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
Swipe for next article
Trump will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office 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.
Donald Trump has called for the arrest of “seditious” Democrats, ahead of Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor-elect of New York.
The president’s comments came after a group of senators and representatives published a video in which they reminded the military that they can disobey illegal orders.
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country,” Trump raged on Truth Social. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
He added: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also reshared a post that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
Meanwhile, the White House is gearing up for a visit from Mamdani, whom Trump has branded a “radical” and a “communist.”
The pair locked horns several times during the NYC mayoral race, with Mamdani slamming the president for promising to lower the cost of living but, according to critics, failing to do so.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended Donald Trump after he called a female reporter ‘piggy.’
Trump made the bizarre comment on Air Force One, as a journalist asked him questions about the Epstein files. When he had moved on for her question, he told her to be “quiet, quiet piggy.”
But Leavitt says that Trump is “honest” when talking to journalists.
“Look, the president is very frank, and honest with everyone in this room,” Leavitt said. “He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration. But he is also the most transparent president in history.
“I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces rather than hiding behind your backs is a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration,”
Trump has signed an order which will removed the 40 percent tariffs that he slapped on beef, coffee, cocoa and fruits from Brazil, according to Reuters.
He imposed the eyewatering tariffs in response to prosecution of its former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is a close Trump ally.
The move comes after Trump hiked tariffs on several countries, causing the cost of food in the United States to skyrocket.
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended President Donald Trump’s saying that Democratic members of Congress should face the death penalty for saying that members of the military can refuse orders if they believe those commands violate their oaths to the Constitution.
A handful of Democratic members of Congress and senators who served in the U.S. military or intelligence posted a video on social media on Tuesday saying that members of the military can refuse orders they deem illegal.
Conservatives raged against the video and Trump posted on Truth Social: “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
Later on, Trump reposted a Truth user saying, ‘HANG THEM’ and later said they committed “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” which was “punishable by DEATH.”
“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” he told The Independent. “But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that. What I’m saying, what I will say unequivocally, that was a wildly inappropriate thing for so called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”
Eric Garcia has the full story…
Donald Trump’s peace plan would see Russia being invited back to the G7, as well as all Western sanctions against the country being lifted.
Russia would also be given two-thirds of its $300 billion frozen assets, with the remaining $100 being used to rebuild Ukraine.
“The remainder of the frozen Russian funds will be invested in a separate US-Russian investment vehicle that will implement joint projects in specific areas,” the proposal read, according to The Telegraph. “This fund will be aimed at strengthening relations and increasing common interests to create a strong incentive not to return to conflict.”
European governments have slammed the proposal as being a capitulation to Russia.
Senator Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA officer, has pushed back on Trump’s call for his political enemies to be put to “death.”
She slammed his comments as being “beyond the pale,” and said that “intimidation” will not stop her speaking out.
Donald Trump has shared a screenshot of a post, uploaded to X by Elon Musk, on Truth Social.
The photograph shows Musk and Trump surrounded by Saudi officials, with the tech CEO looking at the president with what appears to be a nervous expression.
“I would like to thank President Trump for all he has done for America and the world,” Musk captioned the post.
The pair were once close political allies, before a disastrous fall-out once Trump took office.
A report suggested that Trump had claimed that Musk was using drugs, with the tech CEO claiming that the president was in the Epstein files.
The acting commander of the US Coast Guard, Admiral Kevin Lunday, confirmed on Thursday that swastikas and nooses will remain banned.
His comments come after a new harassment policy, posted on the Pentagon’s website, suggested that the symbols were just “potentially divisive.”
“Potentially divisive symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, or other bias,” the guidance read.
Represnative Lauren Underwood took to X to slam the new harrassment policy and confirmed that she met with Admiral Lunday.
“Today it was revealed that the Coast Guard would no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols. Unacceptable,” she posted. “I just met with Admiral Lunday, and got his committment to publish a new policy.
“Hate has no place in our armed services,” she continued.
Yesterday, the DOJ sued the State of California in a federal court, claiming that providing in-state college tuition to unauthorized students is illegal.
The claim also alleges that it discriminates against out-of-state Americans who pay tuition costs.
A press statement from the Office of Public Affairs claims that the policy helps to “create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal immigrants with benefits.”
“California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This marks our third lawsuit against California in one week — we will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for federal law.”
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Governor Newsom, the State Attorney General, and the Regents of the University of California, the Board of Trustees of the California State University, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges are also named in the lawsuit.
Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York, has confirmed that he will meet Donald Trump in the White House today.
The pair have repeatedly locked horns in the past, over Trump’s claims that Mamdani is a “communist” and the mayor-elect’s frequent criticism of the president.
Mamdani, who has denied being a “communist” and identifies as a democratic socialist, won the mayoral race in a landslide victory, after leading the polls for months.
Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon has urged the president to “bang some heads” and come up with a game plan for Republicans amid dismal recent polling.
“Let’s run the table [with] a simple plan, aggressively executed,” Bannon, the host of “War Room” and Trump’s chief strategist during his first term, told Axios. “The President may have to bang some heads. [His] entire plan has an objective of GROWTH, JOBS, HIGHER WAGES — now execute.”
Just weeks after a blue wave swept elections across the country, a series of recent polls this week suggest Trump’s approval rating is slipping as the administration copes with the fallout from the Epstein files and a turbulent economy.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll this week found Trump’s approval rating dipped to 38 percent, his lowest since returning to the White House. Even among Republicans, his approval rating has dropped to 82 percent, down from 87 percent earlier in the month, the poll found.
Kelly Rissman has the full story…
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