President Donald Trump traveled through Asia this week, sitting down for a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which he described as “truly great,” while Americans at home bore the brunt of the ongoing government shutdown, which is entering its second month.Democrats now find themselves in a bind as they have succeeded in framing health care as the issue at the heart of the stalemate but are grappling with the lapse of federal food assistance for millions of Americans set to begin Saturday.The shutdown is also likely to lead to more flight delays as the Federal Aviation Administration grapples with staffing shortages. At the same time, federal employees are working without pay, and food banks are bracing for a surge in demand.The president, though, seems to have his mind focused elsewhere as he instructed the Pentagon to immediately resume testing of nuclear weapons to ensure the U.S. keeps up with its rivals.“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” he told reporters after departing South Korea to return to the U.S.The Trump administration is continuing to add pressure on Venezuela, with the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, now accusing the U.S. of “fabricating a new eternal war.”See previous updates here, and read the latest below:Monthly Jobs Reports Will Not Be Released During ShutdownIt’s the first Friday of the month, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics will not be releasing its usual jobs report — or any reports — during the shutdown.As NOTUS reported, the agency was able to release its data on schedule during the last government shutdown, in 2019. But this time, BLS employees are furloughed alongside thousands of other federal workers.Trump has taken aim at the agency over the last several months as its data started showing concerning signs for the U.S. economy in his second term.See All UpdatesClose