WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton has distanced herself from President Barack Obama on a number of high-profile issues since starting her bid for the White House. Now, under pressure from left-leaning challenger Bernie Sanders, she is embracing him and his legacy wit... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK Ted Wade hasn’t cared about politics enough to cast a vote in a U.S. presidential election for almost a quarter of a century, back when he supported Ross Perot’s independent candidacy in 1992. But Republican Donald Trump’s 2016 White House ... More »
CHARLESTON, S.C. Democratic White House candidate Bernie Sanders went on the offensive against front-runner Hillary Clinton on Sunday in the most contentious of their four presidential debates, accusing her of cozying up to Wall Street and misrepresenting his ... More »
SEOUL A South Korean entertainment agency behind a 16-year-old singer who triggered a fresh rift between China and Taiwan by holding a Taiwan flag said on Monday it did not force her to apologize. Chou Tzuyu, the only Taiwanese member of South Korean K-pop gir... More »
CHARLESTON, S.C. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released details on Sunday evening about his “Medicare-for-all” universal healthcare funding plan and how he would pay for it. The plan was released hours before Sanders was to square off i... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday hammered away at his closest challenger’s eligibility to be U.S. president, while the party’s Senate leader said the chamber will stay out of the fray involving Ted Cruz’s citizenship. Unde... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that she did not ask for classified information to be sent over a non-secure system while heading the State Department, responding to the latest development in an issue that has dogged... More »
WASHINGTON Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and a Syrian refugee who now lives in Michigan will be among 23 special guests at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, the White House said on Sunday. Inviting Americans whose stor... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama will not publicly endorse a candidate before the 2016 Democratic primary election, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on Sunday. “We’ll do exactly what has been done in the past,” McDonough said on NBC’s “Mee... More »
WASHINGTON The chief executive of a successful American exporter will have a prime spot on Tuesday night to watch President Barack Obama make the case in his final State of the Union address for a sweeping Asian trade deal he hopes will be part of his legacy. ... More »
The host of the Miss Universe pageant mistakenly announced the wrong winner on Sunday, who then had to give up the crown and hand it over to a 26-year-old actress and model from the Philippines. It was the first edition of the annual beauty show since it was t... More »
BRASILIA Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s key ally in Congress is certain it can head off an impeachment threat, but in return the party demands a radical change of policy course to pull the economy out of its deepest downturn in 25 years. Senator Eunicio ... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday that Democrat Hillary Clinton was a “liar” for claiming that his proposal to ban entry of all foreign Muslims into the United States has aided Islamic State’s propaganda efforts. Spe... More »
MANCHESTER, N.H. U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton backed elements of President Barack Obama’s strategy to fight Islamic State militants in a debate on Saturday, drawing criticism from all sides for saying “we now finally are where we n... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump said separately on Sunday that the United States should not try to topple dictators such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, highlighting a skepticism over foreign wars that transcends party lines... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apologized to front-runner Hillary Clinton at a debate on Saturday for a breach of Clinton voter files by a Sanders staffer that intensified tensions between the two camps. The Sanders campaign a... More »
MACAU Top Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson said on Friday he met presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this week and that the two American billionaires broached the issue at the heart of Adelson’s political agenda: support for Israel. While the meg... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders regained access to crucial voter files on Friday after taking the Democratic National Committee to court and accusing party leaders of trying to undermine his White House bid and help rival Hilla... More »
MINNEAPOLIS The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved a resolution condemning Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. The council voted 6-1 for the resolution which said the city “condemns an... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. intelligence agencies can now reach almost all domestic phone records, far more than they collected under a now-scrapped program by the National Security Agency, according to Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. That estimate of the amou... More »
OMAHA, Neb. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday proposed expanding the “Buffett rule” to raise effective tax rates on the wealthy. Appearing in Omaha, Neb. alongside Warren Buffett for who the rule is named, Clinton said it will b... More »
MANCHESTER, N.H./WATERLOO, Iowa – To Barb Stensland, who works at a soda counter in Grundy County, Iowa, Donald Trump was just telling it “the way it is” when he called this week for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Though the Republican presidenti... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Sunday laid out the most sweeping defense yet of his strategy to defeat Islamic State, but he offered no U.S. policy shift to confront what he called a “new phase” in the terrorist threat after a mass shooting in California... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates roundly criticized President Barack Obama’s Sunday night address to the nation about the U.S. response to the threat of terror, arguing that he lacked a vision and was not aggressive enough. Republicans have become... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled a climate change plan on Monday that seeks to end the country’s dependence on oil, coal and nuclear energy and could pressure party front-runner Hillary Clinton. The Vermont senator’s plan... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK President Barack Obama on Sunday called on Silicon Valley to help address the threat of militant groups using social media and electronic communications to plan and promote violence, setting up renewed debate over personal privacy online. “... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to review the K-1 fiance visa program that was used by a couple responsible for a mass shooting in California, a White House official said on Sunday. ... More »
WASHINGTON The White House is urging Silicon Valley to help address the threat posed by militant groups by restricting the use of social media for planning and promoting violence, a senior administration official said on Sunday. Last week’s mass shooting in Ca... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Sunday she would take the relationship between the U.S. and Israel “to the next level,” but warned that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would not be enough to stabilize the entire regio... More »
DETROIT When David Bullock, a minister at Greater St. Matthew Church in Detroit, watches Ben Carson center stage at Republican presidential debates, he shakes his head. “He seems like a completely different Ben Carson,” Bullock said. Carson “was a superstar” w... More »
OUAGADOUGOU Burkina Faso should announce provisional results on Monday from an election to choose the West African country’s first new leader in decades, the head of the electoral commission said. Sunday’s peaceful election comes after longtime leader Blaise C... More »
NEW YORK Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has canceled a public event set for Monday where he had planned to announce endorsements from black pastors, after a group of African-American academics and clergy members urged them to reconsider, cit... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Sunday that he found facilities at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan to be “really quite nice” and that people there would rather stay or return home to Syria than come to the United States. But Car... More »
BOSTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to make job creation the focus of her campaign over the next month, beginning with a $275 billion infrastructure spending plan that will be released this week. Clinton’s plan to increase the f... More »
WASHINGTON The publisher of an influential newspaper in the early voting state of New Hampshire said on Sunday the paper had endorsed Republican Chris Christie in the U.S. presidential contest because of his experience and potential to take on rival Donald Tru... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump insisted on Sunday he was “100 percent right” when he said he saw thousands of Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheering the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, even though fact-checkers hav... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday reframed his claim that he saw Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheering the attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001 by asserting the sentiment... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who last week compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs,” met with refugees in Jordan on Saturday and urged the U.S. government to do more to help but did not endorse bringing them to the United States. Ca... More »
BUENOS AIRES Conservative challenger Mauricio Macri turned Argentine politics on its head on Sunday, kicking the ruling Peronist movement out of power with a promise to liberalize the ailing economy and end a culture of divisive politics. Macri, the son of an ... More »
CLINTON, Iowa U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday proposed a tax credit offsetting up to $6,000 in costs associated with caring for elderly and disabled family members, and allowing caregivers to accrue Social Security retirement b... More »
NEW YORK Nearly a dozen big Republican donors backing different presidential candidates are coming together to help fund an advertising campaign attacking front-runner Donald Trump, who faced sharp criticism from rivals this week for his inflammatory comments ... More »
WASHINGTON Several Republican presidential candidates insisted Syrian refugees pose a potential danger to America and should not be allowed into the country, despite growing criticism within and outside their party of some of their statements. Debate over the ... More »
AMES, Iowa A top aide to U.S. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that criticism of her remarks in Saturday’s debate regarding 9/11 and Wall Street campaign contributions would not resonate with average voters. “They were attacking... More »
WASHINGTON The deadly attacks in Paris pushed terrorism and the Syrian refugee crisis to the center of the U.S presidential campaign on Sunday, as Republicans hammered Obama administration plans to take in more refugees as well as Democratic front-runner Hilla... More »
Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his attacks on his nearest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Ben Carson. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll may explain why: the billionaire real estate magnate is bleeding support among avid church-goers and women... More »
WASHINGTON/DES MOINES, Iowa The lethal attacks in Paris have the potential to reshape the U.S. presidential race, placing a new emphasis on issues of national security, border control, and counterterrorism, while perhaps bolstering candidates who talk toughest... More »
WASHINGTON The Obama administration should reconsider plans to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the Unites States after at least 127 people died in Paris in gun and bomb attacks claimed by Islamic State, two Republican candidates said on Saturday. “Pres... More »
BALTIMOREFor many who knew Ben Carson in Baltimore, his U.S. presidential candidacy comes as a surprise. Over more than three decades as a Baltimore resident ending in 2013, Carson – now a front-runner in the race for the Republican Party nomination – rarely s... More »
FAJARDO, Puerto RicoRepublican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico on Sunday, citing its “very strategic” location for military defense. Speaking at a convention for Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rossello, a... More »
WASHINGTON“Socialist” has long been a dirty word in American politics, a slur thrown at liberals that evokes Cold War-era images of bread lines, government-controlled economies and authoritarian regimes. But 2016 Democratic White House hopeful Bernie Sanders h... More »
WASHINGTONRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday that rival Ben Carson would have to explain a number of things about his West Point and youth recollections, which have come under scrutiny. “He’s going to have to explain a lot of things ... More »
WASHINGTONHillary Clinton on Saturday called for looser federal regulations governing marijuana, to boost scientific research on a drug that many tout for relieving pain, among other medical benefits, according to media reports. Speaking at a campaign event in... More »
WASHINGTON Battered by weeks of negative headlines, Republican Jeb Bush launches a campaign reboot on Monday with a “Jeb Can Fix It” tour and release of an e-book that reveals a more personal side to a 2016 candidate who has struggled on the public stage. Bush... More »
WASHINGTON Representatives from Republican presidential campaigns on Sunday demanded a more active role in negotiations with TV networks over how presidential debates are conducted and sought a more limited role for the Republican National Committee. Officials... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates accused President Barack Obama on Sunday of showing weakness in U.S. policy in Syria, doubting that his small deployment of special operations troops will make much difference without a coherent broader strategy. “... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said he is conflicted about the death penalty and wants to see reforms in how it is implemented. Bush, in an interview taped for broadcast on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said executions can provide cl... More »
GUATEMALA CITY Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in Guatemala’s presidential election on Sunday after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the country’s political establishment. Th... More »
WASHINGTON Vice President Joe Biden, calling former campaign opponent Paul Ryan a “good guy,” voiced hope in an interview that the White House could make progress with Congress on the budget and other issues if Ryan becomes House of Representatives speaker. Ry... More »
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential hopeful, apologized for speaking too loudly on Sunday in a designated quiet car on an Amtrak train, a spokeswoman said. Christie accidentally took a seat in “Amtrak’s notorious quiet car” on Sunday ... More »
DES MOINES, Iowa U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders contrasted his record with that of Hillary Clinton on key issues, including his early support for same-sex marriages and consistent opposition to the Iraq war, during a Democratic fundraising dinner i... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday denounced as “pathetic” and “totally ridiculous” a Republican congressman’s call to impeach her on her first day in office if she is elected to the White House next year. Clinton, the ... More »
NEW YORK U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Friday won a major union endorsement, further boosting her front-runner status in the race for the Democratic nomination in the November 2016 election. The 1.6-million-member AFSCME’s endorsement represents... More »
IOWA CITY, Iowa Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said on Sunday he plans to give a major speech soon to explain his belief in democratic socialism, acknowledging the political label could be a stumbling block to winning over American voters. Th... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush transitioned from defense to offense on Sunday after criticism from rival Donald Trump that his brother, former President George W. Bush, carried some blame for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Trump, the flamb... More »
WASHINGTON When President Barack Obama announced this week that the United States would leave more troops than planned in Afghanistan, his vice president, Joe Biden, stood right at his side. And for Biden, still mulling a presidential bid, that could pose a pr... More »
WASHINGTON Turmoil swirled again around the Republican-controlled Benghazi committee on Friday as it questioned a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, prompting fresh accusations that the panel was created to damage the Democratic front-runner’s presidential campai... More »
NEW YORK Half a dozen Republican presidential candidates are edging toward financial crisis, raising the specter that some may be forced to drop out of the sprawling field of contenders. They all spent more than they took in during the third quarter, according... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama said Donald Trump was “the classic reality TV character” who had tapped into something real in the Republican Party but was unlikely to end up as president. “He is a great publicity-seeker – and at a time when the Republican P... More »
WASHINGTON A former investigator for the Republican-led U.S. House committee on Benghazi – who accused it of targeting Hillary Clinton – never expressed unhappiness about Clinton’s treatment in discussions leading up to his firing, the panel’s head said on Sun... More »
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will outline specific steps she would take to curb gun violence if elected during scheduled campaign stops in New Hampshire on Monday. Clinton spoke out forcefully in favor of new... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said on Sunday the Middle East would be more stable if Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein were still in power in Libya and Iraq, saying it’s “not even a contest”. Trump mentioned the countries i... More »
WASHINGTON The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are set to wade into contentious social matters in their new term beginning on Monday including affirmative action, union powers and voting rights, and could add major cases involving abortion and birth co... More »
NEW YORK Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dropped in at the late night comedy show “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday, appearing in a sketch as a bartender alongside comedian Kate McKinnon, who played the former United States senator and secretary of stat... More »
U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has been vying with challenger Bernie Sanders for the support of organized labor, scored a win on Saturday with an endorsement from the National Education Association, a huge teachers union. The NE... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday on the eve of the unveiling of his tax plan that a “large segment” of U.S. taxpayers would have a zero rate if he wins the White House. Trump’s campaign has ... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Sunday the politically damaging “drip, drip, drip” of revelations about her use of a private email server is out of her control and she is unsure when the controversy might end. Clinton, who ... More »
WASHINGTON Former U.S. President Bill Clinton likened the controversy over his wife Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email account while secretary of state to the same Republican and media tactics to stir controversy during his presidency, according to an i... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Sunday that Muslims were unfit to be president of the United States, arguing their faith was inconsistent with American principles. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nat... More »
WASHINGTON Billionaire Donald Trump remains in first place in the race to win the Republican presidential nomination for 2016, but his support has fallen to 24 percent from 32 percent previously, a CNN/ORC poll released on Sunday shows. Former Hewlett-Packard ... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Saturday it was not his job to stand up for U.S. President Barack Obama after a man at one of his campaign events said he was a Muslim and “not even an American.” “Am I morally obligated to de... More »
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON A group of prominent Democratic Party fundraisers on Friday began circulating a letter to encourage a hesitant Vice President Joe Biden to enter the 2016 race for U.S. president. The letter, signed by nearly 50 people, calls the Obama-Biden... More »
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON A group of prominent Democratic Party fundraisers on Friday began circulating a letter to encourage a hesitant Vice President Joe Biden to enter the 2016 race for U.S. president. The letter, signed by nearly 50 people, calls the Obama-Biden... More »
The Republican presidential candidates’ prime-time debate on CNN attracted an average of 22.9 million viewers, the network said on Thursday, making it the highest-rated program in the channel’s 35-year history. The figures, based on Nielsen data, fell shy of t... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican party presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Sunday high salaries paid to chief executives were a “joke” and a “disgrace” and said these were often approved by company boards stacked with the CEO’s friends. Trump, a real estat... More »
WASHINGTON Immigrants to the United States should “speak American,” former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said on Sunday, adding her voice to a controversy triggered by Donald Trump’s criticism of fellow Republican White House hopeful Jeb Bus... More »
WASHINGTON Senator Bernie Sanders has opened a nine-point lead over fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton among party supporters in New Hampshire, according to an NBC News/Marist Poll released on Sunday. The survey showed that 41 percent of Democratic voters would b... More »
Union activist Cliff Smith once thought of Bernie Sanders as an “obscure” U.S. senator. That changed in August when Smith joined 27,000 people to hear the Democratic White House candidate speak at a Los Angeles sports arena. “The other candidates – they talk i... More »
SAN JUAN Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio told residents of Puerto Rico on Friday the island needed new political leadership as it grapples with its fiscal crisis, but protection under bankruptcy laws would not solve the U.S. territory’s problems.... More »
WASHINGTON Republican Jeb Bush’s first TV ads of his 2016 White House campaign will target New Hampshire, his team said on Friday, in a reflection of his need to do well in an early voting state where rival John Kasich has been making inroads. The initial $500... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Friday she was sorry that her use of a personal email account while secretary of state had caused confusion, and blamed herself for “not thinking a lot” about the matter when she took the job... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie pushed back on Sunday against “ridiculous” criticism of his proposal to track foreign visitors the way FedEx Corp tracks packages, saying government needs private-sector expertise to tackle illegal im... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders narrowed the gap with leading Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a recent opinion poll in the political bellwether state of Iowa as support for the front-runner fell below 50 percent for the first time thi... More »
DUBUQUE, Iowa Thousands of people are expected to stream into an events center here on the banks of the Mississippi River on Tuesday to see Donald Trump. When they do, his presidential campaign will be waiting, looking to convert casual gawkers into hardcore s... More »
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush said on Monday it was ludicrous to describe his use of the term “anchor babies” as offensive to immigrants, saying his original comments referred more to Asians coming to the United States to give birth. Bush’s rem... More »
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Monday said his use of the term “anchor babies” to describe U.S.-born children of non-citizen parents was taken out of context and not derogatory, saying he was referring solely to activity he views as fraudul... More »
WASHINGTON Jostling for position in the U.S. presidential race, candidates on Monday blamed Wall Street elites, the Federal Reserve, exposure to China, and President Barack Obama’s spending policies for the market contagion from China’s stock-market plunge. As... More »
LEHIGH COUNTY, Penn./NEW YORK It’s easy to find female fans of Donald Trump in this cluster of former factory towns in the hills west of New York City even after his comments about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly that have been widely interpreted as referring to h... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said China’s devaluation of the yuan would be “devastating” for the United States. “They’re just destroying us,” the billionaire businessman, a long-time critic of China’s currency policy, sa... More »
NEW YORK Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is giving the U.S. Justice Department her private email server and a thumb drive of work-related emails from her tenure as secretary of state, a spokesman for her campaign said on Tuesday. Clinton’s us... More »
WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has instructed her attorney to give the U.S. Justice Department her private email server and a thumb drive of work-related emails from her tenure as secretary of state, CNN reported on Tuesday, quoti... More »
