First Run News

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday once again backed tighter background checks for gun purchases, but said he wants to be careful that closing what he calls ‘‘loopholes’’ doesn’t clear the way for more gun control. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for Kentucky, the president said he considers gun violence a public health issue and is considering ways to make background checks more strict.

A new online promo for “The Simpsons” mocks President Trump’s attacks on the “Squad” of Democratic congresswomen, and depicts a cartoon Representative Ayanna Pressley, plus a cartoon Senator Elizabeth Warren. In the short bit released this week, which parodies the song “America” from “West Side Story,” Trump looks for a distraction from his troubles, singing to a picture of Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Pressley before the “Squad” comes to life and chases h

WASHINGTON (AP) — King of Israel? The second coming? The chosen one? President Donald Trump is known to have a healthy ego. But a string of comments Wednesday went to a higher level. First, Trump thanked conservative radio host and supporter Wayne Allen Root for his praise. In a tweet, Trump quoted Root calling the president ‘‘the best president for Israel in the history of the world’’ and claiming Jewish people in Israel love Trump ‘‘like he’s the King of Israel.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — In the final days of August, months before any voters head to the polls, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is in a hurry — and for good reason. The presidential hopeful pitched her plan Tuesday to expand mental health services in a speech to 11 people at a community center. Later that day, she hopped on CNN to talk about Joe Biden.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington governor Jay Inslee, who made fighting climate change the central theme of his presidential campaign, announced Wednesday night that he is ending his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Inslee said that he was confident that Democrats would select a nominee who would champion climate change issues but that it had become clear that he wouldn’t be the person selected.

Rep. MORE in 2016 to back the move. Underwood pointed to recent comments from House Judiciary Committee Chairman MORE (D-N.Y.) arguing that an impeachment inquiry is effectively already underway as the panel investigates whether to pursue articles of impeachment against Trump.  "The petition Chairman Nadler filed on July 26 clearly states that the Judiciary Committee is investigating whether to recommend Articles of Impeachment, essentially an impeachment inquiry.

MORE said Tuesday that Jewish people who vote for Democrats are either ignorant or disloyal as he railed against two congresswomen who have been critical of the U.S.-Israel alliance. "I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Romania. Trump and the GOP have sought to win over Jewish voters from the Democratic Party by criticizing statements by Reps.

MORE on Tuesday confirmed the White House is discussing a temporary payroll tax cut as a strategy to boost the economy, even as he maintains the country's economic outlook remains strong. "Payroll tax is something that we think about, and a lot of people would like to see that,” Trump said Tuesday during an exchange with reporters at the White House. “We’re looking at various tax reductions.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) may be down, but it’s not out — and the group appears to have been successful in lobbying the most important player in the gun control debate. After saying earlier this month that he wants “very meaningful background checks” on gun purchasers, MORE has since changed his tune. He argued Tuesday that the U.S.

MORE on Tuesday announced he was postponing a planned meeting with the prime minister of Denmark after she shot down his talk of possibly purchasing Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. "Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time," Trump tweeted. "The Prime Minister was a