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Tag: last year

  • Black Friday shoppers spend more time looking for deals but less money amid economic angst

    Black Friday shoppers flocked to stores, hoping to get more bags for their buck as they grapple with inflation, tariffs and anxiety about the health of the economy.

    Citadel Outlets in Commerce was mobbed Friday morning with long waits for parking and winding lines in front of stores as consumers tried to grab good deals. Camila Romero and her 13-year-old daughter spent hours in line trying to get the best possible deals on Ugg and Coach items on their wish lists.

    “You come to the Citadel because it’s outlets. And it’s discounts on top of that,” she said. “So even when you’re broke, you don’t feel it.”

    Shoppers across Los Angeles plan to spend less this holiday season, data show. While retailers tease their biggest deals and prepare for what they hope is robust demand, a Deloitte survey found that Angelenos plan to spend 14% less over the holidays compared with last year.

    Nationally, shoppers are expected to spend 10% less than last year.

    Consumers are pulling back on spending in response to economic uncertainty and rising prices, said Rebecca Lohrey, a partner at Deloitte with expertise in retail and e-commerce.

    “There is at least a perception of higher prices and higher costs of goods,” Lohrey said. “That is a concern for consumers across the board, and is one of the reasons they’re tightening their wallets a little bit.”

    The survey found that 62% of Angelenos expect the economy to weaken in the year ahead, up from 34% in 2024. Around the same percentage of respondents said they are concerned about a potential recession in the next six months.

    Across income groups, consumers are making cost-cutting trade-offs and putting more emphasis on finding the best deal, the data showed. More than half of Los Angeles respondents said they would switch brands if their first choice was too expensive.

    “It tends to be the lower income brackets or the middle income brackets that are the most likely to trade down,” said Collin Colburn, vice president of commerce and retail media at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. “This year, actually, everyone is trading down.”

    Camryn Smith and her daughter showed up to snoop around for the deals at the Americana at Brand in Glendale early Friday morning. The discounts help knock off some of the effect of inflation, she said.

    “The prices are higher and they just bring them down to what they normally would be,” Smith said. “It’s crazy.”

    Consumers are fatigued from continuous inflation and instability brought on by the Trump administration. More shoppers are regifting or considering giving homemade gifts, the Deloitte survey found.

    “We’ve been in an environment where prices continue to rise for a host of reasons, inflation being one, tariffs being another,” Colburn said. “I think when that happens year on year, it really drags on the consumer.”

    This means more shoppers are looking for ways to save on purchases — and presents — they cannot put off.

    The National Retail Federation predicts that a record number of Americans will shop the sales over Thanksgiving weekend. Retail sales in November and December are expected to grow between 3.7% and 4.2% compared with last year, the federation said.

    Cautious consumers are more eager than ever to find a hot deal, said NRF chief economist Mark Mathews.

    “People are changing the way that they spend,” he said. “They’re focusing more on stretching their dollar and getting value for the dollar.”

    Even shoppers spending more than usual may be doing it out of concern, economists say. Consumers who anticipate inflation sometimes spend now out of fear that prices will rise later.

    Brooklyn Farmer braved the crowds at Citadel to shop and try to save amid inflation.

    “People are struggling right now, but the holidays are still important to them,” he said. “The thinking is if there’s going to be discounts like this, I might as well go while I can, instead of spending more later.”

    Of those surveyed by Deloitte in Los Angeles, 43% said they planned to spend most of their holiday budget at big-box retailers and 32% said they would spend the most at digital-first retailers.

    Shoppers are also using new tools to help them find products and deals, including artificial intelligence. Data collected by the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that AI now ranks as the second-most influential shopping source, ahead of retailers’ websites and apps and behind only search engines.

    Nearly 90% of shoppers nationally said AI helps them find products they wouldn’t have found otherwise, according to the IAB data.

    Mattel, the El Segundo-based toy company, is offering up to 50% off at Target on Hot Wheels, Barbie dolls and Disney Princess toys, said company spokesperson Kelly Powers.

    “Mattel is working closely with retailers across the country on Black Friday deals,” Powers said.

    In May, Mattel said it was considering raising its prices to offset the effect of President Trump’s tariffs on China..

    On the October earnings call, however, the company said the full effect of tariffs won’t be seen until the fourth quarter.

    Discount retailers that depend heavily on foot traffic have given conflicting signals about their business.

    Walmart recently raised its sales forecast for the year after reporting a 6% year-over-year increase in revenue in the third quarter.

    Target, in contrast, missed analyst expectations and reported a 1.5% decline in sales in the third quarter. On a call with analysts earlier this month, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell said the company “has not been performing up to its potential.”

    Of course, for many shoppers on Friday, the pilgrimage to splurge at the local mall was about more than saving.

    Ericka Pentasuglia brought her daughter to the Americana the Brand at around 3 a.m. to be the first in line for a pop-up store selling Billie Eilish perfume. She thought it was important for her to pass down the tradition of Black Friday shopping.

    “I do feel like it is dying a little bit,” Pentasuglia said. “The best thing is that you don’t lose a tradition, it continues to your children.”

    Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Christopher Buchanan, Gavin J. Quinton

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  • Why Pope Leo XIV’s Lebanon visit matters amid Israeli bombardment

    BEIRUT  — When Pope Leo XIV visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-weary region struggling to find peace even as the specter of war stalks it once again.

    In his first international trip since assuming the papacy in May, the Chicago-born pope will travel Thursday to Turkey, where he will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed — a foundational declaration of Christian belief and unity — was written in AD 325.

    But perhaps the real test of Leo’s international debut lies in Lebanon. His coming fulfills a promise to visit the country made by his boldly charismatic predecessor Pope Francis, who raised the papacy’s international profile with dozens visits abroad and a propensity for frankness in his commentary that endeared him to the faithful, especially in the Middle East.

    But Christians — estimated to be about 30% of Lebanon’s population — are not the only ones looking forward to Leo’s arrival.

    A view of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, which Pope Leo XIV will see during his visit to Turkey, which begins Nov. 27, 2025.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    Many here hope his visit will be a portent for peace, bringing attention to this tiny Mediterranean nation as it contends with a Job-like succession of crises: First the economy, which crashed in 2019, tanking the banking system and the currency with it; then the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, which flared in 2023 before intensifying late last year and left thousands dead and wide swaths of Lebanon’s south and east pulverized.

    Despite a ceasefire brokered last November, Israel has launched near-daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its strikes as a bid to stop Hezbollah from reconstituting itself, even as the United Nations tallied more than 10,000 air and ground violations in Lebanese territory and 127 civilians killed in the year since the ceasefire took effect.

    Israel’s attacks have also paralyzed reconstruction efforts, meaning most residents of Lebanese border towns — whether dominated by Christians, Muslims or Druze — have been unable to piece back their prewar lives. The U.N.’s human rights office says around 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced.

    The Israeli army violated the ceasefire by launching more than ten airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih

    The Israeli army launched more than 10 airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih in southern Lebanon, causing extensive damage, on Oct. 11.

    (Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Safety concerns for the pope have been paramount in people’s minds for months. In October, in what appeared to be a hot mic moment, Jordan’s Queen Rania asked the pope during a photo-op at the Vatican whether it was safe to go to Lebanon. “Well, we’re going,” Leo gruffly replied.

    Alarms were raised again over the weekend when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, barely two miles away from where the pope would be landing on Sunday. The attack, the first one in months near the capital, killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and coincided with a general uptick in Israeli strikes and drone activity in recent weeks — all indicators, observers say, of an impending all-out assault.

    Nevertheless, the trip is still on, Lebanese officials say.

    For Oumayma Farah, development director of the Order of Malta Lebanon, which aids communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects, that’s a “sign of courage and resilience to the Lebanese population and Christians in the region as a whole.”

    “Whatever happens, the pope will come,” Farah said.

    “The Church teaches us to not be afraid, so he’s the first example.”

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard displaying a picture of a man in white religious robes

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard in Beirut touting Pope Leo’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.

    (Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images)

    Like most of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy — not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration — have dwindled Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.

    Across the Middle East, the number of Christians has gone from 20% of the population to a mere 5%; Lebanon remains the Arab country with the highest proportion, with Christians making up about 30% of the population, according to estimates from various research groups and the U.S. State Department.

    The pope’s insistence on coming to Lebanon, Farah said, was “re-centering the importance of this country” and a “wake-up call” for its politicians. After spending three days in Turkey, the pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and depart Tuesday.

    In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and other areas on the pope’s itinerary, signs abound of furious logistical activity and preparations: Police and security personnel have intensified their presence. A two-day holiday was announced to allow participation in public prayer events, even as parishes and schools across the country have been involved in bringing the faithful to attend Mass near the site of the Beirut port blast, which was deemed an accident caused by negligence, and elsewhere.

    Meanwhile, roadworks and maintenance, all but abrogated in recent years due to the government’s financial woes, have been in full swing. The joke around town is that people want another papal visit if only so the government finishes repaving all the country’s pothole-stricken streets. A bitter corollary is another joke that the refurbished roads will last only till the pope leaves — because they’ll be destroyed in a new Israeli campaign.

    People in dark clothes standing in the foreground of a grand white mosque with blue domed roofs

    Along with visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Pope Leo will travel to the Turkish city of Iznik, ancient Nicaea, to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    The gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment, with the U.S. and Israel pushing the Lebanese army to fully disarm Hezbollah, even as the group insists it will disarm only in the country’s south.

    Lebanon’s government, in turn, says that it cannot persuade Hezbollah to give up its arms so long as Israel keeps occupying Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.

    The hope is that the pontiff can help break the logjam. But though few expect change to come so quickly, the visit is still important, said a Maronite parish priest, Father Tony Elias, from Rmeish, a village located just across the border from Israel.

    “When the pope visits a country that has been in pain for so long, this is truly enough to lift that pain,” Elias said.

    Rmeish, which maintained a resolutely neutral stance during the war, is relatively unscathed, an exception in the wasteland that has become Lebanon’s border area after years of Israeli bombardment.

    Elias said he would have wanted the pope to visit the south, but he wasn’t disappointed, as he and about 200 others from the village would travel to Beirut and join the pontiff.

    “If he can’t come to the south, we can come to him,” Elias said.

    Nabih Bulos

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  • No. 22 Auburn to face tougher test with Oregon at Players Era opener

    (Photo credit: John Reed-Imagn Images)

    Auburn men’s basketball is just two points away from being undefeated, with their only loss this season coming on Nov. 16, a 73-72 defeat to then-No. 1 Houston.

    Beyond that, No. 22 Auburn (4-1) has feasted on small schools in its four wins. That won’t be the case Monday night at Michelob Ultra Arena near Las Vegas, when the Tigers face Oregon in both teams’ first game of the second annual Players Era men’s tournament.

    Auburn won’t have leading scorer and rebounder Keyshawn Hall in the lineup against the Ducks. Hall, who is averaging 23.3 points and 11 rebounds per game, suffered a lateral foot sprain late in the second half of the Tigers’ loss to Houston. He missed the team’s 112-66 win over Jackson State on Nov. 19.

    The 6-foot-7 transfer from UCF won’t be rushed back, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl told AL.com last week.

    ‘I mean, with him out, just got to step up. It’s the next guy up mentality and we’re trying to win it all,’ Auburn’s Elyjah Freeman said. ‘All that matters is trying to win and stopping them from scoring.’

    Freeman is among six Tigers’ regular players who average double figures in scoring per game. Auburn is averaging 93.4 points per game while shooting 50.2% from the field this season.

    Both teams will play back-to-back games this week, and potentially a third game in three days if they reach the Players Era third-place or championship game on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

    Oregon (4-0) is the defending Players Era tournament champion. The Ducks won the inaugural edition last year with wins over Texas A&M, San Diego State and an 83-81 upset of then-No. 9 Alabama.

    Oregon took home the $1.5 million in NIL money awarded to the tournament’s first-place team.

    The Ducks haven’t played since last Monday, Nov. 17, an 87-75 win over Oregon State. They are 28-9 in games played in Las Vegas under head coach Dana Altman, with 23 wins from the former Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament, last played in March of 2024.

    Oregon is led by center Nate Bittle, whose late put-back dunk with five seconds to play against Alabama in the Players Era championship game last year gave the Ducks the win.

    This year, Bittle is averaging 18.8 points and 9.8 rebounds to lead the Ducks. The focal point of opposing defenses, Bittle has two 20-point games this season and a pair of double-doubles.

    Oregon also has two other experienced players in their third seasons in the program. Point guard Jackson Shelstad has scored 22 points in each of the Ducks’ last two games, and forward Kwame Evans Jr. had a career-high 14 rebounds and made 10 of 14 free throws against Oregon State.

    ‘That’s what you expect from experience — guys that have played for you,’ Altman told Lookout Eugene-Springfield. ‘They’ve been in big games. They’ve been in NCAA tournaments.’

    The Ducks have not shot the ball well overall to start the season, at 40.4%, but are holding opponents to a 38.3% from the field.

    –Field Level Media

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  • No. 17 Michigan State out to build off 2nd marquee win vs. Detroit Mercy

    (Photo credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)

    There is one big question facing No. 17 Michigan State as it prepares to take on Detroit Mercy on Friday in East Lansing, Mich.

    Can the Spartans avoid a letdown?

    One certainly appears possible, given how impressive Michigan State looked in one of its most important nonconference games of the season, an 83-66 win over No. 12 Kentucky on Tuesday in New York.

    It was the second resume-boosting win the Spartans (4-0) have already secured in the first three weeks of the season, after a home win over then-No. 14 Arkansas on Nov. 8.

    There’s certainly a lot of reason for Michigan State to be hyped, which is why intensity could be a concern coming back home to play a lesser opponent, especially on such a short turnaround.

    However, if Michigan State keeps sharing the ball like it has the past two games against San Jose State and Kentucky, there shouldn’t be much for the fan base to be worried about.

    ‘What I’m proudest (of), though, with this team, where it’s getting a little bit like last year, it’s very unselfish,’ Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. ‘Twenty-five assists on 32 baskets. The other day, it was 24 assists on 28 baskets (against San Jose State). I still think we’ve got some more upside. I think our running game can get better.’

    Michigan State has been led so far by its four returning core players, senior frontcourt players Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper, junior forward Coen Carr and sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr.

    Transfers Trey Fort (Samford) and Divine Ugochukwu (Miami) have added backcourt depth, and freshmen Jordan Scott and Cam Ward have made early contributions.

    The biggest revelation for Michigan State against Kentucky was the performance of sophomore Kur Teng, who played sparingly last year.

    Teng will be used in a more expanded role this year and played his best college game against Kentucky, scoring 15 points and making three shots from 3-point range in 18 minutes.

    ‘Kur was really good,’ Izzo said.

    Now, Michigan State will turn its attention to Detroit Mercy in what will be a homecoming game for Titans’ head coach Mark Montgomery, a former point guard for the Spartans who had two coaching stints on Izzo’s staff.

    Montgomery is in his second year as head coach of Detroit Mercy (1-4). The Titans have lost their last two games, the latest being a 72-62 home defeat against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.

    Picked ninth in the preseason Horizon League poll, Detroit Mercy is led by senior guard Orlando Lovejoy, who averaged 16.4 points per game last year. Senior guard Jared Lary and sophomore guard TJ Nadeau are other returnees for the Titans.

    But this year’s team is filled with plenty of new faces, with three transfers and five freshmen on the roster.

    Montogomery said this time of year is important to get those younger players ready for league play and to instill a consistent rotation.

    ‘The young guys are gaining experience,’ Montgomery said after the loss to Eastern Michigan. ‘Most of them played more than 10 minutes a game. You want to come out on the winning end, but you have to learn from these kinds of games, pick yourself up. There’s a lot of basketball ahead of us.’

    –Field Level Media

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  • Housing Tracker: Southern California home values rise slightly in October

    Southern California home prices rose in October, stopping a five-month skid that saw the average home value fall more than $14,000 since April.

    In October, the average home price across the six-county region climbed to $860,773 — a 0.01% increase compared to September. However, prices were still down 1.4% compared to October 2024.

    Economists and real estate agents say a variety of factors have slowed the market, including high mortgage rates, rising inventory and economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs. The same factors continued in October, but the uptick reflects a slight dip in inventory as more sellers choose to hang on to their homes.

    Listings in L.A. County fell 2% month-over-month, and the share of homes with price cuts dropped slightly as well. But there’s still inventory aplenty compared to 2024. In October, there were 19% more homes for sale than there were last year.

    Back then, rising mortgage rates were knocking many buyers out of the market. Values started increasing again when the number of homes for sale plunged as sellers backed away, unwilling to give up mortgages they took out earlier in the pandemic with rates of 3% and lower.

    Real estate agents say homeowners increasingly want to take the next step in their lives and are deciding to move rather than hold on to their ultra-low mortgage rates. But many first-time buyers, without access to equity, remain locked out.

    Add on the economic uncertainty and you get a market that’s noticeably downshifted.

    If the Trump administration’s policies end up pushing the economy into a recession, some economists say home prices could drop much further.

    For now, Zillow is forecasting that the economy will avoid a recession and home prices will increase over the next year. The real estate firm expects that one year from now, home prices in the Los Angeles-Orange County metro region will be 1.4% higher than they are now, though that number is lower than the estimated national increase of 1.9%.

    Note to readers

    Welcome to the Los Angeles Times’ Real Estate Tracker. Every month we will publish a report with data on housing prices, mortgage rates and rental prices. Our reporters will explain what the new data mean for Los Angeles and surrounding areas and help you understand what you can expect to pay for an apartment or house. You can read last month’s real estate breakdown here.

    Explore home prices and rents for September

    Use the tables below to search for home sale prices and apartment rental prices by city, neighborhood and county.

    Rental prices in Southern California

    The median rent across Los Angeles ticked down for the second consecutive month, dipping to $2,206 in October. The downward trend has continued in most markets across Southern California, but the January fires could be upending the downward trend in some locations.

    Housing analysts have said that rising vacancy levels since 2022 had forced landlords to accept less in rent. But the fires destroyed thousands of homes, suddenly thrusting many people into the rental market.

    Most homes destroyed were single-family houses, and some housing and disaster-recovery experts say they expect the largest rent increases to be in larger units adjacent to burn areas in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, with upward pressure on rents diminishing for units that are smaller and farther away from the disaster zones.

    A recent L.A. Times analysis of Zillow data found that in ZIP Codes closest to the fires, rents rose more than in the rest of the county from December to April.

    Other data sources show similar trends.

    In Santa Monica, which borders the hard-hit Palisades neighborhood, the median rent rose 2% in October from a year earlier, according to data from Apartment List.

    Apartment List does not have data for Altadena, but it does for the adjacent city of Pasadena. Rents there rose 1.2% in October from a year earlier.

    Jack Flemming, Hailey Wang

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  • Trump pardons Jan. 6 rioter for gun offense and woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents

    President Donald Trump has issued two pardons related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including for a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the Capitol, officials said Saturday.Related video above: BBC leaders resign amid scandal over misleading edit of Trump’s Jan. 6 speechIn a separate case, Trump issued a second pardon for a Jan. 6 defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally possessing firearms.It’s the latest example of Trump’s willingness to use his constitutional authority to help supporters who were scrutinized as part of the Biden administration’s massive Jan. 6 investigation that led to charges against more than 1,500 defendants.Suzanne Ellen Kaye was released last year after serving an 18-month sentence in her threats case. After the FBI contacted her in 2021 about a tip indicating she may have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, she posted a video on social media citing her Second Amendment right to carry a gun, and she threatened to shoot agents if they came to her house. In court papers, prosecutors said her words “were part of the ubiquity of violent political rhetoric that causes serious harm to our communities.”An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Kaye on Saturday. Kaye testified at trial that she didn’t own any guns and didn’t intend to threaten the FBI, according to court papers. She told authorities she was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and wasn’t charged with any Capitol riot-related crimes.A White House official said Kaye suffers from “stress-induced seizures” and experienced one when the jury read its verdict. The White House said this is “clearly a case of disfavored First Amendment political speech being prosecuted and an excessive sentence.” The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the case.In a separate case, Trump pardoned Daniel Edwin Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was under investigation for his role in the riot when authorities found six guns and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition in his home. Because of prior felony convictions, it was illegal for him to possess firearms.Wilson’s case became part of a legal debate over whether Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 rioters in January applied to other crimes discovered during the sprawling federal dragnet that began after the attack on the Capitol. The Trump-appointed federal judge who oversaw Wilson’s case criticized the Justice Department earlier this year for arguing that the president’s Jan. 6 pardons applied to Wilson’s gun offense.Wilson, who had been scheduled to remain in prison until 2028, was released Friday evening following the pardon, his lawyer said on Saturday.”We are grateful that President Trump has recognized the injustice in my client’s case and granted him this pardon,” attorney George Pallas said in an email. “Mr. Wilson can now reunite with his family and begin rebuilding his life.”The White House official said Saturday that “because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, and they should have never been there in the first place, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues.”Wilson had been sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede or injure police officers and illegally possessing firearms at his home.Prosecutors had accused him of planning for the Jan. 6 riot for weeks and coming to Washington with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power. Authorities said he communicated with members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group and adherents of the antigovernment Three Percenters movement as he marched to the Capitol.Prosecutors cited messages they argued showed that Wilson’s “plans were for a broader American civil war.” In one message on Nov. 9, 2020, he wrote: “I’m willing to do whatever. Done made up my mind. I understand the tip of the spear will not be easy. I’m willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. Whether it means prison or death.”Wilson said at his sentencing that he regretted entering the Capitol that day but “got involved with good intentions.”The Justice Department had initially argued in February that Trump’s pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day back in the White House didn’t extend to Wilson’s gun crime. The department later changed its position, saying it had received “further clarity on the intent of the Presidential Pardon.”U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, criticized the department’s evolving position and said it was “extraordinary” that prosecutors were seeking to argue that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons extended to illegal “contraband” found by investigators during searches related to the Jan. 6 cases.Politico first reported Wilson’s pardon on Saturday.Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

    WASHINGTON (AP) —

    President Donald Trump has issued two pardons related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including for a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the Capitol, officials said Saturday.

    Related video above: BBC leaders resign amid scandal over misleading edit of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech

    In a separate case, Trump issued a second pardon for a Jan. 6 defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally possessing firearms.

    It’s the latest example of Trump’s willingness to use his constitutional authority to help supporters who were scrutinized as part of the Biden administration’s massive Jan. 6 investigation that led to charges against more than 1,500 defendants.

    Suzanne Ellen Kaye was released last year after serving an 18-month sentence in her threats case. After the FBI contacted her in 2021 about a tip indicating she may have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, she posted a video on social media citing her Second Amendment right to carry a gun, and she threatened to shoot agents if they came to her house. In court papers, prosecutors said her words “were part of the ubiquity of violent political rhetoric that causes serious harm to our communities.”

    An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Kaye on Saturday. Kaye testified at trial that she didn’t own any guns and didn’t intend to threaten the FBI, according to court papers. She told authorities she was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and wasn’t charged with any Capitol riot-related crimes.

    A White House official said Kaye suffers from “stress-induced seizures” and experienced one when the jury read its verdict. The White House said this is “clearly a case of disfavored First Amendment political speech being prosecuted and an excessive sentence.” The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the case.

    In a separate case, Trump pardoned Daniel Edwin Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was under investigation for his role in the riot when authorities found six guns and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition in his home. Because of prior felony convictions, it was illegal for him to possess firearms.

    Wilson’s case became part of a legal debate over whether Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 rioters in January applied to other crimes discovered during the sprawling federal dragnet that began after the attack on the Capitol. The Trump-appointed federal judge who oversaw Wilson’s case criticized the Justice Department earlier this year for arguing that the president’s Jan. 6 pardons applied to Wilson’s gun offense.

    Wilson, who had been scheduled to remain in prison until 2028, was released Friday evening following the pardon, his lawyer said on Saturday.

    “We are grateful that President Trump has recognized the injustice in my client’s case and granted him this pardon,” attorney George Pallas said in an email. “Mr. Wilson can now reunite with his family and begin rebuilding his life.”

    The White House official said Saturday that “because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, and they should have never been there in the first place, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues.”

    Wilson had been sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede or injure police officers and illegally possessing firearms at his home.

    Prosecutors had accused him of planning for the Jan. 6 riot for weeks and coming to Washington with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power. Authorities said he communicated with members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group and adherents of the antigovernment Three Percenters movement as he marched to the Capitol.

    Prosecutors cited messages they argued showed that Wilson’s “plans were for a broader American civil war.” In one message on Nov. 9, 2020, he wrote: “I’m willing to do whatever. Done made up my mind. I understand the tip of the spear will not be easy. I’m willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. Whether it means prison or death.”

    Wilson said at his sentencing that he regretted entering the Capitol that day but “got involved with good intentions.”

    The Justice Department had initially argued in February that Trump’s pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day back in the White House didn’t extend to Wilson’s gun crime. The department later changed its position, saying it had received “further clarity on the intent of the Presidential Pardon.”

    U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, criticized the department’s evolving position and said it was “extraordinary” that prosecutors were seeking to argue that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons extended to illegal “contraband” found by investigators during searches related to the Jan. 6 cases.

    Politico first reported Wilson’s pardon on Saturday.

    Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

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  • Trump pardons Jan. 6 rioter for gun offense and woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents

    President Donald Trump has issued two pardons related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including for a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the Capitol, officials said Saturday.Related video above: BBC leaders resign amid scandal over misleading edit of Trump’s Jan. 6 speechIn a separate case, Trump issued a second pardon for a Jan. 6 defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally possessing firearms.It’s the latest example of Trump’s willingness to use his constitutional authority to help supporters who were scrutinized as part of the Biden administration’s massive Jan. 6 investigation that led to charges against more than 1,500 defendants.Suzanne Ellen Kaye was released last year after serving an 18-month sentence in her threats case. After the FBI contacted her in 2021 about a tip indicating she may have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, she posted a video on social media citing her Second Amendment right to carry a gun, and she threatened to shoot agents if they came to her house. In court papers, prosecutors said her words “were part of the ubiquity of violent political rhetoric that causes serious harm to our communities.”An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Kaye on Saturday. Kaye testified at trial that she didn’t own any guns and didn’t intend to threaten the FBI, according to court papers. She told authorities she was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and wasn’t charged with any Capitol riot-related crimes.A White House official said Kaye suffers from “stress-induced seizures” and experienced one when the jury read its verdict. The White House said this is “clearly a case of disfavored First Amendment political speech being prosecuted and an excessive sentence.” The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the case.In a separate case, Trump pardoned Daniel Edwin Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was under investigation for his role in the riot when authorities found six guns and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition in his home. Because of prior felony convictions, it was illegal for him to possess firearms.Wilson’s case became part of a legal debate over whether Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 rioters in January applied to other crimes discovered during the sprawling federal dragnet that began after the attack on the Capitol. The Trump-appointed federal judge who oversaw Wilson’s case criticized the Justice Department earlier this year for arguing that the president’s Jan. 6 pardons applied to Wilson’s gun offense.Wilson, who had been scheduled to remain in prison until 2028, was released Friday evening following the pardon, his lawyer said on Saturday.”We are grateful that President Trump has recognized the injustice in my client’s case and granted him this pardon,” attorney George Pallas said in an email. “Mr. Wilson can now reunite with his family and begin rebuilding his life.”The White House official said Saturday that “because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, and they should have never been there in the first place, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues.”Wilson had been sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede or injure police officers and illegally possessing firearms at his home.Prosecutors had accused him of planning for the Jan. 6 riot for weeks and coming to Washington with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power. Authorities said he communicated with members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group and adherents of the antigovernment Three Percenters movement as he marched to the Capitol.Prosecutors cited messages they argued showed that Wilson’s “plans were for a broader American civil war.” In one message on Nov. 9, 2020, he wrote: “I’m willing to do whatever. Done made up my mind. I understand the tip of the spear will not be easy. I’m willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. Whether it means prison or death.”Wilson said at his sentencing that he regretted entering the Capitol that day but “got involved with good intentions.”The Justice Department had initially argued in February that Trump’s pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day back in the White House didn’t extend to Wilson’s gun crime. The department later changed its position, saying it had received “further clarity on the intent of the Presidential Pardon.”U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, criticized the department’s evolving position and said it was “extraordinary” that prosecutors were seeking to argue that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons extended to illegal “contraband” found by investigators during searches related to the Jan. 6 cases.Politico first reported Wilson’s pardon on Saturday.Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

    WASHINGTON (AP) —

    President Donald Trump has issued two pardons related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including for a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the Capitol, officials said Saturday.

    Related video above: BBC leaders resign amid scandal over misleading edit of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech

    In a separate case, Trump issued a second pardon for a Jan. 6 defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally possessing firearms.

    It’s the latest example of Trump’s willingness to use his constitutional authority to help supporters who were scrutinized as part of the Biden administration’s massive Jan. 6 investigation that led to charges against more than 1,500 defendants.

    Suzanne Ellen Kaye was released last year after serving an 18-month sentence in her threats case. After the FBI contacted her in 2021 about a tip indicating she may have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, she posted a video on social media citing her Second Amendment right to carry a gun, and she threatened to shoot agents if they came to her house. In court papers, prosecutors said her words “were part of the ubiquity of violent political rhetoric that causes serious harm to our communities.”

    An email seeking comment was sent to a lawyer for Kaye on Saturday. Kaye testified at trial that she didn’t own any guns and didn’t intend to threaten the FBI, according to court papers. She told authorities she was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and wasn’t charged with any Capitol riot-related crimes.

    A White House official said Kaye suffers from “stress-induced seizures” and experienced one when the jury read its verdict. The White House said this is “clearly a case of disfavored First Amendment political speech being prosecuted and an excessive sentence.” The official requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the case.

    In a separate case, Trump pardoned Daniel Edwin Wilson, of Louisville, Kentucky, who was under investigation for his role in the riot when authorities found six guns and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition in his home. Because of prior felony convictions, it was illegal for him to possess firearms.

    Wilson’s case became part of a legal debate over whether Trump’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 rioters in January applied to other crimes discovered during the sprawling federal dragnet that began after the attack on the Capitol. The Trump-appointed federal judge who oversaw Wilson’s case criticized the Justice Department earlier this year for arguing that the president’s Jan. 6 pardons applied to Wilson’s gun offense.

    Wilson, who had been scheduled to remain in prison until 2028, was released Friday evening following the pardon, his lawyer said on Saturday.

    “We are grateful that President Trump has recognized the injustice in my client’s case and granted him this pardon,” attorney George Pallas said in an email. “Mr. Wilson can now reunite with his family and begin rebuilding his life.”

    The White House official said Saturday that “because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, and they should have never been there in the first place, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues.”

    Wilson had been sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede or injure police officers and illegally possessing firearms at his home.

    Prosecutors had accused him of planning for the Jan. 6 riot for weeks and coming to Washington with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power. Authorities said he communicated with members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group and adherents of the antigovernment Three Percenters movement as he marched to the Capitol.

    Prosecutors cited messages they argued showed that Wilson’s “plans were for a broader American civil war.” In one message on Nov. 9, 2020, he wrote: “I’m willing to do whatever. Done made up my mind. I understand the tip of the spear will not be easy. I’m willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. Whether it means prison or death.”

    Wilson said at his sentencing that he regretted entering the Capitol that day but “got involved with good intentions.”

    The Justice Department had initially argued in February that Trump’s pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day back in the White House didn’t extend to Wilson’s gun crime. The department later changed its position, saying it had received “further clarity on the intent of the Presidential Pardon.”

    U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, criticized the department’s evolving position and said it was “extraordinary” that prosecutors were seeking to argue that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons extended to illegal “contraband” found by investigators during searches related to the Jan. 6 cases.

    Politico first reported Wilson’s pardon on Saturday.

    Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

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  • Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ Jeffrey Epstein claimed in emails as Democrats, GOP release trove of records

    Donald Trump “spent hours at my house” and “knew about the girls,” Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier accused of orchestrating sex trafficking of young women and underage girls, wrote in private emails released Wednesday by House Democrats.

    The release of a small batch of Epstein’s communications sent shock waves through Washington, prompting a panicked defense of the president from White House aides who accused Democrats of colluding with the media to smear him. It also triggered Republican lawmakers to release an additional 20,000 documents from Epstein’s private estate, a move Democrats said was designed to distract from the implication of Trump.

    But several of the documents shared by the Republicans added fuel to the fire, highlighting Epstein’s interest in Trump in the years after Trump claimed their friendship had come to an end, and suggesting the convicted sex offender had information on the president he was keeping secret.

    By Wednesday afternoon, House Democrats — and a few Republicans — secured enough signatures for a petition that would force a chamber vote on the release of Justice Department files related to the Epstein investigation.

    The drama began Wednesday morning, when Democrats released three of Epstein’s old email exchanges.

    “Of course he knew about the girls,” Epstein said of Trump in an email to author and journalist Michael Wolff in early 2019, during Trump’s first term as president — one of three emails released by Democrats that Epstein sent to Wolff and to Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein’s death.

    A few hours after Democrats released three emails referencing Trump — and urged the Department of Justice to release all Epstein documents to the public — Republicans on the House Oversight Committee suddenly dumped a massive trove of documents, portions of which are redacted.

    Those files suggest that even after Trump won the 2016 election — a time when Trump has said he was no longer friends with Epstein — Epstein was deeply interested in Trump’s affairs and possibly involved in some way.

    In May 2017, a New York Times reporter emailed criminal defense attorney Reid Weingarten, then a finalist for Trump’s outside counsel, seeking comment. Weingarten forwarded the email to Epstein less than an hour and a half later: “do you want it? Or Jared?” he asked. It is not clear who Weingarten was referring to, but Jared Kushner was the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor at the time.

    “Do I have the choice?” Epstein replied. “And if so, your view?”

    Multiple people wrote to Epstein apparently under the belief that he could pass information along to Trump or people in his orbit.

    In June 2017, someone whose name has been redacted sent Epstein an email with a link to a YouTube video. “How are u? Send this interview to Donald Trump pls,” the subject line read. “Its going to be everywhere.”

    “ok,” Epstein responded.

    The documents released by Republicans show Epstein cultivating cozy relationships with national figures across the political spectrum, often for the purpose of gathering information and exchanging political gossip and legal opinion on Trump. Among the figures he appears to exchange emails with are Larry H. Summers, former U.S. secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s former advisor.

    The documents released Wednesday are sure to revive questions about Epstein’s relationship with Trump and what the president knew about Epstein’s sexual misconduct with girls and young women.

    Trump has denied knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes, though in July he told reporters he fell out with Epstein over his recruitment of spa workers at Mar-a-Lago. No investigation has tied Trump to Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking of young women.

    “The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) said in a statement as he released the documents.

    “These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president,” Garcia added.

    Even after the GOP shared thousands of Epstein documents, Trump dismissed the focus on the Epstein files as a Democratic attempt to divert attention from the party’s caving to Republicans on the government shutdown.

    “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump posted on TruthSocial. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap… There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”

    Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Democrats had “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”

    “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments,” she said in a statement, “and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”

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    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails from Jeffery Epstein discussing President Trump.  (House Oversight Committee)

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    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails from Jeffery Epstein discussing President Trump.  (House Oversight Committee)

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    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails from Jeffery Epstein discussing President Trump.  (House Oversight Committee)

    It is not clear exactly when or how Trump and Epstein’s friendship came to an end.

    When prosecutors brought federal charges against Epstein in 2019, Trump downplayed their relationship and said he hadn’t spoken to Epstein for 15 years. “I had a falling out with him,” Trump told reporters the day after federal authorities took Epstein into custody. “I was not a fan.”

    In the emails released by Democrats, Epstein argued that Trump had more knowledge of Epstein’s affairs than he admitted.

    In the 2019 email to Wolff, which references a ‘victim’ whose name has been redacted, Epstein referred to Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago club: “Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever,” he wrote. “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

    The White House, however, pushed back on the idea that Trump was implicated by that email to Wolff: “The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions,” Leavitt said.

    “The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” Leavitt added.

    In another email dated Dec. 15, 2015, Wolff wrote to Epstein ahead of a Republican presidential primary debate: “I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you — either on air or in scrum afterwards.”

    Epstein wrote back: “If we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?”

    In a memo released Wednesday, the White House targeted Wolff as a journalist whose record is “riddled with mistakes and inaccuracies.” It cited concerns over his credibility documented in mainstream media outlets, including The Times, the Washington Post and others.

    In a third email, sent to Maxwell in 2011, Epstein wrote: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”

    Maxwell responded: “I have been thinking about that … .”

    The documents released by the GOP indicate that Epstein seemed to have had a special interest in Trump, his political career and his legal troubles. Over the years, the president’s name appears again and again in Epstein’s emails as he and his friends exchange articles about Trump. Some of Epstein’s acquaintances sent him their emailed exchanges with reporters regarding Trump, and in others Epstein is discussing Trump directly with reporters.

    In a June 2018 email exchange with Bannon, at the time a Trump advisor, Bannon shared an article critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into the president and his campaign’s ties to Russia, suggesting it was tainted from the start by political bias.

    “Big deal,” Bannon wrote.

    Epstein responded that there were “many open questions” and that it was his belief that “flippers will dictate” the course of the investigation — or that the course of the investigation would be decided by the ability of prosecutors to flip associates of Trump into informants.

    In another 2018 exchange, Epstein appeared to email back and forth with Kathy Ruemmler, attorney and former White House counsel under President Obama, on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s cooperation with prosecutors.

    After Ruemmler sent Epstein a link to a New York Times story referencing Cohen pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws to pay adult filmmaker Stormy Daniels, Epstein wrote, “you see, i know how dirty donald is. My guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. What it means to have your fixer flip.”

    Before the 2024 presidential election, Trump called for the release of more documents related to Epstein, but his administration appears to have backtracked on its promises to release documents.

    Garcia called on the Department of Justice on Wednesday to release all Epstein files to the public immediately. “The Oversight Committee will continue pushing for answers and will not stop until we get justice for the victims,” he said in a statement.

    By the afternoon, Adelita Grijalva, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona who was sworn in to office earlier in the day, became the 218th House member to sign a petition that would force a vote on releasing files from the Epstein investigation. Her signature kicked off a countdown of seven legislative days for House Speaker Mike Johnson to schedule a vote on the matter.

    As Democrats push the Justice Department to release the files, GOP leaders are pressuring some Republicans to remove their names from the petition. The White House confirmed that senior administration officials met with Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert on Wednesday about the issue.

    Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019, weeks after he was arrested and charged in federal court with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. A watchdog report released last year found that negligence, misconduct and other failures at the jail contributed to his death.

    More than a decade earlier, Epstein evaded federal criminal charges when he struck a plea deal in a Florida case related to accusations that he molested dozens of girls.

    As part of the agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges, including soliciting prostitution. He registered as a sex offender and served 13 months in jail but was allowed to leave six days a week to work at his office.

    Jenny Jarvie, Michael Wilner, Kevin Rector

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  • NWSL Playoff Preview | Orlando Pride looks ahead to Seattle Reign

    The Orlando Pride have grown familiar with dealing with pressure. After concluding a historic 2024 season, which saw the Pride claim both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, the pressure of being the underdogs amid the record-breaking season was there. As Orlando prepares for a second consecutive playoff appearance on Friday against the Seattle Reign, the pressure to win the whole thing and repeat as champions is also there. “I think last year we were still the underdogs even though we were killing it,” Pride left back Carson Pickett told WESH 2 this week. “Every game that we won, it wasn’t a shock for us, but a shock for other people when we won the shield, and people thought we might not win the championship.” The Pride culminated the 2024 season with a historic double, winning the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular season record, and NWSL Championship after defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 in the league final. The NWSL Championship was the first major league title for the City of Orlando. But following a topsy-turvy 2025 season, which saw the Pride battle through player injuries and winless runs, Orlando (11-8-7, 40 points) made it back to the postseason after finishing fourth in the standings. “This year there’s huge pressure to repeat,” said Pickett. “Everyone wants to go back-to-back, everyone wants to double down on what they’ve done, and to become a winning club you have to do it multiple times.” To get back in the postseason picture, though, the Pride had to deal with a period of adversity this season. Star forward Barbra Banda was placed in August on the season-ending injury list after suffering a full-thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus.And that happened amid a winless run that went nine games, and saw Orlando fall in the standings to seventh place in the standings. The Pride signed Jacquie Ovalle for a record $1.5 million transfer fee from Tigres UANL during the summer. The 9-game winless skid snapped when Orlando came back to defeat the San Diego Wave 2-1 on the road on Sept. 26. That was followed by a draw and win before a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against the Washington Spirit on Oct. 18 at Audi Field. Orlando Pride head coach Seb Hines credits his players’ resiliency toward the latter part of the regular season for getting the team back into the playoff picture for a second consecutive year. “Last year was a really unique year, and it will be very difficult to emulate that season again,” Hines told WESH 2. “To replicate that was close to impossible, but our objective was always to get into the postseason and know once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen.” Match DetailsOrlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign Location: Inter&Co Stadium Kickoff time: 8 p.m. ETBroadcast: Prime Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.

    The Orlando Pride have grown familiar with dealing with pressure.

    After concluding a historic 2024 season, which saw the Pride claim both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, the pressure of being the underdogs amid the record-breaking season was there.

    As Orlando prepares for a second consecutive playoff appearance on Friday against the Seattle Reign, the pressure to win the whole thing and repeat as champions is also there.

    “I think last year we were still the underdogs even though we were killing it,” Pride left back Carson Pickett told WESH 2 this week. “Every game that we won, it wasn’t a shock for us, but a shock for other people when we won the shield, and people thought we might not win the championship.”

    The Pride culminated the 2024 season with a historic double, winning the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular season record, and NWSL Championship after defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 in the league final.

    The NWSL Championship was the first major league title for the City of Orlando.

    But following a topsy-turvy 2025 season, which saw the Pride battle through player injuries and winless runs, Orlando (11-8-7, 40 points) made it back to the postseason after finishing fourth in the standings.

    “This year there’s huge pressure to repeat,” said Pickett. “Everyone wants to go back-to-back, everyone wants to double down on what they’ve done, and to become a winning club you have to do it multiple times.”

    To get back in the postseason picture, though, the Pride had to deal with a period of adversity this season.

    Star forward Barbra Banda was placed in August on the season-ending injury list after suffering a full-thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus.

    And that happened amid a winless run that went nine games, and saw Orlando fall in the standings to seventh place in the standings.

    The Pride signed Jacquie Ovalle for a record $1.5 million transfer fee from Tigres UANL during the summer.

    The 9-game winless skid snapped when Orlando came back to defeat the San Diego Wave 2-1 on the road on Sept. 26. That was followed by a draw and win before a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against the Washington Spirit on Oct. 18 at Audi Field.

    Orlando Pride head coach Seb Hines credits his players’ resiliency toward the latter part of the regular season for getting the team back into the playoff picture for a second consecutive year.

    “Last year was a really unique year, and it will be very difficult to emulate that season again,” Hines told WESH 2. “To replicate that was close to impossible, but our objective was always to get into the postseason and know once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

    Match Details

    Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign

    Location: Inter&Co Stadium

    Kickoff time: 8 p.m. ET

    Broadcast: Prime

    Mike Gramajo is an Assignment Editor and Sportswriter at WESH 2, who has covered the Orlando soccer scene since 2012. You can follow his coverage over on X and Instagram.

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  • Plan to kill 450,000 owls creates odd political bedfellows — loggers and environmentalists

    The strange political bedfellows created by efforts to save spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest just got even stranger.

    Already Republican members of Congress were allied with animal rights activists.

    They don’t want trained shooters to kill up to 450,000 barred owls, which are outcompeting northern spotted owls, under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan approved last year that would unfold over three decades.

    Now, timber interests are aligning with environmentalists in favor of culling the owls.

    Some logging advocates are afraid nixing the plan will slow down timber harvesting. Roughly 2.6 million acres of timberlands in western Oregon managed by the Bureau of Land Management are governed by resource management plans contingent on the barred owl cull going forward, according to Travis Joseph, president and chief executive of the American Forest Resource Council, a trade association representing mills, loggers, lumber buyers and other stakeholders in the region.

    The area can produce at least 278 million board feet per year under current plans, “with the potential for significantly more,” Joseph said in a mid-October letter to Congress.

    If the cull is scrapped, he said, the federal agency likely will need to restart Endangered Species Act consultation for the northern spotted owl, which is listed as threatened. It’s a process that could take years. According to the letter, it would create “unacceptable risks and delays to current and future timber sales.”

    Timber production goals laid out by the Trump administration also could be jeopardized.

    Momentum to stop the cull grew this summer when Sen. John Kennedy, a conservative from Louisiana, introduced a resolution to reverse the Biden-era plan.

    That move reflected an unlikely alliance between some right-wing politicians and animal rights advocates who say it’s too expensive and inhumane. Some Democrats have also opposed the cull, and companion legislation in the House has bipartisan backers.

    The stakes are high. Many environmentalists and scientists maintain that northern spotted owls will go extinct if their competitors aren’t kept in check. Barred owls — which originally hail from eastern North America — are larger, more aggressive and less picky when it comes to habitat and food, giving them an edge when vying for resources.

    Last week, Politico’s E&E News reported that Kennedy said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had asked him to stand down from his effort to stop the owl-killing plan. The legislator told the outlet he would charge ahead anyway.

    “I don’t think the federal government ought to be telling God, nature — whatever you believe in — this one can exist, this one can’t,” Kennedy told E&E. “The barred owl is not the first species that has ever moved its territory and it won’t be the last.”

    Kennedy did not respond to The Times’ request for comment. A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said they could not respond to the inquiry because of the government shutdown.

    “It’s strange that a Republican in the South is taking on the owl issue, specifically, when its consequences will impact western Oregon BLM timber sales,” Joseph said in an interview. “It will lead to lower revenues for counties, it will impact jobs and it will put the spotted owl on a trajectory towards extinction.”

    The stance aligns in part with that of environmental groups like the Environmental Protection Information Center and Center for Biological Diversity, which have supported culling barred owls to help the beleaguered spotted owls in their native territory. It’s an unexpected overlap, given environmentalists’ long history of fighting to protect old-growth forests in the region the owls call home.

    Tom Wheeler, chief executive of EPIC, said it’s possible that culling barred owls could lead to a bump in timber harvest on the BLM land in western Oregon but overall it would lead to more habitat being protected throughout the spotted owls’ expansive range. The presence of spotted owls triggers protections under the Endangered Species Act. If the cull boosts the spotted owl population as intended, it means more guardrails.

    “It puts us in admittedly an awkward place,” Wheeler said. “But our advocacy for barred owl removal is predicated not on treating the northern spotted owl as a tool against the timber industry and against timber harvest. What we’re trying to do is provide for the continued existence of the species.”

    Many Native American tribes support controlling barred owls in the region. In a letter to Congress last week, the nonprofit Intertribal Timber Council said barred owls threaten more than the spotted owl.

    “As a generalist predator, it poses risks to a wide range of forest and aquatic species that hold varying degrees of social and ecological importance to tribes, including species integral to traditional food systems and watershed health,” wrote the council, which aims to improve the management of natural resources important to Native American communities.

    Since 2013, the Hoopa Valley tribe in Northern California has been involved with sanctioned hunting of the owls and has observed the spotted owl population stabilizing over time, according to the letter.

    However, groups like Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy argue that the plan to take out so many barred owls over a vast landscape won’t work, aside from the high owl death toll. More barred owls simply will fly into where others were removed, said Wayne Pacelle, president of both groups.

    That makes habitat key — and the prospect of losing more to logging in western Oregon devastating, according to Pacelle.

    To stop the owl-culling plan, both chambers of Congress would need to pass a joint resolution and President Trump would need to sign it. If successful, the resolution would preclude the agency from pursuing a similar rule, unless explicitly authorized by Congress.

    The plan already faced setbacks. In May, federal officials canceled three related grants totaling more than $1.1 million, including one study that would have removed barred owls from over 192,000 acres in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

    Lila Seidman

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  • International student arrivals take a dive under Trump

    The number of international student arrivals in the U.S. dropped by nearly a fifth at the onset of this academic year, according to federal data, the latest sign of a hit to colleges’ foreign student enrollment as the Trump administration has ratcheted up scrutiny of their visas.

    International visitors arriving in the U.S. on student visas declined 19% in August compared with the same month in 2024, according to the preliminary data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office. The numbers also declined in June and July, but August is the summer month that typically sees the most international student arrivals — 313,138 this year.

    As the federal government has clamped down on student visitors, industry groups have warned of international enrollment declines that threaten school budgets and American colleges’ standing in the world. Although the extent of the change remains to be seen, the new data suggest a turnaround in international enrollment that had been rebounding in the U.S. from a decline worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    About 1.1 million international students were in the United States last year — a source of key revenue for tuition-driven colleges. International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, and many pay full tuition.

    The picture in California

    Many California campuses, including the University of California system, have not yet released data on fall enrollment but prepared for potential hurdles in attracting internationals.

    For fall 2025 admissions — not enrollment — UC said its nine undergraduate campuses had offered seats to 3,263 more first-year international students, an increase of 17% over last year, according to data reported over the summer. UC also admitted 100,947 first-year California students, up more than 7% from last year,

    UC said it increased international admits because of “rising uncertainty of their likelihood of enrollment.” It noted that the share of accepted internationals who choose to enroll is generally “substantially lower” than that of California residents and that the cost of being a non-Californian at UC has gone up. Last year, the UC Board of Regents approved a 10% increase of the “nonresident” tuition fee from $34,200 to $37,602.

    At USC, the California campus that typically attracts the largest share of internationals in the state, there were also concerns over a potential dip in foreign student enrollment.

    The campus saw a small decline in overall international enrollment, from 12,374 last academic year to 11,959 this fall. Chinese and Indian students made up more than half of the total foreign population, matching trends statewide.

    But USC also grew its first-year international community, according to university data about this fall’s new undergraduate class.

    Of the 3,759 new first-year students enrolled this fall, about 21%, or 789, are internationals. Last year, about 17% of the 3,489 first-years — 593 — were in the U.S. on visas.

    California usually attracts the largest international college community of any state. In 2024, in addition to USC, the biggest draws were UC Berkeley, which enrolled 12,441 students; UC San Diego, 10,467 students; and UCLA, 10,446 students, according to data from the Institute of International Education. STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — were the most popular.

    Visa challenges and travel bans blocked some students

    Nationally, many students who had plans to study in the U.S. could not enter the country because of difficulty lining up visas. In late May, the State Department paused the scheduling of visa interviews for foreign students, which resumed three weeks later with new rules for vetting visa applicants’ social media accounts.

    The timing of the pause had “maximum possible impact” for visa issuances for the fall semester, said Clay Harmon, executive director of the Assn. of International Enrollment Management, a nonprofit membership association.

    A travel ban and other restrictions for 19 countries that the Trump administration announced in June created even more uncertainty for some students. Most of the countries included in the ban were located in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

    The federal data on international dips show those regions experienced the largest declines in international student arrivals this August, with drops of 33% from Africa, 17% from the Middle East and 24% from Asia — including a 45% decrease from India, the country that sends the most students to the U.S.

    The data include new as well as returning students, but some who were already in the U.S. avoided traveling outside the country this summer for fear of problems reentering.

    Students have concerns about the political climate, research funding and cost

    Some international students and their families have been wary of the Trump administration’s wider crackdown on immigration. In the spring, the federal government stripped thousands of international students of their legal status, causing panic before the Trump administration reversed course. Trump also has called for colleges to reduce their dependence on foreign students and cap international enrollment.

    Syed Tamim Ahmad, a senior at UCLA who grew up in Dubai, said he was considering applying to medical school in the U.S. before last spring, when sudden student visa cancellations and government suspensions of research funding to Harvard and other elite campuses began to intensify.

    “When I was a freshman, it seemed that out of every country the U.S. provided the most opportunities in terms of access to research funding and resources,” said Ahmad, whose major is physiological science. “But by my senior year, a lot of these pull factors became push factors. Funding was cut down, affecting labs, and there is fear among international students about what they put on social media and what they put online. That sense of having freedom of speech in the U.S. isn’t the same.”

    Ahmad is now planning to enroll at medical school in Australia.

    “There is a similar feeling among many students — that if they are going to graduate school or continuing their studies they should go outside the U.S.,” said Ahmad, who previously served in UCLA’s undergraduate student government as an international representative. “But it’s not everyone. There are also still many people who believe that there are good opportunities for them in the United States.”

    Zeynep Bowlus, a higher education consultant in Istanbul, said interest in U.S. universities among the families she works with had been declining over the last few years largely because of financial reasons and skepticism about the value of an American degree. Policy changes in the U.S. are adding to their concerns, she said.

    “I try not to make it too dramatic, but at the same time, I tell them the reality of what’s going on and the potential hurdles that they may face,” Bowlus said.

    Institutions in other countries have seized the opportunity to attract students who might be cooling on the U.S. Growing numbers of Chinese students have opted to stay in Asia, and international applications to universities in the United Kingdom have surged.

    Elisabeth Marksteiner, a higher education consultant in Cambridge, England, said she will encourage families looking at American universities to approach the admissions process with more caution. A student visa has never been guaranteed, but it is especially important now for families to have a backup plan, she said.

    “I think the presumption is that it’s all going to carry on as it was in the past,” Marksteiner said. “My presumption is, it isn’t.”

    Kaleem is a staff writer for The Times. Seminera and Keller write for the Associated Press.

    Jaweed Kaleem, Makiya Seminera, Christopher L. Keller

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  • 2025-26 NBA Power Rankings: Thunder repeat talk more than noise

    (Photo credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)

    Even before the first bogus ‘back spasms’ show up on an injury report, it’s already the Year of Barely-Walking Wounded in the NBA.

    Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard and Fred VanVleet are missing more than the season-opener next week. They’re done for the year.

    Optimistic fans are counting the days to the returns of Jayson Tatum, Tyler Herro, Dejounte Murray and Kyrie Irving, but that requires more than fingers and toes. And LeBron James is finally acting his age, leaving open to guesswork when he might debut this season.

    De’Aaron Fox, Jalen Green, Darius Garland, Keegan Murray, Zach Edey … heck, even T.J. McConnell won’t see the bright lights of Halloween.

    Who’s next?

    The Thunder begin the season healthy and a healthy choice to repeat as champions. But throw in injury comebacks and expected trades and a lot of rosters could look a whole lot different when teams get serious about their title runs about four months from now.

    Here’s where each team will tip off in the Field Level Media season-opening power rankings:

    30. Utah Jazz

    Nobody got less for more in the exporting of Jordan Clarkson, John Collins and Collin Sexton. Is it any wonder teams are lining up to be Lauri Markkanen’s new employer before Danny Ainge gets sent away as well?

    29. Washington Wizards

    When CJ McCollum was drafted by the Trail Blazers more than a decade ago, he was brought in to displace Wesley Matthews. In Washington, the bar is much lower: Jordan Poole.

    28. Brooklyn Nets

    If the NBA adds a fifth quarter for rookies only, move the Nets up about 26 spots.

    27. Charlotte Hornets

    They say this is now LaMelo Ball’s team, which presumably means terrible shot selection, no defense and a chance this will be A.J. Dybantsa’s team next year.

    26. New Orleans Pelicans

    More than half of last year’s minutes have disappeared, and another big chunk is likely to be gone as soon as there’s someone atop the 2026 draft projections for whom dealing Zion Williamson in exchange for better lottery odds makes sense.

    25. Phoenix Suns

    They’re starting over with two guys – Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks – who desperately need a re-start. Fortunately in the stacked West, little is expected … which should buy new coach Jordan Ott a couple of years.

    24. Sacramento Kings

    They’ve tried hard to trade their misfits, only to be told others desire Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk even less than they do.

    23. Chicago Bulls

    They spent all summer telling Josh Giddey just how unvaluable he is; now it’s his turn to show them they were right.

    22. Memphis Grizzlies

    Having Ja Morant as the face of your franchise is like having Deshaun Watson as your quarterback. A divorce seems likely, but buyer beware.

    21. Portland Trail Blazers

    The additions of Lillard and Jrue Holiday indicate Chauncey Billups is intent upon making a run at the playoffs next season. With the Kings and Suns sinking in the West, the door isn’t exactly closed this year, either.

    20. Atlanta Hawks

    Kristaps Porzingis begins his fifth NBA life; most dogs have just one.

    19. Philadelphia 76ers

    When they get Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey back … there’s a better chance Erving, Iverson and Barkley suit up together this season.

    18. Miami Heat

    If this romance thing with A’ja Wilson is serious, maybe a move west is in Bam Adebayo’s future. Sunset-destined Erik Spoelstra would be wise to tag along.

    17. Toronto Raptors

    There are 15 reasons why they could make the playoffs this season: RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram … and the 12 flawed teams other than the Cavaliers and Knicks against which they will be competing for six spots.

    16. Indiana Pacers

    Losing Haliburton means more Aaron Nesmith, which is fine. Losing Myles Turner, on the other hand, means more … James Wiseman? Ouch.

    15. Milwaukee Bucks

    They’ve cornered the market on Antetokounmpos; for the financial sake of the franchise, hopefully there weren’t tariffs attached.

    14. Boston Celtics

    Tatum has gotten more headlines this preseason than Bad Bunny. Sometimes less is best for all of us.

    13. San Antonio Spurs

    No pressure, but by Tim Duncan’s third season, the Spurs had already won a championship. That was with Gregg Popovich. Good luck, Mitch Johnson.

    12. Detroit Pistons

    No Tatum. No Haliburton. No Lillard … no reason the Pistons don’t take another major step north in the Eastern hierarchy.

    11. Orlando Magic

    1971 … A year without 3-pointers. Also, the number of 3’s missed by a landlocked team that couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean last season. Desmond Bane to the rescue.

    10. Los Angeles Clippers

    The NBA has a tough call on Kawhi Leonard’s no-show windfall: Penalize the Clippers now and cast a shadow over the All-Star Game host, or penalize them later and risk Leonard sitting out the playoffs. Stay tuned.

    9. Los Angeles Lakers

    Imagine Christmas Day and Independence Day falling back-to-back. Such is the case in Slovenia, where if Luka Doncic weighs in at 180 on Dec. 27, it’s kilograms, not pounds.

    8. Dallas Mavericks

    The Western champs of two years ago have since added Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg, while losing Doncic. That’s a big-time net positive.

    7. Golden State Warriors

    The last time Draymond Green didn’t like a cocky young teammate, he punched Jordan Poole. Until Jonathan Kuminga gets traded, Al Horford isn’t the Warrior to watch.

    6. Minnesota Timberwolves

    The Cavaliers of the West: You might not want to believe Anthony Edwards is a star and the Timberwolves are a serious contender, but he is and they are.

    5. Houston Rockets

    They finished the regular season ahead of teams like the Warriors, Lakers and Clippers last year for one reason – they rested fewer old men. Even with Kevin Durant, why would this year be any different?

    4. New York Knicks

    You know the old saying: Defense wins championships … unless you don’t win championships, in which case the coach gets fired. The Mike Brown/Jordan Clarkson version should be more fun.

    3. Cleveland Cavaliers

    They saw the value of busting their butts to win 64 games last season. They won’t make that mistake again. In the depleted East, they don’t have to this time.

    2. Denver Nuggets

    Put Cam Johnson in place of Michael Porter Jr. (basically 0-for-the-series) and the Nuggets beat the Thunder last May. Now add Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. as well and a rematch can’t happen soon enough.

    1. Oklahoma City Thunder

    The last little guy who put his body more in harm’s way than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was Allen Iverson (797 free throws) in 2008. Note to SGA: Iverson played 25 fewer games the next season.

    –Dave Del Grande, Field Level Media

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  • Israel and Hamas have a ceasefire deal. But college protesters say activism won’t stop

    At California universities Monday, the ceasefire in Gaza — and the accompanying hostage and prisoner exchange — emerged as an inflection point for the future of a student-led protest movement that for two years has roiled campuses.

    The activism, along with its contentious aftermath, continues to reverberate as pro-Palestinian organizers and Jewish community leaders reckon with the tumult touched off by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

    For months in 2024 — shortly after the onset of the deadliest and most destructive war between Israelis and Palestinians in history — college campuses in the U.S. convulsed in often confrontational protests. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations surged in the spring of that year with encampments where activists demanded campus policy changes, including U.S. university divestment of billions of dollars from weapons companies.

    On this front, their activism largely foundered. In California, not one major university agreed to full divestment demands, which included boycotts of partnerships with Israeli universities. And campus policies did change — with university officials cracking down on protests and enforcing zero-tolerance policies against rule-breaking.

    But David N. Myers, a UCLA professor of Jewish history, said student protesters appear to have helped change American views on Palestinians and Israel.

    “Is the protest movement a failure? Well, if the measure is universities have cracked down, maybe,” Myers said. “But if the measure is general trend lines in American public opinion, I’m not so sure. And that should be a wake-up call to the pro-Israel movement.”

    Amid the protests, allegations of antisemitism surged on campuses and Jewish students and faculty protested violations of their civil rights. Their complaints have prompted aggressive investigations by the Trump administration that are at the center of his goal to overhaul higher education to adhere to a sweeping conservative agenda that goes far beyond protections for Jewish communities.

    Pro-Palestinian activists vow to continue

    In interviews, pro-Palestinian students who participated in last year’s encampments and protests this year said the ceasefire was welcome news, but only fulfilled part of what led them to take to campus greens.

    “While the news of a ceasefire is welcome, nothing fundamentally changes at UCLA or colleges in general,” said Dylan Kupsh, a doctoral computer science student at UCLA who was part of an encampment last year that was attacked by pro-Israel vigilantes.

    “Our university is still invested in the oppression of Palestine. Students won’t rest until the university divests,” said Kupsh, who has faced student discipline procedures for participating in actions that the university alleges violated campus policies.

    Student organizers in California said the ceasefire will infuse new energy into their activism, which has been accused of minimizing the plight of Israeli hostages and being antisemitic.

    “We can momentarily feel a little bit of happiness, there is at least momentary end to the genocide,” said Ryan Witt, president of Students for Justice in Palestine at Cal State Channel Islands, which held a campus protest and vigil in support of Palestinians last week.

    “There have been pictures of children in Gaza celebrating. I’m not dismissing that. But also recognizing that we need to keep fighting,” said Witt, who is Jewish.

    Amanda, a student at USC who participated in pro-Palestinian encampments, said concerns remain on her campus.

    “We see that our school, like all the others, is very worried about being seen as antisemitic by the government, so they are even stricter about protests and speech than they used to be,” she said.

    Graeme Blair, a professor of political science at UCLA, said the climate for pro-Palestinian activism on campuses had worsened, and the government now aggressively treats pro-Palestinian speech as being antisemitic.

    “The Trump administration is using every federal lever from the Justice Department to the Education Department to the State Department to crack down on antisemitism,” Blair said. “Universities like UCLA are, on their own and because of Trump pressure, continuing to arrest, discipline and fire people speaking out.”

    For Jews on campus, ‘a chapter is ending’

    Myers, who is Jewish, said the release of Israeli hostages felt like “the door to a very dark chamber has been opened and light has begun to peek out. At the same time, I can’t help but think of the next frame, which is the frame of pictures of Gaza, which is in a state of complete and total devastation.”

    Among pro-Israel Jewish communities on campuses nationwide, there is also a sense of relief.

    Jewish student groups had regularly gathered on campuses, including last week, for candlelight vigils, songs and prayer services to honor dead and living hostages in Gaza and their families two years after the Oct. 7 attack.

    Many Jewish students have ties to Israel, whether from visiting or through family members who lived there and knew victims of the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. About 20 living hostages were back in Israel this week, while Israel released roughly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed during Israel’s war.

    Sophia Toubian, an information studies graduate student at UCLA, said she hoped the hostages’ release is “actually a chapter ending.”

    “I hope that it is a long-lasting peace, and it doesn’t just start right back up again — and that that translates into our experience here, both at school and just in the world.”

    Toubian, who is Jewish and pro-Israel, said the pro-Palestinian protest movement had achieved at least some of its objectives.

    “Every building that I go into on campus … without fail, I’m seeing something up on the wall about Palestine — supportive of Palestine,” she said.

    “It wasn’t there before, and … it’s kind of up there in a way, like, ‘Yeah, of course, we all agree that this is the way that this should be, and so we’re going to show support of this thing.’ In that sense, it does feel like a success.”

    And yet, UCLA senior Gal Cohavy, who is pro-Israel, said the tenor in Westwood has improved in recent months.

    Cohavy said he hoped that the hostages’ release and the stop in fighting could allow people across the ideological spectrum to find common ground.

    “I wouldn’t be surprised to see more real conversation going on, and perhaps bridging a gap between the two sides and seeing cultural progress,” he said.

    In a statement, Ha’Am, a Jewish student-run publication at UCLA, said now the “atmosphere has changed.”

    “Since October 7, 2023, Jewish spaces have been places of grief, quiet, and emotional support for a community in turmoil. Today, as we enter those same spaces, the atmosphere has changed. There is a genuine sigh of relief in the air, a collective exhale, and the comforting knowledge that our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world are finally safe once again,” it said.

    Lasting consequences among students

    While pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students expressed approval over the events in the Middle East, both have faced lasting consequences of divisions on campus.

    Reports of antisemitism as well as anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents have increased at colleges since 2023. Arrests, suspensions and expulsions of pro-Palestinian students and groups have also grown, though the vast majority of Los Angeles students detained by police during last year’s protests did not face criminal charges.

    At UCLA, two Students for Justice in Palestine groups were banned this year for vandalizing the Brentwood home of a UC Board of Regents member who is Jewish with imagery that Jewish community leaders said used antisemitic tropes.

    Among California universities, Stanford endured one of the more charged episodes.

    A group of pro-Palestinian students there face felony vandalism and trespassing charges after they were accused of breaking into and vandalizing the university president’s office during a 2024 protest. This month, a Santa Clara County grand jury indicted the remaining 11 students, which pushes the case toward a trial.

    Staff writer Karen Garcia contributed to this report.

    Jaweed Kaleem, Daniel Miller

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  • New York Attorney General Letitia James indicted for alleged mortgage fraud

    This two-count indictment of New York attorney General Letitia James accuses her of bank fraud and of making false statements to *** financial institution. Specifically, it alleges that she intentionally misrepresented *** rental property as her secondary residence to obtain better mortgage terms. James is *** longtime foe of President Donald Trump. Last year she won *** civil lawsuit alleging that the president and his company overstated real estate values. Now the president has publicly urged the Justice Department to prosecute James and other political opponents. In *** video message yesterday, James said this indictment is part of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. These charges are baseless. And the president’s own public statements make clear. That his only goal is political retribution at any cost. Lindsay Halligan, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, wrote in *** statement, quote, No one is above the law. The charges, as alleged in this case, represent intentional criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust, unquote. Now if convicted, James faces up to 30 years in prison per count. She’s expected to make her first appearance in federal court on October 24th at the White House, I’m Jackie DeFusco.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James indicted for alleged mortgage fraud

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is the latest political foe of President Donald Trump to face federal charges.

    Updated: 8:01 AM EDT Oct 10, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is the latest political foe of President Donald Trump to face federal charges. A federal grand jury indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. The indictment accuses her of intentionally misrepresenting an investment property in Norfolk, Virginia, as her secondary residence to obtain better mortgage terms.In a video statement on Thursday, James said the indictment is part of the president’s “desperate weaponization of our justice system.””These charges are baseless. And the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” James said. Trump has publicly urged the Justice Department to prosecute James and other political opponents. In a Truth Social post last month that was directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump alleged his opponents are “guilty as hell” and complained “nothing is being done.” Trump said, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”Last year, James won a civil lawsuit against the president, alleging that Trump and his companies artificially inflated real estate values. An appeals court later overturned the staggering fine, which had grown to more than half a billion dollars with interest, but upheld the lower court’s finding that Trump committed fraud. Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement Thursday, “No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.”The statement noted that James faces up to 30 years in prison per count if convicted. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 24.Halligan, who previously served as a White House aide and Trump’s personal lawyer, is also spearheading the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. She was appointed to the job after the Trump administration removed Erik Siebert, the veteran prosecutor who had overseen both investigations for months and resisted pressure to file charges. On social media last month, Trump wrote, “I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. He didn’t quit, I fired him!”James specifically cited the shakeup as evidence that her prosecution is politically motivated. “His decision to fire a United States attorney who refused to bring charges against me and replaced them with someone who was blindly loyal, not to the law but to the president, is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country,” James said. Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:

    WASHINGTON —

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is the latest political foe of President Donald Trump to face federal charges.

    A federal grand jury indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. The indictment accuses her of intentionally misrepresenting an investment property in Norfolk, Virginia, as her secondary residence to obtain better mortgage terms.

    In a video statement on Thursday, James said the indictment is part of the president’s “desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

    “These charges are baseless. And the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” James said.

    Trump has publicly urged the Justice Department to prosecute James and other political opponents. In a Truth Social post last month that was directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump alleged his opponents are “guilty as hell” and complained “nothing is being done.”

    Trump said, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

    Last year, James won a civil lawsuit against the president, alleging that Trump and his companies artificially inflated real estate values. An appeals court later overturned the staggering fine, which had grown to more than half a billion dollars with interest, but upheld the lower court’s finding that Trump committed fraud.

    Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement Thursday, “No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.”

    The statement noted that James faces up to 30 years in prison per count if convicted. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 24.

    Halligan, who previously served as a White House aide and Trump’s personal lawyer, is also spearheading the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. She was appointed to the job after the Trump administration removed Erik Siebert, the veteran prosecutor who had overseen both investigations for months and resisted pressure to file charges.

    On social media last month, Trump wrote, “I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia. He didn’t quit, I fired him!”

    James specifically cited the shakeup as evidence that her prosecution is politically motivated.

    “His decision to fire a United States attorney who refused to bring charges against me and replaced them with someone who was blindly loyal, not to the law but to the president, is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country,” James said.

    Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:

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  • US diplomat fired over relationship with woman accused of ties to Chinese Communist Party

    The State Department said Wednesday that it has fired a U.S. diplomat over a romantic relationship he admitted having with a Chinese woman alleged to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.The dismissal is believed to be the first of its kind for violating a ban on such relationships that was introduced late last year under the Biden administration.The Associated Press reported earlier this year that in the waning days of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, the State Department imposed a ban on all American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens.Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that the diplomat in question was dismissed from the foreign service after President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed the case and determined that he had “admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party.””Under Secretary Rubio’s leadership, we will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security,” Pigott said.The statement did not identify the diplomat, but he and his girlfriend had been featured in a surreptitiously filmed video posted online by conservative firebrand James O’Keefe.

    WASHINGTON —

    The State Department said Wednesday that it has fired a U.S. diplomat over a romantic relationship he admitted having with a Chinese woman alleged to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

    The dismissal is believed to be the first of its kind for violating a ban on such relationships that was introduced late last year under the Biden administration.

    The Associated Press reported earlier this year that in the waning days of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, the State Department imposed a ban on all American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens.

    Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that the diplomat in question was dismissed from the foreign service after President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed the case and determined that he had “admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

    “Under Secretary Rubio’s leadership, we will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security,” Pigott said.

    The statement did not identify the diplomat, but he and his girlfriend had been featured in a surreptitiously filmed video posted online by conservative firebrand James O’Keefe.

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  • Shoppers in California plan to splurge this holiday season — out of fear

    Shoppers in California plan to splurge this coming holiday season, but not because they are confident about the future. They are worried about inflation and figure it’s better to buy now than pay more later.

    At least that’s the takeaway from a new report from accounting firm KPMG that shows that consumers on the West Coast are more concerned about price rise and tariffs than those in any other region in the country.

    Nationally, shoppers intend to boost their holiday spending by 4.6% this year compared with last year, spending an average of $847 on shopping, according to the report.

    “When you think about why consumers are planning on spending more, it’s not that they have more wallet to spare, but it’s actually an expectation that prices are increasing,” Duleep Rodrigo, KPMG U.S. consumer and retail leader, said in an interview. “Eighty percent also of consumers are really being very conscious about inflation, and inflation that is impacted as a result of tariffs.”

    • Share via

    Of the six different regions KPMG surveys, the Pacific region — which includes California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska — showed the highest concern for rising prices due to tariffs, with 72% citing inflation as a top concern.

    Nationally, 8 in 10 consumers believe tariffs will result in price increases. The least concerned were consumers in the Northeast, where only 6% said price increases would result in cutting back on holiday spending.

    “The consumer is spending like a poker player with a small chip stack,” Rodrigo said in the report. “They know they can’t play every hand but are willing to go ‘all in’ on a promising hand with a high emotional payoff. There’s also a psychological element where the consumer is managing a complex set of uncertainties.”

    KPMG found that consumer spending on essentials such as groceries, automotive expenses and personal care have increased in 2025, though much less than last year. In discretionary categories such as toys, furniture and hobby supplies, people expect to spend less.

    As budgets get tight, more people plan on spending on themselves this holiday season, with many purchasing big ticket holiday travel costing more than $1,000.

    The top gifts people want to receive this holiday season? Cold hard cash — followed by gift cards and apparel — indicating that more people want flexibility to spend on things they like, according to KPMG.

    Consumer price inflation for Los Angeles increased 3.3% in August, compared with the same time last year. National consumer inflation stood at 2.9% for the same period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    From toys to apparel, retailers have experienced varying levels of impact due to President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on much of the world this year.

    Many retailers have been absorbing the costs of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration but cannot hold off indefinitely.

    Rodrigo said price increases on goods have already started happening, with retailers being more strategic.

    “For now, consumers that are in the top 20% are probably driving 80% of the economic activity that is sustaining and maintaining the current state of the economy,” Rodrigo said. “But there is a larger population that is really hurting, and that is really concerned with their dollars right now.”

    Nilesh Christopher

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  • Louisiana’s governor asks for National Guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities

    Louisiana’s Republican governor asked for National Guard deployments to New Orleans and other cities, saying Monday that his state needs help fighting crime and praising President Donald Trump’s decision to send troops to Washington and Memphis.Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, asked for up to 1,000 troops through fiscal year 2026 in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the National Guard to fight crime.Trump also sent troops in recent months to Los Angeles and his administration has announced plans for similar actions in other major cities, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon.Landry said his request “builds on the proven success” of deployments to Washington and Memphis. While Trump has ordered troops into Memphis with the backing of Tennessee’s Republican governor, as of Monday night there had yet to be a large-scale operation in the city.“Federal partnerships in our toughest cities have worked, and now, with the support of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard,” Landry said.Leaders in Democratic-controlled states have criticized the planned deployments. In Oregon, elected officials have said troops in Portland are not needed.In his request, Landry said there has been “elevated violent crime rates” in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans as well as shortages in local law enforcement. He said the state’s vulnerability to natural disasters made the issue more challenging and that extra support would be especially helpful for major events, including Mardi Gras and college football bowl games.But crime in some of the state’s biggest cities has actually decreased recently, with New Orleans, seeing a particularly steep drop in 2025 that has put it on pace to have its lowest number of killings in more than five decades.Preliminary data from the city police department shows that there have been 75 homicides so far in 2025. That count includes the 14 revelers who were killed on New Year’s Day during a truck attack on Bourbon Street. Last year, there were 124 homicides. In 2023 there were 193.In Baton Rouge, the state capital, has also seen a decrease in homicides compared to last year, according to police department figures. Data also shows, however, that robberies and assaults are on pace to surpass last year’s numbers.___Associated Press reporter Sara Cline contributed to this report.

    Louisiana’s Republican governor asked for National Guard deployments to New Orleans and other cities, saying Monday that his state needs help fighting crime and praising President Donald Trump’s decision to send troops to Washington and Memphis.

    Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, asked for up to 1,000 troops through fiscal year 2026 in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the National Guard to fight crime.

    Trump also sent troops in recent months to Los Angeles and his administration has announced plans for similar actions in other major cities, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

    Landry said his request “builds on the proven success” of deployments to Washington and Memphis. While Trump has ordered troops into Memphis with the backing of Tennessee’s Republican governor, as of Monday night there had yet to be a large-scale operation in the city.

    “Federal partnerships in our toughest cities have worked, and now, with the support of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard,” Landry said.

    Leaders in Democratic-controlled states have criticized the planned deployments. In Oregon, elected officials have said troops in Portland are not needed.

    In his request, Landry said there has been “elevated violent crime rates” in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans as well as shortages in local law enforcement. He said the state’s vulnerability to natural disasters made the issue more challenging and that extra support would be especially helpful for major events, including Mardi Gras and college football bowl games.

    But crime in some of the state’s biggest cities has actually decreased recently, with New Orleans, seeing a particularly steep drop in 2025 that has put it on pace to have its lowest number of killings in more than five decades.

    Preliminary data from the city police department shows that there have been 75 homicides so far in 2025. That count includes the 14 revelers who were killed on New Year’s Day during a truck attack on Bourbon Street. Last year, there were 124 homicides. In 2023 there were 193.

    In Baton Rouge, the state capital, has also seen a decrease in homicides compared to last year, according to police department figures. Data also shows, however, that robberies and assaults are on pace to surpass last year’s numbers.

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Sara Cline contributed to this report.

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  • Bad Bunny to perform at halftime of 2026 Super Bowl

    Bad Bunny will bring his Latin trap and reggaeton swagger to the NFL’s biggest stage next year: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in Northern California.The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Bad Bunny will lead the halftime festivities from Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.The Puerto Rican superstar’s selection comes amid another career-defining run: He’s fresh off a historic Puerto Rico residency this month that drew more than half a million fans and is leading all nominees at the Latin Grammys in November. He has become one of the world’s most-streamed artists with albums such as “Un Verano Sin Ti,” an all-Spanish-language LP.“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”Roc Nation founder Jay-Z said in a statement that what Bad Bunny has “done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring. We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage.”The 31-year-old artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has won three Grammys and 12 Latin Grammys. He has become a global ambassador for Latin music, starred in films such as “Bullet Train,” “Caught Stealing” and “Happy Gilmore 2,” and collaborated with top fashion houses. He’ll enter the Latin Grammys as the leading nominee with 12, dethroning producer and songwriter Édgar Barrera.Roc Nation and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. Hamish Hamilton will serve as director.Last year, Kendrick Lamar performed with guest SZA in New Orleans, setting the record for the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show with 133.5 million viewers. His performance surpassed the audience for Michael Jackson’s 1993 show.

    SANTA CLARA, Calif. —

    Bad Bunny will bring his Latin trap and reggaeton swagger to the NFL’s biggest stage next year: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in Northern California.

    The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Bad Bunny will lead the halftime festivities from Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.

    The Puerto Rican superstar’s selection comes amid another career-defining run: He’s fresh off a historic Puerto Rico residency this month that drew more than half a million fans and is leading all nominees at the Latin Grammys in November. He has become one of the world’s most-streamed artists with albums such as “Un Verano Sin Ti,” an all-Spanish-language LP.

    “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”

    Roc Nation founder Jay-Z said in a statement that what Bad Bunny has “done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring. We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage.”

    The 31-year-old artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has won three Grammys and 12 Latin Grammys. He has become a global ambassador for Latin music, starred in films such as “Bullet Train,” “Caught Stealing” and “Happy Gilmore 2,” and collaborated with top fashion houses. He’ll enter the Latin Grammys as the leading nominee with 12, dethroning producer and songwriter Édgar Barrera.

    Paul R. Giunta

    FILE – Bad Bunny performs during “The Most Wanted Tour” at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on May 15, 2024.

    Roc Nation and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. Hamish Hamilton will serve as director.

    Last year, Kendrick Lamar performed with guest SZA in New Orleans, setting the record for the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show with 133.5 million viewers. His performance surpassed the audience for Michael Jackson’s 1993 show.

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  • Mexico boosts controls on cattle after new screwworm case found near US border

    Mexico activated emergency controls Monday after detecting a new case of New World screwworm in cattle in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon state, the closest case to the U.S. border since the outbreak began last year.The animal, found in the town of Sabinas Hidalgo, came from the Gulf state of Veracruz, Mexico’s National Health for Food Safety and Food Quality Service said. The last case was reported July 9 in Veracruz, prompting Washington to suspend imports of live Mexican cattle.The parasite, a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, attacks warm-blooded animals, including humans. Mexico has reported more than 500 active cases in cattle across southern states.The block on cattle imports has spelled trouble for Mexico’s government, which has already been busy trying to offset the brunt of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats this year.The government and ranchers have sought to get the ban lifted. If it stays in place through the year, Mexico’s ranching federation estimates losses up to $400 million.Mexico’s Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a post on X that Mexico is “controlling the isolated case of screwworm in Nuevo Leon,” under measures to fight the pest agreed with the U.S. in August.U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Washington will take “decisive measures to protect our borders, even in the absence of cooperation” and said imports on Mexican cattle, bison and horses will remain suspended.“We will not rely on Mexico to defend our industry, our food supply or our way of life,” she said.

    Mexico activated emergency controls Monday after detecting a new case of New World screwworm in cattle in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon state, the closest case to the U.S. border since the outbreak began last year.

    The animal, found in the town of Sabinas Hidalgo, came from the Gulf state of Veracruz, Mexico’s National Health for Food Safety and Food Quality Service said. The last case was reported July 9 in Veracruz, prompting Washington to suspend imports of live Mexican cattle.

    The parasite, a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, attacks warm-blooded animals, including humans. Mexico has reported more than 500 active cases in cattle across southern states.

    The block on cattle imports has spelled trouble for Mexico’s government, which has already been busy trying to offset the brunt of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats this year.

    The government and ranchers have sought to get the ban lifted. If it stays in place through the year, Mexico’s ranching federation estimates losses up to $400 million.

    Mexico’s Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said in a post on X that Mexico is “controlling the isolated case of screwworm in Nuevo Leon,” under measures to fight the pest agreed with the U.S. in August.

    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Washington will take “decisive measures to protect our borders, even in the absence of cooperation” and said imports on Mexican cattle, bison and horses will remain suspended.

    “We will not rely on Mexico to defend our industry, our food supply or our way of life,” she said.

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  • Column: What came of Trump’s Putin summit? Nothing good

    Remember the vaunted Trump-Putin summit? It was just a month ago this week, but Americans could be excused for having forgotten. Nothing good has come of it. The cringy Alaska photo-op for the American and Russian presidents certainly didn’t yield President Trump’s long-promised deal to end Vladimir Putin’s criminal war on Ukraine.

    In fact, as each day since has shown, worse than nothing has come from that failed bro-fest. Which begs renewed attention to it. Putin arrived to Trump’s literal red-carpet welcome and left with an apparent if unstated license — as then-candidate Trump said last year of the Russians — “to do whatever the hell they want.”

    And they have.

    On Tuesday last week, a Russian bomb hit a group of Ukrainian retirees collecting their pension checks, killing two dozen and injuring more — another day’s civilian toll in Putin’s ongoing offensive, the harshest in more than three years of war and one that’s struck U.S. and European installations. The next day, stunningly, about 20 Russian drones flew over next-door Poland, a NATO ally, forcing the alliance to scramble jets to shoot down threats over its territory for the first time in NATO history.

    And mostly we’ve heard bupkis from Trump — except to keep blaming the war on his predecessor President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, never Putin. Even servile Senate Republicans have roused themselves to press for punishing sanctions against Russia, but Trump withholds his blessing.

    You’d think the self-proclaimed “president of peace” would at least be riled that Putin’s impunity since Alaska is a stick in the eye to Trump’s wife as well. Melania Trump wrote Putin a letter — which Trump delivered at their summit — urging him to protect children. “It was very well received,” Trump boasted later.

    Oh, yeah? Putin’s public response to the first lady has been missiles and drones that have killed and injured Ukrainian children in their beds and at their schools. Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children remain kidnapped in Russia, a war crime.

    What a tragic irony that the president who promised he’d end the Ukraine war on “day one,” and who incessantly contends Russia never would have invaded had he, Putin’s friend, been president in 2022, now presides over Russia’s escalation of the war and its unprecedented incursion into NATO territory. And Trump acts all but impotent.

    For three years until his return to power, Russia did not test the United States’ pledge to “defend every inch” of NATO territory. Now it has. And at the news of the Poland intrusion, Trump, the supposed leader of the free world, showed himself to be little more than an internet troll.

    “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” was his online outburst long hours after the news last Wednesday. The next day he suggested the drones’ flight into Poland “could have been a mistake,” provoking rebuttals from Polish leaders and NATO allies. And when NATO’s European members last Friday reinforced the alliance’s eastern flank defenses against Russia, they announced no U.S. contributions.

    Much was made last spring of Trump’s nickname among some Wall Street types for his on-again, off-again tariffs: “TACO,” for Trump Always Chickens Out. But that moniker better describes Trump’s Russia stance: He repeatedly sets up a face-off against Putin, and invariably face-plants.

    For weeks ahead of the August summit, Trump threatened “extreme consequences” if Russia didn’t agree to a cease-fire. Then, as quickly as U.S. soldiers rolled out the red carpet for Putin, Trump rolled up his cease-fire talk. After hours under Putin’s sway, he came away talking not about what Russia would do for peace but what territorial concessions Ukraine would make. And a month later, he’s still resisting Congress’ proposed sanctions against Russia, even as he’s levied big tariffs on India and China in part as punishment for buying Russian oil.

    Nothing Trump claimed would happen as a consequence of his summitry has come to pass. Not a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, nor a trilateral follow-up with the Nobel-coveting Trump joining as mediating peacemaker. Putin has had high-level meetings since the Alaska summit, but they’ve been with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un — all drawn closer in solidarity against the United States’ hegemony.

    Trump’s embarrassingly weak response to Russia’s aggression, together with his passivity in the face of Israel’s defiance in renewing its offensive in starving Gaza, recently prompted a New York Times analysis declaring “the bystander phase of the Trump presidency.” A Wall Street Journal headline said Trump is “sidelining himself” in foreign policy. On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote that, just as Trump sought to rename the Department of Defense to be the Department of War, the White House should be called “Waffle House.” (Or Taco Bell?) The criticisms are international: Poland’s deputy prime minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said in a video last week that Putin, by his hostilities, is “mocking” Trump’s peace talk.

    There’s mockery indeed in Moscow, where politicians and state-run media continue to celebrate Putin as the summit winner. Russians weren’t quaking in their valenki when Trump told “Fox & Friends” hosts on Friday that his patience with Russia is “running out fast.” Alexei Zhuravlyov, a leader of the Russian State Duma, said Trump’s “normal state” is “either waiting to talk to Putin, talking to Putin or explaining how well he talked to Putin.” Pundit Mikhail Rostovsky dismissed Trump’s fussing and threats as “a new ‘Groundhog Day.’”

    “The Kremlin believes that Russia is slowly but surely achieving its goals in Ukraine,” Rostovsky added. “Therefore Moscow does not intend to stop there.”

    Putin has said as much himself. Only Trump doesn’t seem to hear him. Or doesn’t want to.

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