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    Trump news at a glance: president weighs up range of actions against Iran

    Possible next steps for US include military strikes, sanctions and cyber attacks – key US politics stories from 11 JanuaryDonald Trump is weighing up his options for responding to protests in Iran, including “very strong” military action, as deaths mount in a crackdown on demonstrations against the regime in Tehran.Possible actions for the US include military strikes, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on Iran’s government and boosting anti-government sources online, sources say. Continue reading… More

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    Former Republican chair says US institutions yielded to Trump, ‘the bully’

    Michael Steele argues law firms, universities and media capitulated with startling speed and voters want accountabilityThe biggest surprise of Donald Trump’s first year back in office is how quickly America’s institutions capitulated to “the bully”, said Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) turned arch critic.But with the midterm elections for Congress looming, Steele predicts a resounding Democratic victory amid a hunger among voters to hold the president and his allies accountable for threatening democracy. Continue reading… More

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    Rightwing bloggers and Maga minions: meet the Trump-loving Pentagon press corps

    A group of reporters meant to hold the Pentagon to account is full of pro-Trump sycophants … what could go wrong?After US troops swarmed into Venezuela, seizing the country’s president and his wife, there was little to be heard from the Pentagon.Typically, it would be a time for defense officials to talk to the Pentagon press corps: a group of journalists made up of some of the most talented reporters in the US. The Pentagon could have been expected to be held to account over what has been criticized as a violation of international law. Continue reading… More

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    US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries

    State department says armed ‘colectivos’ appear to be setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for AmericansThe United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence that the occupants were US citizens or supporters of the country. Continue reading… More

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    Self-interest over ideology as disparate inner circle shapes Trump foreign policy

    Administration officials, his family and even Mar-a-Lago guests wield outsized influence on a mercurial presidentIt is a world turned upside down. In his first year in office, Donald Trump has bullied Ukraine, bombed Iran and toppled the leader of Venezuela. In the eyes of critics, he has turned the US into a rogue superpower that poses a greater threat to Nato allies than its foes.The blitzkrieg has left diplomats in foreign capitals scrambling to understand Trump’s motivations and what – or who – is shaping his thinking. Like past presidents, he has an inner circle of advisers who are playing a crucial role in determining his worldview. Continue reading… More

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    Trump’s territorial ambition: new imperialism or a case of the emperor’s new clothes?

    Trump’s attack on Venezuela suggests expansionism is under way but some argue it is simply standard US foreign policy stripped of hypocrisyThe attack on Venezuela and the seizure of its president was a shocking enough start to 2026, but it was only the next day, when the smoke had dispersed and Donald Trump was flying from Florida to Washington DC in triumph, that it became clear the world had entered a new era.The US president was leaning on a bulkhead on Air Force One, in a charcoal suit and gold tie, regaling reporters with inside details of the abduction of Nicolás Maduro. He claimed his government was “in charge” of Venezuela and that US companies were poised to extract the country’s oil wealth. Continue reading… More

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    Trump threatens Greenland and Iran at meeting with oil bosses on Venezuela – as it happened

    This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: president pitches oil companies on major extractions in VenezuelaPope Leo XIV has denounced how nations are using force to assert their dominion worldwide, saying they are “completely undermining” peace and the post-Second World War international legal order, AP reported.In his most substantial critique of US, Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Leo told ambassadors who represent their countries’ interests at the Holy See that “war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading”. Continue reading… More

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    Trump repeats baseless claim that Renee Good was part of ‘leftwing network’ of paid agitators

    President’s assertion that only a paid agitator would scream at ICE agents contradicted by hundreds of video recordsAt the White House on Friday, Donald Trump endorsed his vice-president’s baseless claim that Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, was part of a shadowy “leftwing network” trying “to incite violence” against federal agents.Asked by a Fox News correspondent to expand on JD Vance’s comments about Good, the president said that the vice-president “is generally very accurate” and then cited what he referred to as evidence that at least one person in Good’s vicinity when she was killed was “probably a paid agitator”. Continue reading… More