Axios

The Trump administration will pause aid for Democrat-led states that don't provide the government with identifying information about SNAP recipients, such as immigration status, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: If the administration goes through with the threat, millions of Americans could lose their SNAP benefits, sometimes known as food stamps, just over a month after recipients were put in limbo during the longest-ever government shutdown.

President Trump's advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for around five hours in the Kremlin on Tuesday to try to convince him to support the updated U.S. peace plan for Ukraine.

Driving the news: Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the meeting concluded that it had been "useful, constructive and meaningful."

The man accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members in D.C. last week has been charged with murder and is facing additional firearm and assault felonies, per court documents filed Tuesday.

The big picture: President Trump's administration seized on the shooting, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national, to institute a stiffer travel ban and step up its immigration crackdown.

During a long phone call on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Trump for more support in his push for a pardon from Israel's president, two U.S. officials and one Israeli official said.

The big picture: In a conversation that largely focused on Gaza and Syria, the leaders also discussed Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial. Trump has repeatedly intervened in Israel's judicial process and domestic politics to push for an end to those proceedings.

Every National Guard member in Washington, D.C., is now armed following the recent shooting that killed one and critically injured another minutes away from the White House, the Pentagon said during a Tuesday press conference.

The big picture: President Trump and the Pentagon have said that the fatal shooting was a "terrorist attack" on American soil and have doubled down on the president's push to send troops into cities to reduce crime.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said after meeting with President Trump on Monday that she's recommending a travel ban on multiple countries in connection with criminal activity in the U.S.

The big picture: Trump widened his administration's hardline immigration crackdown after officials said the suspect in last Wednesday's ambush-style shooting in D.C. that killed one National Guard member and critically injured another was an Afghan national.

The publisher of the "Franklin the Turtle" children's books series said Monday it condemns the unauthorized use of the beloved character, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image of him apparently firing at drug boats.

The big picture: Hegseth posted the image to his personal X account amid reports questioning the legality of a deadly strike on a suspected drug boat near Venezuela that prompted some congressional lawmakers to warn that, if substantiated, the deaths could violate the laws of war.

For the first time since 1974, Haiti is going to the World Cup.

The big picture: Most Haitians weren't even alive during their team's last appearance in one of the world's biggest sports-and-culture moments.

From a U.S. prison cell, Honduras' ex-president secured a likely pardon for drug trafficking thanks to a letter he penned praising President Trump — whom he called "Your Excellency" — and a persistent lobbying campaign by longtime Trump pal Roger Stone.

Why it matters: The surprise announcement of Juan Orlando Hernandez's looming pardon is a window into the unorthodox, norm-shattering way Trump grants clemency.

The Trump administration is concerned that Israel's repeated strikes inside Syria risk destabilizing the country and undermining hopes of an Israel-Syria security agreement, two senior U.S. officials tell Axios.

• "We are trying to tell Bibi he has to stop this because if it continues he will self-destruct," one of those officials said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his nickname.

The big picture: Supporting President Ahmed al-Sharaa's efforts to stabilize Syria and encouraging him to engage in a peace process with Israel are key elements of the Trump administration's Middle East strategy.

A Navy admiral and not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a September strike on a suspected drug boat near Venezuela where the military was reportedly ordered to kill survivors, the White House said Monday.

Why it matters: The White House defended the legality of the attack, but Congress has vowed to investigate with some members warning that, if substantiated, the deaths could violate the laws of war.

The White House on Monday defended the legality of its strikes on suspected drug boats from Venezuela and the surrounding area following a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a second attack on a ship to kill survivors.

The big picture: Military experts warn the attacks could be illegal and lawmakers are demanding more information about the lethal strikes, which are often announced by President Trump or Hegseth on social media.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine on Sunday focused on where the de facto border with Russia would be drawn under a peace deal, two Ukrainian officials tell Axios. They described the five-hour meeting as "difficult" and "intense," but productive.

Why it matters: Russian President Vladimir Putin — who's expected to meet with President Trump's envoy on Tuesday — insists Russia won't stop until it controls the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

• The U.S. wants Ukraine to hand over territory there to convince Putin to make peace, but that would be a painful and politically explosive concession.