US election looms over NATO discussions to Trump-proof Ukraine aid
CNN
The imminent US presidential election hung over a meeting of NATO defense chiefs this week, as NATO allies braced for US support for Ukraine to shrink over the next year if Donald Trump wins even as Iran, North Korea and China step up their military aid to Russia.
The imminent US presidential election hung over a meeting of NATO defense chiefs this week, as NATO allies braced for US support for Ukraine to shrink over the next year if Donald Trump wins even as Iran, North Korea and China step up their military aid to Russia. In a closed-door meeting with his counterparts on Thursday at NATO, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke openly about the upcoming election and how it might impact Ukraine aid, saying he can’t predict the future but that there is still bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress, according to sources familiar with the meeting. NATO officials say they are preparing for the US to take on a lesser role. “We can’t expect that the US will continue to take on an outsized burden” in supporting Ukraine, a senior NATO official said on Thursday, “which is why the Secretary General wants to see NATO leading on security assistance, rather than one ally taking that on.” “Europe needs to step up even more,” the official added. A potential Trump victory has thrown the future of US aid to Ukraine into doubt. The former president declined last month to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war, and has described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “salesman” who “should never have let that war start.”
Botched Epstein redactions trace back to Virgin Islands’ 2020 civil racketeering case against estate
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities
Some Medicare enrollees may soon be able to access super-popular drugs for obesity under a voluntary model program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday. Eligible beneficiaries will only have to pay $50 a month.
The Justice Department’s leadership asked career prosecutors in Florida Tuesday to volunteer over the “next several days” to help to redact the Epstein files, in the latest internal Trump administrationpush toward releasing the hundreds of thousands of photos, internal memos and other evidence around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.
A Delaware state trooper was killed along with the suspected gunman Tuesday during a shooting at a motor vehicle agency near Wilmington, authorities said.
Wyoming’s lone U.S. representative is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Cynthia Lummis, who isn’t seeking re-election.
A new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC’s federal court Monday challenges the Kennedy Center board of trustees’ move to add President Donald Trump’s name to the cultural institution.
Warning: This post contains language readers may find disturbing.
Some staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs are finding little to be merry about after the agency said it would eliminate tens of thousands of open, unfilled positions across the country as it looks to streamline its staffing.
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced Tuesday that he’s been diagnosed with “metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
CNN’s 5 Things AM brings you the news you need to know every morning.
Political opposites are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide. But CNN’s “All Over the Map” survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
A 2-year-old child is among at least five people who were killed when a Mexican Navy plane carrying medical patients crashed into the waters of Galveston Bay in Texas on Monday afternoon, US Coast Guard officials say.