President Donald Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they agreed to despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down many of his far-reaching taxes on imports. And he said he wants a global tariff of 15%, up from 10% he had announced immediately after the ruling.
The court’s Friday decision struck down tariffs Trump had imposed on nearly every country using an emergency powers law. But the Republican president won’t let go of his favorite tool for rewriting the rules of global commerce and applying international pressure.
“Any Country that wants to “play games” with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have “Ripped Off” the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” Trump posted Monday on Truth Social.
One of Trump's executive orders says he can bypass Congress and impose a 10% tax on imports from around the world starting Tuesday, the same day as his State of the Union speech.
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Trump claims people killed by individuals in the US illegally would still be alive if he’d won the 2020 election
There is no way Trump or anyone can know that. But the Republican president has received high marks in his second term for practically cutting off the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S. from Mexico, and says he would have done the same thing back then had he not lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump is using the event to repeat false claims that he only lost because the election was rigged. But there is no evidence to support his allegations.
Trump lost dozens of court challenges, his own attorney general found no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, audits and recounts in the battleground states where he contested his loss all affirmed Biden’s victory.
Laken Riley’s mother thanks Trump
Allyson Phillips, the mother of Laken Riley, thanked Trump for the work he’s done to honor her daughter and others who have been killed by people in the U.S. illegally. She said public perception of the president is different than the man she has come to know.
“You have fought a fight that most people wouldn’t want to have to fight,” she said. “There are just not enough words to say, because if you’ve lived the nightmare that we have lived you understand the importance of the job he is doing.”
Phillips remembered her daughter as “the most responsible, hardworking, kind, selfless, beautiful Christian.” She added: “She didn’t make bad choices. She was just a good girl. She just wanted to go for a run that morning.”
Trump is speaking at a White House event to designate ‘Angel Family Day’
“Angel families” is a term the Trump administration is using to refer to relatives of people killed by someone who was illegally in the U.S.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post on Sunday night that Trump was signing a proclamation designating “Angel Family Day.”
The event is meant to recognize Laken Riley and families like hers. The 22-year-old Georgia nursing student was killed in February 2024 while out jogging. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan man, is now serving a life term for her murder. Ibarra had been arrested for illegally entering the U.S. and released to pursue his case in immigration court.
Riley’s case became a flashpoint in the debate over immigration, and the first bill Trump signed into law in his second term was named for Riley. Trump says today is a “truly solemn occasion.”
Media organizations could keep pushing for release of Trump classified documents report
Judge Cannon’s ruling blocking the release of a special counsel report on Trump’s hoarding of classified documents might not be the end of the fight.
Though both the Justice Department and Trump had pushed for the report to be permanently shelved, media organizations had been pushing for the document’s release and had argued that it was in the public interest for it to come out.
They could presumably move to appeal Cannon’s ruling to a higher court.
Smith and his team produced a two-volume report on investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Florida estate following his first term. Both indictments were abandoned by Smith’s team after Trump’s November 2024 election win, in light of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.
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Supreme Court agrees to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits
The Supreme Court will hear from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change.
The case out of Boulder, Colorado is one of series of lawsuits alleging the companies deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change.
It’s part of a wave of legal actions around the country and world trying to leverage action on climate change through the courts.
Backed by the Trump administration, the companies say the lawsuits wrongly threaten the industry.
The case is expected to be heard in the fall.
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Stocks waver on Wall Street after Trump imposes more tariffs
Stocks are treading water on Wall Street after Trump ramped up his newest tariffs, pegging them at 15% on Saturday after saying they would be 10% just the day before. Trump is reacting to the Supreme Court ruling striking down his sweeping taxes on imports from around the world. Trump’s quick shift toward even more aggressive tariffs shows how much uncertainty still hangs over the global economy.
Despite Friday’s ruling, tariffs aren’t going away, and Trump said Monday he expects other countries to abide by trade agreements based on the tariffs that have been overturned.
“Any Country that wants to “play games” with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have “Ripped Off” the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
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The order to draw down US personnel in Lebanon comes as US pressures Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran faces both the threat of a U.S. military strike and new protests at home as the United States and Iran prepare to hold their next round of nuclear talks Thursday in Geneva.
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, confirmed the talks after Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, told CBS in an interview that he expected to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva on Thursday. Araghchi said a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.
The Trump administration has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades as it pushes its longtime adversary for concessions on its nuclear program and more.
Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible, and both Iran and the U.S. have signaled they are prepared for war if the talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fail.
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Judge blocks release of special counsel Smith’s report on Trump classified documents case
A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigation into Trump’s hoarding of classified documents.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report detailing Smith’s findings in the probe that resulted in criminal charges in 2023.
Cannon, who in 2024 dismissed the case after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed, said the release of the report would present a “manifest injustice” to Trump and his two co-defendants.
“Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges,” she wrote.
State Department orders nonessential US diplomats to leave Lebanon as tensions with Iran soar
A State Department official says the U.S. has ordered nonessential diplomats and family members to leave Lebanon as tensions over Iran rise with the threat of a potentially imminent military strike.
The official said a continuous assessment of the regional security environment determined it was “prudent” to draw down the U.S. Embassy’s footprint so that only essential personnel remained at their posts.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move had not yet been formally announced, said that it is a temporary measure and that the embassy remained operational Monday.
A second department official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been formally announced, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio may delay his intended visits to Israel this weekend.
Trump’s big speech will be delivered to a changed nation and a Congress he's sidelined
President Trump will stand before Congress on Tuesday to deliver the annual State of the Union address to a transformed nation.
One year back in office, Trump has emerged as a president defying conventional expectations. He’s executed a head-spinning agenda, upending priorities at home, shattering alliances abroad and challenging the nation’s foundational system of checks and balances. Two Americans were killed by federal agents while protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids and mass deportations.
As the lawmakers sit in the House chamber listening to Trump’s agenda for the year ahead, the moment is an existential one for the Congress, which has essentially become sidelined by his expansive reach, the Republican president bypassing his slim GOP majority to amass enormous power for himself.
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Rubio heads to Caribbean to reassert US interests after Venezuela strikes
Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis this week to reassert the Trump administration’s interests in the Western Hemisphere just a month after the U.S. military operation that removed former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
With the eyes of much of the world on the U.S military buildup in the Middle East and President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran, Rubio will make a one-day visit to St. Kitts on Wednesday to participate in a summit of leaders from the Caribbean Community, the State Department said.
Trump’s action against Maduro coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration have proven a concern for many in the region although they’ve also won support from many smaller states.
In numerous group and bilateral meetings, Rubio intends to discuss ways to promote regional security and stability, trade and economic growth.
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