US news | The Guardian

If Rudy was a charming underdog story, the Hoosiers' worst-to-first ascent to college football's title game on Monday night is the stuff of science fictionWe are living in upside down times. Kim Kardashian advocates for prison reform as the American government spams out cartoonish memes promoting mass deportation and detention. Dave Chappelle - flaws aside - is more trusted to interpret the news than CBS's Tony Dokoupil. The selection committee behind college football's playoff somehow put together a compelling tournament without inciting the usual torrent of backlash, and the team raising the trophy at the end could well wind up being Indiana. And, no, that's not a typo.In case it's unclear, Indiana is basketball country - the birthplace of Larry Bird, the home of the NBA's Pacers, the inspiration behind Gene Hackman's Hoosiers. Tier-one campus research, Bobby Knight's tempestuous hardwood reign, and Shark Tank's Mark Cuban are Indiana University's claims to fame; football rarely, if ever, entered the chat. Before the NFL's Colts snuck in from Baltimore and blended into Indiana's sports tapestry, Hoosiers fans spent football season rallying around Notre Dame, a national brand that happens to reside in-state, and saved their true colors for the college basketball tipoff. Continue reading...

Caleb Williams pulled off a miracle against the Rams and Chicago looked destined for the Super Bowl. The hope wouldn't last longA playoff game often pivots on a single moment. The Bears thought they had theirs. Down a score, driving to keep the game alive, the Bears had the ball on the Rams' 14-yard line. Fourth down. Four yards to pick up a fresh set of downs. A play to keep their season alive. The ball in Caleb Williams's hands.And then it happened. Continue reading...

Under Trump, the world-class centre for performing arts is one of many US cultural institutions changing beyond recognition. Will others buckle?A year ago - just a year ago - the Kennedy Center in Washington DC was a world-class centre for the performing arts. It had a resident opera company, respected artistic teams, and a run of the acclaimed musical Hamilton to look forward to. It had a bipartisan board that upheld the dignity of an organisation that, since it was conceived of in the mid-20th century, had been treated with courtesy and supported by governments of both stripes.How quickly things unravel. Donald Trump inserted himself as chair of the organisation soon after his 20 January inauguration, dispatched the hugely experienced executive director, and installed his unfortunate loyalist Richard Grenell to run it. This former ambassador to Germany might have wished for better things; at any rate, entirely inexperienced in the arts, he seems utterly out of his depth. Things have unravelled. Artists have departed the centre in droves. Hamilton pulled out. So have audiences. In November, Francesca Zambello, the artistic director of the Washington National Opera, told me that ticket sales had tanked for the opera. Analysis by the Washington Post showed it was the same pattern across the centre. Continue reading...

This shocking moment is the outcome of a political, institutional and media environment that is not far off Britain'sThere is not much that can still shock about Donald Trump's second administration. But the killing of Renee Good earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, as well as the regular, often violent confrontations that ICE stages on US streets, show so much that is unravelling in plain sight. The rule of law, the freedom to protest, and even the right to walk or drive in the streets safely without being assaulted by the state, seems to exist no longer in the towns and cities where ICE has made its presence felt. The most disturbing aspect of all this is how quickly it has happened. But for a government agency such as ICE to become the powerful paramilitary force that it is, several factors need to be in play first. Only one of them is Donald Trump.ICE may look as if it came out of nowhere, but the sort of authoritarianism that results in these crackdowns never does. It takes shape slowly, in plain sight, in a way that is clearly traceable over time. First, there needs to be a merging of immigration and security concerns, both institutionally and in the political culture. Established in the wake of 9/11, ICE was part of a government restructuring under President George W Bush. It was granted a large budget, wide investigative powers and a partnership with the FBI's joint terrorism taskforce. The work of enforcing immigration law became inextricably linked to the business of keeping Americans safe after the largest attack on US soil. That then extended into a wider emphasis, under Barack Obama, beyond those who posed national security threats, and on to immigrants apprehended at the border, gang members and non-citizens convicted of felonies or misdemeanours.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

European leaders meet for crisis talks and are expected to discuss reviving plan to levy tariffs on 93bn of US goods - key US politics stories from Sunday 18 January at a glanceThe EU was weighing up retaliatory tariffs on American goods and even deploying its most serious economic sanctions against the US as European leaders lined up to criticise Donald Trump's threat to levy new taxes on imports from eight nations who oppose his attempt to annex Greenland - which one minister called blackmail".Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," the leaders of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland said in a joint statement. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty." Continue reading...

US army issues prepare-to-deploy orders amid tension over ICE killing, though it is unclear if units will be sentThe Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government's deportation drive, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.The US army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent. Continue reading...

The New England Patriots beat the Houston Texans and will play the Denver Broncos in the Championship RoundTexans 0-7 Patriots 7:04, 1st quarterAnother chance for an interception goes begging, the ball hangs in the air for an age with three Patriots around it but none react. Stroud picks up the 1st down on the next play with an easy completion and New England gift a few more yards with a facemask penalty on Christian Kirk. 1st and Goal on the way. Continue reading...

In 2020, Trump DoJ investigated police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis, leading to four officers' convictionsSix years after the US justice department launched an immediate criminal investigation of the video-recorded killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed on Sunday that the department is not investigating" the fatal 7 January shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in the same city.The killing of Good, less than a mile from where Floyd was murdered in May 2020, was recorded on at least five phones, including one held by the ICE agent who shot her, Jonathan Ross. Continue reading...

Trump lawyer Robert Garson told the Telegraph he discussed refuge for those leaving UK over antisemitismDiscussions are reportedly under way within Donald Trump's administration about the US possibly granting asylum to Jewish people from the UK, according to the Telegraph, citing the US president's personal lawyer.Trump lawyer Robert Garson told the newspaper that he has held conversations with the US state department about offering refuge to British Jews who are leaving the UK citing rising antisemitism. Continue reading...

William Brock fatally shot Lo-Letha Toland-Hall in 2024 after wrongly assuming she was involved in plot to rob himAn 83-year-old Ohio man faces sentencing on Tuesday after being convicted of murder in the shooting of an Uber driver who he wrongly thought was trying to rob him.William J Brock fatally shot the driver after wrongly assuming she was in on a plot involving scam phone calls that deceived them both to get $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative, authorities said.Associated Press contributed Continue reading...

Trump's support of Letlow comes after Louisiana senator voted to convict president in second impeachment trialDonald Trump has sought to deliver a staggering blow to the re-election chances of Senator Bill Cassidy - the president's fellow Republican with whom he has politically feuded - by giving his complete and total endorsement" to a potential primary opponent.Trump's endorsement of US House member Julia Letlow as well as his encouragement for her to run for Cassidy's Senate seat in Louisiana comes after the senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial during Trump's first presidency. Continue reading...

Tariff threats over the Arctic island expose the limits of coercive diplomacy. Europe's united response and pushback shows fear is fadingFor all Donald Trump's bluster about restoring American strength, his attempt to bully European allies over Greenland reveals a deeper weakness: coercive diplomacy only works if people are afraid to resist. Increasingly, they aren't. And that is a good thing. Bullies often back down when confronted - their power relies on fear. Mr Trump's threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Europeans unless they acquiesce to his demand to purchase" Greenland has stripped his trade policy bare. This is not about economic security, unfair trade or protecting American workers. It is about using tariffs as a weapon to force nations to submit.The response from Europe has been united and swift. That in itself should send a message. France's Emmanuel Macron says plainly no amount of intimidation" will alter Europe's position. Denmark has anchored the issue firmly inside Nato's collective security. EU leaders have warned that tariff threats risk a dangerous downward spiral. Even Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, seen as ideologically close to Mr Trump, publicly called the tariff threat a mistake" - adding that she has told him so. Continue reading...

Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, Mike Pence and others say action could hurt US economy and strain Nato allianceDonald Trump's escalating calls for the United States to seize or otherwise obtain Greenland has ignited fresh criticism from the president's own Republican party, with some saying it could hurt the US economically or strain the Nato military alliance.Such Republicans included US senators Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, who were part of a bipartisan group to travel to Denmark to discuss concerns in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Continue reading...

The US president's trade war for Greenland tells us that the time for fence-sitting or wishful thinking is overOne way or the other, President Trump said, he will have Greenland. Well, at least now we know it's the other; not an invasion that would have sent young men home to their mothers across Europe in coffins, but instead another trade war, designed to kill off jobs and break Europe's will. Just our hopes of an economic recovery, then, getting taken out and shot on a whim by our supposedly closest ally, months after Britain signed a trade deal supposed to protect us from such arbitrary punishment beatings. In a sane universe, that would not feel like a climbdown by the White House, yet by comparison with the rhetoric that had Denmark scrambling troops to Greenland last week it is.That said, don't underestimate the gravity of the moment.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Karoline Leavitt was recorded warning network to put out new interview with president in full and without editsDonald Trump's White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was recently recorded warning CBS News to broadcast a new interview with the president in full and without edits - or we'll sue your ass off".Trump said, Make sure you guys don't cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,'" Leavitt told CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil after he had interviewed the president, according to an audio exchange first reported on by the New York Times. The 13-minute exclusive segment aired on Tuesday, months after CBS's parent company Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16m over its editing of an unrelated interview ahead of the 2024 election that vaulted him to a second presidency. Continue reading...

Calls are renewed for permitting to hike the Los Angeles-area mountain that looks deceptively accessibleThe peak is just there in the distance, hovering above Los Angeles, snow-capped and tantalizing to the city-bound.About an hour from the sands of the Pacific coast, Mount Baldy and the surrounding Angeles national forest have long been a wilderness playground to millions who call the greater Los Angeles area home. Continue reading...

Jake Lang's anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-ICE rally near City Hall outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotestersHundreds of counterprotesters on Saturday drowned out a far-right activist's attempt to hold a small rally in support of the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstration, saying on social media beforehand that he intended to burn a Quran" on the steps of City Hall. But it was not clear if he carried out that plan. Continue reading...

It's far from radical to reject a system predicated on violence - despite what thinktanks might claimOn 7 January 2026, Renee Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross; video captures a man's voice calling her a fucking bitch" afterwards. Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security, maligned Good as having committed domestic terrorism". Good's killing became a national flashpoint as protests erupted demanding justice for the mother of three.Good's killing is no anomaly. A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed 13 instances of ICE firing into civilian vehicles since July 2025, with at least eight people shot and two killed. ICE detentions are notorious for their inhumane conditions; 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 alone, matching a record set two decades prior in 2004.Heba Gowayed is an associate professor of sociology at Cuny Hunter College and Cuny Graduate Center and author of the book Refuge: How the State Shapes Human PotentialVictor Ray is the F Wendell Miller associate professor of sociology at the University of Iowa and author of the book On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care Continue reading...

A group of journalists look to fill the void left by Conde Nast's Gourmet by reviving it as a worker-owned newsletterAmiel Stanek still recalls the crush of learning that Conde Nast decided to shutter Gourmet magazine back in 2009. He shared a subscription with his college roommates and writing for the publication had been one of his dreams.I was beside myself. It was like hearing your hometown baseball team had been traded away," Stanek said. He thought to himself: Where will I write now?" Continue reading...

Five exchange-traded funds have been launched by Trump Media, owner of the president's social media platform Truth SocialThe word Truth" was plastered all around the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning. At 9.30am, when the market opened, a small crowd stood on the balcony above the trading floor to ring in the day.The group was celebrating the launch of five exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that are tied to Truth Social, Donald Trump's social media platform that has spun into a menagerie of products over the last few years. Continue reading...

Lila Dominguez was working on an article as agents came on to school grounds - their presence has jolted Minneapolis's young peopleWhen immigration enforcement agents came on to her Minneapolis high school's grounds on 7 January, Lila Dominguez was in the school's basement working on an article about an ICE agent shooting Renee Good earlier that day.The high school junior was glued to her phone watching videos from outside the school. Continue reading...

Demonstrations against the Iraq war proved protest works. Now we must halt destruction before it more powerfully startsIn spring 2004, Gen Anthony Zinni uttered about Iraq the dreaded words in US politics: I spent two years in Vietnam, and I've seen this movie before." A year after George W Bush's declaration of mission accomplished" - when the war had hit its peak popularity at 74% - the invasion had descended into quagmire, marked by a raging insurgency, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal and US casualties nearing 1,000. For the first time, a majority of Americans judged the war a mistake". In this, they echoed what millions of Americans, predicting fiasco, had been saying since before its start.By the summer of 2005, with Iraq exploding in civil war, public support further eroded. Vietnam comparisons abounded. Running against the war, Democrats had blowout wins in the 2006 midterms. The new Congress empaneled the bipartisan Iraq study group, which concluded that the war had to end. Its fate was sealed by the election of Barack Obama, who made good on his pledge to withdraw US troops (though US forces later returned to take on the Islamic State).Jeremy Varon is the author of Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War: The Movement to Stop the War on Terror (University of Chicago Press, 2025) Continue reading...

As survivors face pressure to sell their land in Altadena, a historic Black community, experts say we're witnessing climate gentrification'Ellen Williams' left hand played with her long dark hair as her right hand guided the steering wheel, her phone resting face-down in her lap. Born and raised in Altadena, an unincorporated area in Los Angeles county, she didn't need to look at a map as she drove to where her home of 22 years burned down.We passed empty lots with gaping holes where foundations once stood. The banging of hammers rang through the neighborhood and wood frames rose from the dirt, the smell of fresh lumber in the air. Perched on street corners were signs declaring: Altadena is not for sale." Continue reading...

Elissa Slotkin, under investigation over Pentagon video, says president using well-worn playbook' to silence debateDonald Trump is borrowing a strategy from authoritarian regimes to intimidate potential critics and discourage them from speaking out, according to a senator under investigation by his administration.Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, faces questioning after she organised and appeared in a video with other Democrats imploring military service members to refuse illegal orders". Fellow senator Mark Kelly and three Democrats from the House of Representatives are also being investigated. Continue reading...

Independent media, civil society, the rule of law - these are the things that Iranians truly need. And there are ways for the west to help secure themSoon after becoming president in 2017, Donald Trump ordered an attack on an Islamic State (IS) underground complex in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. The strike involved the first-ever use in combat of a GBU-43 massive ordnance air blast (Moab) bunker buster" bomb - the US's most powerful conventional weapon. The bombing killed about 90 insurgents but failed to crush IS. It also made zero long-term difference to the US's losing battle with the Taliban.Yet that was not the point. Inexperienced Trump, who had famously avoided military service, was keen to show he was in charge, a commander-in-chief unafraid to make tough calls and send troops into harm's way. He craved a big bang - a spectacular demonstration of unmatched US power. Like a teenager who unexpectedly obtains the keys to the family gun cabinet, he could not resist the temptation to play with all those shiny new Pentagon weapons.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Many believed a US president would - for the first time - rescue them but now people can only despair after mass arrests and brutalityWhen Donald Trump, said he would rescue" protesters if Iranian authorities started shooting, Siavash Shirzad believed the US president.The 38-year-old father had seen protests rise up before, only to be brutally crushed by authorities.

French president says no amount of intimidation' will make EU change course; Greenlanders march against takeover threat. Key US politics stories from Saturday 17 January at a glanceEuropean leaders have hit back at Donald Trump's threats to impose tariffs on countries opposing his Greenland takeover, saying the move would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral".The US president threatened a 25% tariff on a slew of European countries - including Denmark, Germany, France and the UK - until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland, in an extraordinary escalation of the president's bid to claim the autonomous Danish territory. Continue reading...

Heads of state across Europe respond in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland, and boycott of World Cup suggestedDonald Trump threatened a 25% tariff on a slew of European countries including Denmark, Germany, France and the UK - until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland, in an extraordinary escalation of the president's bid to claim the autonomous Danish territory.In a lengthy post on Saturday on Truth Social, Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning 1 February, on any and all goods sent to the United States of America". Continue reading...

Swift verdict of not guilty in case of Jacob Winkler another high-profile defeat for Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for DCA man tried on a felony charge of aiming a laser at presidential helicopter Marine One while it was transporting Donald Trump was acquitted recently by a jury in Washington DC - which reached its decision in about 35 minutes Tuesday.The swift verdict of not guilty in the case of Jacob Winkler represented another high-profile defeat for Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host whom Trump appointed to be the US attorney for the nation's capital. Pirro's office has pursued harsh penalties against individuals accused of attacking federal officers or threatening the president but has failed multiple times. Continue reading...

As high court considers trans kids' participation in school sports, tensions run high between opposing protest groupsAs the US supreme court heard arguments on Tuesday for a case that could determine whether transgender children can participate in school sports - and potentially impact LGBTQ+ civil rights protections more broadly - competing groups of activists rallied in Washington DC.On one side was a multiracial mix of hundreds of people rallying for trans rights and in support of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a track and field athlete from West Virginia and the plaintiff in the West Virginia v BPJ case before the supreme court. Continue reading...

People took to the streets of Greenland and Denmark on Saturday as part of the Hands Off Greenland' rallies in protest against Donald Trump's insistence the US should take control of the self-governing territory

US health department's new food pyramid places red meat and cheese high in saturated fats over plant-based proteinsThe new food pyramid rolled out in US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) places animal-based proteins, including cheese and red meats high in saturated fats, above plant-based proteins, which has raised alarm bells among health and environmental experts.This rejiggered food pyramid is in line with Kennedy's previous signals that he will recommend increasing saturated fat in US diets as part of the Make America healthy again" movement. Continue reading...

Warner Bros is also being pursued by Paramount Skydance, helmed by David Ellison, son of president's allyDonald Trump bought at least $1m worth of bonds in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), according to a financial disclosure form, days after he said would be involved" in a proposed merger between the two companies.The White House released a financial disclosure report on Friday which showed that Trump made two purchases from Netflix and two purchases from WBD, each amounting to at least $502,000. Continue reading...

Philadelphia sheriff Rochelle Bilal's words have become a rallying cry against Trump's immigration crackdownYou don't want this smoke," Rochelle Bilal, Philadelphia's sheriff, warned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an 8 January press conference. Her words have since become a rallying cry for resistance to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. At the conference with Larry Krasner, Philadelphia's district attorney, and city council members, Bilal spoke out against the 7 January fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. We stand here today with all those who stand against the made-up, fake, what you can call ICE, professional law enforcement," she said at the conference. I don't call them none of that. I call them made-up, fake, wannabe law enforcement. Because what they do is against not only legal law, but the moral law."Bilal is part of a growing body of elected officials who are speaking out against the Trump administration's immigration policies and ICE's alleged misconduct and aggressive enforcement tactics. As the first Black female sheriff of Philadelphia elected in 2019, Bilal has faced perhaps the most vitriol from opponents who have targeted her for her race and gender. Race played a big [role in the] response," Bilal told the Guardian in a conference room on her Philadelphia office floor. The negative, nasty messages that are being received is ridiculous." Since the video of her speech went viral, Bilal told the Guardian that death threats that she's received have required her to increase her security detail. In a Facebook post, ICE also said that she should resign. Continue reading...

A year after then candidate Trump promised to cut energy bills in half, rising costs are pushing many Americans' household budgets to the brink

The Trump administration's immigration policies hearken back to the racist 1924 Immigration Act, meant to whiten the USOn 14 January, the Trump administration announced a stop on issuing immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as 10 countries from eastern Europe. The Department of Homeland Security justified the decision by claiming that immigrants from these countries are at high risk" of reliance on welfare and becoming a public charge".As an immigration scholar, I was immediately struck by the falsehood of this economic justification. The vast majority of immigrants have been legally disqualified from cash welfare since 1996. Those who do qualify for benefits like Snap and Medicaid use them at much lower rates than non-immigrants. Through their taxes, immigrants are net contributors - especially undocumented immigrants who are excluded from federal benefits. Continue reading...

I was a child actor, exploited by strangers on the internet. Now millions of children face the same dangerWhen I was a little girl, there was nothing scarier than a stranger.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, kids were told, by our parents, by TV specials, by teachers, that there were strangers out there who wanted to hurt us. Stranger Danger" was everywhere. It was a well-meaning lesson, but the risk was overblown: most child abuse and exploitation is perpetrated by people the children know. It's much rarer for children to be abused or exploited by strangers. Continue reading...