Global Pulse

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  • Hunter Biden says his father’s prostate cancer is causing him pain even as he continues to speak out

    Hunter Biden says his father’s prostate cancer is causing him pain even as he continues to speak out

    LONDON – In an emotional, wide-ranging interview broadcast by the BBC on Friday evening, Hunter Biden has shared a devastating update on the health of his father, former U.S. President Joe Biden, confirming that the 83-year-old’s prostate cancer has metastasized to other parts of his body, including his bones, and triggered persistent, debilitating pain that he largely hides from public view.

    At 83 years old, Biden made history as the oldest person to ever occupy the Oval Office, and his advanced age was a constant source of public concern and political scrutiny throughout his four-year presidential term. The former president and his White House team faced sharp criticism over allegations that they concealed the full severity of his health issues during his time in office. That criticism intensified after a poor performance in a pre-election debate against eventual successor Donald Trump forced Biden to drop his 2024 re-election campaign.

    Biden first publicly announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in May 2024, fewer than four months after he departed the White House following the inauguration of Donald Trump. Hunter Biden told the BBC that the diagnosis has taken a heavy emotional and physical toll on the entire Biden family, and that watching his father navigate the illness is an incredibly difficult experience.

    “It’s really sad to watch,” Hunter Biden said of his father’s condition. “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further. It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects. The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good.”

    Despite the advanced progression of his cancer and the severe symptoms it causes, Hunter Biden emphasized that the former president has not stepped back from public life. He remains actively engaged in speaking out on policy and political issues that he has long prioritized, holding onto his deep faith in the future of the United States. “He’s still doing his thing,” Hunter Biden said. “He so believes in this country.”

    Separately, the former president is set to release a new memoir titled “Promise Me, America” following the conclusion of U.S. midterm elections.

  • Vollering wins Stage 8 to take overall lead at Women’s Tour de France from Niewiadoma-Phinney

    Vollering wins Stage 8 to take overall lead at Women’s Tour de France from Niewiadoma-Phinney

    NICE, France – The 2024 Women’s Tour de France delivered another chapter of high-stakes cycling drama on Saturday, as Dutch star Demi Vollering pulled off a spectacular late-stage attack to claim victory on the eighth leg and wrestle the overall race lead away from Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney heading into Sunday’s decisive final stage. The 2023 race champion left her closest title rivals in her wake on the day’s final categorized climb, surging clear with six kilometers remaining to secure a result she had visualized only hours before the start of the race.

    The 172-kilometer route from Sisteron to the Mediterranean coastal city of Nice was designed on paper to favor sprinters, with mostly flat terrain broken up by just four short, low-elevation climbs. That rolling profile added an element of uncertainty, however, as general classification contenders sought to conserve energy for the final day’s challenging course, opening the door for early breakaways. Early in the stage, French rider Maeva Squiban and Dutch competitor Loes Adegeest managed to pull away from the peloton and build a significant gap, holding off the main chase group for most of the day.

    The breakaway bid hit trouble when Squiban crashed on a downhill turn, sliding off her bike and landing hard on her left side. The incident left her with cuts and scrapes, and she screamed in pain as a motorbike medic patched up her arm while she continued riding. Despite the injury, Squiban pushed on to finish the stage, while Adegeest was reeled back in by the peloton with less than nine kilometers left to race.

    In the wake of the catch, the stage’s climax unfolded on the day’s final climb, when Vollering made her decisive move. The Dutchwoman upped her pace, putting pressure on Niewiadoma-Phinney – who had claimed the yellow jersey just one day prior with a stunning solo victory up Mont Ventoux – who eventually cracked under the intensity. Once Vollering surged clear, neither Niewiadoma-Phinney nor Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini, a former Giro d’Italia winner, could close the gap as the leader rode the iconic Promenade des Anglais to the finish line.

    Crossing the line, Vollering raised her arms in triumph before collapsing on the ground, gasping for breath to recover from her all-out effort. Speaking to reporters after the stage, she opened up about the mental and physical toll of her victory, revealing she had predicted the turnaround that morning. “It’s funny but only this morning I saw myself taking the yellow jersey,” Vollering said. “I thought it might come true, that maybe that’s the way things should be. During the day, I tried to remind myself I could do it.” She added, “I was in so much pain, I can hardly describe it, but I made it happen. This goes to prove that if you really believe in something, if you dream big, it doesn’t matter how much risk you take or how much pain you have to go through.”

    Longo Borghini crossed the finish line second, with Niewiadoma-Phinney taking third, both riders 17 seconds behind the stage winner. The result gives Vollering an 8-second overall lead over Niewiadoma-Phinney heading into the final stage, and also cements a historic milestone for the Dutch star: she has now won all three of women’s cycling Grand Tours in the same calendar year, taking the Giro d’Italia earlier in 2024 to complete the rare treble.

    Saturday’s stage was not without off-the-road news, as defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt withdrew from the race shortly before the start after reporting feeling unwell. The French rider, who is also the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist in mountain biking, pulled out following consultation with medical staff from her Visma-Lease a Bike team, who announced the decision on social media platform X. Ferrand-Prévôt made headlines last year when she won the Women’s Tour de France on her debut, but struggled through the 2024 edition and sat 14th overall before her withdrawal.

    All eyes now turn to Sunday’s ninth and final stage, which will see riders tackle four testing climbs up Col d’Èze, a hilltop route that overlooks the tiny Principality of Monaco. The parcours sets up a tense showdown for the overall title, with a history that adds extra drama: two years ago, Niewiadoma-Phinney beat Vollering on a final-day mountain stage to claim the overall victory by a razor-thin 4-second margin. Vollering is well aware of the stakes ahead of the decisive leg. “Tomorrow’s course is going to be super hard,” she said. “We know it from the beginning of the Tour.”

  • Ukraine honors its ‘collector of souls’ killed while recovering the war dead

    Ukraine honors its ‘collector of souls’ killed while recovering the war dead

    Thousands of Ukrainians gathered in central Kyiv’s Cathedral of Saint Volodymyr on Saturday to bid a final farewell to Oleksiy Yukov, the 40-year-old founder of a volunteer organization dedicated to recovering the remains of fallen troops and civilians from Ukraine’s war zones. Yukov, who died in a landmine detonation during a recovery operation on August 5, spent more than 20 years honoring the dead by bringing their remains home for proper burial — including those of enemy Russian soldiers.

    A native of the conflict-scarred Donbas region, Yukov first began his life’s work as a teenager, when he stumbled on the unclaimed remains of Soviet and Russian World War II soldiers. Before dedicating himself full-time to recovery work, he worked as a martial arts instructor, but he soon committed fully to his mission: every life deserves a dignified burial, regardless of which side a fighter belonged to.

    In 2014, after the outbreak of full-scale conflict in Donbas, Yukov launched the volunteer NGO Platsdarm, which translates to “bridgehead” in English. Over the years, he earned the reverent nickname “the collector of souls” for his tireless, high-risk work. Platsdarm’s teams venture into mine-laced terrain, from abandoned fields and dense forests to bombed-out urban ruins, to locate and retrieve the remains of the dead, a mission that puts volunteers in constant danger of explosive blasts.

    Yukov already survived a catastrophic mine incident in 2022, which left him with permanent leg injuries and cost him an eye. Even while recovering from those life-altering wounds, he returned to the field to continue his work. In a social media post shared just weeks before his death, Yukov laid out the harsh reality of his mission, acknowledging that every outing carried grave risk. “Remote mines, shelling, drones — everything is against you. But you go and do everything to ensure that every soul returns home,” he wrote.

    He pushed back against critics who argued that the remains of Russian soldiers should be left unclaimed to rot. “When they say: ‘Let them rot,’ I do not agree. This is how we fight for every soul,” Yukov wrote. He framed his work as a deeply moral and spiritual calling, writing that every fallen body is a soul waiting to return to its home. “This is action,” he noted of his daily work. “Action every day in the fields, in the forest belts, among the ruins, where your life can end at any moment.”

    Saturday’s Orthodox Christian funeral service drew crowds of mourners who came to honor Yukov’s legacy of radical compassion amid decades of ongoing war in Ukraine.

  • Arsenal sign Brazil midfielder Guimaraes from Newcastle

    Arsenal sign Brazil midfielder Guimaraes from Newcastle

    In a high-profile transfer move that shakes up the Premier League landscape, reigning English top-flight champions Arsenal have finalized the acquisition of Brazilian midfielder and Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes, both clubs confirmed in official statements released on Saturday. Reports peg the transfer value at £75 million, equal to roughly $101.2 million.

    After four and a half seasons with the Magpies, the 28-year-old Brazil international has put pen to paper on a long-term deal with the Gunners, who ended a 20-year trophy drought to claim the Premier League title last season. Guimaraes marks Arsenal’s most high-profile incoming transfer of this summer transfer window, joining already completed signings goalkeeper Illan Meslier and winger Christos Tzolis at the Emirates Stadium.

    Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta emphasized the transformative impact of Guimaraes’ arrival, noting that the addition further solidifies the club’s midfield core. “As we have all seen, Bruno can operate both as a holding midfielder and a dynamic box-to-box option. He blends technical quality with relentless work rate, and has contributed consistent goals and assists for his side every season across his career,” Berta explained. “Bruno will give Mikel [Arteta] greater flexibility to evolve our playing system, while also boosting healthy internal competition – a key factor if we want to maintain the high standards needed to compete for major honours.”

    While the full transfer fee remains officially undisclosed by both clubs, Newcastle confirmed that the deal ranks among the top 10 highest transfer fees ever received for a player aged 28 or older. This is not the first time Arsenal have been linked to Guimaraes: the club was in the running to sign him back in January 2022, before he ultimately left French side Lyon to join Newcastle.

    Across his tenure on Tyneside, Guimaraes made 195 appearances for Newcastle and found the back of the net 31 times. Playing under former manager Eddie Howe, he was a central figure in the club’s 2023 League Cup triumph, which ended a 54-year wait for a major silverware for the St James’ Park side.

    Reflecting on his departure, Guimaraes called the choice to leave one of the hardest decisions of his career. “When I first arrived at the club, we were in a really difficult position, and I am incredibly proud of everything we built and achieved together,” he said in Newcastle’s official statement. “I fell in love with this place, and I truly mean that.”

    Guimaraes’ departure comes just one week after Howe stepped down from his role as Newcastle manager, with the club already appointing German coach Matthias Jaissle as his replacement. The Brazilian, who represented his nation at the most recent FIFA World Cup, will now compete for a starting spot in Arsenal’s midfield alongside established names including Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Mikel Merino, as well as young prospect Myles Lewis-Skelly.

    The new Premier League season is fast approaching, with Arsenal set to kick off their campaign against last season’s second-place side Manchester City in the FA Community Shield next Sunday. Five days after that showpiece, they will get their title defense underway against newly promoted Coventry City. Newcastle, meanwhile, will open their 2025-26 campaign at home to Liverpool at St James’ Park on August 23.

  • Arsenal lands Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle ahead of Premier League title defense

    Arsenal lands Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle ahead of Premier League title defense

    In a high-profile transfer deal that shook up the Premier League on Saturday, defending champion Arsenal announced it has finalized the acquisition of star Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle United, for a reported transfer fee of £75 million (equivalent to $101 million). The 28-year-old has put pen to paper on a long-term contract with the north London side, officially completing his move to the Emirates Stadium.

    Speaking after the announcement, Guimarães expressed unbridled excitement about his new chapter, noting he is at a stage in his career where he is hungry for a new challenge. “I want to win trophies, I want to make history and I think I’m in the right place to do it,” the midfielder said, adding that he enters the move at his physical peak, with ambitions to cement his legacy at the club. “It’s massive what I have done so far, but I want more. I want to win for Arsenal. Someday, when I leave, I want players to come here and say I want to do exactly what Bruno did for the club.”

    The transfer comes even as Newcastle resisted efforts to offload their club captain. Guimarães had made clear to the Magpies that he intended to pursue a move, forcing the hand of the northeast club. Since joining Newcastle from France’s Ligue 1 side Lyon in January 2022, Guimarães quickly emerged as the team’s talismanic figure and one of the most impactful central midfielders across the entire Premier League. During his tenure at St James’ Park, he led the club to its first major domestic silverware in 70 years — the 2025 English League Cup — and was instrumental in helping the side qualify for the UEFA Champions League on two separate occasions.

    In an emotional statement posted to Newcastle’s official website, Guimarães called the choice to leave one of the hardest decisions of his career. “When I arrived, the club was in a challenging position and I am incredibly proud of what we achieved together. I fell in love with this place. I really mean that,” he said. “This move is very tough because Newcastle means so much to me, but I wanted to experience something new in my life. I feel ready for a new challenge for myself and my family. I had a very positive conversation with Matthias Jaissle, and I leave knowing the club is in very good hands.”

    Guimarães’ exit marks the third high-profile departure for Newcastle this transfer window, following fellow star players Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali out of the club. The regime change at the top also preceded the transfer: long-serving head coach Eddie Howe stepped down at the end of last month after nearly five years in charge, and was replaced by former RB Salzburg manager Matthias Jaissle.

    Now, Guimarães will join an already formidable Arsenal midfield anchored by England international Declan Rice, as Mikel Arteta’s side look to defend their Premier League title and chase further domestic and European honors. On the international stage, the Brazilian brings a wealth of experience, having earned 48 caps for the Brazil national team including appearances at the most recent FIFA World Cup, and won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

    Ahead of his first appearance for the Gunners, Guimarães confirmed he will continue his longstanding tradition of wearing the number 39 shirt, a tribute to his father. The number holds deep personal meaning: it is the dispatch number for his father’s taxi in Rio de Janeiro, where his father worked for more than 20 years to support the family. “The taxi, of course, gave me everything for my family, the place we live, the food, my clothes, everything,” Guimarães explained. “When I got the chance to sign to a top club in Brazil, I asked my father which number I should take and he said 39. I was upset a little bit because I wanted to take the 97. He said: ‘No, no, take the 39. The 39 gave you everything.’ I even have a tattoo of the number 39 to honor this legacy,” he added.

  • A drone likely from Ukraine explodes in Bulgaria near a gas pipeline close to Romania’s border

    A drone likely from Ukraine explodes in Bulgaria near a gas pipeline close to Romania’s border

    On a Saturday morning, an unmanned aerial vehicle crossed into Bulgarian airspace from neighboring Romania and detonated shortly after crossing the border, close to a major international gas pipeline, Bulgarian authorities confirmed. No injuries or infrastructure damage were reported in the incident, which has sparked urgent security reviews across both national and alliance-level institutions.\n\nBulgaria’s capital-based Defense Ministry shared initial findings indicating the drone matches specifications of a type operated by Ukraine’s armed forces, adding that the incursion was almost certainly an accidental event. Both Bulgaria and Romania hold dual membership in NATO and the European Union, placing the incident firmly within the alliance’s collective security framework.\n\nBulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told reporters after an emergency government meeting that the explosion occurred just after 5 a.m. local time, roughly 100 meters inside Bulgarian sovereign territory. Notably, the drone went undetected by air surveillance systems in both Romania and Bulgaria during its entire flight through the two countries’ airspace. Radev confirmed that “there are no casualties or damage to buildings” and that the blast site had been secured by security forces, with ongoing monitoring of the surrounding area.\n\nGeographically, the detonation took place approximately 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and one kilometer from a Bulgarian compressor station that is part of the critical Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, a key infrastructure link for regional energy distribution. In response to the security gap exposed by the incursion, Radev announced a strategic redeployment of anti-drone capabilities: border police units equipped with drone detection and countermeasure technology, previously stationed along Bulgaria’s border with Turkey, will be moved to the Romanian border to strengthen airspace monitoring.\n\nDefense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov added that the incident will be formally raised for discussion at an upcoming North Atlantic Council meeting scheduled for early next week. Stoyanov noted that observations of the blast, which produced a large column of black smoke, suggest the drone carried a substantial explosive payload. He added that small, low-flying drones like this one are inherently difficult for conventional air defense systems to track and identify, explaining why it went undetected during its flight.\n\nWhile early confusion surrounded the drone’s origin and possible links to either Russia or Ukraine amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry’s later analysis of recovered wreckage narrowed down the device as most likely a “Maya” decoy drone, a variant widely deployed by Ukrainian forces. The ministry’s official statement emphasized that as of the current investigation, “there is no reason to believe that the incident was intentional.”

  • Melbourne produce stunning late comeback to shatter Fremantle in MCG classic

    Melbourne produce stunning late comeback to shatter Fremantle in MCG classic

    In a high-scoring, edge-of-your-seat Australian Football League clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, home side Melbourne pulled off a stunning late comeback to defeat ladder-leading Fremantle by four points, leaving major question marks hanging over the Dockers’ ability to claim a maiden premiership title in September. The match lived up to every bit of its pre-game hype, ending as a 34-goal shootout that kept a sellout crowd of more than 40,000 fans on their feet until the final siren.

    Fremantle entered the encounter as favorites, having only played one prior match at the MCG this season – a 43-point blowout of bottom-placed Essendon in Round 10. The Dockers got off to a blistering start, leading by 15 points as late as the middle of the final quarter, thanks to a dominant performance from their elite tall forward group. The trio of Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy and Patrick Voss combined for 11 goals on the day, with Voss notching four before halftime, including a candidate for goal of the year that came just before the main break. The star forward picked up possession 65 meters out from goal, spotted an open goalsquare, and slotted it home to swing all momentum firmly in Fremantle’s favor heading into the second half.

    However, the result would ultimately be shaped by a controversial pre-game call from Fremantle head coach Justin Longmuir, who opted to rest star captain and starting key defender Alex Pearce for the cross-country trip. It was Pearce’s third missed match of the season, with Longmuir justifying the decision by pointing to Pearce’s long history of injury issues, even as he conceded post-match that the absence likely cost the Dockers the win. With Pearce sidelined, Fremantle’s remaining backline defenders failed to contain Melbourne’s attacking pressure, conceding 65 first-half points – the most the Dockers had allowed in a single half all season. By the final siren, Melbourne notched 113 points, the highest score any side has put up against Fremantle in the entire 2024 campaign.

    Melbourne, who entered Saturday with 10 wins from 10 previous home games at the MCG this season (their only prior loss a 20-point defeat to Geelong in Round 20), found another gear in the final 15 minutes of play. Timely goals from Harrison Petty and Bailey Fritsch, followed by a crafty soccer-style finish from Harry Sharp, turned a 15-point deficit into a four-point victory that will go down as one of the most memorable wins of Melbourne’s season. Petty turned in one of his best performances of the year, finishing with three goals and nearly adding a fourth from point-blank range.

    The result has thrown renewed scrutiny on Fremantle’s ability to win high-stakes matches at the MCG, which would be required for the club to win its first ever premiership should it advance to the September decider. Longmuir acknowledged post-match that his side lacked the necessary composure in the tight final stretch, noting that the club had not faced a high-pressure away situation like this in 12 weeks. “We haven’t been in that situation much over the last 12 weeks so we’ll learn a lot out of that,” Longmuir told reporters. He added, “We’ve obviously been practicing those situations, but it’s different, you’re away from home, then the opposition crowd gets into it, the scoreboard is real.” Despite the loss, Fremantle remains almost mathematically guaranteed to claim the 2024 minor premiership, and will close out the home-and-away season with matches against top-10 sides Adelaide and Carlton before hosting their first home qualifying final since 2015.

    For Melbourne, the comeback win has injected massive belief into the club’s premiership push, with acting head coach Steven King jokingly coined the side’s late-game surge “demon time” – a playful nod to the club’s “Demons” nickname. King called the win the biggest of his coaching career so far, noting that the statement victory over the league’s top side was a critical step for his group. “We needed to signify to our opposition that ‘yeah we’re here’,” King said. “We’re not just shooting to play a final, we want to make it count and we’ve got as much right as every other team in the competition to have a crack at this. Not saying the players didn’t believe beforehand, but it just builds more belief the way the game was played, especially here where grand finals are played against Fremantle, they’re the best team in it, make no mistake about it.”

    The opening half of the match was so high-octane that former West Coast head coach Adam Simpson called it “the best half we’ve seen this year” during his commentary for SEN radio, with 21 of the match’s 34 total goals scored before halftime.

  • ‘We saw death and suffering’: Dozens of Nigerians freed after 6 months in jihadi captivity

    ‘We saw death and suffering’: Dozens of Nigerians freed after 6 months in jihadi captivity

    Six months after a devastating jihadi attack that left more than 160 villagers dead and hundreds abducted in northern Nigeria, dozens of recently freed captives are recounting the unthinkable suffering and constant fear they endured while held captive in dense forest hideouts. Among 308 hostages rescued by Nigerian security forces this week — a operation President Bola Tinubu has called the largest single-day rescue mission in the nation’s history — 163 of the freed victims, most of whom are women and children, were transferred to state authorities in Ilorin, Kwara’s capital, on Friday for urgent medical evaluations and care ahead of their return to family members.

    Survivors have opened up about the grim conditions of their captivity, painting a picture of relentless deprivation and trauma. Mary Ishaya, a 44-year-old abductee who had never handled a deceased person before her kidnapping, described going days without access to food, and being forced to help bury fellow hostages who died in captivity. “I still cannot find the right words to describe what has happened to us. We saw death and suffering,” Ishaya told reporters from the Associated Press.

    Amira Saliu, a nurse who was among those freed, shared an extraordinary account of delivering at least 10 babies for pregnant fellow captives with nothing but her bare hands, as no medical supplies were available in the remote forest camps. Many survivors were already grappling with devastating loss before their rescue: dozens of women learned their husbands were killed during the initial raid on their village of Woro on February 3, when militants stormed the community to abduct residents. Hauwa Saliu, 30, whose husband died in the attack, recalled that militants repeatedly pressured captives to accept their extreme religious ideology, a demand she refused throughout her six months in captivity. Like many other survivors, she said she had all but given up hope of ever returning home.

    Locals from Woro, a community with a majority-Muslim population, believe the attack was intended as punishment for residents rejecting the militants’ extremist proselytizing. When the raid unfolded, militants killed more than 160 villagers before taking hundreds hostage, moving them to hidden camps within the expansive Kainji Lake National Park forest. During their captivity, survivors said hostages were forced to hide whenever Nigerian military helicopters flew over the area, went without adequate shelter during heavy rainstorms, and watched many fellow captives fall sick with no access to medical care. Many of the freed hostives arrived at their medical processing center severely emaciated; some were too weak to stand, others were recovering from untreated physical injuries, and all carry deep emotional scars from their ordeal. The 163 Woro captives were rescued alongside 145 other abductees, most taken from nearby Niger state.

    The February attack underscores a growing and alarming shift in militant activity across Nigeria: extremist groups that long centered their operations in the country’s far north are now expanding southward through Africa’s most populous nation, exploiting weak security presence in rural communities where outnumbered, overstretched government forces struggle to fend off armed gangs competing for territory and control of local natural resources.

    Local authorities have not released details about how the rescue operation in Kainji Lake National Park was carried out. President Tinubu has hailed the mission as a milestone, and pledged to ramp up counter-insurgency operations against armed extremist gangs across the country. To address longstanding gaps in national security, Tinubu recently announced pay raises for military personnel and launched a mass military recruitment drive, steps aimed at fixing longstanding issues of underpayment and understaffing that have weakened Nigeria’s security response.

    The U.S. currently provides military support to Nigeria under a bilateral agreement focused on protecting vulnerable Christian communities in the country, though most support is limited to logistics and intelligence gathering for counter-insurgency operations in the north. Mass kidnappings — including targeted abductions of schoolchildren — have become one of the most defining and persistent security challenges facing Nigeria in recent years. Security analysts argue that the country’s security framework needs urgent structural reform, moving beyond a response-focused model to proactive prevention of attacks. “It is time for us to recheck how much our security apparatus does to prevent” attacks, said Sekinat Ojeniyi, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Africa Practice.

  • Todd Blanche, Trump’s ex-lawyer, confirmed as US attorney general

    Todd Blanche, Trump’s ex-lawyer, confirmed as US attorney general

    After months of political gridlock and high-stakes partisan negotiations, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, has secured confirmation as the next United States Attorney General, the country’s highest-ranking law enforcement official. The final Senate vote ended in a razor-thin 50-49 split, marking one of the closest cabinet confirmation votes in modern U.S. political history, with two moderate Republican senators breaking ranks to oppose the nomination.

    Blanche had served in an acting capacity leading the Department of Justice (DOJ) since April, following the abrupt dismissal of his predecessor Pam Bondi. The months-long standoff between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration over the nomination put a spotlight on deep intra-party divides and lingering tensions between the former president and dissident members of his own party.

    All Democratic senators uniformly voted against Blanche’s nomination, while Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska crossed party lines to reject his appointment. Murkowski, one of the most vocal critics of the nomination, cited deep-seated concerns over the growing politicization of the Department of Justice, and stated she lacked confidence that Blanche would act as a check on what she described as “the worst impulses of this administration.” Collins echoed these concerns, raising specific questions about Blanche’s role in negotiating a $10 billion legal settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), though she stopped short of casting the deciding vote against him.

    The deciding vote ultimately fell to Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who had spent weeks weighing his decision amid intense national and intra-party pressure. Notably, Cassidy voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment in 2021 over his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Earlier this year, Trump backed a primary challenger to unseat Cassidy, ultimately forcing the senator into retirement. Despite this history of acrimony, Cassidy announced on Friday he would support the nomination, arguing that Blanche represented the best option the White House would put forward. Cassidy framed his vote as a judgment on Blanche’s qualifications, not a referendum on President Trump, and argued that a confirmed Attorney General would have greater leverage to provide candid legal pushback to the administration, while also allowing the DOJ to move forward with its core work combating violent crime.

    During confirmation hearings, multiple Republican senators raised sharp objections to two key priorities tied to Blanche and the Trump administration: his handling of planned public releases of documents related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, and the administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Critics, including Murkowski, warned the fund, which was designed to compensate individuals who claim they were targeted by government persecution, would ultimately funnel money to rioters convicted for their participation in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Facing widespread pushback from within his own party, Blanche pledged during hearings to roll back plans for the fund.

    The confirmation closes a tense chapter of intra-party and partisan conflict in the Senate, but key questions remain unanswered. It is still unclear whether Blanche’s commitment to abandon the fund is legally binding, and political observers have widely noted that Blanche has a long-standing personal and professional loyalty to Trump as his former personal attorney, leading to speculation that the administration could revive a similar initiative under a different name at a later date.

  • US Senate confirms Trump’s ex-lawyer as attorney general

    US Senate confirms Trump’s ex-lawyer as attorney general

    In a closely watched and deeply partisan vote early Saturday, the United States Senate confirmed Todd Blanche, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official as permanent attorney general. The final vote tally ended at 50-49, split almost entirely along party lines, with only two moderate Republican senators — Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — breaking with their caucus to join all Democrats in opposing the nomination.

    Blanche, who has already led the Department of Justice (DOJ) in an acting capacity since April, when Trump fired former acting attorney general Pam Bondi, carries a long history of representing Trump in high-stakes criminal cases. Prior to his appointment to the acting role, Blanche stood as Trump’s private defense counsel in his 2024 New York hush money trial linked to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He also served on the former president’s legal team in two federal indictments brought by special counsel Jack Smith: one over improper retention of classified documents after Trump left the White House, and a second for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Both cases were dismissed immediately following Trump’s victory in the 2024 general election.

    From the outset of the confirmation process, Senate Democrats uniformly opposed Blanche’s nomination, raising urgent alarms that Trump intended to transform the traditionally independent DOJ into a political weapon serving his personal interests rather than the American public. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dick Durbin argued that the role of attorney general demands the holder serve as “the people’s lawyer,” not personal counsel to the sitting president. “Mr Blanche continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer, treating the Justice Department like a law firm serving one client — the president,” Durbin said ahead of the vote.

    The nomination faced a last-minute threat from within Republican ranks, after a handful of GOP senators raised objections to two controversial proposals tied to Blanche’s appointment. The first was a plan for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate what Trump labels “victims of politicized prosecutions” — a category widely expected to include hundreds of rioters who participated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a violent attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump. The second was an unprecedented proposal to grant Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization permanent immunity from future federal tax audits.

    To shore up support from wavering Republicans, Blanche released a written concession over the weekend that reversed both policies. The controversial “anti-weaponization fund” was scrapped entirely, while the tax immunity agreement was revised to apply only retroactively to past tax filings, with no protections for future returns. The compromise was enough to secure the narrow majority needed for confirmation.

    Following the vote, Blanche took to social platform X to express gratitude for the outcome. “I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice,” he wrote. “I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process. To the dedicated public servants of the Department of Justice, thank you for your work each day to uphold the law and keep our country safe.”

    President Trump has praised Blanche as a “star” throughout the nomination process, framing his appointment as part of a broader effort to bring independent federal agencies under more direct White House control — a shift that has already upended longstanding U.S. political norms. Critics, however, warn that Blanche’s leadership aligns with what Democrats have labeled a Trump “retribution campaign” targeting the president’s political opponents. Blanche has also faced sustained criticism from survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who have condemned his oversight of the public release of investigative files tied to the case, given Epstein’s longstanding personal ties to Trump.

    The close final vote underscores the intense political sensitivity surrounding the nomination, which has renewed national debate over the separation of powers and the independence of the nation’s top law enforcement agency at the start of Trump’s second term.