President Donald Trump’s newly created Board of Peace is set to hold its first meeting Thursday, with administration officials and participating countries framing the gathering as a step toward implementing the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction effort rather than a moment likely to deliver an immediate breakthrough. At least 20 countries are expected to attend the inaugural ...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly been holding secret talks with the grandson of Raul Castro, the former President of Cuba.  The talks between Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official Cuban government channels, Axios reported.  ‘Our position — the U.S. government’s position — is the regime has to go,’ a senior official told the news outlet. ...

President Donald Trump announced that former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House event marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, as attendees at one point broke into chants of ‘four more years.’ ‘Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,’ Trump said. ‘It’s the highest award you ...

President Donald Trump praised civil rights activist Jesse Jackson as a ‘real hero’ during a White House Black History Month event Wednesday, just a day after Jackson’s death. ‘I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. ...

The president of a Florida insurance brokerage firm and the CEO of a marketing company were sentenced Wednesday to 20 years each in prison for leading a sprawling, $233 million Affordable Care Act fraud scheme that preyed on Florida’s most vulnerable residents — including homeless and jobless individuals and newly displaced hurricane victims — to pocket millions in unearned commissions. ...

The debate over U.S. missile defense is increasingly focused on space, and defense experts argue that stopping threats in the earliest moments after launch could determine whether the homeland remains protected against Russia and China’s expanding arsenals. At a policy discussion marking roughly a year since the rollout of the ‘Golden Dome’ homeland defense initiative, former senior defense officials said ...

A pair of House Republicans could soon mount an effort to force a chamber-wide vote on sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine after months of back-and-forth between the House, Senate and White House yielded little movement on the issue. ‘This coming week, Brian Fitzpatrick’s sanctions bill…ripens, so we can actually submit it as a discharge petition on Monday or ...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday pushed back on a reporter who asked for examples of when the president had been ‘falsely called racist.’ ‘Yesterday, in his statement about Jesse Jackson, the president said ‘despite the fact that I’m falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics and the radical left Democrats all, it was ...

The U.S. took aim at Nicaragua’s regime over alleged human rights violations, announcing a designation against a prison official. ‘Today I’m designating Nicaraguan Prison Director Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez for his involvement in gross violations of human rights,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X. ‘We continue to call for accountability for the crimes committed by ...

Senate Republicans are hoping to move full steam ahead on Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but there’s one problem — the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is still shut down. Though negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House are still ongoing, albeit at a molasses-like pace, there is no clear sign that a deal will be struck before lawmakers return ...