Category: Politics

WASHINGTON — After weeks of mounting public speculation, Sen. Mitch McConnell has finally opened up about his health, disclosing Sunday that a fall was responsible for sending him to the hospital.

The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican said in a written statement that in addition to the fall, he also came down with a mild case of pneumonia. Doctors have put him through an extensive round of tests to figure out what triggered the fall in the first place.

McConnell addressed why he had stayed quiet about his condition for nearly a month, saying that people of his generation tend to guard their vulnerabilities when it comes to aging. “Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help it,” he said.

The senator confirmed he is currently recovering at a rehabilitation facility and is not ready to return to the Senate floor just yet. He said he has continued to stay engaged with his staff on Senate matters during his absence.

Alongside his statement, McConnell’s office released a photo showing him smiling alongside his wife, Elaine Chao — widely seen as a direct response to online rumors that he had died or was severely incapacitated.

McConnell had been hospitalized on June 14, with his office offering only minimal updates, saying he was “receiving excellent care” and getting better. Concern grew so widespread that Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear took the rare step of writing a public letter urging McConnell to update the public in a “transparent manner.”

McConnell is set to retire when his current term ends in January, closing out one of the most influential careers in modern American politics. Republicans have tapped U.S. Rep. Andy Barr to run for his seat, while Democrats have nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker.

The senator contracted polio as a young child and has long acknowledged that walking and climbing stairs has been a challenge for him as an adult.

The congressional physician’s office stated Sunday that McConnell has “experienced several falls through the year” connected to his “post-polio condition.” The physical therapy he is undergoing is designed to lower his risk of falling again.

“A comprehensive evaluation by a multidisciplinary team determined that he had no fractures, cardiac abnormalities, stroke, tumor, or hemorrhage,” the physician’s office said.

McConnell first won his Senate seat in 1984 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until last year, serving at various times as both majority and minority leader. Since stepping down from leadership, he has continued showing up for Senate sessions, frequently using a wheelchair to get around.

His physical health has noticeably deteriorated over recent years. In March 2023, he suffered a concussion after falling at a Washington hotel and missed several weeks of work. After returning, he twice froze during public news conferences, staring blankly ahead while colleagues and staff looked on. A year after that episode, he fell again and sprained his wrist while walking out of a Republican luncheon.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has committed to updating the city’s official “Immigrant Enclaves” map — including adding Little Italy — after a wave of criticism from ethnic communities who say the map fails to honor their place in the city’s history.

The map currently highlights 30 neighborhood enclaves and is being featured as part of the city’s Neighborhood Passport campaign, a promotional effort connected to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mayor Mamdani explained that the map was originally created in 2023 by the previous administration and was never designed to represent all of New York City’s more than 200 ethnic communities. He noted that his administration had already added several neighborhoods to the map and intended to keep making updates.

“When we inherited it, we added a few additional neighborhoods. It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home. We are going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that,” Mamdani said. He added that those future changes would include Little Italy.

The mayor’s announcement came one day after the City Council’s Italian Caucus — whose members are all Republicans — accused the Democratic mayor’s administration of “erasing” Italian Americans. The caucus called the map “incomplete at best and insulting at worst,” according to the New York Post.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella broadened the criticism, pointing out that the map also failed to include Jewish American communities in Brooklyn and Sri Lankan communities on Staten Island, among other groups.

“Ignorance is not a good ingredient for highlighting the sacrifices of so many who built this City and gave so much,” Fossella said in a written statement.

A spokesperson for former Mayor Eric Adams pushed back on Mamdani’s claim that the prior administration was to blame for the omissions, according to ABC New York.

The New York Post also reported that the Adams administration had previously recognized 27 immigrant communities through separate illustrated projects that spotlighted neighborhood businesses, religious sites, and cultural landmarks. The newspaper reported that the Mamdani administration replaced those detailed projects with a simplified citywide map that added three communities but stripped away much of the neighborhood-specific content. The new map was also reported to contain errors in its public transit information.

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell issued a statement on Sunday indicating that he is not yet ready to resume his duties in the Senate chamber.

The senator has been away from the Senate following a hospitalization, and his Sunday statement makes clear that his return remains on hold for the time being.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who spent 30 years in Congress becoming one of the nation’s most prominent voices on national security, judicial matters, and foreign policy — and a fierce advocate for Israel — passed away Saturday following what his office described as a brief and sudden illness. He was 71 years old. His family has asked for privacy and said details about funeral arrangements would be shared at a later time.

Graham had a distinguished background before entering politics, having served as a lawyer and Air Force officer. He retired from the Air Force Reserve at the rank of colonel after 33 years of service. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and then won a Senate seat in 2002. Over the following two decades, he rose to become a top Republican voice on defense and intelligence issues, serving on the Senate Judiciary, Appropriations, and Budget committees. He led the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2021 and, more recently, chaired the Senate Budget Committee.

Throughout his career, Graham was known for his sharp wit, his occasional willingness to reach across the aisle, and his later close partnership with President Donald Trump. He played a central role in major national debates over Supreme Court nominations, military policy, immigration, and U.S. foreign relations. Earlier in his congressional tenure, he served as one of the House managers during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. As Judiciary Committee chairman, he oversaw the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and was heavily involved in other Supreme Court nomination fights. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Graham’s impact was perhaps most visible in the Middle East. He approached the region through a national security perspective, consistently arguing that the United States had a strategic duty to support its allies, push back against Iran, and fight extremist groups. He became one of the most frequent congressional visitors to Israel over the course of his career, holding repeated meetings with Israeli prime ministers, military commanders, and security officials.

In the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Graham became one of the Senate’s loudest advocates for expanding U.S. military support, imposing tougher sanctions on Iran, and taking stronger action against Tehran’s regional allies. He repeatedly made the case that Israel’s security and America’s own strategic interests were fundamentally linked.

His backing of Israel went beyond military assistance. Graham championed the Abraham Accords and pushed for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, believing that broader Arab-Israeli cooperation could transform the region and undercut Iranian influence. He also cultivated strong ties with Gulf leaders, making frequent trips to the region and calling for deeper U.S. partnerships with Arab allies.

Graham’s aggressive foreign policy stance earned him both admirers and critics. He supported U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, backed ongoing American efforts against the Islamic State, and repeatedly contended that diplomacy on its own could not stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Supporters credited him with consistency and a willingness to confront threats head-on, while detractors saw him as one of Washington’s leading proponents of military intervention.

On the domestic front, Graham was seen as a skilled lawmaker who could sometimes bridge divides within his own party. Though firmly conservative, he occasionally broke from Republican positions on issues like immigration reform and criminal justice, especially earlier in his Senate career. His political journey — from close ally of Sen. John McCain to one of Trump’s most dependable congressional supporters — made him one of the defining Republican figures of his era.

Even in the final year of his life, Graham remained actively engaged in Middle East diplomacy, describing the region as standing “on the verge of previously unimaginable change” and calling for sustained U.S. leadership.

Whether viewed as a principled defender of American allies or criticized as an unapologetic champion of military intervention, Lindsey Graham left a lasting imprint on the U.S. Senate and on American foreign policy. Few members of Congress shaped the national conversation about the Middle East as persistently — or as powerfully — as he did.

Lindsey Graham, the talkative son of South Carolina pool hall owners, climbed his way to the center of global affairs and became one of the U.S. Senate’s most outspoken champions of American military strength.

A former military attorney who achieved the rank of colonel in the Air Force, Graham was recognized for his Southern drawl, his willingness to shift political positions, and his consistently hawkish approach to foreign affairs. He challenged Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 as a firm opponent, only to later emerge as one of the new president’s most loyal supporters.

In keeping with his high-energy style, Graham had just come back to Washington after a trip to Ukraine, where he announced a new sanctions package against Russia worked out with the Trump administration. He had been scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday to talk about it. Trump appeared in his place instead.

“I just can’t believe it,” Trump said. “He was like a member of the family.”

Graham passed away Saturday night following what his office described as “a brief and sudden illness.” He was 71 years old.

His death drew praise from leaders around the world and, at home, from both Republicans and Democrats — a testament to his influence and his talent for building friendships across political lines. In an outpouring of tributes, fellow lawmakers expressed disbelief and remembered his humor, warmth, and passion for public life.

“He is the quintessential boy makes good story,” said Bob McAlister, a communications consultant who worked with Graham for many years. “I don’t know of anybody who, or know very few people who, started out with less and gained as much from life as he did. I guess that may be my epitaph for him.”

Graham was part of the “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 race and clashed sharply with his reality television rival throughout the campaign. He was particularly angered by Trump’s attacks on his close friend and political ally, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. “You know, run for president, but don’t be the world’s biggest jackass,” Graham said at the time.

Trump responded by reading Graham’s personal cellphone number aloud at a campaign rally, prompting Graham to joke publicly about whether he should replace it with an Android or an iPhone.

After eventually coming around to Trump — particularly in the years following McCain’s death in 2018 — Graham built considerable influence as a go-between with the White House. The two became close and were frequent golf partners, though their bond fractured for a period following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Even so, just a year later Graham was urging fellow Republicans to get back behind Trump rather than join those calling for his political removal.

“Can I just say to my Republican colleagues — can we move forward without President Trump?” Graham said on Fox News in 2022. “The answer is no,” he continued, adding “we can’t grow without him.”

Graham was born to Millie and Florence James Graham in Central, South Carolina, on July 19, 1955. His parents ran a restaurant, bar, and pool hall in town. Graham, his parents, and his younger sister all shared a single room at the back of the building.

“It was one room, where we all slept, we all ate, we watched TV, the sofa, everything was in one room,” his sister Darline recalled in 2015.

Growing up, Graham had the run of the family’s Sanitary Cafe, where he occasionally sneaked a sip of beer or a puff from a customer’s cigarette, according to his autobiography. The regulars, who took him hunting and fishing as though he were their own child, gave him the nickname “Stinkball.”

“It was a good life,” Graham once told The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina. “I could go grab a Coke any time I wanted to. In my world, I was as rich as I could be.”

Like many establishments of that era, the Sanitary Cafe was racially segregated, Graham wrote. Black customers were required to take their drinks outside until the 1970s. However, Graham said his father — known to everyone as “Dude” — would not allow white customers to use racial slurs against Black people.

Only a C student in high school, Graham nonetheless became the first person in his family to go to college, enrolling at the University of South Carolina. While he was there, his mother died of Hodgkin lymphoma. Months later, his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died of a heart attack just as Graham began his first semester of law school.

Graham, who never married and had no children, took on guardianship of his younger sister after his parents died. Later in life, he frequently spoke about how Social Security benefits helped keep the two of them financially stable during those years.

After finishing law school, Graham served as a judge advocate general in the Air Force, beginning as a defense attorney for service members and eventually rising to serve as the Air Force’s chief prosecutor in Europe, stationed in Germany. He returned to South Carolina in 1989 but continued serving in the reserves or National Guard for decades.

Even while serving in the Senate, Graham briefly returned to active duty to help advise the Air Force during the Iraq War. He received the Bronze Star medal for his service in 2014 and formally retired as a colonel in 2015.

Back in South Carolina, Graham quickly turned to politics. He won a seat in the state legislature in 1992, followed by a U.S. House seat in 1994. He became part of a group of aggressive young Republican lawmakers who pushed to remove then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accusing him of making too many concessions to Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Graham played a visible role in Clinton’s impeachment over an affair with a White House intern. “Is this Watergate or Peyton Place?” he asked during one House hearing. After the Republican-controlled House voted to impeach Clinton, Graham served as one of the managers presenting the case to the Senate, which ultimately voted to acquit the president.

In 2002, when South Carolina’s senior senator, Strom Thurmond, opted to retire at the age of 99, Graham ran for his seat and won. He took naturally to the Senate’s emphasis on personal relationships, sometimes starting his mornings eating alone in the Senate dining room before diving into the day’s political battles.

Vice President JD Vance recalled getting a firsthand look at Graham’s approach to politics when Vance was a newly elected senator.

“I remember getting into a shouting match with Lindsey about a Ukraine funding bill at lunch and then learning the very next day that he was pushing rail legislation I really cared about behind the scenes,” Vance said. “That was Lindsey Graham. He fought like hell for the things he believed in, and he was just as willing to go to bat for you when it counted.”

A significant portion of Graham’s career was shaped by his deep friendship with McCain and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who later became an independent. Calling themselves “The Three Amigos,” the three senators traveled the world together and pushed for U.S. involvement in several international conflicts, particularly in the Middle East following the September 11 attacks.

When McCain died in 2018, Graham wept on the Senate floor as he paid tribute to his friend.

“He failed a lot, but he never quit,” Graham said. “And the reason we’re talking about him today and the reason I’m crying is because he was successful in spite of his failures.”

In the later years of his career, Graham drew on his legal background to play a central role in judicial confirmations, especially to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2018, when Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh faced allegations of sexual misconduct, Graham helped shift the momentum with a passionate defense of the federal judge.

“Boy, y’all want power. Boy, I hope you never get it,” Graham said, accusing Democrats of orchestrating a smear campaign against Kavanaugh and undermining the nomination process. “I hope the American people can see through this sham.”

Despite those fiery moments, Graham typically kept his partisan instincts in check as he cultivated his image as a dealmaker. He was a fixture in nearly every bipartisan Senate coalition.

“He was a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next,” said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who collaborated with Graham on immigration legislation.

Kevin Bishop, who worked for Graham for 27 years before running for Congress himself, said the senator commanded deep loyalty from his staff.

“He was incredibly fun to be around,” Bishop said. People would walk into Graham’s office with “pitchforks” and leave with a different outlook, he noted.

“He was willing to accept a lot of criticism to move the ball forward,” Bishop said.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham had what seemed like a defining moment of separation from President Donald Trump on the night of January 6, 2021, after a mob of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Standing in the Senate chamber once order had been restored, a visibly shaken Graham delivered what sounded like a farewell to their political partnership.

“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president,” Graham said that evening. “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”

But it was not the end — not even close.

Graham, the South Carolina Republican who passed away unexpectedly Saturday night at the age of 71, quickly concluded that the future of his party was bound up with Trump, and he pivoted back to being one of the president’s most reliable defenders. That reversal transformed what had looked like a permanent falling-out into just one more unpredictable chapter in a relationship that defined much of his later career.

By May 2021, only four months after the Capitol attack, Graham had made his position clear: “Can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him.”

Trump, who referred to Graham as a “true American Patriot” in a social media post the day after his death, said he was stunned by the sudden loss.

“I just can’t believe it,” Trump told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ “He was like a member of the family.”

Graham had been a trusted voice in Trump’s ear on foreign policy, especially regarding Israel, Ukraine, and Iran, and was a regular presence at the White House. Trump recalled their last conversation fondly, saying he told Graham, “We’ll see you soon, come over anytime you want.”

The two men’s relationship had a rocky start. They first collided during the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, when Graham called Trump “unfit for office” and grew furious after Trump mocked the military service of Graham’s close friend, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Trump’s comment — “I like people that weren’t captured” — referred to McCain’s years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Trump retaliated by publicly releasing Graham’s personal cell phone number. Graham responded with a now-famous video in which he destroyed a string of flip phones in increasingly dramatic fashion — using a meat cleaver, a golf club, lighter fluid, a blender, and a toaster oven, before throwing one off a rooftop.

Graham ultimately compared Trump winning the nomination to “being shot in the head” and declined to vote for him in November 2016. Yet the two men later found common ground over golf outings and what Graham described as a shared, irreverent sense of humor.

Their time on the golf course became frequent enough that Graham leaned into it as a political strategy, lavishing Trump with the kind of praise the president openly enjoyed. In 2017, Graham joked that Trump had beaten him “like a drum” on the course — an even bigger defeat, he said, than losing to him in the primary.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina reflected on the bond between the two men on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ saying, “Their true friendship could only be seen behind the curtain.” Scott noted the relationship began as one between political rivals but deepened through more than 100 hours spent golfing together.

Throughout Trump’s first term, Graham played a significant role in shepherding Trump’s Supreme Court nominees through the confirmation process, lent his credibility to the administration’s legislative goals, and at times operated as part of the president’s inner circle. He frequently described Trump as someone who was maturing and growing in the role.

Graham’s divergence from his longtime friend McCain became most apparent in 2017, when McCain cast the decisive vote against a Trump-backed effort to repeal the health care law signed by former President Barack Obama — a bill that Graham himself had co-sponsored.

In the aftermath of January 6, Graham said he had “never been so humiliated and embarrassed for the country.” But the rupture with Trump did not last. Within weeks, Trump extended an invitation to Graham for golf and dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and their alliance was back on track. During the 2024 campaign, Graham frequently appeared on television as a Trump surrogate, promoting a vision of American military strength tied to “America First” priorities.

Graham never abandoned his more traditional Republican positions on foreign policy. He was a vocal supporter of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and consistently pushed the White House to stand firmly behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while taking a harder stance toward Iran.

After the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February, Graham defended the action forcefully, pushing back against voices within the “Make America Great Again” movement who believed “America First” meant staying out of such conflicts.

“To those who say Iran is stronger now than before, that is an insult to the American military and it is delusional thinking because the Iranian economy is in shambles,” Graham wrote on social media on June 19.

His admiration for Trump extended well beyond policy. When Graham secured victory in the South Carolina Republican primary last month, he offered remarks that drew laughter from the crowd — placing Trump just below the Almighty in his personal rankings.

“I want to start with a bunch of thank yous. I want to thank the big guy, God. Trump comes later,” Graham said with a laugh. “Mr. President, you’re not far behind God, but we’re gonna start with him.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials extended their condolences Sunday in the wake of the death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, with many describing him as one of Israel’s most devoted supporters.

“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” Netanyahu said in an official statement.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Netanyahu added.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett each took to the social platform X to share their own tributes, with all of them describing Graham as a genuine friend and one of the strongest advocates Israel had in the United States.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away Saturday evening following what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness,” according to an announcement from his office.

No additional details regarding the nature of his illness or the circumstances surrounding his death have been made public at this time.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted allies on Capitol Hill, died Saturday night following what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness.” His office shared the news in a statement posted to social media.

Graham was 71 years old. His office, which represents the South Carolina Republican, offered no further explanation about the circumstances of his death.

“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement read.

Graham was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and had been in the middle of a campaign for a fifth term. He made a brief bid for the presidency in 2016, during which he clashed with Trump and called him “unfit for office.”

Despite that early friction, Graham went on to become one of Trump’s most visible supporters, frequently speaking with the president and regularly joining him on the golf course.

Graham played a significant role in advising Trump on foreign policy, particularly regarding Iran and Russia. Just one day before his death, on Friday, he had announced an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions.

He had recently been in Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was Graham’s tenth visit to the country, and Zelenskyy acknowledged the trip, thanking him for “recognizing our warriors.”

Graham’s interest in Iran policy stretched back decades. As a member of the U.S. House in the 1990s, he championed efforts to isolate Iran and restrict its missile and nuclear programs. He publicly supported Trump’s decision to strike nuclear sites last year and backed the more recent conflict that began a few months ago.

At the time of his death, Graham was serving as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, a position that placed him at the center of major legislative efforts during Trump’s second term. Republicans used a Senate process called reconciliation — which his committee oversaw — to pass significant legislation, including last year’s tax law, without facing a Democratic filibuster.

Graham had previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 2020 confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. He was also in position to potentially reclaim that role if Republicans retained Senate control following this year’s midterm elections.

The brief and unexplained nature of Graham’s office statement has drawn attention at a time when there is growing concern about transparency surrounding the health of elected officials. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican, was absent from Congress for several months without explanation before returning and revealing he had been diagnosed with depression. Separately, Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was recently hospitalized for undisclosed health reasons.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham died Saturday evening after falling suddenly and briefly ill, according to a post made early Sunday morning on X by his office’s communications director.

Graham was 71 years old and had represented South Carolina in the U.S. Senate as a Republican. Over the course of his political career, he went from being a sharp critic of President Donald Trump to becoming one of the president’s most dependable supporters in Congress.

His office released a statement on behalf of his family: “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”

Graham first won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, representing South Carolina’s third congressional district. He later moved to the upper chamber, winning a Senate seat in 2002, according to his official website.

Known as a strong advocate for national defense, his website noted that he had “consistently pushed for outcomes in the War on Terror that protect our long-term national security interests.”

At the time of his death, Graham was serving as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He also held seats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Graham was unmarried and made his home in Seneca, South Carolina.

A Democratic senator is accusing the Kennedy Center of cutting corners on construction projects rushed to please President Donald Trump, after whistleblowers came forward with detailed accounts of what they describe as serious building problems.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island announced Saturday that he received a whistleblower disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting whistleblowers. The disclosure alleged that “the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December.”

Whitehouse went on to describe the fallout from those alleged shortcuts. “The Center’s subservience to the President’s desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and rebuilt, and a brand-new bathroom floor torn out over an offending tile color,” he said. “This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.”

The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

Trump moved to take control of the arts venue — named in honor of former President John F. Kennedy — at the start of his second term. He removed the center’s existing leadership and installed a new Board of Trustees, which named him chairman and added his name to the building.

Democrats filed a lawsuit to have his name removed, and a federal judge ruled in their favor, ordering Trump’s name off the venue. The center had also been hit with boycotts from artists during the upheaval. Trump attempted to shut the center down for two years, but a court blocked that effort, ruling that only Congress has the authority to change its name.

Whitehouse sent a letter to the center’s executive director, Matt Floca, demanding responses to his questions by July 23. He said the whistleblower report contained “firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs.” The senator also attached an 83-page appendix packed with internal documents, emails, and photographs allegedly showing poor construction work.

Among the specific allegations: the center pushed ahead with construction before receiving congressional authorization, reportedly so the work would be finished in time for Trump to accept the FIFA Peace Prize at the venue. According to the letter, the center bypassed required contracting procedures in the process, wasted money ripping out a bathroom because Trump disliked the color, and awarded no-bid contracts. One contract worth $8 million to replace the concert hall’s floor went to a company with no prior experience working in concert halls, Whitehouse alleged.

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, a progressive California Democrat, says he was stopped and held against his will by armed settlers and Israeli military personnel during a visit to the occupied West Bank — and was only freed after his team reached out to the American Embassy in Jerusalem. The Israeli Defense Forces pushed back on that characterization, saying their troops did not detain anyone during the incident.

A spokesperson for Khanna said the confrontation took place on Wednesday, midway through a three-day trip through the West Bank. While the congressman was visiting a Palestinian village that had been abandoned following settler attacks, a group of masked, armed men surrounded his party and refused to let them leave.

The New York Times reported that one of its photographers witnessed the incident firsthand. Khanna’s office identified the location as the town of Khirbet Zanuta.

According to Khanna, when Israeli soldiers showed up, he was troubled to see them behaving in a friendly way toward the men who had stopped his group — and then joining in blocking the exit. It wasn’t until both the U.S. Embassy and Israeli police were contacted that his group was permitted to continue on their way.

“If this can happen to an American member of Congress, imagine what life is like for Palestinians who have no smartphones, no security, and no national platform,” Khanna wrote in a fundraising email sent out shortly after he posted about the incident Saturday. Khanna is said to be exploring a run for president in 2028.

In its official response, the IDF said it had received a report of Israeli civilians blocking foreign nationals and members of the media in Khirbet Zanuta. “Upon receiving the report, IDF troops were dispatched to the scene, quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the blocked road,” the military stated. “The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road.”

The episode comes amid growing friction between U.S. Democratic politicians and Israel, as the party’s voters have increasingly turned against the country. This past week, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — whose father was born in Jerusalem and served in Israel’s war of independence — delivered a pointed speech in Tel Aviv calling Israel a “territorial pariah.” Emanuel is also considered a potential presidential contender.

A recent poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly 58% of Democrats feel the United States is “too supportive” of Israelis.

In a separate incident also on Saturday, the Israeli military announced it had detained four individuals who attacked foreign journalists traveling to Sinjil, another West Bank community. The military said the attackers blocked and damaged the journalists’ vehicle and were carrying clubs and knives.

CNN reported that one of its crews was among the journalists targeted in that attack. The network said its team had traveled to the area to cover the one-year anniversary of the death of a Palestinian-American man who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has thrown out what remained of the government’s landmark prosecution against far-right Proud Boys members who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their roles in a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol and prevent the transfer of presidential power more than five years ago.

The case’s end on Friday was widely anticipated after Trump used his pardon authority last year to wipe out every prosecution stemming from the January 6, 2021 riot, when a crowd of his supporters stormed the Capitol building. The judge who oversaw the Proud Boys leaders’ trial found no legal grounds to uphold the convictions in the wake of Trump’s sweeping clemency action.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly — who was appointed to the bench by Trump during his first term in office — wrote that there is “little mystery” as to why the second Trump administration chose to abandon this case along with all other January 6-related prosecutions.

“President Trump’s views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — whether those views are based on fact or fiction — are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them,” Judge Kelly wrote in his ruling.

Kelly was careful to note that his order dismissing the case should not be interpreted as support for the Justice Department’s choice to drop the charges. He described the Capitol riot as “a perilous event” and characterized it as an assault on the constitutional requirement that power be transferred peacefully between presidential administrations.

“Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly wrote.

Separate juries in Washington, D.C., had convicted leaders of both the Proud Boys and another extremist organization, the antigovernment Oath Keepers, of coordinating violent efforts to keep Trump, a Republican, in power following his loss of the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.

A separate judge has yet to rule on the Justice Department’s request to also dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath Keepers members.

Friday’s dismissal covered four of the five Proud Boys members convicted at trial: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. Trump had commuted their prison sentences, but they were not included in the president’s broader mass pardon.

Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted at the same trial, did receive a full pardon from Trump. Kelly had originally sentenced Tarrio to 22 years in prison — the longest sentence handed down in any Capitol riot case.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is claiming he has left standing military orders to strike Iran at unprecedented levels if Tehran acts on its longstanding threats to kill him. But national security experts say no such automatic trigger mechanism actually exists within the U.S. government.

In reality, if Trump were to be killed, the transfer of presidential power would be governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. That means Vice President JD Vance would instantly become commander in chief and hold sole authority over any military response.

Under that scenario, Vance could choose to carry out exactly what Trump has called for — but he would also have the option to ignore his predecessor’s orders or respond in an entirely different manner.

Author Garrett M. Graff, who wrote “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die,” explained the situation plainly: “The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch.’”

The United States does maintain detailed contingency plans for keeping the government functioning in the event of a nuclear strike or catastrophic attack on Washington. However, those plans do not allow for automatic retaliatory strikes to be launched upon a president’s death, even if that president had previously ordered the military to be prepared to do so.

Despite this, Trump posted on his social media platform Saturday that Iran had made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him, and he declared that 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

Hours after Trump’s post, Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Iranians would continue seeking revenge for the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died during the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes that began the war in late February. Funeral ceremonies for the elder Khamenei were held throughout Iran this week. The son declared that retaliation “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

“We pledge to take revenge for the pure blood of you and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraceful killers,” Mojtaba Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television. “This revenge is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

The White House did not respond Saturday to questions about what would happen to Trump’s military directives if he were killed.

During the recent funeral proceedings in Iran, mourners were seen holding signs and banners calling for the deaths of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Israel had alerted U.S. officials to new Iranian plots targeting Trump’s life. The White House declined to comment on the report, but Trump appeared to reference those threats during this week’s NATO summit in Turkey, telling reporters, “They want to take out the U.S. leader — me.”

Sabrina Singh, who served as deputy Pentagon press secretary under the Biden administration, said “Iran wanting to target senior American leaders is something that we know is happening.” She added, “You have to take these as credible threats.”

Trump has already survived two domestic assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign and was present when a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner he attended in April.

Adding to security concerns, Trump flew part of the return trip from Turkey this week aboard an older Air Force One aircraft rather than the newer Qatari-gifted plane. Images of the newer jet — which was retrofitted at an estimated cost of $400 million — show it lacks some of the missile detection and countermeasure systems found on earlier versions of the aircraft.

The travel decision came as the U.S. and Iran resumed trading military strikes, threatening the fragile deal reached last month to end the conflict. When asked about Iranian threats aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “I’m No. 1 on their list.”

Graff noted that the U.S. spent decades developing plans for how nuclear launch authority would transfer in the event of a surprise attack, including keeping airborne command posts flying around the clock during 30 years of the Cold War, with a general aboard capable of authorizing nuclear strikes if Washington were destroyed.

“What I believe Trump is saying is that he’s left standing orders to attack if he’s killed, e.g., that the Pentagon should proceed with standard launch protocols,” Graff said. “There’s a lot of reason to doubt the legality of such standing orders, since in the event of a president’s death, the nuclear launch authority would immediately pass to the vice president or designated successor — and ultimately it would be up to him or her to determine whether to proceed.”

It should be noted that Trump’s social media post referred only to firing conventional missiles at Iran — something the U.S. has done many times since the conflict began. He did not explicitly mention nuclear weapons.

Graff added that Trump could also simply instruct Vance directly — saying something like “If I’m killed, nuke Iran” — which Graff said “would make more sense and would be absolutely legal.”

While U.S. officials regularly receive classified briefings about threats against the president and senior leaders from Iran and other adversaries, it is far less common for a sitting president to publicly declare that he personally has been targeted.

This is not, however, the first time Washington has issued warnings to Iran over threats against Trump. In 2022, the Biden administration warned Iran against attacking U.S. citizens after the Justice Department revealed that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had plotted to assassinate John Bolton, Trump’s first-term national security adviser. Bolton, now a Trump critic, pleaded guilty last month to illegally retaining classified documents in a case pursued by Trump’s Justice Department.

Then-national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in 2022 that “should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences.”

Two years later, amid Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign against Democrat Kamala Harris, the Biden administration again quietly warned Iran — this time making clear that any attack on Trump would be treated as an act of war.

President Donald Trump took to social media Saturday to announce that he had completed a physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, though he did not specify exactly when the checkup took place.

Questions remain about whether Trump was referring to a brand-new physical or the one he underwent in late May, after which he told the public that “everything checked out perfectly.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump — who celebrated his 80th birthday in June — wrote: “I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right.”

The announcement did not include any additional details about the results of the examination or when it was conducted.

The New York Times announced Saturday that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to several of its journalists, compelling them to testify before a federal grand jury. The action follows the newspaper’s reporting on security concerns related to President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One aircraft, which was donated by Qatar.

According to the Times, the subpoenas were handed down on Friday and require the journalists to appear before the grand jury on Wednesday to testify, in the paper’s words, “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.”

The subpoenas were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. In some cases, federal agents personally delivered the legal documents to reporters at their homes, the newspaper reported.

The Times characterized the government’s actions as “an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations.”

When Reuters reached out for comment, a Department of Justice spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that the subpoenas had been issued. The spokesperson stated that the administration’s concern was not with reporters themselves but with individuals who may have leaked classified information. The White House directed all inquiries to the Justice Department.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, Trump announced he would fly aboard the older Air Force One aircraft “for old time’s sake” for a leg of his trip from Ankara to a Royal Air Force base in Mildenhall, Britain. The newly acquired Qatari-gifted plane made the same stop so that U.S. military personnel stationed there could walk through and see the aircraft.

Video footage from late Wednesday showed President Trump boarding the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One at the British base as it prepared to return to the United States.

PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) — While Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and Democratic rival Mary Peltola were front and center at Fourth of July parades across Alaska, a third candidate sharing the senator’s name was content to enjoy the holiday quietly in the small fishing community he has called home for decades.

He fit right in — which is easy to do in a place where nearly everyone knows each other. He kept a low profile and stayed away from campaigning. “I didn’t want to turn it into something that was about me rather than about the celebration,” he said.

This candidate — Dan J. Sullivan — has been anything but a typical political contender. From the moment he entered the race, he faced fierce criticism for sharing both the name and party affiliation of the sitting senator — Dan S. Sullivan — in a contest that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate come November. The incumbent and his Republican allies have claimed the same-named challenger in the August 18th primary is a phony candidate operating in concert with Democrats to create confusion and benefit Peltola. Both Dan J. Sullivan and the Peltola campaign have flatly rejected those claims.

A senior state elections official removed Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court later stepped in and ruled he must be included.

In Alaska, all candidates — regardless of party — compete together in a single primary. The four candidates who receive the most votes move on to the ranked-choice general election in November. Top races can feature more than a dozen contenders. Dan J. Sullivan is one of 16 people vying for the Senate seat. The incumbent and Peltola are the most prominent candidates and the only ones who have publicly reported raising campaign funds.

Petersburg, where the challenger has spent decades of his life, is an island community of roughly 3,000 residents in southeast Alaska, reachable only by air or water. Many people who have known him for years find it nearly impossible to believe that their Dan Sullivan — a retired elementary and middle school teacher — could be involved in political trickery.

“You really have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to suddenly not respect Dan Sullivan, because he’s honestly a very stand-up human being,” said Orin Pierson, publisher of the Petersburg Pilot newspaper.

Even residents who were undecided about their vote, or who declined to share their preference, took issue with the state’s effort to block him from running, pointing out that he met all the age, residency, and citizenship requirements outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

“To say somebody can’t run — that he’s fake — that’s fear,” said Linda Bunge, who was attending a community potluck at a park where yellowish seaweed blanketed the beach at low tide. Bunge said she is leaning toward voting for Peltola, a former congresswoman, but would give Dan J. Sullivan some consideration.

Jeigh Stanton Gregor, a borough Assembly member who worked alongside Sullivan at the local elementary school years ago, said he was a bit surprised to see him running, noting that people had previously tried to get Sullivan to run for local offices. He described Sullivan’s character as “unimpeachable.”

Stanton Gregor said he wants to watch how the race develops before committing to a candidate. He finds Dan J. Sullivan’s concerns about rising healthcare costs compelling, but he also has had a positive working relationship with the senator and holds Peltola in high regard. A registered Democrat, Stanton Gregor said he typically votes based on the individual rather than the party.

“Being a good human carries a lot of weight with me,” he said.

Last month, Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who has authority over elections, announced a formal investigation into Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy. She pointed to what she called “credible allegations” that he ran in coordination with another candidate and campaign in an effort to “manipulate voters.” The announcement followed claims by a lawyer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who argued that Dan J. Sullivan’s use of a consultant who had previously worked with Democrats was proof of an attempt to mislead voters and “rig the election” for Peltola — a position the Republican Senate campaign organization has continued to push.

Dan J. Sullivan maintained the state had no legal grounds to remove him from the race. He called the allegation of coordination with Peltola “entirely false” and said a consultant’s past clients were no reason to investigate him. The state Democratic Party and affiliated campaign groups also denied having any role in recruiting him or any connection to his campaign. The director of the state Division of Elections, Carol Beecher, in her decision to disqualify him, did not cite any evidence of actual coordination.

Instead, she concluded he had not filed a “good-faith candidacy,” pointing to factors such as his lack of prior Republican Party affiliation and a campaign website that resembled the senator’s.

A state court judge threw out her ruling, finding it lacked constitutional or legal grounding and that there was insufficient evidence to conclude Dan J. Sullivan intended to confuse voters. The state Supreme Court upheld his placement on the ballot, leaving the Division of Elections to sort out the logistics.

While Dan J. Sullivan sought to appear on the ballot as Republican Dan J. Sullivan, he is instead listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party affiliation. The senator appears as Republican Dan S. Sullivan and carries the label “incumbent” — a designation not given to other candidates seeking reelection.

Dan J. Sullivan said he doesn’t think that arrangement is fair, but acknowledged that if the agency’s real concern “is truly that I’m going to confuse people, then this certainly will be a way that people should not be confused.”

He openly acknowledges that his name gives him a leg up over the 13 other candidates who have little to no public recognition or campaign backing. He is now working out how to capitalize on the attention while handling the added scrutiny. He plans to pursue fundraising, may visit other communities, and could take part in candidate forums. He currently maintains a Facebook page and a basic campaign website.

“I want something to change, and it’s my right to do that,” he said. “I could put up a yard sign; I could write letters. In this case, I thought, wow, this would reach a lot more people.”

No single issue drove the Petersburg Sullivan to enter the race, but he said he had grown increasingly frustrated with a senator he views as unresponsive to the people he represents. He also wanted the incumbent to join Alaska’s senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, in speaking out against a compensation fund proposed by the Trump administration that could potentially benefit individuals who took part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Dan J. Sullivan said he is concerned that President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and the conflict with Iran are pushing costs higher for Alaskans. He does not believe the rural healthcare funding passed by Congress last year — and touted as a major win by the senator — is doing enough to address people’s immediate needs.

Petersburg, like many small Alaskan communities, has limited access to healthcare. Those needing specialized medical attention must travel to larger cities. Residents often make the most of trips to Juneau, the nearest sizable city, by loading their vehicles onto the state ferry and stocking up on groceries and supplies at lower prices.

Resident Grace Wolf said she values what the senator has accomplished, citing his fiscal responsibility and military background. The senator served as a Marine for many years and retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. Still, “I feel like this time around, grassroots might be the way to go,” she said.

She plans to cast her vote for Dan J. Sullivan — the man she knows simply as Mr. Sullivan.

Wolf said she worries about whether people can afford to remain in or relocate to the area, and about protecting the local fishing industry that drives the regional economy. Having elected officials who truly understand those challenges matters deeply, she said.

“I think we stand a better chance with having them at the helm and protecting our interests. It doesn’t matter if they’ve got a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ by their names. They’re our neighbors and they know what we’re going through.”

U.S. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers while visiting the West Bank this week, describing the encounter as a firsthand look at the consequences of Israeli occupation as he considers running for president in 2028.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday in a Palestinian village, Khanna recounted how a van carrying his group was surrounded the previous day by settlers holding M4 rifles in a part of the southern West Bank where Palestinian residents regularly face settler violence.

“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” said Khanna, a progressive lawmaker from California in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“And these hoodlums come in with machine guns — M4, an American-made machine gun — and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans,” Khanna said, referring to the Israeli military.

Cameron Kasky, an aide to Khanna who was present during the incident, said the group was held for over an hour and reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem for assistance. He said a group of officers who appeared to be police eventually stepped in and secured their release.

The Israeli military confirmed that troops and police responded after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forcibly displaced following violent settler raids after the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. “Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military stated.

Israel’s police did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

Khanna is the second Democrat considering a White House bid to visit the region this week. In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Rahm Emanuel — who served as chief of staff to former President Barack Obama — said Israeli policies toward Palestinians were weakening support for the U.S.-Israeli alliance.

When asked whether he plans to run for president, Khanna responded: “I’m strongly considering it and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip.”

Israel’s treatment of Palestinians has become a divisive issue within the Democratic Party ahead of November’s U.S. midterm elections, contributing to primary losses for some sitting lawmakers who were challenged by left-leaning opponents accusing them of backing Israel’s right-wing government.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Israel’s favorability among Democrats dropped sharply, falling from 59% in 2018 to just 22% as of May.

While Israel has historically enjoyed broad bipartisan backing in the U.S., a growing number of congressional Democrats are now pushing to cut military aid, which totals $3.8 billion annually and covers items such as M4 rifles and missile interceptors that Israel used during the Iran war.

Standing near Turmus Ayya — a village home to thousands of Palestinian American dual nationals — and overlooking a valley with settler outposts visible in the distance, Khanna said he felt his party’s leadership was “clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become.”

He explained that he deliberately structured his visit around the West Bank only, with Palestinian-led programming, to gain an unfiltered perspective on territory Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.

“If you’re unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you’re unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised,” Khanna said.

Israel rejects claims that it has carried out a genocide in Gaza or operates an apartheid system in the West Bank, which has a population of roughly 3 million Palestinians and approximately 500,000 Jewish settlers.

The majority of countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law, based on the Fourth Geneva Convention’s prohibition against moving a civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes this, arguing the West Bank is contested land with a Jewish presence spanning thousands of years. Palestinians consider the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, to be part of a future Palestinian state.

Republican support for Israel remains strong, though some factions within the broader conservative coalition have also called for ending U.S. aid.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration served subpoenas Friday to multiple journalists at The New York Times in response to the newspaper’s recent coverage of security questions surrounding the new Air Force One aircraft, according to the paper.

The new presidential jet, which President Donald Trump received as a gift from Qatar, only entered service last week. Federal agents personally delivered some of the subpoenas to the reporters at their residences.

The subpoenas are demanding that the reporters appear before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday, the Times reported. The White House and the Department of Justice had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication, and the Times’ account could not be independently verified.

The newspaper’s attorney, David McCraw, issued a sharp response Friday, stating: “The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects.”

The situation unfolded after Trump flew aboard the new Air Force One to a NATO summit held in Turkey. However, when he departed Wednesday for Mildenhall — a Royal Air Force installation in Suffolk, England — he boarded one of the older presidential aircraft instead. Both jets made the trip to Mildenhall, and Trump then switched back to the newer plane for the return flight to Joint Base Andrews.

The sudden change in aircraft raised eyebrows, particularly given that a fragile cease-fire with Iran had fallen apart around the same time, with the U.S. carrying out airstrikes on Iran and Tehran striking three Gulf Arab nations. Because Iran and Turkey share a border, observers speculated that the Qatar-donated jet — which received a $400 million retrofit — may be missing certain advanced security and defensive systems.

The Times had reported Wednesday that the Secret Service pushed for the plane switch. A follow-up report Thursday said the newer aircraft lacked some protective capabilities found on the older jets, including systems designed to counter missiles. Both stories relied on unnamed sources.

President Trump dismissed any suggestion of security concerns at the time, posting on social media that the stop in England was simply to let military personnel stationed there get a look at the new aircraft. While flying home, Trump told reporters on board that Iranian threats played no role in the decision to fly two planes back. When asked whether he knew of any specific Iranian threats against Air Force One, Trump downplayed the question.

“I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list,” Trump said.

The White House subsequently pushed back on any claims of security deficiencies with the new plane. Spokesman Steven Cheung released a statement saying: “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff. As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats.”

The Times identified the journalists who received subpoenas as Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt.

This is not the first time the Justice Department has taken this approach in recent months. Earlier this year, the DOJ issued subpoenas targeting reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, though in both of those instances, the subpoenas were eventually withdrawn.

WASHINGTON — Before President Trump dismissed the leaders of a key federal election agency last Thursday, White House officials had spent months quietly searching for ways to work around it entirely, four people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Those officials grew frustrated with what they viewed as the Election Assistance Commission moving too slowly to update guidelines for states on voting machines, the sources said. Some also wanted the agency to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to its national mail voter registration form and take action on other election-related priorities of the administration.

Trump dismissed the bipartisan agency’s two Democratic commissioners and allowed its sole Republican commissioner to step down. A fourth commissioner had already left the agency back in April.

With no quorum remaining, the agency cannot take up any new business — including changes to voting procedures or the national voter registration form. However, remaining staff can still test and certify equipment, publish research and reports, and distribute federal grant funding.

It remains unclear why Trump chose to act now, or whether replacements will be named.

When asked about discussions regarding sidestepping the commission, the White House issued a statement Friday saying: “The administration from the start has been working across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse, and investing in a strong infrastructure to sustain that mission especially in the midterm elections.”

In a separate statement confirming the dismissals Thursday, the White House pointed to a Supreme Court ruling from June that expanded presidential authority to remove members of independent agencies. “(The president) reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections,” the statement read.

Democratic lawmakers pushed back sharply. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, called the firings a “brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast” in the upcoming midterms. “He is gutting the independent agency that certifies voting systems and helps election officials run secure elections,” Schumer said.

According to the four sources, White House officials reviewed a proposal as far back as last fall from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declare a national emergency and establish a federal task force. That task force would have had the power to compel states to address vulnerabilities in voting systems — bypassing the elections commission altogether. The ODNI did not respond to a request for comment, and the recommendation was never acted upon.

At the time, the agency was wrapping up an investigation into voting machines it had seized from Puerto Rico. ODNI officials concluded those machines had flaws they believed might exist elsewhere, two of the sources said. Election experts noted that Puerto Rico, which does not participate in presidential elections, has lagged behind the states in adopting the latest voting system standards.

During the same period, officials from the Department of Homeland Security, ODNI, and the White House met with commission leadership to voice concerns — including claims that flaws in voting systems may have contributed to irregularities in the 2020 election. Those claims have been widely debunked.

Trump and his allies have continued to push Congress for nationwide voting changes and have argued that some voting systems need upgrades. Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Election administration experts say the commission’s pace is deliberate, not negligent. “The voting system guidelines haven’t been updated too frequently because the process takes a long time,” said Matt Weil, vice president of governance at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former commission staffer. “So yes, there is slowness, but that is not a bug, that’s a feature of the system.”

Congress approved $45 million for the commission in fiscal year 2026 to provide grants to states for improving election systems. Since 2018, the commission has distributed more than $1.4 billion for election administration, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Maine’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Graham Platner, has officially pulled out of the state’s Senate race, the Secretary of State’s office announced in a statement on Friday.

Because of his withdrawal, Platner’s name will not be listed on the November 3 ballot. His political party now has a deadline of July 27 to put forward a new candidate to take his place in the race.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the days following the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged that the department would move quickly to put body cameras on officers across the nation.

Nearly six months later, that commitment remains unfulfilled — and a new deadly shooting involving federal immigration officers has reignited anger from critics who argue body cameras are essential for holding officers accountable during the ongoing immigration enforcement push.

The ICE officers who were present during the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — a Mexican national who had lived in the United States for more than 35 years — were not equipped with body cameras, according to Homeland Security.

No evidence has surfaced to back up the department’s account of what happened, which claims an officer fired after Salgado Araujo used his van to ram an ICE vehicle that was pursuing him. Eyewitnesses dispute that version of events. Body camera footage could have provided crucial clarity about what actually occurred.

The incident has brought renewed attention to ICE’s enforcement methods at a time when arrests are increasing and the department has received a significant influx of congressional funding — a portion of which was specifically set aside to equip officers with body cameras.

“Even after we’ve given ICE specifically $20 million for body cameras and Kristi Noem promised in February of this year that she was going to purchase them and get them in the field, that here we were in Houston that the agents didn’t have them,” said Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Houston, at a news conference on Friday.

Shortly after Alex Pretti was killed while protesting ICE activity in Minneapolis in January, Noem announced that every Homeland Security officer deployed there would receive a body-worn camera, calling it the start of a nationwide rollout as funding became available.

“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem — who has since been replaced by Markwayne Mullin — wrote in a social media post.

Homeland Security stated Thursday that body cameras have now been distributed to more than half of ICE field offices nationwide, with the remaining offices expected to receive them within the next 60 days.

Garcia said she expressed her frustration directly to acting ICE director David Venturella during a phone call, and that Venturella acknowledged fewer than one-third of officers nationwide currently have body cameras. He reportedly told her all officers would be equipped by the end of July.

“Trust me, I will hold him to it, and I will make sure that all my colleagues in Congress and the Democratic caucus hold him to it,” Garcia said.

Michelle Gross, president of the Minnesota-based advocacy group Communities United Against Police Brutality, argued that ICE should halt enforcement operations until every officer has a camera.

“If they’re going to be running around with guns and stopping people, you damn well better have some body cameras,” she said. “This is an agency that’s soaking up an incredible amount of tax dollars and we can’t have any accountability?”

During the Pretti shooting, Homeland Security confirmed that four Border Patrol agents on the scene were wearing cameras. Investigators from Customs and Border Protection used that footage, along with other video sources, to determine that more than one officer fired shots during that incident.

The department has not confirmed whether any ICE officers present at the January killing of Renee Good — a 37-year-old mother of three — were wearing body cameras. Bystander video from both Minneapolis shootings drew intense public scrutiny and fueled widespread outrage.

The former acting head of ICE, Todd Lyons, testified before Congress following the Minneapolis shootings and said body camera footage would eventually be made public — but that footage has not yet been released. Lyons has since retired.

Lyons and his counterpart at CBP, Rodney Scott, told Congress at the time that thousands of their officers were already outfitted with body cameras, with more deployments planned.

“That’s one thing that I’m committed to is full transparency. And I fully welcome body cameras all across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities,” Lyons said.

A January court filing revealed that a senior ICE officer, Samuel J. Olson — head of the St. Paul field office — stated in a deposition that body-worn cameras had not been issued to deportation officers working out of that office at a time when roughly 2,000 ICE officers were deployed in Minnesota. Olson estimated the agency would need about six months to complete the equipment and training needed for a full statewide rollout.

The body camera question has surfaced repeatedly during the current administration as growing numbers of ICE and CBP officers carry out the president’s mass deportation agenda. In Chicago, during an operation called “Operation Midway Blitz,” a judge ordered federal immigration officers to wear body cameras, citing the need for evidence in cases involving confrontations with protesters.

Homeland Security officials have pointed the finger at Democrats, saying the officers in Houston lacked cameras because of “back-to-back Democrat shutdowns” — government shutdowns driven by Democratic opposition to the administration’s immigration policies and demands for reforms at the department.

In the aftermath of the Pretti and Good shootings, body cameras represented one of the few areas where both parties expressed agreement. In April, Congress approved $20 million for Homeland Security specifically for “the procurement, deployment, and operations of body-worn cameras” for officers involved in immigration enforcement.

Garcia dismissed the claim that Democrats bear responsibility for the officers’ lack of cameras as “ludicrous.”

“That’s just a freaking excuse, because the bottom line is they made a commitment,” Garcia said.

Graham Platner made his exit from Maine’s U.S. Senate contest official on Friday, submitting formal withdrawal paperwork to the Maine secretary of state’s office — a move that sets off an urgent search by Democrats for a replacement candidate.

The secretary of state’s office received Platner’s paperwork, which was reflected in the office’s online withdrawal list shortly afterward.

In a letter addressed to the secretary of state’s office — which Platner also shared on social media — he wrote that the voters who nominated him “voted for a new kind of politics” that is “representative of people down here in the real world — not billionaires, oligarchs, or the political establishment.” That anti-establishment message had defined his campaign throughout, during which he earned support from progressive figures including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California.

“I seek to further the movement we have built together and the future we believe in,” Platner added, offering no specifics about his next steps.

Maine is viewed as a critical battleground for control of the narrowly split U.S. Senate, and Democrats had been eager to field a strong contender capable of unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The official withdrawal came two days after Platner announced he was stepping aside following a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied. State law allows Democrats to name a replacement before the general election, but that selection must be made no later than July 27.

Just before Platner’s Wednesday announcement, over 100 members of the state Democratic Party committee had already signed on to hold a nominating convention to select a new candidate if he stepped down. The state party has yet to publicly announce when that convention will take place.

A number of Democrats have already declared their interest in the nomination this week. Among them are three candidates who fell short in June’s Democratic gubernatorial primary: former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.

Additional contenders who have announced their candidacies include Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban; former 2nd Congressional District candidates Jordan Wood and Paige Loud; state Rep. Valli Geiger; and former Maine Senate candidates David Costello and Andrea LaFlamme.

A $4.7-billion international bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, is expected to open in the near future following an agreement on how toll revenues will be divided between the United States and Canada, according to a Michigan Republican speaking Friday.

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers announced on WJR radio that he had spoken with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who informed him that the administration had finalized a deal. Rogers said the agreement would be formally announced within the coming days and would allow the Gordie Howe International Bridge to open shortly thereafter.

A source confirmed the deal had been struck, with the U.S. set to receive 50% of all toll revenue collected at the crossing. The agreement also gives the U.S. the power to veto any toll increase that exceeds 10% above current rates.

The bridge had originally been scheduled for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early June, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed last month that Canada agreed to push back the opening at the request of the Trump administration.

“We agreed to delay the opening and take the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues,” Carney said.

President Trump had raised objections to the bridge in February, pointing to Canada’s refusal to carry certain U.S. alcoholic beverages in Canadian stores, Canada’s dairy tariffs, and its trade discussions with China as reasons he might block the crossing from opening.

The owner of the competing Ambassador Bridge — which also connects Detroit and Windsor — Matthew Moroun, met with Commerce Secretary Lutnick in February. Weeks before that meeting, Moroun had contributed $1 million to a political action committee aligned with Trump.

Construction on the new bridge began in 2018 and was funded entirely by Canada after the U.S. declined to contribute financially. The construction costs were intended to be recovered through toll collections over a 30-year period, though it remains unclear how the newly agreed revenue split will affect that repayment plan.

The new crossing is expected to relieve congestion on the Ambassador Bridge, which serves as the largest freight port along the U.S.-Canada border. In 2023 alone, the Ambassador Bridge handled $126 billion worth of goods transported by commercial trucks.

According to a University of Windsor study, the new bridge will shave 20 minutes off crossing times, saving truckers an estimated $2.3 billion over the next 30 years.

The bridge announcement comes amid ongoing trade tensions between the two countries. Trump has repeatedly threatened Canada during his second term and has significantly raised tariffs on the northern neighbor. Last month, Trump also suggested he might not renew the existing free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

A federal judge in Washington agreed Friday to temporarily halt a union lawsuit that had been trying to prevent the Trump administration from effectively shutting down the nation’s top consumer financial watchdog agency.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the pause, with both sides agreeing to revisit the case after the Senate decides whether to confirm Brian Johnson — a Capital One senior executive — as the new director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to court records.

Current agency leadership had argued that Johnson should be given the opportunity to weigh in on a proposed mass layoff plan that the administration has spent more than a year fighting to implement. That plan, unveiled in April, would shrink the CFPB workforce to just 556 employees — fewer than one-third of the staff the agency had when President Donald Trump first took office. The proposal would eliminate 80% of positions in the enforcement division and 85% in the supervision division.

In her Friday order, Judge Jackson directed both parties to notify her within two days if the Senate votes to confirm Johnson as director.

Johnson, a Republican who previously held a senior role at the CFPB, is expected to take over from Russell Vought, Trump’s budget director who has been serving as acting CFPB head. Vought had publicly stated his intention to abolish the agency entirely and is legally required to step down at the beginning of August.

A federal appeals court last month cleared the way for Judge Jackson to consider lifting a preliminary injunction she had previously put in place, which barred the administration from carrying out mass firings at the CFPB while courts determine whether such action is legal. Friday’s order puts that process on hold for now.

In a joint court filing, both sides stated that if Johnson is confirmed, he should be allowed to review the layoff plan and, in their words, “decide whether he would like to pursue it.”

The CFPB was established by Congress in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, with a mission to crack down on predatory lending and oversee consumer financial industries that played a central role in that economic collapse.

Trump and other administration officials have called for the agency to be eliminated altogether, arguing it engages in politically motivated enforcement and places excessive burdens on businesses. Consumer advocates have pushed back strongly against that position, calling it an unlawful benefit to politically connected corporations that puts ordinary Americans at risk.

SAWYER, Mich. — A newly completed bridge linking Detroit to Canada is on track to open by the end of this month, after officials from both the United States and Canada worked out an agreement to settle the dispute that had been holding things up. Two people directly involved in the negotiations confirmed the deal, though they were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of a formal announcement.

Commercial traffic across the bridge is anticipated to begin before August 1st, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. A date for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony has not yet been determined.

The opening had originally been planned for June 12th, but the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced a postponement, saying both nations still needed time to work through “outstanding issues.” The delay came after President Donald Trump had previously threatened to block the bridge from opening.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers indicated during a Friday interview that a resolution was imminent. “I had a conversation with the secretary yesterday, Secretary of Commerce Lutnick, and the deal will be announced in the next few days,” Rogers said on WJR radio. “This is getting wrapped up. That bridge is going to get open.”

The stalled opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge became a flashpoint in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate contests. Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow, who has since withdrawn from the race, attempted to use the controversy to put Trump and Republicans on the defensive.

Back in February, Trump took to social media to demand that Canada hand over at least half of the bridge’s ownership to the U.S. government, along with other unspecified conditions — part of his wider trade tensions with Canada.

Canada funded the bridge’s construction. The project was originally negotiated by Rick Snyder, the former Republican governor of Michigan, with construction underway since 2018 at a total cost of nearly $4.4 billion.

The 1.5-mile-long span crosses the Detroit River, connecting Detroit with Windsor, Ontario. It is named in honor of the late Canadian hockey legend Gordie Howe, who played 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. The bridge is expected to serve as a major economic link between the U.S. and Canada.

Jointly owned by Canada and the state of Michigan, the toll bridge is designed to help relieve traffic congestion at the existing Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

Detroit and Windsor have shared close community ties for generations, with residents on both sides of the border regularly crossing for shopping and entertainment. Windsor had a population of roughly 230,000 as of 2021, and like Detroit, its economy is heavily rooted in manufacturing and the auto industry.

Most commercial trade between the two cities has historically moved across the Ambassador Bridge, a nearly century-old, privately owned crossing that sits closer to downtown Detroit than the Gordie Howe Bridge. The Moroun family owns the Ambassador Bridge, and federal campaign finance records show that Matthew Moroun donated $1 million to Trump’s super PAC earlier this year.

The Trump administration officially finalized a sweeping change Friday to how federal agencies handle threatened species protections, stripping out regulatory language designed to shield wildlife habitats from damage.

The revision narrows the scope of the Endangered Species Act, a law now five decades old that has been widely credited with pulling species such as the bald eagle and California condor back from the brink of extinction, along with many other animals and plants.

The departments of Interior and Commerce announced the finalized rule, saying it will lower permitting and compliance costs for a range of industries including energy producers, agricultural operations, and fishing interests. The change aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader push to roll back regulations he argues place unnecessary burdens on American businesses.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the move in a statement, saying: “This action restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed.”

The Endangered Species Act plays a central role in federal decision-making when agencies review permit applications for oil and gas extraction, mining, electric transmission lines, and other projects on federal lands and waterways. Under the law, agencies are required to assess how proposed projects might affect species listed as threatened or endangered.

The newly finalized rule removes habitat destruction from the legal definition of “harm” under the act. In practical terms, this means project developers would be permitted to degrade or destroy areas where threatened species live, as long as no animals are directly injured or killed in the process.

The rule was first proposed in April of last year.

WASHINGTON — Workers have begun draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for a second time, as President Donald Trump’s renovation effort continues to face a string of problems that have pushed the project far beyond its original July 4th completion target — a date tied to the nation’s 250th birthday celebration.

Trump initially suggested the renovations would last for a century. However, within weeks of the first round of work wrapping up last month, the pool developed an algae bloom and sections of the newly applied coating appeared to be lifting off the bottom of the pool.

The president has attributed the peeling to vandals, while critics argue the damage is the result of poor workmanship.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who oversees the National Park Service through his agency, addressed the new round of draining during an interview with conservative podcaster Katie Miller that was released earlier this week. Burgum said the draining was part of a planned effort and noted that the water may still contain debris left over from a major Independence Day fireworks show held over the National Mall.

“Drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff,” Burgum told Miller, who is married to deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller. “Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again.”

The Reflecting Pool project is one of several initiatives Trump has launched across Washington, D.C. Among the most prominent is the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a $400 million ballroom, along with plans for a large arch to be built between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump announced his plans to upgrade the Reflecting Pool this past spring, with the stated goal of completing the work before the country’s 250th birthday festivities. The pool was drained, and Trump directed crews to paint the bottom what he called “American flag blue.” In May, he posted on his social media platform saying the project was on track: “The goal is to have it done, at this higher level, prior to July 4th — We are ahead of schedule!”

Trouble surfaced quickly once the initial work was done. Trump pointed to vandals as the cause, and court documents later revealed that the National Park Service reported a June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police in which someone used a sharp knife or razor to cut the pool’s new liner.

On Thursday, former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn entered a not guilty plea in D.C. Superior Court on charges of intentionally damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn has maintained that he only reached into the pool to look at the peeled sealant and released a piece of it when a park employee told him to do so.

Hearn’s legal team and other critics of the Trump administration have called the prosecution an overreach and contend that Hearn is being made a scapegoat for the poor quality of the renovation work.

Court records show that at least three other individuals have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the pool. All three entered not guilty pleas during their initial appearances in court on Wednesday.

The pool had been closed during the Independence Day celebration, which Trump described as the largest fireworks display in the world. The president had previously acknowledged that another round of draining would be necessary as part of the ongoing repairs.

Burgum has indicated that the administration does not plan to seek competitive bids for the new repair work. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” last weekend, he said: “We’ll use the same company because they did a fantastic job.”

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, received a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the pool. Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded a separate $14.7 million contract to repaint and waterproof the concrete floor.

Democratic members of both the Senate and House are now investigating the project, including raising questions about the total amount of taxpayer money being spent.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will allow a major bipartisan housing bill to become law without putting his signature on it, saying he is doing so as a protest against the Senate’s inability to pass strict voter ID legislation he has been championing.

“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote on social media.

The president had a 10-day window ending Friday to either sign the legislation, veto it, or allow it to take effect without his approval. By choosing the third option, Trump has undermined his own administration’s stated position that addressing inflation is a top priority.

Trump’s move deepens a rift with members of his own party during a midterm election year and cuts short congressional Republicans’ efforts to tackle one of voters’ top concerns — the rising cost of living. His announcement came more than a week after he abruptly canceled a planned signing ceremony, declaring he would use the housing bill as a bargaining chip to push through his preferred voting legislation.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is designed to bring down housing costs and encourage more home construction. It represents the most significant federal push in decades to tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis, which has been worsened by state and local regulations that have made building new homes difficult in many areas with strong job markets. White House economists estimated earlier this year that the country is short roughly 10 million homes, and this legislation could help narrow that gap.

Despite the bill’s scope, Trump dismissed it as “a yawn” and “so unimportant” when compared to legislation that would require all voters to provide proof of citizenship.

Trump caught Republican lawmakers off guard on June 24, when he announced — just before a scheduled signing event at the Capitol — that he would withhold his approval until Congress first passed the voting bill.

That measure, known as the SAVE America Act, currently lacks enough Republican support to clear the Senate.

The housing bill had passed the Senate by an 85-5 margin and cleared the House with a 358-32 vote, reflecting broad support across party lines.

Among its key provisions, the housing legislation would cut federal red tape, streamline environmental reviews, speed up the home-building process, and restrict corporations from purchasing single-family homes.

The bill does not, however, address every factor contributing to the housing shortage — including a lack of construction workers, rising insurance premiums, and wages that have not kept pace with the cost of renting or buying a home.

Still, the measure has earned backing from the real estate industry and housing advocacy groups alike.

The broader U.S. housing market has been a major source of affordability strain in recent years, with soaring prices locking many would-be buyers out of the market. The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the median home sale price climbed 1.8% in June compared to a year ago, reaching $440,600 — an all-time high in data stretching back to 1999.

President Donald J. Trump has announced he will allow a bipartisan housing affordability bill — already passed by Congress and delivered to the White House — to become law without his signature. The President says his refusal to sign is a deliberate act of protest aimed at the Senate’s failure to pass what he calls the “Save America Act.”

According to Trump, the Save America Act is polling at 97% support among Republicans and “very high” among what he describes as “non-politician” Democrats. He frames the legislation as straightforward: anyone wishing to vote must present a photo ID and proof of citizenship. The President also stated the bill would eliminate what he called “crooked, corrupt, destabilizing” mail-in ballots, with exceptions carved out for military personnel, people with disabilities, those who are ill, and travelers.

Trump called the Senate’s failure to advance the measure “crazy,” and issued a warning that any politician who votes against it faces serious political consequences. He is also pressing Republican lawmakers to eliminate the filibuster, arguing that doing so would allow the Save America Act — along with other legislation he describes as “true Republican” priorities — to move forward.

The President closed with a call for urgency and accountability, insisting the country must continue moving toward greatness — signing off with his signature phrase: “Make America Great Again — President Donald J. Trump.”

President Donald Trump has removed key members of a bipartisan federal election oversight body after the commission pushed back on his efforts to require proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration.

The White House confirmed Friday that it took executive action against members of the Election Assistance Commission — a federal agency responsible for distributing grants to state election offices, overseeing the testing of voting equipment, and maintaining the national voter registration form.

The move is the latest step in Trump’s ongoing effort to expand presidential influence over how elections are run in the United States. It follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted the president new authority to dismiss members of independent agency boards.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the White House said: “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted. The Slaughter decision gives the President precedence to do so.”

Trump removed the commission’s two Democratic members, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. Republican member Christy McCormick stepped down through resignation, while former Republican commissioner Donald Palmer had already departed voluntarily earlier this year.

The story was first reported by VoteBeat, a news organization focused on elections and voting issues across the country.

Although the White House did not provide a specific reason for the removals, the commission had previously refused to update the national voter registration form to include citizenship documentation requirements — a change Trump called for in a sweeping executive order on elections issued in March 2025. A federal judge struck down that order, ruling it overstepped presidential authority since the U.S. Constitution places control over elections with Congress and the states. The administration has signaled it will appeal that ruling.

It remains uncertain whether Trump intends to quickly nominate replacements or allow the seats to remain vacant. With midterm elections approaching, leaving the agency without a full board could block it from issuing new grants to state and local election offices and could complicate its role in certifying and testing voting systems nationwide.

“The Administration from the start has been working across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse, and investing in a strong infrastructure to sustain that mission especially in the midterm elections,” the White House added.

Congress established the four-member commission through the Help America Vote Act, a bipartisan law signed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002. The law requires the panel to include two Democrats and two Republicans, each nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Hicks and McCormick were originally appointed by President Barack Obama, while Trump named Hovland during his first term in office.

According to VoteBeat, Hicks and Hovland learned of their dismissals through an email signed by Morgan DeWitt Snow, the deputy director of presidential personnel in the Executive Office of the President.

A key federal planning body has moved ahead with early approval of plans for a proposed arch backed by President Trump, even after hours of criticism from the public.

The National Capital Planning Commission voted to advance preliminary site and building plans for the project, though commissioners made clear they are not finished with their review. The panel indicated it wants additional details addressed before what could be its final evaluation, currently anticipated to take place in September.

The decision came despite considerable pushback during the public comment period, which stretched on for hours before the commission reached its decision.

The Interior Department is taking a bold and controversial stance: Washington, D.C.’s well-known height restrictions, which have shaped the city’s skyline for generations, simply do not apply to federal projects.

The argument is being made as part of the review process surrounding a proposed arch championed by President Trump. By challenging what has been accepted practice for about a century, the department is setting up a potentially landmark decision.

Experts say the stakes are high. If the panel currently reviewing the arch proposal agrees with the Interior Department’s position, the consequences for Washington, D.C. could be far-reaching — potentially opening the door to federal construction that towers above the city’s traditionally low-rise landscape.

A coalition of Republican-led states is taking steps to create a brand-new agency to accredit colleges and universities, framing the move as a way to bring greater “intellectual diversity” to higher education.

Accreditation agencies play a key role in higher education, as colleges and universities must be accredited for their students to qualify for federal financial aid. Creating a new accrediting body would give these states an alternative to existing agencies, which some conservatives have criticized as ideologically one-sided.

The push reflects a broader effort by Republican-led governments to reshape the landscape of higher education in the United States.

Thousands of immigrants from Haiti and Syria who hold Temporary Protected Status could soon find themselves unable to legally work in the United States, following a recent decision handed down by the Supreme Court.

The ruling has placed TPS holders — a group that includes many Haitian and Syrian nationals — on the verge of losing the work permits that have allowed them to remain employed while living in the U.S. under the humanitarian protection program.

A bus loaded with retired judges rolled through the American Rust Belt this week, stopping in small towns and major cities alike to deliver an urgent message: the rule of law in the United States is in serious jeopardy.

The four-day tour — called “Justice in Motion” — wrapped up Friday with a stop at a library in Grosse Pointe, a well-to-do suburb just outside Detroit. It marked the final destination of an unusual journey that took the judges through corn fields, coal towns, and urban centers across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The timing was deliberate. Organizers chose the nation’s 250th anniversary as the backdrop for what they described as a dire warning about American democracy and the independence of its courts.

“Looking back in history, we have teetered,” said former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly. “This is a moment where we can decide to reinstill those beliefs that we are a country of laws and not of men.”

The tour represents a significant break from the traditionally quiet and guarded nature of the judicial branch. Federal judges, in particular, typically confine their public remarks to the courtroom and their written rulings. But that long-standing restraint has been eroding.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned the fairness of the judicial system and called a district judge who ruled against one of his immigration policies “crooked.” He has also suggested, without providing any evidence, that Supreme Court justices who struck down his tariffs were acting in the interests of foreign powers. Meanwhile, the administration has openly defied orders from U.S. district courts and pushed an expansive interpretation of executive authority.

More federal judges have recently come forward to report receiving death threats and offensive messages, though they have stopped short of blaming Trump or any specific officials. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts addressed the situation in March, warning that personal attacks on federal judges were dangerous and needed to stop. That rare public statement came just two days after Trump’s “crooked” judge comment, though Roberts did not name anyone directly.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, threats against federal judges reached 564 during the government fiscal year ending in September — up from 509 the previous year.

“I don’t want to say we have moved into an era of lawlessness, but it sometimes feels that way,” said former U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts, who joined the tour at its Michigan stop.

Former federal judge Timothy Lewis, also on the tour, said his worries about the politicization of the courts reached a breaking point about a decade ago, when Senate Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Lewis, who served seven years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, now believes the rule of law faces an “existential threat” from the steady erosion of democratic norms.

“I have fundamental concerns about where we are headed as a nation,” Lewis said.

The tour kicked off Tuesday in Greensburg, a western Pennsylvania town that was once a center of the coal industry. Judges chatted with patrons at a local coffee shop before speaking at the historic Westmoreland County Courthouse. The group then traveled to Washington, Pennsylvania — a town of about 13,000 people where roughly 15% of the population is Black, and which served as both a stop on the Underground Railroad and a regional hub for the Civil Rights Movement.

On Wednesday, the bus headed west to Columbus, Ohio, and then to Wooster in Amish country, with a stop at a Cracker Barrel along the way. Thursday brought events in Cleveland before the group circled north around Lake Erie into Michigan.

The tour was organized by two nonpartisan advocacy groups — the Democracy Rising Collaborative and Keep Our Republic — who drew inspiration from a similar effort in Poland in 2021. After that country’s ruling party seized control of key judicial institutions, independent Polish judges traveled to towns across the country to educate citizens about the constitution and the rule of law.

About 30 judges are participating in the U.S. tour, including two former federal judges and one current federal judge. Of the federal judges, one was nominated by a Democrat and the other two by Republicans. The state judges, some still serving on the bench, come from both parties. They have been joined by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, former Ohio attorneys general, and several lawyers.

Former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said judges who stay silent risk allowing “voices of misinformation” to define the public’s understanding of the judiciary. She pointed to a letter she still keeps from years ago, in which the writer accused her — a Republican — of betraying her party when she repeatedly struck down Republican-drawn legislative maps as illegal gerrymanders.

“There was just a basic misunderstanding of what my role was as a judge,” O’Connor said.

Donnelly put it plainly when describing what is ultimately at stake: “The lifeblood of the judiciary is public confidence. If you lose that, it’s very difficult to get it back.”

The U.S. Department of Justice took legal action against Maryland on Thursday, with the Trump administration arguing that the state’s sanctuary-style policies are standing in the way of its ongoing immigration enforcement push.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Northern Division. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche had previously directed the DOJ’s civil division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that, in the department’s words, “facilitate violations of federal laws or impede lawful federal operations.”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office declined to offer any comment on the lawsuit.

This legal action is part of a wider effort by the Republican administration to challenge laws passed by Democratic-led governments that restrict how much local and state agencies cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The Trump administration has labeled these jurisdictions “sanctuary” areas and contends their policies are blocking the president’s mass deportation agenda.

ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has been at the center of the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The term “sanctuary” has roots going back to the 1980s, when American churches began sheltering Central American migrants who had escaped civil conflict and were afraid of being deported from the United States.

Civil rights organizations have pushed back against the crackdown, arguing it violates due process and free speech rights and fosters an unsafe climate — particularly for ethnic minorities, who have voiced concerns about racial profiling.

While immigration enforcement has been a cornerstone of Trump’s agenda since his 2024 campaign, the administration has also moved to make legal immigration harder — including by adding costly new fees for applicants seeking certain work visas. Trump has maintained that these actions are intended to strengthen national security and preserve jobs for American citizens.

A federal appeals court on Thursday gave its stamp of approval to Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, keeping the controversial law intact after a lower court had previously thrown it out.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a 2-1 ruling finding that the Illinois law is consistent with the Second Amendment. The court wrote that the law’s restrictions align with what it described as “the principles that underpin our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Whether to adopt them is thus a decision reposed in our elected representatives, and we reverse,” the appeals court stated in its ruling.

The majority opinion also took aim at arguments from those challenging the law who claimed semiautomatic weapons are not responsible for mass shootings. The court countered that “the undisputed record evidence undercuts that claim, showing that the presence of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines is strongly correlated with the severity of the societal problem.”

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated the ruling on social media, calling it “a victory in the fight to end gun violence that helps keep our communities safe.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade group that had been fighting to block the ban, expressed disappointment with the outcome and announced it intends to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

The organization said it sides with Chief Judge Michael Brennan, who wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that the Constitution prohibits governments from banning “firearms commonly owned for self-defense.” The dissent went on to say that “because the people have overwhelmingly chosen the AR-15 rifle and its magazine as their weapon of choice, they are protected by the Second Amendment.”

The law at the center of the dispute, known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, was signed in 2023. It bans AR-15 rifles and comparable firearms, large-capacity magazines, and a range of weapon attachments.

The legislation came about six months after a gunman climbed onto a rooftop in Highland Park — a suburb of Chicago — and opened fire on a Fourth of July parade in 2022, killing seven people and wounding more than three dozen others.

The law was met with swift resistance after it passed. Several county sheriffs declared they would not enforce it, calling it unconstitutional, while gun owners and advocacy groups filed lawsuits against it.

In 2024, a federal judge sided with those challengers and struck down the ban, relying on recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have taken a strict reading of Second Amendment rights. The ruling was set to go into effect 30 days later, but Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed an appeal the same day, which placed the ruling on hold.

Raoul said Thursday’s decision is a win for public safety. “We have seen the damage that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines can inflict, and these weapons of war have no place in our communities,” he said.

The issue is expected to reach the nation’s highest court regardless. Last month, the Supreme Court announced it would take up the question of whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment. This fall, the justices are expected to hear challenges to a similar ban in the Chicago area that predates the statewide law.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump moved Thursday to remove all remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, the independent federal agency responsible for supporting election officials throughout the United States, according to three people with knowledge of the action.

The four-member, bipartisan commission had three sitting members at the time of the removals. The sole Republican appointee stepped down voluntarily, while the two Democratic appointees were informed of their dismissal through an email sent by the White House Presidential Personnel Office.

The termination email, reviewed by Reuters, read: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”

The White House had not responded to requests for comment as of the time of this report.

According to its own website, the Election Assistance Commission functions as a national resource for information on how elections are run. It also accredits laboratories that test voting equipment, certifies voting systems, and oversees the national mail voter registration form created under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The firings come as Trump and members of his administration have pushed to overhaul mail-in voting rules and continued to pursue investigations into the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes issued a statement Thursday condemning the action. “It is irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on causing chaos for our election officials across this country,” Fontes said. “This move undermines the integrity of nonpartisan election administration.”

The Help America Vote Act, the 2002 legislation that created the commission, does give the president authority to appoint new members. However, it remains unclear what Trump’s next steps will be regarding the future of the commission.

Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx has claimed victory in the Republican primary race for Colorado governor, emerging as the GOP’s nominee after a tight contest that took days to resolve.

Marx edged out state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who was considered his toughest challenger in the June 30 election. The race was too close to call on election night due to a large number of outstanding ballots, but most counties — including the state’s largest — have since reported their final tallies.

A third contender, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, finished behind both Marx and Kirkmeyer in the final results.

Marx is set to take on Democrat Phil Weiser, who currently serves as the state attorney general, in the November general election.

Republicans face an uphill battle in Colorado, where no GOP candidate has won the governorship in more than 20 years. The state also voted for Democrat Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by more than 10 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race.

Marx is considered an unconventional candidate with a colorful and controversial background. Among the bold claims he has made about his life is that his abusive stepfather forced him, at just 7 years old, to kill a man.

On the fundraising front, Marx led the entire Republican field, bringing in roughly $2.8 million in contributions and entering the final 20-day stretch of the campaign with around $200,000 cash on hand. Those figures more than doubled the combined fundraising totals of both Kirkmeyer and Bottoms.

Current Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, cannot seek another term due to term limits.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up a vote next week on legislation that would permanently establish daylight saving time, according to a notice released Thursday.

The bill, called the Sunshine Protection Act, cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May by an overwhelming 48-1 margin. A similar version of the legislation passed the U.S. Senate without opposition back in March 2022, but the House failed to act on it at that time due to pushback from opponents. The version the House will now consider includes a provision that would allow individual states to choose not to participate.

Daylight saving time — the practice of moving clocks forward one hour during the warmer months of the year — has been observed in nearly all parts of the United States since the 1960s.

Those in favor of the bill argue that the current system of switching clocks twice a year leads to disrupted sleep, higher rates of workplace injuries, and an increase in traffic accidents. Supporters also contend that having lighter evenings in the winter months would encourage more spending and economic activity.

President Donald Trump has voiced his support for ending the biannual clock change. In May, he stated it was “time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production.”

Should the bill clear the House, it would then head back to the Senate, where it faces opposition from Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, among others. Cotton has argued that making daylight saving time permanent would result in extremely late winter sunrises, leaving children across much of the country heading to school before the sun comes up.

Representative Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, has introduced this legislation repeatedly since 2018 and brought it forward again this year. The measure is especially popular in his home state, where extended evening daylight would mean more hours for activities like golf and outdoor sports.

Representative Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, voiced his support, saying permanent daylight saving time is “better for safety and will boost New Jersey’s tourism industry. Let’s stop changing the clocks twice a year.”

The United States has tried year-round daylight saving time before — once during World War Two and again in 1974 as a way to conserve energy. However, the 1974 experiment was widely unpopular, and Congress reversed course before the year was out.

New Mexico’s top law enforcement official is pointing the finger at the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing the federal agency of standing in the way of the state’s investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The state, under Democratic leadership, reopened its investigation in February into Epstein’s former ranch located south of the state capital, Santa Fe. Epstein is accused of abusing women and girls at that property for close to 30 years.

Despite nearly five months passing since the investigation was relaunched, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has not yet announced any findings or results.

The push to make U.S. Department of Justice files on Epstein public has been a recurring issue for President Donald Trump during his second term in office. Trump has indicated he believes the country should move past the investigation into the deceased financier’s alleged crimes.

In a letter dated June 30 and addressed to Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche, Torrez stated that the Justice Department had not responded to a February request from New Mexico for unredacted documents. Those files reportedly contain the names of Epstein survivors, witnesses, co-conspirators, and other individuals considered critical to the state’s investigation.

Torrez followed up with a public statement on Thursday, calling the 130-day delay “unreasonable under any rule of reason.”

The Justice Department pushed back, with a spokesperson stating that the agency did respond to New Mexico’s request back in June.

“The DOJ reiterates that it welcomes New Mexico undertaking additional investigation of the Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide necessary assistance with New Mexico’s investigation,” the spokesperson said. The agency also indicated it was prepared to investigate and potentially prosecute any federal crimes uncovered through the New Mexico probe.

Earlier in March, Torrez had acknowledged that investigators were running into major roadblocks. He pointed to the significant amount of time that had passed since Epstein’s alleged crimes took place, the potential loss or degradation of evidence at the ranch — which was sold in 2023 — and possible legal jurisdiction complications that could affect any future prosecutions.

Across the country, lawmakers are grappling with a difficult question: when does an AI-generated campaign parody stop being political satire and start becoming something more troubling?

States including Michigan have attempted to put guardrails on how artificial intelligence can be used in political campaigns, but those regulations may not be enough to prevent misleading or manipulative content from reaching voters.

The rapid advancement of AI technology has outpaced many of the laws designed to govern it, leaving a gap between what regulators intended and what the public actually encounters online and in political advertising.

The debate centers on whether AI-created parodies of candidates and campaigns should be treated as protected political expression — a long-standing tradition in American democracy — or whether they pose a new kind of threat to the integrity of elections.

As the 2026 election cycle moves forward, the tension between free speech protections and the potential for AI-generated content to mislead voters shows no signs of being resolved quickly.

Palm Beach International Airport in Florida is officially getting a new name Thursday — one that pays tribute to the current president.

The airport’s renaming in honor of President Trump marks a historic moment: he becomes the first president in the nation’s history to have an airport bear his name while still serving in office.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to return to work Monday, kicking off a four-week session that is expected to include votes on defense spending and national security legislation. However, one of the most influential voices on those topics — Republican Senator Mitch McConnell — will not be there, as he remains hospitalized with health problems his office has declined to explain publicly.

McConnell, who is 84 years old and has spent more than four decades in Congress, currently chairs both the Senate Rules Committee and a defense appropriations subcommittee. He was taken from his home to a hospital in the Washington area in mid-June, and his office has offered little explanation for nearly a month.

The Senate had been on a July 4 recess since June 24. On Tuesday, McConnell’s office released a brief statement: “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

His absence is expected to have the greatest impact on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on annual funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Republicans hold a narrow 15-to-14 majority on that committee. With current federal funding set to run out when fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1, party leaders have begun hinting that a temporary spending measure — known as a continuing resolution — may be necessary to keep government agencies operating.

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump and his allies. He has spoken out against Trump’s tariff policies, opposed some of the president’s cabinet nominations, and resisted Trump’s push to eliminate the Senate filibuster and pass the voter identification legislation known as the SAVE America Act.

Senate Republicans are also hoping to revive a lapsed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, even as lawmakers raise concerns about Trump’s decision to name Bill Pulte — a political ally with no background in intelligence — as acting director of national intelligence.

McConnell holds the record as the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, but his health has been a growing concern in recent years. He was seen freezing mid-sentence while speaking to reporters in 2023, and he spent eight days in the hospital in February after experiencing flu-like symptoms.

His current, unexplained absence has drawn comparisons to that of U.S. Representative Thomas Kean, a New Jersey Republican, who was away from Congress for nearly four months before revealing he had been treated for depression.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has publicly urged McConnell to give constituents an update, saying that the ongoing silence was unfair to both the senator and the people he represents.

The absence of clear information has sparked online rumors about McConnell’s condition. Some conservatives have pushed back against the speculation, including commentator Mark Levin, who urged people not to mock the senator. “I was highly critical of Mitch McConnell over the years. But I hope he is getting better and hanging in there. I wish him well as he moves into retirement,” Levin wrote on X.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A South Florida airport officially adopted a new name Thursday, now operating as the President Donald J. Trump International Airport, replacing the long-standing Palm Beach International Airport identity.

Old signage has been taken down as crews work to install new branding throughout the facility. Airport officials acknowledged the transition will take time, noting in a Facebook post: “Because an entire airport transformation doesn’t happen overnight, you’ll notice a combination of both our classic look and our new brand elements coexisting while traveling through the terminal over the next several weeks.”

The first aircraft to touch down at the newly named airport was “Trump Force One,” a Boeing 757 belonging to The Trump Organization, arriving just after 5 a.m. Among those on board was Eric Trump, the president’s son. The Trump family frequently uses the West Palm Beach airport when visiting President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in nearby Palm Beach. A road connecting the airport to that property was already renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year.

Eric Trump celebrated the occasion on X, writing: “There is no person who has done more for Florida and our country, and no one more deserving of this incredible honor. As a son, and someone who flies out of this airport nearly every day, I will forever be proud to see the initials ‘DJT’ on my boarding pass.”

Although the name officially changed Thursday, the airport’s three-letter code will not switch from PBI to DJT until August 18.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation earlier this year that cleared the way for the renaming. Officials estimate the full cost of new signage, rebranding, and related updates could reach as much as $5.5 million.

Not everyone at the airport was enthusiastic about the change. Traveler Keegan Collett, who was heading to Cincinnati Thursday morning, said he was caught off guard by the new name. While he doesn’t believe Trump deserves the honor, he said he isn’t particularly worked up about it either.

“At the end of the day, it’s just the name of an airport,” Collett said. “There’s bigger things. I feel like it’s just more of a distraction. Why even worry about it?”

The airport renaming was not the only Trump-related ceremony Thursday. In Dandridge, Tennessee, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and Representative Tim Burchett gathered to rename the I-40 Bridge in East Tennessee the Donald J. Trump Bridge.

Bessent said ahead of the event that “no one is more deserving” of having the bridge named in Trump’s honor.

Trump carried 82% of the vote in Jefferson County, where Dandridge is located, during the 2024 general election.

PORTLAND, Maine — The race to fill a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine shifted into high gear Thursday as Democrats began competing to replace progressive nominee Graham Platner, who announced he will exit the race following a sexual assault allegation that he denies.

Under Maine state law, the Democratic Party has until July 27 to name a replacement candidate. That person will have fewer than four months to mount a campaign against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the general election. Even before Platner formally announced his intention to withdraw, potential candidates had been signaling their interest — and by Thursday, several had made it official.

The Maine Democratic Party plans to hold a nominating convention to select the new candidate, a process that will involve hundreds of delegates from around the state. The specific details of how and when the convention will take place have not yet been announced.

Maine is viewed as a critical battleground in the fight for control of the closely divided U.S. Senate. With President Donald Trump facing widespread unpopularity, Democrats are eager to find a strong challenger to Collins.

Here is a look at those who have expressed interest in the race:

Maine’s former state Senate president, Jackson, ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination earlier this year with the support of Platner and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shortly after Platner’s withdrawal announcement, Jackson launched his Senate campaign, saying Mainers are looking for “a progressive fighter.” Our Revolution, the organization founded by Sanders, has announced it will support Jackson, who is 58 years old.

Shah, who previously served as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Thursday that he is seeking the Democratic Senate nomination. He finished second in this year’s Democratic governor’s primary and was widely viewed as a more moderate voice in that race compared to Jackson. “To the movement that supported Graham Platner, my message is this: you have a place in this campaign,” Shah, 49, said in a statement.

Kleban, co-founder of Maine Beer Company, confirmed his candidacy Wednesday following Platner’s announcement. He had briefly entered the Senate race the previous year before stepping aside when Gov. Janet Mills announced her own candidacy. Kleban, 49, had endorsed Mills, who later withdrew from the Democratic primary. “I’m ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington,” he said.

Bellows, Maine’s secretary of state, has not formally declared her candidacy but has indicated interest in the seat. She is no stranger to statewide races — the 51-year-old finished fourth in the state’s Democratic governor’s primary in June. Back in 2014, she ran against Collins as the Democratic Senate nominee and lost by a wide margin.

Wood, 36, initially tried to enter the Maine Democratic Senate primary last year but stepped out to run in the state’s 2nd Congressional District instead, where he came in third behind state Auditor Matt Dunlap. He has since expressed renewed interest in a Senate run and formally announced his candidacy Thursday. “To beat Susan Collins, we need a candidate who can provide a true contrast and run an unapologetically progressive campaign: Passing Medicare for All. Stopping ICE terrorizing our streets,” Wood wrote on social media Tuesday.

Loud, a 29-year-old social worker, filed paperwork earlier this week to enter the Senate race. She also ran in the 2nd District Democratic primary but was eliminated in the first round of the state’s ranked choice voting process.

Geiger, a state Democratic lawmaker and former Platner supporter, is also being mentioned as a potential candidate. She has not officially announced a run, but in a Wednesday interview with MS NOW, the 70-year-old said she would bring on Platner’s campaign staff, describing them as “deeply impassioned and confident young people.”

WASHINGTON — A former Olympic canoe racer who represented the United States in three Summer Games has entered a not guilty plea in a politically charged case involving alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, made his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday, where one of his attorneys entered the plea on his behalf. Hearn was indicted last Thursday on one felony count of property destruction.

The courtroom was packed for the hearing, where D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean declined to impose any supervision requirements on Hearn while he remains free ahead of trial. A status hearing has been set for August 5.

Prosecutor Kevin Reddington told the court that the government was not seeking supervision but did request a “stay-away order,” though he did not specify in court which location Hearn would be required to avoid.

Defense attorney Mary Dohrmann argued against any conditions being placed on her client, describing Hearn as an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.” She also took aim at the prosecution’s case, stating plainly, “The government’s evidence is weak.”

After the hearing concluded, dozens of Hearn’s supporters — many holding handmade signs — gathered outside the courthouse to greet him.

The case stems from ongoing problems surrounding the Reflecting Pool, which underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation ordered by President Donald Trump ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration this month. The project has faced repeated setbacks, including an algae outbreak that required chemical treatment. Trump has also said the pool will likely need to be drained again to repair its liner after pieces of blue coating were spotted floating on the surface.

Trump has claimed, without providing supporting evidence, that vandals poured fertilizer into the pool and used a box cutter to slash the coating. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, announced last week that six additional individuals had been arrested on misdemeanor charges tied to the $16 million pool project.

Hearn’s legal team has pushed back hard against the prosecution, calling the charges a “concocted narrative” and warning that the case “should be alarming to every American.” In a written statement, the attorneys said, “This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures. The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was held by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping at the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached into the water to look at peeling coating and briefly touched a loose piece attached to the side of the pool, but immediately released it when a park worker instructed him to do so.

Pirro, however, accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by tearing up newly installed sealant and acting aggressively toward a pool employee who told him to stop.

A former U.S. Olympic canoeist stood before a Washington, D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday and entered a not guilty plea in connection with alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

David “Davey” Hearn, 67, is charged with felony destruction of property after federal prosecutors claimed he intentionally damaged the lining material at the bottom of the famous pool on June 19.

The 2,000-foot-long pool, a landmark feature of Washington’s National Mall, was recently refurbished with an “American flag blue” liner at President Donald Trump’s request, part of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Shortly after the renovation was completed, the pool began showing significant problems — algae blooms turned the water green, and sections of the blue liner began peeling away. With criticism mounting over the $14.7 million project, Trump blamed the issues on deliberate sabotage by vandals.

Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced criminal charges against Hearn earlier this month, framing the prosecution as part of a broader effort to defend American monuments.

According to Pirro, Hearn deliberately pulled at the liner, tearing a 2-square-foot section and causing more than $1,000 in damage. If convicted, Hearn could face a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.

Hearn’s legal team has pushed back strongly, maintaining his innocence and arguing that the Trump administration filed charges to shift public focus away from what they described as a poorly executed renovation.

Hearn himself has acknowledged that he reached into the pool while riding his bicycle nearby and touched a piece of liner that was already coming loose — but he has firmly denied pulling any material out of the pool.

In the days after the renovation was unveiled, Trump alleged that individuals had poured chemicals into the pool to encourage algae growth and cut a 300-foot gash into the liner. To date, no one — including Hearn — has been formally accused of those specific actions.

The Department of the Interior reported that at least six people were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing the pool in the weeks that followed. National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police were deployed to monitor the site, and the pool was surrounded by fencing during the July 4th holiday festivities.

Trump has indicated the pool will need to be partially drained again so repairs can be made.

MADISON, Wis. — Democratic socialists have been racking up wins recently in liberal strongholds like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Denver. Now the movement is setting its sights on Wisconsin — a very different kind of political battlefield.

Francesca Hong, a 37-year-old single mother who has worked as a dishwasher and line cook, is running for governor in Wisconsin, a swing state where elections are frequently decided by razor-thin margins and moderate, independent voters carry enormous weight.

Her candidacy has transformed the Democratic primary on August 11 into a real-world test of how far to the left voters are willing to move heading into the November general election.

“We do this in Wisconsin, we’re going to change politics across the country,” Hong said as she entered the final month of her campaign. “People who are frustrated and have a lot more to lose — and I’m one of those people — are ready to coalesce around someone they can believe in.”

At a retirement home where he lives, undecided independent voter John Ravdabaugh heard Hong speak and came away with a positive impression. Despite having reservations about the democratic socialist label, he said he would consider casting a vote for her.

“Every system reaches a point where change is necessary,” Ravdabaugh said.

The winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly go on to face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. Tiffany, considered one of the most conservative members of the House and backed by President Donald Trump, faces only minimal opposition in his own primary.

The governor’s race matters enormously for Democrats, who are hoping to gain full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010. The outcome could also send a broader signal about the direction of American politics in a state that plays a pivotal role in presidential elections.

Tiffany has directed much of his criticism at Hong and fellow Democratic candidate and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. “This November, the choice is common sense or crazy,” Tiffany wrote on social media in June, sharing screenshots of Barnes expressing support for cutting prison populations in half and Hong’s posts calling for defunding and abolishing the police.

Hong has not walked back those positions. She also supports raising taxes on wealthy individuals, establishing a state-owned bank to help fund free health care and child care, setting a $20 minimum wage, and placing a moratorium on data center construction.

She pushes back against the idea that her politics are too extreme to attract independent voters in a state Trump carried twice and narrowly lost a third time.

“I worry that’s a miscalculation of where voters are at in our state, that we’re underestimating what people want,” Hong said.

Recent democratic socialist victories have been encouraging for the movement. Last month, Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., positioning herself to win the office in November. Three congressional candidates supported by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, also a democratic socialist, defeated establishment-backed opponents. And just last week, Melat Kiros — a 29-year-old first-time candidate — pulled off a stunning upset over U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in the Colorado primary, defeating an incumbent who had been in office longer than Kiros has been alive.

But those wins came in congressional or mayoral contests in major urban areas — a very different environment from Wisconsin’s statewide political landscape.

Wisconsin actually has deep historical ties to socialist politics. In 1910, during the height of socialism’s influence in the United States, Milwaukee sent the nation’s first socialist to Congress and became the first major American city to elect a socialist mayor. The city went on to elect two more socialist mayors before 1960.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, arguably the most prominent democratic socialist in the country, carried all but one county in Wisconsin during the 2016 Democratic primary. In 2023, two state lawmakers from Milwaukee revived the Legislature’s socialist caucus, which had been inactive since 1935. Hong — the first Asian American elected to the state Assembly, in 2020 — is among the four members of that caucus.

Also running in the Democratic primary is Mandela Barnes, 39, who spent four years in the state Assembly before serving four years as lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. In 2022, Barnes came within 27,000 votes of defeating Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. Barnes, who grew up in Milwaukee, is seeking to become Wisconsin’s first Black governor.

“I’ve been around longer than anybody fighting these fights,” Barnes said. He downplayed the idea of a democratic socialist surge, adding: “People aren’t looking for labels, necessarily. People are looking for bold solutions.”

Veteran Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, who is not affiliated with any of the campaigns this cycle, sees Barnes as the frontrunner. “I have believed from the day since Mandela Barnes got into the race, he’s the favorite,” Zepecki said. “It is his race to lose.”

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a former nurse and health care executive also seeking the Democratic nomination, argues she would have the broadest appeal in a general election. She points to her private sector background, her success flipping a state Assembly seat in a conservative Milwaukee suburb, and her focus on reducing costs for working families.

“I’m not worried about other candidates in this race,” Rodriguez said. “What I’m worried about is making my argument to Wisconsinites about why I’m the best person to lead the state, how I am going to fight for them.” She launched a $1 million television ad campaign this week showing her in nursing scrubs and focusing on taking on Tiffany and lowering health care costs.

Other Democrats in the race include state Sen. Kelda Roys, who has the backing of the statewide teachers union, and Joel Brennan, a former senior aide to Evers. Missy Hughes, the state’s former economic development director, exited the race in June and threw her support behind Rodriguez. David Crowley, the top elected official in Milwaukee County, dropped out this week without endorsing anyone.

Some moderate Democrats are concerned that nominating Hong could backfire in November, particularly given Wisconsin’s history of tight statewide races where independent voters are decisive.

Neera Tanden, who leads the Center for American Progress, said “it’s especially important in the age of Trump” to field candidates who can actually win. “In Wisconsin, whoever wins the general election will be the person overseeing elections in 2028 and whether people are seated in 2029,” she said.

The numbers underscore just how competitive Wisconsin is: Evers won his two gubernatorial races by just over one percentage point in 2018 and just over three points in 2022. Trump carried the state by less than a point in 2024 and lost it by less than a point in 2020.

Dave Smith, a 72-year-old retired doctor from Madison who attended a Hong event Tuesday, said the democratic socialist label will be a hard sell for voters of his generation. “The platform, much of that resonates well,” said Smith, who remains undecided in the primary. “My vote will likely go to who is the most electable in the fall.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Yahm Levin is a lifelong Democrat living in one of America’s most left-leaning cities. But the 39-year-old Jewish woman from Los Angeles has started hiding her identity — even from fellow progressives.

After repeated uncomfortable experiences, Levin has learned that revealing she is Jewish, particularly one with ties to Israel, can provoke unwelcome reactions from people who share her political views. She now goes by her middle name, Shelly, because it feels less risky.

“I don’t really feel comfortable in leftist circles anymore,” said Levin, a former librarian. “I just want to be a Jewish American who has a connection to Israel. But I feel like I can’t do that. And it’s very frustrating. And sometimes a little scary.”

Almost three years since the war in Gaza erupted following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, growing criticism of Israel within the Democratic Party has left Levin describing herself as “politically homeless.”

A newly released survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that most Jewish adults feel poorly represented by political leaders at a deeply unsettling time for their community. Sixty-three percent of Jewish Americans say prejudice against Jewish people is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem in the United States — yet few believe either political party is doing an adequate job of standing up for the Jewish community.

The poll, which surveyed 1,022 Jewish adults — including those who identify as Jewish by religion as well as those who identify through culture, ethnicity, or family background — provides a rare in-depth look at a demographic that finds itself at the heart of some of the country’s most divisive political arguments.

Results indicate that many Jewish adults feel cut off at a time when antisemitism is rising across the political spectrum and support for Israel has become a flashpoint in both parties. The survey found that 36% of Jewish adults say supporting Israel is “extremely” or “very” important to their Jewish identity, while another 26% say it is “somewhat” important.

Only 15% of Jewish adults say the Democratic Party supports Jewish people in the U.S. “extremely” or “very” well, while 33% say it does so somewhat well. About 41% say the Democratic Party supports the Jewish community “not very well” or “not well at all.”

Feelings toward President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are even more negative — though not by a wide margin. That’s a notable finding given that Jewish Americans overwhelmingly identify as Democrats. About half of Jewish adults say Trump and Republicans do not support Jewish people in the U.S. well.

The poll also highlights a sense of disconnect between Jewish Americans and the broader public. While antisemitism is a major concern within the Jewish community, only 38% of U.S. adults overall consider prejudice against Jewish people an “extremely” or “very” serious problem.

The political soul-searching isn’t limited to Jewish Democrats. Max Sacher, a 27-year-old Jewish Republican from Austin, Texas, said he was largely satisfied with Trump’s stance toward the Jewish community — until he saw the president’s recent diplomatic effort to resolve the conflict with Iran, which Trump launched alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s one of the most embarrassing documents I’ve read. It basically cedes everything to Iran,” said Sacher, a graduate student in finance. “I feel very lost politically. I used to have a home. Now I feel like I’m on an island in modern-day politics.”

According to AP VoteCast, Jewish voters made up 3% of the 2024 electorate. They voted heavily Democratic, with 66% supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and 33% backing Trump.

On several key questions, Jewish adults see things differently than the general American population. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults overall say Trump is highly supportive of Jewish people, compared to roughly 2 in 10 Jewish adults who feel the same way.

A large majority of Jewish adults — 77% — say antisemitism has worsened compared to three years ago, before the Hamas attack.

Ellen Kuberski, a 72-year-old Jewish Democrat from Chicago, dismissed Trump outright, describing a “general disgust and hatred” for the Republican president. But she is also frustrated with the Democratic Party, which she believes has shifted its support heavily toward Palestinians at the expense of Israel and American Jews. She was particularly troubled when progressive activists were protesting against Israel while Israeli hostages were still being held in Gaza.

“I tend to be more in line with the far left in just about everything else. But now the far left is attacking the Jewish community,” she said. “There’s enough antisemitism in the world that we don’t need politicians on what’s supposed to be on our side coming out with that crap.”

The Jewish community is divided over prominent figures in the Israel debate. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and vocal critic of Israel, actually polls better among Jewish adults than either Netanyahu or Trump, who once pledged to be “the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

About 44% of Jewish adults view Mamdani “somewhat” or “very” favorably, while 39% view him “somewhat” or “very” unfavorably. Around 2 in 10 said they don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

Kylle Epstein, a 24-year-old Jewish Democrat from Clearwater, Florida, expressed enthusiasm for Mamdani and similar Democrats who have recently won congressional primary races in New York.

“I think Mamdani is absolutely phenomenal. He makes Democrats think,” Epstein said, calling for “new blood in the party.”

Netanyahu fares poorly among Jewish adults, with only about one-third viewing him “somewhat” or “very” favorably. About 6 in 10 hold a “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable view of the Israeli prime minister, including 42% who view him “very” unfavorably. About 1 in 10 say they don’t know enough to offer an opinion.

Trump’s favorability among Jewish adults is slightly lower than Netanyahu’s, with just 29% viewing the president favorably.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of the country’s most prominent Jewish Democratic officeholders, remains largely unknown within the broader Jewish community. About 4 in 10 Jewish adults view him favorably, about 2 in 10 view him unfavorably, and roughly 4 in 10 say they don’t know enough about him to say.

In conversations, many Jewish adults made clear that their heritage doesn’t mean they want the United States to give Israel unconditional backing. About 4 in 10 Jewish adults say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel — a figure similar to U.S. adults overall — while about 3 in 10 Jewish adults say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of Israel, compared to about 2 in 10 Americans overall.

Meanwhile, about 4 in 10 Jewish adults also say the U.S. is “not supportive enough” of the Palestinians, a figure similar to U.S. adults overall.

The issue carries far more personal weight for Jewish adults than for the general public. About 6 in 10 Jewish adults say Israel is an “extremely” or “very” important issue to them personally, compared to just 35% of U.S. adults overall.

“Jews and Israel are connected, but they’re not synonyms,” said Levin, the former librarian from Los Angeles.

She said that misunderstanding on both sides of the political divide has helped fuel a surge in antisemitism, even in a city dominated by Democrats. Last month, while walking along Los Angeles’ historic Olvera Street with her husband, she came across a spray-painted message on the sidewalk reading “Death to Zionists,” accompanied by an upside-down triangle associated with Hamas.

Levin said it is becoming increasingly difficult to remain a loyal Democrat, even though she doesn’t see herself voting Republican.

“I mostly shake my head a lot and try to breathe,” she said.

The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The poll included 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points for adults overall and plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for Jewish adults.

A key federal agency is once again reviewing President Donald Trump’s proposal to construct a massive arch that would dramatically alter the Washington, D.C. skyline — but the agency’s own staff is calling for design changes before the project gets the green light.

The National Capital Planning Commission held a meeting Thursday, with Trump’s proposed 250-foot (76-meter) arch listed as one of the agenda items.

In a detailed report, the commission’s staff recommended that the preliminary site and building plans receive approval — but with a significant condition. The staff also called for the design to be adjusted to comply with a federal law that restricts building heights in downtown Washington, a rule intended to protect the city’s iconic skyline. The planning commission enforces that law as part of its approval process.

“Staff suggests the Commission request the applicant revise the project design to comply with the Height of Buildings Act and return to NCPC for final approval,” the 185-page report stated.

Applying the law “would require design revisions to redistribute the height between the main structure, habitable roof structure and statuary,” according to the report. Even so, the report noted that the arch, a public observation deck, and three gilded topper statues would still reach Trump’s desired 250-foot height after the recommended changes are made.

Staff members are also urging commissioners to request more details about vehicle traffic surrounding the arch, the proposed granite exterior, and other elements of the project before the Interior Department — which oversees the park service — comes back for a final decision. Trump’s vision calls for the arch to be built on a traffic circle on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge, across from the District of Columbia.

A separate federal body, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, gave its approval to the arch’s design back in May. The National Capital Planning Commission, which has authority over construction on federal land in the city, began its own review of the project in June.

Critics of the arch argue it is far too large for the surrounding landscape and would interfere with carefully planned views connecting the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery — sightlines that were deliberately designed to represent the reunification of the country following the Civil War.

Despite that opposition, neither commission has shown much responsiveness to the critics. Both bodies include some of Trump’s closest allies, and Trump himself appointed a top White House aide, Will Scharf, to head the planning commission.

A coalition of veterans and a historian have taken the matter to federal court, filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to halt construction over concerns about the impact on that historic sightline.

To put the arch’s scale in perspective, it would stand more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial, which rises 99 feet (30 meters). It would also be close to half the height of the Washington Monument, which stands approximately 555 feet (169 meters) tall.

Trump previously indicated that the arch could be funded using leftover money from the hundreds of millions of dollars he said he raised from corporations, donors, and other wealthy individuals to finance a new $400 million ballroom at the White House. However, it has since come to light that some public funds will go toward both the ballroom and the arch. The White House has not released any cost estimate for the arch project.

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — As Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary enters its final stretch, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens is making one central argument to voters: she knows how to beat Republicans.

Stevens captured a Republican-held House seat in suburban Detroit back in 2018 and has won every race since — including a hard-fought primary against a fellow Democratic incumbent following redistricting in 2022. She says that record is what separates her from progressive challenger Abdul El-Sayed ahead of the August 4th primary.

“It is not a hypothetical that I beat Republicans,” Stevens told the Associated Press following a campaign stop in West Michigan. “I win tough races. I have had Republicans throw everything at me and still managed to win.”

Keeping Michigan’s Senate seat in Democratic hands is considered critical to the party’s chances of reclaiming a Senate majority this fall. That urgency intensified this week after Democrats’ nominee in Maine, Graham Platner, announced plans to withdraw from his race following sexual assault allegations — threatening yet another seat the party had hoped to keep competitive. While no Republican has claimed a Michigan U.S. Senate seat since 1994, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers came within 20,000 votes of breaking that streak in 2024.

Those stakes have prompted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and prominent Michigan Democrats — including former Sen. Debbie Stabenow — to throw their support behind Stevens, arguing she represents the party’s best shot at defeating Rogers, who is running again.

But whether Democratic primary voters share that electability-first mentality remains an open question.

“Democratic leadership should think more in terms of what we want to accomplish, and less about, ‘We’ve got to make it appeal to everybody,’” said Dave Burdick, 71, of Douglas, Michigan, who is supporting El-Sayed. The progressive challenger has gained momentum by arguing that Democrats can win without moving toward the political center.

El-Sayed has built his campaign on sweeping policy proposals, refusing corporate PAC money and positioning himself as a challenge to the Democratic Party’s current direction.

“People don’t want a moderate. They want somebody who’s going to come in and effect change,” Burdick added.

On a recent summer afternoon in the Lake Michigan community of South Haven, Stevens moved through a pet supply store with the confidence of a veteran politician. She quickly struck up conversations with the store’s owner, greeted reporters by name, and chatted easily with shoppers — shifting smoothly between casual conversation and campaign talk, weaving in mentions of legislation she’s supported and asking for votes.

“I thought she was great fun,” said store owner Roxanne Leder. “She was energetic and had a positive outlook.”

Stevens’ supporters say that kind of personal, ground-level campaigning has been the hallmark of her political career. They concede she hasn’t produced the viral progressive moments that have powered El-Sayed’s momentum, but argue she excels in the settings where elections are actually decided — small gatherings, union halls, and local businesses.

Stevens has drawn that contrast herself, including during a recent debate.

“Unlike my opponent, I’m not running at the first mic or camera I see,” she said. “We do not need a celebrity senator. We need a workhorse.”

That approach echoes a familiar pattern among successful Michigan Democrats. Both former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer paired upbeat, approachable campaign styles with pragmatic, economy-focused messaging.

However, Stevens has not yet generated the kind of widespread grassroots enthusiasm that characterized those statewide campaigns. El-Sayed, by contrast, has drawn large crowds of progressive supporters and secured high-profile endorsements.

Stevens has instead relied heavily on outside spending — a factor that could become a significant vulnerability in the primary. Outside groups have poured more than $30 million into supporting her campaign, vastly outpacing spending on El-Sayed’s behalf. The biggest contributor, United Democracy Project — the super PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC — has spent more than $13 million supporting Stevens and reserved an additional $7 million ahead of the primary.

For Burdick, that AIPAC backing is a dealbreaker. He said he would not cast a vote for Stevens even in the general election because of that support.

Leder, on the other hand, said she expects to vote for Stevens in August, largely because she knows the congresswoman far better than she knows El-Sayed — though she said she still plans to do more research before deciding.

“I’m just a Democrat,” Leder said. “Please, please no Mike Rogers.”

El-Sayed’s platform includes Medicare for All, campaign finance reform, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ending all U.S. weapons sales to Israel. He is also a Muslim who has never held elected office — factors that, to many Washington Democrats, make him a risky candidate in a battleground state long associated with manufacturing and moderate politics.

Yet Michigan has a history of rewarding candidates who position themselves as outsiders taking on the political establishment. In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the state’s Democratic presidential primary by running against party leadership. Donald Trump later assembled his own anti-establishment coalition, winning Michigan in both 2016 and 2024.

Burdick, who describes himself as “an old white guy living in rural Michigan” and a democratic socialist, said both Trump and Sanders connected with voters because people were angry.

“Well, you know what? They’re still mad,” he said. “They portray people like Abdul as unrealistic, but I think it’s unrealistic to think that we can continue the way that we’re heading.”

The race shifted on Sunday when state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign, prompting several establishment Democrats to publicly back Stevens — including the Democratic group EMILY’s List and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

“Haley is wicked smart, has won multiple highly competitive races, and she connects with people on a level so sincere and genuine that everyone who meets her feels truly seen and heard,” Nessel said in a statement.

El-Sayed has also earned backing from influential labor organizations, including an endorsement from the United Auto Workers.

Fems for Dems, a prominent Democratic grassroots organization in Michigan, is not taking sides in the primary. But its founder, Lori Goldman, told the AP she personally plans to vote for El-Sayed.

“I personally am not going to have business as usual when I go to the ballot box. I want to vote for people, candidates that are going to go there and fight on our behalf,” she said.

Goldman, who launched the group a decade ago in politically significant Oakland County, acknowledged that the dynamics of Democratic primaries are shifting.

“Who would the natural choice be 10 years ago? Haley Stevens, right? Because we just followed the party line,” she said. “People are breaking away from the party line. People want change.”

The leader of the Smithsonian Institution is pushing back against a White House report that took sharp aim at the National Museum of American History, saying the document does not fairly represent what the museum does.

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch addressed the controversy in a memo sent to staff on Tuesday. “While there will always be room for improvement, this report is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History,” Bunch wrote. The Smithsonian confirmed the memo to Reuters on Wednesday, after the Washington Post first reported on it that same day.

The 162-page report, released on July 4 by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, is titled “SAVING AMERICA’S STORY: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage.” It accused the museum of harboring a belief that America has been “a fundamentally oppressive nation” since Columbus arrived in the New World, calling that attitude “thinly veiled anti-Americanism.” The report also claimed the museum had drifted toward “extreme political activism.”

Bunch said the institution is still going through the document. “We continue to review the report and its findings carefully,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Organization of American Historians — the largest group of U.S. history scholars in the country — came out against the report’s conclusions. The group said the White House was attempting to pressure Smithsonian leadership into presenting American history in a way that benefits the current administration. “In another example of executive branch overreach, the White House is seeking to coerce Smithsonian leadership to shape its presentation of U.S. history so that it serves the administration’s political agenda — part of an ongoing and multi-pronged assault by the Trump administration against accurate and evidence-based history in American public life,” the organization said in a statement.

President Donald Trump has made reshaping how U.S. cultural and historical institutions tell America’s story a central focus, targeting museums, monuments, and national parks in an effort he says is aimed at eliminating what he calls “anti-American” ideology. His executive orders and declarations have led to the removal of slavery exhibits, the return of Confederate statues, and other changes that civil rights advocates warn could roll back decades of social progress and diminish recognition of significant chapters in American history.

Trump signed an executive order last year specifically targeting the Smithsonian, calling for the removal of “anti-American ideology” from the sprawling museum and research complex. The White House also launched an internal review of several Smithsonian museums last year, and Trump indicated the institution could face the same scrutiny as universities whose federal funding was threatened over policies his administration opposed.

The Smithsonian, which has been in existence for 180 years and encompasses 21 museums and galleries as well as the National Zoo, receives the bulk of its funding from Congress but operates independently when it comes to decision-making.

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner announced Wednesday that he intends to drop out of the race after a woman accused him of sexual assault, collapsing a once-promising insurgent campaign that had survived months of controversy before unraveling at a critical moment for the Democratic Party.

Platner’s departure is expected to widen the rift between moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party as the party works to present a unified front heading into this year’s midterm elections.

Maine has been identified as a pivotal state in the battle for control of the narrowly divided Senate, and Democrats were counting on finding a candidate who could unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins at a time when President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are low.

Platner posted an 11-minute video to social media in which he called for the process of replacing him to be “open, transparent and democratic” and said it should reflect the values of those who supported his campaign. He also directed sharp criticism at Democratic leadership in Washington.

“People in D.C. need to stay in D.C.,” Platner said. “Decisions should not be made by people in places of political power.”

In the video, Platner appeared emotional at times, sitting on what looked like a wooden deck with the sound of passing traffic in the background. He occasionally scratched his beard and glanced away from the camera. He also emphasized that stepping aside was not an admission of guilt.

Despite never having held elected office, Platner drew strong support from progressive leaders over Gov. Janet Mills, who was the preferred choice of the Democratic establishment. Mills exited the race in late April as Platner — a military veteran and oyster farmer — built momentum among primary voters looking for a more aggressive candidate. Many of those voters were willing to set aside his troubled background, which included a tattoo associated with a Nazi symbol and online posts that dismissed sexual assault.

Even before Platner secured the Democratic nomination in the June 9 primary, reports surfaced that he had sent sexually explicit messages to other women while married and had become physical with a former girlfriend during a dispute.

However, his support held until Monday, when Politico published a report in which a woman said Platner drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop.

Jenny Racicot, a Maine resident, told Politico she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner but cut off all contact after that night in 2021, having told him the encounter was not consensual. In a subsequent CNN interview, she said she had been raped “by definition.”

After Politico published the story, Platner released a video denying the allegation as “categorically false” but said he would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” for his campaign. Key supporters quickly withdrew their backing, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said he spoke with Platner and that “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

Maine state law provides a mechanism for Democrats to replace Platner before the general election. The state Democratic Party held an emergency meeting Wednesday, where more than 100 state committee members voted to hold a nominating convention in the event of Platner’s withdrawal.

Less than an hour later, Platner made his announcement.

Under state law, party officials can name a new nominee if the primary winner withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13. A replacement candidate must be chosen by July 27.

Democrats need to flip four Senate seats to take control of the 100-member chamber, and party leaders have identified Maine as a key target alongside Alaska, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Questions about Platner’s background emerged almost as soon as he launched his campaign last year. News organizations uncovered old Reddit comments that appeared to endorse political violence, dismiss rape in the military, criticize rural Americans, and use anti-gay slurs.

There was also significant controversy surrounding a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest, which is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner said he had no knowledge of the tattoo’s history and got it while drunk and on military leave with fellow Marines in Croatia. He covered the tattoo after entering the race and said in an October 21 interview on the Pod Save America podcast that he was “not a secret Nazi.”

“Skulls and crossbones are a pretty standard military thing,” Platner added.

However, a former girlfriend told The New York Times that Platner used to joke about the tattoo being a Nazi symbol, calling it “my Totenkopf.”

The tattoo and the online comments raised alarms among Democrats who felt Platner had not been properly vetted and showed poor judgment. Some party leaders had already begun to doubt his electability before the allegations about his past relationships emerged.

Prior to Politico’s report, Platner had canceled several town hall events planned across the state — a signature element of his campaign, which had prided itself on reaching voters everywhere. Campaign volunteers had organized happy hours and trivia nights to build enthusiasm for Platner, 41, as a generational alternative to Collins, who is 73.

At a moment when many Democrats are frustrated with the party establishment, Platner had positioned himself as a compelling outsider. His commanding presence and populist focus on economic inequality resonated with voters who were also willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on past controversies, as he framed himself as someone who had made mistakes but was working to improve.

He sometimes spoke openly about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and emphasized the importance of redemption. Before the sexual assault allegation became public, some supporters said they wouldn’t want to be judged solely on their own worst moments.

Among Platner’s progressive backers was Rep. Ro Khanna of California, whose support evaporated quickly after Racicot came forward.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said Monday. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Sonja Birthisel, a Democrat and data analyst from Orono, Maine, voted for Platner in the primary but said he made the right call by withdrawing.

“My hope for the future of our democracy is that we can hold all of our elected officials to higher standards,” she said.

The 38-year-old also pushed back on the notion that the Maine race is simply a stand-in for a broader national fight between moderates and progressives.

“Maine is a big small town,” she said. “I’d really love to see out-of-state influence and out-of-state money keep out of our beeswax as much as possible.”

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner announced on Wednesday that he is stepping back from his bid for office, suspending his campaign operations.

In a video shared on the social media platform X, Platner addressed his supporters directly, saying: “We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations.”

The announcement came after Platner faced mounting pressure to drop out of the race following sexual assault allegations made against him. In that same video, he pushed back against those allegations, denying them outright.

NEW YORK (AP) — While Maine Democrats struggle to manage a deepening political crisis, Republicans working to preserve their U.S. Senate majority are feeling a wave of relief wash over them.

Throughout much of this year, GOP operatives had privately acknowledged the real possibility that they could lose control of the Senate. That concern is fading fast.

Although a lot can still change before November, Republicans have begun reshaping their national strategy to capitalize on a political landscape that has shifted dramatically in their favor — thanks largely to the mounting controversy surrounding Maine Democrat Graham Platner. Platner now faces a sexual assault allegation that even his closest allies have called credible.

Platner denies the accusation but is facing enormous pressure to drop out of the race. The list of potential candidates to replace him has done little to worry Republicans who are rallying behind incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, who is running for a sixth term this fall.

The extraordinary turmoil within Maine’s Democratic Party has flipped what many considered the party’s top Senate pickup opportunity into a chaotic situation where Democrats are divided and uncertain about who their nominee will be — just four months before Election Day.

“Obviously, expectations are that this certainly will be helpful overall,” said Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She added that without Maine, “Democrats have no path to a majority.”

The numbers appear to back her up.

Democrats would need to flip four Senate seats to take control of the chamber for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s time in office.

Maine is the only 2026 Senate battleground where a Republican senator is up for reelection in a state that Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024. North Carolina — where Democrats have united behind popular former Gov. Roy Cooper — is likely the party’s next-best pickup chance. Democrats are also working to stay competitive in the Republican-leaning states of Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and Texas, while defending their own seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

Without a win in Maine, Democrats would need to hold every seat they currently have and capture four of five seats in states where Trump won by an average of more than 10 percentage points.

“I’m convinced Republicans are holding the Senate,” said New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, who has hosted fundraising events for Collins and other at-risk GOP senators. He added that the situation in Maine “makes it easier.”

It’s difficult to overstate just how much attention Republicans have poured into protecting Collins, who is the last Republican senator representing any New England state.

During this election cycle alone, Republicans have already spent $108 million on her race — more than nearly every other Senate contest in the country, though just behind Texas’s record-setting Republican primary, according to data compiled by AdImpact.

And the party had been prepared to spend significantly more in Maine, according to Republican strategist Chris Hartline.

“Republicans were in a situation where we were going to have to go all in on Maine,” he said.

Hartline noted that Platner’s implosion doesn’t make Maine an automatic Republican win, but it does give the national party some “breathing room” to move money to other races.

On Wednesday, for instance, the Republican super PAC One Nation announced it would spend a combined $45 million across three Senate races in Ohio, Iowa and New Hampshire. Maine was left off that list — even though One Nation has already put $23.5 million into the state, according to AdImpact.

That said, Republicans are not pulling all of their Maine funding in the near term.

Working under the assumption that Platner will exit the race within days, Republicans are preparing a negative advertising campaign aimed at quickly defining whoever emerges as Collins’ next opponent.

“The candidate we’re running against is largely undefined,” Rodriguez said. “So there will have to be spending and a campaign on behalf of Collins to be sure that that person is defined early.”

Collins, who had already been gearing up for a tough reelection fight, had nearly $10 million in her campaign account as of late May.

“Fundraising continues on at a strong clip and we are heartened to see support from Mainers and Americans across the nation continue to grow,” said Collins’ campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen. “Our cash position remains very strong.”

Maine Democratic Party leaders are rushing to put together a contingency plan for if and when Platner announces his withdrawal from the race.

Nearly all of his prominent supporters this week called on Platner to step aside, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who had previously stood by the oyster farmer even after reports surfaced about a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, extramarital sexting, and controversial social media posts that would have derailed most political campaigns.

Everything shifted this week when a former girlfriend told reporters that Platner drunkenly entered her home and sexually assaulted her in 2021 — an allegation Platner has denied.

Under Maine law, Platner must voluntarily withdraw by 5 p.m. on July 13 in order for another candidate to take his place on the ballot. As of now, Platner has only said he is pausing his campaign.

If he does withdraw, Maine law gives the state Democratic Party the authority to select a replacement candidate — a decision that must be made by July 27, leaving just 99 days until Election Day.

“Democrats have taken their No. 1 pickup opportunity and completely fumbled it,” Rodriguez of the NRSC said. “This is the strongest Susan Collins has ever been.”

Actor Patrick Dempsey announced Wednesday that he has no intention of seeking a Maine U.S. Senate seat, putting an end to rumors that the “Grey’s Anatomy” star — and former People magazine Sexiest Man Alive — was being considered as a potential replacement for Democratic nominee Graham Platner.

Platner has temporarily suspended his campaign while he considers whether to withdraw from the competitive Senate race. A former girlfriend has accused him of sexual assault, an allegation he denies. The oyster farmer and Marine veteran earned the Democratic nomination in June to challenge longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the November election.

Writing in an op-ed published in the Portland Press Herald, Dempsey acknowledged that Maine residents are confronting serious issues such as housing, healthcare, and education. He argued that whoever wins the Senate seat must be committed to delivering real, meaningful change for the state.

“As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” Dempsey wrote. “After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. Not because public service isn’t honorable — it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built.”

Dempsey stopped short of throwing his support behind any of the individuals who have signaled interest in stepping into Platner’s place, and he did not mention Platner by name. He did say that the right candidate should bring “a new approach to how we govern ourselves.”

“Most of all, I want integrity. That may sound idealistic today, but it shouldn’t,” he added.

Dempsey was raised in the Lewiston-Auburn area of Maine and founded The Dempsey Center, a nonprofit that offers free services to individuals and families affected by cancer.

WASHINGTON — A key U.S. Senate committee is set to hold a vote on July 15 on bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening the American government’s ban on Chinese automakers entering the U.S. vehicle market.

A Republican senator from Ohio, Bernie Moreno, and a Democratic senator from Michigan, Elissa Slotkin, jointly introduced the bill back in April. The legislation is designed to formally write into law a regulation that was put in place by the Biden administration — one that effectively prevents all Chinese automakers from selling passenger cars in the United States.

Beyond locking in that existing ban, the bill would also take additional measures to keep Chinese manufacturers out of the broader U.S. light-duty vehicle market. The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to take up the measure on July 15.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look at a case involving birthright citizenship, expressing sharp frustration over the court’s recent decision to reject one of his key policy goals.

Last month, the high court — which carries a 6-3 conservative majority that includes three justices appointed by Trump himself — turned down his bid to limit birthright citizenship in the United States.

Trump lashed out at the 6-3 decision, which was written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, labeling it a “miscarriage of justice.”

Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP IS NOT FOR SALE! In fact, that is a crime, and therefore, the Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong.”

He added: “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY.”

The president signed an executive order on his first day back in office last year, seeking to end birthright citizenship as part of a broader set of measures aimed at tightening restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration. Trump has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of presidential authority across both domestic and foreign policy matters.

President Donald Trump returned home from a NATO summit in Turkey aboard one of the older, baby blue Air Force One aircraft rather than the gleaming red, white, and navy blue jet donated by Qatar — a last-minute switch that caught many by surprise and came just as the United States and Iran were exchanging military strikes.

Trump gave little explanation for the change, telling reporters he wanted to ride the older plane “for old time’s sake.” He also said both aircraft would make an unplanned stop at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base in the United Kingdom used by American military personnel, before heading back to the United States.

The sudden aircraft swap sparked new questions about the security readiness of the Qatari-gifted jet, which the U.S. spent $400 million to modify. Photos of the aircraft taken since its public debut show it is missing some of the missile detection and countermeasure systems found on the older presidential planes.

The timing added to the intrigue — the switch was announced less than a day after the U.S. military launched a series of major strikes against Iran in response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the region. Iran shares a border with Turkey, where the summit was held.

Trump initially broke the news on social media, saying the new jet would stop at the UK air base so that military personnel could get a look at the plane. He said he would fly home separately on an older aircraft that had previously served as Air Force One.

At a news conference, when a reporter asked whether security concerns drove the decision, Trump didn’t give a direct answer. He did note, however, that regarding Iran, he was “No. 1 on the list for killing.” When pressed further, he said he would be “going home by normal methods” while the new plane was shown off to troops.

When reporters asked the U.S. Air Force whether the missing countermeasure systems factored into the swap, officials there referred questions to the White House. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump left Turkey on one of the older Boeing VC-25A aircraft that have transported U.S. presidents for more than three decades. Consumer flight tracking services lost the plane’s signal shortly after takeoff, indicating the crew had switched off its transponder — a security protocol typically used when flying the president through high-risk areas such as active war zones, not routine trips departing from a NATO ally hosting a pre-scheduled summit.

By contrast, flights carrying other world leaders — including those from Germany and the United Kingdom — departed with their transponders active and visible to trackers.

The Qatari-donated Boeing 747-800, which was customized for Trump’s use, left Turkey earlier that Wednesday and touched down at RAF Mildenhall that same afternoon, according to flight tracking data.

Iran has missiles and drones with enough range to cover the roughly 800-mile distance from its borders to Turkey, including certain Shahed drones and Shahab ballistic missiles. However, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Iran does not have weapons capable of effectively reaching England, which sits approximately 2,500 miles away.

The U.S. Air Force, which manages the fleet of presidential aircraft, had previously acknowledged that not all necessary upgrades were completed on the Qatari jet in order to get it into service more quickly. While officials stated the conversion was done “without accepting any risk regarding security, safety, or secure communications,” they also admitted that “several highly complex engineering modifications required for the final Air Force One aircraft were intentionally excluded from the Bridge aircraft.”

A senior analyst at Teal Group, an aviation and defense consulting firm, previously told The Associated Press that the absence of countermeasure systems — along with what appeared to be fewer communications antennas — indicated the Qatari jet was more appropriate for domestic flights only.

Trump’s first trip aboard the new Qatari plane took place last week, when he flew to North Dakota.

The original Air Force One jets were constructed near the close of the Cold War and were designed to withstand the effects of a nuclear blast. They include a variety of security features such as anti-missile countermeasures and an onboard operating room. The planes are also capable of mid-air refueling, though that capability has never been used with a president aboard.

Two Boeing jets currently being built as permanent replacements for the aging Air Force One fleet have faced delays and are now expected to be delivered in 2028.

Eleven more migrants removed from the United States by the Trump administration have landed in Eswatini, a small southern African nation, according to a U.S. attorney closely following the matter.

The new arrivals push the total number of deportees sent to the country to 29, all under a $5.1 million agreement between the two governments. The arrangement has drawn legal challenges from attorneys who argue that these individuals are being detained even though they had already finished serving their sentences for crimes committed on U.S. soil.

Attorney Alma David, who represents some of the original group of deportees sent to Eswatini last year and maintains contact with sources inside local prisons there, confirmed the latest arrivals to Reuters via text message.

Of the 29 people deported from the United States to Eswatini, only two have been released and sent back to their home countries — one to Jamaica and the other to Cambodia.

The newly arrived detainees have already been transferred to Eswatini’s Matsapha correctional facility, which has a notorious reputation, David said. A spokesperson for the Eswatini government had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.

Eswatini is not the only destination being used under this policy. The Trump administration has also deported migrants to other nations across Africa, Asia, and the Americas as part of its broader third-country deportation strategy.

The United States Supreme Court’s yearly financial disclosure reports are offering the public a closer look at how the justices earn money beyond their judicial salaries, including income generated from book deals and other personal ventures.

These annual reports serve as a window into the personal and financial lives of the nation’s top jurists, covering everything from gifts they received to travel they took and other sources of outside income.

Among the details drawing attention this year is how book-related income is contributing to the justices’ overall earnings, adding a notable revenue stream on top of their court compensation.

The disclosures are required annually and are intended to promote transparency among members of the nation’s highest court.

The Trump administration is turning up the heat on states over their election practices, threatening to cut off certain federal dollars and warning that election officials could face criminal charges if noncitizens are allowed to remain on voter rolls.

The latest moves — including letters sent to state election officials and conditions tied to federal grant money — represent an ongoing push by the administration to influence how elections are conducted, a responsibility that has traditionally belonged to individual states.

Courts have largely blocked earlier attempts by the administration to make similar changes. Those efforts have been rooted in claims of widespread voting fraud that have been found to be untrue, and they come fewer than four months before crucial midterm elections in which Democrats are hoping to gain control of at least one chamber of Congress.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project, offered this assessment: “The overall point is that Trump is trying to use whatever levers of power and persuasive power that he might have to try to interfere with how states and localities are going to conduct the 2026 election. Some of this is aimed at changing how the rules are conducted. Some of it appears to be aimed at undermining voter confidence in the integrity of the election process.”

On Tuesday, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent letters to election administrators — frequently secretaries of state — in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The letters stated that those officials could face criminal prosecution if they knowingly allow ineligible voters to cast ballots or stay on voting rolls. States were given five days to respond explaining how they plan to follow the law.

The letter also put officials on notice that anyone who deliberately provides false information when registering to vote or casting a ballot could face criminal charges.

Derek Muller, an election law specialist and professor at the University of Notre Dame, questioned the significance of the letter, saying it largely restates existing law and requests a follow-up response, “which I’m sure many states will ignore.”

Separately, a Federal Emergency Management Agency announcement from June tied election-related conditions to an antiterrorism grant program. Under the terms, 20% of grant funds for states and urban areas would be held back until those requirements are met.

The grant program distributes more than $1 billion to state, local, and tribal governments to fund efforts aimed at preventing terrorism in crowded public spaces, online, at borders, and around elections. FEMA anticipates awarding 56 grants in total.

The grant announcement described securing election infrastructure as a national security priority, stating that recipients can help build “a secure, transparent, and resilient electoral process, thereby reinforcing public trust and the integrity of democratic institutions.”

Among the requirements listed: states must verify the citizenship of all registered voters and election workers. Jurisdictions that use electronic voting systems relying on bar codes or QR codes to tabulate votes would need to submit a plan to transition to hand-marked paper ballots. All jurisdictions would also be required to demonstrate that they conduct audits of election results.

Hasen noted that compliance could be a challenge even for states that want to cooperate, pointing out that the election is too close to make some of the required changes, and that others would need new legislation passed by state legislatures.

The White House directed questions to FEMA on Wednesday, and FEMA did not respond to an interview request.

Reactions from state officials appear to be splitting along party lines.

Oregon’s secretary of state, Democrat Tobias Read, accused the Justice Department of “knocking on our door again with more threats and no evidence to back up their fever dreams about non-existent voter fraud.” He declared that Oregon’s elections are secure, accurate, and fair, and said he isn’t “intimidated by political threats or manufactured controversy.”

The Michigan secretary of state’s office, led by Democrat Jocelyn Benson, said it has shared information about its election practices with the Justice Department on multiple occasions — through public statements, congressional hearings, and court testimony. The office said that information “is either in the DOJ’s possession or easy reach” and added, “We will be happy to provide it again to help address any confusion.”

Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose took the opposite stance, defending the Justice Department’s letter as a legitimate reminder to states of their legal responsibilities around election integrity. He said many states aren’t taking those obligations seriously, though he did not provide examples or evidence to support that claim. LaRose said Ohio has collaborated with the federal government to keep its voter rolls accurate and to ensure only U.S. citizens cast ballots.

Georgia’s secretary of state’s office said the state has already carried out many of the actions called for in the FEMA grant requirements, including conducting a citizenship audit of its voter rolls.

President Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that fraud was responsible for his 2020 election loss, and his administration has pursued a series of policies targeting how elections are managed.

In recent days, federal courts rejected the Justice Department’s attempts to obtain names and contact details for every Georgia election worker involved in the 2020 election, as well as efforts to compel New Hampshire and Pennsylvania to hand over detailed voter registration data. With those rulings, the federal government has now lost more than 10 similar cases involving requests for voter data from 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Last week, a coalition of Democratic governors called on the U.S. Postal Service to pull back a proposed rule that would implement a Trump order to create a list of eligible voters and potentially restrict who receives mail-in ballots. A court had already placed that order on hold, ruling it was unconstitutional.

Also last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Trump, deciding that states are permitted to count mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day.

NEW YORK — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that E. Jean Carroll may now receive the $5.8 million that was set aside following a jury’s determination that President Donald Trump sexually abused her in 1996 — before he became president — and later defamed her after she went public with her account of the attack.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan signed an order releasing the funds to Carroll, along with interest that has accumulated since the original verdict. Carroll’s legal team had sought the disbursement after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict. Trump had already paid the money into a holding fund while the appeals process played out, pending a final court order.

Even as Trump’s attorneys were weighing whether to ask the high court to reconsider its decision, Trump had resumed making defamatory statements against Carroll, according to the record in the case.

Attorneys representing both sides did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

The jury delivered its verdict in a trial that Trump chose not to attend. Carroll testified that Trump sexually assaulted her inside the dressing room of an upscale Manhattan department store, describing how what began as a chance, friendly encounter turned violent.

Carroll, who is 82 years old, first spoke publicly about the alleged attack in 2019 in a memoir she published while Trump was serving as president. Trump repeatedly denied ever knowing Carroll and accused her of fabricating the story to sell books and advance a political agenda.

Separately, Trump is appealing an $83 million defamation judgment that a different Manhattan jury awarded Carroll following a January 2024 trial, at which Trump briefly took the stand. In that proceeding, Judge Kaplan instructed the jury to accept the findings from the earlier trial as established fact and focus solely on determining the amount of damages Trump owed Carroll for statements he made about her during his presidency.

President Donald Trump has officially notified Congress of his plan to remove Syria from the United States’ list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, a senior administration official confirmed on Wednesday.

The decision does not take immediate effect. Under the process, Congress is required to carry out a 45-day review before the designation can be formally lifted.

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Democrat Graham Platner has yet to say whether he will exit the Maine U.S. Senate race, even as a former girlfriend has accused him of sexual assault — an allegation he firmly denies.

Platner, a first-time candidate, has been facing intense calls from within his own party to step down. He has also been accused of attempting to influence how a potential replacement would be chosen — something he likewise denies.

The uncertainty surrounding Platner has thrown a critical U.S. Senate race into disarray just months before November’s midterm elections. The Maine Democratic Party, which is legally responsible for selecting any replacement candidate, has not yet outlined how it would go about doing so. At the same time, several prospective candidates have already begun hinting at their desire to enter the contest.

Here is a breakdown of where things stand and what could happen next:

Under Maine state law, there is a narrow window for replacing a general election candidate. Platner would need to voluntarily step aside by 5 p.m. on July 13 in order for a replacement to be considered. As of now, he has only agreed to pause his campaign.

If he does withdraw, Maine law gives the state Democratic Party the authority to select a replacement, and that decision must be made by July 27.

What the actual selection process would look like, however, remains unclear. It could involve a vote by the state committee, a caucus, or possibly a state political convention.

Such a situation — a general election candidate stepping away from a race — is extremely uncommon in Maine and across the country, leaving party officials scrambling to put a plan in place if and when Platner formally announces his withdrawal.

A central question in this saga is how much leverage Platner — an oyster farmer and Marine veteran — actually holds in the situation.

On Tuesday, Devon Murphy-Anderson, the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director, issued a statement accusing Platner’s campaign of repeatedly attempting to “put their thumb on the scale” when it comes to choosing the next Democratic nominee.

“We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,” she said.

Platner’s team fired back with their own statement, saying “at no point has the campaign tried to ‘put its finger on the scale’” and that they are simply trying to understand how the process works. The campaign pointed out that thousands of Maine residents voted and volunteered for Platner — a progressive candidate who outlasted establishment-backed Gov. Janet Mills — and argued that should factor into any decision.

Among those considering a run is Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who said he is “evaluating” whether to enter the race. Shah said he has been in contact with the Maine Democratic Party about making sure any replacement process reflects “openness, transparency and robustness.”

Another name in the mix is Troy Jackson, Maine’s former state Senate president, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination earlier this year with the support of Platner and Our Revolution, the political organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Jackson filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday to establish a Senate exploratory committee.

Jordan Wood, a former U.S. Senate candidate who later switched to run for Maine’s 2nd District and lost, posted Tuesday that he was “continuing conversations” with voters about potentially joining the race.

Other names being floated include Shenna Bellows, the current Maine secretary of state; Dan Kleban, founder of Maine Beer Co.; and Hannah Pingree, who is currently the Maine Democratic nominee for governor.

Platner’s campaign had energized hundreds of volunteers across the state. This week, many of them have expressed disappointment over the behavior he stands accused of, while wrestling with what the right path forward should be.

A number of those supporters have called on him to drop out of the race.

Paul Attardo, 64, of Scarborough, said he can no longer back Platner following the allegation — even though a campaign sign still sits at the end of his driveway. He described the accusation as “disappointing” and “indisputably sincere,” and said the party needs to move quickly to find a replacement.

The situation brought to mind for Attardo the last-minute replacement of Joe Biden during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“We rally behind somebody, and not unlike the Biden administration, when everybody rallied behind Joe Biden, at the eleventh hour that failed,” he said. “I sort of feel we’re in a similar boat.”

A panel of three judges on Wednesday turned down a request from the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to restore President Donald Trump’s name to the building while the board pursues an appeal. The judges had earlier ruled that adding his name to the venue was illegal, and that decision led to the name being removed.

The ruling is the latest blow to the board, which Trump chairs, in a legal dispute that began earlier this year when the performing arts institution was renamed “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

The high-profile name addition — and the court fight that followed — came to represent Trump’s broader effort to leave his mark on the nation’s capital during his final term in office.

In their Wednesday ruling, the judges stated that the board “failed to show how they will be irreparably injured” if Trump’s name stays off the building while the appeal moves forward.

The board had contended that keeping his name off the building “threatens to impede” the center’s ability to raise funds. However, the judges determined that argument was not backed by “specific facts or evidence.”

A federal judge earlier this year declared the name change unlawful, and Trump’s name was taken down from the building’s white marble facade in June. The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

As the midterm elections approach, the rules that govern how Americans vote are undergoing major changes — and one journalist says voters should be paying close attention.

Ari Berman, a journalist with Mother Jones, is sounding the alarm about what he describes as new barriers being put in place that could make it harder for some people to vote. The changes span a range of areas, including redistricting and campaign finance.

Berman argues that President Trump appears, in his words, “obsessed with the mechanics of voting” — a focus that the journalist says is reshaping how elections will be conducted heading into the midterms.

Among the concerns being raised: whether voters have the proper documentation, such as a birth certificate, that may be required under new rules. Many Americans may not know where those documents are — or may face challenges obtaining them.

Long before any official approval was granted, the concept behind a massive new arch monument tied to President Trump was already taking shape — and experts say the way it got pushed through raises serious questions.

According to a new report, a tight-knit group of people with close connections to the president had an unusually large influence over the project’s rapid approval process. The proposed structure would stand 250 feet tall and, based on imagery released by Harrison Design — the studio involved in the project — would frame Robert E. Lee’s house behind it when viewed at night.

Specialists who study the design and approval of public memorials say this kind of project should not be rushed through or steered by a small number of insiders. Proper memorial design, they argue, typically involves a broader, more deliberate process with input from multiple stakeholders.

Instead, those close to the president appear to have played a defining role in moving the arch concept forward well ahead of any formal design approval — a timeline that critics say bypassed the kind of careful review such a significant monument would normally require.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has formally called on Sen. Mitch McConnell — the state’s most influential voice in Congress — to come forward with a public update on his health. The request comes after three weeks without any word from the 84-year-old senator since he was admitted to a hospital in Washington.

In a letter made public on Wednesday, Beshear, a Democrat who is seen as a possible presidential contender in 2028, wrote to the former Senate Republican leader that “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”

McConnell, whose physical health has noticeably deteriorated in recent years, entered the hospital on June 14. Since that date, he has not appeared publicly, released any statements, or shared any photos or video. His staff has offered little in the way of specifics, saying only last week that McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

The vague response has sparked widespread speculation about his condition and whether he will return when the Senate reconvenes next week. The growing controversy prompted Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday to publicly confirm they had spoken with McConnell and that he was alert and engaged in conversations about current events.

McConnell is set to retire when his current term concludes in January, and the race to choose his successor is already underway. Kentucky’s law governing Senate vacancies — which Republican lawmakers have changed twice during Beshear’s time as governor — does not allow the governor to appoint a temporary replacement if McConnell’s seat were to open before his term is up.

Under changes made to the law in 2024, if the seat were to become vacant before August 3, a special election would be triggered to choose a replacement, possibly running alongside the general election in November. The winner of that special election could be seated almost immediately, while the general election winner would be sworn in with the new Congress in January.

Should the seat become vacant after August 3, the law would not allow enough time to hold a special election, meaning the seat would remain empty until January.

Beshear closed his letter by expressing his hope that McConnell enjoys “a safe and speedy recovery.”

TEL AVIV, Israel — Rahm Emanuel, a longtime defender of Israel and potential Democratic presidential candidate, stood before a packed auditorium at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday and delivered a stinging warning: Israel’s own leadership has turned the country into a “territorial pariah,” leaving it dangerously isolated from the rest of the world.

The sharp condemnation from a centrist Democrat who has historically backed Israel signals just how dramatically the party’s relationship with the country has shifted over the three years since the war in Gaza began. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked to build close ties with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Israel’s standing among Democrats has fallen sharply.

A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly 58% of Democrats now believe the United States is “too supportive” of Israel — up from 45% in January 2024. About half of Democrats also believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the Gaza conflict, a claim Israel strongly rejects.

The poll also found that Jewish adults, who tend to lean Democratic, hold a slightly more favorable view of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a vocal critic of Israel — than they do of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Speaking to students and supporters at an event hosted by the university’s Center for the Study of the United States, Emanuel delivered a blunt message. “You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,” he said. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.”

Emanuel laid out a series of recommendations designed to pull Israel out of what he called its “strategic pariah status.” His proposals centered on rebuilding Israel’s diplomatic relationships with Arab nations and strengthening economic ties through the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — positioning it as a counterweight to China’s global infrastructure program.

Among his specific proposals: ending U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget, arguing that Israel should pay for American defense support the same way any other ally would. He also called for sanctions against Israelis who carry out attacks on Palestinian civilians and property, as well as against politicians who publicly support such violence. Emanuel said America’s tendency to look the other way at Israeli injustices had “engendered the worst of your domestic politics.”

The audience at the liberal-leaning Tel Aviv University responded warmly, applauding even as Emanuel criticized Israeli policies — including Netanyahu’s failure to plan for what would come after the fighting in Gaza. Emanuel told the crowd that “true friends tell each other the truth.”

Israeli media, meanwhile, were largely focused on the NATO conference in Turkey and a potential escalation with Iran, and gave little attention to Emanuel’s visit.

Rather than advocating for a traditional two-state solution, Emanuel proposed what he called a 23-state solution — involving 21 Arab nations — that would hold Palestinians responsible for working toward statehood while acknowledging the historic Jewish connection to the land. The three-part U.S. policy framework would draw on the Arab world’s desire for regional stability, Israel’s need for security, and Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty.

Emanuel arrived in Israel on Sunday and spent several days visiting various initiatives before his speech, including a joint program between hospitals in Tel Aviv and Nablus where Israeli and Palestinian doctors train side by side. He also met with President Isaac Herzog and paid a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem.

He told The Associated Press earlier in the week that he is intentionally avoiding meetings with political leaders ahead of Israel’s elections this fall. Israel’s presidency is a symbolic, appointed position rather than an elected office.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the speech. The prime minister previously called Emanuel a “self-hating Jew” back in 2009, when Emanuel condemned Israel’s expansion of settlements while serving as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. The backlash was intense enough that far-right activists were detained while protesting Emanuel’s son’s bar mitzvah in Jerusalem the following year, Emanuel recalled.

One of those detained by police at the time was Itamar Ben-Gvir, who now serves as Israel’s public security minister and has authority over the police. Emanuel noted the irony with dry humor, calling it emblematic of the direction Israel’s politics have taken over the past 15 years.

Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem and fought in the 1948 war that led to Israel’s founding, also addressed the devastating Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, in which militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those who died after a ceasefire went into effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry operates under the Hamas-led government but is staffed by medical professionals and keeps detailed records that United Nations agencies and independent experts generally consider reliable.

Before taking the stage, Emanuel told reporters that conversations with Israelis over the previous days had left him struck by the depth of their feeling that their own government had let them down. “This sense of post-Oct. 7 vulnerability, I had read about it, but you don’t feel the visceralness of this and the rawness of this until you sit across the table from people,” he said.

While no major Democratic figure has formally entered the 2028 presidential race, that is expected to change following the November midterms. Emanuel — who has also served as a congressman, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan — has been among the most transparent about his interest in running, including conducting bike tours through early voting states like New Hampshire.

Though he said he has not yet made a final decision on a run, Emanuel was firm Wednesday that Democrats do not need to abandon Israel in order to win the White House in 2028. But he insisted that America must chart a new course. “The status quo is unacceptable, where you can’t say anything negative, which is an implicit endorsement,” he said.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to fly aboard an older version of Air Force One on a trip from Turkey to the United Kingdom — and he’s doing it purely for sentimental reasons.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would make the journey aboard the older aircraft “for old time’s sake,” while the brand-new presidential plane would also make its way to RAF Mildenhall in the UK.

The purpose of sending the new plane to the British air base? To give American troops stationed there a chance to see it up close. “Everybody is so excited and we thought that they should be the first,” Trump wrote in his post.

The new Air Force One is a Boeing 747 that was donated to the United States by Qatar and later refurbished by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies. Trump personally selected its new paint scheme — a bold combination of red, white, dark blue, and gold — which is a significant departure from the classic look that has defined Air Force One for many decades.

The acceptance of the Qatari aircraft has not been without controversy. Experts noted that transforming the luxury jet into a secure presidential aircraft required extensive work, including communications systems designed to block eavesdropping, enhanced security features, and missile defense capabilities.

Property owners who have concerns about their current property assessments now have the opportunity to formally challenge those valuations before a Board of Equalization.

The board is accepting appointments from individuals who wish to appear and present objections to their assessed property values. This type of hearing gives property owners a structured, official process to contest assessments they believe may be inaccurate or unfair.

Those interested in making their case before the board are encouraged to schedule an appointment to appear in person. Details on how to arrange a hearing time are available through the relevant local government office.

As artificial intelligence becomes more widely used in political campaigns, questions are mounting about whether AI-generated parodies cross the line from harmless satire into something far more troubling.

States like Michigan have moved to put regulations in place governing how AI can be used in political content, but there are growing concerns that those rules may not have much real-world impact on what voters actually encounter.

The debate centers on a difficult question: when does an AI-created campaign parody count as protected political satire, and when does it become something darker and potentially misleading to the public?

As technology continues to outpace lawmaking, officials and observers are wrestling with how — or whether — existing and proposed rules can keep up with the rapidly evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence in the political arena.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — A former Wisconsin judge is set to learn her fate Wednesday, when a federal court hands down a sentence in a case that put a spotlight on tensions between local courts and the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.

Hannah Dugan, 67, who previously served as an elected judge on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, was convicted of obstructing a federal proceeding. She was acquitted on a separate, lesser charge of concealing a person from arrest. The federal trial took place in December and brought national attention to the administration’s practice of staging immigration arrests at courthouses.

According to prosecutors, Dugan directed a Mexican migrant — who had been scheduled to appear before her on misdemeanor assault charges — out through a restricted “jury door” in an effort to help him slip past federal agents waiting in a hallway just outside the courtroom.

The migrant, identified as Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, ultimately walked through a public hallway alongside his attorney and was taken into custody outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman is scheduled to preside over the sentencing hearing, set to begin at 11:15 a.m. CST at the federal courthouse in Milwaukee.

Federal prosecutors did not specify a recommended sentence but argued that sentencing guidelines point to a range of 15 to 21 months behind bars. In a sentencing memorandum, they wrote that Dugan “used the power and prestige of judicial office to obstruct federal agents carrying out their lawful duties in order to help an individual evade arrest,” rather than uphold the rule of law.

Prosecutors also argued the sentence should reflect the “serious nature of her conduct and its broader impact on the justice system.”

Dugan’s legal team pushed back, disputing that the guidelines require a 15-to-21-month term. Her attorneys asked the court to sentence her to time already served, which would mean no additional prison time.

In a court filing, her defense described the incident as “isolated and unique” and argued there was “no possibility of her repeating it.” Her lawyers also noted that Dugan lost her judgeship following her conviction and contended she had been “intentionally shamed” by senior officials at the Justice Department and FBI after her arrest in April 2025.

FBI Director Kash Patel drew criticism after posting a photo on social media in April 2025 showing a handcuffed Dugan being escorted into a police vehicle, accompanied by the caption, “no one is above the law.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has dramatically stepped up his warnings about what he calls a communist takeover of the Democratic Party, as his political team quietly tests whether that message can win over voters beyond his loyal supporters ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Early results from internal focus groups suggest the anti-communist rhetoric strongly energizes Trump’s base and could push infrequent Republican voters to the polls, according to two people with knowledge of the testing. However, the message appears to have less impact on independent voters — who often decide close races — and on younger Americans who grew up after the Cold War ended.

Recent primary victories by democratic socialist and progressive candidates in Colorado, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Texas, and other states have handed Trump and fellow Republicans a new line of attack: painting the Democratic Party as extreme rather than defending the administration’s own record on the rising cost of living.

A Reuters review of Trump’s public statements between June 23 and July 6 — a stretch during which a wave of left-leaning Democratic candidates won primaries in New York — found he used the word communism 81 times. Among those comments, he described some of the winning candidates as “hardcore, godless communists.”

Many of the progressive candidates in question have called for taxing the wealthy, reducing military spending, opposing U.S. financial support for Israel, expanding government programs, and eliminating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump, who has long favored blunt political labels, has been quick to brand supporters of those positions as communists. The candidates themselves, however, largely identify as democratic socialists — a movement that pursues progressive change through elections — which is distinct from communism, an ideology that calls for abolishing private property and eliminating class distinctions.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales defended the president’s language, saying “Democrats’ embrace of socialism and communism” represents an “existential threat to our country” and that Trump will “keep calling out their radicalism and drawing a sharp contrast with his commonsense, America First agenda.”

During his July Fourth address marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, Trump compared the rise of communism to a cancer. “You’ve got to cut it out, and you got to cut it out fast,” he told a crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington.

By reaching for the communist label, Trump is reviving one of the oldest attack strategies in American politics — one previously used by Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan during the Cold War era. Still, his choice to use a traditionally unifying Independence Day celebration as a venue for partisan attacks was seen as an unusual move.

Behind closed doors, Trump’s aides are refining the message through focus group testing as Republicans gear up for the final push toward November elections that will determine which party controls Congress.

Early focus group data suggests the word “communism” can pack more punch than “socialism” in certain races, while “socialism” may work better in paid advertising and local district messaging, according to one of the people familiar with the findings.

The message is seen as particularly effective with Hispanic voters in Florida and Texas, where appeals against socialist ideology have historically resonated with families who fled left-wing governments in Latin America.

“It’s an appealing message to voters and will help draw the contrast in November,” said Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc.

A 2025 Gallup poll found that Americans still view socialism more negatively than positively, with 57% holding an unfavorable opinion and 39% a favorable one. Democrats, however, were found to be more supportive of socialism than capitalism.

Republican strategist Amy Koch expressed doubt that the communist label would bring in younger voters or independents. “I just don’t think that communism means the same for anybody under 55,” she said.

U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene, who leads the House Democratic campaign committee, pushed back in a statement, saying Republicans were “resorting to desperate attacks that aren’t actually about the pocketbook issues.”

Over the past week, Trump has brought up communism during an Oval Office exchange with reporters, at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, and at Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore and on the National Mall. He has described it as “the most serious threat to our country since its existence,” suggested it may be a greater danger than World War One, World War Two, or the September 11, 2001 attacks, and labeled it “a mortal threat to American liberty.”

The strategy gives Republicans a way to go on offense after months spent defending Trump’s economic record — a task made harder by the president’s own mixed signals. Trump has said he loves inflation, dismissed rising gas prices tied to conflict with Iran as “peanuts,” and called a bipartisan housing bill aimed at lowering home costs “a big yawn.”

Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters, have moved quickly to amplify Trump’s message, framing the upcoming midterms as a choice between “common sense and extremism.”

At the opening of a NATO summit held in Ankara, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to completely cut off all trade between the United States and Spain, labeling the country a “terrible partner” within the alliance.

Standing next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as the summit got underway, Trump made clear he wants no further business dealings with Spain whatsoever.

Trump has long voiced frustration with Spain, which has declined to commit to NATO’s new defense spending benchmark of 5% of GDP. Adding to the tension, Spain’s Socialist-led government refused to allow the U.S. to use Spanish airspace or military bases during the Iran war.

“Spain doesn’t agree to anything, and you shouldn’t carry them,” Trump told Rutte directly.

Turning his attention to Bessent, Trump said, “I don’t want to do any trade with them, alright?” — to which Bessent responded simply, “Yes, sir.”

Trump continued: “Take it immediately. Don’t even talk to them. They’re hopeless. They’re bad people. They make so much money with us, and we’re going to see that they make a lot less. I want no business with them.”

The stakes are significant. The United States currently operates two major military installations in Spain — Naval Station Rota and Moron Air Base.

The announcement comes months after a Pentagon internal email, revealed by a U.S. official to Reuters in April, outlined possible measures to penalize NATO allies believed to have withheld support during U.S. operations in the Iran war. Among the options listed was suspending Spain from the alliance altogether.

Efforts by Michigan and other states to regulate artificial intelligence may not be doing much to change the content that everyday people come across, raising fresh concerns about how AI is being used in the political arena.

At the heart of the debate is a question that has proven difficult to answer: when AI-generated campaign content mocks or parodies a political figure, is it simply satire — or does it cross into something more troubling?

As AI tools become more sophisticated and widely available, the line between harmless political humor and potentially misleading content has become increasingly blurry. State-level regulations have been introduced in an attempt to address the issue, but critics question whether those laws are actually making a difference in what voters see.

The situation reflects a broader challenge facing policymakers across the country as they try to craft rules that can keep pace with technology that is evolving faster than legislation can move.

A former Wisconsin judge convicted of a felony for helping an immigrant slip past federal officers is scheduled to learn her fate Wednesday when a federal judge hands down her sentence in a case that became a national symbol of the clash between the courts and President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.

Hannah Dugan, 67, could face up to five years behind bars after a jury found her guilty on December 19 of felony obstruction. She stepped down from her seat as a Milwaukee County circuit judge two weeks after the verdict, as Republican state lawmakers were pushing to have her removed through impeachment. She had served on the bench for nine years.

The Trump administration pursued the case against Dugan as part of the president’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Administration officials and Trump’s allies characterized Dugan as a judge who had gone beyond her role, while her defense team argued during the trial that the administration was using her as a target to send a message — in their words, to “crush her.”

Supporters of immigrant rights and other allies of Dugan contended the administration was using her prosecution to discourage judges from pushing back against Trump’s immigration policies. The case drew widespread national attention as a test of the tension between the judiciary and executive immigration enforcement.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a strong Trump supporter who is running for governor of Wisconsin, called for Dugan to be locked up in a post on social media following her conviction.

Dugan’s legal team declined to speak to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing. Although Dugan did not take the stand during her trial, her attorneys said she plans to address the court directly Wednesday — marking her first public statement on the case in over a year.

Her defense argued that her status as a sitting judge shielded her from prosecution. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, who will impose the sentence, has previously turned down efforts by Dugan’s team to throw out her obstruction conviction.

In a sentencing memo filed last week, prosecutors contended that Dugan broke her oath of office and endangered both law enforcement officers and the public.

“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” wrote Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling. “The defendant crossed that line.”

Dugan’s attorneys countered that she has already suffered significant consequences, including giving up her judgeship and enduring threats of violence. They argued in their own sentencing memo that she should serve no additional jail time beyond the portion of a single day she has already spent in federal custody.

Federal sentencing guidelines outlined in the presentence report call for a term of 15 to 21 months in prison, though the judge has discretion to depart from those guidelines. Prosecutors noted that the average sentence in obstruction cases is 16 months but stopped short of recommending a specific term.

“This was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence,” Frohling wrote.

Regardless of the sentence imposed, Dugan’s attorneys have indicated they intend to appeal.

The case marked the first time a Wisconsin state judge has gone to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents. Jurors found her not guilty on a separate misdemeanor charge of concealing a person to prevent their arrest.

The events leading to the charges unfolded on April 18, 2025, when immigration officers arrived at the Milwaukee County courthouse. They had learned that 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who had allegedly reentered the country illegally, was due to appear before Dugan for a hearing related to a state battery case.

Dugan confronted the agents in the hallway outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office, telling them their administrative warrant did not give them sufficient authority to take Flores-Ruiz into custody.

Once the agents stepped away, Dugan escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a private door typically used by jurors. Officers spotted Flores-Ruiz in a corridor, pursued him outside the building, and arrested him following a foot chase. One week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan inside the courthouse and walked her out in handcuffs.

Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has officially set July 15 as the date for the confirmation hearing of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next U.S. director of national intelligence, according to a committee notice.

Trump nominated Clayton last month to take the helm of the country’s 18 intelligence agencies. The nomination came after significant political pushback over the loyalist Trump had chosen to temporarily fill the position.

That temporary appointee — Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte — had no background in national security, which sparked concern even among some Republican lawmakers who feared he could be used to “weaponize” intelligence against those Trump views as political opponents.

At the beginning of July, Trump told reporters that a hearing for Clayton’s confirmation would take place within two weeks — a timeline that aligns with the July 15 date now confirmed by the committee.

The path to this hearing has not been straightforward. In mid-June, Trump called for an abrupt delay of the confirmation process, using it as leverage to pressure Congress into passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — commonly referred to as the SAVE Act — a strict voter identification measure.

Trump, who won a second presidential term in the 2024 election after losing in 2020, has repeatedly and falsely claimed that widespread fraud has tainted U.S. elections. He has continued pushing those debunked claims as November’s midterm elections approach, as part of his effort to get the SAVE Act through Congress.

Trump has argued that passing the legislation would give fellow Republicans a “guaranteed” victory in November as the party works to hold onto its congressional majority.

Since returning to the White House earlier last year, Trump has moved aggressively to reshape federal agencies and institutions, placing loyalists in key roles and taking a hard line against internal dissent.

ABC is mounting an aggressive defense against federal regulators who want to revisit whether its popular morning talk show “The View” must comply with equal time broadcasting rules.

In a new filing made public Tuesday with the Federal Communications Commission, the network argued that the agency itself had already settled the matter more than 20 years ago. The filing came as part of the ongoing FCC review process and included what are known as “reply comments” in support of ABC’s request for an official ruling that “The View” qualifies as a legitimate news program.

ABC pointed to a 2002 FCC decision that previously recognized “The View” — the long-running morning program that blends entertainment with political discussions and frequently features commentary critical of President Donald Trump — as a bona fide news program. That designation would exempt the show from equal time requirements, which obligate broadcasters to give competing political candidates equal access to airtime.

The network had made similar accusations in a May filing, charging that the Trump administration was attempting to suppress constitutionally protected free speech and interfere with open political debate by reopening the question of the show’s status.

The dispute is part of a wider clash between the U.S. media and the Trump White House, as journalists push back against what they see as the president’s efforts to undermine press freedom. Trump has been openly critical of news organizations whose reporting conflicts with his agenda.

The FCC chairman appointed by Trump has signaled his intention to argue that “The View” does not qualify as a legitimate news program — a determination that could have implications for other programs that mix entertainment with political content.

After ABC’s May filing, the FCC launched a public comment period. ABC noted in Tuesday’s filing that more than 77,000 responses have poured in, with what it described as “an undeniable majority” of commenters siding with the show and with free speech principles.

“The commenters are right to be concerned,” the filing stated. “The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair. Yet that is the seat the Commission now proposes to take … deciding which broadcast programs qualify as legitimate news and, for those it finds wanting, compelling them to surrender their airtime to guests they never chose to feature.”

ABC further argued that the core question at stake is “whether a federal regulator may override a broadcaster’s editorial judgment about whom to interview — a judgment the Constitution commits to broadcasters and their audiences, not to the state.”

The network also contended that “nothing about ‘The View’ that the law cares about has changed since the Commission last answered that question more than two decades ago. … What has changed is not the program but the political climate around it.”

ABC additionally accused the FCC under its current chairman of selectively targeting daytime and late-night programs “perceived as unfriendly to the current administration — while leaving untouched the vast landscape of talk radio, where candidates routinely appear without their opponents.” The network called that approach “not evenhanded regulation.”

An FCC spokesperson responded to the filing in an email, suggesting ABC was misleading the public. “While ABC insists that ‘The View’ is a ‘bona fide news program’ under the law,” the spokesperson said, “ABC should focus on complying with its public interest obligations, rather than misleading the public about them.”

The conflict over “The View” mirrors the administration’s frustration with late-night hosts who regularly criticize Trump, particularly ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel. Both Donald and Melania Trump have publicly called for ABC to terminate Kimmel following a joke in which he described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.” Kimmel maintained the joke was a lighthearted comment about the age gap between the couple.

Maryland’s legislative leaders announced Tuesday that state lawmakers will gather for a special session next month to take up a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at shaping how congressional districts are drawn in the future — the latest move in a nationwide fight over partisan redistricting.

The Democratic-controlled Maryland General Assembly is set to convene on August 3, according to legislative leaders. The goal is to consider placing a constitutional amendment before voters this coming November — one that could eventually clear the path for a congressional map giving Democrats all eight of the state’s U.S. House seats. Currently, Democrats hold seven of those seats, with Rep. Andy Harris serving as the lone Republican in the delegation.

Legislative leaders did not release the specific wording of the proposed amendment in their announcement, but said it would “clarify” the state constitution in light of a 2022 court ruling. That ruling previously struck down a redistricting map that also would have made Harris’s district more competitive for a Democratic challenger.

For the amendment to reach voters, it must first pass both legislative chambers by a three-fifths margin. If voters then approve it in the November 3 general election, lawmakers could later revisit the congressional district maps under the revised constitutional guidelines.

House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk issued a statement supporting the session, saying: “Maryland needs a durable, transparent constitutional framework for congressional redistricting that reflects the evolving legal landscape. This special session gives the General Assembly the opportunity to respond thoughtfully to recent court decisions while ensuring that Maryland voters have the final say on any proposed constitutional changes.”

Maryland Republicans fired back, calling the special session a blatant attempt to consolidate political power. Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready said in a statement: “One Republican Congressman represents hundreds of thousands of Marylanders who deserve a voice in Washington. This special session is designed to erase that voice and hand national Democrats another seat in the U.S. House.”

Congressional district boundaries are normally redrawn every ten years following a census to reflect population shifts. However, Trump pushed Republicans last year to redraw maps mid-decade in an effort to limit midterm losses, prompting Democrats to pursue their own redistricting strategies in response.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late April further complicated the landscape by weakening the Voting Rights Act, giving Republicans new legal footing to reshape districts in Southern states with large minority populations that have historically supported Democrats. Republicans believe the new maps could yield as many as 10 additional House seats for their party this year.

Maryland had already attempted to address redistricting earlier this year. The state House passed a new map that would have made Democratic victories across all eight congressional seats more likely. However, the plan stalled in the state Senate, where Senate President Bill Ferguson expressed concern that the effort could be overturned in court.

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore voiced his backing for the renewed push, saying Tuesday in a statement that he was grateful for lawmakers’ “agreement to come back to finish the work.”

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court accuses the Trump administration of secretly handing over confidential immigration records belonging to Iranian asylum seekers directly to the Iranian government — a charge the administration is calling completely false.

Attorneys from the left-leaning Public Citizen Litigation Group brought the case on behalf of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, filing it in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration began a policy last year of supplying Iran with “confidential information from the immigration files of Iranians seeking asylum in the United States.”

The filing described many of those asylum seekers as vulnerable individuals, stating: “Many of the asylum seekers are pro-democracy protestors, members of religious minorities such as Evangelical Christians, or members of the LGBTQ community who seek refuge in the United States because of the grave dangers they face in Iran.”

The lawsuit further alleged that this practice continued even after last year’s U.S. military strikes against Iran during the Israel-Iran war, Iran’s crackdown on protesters, and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pushed back hard against the accusations. “These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” the agency said in a statement, adding: “ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives.”

The lawsuit alleged that Iranian detainees who met with an “Iranian Interest Section official” reported that the official appeared to already know the details of their individual immigration cases, including the specifics of their asylum applications. Because Iran does not maintain a consulate in the United States, the lawsuit noted that consular functions for Iran “were handled by the Iranian Interest Section housed within the Embassy of Pakistan.”

ICE has been at the center of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement and deportation efforts. Human rights organizations have widely criticized those efforts as violations of free speech and due process, and have raised concerns about racial profiling, particularly affecting ethnic minorities. The Trump administration has defended the policies as necessary to curb illegal immigration and strengthen national security.

The lawsuit is asking the court to appoint an independent monitor to prevent any further disclosures to Iran and to stop the alleged information sharing with the Iranian government.

The explosive growth of data centers is leaving state and local officials scrambling to put guardrails in place before the industry expands even further.

Lawmakers are rushing to draft and pass new regulations as mounting concerns over water usage, energy demands, and noise pollution tied to data center operations continue to grow. The rapid pace at which these facilities are being built has outstripped the ability of governments to respond with meaningful oversight.

Both state and local legislators are now putting forward a range of proposals aimed at bringing the data center industry under greater regulatory control and addressing the impact these facilities have on surrounding communities.

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Socialists of America, a left-leaning political organization, has moved from the margins of American politics to a position of growing influence within the Democratic Party. But what exactly does the group believe, and can it sustain a foothold in mainstream politics?

Here is a look at the organization, based on information from its national website.

A GROWING FORCE IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

The DSA was formed in 1982 through the merger of two separate organizations, but it remained largely unknown for decades. That changed in 2016, when independent Senator Bernie Sanders mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. His run brought widespread attention to frustrations with the party’s mainstream direction and helped energize its left wing.

Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist but has no formal ties to the DSA.

The organization gained significant momentum in 2018 when DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a major upset in a Democratic House primary in New York. She has since become a prominent figure in the party and is considered a potential 2028 presidential contender.

DSA members have continued to rack up notable victories, including New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. This year, DSA-backed candidates have won Democratic House primaries in New York City and Colorado. DSA member Nithya Raman advanced to the final two candidates in the Los Angeles mayoral race, and DSA member Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., with a full-term election expected in November.

The organization now describes itself as the largest socialist group in American history, claiming a membership of more than 100,000 people. So far this year, DSA or its local chapters have backed 150 candidates across various levels of government, recording 38 wins and 38 losses.

WHAT SEPARATES SOCIALISTS, DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS, AND COMMUNISTS?

President Donald Trump has labeled Mamdani and other DSA-supported candidates as “communist,” attempting to draw comparisons to adversaries of the United States such as the former Soviet Union.

Communism, by definition, seeks to eliminate private property and create a society without class distinctions — goals that real-world communist governments have largely failed to achieve.

In Europe, parties that call themselves democratic socialist have used electoral politics to build strong social safety nets and establish public oversight of major industries, while still permitting private property and free markets.

The DSA says it wants to go further than the European model but without adopting the authoritarian tactics associated with communist regimes. The group advocates for government control of major industries and wants to replace capitalism with a system where, in their words, “ordinary people have a voice.”

WHERE DSA STANDS ON ISRAEL

The DSA has pushed to move the Democratic Party away from its historically strong support for Israel, and the issue has become a flashpoint in this year’s primary contests.

The organization characterizes Israel as an apartheid state carrying out a genocide in Gaza and accuses it of having “fascist” ambitions. DSA calls for an end to all U.S. military and economic assistance and weapons sales to Israel, and it supports student campaigns urging universities to pull their investments from the country.

The group has also called for a full Israeli withdrawal from Arab territories, a “right of return” for displaced Palestinians, and a “right to resist” Israeli occupation — though it stops short of explicitly endorsing militant organizations like Hamas. Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, DSA described the assault as “not unprovoked” and said it was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.”

OTHER POLICY POSITIONS

The DSA’s national website outlines the organization’s stances on a wide range of issues, including the following:

• Expanding Medicare to cover all Americans, a proposal commonly known as “Medicare for All”

• Free college and early childhood education

• Nationwide rent control and a major expansion of public housing

• Higher taxes on wealthy individuals, corporations, large inheritances, and private universities

• A 32-hour workweek with no cuts to pay or benefits, along with stronger protections for labor unions

• Large-scale infrastructure and jobs programs, along with a “Green New Deal” to boost investment in renewable energy and phase out fossil fuels

• Public ownership of major transportation networks, energy systems, and natural resources

• A significantly more open immigration system that would allow workers to move freely between countries and eliminate deportation

• Lifting sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and other nations described as acting “independently of the United States”

• Deep cuts to the U.S. military budget and the closure of all American military bases abroad

• Abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote for president

• Adding seats to the U.S. House of Representatives and eliminating supermajority requirements in the Senate