The US president’s need to assert dominance is igniting patriotism abroad and a backlash at homeWhat do bullies do when someone stands up to their bullying and punches them in the face? They look for someone weaker to bully who won’t punch back.Presumably that’s why Donald Trump has now taken on Canada, after Iran punched back so hard in the cage match the US president began more than six months ago as to leave him humiliated and baffled. Continue reading...
The US president’s need to assert dominance is igniting patriotism abroad and a backlash at home
What do bullies do when someone stands up to their bullying and punches them in the face? They look for someone weaker to bully who won’t punch back.
Presumably that’s why Donald Trump has now taken on Canada, after Iran punched back so hard in the cage match the US president began more than six months ago as to leave him humiliated and baffled.
Government talks up pact but Venezuelan opposition alarmed that democracy yet to return after Maduro exitTrump administration officials on Tuesday defended a highly contentious deal giving the US control of a significant chunk of Venezuelan oil reserves, arguing that the sweeping agreement would help stabilize and rebuild democracy in the shattered South American country while giving Washington vital access to strategic crude reserves.Last week, Donald Trump announced a “groundbreaking” deal tha
Government talks up pact but Venezuelan opposition alarmed that democracy yet to return after Maduro exit
Trump administration officials on Tuesday defended a highly contentious deal giving the US control of a significant chunk of Venezuelan oil reserves, arguing that the sweeping agreement would help stabilize and rebuild democracy in the shattered South American country while giving Washington vital access to strategic crude reserves.
Last week, Donald Trump announced a “groundbreaking” deal that would give the US “majority” control over 65bn barrels – roughly one-fifth – of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
This live blog is now closed.New system for screening mail-in ballots risks denying entire batches, says whistleblowerSign up for the US Breaking News emailDemocratic senator Chuck Schumer is introducing a bill that would reverse Donald Trump’s most recent tariffs, among them the new 50% duty on Canadian goods, MS Now reported.While the Senate minority leader’s proposed legislation has virtually no chance of becoming law, Schumer hopes that his proposal shows that Democrats are actively fighting
Democratic senator Chuck Schumer is introducing a bill that would reverse Donald Trump’s most recent tariffs, among them the new 50% duty on Canadian goods, MS Now reported.
While the Senate minority leader’s proposed legislation has virtually no chance of becoming law, Schumer hopes that his proposal shows that Democrats are actively fighting the affordability crisis. Schumer first shared his proposed legislation with MS Now.
A year on from the purge, with thousands of jobs cut and billions in foreign aid lost, a former leader reflects on the sorry saga – and why it would never happen to NasaA year has passed since I and thousands of colleagues lost our jobs at USAID. Asking myself “Why us?” I have come to the conclusion that the American public had very little idea of what we were doing and why.Doge, the “department of government efficiency”, began its work in January 2025, with USAID as its first target, in a reckl
A year on from the purge, with thousands of jobs cut and billions in foreign aid lost, a former leader reflects on the sorry saga – and why it would never happen to Nasa
A year has passed since I and thousands of colleagues lost our jobs at USAID. Asking myself “Why us?” I have come to the conclusion that the American public had very little idea of what we were doing and why.
This live blog is now closed.US supreme court allows Trump to keep building $400m White House ballroomSign up for US Breaking News emailsChris HippensteelWe’re watching today as Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, and Kevin Warsh, the chair of the Federal Reserve, deliver their opening remarks at the G20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina. Continue reading...
We’re watching today as Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, and Kevin Warsh, the chair of the Federal Reserve, deliver their opening remarks at the G20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Trump posts video of himself kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with Lake America signDonald Trump and Canada continued a verbal duel on Saturday over the US government’s administrative renaming of Lake Ontario, with the Ontario premier erecting a giant sign saying “Lake Ontario. Now and Always” – and the American president posting a video of him tearing down an avatar of that sign, erecting a replacement saying Lake America, and dancing to YMCA.Rhetoric over the naming
Meanwhile, Trump posts video of himself kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with Lake America sign
Donald Trump and Canada continued a verbal duel on Saturday over the US government’s administrative renaming of Lake Ontario, with the Ontario premier erecting a giant sign saying “Lake Ontario. Now and Always” – and the American president posting a video of him tearing down an avatar of that sign, erecting a replacement saying Lake America, and dancing to YMCA.
Rhetoric over the naming of Lake Ontario is the public face of an escalating trade dispute between the US and its northern neighbor involving a 50% US tariff on Canadian steel and retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa.
Inside the US state department, critics are still attacking a shuttered office established to counter foreign propaganda. Now, some of its work is also being resumedA botched leak of purportedly explosive government files to a prominent conservative online personality was supposed to offer proof of what the Trump administration and its allies have long alleged: that a little-known office inside the US state department, created to fight foreign propaganda, had secretly become a tool for domestic
Inside the US state department, critics are still attacking a shuttered office established to counter foreign propaganda. Now, some of its work is also being resumed
A botched leak of purportedly explosive government files to a prominent conservative online personality was supposed to offer proof of what the Trump administration and its allies have long alleged: that a little-known office inside the US state department, created to fight foreign propaganda, had secretly become a tool for domestic censorship.
Two former high-ranking officials at the Global Engagement Center (GEC), a target of Republican ire that lost its funding in 2024 and was disbanded after Donald Trump’s return to office in 2025, say the documents show nothing of the kind.
President denies visit was to gain support for Iran sanctions or due to fears that Putin plans to ‘test Nato resolve’US politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip.Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from th
Donald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip.
Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Wesley Bell to join as Jared Moskowitz becomes ranking member on sub-committeeThree pro-Israel Democrats have been given key roles on a powerful congressional body overseeing US foreign policy in a move rounding sharply counter to popular sentiment within the party and likely to anger leftwing activists.The appointments to the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee follow a succession of wins in party primaries for progressive candidates who put critic
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Wesley Bell to join as Jared Moskowitz becomes ranking member on sub-committee
Three pro-Israel Democrats have been given key roles on a powerful congressional body overseeing US foreign policy in a move rounding sharply counter to popular sentiment within the party and likely to anger leftwing activists.
The appointments to the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee follow a succession of wins in party primaries for progressive candidates who put criticism of Israel and its actions in Gaza at the core of their campaign messages.
Everyone can see that the Iran war has been a strategic disaster for the US, while a failing president pretends he is winningNow is the twilight of Donald Trump’s supremacy. The US is still the richest and most heavily armed nation on Earth. That status is secure. The current president, contemptuous of law and indulged in lawlessness by a supine Congress, enjoys even greater power than the constitution allows.With those advantages it takes a special talent for incompetence to look as thwarted an
Everyone can see that the Iran war has been a strategic disaster for the US, while a failing president pretends he is winning
Now is the twilight of Donald Trump’s supremacy. The US is still the richest and most heavily armed nation on Earth. That status is secure. The current president, contemptuous of law and indulged in lawlessness by a supine Congress, enjoys even greater power than the constitution allows.
With those advantages it takes a special talent for incompetence to look as thwarted and impotent as Trump does with more than two years of his second term still to run.
Lawyer Baltasar Garzón, representing Chambers, said case against his client is ‘very strange’ as US requests extraditionFBI agents raided the Ibiza, Spain, vacation rental of 41-year-old James “Fergie” Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects worldwide, in the days following his arrest last month, the Guardian has learned.Baltasar Garzón, a human rights lawyer representing Chambers, revealed the details in an exclusive interview. Chambers is wanted for extra
Lawyer Baltasar Garzón, representing Chambers, said case against his client is ‘very strange’ as US requests extradition
FBI agents raided the Ibiza, Spain, vacation rental of 41-year-old James “Fergie” Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects worldwide, in the days following his arrest last month, the Guardian has learned.
Baltasar Garzón, a human rights lawyer representing Chambers, revealed the details in an exclusive interview. Chambers is wanted for extradition by the Trump administration for alleged financial support of Hamas, as well as other charges.
Tariffs on Canada, threats against Iran’s partners and bond market intervention show a president weaponising US power while making Americans poorer at homeThree moves in the last week have exposed the limits of Donald Trump’s economic bullying. The US slapped 50% tariffs on another $20bn of Canadian goods – then threatened the same rate on the cars, trucks, parts and steel that America Inc depends on. On Monday, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, menaced Iran’s trading partners with exclusio
Tariffs on Canada, threats against Iran’s partners and bond market intervention show a president weaponising US power while making Americans poorer at home
Three moves in the last week have exposed the limits of Donald Trump’s economic bullying. The US slapped 50% tariffs on another $20bn of Canadian goods – then threatened the same rate on the cars, trucks, parts and steel that America Inc depends on. On Monday, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, menaced Iran’s trading partners with exclusion from the US financial network, hoping that coercion can deliver what months of war have not. And as the costs of war, tariffs and pro-billionaire tax cuts helped send US bond yields higher, the Treasury stepped in to tame long-term rates. These are not contradictory policies but a gamble: that US economic power can be repeatedly weaponised without reducing others’ willingness to depend on it.
The Trump administration’s “D-day” sanctions are potentially the most consequential because they expose the scaffolding of American financial power. While markets shrugged off the immediate threat, that calculation might change were the US to target a major Chinese refinery or bank. Such an escalation could spark a trade war with Beijing. The US has leverage. But China has pressure points – especially farmers in Republican states – that make using it costly. In the long run, there is a price to pay. Nations hold one another’s currencies partly because they trust the political relationship. Mr Trump is testing what happens when they don’t.
Unannounced trip reported by US media is said to be Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Russia as CIA chiefThe CIA director, John Ratcliffe, has made an unannounced visit to Moscow, US media reported, after flight data showed an American military aircraft flew to the Russian capital, where a US diplomatic motorcade was later spotted.CBS News quoted sources familiar with the situation as confirming Ratcliffe’s trip, saying it was his first known visit to Russia as CIA chief. Axios separately confirm
Unannounced trip reported by US media is said to be Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Russia as CIA chief
The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, has made an unannounced visit to Moscow, US media reported, after flight data showed an American military aircraft flew to the Russian capital, where a US diplomatic motorcade was later spotted.
CBS News quoted sources familiar with the situation as confirming Ratcliffe’s trip, saying it was his first known visit to Russia as CIA chief. Axios separately confirmed the visit, quoting a US official.
Move is latest deterioration in trade relations between neighbors with historically strong economic tiesDonald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on automobiles and crucial raw materials from Canada, the latest deterioration in trade relations between the two neighbors with historically strong economic ties.The US president said that the increased tariffs would start on 1 January 2027 on all cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel. He also derided the nation’s tariffs on American farmers, writing
Move is latest deterioration in trade relations between neighbors with historically strong economic ties
Donald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on automobiles and crucial raw materials from Canada, the latest deterioration in trade relations between the two neighbors with historically strong economic ties.
The US president said that the increased tariffs would start on 1 January 2027 on all cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel. He also derided the nation’s tariffs on American farmers, writing on social media that Canada has been “ripping off” the US “for years”.
Abbas Araghchi says country is unbowed but president Masoud Pezeshkian admits its people face ‘many problems’Iran’s foreign minister has dismissed the threat of a fresh round of US economic sanctions as a “desperate” ploy, even as its president acknowledged that the Iranian people are facing “many problems” amid Washington’s efforts to isolate and debilitate the country’s economy.Last week, Donald Trump announced a new campaign to increase the pressure on the Iranian economy, calling it “the mos
Abbas Araghchi says country is unbowed but president Masoud Pezeshkian admits its people face ‘many problems’
Iran’s foreign minister has dismissed the threat of a fresh round of US economic sanctions as a “desperate” ploy, even as its president acknowledged that the Iranian people are facing “many problems” amid Washington’s efforts to isolate and debilitate the country’s economy.
Last week, Donald Trump announced a new campaign to increase the pressure on the Iranian economy, calling it “the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country”. The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is expected to announce further punitive economic measures on Iran – which he has described as “the toughest sanctions in history” – on Monday.
As the president tries to extract the US from his Iran war quagmire, leadership in Tehran is only too happy to crush his midterm dreamsIn the aftermath of his devastating election defeat, the US president remained haunted by regrets over Iran.Months before Jimmy Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, eight US servicemen died in a botched high-risk rescue mission that failed to secure the freedom of dozens of US hostages seized in Tehran. Continue reading...
As the president tries to extract the US from his Iran war quagmire, leadership in Tehran is only too happy to crush his midterm dreams
In the aftermath of his devastating election defeat, the US president remained haunted by regrets over Iran.
Months before Jimmy Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, eight US servicemen died in a botched high-risk rescue mission that failed to secure the freedom of dozens of US hostages seized in Tehran.
UN secretary general has said UN faces ‘imminent financial collapse’ due to unpaid contributions from member statesThe Trump administration has started the process to transfer $725m to the United Nations, a congressional notification seen by Reuters showed – a move aid experts said was a welcome step towards paying billions in dues owed.There was no immediate response from Washington DC to questions about the reasons for the payment from an administration that has slashed funding to many UN a
UN secretary general has said UN faces ‘imminent financial collapse’ due to unpaid contributions from member states
The Trump administration has started the process to transfer $725m to the United Nations, a congressional notification seen by Reuters showed – a move aid experts said was a welcome step towards paying billions in dues owed.
There was no immediate response from Washington DC to questions about the reasons for the payment from an administration that has slashed funding to many UN agencies and blasted the global body for not living up to its potential.
Audio recording of US vice-president apparently made at New York fundraiser and shared with Canadian PressLeaked audio from a private event has reportedly captured the US vice-president, JD Vance, mocking Canada for apparently capitulating in a trade deal and taunting the prime minister, Mark Carney, for trying to “out-tough” Donald Trump.The recording, which was reportedly made at a fundraiser and shared with the Canadian Press, comes in the last stretch of a difficult negotiation in which the
Audio recording of US vice-president apparently made at New York fundraiser and shared with Canadian Press
Leaked audio from a private event has reportedly captured the US vice-president, JD Vance, mocking Canada for apparently capitulating in a trade deal and taunting the prime minister, Mark Carney, for trying to “out-tough” Donald Trump.
The recording, which was reportedly made at a fundraiser and shared with the Canadian Press, comes in the last stretch of a difficult negotiation in which the US president has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on Canada.
Courier network carried millions of dollars in cash to Lebanon on commercial flights, treasury department saysThe US treasury department announced sanctions on Thursday against 10 people it says formed a courier network that smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah by carrying cash onboard commercial flights between Iran, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.The office of foreign assets control (OFAC) said the network allowed Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant grou
Courier network carried millions of dollars in cash to Lebanon on commercial flights, treasury department says
The US treasury department announced sanctions on Thursday against 10 people it says formed a courier network that smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah by carrying cash onboard commercial flights between Iran, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
The office of foreign assets control (OFAC) said the network allowed Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group,to obtain foreign currency and dodge sanctions outside the formal banking system. The treasury department linked the operation to a scheme once associated with Behnam Shahriyari, a now-deceased finance official for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.
She made the statement during a debate when asked about potential threats to US national security in South China SeaUS politics live – latest updatesAsked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea threaten US national security, Republican fill-in senator Darline Graham hesitated. “I’m just going to be honest here,” she told Tuesday night’s debate audience. “I’m – not that informed on national security, so – but I do support the military.”Gasps, and boos, rolled through the opera house hosting the o
Asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea threaten US national security, Republican fill-in senator Darline Graham hesitated. “I’m just going to be honest here,” she told Tuesday night’s debate audience. “I’m – not that informed on national security, so – but I do support the military.”
Gasps, and boos, rolled through the opera house hosting the only debate before next week’s Republican runoff – a race to succeed her brother, Lindsey Graham, who was one of the Senate’s most committed rightwing foreign policy hawks before his sudden passing in July. She did not retreat.
Poll after poll shows the same thing. The American people know that the current economic system is riggedThe media pundits have written article after article desperately trying to understand why progressive candidates, despite being heavily outspent, keep defeating establishment Democrats in primaries around the country. Well, the answer is not complicated.Whether it is a corrupt campaign finance system, unprecedented income and wealth inequality, a broken and wildly expensive healthcare system,
Poll after poll shows the same thing. The American people know that the current economic system is rigged
The media pundits have written article after article desperately trying to understand why progressive candidates, despite being heavily outspent, keep defeating establishment Democrats in primaries around the country. Well, the answer is not complicated.
Whether it is a corrupt campaign finance system, unprecedented income and wealth inequality, a broken and wildly expensive healthcare system, the enormous threats posed by AI or an immoral and destructive foreign policy, progressives are talking about the real issues facing working families. And they are providing real solutions. Establishment Democrats are not.
As chief US diplomat, Rubio could do great good. His pandering and neglect are a disgrace we shouldn’t ignoreViewed from the state department in Washington DC, the world is on fire – but record heatwaves are not to blame. The unresolved Iran war has badly burned Donald Trump. His military campaign conclusively failed, energy and food prices are still rising, and a Republican rout in November’s midterm elections looms. Humiliatingly, Israel this week flatly rejected his latest Gaza peace proposal
As chief US diplomat, Rubio could do great good. His pandering and neglect are a disgrace we shouldn’t ignore
Viewed from the state department in Washington DC, the world is on fire – but record heatwaves are not to blame. The unresolved Iran war has badly burned Donald Trump. His military campaign conclusively failed, energy and food prices are still rising, and a Republican rout in November’s midterm elections looms. Humiliatingly, Israel this week flatly rejected his latest Gaza peace proposals, days after Trump congratulated himself on a “historic breakthrough”. In Europe, Russia’s attacks on Nato allies grow increasingly brazen, threatening a wider escalation. The Ukraine war, which Trump vowed to end, is now well into its fifth year, with civilians on both sides caught in the killing fields. And these are just the bigger firestorms. There are plenty more.
Rarely has the need for effective, professional diplomacy been more pressing. So step forward Marco Rubio, US secretary of state and chief American diplomat. These are challenges that, if successfully tackled, could propel the 55-year-old son of Cuban immigrants and the former US senator for Florida into pole position in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination race. Here is a chance for Rubio to defy critics who dismiss him as a lickspittle and Trump dogsbody, and transform himself into respected global statesman. His boss mocked him as “little Marco” and a “loser” when they were election rivals in 2016. (Rubio called him a conman.) Now is Rubio’s opportunity to go big, be brave and prove he’s a winner.
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