Politics

Maria Shriver slammed President Donald Trump on Thursday after the Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to rename the institution to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center,’ accusing him of trying to attach his name to a memorial dedicated to her uncle, President John F. Kennedy. Shriver, a high-profile member of the Kennedy family, said it is ‘beyond comprehension’ to change the center’s name, accusing Trump of staining JFK’s legacy in art, culture and education. ‘It is beyond comprehension...

Joint Task Force Southern Spear forces struck two alleged narco-terrorist vessels moving along a major drug corridor in the Eastern Pacific on Thursday, killing five militants without suffering any U.S. casualties. U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) released a video on X showing the opening strike and the aftermath, with the targeted boat engulfed in flames. ‘On Dec. 18, at the direction of [Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes...

President Trump signed into law a nearly $1 trillion defense policy bill Thursday and approved what looks to be the largest military spending package in U.S. history. The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $901 billion in military spending, roughly $8 billion more than the administration requested, according to Reuters. It also delivers a nearly 4% pay raise for troops, provides new funding for Ukraine and the Baltic States and includes measures designed to...

Senate Republicans confirmed nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, leapfrogging previous administrations and his own first term in the process in their sprint to finish off the year.  The confirmation of 97 of Trump’s picks on Thursday with a 53-43 vote marked one of the final bits of floor action in the upper chamber following a blistering pace set out by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., once Republicans gained control of the Senate...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is incorporating Gen Z messaging and viral jabs at Vice President J.D. Vance into her playbook as she builds momentum for a 2028 presidential run, a Republican political strategist has claimed. The strategist’s comments came after the New York Democrat used meme-style language and mocked Vance on Dec. 17 over a poll and declared she would ‘stomp him’ if the matchup became real. ‘It is a case of the squeaky wheel gets the...

The International Criminal Court, or ICC, is in the fight of its life. Its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, faces serious allegations of criminal misconduct, including claims of repeated sexual assault. Khan has strongly rejected the accusations, instead blaming Israel for his problems. The ICC is scrambling for an off-ramp, one that cuts Khan loose while salvaging its long-criticized posture toward Israel and the United States. The question is: Will it work? Khan is accused of sexually assaulting...

More than 200 House Democrats voted against banning Medicaid dollars from funding transgender treatments for minors. The Do No Harm in Medicaid Act was introduced by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and received support from all House Republicans when it was put to a vote Thursday afternoon. The measure passed 215-201, with all opposition coming from Democrats. All Republicans who voted approved the bill. Four Democratic representatives voted for the bill — Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Vicente...

China denounced the United States for approving an $11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan, warning that the deal risks turning the island into a ‘powder keg’ and driving the region toward ‘military confrontation and war.’ The unprecedented sale includes 82 HIMARS launchers paired with 420 ATACMS long-range missiles, a combination that would give Taiwan new deep-strike capability across the Taiwan Strait, along with 60 self-propelled howitzers, advanced UAV systems, military software packages and anti-armor weapons....

In a Thursday press conference, federal authorities in Minnesota announced new charges in the fraud scandal that has grabbed national headlines and spoke on the scope of the crisis, saying that it goes beyond what has previously been reported. ‘Minnesotans and taxpayers deserve to know the truth of the fraud,’ First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told reporters at a press conference.  ‘The fraud is not small. It isn’t isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated....

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to rename the institution to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ in recognition of what she described as President Donald Trump’s efforts to save the building over the past year. ‘Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of...