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Donald Trump Administration
President Donald Trump has had a lot to say about his thinking on the way ahead in the Iran war since Republicans were trounced in last week's midterm elections. In exchanges with reporters, broadcast interviews and social media posts since Election Day, he's somehow managed to back away from carrying out additional strikes while also backing away from the prospect of additional talks with the Islamic Republic's negotiators on ending the 8-month-old conflict. The president acknowledged on the day after the midterms that the war and the global economic tumult it's caused were partly to blame for Republicans' electoral losses, while maintaining it was the right thing to do. Then, at the start of this week, he huddled with Qatar's prime minister at the White House and afterwards told reporters that he believed it was highly unlikely he'd need to order new major strikes on Iran, declaring that the war "militarily is effectively over." But by Thursday, he was again raising questions abo
The Trump administration says it has returned more than USD 12 billion, or almost 99 per cent, of the revenue obtained from the sales of Venezuelan oil since it ousted then-President Nicolas Maduro in January. In a report released Thursday by the State Department, the accounting firm KPMG said the sales of Venezuelan crude, along with minor amounts of gold, minerals and fertilizer, produced USD 12.26 billion. Almost all of the money has been returned to Venezuela under the terms of a broad energy deal reached with the country's interim authorities, according to the report. As of Sept. 30, the end of the 2026 budget year, USD 168.6 million remained in an escrow account managed by the US Treasury Department, the report said. Under the terms of the deal, Venezuelan crude is sold on the open market, with proceeds going into the US-managed account. Venezuelan officials then seek approval for those funds to be returned to the country to pay for infrastructure and humanitarian needs. The
The Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for data centres and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week's election that soundly repudiated President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face yearslong delays in getting to the grid. The legislation's sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big energy projects started - both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects - and make sure data centres pay for the energy they use. Anger over artificial intelligence data centres and rising electricity helped usher in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the massive, energy-hungry structures. Trump urged senators to vote for it, calling it a "BIG WIN for US ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE." in a social medi
US President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he believes the war in Iran "militarily is effectively over." The president made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting with Qatar's prime minister earlier in the day. "Iran militarily is effectively over," Trump said. "We're just keeping it the status quo." Trump added that Iran has been "decapitated" but said he is still looking to make sure there's a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme is defanged. The president offered some of his most definitive comments about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections passed. The president's Republican Party lost both chambers of Congress to Democrats in last week's elections. The election was shadowed by dissatisfaction among the American electorate over the eight-month-old war, which has led to a surge in fuel prices that's impacted nearly ever sector of the global economy. Trump at his news confer
US President Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI is investigating Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese government agent, but said he doesn't think the executive who has helped to develop artificial intelligence has a reason to worry. "I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something else, and I think that he'll be in good shape," Trump said at a White House briefing. The sudden emergence of Huang's infidelity has rocked the political class and America's tech sector, creating new concerns about whether China has been able to access the cutting-edge chips designed by Nvidia that are powering the development of artificial intelligence. Trump suggested the extraordinary step of directly involving himself in a counterintelligence investigation, a sign of his friendly relationship with Huang and the possible geopolitical stakes. "I did speak to him today just to see if he's feeling all right, how you're doing," Trump said. "He said he had absolutely no idea t
After suggesting he was open to negotiating a deal with Democrats on an immigration policy that he described as too tough, President Donald Trump on Monday defended his administration's deportation policy and said he was opposed to any immigration deal that would include "amnesty" for immigrants living in the US illegally. The comments from Trump came after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier Monday also said while he has been fielding calls from Democrats interested in working on immigration policy, he was adamantly opposed to any deal that would include amnesty. The midterm elections highlighted voters' disaffection toward the administration's hard-line immigration enforcement activities. But the comments from both Trump and Mullin reflected the mixed messaging from the administration in the aftermath of the election and emphasised how complicated it will be for a new Congress controlled by Democrats to find any common ground when it comes to the issue of ...
President Donald Trump in his first major interview since his party lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections said he thinks his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that he thinks he can work with Democrats in the new Congress on some kind of immigration deal. Trump said his deportation policy was part of the reason Republicans lost, telling CBS's "60 Minutes" in an interview that aired on Sunday: "I think it might be too tough, yeah." He added that he thinks he could reach an agreement with the new Democratic majority. "The deal would be we would work something out. And I think it's something -- I think that's something that's actually doable," he said in the interview. Trump did not give specifics about what that deal would look like - and shortly after taping the interview on Friday, Trump named the key architect of his hard-line immigration agenda, Stephen Miller, as his new chief of staff. "Trump says his immigration crackdown went too far