Judge issued order as part of discovery process in lawsuit brought by non-profit into now defunct compensation fund

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reveal who set up the structure of a controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponization fund” to recompense victims of political lawfare that was reportedly dropped by the justice department last month.

The US magistrate judge Ivan Davis for eastern district of Virginia issued the order compelling discovery materials from the government as part of a lawsuit brought by the Democracy Forward non-profit on behalf of plaintiffs including a fired prosecutor and a college professor acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest against an immigration raid in California.

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© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

US envoys expected to meet Vladimir Putin before going to Kyiv, after peace efforts floundered in recent months

The US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow to try to resuscitate a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as both sides said they would halt airstrikes for the visit.

The envoys were met at the airport on Saturday by the Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a key interlocutor for the Trump administration’s efforts to end the Ukraine-Russia war. The US outlet Axios reported that they were expected to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, later in the day.

The visit came as Trump suggested on Friday a new proposal to end the war, without providing any details on what his new plan might be. Trump made ending the war a priority early in his second term, but his efforts have so far yielded little results.

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© Photograph: Acquired by Reuters/Reuters

© Photograph: Acquired by Reuters/Reuters

© Photograph: Acquired by Reuters/Reuters

Todd Blanche’s remarks are part of a totally-not-invented moral panic that stretches the limits of the imagination

Being a public school teacher in the US these days is tough. You’ve got to pay for a lot of your own supplies, deal with smartphone-addicted children, and perform gender reassignment surgeries in your lunch break.

Luckily our intrepid attorney general, Todd Blanche, is on the case. Blanche appeared on Fox News this week to decry a “pandemic” of gender transitions in schools across the US. “There’s not a parent in America, no matter where you live, that would want their school to change and call their child by a different name and not expect to be told about that. We partnered with the Department of Education recently to combat this very trend and, really, pandemic that’s happening in some school districts around the country,” Blanche said. He seemed more concerned with name changes than with surgery, but the president himself has suggested on several occasions that schools are furtively doing surgery on children. During a campaign speech in 2024, for example, Donald Trump said: “Can you imagine … your son leaves the house and you say: ‘Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this?”

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Activists are calling on the state attorney general to take action against hospitals that have ended gender-affirming care programs after Trump retook office

A group of trans activists from across Massachusetts brought their needles, hormone gels, pills and sharps containers to Boston on Wednesday to send a message to state attorney general Andrea Campbell.

Organizers with the youth-led group Protect Trans Futures (PTF) took their hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the lobby of her office building, then occupied the space, refusing to leave without a commitment to protect civil rights for trans kids.

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© Photograph: Alexa B Wilkinson/courtesy of Gender Liberation Movement

© Photograph: Alexa B Wilkinson/courtesy of Gender Liberation Movement

© Photograph: Alexa B Wilkinson/courtesy of Gender Liberation Movement

The US defense secretary faces internal dissent and discord at the Pentagon, accused of focusing on culture war issues and his own political ambitions as the Iran war drags on

In a different Washington, under a different president, a return to the well-worn playbook of all-out sanctions to counter Iran might have been the signal for a publicity-hungry US secretary of defense to adopt a lower profile.

But these are no ordinary times. And Pete Hegseth is no ordinary defense secretary.

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© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

© Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Progressive candidates navigate their ties to the DSA as the group faces historic growth and mounting pressure

Days before he won the Democratic primary for a US Senate seat in Michigan, insurgent newcomer Abdul El-Sayed was asked whether he was concerned about being labeled a “socialist”.

“I’d rather think of myself as a capitalist who has actually read about capitalism,” El-Sayed told CBS News anchor Ed O’Keefe. “I’m not a socialist.”

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© Composite: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Getty Images, Los Angeles Times

© Composite: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Getty Images, Los Angeles Times

© Composite: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Getty Images, Los Angeles Times

Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outlet

A federal judge has declined to stop the Pentagon from firing journalists who say they were illegally punished for speaking out about the need for the Stars and Stripes publication to maintain its editorial independence.

The ruling by US district judge Trevor McFadden allows the Pentagon to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over the historically independent military news outlet.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Interior department given three months to decide whether wolves can be removed from endangered species list

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them.

The order gives interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal government to de-list them.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Indira Talwani’s ruling presents major setback for president as first states begin to send out mail ballots for midterms

A federal judge on Friday again blocked Donald Trump’s executive order to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting, the latest in a legal back-and-forth playing out less than two months before election day.

US district court judge Indira Talwani initially placed a temporary order blocking the president’s mandate and has now extended that prohibition with a stronger preliminary injunction. The ruling comes hours after North Carolina became the first state to start sending out mail-in ballots for the 3 November midterm elections.

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© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/EPA

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/EPA

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/EPA

US president suggests he might support his Argentinian acolyte’s drive to reclaim sovereignty of disputed islands

Donald Trump has long embraced vengeance. “I am your retribution,” he declared to an admiring audience at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as he commenced his march back to the White House.

It is unlikely Argentina, and far-flung holdovers of the former British empire, were on the US president’s mind at the time.

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© Photograph: Ricardo Mazalán/AP

© Photograph: Ricardo Mazalán/AP

© Photograph: Ricardo Mazalán/AP

The New York City mayor will sign two executive orders honoring those impacted by the attacks, as he faces campaign to exclude him from the 25th anniversary commemoration

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to designate September 11 as a Day of Remembrance and Service ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Mamdani’s office announced on Friday morning that the mayor will sign two executive orders honoring victims, first responders, survivors, city workers and families affected by the attacks. The orders will also strengthen the city’s ability to protect New Yorkers and maintain essential services during emergencies.

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© Photograph: Mike Segar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mike Segar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mike Segar/AFP/Getty Images

Labor department report alleges Lori Chavez-DeRemer also made a staffer attend a strip club while on a personal trip

Donald Trump’s former secretary of labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, drank during working hours, kept alcohol on federal property and made a staffer attend a strip club while on a personal trip, according to a new report by the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General .

Chavez-DeRemer was appointed by Trump to serve as labor secretary in January 2025 and resigned in April 2026 amid the misconduct allegations.

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© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

Such is the US president’s narcissism that he would see a Democratic victory as proof that he’s indispensable – meanwhile, his every decision spells calamity for voters

What is Donald Trump playing at? If it’s true that the best way of understanding the behaviour of an organisation is to assume it’s controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies, perhaps that same logic extends to the current conduct of the president of the United States. Maybe he secretly wants Republicans to lose the looming midterm elections that will decide the balance of power in the US for the next two years and for which the first postal ballots were sent out today.

That’s not as mad a theory as it sounds. Indeed, there are at least two reasons why Trump might either be unbothered by Republican defeat in November or even covertly desire it. We’ll come to those, but let’s start with a pattern of behaviour that is hard to explain as anything other than calculated self-sabotage.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Randall Hill/EPA

© Photograph: Randall Hill/EPA

© Photograph: Randall Hill/EPA

State decides to proceed hours after Trump administration asks supreme court to let it carry out proposed crackdown

North Carolina became the first state to start sending out mail-in ballots for November’s US midterm elections on Friday, as Donald Trump’s administration fights to impose sweeping restrictions on the practice before millions of Americans cast their votes.

The state’s decision to proceed – hours after Trump’s officials asked the supreme court to let the administration press ahead with its proposed crackdown – comes amid deep uncertainty over whether new federal rules governing mail ballots will be allowed to take effect, and whether the US Postal Service can implement the changes in time.

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© Photograph: Allison Joyce/Getty Images

© Photograph: Allison Joyce/Getty Images

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President Trump threatened in a social media post on Friday to stop trade with some countries unless the US Federal Reserve moves to cut interest rates.

Trump cited August’s strong jobs report as sufficient justification to lower rates, and warned that, if the central bank didn’t go along, he’d halt trade between the US and any nations with which it maintains a trade deficit.

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© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Republican candidate Thomas Ross and former campaign manager allegedly devised plan to stash drugs in rival Louise Secker’s purse or vehicle

A Missouri House race has been rocked by the Wednesday arrest of Republican candidate Thomas Ross, whom prosecutors accuse of attempting to frame his primary opponent Louise Secker for cocaine possession.

In June, Ross allegedly gave his former campaign manager, identified by the initials “CS” in court documents, a bag of cocaine and Adderall. The two allegedly devised a plan for the former manager to stash the drugs in Secker’s purse or vehicle.

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© Photograph: David A Lieb/AP

© Photograph: David A Lieb/AP

© Photograph: David A Lieb/AP

Telle has previously worked for Trump during his first term as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs

Donald Trump on Thursday named Adam Telle as the acting army secretary after the departure of Daniel Driscoll amid widespread reports of tensions with defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the army for civil works.

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© Photograph: Brigida Sanchez/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/AP

© Photograph: Brigida Sanchez/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/AP

© Photograph: Brigida Sanchez/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/AP

Sean Alfortish and Leon Parker convicted on some counts but not murder charges linked to insurance fraud plot

A federal jury in New Orleans on Thursday returned a split verdict after more than 30 hours of deliberations in a three-week-long blockbuster fraud and murder trial that garnered headlines far beyond Louisiana.

Jurors deadlocked on murder charges Sean Alfortish and Leon “Chunky” Parker faced, leading US district judge Wendy Vitter to declare a mistrial as prosecutors vowed to try the case on those counts again.

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© Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Setback for Republicans in redistricting battle as court forbids maps from being used in November elections

The Missouri supreme court has unanimously blocked new congressional districts backed by Donald Trump from being used in the November election and ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map.

The decision Thursday marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle. Republicans had hoped Missouri’s new congressional boundaries could help them win an additional seat and hold on to their slim House majority in the midterms. The ruling still could be appealed to the US supreme court.

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© Photograph: Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star via Getty Images

© Photograph: Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star via Getty Images

© Photograph: Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star via Getty Images

Supreme court ruled in June against president’s earlier order to change citizenship rules for babies born in US

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship – the longstanding principle that all babies born in the US are guaranteed American citizenship.

The decision came nearly a month after the president tried for a second time to limit via executive order which people born in the US can become American citizens. The supreme court ruled in late June that Trump’s previous sweeping order denying birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants or temporary visitors was unconstitutional.

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© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Project that critics say will disrupt historic sightlines in Washington DC is facing a lawsuit

The Trump administration said on Thursday that excavation work will start over the next two weeks on the site where it plans to build a towering, gilded arch, a project that is facing a lawsuit and that critics say will disrupt historic sightlines in Washington DC.

The proposed arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington, including renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, building a huge new White House ballroom, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park that could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The vice-president says he’s ‘extremely skeptical’ of Iran reports when asked whether US was responsible for deaths

The US vice-president, JD Vance, said “sometimes things happen” when asked on Thursday whether an American strike was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran this week.

The strike hit Kuhestak, a town in Sirik county on the strait of Hormuz. The toll was reported not by the Iranian government but by the Iranian Red Crescent, a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that operates independently of Tehran and is generally treated by international monitors as a credible source on casualty figures.

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© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Julio Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg by Christian Castro and survived, was one of three people shot by federal immigration agents during Trump’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer has been indicted on charges of lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown earlier this year, according to multiple reports.

A source told the Associated Press that Christian Castro, the officer accused of shooting Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg in January, has been charged by US federal prosecutors with making false statements to federal investigators. He had been previously charged in state court.

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© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Liz Oyer says department fired her after she refused to recommend restoring gun rights of actor and Trump ally

The former pardon attorney for the US justice department, Elizabeth Oyer, filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the department and attorney general Todd Blanche, accusing them of “unlawfully” firing her last year after she said she refused to recommend restoring actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights.

In the complaint, filed in the US district court for the District of Columbia, Oyer alleges that in early 2025, while she was serving as pardon attorney, she was asked to “disregard her duties and facilitate a political favor” for Gibson based on his “relationship with President Trump”.

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© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

GOP-backed bill mandates institutions receiving federal funds not impose restrictions on programs related to Israel

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican-backed bill that would penalize universities that participate in boycotts of Israel, or attempt to prevent students from taking part in exchange programs with the country.

The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act passed by a 237-169 vote, with 33 Democrats breaking with the rest of their party to vote in favor, and only two Republicans opposed. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Judge says US Postal Service has told her nothing about how it plans to regulate mail ballots for midterm elections

A federal judge in Boston said on Thursday the US Postal Service had told her nothing about how it would implement a plan to regulate mail ballots for the midterms as she considers whether to let the plan proceed in the weeks before election day.

US district court judge Indira Talwani is deciding whether to extend her prohibition on the proposed regulation of mail ballots, an effort undertaken as part of an executive order by Donald Trump. The hearing in the closely watched case came a day before the first state begins sending mail ballots to voters.

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© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

President said Howard Lutnick had Venezuela operation on his mind when he was discussing Iran war on CNBC

Donald Trump has claimed his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, erroneously stated that no Americans had been killed in the war with Iran because he was thinking about a previous US operation, in Venezuela.

The claim, at odds with the Pentagon’s count of 18 US service members dead in the US-Israel war on Iran, sparked a swift backlash as Trump struggles to end the conflict after six months.

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Billionaire financier, who previously walked out of a deposition, instead launches lawsuit against the committee

The billionaire financier Leon Black did not appear on Thursday in front of the House oversight committee for a scheduled deposition about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and has instead launched a lawsuit against the committee arguing that it does not have the authority to compel him to turn over non-disclosure agreements.

Black was a top Epstein client over several years, and the committee is investigating the men’s relationship as well as the existence of any NDAs to which Black is a party.

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© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

The trillions in tax cuts going to the rich and corporations could have instead been used to address the affordability crisis

Dear reader, I recognize that your eyes might glaze over at any mention of the nation’s $40tn federal debt. But your reaction to this mind-boggling number shouldn’t be ennui; it should be outrage and dismay.

Outrage is in order because the nation’s debt has climbed to more than $40tn under Donald Trump, even though back in 2016, when the debt was less than half what it is today, candidate Trump insisted that he’d totally eliminate the debt within eight years. That was yet another example of the Demagogue-in-Chief’s willingness to say anything, no matter how insincere or untrue, to woo voters.

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© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

Mitchell Berman is among Democrats the party hopes can flip a Republican-leaning district in November’s midterms

Democrats are targeting vulnerable seats this midterm election with working-class candidates they hope will resonate with voters exhausted by the economy.

Some candidates are new to politics, and many have backgrounds as union members and leaders, which the party hopes will give them an edge over Republican incumbents as people have grown weary of Washington and the higher cost of living.

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© Photograph: Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Marx’s All Things Possible Florida model uses private funds for cop pay and surveillance tools without public oversight

The All Things Possible ministry (ATP) is an unusual, and critics say potentially dangerous, operation. It has in the last year funded surveillance equipment and salaries for out-of-state law enforcement agencies, hired a range of private security and intelligence contractors, and is connected to a network of other self-appointed sex-trafficking rescue groups whose leading figures have attracted significant controversy.

And its founder is the man who wants to be Colorado’s next governor.

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© Photograph: Timothy Hurst/Denver Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: Timothy Hurst/Denver Post/Getty Images

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Republican oversight chair James Comer has also weighed in on Leon Black not sitting for a deposition about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire financier, who has denied wrongdoing, filed suit against the oversight committee Thursday alleging the subpoenas were improper.

“It’s a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people. Our investigation is examining how the federal government for decades failed survivors of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes and how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with influential individuals to avoid scrutiny,” Comer said in a statement. “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements.”

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© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Donald Trump posted his own presidential rankings to Truth Social last week, separating past US presidents into six categories from ‘greatest’ to ‘failures’

Donald Trump has declared himself to be the “greatest” US president ever, sharing a post on social media last week which graded him above the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D Roosevelt and George Washington. Experts take a different view.

Few presidential historians have previously suggested Trump holds such a place in the history books. After all, neither Lincoln, nor Roosevelt, nor Washington – the three leaders typically seen as America’s best – orchestrated an insurrection. None were impeached. And none of them were convicted of felonies over hush-money payments to a pornstar-turned-ghost hunter.

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© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump administration has indefinitely stranded hundreds of kids and lawyers from over 50 organizations are fighting for their release

An army of attorneys is rallying to free hundreds of children from immigration custody, where they have been stranded indefinitely by the Trump administration without their parents or loved ones, the Guardian can reveal.

The effort is a counter strike to what critics see as unprecedented moves by federal officials to ride roughshod over children’s rights and increase deportations – while in the meantime corralling them in conditions that can allegedly lead to psychological harm.

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© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Black called on to comply with subpoenas and appear as required to clarify connections to convicted sex offender

More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have called on the billionaire Leon Black to appear before the House oversight committee in order to clarify his connections to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

In a letter released on Wednesday, the survivors urged Black to comply with congressional subpoenas ahead of Thursday’s deposition before the House oversight committee.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

New DoJ opinion says entire state government has duty to report, not just agencies responsible for welfare programs

The US Department of Justice has ordered states to expand how they report undocumented immigrants to the federal government, according to a legal opinion from Tuesday that reverses a policy that has been in place for nearly 30 years.

Under the new opinion, issued by the department’s office of legal counsel, any state that takes federal money through support schemes for low-income Americans, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), must now report undocumented immigrants across its entire state government, not just through the specific welfare office that runs the program.

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© Photograph: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

© Photograph: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

© Photograph: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with Canada

Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada.

The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario, for users in the US. Apple users outside the country will still see the Lake Ontario name.

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© Composite: The Washington Post/ABACA/Shutterstock, Apple Maps

© Composite: The Washington Post/ABACA/Shutterstock, Apple Maps

© Composite: The Washington Post/ABACA/Shutterstock, Apple Maps

Various laws and 250 years of tradition prevent the likeness of living people from appearing on currency. Donald Trump and Scott Bessent don’t want you to worry about that

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Two hallmarks of Donald Trump’s second-term: the president’s enthusiasm for putting his name and face on things, and his cavalier approach to established law.

Today the president is once again combining both those interests, as the government releases a $1 coin bearing his image, an item of currency that scholars say should be illegal, but which is happening anyway. How many times have you heard that in the last 18 months?

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© Photograph: Department of Treasury/United States Mint/Reuters

© Photograph: Department of Treasury/United States Mint/Reuters

© Photograph: Department of Treasury/United States Mint/Reuters

Top medical groups band together to ease confusion from Trump administration’s changing immunization advice

Leading US medical groups are urging people to get updated flu and Covid-19 vaccinations this fall, banding together on Wednesday to issue shot guidelines – and highlight the science behind them – saying they hope to ease confusion caused by the Trump administration’s changing advice.

Flu vaccinations are beginning and the latest coronavirus shots are starting to arrive after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this year’s updated versions last week. Winter also brings another vaccine-preventable risk called RSV.

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© Photograph: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

© Photograph: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

© Photograph: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Whether or not US president fits the definition of a Russian asset, his actions align closely with the Kremlin’s interests

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Could Donald Trump be a Russian asset? The headline on a review in the Guardian of my new book Betrayal has provoked heated international debate. Written by the historian Lawrence Freedman, the piece generated thousands of comments from across Europe and beyond on social media. Many people responded with a single word: “Duh!”

Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin is the biggest mystery in international politics. In 2017 I wrote a book called Collusion, which set out Moscow’s operation to support and cultivate Trump, going back decades. The US president, of course, denies links with Russia. But in his second term, his behaviour towards Putin has been as weird and perplexing as during his first.

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© Photograph: Thilo Schmülgen/Reuters

© Photograph: Thilo Schmülgen/Reuters

© Photograph: Thilo Schmülgen/Reuters

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing the U.S. Army to explain why it told a unit based in Europe to stop specializing in drone warfare

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As tensions flare in the mideast with American military forces resuming strikes on Iran, Donald Trump has taken to social media to discuss his ballroom project.

“We have hundreds of happy construction workers in D.C. busily doing their job building the finest Ballroom/Military complex anywhere in the World,” Trump said in a truth social post Wednesday morning. “There is nothing like it, and never will be! It was a long, hard, fight in the Court System, but the winner is, as always under ‘TRUMP,’ the U.S.A.”

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© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

Sean O’Brien, president of the 1.3-million strong union, was also the first to speak at the Republican national convention in 2o24

The powerful Teamsters union is backing Republican candidates in the 2026 election cycle even after members have voted to support their Democrat opponents.

The 1.3 million-strong union’s president, Sean O’Brien, angered many members and union leaders in 2024 when he became the first union president to speak at the Republican national convention (RNC).

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© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

© Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

The president’s call for the FCC to scrutinize Kristen Welker’s innocuous remarks is a sign of desperation

With his approval ratings tanking, the crucial midterm elections looming, and his war with Iran turning into a quagmire, Donald Trump has entered full freak-out mode.

It’s not hard to tell. Just look at what happened this week when he lashed out at Kristen Welker, the well-respected host of NBC’s Meet the Press, and one of the best-known journalists in the nation.

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© Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

© Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

© Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

Enforcing civil rights without these reports will be difficult for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, pushing US agency closer to Trump’s agenda, experts warn

The US civil rights agency mandated to protect equal rights for workers is set to stop collecting data on the demographic makeup of companies – which for the past six decades has been used to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

The move marks a fundamental shift for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Without this data, it will be much harder for the agency to identify widespread cases of discrimination in hiring and promotions, experts and former employees of the commission say. And, they warn, it will bring the Trump administration one step closer to reshaping the commission from an independent watchdog into an arm of the executive branch narrowly focused on advancing the political grievances of Donald Trump’s base.

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© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

Sum of $500,000 has been increased as death toll passes 1,000 but specialists decry Trump dismantling of USAID

Aid experts have denounced the US’s “embarrassing” and “pitiful” initial response to the Nepal flood disaster after the US state department announced it was releasing $500,000 in emergency funds to help the relief effort.

The modest sum – which has since been increased – allocated in response to the devastation caused by mudslides in the mountainous Asian country was mocked on social media, where users contrasted it with the amount spent on other Trump administration priorities.

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© Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

© Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

© Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

The far-right provocateur helped galvanize a movement that no longer needs him. Now his imitators are claiming victory

It’s been a long, slow decline for Milo Yiannopoulos. From the vantage point of 2026, it’s easy to forget that he was once a big deal.

The British-born far-right provocateur, who was arrested by ICE in Louisiana and deported from the US this week, was among the first media figures to ride the “gamergate” controversy and ensuing rightwing populist wave that brought Donald Trump to office in 2016. An editor of the then ascendant Breitbart News from 2014 to 2017, Yiannopoulous was an early adopter of the media strategy of algorithm-optimized outrage bait, trawling the internet and consulting a large network of well-placed sources in search of stories he could use to fan the flames of online culture war discourses. He would write a story mocking a feminist, or fire off a tweet saying something racist about Muslims, and the ensuing firestorm of controversy would result in online arguments, media coverage, and his own promptly and decisively rising star. Rinse, repeat.

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© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

Incumbent, 80, beats back challenge from Seth Moulton, who argued Markey was too old to be effective at his job

Senator Ed Markey won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday, beating back a challenge from Seth Moulton, a congressman who tried to unseat him by arguing to voters his opponent was too old to be effective at his job.

Massachusetts is heavily Democratic, making the senator favored to win a third full term in the November general election, where he faces the Republican nominee, John Deaton.

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© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Acting secretary picked for top role as critics accuse president of overworking sailors during war with Iran

Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is nominating acting navy secretary Hung Cao for the permanent job, giving the navy combat veteran the nod as concerns have emerged that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during the Iran war.

Cao has been serving as acting navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April.

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© Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Markwayne Mullin says officers could be deployed ‘if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant’

US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday said that federal immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers could be deployed to polling sites across the country.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Mullin said: “ICE isn’t there to patrol the polling places. We’re there to enforce specific threats.”

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© Photograph: Ted Shaffrey/AP

© Photograph: Ted Shaffrey/AP

© Photograph: Ted Shaffrey/AP