Trump administration

December 12, 2025 1:22 PM

US strategy shakeup asks tough questions of Germany and Japan

As the final session began at last month's Berlin security conference, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said he looked forward to the day when Germany would volunteer to take over the role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the officer who would lead the alliance in a major conflict. It prompted some consternation on the panel, and even more beyond. The senior German speaker, NATO Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wien, Berlin’s military representative to the EU, was taken aback. While Ge...

December 12, 2025 1:08 PM

Trump plan to require social media handles from Europeans and other expedited travelers sparks pushback

A U.S. travel association, a top Democrat, and would-be travelers from Europe and Australia are bristling at President Donald Trump's new plan to require Europeans and other visitors using the visa waiver program to provide social media handles used over the past five years. The change, announced in a U.S. government notice this week and effective February 8, would require travelers from countries in the visa waiver program to submit the social media data. Applicants for immigrant and non-immig...

December 12, 2025 12:57 PM

Trump administration unlawfully cancelled disaster prevention program, US judge rules

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration unlawfully terminated a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program designed to protect states and communities against natural disasters before they occur. U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston sided with 20 mostly Democratic-led states in finding that the Republican president's administration lacked authority to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and use money Congre...

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...

November 7, 2025 10:46 AM

Trump administration must fully fund food aid benefits by Friday, US judge rules

A federal judge ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to fully fund this month's food aid for 42 million low-income Americans by Friday, blocking its plan to only provide reduced benefits during the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island accused the administration of withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, for "political reasons" as he ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to f...

November 2, 2025 9:32 AM

Trump administration must pay food aid benefits within days, judge says

A federal court in Rhode Island on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to make full food aid benefit payments by Monday, or partial payments by Wednesday, while acknowledging the "irreparable harm" that exists without their timely payment. The Rhode Island case is one of two lawsuits filed to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture's suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, which aid low-income Americans. In a ruling issued on Frida...

October 30, 2025 10:33 PM

States urge US judge to block Trump administration from suspending food benefits

A federal judge in Boston began hearing arguments on Thursday on whether she should block President Donald Trump's administration from moving forward with plans to fully suspend food aid for millions of Americans starting on Saturday amid the ongoing government shutdown. Lawyers for 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia during a hearing in Boston urged U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use $5.25 billion in contingency funds to pay ...

August 13, 2025 2:40 PM

Judge orders Trump administration to restore part of UCLA’s suspended funding

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered President Donald Trump's administration to restore a part of the federal grant funding that it recently suspended for the University of California, Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco ruled that the grant funding suspensions violated an earlier June preliminary injunction where she ordered the National Science Foundation to restore dozens of grants that it had terminated at the University of California. That order had blocked the agency fr...

August 7, 2025 11:03 AM

UCLA says Trump administration froze $584 million of its federal funding

President Donald Trump's administration has frozen $584 million in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA said on Wednesday after the government reprimanded the university over pro-Palestinian protests. The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza. The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests. Large demonstrations to...

July 18, 2025 12:13 PM

US eyes ‘back to basics’ revamp of G20 when it assumes presidency next year

The United States aims to pare the Group of 20 major economies back to its financial roots next year when it takes over the rotating presidency from South Africa, sources familiar with the Trump administration's plans said. Washington has scaled back its participation this year, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipping a G20 finance chiefs' meeting that started in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday, his second absence from an event this year. Experts and administration sources say the abs...