Page 44 - Trump Administration

New US visa policy adds to rising scrutiny of international students

New US State Department guidance on visa applications is adding to scrutiny of international students that has intensified under President Donald Trump, who has leveraged control of foreign enrolment to press his demands with American colleges. In a cable sent Tuesday to US embassies and consulates, Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students until the department releases guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media. Existing appointments may be kept and will proceed under current review guidelines, the cable said, but new guidance is expected in the coming days. It came days after the Trump administration moved to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students, a decision that has been put on hold by a federal judge, pending a lawsuit. Trump said on Wednesday that Harvard, whose current student population is made up of more than a quarter of international students, should limit tha

US risks future by curbing foreign students, warns Raghuram Rajan

Rajan warned that squeezing foreign students could impact job growth, noting that companies like Alphabet Inc's Google employ thousands, thanks in part to immigration-linked talent pipelines

Trump admin sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

The Trump administration accused North Carolina's election board on Tuesday of violating federal law by failing to ensure voter registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers. The Justice Department sued in federal court also asking a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers. The department alleges that the state and the board aren't complying with the 2002 Help America Vote Act after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that didn't make clear an applicant must provide either a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. If an applicant lacks neither, the state must assign the person another unique number. A previous edition of the state board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 electio

Trump's campaign against law firms sees setback as judge blocks order

US President Donald Trump's campaign against the legal profession hit another setback as a federal judge struck down an executive order that sought to sanction one of the country's most prestigious law firms. The ruling on Tuesday in favour of WilmerHale marks the third time this month that a federal judge in Washington has deemed Trump's series of law firm executive orders to be unconstitutional and permanently barred their enforcement. The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this! wrote US district judge Richard Leon. To permit the order to stand, Leon wrote, would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers". The firm applauded the ruling from Leon, an appointee of former Republican president George W Bush. The court's decision to permanently block the unlawful executive order in its entirety strongly affirms our ...

University of California next target of Donald Trump's antisemitism probe

The University of California abhors antisemitism and is working to eradicate it across the system, said Rachel Zaentz, senior director of strategic and critical communications

US govt set to get golden share in US Steel-Nippon Steel acquisition deal

The plan, which would give the government de facto veto rights on certain company decisions and appointments, is part of ongoing talks between authorities and the companies

Judge blocks Trump from retaliating against NY over congestion toll

A federal judge in New York has temporarily prevented US President Donald Trump from retaliating against the state over its Manhattan congestion toll. Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the federal government from withholding federal funds or taking other punitive actions against the state at least until June 9 while he weighs a lawsuit the state has filed against the federal government to keep the toll in place. The toll on drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan was approved under former president Joe Biden, but has been strongly opposed by Trump, a native New Yorker whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone. The Republican administration rescinded federal approval in February, prompting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls, to challenge the decision. In recent months, Trump officials have issued three ultimatums to New York, even threatening to pull ...

Trump admin to cancel all federal contracts, worth $100 mn, with Harvard

This decision marks the latest in a series of efforts by the administration to significantly impact Harvard's financial stability and global standing

White House National Security Council fires many staffers after Trump order

President Donald Trump is ordering a massive overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size and return many career appointees back to their home agencies, according to two US officials and one person familiar with the reorganization. The move is expected to significantly reduce the number of staff at the NSC, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since early this month following the ouster of Mike Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations. The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult for much of the early going of Trump's second go-around in the White House. Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump said that he'd fired several NSC officials, just a day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty. The White House days into the administration sidelined .

Trump signals approval of Nippon deal, US Steel to Stay in Pittsburgh

President Donald Trump said on Friday that US Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a planned partnership that seemed to signal that he'll approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy the iconic American steelmaker. Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block it. But investors seemed to take it as a sign that he would approve it, sharply pushing up US Steel's shares. Nippon Steel's nearly USD 15 billion bid to buy US Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump became president, subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Trump said in a statement that after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh. What Trump called a planned partnership will create at least 70,000 jobs and ad

Trump pressures EU for unilateral tariff cuts as trade talks stumble

As the deadline for the 90-day tariff pause grows near, the Donald Trump administration and European Union fail to find consensus in trade talks

Foxconn to build $1.5 bn India plant for Apple despite Trump objections

Foxconn to invest $1.5 bn in India for iPhone parts despite Trump's pressure to shift production to the US. New Chennai plant to create 14,000 jobs and boost India's electronics sector

Explained: South Africa's land reforms and why Trump cried 'white genocide'

A meeting on US-South Africa ties turned tense when US President Donald Trump accused South Africa of orchestrating 'white genocide' disguised as land reform

Nvidia's Jensen Huang backs Trump move to scrap Biden-era AI export curbs

Huang called the curbs a "failure" by the US, arguing they fuelled China's AI growth and helped firms like Huawei; he welcomed Trump's move to roll back Biden's chip restrictions

Why Trump is demanding an investigation into Springsteen, Beyonce, Oprah

Donald Trump claims Kamala Harris's campaign illegally paid celebrities for endorsements; no evidence yet of campaign finance violations

Trump questions Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis timing, hints at cover-up

Donald Trump said Joe Biden's aggressive cancer should have been detected earlier and hinted that information was withheld from the public

SC lets Trump revoke legal shield for 350K Venezuelans facing deportation

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. The court's order, with only one noted dissent, puts on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month. The justices provided no rationale, which is common in emergency appeals. The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disasters or civil strife. The high court's order appears to be the "single largest action in modern American history stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status," said Ahilan Arulanantham, one of the attorneys for Venezuelan migrants. "This decision will force families to be in an impossible position either choosing to survive or choosing stability," said Cecilia Gonzalez ..

WHO opens annual meet amid crisis sparked by US funding cuts, exit plans

The World Health Organisation on Monday opened its annual meeting of government ministers and other top envoys facing one of the most serious crises of its 77-year history in the wake of Trump administration funding cuts and plans to withdraw the United States. The UN health agency this year has seen a plunge in its ability to carry out its sweeping mandate to do everything from recommend reductions in sugar levels in soft drinks to head the global response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been grappling with a response to the US cuts as well as reduced outlays from other traditional Western donors who are putting more money toward defense and less toward humanitarian aid. Matthew Kavanagh, the director of Georgetown University's centre for Global Health Policy and Politics, said other countries have used the US disruption the cut in aid as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe ...

Trump's big bill advances as conservatives win changes in weekend vote

Republicans advanced their massive tax cut and border security package out of a key House committee during a rare Sunday night vote as deficit hawks who blocked the measure two days earlier reversed course after gaining commitments on the package's spending cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson met with Republican lawmakers shortly before the meeting, telling reporters that the changes agreed to were "just some minor modifications. Not a huge thing. Democrats on the panel pressed for more details about the changes that Republicans had agreed to in the private negotiations. But Rep Jodey Arrington, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said he could not do so. Deliberations continue at this very moment," Arrington said. "They will continue on into the week, and I suspect right up until the time we put this big, beautiful bill on the floor of the House. The first time Republicans tried advancing the bill out of the House Budget Committee, deficit hawks joined with Democratic lawmakers in

Inside Trump's Budget plan: Border crackdown, defence surge, and big cuts

New legislation proposes $150 billion in defence spending, funds for Trump's border wall, deep cuts to student loans and federal pensions, and expanded drilling on public lands