Trump news at a glance: EU could respond to ‘unjustified’ US visa bans, official says | Trump administration

EU leaders condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ intensifies

Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and a group of European officials joined the French president in condemning the decision.

The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), as well as four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the United Kingdom.

The DSA is seen by Washington as a form of censorship as European leaders say the regulations are necessary to control hate speech, but the conflict threatens to become part of a much broader cultural and political conflict between Donald Trump’s administration and Europe.

_{Read the full story}

US Justice Department says it may take ‘a few more weeks’ to process 1 million more Epstein documents for release

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI have told it they have discovered more than a million additional documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case and that processing them for release could take “a few more weeks.”

Over the weekend, victims were outraged and faced legal threats over the limited initial release of Epstein’s files, despite the law requiring full disclosure of all Epstein files by December 19.

_{Read the full story}

Federal judge blocks White House cut in state homeland security funding

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal Homeland Security funding, including disaster funding, for states that fail to comply with immigration enforcement policies.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy of Rhode Island, a Trump appointee in 2018, ruled Monday that the latest case was “yet another example” of the Trump administration linking state and local government aid to its immigration crackdown.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would appeal the latest decision.

_{Read the full story}

Trump approves deployment of 350 National Guard members to New Orleans

The Trump administration is deploying 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans before the new year, launching another federal deployment to the city just as a Border Patrol-led immigration crackdown is underway.

_{Read the full story}

What else happened today:

• Palau to welcome up to 75 US migrants in exchange for additional aidafter the small Pacific island nation signed a memorandum of understanding with Washington on the transfer of third-country nationals.

• Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio sued Donald Trump on Monday to demand his name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. in Washington DC. A White House spokesperson said in a statement that Trump had “stepped up and saved the old Kennedy Center.”

• Donald Trump’s recent assertions that the United States should block Venezuelan oil from seized tankers are part of a broader belief in right-wing “resource imperialism.” say the experts. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stepped up pressure on Venezuela, citing allegations of drug trafficking. Critics have compared the offensive to the Iraq War, citing a familiar mix of regime change rhetoric, security pretexts and oil interests.