Author: potus

Thomas Jefferson was many things during his long and accomplished life: Founding Father, U.S. president, ambassador to France, architect, author, farmer, inventor, violinist and all-around renaissance man. Through it all, he was also something else: an incorrigible shopaholic, saddled with debt.Jefferson inherited not one but two large estates, his father’s and his father-in-law’s, and earned a respectable income of his own from a variety of ventures. Even so, when he died at age 83 in 1826, he left behind debts in excess of $100,000—well over $1 million in today’s dollars, according to historian and biographer Jon Meacham.Where did all the…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take on a new culture war dispute: whether the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school should be allowed to open in Oklahoma.The justices said they would review an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that invalidated a state board’s approval of an application by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma to open a charter school.The conservative-dominated high court has issued several decisions in recent years signaling a willingness to allow public funds to flow to religious entities. At the same time, conservative-led states have sought to insert religion into public schools, including Louisiana’s…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans see the federal government as rife with corruption, inefficiency and red tape — but they’re less sure about whether Elon Musk is the right person to fix it. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults strongly or somewhat approve of President Trump’s creation of an advisory body on government efficiency, which Musk is helming. About 4 in 10 disapprove, while the rest were neutral or didn’t know enough to say. (The poll was conducted before Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would no longer…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a requirement that owners of millions of small businesses register with an arm of the Treasury Department charged with fighting money laundering and other financial crimes.The justices granted an emergency plea made by the Justice Department in the waning days of the Biden administration to allow enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 to crack down on the illicit use of anonymous shell companies.Owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses must register personal information with Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. The information includes photo…

Police in Da Nang say bust is biggest money laundering case ever exposed in the central coastal city.Vietnam police say they have arrested five people and smashed a money laundering ring that brought $1.2bn of criminal cash into the country from abroad. Between 2022 and 2024, members of the ring – which included bank employees – forged identification cards and bank seals to establish 187 businesses, opening more than 600 corporate bank accounts, according to authorities. The accounts were used to transfer and legalise money obtained through fraud or gambling abroad, police said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed inclined to revive a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas police officer who shot a man to death during a traffic stop in Houston over unpaid tolls.The justices appeared to be in broad agreement that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should take another look at the case of Ashtian Barnes, who died in his rental car in April 2016 on the shoulder of the Sam Houston Tollway.Barnes was shot by the officer, Roberto Felix Jr., who jumped on the sill of the driver’s door of Barnes’ car…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many U.S. adults are on board with the idea of beefing up security at the southern border and undertaking some targeted deportations, according to a new poll. But as President Donald Trump begins his second term with a series of sweeping executive orders on immigration, the findings suggest his actions may quickly push the country beyond the limited consensus that exists on the issue.There is a clear desire for some kind of action on U.S.-Mexico border security, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Half of U.S. adults think increasing security…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ‘s second term began with efforts to deliver on key campaign promises, including his vows to crack down on immigration and restore “ energy dominance.”In his first Oval Office appearance in his second term, he issued sweeping pardons for people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and declared a “national emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border.Some of these early moves are likely to be popular with the public. Most Americans think increasing security at the U.S.-Mexico border should be at least “a moderate priority” for the federal government, according to a poll…

In the past four years, top officials from Jake Sullivan to Katherine Tai have sat down with FP to offer insight into U.S. President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. Together, they painted a picture of the “Biden doctrine” on foreign aid, relations with Europe, U.S.-China competition, and more. On Biden’s final weekend in office, we’re revisiting some of the most illuminating conversations to provide an insider’s look at the outgoing president’s foreign-policy legacy. In the past four years, top officials from Jake Sullivan to Katherine Tai have sat down with FP to offer insight into U.S. President Joe Biden’s foreign policy.…

Islamabad, Pakistan – When Omar Ayub Khan, the leader of the opposition and a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), presented the party’s charter of demands to Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the country’s National Assembly, on Thursday, it seemed like the longstanding impasse between the government and the nation’s most popular party might finally be resolved. However, just 24 hours later, Imran Khan, former prime minister and PTI founder, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by an accountability court on charges of misuse of authority and corruption. The two sides had initiated negotiations late last year on several contentious…