Trump prompts outcry by suggesting Republicans should ‘take over’ elections | First Thing
President claims idea to ‘nationalize’ elections in 15 states before midterms is to prevent noncitizen voting. Plus, how Muslim creatives are changing New York City’s cultural landscape
Good morning.
Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office.
Trump framed the issue as a means to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. Claims that noncitizens are voting in numbers that can affect an election are untrue. But it raises concerns about potential efforts by the president to rig the November midterm elections.
The comments come less than a week after FBI agents served a criminal search warrant to obtain nearly 700 boxes of ballots and other election material from Fulton county, Georgia, long a target of Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
On Tuesday, the Guardian exclusively reported that Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Trump’s approval, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week.
What did the president say? That immigrants “were brought” to the US to vote. “They vote illegally … We should take over the voting in at least many – 15 places – the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” he said on the podcast of Dan Bongino, the short-lived FBI deputy director.
What have Democrats said in response? “That statement alone makes clear that this threat to our election security, the basic premise of our democracy, is forward looking, to 2026, to 2028,” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said yesterday. “This is about whether these same tactics we’re seeing now, or worse, will be used to disrupt free and fair elections.”
Trump signs $1.2tn funding bill, ending partial government shutdown
Trump on Tuesday signed legislation to end a government shutdown hours after it was approved by the House of Representatives, as top Democrats warned they would block further funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if their demands for restrictions on Trump’s mass deportation campaign were not addressed.
The Republican-controlled House approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a narrow 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans voting in favor and all but 21 Democrats against. The president signed it later in the afternoon at the White House, bringing to an end the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday.
What are Democrats demanding? They agreed to fund most of the federal government through September while providing DHS with two weeks of short-term funding. That will enable lawmakers to return for negotiations around long-term DHS funding after the killings by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Among Democrats’ demands are that federal agents wear body cameras and cease wearing masks, follow a code of conduct, and obtain arrest warrants for people in the country illegally.
How did the White House press conference go? Trump again scolded a female reporter, this time CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who was questioning him about the Epstein files. “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face,” Trump said, adding that CNN should be “ashamed of you”.
In other news …
New York is creating a team of legal observers to monitor and record on-duty immigration enforcement officers, the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, said yesterday.
UK police have launched a criminal investigation after the release of the Epstein files, looking at allegations that Peter Mandelson, then business secretary and later ambassador to the US, leaked emails and market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein.
Spain has proposed a ban on social media use for under-16s to combat hateful and harmful content, which Elon Musk, the owner of X, attacked by calling the prime minister a “tyrant” and “traitor”.
The US military said it shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. It came as diplomats attempted to arrange Iran-US nuclear talks.
Stat of the day: Ukraine-Russia talks begin in Abu Dhabi after ‘massive’ strikes on Kyiv – with war casualties now at 1.8 million
Senior Ukrainian and Russian officials are due to meet in Abu Dhabi for a second round of talks brokered by the Trump administration. But Russia resumed bombing Kyiv just five days after a supposed week-long pause in strikes because of extreme cold in Ukraine. Combined casualties are now estimated at about 1.8 million people (killed, wounded and missing) by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Follow our live coverage here.
Wellness Wednesday: Feeling chirpy – how listening to birdsong can boost your wellbeing
A study, published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, has found that paying attention to birdsong while walking in nature can boost wellbeing and bring down stress levels – with researchers noticing a reduction in blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels that suggested simply going for a nature walk is beneficial.
Don’t miss this: ‘New York is constantly being renewed’ – how Muslim creatives are changing the city’s cultural landscape
Against the backdrop of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral rise is a dynamic scene of Muslim creatives and intellectuals who are helping usher in a new era for New York City. Their prominence represents a rebuke of the ugly Islamophobia following 9/11, and has grown from the recent mass movement for Palestinian rights. The Guardian spoke to 18 Muslim New Yorkers on their work.
Climate check: Trump administration uses mascot named ‘Coalie’ to push dirtiest fossil fuel
The Trump administration has launched a cartoon lump of coal, named “Coalie”, in its efforts to resurrect coal mining. The new mascot was posted online by Doug Burgum, Trump’s interior secretary. Climate activists criticized the attempt to boost the image of the dirtiest fossil fuel despite its negative impacts on the planet and public health.
Last Thing: Asian elephant born at Washington DC zoo for first time in 25 years
After a nearly quarter-century wait, the Smithsonian National Zoo in DC on Tuesday morning welcomed the birth of another Asian elephant, an endangered species. It brought “profound joy,” said the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s director. The female calf weighs 308lb. She was born to mother Nhi Linh, 12, and father Spike, 44. The public can vote for her name after donating $5.
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