Trump ends shutdown, faces backlash and makes surprise Epstein move amid chaotic week

16 Nov 2025 By foxnews

The 42nd week of his second administration was another busy one for President Donald Trump.

This week, Trump signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in history, backed using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, announced plans to order the Justice Department to evaluate ties between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and other U.S. figures and issued pardons to those accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

Here's a look at what happened.

On Wednesday evening, Trump signed legislation that the House and Senate passed earlier in the week to fund the government again as consequences of the lapse in funding started to mount, such as missed paychecks for federal workers and airline delays due to air traffic controller staffing shortages.

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The bill maintains funding for the government consistent with fiscal year 2025 spending levels through Jan. 30 to provide a window for lawmakers to nail down a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026.

The measure also allocates spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which more than 42 million Americans rely on, through September. The program supports non- or low-income individuals or families to purchase groceries with a debit card.

Additionally, the measure reverses layoffs the Trump administration set into motion earlier in October and pays employees for their absence.

Trump also conducted a sit-down interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham that aired Monday and Tuesday, in which he said bringing foreign workers to the U.S. on H-1B visas is important to "bring in talent" to the U.S. After Ingraham claimed that the U.S. has talent at home, Trump disagreed.

"No, you don't. No, you don't. You don't have, you don't have certain talents, and people have to learn," Trump said. "You can't take people off an unemployment line and say, 'I'm gonna put you into a factory where we're gonna make missiles.'"

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H-1B visas permit U.S. companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers for up to six years.

It's an issue that has remained controversial among MAGA supporters. Those who back the program claim it is critical to U.S. competitiveness, but opponents say that the visa holders are taking away jobs from Americans.

Trump's statements earned him criticism from those who make up his base. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., rebuked Trump's statements afterward and said that she is "America First and America Only."

"I believe in the American people," Greene said. "I am one of you. I believe you are good, talented, creative, intelligent, hardworking, and want to achieve. I am solidly against you being replaced by foreign labor, like with H1Bs."

TRUMP SIGNS BILL ENDING LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY

In response to the criticism, the White House pointed to the Trump administration's announcement in September that would require a $100,000 annual fee for companies seeking to obtain an H-1B visa. Plus, the White House noted that the Department of Labor launched Project Firewall in September in an attempt to ensure employers don't abuse the H-1B visa process.

Separately, Trump also defended previous statements supporting allowing up to 600,000 Chinese students to come to the U.S. in his interview with Ingraham and asserted they must study in the U.S. so U.S. colleges don't "go out of business."

Former Trump U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley said doing so would be a "massive mistake."

"That would be a huge gift to China and a threat to the United States," Haley said in a post on X Thursday.

Additionally, Trump announced Friday he would order the Justice Department and the FBI to probe financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with others, including former President Bill Clinton and Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary, among others.

The announcement came after Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released thousands of documents Wednesday related to Epstein, including emails that mention Trump. However, the documents do not allege wrongdoing from Trump and simply show Epstein mentioning him.

"This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. "Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his 'Island.' Stay tuned!!!"

Clinton has denied that he ever visited Epstein's island and wrote in his 2024 memoir, "Citizen," that he wished they'd never met. A spokesperson for Summers did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Late Sunday, the Trump administration announced the president had issued pardons for more than 70 people accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election results.

But presidential pardons only apply to federal charges, and those involved don't have any federal charges leveled against them, meaning the move is primarily a symbolic gesture.

Those pardoned include Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and the president's former personal lawyer who claimed that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. Giuliani is caught up in a case in Arizona in which he faces state charges for election interference for those statements.

Other prominent figures pardoned include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.