Page 50 - Donald Trump

21 Democratic-led states sue White House for Trump admin's CFPB funding

A coalition of 21 attorneys general from Democratic-led states sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its director, Russell Vought, on Monday, asserting that the White House's argument to withhold funds from the consumer protection agency is unconstitutional. The lawsuit has to do with the Trump administration's argument that the CFPB can only be funded by the Federal Reserve's profits. The Federal Reserve has been running a loss since 2022, a side effect of the Fed raising interest rates sharply to combat inflation, because it holds bonds that pay low interest from the pandemic, but it needs to pay out higher amounts of interest to the banks that hold their deposits with the bank. The White House has argued for several months that the CFPB cannot lawfully draw funds to fund its operations from the Fed if the Fed does not have combined earnings to allocate to the bureau. Without additional funds, the CFPB is expected to deplete its operating funds completely in January. T

Progress in US-led peace talks 'quite solid', says Ukrainian Prez Zelenskyy

Initial drafts of US proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv's demands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, although he suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement. Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage, the Ukrainian leader said of recent talks with US officials who are trying to steer the neighbouring countries toward compromises. There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I'm sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. US President Donald Trump has for months been pushing for a peace agreement. However, the negotiations have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv. But US envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held productive and constructive talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Zelenskyy said that nearly 90% of Ukraine's demands have been .

US DOJ restores Trump's previously removed photo from Epstein files

A photo of Donald Trump removed from Epstein-related files was restored after the Justice Department found no evidence that Epstein's victims were depicted, following a court-mandated review

Russia fully committed to achieving peace, says US envoy Steve Witkoff

The negotiations were held between Russia and the United States as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Washington to increase pressure on Moscow

Trump admin removes nearly 30 career diplomats from foreign service posts

The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the US diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump's America First priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves. All of them had taken up their posts in the Biden administration but had survived an initial purge in the early months of Trump's second term that targeted mainly political appointees. That changed on Wednesday when they began to receive notices from officials in Washington about their imminent departures. Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, although they typically remain at their posts for three to four years. Those affected by the shake-up are not losing their foreign service jobs

US Coast Guard pursuing another tanker helping Venezuela skirt sanctions

The US Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to the Venezuelan government. The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a US official briefed on the operation, comes after the US administration announced Saturday it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks. The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly about the ongoing operation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sunday's pursuit involved a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion. The official said the vessel was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order. The Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the US Coast Guard, deferred questions about the operation to the White House, which did not offer comment on the operation. Saturday's predawn seizure of a Panama-flagg

Near-term impact on Indian drugmakers unlikely from US pricing policy

Analysts say the US move to link drug prices to the lowest global benchmarks targets patented medicines, limiting near-term risks for India's largely generic-focused exporters

Epstein files reveal famous names worldwide, but Trump notably missing

The department released only a partial tranche of the Epstein-related documents in its possession on Friday with much of the information within them redacted

Epstein files offer scant insight on crimes or how he evaded prosecution

The Justice Department's much-anticipated release of records tied to Jeffrey Epstein arrived in a flood of documents that did little to quell the long-simmering intrigue, largely because some of the most consequential records were nowhere to be found. The initial disclosures, spanning tens of thousands of pages, offer scant new insight into Epstein's crimes or the decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal prosecution for years. Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge. The gaps go further. The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, contain no references to several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain's former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinised,

US forces stop oil tanker off Venezuela coast as Trump ramps up pressure

US forces on Saturday stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro. The pre-dawn operation comes days after Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the December 10 seizure by American forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the US Coast Guard with help from the Defense Department stopped the oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela. She also posted on social media an unclassified video of a US helicopter landing personnel on a vessel called Centuries. A crude oil tanker flying under the flag of Panama operates under the name and was recently spotted near the Venezuelan coast, according to MarineTraffic, a project that tracks the movement of vessels around the globe using publicly available data. It was n

16 files disappear from DOJ webpage on documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department's public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein including a photograph showing President Donald Trump less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public. The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Elise Stefanik suspends New York governor campaign, won't seek reelection

Moments after Stefanik's surprise statemement, Trump described her on social media as a "fantastic person" and "tremendous talent"

Ex-Trump adviser Powell McCormick steps down from Meta board after 8 months

Powell McCormick, who served as Trump's deputy national security adviser during his first term, is considering retaining an advisory role where she continues working with Meta's senior leadership team

Vivek Ramaswamy challenges Conservatives on surging bigotry on the Right

The leading Republican candidate for Ohio governor is calling out his party for rising intolerance, including against Indian American immigrants and their children, like him.

US trade chief criticises India, EU as negotiations drag on into 2026

He also said negotiations with India that began earlier this year still haven't resulted in an agreement - noting that the US had concluded deals with a slew of other partners

US Department of Justice appeals dismissal of James, Comey indictments

The Justice Department had said earlier it would appeal Currie's ruling, but since then, prosecutors have tried and failed twice to convince other grand juries to approve the charges against James

US launches retaliatory strikes on 70 targets in Syria after Trump threat

The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites

Trump announces lower drug price deals with 9 major pharma companies

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that nine drugmakers have agreed to lower the cost of their prescription drugs in the US. Pharmaceutical companies Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi will now rein in Medicaid drug prices to match what they charged in other developed countries. As part of the deal, new drugs made by those companies will also be charged at the so-called most-favoured-nation pricing across the country on any newly launched medications for all, including commercial and cash pay markets as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Drug prices for patients in the US can depend on a number of factors, including the competition a treatment faces and insurance coverage. Most people have coverage through work, the individual insurance market or government programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which shield them from much of the cost. Patients in Medicaid, the state and federally funded program for peopl

Head of group suing over White House ballroom backs Trump-picked chairman

The president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Friday she trusts the Trump-appointed chairman of a federal planning commission to do his job and give serious review to President Donald Trump's proposal to add a ballroom to the White House. Carol Quillen said in an interview that she takes Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, at his word after he said at the panel's December meeting that the review process would be treated seriously once the White House submits the plans. Scharf said at that meeting that he expected to receive the plans sometime this month, and the panel's review process would happen at a normal and deliberative pace. Quillen said she trusted that would be the case. I take him at his word that the process will be conducted as it always is, deliberately and seriously, and that the commission will do its job," she said. The White House has not responded to multiple queries about when the ballroom plans will be shared

Epstein files: Clinton photos draw attention in recent release by US DOJ

The Justice Department released thousands of files Friday about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but the incomplete document dump did not break significant ground about the long-running criminal investigations of the financier or his ties to wealthy and powerful individuals. The files included a small number of photos of President Donald Trump, sparing the White House for now from having to confront fresh revelations about an Epstein relationship that the administration for months has tried in vain to push past. It did, however, feature a series of never-before-seen photos of Bill Clinton from a trip that the former president appears to have take with Epstein decades ago. Reaction to the disclosures broke along mostly partisan lines. Democrats and some Republicans seized on the limited release to accuse the Justice Department of failing to meet a congressionally set deadline to produce the Epstein files. White House officials on social media gleefully promoted a photo of Clint