The US goods trade deficit has surged to a record high in 2018 as strong domestic demand fuelled by lower taxes pulled in imports, despite the Trump administration’s America First policies. President Donald Trump pledged on both the campaign trail and as president to reduce the deficit by shutting out more unfairly traded imports and renegotiating free trade agreements. The …

President Donald Trump announced the congressional questioning last week of his former lawyer may have contributed to the failure of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – even as his national security advisor claimed the Hanoi meeting was a success. A high-stakes second summit to strike a disarmament deal with Kim broke up in disarray in Vietnam …

Vladimir Putin said he will match any move by the United States to deploy new nuclear missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the US, or by deploying faster missiles, or both. The Russian President said he was not seeking confrontation and would not take the first step to deploy missiles in response to the US …

In a place where weasel words often pass muster, the most powerful intelligence officials in the world delivered a message to the United States Congress in clear, concise terms — China is a threat to America. Instances of military aggression, cyberattacks, bullying of smaller neighbours and attempts to interfere in western politics were referenced. Director of National Security Dan Coats …

God wanted Donald Trump to be United States president and that is why he supports things important to people of faith, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has told a US religious broadcaster. In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, Ms Sanders said Mr Trump was the most conservative president in US history. “I think God calls all of us …

Tired but smiling, an 18-year-old Saudi runaway who said she feared death if deported back home has arrived in Canada, which had offered her asylum in a case that attracted global attention after she mounted a social media campaign. “This is Rahaf Alqunun, a very brave new Canadian,” Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said arm-in-arm with the Saudi teen in Toronto’s …

A US Government committee will look into a news report claiming the FBI investigated whether President Donald Trump has been working on behalf of Russia, against US interests. It comes after the New York Times reported that the probe began in the days after Mr Trump fired James Comey as FBI director in May 2017. It said the agency’s counterintelligence investigators …

Thousands of demonstrators are flooding a downtown avenue in Buenos Aires to protest the G20 summit taking place in the Argentinian capital. The protesters are waving flags and holding up banners with slogans including “Go away G-20” and “Go away Trump”. Activists from France, Germany, Italy and several Latin American nations are taking part alongside Argentinians in a demonstration organised …

French President Emmanuel Macron has stepped up the pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, confronting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit in Argentina. Mr Macron reportedly told Prince Mohammed that international experts need to be involved in the investigation into the journalist’s death. Mr Macron’s demand came shortly before Theresa May held …

Add Brazil to the list of countries embracing far-right authoritarian politics. Former Army captain  won the country’s presidential election on Sunday, riding a wave of frustration over corruption and crime that brought a dramatic swing to the right in the world’s fourth-largest democracy, official results show. With 94 per cent of the ballots counted, Bolsonaro had 56 per cent of …