Page 3 - Trump

Aid groups warn of starvation in Gaza as Israeli strikes kill 29: Officials

More than 100 charity and human rights groups said Wednesday that Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip toward starvation, as Israeli strikes killed another 29 people overnight, according to local health officials. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, was set to meet with a senior Israeli official about ceasefire talks, a sign that lower-level negotiations that have dragged on for weeks could be approaching a breakthrough. Experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and the offensive launched in response to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. The head of the World Health Organization said Gaza is witnessing a deadly surge in malnutrition and related diseases, and that a large proportion of its roughly 2 million people are starving. Israel says it allows enough aid into the territory and faults delivery efforts by U.N. agencies, which say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions a

Judge bars ICE from taking Garcia into custody if he's released from jail

A federal judge in Maryland has prohibited the Trump administration from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he's released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to an order issued Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the U.S. government to provide notice of three business days if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against the Maryland construction worker. The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision that Abrego Garcia was under before he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Abrego Garcia to live and work in Maryland for years, while he periodically checked in with ICE. Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trump's immigration policies following his wrongful explusion to El Salvador in March. Trump's administration violated a U.S. ...

Trump admin tells embassies to limit criticism of foreign elections

The State Department is pulling back from commenting on or criticising elections overseas unless there is a clear and compelling US foreign policy interest in doing so. In new guidance issued Thursday to all US embassies and consulates abroad, the department said that those outposts should refrain from issuing statements that invoke any particular ideology and that what they may say must be in line with President Donald Trump's stated position that the US will respect the sovereignty of all foreign nations. "Consistent with the administration's emphasis on national sovereignty, the department will comment publicly on elections only when there is a clear and compelling US foreign policy interest to do so," according to the cable, a copy of which was shared with The Associated Press. The department has for decades issued statements highly critical of or questioning the legitimacy of certain elections, notably in authoritarian countries. That is changing as the Trump administration has

Trump admin gives Medicaid recipients' personal data to US immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation's 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States, according to an agreement obtained by The Associated Press. The information will give ICE officials the ability to find the location of aliens across the country, says the agreement signed Monday between the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security. The agreement has not been announced publicly. The extraordinary disclosure of millions of such personal health data to deportation officials is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which has repeatedly tested legal boundaries in its effort to arrest 3,000 people daily. Lawmakers and some CMS officials have challenged the legality of deportation officials' access to some states' Medicaid enrollee data. It's a

Brazil's Lula open to talks with Trump amid trade spat, says minister

Brazil's Lula open to talks with Trump amid trade spat, says minister

Only 1 in 4 US adults say Trump's policies helped them: AP-NORC poll

Only about one-quarter of US adults say that President Donald Trump's policies have helped them since he took office, according to a new poll that finds underwhelming marks for him on key issues, including the economy, immigration, government spending and health care. In fact, the Republican president fails to earn majority approval on any of the issues included in the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. He's even slipped slightly since earlier this year on immigration, which has consistently been a strength for him in his second term. And while a majority of Americans do see Trump as at least somewhat capable of getting things done following the passage of his sprawling budget bill, fewer believe he understands the problems facing people like them. Most don't see positive impact from Trump's policies Roughly half of US adults report that Trump's policies have done more to hurt them since his second term began six months ago, the survey found. Ab

Democrats troll Trump and his loyal base over Jeffrey Epstein case

Democrats are latching on to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, demanding records be released and trolling Republicans on social media, news shows and in the US House as they revel in a rare fissure between President Donald Trump and his fiercely loyal base. Conspiracy theories over Epstein's death in prison and potential evidence in his sex trafficking case, including an alleged client list, have largely been a fixation for the right, one egged on by Trump himself. But Democrats sensed an opening after the Justice Department said last week no additional evidence will be released, and some of Trump's most influential allies refused to heed his pleas to move on. They're highlighting the dramatic about-face by some Republicans, which has divided the MAGA movement and could weaken a critical following for Trump. The more in-your-face approach also may help Democrats appease elements of the party's own base, who are hungry for a more aggressive confrontation with the other side. Rep. Ro Khan

Brazilian ex-President echoes Trump, calls coup plot trial 'witch hunt'

Brazil's chief prosecutor has called for a guilty verdict in the case of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial accused of leading an alleged coup plot. The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law, Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a 517-long page document released late Monday. Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by a left-wing rival. All the accusations are false. I never violated democracy or the constitution, Bolsonaro said on X hours before Gonet submitted his final report. The ex-president said that the trial was a witch hunt, echoing a term used by US President Donald Trump when he came to his South American ally's defense last week. The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting ...

Trump imposes up to 30% tariffs on six nations including Iraq, Philippines

Trump said trade talks have been going well with China and the European Union, which is the biggest bilateral trading partner of the US

Trump says Powell should 'resign immediately if Congress misled'

Trump reiterated his criticism of the Fed chair in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, calling Powell "terrible," and telling reporters that deceiving Congress would be grounds for a swift exit

US Immigration curbs to hit economy hard in 2025, finds Fed study

Immigration at the US-Mexico border dropped sharply last year and continued to decline after President Donald Trump's election

EU hopes for Trump tariff deal by July 9 deadline after 'good exchange'

It was not immediately clear, however, whether there had been a meaningful breakthrough in talks to stave off the imposition of sweeping tariff hikes on the United States' largest trading partner

Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic flooding

Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend's house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started. What they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now, Flowers, 44, said. The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 43 people in Kerr County, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. But as authorities launch

Trump, disappointed by call with Putin, to speak with Zelenskyy on Friday

US efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine have stalled, with Trump facing increasing pressure, including from Republicans, to push Putin to engage in serious negotiations

House passes Trump's big tax bill, sends it to President's desk for assent

The tight roll call, 218-214, came at a potentially high political cost, with two Republicans joining all Democrats opposed

US House Republicans move Trump's major tax-cut bill toward final vote

During a marathon overnight session, lawmakers cleared a final procedural hurdle needed to begin debate on the bill in a 219-213 vote at around 3:30 a.m. ET (0730 GMT)

Donald Trump aims to shut trade loopholes China uses to evade tariffs

The agreement slaps a 20 per cent tariff on Vietnamese exports to the US and a 40 per cent levy on goods deemed to be transshipped through the country

Senate passes Trump's 'Big and Beautiful' Bill as Vance breaks tie

Senate Republicans hauled President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie to push it over the top. The three Republicans opposing the bill were Sens Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky. The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president's signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval, or collapse. The difficulty it took for Republicans, who have the majority hold in Congress, to wrestle the bill to this point is not expected to let up. The package now goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to ...

Trump to visit remote immigration detention site in Florida Everglades

President Donald Trump is making a day trip to Florida's Everglades on Tuesday for a firsthand look at a new immigration detention facility that the White House suggests will be especially secure given that it is surrounded by alligators. The detention facility is on an isolated airstrip about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Miami and could house 5,000 detainees. It's drawn protests over the potential impact on a delicate ecosystem and criticism that Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants while some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred. But a key selling point for the Trump administration is the site's remoteness, and the fact that it is in swampland filled with mosquitoes, pythons and alligators. The White House hopes that conveys a message to the detainees being housed there and the world at large that repercussions will be severe if the immigration laws of the United States are not followed. Press secretary Karoline ..

Harvard-White House talks stall, putting swift deal, funding at risk

A potential deal was knocked off course last week although hopes remain for an accord, said the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private