Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Trump rides high in polls as early actions prove popular with voters
Voters are giving President Trump strong marks for many of his early executive actions -- particularly those aimed at reversing his predecessor and gaining control of the border. Published January 31, 2025
Watchdog says DOJ broke law by removing database on Jan. 6 defendants
A watchdog has challenged the Trump Justice Department's decision to erase the government's main database of Jan. 6 defendants from the web, saying it amounted to an illegal destruction of an official record. Published January 30, 2025
Kash Patel says FBI needs to ditch politics, get back to fighting crime
Kash Patel, President Trump's pick to lead -- and upend -- the FBI, came to Capitol Hill on Thursday eager to talk about the future of the bureau as a lean, crime-fighting machine. Published January 30, 2025
N.Y. county ramps up sanctuary battle in defying criminal warrant for ‘violent illegal alien’
The Justice Department unloaded Thursday on a New York county after authorities say it released a "violent illegal alien" back into the community, defying a federal criminal arrest warrant signed by a magistrate judge. Published January 30, 2025
Kash Patel, Trump’s FBI nominee, described racist threats against him
As Democrats accused Kash Patel on Thursday of cavorting with racists, the nominee to lead the FBI responded by telling them of the vicious racism he has personally faced. Published January 30, 2025
Trump signs Laken Riley Act; law pushes DHS to detain criminal migrants
President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Wednesday, giving Homeland Security more legal tools to take even relatively low-level criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. Published January 29, 2025
Trump to send 30,000 illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay
President Trump said Wednesday he will sign an order directing the Defense Department to use up to 30,000 beds at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold illegal immigrants. Published January 29, 2025
For the first time in office, Trump doesn’t face the threat of impeachment
President Trump's political opponents have called him cruel and authoritarian and dictatorial. They've accused him of rewriting the Constitution and trampling on basic rules of government. But one thing that's been missing in all the early vitriol over his first 10 days is the I-word. Published January 29, 2025
Comer launches bid to rightsize government, brings Iowa model to federal reform push
House Oversight Chairman James Comer will hold a hearing next week to explore how the federal government got so big, as he moves to add some legislative heft to President Trump's goal of slashing the bureaucracy down to size. Published January 29, 2025
Trump’s spending pause? Biden did it first
President Trump's decision to hit pause on billions of dollars in federal spending spawned an avalanche of complaints from his opponents on Tuesday. Published January 28, 2025
Noem says Homeland Security Dept. is Trump’s No. 1 priority
New Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem challenged her employees Tuesday to be a "beacon of freedom." Published January 28, 2025
Quakers sue to stop ICE arrests, say churches must be sanctuaries
Several Quaker groups have filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security, demanding it restore a sanctuary policy that largely prevented immigration agents from making arrests at or near churches. The Quakers say the latest moves trample on their First Amendment rights. Published January 28, 2025
ICE arrests pass 4,500 since Trump took office
Homeland Security's deportation force made nearly 1,000 more arrests Monday and has now apprehended more than 4,500 illegal immigrants since President Trump took the reins of government. Published January 28, 2025
ICE arrests nearly 1,200 on Sunday including 67 Tren de Aragua gang members
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tallied nearly 1,200 arrests on Sunday, including 67 members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, marking the biggest roundup yet under President Trump. Published January 27, 2025
House opens investigation into four sanctuary cities
House Oversight Chairman James Comer announced probes Monday into four sanctuary cities, calling on them to come before Congress and defend themselves. Published January 27, 2025
D.C.’s new U.S. attorney launches review of Jan. 6 obstruction charge shot down by Supreme Court
President Trump's new U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., announced an investigation Monday into how the office used a now-discredited law to go after Jan. 6 defendants. Published January 27, 2025
D.C. judges rail over Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons; Tanya Chutkan calls it a ‘whitewash’
President Trump may have pardoned the Jan. 6 defendants but some of the Democrat-appointed judges who presided over the cases are furious at having to let them go. Published January 27, 2025
Illegal immigrant forced to drink his urine to stay alive in desert
A Chinese migrant lost in the Arizona desert said he was forced to abandon his brother and to drink his own urine to survive. Published January 27, 2025
ICE sweeps up record number of illegals; military support, diplomatic clashes mark Trump’s 1st week
President Trump's shock and awe strategy has fueled a surge in immigration arrests in the interior of the country. Published January 26, 2025
J.D. Vance scolds U.S. Catholic bishops after criticism of Trump on immigration
Vice President J.D. Vance, a practicing Catholic, said that he was "heartbroken" by what he called unfair criticism by America's Catholic bishops of the Trump administration's early moves to crack down on illegal immigration. Published January 26, 2025
