US Politics

Subterms

    Latest story

    188 Shares24 Views

    Who can tame Trump? An unlikely candidate is emerging: the Catholic church | Simon Tisdall

    by

    The supreme court can’t do it – it’s packed with conservatives who owe him their jobs. Congress won’t do it – Republicans slavishly follow his orders, Democrats are ill-led and divided. For today’s White House, the concept of constitutional limits on executive power is a quaint relic. The news media, or sections of it, does its best amid constant legal threats. But, too often, they pay him off. Brave reporters who insist on asking awkward questions are insulted or silenced: “Quiet, piggy.”So who will tame Donald Trump? Who will halt his rolling constitutional coup – his ongoing evisceration of US democracy, civil rights, living standards, global reputation and moral integrity? Voters may try to indirectly rein him back in next November’s midterms (as they did recently in New York and elsewhere). But those elections are a year away. The emergency is today.What the US urgently needs now, metaphorically speaking, is a national champion, a sort of modern-day Saint George to slay the dragon, save the people and ensure the triumph of good over evil. Who, in reality, might fill this role of moral saviour?Step forward Leo XIV, the “American pope”, backed by the US conference of Catholic bishops and the clergy and grassroots activists of the Catholic church – unexpected, newly emerging standard-bearers for country-wide resistance to the Trumpist scourge. The bishops threw down the gauntlet in a “special message” this month. Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the battlegrounds on which the church, and some other Christian denominations, have begun to fight.“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanising rhetoric and violence,” the statement said. Citing the brutal tactics of immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents, the bishops deplored the “climate of fear” created by Trump’s policies, the profiling of vulnerable citizens, shocking conditions in detention centres and lack of access to pastoral care.Expressing a view, rooted in scripture, that Britain’s Labour government and other western countries would do well to heed, they went on: “We recognise that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good.” But creating safe and legal pathways for migrants was the preferable, ethical solution. Human dignity and national security were not in conflict, they said.Chicago-born Leo, increasingly outspoken in opposing Trump’s “inhuman” policies since his election in May, now stands at the head of this clerical revolt. Earlier this month, he demanded ICE rethink its demonisation of migrants – more than 2 million “illegal aliens” have been involuntarily removed this year and record numbers detained, official figures indicate. He criticised lethal US strikes on suspected drug smugglers off Venezuela, warning violence would fail. And he has challenged Trump’s climate-crisis denial, telling Cop30 that God’s creation is “crying out” for action.Organised opposition to Trump among Catholic and other faith groups on the “Christian left” is spreading at grassroots level. From New Jersey to California, parish priests and pastors have led local protests, boycotts and initiatives to counter ICE’s depredations. “Catholics are particularly well positioned to lead such a movement,” wrote Maria J Stephan, a specialist in non-violent civil resistance.About 22% of US adults identify as Catholic and more than four in 10 are immigrants or children of immigrants. “Many Catholics are likely among those now living in fear of masked agents abducting them in unmarked cars to detention centres … Meanwhile, close to three million black Catholics are experiencing attacks on the voting rights act and the weakening of civil rights protections,” Stephan wrote.The church has also launched assaults on Trump’s signature fiscal legislation, accusing him of “unconscionable” cuts in healthcare and food assistance, and unjustifiable tax breaks for the better-off. “Catholic teaching compels the faithful to uphold human dignity. It is hard to conceive of the law as promoting the sanctity of every life when it cuts key programs for the needy and expands tax cuts to the wealthy,” wrote Wheaton College professor of public theology Esau McCaulley.Catholics, like other US religious groups, are far from united in opposing Trump. He won 55% of Catholic votes last year, although support has since dropped sharply. Conservative critics have lampooned Leo as the “woke pope” – a reminder that on abortion and other issues, the Catholic hierarchy often takes an anti-progressive, reactionary stance.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionMore broadly, Christian nationalists and fundamentalists have allied with Trump and authoritarian rightwing populists in Britain and Europe to co-opt, politicise and weaponise religious belief. As in the secular sphere, the divide is stark. “Christian nationalism is particular rather than universal. It is about protecting ‘us’ against ‘them’ – the native versus the immigrant. It is about power more than love. It is about threat more than hope,” wrote commentator David Brooks. He could have been talking about Maga – or Reform UK.Increasingly erratic dictatorial behaviour, violent nihilism, exploitative religious hypocrisy and blatant corruption: this is the challenge facing the US and the world. Is Leo, speaking up for human dignity, decency and faith, the leader whose hour has come? He’s 70. He has the job for life. Trump has three years left in office. If he chooses to use it, Leo has the moral authority, political savvy and international standing to confront Trump, to positive effect, on poverty, inequality, migrants, civil rights, Russia, Palestine and other pressing issues.The American pope could do what others manifestly cannot: shame and tame the monster. To do so, he needs what Trump’s nemesis, the late Pope Francis, prayed for: the support not only of Catholics, but of “all men and women of good will”. That, and maybe a small miracle, too. After all, brave Saint George was martyred.

    Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator More

    More stories

    • 200 Shares23 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump news at a glance: Marjorie Taylor Greene is gone, but Trump wonders for how long

      by

      The surprise resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene reverberated through Saturday, as figures from across the political spectrum gave responses ranging from criticism to acclaim, including Donald Trump, who hinted at a future political career for her.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman and Greene’s frequent sparring partner, criticized her voting record on healthcare and claimed “She’s carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in”, adding: “… her actions have not backed up the rhetoric. For all her talk, she’s still voting with them to gut healthcare … ”Greene voted in the summer for cuts to Medicaid and the reduction of enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, but then in October criticized the ACA cuts as premiums soared.Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has also taken public stands against Trump including over the Epstein files release, said on X that he was “very sad for our country but so happy for my friend Marjorie. I’ll miss her tremendously.”Greene said in her resignation video that she refused to be a “battered wife” after her public fallout with Donald Trump, but the president suggested to NBC News that he would like to see Greene resume her political career.“It’s not going to be easy for her” to revive her career in politics, he said, adding: “I’d love to see that.” In the meantime, “she’s got to take a little rest”.Greene could have led the anti-Trump resistance but the mob boss got his wayMarjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump acolyte turned nemesis who bested him over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, has stunned the political establishment again. In what should have been her hour of triumph, the Maga star abruptly announced that she was quitting the House of Representatives.In one timeline, she could have used the Epstein win as the foundation of an anti-Trump resistance in the Republican ranks. The party has spent the past decade demonstrating that cowardice is contagious. Instead Greene follows the likes of fellow dissenters Liz Cheney, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and Adam Kinzinger in heading for the exit. Trump has presided over the homogenisation of the Republican party: you are loyal to him or you are out.Read the full storyFrom staunch Trump ally to ‘traitor’: Greene’s career highlightsThe dramatic announcement of her resignation was a typical act: out of the blue, full of punchy language and rage and – mostly – unexpected by people on both sides of the political aisle.Here, we take you through the career highlights of the Maga star, beginning with a writing career for a conspiracy-laden website, followed by a run for Congress, calls for the death penalty against political opponents and a spectacular breakdown with the leader she was most loyal to, Trump himself.Read the full storyGrassroots campaign aims to repeal Missouri Republicans’ gerrymanderingAt the request of Donald Trump, Republicans called a special legislative session and carved out the Kansas City congressional district of longtime Democratic representative Emanuel Cleaver, and replaced it with a Republican one.However, thanks to a provision added to the Missouri constitution in 1908, voters there have a chance to rebuke politicians and stop it from going into effect.Read the full storyCourt rules Trump cannot expand fast-track deportation processA federal appeals court on Saturday declined to clear the way for Donald Trump’s administration to expand a fast-track deportation process to allow for the expedited removal of immigrants who are living far away from the border.The US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit declined to put on hold the central part of a ruling by a lower-court judge who had found that the administration’s policies violated the due process rights of immigrants who could be apprehended anywhere in the US.Read the full storyUS veterans condemn Trump’s politicization of militaryVeterans have condemned the politicization of the military after Donald Trump accused Democratic lawmakers of “sedition, punishable by death” after a small group urged US soldiers not to follow any “unlawful” orders.“He uses sedition and treason very broadly and inappropriately,” said David Frakt, a retired air force officer and attorney in the judge advocate general (JAG) corps, the military justice branch. “The irony is that if anyone committed sedition or treason, it was the people that he urged to overthrow the government on January 6 [2021] – and you know, he pardoned all of those people and calls them patriots and martyrs and all the rest.”Read the full storyTrump to end temporary protected status for Somali immigrants in MinnesotaDonald Trump said late on Friday night that he’s “immediately” terminating temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, further targeting a program seeking to limit deportations that his administration has already repeatedly sought to weaken.Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      Tatiana Schlossberg, a journalist and the granddaughter of John F Kennedy, disclosed on Saturday that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

      Less than a year after the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in Los Angeles, the first completed rebuilt home is being celebrated in Pacific Palisades.
      Catching up? Here’s what happened on 21 November 2025. More

    • 100 Shares28 Views

      in US Politics

      Court rules Trump can’t expand fast-track deportation process

      by

      A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to clear the way for Donald Trump’s administration to expand a fast-track deportation process to allow for the expedited removal of immigrants who are living far away from the border.A 2-1 panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit declined to put on hold the central part of a ruling by a lower-court judge who had found that the administration’s policies violated the due process rights of immigrants who could be apprehended anywhere in the US.The US district judge Jia Cobb in an 29 August ruling sided with an immigrant rights group and blocked the US Department of Homeland Security from enforcing policies that exposed immigrants to the risk of rapid expulsion if the administration believed they had been in the country for less than two years.The administration asked the DC circuit to stay that ruling while it appealed.But the US circuit judges Patricia Millett and J Michelle Childs said the administration was unlikely to succeed in showing that its systems and procedures adequately protected immigrants’ due process rights under the US constitution’s fifth amendment.The judges, both appointees of Democratic presidents, cited “serious risks of erroneous summary removal” posed by the administration’s effort to expand the fast-track deportation process away from the borders to cover the entire US.While the court largely left Cobb’s order in place, it stayed part of it to the extent it required changes to how immigration authorities determine whether someone has a credible fear of being sent back to their country of origin.US circuit judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, dissented and called Cobb’s ruling “impermissible judicial interference”.The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The administration’s appeal on the merits is scheduled to be heard on 9 December.For nearly three decades, the expedited removal process has been used to quickly return immigrants apprehended at the border. In January, the administration expanded its scope to cover non-citizens apprehended anywhere in the US who could not show they had been in the country for two years.The policy mirrored one the Trump administration adopted in 2019 that Joe Biden’s administration later rescinded. The Trump policy also was challenged by the immigrant rights’ advocacy group Make the Road New York. More

    • 125 Shares27 Views

      in US Politics

      Five theories to explain the Donald-Zohran meet-cute | Dave Schilling

      by

      Zohran and Donald. Donald and Zohran. Not since Turner met Hooch has a couple so captivated the American psyche. This might be the meet-cute of the decade, unless you count RFK Jr and Olivia Nuzzi. Which was actually not cute at all, when I think about it.Why can’t we all stop talking about the New York City mayor-elect and his No 1 fan in the White House? Probably because absolutely none of this makes even a tiny bit of sense. From almost the beginning of his rise, Zohran Mamdani positioned himself as an anti-Trump democratic socialist who would use the bully pulpit of Gracie Mansion to battle Maga attacks on the city. Trump, sensing an opportunity to create yet another punching bag, called Mamdani a communist and questioned his American citizenship. He even went to the trouble of endorsing Mamdani’s opponent, Andrew Cuomo, in the mayoral election.Something changed. Hard to say where or when, but clearly, after their meeting, Donald Trump started to see Zohran in a different way. Why would two politicians with seemingly nothing in common suddenly seem so chummy in the Oval Office?I have some theories, some more speculative than others:1 New York City is the center of the attention economyNew York is a place where tabloids scream all-caps headlines at people every day, where con artists can become legitimate celebrities simply for being somewhat successful at crime, and real estate developers with a taste for the spotlight can become president of the United States. I doubt I’m saying anything that will shock or concern you here, but it should be articulated: this meeting was an epic photo op for a couple of bros perhaps looking to grow their follower count. Donald Trump can smell a camera from 60 yards away, like some kind of bloodhound trained to chase paparazzi. He’s been putting himself in photos with successful people for years. It’s just one of those things he’s good at, and he learned that skill in New York. Zohran is also a New Yorker and understands the economy of attention. He had to go from polling below 5% to winning the entire election. Trump might live in Washington DC and Florida, but he’ll never stop being a New Yorker at heart. Game recognizes game.2 Donald Trump loves a winnerThen again, don’t we all? My son only started rooting for the Dodgers once they won the World Series last year. Nothing more fickle than a young child desperate to avoid even the hint of failure. And no one is more disgusted by losing than our Big Boy in Chief. The idea of losing is so repugnant to him that he has regularly denied it. Zohran won with a clear majority and has support across numerous demographics. It was a clear and decisive victory. Trump might as well find a way to get some of that Zohran magic to rub off on him.3 Zohran is a millennial, and therefore completely nonthreateningSo much of Donald Trump’s political career has been defined by petty grievances and inside-baseball rivalry. Getting flamed at the White House correspondents’ dinner might have set him on the path to the presidency. People like Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton are all in the same general age bracket, travel in similar social circles and probably ran into Donald Trump on more than one occasion before he became president. Jealousy, frustration or just plain old competitiveness might make all of the hectoring and political gamesmanship more fun for him, or at least more rewarding. Zohran is 10 years younger than Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and probably has never played golf with anyone he went to college with.4 Maybe they’re both really bullish on the Knicks this seasonIf Karl-Anthony Towns can find his shooting form and Landry Shamet stays hot, New York’s got a decent chance to make it out of the East.5 Donald Trump is a huge fan of the films of Zohran’s mother, Mira Nair?We don’t know what kinds of movies Donald Trump watched in the past. Maybe he really connected with the culture-clash romance of Mississippi Masala? Perhaps Monsoon Wedding was a VHS he wore out from incessant rewatch? I can definitely see him connecting with 1996’s Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. Splendid performance from Indira Varma.I guess, though, we’ll never know why Donald Trump said Zohran Mamdani could call him a fascist. Maybe he was just happy to have a distraction.

      Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist More

    • 150 Shares27 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘This is not right’: grassroots campaign aims to repeal Missouri Republicans’ gerrymandering

      by

      When canvassers fan out across neighborhoods, they usually rely on sophisticated lists that will tell them things like a voter’s political party and how likely they are to support a given cause. Jill Imbler isn’t bothering with any of that.The 69-year-old has lived in Moberly – a Missouri town of about 14,000 people – her entire life. She doesn’t use a GPS when she drives around, knows where people live, and what time they’re likely to be home. And there’s a pretty good chance that she, or one of her six siblings, knows them personally.She also knows there’s a pretty good chance they don’t agree with her politically. Imbler is the President of the Randolph county Democrat club, and Randolph county is just about as Republican as you can get. Donald Trump won the county by more than 50 points in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections. He also handily carried the state in all three elections.But Imbler nevertheless started collecting signatures to repeal a new congressional map abruptly passed by Missouri Republicans in mid-September. At the request of Donald Trump, Republicans called a special legislative session and carved out the Kansas City congressional district of longtime Democratic representative Emanuel Cleaver, and replaced it with a Republican one.It was part of a nationwide push by Trump to get about half a dozen Republican-controlled states to rejigger maps to find more GOP seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. But Missouri offers something distinct: a chance for voters to rebuke politicians and stop the map from going into effect.A provision added to the Missouri constitution in 1908 allows voters to pause most enacted laws from going into effect and put them up for a referendum if they gather enough signatures. Since 1908, Missouri voters have used the citizens veto process about two dozen times. In nearly every case, voters have chosen to repeal the statute they have been asked to vote on.The Missouri legislature approved the map in mid-September and Governor Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed it into law at the end of the month. Imbler, her husband Lynn, and canvassers across Missouri have until 11 December to turn in more than 106,000 signatures that must come from six of the state’s eight congressional districts. If they can, the new map will be on hold until voters decide whether to adopt it in a 2026 referendum. Canvassers say they have already collected more than 200,000 signatures and say they plan to turn in more. “We turn in signatures, the map goes on hold,” said Richard Von Glahn, the executive director of People not Politicians, the group leading the signature gathering effort.The Missouri effort is being closely watched amid an all out mid-decade redistricting war between Democrats and Republicans that will shape which party controls the US House of Representatives. Republicans currently have a razor-thin three seat majority, but have redrawn congressional districts in Missouri, Texas and North Carolina to add as many as seven seats. (The Texas map was recently struck down by a three-judge panel, but the US supreme court temporarily halted the ruling on Friday while an appeal is pending.) Democrats are poised to counter those gains with their own redrawn maps in California and Virginia.Recognizing the huge consequences of the Missouri effort, outside groups have poured money into the campaign. Committees on both sides have raised about $7m, which includes funds from national Republicans opposing the effort.Imbler, a retired teacher’s aide, ran for a few local offices in the 90s, and said she was outraged when she saw Missouri lawmakers move to weaken ballot referendums approved by Missouri voters last year that protected abortion and raised the minimum wage.“I realized, ‘wait a minute, we don’t have the final say,’” she said over a cup of coffee at the Bean, a coffee shop just a few blocks from the old train depot at the center of town. “It pissed me off – I realized this is not right.“When we first took this on, there were several comments made about ‘oh my gosh,’ you’re actually going to go door to door here in Moberly,” she said. “I said, ‘Yeah I’m going to. If the door shuts in my face, it shuts in my face.”But on a warm fall afternoon earlier this month, doors weren’t closing in front of Imbler at all.As Imbler popped door to door at an apartment complex for retirees, she barely had to mention gerrymandering before people would say they were willing to sign. “Have you heard about the gerrymandering, where they’re redistricting all the congressional districts,” she would begin. “They changed all of our congressional districts to try to push the power so Republicans can have most of the seats. They’re trying to get Emanuel Cleaver out,” she said.“Normally we do that at the end of the decade after a census, and Governor Kehoe decided – he hasn’t given us any reason – for why he decided to do it in the middle of the decade,” she added. Nearly everyone she spoke with over the course of an hour decided to sign.“I feel that way because I think they’re manipulating to stack their votes up in one spot,” said one of the voters who signed the petition.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“I think things need to be left alone,” said another voter who signed. “There’s some things that shouldn’t be changed.”Imbler has been making a similar pitch across Moberly since early October when she began collecting signatures. A few weeks ago, she said she had been in Cairo, a tiny town just outside of Moberly, to track down a man who had wanted to sign. She left her phone number with him and told him to pass it along to anyone else who might be interested. By the time she got home, she had gotten nine more signatures on the gerrymandering petition.“People know me. I mean, if I don’t know you personally, I either taught your kid, or I went to school with your brother, or I rode the bus with your sister, or worked with you,” she said. “When people see that this is an issue that I’m willing to get out and ask for signatures for, they understand I’m not a radical either way.Her tour also included a stop at a local motorcycle shop in town in late October during a toy drive. Imbler went to school with the two men who now run the shop and they agreed to let her set up a table in their showroom. She and Lynn set up a table in between a Trump 2024 sign and a rebel flag. “[They] were willing to sign and willing to agree that this isn’t about Democrat or Republican, this is about the vote of the people,” she said. By the end of the day they collected 56 signatures.Recognizing the likelihood of the new map being blocked, Republicans have launched an all-out effort to halt the referendum. Missouri secretary of state Denny Hoskins, a Republican, is trying to get more than 90,000 signatures thrown out. A group funded by the Republican National Committee recently sent out a text message encouraging people to withdraw their signatures on the petitions.The Missouri attorney general has also filed a separate lawsuit based on a fringe legal theory arguing that the state legislature has the exclusive power to draw congressional districts, so it cannot be overturned through a citizens veto. A shadowy group has offered canvassers $5,000 to stop collecting signatures, the Kansas City Star reported.“This isn’t an easy undertaking. It’s not just something you do because maybe you’re a little upset,” Von Glahn said. “It’s really reserved for major infractions of the legislature.” More

    • 113 Shares27 Views

      in US Politics

      Politicians shocked by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation announcement

      by

      Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation from Congress late on Friday, saying she refused to be a “battered wife” following her public fallout with Donald Trump, has been slammed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman and Greene’s frequent sparring partner.“She’s carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement on her Instagram account, and criticized her voting record on healthcare.Greene abruptly resigned from Congress, effective 5 January, in a 10-minute video post outlining her unhappiness with Republicans on issues including the public release of the Jeffrey Epstein files in the government’s possession, US financing of foreign conflicts, Trump’s decision to potentially back a candidate against her, and the cost of living and healthcare.After her service to Trump, she said she objected to being “expected to defend the President against impeachment after he hatefully dumped tens of millions of dollars against me and tried to destroy me”.“I refuse to be a ‘battered wife’ hoping it all goes away and gets better,” Greene said.But Ocasio-Cortez said Greene “is saying a lot but her ACTIONS have not backed up the rhetoric. For all her talk, she’s STILL voting with them to gut healthcare … ”Greene voted in the summer for cuts to Medicaid and the reduction of enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, but then in October criticized the ACA cuts as premiums soared.Ocasio-Cortez also repeated some of her criticism of shares bought by Greene earlier this year before Trump said he was pausing tariffs. Greene has denied any impropriety in her stock trading.Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has also taken public stands against Trump including over the Epstein files release, said on X that he was “very sad for our country but so happy for my friend Marjorie. I’ll miss her tremendously.”Massie added that Greene “embodies what a true Representative should be. Everyone should read her statement; there’s more honesty expressed in these four pages than most politicians will speak in a lifetime.”Early on Saturday, Trump also reacted to Greene’s announcement, posting on Truth Social that “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown” had decided to call it “quits” because of “PLUMMETING Poll Numbers, and not wanting to face a Primary Challenger with a strong Trump Endorsement (where she would have no chance of winning!) … ”Trump also said that Greene’s political relationship with Massie “did not help her”.“For some reason, primarily that I refused to return her never ending barrage of phone calls, Marjorie went BAD,” he added. “Nevertheless, I will always appreciate Marjorie, and thank her for her service to our Country!”But Trump later told NBC News he would like to see Greene resume her political career.“It’s not going to be easy for her” to revive her career in politics, he said, adding: “I’d love to see that.” In the meantime, “she’s got to take a little rest”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionDavid Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school massacre in 2018 who briefly served as a co-vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee and tussled with Greene over gun control, posted: “See ya!” on X.Greene was seen in a 2019 video following a then-18-year-old Hogg outside Capitol Hill, calling him a “coward” for not defending his stance on guns and accusing him of “using” kids to pass gun control laws. Hogg and other Parkland survivors used the video as evidence to call for Greene’s resignation when she was appointed to the House Republican committee in 2021.Barbara Comstock, a former Republican House member and a Trump critic, lauded Greene’s decision on social media. “She doesn’t want to be a Republican ‘battered wife’ taking Trump’s abuse and getting death threats and pretending it’s all ok only to end up in the minority. Good for her,” Comstock posted.Greene’s decision to leave Congress came soon after another plot twist was playing out in the White House between Trump and New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, who spoke of their shared commitment to the future of the nation’s most populous city.Trump, who had in the past called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a “total nut job”, spoke of how impressed he was with the man who had called his administration “authoritarian” and said he anticipates a productive relationship.“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after a private meeting on Friday afternoon that lasted under an hour. “Because I want New York City to be great.”Mamdani said that he appreciated that during their meeting they “had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers”.Both said they had shared ideas about affordability and developing new housing in the city. “Some of his ideas are really the same ideas that I have,” the president said of Mamdani about inflationary issues. More

    • 125 Shares24 Views

      in US Politics

      New Orleans braces for Trump’s immigration crackdown: ‘We have rights’

      by

      New Orleanians are bracing for a major deployment of US border patrol officers to the city, as Donald Trump forges on with his mass deportation agenda and sweeping federal immigration crackdown in Democrat-led cities.Despite falling crime, as many as 250 federal agents are expected to descend on New Orleans imminently to begin laying the groundwork for “Operation Swamp Sweep”, which the Associated Press reported is due to launch in south-east Louisiana and Mississippi on 1 December with the stated aim of arresting 5,000 people.Trump floated sending in federal troops in September, when he declared New Orleans had “a crime problem”, adding: “We’ll straighten that out in two weeks.” The city’s violent crime rate is actually 20% lower than last year, including a historic drop in the number of murders.The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation will be led by Gregory Bovino, a senior border patrol commander. Bovino has already overseen aggressive campaigns in Los Angeles, Chicago and, now, Charlotte and other cities in North Carolina, where the crackdowns have triggered large-scale protests and sometimes volatile interactions between federal agents and protesters amid aggressive arrest tactics.In Chicago, activists organized demonstrations and filed lawsuits over arrests and the use of excessive force, including deployment of teargas and pepper spray.Activists in Charlotte have already looked to their actions as a blueprint and now, following weeks of reports of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) circulating across the greater metro area, New Orleans residents are preparing to resist also. Both border patrol officers from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency and ICE agents come under the umbrella of DHS.Residents are sharing plans to report ICE sightings, alert landscapers and other manual workers to the threat of enforcement and help escort children to and from school when ICE is in the area. They are also rallying around neighbors believed to be under threat – often because they are undocumented or the Trump administration no longer recognizes a temporary status granted under the Biden administration – using community text threads, social media and whistleblowing – literally blowing whistles in the street if officers are believed to be approaching.There were reports of construction workers being instructed to stay home on Friday, in case border patrol arrived that early, and businesses such as restaurants and gas stations are being urged not to serve ICE agents.New Orleans’ Mexican-American mayor-elect, Helena Moreno, told the AP there is “a lot of fear” in the city and that she’s working to ensure those who could be targeted by federal agents know their legal rights. “I’m very concerned about due process being violated, I’m very concerned about racial profiling,” she said.Local immigrant advocacy group Unión Migrante already posts about ICE sightings and shares resources in English and Spanish on its social media pages. It also holds regular “Know Your Rights” workshops where people learn what protections they have during a immigration investigation, what to do if they get pulled over in the car by an agent, how to legally film ICE agents and police, and hear legal advice from immigration lawyers.With enforcement ramping up across the region, volunteer Alfredo Salazar said the workshops are crucial. “I look Latino and I worry I could be arrested for it,” he told local TV channel Fox 8. “It’s not just me, but thousands of us here that look Latino. So we have to educate people that we have rights to defend ourselves and freedom of speech.”The city is known for its rich blend of French, Spanish, African, Native American and Asian cultures, and 14% of its foreign-born metro population are Latino. In Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, where 13 people were arrested earlier this month in a raid at a boat launch, it’s 30%, the highest in the state.Rachel Taber, also an advocate and organizer with Unión Migrante, told the news site NOLA.com that immigrants and their family members have been contacting lawyers, giving people power-of-attorney in case they are detained, and locating passports in the event they need to travel to reunite with relatives.The mission has the enthusiastic backing of Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, a staunch Trump ally, who has made a vigorous push to align state policy with sweeping federal immigration efforts and has targeted New Orleans’ immigration policies to make enforcement a priority.The GOP-dominated state legislature passed a law threatening prison time for law enforcement officials who delay or ignore federal enforcement efforts. Another measure directs state agencies to verify, track and report anyone in the country illegally who is receiving state services. Another more bans city policies that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration agencies.In September, Landry had also requested a national guard deployment to New Orleans even though violent crime is down and the city’s elected leaders maintained that violent crime is down and federal troops are unnecessary. Landry’s office has been approached by the Guardian for comment.Meanwhile, the New Orleans police department (NOPD) was released from a federal reform pact on Wednesday that has long shielded its officers from having to participate in immigration enforcement. Anne Kirkpatrick, NOPD’s superintendent, told WBOK radio earlier this week that officers would collaborate with federal agents, but not on raids or deportations.“We will not be participating in the removal, but we will always be there,” she said. “They’re coming, so I am going to be a collaborator. But I also want to emphasize something to our community: To be in our country undocumented is illegal. To be illegal is not criminal.”DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: “Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations.” More

    • 163 Shares27 Views

      in US Politics

      Supreme court blocks order that found Texas congressional map was likely racially biased

      by

      The US supreme court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that found Texas’s 2026 congressional redistricting plan pushed by Donald Trump likely discriminated on the basis of race.The order, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, will remain in place at least for the next few days while the court considers whether to allow the new map, which is favorable to Republicans, to be used in the midterm elections.The court’s conservative majority has blocked similar lower court rulings because they have come too close to elections.The order came about an hour after the state called on the high court to intervene to avoid confusion as congressional primary elections approach in March. The justices have blocked past lower-court rulings in congressional redistricting cases, most recently in Alabama and Louisiana, that came several months before elections.The order was signed by Alito because he is the justice who handles emergency appeals from Texas.Texas redrew its congressional map in the summer as part of Trump’s efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next year’s elections, touching off a nationwide redistricting battle. The new redistricting map was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats, but a panel of federal judges in El Paso ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the civil rights groups that challenged the map on behalf of Black and Hispanic voters were likely to win their case.If that ruling eventually holds, Texas could be forced to hold elections next year using the map drawn by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2021 based on the 2020 census.Texas was the first state to meet Trump’s demands in what has become an expanding national battle over redistricting. Republicans drew the state’s new map to give the GOP five additional seats, and Missouri and North Carolina followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter those moves, California voters approved a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there.The redrawn maps are facing court challenges in California, Missouri and North Carolina.The supreme court is separately considering a case from Louisiana which could further limit race-based districts under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. It’s not entirely clear how the current round of redistricting would be affected by the outcome in the Louisiana case. More

    • 138 Shares24 Views

      in US Politics

      Chomsky had deeper ties with Epstein than previously known, documents reveal

      by

      The prominent linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky called it a “most valuable experience” to have maintained “regular contact” with Jeffrey Epstein, who by then had long been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, according to emails released earlier in November by US lawmakers.Such comments from Chomsky, or attributed to him, suggest his association with Epstein – who officials concluded killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges – went deeper than the occasional political and academic discussions the former had previously claimed to have with the latter.Chomsky, 96, had also reportedly acknowledged receiving about $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein while sorting the disbursement of common funds relating to the first of his two marriages, though the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor has insisted not “one penny” came directly from the infamous financier.The emails disclosed on 12 November by the Republican members of the US House oversight committee generally detailed the correspondence Epstein had with political, academic and business luminaries, including the Bill Clinton White House’s treasury secretary Larry Summers and Steve Bannon, the longtime ally of Donald Trump. Further, they reveal Epstein and Chomsky were close enough to discuss musical interests and even potential vacations.Perhaps the most telling of the Chomsky-related documents in question was a letter of support for Epstein attributed to Chomsky with the salutation “to whom it may concern”. It is not dated, but it contains a typed signature with Chomsky’s name and citing his position as a University of Arizona laureate professor, a role he began in 2017, as first reported by the Massachusetts news outlet WBUR.Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence and was released in July 2009.“I met Jeffrey Epstein half a dozen years ago,” read the letter of support from Chomsky that was reviewed by the Guardian after its Republican House oversight committee release. “We have been in regular contact since, with many long and often in-depth discussions about a very wide range of topics, including our own specialties and professional work, but a host of others where we have shared interests. It has been a most valuable experience for me.”It is unclear whether Chomsky sent the letter to anyone. Nonetheless, it exalts Epstein for teaching Chomsky “about the intricacies of the global financial system” in a way “the business press and professional journals” had not been able to do. It boasted about how well connected Epstein was.“Once, when we were discussing the Oslo agreements, Jeffrey picked up the phone and called the Norwegian diplomat who supervised them, leading to a lively interchange,” the letter read. The letter recounted how Epstein had arranged for Chomsky – a political activist, too – to meet with someone he had “studied carefully and written about”: the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.Epstein had – “with limited success” – aided efforts from Chomsky’s second wife, Valeria, to introduce him “to the world of jazz and its wonders”, the letter continued.It concluded, “The impact of Jeffrey’s limitless curiosity, extensive knowledge, penetrating insights and thoughtful appraisals is only heightened by his easy informality, without a trace of pretentiousness. He quickly became a highly valued friend and regular source of intellectual exchange and stimulation.”Another notable communication involving Chomsky and Epstein is a 2015 email in which the latter offers the former use of his residences in New York and New Mexico.The emails don’t indicate whether Chomsky took advantage of the offer, whose particulars surfaced as certain officials are striving to investigate allegations of crimes by Epstein at a ranch compound he owned outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.Interest in the Epstein case has surged in recent months after Trump – a former friend of his – pledged to release a full list of the late financier’s clients while successfully running for a second presidency in 2024. However, after he took office in January, Trump’s justice department declared no such list existed and said that it would not be releasing any additional files related to Epstein’s prosecution, igniting a bipartisan furor that the president sought to dismiss as a Democratic “hoax”.Yet the pressure was enough that Trump on Wednesday signed a legislative bill directing his justice department to release more of what has come to be collectively known as the Epstein files.Chomsky is not the only renowned Massachusetts academic to be ensnared in the Epstein scandal. On Wednesday, Larry Summers relinquished a teaching role at Harvard University – where he was once president – after his email correspondence with Epstein revived questions about their relationship.A statement that MIT provided to WBUR and the Guardian declined to comment on Chomsky but said the university in 2020 had reviewed its contacts with Epstein. “Following that review, MIT took a number of steps, including enhancements to our gift acceptance processes and donating to four nonprofits supporting survivors of sexual abuse,” the statement said.The University of Arizona did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Chomsky. Neither did Chomsky. Nor did Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, who is a spokesperson for her husband – and in January 2017 sent an email to Epstein apologizing for not wishing him a happy birthday a couple of days earlier.“Hope you had a good celebration!” she wrote to Epstein, according to the emails released by House oversight committee Republicans. “Noam and I hope to see you again soon and have a toast for your birthday.”Chomsky hasn’t spoken publicly since he was reported in 2024 to be convalescing in Brazil after a stroke.Anna Betts contributed reporting More