3 h. ago Trump’s chief of staff suggests real goal of US boat strikes is to topple Venezuela’s Maduro – live

Susie Wiles says Trump wants to keep ‘blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle’ in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity FairWiles also said she had told Donald Trump that his second term was not supposed to be a retribution tour.“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said in an interview in March.I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.I don’t think he [Trump] wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Trump’s chief of staff acknowledges ‘score settling’ behind prosecutions of political rivals: ‘He will go for it’ – live

‘In some cases, it may look like retribution,’ Susie Wiles says in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity FairWiles also said she had told Donald Trump that his second term was not supposed to be a retribution tour.“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said in an interview in March.I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.I don’t think he [Trump] wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Five key moments in the assault on the rights of women and girls in 2025

Since Trump’s second term began in January, global healthcare, especially for sexual and reproductive health, has been under constant attackThis time last year, women’s rights organisations were bracing themselves for a second Trump term. Few were prepared for the chaos that would be unleashed in January. The volume and speed of executive orders coming out of the White House were seen as a deliberate tactic to overwhelm and create panic. In many ways it worked – there was confusion, anger and exhaustion as organisations scrambled to fill the gap left by the USAID freeze. But that was just the beginning.The US administration has been the key driver, supported by intense advocacy work by ultra-conservative groups using the moment to strengthen global ties with political allies. Continue reading...

Events

31 h. ago Court battle over California’s new congressional map begins in Trump admin vs Newsom redistricting showdown

House Democrats need to gain just a handful of seats next year to take control of the chamber, which would imperil Trump’s agenda for the remainder of his term

Events

57 h. ago Why celebrities are loving crypto again in Trump’s second term

From athletes such as Tristan Thompson to artists such as Iggy Azalea, celebrities have returned to hawking cryptoFollowing the numbers suggests Tristan Thompson is nearing the end of his basketball career. While the 6ft 9in center once regularly played more than 80 games in a regular season, he’s hit new career lows, appearing just 40 times on court during the 2024-2025 season. Following the money, however, suggests Thompson is pivoting into a new career. He’s rebranded as a crypto investor, consultant and brand ambassador, bringing his relative cultural cache to the blockchain. Now the host of his own podcast, Courtside Crypto, he has made frequent appearances with other crypto celebrities, such as at the Nasdaq in September, when he celebrated the IPO of an explicitly nationalist Bitcoin mining operation alongside Eric Trump; Thompson has also developed a crypto startup slated to launch in 2026.In 2025, crypto is back in style in Washington and among a growing set in Hollywood, w...

Politics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Venezuela: a return to seeking regime change | Editorial

The US is ramping up the pressure on Nicolás Maduro with a tanker seizure and expanded sanctions following threats and boat strikesEarly in his first term, Donald Trump mooted a “military option” for Venezuela to dislodge its president, Nicolás Maduro. Reports suggest that he eagerly discussed the prospect of an invasion behind closed doors. Advisers eventually talked him down. Instead, the US pursued a “maximum pressure” strategy of sanctions and threats.But Mr Maduro is still in place. And Mr Trump’s attempts to remove him are ramping up again. The US has amassed its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. It has carried out more than 20 shocking strikes on alleged drug boats. Mr Trump reportedly delivered an ultimatum late last month, telling the Venezuelan leader that he could have safe passage from his country if he left immediately. There was already a $50m bounty on his head. This week came expanded sanctions and the seizure of a tanker.D...

Politics

4 d. ago The facts are stark: Europe must open the door to migrants, or face its own extinction | George Monbiot

Plummeting birth rates mean that without attracting immigration, many countries are sliding towards collapseI know what “civilisational erasure” looks like: I’ve seen the graph. The European Commission published it in March. It’s a chart of total fertility rate: the average number of children born per woman. After a minor bump over the past 20 years, the EU rate appears to be declining once more, and now stands at 1.38. The UK’s is 1.44. A population’s replacement rate is 2.1. You may or may not see this as a disaster, but the maths doesn’t care what you think. We are gliding, as if by gravitational force, towards the ground.Civilisational erasure is the term the Trump administration used in its new national security strategy, published last week. It claimed that immigration, among other factors, will result in the destruction of European civilisation. In reality, without immigration there will be no Europe, no civilisation and no one left to argue about it.George Monbiot is a Guard...

Events

5 d. ago Trump’s tariffs have cost each American household $1,200 in added expenses, Dems say

In his second term, Trump has reversed decades of U.S. policy that favored free trade

Economics

6 d. ago Musk calls Doge only ‘somewhat successful’ and says he would not do it again

Speaking on a rightwing podcast, the billionaire said he would not go back and lead the job-cutting program again Elon Musk has said the aggressive federal job-cutting program he headed early in Donald Trump’s second term, known as the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), was only “a little bit successful” and he would not lead the project again.Musk said he wouldn’t want to repeat the exercise, talking on the podcast hosted by Katie Miller, a rightwing personality with a rising profile who was a Doge adviser and who is married to Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration deputy chief of staff. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Eileen Higgins becomes Miami’s first Democratic mayor in 30 years

In stunning upset victory, Higgins also becomes first woman in post and first non-Hispanic candidate since 90sDemocrat Eileen Higgins was elected mayor of Miami on Tuesday night in a stunning upset victory that reversed a run of recent Republican successes in Florida.The election of Higgins, 61, a former county commissioner, also added to a string of Democratic wins across the country that have served to highlight the growing level of resistance to Donald Trump in his second presidential term. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago False claims Afrikaners are persecuted threaten South Africa’s sovereignty, says president

Cyril Ramaphosa says theories, promoted by Donald Trump, ‘conveniently align with wider notions of white supremacy’White supremacist ideology and false claims that South Africa’s Afrikaner minority is being racially persecuted pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty and national security, the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has warned.Since taking office for his second US presidential term in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that South Africa’s government is seizing land and encouraging violence against white farmers. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago White supremacist notions threaten sovereignty of South Africa – Ramaphosa

President hits out at false claims promoted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk that Afrikaner minority is being racially persecutedWhite supremacist ideology and false claims that South Africa’s Afrikaner minority is being racially persecuted pose a threat to South Africa’s sovereignty and national security, the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has warned.Since taking office for his second US presidential term in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that South Africa’s government is seizing land and encouraging violence against white farmers. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Trump reveals he ‘didn’t prepare very much’ ahead of hosting Kennedy Center Honors

Trump notably skipped the Kennedy Center Honors entirely during his first term

Politics

1 week ago ANDREW NEIL: Trump's been handed a Fifa 'peace prize' and boasts of ending foreign wars. But what real Americans care about is the soaring price of everything

Suddenly, that most basic of political issues -the cost of living - has reasserted itself as the prime concern of American voters, threatening to undermine Donald Trump's second term in the process.

Politics

1 week ago Supreme court allows Texas to use new congressional map favoring Republicans in 2026 elections – US politics live

Ruling will impact elections as soon as the March primariesUS supreme court approves redrawn Texas congressional mapsAmong the beneficiaries of Donald Trump’s pardons and commutations, there is a group that legal experts and political scientists see as some of the clearest evidence of how such actions undermine the rule of law: those who were released from prison and again arrested for different alleged crimes.During his first term, Trump issued 237 acts of clemency – including to someone who was a predatory lender and drug smuggler and to another who ran a Ponzi scheme. Since taking office again, Trump has issued more than 1,600, most for people involved in the January 6 attack on Congress. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Europe is holding the line against Trump’s and Putin’s plans for Ukraine. But it won’t be able to for ever | Martin Kettle

In the 21st-century imbalance of power, Europe and Nato have neither the arms nor the wealth to impel Russia or the US to take its peace settlement seriouslyThe failure of this week’s peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff fits into a now well-established pattern of standoffs on Ukraine during Trump’s second term. But the dynamic that produced these talks may be becoming more entrenched. The US and Russian interests driving the process have not changed, while the conflict on the ground is intensifying. The lack of progress this week means there will be another attempt to end the war soon, and perhaps another after that, until, one day, there is some kind of US-backed deal to halt the conflict on terms broadly favouring Russia.The geopolitical algorithm driving this effort is too consistent to ignore. It has been repeated ever since Trump re-entered the White House in January. On the campaign trail, Trump had claimed he could stop the war in a day. ...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump admits he has a ‘little more than three years’ left of his presidency despite teasing third term

The president admitted in October that the Constitution is ‘pretty clear’ that he’s ‘not allowed’ to run again

Politics

2 w. ago Melania Trump unveils grand White House Christmas decorations with tree

The first lady has previously been criticized for her decorations during Donald Trump’s first term

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s golf trips have cost taxpayers $71M since January and could eventually top staggering $300M, report says

President spent $151.5 million in taxpayer-funded golf travel and security in his first presidential term

Economics

3 w. ago Trump hits lowest approval ever as he loses grip on MAGA issues that built his political brand, new shattering poll reveals

Donald Trump has hit a second term slump with a slew of warning signs flashing red for his administration - even on issues that helped him secure re-election a year ago.

Politics