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December 12, 2025 12:53 PM

Trump threatens funding for states over AI regulations

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will withhold federal broadband funding from states whose laws to regulate artificial intelligence are judged by his administration to be holding back American dominance in the technology. "We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters, flanked by top advisers, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that 50 different regulatory regimes hamper the growth of the nascent industry. "To win, United States AI compani...

December 11, 2025 12:58 PM

US House committee approves Africa trade bill, no mention of South Africa exclusion for now

A U.S. House committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would renew for another three years Washington's preferential trade programme for Africa, and there was no immediate mention of excluding South Africa as the U.S. trade envoy had said was possible. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a law first enacted in 2000 to provide duty-free access to the U.S. market for eligible Sub-Saharan countries and products, expired in September and hundreds of thousands of African jobs are estima...

December 11, 2025 12:39 PM

US House backs massive defense policy bill, Senate next

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive defense policy bill on Wednesday authorizing a record $901 billion in annual military spending, paving the way for the must-pass measure to become law for a 65th straight year. The tally was 312-112 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, sending it for consideration by the U.S. Senate, which is expected to pass it next week. The $901 billion in defense spending is $8 billion more than President Donald Trump's request earl...

December 11, 2025 12:34 PM

Trump says he plans to name Gaza Board of Peace early next year

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that an announcement about which world leaders will serve on the Gaza Board of Peace should be made early next year. Trump told reporters during an economic event in the White House Roosevelt Room that a variety of leaders want to be on the board, which was established under a Gaza plan that set up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants. Trump said "the kings, the presidents, prime ministers - they all want to be on the Board of Pea...

December 11, 2025 12:41 PM

Trump launches gold card program for expedited visas with a $1 million price tag

President Donald Trump's administration officially launched his "Trump Gold Card" visa program on Wednesday to provide a pathway, with a steep price, for non-U.S. citizens to get expedited permission to live in the United States. The website Trumpcard.gov, complete with an "apply now" button, allows interested applicants to pay a $15,000 fee to the Department of Homeland Security for speedy processing. After going through a background check or vetting process, applicants must then make a "cont...

December 11, 2025 12:10 PM

US seizes sanctioned oil tanker off coast of Venezuela, Trump says

The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas. "We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening," said Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: "We keep...

December 10, 2025 4:52 PM

US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

President Donald Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, a Trump administration official said, threatening new U.S. sanctions on the court if it did not. If the court does not act on this U.S. demand and two others - dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of U.S. troops over their actions in Afghanistan ...

December 7, 2025 3:49 PM

US sets 2027 deadline for Europe-led NATO defense, officials say

The United States wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO's conventional defense capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week, a tight deadline that struck some European officials as unrealistic. The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a U.S. official, was conveyed at a meeting in Washington this week of Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy and several European delegations. The shi...

December 3, 2025 10:42 AM

Brazil’s Lula and Trump discuss trade, sanctions in phone call

U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed trade, the economy and fighting organized crime in a phone call on Tuesday, both sides said. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the two men also discussed sanctions - an apparent reference to his administration's targeting of Brazil's judiciary over the criminal case of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump said he and Lula "had a great talk. We talked about trade. We talked ab...

December 3, 2025 10:35 AM

Trump says any country trafficking drugs into US could be attacked

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said any country trafficking illegal drugs into the U.S. could be attacked. "Anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House, after raising the issue of cocaine from Colombia. Colombian President Gustavo Petro shot back at Trump in a post on X, arguing the South American nation destroys a drug-producing laboratory every 40 minutes - "without missiles." Trump has ...