The Latest: Hundreds of federal employees laid off by DOGE are rehired

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Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.

The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report to work on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation.

“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.”

Here's the latest:

About 4 in 10, 37%, of U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, down slightly from the 44% who approved in March, according to the most recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Slightly fewer Republicans approve of how Trump is handling the conflict — 72%, compared with 82% of Republicans who approved of the way Trump was handling the issue in March. Democrats are also slightly less likely to approve: 9% now, down from 14% in March.

Despite this, Trump’s approval on foreign policy has been steady. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve, in line with April.

▶ Read more about the polling on Trump

Only about 7 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s approach to trade negotiations with other countries and health care — marking the lowest issue ratings among his base, according to the most recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Americans overall aren’t thrilled about how he’s handling these issues, either. Only about one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling either trade negotiations with other countries or health care. These have been steadily low in recent AP-NORC polls but roughly track with Trump’s overall approval. They were also similarly low in his first term.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” when it comes to imposing new tariffs on other countries. That includes about 9 in 10 Democrats but also roughly 6 in 10 independents and 3 in 10 Republicans. Very few Americans, including Republicans, want Trump to go further on imposing tariffs.

▶ Read more about the polling on Trump

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on social media site X on Wednesday morning that the U.S. is ready to repurchase Argentina’s debt bonds, is in negotiations with Argentinian officials for a $20 billion swap line with the country’s central bank and is undergoing other actions to bolster Argentina’s economy in the midst of severe volatility in the country’s financial markets.

This comes after President Trump gave libertarian Argentinian President Javier Milei his “full backing and endorsement” Tuesday. Argentina at the end of October heads into crucial congressional midterms.

Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have criticized the move as a bailout for a close personal friend of Trump.

The economy is often a fraught point for presidents, and there are indications that Americans continue to be concerned about the country’s economic state, according to the most recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Just 37% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. That’s down slightly from August, when 43% approved, but broadly in line with his overall approval.

The economy is a particularly weak issue for Trump among independents. Only about 2 in 10 independents approve of how Trump is handling the economy, much lower than the share who approve of his handling of border security and crime.

In Trump’s first term, closer to half of U.S. adults approved of his handling of the economy. This height of his success on this issue came at the beginning of 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic sparked an economic downturn.

▶ Read more about the polling on Trump

Clinton dealt with Russian President Vladimir Putin when she was secretary of state in the Obama administration.

She was asked about Trump's turnabout during a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and said, “I welcomed what the president said.”

Usually a Trump critic, Clinton said his comments suggested he’s “coming to grips” with the fact that Putin doesn’t respond to rhetoric.

“He only responds to strength,” she said.

Trump said Tuesday he now believes Ukraine can win back all the territory it has lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from his past calls for Ukraine to concede the land to end the war.

Trump has turned border security into a strength of his second term, a sharp reversal from his first term in office.

Most Americans approve of Trump’s approach to border security. He gets higher marks on that than on his handling of the presidency overall or other issues that had previously been top strengths, including immigration and crime. This has also emerged as a unique strength of his second term. Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approved of Trump’s approach to border security in 2019, during which time Trump was focused on securing funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

His approval on immigration is slightly lower than it was early in his second term, but it remains a bit higher than his overall job approval.

President Trump’s second-term strengths look different from his first, according to new polling.

Once strengthened by economic issues, Trump’s approval is now relatively low on the economy — and he’s leaning on his stronger issues of crime, border security and immigration. Concerns about the economy and immigration helped propel him to the White House, but polling over the past year shows Americans’ faith in the Republican president’s handling of the economy is low — particularly among independents — and his approval on immigration has fallen slightly.

Now, Trump’s strongest issues are border security and crime, but there were signs of potential weakness on crime in the most recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

▶ Read more about the polling on Trump

Ukrainians were cautious Wednesday in their response to a surprise pivot in U.S. President Donald Trump’s views on their prospects for defeating Russia’s invasion, after he said they could win the three-year war and retake land captured by Moscow.

Some Ukrainians expressed hope that Trump’s words would be backed up by concrete support for Ukraine in Washington, while others were wary about the American president’s unpredictability.

Russian officials, meanwhile, said developments on the battlefield showed Ukraine is unable to reclaim the occupied territory and dismissed Trump’s description of Russia as a “paper tiger.”

“Russia isn’t a tiger, it’s more associated with a bear,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “There are no paper bears. Russia is a real bear.”

▶ Read more about the Russia-Ukraine war