35+ min ago (527+ words) Donation of $6.25bn for children's investment accounts prompts wave of questions " but details remain scarce A tech billionaire and his wife said on Tuesday they would pour $6.25bn into individual investment accounts for 25 million children under 10, prompting a wave of new questions about how these so-called "Trump accounts" will work. The creation of these accounts was included as part of Donald Trump's massive tax and spending bill, which he signed into law in July. Every child born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2028, can receive a Trump account that includes a $1,000 initial deposit from the administration. The money will then be invested. "Trump accounts will be the first " I guess you could say " first real trust funds for every American child, allowing family members, employers, corporations, generous donors to contribute money that will be invested and grow," Trump said in a press conference at…...

2+ hour, 22+ min ago (497+ words) Fourteen workers who signed a petition that warned cuts put the US at risk were initially suspended in August The Trump administration is reversing the reinstatement of workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) who were placed on administrative leave after writing an open letter of dissent. Fema in August suspended 14 workers who signed a petition warning that cuts to the agency were putting the nation at risk of repeating the mistakes made during the botched response to 2005s Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Last Wednesday, those 14 workers received notices that they were being reinstated at the beginning of this week. But within hours, Trump officials moved to re-suspend the staffers, after CNN broke the news of their return to work. Jeremy Edwards, former deputy of public affairs at Fema who signed the August petition, said the reversal "represents the…...

2+ hour, 38+ min ago (140+ words) President Donald Trump has said he didn't know anything about a second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on 2 September. He also stood by his defence secretary, saying Pete Hegseth didn't know a US navy admiral had ordered a second strike. Hegseth also denied knowledge of it, but stated the admiral 'had the complete authority' to launch itUS politics live Continue reading... Trump says he and Hegseth didn't know about second strike on alleged Venezuelan drug boat " video President Donald Trump has said he didn't know anything about a second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on 2 September. He also stood by his defence secretary, saying Pete Hegseth didn't know a US navy admiral had ordered a second strike. Hegseth also denied knowledge of it, but stated the admiral 'had the complete authority' to launch it...

8+ hour, 41+ min ago (745+ words) US paused asylum decisions, halted Afghan visas, and will review green card requests after national guard shooting News that the Trump administration has paused asylum decisions, halted visas for Afghans who assisted the US war effort and is reevaluating green card applications for people from countries "of concern" has left asylum seekers across the US reeling " and pushed deeper into limbo. "People say that fear travels faster than information. And that's exactly what has happened," said Reza Hussaini, a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan who came to the US in 2022 and is still awaiting an interview to evaluate his case. The new rules could affect nearly 1.5m pending asylum cases with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Legal experts expect that the broader asylum pause and other policy changes will face challenges in court. Advocates have warned that the administration's…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (1627+ words) You've heard of caregivers in the sandwich generation. In this anti-compassion Trump 2.0 era, it's more like a triple-decker sandwich. Alissa Quart has experienced this first-hand It was a crisp autumn day day, but I had been trapped inside for hours, breathing the cold air of one of Memorial Sloan Kettering's cancer centers with my mom. We were waiting for her latest infusion to finish dripping. Time in hospitals moves differently " minutes stretch and lose their meaning. Meanwhile, my daughter kept calling. Would I be able to go to her school volleyball game? After a few calls, I had to break it to her: the answer was no. I sighed and resigned myself to only worry about what I could control for the next few hours, which might be the fifth-floor machine where I pressed buttons and made milky coffees for…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago (629+ words) Even a close second could be a bellwether of Republican loss of control of House of Representatives in midterms Fresh off a wave of successes in November's off-year elections, Democrats are angling for an audacious victory in a Republican-heavy Tennessee congressional district where an upset win could amount to a major blow against Donald Trump's legislative agenda. Voters on Tuesday will cast ballots in a special election to replace Mark Green, a Republican representing a middle Tennessee district who resigned from Congress in July. Drawn by the state's Republican leaders to ensure its voters favored their party, the district last year backed Trump and Green by 22-point margins. "We still expect that the Republican will prevail, but would not be surprised if it were a single-digit race," said Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at the Cook Political Report…...

2+ day, 4+ hour ago (384+ words) President plans to honor Sarah Beckstrom, who was fatally shot, as well as Andrew Wolfe, who is in critical condition Donald Trump said on Sunday that he invited the family of a national guard member fatally shot last week to the White House, adding that he spoke to her parents and they were "devastated. US army specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in a shooting on Wednesday in Washington DC. Her fellow service member, US air force staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Vigils across West Virginia have taken place in their memory. The president said he's discussed a White House visit for the parents of both members of the West Virginia national guard. "I said: "When you're ready, because that's a tough thing, come to the White House. We're going to honor Sarah, Trump told reporters. "And likewise…...

2+ day, 20+ hour ago (524+ words) Venezuela responds defiantly to Trump comments about closing airspace above country, saying it doesn't accept foreign orders or threats The Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump's statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed. In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump's comments were a "colonialist threat" against their sovereignty and violated international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats. Here are the key stories: Trump on Saturday, in a Truth Social post said: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY." Due to Trump's announcement, all migrant deportation flights were "unilaterally suspended", the Venezuelan government said. Deportation…...

3+ day, 8+ hour ago (1256+ words) People implicated in the late sex offender's crimes might face criminal charges or, at the very least, social ostracism As the clock ticks toward the congressionally mandated deadline of 19 December by which Donald Trump's justice department must release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, there is intense speculation about the contents of these documents " but also questions as to what happens when they are released. The US president on 19 November signed a bipartisan bill requiring that the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, disclose these documents to the US public within 30 days. Given that other tranches of materials related to the disgraced financier included damning correspondence with high-profile individuals, many expect that still more names of the rich, famous and powerful will be named. Victims of Epstein and their advocates, including an overwhelming majority of Congress, have expressed hope that they…...

3+ day, 17+ hour ago (629+ words) In the wake of the deadly Washington DC shooting, Trump claimed immigrants are "destroying everything America stands for. Heres what the data shows Donald Trumps hateful, falsehood-filled rant on Thursday blaming immigrants for crime, "social dysfunction" and economic hardship is refuted by a wide range of immigration statistics, which show clearly that immigrants dramatically bolster the US economy and commit crimes at far lower rates than people born in the US. On Thursday evening, Trump condemned immigrants in a broad and vicious invective, painting them as "illegal and disruptive populations" and attacking "those that hate, steal, murder and destroy everything that America stands for". He vowed to block all migration from "third world countries" to allow the "US system to fully recover". The presidents post follows a deadly shooting in Washington DC on Wednesday in which one National Guard member…...