White House walks back Trump’s threat to SNAP

The president said in a television interview that he did not know Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the creator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange whom Trump pardoned last month.

The White House said he meant he “does not know him personally.”

Leavitt, the press secretary, added that the White House considers pardon requests with the “utmost seriousness” and said the administration maintains a “very thorough review process.”

Zhao had served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump was “aware” of the former vice president’s death, but she did not offer condolences.

“As you saw flags were lowered to half staff in accordance with statutory law,” Leavitt added.

The president caused some confusion earlier Tuesday when he appears to threaten SNAP benefits unless Democrats voted to re-open the government - despite court orders mandating the administration to pay out some of that aid.

His top spokeswoman said the administration continues to pay out SNAP funding using contingency funding, which is what two separate judges ordered on Monday.

“The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand, it’s going to take some time to receive this money, because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war.”

Leavitt said Trump “does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future,” which is what he meant by his social media post earlier in the day.

The Border Patrol leader who’s behind an aggressive immigration crackdown across the Chicago area is applauding his agents’ use of force and aggressive tactics that have prompted backlash and lawsuits.

Gregory Bovino defended the approach of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection as appropriate and necessary during a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press.

Agents have increasingly used rubber bullets, pepper balls and a synthetic irritant used by police as tear gas.

Bovino says officers have faced numerous threats in the nation’s third-largest city.

More than 3,200 people have been arrested since “Operation Midway Blitz” began in September as part of the Trump administration’s push to target cities with “sanctuary” immigration policies.

Senate Democrats are warning that the Trump administration has to follow court orders that stipulate that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program must be at least partially funded during the government shutdown.

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, predicted that Trump’s resistance to funding the federal food program relied upon by 42 million Americans would be “short-lived.”

“If he continues to ignore the courts, then we’re in a full blown and five alarm constitutional crisis. So the president doesn’t get to pick and choose which court orders he complies with,” Murphy said. “If the court has said he has to start paying SNAP benefits, then he has to start paying SNAP benefits.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford has left the Mediterranean Sea after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered it to Latin America more than a week ago.

A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ship movements, confirmed that the Ford and the destroyer USS Bainbridge crossed through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic on Tuesday.

The Ford originally deployed with five destroyers, but it’s not clear if all will go to the Caribbean. Two of the other destroyers in the Ford’s strike group, the USS Winston Churchill and the USS Mahan, are in the Mediterranean now, with the Mahan in port at Rota, Spain.

The other two destroyers, the USS Forrest Sherman and the USS Mitchener, are in the Red Sea, the official said.

The Ford’s arrival to the region would mark a major escalation in the buildup of U.S. military forces in the region as the Trump administration strikes boats accused of carrying drugs.

On the streets of the Iraqi capital, many were not mourning the man widely seen as the architect of the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

The U.S. intervention unseated the country’s longtime autocratic leader, Saddam Hussein, but opened up a security vacuum that led to years of brutal civil war, the rise of extremist groups, including the Islamic State, and the expansion of Iranian influence.

On a busy street in the Karada neighborhood of Baghdad, Ahmad Jabar called former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney a “bloodthirsty person.”

“Dick Cheney had a major role in the occupation and destruction of Iraq under the pretext of nuclear weapons, which never existed,” he said. “They destroyed us, and Dick Cheney specifically destroyed us. How are we supposed to remember him?”

Passerby Hadi Chelo agreed.

“I don’t think that any American official has left a good memory inside Iraq, or that any Iraqi remembers them in a good way,” he said. “Especially Dick Cheney, who contributed in a major way to undermining stability in the Middle East, and brought the area into a tangled web politically, socially, and economically.”

Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene brought criticism of Republican leaders and their handling of the federal government shutdown to ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday.

Green won notice in the U.S. House as a devoted Donald Trump supporter who sought confrontation with Democrats. She said Tuesday that she still loves Trump, but attacked the “pissing contest in Washington, D.C., between the men.” She has sounded that theme repeatedly after declining 2026 runs for Georgia governor or U.S. Senate.

Greene also reiterated that Republicans need a plan for healthcare other than cutting insurance subsidies.

“When I’m talking about weak Republican men, I’m talking the leadership in the House and the Senate,” Greene said. “They’re not getting our agenda done.”

She criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for keeping the House in recess, saying “We should be at work.”

Greene denies moderating her stances, sidestepping an opportunity to criticize far-right activist Nick Fuentes Tuesday.

“Oh no, nothing has changed about me,” Greene said.

Attorneys representing a coalition of U.S. cities and community organizations say the Trump administration is breaking a court order by agreeing to fund only a partial amount of SNAP benefits during the government shutdown.

Their court filing Tuesday comes a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, said it would partially fund SNAP using a $4.65 billion emergency fund — enough to cover about half the normal benefits.

Days before, a federal judge had ordered the government to come with a plan to get SNAP benefits to recipients for November.

The government responded Monday with a warning that it could take weeks or even months for states to navigate the partial payment process.

However, the coalition’s attorneys contend that strategy violates the order and leaves too many people in limbo waiting for food assistance.

The federal judge in Rhode Island has since given the government until Wednesday to respond.

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FILE - Vice President Dick Cheney delivers his speech to troops at Fairchild Air Force base on Monday, April 17, 2006 in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Dustin Snipes, file)

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FILE - President Gerald Ford and White House chief of staff Dick Cheney Washington, DC,Nov 7, 1975. (AP Photo, file)

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FILE - Defense Secretary Dick Cheney poses with some of the U.S. Army troops stationed in southern Iraq in this May 7, 1991 file photo. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)

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FILE - Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney waves during a reception at an airbase in Riyadh, central Saudi Arabia, Feb. 8, 1991 as he meets with Saudi Assistant Minister of Defense Utman Al Hamaide. Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell are in Saudi Arabia to assess the Gulf War. (AP Photo/John Gaps III, file)

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Cheney, a key White House figure in multiple Republican administrations, died Tuesday at 84. Here’s a gallery of images from the AP archives.

▶ See more of Dick Cheney’s life in AP photos

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., paid tribute to the former vice president on Tuesday, saying “his intellect, experience, and resolve made America safer.”

McConnell noted that Cheney’s public service came during critical moments in American history, including the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He said Cheney gave “steady counsel” to President George W. Bush at the time.

“As grave threats to our security continue to loom, his commitment to American leadership will remain a lesson,” McConnell said.

An announcement or the issuance of a proclamation generally happens before the flags are lowered, but the White House did so without advance notice on Tuesday.

Press office aides confirmed the flags had been lowered in remembrance of the Republican former vice president.

Trump, who has no public schedule Tuesday, has issued several social media posts on the elections and subjects other than Cheney’s death.

Cheney criticized Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol by Trump supporters who were intent on interrupting the certification of his 2020 presidential election loss.

Top Senate Republicans are paying tribute to the former vice president, saying Dick Cheney will be remembered for shaping American history.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech said Cheney was “a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country.”

Sen. John Barrasso, the no. 2 in Senate Republican leadership, who like Cheney is from Wyoming, called him “a towering figure who helped guide the course of history in Wyoming, the United States, and around the world.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham said Cheney had a “tremendous sense of confidence in who he was and what he believed.”

“When that self-confidence clashed with members of both parties, he was unshaken,” Graham added.

Their words were notable because Cheney, after his retirement from public office, became a critic of Trump.

Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions as they brace for “regional contingencies.” Speaking at parliament on Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year.

“We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,” Hegseth said.

Modernizing the decades-long alliance between the U.S. and South Korea is a hot issue. The U.S. apparently wants South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can focus more on China.

Hegseth said after annual security talks with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back that he’s “greatly encouraged” by Seoul’s spending commitment.

▶ Read more on the U.S.-South Korean military alliance

“Scripture is very clear: We give honor where honor is due,” Rep. Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, said at his daily press conference at the Capitol.

“The honor is certainly due to him.”

Wes Moore announced Tuesday that the commission will consider mid-cycle redistricting, despite the state Senate president saying last week the Senate would not move forward with redistricting.

The five-member panel chaired by U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks will hold public hearings and make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on a new map for the state’s eight congressional districts, seven of which are already held by Democrats.

“We will explore every avenue possible to make sure Maryland has fair and representative maps,” Moore said in a statement. “This commission will ensure the people are heard.”

Both Moore and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones have expressed interest with moving forward with mid-cycle redistricting, but their fellow Democrat, Senate President Bill Ferguson, warned that redrawing the district represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Harris could jeopardize other seats held by Democrats.

Stocks are being pulled down by losses in the same big tech companies that have been the main drivers of the market’s rally so far this year.

The S&P 500 slid 1.2% in the early going Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 431 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%. Palantir Technologies, which had more than doubled so far this year, fell 10% despite reporting results that beat analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia also reversed course, falling 2.8%. European and Asian markets also fell, and Treasury yields edged lower in the bond market.

Criticism has been rising that the broad U.S. market, and AI stocks in particular, have become too expensive and could be inflating into a dangerous bubble similar to the 2000 dot-com bust.

Illinois groups sued federal authorities alleging “inhumane” conditions inside the facility in Broadview where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been detaining people. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman acknowledged that Tuesday’s hearing was “rushed” but said “the nature of the case and the request for relief requires immediate attention.”

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say detainees were denied proper access to food, water and medical care; denied private calls with attorneys; and have been coerced to sign paperwork they don’t understand, leading them to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation.

Homeland Security Department officials have denied the allegations and argue that such claims have contributed to an increase in death threats against immigration officers.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former California prosecutor, television personality and close Trump ally, officially took office Tuesday as the first U.S. female ambassador to Greece.

Guilfoyle, 56, who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr., presented her diplomatic credentials to Greek President Constantine Tassoulas after being sworn in Sept. 29 in Washington.

The former Fox News host’s arrival comes as the United States works to boost liquefied natural gas exports to eastern Europe through Greek port facilities.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are expected in Athens this week for talks focused on expanding Western gas exports to war-torn Ukraine through a modified multinational pipeline network.

The rhetoric became particularly heated after Rep. Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to stay in power after his 2020 election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a television ad for his daughter. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward.”

In a twist the Democrats of his era could never have imagined, Cheney said he was voting for their candidate, Kamala Harris, for president against Trump.

▶ Read more from the AP obituary of Dick Cheney

Former President George W. Bush says he and former first lady Laura Bush will remember Cheney “for the decent, honorable man that he was.”

In a statement, Bush says history will remember his vice president “as among the finest public servants of his generation” and a “patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence and seriousness of purpose” to every position he held.

Bush recalled asking Cheney to join him on the Republican presidential ticket in 2000 after first assigning Cheney to help him find a running mate.

The former president said, “In our long discussions about the qualities a vice president should have — deep experience, mature judgment, character, loyalty — I realized that Dick Cheney was the one I needed. I’m still grateful that he was at my side for the eight years that followed.”

The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation’s neediest children out of preschool.

Dozens of centers are missing out on federal grant payments that were due to arrive Nov. 1. Some have closed indefinitely, while others are staying afloat with emergency funding from local governments and school districts. The closures mean Head Start students — who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care — are missing out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and receive therapy vital to their development.

A half-dozen Head Start programs never received grants that were anticipated in October, but there are now 140 programs that have not received their annual infusion of federal funding. All told, the programs have the capacity to assist 65,000 preschoolers and expectant parents.

More than 1,100 children in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma were shut out of centers run by the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, said CEO Javier Gonzalez. About 900 staff members across the centers have also been furloughed.

▶ Read more about how the shutdown is impacting Head Start programs

President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP for November, after two judges issued rulings requiring the government to keep the nation’s largest food aid program running.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it during the federal government shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs more than $8 billion per month nationally. The government says an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion — enough to cover about half the normal benefits.

Exhausting the fund potentially sets the stage for a similar situation in December if the shutdown isn’t resolved by then.

It’s not clear exactly how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly they will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. November payments have already been delayed for millions of people.

▶ Read more about SNAP benefits

Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at age 84.

Cheney died Monday night due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from family spokesman Jeremy Adler.

The quietly forceful Cheney served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defense chief during the Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush’s son, George W. Bush.

Years after leaving office, he became a target of Trump, especially after daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to stay in power after his election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

▶ Read more about former Vice President Dick Cheney