Trump orders Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons ‘immediately’  —  The U.S. voluntarily halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992, though it has the ability to resume tests at a site in Nevada.  —  GYEONGJU, South Korea — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had instructed the Pentagon to …

The Art of Letting Trump Claim a Win, While Walking Away Stronger  —  By withholding soybean purchases and rare-earth exports, China extracted relief from U.S. tariffs and delayed export controls, without conceding much in return.  —  When Xi Jinping walked out of his meeting with President Trump …

Republicans' refusal to fund SNAP will hurt their own voters most.  They don't care.  —  Do Republicans not care enough about the people who voted them into office to feed them next month?  —  We're 30 days into the government shutdown, and congressional Republicans don't seem to care enough …

It Sure Looks Like Kash Patel Used the FBI's Jet to Go on a Date … FBI Director Kash Patel met his girlfriend at Penn State this past weekend to watch a wrestling match—but his travel to the university stadium appears to have been on the American public's dime.

Florida Universities to Stop Hiring Foreign H-1B Workers Under DeSantis Plan  —  The governor's announcement follows a Trump administration plan to charge institutions $100,000 to bring in workers from other countries using the visas.  —  Gov. Ron DeSantis directed Florida education officials to …

Pentagon Orders National Guard to Establish Quick Reaction Forces for Civil Unrest, Riots  —  Move comes after Trump ordered expansion of military units for responding to domestic disorder  —  WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to create “quick reaction” …

Top Trump Officials Are Moving Onto Military Bases  —  Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and others have taken over homes that until recently housed senior officers.  —  The former white house adviser Katie Miller—mother of three young children, and wife of the presidential right-hand man Stephen …

British newspaper spoke to the wrong de Blasio, not an ‘imposter’  —  The Scoop  —  The man at the heart of a high-stakes mix-up that rippled through global political journalism in the final days of the New York mayoral campaign was neither “falsely claiming” to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio …

Most Americans oppose East Wing demolition for Trump ballroom, poll finds  —  Fifty-six percent say they oppose President Donald Trump's decision to tear down part of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom building.  —  Just now  —  Americans oppose President Donald Trump's demolition …

Binance Boosted Trump Family's Crypto Company Ahead of Pardon for Its Billionaire Founder  —  Giant crypto exchange facilitated $2 billion purchase of World Liberty's stablecoin and built its technology; clemency for Changpeng Zhao surprised some in administration

Exclusive: Three-star general pushed out amid tensions with Hegseth  —  A three-star general serving on the Pentagon's Joint Staff has been pushed out of his position following months of sustained tensions with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to people familiar with the matter.

National Guard orders in DC extended through February 2026  —  National Guard troops deployed in Washington, DC, will remain mobilized in the city at least through February 2026, according to people familiar with the guard's orders.  —  The troops' orders had been expected to lapse at the end …

Geert Wilders's Party for Freedom Loses Seats in Dutch Election  —  A center-left party was poised to become the country's largest political party, according to exit polls.  The anti-immigrant Party for Freedom, led by Mr. Wilders, was expected to lose 12 seats.

Trump nominee at U.S. export bank withdraws amid scrutiny of Russia ties  —  Bryce McFerran is a former senior executive at a steel-trading business co-owned by one of Russia's richest oligarchs and is married to a member of a Russian family with extensive ties to the Kremlin.  —  Just now

Farm-state Republicans finally reach their breaking point … So far, the burst of objections has not generated a U-turn from the administration, which is going ahead with a beef import plan that Trump officials argue will both lower steak and hamburger prices for American consumers …

JD Vance says only ‘really terrible’ people mistreat dogs - apparently forgetting his cabinet colleague shot hers dead  —  Vice President overlooks Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem's notorious execution of her puppy, Cricket in a discussion on animal cruelty and personal morality

Federal Workers Are Barely Making It Through the Government Shutdown  —  The US government shut down 30 days ago.  WIRED spoke with more than a dozen federal workers who have struggled to pay bills, worked side gigs, and relied on free food programs to get by.

Shifts in U.S. Social Media Use, 2020-2024: Decline, Fragmentation, and Enduring Polarization  —  View a PDF of the paper titled Shifts in U.S. Social Media Use, 2020-2024: Decline, Fragmentation, and Enduring Polarization, by Petter T\"ornberg  —  Using nationally representative data …

Jack Ciattarelli Called for ‘New Constitution’ to Bypass Courts, Legislators  —  Ciattarelli: “I really don't believe we can afford to allow the courts to decide our public policy anymore”  —  In a pair of 2020 interviews, Jack Ciattarelli called for a New Jersey constitutional convention to …

Americans have a secret weapon against Trump  —  A new strategy to stop business elites from bending the knee. … President Donald Trump is clearly unpopular: Most Americans disapprove of his performance and millions recently turned out for “No Kings” protests.

SCOOP: Trump Swaps Decorated Admiral With 33-Year-Old DOGEr  —  The highly unorthodox personnel change affects a critical government research role.  —  ∙ Paid  —  THE EXPERIENCED HEAD OF A CRITICAL OFFICE that helps organize important technical research and disburse billions of dollars …

Assemblies of God churches shielded accused predators — and allowed them to keep abusing children  —  NBC News uncovered a 50-year pattern of sex abuse, silence and cover-up in the world's largest Pentecostal denomination.  —  A children's pastor was caught filming girls in a church bathroom in Arkansas.

Jury Acquits Man Accused of Soliciting Trump's Murder on Bluesky  —  A jury took about two hours Tuesday to acquit a man accused of soliciting President Donald Trump's assassination on social media, a setback for the Justice Department office led by Trump's newly-installed loyalist Lindsey Halligan.

Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations  —  But the first step is getting the medical institution to properly break down all the items on the bill.

Mikie Sherrill Braces for Landing in New Jersey Governor's Race  —  During the Trump years, the Navy helicopter pilot soared.  Next stop, Trenton?  —  Almost a year ago, I wrote “A Very Rough Day in Jersey” in these pages about Donald Trump's surprisingly strong showing in the Garden State in the 2024 presidential race.

Ohio Republicans cut redistricting deal with Dems … Editorial photos provided by Getty Images.  Political ads courtesy of AdImpact.  —  PUNCHBOWL NEWS PRESENTS  —  Our new weekly show, Fly Out Day, brings you inside the most consequential decisions shaping Congress with the people at the center of the story.

Crockett inches toward Senate run … Crockett has raised her profile since first entering Congress in 2023 through memorable and divisive attacks on Republican opponents like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and President Donald Trump — becoming a frequent target of Trump's attacks in the process.

Oz: Coming spike in ACA premium payments ‘not the big issue’  —  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz downplayed on Wednesday the likely substantial increase in the amount Americans will pay for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) federal marketplace.

Air Pollution From Industrial Facilities Is Far Worse Than Estimated.  Trump Halted Efforts to Fix It.  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  Reporting Highlights