WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400-million ballroom creates a security risk for President Trump as it asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling.
In a motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the East Wing ballroom is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.”
“Time is of the essence!” the lawyers write, citing materials that will be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility. The ballroom construction also includes bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility, according to the filing. The ballroom is part of Trump’s plans to remake public buildings and institutions in Washington during his remaining years in office.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington on Tuesday ordered the temporary pause of the construction project that has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House. He concluded that unless Congress approves the project, the preservationist group suing to stop it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”
The White House is owned by the federal government, not the president. Even the website of the National Park Service, which filed the motion, makes clear that “the White House is owned by the American people.”
The judge suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days, acknowledging that the administration would appeal his decision.
Leon’s ruling and the appeal come the same week a key agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region gave final approval to the project.
In his ruling, Leon, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush, suspended enforcement of his order, recognizing that “halting an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues.”
Leon also addressed national security in his ruling, saying that he reviewed information that the government privately submitted to him and concluded that halting construction wouldn’t jeopardize national security. He exempted any construction work that is necessary for the safety and security of the White House from the scope of the injunction.
Trump lashed out at the ruling, while noting that it would allow work on underground bunkers and other security measures around the White House grounds to continue — even though those will be paid for by taxpayers. Trump has pledged that he, along with private donors, will cover the costs for the ballroom itself.
But the National Park Service argues in its motion that the president has “complete authority to renovate the White House” and the current state of the grounds, which is an open construction site, make it harder to protect the White House.
“Canvas tents, which are necessary without a ballroom, are significantly more vulnerable to missiles, drones, and other threats than a hardened national security facility,” the motion says.
The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to make a decision on its request by Friday. It also asked that the 14-day suspension of Leon’s order be extended by two weeks so the case can be taken to the Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON — TMZ built its brand tracking celebrities. Now it’s turning its attention to Congress, chasing down paparazzi-style shots of lawmakers on break from Washington during a record-long partial government shutdown.
Videos and photos posted by the tabloid website showing lawmakers in airports, Las Vegas and even Disney World have racked up millions of views and fueled a growing backlash. With travel disruptions persisting and some federal workers going without pay, pressure is mounting on Congress to cut short its regularly scheduled recess.
Beyond TMZ, President Trump also wants lawmakers to come back, even hinting he might invoke rarely used powers to call Congress into session.
Still, it’s not clear what a return would accomplish, with the 45-day partial government shutdown at a deeper impasse than ever. The Senate reached a bipartisan funding deal last week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected it, and House Republicans passed their own version before heading for the exits.
“I’m not sure that we’d come,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said Monday when asked about members being called back. “And I’m not sure that there would be any difference from what’s happened so far.”
On recess — and on camera
As lawmakers headed out of Washington last week, the celebrity-gossip outlet TMZ put out a call.
“TMZ is on the hunt for photos of politicians on vacay as TSA officers suffer!” the outlet said in a social media post.
The focus from TMZ — an outlet known more for capturing unflattering footage of celebrities than digging into the nuances of federal policy — was the latest example of how politics is being fueled by viral images and populist sentiment.
Videos quickly followed, showing senators moving through airports — often attempting to shield themselves from cameras — with provocative headlines layered on top. The clips racked up millions of views.
The outlet didn’t stop there. Photos of lawmakers on vacation soon followed, including viral images of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham at Disney World with captions such as: “Lindsey Graham lives it up at Disney World during the partial government shutdown!”
Graham said that he had been in Florida for a meeting with Trump administration officials and had made a stop at Disney World with a friend. He also blamed Democrats for the shutdown.
Another widely shared post showed Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia in Las Vegas.
“Actually I don’t mind what TMZ is doing here,” Garcia posted in response, adding that he was visiting his father. “Like I said a few days ago, Speaker Mike Johnson should have never sent us all home.”
The effort grew out of frustration, said TMZ executive producer Harvey Levin, after the outlet interviewed a TSA worker struggling due to missed paychecks during the shutdown.
“It outraged us so much we wanted to use our platforms to show how Congress — Dems AND Republicans — have betrayed us,” Levin said in a statement.
He added that lawmakers shouldn’t expect the coverage to end anytime soon.
“Several months ago we decided to amp up our presence and our voice,” Levin said. “We now have a producer and a photog circulating in the Capitol, showing the intersection between politics and pop culture.”
Pressure mounts on Congress to return
The backlash playing out online is fueling other pressure as well. Trump has called on Congress to return. He spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Sunday and Monday, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he has urged leadership to cancel recess “repeatedly.”
“He’ll host a big Easter dinner here at the White House if Congress will come back,” she added.
So far, Republican leadership has not blinked, raising questions about how much pressure Trump will ultimately apply — and whether he would be willing to concede ground to Democrats to end the shutdown.
Unions are adding to that pressure.
“To leave Washington while tens of thousands of workers are going without pay shows a clear lack of respect for the essential employees tasked with keeping our nation safe,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100.
Although vacation snapshots have stirred outrage, recess is also an opportunity for lawmakers to reconnect with constituents back home. Some hold town hall events. Others go on trips abroad, such as joining a delegation to Taiwan.
Why the funding impasse won’t be easy to solve
Even if lawmakers return to Washington, there isn’t an easy way out of the funding impasse.
Senators already labored for weeks to try to find agreement on Democrats’ demand that any funding for the Department of Homeland Security come with restrictions on how federal immigration agents conduct enforcement. In vote after failed vote, Democrats showed they wouldn’t budge.
As the partial government shutdown extended to the longest in U.S. history, the Senate settled on a last-ditch effort to fund most of DHS while leaving out money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol.
But that deal was rejected by Johnson in the House, who instead pushed through a bill to extend DHS funding on a party-line vote. The collapse of the bipartisan agreement has soured the mood for negotiations and left lawmakers pointing fingers.
“There’s no point in calling us back because that was the result of a conscious choice by the Republican majority,” said Coons, a Delaware Democrat.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told Fox News on Tuesday that the House can come back “on a moment’s notice,” but “the Senate has to do their job and help us on this heavy lift.”
But Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has been clear that he sees no way to get a DHS funding bill through the Senate with its 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation, known as the filibuster.
Still, Thune is coming under renewed pressure to find a way past the funding impasse — with calls from Trump and some conservatives to get rid of the filibuster.
That’s unlikely to work either because of a handful of Republican senators who have made it clear they won’t vote to change the Senate’s rules. Still, Trump told reporters Sunday night that, “They should terminate the filibuster and they should vote.”
Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, agreed. He said on social media that he thinks one of the only options for the Senate is to “nuke the filibuster and pass everything.”
“Inaction is unacceptable,” he added.
Cappelletti and Groves write for the Associated Press. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
More than a century after the Gilded Age, we have entered another: The gilded age of Trump.
A little over a year after President Trump was sworn into office for the second time, the country has borne witness to a striking aesthetic makeover of the White House and Washington, D.C. A week ago, when the Trump-packed Commission of Fine Arts approved a 24-karat commemorative coin stamped with Trump’s image, that makeover ascended to staggering new heights.
The coin, which breaks with the country’s longstanding tradition of not featuring a living person on its currency, joins a swiftly growing list of other Trumpian imprints on arts and culture, including architectural choices deemed gaudy and garish by experts and laypeople alike.
Plenty of people are on guard against these changes. This week a coalition of eight cultural heritage and architectural organizations, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Institute of Architects, filed a lawsuit to require the Trump administration to comply with historic preservation laws and get congressional authorization before making any changes to the Kennedy Center.
“The Kennedy Center is not a personal project of any president. It is a national cultural monument built to honor John F. Kennedy and to serve the American people. Federal law requires transparency, expert review, and public participation before it can be fundamentally altered,” Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League, said in a statement.
The same could be said of the White House, the Smithsonian, the NPS and the United States Mint. But Trump doesn’t care about due process, congressional approval or the courts. Time and again he has shown his willingness to go it alone when making big decisions that affect not only America but the world. This includes his actions in Venezuela and Iran. But if he decides he wants to take the Kennedy Center “down to the steel,” as he once threatened, there isn’t really anything that can stop him.
The gilded age of Trump proves that the look of things really does affect how the country sees itself — and how it acts as a result of its new self-image. Golden gaudiness conjures thoughts of empire and imperial rule, but it is also unserious and incidental, bombastic and self-centered. The Trump aesthetic screams, “Me, me, mine!” A willingness to tear down historic structures without care for their symbolic meaning reveals an inability to learn from the past, a tendency that has proved frighteningly perilous.
Will the leader who rises after Trump tear down all that Trump has built? And even if they do, can the damage really be undone?
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, keeping it small and simple for posterity. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.
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FRIDAY
Laura Aguilar The late trailblazing photographer’s exploration of her queer Chicana identity against the natural backdrops of Southern California and the Southwest is on display in the exhibition “Body and Landscape.” More of the artist’s work will be on display starting Sept. 20 in “Laura Aguilar: Day of the Dead.” Through Sept. 7. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. huntington.org
Cassandra Kulukundis holds the first-ever Oscar for casting for her work on “One Battle After Another” during the Academy Awards, March 15, 2026.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The Art of Casting With Cassandra Kulukundis recently winning the first Oscar in the category for her work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” what better time to learn more about the subject? The academy’s video presentation goes inside the casting process with casting directors discussing their craft and includes previously unseen auditions and screen tests. Through July 6. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Brahms & Beethoven Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov performs Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” as Paavo Järvi conducts the L.A. Phil in Brahms’ “Second Symphony” and Schumann’s “Overture, Scherzo and Finale.” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
A performance of “Escape.”
(Traj George Simian)
Escape Diavolo reprises this production featuring its trademark blend of dance, movement and storytelling as 22 artists challenge their abilities against a variety of architectural structures. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 6 p.m. Sundays, through June 14. L’Espace Diavolo, 616 Moulton Ave. diavolo.org
Arshile Gorky: Horizon West In the summer of 1941, the Armenian immigrant artist, his soon-to-be wife Agnes “Mougouch” Magruder and the artist and furniture designer Isamu Noguchi drove from New York City to L.A. Gorky was emerging as one of the most important figures in the nascent Abstract Expressionism movement, and his cross-country adventures had an enormous impact on his art, which is explored in depth in this exhibit. A selection of landscapes include Gorky’s rich, surrealistic paintings and drawings from before, during and after the life-changing trip. (Jessica Gelt) Through April 25. Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood, 8980 Santa Monica Blvd. hauserwirth.com
A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West The exhibition reveals Hughes’ time spent in California, Nevada and Mexico during the Great Depression, World War II and into the 1950s, when he produced significant work, including lectures, film scripts, plays and his first book of short stories. Through Sept. 13. California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. caamuseum.org
The White Album Arthur Jafa’s 2018 30-minute experimental film, a social critique of whiteness, uses found and produced footage to demonstrate how the creative work of Black Americans has been co-opted by white culture throughout history. Through Aug 30. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. hammer.ucla.edu
SATURDAY
Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,”starring Takashi Shimura, from left, Toshiro Mifune and Yoshio Inaba.
(Janus Films)
Darkness and Humanity: The Complete Akira Kurosawa The 1954 classic “Seven Samurai,” starring Toshiro Mifune, kicks off this comprehensive retrospective of the great Japanese filmmaker’s work. 6 p.m. Saturday; series continues through May 30. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
from rock to rock… aka how magnolia was taken for granite Choreographer Jeremy Nedd’s exploration of the hidden poetry, virtuosic freedom and ownership features five performers examining “the Milly Rock,” a viral dance move. 8 p.m. UCLA Macgowan Hall, Freud Playhouse, 245 Charles E. Young Drive East. cap.ucla.edu
A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit On The exhibition collects an intergenerational group of Queer artists whose work examines hidden and mystical knowledge to find sources of connection and transformation. Through Oct. 18. Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drivepsmuseum.org
Ralph Steadman More than 140 original artworks and ephemera, including sketchbooks, handwritten notes and personal photographs are included in “And Another Thing,” a traveling exhibition tracing six decades of the artist and illustrator’s career. Through May 9 Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drivetorranceartmuseum.com
Tonality The vocal ensemble performs “Refuge/Requiem,” a program that includes Caroline Shaw’s 17th-century-influenced contemporary work “To the Hands,” and “1605 Requiem,” composed for the funeral rites of Empress María by Tomás Luis de Victoria. Presented with the Wallis. 7:30 p.m. All Saints’ Beverly Hills, 504 N. Camden Drivethewallis.org
SUNDAY To Sleep With Anger Written and directed by the protean Charles Burnett, this film does more than vividly illuminate South-Central’s rarely portrayed Black middle class. A deft domestic horror story, it’s a contemporary tale with a folkloric twist that has old friend Harry (Danny Glover) visiting a married couple and gradually revealing himself to be a trickster with trouble on his mind. With a terrific ensemble headed by Mary Alice and Paul Butler as the couple in question. (Kenneth Turan) 7 p.m. The 35mm screening includes a Q&A with the filmmaker and Ashley Clark, author of “The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films.” Beginning at 6 p.m. Clark will sign copies of the book. Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. cinema.ucla.edu
TUESDAY Philip Glass’ Cocteau Trilogy Pianists and siblings Katia and Marielle Labèque perform the composer’s triptych inspired by the films of Jean Cocteau. Part of the LA Phil’s “Body and Sound” festival. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Mary Halvorson The contemporary jazz musician, guitarist and composer and new quartet project Canis Major — featuring Dave Adewumi on trumpet, Henry Fraser on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums — perform an evening of music designed for deep listening and total immersion. 7 p.m. Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu
Arts anywhere
New releases of arts-related media.
Album cover for “Evening Light: Raga Cycle I.”
(Cantaloupe Music)
Evening Light: Raga Cycle I The first release of an eight-album series in which American composer and pianist Michael Harrison collaborates with a global assortment of artists combining Eastern and Western musical traditions. Each chapter represents three hours of day or night following the Indian raga time cycle. For “Evening Light,” Quebec-based Brazilian vocalist Ina Filip co-composed the music with Harrison. Also appearing on the album are American composer Elliot Cole on synthesizer, French composer Benoit Rolland on electro-acoustics and Bangladeshi tabla virtuoso Mir Naqibul Islam. Cantaloupe Music: download ($10).
Book jacket for “Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy” by Daniel Okrent.
(Yale University Press)
Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy Part of Yale University Press’ Jewish Lives series, Daniel Okrent’s new biography of the award-winning composer-lyricist who took Broadway musicals to new heights “is a brisk, engaging read that avoids hagiography,” writes Julia M. Klein in a review for The Times. “Okrent highlights the emotional frailties that coexisted with the brilliance and generosity. He seeks to liberate Sondheim’s reputation from the encrustation of myth and to demystify his relationships, while offering a succinct analysis of his achievements. That’s a tall order for a compact book, especially given its subject’s long, complicated life. Okrent’s failings are, unsurprisingly, primarily those of omission.” Yale University Press: 320 pages, $35
Martha Graham Dance Company: We Are Our Times A two-part documentary goes behind the scenes with the troupe as it prepares for its 100th anniversary celebration. Producer-directors Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean followed the dancers from rehearsal to premiere on a global tour, capturing their artistic routines and everyday lives. Episode 1, “American Spirit,” 9 p.m. Friday; Episode 2, ““Athletes of God,” 9 p.m. April 3 on PBS. Streaming at pbs.org and on the PBS app.
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry is photographed in May 2019 with a model of the Grand Avenue Project at his L.A. offices.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Can downtown L.A. still benefit from the vision of late-great architect Frank Gehry, who put so much time and energy into lifting the area up? Times classical music critic Mark Swed says yes in an optimistic column noting that, “So many plans Frank Gehry imagined for L.A. still remain. Gehry bequeathed blueprints and models, sketches and concepts, for his large and devoted team of younger architects and next-generation visionaries equipped to fabricate our way out of angst.” The time to build, Swed writes, is now.
Freelance writer Jane Horowitz got the skinny on the fifth edition of High Desert Art Fair, which arrives in Pioneertown this weekend, transforming “the rooms of the historic Pioneertown Motel into exhibition spaces for 20 galleries and publishers, while expanding into a broader mix of programming — something akin to a mini Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. This year’s edition includes an opening night party with a DJ set by street artist Shepard Fairey, panel discussions, guided meditation and even a sound bath.”
Monty Python” alum Eric Idle poses for a portrait at the Hollywood Pantages.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Malia Mendez sat down with British comedy legend Eric Idle to talk about his spoof musical “Spamalot,” which arrives at the Pantages more than a decade after its last stop at the stage. Over a margarita with a side of chef olives, Idle opened up to Mendez about “his earliest forays into comedy, his legendary run and subsequent break with his former ‘Monty Python’ castmates, and why ‘Spamalot’ arrives in L.A. at the perfect time.”
Times theater critic Charles McNulty headed to the Matrix Theatre to watch Rogue Machine’s production of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 drama “Fairview.” He writes that the play is “a shape-shifting work that eludes an audience’s assumptions at every turn,” and concludes that the new production “may struggle with the slipperiness of Drury’s writing.” The dramatic construction, however, is solid enough to withstand some of the overly broad strokes of the staging.”
Richard Neutra imagined his first Los Angeles project, the Jardinette Apartments, as a prototype for future garden apartment buildings.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Sam Lubell wrote a fascinating story about the painstaking rehabilitation of Modernist architect Richard Neutra’s first L.A. commission: the Jardinette Apartments in Hollywood. The building was hailed a structural and technical breakthrough when it opened in 1928, but it soon dropped from public view and sank into disrepair. The new owner spent more than $5 million on the historic preservation project and the complex may soon go on the market.
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The Hammer Museum Gala on Oct. 8, 2022, in Los Angeles.
(Michelle Groskopf / For The Times)
The Hammer Museum has announced the honorees for its annual gala. They are artist Betye Saar and television creator Darren Star. The highly anticipated event, set to take place in the Hammer’s garden courtyard on May 2, aims to honor impactful artists while raising funds to support the museum’s exhibitions and public programs.
The 80th Ojai Music Festival, set to take place June 11-14, recently announced this season’s programming and artistic collaborators. Much of this year’s event will be devoted to unpacking and performing works that have been central to the 2026 festival’s music director‘s artistic life. “Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of the most vibrant and adventurous creative forces in our musical world,” said Executive Director Ara Guzelimian in a statement. “It has been an absolute joy to dream up programs together that focus on numerous personal dimensions — his work as composer and conductor, his rich associations with and remarkable history in Los Angeles, the formative influence of his teachers and the giant musical figures of 20th century music, his deep friendships with many peer composers, and his championing of a new generation of composers.”
Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, who was instrumental in the company’s decision to leave the Kennedy Center after Trump’s takeover, was inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame at the OPERA America Salutes Awards Dinner on March 20, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
BRUSSELS — The European Parliament voted Thursday to approve a trade deal between Washington and Brussels but with amendments added to protect European interests should the United States fail to hold up its end of the bargain.
The deal was negotiated last July in Turnberry, Scotland, by President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It set a 15% tariff on most goods in an effort to stave off far higher import duties on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe.
New language now says that the deal can be suspended if Washington “undermined the objectives of the deal, discriminated against EU economic operators, threatened member states’ territorial integrity, foreign and defence policies, or engaged in economic coercion.”
That clause was forged because of the tensions over Greenland, said Bernd Lange, a German lawmaker and head of the EU’s parliamentary trade committee.
Trump drew widespread condemnation across the 27-nation bloc by threatening to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. He has backed away from the threat, at least for now.
“If this would happen again, then immediately the tariffs would be installed,” he said at a news conference after lawmakers voted. He said the protective modifications were “weatherproofing” the Turnberry deal.
The deal will now be further negotiated by EU trade representatives Maroš Šefčovič and his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer, who are meeting Friday on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
“We need the EU-U.S. deal in force on both sides — delivering real certainty for EU businesses and showing that genuine partnership gets results,” Šefčovič said after the vote in Brussels.
There were formally two votes to introduce clauses to the deal. One passed 417-154 and the other 437-144 with dozens of abstentions each.
The U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Pudzer said the vote would provide “stability and predictability” for U.S. and EU businesses and drive economic growth. “We encourage all parties to think to the future and the importance of unleashing opportunities for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.
Malte Lohan, CEO of American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, said the vote is “the right signal for businesses that have been stuck in limbo over the past year” and “a necessary step towards a more predictable transatlantic marketplace.”
Croatian lawmaker Željana Zovko said that despite the trade spat between Brussels and Washington, trade across the Atlantic had grown over the past year. “This resilience proves the trans-Atlantic trade works, and if it works, we should strengthen it, not hold it back.”
MIAMI — Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified in court that he had no knowledge that former Florida congressman David Rivera was lobbying on behalf of Venezuela’s government — as prosecutors later alleged — when he met with his longtime friend to discuss U.S. policy toward the South American country several times at the start of the first Trump administration.
“I would’ve been shocked” had I known, Rubio said in almost three hours of testimony Tuesday at Rivera’s federal trial in Miami.
Rivera and an associate were charged in 2022 with money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent after being awarded a $50-million lobbying contract by Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Prosecutors allege that the goal of the lobbying effort was to persuade the White House to normalize relations with Venezuela, while Rivera’s attorneys argue that the three-month contract, which ended before Rivera met with Rubio, was focused exclusively on luring Exxon Mobil back to Venezuela — commercial work that is generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
As part of his work, Rivera and his co-defendant are accused of trying to arrange meetings for then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — in Dallas, New York, Washington and Caracas, Venezuela, with White House officials, members of Congress and the chief executive of Exxon.
Rubio testifies, an unusual move
In sometimes deeply personal testimony Tuesday, Rubio discussed at length friendships that date back to the start of his political career as an aide to Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and a West Miami council member.
Testifying in a packed courtroom with heightened security, Rubio said he and Rivera became “very close” when they overlapped as members of the Florida Legislature. The two Cuban American Republicans co-owned a house in Tallahassee, celebrated family events together and ardently opposed Venezuela’s socialist government when both went to Washington at the same time — Rubio elected to the Senate, Rivera to the House.
So when Rivera texted Rubio in July 2017 that he needed to see him urgently to discuss Venezuela, they agreed to meet the next day, a Sunday, at a friend’s home in Washington where the then-senator was staying with his family, Rubio said.
At the meeting, Rivera informed Rubio that he was working with Raul Gorrín, a media magnate in Venezuela, on what he described as a plan for Maduro to step aside.
“I was skeptical,” said Rubio, adding that the Maduro government was full of “double dealers” constantly pitching unrealistic plans to unseat Maduro. “But if there was a 1% chance it was real, and I had a role to play alerting the White House, I was open to doing that.”
Rubio said he had no knowledge Rivera was himself working for Maduro, as prosecutors would later allege. Rubio said he doubted Gorrín would betray Maduro even when the former congressman opened his laptop and showed millions of dollars in a Chase bank account that he was told were payments from the businessman to Venezuela’s opposition.
“It was an impressive amount,” Rubio said. “He didn’t tell me whose account it was. He said it was to support the opposition.”
Two days later, borrowing talking points provided by Rivera, Rubio wrote and delivered a speech on the Senate floor signaling the U.S. would not retaliate against Venezuelan insiders who worked to push Maduro from power.
“He provided me with insight into some of the key phrases that regime insiders would’ve wanted to hear to know this was serious,” Rubio testified. “No vengeance, no retribution.”
Rubio also spoke to Trump, alerting the president in his first term that there may be something “brewing” with Venezuela.
‘A total waste of my time’
But the peacemaking effort collapsed almost immediately. At a second meeting at a Washington hotel, Gorrín failed to produce a promised letter from Maduro to Trump that he wanted Rubio to hand-deliver to the president.
“It was a total waste of my time,” Rubio testified.
Shortly afterward, Trump imposed heavy sanctions on Maduro and members of his inner circle for their decision to go forward with what Rubio called a “fake election” to empower a constituent assembly that undercut the opposition-controlled legislature.
By that time, the senator hewed closely to the Trump administration’s hard line. He taped a rare 10-minute address to the Venezuelan people in July 2017, a day after the divisive election, that was broadcast exclusively on Gorrín’s Globovision network.
“For Nicolás Maduro, who I am sure is watching, the current path you are on will not end well for you,” Rubio said in the televised address.
On the stand, Rubio said that had he known Rivera was working with Gorrín on behalf of Maduro, he never would have agreed to deliver the address on the network.
But Rivera said Rubio’s testimony backed his defense that as a lifelong opponent of communism he never worked to strengthen Maduro’s grip on power.
“Marco Rubio made it abundantly clear today that everything we worked on together in 2017 was meant to remove Maduro from power in Venezuela,” he said in a statement.
Throughout his testimony Rubio, a lawyer, spoke calmly and in command of granular details of U.S. policy toward Venezuela over the past decade, even as he struggled to recall the specifics of his text exchanges with Rivera on Venezuela matters.
His testimony was highly unusual. Not since Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan testified at a Mafia trial in 1983 has a sitting member of the president’s Cabinet taken the stand in a criminal trial.
As if to underscore the uniqueness of his appearance in federal court, Rivera’s attorney, Ed Shohat, asked Rubio to sign a copy of his 2012 autobiography, “An American Son,” at the conclusion of his testimony.
Rivera and his co-defendant, political consultant Esther Nuhfer, are among a small number of friends and family Rubio thanks in the acknowledgment section of his memoir.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have agreed on specific measures to expedite the implementation of the Washington peace accords. This agreement was reached during meetings held in Washington on March 17 and 18.
A joint declaration released by both countries and the United States on March 18 outlines these developments. The two parties have outlined a series of coordinated actions aimed at “defusing the tensions” and “pushing forward the situation on the ground”.
The measures include a mutual agreement to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each country, as well as the disengagement of Rwandan forces and the lifting of defensive measures in certain zones of eastern DRC. The authorities in Kinshasa are making some reinforced yet limited attempts to neutralise the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.
The protection of civilians was reaffirmed as a priority. Both DRC and Rwanda reiterated their commitment to achieving lasting peace in the Great Lakes Region within the context of the Washington Accords.
This announcement comes amid persistent tensions in the eastern DRC. The Kinshasa authorities on Monday praised the sanctions imposed by the United States on the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) and several members of their officers accused of “direct involvement” on the side of the M23 rebels.
According to the Congolese government, these American measures constitute “a clear signal” in favour of the respect of the DRC’s sovereignty and the effective implementation of engagements taken within the context of the Washington Accords. It also insisted on the necessity for “coherence between diplomatic engagements and the operational realities on the ground”.
The government expressed its recognition of the United States’ role in the peace efforts and called for pursuing initiatives to ensure the respect of commitments and the re-establishment of a durable peace in the region.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have agreed on measures to implement the Washington peace accords, aiming to reduce tensions and improve the situation in eastern DRC.
Key actions include respecting each country’s sovereignty, Rwandan forces’ disengagement, and the protection of civilians. This agreement was supported by a joint declaration with the United States on March 18. Amid ongoing tensions, the DRC lauded U.S. sanctions against the Rwandan Defence Forces and officers accused of siding with M23 rebels, interpreting this as a commitment to respecting DRC’s sovereignty.
The Congolese government emphasized the importance of diplomatic coherence and applauded the U.S. role in peace efforts, urging further initiatives towards achieving lasting peace in the region.
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is traveling Wednesday to the United States for what she expects to be a “very difficult” meeting with President Trump after he called on Japan and other allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The three-day visit to Washington was originally expected to focus on trade and strengthening the U.S.-Japanese alliance as China’s influence grows in Asia. It is now expected to be overshadowed by the war the United States and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28.
”I think the U.S. visit will be a very difficult one, but I will do everything to maximize our national interest and to protect the daily lives of the people when the situation changes daily,” Takaichi told parliament on Wednesday, hours before her departure.
Takaichi held her first meeting with Trump in October in Tokyo, days after becoming Japan’s first female prime minister. A hard-line conservative, Takaichi is a protege of former leader Shinzo Abe, who developed a close friendship with Trump.
Her initial plan was to focus largely on China and strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance ahead of Trump ‘s highly anticipated diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months. The White House announced Tuesday that it is being delayed due to the war in the Middle East.
Takaichi will be in the hot seat figuring out what best to offer to Trump. Experts say showing commitment and progress in investment deals is key to a successful summit.
Japanese officials say the two sides will work to deepen cooperation in regional security, critical minerals, energy and dealing with China.
No plan to send warship to the Strait of Hormuz
A key U.S. ally in Asia, Japan has carefully avoided clear support for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran or a decision over a warship deployment. That’s mainly because of Japan’s constitutional constraints but also due to a legal question over the U.S. action and strong public opinion against it.
She told parliament that Japan hopes to see a de-escalation of the war, which has disrupted deliveries of oil and gas that Japan is highly dependent on.
“Without early de-escalation of the situation, our economy will be in trouble,” she said. “Early de-escalation is important for both the U.S. and global economy.”
Japan also hopes to secure its traditional ties with Iran, where most of Japanese oil imports come from.
Takaichi and her ministers have denied that Washington officially requested Japanese warships sent to the Strait of Hormuz. Trump on X asked a number of countries, including Japan, to volunteer. He then said he no longer needs them, complaining about a lack of enthusiasm.
That takes some pressure off Takaichi.
“We have no plans to send warships right now,” Takaichi told the parliamentary session Wednesday. A dispatch for survey and intelligence missions are possible but only after a ceasefire, she said. Some Japanese experts have commented that minesweeping would be a mission that the country could carry out when hostilities end.
“I will clearly explain what we can do and cannot do based on the Japanese law,” Takaichi said. “I’m sure (Trump) is fully aware of the Japanese law.”
China and security
Takaichi wants to discuss China’s security and economic coercion and ensure the U.S. commitment in the Indo-Pacific region, especially as some U.S. troops stationed in Japan are being shifted to the Middle East — a change seen by Japan as a potential risk for Asia as China’s clout grows.
Takaichi plans to reassure Trump of Japan’s military buildup, emphasizing the acceleration of long-range missile deployment to enhance offensive capabilities. This breaks from Japan’s postwar self-defense-only principle and reflects closer alignment with the U.S.
At the summit, Takaichi is expected to convey Japan’s interest in joining America’s “ Golden Dome “ multi-billion dollar, multi-layered missile defense system.
Japan considers China a growing security threat and has pushed a military buildup on southwestern islands near the East China Sea.
Takaichi has pledged to revise Japan’s security and defense policy by December and seeks to further bolster Japan’s military with unmanned combative weapons and long-range missiles.
Her government is to scrap a lethal arms exports ban in the coming weeks to promote Japan’s defense industry and cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations.
Oil in Alaska, rare earths in Japan
A resource-poor nation, Japan is seeking to diversify oil suppliers and is finalizing a Japanese investment for increased oil production in Alaska and stockpiles in Japan, according to media reports. A Japanese investment in small modular reactors and natural gas in the U.S. is also a possibility.
If agreed, the projects would be part of a $550 billion investment package that Japan pledged in October. In February, the two sides announced Japan’s commitment to the $36 billion first batch of projects — a natural gas plant in Ohio, a U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil export facility and a synthetic diamond manufacturing site — whose progress is also to be disccused with Trump.
Japan reportedly plans to propose a joint development of rare earths discovered in undersea soil around the remote Japanese island of Minamitorishima as part of the investment package.
Diplomatic and trade disputes have escalated further since Takaichi’s comment that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response.
WASHINGTON — President Trump expressed frustration Monday that U.S. allies were not enthusiastic about sending warships to protect merchant vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a sign of Washington’s growing isolation as it tries to stabilize one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes amid its war against Iran.
Trump declined to name the “numerous countries” he said had agreed to help reopen the oil route, which has come under the threat of retaliation from Iran, but was annoyed that most longtime allies were hesitant about joining his international police force. He said they should be “jumping to help us.”
“Some countries that we have helped for many, many years, we’ve protected them from horrible outside sources and they weren’t that enthusiastic — and the level of enthusiasm, it matters to me,” Trump said at the White House.
For Trump, securing allies’ help is as much a domestic economic need as it is international diplomacy. Since the hostilities against Iran began on Feb. 28, Tehran has retaliated by targeting regional oil facilities and at least 20 vessels operating in and around the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
The result has been “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” according to the International Energy Agency, and it has led to international oil prices surging more than 30% to over $100 a barrel as the war entered its third week with no clear end in sight.
The diplomatic friction, meanwhile, reflects the limits of Trump’s influence at a moment when the global economy is absorbing one of the worst oil supply shocks in modern history, a dynamic that has prompted Trump to warn that countries refusing to help may find Washington a far less generous partner in turn.
Despite Trump‘s demands, several key allies have publicly rebuffed his calls for support.
French President Emmanuel Macron formally rejected the request, saying that France would maintain a “defensive and protective” posture focused on stability rather than escalation.
German Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius was blunter, saying, “This is not our war; we didn’t start it.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also declined to commit, saying the U.K. “will not be drawn into the wider war.” Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan similarly declined, while South Korea and China have not publicly stated their intentions.
The rejections seems to have only sharpened Trump’s demands. At one point during an event Monday, the president turned to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and said he would share a list of nations that declined to help, suggesting Congress could have a role in any retaliatory measures against reluctant allies.
“Why are we protecting countries that don’t protect us?” Trump said.
Yet Trump also sent conflicting signals about how much allied help he actually needs. At one point he claimed the United States did not require assistance from other countries.
“We don’t need them, but it’s interesting — I am doing it, in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to see how they react,” Trump said.
On the threat to merchant ships, Trump projected uncertainty. He said the possibility of mines was “enough to keep people” from transiting the waterway, but said that “we don’t even know” if Iran has placed any mines in the strait.
“They may have no mines,” he said. “We hit every one of their mine ships. Every one of them is gone — but it only takes one.”
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump also sent mixed messages about the threats and the need for help. He said the United States was coordinating with roughly seven countries to deploy naval forces to “police the straits — before adding, in the same remarks, that “maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all.”
He suggested American forces should not be there because other nations depend more heavily on oil shipments through the oil route, an about-face that drew criticism from allies, who said it created confusion about Washington’s strategy in a conflict the United States had itself started.
“To keep the strait open, I have a very hard time believing that China and the other countries the president enlisted are really going to be escorting ships through the strait. That just really doesn’t add up to me,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in an NBC “Meet the Press” interview Sunday.
“The bottom line is, we really don’t know how long this war is going to be,” he added.
Trump, however, is keeping the pressure on allied countries, making the future of the conflict more open-ended depending on their response.
Trump insisted Monday that “numerous countries have told me they are on their way,” but said he would “rather not say” who they are.
He then said the tepid responses from some U.S. allies had reinforced his skepticism about the value of the NATO alliance, echoing comments he made over the weekend when he warned that a failure to assist would be “very bad for the future of NATO” and that the U.S. would “remember” those who did not step up.
When asked if he was confident Macron will help with the reopening of the strait, Trump told reporters: “Yeah, I mean sure. … I think he’s gonna help. I mean I’ll let you know.”
Europe has nonetheless been drawn deeper into the conflict.
The U.K. initially refused to support U.S. military operations, but softened its position after Trump mocked Starmer as “no Winston Churchill” and called Britain a “once great ally.” France also said last week that it was preparing a separate “purely defensive” naval mission to escort commercial vessels through the strait once it was safe to do so.
Moving forward, it is unclear how the European Union and other nations around the world will respond to Trump’s pressure.
“Nobody wants to go actively in this war. And of course, everybody is concerned what will be the outcome,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Monday after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. “This is not Europe’s war, but Europe’s interests are directly at stake.”
Trent McDuffie was a young high school player in Southern California when the Rams returned from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016.
During Rams training camp that summer, McDuffie watched HBO “Hard Knocks” episodes about the team with his parents, and they were enamored by coach Sean McVay.
“I remember just being like, ‘Dang, I would like to play for that guy,’” McDuffie said Thursday.
McDuffie, an All-Pro cornerback acquired by the Rams in a blockbuster trade, recalled those thoughts during an introductory news conference at the team’s facility in Woodland Hills after he signed a record-breaking four-year extension that reportedly includes $100 million in guarantees.
“Fast forward all these years, and now I’m here and it’s just a full-circle moment,” he said of getting to play for McVay. “Watched this guy, wanted to play for this guy and now this guy wants me.”
To land McDuffie, Rams general manager Les Snead sent the Kansas City Chiefs the 29th overall pick and fifth- and sixth-round picks in this year’s draft, and a 2027 third-round pick.
The moves were a complete departure from last year, when the Rams wrongly gambled that a young and aggressive pass rush could offset their decision to not make a single upgrade to the secondary.
The additions of McDuffie and Watson to an already deep and talented roster that features reigning NFL most valuable player Matthew Stafford, the Rams will be a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in February.
And make no mistake: Like they did in 2021, the Rams will do anything possible to ensure that owner Stan Kroenke is walking the Super Bowl sideline in the stadium he built in Inglewood.
McDuffie noted that the Rams have been “knocking on the door, year-in and year-out” since his rookie season with the Chiefs in 2022. A winning culture already is in place.
“This team is ready to go,” said McDuffie, a first-round pick out of Washington who starred in high school at Anaheim Servite and Bellflower St. John Bosco highs. “I don’t think I’m coming in here with a team that doesn’t understand the value that they have.
“So those little nuggets that I feel I can just pour into guys that can get us over the hump, I’m going to do everything I can.”
Rams cornerback Jaylen Watson speaks during his introductory news conference in Woodland Hills on Thursday.
(William Liang / Associated Press)
McDuffie and Watson, a 2022 seventh-round pick, were part of Chiefs teams that won two championships in three Super Bowl appearances.
“We really learned what it takes to win a Super Bowl, get to the Super Bowl, the preparation and the time it takes to be detailed in your craft,” McDuffie said.
When news about the trade broke last week, one of the first calls McDuffie answered was from Rams star receiver Puka Nacua, a former Washington teammate.
“He was just screaming at the top of his lungs,” McDuffie said. “I’m like ‘Puka, bro, I miss this energy. I miss what you bring.’ I’m just excited to be back on the field with him.”
McDuffie and Watson also are excited about continuing their partnership, which began when they were among five defensive backs drafted by the Chiefs four years ago.
Watson, 27, grew up in Georgia but played two seasons at Ventura College before finishing his college career at Washington State.
Like McDuffie, he is happy to be back in Southern California weather.
“Everyone’s just so nice here,” Watson said of the region, before quipping, “then you’ve got your taxes.”
The 5-foot-11 McDuffie and the 6-2 Watson will give secondary coach Jimmy Lake — who coached McDuffie in college — options for matchups.
“That’s why I think me and Trent complement each other so well,” Watson said. “His strengths are short-area quickness, the small shifty guys. And my strengths are the big receivers.
“So we should be pretty diverse. We should be able to match up pretty well against a lot of different looks we get.”
McDuffie and Watson join a cornerback group that includes Emmanuel Forbes Jr. The Rams have until May 1 to determine if they will exercise a fifth-year option on Forbes, a 2023 first-round draft pick by Washington who was claimed off waivers by the Rams in 2024.
Forbes will earn about $2 million this season, but would be guaranteed $12.6 million if the Rams exercise the option.
The Rams will begin offseason workouts in April.
McDuffie is happy to be back home.
“It’s hot, the sun’s out,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
COLUMBIA, S.C. — U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the dean of South Carolina’s Democrats, said Thursday that he will run for an 18th House term, a move that could position him as an influential elder statesman in Congress if his party regains the majority in November.
The decision by the 85-year-old lawmaker cuts against calls for generational change within the party. Clyburn is one of several veteran Democrats running again instead of stepping aside for younger politicians whose frustration increased in the wake of President Biden’s failed reelection campaign.
“I’m here today to say I do believe that I’m very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary to continue that pursuit of perfection,” Clyburn said at state party headquarters in Columbia. “And so I will run a very vigorous campaign.”
Clyburn is among the oldest Democrats serving in Washington, and the only member of the last Democratic leadership team who is looking to stick around. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland both plan to retire at the end of their current terms.
Clyburn said that he sought counsel from his three daughters before making his announcement. One of them — Mignon Clyburn, a former member of the Federal Communications Commission — said she was concerned about the political vitriol that her father would face in Washington.
“Her interest was in her daddy and what she thought I might be subjected to,” Clyburn said. “When Mignon finally had decided that she could live with it, I’m here.”
Clyburn said he heard from another woman that “‘we don’t listen to them people up there, and you should not. You should listen to the people down here, and we don’t want you to leave.’ And so I’m responding to the people that are here.”
Clyburn served as majority whip and assistant Democratic leader. Remaining in Congress for another term could give him a chance to serve alongside the first Black speaker of the House as Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in line for the gavel should Democrats win control. Clyburn for many years was the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in the House.
On Thursday, asked about the prospect of being able to advise Jeffries, Clyburn said the two spoke recently about a possible working relationship in the next Congress.
“He expressed an interest in my being a part of his leadership, if we were to take the House back,” Clyburn said. “It made me feel necessary.”
Four years ago, when Clyburn announced his bid for a 16th term, he told the Associated Press that he intended to keep campaigning as long as his health and support from his family remained stalwart.
“I’ve told them, if you ever see that I need to go to the rocking chair or spend my spare time on the golf course, let me know,” he said describing his daughters’ counsel.
Clyburn won his 2024 reelection by more than 20 percentage points. First elected in 1992, he represents the district that sweeps from areas around the capital of Columbia through rural central and eastern counties down to Charleston.
Should he serve an 18th term, Clyburn would become the longest-serving South Carolinian ever in the U.S. House. Time horizons are longer for the state’s U.S. senators, two of whom — Republican Strom Thurmond and Democrat Fritz Hollings — served 48 years and nearly 39 years, respectively.
Filing for election in this year’s elections in South Carolina opens Monday and closes March 30. South Carolina’s primary elections will be held June 9.
Whenever Clyburn does leave office, the competition to be his successor will be fierce. He is the only Democrat representing his state in Washington.
As to whether his 18th term could be his last, Clyburn called that an “open question.”
“I’m looking forward to the day that I can spend more time reading, writing and playing golf, and so this could very well be to my last term,” he said. “And it could very well not be.”
WASHINGTON — Cuba’s top diplomat in Washington says Havana is prepared to enter diplomatic talks with the United States, reiterating the country’s willingness to engage even as tensions escalate with President Trump asserting that the island nation’s government could soon collapse.
“We are ready to engage with the U.S. on the issues that are important for the bilateral relation, and to talk about those in which we have differences,” Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, who leads Cuba’s mission in Washington, told The Times on Wednesday.
Any dialogue would need to respect Cuba’s sovereignty and its “right to self-determination,” the ambassador said.
“We are sure that it is possible to find a solution,” she said.
Her comments in a wide-ranging interview come at a particularly volatile moment for Cuba, which is under mounting economic pressure after the Trump administration imposed an oil blockade that has choked off the island’s energy supplies.
The measures have deepened a humanitarian crisis and prompted Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to call for an “urgent” overhaul to the country’s economic model.
The situation in Cuba worsened after U.S. forces removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, allowing Washington to later cut off oil shipments from Venezuela to its longtime ally. The Trump administration later pressured other suppliers, including Mexico, to reduce deliveries.
“We are doing our best, and we are being very creative, but it has a serious impact,” Torres Rivera said of the blockade. “It is a collective punishment against the Cuban people.”
The White House this week framed Cuba’s worsening economic and humanitarian conditions as a potential opening to pressure Havana into negotiations.
“The country is obviously in a very weak place, economically speaking, the people are crying out for help, and the president believes and knows the Cuban regime wants a deal,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a news briefing Tuesday.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida) told the Miami Herald on Wednesday that the Trump administration had been having secret, high-level conversations with several people in former President Raul Castro’s inner circle, a similar approach that was taken in Venezuela before Maduro’s capture. (The operation to seize Maduro killed 32 Cuban officers stationed in the country.)
Cuban President Miguel Díaz -Canel, fourth from right, holds up a Cuban flag during a rally in Havana on Jan. 16, 2026, to protest the killing of Cuban officers during the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
(Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)
Another report by the USA Today this week said the Trump administration was close to announcing an economic deal with Cuba that would ease travel restrictions, among other things. A representative with the Cuban government declined to comment on the report.
The White House has not specified what a deal may look like. But Trump has said the United States is interested in a “friendly takeover” and has suggested that the move would allow Cubans to visit the island, a place that many Cuban exiles have worried about returning to while the current regime is in place.
“It is just a question of time before a lot of unbelievable people are going back to Cuba,” Trump said at an event last week.
Several news outlets have reported that the Justice Department is examining possible federal charges against officials within Cuba’s government, a move that could prompt a change in the island’s government.
Torres Rivera said she is aware of the reports but said the “judicial accusations” are an “instrument of political coercion without any legitimacy.”
“It is not something we are losing sleep over,” she said.
As for the potential negotiations, Torres Rivera did not provide specifics but talked about restoring diplomatic ties somewhat to how they existed during the Obama administration.
“We are neighbors,” she said. “We have common challenges, common threats, and we can speak about all that, and we can speak on the basis of respect for each other’s sovereignty and each other’s right of self-determination. We are ready for that.”
President Trump has approached diplomacy with Cuba with a harsher tone.
“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said Saturday, one week after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He added: “Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that has been bad for a very long time.”
Trump said that he has put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of leading the talks with Cuba and that he believes a “deal would be made very easily with Cuba.”
Torres Rivera did not offer an opinion on Rubio being tapped to lead the negotiations. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who came to Florida three years before Castro’s brother, revolutionary Fidel Castro, rose to power in 1959. She reiterated that Cuba is “ready to engage” in talks regardless of who is leading them.
“We are not talking about persons, we are talking about the government and we are ready to engage with the U.S. to talk about the very important issues that we have in bilateral relations,” she said.
CHICAGO — The eventual end of the USC men’s basketball season came the same way that it fizzled out during the past month, with yet another second-half collapse that featured the added pain of overtime.
The Trojans led the Huskies by 13 in the second half and had chances to win at the end of regulation and overtime, only to miss all three potential game-winning or game-tying shots and go 2-for-5 from the free-throw line in overtime. For a team that was once in NCAA tournament consideration before stumbling, that failure to finish was a persistent flaw.
USC guard Alijah Arenas talks with coach Eric Musselman during the Trojans’ loss to the Huskies in the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday in Chicago.
(Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
“That’s been the story of our last eight games,” Musselman said. “I think we’ve led at halftime four of our last eight games, and as a group, we haven’t figured out how to close games, the last 20 minutes with a lead. It’s a disappointing last eight games of the season. I thought up until that point we played good basketball.”
With the Trojans likely to decline any postseason invitation, Musselman said, he was headed to the team hotel Tuesday night to get back to work filling out next season’s recruiting class, starting with more freshmen before the transfer portal officially opens next month.
That group already includes two top-30 recruits in the Ratliff twins, Adonis and Darius, but if USC learned anything from the way this season ended, all too similar to the way last season ended, it’s that whatever depth and talent Musselman has assembled in his two years at USC hasn’t been enough, whether that’s freshmen or transfers.
“We want a blend of both,” Musselman said. “It’s early in our tenure, and we’ve got to figure out a way to get better than what we’ve done the last two years.”
Tuesday, the Trojans had no shortage of chances to fend off the end.
They had a double-digit lead with 13 minutes to play. They had the ball at the end of regulation with the score tied. They had a chance to win it in overtime and were gifted a last-chance shot to tie it.
They missed all three pivotal shots — the first two by Kam Woods, the last a 3-pointer by Jordan Marsh — to see a game they once led comfortably slip away again and again.
“On the last one, I feel like I missed Ezra [Ausar] on that cut,” said Woods, a grad transfer who joined the team in midseason. “Coach trusted me with the ball in my hands, and I feel like I let him down.”
Woods finished with 24 points while Jacob Cofie scored 14, Marsh 13 and Ausar and Ryan Cornish 10 each for 13th-seeded USC (18-14) as the 12th-seeded Huskies (16-16) beat the Trojans for the third time this season.
Freshman Alijah Arenas, who led the Trojans in scoring in both games without Baker-Mazara, was held to six points on 3-for-10 shooting and sat out the final six minutes of regulation and all but eight seconds of overtime. Musselman said that was his decision, as was the virtual absence of senior Terrance Williams, who played only one minute.
That left USC with what was essentially a six-player rotation to conclude a season that began without the injured Arenas and ended without Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson, both hurt, as well as the departed Baker-Mazara — all of which factored into Musselman’s position on any postseason plans.
“I haven’t had in-depth conversations with the administration yet about that, but I would assume we’re not going to play, just based on the number of bodies and how we played the last eight games,” Musselman said.
It was not all that long ago that USC was thinking about the NCAA tournament. Winners of the Maui Invitational, USC was 18-6 and above .500 in the Big Ten standings after a February 8 win at Penn State, solidly in a workable position on the NCAA tournament bubble.
But as the injuries mounted and momentum waned, second-half struggles just like the Trojans’ on Tuesday became an increasingly fatal flaw as they slumped to their longest losing streak in a decade. The loss to Washington compounded the misery of a second straight frustrating season, in familiar fashion.
“As a team, we faced a lot of adversity,” Cofie said. “I felt like we did a good job sticking with it and trying to play for each other. We had to deal with a lot of injuries. I felt like that played a huge deal in it. We still fought. We tried our best.”
The 28-year-old described it as a “special moment” and said he “really got emotional” when he realised the scale of his achievement.
“I wish I could relive it twice,” Adebayo said.
Paying tribute to his family and trainers, he said: “They’ve seen me at the lowest, at the bottom of the bottom, trying to figure out how to really pick myself up.
“To have this moment and share it with all them, it’s a pretty emotional moment.”
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-106 at home thanks to Luka Doncic’s 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Lakers climbed to fourth in the Western Conference, ahead of the Timberwolves on a tie-breaker as they both have 40-25 records.
Eastern Conference leaders the Detroit Pistons moved to 46-18 with a 138-100 win at the Brooklyn Nets as Jalen Duren scored 26 points.
