Anthony Zurcher and Tom Geoghegan BBC News, Washington BBC During last year’s presidential campaign, Donald Trump constantly repeated his intention to bring about dramatic change as soon as he returned to the White House. But few expected it to come at such breakneck speed. In the three months since he took the oath of office,...
Over the last couple of weeks, even as tariffs have wreaked havoc on markets around the world, President Donald Trump and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have repeatedly teased the notion of slapping hefty tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals. Lutnick has said these are likely to be introduced before the summer. Trump’s rationale for placing tariffs...
Donald Trump’s war with higher education escalated this week with a series of moves, including an executive order threatening to upend accreditation for Academia. Trump also continued to escalate demand on Harvard specifically, letting other universities know that the White House means business with its enforcement of the Civil Rights Act under its new interpretations....
Steve Rosenberg BBC Russia editor EPA/Kremlin A meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin appeared to be amicable in pictures released by the White House It was all smiles in the Kremlin. “It’s so good to see you,” gushed Steve Witkoff as he shook the hand of the Russian president. From his...
Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy.” The basic point of this is to undermine what is known as disparate-impact theory. Here’s how the executive order describes it. A bedrock principle of the United States is that all citizens are treated equally under the law. This principle guarantees...
The chancellor says she “understands what President [Donald] Trump wants to address” with his tariffs, ahead of talks with her US counterpart in Washington on Friday. Rachel Reeves said there were similarities with the way both the US and UK governments had come to power off the back of voter frustration with the economy. Speaking...
The White House’s anti-DEI decrees are too “vague and confusing” for educators to follow, the judge said. A federal judge has placed a partial injunction on the Trump administration’s attempts to limit schools and universities from enacting policies or curricula promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), finding that an executive order from President Donald Trump...
A group of 12 Democratic AGs have sued the Trump administration over the president’s tariffs. The group was led by the AGs from Arizona and Oregon but also included New York’s AG Letitia James. The legal challenge, led by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, seeks to halt the enforcement...
As green groups honor the 55th annual Earth Day on Tuesday, environmental leaders are highlighting the need to fight back against the detrimental climate policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and his “billionaire allies,” even as they brace for the possibility of further federal action that could hamper the climate movement. Since entering office, Trump...
David Brooks, a “conservative” columnist for The New York Times, famously reminisced about how he knew Barack Obama would become President of the United States right after he was elected Senator from Illinois. He even knew that Barack Obama would be a good president. What gave him this semi-prescient insight? (He was half right–Obama did...
Around 50,000 career civil servants would be reclassified as “at-will” employees and lose civil service protections. The largest federal labor union in the U.S. said Friday that tens of thousands of federal workers could soon “have their jobs politicized” and be swiftly fired under a new rule proposed by the Office of Personnel Management. Under...
Tens of thousands took to the streets across the United States on Saturday in a scathing indictment of Donald Trump’s mounting pile of attacks. These protests came just two weeks following the “Hands Off” protests that brought out millions of people across the country to the streets in coordinated actions, denouncing the administration’s attacks on...
Ukraine started today with, for once, the diplomatic wind in its sails. It had finally agreed a mineral deal “framework” with Washington. An agreement that would see the US invest in Ukraine’s recovery, in return for a share of the country’s future profits from its natural resources, energy infrastructure and its oil and gas. There...
Weeks after the Rutgers University Senate passed a resolution to form a “mutual defense compact” — aiming to band together with other universities to protect from the Trump administration’s attacks on academic freedom and free speech — university communities’ push for their schools to stand up to the White House is gaining momentum. Labor unions,...
Nick Marsh BBC News Reporting fromKuala Lumpur Astudestra Ajengrastri BBC Indonesian Getty Images South East Asia is on the frontline of Chinese exports to the US that are now looking for new markets When US President Donald Trump hit China with tariffs in his first term, Vietnamese entrepreneur Hao Le saw an opportunity. His company...