{"id":206493,"date":"2026-04-04T20:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-news-at-a-glance-president-enlists-jd-vance-as-his-fraud-czar-targeting-democratic-states-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:13:25","slug":"trump-news-at-a-glance-president-enlists-jd-vance-as-his-fraud-czar-targeting-democratic-states-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-news-at-a-glance-president-enlists-jd-vance-as-his-fraud-czar-targeting-democratic-states-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump news at a glance: president enlists JD Vance as his \u2018fraud czar\u2019, targeting Democratic states &#8211; The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trump said Vance would focus on blue states and, without providing evidence,  accused Democrat leaders of rampant \u2018theft\u2019 \u2013 key US politics stories from Friday 3 April at a glance<br \/>Donald Trump has given his vice-president, JD Vance, a new side gig: \u201cfraud czar\u201d.<br \/>The president this week announced a fresh crackdown on \u201cfraud\u201d in Democratic states and tapped Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California.<br \/>In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president announced that his vice-president was now \u201cin charge of \u2018fraud\u2019 in the United States\u201d, claiming the problem is \u201cmassive and pervasive\u201d. Without citing evidence, Trump said that Vance would focus on \u201ceverywhere but primarily in those blue states where crooked Democrat politicians \u2026 have had a \u2018free for all\u2019 in the unprecedented theft of taxpayer money\u201d.<br \/>Trump pointed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/california\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">California<\/a>, Illinois, Minnesota, Maine and New York, and alleged fraud was \u201cso large that, if successful, we would literally be able to balance our American budget\u201d, without providing evidence.<br \/>In recent months, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump administration<\/a> argued that southern California was rife with healthcare fraud and pledged to crack down, while frequently using the matter politically to criticize the state\u2019s Democratic leadership. Nearly all cases cited by the justice department in the wave of arrests as part of \u201cOperation Never Say Die\u201d were tied to southern California.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/trump-vance-fraud-arrest-crackdown-california\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Iran<\/a>, prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/apr\/03\/us-fighter-jet-confirmed-shot-down-over-iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Donald Trump has been accused of running a \u201cmisogynistic administration\u201d after making Pam Bondi the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.<br \/>The US president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/02\/trump-pam-bondi-attorney-general\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">dismissed the attorney general<\/a> on Thursday amid mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The move came less than a month after Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/mar\/05\/kristi-noem-fired\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ousted Kristi Noem<\/a>, the homeland security secretary, after criticism of her management of the department and immigration enforcement.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/trump-pam-bondi-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Keir Starmer has been warned his relationship with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> may be beyond repair after the US president derided the prime minister for consulting his team about military decisions, in a mocking impersonation.<br \/>In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/trump-claims-starmer-weak-mocks-pm-uk-aircraft-carriers-iran-war\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">appeared to imitate Starmer in a weak voice<\/a> during an Easter lunch speech at the White House, and said the UK was \u201cnot our best\u201d ally.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2026\/apr\/03\/relationship-with-trump-may-be-beyond-repair-keir-starmer-told\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>More than 20 Democratic attorneys general filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/attachments\/press-docs\/1.%202026.04.03%20-%20California%20v%20Trump%20-%20Complaint.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">lawsuit<\/a> Friday challenging Donald Trump\u2019s Tuesday executive order to restrict who can vote by mail.<br \/>In his order, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/02\/civil-rights-groups-mail-in-voting-trump-lawsuit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">directed<\/a> the US Postal Service to abstain from sending mail-in or absentee ballots to people who were not on a pre-ordained list of eligible citizens.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/attorneys-general-trump-mail-in-voting-lawsuit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>The leader of all Catholic chaplains in the United States\u2019 armed forces has questioned how righteous the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/us-military\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">US military<\/a>\u2019s campaign in Iran is, saying that \u201cunder the just war theory \u2013 it is not\u201d.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/us-military-archbishop-iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Defense spending would surge to its highest level in decades under a budget proposal put forward by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump administration<\/a> on Friday, while other government programs would face cuts totaling 10%.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/defense-spending-trump-budget-proposal\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/trump-executive-order-dhs-pay-partial-shutdown\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday<\/a><\/strong> that declares all Department of Homeland Security employees will receive pay and benefits during the agency\u2019s partial shutdown.<br \/>US supreme court justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/samuel-alito\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Samuel Alito<\/a> was reportedly <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/03\/samuel-alito-supreme-court-retirement-speculation\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">taken to a hospital after becoming sick at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia in March<\/a><\/strong>, further fueling speculation that Donald Trump could have more chances to shape the land\u2019s highest court through new appointments.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/02\/eric-trump-drones-gulf-states-iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A drone-maker backed by Donald Trump\u2019s two oldest sons<\/a><\/strong> is trying to sell to Gulf countries while they are under attack by Iran and dependent on the US military led by their father.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2026\/apr\/02\/tiger-woods-bodycam-footage-dui-arrest-golf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Body cam footage of Tiger Woods\u2019s arrest for DUI shows the golfer looking surprised<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2026\/apr\/02\/tiger-woods-bodycam-footage-dui-arrest-golf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> <\/a>when he was handcuffed by police officers at the scene of a vehicle crash last week <strong>and telling a deputy he had spoken to \u201cthe president\u201d<\/strong> on the phone after the incident.<br \/>The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2026\/apr\/03\/artemis-ii-astronauts-rocket-towards-the-moon-after-breaking-free-of-earths-orbit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">passed 100,000 miles from Earth on Friday<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2026\/apr\/03\/artemis-ii-astronauts-rocket-towards-the-moon-after-breaking-free-of-earths-orbit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> <\/a>as they head towards the moon, putting them on track to reach the farthest distance humans have ever travelled into space.<br \/>Catching up?<em> Here\u2019s what happened <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/02\/trump-administration-news-updates-today\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Thursday 2 April<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMihgFBVV95cUxPeWkxdjh5X1IyNEsxdXFKZU1XeG5QVUg2aDNuM3o4S0oxU0VYWV9OalpzTVdiS3BKSUtxNk82YjVnU3JFWHZMdndFbXhySDhIQ3VUUlhZT3BrUlZ6TGRJUE0ydjdrSmpMdzdFMGpzUkE3eS1lVXRDYUZWcGdUNWRRc1NoM2dadw?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump said Vance would focus on blue states and, without providing evidence, accused Democrat leaders of rampant \u2018theft\u2019 \u2013 key US politics stories from Friday 3 April at a glanceDonald Trump has given his vice-president, JD Vance, a new side gig: \u201cfraud czar\u201d.The president this week announced a fresh crackdown on \u201cfraud\u201d in Democratic states [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":206494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-206493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}