tag

US authorities have arrested a man suspected of planting pipe bombs in Washington the night before the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, two officials briefed on the matter said Thursday. The FBI released surveillance video, offered a $500,000 reward and received hundreds of tips in a years-long search for the suspect they believe was involved in the incident that took place nearly five years ago. The footage, from January 5, 2021, showed a person putting a bomb near a bench outside the Democratic National Committee building. The suspect placed another bomb at the Republican headquarters. Both sites are near the Capitol. The suspect is Brian Cole, Jr., of Woodbridge, Virginia, according to two sources briefed on the matter. Cole, 30, lives with his parents and works for a bail bond company, one of them said. The suspect is expected to make an initial court appearance in Washington, according to a source briefed on the matter. The bombs were discovered on the same day supporters of Trump stormed Congress in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Police deactivated the bombs and neither exploded. In the January 6, 2021, melee at the Capitol, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than $2.8mn in damage. Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged for participating in the riot, some 1,500 people, when he returned to office in January. 

President Donald Trump isn't on the ballot in next November's midterm elections, but he’s plunging into them with his own presidency at stake. He's calling candidates, making early endorsements, shaping strategy and pushing economic messaging to try to keep Congress in Republican hands, according to nine Republicans involved in election strategy.As early as this summer, 18 months before Election Day 2026, Trump was urging Republican congressmen exploring Senate or gubernatorial runs to stand for reelection instead to avoid party primary fights, according to a White House official, a senior Trump adviser and a party operative.Such an early, hands-on involvement in midterm elections is unprecedented for a president in modern times."Presidents usually are wheeled into action later in the campaign season," said Bill Galston, who was a senior adviser in former Democratic President Bill Clinton's White House. "This is extremely unusual."Trump's urgency spiked after state and local elections on November 4 when exit polling showed voters punished Republicans over the rising cost of living. In multiple meetings immediately after the vote, Trump angrily told aides that Republicans should own the affordability message, the White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump's reaction. The president reminded his staff that he had returned to the White House on a promise to tackle inflation. Republicans should not cede ground to Democrats on the issue but highlight where his administration had succeeded in bringing down prices, said the official, who was briefed on the meetings.Trump "has been absolutely clear that affordability is the center of our economic agenda," the White House official said.Costs have continued to rise in the US, in part because of sweeping tariffs Trump has imposed on foreign imports. Trump scrapped some tariffs this month to reduce prices on beef, coffee, fruit and other groceries."He's definitely going to exert more pressure on the administration to move even quicker to provide policy solutions," the senior Trump adviser said.The White House official said Trump's involvement includes frequent check-ins with senior advisers, bursts of calls to political allies, and regular sessions where aides walk him through polling, fundraising numbers, and research on voter sentiment.Trump has seen his poll numbers slide in recent weeks, driven in part by voters' unhappiness with his handling of the economy. His approval rating has fallen to 38%, the lowest this year, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on November 18."The reality is, when a president is unpopular, he takes seats away from his party," said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist who has been a Trump critic.Trump got a reality check last week on his sway over Republican lawmakers when he was forced to reverse his opposition to releasing Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, after a rebellion by his supporters and House Republicans.Trump's poor approval ratings raise uncertainty about whether he can keep Republicans unified heading into the midterms if voter frustration over inflation and living costs persists. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to Reuters that Trump has a strong record that he will continue to emphasize."This month alone President Trump has delivered yet another drug pricing deal, five new trade deals, record-breaking commercial and investment deals with Saudi Arabia, new stock market highs, and a blockbuster jobs report," Desai said.Trump wants party candidates to run on his package of tax cuts, which was passed in July by the Republican-controlled Congress, six Republican party operatives told Reuters. The aim is to impress on voters that they will receive bigger tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service after they file their returns next April, putting more money in pockets and offsetting angst over rising prices.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made permanent many tax cuts Trump passed in 2017 during his first term, including expanded tax credits for parents with children and extra deductions on state and local taxes.The overall average tax cut for an individual taxpayer will be $3,752 in 2026, according to an analysis of the bill by the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based nonpartisan nonprofit."People are going to get money back in their pocket in April because of the tax cuts," the Trump adviser said. "That hasn't connected to the electorate yet."Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan elections analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said tax cuts may not be a winning issue for Republicans."The tax cuts don't necessarily mean that prices are lower. People are very pessimistic about the economy," Kondik said.For Trump, keeping Republican control of Congress next November is also about self-preservation, said a second White House aide. Republicans have narrow majorities in both the House and Senate. If they lose just one chamber, Democrats would likely be able to thwart much of Trump's agenda in the last two years of his presidency.Losing control of the House would also give Democrats the power to impeach Trump for a third time. House Democrats impeached Trump twice during his 2017-2021 term but on both occasions the Republican-controlled Senate did not vote to remove him from office. Nevertheless, the impeachment process consumes a presidency and can derail policy goals."This is as much about him (Trump) as it is about the future of the party," said one Republican operative focused on Senate races. "The Senate is the last line of defense before attacks on the president can move forward in terms of impeachment," she said.Trump and party operatives will be focused on turning out infrequent voters - a strategy that succeeded for Trump in the presidential election last year. "Republicans have to turn out non-midterm voters to be successful,” the Trump adviser said.In the summer, Trump spoke to three Republican congressmen - Bill Huizenga of Michigan, Zach Nunn of Iowa and Mike Lawler of New York - encouraging them to drop their bids for higher office and run again for their House seats, to lessen the risk of a Democratic takeover in the chamber, the White House official and Trump adviser said. All three have since announced they are running for reelection.A spokesman for Nunn sent a statement the congressman released on July 11, thanking Trump for his support and stating he will run again for his House seat. The offices of Huizenga and Lawler did not respond to a request for comment.Trump has already endorsed at least 16 Senate candidates including in close Senate races in North Carolina and Michigan, and at least 47 House candidates, an unusually large number this early in an election cycle, according to a lobbyist with close ties to the White House.Trump has said publicly he believes one reason his party did poorly in this month's elections was because he was not on the ballot.As a result, Trump will be front and center in the midterm campaign, hitting the trail to talk up his tax cuts. "President Trump’s hands-on engagement is a decisive advantage heading into 2026," Kiersten Pels, the Republican National Committee press secretary, said.Democrats relish the idea of a more visible Trump, saying he will help drive turnout among their party members."Every stop on his midterm campaign tour will remind them of how he has made life harder for everyday Americans," Kendall Witmer, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, told Reuters.

Division at the Federal Reserve has intensified in recent weeks, with officials staking out disparate positions ahead of the central bank’s December policy meeting — all while Chair Jerome Powell stays silent. The drama was amped up on Friday when New York Fed President John Williams, sometimes seen as a proxy for the Fed chief, signalled his support for a rate cut after several other policymakers came out leaning against one.Powell himself hasn’t spoken publicly since the central bank’s last rate decision on October 29. But a tally of recent remarks suggests the other voting members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee are now nearly evenly split over what to do, all but ensuring some will vote against the December 10 decision regardless of the outcome.Once a rarity under Powell, dissents have increased this year. As officials wrestled with competing objectives of supporting a flagging labour market and keeping inflation in check, there hasn’t been a unanimous vote since June. The government shutdown, which delayed several key economic data releases, further complicated their ability to agree on which goal to prioritise. “By Powell not being out there right now, he’s letting every single member of the Open Market Committee have a voice and be listened to,” said Claudia Sahm, chief economist at New Century Advisors and a former Fed economist. “He’s giving them space to have this disagreement, and that’s actually a good thing because this is tough and you should have these debates.” The recent back-and-forth has scrambled market bets on the next rate move, as traders attuned to the Fed’s consensus view are now counting votes among individual policymakers.Heading into the October policy meeting, investors saw a December rate cut as a sure thing. Odds plunged following the outburst of hawkish sentiment, briefly falling below 30%, according to pricing in federal funds futures. But they rebounded above 60% after Williams’ remarks on Friday. The central bank has long prided itself on making rate decisions by consensus, and it’s been a hallmark of Powell’s tenure at the helm, which began in 2018 and is set to conclude in May.The resulting low number of dissenting votes at the Fed’s eight annual policy meetings telegraphs confidence in their decisions, and some research suggests it ensures clear and effective communication of the committee’s intentions. But critics argue it also leads to “group-think” that suppresses potentially important arguments. “On the group-think thing, people who are accusing us of this, get ready. You might see the least group-think you’ve seen from the FOMC in a long time,” Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Monday.Waller dissented from the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady in July along with his colleague Michelle Bowman — the first time two Fed governors had voted against the chair in 32 years. At the following meeting in mid-September, Governor Stephen Miran — who joined the Fed board that month after being nominated by President Donald Trump — voted against his colleagues’ decision to lower rates by a quarter point, instead favouring a bigger rate reduction. At the Fed’s October 28-29 meeting, Miran dissented again for the same reason, while Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid dissented in the opposite direction.Schmid wanted to hold rates steady, arguing that further cuts could reignite inflation. That’s a sentiment that’s been expressed by more and more Fed policymakers in the weeks since. Five of the 12 officials who vote on policy this year have indicated they’re leaning toward keeping rates on hold next month. “We need to be careful and cautious now about monetary policy,” Fed Governor Michael Barr, who in the past has leaned toward providing support for the labour market, said this week.Other past doves have also indicated they might be more comfortable holding rates steady next month. They include Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, who hasn’t dissented in his nearly three years at the Fed, but said he would if he felt like he needed to. “If I end up feeling strongly one way, and it’s different from what everybody else thinks, then that’s what it is. That’s fine.I think that’s healthy,” Goolsbee said Thursday in a call with reporters. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dissenting.” He acknowledged there have been more dissents this year than in recent Fed history, but also called that healthy. It’s not unprecedented in the longer arc of the central bank’s existence.Dissents abounded in the 1980s, when the Fed lifted rates to punishingly high levels in order to bring down high inflation, and in the 1990s when lingering anxiety about price pressures had many policymakers concerned about easing too much. “Uncertainty is a pervasive feature of the macro economy and monetary policymaking,” Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said Friday. “A policymaker cannot know with certitude the current state of every relevant aspect of the economy, let alone exactly how every part of the economy works or what shocks may arrive.Yet policymakers must still make policy decisions.” The December decision is shaping up to be the closest call in years. Some, like Deutsche Bank Senior Economist Brett Ryan, believe Williams locked in a cut with his Friday remarks. Others aren’t so sure. “I really think it’s still a coin flip,” said Sahm.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has received the draft of a new US-backed plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine and expects to have talks with President Donald Trump in the coming days, Zelensky's office said Thursday.Two sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Washington had signalled to Zelensky that Kyiv must accept the US-drafted framework to end the nearly-four-year-old war, which includes territorial concessions and curbs on Ukraine's armed forces.European countries pushed back Thursday against the plan, which sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation. "We are ready now, as before, to work constructively with the American side, as well as with our partners in Europe and around the world, so that the outcome is peace," Zelensky's office said in a statement on Telegram. Zelensky's talks with Trump would include discussion of the "key points required to achieve peace", it said.Trump and Zelensky clashed in front of television cameras in a disastrous meeting for the Ukrainian leader at the White House in March, but talks went more smoothly when he visited the White House this summer. The acceleration in US diplomacy comes at an awkward time for Kyiv, with its troops on the back foot on the battlefield and Zelensky's government undermined by a corruption scandal.Parliament fired two cabinet ministers on Wednesday. Moscow played down any new US initiative. "Consultations are not currently under way. There are contacts, of course, but there is no process that could be called consultations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said Russia had nothing to add beyond the position President Vladimir Putin laid out at a summit with US President Donald Trump in August, adding that any peace deal must address the "root causes of the conflict", a phrase Moscow has long used to refer to its demands.With another winter approaching in the nearly four-year-old war, Russian troops occupy almost one-fifth of Ukraine and are poised to capture their first substantial city in nearly two years — the ruined eastern railway hub of Pokrovsk.Video footage released by Russia's defence ministry Thursday showed its troops moving freely through the southern part of Pokrovsk, patrolling deserted streets lined with charred apartment blocks. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels did not comment in detail about the US plan, which has not been made public, but indicated they would not accept demands for Kyiv to make punishing concessions. "Ukrainians want peace — a just peace that respects everyone's sovereignty, a durable peace that can't be called into question by future aggression," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. "But peace cannot be a capitulation."German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said US special envoy Steve Witkoff had, during a phone call Thursday, underlined "the importance of close coordination with Germany and our European partners" in talks to end the war.The White House has not commented on the reported proposals. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Washington would "continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict". "...Achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions," Rubio said.A US Army delegation, led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the Army's Chief of Staff Randy George, was in Kyiv and expected to meet Zelenskiy late Thursday. They met Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi late on Wednesday. Syrskyi said the best way to secure a just peace was to defend Ukraine's airspace, extend its ability to strike deep into Russia and stabilise the front line.

Saudi priorities include defense, technology, nuclear powerBin Salman welcomed with flyover, honor guardTrump to urge normalization of ties with IsraelUS-Saudi business deals expected to be struckPresident Donald Trump hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, with the Saudi de facto ruler seeking to deepen ties with Washington. Making his first White House visit in more than seven years, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.Talks between the two leaders are expected to advance security ties, civil nuclear co-operation and multibillion-dollar business deals with the kingdom. The meeting underscores a key relationship -- between the world’s biggest economy and the top oil exporter.Trump greeted bin Salman with a smile and a handshake on the red carpet, while dozens of military personnel lined the perimeter. The limousine was escorted up the South Drive by a US Army mounted honour guard. The two leaders then looked skyward as fighter jets roared overhead, before Trump led his guest inside. Before sitting down for talks, the two leaders chatted amiably as Trump gave bin Salman a tour of presidential portraits lining the wall outside the Oval Office.During a day of White House diplomacy, bin Salman will hold talks with Trump in the Oval Office, have lunch in the Cabinet Room and attend a formal black-tie dinner in the evening, giving it many of the trappings of a state visit. US and Saudi flags festooned lamp posts in front of the White House.Trump expects to build on a $600bn Saudi investment pledge made during his visit to the kingdom in May, which will include the announcement of dozens of targeted projects, a senior US administration official said. The US and Saudi Arabia were ready to strike deals for defence sales, enhanced co-operation on civil nuclear energy and a multibillion-dollar investment in US artificial intelligence infrastructure, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The UN Security Council on Monday voted to adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza and authorising an international stabilisation force for the Palestinian enclave. Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza - a ceasefire in their two-year war and a hostage-release deal - but the UN resolution is seen as vital to legitimising a transitional governance body and reassuring countries that are considering sending troops to Gaza.The text of the resolution says member states can take part in the Trump-chaired Board of Peace envisioned as a transitional authority that would oversee reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza. It also authorises the international stabilization force, which would ensure a process of demilitarising Gaza, including by decommissioning weapons and destroying military infrastructure. Hamas, in a statement, reiterated that it will not disarm and argued that its fight against Israel is legitimate resistance, potentially pitting the group against the international force authorised by the resolution."The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject," Hamas said in its statement, issued after the adoption of the resolution. Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the resolution, which includes Trump's 20-point plan as an annex, "charts a possible pathway for Palestinian self-determination ... where rockets will give way to olive branches and there is a chance to agree on a political horizon." Russia, which holds a veto on the Security Council, earlier signaled potential opposition to the resolution but abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to pass.The UN ambassadors of Russia and China, which also abstained, complained that the resolution does not give the UN a clear role in the future of Gaza. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement welcoming the resolution, and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.Trump celebrated the vote as "a moment of true Historic proportion" in a social media post. "The members of the Board, and many more exciting announcements, will be made in the coming weeks," Trump wrote. The resolution has proven controversial in Israel because it references a future possibility of statehood for the Palestinians. The resolution's text says that "conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood" once the Palestinian Authority has carried out a reform programme and Gaza's redevelopment has advanced.

Tariff rollback includes beef, tomatoes, bananas amid inflation concernsTrade deals with Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador to eliminate tariffsDemocrats criticize Trump for inflation linked to tariffs (Adds Trump comments, paragraphs 3, 17, 18, details on order throughout, industry reaction paragraphs 12-15)US President Donald Trump has rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas and orange juice, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries.The new exemptions — which took effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday — mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fueling inflation."They may in some cases" raise prices, Trump said of his tariffs when asked about the move aboard Air Force One on Friday evening. But he insisted that overall, the US has "virtually no inflation." Democrats have won a string of victories in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where growing voter concerns about affordability, including high food prices, were a key topic.Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would move forward with a $2,000 payment to lower- and middle-income Americans that would be funded by tariff revenues next year sometime. "The tariffs allow us to give a dividend if we want to do that. Now we're going to do a dividend and we're also reducing debt," he said.The Trump administration announced framework trade deals on Thursday that, once finalised, will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, with US officials eyeing additional agreements before year's end.Friday's list includes products US consumers routinely purchase to feed their families at home, many of which have seen double-digit year-over-year price increases. It includes over 200 items ranging from oranges, acai berries and paprika to cocoa, chemicals used in food production, fertilizers and even communion wafers.The White House, in a fact sheet on the order, said it came on the heels of "significant progress the President has made in securing more reciprocal terms for our bilateral trade relationships." It said Trump decided certain food items could be exempted since they were not grown or processed in the US, and given the conclusion of nine framework deals, two final agreements on reciprocal trade, and two investment deals.Ground beef, as of the latest available data for September, was nearly 13% more expensive, according to Consumer Price Index data, and steaks cost almost 17% more than a year ago. Increases for both were the largest in more than three years, dating back to when inflation was nearing its peak under Trump's predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.Although the US is a major beef producer, a persistent shortage of cattle in recent years has kept beef prices high.Banana prices were about 7% higher, while tomatoes were 1% higher. Overall costs for food consumed at home were up 2.7% in September.The tariff exemptions won praise from many industry groups, while some expressed disappointment that their products were excluded from the exemptions."Today’s action should help consumers, whose morning cup of coffee will hopefully become more affordable, as well as US manufacturers, which utilize many of these products in their supply chains and production lines," FMI-Food Industry Association president Leslie Sarasin said in a statement.Distilled Spirits Council president Chris Swonger said that excluding spirits from the European Union and Britain "is yet another blow to the US hospitality industry just as the critical holiday season kicks into high gear." "Scotch, Cognac and Irish Whiskey are value-added agricultural products that cannot be produced in the US," Swonger added.Asked if further changes were planned, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "I don't think it'll be necessary." "We just did a little bit of a rollback," he said. "The prices of coffee were a little bit high, now they'll be on the low side in a very short period." NEW FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY Trump has upended the global trading system by imposing a 10% base tariff on imports from every country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state.Trump has focused squarely on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by Biden, and not his own tariff policies.Consumers have remained frustrated over high grocery prices, which economists say have been fueled in part by import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies start passing on the full brunt of the import duties.The top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, said the Trump administration was "putting out a fire that they started and claiming it as progress." "The Trump Administration is finally admitting publicly what we've all known from the start: Trump's Trade War is hiking costs on people," Neal said in a statement. "Since implementing these tariffs, inflation has increased and manufacturing has contracted month after month."

The US government was set to take the first tentative steps towards re-opening Thursday after President Donald Trump signed a bill to end the longest federal shutdown in US history.The 43-day funding freeze had paralysed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game.The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Wednesday, largely along party lines, to approve a Senate-passed package that will reopen federal departments and agencies, as many Democrats fume over what they see as a capitulation by party leaders.Trump lashed out at Democrats as he put his signature to the bill later in the Oval Office, urging Americans to remember the chaos when voting in hotly contested US midterm elections in a year's time."Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion," said Trump, surrounded by gleeful Republican lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson.Johnson had earlier pointed the finger at the minority party in a withering floor speech before the vote."When we come up to midterms and other things, don't forget what they've done to our country," Trump said. "So with my signature, the federal government... will now resume normal operations."The package funds military construction, veterans' affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress itself through next fall, and the rest of government through the end of January when lawmakers will again need to reach a funding agreement.Around 670,000 furloughed civil servants will report back to work, and a similar number who were kept at their posts with no compensation — including more than 60,000 air traffic controllers and airport security staff — will get back pay.Several federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, told their staff to return to the office Thursday, according to US media.Travel delays looked set to improve but not disappear with almost 1,000 flights cancelled Thursday, according to tracking website FlightAware. Authorities said air traffic controller shortages were easing and the transportation secretary on Wednesday released a fresh order for six percent of flights to be frozen — lower than the eight to 10 percent expected under the previous emergency directive.The deal also restores federal workers fired by Trump during the shutdown, while air travel that has been disrupted across the country will gradually return to normal.Trump falsely accused Democrats of costing the country $1.5tn. While the full financial toll of the shutdown has yet to be determined, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it has caused $14bn in lost growth.Johnson and his Republicans had almost no room for error as their majority is down to two votes.Democratic leadership — furious over what they see as their Senate colleagues folding — had urged members to vote no and all but a handful held the line.Although polling showed the public mostly on Democrats' side throughout the standoff, Republicans are widely seen as having done better from its conclusion.For more than five weeks, Democrats held firm on refusing to reopen the government unless Trump agreed to extend pandemic-era tax credits that made health insurance affordable for millions of Americans.Election victories in multiple states last week gave Democrats further encouragement and a renewed sense of purpose.But a group of eight Senate moderates broke ranks to cut a deal with Republicans that offers a vote in the upper chamber on health care subsidies — but no floor time in the House and no guarantee of action.Democrats are now deep in a painful reckoning over how their tough stance crumbled without any notable win.Democratic leadership is arguing that — while their health care demands went largely unheard — they were able to shine the spotlight on an issue they hope will power them to victory in the 2026 midterm elections."Over the last several weeks, we have elevated successfully the issue of the Republican health care crisis, and we're not backing away from it," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC.But his Senate counterpart Chuck Schumer is facing a backlash from the fractious progressive base for failing to keep his members unified, with a handful of House Democrats calling for his head.Outside Washington, some of the party's hottest prospects for the 2028 presidential nomination added their own voices to the chorus of opprobrium.California Governor Gavin Newsom called the agreement "pathetic," while his Illinois counterpart JB Pritzker said it amounted to an "empty promise." Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg called it a "bad deal."

President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented attack on wind and solar power as he seeks to reshape the US energy landscape and reverse the green agenda put forward by his predecessor.Since Trump returned to office in January, his administration has taken aim at projects on federal lands and oceans, stopping work on wind farms, revoking permits, and making it more difficult for new renewable energy developments to secure approval. He’s also weakened the economics of wind and solar projects more broadly, pushing legislation through Congress that phases out key tax breaks and moving to tighten access to these incentives.The broadsides have thrown the US clean energy industry into crisis, putting billions of dollars of investment at risk and threatening thousands of jobs. It’s a sharp reversal from just three years ago, when the sector hailed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act under then-President Joe Biden as the most significant piece of climate legislation in US history.Why does Trump dislike renewables?Trump has criticised solar and wind as being unreliable and expensive. He’s called for more power to be generated from fossil fuels, namely natural gas and coal, as well as nuclear.Renewables generation is intermittent as the sun isn’t always shining nor the wind blowing. But developers are increasingly turning to batteries to store surplus power and discharge it to the grid when needed.Trump also isn’t a fan of how renewable power installations look, describing solar projects as “big ugly patches of black plastic that come from China” and mar farmland.He’s been a vehement critic of wind turbines for years, falsely claiming they cause cancer and deriding them as bird-killing eyesores. Before his first presidential term, Trump lost a legal challenge in the UK to prevent an offshore wind project from being built within sight of a golf course he owns in Aberdeen, Scotland.“Windmills are a disgrace,” he said in July after a visit to the course. “They hurt everything they touch. They’re ugly. They’re very inefficient. It’s the most expensive form of energy there is.” Looking at the levelised cost of electricity the long-term price a power plant needs to break even offshore wind is much more expensive than a new gas-fired facility, but it’s cost-competitive with coal and cheaper than nuclear, according to BloombergNEF’s assessment published in February. Meanwhile, onshore wind, as well as solar, is cheap enough to compete with a new-build gas plant.How has Trump sought to curb wind and solar developments?The Trump administration has harnessed its oversight of millions of acres of federal land and waters, where developers need government authorisation to build. While these areas are being made easier to explore for the oil and gas industry as part of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda, the government is imposing standards that would essentially prevent new renewables installations.On Trump’s first day back in office, he froze permitting for all wind projects on federal land and oceans, and indefinitely halted the sale of new leases for offshore wind development. He also directed the Interior Department to review the “necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases” and to identify “any legal bases for such removal.” Since then, a number of wind projects have been upended. This includes the Revolution Wind development off the coast of Rhode Island. The government issued an order halting construction of the project which is already 80% complete citing national security concerns. This sent shares of developer Orsted A/S to record lows and added to the Danish company’s mounting troubles. Orsted’s Revolution Wind LLC unit filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in early September, seeking to overturn the stop-work order so that it can finish the project.For developers hoping to get past the planning stage, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has ordered that all solar and wind projects on federal lands require his personal sign-off, which could mire the approval process in red tape. The department said it’s acting in accordance with Trump’s order to end “preferential treatment” for these technologies.As part of this mandate, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rescinded Biden-era decisions that earmarked coastal waters for future wind turbines. This covers more than 3.5mn acres, including in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Bight, and off the coast of California and Oregon.How has the Trump administration targeted renewables beyond federal land and waters?Only 4% of operational US renewables capacity is located on federal land. While the government doesn’t have direct control over clean energy developments on private property, many of those projects still need federal approvals that are being held up. In addition, the Trump administration has been trying to make the economics of wind and solar less attractive.Trump has branded efforts to combat climate change as the “Green New Scam” and vowed to do away with subsidies for these activities. The tax-and-spending law he helped push through Congress known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act phases out the tax credits for wind and solar projects years before they were due to expire. On top of this, the Treasury Department has issued guidance making it harder for developments to qualify for the incentives.There could be bad news to come on the tariff front, too. Wind turbines and parts are already subject to the 50% duties Trump imposed on imported steel and aluminium products. But the Commerce Department has opened a so-called Section 232 investigation into the national security implications of importing wind energy components, which could lead to sector-specific levies.It also opened a Section 232 probe into imports of polysilicon a key raw material for solar modules which could result in additional duties on imports.How have these actions impacted the US clean energy industry?The industry had been building momentum as solar and wind power almost tripled their share of US electricity generation over the past decade, topping 15%. But it’s now in a tough spot. Billions of dollars of new factories and clean energy projects have been cancelled, delayed or scaled back since the start of the year.Clean energy advocacy group E2 estimates that $22bn worth of projects were scrapped or downsized from January to June, and more than half of the investment lost was in congressional districts represented by Republicans.Trump’s crackdown on renewables will likely hit smaller and medium-sized companies harder because they lack the financial moat needed to survive the instability. Larger solar developers have expressed more cautious optimism, saying they’ve been able to start enough projects that qualify for the expiring tax credits in order to continue their projects for the next several years.The nascent US offshore wind industry is perhaps in the most precarious position given it was just starting to take off before Trump re-entered the White House.How is this affecting energy prices?That’s a subject of huge debate and has become a hot-button political issue. Electricity prices nationally rose at more than twice the rate of overall inflation in the past year and remained at a record high in June.While the Trump administration says that adding wind and solar to the grid has been pushing up the cost of electricity, data shows that increased spending on power lines and poles has been the biggest driver of utility bill hikes.Utilities have been upgrading their grids to accommodate new sources of generation and demand, and network operators are also trying to improve resilience to extreme weather events and modernise infrastructure that was built in the 1960s and 1970s.Higher electricity costs are a reflection of tight supply as well, as aging coal- and gas-fired plants retire and power consumption rises after years of relatively tepid growth. Demand is being propelled by industrial users and the power-hungry data centres behind artificial intelligence. Slowing the deployment of renewables could exacerbate the situation.The phaseout of wind and solar incentives under Trump’s tax-and-spending law could raise average US household energy bills by $78 to $192 in 2035, and increase annual industrial energy expenditure by $7bn to $11bn, according to the Rhodium Group.Where does this leave the outlook for US renewables?The threat of the federal government pulling the plug on fully permitted and nearly complete assets could make renewables developers and project financiers more wary of making long-term investments in the US, even after Trump has left office. It could also create uncertainty for states such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island that are relying on offshore wind to meet growing power demand and decarbonise their grids.Blue states won’t be the only ones facing challenges. In red Texas the top US state for wind generation and number two for solar behind California all but 6% of new capacity added to the grid since 2020 has come from renewables or batteries, fuelling the power needs of its growing economy. That momentum is at risk of slowing as the accelerated phaseout of tax credits makes wind and solar projects more expensive.Despite the Trump administration’s roadblocks, the US clean energy buildout is expected to continue, albeit more slowly. Solar and batteries are faster to deploy than Trump’s favoured energy sources. There’s currently a multiyear manufacturing backlog for the combined-cycle turbines used in gas plants, while new nuclear capacity whether based on conventional or next-generation reactors is many years away.And onshore wind and solar are expected to be cost-competitive even without subsidies, according to BloombergNEF. In addition, blue states including California and New York are still pushing to expand their clean power fleets.But the outlook for the sector has certainly dimmed. Following the passage of Trump’s tax-and-spending law, BloombergNEF’s revised estimate for new wind, solar and energy storage additions in the US through 2035 is 26% lower than previously projected.

Eight Opec+ countries to meet on SundayOpec+ could also pause hikes for October, source saysNo immediate comment received from Opec or Saudi authoritiesEight Opec+ members will consider further raising oil production at a meeting on Sunday, two sources familiar with the discussions said, as the group seeks to regain market share.Opec+ has reversed its strategy of output cuts from April and has already raised quotas by about 2.5mn barrels per day, about 2.4% of world demand, to boost market share and under pressure from US President Donald Trump to lower oil prices.But those increases have failed to bring down oil prices, which traded near $68 a barrel supported by Western sanctions on Russia and Iran, encouraging further production gains in rivals such as the US.Another output boost would mean Opec+, which pumps about half of the world's oil, would be starting to unwind a second layer of cuts of about 1.65mn barrels per day, or 1.6% of world demand, more than a year ahead of schedule.Eight Opec+ countries are due to hold an online meeting on Sunday expected to decide on October output.Opec+ includes the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies.There is also a chance, some analysts and an Opec+ source said, that Opec+ could pause the increases for October. A final decision has not been made, the Opec+ source said.Opec headquarters and authorities in Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Brent crude was trading near $68 on Wednesday, down over 1% on the day but up from a 2025 low of near $58 in April.As well as sanctions, the Opec+ hikes falling short of the pledged amounts have also supported prices, analysts have said.Until April, Opec+ had been curtailing production for several years to support oil prices.At their last meeting in August, the eight members raised production by 547,000 bpd for September, completing a total increase in output for the year of 2.5mn bpd. That included a 300,000 bpd additional production allocation for the UAE.The next output cut layer of 1.65mn bpd is in place until the end of 2026, as is another 2mn bpd of cuts by the whole group.

President Donald Trump hosted new Polish President Karol Nawrocki Wednesday at the White House with a military flyover and an offer to send more US troops to the eastern European ally.Talks were expected to focus on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, where Trump's peacemaking efforts have been struggling to get traction.Trump called it a "stupid war" and said he thought ending it would have been "much easier" for him."It's going to get done," he vowed to reporters in the Oval Office, with Nawrocki at his side.Nawrocki, a nationalist historian and fervent Trump supporter, was in Washington for his first foreign visit as president after having visited the US leader to seek his backing during the Polish election campaign.Trump gave him a warm welcome, including an offer to boost the US military footprint in Poland."We'll put more there if they want," he said in the Oval Office. "We're with Poland all the way and we'll help Poland protect itself."Nawrocki praised the US troop presence and said it was "the first time in history" that Poland had been happy to host foreign troops, while stressing that Warsaw aims to keep increasing its own military spending within the NATO alliance.The White House said a flyover by F-16 and F-35 jets during Nawrocki's arrival commemorated the death of a Polish F-16 jet pilot killed last week while preparing for an air show.Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP that the flyover, which featured a so-called "missing-man formation," was staged to "honour the memory of a brave Polish fighter pilot, whose life was tragically taken too soon, and capture the special relationship between our two countries."While Trump and Nawrocki see eye-to-eye politically, Poland is closely watching the US leader's peace efforts in neighbouring Ukraine, which Warsaw has largely been frozen out of.Key Nato and EU member Poland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion and is a vital transit country for military and humanitarian supplies, as well as host to thousands of US troops.Trump's efforts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table have so far stalled.Putin vowed during a visit to Beijing Wednesday to keep fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal cannot be reached, while Zelensky said he hoped to talk to Trump today about possible additional sanctions against Russia.Nawrocki will also be seeking fresh support from Trump amid deep political polarization in Poland between himself and his country's pro-EU government, led by former European Council chief Donald Tusk.The novice Polish president recently blocked a law extending Ukrainian refugees' rights proposed by Tusk's government. Nawrocki has also, like Trump, opposed Ukraine's desire for Nato membership.The visit is nevertheless a chance for Trump to celebrate the election of yet another right-wing ally in Europe.Trump welcomed Nawrocki to the Oval Office in June before the Polish election, with the White House posting a picture of the pair grinning and giving the thumbs-up sign.During the election campaign, Nawrocki highlighted the importance of ties with the United States and his close ties with Trump. His "Poland First, Poles First" echoed Trump's "America First" slogan.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal unions in some agencies that have "national security missions", the White House said.The order would apply to unions in agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), the Patent and Trademark Office, the National Weather Service and others, the White House said in a statement.Trump also signed a presidential memorandum aimed at preventing federal grant money from going toward political lobbying, the White House said.The memo directs Attorney-General Pam Bondi to investigate whether funds from federal grants "are being illegally used to support lobbying activities and to take appropriate enforcement action", according to a White House fact sheet.