Trump's USA

President's health
Trump after health check: "Everything was perfect"

Donald Trump has undergone his annual health check, US media reports. "Everything was perfect," Trump writes on his social media Truth Social.

Rumors have circulated about Trump's health because he sometimes seemed sleepy and had dark bruises on one hand, writes NBC. The White House spokesman has commented that the bruises were due to shaking hands with so many people, and Trump himself has said that he fell asleep because he was bored.

The president's doctor said after last year's check that the president's health is excellent and that his days include "numerous meetings and appearances, interviews and many golf victories," according to a press release from the White House.

The 79-year-old is the oldest president-elect in the United States, writes The Guardian.

Midterm elections in the USA
Flattery flows around Trump – every sixth sentence is praise

Loyalty seems to be playing an increasingly important role in Donald Trump's inner circle. The New York Times writes after reviewing dozens of hours of filmed cabinet meetings from the president's second term.

The newspaper describes the meetings as a scene where ministers and top executives give Trump credit for everything from the economy to world politics — while attacking political opponents.

According to the analysis, approximately every sixth sentence contained either praise for Trump, attacks on opponents or claims about the president's decisive role in various successes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is singled out as particularly loyal with statements such as:

- The world owes you a debt of gratitude.

Vice President JD Vance instead focused mainly on attacks on Democrats.

Many of the statements were exaggerated or lacked factual support, the newspaper writes.

The difference from Trump's first term is described as clear. At that time, there were several high-ranking aides who openly opposed the president's impulses.

The Congressional Map Debate
Double setback for Trump in the war over the electoral maps

The electoral districts in the states of Alabama and South Carolina may not be redrawn in favor of the Republicans. This is what a court in Alabama and the state congress in South Carolina have decided, AFP reports. This means double setbacks for Donald Trump's strategy to secure a Republican majority in the fall's midterm elections.

The Republicans have taken the initiative to redraw electoral districts in places where they are leading to protect their congressional majority, and the Democrats have responded with the same coin where they are strong.

In South Carolina, the primary elections had already begun on Tuesday when a proposal to redraw the electoral districts was taken up by the state senate. Several Republicans voted against the proposal.

-Neither my conscience nor my common sense allows me to stop an election that has already begun, says Republican state senator Richard Cash to CNN.

In Alabama, the court blocked the Republican-proposed electoral map, ABC reports. The court's argument was that the new map would discriminate against blacks by spreading them out among the electoral districts so that they would always end up in the minority. 

US elections The future of the Democrats
Early signs: Ocasio-Cortez seems to have the White House in mind

One of the big questions ahead of the 2028 US presidential election is whether progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will run. She herself has said that she has not yet decided, but the news site Axios sees several signs that she is preparing a campaign.

In recent weeks, the congresswoman has traveled around several American states and spoken to voters in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Atlanta, among others.

But it is not just the traveling, but what she has said during her appearances that are seen as possible signals that her ambitions extend beyond her hometown of New York. In Philadelphia, she spoke of the United States being in "a moment of liberation and a revival of the values ​​that actually make this country great".

Meanwhile, a source close to Ocasio-Cortez says she still hasn't made a decision. She herself says the speculation is based on the assumption that her ambition is about positions, when in fact it's about "changing this country".

Several fatalities after chemical accident in Washington

An unknown number of people have died and several have been seriously injured in the US state of Washington after a tank containing bleach ruptured, the AP news agency reports.

The accident reportedly occurred at a paper mill where about 1,000 people work. Bleach is a basic and highly corrosive chemical that is used in the manufacture of paper pulp, among other things.