US News

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board is accusing the ethanol lobby of "extortion" after Congress handed it a sweetheart deal as "political compensation" for the damage caused by President Donald Trump's tariff blitz, and warning that American drivers will pay the price at the pump.

In a scathing editorial published Sunday, the board described how the corn fuel lobby threatened to hold the five-year farm bill hostage unless Congress agreed to permit year-round sale of E15 fuel, a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline, and severely restrict waivers from the ethanol mandate for small refiners.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board is sounding the alarm ahead of President Donald Trump's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, warning that Xi set a "Venus fly trap" for Trump on Taiwan that could upend decades of U.S. foreign policy.

The board warned that Xi wants Trump to formally "oppose" Taiwanese independence, a subtle but seismic shift from the current U.S. posture of "not supporting" it. While the change might sound like diplomatic hairsplitting, the Journal warned it would have massive ramifications.

Author and journalist Anand Giridharadas identified Sunday what he called the single thing that has allowed the wealthy and powerful figures in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit to escape accountability for decades — and it's something most Americans have lost.

Speaking on The Daily Beast podcast with host Joanna Coles, Giridharadas argued the so-called "Epstein class" — a shadowy network of billionaires, financiers, professors, royals, and political operators — operates by a code of mutual protection that overrides any ideological divide.

A former senior White House official is spilling the tea on Stephen and Katie Miller, describing the union of Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff and his right-wing podcaster wife as less of a romance and more of a corporate transaction.

"It's more like a merger than a marriage," the former official told the Financial Times in a sprawling profile published Saturday. "They’re very close as a couple, but they’re two very odd ducks."

A Virginia church group's Sunday discussion turned into a raw debate over whether President Donald Trump deserves forgiveness — with one parishioner flatly declaring it isn't his job to grant it.

About a dozen members of Annandale United Methodist Church gathered in a chapel beside the sanctuary to wrestle with faith, the U.S. war in Iran, and Trump's recent feud with Pope Leo XIV, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The conversation came in the wake of Trump's AI-generated image appearing to depict himself as a Christ-like figure, which the president later deleted.

A hotly contested Democratic primary in Nebraska's Omaha-area Second Congressional District is shaping up as one of the more unusual dilemmas of the 2026 midterms: the candidate best positioned to flip the seat could, under certain circumstances, inadvertently put the district's coveted electoral vote at risk in a future presidential race, according to the New York Times.

The district, known nationally as the "blue dot" for the speck of Democratic blue it can produce on an otherwise red map, awards a single Electoral College vote to its presidential winner. Nebraska and Maine are the only states that split their electoral votes by congressional district, a quirk that made the blue dot a potential tipping point in 2024.

Critics across the political spectrum erupted Sunday after the Trump administration's stunning move to clear a path for major tobacco companies to flood gas stations and convenience stores with flavored e-cigarettes — a policy shift that benefits some of President Donald Trump's most reliable donors.

The Food and Drug Administration's Friday guidance, issued without public comment or rule-making, drew immediate outrage from public-health advocates and political commentators who framed the move as a straightforward payoff to tobacco giants Reynolds American and Altria, both of which have donated heavily to Trump's MAGA Inc. PAC and pet projects, including his planned White House ballroom.

President Donald Trump lashed out at two of his own Supreme Court picks in a rambling Truth Social post this week, suggesting he should pack the nation's highest court after Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined the 6-3 majority that struck down his sweeping tariff agenda as unconstitutional.

"I 'Love' Justice Neil Gorsuch! He’s a really smart and good man, but he voted against me, and our Country, on Tariffs, a devastating move. How do I reconcile this? So bad, and hurtful to our Country ," Trump wrote, before turning his ire on Barrett with equal frustration. "I have, likewise, always liked and respected Amy Coney Barrett, but the same thing with her. They were appointed by me, and yet have hurt our Country so badly!"

President Donald Trump launched a second furious rant against Fox News on Sunday afternoon, hours after a first explosive Truth Social post attacking Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for an interview the California Democrat gave on the network earlier in the day.

In an evening post, Trump broadened his target beyond Khanna to include comedian Bill Maher, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and the network itself — claiming that "MAGA Republicans, who are actually close to 100% of the Party, hate Fox."

A former top Food and Drug Administration tobacco regulator who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations unloaded on the Trump administration's stunning new policy opening the door to flavored e-cigarettes.

In guidance issued Friday, as President Donald Trump reportedly signed off on a plan to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, the agency said it would stop enforcing rules against illicit vapes and allow products already in advanced stages of review onto the market, according to The New York Times.

Right-wing voices erupted Sunday over a report that congressional Democrats had privately floated ousting Virginia's entire state Supreme Court, a long-shot idea that came up during a Saturday call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) following Friday's ruling that voided the state's Democratic-drawn congressional map.

The Virginia GOP led the charge, accusing Democrats of trying to "pack the court with activist judges who will simply ignore Democrats' violations." The state party called the discussion "totally shameful and dangerous."

President Donald Trump exploded on Truth Social on Sunday after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) appeared on Fox News to discuss redistricting, the Iran war and competition with China, with Trump calling the congressman a "sleazebag" and accusing him of trying to steal credit for the steel industry's revival.

The apparent trigger was Khanna's comments about Chinese steel, where the California Democrat told Fox News anchor Jacqui Heinrich that he was "horrified" to see Chinese steel at the Port of Cleveland and called for protecting American steel manufacturing.

President Donald Trump declared Iran's latest peace proposal "totally unacceptable" in a blistering Truth Social post on Sunday, signaling that negotiations to end the Iran war remain deeply deadlocked.

"I have just read the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives,'" Trump wrote. "I don't like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!"