Page 4 - Donald Trump Administration

US Supreme Court lets WH continue construction on Trump's $400 mn ballroom

A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the White House to continue construction on a USD 400 million ballroom project as lawsuits play out, a win for President Donald Trump as he flexes unprecedented executive power and remakes the capital in his image. The decision replaces a temporary order from Chief Justice John Roberts previously issued hours before a lower-court decision halting the work would have gone into effect. Roberts publicly dissented from the latest order, however, joining with the court's three liberal-leaning justices, who called the construction "likely unlawful." The majority did not decide the legality of the project, but found a preservation group likely did not have the legal right to challenge it. The lawsuit will return to lower courts, but documents say that key portions of the project could be complete within months - a quick timeline compared with a typical legal case. The Trump administration asked the justices to intervene after federal courts found

Trump has asked Apple to rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' on maps

US President Donald Trump has asked Apple to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America" on its maps app, his administration's interior chief said Monday, days after signing an executive order over the body of water now in the spotlight amid his escalating trade war with Canada. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox's "Mornings with Maria" programme that Trump "reached out to Apple directly." He said he was confident the "Lake America" name could be seen on its platform soon. Apple did not immediately comment in response Monday. The body of water long known as Lake Ontario sits between the US state of New York and Canada's Ontario province. Just over the weekend, competitor Google Maps rolled out the new label for its US users - citing the recent order by Trump, and the company's already-established practice of using names assigned by the US Geographic Names Information System, also known as GNIS. "People using Maps in the US will see Lake America, those in Canada will ...

Google Maps changes Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' for US users

Google Maps now shows Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' for users in the US after the US Geographic Names Information System formally changed the lake's name

Canadian provincial leader calls Trump a 'bad person' amid trade talks

The premier of a Canadian province launched a blistering attack on US President Donald Trump on Thursday, calling him a "bad person" and "not to be trusted" and urging Canada to keep fighting rather than rush to make concessions in trade talks with Washington. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has leverage in the talks even as his province weighs restoring US alcohol sales at Prime Minister Mark Carney's urging to help secure a deal that would avert threatened 50 per cent US tariffs. "Everybody knows the American president by now, he's erratic, he's irresponsible, and he's not to be trusted. And this is the person that we were supposed to make a deal with, and we're going to make additional concessions for it. That's why I say you can't make a good deal with a bad person, because who's to say it's not going to be undone?" Kinew said. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-US trade, said Thursday the two countries were close to finalizing an agreement after

US national debt crosses record $40 trn, five months after it hit $39 trn

The national debt surpassed a record USD 40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit to make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the US hit a record USD 39 trillion debt in March. It reached USD 38 trillion five months before that, in October. The unprecedented USD 40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting the defense spending that the US relies on to carry out President Donald Trump's almost-6-month-old Iran war to lowering the cost of gas and groceries. Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration "has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America's debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction." However, experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone is ..

Trump warns Iran of 'draconian' sanctions, claims Hormuz blockade holds

US President Donald Trump said Washington could impose further sanctions on Iran, while claiming the Strait of Hormuz remains open and the naval blockade has been 100% effective

Why Trump sanctioned ICC President Tomoko Akane and its senior lawyer

The US says the ICC exceeded its authority by targeting officials from countries that have not accepted its jurisdiction, but the sanctions are closely tied to the court's Gaza investigation

Trump dismisses concerns over USS Abraham Lincoln crew's long deployment

Families of sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier have raised concerns over food shortages, contaminated water and poor living conditions as its West Asia deployment nears nine months

'Ties with US stronger than ever': Rubio greets India on Independence Day

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has greeted the people of India on its 80th Independence Day, asserting that the bilateral ties were stronger than ever due to the personal relationship between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a statement issued here on Friday, Rubio said the deep ties of friendship and family between the people of the two countries form the foundation of a partnership that is innovative, resilient and forward looking. "On behalf of the United States of America, I extend warm congratulations to the people of India on their Independence Day," Rubio said. "Thanks to the personal relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi, the US-India relationship continues to grow and is stronger than ever," the US secretary of state said. Rubio said from defence and energy security to critical minerals, artificial intelligence, space cooperation, and commerce, US-India collaboration is making both nations, and the broader Indian Ocean .

Trump admin to roll out 'economic isolation' plan for Iran next week

Iran's economy has already taken a significant hit from the war, with much of its industrial capacity destroyed and crude exports severely curtailed by the US blockade

US court dismisses Trump admin lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Harvard

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that accused Harvard University of turning a blind eye to harassment of Jewish students. The decision from US District Judge Richard G Stearns said President Donald Trump's administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws. The judge said the lawsuit, filed in March, mostly focuses on incidents that took place in the 2023-24 academic year, with a few from March 2025. The cases were "too isolated and episodic" to prove a persistent civil rights violation at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the judge said. Harvard and the White House did not immediately provide comment on the decision. The lawsuit accused Harvard of failing to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled the campus after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The Trump administration argued Harvard officials did nothing as Jewish students were "harassed, ...

Trump gives green light to US companies to aim hacks at cybercriminals

The practice would align the United States more closely with countries like China and Russia, where spy agencies have long relied on private-sector hackers to help with national security missions

Trump orders Navy to return to older jet-launch system on aircraft carriers

President Donald Trump is ordering the US Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and return to using older steam catapults that he has long said he prefers, according to a directive issued Thursday. The new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and revert the Navy's most advanced ships to a system that takes more sailors to operate and is more difficult to maintain. The memo directs the Pentagon and the Navy to present Trump with plans to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, also known as EMALS, within two months. It also says the Ford-class carrier's electromagnetic weapons elevators should be replaced. The move comes after years of Trump railing against the new, magnetically powered catapult system that shoots fighter jets off the deck of the carriers. It also comes at a time when the US military is trying to find funding from Congress for all its desired equipment and as the Navy is struggling

Trump admin deploys AI to crack down on China-linked tariff dodging

White House report accuses dozens of countries of helping China evade US tariffs through third-country transshipments, with the new AI set to track such illicit trade flows

Trump enlists pvt sector to boost cyber-offensive arsenal against criminals

A new Trump administration programme will allow private companies under federal oversight to conduct offensive cyber operations against criminal groups targeting Americans

Trump reverts to economic squeeze as 'entrenched' Iranian regime resists

Facing munitions shortages and growing pressure over the conflict, the Trump administration is turning again to sanctions and a naval blockade to squeeze Iran's oil exports

Trump sued over paid early access to US policy posts on Truth Social

President Donald Trump was sued in federal court Wednesday to stop him from making money off a new, paid service at his Truth Social company offering early, exclusive access to his posts on US policy. The lawsuit alleges that Trump's deal to post first on his own company's site about US policy decisions on war, tariffs and other issues violates the Constitution and that official announcements should be made available to everyone at the same time. The suit comes after his media company, Trump Media & Technology, rolled out a new subscription service earlier this month charging Wall Street firms as much as USD 100,000 a month to get his posts faster so they can trade off them. "A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the benefit of a private company he controls is so blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional that it would have been hard to even fathom just a few years ago," said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, a plaintiff ..

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to leave role at month's end

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month's end, President Donald Trump has announced. Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May. Leavitt, who served Trump as a press aide during his first go-around in the White House, has been one of the most visible advocates of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement. The Republican president described her as one of his "most trusted aides" in a social media post announcing her departure. He said Leavitt "will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect! Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections.

Judge again bars Trump admin from implementing order to limit mail voting

A federal judge has ruled against President Donald Trump's executive order that sought to create a federal voter list and directly involve the US Postal Service in election operations in a way that would limit mail voting. US District Court Judge Indira Talwani had already halted the order Trump signed in March, his second one attempting to set national election rules. On June 25, she sided with Democratic state attorneys general in granting summary judgment, preventing the core parts of Trump's order from taking effect. Tuesday's ruling creates another legal hurdle for the Trump administration to overcome should it get the initial injunction lifted by the US Supreme Court. "That it is now less than 90 days before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections underscores the critical need for an injunction to prevent Defendants from changing election rules on the eve of the election," she wrote. The Trump administration in late July requested that the Supreme Court halt lower court decisi

Food company CEOs pushed White House to delay ultra-processed food policy

CEOs and trade group representatives sent letters and called the White House in a bid to delay the release of a white paper marking the first federal effort to define the controversial food category