Despite owners and networks forsaking journalistic independence, Trump continues to threaten journalists
In the telling of Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues, the US media is fake news, stocked with “radical-left monsters” who are guilty of “illegal” reporting on the president.
The reality is different.
Continue reading...President eager to discuss trade and investment but no plans to visit Israel amid tensions over Gaza war
Donald Trump this week will embark on the first foreign trip of his second administration with a tour of the Middle East, as he looks to secure investment, trade and technology deals from friendly leaders with deep pockets amid turbulent negotiations around numerous regional conflicts, including Israel’s war in Gaza.
The tour through the Middle East is largely a repeat of his first international trip in 2017, when he was feted in the region as a transactional leader eager to secure quick wins and capable of providing support for the regional monarchies’ economic and geopolitical interests.
Continue reading...US president praises ‘very good’ discussions as top US and Chinese officials meet over trade war triggered by Trump’s tariff blitz
Donald Trump has hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations after the first day of talks between top American and Chinese officials in Geneva aimed at defusing a trade war sparked by his tariff rollout.
The US president praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.
Continue reading...As universities begin to push back on Trump’s policies, those in Republican-led states face multiple threats
Days after the University of Michigan president, Santa Ono, announced that he was leaving his post to lead the University of Florida, his name was quietly removed on Wednesday from a letter signed by more than 600 university presidents denouncing the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” with academic institutions.
As Ono is set to become the highest-paid public university president in the country, in a state that has often been at the forefront of the rightwing battle against higher education, the reversal, first reported on by Talking Points Memo, underscored the challenges of standing up against the government’s sweeping attacks on education in solidly red states.
Continue reading...Leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland told Russian president to accept unconditional 30-day ceasefire by Monday or face increased sanctions and weapons transfers to Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has rejected an ultimatum by European leaders to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or face increased sanctions, but has proposed holding direct negotiations with Kyiv this week.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland told the Russian president either to sign up to an unconditional ceasefire by Monday or face increased sanctions and weapons transfers to Ukraine.
Continue reading...World Trade Organization hails ‘constructive step’ as senior figures come together to discuss tariffs
Senior US and Chinese officials held talks early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and people close to the talks.
China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions as duties on imports between the world’s two largest economies have risen above 100%.
Continue reading...The specifics of the administration’s economic masterplan – from strollers to movies to China – change by the day
Decades of economic orthodoxy failed millions of Americans, according to Donald Trump, who marched back into the White House promising to shred the status quo. But the specifics of his alternative – exactly how his administration claims it will make America great again – change by the day.
The US president declared this week to be a key milestone of his second term, as he unveiled his first major trade deal since returning to office following accelerated talks with the UK.
Continue reading...Ras Baraka, who has spoken out against Trump’s immigration policies, was at the center with Democratic members of Congress
The mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, was arrested for trespass at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center in New Jersey on Friday as Democratic members of Congress also attempted to conduct what they say was a visit to the controversial facility to conduct “federal oversight”.
News of Baraka’s arrest at Delaney Hall was reported on X by Alina Habba, the acting US attorney for the district of New Jersey, and a former personal attorney and adviser to Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Officials float idea of compact of free association (Cofa), used by US to keep close ties with Pacific Island nations
US officials are discussing a plan to pull Greenland into America’s sphere of influence using a type of agreement that the United States has used to keep close ties with several Pacific Island nations, according to two US officials and another person familiar with the discussions.
Under the plan being considered, the Trump administration would propose to Greenland’s leaders that the island enter into a so-called compact of free association, or Cofa, with the United States.
Continue reading...Any Trump administration efforts to send non-Libyans to the north African country would violate a prior court order
Immigrants in Texas who were told they would be deported to Libya sat on a military airfield tarmac for hours on Wednesday, unsure of what would happen next, an attorney for one of the men has said.
The attorney, Tin Thanh Nguyen, told the news agency Reuters that his client, a Vietnamese construction worker from Los Angeles, was among the immigrants woken in the early morning hours and bussed from an immigration detention center in Pearsall, Texas, to an airfield where a military aircraft awaited them.
Continue reading...President Claudia Sheinbaum says lawsuit has been filed after US lawmakers voted on name change
Mexico has sued Google for changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Google Maps users in the United States, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Friday.
“The lawsuit has already been filed,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference, without saying where and when it was submitted.
Continue reading...Meeting aimed at de-escalating trade war after Chinese exports beat expectations despite slump in trade
Donald Trump has floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% before a weekend meeting as he looks to de-escalate the trade war.
Top US officials are expected to meet a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first significant talks between the two nations since Trump provoked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.
Continue reading...US agency will no longer update major weather database in latest showing of Trump’s influence on climate resources
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) will no longer track the cost of climate crisis-fueled weather disasters, including floods, heatwaves, wildfires and more. It is the latest example of changes to the agency and the Trump administration limiting federal government resources on climate change.
Noaa falls under the US Department of Commerce and is tasked with daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring. It is also parent to the National Weather Service.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Prosecutors impanel federal grand jury in Virginia to hear evidence after Trump official’s referral against Letitia James
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, after the Trump administration alleged last month in a referral that she may have falsified paperwork for properties she owns in Virginia and New York, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation marks a swift and notable escalation against James, a major political enemy of Donald Trump, who was ordered to pay more than $450m in penalties as a result of a lawsuit brought by James’s office that accused him of inflating his net worth to secure financial benefits.
Continue reading...President’s announcement receives favorable political reaction but experts warn much remains unresolved
There was plenty of congratulatory backslapping in the Oval Office as Donald Trump unveiled his “major” trade deal with the United Kingdom on Thursday, but many of the details of that agreement have been left to later discussions.
Trump’s rush to claim a win for his controversial tariffs policy left many grasping just what to call this: a deal, an agreement, a framework? Observers predict that the coming negotiations could take months.
Continue reading...City official says it will not comply with request seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures
A city official in Stockholm has said the municipality has no plans to comply after one of its offices received a letter seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures, in what is believed to be the first such missive sent to a foreign government.
“It’s so bizarre,” said Jan Valeskog, Stockholm’s vice-mayor for planning. “It’s our political priorities that count, not the ones from this embassy or any other embassies.”
Continue reading...Lawyers say they’re ‘still in dark’ about government’s efforts to free the man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador
The Trump administration is invoking the “state secrets privilege ” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its erroneous deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García to El Salvador.
US district judge Paula Xinis disclosed the government’s position in a two-page order on Wednesday. She set a Monday deadline for attorneys to file briefs on the issue and how it could affect Ábrego García’s case. Xinis also scheduled a 16 May hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, to address the matter.
Continue reading...US president hails ‘first announcement’ of trade agreement and says ‘many other deals to follow’
Downing Street did not comment on Donald Trump’s claim that the UK had agreed a “full and comprehensive” trade deal with the US.
Asked whether this was the case, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “You’ve got his words and we’ve always been clear that we want to do a deal that’s in the British national interest, and support a substantial UK-US trading relationship.
Continue reading...US president set to announce ‘full and comprehensive’ trade deal between UK and US with Starmer due to make statement
The Liberal Democrats treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper has reiterated the party’s position that any trade deal with the US should be put to parliament for approval before being ratified, saying Labour “should not be afraid” of a vote if they are confident a deal is in the country’s best interests.
Cooper, the MP for St Albans, said in a statement:
Parliament must be given a vote on this US trade deal so it can be properly scrutinised.
A good trade deal with the US could bring huge benefits, but Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned that it may include measures that threaten our NHS, undermine our farmers or give tax cuts to US tech billionaires.
If it’s correct, and you know, whilst we haven’t been named publicly, it does sound like something’s happening, nevertheless, it would be wholly speculative [to comment].
As you appreciate and know full well, with any deal like that, the devil is in the detail. What is the nitty gritty? What does it mean for individual sectors and so on.
I think if we don’t know at all what’s in it, or even if it’ll definitely happen, I think to try and sort of pre-judge what might or might not be in is not something I’m going to get into respectfully. I totally understand why you’re asking that. I think it’s an incredibly important issue, particularly with the wider challenge of tariffs and so on. I’m a big free trader. Our party wants us to see the UK growing by striking trade deals. But I just think you’ve got to wait and see, because who knows, quite frankly.
Continue reading...Major corporations are best placed to benefit from Trump polices at the expense of independent farmers
The winners and losers of Trump’s first tariff war strongly suggest that bankruptcies and farm consolidation could surge during his second term, with major corporations best placed to benefit from his polices at the expense of independent farmers.
New analysis by the non-profit research advocacy group Food and Water Watch (FWW), shared exclusively with the Guardian, shows that Trump’s first-term tariffs were particularly devastating for farmers in the Maga rural heartlands.
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