Politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace deals around the world, specifically citing his work brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas. ‘He’s really doing a lot to resolve such complex crises that have lasted for years and even decades,’ Putin said at a summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where he met with leaders of nations once part of the former Soviet Union. The remarks came in response to a question...

Venezuelan opposition leader and newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado dedicated the award on Friday to both President Donald Trump and the ‘suffering people of Venezuela.’ Machado, a leading figure in the resistance against Venezuela’s ruling party, took to X to acknowledge the honor and to praise Trump for his support. ‘This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom,’ Machado said. ‘We...

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., launched a digital ad on Friday tying Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., to the ongoing government shutdown — and its drag on Georgia’s airports. ‘Flights DELAYED. Military families NOT getting paid. And for what? To demand FREE healthcare of illegal immigrants,’ the graphic reads. Collins, who has represented Georgia’s 10th Congressional District since 2023, is running to take Ossoff’s seat in 2026.   His ad marks the most recent attempt by Republicans to tie Democrats...

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said a ‘coward hiding behind a keyboard’ was arrested this week for allegedly sending a threatening letter to conservative influencer Benny Johnson in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.  George Isbell Jr., 69, was taken into custody on Tuesday in San Diego, California. He will be federally charged with mailing a threatening communication, according to Bondi. On his website, Johnson said he resides in Tampa, Florida, where the announcement of...

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declared the House of Representatives out of session for a third straight week in a bid to keep pressure on Senate Democrats in Washington. The speaker appears to be raising the stakes on lawmakers across the aisle, who keep refusing the GOP’s plan to fund government agencies on a short-term basis in favor of making demands on healthcare that Republicans are calling unreasonable. The government shutdown is poised to roll into...

Now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal, the White House is shifting focus to its next diplomatic goal: expanding the landmark Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states. ‘There’s a lot of positive momentum that will pick up,’ a senior administration official told reporters Thursday evening after the deal was signed. ‘Hopefully this will lead to much better sentiment and the opportunity to expand the...

President Donald Trump has called off efforts to arrange a meeting with President Xi Jinping after China tightened export controls on rare earth minerals this week.  ‘Some very strange things are happening in China!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else...

Publicly, the White House says the latest strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at cartel infrastructure. Privately, some analysts suspect the campaign is calibrated to do something else: weaken longtime U.S. foe Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power. President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on the Venezuelan regime, striking four boats in the Caribbean Sea linked to drug trafficking networks tied to Caracas over the past month. Alongside those strikes, the U.S. has repositioned three...

Senate Republicans are taking a hands-off approach to threats from White House budget chief Russ Vought, arguing that his pressure on Senate Democrats to reopen the government, for now, is warranted. Away from the gridlock on Capitol Hill, Vought, who is the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has made moves to pressure Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to reopen the government. Before the shutdown started earlier...

The Senate is set to leave town on Friday until early next week as neither side is ready to give in the ongoing government shutdown stalemate. Lawmakers voted deep into the night on Thursday on the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which advanced on a largely bipartisan vote. But the $925 billion package, which authorizes funding for the Pentagon, was effectively the last hurrah for the week in the upper chamber. While there was discussion...