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WASHINGTON — Elections this week that energized Democrats and angered President Trump have cast a chill over efforts to end the record-breaking government shutdown, raising fresh doubts about the possibility of a breakthrough despite the punishing toll of federal closures on the country.

Trump has increased pressure on Senate Republicans to end the shutdown — now at 37 days, the longest in U.S. history — calling it a “big factor, negative” in the poor GOP showings across the country. Democrats saw Trump’s comments as a reason to hold firm, believing his involvement in talks could lead to a deal on extending health care subsidies, a key sticking point to win their support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune opened what’s seen as a pivotal day in efforts to end the government shutdown by saying the next step hinges on a response from Democrats to an offer on the table.

“It’s in their court. It’s up to them,” Thune told reporters Thursday.

But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer held firm in opening remarks Thursday, saying voters “fired a political torpedo at Trump and Republicans” in Tuesday’s election.

“Donald Trump clearly is feeling pressure to bring this shutdown to an end. Well, I have good news for the president: Meet with Democrats, reopen the government,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Trump is refusing to meet with Democrats, insisting they must open the government first. But complicating the GOP’s strategy, Trump is increasingly fixated instead on pushing Republicans to scrap the Senate filibuster to speed reopening — a step many GOP senators reject out of hand. He kept up the pressure in a video Wednesday, saying the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to pass legislation should be “terminated.”

“This is much bigger than the shutdown,” Trump said. “This is the survival of our country.”

Senate Democrats face pressures of their own, both from unions eager for the shutdown to end and from allied groups that want them to hold firm. Many see the Democrats’ decisive gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey as validation of their strategy to hold the government closed until expiring health care subsidies are addressed.

“It would be very strange for the American people to have weighed in, in support of Democrats standing up and fighting for them, and within days for us to surrender without having achieved any of the things that we’ve been fighting for,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Meanwhile, talks grind on, but the shutdown’s toll deepens. On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced plans to reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 high-volume markets beginning Friday to maintain safety amid staffing shortages. Millions of people have already been affected by halted government programs and missed federal paychecks — with more expected as another round of paydays approaches next week.

Progressives see election wins as reason to fight

Grassroots Democratic groups nationwide touted Tuesday’s election results as voter approval of the shutdown strategy — and warned lawmakers against cutting a deal too soon.

“Moderate Senate Democrats who are looking for an off-ramp right now are completely missing the moment,” said Katie Bethell, political director of MoveOn, a progressive group. “Voters have sent a resounding message: We want leaders who fight for us, and we want solutions that make life more affordable.”

Some Senate Democrats echoed that sentiment. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats and a leading voice in the progressive movement, said Democrats “have got to remain strong” and should secure assurances on extending health care subsidies — including “a commitment from the speaker of the House that he will support the legislation and that the president will sign.”

Still, how firmly the party remains dug in remains to be seen. Some Democrats have been working with Republicans to find a way out of the standoff, and they held firm after the election that it had not impacted their approach.

“I don’t feel that the elections changed where I was,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. “I still feel I want to get out of the shutdown.”

Some Republicans also shared in Trump’s concerns that the shutdown is becoming a drag on the party.

“Polls show that most voters blame Republicans more than Democrats,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican. “That’s understandable given who controls the levers of power.”

Trump sets another shutdown record

While some Democrats saw Trump’s comments on the shutdown Wednesday as evidence he’d soon get more involved, he’s largely stayed out of the fray. Instead, the talks have intensified among a loose coalition of centrist senators trying to negotiate an end to the shutdown.

Trump has refused to negotiate with Democrats over their demands to salvage expiring health insurance subsidies until they agree to reopen the government. But skeptical Democrats question whether the Republican president will keep his word, particularly after his administration restricted SNAP food aid despite court orders to ensure funds are available to prevent hunger.

Trump’s approach to the shutdown stands in marked contrast to his first term, when the government was partially closed for 35 days over his demands for money to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall. At that time, he met publicly and negotiated with congressional leaders. Unable to secure the money, he relented in 2019.

This time, it’s not just Trump declining to engage in talks. The congressional leaders are at a standoff, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home in September after they approved their own funding bill, refusing further negotiations.

Johnson dismissed the party’s election losses and said he’s looking forward to a midterm election in 2026 that’ll more reflect Trump’s tenure.

In the meantime, food aid, child care money and countless other government services are being seriously interrupted. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or are expected to work without pay.

Senators search for potential deal

Central to any resolution will be a series of agreements that would need to be upheld not only by the Senate but also by the House and the White House, which is not at all certain in Washington.

Asked if the House would guarantee a vote on extending health care subsidies if the Senate struck a deal, Johnson said Thursday, “I’m not promising anybody anything.”

Senators from both major parties, particularly the members of the powerful Appropriations Committee, are pushing to ensure the normal government funding process in Congress can be put back on track. Among the goals is guaranteeing upcoming votes on a smaller package of bills to fund various aspects of government such as agricultural programs and military construction projects at bases.

More difficult, a substantial number of senators also want some resolution to the standoff over the funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.

With insurance premium notices being sent, millions of people are experiencing sticker shock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of enhanced federal subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave many people unable to buy health insurance.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has promised Democrats at least a vote on their preferred health care proposal, on a date certain, as part of any deal to reopen government. But that’s not enough for some senators, who see the health care deadlock as part of their broader concerns with Trump’s direction for the country.

Cappelletti, Mascaro and Jalonick write for the Associated Press.

GYEONGJU, South Korea, Oct. 30 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump departed from South Korea on Thursday after a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that lowered the temperature on a simmering trade war with agreements on rare earth minerals, fentanyl, soybeans and tariffs.

The two leaders met for the first time since 2019 at Gimhae Air Base in the southeastern city of Busan, shortly after Xi arrived in the country for a three-day state visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Speaking to reporters on his way back to Washington aboard Air Force One, Trump described the outlines of a trade deal that he said would be signed “pretty soon.”

According to the president, China agreed to take steps to stop the flow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl into the United States. In response, Trump said he halved the 20% fentanyl-linked tariffs he had imposed earlier this year.

“Based on [Xi’s] statements today, I reduced it by 10%. So, it’s 10% instead of 20%, effective immediately,” Trump said.

The reduction brings the overall tariff rate on goods from China from 57% to 47%, he said.

Beijing also agreed to resume purchases of American soybeans and set a one-year pause on its planned export controls of rare earth minerals. China dominates the production and processing of the metallic elements, which are crucial for manufacturing a vast array of high-tech products from smartphones to missiles.

“We have not too many stumbling blocks now,” Trump said. “We have a deal. We’ll negotiate at the end of a year, but all of the rare earth has been settled.”

No official announcement from either side has been released yet, but the U.S. president declared the meeting a “great success.”

“Overall, on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.

One topic the two leaders did not discuss was Taiwan, Trump noted. Some analysts had expected Xi to exert leverage in an attempt to soften U.S. support for the self-governing island of 23 million, which China sees as a breakaway province.

“I’m relieved Taiwan apparently didn’t come up in today’s meeting,” Sean King, senior vice president and East Asia expert at New York-based consulting firm Park Strategies, told UPI.

However, King said that the trade deal does not represent significant progress from when Trump kicked off his global tariff scheme in early April, on what the White House dubbed “Liberation Day.”

“We’re seemingly no further along than where we were on Liberation Day,” King said. “Unlike friendly leaders, Xi gave Trump no golden gifts … Right now, for better or worse, it seems like not too much of major trade substance happened in today’s meeting.”

At the start of the meeting, the two leaders had a brief introductory exchange that was open to the media.

“Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have friction now and then,” Xi said.

Xi called on Trump to join him and “ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations.”

“I always believe that China’s development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America great again,” Xi said. “Our two countries are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together.”

After the meeting, Xi traveled to the nearby city of Gyeongju to take part in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Trump attended the APEC summit on Wednesday, where he struck a trade deal with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and delivered a keynote address at a CEO luncheon.

Officials signal that trade deal is close as Trump and Xi prepare to meet for the first time since 2019.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The United States and China have hailed the outcome of trade talks in Malaysia, raising expectations that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will seal a deal to de-escalate their trade war at their first meeting since 2019.

US and Chinese officials on Sunday said the sides had made significant progress towards a deal as they wrapped a weekend of negotiations on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Trump and Xi are set to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, marking their first face-to-face talks since the US president returned to the White House and embarked on a radical shake-up of global trade.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the sides had come up with a “framework” for Trump and Xi to discuss in South Korea.

Bessent said in a subsequent interview with NBC News that he expected the sides to reach a deal that would defer China’s threatened export controls on rare earths and avoid a 100 percent tariff that Trump has threatened to impose on Chinese goods.

Bessent also said in an interview with ABC News that Beijing had agreed to make “substantial” purchases of US agricultural products, which the treasury secretary said would make US soya bean farmers “feel very good”.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s top trade negotiator, said the sides had reached “a basic consensus” on “arrangements to address each side’s concerns”.

He said they agreed to “finalise specific details” and “proceed with domestic approval processes”, according to a readout from China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Asian stock markets surged on Monday on hopes of easing US-China tensions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI both hit record highs, with the benchmark indexes up about 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, shortly after midday, local time.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also saw strong gains, rising about 0.85 percent.

After attending the ASEAN summit, Trump on Monday departed for Japan, where he will meet newly sworn-in Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The US president is scheduled to then travel on to South Korea on Wednesday.

While Trump has imposed significant tariffs on almost all US trade partners, he has threatened to hit China with higher levies than anywhere else.

Countries have been anxiously anticipating a breakthrough in the tensions, hoping Washington and Beijing can avoid a full-blown trade war that could do catastrophic damage to the global economy.

In a major escalation in US-China tensions earlier this month, Beijing announced that it would require companies everywhere to acquire a licence to export rare-earth magnets and some semiconductor materials that contain even trace amounts of minerals sourced from China or are produced using Chinese technology.

The proposed rules, which are set to take effect on December 1, have raised fears of substantial disruption to global supply chains.

Rare earths, a group of 17 minerals including holmium, cerium and dysprosium, are critical to the manufacture of countless high-tech products, including smartphones, electric cars and fighter jets.

Trump responded to Beijing’s move by threatening to impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods from November 1.

Analysts have cast the tit-for-tat moves as efforts by the Chinese and US sides to gain leverage in their negotiations ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.

It looked like City’s hopes of a comeback had been extinguished after just three minutes when, as she did in the first leg, Mille Gejl opened the scoring for Koge.

The former Crystal Palace midfielder took a short corner to Rikke Madsen and latched on to her fellow Denmark international’s cutback from the byeline before steering her low drive into the far corner from just inside the penalty box.

However, City were pinging the ball about far quicker than in the first leg in Denmark and were back level on the night within six minutes.

Captain Amy Muir set Nicole Kozlova down the left wing and the former Koge player’s low ball into the penalty box was fired home by strike partner Abby Harrison.

A couple of fine saves from goalkeeper Lee Gibson denied the visitors before City were back level on aggregate on 25 minutes when Emily Whelan headed powerfully home after left-back Muir crossed to the back post.

City’s joy only lasted two minutes as veteran former Manchester City and Denmark forward Nadia Nadim turned in from the left wing and sent a right-foot drive looping over Gibson and into the far corner.

Glasgow were ahead again on the night when Harrison rose with the visiting goalkeeper to meet a Lisa Evans corner and the ball deflected off Emma Pelkowski and into her own net.

Fellow midfielder Sarah Thygesen pounced on an Emma Brownlie error to slot what looked like a killer strike for the Danes six minutes from normal time.

However, Brownlie made amends by rising to meet another Evans corner and level the score on aggregate as the game entered added time.

Just when it looked like extra time might be needed, Lisa Forrest headed a cross from fellow substitute forward Sofia Maatta over the stranded goalkeeper to signal joyous scenes among the home support.

Palestinians are celebrating in Gaza amid a reduction in Israeli military action. The relative quiet followed Donald Trump’s order for Israel to stop bombing the strip. Hani Mahmoud reports from Gaza, where fewer air strikes are being seen as an early sign of progress.

As he manages his own amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, actor Eric Dane is also advocating for the continuation of the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, which is set to expire in 2026.

The actor, along with the nonprofit organization I AM ALS, spoke with U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) on Tuesday about the importance of the legislation, which provides funding for research and gives patients early access to treatments.

“So often, it takes all this time for these people to be diagnosed. Well, then it precludes them from being a part of these clinical trials,” Dane told Swalwell. “That’s why ACT for ALS is so, so great, and it’s because it broadens the access for everybody.”

It took Dane nine months before he was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He announced his diagnosis in April.

Since then, the “Euphoria” actor has changed his approach to fighting his condition.

During an interview with “Good Morning America” in June, Dane expressed anger at the thought of being taken from his two young daughters. He said he was mad that history might repeat itself, as his father died when the “Grey’s Anatomy” alumnus was 7.

Months later, his frustration has turned into a fight to see his daughters’ lives play out.

“I want to see [my daughters], you know, graduate college, and get married and maybe have grandkids,” Dane told Swalwell. “You know, I want to be there for all that. So I’m going to fight to the last breath on this one.”

In the video posted on TikTok by the representative, Dane speaks with a slight slur but his words echo his fight to live on.

About 5,000 people are newly diagnosed with ALS each year in the U.S., according to the National ALS Registry. It affects the nerve cells in the brain that control movement, which eventually leads to the loss of the ability to speak, move, swallow and breathe.

Times staff writers Christie D’Zurilla and Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this report.

A design of a patch for the F-47 System Management Office (SMO) that has been circulating on social media was indeed created by members of that organization, but is still being refined and hasn’t been formalized, the Air Force has confirmed. The patch’s central feature, which appears to be a phoenix or a firebird, raises the question of whether the sixth-generation fighter may already have a nickname.

User @SR_Planespotter on X was first to share a look at the patch earlier this month. In March, Boeing’s next-generation fighter was officially declared the winner of a competition for what had previously been referred to as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) combat jet or “platform.”

“The patch is an early design concept that was generated within Air Combat Command’s F-47 System Management Office,” an Air Combat Command (ACC) spokesperson told TWZ. “It is still being developed, and there is currently no official patch being worn by anyone in the Air Force.”

In addition to the phoenix or firebird, the circular patch has “ACC F-47 SMO” in white lettering and three yellow or gold-colored triangles/arrows/deltas with trailing lines along the left side. On the right side, there is “FBC” written in black lettering and a white-colored ‘path,’ which we will come back to later on. There are six red stars of equal size, three above and three below the central ‘bird’ motif, as well.

Under the main body of the patch is the Latin “Superamus Perstamus Letamus” written in white lettering. A basic machine translation of this is “We overcome. We Persist. We Rejoice.” The same motto has been seen on other patches and insignias, some dating back many years now, associated with the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative and the Agile Development Office within the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC). The Agile Development Office evolved from the Program Executive Office for Advanced Aviation, first created in 2019 to serve as a central manager for NGAD efforts, including the work that led to the F-47, which you can read more about here.

Much about the meaning of the various elements of the F-47 SMO patch design otherwise remains unconfirmed.

Triangles, arrows, and delta shapes are often used in Air Force heraldry to symbolize aircraft or subordinate units. The Agile Development Office insignia seen earlier in this story also has three deltas with trailing lines, but in gray. In addition to Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman had also competed in the NGAD combat jet competition, but whether any of this is a reference to that fact is not known. Northrop Grumman had bowed out in 2023, and there are indications that its entrant would have otherwise been cut.

Stars are also common. Six of them together often refers to the top-secret flight test center at Groom Lake in Nevada, better known as Area 51. It is worth noting here that Boeing and Lockheed both built top-secret X-plane demonstrators as part of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) efforts that fed into NGAD and ultimately the F-47. They are understood to have been flight tested at Area 51.

The white ‘path’ on the right side of the patch looks to be an outline of a portion of China’s eastern coastline. The Air Force has framed the F-47 as key to ensuring it can achieve air superiority in future conflicts, especially high-end fights against an opponent like China. The sixth-generation fighters would be at the ‘tip of the spear’ to penetrate through the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) extensive anti-access and area denial ‘bubbles’ in any such scenario in the Pacific.

The central phoenix/firebird motif (which may or may not be tied in some way to the as yet unexplained “FBC” acronym) is particularly interesting to consider in light of what is known about the history to date of the F-47 program and the work that preceded it. Until President Donald Trump’s administration decided to proceed, there was a very real chance of the program being cancelled in favor of other priorities. In April, former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, who left his post in January, penned an opinion piece questioning the decision to move ahead.

Whether it is the intended symbolism of the patch or not, a phoenix would certainly be appropriate for the F-47 program. A legendary immortal bird commonly associated with ancient Greek mythology, but also found in other traditions, it is often depicted ‘rising from the ashes’ of its own demise.

There is also the mythical firebird found across Slavic folklore, which is both a blessing and a curse to anyone who tries to capture it.

In the same way, phoenix or firebird might be plausible nicknames for the F-47, officially or unofficially. However, phoenix, at least, is unlikely to become the formal name for the jet. The U.S. military just announced in August that Phoenix II is now the official moniker for the U.S. Navy’s future E-130J aircraft. Some kind of double-up (Phoenix III on top of Phoenix II), or a renaming of the E-130J, are possibilities, but seem less likely. The E-130J is a so-called ‘doomsday plane’ that will be tasked with acting as an airborne command and control node for the Navy’s nuclear ballistic missile submarines, including being able to send orders to them to launch strikes while submerged, a mission set referred to as Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) that you can learn more about here.

We already know the F-47 designation is tied to the Republic P-47 of World War II fame, the official nickname for which was Thunderbolt. The Air Force has also said the “47” is a reference to the year the Air Force was founded (1947) and President Trump (the 45th and 47th President). The P-47 was subsequently redesignated the F-47 before the type was retired.

It’s worth noting here that the A-10, better known by its unofficial nickname, Warthog, is also officially dubbed the Thunderbolt II, in homage to the P-47. The Warthogs are set to be retired well before the new F-47s start to enter service, which would free up the Thunderbolt name.

As the A-10 underscores, unofficial nicknames for American military aircraft are also common, in general, and sometimes become more widely used than the official ones.

The formal naming of an aircraft like the F-47, expected to be a centerpiece of Air Force power projection for decades to come, is likely to be the subject of significant debate, whatever unofficial monikers it might pick up along the way. Prime contractor Boeing is now building the first of the jets, and the hope is that a first flight will occur in 2028. When operational units might begin to receive F-47s is unclear.

More details about the F-47 SMO patch’s symbolism may emerge as the program gets more underway. In the meantime, we at least know it is a real design that is still a work in progress.

Howard Altman contributed to this story.

Contact the author: [email protected]

The GB men’s quad – Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matthew Haywood and Rory Harris – have had a superb season becoming European champions and winning the World Cup in Lucerne and they continued that form, dominating the second half of their heat to take their place in Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Ireland’s Ronan Byrne, Brian Colsh, Adam Murphy and Andrew Sheehan failed to qualify.

It is a new combination in the women‘s pair for Great Britain and Lizzie Witt and Jade Lindo acquitted themselves well, coming third in their heat behind Serbia and Chile but fast enough to claim one of the six fastest-loser places in the semi-finals.

Lindo was introduced to rowing through the Discover Your Gold talent ID programme and soon joined the GB Start pathway at Twickenham Boat Club. Witt was inspired to take up the sport when she went to see the 2012 Olympics at Eton Dorney. This is her first season of full-time rowing.

Ireland’s Emily Hegarty and Aoife Casey failed to progress.

In the men’s pair, James Vogel and Harry Geffen stormed off the start and were leading with 250m to go.

The Leander club duo were then caught by the experienced Spanish pair of Jaime Canalejo and Javier Garcia, along with Sweden.

Third place meant an anxious wait but they too progressed into Tuesday’s semi-finals as one of the quickest non-automatic qualifiers.

The County Fermanagh pair of Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney, representing Ireland, made it through as an automatic qualifier after finishing second behind Romania in their heat.

This was their first race since the Olympic final in Paris where they finished sixth but they are the defending bronze medallists from the World Championships two years ago.