Trump News for Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The latest threats come amid ratcheting tensions between the US and Iran despite second round of indirect nuclear talks.

The report says US officials expect troops to withdraw from remaining positions within two months.

ICE officers often tell people tracking and watching them that they are breaking federal law in doing so, but legal experts say the vast majority of observers are exercising their constitutional rights.

EXCLUSIVE: A $15,000 ticket that Jeffrey Epstein bought for Hollywood PR maven Peggy Siegel to attend the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Night Before gala in 2013 has become a prime focus of a long ongoing lawsuit that is now pulling besieged LA28 chair…

Federal Communications Commission faces backlash after comedian Stephen Colbert blamed its rules for scuttled interview.

The Trump administration is going to bat for a hands-off approach to the explosion of gambling in America.

Meeting comes as White House says it wants to see 'dramatic changes very soon' in Cuba, calls government 'failing'.

Even if a company doesn't cite a reason for relocating, experts say the change can signal financial, political, or other motives.

The US president warned the military base on Diego Garcia may be needed to respond to possible attack from Iran.

I’ve talked on Techdirt about just a few of my AI-related experiments over the past few years, including how I use it to help me edit pieces, which I still write myself. I still have no intention of letting AI write for me, but as the underlying technology ha…

The Vatican will not participate in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace“ initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday while adding that efforts to handle crisis situations should be managed by the United Nat…

Home Depot and Lowe’s have dominated the home improvement and hardware retail sectors for decades, continuing to rise above hardware cooperatives True Value ...

The US has transferred thousands of detainees linked to the group from Syria to Iraq.

The Trump administration’s support for the SAVE America Act is a ploy to help Republicans win elections.

UN Security Council meeting addresses Gaza 'ceasefire' and Israeli plans to expand West Bank control.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said there were "whiteout conditions" during the rescue mission that saved six survivors.

ABC News' Patrick Reevell reports that there is still a "fundamental gap between the two sides over territory," specifically Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

Jay Bhattacharya has been tapped to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—after spending years criticizing its pandemic response. Bhattacharya will continue his role as the director of National Institutes of Health, as well as lead the CDC on an …

(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are offering mixed reviews of Gov. J.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - California, Colorado and Washington are suing the federal government to force it to pay out grants approved by Congress for...

The ICE surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota was instigated by a far-right click bait artist and encouraged by the president’s portrayal of Somali immigrants as “garbage” people from a “garbage” country. And those were some of the nicer words Trump used to describ…

Mona Charen on how Trump transformed the conservative movement and what the right got wrong. Plus: Signs of life from America’s guardrails and John Maynard Keynes’s “My Early Beliefs.”

Kevin Hassett said Fed researchers should be disciplined for their views on tariffs, sparking fresh concern from commentators about Fed independence.

The flight was only in the air for about 15 minutes, according to KTRK.

Donald Trump Jr. insists his father is "not involved."

The US president says "it will be a blight on our great ally" if the islands are handed over to Mauritius.

Yesterday we noted how CBS fecklessly tried to prevent Stephen Colbert from broadcasting an interview with Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico. Which, as you’ve probably already seen, resulted in the interview on YouTube getting way more view…

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was visibly stunned when CBS Reporter Ed O'Keefe asked for examples of President Donald Trump being...

FCC DEMANDS TRANSCRIPT OF BAD BUNNY SUPER BOWL (Main headline, 5th story, link) Related stories:COLBERT TORCHES CBS FEUD PLAYS OUT ON AIR INTERVIEW THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE DEM RAKES IN MILLONS AFTER NIXED

The Pentagon has dramatically reduced the number of ships it had in the Caribbean ahead of the Maduro raid, moving vessels toward the Middle East.

The pharmaceutical giant expressed optimism that its new flu shot would be available this year, after approval concerns.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency “has an enforcement action underway on ABC’s The View after the show featured James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, as a guest. “We’re taking a look at it,” Carr told reporters on Wednesday, but…

For the last five years, we had to endure an endless, breathless parade of hyperbole regarding the so-called “censorship industrial complex.” We were told, repeatedly and at high volume, that the Biden administration flagging content for review by social medi…

For the 12 of us who woke up Tuesday morning wondering what we had missed on Monday’s late-night shows, CBS greeted us with a concerning development. Overnight, Stephen Colbert had laid into his network, dedicating time at the top of The Late Show to claim th…

President Trump is asking the federal government for billions of dollars in damages, putting his own Justice Department on the spot and creating an unprecedented ethical morass.

Amid a global polycrisis, new arrivals in New York face a fractured city where sanctuary feels ever more out of reach.

The Trump administration is coming down hard on the side of prediction markets as scrutiny of Kalshi and Polymarket pick up.

The checks are from a 2024 settlement with private lender Navient over claims that it "cheated" student-loan borrowers out of lower monthly payments.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was given special treatment and provided with a room in a luxury hotel after Donald Trump pardoned him in December, ProPublica reported Wednesday.Hernández, a member of Honduras’s right-wing National Party, was…

The algorithm also doesn't like posts by traditional news media, the researchers found.

Companies are being subpoenaed for personal info

Medical and environmental groups are challenging the EPA’s decision to break with the long-standing scientific evidence that climate change endangers human health

Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to purchase coal energy. Experts say the move doesn't make sense, economically or otherwise.

Nearly four years into Russia's war on Ukraine, multiple peace efforts have been started, but no end is in sight.

After initially rejecting Moderna’s application for review, the FDA will now consider the company’s mRNA flu shot

Anderson Cooper departs and Stephen Colbert goes off-script as the network struggles to define its future

Badged versions of TP-Link routers are supplied to US customers by more than 300 ISPs, making them the most widely used Wi-Fi routers in the country, found in millions of US homes. It therefore caused grave concern when security researchers at Microsoft fo…

Amid Cuba’s deepening fuel crisis, countries are bowing to US pressure and winding down their Cuban medical programmes.

Ivanka's Lunar New Year post sparked debate about her image, business ventures, and political ambitions.

The attention surrounding James Talarico’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert interview has been very good for the Texas Democrat’s campaign for U.S. Senate. He raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the segment was shifted from CBS broadcast to YouTube, his l…

Asian and Middle Eastern partners line up in Washington, while Europe tries to keep a distance.

AI slop is an oil spill in our digital oceans. The cleanup depends on all of us doing our part.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is having an ‘I told you so’ moment when it comes to President Trump’s tariffs. At November’s blockbuster arguments...

Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand today in a trial over whether social media companies are fueling the teen mental health crisis. And, Tricia McLaughlin is leaving the Department of Homeland Security.

Rachel Reeves has ruled out an increase in defence spending this year after coming under pressure from military chiefs.

The DHS secretary and her semi-official aide Corey Lewandowski are to blame for the shutdown

False election fraud claims are nothing new, but the federal immigration crackdown has increased pressure

Donald Trump has issued a warning as vague as it is sinister about this year’s battle for control of the House and Senate. “Crooked Elections cannot be...

Thomas Albus, the federal prosecutor investigating the 2020 Georgia vote, meet with Trump admin lawyers last fall.

Sharif Street states no Israel policy on his website and was briefly the beneficiary of a pro-Israel fundraising page. He's trying to walk a fine line in a crowded primary. The post Philadelphia Could Elect Its First Muslim Congressman. He’s Not Sure Where He…

Even as diversionary battles flare across the political landscape—immigration raids, diplomatic blunders, legal losses in court, and the lingering Epstein fallout—Donald Trump is making his move where it matters most: elections.The administration is pressing …

Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.

Just when netizens thought politics couldn’t get any weirder in 2026, they laid eyes on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock sitting shirtless in a hot tub.

Apologizes for 'inaccuracy' after telling MPs the International Criminal Court turned off email service to sanctioned prosecutor, 'not Microsoft' Exclusive Microsoft has said one of its leading spokespeople gave a testimony to the UK Parliament containing an …

Student-loan borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness are facing worse delays in paperwork processing and looming limits to debt relief.

Markets currently expect the Fed to cut rates in June

While lavender marriages were often a necessity for the LGBTQ community in the 1950s, some younger generations are curious about them and other modern takes on partnership.

Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America's national parks.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed Columbia's Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts University's Rümeysa Öztürk posed a threat to foreign policy.

China has previously criticised the role, accusing the US of interfering in China’s internal affairs.

Indonesia is tightening state control over the world’s largest nickel supply after years of betting the metal would anchor a homegrown electric-vehicle...

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the $77m released Tuesday falls short of the amount owed for the transport project.

The suspect, identified as Carter Camacho from the US state of Georgia, was wearing a tactical vest and gloves.

Experts say newly released documents show the need for an independent investigation into Epstein's sex-trafficking ring.

US late-night show host says CBS pulled interview from Monday's broadcast over fears it could violate new FCC guidance.

Nevada officials sued Kalshi, calling it an illegal betting website. The same day, a top Trump finance regulator said states should butt out.

Arab American advocates eulogise Jackson as a civil rights giant who embraced their communities and defended Palestine.

Delcy Rodriguez knows its in America's interests for her to be a success

When Stephen Colbert announced that CBS restricted him from airing an interview with a Democratic candidate, it set off a range of reactions: Some argued that it reflected Trump’s efforts to censor late-night content; others that it was merely enforcement of …