was monitoring the ongoing situation, and referred to it as a "tragic incident".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62lp7yd1jeo
Afghanistan's Taliban government has accused Pakistan of violating Kabul's "sovereign territory", describing it as an "unprecedented, violent, and provocative act".
The allegation comes after two loud blasts were heard in the city late on Thursday.

Pakistan had also bombed a civilian market in the border province of Patika, in Afghanistan's south-east, the Taliban Defence Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied that they launched an attack inside Afghanistan.
However, during a press conference held in the city of Peshawar on Friday, a top general alleged Afghanistan was being used as a "base of operation for terrorism against Pakistan".
"To safeguard Pakistani lives and properties, what measures need to be taken will be taken," General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry added.

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistan Taliban, also known as the TTP, to operate from their land. The Taliban government have always denied this.

Rumours had circulated that the blasts in Kabul were part of a targeted attack on the TTP's leader, Noor Wali Mehsud.
In response, the TTP released an unverified voice note from Mehsud saying he was still alive.

Exactly what happened is unclear; BBC Afghan's correspondent saw no signs of an explosion in the suspected location of the blasts on Friday, but did report a heavy Taliban presence and mobile checkpoints.
The Taliban Defence Ministry warned in its statement that, should the situation become worse, "the consequences will be attributable to the Pakistani army".
However, the Taliban's foreign minister - who is currently in the Indian capital Delhi - said they wanted to maintain good relations with Pakistan.
"Pakistan should not repeat this mistake," Amir Khan Muttaqi told a select group of 16 male journalists from Indian media. "Our issues can be solved by negotiation not by war."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-ag-letitia-james-indicted-in-virginia-after-investigation-by-trumps-doj/

A grand jury indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, according to the clerk of court in the Eastern District of Virginia, marking the second Trump foe to face federal prosecution in recent weeks.

The indictment came exactly two weeks after a grand jury in the same Virginia courthouse voted to indict former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying to Congress.

Last month, Mr. Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Comey, James and a third longtime Trump antagonist, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

James has drawn Mr. Trump's ire for years. Her office sued the president and the Trump Organization for fraud in 2022, leading a judge to issue a nine-figure judgment against the company. Mr. Trump has referred to James as "scum," "corrupt" and "racist."

CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department and James' office for comment.

The charges against James are unclear. In May, CBS News reported that the Justice Department had launched a criminal probe into James around alleged mortgage fraud. Three months later, the Justice Department expanded its investigation into James for her office's handling of its Trump Organization probe.