Mark Rutte may not be a household name in the Chicago area or the rest of America, but the man is perhaps the only thing standing in the way of a full-blown collision between President Donald Trump and the NATO alliance.

NATO’s secretary-general has emerged as Europe’s most capable Trump whisperer, someone who can fly to Washington at a ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — For the first time, Democrats are in reach of holding every congressional seat in San Diego County.

But it all depends on North County, where several Democrats are vying to make it past the primary — and where a two-term Republican county supervisor poses their party’s toughest challenge in November.

Jim Desmond jumped into ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump stood down from bellicose threats to strike Iran’s critical infrastructure on Tuesday night, agreeing instead to a last-minute, two-week pause in fighting to make room for negotiations.

But he did so stating that diplomacy would revolve around a 10-point proposal from Tehran, a framework he described as a...Read more

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro cut a TV ad on behalf of Bob Brooks, a Democrat running for Congress in the purple Lehigh Valley, ahead of next month’s high-stakes primary.

The ad featuring the governor will begin airing Wednesday, potentially giving a boost to Brooks as the May 19 primary approaches.

Brooks, a firefighter and union leader, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — House Democrats and a panel of elections experts expressed unwavering confidence in state voting systems and dismissed Trump administration claims of widespread fraud and other vulnerabilities during a special "shadow hearing" in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

They accused President Trump and his Republican allies of pushing sweeping ...Read more

Bipartisan calls for President Donald Trump’s removal from office increased on April 7, 2026, after he issued threats to destroy “a whole civilization” if Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

These calls have come from across the political spectrum, from Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Melanie ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is in no hurry to tap a permanent attorney general to replace Pam Bondi following her ouster, according to people familiar with the matter, allowing Todd Blanche time to settle into his role as the U.S. Justice Department’s acting chief.

Bondi was removed from her post as the nation’s top prosecutor ...Read more

A crowd gathered along the waterfront in New York City in the summer of 1776. The scene they witnessed was terrifying.

The largest expeditionary force in British history sailed into the American harbor. Over 300 ships brought 32,000 professional soldiers and Hessian mercenaries to crush a rebellion.

Nearby, Gen. George ...Read more

Whiteness appears to be an official immigration credential in the eyes of the United States government.

The Trump administration in late 2025 slashed the annual cap on refugee admissions to 7,500 for budget year 2026, down from the 125,000 cap set in 2024 by the Biden administration. That’s a historic low that will shut out ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two Los Angeles-based relatives of a deceased Iranian leader were arrested by immigration agents after one of them extolled Iranian leadership and denigrated the United States and both repeatedly posted images and videos depicting a decidedly Western lifestyle, according to federal authorities and screenshots of the two women’s...Read more

WASHINGTON — A small federal agency responsible for studying how health care works for patients is largely dormant despite receiving millions of dollars from Congress for research into antibiotic resistance, health care access and safety or quality of care.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has spent none of the $345 million ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When this year began, the field of candidates vying to represent Philadelphia’s 3rd Congressional District was sprawling. A dozen contenders spent months campaigning and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in what is the most competitive federal race in Philly in recent memory.

...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump revisited his grievances with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over Greenland as he expressed fresh frustration with the security alliance’s stance on the Iran war.

“It all began with, if you want to know the truth, Greenland,” Trump said during a White House press conference Monday. “We want ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a legal challenge to an Illinois law barring concealed carry permit holders from carrying loaded guns on public transportation, leaving intact the state’s 2013 prohibition on firearms aboard buses and trains.

In September, a three-judge 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined over 20 other states in suing the Trump administration over its new executive order that seeks to restrict mail-in voting nationwide.

The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts federal court on Friday, contends that the new restrictions unconstitutionally strip power from states and...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s highest court ruled Monday that state lawmakers cannot proceed with upcoming impeachment proceedings against Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman.

The opinion and order, issued Monday by the Kentucky Supreme Court and written by Chief Justice Debra Hembree Lambert, voided Goodman’s articles of impeachment,...Read more

President Donald Trump on Monday celebrated the rescue of two downed American airmen as his latest deadline looms for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal or get blown “back to the Stone Ages” by a new wave of attacks.

Trump hailed the high-stakes operation that plucked the two Air Force pilots out of a remote mountainous area of Iran where ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sent Stephen Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction back to lower courts Monday to address the Trump administration’s attempt to wipe out the case against the president’s former adviser.

Bannon had appealed his conviction to the justices after both a federal trial judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals for ...Read more