Evelyn Reynolds

As former federal prosecutors, we know an incident like the Minneapolis shooting must be followed by a credible inquiryLast Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American mother. Already, the federal investigation into the killing raises serious concerns, which is why the parallel investigation Minnesota officials are conducting is vital.Mere hours after Good’s death, the Trump administration prejudged the case before any investigation could begin. The administration was swift to blame the victim, with the president and the DHS secretary making disparaging, accusatory, and prejudicial statements about her motives and conduct; Donald Trump said she was a “professional agitator” who had “viciously” run over the officer, while Kristi Noem accused her of “domestic terrorism”. Additionally, JD Vance, the vice-president, incorrectly claimed the shooter had “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution by state officials. And the FBI has shut state investigators out. Continue reading… More

Ban on private equity firms buying single-family homes in US raises concerns instututions could boost deepen housing crisis on BritainLeading US investors and private equity firms could step up their foray into UK new-build housing after Donald Trump’s move to ban institutional companies from buying single-family homes in the US, raising concerns that investors could “cut corners and increase rents”.The US president said last week that he would ask Congress to codify the measure as he tries to address concerns that families are struggling to buy or rent a home. The median property sale price was $410,800 (£305,000) last year, according to the US Census Bureau. Continue reading… More

How do you retain a space of democracy in a world that is reverting to violent conquest? By building a protective moat of federalism around it‘He keeps encouraging me … to choose between Europe and the US. That would be a strategic mistake for our country,” Keir Starmer said in response to Ed Davey’s question in the House of Commons last week, about whether a US move against Greenland would mean the end of Nato.What about Europe, though? As Danish and Greenlandic ministers prepared to face JD Vance in the White House, the question was would Europe finally choose between Europe and the US? Will its leaders have the courage to tell the full truth – that the US isn’t simply abandoning its allies and destroying the international order but is now in the position of active and hostile predation by force – and more importantly, to act on it? To offer Denmark moral and material backing, and Greenland a future of self-determination and membership, rather than subservience to US resource plunder?
Donald Trump has already set the tone by saying the US will seize Greenland “one way or the other”, and no part of the triumvirate around him is trying to hide their imperial intentions any more. Not the nepotists and grifters amassing ever greater private fortunes. Not the white supremacist ideologues drawing inspiration from Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer! to post “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage”, via official US government social media accounts. Not the techno-nihilists salivating to mine every bit of Greenland’s mineral resources and rule their own neofeudal city states on its coast.
When Trump says that the only constraint on his exercise of power is “my own morality”, that means there is no constraint. Like Vladimir Putin, he will keep grabbing until someone imposes a limit on him.Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir, Generation Desperation, is published this month Continue reading… More

Federal agents use teargas against protesters as homeland security officials tell of ‘largest operation in DHS history’Eight people were arrested outside a federal building in Minneapolis on Tuesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as the Trump administration doubled down on threats to protesters and city and state officials who might try to impede their mass deportation agenda.Throughout the afternoon, crowds of people who gathered in protest against the continued presence and violent tactics of federal immigration officers in the city were hit with teargas, pepper balls and flash bangs. Demonstrators have amassed in the city and across the country after the Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good was killed by a federal immigration agent. Continue reading… More

How far will Rubio go to achieve his own objectives? With Lauren Gambino“He’s the driving force. I don’t think Trump would have gone in and captured Nicolás Maduro if it hadn’t been for Marco Rubio pushing him behind the scenes.”Lauren Gambino, a political correspondent for Guardian US, has been following the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, for a decade. She describes to Nosheen Iqbal the Cuban-American community in south Florida that has shaped much of Rubio’s politics, his rise through different versions of the Republican party project, and his ability to realise his own strategic goals by reframing them through Trump’s priorities. Continue reading… More

President speaks to CBS News about killing of woman by ICE agent and defends immigration crackdownDonald Trump has defended his administration’s increasingly violent immigration crackdown, describing the 37-year-old woman killed by federal agents as likely a “wonderful person” whose “tough” actions justified a lethal response.Trump’s comments, made during an interview with CBS News after touring a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, came as tensions continue to rise in Minneapolis days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good at the wheel of her SUV on a residential street last week. Continue reading… More

Administration issues warning to US citizens: ‘Leave Iran now’ – key US politics stories from 13 January at a glanceDonald Trump has told Iranians to keep protesting and said help was on the way, in the clearest sign yet that the US president may be preparing for military action against Tehran.“Iranian Patriots, keep protesting – take over your institutions!!! … help is on its way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. He added that he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped. Continue reading… More

Attacking Jerome Powell distracts from Republicans’ thin legislative record and policies that continue to squeeze American household incomesThe US government’s authoritarian and vexatious attack on Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, should be seen in the light of America’s affordability crisis, which Donald Trump once dismissed, but is now scrambling to claim as his cause. The cost of living is eroding his support ahead of the congressional midterms. By launching a legal assault on the Fed, Mr Trump is trying to shift blame for borrowing costs.Yet despite controlling the presidency, Senate and the House, Republicans have passed little beyond a large tax-cutting bill that benefits the rich. They have not legislated on housing supply, childcare, healthcare costs or wages. Indeed most of their actions are worsening affordability, notably deferring action even though millions face a sharp rise in their health insurance bills. Mr Trump’s sudden enthusiasm for credit card caps and housing interventions is pure opportunism.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More