Trump Administration

US Senate approves war powers resolution in rebuke to Trump over Iran war

The Senate for the first time approved a war powers resolution Tuesday seeking to block US military action against Iran, as lawmakers warily watch President Donald Trump's efforts to resolve a conflict that the administration launched on its own and now needs Congress to fund. It was the 10th time the Senate has tried to stop the war, and the outcome, on a vote of 50-48, was a stunning turnaround from past efforts. While the resolution is largely symbolic, and does not fully carry the force of law, it reflects the growing concerns from a number of Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate over both the war and the deal Trump struck with Iran to end it. The House approved the resolution earlier this month. "Time after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Trump and his war instead of the American people," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer said Americans have paid the price for "Trump's historic blunder in Iran. It'll go down in the histor

Trump admin touts Iran deal as payday for US farmers, Tehran denies it

US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance say their interim deal to end the war with Iran will deliver a financial windfall to American farmers. But the Iranians deny it. And, in the absence of more details, sanctions experts are flummoxed over exactly how billions of dollars' worth of Iranian assets would make their way to the American heartland from the escrow accounts where they have been locked for years by US sanctions. A tentative agreement reached last week would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas once passed, and allow Iran to start selling its oil freely again during a 60-day period when the two countries will continue negotiating key issues. The memorandum of understanding also promised to unfreeze Iranian assets. Trump's deal has come under fire for failing to address the reasons the president cited for going to war with Iran on February 28, including curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions, its missile programme a

A revealing chronicle of Trump's imperial presidency and its contradictions

Regime Change chronicles Donald Trump's turbulent second term, portraying a presidency shaped by power, spectacle, loyalists and mounting political challenges

With Lebanon ceasefire set, Trump envoy heads to Switzerland for Iran talks

The development comes a day after Vice President JD Vance canceled plans to attend the talks, which were called off amid the renewed fighting in Lebanon

Unfair to deny Iran ballistic missiles if other nations have them: Trump

The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, assassinating the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and military leaders on the first day

Iran deal includes $300 bn fund, more than half of which already committed

Iran has attracted almost no significant foreign direct investment in the past four decades, frozen out of global capital markets by successive waves of US and international sanctions

Howard Lutnick's letter to Anthropic warned of curbs on top AI models

The letter ordered Anthropic not to give its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 artificial intelligence models to foreign nationals anywhere in the world without a license from the Commerce Department

Vance to lead US delegation to ink Iran peace deal in Switzerland: Trump

Vice President JD Vance will lead the US delegation for the in-person signing of the peace deal with Iran in Switzerland on Friday, President Donald Trump said. Both Trump and Vance have electronically signed the framework agreement with Iran's lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to a senior US official quoted by The New York Times. In a media interaction in France on Monday, Trump said Vance will attend the signing ceremony. "I may be involved, I may not," the president said in response to a question on his presence at the signing ceremony. The text of the Memorandum of Understanding will be released "pretty soon... sometime after Friday", Trump said. In media interviews here, Vance said the peace agreement was signed digitally on Sunday, and its full text was likely to be made public later this week. "We already signed the deal digitally yesterday (Sunday)," Vance said on the Good Morning America programme on ABC News. The deal was negotiated through mediators

Trump celebrates 80th birthday with Iran deal ahead of UFC cage fight at WH

President Donald Trump marked turning 80 on Sunday by hailing an agreement to end the war in Iran hours before a birthday celebration that once would have seemed unfathomable: a cage-fighting show on the storied South Lawn of the White House. He had been touting the emerging deal for weeks, and last-minute strikes in the conflict had threatened to overshadow the ostentatious UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza - where combatants sealed inside a wire-mesh octagon try to punch, kick, chop and pummel each other into submission. Hour before the fights began, the president said an agreement to end the conflict "is now complete" and declared that the US will end its blockade of Iran and that Strait of Hormuz would reopen, potentially easing high oil prices and skittish global markets. But the crucial details are still to be negotiated. Word of the deal will allow the president to be especially jubilant as he walks out of the White House for the fights. Cabinet leaders, Republican lawmaker

US govt's curbs on Anthropic models reignite calls for sovereign AI

The US move to restrict access to Anthropic's latest AI models has intensified concerns over AI sovereignty and technology dependence in India

As Trump turns 80 with spectacle of cage fights at WH, big issues loom

President Donald Trump celebrates turning 80 on Sunday with a showstopping birthday spectacle that once would have seemed unfathomable: a cage-fighting show on the storied South Lawn of the White House. This week, the hard realities of the office have threatened to overshadow the ostentatious UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza, where combatants sealed inside a wire-mesh octagon try to punch, kick, chop and pummel each other into submission. Trump has found himself boxed into an unpopular and costly war he helped start in Iran. An agreement to end the conflict could be close, but the crucial details are still to be negotiated. Meanwhile, about a mile from Trump's birthday bash, crews pried the president's name off the Kennedy Center after a judge ruled naming it after Trump had gone too far. Regardless, the president will walk out of the White House and be surrounded by Cabinet leaders, top administration officials, Republican lawmakers and 4,000-plus spectators screaming themselve

Trump names James M McDonald to lead New York federal prosecutor's office

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will appoint one of his personal lawyers to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, filling a pending vacancy after Trump tapped the man currently in the job to be director of national intelligence. James M. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor in the office he had been picked to run, served as a financial regulator during Trump's first term and worked in the White House counsel's office in President George W. Bush's administration. A partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald is part of the legal team handling Trump's pending appeal of felony convictions in New York related to hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels as the Republican ran for president in 2016. Trump said Saturday he would name McDonald to the role of US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most influential positions in the Justice Department. He would replace Jay Clayton, whom Trump put forward this week as .

Trump's name still on Kennedy Center despite court-ordered removal deadline

President Donald Trump's name remained on the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday despite a court-ordered Friday deadline to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the iconic performing arts venue's operations. Scaffolding was erected Friday around a section of the building that includes Trump's name, but shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of thunderstorms that had swept through the Washington area, causing a delay. In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the "removal work is presently ongoing" and would "conclude in the early hours of the morning." A few hours later, workers begin covering the scaffolding with tarps. Dozens of people spent hours Friday on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of "take it down." Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued

Trump denies allegations of defrauding US court to create $1.8 billion fund

US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami is considering reopening the case to investigate whether the president and the Justice Department defrauded the court

Will leave no stone unturned to hunt down those who harm US: FBI official

America First does not mean America alone, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will "leave no stone unturned" to hunt down and bring to justice those who would harm the US and its allies, FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey has said. He made the remarks during a virtual press briefing on Wednesday on the subject of industrial-scale scam compounds, nihilistic violent extremism and transnational narcotics trafficking. Nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) is violence motivated by a hatred of society and a drive to cause its collapse through indiscriminate chaos. NVE members advocate for destruction across the world by glorifying mass killers, promoting animal cruelty and urging self-harm. "I'm here to discuss three of the most significant threats facing the world today. And those are industrial-scale scam compounds, nihilistic violent extremism and transnational narcotics trafficking. While these threats victimise Americans daily, their deadly impact across Southeast Asia is growing

Trump nominates US Attorney Jay Clayton as national intelligence director

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he plans to nominate Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as director of national intelligence. Trump announced the nomination on social media amid pressure from Congress to name a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month. Trump faced intense pushback over his decision to name Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director. The situation has led to a standoff in Congress as Democrats said they would refuse to renew a foreign intelligence powers unless Trump pulled Pulte's nomination and named a permanent nominee. "Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay," Trump wrote. "I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.

US helicopter pilots who went down in Strait of Hormuz are fine, says Trump

It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem

Trump's approval stays near record low as Iran war fuels economic concerns

The Republican leader has faced widespread discontent in recent months over ​his decision to go to war with Iran, which has led to a surge in gasoline prices

Trump dismisses idea that Iran betrays his 'no new wars' campaign message

President Donald Trump is dismissing the idea that launching the war with Iran this year betrayed his refrain of "No new wars" that he made repeatedly as he campaigned again for the White House. Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he "didn't guarantee" there would be no wars if he were back in office. "First of all, I didn't guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?" Trump said. Trump also defended plans for a now-scrapped $1.8 billion fund that would have compensated allies of the Republican president and he repeated his baseless claims of mass fraud in California's drawn-out vote count from Tuesday's primary. He ended the interview abruptly when he became frustrated with pushback from NBC's Kristen Welker. Iran is not an endless war' --------------------------- In his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly cast his Democratic opponents as warmongers and said he was a president who started "no new wars" and would

Trump says he would not unfreeze Iran's assets before peace deal is done

Trump says sanctions relief and access to frozen assets will come only after a peace deal with Iran, while signalling openness to talks with its leadership