Category Archives: Donald Trump

Senate to begin voting on Trump intelligence nominee Jay Clayton – US politics live

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The US president’s pick to be the country’s director of national intelligence is expected to be approved within days – but only after a tense confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump plans to tout his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit today, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.

Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, home to tracks and proving grounds for new models and vehicles. Early voting is underway for Michigan’s 4 August primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties, AP reported.

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Blanche-led DoJ likely to derail Epstein survivors’ pursuit of justice, experts say

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Lawyers predict ‘more suppression and no active investigations’ but victims’ groups determined to continue fight

As Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer Todd Blanche appears poised for confirmation as attorney general, numerous Jeffrey Epstein survivors have sounded the alarm that a US justice department helmed by him would derail their pursuit of justice.

In a letter urging Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn to reject his nomination, these survivors said that Blanche’s handling of the Epstein case as acting attorney general was characterized by misstep after misstep.

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US pauses Iran attacks after Trump advised to halt bombing

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Top military officials say campaign has reached its limit of effectiveness and warn of dwindling stocks of munitions

The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.

Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat.

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How Trump could undermine the midterms

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The president really has no power over elections – but that hasn’t stopped Trump from laying the groundwork to challenge results in November

When Donald Trump commandeered primetime US television last Friday, he delivered a familiar, but still extraordinary, message. The president argued once again that the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, were illegitimate.

US elections are “vulnerable to being rigged and stolen”, Trump alleged, claiming that “the trust of the American people was lost” when he was defeated.

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Trump switched planes in Turkey earlier this month because of threat from Iran proxy forces – report

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President flew to Ankara onboard Qatari-gifted jet, without advanced defenses, and flew home on old Air Force One

Donald Trump switched aircraft before departing Turkey earlier this month after US officials determined there was a credible threat from Iranian proxy forces targeting him and Air Force One, according to a new report from the New York Times.

The threat surfaced while the US president was attending the Nato summit. He had arrived in Ankara onboard the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, an aircraft that Trump acknowledged does not have the same advanced defensive systems as the older Air Force One.

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Trump administration admits canceling clean energy grants to Democratic states

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Court fillings show grants denied to states if they didn’t back Trump’s re-election, but administration claims it’s a ‘misrepresentation’

The Trump administration has admitted scrapping more than $7.5bn in federal grants for clean energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

US federal officials appeared to acknowledge in court documents last week that they had terminated the funding last October “based solely” on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris.

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Trump’s new tariffs ‘a sales tax that will make life harder for Americans’, say Democrats – US politics live

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Even some Republicans apparently expressing concern over measures against 85 countries

The Trump administration continues to expand its authoritarian and radical drive to revamp voting rules and seize state election powers, though it faces growing resistance from US courts, state officials and Democrats, who warn the moves are sparking “chaos” and endangering voting rights and the rule of law.

Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive to change election rules, which states legally set, is fueled by his obsession with his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, which he falsely attributes to voting fraud, coupled with his fear that Democrats will “find a reason to impeach me” if they take control of the House in November’s midterms elections, say former election officials and legal experts.

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Trump administration drive to seize election powers sparking ‘chaos’ despite pushback

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US courts, state officials and Democrats warn that moves are endangering voting rights and the rule of law

The Trump administration continues to expand its authoritarian and radical drive to revamp voting rules and seize state election powers, though it faces growing resistance from US courts, state officials and Democrats, who warn the moves are sparking “chaos” and endangering voting rights and the rule of law.

Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive to change election rules, which states legally set, is fueled by his obsession with his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, which he falsely attributes to voting fraud, coupled with his fear that Democrats will “find a reason to impeach me” if they take control of the House in November’s midterms elections, say former election officials and legal experts.

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Trump to speak at White House press dinner rescheduled after shooting

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Journalists urge attenders to confront president over media attacks, while Melanie Trump and JD Vance to be absent

Donald Trump will address a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association (WCHA) dinner on Friday three months after the original event was abruptly halted after an armed assailant tried to storm it, with the alleged aim of assassinating him.

The rearranged dinner has been condemned as “hypocritical” by retired journalists and press freedom groups, who are urging the association to use it to confront Trump over his administration’s intensified attacks on the media.

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Donald Trump hits Australian exports to US with new higher trade tariff over claims of ‘forced labour’

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Australia’s trade minister, Don Farrell, says tariff regime is unjustified and inconsistent with free trade agreement with US

Donald Trump has hit Australian exports with new trade tariffs, claiming the country is not doing enough to combat forced labour, but the Albanese government has demanded he remove them immediately.

The United States announced on Friday morning (AEST) that many Australian exports now attract a new 12.5% tariff as part of a broader regime affecting dozens of countries. However the Albanese government says Australia’s three largest export categories – including beef and gold – will avoid the tariff hit.

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Trump says nearly 200 firms have signed pledge to protect Americans from costs arising from datacenters

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‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge’ president has touted is non-binding as people continue to struggle with rising bills

Donald Trump has announced that about 200 entities have signed on to his non-binding “Ratepayer Protection Pledge”, expanding a voluntary commitment which claims to ensure US consumers will not bear the cost of the AI datacenter build-out.

Trump delivered remarks on Thursday at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, alongside Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, and Chris Wright, the energy secretary. Other attenders included governors who signed on to the pledge, including Brian Kemp of Georgia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Spencer Cox of Utah and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

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Mamdani says he can’t arrest Netanyahu as mayor and urges US to enforce ICC warrant

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Mamdani admits he lacks power to arrest Israeli prime minister after saying he’s ‘not welcome’ in New York City

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, doubled down on his support for the international criminal court (ICC) on Wednesday and called on federal authorities to execute the court’s warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest should he visit the city in the fall.

“I call on the federal government to join the international criminal court and to execute both this warrant as well as any warrant the international criminal court holds,” Mamdani told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Iran’s foreign minister describes moment of attack that killed Khamenei

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Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.

In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran’s senior leadership.

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Trump ally wins Republican primary for Arizona governor, setting up race against Katie Hobbs

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The victory for Andy Biggs, who was a central figure in the effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat, sets up a high-stakes contest in the battleground state

Arizona voters on Tuesday chose their nominees for governor, Congress and other top offices, setting up a fall campaign that will test whether Republicans can reverse some of the Trump-era losses they suffered in a premier battleground state.

Andy Biggs, the hard-right congressman endorsed by Donald Trump, easily won the Republican nomination to challenge the incumbent Democrat, governor Katie Hobbs.

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Canada cancels joint bridge-opening celebration with US amid trade tensions

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The ribbon-cutting celebration of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is no longer taking place after Trump announced a 50% tariff on Canadian goods

A planned joint US-Canada ceremony Friday celebrating the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is no longer expected to take place after Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on most Canadian goods.

In announcing the tariffs, the president accused Canada of unfairly discriminating against US automobiles, alcohol and dairy products, escalating tensions with one of the United States’ closest allies.

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Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the world

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The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief has saved 26m lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countries

No part of the United States’ anti-HIV programme has escaped unscathed from Donald Trump’s funding cuts, despite pledges from the administration to protect care that saved lives around the world, a new report has found.

Funding cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) have caused “severe and devastating” disruption globally, with thousands of staff laid off and many clinics closed, according to research being presented next week at the 26th International Aids Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It warns that changes in US policy risk reversing progress in the fight against HIV/Aids.

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‘A big job ahead of him’: world leaders congratulate Andy Burnham as he becomes Britain’s PM

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Beyond the diplomatic platitudes global media focuses on the ‘immense’ scale of the challenge he faces in the job

World leaders have warmly congratulated Andy Burnham on his entry into 10 Downing Street as Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, but international media largely focused on the scale of the challenges awaiting him.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said he hoped for a deeper relationship “in the service of our peoples, and by giving new momentum to the partnership between the UK and the EU” rekindled by Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer.

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‘It needs to end now’: Democrats urge Trump to halt Iran war after US troop deaths

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President accused of having ‘lost control of this war’ as deaths of trio in Iranian military strikes fuel rising concern

Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Donald Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties.

Even as US forces launched a 10th consecutive wave of attacks against Iranian targets, concern over the deaths of American service personnel threatened to complicate moves to escalate the conflict, which has reignited after he last week walked away from a memorandum of understanding agreed with Iran in June.

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Donald Trump to impose 50% tariff on most Canadian goods, White House says

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Turmoil likely as Trump officials say Canada unfairly discriminated against US autos, alcohol and dairy products

Donald Trump is imposing 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, White House officials said on Monday, declaring Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White House.

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Trump says Benjamin Netanyahu ‘will not be arrested’ if he visits the US

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Israeli prime minister is subject of an arrest warrant issued by international criminal court over alleged war crimes in Gaza

Donald Trump has said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, “will not be arrested” if he visits the US.

His comments came days after Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, said he was exploring whether his administration could arrest Netanyahu if he visits the city during the UN general assembly in September.

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