Politics

President Donald Trump, left, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe speak as they depart following a cabi...

Trump’s threat to push ahead on settlement fund injects new uncertainty into attorney general talks

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to push forward with a fund to compensate his allies if two Republican holdouts will not support his nominee for attorney general, injecting fresh uncertainty into a Senate confirmation vote planed for next week and underscoring once more his interest in securing payouts for supporters who […]
17 days ago
FILE - Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, walks out of a meeting with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of ...

Democrats see an chance to flip a US House seat as abuse claims mount against Ohio Rep. Max Miller

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Faced with a narrow path to winning control of the U.S. House, Democrats are seeing fresh opportunity in a northeast Ohio congressional seat where the Republican incumbent is facing mounting pressure over domestic abuse allegations in a bitter and drawn-out dispute with his ex-wife. Allegations against U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a […]
17 days ago
FILE - Wes Moore, governor of Maryland, speaks during the National Action Network (NAN) Convention ...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he’s ‘very concerned’ Trump will interfere in the midterm elections

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland said he is “very concerned” that President Donald Trump will wield the power of the federal government to thwart the midterm elections this fall as the Republican tries to maintain his grip on power during the final two years of his administration. In an interview as […]
18 days ago
FILE - President Donald Trump holds up an image taken from his Truth Social account at an event abo...

Trump stands to profit off US policy announcements by selling fast access to his social media posts

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump knows the world hangs on his every word. Now he wants you to pay for it. The social media posts of the world’s most powerful man are going on sale Saturday when his Truth Social business begins offering sneak peeks of them to Wall Street traders willing to […]
18 days ago
President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the ...

Trump wanted interest rate cuts to be ‘Rocket Fuel’ for the economy. He is losing that fight so far

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has been losing his own battle to cut interest rates. The president likes to vilify high rates as an affront to the size and strength of the U.S. economy, saying that America deserves the cheapest borrowing costs in the world. Trump for months publicly pressured the Federal Reserve to […]
18 days ago

Gilberto Cárdenas, revered for his advocacy for Chicanos and Latino art, dies at 79

Gilberto Cárdenas, a highly respected sociologist who many considered a great advocate for advancing Latino and Chicano identity through academia and art, has died. Cárdenas died Sunday at his home in Austin, Texas, after a long illness, according to a statement released by his family. He was 79. Born and raised in San Gabriel, California, […]
18 days ago
FILE - Former Rep. George Santos arrives at federal court for sentencing, April 25, 2025, in Centra...

George Santos agrees to $35,000 settlement in federal probe over Kalshi trades

NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced former Congressman George Santos agreed Friday to pay $35,000 to settle a federal investigation into his suspicious trades on the prediction marketplace Kalshi after he bet against his own plans to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union. The onetime Republican lawmaker from New York said he settled with […]
18 days ago
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is seen from the Washington Monument, Friday, July 31, 2026, i...

Justice Department drops criminal case against ex-Olympian charged with damaging Reflecting Pool

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department moved Friday to dismiss a criminal case charging a former Olympian with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing that information provided since the indictment of David Hearn shows that the damage was the result of a “flawed installation by the […]
18 days ago
President Donald Trump, center, walks from Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morrist...

Zelenskyy asks Trump to help him get Elon Musk’s OK to use Starlink to help with strikes on Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pitched President Donald Trump and other American officials on helping Ukraine win permission from tech titan Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia. The push for expanded use of Starlink comes as Zelenskyy looks for alternate ways to mitigate the […]
18 days ago
President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the ...

Trump says anti-weaponization fund in IRS settlement is ‘dead’ even as he defends it

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that his $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is “dead” while also continuing to defend it, further complicating his administration’s negotiations with two Republican senators who are blocking his attorney general nominee in protest. Trump told reporters at Camp David on Friday morning that administration officials had “agreed not […]
18 days ago
FILE - Flowers adorn the lawn in front of the Massachusetts State House, July 24, 2024, in Boston. ...

Massachusetts is close to giving doctors the final word on whether to perform late abortions

Massachusetts is on the way to giving doctors the final say on whether an abortion should be allowed late in pregnancy, a move expected to affect few cases but that supporters say is needed because hospitals are now turning away women they should be serving. The state Senate adopted the measure Friday, sending it to […]
18 days ago

Thousands of migrant children in the US could face new deportation risks as legal aid deal expires

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Advocates warn that tens of thousands of migrant children who came to the United States alone could lose legal representation in immigration court and increase their risk of deportation as the Trump administration allows a contract with legal services providers to expire. Friday marks the last day of a contract under […]
18 days ago

US to make visa bond requirements permanent, affecting mostly African countries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is making permanent a pilot program under which citizens from 50 countries, mainly in Africa, are required to post bonds to apply for a U.S. visa, and it’s raising the cost as well, to as much as $20,000. A draft notice published Friday in the Federal Register says a […]
18 days ago
Gov. Gavin Newsom is introduced at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officia...

Tax returns show California’s Newsom earning between $1.7 million and $2 million annually

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife made between $1.7 million and $2 million annually from 2022 through 2024, and they paid about half a million a year in federal and state taxes, according to tax returns released by his office. The Democrat’s office released more than 700 pages of tax […]
18 days ago
FILE - President John Kennedy and former President Dwight Eisenhower walks along a flagstone path, ...

Camp David, the president’s rustic Maryland mountain retreat, through the years

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is leaving behind the gold-accented White House on Friday for a Cabinet meeting at rustic Camp David in Maryland’s mountains. The retreat, about an hour northwest of Washington, has been the backdrop for presidential summits and smaller-scale meetings since Franklin Roosevelt established it during World War II. Friday’s meeting […]
18 days ago
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights Tom Andrews gestures as he answers to the ...

UN expert flags human rights concerns over Cambodia after talks with PM in Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A U.N. official said Friday that Cambodia faces serious human rights issues, including people being displaced by armed conflict, human trafficking by cyberscam operators and the jailing of those exercising their freedom of expression. Former U.S. congressman Tom Andrews said he visited a relocation site on the Cambodian border where […]
18 days ago
FILE - President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during a meeting with the White Hous...

The Latest: Trump announces deal for Hamas to disarm in Gaza, but hurdles and uncertainty remain

President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory. A Hamas official said Friday that they did reach an agreement on disarmament, the most […]
18 days ago
Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary candidate Abdul El-Sayed addresses the crowd during a campa...

As progressives seek to take on inequality, some cite religion as a motivating factor

DETROIT (AP) — The jokes practically wrote themselves as an eclectic group of progressive pastors, imams and a rabbi walked into a room, finding their seats around a table to talk about religion and politics. Though there was no shortage of levity, a sense of urgency filled the Detroit meeting room as Abdul El-Sayed, a […]
19 days ago
FILE - Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks with an individual following an event at the National Gover...

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has thoughts about toning down political fights. Here’s what he says

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The last time Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma hosted the nation’s governors, it didn’t go so well. The annual gathering of state leaders in Washington in February was overshadowed by a fight with President Donald Trump, who refused to allow two governors — both Democrats — to attend a White House […]
19 days ago
A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israe...

Hamas says it will disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws from Gaza, but obstacles remain

CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Friday that it will begin disarming as part of a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that also requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza. It marks a potential breakthrough in ending the war, but implementation faces major challenges. Hamas also said that laying down its […]
19 days ago
FILE - John Billman, of Columbia, Mo., holds a sign explaining his opposition to a state legislativ...

Missouri proposal would create nation’s toughest standard for citizen-led constitutional amendments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Over the past several years, Missouri voters have amended the state constitution to create abortion rights, legalize marijuana and sports betting and expand Medicaid healthcare coverage for low-income adults. None of those initiatives would have passed under a ballot measure getting decided by voters Tuesday. Missouri’s proposed Amendment 4 would […]
19 days ago
Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Ph...

At least 18 die after breach of border between Morocco and Spanish exclave of Ceuta

MADRID (AP) — At least eighteen migrants have died trying to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, where Spain deployed its military after thousands of people breached the border with Morocco and poured into the tiny Spanish territory. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to join Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in a visit to […]
19 days ago
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong talks during a primary debate in Milwaukee, Tuesd...

Democratic candidates grapple with past stances on defunding the police ahead of key midterm races

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just months before the midterm elections, Democrats hope to convince voters that lawlessness under President Donald Trump’s administration is the biggest threat to their rights and pocketbooks. But the party’s past debates over crime and safety threaten to undermine that pitch. Across the country, Democratic candidates are grappling with their previous positions […]
19 days ago
FILE - A sign for Camp David, the presidential retreat, is pictured near Thurmont, Md., Aug. 18, 20...

Trump is taking his Friday Cabinet meeting on the road to Camp David

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking Friday’s Cabinet meeting on the road — to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, a rustic backdrop for sessions that have come to be known for being overly long and consumed by administration officials’ endless praise for their boss. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said […]
19 days ago