Trump Administration

Tulsi Gabbard's office denies CIA raid report after whistleblower's claim

Olivia Coleman, the Press Secretary for the Director of National Intelligence said that the news report of a raid was 'inaccurate'

US to persuade China to play 'active role' in resolving Iran crisis: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington hopes to convince Beijing during the talks between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart to play a "more active role" in resolving the Iran war crisis. Trump arrived in Beijing last night for a three-day visit during which he is scheduled to have several rounds of talks with Xi. Trump was welcomed by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng at the airport, a rare honour that broke with usual diplomatic protocol. Speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One on the way to Beijing, Rubio said the Iran war was a "huge source of instability" and "threatens to destabilise Asia more than any other part of the world because it's heavily reliant on the straits for energy". "It's in (China's) interest to resolve this. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they're doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf," he said, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on ...

'US is not doing serious diplomacy': Iran Dy Foreign Min Kazem Gharibabadi

Trump has discarded Iran's peace proposal plan and said that the ceasefire stands on 'life support'

Inflation, weak economy test Iran's ability to withstand war, US blockade

Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world's energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic's own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington's demands. Iranians have been hit by spiralling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government's monthslong shutdown of the internet. The economic cost of the war and the US naval blockade "has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran," said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University. But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions, and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said. "Iran can probably avoid a complete economic collapse or total shortage of essential goods, but at a very high cost," he said. "The main cost will be passed to

10,000 foreign students, including Indians, under ICE scanner for OPT fraud

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it has identified 10,000 foreign students, including several from India, who claim to be working for highly suspect employers by misusing the Optional Practical Training (OPT) component of their visas. OPT allows foreign nationals who enter the United States on a student visa to work in the US for 12, or in some cases 24, months. It also allows students to transition to an H-1B visa sponsored by employers. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons said the OPT component of the student visa programme has "become a magnet for fraud" and has been the subject of many investigations by the Department of Homeland Security. "We've encountered cases involving espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft, visa and employment fraud, and even scams targeting elderly Americans, all perpetrated by individuals abusing their status as students," Lyons said. "Our nation will not tolerate security

'I don't trust Pakistan', says Trump's close political ally Lindsey Graham

The Senator's scathing assessment stems from allegations that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, possibly shielding them from American airstrikes

Stopping Iran's nuclear program outweighs Americans' economic pain: Trump

Trump framed his approach as a matter of national and global security, suggesting economic concerns were secondary to preventing nuclear proliferation

Trump set to meet Xi in Beijing as war, inflation weigh on his presidency

Trump said he had spoken with the Chinese leader and the meeting would be 'positive' as he embarked with a coterie of aides, CEOs and family members

Tariff refunds of $35.5 billion cleared for importers after US SC ruling

The scramble for refunds started immediately after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump unlawfully used IEEPA to impose tariffs on goods entering the country

Trump admin moves to widen fertility benefit access under new rule

This measure comes at a time when the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement enthusiasts have raised concerns about the birth rate hitting record lows in US in recent years

Trump warns of 'Project Freedom plus' to escort vessels if Iran talks fail

If a deal is not reached with Iran, Trump added that the renewed effort would be expanded into what he called 'Project Freedom plus'

WH correspondents' dinner attack accused seeks recusal of top DOJ officials

A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents' Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top Justice Department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and US Attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the April 25 event at the Washington Hilton when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer. In a court filing late Thursday, Allen's attorneys argued that it creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case. "As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder - how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?" defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote. Ohm and

New York to restrict ICE despite threat from Donald Trump's border czar

President Donald Trump's border czar has threatened to "flood the zone" with immigration agents if New York passes bills to limit local coordination with the federal government's crackdown. New York seems ready to do so anyway. "I don't take well to threats," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday. "We're going to pass what we think is important to protect New Yorkers." Tensions are escalating as Democrats attempt to place guardrails around the Trump administration's immigration agenda following the Republican's often chaotic and violent deportation efforts. The proposals, which are not yet finalised, would bar state and local law enforcement from entering into agreements with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or acting as civil immigration agents, and deny ICE from entering sensitive locations such as schools or hospitals without a judicial warrant. The governor, a Democrat, is also moving to ban federal, state and local law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty, al

US to revoke passports for thousands of parents who owe child support

The US State Department will begin revoking the US passports of thousands of parents who owe a significant amount of unpaid child support. The department told The Associated Press on Thursday that the revocations would begin Friday and be focused on those who owe USD 100,000 or more. That would apply to about 2,700 American passport holders, according to figures supplied to the State Department by the Department of Health and Human Services. The revocation programme, plans for which were first reported by the AP in February, soon will be greatly expanded to cover parents who owe more than USD 2,500 in unpaid child support - the threshold set by a little-enforced 1996 law, the State Department said. It was not clear on Thursday how many passport holders owe more than USD 2,500 because HHS is still collecting data from state agencies that track the figures, but it could encompass many more thousands of people, officials said. Until this week, only those who applied to renew their ...

Ties with US stable despite disruptions, says China ahead of Trump visit

China's top diplomat said Thursday that ties with the US have been stable despite "many twists and disruptions," and called on both countries to find a way to contribute to global peace, a week before President Donald Trump is expected to visit. During a meeting with members of a US bipartisan congressional delegation, led by Sen. Steve Daines, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi credited Presidents Xi Jinping and Trump for "helping steer the direction of bilateral relations at critical moments." "Over the past year, China-US relations have gone through many twists and disruptions, but we have still managed to maintain overall stability," Wang said. Daines, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a strong supporter of Trump, agreed and said that both countries should look for stability. "I strongly believe that we want to de-escalate, not decouple. We want stability, we want mutual respect," he said. Daines added that after the leaders meet next week, "perhaps we could

Trump looks for a silver bullet to end Iran war, but there may be none

The president is trying to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, but Iran's government is unlikely to make a deal without a big, face-saving compromise

White House insists war in West Asia is over, even while missiles fly

The White House is turning to rhetorical leaps as President Trump tries to put the biggest political crisis of his presidency behind him

China didn't challenge US naval blockade on Iran in Hormuz, says Trump

Trump noted China's reliance on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and said Beijing has maintained a respectful stance regarding the ongoing situation

India, US 'very, very close' to signing trade deal, says Trump official

India and the US are "very, very close" to signing the trade deal and need to get over "that last hurdle", US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on Tuesday. Landau said that India and the US have been negotiating for months and it was important for the two sides to "reach some closure" and move on with the many other issues on the agenda. "We are very aware of India's importance on the world stage. I think it is very important to get a final resolution of that trade deal. We have been talking now for months that we are very close, and I think we are very close. But we have to get over that last hurdle," Landau told reporters on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Summit at National Harbour in Maryland near here. "I don't have any huge inside information to provide on when that is coming, but I can just reiterate that I believe that we are very, very close," said Landau, who recently visited India. "I think ultimately it's important that we reach some closure on

Major military operations against Iran over, Op Epic Fury concluded: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that major US military operations against Iran are over - but he stopped short of saying the conflict cannot be restarted. Rubio told reporters at the White House that "Operation Epic Fury" - the attack the US and Israel mounted on Iran on Feb. 28 - "is concluded" because its objectives were met. Rubio said recent clashes with Iran related to US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were "defensive in nature." "We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur," he said. "We would prefer the path of peace." He said Iran must agree to President Donald Trump's demands on its nuclear program and reopen the strait, a waterway vital to global oil and gas supplies. US forces pressed ahead with an effort to guide commercial ships through the strait, but so far only two vessels are known to have passed through. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US prefers a peaceful effort to guide vessels out of the Persian Gulf but is ready to ac