Maintenance fund to give £9bn a year to fix schools, hospitals and prisons
From 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 Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
14 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Donald Trump delays US TikTok ban again
'As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday. Mr Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social platform on Thursday morning. Donald Trump (Alex Brandon/AP) It is the third time the president has extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on January 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court — took effect. The second was in April when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with US ownership that fell apart after China backed out after Mr Trump's tariff announcement. It is not clear how many times he can — or will — keep extending the ban as the government continues to try to negotiate a deal for TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance. While there is no clear legal basis for the extensions, so far there have been no legal challenges to fight them. Mr Trump has gained more than 15 million followers on TikTok since he joined last year, and he has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. He said in January that he has a 'warm spot for TikTok'. TikTok praised Mr Trump for signing an extension on Thursday. 'We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million US businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance's office,' the company said in a statement. As the extensions continue, it appears less likely that TikTok will be banned in the US any time soon. The decision to keep the site alive through an executive order has received some scrutiny, but it has not faced a legal challenge in court, unlike many of Mr Trump's other executive orders. Jeremy Goldman, analyst at Emarketer, called TikTok's US situation 'deadline purgatory'. The whole thing 'is starting to feel less like a ticking clock and more like a looped ringtone. This political Groundhog Day is starting to resemble the debt ceiling drama: a recurring threat with no real resolution'. For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the US, and tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle were persuaded to continue to support the app, on the promise that Mr Trump's Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them. Americans are even more closely divided on what to do about TikTok than they were two years ago. A recent Pew Research Centre survey found that about a third of Americans supported a ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly a third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage said they were not sure. Among those who supported a ban, about eight in 10 cited concerns over users' data security being at risk as a major factor in their decision, according to the report. Democratic senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration is again 'flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks' posed by a China-controlled TikTok. 'An executive order can't sidestep the law, but that's exactly what the president is trying to do,' he added.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump denies report that he has approved US attack plans against Iran
Donald Trump has denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that he has approved US plans to attack Iran, saying that the news outlet has 'no idea' what his thinking is concerning the Israel-Iran conflict The Journal reported late on Wednesday that Trump told senior aides a day earlier that he had approved attack plans but was delaying on giving the final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program. The report cited three anonymous officials. On Thursday, Trump responded to the report, posting on Truth Social: 'The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!' But Trump's decision is dependent on whether the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) would destroy the Fordow uranium enrichment site, a US official told Axios. Fordow, which is built into a mountain south of Tehran, is a target of Israel's, but they lack the 'bunker-buster bombs' and aircraft needed to destroy it; the US has access to both. 'We're going to be ready to strike Iran. We're not convinced yet that we're necessary. And we want to be unnecessary, but I think the president's just not convinced we are needed yet,' a US official told the outlet. A day earlier, on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: 'I have ideas on what to do but I haven't made a final – I like to make the final decision one second before it's due. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' he added, referring to direct involvement. 'The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.' Iran's mission to the UN issued a statement saying: 'Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance.' Uncertainty around direct US involvement in the conflict comes as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called Trump 'a great friend of Israel' and thanked him 'for standing by us'. The Pentagon has sent multiple warships to the Middle East, including three navy destroyers and two carrier strike groups, while the state department has ramped up assistance to US citizens advised to leave the region. Trump's denial of the Journal's report comes as a heated split in the Make America great again coalition over support for a strike on Iran appeared to be cooling. Both the former Fox primetime host Tucker Carlson and former White House political strategist Steve Bannon had expressed concern that another Middle East military engagement in Iran would run counter to Maga's 'America First' policies. Bannon said on Wednesday that Trump could win over Maga doubters if he made the case for Iran engagement directly to the American people. Trump also said that Carlson called him to apologize for saying that he 'is complicit in an act of war'. 'Tucker's a nice guy. He called and apologized the other day because he thought he said things that were a little bit too strong and I appreciated that,' Trump said on Wednesday from the White House.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Democrat mayor SMIRKS as he defends 'doxing' ICE agents
A Democratic mayor is defending the public release of names of federal immigration officers involved in mass migrant round ups, claiming that the real concern isn't their safety, but that masked agents are 'whisking people' away. Names of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were posted to online by the City of Nashville, as part of a public records request that mandates information about immigration be posted online to a city website. Mayor Freddie O'Connell is currently under investigation by two Congressional committees for allegedly helping illegal immigrants in Music City evade deportations. 'I understand the concerns but it's not a process that I would characterize as doxing,' O'Connell told reporters at a press conference Wednesday. 'It was an unintentional release of names that was already part of a public record.' However a local Republican Congressman who is leading the investigations against the mayor slammed O'Connell on social media. 'ICE agents and their families are not safe because of Freddie's reckless actions,' Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles tweeted. 'He's not even sorry. The pushback was so intense, O'Connell had to abruptly end the press gaggle. This investigation is far from over. Stay tuned.' Identities of federal agents, which are protected in certain situations by law, were posted online, but later taken down after push back from the the Department of Homeland Security (DHS.) 'We've obviously had some concerns from DHS about releasing those names. They would still be discoverable, but that was not an intent of an executive order,' the mayor explained. 'It wasn't an intentional process. Using multiple local departments, we've had multiple people whose names have been there, but again, this is something new. We're reviewing it. While being questioned about the release of the names, O'Connell shifted attention over to criticism of the ICE tactics during immigration arrest. 'I'm far more concerned about the overall dynamic we have about unmarked, unidentifiable masked people whisking people into vehicles. I think that's a much bigger concern.' Videos of migrant arrests from across the country show ICE agents who have their face covered and refuse to give their name, show a badge or even identify what agency they work with. ICE is not acting alone. Instead, the Trump administration has mobilized almost every federal law enforcement to aid in the illegal immigrant arrests as agents have been ordered to arrest 3,000 illegal immigrants a day. FBI, DEA, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI,) and Border Patrol are among the agencies assisting ICE. The Trump administration has ordered officials to increase detentions to 3,000 migrants per day In cities like Los Angeles, federal agents have faced increasingly violent threats. Protestors have targeted them, following them and posting the location of their hotels online with comments like, ' Burn them.' Anti-ICE demonstrations include coordinated efforts to show up to hotels at night and honk, scream, play loud music, in an effort to disturb their sleep at night.
