Author: Robert Jones
Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The…
About two and a half months ago, I wrote a piece about what foreign aid might look like in the second Trump term. Reading that piece now feels bizarre. I thought that Trump’s second term would look much like his first: lots of proposals to cut foreign aid funding, pushed back on by Republicans in Congress who support foreign aid programs (often for geostrategic or religious reasons), resulting in not much change from the Biden years.At the end I included this nugget:If Trump fully usurps the power of the purse from Congress, then any hope for foreign aid premised on…
Pete Marocco has spent much of this month hunkered in an office suite on the seventh floor of the State Department overseeing the dismantling of the architecture for how the United States delivers foreign aid.But he did have time to greet a foreign guest who had been making the rounds in Washington during the Trump administration’s early days: an official in the government of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s autocratic leader.During the meeting, according to statements released by the Hungarian official, Tristan Azbej, Mr. Marocco pledged to halt all aid programs that “intervened” in Hungary’s internal affairs.The next day, Mr. Orban took…
A new poll shared with Newsweek reveals that Black voters are expressing doubts about the Democratic Party’s current strategy for opposing Donald Trump.Newsweek has contacted the Democratic Party for comment via email.Why It MattersWhile Black voters still very much align in favor of the Democrats, the 2024 election saw a sizable shift toward the Republicans among Black Americans, with the Democrats winning about 80 percent of the Black vote, down from 90 percent in 2020, according to the Associated Press.In total, Trump won 20 percent of the Black vote, compared to 13 percent in 2020 and 8 percent in 2016,…
Michelle King, the top official at the Social Security Administration, left her position this weekend after she refused a request from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access sensitive government records at the agency, according to two sources familiar with the situation.White House spokesperson Harrison Fields confirmed in a statement that King was no longer the head of the agency.”President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career…
The White House barred a credentialed Associated Press reporter and photographer from boarding the presidential airplane Friday for a weekend trip with Donald Trump, saying the news agency’s stance on how to refer to the Gulf of Mexico was to blame for the exclusion. It represented a significant escalation by the White House in a four-day dispute with the AP over access to the presidency.The administration has blocked the AP from covering a handful of events at the White House this week, including a news conference with India’s leader and several times in the Oval Office. It’s all because the…
CNN — President Donald Trump and top allies who have questioned the constitutionality of recent court orders blocking the administration’s agenda touted similar rulings by federal courts as “great news” and “brilliant” when they paused President Joe Biden’s policies. When a federal judge in Texas halted a Biden administration pause on deportations six days after Trump was inaugurated, presidential aide Stephen Miller took to social media to describe the temporary restraining order as “great news.” When a judge in Louisiana blocked Biden aides from asking social media platforms to remove content, Trump called the decision “amazing.” “Just last week, in…
Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The…
The Logoff is a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.Welcome to The Logoff. I want to focus on the coming legal fight over Donald Trump’s agenda, because the courts seem to be the largest remaining hurdle to the administration’s attempt to radically expand Trump’s power.What’s the latest? Two federal workers today sued over Elon Musk’s tech takeover at the agency that oversees the federal workforce, Wired reports. The lawsuit asks for a temporary restraining order to force Musk and his team to disconnect a server…
On Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night, musician Kid Rock touted that half his band is “liberal, gay or Black,” adding that his group is “diverse,” not because of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts but because “they’re the best at what they do.”Newsweek reached out to Rock via social media direct message on Saturday afternoon.Why It MattersRock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, is one of the most prominent celebrity supporters of President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.Since taking office in January, Trump has led efforts to end DEI initiatives in…