Trump Administration

• The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration significant victories by allowing the termination of immigration protections for Syrians and Haitians. • The rulings further enable the administration to turn back asylum seekers at the southern border, reflecting a broader effort to tighten border controls. • Simultaneously, the president is pushing for the Save America Act to impose stricter voter ID requirements and curtail mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections.

Ruling comes amid drive by Republican administration to reshape rules around voting ahead of midtermsThe Trump administration’s plan to deny mail-in ballots to states that would not give their voter rolls to federal officials was blocked Thursday morning by a federal judge in Boston.US district judge Indira ⁠Talwani ruled that the provisions of an executive order issued by Donald Trump on 31 March requiring the postal service to require the use of a barcode tracking system for ballot envelopes tied to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data was unconstitutional. Continue reading...

Decision effects hundreds of thousands of people who have permission to live and work in the US because their home countries are unsafeSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe US supreme court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s bid to strip temporary protected status (TPS) from hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians, who were legally in the US and protected from deportation.People with TPS are given the permission to live and work in the US because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deemed their home countries to be unsafe due to war, political instability or natural disasters. In the past year, Trump officials have attempted to cut the program for various countries, opening the door to the removal of hundreds of thousands of protected immigrants in the US. Continue reading...

Administration claims website is resource for ‘new and expecting mothers’ but group of senators says it raises ‘profound’ health and safety concernsA group of 11 senators have sent a letter to Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy urging them to remove a federal website and “cease using federal resources to direct people to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers”.On Mother’s Day this year, the US Department of Health and Human Services launched Moms.gov, a resource they claim is for “new and expecting mothers” and “offers guidance and information to support the health and wellbeing of mothers and their families”. Continue reading...

• Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to stop allowing states to access a federal voter database that includes Social Security records. • The ruling comes after the judge found that states were "actively" using the data, creating a risk that eligible voters could be purged from rolls before an upcoming election. • The court determined that the federal government knowingly violated the privacy rights of American citizens and threatened the "sacred right to vote."

Central California US district court rejected claim policy was ‘unconstitutional’. Plus House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke on being sworn at by people wanting selfiesGood morning. A California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed ⁠by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance making it a “sanctuary city” and limiting ⁠its cooperation with federal ⁠immigration ​authorities.Fernando Olguin, a judge in the central California US district court, rejected the administration’s argument that the city’s policy was unconstitutional. ⁠He gave the administration permission to file an amended complaint. The White House did not ⁠immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.What did the city say about the victory? The Los Angeles ‌city attorney, Hydee ‌Feldstein Soto, said: “This order reinforces the well-established principle that local governments have the authority to decide how to use their personnel and resources. The goal of this ordinance … is to encourage victims of and witnesses to crime to feel safe coming forward to seek help from LAPD regardless of their immigration status. It does not obstruct or impede lawful federal immigration enforcement operations.”Why did both sides want the act to pass? The legislation comes as Democrats and Republicans prepare for November’s midterm elections, in which concerns about affordability are expected to loom large in the minds of voters. A shortfall in construction of new homes is seen as a key driver of housing costs, which have crept higher in recent years. Continue reading...

City hails victory after US officials sued over ordinance that limits LA’s cooperation with immigration authoritiesA California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed ⁠by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance limiting ⁠its cooperation with federal ⁠immigration ​authorities.Fernando Olguin, a judge in the central California US district court rejected the administration’s argument that the city’s policy was unconstitutional. ⁠He gave the administration permission to file an amended complaint. Continue reading...

Interior department insists water at Washington landmark is ‘crystal clear’ as witnesses report murky green poolUS federal government workers continue take on the green hue that has swept across Washington’s reflecting pool, an increasingly fiendish battle the Trump administration compared to its war with Iran.After Donald Trump ordered a $14.2m refurbishment to turn the monument “American Flag blue” in time for the country’s 250th birthday celebrations, the administration encountered a formidable foe: algae. Continue reading...

Move to dismantle $368m sea observatory initiative faced opposition from experts and lawmakersThe Donald Trump administration has reversed its decision to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system following an outcry from lawmakers and ocean experts.On Thursday, the National Science Foundation announced that it would halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, stating: “effective immediately, [it] will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance”. Continue reading...

Funds meant for Secret Service were transferred to project president promised would be financed by private donationsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s administration has quietly redirected $352m in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president’s controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be financed by private donationsThe funds were drawn from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature tax legislation passed last summer on Republican-only votes. The law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs, not construction. Continue reading...

Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator, joins Democrats in bid to stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories InitiativeUS politics live – latest updatesA group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters on Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally.The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386m. Over the last decade it has tracked ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change and extreme weather, producing data freely available to the public and informing more than 500 scientific publications. The project was slated to run another 15 to 20 years. Continue reading...

Environmental groups say exchange between US government and SpaceX would worsen ecological risksSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Environmental groups on Wednesday sued in an attempt to stop the Trump administration from giving SpaceX more than 700 acres (280 hectares) of wildlife refuge in Texas, claiming it would worsen ecological risks to a Gulf coast region already transformed by billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket operations.The US Fish and Wildlife Service this month approved moving forward with the deal with SpaceX, which would surrender 683 acres (276 hectares) the company owns in exchange for federal land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley national wildlife refuge. The 103,000-acre (41,700-hectare) refuge spans four counties along the Texas border and is home to animal habitats and historical landmarks. Continue reading...

• Senators Alex Padilla, Dick Durbin, and Sheldon Whitehouse have issued a warning regarding the Trump administration's potential use of election crimes prosecutions to interfere in the 2026 midterm elections. • The lawmakers are specifically criticizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the "quiet removal" of a long-standing manual that provides guidelines for election-related prosecutions. • This action is viewed as a significant risk to democratic integrity, as removing established protocols could allow for the selective or politically motivated prosecution of election officials and voters.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly proposed that the U.S. government take an equity stake in the company to ensure AI's economic benefits are shared with the public. • According to NOTUS, Altman first pitched this concept to President Donald Trump early last year, signaling a strategic effort to align the company with federal interests. • This move matters as it represents a potential shift in how the government interacts with private AI giants, moving from mere regulation to direct ownership or profit-sharing.

• The Union of Concerned Scientists is sounding the alarm over a proposed rule by the Trump administration aimed at exerting greater control over the federal scientific enterprise. • The organization argues that the move is a political attempt to redirect research toward a specific agenda, threatening the independence and integrity of federal science. • This shift is viewed as a risk to public health and safety, as federal funding through agencies like the NIH has historically led to critical breakthroughs in cancer treatment and pesticide reduction.

• The 2026 stock market is being primarily shaped by the Trump administration's policies, specifically focusing on tariffs, tax cuts, and oil prices. • Market performance is driven by a combination of corporate earnings, inflation rates, interest rates, and overall economic growth. • This environment highlights the importance for investors to focus on broad economic trends rather than reacting to isolated short-term events like single policy shifts or war headlines.

Deletion of the bureau’s website content is just the most recent part of a larger plan to ‘undermine an agency that’s helped people’The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau deleted at least 2,200 webpages from its website last month, a move advocates say is part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to dismantle the federal consumer finance watchdog.The removed content was all published before Trump’s second term, and includes press releases, consumer advisories, congressional testimonies, speeches and blog posts. Some of the material dates back to as early as 2010, when the agency was formed. Continue reading...

White House says caps will lower tuition costs, but critics say they will exacerbate the country’s nursing shortageSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailWhile the Trump administration has argued that new restrictions on the size of federal student loans will lower tuition costs, public health officials and Democrats say the measures will exacerbate the country’s serious nursing shortage.As such, a group of 24 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia recently sued the federal government seeking to block the new rule, which is set to take effect on 1 July. Continue reading...

• The Trump administration issued an executive order on Tuesday requesting that leading AI developers voluntarily submit their most capable models for government cybersecurity testing. • This initiative aims to identify vulnerabilities in powerful new AI systems, specifically citing models like Anthropic's Mythos, before they are released to the general public. • The move reflects growing security concerns in Washington regarding the potential risks and misuse of advanced artificial intelligence.

US claims world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in ‘unreasonable’ trade practices that ‘restrict US commerce’Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, charging that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable’’ and that “burden or restrict US commerce”.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he received the decision “with indignation”. The Brazil president also blamed the decision by the US administration on his rival in October’s elections, Flávio Bolsonaro, the senator who visited Washington last week. The senator is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, once nicknamed “the Trump of the Tropics” by his allies. Continue reading...

Rare reprieve for people protected by temporary protected status granted after administration misses deadlineThe Trump administration has extended protections shielding about 11,000 Lebanese people from deportation, allowing them to stay and work in the United States for another six months.The decision, announced Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), marked a rare reprieve for people protected by temporary measures that have been harshly criticized by Republicans. The extension comes amid ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. Continue reading...

Audit finds 99.7% of those registered to vote are US citizens as DoJ presses for access to information citing low removalsUtah released the results of a year-long audit of the state’s voter rolls, finding that the vast majority of its voters are verifiably US citizens, amid an escalating legal battle with the Trump administration over access to voter registration data.The audit, launched in April 2025, found that 99.72% of Utah’s registered voters are confirmed US citizens. Of the more than 2 million voter records reviewed, 27 individuals were identified as non-citizens and removed from the rolls. Only 13 of those individuals had ever cast a ballot. The review, released on Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson’s office, also flagged 25 probable non-citizens, who have been given 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or face removal from the voter rolls. Continue reading...

The overwhelming majority of those deported had no criminal convictions, and at least 600 were childrenIn late January, the Trump administration was planning a war in Iran, weighing possible airstrikes and staging aircraft carriers and other military ships in the region. Around that time, government officials deported 18 people to Iran, the last of them arriving just days before American and Israeli bombs began falling across the country.These deportations were the latest in an aggressive campaign to deport Iranians from the United States, the first time in recent history the US government had done so in large numbers. In the 13 months of Donald Trump’s presidency leading up to the war, the United States deported more than 200 people to Iran, even as the state department decried human rights abuses by the Iranian government and warned US citizens not to travel there “for any reason”. Continue reading...

Markwayne Mullin, DHS secretary, said move would come in response to protests outside ICE facility in New JerseyThe Trump administration has threatened to stop processing international flights in major cities around the country as a reaction to protests against immigration enforcement.Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said on Tuesday that the administration is “drawing up plans” to take the action, in response to days of clashes at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in New Jersey. Continue reading...

Refunds came after the supreme court ruled Trump overstepped his authority in enacting sweeping tariffsUS importers are expected to receive $85bn in tariff refunds after the supreme court struck down Donald Trump’s tariffs in February, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that collects tariffs.Importers and shippers have so far been refunded $20bn, according to court documents filed on Tuesday, with about $65bn more on the way. Continue reading...

The EPA said it was cutting Biden-era regulations on Pfas in drinking water, but advocates say the move will harm public health and benefit industryA new Trump administration plan to ditch Pfas drinking water regulations and instead attempt to destroy “forever chemicals” on a wide scale tears a page from the fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture playbook, and will benefit the industry while harming public health.The US Environmental Protection Agency last week announced it is moving to kill strong Biden-era drinking water limits around four Pfas compounds, and delaying implementation for two more. It represented a blow to public health – advocates say strong limits and a dramatic cut in the production of the dangerous chemicals are imperative. Continue reading...

• A survey by Rutgers University and partner institutions found Americans disapprove of Trump administration policies targeting science and medicine by a margin exceeding 2-to-1, reflecting broad public opposition. • The polling data indicates significant public concern about the administration's approach to scientific research funding and medical policy implementation. • The survey results underscore ongoing public health and science policy controversies during the current administration's tenure.

Judge called Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata’s deportation to the Democratic Republic of Congo ‘likely illegal’A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Colombian woman back to the US from the Democratic Republic of Congo, after she was deported to the African country that had refused to accept her.The deportation of Adriana María Quiroz Zapata “was likely illegal”, the US district judge Richard Leon ruled on Wednesday. Continue reading...