From 8 Oct 2025Trump's 'antifa roundtable' airs grievances of partisan conservative influencersSo far, all of the fact witnesses contributing testimony at the White House “antifa roundtable” hosted by Donald Trump are self-described independent journalists or partisan conservative social media influencers who cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more akin to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.Several of them have described being assaulted in the course of their work by leftwing protesters they uniformly refer to as “antifa members” without evidence.What the conservative new media figures have not mentioned is that several of them work by confronting leftwing protesters and filming the angry responses they provoke.Others go undercover, disguised as leftwing protesters in black clothing, and then selectively edit the video they gather, ignoring peaceful protests to focus only on any instances of violence or conflict they witness.One of the witnesses, Katie Daviscourt, whose coverage of protests outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) field office in Portland, Oregon, has been featured on Fox News, described being given a black eye recently when she was struck with a protester’s flag pole.Shortly before that incident, a Portland police officer reported (in an email made public through the state of Oregon’s federal lawsuit to block Trump’s deployment of troops) that Daviscourt was one of three conservative influencers at the facility who appeared to be acting as “counter-protesters”.“These 3 counter-protesters continue to be a chronic source of police and medical calls,” the officer wrote on 20 September. “Despite repeated advice from officers to stay away from the ICE crowd, they constantly return and antagonize the protesters until they are assaulted or pepper sprayed. They refuse or are reluctant to walk away from these confrontations, even when police are in the area trying to meet with them. They even engage in the same trespassing behavior on federal … property as the main protesters.”Another witness, the conservative influencer Nick Sortor, complained of being arrested recently by the Portland police after a skirmish. However, video recorded on multiple nights in the past week shows that Sortor has repeatedly antagonized protesters in the course of filming outside the Ice facility.One clip, for instance, showed that Sortor initiated conflict by trying to force his way through a protest encampment on a sidewalk near the Ice facility. He was then involved in a scuffle over an American flag he had previously taken from a protester who was trying to burn it.The charges against Sortor were later dropped after an outcry in the conservative media prompted the head of the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, Harmeet Dhillon, to threaten an investigation of the Portland police bureau over supposed anti-conservative bias.The two women Sortor was arrested for fighting with still face charges, as does a Trump supporter who intervened in Sortor’s scuffle over the flag and punched a protester, knocking him to the ground.The event is still going on.Key events9 Oct 2025Closing summary9 Oct 2025During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus'9 Oct 2025US Appeals court keeps Oregon national guard under Trump's control, but blocks any deployment to Portland9 Oct 2025US Muslim civil rights group calls on world to 'permanently end Israel’s genocide in Gaza'9 Oct 2025Palestinian American professor pours cold water on Trump's Nobel hopes9 Oct 2025Senate Republicans, and John Fetterman, vote down war powers resolution to stop strikes in Caribbean9 Oct 2025Pro-Israel Republicans line up to praise Trump for Gaza hostage deal8 Oct 2025Palestinians in US are wary over partial deal announced by Trump8 Oct 2025Israeli media reports hostages could be released by Monday8 Oct 2025Trump announces deal to end Gaza fighting and release hostages8 Oct 2025Note handed to Trump says he needs to approve a Truth Social post so he can announce a Gaza peace deal first8 Oct 2025Trump 'is considering going to the Middle East' soon, White House says8 Oct 2025Despite Trump's claims, political violence in Portland has not claimed 'many' lives8 Oct 2025Trump says ‘we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East’8 Oct 2025Trump's 'antifa roundtable' airs grievances of partisan conservative influencers8 Oct 2025Trump congratulates Bondi on combative Senate hearing8 Oct 2025IRS to furlough more than 34,000 workers as government shutdown continues8 Oct 2025Democratic lawmakers say that vote on Epstein files is reason behind delay to swear in Arizona congresswoman8 Oct 2025Jeffries says Democrats will meet 'anytime, anyplace, anywhere' to negotiate on funding bill8 Oct 2025'Stop covering up for the pedophiles': senator chides Johnson's decision to delay swearing in Arizona lawmaker8 Oct 2025Senate fails again to pass short term funding bill as government shutdown enters eighth day8 Oct 2025Johnson says federal workers should receive back pay, despite White House mixed messaging8 Oct 2025'This madness needs to end' say House Republicans, as shutdown enters eighth day8 Oct 2025James Comey pleads 'not guilty' at arraignment8 Oct 2025Senate to hold sixth vote on stopgap funding bills amid government shutdown8 Oct 2025Trump says Chicago mayor ‘should be in jail’ for not protecting Ice officers8 Oct 2025Rubio to attend Paris meeting on Gaza transition - report8 Oct 2025National guard troops are outside Chicago and could be in Memphis soon8 Oct 2025Democrats introduce bill to help federal workers cover childcare costs during shutdown8 Oct 2025Pope Leo tells US bishops to address Trump's immigration crackdown8 Oct 2025Ex-FBI director James Comey to appear in court on lying to Congress chargeShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureClosing summaryThis brings our live coverage of the second Trump administration to a close for the day, but our colleagues are continuing to provide live updates on the US-backed diplomatic effort to end the fighting in Gaza. Here are the latest developments in Washignton: