Trump aides tried to block appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to US, reports say – US politics live

Senior figures said to have been skeptical over Keir Starmer’s appointment of ‘arrogant’ veteran politician, later sacked over connections to Jeffrey Epstein

The US state department on Friday established a new bureau to oversee responses to natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world, capping the Trump administration’s dramatic overhaul of foreign aid, a senior department official said.

Trump officials and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency dismantled the US Agency for International Development after taking office in January 2025, firing thousands of officials and canceling most of its grants before it was absorbed into the state department, Reuters reported.