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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina's Chief Justice Transformed His State and America  —  In early 2023, Paul Newby, the Republican chief justice of North Carolina's Supreme Court, gave the state and the nation a demonstration of the stunning and overlooked power of his office.

Confirmation hearing delayed for Trump's surgeon general nominee as she goes into labor with her first child  —  The Senate hearing for President Donald Trump's nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, is postponed as the nominee goes into labor with her first child, according to a Senate Health …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Pentagon orders ‘quick reaction force’ of 500 troops per state: Reports  —  The National Guard is building a “quick reaction force” (QRF) of some 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by early next year, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets Wednesday.

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.

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

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 …

Yes, most Americans oppose the East Wing demolition.  But...  It's one of those sentences one can write about the second Trump administration that would have seemed ludicrously hyperbolic one year ago, but it is nonetheless true: The president of the United States unilaterally obliterated …

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 …

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.

How a Former Trump Golf Club Worker Was Mistakenly Deported to Mexico … Alejandro Juarez stepped off a plane in Texas and stood on a bridge over the Rio Grande, staring at the same border that he had crossed illegally from Mexico 22 years earlier.  —  As U.S. immigration officials unshackled …

Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally  —  Access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth will be dramatically restricted by the Trump administration under new proposals by the Department of Health and Human Services.  —  NPR has obtained the draft text …

New York City Mayor and New Jersey Governor 2025  —  New Jersey Voters Give Sherrill Slight Edge; Mamdani Holds 25-Point Lead over Cuomo in NYC  —  The final Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill surveys of the New Jersey election for Governor and the New York City election for Mayor find …

Revealed: ICE violates its own policy by holding people in secretive rooms for days or weeks  —  Guardian analysis finds ICE increasingly keeps people in holding rooms with little oversight, as some facilities see a 600% rise in detention length  —  Immigration officials …

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 …

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.