Politics

U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson takes part in a debate at the WCSH-6 television studio, Thursday...

Troy Jackson gains momentum to replace Platner as Democrats’ Senate candidate in Maine

Troy Jackson, a former state legislator, moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out Sunday. The quick change in the landscape of the race came on a weekend when party committees across the state began choosing delegates for […]
1 month ago
FILE - Second lady Usha Vance arrives at a women's history month event in the East Room at the Whit...

JD and Usha Vance welcome a baby boy, the first child born to a sitting VP in more than 150 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, on Sunday announced the birth of their fourth child, the first born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years. Born Sunday, Alec Neel Vance joins older siblings Ewan, 9; Vivek, 6; and Mirabel, 4. Vance announced the birth […]
1 month ago
FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice building is seen in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP P...

Justice Department activates untested court for “alien terrorist” deportations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has filed a first-ever petition to a secretive and dormant court created 30 years ago to consider government requests to deport so-called “alien terrorists” from the United States. The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was established in 1996 but had never received a petition until this past Wednesday, when the […]
1 month ago
From left foreground, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate p...

AIPAC has spent a record amount on Michigan’s Senate primary, the biggest test of its influence yet

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — Senate candidate Haley Stevens talks often about manufacturing, taking on President Donald Trump and why she’s the Democrat best positioned to win Michigan. The congresswoman has far less to say about the pro-Israel group that has spent millions trying to get her elected. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or […]
1 month ago
Supporters of Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who is running in the primary for Arizona governor, listen ...

Andy Biggs and David Schweikert offer competing visions for Republican Party in Arizona primary

PHOENIX (AP) — As the head of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House, Rep. Andy Biggs was one of the Republican Party’s most hard-line brawlers in Washington, championing President Donald Trump’s agenda while frustrating establishment leaders. U.S. Rep. David Schweikert says those uncompromising tactics are a losing recipe in Arizona, where Republicans have […]
1 month ago
President Donald Trump listens as FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks at a reception at Trump To...

Trump celebrates the World Cup as a US victory as he prepares to present trophy to the winning team

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to present the World Cup trophy to the winner of Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain. But to him, the real victor of soccer’s premier tournament just might be the United States. “It turned out we were a soccer country, and I think it’s going to […]
1 month ago
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., questions Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick to head the nation's i...

Sen. Ossoff fuels reelection campaign with attacks on Trump

ATLANTA (AP) — Nearly a decade ago, Jon Ossoff was a 30-year-old Democratic congressional candidate promising Georgia suburban voters he would “cut wasteful spending” and make “both parties in Washington” be “accountable to you.” His Republican opponent even complained that Ossoff “talks like a Republican.” Nobody would make that mistake today. After losing that race […]
1 month ago
This combination of photos taken at the White House in Washington shows President Jimmy Carter, Nov...

Trump shifts his tone on Jimmy Carter while grappling with Iran, inflation and his own legacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter used to be one of President Donald Trump ’s favorite political targets, a catchall foil for feckless Democrats that he could jeer at to make himself look strong and decisive. But lately, Trump’s sentiments on the 39th president have become more wistful as he faces some of the same challenges […]
1 month ago
FILE - Hasidic Jewish men chat on June 16, 2025, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/And...

Takeaways from the AP-NORC poll of more than 1,000 Jewish Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press surveyed more than 1,000 Jewish adults in the U.S. to better understand their views on Israel’s military actions in Gaza, their opinions of the political parties and their experiences with prejudice in the United States. The survey of 1,022 Jewish adults — including people who identify as Jewish by […]
1 month ago
FILE - A male alligator snapping turtle is held after being trapped by the Turtle Survival Alliance...

US cancels automatic protections for imperiled animals as critics warn of extinctions

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Interior Department on Friday canceled a rule meant to protect plants and animals that are determined to be threatened with extinction, the latest step by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle key provisions of the landmark Endangered Species Act at the behest of industry. Instead of receiving automatic protections, […]
1 month ago
FILE - South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks before President Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore Nation...

Judge blocks South Dakota abortion advertising ban against nonprofit

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota cannot enforce its abortion advertising ban against a reproductive health nonprofit, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler issued a preliminary injunction blocking South Dakota from enforcing the recently adopted state law against New York-based Mayday Health and plaintiff Nancy Turbak Berry. The judge […]
1 month ago
Russell Vought, acting director, Office of Management and Budget, testifies before the House Financ...

Federal judge bars Trump administration from using obscure clause to make huge funding cuts

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Boston on Friday ruled the Trump administration can’t use an obscure clause relating to agency priorities to make billions of dollars in funding cuts. Twenty-three states had a filed a lawsuit last year accusing the administration of using the clause to make cuts to everything from crime prevention […]
1 month ago
President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Wash...

Trump says these documents prove his false claims of election fraud. Here’s what they really say

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump released a trove of documents during a primetime address to the nation that allies had hyped as a smoking gun that would prove his long-debunked allegations of mass voter fraud. Speaking from the White House on Thursday night, he described shocking revelations, like Chinese meddling to undermine his failed […]
1 month ago
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Acting Attorney General...

Senator says key piece of college sports legislation ‘probably’ has 60 votes to clear upper chamber

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A lawmaker sponsoring a key piece of federal college sports legislation said he believes the bill likely has the support it needs to make it through the upper chamber. “We probably have 60 votes,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said Friday at the Associated Press Sports Editors meeting. Schmitt called the next […]
1 month ago
FILE - An AR-15 style rifle is fired at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (A...

Federal appeals court rules that New Jersey’s assault weapons ban is unconstitutional

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s bans on assault firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are unconstitutional. This is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a state ban on such weapons, and it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether […]
1 month ago
FILE - The Matsapha Correctional Complex in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Ph...

Jamaica says 2 citizens deported by US to Eswatini rejected repatriation offers

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica’s government said two of its three citizens recently deported by the United States to the African kingdom of Eswatini have formally declined offers to be repatriated to the Caribbean nation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Thursday that Jamaican officials were still attempting to contact the third citizen. “During […]
1 month ago
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows polymetallic nodules in a sample fro...

The US plans to auction off sections of water around American Samoa in a push for deep-sea mining

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government plans to auction off massive sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining in an unprecedented move that is expected to draw criticism from many countries. The area of the water surface planned to be auctioned off covers a total of 33 million acres […]
1 month ago
FILE - Containers pile up at Kwai Chung Container terminal in Hong Kong, Apr. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ch...

China signals US could restore preferential trade privileges for Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) — China signaled on Friday that the United States could restore Hong Kong ‘s preferential privileges, saying Washington confirmed it will not renew an executive order that revoked the city’s special trading status. The Commerce Ministry said that the U.S. made commitments on Hong Kong issues and other matters during the U.S.-China […]
1 month ago
Newly-sworn Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., sister of Lindsey Graham, walks past cameras as she leaves...

Darline Graham weighs running for full Senate term as funeral scheduled for Lindsey Graham

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Darline Graham has privately expressed interest in running for a full Senate term after getting appointed as a temporary replacement for her late brother, Lindsey Graham, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. The people, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said she has started having conversations about […]
1 month ago
U.S. Ambassador Tilman Fertitta's superyacht 'Boardwall' is docked as part of "Freedom 250 Coastal ...

Trump’s envoy greeted by protests in Venice on latest stop of super yacht diplomacy tour

VENICE, Italy (AP) — The billionaire U.S. ambassador to Italy was met by protests when he arrived in Venice on Friday aboard his luxury yacht as part of a coastal diplomacy tour marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. Hospitality mogul Tilman Fertitta’s arrival represents an unwelcome display of American wealth and influence for many […]
1 month ago
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as they arrive ...

Germany and France initiate nuclear cooperation as Europe seeks greater security independence

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — The leaders of Germany and France announced on Friday that the German military would participate in a nuclear exercise under a French initiative to deepen European nuclear cooperation. The move by both countries to deepen nuclear cooperation underscores growing European defense self-reliance amid concerns about the future of U.S. security commitments […]
1 month ago
From left, U.S. Senate candidates David Costello, Elizabeth Dickerson, Dan Kleban, and Ashley Webb ...

Maine Democrats running to replace Platner as Senate nominee scramble to woo his voters

The tight timeline to replace former Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner has left Democratic hopefuls scrambling to woo his progressive base while trying to turn the focus from the disgraced oysterman to defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November. It’s a delicate balance for the candidates, who are vying to face Collins in a contest […]
1 month ago

The Latest: Trump doubles down on election fraud claims in primetime speech

President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation to elevate his yearslong push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of U.S. elections and dispute his 2020 loss — this time, to justify his push to pass a strict voter ID bill. His allegations Thursday night of interference and influence didn’t include key context. […]
1 month ago

China rejects Trump’s election interference claim as ‘groundless accusations’

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday said it has never interfered in U.S. elections and has no interest in doing so, urging Washington to stop making what it described as “groundless accusations” after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of meddling in the 2020 election. In an address to the nation Thursday, Trump again raised doubts […]
1 month ago