Thursday, April 16th, 2026
Is it normal for the U.S. president to spar with the Pope?
When U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image of himself styled as a Jesus-like figure, before deleting it hours later, it was perhaps the clearest sign yet that his attacks on the leader of the Roman Catholic Church had entered uncharted territory. “It’s unprecedented, but given Trump, not surprising,” said Vatican observer Christopher White. The week’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV began in earnest when Trump took to Truth Social to declare him “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump also suggested Leo only became pope because ofRead more
Trump expected to OK resolution to lift mining ban on Minnesota wilderness area near Canadian border
In this image from Senate Television video, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., speaks about the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, on the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. (Senate Television/The Associated Press) Congressional Republicans have sent President Donald Trump a resolution that would lift a federal ban on mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, hoping to clear the way for a South American company to extract precious metals from the region’s pristine forests, lakes and bogs. House Republicans approved the resolution last month despite conservationists’Read more
Political strain between U.S. and Britain on full display days ahead of King Charles’s American visit
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, and Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves are shown in Aylesbury, central England, on Sept. 18, 2025. Reeves and Bessent have offered very different perspectives on the U.S. war with Iran in recent days. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images) British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves was not backing away from her criticism of the Iran war as “folly,” even as she prepared to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other U.S. officials in Washington on Wednesday. As with Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Reeves is amongRead more
Trump rails against latest court decision on stalled White House ballroom project
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters outside the White House on Thursday. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/The Associated Press) U.S. President Donald Trump railed against a federal judge’s decision on Thursday that continues to block above-ground construction of a $400-million US White House ballroom, allowing only below-ground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s latest ruling comes in response to an appeals court’s instruction to clarify an earlier decision on the 8,400-square-metre ballroom planned for the site, where it demolished theRead more