Politics

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Saturday, Dec....

Trump holds an event with Rubio and Hegseth during vacation as tensions with Venezuela mount

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump is gathering with top national security officials on Monday, a meeting that comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration’s escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Secretary of […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump displays an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug...

NSA employee sues Trump administration over order on transgender rights and two ‘immutable’ genders

A transgender employee of the National Security Agency is suing the Trump administration and seeking to block enforcement of a presidential executive order and other policies the employee says violate federal civil rights law. Sarah O’Neill, an NSA data scientist who is transgender, is challenging President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order that required the […]
11 months ago
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following the weekly policy lunch...

Schumer urges Senate to take legal action over Justice Department’s staggered Epstein files release

NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat urged his colleagues Monday to take legal action over the Justice Department’s incremental and heavily redacted release of records pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a resolution that, if passed, would direct the Senate to file or join lawsuits aimed […]
11 months ago

Trump administration pauses 5 offshore wind projects on the East Coast

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the East Coast due to unspecified national security risks identified by the Pentagon. The pause is effective immediately and will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense […]
11 months ago
As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a...

“60 Minutes” holds off on airing critical piece on Trump deportation policy

AP Media Writer (AP) — CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday didn’t air a planned story on Trump administration deportations of immigrants to El Salvador, pulling it only hours before airtime at the direction of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. The story, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvador’s […]
11 months ago
Chuck Dietrick poses for a portrait at his home in Anna, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/...

Most US adults aren’t making year-end charitable contributions, new AP-NORC poll finds

NEW YORK (AP) — Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets. The survey, which was conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC […]
11 months ago
FILE - Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen speaks during a Security Council meeting at...

Denmark insists on respect for territorial integrity after Trump appoints envoy to Greenland

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish foreign minister said Monday his country insists that everyone, including the United States, must respect “the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark” after President Donald Trump ‍​announced ​the appointment of Louisiana’s governor as the U.S. ‌special envoy to Greenland. Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the […]
11 months ago
FILE - Danish military forces participate in an exercise with hundreds of troops from several Europ...

Trump announces he’s appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to serve as US special envoy to Greenland

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump ‍on Sunday ​announced ​he ⁠is appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to serve as the U.S. ‌special envoy to Greenland, the vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark that Trump has said the U.S. needs to take over. “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and […]
11 months ago
FILE - Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks to the National Governors Association at the Broadmoor Hote...

Colorado governor accuses Trump of playing ‘political games’ after disaster request denials

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis accused President Donald Trump of playing “political games” Sunday after the Trump administration denied disaster declaration requests following wildfires and flooding in the state earlier this year. Polis’ office said he received late Saturday two denial letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The letters follow requests for […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump holds a cell phone with a call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as he departs on A...

Trump removes nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial positions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that […]
11 months ago

ICE says an agent fired shots at a migrant who hit him and another agent with his SUV in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fired shots Sunday at a Cuban immigrant living in the U.S. illegally after the man struck the agent and another one with an SUV in Minnesota’s state capital, the Department of Homeland Security said. The man also bit an ICE agent as officers subdued […]
11 months ago
Nicki Minaj speaks during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. ...

Nicki Minaj surprises conservatives with praise for Trump, Vance at Arizona event

Female rapper Nicki Minaj on Sunday made a surprise appearance at a gathering of conservatives in Arizona that was memorializing late activist Charlie Kirk, and used her time on stage to praise President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, calling them “role models” for young men. The rap star was interviewed at Turning Point […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump holds a cell phone with a call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as he departs on A...

Coast Guard is pursuing another tanker helping Venezuela skirt sanctions, US official says

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to Venezuelan government. The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a U.S. official briefed on the operation, […]
11 months ago
FILE - Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in t...

Top Trump administration official defends partial release of Epstein files as Democrats cry foul

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department’s decision to release just a fraction of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the congressionally mandated deadline as necessary to protect survivors of sexual abuse by the disgraced financier. Blanche pledged that the Trump administration eventually would meet its […]
11 months ago
FILE - Workers install panels at a solar project May 21, 2025, in Galena, Alaska. (AP Photo/John Lo...

Trump’s return brought stiff headwinds for clean energy. So why are advocates optimistic in 2026?

There were some highs amid a lot of lows in a roller coaster year for clean energy as President Donald Trump worked to boost polluting fuels while blocking wind and solar, according to dozens of energy developers, experts and politicians. Surveyed by The Associated Press, many described 2025 as turbulent and challenging for clean energy, […]
11 months ago
Attendees applaud during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix....

Turning Point showcases the discord that Republicans like Vance will need to navigate in the future

PHOENIX (AP) — The next presidential election is three years away, but Turning Point USA already knows it wants Vice President JD Vance as the Republican nominee. Erika Kirk, leader of the powerful conservative youth organization, endorsed him on opening night of its annual AmericaFest convention, drawing cheers from the crowd. But the four-day gathering […]
11 months ago
FILE - Jared Kushner with his wife, Ivanka Trump, acknowledges applause at the Israeli parliament, ...

Trump is leaning on son-in-law Jared Kushner for difficult diplomacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the dawn rose on President Donald Trump’s second term, one key figure from his first administration stood back, content to focus on his personal business interests and not retake a formal government role. Now, nearly a year into Trump 2.0, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been drawn back into the foreign […]
11 months ago
Erika Kirk, center, speaks as Jack Posobiec, left, and Megyn Kelly look on during Turning Point USA...

Here’s what you missed at Turning Point’s chaotic convention

PHOENIX (AP) — When Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest convention reached its halfway point, Erika Kirk tried to put a smiling face on things. “Say what you want about AmFest, but it’s definitely not boring,” said Kirk, who has led the influential conservative organization since her husband Charlie was assassinated in September. “Feels like a […]
11 months ago
FILE - Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, at podium, speaks during a news conference in Mineol...

Trump endorses county executive for NY governor, days after longtime ally Stefanik suspends campaign

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s endorsing Nassau County’s Republican executive for governor in next fall’s New York race, just a day after the president’s longtime ally Rep. Elise Stefanik announced she was suspending her candidacy. The endorsement, while not unexpected, could help ensure that Bruce Blakeman, who […]
11 months ago
This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein. (U.S. Departme...

Epstein files offer scant new insight into his crimes or how he avoided serious prosecution

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department’s much-anticipated release of records tied to Jeffrey Epstein arrived in a flood of documents that did little to quell the long-simmering intrigue, largely because some of the most consequential records were nowhere to be found. The initial disclosures, spanning tens of thousands of pages, offer scant new insight […]
11 months ago
President Donald Trump walks to speak with reporters while departing the White House as chief of st...

US forces stop a second merchant vessel off the coast of Venezuela, American officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces on Saturday stopped a second merchant vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, two American officials told The Associated Press. The move comes days after President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the […]
11 months ago
In this photo, provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Siss...

Egypt’s el-Sissi urges UN Security Council reforms for Africa’s larger role

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday reiterated calls for structural changes in the U.N Security Council to grant Africa a larger role in shaping global decisions. El-Sissi made the plea for a “more pluralistic” world order at a conference of the Russia-Africa partnership held in Cairo, which was attended by Russian Foreign […]
11 months ago
A street scene in Allentown, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)Credit: ASSOCIATED...

Trump’s ‘A+++++’ economy collides with the reality in a Pennsylvania city critical to the midterms

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — When Idalia Bisbal moved to this Pennsylvania city synonymous with America’s working class, she hoped for a cheaper, easier life than the one she was leaving behind in her hometown of New York City. About three years later, she is deeply disappointed. “It’s worse than ever,” the 67-year-old retiree, who relies […]
11 months ago
Pages that show New York grand jury subpoenas being issued into the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine M...

Takeaways from the US Justice Department’s initial release of Epstein files, mandated by Congress

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday published thousands of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a release long anticipated for its potential to reveal new details about the late sex offender and his connections to powerful people. But it was clear soon after the release that it would fall far short […]
11 months ago