Donald Trump has previewed a Republican strategy for the midterm elections, seizing on a progressive sweep in New York to portray Democrats as \u201cgodless communists\u201d who pose an existential threat to the nation.<\/p>\n
The US president, who was a child during the \u201cred scare\u201d, seized on wins by democratic socialists backed by the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, to stoke fears that the Democratic party has embraced extremism that could lead to the violent persecution of Christians.<\/p>\n On Friday, Trump was addressing religious conservatives at the Faith & Freedom Coalition\u2019s annual Road to Majority conference<\/a> at the Washington Hilton hotel. He described the election winners in New York as \u201cvery troubling people\u201d and claimed without evidence that they \u201cwant to destroy our country, and they hate our country and our people\u201d.<\/p>\n Republicans have spent months trailing in the polls as voters accuse Trump of breaking his campaign promises to lower prices and keep the US out of foreign wars. But party strategists believe they have spotted an opening in the rise of Mamdani, giving them an opportunity to tag the entire Democratic party with the most extreme views of the left.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Democratic party is in big trouble,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThis is not stopping with New York.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump attacks Democrats as \u2018godless communists\u2019 in test of midterms message<\/p>\n Preaching to a religious right audience on Friday, Trump emphasised: \u201cAll communists are godless. They do not believe in God \u2026 These ruthless communists attack all religions, but in particular Christianity. They always do. They\u2019re after Christianity more than any other religion.\u201d Trump noted the US military had intervened in Nigeria to save Christian populations who had been persecuted. Nigeria is not a communist country.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n US says it struck Iran targets after attack on cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n The US has struck Iran<\/a> in a tit-for-tat response to a drone strike on a cargo ship, as the ceasefire between the US and Iran that reopened the strait of Hormuz undergoes its greatest test yet.<\/p>\n The US strikes targeted multiple missile and drone facilities in Iran near the strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island on Friday in what appeared to be a limited strike meant to respond to Iran\u2019s attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship without escalating the conflict.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling classified information<\/p>\n John Bolton<\/a>, the former US national security adviser who became an arch-enemy of Donald Trump<\/a> after serving under him and then being fired, pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of mishandling classified information that could result in him going to prison.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Call for inquiry into Alligator Alcatraz\u2019s \u2018abuse of Everglades\u2019 despite closure<\/p>\n While they welcome the recent closure<\/a> of the controversial Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention center, leading environmental groups and their allies say they want an independent investigation into the environmental damage the facility inflicted on the surrounding wilderness during its 12 months of operations.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n FDA to discuss easing restrictions on peptides despite safety concerns<\/p>\n Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon hold a meeting about whether to ease restrictions on access to some research peptides, a group of drugs with a zealous following and thin evidence to support them.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n UN calls for \u2018prompt investigations\u2019 of deaths in US immigration custody<\/p>\n The United Nations<\/a> high commissioner for human rights, Volker T\u00fcrk, on Friday raised the alarm internationally about deaths in US government immigration custody and called for \u201cprompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations\u201d.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk\u2019s call came as the Trump administration<\/a> faced investigations by watchdogs at its own Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into deaths and use of force against people detained in its expanding immigration detention system across the country.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n What else happened today:<\/p>\n