US

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial choice for US defence secretary, has been confirmed for the job. The 44-year-old ex-veteran and former Fox News host narrowly secured the top Pentagon post with vice president JD Vance casting the 51-50 tie-breaking vote. Three Republican senators – Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell

US military aircraft have started flying detained migrants out of America on the orders of President Donald Trump. It comes as the White House released images of men whose hands and ankles were shackled being led on to a plane. Mr Trump‘s press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted the photos on X and declared: “Deportation flights

A US woman charged with murdering two of her children has lost her fight to avoid extradition from the UK. Kimberlee Singler’s nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were found dead in a residential property in Colorado along with her 11-year-old daughter who was injured but alive, police said. Prosecutors allege Singler killed two of her

Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The 1963 killing in Dallas is the source of one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of modern times. Lee Harvey Oswald was said to be the gunman, but was shot dead himself two days after

Donald Trump has said that attacks on police officers during the January 6 riots were “minor incidents”. In his first sit-down interview since being inaugurated on Monday, recorded in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity most of those who were jailed over the US Capitol riots were “absolutely innocent”. As part

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes north of Los Angeles after a new wildfire broke out in California. The latest blaze – dubbed the Hughes Fire – started late on Wednesday morning near Lake Castaic, around 40 miles from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated parts of LA earlier

Donald Trump has hit out at the bishop of Washington after she lectured him on respecting immigrants and LGBT+ citizens during a televised church service. The president remained straight-faced alongside his vice president JD Vance as bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed him at Tuesday’s interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, telling him to “have

Donald Trump has attempted to negotiate a potential TikTok sale on live television, in what was supposed to be an announcement about investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The US president was holding a news conference about a $500bn (£405bn) investment in AI infrastructure in the country, but was questioned about a range of topics.

Donald Trump has signed an order to remove the US from the World Health Organization (WHO), citing its perceived mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and “unfair” payments as a driving force. The president singled out the WHO executive order as a “big one” as he signed it alongside 100+ others upon his return to the

Donald Trump has signed a raft of executive orders within hours of returning to the White House as he reversed some of his predecessors Joe Biden’s policies. The new president told supporters at an inauguration parade event at a sports arena in Washington DC that he would revoke “80 destructive and radical executive actions of

Joe Biden said “welcome home” as Donald Trump arrived at the White House for tea ahead of his historic inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. The two men were joined by Mr Biden’s wife Jill and incoming first lady Melania for the tea, which is traditionally held on inauguration day to welcome

Asked last week if “shock and awe” would be a good way to describe how the next few days and weeks might feel, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon offered a different analogy, predicting “days of thunder”. The second term of Donald Trump will be like no other in modern history because he is

TikTok users in the US are opening the app to find a message saying they “can’t use” the social media platform “for now” due to a law enacted in Washington. A ban on the app was due to take effect today after outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based

Thousands of people are set to march from three separate points around Washington DC on Saturday ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. The rally, going by the People’s March, is a rebrand of the 2017 Women’s March, which saw more than 500,000 marchers take to the streets of DC at the start of Mr

Ahead of her husband’s second inauguration, Melania Trump wanted to get a few things straight. “Maybe people see me as just a wife of the president,” she said, in an interview with Fox News. “But I’m standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts.” Just before the election, Mrs Trump released

Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is “likely” to be moved indoors due to cold weather forecast for Washington DC on Monday. A source familiar with the matter, who spoke to Sky News’ US partner, NBC News, on the condition of anonymity, said it was likely the ceremony would be moved indoors due to the frigid weather

President Joe Biden has warned of a “dangerous concentration of power” among a few wealthy people in the United States in his farewell address to the nation. Without naming president-elect Donald Trump, Mr Biden said: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy,

TikTok is to be banned in the US from Sunday if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company, the Supreme Court has ruled. However, President Joe Biden has said he will not enforce the ban for the few remaining hours he is in office, leaving it up to Donald Trump to decide what

A heated exchange kicked off between two US representatives at a House Oversight Committee meeting, with one asking the other if she wanted to “take it outside”. Nancy Mace and Jasmine Crockett clashed during a discussion about civil and transgender rights on Tuesday as Texas Democrat Ms Crockett criticised Ms Mace’s rhetoric about transgender people.

At 4.30pm last Tuesday afternoon, a dark grey smoke cloud loomed over North Mount Holyoke Avenue in Pacific Palisades, obscuring the setting sun. The blazes which would become the deadliest wildfire in California’s history were racing up a nearby canyon. The streets were almost deserted, the air choking, and most people had already evacuated. My