Kentucky congressman who championed Epstein bill failed to fight off attacks from president in victory for Trump

• Trump critic Thomas Massie defeated in Kentucky Republican House primary

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Trump told reporters he is giving Iran until the weekend or early next week, to make a deal to end the war.

He said that yesterday he was within an hour of deciding to resume bombing Iran but that his negotiators had reported progress in talks.

I never tell anybody when. But they knew that we were very close. I would say we were. I was an hour away from making the decision to go today, and we would probably not be talking about a beautiful ballroom today. We’d be talking about that.

I had made the decision, so they called up. They had heard I made the decision. They said, sir, could you give us a couple of more days because we think they’re being reasonable.

Well, I mean, I’m saying 2 or 3 days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday something. Maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon.

Ro Khanna criticizes commerce secretary after closed-door interview about ties to Jeffrey Epstein as Democrats call performance ‘embarrassing’

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It’s worth noting, ahead of Howard Lutnick’s closed-door testimony before House oversight committee members today, that the commerce secretary has refused to answer questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein from lawmakers during congressional hearings on Capitol Hill over the last month.

In April, Represenative Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, asked whether the president expressed “concerns” about the commerce secretary’s relationship with Epstein. Lutnick refused to comment.

Supreme court issued a temporary order to restore access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail on Monday

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The supreme court issued a temporary order to restore access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail on Monday.

This comes after two companies who manufacture mifepristone the drug filed an emergency appeal to the court on Saturday asking it to halt a court decision that would require an in‑person exam before the medication can be prescribed.

Questions for Trump’s defense secretary fall along partisan lines – Democrats make critical points as Republicans give Hegseth the chance to flaunt war successes

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Louisiana governor Jeff Landry yesterday told GOP candidates that he plans to suspend next month’s primary elections so that state lawmakers can pass a new congressional map first, the Washington Post (paywall) reported last night.

It came hours after the US supreme court decided that Louisiana’s creation of a second majority black congressional district to satisfy previously rulings relied too heavily on race and was “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander”, as opposed to a required effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

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• Justice department indicts ex-FBI director James Comey over Instagram post showing seashells

• Trump v Comey: a timeline of the president and ex-FBI director’s feud

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Donald Trump has reportedly signaled to his top advisers that he is dissatisfied with and unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which would reopen the strait of Hormuz and leave discussion of Iran’s nuclear program for a later date.

Two people familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump conveyed his views during yesterday’s meeting with top national security aides where the Iranian proposal was discussed. One of the people said Trump was not likely to accept the plan, which was sent to the US in the last few days.

What I will reiterate is that the president’s red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also to them as well.

I wouldn’t say they’re considering it. I would just say that there was a discussion this morning that I don’t want to get ahead of, and you’ll hear directly from the president, I’m sure, on this topic.

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• Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election for US House

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Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine says the US military remains ready to re-engage in combat “at literally a moment’s notice”.

He says the blockade covers Iran’s ports and coastlines and applies to all ships, regardless of which flag they are sailing under.

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• Trump news at a glance: president renews threats against federal reserve chair, pushes his replacement

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At a Turning Point USA event in Georgia on Tuesday, vice-president JD Vance was heckled by a protester who seemed to criticized the conflicts in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza.

“Jesus Christ does not support genocide,” the audience member shouted. The vice-president addressed the demonstrator and agreed with their statement, before responding to further comments from the heckler who appeared to say that the administration “supports a genocide in Gaza”.

Just before the accusation was made public, multiple staffers resigned from the US representative’s gubernatorial campaign, Politico reports

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On Truth Social, Donald Trump issued a cryptic message this morning that appeared to be in reference to the upcoming negotiations in Islamabad, but remains unclear.

“WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!” he wrote.

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• Melania Trump says she not did not have relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

• Sketch: Melania says her piece about Epstein – doth the lady protest too much?

• Trump news at a glance: Melania Trump’s weird disavowal of Epstein is getting weirder

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Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has briefed some capitals that US president Donald Trump wants concrete commitments within the next few days for help securing the strait of Hormuz, two European diplomats told Reuters.

The report appears to confirm yesterday’s report in the German economic daily Handelsblatt, claiming Nato was considering a naval mission to secure the strait in a move to “appease” Trump.

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• Success or surrender? Iran ceasefire exposes rift in Trump’s Maga movement

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Pete Hegseth repeated Donald Trump’s social media comments that Iran will cease uranium enrichment – a condition that Tehran has previously refused to budge on.

“Any material they should not have, will be removed right now,” Hegseth said. “The president has been clear from the beginning, there will be no Iranian nuclear weapons.”

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• Trump news at a glance: president steps back from threat to destroy Iran’s ‘whole civilization’ after ceasefire deal reached

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During a press conference in Budapest with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, vice-president JD Vance is asked how the military goals in Iran can be achieved if the US continues its attacks on the country.

Vance was also asked about reports about US attacks on Kharg Island. The vice-president said the plan was to hit “some military targets” there and “I believe we have done so.”

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Donald Trump confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla, will travel to the US for a state visit from 27 to 30 April.

The president said that the trip will include a banquet dinner at the White House on 28 April. “I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect. It will be TERRIFIC!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Sanae Takaichi tells reporters she told Trump that Japan’s ability to deploy military forces overseas is limited by post-WWII constitution

• Trump news at a glance: president claims ignorance of Israel’s plan to strike Iranian gasfield, exposing rift

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Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets.

“They came into this fight with a lot of weapons.,” he said, adding that the US continues to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran.

Committee chair Rand Paul and Markwayne Mullin exchange heated remarks at hearing to confirm new homeland security secretary

• Mullin never served in military but talks as if he did

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Rand Paul seemed immediately frustrated with Mullin as he opened the hearing. While he was speaking, he suggested that Mullin wasn’t listening to his remarks, during which he pushed Trump’s nominee on his vote against Paul’s amendment to stop all funding for refugee welfare programs.

“You decided to transfer the blame. You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted,” Paul said, referring to when he was attacked by a neighbor in Kentucky in 2017, which resulted in Paul breaking several ribs and developing pneumonia.

President says he will ‘never (ever) endorse anyone’ who votes against Save America act as Senate prepares to take up debate on controversial bill

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A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration has resigned over the ongoing war on Iran.

Joe Kent, who reported to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said that he “cannot in good conscience” support the joint conflict with Israel.

You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.

Only some agencies within the DHS, including the Tsa and Fema, and the Coast Guard are affected by the shutdown

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Both Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine were asked today about energy secretary Chris Wright’s comments to CNBC on Thursday, where he said that the US Navy cannot escort ships through the strait of Hormuz now but it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month.

Gen Caine appeared to agree with Wright’s assessment, calling the waterway a “tactically complex environment”.

Democratic senator John Fetterman broke with his party in support of reopening the DHS; this is the fourth failed Senate

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US defense officials told senators on the armed services committee that the cost of the war on Iran totaled more than $11.3bn in the first six days alone, according to multiple reports.

The New York Times was first to break the news about the conflict’s price tag, citing three people familiar with the closed-door briefing on Tuesday.

Strike on school in Minab, Iran, in which at least 175 people died was result of a ‘targeting mistake’, officials have told the New York Times

Donald Trump said that the US-Israel war in Iran will end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target” in a phone interview with Axios.

“Any time I want it to end, it will end,” the president told the outlet. “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.”

Chris Murphy attacks Trump administration’s strategy after classified briefing on Iran war; at least 140 US personnel injured in Operation Epic Fury

• Trump news at a glance: war on Iran is either ‘very complete’ or just starting, depending on who is talking

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Hegseth says the aftermath of the conflict is “going to be in America’s interests” and says it “will not live under a nuclear blackmail” from Iran.

It comes shortly after the defence secretary reiterated president Donald Trump’s threat that if Iran does anything to prevent the flow of oil in the strait of Hormuz, it will be hit “twenty times harder”.

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• Trump news at a glance: president issues an ultimatum to Congress to get voter ID bill passed

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Donald Trump has urged the Australian government to grant asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s football team, amid reports that they refused to return home following the team’s elimination from the Women’s Asian Cup and were taken into the protection of Australian police.

As my colleague Martin Farrer reports, speculation had mounted for days that some of the players would try to seek asylum in Australia they had been called “traitors” for refusing to sing their national anthem before their opening game of the tournament last week.