Gabbard leaves after tumultuous stint during which she was largely left out as Donald Trump launched attacks on Venezuela and Iran - key US politics stories from Friday 22 May at a glanceTulsi Gabbard is leaving her post as US director of national intelligence following a tumultuous stint in which she was largely sidelined as Donald Trump launched attacks on Venezuela and Iran.In a letter to the US president, she said she would resign and leave her post on 30 June. While we have made significant progress ... I recognize there is still important work to be done," she wrote. Continue reading...
Phone company launched by Donald Trump's family says names and contact details appear to be affected, but not credit card or banking informationA phone company launched by Donald Trump's family business is investigating a potential security flaw on its website that appears to have exposed the personal details of an estimated 27,000 people who sought to buy a gold-coloured smartphone.Trump Mobile said in a statement that it was investigating the issue - with the assistance of independent cybersecurity professionals" - in which the full names, addresses and phone numbers of people who filled out preorder forms appeared to be exposed. Continue reading...
Over 15 months, the ex-Democrat without an intelligence background took actions seemingly meant to flatter TrumpTulsi Gabbard's tumultuous 15-month tenure as the nation's top intelligence official ended Friday, when she submitted her resignation as director of national intelligence.Gabbard was an unconventional choice for the role: the former Democrat lacked an intelligence background and her foreign policy views at times diverged with Donald Trump, particularly on questions of overseas military intervention. And yet she also took unusual measures to ingratiate herself to the president by vowing to root out politicization across US spy agencies and embracing his agenda of election denial. Continue reading...
by José Olivares in New York and agency on (#75THX)
Change criticized by advocates marks the latest significant move by the Trump administration on immigration policyForeigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the state department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday, in a move criticized by aid groups, policy analysts and immigration attorneys.USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted. Continue reading...
by Robert Tait in Washington and Lucy Campbell on (#75TC7)
White House reportedly forced Gabbard to resign after she was sidelined from Iran and Venezuela operations and becomes fourth woman to depart Trump's cabinet
The Ebola outbreak, Israeli strikes in Gaza, Putin in Beijing and Arsenal win the Premier League - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...
US president previously said he would try and make' Donald Trump Jr's nuptials but timing is not good' for himGet Me to the Church on Time, sang Alfred Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady. But for Donald Trump, attending a wedding is not simple - even when it's that of his son.The US president will not attend Donald Trump Jr's nuptials, he confirmed on Friday, blaming circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America". Continue reading...
Officials seized guns from Caleb Vazquez's father last year amid alarm over teen's views on mass shooters and NazismOne of the two white supremacist shooters who attacked a mosque in California on Monday and killed three people had already been on law enforcement officials' radar, according to US media reports.Local officials were so alarmed by Caleb Vazquez's idolization of mass shooters and Nazism that they seized his father's guns a year before the shooting, the New York Times reports. Similarly, Bloomberg reports that Vazquez had already been flagged by the FBI as a potential threat" last year. Continue reading...
Laura Clery says she was able to call 911 and have the fridge lifted off her by firefighters after she was pinned under itUS comedian Laura Clery has described how she almost died when her 600lb fridge fell on her while she was at home with her two young children and found herself pinned under the massive appliance and struggling to breathe.In an Instagram post on Thursday, Clery said the experience was the most terrifying night of my life as a single mom". Continue reading...
Everlane CEO confirms sale in letter to employees and says it will stay true to sustainability' commitmentsEverlane, the retailer that bucked the fast-fashion industry by promising affordable ethically sourced and sustainable clothing, is being acquired by the king of fast fashion, China's Shein.A letter to Everlane employees from CEO Alfred Chang confirming the deal was obtained by the Associated Press on Friday. Continue reading...
Sue Jacquot was taking part in fundraiser when police swarmed her home after someone falsely reported a crimeAn Arizona grandmother has said someone subjected her to a so-called police swatting call while she was taking part in a Minecraft fundraiser to raise financial support for her grandson's cancer treatment medical bills.The bizarre turn of events is the latest high-profile instance in the US of an act of criminal harassment which involves prank-calling emergency operators to get a heavily armed police response sent to a target's home. Continue reading...
US secretary of state's campaign of maximum pressure' is culmination of a personal pursuit spanning decades Cubans outraged at US charges against Raul CastroMarco Rubio's moment has finally arrived. The outcome of the Trump administration's efforts to exert maximum pressure" on Cuba may topple the 67-year-old communist government in Havana and direct the future of the US's sway over the western hemisphere.For Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who serves as both secretary of state and national security adviser, the US campaign marks his ascendancy in an administration where he has established himself as a trusted aide to Donald Trump and manoeuvred that position to advance a key goal: Washington's right to assert its authority across Latin America. Continue reading...
Amazon opens an inquiry into Nicole Saphier's product compliance following Guardian inquiry. White House says she will be a powerful asset' for Maha agendaDonald Trump's nominee for surgeon general sells an herbal supplement that contains an ingredient prohibited by the US military and which health experts have warned can cause liver damage.Dr Nicole Saphier's record of selling dietary supplements, which are only loosely regulated in the US, has raised concern among doctors and consumer advocates, some of whom allege she sells snake oil". Continue reading...
Prosecutors may face sanctions over redactions to grand jury transcripts linked to four of Broadview Six' defendantsFederal prosecutors have decided to drop all remaining criminal charges against four people indicted in October after protesting outside a suburban Chicago immigration detention center in the latest such case to unravel for the Trump administration.Andrew Boutros, a US attorney, made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting about redactions made by prosecutors to a set of grand jury transcripts.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...
Biologist was fired by a state agency for criticizing Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting deathFlorida officials have agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars to a biologist who was fired by a state agency for criticizing conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting death.The state's fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) fired biologist Brittney Brown in September after she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account that claimed Kirk wouldn't care about children being shot in their classrooms. She filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, saying she struggled to find other work because the state agency is the regulatory body for her research specialization in bird conservation. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jonathan Freedland with Kristy Greenb on (#75SY0)
This week, Donald Trump dropped a personal $10bn lawsuit he had against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for a so-called anti-weaponisation fund. The $1.8bn fund will be used to compensate those who think they have been unfairly investigated by the government in the past. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the legal analyst Kristy Greenberg about why critics are calling this fund corruption on steroids' Continue reading...
Senate will not pass $70bn homeland security bill that includes $1bn for security measures for controversial project - key US politics stories from Thursday, 21 MayA bid to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump's White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn anti-weaponization" fund.The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president, Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess. Continue reading...
Cancellation, which avoids embarrassment for Trump, is latest signal of diminishing congressional support for warHouse Republicans canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held.The cancellation, which avoided political embarrassment for Donald Trump, is the latest signal that congressional support for the US president's war is diminishing. Continue reading...
Nascar says it is heartbroken' to share news of Busch's death after he was hospitalized with a severe illnessTwo-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has died at 41 after being hospitalized with a severe illness, Nascar said in a Thursday statement.We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport's greatest and fiercest drivers. He was 41 years old," the racing organization wrote on social media. We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community." Continue reading...
Assistant US attorney general claims services in state subject to shocking' levels of fraud, which he labels a crisis'The Trump administration broke new ground in its offensive against alleged fraud in Minnesota's social services on Thursday as the US Department of Justice announced charges against 15 people accused of cheating a government healthcare program to the tune of $90m.At a news conference in Minneapolis that underscored Donald Trump's fierce focus on the state and Tim Walz, its Democratic governor, Colin McDonald, assistant US attorney general, told journalists that services had been subject to shocking" levels of fraud, which he labelled a crisis". Continue reading...
Approval marks key step forward for project dubbed Arc de Trump', which will be near Arlington national cemeteryThe US Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved designs for Donald Trump's proposed 250ft triumphal arch in Washington.The vote by the panel,which is made up of Trump appointees,marks a key step forward for the project. Next month, the proposed design is set to be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission, another federal panel that oversees planning for federal buildings and land. Continue reading...
by Robert Tait in Washington and Lauren Gambino on (#75SCZ)
DNC chair Ken Martin apologizes for initial bid to block release of report on the party's disastrous election defeatThe Democrats have belatedly published a postmortem on the party's disastrous 2024 election defeat, after an initial decision to withhold the document triggered an angry backlash.Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), released the report - which fails to mention Gaza or Joe Biden's age - accompanied by an apology to party members angered by his initial decision to keep the analysis of Kamala Harris's loss to Donald Trump and defeat in both houses of Congress under wraps. Continue reading...
by Joseph Gedeon, Lucy Campbell and Guardian staff on (#75SKK)
ICE funding bid derailed amid Republican backlash to attempt to latch ballroom funding on to immigration billA bid to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump's White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn anti-weaponization" fund.The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president, Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess. Continue reading...
Court throws out state's challenge to judicial finding that inmate convicted of murder is ineligible for death penaltyThe US supreme court on Thursday threw out a challenge by the state of Alabama to a judicial finding that a death row inmate convicted of a 1997 murder is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible under the US constitution for the death penalty.In this highly unusual move, and in a single-sentence, unsigned order, the court dismissed Alabama's petition for review in Hamm v Smith without deciding it, effectively undoing its earlier decision to take up an appeal by state officials to the method used by a lower court to determine that Joseph Clifton Smith was intellectually disabled and therefore could not be executed. Continue reading...
DHS issued Bolo' for Ben Palmer, whose videos of calls with members of the public who thought they were reporting immigrants went viralThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has circulated a Be on the Lookout" alert to law enforcement nationwide, targeting a comedian whose satire of US immigration enforcement went viral.The subject of the alert, known as a Bolo", was Ben Palmer, a Nashville-based standup comedian and prankster who created a parody anti-immigration tip website. His revealing videos of calls with members of the public who thought they were reporting immigrants to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have garnered millions of views on TikTok and YouTube. Continue reading...
Lawsuit says university and private investigators conspired to intimidate, terrorize and retaliate against Josiah WalkerA University of Michigan student has sued the school, accusing it of violating his constitutional rights when it waged a vast undercover surveillance operation against him in response to his protest of Israel's war in Gaza.The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court by Cair-MI and U-M student Josiah Walker, claims the university and individual private investigators conspired to intimidate, terrorize and retaliate against Walker in 2024 and 2025. Continue reading...
HHS advisory says high screen time among youths can be linked to poor sleep and weakened in-person relationshipsHealth officials in the Trump administration have issued an advisory about children and adolescents' excessive screen time, warning that negative impacts on sleep and mental functioning have become a public health concern".The advisory from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notes that the amount of screen time reaches an average of four or more hours per day by the time a child becomes a teenager and can be linked to poor sleep, decreased functioning in school, less physical activity and weakened in-person relationships. Continue reading...
Strict restrictions on Americans with exposure to Ebola and hantavirus highlight officials' previous rhetoric on public health measuresThe US is imposing strict restrictions on American travelers who have been exposed in dual Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks in ways that experts say could run counter to their legal rights and affect who will volunteer in future public health crises globally.The latest restrictions highlight officials' previous rhetoric on public health measures and their attempts to contain outbreaks now, including reported opposition from the White House to Americans returning home. Continue reading...
Troubled Baywatch reboot production echoes film-making woes in a city best known for its movie and TV industryThe fight for the future of Los Angeles, America's second-largest city, usually plays out in the grand art deco offices and committee rooms of city hall. But in an election year full of surprises, the most consequential battle may in fact have begun on a beach.And not just any beach: we're talking about the fantasy sandbox inhabited by buff gym rats and sun-kissed bikini babes on Baywatch and its multiple spin-offs. In February, Los Angeles welcomed the latest incarnation of the hit TV show back to southern California after a long hiatus, including detours to Hawaii and Georgia. City officials heralded its return as a sign of better times for local film and television production following years of decline and tens of thousands of job losses in the heart of Hollywood. Continue reading...
US cities are turning to randomly selected residents to help resolve divisive policy debatesA Los Angeles software engineer, Hunter Futo, recalled being disaffected and apolitical" for years but experienced an about-face recently: now, she's leading resident debates, helping guide local governance reforms and even pushing for more options for Angelenos to help create policy.For Futo, the turnaround happened in January, when she and a few other LA residents were randomly selected to lay out a vision of local values for the first-ever preamble for the city charter. Continue reading...
Investment banker Lorna Hajdini says ex-colleague Chirayu Rana's malicious' allegations wreaked havoc'The JPMorgan Chase investment banker accused of sexual assault in an explosive lawsuit that went viral countersued her accuser, saying his malicious lies destroyed her reputation and wreaked havoc" on her life.In papers filed on Tuesday night in a New York state court in Manhattan, Lorna Hajdini said her former colleague Chirayu Rana fabricated allegations that she raped and drugged him, in order to attract maximum press coverage, cause her pain and extract millions of dollars from her and JPMorgan. Continue reading...
The Anti-Weaponization Fund' is an extraordinary example of bald self-dealingDonald Trump is stealing almost $2bn in taxpayer money and handing it out to his friends. That's the upshot of the president's recent agreement following a $10bn lawsuit he brought in his personal capacity against the IRS, an agency that he oversees. Trump brought the suit over leaks of some documents from his tax returns to the press. To resolve the suit, the justice department will create a fund of nearly $1.8bn - a wildly outsized figure compared with Trump's somewhat flimsily alleged injuries - that can be doled out to Trump allies. The Guardian describes the fund as loosely controlled and secretive", but members of the Trump administration have not ruled out January 6 insurrectionists as possible awardees.The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund" will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump's attorney general and one appointed in consultation" with congressional leadership - Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control. It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations - ie, those few who were prosecuted or sued during the Biden era. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government. But I doubt that there will be any remaining money. We may never know either way: there is no requirement that the fund's work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
US Preventive Services Task Force had already been largely sidelined before health secretary fired its two chairsThe Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans.In letters dated 11 May, the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, notified the two doctors who chaired the US Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Body-cam footage shared with the Guardian shows agents forced workers out of a van in what a judge has called unlawful' arrestNewly released body-camera footage shows US immigration officers stopping a van of farm workers in Oregon, smashing their windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them.Videos from a 30 October 2025 operation were disclosed in court as part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) arrest tactics and racial profiling by agents. Lawyers for one of the detained farm workers shared the footage with the Guardian. Continue reading...
