In the News
Scientists who study the risk of nuclear war recently moved the hands of the symbolic Doomsday Clock to 2½ minutes before midnight — meaning they believe that the world is closer to nuclear catastrophe than it has been since 1953 after the United States and Soviet Union tested hydrogen bombs. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the clock in 1947, says that President Trump is the main reason for this worrisome development.
A Democratic lawmaker slammed President Trump on Saturday over his tweets attacking The New York Times and defending his executive order temporarily banning citizens from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
"Last 24 hrs on Twitter, Donald Trump went on rant about 'death & destruction,' 'FAKE NEWS,' & 'evil.' Should he get mental health exam?" Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted.
Lieu also shared a tweet praising a federal judge's decision to halt the temporary travel ban:
Donald Trump's first two weeks have been a frenetic sprint that has unsettled Washington and left a rattled world wondering what's next.
Trump's White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is the provocateur who has engineered the historically disruptive opening gambit of executive orders, diplomatic upheaval, Twitter attacks and continuing attacks on the media.
The strategy? To send one deafening message that rings louder than all the seeming commotion: Trump is bringing a sledgehammer to the status quo.
Democratic lawmakers in a new letter to President Trump say his executive order blocking entry to the U.S. by people from seven largely Muslim nations is short-sighted and could prevent innovation in the United States.
The letter, signed by 25 Democats, notes that Google founder Sergey Brin is himself an immigrant whose parents came from the Soviet Union.
"Your policy misguidedly applies a blanket ban on immigration for individuals traveling from predominately Muslim countries, and wrongly halts work visas from those areas," the lawmakers wrote.
The Trump administration is continuing to make reckless threats against Iran. On Wednesday, in response to recent missile tests, National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn announced the White House was "officially putting Iran on notice," and refused to say whether military force is under consideration.
Democrats are demanding briefings on a U.S. raid on al Qaeda that left one Navy SEAL dead, along with an unspecified number of civilians.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry asking for an "urgent briefing." Separately, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said in a statement that he requested a briefing from the Pentagon.
Last week, the famed Doomsday Clock, created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to sound the alarm over the inherently catastrophic nature of nuclear weapons, was set ahead 30 seconds, to two and a half minutes to midnight, the closest it's been to midnight since 1953.
Barack Obama and his aides expected to take on President Donald Trump at some point, but they didn't think it would happen this quickly.
Now they're trying to find the right balance on issues that demand a response, and how to use Obama deliver the selective pushback. Obama and his team are monitoring what's happening at the White House, and not ruling out the possibility that Obama will challenge Trump more forcefully in the coming months, according to people who've been in contact with the former president.
If you are as utterly obsessed with Los Angeles as we are, this is the painstakingly curated list you need in your life. Whittling it down to 50 was nearly impossible but someone had to do it. And that someone was us. In no particular order…
1. @LAScanner
Tweets about crimes heard over the police scanner, often hilariously. #ScannerOn forever.
May this be the year where the illegal fireworks cause the dogs & cats to rise up against us. May they win & save us from ourselves.
Republicans hoped he would turn out to be a conventional conservative. Democrats hoped he would not do anything too drastic, and maybe even strike a few deals.
But the best guide to what Donald Trump would do as president appears to be what he said he would do as president.