Trump calls drug cartels ‘ISIS of the Western hemisphere’
The US president hosts roundtable on what White House describes as his administration’s efforts to counter drug cartels and human trafficking.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says “obviously, we do not agree” with US strikes on boats off the coast of South America, when asked about the recent deadly attacks on what the US has claimed are drug traffickers.
Pope says increasingly ‘inhuman measures’ being used against immigrants
Pope Leo XIV has criticised the increasingly harsh measures being used to target immigrants, returning to a familiar theme that has has taken on with increasing stridency in recent weeks. He has recently stated that he would like to see US bishops speak out out more vocally in favour of the rights and humanity of immigrants.
“With the abuse of vulnerable migrants, we are witnessing, not the legitimate exercise of national sovereignty, but rather grave crimes committed or tolerated by the state,” he said in a speech published by the Vatican.
“Ever more inhuman measures are being adopted — even celebrated politically — that treat these ‘undesirables’ as if they were garbage and not human beings.”
Trump calls drug cartels ‘ISIS of the Western hemisphere’
The US president is hosting a roundtable on what the White House describes as his administration’s efforts to counter drug cartels and human trafficking.
Trump has already designated several cartels “foreign terrorist organisations”, a label not typically used for criminal organisation. The US military has also launched a series of strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters in Latin America and the Pacific, in what critics have decried as extrajudicial killings.
“It should now be clear to the entire world that the cartels are the ISIS [ISIL] of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said at the beginning of the event.
The statement is in line with Trump’s framing of drug cartels as “narco-terrorists” aiming to destabilise the US.
Before Trump meeting, Brazil’s Lula announces bid for fourth term
One of President Trump’s critics in Latin America is angling for another term in office.
On Thursday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced he would seek a fourth nonconsecutive term in the 2026 general elections, despite currently being 79 years old. He and Trump are currently the same age.
“You can be sure I have the same energy I had when I was 30,” Lula told reporters, as he announced his re-election bid.
Trump and Lula have had a rocky relationship since the Republican leader returned to the White House this year.
The US president, for instance, has criticised the Brazilian government for allegedly censoring right-wing voices and prosecuting former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to foment a coup.
To pressure Brazil to drop the prosecution, Trump announced in July that products from the South American country would face 50 percent tariffs. That sparked tensions with the left-wing Lula, who accused Trump of meddling in Brazil’s justice system.
US Senate shoots down bills to ensure pay for federal workers amid shutdown
Two bills that would have ensured that federal workers do not miss their paycheque during the government shutdown, one Democrat and one Republican, have failed to pass in the US Senate.
Both sides traded blame, as federal workers are set to miss out on their first full paycheques at the end of the week.
Virginia governor declares state of emergency to expedite food aid during federal shutdown
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency to help maintain food aid for state residents as a three-week-long US government shutdown threatens to halt federal benefits.
Youngkin said the move would allow him to use emergency funds to assist Virginians in the absence of federal appropriations to fund the food benefits administered by states.
More than 850,000 Virginia residents would feel the impact if Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits run out on November 1, he said.
The emergency declaration by Virginia, the first state to issue one, comes after other states warned food aid recipients this week that their benefits may not be distributed next month if the shutdown continues.
More than 41 million Americans receive monthly SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, and nearly 7 million more people get aid from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said he would deploy the state’s National Guard and fast-track $80m to support food banks while the federal shutdown drags on.
The government shutdown is now in its 23rd day — the second-longest in history — with no end in sight. Both Republicans and Democrats blame the other side for the shutdown.
