Trump, McConnell meet amid party tension

Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met quietly on Friday as public support from the party establishment for Trump has frayed over his controversial rhetoric. Trump mentioned the meeting, which took place in Williamsburg, Virginia, in an off-hand remark at a campaign event Saturday in Tampa, Florida, as he warned that Republican senators who don't endorse him could lose their seats in November.

Trump calls for GOP unity but continues intraparty attacks

Campaigning in a pair of crucial battleground states, Donald Trump bashed Democrats and Republicans alike Saturday, from Hillary Clinton to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. First at a convention center in Tampa, Florida, and then in an airport hangar outside Pittsburgh, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee tore into fellow Republicans who have been slow to back him, again dashing hopes among some in the party that Trump would solely train his fire on his likely general election foe.

Mitt Romney critical of ’16 field for losing to Donald Trump

An at-times emotional Mitt Romney lashed out at the slate of 2016 Republican presidential candidates for failing to stop Donald Trump , saying what's become of the GOP "is breaking my heart." CNN and Politico reported Romney appeared to tear up during the closed-door gathering when making the comment at a summit he's hosting for many of his top supporters and donors from the 2012 campaign.

Jill Stein: Clinton will ‘fan the flames’ of right wing

Voters should not have to choose a "lesser evil" of the two major parties' nominees, likely Green Party nominee Jill Stein said to about 70 people on Saturday. She argued in an afternoon speech that the party has been "ahead of the curve" on racial equality, climate change and LGBT issues.

Romney loyalists ponder a future with Trump

Donald Trump can be an effective president, and he's going to win with you or without you, Republican Chairman Reince Priebus told several hundred of the party's top donors and strategists Saturday. Trump is setting a dangerous example for Americans by promoting "trickle-down racism," and the party must look beyond this presidential election to find its future, the 2012 nominee Mitt Romney told the same group later that morning.

The ‘Never Trump’ movement has emerged from the ashes

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Donald Trump - one that allowed the "Never Trump" movement to emerge from the ashes with some much-needed newfound energy. The presumptive Republican nominee prompted sharp criticism from members within his own party when he publicly argued that a US federal judge's Mexican heritage made him unfit to oversee fraud cases involving Trump University.

New president? Sure. But House, casinos also on NJ ballot

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will capture most of the spotlight ahead of the November general election, but in New Jersey, voters will also pick their 12-member congressional delegation and whether to gamble on approving casino expansion. Tuesday's primary set the slate for the Nov. 8 election when the state's nearly 5.5 million registered voters will decide whether to keep their U.S. House delegation.

Murkowski, Sullivan give ‘non-endorsement endorsement’ for Trump

Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan are playing the Washington, D.C. word game of the moment, in which they say they are supporting Donald Trump for president, but not endorsing him. There is no real difference between support and endorse, but Murkowski and Sullivan would love it if the former could signify a bare minimum level of approval, like a "D" in political science class.

Romney tears into GOP for not criticizing Trump

Mitt Romney on Saturday torched Donald Trump and the Republicans who failed to stop his climb to the party's presidential nomination, saying the current fortunes of the GOP are "breaking my heart." Romney's condemnation, made at the Stein Eriksen Lodge before hundreds of his donors and business partners, highlighted the ill will between the last two GOP nominees for president.

Divided America: Pondering whether America’s still great

Yet Americans say they still believe in America, the experiment in democracy that the founders described as a place where the government should protect the rights of ordinary people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There's something at the core of America they long for, even if it's hard to define and seems distant in 2016.

Donald Trump’s Fascism and His Appeasers

"It can't happen here? My friends, it is happening here." So says New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia near the end of the "The Plot Against America," the Philip Roth novel from 12 years ago that re-imagines American history if the isolationist, Hitler-sympathizing anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh had become president instead of Franklin Roosevelt.

Republicans wait to see if a disciplined Trump will emerge

Weary Republicans are looking for assurances that Donald Trump can maintain the discipline needed to stay on message as he prepares for a bruising general election run-up against Hillary Clinton. Trump's conciliatory, teleprompter-guided victory speech Tuesday appeared to stave off- at least for the time being - a near-revolt over his racially divisive attacks against the American-born judge of Mexican heritage hearing the case against his now-defunct Trump University.