First Run News

North Carolina Gov.

Individuals blocked from entering the U.S.

Advisers and personal associates of President Trump have reportedly advised him in recent days to hire an outside lawyer as controversies surrounding his campaign's alleged ties to Russia mount. The New York Times reported on Thursday that the president's aides became increasingly concerned about the revelation that former FBI Director James Comey maintained memos of his conversations with the president. On Tuesday, news reports citing a memo Comey reportedly

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security took the first major step on Thursday toward building a barrier on the border with Mexico, a key campaign promise of President Trump, as officials announced that they had awarded contracts to build several prototypes of a concrete wall. Four companies will build the prototypes in the San Diego area, said officials at

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration signaled on Thursday that the black abolitionist President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill after all. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to endorse the plan for a 2020 redesign of the $20 bill that was announced by the Obama administration last year. “People have been on the bills for a long period of time,”

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted on Thursday that he was not at odds with President Trump over North Korea and asserted that the media had misinterpreted his recent remarks on how to deal with Pyongyang. Mr.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is slashing spending on advertising and promotion for enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, a move some critics charged was a blatant attempt to sabotage the law. Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, who insisted on not being identified during a conference call with reporters, said on Thursday that the advertising budget for the open enrollment period that starts in November would be cut to $10 million, compared with $100 million spent by the Obama administration last year, a drop of 90 percent.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration ordered Russia on Thursday to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, in a carefully calculated riposte to Russia’s order that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. The tit-for-tat move, which Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson conveyed to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in a morning phone call, bore all of the hallmarks of a Cold War-era grudge match.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration ordered Russia on Thursday to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, in a carefully calculated riposte to Russia’s order that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. The tit-for-tat move, which Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson conveyed to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in a morning phone call, bore all of the hallmarks of a Cold War-era grudge match.

WASHINGTON — With the election of President Trump, the nation’s consumer watchdog agency faced a quandary: how to shield the Obama-era institution from a Republican administration determined to loosen the federal government’s grip on business. In the weeks after the election, Richard Cordray, the Democrat who leads the agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, directed his staff to compile stories from ordinary Americans thanking it for resolv