Trump Presidency

A Turkish court has ruled for the release of American evangelical Christian pastor Andrew Brunson, after months of spiraling relations between the country and the United States over his incarceration. The ruling passed on Oct. 12 over a 3 year, 1 1/2 month sentence on Brunson, who had been charged with unsubstantiated terrorism offenses by Turkey. The court said […]

Kanye West visited an Apple store in Washington after visiting the White House on Thursday, Oct. 11, delivering an impromptu speech from atop a table. Pictures from the scene, including some from RNS reporter Jack Jenkins, show the singer and businessman taking pictures with customers before standing on the table and giving a “keynote” speech. […]

President Donald Trump extended and expanded what he called a “very important” program to clean up sea-borne waste by signing a bill to boost international cooperation on removing debris from the planet’s oceans. The Save Our Seas Act of 2018 extended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program for an additional five years, […]

The retail behemoth Amazon must be targeted for antitrust violations and broken up into smaller companies, argues Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University. “Amazon has become an invasive species that is unhealthy for our economy,” he said at the Recode conference on Sept. 17. In fact, Galloway would like to see Apple, Facebook, […]

Kanye West met with President Donald Trump on Oct. 11 at the Oval Office, giving an unprepared 10-minute monologue in front of reporters and drawing praise from Trump for his honesty. Donning a signature red “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat, West, sitting just feet away from the president at the Resolute Desk, talked freely about […]

WASHINGTON/ISTANBUL—President Donald Trump said on Oct. 11, that he saw no reason to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, possibly setting up a clash with the U.S. Congress. Trump also said the United States may be closer to finding out what happened to Khashoggi, a […]

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump welcomed musicians Kid Rock and country star John Rich to the White House on Oct. 11, as he signed legislation overhauling the way music is licensed and songwriters compensated. Trump signed the Orrin B. Hatch Music Modernization Act on Thursday. The bill won wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate and […]

A number of prominent Republicans, including the sitting president, have reacted with antipathy and condemnation over former Attorney General Eric Holder’s apparent call for violence. Holder, the latest in a growing list of prominent Democrats to use violent rhetoric against Republicans in recent months, urged fellow supporters to abandon former First Lady Michelle Obama’s previous […]

Vice President Mike Pence’s unprecedented speech on China-U.S. relations last week is still causing shockwaves due to its unflinching directness in calling out China on its litany of transgressions.

With Election Day less than a month away, voters are being bombarded with mailers and television ads by candidates hoping to collect their vote. But in the 2016 presidential election, the internet and social media emerged as a new battleground to influence voters. In that forum, it isn’t just politicians or even ardent local supporters […]

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa—Michelle Root loved that President Donald Trump held a rally in her hometown of Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Oct. 9. She has met with the president several times about illegal immigration and attended the rally to show her support. “Just to show my support to our great president and everything he’s done for […]

Insurance companies and pharmacy benefits managers (PBM) will no longer be able to strong-arm pharmacies into keeping quiet when customers pay more than they need to for drugs, thanks to two bills President Donald Trump signed on Oct. 10. The bills, Know the Lowest Price Act and Patients Right to Know Drug Prices Act, target […]

WASHINGTON—The White House on Oct. 10 condemned the death of an opposition politician in Venezuela and accused President Nicolas Maduro’s government of involvement in the death. “The United States condemns the Maduro regime’s involvement in the death of Venezuelan opposition councilman Fernando Alban,” it said in a statement. The statement also called for the release […]

A pro-government newspaper in Turkey said they have identified a 15-member intelligence team allegedly involved in the mysterious disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Daily Sabah published images and security video of the so-called “assassination squad” as they entered the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul where Khashoggi—a prominent Saudi journalist and regime critic—was last seen entering […]

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa—President Donald Trump announced ending the summertime ban of E15 sales—a higher ethanol blend of gasoline at a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Trump’s Oct. 9 trip to the “Hawkeye State”—the largest ethanol producer in the United States—comes after a whirlwind lineup of campaign stops last week where he rallied for Republicans in […]

President Donald Trump has received 92 percent negative evening news coverage from the main broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC. “Over the summer, the broadcast networks have continued to pound Donald Trump and his team with the most hostile coverage of a President in TV news history,” Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center […]

President Donald Trump will meet with rapper Kanye West in the White House on Oct. 11. The two will have lunch and discuss a number of issues pertinent to the black community, especially in Chicago, where West has an opportunity to offer a helping hand. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an […]

The U.S. State Department has called on Saudi Arabia to conduct a “thorough” probe into the mysterious disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose case sparked international concern over the kingdom’s apparent crackdown on dissent. Khashoggi, a regime critic and prominent journalist in Saudi Arabia, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Officials in Turkey […]

WASHINGTON—Brett Kavanaugh was already sworn in as a Supreme Court justice on Oct. 6, but the White House held another swearing-in ceremony for him, with the president in attendance, after a prolonged confirmation hearing. Addressing a packed East Room on Oct. 8, President Donald Trump introduced his nominee with an apology. “On behalf of our […]