12:30 Report is The Hill’s midday newsletter. Subscribe here or in the box below:
It’s Thursday. Welcome to Day 23 of the government shutdown with no clear plan to end it.
In today’s issue:
• White House demolition infuriates critics
• Donor list for Trump’s $300M ballroom unveiled
• NBA player, coach charged in Mafia-backed scheme
• Trump pardons crypo company’s billionaire founder
• Senate *won’t* hold another funding vote today
🚧 AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Do you think the next project will be to paint it gold?:
Since President Trump returned to Washington in January, he has been moving at warp speed to leave his mark.
Think: Shrinking the federal government, shuttering agencies, making unilateral funding decisions and deploying National Guard troops in cities despite protests by local officials.
But his latest project — bringing in bulldozers to knock down the entire East Wing of the White House — has struck a particular nerve among critics.
It’s all everyone in Washington is talking about this week. Footage of demolition equipment tearing down part of the historical structure to allow for construction of the president’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom has been all over social media.
Officials at the nearby Treasury Department have even clamped down on employees sharing photos of the demolition.
Still, plenty of images have emerged of the construction site:
📹 Demolition happening this morning
📸 Doug Mills photo of the construction
📸Overhead photo of the Rose Garden Club
(Lol, this should be an Apple ad: Spectrum News’s Taylor Popielarz posted, “Thanks to the new iPhone camera, I was able to get this view of the East Wing of the White House this morning as it gets demolished. This vantage point is from the south end of the Treasury Department.” 📹 The footage)
Critics are furious that Trump is overhauling the historic building for what they view as a gaudy personal project, reports The Hill’s Brett Samuels.
It’s not just this project: Trump has also paved over the Rose Garden grass, added numerous gold decor to the Oval Office and installed flag poles on the White House lawn.
^ Oh, and this is new: CBS News’s Jennifer Jacobs reports the Trump administration is upgrading the White House bunker.
Did he really have to knock down the entire East Wing of the White House?: Trump responded to the criticism on Wednesday, arguing that yes, he had to demolish the existing structure “in order to do it properly.”
What’s the cost?: The White House initially said it would cost roughly $200 million. But when Trump showed renderings of the ballroom on Wednesday, he said it would cost $300 million. 📹 Watch Trump show renderings of the ballroom
Who’s picking up the tab?: It’s a privately funded project. The White House released a list of donors, which includes Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Lockheed Martin, Comcast and others. 📝 Full list of donors
^ Tidbit: The Bulwark’s Sam Stein pointed out in part that “Lockheed Martin is giving $10m for the Trump ballroom. That’s more than it has spent this year on lobbying.”
Have other presidents done anything like this?: Several presidents have made upgrades to the building, but a former chief historian for the White House Historical Association told The Hill that nothing in the past quite matches the scale of Trump’s plans. Read more: ‘5 times the White House underwent major renovations’
Mentally prepare for some bad economic data:
Key economic data will be released on Friday and is expected to show annual inflation hitting 3 percent for the first time since the Biden administration. That would be a full percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s target.
What would be responsible for that?: Rising energy and food prices, which as The Hill’s Sylvan Lane points out, are two of the hardest areas for Americans to cut costs. President Trump’s tariffs have contributed to prices steadily climbing this year.
Plus, the job market is weaker: Businesses are hiring fewer people.
The president insists the economy is performing well, but these indicators show a weaker economy. Read Lane’s assessment of where the economy stands
Trump begs another pardon:
The president has pardoned the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to charge in 2023 for violating anti-money laundering laws. He served a four-month sentence. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report this pardon.
Why this matters: The Journal points out this “will likely pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to return to the U.S.”
From White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” she said. “The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside Sentencing Guidelines that the even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career.”
🏀 OTHER NEWS
This story involves the NBA, the Mafia, illegal sports betting and poker:
Dozens of people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, have been charged in illegal sports betting schemes and rigged poker games that were backed by the Mafia.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrests were part of an investigation that spanned years and was conducted across nearly a dozen states. He said the alleged schemes funded La Cosa Nostra, a collection of various crime families.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said at a press conference. “It’s not hundreds of dollars, it’s not thousands of dollars, it’s not tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not even millions of dollars. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
Trump turns up heat on Russia:
President Trump slapped sanctions on Russia in an effort to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war with Ukraine.
“I just felt it was time. We waited a long time. I thought that we’d go long before the Middle East,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
What are the sanctions?: “Trump’s comments came shortly after the Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Open Joint Stock Company Rosneft Oil Co. (Rosneft) and Lukoil OAO (Lukoil). The move is an effort to get Russia to end the conflict.” Read more
➤ MORE READS:
The New York Times: New Sanctions Aim at Heart of Russia’s Economy, but Russia Has Prepared
The Wall Street Journal: AI Workers Are Putting In 100-Hour Workweeks to Win the New Tech Arms Race
The Washington Post: U.S. Anglican Church archbishop accused of sexual misconduct, abuse of power
💰 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
It’s Oct. 23. Do you know if your government’s funded?:
(Hint: it’s still not.)
The Senate is *not* planning to hold another round of government funding votes today. Instead, the Senate will vote on whether to pay some federal employees, including service members.
Republican leaders are hoping to put Democrats on the spot with this vote.
Where negotiations stand: Senate Republicans are divided over whether to negotiate with Democrats on Affordable Care Act subsidies, reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. That’s the central issue that has kept the government closed, so there is a lot of competing pressure.
Idaho is feeling the pain first:
“Idaho consumers are getting the nation’s first look at price increases hitting Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans as the federal tax credits that helped to trigger a government shutdown expire,” reports The Hill’s Joseph Choi.
“Idaho’s marketplace open enrollment began Oct. 15, as the future of enhanced premium tax credits remains in limbo. Marketplace customers will see markedly higher premiums than last year if the credits are not extended.”
Read Choi’s reporting: ‘ObamaCare price jump hits Idaho first as shutdown deal remains elusive’
➤ TIDBIT — I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS HERE:
There was a red-bottom high heel shoe stuck in the Senate basement escalator, according to a photo posted by NOTUS’s Hamed Ahmadi. 📸 See for yourself
COMING UP
The House is out. The Senate is in. President Trump is at the White House. (All times EDT)
12:15 p.m. Three Senate votes. 📆Today’s agenda
12:30 p.m. All senators have been invited to a lunch hosted by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.). 📸The menu
1 p.m. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
3 p.m. Trump makes an announcement from the State Dining Room. 💻 Livestream
3 p.m. The U.N. Security Council discusses the Middle East.💻Livestream
INTERNET BUZZ
🥧 Celebrate: Today is National Boston Cream Pie Day.
🎙️ ABC got the sale price!: Comedian Jimmy Kimmel says that ABC almost hired Jon Stewart to host its late-night show, but Kimmel was “cheaper.” 💻 Watch Kimmel on Ted Danson’s podcast
AND FINALLY
To briefly distract you from your Thursday afternoon, there is a bird walking around sporting an onion necklace. I just thought you should know.
