20 h. ago Donald Trump has built a regime of retribution and reward | Sidney Blumenthal

The president’s purges and attacks on his enemies have developed into a system in which injustice is made routineDonald Trump’s voracious desire for retribution has quickly evolved into a regular and predictable system. In the year since his election his rage and whims have assumed the form of policies in the same way that Stalin’s purges could be called policies. Figures within the federal system of justice who do not do his bidding are summarily fired and replaced by loyalists. Leaders who have called him to account or are in his way may face indictment, trial and punishment. Opponents have been designated under Presidential National Security Memorandum No 7 as “Antifa”: “anti-American,” “anti-Christian,” and “anti-capitalist,” and threatened with prosecution as a “terrorist”. Meanwhile, many aligned with him escape justice, whether through the hand of the Department of Justice or the presidential pardon power. Now, he demands compensation for having been prosecuted to the tune of...

Politics

46 h. ago The White House is getting renovated. Can we do the whole country while we’re at it? | Dave Schilling

Refurbishing the nation should be a collective effort – not the work of a single man with an unmatched taste for the gaudyWho doesn’t love a good home renovation project? Something to take your mind off the humdrum details of life. A fresh start. A dream made reality. I recently repainted my French doors from teal to aquamarine. I felt like a new man, albeit one with all the same problems. Just with a new door color.The average homeowner will always find something to change, tweak or revise – even in the most beautiful property. Don’t like your kitchen sink? Rip it out. Not a fan of subway tiles? Scrap them. Have you ever considered the sublime serenity of a rainfall shower on your body in the morning? All of these amenities can be yours for the price of materials, labor and the psychic distress of a bunch of burly middle-aged men traipsing around your house with large, thick boots. A small price to pay for a bit of temporary contentment. Continue reading...

Events

63 h. ago Big? Beautiful? Donald Trump is literally ripping apart the home of US democracy. Is anyone really surprised? | Emma Brockes

Demolition work has begun on part of the White House’s East Wing to make way for the president’s ballroom. Truly, these are post-satirical timesOccasionally, life gives you scenarios that are so on the money it’s impossible to do anything with them. Boris Johnson getting stuck halfway down a zip wire while waving two union flags, for instance; or Liz Truss getting lost while attempting to leave a room – two images that are so embarrassingly on point it is almost difficult to enjoy them. An audience likes to feel it has done a bit of work before arriving at a punch line, which is why, on Monday, when demolition crews moved into the White House to knock down part of the East Wing at the behest of Donald Trump, it felt once again like we were living in post-satirical times.As far as we can tell from the photos, Trump didn’t actually send in a wrecking ball – although his administration did sharply reprimand government employees working in a neighbouring Treasury building for posting vi...

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3 d. ago The EU was complicit in the war in Gaza. Trump's plan can't be an excuse to dodge responsibility now | Nathalie Tocci

Tiptoeing around Israel has cost Europe its credibility. It must exert meaningful pressure to ensure the horrors we have seen never happen againThe first phase of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza has drawn a collective sigh of relief from European leaders. After two years of slaughter, the ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory offer hope – and unfortunately, an excuse for Europe to continue doing nothing.When it comes to the war in Gaza, unlike Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European governments have shown their worst colours. They are divided, and their political splits have led to policy paralysis. But worse than sitting on the sidelines hand-wringing, European governments and EU institutions in Brussels can be accused of complicity in Israel’s war crimes. They have been unwilling to exert any pressure on the perpetrators, while continuing economic, political and...

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3 d. ago Trump’s nomination of Paul Ingrassia loses Republican support following racist text messages

Ingrassia, Trump’s pick to lead the office of special counsel, allegedly described himself as having ‘a Nazi streak’US politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s nomination of a conservative attorney and commentator to oversee federal whistleblower protections appeared to be collapsing after his racist text messages surfaced this week and the Republican Senate leader suggested the White House should withdraw the pick.Paul Ingrassia, currently a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security, previously advocated for making 6 January a national holiday and publicly questioned whether the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack was a “psyop”. But the fans were flamed again on Monday after Politico reported text messages in which Ingrassia allegedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and suggested Martin Luther King Jr Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell”. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Republican senators indicate they won’t confirm Trump special counsel pick after ‘Nazi streak’ comments – US politics live

Senate majority leader John Thune reportedly says Paul Ingrassia is ‘not gonna pass’The Central Intelligence Agency is providing the bulk of the intelligence used to carry out the controversial lethal air strikes by the Trump administration against small, fast-going boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of carrying drugs from Venezuela, according to three sources familiar with the operations.Experts say the agency’s central role means much of the evidence used to select which alleged smugglers to kill on the open sea will almost certainly remain secret. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Trump is threatening Venezuela. But his own country looks a lot like it | Daniel Mendiola

The US president’s efforts to consolidate power are strikingly similar to historical authoritarian moves in CaracasHere in the Americas, we have a peculiar tradition. Every time there is a major election, prominent figures on the right find themselves compelled to repeat some version of the vaguely menacing prediction: if the candidate for the left wins, we will become “the next Venezuela”.Whether Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia or Ecuador, countries throughout the western hemisphere keep this tradition. Donald Trump has also participated in this ritual, proclaiming during the 2024 election cycle that if Kamala Harris won, our country would become “Venezuela on steroids”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The US refugee program changed my life. Trump’s possible overhaul would be disastrous | Bahati Kanyamanza

I fled war at 14 and decades later became a US citizen. Now I fear racism and exclusion could become official policyLast week, leaked documents from the Trump administration reportedly revealed plans to gut the US refugee program, not only capping refugee resettlement at a record low of 7,500, but also transforming it from a life-saving humanitarian system into one that favors white South Africans and Europeans over the world’s most vulnerable people. As a refugee who found safety and belonging in this country, I broke into a sweat reading the news. Memories of my own journey rushed back, now mixed with a deeper fear that racism and exclusion are not just social undercurrents, but official policy.I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and fled war at 14, spending nearly two decades in a refugee camp in Uganda before finally being resettled in the United States. Here, I reunited with my family, built a new life, and became a citizen. My story is one of patience, resilience an...

Events

4 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy paints Trump meeting as ‘positive’, with Patriot missile deal in works

Zelenskyy’s comments are in contrast to reports that Trump berated the Ukrainian leader and pushed him to concede territory to Russia. What we know on day 1,336 Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ‘I don’t like you either’: diplomats hold their breath as Trump chides Rudd over previous comments

President’s comments were greeted with laughter as diplomatic pressure valve finally releasedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast“I don’t like you either. And I probably never will,” US President Donald Trump told Australian ambassador Kevin Rudd at the White House cabinet room table.It was the testiest and most uncomfortable remark at a typically freewheeling and chaotic presidential press conference. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago The massive No Kings protests may mark a new American political posture | Moira Donegan

The violence Republicans seemed to want did not materialize. Instead the event showcased liberal-democratic consensusOver the past week or so, it seemed as if some Republican leaders were hoping that Saturday’s No Kings demonstrations – the marches and rallies hosted by a coalition of liberal groups across the country and worldwide – would turn violent. House speaker Mike Johnson called them “Hate America” rallies, a moniker that was quickly picked up by other Republicans, and described the No Kings protests as a crucible of potential riots, representing “all the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, the antifa people”. “You’re gonna bring together the Marxists, the socialists, the antifa advocates, the anarchists, and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat party,” he said. Tom Emmer, a representative for Minnesota, described the rallies as a product of the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic party. And Roger Marshall, a senator from Kansas, fantasized that the protests would require ac...

Politics

4 d. ago Troops on the streets, Ice thuggery – and prices still climbing: welcome to Trump’s ‘golden age’ | Steven Greenhouse

The president has repeatedly proclaimed a shining moment. Meanwhile, he’s taking a wrecking ball to truth and democracyIn his inauguration speech last January, Donald Trump bombastically declared: “The golden age of America begins right now.” Our braggadocious president has stuck to that theme ever since, telling the United National general assembly in late September: “This is indeed the golden age of America.”With the federal government shut down for more than two weeks, the nation more polarized than at any time since the civil war, political violence growing and the job market slowing, it doesn’t feel remotely like a golden age, unless one focuses on Trump’s Louis XIV-like effort to gild as many things as possible in the Oval Office. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago In Gaza, and now Ukraine, Donald Trump may be peace activists' greatest ally. That deserves our backing | Simon Jenkins

It’s a fool’s game trying to understand the president’s true motives, but do our misgivings matter if the outcome is a speedy end to war?Donald Trump is sensible and he is right. Basking in glory after his Gaza ceasefire, he was on Friday evening flying to Florida with his entourage of reporters. The drums of war were beating across Europe and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with him for Tomahawk missiles. What was his reply?Trump was clearly fed up. He had told Zelenskyy: go make a deal. He had said, “They should stop the war immediately. You go go by the battle line wherever it is and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it.” Matter closed. Tomahawks would merely mean escalation and more killing. Get a deal.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Trump suggests carving up Ukraine’s Donbas region to end war after meeting with Zelenskyy

Trump made the comments after a tense meeting with Zelenskyy in which the Ukraine leader failed to secure supplies of Tomahawk missilesDonald Trump has suggested the best way to end the war in Ukraine would be to “cut up” the country’s Donbas region in a way that would leave most of it under Russian control, after reportedly pushing Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting to give up swaths of territory.“Let it be cut the way it is,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “It’s cut up right now,” he said, adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now”. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago How can blue states fight back against Trump? With fiscal disobedience | Eric Reinhart

By holding back federal tax revenues, Democratic governors can turn a one-sided assault into a constitutional showdownAgainst Illinois governor JB Pritzker’s objections, Donald Trump’s Pentagon has ordered hundreds of national guard troops to join his regime’s assault on Chicago communities. Trump subsequently called for Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s mayor, and Pritzker to be jailed for not supporting his agenda. These are simply the latest steps in Trump’s plan not to govern as the president of all Americans but to rule as the dictatorial head of a punitive factional state. Federal funding to Democratic cities is being slashed through executive maneuvers; the justice department is conducting politically targeted investigations and arrests; and the military is being deployed to intimidate fellow citizens. Los Angeles, Portland, my home town of Chicago and other cities have been cast as enemies to be subdued, not communities to be served.This weaponization of federal power represents a ...

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5 d. ago ‘It’s quite useless to us’: What autistic people actually want from the Trump administration

US government is seeking proof that acetaminophen leads to autism while not providing ‘services and support so we can be included in the community’The Trump administration is seeking to “make the proof” that acetaminophen (or paracetamol) leads to autism, Robert F Kennedy said earlier this month during a televised cabinet meeting.But autistic researchers and advocates say they are significantly less interested in the “causes” of autism – which decades of research have shown to have a strong connection to genetics – than in support services and research on issues that would improve their quality of life. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fillHolding court for the cameras in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, a manically self-congratulatory Donald Trump, Gaza’s make-believe saviour, hailed his fellow “tough guys” – tame tyrants, such as Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who helped fabricate his flimsy Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.Yet later this month, the American pharaoh-president is due to face a far less biddable tough guy: China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Bookmakers may withhold odds on the outcome. In the US-China race for 21st-century primacy, Xi is sprinting ahead, assisted by spur-heeled Trump’s many missteps.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Trump heaps praise on Zelensky's 'beautiful' black attire as he sizes up friends and foes for 'central casting'

During a highly anticipated meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, President Donald Trump made a comment that was surprisingly focused not on policy or diplomacy.

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7 d. ago Donald Trump makes weird comment about Volodymyr Zelensky's clothes at White House meeting

President Zelensky arrived for talks with Trump with high hopes of a breakthrough that could end the war in Ukraine

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7 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and the law: a restraint on the executive is morphing into its weapon | Editorial

The indictment of critics including John Bolton rings alarm bells as the US president expands his power and seeks to use the justice system to exact revenge“He who saves his country does not violate any law,” Donald Trump posted after beginning his second term – emboldened, perhaps, by the supreme court’s bombshell ruling on presidential immunity last year, which many say gave the office-holder the powers of a monarch.Millions of Americans are expected to push back against the president’s growing power at No Kings protests across the US on Saturday. The demonstrations come as former intelligence and national security officials warn that the country is sliding towards “competitive authoritarianism”, in which elections and courts survive but are systematically manipulated by the executive. Continue reading...

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