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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Balloon, the Box and Health Care  —  Imagine a man who for some reason is determined to stuff a balloon into a box — a box that, aside from being the wrong shape, just isn't big enough.  He starts working at one corner, pushing the balloon into position.

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 …

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) …

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 …

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.

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 …

What Is Hawaii?  —  You may have questions about Hawaii.  Many Americans do.  After all, Hawaii is quite far from mainland United States — about 2,390 miles from the West Coast.  That's almost the distance between New York and Los Angeles (about 2,450 miles).

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.

‘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 …

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.

Dem rep: Jim Crow's ‘nieces and nephews’ are in the White House  —  Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized President Trump's administration Friday, tying it to the Jim Crow laws that protected racial segregation in the decades after the Civil War.  —  Giving his opening statement during …

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” …

Top White House Officials to Meet With Biotech Executives and Researchers  —  VP Pence, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner listed on agenda  —  Summit follows massive proposed cuts to NIH research budget  —  Almost a dozen top administration officials, including the vice president …

Ivanka Trump adds a chief of staff  —  Ivanka Trump is quietly staffing up, and she's filling out her team in the West Wing with former officials from President George W. Bush's administration.  —  In addition to her close adviser Dina Powell, who served as chief of the personnel office …