US president demolished East Wing of White House last year to make way for 90,000-sq-ft project
A US judge has halted the construction of Donald Trump’s $400m White House ballroom.
The US president demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make way for the project.
Continue reading...President has falsely claimed ‘legendary’ fraud for limiting mail-in ballots and himself voted by mail last week
Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to compile a national voter file and to restrict the use of mail-in ballots, an unprecedented move that is probably unconstitutional.
The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to compile a list of verified US citizens who can vote in every state. It also directs the United States Postal Service (USPS) to begin rule-making on a process that would require states to notify the agency of voters who intend to receive a mail-in ballot and prohibit them from receiving one unless they are on a USPS-approved list of eligible voters.
Continue reading...Critics say exemption for fossil fuels exploits White House’s ‘self-made gas crisis’, and could doom the rare Rice’s whale
A US government panel on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a move which critics say could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life.
The Endangered Species Committee – which had not convened in more than three decades – voted to approve the request for the ESA exemption at the request of the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
Continue reading...Kuwait says fire broke out after Iranian attack on giant tanker and warns of possible oil spill in surrounding waters
Kuwaiti tanker hit by Iranian attack in Dubai port, raising oil spill fears
Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s energy grid if ceasefire not reached ‘shortly’
Japan and Indonesia have agreed to step up coordination on energy security, Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said on Tuesday.
“In light of the Iran situation, the strategic importance of resources and energy security is once again being recognized globally. Indonesia is a major resource-rich nation,” Takaichi said alongside Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto after they met for talks in Tokyo.
Continue reading...If the now six-week partial shutdown continues after the weekend, it will become the longest of any shutdown
The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the fourth-largest agency in the US government, became the longest partial shutdown in US history on Sunday.
If the now six-week partial shutdown continues after the weekend, it will also become the longest of any shutdown, surpassing the impasse late last year that dragged on for 43 days.
Continue reading...This liveblog is now closed. Read the full story here.
No Kings protests to see millions across US push back on Trump administration
What to know about the third No Kings protests happening in March
In the year since Donald Trump retook office, the number of protests in the US outpaced those at the same point in his first administration, according to data from the Crowd Counting Consortium, an open-source project collaboration between Harvard University’s Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut, reported Lex McMenamin and Andrew Witherspoon.
There were more than 10,700 protests in 2025, a 133% increase from the 4,588 recorded in 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term. According to the data, an overwhelming majority of US counties – including 42% that voted for Trump – have had at least one protest since he was re-inaugurated last year.
Continue reading...Secretary of state Marco Rubio repeats administration’s belief that US can achieve its aims without a ground war
Amid tentative White House efforts at diplomacy to end the war in Iran, US troops have also been arriving in the region to deliver what Donald Trump has hoped could be a knockout blow if he can’t negotiate a ceasefire with Tehran.
Thousands of US marines aboard navy amphibious ships from the 31st and 11th expeditionary units have been deployed to the Middle East from Asia. Another 2,000-odd paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are also being sent to the theatre – they are tasked with deploying worldwide within 18 hours of notification and execute parachute assaults, including against a “defended airfield” to prepare for further ground operations.
Continue reading...More than 850 public demonstrations of support held since start of war and at least 1,400 arrests, research reveals
Iran’s regime has organised more than 850 public demonstrations of support of the government since the beginning of the war and launched a continuing crackdown on unrest that has led to at least 1,400 detentions, research reveals.
The high number of pro-regime gatherings and the increasing number of detentions underlines the resilience of the Islamic Republic despite a month-long campaign of intensive airstrikes by the US and Israel, experts said.
Continue reading...Actor outside Kennedy Center urges Americans to ‘stand tall against authoritarianism’ and resist free-speech threats
The actor Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in urging US citizens to “break your silence” and “stand tall against authoritarianism”.
At a damp but defiant rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment on Friday, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump.
Continue reading...President’s popularity top of mind at another weird and wild cabinet meeting – riff on merits of Sharpies included
They have become so notorious for displays of flattery and obsequiousness that critics have drawn comparisons with North Korea. Thursday’s cabinet meeting at the White House was no different.
Doug Burgum, the US interior secretary, outflanked his fellow praise singers by saying he believes that Venezuela – which the US attacked in January – intends to honour the president with a statue.
Continue reading...US president says he is ‘very disappointed’ as he again lashes out at allies’ lack of involvement in Iran war
Donald Trump has dismissed British warships as “toys” in his latest jibe at Nato countries for their lack of involvement in the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, he claimed he had told the UK: “Don’t bother, we don’t need it.”
Trump has previously alleged that he requested two aircraft carriers from the UK that Keir Starmer had initially rejected and then offered to send. No 10 has denied that a request was made or denied.
Continue reading...US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this year
Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war.
Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year.
Continue reading...Tehran puts forward five-point counter-proposal and says war will end when it decides and on its terms
Iran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal on Wednesday and countered with a negotiation plan of its own as intermediaries sought to keep diplomatic channels between the warring countries open.
Iranian state TV quoted an anonymous official as saying Tehran had rejected the plan it had received via Pakistan, saying it would “end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met”, and until then would continue fighting across the region.
Continue reading...Tehran skeptical of president’s offer – and troop deployments for potential ground operations – suggest claim of imminent end to war not credible
Somewhere between the strait of Hormuz and the screens of Bloomberg terminals around the world, the standard laws of cause and effect appear to have been suspended for Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
Trump this week soft-launched his latest Iran peace talks – which he has said must be accepted or “we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out” – with few details or proof that anyone in the Iranian regime was willing to listen to him. The ultimatum was described as “maximalist” by Iran and quickly derided as a non-starter by analysts and former government officials.
Continue reading...France’s National Rally missed key targets in local elections ahead of next year’s seismic presidential vote – and the mainstream is doing OK elsewhere, too
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The Rassemblement National is not invincible. A year out from a make-or-break presidential vote, that might be the main lesson (though there are others, which may prove more significant) from last weekend’s local elections in France. What’s more, news elsewhere – Giorgia Meloni’s referendum defeat in Italy, Janez Janša beaten in Slovenia, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in trouble, the left bloc largest in Denmark – might suggest the rest of Europe’s far right are not having it all their own way, either.
But let’s focus first on France – if only because while local elections are rarely a wholly accurate guide to future national outcomes, these ones seem to provide some pointers – and the stakes in the country’s next major election are vertiginously high.
Continue reading...Iran Guards said they fired missiles at Israel and US forces in bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain; crude oil prices fall sharply in early trading
Even as Donald Trump claimed productive negotiations to end the war were ongoing with Tehran, Iran’s relentless bombardment of the Gulf states showed no sign of relenting.
Kuwait and Bahrain were both hit with damaging strikes on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, as the patience of the Gulf states after rebuffing constant attacks for almost a month begun to wear thin.
Continue reading...Iran Guards said they fired missiles at Israel and US forces in bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain; crude oil prices fall sharply in early trading
Indonesia is considering cutting the distribution of free student meals from six days a week to five, in a bid to save its budget amid the the Middle East conflict, Reuters reports.
The finance minister, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, said on Wednesday the measure could save 40tn rupiah ($2.37bn).
Continue reading...Emily Gregory defeats Republican Jon Maples in district that is home to US president’s Palm Beach estate
Democrats managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
Emily Gregory, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jon Maples, who had an endorsement from the US president, in the special election in Florida’s 87th state house district. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening, with Gregory, a public health expert and small business owner, leading by more than 2 percentage points.
Continue reading...Tania Warner says she has documents showing she is in the US legally, but immigration agents were not swayed
A Canadian woman who has been imprisoned with her seven-year-old daughter by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has cautioned other immigrants that they are at risk of detention, even if they follow the correct legal process – and warned them to keep out of sight for as long as Donald Trump is president.
“Don’t go anywhere near a checkpoint, and if your papers are in processing, just lay low. Trump meant what he said – he is trying to get rid of everyone, whether they are good or bad,” said Tania Warner, 47, who is currently held with her autistic daughter, Ayla, at the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas.
Continue reading...Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf at first dismissed talks took place, insisting Trump’s claim was ‘fake news’ designed to soothe markets
The backchannel talks between Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, were not a secret in the sense that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had tweeted that conversations were under way on Sunday, 24 hours before Donald Trump’s late Monday deadline to start blowing up Iran’s energy infrastructure.
But such is the chaos surrounding the process that the discussions – thought to be well short of negotiations – may have lasted longer than Sunday, with more than one mediator, as is often the case, jostling for the title of peacemaker in chief.
Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, for instance, spoke with Trump on Sunday, while Pakistani prime minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, held talks with Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Monday. It is possible Pakistan could become the venue for further talks that this time would include JD Vance, the vice-president, a private sceptic about the war. Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, was right to warn not to bank on an early end to the conflict.