Florida state senator joins US House member in expressing alarm over ‘arbitrary measures to hunt down people’
A co-founder of a group for Latinas who support Donald Trump has excoriated the president on some of the immigration-related arrests being carried out by his administration, which she called “unacceptable and inhumane”.
In a statement posted on X over the weekend, Ileana Garcia wrote, “This is not what we voted for.”
Continue reading...California governor made threat amid reports Trump is weighing huge federal funding cuts targeting state
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has warned California governor Gavin Newsom that he would be guilty of “criminal tax evasion” if he withholds his state’s tax payments to the federal government amid threats of a funding cut by Donald Trump.
Newsom had threatened to cut tax payments to the federal government two days ago after reports that Trump was preparing huge federal funding cuts targeting Democrat-dominated California, including its state university system.
Continue reading...The US president says he’s deploying 2,000 troops to Los Angeles amid immigration protests. Here’s what to know
Donald Trump said on Saturday he’s deploying 2,000 California national guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, over the objections of the California governor, Gavin Newsom.
Here are some things to know about when and how the president can deploy troops on US soil.
Continue reading...US president says he’s ‘too busy doing other things’ to try to reconcile with erstwhile ally and campaign backer
Donald Trump warned Elon Musk on Saturday that he faces “very serious consequences” if he funds Democratic candidates following the pair’s epic public bust-up this week.
The warning, delivered in an interview with NBC News scheduled to broadcast on Sunday, follows days of feuding and threats after Musk called Republicans’ budget legislation an “abomination”.
Continue reading...A billionaire’s vendetta has threatened to cut off the US from the ISS and complicate national defense
After a year of effusive praise and expressions of love for each other, Elon Musk and Donald Trump exploded their political partnership in dramatic fashion this week. The highly public split included, among other highlights, the world’s richest person accusing the president of the United States of associating with a notorious sex offender. Trump said Musk had “lost his mind”.
As Musk and Trump traded insults, each on his own social network, they also issued threats with tangible consequences. Trump suggested that he could cancel all of Musk’s government contracts and subsidies – “the best way to save money”, he posted – a move that would have devastating consequences not only on the tech billionaire’s companies but also on the federal agencies that have come to depend on them. Musk responded by announcing that he would begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, although he later reversed the decision.
Continue reading...Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilient
Russia is at war with Britain, the US is no longer a reliable ally and the UK has to respond by becoming more cohesive and more resilient, according to one of the three authors of the strategic defence review.
Fiona Hill, from County Durham, became the White House’s chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump’s first term and contributed to the British government’s strategy. She made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian.
Continue reading...Lawmakers still weighing whether to pass ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ at root of rift between US president and tech boss
As the simmering tensions between Donald Trump and his once top adviser, the billionaire Elon Musk, erupted into public view on Thursday, eyes turned to the Republican lawmakers still weighing whether to pass the president’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill”.
It was approved by just a single vote in the House of Representatives with no Democratic support last month, and nonpartisan analysts have found the sweeping legislation could add a whopping $2.4tn-$5tn to the $36.2tn US national debt and make deep cuts to Medicaid and food-assistance programs. Seen as an outline of Trump’s “America first” agenda, the bill would also extend tax cuts, fund beefed-up immigration enforcement and impose new work requirements for enrollees of federal safety net programs.
Continue reading...Car company’s shares dropped by 14.2% and its billionaire CEO’s net worth reduced by $8.73bn
Tesla’s shares dropped by about 14.2% on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company as a feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump erupted into public view. The former political allies traded threats and insults through posts on their respective social media platforms throughout the afternoon as the company’s price fell.
Trump suggested on Truth Social that he could cut Musk’s government subsidies and contracts, of which both Tesla and SpaceX have been immense beneficiaries. Musk meanwhile threatened to decommission the SpaceX spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, called for Trump’s impeachment, derided the president’s signature tariffs and accused him of being affiliated with the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk said late Thursday evening his company will not decommission its spacecraft.
Continue reading...Friedrich Merz struggles to get word in as US president focuses on record of former German leader who left office in 2021
Donald Trump has heaped criticism on the former German chancellor Angela Merkel for opening up her country to refugees, telling her successor: “I told her it shouldn’t have happened.”
During an appearance with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Thursday, Trump was asked about the sweeping travel restrictions on 19 countries that he announced the previous day.
Continue reading...US president says he accepted invitation in first phone conversation between leaders since January
Donald Trump said he had accepted an invitation to meet Xi Jinping in China after a phone conversation on trade was held between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the “very good” call lasted about 90 minutes and the conversation was “almost entirely focused on trade”.
Continue reading...President brings in ban for visitors from 12 countries and restricts travel from a further seven
Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into Joe Biden’s actions as president, alleging top aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline”.
The investigation will build on a Republican-led campaign already under way to discredit the former president and overturn some of his executive actions, including pardons and federal rules issued towards the end of his term in office.
Continue reading...US president says it would jeopardize national security to allow university to keep hosting international students
Donald Trump signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University, the White House said on Wednesday.
The order would suspend for an initial six months the entry into the US of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard. Trump declared that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students.
Continue reading...Vladimir Putin has warned Russia will respond to Kyiv’s attacks on nuclear-capable aircraft at airfields
As Vladimir Putin pledges to retaliate against Ukraine for last weekend’s unprecedented drone attack, Kremlin advisers and figures around Donald Trump have told the US president that the risk of a nuclear confrontation is growing, in an attempt to pressure him to further reduce US support for Ukraine.
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and an important intermediary between the Kremlin and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, called the Ukrainian drone strike an attack on “Russian nuclear assets”, and echoed remarks from Maga-friendly figures warning of the potential for a third world war.
Continue reading...Beijing says it will safeguard its interests after Donald Trump claimed it had ‘totally violated’ agreement
China has accused the US of “seriously violating” the fragile US-China detente that has been in place for less than a month since the two countries agreed to pause the trade war that risked upending the global economy.
China and the US agreed on 12 May to pause for 90 days the skyrocketing “reciprocal” tariffs that both countries had placed on the others goods in a frenzied trade war that started a few weeks earlier. Tariffs had reached 125% on each side, which officials feared amounted to virtual embargo on trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Continue reading...Amid bipartisan opposition, director of management and budget office says Trump prefers to use ‘executive tools’
Russell Vought, the director of the office of management and budget (OMB), on Sunday cast doubt on the constitutional obligation of the White House to ask Congress to sign off on Donald Trump’s massive cuts to the federal workforce spearheaded by Elon Musk.
Vought indicated the White House preferred to rely on “executive tools” for all but a “necessary” fraction of the cuts instead of submitting the whole package of jobs and agency slashing that took place via the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), to the congressional branch for its official approval.
Continue reading...If the US’s oldest university bends the knee, the door to authoritarianism opens and democracy fades, experts warn
In mortarboards and crimson-fringed gowns, thousands of students were joined by smiling families for the centuries-old ritual of graduation day. But this year was different.
Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, received a standing ovation and welcomed graduates “from down the street, across the country and around the world”, drawing applause for the last words: “Around the world – just as it should be.”
Continue reading...Prime minister also reaffirms policy on Taiwan while hitting back at Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports
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Anthony Albanese has responded to the United States’ calls for a huge rise in defence spending amid fears about China, while hitting back at Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on steel and aluminium.
On Saturday US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, urged US allies in the region, including Australia, to “share the burden” and lift defence spending to 5% of GDP, warning that “Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”.
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Continue reading...Trump announced on Friday night that he planned to double rates on imported steel, piling more pressure on the industry
The UK’s trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will meet his US counterpart next week to thrash out a timeline for exempting the UK from US steel and aluminium tariffs after Donald Trump announced he would double them.
British officials are seeking clarity on the implications of Trump’s announcement on Friday night that he planned to double the tariffs from 25% to 50% from Wedneday 4 June, piling further pressure on global steel trade.
Continue reading...More than 200 settlements in Sumy region under evacuation orders after Russia take control of two villages
Ukrainian officials issued evacuation orders on Saturday for 11 more villages in the northern Sumy region after continued Russian gains led to fears that Moscow could be gearing up for a fresh ground offensive.
Russia advanced deeper into Ukrainian territory on Saturday, taking control of two more villages in Sumy and killing two people in a missile and drone barrage. More than 200 settlements in the region were already under evacuation orders.
Continue reading...Time and time again over the past four months, reality has failed to match Trump’s rhetoric
“Tariffs are easy,” Donald Trump claimed in March. For his administration, and the world, they have proven anything but. Now an obscure New York court has blocked his signature trade policy, setting up a battle that looks sure to end up in the supreme court.
The plan was simple. For decades, Trump has made the case for tariffs. Now, in his second term, he would dramatically hike them on the world; raise trillions of dollars for the federal government; cut taxes for Americans; and lure manufacturers to the country’s industrial heartlands, creating millions of jobs.
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