Global Pulse

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  • Hungary’s Orbán says ‘complete renewal’ needed within his party after election loss

    Hungary’s Orbán says ‘complete renewal’ needed within his party after election loss

    BUDAPEST, Hungary – Four days after a historic electoral earthquake brought an abrupt end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 consecutive years as Hungary’s prime minister, the long-serving populist nationalist leader announced Thursday that his ruling Fidesz party must undergo a complete organizational and ideological renewal to remain a relevant force in Hungarian politics. The landslide defeat handed a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority to Orbán’s center-right challenger, the Tisza party, led by former Orbán ally Péter Magyar, who has already begun moving quickly to form a new government.

    The scale of Fidesz’s loss triggered immediate widespread speculation that Orbán, who has served as Fidesz’s party president almost continuously since the early 1990s, would step down from his leadership post. But in an exclusive interview with a pro-Orbán YouTube channel, Orbán made clear he has no intention of exiting the political stage, saying he is already working to rebuild the party from the ground up.

    “This is not a matter of swapping out one or two positions,” Orbán explained. “In its old form, the Hungarian right-wing community can no longer function. We need a complete renewal.” He added that the election result marked the close of an entire political era, one defined by his populist nationalist leadership that upended Hungarian democratic norms and strained Budapest’s ties with the European Union and NATO.

    Sunday’s poll delivered a stunning rebuke of Orbán, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who publicly acknowledged defeat just hours after polls closed, describing the outcome as “painful.” Orbán opened up about his personal reaction to the loss Thursday, saying election night sent him on an “emotional roller coaster” that left him feeling “pain and emptiness” in the aftermath. “I too believed we would win,” he said. “We had large crowds of supporters everywhere, and I expected victory.”

    Even in defeat, however, Orbán pushed back against narratives that Fidesz has been fully rejected by the Hungarian public, pointing out that the party retained a solid core of support: nearly 2.4 million Hungarians cast ballots for Fidesz in the country of 9.5 million people. “We cannot pretend the entire country rejected our government,” he noted.

    Magyar, who defected from Orbán’s circle to launch an anti-corruption campaign focused on pocketbook issues including failing public health care and inadequate public transport, has moved swiftly to cement his transition to power. He has pledged to repair Hungary’s frayed relationships with EU institutions and NATO, a key foreign policy shift from Orbán’s confrontational, Euroskeptic course. Following a private meeting with Hungary’s sitting president on Wednesday, Magyar told reporters he had received confirmation that the inaugural session of the new parliament – where he is all but certain to be confirmed as prime minister – will likely be held on May 6 or 7, matching his push for an accelerated transfer of power.

  • Chinese study sheds light on Kawasaki disease treatment

    Chinese study sheds light on Kawasaki disease treatment

    For nearly 20 years, the global medical community has been locked in a contentious debate over whether adjunct hormone therapy can cut the risk of dangerous cardiovascular complications in children with Kawasaki disease, a poorly understood systemic vasculitis that disproportionately affects young kids. Now, a landmark five-year clinical study led by Shanghai’s Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, in partnership with 28 additional medical institutions across China, has delivered a clear, data-backed answer that is reshaping clinical guidelines worldwide.

    Kawasaki disease, which triggers inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, is diagnosed annually in 1 out of every 1,000 children under age 4 in China, and incidence rates are rising across East Asia, the region with the world’s highest prevalence of the condition. While a standard international treatment protocol exists, 10 to 20 percent of patients still develop coronary artery lesions — the disease’s most life-threatening complication — and 0.5 to 1 percent of treated children develop giant coronary artery aneurysms that compromise long-term health and survival. For decades, researchers have searched for additional therapies to improve outcomes, leading to conflicting investigations into the benefits of hormone therapy to reduce inflammation. Past studies were limited by small sample sizes, inconsistent hormone dosing protocols, and heterogeneous patient populations, leaving clinicians around the world with conflicting guidance and widespread uncertainty in daily practice.

    Launched in 2021, this new multicenter randomized controlled trial — the largest study of its kind ever conducted globally — enrolled more than 3,200 participants, with 3,058 patients completing full follow-up for the study’s primary endpoint. Researchers compared rates of coronary artery complications between patients who received hormone therapy alongside standard treatment and those who received standard treatment alone, assessing outcomes at two weeks, one month, and three months after disease onset. The trial found no statistically significant difference in coronary artery lesion rates between the two groups. Even more critically, the research revealed that for patients who do not respond to initial standard treatment, adding hormone therapy actually increases the risk of developing coronary complications.

    The study’s findings were published online Thursday in the *New England Journal of Medicine*, one of the world’s most prestigious general medical publications. Global medical experts have hailed the research as a transformative contribution to Kawasaki disease care, noting that it will immediately cut unnecessary hormone overuse in treatment, while providing a critical foundation for future research into targeted therapies.

    Jane W. Newburger, a leading U.S. cardiologist specializing in pediatric cardiovascular disease, emphasized that future research must move beyond broad anti-inflammatory approaches like hormone therapy to identify the specific biological drivers of tissue-level inflammation, which will enable development of targeted treatments for children at highest risk of life-threatening complications.

    Wang Yi, president of the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, noted that the landmark findings will open new avenues of investigation into Kawasaki disease. The hospital treats more than 7,000 international pediatric patients annually, most with complex, life-threatening conditions, and Wang added that leading high-impact research like this trial will advance clinical practice globally, strengthen medical discipline development, and support Shanghai’s growing role as an international medical hub.

    The study addresses a longstanding gap in global pediatric care, offering clarity that will immediately improve clinical decision-making and set the trajectory for the next generation of life-saving treatments for this high-stakes childhood disease.

  • Shanxi strengthens guarantees for intangible cultural heritage

    Shanxi strengthens guarantees for intangible cultural heritage

    China’s northern province of Shanxi has introduced a revised set of regulatory frameworks to strengthen protections and promote sustainable development of its rich intangible cultural heritage (ICH), authorities announced Wednesday at a press conference held in the provincial capital Taiyuan.

    Comprising 36 articles, the updated policy enshrines a core guiding principle: “protection first, priority on rescue, rational utilization, and continuous inheritance and development.” The new rules mandate that all county-level and higher regional governments establish dedicated cross-departmental coordination mechanisms, reinforcing systemic support for the conservation of the province’s centuries-old cultural assets.

    Shanxi first pioneered ICH protection legislation in China back in 2012, emerging as one of the first provincial-level administrations to roll out specialized local regulations for the sector. However, Wang Biao, deputy director of the education, science, culture, and health working committee of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress, noted that shifting economic and social landscapes have rendered the original regulatory framework outdated, unable to address the evolving demands of modern ICH preservation work. The 2026 revisions, he explained, codify the practical experience and progress accumulated across the province over the past 14 years, positioning Shanxi to develop into a vibrant, nationally recognized cultural tourism destination.

    Sun Jiangang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress, added that the revised rules place targeted focus on protecting ICH projects that encapsulate Shanxi’s unique cultural identity, including regional operas, traditional folk songs and dances, and local culinary traditions that have been passed down through generations.

    Zhang Zhiren, Party group member and deputy director of Shanxi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, outlined the sector-specific plans tied to the new regulations. Moving forward, the province will continue scaling up promotion of two flagship cultural tourism initiatives: the “Travel with Intangible Cultural Heritage” brand and the “Shanxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Good Products” program, which brings traditional handicrafts to wider domestic and global markets.

    The revised regulations were formally approved during the 27th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress, and are scheduled to take legal effect starting June 1, 2026. Currently, Shanxi is home to 182 national-level representative ICH projects and 198 national-level recognized inheritors — both figures rank third among all provincial-level administrative regions in China, underscoring the province’s status as a major cradle of Chinese traditional culture.

  • Benin court confirms Finance Minister Romauld Wadagni’s election as next president

    Benin court confirms Finance Minister Romauld Wadagni’s election as next president

    COTONOU, Benin — Benin’s highest constitutional judicial body has formalized the landslide presidential election win of the country’s long-serving Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, wrapping up the initial vote counting process for the West African nation’s weekend poll.

    The 49-year-old candidate, widely recognized as a close political protégé of outgoing two-term President Patrice Talon, secured a commanding 94.27% of the valid ballots cast across the country, according to the official declaration released by the Constitutional Court Thursday. His sole challenger, independent opposition candidate Paul Hounkpè, took just 5.73% of the total vote. Turnout for the election reached 63.57%, a figure that aligns with pre-election projections, court officials confirmed.

    Under Benin’s electoral rules, the opposition candidate now holds a five-day window to submit any formal appeals to the Constitutional Court before the body publishes the final, legally binding election results. The outcome had been widely predicted by regional political analysts for weeks, who noted that Wadagni’s unassailable lead was all but guaranteed by the full backing of Talon, who is stepping down after a decade in national leadership.

    The election has not been without controversy, however. Talon’s administration has faced repeated international and domestic criticism over accusations of systematic opposition restrictions in the lead-up to the vote. Most notably, Renaud Agbodjo, leader of the Democrats — Benin’s largest registered opposition bloc — was barred from running for failing to meet new eligibility requirements that demand parliamentary backing for presidential candidates. Opposition figures argue the regulation was explicitly crafted to exclude major challengers from the ballot, creating an uneven electoral playing field.

    As Wadagni prepares to take office, he will immediately inherit a set of pressing national security and governance challenges. Northern Benin has grappled with a growing Islamist insurgency linked to regional extremist groups, which has displaced thousands of civilians and strained the country’s security forces. In addition, just last year, a faction of military personnel carried out a failed coup attempt aimed at ousting Talon, highlighting underlying instability within the country’s security establishment that the new president will need to address.

  • Weekly quiz: What did Trump say about the Pope?

    Weekly quiz: What did Trump say about the Pope?

    As another week of global events draws to a close, several high-profile developments have dominated headlines across the world, even as many other stories have flown under the radar of public attention. Among the most widely covered incidents this week, a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran has managed to hold, despite escalating tensions that followed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s public vow to enforce a full blockade of the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. Across the globe in Oceania, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, carried out an official visit to Australia, drawing widespread public and media interest during their trip. In a more unusual small-scale story that made headlines nonetheless, a single pair of trainers from budget retail chain Primark played an unexpected key role in securing the conviction and imprisonment of a burglary ring that had been operating in the region. With so many breaking developments unfolding across the world every week, it is easy for even engaged news consumers to miss key details of major stories. Compiled by editor Ben Fell, this weekly news quiz offers readers a chance to test just how closely they have followed this week’s most notable events. For readers eager to put their news knowledge to the test beyond this week’s round of questions, additional quizzes are available to access, including last week’s quiz and a full archive of past weekly quizzes covering previous months of global events.

  • Australia’s ‘top dogs’ awarded after helping intercept 45,000 items at airports, seaports

    Australia’s ‘top dogs’ awarded after helping intercept 45,000 items at airports, seaports

    Australia’s unsung four-legged border protectors have received national recognition for their extraordinary, life-saving work shielding the country’s unique ecosystems and agricultural industries from invasive pests and dangerous foreign diseases. Each year, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry honors the highest-performing detection dogs across the nation’s network of entry ports, and the 2025 awards celebrated a standout cohort of canines that helped stop tens of thousands of risky goods from reaching Australian soil.

    Leading the pack of 2025 honorees was Ghost, a four-year-old Labrador retriever stationed at Adelaide’s ports of entry, who claimed the coveted 2025 Biosecurity Top Dog title. In a single year, Ghost and his two handlers, Jade and Rebecca, notched an impressive 3,202 detections of biosecurity risk items — a new annual record for the program. The team’s seizures included a wide range of prohibited goods, from nearly 7 kilograms of fresh cassava tubers and 36 whole cassava plants to contraband food items such as lotus seeds, fresh bamboo shoots, duck eggs, sesame seeds, cured salami, and even a slice of pizza that posed hidden contamination risks.

    A second four-year-old detection dog, Quatro based in Brisbane, took home the title of Australia’s Most Versatile Biosecurity Detection Dog for 2025. Working alongside his handler Steph, Quatro intercepted 1,431 high-risk items, covering a broader range of commodity types than any other dog in the national program this year, proving his adaptability across changing screening environments.

    For first-year detection dogs, the 2025 Rookie of the Year award went to Clyde, a Brisbane-based canine who has only two years of life experience and less than 12 months on the job. Even as a newcomer to the frontline, Clyde and his handler Dennis recorded 829 confirmed risk detections in 2025, putting his performance on par with many veteran members of the detection dog team.

    Across the entire national detection dog program in 2025, all teams combined helped flag more than 45,000 high-risk items that could have carried devastating exotic pests or diseases into Australia. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins emphasized that these canine teams are an irreplaceable, critical component of the country’s frontline biosecurity defense, protecting both native biodiversity and the $100 billion Australian agricultural sector that relies on strict biosecurity controls to maintain market access.

    “Congratulations to Ghost, Quatro and Clyde and all of their skilled handlers for your amazing contribution to Australian biosecurity in 2025,” Minister Collins said at the awards ceremony. “Maintaining constant biosecurity vigilance is critical to keeping our borders open for trade and travel, and our detector dog teams are a core part of that responsibility. Australia’s strong biosecurity system, its highly skilled officers and hardworking detection dog teams are always at the ready to stop threats before they enter the country.”

    Detection dogs are deployed at every major port of entry across Australia, from international airports to seaports, international mail processing centers and border crossings. They are trained to sniff out a wide range of prohibited items that human screeners might miss, providing a fast, non-intrusive screening tool that enhances the efficiency of border operations.

    Since 2022, the Australian federal government has invested more than $2 billion into strengthening the national biosecurity system, a portion of which has gone toward expanding the detection dog program by adding 20 new canines and their dedicated full-time handlers to meet growing demand as international travel and trade volumes return to pre-pandemic levels.

  • The informant earned millions working for the DEA. He paid no taxes.

    The informant earned millions working for the DEA. He paid no taxes.

    A decades-long confidential informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who partied across the globe with rogue agency agents has escaped prison time after pleading guilty to failing to pay income taxes on nearly $4 million earned through his undercover work.

    Andres Zapata, 48, received a sentence of time served during a Wednesday hearing in Austin, Texas, according to two anonymous sources with knowledge of the ongoing investigation who spoke to the Associated Press. The sentence was granted in exchange for Zapata’s ongoing cooperation with a 10-year federal inquiry that has already linked multiple DEA agents to professional misconduct.

    Zapata, a Colombian national, was extradited to the United States from his home country last year. He had long worked closely with José Irizarry, a former DEA agent currently serving a 12-year prison sentence. Irizarry was convicted of siphoning millions of dollars from money laundering operations to pay for lavish international travel, high-end sports cars, and excessive, party-focused trips that violated agency policy.

    Court documents confirm that between 2015 and 2020 alone, the DEA paid Zapata — a professional money launderer working as a confidential informant — $3.8 million for his services. He entered a guilty plea to a single count of income tax non-reporting last July. While DEA rules require all informants to report their informant payments to the Internal Revenue Service, prosecutions for this violation are extremely uncommon.

    Neither the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division, which handled the prosecution, nor the DEA offered immediate public comment on the sentencing outcome.

    Zapata’s defense attorney, Don Bailey, argued during the sentencing that prosecuting a cooperating informant for this offense was highly irregular. Bailey noted that unlike standard contractors, informants do not receive standard tax reporting forms such as 1099s or W-9s, leaving many uncertain of their tax obligations. “You don’t know what you owe. You sign a piece of paper for money. You don’t get receipts,” Bailey explained in court, adding that Zapata had put his life at risk to help U.S. law enforcement disrupt violent drug cartel operations and had no intent to violate tax law.

    During the hearing, Zapata told U.S. District Judge David Ezra that he was eager to close this chapter of his life, having already spent more than a year in a high-security prison outside his hometown of Medellín while awaiting extradition. “I’ve learned my lesson,” Zapata stated, per a transcript of the proceeding.

    Judge Ezra, who praised Zapata for his consistent, substantial cooperation with federal investigators, sentenced him to credit for time already served while in Colombian custody. He also ordered Zapata to pay $1.2 million in restitution to cover the tax revenue lost to the U.S. government, and denied the AP’s request to unseal the full sentencing records.

    Internal DEA records reviewed by the AP show the agency first recruited Zapata as an informant back in 1998. At the time, he was working as a vacuum salesman, and his recruitment came after his brother-in-law was arrested on drug trafficking charges. Over the following 20-plus years, Zapata rose to become one of the DEA’s most active informants, organizing covert cash collections and supporting investigations stretching from Peru to Los Angeles. In total, he earned more than $4.6 million in payments from the agency over his career.

    Beyond providing investigative tips, Zapata accompanied rogue agents and even some prosecutors from Miami on international trips that Irizarry later called a “world debauchery tour” — events that flagrantly violated DEA rules prohibiting inappropriate close relationships between agents and informants.

    A private WhatsApp chat used by the agents to document their three-continent trips details Zapata’s role in arranging for sex workers and bailing members of what Irizarry called “Team America” out of trouble. In one 2018 incident, Zapata was in Madrid drinking with a DEA agent who was briefly detained on allegations of sexual assault against a local woman.

    Irizarry has told investigators that Zapata regularly kicked back a portion of his informant payments to corrupt agents. He recalled one incident where Zapata arrived at his Colombian apartment with a bag holding $40,000 in cash — money Irizarry used to purchase a Tiffany engagement ring for his wife.

    Court allegations also name Zapata as a middleman for illegal payments Irizarry admitted receiving from Diego Marin, known as Colombia’s “Contraband Czar,” who was himself once a DEA informant. Marin was arrested in Spain earlier this year as part of a large Colombian bribery probe. Video obtained by the AP shows Zapata and Marin partying with DEA agents at a Madrid restaurant together.

    Reporting for this story was contributed by Mustian from Natchitoches, Louisiana.

  • Starmer faces calls to resign as UK government admits ambassador to US failed vetting process

    Starmer faces calls to resign as UK government admits ambassador to US failed vetting process

    LONDON – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to step down this week after a bombshell revelation: senior Labour figure Peter Mandelson, his pick for UK ambassador to the United States who was later fired over deep ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was originally denied formal security clearance for the sensitive diplomatic role. The Guardian first broke the story of the rejected vetting application, which senior officials later overruled to clear Mandelson’s path to Washington.

    Downing Street confirmed Thursday that Starmer only learned of the Foreign Office’s override of the initial security vetting decision earlier this week, contradicting months of the prime minister’s public assertions that full, proper protocol was followed during Mandelson’s appointment process. Starmer, who appointed Mandelson to the coveted Washington post in late 2024, has maintained that the former Labour cabinet minister deliberately lied about the full scope of his connections to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while serving a sentence for child sex trafficking. A government spokesperson stated that once Starmer received the new information, he immediately ordered senior civil servants to launch a full inquiry into why the final developed security clearance was ultimately granted, with plans to update the House of Commons on findings in the coming days.

    Opposition leaders have quickly seized on the revelation to demand Starmer’s resignation, arguing that his repeated claims of following proper vetting procedure amount to misleading Parliament and the British public. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, told reporters Thursday that Starmer has now entered “definitely in resigning territory”, while Ed Davey, head of the centrist Liberal Democrats, echoed the call, saying Starmer “must go” if it is confirmed he misled the public and lawmakers. Multiple linked reports have also confirmed that Starmer was warned as early as the appointment process that naming Mandelson, a known close associate of Epstein, would carry severe “reputational risk” for his government.

    The scandal marks the most severe test of Starmer’s premiership since February, when the U.S. Department of Justice released millions of pages of court documents tied to Epstein’s conviction, laying bare the full extent of Mandelson’s longstanding personal and professional ties to the disgraced financier. Among the most damaging disclosures from the so-called Epstein Files were 2009 emails showing Mandelson, who served in a previous Labour government, passed sensitive, potentially market-moving confidential government information to Epstein. Both Starmer and the Labour Party have faced widespread criticism for overlooking these red flags to appoint Mandelson, who was seen as a skilled trade negotiator capable of striking a favorable post-Brexit trade deal with the then-U.S. Trump administration. That gamble initially appeared to pay off, when the two countries finalized a bilateral trade agreement just months after Mandelson took office, but the scandal has since overshadowed that policy win.

    Starmer has issued multiple public apologies to the British public and to Epstein’s trafficking victims, saying he regrets trusting what he now calls “Mandelson’s lies” about the extent of the relationship. Starmer fired Mandelson from the ambassador post in September 2025, after initial disclosures about his ongoing ties to Epstein emerged.

    The controversy has also spawned a formal criminal investigation by British law enforcement. Officers executed search warrants at Mandelson’s two homes in London and western England earlier this year, and arrested him on February 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released on bail the next morning after more than nine hours of questioning, and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, with no formal charges filed to date. Just days before Mandelson’s arrest, Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s younger brother and another close Epstein associate, was arrested on the same misconduct charge.

    Parliament has recently forced the Starmer government to commit to releasing a full cache of additional documents tied to Mandelson’s appointment and vetting process, which officials have agreed to publish in the coming weeks. The unfolding scandal has thrown Starmer’s leadership into question just over a year into his premiership, with opposition parties already preparing to table a motion of no confidence if the prime minister refuses to launch an independent inquiry into the appointment process.

  • Calls for UK PM to resign over ex-envoy’s failed vetting

    Calls for UK PM to resign over ex-envoy’s failed vetting

    Growing political pressure is bearing down on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as opposition leaders ramp up calls for his resignation following confirmation that former US ambassador Peter Mandelson — a close associate of disgraced late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — failed an initial national security background check before taking up the post.

    The controversy has plagued Starmer’s Labour government since Mandelson was fired from the ambassador role last year, just months after his appointment, when newly unearthed documents from a U.S. congressional committee exposed the far deeper extent of his long-standing ties to Epstein, a convicted financier who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. Since his dismissal, questions have continuously swirled around Starmer’s judgment in pushing forward with the high-profile diplomatic appointment.

    Those questions erupted into fresh demands for Starmer to step down this week after The Guardian published an investigation revealing Mandelson failed his initial security vetting, a finding later officially confirmed by the UK government. Opposition leaders across the political spectrum have united in condemnation, with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch taking to social media platform X to accuse Starmer of betraying UK national security and insisting he must leave office. Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, added that if Starmer misled Parliament and the British public about the vetting process, he has no choice but to resign.

    In response to the scandal, Starmer has pushed back by blaming Mandelson, claiming the former ambassador lied about the full scope of his connections to Epstein during the vetting process. A government spokesperson has clarified that senior Foreign Office officials made the final call to approve Mandelson’s appointment over the formal objection of UK Security Vetting, the body responsible for conducting national security background checks. Critically, the spokesperson added that neither Prime Minister Starmer nor Foreign Secretary David Lammy were aware that the initial vetting had failed until earlier this week. The vetting body’s negative recommendation, they noted, is non-binding, leaving final approval authority with ministry officials.

    The timeline of Starmer’s previous statements has added fuel to opposition criticism: back in February, the prime minister told Parliament Mandelson had been fully cleared by security vetting. One month later, his government released 150 pages of documents detailing the vetting process carried out ahead of Mandelson’s 2024 appointment.

    Beyond the political fallout over the botched appointment, Mandelson now faces a formal police investigation into allegations of official misconduct. He was arrested and released on bail in February, with detectives probing claims he leaked sensitive government documents related to the 2008 global financial crisis to Epstein during his time as a UK cabinet minister decades ago.

  • Is Trump meeting the moment for US conservatives?

    Is Trump meeting the moment for US conservatives?

    At the largest annual gathering of conservative activists and leaders in the United States, the BBC set out to answer a pressing question facing the modern American right: Does former President Donald Trump truly meet the defining political and policy challenges of the moment for U.S. conservatives?

    The event, which draws thousands of movement leaders, grassroots organizers, and elected officials from across the country, served as the ideal backdrop to probe how Trump’s core stances align with the priorities of the conservative base. To get on-the-ground insight, BBC correspondents spoke directly to dozens of Trump’s supporters in attendance, asking for their views on three of the most contentious issues shaping U.S. conservative politics today: tensions with Iran, the state of the domestic economy, and immigration policy.

    These three topics have long been fault lines in American conservative politics, and they remain central to debates over the direction of the Republican Party heading into upcoming electoral cycles. For many conservatives, evaluating how Trump addresses these issues is key to determining whether he is the right standard-bearer for the movement moving forward. The on-the-record conversations with attendees at this major conservative convening offered unfiltered insight into how the president’s backers believe he measures up to the challenges that matter most to the right.