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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro portends greater U.S. involvement in the Western Hemisphere, both politically and economically.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump has insisted that the U.S. needs to annex Greenland for U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—The White House is weighing a last-ditch Iranian offer to engage in diplomacy over curbing its nuclear program even as President Trump currently leans toward authorizing fresh military strikes on Iran, U.S. officials say.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Justice Department’s investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell represents an escalation of an unprecedented White House campaign to shape what happens at the central bank. The investigation is centered on testimony Powell gave to Congress last summer, when he defended the Fed’s expensive efforts to renovate its headquarters in Washington.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. While the White House insists that the US might use military force to annex Greenland, serious people in Denmark believe that the actual takeover might be more prosaic. As Shane Harris and his colleagues report in The Atlantic, President Donald Trump could simply announce on social media that the territory is now a part of the US.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BRUSSELS—Ukraine will be both forced to slash drone production and undermined in negotiations with Washington if European Union leaders fail to back a $105 billion loan to keep Kyiv fighting against Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The EU says Ukraine will run out of cash in the spring.

Most of the world has shown clarity in its response to America’s new National Security Strategy. Russia loves it, liberal Europeans are dismayed and the Gulf monarchies overjoyed.In the rest of Asia — and what, until now, Washington has called the Indo-Pacific—the dominant emotion is uneasiness. There are words, phrases and entire sections in the document that are exactly what we want to hear.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump’s top envoys launched two days of meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Sunday as the administration stepped up pressure on Kyiv to put aside its resistance and agree to a peace deal with Russia by year-end. The talks between Ukraine and its Western partners have become a tug of war, even without Russia at the table.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—Just before President Trump left the White House for Thanksgiving, top aides met with him in his private dining room to discuss inflation and the economy in hopes he would calibrate his message on affordability. In another meeting last month, this time in the Oval Office, aides presented Trump with surveys from one of the president’s own pollsters detailing voters’ concerns about the cost of living.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—President Trump is pressing for access to mineral rights across the globe, hoping to outduel China in a global competition for raw materials to fuel U.S. military and industrial might.

Protesters voiced anger over a range of issues: mass layoffs in the federal workforce, abortion restrictions, trade tariffs, and the gutting of public services. From Anchorage to Atlanta, demonstrators held signs warning of rising authoritarianism and falling living standards. “This outrageous administration is causing us to lose our allies across the world, and causing devastation to people here at home,” said Diane Kolifrath, 64, who travelled with 100 others from New Hampshire to protest in Washington. “They’re gutting our government.”

The Trump administration imposed a 26% tariff on imports from India, which is slightly higher than the 20% levy for the European Union, the 24% for Japan and the 25% for South Korea. China was hit with one the highest rates for a major US trading partner and now faces a tariff of at least 54% on many goods. The tariffs are a setback for the Indian government, which had sought to ward off the new levies by rolling out sweeping concessions on issues central to Trump’s agenda. During a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February, the two nations agreed to work toward a trade pact this year. ALSO READ: India to face 'discounted' 26% tariff from US; Trump slaps 34% on China “India, very, very tough. Very, very tough,” Trump said at a news event at the White House on Wednesday to announce the tariffs. “The prime minister just left, and he’s a great friend of mine. But I said, you’re a friend of mine, but you’re not treating us right. They charge us 52%.”

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—Donald Trump’s attorney Boris Epshteyn made a bold assertion during a meeting in late 2023: Trump wouldn’t necessarily be limited to two terms in office. Speaking to an associate in October 2023 in downtown Washington, Epshteyn pushed back on the notion that Trump would be a lame duck if he won the election in 2024.

The State Department said it was green-lighting a sale that includes 20 F-16 jets and related equipment to the Philippines, a treaty-bound ally of the United States. The sale would «improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in Southeast Asia,» a State Department statement said. It would also boost «the Philippine Air Force's ability to conduct maritime domain awareness» and «enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses,» the statement said. The news follows months of escalating confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that Japan was indispensable in tackling Chinese aggression by helping Washington establish a «credible» deterrence in the region, including across the Taiwan Strait. «We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces,» Hegseth told Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani at a meeting in Tokyo. Calling Japan a «cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific», the Pentagon indicated that suggested President Donald Trump's government would, like past administrations, continue to work closely with its key Asian ally. Japan hosts around 50,000 U.S. military personnel, squadrons of fighter squadrons and Washington's only forward deployed aircraft carrier strike group along a 3,000-km (1,900-mile) archipelago that helps hem in Chinese military power. Hegseth's praise of Japan contrasts with the criticism he levelled at European allies in February, telling them they should not assume the U.S. presence there would last forever.

Elon Musk has revealed the date he plans to 'ditch US President Donald Trump' and leave Washington DC after his DOGE purge of Federal departments. The Tesla CEO sat down with key members of his DOGE team to discuss the work his team has carried out for the first few months of Trump's administration. Elon Musk plans to step down from his cost-cutting role in the Trump administration at the end of May after reducing the US deficit by $1 trillion, the tech billionaire said on Thursday, according to The Fox News. Musk, 54, expressed confidence in getting close to that goal, which would halve the annual federal deficit, in just 130 days — saying his team was averaging “$4 billion a day, every day, seven days a week.” ALSO READ: Myanmar earthquake: Emergency declared in Bangkok; Thailand's stock exchange suspends trading

Donald Trump revealed his intentions to reshape the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order on Thursday that targets funding to programmes with "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology". Trump said there has been a «concerted and widespread» effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing «objective facts» with a «distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth». He signed an executive order putting Vice President J D Vance in charge of an effort to «remove improper ideology» from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centres and the National Zoo. Trump's order specifically names the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Women's History Museum, which is in development. «Museums in our nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,» the order said. Representatives for the Smithsonian did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Philadelphia Phillies will be taking on the Washington Nationals in a high-stakes Major League Baseball (MLB) game on Thursday after two straight disappointing playoff exits. Leading the way for the Phillies will be Zack Wheeler, who was a runner-up for the Cy Young Award during the last season. This was his second time in the last four years. Wheeler is pitted against MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals. Gore was taken from the San Diego Padres during the 2022 Juan Soto trade, Inquirer reported.

Xi Jinping is making China’s presence more felt across the Indo-Pacific region by testing US allies on sensitive issues, as Donald Trump’s attention is taken up elsewhere. From sending warships off Australia’s coast for unprecedented shooting drills to flying a record number of “grey zone” balloons around Taiwan, and putting pressure on Thailand over human rights issues, Beijing is ramping up efforts to project power in the region. China also issued a strongly worded warning on Taiwan to Tokyo — which doesn’t officially recognize Taipei — against “colluding” with separatists. Trump’s sudden embrace of Russia, skepticism of NATO allies and tariffs that punish friendly nations have fueled concerns about the US as a reliable security partner in Asia, where Washington has for decades provided a buffer to Beijing.

Jakob Chychrun on Tuesday re-signed his contract with the Washington Capitals for an eight-year extension worth $72 million. The defenseman, who was acquired by the side in the last offseason, helped them emerge as the top NHL team by delivering offense from the blue line. He has now been signed for a long-term contract with the Washington Capitals, ESPN reported.