Politics

Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in ...

Preservation group launches legal defense fund as it battles Trump over ballroom and other projects

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has been at the forefront of efforts to halt President Donald Trump’s massive White House ballroom project, is launching a new legal defense fund to help underwrite its work. The group on Wednesday announced a campaign aimed at raising $10 million “to protect and […]
9 days ago
FILE - President Donald Trump participates in a welcome ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping ...

Xi heads into Trump visit after making China into a global force since 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a state visit in 2015, he sought to calm the growing unease among the Americans about his country’s rapid ascent. Xi largely succeeded, shaking hands with then-President Barack Obama to deepen economic ties and expand cooperation. In the Rose Garden, Obama declared that […]
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FILE - Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, arrives at the C...

Maine Dems hammer Collins over report of pay-to-play probe. The GOP senator calls it ‘totally false’

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine Democrats on Wednesday assailed U.S. Sen. Susan Collins over a news report that the FBI investigated how much she knew about illegal campaign contributions that sent one of her donors to prison. The ProPublica Navatek, a Hawaii defense contractor and donor to her campaign. The investigation, which focused on an […]
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives to speak during the 81st session of the United Nati...

Zelenskyy, at UN, urges leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues and impede its war efforts

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the world’s leaders Wednesday to keep choking Russia’s revenues and impede its war efforts, telling the U.N. General Assembly that “Russia’s revenues must remain a target.” “When someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time. And that is exactly why […]
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Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Ass...

Milei renews Argentina’s Falklands claim at the UN, urging a “peaceful solution”

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the islands known to Britain as the Falklands and to Argentines as the Malvinas, calling it a key issue for his nation and urging the parties to find a “peaceful solution” as tensions with London over the disputed archipelago grow. “The Malvinas for us is […]
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President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at John F. Kennedy Internationa...

Trump administration will defend its ban of three prominent news outlets in court hearing

NEW YORK (AP) — The extraordinary showdown between President Donald Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes moves Wednesday to a courtroom in the nation’s capital, where a judge will hear arguments on whether the president’s move banning three news organizations from White House grounds violates the Constitution. The administration plans to double down […]
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First lady Melania Trump prepares to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday...

Melania Trump rings New York Stock Exchange opening bell to launch new women’s initiative Imperia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday to promote her new initiative to help women become leaders and achieve economic power. It’s called Imperia, and its members include CEOs, founders, innovators, entrepreneurs and others. A lot of the first lady’s attention has been on children, […]
9 days ago
ADDS NAMES - Victims of Jeffrey Epstein sit in the front row, from left, Liz Stein, Dani Bensky, Sk...

Billionaire’s political contributions make the Epstein files a focus of Ohio’s US Senate race

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Billionaire Les Wexner has long been a magnet for political campaigns seeking contributions — especially in his native Ohio, where the retail tycoon directed a generous portion of his giving to candidates from both parties. Then came the Epstein files. Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was Wexner’s former financial […]
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Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Asse...

Syrian leader lashes out at Israel in UN speech, says Golan is inseparable part of Syria

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria’s interim president harshly criticized Israel’s occupation of southern Syria and said the Golan Heights is an inseparable part of his country. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Ahmad al-Sharaa said that Israel has carried out more than 500 air and artillery strikes on the country since he took […]
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People operate on a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza city, Saturday, Sept. ...

Trump’s Board of Peace proposes $2.45 billion blueprint to begin Gaza reconstruction

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S.-backed Board of Peace is proposing a six-month, $2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza as President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat. At a meeting of the group’s board, the governors unveiled a 66-project blueprint to get things started while acknowledging enormous hurdles that […]
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Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Ass...

Iran’s president to speak at the United Nations in rare wartime address

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s president said Wednesday that his people have been ‘victims of terrorism’ by the United States, delivering a rare wartime speech at U.N. General Assembly a day after President Donald Trump said he could “annihilate” the Islamic republic. President Masoud Pezeshkian held up photos of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei […]
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Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is running for U.S. Senate, holds hands with a woman followi...

Republicans say Democrats are extremists. These Democrats want to convince voters that’s not true

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As Democrats try to take back control of Congress, they’re trying a familiar tactic to win over voters in conservative areas — they’re criticizing their own party. They’re complaining about former President Joe Biden, promising to work with President Donald Trump to secure the border, insisting they’ll never defund the police […]
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President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping participate in an arrival ceremony at Joint...

The Latest: Trump welcomes China’s Xi Jinping to Washington for state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington Wednesday evening, where he received a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who met his counterpart at the base’s airport instead of waiting for him to drive to the White House. Trump’s decision to greet Xi shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China’s leader […]
9 days ago
Flags fly at the United Nations Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at the UN headquarters, as security keeps ...

New York City gridlock: Security beefed up at UN this year for General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Opening day at the United Nations’ annual gathering of world leaders saw beefed-up security measures and a suspicious package that added to the chaotic scene around U.N. headquarters in New York. For the first time, apparently in response to escalating threats, U.N. security required all staff and lower-ranking diplomats to have […]
9 days ago
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico talks with volunteers at a food dr...

Talarico works to reach Black voters in his bid to win a US Senate seat as a Democrat in Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — Juli McShay had a few pointed questions for James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, when she stood up during a town hall in Houston. Black audiences like this one are key to Talarico’s effort to defeat Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton and become the first Democrat […]
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President Donald Trump signs a security agreement with Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen a...

What to know about the agreement signed by President Trump and the leaders of Denmark and Greenland

U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Denmark and Greenland signed an agreement about the status of the Arctic island after months of threats by Trump to seize the semiautonomous territory of a NATO ally. The deal was officially signed Tuesday in New York, after U.S., Greenlandic and Danish officials had quietly negotiated for […]
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Asunta Washington, 38, poses for a photo in New Braunfels, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Ph...

Takeaways: What a new AP-KFF survey reveals about rural American voters

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll from The Associated Press in partnership with KFF finds that about half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, pointing to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. […]
9 days ago
Ed Westrick, 59, adjusts a roof on a small building at his rural home near Commerce, Texas, Friday,...

Economic frustration tests Trump’s standing with rural voters, new AP-KFF poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, […]
9 days ago
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., walks onto the stage during a Get Out the Vote campaign event supportin...

Sen. Bernie Sanders unveils bill to ban artificial superintelligence and create Department of AI

Washington (AP) — Two leading progressive lawmakers, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar, are unveiling legislation Wednesday that would ban artificial superintelligence and create a federal agency to oversee advanced AI as some of the industry’s own leaders urge Congress to impose guardrails on the advancing technology. The bill, provided first to The Associated […]
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An individual watches a protester scale a light pole and unfurl a banner to protest the upcoming St...

Taiwan is watching closely as Xi and Trump meet and hopes US will keep up its arms sales

TAINAN, Taiwan (AP) — As China’s Xi Jinping arrives in Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Taiwan expressed confidence that U.S. arms sales to the island that Beijing claims as its own will continue — despite China’s pressure. China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a summit in […]
9 days ago
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in ...

Trump says his ballroom will house a drone port. The Secret Service already has one next door

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s AI-fueled vision for a drone port he intends to install atop the new White House ballroom includes missile-bearing unmanned aerial vehicles and gun-toting troops, ostensibly to protect the 18-acre complex and the nation’s capital. A few hundred feet away, a drone port, run by the U.S. Secret Service and […]
9 days ago
President Donald Trump watches as balloons fall at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 20...

Republicans dump cash into red states as they try to hold the line against Democrats in the midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are growing increasingly grim about their chances in November, with aligned groups pumping money into reliably red states and candidates scrambling to distance themselves from unpopular White House policies. From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up electorate that is sour on the president and […]
9 days ago
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome cere...

China’s Xi kicks off state visit to Washington on Wednesday with a rare planeside welcome from Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he’s expected to get a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who will be on the tarmac to welcome his counterpart’s plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base […]
9 days ago
This photo taken with a smartphone shows Steve Perry, of Kansas City, holding a sign in opposition ...

Trump-backed Missouri congressional map returns to the Supreme Court for the third time

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fight over Missouri’s congressional map returned to the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time late Tuesday, after an appeals court ordered the revival of new districts backed by President Donald Trump. The new map was drawn to help Republicans gain a U.S. House seat in the pivotal midterm elections, which […]
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