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-elect rages on Truth Social after violence in New Orleans and Las Vegas, blaming opposition for indicting him rather than focusing on national security
Independent Premium
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
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.
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson girded for what could be a fraught battle Friday ahead of a vote for who will have the top spot in the chamber. geared up for a likely tense
Donald Trump, meanwhile, who is backing Johnson in his fight to keep his post, continued to rage on Truth Social that the U.S. is “a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!” in response to Wednesday’s suspected terror attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, the second of which saw one of his friend Elon Musk’s TeslaCybertruck’s blown up outside a Trump-owned luxury hotel in the Nevada city.
“This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership,” the president-elect declared.
“The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job,” he added.
“They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.”
He continued: “The USA is breaking down.”
The tumult continued on the eve of Johnson’s House showdown. Friday’s vote could go to multiple rounds given his slim majority, forcing him to negotiate with holdouts in his own party.
Democratic strategist James Carville believed that Vice President Kamala Harris would win, but he admitted in a New York Times op-ed that he didn’t listen to his own advice from the 1992 campaign: It’s the economy, stupid.
“We have to begin 2025 with that truth as our political north star and not get distracted by anything else,” he wrote.
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, D.C.
Voters see Democrats as ‘out to lunch’ on the economy and as caring too much about other issues, former Bill Clinton strategist argues
Mike Johnson is set to face a vote on Friday that will determine whether he remains Speaker of the House, and although he is running unopposed with Donald Trump’s support, it’s unclear if all his conservative colleagues are willing to back him up.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has faced pushback from some Republicans after he supported a recent spending bill that the president-elect and Elon Musk opposed.
That could pose a problem for him this week because Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes – assuming all Democrats vote against him – if he wants to keep the top Congressional job. At least one Republican has already signaled they are not voting for Johnson.
Ariana Baio reports.
Johnson can only afford to lose two votes from the Republican majority if he wants to remain speaker of the House
Donald Trump’s one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon warned Elon Musk Tuesday that he and other MAGA diehards are going to “rip your face off” unless Musk smartens up and stops pushing visas for skilled foreign workers to take good-paying tech industry jobs away from Americans.
He instructed Musk to “sit back and study” to understand MAGA’s — and what supporters believed was Trump’s — America First stance to keep U.S. jobs for Americans.
Mary Papenfuss reports.
‘Sit back and study … Don’t come up and go to the pulpit in your first week here and start lecturing people about the way things are going to be,’ Trump’s former White House strategist warns tech billionaire
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned that elected officials should not to disregard the rulings made by the court in a report.
Roberts, who will mark 20 years at the top of the court later this year, released his year-end report where he warned of increasing attacks to the legitimacy of the court.
The court has come under increased scrutiny ever since it moved to a decisive 6-3 conservative majority largely put in place by President-elect Donald Trump during his first tenure in the White House from 2017 to 2021.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, D.C.
’These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected,’ Roberts writes in his annual report
Don Lemon’s gleeful and profane celebration of the ongoing MAGA squabble over H-1B visas left several Fox News personalities outraged on Tuesday, with one panelist fuming whether the former CNN star thought her Donald Trump-supporting parents were “stupid.”
Justin Barangoa has the story.
Don Lemon ridiculed ‘America First’ hardliners for having ‘stupid MAGA brain’ while lambasting them as ‘dumb f***ing idiots’ for not realizing that ‘tech bros’ would continue to advocate for skilled immigrants to be allowed into the country
Alina Habba has reacted to claims Attorney General wasn’t “tough enough” in prosecuting her boss, President-elect Donald Trump, insisting the incoming president had it “so rough.”
Michelle Del Rey reports.
Trump’s attorney said voters could see through the efforts of federal and state prosecutors
President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from India’s leader.
Read on…
President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023
Donald Trump’ and his Congressional allies could add requirements to welfare programs such as Medicaid, withhold prescription drugs from federal health care coverage, repeal environmental regulations and more in order to reduce federal spending and pay for his new round of tax cuts.
Trump is determined to cut taxes for Americans but doing so means the government will need to cut federal spending elsewhere, or risk raising the national debt by trillions of dollars.
Ariana Baio reports.
Incoming administration is expected to cut federal spending to federal programs they don’t prioritize like environmental regulations
Donald Trump’s plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” could provide the legal framework to allow the U.S. to conduct military operations in Mexico, according to experts.
For years, the President-elect has threatened to designate cartels that traffic illicit drugs into the U.S. foreign terrorist organizations. That distinction would allow the government to place additional economic and social sanctions on them.
Ariana Baio has the details.
President-elect’s latest suggestion threatens to escalate tensions between the U.S. and Mexico
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
