The country’s ambassador to Britain, former Auckland mayor Phil Goff, has been dismissed from his position after he made remarks seen as critical of the U.S. president’s intellect, foreign minister Winston Peters has said.

Goff made the comments at an event held by the international affairs think-tank Chatham House in London on Tuesday, where Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen was a guest speaker.

Here’s Shweta Sharma on what precisely he said.

The president’s latest social media post was this furious rant about media speculation as to why exactly he was thanking Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.

“Like most people, I don’t watch Fake News CNN or MSDNC, but I understand they are going ‘crazy’ asking what is it that I was thanking Justice Roberts for?” Trump wrote.

“They never called my office to ask, of course, but if they had I would have told these sleazebag ‘journalists’ that I thanked him for SWEARING ME IN ON INAUGURATION DAY, AND DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB IN SO DOING! The Fake News never quits!”

This is the moment to which he was referring:

An appeals court has removed the head of a federal watchdog agency in the latest twist in a legal fight concerning Trump’s authority to fire the special counsel.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with the Trump administration and allowed Hampton Dellinger to be immediately removed as head of the Office of Special Counsel while the court battle continues.

Dellinger is likely to appeal.

Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson (a George HW Bush appointee), Patricia Millett (a Barack Obama appointee) and Justin Walker (a Donald Trump appointee) made the order without dissent.

Dellinger filed a lawsuit against Trump last month after his dismissal, despite the law stating that special counsels can be removed by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who was nominated to the bench b Obama, quickly reinstated Dellinger in the job while he pursued his case.

Here’s our earlier reporting on the matter.

The president posted a fiery ultimatum to Hamas last night about the release of its remaining hostages, issuing what he said would be a “last warning” that also contained a threat to the people of Gaza.

“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!

“This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.

“Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision.”

It was reported earlier in the day that the U.S. has begun direct negotiations with Hamas over the remaining hostages still being held in Gaza, of which there are believed to be 59 in total, 35 of whom have been confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed Axios’s reporting of the talks, saying that negotiating was “the right thing for the American people.”

Asked about his reaction to the development on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said: “I’m OK with it. I don’t mind what Trump does because I trust Trump.

“But Trump sent out a tweet today [saying] release the hostages or you will be destroyed. And that’s the kind of leadership we need. So, I trust Trump. As long as he’s in the room, I’m OK.”

Here’s more from Josh Marcus.

Donald Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro has accused Canada of being “taken over by Mexican cartels” and not doing enough to stop the importation of deadly fentanyl.

Speaking to Bret Baier on Fox News’s Special Report last night, Navarro declared: “What I wanna say to every world leader who gets up in arms when all we’re asking for is fairness and to have them stop killing our people is, please, listen to us.

“Canada could do a lot more. Canada has been taken over, Bret, by Mexican cartels. They bring up these pill presses and printers, and the medicines that they fake, you can’t tell the difference.”

After Navarro claimed that 70,000 Americans were being killed annually by the drug, Baier asked if he were laying the responsibility solely at Canada’s door.

“No, of course not. Of course not, Bret,” he answered.

“But what we want to see is Canada and Mexico crack down on China. China, for whatever reason, and there is a lot of speculation as to whether they mean to do us harm with this, they don’t seem to care, okay? So, it’s up to Mexico and Canada help us do this.”

The outburst came after the administration agreed to grant the auto sector a one-month exemption from Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods after the president came under pressure from the CEOs of America’s “Big Three” carmakers.

As the president’s trade war begins to brew up, here’s Gustaf Kilander on what American business leaders have said so far on how the Trump tariffs will affect prices.

Elon Musk suggested Wednesday that the U.S. government should privatize “as much as possible” and named Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service as two services ripe for privatization, NBC News reports citing a source at a Morgan Stanley technology conference at which the tech mogul appeared virtually.

The Trump adviser and apparent head of the Department of Government Efficiency told attendees about his experiences riding bullet trains abroad and said: “And we come back to America, like, Amtrak is a sad situation.”

“If you’re coming from another country, please don’t use our national rail. It can leave you with a very bad impression of America,” Musk added. “So, I just, I think we should prioritize anything that can be privatized.”

The ownership structures of high-speed railways abroad vary widely. Some are fully state-owned, like China’s. Others, like Japan’s railways, have been largely privatized. The European system is mixed.

The House Democratic leader laid out his reasoning for attending while urging as many as possible in his party to do so, in a dear colleague letter this week.

“[I]t is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber,” wrote Jeffries on Monday. “The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives, we will not be run off the block or bullied.”

Roughly 650 Marines and Army soldiers who were forced out of the military for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine have so far expressed interest in returning to the force under an executive order from President Donald Trump, officials said this week.

The number represents about 8% of the roughly 8,200 troops who had been discharged. The total, officials say, confirms military leaders’ early view that many troops have moved on with their lives. They have been allowed to rejoin since 2023, and Trump’s offer of providing back pay may be a factor in spurring a bit more interest now.

Mike Bedigan has the story.