Donald Trump

Happening Today: Shutdown, North Korea, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande

What to Know

  • Senate Republicans have released a measure designed around President Trump's proposal for breaking a budget impasse
  • Researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country
  • When she isn't winning awards for her talent in 'A Star Is Born,' Lady Gaga can be found in Las Vegas speaking her mind

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Trump's Proposal to Break Budget Deadlock Falls Flat

Senate Republicans have released a measure designed around President Trump's proposal for breaking a budget impasse, its centerpiece his demand for $5.7 billion to build a southern border wall all but guaranteeing Democratic opposition and no foreseeable end to a partial government shutdown. As the shutdown dragged through its fifth week, another missed paycheck loomed for hundreds of thousands of workers. Voting in Congress was not expected to unfold until later in the week. Even then it seemed doubtful that the 1,300-page measure, dubbed "End The Shutdown And Secure The Border Act," had any chance of passing swiftly. Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but would need Democrats to reach the usual 60-vote threshold for bills to advance. Not a single Democrat publicly expressed support for Trump's proposal since he announced it over the week.

Report Finds Another Undisclosed North Korea Missile Site

Researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country, according to the researchers’ new report. The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for North Korean nuclear warheads. The report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a defense think tank, was released Monday and comes after an announcement Friday that President Donald Trump "looks forward" to meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un next month "at a place to be announced at a later date," NBC News reported. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lady Gaga Gets Political During Enigma Performance

When she isn't winning awards for her talent in "A Star Is Born," Lady Gaga can be found in Las Vegas speaking her mind. The singer got political during her Enigma show and doubled down on President Trump as well as Vice President Mike Pence. Gaga also made some blatant digs at Pence's wife, Karen Pence, whose new part-time job struck up controversy. Karen Pence recently accepted a role to teach art at Immanuel Christian School in Virginia. According to Washington Post, part of the school's employee standards say, "I understand that the term 'marriage' has only one meaning; the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive covenant union as delineated in Scripture." In addition, "homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female" are considered "moral misconduct" and violations of the employee agreement.

Ariana Grande Apologizes Following Racially-Charged Backlash

Ariana Grande says she is "so sorry" to anyone offended by her latest single, "7 Rings." As rappers including Princess Nokia and Soulja Boy have come forward to accuse the pop star of stealing the song, Ariana is apologizing for a completely separate controversy involving the lyrics. It all started when the pop star shared (and then swiftly deleted) a fan's post to her Instagram Stories, which quoted a line from "7 Rings." "You like my hair? Gee, thanks, just bought it..." the post read, with the user adding sarcastically, "White women talking about their weaves is how we're gonna solve racism." Grande wrote alongside the post that she had "so much love" for the user, but took it down entirely when some believed her response to the racially-charged critique was a bit more insensitive than she might have originally intended.

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