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By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — The Virginia man accused of planting two bombs in Washington, DC, five years ago pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of transporting and attempting to use explosives. The DC federal court arraignment for the man, Brian J. Cole Jr., took place over a month after Cole was initially

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — A “grand stair” and new spaces for utilities, food service and deliveries are among the newly disclosed details for President Donald Trump’s sprawling East Wing expansion presented to a commission with oversight of the building plans on Thursday. For the first time, a proposal for the addition of a

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The US has seized another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, US Southern Command said on Friday. US troops, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, “launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident,” the command said in

By Jennifer Hansler, Stefano Pozzebon, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — A US State Department team traveled to Venezuela on Friday for the first time since the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, according to a US official. The visit comes as the US looks to reopen its embassy in Caracas and underscores the administration’s desire to re-establish

CNN By Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials at the National Security Council on Thursday as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale. Denmark’s Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland’s head of representation to the US

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance’s claim Thursday that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is “protected by absolute immunity” drew immediate pushback from experts who said the legal landscape around a potential prosecution is far more complicated. Speaking at the White House,

By Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Congress’ most liberal Democrats are pushing for an all-out fight to rein in President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policy after this week’s deadly shooting by an ICE officer in Minnesota — even if it means risking another government shutdown. But those progressives are running into resistance from

By Arit John, CNN (CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom used his final State of the State address Thursday to frame his state as a “beacon” of democracy and innovation, seeking to draw a sharp contrast with what he called the “carnival of chaos” in Washington under President Donald Trump. “In California, we’re not silent.

By Morgan Rimmer, Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — A small bloc of Senate Republicans has delivered a notable rebuke of President Donald Trump just days after his operation ousting Venezuela’s leader, voting to advance a resolution that would limit future US military force in the nation without Congress’ approval. Five Republicans on Thursday

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — Multiple Department of Homeland Security officials privately expressed shock Wednesday over the department’s immediate response to the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, seeing it as a break from precedent that generally points to an investigation before reaching a firm conclusion. Multiple current and

By Betsy Klein, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s sprawling new East Wing ballroom project has attracted widespread controversy — but promises to solve a problem identified by first families and their social secretaries on both sides of the aisle for decades. On Thursday, construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot space will take a

CNN By Morgan Rimmer, CNN (CNN) — GOP Sen. Thom Tillis had strong criticism for Stephen Miller Wednesday, going as far as to suggest the senior White House adviser’s job should be at risk for his recent comments on US control of Greenland. “Look either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump issued a stark threat to defense contracting companies Wednesday, saying he would seek to limit stock buybacks and executive salaries unless they improve their delivery of weapons systems to the US military, hours before saying he’s decided to substantially increase the defense budget. The pair of

By Morgan Rimmer, CNN (CNN) — GOP Sen. Thom Tillis had strong criticism for Stephen Miller Wednesday, going as far as to suggest the senior White House adviser’s job should be at risk for his recent comments on US control of Greenland. “Look either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he knows

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — As part of its claims of widespread fraud in the federal safety net, the Trump administration is halting $10 billion in funding for several programs in five Democrat-led states. The biggest chunk that’s being paused is $7 billion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants for California, Colorado,

By Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to in order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN. During conversations led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy

By Nic Robertson, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The US has seized an oil tanker linked to Venezuela after tracking it across the Atlantic, according to a social media post from US European Command. Originally called the Bella 1, the tanker was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for operating within a “shadow fleet” of

By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — On the heels of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump has ramped up his rhetoric around his desire to acquire Greenland, once again raising the prospect of military intervention, sparking fears across Europe and widespread condemnation. But while American expansionism has regained steam under

WJLA, WUSA, CNN By Annie Grayer, Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Five years after the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, the fundamental facts of that day continue to fuel deep divisions that have created dueling political realities. On Tuesday, members of the former January 6 select committee – whose final report concluded

By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans crowded into the Kennedy Center on Tuesday to hear President Donald Trump lay out his vision for the consequential midterm year ahead. Instead, they got plenty of grievances — and little sense of a plan. Trump, in a meandering speech that stretched for over an

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department on Monday said it has released 12,285 documents – less than 1% – of its Jeffrey Epstein-related files, with more than 2 million documents still being reviewed. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told a federal judge in a Monday court

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — Trump administration officials told lawmakers on Monday that then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were injured after hitting their heads as they were fleeing US forces trying to arrest them, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN. Maduro and Flores ran

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Hours after ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was formally charged with narcoterrorism and other offenses in New York, the Justice Department used the indictment at a federal courthouse 1,300 miles away in its effort to defend President Donald Trump’s ability to use a wartime authority to speed up some

By Sarah Ferris, Kate Bolduan, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN (CNN) — Doug LaMalfa, a longtime Republican congressman from Northern California, has died, House GOP leadership announced Tuesday. He was 65. As a fourth-generation rice farmer and business owner, LaMalfa was a respected voice in Washington on agriculture and rural communities, including as chairman of the Congressional

By Alex Stambaugh, Tami Luhby, Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is slashing $10 billion in funds for social services and child care in five Democratic-led states, according to a Health and Human Services official, with the agency suggesting without evidence that the funding has been used fraudulently. The freeze, first reported by

CNN By Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid for a third term Monday as a welfare-fraud scandal in his state has intensified and become a political flashpoint seized upon by President Donald Trump. “I can’t give a political campaign my all,” Walz told reporters at the state capitol

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The case against ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro hasn’t been able to move forward in the past six years. Now with his capture and first appearance in Manhattan federal court behind him, getting to trial could take even more years, with rings of unusual political and legal battles to

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Federal Emergency Management Agency leaders were told to prepare for a possible gutting of their workforce — by as much as half — in the coming months, according to an internal email sent to top FEMA officials last month. On December 23, dozens of senior FEMA leaders received a

By Natasha Bertrand, Alayna Treene, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, Avery Schmitz, CNN (CNN) — The US is making plans to try to intercept a fleeing oil tanker that Russia has claimed jurisdiction over, according to four people familiar with the matter, setting up a possible confrontation between Washington and the Kremlin over the vessel’s fate.

By Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny, Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday that she was actively weighing a bid for governor, a day after Gov. Tim Walz abandoned his re-election campaign as a welfare-fraud scandal in his state complicated his path to a third term. “I love my job, I love