Trump wades into French elections  —  Two days before a French election that has Europe on edge, President Donald Trump weighed in Friday with a tweet that seemed to imply support for the controversial far-right populist Marine Le Pen.  —  Trump's Friday morning tweet responded to a shooting …

White House budget chief floats trade on ObamaCare, border wall funding  —  President Trump's budget chief Mick Mulvaney said Friday that the White House is offering Democrats money for key ObamaCare payments in exchange for money to help fund the president's proposed border wall.

Today's executive orders are the nail in the coffin of Trump's economic populism  —  There's no workers' party here.  —  Friday afternoon, Donald Trump traveled to the US Treasury Department where he's expected to sign a new executive order.  The order aims at making life easier …

Massive power outage hits San Francisco, shuts down businesses, BART station, cable cars, traffic lights  —  A massive power outage in San Francisco caused a blackout Friday morning in several neighborhoods, from the Financial District to the Presidio, forcing the closure of businesses …

Sanctuary Cities Face Aid Cuts as Justice Dept. Tightens Screws  —  WASHINGTON — Escalating a threat to withhold grants from state and local governments that block the police from telling federal authorities about undocumented immigrants in custody, the Trump administration sent letters Friday …

Vacation's Over: Obama Returns to Public Life Next Week  —  WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's extended post-presidential vacation is about to end.  After spending weeks in French Polynesia — including time on the yacht of the movie mogul David Geffen along with Bruce Springsteen …

Sources: Russia tried to use Trump advisers to infiltrate campaign  —  Washington (CNN)The FBI gathered intelligence last summer that suggests Russian operatives tried to use Trump advisers, including Carter Page, to infiltrate the Trump campaign, according to US officials.

Brat: New ObamaCare repeal bill has ‘significant’ changes … A Republican who opposed the first House GOP ObamaCare replacement bill says a revamped effort is the “same fundamental bill” as the one that failed last month.  —  Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), who has signaled he might be able to back the new bill …

Trump condos worth $250 million pose potential conflict  —  LAS VEGAS — President Trump's companies own more than 400 condo units and home lots whose sale could steer millions of dollars to Trump, a USA TODAY investigation has found.  —  USA TODAY spent four months cataloging every property Trump's companies own across the country.

House intel panel invites former acting AG Sally Yates to testify  —  The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday asked several senior Obama administration officials, including former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, to testify publicly in the panel's probe into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Sen. Frank Artiles apologizes for using racial slurs  —  Miami Republican Sen. Frank Artiles formally apologized on the Florida Senate floor on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, for insulting and using racial slurs against two black lawmakers two days prior.  —  Friends of Artiles …

How Trump Blew Up the Conservative Media  —  Months before Donald Trump blew up American politics with his surprise win in November, he did the same thing to the conservative media.  Through much of the campaign, two very different media moguls with colliding visions for the Republican Party vied …

Bernie Sanders Defends Campaigning For Anti-Abortion Rights Democrat  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders is campaigning for Omaha, Neb., mayoral candidate Heath Mello Thursday night, and he's not apologizing for it.  —  “Absolutely, and I want him to win,” Sanders, I-Vt., told NPR Thursday, after a rally in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Trump to unveil tax plan with ‘massive’ cuts next week, AP says  —  President Donald Trump says businesses and individuals will receive a “massive tax cut” under a tax reform package he plans to unveil next week.  —  In an interview with The Associated Press, Trump says the plan will result …

No, Gov. Dean, there is no ‘hate speech’ exception to the First Amendment  —  Former Vermont governor Howard Dean writes: … This leads me to repeat what I've said before: There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment.  Hateful ideas (whatever exactly that might mean) …

Theranos Secretly Bought Outside Lab Gear, Ran Fake Tests: Court Filings  —  Company says it disagrees with many of allegations, saying they reflect ‘one-sided filing’  —  Theranos Inc. misled company directors about its laboratory-testing practices, used a shell company to “secretly” …

Campaign books that help shatter our politics  —  In the beginning there was Theodore White, the legendary observer of 20th century presidential campaigns, with his “Making of the President 1960.”  Then there was Joe McGinniss' brilliant account of the first iteration of modern campaign consulting …

‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats?  Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court  —  The hand-to-hand political combat in House elections on Tuesday in Georgia and last week in Kansas had the feel of the first rounds of an epic battle next year for control of the House of Representatives and the direction …

Google is a monopoly — and it's crushing the internet  —  Five to 10 years ago, independent bloggers used to be able to get by on internet advertising, like the broadsheets of yore.  But that changed quite quickly, and for two big reasons: Facebook and Google.

Apple Hires Top Google Satellite Executives for New Hardware Team  —  Apple said to have held talks about investing in Boeing satellite broadband project  —  After revolutionizing phones, Apple Inc. is testing self-driving cars and exploring augmented reality.  Recent hires suggest the company is now also looking to the skies.

Treasury won't grant Exxon drilling waiver for Russia  —  The Treasury Department will not grant Exxon Mobil Corp.'s request for a waiver allowing it to work with Russia's state oil company on a joint drilling venture, the agency said Friday.  —  “In consultation with President Donald J. Trump …

Aurora Democrat David Aarestad joins race to unseat Mike Coffman  —  Aarestad previously ran unsuccessfully for a board seat on the Cherry Creek School District  —  A lawyer at the University of Colorado on Thursday became the latest Democrat to announce plans to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in 2018.

2nd doctor, wife arrested in genital mutilation case  —  Federal agents Friday arrested a second doctor in connection with the nation's first genital mutilation case, sources told The Detroit News.  —  Dr. Fakhruddin Attar is accused of letting Dr. Jumana Nagarwala perform mutilations at his Burhani Medical Clinic on Farmington Road.

National progressive PAC sees N.J. as proving ground for ‘anti-Trump power building’  —  In New Jersey, a top-down Democratic machine state, a progressive group is banking on Donald Trump backlash inspiring candidates from the ground up.  —  The Progressive Change Campaign Committee …