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Dr. Anthony Fauci, who had heretofore never met a microphone from which he wished to social distance, refused to answer
The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker who aided Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of underage girls, should never receive a presidential pardon. Why it matters: Democrats wanted to put every Republican senator on record as opposed to a potential pardon. By failing to object to Sen. Jacky Rosen's resolution, Republicans agreed that the president "should not grant a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell," according to the resolution."The Senate stands with the victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking and affirms its commitment to justice, accountability, and the protection of children."Senate resolutions like these are symbolic and non-binding. Last week, the Senate passed a similar resolution about any pardon or clemency for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Zoom out: President Trump has never categorically ruled out a pardon for Maxwell, but he has not given any indication that he plans to issue one. After the Supreme Court declined to hear Maxwell's appeal in October 2025, Trump was pressed on a potential pardon. "Well, I'll take a look at it. I wouldn't consider it or not consider it. I don't know anything about it. I will speak to the DOJ," he said. Zoom in: In May, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told senators that he would not recommend a pardon. Blanche personally interviewed Maxwell last year as part of the Justice Department's Epstein investigation, fueling speculation the administration might offer clemency in exchange for cooperation
The White House on Wednesday accused Chinese artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI of stealing proprietary U.S. technology to develop its latest AI model, as Washington and Beijing compete for dominance in the advancing technology. “We have information that Moonshot AI distilled Anthropic’s Fable for the development of its K3 model,” Michael Kratsios, director of the […]
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives backed a resolution on Thursday directing President Donald Trump to halt U.S. military action against Iran unless he obtains Congress' approval, but the Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure. The House vote, the latest rebuke of Trump from Congress, was 214-208 in favor of the war powers resolution as four Republicans joined Democrats in voting for it
The Trilateral talks between U.S., Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi were "positive" and "constructive," Ukrainian officials told Axios. Why it matters: The talks were a new phase in the U.S. mediation efforts aimed at ending the war. President Trump's advisers want to try and narrow the gaps on the key sticking point — the territorial control in eastern Ukraine. Driving the news: The talks took place as Russia launched another massive missile and drone attack against Kyiv and other cities overnight. Ukrainian President Zelensky said 370 attack drones and 21 missiles of various types were fired by the Russian military. "We must ensure full implementation of everything agreed with President Trump in Davos regarding air defense," he stressed. State of play: The talks started on Friday and continued on Saturday with U.S. mediators holding a joint meeting with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators and with the Russians and Ukrainians meeting directly without the Americans in the room, Ukrainian officials said. The U.S. delegation included Trump advisers Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the commander of the U.S. military European command, Alexus Grynkewich.The Ukrainian team included Zelensky's chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, national security adviser Rustem Umerov, Ukrainian military chief of staff General Andrii Hnatov and Zelensky's advisers Sergiy Kyslytsya and Davyd Arakhamia. Zoom in: The Russian team was led by the head of Russian military intelligence Admiral Igor Kostyukov. The negotiation teams also held a meeting with the President of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, who hosted the talks. The UAE had mediated between Russia and Ukraine on the exchange of prisoners of war."The discussions on Friday and Saturday were conducted in a constructive and positive atmosphere and included direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian representatives on outstanding elements of the U.S.-proposed peace framework, as well as conf
Kevin M. Warsh, who has said the Federal Reserve has “no tolerance” for elevated inflation, must decide whether he wants to push for an interest-rate increase at this week’s policy meeting
President Donald Trump is rolling out new Section 301 tariffs for 60 countries as the stopgap measure he implemented in the spring is set to expire. In February, the Supreme Court ruled that the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, raised under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were unconstitutional. In response, Trump imposed a global section […]
President Trump told Axios on Thursday that he is seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran — including strikes that would be bigger than the ones carried out during "Operation Epic Fury." Why it matters: In a brief interview, Trump acknowledged that such a decision would have consequences and stressed he hasn't made a determination yet. Trump didn't give a deadline for his decision. Two other U.S. officials confirmed no call has been made and no new orders have been given to the military. The current escalation has already caused oil prices to eclipse $100 per barrel. A return to all-out war is highly unpopular in the U.S. What he's saying: "I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it," the president said. Trump said Israel "would join in two minutes if I ask them to," but added that "we don't need anybody" to launch a new operation against Iran. He also said there would be "consequences" for Israel joining the strikes, hinting at Iranian retaliation against Israel. The big picture: Trump said the Iranians "want to negotiate" but are not ready to make a deal at the moment. "They haven't received enough pain yet," he said.Two regional sources with knowledge of mediation efforts said Iranian leadership hasn't accepted the latest proposal put forward."We are trying, but the Iranians are not being helpful," one of them said. Driving the news: The U.S. has been escalating its attacks over the last 12 days in an effort to stop Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. So far Iran hasn't shown any willingness to change course — it, too, has intensified attacks in the region. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have started attacking Saudi ships in the Red Sea, exacerbating tensions in another critical oil shipping route and further destabilizing the global energy market. Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that if the Houthis fire again at ships in the Red S
July 18 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written statement on Saturday that repeated U.S. breaches of a memorandum of understanding signed by the presidents of Iran and the United States had shown that President Donald Trump's signature was "utterly worthless and devoid of credibility." Washington and Tehran have exchanged strikes after a ceasefire agreement fell apart last week, raising fears of a return to all-out war
A senior Trump administration official and key adviser are slamming OpenAI head of strategic futures Dean Ball's views on regulation, casting a shadow on the future of the company's relationship with the government. Why it matters: The criticism targets a former White House architect of the administration's AI Action Plan who now works at OpenAI, potentially complicating the company's relationship with the Trump administration. State of play: The Trump administration is grappling with how to balance competition and cybersecurity concerns as increasingly capable Chinese AI models come onto the scene. Ball said the Trump administration would eventually land on creating regulatory risk around using Chinese models as "their best strategy." That prompted outside White House AI adviser David Sacks to question whether Ball was advocating for regulatory capture — a scenario that would benefit Ball's new employer OpenAI. Ball in another X post over the weekend clarified he was not proposing "ill-justified soft-law discouragement of Chinese AI" as a good idea. Zoom in: "Every industry/ecosystem has its supreme village idiot. @deanwball is that for AI," Defense under secretary Emil Michael said Sunday on X. "Dean Ball has perhaps the biggest gap between actual IQ and his own perceived IQ of anyone in the industry (about 40 points)."Michael was arguing against Ball's point that various government agencies, including the Pentagon, have blocked employees from using Chinese AI, which has already sent a message to regulated companies.That happened through a "democratic process," Michael said, "not some Deep State scheme." What we're watching: The Pentagon has not shied away from going ad hominem as seen in a fight with Anthropic earlier this year. The relationship quickly deteriorated: Anthropic was deemed a national security risk and had to take the government to court. The spat between Ball and key Trump officials could translate to larger scrutiny of OpenAI.Ball, the Pentagon an
House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, calls amendment ‘overly broad’ as party grapples with backlash over Israel