WASHINGTON (AP) — Of the issues that divide Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and President Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, John Bolton, one stands out: North Korea. Bolton, who will replace Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on April 9, has publicly advocated for overthrowing the North Korean government. Mattis, a retired Marine general who knows […]
White House
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White House says Donald Trump isn't considering firing Mueller
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is not considering firing the special counsel investigating Russian election interference, a top White House lawyer said, after a cascade of Trump tweets revived chatter that the deeply frustrated president may be preparing to get rid of the veteran prosecutor. The late-Sunday statement from White House lawyer Ty Cobb […]
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Larry Kudlow to be top White House economic adviser
WASHINGTON — Larry Kudlow on Wednesday accepted an offer from President Donald Trump to head the White House’s National Economic Council, according to three people familiar with the decision. Kudlow had been seen as the front-runner, but Trump formally offered Kudlow the job Wednesday to replace former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, who resigned last […]
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White House vows to help arm teachers but not raise the age for buying guns
WASHINGTON — The White House on Sunday vowed to help provide “rigorous firearms training” to some schoolteachers and formally endorsed a bill to tighten the federal background checks system, but backed off President Donald Trump’s earlier call to raise the minimum age to purchase some guns to 21 years old from 18 years old. Responding […]
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Economic advisor Gary Cohn latest in wave of exits from Trump's West Wing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump once presided over a reality show in which a key cast member exited each week. The same thing seems to be happening in his White House. Trump’s West Wing has descended into a period of unparalleled tumult amid a wave of staff departures — and despite the president’s insistence […]
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Roles reduced, Kushner and Ivanka Trump's fate uncertain
WASHINGTON (AP) — They spent their first year in Washington as an untouchable White House power couple, commanding expansive portfolios, outlasting rivals and enjoying unmatched access to the president. But Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have undergone a swift and stunning reckoning of late, their powers restricted, their enemies emboldened and their future in the […]
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‘Confidential:’ New Vineyard company makes White House Easter eggs
NEW VINEYARD — Shh! It’s sort of an egg secret. Maine Wood Concepts is making this year’s official colorful, collectible wooden eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll — but staff members at the company say they are not allowed to talk about it. Contacted last week, President Doug Fletcher asked his staff to […]
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Turnover, investigations leave Donald Trump's administration adrift
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rattled by two weeks of muddled messages, departures and spitting matches between the president and his own top officials, Donald Trump is facing a shrinking circle of trusted advisers and a staff that’s grim about any prospect of a reset. Even by the standards of Trump’s often chaotic administration, the announcement of […]
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Donald Trump says lawmakers too fearful of NRA to act on guns
WASHINGTON (AP) — Putting fellow Republicans in the hot seat, President Donald Trump is calling for quick and substantial changes to the nation’s gun laws even as he criticizes lawmakers for being too fearful of the National Rifle Association to act. Trump held a freewheeling, televised meeting with lawmakers at the White House that stretched […]
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Source: White House Communications Director Hope Hicks resigning
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal aides, is resigning. The departure of one of the president’s longest-serving advisers, who worked as a one-woman communications shop during his winning campaign, came as a surprise to most in the White House — and cast a pall […]