Mary Trump tells Hay-on-Wye book festival in Wales that her uncle, the US president, isn't close with anybody'Donald Trump has never evolved" and isn't close with anybody", according to Mary Trump, the US president's niece and a vocal critic of his business and political career.The daughter of Donald's older brother, Fred Trump Jr (nicknamed Freddie), Mary Trump told the Hay festival in Wales - where she was discussing her latest book about the Trump family, Who Could Ever Love You - that she no longer has relationships with anyone in her family apart from her daughter. Continue reading...
The consumer confidence index rose after hitting its lowest reading since May 2020 as Trump pressed ahead with tariffsAmericans' views of the economy improved in May after five straight months of declines sent consumer confidence to the lowest level since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs.The Conference Board said on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April's 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020. Continue reading...
These people once said they cared about cancel culture'. But look at how they are trying to cancel the children's YouTuber Ms Rachel for featuring a toddler from Gaza on her channelThoughts and non-denominational prayers to all the anti-woke warriors out there. It may seem as though everything is going their way now Donald Trump is back with a vengeance, but the poor things have run into a bit of a branding problem. For years, the anti-woke crowd positioned themselves as fearless free thinkers taking on the intolerant left. The journalist Bari Weiss wrote a fawning New York Times piece in 2018 describing rightwing voices such as Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens as renegades of the intellectual dark web" (IDW).Now, however, the people who used to position themselves as oppressed truth-tellers operating in what Weiss's article called an era of That Which Cannot Be Said", have a state-sanctioned microphone. They've won. But in winning they've made it difficult to continue the charade that they give a damn about cancel culture". Look around: some of these self-styled free speech warriors are doing everything they can to ruin the lives of everyone who doesn't 100% agree with them.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Scott Jenkins was found guilty of accepting over $75,000 in exchange for appointing auxiliary deputy sheriffsDonald Trump announced on Monday that he had issued an unconditional pardon to a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted on federal fraud and bribery charges.Scott Jenkins, 53, had served as the sheriff of Culpeper county in northern Virginia for 12 years, having been elected in 2011 and re-elected twice. Continue reading...
Putin has tied his political survival to the war, and he believes Russia is winning. The US president will not make progress on peace until that changes
Exclusive: Trump advisers lose confidence in Pentagon leak investigation Hegseth used to justify firing three top aidesThe White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap.The extraordinary explanation alarmed the advisers, who also raised it with people close to JD Vance, because such a wiretap would almost certainly be unconstitutional and an even bigger scandal than a number of leaks. Continue reading...
The bill could stop federal courts from enforcing their rulings, eliminating any restraint on TrumpIf enacted, Donald Trump's Big Ugly Bill as it emerged on Thursday from the House of Representatives would result in the largest redistribution of income and wealth in American history - from the poor and working class to the rich.Hidden within the bill is also a provision that would allow Trump to crown himself king.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
With a home World Cup on the horizon, we look at how potential players for Mauricio Pochettino's squad affected their standing this past seasonThere is, understandably, a lot of angst going around the US men's national team fanbase. Recent performances have not been up to standard, and disappointing results are creating a distinctly doom-y feeling just over a year out from the start of a home World Cup.What might be lost in all of this is what was, by and large, a very solid season for Americans abroad. Here's how the major figures affected their international standing this past season (Major figures meaning: players who have been involved with the senior team within the last year or so). Continue reading...
In an age of division where authoritarianism is seeping into every corner of American discourse, the Spelling Bee offers up a reminder of what America should truly beWe're living through turbulent times, to say the least. Authoritarianism and fascism threaten the United States. The conspiracy thinking, paranoia and manufactured outrage so characteristic of QAnon and the big lie about the 2020 election have colonized our political discourse like a fungus. Even the National Spelling Bee, a cultural institution which will be celebrating its centennial this year and which is generally exempted from the far right's paranoid vitriol, hasn't been immune. Earlier this year, a foofaraw erupted when right-wing outlets reported on the acceptance of womyn" as an alternate spelling of women" in the regional-level wordlist which the National Spelling Bee issues each year.The reason womyn" was included in the wordlist wasn't some shadowy feminist plot by the Bee's organizers. The competition simply allows any word in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary, unless it is obsolete. Womyn" is in the dictionary, along with tens of thousands of other words, such as pointless", culture" and war".Scott Remer is a professional spelling bee tutor, freelance writer, and the author of the textbooks Words of Wisdom: Keys to Success in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Sesquipedalia!: A Rigorous Vocabulary Study Guide, Regional Bee Ready!, and A Few Final Words of Wisdom. Continue reading...
Donald Trump says he is considering taking a further three billion dollars of grant money' from the institution. Key US politics stories from Monday 26 May at a glanceDonald Trump delivered the traditional presidential Memorial Day speech at Arlington national cemetery and also attacked judges on social media, talking up his own achievements and threatening Harvard University with further cuts to its funding.Trump posted on his social media platform: I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land." Continue reading...
Data from hotel site Trivago shows fewer US bookings by holidaymakers from Canada, Japan, Mexico and GermanyHolidaymakers in countries hit the hardest by Donald Trump's trade tariffs are taking the US off their list for trips abroad, according to online travel booking data.Findings from the hotel search site Trivago also suggest that UK and US travellers are increasingly choosing domestic holidays amid concerns over an uncertain economy. Continue reading...
by Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Tom Ambrose and Martin Be on (#6XHK0)
President honors fallen soldiers but also says God did that' when taking credit for US hosting world sports eventsThis year's summer months promise to be among the hottest on record across the United States, continuing a worsening trend of extreme weather, and amid concern over the impacts of Trump administration cuts to key agencies.The extreme heat could be widespread and unrelenting: only far northern Alaska may escape unusually warm temperatures from June through August, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...
Jaws was filmed on island in 1975, stoking fears of marine animal that swimmer Lewis Pugh is now trying to protectA British-South African endurance athlete crossed the finish line of his 62-mile (100km) multiday swim around Martha's Vineyard on Monday, becoming the first person to swim all the way around the island off the coast of Cape Cod.Lewis Pugh, 55, began swimming multiple hours a day in the 47F (8C) water on 15 May to raise awareness about the plight of sharks - as the film Jaws nears the 50th anniversary of its cinematic release. Continue reading...
by Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington and agency on (#6XHXY)
Longtime New York lawmaker was first Black chair of House ways and means committee and fierce opponent of Iraq warFormer US congressman Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black caucus, died on Monday at the age of 94.His family confirmed the death in a statement provided by City College of New York spokesperson Michelle Stent. He died at a hospital in New York, Stent said. Continue reading...
New York Times published a Memorial Day essay by Drew Gilpin Faust as university spars with Trump administrationA recent former president of Harvard University urged people to speak out" in defense of foundational threats" to values such as freedom, autonomy and democracy in the US, as those whose deaths for such causes in war were being honored on Memorial Day.Drew Gilpin Faust, the first female president of Harvard, also warned on Monday of US constitutional checks and the rule of law being at risk" under the current administration, even as Donald Trump issued a fresh threat against the elite university as it seeks to repel his assaults on its independence and funding. Continue reading...
by Edward Helmore in New York and agency on (#6XHTS)
Agency also announced new inquiry into pipe bombs found outside Democratic and Republican offices in 2021The FBI will launch new investigations into the 2023 discovery of a bag of cocaine at the White House during Joe Biden's term, as well as into pipe bombs discovered at Democratic and Republican party headquarters before the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot by supporters of Donald Trump, and the leak of the supreme court's draft opinion before the historic overturning of national abortion rights with the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.Dan Bongino, a rightwing podcaster turned deputy director of the FBI, made the announcement on X, where he said he had requested weekly briefings on any progress in looking into the old cases. The incidents have been popular talking points on America's political right wing and among conspiracy theorists. Continue reading...
Emma Raducanu and Jacob Fearnley moved into round two while Paulo Badosa beat Naomi Osaka, Daniel Altmaier saw off Taylor Fritz and Carlos Alcaraz also wonRaducanu is getting nowt for nowt, forced to 30-all as she seeks her endorsement. From there, though, she does well to close out for 4-2, while Bouzas Maneiro breaks Navarra at the start of srt two for 6-0 1-0. This is an absolute tousing ... so far.Inside-out backhand to the corner ... and Wang can't control her response. Raducanu breaks again, for 3-2, and can she hold on to it this time? Continue reading...
Doge has gut staff at Fema, EPA and the army corps, who are crucial for helping survivors get back on their feetOn 13 April, Tess McGinley was working in her Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) cubicle in Los Angeles, calling people who had lost their homes in the January wildfires, when her team was told to stop what they were doing and leave the office immediately.McGinley, a 23-year-old team leader for AmeriCorps, the US agency for national service and volunteerism, was helping Fema by reviewing wildfire survivors' cases to ensure they received housing assistance. Over the past six weeks, she and her seven teammates had reviewed more than 4,000 cases and made hundreds of calls to survivors. Now, even as the team drove home after their jobs were cut, their government phones kept ringing. Survivors just kept calling us ... And we weren't able to help," McGinley said. Continue reading...
The US has zagged from isolation to imperialism, but Trump has emptied the ethical and moral frame' of diplomacyJD Vance is an Iraq war veteran and the US vice-president. On Friday, he declared the doctrine that underpinned Washington's approach to international relations for a generation is now dead.We had a long experiment in our foreign policy that traded national defence and the maintenance of our alliances for nation building and meddling in foreign countries' affairs, even when those foreign countries had very little to do with core American interests," Vance told Naval Academy graduates in Annapolis, Maryland. Continue reading...
Amanda Litman discusses vital but difficult conversations on age as younger Democrats work to remake partyAmanda Litman spent the past decade building a way for more younger people to run for office.Now, as the Democratic party debates its ageing leaders after the former president's decline led to a bruising loss in 2024, a groundswell of younger Democrats are working to remake the party by challenging incumbents and calling out Democratic leaders who fail to push back against Trump. Continue reading...
Six people killed in what Kyiv claims is largest drone attack since February 2022 invasion. Plus, what's going to happen to the place where George Floyd died?
Family of couple sets up fund so four-year-old can carry on legacy of parents' through opportunities such as collegeA Louisiana family is grieving but seeking to rally behind a four-year-old boy whose mother was recently killed in a car crash - and whose father then died in a separate vehicle wreck while trying to get to her.Gabriel, the son of Alexus Lee and John JR" Collins, understands what happened", his paternal grandmother, Sandra Collins, told the Louisiana news station WAFB. And he's just having a little problem comprehending that we can't talk to [his parents]. We can't see them, but he understands that they are asleep and are with God." Continue reading...
Experts say president's dismantling of world order, rapport with Netanyahu and choice of Pentagon chief benefiting ISDonald Trump has a long and colorful history with the Islamic State. He incorrectly blamed the founding of IS on his predecessor, said its infamous leader died like a dog" while announcing his assassination, and rallied an international coalition that successfully ended its so-called caliphate.So far, in his second presidency, his administration has much less to do with IS. But the terror group has still benefited from him. Continue reading...
Attacks on the university make clear that the administration will wield its power against anyone who incurs its displeasureIn record time, a court has at least temporarily put a stop to the Trump administration's latest attack on Harvard University, part of a larger retaliation spree that began in April.On Thursday, Kristi Noem had revoked Harvard's certification to host international students, causing fear and existential uncertainty for thousands of young people and their families. The swift restraining order comes as a relief. But it is no cause for complacency.Jan-Werner Muller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University Continue reading...
Small market teams have dominated this year's playoffs. Former players say playing outside big cities can help bring unity and cohesionTwo-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus remembers the 1981 playoffs. In a big time" opening round series, his Chicago Bulls faced the New York Knicks. The first game tipped off in one of the world's most famous arenas, Madison Square Garden, and it included stars such as Artis Gilmore, Bill Cartwright and Michael Ray Richardson. The Bulls won game one and went on to win the series, playing Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the next round. Theus scored 37 points in the clincher against New York, an overtime victory in the Windy City. But it was a thrill he never quite felt again.While Theus made the playoffs three more times in his long career, he never again featured in such a glitzy postseason showdown like Chicago versus New York. During his 13-years in the league, the he suited up for teams like the Kansas City and then Sacramento Kings (the team relocated to NorCal in 1985) and Orlando Magic. In a way, he was like a kettle moving from the front to the back burners. Indeed, more often than not, the NBA's glamour markets - cities like Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Chicago - get the attention. But those aren't its only teams, nor are they necessarily the places with the most success in any one season. Continue reading...
It is not just about honouring past victims. It is about battling those who want to take us backwardsYesterday, I led a private memorial service at George Floyd's graveside, along with his family, in Houston, Texas. Once that was over, we visited the housing project where Floyd and his siblings grew up.Half a decade after Floyd was taken from them, they were keen, as are we, to ensure his life and legacy will not be forgotten - and to remind the world why the fight for police accountability continues. Continue reading...
Hong Kong has called on the city's universities to open their doors to those affected by Donald Trump's attempted ban on foreign studentsHong Kong's education bureau has called on the city's universities to attract top talent" by opening their doors to those affected by the Trump administration's attempt to ban Harvard from enrolling international students.Last week the Trump administration revoked Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effectively banning the university from accepting foreign students. A US federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the government from enforcing the ban, which would have reportedly forced students currently enrolled and not graduating this year to transfer to another institution or lose their legal status and visa. Continue reading...
An air of complicity has prompted new rhetoric from UK and EU leaders. But it won't redeem them - or change history's courseWhy now? That's the question. Why now, after 19 months of relentless assault that was plain for all to see, and declared by Israeli authorities themselves, has the tide begun to shift on Gaza?The marked change in tone this past week from leaders in the UK and EU is a clear break from the pabulum of concerns" and reiterations of Israel's right to defend itself. Now the rhetoric is that Israel's actions are morally unjustifiable" and wholly disportionate", and the threats of its leaders abhorrent". Some of this is future-proofing. The war has amounted to genocide and ethnic cleansing in ways that are increasingly undeniable, indefensible and unspinnable. Some had a good go at it for a year and a half, but now cannot stand at a lectern or sit at a dinner table and argue that, yes, actually, there is an argument for killing 100 people a day, as was the case last week. Or that Israel has any plan other than what its leaders have consistently declared to be one of displacement and settlement. Long gone is the argument that this is simply about wiping out Hamas. Israel, as one British media ally lamented, has hung its friends out to dry.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The decision marks a U-turn for Trump, who said days ago that he was not looking for a deal' to scrap the tariffs - key US politics stories from Sunday 25 May 2025Donald Trump will delay his threatened 50% tariffs on all European Union imports into the US, after what he described as a very nice call" with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.Von der Leyen wrote that she had a Good call with POTUS" in a social media post announcing she had secured a tariff delay of more than a month, to 9 July, to give both sides more time to negotiate.Catching up? Here's what happened on 24 May 2025. Continue reading...
US president criticises Putin and Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader condemned his silence' over attacksDonald Trump has warned that if Vladimir Putin attempts to conquer all of Ukraine, it will lead to the downfall" of Russia, while also criticising Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a Sunday night post on Truth Social.I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" Trump wrote in a social media post, adding, I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!" Continue reading...
Joseph Neumayer deported by Israeli officials after three molotov cocktails found in bag, justice department saysFederal officials say agents arrested a man on Sunday accused of attempting to firebomb the Tel Aviv branch office of the US embassy in Israel, a justice department press release said.According to a news release from the US justice department, Joseph Neumayer - a dual US and German citizen - was arrested at John F Kennedy airport in New York after being deported by Israeli officials. Continue reading...
Proposal would move security under judges' control as justice department has vowed loyalty to TrumpFederal judges are discussing a proposal that would shift the armed security personnel responsible for their safety away from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and under their own control, as fears mount that the Trump administration is failing to protect them from a rising tide of hostility.The Wall Street Journal revealed on Sunday that the idea of creating their own armed security detail emerged at a meeting of about 50 federal judges two months ago. A security committee at the twice-yearly judicial conference, a policymaking body for federal judges, raised concerns about the increasing number of threats against judges following Trump's relentless criticism of court rulings against his policies. Continue reading...
Leslie O'Neal of Georgia pulled over college student who then spent more than two weeks in federal immigration jailA Georgia police officer resigned from his job on Friday after erroneously pulling over a teenager, causing her to spend more than two weeks in a federal immigration jail, and leaving her facing deportation.The officer, Leslie O'Neal, was employed at the police department in Dalton, a small city more than an hour north of Atlanta. Continue reading...
Minneapolis site where Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin in 2020 faces tense debate over how best to honor his legacyLast May, Roger Floyd and Thomas McLaurin walked the lengths of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, passing a roundabout with a garden, and a vacant gas station with a large sign that read: Where there's people there's power." Though it had been four years since the murder of George Floyd, their nephew and cousin, respectively, concrete barriers erected by the city to protect the area still cordoned off the corner of the street where he was killed by the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on 25 May 2020.Behind those barriers stands a memorial with a black-and-white mural of George Floyd on the side of a bus stop shelter. That's my blood that was laying there taking his last breath. What was he going through?" McLaurin recalled thinking as he stood in front of the mural. Flowers and stuffed animals from visitors surrounded the memorial. Roger said he was struck with a range of emotions from sadness to peace. You think about the racist demeanor that these individuals had toward him, and it was just like his life did not matter," he told the Guardian. The entire space to me is just sacred." Continue reading...
Prominent US senators warn Trump to get serious' about addressing budget deficit or they will block beautiful bill'Donald Trump has been warned by fiscal hawks within his own party in the US Senate that he must get serious" about cutting government spending and reducing the national debt or else they will block the passage of his signature tax-cutting legislation known as the big, beautiful bill".Ron Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who rose to prominence as a fiscal hardliner with the Tea Party movement, issued the warning to the president on Sunday. Asked by CNN's State of the Union whether his faction had the numbers to halt the bill, he replied: I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit." Continue reading...
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