Eric Lipton | The Seattle Times

A view of the fast-receding Salton Sea from Red Hill, which once was surrounded by water, in Imperial County, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2021. The lake, California’s largest, is at the center of a race to find sources of the materials needed for electric cars and renewable energy. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times)

May 6, 2021 at 3:30 pm

Lithium gold rush: Inside the not-so-green race to power electric vehicles VIEW

Electric cars and renewable energy may not be as green as they appear. Production of raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel that are essential...

March 3, 2021 at 3:24 pm

Inspector general’s report cites Elaine Chao for misuse of office

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department’s inspector general asked the Justice Department in December to consider a criminal investigation into what it said was Elaine Chao’s...

Nation & World

FILE — President Donald Trump addresses a rally in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, to protest the presidential election results. One group of people has already come forward and directly implicated President Trump in the riot at the Capitol: some of his own supporters who were arrested while taking part in it. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times) XNYT98 XNYT98

January 31, 2021 at 5:59 pm

77 Days: Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election

An examination of the 77 democracy-bending days between election and inauguration shows how, with conspiratorial belief rife in a country ravaged by pandemic, a lie...

Nation & World

January 24, 2021 at 7:49 pm

Trump Administration Quietly Eased Sanctions on Israeli Billionaire

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration quietly moved in its final days to ease sanctions imposed in late 2017 on an Israeli billionaire who had been...

January 9, 2021 at 7:53 pm

Microsoft, Google, Boeing Join List of Biden Inaugural Donors

Major technology companies like Google and Microsoft, as well as telecommunications giants like Comcast and Verizon, are among the nearly 1,000 people and groups that...

December 19, 2020 at 10:05 am

In last rush, Trump grants mining and energy firms access to public lands

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is rushing to approve a final wave of large-scale mining and energy projects on federal lands, encouraged by investors who...

Nation & World

November 25, 2020 at 2:22 pm

White House Weighs Pardon Blitz Before Trump’s Exit VIEW

WASHINGTON — It’s not just Michael T. Flynn. The White House is weighing a wave of pardons and commutations by President Donald Trump in his...

October 25, 2020 at 7:22 pm

Questions and Answers About the Bidens and a Deal in China

In the closing days of the campaign, President Donald Trump and his allies are engaged in a last-ditch effort to raise questions about the ethics...

Nation & World

October 22, 2020 at 4:59 pm

Trump issues order giving him more leeway to hire and fire federal workers

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week that could substantially expand his ability to hire and fire tens of thousands of...

Nation & World

The Navajo Generating Station in Page, Ariz., Jan. 21, 2020. A collection of documents detail the failed effort by the Trump administration to save the largest coal-burning power plant in the West. (Christie Hemm Klok/The New York Times) XNYT61 XNYT61

October 5, 2020 at 3:06 pm

‘The coal industry is back,’ Trump proclaimed. It wasn’t.

The president promised to end "the war on coal" and "put our miners back to work." But an examination of the his efforts raises questions...