标签： North America

On Monday evening, press freedom advocates condemned a new decision by the U.S. Department of Defense that marks the Pentagon’s on-site press office as a classified restricted area, barring journalists from the space they have used for decades to conduct open interviews with defense officials. Critics describe the move as an unprecedented new low in the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to stifle independent, objective journalism.

Currently, most military beat reporters are already barred from entering the Pentagon building entirely, as legal proceedings continue over the administration’s policy requiring all journalists to have a permanent government escort to move throughout the facility. The newly announced restriction will impose even tighter limits on access if reporters eventually win the right to re-enter: the public affairs officers tasked with updating the press and public on Defense Department activities will now be completely off-limits for unapproved in-person meetings in their core workspace.

Ben Grazda, advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders North America, explained that Pentagon reporters have relied on the on-site press office for multiple consecutive U.S. administrations. The space has long served as a hub for informal, on-the-record conversations with public affairs staff, enabling journalists to keep American citizens informed about the activities of the world’s most powerful military. Grazda criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him petulant for his prior failed attempt to force journalists to sign “loyalty pledges” to access the building, but emphasized that reporters will not back down from their mission. “Journalists will continue their tenacious reporting and hold the Pentagon accountable for the money, operations, and lives they impact every day,” Grazda said.

According to reporting from The Washington Post, the Pentagon will move speechwriters for senior defense leadership into the former press office space, which will be outfitted with SIPRNet, the secure classified network used to transmit sensitive government information.

Acting Defense Department press secretary Jose Valdez defended the decision on social media Monday, pushing back against criticism by repeating the administration’s claim that this is “the most transparent war department in history.” Valdez framed the redesignation as a logistical necessity, noting that speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (a title Hegseth prefers to “Secretary”) will share the facility. The Trump administration has long routinely criticized critical independent coverage as “Fake News,” a line of attack Valdez echoed in his statement.

Despite the Pentagon’s official justification, journalists and press freedom groups have decried the move as a blatant attack on transparency, with many describing the decision as “Orwellian.” Critics point out that the restriction comes at a highly sensitive moment: the U.S. is currently mediating negotiations to end the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran in February, a conflict that demands close public scrutiny.

The new policy also follows a separate recent controversy, first revealed by The New York Times, which reported that Hegseth blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who had already been vetted and selected by senior Navy leadership. Reporters and government ethics experts say the move appears to violate long-standing rules requiring the military promotion system to remain apolitical and based solely on merit.

Trip Gabriel, a New York Times reporter covering the Pentagon, framed the press office ban as a clear admission of political anxiety. “Banning journalists from the press office in the Pentagon, where they worked professionally in previous administrations, is simply a sign that current DOD leadership fears accountability,” Gabriel said.

This latest restriction is not an isolated change: it comes eight months after hundreds of journalists walked out of the Pentagon in protest of an earlier policy that barred reporters from seeking any information not pre-approved by the Trump administration. That policy was struck down as unlawful by a federal court earlier this year, but the administration has appealed the ruling to keep the restriction in place pending further legal review.

The National Press Club, one of the leading industry groups representing journalists in the U.S., called the newest policy “a remarkable and troubling escalation in the Defense Department’s ongoing effort to restrict independent reporting.”

Mark Schoeff Jr., president of the National Press Club and CQ Roll Call defense reporter, outlined the consistent pattern of escalating restrictions that preceded this decision. “This move does not occur in isolation. It follows a troubling pattern of escalating restrictions on Pentagon coverage, including efforts to limit journalists to pre-approved information, revoke credentials for routine reporting practices, and physically remove reporters from long-standing workspaces and access without an escort,” Schoeff explained.

Schoeff rejected the Pentagon’s claim that redesignating the press office as classified improves transparency. “Calling a press workspace ‘classified’ does not make the government more transparent. It creates yet another obstacle between journalists and the information Americans have a right to know, especially at a moment when the public needs clear, unfiltered information about the US military,” he said.

He closed with a warning about the long-term implications of eroding press access to government institutions. “Independent reporting on the US military is not optional. When journalists are pushed farther from the institutions they cover, the American people are left with less information, less transparency, and less oversight. Any effort to restrict that access should alarm everyone who values a free and informed society.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he will tap Bill Pulte, a sitting Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director from a prominent American homebuilding dynasty, to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) when current officeholder Tulsi Gabbard departs at the end of June. The unexpected pick, which puts a private equity financier with no documented professional background in national security or intelligence in charge of the U.S. intelligence community’s 18 member agencies, has quickly ignited fierce criticism from Democrats and raised quiet concerns among Republican lawmakers.

In an official announcement posted to his social media platform Tuesday, Trump lauded Pulte’s leadership of FHFA, the regulatory body that oversees government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which underpin liquidity in the U.S. housing market by purchasing and securitizing home loans. Trump highlighted Pulte’s stewardship of the more than $10 trillion in assets held by the two entities, a marked jump from levels 12 months prior. Under the acting appointment, Pulte will retain his existing roles as FHFA director and chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote in his post. “During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!”

Critics across the political spectrum have pushed back hard on the appointment, pointing to longstanding allegations that Pulte has already abused his regulatory authority at FHFA to target Trump’s political opponents through baseless mortgage fraud criminal referrals. Among the high-profile figures Pulte has targeted include California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and current Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. None of these referrals have resulted in criminal convictions, and the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office is already investigating whether Pulte altered FHFA’s internal investigation processes to enable these politically motivated probes. Pulte has also openly supported Trump’s efforts to oust sitting Federal Reserve leadership, aligning his regulatory work with the president’s policy and political goals.

Democratic leaders on the Senate Intelligence Committee were the first to condemn the move. “This appointment speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation’s top intelligence official,” said Senator Mark Warner, the committee’s top Democratic member. “Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution.”

Schiff, one of Pulte’s earlier targets, echoed that criticism in a post to X, writing that Pulte “politicized and weaponized the housing agencies and will do the same in the intelligence community.”

Even some congressional Republicans have expressed skepticism about Pulte’s qualifications. Texas Senator John Cornyn, who lost his 2026 Republican primary nomination after Trump endorsed his primary challenger, told reporters Wednesday: “I don’t see any evidence of his qualifications for that job, but I’m willing to listen.”

Under U.S. federal law, acting agency heads may only serve a maximum of 210 days without Senate confirmation. That timeline means Pulte’s acting appointment will automatically expire in late January 2027 if the Senate does not vote to confirm him to the permanent role.

One of Washington D.C.’s most high-profile annual journalistic traditions, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, will return this summer after a violent security incident in April cut the original gathering short. On the night of April 25, the event was already underway with top U.S. officials including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in attendance when a gunman attempted to force his way through an external security checkpoint, triggering a confrontation with U.S. Secret Service personnel. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was found to be carrying a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and multiple bladed weapons, according to law enforcement officials. In the exchange of fire that followed the breach attempt, one Secret Service agent sustained a shotgun wound, though the suspect was quickly subdued by on-site agents. Immediately after the incident, Trump and other senior leaders were urgently evacuated from the stage by security teams for their safety.

Weeks of logistical and security planning after the disruption have led the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) to formally announce a new date: July 24, to be hosted at the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Washington D.C. In a formal letter to WHCA members, association president Weijia Jiang confirmed that the rescheduled event will incorporate “significantly enhanced safety measures and revised entry protocols” to prevent similar disruptions. Jiang also noted that the organization has allocated additional weeks of fundraising to cover costs for ticket holders of the April event, so no re-payment will be required for those who already secured spots. The revised gathering will also be structured as a more intimate affair than the original planned event, and the WHCA is extending additional financial support to scholarship winners who need to travel back to Washington D.C. to attend.

President Trump has confirmed he will attend the rescheduled dinner, and has accepted an invitation to deliver remarks to the crowd. When discussing the planned speech, Trump teased that he had originally prepared pointed, critical comments for the April event, and has not yet decided whether to keep that original tone. “But we will soon find out,” he added in comments to reporters. Framing the decision to reschedule as a demonstration of resilience, Trump argued that the move sends a clear message that violent actors cannot disrupt core American traditions. “This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

An interesting contextual note on the venue: the Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C. has personal ties to the Trump family. More than a decade ago, the Trump Organization redeveloped the historic former U.S. Post Office headquarters into the Trump International Hotel, after securing a lease for the property in 2012 and opening the venue in 2016. The organization sold its lease interest in the property in 2022, after which it was rebranded as a Waldorf Astoria.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a long-running annual event that honors work by journalists covering the White House and presidency, and celebrates the principle of press freedom, a core tenet of U.S. democratic governance.

For nearly four months, Republican U.S. Representative Tom Kean Jr. has not been spotted publicly in either Washington D.C. or his home district in New Jersey. Despite this unprecedented public absence that has sparked national curiosity across the United States, political analysts and party insiders widely expect him to secure the Republican Party’s nomination for re-election in Tuesday’s primary contest, boosted by a full endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

In a social media post shared to his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump threw his full weight behind Kean’s re-election bid. “Tom Kean has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election,” the former president wrote, adding, “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump framed Kean as a committed champion of his right-wing America First policy agenda, falsely claiming the congressman is “working tirelessly” for his constituents even as Kean has not cast a congressional vote in months.

Kean is running unopposed in the Republican primary, meaning he has faced no pressure to hit the campaign trail or engage with voters to lock in the nomination. But public records confirm that he has missed more than 100 roll call votes on Capitol Hill since he was last seen publicly on March 5. Shortly after his final recorded vote in early March, congressional colleagues, state Republican Party officials, and national news outlets began raising questions about his whereabouts. Attempts to reach Kean via text message have gone unanswered, and formal requests for interviews with the congressman have also been ignored. One senior aide told The New York Times in a cryptic comment: “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”

In April, Kean’s office released a public statement acknowledging that the congressman was recovering from an unspecified medical issue. In the statement posted to the social platform X, Kean said his medical team had confirmed his recovery would be full, and that he expected to return to his congressional duties imminently. “My doctors continue to assure me that my recovery will be complete and that I will be back to the job I love very soon,” Kean said, adding “I expect to return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent.”

Nearly one month after that initial update, Kean participated in a remote telephone interview with the New Jersey Globe, a state-focused political news outlet. During that conversation, he reaffirmed that he planned to see his re-election bid through and return to public life once his recovery was complete. “I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents,” he said, telling the outlet he anticipated returning to congressional voting and in-person campaign events “in the next couple of weeks.” That timeline passed weeks ago, however, and as primary voters began casting ballots across his district on Tuesday, there were still no confirmed public sightings of Kean. The BBC has reached out to Kean’s congressional office for an updated comment on his status and whereabouts, but has not yet received a response.

Kean’s district is widely classified as a competitive swing seat, meaning it regularly alternates control between Republican and Democratic candidates following election cycles. The race for this district is considered a top priority for both national parties ahead of November’s general election: Republicans are desperate to hold the seat to maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, while Democrats have targeted it as a key pickup opportunity that could help them flip control of the chamber – and hand a high-profile defeat to Trump, who has staked political capital on supporting Kean.

Political observers note Trump’s decision to endorse Kean despite the ongoing mystery around his absence is entirely in line with the former president’s past endorsement strategy. Trump has regularly endorsed candidates facing controversy or questions about their conduct, prioritizing partisan loyalty over public accountability. If Kean secures the expected primary win on Tuesday, he will go on to face the Democratic Party’s general election nominee in November, in what is guaranteed to be one of the most closely watched House races of the 2026 cycle.

As a critical July 1 deadline for renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rapidly approaches, Canada has tabled a formal request to extend the landmark North American trade pact for 16 years, with its top trade envoy set to meet with U.S. trade officials in Washington on Tuesday to break a months-long deadlock in bilateral negotiations.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade, formally submitted the 16-year extension proposal in an official notice released Tuesday, framing the tripartite agreement as a mutually transformative framework that has delivered broad economic gains across all three North American nations. LeBlanc’s trip to the U.S. capital comes directly after U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wrapped up a fresh round of formal bilateral talks with Mexico, a negotiation process that has moved far faster than parallel discussions with Canada, where several core sticking points have kept the two sides far apart.

The primary flashpoints in the Canada-U.S. talks center on long-running sectoral tariff disputes, automotive regional content rules, agricultural market access, and lingering tensions tied to tariffs first imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly pushed for the elimination or reduction of existing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, automobiles and softwood lumber, a key Canadian export. But Greer has signaled that Washington is unlikely to fully remove these levies, and has pushed back against Canada over a series of ongoing trade irritants.

One major point of U.S. frustration stems from a decision by most Canadian provinces to pull American liquor off retail shelves in response to Trump’s original tariffs, a retaliatory move that Greer has highlighted as a key barrier to progress. Washington is also demanding expanded access to Canada’s tightly regulated dairy market, where Canada uses production quotas and import restrictions to protect its domestic dairy farming sector. Additionally, the U.S. is pushing to raise the required share of U.S.-sourced content in vehicles manufactured in North America to qualify for USMCA tariff-free treatment, a proposal that would tighten the existing rules of origin for the automotive sector.

Per Reuters reporting, the U.S. has proposed a mandate that at least 50 percent of a North American vehicle’s content be sourced from the United States during its talks with Mexico. Carney pushed back on this demand this week, noting that vehicles currently produced in Canada already contain a U.S. content share roughly equal to the 50 percent threshold the U.S. has proposed. In a speech in New York City last week, Carney framed a strong Canadian economy as a net benefit for U.S. growth, saying, “A strong Canada will help make America great again,” nodding to a well-known political slogan from Trump.

Domestically, Carney is facing mounting political pressure to wrap up a successful deal quickly, as the Conservative opposition has targeted the prime minister over Canada’s sluggish economic growth and elevated youth unemployment. On Tuesday morning, Conservative Member of Parliament Jasraj Singh Hallan used a press conference to attack Carney, calling the prime minister a “grand illusionist” who has failed to deliver on his campaign promises to boost Canadian economic growth. Hallan demanded the government outline a clear plan to move negotiations forward.

Greer has previously blamed the slow pace of Canada-U.S. talks on Canada’s decision to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, a step Mexico opted not to take. “Two countries in the world retaliated against us: The People’s Republic of China and Canada,” Greer told reporters last week. “So they’re just in a different spot, and it’s hard to see necessarily where that ends.”

If all three member nations fail to reach an agreement to extend the full USMCA by July 1, the pact will default to annual renewal cycles, a status that will continue through 2036 unless a new long-term extension is approved. The upcoming talks between LeBlanc and Greer are widely seen as a critical test of whether a long-term deal can be reached before the deadline, with economic implications for trade, manufacturing and employment across North America.

Four decades after he first rose to infamy as one of reality television’s most iconic antagonists on 2000s MTV hit *The Hills*, 42-year-old Spencer Pratt is trading on-camera drama for city hall politics, mounting a surprisingly competitive bid to become the next mayor of Los Angeles – America’s second-largest city.

A lifelong Republican and political outsider, Pratt launched his campaign in January 2026, and in the months since, his unexpected rise in pre-election polling has turned him from a novelty candidate into a serious contender ahead of Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary election. Under LA’s primary rules, all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation; any candidate who secures 50% plus one of the vote wins outright, while the top two finishers advance to a November general election if no candidate hits the majority threshold.

A new UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday puts Pratt in a dead-heat three-way contest with the two leading Democratic incumbents: current mayor Karen Bass and city councilmember Nithya Raman. The poll of likely voters shows Bass holding a narrow 1% lead at 26% support, with Raman trailing at 25% and Pratt close behind at 22% – out of a field of more than 36 total candidates. What makes Pratt’s performance even more striking is his dominance in campaign fundraising: between April 19 and May 16, he raised $2.7 million (roughly £2 million), nearly 10 times Bass’s haul in the same window and seven times what Raman collected.

Pratt’s rapid traction in the deep-blue city has been fueled by a savvy social media strategy that has turned his outsider brand into viral content. His TikTok rants, reposted AI-generated clips mocking his opponents, and attention-grabbing campaign adverts have earned him widespread mainstream attention far beyond his existing reality TV fanbase. His campaign has already moved to quash persistent rumors that a new reality show documenting his political run is in the works if he wins election. Echoing the “Make America Great Again” rhetoric that defined fellow reality star-turned-politician Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential run, Pratt’s campaign centers on a pledge to “get the golden age of Los Angeles back.”

The catalyst for Pratt’s entry into the race came one year prior, when he lost his Pacific Palisades home in the 2025 LA wildfires – one of the most destructive and deadly wildfire seasons in the region’s history. Much of his campaign messaging centers on the city’s ongoing response to climate-driven disasters, where he has repeatedly accused Bass of mismanaging the 2025 fire crisis and failing to support affected residents. Beyond wildfire policy, Pratt has campaigned on a platform of fixing what he frames as a “broken Los Angeles,” highlighting public safety, urban cleanliness, and pushing for mandatory drug treatment programs as part of a broader plan to address the city’s ongoing homelessness crisis.

Despite his strong polling and fundraising, political analysts warn Pratt faces a steep uphill climb to win the general election. Los Angeles has not been led by a Republican mayor since 2001, marking a 25-year streak of Democratic control of city hall. UCLA political psychology professor Efrén Pérez notes that Pratt’s base and policy platform remain narrow, rooted largely in the experience of the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood where he resided before the 2025 fires. “That wealthy slice of LA is not representative of the entire city,” Pérez explained, though he acknowledged that Pratt’s advocacy for fire-affected communities holds inherent validity.

Pratt’s leading opponents have launched sharp attacks on his lack of governing experience ahead of the primary. “It’s not just that he has no experience in city government. I don’t know that he’s ever held a job in his life other than to be a reality TV star,” Bass told supporters at a Monday campaign event, arguing that Pratt lacks understanding of city issues and is campaigning out of anger rather than a coherent policy vision. Raman has gone further, labeling Pratt an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and arguing he “is not offering a realistic solution” to LA’s most pressing challenges.

Pratt has pushed back on these criticisms, leaning into his outsider status. “I may not have the experience, but I have the common sense to say this is not working,” he said in a recent interview.

Pratt first became a household name alongside his wife Heidi Montag, who he met during his time on *The Hills*, the hit MTV spin-off of Laguna Beach that catapulted both to fame in 2007. His on-screen persona – a dramatic, abrasive villain who fueled conflict and spread rumors – made him one of the show’s most talked-about cast members. After *The Hills* wrapped its original run in 2010, Pratt went on to appear on multiple other reality programs including *Celebrity Big Brother* and *I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!*, and launched an online e-commerce business selling crystals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, though he has never held public office.

USC entertainment, media and society professor Marty Kaplan argues that Pratt’s background gives him a unique advantage in a modern political landscape that has increasingly blurred the line between entertainment and governance. California has a long history of celebrity politicians turning entertainment fame into electoral success, from actor Ronald Reagan who went on to become governor and president, to action star Arnold Schwarzenegger who served two terms as California governor. Donald Trump, the most recent high-profile example, parlayed *The Apprentice* fame into the presidency.

“The audience has now been accustomed to want to be entertained,” Kaplan explained. “A candidate who can have a story that makes you want to know what happens next, and who delivers sure-fire twists and turns and thrills, that’s what we want.” By contrast, Kaplan noted, Bass – a longtime community organizer and seasoned politician with deep roots in LA – “is just not as entertaining” as Pratt. “What seems to matter now is almost exclusively, ‘will you promise not to bore me?’” he said.

That entertainment background has earned Pratt a notable endorsement from the former president himself. When asked about Pratt’s campaign during a recent reporter Q&A, Trump said: “I’d like to see him do well. He’s a character. I heard he’s a big Maga person. He’s doing well.” Whether Trump’s backing will help or hurt Pratt in deep-blue Los Angeles, where nearly 65% of county voters backed Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, remains to be seen. Pratt himself has sought to distance his campaign from national partisan fights to appeal to cross-party voters.

Like Trump’s first 2016 presidential bid, Pratt’s campaign is rooted in anti-establishment protest, Kaplan noted. As a political outsider who has never held office, he “therefore isn’t tainted by experience” – though that cuts both ways. “Unfortunately, that also may mean that he’s not tainted by competence, and voters may be more interested in casting a protest vote against the problems they see… it is a way of saying to the establishment ‘you’re fired,’” Kaplan said.

Pérez added that Pratt’s celebrity status gives him an inherent advantage that lesser-known outsider candidates rarely get: immediate name recognition and the ability to draw large donations from supporters. Even so, he warns that campaigning is very different from governing. “There’s a big leap, massively, between running for office and campaigning, and all the glitter that comes with it, and then getting your hands dirty for the long haul,” he said.

As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, all eyes will be on whether the former reality TV villain can pull off one of the biggest political upsets in recent California history.