President Donald Trump stated on September 30th, 2025, that his administration is "very close" to a deal with Harvard University to restore billions in federal funding that was frozen earlier this year. The announcement comes as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted President Trump, accusing him of using "Americans as political pawns" with a government shutdown deadline looming. Schumer's remarks, reported by Fox News, highlight the escalating political tensions as Congress races to pass funding bills. The Trump administration had previously frozen $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University. The specific details of the potential deal to restore this funding have not yet been disclosed. In a separate development, Senator Ron Johnson stated he had not seen an AI-generated depiction of Hakeem Jeffries posted by President Trump, when questioned by Tapper on CNN. This comes amid ongoing discussions and deadlines related to government funding. Previous reporting indicated that the Senate was voting on competing funding bills ahead of a midnight deadline. The government was set to run out of funding at midnight if no agreement was reached. The prior context also mentioned President Trump offering "Trump 2028" hats to Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries during an Oval Office meeting, which they declined. Separately, the Department of War, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, had relaxed mandatory cybersecurity and controlled unclassified information training frequency for the Defense Department. The potential for a government shutdown remained a contentious issue, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune stating that negotiations would not occur if the government were to shut down. A campaign account had asserted that Democrats were "voting to shut down the government over giving free healthcare to illegals" while President Trump signed an executive order to end childhood cancer. Additionally, the Teamsters union had urged Senators to pass a clean, short-term funding bill to avoid the shutdown's impact on working people. The previous report also detailed a public safety crisis in Broadview, Illinois, involving ICE deployment of tear gas near a processing center, exposing Broadview police to the chemical irritants. A Quantus Insights poll showed a tightening race in New Jersey's gubernatorial election, and Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign committee rebranded as Fight for the People PAC. CNN revealed that Mitt Romney had personally urged the Biden administration to preemptively pardon Donald Trump. The Congressional Budget Office projected that up to 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed daily if a shutdown occurs, costing approximately $400 million per day. In international affairs, the Islamic Jihad Movement reacted to President Trump's Gaza peace plan, and Joe Rogan commented on the targeting of migrant workers. President Trump had also announced signing an executive order to "massively accelerate pediatric cancer research and harness the extraordinary potential of Artificial Intelligence to fight this terrible disease." U.S. District Judge William Young had condemned ICE's use of masks, and a McLaughlin poll showed Gavin Newsom leading the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
