WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump seems headed for acquittal in his impeachment trial after Sen. Lamar Alexander's decision to stick with fellow Republicans and oppose Democratic efforts to call more witnesses and keep the Senate trial going for weeks or even months. A vote on witnesses, expected Friday, could lead...
California Completes 34 Land Projects to Slow Wildfires
SACRAMENTO — California has completed 34 of the forest-thinning projects it rushed to finish in the past year as a way to buffer 200 communities at high risk from wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. His office said two of the projects helped protect Santa Barbara residents during a fire...
AP-NORC Poll: GOP More Fired up for 2020, Democrats Anxious
When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Democrats are nervous wrecks and Republican excitement has grown. That's according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research as Americans look ahead to a high-stakes election that is 10 months away but still very much top...
Wary of Irking China, Trump Offers Rosy Take on Virus Threat
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had plenty to talk about during his latest big campaign rally, regaling a friendly crowd in New Jersey with his thoughts about impeachment, the economy, the border wall, local politics and much more. But the president was conspicuously quiet about one big issue that has...
Trump: New Trade Deal With Canada, Mexico to Boost US Growth
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a major rewrite of the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico that he said replaces the “nightmare" of a Clinton-era agreement and will keep jobs, wealth and growth in America. Trump made renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement a priority during his 2016 campaign,...
Israel Could Clash With International Court on Settlements
JERUSALEM — Emboldened by a supportive White House, Israel appears to be barreling toward a showdown with the international community over its half-century-old settlement enterprise in the West Bank. With the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court poised to launch a war crimes probe of Israel’s settlement policies, Prime Minister...
GOP Squirms as Bolton Prepares to Dish on Trump White House
WASHINGTON — For much of the last 20 years, John Bolton was a conservative poster child, a Republican hawk whose worldview helped shape the GOP establishment’s approach to dicey foreign policy questions. Now, as President Donald Trump's former national security adviser prepares to dish on his days in the White...
Trump Peace Plan Delights Israelis, Enrages Palestinians
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan Tuesday, winning immediate praise from a beaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but a swift rejection from the Palestinians, who called it “nonsense.” Trump's plan calls for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short...
Trump Plan Calls for Palestinian State, Settlement Freeze
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say President Donald Trump's long-awaited Middle East peace plan calls for the creation of a State of Palestine with its capital in portions of east Jerusalem, ending speculation as to whether his administration, in preparing a proposal without input from Palestinian leaders, would abandon a “two-state...
Trump Peace Plan Could Boost Embattled Israeli Leader
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington Sunday night vowing to “make history” at a planned meeting with President Donald Trump for the unveiling of the U.S. administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the high-profile meeting in Washington looks set to serve mostly as...