National Politics

By Molly English, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump did not dispute that he is building monuments to himself amid his architectural blitz in Washington, DC, saying in a recent interview that “nobody will do it once I’m gone.” When asked about the monuments, such as the “triumphal arch,” by New York Magazine, Trump agreed

By Amy O’Kruk, Rhyannon Bartlett-Imadegawa, CNN (CNN) — Mail-in voting in the 2026 midterm elections officially begins Friday in North Carolina, even as the rules governing those votes remain uncertain amid an ongoing legal fight. A federal judge has, for now, temporarily blocked the US Postal Service from enforcing new mail-in voting requirements stemming from

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration launched a series of arcade-style games on the official White House website Thursday to tout its priorities — the latest turn in its aggressive online effort to troll Democrats that has at times surfaced racist and offensive images. The White House’s online arcade includes games where

By Sunlen Serfaty, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration plans to break ground on the president’s “triumphal arch” in the next two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced Thursday, immediately spurring opponents to go to federal court for an emergency injunction. “We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over

By Kaanita Iyer, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — In a months-long summer saga that does not appear to want to end, the Trump administration has hired yet another new company to help clean and maintain the Lincoln Reflecting Pool — adding more cost and more questions to the renovation project that was meant to be

By Sunlen Serfaty, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Thursday lamented the anger and threats she has faced over the removal of trees as part of President Donald Trump’s controversial effort to turn a public golf course in Washington, DC, into a championship-level one. But the discussion about the removal of the

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has for months been using a fictional economic figure. Vice President JD Vance echoed it on Thursday. Vance, listing the administration’s “wins” while speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, claimed “we’ve seen $19 trillion of new investment come into the country.” But there

By John Fritze, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to give the US Postal Service sweeping power to withhold delivery of mail ballots, setting up an extraordinary showdown over voting at the high court less than two months before the November midterm election. The emergency appeal,

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Whitney Wild, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been federally charged with lying about the events leading up to his shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant earlier this year, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Friday. The officer, Christian Castro, is facing six counts of

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk’s super PAC has disclosed its first spending on behalf of Republican candidates, providing roughly $800,000 to help congressional contenders across several states, new filings show. The expenditures by America PAC, made in August and disclosed on Wednesday night to the Federal Election Commission, cover printing costs –

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky said Thursday that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s staff have told him they are hoping the senator – who has had an extended absence from Washington due to health issues – will return when the Senate comes back into session on September 14. Although

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Billionaire investor Leon Black is suing the House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein to try and block the panel from obtaining his non-disclosure agreements and testimony. Black’s refusal to turn over the documents and appear for his deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday marks a major

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly apologized on Thursday after falsely asserting that no Americans had died during the Trump administration’s war with Iran. Lutnick made the claim while defending the war in an interview on CNBC, saying that “the way the president is playing Iran, right, there haven’t

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has suggested federal agencies may stop working with the Smithsonian Institution if its leadership does not change, ramping up a monthslong pressure campaign to align the world’s largest museum complex with its views. In an August 28 letter to the Smithsonian’s governing body that was

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — It’s a question President Donald Trump has privately been asking his national security team for months: Why aren’t the Iranian people toppling their leaders? It was an outcome he seemed relatively certain of at the start of the war, convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that street protests

By Zachary Cohen, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — The US military escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, marking a wartime high as Iran and the US exchanged a new round strikes on Tuesday, two US officials familiar with the operations told CNN. Prior to the launch

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s renewed attempt to limit birthright citizenship, partially halting an executive order the president issued after the Supreme Court struck down his more sweeping effort last year. US District Judge Deborah Boardman said the administration could not enforce the new, more

By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — Newly unsealed court transcripts reveal behind the scenes discussions taking place weeks before Luigi Mangione ultimately pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges tied to the murder of the chief executive of United Healthcare. The transcripts of two court hearings confirm that Mangione was on the cusp of pleading guilty