Page 15 - White House

Trump defends pardon to those convicted of assaulting cops on Jan 6

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his decision to pardon people who were charged and convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, despite having run as an ally of law enforcement. "I am the friend of police, more than any president who's ever been in this office," he said. Trump told reporters at the White House that those he pardoned have already served years in prison, claiming murderers often aren't charged for their crimes. "We pardoned people who were treated unbelievably poorly," he said. Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes connected to the riot on his first day back in office.

OpenAI announces $500 bn 'The Stargate Project'; here's what we know so far

The Stargate Project will focus on building data centres dedicated exclusively to OpenAI as the company continues to expand its generative AI computing capabilities

Donald Trump inauguration: Melania looks goes viral; here's who wore what

Melania Trump stunned everyone with her looks at Donald Trump's inauguration, sparking conversations about tradition and personal expression

New US Secy of State Rubio is meeting with members of Quad; what's it for?

On his first full day as secretary of state, Marco Rubio is meeting with his counterparts from a group of countries known as the Quad, which is made up of the United States plus India, Japan and Australia, representing nearly 2 billion people and more than a third of global GDP. The grouping has been around for more than 15 years, but has recently grown in importance. What exactly is it? A diplomatic partnership, but maybe more? The Quad was established in 2007 to bring together countries that had worked together in response to the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Its members stress its diplomatic nature and broad focus on regional issues including infrastructure, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, climate change, and maritime security. Even though security is only part of the mix, the Quad is a major component of the American strategy to counter China's growing assertiveness and vast territorial claims in the region, including to virtually all of the ...

Trump Inauguration highlights: Trump signs order for US to exit WHO, withdraws from Paris Accords

Donald Trump Inauguration Day LIVE Updates: Stay with us for all the latest news updates as Trump takes over the White House

Trump has 'America First' as his top most priority, says White House

US President Donald Trump has "America First" as his priorities and this includes making America safe again, making the country affordable, achieving energy dominance, draining the swamp and bringing back American values, the White House said on Monday. Minutes after Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, the White House said he would take bold action to secure the border and protect American communities. This includes ending Biden's catch-and-release policies, reinstating Remain in Mexico, building the wall, ending asylum for illegal border crossers, cracking down on criminal sanctuaries, and enhancing vetting and screening of aliens. Trump's deportation operation will address the record border crossings of criminal aliens under the prior administration. The President is suspending refugee resettlement, after communities were forced to house large and unsustainable populations of migrants, straining community safety and resources, it said. The Armed Forces

Triumphant Trump promises show of strength on return to White House

Even before Trump was to take office at noon, aides detailed a raft of executive actions that he will sign immediately, including 10 focused on border security and immigration

Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US President: What to watch for

The excitement is palpable as President-elect Donald Trump gears up for his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States.

Trump meets with GOP senators as supporters cheer his Oval Office return

President-elect Donald Trump consulted privately with Republican senators Sunday before heading off to a series of events designed to celebrate his return to power and the Make America Great Again movement despite deep national political divisions on the eve of his inauguration. The private meeting featured a breakfast at Blair House, the president's official guest residence, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, and gave top GOP leaders a chance to lay last-minute plans barely 24 hours before Trump moves back into the White House. Meanwhile, Trump supporters, many arriving from around the country and decked out in their fanciest clothes, including fur coats, filled parties both formal and informal at hotels and restaurants close to the White House. As they moved between the festivities, some could be heard chanting MAGA or simply stating it as a greeting to fellow revelers. Sunday is Trump's first full day back in Washington since his election victory and gives him a

Donald Trump returns to White House with a rare indoor inauguration

Trump's guest list is a mix of billionaires, businessmen, tech executives, foreign heads, and former presidents

How the White House is preparing for incoming US President Donald Trump

Most presidents get to move into the White House once. President-elect Donald Trump is doing it twice, and his wife, Melania, says it's a lot easier the second time around. I know where I will be going. I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process, the incoming first lady said recently. She described their first move to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2017 as challenging. Regardless of who is president, the whole process also challenges the White House residence staff: The maids, butlers and others who look after the president's private living space have about five hours from start to finish on Inauguration Day to move out one first family and settle in the next one. Everything needs to be planned to the minute, Melania Trump said on Fox News' Fox & Friends. The clock starts ticking when the outgoing and incoming presidents leave the White House together for a shared limousine ride to the Capitol for the swearing-in. As soon as they leave, the executive residence staff

As Trump returns to White House, his family circle has a different look

When Donald Trump returns to the White House on Monday, his family circle will look a little different than it did when he first arrived eight years ago. His youngest son, Barron, was in fifth grade back then. He's now a college freshman who towers over his 6-foot-plus dad. Granddaughter Kai, who was 9 in 2017, is now an aspiring social media influencer and impressive golfer. Grandson Joseph, who posed in Trump's lap with a Lego model of the White House last time, is 11 now. The most prominent relatives in Trump's political sphere, daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared, are in Florida this time around after working in his first administration. Family members can provide presidents with a ready source of moral and sounding-board support, companionship and even relief from the world's problems. Not to mention creating headaches for the president at times, too. "Family can do things that other people can't, and they can be trusted in a way that other people also can't," Tevi Troy, a

Biden's final days in office: Ceasefire deal, Ukraine, clemency, and more

From clemency to forgiving student debt: Here's all the policies that outgoing US President Joe Biden pushed ahead during his last days in the White House

Trump's swearing-in ceremony likely to be moved indoors due to cold weather

President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office from inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday due to forecasts of intense cold weather, according to a person familiar with the matter. Inaugural planners are discussing the possibility of moving Trump's swearing-in inside due to the extreme temperatures and icy winds, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning before a final announcement was made. The Rotunda is prepared as the inclement weather alternative for each inauguration, and a final decision would be up to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies in consultation with the Trump, the person said.

Indian national sentenced to 8 yrs for attempt to attack White House

Indian national Sai Varshith Kandula, 20, on Thursday was sentenced to eight years for an attempted attack on the White House with a rented truck on May 22, 2023. The attack aimed to overthrow the democratically elected American government in order to replace it with a dictatorship fuelled by Nazi ideology, the Department of Justice said. Kandula had pleaded guilty on May 13, 2024 to a charge of willful injury or depredation of US property. Born in Chandanagar, India, he was a was a lawful permanent resident of the US with a green card. In addition to the prison term, District Court Judge Dabney L Friedrich ordered Kandula to serve three years of supervised release. The Indian national flew on a commercial flight from St Louis, Missouri, to Washington D.C. on the afternoon of May 22, 2023, connecting through another airport on a one-way airline ticket, according to court documents, and arrived at Dulles International Airport about 5:20 pm, wherein he rented a truck at 6:30 pm. He .

4 yrs on, US is stronger, prosperous, secure: Biden in letter to countrymen

Coming out of the worst pandemic in a century and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the United States in four years under Joe Biden's leadership has emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure, the outgoing US President said in a letter Wednesday. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together, Biden said in a letter addressed to his countrymen. Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure, he said. Biden, 82, leaves the White House on ...

Elevated ties with India, started iCET, launched Quad: WH on Biden's tenure

The White House on Wednesday said that the United States "elevated" its relationship with India, kicked off the pathbreaking iCET dialogue and launched Quad during the impactful tenure of President Joe Biden. In the Indo-Pacific, Biden's diplomacy made America more secure by deepening its economic and security partnerships in the region, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the White House said in a fact sheet that highlighted some of the key achievements of the Biden administration. Biden, 82, would complete his four-year term on January 20, when Donald Trump, 78, would be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The fact sheet noted that during these four years, Biden reinvigorated America's network of alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, including through the US-Japan-ROK and US-Japan-Philippines trilaterals, the Quad, AUKUS, IPEF, expanded partnership with the Philippines, and elevated relations with India, Indonesia, Vietnam, ASEAN, and Pacific Islands ..

Biden packing up to leave White House. What about any classified documents?

The last time Joe Biden packed up and left office, he took with him thousands of papers from his decades in public service including some classified documents that should have gone to the National Archives for safekeeping. That move spawned a federal investigation into whether Biden had knowingly broken the law and a damaging Justice Department report that referred to Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory, igniting public concerns over his mental acuity that eventually led Biden to drop out of the race. The discovery also watered down the significance of the criminal case against President-elect Donald Trump, who had been accused of purposefully hoarding top secret documents at his Florida estate and it helped fuel Trump's claims of unfair political persecution. The moving trucks are at the White House again, and Biden's staff is loading documents and items for storage as he prepares to depart next week. The administration has promised a new, more secure protocol to review an

White House imposes new export curbs on Nvidia AI chips for China, Russia

Similar to the rules for importing countries, companies in the US and nearly 20 allied countries can agree to US government standards and win permission to ship to the restricted nations

Biden admin rushes to finish cybersecurity order after China hacks

Among the measures, it directs the government to implement "strong identity authentication and encryption" across communications, according to an undated draft