In a strong show of force just two days before his high-stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared the U.S.-Japan “golden age” military alliance before 6,000 American troops in Yokosuka. The president also signed another agreement aimed at breaking China’s near-monopoly on rare earth resources.
As the government shutdown stretches into Day 27, the Senate has rejected the Republican-backed funding bill to reopen the government for the 13th time. The food stamp program, SNAP, is set to lose funding within days, prompting more than two dozen Democratic-led states to sue the Trump administration. Meanwhile, a judge has extended the order blocking the administration from laying off federal workers during the shutdown….