Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
President’s chaotic trade war continues to unsettle financial markets as administration suffers further political setbacks in court
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 200 percent tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits in retaliation for the European Union’s proposed 50 percent tariff on American whiskey has prompted domestic wine sellers and importers to warn that such a move would essentially kill off their business.
As Trump’s trade war continues to unsettle financial markets, the president continues to suffer political setbacks in the courts.
Two federal judges ruled on Thursday that Trump’s administration must reinstate the thousands of probationary employees fired from multiple agencies by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Staff from the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Interior and other agencies must get their jobs back, California District Court Judge William Alsup ruled.
Hours later, U.S. District Judge James Bredar issued a similar ruling, ordering fired employees across 18 agencies to be reinstated for at least 14 days.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will vote for the House Republicans’ new spending bill after all, reducing the chance of the government going into shutdown and demonstrators swarmed Trump Tower in New York City to protest the immigration detention of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.
The president said he believes the U.S. will ultimately annex Greenland as he sat next to the head of NATO in the Oval Office on Thursday, though the Dutch politician took a more diplomatic approach to the issue.
“I think it’ll happen,” Trump told reporters, sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“We need that for international security, not just national security,” the president said of the island.
Trump noted that he was sitting with Rutte, who he referred to as “a man that could be very instrumental” in such a transaction even though neither Denmark nor the Greenlandic population are interested in ceding the territory to the U.S.
Rutte, appearing slightly chagrined by the president’s remarks, replied: “When it comes to Greenland, joining or not joining the U.S., I would leave that outside… this discussion because I do not want to drag NATO into that.”
But the former Dutch prime minister quickly pivoted to praising Trump by stating that he was “totally right” about the need to maintain a security posture in “the high north and the Arctic.”
Andrew Feinberg reports.
The administration is taking the legal fight over birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court with a demand that justices limit the scope of multiple court rulings that have rejected his executive order that seeks to block children of certain immigrants from being citizens at birth.
Petitions to the nation’s high court on Thursday calls on the justices to limit three nationwide injunctions issued in courts across the country to apply only to the states that sued and won.
That move would allow the administration to begin implementing his executive order in other states, despite rulings from federal judges and appeals courts and arguments from legal scholars across the ideological spectrum that his attempt to unilaterally redefine the 14th Amendment is plainly unconstitutional.
Here’s the latest from Alex Woodward.
Demonstrators swarmed Trump Tower in New York City yesterday to protest the immigration detention of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, leading to multiple arrests.
Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside of his apartment on Saturday and faces deportation.
The president has said Khalil’s arrest was the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
However, Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech, and protests have been staged elsewhere in the Big Apple and around the country.
Hundreds also demonstrated on Wednesday outside of a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.
Mike Bedigan reports.
The Senate Minority Leader has said he will vote for the House Republicans’ new spending bill after all, reducing the chance of the government going into shutdown.
Schumer signalled earlier this week that Democrats were unhappy at the lack of bipartisan cooperation seen in the drawing up of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s continuing resolution but now appear to be prepared to swallow it rather than be blamed for the inevitable dysfunction.
Here’s Eric Garcia’s report.
As Trump’s trade war continues to unsettle financial markets, the president continues to suffer political setbacks in the courts.
Two federal judges ruled on Thursday that Trump’s administration must reinstate the thousands of probationary employees fired from multiple agencies by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Staff from the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Interior and other agencies must get their jobs back, California District Court Judge William Alsup ruled.
Hours later, U.S. District Judge James Bredar issued a similar ruling, ordering fired employees across 18 agencies to be reinstated for at least 14 days.
Here’s Ariana Baio’s report.
Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 200 percent tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits in retaliation for the European Union’s proposed 50 percent tariff on American whiskey has prompted domestic wine sellers and importers to warn that such a move would essentially kill off their business.
“I don’t think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne,” Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mt. Laurel Township, New Jersey, said.
Jeff Zacharia, president of fine wine retailer Zachys in Port Chester, New York, said 80 percent of the wine he sells is from Europe.
Importers depend on European wines for a big part of their distribution system, he said, and there’s not enough American wine to make up for that.
“This is just going to have a major negative impact on the whole U.S. wine industry in all aspects of it, including U.S. wineries,” he said.
Here’s more.
At least 60 colleges and universities received warnings from the Department of Education to follow their obligation to protect Jewish students on campus or face repercussions, just days after the Trump administration revoked $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University for what they call a failure to combat antisemitism on campus.
Keep reading:
A House committee hearing turned explosive when Connecticut Congressman John Larson blasted “genius” Elon Musk for not showing up to a hearing concerning the cuts he was overseeing through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Keep reading:
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
