Page 12 - Us Government

Trump's new energy order puts states' climate laws in crosshairs of DOJ

A new executive order from President Donald Trump that's part of his effort to invigorate energy production raises the possibility that his Department of Justice will go to court against state climate change laws aimed at slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuels. Trump's order, signed Tuesday, comes as US electricity demand ramps up to meet the growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing applications, as well as federal efforts to expand high-tech manufacturing. It also coincides with climate superfund legislation gaining traction in various states. Trump has declared a national energy emergency " and ordered his attorney general to take action against states that may be illegally overreaching their authority in how they regulate energy development. American energy dominance is threatened when State and local governments seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authorities, Trump said in the order. He said the attorney ..

US Senate confirms former Arkansas Guv Mike Huckabee as Israel ambassador

The Baptist minister expressed his gratitude to President Trump, saying, "I am Grateful to a great Donald Trump and look forward to serving!"

Trump targets 'Anonymous' author, ex-cyber chief in retribution move

US President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics on Wednesday by signing a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration and stripping them of any security clearances they may have. Trump's targeting of Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official in Trump's first term, and Chris Krebs, a former top cybersecurity official, came as the president has sought to use the powers of the presidency to retaliate against his adversaries, including law firms. Trump also on Wednesday retaliated against another law firm, Susman Godfrey, as he seeks to punish firms that have links to prosecutors who have investigated him or employed attorneys he sees as opponents. Although Trump has ordered security clearances to be stripped from a number of his opponents, including former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, the president's order Wednesday directing the Justice ...

Beijing increases diplomatic pressure on Africa as US influence wanes

Chinese diplomats threatened to cancel a summit and called top officials in two African countries to pressure lawmakers to quit an international parliamentary group critical of China, officials from the group told The Associated Press. It's an example of how far China will go to influence politicians overseas, and how that pressure can succeed behind closed doors. In the past year, lawmakers from Malawi and Gambia withdrew from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC, a group of hundreds of lawmakers from 38 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing, according to letters, messages and voice recordings obtained by The Associated Press. Founded in 2020, the group has coordinated sanctions on China over rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and rallied support for Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island Beijing claims as its territory. African politicians and experts say it's an escalation of Chinese diplomatic pressure in Africa, where Beijing's influence

At least 6 people killed by suspected US strikes in Yemen: Houthi rebels

Suspected US airstrikes pounded the area around Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Tuesday night, killing at least six people, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said. The strikes hit around Hodeida's al-Hawak district, the rebels said, and wounded 16 people. The area is home to the city's airport, which the rebels have used in the past to target shipping in the Red Sea. Since its start, the intense campaign of US airstrikes targeting the rebels over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters related to the Israel-Hamas war has killed at least 79 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis. Footage aired by the rebels' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed chaotic scenes of people carrying wounded to waiting ambulances and rescuers searching by the light of their mobile phones. The target appeared in the footage to be a home in a residential neighborhood, likely part of a wider decapitation campaign launched by the Trump administration to kill rebel ...

AP journalists cleared to return to White House after court ruling

A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press' full access to cover presidential events, ruling on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirming that the government cannot punish the news organisation for the content of its speech. US District Judge Trevor N McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the government can't retaliate against the AP's decision not to follow Trump's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time the White House has been challenging the press on several levels. "Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewher it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints," McFadden wrote. "The Constitution requires no less." It was unclear whether the White House would move immediately to put McFadden's ruling into effect.

Billionaires Ackman, Druckenmiller call Trump tariffs a 'mistake'

The widening criticism - including from Trump ally Ackman - came as Trump offered no indication he was prepared to claw back a punishing trade overhaul set to begin on April 9

Trump admin rolls back forest protections in bid to ramp up logging

President Donald Trump's administration acted to roll back environmental safeguards around future logging projects on more than half of US national forests under an emergency designation announced Friday that cites dangers from wildfires. Whether the move will boost lumber supplies as Trump envisioned in an executive order last month remains to be seen. Former President Joe Biden's administration also sought more logging in public forests to combat fires, which are worsening as the world gets hotter, yet U.S. Forest Service timber sales stayed relatively flat under his tenure. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins did not mention climate change in Friday's directive, which called on her staff to speed up environmental reviews. It exempts affected forests from an objection process that allows outside groups, tribes and local governments to challenge logging proposals at the administrative level before they are finalized. It also narrows the number of alternatives federal officials can

Trump fires NSC officials after far-right activist questions staff loyalty

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he's fired "some" White House National Security Council officials, a move that comes a day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty. Trump downplayed Loomer's influence on the firings. But Loomer during her Oval Office conversation with Trump urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his Make America Great Again agenda, according to several people familiar with the matter. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel manner. Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, also took part in the meeting with Loomer, the people said. Always we're letting go of people, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he made his way to Miami on Thursday afternoon. People that we don't like or people that we don't think can do the job

Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth's use of Signal to plan Houthi strike

The Pentagon's acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. The review will also look at other defence officials' use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defence Department's secure communications network. Hegseth's use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis. The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD polici

Elon Musk will probably leave his administration in 'a few months': Trump

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Elon Musk would likely leave his administration in a few months, the clearest sign that his most powerful and disruptive adviser will be wrapping up his work inside the government. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Elon is fantastic but he has a number of companies to run." I want him to stay as long as possible," he said. "There's going to be a point where he's going to have to leave. Musk has spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency, which is playing a leading role in downsizing and overhauling the federal government. Trump said that work would continue within various agencies. The Republican president's comments came after a steady drumbeat of suggestions over the last week that Musk's time was limited. Musk also faced a setback Tuesday in Wisconsin, where voters rejected his choice for a state Supreme Court candidate despite more than USD 21 million in personal donations and his campaign appearance over the ...

Wary Europe awaits US Secretary of State Rubio with Nato's future on line

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administration's desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners. Allies are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump's readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a U.S. effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have only increased the angst, especially as new US tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike. Rubio arrives in Brussels on Thursday for two days of meetings with his NATO counterparts and European officials, and he can expect to be confronted with questions about the future US role in the alliance. For 75 years, NATO has been anchored on American

Danish PM heads to Greenland as Trump seeks control of Arctic territory

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is travelling to Greenland on Wednesday for a three-day trip aimed at building the trust of Greenlandic officials at a time that the Trump administration is seeking control of the vast Arctic territory. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced plans for her visit after US Vice President JD Vance visited a US air base in Greenland last week and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory. Greenland is a mineral-rich, strategically critical island that is becoming more accessible due to climate change. Trump has said that the landmass is critical to U.S. security. It is part of North America but is a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark. Frederiksen is due to meet the incoming Greenlandic leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, after an election last month that produced a new government. She is also to meet with the future Naalakkersuisut, the Cabinet, in a visit due to last through Friday. It has my deepest respect how

Anger against Trump may reduce US international visitors, warns forecaster

Anger over the Trump administration's tariffs and rhetoric will likely cause international travel to the US to fall even further than expected this year, an influential travel forecasting company said Tuesday. Tourism Economics said it expects the number of people arriving in the U.S. from abroad to decline by 9.4 per cent this year. That's almost twice the 5 per cent drop the company forecast at the end of February. At the beginning of the year, Tourism Economics predicted a booming year for international travel to the US, with visits up 9 per cent from 2024. But Tourism Economics President Adam Sacks said high-profile lockups of European tourists at the US border in recent weeks have chilled international travellers. Potential visitors have also been angered by tariffs, Trump's stance toward Canada and Greenland, and his heated White House exchange with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. With each policy development, each rhetorical missive, we're just seeing unforced error .

Trump's attacks on 'Black Smithsonian' effort to sanitise racism: Critics

President Donald Trump's order accusing the Smithsonian Institution of not reflecting American history notes correctly that the country's Founding Fathers declared that all men are created equal. But it doesn't mention that the founders enshrined slavery into the US Constitution and declared enslaved persons as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of the Census. Civil rights advocates, historians and Black political leaders sharply rebuked Trump on Friday for his order, entitled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. They argued that his executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution is his administration's latest move to downplay how race, racism and Black Americans themselves have shaped the nation's story. It seems like we're headed in the direction where there's even an attempt to deny that the institution of slavery even existed, or that Jim Crow laws and segregation and racial violence against Black communities, Black families, Black individuals even ...

At least one killed as US airstrikes pound Yemen, hit Sanaa military site

Suspected US airstrikes pounded Yemen overnight into Saturday, reportedly killing at least one person as the American military acknowledged earlier bombing a major military site in the heart of Sanaa controlled by the Houthi rebels. The full extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn't immediately clear, though the attacks followed an intense night of airstrikes early Friday that appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the campaign that began March 15. An Associated Press review has found the new American operation under President Donald Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities. Meanwhile, an AP analysis of satellite photos show the American military also has moved long-range stealth B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean a base far outside of the range of the rebels that avoids using allies' Mideast .

US judge temporarily blocks deportations to third countries without appeal

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration Friday from deporting people who have exhausted legal appeals to countries other than their own without first being allowed to argue that it would jeopardise their safety. US District Judge Brian E Murphy ruled that people with final orders of removal must have a meaningful opportunity to argue that being sent to a third country presents a level of danger deemed worthy of protection. His order remains in effect until the case advances to the next stage of arguments. The decision is a setback for an administration that has sent people to countries including Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador when it is difficult to deport them to their homelands. In some cases a judge may determine that a person's homeland is too dangerous but authorities can send them to a third country. The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but administration attorneys argued that a temporary halt would ...

Donald Trump backs budget fix to restore DC funds, urges House to pass it

President Donald Trump is pushing the House of Representatives to pass a measure that would prevent immediate financial disaster for the District of Columbia even as he continues to level harsh criticism at the city and its leaders. In a Friday morning post on Truth Social, he wrote, The House should take up the D.C. funding fix' that the Senate has passed, and get it done IMMEDIATELY. It's the first direct public indication from the Republican president that he supports efforts to restore a USD 1.1 billion hole in the district's budget, and it's a major boost for Democratic Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser's campaign to reverse a legislative change that she says would devastate the capital city. Earlier this month, the House passed a federal government funding bill that would force the district's government to revert to its 2024 budget parameters, effectively cutting USD 1.1 billion from its budget midway through the financial year. Bowser spearheaded an intense congressional lobbyi

Musk deletes post promising to deliver $2 mn to Supreme Court race voters

Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday deleted a social media post in which he had announced plans to hold a rally in Wisconsin to personally hand over USD 2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the state's hotly contested Supreme Court race. Musk deleted the post from his social media platform, X, about 12 hours after he initially posted it late Thursday night. He had posted that he planned to give USD 1 million each to two voters at the event on Sunday, just two days before the election that will determine ideological control of the court in the battleground state. The action was announced despite a Wisconsin law that explicitly prohibits giving anything of value in exchange for a vote. Musk said that attendance at his talk would be limited only to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election, without explaining how he would verify that. I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to

Stronger deterrence needed against China in disputed sea: US defence chief

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration would boost military ties with the Philippines to strengthen deterrence against threats from the communist Chinese and ensure freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea. Hegseth spoke during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Philippines, his first stop in his first trip to Asia to reaffirm Washington's ironclad commitment to the region under Trump. Ahead of the visit, China called the United States a predator and an unreliable ally. Trump's America First foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns in Asia about the scale and depth of US commitment to the region. Hegseth's decision to make the Philippines his first stop in Asia, followed by Japan both US treaty allies facing territorial disputes with China was the strongest assurance yet by the US under Trump to maintain a security presence in the region. Deterrence is necessary around the world but specifically in this regio