This Month
Republican revolt shows limits of Trump’s power
The rebellion over the funding bill cast doubt on whether the US president-elect will be able to fulfil his election campaign promises.
- Benedict Smith
- Updated
- Trump's White House
‘President Musk’ draws first blood as government shutdown looms
The billionaire led the charge to kill a bipartisan deal to avert a freeze on federal funding, leaving Congress with just 24 to avert a government shutdown.
- Updated
- Michael D. Shear and Ryan Mac
Trump torpedoes funding bill, triggering government shutdown fears
The president-elect has intervened in a bipartisan deal to continue government funding for programs, raising the odds of a federal shutdown before the holidays.
- Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking
Trump won’t torpedo AUKUS subs deal, says Marles
Despite fears the president-elect will cool on the pact as the US struggles to produce enough submarines, the Australian defence minister says he will back the deal.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
‘Libel warfare’: ABC payout to Trump sends chill across US media
There are now fears that Trump, who has threatened libel lawsuits against news media for decades, could use presidential power to muzzle the press.
- Anna Nicolaou, Christopher Grimes and James Politi
Trump says he’s unlikely to fire Jerome Powell
In a TV interview, the president-elect also said he would pardon the January 6 Capitol rioters on day one, while vowing to lock up his political foes.
- Peter Baker
Why is my teen talking about ‘ocean aliens’?
A rumour has been circulating online that recent US congressional hearings uncovered the existence of aliens living in our oceans. Could it be true?
- Rachael Bolton
- Updated
- US politics
Biden pardons his son Hunter on gun, tax charges
The outgoing US president has used his executive powers to pardon his son despite vowing many times not to, claiming a “miscarriage of justice”.
- Updated
- Zeke Miller and Allanna Durkin Richer
November
Zuckerberg, Trump hold tense meeting to repair ties
The president-elect once called for the Facebook founder to be jailed for “plotting against” him over the 2020 election. Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make amends.
- Mike Isaac, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Theodore Schleifer
- Opinion
- Trade wars
Trump’s tariff war won’t spare America’s allies
Donald Trump is promising 25 per cent tariffs on supposedly close allies like Canada and Mexico as well as China. Where does that leave Australia?
- Jennifer Hewett
How a George Soros protege became Trump’s top economic pick
Once a big Democratic donor, hedge fund investor Scott Bessent predicted last year that the Republican’s political fortunes were on the rise.
- Alan Rappeport
- Updated
- US politics
Meet Trump’s ‘slam dunk, Olympic gold’ pick for AG
Florida lawyer Pam Bondi is his new justice department chief after Matt Gaetz withdraw his nomination which was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the Trump team.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
Meta gains steam to push age verification upon app store giants
As Australia investigates age verification methods, the social media company wants the responsibility to fall upon the likes of Apple and Google rather than individual providers.
- Cristiano Lima-Strong, Cat Zakrzewski and Andrea Jiménez
Trump to use military for ‘largest mass deportation’ in US history
The president-elect confirmed his intention to use the US military to carry out what he has vowed will be the largest mass deportation in US history.
- Charlie Savage and Michael Gold
Why Musk will struggle to reinvent American government
Those carrying scars from previous efforts to streamline US bureaucracy are sceptical about the billionaire’s ability to get any of his agenda through.
- Joe Miller, Stefania Palma and Stephen Morris
FBI braces for Trump’s radical ‘henchman’
Congressman Matt Gaetz has threatened to abolish the justice department he has been nominated to lead.
- Stefania Palma
Donald Trump taps loyalists for top national security and Mid-East posts
The president-elect this week picked a number of loyalists with hardline views who will shape US foreign policy decisions in his new administration.
- Felicia Schwartz, James Politi, Alex Rogers and Lauren Fedor
- Opinion
- Trump's White House
Trump’s foreign policy agenda a high-stakes guessing game
Donald Trump’s presidency is about to show up the contradictions in Australia’s defence spending and its domestic economy.
- Jennifer Hewett
Meet Trump’s MAGA warrior set to take on the UN
Elise Stefanik, who has repeatedly accused the United Nations of being plagued by “antisemitic rot”, is now at the centre of Donald Trump’s orbit.
- Nicholas Fandos
- Analysis
- US Votes 2024
Trump’s deportation vow fuels fear in New York
Immigrants are nervous, but experts say the president-elect faces daunting legal, financial and logistical hurdles to carry out deportations at the scale he has promised.
- Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Wesley Parnell