分类： 未分类

Raskin calls for Trump to take cognitive test in wake of Iran threats as Democrats question president’s fitness

2026-04-10T20:10:27.890Z / CNN

By Annie Grayer

PUBLISHED Apr 10, 2026, 4:10 PM ET

Ranking Member Jamie Raskin speaks at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2026.

Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters/File

Rep. Jamie Raskin is calling on the White House physician to conduct a cognitive test of President Donald Trump amid his heightened rhetoric about the US war with Iran.

The Maryland Democrat joins a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers – and some right-wing personalities – who have expressed concern in recent days over the president’s approach to, and public statements on, the conflict. Democrats, in particular, have questioned Trump’s fitness for office.

“In recent days, the country has watched President Trump’s public statements and outbursts turn increasingly incoherent, volatile, profane, deranged, and threatening,” Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter obtained by CNN.

Raskin pointed to a number of reasons for raising his concern, including Trump’s expletive-ridden Easter Sunday post calling on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, his comments to children about the Iran war at the White House Easter Egg Roll and his statement that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not agree to his terms of a deal under deadline.

While unlikely to yield much of a result – the president, after all, often boasts about acing cognitive tests and the White House physician declared him in “excellent health” at his annual physical – the letter comes as many in the Democratic Party, and even some notable MAGA figures, have gone so far as to suggest Trump should be removed through the 25th Amendment or impeachment.

To successfully remove Trump as president, a majority of his Cabinet and his vice president would have to move to invoke the 25th Amendment. And there are no indications any Cabinet officials are considering it, or that Vice President JD Vance would be on board. Raskin was set to lead a briefing for House Democrats about the 25th Amendment on Friday.

“At a time when our country is at war—especially when the war was initiated by the President without congressional declaration or consent—the American people must be able to trust that the Commander-in-Chief has the mental capacity to discharge the essential duties of his office,” Raskin wrote. “I therefore request that you conduct a comprehensive cognitive assessment of President Donald Trump, provide those results to Congress, and make yourself available to brief Congress on your findings.”

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Raskin argued that Republicans had helped set a precedent for him to make such a request.

House Republicans, he wrote, had focused on former President Joe Biden’s apparent cognitive decline and interviewed Biden’s White House physician.

“Republicans and Democrats alike have recognized that presidential cognitive fitness is a matter of urgent and essential public concern and that it warrants rigorous congressional oversight. Calling former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity ‘one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history,’ Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer actually subpoenaed the White House physician and issued a comprehensive staff report on the subject,” Raskin wrote.

He continued: “Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan declared that a president who is not cognitively fit ‘isn’t fit for office.’ I trust that both Chairmen will stand by this important principle today with the country in an uproar over the President’s recent fulminations and mad threats.”

CNN’s Donald Judd and Aaron Blake contributed to this report.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell denies sexually assaulting former staffer

April 10, 2026 / 7:25 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is running for California governor, denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer.

“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” Swalwell said in a statement. “For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women.”

Swalwell threatened to take legal action against the woman, who detailed the alleged encounters to the San Francisco Chronicle, which published a story Friday.

“My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies,” Swalwell said.

The woman, who was not named, said Swalwell started pursuing her shortly after she was hired to work in his district office in Castro Valley in 2019.

She alleged he sent her inappropriate photos of himself via Snapchat, requested nude photos of her and asked her to perform oral sex on him in a parking lot. She also alleged that after going out for drinks with Swalwell in September 2019, she woke up naked in his hotel bed with little recollection of the night.

Five years later, in 2024, when she no longer worked for Swalwell, she said she met him for drinks after a charity gala in New York. She said she became intoxicated and only remembers parts of the night, including allegedly pushing him away and telling him “no” while he forced himself on her. She said she woke up the next morning with vaginal bleeding and bruises.

The Chronicle said it reviewed texts the woman sent to a friend three days after the alleged incident, in which she wrote she was “sexually assaulted” by Swalwell.

“This happened one other time when I was working with him, but I convinced myself I was an equal party in it even though same pattern: I blacked out and he had sex with me,” she wrote, according to the Chronicle, referring to the alleged 2019 incident.

The Chronicle also spoke with the man who was the woman’s boyfriend at the time of the 2024 incident. The then-boyfriend said he encouraged the woman to report Swalwell to the police, but the woman said she did not do so because she was afraid they would not believe her because she had already showered and thought it would be unlikely that an examination would find evidence.

Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, a campaign chair for Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid, called on him to drop out of the race, calling the information “shocking” and said the story contains “the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable.”

“The congressman should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay,” Gomez said, adding that he was cutting ties with Swalwell’s campaign “effective immediately.”

Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Adam Schiff of California also said they were withdrawing their endorsements.

“What is described is indefensible,” Gallego said. “Women who come forward with accounts like this deserve to be heard with respect, not questioned or dismissed. I regret having come to his defense on social media prior to knowing all the information. I am equally as shocked and upset about what has transpired.”

Schiff said he was “deeply distressed” by the accusations and called on Swalwell to withdraw from the race.

Swalwell also lost the support of the California Teachers Association, which called the allegations “incredibly disturbing and unacceptable.”

美国载人绕月飞船返回舱即将进入大气层

2026年4月11日 07:57 / 联合早报

美国载人绕月飞船返回舱即将进入大气层

4月10日，美国海军潜水员前往加州圣地亚哥海岸附近的太平洋，准备接回阿耳忒弥斯2号的宇航员。 （法新社）

新华社报道，执行美国“阿耳忒弥斯2号”载人绕月飞行任务的“猎户座”飞船，于美东时间星期五（4月10日）晚成功完成服务舱与返回舱分离，返回舱即将进入大气层。

Exclusive: ICE launches new effort to uncover US ‘birth tourism schemes’

2026-04-10 18:56:01 UTC / Reuters

By Kristina Cooke and Ted Hesson

April 10, 2026 6:56 PM UTC Updated 39 mins ago

节点运行失败

An ICE officer is seen in this file photo in San Diego, California, U.S. May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

• Summary

• Immigration agents ordered focus on new ‘Birth Tourism Initiative,’ according to an email reviewed by Reuters
• Republicans have highlighted allegations of birth tourism as a reason to limit access to U.S. citizenship
• People who engage in alleged birth tourism could be prosecuted for fraud or other related crimes

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration plans to crack ​down on networks it says help pregnant women lie on visa applications in order to secure U.S. citizenship for their U.S.-born babies, an issue that ‌Trump has highlighted to justify his attempts to restrict birthright citizenship.

In an internal email sent Thursday and reviewed by Reuters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new “Birth Tourism Initiative.” The operation will seek to root out networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the U.S. to give birth so their children can receive citizenship, it said.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Trump, a Republican, has kicked ​off an aggressive push to reduce both legal and illegal immigration after taking office in January 2025. His administration has used the threat of birth tourism ​as a rationale for attempting to restrict the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil.

“Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous ⁠cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement, adding that most nations do not provide automatic citizenship at birth.

The U.S. ​Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

No U.S. law outright bars birth tourism, but a federal regulation implemented in 2020 during ​Trump’s first term prohibits using temporary tourist and business visas for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a newborn. People who engage in birth tourism schemes could be prosecuted for fraud or other related crimes.

BIRTH TOURISM USED AS RATIONALE TO LIMIT CITIZENSHIP

There are no official figures tallying the number of foreigners who come to the U.S. for the explicit purpose of giving birth and obtaining citizenship for ​their children, or the cost to taxpayers.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which supports lower levels of immigration, estimated in an analysis in 2020 that between 20,000-25,000 mothers came to the ​U.S. for birth tourism in a year-long period between 2016-2017.

There were 3.6 million births in the U.S. in 2025 and birth tourism likely represents a fraction of total births.

Republicans have highlighted allegations of birth ‌tourism as ⁠a reason to limit access to U.S. citizenship, which has long been conferred at birth under an amendment to the Constitution.

Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office that instructed U.S. agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the U.S. if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, a sharp break from legal precedent spanning more than a century.

Multiple federal judges blocked the order, sending the case to the Supreme Court for oral arguments last week. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, representing the ​Trump administration, said automatic citizenship had encouraged “a sprawling ​industry of birth tourism.”

Sauer said the ⁠promise of citizenship for those born in the U.S. had encouraged thousands of people from “potentially hostile nations” to come to give birth, “creating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the United States.”

ICE AIMS TO FIND FRAUD

ICE’s new birth tourism effort – spearheaded ​by its Homeland Security Investigations arm – aims to surface cases of fraud, but it is unclear how many cases they might ​find.

“HIS is advancing efforts to ⁠protect the integrity of U.S. immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes,” the email said. The agency said it would seek to disrupt “fraud, financial crimes, and organized facilitation networks that exploit lawful immigration processes.”

In one federal case in 2019, more than a dozen people were charged in a scheme to operate “birth houses” in Southern California that catered to wealthy ⁠women from ​China.

In the case — billed by ICE at the time as the first U.S. prosecution against birth tourism — Chinese ​national Dongyuan Li pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the scheme. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison and released in December 2019.

Another Chinese national, Chao “Edwin” Chen, was sentenced to three years in prison ​in 2020 but had already fled the U.S. for China, according to ICE.

Reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Prince Harry sued by charity in Africa he co-founded in honor of Princess Diana

April 10, 2026 / 3:09 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A charity that Prince Harry co-founded in Africa to honor his late mother, Princess Diana, is suing him for defamation after he stepped down as a patron last year.

Sentebale, which Harry co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 and helps youths with HIV in southern Africa, filed suit last month in London’s High Court, according to court records reviewed Friday.

Online filings show Harry and his friend, Mark Dyer, a trustee at the charity, are being sued for either libel or slander. No documents were available.

“The charity seeks the court’s intervention, protection, and restitution following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership, and its strategic partners,” Sentebale said Friday in a statement on its website.

In the local language of Lesotho, where the charity is based, Sentebale means “forget-me-not.”

Britain’s Prince Harry, right, flanked by Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso in June 2016. Matt Dunham/AP

Disagreements surfaced in 2023 over a new fundraising strategy. Harry and Seeiso stepped down as patrons of the charity in March 2025.

At the time, they said the relationship between the board and its chair, Sophie Chandauka, was beyond repair and that they were stepping down in solidarity with five trustees who resigned over an internal dispute that had broken into public view.

“What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about,” Harry and Seeiso said in a joint statement at the time.

Chandauka later accused Harry of orchestrating a campaign of bullying and harassment to try to force her out.

She told Sky News in March that Harry’s resignation had blindsided her and was “an example of harassment and bullying at scale.” She said he also had interfered with a whistleblower complaint she filed against the charity.

“So it’s a cover-up, and the prince is involved,” she said.

Prince Harry visits Lesotho 18 photos

The Charity Commission for England and Wales investigated and criticized both sides for allowing the issue to be played out in public and damaging the organization’s reputation, but found no evidence of widespread bullying or misogyny at Sentebale.

“Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardizing the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve,” commission CEO David Holdsworth said in a statement in August 2025.

Harry’s spokesman had criticized the commission’s report while Chandauka welcomed it.

Messages seeking comment sent Friday to the office of the Duke of Sussex were not immediately returned.

‘I know what it requires’: Harris on why she’s thinking about running for president in 2028

2026-04-10 12:38 PM ET / CNN

By David Wright, Kaanita Iyer
Updated Apr 10, 2026, 3:34 PM ET

Former Vice President Kamala Harris arrives during the National Action Network Convention in New York, on Friday, April 10, 2026.

Angelina Katsanis/AP

Former Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed Friday that she is “thinking about” running for president in 2028 at the 2026 National Action Network Convention – in her most open public remarks to date about her political future.

“Listen, I might, I might. I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking about it,” Harris told Rev. Al Sharpton when asked about whether she plans to run another White House campaign. Harris was the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 election.

Her comments come amid mounting speculation about what she may do next with her political career after she released a campaign memoir in late 2025 and embarked on a subsequent book tour.

Harris is also set to appear at Democratic Party events in four Southern states this month, CNN previously reported.

While Harris said in an August 2025 interview with CBS’ Stephen Colbert that she did not “want to go back in the system,” she hinted later in the year that she could make another bid for the White House, telling the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I am not done.”

On Friday, Harris received a warm welcome at the progressive organizing conference steeped in civil rights history, prompting loud chants of “run again,” which briefly interrupted her remarks at one point.

“I am thinking about (running again) but let me also say this. I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States,” Harris said. “I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires.”

She went on to lay out the “work that needs to be done” as she considers what would be a third presidential campaign, with a crowded potential field taking shape.

“I’ve been traveling the country the last year, I’ve been spent a lot of time in the south and many other places. And the one thing I’m really clear about also, is the status quo is not working, and hasn’t been working for a lot of people for a long time,” the former nominee said.

Since leaving the White House, Harris has continued to be an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

In her sit-down with Sharpton, Harris condemned Trump’s foreign policy actions, particularly the war with Iran, which she called a “choice.”

At Friday’s event, the former vice president went on to argue that Trump’s increasing bitterness toward some allies, particularly NATO countries, “is harmful to the people of America, not to mention people in allied nations around the world.”

She added that the impact of Trump’s foreign policy “keeps me up at night.”

Potential 2028 Dems take the stage

The gathering of Black African American and progressive leaders at the annual conference in New York served as a staging ground for potential 2028 presidential contenders, several of whom sat down with Sharpton to test-drive their message.

Kicking off the proceedings on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — one of the party’s young, progressive stars — quipped about his ineligibility to run for president as a non-natural-born citizen.

“It is such a pleasure to be here, and I joked with the reverend that I’m proud to announce that I am not running for president in 2028, which I know that some people may be considering when they come to this conference,” Mamdani said.

The potential candidates – including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Harris – fielded personal questions and touted local successes. Another potential contender, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, is set to address the conference on Saturday.

Shapiro promoted his work to repair the I-95 bridge in his state, echoing his “GSD” (get s*** done) slogan; Moore grappled with the fight over redistricting in his state, warning Republicans, “don’t play with me”; and Buttigieg criticized the TSA staffing shortages at airports amid the ongoing DHS funding stalemate, reflecting on his own experience leading the Transportation Department.

The conflict with Iran also created a throughline for the conversations, each Democrat laying into the Trump administration’s decision making and leadership. Gallego, Moore and Buttigieg, each veterans, grounded their criticism in personal terms.

“I know exactly what it feels like to get on that gray-tailed military transport plane and be on your way into a war zone, and how important it is to be able to believe that the people who sent you there only did that because they had no other choice,” Buttigieg said. “You do not put American troops’ lives on the line unless you have no other good alternative.”

Meanwhile, with speculation growing about their plans, every member of the potential 2028 field was emphatic about their commitment to Democratic successes in the 2026 midterms. “In these midterms, we’ve got four competitive US congressional races that I’m going all in on, so we can make Hakeem Jeffries the speaker of the House,” Shapiro declared.

Sharpton attempted to cut out the speculation, closing every interview by directly asking each would-be contender about their plans for the next White House race. But he received a series of artful dodges.

“We have an opportunity to have a real debate in our party about what we stand for. About what our affirmative vision is,” Shapiro said. “And what I can tell you for sure is that I want to be a part of that debate.”

Pritzker was similarly noncommittal. “My answer is, I don’t know what I’ll be doing after. I hope I win reelection after, but I can tell you this, I’m going to fight like hell to elect a Democrat in 2028,” he said.

Getting a loud reaction from the crowd during his turn, Moore relished the speculation. “We’re gonna send a message in Maryland. But I’m telling you, while I am – I tell people, you know, I’m hungry, but I’m not thirsty,” the Maryland governor remarked.

Finally, Sharpton asked Buttigieg, “When you ran for president, you met me, and we went up for a well-publicized lunch at Sylvia’s Restaurant, in Harlem. Just so my calendar is clear. Should I be reserving a table at Sylvia’s? Are you – are you gonna run again?”

“You save me a seat, I’ll be there,” he replied.

This story was updated with additional information.

Bessent, Powell summon Wall Street CEOs for emergency meeting over Anthropic AI risks amid Pentagon dispute

April 10, 2026 2:25pm EDT / Fox News

CEOs from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Wells Fargo reportedly attended the flash meeting

By Robert McGreevy Fox News

Published April 10, 2026 2:25pm EDT | Updated April 10, 2026 2:27pm EDT

Fox News senior national correspondent Rich Edson says the model currently ‘has no plans’ to be publicly available on ‘Special Report.’

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Listen to this article

4 min

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned Wall Street bank heads to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for a flash meeting to warn them of cybersecurity threats posed by AI giant Anthropic, according to a Thursday night report from Bloomberg.

Bessent and Powell convened the last-minute meeting at Treasury’s D.C. headquarters in order to ensure the banks were ready to guard against risks from Anthropic’s latest model, Claude Mythos Preview, a powerful new AI model that experts warn marks a profound shift in the technology.

Each bank summoned is marked by the Fed as “structurally important” to the global financial system. The attendees included chief executives from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was in attendance, a source with knowledge of his schedule told Fox News Digital. Spokespeople for Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo declined to comment. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

PENTAGON’S AI BATTLE WILL HELP DECIDE WHO CONTROLS OUR MOST POWERFUL MILITARY TECH

JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon speaks onstage during day two of the America Business Forum at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2025.(Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was also summoned but was unable to attend, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar. JPMorgan, notably, is a member of Anthropic’s “Project Glasswing,” an initiative to use Mythos as a defense against future similar models. JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mythos has garnered a swell of intrigue online thanks to Anthropic’s claims that the AI can autonomously identify and exploit software weaknesses.

The company touted Mythos as a “frontier model” that can outperform “all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities.” It claimed the model has already identified thousands of software flaws previously unknown to their developers, including some that were decades old inside companies widely considered to be security strongholds.

“This could make cyberattacks of all kinds much more frequent and destructive, and empower adversaries of the United States and its allies,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post. “Addressing these issues is therefore an important security priority for democratic states.”

ANTHROPIC’S DEMOCRATIC TIES UNDER FIRE AS TRUMP ADMIN SEVERS PENTAGON CONTRACTS

In light of the security risks, a source close to Anthropic told Fox News Digital that the company has briefed senior U.S. government officials about Mythos, though did not specify which agencies.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attends a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 15, 2025. ((Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

The increasingly relevant AI titan was once a core partner of the U.S. military, securing a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in July 2025.

However, the partnership split open in February after the company drew redlines against the War Department using its technology for autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. After issuing the company an ultimatum, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, barring federal contractors from using its products.

Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, during the company’s Builder Summit in Bengaluru, India, on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.(Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg)

Anthropic sought to appeal that designation, but a federal appeals court rejected their plea Wednesday.

When asked to comment on the Treasury’s Tuesday meeting, the Department of War referred Fox News Digital to a statement in support of the Wednesday ruling from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Today’s D.C. Circuit stay allowing the government to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk is a resounding victory for military readiness,” Blanche posted on X Wednesday. “Our position has been clear from the start — our military needs full access to Anthropic’s models if its technology is integrated into our sensitive systems. Military authority and operational control belong to the Commander-in-Chief and Department of War, not a tech company.”

The Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board did not immediately return requests for comment.

Americans give record-low marks to economy, in ominous sign for Republicans

2026-04-10 19:22:38 UTC / Reuters

By Nandita Bose

April 10, 2026 7:22 PM UTC Updated 36 mins ago

节点运行失败

Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Inflation surge driven by Iran war, oil supply cuts, and record gasoline prices
• Consumer sentiment hits record low, with Republicans’ outlook dropping sharply
• White House officials worry Iran war distracts from addressing voters’ economic concerns

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) – Americans are souring on the U.S. economy to a degree never before seen, with the stiffest inflation in four ​years exacerbating the political risk for President Donald Trump, who some administration officials worry has lost focus on affordability problems for voters as he ‌trains attention on the war against Iran.

Few issues resonate with U.S. voters more deeply than price increases, and the latest inflationary upswing is unsettling key insiders at the White House worried about their Republican Party’s prospects in critical midterm elections less than seven months away.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Report Ad!

Republican lawmakers and senior White House aides have for months urged Trump to focus more on the economy, which is the top concern ​for voters. Trump has struggled, however, to show that he feels Americans’ pain and has repeatedly declared victory over inflation, despite official data showing otherwise.

Data from ​the Labor Department on Friday showed inflation soared in March, the first full month of the war the U.S. and Israel launched against ⁠Iran on February 28, which resulted in Tehran choking off a fifth of the world’s oil supply from flowing through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

The resulting upward spike ​in crude oil prices drove a record-setting increase in gasoline costs across the U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed, and that pushed headline inflation up by the most ​since June 2022 when the post-COVID pandemic price surge that ravaged former President Joe Biden’s political prospects hit its peak.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Alongside that, household sentiment over the economy took a nosedive, with the University of Michigan’s benchmark Consumer Sentiment Index sliding to a record low at the beginning of April.

“Demographic groups across age, income, and political party all posted setbacks in sentiment, as did every component of the index, reflecting ​the widespread nature of this month’s fall,” survey Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

And it was not just Trump’s perennial critics among Democrats giving low marks to ​the state of the economy now and its prospects for the future. The biggest decline was recorded among the survey’s self-identified Republicans, whose sentiment score now sits near its lowest since Trump ‌returned to ⁠office in January 2025 after winning back the White House on promises to lower the high prices that dogged Biden through most of his presidency.

A line chart that shows the monthly consumer sentiment index by political party. In the month of April, the outlook of Democrats was 31.8, the outlook of Republicans was 87.1 and the outlook of independents was 46.7.

Indeed, some top Trump administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, have become increasingly alarmed that not enough effort is being spent on bringing down high prices.

Wiles has privately urged advisers to be more declarative on the economic and political downsides of the war, a White House official told Reuters this week on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.

Beyond the University ​of Michigan survey, public opinion polling shows ​that Americans are increasingly losing confidence in ⁠Trump’s stewardship of the economy, which political analysts say could hurt his Republican Party as it fights to retain slim majorities in Congress in the November midterms.

“President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, disruptions ​that the administration has been diligently working to mitigate,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said Friday on social media as the ​White House made an ⁠effort to shift focus from gasoline prices. “Prices of eggs, beef, prescription drugs, dairy and other household essentials are falling or remain stable thanks to President Trump’s policies.”

Indeed, food prices were unchanged last month and egg prices have fallen 45% in the last year, the most ever, a fact Trump frequently cites.

But economists do worry that energy costs – unless lowered by a ⁠deal with Iran ​to reopen the strait and restart the flow of oil – could start feeding into a wider inflation ​breakout if they remain elevated for much longer.

Diesel fuel costs that have been pushed to within 20 cents a gallon of their record high are a critical cost input for truckers and farmers, and those costs ​could soon be passed along to consumers in the form of higher food costs.

Reporting by Nandita Bose; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi says Melania Trump’s Epstein statement was ‘very important’

2026-04-10T17:34:22.240Z / CNN

By Erica Hill, CNN

Published 1:34 PM EDT, Fri April 10, 2026

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi says Melania Trump’s Epstein statement was “very important”

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois joins CNN’s “The Situation Room” to discuss First Lady Melania Trump’s suprise statement on her relation to Jeffrey Epstein, in which she called for survivors to participate in public hearings.

7:10 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/politics/video/cnn-sitroom-erica-hill-raja-krishnamoorthi-melania-trump-epstein-survivors

Kamala Harris says she might run for president in 2028: “I’m thinking about it”

April 10, 2026 12:23 PM EDT / CBS News

Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that she might run for president in 2028, telling a gathering in New York that she is considering mounting a third bid for the White House.

“Listen, I might. I’m thinking about it,” Harris said in response to a question from Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network’s conference in Manhattan. “Let me also say this. I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires.”

She added: “I’ve been traveling in the country the last year, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the South and many other places. And the one thing I’m really clear about also is, the status quo is not working, and hasn’t been working for a lot of people for a long time.”

Harris lost to President Trump in the 2024 election after replacing then-President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. She unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020 before Biden selected her as his running mate.

The former vice president has kept a relatively low profile since her 2024 defeat. Last year she passed on running for governor of California, fueling speculation that she might be eyeing another bid for the White House in 2028.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/democratic-presidential-hopefuls-gather-for-national-action-network-convention/