Politics

President Donald Trump arrives at the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race, Sunday, Aug. 23, 20...

Trump leads the IndyCar prerace in the Beast before cars zoom through Washington’s streets

WASHINGTON (AP) — For once, things will be moving quickly in the nation’s capital as Washington hosts an IndyCar race through its streets. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump made the short drive Sunday afternoon to the course of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, where cars will whip through the city’s downtown, including […]
17 days ago
A Canadian flag flies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. (Patrick Doyle/The C...

What to know about Trump’s 50% tariffs on Canadian goods that just went into effect

CHICAGO (AP) — After trade negotiations crumbled at the eleventh hour, U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on scores of Canadian imports kicked in Saturday. The new levies are expected to affect about 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the U.S., roughly $20 billion in goods ranging from hockey sticks to agricultural products. Canada’s Prime […]
17 days ago
Rolled coils of steel sit in the yard at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ont. on...

Trump’s trade war with Canada: A timeline of how we got here

CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs — and threats of even more — has strained the United States’ longstanding relationship with Canada. Over the course of his second term in office, Trump has threatened Canada’s economy and sovereignty with steep new import taxes on its goods. He’s gone as far as suggesting […]
17 days ago
FILE - Former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, R-Kansas, looks to the stage during, "A Century of Servic...

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former US senator from Kansas, dies at 94

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor’s daughter who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a spouse into office, has died. She was 94. Kassebaum Baker died Friday of natural causes, according to her son, Bill Kassebaum. “She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing […]
17 days ago
FILE - The BBC logo is displayed at its headquarters in London, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung...

Trump urges court to reject BBC’s bid to secure records from his family in defamation case

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has urged a federal judge to reject the BBC’s request for the court’s help in securing testimony and documents from three family members in response to his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster. The BBC is trying to gain “politically-driven leverage” over Trump by serving subpoenas on […]
17 days ago
FILE - People rally in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty on...

A trade war between Canada and the US further ruptures a once-close and durable alliance

TORONTO (AP) — For decades, Canada built much of its prosperity on privileged access to the United States. Now, after the collapse of trade talks, one of the world’s closest and most durable alliances has been fundamentally altered, with both countries facing the risk of a full-scale trade war. Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged the […]
17 days ago
Denise Powell, the Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives in Nebraska's second congr...

This rare Nebraska district backed Harris but sent a Republican to Congress. Can Democrats win here?

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — “Do they still like Trump in Nebraska? I think so,” the president said during a recent event in Washington. Given that the state easily backed Republican Donald Trump three times and hasn’t supported a Democrat for the White House since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, the answer may seem obvious. But […]
17 days ago
FILE - A bronze depiction of Thomas Jefferson seated and signing the Declaration of Independence is...

Inside Trump’s remake of the White House Rose Garden. First a stone patio, then statues

WASHINGTON (AP) — Instead of adding new roses, President Donald Trump’s White House Rose Garden is growing statues. Trump put statues of some of America’s founders in the garden just off the Oval Office after he replaced its plush lawn with a white stone patio, turning the historic outdoor space into a look-alike of the […]
17 days ago

US is set to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States was set to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies. President Donald Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the United States […]
18 days ago
Members of the Arkansas National Guard continue their patrol after carrying an elderly woman in her...

Trump threatens lawsuit against nonprofit that questioned whether National Guard plan lessened crime

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is threatening to sue a left-leaning think tank unless it retracts a report that said his National Guard deployments to various cities did not reduce crime as he said. The letter gave the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress until the end of business Friday to issue the retraction […]
18 days ago
FILE - The UN flag flies on a stormy day at the United Nations during the United Nations General As...

US plans to pay $850 million of the $5 billion it owes the United Nations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has notified Congress of its plans to pay $850 million of the several billion it owes to the United Nations, the largest payment the Trump administration would make to the world body since it demanded sweeping reforms in exchange for continued support as its largest donor. The State Department […]
18 days ago
Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP ...

National park maintenance work sidelined as Trump’s Freedom 250 takes precedence

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was just months away when National Park Service employees received a surprising directive from Washington: Maintenance projects approved for this year at sites across the nation were being relegated to a new “low priority” list. Work wanted by the White House was taking precedence, including […]
18 days ago
FILE - Ed Martin speaks at an event at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda A...

Trump loyalist Ed Martin is leaving the Justice Department to focus on election ‘legal battles’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Martin, a loyal White House ally who held multiple Justice Department posts despite unconventional tactics that sometimes rankled his superiors, is leaving President Donald Trump’s administration, the Republican president said Friday. Trump said in a social media post that Martin is leaving his role as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney to […]
18 days ago
President Donald Trump speaks outside the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Washington, nea...

FACT FOCUS: Census Bureau report does not prove Trump’s claim about noncitizen voting in 2020

In his most recent challenge to the results of the 2020 U.S. election, President Donald Trump this week cited a report claiming to show that thousands of noncitizens voted, a practice studies have found to be extremely rare. Trump’s Truth Social post on Tuesday referenced a report published by the U.S. Census Bureau that he […]
18 days ago
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, right, talks about her running mate for Lieutenant Governor Jo...

Arizona AG declines to charge Gov. Katie Hobbs over pay-to-play allegations

PHOENIX (AP) — State prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs over allegations that she took part in a pay-to-play scheme with a group home company that received a rate increase from the state after contributing $100,000 to her inaugural celebration, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Friday. The Democratic governor has […]
18 days ago

Supreme Court chief justice allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is allowing the White House to continue construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project for now. Roberts signed a temporary order on Friday allowing work to continue while the court considers an emergency appeal from the Trump administration. Lower courts had ordered a halt […]
18 days ago
FILE - Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, left, and wife Nancy Kissinger arrive for a State...

Philanthropist Nancy Kissinger, wife of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, dies at 92

NEW YORK (AP) — Philanthropist Nancy Kissinger, onetime foreign policy researcher and wife of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, has died. She was 92. She died Thursday at her home in Kent, Connecticut, Robert Johnson, manager of the property, told The Associated Press. The cause of her death was not disclosed. Johnson said she […]
18 days ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with technology leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the...

President Donald Trump announces plan to lower beef prices, but some Republicans are already balking

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the U.S. without triggering higher tariffs, as he remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November’s midterms. The president said on social media that he had committed to ensuring the […]
18 days ago
FILE - A SNAP EBT information sign is displayed at a gas station in Riverwoods, Ill., Nov. 1, 2025....

Enrollment in SNAP grocery aid is dropping faster than expected

PHOENIX (AP) — Enrollment in the biggest federally funded food aid program in the U.S. dropped by more than 13% in a 12-month span — a decline far steeper than the government estimated as work requirements and other provisions of President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” take hold. Those losing coverage in the Supplemental Nutrition […]
18 days ago

Cuba says US sanctions are blocking its efforts to open the economy to private investment

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States has demanded that Cuba open up to private investment, and Cuba has passed sweeping reforms to encourage just that. So Cuba’s U.N. ambassador says he wants to know why Washington keeps piling on sanctions that stymie the very economic opening it has sought for decades. Ambassador Ernesto Soberón […]
18 days ago
South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield m...

US, South Korean militaries wrapping up drills early, a day after North Korea’s missile barrage

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. and South Korean militaries were wrapping up their annual drills six days earlier than initially scheduled on Friday in a conciliatory gesture toward North Korea, though the North said the step isn’t enough to convince it to return to talks. U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier abruptly ordered […]
19 days ago
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters after a debate with U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman,...

President Trump to stump for Sen. Darline Graham days ahead of South Carolina’s GOP Senate runoff

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Friday to make a last-minute appeal for Sen. Darline Graham, his chosen candidate to replace her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, ahead of a Republican runoff next week. Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman […]
19 days ago
Vice President JD Vance smiles during a roundtable event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Buildin...

Vance will campaign at the Ohio steel plant where his grandfather once worked

MIDDLETOWN, OHIO (AP) — Vice President JD Vance will return to his hometown Friday to campaign for Republican candidates at the same steel plant where his grandfather used to work. Vance is set to speak at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works facility, which was known as Armco Steel when his grandfather James Vance worked there for […]
19 days ago
Children watch a movie on a mobile device at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in P...

First group of deportees arrives in troubled Haiti after US ends TPS program

CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AP) — The U.S. deported more than 160 people to Haiti on Thursday for the first time since the Trump administration won a legal battle to end Temporary Protected Status for some 350,000 Haitians. The plane landed in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien because the main international airport in Port-au-Prince is considered […]
19 days ago