12 h. ago Trump news at a glance: White House doesn’t trust Hegseth to choose new chief of staff

Exasperated by turmoil dogging defense secretary, the White House will block his new choice, sources say – key US politics stories from 9 May 2025 at a glanceExasperated by the turmoil that has dogged Pete Hegseth’s office in recent weeks, the White House will block the US defense secretary’s choice of chief of staff and select a candidate of its own, according to two people familiar with the matter.Hegseth had suggested giving the chief of staff position to Marine Col Ricky Buria after the first person in the role, Joe Kasper, left last month in the wake of a contentious leak investigation that brought the ouster of three other senior aides. But the White House has made clear to Hegseth that Buria will not be elevated. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Trump news at a glance: military to immediately remove trans troops and use medical records to oust more

Buoyed by supreme court ruling, Pentagon will remove as many as 1,000 service members. Key US politics stories from Thursday 8 May at a glance“No More Trans @ DoD,” Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, posted after the supreme court allowed the Trump administration’s ousting of transgender troops to go forward. As of Thursday, the orders have been issued to identify and involuntarily force trans people out of service.Department officials have said it is difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are, but medical records will show those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, show symptoms or are being treated. Those troops would then be forced out. Continue reading...

Events

48 h. ago Family of man sent to El Salvador prison looks for any signs he’s still alive: ‘We don’t know anything’

Jerce Barrios told his family he might be transferred from a California detention center – no one’s heard from him sinceThe last time Joregelis Barrios heard from her brother Jerce, the call had lasted just one minute.Immigration officials had moved Jerce from the detention center in southern California where he had been for six months to another one in Texas. He sounded worried, as if he had been crying. He told his sister he might be transferred somewhere else soon. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Canada not for sale, says Carney; trans military ban proceeds for now

Mark Carney takes firm line with Donald Trump during White House visit; supreme court allows ban on transgender troops to take effect. Key US politics stories from Tuesday 6 May at a glanceIn the White House on Tuesday, the prime minister of Canada told Donald Trump: “As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.” Trump agreed: “That’s true.”Mark Carney continued: “Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign it’s not for sale. Won’t be for sale, ever.” “Never say never,” said Trump. Carney smiled and mouthed “never, never, never, never.” Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Identity of second man illegally deported to El Salvador prison revealed

Daniel Lozano-Camargo, 20, was deported in March in violation of a legal settlement over his asylum applicationThe identity of a second man illegally deported from the US by the Trump administration in defiance of a court order and now in detention in El Salvador has been revealed.Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a 20-year-old Venezuelan, was deported to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot terrorism confinement facility in March under the White House’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, Politico reported. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Does Nayib Bukele’s campaign against democracy give a blueprint for Trump?

El Salvador’s populist leader extols a hardline approach to crime and an assault on civil society – drawing envy from many in the Trump administration“I have no doubt the government are watching,” said Ingrid Escobar, an activist lawyer who has proved a thorn in the side of El Salvador’s authorities. “There are cars that follow me – I have them identified.”Since president Nayib Bukele launched a sweeping crackdown on gangs, Escobar has advocated for the tens of thousands locked up without due process. She points to a photo of Geovanni Aguirre, a childhood friend and trade unionist who worked in San Salvador’s mayor’s office. He disappeared into the prison system in 2022. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Rubio tangles with Germany; crackdown on campus protests continues

Berlin dismisses secretary of state’s criticism over AfD designation; nine pro-Palestinian activists arrested at Swarthmore College – key US politics stories from Saturday 3 May at a glanceGermany’s foreign ministry has pushed back after Marco Rubio criticised the country’s decision to designate the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a “confirmed rightwing extremist” force incompatible with its constitution.“This is democracy,” the ministry said in a post on X, adding that the courts would have the final say and that “we have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped”. The US secretary of state had called the move “tyranny in disguise”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Rubio now holds four titles after Waltz out as national security chief

Marco Rubio becomes the first person since Henry Kissinger to hold the national security adviser and secretary of state positions at the same time – key US politics stories from Thursday 1 MaySecretary of state Marco Rubio – ridiculed as “Little Marco” by Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries – has become one of the most powerful players in the president’s cabinet.Trump appointed Rubio interim national security adviser on Thursday after Mike Waltz was forced to leave the post, alongside his deputy, Alex Wong, as sources said officials had lost confidence in their leadership. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump warns ‘nothing will stop me’ at rally to celebrate 100 days in office

President holds campaign-style event in Michigan, attacks Democrats and ‘communist’ judges, and repeats 2020 election lieDonald Trump has celebrated his 100th day in office with a campaign-style rally in Michigan and an attack on “communist radical left judges” for trying to seize his power, warning: “Nothing will stop me.”The president also served up the chilling spectacle of a video of Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador, accompanied by Hollywood-style music and roars of approval from the crowd. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Trump marks first 100 days by reliving 2024 campaign hits and screening El Salvador prison propaganda video

President Donald Trump last campaign ended nearly half a year ago, but that isn’t stopping him from finding solace in the raucous crowds and predictable routines of the campaign trail.

Events

1 week ago Trump news at a glance: children targeted in immigration crackdown

The moves have prompted alarm about what one critic called ‘backdoor family separation’ – key US politics stories from Monday 28 AprilAs part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, unaccompanied minors are now being targeted for deportation, with the Department of Homeland Security engaging in “welfare checks” on children who arrived in the US alone, usually across the US-Mexican border.The moves have sparked fears of a crackdown and prompted alarm about what one critic called “backdoor family separation”. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump news at a glance: President says he wants Putin ‘to stop shooting’ after talks with Zelenskyy

Trump expresses newfound sympathy for his Ukrainian counterpart, saying he ‘wants to do something good for his country’ – key US politics stories from Sunday 27 April at a glanceDonald Trump appears to have warmed to Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the two presidents met at the Vatican, with the US leader emerging from talks with a plea for Vladimir Putin: “stop shooting”.Trump on Sunday said Zelenskyy “wants to do something good” for Ukraine and is “working hard”, adding he was also “surprised and disappointed” that Russia continued to strike Ukraine after discussions between his peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Putin. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Want to beat authoritarianism? Look to Latin America | Greg Grandin

The region has grappled with dictatorships, coups and inequality. But its democratic spirit remains vital – and offers a lesson for the USInspiration on how to beat back authoritarianism is in short supply, but those searching for hope in these dark times might consider Latin America.It’s not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about democracy, associated as it is with coups, death squads, dictatorships, inequality, drug violence and now a country, El Salvador, offering itself up to Donald Trump as an offshore prison colony for deportees. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Trump news at a glance: president berates Putin; judge blocks changes to voting rights

US renews push to end Ukraine war, reportedly on terms favourable to Russia – key US politics stories from 24 AprilDuring his election campaign Donald Trump had promised to end the war in 24 hours. But almost 100 days into his second term the US president has appealed directly to Russian president Vladimir Putin, telling him on social media: “Vladimir, STOP!”Trump’s remarks referred to the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this year, which killed 12 people and injured at least 90 on Thursday. The attack comes as Trump has made a renewed push to end the Ukraine war, reportedly on terms favourable to Russia. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump news at a glance: Hegseth reportedly had Yemen Signal chat with wife, brother

Defence secretary reportedly sent the group flight schedules for strikes on Houthis; draft order calls for drastic restructure of state department – key US politics stories from 20 AprilDefence secretary Pete Hegseth is in the spotlight for a communications blunder in which he reportedly created his own Signal group chat that included his wife and brother, in which he shared confidential details of a US strike on Yemen this March.The chat on Signal, a commercially available app not authorized as a means to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information, allegedly included more than a dozen people. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I just ask God that he’s OK’: family of Venezuelan musician sent to El Salvador prison agonizes over his fate

Arturo Suárez Trejo was caught up in Trump’s immigration crackdown in North Carolina and sent to a notorious Salvadorian prisonIn a recording studio in downtown Santiago, where the dad she has never met once sung, a four-month-old baby girl snuggles in her mother’s arms, noise-cancelling earmuffs shielding her tiny ears from the sound.Nahiara Rubí Suárez Sánchez is equally oblivious to the plight of her father, a Venezuelan musician who is thought to be languishing in a maximum-security prison thousands of miles away in El Salvador after being swept up in Donald Trump’s anti-migrant crusade. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Trump has found in El Salvador a model for the repressive state he wants to build – and he’s just getting started | Jordana Timerman

Nayib Bukele has shown how brutal control can be sustained not just through force, but by raising the cost of speaking outThe Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) maximum security prison in El Salvador is the crown jewel of President Nayib Bukele’s efforts to quash not only criminal gangs, but also criticism and political opposition to his government. The “mega-prison” is also one of the more visible destinations in the emerging map of American deportations – a sprawling archipelago that includes conservative US districts, the Guantánamo military base and Central American waypoints connected by a tangle of military and charter flights.That the two states have connected their penal architecture is no coincidence. Donald Trump’s aggressive policies towards foreigners build on Bukele’s infamous iron fist crackdown against criminal gangs: it’s a political toolkit that leverages anti-establishment anger to justify an authoritarian slide. In deploying strongman tactics to address social c...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump news at a glance: Maryland senator says Ábrego García moved from notorious El Salvador prison

Senator Chris Van Hollen accuses El Salvador’s government of planting margarita glasses to undermine his trip – key US politics stories from Friday 18 April at a glanceMaryland senator Chris Van Hollen revealed that Kilmar Ábrego García had been moved from El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison – where he was sharing a cell with 25 other inmates – to a detention center with better conditions.Van Hollen met with Ábrego García, whom the Trump administration admits it mistakenly deported, and said that he had been left “traumatized” after facing threats in the Cecot facility. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ICE agents admitted they were arresting ‘the wrong guy’ on NYC street — they deported him anyway

Merwil Gutierrez was deported from The Bronx to brutal El Salvador prison, according to family and attorney

Events

3 w. ago How all of Trump’s gang claims against wrongfully deported man boil down to one unnamed informant

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, languishing in El Salvador mega-prison, accused of being MS-13 member but evidence to substantiate claim is thin, court records reveal

Politics