Yesterday
Rinehart cheers young Aussies on MAGA fact-finding mission
Young Australian conservatives backed by entrepreneur Steve Baxter bumped into Australia’s richest person in Texas at a politician action conference.
This Month
Thousands have swooned over this MAGA dream girl. She’s made with AI
A slew of right-wing accounts, peddling patriotism mixed with soft-core pornography, use fake women and convincing imagery to grab viewers.
Powell subpoenas quashed by US judge, who calls out prosecutors
Judge James Boasberg said a “mountain of evidence suggests” that the purpose of the subpoenas was simply to pressure the Fed to cut its key interest rate.
February
Trump to summon Amazon, Google, Meta chiefs over data centres
The president said he had negotiated a deal with tech giants to cover the energy costs of centres, but offered few details. Now he’s asking them to sign pledges.
Epstein files missing records of woman who claimed Trump abused her
The revelation came amid further fallout from files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: Larry Summers quit Harvard, and Bill Gates admitted to two affairs.
Pentagon threatens to take Anthropic’s AI tech in defence stand-off
Anthropic has reservations about how its technology will be used. But Pete Hegseth has given the firm until Friday to agree to the defence department’s terms.
Here’s why Trump’s state of mind is a global risk
The road to Trumpian recklessness is paved with flattery, as a cabinet of sycophants makes an already erratic US president a greater threat.
Punch-throwing Newsom is beating Trump. Democrats are a tougher fight
The California governor has just won over Europe and is riding high in prediction polls, but America’s Democratic voters will be a much tougher sell.
Jesse Jackson, charismatic US civil rights leader, dies
The Baptist minister was a close friend of Martin Luther King and ran twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.
US Congressmen demand six mysterious men be named in Epstein files
After viewing unredacted files, US legislators are demanding to know why the men’s names were publicly concealed in the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking probe.
A genuine anti-Trump backlash is finally under way
As the president’s behaviour becomes more and more indefensible, from ICE shootings to posting racist memes, a resistance is gathering some steam.
Trump to pull 700 federal agents from Minneapolis, 2300 will remain
The president’s border tsar called protests against the immigration operations a “joke”, failing to acknowledge that agents shot and killed two US citizens.
How Kevin Warsh won the race to become Trump’s new Fed chief
The Wall Street insider’s tortuous path to the central bank’s top job began nine years ago, when he was considered for the role during the first Trump mandate.
January
US agents placed on leave after shooting as Trump issues warning
The move comes as the US president gave mixed signals over defusing the outrage over the shooting, including by warning the Minneapolis mayor to co-operate.
How a killing on ‘Eat Street’ forced Trump to change course
Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis has for years drawn crowds for its variety of ethnic restaurants. Now it’s better known for ICE raids and death.
US consumer confidence plummets to lowest level since 2014
After a slight improvement in December, confidence resumed its downward slide amid concerns about high prices and sluggish job growth.
Trump sues JPMorgan for $7.3b as Dimon’s pay hits record level
The US president lodged the lawsuit against America’s biggest bank and its CEO for unfairly closing his accounts for political reasons.
Trump threatens Insurrection Act to quell Minnesota protests
The president’s ultimatum could further fray tensions in Minneapolis, where an officer last week shot to death a mother of three as she tried to drive past him.
The former Fox News host who helped weaponise the DoJ against Powell
Jeanine Pirro’s investigation into the US Federal Reserve chairman’s testimony raises questions over the independence of the nation’s judicial arm.
And the next Federal Reserve chairman is … Donald Trump
The US president has long spoken in thuggish terms about chair Jerome Powell and his reluctance to slash interest rates as fast as Trump would like.
