Category Archives: Donald Trump

Democrats condemn Texas senator over alleged FBI role in locating lawmakers

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John Cornyn claims FBI agreed to help return Democrats to state, sparking backlash amid GOP map push

Democrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and Republicans after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in locating Texas Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block Republicans from enacting a gerrymandered congressional map that would likely add five more Republican seats before next year’s midterm elections.

Senator John Cornyn’s claim that the FBI would assist Republicans’ effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment. An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. None of the lawmakers have been charged with a crime.

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Former Superman actor Dean Cain reveals he’s becoming an Ice agent to support Trump’s mass deportation agenda

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The actor will be sworn in ‘ASAP’ amid the federal agency’s recruitment drive and unprecedented immigration raids that have sparked protest across the US

Former Superman actor Dean Cain has announced he has signed up to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), in order to support US president Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.

The federal law enforcement agency has aggressively ramped up immigration raids since Trump’s return to the White House and was recently awarded $75bn in extra funding as part of his “big beautiful bill”, which includes billions for hiring an additional 10,000 Ice agents by 2029.

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Brazil judge eases Jair Bolsonaro house arrest to allow family visits

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Ex-president can see children and grandchildren without prior court approval, but phone and video ban remains

A Brazilian supreme court judge has eased the terms of Jair Bolsonaro’s house arrest, allowing the far-right former president to receive visits from family members without prior judicial approval.

The former paratrooper turned populist has been under house arrest since Monday, when Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the measure on the grounds that Bolsonaro had allegedly violated court orders.

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Bomb scare rattles Democrats who fled Texas amid showdown with governor

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Lawmakers had been sheltering in Illinois after denying Texas Republicans quorum for gerrymandering scheme

Texas Democrats who fled the state say they experienced a bomb threat at their Illinois hotel on Wednesday morning amid an ongoing clash with Republicans over their effort to block a new congressional map from going into place.

John Bucy III, a Democrat who represents Austin in the state legislature, confirmed the threat on X on Wednesday and said the lawmakers were evacuated. “This is what happens when Republican state leaders publicly call for us to be ‘hunted down’. Texas Democrats won’t be intimidated,” he said.

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US envoy Steve Witkoff meets Putin as Trump’s Ukraine deadline approaches

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Talks between Trump’s negotiator and Russian president lasted about three hours as US pushes for peace deal

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff spent three hours in the Kremlin talking to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, two days before a deadline the US president set for Russia to reach a peace deal in the Ukraine war or face fresh sanctions.

It was not immediately clear whether any agreement had been reached during the talks, which Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov described as “useful and constructive”. Ushakov said that it was only after Witkoff reported back to Trump that it would be possible to say more about the outcome of the meeting.

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Shares in European drug companies hit four-month low as Trump tariffs loom

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President repeats threat to bring in levies ‘within next week or so’ in attempt to get companies to move production to US

Shares in European pharmaceutical companies have sunk to a four-month low, after Donald Trump repeated his threats to introduce tariffs on drug imports “within the next week or so”.

Europe’s Stoxx Health Care index slid by 2.8% on Wednesday, falling to its lowest level since mid-April, shortly after the US president’s initial “liberation day” tariff announcements.

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Israel issues forced displacement orders amid fears of full occupation in Gaza

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Israeli military leaders reportedly oppose Netanyahu’s plans as the country faces growing diplomatic isolation

The Israeli military has put parts of Gaza City and Khan Younis under new enforced displacement orders amid fears that the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing to order the full occupation of the Palestinian territory later this week.

Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet on Thursday evening and sign off on plans for an expanded operation despite reported serious misgivings from senior military officers.

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US steps up efforts to help Bolsonaro avoid jail over alleged coup plot

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State department condemns judge’s decision to place former Brazil president under house arrest as trial proceeds

The US has intensified its campaign to help Jair Bolsonaro avoid punishment for allegedly masterminding a failed coup, with the state department denouncing the decision to place Brazil’s former president under house arrest.

“Let Bolsonaro speak!” the department’s bureau of western hemisphere affairs tweeted on Monday night after the far-right populist was confined to his mansion in the capital, Brasília, and police seized his mobile phone.

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Trump’s demand that India stop buying Russian oil puts Modi in tight spot

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Prime minister faces a choice between high tariffs or giving up cheap oil, putting New Delhi’s non-alignment policy under severe strain

The relationship between India and the US is facing one of its most significant challenges in decades, as the Trump administration doubles down on its demands that India stop buying Russian oil or face punitive tariffs.

The US president, Donald Trump, has refused to cut tariffs on Indian exports to the US, as he has for other countries, and on Monday said he would significantly raise them over its purchases of cheap Russian oil, which now account for one-third of its imported oil.

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Swiss president under fire after Trump call leads to US tariffs shock

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Karin Keller-Sutter accused of mishandling talks as shares dive after Switzerland hit with 39% tariff

The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has been holding emergency talks and President Karin Keller-Sutter has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.

Switzerland, home to some of the world’s best-known luxury brands, was left stunned after the US president on Friday imposed one of the highest tariff rates in his global trade reset. Industry associations warned that tens of thousands of jobs were at risk.

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Trump contorting justice department into his ‘personal weapon’, experts warn

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Critics say DoJ has been ‘politicized like never before’ and the main job requirement is now ‘loyalty to Donald Trump’

As Donald Trump’s Department of Justice expands investigations of his foes and ousts dozens of lawyers and staff who worked on cases targeting himself and his allies, scholars and ex-prosecutors say the rule of law is under siege in the US as the department morphs into Trump’s “personal weapon”.

The justice department’s politicization to please Trump was underscored by an announcement on 23 July of a new “ strike force” to investigate unsubstantiated charges that ex-president Barack Obama and top officials conspired to hurt Trump’s 2016 campaign and his presidency with inquiries into Russian influence operations to help Trump win, say critics.

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White House officials rush to defend Trump after shaky economic week

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US trade representative says ‘the president is the president’ after firing of labor statistics chief amid slow job growth

Donald Trump administration officials fanned out on Sunday’s US political shows to defend the president’s policies after a bruising week of poor economic, trade and employment numbers that culminated with the firing of labor statistics chief Erika McEntarfer.

The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said Trump had “real concerns” about the jobs numbers that extend beyond Friday’s report that showed the national economy added 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. Job growth numbers were revised down by 285,000 for the two previous months as well.

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Federal agency opens inquiry into ex-special counsel Jack Smith over Trump investigations

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Smith led investigations into Trump’s part in the January 6 Capitol attack and the mishandling of classified documents

The US office of special counsel, an independent federal agency, confirmed to NBC News on Saturday that it is investigating former Department of Justice prosecutor Jack Smith for possible violations of the Hatch Act.

Smith led investigations into Donald Trump’s part in January 6 US Capitol riot and alleged mishandling of classified documents.

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Republicans slam Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics chief

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President claimed that recently released figures showing jobs slowdown were ‘rigged’ to make him look bad

Senior Republican lawmakers are condemning the decision of their party leader, Donald Trump, to fire the leading US labor market statistician after a report that showed the national economy added just 73,000 jobs – far fewer than expected – in July.

The disappointing figures – coupled with a downward revision of the two previous months amounting to 258,000 fewer jobs and data showing that economic output and consumer spending slowed in the first half of the year – point to an overall economic deterioration in the US.

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Republicans slam Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics chief

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President claimed that recently released figures showing jobs slowdown were ‘rigged’ to make him look bad

Senior Republican lawmakers are condemning the decision of their party leader, Donald Trump, to fire the leading US labor market statistician after a report that showed the national economy added just 73,000 jobs – far fewer than expected – in July.

The disappointing figures – coupled with a downward revision of the two previous months amounting to 258,000 fewer jobs and data showing that economic output and consumer spending slowed in the first half of the year – point to an overall economic deterioration in the US.

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Trump says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s past comments make pardoning him ‘more difficult’

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They partied together and called each other friends in the past, but in 2020 Combs said Trump should be ‘banished’

Donald Trump says he considers Sean '“Diddy” Combs “sort of half-innocent” despite his criminal conviction in federal court in July – but the president called pardoning the music mogul “more difficult” because of past criticism.

Trump spoke about Combs during an interview on Friday night on the friendly environs of Newsmax. Combs was found guilty on 2 July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, with each leaving him facing up to 10 years in prison – but he was acquitted of more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.

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Trump says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s past comments make pardoning him ‘more difficult’

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They partied together and called each other friends in the past, but in 2020 Combs said Trump should be ‘banished’

Donald Trump says he considers Sean '“Diddy” Combs “sort of half-innocent” despite his criminal conviction in federal court in July – but the president called pardoning the music mogul “more difficult” because of past criticism.

Trump spoke about Combs during an interview on Friday night on the friendly environs of Newsmax. Combs was found guilty on 2 July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, with each leaving him facing up to 10 years in prison – but he was acquitted of more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.

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Durham disclosures further undermine Gabbard’s claims of plot against Trump

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Declassified document contains deflating conclusion for DNI director that Russian spies were behind key 2016 emails

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US national intelligence, hoped to uncover evidence that Barack Obama and his national security team conspired to undermine Donald Trump in a slow-motion coup.

But if her crusade was aimed at proving that Obama embarked on a “treasonous conspiracy” to falsely show that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump, Gabbard made a mistake. A previously classified annexe to a report by another special counsel, John Durham – appointed towards the end of Trump’s first presidency – has further undermined Gabbard’s case.

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Durham disclosures further undermine Gabbard’s claims of plot against Trump

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Declassified document contains deflating conclusion for DNI director that Russian spies were behind key 2016 emails

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US national intelligence, hoped to uncover evidence that Barack Obama and his national security team conspired to undermine Donald Trump in a slow-motion coup.

But if her crusade was aimed at proving that Obama embarked on a “treasonous conspiracy” to falsely show that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump, Gabbard made a mistake. A previously classified annexe to a report by another special counsel, John Durham – appointed towards the end of Trump’s first presidency – has further undermined Gabbard’s case.

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India to still buy oil from Russia despite Trump threats, say officials

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No pause on Russian imports by Indian oil firms who base decisions on ‘price, grade of crude, logistics and economic factors’

Indian oil refineries will continue to buy oil from Russia, officials have said, before threatened US sanctions next week against Moscow’s trading partners over the war in Ukraine.

Media reports on Friday had suggested India, a big energy importer, would stop buying cheap Russian oil. Trump later told reporters that such a move would be “a good step” if true.

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