The Record
The Facts Behind the Charges
On his first day back in office, Trump granted pardons to nearly everyone convicted of crimes connected to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, commuted the sentences of 14 others and directed the Justice Department to dismiss remaining cases. The clemency extended beyond people convicted of unlawfully entering the Capitol to defendants convicted of assaulting police officers and leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The White House: Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021
The presidential proclamation granting the pardons and commutations and directing dismissal of pending indictments.
Reuters: Republican Critics Fear Incomplete Disclosure of Epstein Files Will Loom Over Midterms
Reports on the Justice Department inspector general’s review of the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Associated Press: Justice Department’s Watchdog Is Reviewing Compliance With the Law Mandating Epstein Files Release
Reports on bipartisan criticism of the administration’s initial disclosures, including extensive redactions and questions about compliance with the disclosure law.
The Gaurdian: Epstein Accusations and Pressure From the Boss: Bondi’s Time as Trump’s Chief Enforcer
Its chronology includes Trump’s September 2025 Truth Social post pressing Bondi to prosecute Comey, James and Schiff.
The Washington Post: DOJ Seeks to Revive Cases Against Comey, James a Year After Dismissals
Reports on the prosecutions, the objections of career prosecutors, Halligan’s appointment and the Justice Department’s effort to revive the dismissed cases.
Nature: Key US Science Panels Are Being Axed — and Others Are Becoming Less Open
Nature’s analysis found that the administration terminated more than 100 scientific advisory committees while federal science agencies lost tens of thousands of employees and thousands of grants.
Nature: NSF Set to Issue Lowest Number of New Grants in Four Decades
Documents the sharp decline in National Science Foundation grants and the withholding of more than $1 billion for a White House research project.
In January 2026, federal immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis: Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse. Video and other evidence contradicted important elements of officials’ initial descriptions of those encounters. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston. Days later, an ICE officer fatally shot Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during an encounter in Biddeford, Maine. Investigations into the circumstances of these shootings have continued. By July, the Associated Press reported that at least nine people had been killed nationwide during immigration-enforcement encounters since the administration’s crackdown began.
Reuters: Evidence Contradicts Trump Immigration Officials’ Accounts of Violent Encounters
Examines the Good and Pretti killings and other violent encounters, comparing official accounts with video and other evidence.
Associated Press: Feds Turn Over Evidence in Renee Good and Alex Pretti Killings to Minnesota After Months of Delay
Covers the Good and Pretti investigations as well as the subsequent fatal ICE shootings in Houston and Maine.
The Washington Post: Trump’s Income Topped $2 Billion in 2025, Boosted by Crypto, Coin Ventures
Analyzes Trump’s 927 pages of financial disclosures and reports more than $2.2 billion in 2025 income, including more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency and related ventures.
The Washington Post: Trump’s Wealth Grew on a Scale Without Modern Presidential Precedent
Examines how Trump’s sources of income changed after his return to office and the potential conflicts created by businesses operating in industries regulated by his administration.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
On his first day back in office, Trump issued an executive order seeking to deny automatic citizenship to some children born in the United States to noncitizen parents. The order challenged the longstanding understanding of the Citizenship Clause, recognized in Supreme Court precedent, that with narrow exceptions people born on American soil acquire citizenship at birth. Litigation over Trump’s order ultimately reached the Supreme Court, placing the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s explicit guarantee at the center of the dispute.
Congressional Research Service / Constitution Annotated : Citizenship Clause Doctrine
Explains the text, history and Supreme Court precedent surrounding the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
Supreme Court of the United States: Trump v. Barbara
The Supreme Court’s 2026 decision addressing the constitutional dispute over the administration’s birthright-citizenship order.
A federal court ruled that the White House unlawfully retaliated against the Associated Press after it refused to adopt Trump’s preferred terminology for the Gulf of Mexico. In September 2026, CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued after being barred from White House access, alleging retaliation for their coverage.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: United States | Digital News Report 2026
Provides a broad examination of mounting pressure on American press freedom, including prosecution threats, litigation, regulatory pressure and access restrictions.
Associated Press: What Is the White House Pool? These Days, It’s a Battleground Between Trump and Free Press Rights
Examines the administration’s changes to White House press access and the 2026 legal confrontation with CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The scale of what was eliminated is enormous. A study published in The Lancet estimated that USAID-supported programs prevented more than 91 million deaths between 2001 and 2021, including roughly 30 million children under five. The same research projected that continued deep cuts could contribute to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five. I mean this is every
Associated Press: What to Know About USAID and the Deadly Impacts of US Foreign Aid Cuts
Documents deaths, severe hunger, medicine shortages and other consequences linked to the termination of U.S. foreign-aid programs.
Reuters: USAID Cuts May Cause Over 14 Million Additional Deaths by 2030, Study Says
Reports the findings of the peer-reviewed Lancet study examining USAID’s historical impact and projecting the potential consequences of the cuts.
The relationship with Putin has had greater geopolitical consequences. Early in Trump’s second term, the administration eased pressure on Russia, temporarily suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Trump’s Oval Office confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and adopted positions that alarmed European allies. Trump welcomed Putin to a high-profile Alaska summit in August 2025. His position subsequently hardened as Putin continued attacks on Ukraine, illustrating the shifts within Trump’s Russia policy.
Reuters: Which Donald Trump Will Negotiate With Putin in Alaska?
Reviews Trump’s longstanding approach to Putin, the administration’s early second-term easing of pressure on Russia, its confrontation with Zelenskyy and Trump’s later frustration with Putin.
At least 67 million voter registrations have been checked through the expanded SAVE database. Some eligible voters have been wrongly flagged. The Justice Department has also sued states seeking sensitive voter data and recently ordered more than two dozen states to preserve 2024 election records. Courts have blocked some of the administration’s initiatives, including its attempt to impose major changes to mail voting before the midterms.
Associated Press: Trump’s Push to Restrict Mail Ballots Has Failed. Other Efforts to Reshape the Midterms Are Ongoing
Provides a broad examination of the administration’s efforts to expand federal involvement in the 2026 election process.
Associated Press: Justice Department Directs States to Hold On to 2024 Election Records as It Seeks Their Voter Data
Reports on the administration’s continuing effort to obtain detailed state voter records.
A 2026 Reuters investigation calculated that the Trump family had generated at least $2.3 billion in profit from its principal crypto ventures while more than one million investors had sustained approximately $2.3 billion in net losses as of the end of April. Reuters estimated that the $TRUMP meme coin alone generated about $616 million for the Trump family while buyers lost more than $700 million.
The coin also became a vehicle for presidential access: its largest holders were invited to a private dinner with Trump, with additional access offered to the biggest investors.
Reuters Special Report: Under the Trump Crypto Playbook, the Family Always Wins. Investors Don’t
Reuters analyzed blockchain records, corporate filings and public disclosures to compare Trump-family profits with investor losses across the family’s principal crypto ventures.
An investigation by the Associated Press and KFF Health News found allegations of inadequate medical care across detention facilities in at least 33 states. Detainees described failures to receive medications for conditions including diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and HIV; delayed treatment of serious illnesses; seizures and strokes; and transfers that interrupted ongoing medical care. The administration also eliminated the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which had investigated complaints and helped detainees obtain care.
Associated Press / KFF Health News : Takeaways From Investigation Into Allegations of Medical Neglect by Detainees in ICE Custody
Based on thousands of court cases and interviews with more than 50 detainees, family members and lawyers, the investigation documents allegations of medical neglect across the rapidly expanding detention system.
The pressure helped produce substantially higher NATO defense-spending commitments. Trump also reaffirmed the Article 5 mutual-defense commitment at the 2025 NATO summit. But tensions persisted: in 2026 he again lashed out at NATO allies, mused about leaving the alliance during disputes over the Iran war and Greenland, and publicly attacked individual member states. European governments have responded by accelerating efforts to strengthen their ability to defend themselves with less reliance on the United States.
Associated Press: US-Europe Rift Widens as Trump Lashes Out at NATO Allies Over Mideast War
Examines the broader deterioration in transatlantic relations and Trump’s renewed criticism of NATO and European allies.
Reuters: Trump Says “A Lot of Unity” at NATO Summit After Lashing Out at Allies
Reports on the continuing tensions at the 2026 NATO summit, including Trump’s criticism of Spain and renewed claims involving Greenland.
up The effort has extended beyond the Smithsonian. Exhibits involving slavery, climate change, LGBTQ+ history and other subjects were removed or altered at federal historic sites. In June 2026, a federal judge ordered the administration to restore material and halt additional changes, writing that the government was attempting to rewrite the nation’s history. The administration has continued pursuing changes at the Smithsonian, including plans for government-produced signs criticizing the National Museum of American History.
The New York Times: A Timeline of Trump’s Pressure Campaign Against the Smithsonian
Chronicles the administration’s actions toward the Smithsonian from early 2025 through 2026, including exhibit reviews, demands for materials and pressure over how American history is presented.
Associated Press: Judge Orders Trump Administration to Restore National Park Changes at Sites That “Disparaged” US
Reports on the removal or alteration of historical and scientific material at federal sites and the federal court order requiring its restoration.
At the same time, Trump placed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has reshaped federal vaccine policy and federal vaccine-advisory bodies while maintaining ties to activists who have challenged established vaccine recommendations. The CDC continues to state that vaccination is the best protection against measles.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Provides current national measles case counts and outbreak data.
Associated Press: RFK Jr. Tells Anti-Vaccine Activists They Have a Friend in Trump’s White House
Examines Kennedy’s continuing relationship with the anti-vaccine movement against the backdrop of the country's measles resurgence and changes in federal vaccine policy.
Washington, D.C., has become a much longer-term example. Trump deployed National Guard troops to the capital in August 2025 after declaring a crime emergency. The Pentagon subsequently extended the deployment through January 20, 2029 — the final day of Trump’s term — unless the president ends it earlier. Guard members continue to patrol streets, Metro stations, parks and tourist areas in the nation’s capital.
Associated Press: National Guard Deployment to DC Will Last Through Trump’s Term
Reports that the Pentagon extended the Washington deployment through January 20, 2029, and examines the Guard’s continuing presence in the capital.
Trump initially described the conflict as a short operation. Six months later, the war was still underway. The United States had spent tens of billions of dollars, Iran had retaliated across the region, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had been disrupted, oil markets had been affected and concerns had emerged about pressure on American munitions stockpiles. By late August, Trump was saying he was “not in a hurry” to bring Iran back to negotiations. In his September address to the United Nations, he defended his decision to start the war while leaving open the possibility of future negotiations.
Associated Press: Trump Used to Say He Saw a Quick End to His Iran War, but 6 Months Later He Claims He’s in No Hurry
A broad six-month assessment of the war, its duration, financial cost, military implications and Trump’s changing expectations about how quickly it would end.
Associated Press: Trump in Address to World Leaders at the UN Defends His Decision to Start the War Against Iran
Reports on Trump’s September 2026 defense of the war and the continuing conflict.
The cuts were sweeping. A Reuters tally found that more than 260,000 federal employees had been fired, taken buyouts or retired early as DOGE moved through more than 20 federal agencies. USAID was effectively dismantled and numerous agencies lost experienced personnel. DOGE claimed enormous savings, but its public accounting repeatedly contained errors and unverifiable claims; some of its largest claimed savings were later reduced or deleted.
Reuters: What Is Musk’s DOGE, the Secretive Unit Operating in the Public Eye?
Provides a broad accounting of DOGE’s workforce reductions, agency activities and claimed savings, including Reuters’ tally of more than 260,000 federal workers who had left government.
The price has since escalated dramatically. Contractor records obtained by The Washington Post show that by March 2026 the internal estimate for the full project had reached $600 million. Those records projected that more than half of the cost — roughly $307 million — would come from taxpayer-funded sources including the Secret Service, White House Military Office and Executive Residence, despite Trump’s repeated public statements that taxpayers would not pay for the project. Construction has included extensive security infrastructure and an underground bunker as well as the ballroom.
The Washington Post: Records Reveal $600M Estimate for Trump’s Ballroom Project, With Half From Taxpayers
Based on contractor estimates, invoices and government correspondence, the investigation traces the project’s escalating cost and its anticipated reliance on public funds.