Trump admin hit with lawsuit filed by 20 states
The lawsuit, lodged in Boston federal court, argues that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unlawfully cancelled the BRIC programme in April, despite its prior congressional approval and funding.
Established in 2018, the BRIC programme was designed to fund up to 75 per cent of infrastructure projects aimed at protecting communities from natural catastrophes, having allocated approximately $4.5 billion for nearly 2,000 projects over four years.
The states contend that the Trump administration's termination of the programme violates core separation of powers principles and that the acting FEMA directors who cancelled it were not properly appointed.
The legal action seeks a preliminary injunction to compel the programme's reinstatement, highlighting the critical need for federal funding for disaster mitigation, especially following recent deadly floods in Texas.
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Reuters
14 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oil markets seen bearish after Trump-Putin Alaska meeting
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Oil markets are set for a muted price reaction when they open on Sunday after U.S. President Donald Trump's and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's meeting in Alaska, at which Trump said a fully-fledged peace deal was the aim for Ukraine rather than a ceasefire. Trump said he had agreed with Putin that negotiators should go straight to a peace settlement - not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and European allies, until now with U.S. support, have been demanding. Trump said he would hold off imposing tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil following his talks with Putin. He has previously threatened sanctions on Moscow and secondary sanctions on countries such as China and India that buy Russian oil if no moves are made to end the Ukraine war. "This will mean Russian oil will continue to flow undisturbed and this should be bearish for oil prices," said ICIS analyst Ajay Parmar. "It is worth noting that we think the impact of this will be minimal though and prices will likely see only a small dip in the very near term as a result of this news." The oil market will wait for developments from a meeting in Washington on Monday between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. European leaders have also been invited to the meeting, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. "Market participants will track comments from European leaders but for now Russian supply disruption risks will remain contained," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS. Brent settled at $65.85 a barrel on Friday, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate at $62.80 - both down nearly $1 before the talks in Alaska. Traders are waiting for a deal, so until that emerges, crude prices are likely to be stuck in a narrow range, said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst with Price Futures Group. "What we do know is that the threat of immediate sanctions on Russia, or secondary sanctions on other countries is put on hold for now, which would be bearish," he said. After the imposition of Western sanctions, including a seaborne oil embargo and price caps on Russian oil, Russia has redirected flows to China and India.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
West Virginia governor to deploy National Guard troops to US capital
Aug 16 (Reuters) - West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey is deploying 300 to 400 National Guard troops to the District of Columbia at the request of the Trump administration, the governor's office said in a statement on Saturday. The deployment is "a show of commitment to public safety and regional cooperation" and will include providing equipment and specialized training alongside the "approximately 300-400 skilled personnel as directed," the statement, opens new tab said. Drew Galang, a spokesperson for Morrissey, said the state's National Guard received the order to send equipment and personnel to D.C. late on Friday and was working to organize the deployment. Earlier this week President Donald Trump said he was deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department to curb what he depicted as a crime and homelessness emergency in the nation's capital. A White House official said on Saturday more National Guard troops would be called in to Washington to "protect federal assets, create a safe environment for law enforcement officials to carry out their duties when required, and provide a visible presence to deter crime." According to U.S. Justice Department data, violent crime in 2024 hit a 30-year low in Washington, technically a self-governing federal district under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. District of Columbia officials and the Trump administration negotiated a deal on Friday to keep D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's appointed police chief in charge of the police department after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit to block the federal takeover of the department. Trump, a Republican who has suggested he could take similar actions in other Democratic-controlled cities, has sought to expand the powers of the presidency in his second term, inserting himself into the affairs of major banks, law firms and elite universities. It is not clear how the administration could deploy National Guard troops elsewhere. A federal judge in San Francisco is expected in the coming weeks to issue a ruling on whether Trump violated the law by deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June without California Governor Gavin Newsom's approval. The National Guard serves as a militia that answers to the governors of the 50 states except when called into federal service. The D.C. National Guard, however, reports directly to the president.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Putin-Trump summit: US ready to be part of Ukraine security guarantees, says Merz, as Zelenskyy prepares to fly to Washington
Update: Date: 2025-08-16T15:29:35.000Z Title: Russia's reaction to Donald Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska has been nothing short of jubilant, with Moscow celebrating the fact that', 'the Russian leader met his US counterpart without making concessions', 'and now faces no sanctions despite rejecting Trump's ceasefire demands. Content: The German chancellor will join Europe's 'coalition of the willing' in talks on Sunday before the Ukrainian and US presidents meet on Monday Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin summit briefing Maya Yang Sat 16 Aug 2025 17.29 CEST First published on Sat 16 Aug 2025 17.20 CEST 5.29pm CEST 17:29 Pjotr Sauer Russia's reaction to Donald Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska has been nothing short of jubilant, with Moscow celebrating the fact that the Russian leader met his US counterpart without making concessions and now faces no sanctions despite rejecting Trump's ceasefire demands. 'The meeting proved that negotiations are possible without preconditions,' wrote former president Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram. He added that the summit showed that talks could continue as Russia wages war in Ukraine. Trump entered the high-stakes summit warning, 'I won't be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire,' and threatening 'severe consequences' if Moscow refused to cooperate. But after a three-hour meeting with the Russian side that yielded no tangible results, Trump shelved his threats and instead insisted that the meeting was 'extremely productive,' even as Putin clung to his maximalist demands for ending the war and announced no concessions on the battlefield, where Russian forces are consolidating key gains in eastern Ukraine. For the full story, click here: 5.26pm CEST 17:26 Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that his visit to Alaska was 'useful and timely,' Russian news agency TASS reported on Saturday. Putin also added that his conversation with Trump was 'sincere and substantive,' adding that Russia respects the position of the US and also wants to settle the Ukrainian conflict peacefully. 5.20pm CEST 17:20 Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the developments after the Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Here is a look at where things stand: The United States is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Saturday after a summit in Alaska between the US president, Donald Trump, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ended without a ceasefire deal. Merz was speaking to the German public broadcaster ZDF after being briefed together with other European leaders by Trump on his talks with Putin. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told Donald Trump that he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the Financial Times reports. The Russian leader made the request during his meeting with Trump in Alaska on Friday, the FT said, citing four people with direct knowledge of the talks. European leaders are invited to attend a Monday meeting with US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing two senior European officials. The meeting comes after a summit between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which Washington said resulted in 'great progress' but no deal to end the conflict in Ukraine. Two people, a 52-year-old man and his 13-year-old son, were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Kursk region, the local governor said on Saturday. In a statement published on Telegram, the Kursk governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said that the two had been killed when their car caught fire as a result of a drone strike. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on X that strong security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe were 'essential' in any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. 'The EU is working closely with Zelenskyy and the United States to reach a just and lasting peace. Strong security guarantees that protect Ukrainian and European vital security interests are essential,' von der Leyen posted on Saturday. In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said: 'Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with the involvement of both Europe and the US. 'All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine's participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine.' The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has released an official statement on Ukraine after the Alaska summit held between president Trump and president Putin. The statement said: 'President Trump's efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended.'
