President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would hold discussions on which “Democrat Agencies” should be cut amid the ongoing government shutdown. 

Trump said he will meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who oversees the allocation of federal funds. The shutdown started on Wednesday after the Senate failed to pass a temporary government funding bill backed by Republicans. 

“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The meeting follows Trump’s call Wednesday night for Republicans to take advantage of the shutdown as an opportunity “to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved.”

Vought has already moved to suspend or cancel billions of dollars of federal funding following the shutdown. He announced Tuesday that nearly $8 billion in “Green New Scam” funding spent on “the Left’s climate agenda” was being cancelled. 

The terminated projects were mainly in blue states like California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. 

Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout! 

Following Vought’s announcement, the Department of Energy said that it had terminated 321 financial awards worth $7.65 billion supporting 223 projects. The department said the projects were not economically viable, did not advance the nation’s energy needs, and would not yield a positive return on taxpayer investment. 

“On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Today’s cancellations deliver on that commitment. Rest assured, the Energy Department will continue reviewing awards to ensure that every dollar works for the American people.”

About one quarter of the awards were distributed between Election Day 2024 and Trump’s inauguration, the Energy Department said. 

Vought also said Wednesday that $18 billion in funds for New York infrastructure projects was being frozen. New York Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have spearheaded Democratic resistance to Trump’s government funding proposal.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Vought had been tasked with reviewing the federal bureaucracy amid the shutdown.

“There are unfortunate consequences to a government shutdown, and the federal government is not receiving any cash at the moment,” she said. “The Office of Management and Budget has been tasked with looking over the receipts and looking over the budget of the entire federal bureaucracy.”

A deadly car and knife attack outside a synagogue in England left two people dead Thursday, coinciding with Yom Kippur observances worldwide.

The killings took place outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester. At least three other people were seriously injured, and the suspected assailant is believed to have been shot dead by law enforcement. According to The Telegraph, “Police said it had ‘declared Plato’ – the national code-word used by police and emergency services when responding to a ‘marauding terror attack.'”

Police said they could not currently confirm the attacker’s death “due to safety issues” surrounding “suspicious items on his person.” The attacker appears to have been wearing a suicide vest, and a bomb squad responded to the scene. He was reportedly lying on the ground outside the synagogue after being shot by police. 

Witnesses described a man driving his car into the synagogue’s gates before getting out and stabbing people around him. The doors to the synagogue were barricaded, and the attacker was unable to enter, The Telegraph reported. 

Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout! 

“I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.”

He said that additional police resources would be deployed to synagogues nationwide. Starmer also added that he was leaving a meeting in Denmark to return to London for an emergency cabinet meeting. 

This morning’s attack is absolutely shocking.

I’m on my way back to London to chair an emergency meeting, and additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country.

We will do everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe. pic.twitter.com/bNUfGbWwfq

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 2, 2025

The Israeli Embassy in the United Kingdom said that it was in close contact with the Jewish community in Manchester. The northwest English city is home to around 30,000 Jews. 

“That such an act of violence should be perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a place of prayer and community, is abhorrent and deeply distressing,” the embassy said. “We thank the Greater Manchester Police for their swift response. The safety and security of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom must be guaranteed.”

King Charles also condemned the killings. 

“My wife and I have been deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community,” he said.