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By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has been envisioning a new ballroom on the White House campus for a decade and a half. His dream is about to become a reality. Construction will begin in September on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, his press secretary announced Thursday, fulfilling a 15-year ambition by

By Nicky Robertson, Morgan Rimmer, CNN (CNN) — Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday dismissed a dustup with President Donald Trump over a stock trading bill to a misunderstanding, saying he’d spoken with the president in the hours after he dressed him down as a “second-tier senator” and the pair had a good conversation. Trump

By John Fritze, CNN Kansas City, Missouri (CNN) — Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday defended the way the Supreme Court is handling the flood of emergency cases that has reached its docket during President Donald Trump’s administration, pushing back on mounting criticism that the court is often resolving those disputes with little to no explanation.

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — A senior Trump administration official stated Thursday that President Donald Trump is not currently considering clemency for Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell after the president has repeatedly left the door open on the matter in recent weeks. “No leniency is being given or discussed. That’s just false. The President

By Eva McKend, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will release a book in September about her historic campaign for president. “What the world saw on the campaign trail was only a part of the story,” Harris wrote in a social media post about the book’s release. The book — called “107 Days”

CNN By Lauren Fox, Katelyn Polantz, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Senate Democrats are using an arcane procedural tool to try to force the Department of Justice to release additional files from the Jeffrey Epstein case – the latest gambit to keep the issue front-and-center as lawmakers prepare for their month-long August recess. In a

By Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is targeting Iran’s oil sales by sanctioning a vast shipping empire that is run by the son of a top political adviser to the country’s Supreme Leader, ramping up pressure on Iran following the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last month. “Today, Treasury

By Nicky Robertson, CNN (CNN) — Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley voted with Democrats Wednesday to advance his bill to ban US lawmakers from stock trading, over the opposition of other Republicans on the panel and drawing the ire of President Donald Trump. The question of whether lawmakers should be allowed to trade stocks has

By Betsy Klein and Ethan Schenker, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has reached a multimillion-dollar agreement with Brown University to restore federal funding – its second major deal with an elite university after last week’s $221 million settlement with Columbia University. In return for Brown agreeing to several measures aimed at dismantling certain diversity,

By Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump is quietly discussing plans to host the 2026 G20 summit, a forum of the world’s largest economies, at his Doral golf club in the Miami area, a White House official told CNN. The idea has been discussed for weeks, the official said. CNN previously spotted an

By Angelica Franganillo Diaz (CNN) — Twelve Democratic members of Congress have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully obstructing their efforts to visit federal immigration detention centers. The complaint, filed Wednesday in Washington, DC, argues that a new Department of Homeland Security policy that requires seven days’ notice and limits

CNN By Edward-Isaac Dovere, Eva McKend, David Wright, CNN (CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that she would not run for governor of California in 2026, ending questions about her interest in the role but raising new ones about the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee’s plans for the future. “For now, my leadership

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a fresh push to improve Americans’ access to their own medical records, tasking dozens of major health and technology companies with solving an issue that has long bedeviled the federal government. The plan centers on a pledge that more than 60 companies have

By Katelyn Polantz, Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official who also defended Donald Trump in his criminal indictments, has been confirmed to a lifetime appointment as a federal appellate judge, despite accusations from a handful of whistleblowers accusing him of improperly overseeing cases for the administration. Bove’s nomination to

By CNN’s Betul Tuncer (CNN) — A town hall hosted by Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois on Tuesday was repeatedly interrupted by audience members shouting about the ongoing war in Gaza. The town hall comes as House members have returned to their districts for a weekslong district work period. The war in Gaza and

By Hannah Rabinowitz, David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department has fired two senior antitrust attorneys who disagreed with the handling of a merger between two powerhouse companies, two sources told CNN. The Monday firings came after weeks of tension between the officials, Roger Alford and Bill Rinner, and Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater,

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Senior citizens soon won’t be able to simply call the Social Security Administration to change their address or check the status of their benefit claim. Instead, they will have to first verify their identity online or go to a field office if they are unable to do so. In

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to testify before Congress, but with major conditions, including immunity, according to a list of her demands sent to the House Oversight Committee by her attorneys. House Oversight Chair James Comer subpoenaed Maxwell to testify next month. In a new letter sent

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration will allow federal workers to promote their religious beliefs to colleagues, display religious items at work and pray together or individually, according to a memorandum issued Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. The guidance, from OPM Director Scott Kupor, declares that federal agencies “should

By Devan Cole, John Fritze, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — After months of avoiding details about a divisive plan to end birthright citizenship, President Donald Trump’s administration is rolling out a series of new documents that offer a stark glimpse into how it would implement an executive order that upends the century-old understanding about the

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — Twenty states are suing the Trump administration, alleging that the Department of Agriculture is improperly attempting to gather sensitive personal information of low-income families across the country who use food stamps. The USDA has demanded information, including Social Security numbers and home addresses, from people who get credits from

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — Paul Dans, the main force behind the polarizing conservative blueprint Project 2025, is planning to challenge South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in next year’s Republican primary. Dans told CNN he will formally launch his campaign with a prayer breakfast Wednesday in Charleston. Graham, a close friend of President Donald

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, urged the Supreme Court on Monday to take up her pending appeal and overturn her sex-trafficking conviction, claiming she was covered by an agreement Epstein made with federal authorities that shielded her from prosecution. “This case is about what the government

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in Boston has widened her block on the Trump administration’s ability to enforce a provision of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy law that would defund Planned Parenthood’s health care services. US District Judge Indira Talwani ruled last week that the administration couldn’t enforce the funding

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Julia Benbrook, CNN (CNN) — Division between Republican lawmakers over the Jeffrey Epstein files continued to intensify even as President Donald Trump and his administration seeks to redirect scrutiny toward the president’s political foes and the 2016 election. Signs of mounting pressure to respond to calls for transparency appeared last week

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, contradicting the State Department’s claims that were used to justify backing a controversial private organization that took over aid distribution in the enclave. The analysis, conducted by the US Agency

By Donald Judd, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday making it easier for local jurisdictions to remove homeless people from the streets. The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees” that limit jurisdictions’ abilities to relocate homeless people. It also redirects

By Kara Scannell, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Federal prosecutors amassed millions of records during the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. The question of what is actually in those pages — and whether the public will ever see them — has become central to

CNN, POOL, FEDERAL RESERVE By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has told multiple associates and allies that there’s no chance he will bow to President Donald Trump’s calls for him to resign, vowing to withstand several more months of the president’s unprecedented, multi-pronged assault over Powell’s refusal to lower interest

By Paula Reid, Casey Gannon and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s fraught effort to install political appointees in permanent roles as US attorneys across the country gained momentum this week, as Republicans work to jumpstart a stalled confirmation process in the Senate, while the White House resorted to a novel legal maneuver