US News

Peace negotiations between the United States and Iran continue as both countries exchange fire, with President Donald Trump pushing to end a conflict that has proven far more entrenched than anticipated — and has sent his approval ratings to a historic lows.

Current talks center on a preliminary memorandum that would establish a framework for ending the war, and the agreement would trigger a 30-day negotiation period focused on freezing Iran's nuclear program for at least 10 years and requiring Iran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, reported CNN. In return, the U.S. would relax sanctions, unfreeze billions in Iranian funds and both sides would lift restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.

Republicans are making moves in Iowa to limit the next governor's powers in what has been seen as an acknowledgement that a Democrat might hold that role in the deep red state for the first time in decades.

Democratic state auditor Rob Sand is campaigning for governor by highlighting economic struggles, population decline and health crises in the state, arguing that Republican leadership has failed Iowans, and he'll face off against the winner of a jumbled GOP primary, reported the New York Times.

Always one looking to make a splashy deal, Donald Trump is giving serious consideration to allowing China to make a massive investment in the U.S. — against the advice of some of his closest advisors, an expert warned Friday.

In a column for the New York Times, conservative economist Oren Cass reported the president, “May be on the verge of tying the United States to China irrevocably: Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping are reportedly considering a deal to allow China to invest $1 trillion in the United States, largely to build factories on American soil.”

Critics immediately condemned the $1 billion request related to the White House ballroom project included in Senate Republicans’ $72 billion spending package unveiled earlier this week and, as of Friday, a growing number of Republican lawmakers have joined in damning the proposal as being “too politically toxic,” Punchbowl News reported.

“A first-year poli sci major would know not to ask members to take this vote and we hope the speaker does too,” said one House Republican, speaking with Punchbowl News on the condition of anonymity.

Democratic Party stalwart James Carville is crowing as he watches Donald Trump's once devoted fans cave in their support for the MAGA movement.

Speaking on his Politicon podcast Thursday with co-host Al Hunt, the famed 81-year-old Democratic strategist described watching Trump's hardcore backers drop their allegiance to the president — and it left him giddy.

President Donald Trump was confronted on Thursday evening by ABC News senior correspondent Rachel Scott, who asked him to justify all the vanity projects he is engaged in all over Washington, D.C., like the renovation of the Reflecting Pool — and he lost his temper.

"Mr. President, we are here against the backdrop of a war in Iran," Scott said. "Why focus on all these projects as gas prices soar?"

President Donald Trump broke with FIFA this week, telling the New York Post he wouldn't pay the sky-high ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup — and hinted that his administration may take a closer look at the pricing.

In a brief phone call with the Post on Wednesday night, Trump expressed surprise at the cost of tickets for the U.S. men's team's opening game against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles, where the cheapest seats are running around $1,000 on Ticketmaster.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board couldn't hide its satisfaction on Thursday after a federal court struck down President Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs — calling it "rule of law 2, Trump's tariffs 0" and comparing him unfavorably to Joe Biden.

A 2-1 majority of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Trump's Section 122 tariffs unlawful, dealing the president his second major tariff defeat in three months. Trump had invoked Section 122 to reimpose border taxes after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs under a separate law in February.

President Donald Trump downplayed the risks of the hantavirus outbreak when asked about it by reporters.

Hantavirus is a virulent, slow-incubating infection spread by rodents; an estimated 38 percent of infected people who develop respiratory symptoms die, and up to 15 percent who develop hemorrhagic fever symptoms. The disease has flared up on a luxury cruise ship off the coast of Africa, leaving three people dead.

Inmates at a Texas federal prison were punished for speaking to reporters about Ghislaine Maxwell — including one who says the warden told her she had "ruined her weekend," according to a new CNN investigation.

Julie Howell, a former inmate at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, told CNN she was transferred to a higher-security federal detention center in Houston later that day after sharing her views about Maxwell's arrival at the minimum-security camp with a British reporter last August. Howell, who had recently begun serving a one-year sentence for financial crimes, said she consulted the prison handbook before speaking to the press and believed she was within her rights to do so.