Politics

CNN By Adam Cancryn, Avery Schmitz, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without Congress first passing an official declaration of war. “I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just

By Kristen Holmes, Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump hung up the phone after his talk with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week, he was so convinced there was enough progress made that he announced he was heading soon to Budapest for an in-person summit. Five days later, the summit was off and

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices on Thursday laid out a remarkable critique of nitrogen hypoxia executions, asserting that the new form of capital punishment causes “psychological terror” and “excruciating suffocation” in the condemned and likely violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor,

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Construction workers in lime green vests, hoodies and hard hats who have spent the last several days clearing the White House’s East Wing departed through the Treasury grounds on their way out for lunch break Thursday, passing camera crews and journalists who have been capturing their work since demolition

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN New York (CNN) — Andrew Cuomo kept up a late-campaign effort to raise fears about the Muslim faith of Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, even laughing Thursday at the suggestion that Mamdani would cheer a terror attack like 9/11 were it to happen again. Cuomo,

By Katelyn Polantz, Donald Judd, CNN (CNN) — Prosecutors from the Maryland US Attorney’s Office have been hesitant to proceed with charges against Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, a political opponent of President Donald Trump, over allegations of mortgage fraud but the investigation remains ongoing, multiple sources tell CNN. According to three people with knowledge of

By Adam Cancryn, Avery Schmitz, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without Congress first passing an official declaration of war. “I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just doing

By Devan Cole, Casey Gannon, Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a notice on Thursday that her legal team plans to ask for her indictment to be dismissed, citing the appointment of President Donald Trump’s handpicked prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, according to a filing submitted by James’ legal team. “Please

By Katelyn Polantz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Former special counsel Jack Smith is requesting that Congress and the Justice Department allow him to testify publicly, according to a new letter he sent Thursday to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees. Smith says he wants to testify “in open hearings” because of

By Kevin Liptak, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The entirety of the White House East Wing appears to have been knocked down, photos published Thursday show, as President Donald Trump moves swiftly ahead with plans to construct a massive new ballroom. The images from the Associated Press show the demolition work reaching almost to the

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia are launching an investigation into President Donald Trump’s reported demand that his own Justice Department hand over $230 million as compensation for past federal investigations into him, according to a letter obtained by CNN. Trump’s ask, made through administrative claims filed in

By Alayna Treene, Allison Morrow, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in 2023, the White House said Thursday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao,

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN (CNN) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams will endorse former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday. Adams, who previously labeled Cuomo “a snake and a liar” days before deciding to drop his reelection bid, is expected to confirm the announcement at a press conference focused on childcare, two sources

By Aileen Graef, Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance left Israel on Thursday with an optimistic note, saying Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza strip, could be rebuilt in two to three years. Vance said Palestinians should be able to move into a “Hamas free zone” in southern Gaza “in the

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — As the walls come down on the part of the White House that’s been synonymous with American first ladies for decades, Melania Trump has remained silent. The first lady has not publicly spoken about the demolition of the East Wing, which has served as the headquarters for presidential spouses

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, CNN (CNN) — Senate GOP leaders are again shaking up their strategy as they look for more ways to pressure Democrats to end a three-week stalemate over government funding — this time, with a vote that would keep paychecks flowing to “essential” workers. Democrats, however, are expected to

By Eva McKend, CNN (CNN) — Speaking at a town hall following days of negative revelations about his online posts and a tattoo that resembled Nazi imagery, Graham Platner was defiant. “The amount of money and time it takes to dig through somebody’s entire past who has not lived a very public life is extensive

By Kit Maher, Jake Tapper, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN (CNN) — Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast and Meta are just some of the major companies who have made donations to build President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom, according to the White House. Trump has repeatedly said that work on the ballroom is privately

SPECTRUM-NEWS-NY1, CNN By David Wright, Gloria Pazmino, CNN (CNN) — This time, the gloves came off. Democrat Zohran Mamdani clashed with independent Andrew Cuomo from the first moments of Wednesday’s second and final general election debate for New York City mayor. Cuomo called Mamdani divisive and said he lacked experience or new ideas, while Mamdani