AP US Politics News

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press On the campaign trail, Donald Trump used contentiousness around transgender people’s access to sports and bathrooms to fire up conservative voters and sway undecideds. And in his first months back in office, Trump has pushed the issue further, erasing mention of transgender people on government websites and

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A University of Minnesota international student is being detained by U.S. immigration authorities, school leaders said in a statement this week. University leadership said Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the graduate student Thursday at an off-campus residence. They described the situation as “deeply concerning.” The student is enrolled in business school at

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

By GARY FIELDS and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Most employees at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank now taken over by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, received email notices of their mass firing, the latest step in the Trump administration’s government downsizing. The emails, sent

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The sun was shining outside President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course on Saturday morning when Alan Mentser got a call letting him know that police were shutting down a road nearby. It was almost time to “show the boss a little love.”

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to change how U.S. elections are run is creating uncertainty for state and local election officials and worries about voter confusion before the next federal election, the 2026 midterms. Election officials were already dealing with the loss of some cybersecurity

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appellate court denied the state Democratic attorney general’s request to stop billionaire Elon Musk from handing over $1 million checks to two voters at a rally planned for Sunday, just two days before a closely contested Supreme Court election. The denial Saturday by the

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The most important Republican in New Jersey’s race for governor this year might well be a part-time resident of Bedminster who burnished his reputation and his brand near the Atlantic City Boardwalk. “Donald Trump is the X factor in this GOP primary,” said Ben Dworkin, director

By ADAM GELLER AP National Writer When President Donald Trump signed an order calling for the deportation of foreign students who participated in “pro-jihadist” protests of the war in Gaza, some supporters of the crackdown were already working to identify targets for expulsion. Here are some key takeaways about the efforts by pro-Israel private groups

By ADAM GELLER AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When a protester was caught on video in January at a New York rally against Israel, only her eyes were visible between a mask and headscarf. But days later, photos of her entire face, along with her name and employer, were circulated online. “Months of

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With the promise of newer, cheaper nuclear power on the horizon, U.S. states are vying to position themselves to build and supply the industry’s next generation as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and paving over regulatory obstacles. Advanced reactor designs from competing firms are filling up the

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s order accusing the Smithsonian Institution of not reflecting American history notes correctly that the country’s Founding Fathers declared that “all men are created equal.” But it doesn’t mention that the founders enshrined slavery into the U.S. Constitution and declared enslaved persons as three-fifths of

By JOSHUA GOODMAN, JIM MUSTIAN and SARAH RAZA Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — As then-Gov. Kristi Noem crisscrossed the country — stumping for President Donald Trump and boosting her political profile beyond her home state — she refused to reveal what her extensive travel was costing taxpayers. In the weeks since Noem became

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and three other people were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a Black Mass in the rotunda. About 30 members of the Kansas City-area

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University’s interim president Katrina Armstrong has resigned, returning to her post running the New York school’s medical center. Armstrong’s return to her former job as CEO of Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center comes days after Columbia agreed to a host of policy changes demanded by the Trump administration as a

By STEPHANY MATAT Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds — backed by President Donald Trump — opened his campaign Friday evening at a rally in his hometown of Bonita Springs in southwest Florida. Donalds spoke to local residents at Sugarshack, a live music venue and restaurant in downtown Bonita

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before Watson was due to report to prison for a nearly 10-year sentence in a financial conspiracy case. Watson was convicted last year in a closely watched case

By JILL COLVIN and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk’s unprecedented efforts to bolster the conservative candidate in next week’s hotly contested Wisconsin Supreme Court race ran into legal hot water Friday amid accusations that he had broken state election law. Musk announced late Thursday that he planned to hold

By JACK BROOK Associated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An expanse of Gulf Coast federal waters larger than the state of Colorado was unlawfully opened up for offshore drilling leases, according to a ruling by a federal judge, who said the Department of Interior did not adequately account for the offshore drilling leases’

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission to the service institution, a response to an executive order by President Donald Trump, according to federal court documents made public Friday. The change in policy was made in

BOSTON (AP) — A Tufts University doctoral student who was detained this week can’t be deported to Turkey without a court order, a federal judge in Massachusetts said on Friday. Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken by masked immigration officials as she walked along a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville on Tuesday. Ozturk was

By NADIA LATHAN Associated Press/Report for America AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The race to fill a Texas congressional seat has candidates but no election date more than three weeks after Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death left a vacancy in a stronghold for Democrats, who are eager to cut into Republicans’ narrow U.S. House majority. Turner, a

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year for fraud, was pardoned by President Donald Trump, the White House confirmed Friday. The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Planned Parenthood on Thursday resumed surgical abortions in St. Louis, months after voters in November enshrined abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution. The same day, the state health department effectively blocked medication abortions throughout Missouri. The decision leaves abortion access in Missouri in a confusing state:

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer President Donald Trump’s FCC commissioner said Friday he’s opening an investigation into the Walt Disney Co. and its ABC television network to see whether they are “promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the probe in a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger on Friday.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin attorney general sues in attempt to block Elon Musk from handing out $1 million to voters.

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge challenging the outcome of his North Carolina Supreme Court race was photographed wearing Confederate military garb and posing before a Confederate battle flag when he was a member of a college fraternity that glorified the pre-Civil War South. The emergence of the

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By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah became the first state to prohibit flying LGBTQ+ pride flags at schools and all government buildings after the Republican governor announced he was allowing a ban on unsanctioned flag displays to become law without his signature. Gov. Spencer Cox, who made the announcement late

By MATTHEW BROWN, HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and MEAD GRUVER Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah has become the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warn the move will lead to medical problems that disproportionately affect low-income communities. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox