Page 3 - Donald Trump Administration

Sleepy Donald? Trump battles the very label he once gave Joe Biden

Trump's cabinet-room snooze and his dismissal of affordability concerns are prompting comparisons with Biden's energy struggles from the last administration

US farmers call Trump's $12 bn aid package short-term relief, not recovery

The effects of the president's trade wars, which have squeezed demand and raised costs further, have left the sector in a state of extended uncertainty

12 FBI agents fired for kneeling during protest sue to get their jobs back

Twelve former FBI agents fired after kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington sued Monday to get their jobs back, saying their action had been intended to de-escalate a volatile situation and was not meant as a political gesture. The agents say in their lawsuit that they were fired in September by Director Kash Patel because they were perceived as not being politically affiliated with President Donald Trump. But they say their decision to take a knee on June 4, 2020, days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, has been misinterpreted as political expression. The lawsuit says the agents were assigned to patrol the nation's capital during a period of civil unrest prompted by Floyd's death. Lacking protective gear or extensive training in crowd control, the agents became outnumbered by hostile crowds they encountered and decided to kneel to the ground in hopes of defusing the tension, the lawsuit said. The tactic worked, the lawsuit assert

Trump proposing $12 bn aid for farmers hit hard by trade war with China

President Donald Trump is planning a USD 12 billion farm aid package, according to a White House official a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war. According to the official, who was granted anonymity to speak ahead of a planned announcement, Trump will unveil the plan Monday afternoon at a White House roundtable with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers and farmers who raise cattle and grow corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, rice, wheat, and potatoes. Farmers have backed Trump politically, but his aggressive trade policies and frequently changing tariff rates have come under increasing scrutiny because of the impact on the agricultural sector and because of broader consumer worries. The aid is the administration's latest effort to defend Trump's economic stewardship and answer voter angst about rising costs even a

Trump warns Netflix-Warner deal could pose major antitrust 'problem'

Netflix has "a very big market share, and when they have Warner Bros, you know, that share goes up a lot," the president said, adding that he will be personally involved in the decision-making process

I've ended 8 wars largely because of trade: Trump at Kennedy Center Honors

As Trump highlighted what he sees as the security advantages of tariffs, his comments came ahead of a key Supreme Court ruling on whether he exceeded presidential authority in imposing broad duties

Trump to host Kennedy Centre Honours for Stallone, Kiss, Gaynor and others

Sylvester Stallone, Kiss and Gloria Gaynor are among the luminaries being celebrated Sunday at the annual Kennedy Centre Honours, with Donald Trump hosting the show, the first time a president will command the stage instead of sitting in an Opera House box. Since returning to office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, which is named after a Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he has lambasted as woke anti-American culture. Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show. The Republican president said Saturday at a State Department dinner for the honourees that he was doing so at the request of a certain television network. He predicted that the broadcast, scheduled to air Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, would have its best ratings ever. It's going to be something that I believe, and I'm going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they've ever done and they've gotten some ...

Trump admin recalls education dept workers to tackle civil rights backlog

The Trump administration is bringing back dozens of Education Department staffers who were slated to be laid off, saying their help is needed to tackle a mounting backlog of discrimination complaints from students and families. The staffers had been on administrative leave while the department faced lawsuits challenging layoffs in the agency's Office for Civil Rights, which investigates possible discrimination in the nation's schools and colleges. But in a Friday letter, department officials ordered the workers back to duty starting Dec. 15 to help clear civil rights cases. A department spokesperson confirmed the move, saying the government still hoped to lay off the staffers to shrink the size of the department. "The Department will continue to appeal the persistent and unceasing litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers," Julie Hartman said in a statement. In the let

US judge questions Trump's authority over California National Guard troops

A federal judge on Friday sharply questioned the Trump administration's authority and need to maintain command of California National Guard troops it first deployed to Los Angeles in June following violent protests. At a hearing in San Francisco, US District Judge Charles Breyer suggested conditions in Los Angeles had changed since the initial deployment, and he questioned whether the administration could control state Guard troops forever under its interpretation of federal law. "No crisis lasts forever," he said. "I think experience teaches us that crises come and crises go. That's the way it works." He pressed an attorney for the government for any evidence that state authorities were either unable or unwilling to help keep federal personnel and property in the area safe and noted President Donald Trump had access to tens of thousands of active duty troops in California. California officials have asked Breyer to issue a preliminary injunction returning control of remaining ...

US Border Patrol imposes $5,000 fee on illegal US border crossers

The fee was approved by Congress under President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included billions of dollars for immigration enforcement

Foreign student spending in US falls record 5.3% on visa crackdown

The 5.3 per cent decline - amounting to about $3 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate - follows a crackdown by the Trump administration on visas for foreign students

US, Ukraine officials report progress on creating postwar security plan

President Donald Trump's advisers and Ukrainian officials said Friday they'll meet for a third day of talks after making progress on creating a security framework for postwar Ukraine and are urging Russia to commit to peace. The officials, who met for a second day in Florida on Friday, issued a joint statement that offered broad brushstrokes about the progress they say that's been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a US-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war. "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," the statement said. "Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, joint USUkraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects." US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's talks in Florida with

International body to govern Gaza to be announced by end of year: Officials

An international body tasked with governing the Gaza Strip under the next phase of the US-brokered ceasefire is expected to be announced by the end of the year, an Arab official and a Western diplomat said Friday. According to the ceasefire agreement, the authority known as the Board of Peace and chaired by US President Donald Trump is to oversee Gaza's reconstruction under a two-year, renewable UN mandate. It will include about a dozen other Middle Eastern and Western leaders, the Arab official and the Western diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Also to be announced is a committee of Palestinian technocrats who will run the day-to-day administration of post-war Gaza, they two said. The Western diplomat, who spoke to the AP over the phone from Cairo, said the announcement about this will likely happen when Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet later this month. The ...

US Supreme Court to hear challenge to Trump's birthright citizenship order

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to take up the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The justices will hear Trump's appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country. The case will be argued in the spring. A definitive ruling is expected by early summer. The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on January 20, the first day of his second term, is part of his Republican administration's broad immigration crackdown. Other actions include immigration enforcement surges in several cities and the first peacetime invocation of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act. The administration is facing multiple court challenges, and the high court has sent mixed signals in emergency orders it has issued. The justices effectively stopped the use of th

White House creates media 'hall of shame' in fresh attack on news outlets

President Donald Trump's White House is taking on the role of media critic and asking for help from everyday Americans." The White House launched a web portal it says will spotlight bias on the part of news outlets, targeting the Boston Globe, CBS News, The Independent and The Washington Post in its first two media offenders of the week. It's the latest wrinkle in the fight against what Trump, back in his first term, labelled fake news. The Republican president has taken outlets like CBS News and The Wall Street Journal to court over their coverage, is fighting The Associated Press in court over media access and has moved to dismantle government-run outlets like Voice of America. Trump has also engaged in personal attacks, last month alone saying quiet, piggy, to a female reporter who was questioning him on Air Force One, calling a reporter from The New York Times ugly, both inside and out and publicly telling an ABC News journalist she was "a terrible reporter. It's honestly ...

US Secretary of State Rubio warns of 'imminent threat' from radical Islam

Rubio further said that Radical Islamists are 'prepared to conduct acts of terrorism, assassination, murders' to gain their 'domination of different cultures and societies'

Trump admin to withhold SNAP from Democrat states over data refusal

President Donald Trump's administration has said it will move to withhold SNAP food aid from recipients in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless they provide information about those receiving the assistance. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is in the works because those states are refusing to provide data the department requested such as the names and immigration status of the aid recipients. She said the cooperation is necessary in order to root out fraud in the programme. Democratic states have sued to block the requirement. About 42 million lower-income Americans, or one in eight, rely on SNAP to help buy groceries. The average monthly benefit is about USD 190 per person, or a little over USD 6 a day. The programme is not normally in the political spotlight, but it has been this year. As part of Trump's big tax and policy bill earlier in the year, work requirements are expanding to include people who ar

Trump administration plans to expand travel ban to nearly 30 countries

A list of the countries being added to the ban is expected to come soon, according to a Department of Homeland Security official

US vows to refocus G20 on driving growth, prosperity under its presidency

The US has said it will steer the G20 back to its "core mission" of driving economic growth and prosperity by prioritising regulatory reform, energy security and technological innovation during its year-long presidency of the grouping. America assumed the G20 presidency on December 1. The State Department in a statement on Monday said under President Donald Trump's leadership, the US will "return the G20 to focusing on its core mission of driving economic growth and prosperity to produce results". As we usher in these much-needed reforms, we will prioritise three core themes: unleashing economic prosperity by limiting regulatory burdens, unlocking affordable and secure energy supply chains, and pioneering new technologies and innovations, it said. The US will host the G20 Leaders' Summit in Miami, Florida, in 2026, coinciding with the country's 250th anniversary year. America took over the presidency from South Africa, but Trump did not attend the Johannesburg Summit held last mon

Trump holds Oval Office meeting on Venezuela amid questions on US strikes

The deliberations came as the US has stepped up pressure on Venezuela through strikes on drug boats and a significant military build-up in the Caribbean under 'Operation Southern Spear'