ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires … U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to spend $100 million over a one-year period to recruit gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts through online influencers …

The plot to redraw America … Donald Trump was confused.  —  His top political aide, James Blair, arrived in the Oval Office one afternoon this April to pitch a novel gambit: Republicans could begin padding their narrow U.S. House majority well before voters went to the polls in November 2026.

Trump vetoes bill to fund Arkansas Valley Conduit in Colorado  —  President Trump vetoed a bill to fund a pipeline project to bring clean drinking water to communities on the Eastern Plains between Pueblo and Lamar. … DENVER — President Donald Trump is using his first veto of his current term …

The Incident That Prompted Trump to Ban Epstein From Mar-a-Lago's Spa  —  Mar-a-Lago sent an 18-year-old spa worker on a house call to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.  She complained to her bosses that Epstein pressured her for sex.  —  Jeffrey Epstein wasn't just a frequent visitor to Donald Trump's Mar …

Kennedy Center changed board rules months before vote to add Trump's name  —  The new rules say only trustees appointed by the president can vote, barring other members, including Democrats who hold seats, from decisions.  The center said the change reflects “longstanding precedent.”

Comer wants Walz to appear before Congress amid Minnesota fraud allegations … “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota's social services programs,” Comer said in a statement.

Trump says construction of the ‘Triumphal Arch’ to begin in ‘2 months’ … The proposed structure — modeled loosely on European victory monuments — is one of several high-profile projects Trump has personally championed as part of the semiquincentennial celebrations, a sprawling effort expected …

Trump Spent the Past Year Trying to Crush Dissent  —  “We took the freedom of speech away.”  —  That was part of President Trump's explanation in October of his executive order that purports to criminalize burning the American flag.  Though his words fail as a constitutional rationale …

Unsealed: Abrego Garcia  —  The sealed order in the Abrego Garcia case that I wrote about in Sunday night's “The Week Ahead” column was unsealed today.  This is in the government's hastily manufactured criminal case against him, which seemed, at the time, to be some sort of face-saving gesture …

The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership  —  As President Trump sought a peace deal and Vladimir V. Putin sought victory, factions in the White House and Pentagon bled the Ukrainian war effort.

Phone Searches at U.S. Borders: What Travelers Need to Know  —  Customs agents have broad authority to search the electronic devices of travelers entering and leaving the U.S. Here are tips for keeping your data safe.  —  When U.S. border agents turned away a French scientist in March …

Former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona announces dementia diagnosis  —  Former Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona on Tuesday announced his withdrawal from public life following a dementia diagnosis.  Kyl, 83, represented Arizona in both chambers of Congress for nearly three decades.

Trump Mobile delays plan to launch gold-coloured smartphone this year  —  Move marks latest setback for project that originally promised to sell a US-made device  —  Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by the Trump Organization, has delayed plans to ship its gold-coloured smartphone by the end of this year.

U.S. vaccination rates are plunging.  Look up where your school stands.  —  Rocked by pandemic politics, the nation's shield against infectious disease is shrinking.  —  Before the pandemic, roughly half of counties had kindergarten vaccination rates high enough to prevent measles outbreaks.

Netanyahu raised possible “round 2” strikes on Iran with Trump  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possibility of attacking Iran again in 2026 during his meeting with President Trump on Monday, according to a U.S. official and two additional U.S. sources familiar with the details of the meeting.

Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza  —  The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations that will be banned Thursday didn't meet new requirements for sharing staff members, funding and operations information.

Justice Dept. Now Said to Be Reviewing 5.2 Million Pages of Epstein Files  —  The number represents a more precise, and potentially much larger, figure than earlier estimates.  The department is seeking to enlist about 400 lawyers to help in the review.  —  The Justice Department is seeking …

Immigrant Derangement Syndrome  —  Blaming brown-skinned people for everything bad  —  Americans suffered a litany of horrors thanks to the Trump administration during 2025 - refusal to disburse emergency aid, soaring measles cases, collapsing small businesses, vindictive prosecutions …

The many ways Zohran Mamdani's mayoralty could go wrong — fast … “Just like with FDR, it's the first 100 days that people remember,” said George Arzt, a lobbyist and public relations doyen who was the longtime spokesperson for the late Mayor Ed Koch.  “Everyday, I walked into City Hall and wondered what's going to happen.”

Even as Trump Targets Boats in Strikes, Coast Guard Continues Anti-Drug Operations  —  Cutters are still stopping smugglers and seizing drugs, but the prosecutions of go-fast boat crews are dwindling in a realignment of federal resources.  —  Long before the U.S. military began blowing …

Congressional Bill H.R. 504 Vetoed  —  I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 504, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act.  —  The subject of this bill is a specific area in the Everglades National Park known as the “Osceola Camp.”  In 1998, the Congress passed …

US fines for dirty money drop 61% as Trump retreats from enforcement  —  Total penalties imposed by financial watchdogs fell to $1.7bn in the year to December 19  —  US regulators collected 61 per cent less in fines for money laundering and sanctions breaches in 2025, after watchdogs took …

A Banner Year for Domestic and Global Censorship by the US  —  The Trump administration is using state muscle in unprecedented ways to suppress speech it dislikes  —  It's been a banner year for state-sponsored censorship in the name of “free speech.”  Just before Christmas …

Killing in the name of... nothing … In a good and just society, it would have been possible to bury Charlie Kirk without either threatening mass violence toward his enemies or making light of his death with a furry sex meme.  But America in 2025 did not remotely resemble a working society …

Stephen Miller Is The New Republic's 2025 Scoundrel of the Year … Is Stephen Miller failing?  —  True, Miller has amassed unprecedented power for a deputy White House chief of staff.  He exerts extraordinary influence over an unusually large swath of the government …

Which country is the banana republic now?  —  Democracies hold their leaders to account.  —  The roster of former presidents and prime ministers imprisoned or under indictment at the end of 2025 reads like a who's who of some of this young century's most powerful, prominent and even popular world leaders.