‘Maybe we’ll never take it down’: Trump compares White House UFC arena to Eiffel Tower, says it could be permanent

(WASHINGTON) — With just a few days until a Friday deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Republican and Democratic lawmakers still appear to be at an impasse on how to move forward with Democrats’ demands for new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats delivered proposed legislative text that reflects their 10-item list of demands to Republican leadership over the weekend. The GOP presented a counterproposal, which Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they rejected Monday night.

Details of the GOP counteroffer have not been made public, but according to Democrats, it didn’t include “details” or “legislative text.”

“The initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct. Democrats await additional detail and text,” Schumer and Jeffries said in the statement. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune would not provide details on the GOP offer when asked by reporters on Tuesday. 

“I think both sides are right now trying — other than it sounds like the Democrats up here are talking about it — are trying to keep the conversations moving forward and not litigating that in public,” Thune said. 

The negotiations are coming as another partial government shutdown looms. If a DHS funding solution is not reached and passed in both chambers by the end of the day Friday, DHS would then shut down.

The TSA, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Secret Service, CISA and FEMA would be impacted even though lawmakers’ focus is on Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform. ICE operations would not be impacted after it received $75 billion in separate funding from the already-passed “Big Beautiful Bill.”

In a letter last week to Republican leaders, Jeffries and Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.

Schumer has called Democrats’ demands “exceedingly reasonable.”

“We are asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow. Why should ICE be different, especially when they have such a record of brutality?” Schumer said. 

The funding fight over DHS erupted in the aftermath of the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a shooting involving federal law enforcement in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Renee Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Earlier Monday, Thune said on the Senate floor that Democrats engaged in “meaningful talks” with the White House on a path forward for funding DHS over the weekend.

“Democrats have made their demands known in detail. Some of them are positive starting points for further discussions; others are non-staters and unnecessarily tie the hands of law enforcement,” Thune said on the Senate floor.

But Thune said Republicans, in conjunction with the White House, will seek demands of their own.

“I expect that the Trump administration, with the full backing of congressional Republicans, will continue to resist any effort to make it harder for law enforcement to detain and deport dangerous illegal aliens, which is what many of the Democrats demands would do, and I expect that the administration — again with the backing of Republicans here in Congress — will insist on reforms of its own,” Thune said.

As negotiations continue behind the scenes, Thune said on Monday that lawmakers will likely need more time to complete their work. He urged Democrats to support a stopgap funding proposal to keep the lights on at DHS while they continue discussions on ICE reform. 

“We are just a few days away from the deadline that Democrats chose,” Thune said. “And it’s very possible we won’t have our work finished by then. If Democrats are serious about finding a solution there, they may need to find more time to bring these efforts to a productive conclusion.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As the war with Iran enters its fourth week, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said the Trump administration must make its objectives of the operation clearer before Congress approves additional funding.

“What is the objective, the primary objective?” ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl asked Tillis in an interview that aired Sunday.

“I don’t know, and I think it’s a real problem,” the North Carolina senator said.

Praising last summer’s “Operation Midnight Hammer” when the U.S. military struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, Tillis said he “could see why we needed to finish some of the work and go back in,” but the weeks-long operation now is “ambiguous.” 

“I don’t know what our long-term strategic goals are, but we’re going to need to know that,” Tillis said. “I generally support what the president’s doing in Iran, but if we’re going to get anything close to the $200 billion supplemental request, we got to get 60 votes, and we’re going to have to figure out how to accomplish that.”

The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in funding, according to a senior administration official. While he said the topline number could move, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Thursday that the department will request additional funding for the war, saying, “It takes money to kill bad guys.”

As the war rages on, Iran continues to block the critical Strait of Hormuz. A significant share of the world’s oil passes through the strait each day, and the blockage has surged global oil prices. Gas prices in the U.S. are up $1 per gallon on average since the war began Feb. 28, according to GasBuddy.

“Can’t all of a sudden walk away”
President Donald Trump has mused about “winding down” the war soon and last week he suggested in a social media post that he may pull out of Iran before the Strait of Hormuz issues are resolved.

“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!” Trump posted Wednesday.

Tillis was critical of that option, arguing leaving the strait as it is harms U.S. allies in the region.

“We have a number of partners and allies in the region whose economic fortunes rests on the Strait of Hormuz being open,” Tillis said. “We’ve decided that we’re going to project power and try and produce good outcomes in the Middle East. You can’t all of a sudden walk away after you’ve kind of created the event and expect other people to pick it up and leave — and leave a good taste in their mouth.”

After Trump lashed out U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for not assisting the U.S. with opening the Strait of Hormuz, labeling them “cowards,” Tillis — the co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group — defended those allies’ decisions.

“I don’t think that they’re cowards. I think they’re people that weren’t consulted on a major military operation, and I’d have the same reaction if I was the head of state,” Tillis said.

“These folks love the United States,” he added. “But they don’t appreciate the way they’re being treated right now. And I can, I can absolutely understand that.”

“American lives will be lost” without NATO
The North Carolina Republican also pushed back on Trump’s recent suggestion that he could leave NATO without consulting Congress. 

“Well, that’s factually not true. The president of the United States cannot withdraw from NATO,” Tillis said. “American lives have been saved by the NATO alliance, and American lives will be lost without it.”

In June, Tillis announced he would not seek reelection this year. No longer concerned with having to run a campaign, the self-described “plain-spoken” senator has become even more so.

He didn’t vote for the Republicans’ tax overhaul and spending cuts bill. He’s not planning to vote for the “SAVE America Act,” a Trump priority. He called out Trump’s Justice Department for seeking indictments against Democrats Trump accused of seditious behavior for posting a video telling service members not to follow illegal orders, and he’s threatening to hold up any nominee to the Federal Reserve until the DOJ ends its probe of Chair Jerome Powell.

But no members of Trump’s administration have received more criticism from Tillis than Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff to the president and one of his top advisers on immigration, and outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Tillis has called the pair “sycophants” and called for Trump to fire Noem, which he ultimately did.

The president has praised Miller over the years. In October, he said he was “doing an unbelievable job” and told him, “The people of this country love you.” 

But Tillis said he doesn’t think Miller is “particularly loyal” to the president.

“If the president thinks that Stephen Miller is worried about [Trump’s] legacy, he’s fooling himself. Stephen Miller is worried about his own legacy,” Tillis said.

A “healthy” relationship with Trump
Still, Tillis told Karl he believes he has a “healthy relationship” with the president.

“There are aspects about this president that I admire and will always admire, but I do not admire bad advice, and I hate bad execution, and when I see it and I think it’s undermining the president of the United States’ agenda, then I’m going to call them out,” he said.

Tillis said his motivation for criticizing the administration and some of its policies are to help Republicans perform well in this year’s midterm elections.

“I’m not trying to undermine Republicans. I’m trying to undermine efforts that are going to make it very difficult for Republicans to get elected in November,” he said.

Asked by Karl why he feels liberated to speak out since announcing his retirement, Tillis had a simple answer.

“When people have said, ‘You seem a little bit more liberated.’ I said, ‘No, s—, Sherlock,'” Tillis said. “I no longer have to view things through a political lens.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.