Josh Dawsey | The Seattle Times

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, speaks to reporters during a meeting with Greek Defense Minister Panagiotis Kammenos at the Pentagon, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) DCAH125 DCAH125

October 15, 2018 at 4:36 am

Mattis’ goals teeter as he works to temper Trump

The secretary of defense has his own ambitious agenda, to reshape the U.S. military, but he also faces threats from enemies abroad, surprises from a...

October 12, 2018 at 12:06 pm

Officials consider asking parents to make dire border choice: detention or separation?

Senior administration officials say they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations carried out in May and June, which spawned an enormous political...

Nation & World

October 3, 2018 at 6:08 am

Rancor rises as FBI’s Kavanaugh report wraps up

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday night teed up a key vote to advance Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for Friday.

Nation & World

September 30, 2018 at 10:56 am

Fight over Kavanaugh intensifies amid confusion over limits of FBI sexual assault investigation

WASHINGTON - The FBI investigation meant to defuse the explosive conflict over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sparked a new round of partisan combat Sunday,...

Nation & World

September 25, 2018 at 6:16 pm

Arizona prosecutor is GOP choice to question Kavanaugh and Ford

WASHINGTON - Republican senators have selected Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused the Supreme Court nominee...

Nation & World

A television reporter goes on the air outside the White House in Washington, Sept. 24, 2018. President Donald Trump will meet with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, on Thursday to discuss reports that Rosenstein talked about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, Sarah Sanders, the press secretary, said on Monday. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)

September 24, 2018 at 5:54 pm

White House grapples with dual crises over Kavanaugh and Rosenstein

WASHINGTON - Antsy and impatient, President Donald Trump called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday with an unmistakable message: Call the vote on Judge...

Nation & World

FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2017 file photo, Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., pauses before speaking to reporters during a meeting of the National Defense Authorization Act conferees, on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCainís family says the Arizona senator has chosen to discontinue medical treatment for brain cancer. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) WX105 WX105 WX105

August 26, 2018 at 5:00 pm

Trump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump nixed issuing a statement that praised the heroism and life of Sen. John McCain, telling senior aides he preferred to...

Nation & World

August 23, 2018 at 1:26 pm

Trump sought his lawyers’ advice weeks ago on possibility of pardoning Manafort

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked his lawyers several weeks ago for their advice on the possibility of pardoning Paul Manafort and other aides accused...

Nation & World

FILE – In this Feb. 1, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump, center, is flanked by White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman, left, and then-Housing and Urban Development Secretary-designate Ben Carson as he speaks during a meeting on African American History Month in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Manigault Newman, who was fired in December, released a new book “Unhinged,” about her time in the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) NYET123 NYET123

August 13, 2018 at 6:02 pm

‘Everyone signed one’: Trump aggressive in use of nondisclosure agreements, even in government

The rampant use of nondisclosure agreements underscores a culture — fostered by Donald Trump himself — of paranoia, leaks, audio recordings and infighting that has...

Nation & World

FILE — Omarosa Manigault Newman and Reince Priebus, then the White House Chief of Staff, confer as President Donald Trump arrives in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, in Washington, Feb. 16, 2017. Trump frequently used a racial slur while he was the host of the reality television show “Celebrity Apprentice” and there are tapes that can confirm it, according to a new memoir by Manigault Newman called “Unhinged,” scheduled for release in August 2018. She also claims she never heard Trump use the slur herself. As of Aug. 10, the White House has declined to respond to the allegations in her book so far. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times) XNYT37 XNYT37

August 10, 2018 at 10:16 am

Fired White House aide says she refused hush money, calls Trump racist in memoir

Omarosa Manigault Newman has written an incendiary new book, "Unhinged: An Insider Account of Trump's White House," which also depicts the president as unqualified, narcissistic...