The Department of Homeland Security is rushing to fulfill President Trump's mass deportation goals, and its haste has led to high-profile deportation screwups.Why it matters: The high-visibility enforcement campaign has drawn attention to every tactic from Trump's immigration enforcers, including when they're on the wrong side of the law and public opinion.The big picture: As of late January, DHS said it had deported 675,000 undocumented immigrants.But from the earliest weeks...

The U.S. and Iran are expected to hold a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva next Tuesday in an effort to reach a deal that prevents war, according to a U.S. official and three sources with knowledge. Why it matters: While President Trump said he prefers a diplomatic solution and wants to reach a deal with Iran, he has also ordered a massive military buildup in the Gulf, including sending a second aircraft carrier strike group.

The Pentagon is considering severing its relationship with Anthropic over the AI firm's insistence on maintaining some limitations on how the military uses its models, a senior administration official told Axios.Why it matters: The Pentagon is pushing four leading AI labs to let the military use their tools for "all lawful purposes," even in the most sensitive areas of weapons development, intelligence collection, and battlefield operations.

The U.S. economy started 2026 in a state of excellent balance: strong growth, a solid job market and subdued inflation. Just don't look too closely.The big picture: The key headline numbers in recent days — on jobs and inflation— appear as good as they have been in some time.

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed during their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that the U.S. will increase the economic pressure on Iran, mostly when it comes to oil sales to China, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the issue.Why it matters: More than 80% of Iranian oil exports go to China. If China reduces its purchases of oil from Iran, the economic pressure on Iran would increase significantly.

Valentine's Day jewelry is quietly changing as higher metal prices push brands to rethink materials and price points.Why it matters: This holiday could test whether shoppers care more about meaning — or metal weight.Catch up quick: Precious metal markets have been volatile heading into Valentine's Day.

A trio of top House Democrats wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that the Department of Justice "immediately cease" cataloguing members' searches of the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files.Why it matters: The lawmakers are trying to use the blowup over what they describe as the DOJ's "spying on Members of Congress" to address other complaints they've had about access to the department's Epstein archives."Stop now and give us meaningful access to the fully unredacted E...

Journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from his reporting at an anti-ICE protest in a Minnesota church, multiple outlets reported.Why it matters: President Trump's Department of Justice brought the case against the former CNN anchor, sparking backlash over First Amendment concerns.He faces charges under the FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits interfering with people exercising their religious rights.

President Trump promised economic relief for Black businesses and workers, but so far, analysts say his second-term policies have put them under greater strain.The big picture: The combination of federal layoffs, tariff-related cost pressures and a weakening labor market have hurt many Black-owned small businesses.

A chorus of top MAGA voices are calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi's removal over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and her combative congressional testimony on Wednesday. Why it matters: The Justice Department has ended its release of documents related to Epstein, a convicted sex offender, but Americans' thirst for answers and additional prosecutions persists, cracking the conservative coalition and causing a headache for President Trump.

House Republicans who reliably vote "yes" tell Axios they're fed up with watching the same small group of colleagues repeatedly threaten rule votes — and some want payback.Why it matters: Under Speaker Mike Johnson's one-vote majority, every Republican wields outsize power.

Latino voters aren't realigning — they're fragmenting.Consultants and pollsters tell Axios that after moving toward Donald Trump in 2024, the nation's fastest-growing electorate is splintering into competing political identities, with no single partisan anchor after decades as a reliably Democratic bloc.Why it matters: This fracture helped reshape the 2024 election map — and it's one of the biggest wildcards in 2026 and 2028, even as the economy and Trump's aggressive immigra...

Elon Musk took a victory lap Friday as a Department of Government Efficiency team released a huge trove of Medicaid spending data he said the public could use to look for fraud themselves.Why it matters: The Trump administration often cites waste, fraud and abuse as justification for deep program cuts — including the nearly $1 trillion in reductions to federal Medicaid spending in last year's Republican budget bill.It used Minnesota's inability to rein in fraud in safety net ...

President Trump ordered the Pentagon to send the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its strike group to the Middle East to boost U.S. forces in the region amid tensions with Iran, two U.S. officials confirmed. Why it matters: The move will increase the pressure on Tehran during the nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration, making the U.S. military threat even more menacing.

ICE is preparing to spend $38 billion this year on a "new detention center model" that will hold nearly 100,000 people.Why it matters: Expanding immigration detention is a major part of the deportation pipeline and will fuel President Trump's pledge to deport millions of people. But the plans are facing local pushback.

Four Cuban American members of Congress on Friday wrote to President Trump calling for the indictment of Cuba's de facto dictator, Raul Castro, for allegedly ordering the 1996 downing of a plane that was dropping supplies to people who were fleeing to the U.S.