White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump's ballroom  —  The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn't ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.  —  Just now  —  Demolition crews have begun tearing down part of the White House …

Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts … Paul Ingrassia, President Donald Trump's embattled nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of fellow Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be …

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”  —  My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.  —  annabower.bsky.social  —  Meet The Authors … It was 1:20 p.m. on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 11.  I was lounging in my pajamas, idly scrolling through Netflix …

Some Republican Senators Entertain Nuking the Filibuster to End the Shutdown  —  “Obviously I'll look at any plan that anyone puts out in order to reopen the government,” Sen. Susan Collins told NOTUS, even as Republican leadership is firmly opposed to changing the filibuster rules.  — Copy

US appeals court lets Trump send troops to Portland  —  A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that Donald Trump can send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, despite objections by the leaders of the city and state, giving the Republican president an important legal victory …

ICE's ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits  —  President Donald Trump's plan to double the size of the ICE workforce has met a foe more powerful than any activist group.  It is decimating new recruits at the agency's training academy in Georgia.  It is the ICE personal-fitness test.

Ecuador says it has no evidence that survivor of US strike in Caribbean committed any crime … AP requested comment from the Attorney General's Office, but did not immediately receive a response.  —  The man was repatriated by the United States over the weekend following a U.S. military attack …

White House Scrambles to Preserve Gaza Deal Amid Concerns About Netanyahu  —  The Trump administration strategy is to try to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel from resuming an all-out assault against Hamas, U.S. officials said.  —  The White House scrambled to hold together …

All but 2 Universities Decline a Trump Offer of Preferential Funding  —  One of the two, Vanderbilt University, signaled it had reservations.  —  Seven of the nine universities that the White House initially approached about a plan to steer more federal money toward schools aligned …

Married Congressman had alleged affair with aide... before she set herself on fire: Bombshell revelation as police block release of 911 call and other evidence  —  Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales allegedly had an affair with a senior aide who later died after dousing herself with gasoline …

Massive Amazon cloud outage has been resolved after disrupting internet use worldwide  —  Add AP News to Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.  Share  —  Amazon says a massive outage of its cloud computing service has been resolved as of Monday evening …

Exclusive: Wide-ranging group of US officials pursues Trump's fight against ‘Deep State’  — Source says focus on retribution for J6 and Trump prosecutions, Russia probe  — Documents show nearly 40 people involved from across government  — ODNI says group was formed to implement Trump's order on weaponization

U.S. Banks Are Hunting for Collateral to Back $20 Billion Argentina Bailout  —  Banks are looking for assets or guarantees from the U.S. that would back a private-sector loan to support Argentine President Javier Milei  —  A group of banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America …

Russia sanctions bill on hold for now, Thune says  —  Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday that legislation slapping new sanctions on Russia and its trading partners is on hold until after an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine allies to Trump: Yes to freezing the line, no to changing borders  —  European leaders and Ukraine's allies issued a carefully worded warning to U.S. President Donald Trump early Tuesday over his lukewarm support for Kyiv, backing his call to halt fighting but rejecting any suggestion of territorial concessions to Moscow.

Perry Says Democrats ‘Hate the Military,’ Echoing Trump's Attacks  —  The remarks by Representative Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, align with efforts by the president and G.O.P. leaders to portray the political left as un-American.  —  Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania …

Maine Democrat running to unseat Susan Collins to stay in race after discovery of Reddit postings  —  Add AP News to Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.  Share  —  Old online comments made by a U.S. Senate candidate in Maine in which the candidate appeared …

The New York Times Argues “Moving to the Center Is the Way to Win.”  But the Data Shows the Strategy Is Tapped Out.  —  Democrats already run moderates in nearly every swing district.  It's not enough.  A data-driven response to the case for centrism as a core electoral strategy.

This Is Just the Internet Now  —  The slop is winning.  —  The prompts read like tiny, abstract poems. … I scroll; another appears: … The scenes come to life before my eyes in the form of AI-generated video.  In the first clip, clumsy lightning cascades out of a cloud and moves across the water and into my feed.

Scoop: Schumer cancels Southeast Asia trip amid shutdown … - People familiar with the matter told Axios the CODEL was cancelled due to the logistics of a trip potentially in the middle of a shutdown, when many workers involved in planning are furloughed.

Georgia's Sweeping Anti-Voting Law Suppressed Black Votes, New Data Shows  —  Four years after GOP lawmakers in Georgia enacted one of the most aggressive anti-voting laws in the country, new evidence filed in federal court shows that Senate Bill 202 (SB 202) has drastically deepened racial inequalities in voting access in the state.

Trump's AI memes testing limits between satire and misinformation … - “You can argue he's probably the most effective person who's ever used social media for that.”  — “He is using satire to make a point. … - Loggins joined a long list of artists condemning the Trump administration for using their work without permission.

Newsom says Trump 'endangering people's lives' as shutdown hits food benefits … The USDA did not immediately return requests for comment, citing staffing problems also due to the shutdown.  —  “Trump's failure to open the federal government is now endangering people's lives and making basic needs …

STAT+: Kaiser Permanente, DOJ nearing resolution in $1 billion Medicare fraud case  —  The Justice Department and Kaiser Permanente are nearing a deal in their behind-the-scenes negotiations over the government's claim that the California health care giant bilked Medicare out of $1 billion.