Category Archives: US Politics

‘A change from the status quo’: the voters who backed Trump and AOC

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Americans who elected a leftist Democrat and a Republican president say the pair share an anti-establishment spirit

Politics makes for strange bedfellows. US political minds will be reminding themselves of this fact as the dust settles on America’s election, with some results showing that a few voters were able to simultaneously support Donald Trump and progressive-leaning Democratic candidates.

In the Bronx in New York, a strongly Black, Asian and Latino community, Trump’s support jumped 11 points to 33% over 2020, one of the largest margins citywide. At the same time, the leftwing firebrand Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez secured 68.9% of the vote, returning her to Congress for a fourth consecutive term.

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Emboldened anti-abortion groups create wishlist for second Trump term

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‘Make America pro-life again’ legislation includes banning abortion pills entirely and outlawing telehealth abortions

The anti-abortion movement is ready for its comeback in 2025.

With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, complete with a Republican-dominated Congress, anti-abortion groups are unfurling ambitious lists of policies they hope to see enacted under a sympathetic administration.

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Dozens of stars backed Harris’s campaign and yet she lost. Is the era of celebrity endorsements over?

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Focus on A-list talent such as Swift and Beyoncé may have reinforced an out-of-touch vision, or maybe celebrity support holds no political power

The names read like a who’s who of A-list talent about to walk a red carpet or attend Vanity Fair’s famous post-Oscar party. Oprah Winfrey, Megan Thee Stallion, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Springsteen and many, many more.

These are just some of the bold-face name celebrities who backed Kamala Harris’s failed run for the White House, making it one of the most star-studded political campaigns in US history. Even the world’s biggest current star – singer Taylor Swift – got behind Harris.

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Rightwing settlers in Israel welcome ‘dream team’ of Trump and his hardline appointments

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Palestinian groups shocked by US president-elect’s favouring of outspoken supporters of far-right activists in the region

Rightwing settlers and extremist nationalist Zionists in Israel have described top officials in Donald Trump’s new administration as a “dream team” which will offer a “unique and special opportunity” to expand Israel’s hold on occupied territory and permanently end any prospect of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian groups and leftwing NGOs in Israel have been shocked by Trump’s appointment of outspoken supporters of the projects of far-right Israeli activists and say the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been emboldened by Trump’s victory.

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Biden heads for last meeting with Xi Jinping before Trump takes office

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Leaders at Apec summit in Peru, with Biden intending to urge ‘stability, clarity and predictability’ through transition

Joe Biden will meet with Xi Jinping Saturday afternoon in what is expected to be the last time the two leaders meet before Donald Trump assumes the US presidency in January.

The two leaders are attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Peru and are expected to have a meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

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‘A Russian asset’: Democrats slam Trump’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence

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Some of his other nominees – Matt Gaetz for AG and Peter Hegseth for defense head – were also condemned

Democratic lawmakers are slamming Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying their former House colleague is a vocal supporter of Russia who poses a threat to US national intelligence.

Jason Crow, a House Democrat from Colorado and a member of the House intelligence committee, told NBC News that he has “deep questions about where her loyalties lie”.

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The ‘foolproof’ election forecaster who predicted Trump would lose – what went wrong?

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Allan Lichtman’s forecast model was meant to be foolproof. He explains to David Smith what was different this time

Surely not even Nostradamus could get it right all of the time.

Allan Lichtman had correctly forecast the result of nine of the past 10 US presidential elections (and even the one he didn’t, in 2000, he insists was stolen from Al Gore). His predictive model of “13 keys” to the White House was emulated around the world and seemed all but indestructible.

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Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda

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Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals

After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.

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Karoline Leavitt named as Donald Trump’s White House press secretary

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Leavitt served as the national press secretary on Trump’s campaign and assistant press secretary during his first administration

Donald Trump named his White House press secretary on Friday, placing Karoline Leavitt, a 27-year-old firebrand from his inner circle, in position to aggressively defend him.

The job of the White House press secretary typically is to help inform the American people about presidential activities without betraying the confidence of the boss.

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Racist and anti-LGBTQ+ texts target Americans across US, including teens

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FBI investigating anti-migrant and anti-gay texts that follow messages sent to Black people after Trump election win

Racist text messages targeting Black people across the US just hours after Donald Trump won a second presidency have now expanded to the Hispanic communities – and homophobic versions have been aimed at LGBTQ+ people, the FBI said on Friday.

Authorities say they are investigating the messages – which now include emails – and that they have not received reports of violent acts stemming from the hateful messages.

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Trump skips FBI background checks for controversial cabinet picks – report

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Bypassing the standard procedure comes as president-elect’s choices of RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz send shockwaves

Donald Trump’s transition team has bypassed standard background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on some of his controversial cabinet nominees, it has been reported, minimising the chances of them being rejected for Senate confirmation based on any past transgressions or conflicts of interest.

Such background checks – a longstanding tradition for incoming presidential nominations dating back decades to the early cold war – have instead been outsourced to private investigators.

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Trump names Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary – live

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Leavitt was Trump campaign’s national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.

Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, where one of their first jobs will be to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. Should they object to the president-elect’s picks, he has threatened to make use of recess appointments, an archaic tactic that would allow him to circumvent the chamber and its objectors. Here’s more on how that would work, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve:

Several Republican senators expressed shock on Wednesday when Donald Trump announced he would nominate Matt Gaetz, the hard-right congressman known for instigating fights with members of his own party, as attorney general.

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Donald Trump taps his criminal defense lawyers for top DoJ roles

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Administration picks Todd Blanche and Emil Bove defended president-elect in New York hush-money case

Donald Trump has tapped three of his personal criminal defense lawyers for top roles at the Department of Justice, underscoring how the president-elect is shaping the nation’s top law enforcement agency to serve his interests.

Trump announced on Thursday he was nominating Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, to be the US deputy attorney general and the principal associate deputy attorney general respectively. Bove will serve as the acting deputy attorney general while Blanche is awaiting confirmation to the second-highest role in the justice department.

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Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, sparks alarm over far-right extremism

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Experts concerned over the Fox & Friends host, his Christian nationalist ideology and militant language

Extremism experts are sounding the alarm about Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, whose writings and online presence reveal someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation.

The Fox & Friends host, who has served in the US army but has no experience in government, drew shock from Pentagon officials when Trump nominated him. Hegseth’s books on American culture and the military, his commentary on Fox and his frequent posts on social media showcase his far-right ideology. On these platforms, Hegseth telegraphs paranoia and anger toward “leftists”, an ultra-masculine Maga persona and apparent revulsion toward service members who do not fit his vision – including women.

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Snow White star Rachel Zegler apologises for angry Trump post

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West Side Story actor soon to take on iconic Disney role backs down after re-election response led to backlash

The West Side Story and Snow White actor Rachel Zegler has apologised after criticising Donald Trump and his supporters.

The 23-year-old, currently starring in Broadway’s re-imagined Romeo + Juliet, had posted a lengthy response to the re-election of Trump and the “four years of hatred” he would bring about in America.

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Musk asks ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ to work for no pay on new Trump project

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World’s richest man solicits applications for ‘tedious work’ in newly formed Department of Government Efficiency

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are asking Americans who are “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” and willing to work over 80 hours a week to join their new Department of Government Efficiency – at zero pay.

In a new X post on Thursday that doubled as a job announcement and another one of Musk’s trolling attempts, the account for the newly formed Doge wrote: “We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”

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Fears mount over Trump’s second term amid flurry of shock selections

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Dismay as president-elect picks Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth for key roles

Fears that Donald Trump’s second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.

Dismay over some of the president-elect’s early picks escalated to outrage after the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was unveiled as his selection to be attorney general – a position Trump has previously said he views as the most important in his administration.

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Trump announces RFK Jr as his pick to lead US health department

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A scion of Democratic dynasty, RFK Jr is known for embrace of anti-vaccine beliefs and other conspiracy theories

Donald Trump announced on Thursday he will nominate former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr as the US secretary of health and human services (HHS) in his administration.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, will be a contentious pick to lead the US health department, and the role will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

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Elizabeth Warren denounces Biden administration over Gaza humanitarian situation

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Massachusetts senator now joins Bernie Sanders in endorsing joint resolution of disapproval against Joe Biden

Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice in the US Senate, has denounced the Biden administration’s failure to punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and endorsed a joint resolution of disapproval in Congress.

The amount of aid reaching the territory has dropped to the lowest level in 11 months, official Israeli figures show. The White House last month gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired on Tuesday, international aid groups said Israel had fallen far short.

But the US state department announced it would not take any punitive action, insisting that Israel was making limited progress and was not blocking aid and therefore not violating US law. Warren condemned the Biden administration’s decision to continue supplying arms to its ally.

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Donald Trump announces vaccine skeptic RFK Jr to lead US health department – live updates

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Pick needs Senate confirmation and could spark controversy among Trump’s Republican allies, given Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance and conspiracy theories

An independent central bank is “fundamental” to getting good economic outcomes, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Fed has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and unemployment – primarily by raising and lowering interest rates. Anything that undermines the Fed’s independence could spook traders in the financial markets, who might come to question if it could effectively tackle inflation over the longer term.

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