Did you see the look on Trump’s face when he saw the crown that had been gifted to him? The media is as snotty as ever, especially the British press. But then they are in their glory with news of Prince Andrew. It’s not pretty. The Prince Andrew saga is nearing its final chapter. He’s been stripped of all his titles, and thoroughly disgraced. I’ve been a skeptic, but it’s starting to get real. The British press is merciless.

Trump is traveling the world and who can keep up? You probably saw the photo of the crown they gave him in South Korea. It only gives the media comfort, they’re already calling him a king. But he’s traveling the world and on a mission. He wants to be known as the greatest president ever.

Trump is jetting somewhere else, accepting gifts and asking nicely, and that’s an order!  Nobody in their right mind wants to be on his bad side. Every nation on earth is talking about building a plant in the United States and that’s because Trump is playing hardball and nobody wants to be on the wrong side.

The Caribbean has been hit with hurricane Melissa, Category 5. Roads are blocked and rubble is everywhere. No lights, no phones, roads are blocked. It’s terrible, but the people seem resilient. Already there are videos showing the damage and the cleanup, which will take years. 

I’ve been to some of the islands. My Dad rode out a hurricane, I think in Jamaica, and experienced the eye passing right over. He said it was calm as could be, and then they had to shelter again. There’s probably still rubble left over, but now there’s more.

Who knows what’s going to become of Ukraine?  Zelensky thinks he’ll play hardball, hoping Trump doesn’t make an independent deal with Putin. I’m trying to decide between Zelinsky and Putin. I don’t like either. Trump is making both uncomfortable. 

Up until now the government shutdown has been largely academic. But weeks have passed and people are starting to worry. A bunch of handout programs are about to be bust and you wonder what they’ll think of next.

God has blessed us beyond anything the world has seen. We don’t even feel envious when we hear how the “stars” are living. I bet we’re sleeping better.   

I almost forgot. It’s Halloween and time to spend a night with the porch light off.  

Mark

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – October 31, 2025 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The House of Representatives and Senate, with little debate and with only hours to go before government funding expired, gave congressional leaders more time to try to craft a bipartisan COVID-19 aid bill that would ride along with the massive spending legislation.

“I believe all sides feel we are making good progress on a major relief bill that would travel with the full-year appropriations measure,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said just before the temporary spending bill was passed.

Trump signed the bill into law Friday night, the White House said, leaving lawmakers to try to beat a new Sunday midnight deadline, which comes almost exactly two years after an unresolved spending fight triggered a 35-day government shutdown, the longest on record.

After months of partisan finger-pointing and inaction, Republicans and Democrats have been negotiating intensely on what is expected to be the biggest package since spring to provide relief to a country struggling with a pandemic killing more than 3,000 people a day.

With some support from Trump, who leaves office on Jan. 20, and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, they have reported progress.

But significant differences remain, including a dispute over a Republican-backed plan to rein in Federal Reserve lending programs intended to ease the pandemic’s economic sting.

Some Republicans accused Democrats of using the lending authorities as a backdoor way to provide aid to state and local governments that Republicans dismiss as a “slush fund” for Democratic-controlled local governments.

Other sticking points include relief for arts venues closed by COVID-19 restrictions and whether to include increased reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to local governments for items like personal protective equipment for schools.

Many issues, though, have been settled. The coronavirus legislation is expected to include onetime checks for most Americans of about $600 each, extended unemployment benefits of $300 per week, help for states distributing the vaccine, and assistance for small businesses struggling through the pandemic.

Congressional leaders plan to attach the COVID-19 aid to the $1.4 trillion spending bill.

‘OPTIMISTIC’

The prospect of a government shutdown increased pressure to come up with a relief plan. An extended shutdown would force thousands more people out of work and disrupt services just as the country is ramping up distribution of coronavirus vaccines, though the effects would not be fully felt over the weekend.

“We have a government of 2 million people that are waiting every hour to find out if they are going to be working,” Representative Steny Hoyer, the second most senior House Democrat, told reporters.

Congress was also spurred to action by an alarming increase in hospitalizations and deaths. The U.S. coronavirus death toll, now over 311,000, is by far the world’s highest, and many Americans – who do not receive government aid that is automatic in many other nations – are at risk of homelessness and going hungry.

Biden has said he wants COVID-19 relief for Americans passed immediately, promising to do more after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

Republicans also have a wary eye on the impact inaction might have on a pair of Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia, which will determine whether their party maintains control of the Senate for the next two years or hands it over to Democrats.

Democrats say Republican Senator Pat Toomey is promoting his plan to rein in the Fed’s emergency lending authority in an effort to make it more difficult for Biden’s incoming administration to handle the public health crisis.

Toomey denied this, saying the lending authorities were expiring anyway.

Larry Kudlow, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House that the Trump administration was “strongly in support” of Toomey’s plan.

Brian Deese, Biden’s pick to succeed Kudlow, said the relief bill should not include Toomey’s provision.

The post Trump signs into law stopgap funding bill to avoid government shutdown first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

President Donald Trump threatened on July 29 to shut down the government unless Democrats in Congress approve a package of immigration reforms that includes funding for the border wall.

“I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!”

The post Trump Threatens Democrats With Government Shutdown Over Border Security first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.