AP US Politics News

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — When Donald Trump delivered the first White House address of his second presidency Wednesday night, all major U.S. networks beamed his image and voice onto their airwaves, cable feeds and online platforms. Americans ended up watching the Republican president stand in the Diplomatic Reception Room and deliver

By SEJAL GOVINDARAO Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Camdyn Glover used to be a quiet conservative. She worried what her teachers would think or if she would lose friends over her convictions. But she said something changed when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, and she started crying in her classroom at Indiana University while

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — She had worked 22 days straight in her job as a technician at an engine plant to save up, and now Daijah Bryant could finally do what she was putting off: Christmas shopping. Bryant pushed her cart out of a Walmart in Rocky Mount, North

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press References in U.S. Coast Guard policy calling hate symbols “potentially divisive” were removed Thursday, and a U.S. senator said she was lifting a hold she had placed on a nomination for the service’s top job. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said on social media

NEW YORK (AP) — One of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ’s appointees has resigned over social media posts she made more than a decade ago that featured antisemitic tropes, Mamdani’s office said Thursday. In a statement, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was tapped this week to join the incoming administration, said she expressed

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Four-term North Carolina Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, a towering figure in North Carolina politics in the late 20th century who helped leaders from both major parties strive for public education reform, died Thursday at the age of 88, his daughter Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt announced.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — TikTok has signed agreements with three major investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22,

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department sued three states and the District of Columbia on Thursday for not turning over requested voter information to the Trump administration. The latest lawsuits were filed against Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and the District of Columbia. The Justice Department has now filed 22

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a request for a preliminary injunction to close an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying a detainee who asked for the order hadn’t shown he was suffering irreparable harm at the facility. U.S. District Judge

By FREIDA FRISARO and DANIEL KOZIN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Democrat Eileen Higgins was sworn in Thursday as Miami’s first female mayor, two weeks after defeating a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump. Higgins also becomes the first Democrat in almost 30 years to lead the city of 487,000 people. She replaces Republican Francis

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani can claim multiple firsts when he becomes New York’s mayor Jan. 1. Besides being the first Muslim and first person of South Asian heritage elected to the office, the Democrat also is poised to shape city history by being the 112th mayor — rather

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats will not issue a postelection report on their 2024 shellacking after all. The Democratic National Committee head has decided not to publish a formal assessment of the party’s defeat that returned Donald Trump to power and gave Republicans complete control in Washington. Ken Martin, a Minnesota

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats released several dozen more photos Thursday from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, showing his associations with the rich and famous, as the Department of Justice faces a deadline to release many of its case files on the late financier by the

By MATT O’BRIEN and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press The parent company of President Donald Trump’s Truth Social media platform is merging with a fusion power company, an unusual pairing of the Trump name with a futuristic clean energy venture that aims to power the next wave of artificial intelligence. Trump Media & Technology announced its

By The Associated Press The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans. The sweeping proposals — the most significant moves this administration has taken so far to restrict the use

By ANNIE MA AP Education Writer SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When the funding for Shannon Johnson’s job as a school mental health counselor came to an abrupt end, two years into a five-year grant, she thought about the work left to be done. Johnson taught elementary and middle-school students in rural Kentucky how to navigate

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer It has never been unusual for the leader of the host country to show up for one of the biggest moments of soccer’s World Cup — the gala where the team pairings are revealed. What made President Donald Trump’s appearance this month different was the “FIFA Peace Prize.” The

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A simmering battle over the future of President Donald Trump’s political movement exploded on one of the right’s biggest stages Thursday, as prominent conservative influencers used Turning Point USA’s annual youth conference to attack each other and their competing visions. The feuding threatened to eclipse efforts

By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s glowing account of progress under his watch Wednesday was out of tune with the experience of price-squeezed Americans and the story told by some of his government’s own statistics. In a speech from the White House, Trump assailed the record of his Democratic predecessor

By ED WHITE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy for minors who are LGBTQ+, declaring it violates the First Amendment rights of therapists and counselors. In a 2-1 opinion, the court said the law illegally restricts speech that reflects the moral beliefs of therapists.

By JOSH FUNK AP Transportation Writer The Senate moved quickly Wednesday afternoon to close a loophole that could allow military aircraft to fly without broadcasting their locations just like an Army helicopter was doing last January before it collided with an airliner over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Just hours after passing a massive defense

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Four moderate House Republicans — from swing districts Democrats are already eyeing for next year’s midterms — have broken ranks with Speaker Mike Johnson, signing on to Democrats’ petition to force a vote on extending health care subsidies that expire at the end of this year. From battleground districts in

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER Associated Press The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina achieved a goal more than a century in the making on Wednesday when it secured federal recognition as a tribal nation through the passage of a defense bill in Congress. The state-recognized tribe, whose historic and genealogical claims have been called into question

By SOPHIE BATES Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A 33-year-old antitrust lawyer with ties to major Democratic politicians is challenging U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson to represent Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district. Evan Turnage is the latest in a trend of young Democrats looking to oust the party’s old guard and rebrand the party after the

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate gave final passage Wednesday to an annual military policy bill that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela. The annual National Defense Authorization

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press The U.S. Treasury asked major philanthropic donors to contribute to new investment accounts for children Wednesday as part of what Secretary Scott Bessent called a “50 State Challenge” to raise funds for the Trump Accounts program. “The president is calling on our nation’s business leaders and philanthropic organizations to help

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former University of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign for lieutenant governor of Alabama to pursue a sports-related opportunity. McCarron did not disclose the details of the new position but said “football is calling my name once again.” The announcement