Page 4 - Trump Administration

Trump draws rare Republican backlash over racist video targeting Obamas

President Donald Trump received rare blowback from Republican lawmakers over a video posted to social media that included a racist image of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, depicted as primates. Since Trump's return to the White House, Republican lawmakers have treaded carefully when disagreeing with the president, often communicating their concerns in private for fear of suffering his wrath. But the swift calls to remove the post, which also echoed false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, represented a rare moment of bipartisan backlash to Trump's actions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Multiple GOP members of the Senate and House joined their Democratic colleagues in voicing disgust and criticism at the post and urged the president to remove it. Trump declined to apologise, saying he did not see the racist portion of the video when he passed it on to staff. How Republican lawmakers reacted South Carolina's Tim Scott, the only Black Republica

Trump to hold first Board of Peace meeting in Washington DC this month

President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his Board of Peace this month in Washington to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza. The meeting, proposed for February 19, would include both world leaders who accepted Trump's invitation in January to join the board as well as members of an executive committee for Gaza that will oversee the specifics of the territory's governance, security and redevelopment, two Trump administration officials said Saturday. It was not immediately clear how many leaders would accept the Republican president's invitation, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not yet been formally announced and details of its agenda were still being determined. One official said the administration expected "robust" participation. A copy of the invitation that was sent late Friday to invited participants and obtained by The Associated Press, says the meeting will be held at the US Institute of Peace,

Appeals court affirms Trump policy of jailing immigrants without bond

President Donald Trump's administration can continue to detain immigrants without bond, marking a major legal victory for the federal immigration agenda and countering a slew of recent lower court decisions across the country that argued the practice is illegal. A panel of judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday evening that the Department of Homeland Security's decision to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country is consistent with the constitution and federal immigration law. Specifically, circuit judge Edith H Jones wrote in the 2-1 majority opinion that the government correctly interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act by asserting that "unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States." Under past administrations, most non-citizens with no criminal record who were arrested away from the border had an opportunity to request

At empire's end: Countries have to guarantee their security on their own

As Washington turns inward, the world must confront what a narrowing US role means for security, alliances and the fragile order it once underwrote

Trump pushes efforts to secure critical minerals supply beyond China

The Trump administration is expected to unveil its grandest plan yet to rebuild supply chains of critical minerals needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones, likely through purchase agreements with partners on top of creating a $12 billion U.S. strategic reserve to help counter China's dominance. Vice President JD Vance is set to deliver a keynote address Wednesday at a meeting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting with officials from several dozen European, Asian and African nations. The US is expected to sign deals on supply chain logistics, though details have not yet been revealed. Rubio met Tuesday with foreign ministers from South Korea and India to discuss critical minerals mining and processing. The meeting and expected agreements will come just two days after President Donald Trump announced "Project Vault," or a stockpile of critical minerals to be funded with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export and Import Bank and nearly $1.67 billion in private ..

Sergio Gor key in India-US ties, has access to Trump: Ex-intel officer

Ex-US Marine intel officer Newsham said that Gor had a lot of vested power, and chose to come to India because he likes the country

Trump pushes plan for arch near Lincoln Memorial, citing disputed history

President Donald Trump says history is on his side. He wants to build a towering arch near the Lincoln Memorial and argues that the nation's capital first clamored for such a monument two centuries ago - even going so far as to erect four eagle statues as part of the project before being derailed by the attack on Fort Sumter. "It was interrupted by a thing called the Civil War, and so it never got built," Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida last weekend. "Then, they almost built something in 1902, but it never happened." Trump's history is off - the eagles he references are actually part of a bridge connecting Virginia and Washington that was built decades after the Civil War. The closest Washington came to an arch was a wood and plaster construction built in 1919 to mark the end of World War I - and even that was always meant to be temporary. "For 200 years they've wanted to build an arc," Trump said, meaning an arch. "They have 57 cities throughout the world tha

Trump admin sued over $16 bn funding freeze for Hudson River tunnels

New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for freezing USD 16 billion in federal funding for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between the two states, seeking a quick ruling because construction that has been underway could be forced to shut down as early as Friday. The administration put a hold on the funding in September, citing the government shutdown. The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on the social platform X at the time that officials believed the spending was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles, and the US Department of Transportation said it was reviewing any "unconstitutional practices." The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan by New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, asks a judge to declare the funding suspension unlawful and order payments to resume immediately so construction can continue without interruption. "Allowing this

Trump signs $1.2 trillion bill, ending partial US government shutdown

President Donald Trump signed a roughly USD 1.2 trillion government funding bill on Tuesday that ends the partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend and sets the stage for an intense debate in Congress over Homeland Security funding. The president moved quickly to sign the bill after the House approved it with a 217-214 vote. "This bill is a great victory for the American people," Trump said. The vote on Tuesday wrapped up congressional work on 11 annual appropriations bills that fund government agencies and programmes through September 30. Trump has said he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk, ending the partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. Passage of the legislation marked the end point for one funding fight, but the start of another. That is because the package only funds the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, through February 13, at the behest of Democrats who are demanding more restrictions on immigration enforcement after the shoot

Trump urges House to vote quickly to end partial government shutdown

President Donald Trump implored the House on Monday to end the partial government shutdown, but neither Republicans nor Democrats appeared ready to quickly approve the federal funding package he brokered with the Senate without first debating their own demands over immigration enforcement operations. Democrats are refusing to provide the votes House Speaker Mike Johnson needs to push the package forward as they try to rein in the Trump administration's deportation operations after the shooting deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. That's forcing Johnson to rely on his slim GOP majority, which has its own complaints about the package, to fall in line behind Trump's deal with Senate Democrats. Voting could begin as soon as Tuesday, which would be day four of the partial shutdown. The Pentagon, Homeland Security and other agencies saw their funding lapse Saturday. And while many operations at those departments are deemed essential, and still functioning, some workers may go without pa

US special envoy for Iraq no longer in the post amid tensions with Baghdad

Savaya, a Christian Iraqi-American entrepreneur, was among a handful of Arab Americans named to senior posts by Trump, however, it was not immediately clear what prompted Savaya's departure

Minneapolis fallout: How Stephen Miller built Trump's deportation agenda

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis has drawn renewed attention to Stephen Miller, the White House aide who designed and drove Donald Trump's aggressive deportation push

Trump sues IRS, Treasury for $10 billion over leak of tax records

President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president's tax information to news outlets. The suit, filed in a Florida federal court on Thursday, was also brought by Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs. In 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington, D.C. - who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense and national security tech firm - was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking tax information about Trump and others to news outlets. Littlejohn gave data to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020 in leaks that appeared to be "unparalleled in the IRS's history," prosecutors said. Trump's suit states that Littlejohn's disclosures to the news organizations "caused reputational and financial harm to Plaintiffs and adversely impacted President Trump's support among voters in the 2

Trump signs executive order to launch nationwide drug recovery initiative

Trump said the initiative would bring together efforts across federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector

US, Denmark begin discussions over Greenland deal to assuage Trump

The negotiations follow Trump's announcement last week of a "framework of a future deal," in which he pledged to refrain from imposing tariffs on European nations

'India comes out on top in this': Trump administration on EU trade deal

India came out on "top" in the trade deal with the European Union and is going to have a heyday with this, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in the first reaction from the Trump administration on the free trade agreement. Greer was responding to a question on the trade agreement, billed as the "mother of all deals", sealed between India and the EU on Tuesday. "I've looked at some of the details of the deal so far. I think India comes out on top on this, frankly. They get more market access into Europe," Greer said in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday. "It sounds like they (India) have some additional immigration rights. I don't know for sure, but President (Ursula) von der Leyen of the EU has talked about mobility for Indian workers into Europe. So I think on net, India is going to have a heyday with this. They have low-cost labour," Greeer added. He said that it looks like the EU is doubling down on globalisation when the US is trying to "fix some of the problems

US ready to use force to ensure Venezuela's cooperation, says Marco Rubio

The hearing marks Rubio's first appearance before Congress since the US raid on Caracas that led to Nicolás Maduro's capture on January 3

Reasons cited for US decision to withdraw are 'untrue': WHO chief

In a post on X, the WHO Chief hailed the contributions of the United States, a founding member of the WHO, which played a significant role in many of the WHO's greatest achievements

Trump hints at invoking Nato's Article 5 to address illegal immigration

Trump has proposed invoking Nato's Article 5 to protect America's southern border, questioning whether the alliance would defend the US while reiterating concerns over illegal immigration

Trump administration cancels solar projects in Puerto Rico as grid crumbles

The administration of US President Donald Trump has cancelled solar projects in Puerto Rico worth millions of dollars, as the island struggles with chronic power outages and a crumbling electric grid. The projects were aimed at helping 30,000 low-income families in rural areas across the US territory as part of a now-fading transition toward renewable energy. In an email obtained by The Associated Press, the US Energy Department said that a push under Puerto Rico's former governor for a 100 per cent renewable future threatened the reliability of its energy system. "The Puerto Rico grid cannot afford to run on more distributed solar power," the message states. "The rapid, widespread deployment of rooftop solar has created fluctuations in Puerto Rico's grid, leading to unacceptable instability and fragility." Javier Rua Jovet, public policy director for Puerto Rico's Solar and Energy Storage Association, disputed that statement in a phone interview Thursday. He said that some 200,00