The third week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial draws to a close Friday after jurors heard the dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of porn actor Stormy Daniels, while prosecutors gear up for their most crucial witness: Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. Daniels’ story of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump was a crucial building block for prosecutors, who are seeking to show that the Republican and his allies buried unflattering stories in the waning weeks of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to illegally influence the race. Trump, who denies the sexual e ..read more

The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires. The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, aims to boost the number of air traffic controllers amid a shortage, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled, among other measures. After passing the legislation on a strong 88-4 vote, the Senate passed a one-week extension to ensure that t ..read more

It will soon be Barron Trump’s time to step into the political spotlight. The youngest child of former President Donald Trump, who will graduate high school next week and has largely been kept out of the political spotlight, on Wednesday night was picked by the Republican Party of Florida as one of the state’s at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention, according to a list of delegates obtained by NBC News. “We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members,” Florida GOP chairman Evan Power said. “Florida is continuing to have a gre ..read more

The Biden administration plans to propose a new rule Thursday aimed at speeding up the asylum claims process for some migrants — a potential prelude to broader actions from President Joe Biden later this year that would impose a bigger crackdown at the border. It’s meant to affect migrants with criminal records or those who would otherwise be eventually deemed ineligible for asylum in the United States. The proposal, which the Department of Homeland Security plans to announce on Thursday, was confirmed by four people familiar with its contents who were granted anonymity to detail plans not yet ..read more

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used.” The interview marked Biden’s toughest public co ..read more

Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in sudden action Wednesday to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, her long-shot effort swiftly and resoundingly rejected by Democrats and Republicans tired of the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long list of “transgressions” she said Johnson had committed as speaker. Colleagues booed in protest. Greene of Georgia criticized Johnson’s leadership as “pathetic, weak and unacceptable.” No sooner than Greene triggered the vote on her motion to vacate the spea ..read more

A federal judge in Florida indefinitely postponed the criminal classified documents trial of former President Donald Trump. The trial on charges that Trump willfully retained classified national security records after leaving the White House and then hid them from federal authorities was scheduled to start May 20. But the new ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon vacates that date and sets a new slate of pretrial proceedings, the latest of which is a hearing set for July 22. A federal judge Tuesday indefinitely postponed the criminal classified documents trial of former President Don ..read more

President Joe Biden on Tuesday decried a “ferocious surge” in antisemitism on college campuses and around the globe in the months since Hamas attacked Israel and triggered a war in Gaza, using a ceremony to remember victims of the Holocaust to also denounce new waves of violence and hateful rhetoric toward Jews. Biden said that on Oct. 7, Hamas “brought to life” that hatred with the killing of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and warned that, already, people are beginning to forget who was responsible. The president used his address to renew his declarations ..read more

If Donald Trump keeps trying the patience of the judge presiding over his hush money trial, the former president could wind up back in his home New York City borough of Queens — specifically the prison on Rikers Island, experts said Monday. Judge Juan Merchan, who on Monday found that Trump once again had violated a gag order that bars him from disparaging witnesses or the jury, warned the ex-president could face jail “if necessary” for further violations. Merchan did not specify which jail. But when asked what would happen if the judge sent Trump to Rikers, Frank Dwyer the jail’s to ..read more

News that Hamas accepted terms of an Egypt-Qatar negotiated cease fire came just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was wrapping up a visit to a South Bay bio-tech firm. He made no comments about the potential deal there. Secretary Blinken is also the keynote speaker at the RSA Cybersecurity Conference in San Francisco where he talked about concerns of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. “As confident as we are in its potential, we’re deeply aware of its risks. Displacing jobs, generating false information, promoting bias and discrimination,” Blinken said. “To enabling t ..read more