US Politics

Two Democratic ex-leaders warn core American values are under assault – key US politics stories from Sunday 25 January at a glanceDemocratic ex-presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have spoken out against the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old nurse in Minneapolis, the second person to be shot dead by federal immigration officers in the city this month.In a statement released on Sunday, Obama and his wife, Michelle, described the killing of Alex Pretti as “a heartbreaking tragedy” and “a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault”. Continue reading… More

Minnesota governor pressures president to end surge of immigration officers in his state before it costs another lifeMinnesota governor Tim Walz appealed to Donald Trump to withdraw federal agents from Minnesota on Sunday, a day after US border patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was monitoring the immigration crackdown.“What’s the plan, Donald Trump?” Walz asked at a news conference. “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state?” Continue reading… More

Former president and first lady say killing should be ‘wake-up call’ and federal agents are not operating in lawful wayPressure mounted on Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday to fully investigate the previous day’s killing by federal immigration officers of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.Calls for an investigation have come from all sides of the political divide after video analysis showed officers had removed from Pretti a handgun he was reportedly permitted to carry – and which he was not handling – before fatally shooting him. Continue reading… More

GoFundMe campaign quickly surpasses goal of $20,000 a day after federal agents killed US citizen in MinneapolisAn online fundraiser benefiting the family of Alex Pretti had raised nearly $700,000 by Sunday afternoon, a day after federal agents killed the US citizen and nurse in Minneapolis in a shooting that ignited another round of street protests against Donald Trump’s administration and its immigration crackdown in the city.In a substantial indication of public sentiment, the “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” campaign on the GoFundMe platform surpassed its goal of $20,000 quickly after organizer Keith Edwards launched it on Saturday. Continue reading… More

Scene of a growing vigil is all too common in city as killing comes less than three weeks after Renee Good’s death The temperature hovered around zero degrees as news crews and mourners stopped by the site where another Minneapolis resident was shot and killed by federal agents flooding the city to carry out the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.People put up makeshift barriers in the street immediately after the shooting on Saturday, blocking off traffic with wooden pallets, trash cans and furniture. Later, the city had put up a perimeter around the area in the aftermath of the shooting and protests against immigration agents that saw agents shooting chemical irritants and flash-bangs at people. Some of the debris from those weapons was still evident in the streets. Continue reading… More

Donald Trump’s leverage over Visa and Mastercard highlights a blind spot in Europe’s ‘independence’ strategy. Emulating India’s response might helpWhen the centre-left French politician Aurore Lalucq posted a warning last Wednesday that Donald Trump could cut off Europe from international payment systems, the clip went viral. To many, her message made sense. After all, if Mr Trump was prepared to test allies’ boundaries over Greenland, it is not far-fetched to imagine Visa and Mastercard becoming used against a recalcitrant Europe.The US can turn off payment systems it controls. Russia learned this first-hand after sanctions were rightly applied for its invasion of Ukraine. As up to 60% of Russian retail transactions depended on Visa and Mastercard for authorisation, the ban left many ordinary people stranded without access to funds and unable to buy goods. Under Mr Trump, America’s goal is to “help Europe correct its current trajectory”. Given such talk, Ms Lalucq, who chairs the European parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee, is not wrong in calling for an “Airbus of European payments” to protect the EU. Continue reading… More

In his fresh intoxication with global conquest, Trump is following an established pattern – one that promises disasterTo many observers, Donald Trump’s open bellicosity – his threats to attack Greenland and Iran, and his recent kidnapping of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro – looks like an ideological reversal. “Donald Trump betrayed his MAGA base today [by] launching a war of choice to bring regime change in Venezuela,” tweeted Democratic congressman Ro Khanna on 3 January. The day before, former Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote: “President Trump threatening war and sending in troops to Iran is everything we voted against in ‘24.” On 20 January, National Public Radio reported that “Trump supporters share confusion and anger over the president’s focus on Greenland”.The sense of whiplash is understandable. As a candidate, Trump often denounced war. Now he is infatuated with it. But while Trump seems uniquely set on dismantling the postwar order in the service of his quest for global domination, there is precedent for his transformation. Continue reading… More

US readers said they were feeling anxious and helpless as authorities’ brutal crackdown has left thousands deadRecent protests in Iran have created the most serious and deadliest unrest in the country since the 1979 revolution, prompting eyes from all around the globe to shift to the Middle East.The Guardian asked Iranians living outside the country to share their views on the current situation in the country and about the possibility of US intervention. Continue reading… More