Author: potus

Israel’s military strikes on Iran have struck at the heart of the country’s military leadership and nuclear program, creating a possible vacuum at the top of the regime that could hinder its ability to recover from the onslaught, experts say.But — assuming that it still can — there is a scenario in which the strikes could lead Tehran to abandon negotiations over its nuclear program and instead rush toward building a bomb, according to analysts and former U.S. officials. The killing of top Iranian military officers as well as several nuclear scientists will likely have sparked fears in Tehran that…

Views of the U.S. and confidence in its leader to handle world affairs have taken a dive in more than a dozen countries over the last year, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday and conducted over the first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term.These declines are most pronounced among residents in neighboring Mexico and Canada, which have been at the center of high-profile spats with the administration, as well as a handful of NATO countries (like Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands) amid it Russia’s war with Ukraine.Public sentiment about the U.S. has gone…

President Donald Trump’s second-term approval rating remains stuck in negative territory, along with general attitudes toward his administration’s policies, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.But immigration and border security remains an exception, as the president tries to drive national attention back toward his strongest issue — though Americans are closely divided even on that area of relative strength.Americans’ ratings of two of the other defining projects of Trump’s second term, tariffs and the Department of Government Efficiency, are more negative. And as Congress works on another major Trump initiative, a massive tax and spending…

The Trump administration plans to eliminate a Department of Homeland Security terrorism prevention program that former government officials and experts say has helped thwart attacks in the United States. The DHS budget submitted to Congress last month cancels the $18 million terrorism prevention grant program, saying it “does not align with DHS priorities.”“That line should be quoted after every future mass casualty event in this country,” said a current senior DHS official who declined to be named, citing fear of being fired.Former DHS officials say they believe the modest program, which costs about 4% of the military’s marching band budget,…

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was “uninvited” to an annual White House picnic typically attended by members of Congress and their families, framing the move to reporters Wednesday as retribution for his opposition to key components of President Donald Trump’s agenda.“They’re afraid of what I’m saying, so they think they’re going to punish me, I can’t go to the picnic, as if somehow that’s going to make me more conciliatory,” Paul said. “So it’s silly, in a way, but it’s also just really sad that this is what it’s come to. But petty vindictiveness like this, it makes you…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s move to send National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles amid unrest over his immigration policies has given new weight to a lingering question: How far can a president go in using the military to quell domestic disturbances?For now, the military has a limited role in Los Angeles, at least on paper, focused on protecting federal buildings and activities. But that hasn’t stopped California’s Democratic leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, from vehemently objecting to Trump’s actions.Trump has not taken the more drastic step of invoking the Insurrection Act, the name given to a series…

President Trump will host a White House roundtable today to highlight a provision in the massive Republican domestic policy bill that would seed $1,000 into investment accounts for all newborn American children.The so-called “Trump Accounts” will be created for every U.S. citizen child born between Jan. 1, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2029, as part of a pilot program included in the bill that passed the House last month.The government’s $1,000 investment will go into an index fund account that tracks the overall stock market, controlled and owned by the child’s guardians. Additional contributions of up to $5,000 annually are allowed,…

A recent memo to immigration judges obtained by NBC News provides fresh insight into how the Trump administration is pulling off a new tactic — dismissing pending immigration cases, then immediately moving to arrest the immigrants — that is part of its bid to quickly increase the number of immigrants it is detaining.In the memo, the Justice Department instructs immigration judges, who report to the executive branch and are not part of the independent judiciary, to allow Department of Homeland Security lawyers to make motions to dismiss orally and then move quickly to grant those dismissals, rather than allow immigrants…

The vast majority of American adults believe the Trump administration must comply with federal court orders, though the president’s strongest supporters are split over the issue, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. In the poll, 81% of U.S. adults say that if a federal court rules that an administration action is illegal, then the administration has to follow its ruling, while 19% say the administration can ignore the ruling and continue its action. But among people who consider themselves supporters of the MAGA movement, there’s a sharper divide. According to the poll, supporters of…

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that victims of terrorism can sue Palestinian entities in U.S. courts, upholding a law passed by Congress that allows such claims to be brought.The court held unanimously that the 2019 law, called the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, does not violate the due process rights of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.The law reasonably took account of “sensitive foreign policy matters within the prerogative of the political branches,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. As such, the law “comports with the Due Process Clause,”…