Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. Trump told...
What to know about fatal shooting of ‘King of the Hill’ actor Jonathan Joss as co-stars pay tribute
HOUSTON — While it remains unclear what prompted the fatal shooting of Jonathan Joss, a Native American voice actor best known for his work on the animated television series “King of the Hill,” police say they are looking into whether his sexual orientation played a role in his death. Joss’...
Harvard gets backing of other universities, including Pitt, in Trump funding fight
A group of 18 leading U.S. research universities, including Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins, asked a federal judge for permission to file legal arguments in support of Harvard University in its high-stakes showdown with the Trump administration over more than $2 billion in...
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow Education Department purge
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let him resume dismantling the Department of Education, seeking to lift a lower court order that requires the reinstatement of as many as 1,400 workers. The emergency request Friday challenges a federal district judge’s conclusion that Trump’s effort to...
Supreme Court leaves ban on high-capacity gun magazines
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a fresh gun-rights appeal, refusing to question the District of Columbia’s ban on large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices. The justices on Friday rejected arguments from four firearms owners who said the ban violates the gun-rights protections in the Constitution’s Second Amendment. On June 2,...
Appeals court hands AP an incremental loss in its attempt to regain its access to Trump events
Digging deep into free-speech precedents in recent American history, a federal appeals panel handed the Associated Press an incremental loss Friday in its continuing battle with the Trump administration over access by its journalists to cover presidential events. By a 2-1 margin, judges on the three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals...
Transportation chief seeks to weaken fuel economy standards, calls Biden-era rule ‘illegal’
DETROIT — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a rule Friday that Biden-era fuel economy standards for gas-powered cars and trucks are illegal and moved to reverse them, paving the way for a likely reset of rules. Combined with Senate language in the pending budget bill to eliminate penalties for...
DOGE employees can search Social Security records, Supreme Court says
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the DOGE team that had been led by Elon Musk to examine Social Security records that include personal information on most Americans. Acting by a 6-3 vote, the justices granted an appeal from President Donald Trump’s lawyers and lifted a...
Epstein attorney slams Musk’s claim that Trump is ‘in the Epstein files’
A defense attorney who worked with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein claims his former client provided no information that would implicate President Donald Trump in any illegal activity. Epstein, who hanged himself at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, was known to party...
Abrego Garcia indicte, back in U.S. to face federal charges
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in the U.S. to face a federal indictment in Tennessee accusing him of transporting across the country hundreds of people who had entered the U.S. illegally. The sprawling two-count indictment alleges the Beltsville resident conspired with others for nearly a decade to transport people, as...
5 Proud Boys sue U.S. government over Jan. 6 prosecutions
ORLANDO, Fla. — Five members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group, claim their constitutional rights were violated when they were prosecuted for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a lawsuit filed Friday. The lawsuit was filed in Orlando federal court...
Trump looks to sell Tesla after feud with Musk
It was a costly spat. As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk feuded on social media Thursday afternoon, shares of Musk’s Tesla Inc. plummeted more than 14% — erasing $150 billion of the electric vehicle maker’s value. Investors weren’t the only ones looking to dump Tesla. Trump is looking to...
Deadly Russian bombardment of Ukraine further dampens hopes for peace
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The barrage was one of the fiercest...
Senate Republicans revise ban on state AI regulations in bid to preserve controversial provision
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have made changes to their party’s sweeping tax bill in hopes of preserving a new policy that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. In legislative text unveiled Thursday night, Senate Republicans proposed denying states federal funding for broadband projects if they regulate...
Championship-round tickets sold out for U.S. Open at Oakmont; limited practice-round spots remain
Tens of thousands of golf fans have secured their tickets for the 125th U.S. Open being held next week at Oakmont Country Club. The USGA announced Friday that the championship rounds, scheduled for Thursday through June 15, are sold out. Around 30,000 spectators are expected at the course each day...
Elon Musk pulls back on threat to withdraw Dragon spacecraft
As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk argued on social media on Thursday, the world’s richest man threatened to decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. A few hours later, Musk said he wouldn’t follow through on the threat. After Trump threatened...
Ex-WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre left the Democratic Party, publisher of her new book says
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has a book out this fall that promises a close look at President Biden’s decision not to run for reelection and calls for thinking beyond the two-party system. Jean-Pierre herself has switched her affiliation to independent after working in two Democratic administrations, according...
Salvage crew bound for the site of a cargo ship fire off the coast of Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska — A salvage team is expected to arrive early next week at the scene of a cargo ship that was carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico when it caught fire in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain. A tug carrying salvage specialists and special equipment is expected to...
Gaza marks the start of Eid with outdoor prayers in the rubble and food growing ever scarcer
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon. With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were...
Pentagon watchdog investigates if staffers were asked to delete Hegseth’s Signal messages
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon watchdog is looking into whether any of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s aides was asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The inspector general’s...
Jewelry salesman steals $650,000 worth of watches from his employer, Florida cops say
A trusted jewelry store employee got away with pocketing luxury watches for years, thanks to doctored paperwork, according to investigators in Florida. The trickery amounted to 36 missing watches valued at over $650,000, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday. All were taken from Gold &...
Judge puts temporary hold on Trump’s latest ban on Harvard’s foreign students
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has temporarily blocked a proclamation by President Donald Trump that banned foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard University. Trump’s proclamation was the latest attempt by his Republican administration to prevent the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college from enrolling a quarter of its...
Feds move to drop Sheetz discrimination case as Trump targets key civil rights tool
Federal authorities are moving to drop a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Sheetz convenience store chain, part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to halt the use of a key tool for enforcing the country’s civil rights laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination...
D-Day veterans return to Normandy to mark 81st anniversary
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse of Adolf Hitler’s regime. Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended...
The implosion of a powerful political alliance: Trump and Musk in their own words
Last Friday, President Donald Trump heaped praise on Elon Musk as the tech billionaire prepared to leave his unorthodox White House job. Less than a week later, their potent political alliance met a dramatic end Thursday when the men attacked each other with blistering epithets. Trump threatened to go after...