Page 7 - Donald Trump Administration

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'

Trump had preventive heart and abdomen MRI scan, results 'normal': Doctor

Donald Trump's doctor says the President had MRI imaging on his heart and abdomen in October as part of a preventative screening for men his age, according to a memo from the physician released by the White House. Sean Barbabella said in a statement on Monday that Trump's physical exam included "advanced imaging" that is "standard for an executive physical" in Trump's age group. Barbabella concluded that the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was "perfectly normal". "The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function," the doctor wrote. The White House released Barbabella's memo after Trump on Sunday said he would release the results of the scan. He and the White House have said the scan was "part of his routine physical examination" but had declined until Monday to detail why Trump had an MRI during his physical in October at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center or on what

Trump downplays Venezuelan airspace warning as US mulls new steps

The US is enacting a widening campaign in the Caribbean, one that began with fatal strikes on boats in international waters and continued when the US deployed additional Navy ships

I know who I am going to pick, says Trump on his choice of next Fed chair

Trump has frequently excoriated current Fed chief Jerome Powell for failing to lower rates swiftly and signalled he wants a chair who will more forcefully pursue cuts

Trump invites families of shot National Guard members to White House

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he's invited the family of a National Guard member fatally shot last week to the White House, saying he spoke to her parents and they were devastated. US Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died after the Wednesday shooting in Washington, DC, while her seriously injured colleague, US Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remained in critical condition. The president said he's discussed a White House visit for the parents of both members of the West Virginia National Guard. I said, When you're ready, because that's a tough thing, come to the White House. We're going to honor Sarah, Trump told reporters. And likewise with Andrew, recover or not. In recent days, local vigils in West Virginia have honoured the soldiers, including one Saturday evening at Webster County High School, where Beckstrom attended classes. Sarah was the kind of student that teachers hoped for, she carried herself with quiet strength, a contagious smile and a positive energy that lif

Biden, Harris screwed our country: Trump after shooting near White House

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also accused the previous Biden administration of committing an "act of national self-sabotage" by letting immigrants like Lakanwal into the country

US, Ukraine talks on Russia productive, but much work yet to be done: Rubio

US and Ukrainian officials completed roughly four hours of talks Sunday aimed at finding an endgame to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters afterward that the session was productive but work remains in the search for a peace deal. It's not just about the terms that ends fighting, Rubio said. It's about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity. ... I think we built on that today, but there's more work to be done." The high-level negotiations in Florida came days before President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be in Moscow to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Rubio, Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, represented the American side in the talks, held at a sensitive time as Ukraine continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded in 2022 while dealing with a domestic corruption scandal. Diplomats have focused on revisions to a proposed US-authored plan that was developed in

Northwestern reaches $75 mn deal with Trump admin to restore funding

Northwestern, which has campuses in Evanston, Illinois, and Chicago, had been crippled financially by the federal freeze and was self-financing its research, paying millions of dollars each month

Trump admin, judge face off over flights to El Salvador in contempt probe

Two planes carrying Venezuelan migrants out of the US were midair on March 15 when a federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to turn them around. Instead, the planes landed in El Salvador hours later, touching off an extraordinary power struggle between the judicial and executive branches of the US government over what happened and why the judge's order went unexecuted. That fight entered a critical phase on Friday when US District Judge James Boasberg relaunched an investigation to determine whether the Republican administration deliberately ignored his instruction, letting the planes continue onto El Salvador. The judge previously concluded it did and threatened to have the responsible official or officials prosecuted on a contempt charge. The administration has denied any violation. But an appeals court threw Boasberg's decision out. The contempt probe appeared dead until, in yet another twist, a larger panel of judges on the same appeals court ruled on ...