National Politics

By Kevin Liptak, David Goldman, Matt Egan, Ivana Kottasová, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Saturday criticized Volodymyr Zelensky as the two sparred over a new US-Russia diesel deal, saying he would “suggest” Ukraine get a new leader. “You know what I suggest? I suggest they get a new leader who can

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge accused the Justice Department of trying to subvert civil rights laws with a voter roll audit plan that would run “roughshod over longstanding laws that were carefully crafted to protect the rights of the American people.” The new ruling from US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan halts

By Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — For weeks, top Democrats in Washington have watched with cautious restraint as Republicans dumped millions into red states like Kansas and South Carolina to defend an increasingly shaky Senate map. But Democrats increasingly believe they have a real chance to win seats deep in Trump territory as Republicans face

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation Thursday that the firing squad death of the Fort Hood mass shooter will be livestreamed was swiftly met with bipartisan outrage and questions over how the public execution will be carried out. Firing squad executions are rare in the US (though they have been

By Alayna Treene, Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has selected Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator who worked briefly at the Department of Homeland Security, as his new press secretary. Zacharia thanked Trump in a social media post Friday, writing, “Serving President Trump and the American people at this

By Sean Lyngaas, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — The FBI arrested a Canadian cybersecurity executive and ransomware expert as part of the investigation of a damaging hack that exposed the sensitive data of current and former FBI employees, according to court documents and people familiar the investigation. Edward Dubrovsky was arrested in the Philadelphia area

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear hoped being chair of the Democratic Governors Association this midterms year would raise his profile and connections ahead of his expected 2028 run for president. But it’s also created an opening to ramp up pressure on him, with frustrations spilling into the open this week

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — A county board in Virginia is suing to stop the construction of President Donald Trump’s “Triumphal arch,” bringing another legal challenge to the controversial 250-foot project. In announcing the suit, brought with the left-leaning nonprofit group “Democracy Forward,” the five-member Arlington County Board argued that the arch “would dramatically

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — What will Vice President JD Vance say while campaigning Friday in Ohio? Will the Texas Senate candidates debate by this Thursday? And who else will get an endorsement from former President Barack Obama, who has been on endorsement spree this week? Unlike election outcomes, all of these political questions

By Annie Grayer, Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared Wednesday that the path to a Democratic majority goes through Trump country, with his party seriously battling for seats that the president won by double digits two years ago. But with limited resources, there’s still friction over whether to play it

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — Ken Paxton has publicly said he would “love to have” John Cornyn’s support after their bruising Republican primary runoff in the Texas Senate race. But privately, Paxton has grown frustrated with the outgoing senator’s distance from his campaign. “He’s clearly not helping. He wants me to lose,” the Texas

CNN By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon said Thursday it will livestream the military’s first firing squad execution in decades, allowing the public to watch as the man who killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood is put to death. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed in an interview this

By Eric Bradner, Steve Contorno, Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — It didn’t take long for the personal attacks to fly in Thursday night’s debates for three marquee Senate races in Georgia, Michigan and Maine. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff opened by effectively putting Republican Rep. Mike Collins’ record on trial, highlighting his association with a white

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The federal budget deficit rose to nearly $2 trillion for the past fiscal year, spurred in part by ballooning interest payments and tariff refunds, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. The gap between the revenue the federal government collects and the amount it spends widened by $218 billion, or

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — Operatives in Iran used OpenAI models and fake personas to help plant news articles critical of the US war against Iran in multiple US media outlets, OpenAI said on Thursday. About a dozen outlets around the world ran roughly 100 articles by seven fake journalists, OpenAI said in a

By Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — The Pentagon said Thursday it will livestream the military’s first firing squad execution in decades, allowing the public to watch as the man who killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood is put to death. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed in an interview this week

By Tierney Sneed and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Over the course of an hour-plus hearing Thursday, US District Judge Timothy Kelly signaled skepticism about the Trump administration’s arguments for allowing President Donald Trump to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Kelly, who was appointed to the bench in Trump’s first

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN The Kennedy Center plans to name a longtime talent manager who worked with several prominent rock stars from the 1980s and ‘90s to take over artistic programming at Washington’s premier performing arts center and start lining up shows and acts for when it reopens. Rick Canny, who has been working as

By Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — James Talarico has been absent from the campaign trail over the past 12 days as the Texas Senate race enters a critical stretch, prompting Republicans to open a new line of attack on the Democratic nominee. At a campaign rally in San Antonio Wednesday, Texas attorney general and GOP

By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — Across the country, Republican groups are running deceptive ads attacking Democratic Senate candidates on the subject of gender surgery for children. CNN reviewed ads that have aired in competitive races in Ohio, Texas, Iowa and South Carolina. They use a variety of false or misleading tactics. In Ohio, two