Category: Politics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, went public Monday with accusations that the Justice Department under the Trump administration has opened a politically motivated probe into him and his wife, claiming the investigation is tied to his potential presidential ambitions.

Newsom, who has been a consistent and vocal critic of the Republican president, posted a video on X stating that federal agents have shown up at the homes of his friends and former employees and have sought records. While Newsom did not spell out the specific focus of the investigation, his office indicated the inquiry appears to have recently broadened into “increasingly personal matters involving the Governor’s family and professional network.”

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said in the video, referencing his habit of using social media to ridicule the president. “He’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president, because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out over and over again for his lies and deceit.”

The complete scope of any Justice Department inquiries involving Newsom remained unclear Monday. However, the disclosure is expected to intensify criticism from those who argue the Trump administration is weaponizing federal law enforcement against the president’s political opponents.

A source with knowledge of the situation denied that a probe specifically aimed at the governor exists, but acknowledged there are several federal investigations involving people in his orbit — including one connected to his wife’s taxes. That particular investigation began last year, and the source said political leadership in Washington had no role in the decision to open it. The source spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing investigations.

A separate probe involves Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, who was indicted on federal charges alleging she participated in a scheme to steal campaign funds from former federal Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. Williamson pleaded guilty in May to charges that included conspiracy to commit bank fraud. That investigation, originally launched under President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, has since expanded to include other staff members, according to the source.

Newsom has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Williamson’s case.

The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to field questions about Newsom during a brief photo opportunity with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon. Blanche was meeting with Grassley to discuss his nomination to become attorney general.

The situation is part of a broader pattern of Justice Department scrutiny aimed at individuals seen as political adversaries of the president. The department has also opened investigations into or pursued prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, among others.

“One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list, and today I proudly join that list,” Newsom said in the video.

According to Newsom’s office, investigators have issued subpoenas for records and agents have reached out to organizations and individuals connected to both the governor and his wife. His office accused the Justice Department of “searching for a crime that does not exist.”

Newsom’s office said it learned last week that federal agents had intensified their efforts, questioning people tied to the governor and his wife about a range of topics including businesses, finances, and personal matters.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s wife, issued a statement saying the investigation revealed Trump’s unfitness for office.

“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,” she said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with California during the president’s second term, including moves to roll back the state’s vehicle emissions policies, withhold wildfire recovery aid, and file a lawsuit over state policies related to transgender student-athletes. California has responded by suing the federal government dozens of times.

Newsom also spearheaded an effort to counter a Trump-backed push in Texas to redraw congressional maps in favor of Republicans, championing a redistricting measure in California intended to deliver Democrats five additional seats in the U.S. House.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — With Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff in Georgia just hours away, cracks within the party have become impossible to ignore, producing unexpected alliances and raising questions about whether Republicans can unite quickly enough to compete with Democrats who have a head start on the general election.

The political scramble — featuring last-minute endorsements from President Donald Trump and outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp — was in full swing Monday. Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley are squaring off for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, while Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire businessman Rick Jackson are competing for the gubernatorial nomination.

Trump and Kemp are both supporting Jones for governor, but they’ve gone in opposite directions on the Senate race. Grassroots organizers are similarly split. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, once a Trump rival, jumped into the fray by endorsing Jackson — putting him directly at odds with both the president and the governor.

“There’s a lot of division in the MAGA world and across the Republican Party,” said Debbie Dooley, an original national tea party organizer who is supporting Jones for governor but backing Derek Dooley for Senate. She is not related to the Senate candidate. “We better get it together after Tuesday.”

Kemp pushed back on the notion of disarray, arguing his actions share a common goal.

“Everything I’m doing is to win in November,” he said Monday, after appearing at separate campaign events for Jones and Derek Dooley in the Atlanta metro area.

Kemp has supported Derek Dooley in the Senate race for months, making the case that defeating Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November will require a political outsider. Yet it wasn’t until Monday that Kemp campaigned alongside Jones — just one day after endorsing the lieutenant governor, despite Jackson’s own outsider pitch. In the governor’s race, Kemp argued Jones is best positioned to defeat Democratic nominee and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Trump, on the other hand, has been in Jones’ corner since last August, rewarding him for his role as part of Trump’s alternate Electoral College slate in the 2020 effort to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win. The president held off until the final weekend to throw his support behind Collins over Dooley, citing in a social media post that Dooley has echoed Trump’s false claims about losing to Biden.

The diverging paths taken by Kemp and Trump reflect their complicated history — Kemp certified Biden’s electors in 2020 despite Trump’s opposition — and Tuesday’s results will serve as a gauge of each man’s standing within the party as both approach the end of their final terms.

“I’m not worried about any political equations or keeping score,” Kemp said Monday after appearing alongside both Jones and Dooley at separate morning events. “It’s making sure we have the right people at the top of the ticket.”

Kemp also dismissed suggestions that he was being inconsistent by championing a Washington outsider in one race while backing a Georgia statehouse insider in another. His reasoning: Republicans have governed Georgia for more than two decades and the state is performing well, meaning Jones would be “really building off the great legacy” of past administrations. Congress, by contrast, he described as plagued by “inaction” and suffering from rock-bottom approval ratings.

Derek Dooley leaned into Kemp’s backing while minimizing Trump’s late endorsement of his opponent.

“It’s very simple,” Dooley said. “A vote for Mike Collins is a vote for Jon Ossoff. A vote for me is a vote for the people of Georgia.”

Jackson was similarly dismissive of Kemp’s eleventh-hour endorsement of Jones.

“I respect Gov. Kemp very much, and I think people are ready for an outsider,” Jackson said.

Cruz was more colorful in his pitch for Jackson, drawing an implicit comparison to Trump himself.

“He’s rich,” Cruz told Jackson supporters with a grin. And he’s a first-time candidate, Cruz continued. “I don’t know anybody like that in politics,” he deadpanned.

Debbie Dooley also noted that former tea party allies in the state are no longer marching in step. While she has been out on the trail with Derek Dooley, Tea Party Patriots founder Jenny Beth Martin has been appearing alongside Collins.

“It’s just not as simple as blindly following Trump anymore,” Debbie Dooley said. “I don’t want the most conservative candidate. I want the most conservative candidate who can win.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom is publicly accusing the Trump administration of directing the Department of Justice to go after him personally.

Newsom claims that both he and his wife have been targeted by the current federal administration, casting the legal scrutiny as politically motivated rather than legitimate law enforcement activity.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of unlawfully backing away from its duty to protect transgender workers from workplace discrimination.

Chief Maryland District Judge George L. Russell III threw out the case on Friday, determining that the court does not have jurisdiction to hear the complaint and that the plaintiff — FreeState Justice, a Maryland-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organization — does not have legal standing to bring the suit.

In a memorandum opinion issued Friday, Russell wrote: “While deeply troubling, the Court agrees with Defendants that the EEOC’s decision to alter its investigations of gender identity discrimination claims constitutes a discretionary decision over which the Court lacks authority to review.” Russell was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama.

The EEOC, now led by Chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, moved quickly to align with President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order declaring two unchangeable sexes. The agency, which is responsible for enforcing federal workplace discrimination laws, has significantly reduced protections for transgender employees — dropping lawsuits filed on their behalf and applying heightened scrutiny to incoming complaints tied to gender identity.

In July 2025, legal advocacy groups Democracy Forward and the National Women’s Law Center filed suit against the EEOC on behalf of FreeState Justice. The lawsuit argued that the agency’s so-called “Trans Exclusion Policy” violates a Supreme Court precedent, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection guarantee, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Liz Theran, senior director of litigation for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, said her organization is reviewing the ruling and “considering our options. Regardless of the outcome of this case, transgender people deserve workplaces free from discrimination, and we will continue fighting to ensure that federal civil rights protections apply to everyone they were designed to protect.”

Theran also stressed that “the EEOC exists because people who faced workplace discrimination often had nowhere else to turn. This agency is charged with enforcing civil rights laws and cannot single out workers it wants to protect. No one should lose access to federal protections because of who they are.”

The EEOC chose not to comment on the lawsuit and directed the Associated Press to the Department of Justice. The DOJ had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

In its earlier motion to dismiss, filed October 15, the EEOC argued that “allowing FreeState’s suit would thrust this Court into the role of an overseer that micromanages the Commission’s enforcement process.” The agency compared the situation to a citizen trying to challenge law enforcement decisions, stating: “In the same way that a citizen cannot challenge the decision of the FBI or a U.S. Attorney to focus on certain kinds of crimes over others, FreeState cannot challenge the EEOC’s discretionary decisions about how to enforce federal antidiscrimination law.”

The ruling arrives during Pride Month, a time of global celebration that this year carries an undercurrent of resistance as the Trump administration continues to push policies that roll back transgender rights and limit recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge brought by the gun industry against a New York law that opens the door for lawsuits targeting firearms manufacturers, wholesalers, and dealers accused of endangering public safety through their sales of guns and ammunition.

The justices turned down an appeal filed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group, after a lower federal court had upheld the New York statute, which the state classifies as a public nuisance law.

Several prominent gun manufacturers — including Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Beretta, Glock, Sig Sauer, and Sturm — had joined the appeal, arguing that New York’s law unconstitutionally clashed with existing federal legislation.

The New York law requires firearms industry participants to take reasonable precautions against gun trafficking, theft, and so-called “straw purchases,” where someone buys a firearm on behalf of another person. It also opens the door to civil lawsuits from both state and local government officials as well as private citizens.

It is worth noting that in 2025, the Supreme Court shielded Smith & Wesson from a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government, which had accused the company of facilitating illegal gun trafficking to drug cartels.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation said it was disappointed by the court’s decision not to intervene. Spokesperson Mark Oliva stated in an email: “NSSF sincerely believes that those criminals who illegally misuse lawful products should be held responsible for the harms they cause when they commit their crimes. Holding the firearm industry responsible for the criminal misuse of a firearm is akin to holding Anheuser-Busch and Ford Motor Company responsible for damages from drunk-driving crimes.”

New York’s Democratic Attorney General Letitia James had defended the law throughout the legal proceedings. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul described the outcome as “a massive victory” in the fight to curb gun violence. The law was originally signed in 2021 by Hochul’s predecessor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo.

“The gun lobby fought tooth and nail against this first-in-the-nation law,” Hochul said in a statement. “New York will not allow gun manufacturers to profit from tragedy.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation had argued the New York law was overridden by a 2005 federal statute known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which generally shields the gun industry from civil liability when its products are used in criminal acts. Under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws.

The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld New York’s law last year. Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden, wrote that Congress intended to preserve “at least some causes of action” when a defendant knowingly violated federal or state firearms sales and marketing laws and that violation was a direct cause of harm.

While the appeal did not center on Second Amendment gun rights, the trade group warned that laws like New York’s could threaten those rights by exposing gun companies to “crushing liability” for crimes they had no part in. The group also argued that a “predicate exception” within the federal law limited industry liability only to failures involving specific, controllable obligations or prohibitions.

New York countered that the predicate exception allowed for liability in some cases involving “downstream acts” by third parties, and noted that at least nine other states have enacted similar laws designed to satisfy that exception.

The appeal had drawn support from the National Rifle Association, 24 Republican state attorneys general, and several dozen Republican members of Congress.

The Supreme Court has significantly broadened gun rights through three landmark rulings since 2008, when it first established that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska’s top elections official has determined that a U.S. Senate candidate who shares both the name and party affiliation of Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan cannot appear on the state’s August primary ballot.

Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher sent a letter to the challenger informing him that his candidacy filing “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”

Beecher noted the challenger has the right to appeal her ruling, though she pointed out that ballots are scheduled to go to print on June 28.

A text message sent to the challenger Sullivan requesting comment went unanswered. He had previously indicated he expected to decide whether to file an appeal by early this week.

In a social media post on Sunday, the challenger wrote that he “met the qualification and I entered this race because I am unhappy with the 12 year record of the current Senator and I feel we need a change. It’s that simple.”

The situation has stirred up significant controversy surrounding one of the country’s most closely watched U.S. Senate contests — a race both major parties view as critical to determining control of the chamber.

The controversy began when the challenger filed his candidacy just days before the June 1 deadline. Senator Sullivan and fellow Republicans labeled him a “sham” candidate, alleging he was working in coordination with Democrats to improve the chances of Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. Both the challenger and Peltola’s campaign have rejected that claim.

Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced an investigation into the challenger’s candidacy a week ago, citing “credible allegations” that he filed “in coordination with another candidate and campaign” with the goal of confusing and “manipulating” voters.

The challenger, a retired teacher from the small southeastern Alaska fishing town of Petersburg, has maintained he acted properly and argued that Dahlstrom has no legal authority to remove him from the ballot. In a recent interview, he said he had been considering a run for years and described sharing a name with the senator as a “matter of fate.”

“The Lieutenant Governor’s job is to oversee elections fairly and impartially,” he said in a statement last week. “Instead, her actions create the impression that the state government is being used to protect an incumbent senator from facing competition at the ballot box.”

Senator Sullivan’s campaign manager, Billy Mackey, praised the decision by the lieutenant governor — who holds oversight responsibility for Alaska elections — saying it upheld the right to “a free and fair election.”

Senator Sullivan, running for a third term, and Peltola are the two highest-profile contenders in the crowded field and the only candidates who have reported raising any campaign funds. Democrats have identified the seat as a key target in their effort to reclaim the Senate majority.

On Friday, demonstrators gathered outside the Division of Elections office in Juneau to protest efforts to keep the challenger off the ballot. One of those protesters, Ben Muse of Juneau, suggested the situation could have been resolved simply by using middle initials to tell the two candidates apart, but said it had been “blown way out of proportion.”

“This has nothing to do with whether you support this guy as a candidate,” Muse said. “It’s supporting his right to be on the ballot.”

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court on Monday turned away an effort to revive a lawsuit filed by a former aide to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who had been the subject of covert government surveillance during the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference.

Carter Page, who previously reached a $1.25 million settlement with the United States government, had sought to keep his legal battle alive against then-FBI Director James Comey and other former officials. Page accused them of conducting “unlawful spying” as investigators looked into whether the Trump campaign had worked with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Page consistently and firmly denied any improper connections to Russia and was never charged with a crime. A government watchdog later issued a scathing review of the surveillance applications that were used against him.

Lower courts had dismissed his lawsuit, partly on the grounds that he had not filed suit against the individuals who actually conducted the surveillance. The Supreme Court issued a short order declining to take up the case, offering no explanation — which is standard practice when the court refuses to hear an appeal.

Page had alleged that FBI and Justice Department officials made a series of mistakes and left out critical information when they submitted applications in 2016 and 2017 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, seeking permission to monitor him on suspicion he was acting as a Russian agent.

Former FBI and Justice Department leaders who had signed off on those surveillance requests have since acknowledged they would not have done so had they been fully aware of the problems involved. The FBI has said it launched more than 40 corrective measures to improve the accuracy and completeness of future applications.

Even with the flaws in the warrant applications, the surveillance of Page represented only a small part of the broader investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concluded that Russia had worked to help Trump during the 2016 campaign and that the campaign had welcomed that help. However, Mueller’s team determined there was not enough evidence to establish that a criminal conspiracy had taken place between the campaign and Russia.

Page’s settlement with the Trump administration came in April, while his Supreme Court appeal was still pending. That settlement followed by about a month a roughly $1.2 million settlement with Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with a senior Russian diplomat. Flynn was later pardoned.

Alabama residents are heading back to the ballot box Tuesday for a primary runoff election that will lock in party nominees for an open U.S. Senate seat and several other races where no candidate captured a majority of votes during the May 19 primary.

The winners of Tuesday’s runoffs will advance to compete in the general election this fall, when candidates across the heavily Republican state will face off for a full slate of state and federal offices.

It’s worth noting that primaries for four of Alabama’s seven congressional districts were pushed back from May 19 to an August 11 special primary — a consequence of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that led Republicans in several southern states to scrap their existing congressional district maps.

On the Republican side, the race for U.S. Senate comes down to Barry Moore and Jared Hudson, who are competing for the right to replace U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville chose to run for governor rather than seek another Senate term. Moore, a third-term congressman who represents Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, carries the endorsement of President Donald Trump. His opponent, Hudson, is a former Navy SEAL who runs a security and weapons training company and founded a nonprofit dedicated to fighting human trafficking.

Moore finished first in the May primary with roughly 39% of the vote, while Hudson came in second with about 26%. State Attorney General Steve Marshall finished a close third at around 25%.

Moore’s strongest showing came from his home turf in the 1st Congressional District in southern Alabama, near the Florida border and the Gulf Coast. He also claimed pluralities across a large portion of central Alabama, including the Montgomery area, with narrower margins in the northern and northeastern parts of the state near the Tennessee and Georgia borders.

Hudson performed best in Jefferson County — the state’s most populous county and home to Birmingham — where he secured about 45% of the vote and built a 19-percentage-point lead. Expanding on that advantage will be essential to his runoff chances.

Moore holds an edge heading into the runoff in Madison County, the second-largest county in the state and home to Huntsville — a city nicknamed Rocket City for its NASA presence. Moore pulled in about 34% of the vote there in May, while Hudson placed third with roughly 22%.

Trump’s backing is expected to be a significant factor for Moore in a state where Trump received two out of every three votes against Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race. Trump-endorsed candidates have an almost flawless record at the polls, though his pick for Iowa governor did fall short earlier in June.

Democrats are also settling their U.S. Senate nomination Tuesday. The two candidates are Dakarai Larriett — a former corporate executive, aromatherapy pet care entrepreneur and policing reform advocate — and Everett Wess, an attorney and former Midfield Municipal Court Judge. Wess led the Democratic primary field with about 40% of the vote, followed by Larriett at approximately 29%.

Additional Republican runoffs are taking place for lieutenant governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner and other state positions. A Democratic runoff is also being held in the 5th Congressional District, which held its primary back in May. The 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts will hold their primaries in the August 11 special election.

Polls across Alabama close at 7 p.m. Central Time, which is 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The Associated Press will report results and declare winners in runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, lieutenant governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, state Public Service Commission, state Board of Education, and both chambers of the state legislature.

Under Alabama’s election rules, voters who participated in a partisan primary on May 19 can only vote in the runoff for the same party. Democratic primary voters cannot cross over to vote in the Republican runoff, and vice versa. However, registered voters who sat out the May 19 primary are free to participate in either party’s runoff Tuesday.

As of Thursday, Alabama had approximately 3.8 million registered voters on the books.

During the May 19 primary, around 482,000 people voted in the Republican Senate race, about 474,000 participated in the Republican lieutenant governor primary, and roughly 340,000 cast ballots in the Democratic Senate primary.

Looking at historical trends, the last Republican Senate primary runoffs were held in 2022 and 2020. In 2022, total votes dropped from about 647,000 in the primary to around 402,000 in the runoff — falling from 18% to 11% of registered voters. In 2020, when Tuberville first appeared on the ballot, turnout slipped from roughly 718,000 in the primary to about 551,000 in the runoff, representing a drop from 20% to 15% of registered voters.

Alabama is one of the few states in the country that does not offer any form of in-person early voting, meaning the vast majority of residents cast their ballots on Election Day. In the 2024 primaries, mail voting was minimal — about 4% of Democratic primary voters and just 1% of Republican primary voters used absentee ballots.

Vote reporting practices differ by county. Most counties tend to release absentee ballot results in their first update, sometimes alongside Election Day totals. During the May 19 Republican Senate primary, the AP first reported results at 8:28 p.m. Eastern Time — just 28 minutes after polls closed — with the final update of the night coming at 12:54 a.m. Eastern Time, at which point more than 99.9% of votes had been counted.

The AP does not make projections and will only call a race when it is mathematically clear that a trailing candidate cannot catch up. If a race remains uncalled, the AP will continue monitoring and reporting on significant developments — such as a candidate conceding or claiming victory — while making clear that no official winner has been declared.

Alabama law includes an automatic recount provision, but the state attorney general issued an opinion in 2010 stating that it does not apply to primary elections.

As of Tuesday, 56 days remain until the special congressional primaries on August 11, and 140 days until the November 3 midterm elections.

Voters in the Bay Area of California are casting ballots Tuesday in a special congressional primary to begin narrowing a field of nearly a dozen candidates competing to fill the seat once held by Democratic former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell. For many of those candidates, Tuesday marks the second time in just two weeks they have appeared on a ballot for this particular House seat.

A Democratic victory in this heavily Democratic district would put additional pressure on what is already a razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Swalwell stepped down from Congress in April following sexual-assault allegations, which he has denied. He also pulled out of the California governor’s race, in which he had been considered a leading contender.

There are actually two separate races happening simultaneously for Swalwell’s former seat. One is a standard scheduled election for the next full congressional term beginning in January 2027. The other is Tuesday’s special primary, which determines who will serve out the remaining 15 weeks of Swalwell’s current term.

Among the Democrats competing in the special primary for the 14th District’s abbreviated term are former Dublin mayor and Bay Area Rapid Transit board member Melissa Hernandez, state Sen. Aisha Wahab, and attorney and education entrepreneur Rakhi Israni Singh. On the Republican side, candidates include real estate investor Wendy Huang and small business owner Dena Maldonado. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will move on to a special general election set for August 18. California uses a top-two primary system in which all candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot.

All five of those candidates also competed in the June 2 primary for the full-term seat, which drew a slightly smaller field of nine candidates overall. Wahab and Hernandez finished first and second in that race, ensuring the seat will remain under Democratic control next year.

The boundaries of California’s 14th Congressional District were redrawn under a new congressional map approved by voters through a 2025 statewide ballot measure called Proposition 50. Those new boundaries take effect for the full-term seat in January, while whoever wins the special election will serve under the current district boundaries for the rest of this year.

Proposition 50 was placed before voters partly in response to mid-decade redistricting efforts pushed by President Donald Trump in several Republican-led states. Although the new map generally benefits Democrats, the changes to the 14th District specifically were not dramatic. Under the current boundaries, Democrats account for 50.4% of registered voters as of October, compared to 17.6% for Republicans. Under the newly drawn boundaries, Democrats make up roughly 49.7% of registered voters as of mid-May, with Republicans at about 17.4%.

In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic nominee and then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the current 14th District with 65.8% of the vote. Under the newly redrawn boundaries, she would have received approximately 65.4% of the vote.

Both versions of the district fall entirely within Alameda County in the East Bay region. The current district encompasses Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Union City, along with portions of San Leandro, Fremont, and Dublin.

Polls close at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, or 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Associated Press will report vote totals and declare winners in the 14th Congressional District special primary. Any registered voter within the pre-redistricting version of California’s 14th Congressional District is eligible to participate.

As of October 2025, approximately 429,000 voters were registered in the current 14th Congressional District, including around 216,000 Democrats, about 76,000 Republicans, and roughly 114,000 voters with no party preference.

About 214,000 district voters cast ballots in the statewide Proposition 50 measure in November 2025, and around 126,000 cast ballots in the March 2024 primary — the last time the district held a primary under its current boundaries.

In Alameda County, roughly 93% of voters in the March 2024 primary and about 87% of voters in the 2024 general election submitted their ballots either early in person or by mail.

As of Friday, approximately 106,000 ballots had already been submitted for Tuesday’s election. Of those, about 57% came from Democrats, 19% from Republicans, and 20% from voters with no party affiliation.

In Alameda County, the first vote update of the evening typically reflects only mail ballot results, though a significant number of mail ballots usually remain to be counted by the following morning. Because mail voting tends to favor Democrats while in-person Election Day voting tends to favor Republicans, early results could show Democratic candidates leading — with Republican candidates potentially closing that gap as more Election Day votes are tallied. Democrats could also pick up additional ground later as remaining mail ballots are processed after election night.

During the November 4, 2025 special election for Proposition 50, the AP first reported Alameda County results at 11:14 p.m. Eastern — just 14 minutes after polls closed. The final update of that night came at 1:33 a.m. Eastern, with approximately 57% of total votes counted. The county finished tallying about 99% of all votes by November 10.

The AP does not make projections and will only declare a winner once it has been determined that no trailing candidate can mathematically close the gap. If a race remains undeclared, the AP will continue reporting on significant developments such as concessions or victory claims, while making clear that no winner has been officially called and explaining the reason for the delay.

California does not have automatic recounts. Any registered voter may request and fund a recount. The AP may still declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if the margin is determined to be too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the result.

As of Tuesday, 63 days remain until the August 18 special general election for Congressional District 14, and 140 days remain until the November 3 midterm general election.

Georgia Republicans are settling their party’s nominations in high-profile runoff contests for U.S. Senate and governor on Tuesday. Beyond those marquee matchups, voters are also choosing nominees for congressional seats, state legislative districts, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and several other races where no candidate claimed a majority in the May 19 primary.

In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are competing for the Republican nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November. Defeating Ossoff would give Republicans additional cushion as they work to hold onto competitive seats in Alaska, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, and other states. The party can lose as many as three of its current 53 Senate seats and still retain control of the chamber, with Vice President JD Vance available to cast tiebreaking votes.

Collins led the five-person May 19 primary field with roughly 41% of the vote. He built that lead by running up strong margins in smaller, more rural counties throughout Georgia, as well as in some larger counties north of the Atlanta metro area.

Dooley’s route to the runoff looked quite different. He won just 14 of Georgia’s 159 counties, but those included five of the six most densely populated: Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, and Clayton. He also carried Clarke County, home to the University of Georgia in Athens. His overall share of the primary vote was approximately 30%.

U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter finished a close third with about 25% of the vote. Those Carter supporters could now tip the scales toward either Collins or Dooley in the runoff.

Carter’s geographic base of support aligned much more closely with Collins than with Dooley. He performed strongest in the small, rural counties in southeastern Georgia — territory that largely overlaps with the 1st Congressional District he currently represents.

Both Carter and Collins are more closely tied to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Dooley, by contrast, has acknowledged that he did not vote in either the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections.

Trump stayed out of the primary but announced his endorsement of Collins on Sunday ahead of the runoff. Outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp endorsed Dooley, a move that likely helped him edge out Carter for second place.

In the governor’s race, Trump did weigh in during the primary, backing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who led the field with about 38% of the vote. Healthcare executive Rick Jackson came in second at approximately 33%. Kemp announced his endorsement of Jones on Sunday.

Similar to Collins, Jones built his primary lead by winning in small rural counties across the state. Jackson stayed competitive by narrowly winning larger counties, including Fulton County and several Atlanta-area suburbs.

Polls will close at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The Associated Press will report vote totals and declare winners in primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, state school superintendent, labor commissioner, public service commissioner, and both chambers of the state legislature.

Under Georgia’s runoff rules, voters who participated in a partisan primary on May 19 may only cast a ballot in the runoff of the same party. Democratic primary voters cannot participate in the Republican runoff, and vice versa. However, registered voters who sat out the May 19 primary are eligible to vote in either party’s runoff.

As of May 28, Georgia had approximately 8.1 million registered voters on the rolls.

During the May 19 primaries, around 934,000 votes were cast in the Republican governor’s primary and roughly 913,000 in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Early in-person and mail-in ballots accounted for about 46% of all votes cast in the May 19 primary.

By Friday, approximately 119,000 Democratic and 222,000 Republican runoff ballots had already been submitted ahead of Tuesday’s election.

A significant portion of early voting results is expected to be released shortly after polls close, before most Election Day ballots are counted. About four out of five counties release nearly all of their early in-person results in the first vote update of the evening, and roughly two-thirds do the same with mail ballot results.

In the May 19 Republican primary for governor, the AP reported its first results at 7:13 p.m. ET — just 13 minutes after polls closed. The final update of that night came at 3:13 a.m. ET, with more than 99.9% of votes tallied.

The AP does not make projections. It will only declare a winner once it has determined that no remaining scenario could allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race remains uncalled, the AP will continue reporting on notable developments — such as a candidate conceding or claiming victory — while making clear that no official winner has been declared.

Georgia does not have an automatic recount provision, but a losing candidate may request one if the margin falls at or below 0.5% of the total vote. The AP may still call a winner in such a race if the lead is determined to be too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the result.

As of Tuesday, 140 days remain until the 2026 midterm elections.

Washington, D.C., is heading to the polls Tuesday for a districtwide primary unlike anything the nation’s capital has seen before — one shaped by federal intervention, a wave of open seats, and a brand-new way of casting ballots.

Three major factors are setting this election apart. First, President Donald Trump’s ongoing and unprecedented involvement in how the district operates has become a central issue in the campaign. Second, a rare combination of top offices being open at the same time has created a domino effect of candidates shuffling for position throughout the ballot. Third, voters will be using a ranked choice voting system for the first time in D.C. history.

The Democratic primary for mayor is drawing significant attention, with Ward 4 Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George, former At-Large Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, and five additional candidates vying for the nomination. The endorsements each candidate has secured reveal a clear divide between the party’s establishment wing and its progressive base.

Lewis George has earned the support of four fellow council members, including at-large member Robert White, who is himself running for the district’s congressional seat. She has also received backing from several left-leaning organizations, including the Working Families Party, the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, and Our Revolution, a political committee connected to allies of independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who aligns with Democrats in Congress.

McDuffie’s list of supporters reads more like a who’s who of D.C. political history. Former Mayors Sharon Pratt and Anthony Williams have endorsed him, as have outgoing At-Large Councilwoman Anita Bonds, former longtime Councilwomen Charlene Drew Jarvis and Linda Cropp, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and former Democratic National Committee Chairmen Tom Perez and Jaime Harrison.

Retiring three-term Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has stopped short of making a formal endorsement, but her preference has been anything but hidden. At an Economic Club event in 2025, she reportedly said, “if you like me, you’re going to love Kenyon, wink, wink,” according to NBC4 Washington. Then at a June Axios Live event, she stated, “I support Kenyon McDuffie, and I have always supported Kenyon McDuffie” — though she insisted she was not officially endorsing anyone.

Bowser has faced a difficult balancing act since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, trying to lead a heavily Democratic city while having limited power to govern independently. Progressives have criticized her for not pushing back harder against the Trump administration. On the campaign trail, Lewis George has taken indirect shots at unnamed leaders she accuses of “complying in advance” and who “shrink in the face of injustice.”

Trump himself entered the conversation Thursday, suggesting he would look at a federal takeover of the District of Columbia if Lewis George wins the mayoral race — a threat he has floated in various forms since the start of his second term.

In the race for D.C.’s non-voting seat in Congress, White, Ward 2 Councilwoman Brooke Pinto, and three others are competing to succeed retiring 18-term Democratic U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Norton’s and Bowser’s retirements have created a situation not seen since 1990 — both the mayor’s office and the congressional seat are open in the same election cycle. That has triggered a chain reaction of open council seats as incumbents reach for higher office.

Washington is an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 15 to one, and the district has not supported a Republican presidential candidate since it first gained the right to vote in presidential elections in 1964.

Despite those lopsided general election results, the district has significant internal divides along socioeconomic lines. Ward 3 in the wealthy upper Northwest has the highest concentration of white residents, the highest median income, and the lowest poverty rate. Ward 8 in Southeast has the largest Black majority, the lowest median income, and the highest poverty rate.

Historical voting patterns show a consistent east-west split. When Bowser first won the Democratic mayoral primary in 2014, she carried the five westernmost wards while incumbent Mayor Vincent Gray held Wards 5, 7 and 8 to the east. White’s only competitive council primary in 2016 followed a similar pattern, with him winning western wards and running nearly even in Ward 4. When he ran against Bowser for mayor in 2022, he carried only Ward 1, which covers the center of the district and includes Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, and the U Street Corridor. In McDuffie’s successful 2022 council race, his strongest showings came from the northwesternmost sections of Wards 3 and 4.

Tuesday’s election marks the debut of ranked choice voting in Washington, D.C. Under this system, voters list candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. If no candidate earns a majority of first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and those ballots are redistributed based on the voters’ next choices. The process continues until one candidate reaches a majority.

Here is what to know about how the results will unfold:

Polls close at 8 p.m. ET. The Associated Press will provide vote counts and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Delegate to Congress, mayor, attorney general, and district council. A special election is also being held to fill a vacant at-large council seat.

Only voters registered with a political party may participate in that party’s primary. Democrats cannot vote in the Republican primary and vice versa. Independent and unaffiliated voters cannot participate in either primary.

As of May 31, Washington had approximately 481,000 registered voters. Of those, about 363,000 — more than three-quarters — were registered Democrats. Roughly 25,000, or 5%, were registered Republicans, and approximately 86,000, or 18%, were not affiliated with any party.

In the 2022 mayoral primary, about 127,000 Democrats cast ballots, representing roughly 26% of registered voters. About 92,000 Democrats voted in the 2024 primary for U.S. delegate.

In the 2024 primary, about 78% of all voters cast ballots early in person or by mail — slightly above the 76% who did so in 2022. As of Wednesday, approximately 35,000 ballots had already been submitted ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Early in-person and mail ballot results will be released throughout election night alongside in-person Election Day results. However, mail ballots received on Election Day — whether by mail or drop box — and those received after Election Day with the required postmark will not be included in election night totals.

In the 2022 primary, the AP first reported results at 8:30 p.m. ET, half an hour after polls closed. The final update of that night came at 11:59 p.m. ET, with about 69% of total votes counted.

Because of the ranked choice system, only first-choice vote totals will be available on election night in races where the process is triggered. Additional rounds of counting are expected to be reported by June 21 and June 24, with complete round-by-round results expected on or after June 26. The election is scheduled to be certified on July 17.

The AP will only declare a winner when it is certain no trailing candidate can close the gap. If a race remains undeclared, the AP will continue reporting on developments such as concessions or victory claims while making clear no winner has been officially called.

Automatic recounts are triggered in D.C. elections when the margin falls below 1% of the total vote in races for federal office, mayor, attorney general, and district council, among others. Candidates may also request and pay for a recount regardless of the margin. The AP may still declare a winner in a recount-eligible race if the lead is determined to be too large to be overturned.

Tuesday’s primary comes 140 days before the 2026 midterm elections.

A surge of open seats is drawing Oklahoma voters to the polls Tuesday for a state primary election shaped by term limits, retirements, ambitions for higher office, and a high-profile cabinet appointment made by President Donald Trump.

Oklahomans will choose nominees to fill vacancies left by departing officials at both the federal and state levels — including seats for U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and various state legislative positions. Voters will also weigh in on whether some current officeholders deserve another term, and they’ll decide the fate of a statewide ballot measure on the minimum wage.

One of the most closely watched contests is the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. Nine Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination, among them state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, former state Secretary of Public Safety Chip Keating — the son of former Gov. Frank Keating — former state Sen. Mike Mazzei, and former state House Speaker Charles McCall.

On the Democratic side, state House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson and former state Sen. Connie Johnson are competing for their party’s gubernatorial nomination.

Another major opening came when President Trump tapped Republican U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as Department of Homeland Security secretary, replacing fellow Republican Kristi Noem in that role. Mullin’s appointed successor, U.S. Sen. Alan Armstrong, chose not to run for a full term of his own.

The Republican primary to fill that Senate seat includes U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern along with four other candidates. Five Democrats are also seeking their party’s nomination, including attorney and minister Jim Priest. Hern and Priest are the fundraising leaders in their respective fields — though the gap is vast. As of May 27, the Hern campaign had $6.8 million in available cash, while the Priest campaign had just $118,000.

President Trump has thrown his support behind Mazzei in the governor’s race and Hern in the U.S. Senate contest.

To secure a party nomination outright, a candidate must earn more than half of all votes cast in the primary. If no one clears that threshold, the top two finishers will face each other in an Aug. 25 runoff election.

Also before voters Tuesday is State Question 832, a ballot measure that would increase Oklahoma’s minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2029. Beginning in 2030, future wage increases would be tied to changes in the cost of living.

Oklahoma leans heavily Republican in general elections. The state gave Trump his fifth-highest vote share of any state in the 2024 presidential race. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Oklahoma since President Lyndon Johnson did so in 1964. The state last sent a Democrat to the governor’s office in 2006 and last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1990.

Polls close at 7 p.m. Central Time, or 8 p.m. Eastern Time. As of May 31, Oklahoma had approximately 2.4 million registered voters — about 1.3 million Republicans, 614,000 Democrats, and 495,000 independents with no party affiliation.

Registered party members may only vote in their own party’s primary. Neither state party has opted to allow independent voters to participate in the 2026 primaries, though all registered voters may cast a ballot on the statewide minimum wage question.

About 35,000 ballots had already been submitted as of Friday, including roughly 21,000 from Republicans, 12,000 from Democrats, and 2,000 from unaffiliated voters.

In the 2022 state primary, results began coming in at 8:10 p.m. Eastern Time — just ten minutes after polls closed — and more than 90% of votes had been counted by 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Oklahoma does not hold automatic recounts in candidate races, though any candidate may request and pay for one regardless of the margin. Automatic recounts are required for statewide ballot questions when the margin falls at or below 0.5% of total votes cast. If a runoff is needed, it will be held Aug. 25, with the general midterm election following on Nov. 3.

A new analysis from the Pew Research Center is offering a more detailed picture of where American voters actually stand politically, moving beyond the traditional divide of simply labeling people as Republican or Democrat.

Using responses from a wide-ranging questionnaire, Pew sorted voters into nine separate categories, or typologies, each reflecting different combinations of beliefs and priorities.

One of the biggest groups to emerge from that breakdown is called Faith First Conservatives, accounting for 12% of the overall electorate. According to Pew, this group forms a core base of the Republican Party and places the greatest importance on matters related to religion, moral values, and social issues.

President Trump’s name has been taken down from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., following a court order requiring its removal.

The ruling directed that the president’s name be stripped not only from the iconic performing arts venue itself, but also from the organization’s official website. Both removals have since been completed.

New York City has created its own commission focused on making government run more efficiently, and the man leading it says the goal is straightforward: cut through red tape so the mayor can deliver on what he promised voters.

Patrick Gaspard serves as chair of New York City’s Commission on Government Efficiency. He recently sat down for a conversation about what the commission does and how it fits into the broader effort to make city government more responsive and effective.

The commission’s work centers on identifying and removing bureaucratic obstacles that slow down the delivery of city services and programs. By streamlining processes within city government, the body aims to help translate the mayor’s campaign pledges into real results for New York City residents.

President Donald Trump issued a sharp ultimatum to France on Monday, warning that the United States would impose 100% tariffs on French wines and champagnes if Paris refuses to eliminate its digital services tax targeting American technology companies.

Trump said he raised the issue directly with French President Emmanuel Macron, demanding that France scrap its 3% levy on U.S. tech giants or face steep duties on French alcohol products sold in the American market.

Speaking to the New York Post, Trump spelled out his position bluntly: “I asked him not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France. All (Macron) has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”

Neither the White House nor officials at the French presidential palace responded to requests for comment following the remarks.

The potential tariffs would hit a significant trade category. Alcohol ranks among the European Union’s largest exports to the United States, valued at roughly €9 billion — approximately $10.46 billion — in 2024, according to figures from Eurostat. Some products, including Remy Martin cognac and champagne, are required by regulation to be produced in specific regions of Europe.

France first put its digital services tax in place in 2019. The levy applies a 3% charge on revenue that digital companies earn within France, targeting firms with at least €25 million in French revenue and €750 million in worldwide revenue.

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was admitted to a hospital on Sunday, according to a statement from his spokesperson, but the reason for the hospitalization and details about his condition remain largely unknown.

McConnell, 84, made history as the longest-serving Senate leader before stepping down from that leadership position while completing his final term in office, which concludes in January.

“Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,” spokesperson David Popp said in a brief statement that offered no further details. It remains unclear whether the Kentucky senator was hospitalized in Washington, back home in Kentucky, or somewhere else entirely.

The senator’s health has drawn public attention for a number of years. In December 2024, he sprained his wrist after falling while leaving a Republican luncheon. Before that, in March 2023, he suffered a concussion and missed several weeks of Senate duties after a fall at a Washington hotel. Following his return to work, he experienced two separate incidents that summer in which he appeared to freeze during news conferences, staring blankly until colleagues and staff stepped in to help him.

McConnell contracted polio as a young child and has long acknowledged that walking and climbing stairs have been a physical challenge throughout his adult life. Beyond his 2023 fall, he also fell at his Kentucky home in 2019, requiring surgery for a fractured shoulder.

First elected to the Senate in 1984, McConnell served as the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, holding both the majority and minority leader positions during that span.

Despite stepping back from leadership, McConnell has remained an active presence in the Senate, continuing to attend sessions and recently leading public hearings in his role as chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense. He has occasionally used a wheelchair to get around the Capitol and, as a former congressional leader, is routinely accompanied by a security detail.

President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that he opposes extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless lawmakers attach his Save America Act to the legislation.

The Save America Act, which Trump has championed, would require individuals to provide proof of citizenship in order to vote. Trump made clear he is unwilling to support a FISA renewal without that voting measure included.

The victory of Graham Platner in last week’s Democratic Senate primary has added yet another candidate with a sharply anti-Israel stance to the list of contenders heading into November’s midterm elections.

Platner, who has a Nazi tattoo and has publicly referred to Israel’s military operations in Gaza as a “genocide,” is not an isolated case. Across the country, a rising number of Democratic primary candidates holding strongly anti-Israel positions are winning their races — and political observers are now asking whether views once seen as politically toxic have become increasingly mainstream within parts of the party.

Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, told The Media Line that “it is becoming less and less of a liability for people to express views [about Israel or the Jews] that were once considered harmful for a political candidate.”

Just under a decade ago, such candidates were rare. The group that became known as the Squad — made up of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — were frequently criticized for remarks that opponents characterized as antisemitic or hostile toward Israel. At the time, they were widely regarded as outliers.

By last November, however, Zohran Mamdani had been elected mayor of New York City — the American city with the largest Jewish population. Mamdani has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and of operating an apartheid system.

Now, even more candidates with comparable views are winning Democratic primaries for seats in Congress and the Senate. Prof. Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University and Reichman University warned that if enough of these candidates win in November, the consequences for both U.S.-Israel relations and the future direction of the Democratic Party could be profound.

“This would be the first time in American history that we would have an anti-Israel Democratic president elected,” Gilboa told The Media Line. “And in general, if Congress is very anti-Israel, this would mean a disaster for Israel and American Jewry. I think we should really be very concerned.”

Gilboa pointed out that progressive Democratic candidates are increasingly being pushed to state clearly whether they believe Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. He recalled an incident in January when California State Senator Scott Wiener initially refused during a debate to use the word genocide and was met with loud booing and heckling. He later reversed course and said he did consider it a genocide following significant backlash.

Another candidate Gilboa highlighted is Chris Rabb, who won his Philadelphia primary and is expected to join the Squad. Rabb made his opposition to Israel and to AIPAC — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — central themes of his congressional campaign.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim and self-described progressive Democrat, is also running, with that state’s primary set for August. El-Sayed has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has stated that he considers both Israel and Hamas to be “evil.”

Gilboa said American Jews who lean Democratic now face a difficult choice: vote for a candidate they view as anti-Israel, cast a ballot for a Republican who may not align with their other values, or stay home on Election Day.

Recent polling data reflects a broader shift in how Americans view Israel. According to the latest Pew Research Center survey, 60% of U.S. adults now hold an unfavorable opinion of Israel — up from 53% in 2025 and 42% in 2022. The same Pew report found that 59% of Americans have little or no confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act responsibly in world affairs.

Gilboa noted that while roughly two-thirds of Americans once viewed Israel favorably, that trend has now largely flipped. He added that “people especially don’t like Netanyahu and equate Netanyahu with Israel and with the Israeli people and with the Israeli state, and criticism went from criticizing certain Israeli policies to rejecting Israel’s right to exist.”

Rosner echoed that concern, pointing to a historical comparison: when President Gerald Ford moved in the 1970s to reassess U.S. relations with Israel, 80 senators signed a letter urging him to reconsider.

“I don’t see 80 senators doing similar things today for Israel or in support of an Israeli position and resisting the president,” Rosner said. “I think Israel is now much more dependent on the goodwill of the commander in chief.”

Gilboa also raised alarms about how many American Jews are responding to the trend. He cited polling showing that roughly 30% of American Jews voted for Mamdani, whom Gilboa regards as both anti-Israel and antisemitic.

“American Jews are not even understanding that antisemitism in the United States has very little to do with Israel and much to do with being a Jew in America,” Gilboa said. “They think that if Israel disappears, then their situation is going to be improved. And that’s complete nonsense.”

Rosner urged caution against drawing overly dire conclusions, but said action is needed. He argued that Israel must work to rebuild goodwill among both the American public and political leaders.

“If there’s a way for Israel to improve its image with the American public and with the American political elite, I think it is essential that Israel do such a thing sooner rather than later,” Rosner told The Media Line.

He also said Israel needs to prepare for a future in which it cannot count on American backing to the same degree it once did — though he does not believe U.S. support will disappear entirely.

Rosner further noted that Israel will hold its own elections before the U.S. midterms, and suggested that a change in government and the departure of Netanyahu could help improve the country’s image internationally.

“We could say it is a different era for Israel, and everything you thought about Israel in the last four years, let’s forget about it and start from scratch,” Rosner said. “I’m not sure this is going to work, but at least it will provide Israel with an opportunity for a restart.”

Whether that reset happens remains uncertain. But with a growing number of candidates running on platforms sharply critical of Israel, this November’s midterm elections may serve as one of the clearest signals yet of how dramatically the American political landscape has shifted.

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell was taken to the hospital Sunday morning, according to a statement released by his spokesman.

No further details regarding his condition or the circumstances surrounding the hospitalization were provided in the statement.

ATLANTA (AP) — Just days ahead of Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate runoff election, President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, passing over former football coach Derek Dooley in what has become a familiar pattern of backing loyalists in GOP primaries.

The two Republican candidates face off Tuesday for the right to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in what is expected to be one of the most high-profile races of the November midterm elections. Collins has built his political brand around unwavering support for Trump and the MAGA movement. In a social media post early Sunday, Trump praised the trucking company owner and two-term congressman, saying he “has been with me from the very beginning” and called him a “true friend, fighter, and WARRIOR.”

Dooley, a political newcomer, has the backing of outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who has had a contentious history with Trump. The president was blunt about his feelings toward Dooley, writing that he doesn’t know him and pointing out that Dooley failed to cast a ballot in either the 2016 or 2020 elections — both of which featured Trump on the ticket. Dooley has acknowledged going roughly two decades without voting, though he says he did vote for Trump in 2024.

Collins came out on top in the May 19 primary but fell short of the 40% threshold needed to avoid a runoff, leaving a significant pool of Republican votes still in play. Trump’s endorsements have repeatedly proven to be a decisive force within the party.

“Everybody knows that I do best with the MAGA base,” Collins said on primary night. “It’s because they know I’ve always been with President Trump.”

The endorsement puts Trump at odds with more establishment-aligned Republicans, particularly Kemp. The move echoes Trump’s recent decision to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who went on to defeat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in that state’s primary runoff.

Dooley fired back at Trump’s announcement, arguing that Georgia voters are hungry for “a political outsider” rather than “typical D.C. politicians like Mike Collins.” He posted on X that he remains confident heading into Tuesday’s vote.

Collins has been a Trump ally since his first congressional run in 2022, and he has repeated the president’s unsubstantiated claims that Trump’s 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden involved fraud. Collins also sponsored the Laken Riley Act, a 2025 law mandating detention of immigrants charged with certain crimes — a measure Republicans believe puts Ossoff in a difficult spot, since the Democratic senator initially voted against it before switching his position after Trump returned to office.

Dooley and his top surrogate, Gov. Kemp, contend that a political newcomer stands a stronger chance against Ossoff, who is the only Democratic senator up for reelection in a state Trump carried in 2024. Kemp, who previously angered Trump by declining to help challenge Biden’s Georgia victory, had been the preferred pick of Senate Republican leaders to take on Ossoff. He ultimately recruited Dooley, a childhood friend, to enter the race instead.

Kemp points to three first-term Republican senators — Montana’s Tim Sheehy, Pennsylvania’s Dave McCormick, and Ohio’s Bernie Moreno — who unseated Democratic incumbents in 2024 by running as outsiders who still aligned with Trump.

Trump, meanwhile, has been on a winning streak within his own party. In recent weeks, he has seen multiple Republicans who failed his loyalty test go down to defeat. Cornyn lost to Paxton, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky fell to Ed Gallrein, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana didn’t make a runoff, and several Indiana state senators were ousted by Trump-aligned challengers.

Dooley has told Georgia voters he will “work with President Trump but fight for you,” and he has stressed that Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia since 2016.

Collins sees no need for that kind of balancing act, while still insisting he can broaden his appeal come November.

“You don’t beat Jon Ossoff by having no record,” Collins said. “You win by having a record of results.”

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers are heading back to the state Capitol this week for a special session, where one of their top priorities will be untangling an election problem that stems from their own legislation.

The voting system currently used across the battleground state relies on a QR code printed on each ballot to count votes. Two years ago, the legislature passed a law prohibiting the use of that barcode for the official vote tally after July 1 of this year — but no alternative counting method has ever been put in place.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who called the special session, specifically directed lawmakers to “address issues created” by that law. Making matters worse, the secretary of state’s office and the State Election Board have issued contradictory instructions to county election officials about how votes should be cast and counted going forward.

If a resolution isn’t reached quickly, the state could face widespread confusion and potential lawsuits over elections after July 1. A special election to fill a vacant U.S. House seat is already scheduled for that month.

Georgia’s current voting system was first rolled out statewide during the 2020 primary election. After that November’s general election — in which Republican President Donald Trump narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden — Trump and his allies claimed without evidence that the machines had altered or deleted votes.

Trump supporters continued to raise objections to the touchscreen voting machines, with some pushing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Election integrity advocates also took issue with the machines, arguing they could be vulnerable to hacking and that voters have no way to verify their choices since QR codes aren’t human-readable.

In 2024, Republican lawmakers attempted to respond to those concerns by passing legislation banning barcodes from the “official tabulation count” after July 1, 2026. However, in the two years that followed, neither the secretary of state’s office nor the General Assembly moved to put a replacement system in place. Now, with the deadline nearly here, a major midterm election is also on the horizon.

Trump specifically called out these voting machines — which are used in at least some counties across more than a dozen states — in his first executive order on elections after beginning his second term in January 2025. That order has since been blocked by multiple courts and is not currently being enforced.

Last month, Kemp announced the special legislative session, set to begin Wednesday, to address both the QR code issue and the redrawing of congressional maps ahead of the 2028 elections.

One possible outcome is that lawmakers could push back the deadline in the law, allowing QR codes to remain in use for now while a new system is developed before the 2028 elections. However, during the final hours of this year’s regular legislative session, a similar proposal was voted down.

Even if lawmakers reach an agreement this week, putting any new system into practice before the upcoming special election could prove difficult. That election is being held to fill the remainder of the term of U.S. Rep. David Scott, who passed away in April. Voting is set for July 28, with early voting starting July 6.

Last week, the secretary of state’s office released preliminary guidance to election officials in the six counties that make up that congressional district, noting the instructions could change depending on what happens during the special session.

Under that plan, ballots would be scanned and the QR code would be used to generate the election night vote count. Before the county certifies results, however, electronic images of each ballot would be uploaded to a server, where optical character recognition software would produce a second tally using the printed text — and that second count would serve as the official result.

The secretary of state’s guidance also states that counties must continue using the current election system, including the touchscreen machines, and that nothing in the law permits hand-marked paper ballots for in-person voting.

Two days later, the State Election Board stepped in with its own conflicting guidance, with board members arguing that the secretary of state’s proposed approach isn’t authorized under state law.

The board passed a resolution telling counties what to do if the special session does not result in an extended deadline for QR code use. That resolution directs counties to fall back on their emergency procedures, which call for hand-marked paper ballots counted by scanners.

During the election board meeting, a lawyer from the state attorney general’s office, Elizabeth Young, acknowledged the problem, saying that while neither set of guidance is legally binding, “obviously it would cause confusion for elections superintendents if they are getting differing instructions from two agencies, both of which have some authority over what they’re doing.”

The election board has been dominated by a Trump-aligned majority and has frequently clashed with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who has often been a target of Trump’s criticism.

Henry County, located in Atlanta’s suburbs, is among the counties where voters will cast ballots in next month’s special election. Axiver Harris, the county’s interim elections director, said officials are aware of the competing guidance and are waiting for the state to provide clearer direction.

“Given the uncertainty surrounding the guidance currently available, we believe it is wise to wait for further direction to ensure that any decisions made are consistent with state requirements and election administration best practices,” Harris wrote in an email.

Marcye Scott, who is running in the special election to finish out the term of her late father, said she doubts most voters are following the issue closely and that her focus lies elsewhere.

“My goal is to get people to the polls, get my people to the polls and get them to vote for me,” she said.

Fellow candidate Carlos Moore, one of six people running in the special election, said he’s concerned that rushing in a new vote-counting method could invite legal challenges. He is hoping lawmakers simply extend the deadline and leave the QR code system in place for the special election.

“I would ask that legislators do the right thing, leave well enough alone for the special election,” Moore said. “Otherwise, it’s almost certain there will be challenges in court.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump rang in his 80th birthday Sunday night with a card of seven professional mixed martial arts fights staged inside a specially constructed arena on the White House South Lawn — an event that underscored his boundary-pushing approach to the presidency at a particularly tense moment in his time in office.

Now 17 months into his second term, Trump has repeatedly tested the limits of the presidency to capture attention and project an image of strength. His newest backdrop is the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s eight-sided cage, known as the Octagon, which was erected within view of the president’s White House bedroom for an event called “UFC Freedom 250” — a nod to the country’s 250th birthday coming up next month.

The fights are unfolding as Trump continues to manage the ongoing conflict with Iran, now four months old, which has driven consumer prices to their highest point in three years and rattled many voters according to polling data. The event also comes as Trump works to push back against the notion that he is becoming a lame-duck president.

A Break From the Battlefield

Fourteen fighters representing five countries competed before an expected crowd of 4,000 spectators inside a 92-foot-tall temporary structure nicknamed “The Claw.” The main event — scheduled for as many as five rounds — pitted UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria against former interim titleholder Justin Gaethje. The fights were set to get underway at 8 p.m.

Tickets were not made available to the general public. According to a source with knowledge of the arrangements, UFC offered seats to guests who had contributed more than $1 million. The Trump administration said roughly one quarter of the audience consisted of military service members.

Trump invoked broad executive authority to allow a private company’s event to take place on federal property — a departure from established norms that sparked a legal challenge and raised questions about costs and potential conflicts of interest. The UFC’s parent company is publicly traded TKO Group Holdings.

A Reuters/Ipsos online survey of 4,531 American adults conducted June 3 through 8 found that just 16% considered it appropriate for Trump to hold the event at the White House. A federal judge declined Friday to halt the event after plaintiffs argued the administration had overstepped its authority, including by failing to obtain congressional approval.

Trump has maintained a long personal relationship with UFC Chief Executive Dana White and the Ellison family, whose company Paramount holds a $7.7 billion deal to broadcast UFC fights through 2033.

White has leveraged the sport’s popularity — especially among younger male fans — to back Trump’s political campaigns going back to his first presidential run in 2016.

UFC has stated it invested more than $60 million in staging the event and does not expect to turn a profit.

In the lead-up to the fights, Trump’s trust acquired stock in TKO Group Holdings, while a company licensed to use the president’s image sold commemorative coins priced as high as $12,000. One of the event’s sponsors, Crypto.com, had previously worked with Trump Media & Technology Group.

The White House has maintained there is no conflict of interest and stated that the Trump family handles the president’s business matters.

Independent streaming analyst Dan Rayburn offered a critical take on the event. “The vast majority of Americans are not celebrating 250 years of America by watching a UFC fight,” he said. “This is really a private event.”

Sports as a Presidential Platform

Sports have become a consistent theme throughout Trump’s presidency. He has weighed in on topics ranging from transgender athletes to compensation for college football players and has attended numerous high-profile sporting events.

France even pushed back the start of the Group of Seven summit — which kicks off Monday — to allow Trump to attend the UFC event.

Roughly one in five Americans identifies as an MMA fan. Among that group, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found 45% approve of Trump’s job performance while 55% disapprove — higher than his overall 35% approval rating but far below his 79% approval among Republicans. MMA fans tend to lean male and politically independent, with nearly half saying they do not align with either major party, about a third identifying as Republicans, and one in five as Democrats.

The arena was designed to create a close, intimate atmosphere for the bouts. Some fighters were expected to begin their walk to the Octagon from the Oval Office, passing through the Rose Garden or along the West Wing colonnade. The venue is 20 rows deep on every side, and sound from the event’s audio system bounced off the face of the White House’s Truman Balcony, rattling the walls of the executive mansion.

Tens of thousands of additional spectators were expected to watch the action on a large screen at a nearby park. While daytime temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the evening was forecast to be cooler — though the National Weather Service warned of possible rain and thunderstorms. The arena was constructed without a roof.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Half a year after President Donald Trump put states on notice to stay out of artificial intelligence regulation, many are ignoring that warning and moving forward with their own rules.

While Congress has been unable to produce any federal AI legislation, states across the country are examining how AI-powered chatbots communicate with children, how businesses use AI in the workplace, and what obligations AI developers have to prevent worst-case scenarios caused by the technology.

Earlier, broader attempts to regulate AI at the state level were either vetoed or blocked by governors who felt those measures placed too heavy a burden on the industry — including proposals that would have held AI developers responsible for built-in bias in their systems. But state lawmakers have come back with more focused legislation that zeroes in on the specific ways people encounter AI in their everyday lives, often without realizing it.

Trump’s effort to rein in state AI regulation drew pushback from members of both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer advocacy organizations, who argued that blocking state-level oversight would essentially hand a free pass to major AI companies that already face little accountability.

The president has elevated AI to a top national and economic security priority, arguing that allowing a patchwork of state regulations to complicate things for an industry investing trillions of dollars could jeopardize America’s competitive edge over China in the AI race.

Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to establish a task force to challenge state AI laws deemed more than “minimally burdensome,” while also directing the Commerce Department to compile a list of regulations considered problematic. The order also threatened to cut off funding from a broadband deployment program and other grant initiatives for states that enact AI laws.

The White House said it would not go after state laws designed to prevent fraud or protect consumers and children.

The Trump administration also put out a “national policy framework” urging Congress to override state AI laws that conflict with its regulatory vision and to pass legislation covering children’s protections, intellectual property, and free speech. A new bipartisan proposal in the House recently faced sharp criticism from key members of both parties.

So far, the White House has not followed through on its threat to sue any state over an AI law or to cut off funding. In a statement, the administration said it is “eager to work with partners” to carry out its policy framework.

Rather than discouraging state action, Trump’s executive order appears to have had little effect on lawmakers. More AI-related bills have been introduced this year than last, including from Republican legislators, according to Justine Gluck, policy director of the Future of Privacy Forum — a nonprofit that champions data privacy in technology and draws its membership from industry, academia, and civic organizations.

In Illinois, a bill sitting on Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk builds on legislation passed last year in California and New York. It would require developers of large, advanced AI models to put in place safeguards against catastrophic outcomes — such as a biological weapons attack, a widespread power failure, or a major cyberattack.

Illinois went a step further by adding a requirement that AI developers bring in an independent auditor to verify whether they are living up to their own stated policies — a move analysts view as pushing the industry toward greater accountability.

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, dismissed Trump’s warnings outright.

“I don’t know if you’ve met Illinois, but we’re pretty independent,” Edly-Allen told the Associated Press.

The bill passed with near-unanimous support, reflecting a willingness among members of Trump’s own party to join Democrats in addressing the regulatory gap left by federal inaction. Similar legislation is expected to spread to additional states.

A growing number of states are also cracking down on how AI chatbots interact with people — particularly minors. States with both Republican and Democratic leadership have enacted such laws this year, including Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon.

In many cases, these laws require companies to disclose when someone is communicating with an AI rather than a real person. Many also restrict how chatbots can engage with children, give parents oversight of their child’s access, and require that information shared with chatbots remain private.

Connecticut recently enacted rules specifically for companion chatbots — AI systems designed to maintain ongoing relationships with users. Under those rules, chatbots cannot interact with anyone under 18 unless they are programmed to discourage self-destructive behavior and give parents tools to monitor and manage their child’s usage.

In May, Colorado passed a law requiring companies that deploy AI in high-stakes areas — such as employment, education, housing, or banking — to notify individuals when AI is being used to influence a decision affecting them. The measure softened an earlier 2024 law aimed at curbing AI-driven discrimination, following pressure from Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

Connecticut also passed a separate requirement that employers using AI in hiring or employment decisions must inform workers or job applicants that they are dealing with an AI system.

Connecticut, Washington, and Utah additionally required AI developers to embed identifying data into digital content — such as photos or videos — so users can determine whether that content was created or modified by AI.

More legislation is still possible before the year is out. In California, lawmakers are advancing the “No Robo Bosses Act of 2026,” which would bar employers from relying entirely on AI to fire or discipline workers. California is also looking to expand its oversight of AI chatbots, including a ban on using chatbot interactions with children for advertising purposes.

In Florida, the state House declined to move forward with what Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called his AI “Bill of Rights.” The proposal would have given parents control over their children’s access to companion chatbots and required companies to disclose when consumers are interacting with AI instead of a human.

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez argued that Trump had made clear that AI regulation belongs at the federal level. DeSantis pushed back on that view, pointing out that the federal government has yet to act.

In Utah, a bill modeled on laws from New York and California stalled after the White House sent lawmakers a one-sentence memo stating it was “categorically opposed” to the legislation.

HOOVER, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is no stranger to questions about where he actually calls home. For years, critics have argued the Alabama senator spends more time in Florida than in the state he represents. Now, as he campaigns for governor, those same questions are back — and this time they carry real legal weight.

Alabama Republican Party leaders are set to gather Sunday for a private hearing to decide whether Tuberville has satisfied the Alabama Constitution’s requirement that a governor be a resident of the state for at least seven years before the election. The challenge was brought by Ken McFeeters, who ran against Tuberville in last month’s Republican primary.

McFeeters was blunt about his position. “Does he live in Alabama? No,” he said. “He doesn’t live here.”

Tuberville, who crushed McFeeters in the primary with 85% of the vote and has received an endorsement from President Donald Trump, has dismissed the challenge entirely and insists he meets all legal requirements to run.

His campaign chairman, Jordan Doufexis, struck a confident tone earlier this month. “We’re happy to put the residency issue to bed,” Doufexis said, adding that “it’s time to provide the facts and move on.”

Property records, however, paint a complicated picture. Tuberville and his wife own a beachfront home in Florida appraised at $5.6 million. His campaign points to a much more modest property in Auburn as his official residence — a 1,551-square-foot home with an appraised value of roughly $291,780.

That Auburn property was originally purchased by Tuberville’s wife and son in 2017. The senator’s name was added to the deed later, while his son’s name was subsequently removed. Records indicate both the Auburn and Florida properties have recently been placed into a revocable trust.

To support his residency claim, Tuberville released Alabama income tax returns covering 2018 through 2024, though much of the information in those documents was blacked out. The returns list a redacted Auburn address and suggest the Tubervilles established Alabama residency in August 2018.

Voting records complicate that timeline. Tuberville cast a ballot in Florida in November 2018. He did not register to vote in Alabama until March 28, 2019 — roughly two weeks before he announced his Senate campaign.

McFeeters also pointed to Tuberville’s Senate travel records, which he said show the senator frequently traveling to the Florida Panhandle — further evidence, in his view, that Florida is where Tuberville truly resides.

Tuberville spent a decade as head football coach at Auburn University, from 1999 to 2008, before moving on to coaching positions at Texas Tech and the University of Cincinnati. After stepping away from coaching, he joined ESPN as an analyst. In a 2017 promotional video for the network, Tuberville spoke openly about having moved to Florida following his retirement from coaching.

The constitutional language at the center of this dispute is itself somewhat unclear. The Alabama Constitution states that the governor and lieutenant governor “shall have been citizens of the United States ten years and resident citizens of this state at least seven years next before the date of their election” — wording that legal experts say could complicate any court fight over the matter.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen is expected to publicly announce the panel’s decision following Sunday’s closed-door session.

McFeeters said he has little confidence the hearing will result in a thorough examination of the issue. Still, he believes the question of where Tuberville lives will continue to follow the candidate if the party allows him to remain on the ballot.

This is not the first time Tuberville has weathered this kind of scrutiny. When he ran for Senate in 2020, his opponent Jeff Sessions — who had previously held the same seat before becoming President Trump’s first attorney general — ran a television ad calling Tuberville a “Florida Man.” Tuberville still won that Republican primary runoff with 61% of the vote to Sessions’ 39%, and went on to defeat Democratic incumbent Doug Jones in the general election.

Tuberville and Jones now appear headed for a rematch, this time in the race for governor in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is ringing in his 80th birthday Sunday with a birthday celebration the likes of which the White House has never seen: a professional cage-fighting event staged on the historic South Lawn.

Despite the fanfare, a series of serious challenges have threatened to steal the spotlight from the elaborate UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza — a competition where fighters locked inside a wire-mesh octagon attempt to overpower one another through punches, kicks, and grappling moves.

The president finds himself entangled in an expensive and unpopular war he helped ignite with Iran. A resolution may be within reach, but key details remain unresolved. Meanwhile, just a short distance from the birthday festivities, workers were removing the president’s name from the Kennedy Center after a court determined the renaming had exceeded legal boundaries.

None of that is expected to dim the celebration, however. The president is set to step outside to a crowd of Cabinet members, top administration officials, Republican members of Congress, and more than 4,000 cheering fans packed into a temporary outdoor arena beneath what’s being called “The Claw” — a spacecraft-shaped metal arch loaded with lights, speakers, and oversized video screens. Additional thousands will take in the action from large screens set up at the nearby Ellipse.

UFC chief Dana White, a close friend of the president, spoke enthusiastically about the event during a Friday night promotional gathering at the Lincoln Memorial, where fighters faced off for cameras beneath the marble statue of Abraham Lincoln. “This event is a one of one event, incredible event. I love it,” White said.

The president has framed Sunday’s event — which includes seven bouts running past midnight — as part of a broader, months-long commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In practice, however, the celebration appears far more focused on honoring the president himself. The G7 summit of industrialized nation leaders was even rescheduled to allow the president to attend his cage-match party before flying directly to France for those meetings.

Weather remains a wild card. Severe thunderstorms and lightning forced disruptions at Friday’s Lincoln Memorial event, and forecasts for Sunday evening also look unsettled. “I’m sick and tired of hearing about the weather,” White declared Friday, though he acknowledged he would prefer to hold future UFC events in enclosed arenas.

The contrast with past milestone birthdays is striking. When the previous president turned 80 in November 2022, he marked the occasion with a quiet family brunch at the White House — a far cry from Sunday’s spectacle.

White House spokesperson Allison Schuster pushed back on comparisons, saying the fight “will be one of the most entertaining nights in American history.” Schuster added: “Having this spectacle take place at the people’s house on Flag Day during our nations’ semiquincentennial anniversary is a fitting tribute.”

When the previous president hit 80, he held the distinction of being the oldest person ever to serve as U.S. president — a title Trump has since claimed for himself. Trump is constitutionally prohibited from seeking another term, yet he regularly flirts with the idea in public statements. This comes even as polls reflect growing public doubt about his mental and physical fitness — echoing the same concerns that shadowed his predecessor.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that fewer than half of American adults believe Trump possesses the mental sharpness or physical health needed to effectively carry out the duties of the presidency.

The White House responded with a lengthy statement from Trump’s former White House physician, Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who argued that Trump’s “stamina, focus, and strength are exceptional and on display every day. Claims to the contrary are pure fiction.” Jackson went on to say the polling concerns were “being propagated by the same biased, liberal, Trump-hating press that completely ignored the absolute cognitive and physical disaster that was President Biden.”

The president has undergone four publicly disclosed physical exams during this term, with White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella recently pronouncing him in “excellent health.”

The UFC event fits neatly with Trump’s combative approach to politics. He has long embraced a confrontational style that mirrors the sport he is celebrating.

Trump has also built a reputation for political sleight of hand — drawing public attention elsewhere when his administration faces difficulties. With the Iran conflict dragging on despite repeated assurances that a conclusion was near, fuel prices remaining elevated, renewed inflation fears, and his job approval numbers sliding, a jaw-dropping White House birthday bash serves as a convenient distraction.

“This is all distraction,” said Mike Fontaine, a classics professor at Cornell University, who compared the event to gladiatorial games in Imperial Rome — public bloodsport used by rulers to boost their standing and head off civil unrest. “This is a classic strategy,” Fontaine said. “In ancient Rome, the phrase would be, ‘bread and circuses.’”

Trump has stated that UFC is footing the bill for the event, though the full financial picture has not been made public. The National Park Service disclosed in a court filing that more than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been invested in the production, with seven federal agencies having “allocated significant resources and manpower.”

UFC also announced Friday that cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial had joined as an official event partner, contributing a $250,000 bonus pool for winning fighters. The crypto firm is co-owned by the Trump family, was founded alongside the president’s special diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff, and is operated by his son Zach. The partnership raises further questions about the overlap between the Trump family’s business interests and the events and projects the president has championed using government resources.

Even so, Fontaine acknowledged that when it comes to raw showmanship, the president’s second-term embrace of “hardcore masculinity and brute fighting” reflects a genuine talent for spectacle. “President Trump has a once-in-a-generation talent for this stuff,” he said.

WASHINGTON — The White House South Lawn is being transformed into a venue for an enormous UFC celebration. The event marks two major milestones: President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday alongside America’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Combat matches are set to take place Sunday evening, while organizers have arranged additional festivities spanning the entire weekend.

The Associated Press photo editors have assembled a collection of images documenting this unprecedented event.

The Kennedy Center’s facade no longer displays President Trump’s name after workers removed it following a court directive, with the entire operation conducted in secrecy away from public scrutiny.

NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt witnessed the concealed removal process alongside other observers as crews took steps to shield their work from public view.

The name removal came as a result of a judicial order, though the specifics of the court’s decision and the reasoning behind the secretive nature of the operation remain unclear.

President Donald Trump revealed Saturday his intention to appoint James M. McDonald as the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, filling the position left vacant by Jay Clayton, whom Trump selected earlier this week to head national intelligence.

McDonald previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and currently works as a litigation partner with Sullivan & Cromwell law firm. He also represented Trump personally, taking on the appeal of the former president’s Manhattan hush money case, which remains unresolved.

Trump faced conviction on 34 felony charges related to hiding a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Should McDonald receive confirmation as Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, he would lead one of the Justice Department’s most influential offices, handling cases that span from terrorism and espionage to securities fraud and government corruption.

Last month, McDonald was among the attorneys who achieved a positive result for Indian businessman Gautam Adani after the Trump administration’s Justice Department dismissed fraud and conspiracy charges that were filed during the Biden presidency.

During Trump’s initial presidency, McDonald held the enforcement director position at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and previously worked as deputy associate counsel in the White House under President George W. Bush.

“I am confident that Jamie will deliver strong results for our Country,” Trump wrote about McDonald’s selection on Truth Social Saturday afternoon.

Clayton’s appointment followed mounting congressional pressure to select a permanent successor for Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down as ODNI director last month. Trump encountered significant criticism for choosing Bill Pulte, who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as interim director.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Saturday his selection of James McDonald to serve as the federal prosecutor for Manhattan’s Southern District of New York, replacing Jay in the position.

McDonald brings significant legal experience to the role, having previously worked as an assistant federal prosecutor and served as an enforcement chief at the CFTC.

A Massachusetts federal judge issued a court order Friday requiring the Trump administration to reinstate museum displays and park exhibits that were eliminated following an executive directive aimed at preventing the nation’s cultural sites from showing materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley’s preliminary injunction also halts any further modifications, stating that plaintiffs demonstrated these actions attempt “to rewrite the Nation’s history with a white-out pen.”

“History cannot be faithfully told while excluding the experiences of communities whose contributions, struggles, and achievements form an important part of our Nation’s story,” the judge stated.

The court also mandated that the Trump administration submit weekly status updates detailing their progress on reversing these modifications.

“Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths,” Kelley stated in her ruling.

The decision responds to a February legal challenge brought by conservation and historical organizations targeting National Park Service policies that allegedly forced park personnel to eliminate or modify numerous exhibits containing factually correct and pertinent U.S. history and scientific information, including materials about slavery and climate change.

Numerous modifications occurred at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, where the administration eliminated displays about nine individuals who were enslaved at the location during the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president. Additional changes involved removing signage at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Arizona that described basalt bubbles because it featured an image of a visitor with a Pride flag, while labor history films were taken down from the Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts.

President Donald Trump enacted the executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks last year. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum subsequently directed the elimination of “improper partisan ideology” from museums, monuments, landmarks and other public displays under federal oversight.

A request for comment was sent to the Interior Department on Saturday.

Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources for the National Parks Conservation Association, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit, stated the decision will help shield national parks from the administration’s attempt “to erase history and science at these one-of-a-kind places.”

“National parks belong to the American people and censorship of any kind goes against the values these places represent,” he stated.

Bill Wade, executive director for the Association of National Park Rangers, another organization that filed the lawsuit, called this particularly positive news for National Parks employees who “have prided themselves for being able to provide truthful, accurate and unbiased information.”

WASHINGTON, June 13 – Former President Donald Trump announced via social media on Saturday that an agreement with Iran is set to be finalized on Sunday, stating that the Strait of Hormuz would become immediately “open to all” following the signing.

The announcement came through Trump’s social media platform, though no additional details about the nature of the agreement were provided in the post.

WASHINGTON — A critical surveillance program has expired as Senate Democrats adopt increasingly aggressive tactics in their battle against President Trump’s policies, refusing to pass even traditionally bipartisan measures in their effort to resist his administration.

This confrontational stance represents a significant change from last year, when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer faced harsh criticism from within his own party for joining Republicans in a spring vote that prevented a government shutdown. In the months since, Democrats have forced multiple government shutdowns, delayed Trump’s nominee confirmations, and now allowed bipartisan intelligence legislation to lapse as they search for ways to exert influence in a Republican-controlled Congress.

While this aggressive approach carries risks when government operations cease, and Democrats have achieved few concrete policy wins, Republicans warn that allowing the surveillance law to expire poses serious national security dangers. They argue the law, designed to prevent terrorist attacks, is especially crucial as millions of visitors enter the country for World Cup events and as preparations begin for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

However, this confrontational strategy has succeeded in rallying Democrats both in Congress and across the country, with party members arguing they have no alternative options available and placing responsibility on Trump’s governing style.

“I don’t deny that this is dangerous,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday about Democrats allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expire starting Saturday. “But this didn’t have to happen.”

The Democrats’ increased boldness coincides with frequent Republican clashes with Trump, who has demonstrated little willingness to compromise with legislators from either party. Democrats are preventing the renewal of the surveillance law, called FISA, to protest Trump’s selection of federal housing regulator and loyalist Bill Pulte to temporarily oversee the nation’s intelligence operations. This choice has also frustrated Republicans, who argue Pulte doesn’t possess the necessary experience for such a position.

Throughout the week, legislators from both parties pressed Trump to withdraw the appointment, and on Thursday he announced a permanent replacement for the position just as lawmakers departed Washington for the weekend. However, the Senate confirmation process requires time, and Trump has refused to reconsider Pulte’s interim appointment.

Without any changes, Democrats “are going to use every tool we have to fight back,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.

The FISA dispute has earned Senate Democrats renewed respect from base voters who were disappointed a year ago. Schumer and his caucus have “shifted to more of a fight posture,” says Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who served as an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Democrats of playing “fast and loose” with national security over the past year. He referenced the 43-day government shutdown last fall and months-long delays in funding Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.

“How did we get to the point where one party has completely abdicated any responsibility for our nation’s security?” Thune asked.

Democrats counter that Pulte, who has minimal national security experience, poses a greater danger. They highlight that in his role as a federal housing regulator, he has advocated for investigations targeting prominent political figures Trump views as adversaries.

“It’s not a close call,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “We cannot extend these capabilities if the president is making clear that he’s going to use them not to protect the nation, but to protect himself politically.”

Strategist Payne believes Democrats have secured some additional leverage since the fall shutdown.

Democrats failed to obtain the health care subsidy extension they demanded when a small group of moderate Democrats joined Republicans to resolve the standoff. They also didn’t achieve their desired changes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol after delaying funding for those agencies for months. However, the White House did agree to enter negotiations, despite those discussions ultimately failing.

Democrats have also become more cohesive. While moderates ended the fall shutdown, the party remained united in blocking immigration funding and the surveillance authority.

“They’ve showed Republicans they are not going to fold,” Payne said.

Nevertheless, this approach may not satisfy some party base members or help Democrats secure a majority in November’s midterm elections.

Andrew O’Neill, national advocacy director for the Democratic resistance group Indivisible, expressed concern about seeing some Democrats praise Jay Clayton, Trump’s permanent choice for the intelligence position.

Republicans are working quickly to confirm Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, before Tulsi Gabbard departs and Pulte assumes the interim director role on June 19.

It remains uncertain whether Democrats will support Clayton or permit Republicans to expedite the process and confirm him rapidly.

O’Neill said he approves of Democrats blocking FISA over Pulte’s appointment, but activists remain cautious.

“It’s a mixed bag,” O’Neill said of the past year. “The frustration is it took so long.”

Senate Republicans find themselves caught between these competing forces, having spent months securing funding for border enforcement agencies and now managing the FISA disagreement, despite lawmakers reaching a bipartisan agreement.

Republicans are also attempting to collaborate with Trump, who disrupted the intelligence legislation by announcing Pulte’s appointment just as senators were prepared to approve the deal.

Trump has undermined Republicans’ standing — and his own Senate support — by endorsing primary challenges against sitting senators. Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana both lost their primaries to Trump-supported candidates last month and have joined Democrats in opposing Pulte.

Senate Democrats express hope their strategy will provide sufficient leverage to attract more Republican allies.

Being in the minority presents “a difficult dynamic for us,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “But I’m seeing the Republicans start to move a little bit.”

Groundbreaking legislation in New York could mandate that 3D printers designed for home and commercial use include built-in technology preventing the creation of firearms.

This unprecedented requirement, which California is also examining, aims to combat the newest method for creating untraceable ‘ghost guns’ that have appeared in criminal activities. However, questions remain about the technology’s effectiveness and potential impacts on privacy rights and constitutional freedoms.

Approximately one-third of states across the country have already implemented measures to prohibit or control do-it-yourself weapons that don’t carry serial numbers and bypass background check requirements for gun purchases from licensed federal dealers. This new approach stands apart because it focuses on the manufacturing equipment rather than the individuals creating the weapons.

The prevention technology being promoted in two of America’s largest states by population could establish manufacturing standards for 3D printing devices. It might also provide a framework for other states with Democratic leadership seeking to expand their firearm restrictions, which typically already prohibit specific semiautomatic weapons and permit temporary removal of guns from individuals considered dangerous to themselves or others.

Three-dimensional printing devices have gained widespread adoption over the last twenty years.

From 2012 onward, global 3D printer numbers have expanded from approximately 30,000 to more than 3 million units, while the sector’s worth has increased from roughly $2 billion to $26 billion per year, according to Bill Decker, executive chairman of the Association of 3D Printing. While premium printers cost thousands, some 3D printing devices are now available for just a few hundred dollars.

These machines can produce toys, artificial limbs, and even aircraft components. They can also manufacture firearms — or the components needed to build them — using digital blueprints found online. Self-made weapons without serial numbers are frequently termed ‘ghost guns’ because law enforcement finds them difficult to track.

Weapons created using 3D printers are appearing more frequently in criminal cases, based on a U.S. Department of Justice study published last year. Privately manufactured firearms recovered from crimes and sent to federal agencies increased from roughly 1,600 in 2017 to almost 27,500 in 2023, although the study didn’t detail how many originated from 3D printers.

In a notable New York incident, authorities believe a 3D-printed weapon was likely involved in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.

New York legislation enacted last month and a California proposal would both establish expert committees to develop standards for firearm design detection algorithms. This technology would examine every design sent for 3D printing, match it against a digital database of weapon components, and refuse those showing similarities.

While the research phase would begin immediately, the requirement for 3D printers to include firearm-blocking technology wouldn’t take effect until 2029 — or later in New York’s situation if the study committee finds it’s not yet practical.

The idea resembles a mobile phone application that recognizes trees or flowers from uploaded photographs, explained Solomon Diamond, an associate engineering professor at Dartmouth College who participated in several expert presentations about the legislation during a recent online conference.

For 3D printers, one potential approach could employ geometric analysis of forms, measurements, and other structural characteristics to deny printing requests that closely match firearm components.

‘Geometric search is mature, it’s deployed, it is ready to be applied to this problem,’ said Julian Chultarsky, a technical account manager at Physna, a Columbus, Ohio-based company that develops such technology.

The Association of 3D Printing endorses the legislation in New York and California, but ‘it’s not going to work,’ Decker said. ‘It’s more of a political statement than anything else.’

Criminals will still find methods to manufacture weapons using 3D printers, either by modifying their blueprints or moving their printing operations to different locations, Decker explained.

The more intensive the technology becomes, the greater the likelihood it will also prevent unintended objects, said Rory Mir, director of open access and technology community engagement at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group. Some innocent pipes might appear similar to gun components, or an S-shaped wall mounting device might look like an auto sear trigger used to convert a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun.

‘These sort of censorship algorithms don’t work, and they wind up capturing and blocking a lot of lawful speech,’ Mir said.

When printing instructions are uploaded for cloud-based artificial intelligence analysis, it also threatens the privacy of individuals’ creative and proprietary designs, Mir explained.

Gun safety supporters argue 3D printers have established a new route for individuals who cannot legally buy firearms — such as minors or convicted criminals — to still acquire them. Eleven states already broadly ban 3D-printed weapons, and six more states mandate they receive serial numbers, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

Preventing the actual 3D printing of weapons could make it more difficult for individuals to violate such regulations.

‘3D printing really is the new frontier of the fight against ghost guns,’ said Samuel Levy, director of policy advocacy at Everytown for Gun Safety.

The National Rifle Association might partially support that claim, though it opposes the policy.

‘Despite desperate fear-mongering campaigns, homemade firearms are nothing new — they are a proud, time-honored American tradition dating back to the founding of our Republic,’ John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. He added that ‘these measures only restrict responsible Americans — who do follow the law — from participating in constitutionally protected activities.’

Republican lawmakers are pressing President Donald Trump to provide financial backing for his endorsed candidate in Texas after creating what many see as an unexpectedly competitive Senate race.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent four-term Senator John Cornyn in last month’s primary runoff, riding Trump’s last-minute endorsement to victory. The upset victory prompted political analysts to downgrade the race from a safe Republican hold to a competitive contest in a state Trump carried by nearly 14 points in 2024.

The attorney general now confronts a formidable Democratic challenger in state Representative James Talarico, who has emerged as a major fundraising force. Talarico’s campaign has collected $40 million through March and maintains $9.9 million in available funds. Meanwhile, Paxton has struggled financially, raising only $7.6 million through May 6 with just $2.3 million remaining in his campaign account. Paxton faces felony fraud charges and survived impeachment proceedings in the Texas House, though he maintains his innocence.

“It would be very helpful if the president would help the people he endorsed,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis, a retiring Republican from Wyoming, when questioned about Trump’s potential financial involvement.

The Lone Star State presents expensive campaign challenges with 20 separate television markets requiring significant advertising investment. Republican organizations already spent tens of millions supporting Cornyn, who was viewed as the stronger general election candidate. An internal strategy document from Senate Republicans’ campaign committee warned last August that a Paxton nomination would make Texas competitive for Democrats “and cause Republicans to divert hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent winning key battlegrounds.”

“There is no doubt that Ken Paxton needs outside money to help him win this race,” commented a Texas political strategist.

Gregg Keller, speaking for the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC, expressed confidence that Republican support is solidifying behind the attorney general as the campaign progresses toward Election Day.

“We are thankful to the president for his endorsement and leadership and look forward to joining the Senate majority next year,” Keller stated. “There is no amount of money Talarico can spend to erase his radical and dangerous record.”

Talarico has drawn audiences in traditionally Republican areas of Texas by discussing his Christian beliefs and proposing policies targeting billionaires he claims manipulate working-class anger to serve their own interests. Republican opponents have criticized his religious interpretations and attacked his positions on immigration and gender-related issues. A recent Texas Pulse poll from June 9 shows the candidates in a statistical tie.

“Paxton is now forcing the GOP to develop a completely new strategy for a state they never believed would be in play,” said Lauren French, representing Senate Democrats’ super PAC.

Republicans currently control the Senate with a 53-47 advantage. While targeting Democratic seats in Georgia and Michigan – states Trump won in 2024 – they must also defend positions in several competitive states including North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, Alaska, and potentially Iowa and Texas.

Trump’s affiliated super PAC, MAGA Inc., possesses a $356 million treasury but has not allocated funds for Paxton’s campaign. The organization invested nearly $377 million in Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and has spent $1.7 million this cycle supporting Republicans Matt Van Epps and Clay Fuller in special congressional contests in Tennessee and Georgia.

The Senate Leadership Fund, Republicans’ primary super PAC for Senate races, plans to invest $342 million in battleground states this fall, but Texas is not included in their current strategy. The organization declined to provide comment.

“The assumption is that he is” planning to support Paxton financially, said one Senate Republican speaking anonymously about Trump’s intentions. “I think he should. He put his foot on the scale for his candidate that won. So we are assuming that he will.”

The outcome could affect Trump’s final two presidential years. A Democratic Senate majority would gain greater influence over presidential appointments and could launch investigations into the Trump administration through congressional committees.

Representatives for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Senate Republicans showed reluctance to publicly advise Trump on spending decisions during interviews.

“I won’t begin to tell the president what he should do,” stated Senator John Curtis of Utah.

When asked whether Trump’s potential Texas investment would benefit Senate Republicans, Curtis emphasized the president’s autonomy in the matter.

“That’s his funding,” Curtis said. “That’s his decision.”

Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser at MAGA Inc., told Politico the super PAC continues fundraising for campaign expenditures but does not reveal timing or locations for spending. He characterized Texas as an open Republican seat “that we’ll have to ensure that we win.”

Political observers suggest Paxton confronts substantial fundraising obstacles against Talarico, with some attributing responsibility to Trump for creating an unnecessarily close contest.

“National Republicans understand Paxton’s vulnerabilities – at least that he’s likely to run in a close race – and they want to be in a position to do what’s required to pull him through,” explained Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

“And lots of people are pointing the finger directly at Donald Trump because it was his endorsement that created that stampede to Paxton in the runoff.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott represents another potential funding source. Abbott’s political committee, Texans for Greg Abbott, reported nearly $96 million available in February.

Eduardo Leal, press secretary for Texans for Greg Abbott, confirmed the governor supports all Republican candidates but would not specify whether Abbott plans to fund Paxton directly.

“Republicans are united and focused on delivering a decisive victory, and we’re confident Texans will once again reject the radical left’s agenda,” Leal said in a statement.

WASHINGTON — The facade of the Kennedy Center still displayed President Donald Trump’s name on Saturday morning, missing a court-mandated Friday deadline for removing all references to Trump from the renowned performing arts facility and its operations.

Workers had positioned scaffolding around the area bearing Trump’s name on Friday, but just after midnight, Kennedy Center officials petitioned a judge for additional time until Saturday at noon Eastern Time, citing thunderstorms that had moved through Washington and disrupted their timeline.

In their court submission, the Kennedy Center provided assurance that “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”

Hours later, crews started covering the scaffolding with protective tarps.

Throughout Friday, dozens of spectators gathered on the plaza facing the Kennedy Center, snapping photos and periodically erupting in celebration while chanting “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who filed the lawsuit demanding Trump’s name be stripped from the facility, was observed at the plaza during the demonstration.

Earlier on Friday, a judge denied a motion to delay the court-imposed deadline. The venue’s management appealed this decision, but that effort was also rejected Friday night.

Following years of minimal involvement with the Kennedy Center during his initial presidency, Trump has exercised significant control over the institution since returning to office. Within just one month of beginning his second term, he removed the center’s existing leadership and installed a new board of trustees that appointed him as chairman. Trump’s name was promptly displayed on the building.

In his decision stating that only Congress has authority to alter the Kennedy Center’s name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also prevented the administration from shutting down the cultural facility for extensive renovations scheduled to begin in July and continue for two years.

The Kennedy Center’s leadership contended in their Friday appeal that the renovation was critically necessary and criticized the lower court, using language that echoed Trump’s speaking style, for obstructing their efforts.

“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” the appeal stated. “Indeed, total collapse!”

While the Kennedy Center has resisted attempts to strip Trump’s name from the structure, it has implemented measures to follow Cooper’s original order.

A June 4 staff memorandum from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel instructed that email signatures, letterhead and other materials must show the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The Kennedy Center’s website has removed Trump’s name. Additionally, an earlier email to members promoting ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony was sent from the Kennedy Center without referencing Trump’s name.

Eric Jones, a Democrat, secured his place on the November general election ballot following California’s nonpartisan primary on June 2, setting up a showdown with incumbent Democratic Representative Mike Thompson in the state’s 4th Congressional District.

The 35-year-old former venture capitalist claimed the second position in the top-two primary system, while Thompson, who first won his House seat in 1998 following his tenure as a state legislator, finished first.

With both candidates representing the same party, the district will definitely stay under Democratic control. The area encompasses the renowned Napa-Sonoma wine regions and covers extensive territory throughout Northern California above Sacramento.

This contest marks another instance of generational conflict within California’s Democratic delegation. Representative Doris Matsui, age 81, who assumed her deceased husband’s congressional seat in 2005, faces competition from Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang, who is 41 years old.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, 15-term Representative Brad Sherman managed to defeat a younger Democratic opponent who failed to secure one of the top two positions needed to advance to November. These challenges by younger Democrats against senior incumbents have increased following former President Joe Biden’s presidency.

The primary elections for California’s House seats centered largely on whether Democrats could benefit from their redistricting efforts to potentially gain five more seats come November. The party redrew California’s congressional map as a response to Republican redistricting advantages in Texas and other conservative states. Democrats successfully prevented themselves from being shut out of any newly competitive districts.

BOSTON, June 12 – A federal court has mandated that the Trump administration must put back educational materials and displays about subjects including slavery and climate change that were taken down from national parks and monuments across the country because they didn’t match “its preferred narrative.”

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston granted a preliminary injunction on Friday following a lawsuit brought by organizations representing park conservationists, historians and scientists. These groups claimed the U.S. Department of the Interior has been conducting a “sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science.”

A federal judge has written an apology letter to a former law clerk following disciplinary measures taken against her for engaging in sexual conduct with a police officer inside her courthouse chambers and subsequently providing false statements about the incidents.

The disciplinary action against U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross stemmed from an investigation launched by the chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit, which determined that Ross engaged in sexual activity in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within hearing distance of courthouse staff, participated in a partisan political event, and initially provided false information when questioned about these matters. In her letter dated Thursday and acquired by The Associated Press, Ross acknowledged that her “actions were patently wrong, and there is no excuse.”

“You deserved better than to have your experience marred by my own offensive conflict,” Ross stated in the correspondence, which The New York Times initially reported.

Ross received her appointment to the bench in the Northern District of Georgia in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

The inquiry into Ross’s conduct commenced after one of her law clerks filed a complaint alleging that the judge had repeatedly engaged in sexual conduct with a high-ranking uniformed police officer in her chambers during business hours. Additional allegations included claims that the judge failed to provide adequate supervision to clerks and had verbally berated staff members using profanity.

Following the investigation’s confirmation of the allegations, Ross received a “private reprimand” that initially kept her identity confidential. She also committed to refraining from pursuing the chief judge position for the district when she becomes eligible and agreed to send apology letters to six former law clerks.

William Pryor, serving as chief judge of the 11th Circuit, initiated the investigation of Ross last fall. When he requested her response to the clerk’s allegations regarding sexual activity in her office and attendance at partisan events, she responded immediately and “specifically denied” all claims. The following day, the judge sent another email to Pryor suggesting that the law clerk might have fabricated the allegations as revenge for being required to work in the office.

Ross’s letter states, “I also want to convey my deepest apologies to you for my false accusation against you. Again, I have no excuse and immensely regret my behavior.”

The correspondence also mentions an earlier letter that Ross had written to the clerk, describing it as “entirely deficient, as I did not take full accountability for my actions, and I failed to give you the apology that you deserve.”

Federal judges receive lifetime appointments and can only be removed through congressional impeachment proceedings. This week, two Georgia congressmen submitted separate impeachment resolutions targeting Ross. The House Judiciary Committee holds the authority to determine whether to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Pryor established a special committee to conduct the investigation. The committee’s findings were documented in a report accompanying the disciplinary order.

The committee’s examination of access logs and security recordings revealed that an officer had regularly visited the judge’s chambers while in uniform during lunch hours. Six clerks recalled observing someone matching the officer’s description, with three recalling overhearing what appeared to be sexual activity coming from the judge’s office.

Three clerks remembered bringing summer interns on their first day to observe the judge conducting a hearing in a criminal matter. Immediately afterward, they reported to the committee, the judge declined to have lunch with the interns, admitting to consuming too many martinis the previous evening at a primary election celebration for a district attorney friend.

The clerks indicated that the judge provided inadequate guidance and “rarely, if ever, substantively edited civil orders the clerks drafted.” Although clerks described an “eggshell culture,” the committee found no evidence of abusive conduct.

The judge eventually confessed to maintaining an extramarital sexual relationship with the officer while denying the staff mistreatment allegations, according to the committee. The judge acknowledged attending a “mixer” for former employees of a district attorney’s office where she previously worked, but claimed it occurred in a separate room from the victory celebration.

“Though I can never fully undo the harm that I have caused you, I hope that my acknowledgment of these failures is a small first step,” Ross wrote to her former clerk. “I will be taking further steps to ensure that this never happens again.”

A delegation of Democratic legislators from Congress visited Puerto Rico on Friday, making commitments to address the territory’s slow recovery from major natural disasters that have relied on federal assistance.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, who serves as the ranking member of the House Committee of Homeland Security, explained that he and fellow lawmakers conducted meetings with Puerto Rican mayors during their two-day visit to the territory. The mayors expressed frustrations about delayed reimbursements and slow approval processes for recovery projects.

“We’ll move some of those concerns into corrective actions,” Thompson stated during a press conference. “The system should work better.”

Pablo José Hernández, who represents Puerto Rico in Congress, explained that local mayors raised these issues after former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem established a requirement that DHS spending exceeding $100,000 needed direct approval from her office.

This requirement created additional setbacks for Puerto Rico’s recovery from hurricanes Maria and Fiona, along with powerful earthquakes that occurred in late 2019 and early 2020.

The new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin eliminated this rule in April, though obstacles continue to exist.

Thompson pointed out that approximately one-third of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce “has been done away with.”

“Not a lot of people to answer the phones or look at the paperwork because they’re not there,” he explained.

While Thompson mentioned that Mullin has committed to restoring employees, the timeline for these additions remains uncertain.

“FEMA’s role is to be here in a time of need when local resources have been overrun,” Thompson explained. “Obviously, hurricanes that you’re dealing with over time have overrun local resources.”

Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017 as a devastating Category 4 storm. The hurricane destroyed the island’s electrical infrastructure and resulted in approximately $90 billion in damages. Following the storm’s aftermath, an estimated 2,982 people lost their lives.

Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico in September 2022 as a Category 1 storm, once again damaging an electrical system that had not been fully restored since Hurricane Maria.

Additionally, earthquakes that affected southern Puerto Rico resulted in an estimated $3 billion in damages.

The territory continues working toward recovery from these disasters, with approximately 30% of reconstruction projects still awaiting completion.

According to Puerto Rico’s Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency, which handles federal grant funding, nearly $43 billion in federal money has been allocated, with nearly $40 billion obligated and $12.7 billion distributed.

Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres explained that accumulated pending projects create bottlenecks that increase expenses, leading to additional delays. He noted numerous projects in his municipality remain unfinished.

A DHS report from September 2025 determined that FEMA “did not ensure the timely rebuilding of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid” following Hurricane Maria and that FEMA officials “missed opportunities to provide more assistance to Puerto Rico.”

A February 2024 audit conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office revealed that Puerto Rico’s government had utilized less than 10% of more than $23 billion in available federal funding at that time.

Problems included increasing expenses, worker shortages, major reductions in insurance availability, and global supply chain disruptions. Many of these issues continue to affect recovery efforts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Minnesota Senator Tina Smith arrived in the Senate, the Democratic Party operated under very different principles.

Smith was named to her position in late 2017 as a replacement for Senator Al Franken, who stepped down after Democratic colleagues called for his departure following accusations of inappropriate physical contact. Her arrival coincided with the peak of the #MeToo era, when Democrats were forcing out their own members while highlighting the contrast with Republicans who continued supporting Donald Trump despite various scandals.

Almost ten years have passed, and Smith believes Democrats now have a more straightforward priority.

“Democrats want to win,” she said.

With the party working to gain control of both congressional chambers in upcoming midterm elections, Smith and fellow Democrats have thrown their support behind Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner, even as controversies continue mounting around him. These include body art identified as Nazi imagery, inappropriate communications with women soon after his wedding, and accusations he denies involving confining a former partner in a room and forcibly twisting her arm. Platner secured an easy primary win this week after Governor Janet Mills ended her campaign.

The backing of Platner represents more than support for a single candidate. It demonstrates how the Democratic Party has become more willing to excuse conduct it previously might have considered unacceptable, instead evaluating candidates based on their ability to motivate voters and restore party control.

“Voters are looking for candidates that are speaking their language and talk about the things that matter to them,” Smith explained. “That’s the standard that we have to hit in order to win.”

This support emerges during a challenging period for Democrats, who hold minority status in both legislative chambers while Trump has returned to the presidency.

Following their comprehensive defeats in 2024, numerous Democrats maintained the party required broader appeal with reduced ideological requirements and greater accommodation for candidates and supporters who don’t align perfectly with the party’s established base.

However, this expansion has created challenging decisions about acceptable boundaries. In Virginia, Democrat Jay Jones secured the attorney general position after campaign-period reports revealed he had sent messages to a colleague suggesting the then-House speaker deserved “two bullets to the head.”

Party members also criticized Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed for participating in a campaign appearance with progressive content creator Hasan Piker. The 34-year-old streamer, who has 3.1 million Twitch followers and 1.8 million YouTube subscribers, has made numerous inflammatory statements, including claiming “America deserved 9/11.”

Platner’s campaign has emerged as perhaps the most obvious illustration. While certain Democrats consider his controversies disqualifying, others maintain that voters have made their selection.

“He won the nomination. That was the decision of Maine voters. And I respect that decision,” stated Senator Adam Schiff from California.

Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who has endorsed Platner, similarly believes the choice belongs to voters.

“It’s not up to the politicians to decide,” he stated.

Some Democrats view this transformation as wisdom gained during Trump’s presidency. Republicans maintained loyalty to Trump throughout scandals, impeachment proceedings, and criminal convictions, frequently without experiencing lasting electoral consequences. Many Democrats now contend voters prioritize whether candidates address their concerns over meeting conventional standards for personal behavior.

“I think what the people of this country and the people of Maine are interested in is how we’re going to have a government that represents all of us and addresses the many crises we face. Not the marriage problems of a campaign,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, who supported Platner early on.

Progressive activists who have consistently argued Democrats focus excessively on candidate oversight rather than channeling voter anger view Platner’s success as proof the party’s foundation desires change.

Maine resident Elizabeth Massey from Penobscot, who supports Platner, acknowledged taking the accusations seriously and remaining concerned about aspects of his history. However, she said his willingness to acknowledge mistakes and current national issues ultimately influenced her voting decision more.

“So do I care more about texts that he sent or the war in Iran and what that’s doing to gas prices?” Massey asked. “Pretty clearly the latter.”

Massey explained Platner’s attraction lies in his direct communication with voters about their concerns, not his lack of imperfections.

“He owns them. He has apologized for them,” she said regarding the allegations.

Additional supporters contend Republicans are applying standards to Platner they haven’t used with Trump.

“The Republicans don’t have much moral high ground to stand on when they’re criticizing him for what he’s done when Trump is a convicted felon,” said Annette Babcock from Platner’s hometown of Sullivan.

This acceptance of candidates with problematic backgrounds occurs as many Democrats express significant dissatisfaction with their party.

Approximately two-thirds of Democrats held “somewhat” or “very” positive opinions of their party in an April AP-NORC survey, dropping from 85% in September 2024. A separate AP-NORC poll from August 2025 found many Democrats characterizing their political party as “weak” or “ineffective.”

While Platner might energize core supporters, uncertainty remains about whether this will produce general election victories. Platner now confronts Republican Senator Susan Collins, among the GOP’s most enduring incumbents and a politician with extensive experience appealing to independent and crossover Democratic voters.

“The test is never going to be who wins the primary,” explained Michigan Senator Gary Peters, who directed Senate Democrats’ campaign operations in 2022 and 2024. “It’s going to be who wins the general election.”

Numerous Democrats have withheld enthusiastic endorsements of Platner’s candidacy.

This group includes New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee and has concentrated primarily on defeating Collins rather than promoting Platner. Gillibrand helped spearhead the effort for Franken’s departure, declaring “enough is enough” and stating she believed his accusers.

Other Democrats have expressed more direct skepticism. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman and New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer have voiced opposition to Platner, while some legislators have provided only conditional support following his primary victory.

“Well, Maine supports him. So yes,” Senator Peter Welch from Vermont replied when questioned about his support for Platner.

Emily Cherniack, who serves as executive director of New Politics, an organization recruiting military veterans and public service leaders for political campaigns, said she has been “stunned” by some Democrats’ readiness to minimize allegations of aggressive and unstable behavior against Platner.

“Democrats are saying, we think it’s actually more important to win the majority and protect democracy, regardless of what he did. That to me is what the message is,” Cherniack explained.

“Just be honest and explicit about that choice.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal banking regulations were expanded Friday as the Treasury Department enhanced ways for financial institutions to assist with immigration enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump’s administration, according to new guidance released by officials.

The updated rules allow banks to exchange customer information more quickly and include fresh advisory materials directing financial institutions to watch for indicators that account holders might not have proper immigration documentation.

These regulatory modifications represent part of the current administration’s strategy to exclude workers without legal status from the banking sector, though officials have not directly required banks to take such action. Administration leaders have positioned these measures as anti-fraud and anti-crime initiatives rather than explicitly immigration-focused policies.

Speaking at a banking industry conference in Houston, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed financial leaders about their potential role in enforcement efforts.

“The information in your purview can help stop a cartel financier, disrupt a money laundering network, uncover labor exploitation, or protect taxpayers from fraud,” Bessent said in prepared remarks.

The Treasury Secretary’s comments and the department’s updated guidelines stem from an executive order Trump signed in May. That directive instructs banks to examine customer citizenship more closely and tells banking regulators and government agencies to look for evidence of people without legal status accessing financial services. However, the order stopped short of explicitly requiring banks to gather citizenship data, which industry groups had opposed for months.

Financial institutions have historically been permitted to exchange customer information with other banks through Patriot Act provisions when they suspect money laundering or fraudulent activity, a system established after September 11th to fight terrorism and other criminal enterprises.

Friday’s regulatory changes expanded this framework in two key ways. Banks now have authorization to share such data immediately and with fewer restrictions.

Additionally, the Trump Administration has broadened the circumstances under which banks may share information, now including indicators traditionally associated with immigration status. One such indicator involves customers using individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs), which undocumented immigrants commonly use when seeking employment.

Bessent emphasized to banking professionals that the new guidance simply represents standard operational requirements for financial institutions.

“The advisory does not ask banks to become immigration officers,” Bessent said. “It asks banks to do what they do best: know their customers, identify risk, recognize suspicious patterns, and report illicit activity when they see it.”

Banking industry leaders have expressed concerns about providing customer information to federal authorities for immigration enforcement purposes. Since banks traditionally have not gathered citizenship data from customers, implementing such requirements would demand substantial institutional changes and extensive documentation processes.

Immigration advocacy groups have previously warned that any directive requiring banks to collect citizenship information would likely push undocumented immigrants away from the financial system, potentially increasing the population of individuals without banking services.

The White House has implemented additional measures aimed at discouraging undocumented workers from accessing financial services. Last November, the Treasury announced plans to reclassify certain refundable tax credits as “federal public benefits,” preventing some immigrant taxpayers from receiving them despite filing returns, paying taxes, and meeting other qualification requirements.

Three nonprofit organizations that provide legal representation to unaccompanied migrant children report that federal agents attempted to access their offices in what they characterize as intimidation efforts targeting legal service providers.

The organizations announced Friday that personnel from Homeland Security Investigations, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General sought entry to Washington D.C.-area offices of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Ayuda, and Kids in Need of Defense.

These visits occurred as the current Trump administration works to reduce funding for nonprofit legal groups that assist immigrant children, part of what advocates describe as broader efforts targeting this vulnerable population.

Michael Lukens, who leads Amica, reported that agents arrived at their facility Thursday requesting financial documents connected to their contract for serving unaccompanied migrant children. The agents lacked warrants or supporting documentation for their demands, prompting the organization to refuse entry, according to Lukens.

“There was no reason to show up other than to intimidate us, which didn’t work,” said Lukens, who added that the legal service providers already regularly provide updates to the government on their work. Lukens said the law enforcement visits were part of months of “very quiet and strategic attacks” by the administration against immigrant children’s legal rights.

“If the kids don’t have attorneys it’s very unlikely they can fight their cases,” he said.

Wendy Young, president at KIND, described how two agents with the HHS Office of Inspector General appeared at their D.C. office Thursday. Without warrants or subpoenas, they requested access to financial records.

Paula Fitzgerald, the executive director at Ayuda, said two agents came to their location Wednesday morning seeking billing and invoice information related to their migrant children legal services. When Fitzgerald requested they submit their request via email, they agreed to follow up and departed.

Young warned these encounters could create a chilling atmosphere for legal service providers already facing financial pressure under the Trump administration.

“I think there’s an overarching approach which is to harass and intimidate those organizations that are set up to provide services to this very vulnerable population because these are kids who cannot navigate the immigration system without the assistance of counsel,” Young said.

Both Young and Lukens noted the visits coincided with a Thursday news conference where Justice Department, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services officials announced cases against three Guatemalan nationals, highlighting concerns about sponsor vetting in programs reuniting children with relatives or family friends.

Conference officials also announced investigations into so-called super-sponsors who obtained custody of more than three unrelated children, examining whether these arrangements involved fraud.

“It seems to be that the timing probably wasn’t coincidental,” Young said.

The second Trump administration briefly suspended the legal aid program for children early in its tenure with minimal explanation, then reversed the decision one week later.

Currently, the legal aid organizations report unpaid government obligations. KIND, which claims to have represented 14,000 immigrant children and provided legal rights education to 70,000 more since its founding, states they are owed $20 million for completed services.

The 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Act established special protections for children arriving in the U.S. without parents or legal guardians, directing the government to facilitate legal representation for children in deportation proceedings, though not requiring every child receive an attorney.

Unaccompanied children may seek asylum, juvenile immigration status, or visas for sexual exploitation victims. Most children require interpreters as they don’t speak English.

When contacted for comment, Immigration and Customs Enforcement referred inquiries to the Justice Department, which directed them to the Office of Refugee Resettlement under Health and Human Services. HHS referred questions to the inspector general’s office, which stated they generally neither confirm nor deny ongoing investigations.

A federal court has rejected the Kennedy Center board of trustees’ request to halt proceedings that would strip President Trump’s name from the performing arts venue.

On Friday, the judge turned down the appeal from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ governing board, which had sought to block the name removal process through a legal stay.

The court’s decision allows the removal proceedings to continue without the legal obstacle the trustees had hoped to establish.

President Trump has officially selected Todd Blanche, who previously worked as his personal lawyer, to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official as attorney general.

Blanche’s nomination offers a glimpse into what direction the Department of Justice might take under Trump’s administration.

WASHINGTON — A federal court decision on Friday cleared the way for a mixed martial arts spectacle to take place this weekend on White House grounds, despite legal efforts to halt the controversial event.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed a challenge brought by a legal advocacy organization seeking to prevent Sunday’s planned UFC competition from proceeding on the South Lawn. The event is scheduled to coincide with both President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday celebration and commemorations of America’s 250th anniversary.

In his ruling, Mehta determined that those bringing the lawsuit probably lack the legal authority to contest the event and haven’t demonstrated they would experience lasting damage if the competition moves forward. The judge also pointed to the challengers’ delayed response to an event that has been under development for several months.

“In the context of an emergency application — and coupled with the fact that the UFC fight date was long ago known — it is fair to say Plaintiffs unreasonably delayed bringing suit, undercutting their claims of irreparable harm,” Mehta wrote.

Legal representatives from the nonprofit Public Integrity Project filed the court action on behalf of an activist and a Vietnam War veteran, challenging Trump’s “UFC Freedom 250” event. The lawsuit also sought to prevent construction of event infrastructure on White House property, including a massive 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel framework known as The Claw.

The judge observed that any visual disruption claimed by the challengers would be short-lived, as The Claw is set for removal beginning Monday morning, with all staging materials at the Lincoln Memorial required to be cleared beforehand. “The President’s musings about permanency of the Claw does not move the dial in the face of a White House official’s clear representation,” the judge wrote.

White House representatives characterized the legal action as an unfounded effort to stop Trump from conducting an event similar to numerous other gatherings regularly held at public venues throughout the nation’s capital.

According to the plaintiffs’ legal team, Trump’s administration lacks authority to approve sporting competitions on the South Lawn or at the Lincoln Memorial, where UFC athletes were scheduled to conduct a fan event on Friday. They emphasized that this represents a private, commercial enterprise, with premium access packages priced in the millions.

“The President’s administration is granting the UFC an extraordinary business opportunity it may not lawfully grant, and in exchange the UFC is throwing an event at which its leadership, fighters, advertisers, and various celebrities will all pay tribute to the President on his birthday,” plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.

Public Integrity Project attorney Brendan Ballou expressed disappointment with the court’s ruling while maintaining respect for the decision, stating their intention to “keep bringing cases to raise the cost of corruption in America.”

“This isn’t a case about a sporting event, it’s about corruption, as a handful of people and companies stand to profit from our public monuments,” Ballou said in a statement.

The lawsuit names the National Park Service and the Interior Department as defendants.

Trump made history in 2019 during his initial presidency by becoming the first sitting president to attend a UFC competition. The Republican president maintains a friendship with UFC president and CEO Dana White.

Judge Mehta received his appointment from President Barack Obama, a Democrat. He has overseen additional Trump-related litigation, including civil cases alleging Trump encouraged supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Election officials in Maine started processing ranked choice voting ballots Friday following primary elections where no candidates achieved majority victories in key races for governor and a U.S. House position.

The secretary of state’s office announced that final outcomes should be available sometime during the upcoming week.

Both Maine and Alaska employ ranked choice voting systems for certain statewide contests. This method allows voters to list candidates according to their preferences rather than selecting just one.

When this system is used, any candidate failing to reach 50% of votes cast triggers an elimination process where the last-place finisher is removed and those voters’ secondary picks are redistributed. This process repeats until one candidate secures more than half of all votes.

Tuesday’s primary elections saw no candidate surpass the 50% threshold in either party’s gubernatorial contest or the Democratic race for the 2nd Congressional District. Officials from the Maine Secretary of State Department announced Friday that ballot processing would commence that afternoon, with public viewing available both in person and through the secretary of state’s YouTube channel.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has been in office since 2018, faces term limits that prevent her from seeking reelection, resulting in competitive fields for both political parties. Five Democrats actively sought their party’s nomination in the June 9 primary, while seven Republicans competed for theirs. The Democratic contest proved particularly tight, with the leading four contenders separated by only small margins.

Democratic voters selected from among Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson; former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree; energy executive Angus King III; and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah.

Since Bellows’ office oversees the ranked choice counting process, she “has stepped aside from this part of the process and has delegated to her staff,” explained Jana Spaulding, the deputy secretary of the office.

Republican voters chose from former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles; healthcare executive Jonathan Bush; former Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason; former Paris, Maine, selectman Robert Wessels; and businessmen Owen McCarthy, David Jones and Ben Midgley.

Mills entered the U.S. Senate primary race this year but ended her campaign in April. Oyster farmer Graham Platner ultimately won that primary and will challenge longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the general election.

For the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary, the ballot featured former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud.

The Democratic winner will face Republican former Gov. Paul LePage, an ally of President Donald Trump who ran unopposed in his party’s primary. LePage held the governor’s office from 2010 to 2018, establishing himself as an outspoken opponent of liberal policies and strong supporter of Trump during that period.

November’s 2nd District election will not feature an incumbent since Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who has represented the area since 2018, decided not to seek reelection.

This district has a history of supporting Trump in presidential elections while also choosing Golden for four consecutive terms.

WASHINGTON — A federal court has rejected the Kennedy Center’s appeal to postpone a judicial order requiring the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the renowned Washington arts venue.

The rejection occurred on Friday. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper had previously determined that Trump’s name was unlawfully attached to the famous Washington performing arts center. Cooper concluded that only Congress holds the authority to modify the Kennedy Center’s official designation and mandated that all Trump references be eliminated by Friday.

A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The performing arts center’s online presence has already eliminated Trump’s name. Additionally, an email sent earlier this week to patrons promoting ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony originated from the Kennedy Center without mentioning Trump’s name.

Following a period of limited engagement with the Kennedy Center throughout much of his initial presidency, Trump has exercised significant control over the institution since returning to the presidency. Within just one month of beginning his second administration, he removed the facility’s existing leadership and installed a personally selected board of trustees that appointed him as chairman.

Federal investigators conducted a search of a Cleveland-based organization that works on voter registration initiatives, confiscating paperwork and electronic records, according to an organizational board member who spoke Friday.

The operation represents another federal action targeting voting and election activities across various states, occurring in Ohio where competitive gubernatorial and U.S. Senate contests are anticipated this fall.

Agents arrived at the Cleveland headquarters of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative on Thursday, spending several hours interviewing personnel, according to Prentiss Haney, who serves on the grassroots group’s board. The organization began operations in 2007 with stated goals of advocating for criminal justice reform, racial justice and expanded voting access.

Investigators also visited residences of individuals connected to the organization, conducting interviews and gathering information regarding suspected voter fraud, Haney reported. He characterized the agents’ approach as “intimidation tactics and harassment,” while voicing concerns that the investigation aims to create uncertainty about upcoming elections.

The investigation’s specific focus remained unclear, though a source with knowledge of the situation indicated Friday that authorities were looking into possible fraud violations. The individual lacked authorization to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity.

Both the FBI and Justice Department refused to provide comment Friday.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, the Justice Department has initiated multiple legal proceedings and investigations concerning voting and state election systems.

Federal agents have confiscated ballots and additional records from Georgia’s Fulton County and Arizona’s Maricopa County related to the 2020 election, as well as materials from Michigan’s Wayne County concerning the 2024 election. Investigators have also conducted interviews with election personnel in Wisconsin’s Milwaukee County. These four counties are all located in states considered presidential battlegrounds.

The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against no fewer than 30 states plus the District of Columbia following their refusal to provide comprehensive voter information including birth dates and partial Social Security numbers. Court documents indicate the department seeks this data to process through a Department of Homeland Security citizenship verification system, though questions have been raised about the program’s reliability. The Justice Department has experienced consistent defeats in its legal efforts to obtain data from resistant states.

Trump also directed the Justice Department early in his second term to investigate ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform used by the Democratic Party.

Voter registration fraud allegations typically fall under state investigation and commonly involve individuals employed by organizations that compensate for registration sign-ups. California authorities launched an investigation this year into whether petition gatherers were paying people to sign ballot measures. In 2025, Pennsylvania officials filed criminal charges against seven individuals for submitting false voter registration documents.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia has decided to maintain a court-imposed prohibition on the Trump administration’s establishment of a $1.8 billion compensation fund intended for individuals claiming to be victims of government weaponization.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche informed Congress earlier this month that the administration was abandoning the fund following intense opposition from both political parties. While government lawyers contend the legal challenges are no longer relevant, attorneys representing the plaintiffs remain unconvinced by Blanche’s promises to halt the fund’s implementation.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema shared their skepticism and determined the fund would stay blocked pending further court action.

“The (government’s) mootness argument, in my view, doesn’t go anywhere,” the judge said.

President Donald Trump has not made any clear public statements supporting the fund’s elimination and continues to voice his backing for it when speaking with reporters.

The judge has given both sides one week to work out terms for Blanche to provide a sworn statement promising the administration will not resurrect the fund.

Brinkema had earlier granted a temporary prohibition preventing the administration from moving ahead with the fund for a minimum of two weeks. That May 29 ruling was set to end on Friday.

The Republican administration established this fund as part of resolving Trump’s legal action against the Internal Revenue Service regarding the disclosure of his tax documents.

Those who filed suit to prevent fund distributions contend the government lacks authority to redirect taxpayer funds into what they characterize as a discretionary fund for rewarding Trump’s supporters.

President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, nominated Brinkema to her judicial position.

WASHINGTON, June 12 – A federal judge has put an indefinite halt to President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund on Friday, ordering the administration to submit a sworn declaration within seven days stating the fund will not move ahead.

The court granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the fund from proceeding.

The Kennedy Center must comply with a Friday deadline to eliminate President Trump’s name from its entire branding operation, including the marble facade of its Washington, D.C. facility, following a judge’s order.

The cultural institution is challenging the court’s decision that requires the removal of Trump’s name from all organizational materials and building signage.

TRENTON, N.J. — A Clifton City councilwoman has secured the Republican nomination to challenge the Democratic incumbent in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District race.

Rosie Pino emerged victorious over attorney Tiffany Burress in the GOP primary for the northern New Jersey seat, according to The Associated Press, which declared her the winner on Friday. She will now face Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou, who is running for her second term in Congress.

Political observers are keeping a close eye on this congressional district, especially Republicans who believe they have a viable chance following the unexpectedly tight 2024 election results and Donald Trump’s success in areas where the GOP hadn’t claimed victory in many years.

President Donald Trump has been anticipating this weekend to mark a significant moment for his administration.

Friday brings the World Cup back to American soil. Sunday marks his 80th birthday celebration with a UFC fight night hosted at the White House. Following that event, he’s set to travel to the G7 summit in the French Alps. However, Trump raised expectations further by declaring that the United States and Iran might reach an agreement this weekend to conclude their current conflict.

At the same time, recent AP-NORC polling data reveals that independent voters have become more dissatisfied with Trump throughout his second term, especially those lacking college education.

Here are the current developments:

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney emerged as a representative of middle power opposition following a notable address earlier this year, though he’s anticipated to tone down his Trump criticism at the forthcoming European summit.

Carney’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, elevated him to international political prominence in January when he proclaimed the end of the global rules-based system and criticized powerful nations’ coercion of smaller states. The prime minister garnered extensive acclaim and media coverage for his statements, overshadowing Trump at the event.

However, the Group of Seven summit involving industrialized democracies starting Monday in France precedes the planned July 1 assessment of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the current version of the North American trade agreement that has connected the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada since the early 1990s. This represents a critical juncture in trade negotiations, with Trump indicating this week he might not extend the agreement.

Trump’s selected Kennedy Center board is making an eleventh-hour attempt to maintain his name on the renowned performing arts center’s exterior before a court-mandated Friday deadline for its removal.

The board decided Thursday to request a postponement of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 decision declaring Trump’s name was unlawfully placed on the Kennedy Center, according to someone knowledgeable about the action who asked for anonymity regarding a private session. The official petition was submitted late Thursday.

Cooper determined that only Congress possessed authority to modify the Kennedy Center’s designation and mandated Trump references be eliminated by Friday. He additionally prevented the administration from shutting down the cultural and arts facility for major renovations scheduled to begin in July and continue for two years.

Independent voters have become more dissatisfied with Trump during his second term, according to new AP-NORC polling research, particularly those without college degrees.

The research from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research demonstrates that while approximately half of independents lacking college education viewed Trump favorably around the 2024 election, his support among this demographic dropped to roughly one-quarter this spring. This change has eliminated the substantial education divide that existed among independents before Trump began his second term, with independents now maintaining similarly unfavorable opinions of the president regardless of educational background.

The research combined nearly two dozen AP-NORC surveys from July 2024 through April 2026, enabling detailed examination of Trump support changes across multiple distinct timeframes, including the final six months of 2024, Trump’s first 100 presidential days, summer 2025 when the Big Beautiful Bill was enacted, last fall’s government shutdown and the start of the Iran conflict.

Trump has been anticipating this weekend to represent a major milestone for his presidency.

The World Cup comes back to America on Friday for the first time in three decades after Trump committed himself to securing the bid to co-host the soccer tournament during his initial term. Sunday brings his 80th birthday festivities during a UFC fight night expected to attract thousands to the White House grounds. Shortly after the concluding match, he’s planned to depart for the G7 summit in the French Alps for discussions with multiple world leaders he’s been clashing with over warfare and trade policies.

Yet Trump elevated expectations further for the upcoming period when he declared Thursday that the United States and Iran might reach terms this weekend on an accord that would establish the framework to conclude the three-month conflict that has been widely unpopular among Americans and disrupted international oil markets. He indicated plans to send Vice President JD Vance to the agreement signing.

WASHINGTON — A critical intelligence-gathering program that officials say helps prevent terrorist attacks and catch foreign spies has expired after lawmakers in Congress were unable to agree on extending it.

The program, called Section 702, faced a Friday deadline that came and went as both political parties failed to find common ground on a temporary extension. President Donald Trump has now selected a new national intelligence director that both Republicans and Democrats find more acceptable than his first choice, but it remains uncertain when Congress — preparing for recess — might be able to restart the intelligence program.

However, there may not be an immediate impact since a court ruling from March allowed these government surveillance authorities to continue operating for an additional year.

This provision falls under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and gives U.S. intelligence agencies broad authority to gather and review communications from foreign nationals outside American borders without obtaining a warrant first.

Government officials view this legislation as an essential national security resource that has helped prevent terrorist plots, provided important information about ransomware attacks on vital infrastructure, and played a role in the 2022 drone strike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

The legislation became law in 2008 to formalize important elements of an earlier intelligence program established under President George W. Bush’s Republican administration.

Ever since, government leaders from both major political parties have cautioned that losing this law would prevent the government from gathering essential intelligence from overseas.

The regular requirement to renew this law has created lengthy congressional debates long before this year, including discussions about whether more safeguards are necessary to protect Americans’ privacy and personal information.

This concern exists because when the government monitors foreigners overseas, it also captures communications from American citizens and others in the U.S. who communicate with those under surveillance.

Privacy rights groups have expressed alarm over reports that FBI analysts have repeatedly misused the extensive intelligence database collected through this program to search for information about Americans, including matters related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by Trump supporters and the 2020 racial justice protests, as well as state and federal political leaders.

Some advocates argue the government should need a warrant before reviewing communications involving Americans. Government officials counter that warrants would be legally unneeded and too burdensome, and that reforms have been put in place to reduce improper searches.

The debate has created unusual political partnerships, bringing together lawmakers skeptical of government surveillance from both privacy-focused liberal Democrats and Republicans who remain suspicious of intelligence agencies following the investigation into connections between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Democrats objected when Trump chose Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence director and refused to back a FISA extension until that nomination was withdrawn. Pulte, a Trump supporter without apparent national security background, raised concerns by using his position as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue questionable mortgage fraud investigations targeting perceived Trump opponents.

A House vote this week that would have temporarily continued the program failed, with 19 Republicans and almost all Democrats voting against the temporary measure, 198-218. A Senate attempt to pass its own version also collapsed.

Following those votes, Trump announced he was selecting Jay Clayton, a U.S. attorney in Manhattan who formerly led the Securities and Exchange Commission, as his permanent choice for director of national intelligence, or DNI. The selection received positive reactions on Capitol Hill, but it wasn’t sufficient to resolve the standoff before Friday’s expiration.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that he has “known and respected” Clayton for decades and that if he had been chosen a week earlier, “lots of pain might have been avoided.”

“His intelligence, temperament and deep commitment to public service will make him a terrific DNI,” Himes said.

Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have cautioned the Trump administration to prepare “for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection.”

This expiration is likely the first substantial lapse of Section 702 since its creation over 15 years ago. In 2024, the Senate narrowly missed its midnight deadline before voting to pass a bill that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, then signed, creating a short interruption.

Despite the lapse, there’s no expectation of any immediate reduction in intelligence gathering as the U.S. prepares to host several events this summer with potential national security implications, including the World Cup and celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States.

A March ruling from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the program’s continuation for another year, meaning Section 702’s authority should remain active for months.

Still, it’s possible that without congressional reauthorization, a telecommunications company or internet service provider could contest the government’s authority to force cooperation with surveillance requests.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is launching a series of major sporting spectacles this week in the nation’s capital, as the commander-in-chief seeks to display American power both domestically and internationally.

At Trump’s request, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will present a series of mixed martial arts competitions on the White House lawn this Sunday. The timing aligns with Flag Day, a rarely celebrated national holiday honoring America’s flag adoption, as well as Trump’s 80th birthday.

Trump has also convinced IndyCar to conduct a Grand Prix race through the National Mall in Washington, D.C. during the upcoming summer months. Additionally, the FIFA World Cup, which was granted to the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2018 while Trump served his first term, commenced this week.

“We’re going to showcase our country that whole weekend because of the surroundings that we have,” stated Bud Denker, chair of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix and president of Penske Corp. “I really think it excites him (Trump) that it provides this positivity to our country when we need it.”

American officials aim to leverage these events’ energy to promote the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles while boosting the president’s international standing.

While Congress formed a bipartisan commission to organize the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the Trump administration established its own organization, Freedom 250, which has arranged events including the UFC competitions and automobile race.

International leaders have noticed Trump’s sports enthusiasm. In December 2025, FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented Trump with its first FIFA Peace Prize. The next month, Trump authorized a military operation in Venezuela to remove its leader, Nicolás Maduro, followed weeks later by strikes against Iran.

Shortly after the UFC mixed martial arts competitions conclude, Trump is set to travel to France for a G7 leaders’ summit. French officials postponed the gathering’s start to prevent scheduling conflicts with the UFC event, according to local media reports.

Trump has described the UFC fights as “the greatest show on Earth” and compared the UFC’s “Claw” arena towering over the White House’s South Lawn to Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

Several critics charge the president with “sportswashing,” or utilizing athletic competitions to enhance his reputation while facing criticism over human rights issues, immigration policies and international conflicts.

“We tend to talk about sportswashing when we talk about dictators or oil-rich countries,” said Nick Watanabe, who studies sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina. “It definitely applies to the United States.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the UFC’s expansion and the White House fights as “the definition of American soft diplomatic power.” He announced a public-private partnership with UFC to integrate combat sports into the State Department’s diplomatic initiatives. Rubio did not detail the financial arrangements.

Critics have made comparisons to Gulf nations that fund combat sports organizations, including UFC, to extend influence and divert attention from their human rights records.

“It’s him using this opportune moment and it’s him trying to place himself at the forefront of 250 years of the American republic,” Watanabe said. “There’s nothing subtle about it, I think. He wants to show everybody that America is great, and he is the one leader.”

Trump’s supporters said the events demonstrate Trump’s longtime passion for athletics, his business skills and his efforts to establish his legacy as a transformational president. White House representatives did not respond to multiple Reuters requests for comment.

Julia Friedland, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, said: “Sports have long served as a common language that brings Americans together, and that spirit is reflected throughout the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.”

The UFC event has attracted critics simply due to its Trump connection, said Mark Teixeira, a Texas Republican and former Major League Baseball star. “If you’re getting bent out of shape about a sporting event in Washington, D.C. — we have a lot bigger problems in our country,” he said.

Trump’s involvement with mixed martial arts began before his political career. UFC conducted its first officially sanctioned event at Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2000. Trump also tried MMA promotion personally in 2008 and 2009, and UFC’s early events occurred at his casino.

Outside of MMA, Trump has repeatedly tried to buy National Football League teams. He once owned a franchise in a failed football league that competed with the NFL for players and audiences.

Some political rivals with athletic backgrounds voiced concerns about the White House event.

Representative Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who competed in two professional MMA matches, said the image of a massive, temporary arena constructed at the White House troubles her during a period of rising consumer prices and ongoing U.S. military involvement. She told Reuters she also fears that Trump’s UFC association could damage the sport.

“My main concern is seeing the politicization of a sport that I hope continues to grow and that people continue to find and fall in love with,” she said.

UFC competitors told Reuters they had varying approaches for managing the ceremony and politics.

Lightweight fighter Michael Chandler, who has publicly supported Trump previously, said he would attempt to ignore the atmosphere and approach the fight like any other. Canadian bantamweight fighter Aiemann Zahabi anticipates facing boos and criticism while fighting American Sean O’Malley, a declared Trump supporter.

However, Zahabi said he would seek opportunities to recognize the event and the president.

“It’s something that’s probably never going to be repeated again,” Zahabi said. “It’s a one-off, and you know, Trump’s an eccentric guy, and you know, he loves MMA. He loves UFC… I think of it (as) just one big celebration.”

Advocacy organizations express concern that the venue atmosphere introduces politics and Trump deference into the sporting competition.

“Rising authoritarianism, large-scale conflicts, and global retreat from multilateralism all have direct consequences to sport,” said Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, a nonprofit human rights group.

“Global actors vie for power, but they use sports as a weapon, and we have seen Donald Trump and the U.S. under his administration using sports in different ways.”

WASHINGTON, June 12 – A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey reveals that roughly half of evangelical Christians – a key segment of President Donald Trump’s political coalition – question whether his administration’s Iran military campaign and immigration policies align with their Christian beliefs.

The evangelical community played a crucial role in the Republican’s 2024 electoral success, and Trump along with senior officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth frequently incorporate religious rhetoric when discussing their policy objectives. The party will rely heavily on this demographic during November’s midterm contests, where they face the challenge of maintaining narrow control in both chambers of Congress.

The survey, conducted June 3-8, found that 54% of evangelicals viewed Trump’s military operations in Iran as inconsistent with their Christian understanding, while 41% considered it aligned. Similarly, 51% of evangelical respondents felt the administration’s immigration approach conflicted with Christian principles, compared to 44% who saw it as compatible.

Trump’s support among evangelicals registered at 52% in the most recent polling, representing a decline from 61% recorded in August, though still significantly higher than his 35% approval among the broader American population.

His overall approval numbers have declined in recent months as the controversial Iran conflict has driven fuel costs substantially higher.

During his initial presidency, Trump fulfilled a long-sought evangelical objective by establishing a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority, which subsequently reversed the decision that had guaranteed nationwide abortion access.

In his current term, he has frequently welcomed religious leaders to the Oval Office and modified policies to permit federal workers to express their faith-based views in the workplace.

Evangelical voters lean Republican by more than a 2-to-1 margin, and Trump captured the white evangelical vote 81%-16% in 2024, based on exit polling analysis from the Pew Research Center.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers stated that Trump has fulfilled promises to faith communities by protecting religious freedoms and pardoning anti-abortion activists with criminal convictions. “There has never been a greater president for Christian Americans than President Trump,” Taylor said.

Potential fractures within this critical voter group could create additional challenges for the Republican Party heading into the midterm elections.

Evangelical Christian Sandy Miller, 63, indicated she would not support him again given the chance. The Worthington, Indiana resident, from a community of approximately 1,400 people, cares for a 24-year-old daughter whose home-healthcare Medicaid benefits were eliminated under Trump.

Beyond her economic circumstances, Miller emphasized that her faith guides her voting decisions. She believes Trump may be a Christian but doesn’t demonstrate it publicly.

“I just don’t think waging war is the answer to everything all the time,” Miller said. “I understand sometimes you have to, but I don’t know in this instance that it needed to be done.”

Miller shared that she prays nightly for the nation’s leaders to follow God’s guidance. “I wish our politicians would pray more than they talk,” she said.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey included 4,531 American adults nationwide with a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction.

Evangelicals also rate Trump poorly on cost-of-living management.

The United States and Israel launched the Iran war on February 28 to prevent the Iranian government from completing nuclear weapon development. Despite the conflict’s effect on family budgets, Trump has pledged to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities regardless of cost.

The Iran war has resulted in thousands of casualties, including over 3,000 in Iran according to official counts, though rights organizations estimate closer to 3,600, plus more than 1,800 deaths in Lebanon and over 100 in Iraq, based on official and NGO data.

Many evangelicals view the United States as morally bound to defend Israel, a crucial American ally in the Middle East region.

Connie Reese, 77, an evangelical voter from Iowa, explained in a subsequent Reuters interview that his backing for Trump’s Iran war has biblical foundation, and that nations possess the right to defend themselves preemptively. While acknowledging disagreements with Israel’s government at times, he believes the Jewish people have “historical grounds for their homeland.”

“The re-establishment of Israel, the country, is a prophetic answer or an answer to a prophecy that is clearly spelled out in the word of God,” he said. “So in that regard, I support Israel as a free and sovereign nation.”

New York City’s mayor hosted a Pride Month celebration at a city courthouse this week, flanked by drag performers and prominent LGBTQ+ rights advocates. Zorhan Mamdani addressed attendees, declaring his commitment to “protecting trans and queer New Yorkers from these relentless attacks that we’re facing with the federal administration.”

During the event, Mamdani announced that the city has allocated $15 million in taxpayer funds for what he described as “gender-affirming care” services.

Federal legislators are responding to a Pennsylvania incident where a convicted sex offender successfully obtained a child through a surrogate mother arrangement. Congressman Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, has put forward federal legislation that would impose penalties on surrogacy agencies that place children with individuals who are known sex offenders.

According to the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, the proposed legislation tackles “the current patchwork of surrogacy laws that leaves too much ambiguity.”

Senator Jim Banks is pushing for changes to television content ratings to help parents monitor what their children watch. The Illinois Republican has asked the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate LGBT content warnings into existing rating systems for television programming.

Banks expressed worry about the increasing presence of characters and storylines that promote what he calls the gay agenda in children’s programming. According to research from Concerned Women For America, approximately 40% of Netflix programming targeted at young children includes LGBT content.

The senator’s proposal would expand the current content rating framework to specifically identify shows containing such material, giving parents advance notice before their kids view the programs.

WASHINGTON – After federal officials abandoned President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion fund designed to compensate ‘weaponization’ victims, supporters are now turning to an alternative legal pathway to secure payments for Trump loyalists, including individuals who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol uprising.

According to Trump associates and legal specialists, the most promising option involves utilizing the Federal Tort Claims Act, legislation from 1946 that permits individuals to submit administrative claims and file lawsuits against the federal government for purported misconduct, with potential out-of-court settlements.

Stanley Woodward, holding the third-highest position at the Justice Department, stated in an interview: “At my level, the fund is dead. If somebody wants to submit a claim against the government and sue us, they can still do that.”

The Republican president has consistently advocated for federal compensation to supporters he characterizes as targets of a ‘weaponized’ federal government under his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

However, the ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, developed as part of a legal agreement between Trump and the Justice Department to settle his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS regarding alleged mishandling of his tax documents, was suspended following strong Republican congressional opposition. Trump’s opponents criticized it as a slush fund rewarding supporters with public funds.

Hundreds of individuals prosecuted following their involvement in the Capitol assault, which represented an unsuccessful attempt by Trump supporters to block Congress from confirming his 2020 electoral defeat to Biden, have already submitted claims, with at least 10 filing government lawsuits for damages – receiving minimal response thus far.

This approach has been under development for some time. Conservative attorneys discussed the strategy during a previously undisclosed planning meeting at the 2024 Republican National Convention, according to longtime Trump associate Michael Caputo, who participated in the gathering.

Additional compensation methods remain under consideration, according to Caputo, who spearheaded ‘anti-weaponization’ initiatives in Trump’s 2024 campaign and submitted the first known claim under the now-cancelled ‘weaponization’ fund.

“I’ve heard no indication that they’ve slowed down on trying to get victims paid,” Caputo stated, noting that administration officials instructed him to “watch this space.”

Caputo, who worked as a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson during Trump’s initial presidency, requested $2.7 million in ‘restitution’ from Blanche regarding investigations by the Biden administration and former special counsel Robert Mueller.

“It’s the most logistically feasible method,” explained Patrick Jaicomo, a senior lawyer at the libertarian legal organization Institute for Justice who focuses on Federal Tort Claims Act cases. “The government would have a lot of flexibility.”

Trump’s continued advocacy for compensating supporters he describes as ‘weaponization’ victims has sparked questions about which approach he might pursue for such payments.

When questioned about alternative compensation plans, the White House referenced earlier statements by Trump and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicating the weaponization fund would not proceed.

“We have no additional announcements at this time and any speculation about potential future actions is just that – speculation,” a White House official told Reuters anonymously. “President Trump remains committed to addressing Biden-era weaponization.”

A Justice Department official, speaking anonymously, indicated there is no initiative to encourage claim submissions.

Trump has alleged that the Biden administration and other political adversaries improperly utilized law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory agencies to target him and his associates. Critics argue these actions were legally warranted due to actual or suspected misconduct by Trump and others.

Trump, for example, granted executive pardons to his supporters prosecuted for their January 6 riot participation.

“The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program broadcast Sunday. “Many of those people should be compensated.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham endorsed pursuing payouts through the Federal Tort Claims Act in a social media statement, prompting Justice Department’s Woodward to respond with what appeared to be support in a subsequently deleted post.

“We’re working on it,” Woodward wrote.

Woodward later explained to Reuters he intended to communicate that individuals believing they were government abuse victims retain a compensation pathway despite the absence of the $1.8 billion fund.

Financially compensating Trump associates has evolved from political fringe territory toward mainstream Republican strategy.

Caputo said he participated in discussions about finding methods to pay ‘weaponization’ victims dating to October 2023.

In 1956, Congress established a permanent Judgment Fund for settling federal government lawsuits.

Caputo reported that presidential allies and conservative attorneys discussed utilizing this fund for Federal Tort Claims Act payouts “ad nauseam” during the 2024 Republican National Convention. Discussion participants opposed compensating violent felons, including those who attacked police officers, according to Caputo.

The participants viewed the Judgment Fund as a “limitless” money source that would circumvent political obstacles of establishing a new administrative fund, Caputo said, though they recognized these payouts could generate controversy.

Several prominent Trump allies have already received Federal Tort Claims Act payouts. Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term, obtained a $1.25 million settlement under the statute.

Attorney Peter Ticktin said his firm represents over 400 Capitol riot participants who have filed Federal Tort Claims Act claims. Ticktin expressed hope the government will settle cases before court proceedings, but has received no settlement plans notification.

“We’re asking for restitution in the millions of dollars,” Ticktin said, adding he trusts Trump and the Justice Department will ensure his clients receive payment.

The administrative procedure for Federal Tort Claims Act claims begins when someone files a form, designated SF-95, alleging government wrongdoing and seeking damages.

Claims generally must be submitted within two years of the incident, but January 6 defendants argue the alleged wrongdoing against them represents continuing harm. It remains uncertain how courts or the Justice Department will interpret that position.

If the government accepts the requested amount, officials can authorize payment before judicial assignment, Jaicomo explained, meaning no judge would examine the payment.

If the government refuses settlement, claimants may file lawsuits, at which point a judge would oversee the case. Ticktin has filed 10 lawsuits and plans hundreds more.

Rupa Bhattacharyya, a former Justice Department official who supervised the September 11, 2001, attack victims’ compensation fund, said department lawyers typically settle only when facing high trial loss risk, though they maintain broad settlement discretion including in January 6 cases.

“That would be a travesty because these are very defensible lawsuits,” said Bhattacharyya, who served under presidents from both parties. “It would violate the purpose and spirit of the judgment fund – but it is unlikely it would violate the text of the law.”

WASHINGTON — Independent voters have become more dissatisfied with President Trump throughout his second term, according to fresh polling data from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with the steepest decline among those lacking college education.

Research findings indicate that approximately half of independents without college degrees viewed Trump favorably around the 2024 election, but that number plummeted to roughly 25% by this spring. This dramatic shift has eliminated the significant education divide that previously existed among independent voters regarding their views of the president.

The research compiled data from nearly two dozen AP-NORC surveys spanning July 2024 through April 2026, providing insight into how Trump’s support evolved across multiple timeframes, including the final six months of 2024, his first 100 days back in office, summer 2025 when the Big Beautiful Bill became law, last fall’s government shutdown, and the start of the Iran conflict.

The data reveals consistent erosion of support among independents during Trump’s current presidency. His standing has also weakened among smaller but significant voter groups that had moved in his direction during the 2024 race, including Black and Hispanic independents.

With more Americans identifying as independents than ever before, and this group having shifted toward Trump in 2024, any loss of their support could create challenges for Trump and Republicans as midterm elections approach, which typically serve as a referendum on the party in power.

Tafari Torres, a senior research associate at NORC who helped write the analysis, observed that while Democratic and Republican opinions of Trump have remained relatively unchanged during his second presidency, independent viewpoints continue to shift. “Independents are, broadly, the people who are reacting to the events and dropping in their support,” he said.

Trump’s White House comeback was driven partly by independent voters who viewed him as superior on crucial matters like economic policy. However, the new research examining Trump’s favorability and job approval numbers shows their attitudes deteriorated rapidly once he assumed office.

Non-college-educated independents held significantly more favorable opinions of Trump than their college-educated counterparts during and immediately following the 2024 election, but this pattern reversed during his first months in office. Positive assessments among independents without degrees dropped from 48% before his return to power to 31% during his initial 100 days, then fell further to approximately 25% during the government shutdown and early 2026.

College-educated independents showed less dramatic change, with only about 30% viewing Trump positively before his return to office, making their decline to roughly 25% less striking.

“The decline among no-college independents was steeper and it was greater than the slight decline in college independents,” said Sean Collins, a research associate at NORC who co-authored the analysis. “That was surprising, especially given, when you think of Trump’s coalitions, those without college degrees is usually one of the ones that that stands out.”

Americans lacking college degrees have traditionally formed a core component of Trump’s political base. However, Trump’s 2024 victory also came from expanding support among typically Democratic-leaning demographics, including Hispanic voters.

Roughly 42% of independent voters backed Trump in 2024, an increase from 37% in the 2020 race. According to AP VoteCast, independents without college degrees showed slightly higher preference for Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris, while Hispanic independents were roughly evenly divided.

Current circumstances appear far less favorable for the president.

Nearly 46% of Hispanic independents viewed Trump positively in polling conducted around the presidential election. However, his approval among this demographic fell sharply during his second term, dropping to just 15% during last fall’s government shutdown before recovering to about 25% this spring.

Younger independents have also grown less supportive of the president, while those aged 60 and above have remained relatively steady. Additional AP-NORC polling has shown Trump losing support among younger Republicans due to inflation worries and increasing discontent among Hispanic Americans.

“The gains Trump appeared to make during the election, I don’t know if they’re sticking around. He’s experienced some significant shifts among those people,” Torres said. “From our research, they don’t appear to be permanent gains.”

Survey data suggests economic concerns drive much of Americans’ dissatisfaction with Trump, including among independents.

About half of independents who voted for Trump in 2024 identified inflation as their primary voting consideration, according to AP VoteCast, with most expressing serious concerns about food and gas costs.

More than a year into Trump’s second presidency, inflation continues at elevated levels, driven by gas prices that remain high due to the ongoing Iran conflict. An April AP-NORC survey found roughly 30% of independents were “extremely” or “very” worried about affording groceries recently, with similar numbers concerned about gas expenses.

The analysis determined that Americans’ economic perceptions typically mirror their presidential assessments. Those with negative views of the nation’s economy generally held unfavorable opinions of Trump, with approximately 80% of independents describing the U.S. economy as poor this spring.

May’s most recent AP-NORC polling showed only about 30% of independents approve of Trump’s economic performance, consistent with similar numbers from early in his second term. The April survey found just 12% of independents approved of his handling of living costs.

The AP-NORC analysis examined responses from 4,836 independents across 21 surveys, organized into five time periods before and during President Trump’s second term. Independents were defined as respondents who did not identify with or lean toward either major political party.

GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. — In upstate New York, a Republican congressional candidate is taking his support for President Donald Trump to extraordinary lengths that go far beyond typical political endorsements.

Anthony Constantino, a first-time political candidate competing in the June 23 Republican primary to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, has displayed a massive “Vote for Trump” sign on top of his successful sticker company in Amsterdam. He produced a hip-hop record called “Thank you President Trump” and personally presented Trump with a large bronze sculpture of the former president at his West Palm Beach golf course last year.

While Constantino’s dramatic gestures haven’t impressed local party leaders, who are overwhelmingly backing his rival, state Assembly Member Robert Smullen, in the 21st Congressional District contest, he has secured support from one influential Republican who can still influence primary outcomes: Trump himself.

“Anthony is strongly supported by many of the most Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in our Movement, including Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone!” Trump wrote in an endorsement of Constantino.

The president added: “The sign is still there!”

The contest between Constantino and Smullen, a former U.S. Marine Corps colonel, represents another examination of Trump’s influence in primary elections, matching an aggressive MAGA supporter against a more conventional conservative in this solidly Republican district.

Constantino has continuously criticized Smullen, labeling him a “Trump hater” and using a Trump-style disparaging nickname — “Slimebob.” He also frequently clashes with the state’s Republican leadership.

“The New York GOP is a failing establishment, it’s a losing establishment,” Constantino said in an interview. “They reject outsiders. This happened with Donald Trump. The Republican Party tried to keep Donald Trump out, as well, because they knew he was going to reform things.”

Smullen has positioned himself as the mature candidate, emphasizing his state Legislature experience, military background, and his own connections to Trump.

“I think I directly represent the vast majority of the people in this district, their values, what they think about issues,” he said.

The predominantly rural district covers most of New York’s northern region and encompasses the Adirondack Mountains, the U.S. Army’s Fort Drum, dairy operations and numerous small communities.

It’s firmly Republican territory — Stefanik won her most recent election by 24 points — with registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats 215,000 to 134,000. The voter base tends to be older and white, including many correctional officers, law enforcement personnel, agricultural workers and deeply religious residents, according to Jack McGuire, an associate professor of politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam.

“It’s not your country club Republican party,” he said.

Stefanik surprised New York’s political establishment when she announced late last year that she was pausing her gubernatorial campaign and wouldn’t seek House reelection.

Her announcement followed lukewarm support from Trump in the governor’s race and came after an incident where Trump retracted her nomination as his United Nations ambassador due to concerns about Republicans’ narrow House majority.

Local Republicans initially began positioning themselves for the seat after she was selected for the UN role, then regrouped when she entered the gubernatorial race.

Smullen, who serves portions of the district in the state Assembly, is conducting a conventional campaign, engaging with constituents at volunteer fire departments and community gatherings.

He emphasizes his 24-year military service that included three Afghanistan deployments and combat duty, plus over seven years in the state Legislature. His 2018 selection by Trump for the White House Fellows program and attendance at both Trump inaugurations became his standard response when Constantino attempted to position himself as the Trump candidate during a recent debate.

“The idea that I have never been a supporter of President Donald Trump is a lie, it really is,” Smullen said during the debate. “And what’s happening here is that if you say it long enough and if you say it hard enough then it’s going to be true. But it’s not true.”

Local GOP officials and committees are supporting Smullen, along with the state Republican chair. He also has backing from the state Conservative Party, which ensures him a general election ballot line even if he loses the GOP primary.

Matt Capano, who operates a hardware business in Gloversville, a small community in the district, said he knows Smullen as his local state representative and had to “give him a lot of credit” due to his experience.

Constantino — who achieved success with his business Sticker Mule — displays more theatrical tendencies. His approach has compelled his more reserved opponent to become more aggressive. Smullen’s campaign created an anti-Constantino website that criticizes him for various issues, including his previous Democratic party registration.

“I am the conservative Republican in this race,” Smullen stated at the debate.

Constantino explained that he registered as a Democrat to support a childhood friend’s political campaign while describing himself as a “lifelong conservative.”

He quickly redirected the discussion back to the president.

“I’ve always had his back through the whole thing,” he said of Trump. “In fact, in 2020, when he nicely exited the White House and a terrible person named Joe Biden entered, I went and I supported the president quietly by buying a Mar-a-Lago membership.”

The Trump administration is working to reduce the U.S. Forest Service and cut wildfire and smoke research programs at a time when western states are preparing for what could be an intense summer fire season.

The proposed changes would eliminate research that helps develop tools like wildfire and smoke tracking maps available on the federal government’s fire.airnow.gov website, which rely on data from U.S. Forest Service-funded studies.

The timing of these potential cuts coincides with forecasts suggesting the American West could face significant wildfire activity in the coming months.

WASHINGTON — The board of trustees at the Kennedy Center is making an emergency attempt to halt a federal court mandate requiring the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the renowned performing arts venue before Friday’s deadline.

During a Thursday meeting, board members voted to request a stay of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 decision declaring that Trump’s name was unlawfully placed on the Kennedy Center, according to an individual with knowledge of the private deliberations who spoke anonymously. The official stay request is scheduled to be submitted Friday, the source indicated.

Cooper determined that only Congress possesses the authority to modify the Kennedy Center’s designation and mandated that all Trump references be eliminated by Friday. The judge additionally prevented the administration from shuttering the cultural institution for extensive renovations that were set to begin in July and continue for two years.

This board action represents a departure from a June 4 internal memo from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel instructing employees that email signatures, official letterhead and other materials should display the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The Kennedy Center’s online presence has already eliminated the president’s name. Additionally, an email distributed this week to patrons promoting ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony originated from the Kennedy Center without incorporating Trump’s name.

“The Trump administration’s 11th hour gambit after waiting nearly two weeks evinces desperation,” stated Norm Eisen, a board member at Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group. “That is what they should be feeling because they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. We will be vigorously contesting this latest ploy as we have throughout the case on behalf of Congresswoman Beatty and the American people.”

The attorneys represent Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio Kennedy Center board member who initiated the legal challenge to strip Trump’s name from the institution.

Following minimal attention to the Kennedy Center throughout most of his initial presidency, Trump has exercised significant control over the facility since returning to office. Within one month of beginning his second term, he removed the center’s existing leadership and installed a personally selected board of trustees that designated him as chairman. He appointed Richard Grenell as president, a role he maintained until March when Matt Floca took over the position.

The venue’s programming has shifted toward more Trump-aligned content, hosting events including the debut of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, “Melania.”

The board additionally announced the facility’s rebranding as the Trump Kennedy Center, a modification that legal experts and legislators argue requires congressional approval, and physically installed the president’s name on the building’s exterior.

The arts community’s reaction was immediate and severe. Performer Issa Rae, musician Bela Fleck and writer Louise Penny were among many artists who canceled scheduled appearances, while advisors including musician Ben Folds and vocalist Renée Fleming stepped down. This month, National Symphony Orchestra executive director Jean Davidson departed to lead the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Along with approving the stay request Thursday, the board endorsed a resolution acknowledging Trump’s “commitment to uphold this cherished American institution.”

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s chief election administrator has warned a Republican Senate candidate that he may be removed from the August primary ballot because he has the identical name and party as the current Republican senator Dan Sullivan.

Elections Division Director Carol Beecher sent a letter to the challenging candidate Dan Sullivan stating her department had received two complaints about his qualifications and concluded “that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator.”

Beecher set a Thursday deadline for him to provide “any additional information and evidence” to defend his candidacy.

The challenger Sullivan has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding Beecher’s correspondence, who is a registered Republican with a history of contributing to GOP organizations and campaigns. The Wednesday-dated letter, which was reported by the Anchorage Daily News, did not detail what evidence might justify removing him from the primary ballot, and her department has not answered media inquiries.

The challenger’s campaign has created controversy in one of the nation’s most watched U.S. Senate contests. Democrats view this seat as a key pickup opportunity as they work to reclaim control of the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

The incumbent senator has claimed his same-name opponent is collaborating with Democrats to confuse voters and help his main rival, former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, an allegation both have rejected. The challenger, a resident of the small fishing town of Petersburg south of Juneau, told The Associated Press this week that running was “my choice.” He stated he has had no communication with Peltola’s campaign — “zero, none, zilch.”

Earlier this week, the challenger also responded to Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom’s announcement that she was launching an inquiry into his campaign.

“The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the NRSC would prefer I not be allowed to run,” he stated, referencing the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

He described the inquiry as “an unprecedented affront to my rights as a candidate and the rights of Alaska voters to select their own representation in the U.S. Senate.”

It remains unclear whether he has hired legal counsel to fight for his ballot position.

Several lawyers have also questioned Dahlstrom’s inquiry, which among other demands required Sullivan to explain his party membership, the duration he has used the name Dan Sullivan, his connection to a consultant and any communication he may have had with other candidates or the Democratic Party.

Dahlstrom, who supervises elections, wrote to the challenger that the inquiry concerned “credible allegations” that he did not file his candidacy “with a good faith purpose to seek office but rather with a purpose to confuse voters and have them mistakenly vote for you rather than the incumbent with the same name and same political party affiliation.”

These concerns mirror claims made in a letter sent to her and Beecher this month from a National Republican Senatorial Committee lawyer.

The ACLU of Alaska released a statement saying it is “unaware of any other instance where the Lieutenant Governor has investigated a specific candidate for reasons other than determining whether a candidate meets federal, state and local eligibility requirements.” The organization said it was watching the developments.

Jahna Lindemuth, who served as Alaska attorney general under an independent governor, said probing someone’s reasons for seeking office “starts infringing on free speech concerns and other protections under the Constitution.” She suggested Dahlstrom could address voter confusion by marking the senator as the incumbent on the ballot.

Federal law mandates senators be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for no less than nine years and reside in the state they wish to represent when elected. The challenger Sullivan, who turns 69 this weekend, told the AP he relocated to Alaska in 1980 and worked for the U.S. Forest Service before changing careers to become an educator. He is currently retired.

The candidate declaration form required by the elections division requests their name, desired party affiliation for the ballot, address and preferred name display. By signing the form, candidates must confirm they satisfy citizenship, age and residency qualifications.

The division had previously approved the challenger Sullivan’s candidacy, listing him on the candidate roster as Dan J. Sullivan. The senator appears as Dan S. Sullivan and is marked as the incumbent.

At least one organization running advertisements supporting the senator, One Nation, has started identifying him as Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man will spend two and a half years behind bars after being convicted of attacking a federal officer with a rock during demonstrations at the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

Robert Jacob Hoopes received his 30-month prison sentence Thursday after entering a guilty plea to aggravated assault of a federal employee with a dangerous weapon. Court records show Hoopes hurled a rock that struck an officer in the head, creating a cut above the officer’s eye during June protests.

U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson also imposed three years of supervised release following Hoopes’s prison term and required him to pay more than $8,000 in restitution.

“Today’s message is clear — violence is not a protest,” the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Scott Bradford, said in a statement. “When you cross the line and assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted.”

Hoopes’s defense attorney, Matthew McHenry, did not respond to requests for comment.

The case represents part of a broader Justice Department effort to pursue charges against individuals who allegedly attacked federal officers during demonstrations opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in cities nationwide, spanning from Chicago to Los Angeles. Most recently, a New Jersey immigration detention facility has emerged as another site where protesters and law enforcement have clashed, resulting in numerous arrests.

Portland’s ICE facility has experienced ongoing demonstrations against the administration’s deportation policies since June, featuring nightly protests for months and repeated attempts by federal officials to break up even small gatherings using chemical weapons. Trump’s failed attempt to send National Guard troops to Portland last fall to protect federal facilities and workers, which courts prevented, also sparked additional protests.

Hoopes isn’t the only Portland ICE protester to receive prison time, though others weren’t convicted of officer assault. Trenten Edward Barker received an 18-month sentence in March after admitting to setting fire to a federal building. Prosecutors say he tossed a burning flare onto debris piled against the ICE building’s gate last June, causing thousands in property damage.

Four other Portland protesters have had their cases dropped, including three who faced federal officer assault charges. Two cases proceeded to trial — one involving a woman charged with officer assault that resulted in a hung jury, and another where the defendant received one year probation for disobeying lawful orders and causing a disturbance and is now appealing.

The Trump administration filed an appeal Thursday challenging a federal court decision that mandated the removal of Trump’s name from Washington’s Kennedy Center and prevented the Republican leader from shutting down the performing arts facility for renovations.

The appeal was submitted to the Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, contesting a comprehensive decision against the administration in legal action initiated by Democratic U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who serves on the Kennedy Center’s board through her congressional role.

Neither the White House nor Beatty’s office provided immediate responses to comment requests.

On May 29, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper determined that federal law “makes crystal clear” that Congress designated the center for former Democratic President John F. Kennedy, “and only Congress can change it.” The judge mandated Trump’s name be stripped from the building’s exterior, website, and promotional materials.

Following the ruling, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that his administration would hand over Kennedy Center control to Congress.

“I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” Trump stated, citing significant structural problems with the facility.

Trump indicated he instructed the U.S. Commerce Department to “make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution” and transfer operational, maintenance, and management duties to lawmakers.

The Kennedy Center began operations in 1971 as a tribute to the assassinated president, who died in 1963. The board decided in December to modify the center’s designation to incorporate Trump’s name, after he replaced multiple board members last year and named himself as a trustee.

Beatty initiated legal proceedings against the Trump administration in December, describing the facility’s renaming as “a flagrant violation of the rule of law” that “flies in the face of our constitutional order.”

Trump declared the Kennedy Center’s two-year shutdown in February without advance notice.

The Republican leader’s Kennedy Center renovation proposal represents one element of his wider initiative to transform Washington’s central monuments. His plans also include constructing a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and developing a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the demolished East Wing of the White House currently stands.

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the United States may continue collecting 10% tariffs on imports from around the world while ongoing legal battles over these trade levies move through the judicial system.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington delivered a procedural victory to the Trump administration, determining that the government’s position was “likely to succeed on the merits.”

The dispute centers on temporary 10% global tariffs that President Donald Trump put in place following a February Supreme Court ruling that struck down more extensive double-digit tariffs the president had established last year affecting nearly all nations worldwide. These current tariffs, implemented using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, are scheduled to end on July 24.

Section 122, which has never before been utilized to support import duties, permits the president to establish global tariffs up to 15% for a 150-day period, after which Congress must approve any extension.

The provision targets what it describes as “fundamental international payments problems.” The central question is whether this language encompasses trade deficits — the difference between American exports to other nations and imports from them — as the Trump administration argues.

Last month, a divided three-judge panel from the specialized Court of International Trade in New York determined the 10% global tariffs were unlawful following a lawsuit by small businesses seeking to halt them. The trade court ruled 2-1 that Trump exceeded the tariff authority Congress had granted to the president under the statute. The majority opinion declared the tariffs “invalid” and “unauthorized by law.”

The matter may ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court on Thursday prolonged its suspension of a lower court decision that challenged the Trump administration’s 10% worldwide tariff policy implemented under Section 122 of the Trade Act, maintaining the collection of these duties from three importers who had previously secured relief from the charges.

The Federal Circuit appeals court’s action permits the United States to maintain tariff collection from the three importers during the government’s appeal process.

On May 7, the U.S. trade court issued a ruling against these new tariffs, though it did not establish a broad prohibition on their collection.

The three importers affected by the court decision include two small businesses and the state of Washington, which had paid tariffs on goods purchased by the University of Washington.

Following the Trump administration’s appeal, the appeals court on May 12 temporarily restored tariff collection for the three importers who had prevailed in the lower court.

The 10% worldwide tariff was established in February, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the majority of tariffs that the Trump administration had implemented in 2025.

This 10% global tariff is set to conclude in July, unless Congress chooses to extend it.

The current global tariffs were established under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Congressional representatives from both sides of the aisle unveiled new legislation Wednesday designed to increase federal security funding for Jewish institutions and bolster government efforts to combat antisemitism, earning praise from prominent Jewish advocacy groups as threats against Jewish communities continue nationwide.

The House legislation, spearheaded by Reps. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, and Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, serves as the House counterpart to the Jewish American Security Act that Sens. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, and James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, introduced in the Senate last month.

The proposed legislation would provide authorization for up to $1 billion annually through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which assists houses of worship, educational institutions, community centers, and other vulnerable nonprofit organizations in funding security improvements. While the program serves institutions across all faiths, Jewish organizations have been particularly vocal advocates for its expansion.

Additionally, the legislation would permit grant funds to cover security personnel costs, broaden law enforcement protection around religious facilities, mandate that the Department of Education create a Title VI framework for addressing antisemitism on college campuses, and establish transparency mandates for major social media platforms regarding their management of antisemitic material.

According to Jewish Insider, which initially reported the House bill’s introduction, Goldman stated: “Words of condemnation are no longer enough. Since the October 7th attacks, there has been a systematic failure in Congress and in our communities to counter the threat posed by surging antisemitism across this country.”

Jewish advocacy organizations have urged Congress to increase security assistance following years of escalating reported antisemitic incidents, encompassing synagogue attacks, campus conflicts, property damage, online harassment, and violence connected to anger surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.

According to Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, the organization’s 2025 audit documented 6,274 antisemitic incidents, which included 203 physical assaults and three murders.

Greenblatt emphasized: “The data is unambiguous: Jewish Americans are under threat in their communities, on their campuses and online, and the federal government must act.”

Advocates indicate the legislation aims not only to strengthen physical security measures at Jewish facilities but also to enhance federal enforcement, monitoring, and oversight in areas where antisemitism has become increasingly prevalent.

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota will receive nearly $28 million from the federal government to resolve a legal dispute over law enforcement expenses stemming from large-scale demonstrations against the Dakota Access oil pipeline that took place almost ten years ago, the state’s top legal official revealed Thursday.

The settlement amount matches what a federal judge awarded the state following a trial last year. Federal officials also agreed to drop all pending appeals and issue a formal acknowledgment recognizing “that the people of North Dakota, including, centrally, our law enforcement officers, endured repeated acts of intimidation, violence, property destruction, unlawful conduct associated with encampments established on federal land without authorization,” Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley explained to the media.

“We deeply appreciate those acknowledgments. They’re a long time coming,” he stated, appearing alongside legal counsel and investigators from his department.

Wrigley indicated that North Dakota is now “made financially whole” and that the settlement funds will cover outstanding debts from loans obtained through the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.

Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong praised the resolution as “long overdue” and expressed gratitude to Wrigley’s team and others involved in securing the agreement “that removes the financial burden from North Dakota taxpayers and places it on the shoulders of the federal government where it belongs.”

The U.S. Justice Department issued a statement disagreeing with the court’s legal reasoning “but acknowledges in hindsight that, under the Obama Administration, the federal government could have done more to reduce the impacts to the people of North Dakota” from the demonstrations, which sometimes involved “unlawfulness and confrontational violence.”

“To avoid further escalation of unlawful behaviors, the federal government at the time chose not to forcibly remove the protestors from the encampment on federal property. The United States recognizes that this difficult choice had painful consequences for North Dakota and many of its residents,” the department stated.

The agreement comes over a year after U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor ruled the federal government responsible on all charges, including negligence, gross negligence, civil trespass and public nuisance, awarding approximately $27.8 million.

During 2016 and 2017, thousands of demonstrators established camps and conducted protests on and near federally controlled property close to where the pipeline crosses the Missouri River upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The tribe has consistently challenged the pipeline due to concerns about threats to their water resources.

The demonstration participants came from across the United States and internationally, including tribal supporters, Native rights advocates, environmental activists, and fossil fuel opponents. Notable figures like actors Shailene Woodley and Mark Ruffalo and the Rev. Jesse Jackson made trips to North Dakota to show solidarity with the tribe.

The demonstrations led to periodic violent confrontations between protesters and police officers. A state legal representative said the protests triggered a response lasting seven months, involving 178 different agencies, leading to 761 arrests, and requiring four days to clean up the campsite and remove millions of pounds of debris.

North Dakota filed its lawsuit in 2019, requesting $38 million in damages. In 2017, pipeline operator Energy Transfer contributed $15 million toward response expenses. That same year, the Justice Department provided a $10 million grant to help the state cover costs.

The judge determined that Energy Transfer’s payment was a voluntary contribution and deducted the $10 million previously provided by federal authorities when calculating the nearly $28 million judgment.

Last month, Traynor withdrew several earlier rulings, including his 2025 decision, at both parties’ request as they worked toward a settlement.

“The Court does not believe it should stand in the way of a satisfactory settlement between the Parties but should encourage litigants to pursue settlements even when federal government conduct is at its worst,” Traynor stated.

The pipeline began operations in mid-2017 and currently carries roughly 4% of daily U.S. oil production, approximately 540,000 barrels per day.

In May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided final authorization for the pipeline’s Missouri River crossing near the reservation, six years after a federal judge ordered a more comprehensive environmental assessment. Tribal Chairman Steve Sitting Bear indicated that Standing Rock will evaluate its options to protect treaty rights, ensure water safety, and maintain accountability for government and corporate actions.

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities have flagged more than 15,000 instances where adults have gained custody of multiple immigrant children who arrived in the United States without parents, officials announced Thursday, indicating a potential crackdown on prolific child sponsors.

The Justice Department spotlighted criminal charges against three individuals from Guatemala that officials say highlight the risks of inadequate sponsor screening in a system designed to connect children with relatives or family friends after they arrive in the country. Authorities said they are examining many other so-called super-sponsors — individuals who obtained custody of more than three unrelated children — to assess whether fraud was involved in the sponsorship process.

“We will not accept half measures when it comes to securing the border, protecting American lives and saving children from exploitation,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a news briefing.

Obtaining custody of multiple unrelated migrant children does not constitute a criminal offense. While the sponsors could be compassionate and well-meaning, senior administration officials highlighting their cases suggests authorities view them with suspicion and may subject them to enhanced investigation.

During the Biden administration, officials worked to place children with qualified adult sponsors within 30 days, allowing many families to reunite rapidly. However, this approach also resulted in mistakes, with some children placed with adults who compelled them to work unlawfully, or with individuals who supplied obviously fraudulent identification and contact information.

Under the current administration, officials have implemented stricter regulations designed to stop traffickers from illegally transporting children into the nation, which has also caused a significant extension in federal custody periods for minors. As of May, children remain in federal custody for an average of 206 days before placement, compared with an average of 37 days when the administration began. Meanwhile, the total number of children in custody has consistently declined.

Finding the right approach to place children with screened sponsors while protecting them from harm has become a divisive political issue.

Democrats “want to claim that Republicans, because we’re enforcing the laws, it’s inhumane, somehow,” Blanche said after criticizing the screening processes under the previous administration. “What’s inhumane about taking care of our kids?”

The criminal cases revealed Thursday involve charges against a woman who, according to authorities, was residing in the country illegally, conspired with others to transport children across the border, then employed false identities to obtain custody of them for financial gain. In a separate case, a woman faces accusations of falsely stating she was related to a teenager who had entered the country illegally in her application to become the teen’s sponsor.

The Associated Press has requested statements from lawyers representing the defendants in these cases.

Those critical of the current administration have expressed alarm about wellness inspections conducted by immigration officers at elementary schools, immigration officers appearing and detaining sponsors during child reunification appointments, and newly mandated documentation that has established a “paperwork barrier” and prompted a recent legal challenge.

Even sponsors prepared to complete the new screening requirements have faced prolonged and unnecessary delays.

A father from Chicago who is a U.S. citizen and possessed valid documentation for his child waited five months before the government arranged a fingerprinting appointment. While waiting, his young daughter suffered sexual abuse while in federal custody, according to a lawsuit.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday his intention to select Jay Clayton, who currently serves as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission, to head the nation’s intelligence operations.

The president revealed his choice through a social media post as lawmakers continue demanding a permanent successor to Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down from the role last month. Trump encountered significant opposition regarding his choice of Bill Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve in an interim capacity.

The circumstances have created tension on Capitol Hill, with Democrats threatening to block the renewal of foreign intelligence authorities until Trump withdraws Pulte’s appointment and selects a permanent candidate.

“Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay,” Trump posted online. “I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.”

WASHINGTON — The first lady and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed Thursday the creation of Fostering the Future Accounts, an extension of existing Trump Accounts investment programs designed to provide $1,000 starter funds to newborns when parents establish accounts.

Expanding her ongoing efforts to support foster children, the first lady explained that new federal guidelines will enable child welfare agencies to serve as guardians for foster care children when establishing these accounts.

During a Treasury Department press conference, the first lady stated the initiative “gives foster children the same chance at asset ownership and long-term wealth as every other child.”

Account enrollment begins July 4th. Children must be U.S. citizens born from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2028, to be eligible.

White House Council of Economic Advisers projections show a Trump Account opened for a 2026 newborn could reach $5,800 at age 18 and $18,100 at age 28 without additional deposits.

Twenty-three governors have committed to allowing their state agencies to start enrolling children in the initiative, the first lady reported. “I urge every governor and business leader to help fund these accounts,” she stated.

The National Council for Adoption reports approximately 330,000 children currently live in U.S. foster care. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, one in five faces homelessness risk after leaving the system, and only half find jobs by age 24.

“Those outcomes are unsettling but we refuse to accept them as inevitable,” Bessent said during the announcement. “We are affirming that the American dream belongs to every child.”

Trump Accounts originated from provisions in tax and spending legislation signed last summer. The Treasury Department provides $1,000 to infants when parents establish accounts, with private companies investing the funds in stock markets. Children gain access at 18 years old.

Nationwide employers and wealthy donors have committed to matching contributions for Trump Accounts as employee benefits. Michael and Susan Dell announced a $6.25 billion donation, while hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife Barbara pledged $75 million for Connecticut children under 10.

Congressional lawmakers are pushing back against recent cuts to Ukraine assistance, with the Senate Armed Services Committee voting Thursday to authorize $750 million in continued military aid for the war-torn nation.

The committee’s version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act would extend the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which funds American companies to manufacture weapons for Ukrainian forces battling the Russian invasion. Sources familiar with the legislation told Reuters the bill also contains a provision changing the Pentagon’s official name from Department of Defense to Department of War.

The Republican-controlled committee finished work on the NDAA, the yearly legislation that sets Pentagon policy and funding priorities. The comprehensive measure supports $1.15 trillion in total defense spending and covers everything from military equipment purchases to service member pay increases and responses to global security challenges.

Thursday’s Senate proposal includes language preventing any authorized funds from being used to recognize Russian sovereignty over Ukrainian territory that is internationally recognized as belonging to Ukraine. The bill also directs the Pentagon to provide intelligence assistance to Ukrainian officials for military operations aimed at defending or reclaiming occupied areas.

The Senate committee released their legislation one week following House passage of separate measures providing Ukrainian aid and implementing additional Russian sanctions.

Regarding weapons and equipment, the Senate bill grants multi-year purchasing authority for various munitions and military systems, including Boeing’s F-15EX fighters and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft.

The proposed legislation still faces multiple hurdles before potentially becoming law. Both the complete House and Senate must separately approve their respective committee versions. Following that, representatives from both chambers must negotiate a unified compromise bill, which would then require passage in both the House and Senate before reaching the White House for presidential action.

The House committee’s NDAA version similarly endorsed the administration’s proposal to rename the Department of Defense to Department of War, despite Democratic opposition to the change.

Although bipartisan congressional support for Ukraine remained strong during the initial period following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, some of the administration’s closest Republican supporters in House and Senate leadership have shown decreased enthusiasm for Ukrainian assistance since January 2025.

American aid to Ukraine has decreased significantly even as both nations continue exchanging missile, drone, and artillery attacks. Diplomatic efforts remain deadlocked, with Ukrainian officials rejecting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for territorial concessions of areas Ukraine has successfully defended since 2022.

The current administration intends to send several Iranian nationals and other migrants to Central African Republic, a nation struggling with ongoing instability, violence, and widespread poverty, according to two attorneys and an official with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Reuters.

Among those facing deportation are two Iranian women who could face torture and persecution if sent back to Iran, according to their attorney, Emily Trostle. She explained that one woman converted to Christianity while the other is an advocate for democratic reform.

Neither the U.S. State Department nor the Central African Republic’s presidential office, which recently signed an agreement to accept third-country deportees from the United States, provided immediate responses when asked for comment.

Trostle stated that both women were taken into custody when they arrived in the United States in November 2024. She noted that they had filed asylum claims and obtained withholding of removal protection from a U.S. immigration judge.

The informed official told Reuters that the initial flight to Central African Republic under this arrangement would transport approximately 20 individuals, including people from Syria and Afghanistan. The attorneys indicated the aircraft could depart as soon as Thursday.

An additional source with knowledge of the arrangements mentioned that one person from Turkey was also scheduled for deportation.

The current administration has utilized third-country deportation agreements, including one with Central African Republic’s neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which is currently dealing with an Ebola outbreak, to remove individuals who cannot legally be returned to their home countries.

Washington has maintained these agreements are legal, though advocacy organizations and rights groups have criticized the lack of transparency in the deals and noted that many deportees are eventually sent back to their countries of origin.

The United States and Israel conducted extensive military strikes against Iran in late February, beginning what is now a three-month conflict.

In April, U.S. President Donald Trump stated to reporters that he believed Iranian citizens should revolt against their government if a ceasefire was reached, but acknowledged it would be too dangerous for them to attempt.

According to the briefed official, those deported will be housed in residential facilities in Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, and are not expected to be immediately returned to their home countries.

The official added that the agreement could ultimately result in hundreds of migrants being sent to the country.

The New York Times first reported the Iranian deportation plan earlier on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced last week that all individuals facing deportation would receive complete due process protections.

A representative from the International Organization for Migration stated the organization would “provide post-arrival humanitarian assistance” to migrants sent to Bangui, following a request from the Central African government.

The representative emphasized that the IOM was not participating in the removal process and would offer aid “on a strictly voluntary basis and respecting applicable international standards.”

This year, the United States provided $85 million to the IOM for its operations in Central African Republic.

The nation has experienced continuous periods of conflict since gaining independence from France in 1960, resulting in widespread poverty affecting most of its 5.5 million residents.

Rwanda sent military forces five years ago to prevent rebel groups from disrupting elections and continues to maintain troops in the country. President Faustin-Archange Touadera has signed peace agreements this year with multiple rebel organizations, leading to decreased violence in certain areas.

WASHINGTON — From a distance, the massive structure resembles something from outer space rather than a fighting venue.

Perhaps it appears to be the type of spacecraft that might transport extraterrestrials to the White House for a diplomatic encounter with the nation’s commander-in-chief.

However, upon closer inspection, the outline of an eight-sided fighting cage becomes clear, measuring 30 feet (9 meters) across and designed with meticulous detail to mirror the MMA organization’s iconic Octagon. Essentially, it resembles a STOP sign turned on its side, complete with mesh barriers and cushioned edges displaying various corporate sponsor names: Morgan & Morgan, Bud Light, Dodge Ram, Corona Extra and Polymarket, which calls itself the globe’s biggest prediction market.

Above it all towers The Claw, a four-sided structure that stretches over 90 feet (27 meters) skyward and contains lighting equipment, sound systems, thick cables and four massive screens so spectators seated away from the Octagon can watch the combat action taking place inside the cage.

Picture the four-pronged mechanical device that attempts to grab plush toys at an arcade game rather than feline appendages — explaining the otherworldly appearance.

Encircling this setup are bleachers packed with gray folding seats creating a makeshift venue designed to accommodate more than 4,000 spectators for the seven UFC matches scheduled for Sunday in honor of President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

For those unfamiliar with UFC, this entire scene might seem bewildering regardless of the setting. However, the temporary venue spans almost the complete White House South Lawn, the same space where Marine One typically touches down to transport the president on out-of-state journeys and where countless children hunt for eggs during the annual Easter celebration each spring.

Over $60 million and countless work hours have been invested in constructing the arena, based on a court document filed by the National Park Service, which manages the South Lawn and is defending against a legal challenge aimed at stopping the event.

The White House indicates the UFC is funding the expenses, although the filing reveals that seven government departments — including the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration — have “allocated significant resources and manpower.”

Combat athletes, their teams and various support personnel are anticipated to occupy the driveway and portions of the West Wing when not competing. They will access the arena through covered walkways leading directly to the Octagon.

Both the fighters and regular attendees of Sunday’s event will enjoy scenic views of the White House Executive Residence and the historic Truman Balcony on one side, with the Washington Monument rising in the background on the other. The entire scene will be enhanced by rotating spotlights, and possibly even perspiration and blood from the athletes battling each other.

A full schedule of preliminary events includes a media conference at the Lincoln Memorial featuring UFC chief Dana White and the competitors on Friday evening.

Additionally, a formal weigh-in ceremony for the fighters will take place Saturday at the Ellipse, a park adjacent to the White House where event organizers anticipate over 120,000 visitors will view Sunday evening’s competition on large screens after receiving complimentary tickets through a lottery system.

Stunt performer Travis Pastrana is scheduled to execute a potentially dangerous backflip on a motorcycle on the White House grounds as part of the opening entertainment.

The president has described the Octagon and its Claw as “quite attractive to a lot of people.” He has even hinted that the temporary installation might remain permanently, similar to the Eiffel Tower, which he points out was initially constructed for the 1889 World’s Fair but was never dismantled.

Whether the president is serious about this proposal remains unclear.

Construction of the arena commenced May 20 and has progressed for several weeks. During a media tour on Thursday, building sounds — especially grinding and pounding — were audible. Massive cranes were moving materials overhead, though those were for the $400 million ballroom the president is constructing in the vicinity, not for the UFC event.

The remaining grass areas around the arena, on other sections of the White House grounds, have been equipped with additional lighting. However, the lawn that typically exists between the White House and the arena’s bleacher area has been removed, leaving only bare soil that will require new sod installation once the event concludes — unless the president actually decides to make the arena a permanent fixture.

A large Freedom 250 emblem has been positioned between the White House and the arena. In the area, workers removed tables and yellow umbrellas from the president’s renovated Rose Garden and were pressure-cleaning that section, along with the walkway to the Oval Office, in advance of the fights.

Sunday’s program begins at 8 p.m. ET. As evening approaches, workers will light up The Claw in patriotic colors, and the array of lights will create projections making it appear as if the entire framework is wrapped in a spinning American flag design.

Weather predictions indicate hot and humid conditions with potential thunderstorms. The bottom of The Claw’s tower includes overhead protection that should keep the fighters relatively dry if precipitation occurs — and the president will likely observe from a sheltered, covered location.

However, all other attendees would almost certainly become soaked.

White has promised that even severe lightning — when The Claw could become an obvious target for electrical strikes — would not cancel the program.

“I don’t care if it snows,” White stated.

A federal magistrate judge has cleared a Democratic congressional hopeful of criminal charges stemming from his participation in an immigration protest in New York City last fall.

Brad Lander walked free Thursday after U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo found him not guilty of obstruction charges related to his September arrest at a building housing immigration courts.

Ricardo announced his decision following a day-long trial in Manhattan, stating “I find the defendant not guilty” after delivering a detailed review of the case evidence and Lander’s testimony. The candidate embraced his legal team enthusiastically once the proceedings concluded.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Lander, who is running against U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary, praised the judge’s careful examination of the case.

“I feel genuinely moved by the rule of law,” Lander remarked, describing it as fortunate to live where citizens can successfully challenge government overreach when facing improper charges.

The candidate expressed hope that immigrants at risk of deportation could access the same caliber of legal representation and court access he received.

Government attorneys had contended that Lander blocked an elevator on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza by sitting in front of it for approximately 20 to 25 minutes on Sept. 18, 2025. However, Ricardo determined prosecutors couldn’t demonstrate that Lander meant to obstruct the elevators or was uncooperative when federal officers provided contradictory directions to demonstrators.

Prosecutors’ representatives declined to provide statements Thursday.

During the previous day’s proceedings, Lander took the stand in his defense, stating he never meant to disrupt elevator operations in the lower Manhattan facility that accommodates 40 federal offices, including the FBI.

The former city comptroller and associate of Mayor Zohran Mamdani testified that no one instructed him to move away from the elevator or indicated he was causing an obstruction before his detention.

Following his arrest, he turned down a plea agreement that would have dropped the misdemeanor obstruction charge after six months.

This wasn’t Lander’s first legal trouble related to immigration activism. The former mayoral candidate was also detained in June 2025 at a Manhattan immigration court after linking arms with someone officials were attempting to apprehend, though no charges resulted from that incident.

Political advertising spending for November’s midterm elections is expected to reach an unprecedented $11.6 billion, setting a new benchmark for any election cycle, according to data released Thursday by advertising tracking company AdImpact.

This projection surpasses the previous high of $11.2 billion from the 2024 presidential election and significantly exceeds the $8.9 billion from the 2022 midterms. The figure also represents an increase from AdImpact’s September estimate of $10.8 billion.

With Republicans holding narrow control of both chambers of Congress, they face challenges from elevated cost of living concerns and President Donald Trump’s declining approval numbers. While Democrats appear positioned to regain House control, their Senate prospects remain more challenging. Campaign dollars are concentrating on the handful of competitive contests that will determine which party controls Congress.

AdImpact attributes the record-breaking spending forecast primarily to anticipated advertising surges in hotly contested Senate and gubernatorial battles across Ohio, Alaska, and Iowa, plus tight Senate competitions in Texas and Maine.

Ohio leads the spending surge with projected outlays now reaching $749 million, representing a $309 million jump from earlier predictions, according to AdImpact. The state features Democrat Sherrod Brown competing against Republican Senator Jon Husted alongside a competitive governor’s race.

Texas follows with the second-largest spending increase, where projections climbed $288 million to reach $850 million total. Maine rounds out the top increases with advertising expenditures now forecast at $491 million, up $185 million from previous estimates.

The Texas Senate race gained intensity after Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term incumbent Senator John Cornyn in an expensive Republican primary last month. Paxton now faces Democratic state Representative James Talarico in what analysts expect could become one of history’s most costly political contests.

Maine’s Senate battle features Democratic newcomer Graham Platner, who has encountered criticism regarding past online content, a Nazi-associated tattoo, and accusations of inappropriate text messages to women. Platner is anticipated to challenge sitting Republican Senator Susan Collins in another potentially expensive showdown.

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) – The head of U.S. Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, stood behind the Trump administration’s visa rejection decisions on Thursday as this week marked the start of the World Cup tournament. He indicated that discussions had taken place with FIFA leadership while refusing to provide details about individual visa situations.

WASHINGTON — Officials have postponed the debut of a new international bridge spanning the Detroit River after President Donald Trump had previously threatened to prevent its opening due to unresolved matters.

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced Thursday, just one day before a planned ribbon-cutting event, that both nations have decided to postpone the bridge’s launch to allow additional time for addressing remaining concerns.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge represents a joint venture between Canada and Michigan, with traffic expected to begin flowing across it before the end of this month.

Uncertainty surrounding the bridge’s debut had persisted for several months following Trump’s February ultimatum demanding Canada transfer no less than half of the bridge’s ownership to the federal government, along with meeting other undisclosed conditions as part of his ongoing disputes regarding international trade matters.

This week’s distribution of opening ceremony invitations followed discussions between Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Bobby Leddy, a spokesperson for Whitmer, stated: “This project is a powerful example of bipartisan and international cooperation, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony when it happens.”

A recent national survey shows limited public support for President Donald Trump’s proposal to stage mixed martial arts competition at the White House, with most Americans expressing disapproval of the controversial plan.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, merely 16% of respondents believe it would be suitable for Trump to organize the Ultimate Fighting Championship event, which is set to coincide with his 80th birthday celebration. Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, deemed the idea unsuitable, while the remainder provided no response.

Republican support proved surprisingly weak, with only 31% backing the proposal despite Trump maintaining approximately 80% approval among party members for his presidential performance overall, the six-day survey that ended Monday revealed.

The mixed martial arts event represents part of Trump’s broader series of public festivities commemorating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence declaration from Britain on July 4, 1776. These planned celebrations have generated debate, with multiple musical acts withdrawing from the opening ceremony due to concerns about Trump’s involvement.

On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team requested a federal judge dismiss attempts to block the UFC competition after area residents challenged the event, claiming sporting activities violate South Lawn regulations and the massive metal structure being built for the matches lacks proper permits.

The competition will feature athletes wearing minimally padded gloves who will strike opponents using hands, feet, knees and elbows within a 92-foot-tall octagon-shaped enclosure.

Survey data showed 18% of respondents identified as mixed martial arts enthusiasts, trailing behind basketball fans at 31% and slightly ahead of U.S. soccer followers at 16%.

The nationwide online Reuters/Ipsos survey included 4,531 American adults and carried a 2 percentage point margin of error.

Trump’s relationship with UFC extends to the early 2000s, when he permitted events at his now-defunct Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. UFC Chief Executive Dana White maintains a close relationship with Trump.

MIAMI (AP) — During a late March evening, an officer with Florida’s Fish and Wildlife department approached a Guatemalan husband and wife as they walked their pet through a park in the wealthy Gulf Coast town of Bonita Springs. Without leaving his vehicle, the officer requested the man’s identification documents and directed the pair to walk toward the park’s entrance, the woman recalled.

Upon reaching the parking area, the officer placed the husband under arrest using what his wife described as fabricated charges. The woman agreed to speak with The Associated Press anonymously to protect herself and her 48-year-old spouse from potential detention and to safeguard their ongoing asylum proceedings.

“The officer claimed he was writing a citation because our dog had attacked him, which was impossible since he never stepped out of his vehicle,” the woman explained. “He began making phone calls, placed my husband under arrest, and we waited for 40 minutes” until federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived to transport her husband.

While Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts have faced strong opposition in Democratic-controlled sanctuary jurisdictions—where law enforcement is prohibited from cooperating, political leaders have resisted, and community members have attempted to shield immigrant residents through warning signals, video documentation, and confronting masked federal operatives seen by many as occupying forces—the situation differs significantly in Republican-controlled Florida.

In the Sunshine State, 347 state and municipal agencies have agreed to participate in the enforcement campaign, resulting in a massive increase in immigration detentions. Participating organizations include police forces and sheriff’s offices, the Florida National Guard and Highway Patrol, along with seemingly unexpected participants like the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Lottery.

The dramatic increase in Florida’s immigration detentions during Trump’s current presidency has remained largely hidden from public view, as many begin as routine police encounters like traffic violations, the public appears more accepting of the program, and cooperating state and local departments are consistently denying requests for detention records and body camera footage following instructions from the Department of Homeland Security.

Data shows that approximately 39,000 immigrants were detained in Florida during the 416-day span from Jan. 20, 2025—when President Donald Trump began his second presidency—through March 11, 2026, the most recent date available in information provided to the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project and examined by the AP. The previous 416 days under the Biden administration saw 11,088 detentions. Florida averaged 93 daily detentions during the Trump period, ranking second only to Texas’s 239, which borders Mexico along the nation’s longest international boundary.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has promoted Florida’s collaboration with ICE through what are known as 287(g) agreements, which grant immigration enforcement authority to state and local law enforcement departments, enabling them to question immigrants in their custody and hold them for potential deportation. Experts indicate these officers face pressure to produce results.

“Numerous officers have received deputization and immigration authority, and they are actively seeking targets,” explained immigration lawyer Vilerka Bilbao, who represents no fewer than 23 clients detained by local police in the Jacksonville region. “They are detaining anyone they can—they must demonstrate results to DeSantis and federal authorities.”

Officers conduct vehicle stops using a “pretext reason”—like a damaged taillight or excessively dark window tinting—”and subsequently you find yourself in ICE detention,” Bilbao explained.

On Feb. 15, Lee County sheriff’s officers detained a 44-year-old Guatemalan man along with his 21-year-old son near Fort Myers. The deputies confronted the pair in a retail parking lot, claiming their license plate had expired and demanding they exit their vehicle despite the tags remaining valid until March 25, according to the older man’s spouse and the younger man’s mother.

The 40-year-old Guatemalan asylum-seeker, who requested anonymity for her family due to safety concerns for herself and her three remaining children in Florida, reported that her husband and adult son were detained and sent back to Guatemala one week later, abandoning her, her two minor sons, and her daughter, who holds American citizenship.

She explained that both her husband and adult son had active immigration court proceedings but were detained regardless. Her husband had appeared at three immigration hearings but missed one scheduled in Miami, approximately 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of Fort Myers, because he lacked transportation funds. Her son was pursuing asylum, possessed a valid driver’s license, and held a work authorization.

DHS contests that the man and his son were legally present in the U.S., stating they entered the border unlawfully in 2017 and received a final removal order in 2019.

Regarding the dog-walking incident, DHS stated the man was arrested due to having two final removal orders.

In both situations, the Florida departments that conducted the initial stops—the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office—declined to provide arrest documentation and body camera recordings to the AP, stating that ICE requires them to direct all inquiries regarding immigration arrests to federal authorities.

ICE and DHS, its oversight agency, refused to provide the arrest documentation and body camera footage, with DHS stating: “We are not going to disclose law enforcement sensitive intelligence.”

An ICE directive distributed to the 287(g) partners in Florida specifies that “information obtained or developed” through the agreements remains “under the control of ICE” and cannot be disclosed without federal authorization.

The directive seems to conflict with Florida’s established Sunshine Law, enacted in 1967, which assumes records are publicly accessible unless specifically exempted. However, the conservative state Legislature has created additional exceptions in recent years.

While Florida leads in partnering with the enforcement campaign, establishing the “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” immigration detention facilities within the past year, participation in the 287(g) program has exploded, expanding from 135 agreements across 20 states before Trump’s second term to over 1,700 across 41 states and territories.

DHS has announced financial incentives for state and local law enforcement departments, including salary reimbursement. These benefits include up to $7,500 for equipment per participating officer in the agreements, and up to $100,000 for agencies to acquire new vehicles.