The importance of Stubb and Trump's shared interest was highlighted in March, when Stubb made a surprise appearance at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to play with the US president, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and famed South African golfer Gary Player.

In a court filing, the Trump administration offered new details about its plans to lay off federal employees during the shutdown. At seven agencies, the government said it began issuing notices to more than 4,000 workers, and signaled it could conduct “additional” layoffs elsewhere.

The 79-year-old former real estate developer, who has sought to impose his taste on federal architecture and the White House, may be planning to build an arch on the other side of the Potomac River, according to an X post from AFP White House Correspondent Danny Kemp.

That followed Trump's allegation that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook lied on a mortgage application, which he is using as grounds for attempting to fire her. Meanwhile, the Democrat who led Trump's first impeachment trial, Senator Adam Schiff, is now under criminal investigation for similar accusations.

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and the panel discuss the significance of President Donald Trump’s Christopher Columbus proclamation for the American-Italian community on ‘Gutfeld!’

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader John Thune had privately begged the president to contain the damage caused by the shutdown—warning him that sweeping cuts and layoffs could backfire and lead voters to blame Republicans.

Melania Trump announced Friday that eight children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war have been reunited with their families following ongoing talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The first lady in August wrote to Putin and had her husband hand-deliver the letter when he held a summit with the Russian president in Alaska.