Overview

• Trump posted Truth Social photos late Tuesday displaying “Trump 2028” caps on the Resolute Desk during a Sept. 29 leadership meeting with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
• Punchbowl News reported Trump offered the hats to Schumer and Jeffries and they declined, while Jeffries later said the hats “randomly appeared” and that Vice President JD Vance offered “No comment.”
• The Senate failed a last-ditch vote to extend funding, and a government shutdown took effect at midnight on Oct. 1, the first since 2018–19.
• A short-term funding bill passed the House but did not reach the 60 votes needed in the Senate.
• White House communications director Steven Cheung labeled the lapse the “Democrat Shutdown,” as aides argued Democrats blocked a clean continuing resolution and Trump amplified the moment with provocative social posts, including an AI-altered clip of Jeffries.