Gavin Newsom calls comments ‘deranged and dangerous’ after president tells Nebraska rally: ‘They can take out a city’

• Can the Iran war cost Trump in the US midterm elections? Your questions answered

Leaders in California have denounced Donald Trump as “reckless” and “deranged” after the US president suggested Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego – two liberal cities in the blue state that has been a frequent target of his administration.

At a rally in ruby red Nebraska on Monday night, Trump told supporters that he hoped to see a “tremendous victory” in the fast-approaching November midterm elections. He then suggested high prices due to the war with Iran were a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe – keeping our country safe”.

Expectations that prioritize privileged identities keep women and people of color from even running for office

Since Kamala Harris’s defeat to Donald Trump in 2024, Democrats have chased candidates who exude an ever-elusive “authenticity”. For many on the left, the answer was Graham Platner, a military veteran turned oyster farmer with a gravelly voice and deep hostility toward the political establishment.

Even as controversy after controversy emerged – racist, sexist, homophobic online posts; a tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he later covered up; sexually explicit messages sent to other women while he was married; and allegations from former partners of toxic and threatening behavior, which he denied – Platner’s momentum didn’t slow. It was only after a woman accused Platner of rape – which he denies – that his political support collapsed.

Vice-president declares admiration for 37th president and claims Nixon and Trump are targeted by ‘deep state’ forces

JD Vance does not think the era-defining Watergate scandal would have lasted more than a single news cycle in today’s fragmented, hyper-partisan political environment – and certainly would not have led to a president’s downfall.

Speaking at the Richard Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, on Thursday to promote his new book, Communion, Vance discussed his spiritual journey from atheist to Catholic convert before declaring his admiration for the 37th president.

Justice department lawyers had appealed to stay a judge’s order to remove Trump’s name from facade

An appeals court in Washington DC rejected an emergency appeal seeking to pause the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center on Friday.

Justice department lawyers for Donald Trump and his hand-picked Kennedy Center board filed the emergency appeal earlier on Friday, asking the court to stay a judge’s order that his name be removed from the facade of Washington’s leading performing arts venue.

Becerra advanced to the general election after emerging from California’s crowded primary field in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom

Xavier Becerra has advanced to the November general election in California’s gubernatorial race, cementing a stunning come-from-behind primary victory in one of California’s most turbulent campaign seasons in recent memory.

Election officials are continuing to count ballots to determine whether he will face fellow Democrat Tom Steyer, the environmental activist who championed progressive policies like universal healthcare and more taxes on billionaires like himself, or Republican Steve Hilton, the former UK political operative turned Fox News personality who was endorsed by Donald Trump, in the fall.

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra lead the field as votes continue to be counted

• The Democrats to watch after Tuesday’s primaries: from army doctor to Paralympian

The key race for California governor remained deadlocked as vote counting continued across the US on Wednesday morning following primary elections to decide who would run in several critical districts in the US House and Senate in November, in a midterm year expected to favor Democrats.

In California, it was the Republican Steve Hilton, a former UK political operative and Fox News host, who had the most votes, with roughly half of the ballots counted for governor. For the Democrats it was Xavier Becerra, the former health secretary, who led the field after a tumultuous campaign. The California system is such that the two candidates who receive the most votes then face off in the general election, no matter which party they are from. Many Democrats in the state held on to their ballots until the last minute, so the early results were expected to favor Republicans.

Early results show Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer emerging in front, with many ballots to be counted

The high-stakes gubernatorial race in California remained too close to call on Tuesday night, with early results showing a tight contest in the crowded race.

With many ballots still left to be counted, three candidates emerged at the top: Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer. And results were clear enough that two Democratic candidates – San Jose mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – conceded the race shortly after polls closed.

Across California, ballots sit unopened as voters struggle to decide who to back as their chosen candidate for governor. US senior political correspondent Lauren Gambino tells Kai Wright that the race has been a head-scratcher for Democrats. Despite a huge field of candidates, the race has been mired in scandal and few have managed to cut through. What does this say about the future of the Democratic party, and does this leave an opening for Republicans in the Golden state?

• Is boring back? The California governor’s race and the fight for the future of the Democratic party

Chamber advances bill for first time as four Republicans join all but one of Senate’s Democrats in favor

The Senate voted on Tuesday to advance a war powers resolution aimed at forcing Donald Trump to end the war in Iran unless he receives congressional authorization to continue it.

Tuesday’s 50-47 vote marks the first time the chamber has advanced the bill, the eighth attempt at doing so since the conflict began in February.

Tom Steyer has built his campaign for governor of California around affordability – he’s not the only Democrat testing the party’s appetite for a populist from the 1%

Tom Steyer has built his campaign for governor of California around affordability – and taxing the uber-wealthy.

It is perhaps an unusual message for a candidate with an estimated net worth of $2.4bn. But the hedge fund founder-turned climate activist and liberal mega-donor is pitching himself as a different kind of billionaire: one who wants people like him to pay far more in taxes.

Donald Trump says ceasefire remains in place despite strikes, with Iranian TV saying situation is ‘back to normal’

The US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.

Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, as the US insisted it struck in retaliation.

US president faced a 60-day deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it

A US-Iran ceasefire that began in early April has “terminated” hostilities between the two sides for the purposes of an approaching congressional war powers deadline, a senior official of the Trump administration said on Thursday.

Donald Trump faced a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date was most likely to pass without altering the course of the war.

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.

Indictment claims ex-FBI director’s social media post last year of shells arranged into ‘86 47’ was threat against Trump

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James Comey made a brief appearance in court on Wednesday after the justice department indicted him over a social media post in a renewed bid to prosecute one of Donald Trump’s longtime political adversaries.

The former FBI director was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday over a photograph he posted last year of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47” – a message the justice department says amounts to a threat against Trump, the 47th US president.

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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.

President and other top leaders evacuated from annual dinner after shots fired

• Suspect in custody after Trump evacuated in shooting incident

• White House correspondents’ dinner shooting – what we know

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CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was within a few feet of the shooter, and called into CNN to describe his observations.

Blitzer said he saw “a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him. As he was shooting, of course, the first thing that went through my mind: is he trying to shoot me? And I don’t think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired and he was very, very scary. But I’m OK, now.”

Six candidates clashed over homelessness and cost of living crisis in first debate since Eric Swalwell’s exit – with a clear frontrunner still yet to emerge

Six candidates vying to become the next governor of California sparred on Wednesday in the first debate since the already topsy-turvy race was plunged into upheaval by the sudden collapse of former congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign after sexual assault and misconduct allegations.

With a clear frontrunner still yet to emerge, the unusually wide-open race to replace the outgoing governor Gavin Newsom in the heavily Democratic state has left nearly a quarter of voters undecided ahead of the 2 June primary.

Senator’s fourth attempt for resolutions fails, but votes show growing appetite among Democrats to impose limits

Bernie Sanders on Wednesday led a failed effort to block the sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel, but the votes revealed a growing appetite among Democrats to impose limits on US weapons transfers to a longtime US ally.

It was the fourth time Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, had forced consideration of resolutions cutting off military aid for Israel in the Senate, all of which have been rejected by the chamber’s Republican majority, and many Democrats.

Departures came after lawmakers from both parties threatened to introduce resolutions expelling the two men

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The Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell and Republican congressman Tony Gonzales submitted their resignations to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, abruptly ending their political careers amid bipartisan furor over allegations of sexual misconduct against both.

Swalwell resigned at 2pm ET, while Gonazales’s resignation will take effect at 11.59pm on Tuesday evening, according to the House clerk.

Decision comes after House ethics committee announced it had opened an investigation into congressman

Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, said on Monday he would resign from Congress following multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that ended his bid for governor.

Swalwell was a facing a growing chorus of bipartisan calls for him to step down or face an expulsion vote, a day after he announced that he would suspend his campaign for governor of California.