US politics

US politics

Donald Trump has achieved an unlikely redemption: By pursuing a shambolic foreign policy, he has made the bygone days of "regime change" look restrained, strategic, and pragmatic by comparison. Trump campaigned in 2024 saying he would begin "no new wars," eschew "regime change" and "nation building," and generally prioritize domestic policy over foreign affairs. No more Coalition Provisional Authority, as in Iraq. No more extended U.S. military deployments, as in Afghanistan.

The lawmakers would be protected by the House's speech and debate clause if they were to read them on the floor, providing them with immunity from civil or criminal liability. Massie told reporters that one of the men is "pretty high up" in a foreign government, and another is a prominent individual. The lawmakers didn't elaborate on what they meant or specify the conduct at issue.

The case centers on reimbursement requests submitted by local governments under federal migrant support grants. Those requests were filed before Homeland Security formally terminated the grants, and the law requires agencies to process reimbursements within a statutory 30-day window. Instead of paying up or offering a lawful explanation for denying the requests, the administration froze the funds and then argued that it no longer had to meet the reimbursement deadline because the grants were now in "closeout."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is struggling to find space for the thousands of detainees it has overcrowded in its detention centers. The Department of Homeland Security has been trying to buy properties specifically warehouses to convert them into detention centers or to build new ones on empty lots. But these plans have not been well received. Citizens have protested the presence of ICE facilities

The student backlash comes amid national outrage over the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown, which has been criticized for its use of violent tactics and racial profiling. Though the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has led most of the deportation efforts, CBP, which is a larger agency and recruits more heavily than ICE on college campuses, has been involved in the campaign as well.

"The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice," Sauer wrote.

In his "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination," Robin D.G. Kelley explains that "a map to the new world is in the imagination." There are so many emergencies right now-ICE abductions, decriminalization of anti-Black racism, the political hijack of the struggle against antisemitism and anti-Blackness, unauthorized military aggression abroad, a climate crisis accelerated-that it's hard to know where to direct our resistance.

The past month has seen a barrage of election subversion stories that, taken individually, were alarming, but viewed together reveal a deeply disturbing new playbook emanating from the Trump administration ahead of the midterms. On this week's Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick talked with election law gladiator Marc Elias, chair of Elias Law Group and founder of Democracy Docket. Their discussion, edited and condensed for clarity here, highlights a very clear pattern when it comes to Trump and voting: a project that seeks to normalize violence and to test drive the shattering of how elections are typically run. The work of the coming nine months? Keep a close eye on the encroaching lawlessness, don't normalize election subversion, and organize now to protect your friends and neighbors.

U.S. president Donald Trump shared a racist video on his Truth Social account in which former American president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama were depicted as apes. I was unsurprised, yet nonetheless disgusted. U.S. senator Jon Ossoff also found the video unacceptable. He said during a rally in Atlanta that Donald Trump was "posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."

Maybe we ran into an old acquaintance at the supermarket and said "Let's catch up sometime" or told our friends we would "check out" the boring-sounding show they spent the past five minutes recommending? That's what country-music superstar Jelly Roll appeared to do after the Grammys last week when, in response to a question about the state of the country, he said he had "a lot to say"

With the Trump administration, there's always the old rule of TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) that softens the blow of his worst threats. But there's a new threat that seems very real, and very scary for San Francisco's working class immigrant community, as the Chronicle reports that the Trump administration is now demanding citizenship checks for anyone living in low-income public housing.

In a video posted to social media on Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said his department will discontinue all graduate-level professional military training, fellowships and certificate programs for active-duty service members at Harvard University starting in the 2026-27 school year. Currently enrolled service members will be allowed to finish their courses, he said. "For too long this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class," Hegseth said.

But one key voice was missing from the celebration: Texas GulfLink's developer. Dallas-based Sentinel Midstream declined to comment on the administration's announcement, and didn't issue any press release for its politically ballyhooed project approval. Sentinel's silence was a symptom of a bigger disconnect in the gulf.What once was a race to build a series of deepwater terminals prior to the pandemic-including the involvement of household names such as Phillips 66 and Chevron-has now turned into silence over stalled projects that may never come to fruition.

"This goes out to all of the ICE agents out there or wherever you are. Quit that s***** job that you have,"

In a brief filed Monday morning, attorneys for the city told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had made a litany of errors in overseeing the settlement - in which the city committed to providing housing or shelter for 12,915 people and clearing 9,800 tents, vehicles and makeshift shelters - and asked that it reverse many of his rulings But they said that alone would be insufficient.

But, as the agency that touts itself as the world's largest public funder of biomedical research marches forward with full funding this year, it lacks permanent directors to lead it. Fifteen directors of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the agency are in an acting capacity. Directors have departed for multiple reasons, including terminations by the Trump administration and resignations.

Those cliches reflected the way the company's founders and long-time CEOs were depicted as well: Steve Jobs the rebel, Bill Gates the business drone. My, how times have changed. These days Apple CEO Tim Cook has become one of tech's Sycophants-in-Chief to US President Donald J. Trump, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in his own quiet way, has been the only tech exec to face the president down when necessary.

In the song, Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, sings about liking underage girls. One of the lyrics in the song goes, Young ladies, young ladies, I like 'em underage, see. Some say that's statutory (But I say it's mandatory). Kid Rock's Saturday Night Live appearance from April of 2001 also went viral ahead of his Sunday show, as he said on the episode that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were old enough to pursue despite the famous twins being 14 at the time.

one of the worst, EVER!

And yet, the U.S. tourism industry is worried. While the rest of the world saw a travel bump in 2025, with global international arrivals up 4%, the U.S. saw a downturn. The number of foreign tourists who came to the United States fell by 5.4% during the year-a sharper decline than the one experienced in 2017-18, the last time, outside the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the industry was gripped by fears of a travel slump.

"The other day I posted a photo with my thoughts on ICE and that photo has since gone everywhere, and I've gotten a ton of messages and most of them honestly have been supportive and encouraging... "But a lot of the messages have been awful, people telling me to kill myself, threatening me, wishing they'll get to see me blow my knee or break my neck during my event, calling me slurs... it's insane."

"I feel heartbroken about what's happen[ing] in the United States," Chris Lillis said. "I think that as a country we need to focus on respecting everybody's rights and making sure that we're treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect." "It's definitely a tough time in our country right now," commented Svea Irving. "I just continue to represent my values, compassion and love and respect for others."

White House official says Trump sees stability in the Palestinian territory as a goal to achieve peace in the region'. United States President Donald Trump opposes Israel's annexation of the occupied West Bank, a White House official has said. A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure, and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace in the region, the official said on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency.

House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has asked the US Department of Justice to turn over all its communications with both Apple and Google regarding the companies' decisions to remove apps that shared information about sightings of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers. Several apps that allowed people to share information about where they had seen ICE members were removed from both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store in October. Politico reported that Raskin has contacted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the issue and also questioned the agency's use of force against protestors as it executes the immigration policy set by President Donald Trump.

If the proposal is implemented, workers would not be able to seek remedy through an independent review board. The administration of United States President Donald Trump is making it harder for fired federal employees to get their jobs back by limiting their right to appeal dismissals to an independent review board. The change was proposed as part of a government plan released on Monday by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year's midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday. Jeffries' comments come amid widespread concern after Trump said Republicans should take over the voting. The US constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws to set requirements for federal elections.