A judge in California blocked the Trump administration on Thursday from ordering departments and agencies to begin dismissing recently hired probationary federal workers, saying the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lacks the power to fire employees. The move came during a court hearing over a lawsuit from labor unions and other groups challenging OPM’s mass terminations. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim the mass terminations violate the Administrative...

President Donald Trump was asked several times on Thursday about comments he made last week, when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” though he oftentimes either ignored the question or could not remember making the statement. Trump met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday, when the two leaders addressed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. The president told reporters he...