Category Archives: Donald Trump

Harmeet Dhillon: DoJ lawyer a top contender for Trump’s retribution mission

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Pugilistic presence has laid waste to civil rights decision – her take-no-prisoners approach has alarmed legal experts but earned president’s plaudits

When Donald Trump abruptly fired Pam Bondi earlier this month, he made it clear that an unmistakable priority for the justice department would be using the nation’s top law enforcement agency to seek retribution against his political rivals.

For months, Trump pressured Bondi to move ahead with prosecutions against James Comey, Letitia James, Adam Schiff and other rivals, even publicly venting his frustration with Bondi in October. The justice department eventually did secure indictments against Comey and James, but the cases later collapsed. Trump fired Bondi on 2 April, reportedly because he was angered by the department’s lack of progress in prosecuting enemies. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has since said Trump has the “right” to direct investigations at the justice department.

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Trump and Tehran’s series of mismanaged posts stall progress towards peace

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US president’s desperation for war to end has seen him trying to speed through a process he does not fully control

A set of mismanaged and premature media announcements by Donald Trump and Tehran has led to the collapse of progress towards a peace settlement between Iran and the US.

The recent missteps ended with Iran saying it would reinstate a complete block on the movement of commercial shipping through the strait of Hormuz and that it would not allow any of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be exported out of the country.

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Trump announces reforms to accelerate access to psychedelic drug treatments

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President signed executive order directing FDA to expedite review of psychedelic drugs including ibogaine

Donald Trump on Saturday announced reforms intended to speed up access to medical research and treatment based on psychedelic drugs.

The president signed an executive order directing the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of drugs such as ibogaine, which US military veteran groups have said can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Iran closes strait of Hormuz again ‘until US lifts blockade’

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IRGC reportedly fires on tanker as it tries to pass through strait during brief window when shipping lane had reopened

Iranian officials say they have reversed the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and reimposed restrictions on the vital shipping lane after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports.

A UK maritime agency reported that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ships had fired at a tanker as it attempted to pass through the strait on Saturday. Reuters reported an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil had also been attacked while in the waterway.

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Middle East crisis live: Iran warns it will close strait of Hormuz if US blockade continues

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Iranian parliamentary speaker also says passage through waterway will depend on Iranian authorisation and accuses Donald Trump of multiple falsehoods

A convoy of tankers was seen departing the Gulf and transiting the strait of Hormuz on Saturday, vessel-tracking data showed.

The group comprised four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data cited by Reuters.

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Two weeks that pushed Trump to the edge. Is his presidency unravelling?

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The president has opened fissures in his base by starting a war he couldn’t finish with Iran, stoking inflation and offending Christians. Barred from running again, he may feel he has nothing to lose

Lance Johnson voted for Donald Trump three times. Now he is feeling buyer’s remorse. “I haven’t been too happy with the third time around,” said the 47-year-old contractor, sitting at a bar in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. “We’re supposed to not start any new wars. Prices were supposed to come down. We were promised a lot of things and we’re not getting them.”

Johnson is not the only Trump voter having doubts about a US president who, after defying political gravity for a decade, finally seems to be crashing back to earth. The past two weeks have arguably been the most bruising of Trump’s two terms in office, suggesting that his tried and trusted playbook could finally be falling apart.

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Iran says strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ but sounds warning on US blockade

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Iran’s parliamentary speaker says strait could close again if US blockade continues, but Trump says it will remain in place until ‘transaction’ with Tehran is complete

Iran’s foreign minister has said that the strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway.

In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”

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Donald Trump claims to have ended a 10th war – but will the Lebanon ceasefire hold?

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Lasting peace depends on resolving a border dispute dating back to 2000 and dealing with Hezbollah’s weapons

Israel’s security cabinet first heard about the ceasefire with Lebanon from a social media post by Donald Trump. Hezbollah first heard about the ceasefire from the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon. Each side shot off as many bombs, drones and rockets as they could before the ceasefire – imposed from above – came into effect.

Despite the US president claiming it is the 10th war he has ended, the situation on the ground in Lebanon looks anything but stable.

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Trump nominates Erica Schwartz, ex-deputy surgeon general, as CDC director

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Schwartz was deputy surgeon general under Trump’s first administration and is a rear admiral in the US Coast Guard

Donald Trump has selected Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bringing to an end a months-long search for a permanent head of the troubled public health agency.

Trump revealed his choice on Truth Social, saying: “I am pleased to announce the new leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC,” he wrote. “She is a STAR!”

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South Africa names apartheid-era negotiator as ambassador to US

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Appointment of Roelf Meyer seen as attempt to improve relations amid false US accusations of ‘white genocide’

South Africa has appointed a former apartheid government chief negotiator during the talks that ended white rule in the 1990s as ambassador to the US, in what is seen as an attempt to improve the deeply strained diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

Roelf Meyer replaces Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled in March 2025 after he criticised the Trump administration.

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Trump warns US-UK trade deal ‘can always be changed’ with relations in ‘sad state’

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President says he gave Britain ‘better deal than I had to’ but ally was ‘not there when we needed them’ on Iran

Donald Trump has threatened to row back on the trade deal the US signed with the UK last year, in his latest salvo against the British government over sharp differences about the US’s approach to the Middle East.

The US president said the economic deal struck with the UK, which cut some of his tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, was “better than I had to” and that it could “always be changed”.

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Sheinbaum vows to ‘defend Mexicans at every level’ amid anger at Trump over migrant deaths

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Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have caved

The Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba.

The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against gangs.

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Trump accuses ally Meloni of lacking courage for not joining attacks on Iran

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Remarks come as Italian PM suspends defence agreement with Israel amid growing domestic pressure over conflict

Donald Trump lashed out at one of his closest allies on Tuesday, saying Italy’s Giorgia Meloni lacked courage in light of her failure to join the US in attacking Iran.

“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

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Mark Carney secures majority government in Canada after special election win

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Carney’s Liberals will now be able to pass legislation without the support of opposition parties – and govern until 2029

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has secured a parliamentary majority for his Liberal government, CBC News reported. The victory will help him push through a legislative agenda he says is needed for an increasingly divided geopolitical world.

Three special elections were held on Monday in Ontario and Quebec, with two in districts – known as ridings – that have long voted Liberal.

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Iran tries to cosy up to Europe to increase pressure on US

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Regime hopes to capitalise on deepening transatlantic split by briefing previously sidelined European countries

In a move designed to increase pressure on the US to make compromises in its conflict with his country, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi has been briefing European capitals on the nature of the offer Iran had been willing to make about its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and future stewardship of the strait of Hormuz during the weekend talks in Islamabad.

After the inconclusive talks, Araghchi held phone briefings with the French and German foreign ministers, Jean-Noël Barrot and Johann Wadephul, as well as the Saudi, Omani and Qatari foreign ministers.

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Middle East crisis live: Hezbollah urges Lebanon to pull out of talks with Israel; blockade of strait of Hormuz begins

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Hezbollah says it will not abide by agreements that result from the Lebanon-Israel talks in the US; Trump claims Iran wants to make a deal

Pakistan has reportedly proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, the Associated Press has reported.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the press, said the proposal would depend on whether the parties request a different location.

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US starts naval blockade of Iranian ports after deadline passes

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Iran warns Americans they face higher pump prices due to prohibition imposed on Monday evening

The US blockade of ships using Iranian ports in the Gulf has come into effect, turning the six-week-old conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran into a test of economic endurance.

US Central Command (Centcom) made no formal announcement of the start of the blockade but had said it begin on Monday at 5.30pm Iranian time and would apply to any ships entering or departing Iranian ports or coastal areas, while ships using non-Iranian ports would not be impeded.

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Vance’s bad week: vice-president risks becoming face of two Trump foreign policy failures

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Orbán is out in Hungary and talks have failed to end the war in Iran – ill-fated road trip has been setback for Maga aims

Shortly before JD Vance’s ill-fated week crisscrossing the world, Donald Trump asked him during a private Easter brunch about how the Iran negotiations were shaping up. “If it doesn’t happen, I’m blaming JD Vance,” Trump said to laughs in the room. “If it does happen, I’m taking full credit.”

The joke at Vance’s expense contained an unfortunate nugget of truth: this is not an administration that rewards failure.

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Orbán’s defeat holds lessons for US: ‘Autocrats may rise, but are not invincible’

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Stunning loss of rightwing populist in Hungary carries symbolic significance for opponents of Donald Trump

For US Democrats seeking rays of light in the dark landscape of Donald Trump’s authoritarian onslaught, illumination has arrived from the unlikely source of Budapest.

Viktor Orbán’s stunning defeat in Hungary’s general election – ending 16 years of unbroken rule for his governing Fidesz party – carries symbolic and psychological significance for American politics out of all proportion to the central European country’s modest size and distance from the US.

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I do not fear Trump, says Pope Leo after US president calls him ‘weak’

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Leader of Catholic church says he will continue to speak out against war after president’s extraordinary criticism

Pope Leo said he did not fear the Trump administration and would continue to speak out against war after Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against him in which he said he did not think the Chicago-born pontiff was “doing a very good job”, while also suggesting he should “stop catering to the radical left”.

In remarks that have been widely criticised, the US president used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo while he flew from Florida to Washington on Sunday night, then continued in comments on the tarmac to reporters. “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.

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