Politicians quibbling as LA burns: Gavin Newsom’s latest beef with Trump

California governor calls president-elect’s claim that water is being withheld from southern California ‘delusional’

Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, appeared briefly to put his long-running feud with Donald Trump to one side on Friday, when he invited the president-elect to Los Angeles to survey devastation from the wildfires and meet with first responders, firefighters and the “Americans” affected.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans – displaced from their homes and fearful for the future – deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.”

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Gloom and pessimism take hold of Democrats as they look for new leaders

Questions about the viability of a female presidential candidate rise after a crushing presidential defeat

Democrats are harboring strong feelings of stress and gloom as the new year begins. And many are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates – especially women – may lead to further political struggles as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second presidency on 20 January.

A recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that a significant number of Democrats believe that it may be decades before the United States will get its first female president.

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‘He is peddling stories’: Bob Woodward denies Republican’s claim he said Biden was corrupt

Washington Post reporter says he never made comments to James Comer published in the congressman’s new book

The Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward forcefully denied making statements attributed to him by James Comer, the Republican chair of the powerful House oversight committee, in which Woodward supposedly said Joe Biden was financially corrupt.

“The statements attributed to me in what is apparently his book are false,” Woodward said. “I made none of those statements he attributes to me. I repeat none, and not even in a paraphrased form.”

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Biden extends temporary protections for more than 800,000 immigrants

US president moves to shield roughly 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans against Trump administration

The Biden administration on Friday extended temporary humanitarian protections for about 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US, in an effort to shield those groups from an incoming Trump administration that has promised to deport them.

The decision in the dying days of Joe Biden’s presidency came after immigrant advocates and lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security to extend temporary protected status (TPS), designed to protect immigrants from being deported to countries that are engulfed in disaster or conflict.

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Ontario leader warns of ‘pain’ for US if Trump imposes tariffs on Canada

Premier of most populous province says rhetoric clouds trade relationship worth hundreds of billions of dollars

The United States will “feel pain” if Donald Trump doesn’t back down from his threat to impose steep tariffs on its northern neighbour, the leader of Canada’s most populous province has warned.

After a tumultuous week that left Canadian leaders flailing for a coherent national response to Trump’s provocations – including the suggestion that the US would annex its closest ally – the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told the Guardian: “We will never be for sale.”

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US Senate advances Laken Riley Act, which would detain undocumented immigrants for theft

Laken Riley Act passed House on Tuesday by 264 to 159, showing Democrats are feeling pressure over immigration

The US Senate advanced a bill calling for the detainment of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes on Thursday, as Donald Trump and fellow Republicans press their hardline immigration agenda after their victories in the November elections.

The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote was 84 to nine, as dozens of Democratic senators joined Republicans in supporting the motion to begin debate on the bill. But some Democrats who voted to advance the legislation indicated that they wanted to see amendments to the proposal, raising questions about how many of them would support its final passage.

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Kurdish general urges Trump to leave US troops in north-east Syria

Exclusive: SDF leader says removal of 2,000-strong force would leave door open for Islamic State resurgence

The leader of the Kurdish forces that control north-eastern Syria has called on Donald Trump to maintain a US military presence in the region, warning that a retreat would risk a resurgence of Islamic State in the country.

Gen Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said IS had increased its strength in the desert after seizing arms from the collapsed Assad regime, while the Kurdish forces were coming under increased pressure from Turkey and its Syrian proxies.

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British IS members in Syria should be allowed home, says Trump’s counter-terror pick

Sebastian Gorka says letting people in prison camps return to Britain would benefit the ‘special relationship’ with US

British nationals being held in Syrian prison camps for fighting on behalf of Islamic State should be allowed to return to the UK, Donald Trump’s incoming counter-terrorism chief has said.

Any country that wants to be a “serious ally” to the United States should commit to the international fight against the extremist group by repatriating its citizens, according to Sebastian Gorka.

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Blinken says Trump’s push for US to take over Greenland is ‘not going to happen’ – US politics live

Outgoing secretary of state says Trump’s idea is ‘obviously not a good one’, while Department of Justice plans to withhold part of Jack Smith’s report

Greenland is an autonomous part of Denmark, and the Danish foreign minister said they would be open to discussing security concerns over the island with Donald Trump’s administration, but downplayed the possibility of it becoming part of the United States. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Patrick Wintour, Kim Willsher and Miranda Bryant:

Denmark has said it is open to dialogue with Donald Trump about his legitimate security concerns after the incoming US president said he was prepared to use economic tariffs or military force to seize control of Danish-administered Greenland.

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Biden says he warned Trump not to ‘settle scores’ with political adversaries

President is considering whether to grant pre-emptive presidential pardons to Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci

Joe Biden said he told Donald Trump not to follow through on his campaign vows to pursue retribution against his political adversaries once he returns to the White House.

Talking to USA Today, Biden said he proffered the advice when he hosted Trump at the White House in November after his election victory over Kamala Harris. The president-elect did not respond directly but did not reject the suggestion, Biden said.

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Appeals court hears case that could dilute Black voters’ power in Louisiana

Fifth circuit, seen as primed for the Maga era, hears arguments challenging state’s newly created maps

A federal appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could further erode voting rights protecting minority voters or solidify that Louisiana’s legislative maps diluted Black voters’ power.

The fifth circuit court of appeals, which hears cases brought for appeal from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, will weigh in on Nairne v Landry, a case in which a federal judge in Louisiana ruled the Republican-controlled legislature had violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act with its newly created maps.

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Trump moves to block report on election interference and classified documents cases – US politics live

President-elect’s lawyers ask attorney general to stop release of outgoing special counsel Jack Smith’s report

Nina Jankowicz, a former homeland security official tasked with fighting disinformation, said Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end factchecking on his platforms was a “bending of the knee” to Donald Trump.

“Let’s be clear – the factcheckers have not ‘been’ politically biased as Zuckerberg suggests, but have been *perceived as such* because of politically motivated efforts to smear them, one that Zuck is now participating in and capitulating to,” said Jankowicz, who know leads the American Sunlight Project, an anti-disinformation group.

Facebook has already contributed to the demise of journalism and this will be the final nail in the coffin; newsrooms —especially outside the U.S. where subscription models are difficult sells—get grants from Facebook to provide fact-checks. That money allows them to do other journalism!

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Former Proud Boys leader asks Trump for January 6 pardon

Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy related to the 2021 attack on the US Capitol

Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys group who received a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021, has formally asked Donald Trump for a pardon.

A jury convicted Tarrio of helping to orchestrate the insurrection. At the time of the attack, Tarrio had been banned from the city by prosectors for burning a stolen banner from a historic Black church in December 2020 during a protest march against Trump’s election loss.

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Biden signs bill to boost social security payments for millions of public workers

President says Social Security Fairness Act will benefit ‘Americans who have worked hard all their lives’

Joe Biden has signed into law a measure that boosts social security payments for current and former public employees – such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public-service workers – in what the White House has described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years.

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives … should be able to retire with economic security and dignity,” Biden said. “That’s the entire purpose of the social security system crafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago.”

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Republicans try to exploit New Orleans attack to push through Trump agenda

Trump loyalists make baseless link between attack and US border and say cabinet nominees must be urgently ratified

Republicans in the US Senate are attempting to exploit the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans, injuring dozens more, to push through Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominations and rocket-charge the incoming president’s anti-immigration agenda – despite the fact that the attacker was a US citizen born and raised in east Texas.

Several Senate Republicans appeared on Sunday’s political shows to call for an urgent approval of the most contentious of Trump’s cabinet selections, who are facing a tough confirmation process. They include Kash Patel, chosen by Trump for FBI director; Pete Hegseth for defense secretary; and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

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Days-long funeral procession for Jimmy Carter begins in south Georgia

Motorcade with flag-draped casket heads to boyhood home in Plains before moving to Atlanta, then Washington

Jimmy Carter’s long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia, where the 39th US president’s life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter medical center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who had protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.

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‘We’ve been at this rodeo before’: gun-safety groups prepare for second Trump term

With ‘the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House’ to return, gun-safety groups eye state level actions

Donald Trump’s imminent return to Washington has put gun-safety groups on high alert, as the president-elect once described himself as “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House”.

Emma Brown, executive director of the gun-safety group Giffords, initially reacted to the news of Trump’s victory in the presidential race not with dismay, but with defiance.

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Washington Post cartoonist resigns over paper’s refusal to publish cartoon critical of Jeff Bezos

Pulitzer prize winner Ann Telnaes drew a cartoon of the paper’s owner kneeling before Donald Trump

The Washington Post’s Pulitzer prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes has resigned from her position at the newspaper after its refusal to publish a satirical cartoon depicting the outlet’s owner Jeff Bezos – along with other media and technology barons – kneeling before Donald Trump as he gears up for his second US presidency.

“I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations – and some differences – about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at,” Telnaes wrote on Friday in an online post on the Substack platform detailing her decision to quit. “Until now.”

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Bid to tackle extremism in US military unlikely to be revived under Trump

Twin terror attacks bring renewed focus on scourge of extremism, but efforts to effect change have so far stalled

The deadly New Year’s Day terrorist attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas have brought renewed attention to the scourge of extremism in the US military, but efforts to tackle it wilted in the later years of the Biden administration, and are unlikely to be revived once Donald Trump begins his second term this month.

Both the New Orleans vehicle attack that killed 14, and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas in which the driver died, were perpetrated by discharged or serving members of the armed forces.

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US judicial body rejects request to refer Clarence Thomas to justice department

Request was made after Thomas failed to disclose luxury trips by Texas businessman and GOP donor Harlan Crow

A judicial policymaking body on Thursday rejected a request by Democratic lawmakers to refer the conservative US supreme court Justice Clarence Thomas to the Department of Justice to examine claims that he failed to disclose gifts and travel provided by a wealthy benefactor.

The secretary to the US judicial conference, the federal judiciary’s top policymaking body, pointed at amendments Thomas had made to his annual financial disclosure reports for the decision.

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