Top United States government News
Trump wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees and floats plan to 'clean out' Gaza
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he would like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip, potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area...
Trump's Q&A on Air Force One goes from the plane's color scheme to the fate of TikTok and Canada
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy about sharing his thoughts since taking office, and he added a 20-minute Q&A with reporters aboard Air Force One to the mix Saturday night. He held forth on everything from the color of the presidential plane to the fate of...
Loyalty tests and MAGA checks: Inside the Trump White House's intense screening of job-seekers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Job-seekers hoping to join the new Trump administration are facing a series of intense loyalty tests, with White House screening teams fanning out to government agencies to check for “Make America Great Again” bona fides and carefully parsing applicants' politics and social...
More DEI fallout: Air Force scraps course that used videos of Tuskegee Airmen and female WWII pilots
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has removed training courses with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs — the female World War II pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military — to comply with the Trump administration's crackdown...
He's emboldened, he's organized and he's still Trump: Takeaways from the president's opening days
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s first week in office isn't over yet, but already it offers signals about how his next four years in the White House may unfold. Some takeaways from the earliest days of his second term: He’s emboldened like never...
The CIA believes COVID most likely originated from a lab but has low confidence in its own finding
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released Saturday that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own...
Hegseth is quickly sworn in as defense secretary after dramatic Senate vote
Pete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nation's 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trump's Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon's leader. Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower...
Trump leans into his pledge to eliminate taxes on tips at a Las Vegas rally
LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Donald Trump came to Las Vegas on Saturday to crow about his campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tips, signaling to allies in Congress the importance of the policy but stopping well short of offering details for making the slogan a reality. Instead,...
Trump uses mass firing to remove independent inspectors general at a series of agencies
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired about 17 independent inspectors general at government agencies, a sweeping action to remove oversight of his new administration that some members of Congress are suggesting violated federal oversight laws. The dismissals began...
Senate confirms Noem as Trump's homeland security secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump's plans to clamp down on illegal immigration. ...
Latest United States government News
Trump uses mass firing to remove independent inspectors general at a series of agencies
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired about 17 independent inspectors general at government agencies, a sweeping action to remove oversight of his new administration that some members of Congress are suggesting violated federal oversight laws. The dismissals began...
Senate confirms Noem as Trump's homeland security secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump's plans to clamp down on illegal immigration. ...
North Korea says it tested cruise missile system and vows 'toughest' response to US
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.-South Korean military drills that target the North. The moves suggested...
Trump leans into his pledge to eliminate taxes on tips at a Las Vegas rally
LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Donald Trump came to Las Vegas on Saturday to crow about his campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tips, signaling to allies in Congress the importance of the policy but stopping well short of offering details for making the slogan a reality. Instead,...
Trump's border emergency declaration comes amid relative calm after years of major turmoil
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Long stretches of silence on a Border Patrol scanner are punctuated with updates on tracking a single migrant for hours. The radio traffic sounds like a throwback to earlier times, before the United States became the largest destination for asylum-seekers in 2017. ...
Thousands in Germany protest the rise of the far right ahead of next month's election
BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of Germans on Saturday protested in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the Feb. 23 general election. At Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang...
Hegseth is quickly sworn in as defense secretary after dramatic Senate vote
Pete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nation's 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trump's Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon's leader. Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower...
US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday the U.S. has not stopped military aid to Ukraine after newly sworn in U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days. Zelenskyy did not clarify whether...
Nikki Fried vows to rebuild Florida Democrats as re-elected chair
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Nikki Fried was reelected Saturday as chair of the Florida Democratic Party, which is seeking to regain relevance in a state that has tilted decidedly toward the Republicans. Fried, who was first chosen as chair in 2023, got more than three-quarters of the vote...
Loyalty tests and MAGA checks: Inside the Trump White House's intense screening of job-seekers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Job-seekers hoping to join the new Trump administration are facing a series of intense loyalty tests, with White House screening teams fanning out to government agencies to check for “Make America Great Again” bona fides and carefully parsing applicants' politics and social...
