Secretary of state Marco Rubio –ridiculed as “Little Marco” by Donald Trumpduring the 2016 Republican primaries –has become one of the most powerful players in the president’s cabinet.
Trumpappointed Rubio interim national security adviser on Thursday after Mike Waltz was forced to leave the post, alongside his deputy, Alex Wong, as sources said officials had lost confidence in their leadership.
Waltz has been under intense pressure since theSignal scandal, in which he inadvertently added a journalist to a chat that included real-time operational details on US strikes in Yemen.
It’s an enormous rise for Rubio, the son of undocumented Cuban migrants, who now holds four titles in theTrump administration. Rubio is also the acting administrator for USAID and acting archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration.
Waltz may be out of the picture for now, but he is on course to reemerge in the world of international diplomacy – Trump said he will nominate Waltz as the country’s ambassador to the UN. Trump briefly considered firing Waltz over the Signal episode, but decided he did not want the media to claim the ouster of a cabinet official weeks into his second term. Trump was alsomollified by an internal reviewthat found Waltz mistakenly saved the Atlantic editor’s number.
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The Trump administration will approve its first sale of military equipment to Ukraine since Donald Trump took office, in an indication that theminerals deal signed by the two countries this weekmay open a path to renewed weapons shipments.
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The 18th-century Alien Enemies Act does not authorizeDonald Trumpto deport Venezuelanimmigrantsalleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a federal judge in Texasruled on Thursday.
The decision is significant because it is the first sweeping and permanent injunction directly addressing whether the government can use the 1798Alien Enemies Act (AEA)to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua. It applies only to migrants detained in Rodriguez’s judicial district, the southern district ofTexas,which includesBrownsville, McAllen and Houston. Trump appointed Rodriguez to the federal bench in 2018.
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More than 250 attorneys in the justice department’s civil rights division have either left, been reassigned, or accepted a deferred resignation offer since January, according to an estimate provided to the Guardian by people familiar with the matter. The significant decrease in personnel underscores how Donald Trump is gutting the arm of the federal government responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws.
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The legal team behindKilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man unlawfully deported toEl Salvador, is demanding that theTrump administration“bring him back and give him a full and fair trial” as the administration releases new domestic abuse allegations.
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The British government’s attempts to curry favor withDonald Trumpby nudging golf executives to host one of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments at aScottishvenue owned by the US president could ultimately lead to a violation of the US constitution, ethics experts have warned.
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TheTrump administrationhas unveiled a news-style website that publishes exclusively positive coverage of the president on official White House servers, and is styled like the rightwing website the Drudge Report.
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Health secretaryRobert F Kennedy Jrand his department have made a series of misleading statements that alarmed vaccine experts and advocates in recent days – including that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine includes “aborted fetus debris”.
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Trump has launched an unprecedented environmental assault, pushing 145 rollbacks of clean air, water, and climate protectionsin his first 100 days, more than in his entire first term.
The US approached China for talks on Trump’s tariffs, according to a state-linked Chinese account,suggesting Beijing may be open to negotiations.
Trump officials have asked the supreme courtto help strip temporary protected status from more than 300,000 Venezuelans, amove that would clear the way for their deportation.
Catching up?Here’s what happened on30 April 2025.